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THE COMPREHENSIVE, 

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY 

BLE ENCYCLOPEDIA 



-COMPRISING ITS- 



ANTIQUITIES, BIOGRAPHY, GEOGRAPHY, 



-AND- 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



-TOGETHER WITH- 



Definitions of all Religious Terms, 



-AND- 



DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF 
THE EAST, AND OF THE QUADRUPEDS, BIRDS, 
FISHES, REPTILES, INSECTS, MINERALS, 
TREES, PLANTS, &c, ILLUSTRA- 
TIVE OF THE HOLY 
SCRIPTURES. 

Designed as a Complete Book of Reference on all Religious Subjects. 



EDI1ED BY 

EDWARD ROBINSON, D.D. LL.D. 

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. 

TOLEDO, OHIO: 

O. A. BROWNING & COMPANY. 

X 



BS440 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the yeir Eighteen Hundred and Eighty-One, 
By O. A. BROWNING & CO., 
In the Office of .the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



\ 



Issued by subscription and not for sale in bookstores. Residents of any State desiring 
a copy should address the Publishers, and an Agent will call upon them. 



BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA. 



PREFACE. 



Few words are necessary to set forth the advantages and usefulness of a work like this, 
on the subject of the Bible, as the Bible is the most interesting work to mankind ever written, 
so must every work that gives an intelligent and critical explanation of it become indispensable 
and valuable to that extent as it is found to be reliable. 

In the preparation of this work the editor has been governed by a single idea. — the aim 
to make it, to the utmost of his ability, what he should judge most desirable as a companion 
to the Bible, a companion, however, not in the sense of a master or equal, but of a minister- 
ing attendant. While we glory only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and justly value all, 
objects by their relation to him, it is not for us to stand still amidst the mighty stream of ad- 
vancement in human affairs. 

The present is, not without reason, denominated an age of inquiry. How far profound, 
how far impartial, how far governed by the meekness of wisdom, how far springing from the 
fervent love of truth and righteousness, we will not say — but still it is an age of inquiry. All 
who are acquainted with the movements of the civilized world, must be aware that within the 
last fifty years the prevailing systems of metaphysics and morals, and the most important doc- 
trines of Christianity, as well as the evidence of Christianity itself, have undergone a rigorous 
investigation by some of the ablest minds of an age, than which none, perhaps, has been 
more fruitful in great men. The' whole structure of theology, as well as of politics, has been 
re-examined from its foundation by the searching spirit of the times. And it is well. The 
spirit that is moving on these troubled elements, we verily believe, is the Spirit of God. It 
is a spirit that is at once purifying our faith at home, and extending it abroad among all the 
nations. Under its quickening influence, Biblical Literature and Criticism have been greatly 
advanced. The laws of sound interpretation have become better understood and are more 
generally applied in the investigation of the Sacred Volume; though on this point there is 



IV. 



PREFACE. 



still much to be desired. Great advantages have been gained by the recent spirit of in- 
quiry and free discussion. If few new truths have been discovered, many old ones have 
been settled and defined, and some crude and impure mixtures purged away. The prac- 
tical application of truths has also been more ably illustrated, and we may hope henceforth 
to see more and better fruit spring from their belief and inculcation; besides this, good 
men of different communions are becoming every day better acquainted with each other, 
and a gradual approximation of sentiment and feeling is taking place through the agency 
of spiritual revivals of benevolent institutions and associations, and of the religious press. 
This fact affords a cheering augury for the future. 

In religion, reason makes no real discoveries except as she walks in the clear light of 
Divine Revalation. The use of reason in religion is to enlarge our minds to the amplitude 
of truth; but the abuse of reason is more common, which would contract truth to the nar- 
rowness of our own understanding. One of the chief and undoubted merits of this work is 
the bringing together, from a great variety of sources, facts and extracts which serve to illus- 
trate the antiquities, manners and customs and geography of oriental nations. The works 
of modern oriental travelers have been carefully studied and extensively used. To those 
engaged in teaching the truths of religion ; to teachers in the Sabbath Schools, as well as 
to the. scholars, it will be found of universal value, for the simple and ready instruction it 
contains. It appeals to no sect, but is addressed to the whole Christian Church. 

The plan of the work, it will be perceived, is neither doctrinal nor devotional. The 
.object of it is simply to illustrate the meaning of the Bible itself, leaving to other occasions 
the application of that meaning, as it regards both the understanding and the heart. That 
the work may have the effect to facilitate and promote the study of the Sacred Volume 
in our land, is now the editor's fervent prayer, as it has long been the object of his 
anxious toil. 



THE 



COMPREHENSIVE 
CRITICAL AID EXPLANATORY 
BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA. 



AARON 

A, the first letter in almost all alphabets. In Hebrew 
it is called aleph, (n) which signifies ox, from the 
shape of it in the old Pheuician alphabet, where it 
somewhat resembles the head and horns of that ani- 
mal. (Plutarch. Qusest. Sympos. ix. 2. Gesenii 
Thesaur. Heb. p. 1 ) This Hebrew name has passed 
over along with the letter itself, into the Greek alpha. 
Both the Hebrews and Greeks employed the letters 
of their alphabets- as numerals ; and A, therefore, 
(aleph or alpha) denoted one, the first. Hence our 
Lord says of himself, that he is (to a) Alpha and (to a) 
Omega, i. e. the first and the last, the beginning and 
the ending, as he himself explains it, Rev. i. 8, 11 ; 
xxi. 6 ; xxii. 13. R. 

AARON, the son of Amram and Jochebed, of the 
tribe of Levi, (Exod. vi. 20.) was born A. M. 2430; 
that is, the year before Pharaoh's edict for destroying 
the Hebrew male infants, and three- years before his 
brother Moses, Exod. vii. 7. He married Elisheba, 
the daughter of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah, 
(Exod. vi. 23.) by whom he had four sons, Nadab and 
Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. The eldest two were 
destroyed by fire from heaven ; from the other two 
the race of the chief priests was continued in Israel, 
1 Chron. xxiv. 2 seq. 

The Lord, having appeared to Moses, and directed 
him to deliver the Israelites from their oppressive 
bondage in Egypt, appointed Aaron to be his assistant 
and speaker, he being the more eloquent of the two, 
Exod. iv. 14 — 16; vii. 1. Moses, having been di- 
rected by God to return into Egypt, quitted Midian, 
with his family, and entered upon his journey. At 
mount Horeb he met his brother Aaron, who had 
come thither by a divine direction; (Exod. iv. 27.) 
and after the usual salutations, and conference as to 
the purposes of the Almighty, the brothers prosecuted 
their journey to Egypt, A. M. 2513. Upon their 
arrival in Egypt, they called together the elders of 
Israel, and having announced to them the pleasure 
of the Almighty, to deliver the people from their 
bondage, they presented themselves before Pharaoh, 
and exhibited the credentials of their divine mission. 



AARON 

by working several miracles in his presence. Phara- 
oh, however, drove them away, and for the purpose 
of repressing the strong hopes of the Israelites of a 
restoration to liberty, he ordered their laborious oc- 
cupations to be greatly increased. Overwhelmed 
with despair, the Hebrews bitterly complained to 
Moses and Aaron, who encouraged them to sustain 
their oppressions, and reiterated the determination 
of God to subdue the obstinacy of Pharaoh, and 
procure the deliverance of his people, ch. v. In 
all their subsequent intercourse with Pharaoh, dur- 
ing which several powerful remonstrances were 
made, and many astonishing miracles performed, 
Aaron appears to have taken a very prominent part, 
and to have pleaded with much eloquence and 
effect the cause of the injured Hebrews, Exod. 
vi. — xii. 

Moses having ascended mount Sinai, to receive 
the tables of the law, after the ratification of the 
covenant made with Israel, Aaron, his sons, and 
seventy elders, followed him partly up. They saw 
the symbol of the divine presence, without sustain- 
ing any injury, (Exod. xxiv. 1 — 11.) and were favor- 
ed with a sensible manifestation of the good pleasure 
of the Lord. It was at this time that Moses received 
a divine command to invest Aaron and his four sons 
with the priestly office, the functions of which they 
were to discharge before Jehovah for ever. See 
Priest. 

During the forty days that Moses continued in the 
mount, the people became impatient, and tumultu- 
ously addressed Aaron : " Make us gods," said they, 
"which shall go before us: for as to this Moses, the 
man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, 
we know not what is become of him," Exod. xxxii 
1 seq Aaron desired them to bring their pendants 
and the ear-rings of their wives and children ; which, 
being brought, were melted down under his direc- 
tion, and formed into a golden calf. Before this calf 
Aaron built an altar, and the people sacrificed, 
danced, and diverted themselves around it, exclaim- 
ing, " These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought 



AARON 



AARON 



thee up out of the laud of Egypt." The Lord having 
informed Moses of the sin of the Israelites, (Exod. 
xxxii. 7.) he immediately descended, carrying the 
tables of the law, which, as he approached the camp, 
he threw upon the ground and broke, (ver. 19.) re- 
proaching the people with their transgression, and 
Aaron with his weakness. Aaron at first endeavor- 
ed to excuse himself, but afterwards became penitent, 
humbled himself, and was pardoned. The taberna- 
cle having been completed, and the offerings prepar- 
ed, Aaron and his sons were consecrated with the 
holy oil, and invested with the sacred garments, 
Exod. xl. Lev. viii. Scarcely, however, were the 
ceremonies connected with this solemn service com- 
pleted, when his two eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, 
were destroyed by fire from heaven, for presuming 
to burn incense in the tabernacle with strange fire, 
Lev. x. 

Subsequently to this affecting occurrence, there 
was little in the life of Aaron that demands particular 
notice. During the forty yetuS that he discharged 
the priestly office, his duties Avere apparently at- 
tended to with assiduity, and his general conduct, 
excepting the case of his joining Miriam in mur- 
muring against Moses, and distrusting the divine 
power at Kadesh, was blameless, Numb. xii. xx. 
8—11. 

In the fortieth year after the departure of the 
Hebrews out of Egypt, and while they were en- 
camped at Mosera, Aaron, by the divine command, 
ascended mount Hor. Here Moses divested him of 
his pontifical robes, which were placed upon his son 
Eleazar; "and Aaron died on the top of the mount," 
at the age of one hundred and twenty-three years, 
" and the congregation mourned for him thirty days," 
Numb. xx. 23—29 ; xxxiii. 38. 

There is an apparent discrepancy in the scripture 
account of the place of Aaron's death. In the pas- 
sages above referred to, it is said that it occurred in 
mount Hor ; but in Deut. x. 6. it is stated to have 
been at Mosera, or more properly, according to the 
Hebrew form of the word, at Moser. The difficulty, 
however, is removed, by supposing that the place 
Mosera lay near the foot z f mount Hor, perhaps on 
the elevated open plain from which the mountain 
rises, as described by Burckhardt, Travels in Syria 
and the Holy Land, p. 430. Josephus, Eusebius, 
and Jerome, all agree in placing the sepulchre of 
Aaron upon the summit of mount Hor, where it is 
still preserved and venerated by the Arabs. When 
the supposed tomb was visited by Mr. Legh, it was 
attended by a crippled Arab hermit, about eighty 
years of age, who conducted the travellers into a 
small white building, crowned by a cupola. The 
monument itself is about three feet high, and is 
patched together out of fragments of stone and mar- 
ble. The proper tomb is excavated in the rock be- 
low. See Hon. 

1. In reviewing the life of Aaron, we can scarcely 
fail to remark the manner of his introduction into 
the history. He at once appears as a kind of assist- 
ant, and so far an inferior, to his brother Moses ; yet j 
he had some advantages which seem to have entitled 
him to prior consideration. He was the elder bro- 
ther, an eloquent speaker, and also favored by di- i 
vine inspiration. We have no cause assigned why i 
he was not preferred to Moses, in respect of authon- ! 
fy; and therefore no other cause can now be assign- 
ed than the divine good pleasure, acting perhaps with 
reference to the superior education and consequent 
influence of Moses. 



2. Among the most confirming signs given by 
God to Moses, may be placed the interview with his 
brother Aaron at mount Horeb. This being predict- 
ed by God, and directly taking place, must have been 
very convincing to Moses. (See something similar 
in the case of Jeremiah, chap, xxxii. 8.) It should 
seem also, that Aaron would not have undertaken a 
journey of two months, from Egypt to mount Sinai 
at great hazard and expense, unless he had been well 
assured of the authority which sent him ; neither 
could he have expected to rind Moses where he did 
find him, unless by divine direction ; since the place, 
afterwards called the mount of God, was then undis- 
tinguished and unfrequented. Aaron, therefore, was 
a sign to Moses, as Moses was a sign to Aaron. 

3. It seems probable that Aaron was in circumstan- ■ 
ces above those of the lower class of people in Egypt. 
Had he been among those who were kept to their 
daily bondage, he- could ill have spared time and 
cost for a journey to Horeb. Although the brothers, 
then, had no pretension to sovereign authority by 
descent, yet they were of consideration among the 
Israelites, either by property, or office, or perhaps 
from the fact of Moses' long residence and education 
at the Egyptian court ; which could not fail to be a 
source of influence to himself and to his family. 
Both Moses and Aaron seem to be acknowledged by 
Pharaoh, and by many of his servants, as persons of 
consideration, and as proper agents for transacting 
business between the Israelites and the king. Aaron 
performed the miracles before Pharaoh, too, without 
any wonder being expressed by him, how a person 
like him should acquire such skill and eloquence. 
Had Moses and Aaron been merely private persons, 
Pharaoh would, no doubt, have punished their intru- 
sion and impertinence. 

4. We cannot palliate the sin of which Aaron was 
guilty, when left in charge of Israel, in conjunction 
with Hu'r, while Moses was in the mount receiving 
the law. His authority should have been exerted to 
restrain the people's infatuation, instead of forward- 
ing their design. (See Calf.) As to his personal 
concern in the affair, we may remark, that if his own 
faith or patience was exhausted, or if he supposed 
Moses to be dead, then there could have been no col- 
lusion between them. Nor durst he have done as he 
did, had he expected the immediate return of Moses. 
His activity in building the altar to the calf renders 
his subsequent submission to Moses utterly inexpli- 
cable, had not a divine conviction been employed on 
the occasion. It is to be remarked, that nothing is 
said of. the interference of Hur, the coadjutor of 
Aaron in the government of the people. The latter 
seems to have shrunk with unholy timidity from 
his duty of resistance to the proceedings of the 
people, fearing their disposition, as "set on mis- 
chief," which" he pleads in excuse, Exod. xxxii. 
22—24. 

5. The sedition of Aaron and Miriam against 
Moses, (Numb. xii. 1.) affords another argument 
against the supposition of collusion between the 
brothers. Aaron assumes, at first, a high tone, and 
pretends to no less gifts than his brother; but he 
afterwards acknowledges his folly, and, with Miriam, 
submits. Aaron was not visited with the leprosy, 
but he could well judge of its reality on his sister: 
it was his proper office to exclude her from the camp 
for seven days ; and by his expression of " flesh half 
consumed," it should seem that it was an inveterate 
kind of the disease, and therefore the more signal. 
Aaron's affection, interest, and passion, all concur- 



ABA 



ABE 



red to harden him against any thing less than full 
conviction of a divine interposition. But he well 
knew that it was not in the power of Moses to in- 
flict this disease, in so sudden and decided a manner. 

6. The departure of Aaron for death, has some- 
thing in it very singular and impressive. In the 
sight of all the congregation, he quits the camp for 
the mountain, where he is to die. On the way, 
Moses his brother, and Eleazar his son, divest him 
of his pontifical habits, and attend him to the last. 
We view, in imagination, the feeble old man ascend- 
ing the mount, there transferring the insignia of his 
office to his son, and giving up the ghost, with that 
faith, that resignation, that meekness, which became 
one who had been honored with the Holy Spirit, 
and with the typical representation of the great High- 
priest himself. 

7. In the general character of Aaron there was 
much of the meekness of his brother Moses. He 
seems to have been willing to serve his brethren, 
upon all occasions ; and was too easily persuaded 
against his own judgment. This appears when the 
people excited him to make the golden calf, and when 
Miriam urged him to rival his brother. 

8. When we consider the talents of Aaron, his 
natural eloquence, and his probable acquirements in 
knowledge, that God often spake to him as well as 
to Moses, and that Egyptian priests were scribes, as a 
duty of their profession; it is not very unlikely, that 
he assisted his brother in writing some parts of the 
books which now bear the name of Moses; that, at 
least, he kept journals of public transactions ; that 
he transcribed, perhaps, the orders of Moses, espe- 
cially those relating to the priests. If this be admis- 
sible, then we account at once for such difference of 
style as appears in these books, and for such smaller 
variations in different places, as would naturally arise 
from two persons recording the same facts ; we ac- 
count for this at once, without, in any degree, lessen- 
ing the authority, the antiquity, or the real value of 
these books. It accounts, also, for the third person 
being used when speaking of Moses : perhaps, too, 
for some of the praise and commendation of Moses, 
which is most remarkable where Aaron is most in 
fault. See Numb. xii. 3. In Deuteronomy, Moses 
uses the pronouns, /, and me : " I said," — " the Lord 
said to me," which are rarely or never used in the 
former books. See Bible. 

AARONITES, Levites of the family of Aaron ; 
the priests who particularly served the sanctuary. 
Numb. iv. 5 seq. 1 Chron. xii. 27 ; xxvii. 17. See 
Levites. 

AB, the eleventh month of the civil year of the 
Hebrews, and the 5th of their ecclesiastical year, 
which began with Nisan. It had thirty days, and 
nearly answers to the moon of July. The name 
does not occur in Scripture. See the Jewish Cal- 
endar at the end of the volume. 

ABADDON, or APOLLYON, the destroyer ; the 
name ascribed (Rev. ix. 11.) to the angel of the abyss, 
or Tartarus, i. e. the angel of death. He is repre- 
sented as the king and head of the Apocalyptic 
locusts under the fifth trumpet, Rev. ix. 11. See 
Locust. 

ABAN A, or AM ANA, (the former being the Kethib, 
or reading of the Hebrew text ; and the latter the Keri, 
or marginal reading,) the name of one of the rivers 
cited by Naatnan (2 Kings v. 12.) as rivers of Damas- 
cus. The latter is probably the true name, signifying 
perennial ; the change of m into 6 being very common 
m the oriental dialects. 



Interpreters have been much divided in regard to 
the streams probably designated by die names A Liana 
and Pharpar. One of these undoubtedly is the pres- 
ent Barrada (the cold), the Chrysorrhoas of the an- 
cients, which rises in Anti-Libanus and flows through 
Damascus. Just above the city it is divided into 
several branches, (some travellers say three, and 
others five,) which pass around the city on the out- 
side, and afford water for the numerous gardens by 
which the city is surrounded ; while the main stream 
passes through and waters the city itself. Below 
the city they again mostly unite, and the river loses 
itself in a marsh a few miles S. E. from Damascus. 
The branches here mentioned are evidently artificial ; 
and if we now suppose that originally there were 
but two branches in all, (the others being a w ork of 
later times,) these two branches may perhaps have 
been the A nana and Pharpar. — Another supposition, 
however, is more probable, viz. that one of the streams 
is the Barrada ; while the other, (perhaps the Amana, 
or perennial stream,) may be the little river Fijih, or 
Fege, which rises near the village of like name in a 
pleasant valley about 15 or 20 miles N. W. of Damas- 
cus. Dr. Richardson describes it as issuing at once 
from the limestone rock, a deep, rapid stream of 
about thirty feet wide. It is pure and cold as iced 
water, and after coursing down a rugged channel for 
above a hundred yards, falls into the Barrada, which 
comes from another valley, and is here only half as 
wide as the Fijih. Its waters, also, like those of the 
Jordan, have a white, sulphureous hue. *R. 

ABAGARUS, see Abgar. 

ABAR1M, mountains east of Jordan, over against 
Jericho, on the northern border of Moab, within the 
limits of the tribe of Reuben. It is impossible to de- 
fine exactly their extent. Eusebius fixes them at six 
miles west of Heshbon, and seven east of Livias. The 
mountains Nebo, Pisgah, and Peor, were summits 
of the Abarim. Numb, xxvii. 12; xxxiii. 47, 48. 
Deut. xxxiii. 49. 

ABBA, a Syriac word signifying father, and ex- 
pressive of attachment and confidence. When the 
Jews came to speak Greek, this word was probably 
retained from their ancient language, as being easier 
to pronounce, especially for children, than the Greek 
pater. Hence Paul says, "Ye have received the 
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father," 
Rom. viii. 15. 
. I. ABDON, son of Hillel, of the tribe of Ephraim, 
and tenth judge of Israel. He succeeded Elon, and 
judged Israel eight years, Judg. xii. 13, 15. He died 
A. M. 2848, ante A. D. 1156. 

II. ABDON, son of Micah, sent by king Josiah to 
Huldah the prophetess, to ask her opinion concern- 
ing the book of the law, lately found in the temple, 
2 Chron. xxxiv. 20. Some think him to be the same 
as Achbor, son of Micaiah, 2 Kings xxii. 12. 

III. ABDON, a city of Asher, given to the Le-' 
vites of Gershon's family, Josh. xxi. 30. 1 Chron. 
vi. 74. 

ABEDNEGO, a Chaldee name given by the king 
of Babylon's officer to Azariah, one of Daniel's com- 
panions, Dan. i. 7. Abednego was thrown into the 
fiery furnace at Babylon, with Shadrach and Me- 
shach, for refusing to adore the statue erected by 
command of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. iii. See Daniel 
Some have supposed this Azariah to be Ezra, but 
without sufficient grounds. 

I. ABEL, (Heb. S^,) the second son of Adam 
and Eve. Cain and ' Abel having been instructed 
by their father Adam in the duty of worship to their 



ABE 



r 
L 



A B 1 



Creator, each offered the first-fruits of his labors. 
Cain, as a husbandman, offered the fruits of the field ; 
Abel, as a shepherd, offered fadings of his flock. 
God was pleased to accept the offering of Abel, in 
preference to that of his brother, (Heb. xi. 4.) in con- 
sequence of which, Cain sank into melancholy, and 
giving himself up to envy, formed the design of kill- 
ing Abel ; which he at length effected, having invited 
him to go into the field, Gen. iv. 8, 9. 1 John iii. 12. 
It should be remarked, that in our translation no 
mention is made of Cain inviting his brother into the 
field: — "Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it 
came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain 
rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." 
But in the Samaritan text, the words are express ; 
and in the Hebrew there is a kind of chasm, thus: 
"and Cain said unto Abel his brother," — "and it 
cafne to pass," &c. without inserting what he said 
to his brother. 

The Jews had a tradition that Abel was murdered 
in the plain of Damascus ; and accordingly, his tomb 
is still shown on a high hill, near the village of Sinie 
or Seneiah, about twelve miles north-west of Damas- 
cus, on the road to Baalbek. The summit of the 
hill is still called J\"ebbi Abel ; but circumstances lead 
to the probable supposition, that this was the site, or 
in the vicinity of the site, of the ancient Abela or 
Abila. The legend, therefore, was most likely sug- 
gested by the ancient name of the place. 

Paul, speaking in commendation of Abel, says, 
(Heb. xi. 4.) "By faith he offered unto God a more 
excellent sacrifice than Cain ; by which he obtained 
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his 
gifts ; and by it he being dead yet speaketh," even 
after his death. Our Saviour places Abel at the head 
of those saints who had been persecuted for right- 
eousness' sake, and distinguishes him by the title 
righteous, Matt, xxiii. 35. 

II. ABEL, (Heb. s^s,) Abel-beth-Maaeah, or 
Abel-maim, a city in the north of Palestine, of some 
considerable size and importance, since it is called "a 
mother in Israel," 2 Sam. xx. 19. For the identity of 
the city under these three different names, comp. 2 
Sam. xx. 14, 15, 18 ; 1 Kings xv. 20 ; 2 Chron. xvi. 4. 
The addition of Maacah marks it as belonging to or 
near to the region Maacah, which lay eastward of the 
Jordan, under Anti-Lebanon. It is perhaps the 
Abela mentioned by Eusebius as lying between Pa- 
ueas and Damascus. R. 

ABEL-BETH-MAACAH, that is Abel near the 
house or city of Maacah ; the same as Abel. 

ABEL-CARMAIM, or the Place of the Vineyards, 
a village of the Ammonites, about six miles from 
Philadelphia, or Rabbath-Ammon, according to 
Eusabius, and in Iris time still rich in vineyards, 
Judges xi. 33. 

ABEL-MAIM, the same as Abel-beth-Maacah, 
1 Kings xv. 20. 2 Chron. xvi. 4. See Abel II. 

ABEL-MEHOLAH, the birth-place of Elisha, 
1 Kings xix. 16. It was situated about ten miles south 
of Scythopolis or Bethshan, (1 Kings iv. 12.) and was 
celebrated in connexion with Gideon's victory over 
the Midianites, Judges vii. 22. 

ABEL-MIZRAIM, "the place of the Egyptians," 
previously called "the threshing-floor of Atad," Gen. 
1. 11. Jerom places it between Jericho and the Jor- 
dan ; three miles from the former, and two from the 
latter, where Bethagla afterwards stood. 

ABEL-SHITTIM was in the plains of Moab, 
beyond Jordan, opposite to Jericho. It is, undoubt- 
edly, the Abila of Josephus, (Ant. v. 1. 1. Bell. Jud. 



iv. 7. 6.) and lay according to him about GO stadia or 
furlongs from the Jordan. Numb, xxxiii. 49. comp. 
xxii. 1. It is more frequently called Shittim alone, 
Numb. xv. 1. Josh. ii. 1. Micah vi. 5. Eusebius 
says, it was in the neighborhood of mount Peor. 
Moses encamped at Abel-Shiltim before the Israel- 
ites passed the Jordan, under J oshua. Here, seduced 
by Balak, they fell into idolatry, and worshipped 
Baal-Peor ; on account of which God severely 
punished them by the hands of the Levites, chap. 

XXV. 

ABELA, see Abila. 

ABEZ, a city of Issachar, Josh. xix. 20. 

ABGAR, a king of Edessa, and of the district Os- 
rhoene, the seventeenth of the twenty kings who 
bore this name, and contemporary with Christ. The 
name does not occur in Scripture, but is celebrated 
in ecclesiastical history, on account of the corres- 
pondence which is said to have passed between him 
and Christ. The legend is, that Abgar wrote to the 
Saviour, requesting him to come and heal him of the 
leprosy ; to which Christ replied, that he could not 
come to him, but would send one of his disciples. 
Accordingly he is said to have sent Thaddeus. Both 
letters are apocryphal, and may be found in Fabric. 
Codex Apoc. N. T. p. 317. See also the quarto ed. 
of Cahnet. R. 

ABI, mother of Hezekiah, king of Judah ; (2 Kings 
xviii. 2.) called Abijah, 2 Chron. xxix. 1. 

ABIA, in the N. T. the same as Abijah in the O. 
T. which see. 

AB1AH, second son of Samuel. Being intrusted 
with the administration of justice, he behaved ill, and 
induced the people to require a king, 1 Sam. viii. 2. 

ABIATHAR, son of Ahiinelech, and high-priest 
of the Jews. When Saul sent his emissaries to Nob, 
to destroy all the priests there, Abiathar, who was 
young, fled to David in the wilderness, (1 Sam. xxii. 
11, seq.) with whom he continued in the character 
of high-priest. Saul, it would appear, transferred 
the dignity of the high-priesthood from Ithamar's 
family to that of Eleazar, by conferring the office 
upon Zadok. Thus there were, at the same time, 
two high-priests in Israel ; Abiathar with David, and 
Zadok with Saul. This double priesthood continued 
from the death of Ahimelech till the reign of Solo- 
mon ; when Abiathar, attaching himself to Adonijah, 
was deprived by Solomon of his priesthood, 1 Kings 
ii. 27. The race of Zadok alone exercised this min- 
istry during and after the reign of Solomon, exclud- 
ing the family of Ithamar, according to the prediction 
made to Eli the high-priest, 1 Sam. iii. 11, &c. 

A difficulty arises from the circumstance, that in 
1 Kings ii. 27, Abiathar is said to be deprived of the 
priest's office by Solomon ; while in 2 Sam. viii. 17, 
1 Chron. xviii. 16, xxiv. 3, 6, 31, Ahimelech the son 
of Abiathar is said to be high-priest along with 
Zadok. The most probable solution is, that both 
father and son each bore the two names Ahimelech 
and Abiathar ; as was not at all unusual among the 
Jews. (See one example under Abigail.) In this 
way also we may remove the difficulty arising from 
Mark ii. 26, where Abiathar is said to have given 
David the shew bread, in allusion to 1 Sam. xxi. 1 
seq. where it is Ahimelech. — Others suppose the 
passage in Mark to be merely a Jewish mode of 
quotation, as if from the "History of Abiathar." 
This, however, does not remove the other difficulty 
mentioned above ; and there are also other objections 
to it, arising from the Greek idiom. See Kuinoel. 
Comm. II. p. 29. R. 



A B I 



AB1 



ABIB, llie first mouth of the ecclesiastical year of 
die Hebrews ; afterwards called Nisan. It answered 
to our March, or part of April. Abib signifies green 
ears of corn, or fresh fruits. It was so named, be- 
cause corn, particularly barley, was in ear at that 
time. It was an early custom to name times, such 
as months, from observation of nature ; and the cus- 
tom is still in use among many nations. So it was 
with our Saxon ancestors ; and the Germans to this 
day, along with the usual Latin names of the months, 
have also others of the above character : e. g. June 
is also called Brachmonath, or month for ploughing ; 
July, Heumonath, or Hay-month ; November, Wind- 
monath, or Wind-month, &c. See Month, and the 
Jewish Calendar. 

ABIGAIL, formerly the wife of Nabal of Car- 
mel, and afterwards of David. Upon receiving in- 
formation of Nabal's ingratitude to the king, (1 
Sam. xxv. 14, &c.) she loaded several asses with 
provisions, and, attended by some of her domestics, 
went out to meet David. Her manners and conver- 
sation gained for her his esteem, and as soon as the 
days of mourning for Nabal's death, which happened 
soon afterwards, were over, he . made her his wife. 
The issue of the marriage was, as some critics sup- 
pose, two sons, Chiliab and Daniel, (2 Sam. iii. 3 ; 1 
Chron. iii. 1.) but it is most probable that these names 
were borne by one person. 

ABIGAIL, sister of David, wife of Jether, and 
mother of Amasa, 1 Chron. ii. 16, 17. 

ABIHU, one of the two sons of Aaron who were 
destroyed by fire from heaven, for having offered in- 
cense with strange fire, instead of taking it from the 
altar of burnt-offerings, Lev. x. 1, 2. 

I. ABIJAH, son of Jeroboam, the first king of 
Israel. Having been seized with a dangerous dis- 
ease, his mother disguised herself, and visited the 
prophet Ahijah to know whether he might recover. 
Ahijah answered her that he would die, and be the 
only person in his family who would receive funeral 
honors, and be lamented by Israel, 1 Kings xiv. 1. 

II. ABIJAH, called Abijam, (] Kings xv. 1.) was 
the son of Rehoboam, and second king of Judah. 
He succeeded his father, A M. 3406, ante A. D. 958, 
and reigned three years only. In the first book of 
Kings he is described as walking in all the sins of his 
father, and as waging war with Jeroboam, king of 
Israel. But in 2 Chron. xiii. he is represented as 
professedly and boastfully zealous for the honor of 
God, and for the Levitical priesthood. He is also 
there said to have obtained a decisive victory over 
Jeroboam. 

III. ABIJAH, wife of Ahaz, and mother of Heze- 
kiah, king of Judah ; (2 Chron. xxix. 1.) called Abi, 
2 Kings xviii. 2. 

IV. ABT.TAH, a descendant of Eleazar, son of 
Aaron, and head of the eighth of the twenty-four 
companies of priests, 1 Chron. xxiv. 10 ; Luke i. 5. 

ABIJAM, the same as Abijah II. 

ABILA, or ABELA. There were several towns 
ofth is name in Syria, each of which was called by 
the Greeks, Leucas, or Leucadia, "white." But the 
principal one was a town of Coelosyria, and the cap- 
ital of Abilene, a province of which Lysanias was 
tetrarch, Luke iii. 1. It was situated in a valley, or 
rather on the rocky declivity of a mountain, adjacent 
to the river Chrysorrhoas, or Barrada, about twelve 
miles N. W. of Damascus, perhaps on the site of the 
present village Seneiah, at the foot of the hill on which 
Abel is said to have been buried. (See Abel.) If 
these rocks were whitish in color, (and most of those 




in Judea are of gray limestone,) they would furnish 
the Greeks with a reason for giving to Abila the 
name of Leucadia — "White-rock-town." Compare 
Weissenfels, i. e. White-rock, the name of a German 
city a few miles W. of Leipzig. — It is worthy of 
remark, too, that Strabo, speaking of the city of Leu- 
cadia, in Acarnania, says it was so called because of 
a great white rock in its neighborhood. 

There are several medals of Abila extant, two of 
which are of some importance, as they serve to iden- 
tify the site of the town. On the reverse of one of 
these is a large bunch of grapes, from which it is to 
be inferred that the place where it was struck abound- 
ed in vineyards. This agrees exactly with the rocky 
eminence or declivity upon which we have assumed 
it to have stood ; besides which, Eusebius and Jerom 
agree that its vineyards were very extensive and rich. 
But the most remarkable and decisive medal extant, 
is one which bears a 
half-figure of the river, 
with the inscription 
" Chrysoroas Claudiai- 
on," and on the reverse, 
a figure of Victory, and 
the inscription "Leuca- 
dion," the Greek name of the city. We may also 
remark, that Abila adding the name of Claudia to 
its other appellations, as it appears from this medal 
it did, affords a presumption that it was of some 
importance, and perhaps of considerable magnitude 
also ; and the conjecture receives confirmation from 
some antiquities and inscriptions which are mentioned 
by Pococke, as still existing in the neighborhood. 
See Mod. Traveller, vol. iii. p. 65. 

ABILENE, the name of a district of country on 
the eastern declivity of Antilibanus, from twelve to 
twenty miles N. W. of Damascus, towards Heliopolis, 
or Baalbeck ; so called from the city Abila, (which 
see,) and also called Abila, or Abilene of Lysanias, to 
distinguish it from others. This territory had for- 
merly been governed as a tetrarchate by a certain 
Lysanias, the son of Ptolemy and grandson of Men- 
naBus, (Joseph. Ant. xiv. 13. 3.) but he was put to 
death, (A. C. 36.) through the intrigues of Cleopatra, 
who took possession of his province, (ib. xiv. 4. 1.) 
After her death it fell to Augustus, who hired it out 
to a certain Zenodorus ; but as he suffered the coun- 
try to be infested with robbers, it was taken from 
him and given to Herod the Great, (Joseph. B. J. i. 
20. 4 ; Ant. xv. 10. 1.) At Herod's death, a part of 
the territory was given to Philip; but the greater 
part, with the city Abila, seems then, or shortly after- 
wards, to have been bestowed on another Lysanias, 
Luke iii. 1. He is supposed to have been a descend- 
ant of the former Lysanias, but is no where men- 
tioned by Josephus. ' Indeed, nothing is said by Jo- 
seph us, or by any other profane writer, of this part of 
Abilene, until about ten years after the time referred 
to by Luke, when Caligula gave it to Agrippa Major 
as "the tetrarchy of Lysanias," (Joseph. Ant. xviii. 
6. 10.) to whom it was afterwards confirmed by 
Claudius, (ib. xix. 5. 1.) At the death of Agrippa, it 
went, with his other possessions, to Agrippa Mi- 
nor. * R. 

I. ABIMELECH, king of Gerar of the Philistines. 
This prince, being captivated by the beauty of Sarah, 
took her into his haranr, with the design of making 
her his wife. In a dream, however, the Lord threat- 
ened him with death, unless he immediately restored 
her to her husband. Abimelech pleaded his ignorance 
of the relation between Sarah and Abram, and early 



A B I 



AHI 



the next day returned her to her husband, and com- 
plained of the deception that had been practised upon 
him by Abram, who had described Sarah as his 
sister. The patriarch explained the motives for his 
conduct, stating, at the same time, that although 
Sarah was his wife, she was also his sister, being of 
the same father by another mother. Abimelech 
dismissed them with presents, giving to Sarah, 
through her husband, a thousand pieces of silver, 
as a "covering of the eyes," i. e. an atoning present, 
and as a testimony of her innocence in the eyes of 
all, Gen. c. xx. See Abram. 

It has been thought strange that a miraculous 
interference should have been necessary here, as well 
as in the case of Pharaoh, (Gen. xii. 14 — 20.) to con- 
vince Abimelech of his criminality in detaining the 
wife of Abraham ; and equally strange that Abraham 
could not procure Sarah's release by proper applica- 
tion and request. But it must be remembered that 
God favored Abraham with his constant intercourse 
and direct protection, and in cases too of less diffi- 
culty than the one here in question. It is well known 
that oriental sovereigns in all ages have exercised the 
right of selecting the most beautiful females of their 
kingdoms for the use of their own harams, (Gen. xii. 
15 ; Esth. ii. 3.) and that whenever a woman is taken 
into the haram of a prince in the East, she is secluded, 
without possibility of coming out, at least during the 
life of the prince on the throne. In fact, communi- 
cation with the women in the haram is hardly to be 
obtained, and only by means of the keepers, (Esth. 
iv. 5.) and certainly not, when any suspicion occurs 
to the guards, to whom is intrusted the custody of 
such buildings. The whole transaction, then, may 
be placed in a stronger light than, perhaps, it has 
usually appeared in, by the following extract from a 
review of the travels of Peter Henry Bruce, Esq., an 
officer in the Russian army, under Czar Peter. 

" The retreat of the Russians, we are told, was 
productive of an unfortunate incident to Colonel Pitt, 
an officer iu that army. Immediately on decamping 
from the fatal banks of the Pruth, he lost both his 
wife and daughter, beautiful women, by the breaking 
of one of their coach wheels. By this accident, they 
were left so far in the rear, that the Tartars seized 
and carried them off. The colonel applied to the 
grand vizier, who ordered a strict inquiry to be made, 
but without effect. The colonel being afterwards 
informed that they were both carried to Constanti- 
nople, and presented to the grand signior, obtained a 
passport, and went thither in search of them. Getting 
acquainted with a Jew doctor, who was physician to 
the seraglio, the doctor told him that two such ladies 
as he described had lately been presented to the 
sultan ; but that when any of the sex were once taken 
into the seraglio, they ivere never suffered to quqt it more. 
The colonel, however, tried every expedient he could 
devise to recover his wife, if he could not obtain 
both ; until, becoming outrageous by repeated disap- 
pointments, they shut him up in a dungeon, and it 
was with much difficulty he got released by the 
intercession of some of the ambassadors at that court. 
He was afterwards told by the same doctor, that both 
the ladies had died of the plague ; with which infor- 
mation he was obliged to content himself, and return 
home!* 1 Critical Review, vol. iii. p. 332. 

II. ABIMELECH, another king of Gerar, proba- 
bly a son of the former, and contemporary with Isaac. 
Having accidentally seen Isaac caressing his wife 
Rebekah, whom he had called sister, Abimelech 
reproved him for his dissimulation ; and, at the same 



time, forbade his people to do any injury whatever 
to Isaac or to his wife. Isaac, increasing in riches 
and power, excited the envy of the Philistines; and 
Abimelech said to him, " Go from us, for thou art 
much mightier than we." Isaac, therefore, retired to 
the valley of Gerar, and afterwards to Beersheba, 
where Abimelech, with Ahuzzath, his favorite, and 
Phicol, his general, visited him. Isaac inquired, 
" Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and 
have sent me away from you?" To which Abime- 
lech replied, that observing how much he was favored 
by God, he was desirous of cultivating his friend- 
ship, and had come to make a covenant with him. 
Isaac entertained them splendidly, and the next day 
concluded a treaty with Abimelech, Gen. xxvi. 
8—31. 

III. ABIMELECH, son of Gideon by a concubine 
assumed the government of Shechem after the death 
of his father, and procured himself to be acknowl- 
edged king; first, by the inhabitants of Shechem 
where his mother's family had an interest, and after- 
wards by a great part of Israel. At Gideon's house 
in Ophrah, he killed his father's seventy sons, now 
orphans, on one stone ; the youngest, Jotham, only 
remaining, who, when the people of Shechem assem- 
bled to inaugurate Abimelech, appeared on mount 
Gerizim, and reproved them by his celebrated fable 
of the trees. (See Jotham.) After three years, dis- 
cord aiose among the Shechemites, who, reflecting 
on their injustice, and detesting the cruelty of Abim- 
elech, revolted from him in his absence, and laid an 
ambuscade in the mountains, designing to kill him 
on his return to Shechem. Of this, Abimelech 
received intelligence from Zebul, his governor of 
Shechem. The Shechemites invited Gaal to theii 
assistance, with whom, at a great entertainment, they 
uttered many imprecations against Abimelech ; who. 
having assembled some troops, marched all night 
towards Shechem. In the morning, Gaal went out 
of Shechem, and gave battle to Abimelech, but was 
defeated, and, as he was endeavoring to re-enter the 
city, Zebul repulsed him. Abimelech afterwards 
defeated the Shechemites, destroyed the city, and 
burnt their tower ; but at the attack of Thebez, a 
town about thirteen miles to the N. E., a woman 
from the top of the tower threw an upper mill-stone 
upon his head, and fractured his skull. (See Mill.) 
He immediately called his armor-bearer, and desired 
him to slay him, " that men say not of me, A woman 
slew him." Judg. ix. 

IV. ABIMELECH, a high-priest in the time of 
David, (1 Chron. xviii. 16.) the same as Ahimelech 
(2 Sam. viii. 17.) and probably the same as Abiathar, 
which see. 

I. ABIRAM, the eldest son of Hiel the Bethelite. 
Joshua, after having destroyed Jericho, uttered this 
imprecation : '" Cursed be the man before the Loi-d. 
that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho : he shall 
lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in 
his youngest son shall he set up the gate of it," Josh 
vi. 26. About 537 years after this, Hiel undertook 
to rebuild the city ; and in conformity with the pre- 
diction, he lost his children, 1 Kings xvi. 34. It is 
not expressly said, either in the curse, or in the nar- 
ration, that the children should die ; but this is clearly 
implied. Hiel, it will be observed, is not blamed for 
his proceeding; his loss is mentioned only as a 
remarkable fulfilment of a prediction ; and it is 
possible that the prediction was unknown to him. 
See Barren. 

II. ABIRAM, one of the three persons who con- 



ABO 



ABRAHAM 



spired with Korah to overthrow the authority of 
MoseS in the wilderness, and upon whom God 
inflicted an awful punishment. He was the son of 
Eliab, of the tribe of Reuben, Numb. xvi. 

ABISHAG, a beautiful virgin of Shunam, iu the 
tribe of Issachar, who was selected to cherish David 
in his old age. The king made her his wife ; but the 
marriage was never consummated. After the death 
of David, Adonijah demanded Abishag in marriage ; 
but Solomon, justly supposing that this was only a 
step towards his assumption of the regal power, 
refused his solicitation, and put him to death, 1 Kings 
i. 3 ; ii. 13—25. 

ABISHAI, son of Zeruiah, David's sister, and 
brother of Joab and Asahel, was one of the most 
valiant men of his time, and chief general in David's 
armies. He vanquished Ishbi-benob, a descendant 
of the Rephaim, the head of whose lance weighed 
300 shekels of brass, (2 Sam. xxi. 16.) and lifted up 
his spear against, and slew, 300 enemies, xxiii.'lH. 
See 2 Sam. ii. 18 ; 1 Chron. ii. 16. 

ABISHUA, son of Phinehas, fourth high-priest of 
the Hebrews; (1 Chron. vi. 50.) was succeeded by 
Bukki. The Chronicon of Alexandria places Abishua 
under Ehud, judge of Israel, Judg. iii. He is called 
Abiezer in Josephus. 

ABNER, son of Ner, uncle to Saul, and general 
of his armies, 1 Sam. xiv. 51. For seven years after 
the death of Saul he preserved the crown to Ishbo- 
sheth, the son of that prince, though generally unsuc- 
cessful in the contests that arose between his troops 
and those of David, who reigned at Hebron, in Judah. 
Ishbosheth having accused him of taking undue 
liberties with Rizpah, a concubine of Saul, Abner 
went over to David, and undertook to deliver the 
whole kingdom into his hands. In this, however, he 
was prevented, for immediately after quitting Hebron, 
for the purpose of carrying his design into effect, he 
was slain by Joab, the general of David's armies, to 
revenge the death of his brother Asahel, who had 
fallen by the hand of Abner, (2 Sam. ii. 20.) or more 
probably from jealousy. The king was deeply 
afflicted at the perfidy and cruelty of Joab, and 
attended the funeral solemnities of Abner in per- 
son. He also composed an elegy on his death, 2 
Sam. iii. 

ABOMINATION. Sin, being the reverse of the 
divine perfections and law, and the unchangeable 
object of the divine displeasure, is frequently called 
abominable, or an abomination, Isa. lxvi. 3 ; Ezek. 
xvi. 50. Idolatry and Idols are also designated abom- 
inations, not only because the worship of idols is, 
in itself, abominable, but because the ceremonies of 
idolaters were almost always attended with licentious- 
ness, and infamous and abominable actions. Shep- 
herds were an ahomination to the Egyptians, (Gen. 
xlvi. 34.) in consequence, probably, of the tyranny 
which had been exercised over them by the hycassos, 
or shepherd kings, a horde of marauders, whose 
occupations were of a pastoral kind, but who made 
a powerful irruption into Egypt, which they subdued, 
and ruled for about two centuries and a half. Ever 
after this time the persons and very name of shep- 
herds were execrated, and held in great abhorrence 
by the Egyptians. — The Hebrews were to sacrifice the 
abominations of the Egyptians, (Exod. viii. 26.) that 
is, those creatures which they venerated as the sym- 
bols of deities, and which, therefore, they could not 
have beheld slain, without the utmost indignation and 
abhorrence. Indeed their superstition was so strong, 
that even to kill by accident one of their sacred ani- 



mals, was not to be expiated but by the death of ttio 
offender. Egypt was divided into parts, each of which 
had its peculiar representative deity ; in one district a 
bull, in another a goat, in another a cat, in another 
a monkey, &c. Undoubtedly, these were strange 
creatures to receive public worship, to be adored as 
deities, or as symbols of deity ; the choice of such 
has in it, certainly, something abominable to human 
nature and feelings. 

ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, foretold 
by Daniel, (chap. ix. 27.) denotes, according to some 
interpreters, the image of Jupiter Olympius, erected 
in the temple of Jerusalem, by command of Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes, 2 Mac. vi. 2 ; and 1 Mac. vi 7. 
But, by the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of b}' 
our Lord, (Matt. xxiv. 15 ; Mark xiii. 14 A and fore- 
told as about to be seen at Jerusalem, during the last 
siege of that city by the Romans, under Titus, is 
meant the ensigns of the Roman army, with the 
images of their gods and emperors upon them, which 
surrounded the city, and were lodged in the temple 
when that and the city were taken. The evangelists 
Matthew and Mark add, " Whoso readeth let him un- 
derstand ;" hereby intimating, that this event was ap- 
proaching, though yet future, and that the reader 
would do well to retire speedily from a city which 
was thus threatened with the execution of the divine 
anger. The passages were therefore written before 
Jerusalem was destroyed, and were, no doubt, the 
means of warning many to escape the coming 
wrath. 

ABRAM, afterwards called Abraham, son of 
Terah, was born at Ur, a city of Chaldaea, A. M 
2008, ante A. D. 1996. Gen. xi. 27. He spent his 
early years in his father's house, where idols were 
worshipped. Many have supposed that he himself 
was at first a worshipper of idols, but that, God giv- 
ing him a better understanding, he renounced it, and 
on that account suffered a severe persecution from 
the Chaldeans, who threw him into a fiery furnace, 
from which God miraculously saved him. The Vul- 
gate rendering of 2 Esd. ix. 7. expresses that he was 
delivered from the fire of the Chaldeans, which the 
Jews generally believe ; although the opinion seems 
to be founded only on the ambiguity of the word 
Ur, which signifies fire, as well as the city of Ur, from 
whence God directed Abraham into the land of 
promise. It seems that Terah also was convinced 
of the vanity of idolatry, since he accompanied 
Abraham from Ur, where he was settled, to go to 
thai place whither the Lord had called him. The 
first city to which they came was Haran, in Mesopo- 
tamia, where Terah died. From thence Abraham 
went into Palestine, at that time inhabited by Canaan- 
ites. Here God promised to bless him, and to give 
him the property of the country. The patriarch, 
however, did not acquire landed property here, but 
lived and died a stranger. Some time after his ar- 
rival in Canaan, a great famine obliged him to go 
down into Egypt ; where, fearing that the Egyptians 
might be captivated with the beauty of Sarah, and 
not only force her from him, but take away his own 
life also, if they knew her to be his ivife, he deter- 
mined to call her sister. During their stay in Egypt, 
her beauty being reported to Pharaoh, he took her 
forcibly from Abraham, designing to make her one of 
his wives. God, however, afflicted him with great 
plagues, and obliged him to restore her. After the 
famine had ceased, Abraham returned to Canaan, 
accompanied by his nephew, Lot ; and pitched his 
tents between Beth-el and Hai, where he had pre- 



ABRAHAM [ 8 ] ABRAHAM 



viously raised an altar. But, as both Abraham and 
Lot had large flocks, they could not conveniently 
dwell together, and therefore separated ; Lot retiring 
to Sodom, and Abraham to the plain of Mamre, near 
Hebron, Gen. xii. xiii. 

Some years after this, Lot being taken prisoner by 
Chedorlaomer and his allies, then warring against 
the kings of Sodom, and the neighboring places, 
Abraham with his household pursued the conquer- 
ors, overtook and defeated them at Dan, near the 
springs of Jordan, and retook the spoil, together 
with Lot. At his return, passing near Salem, (sup- 
posed to be the city afterwards called Jerusalem,) 
Melchisedek, king of that city, and priest of the 
Most High God, came out and blessed him, and pre- 
sented him with bread and wine for his own refresh- 
ment and that of his army ; or, as some have thought, 
offered bread and wine to God, as a sacrifice of 
thanksgiving on Abraham's behalf. 

After this, the Lord renewed his promises to Abra- 
ham, with fresh assurances that he should possess the 
land of Canaan, and that his posterity should be as 
numerous as the stars of heaven. 

As Abraham had no children, and could no longer 
expect any by his wife Sarah, he complied with her 
solicitations, and took her servant Hagar as a wife ; 
imagining, that if he should have children by her, 
God might perform the promises which he had made 
to him of a numerous posterity. Soon after her 
marriage, Hagar, finding she had conceived, assumed 
a superiority over her mistress, and treated her with 
contempt; but Sarah complained to Abraham, who 
told her that Hagar was still her servant. Hagar, 
therefore, being harshly treated by Sarah, fled ; but 
an angel, appearing to her in the wilderness, com- 
manded her to return to her master, and to submit to 
her mistress's authority. Hagar therefore returned, 
and gave birth to Ishmael, Gen. xiv. 

Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael, the Lord 
renewed his covenant and promises with Abraham, 
changing his name from Abram, or an elevated father, 
to Abraham, or father of a great multitude ; and the 
name of Sarai, my princess, into Sarah, the princess ; 
that is, of many ; no longer confined to one. As a 
token and confirmation of the covenant now entered 
into, he enjoined Abraham to be himself circum- 
cised, and to circumcise all the males in his family. 
He also promised him a son by Sarah, his wife, to be 
born within a year, Gen. xvii. 

The enormous sins of Sodom, Gomorrha, and the 
neighboring cities, being now filled up, three angels 
were sent to inflict upon them the divine vengeance. 
Abraham, sitting at the door of his tent, in the valley 
of Mamre, saw three persons walking by ; and, with 
true oriental hospitality, immediately invited them to 
take refreshment, washed their feet, and hasted to 
prepare them meat. When they had eaten, they 
asked for Sarah. Abraham answering that she was 
in her tent, one of them said, " I will certainly return 
unto thee, according to the time of life, and lo ! 
Sarah thy wife shall have a son." Upon hearing this, 
Sarah laughed ; but one of the angelic visitors rebuked 
her unbelief, by remarking, " Wherefore did Sarah 
laugh ? Is any thing too hard for the Lord ? In a 
year I will return, as I promised, and Sarah shall 
have a son," Gen. xviii. 1 — 19. 

When the angels were ready to depart, Abraham 
accompanied them towards Sodom, whither two of 
them (who proved ro be divine messengers) continued 
their journey. The third remained with Abraham, 
and informed him of the approaching destruction of 



Sodom and Gomorrha. Abraham interceded, pray- 
ing, that if fifty righteous persons were found therein, , 
the city should be spared ; he reduced the number 
gradually to ten ; but this number could not be found, 
or God, in answer to his prayers, would have averted 
his design. Lot, being the only righteous person in 
the city, was preserved from the calamity that de- 
stroyed it, Gen. xviii. xix. See Lot. 

Sarah having conceived, according to the divine 
promise, Abraham left the plain of Mamre, and went 
south, to Gerar, where Abimelech reigned ; and again, 
fearing that Sarah might be forced from him, and 
himself be put to death, he called her here, as he had 
done in Egypt, sister. (See Abimelech I.) Abime- 
lech took her to his house, designing to marry her ; 
but God having in a dream informed him that she 
was Abraham's wife, he restored her with great 
presents. Sarah was this year delivered of Isaac 
whom Abraham circumcised according to the cove- 
nant stipulation. For several years the two wives 
and the two children continued to live together ; but 
at length Ishmael became apparently jealous of the 
affection shown to Isaac by his father, so that Sarah 
insisted that he and his mother should be dismissed 
the family. After very great reluctance, Abraham 
complied ; as God informed him that it was according 
to the appointments of Providence, lor the future 
ages of the world. About the same time, Abimelech 
came with Phicol, his general, to conclude an al- 
liance with Abraham, who made that prince a present 
of seven ewe-lambs out of his flock, in consideration 
that a well he had opened should be his own prop- 
erty ; and they called the place Beer-sheba, or " the 
well of swearing," because of the covenant there 
ratified with oaths. Here Abraham planted a grove, 
built an altar, and resided some time, Gen. xx. xxi. 

About the year A. M. 2133, God directed Abra- 
ham to sacrifice his son Isaac, on a mountain which 
he would show him. Obedient to the divine com 
mand, Abraham took his son, and two servants, and 
went towards mount Moriah, ou which the temple 
afterwards stood. On their journey, Isaac said to 
his father, " Behold the fire and the wood, but where 
is the victim for a burnt-offering ?" Abraham 
answered, that God would provide one. When they 
arrived within sight of the mountain, Abraham left 
his servants, and ascended it with his son only. Hav- 
ing bound Isaac, he prepared to sacrifice him ; but 
when about to give the blow, an angel from heaven 
cried out to him, " Lay not thine hand upon the lad, 
neither do thou any thing to him. Now I know 
that thou fearest God, since to obey him thou hast 
not spared thine only son." Upon looking round 
him, Abraham saw a ram entangled in the bushes by 
his horns, which he offered as a burnt-offering, in- 
stead of his son Isaac. He called the place Jehovah- 
jireh, or the Lord will see, or provide, Gen. xxii. 
1—14. 

Several years afterwards, Sarah died in Helton, 
where Abraham came to mourn for her, and to per- 
form the funeral offices. He addressed the people 
at the city gate, entreating them to allow him to bury 
his wife among them ; for, being a stranger, and hav- 
ing no land of his own, he could claim no right of 
interment in any sepulchre of that country. He, 
therefore, bought of Ephron, one of the inhabitants, 
the field of Machpelah, with the cave and sepulchre 
in it, at the price of four hundred shekels of silver, 
(about $200 ;) and buried Sarah with due solemni- 
ties, according to the custom of the country, Gen 
xxiii. 



A.BKAHAM 



[9] 



ABRAHAM 



Abraham, being reminded by this occurrence, 
probably, of his own great age, and the consequent 
uncertainty of his life, became solicitous to sec ure ar 
alliance between Isaac and a female branch of his 
own family. Eliezer his steward was therefore sent 
into Mesopotamia, to fetch from the country and 
kindred of Abraham a wife for his son Isaac. Eli- 
ezer executed his commission with prudence, and 
returned with Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, grand- 
daughter of Nahor, and, consequently, Abraham's 
niece. The life of the patriarch was prolonged for 
many years after this event, and he died at the age 
of 175 years. He was buried by his sons Isaac and 
Ishmael, in the cave of Machpelah, where he had 
deposited the remains of his beloved Sarah, Gen. 
xxiv. xxv. A. M. 2133, ante A. D. 1821. 

It appears from the thread of the sacred narrative, 
that Abraham took Keturah by marriage, and had by 
her six sons — Zimrau, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ish- 
bak, and Shuah — after the death of Sarah, Gen. xxv. 
1. This, however, is in itself improbable, his age at 
that time being 137 years, and his infirmity, long be- 
fore, such as to render it highly improbable that he 
would have any children. On these grounds, it has 
been thought that he married Keturah while Sarah 
was living, and that the words may be rendered, in 
the pluperfect tense, " and Abraham had added, and 
taken a wife." It is worthy of remark, in support 
of this interpretation, that 1 Chron. i. 32, 33. places 
the sons of Keturah before Isaac, and calls her con- 
cubine, which would hardly have been the case had 
she been his legitimate wife, taken after the death of 
Sarah. 

In reviewing the history of this eminent patriarch, 
there are several tilings worthy attentive considera- 
tion. 

1. Abraham is introduced rather abruptly in the 
sacred Scriptures ; — "And Jehovah said to Abram ;" 
(Gen. xii. 1.) but it may rationally be concluded, that 
before a man would undertake a long, fatiguing, and 
uncertain journey, at the command of another, he 
would be well assured of the authority which com- 
manded him. It seems reasonable, therefore, to in- 
fer, that God had previously spoken to Abraham — 
perhaps often, though by what means Ave know not. 
However, we learn from other sources of informa- 
tion besides the Scriptures, that about this time Chal- 
dea became polluted with idolatry ; and it is therefore 
most probable that a principal reason for Abraham's 
quitting his own country, was his dread of this evil. 
At that time idolatry was not equally prevalent in 
Egypt ; and the countries which were distant from 
the great cities, or had but little intercourse with 
them, were still less infected with it. This accounts 
for Abraham's travelling northward, instead of taking 
the direct road, which communicated through 
Canaan, between Babylon and Egypt. Undoubtedly, 
the providence of God called Abraham, for his own 
personal quiet, and that of his family, to seek a 
country less polluted than the dominions of Nimrod; 
and so far, no doubt, he may be said to have had a 
divine direction ; but every thing leads to the con- 
clusion, that he had also an express direction to the 
same purpose. 

2. Previous to his journey, Abraham was a man of 
property, Gen. xii. 5. He was no adventurer for a 
fortune, but was already rich in worldly wealth ; and 
had many dependants, most of whom, probably, ac- 
companied him to his new residence. The dignity 
and power of Abraham are incidentally stated in the 
story of his rescuing Lot. He must have been a 

2 



I man of no trifling possessions, who had three hun- 
| dred and eighteen servants born among his property, 
i whom he could entrust with arms, Gen. xiv. 14. It 
implies, that he also had many not born in his house, 
but bought with his money ; some also, doubtless, 
were old ; some were women, and some children : 
these together make a considerable tribe. In fact, 
Abraham appears to correspond exactly to a modern 
emir ; to possess many of the rights of sovereignty 
in no small degree ; and to be little other than an 
independent prince, even while dwelling on the terri- 
tories of sovereign princes, who greatly esteemed 
him. 

3. As the incident of Abraham calling Sarah sister 
is liable to ambiguity, and has suffered by being 
placed in false lights, to the greater discredit of Abra- 
ham than is just or necessary, a few thoughts may 
be well bestowed on it. It has been affirmed by 
some writers, that by this conduct Abraham exposed 
Sarah to the danger of adultery ; and that she seemed 
too easily to consent, by passing for his sister, and not 
his wife. In Abraham, there is thought to have been 
lying, disguise, and too great easiness in hazarding 
his wife's chastity ; and in her, too great forwardness 
of compliance. Chrysostom, who seriously en- 
deavored to excuse him, acknowledges, that the 
patriarch exposed Sarah to the danger of adultery ; 
and that she consented to this danger, to save the 
life of her husband. It deserves consideration, how- 
ever, how far this might be a custom derived from 
the earliest ages of mankind ; for as in the first, so 
also in the second infancy of the human race, the 
relations of life were so very few, and so very inti 
mate, that it was little short of inevitable for the 
nearest in blood to intermarry ; and it is by no means 
incredible, that some families had made a point of 
maintaining themselves distinct from others, by this 
custom ; and that they chose to be thus restricted to 
the branches of their own family, (cousins, &c.) as 
afterwards among the Jews the restriction was en- 
larged to their own tribe. Augustine makes an 
apology for Abraham, saying, 1st. That he did not 
lie, by describing Sarah as his sister, as indeed she 
was ; he only concealed a truth which he was not 
obliged to discover, by not calling her his wife. 2dly. 
That being exposed at the same time to two dangers, 
one of losing his life, the other of having his wife 
taken from him, and not being able to avoid either 
by acknowledging her as his wife, but thinking it at 
least probable that he should escape death, by ac- 
knowledging her for his sister ; of two evils he chose 
what seemed to him the least. — But, independent of 
these considerations, it should be recollected, that 
every nation, and often every family, has its own 
manners ; which appear not merely singular, but un- 
couth, to those not accustomed to them, and which, 
occasionally, are mistaken by casual observers. It is 
not usual in England, nor does it appear to have 
been so in Egypt, or in Canaan, for a husband to call 
his wife sister ; but it seems to have been customary 
among the Hebrew families to use this term, and 
others of near consanguinity, for a more general re- 
lation than they strictly import, (see Father, 
Brother, Sister,) and also for a wife, a companion. 
— For example : We find Abram twice using this 
mode of speech, and twice experiencing the same 
inconvenience from it. We find Isaac using the 
same appellation, with at least equal apparent art, 
and under the same apprehension, in the same place 
where Abram had used it. We recollect no other 
instances equally ancient ; but it is observable, that 



ABRAHAM 



L 10 I 



ABRAHAM 



the bridegroom, in the Canticles, does not call his 
bride wife, but always sister. Now, whatever allow- 
iinees, or of whatever kind, the poetical style may 
require ; or whatever liberties of speech it may take, 
it must at least possess, as essential to it, a corres- 
pondence to the manners it depicts. This mode of 
address, then, was certainly founded on those man- 
ners. In later ages, we find Tobias calling his wife 
sister ; (Tobit viii. 4.) " Sister, arise, and let us pray :" 
— and verse 7, " I take not this my sister for lust." 
These instances tend to prove, that it was nothing 
unusual for husbands to express affection for their 
wives, by calling them sister in familiarity, and in 
private. To return to Abraham : there seems to be 
no necessity for supposing, that the use of this appel- 
lation commenced when Abraham was about to enter 
Egypt with Sarah. It was his general request long 
before \ (Gen. xx. 13.) but he now again desired 
Sarah to use the title brother, (as had been customary 
between them in private,) in ordinary discourse, when 
speaking to him, or of him, to the Egyptian women, 
with whom she might converse. What these Egyp- 
tian women reported of her beauty and manners, 
with such accidental sight of her as might occur to 
the chief officers of Pharaoh's house, induced Pha- 
raoh to take her into his palace, and give her apart- 
ments in his haram; but it does not appear that he 
ever saw her. Thus Sarah's calling Abraham brother, 
was as likely to have been the immediate cause of 
her being taken from him, as his calling her sister. — 
That Icing's conduct, or at least the behavior of his 
officers, seems too much to justify Abraham's sus- 
picions of the Egyptian manners. On the whole, so 
far as relates to this transaction in Egypt, while it is 
admitted, that the fear of Abraham induced him to use 
art and management, it must be equally admitted, 
that his fear was too well founded. Nor does it seem 
to have overcome his faith, as some have said ; nor 
to have put him out °f tne regular custom of his 
life ; but to have suggested what he thought a pru- 
dential application in public of what had been his 
custom in private, though, perhaps, by this very pru- 
dence, he ran at least as great a risk from the anger 
of Pharaoh, when he dismissed him without delay, 
as he might have done, had he trusted entirely to the 
ordinary course of things, and followed the simple 
path of his duty. The same effects seem connected 
with the same circumstances in the story of Abime- 
lech, Gen. xx. 2. See Abimelech I. , 

4. However customary a plurality of wives might 
be among the nations around him, Abraham took no 
other wife than that of his youth ; and this, as it 
should seem, from his very great affection for Sarah. 
His connexion with Hagar was not proposed by him- 
self, but by Sarah ; and Abraham in that yielded to her 
wishes, rather than to his own. The same we find 
practised by Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob, 
who gave, their handmaids to their husband, and 
considered themselves as having children by this 
substitution. (See Adoption.) As to Abraham's 
treatment of Hagar, it may appear, that after she had 
become his wife, he ought not to have left her so en- 
tirely under the power of Sarah ; but it is evident 
that the sending away of Ishmael and his mother ap- 
peared hard to Abraham himself; nor did he com- 
ply with the demands of Sarah, till after he had ob- 
tained the divine sanction ; with a renewal of the 
promise of divine protection to Ishmael. See H*.gar, 
and Ishmael. 

5. The covenant made with Abraham is a subject 
well worthy of consideration, whether as it regards 



the solemnity, the occasion, or the provisions of it. 
Its history is related in two parts ; the first is previous 
to the birth of Ishmael; the second, previous to the 
birth of Isaac. The first foretells, that Abraham 
should have a numerous posterity, and that lie need 
not make a stranger his heir : the second promises 
a son by Sarah, with whom the covenant was to 
be established. (For the ceremonies of the cove- 
nant, see Covenant.) Regarding the provisions of 
the covenant, we may notice, (1.) The posterity of 
Abraham. His family has, from remote antiquity, 
been extremely numerous ; from him are derived 
many tribes of Arabs, descending through Ishmael, 
and others by Keturah, to say nothing of the Jews; 
neither has there been on the face of the earth, since 
Noah and his sons, any man whose posterity is 
equally extensive, — any man to whom so many nations 
refer their origin. Others may have begotten fami- 
lies, but Abraham is the father of nations. (2.) The 
change of names, Abram into Abraham, and Sarai 
into Sarah. (3.) The sign of the covenant — circum- 
cision. This had reference to posterity. See Cir- 
cumcision. 

6. The history of Abraham's entertaining the an- 
gels, deserves, and iy capable of, illustration. We 
find the patriarch, like a modern hospitable Arab of 
dignity, sitting in the door of his tent, in the heat of 
the day ; where a stream of refreshing air passed 
through, and where the shade was comfortable and 
refreshing. He was not, however, so selfish or so 
indolent, but that at the sight of strangers, travelling 
during those sultry hours, he felt for their fatigue. 
He did not wait till they approached him, as if he 
valued his ease more than their entertainment, but 
ran towards them, invited and pressed them to par- 
take of hospitality, and then hastily (disregarding the 
heat of the day, now he could serve his company) 
accommodated them, and stood by them under the 
trees, while they ate. He gave them a repast ac- 
counted noble, a liberal meal; and that his guests 
might want for nothing, he himself attended them. 
Such is still the hospitality, and such the politeness, 
of the East. 

[The extent of oriental hospitality may properly 
be here illustrated by the following extracts from dis- 
tinguished modern travellers. 

Niebuhr, in his Description of Arabia, (p. 46, 
Germ, ed.) says, " The hospitality of the Arabs is 
celebrated of old ; and I believe that the present 
Arabs are not behind their ancestors in the practice 
of this virtue. — A mere traveller, who wished to visit 
a sheik of rank in the desert, might expect, accord- 
ing to oriental custom, to live at the expense of the 
sheik during his stay, and perhaps to receive a pres- 
ent at his departure. — In some of the villages, there 
are free caravanseras, or taverns, where all travellers 
may have lodging, food, and drink, for some days, 
without charge ; provided they will put up with the 
common fare of the Arabs; and these houses are 
much frequented. I myself, in my journey from 
Loheia to Beit el Fakih, was for several hours in 
such a public house in the village Meneyre, with all 
my fellow-travellers, servants, camel-drivers, and ass- 
drivers. The sheik of this village, who supported 
the house, was not only so civil as to come to us 
himself, and cause a better meal than usual to be set 
before us, but he also besought us to remain with 
him for the night." 

The following is more specific, from La Roque - 
(Voyage dans la Palest., p. 124 seq.) "When strangers 
enter a village where they know no one, they inquire 



ABRAHAM 



ABRAHAM 



for the Menzel, (or house for the reception of stran- 
gers,) and desire to speak to the sheik, who is the 
lord of it ; after saluting him, they signify their want 
of a dinner, or of a supper and lodging in the village. 
The sheik says they are welcome, and that they 
could not do him a greater pleasure. — But they sel- 
dom have occasion for all this ; for as soon as the 
people of the village see any strangers coming, they 
inform the sheik of it, who goes to meet them, and 
having saluted them, asks if they would dine in the 
village, or whether they choose to stay the whole 
night there. If they answer they would only eat a 
morsel, and go forward, and that they choose to stay 
under some tree a little out of the village, the sheik 
goes or sends his people into the village, to cause a 
collation to be brought, and in a little time they re- 
turn with eggs, butter, curds, honey, olives, fruit, 
fresh or dried, according to the season. If it is even- 
ing, and the strangers would lodge in the village, the 
women of the sheik's house never fail to cause fowls, 
sheep, lambs, or a calf to be killed and prepared, — 
which they send to the Menzel by the sheik's ser- 
vants." 

To the same purpose is the ensuing extract from 
Burckhardt, (Travels in Syria, p. 384.) describing his 
visit to the little city of Kerek, in the region east of 
the Dead Sea. " They have eight Menzels for the 
reception of guests. When a stranger takes up his 
lodging at one of these, one of the people present 
declares that he intends to furnish that day's enter- 
tainment, and it is then his duty to provide a dinner 
or supper, which he sends to the Menzel, and which 
is always sufficient for a large company. A goat or 
Iamb is generally killed on the occasion ; and barley 
for the guest's horse is also furnished When a 
stranger enters the town, the people almost come to 
blows with one another in their eagerness to have 
him for their guest ; and there are Turks, who every 
other day kill a goat for this hospitable purpose." 

In Carnes's Letters from the East, (i. p. 283.) we 
also find the following account : " We were belated 
a few miles from Acre, and were obliged to stop at 
an Arab" village on a hill ; and, on entering the rude 
and dirty khan, found it filled with the inhabitants. — 
In a short time, the sheik stepped up, and civilly 
invited us to lodge in his house, which we very 
gladly acceded to. He asked if his women should 
prepare a repast for us, or if we chose to dress it 
ourselves. On our preferring the former, in about 
an hour a very decent meal made its appearance." 

" Abraham," remarks Dr. Richardson, " was a Be- 
douin ; and I never saw a fine, venerable looking 
sheik busied among his flocks and herds, that it did 
not remind me of the holy patriarch himself." *R. 

But to return to Abraham. To obtain accurate 
ideas of this story, it may be further observed, that 
these guests were eating, not in the tent of Abra- 
ham, but under the shadow of the oaks : that Abra- 
ham's tent was not the same as Sarah's tent, but 
placed at some little distance from it, as is the custom 
in the East ; and also, that his guests gradually dis- 
covered themselves to Abraham. " Where is Sarah 
thy wife ?" How should entire strangers know his 
wife, and her name? and wherefore interfere in his 
domestic matters ? " Sarah," says Abraham, " is in 
her tent." No doubt this excited Sarah's attention ; 
—to which purpose it was adapted, and for which 
it was intended. Then one of them continued, 
" When I come this way again next year, I shall 
find her better engaged ; she will not then be so 
much at leisure, but be caressing a son." Such may 



be thought the import of the expressions, freely 
taken. On hearing this, Sarah laughed; (Gen. xviii. 
1 — 12.) probably from a notion that the speaker knew 
nothing about her. Then, for the first time, " the 
Lord" speaks, reasoning, th»t the Lord could do any 
thing ; and repeating, that Sarah should have a son. 
Thus, by Sarah's detection, a token of some extra- 
ordinary person as the speaker was given to her 
and to Abraham ; and the circumstances, though not 
altogether miraculous as yet, are well calculated to 
excite attention and apprehension in the minds of 
those interested ; especially if Abraham, who had 
so lately received the covenant from God, understood 
any allusion to it, or any confirmation of it, under 
these ambiguous expressions, which greatly resem- 
ble those used not long before ; if so, then by this 
time he might begin to discern something of the dig- 
nity of his guests. At least, he must now have re- 
garded his guests as extraordinary personages ; but 
what has passed hitherto, does not demonstrate that 
they were super-human. Abraham, therefore, pleas- 
ed and interested with their conversation, probably 
desirous of further information, as also of doing 
honor to his courteous and well-wishing guests, ac- 
companied them a part of the way towards Sodom ; 
and about the dusk of the evening, when the day 
was closing, he perceived on one who staid with him, 
the others having departed, those splendid tokens, 
brightening as darkness came on, which designated 
a celestial being. Some have thought, that beside 
the person spoken to, the Shekinah appeared : it 
might be so ; but it seems more probable, that this 
person gradually suffered the radiance of the sacred 
Shekinah to appear, and, without leading Abraham 
to suppose he had seen Jehovah, might yet convince 
his mind, that he had seen his commissioned mes- 
senger. If such honors might be gained by hospi- 
tality, the apostle was right to recommend it, by the 
example of such as had unawares entertained an- 
gels. Such an afternoon, such an evening, amply re- 
paid the most liberal hospitality ! Heb. xiii. 2. This 
kind of ambiguity, brightening into certainty, seems 
well suited to the circumstances of the subsequent 
conversation between Abraham and his glorious 
visitor. Had Abraham conceived that he was speak- 
ing immediately to Jehovah, that had left no room 
fbr reasoning, or representation ; and he could not 
address a mere stranger-traveller, a mere casual, un- 
distinguished guest, by such honorable terms as he 
bestows on the person with whom he discourses. 
The principle of thus representing this part of the 
history, seems to be confirmed by the accuracy of 
distinction preserved in i.^e original. The narration 
says, " Abraham stood before Jehovah," (ver. 22,) 
"and Jehovah s.pake." ver. 26, &c. Abraham, 
however, never uses this term in addressing this 
person, but merely ,/ldonai, "Behold I have spoken 
to Adonai," ver. 27, &c. Probably, therefore, here 
is a further instance of the " unawaredness" with 
which Abraham entertained angels ; since, though 
he perceived the dignity of his guest to be great, it 
was, in reality, much greater than he understood. 
He saw the human exterior of this appearance fully ; 
but the interior, or super-human, he saw very imper- 
fectly and ambiguously ; as, indeed, human nature 
could see it no otherwise. 

7. Abraham's faith, respecting his son Isaac, when 
commanded to offer him for a burnt-sacrifice, has 
been so often urged and illustrated, as to need no en- 
largement hei;e. — We may, however, remark, that 
Abraham, under these circumstances — as having a 



ABRAHAM 



ABSALOM 



son in his old age, born after the covenant, and in 
consequence of that alliance, on whose issue de- 
pended invaluable promises, who was now arrived 
at man's estate, who was his heir, who was his 
mother's favorite — must have been well convinced, 
that he followed no idle phantasy, no illusive injunc- 
tion, in proposing to slay him. The common feel- 
ings of human nature, the uncommon feelings of 
the aged patriarch, all protested against such a deed. 
The length of the journey, the interval of time, the 
discourse of Isaac, all augmented the anguish of the 
parent ; unless that parent were well satisfied in Ids 
own mind, that he acted in obedience to authority 
fully and completely divine. 

8. The Orientals, Indians, and Infidels, as well as 
Christians and Mahommedans, have preserved some 
knowledge of Abraham, and highly commend his 
character. See D'Herbelot, Bib. Orient, p. 12. 
Indeed, a history of his life, though it would 
be highly fanciful, might easily be compiled from 
their traditions. The Persian magi believe him to 
have been the same with their founder, Zerdoust, or 
Zoroaster ; while the Zabians, their rivals and oppo- 
nents, lay claim to a similar honor. Some have 
affirmed "that he reigned at Damascus ; (Nicol. Da- 
masc. apud Joseph, lib. i. cap. 7. Justin, lib. xxxvi.) 
— that he dwelt long in Egypt ; (Artapan. et Eupo- 
lem. apud Euseb. Prapar. lib. ix. cap. 17, 18.) — that 
he taught the Egyptians astronomy and arithmetic ; 
(Joseph. Antiq. lib. i. cap. 8.) — that he invented let- 
ters and the Hebrew language, (Suidas in Abraham,) 
or the characters of the Syrians and Chaldeans; (Isi- 
dor. Hispal. Origg. lib. i. cap. 3.) — that he was the 
author of several works ; among others, of the fa- 
mous book entitled Jezira, or the Creation, a work 
mentioned in the Talmud, and greatly valued by 
some Rabbins ; but those who have examined it 
without prejudice, speak of it with contempt. In 
the first ages of Christianity, the heretics called Se- 
thians published "Abraham's Revelations;" (Epi- 
phan. Hceres, 39. cap. 5.) Athanasius, in his Synopsis, 
speaks of the " Assumption of Abraham ;" and Origen 
(in Luc. Homil. 35.) notices an apocryphal book of 
Abraham's, wherein two angels, one good, the other 
bad, dispute concerning his damnation or salvation. 
The Jews (Rab. Selem. in Bava Bathra, cap. 1.) at- 
tribute to him the Morning Prayer, the 89th Psalm-, 
a Treatise on Idolatry, and other works. — The author- 
ities on all these points, and for still other traditions 
respecting Abraham, may be found collected in Fa- 
bricii Cod. Pseudepigr. V. T. I. p. 344 seq. 

We are informed (article Ben Scholman, D'Her- 
belot) that, A. D. 1119, Abraham's tomb was discov- 
ered near Hebron, in which Jacob, likewise, and 
Isaac, were interred. The bodies, were found en- 
tire, and many gold and silver lamps were found in 
the place. The Mahommedans have so great a respect 
for his tomb, that they make it their fourth pilgrim- 
age (the three others beintf Mecca, Medina, and Jeru- 
salem.) (See Hebron.) The Christians built a church 
over the cave of Machpelah, where Abraham was 
buried ; which the Turks have changed into a 
mosque, and forbidden Christians from approaching. 
(Quaresm. Ehnid. torn. ii. page 772.) The supposed 
oak of Mamre, where Abraham received the three 
angels, was likewise honored by Christians, as also 
by the Jews and Pagans. 

Our Saviour assures us, that Abraham desired 
earnestly to see his day ; and that he saw it, and was 
glad, John viii. 56. Elsewhere, he represents the 
happiness of the righteous as a sitting with Abraham, 



Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven ; (Matt 
viii. 11.) also a reception into Abraham's bosom, as 
into a place of rest, opposed to the misery of hell, 
Luke xvi. 22. 

The emperor Alexander Severus, who knew Abra- 
ham only by the wonders which the Jews and Chris- 
tians related of him, conceived so high an idea of 
him, that he ranked him, with Jesus Christ, among 
his gods. Lamprid. in Severe 

ABSALOM, son of David, by Maacah, was the 
handsomest man in Israel, and had the finest head 
of hair, 2 Sam. xiv. 25. When his hah was cut at a 
certain time, because it incommoded him, its weight 
was 200 shekels, by the Icing's standard ; that is, 
probably, about 30 ounces — an extraordinary, but not 
incredible, weight. Amnon, another of the king's 
sous, having violated his sister Tamar, Absalom re- 
solved to revenge her dishonor, but for some time 
had no opportunity to carry his design into effect. 
At the end of two years, however, he invited all the 
royal family to a shearing-feast, at Baal-hazor, where 
Amnon was assassinated by his direction. Appre- 
hensive of his father's displeasure, Absalom retired 
to Geshur, where he continued for three years, under 
the protection of the king, his grandfather, 2 Sam. 
xiii. Joab having procured David's consent, Absa- 
lom returned to Jerusalem, although lie was not per- 
mitted to come into the presence of the king. For 
two years he remained in disgrace, but at length 
David, at die intercession of Joab, again received him 
into favor, ch. xiv. 

Absalom now, considering himself as presumptive 
heir to the crown, set up a magnificent equipage ; 
and every morning came to the palace gate, where, 
calling to him familiarly all who had business, and 
came to demand justice, he kindly inquired into then 
case, insinuated the great difficulty of obtaining their 
suits, and thus by degrees alienated the hearts of the 
people from his father, and attached them to him- 
self. When he thought he might openly declare 
himself, he desired permission from the king to go 
to Hebron, under pretence of performing seipe vow, 
which he had made during his abode at Geshur, 2 
Sam. xv. 1 — 9. He went, therefore, to Hebron, at- 
tended by two hundred men, who followed him 
without the least knowledge of his rebellious design. 
At the same time, he sent emissaries throughout 
Israel, with orders to sound the trumpet, and pro- 
claim that Absalom was king at Hebron. There 
was soon a great resort of people to him, and he was 
acknowledged by the major part of the nation. Da- 
vid and his officers fled from Jerusalem, whither 
Absalom immediately went, and was received as 
king. Ahithophel advised him publicly to abuse his 
father's concubines, to convince the people that the 
breach was beyond reconciliation, and also, that 
troops might be sent instantly in pursuit of David : 
but Hushai, David's friend, who feigned to follow the 
popular party, diverted him from con plying with 
this counsel, 2 Sam. xv. 10 seq. 

The next day, Absalom inarched against David 
with all his forces, and has'ing crossed the Jordan, 
prepared to attack the king, his father. David put 
his troops under the command of Joab ; the rebel 
army was routed, and 20,000 were killed. Absa- 
lom, mounted on a mule, fled through the forest of 
Ephraim, where, passing under an oak, his hair be- 
came entangled in the branches, and his mule, going 
swiftly, left him suspended. A soldier informed 
Joab of the occurrence, who took three darts, and 
thrust them through Absalom's heart; and while he 



A BY 



[ 13 ] 



ACC 



was yet breathing, and hanging on the oak, ten of 
Joab's armor-bearers also smote him. His body was 
. cast into a pit, and a heap of stones raised over; it, 
2 Sam. xviii. 1 — 17. 

Absalom, having lost his children, and being de- 
sirous to perpetuate his name in Israel, erected a 
pillar in the king's valley, 2 Sam. xviii. 18. Josephus 
says (Ant. vii. 10. 3.) it was a marble column, stand- 
ing about two furlongs from Jerusalem. A monu- 
ment bearing his name, is still shown in the valley 
of Jehoshaphat, but is evidently not of ancient origin. 

ABSTINENCE, a voluntary and religious for- 
bearance of any thing towards which there is an in- 
clination ; but generally spoken of with regard to 
forbearance from necessary food. Many persons 
have supposed, that the antediluvians abstained from 
wine, and from flesh as food, because the Scripture 
expressly notices, that Noah, after the deluge, began 
to plant a vineyard, and that God permitted him to 
eat flesh ; (Gen. ix. 3. 20.) whereas he gave Adam 
no other food than herbs and fruits, i. 29. But the 
contrary opinion is supported by Calmet and other 
interpreters, who believe, that men, before the deluge, 
abstained from neither wine nor flesh. The Scrip- 
tures certainly represent violence as being the pre- 
vailing crime before the deluge ; that is, the unjusti- 
fiable taking away of human life : and the precepts 
given to Noah against the shedding of blood, seem to 
confirm this idea. The Institutes of Menu inform 
us, that animal food was originally used only after sac- 
rifice, and as a participation consequent upon that rite. 

The Mosaic law ordained, that the priests should 
abstain from wine during the time they were em- 
ployed in the temple-service, Lev. x. 9. The same 
abstinence was enjoined on Nazarites, during the 
whole time of their separation, Numb. vi. 3, 4. The 
Jews abstain from several sorts of animals, specified 
by the law ; as do several other nations. (See Ani- 
mals.) Among the primitive Christians, some ab- 
stained from meats prohibited by the law, and from 
flesh sacrificed to idols ; — others disregarded such for- 
bearance, and used their Christian liberty. Paul has 
given his opinion concerning this, in 1 Cor. viii. 7 — 
10. and Rom. xiv. 1 — 3. The council of Jerusalem, 
held by the apostles, enjoined believers, converted 
from heathenism, to abstain from blood, from meats 
strangled, from fornication, and from idolatry, Acts 
xv. 20. 

Paul says, (1 Cor. ix. 25.) that wrestlers, in order 
to obtain a corruptible crown, abstain from all things ; 
or from every thing which might weaken them. In 
' ' First Epistle to Timothy, (iv. 3.) he blames cer- 
< heretics, who condemned marriage, and the use 
of meats, which God hath created. He requires 
Christians to abstain from all appearance of evil ; (1 
Thess. v. 22.) and, with much stronger reason, from 
every thing really evil, and contrary to religion and 
piety. 

ABYSS, or Deep. (1.) Hell, the place of punish- 
ment, the bottomless pit, Luke viii. 31 ; Rev. ix. 1 ; 
xi. 7, &c. (2.) The common receptacle of the dead ; 
the grave, the deep (or depths of the) earth, under 
which the body being deposited, the state of the soul 
corresponding thereto, still more unseen, still deeper, 
still further distant from human inspection, is that 
remote country, that " bourn from whence no trav- 
eller returns." See Rom. x. 7. (3.) The deepest 
parts of the sea, Ps. lxviii. 22 ; cvii. 26. (4.) The 
chaos, which, in the beginning of the world, was 
unformed and vacant, Gen. i. 2. 

The Hebrews were of opinion (as are many of the 



orientals) that the abyss, the sea and waters, encom- 
passed the whole earth ; that the earth floated upon 
the abyss, like a melon swimming on and in the 
water. They believe that the earth was founded 
upon the waters, (Psalm xxiv. 2 ; xxxiii. 6, 7 ; cxxxvi. 
6.) or, at least, that it had its foundation on the abyss. 
Their Sheol, however, or place of the dead, is in the 
interior of the earth, in those dark dungeons, where 
the prophets describe the kings of Tyre, Babylon 
and Egypt, as lying down, that is, buried, yet sufler- 
ing the punishment of their pride and cruelty. See 
Hell, and Giants. 

Fountains and rivers, in the opinion of the He- 
brews, are derived from the abyss, or sea ; issuing 
from thence through invisible channels, and return- 
ing through others, Eccl. i. 7. 

ACCAD, a city built by Nimrod, Gen. x. 10. The 
LXX write it Arcad; the Syriac Achar. Ephraim 
the Syrian says, Achar is the city Nisibis ; and in this 
he is followed by Jerome and Abulpharagius. The 
Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan read Nesibin. 
The antiquity of this city is unquestionable. 

ACCEPT, to take pleasure in ; either in whole, or 
in part. The phrase to accept the person of any one, 
as also to respect the person, &'c. (which see) is a He- 
brew idiom, found also in the New Testament, and 
signifies to regard any one with favor or partiality. It 
is used both in a good and bad sense ; e. g. in a good 
sense, Gen. xix. 21 ; Job xlii. 8 ; Mai. i. 8. ; in a bad 
sense, to show partiality, Job xiii. 8. 10 ; xxxii. 21 ; 
Psalm lxxxii. 2 ; Prov. xviii. 5, &c. R. 

ACCHO, a city of the tribe of Asher, Judg. i. 31. 
In the New Testament, Accho is called Ptolemais, 
(Acts xxi. 7.) from one of the Ptolemies, who en- 
larged and beautified it. The Christian crusaders 
gave it the name of Acre, or St. John of Acre, from 
a magnificent church which was built within its 
walls, and dedicated to St. John. It is still called 
Akka, by the Turks. When Syria was subjected by 
the Romans, Akka was made a colony by the em- 
peror Claudius. It sustained several sieges during 
the crusades, and was the last fortified place wrested 
from the Christians by the Turks. 

The town is situated on the coast of the Mediter- 
ranean sea, on the north angle of a bay to which it 
gives its name, and which extends in a semicircle of 
three leagues, as far as the point of mount Carrriel. 
The town was originally surrounded by triple M alls, 
and a fosse cut out of' the rock, from which, at 
present, it is a mile distant. At the south and west 
sides it was washed by the sea ; and Pococke thinks 
that the river Belus, which flows into the Mediter- 
ranean, was brought through the fosse, which ran 
along the ramparts on the north ; thus making the 
city an island. Since the time of its memorable 
siege by Buonaparte, Accho has been much improved 
and strengthened. Its present population is estimated 
at from 18,000 to 20,000. See Mod. Traveller, i. p. 20. 

Accho, and all beyond it northwards, was con- 
sidered as the heathen land of the Jews. 

There are several medals of Accho, or Ptolemais, 
extant, both Greek and Latin. Most of the former 
have also the Phenician name of the city, AK 

or Accho. The 
one here given 
(as also others) 
represents the 
head of Alexan- 
der the Great, 
and appears to 
have been corn- 




ACH 



t 14 J 



ACH 



ed in consequence of favors received from that 
prince, perhaps at the time when he was detained in 
Syria by the siege of Tyre. 

ACELDAMA, (the field of blood,) a small field, 
lying south of Jerusalem, which the priests purchased 
with the thirty pieces of silver that Judas had re- 
ceived as the price of our Saviour's blood % Matt, 
xxvii. 8 ; Acts i. 19. Pretending that it was not 
lawful to appropriate this money to sacred uses, be- 
cause it was the price of blood, they purchased with 
it the potter's field, to be a burying-place for stran- 
gers. Helena, the mother of Constantine, had part 
of the field covered in, for the purpose of receiving 
the dead, and it was formerly thought, that such was 
the sarcophagous virtue in the earth, that the bodies 
were consumed within the space of two or three 
days. It is now used as the sepulchre of the Arme- 
nians, who have a magnificent convent on mount 
Zion. See Mod. Traveller, i. p. 152. Miss. Herald, 
1824. p. 66. 

ACHAIA, taken in its largest sense, comprehended 
the whole region of Greece, or Hellas, now called 
Livadia. Achaia Proper, however, was a province 
of Greece, of which Corinth was the capital ; and 
embracing the whole western part of the Pelopon- 
nesus. It is worthy of remark, that Luke speaks of 
Gallio as being deputy (proconsul) of Achaia, at the 
time that Paul preached there, (Acts xviii. 12.) which 
was, indeed, the title borne by the superior officer in 
Achaia at that time, but which did not long continue, 
nor had it long been so at the time he wrote. See 
Kuinoel on Acts xviii. 12. 

ACHAICUS, a native of Achaia, and a disciple 
of the apostle Paul. He, with Stephanus and Fortu- 
natus, was the bearer of the First Epistle to the Co- 
rinthians, and was recommended by the apostle to 
their special respect, 1 Cor. xvi. 17. 

ACHAN, the name of the son of Carmi, of the 
tribe of Judah, and he who purloined a costly 
Babylonish garment, an ingot of gold, and 200 shek- 
els of silver, from among the spoils of Jericho, 
aga'uist the express injunction of God, who had de- 
voted to utter destruction the city and ali that it con- 
tained, Josh. vi. 18, &c. Some days after this trans- 
action, Joshua sent 3000 men against the town of Ai, 
which stood a short distance from Jericho, but 30 of 
them were killed, and the others obliged to flee. This 
occurrence was the cause of much discouragement 
to Joshua and the people, and they addressed them- 
selves to the Lord by prayer, to discover the reason 
of their discomfiture. The Lord answered, that one 
among them had sinned ; and commanded them to 
select him out, by the use of the sacred lot, and to' 
burn him, with all that was his, vii. 3 — 15. On the 
next day, therefore, Joshua assembled all Israel ; and 
having cast lots, the lot fell first on the tribe of Judah, 
then on the family of Zarhi, then on the house of 
Zabdi, and at last on the person of Achan ; to whom 
Joshua said, " My son, give glory to the Lord, con- 
fess what you have done, without concealing any 
thing." Achan, being thus detected, replied. " Hav- 
ing seen among the spoils a handsome Babylonish 
cloak, and 200 shekels in silver, with an ingot of 
gold, of fifty shekels weight, I took them, and hid 
them in my tent." Messengers were immediately 
despatched to his tent, to fetch the accursed articles, 
and the proofs of the crime being produced in the 
presence of all Israel, Joshua laid them out before 
the Lord. Then taking Achan, the gold, silver, fur- 
niture, tent, and all belonging to him, into the valley 
of Achor, a place north of Jericho, he said to him, 



" Since thou hast troubled us, the Lord shall trouble 
thee, this day." They then stoned Achan and his 
family and all his property, and afterwards consumed 
them by fire. They then raised over them a great 
heap of stones, ver. 16, seq. 26. 

The sentence passed on the family of Achan may 
be justified by reflecting, (1.) that probably he was 
assisted by them in this theft ; for, if not, (2.) he could 
never have secreted such articles in the earth under 
his tent, without being observed and detected by 
them, who ought to have opposed him, or immedi- 
ately to have given notice of the transaction to the 
elders. As they did not. do this, they became, by 
concealment, at least partakers of his crime. 

ACHIOR, general of the Ammonites, who joined 
Holofernes with auxiliary troops, in that general's 
expedition into Egypt. Bethulia having shut its 
gates against Holofernes, he called the princes of 
Moab and Amnion, and demanded of them, with 
great passion, who those people were that opposed 
his passage ; presuming that the Moabites, and Am- 
monites, being neighbors to the Hebrews, could best 
inform him. Achior answered, " My lord, these 
people are originally of Chaklea ; but because they 
would not worship the gods of the Chaldeans, they 
were obliged to leave their country." He related, 
also, Jacob's descent into Egypt, the . miracles of 
Moses, and the conquest of Canaan ; observing, that 
the people were visibly protected by God, while they 
continued faithful to him ; but that God never failed 
to take vengeance on their infidelity. " Now there- 
fore," added he, " learn whether they have committed 
any fault against their God ; if so, attack them, for 
he will deliver them up into your hands : if not, we 
shall not be able to resist them, because God will- un- 
dertake their defence, and cover us with confusion," 
Judith v. 2, 3, &c. Holofernes, transported with 
fury, answered him, "Since you have taken upon 
you to be a prophet, in telling us that the God of 
Israel would be the defender of his people, to show 
you there is no other god besides Nebuchodonosor 
my master, when we have put all these people to the 
edge of the sword, we will destroy you likewise, and 
you shall understand that Nebuchodonosor is lord of 
all the earth." Achior was then carried out near to 
the city, and left bound, that the inhabitants might 
take him into the city. This was done, and Achior 
declaring what had happened, the people of Bethu- 
lia fell with their faces to the ground, and with great 
cries begged God's assistance, beseeching him to vin- 
dicate the honor of his name, and to humble the 
pride of their enemies. After this they consoled 
Achior, and Ozias, one of the leaders of the people, 
received him into his house, where he continued 
during the siege. After the death of Holofernes, 
and the discomfiture of his army, Achior abandoned 
the heathen superstitions, and was received into Israel 
by circumcision, Judith xiv. 6, seq. 

ACHISH, king of Gath. David, having resolved 
to withdraw from the dominions of Saul, who sought 
his life, retired to Gath, a city of the Philistines ; (1 
Sam. xxi. 10.) but the officers of Achish having dis- 
covered his person, and expressed their jealousy of 
his character, David became alarmed, and feigned 
madness, and by this stratagem preserved his 
fife. 

Three or four years after this, David desired to be 
received, for a permanency, either into the royal city, 
or elsewhere in the dominions of Achish. The king, 
who knew his valor, and the animosity between him 
and Saul, willingly received him into Gath, with 600 



ACT 



[ 15 ] 



ACT 



men, and their families, and afterwards gave him 
Ziklag, 1 Sam. xxvii. 2, seq. See David. 

ACHMETA. Ezra vi. 2, "There was found at 
A chmeta a roll." — Achmeta is here the same with 
Echatana, the royal city, where, in the palace, the 
rolls were kept. So the Vulgate, which reads Ecba- 
tanis ; and 1 Esdras vi. 23 ; also Josephus, Antiq. 
xi. 4—6. 

ACHOR, nap, troubling, a valley in the territory 
of Jericho, and in the tribe of Benjamin, where 
Achan was stoned, Josh. vii. 24 ; xv. 7 ; Isaiah lxv. 
10 ; Hosea ii. 15. The name was still in use in the 
time of Jerome. 

ACHSAH, daughter of Caleb, who promised to 
give her as a reward to him who should take Kirjath- 
Sepher. (See Dowry.) Otlmiel, his brother's son, 
having taken that town, married Aehsah, and obtained 
from Caleb the gift of a field having upper and 
nether springs — a valuable addition to Kirjath- 
Sepher, Josh. xv. 16; Judg. i. 12. See Water, 
and Wells. 

ACHSHAPH, a city of Asher, Josh. xii. 20 ; xix. 
25. Its site is unknown. 

I. ACHZIB, a city in the plain of Judah, Josh. xv. 
44 ; Micah i. 14. 

II. ACHZIB, a city on the seacoast of Galilee, 
assigned to the tribe of Asher, but not conquered by 
them, Josh. xix. 29; Judg. i. 31. According to 
Eusebius and Jerome, it lay about niiTe miles north 
of Ptolemais, or Accho ; and was afterwards called 
Ecdippa, Jos. B. J. i. 13. 4. It is now called Zib. 
Mod. Traveller, ii. p. 29. 

ACRA, a Greek word, signifying, in general, a 
i itadel, in which sense it is also used in the Chaldee 
and Syriac. King Antiochus built a citadel at Jeru- 
salem, on an eminence north of the temple, which 
commanded the holy place ; and for which reason it 
was called Acra. Josephus says (Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 
7. & 14 ; lib. xiii. cap. 11.) that this eminence was 
semicircular, and that Simon Maccabeeus, having ex- 
pelled the Syrians, who had seized Acra, demolished 
it, and spent three years in leveling the mountain on 
which it stood ; that no situation in future should 
command the temple. On mount Acra were after- 
wards built the palace of Helena, queen of the Adia- 
benians ; Agrippa's palace, the place where the public 
records were lodged, and that where the magistrates 
of Jerusalem assembled, Joseph, de Bello, lib. vii. 
cap. 15 ; Antiq. lib. xx. cap. 7. 

I. ACRABATENE. A district or toparchy of 
Judea, extending between Shechem (now Napolose) 
and Jericho, inclining east. It was about twelve 
miles in length. The name is not found in Scrip- 
ture, but occurs in Josephus, B. J. ii. 12. 4 ; iii. 
3, 4, 5. 

II. ACRABATENE, or Acrabatine, a district on 
the frontier of Idumea, towards the southern ex- 
tremity of the Dead sea. It seems to be named from 
the Maaleh Acrabbim, or Hill of Scorpions, men- 
tioned (Josh. xv. 3.) as the southern extremity of the 
tribe of Judah. — It is found only in 1 Maccab. v. 3. 

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, a canonical book 
of the New Testament, written by Luke, and con- 
taining a considerable part of the history of Peter 
and Paul. The narrative begins at the ascension of 
our Saviour, and continues to Paul's arrival at Rome, 
after his appeal to Caesar ; with his residence of two 
years in that capital ; including about twenty-eight or 
thirty years. After Luke had given the history of 
Jesus Christ in his Gospel, he resolved to record the 
actions of the apostles, and the wonderful manner in 



which the, Holy Spirit established that church which 
Christ had redeemed. Qicumenius {in Acta, page 
20.) calls the Acts, "the Gospel of the Holy Ghost ;" 
Chrysostom (in Acta Homil. 1.) calls it, " the Gospel 
of our Saviour's resurrection," or "the Gospel of 
the risen Jesus Christ." It narrates most miraculous 
instances of the power of the Holy Spirit, attending 
the propagation of the gospel ; and in the accounts 
and instances of the first believers, we have most 
excellent patterns of a truly Christian life. So that, 
though Luke seems to give us but a plain narrative 
of facts, yet this divine physician, to use Jerome's ex- 
pression, offers as many remedies to heal the soul's 
diseases, as he speaks words, Ep. 103. 

It is believed that Luke's principal design in writ- 
ing the Acts, was to preserve a true history of the 
apostles, and of the infancy of the Christian church, 
in opposition to false acts and false histories, which 
were beginning to obtain circulation ; and accord- 
ingly, his fidelity and intelligence have been so much 
valued, that all other Acts of the Apostles have per- 
ished, and his, only, been adopted by the church. 
Luke wrote this book, probably, about A. D. 64 ; i. e. 
soon after the point of time at which the narration 
terminates. The place where it was written is un- 
known. 

The style of Luke is generally more pure and ele- 
gant than that of other parts of the New Testament. 
Epiphanius says (Heeres. xxx. cap. 3 & 6.) that this 
book was translated by the Ebionites out of Greek 
into Hebrew ; (that is, Syriac, the then common lan- 
guage of the Jews in Palestine ;) but that those 
heretics corrupted it with many falsities and impie- 
ties, injurious to the character and memory of the 
apostles. 

The Book of the Acts has always been esteemed 
canonical : (Tertul. 1. v. cont. Marc. cap. 1, 2.) though 
the Marcionites, the Manichees, and some other here- 
tics rejected it, because their errors were too clearly 
condemned by it. Augustine (Ep. 315.) says, the 
church received it with edification, and read it every 
year. Chrysostom complains, that in his time it was 
too little known, and the reading of it too much 
neglected. As for himself, he very much extols the 
advantages of an acquaintance with it, and main- 
tains, with good reason, that it is as useful as the 
Gospels. 

In order to read the Acts of the Apostles with in- 
telligence and profit, it is necessary to have a suffi- 
cient acquaintance with geography, with the manners 
of the times and people referred to, and with the 
leading historical events. The power of the Ro- 
mans, with the nature and names of the public offi- 
cers they established, and the - distinctions among 
them, must of necessity be understood ; as well as 
the disposition and political conduct and opinions of 
the unconverted Jewish nation, which obtained, too 
strongly, among the Christianized Hebrews, and 
maintained themselves as distinctions, and causes of 
separation in the church, during many ages. In fact, 
their consequences are hardly extinct in the East at 
this day. 

There were several Spurious Acts of the Apos- 
tles. (1.) The Acts of the Apostles supposed 
to have been written by Abdias, who represents him- 
self as a bishop, ordained at Babylon, by the apos- 
tles, when they were on their journey into Persia ; 
but which is neither ancient nor authentic ; it was 
not known to Eusebius, to Jerome, nor to any earlier 
father. The author says, he wrote in Gieek, and 
that his book was translated into Latin ty Julius 



ADAM 



L 16 ] 



ADAM 



Afrioanus ; who is himself a Greek writer. He cites 
Hegtsippus, who lived in the second century. (2.) 
The Acts of St. Peter, otherwise called Travels 
of St. Peter, (Periodi Petri,) or " The Recognitions 
of St. Clement," is a hook filled with visions and 
fables, which came originally from the school of the 
Ebionites. See Cotelerius, in his Fathers of the first 
Century ; likewise Fabricius's Cod. Apocr. N. T. 
page 759, &c. (3.) The Acts of St. Paul, were 
composed after his death, as a supplement to St. 
Luke : continuing his narrative from the second 
year of the apostle's first voyage to Rome, to the end 
of liis life. Eusebius, who had seen this work, calls 
it spurious. (4.) The Acts of St. John the Evan- 
gelist, mentioned in Epipbanius and Augustine, 
contain incredible stories of that apostle. It was 
used by the Encratites, Manichecs, and Priscillianists. 
They are thought to be the Acts of St. John, pub- 
lished among the forgeries of Abdias. (Epiphan. 
Haeres. 47. Aug. de Fide, cap. 4. and 405. Contra 
adversar. Legis et Prophet, lib. i. cap. 20.) (5.) The 
Acts of St. Andrew, received by the Manichees, 
Encratites, and Apotactics. See Epipbanius, Ha?res. 
42, 61, and 62. (6.) The Acts of St. Thomas : 
Augustine cites some things out of them, and says, 
the Manichees particularly used them. (7.) The 
Acts of St. Philip, was a book used by the Gnos- 
tics. (8.) The Acts of St. Matthias. See M. de 
Tillemont, Eccl. Hist. torn. i. p. 1186 ; and Fabricius's 
Cod. Apoc. N. T. p. 782. 

The authorities respecting all these spurious works, 
as well as of the Acts of Pilate, are collected 
in Fabrieii Cod. Apoc. N. T. vol. i, ii. 

ADADA, a citv in the south of Judah, Josh, 
xv. 22. 

ADAD-RIMMON, or Hadad-Rimmon, a city in 
the valley of Jezreel, where the fatal battle between 
Josiah, king of Judah, and Pharaoh-Necho, king of 
Egypt, (2 Kings xxiii. 29; Zech. xii. 11.) was fought. 
Adad-rimmon was afterwards called Maximianopo- 
lis, in honor of the emperor Maximian. It is seven- 
teen miles from Csesarea in Palestine, and ten miles 
from Jezreel. See Bib. Repository, vol. i. p. 602. 

I. ADAH, one of Lamech's two wives ; mother 
of Jabal and Jubal, Gen. iv. 19. Sec Lamech. 

II. ADAH, daughter of Elon, the Hittite, and wife 
of Esau ; the mother of Eliphaz, Gen. xxxvi. 4. 

ADAM, red, the proper name of the first man. 
It has always the article, and is therefore originally 
an appellative, the man. The derivation of it, as well 
as adamah, earth, from the verb c-is, to be red, (in 
Ethiop. to be beautiful,) is not improbable, when we 
take into account the reddish or brown complexion 
of the orientals. But the w r ord Adam may also be 
primitive. R. 

The Almighty formed Adam out of the dust of 
the earth, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 
and gave him dominion over all the lower creatures, 
Gen. i. 26 ; ii. 7. He created him in his own image, 
and having pronounced a blessing upon him, placed 
him in a delightful garden, that he might cultivate 
it, and enjoy its fruits. At the same time, however, 
he gave him the following injunction : — " Of the tree 
of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat ; 
for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely 
die." The first recorded exercise of Adam's power 
and intelligence was his giving names to the beasts 
of the field, and fowls of the air, which the Lord 
brought before him for this purpose. A short time 
after this, the Lord, observing that it was not good 
for man to be alone, caused a deep sleep to fall upon 



Adam, and while he slept, took one of liis ribs, and 
closed up the flesh ; and of the rib thus taken from 
man he made a woman, (womb-man, Saxon,) whom 
he presented to him when he awoke. Adam received 
her, saying, " This is now bone of my bone, and 
flesh of my flesh ; she shall be called woman, be- 
cause she was taken out of man." (Heb. man, 
n^'N, woman.) He also called her name Eve, nin, 
because she was the mother of all living. 

This woman, being seduced by the tempter, per- 
suaded her husband to eat of the forbidden fruit. 
When called to judgment for this transgression be- 
fore God, Adam blamed his wife, "whom," said he, 
" thou gavest me ;" and the woman blamed the ser- 
pent-tempter. God punished the tempter by degra- 
dation and dread ; the woman by painful hopes, and 
a situation of submission ; and the man by a life of 
labor and toil ; of which punishment every day witnes- 
ses the fulfilment. As their natural passions now be- 
came irregular, and their exposure to accidents great, 
God made a covering of skin for Adam and for his wife. 
He also expelled them from his garden, to the land 
around it, where Adam had been made, and where 
was to be their future dwelling ; placing at the east 
of the garden a flame, which turned every way, to 
keep the way to the tree of life, Gen. iii. 

It is not known how long Adam and liis wife con- 
tinued in paradise : some think, many years ; others, 
not many days ; others, not many hours. Shortly 
after their expulsion, Eve brought forth Cain, Gen. 
iv. 1, 2. Scripture notices but three sons of Adam 
Cain, Abel, and Seth, and omits daughters: but 
Moses tells us, "Adam begat sons and daughters;" 
no doubt many. He died, aged 930, ante A. D. 3074 
This is what we learn from Moses ; but interpreters 
not satisfied with his concise relation, propose a 
thousand inquiries relating to the first man ; and cer- 
tainly no history can furnish more questions, as well 
of curiosity as of consequence. 

In reviewing the history of Adam, there are several 
things that demand particular notice. 

1. The formation of Adam is introduced with cir- 
cumstances of dignity superior to any which at- 
tended the creation of the animals. It evidently ap- 
peal's (whatever else be designed by it) to be the 
intention of the narrator, to mark this passage, and 
to lead his readers to reflect on it. God said, " Let 
us make man, (1.) In our image ; (2.) According to 
our likeness ; and let him rule," &c. Gen. i. 26. 
These seem to be two ideas : First, " In our image," 
in our similitude. This could not refer to his figure : 
(1.) Because the human figure, though greatly supe- 
rior in formation and beauty to animals, is not so en- 
tirely distinct from them in the principles of its con- 
struction, as to require a special consultation about 
it, after the animals had been formed. (2.) If all the 
species of monkeys were made before man, the re- 
semblance in some of them to the human form, 
greatly strengthens the former argument. (3.) The 
Scriptures, elsewhere, represent this distinction as 
referring to moral excellency ; " in knowledge — after 
the image of him who created him," Col. iii. 10. 
" The new man, which, according to God, (xarU Stir.) 
is created in righteousness and true holiness," Eph. iv. 
24. In other "places, also, the comparison turns on 
his purity, his station, &c. Secondly, " According to 
our likeness," is a stronger expression than the former, 
and more determinate to its subject. If we connect 
this with the following words, and let him rule — the 
import of the passage may be given thus : — " Man 
shall have, according to his nature and capacity, a 



ADAM 



[ 17 ] 



ADAM 



general likeness to such of our perfections as fit him 
for the purposes to which we design him ; but he 
shall also have a resemblance to us, in the rule and 
government of the creatures ; for, though he be in- 
capable of any of our attributes, he is capable of a 
purity, a rectitude, and a station of dominion, in 
which he may be our vicegerent." Thus, then, in a 
lower and looser sense, man was the image of God ; 
possessing a likeness to him in respect to moral 
excellency, of which the creatures were absolutely 
void ; and having also a resemblance to God, as his 
deputy, his repi - esentative, among and over the cre- 
ation ; for which he was qualified by holiness, 
knowledge, and other intellectual and moral attri- 
butes. 

As the day on which creation ended was imme- 
diately succeeded by a sabbath, the first act of man 
was worship ; hence the influence and extent of the 
custom of setting apart a sabbath among his poster- 
ity ; since not in paradise only would Adam main- 
tain this rite. 

2. " Adam became a living soid ;" by which we 
understand a living person, (1.) Because such is the 
import of the original, simply taken : (2.) Having 
mentioned that Adam was made of the dust of the 
earth, is a reason why the sacred writer should here 
mention his animation. But, (3.) It is very possible, 
that it implies some real distinction between the na- 
ture of the living principle, or sold, (not spi7-it,) in 
Adam, and that of animals. May we suppose that 
this principle, thus especially imparted by God, was 
capable of immortality ; that, however the beasts 
might die hy nature, man would survive by nature ? 
that he had no inherent seeds of dissolution in him, 
but that his dissolution was the consequence of his 
sin, and the execution of the threatening, "dying 
thou shalt die ?" In fact, as Adam lived nearly a 
thousand years after eating the fruit, which, probably, 
poisoned his blood, how much longer might he not 
have lived, had that poison never been taken by 
him ? See Death. 

3. The character, endoivments, and history of Adam, 
are very interesting subjects of reflection to the whole 
human race ; and the rather, because the memorials 
respecting him, which have been transmitted to us, 
are but brief, and consequently obscure. 

In considering the character of Adam, the great- 
est difficulty is, to divest ourselves of ideas received 
from the present state of things. We cannot suffi- 
ciently dismiss from our minds that knowledge (rather, 
that subtilty) which we have acquired by experience. 
We should, nevertheless, remember, that however 
Adam might be a man in capacity of understanding, 
yet in experience he. could be but a child. He had 
no cause to distrust any, to suspect fraud, collusion, 
prevarication, or ill design. Where, then, is the 
wonder, if entire innocence, if total unsuspicion, 
should be deceived by an artful combination of ap- 
pearances ; by fraud and guile exerted against it ? 
But the disobedience of Adam is not the less inex- 
cusable on this account ; because, as was his situa- 
tion, such was the test given to him. It was not an 
active, but a passive duty ; not something to be done, 
but something to be forborne ; a negative trial Nor 
did it regard the mind, but the appetite ; nor was 
that appetite without fit, yea, much fitter, supply in 
abundance all around it. Unwarrantable presump- 
tion, unrestrained desire, liberty extended into licen- 
tiousness, was the principle of Adam's transgression. 

4. The breaking of a beautiful vase, may afford 
pome idea of Adam after his sin. The integrity of 

3 



his mind was violated ; the frst compliance with sin 
opened the way to future compliances ; grosser 
temptations might now expect success ; and thus 
spotless purity becoming impure, perfect uprightness 
becoming warped, lost that entirety which had been 
its glory. Hereby Adam relinquished that distinc- 
tion, which bed fitted him for immediate communion 
with supreme holiness, and was reduced to the ne- 
cessity of soliciting such communion, mediately, not 
immediately ; by another, not by himself ; in prospect, 
not instant ; in hope, not in possession ; in time fu- 
ture, not in time present ; in another world, not in 
this. It is worthy of notice, how precisely the prin- 
ciples which infatuated Adam have ever governed 
his posterity ; how suitable to the general character 
of the human race was the nature of that temptation 
by which their father fell ! 

5. It is presumable that only, or chiefly, in the 
garden of Paradise, were the prime fruits and her- 
bage in perfection. The land around the garden 
might be much less finished, and only fertile to a 
certain degree. To promote its fertility, by cultiva- 
tion, became the object of Adam's labor ; so that in 
the sweat of his brow, he himself did eat bread. 
But the sentence passed on our first parents, doubt- 
less regarded them as the representatives, the very 
concentration, of their posterity, the whole human 
race ; and after attaching to themselves, it seems, pro- 
pheticajly also, to suggest the condition of the sexes 
in future ages, q. d. " The female sex, which has 
been the means of bringing death into the world, 
shall also be the means of bringing life — posterity — 
to compensate the ravages of death ; — and, to remind 
the sex of its original transgression, that which shall 
be its greatest honor and happiness shall be accom- 
panied by no slight inconveniences. But the male 
sex shall be under the necessity of laboring for the 
support, not of itself only, but of the female and her 
family ; so that if a man could with little exertion 
provide for himself, he should be stimulated by far 
greater exertions, to toil, to sweat, for the advantage 
and support of those to whom he has been the means 
of giving life." 

6. Death closes the sentence passed on mankind; 
and was also prophetic of an event common to Adam, 
and to all his descendants. But see how the favor 
of God mitigates the consequences announced in 
this sentence ! It inflicts pain on the woman, but 
that pain was connected with the dearest comforts, 
and with the great restorer of the human race ; it 
assigns labor to the man, but then that labor was to 
support himself, and others dearer to him than him- 
self, repetitions of himself; it denounces death, but 
death indefinitely postponed, and appointed as the 
path to life. — [The curse pronounced on man in- 
cludes not only physical labor and toil, the barren- 
ness of the earth, and its tendency to produce shrubs 
and weeds, which retard his exertions, and render 
his toil more painful and difficult ; it includes not 
only the physical dissolution of the body ; but also 
the exposure of the soul, the nobler part, to ' ever- 
lasting death.' There is no where in Scripture any 
hint that the bodies either of animals or of man in 
the state before the fall, were not subject to dissolu- 
tion, just as much as at present. Indeed the whole 
physical structure goes to indicate directly the con- 
trary. The life of man and of animals, as at present 
constituted, is a constant succession of decay and 
renovation ; and so far as physiology can draw any 
conclusion, this has ever been the case. We may 
therefore suppose, that the death denounced upon 



ADAM 



[ 18 ] 



ADM 



man. was rather moral and spiritual death ; in that 
very day, he should lose the image of his Maker, and 
become exposed to that eternal doom, which has 
justly fallen upon all his race. Such is also the view 
of the apostle Paul ; who every where contrasts the 
death introduced into the world through Adam with 
the life which is procured for our race through Jesus 
Christ, Rom. v. 12, seq. But this life is only spiritual ; 
the death, then, in its highest sense, is also spiritual. 
So far, too, as the penalty is temporal and physical, no 
specific remedy is provided ; no man is or can he 
exempt from it ; and it depends not on his choice. 
But to remove the spiritual punishment, Christ has 
died ; and he who will, may avoid the threatened 
death, and enter into life eternal. 

7. In regard to the situation of Adam before the 
fall, his powers and capacities, his understanding and 
acquirements, very much has been said and written, 
but all of course to no purpose ; since the Scriptures, 
the only document we have, are entirely silent on 
these points. The poetical statements of Milton in 
his Paradise Lost, are deserving of just as much 
credit as the speculations of Jewish Rabbins or 
Christian theologians. We can only affirm, that the 
Scriptures recognize man as being formed in bis 
full strength of body and his full powers of mind ; 
that he possessed not only the capacity for speech 
and knowledge, but that he was also actually in tbe 
possession and exercise of language, and of such 
knowledge at least as was necessary for his sitifation. 
There is no suggestion in the Bible, that he was 
formed merely with the powers requisite for ac- 
quiring these things, and then left at first in a state of 
ignorance which would place him on a level with 
the brutes, and from which he must have emerged 
simply by his own exertions and observation. On 
the contrary, the representation of the Bible is, that 
he was at first formed, in all respects, a full-grown 
man, with all the faculties and all the endowments 
necessary to qualify him for his station as lord of a 
new and beautiful creation. *R. . 

8. The salvation of Adam has been a subject of 
trivial dispute. Tatian and the Encratites were 
positive he was damned ; but this opinion the church 
condemned. The book of Wisdom says, (chap. x. 
2.) " That God delivered him from his fall," and the 
Fathers and Rabbins believe he did hard penance. 
Some of the ancients believed, that our first parents 
were interred at Hebron, which opinion they whim- 
sically grounded on Joshua xiv. 15, " And the name 
of Hebron before was Kirjath-Arba, which Arba 
was a great man (Adam, cin) among the Anakim." 
— Origen, Epiphanius, Jhrome, and a great number 
hold that Adam was buried on Calvary ; and this 
opinion has still its advocates. There is a chapel on 
mount Calvary dedicated to Adam. 

Adam has been the reputed author of several 
books, and some have believed that he invented the 
Hebrew letters. The Jews say he is the author of 
the ninety-first Psalm ; and that he composed it soon 
after the creation. The Gnostics had a book en- 
titled, " The Revelations of Adam," which is placed 
among the apocryphal writings by pope Gelasius, 
who also mentions a book ca led " Adam's Penance." 
Masius speaks of another " Of the Creation," said to 
have been composed by Adam. — On all these, see 
Fabricii Cod. Pseudepigr. V. T. vol. i. Hottinger, 
Histor. Oriental, pag. 22. — The Arabians inform us, 
that Adam received twenty books which fell from 
heaven, and contained many laws, promises, and 
prophesies. 



The Tahnudists, Cabalists, Mahomme^ans, Per- 
sians, and other Eastern people, relate many fabulous 
stories relative to the creation and life of Adam, some 
of which may be seen hi the larger edition of Calmet. 

II. ADAM was the name of a city near the Jor- 
dan, not far from Zarethan ; at some distance from 
which the waters of Jordan were collected in a heap, 
when the. children of Israel passed through, Josh, 
iii. 16. The name was not improbably derived from 
the color of the clay in its neighborhood, which was 
used for casting the vessels of the temple, 1 Kings 
vii. 46. 

AD AMAH, a city of Naplitali, Josh. xix. 36. The 
LXX call it Armath ; the Vulgate, Edema. 

ADAMANT, -roc shamir, a name anciently used 
for the diamond, the hardest of all minerals. It is 
used for cutting or writing upon glass and other hard- 
substances, Jer. xvii. 1. It is also employed figura- 
tively, Ezek. iii. 9 ; Zech. vii. 12. The same name 
of the diamond is common in Arabia. — Others sup- 
pose it to be the smiris, or emery. 

AD AMI, a city of Naphtali, Josh. xix. 33. 

ADAMITES, a heretical sect of the second 
century, who affected to possess the innocence of 
Adam, and whose nakedness they imitated in theii 
churches, which they called Paradise. Its authoi 
was Prodicus, a disciple of Carpocrates. 

I. ADAR, the twelfth month of the Hebrew ec- 
clesiastical year, and the sixth of the civil year. It 
has twenty-nine days ; and nearly answers to our 
February and March, according to the Rabbins. 
(See Months, and the Jewish Calendar.) As the 
lunar year, which the Jews follow in their calcula- 
tion, is shorter than the solar year by eleven days, 
which after three years make about a month, they 
then insert a thirteenth month, which they call Ve- 
Adar, or a second Adar, to which they assign twenty- 
nine days. 

II. ADAR, a city on the southern border of Judah, 
Josh. xv. 3. In Numb, xxxiv. 4. it is called Hazar- 
Addar, or the court of Adar. 

ADARSA, or Adasa, (1 Mace. vii. 40.) a city of 
Ephraim, four miles from Beth-horon, and not far 
from Gophna, Joseph. Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 17 ; Euseb 
in Adasa. Perhaps, between the upper Beth-horon 
and Diospolis ; because it is said (1 Mace. vii. 45.) 
the victorious army of Judas pursued the Syrians 
from Adasa to Gadara, or Gazara, which is one day's 
journey. Adarsa is also called Adazer, and Adaco, 
or Acedosa, in Josephus, Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 17. and 
de Bello, lib. i. cap. 1. Here Nicanor was over- 
come, and his army put to flight by Judas Macca- 
bseus, notwithstanding he had 3000 men only, while 
Nicanor had 35,000. Josephus tells us, that Judas, 
in another war, was killed in this place, de Bello, 
lib. i. cap. 1. 

ADDAR, see Adar II. 

ADDER, see Asp, and Serpent. 

A DIABENE, a region of Assyria, frequently men- 
tioned by Josephus, whose queen Helena and her 
son Izates were made converts to Judaism, Joseph. 
Antiq. xx. 2. 

ADIDA, a city of Judah, where Simon Macca- 
bseus encamped to dispute the entrance into the 
country with Tryphon, who had treacherously 
seized Jonathan at Ptolemais, 1 Mace. xii. 38 ; 
xiii. 13. 

ADITHAIM, a city of Judah, whose situation is 
not known, Josh. xv. 36. 

ADMAH, the most easterly of the five cities of 
the plain, destroyed by fire from heaven, and after- 



ADO 



[ 19 ] 



ADO 



wards overwhelmed by the waters of the Dead sea, 
Gen. xix. 24. 

ADONAI, Lord, Master, old plural form of 

the noun adon, similar to that with the suffix of the 
first person ; used as the pluralis excellentia by way 
of dignity for the name of Jehovah. The similar 
form, with the suffix, is also used of men ; as of 
Joseph's master, Gen. xxxix. 2, 3, seq. — of Joseph 
himself, Gen. xlii. 30. 33 ; so Isaiah xix. 4. The 
Jews, out of superstitious reverence for the name 
Jehovah, always, in reading, pronounced Adonai 
where Jehovah is written ; hence the letters mrv are 
usually written with the points belonging to Adonai. 
See Jehovah. R. 

ADONI-BEZEK, i. e. the lord of Bezek, king of 
he city Bezek, in Canaan, seventeen miles N. E. 
from Napolose, towards Scythopolis. — Adoni-bezek 
fvas a powerful and cruel prince, who, having at 
-arious times taken seventy kings, ordered their 
humbs and great toes to be cut off, and made them 
jather their meat under his table, Judg. i. 7. After 
the death of Joshua, the tribes Judah and Simeon 
marched against Adoni-bezek, who commanded an 
army of Canaanites and Perizzites. They vanquished 
him, killed ten thousand men, and having taken him, 
cut off his thumbs and his great toes ; Adoni-bezek 
acknowledging the retributive justice of this punish- 
ment from God. He was afterwards carried to Jeru- 
salem, where he died, Judg. i. 4, seq. 

Notwithstanding that the barbarity of Adoni-be- 
zek, in thus mutilating his enemies, was so enor- 
mous in its character, there is reason to think that 
similar cruelties are by no means uncommon in the 
East. Much more severe, in fact, is the cruelty 
contained in the following narration of Indian war: 
— " The inhabitants of the town of Lelith Pattan 
were disposed to surrender themselves, from fear of 
having their noses cut off, like those of Cirtipur, and 
also their right hands ; a barbarity the Gorchians 
had threatened them with, unless they would sur- 
render within five days !" (Asiat. Researches, vol. 
; i.) Another resemblance to the history of the men 
of Jabesh ; who desired seven days of melancholy 
respite from then- threatened affliction by Nahash, of 
having their right eyes thrust out, 1 Sam. xi. 2. 

The following is another similar scene of cruelty : 
"Prithvvinarayan issued an order to Suruparatanahis 
brother, to put to death some of the principal in- 
habitants of the town of Cirtipur, and to cut off 
the noses and lips of every one, even the infants who 
were found in the arms of their mothers; order- 
ing, at the same time, all the noses and lips that had 
been cut off to be preserved, that he might ascertain 
how many souls there were ; and to change the 
name of the town to Nashatapir, which signifies the 
town of cut noses. The order was carried into exe- 
cution with every mark of horror and cruelty, none 
escaping but those who could play on wind instru- 
ments ; many put an end to their lives in despair ; 
others came in great bodies to us in search of medi- 
cines ; and it was most shocking to see so many liv- 
ing people with their teeth and noses resembling the 
skulls of the deceased," i. e. by being bare ; because 
deprived of their natural covering. (Asiatic Re- 
searches, vol. ii. page 187.) The learned reader 
will recollect an instance of the very same barbarity, 
in the town which, from that circumstance, was 
named Rhinocolura, or " cut noses," between Judea 
and Egypt. See Rhinocolura. 

ADONIJAH, fourth son of David, by Haggith, 
was born at Hebron, while his fathei was acknowl- 



edged king by only part of Israel, 2 Sam. iii. 2, 4 
His elder brothers, Amnon and Absalom, being dead, 
Adonijah believed the crown by right belonged to 
him, and made an effort to get acknowledged king 
before his father's death. For this purpose he set 
up a magnificent equipage, with chariots and horse- 
men, and fifty men to run before him ; and con- 
tracted very close engagements with Joab the gen- 
eral, and Abiathar the priest, who had more interest 
with the king than any others. Having matured his 
plans, Adonijah made a great entertainment for his 
adherents, near the fountain Rogel, east of the city, 
and below the walls, to which he invited all the 
king's sons, except Solomon ; and also the principal 
persons of Judah, except Nathan, Zadok, and Re- 
naiah, -who were not of his party. His design was 
at this time to be proclaimed king, and to assume 
the government before the death of David. Nathan, 
however, having obtained a knowledge of his de- 
sign, went with Bathsheba to the king, who informed 
him of Adonijah's proceedings, and interceded in 
favor of Solomon. David immediately gave orders 
that Solomon should be proclaimed king of Israel, 
which was promptly done, and the intelligence so 
alarmed Adonijah and his party, that they dispersed 
in great confusion. Fearing that Solomon would 
put him to death, Adonijah retired to the tabernacle, 
and laid hold on the horns of the altar. Solomon 
however, generously pardjned him, and sent him 
home, 1 Kings i. 

Some time after David's death, Adonijah, by means 
of Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, intrigued i< 
obtain Abishag, the recent wife of his father; hut 
Solomon, suspecting it to be a project to obtain the 
kingdom, had him put to death, ch. ii. 13, &c. A. M. 
2990, ante A. D. 1014. 

ADONIRAM, the receiver of Solomon's tributes, 
and chief director of the 30,000 men whom that 
prince sent to Lebanon, to cut timber, 1 Kings v. 14. 
The name Adoram is made from this word by con- 
traction, and applied to the same person, who was 
receiver-general from David until Rehoboam, 2 Sam. 
xx. 24 ; 1 Kings xii. 18. He is also called Hadoram, 
2 Chr. x. 18. R. 

ADONIS. According to the Vulgate, Ezek. viii. 
14 imports that this prophet saw women sitting in 
the temple, weeping for Adonis ; but the Hebrew 
reads, for Tammuz, or, the hidden one. Among the 
Egyptians, Adonis was adored under the name of 
Osiris, husband of Isis. The Greeks worshipped 
Isis and Osiris under other names, as t hat of Bac- 
chus; and the Arabians under that of Adonis* 

Ogygia me Bacchum canit : 
Osyrin iEgyptus vocat ; 
Arabica gens, Adoneum. 

Ausonius. 

But he was sometimes called Ammuz, or Tam- 
muz, the concealed, to denote, probably, the manner 
of his death, or the place of his burial. ( Vide Plu- 
tarch de Defectu Oracul.) The Syrians, Phoeni- 
cians, and Cyprians called him Adonis. The He- 
brew women, therefore, of whom Ezekiel is speak- 
ing, celebrated the feasts of Tammuz, or Adonis, in 
Jerusalem ; and God showed the prophet these 
women weeping, even in his own sacred temple, for 
the supposed death of this infamous god. 

The Rabbins tell us, that Tammuz was an idola 
trous prophet, who having been put to death by the 
king of Babylon, all the idols of the country flocked 



ADO 



[ 20 ] 



ADO 



together about a statue of the sun, which this prophet, 
who was a magician, had suspended between heaven 
and earth: there they began altogether to deplore 
the prophet's death ; for which reason a festival was 
instituted every year, to renew the memory of this 
ceremony, at the beginning of the month Tammuz, 
which answers pretty nearly to our June. In this 
temple was a statue, representing Tammuz. It was 
hollow, the eyes were of lead, and a gentle fire being 
kindled below, which insensibly heated the statue, 
and melted the lead, the deluded people believed 
that the idol wept. All this time the Babylonish 
women, in the temple, were shrieking, and mak- 
ing strange lamentations. But this story requires 
] in hi Is. 

The scene of Adonis's history is said to have been 
at Byblos, in Phoenicia ; and this pretended deity is 
supposed to have been killed by a wild boar in the 
mountains of Libanus, whence the river Adonis de- 
scends, (Lucian de Dea Syra.) the waters of which, 
at a certain time of the year, change color, and ap- 
pear as red as blood. (See Maundrell, March 17.) 
This was the signal for celebrating their Adonia, or 
feasts of Adonis, the observance of which it was not 
lawful to omit. 

The common people were persuaded to believe, 
that, at this feast, the Egyptians sent by sea a box 
made of rushes, or of Eg)i)tian papyrus, in the form 
of a human head, in which a letter was enclosed, 
acquainting the inhabitants of Byblos, a city above 
seven days' journey from the coast of Egypt, that 
their god Adonis, whom they apprehended to be 
lost, had been discovered. The vessel which carried 
this letter arrived always safe at Byblos, at the end 
of seven days. Lucian tells us he was a witness of 
this event. Procopius, Cyril of Alexandria, (on 
Isaiah xviii.) and other learned men, are of opinion, 
that Isaiah alludes to this superstitious custom, when 
he says, " Wo to the land shadowing with wings, 
wh ; ch is beyond the river of Ethiopia ; that sendeth 
ambassadors by the sea, even vessels of bulrushes 
upon the waters." Some, as Bochart, (Phaleg. lib. iv. 
cap. 2.) translate — "that sendeth images, or idols — by 
sea." But the Hebrew signifies, properly, ambassa- 
dors — deputed thither by sea, to carry the news of 
Adonis's resurrection. [The passage, however, has 
no reference to Adonis. See Gesenius, Commentar. 
in loc. R. 

From these remarks we are naturally led to inquire 
into the nature of the ceremonious worship of Ado- 
nis, as well as the object to which they referred. 
We have already stated that the worship of Adonis 
was celebrated at Byblos, in Phoenicia ; the follow- 
ing is Lucian's account of the abominations : " The 
Syrians affirm, that what the boar is reported to have 
done against Adonis, was transacted in their country ; 
and in memory of this accident they every year beat 
themselves, and lament, and celebrate frantic rites ; 
and great wailings are appointed throughout the 
country. After they have beaten themselves and la- 
mented, they first perform funeral obsequies to Ado- 
nis, as to one dead ; and afterwards, on a following 
day, they feign that he is alive, and ascended into 
the air, [or heaven,] and shave their heads, as the 
Egyptians do at the death of Apis; and whatever 
women will not consent to be shaved, are obliged, 
by way of punishment, to prostitute themselves once 
to strangers, and the money they thus earn is conse- 
crated to Venus." (See Succoth Benoth.) We 
may now discern the flagrant iniquity committed, 
and that which was further to be expected, among 



the Jewish women who sat weeping for Tammuz, 
that is, Adonis. 

The fable of Adonis among the Greeks assumed 
a somewhat different form from that which it bore 
in the East. Among the Phoenicians the festival of 
Adonis took place in June, (hence called the month 
Tammuz,) and was partly a seas'on of lamentation, 
and partly of rejoicing; see above. (Lucian de Dea 
Syra, 6. seq.) In the former, the women gave them- 
selves up to the most extravagant wailings for the 
departed god, cut off" their hair, or offered up their 
chastity as a sacrifice in his temple. The solemn 
burial of the idol, with all the usual ceremonies, 
concluded the. days of mourning. To these suc- 
ceeded, without any intermission, several days of 
feasting and rejoicing, on account of the returning 
god. — The meaning of this worship seems plainly to 
be symbolical of the course of the sun and his influ- 
ence on the earth. In winter, the sun, as it were, 
does not act ; for the inhabitants of the earth, he is 
in a measure lost, and all vegetation is dead ; but in 
the summer months he diffuses every where life and 
joy, and has, as it were, himself returned to life. See 
Creuzer's Symbolik, ii. 91. Ed. 2. Hug's Unter- 
such. iib. d. Myth. 83 seq. R. 

ADONI-ZEDEK, i. e. lord of righteousness, a king 
of Jerusalem, who made an alliance, with four other 
kings of the Amorites, against Joshua. A great bat- 
tle was fought at Gibeon, where the Lord aided 
Israel by a terrific hail-storm, and Joshua commanded 
the sun to stand still. The five kings were signally 
defeated, and having hid themselves in a cave at 
Makkedah, were taken by Joshua and put to death. 
Josh. chap. x. R. 

ADOPTION is an act by which a person takes a 
stranger into his family, in order to make him a part 
of it ; acknowledges him for his son, and constitutes 
him heir of his estate. Adoption, strictly speaking, 
was not in general use among the Hebrews, as Moses 
says nothing of it in his laws; and Jacob's adopt! jh 
of his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, (Gen. 
xlviii. 5.) was a kind of substitution, whereby he in- 
tended that his grandsons, the two sons of Joseph, 
should have each his lot in Israel, as if they had 
been his own sons : " Ephraim and Manasseh are 
mine ; as Reuben and Simeon they shall be mine." 
As he gives no inheritance to their father Joseph, 
the effect of this adoption extended only to their in- 
crease of fortune and inheritance ; that is, instead of 
one part, giving them (or Joseph, whom they repre- 
sented) two parts. 

Another kind of adoption in use among the Israel- 
ites, consisted in the obligation one brother was under 
to marry the widow of another who died without 
children; so that the children born of this marriage 
were regarded as belonging to the deceased brother, 
and went by his name, Deut. xxv. 5 ; Matt. xxii. 24. 
This practice was also customary before the time of 
Moses ; as we see in the history of Tamar, Gen. 
xxviii. 8. See Marriage. 

But Scripture affords instances of still another 
kind of adoption — that of a father having a daughter 
only, and adopting her children. Thus, 1 Chron. ii. 
21. Machir, (grandson of Joseph,) called "Father 
of Gilead," (that is, chief of that town,) gave his 
daughter to Hezron, who took her ; and he was a son 
of sixty years, (sixty years of age,) and she bare him 
Segub ; and Segub begat Jair, who had twenty-three 
cities in the land of Gilead, which, no doubt, was 
the landed estate of Machir, who was so desirous of 
a male heir. Jair acquired a number of other cities. 



ADOPTION 



[ 21 ] 



ADOPTION 



which made up his possessions to threescore cities, 
(Josh. xiii. 30 ; 1 Kings iv. 13.) however, as well he, 
as his posterity, and their cities, instead of being 
reckoned to the family of Judah, as they ought to 
have been, by their paternal descent from Hezron, 
are reckoned as sons of Machir, the father of Gilead. 
Nay, more, it appears, (Numbers xxxii. 41.) that this 
very Jair, who was, in fact, the son of Segub, the 
son of Hezron, the son of Judah, is expressly called 
"Jair, the sou of Manasseh," because his maternal 
great-grandfather was Machir, the son of Manasseh ; 
and Jair, inheriting his property, was his lineal rep- 
resentative. So that we should never have suspected 
his being other than a son of Manasseh, naturally, 
had only the passage in Numbers been extant.— In 
like manner, Sheshan, of the tribe of Judah, gives 
. his daughter to Jarha, an Egyptian slave ; (whom 
he liberated, no doubt, on that occasion :) the pos- 
terity of this marriage, however, Attai, &c. not being 
reckoned to Jarha, as an Egyptian, but to Sheshan, 
as an Israelite, and succeeding to his estate and sta- 
tion in Israel, 1 Chron. ii. 34, &c. So we read, 
that Mordecai adopted Esther, his niece ; he took her 
to himself to be a daughter (Heb. "for^ a daughter."} 
This being in the time of Israel's captivity, Mordecai 
had no landed estate ; for if he had had any, he would 
not have adopted a daughter, but a son, Esther ii. 7. 
So the daughter of Pharaoh adopted Moses ; and he 
was to her for a son, Exod. ii. 10. So we read, Ruth 
iv. 17. that Naomi had a son ; a son is born to Naomi ; 
when indeed it was the son of Ruth, and only a dis- 
tant relation, or, in fact, none at all, to Naomi, who 
was merely the wife of Elimelech, to whom Boa? was 
a kinsman, but not the nearest by consanguinity. In 
addition to these instances, we have in Scripture a 
passage which includes no inconsiderable difficulty 
in regard to kindred ; but which, perhaps, is allied to 
some of these principles. The reader will perceive 
it at once, by comparing the columns. 



2 Kings xxiv. 17. 
" And the king of Ba- 
bylon made Mattauiah, 
his [Jehoiachin's] fath- 
er's brother, king in his 
stead ; and changed his 
name to Zedekiah." 

1 Chron. iii. 15. 
" And the sons of Jo- 
siah were,«the first-born 
Johanan, the second Je- 
hoiakim, the third Zede- 
kiah." 

Jeremiah i. 2, 3. 

" In the days of Jehoia- 
kim, the son of Josiah, 
king of Judah ; unto the 
eleventh year of Zedeki- 
ah, the son of Josiah, king 
of Judah." Also, chap, 
xxxvii. 1. "And king 
Zedekiah, the son of Jo- 
siah, reigned." 

By this it appears that 
Zedekiah was son to Jo- 
siah, the father of Jchoia- 
kim ; and, consequently, 
that he was uncle to Je- 
hoiachin. 



2 Chron. xxxvi. 9, 10. 
" Jehoiachin reigned 
three months and ten 
days in Jerusalem, and 
when the year was ex- 
pired, king Nebuchad- 
nezzar sent and brought 
him to Babylon, with the 
goodly vessels of the 
house of the Lord ; and 
made Zedekiah, his 
brother, king over Ju- 
dah and Jerusalem." 

By this it appears that 
Zedekiah loos son to Je- 
hoiakim. 



How is this ? Zedekiah is called, in Kings and 1 
Chronicles, "the son of Josiah ;" in 2 Chronicles he 
is called, "the son of Jehoiakim." ... By way of 
answer, we may observe, that perhaps Zedekiai. was 
son, by natural issue, of Jehoiakim, whereby he was 
grandson to Josiah ; but might not his grandfather 
adopt him as his son ? We find Jacob doing this 
very thing to Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of 
Joseph ; " as Reuben and Simeon they shall be 
mine :" and they, accordingly, are always reckoned 
among the sons of Jacob. In like manner, if Josiah 
adopted Zedekiah, his grandson, to be his own son, 
then would this young prince be reckoned to him ; 
and both places of Scripture are correct ; as well 
that which calls him son of his real father, Jehoia- 
kim, as that which calls him son of his adopted 
father, Josiah. That this might easily be the fact, 
appears by the dates ; for Josiah was killed ante A. 
D. 606, at which time Zedekiah was eight or nine 
years old ; he being made king ante A. D. 594, when 
he was twenty-one. By this statement the whole 
difficulty, which has greatly perplexed the learned, 
vanishes at once. [This mode of accounting for the 
apparent discrepancy in question, rests wholly on 
conjecture, and is quite unnecessary. We have 
only to take the word brother in 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. 
in the wider and not unusual sense of kinsman, rela- 
tive, and the difficulty vanishes much more easily 
than before. Thus in Gen. xiv. 16. Abraham is 
said to have " brought back his brother Lot," although 
Lot was really his nephew. In the same manner in 
Gen. xxix. 12, 15, Jacob is said to be the brother of 
Laban, his uncle. R. 

It should seem, then, that in any of the instances 
above quoted, the party might be described, very 
justly, yet very contradictorily : — as thus, 

1. Jair was son of Manasseh .... but, 

2. Jair was begotten by Judah. 

1. Attai was son of Sheshan .... but, 

2. Attai was begotten by Jarha. 

1. Esther was daughter of Mordecai . but, 

2. Esther was begotten by Abihail. 

1. Moses was son of Pharaoh's daughter but, 

2. Moses was begotten by Amram. 

1. Obed was son of Naomi .... but, 

2. Obed was the child of Ruth. 

This kind of double parentage would be very per- 
plexing to us, as we have no custom analogous to it ; 
and possibly it might be somewhat intricate where it 
was practised ; however, it occurs elsewhere, beside 
in Scripture. — We have a singularly striking instance 
of it in a Palmyrene inscription, copied by Mr. 
Wood, &c. who remarks, that it is much more diffi- 
cult to understand than to translaxe : " Tins," says 
he, "will appear by rendering it literally, which is 
easiest done into Latin," thus: 

" Senatus populusque Alialamenem, Pani filium, 
Mocimi nepotem, JEranis pronepotem, Matha abnepo- 
tem ; et JEranern patrem ejus, viros pios et patritv. ami- 
cos, ct omnimodi placentes patriae patriisque diis, hono- 
ris gratia : Anno 450, mense Aprili." 

" Our difficulty is, that JEranes is called the 
father of Alialamenes [whereas Alialamenes is him- 
self called] the son of Panics." Wood's account of 
Palmyra. 

The sense of this inscription may be thus ren- 
dered : 

" Erected by the senate and the people to Aliala- 
menes, the son of Panus, grandson of Mocimus, 
great-grar.dson of ^Eranes, great-great-grandson of 



ADOPTION 



[ 22 ] 



ADOPTION 



Matheus ; and to iEranes, his (that is, Alialamenes's) 
father ; pious men, and friends to their country," &c. 

Now, this is precisely the case of Joseph, the sup- 
posed father of Jesus ; — of whom Matthew says, 
" Jacoh begat Joseph ;" but Luke calls Joseph "the 
son of Heli ;" — unless, as is more probable, Matthew 
gives the genealogy of Joseph, and Luke that of 
Mary. This contradiction in the inscription is so 
very glaring, that we are persuaded it is no contra- 
diction at all, but must be explained on principles not 
yet acknowledged by us ; for no man could possibly, 
under direction of the senate and people, in a public 
monumental inscription, and in the compass of a few 
short lines, call Alialamenes the son of Partus, and 
call JEranes the father of Alialamenes, without per- 
ceiving the gross error in which he involved as well 
himself as his country, the senate and people his em- 
ployers, and all his readers ! 

This descent struck Dr. Halifax so much, who 
copied the same inscription, (Phil. Trans. No. ccxvii. 
p. 83.) that he observes upon it, " This custom of 
theirs, of running up their genealogies or pedigrees 
to the 4th or 5th generation, shows them to have 
borrowed some of their fashions from their neigh- 
bors the Jews, with whom it is not unlikely they had 
of old great commerce ; and perhaps many of them 
were descended from that people, Zenobia herself 
being said to have been a Jewess ; or else this must 
have been the manner of all the Eastern nations." 
— The reader will recollect that Palmyra is usually 
thought to be the "Tadmor " of Solomon, (] Kings 
xix. 19 ; 2 Chron. viii. 6.) which is its present name. 

" The date is that of the Greeks, from the death 
of Alexander the Great ; as the Syrians generally 
date ; the very Christians, at this day, following the 
same usage. It is 450, or A. D. 126." So that it is 
near enough to the age of Joseph and Mary. But it 
is generally thought the date is from the era of the 
Seleucidse, some years later, that is, beginning ante 
A. D. 312. 

We think this yields a fair argument, and worthy 
the consideration of the learned among the Jews, 
who have objected to the genealogies in the evan- 
gelists. 

W e leam from various writers that the custom of 
adoption is frequent in the East. Lady Wortley 
Montague says, (Letter xlii.) " Now I am speaking 
of their law, I do not know whether I have ever 
mentioned to you one custom peculiar to their 
country, I mean Adoption, very common among the 
Turks, and yet more among the Greeks and Armenians. 
Not having it in their power to give their estate to a 
friend, or distant relation, to avoid its falling into the 
grand seignor's treasury, when they are not likely to 
have any children of their own, they choose some 
pretty child of either sex, amongst the meanest 

people, AND CARRY THE CHILD AND ITS PARENTS BE- 
FORE the cadi, and there declare they receive it for 
their heir. The parents at the same time renounce 
all future claim to it ; a writing is drawn and wit- 
nessed, and a child thus adopted cannot be disin- 
herited. Yet I have seen some common beggars 
that have refused to part with their children in this 
manner to some of the richest among the Greeks ; 
(so powerful is the instinctive affection that is natural 
to parents ;) though the adopting fathers are generally 
very tender to those children of their souls, as they 
call them. I ow r n this custom pleases me much 
better than our absurd one of following our name. 
Methinks it is much more reasonable to make happy 
and rich an infant whom I educate after my own 



manner, brought up (in the Turkish phrase) upon my 
knees, and who has learned to look upon me with a 
filial respect, than to give an estate to a creature 
without merit or relation to me, other than that of a 
few letters. Yet this is an absurdity we see frequently 
practised." 

We request the reader to note, in this extract, the 
phrase " brought up upon the parents' 1 knees." Will 
this give a determinate sense to the awkward ex- 
pression (in our version, at least) of Rachel, "My 
maid Bilhah shall bear upon my knees ?" what can Ave 
understand by this phrase ? but may we take it — 
"shall bear (children) for my knees," that is, to be 
nursed by me, to be reared by me as if I were their 
natural mother — " an infant whom I educate after 
my own manner," as Lady Montague explains it. 
This seems a proper rendering of the passage. We 
think also the phrase (Gen. 1. 23.) "the children of 
Machir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up on 
Joseph's knees," expresses a greater degree of fond- 
ness now than it has done before ; — was not this 
something like an adoption ? does it not imply Jo- 
seph's partiality for Manasseh ? which is perfectly 
consistent with his behavior to the dying Jacob, 
(Gen. xlviii. 18.) when he wished his father to put 
his right hand on the head of Manasseh, the eldest — 
to whom, and to whose posterity, he still maintains 
his warmest affection, notwithstanding the prophetic 
notice of Ephraim's future precedence given him by 
the venerable patriarch. 

Among the Mohammedans, the ceremony of adop- 
tion is sometimes performed by causing the adopted 
to pass through the shirt of the person who adopts 
him. Hence, to adopt is among the Turks expressed 
by saying — "to draw any one through one's shirt;" 
and they call an adopted son, Akictogli, the son of 
another life — because he was not begotten in this. 
(D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orient, p. 47.) Something like 
this is observable among the Hebrews : Elijah adopts 
Elisha by throwing his mantle over him, (1 Kings 
xix. 19.) and when Elijah was carried off in a fiery 
chariot, his mantle, which he let fall, was taken up 
by Elisha his disciple, his spiritual son, and adopted 
successor in the office of prophet, 2 Kings ii. 15. It 
should be remarked also, that Elisha asks not merely 
to be adopted, (for that he had been already,) but to 
be treated as the elder son, to have a double portion 
(the elder son's prerogative) of the spirit conferred 
upon him. 

There is another method of ratifying the act of 
adoption, however, wdiich is worthy of*notice, as it 
tends to illustrate some passages in the sacred writ- 
ings. The following is from Pitts : — "I was bought 
by an old bachelor ; I wanted nothing with him ; 
meat, drink, and clothes, and money, I had enough. 
After I had lived with him about, a year, he made 
his pilgrimage to Mecca, and carried me with him ; 
but before we came to Alexandria, he was taken 
sick, and thinking verily he should die, having a 
woven girdle about his middle, under his sash, 
(which they usually wear,) in which was much gold, 
and also my letter of freedom, (which he intended 
to give me, when at Mecca,) he took it off, and 
bid me put it on about me, and took my girdle, 
and put it on himself. My patron would speak, on 
occasion, in my behalf, saying, My son wUl never run 
away. He seldom called me any thing but son, and 
bought a Dutch boy to do the work of the house, 
who attended upon me, and obeyed my orders as 
much as his. I often saw several bags of his money, 
a great part of which he said he woi Id I*> ave me. 



ADK 



[ 23 ] 



ADR 



He would say to me, ' Though I ivas never married 
myself, yet you shall he [married] in a little time, and 
then your children shall be mine.'" Travels to 
Mecca, p. 225. 

This circumstance seems to illustrate the conduct 
of Moses, who clothed Eleazar in Aaron's sacred 
vestments, when that high-priest was about to be 
gathered to his fathers ; indicating thereby, that Ele- 
azar succeeded in the functions of the priesthood, 
and was, as it were, adopted to exercise that dignity. 
The Lord told Shebna, captain of the temple, that 
he would deprive him of his honorable station, and 
substitute Eliakim, son of Hilkiah: (Isaiah xxii. 21.) 
u I will clothe him ivith thy robe, saith the Lord, and 
strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit 
thy government into his hand." And Paul in seve- 
ral places says, that Christians — "put on the Lord 
Jesus ; that they put on the new man " to denote their 
adoption as sons of God, Rom. xiii. 14 ; Gal. iii. 27 ; 
Ephes. iv. 24 ; Col. iii. 10. The same, John i. 12 ; 1 
Epist. John iii. 2. (See Son.) When Jonathan 
made a covenant with David, he stripped himself of 
his girdle and his robe, and put them upon his friend, 
1 Sam. xviii. 3. 

By the propitiation of our Saviour, and the com- 
munication of his merit, sinners become adopted 
children of God. Thus Paul writes, "Ye have re- 
ceived the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, 
Father." Rom. viii., 15. — "We wait for the adoption 
of the children of God." And, " God sent forth his 
Son to redeem them that were under the law, that 
we might receive the adoption of sons." Gal. iv. 
4,5. 

ADORA1M, a city in the southern part of the 
tribe of Judah, fortified by Rehoboam, 2 Chron. xi. 
9. In the time of Josephus, it belonged to the Idu- 
means. Ant. viii. 3; xiii. 17. Compare 1 Mace, 
xiii. 20. R. 

ADORAM, see Adoniram. 

ADRA, see Arad. 

I. ADRAMMELECH, magnificent king, son of 
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, (Isaiah xxxvii. 38 ; 2 
Kings xix. 37.) who, upon returning to Nineveh, 
after his fatal expedition into Judea, against Heze- 
kiah, was killed by his two sons, Adrammelech and 
Sharezer, who fled to the mountains of Armenia. 
A. M. 3291, ante A. D. 713. 

II. ADRAMMELECH, one of the gods adored 
by the inhabitants of Sepharvaim, who settled in 
Samaria, in the stead of those Israelites who were 
carried beyond the Euphrates. They made their 
children pass through fire in honor of this false 
deity, and of another called Anammelech, 2 Kings 
xvii. 31. The Rabbins say, that Adrammelech was 
represented under the form of a mule. The more 
general opinion is, that Adrammelech represented 
the sun, and Anammelech the moon. At any rate, 
they seem to be the personifications of some of the 
heavenly bodies. See Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 29, 
Comm. iib. Jes. iv. p. 347. 

ADRAMYTTIUM, a maritime town of Mysia, in 
Asia Minor, opposite to the island of Lesbos, (Acts 
xxvii. 2.) and an Athenian colony. It is now called 
Adramyti. From some of the medals struck in this 
town, it appears that it celebrated the worship of 
Castor and Pollux, (Acts xxviii. .11.) as also that of 
Jupiter and Minerva. 

ADRIA, an ancient city of Italy, on the Tartaro, 
in the state of Venice. It gave name to the Adri- 
atic sea, or the sea of Adria, Acts xxvii. 27. 

It appears from the narrative of Paul's voyage, 



just referred to, that, although the name of Adria be- 
longed in a proper sense only to the sea within the 
Adriatic gulf, it was given in a looser manner to a 
larger extent, including the Sicilian and Ionian sea. 
Thus also Ptolemy says, (lib. iii. cap. 4.) that Sicily 
was bounded east by the Adriatic, and (cap. 16.) that 
Crete was washed on the west by the Adriatic sea ; 
and Strabo says, (lib. vii.) that the Ionian gulf is a 
part of that which in his time was called the Adri- 
atic sea. 

ADRIAN, the fifteenth emperor of Rome. This 
prince is not mentioned in the New Testament, but 
some interpreters are of opinion that he is alluded 
to in Rev. viii. 10. 11. where Barchochebas, the fa- 
mous Jewish impostor, is thought to be foretold, [but 
without sufficient grounds. R.] The Jews having 
created several disturbances in the reign of Trajan, 
Adrian sent a colony to Jerusalem, for the purpose 
of keeping them in subjection, and also built within 
the walls of the city a temple to Jupiter. Not en- 
during that a strange colony should occupy their 
city, and introduce a foreign religion, the Jews be- 
gan to mutiny, about A. D. 134, and Barchochebas, 
who about the same time made his appearance under 
the assumed character of the Messias, animated 
them in their rebellion against the Romans. The 
presence of Adrian, who was at this time in Syria 
or Egypt, restrained in some measure their proceed- 
ings, but after his return to Rome, they fortified 
several places, and prepared for a vigorous resist- 
ance. Their proceedings, and the great increase in 
the numbers of the seditious, induced Adrian to 
send Tinnius Rufus into Judea. The Roman gene- 
ral marched against them, and a dreadful slaughter 
ensued. The Jews fought desperately, and Rufus 
having been defeated in several conflicts, Adrian 
sent to his assistance Julius Severus, one of the 
greatest generals of his age. Severus besieged Be- 
ther or Bethoron, where the Jews had entrenched 
themselves, which he at length took, and put many 
to the sword. Others were sold as cattle, at the fairs 
of Mamre and Gaza ; and the rest were sent into 
Egypt, being forbidden, under a severe penalty, to 
return to their own city. Jerome (in Zach. xi. 7.) 
applies to this calamity of the Jews the words of 
Zachariah : " I will feed the flock of slaughter." 
And the Hebrew doctors apply Jer. xxxi. 15 : " A 
voice was heard in Raman, lamentation and bitter 
weeping ; Rachel weeping for her children," &c. 
The Jews purchased with a sum of money the lib- 
erty, not of entering Jerusalem, but only of looking 
from a distance on it, and going to lament its fall and 
desolation. See ^Elias. 

The number of Roman soldiers and auxiliary 
troops that perished in the course of this war, which 
lasted, as Jerome and the Rabbins say, three years 
and a half, (Hieronym. in Dan. ix. Basnage Hist, des 
Juifs, torn. ii. page 133.) or, as others suppose, only 
two years, was very great. Dio remarks, that the 
emperor, in writing of the termination of the war to 
the senate, did not use the common form in the be- 
ginning of his letters, "If you and your children are 
in good health, I am glad of it ; I and the army are 
in good condition ;" in consequence of the great 
losses he had sustained. Dio. lib. 69. page 794. 

After this revolt, Adrian finished the building of 
Jerusalem, and changed its name to ^Elia, which 
see. 

ADRIEL, son of Barzillai, married Merab, daugh- 
ter of Saul, who had been promised to David, 1 
Sam. xviii. 19. Adriel had five sons by her, who 



ADULTERY 



[24 ] 



ADULTERY 



were delivered to the Gibeonites to be put to death 
before the Lord, to avenge the cruelty of Saul, their 
grandfather, against the Gibeonites. 2 Sam. xxi. 8 
imports, that these five were sons of Michal and 
Adriel ; but either the name of Michal is put for 
Merab, sister of Michal, or, more probably, Michal 
had adopted the sons of her sister Merab, who was 
either dead, or incapable, from some cause, of bring- 
ing up her children. Perhaps, too, both sisters may 
have borne the name of Michal. 

ADULLAM, a city in the valley or plain of Judah, 
the king of which was killed by Joshua, Josh. xii. 15. 
xv. 35. Eusebius, mistaking it for Eglon, places it 
ten miles east of Eleutheropolis ; Jerome, eleven. 
Rehoboam rebuilt and fortified it, (2 Chron. xi. 7.) 
and Judas Maccabseus encamped in the adjacent 
plain, 2 Mac. xii. 38. When David withdrew from 
Achish, king of Gath, he retired to the cave of Adul- 
lam, 1 Sam. xxii. 1 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 13. 

ADULTERY is a criminal connection between 
persons who are engaged to keep themselves wholly 
to others ; and in this it differs from, and exceeds the 
guilt of, fornication, which is the same intercourse 
between unmarried persons. Fornication may be, 
in some sense, covered by a subsequent marriage of 
the parties ; but adultery cannot be so healed ; and 
hence it is used by God to signify the departing of 
his own people (that is, of those who were under en- 
gagements to him) from his worship to that of other 
gods, to associate with strangers. — Hence God com- 
pares himself to a husband jealous of his honor , 
and hence the adoption of vile opinions and practices 
is compared to the worst kind of prostitution. It is 
an argument ad homincm, not merely to the Jews, 
but to human nature at large, against the flagitious 
wickedness of forsaking God and his worship for 
false gods. 

By the law of Moses, adultery was punished with 
death, both in the man and the woman who were 
guilty of it, (Lev. xx. 10.) and a most extraordinary 
ordeal was prescribed for the trial of a woman whose 
husband suspected her of this crime. After having 
been duly admonished in private, to induce her to 
confess her infidelity, she was brought before the 
Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, where various expedients, 
of a very solemn and imposing nature, were resorted 
to for the same purpose. If she still maintained her 
innocence of the charge, and her husband continued 
to press it, she was then compelled to drink the wa- 
ters of jealousy, as prescribed in Numb. v. 14, seq. 

This mode of trial or proof, which is described by 
Moses in so exact and circumstantial a manner, is 
one of the most extraordinary things that can be 
imagined, and could not be practised without a con- 
stant and perpetual miracle. It cannot be doubted, 
but that the wiser men of the nation must have dis- 
approved of it, and that Moses allowed it to the Jews 
only because of the hardness of their hearts ; having 
probably been used to see such kinds of trials among 
the Egyptians, or other nations, and fearing worse, 
or greater violence, if this had not been permitted. 

It is well known that the Eastern people have long 
had a custom of making those undergo several kinds 
of trial, whom they suspected of crimes, the discov- 
ery of which could not be effected in the usual way. 
The most common of these proofs are those by red- 
hot iron, and by boiling water. They are veiy fre- 
quent at this time in China. When a man is accused 
of a capita] crime, he is asked whether he is willing 
to undergo either of these trials. If he submit, they 
put upon his hand seven leaves from a certain tree, 



and upon those leaves they clap a red-hot iron. He 
holds it there for a certain time, and then throws it 
on the ground. They immediately put his hand into 
a leather pouch, which they seal with the seal of the 
magistrate. At the end of three days, if the hand is 
found to be sound and well, he is declared innocent, 
and his accuser is condemned to pay a mark of gold 
to the use of die prince. The trial by water is per- 
formed by throwing a ring into a kettle of boiling 
water : if the person accused can take it out from 
thence with his hand, without suffering any harm, 
he is pronounced innocent. ("A Voyage to China, 
in the Ninth Age," page 37. notes, page 159. Comp. 
Asiat. Research, vol. iv.) This way of proof was 
not unknown to Sophocles, (Antigon. ver. 274.) and 
it was long used among Christians in Europe, (Du- 
cange. Lexic. Ferrum candens ; Juret. in Not. ad 
Yvon. Carnut; Baluz. in Not. ad Capitular.) who 
even pretended to make it pass for a harmless and a 
religious rite ; and we find masses and prayers said 
on these occasions. The Caffres oblige those who 
are suspected of any capital crime to swallow poison, 
to lick a hot iron, or to drink boiling water in which 
certain bitter herbs have been infused. The negroes 
of Loango and of Guinea, the Siamese and other In- 
dians, have the same superstition, and are thoroughly 
persuaded that these trials do no harm to any who 
are innocent. Mr. Hastings, in his account of the 
ordeal trials of the Hindoos, states the trial by the 
rosha to be as follows ; — " The accused is made to 
drink three draughts of the water, in which the im- 
ages of the sun, of Devi, and other deities, have been 
washed for that purpose ; and if, within fourteen 
days, he has any sickness, or indisposition, his crime 
is considered as proved." Asiatic Researches, vol. 
i. p. 79. 

The precise import of this ceremony can be only 
matter of conjecture. It seems to have contained 
the essence of an oath, varied for the purpose of pe- 
culiar solemnity ; so that a woman would naturally 
hesitate to comply with such a form, understood to 
be an appeal to Heaven of the most solemn kind, 
and to be accompanied, in case of perjury, by most 
painful and fatal effects. From Mungo Park, we 
learn that a similar ordeal still obtains in Africa, as 
the following passages from his journal serve to 
show. 

" At Baniserile, one of our slatees (slave merchants) 
returning to his native town, as soon as he had seated 
himself on a mat, by the threshold of his door, a 
young woman (his intended bride) brought a little 
water in a calabash, and kneeling down before him, 
desired him to wash his hands ; when he had done 
this, the girl, with a tear of joy sparkling in her eyes, 
drank the water ; this being considered as the great- 
est proof she could possibly give him of her fidelity 
and attachment." Travels, p. 347. This action of 
the woman we understand to be a kind of oath ; q. d. 
" May this water prove poison to me if I have been 
unfaithful to my absent husband." This the innocent 
might drink " with a tear of joy," while a guilty 
woman would probably have avoided such a trial 
with the utmost solicitude. Another instance is still 
more applicable. "At Koolkorro, my landlord 
brought out his writing-board, or walha, that I might 
write him a saphie,. to protect him from wicked men. 
I wrote the board full, from top to bottom, on both 
sides ; and my landlord, to be certain of having the 
whole force of the charm, washed the writing from 
the board into a calabash, with a little water, and 
having said a few prayers over it, drank this power- 



ADULTERY 



< 25 ] 



JELl 



fill draught ; after which, lest a single word should 
escape, he licked the board until it was quite dry." 
(Page 236.) Here we rind the sentiments expressed 
in writing supposed to be communicated to water ; 
and that water, being drank, is supposed to commu- 
nicate the effect of those sentiments to him who 
drank it. This drinking, then, is a symbolical action. 
In like manner, Ave suppose, when the priest of Is- 
rael wrote the curses in a sepher, (book, roll,) and 
washed those curses into the water that was to be 
drank, the water was understood to be impregnated, 
as it were — to be tinctured with the curse, the acri- 
mony of which it received ; so that now it was met- 
aphorically bitter, containing the curse in it. The 
drinking of this curse, though conditionally effective 
or non-effective, could not but have a great effect on 
the woman's mind ; and an answerable effect on the 
husband's jealousy ; which it was designed to cure 
and to dissipate. 

It is worthy of notice, that if a husband loved his 
wife too well to part with her on suspicion, or if a 
woman loved her husband so well as to risk this ex- 
posure, to satisfy him, then the rite might take place ; 
but if either did not choose to hazard this experi- 
ment, the way of divorce was open, was much 
easier, much less hazardous, more private, more 
honorable, and perhaps more satisfactory. 

Michae'lis has well remarked, on this ceremony, 
that to have given so accurate a definition of the 
punishment that God intended to inflict, and still 
more, one that consisted of such a rare disease, 
would have been a step of incomprehensible bold- 
ness in a legislator, who pretended to have a divine 
mission, if he was not, with the most assured con- 
viction, conscious of its reality. If in any case the 
oath of purgation had been taken, and the accused 
remained unaffected by the punishment, and yet 
afterwards had been legally convicted of the crime, all 
the world would have noticed the fraud of the pre- 
tended prophet, and looked upon his religion and 
laws as mere falsehood. Even the adulteress her- 
self, who at first trembled at taking such an oath, 
would, in the event of not experiencing the threat- 
ened punishment, soon look upon religion as an im- 
posture, and, in process of time, become impudent 
enough to avow her crimes publicly, and to state par- 
ticulars, merely with a view to prostitute religion, 
and bring it into disgrace. At any rate, she would 
be very apt, in private, with her paramours, to make 
merry at the expense of Moses, and his divine laws, 
and thus a contempt of religion would spread more 
and more widely every day. 

The Jews, having surprised a woman in adultery, 
brought her to our Saviour, (John viii. 3.) and asked 
him what they should do with her, Moses having 
ordered women guilty of this crime to be stoned. 
This they said, tempting him, to find accusation 
against him. Jesus, stooping down, as though he 
heard them not, wrote with his finger on the ground, 
and then, somewhat raising himself, he said, " Let 
him who is without sin cast the first stone ;" and, 
stooping again, resumed his writing on the ground, 
seeming to take no notice of those around him, but 
leaving them to the operations of their own reflec- 
tions and consciences. Her accusers, self-convicted, 
retired one after another, beginning with the eldest. 
Jesus, raising himself up, and seeing himself left 
alone with the woman, said, " Woman, where are 
thy accusers? Has no one condemned thee?" She 
said, " No, Lord." Jesus answered her, " Neither 
do I (now) condemn thee ; go, and sin no more." 
4 



From this narrative, many have supposed, that. tht> 
woman's accusers were themselves guilty of the 
crime which they alleged against her ; and as it was 
not just to receive the accusations of those who are 
guilty of the evil of which they accuse others, our 
Lord dismissed them with the most obvious propri- 
ety. But it seems enough to suppose, that the, con- 
sciences of these witnesses accused them of such 
crimes as restrained their hands from punishing the 
adulteress, who, perhaps, was guilty, in this instance, 
of a less enormous sin than they were conscious of, 
though of another kind. It may be, too, that their 
malevolent design to entrap our Lord, was appealed 
to by him, and was no slight cause of their confu- 
sion, if they wished to found a charge which might 
affect his life. Their intended murder was worse 
than the woman's adultery ; especially if, as there is 
reason to believe, the woman had suffered some 
violence. 

Selden and Fagius consider this case as that sup- 
posed by Moses in Deut. xxii. 23 : " If a damsel, a 
virgin, be betrothed to a husband, and a man find 
her in the city, and lie with her, then ye shall bring 
them both unto the gate of that city, and ye shall 
stone them with stones that they die ; the damsel, 
because she cried not, being in the city, and the man, 
because he hath humbled his neighbor's wife." 

The genuineness of this narrative has been much 
disputed, in consequence of its having been omitted 
in many ancient MSS., and being much varied, in its 
position, in others. The arguments in its favor, 
however, are generally admitted to preponderate. It 
is found in the greater part of the MSS. extant, of all 
the recensions or families ; and Tatian and Ammo- 
nius (A. D. 172, and 220) inserted it in their Harmo- 
nies. The author of the Apostolical Constitutions, 
(lib. ii. cap. 24.) and the Synopsis ascribed to Atha- 
nasius, have it. Jerome, Justin, Ambrose, and the 
Latin fathers received it, though they were not un- 
acquainted with the differences among the Greek 
copies. Justin conjectures, that some Christian of 
weak judgment expunged it, lest our Saviour should 
be thought to authorize the crime of adultery by for" 
giving it so easily. Many Syriac manuscripts, of 
good antiquity, read it ; and it is found in all printed 
copies, Greek and Latin. Griesbach and Knapp 
print the passage between [ ] as dubious ; yet, on the 
whole, admit it. For a review of all the arguments 
on both sides, see Kuinoel, Comm. in loc. 

ADUMMIM, a town and mountain on the border 
of Judah and Benjamin, (Josh. xv. 7. xviii. 17.) west 
of Jericho. 

ADVOCATE, naQaxXijToc, signifies one who ex- 
horts, defends, comforts ; also one who prays or in- 
tercedes for another. It is an appellati&n given to 
the Holy Spirit by our Saviour, (John xiv. 16 ; xv. 
26 ; xvi. 7.) and to our Saviour himself, by John, 
1 Epist. ii. 1. See Paraclete. 

iELIA CAPITOLINA, the name given to Jeru- 
salem, when the emperor Adrian, (whose family 
name was ^Elius,) about A. D. 134, settled a Roman 
colony there, and banished the Jews, prohibiting 
their return upon pain of death. We are assured, 
that Tinnius Rufus, or, as the Rabbins call him, 
Turannus, or Turnus Rufus, ploughed up the spot 
of ground on which the temple had stood. There 
are medals of Adrian extant, struck upon this occa- 
sion ; on the reverse of which Judea is represented 
as a woman, holding two naked children by her, 
and sacrificing upon an altar. On another medal, 
we see Judea kneeling, submitting to the emperor 



MR A 



[ 26 ] 



AFR 



and three children begging mercy of him. Jerome 
states, that in his time, the Jews bought from the Ro- 
man soldiers permission to look on Jerusalem, and to 
shed tears over it. (Paulin. ad Sever. Ep. 11.) Old 
men and women, loaded with rags, were seen to go 
weeping up the mount of Olives, (see Mark xiii. 3.) 
to lament from thence the ruin of the temple. 

The city was consecrated by Adrian to Jupiter 
Capitolinus, after whom it was named Capitolina, 
and a temple was built to him on the spot where 
Jesus rose from the dead. A statue of Venus was 
also set up on Calvary, a marble hog was placed on 
the gate leading toward Bethlehem, and at this place 
a grove was planted in honor of Adonis, to whom 
was dedicated the cave in which our Lord was sup- 
posed to have been born. (Hieron. ad Paulin. Ep. 
13.) Notwithstanding these degradations, however, 
the places consecrated by the birth, death, and res- 
urrection of Jesus, continued to be held in repute, 
and were, in fact, identified by the very means em- 
ployed to destroy their locality, and put out their 
remembrance. See Calvary, and Sepulchre of 
Christ. 

It appears that Adrian's order for expelling the 
Jews tram Jerusalem did not extend to the Chris- 
tians. These remained in the city, and the church, 
which had been previously composed chiefly of con- 
verted Jews, who had connected many of the legal 
ceremonies with the Christian worship, was now 
formed exclusively of Gentile converts, who abol- 
ished the Jewish observances. 

From this period the name ^Elia became so com- 
mon, that Jerusalem was preserved only among the 
Jews, and better informed Christians. In the time 
of Constautine, however, it resumed its ancient 
name, which it has retained to the present day. 

./ERA is nearly the same thing with epocha, a 
point of time which chronologers call a fixed point, 
or chronological sera. So the first Olympiad, the 
foundation of Rome, the sera of Nabonassar, of Al- 
exander the Great, of the Seleucidse, (or, in the lan- 
guage of the books of Maccabees, the year of the 
Greeks,) and the year of Jesus Christ, or Anno 
Domini, are all seras. 

The ^Era of the frst Olympiad is fixed A. M. 3228, 
before Jesus Christ 776. — (2.) The JEka of the foun- 
dation of Rome, A. M. 3253, before A. D. 751.— (3.) 
The jEra of A "ahonassar, A. M. 3257, before A. D. 747. 
— (4.) The jEra of Alexander the Great, or his last vic- 
tory over Darius, A. M. 3674, before A. D. 330. — (5.) 
The .Era of the Seleucida, A. M. 3692, before A. D. 
312. The Jews call this sera the JEra of Contracts, 
/ifSVMse, when subjected to the government of the 
Syro-Macedonian kings, they were obliged to insert 
it in the dates of their contracts and other civil 
writings. The first book of the Maecabees places 
the beginning of it in spring, the second places it in 
autumn. In the Maccabees, it is called "the JEra 
of the kingdom of the Greeks." All other nations 
that computed by this sera, began it from the au- 
tumn of the year before Christ 312, but the Chal- 
deans began it from the spring following, because, till 
then, they did iaot think Seleucus thoroughly settled 
in the possession of Babylon. — (6.) The ^Era of the 
birth of Jesus Christ, A. M. 4000, three years at 
east before our vulgar sera, in which we reckon 
he year 1832; whereas, if we take exactly the sera 
if our Saviour's birth, we should reckon it 1836, or at 
/east 1835. See Epocha, also the Chronological Table. 
On this subject there are great difficulties to obtain 
precision ; but we generally add three years to A. D. 



AFFINITY. There were several degrees of 
affinity among the Hebrews, which were considered 
as obstructions to matrimony. (1.) A son could not 
marry his mother, nor his father's second wife ; (2.) 
a brother could not marry his sister, whether by the 
father only, or by the mother only, much less his 
sister by both sides; (3.) a grandfather could not 
marry his granddaughter, either by his son or by his 
daughter ; (4.) no one could marry the daughter of 
his father's wife ; (5.) nor the sister of his father or 
mother ; (6.) nor the uncle his niece, nor the aunt 
her nephew ; (7.) nor the nephew the wife of his 
uncle by the father's side ; (8.) a father-in-law could 
not marry his daughter-in-law ; (9.) nor a brother 
the wife of his brother, while living, nor after the 
death of that brother, if he left children ; if he left 
no children, the surviving brother was to raise up 
children to his deceased brother, by marrying his 
widow ; (10.) it was forbidden to marry a mother 
and her daughter at one time, or the daughter of the 
mother's son, or the daughter of her daughter, or 
two sisters together, Lev. xviii. 7 — 18. 

The patriarchs, before the law, sometimes mar- 
ried their half-sisters, as Abraham married Sarah, 
his father's daughter by another mother ; or two sis- 
ters together, as Jacob married Rachel and Leah. But 
these cases are not to be considered as examples, be- 
cause they were authorized by necessity, or custom, 
and the law did not then prohibit them. Since the 
giving of the law, however, Scripture expressly disap- 
proves of matrimonial connections among such inti- 
mate relations ; as may be seen in the case of Reuben 
and Bilhah, his father's concubine ; Herod Antipas 
and Herodias his sister-in-law ; and that which Paul 
reproves and punishes among the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 
v. 1. See Marriage. 

AFRICA, one of the four principal divisions of 
the globe, and the third in magnitude. The origin 
of its name is uncertain. Bochart derives it from 
the Punic word nns signifying an ear of com, with 
a supposed reference to the fertility of the country ; 
Josephus traces it to Ophir, the grandson of Abra- 
ham ; Calmet thinks it is derived from the Heb. isn 
ashes, many parts of the country being mere wastes 
of sand ; Taylor prefers to derive it from ,-no to 
break off, or rend asunder, which certainly describes 
the African peninsula accurately enough, it being 
really broken off, as it were, from Asia, by the Red 
sea, and united to the great continent only at the 
isthmus of Suez. Of these derivations, however, the 
first is the most plausible ; though, as already inti- 
mated, open to dispute; 

Africa is bounded on the north by the Mediterra- 
nean sea ; on the east by the Indian ocean, the Red 
sea, and part of Asia; on the south by the Southern 
ocean ; and'on the west by the Atlantic. Its general 
form is triangular, the northern part being the base, 
and the southern extremity the vertex. Its length 
may be reckoned about 70 degrees of latitude, or 
4990 miles ; and its greatest breadth something more 
than 4090 miles. 

Africa was peopled principally by Ham, or his de- 
scendants; hence it is called the " land of Ham," in 
several of the Psalms. Mizraim peopled Egypt, 
(Gen. x. 6, 13, 14.) and the Pathrusim, the Naphtu- 
him, the Casluhim, and the Ludim, peopled other 
parts ; but the situations they occupied are not uow 
known distinctly. It is thought that many of the Ca- 
naanites, when expelled by Joshua, retired into Africa ; 
and the Mahommedans believe that the Amalekites, 
who dwelt in ancient times in the neighborhor d of 



AGA 



[ 27 ] 



AGA 



Mecca, were forced from thence by the kings de- 
scended from Zioram. Pococke, Spec. Hist. Arab. 
See Canaanites. 

The gospel is thought to have been carried to Af- 
rica by the eunuch of Candace, whom Philip bap- 
tized ; and probably also by some of those who, from 
different parts of it, attended the feast of Pentecost, 
Acts ii. 10. In after-times, very flourishing churches 
were situated on various points of the Mediterranean 
shore of Africa ; but, at present, Mahommedanism, or 
idolatry, involves almost the whole continent, as 
has been the case ever since its conquest by the 
Saracens. 

The necessary information relative to those places 
in Africa, which are spoken of in Scripture, will be 
found under their respective names, Abyssinia, Al- 
exandria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Cyrene, &c. 

A GAB A, a fortress near Jerusalem, which Gales- 
tus, its governor, restored to Aristobulus, son of Al- 
exander Jannseus. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. 24. 

AGABUS, a prophet, and, as the Greeks suppose, 
one of the seventy disciples of our Saviour. While 
Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch, on their way 
to Jerusalem, certain prophets came down from 
Judea, among whom was Agabus, Acts xi. 28. And 
he stood up, and signified by the Spirit that there 
would be a great famine throughout all the world, 
or Roman empire. This famine, which Luke in- 
forms us happened in the days of Claudius, (A. D. 
44.) is noticed by profane historians, and Suetonius 
(in Claudio) observes that during its continuance the 
emperor was himself insulted in the market-place, 
and obliged to retire to his palace. — About ten years 
after, (A. D. 54.) as Paul was at Cesarea, on his way 
to Jerusalem, for the last time before his imprison- 
ment, the same Agabus came down from Jerusalem ; 
and, having bound his own hands and feet with 
Paul's girdle, prophesied that in like manner Paul 
should be bound at Jerusalem by the Jews, and de- 
livered over to the Gentiles, Acts xxi. 10, 11. 

AGAG, a king of the Amalekites, a tribe that at- 
tacked Israel in the wilderness, at their coming out 
of Egypt, while sinking under fatigue, and massa- 
cred all who were unable to keep up with the main 
body, Exod. xvii. 8 ; Deut. xxv. l"-7. This name, 
Agag, seems to have been common to the kings of 
that people ; at least there was one of the name as 
early as the time of Moses, Numb. xxiv. 7. — The 
Lord was not satisfied with the victory which Joshua 
obtained over them, but declared that he would de- 
stroy the memory of Amalek from under heaven, 
Exod. xvii. 14. 16. About 400 years after this,. Saul 
was commanded to march against them, and to 
" spare neither them, nor to desire any thing that was 
theirs, but to slay both man and woman, infant and 
suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass." Saul, in 
obedience to his orders, invaded the country of the 
Amalekites, and cut to pieces all whom he met with 
from Havilah to Shur. Agag, however, and the best 
of the sheep and oxen, he spared, and also preserved 
the most valuable of the spoil. This was highly dis- 
pleasing to the Lord, and the prophet Samuel was 
sent forward to Gilgal, to meet him, and reprove 
him for his disobedience. Having denounced pun- 
ishment upon Saul, Samuel called for Agag, for the 
purpose of inflicting upon him that punishment 
which his cruelties had merited. When brought into 
the presence of the prophet, Agag expressed his 
hope that the bitterness of death was passed, to 
which Samuel replied, " As thy sword hath made 
mothers childless, so shall thy mother be childless 



among women." Agag was then hewed in pieces 
before the Lord in Gilgal, 1 Sam. xv. 

That " hewing in pieces" is not unknown, as a 
punishment, in some parts of the world, is seen 
from a relation in Bruce's Travels in Abyssinia. 
"The bodies of those killed by the sword," he re- 
marks, "were hewn to pieces, and scattered about the 
streets," where they were devoured by the hyaenas; 
(see 1 Kings xxi. 23.) and upon one occasion, when 
crossing the market-place, he saw the Ras's door- 
keeper hacking to pieces three men, who were 
bound, with all the self-possession and coolness 
imaginable ! Travels, vol. iv. p. 81. The character 
of Samuel has been vilified for cruelty, upon this oc- 
casion, with how much reason let the reader judge. 

AGAPiE, leasts of friendship, love, or kindness, 
in use among the primitive Christians. It is very 
probable that they were instituted in memory of the 
last supper of Jesus Christ with his disciples, which 
supper was concluded before he instituted the eu- 
charist. 

These festivals were kept in the assembly, or 
church, towards evening, after prayers and worship 
were over. Upon these occasions, the faithful ate 
together, with great simplicity and union, what each 
had brought ; so that rich and poor were in no way 
distinguished. After a supper, marked by much 
frugality and modesty, they partook of the sacra- 
mental signs of the Lord's body and blood, and gave 
each other the kiss of peace. 

The Agapa? are placed before the eucharist, (1 Cor. 
xi. 21.) and if they did refer to our Lord's supper 
before he instituted the eucharist, this seems to be 
their natural order. But it is probable that, at least 
in some places, or on some occasions, the ho y eu- 
charist preceded the Agapa?; perhaps when perse- 
cution rendered extreme caution necessary ; for it 
seems very likely that Pliny speaks of these Agapae 
in his famous letter to Trajan: " After their sei vice 
to Christ, (quasi Deo,) they departed, and returned 
to take a harmless repast in common." 

The history of the Agapns among the primitive 
Christians is so closely connected with the manners, 
customs, and opinions of times and places, that to 
treat it satisfactorily would lead us too far ; we may, 
therefore, only offer a few remarks. There seems 
reason to conclude, that the social intercourse of 
early believers might enable then, ro discover many 
excellences in each other, which night contribute 
to justify and to promote the observanns of heathen 
strangers, "See how these Christie as love one 
another !" 

These Agapa; were not only very powerful means, 
among the primitive Christians, of cultivating mutual 
affection throughout their body, and of gaining the 
good-will of those who observed their conduct ; but, 
in all probability, they contributed to promote the 
Christian cause, by leading to conversions, and by 
supporting the minds of young converts under the 
difficulties attending their situation. Tertullian 
(Apol. cap. 39.) speaks of them thus: "Nothing low 
or unseemly is committed in them ; nor is it till after 
having prayed to God, that they sit down to table. 
Food is taken in moderation, as wanted ; and no 
more is drank than it becomes discreet persons to 
drink. Each takes such refreshment as is suitable, 
in connection with the recollection that he is to be 
engaged, in the course of the night, in adorations to 
God ; and the conversation is conducted as becometh 
those who know that the Lord heareth them. After 
water has been brought for the hands, and fresh 



AGA 



AGR 



lights, every one is invited to sing, and to glorify 
God, whether by passages from the sacred Scrip- 
tures, or of his own composition. This discovers 
whether proper moderation has been observed at 
the table. In short, the repast concludes as it be- 
gan ; that is to say, with prayer." 

These institutions, however, even in the time of 
the apostles, appear to have degenerated, and be- 
come abused. Paul (1 Cor. xi. 20, 21.) complains, 
that the rich despised the poor in these assemblies, 
and would not condescend to eat with them : " When 
ye come together," says he, "in one place — this 
coming together, merely, is not eating the Lord's 
supper ; one taking before another his own supper ; 
one being hungry, another over full. What ! have 
ye not houses* to eat and to drink in? or despise ye 
the church of God, and shame them that have not ?" 
In this discordant state of its members, a church 
could not but be unfit to celebrate the great com- 
memoration of divine love. (Jude 12. " Spots in 
your feasts of charity — Agapae — feasting themselves, 
&c") 

It certainly seems to us extraordinary, that on any 
occasion, much more on occasion of a Christian in- 
stitution recently attended to, and a solemn Chris- 
tian ordinance about to be attended to, the Corinthi- 
ans should, any of them, indulge to excess of any 
kind: but when we consider that public suppers 
and other meals were customary among the Greeks, 
(to which they might assimilate these Agapa?,) and 
besides, that the sacrifices at which these Corinthi- 
ans had been accustomed to attend, were followed 
(and some accompanied) by merriment, we shall see 
less reason to wonder at their falling into intemper- 
ance of behavior so very different from the genius 
of the gospel. Certainly the eucharist itself is, as 
the name implies, a feast for joy; but for joy of a much 
more serious kind. However, we must, in justice, 
vindicate the Corinthians from that gross profana- 
tion of the eucharist itself, with which, from our 
translation, or rather from the common acceptation 
of the phrase " Lord's supper," they have been re- 
proached. 

The Agapse were abolished by the Council of La- 
odicea, Can. 28. Synod of Trullo, Can. 74. and the 
Council of Carthage, Can. 42. 

The Jews had certain devotional entertainments, 
in some degree related to the Agapae. On their 
great festival days, they made feasts for their family, 
for the priests, the poor, and orphans ; or they 
sent portions to them. These repasts were made 
in Jerusalem, before the Lord. There were also 
certain sacrifices and first-fruits appointed by the 
law, to be set apart for that purpose, Deut. xxvi. 
10—12 ; Neh. viii. 10, 12 ; Esth. ix. 19. A similar 
custom obtained among the heathen : at least, so 
far as to partake convivially of what had been 
offered in sacrifice ; and perhaps, also, sending por- 
tions to such as were absent. The Essenes also 
nad their repasts in common ; and probably many 
other confraternities or sects. To this fellowship, 
the institution of the Sodales or brotherhoods, which 
had become popular since the days of Augustus, 
might greatly contribute. 

AGATE, a precious stone, said to take its name 
from the river Achates in Sicily, where it was first 
found. Agates, which are of several kinds, are like- 
wise procured in Phrygia, in India, in various parts 
of Europe, and at the Cape of Good Hope. The 
agate was the second stone in the third row of the 
high-priest's breastplate, Exod. xxviii. 19 ; xxxix. 12. 



AGE, (1.) a period of time ; (2.) a generation of the 
human race; (3.) a hundred years; (4.) maturity of 
life ; (5.) the latter end of life ; (6.) the duration of 
life. See Chronologt. 

AGRICULTURE, see Canaan, Ploughing, and 
Threshing. 

I. AGRIPPA, surnamed Herod, son of Aristobu- 
lus and Berenice, and grandson of Herod the Great, 
was born three years before our Saviour, and seven 
years before the vulgar sera. After the death of his 
father Aristobulus, Herod, his grandfather, under- 
took his education, and sent him to Rome, to make 
his court to Tiberius. The emperor conceived a 
great affection for Agrippa, and placed him near his 
son Drusus, whose favor he soon obtained, as also 
that of the empress Antonia. Drusus, however, dying 
soon afterwards, (A. D. 23.) all who had been his 
intimate friends were commanded by Tiberius to 
quit Rome, lest their presence should renew his 
affliction. Agrippa, who had indulged his disposi- 
tion to liberality, was obliged to leave Rome over- 
whelmed with debts, and very poor. He was averse 
to go to Jerusalem, because of his inability to make 
an appearance equal to his birth ; he retired there- 
fore to the castle of Massada, where he lived in pri- 
vate. Herod the tetrarch, his uncle, assisted him for 
son» ■ time with great generosity ; made him the 
princij al magistrate of Tiberias, and presented him 
with a large sum. But all this being insufficient to 
answer the excessive profusion of Agrippa, Herod 
became weary of assisting him, and reproached him 
with his want of economy. Agrippa was so affected 
by his uncle's reproof, that he resolved to quit Judea, 
and return to Rome. A. D. 35. 

To effect his purpose, he borrowed from Protus, 
a freed-man in the suite of Berenice, the sum of 
20,000 drachmas, and from Alexander, the Alabarch 
or chief of the Jews at Alexandria, he procured 
200,000 more. When Agrippa landed in Italy, Ti- 
berius was with his court at Caprea, whither Agrip- 
pa sent intelligence of his arrival, and desired leave 
to present himself. Tiberius, whom time had cured 
of his affliction, was glad to hear of his return, re- 
ceived him with kindness, and, as a mark of distinc- 
tion, gave him an apartment in his palace. 

On the next day, letters were brought to the em- 
peror from Herennius, who was charged with his 
affairs in Judea, in which it was stated that Agrippa, 
having borrowed 300,000 pieces of silver out of his 
exchequer, had fled from Judea, without repaying 
them. This intelligence so exasperated Tiberius 
that. he commanded Agrippa to leave the palace, and 
to pay what he owed. Agrippa, however, addressed 
himself to the empress Antonia, from whom he ob- 
tained a sum of money sufficient to discharge the 
claim ; and was restored to the emperor's favor. 
Agrippa now attached himself to Caius Caligula, the 
son of Germanicus, and grandson of Antonia ; as if 
he had some presentiment of the future elevation of 
Caius, who at that time was beloved by all, and 
whose affection he so engaged that the prince was 
not able to live without him. Joseph. Ant. xviii. 
6. 1—5. 

Upon the death of Tiberius, Caligula placed a dia- 
dem upon the head of Agrippa, and gave him the 
tetrarchy which Philip, son of Herod the Great, 
had possessed ; that is, Batana?a and Trachonitis : 
to this he added that of Lysanias, (see Abilene,) 
and Agrippa returned into Judea, to take possession 
of his new kingdom, A. D. 39. 

Caius, desiring to be adored as a god. ietermined 



AGRIPPA 



[ 29 ] 



A GR 



to place his statue in the temple at Jerusalem, but 
this the Jews determinately opposed. Agrippa, who 
was at Rome at the time that Petrouius, the empe- 
ror's lieutenant in Judea, addressed Caius upon the 
subject, so far succeeded in his entreaties, that the 
emperor desisted, at least in appearance, from his 
design. 

After the death of Caligula, Agrippa espoused the 
interest of Claudius, who, in acknowledgment for his 
services, bestowed upon him all Judea, and the 
kingdom of Chalcis, which had belonged to Herod 
his brother. Thus Agrippa suddenly became one 
of the most powerful princes of the East, and pos- 
sessed a greater extent of territory, perhaps, than 
had been enjoyed by his grandfather, Herod the 
Great. He returned into Judea, and governed to 
the great satisfaction of his subjects The desire of 
pleasing the Jews, however, and a mistaken zeal for 
their religion, induced him to commit an act of in- 
justice, the memory of which is preserved in Scrip- 
ture, Acts xii. 1, <fec. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xix. cap. 4. 
About the feast of the passover, A. D. 44. James the 
greater, son of Zebedee, and brother of John the 
evangelist, was put to death by his orders ; and 
Peter was thrown into prison, with a view to his ex- 
ecution, after the close of the festival. In this de- 
sign, however, Agrippa was disappointed ; the apos- 
tle being miraculously delivered from his confine- 
ment. A short time afterwards, Agrippa went from 
Jerusalem to Csesarea, where he celebrated games 
in honor of Claudius. Antiq. lib. xix. cap. 8. and 
Acts xii. 19, &c. Here the inhabitants of Tyre and 
Sidon waited on him, to sue for peace. Agrippa, 
having come eai ly in the morning to the theatre, to 
give them audience, seated himself on his throne, 
dressed in a splendid robe of silver tissue. The rays 
of the rising sun, darting upon his dress, gave it such 
a lustre and resplendence as the eyes of the specta- 
tors could scarcely endure. When, therefore, the 
king spoke to the Tyrians and Sidonians, the people, 
urged by his flatterers, exclaimed, "The voice of a 
god, not of a man!" Instead of rejecting these im- 
pious flatteries, Agrippa received them with com- 
placency ; but at that instant the angel of the Lord 
smote him, because he did not give the glory to God. 
He was carried to his palace by his attendants, 
where he died, after five days, racked by tormenting 
pain in his bowels, and devoured by worms, Acts 
xii. 20 — 23. A. D. 44. Agrippa had reigned seven 
years. He left a son, of the same name, then at 
Rome, and three daughters — Berenice, who was 
married to her uncle Herod ; Mariamne, betrothed 
to Julius Archelaus, son of Chelcias ; and Drusilla, 
promised to Epiphanius, son of Archelaus, king of 
Comagena. Joseph. Ant. xviii. et xix. passim. 

II. AGRIPPA, the younger, son of the above, 
was at Rome with the emperor Claudius, when his 
father died. Josephus states that the emperor was 
at first inclined to bestow upon him all the domin- 
ions of his father, but was dissuaded from this by his 
ministers. The emperor, therefore, detained Agrip- 
pa at Rome four years longer, he being then seven- 
teen years of age, and sent Cuspius Fadus into Ju- 
dea. The year following, (A. D. 45.) the governor 
of Syria, coming to Jerusalem, designed that the 
high-priest's ornaments should be committed to the 
custody of Fadus, intending to compel the Jews to 
deliver them, to be kept within the tower of Anto- 
nia, where they had formerly been deposited, till 
Vitellius intrusted them to their care. But the Jews, 
giving good security, were permitted to send depu- 



ties to Rome on this affair, who, by the good offices 
of young Agrippa, maintained the possession of their 
privilege, and the pontifical ornaments were contin- 
ued in their custody. 

Upon the death of Herod, king of Chalcis, (A. D. 
48.) uncle to young Agrippa, the emperor gave his 
dominions to this prince ; but he did not go into Ju- 
dea till four years afterwards, (A. D. 53.) when 
Claudius, taking from him Chalcis, gave him the 
provinces of Gaulauitis, Trachonitis, Batan.-^a, Pa- 
neas, and Abilene, which formerly had been pos 
sessed by Lysanias. After the death of Claudius, 
his successor Nero, who had a great affection for 
Agrippa, added to his dominions Julias in Persea, 
and that part of Galilee which included Tarichaea 
and Tiberias. 

Festus, governor of Judea, coming to his govern- 
ment, A. D. 60, Agrippa, aud Berenice his sister, 
went as far as Cesarea to salute him. As they con- 
tinued there some time, Festus conversed with the 
king on the affair of Paul, who had been seized in 
the temple about two years before, and who a few 
days prior to this had appealed to the emperor Clau- 
dius, then reigning at Rome. 

Agrippa being desirous himself to hear Paul, 
(Acts xxv. 13.) the apostle was brought forth, and 
Festus introduced his case to the king. Having ob- 
tained permission to speak, the apostle related his 
miraculous conversion, with his previous persecu- 
tions of the Christians, and his subsequent labors 
and suffering for the gospel, with such power, that 
he extorted from Agrippa that memorable exclama- 
tion, — "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Chris- 
tian." Agrippa afterwards said, that his prisoner 
might have been set at liberty had he not appealed 
to Caesar, Acts xxvi. 

About two years after this, Agrippa gave great 
offence to the Jews, by depriving Joseph Cabe'i <>f 
the high-priesthood, and bestowing it upon Ananus, 
a man of a severe and cruel disposition, by whose 
influence the apostle James was condemned to be 
stoned, Acts xii. 2. Joseph. Ant. xx. 9. 1. To pro- 
pitiate them, he deposed Ananus after he had en- 
joyed the pontifical dignity only three months, and 
conferred it upon Jesus, the son of Damnaeus. 
Some time after this, he permitted the Levites to 
wear the linen robe, which had been hitherto appro- 
priated to the priests, inducing those who had not 
been appointed to sing in the temple service, to 
learn vocal music, that they also might share in the 
privilege. Jos. Ant. xx. 9. 6. 

While every thing tended to rebellion in Judea, 
Agrippa did all he could to quiet the people, and 
incline them to peace : but his endeavors were un- 
successful ; he indeed suspended, but could not sup- 
press, the passions of the Jews, exasperated by the 
cruelties and insolence of their governors. They 
declared openly against the Romans, A. D. 66, and 
Agrippa was forced to join his troops with those of 
Rome, to assist in taking Jerusalem. After the de- 
struction of that city he retired to Rome with his 
sister Berenice, with whom he had long lived in a 
manner that had given occasion for reports very 
little to their advantage. He died aged about sev 
enty years, towards A. D. 90. Jos. Ant. xix. c. 9 
xx. c. 7. c. 8. c. 9. See Herod IV. 

AGRIPPIAS, a name given to the town of An 
thedon, on the Mediterranean, between Raphia and 
Gaza, by Herod the Great, in honor of his friend 
Agrippa, the favorite of Augustus. Joseph. Antiq. 
xiii. 21. See Anthf.don. 



AHA 



L 30 j 



AHAB 



AGUR. The thirtieth chapter of the Proverbs is 
entitled " The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh," 
of whom nothing further is known. He was proba- 
bly an inspired Jewish writer, whose sentences were 
incorporated with those of Solomon, in consequence 
of the similarity of their style and manner. 

I. AHAB, king of Israel, the son and successor 
of Omri, ascended the throne A. M. 3086, and reigned 
22 years, 1 Kings xvi. 29. Ahab married Jezebel, 
the dai'ghter of . Eth-baal, king of the Zidonians, 
who Litroduced the idols Baal and Astarte into Is- 
rael, and engaged Ahab in their worship, who soon 
exceeded in impiety all his predecessors. Being 
displeased at his conduct, the Lord sent the prophet 
Elijah to reprove him, who predicted a famine of 
three years' continuance ; after which he retired to 
Zarephath, lest Ahab or Jezebel should procure his 
death. Towards the close of the three years, Ahab 
sent Obadiah, the governor of his house, to seek 
pasture in the country, that he might preserve part 
of his cattle. In his progress Obadiah met Elijah, 
who directed him to go and tell Ahab that Elijah 
was there. Ahab. immediately came, and said to 
him, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" The 
prophet answered, " I have not troubled Israel, but 
thou and thy father's house ; in that thou hast for- 
saken the commandments of the Lord, and followed 
Baalim." He then desired Ahab to gather all the 
people, with the prophets of Baal, at mount Carmel ; 
and when they were assembled, he brought fire from 
heaven on his sacrifice. After this the rain descended 
on the earth, and it recovered its former fertility, 1 
Kings xviii. 

Some years after this, Ben-hadad, king of Syria, 
besieged Samaria, and sent ambassadors to Ahab, 
who was in the city, with insolent messages ; but 
Ahab significantly reproved him by saying, " Let 
not him that girdeth on his harness, boast himself as 
he that putteth it off." Ahab then reviewed the 
people in Samaria, who amounted to 7000, and mak- 
ing a sally at noon-day, (while Ben-hadad and his 
associates were carousing in their tents,) killed all 
who opposed them, put the Syrian army to flight, 
and took a considerable booty, 1 Kings xx. 21. 

Ahab being probably much elated by this victory, 
a prophet, supposed by the Jews to have been Mi- 
caiah, was sent to admonish him to prepare for Ben- 
hadad's return in the following year. In accordance 
with the prediction, the Syrian repeated his invasion, 
and encamped with his army at Aphek, designing to 
give Ahab battle.- Assured of victory, by the prophet 
of the Lord, the king of Israel marched out into the 
plain, and encamped over against his enemies. On 
the seventh day they joined battle, and the Israelites 
slew 100,000 Syrians. The rest of them fled to 
Aphek ; but as they were pressing to enter the city, 
the walls fell upon them, and killed 27,000 more. 
Ben-hadad, throwing himself on the clemency of 
Ahab, was received by him into his chariot ; after 
which he formed an alliance, and permitted him to 
etire, on condition that Ahab should be allowed to 
make streets in Damascus, as Ben-hadad's father had 
previously done in Samaria, 1 Kings xx. 22 — 34. 
This alliance, however, was displeasing to the Lord, 
who reproved Ahab by his prophet, and the king 
returned to Samaria depressed and displeased, ver. 
35 — 43. 

Upon the nature of the streets which Ahab pro- 
posed to build in Damascus, commentators are di- 
vided in opinion, variously understanding the ex- 
pression to mean markets, courts of judicature, pi- 



azzas, citadels, and fortifications, for the purpose of 
keeping the Syrians in check, &c. In illustration 
of the passage, Mr. Harmer adduces the privileges 
granted to the Venetians in recompense for their 
aid, by the states of the kingdom of Jerusalem ; and 
observes, that it was customary to assign churches, 
and to give streets, in their towns, to foreign nations. 
These, however, are rather instances of rewards for 
services performed, than proofs of such terms as 
conditions of peace ; and we may therefore cite the 
following passage from Knolles's "History of the 
Turks," (p. 206.) as being more applicable to the his- 
tory of Ben-hadad, than any of those which Mr. 
Harmer has produced: "Baiazet having worthily 
relieued his besieged citie, returned againe to the 
siege of Constantinople, laying more hardly vnto it 
than before, building forts and bulwarks against it 
on die one side towards the land ; and passing oner 
the strait of Bosphorus, built a strong castle vpou 
that strait oner against Constantinople, to impeach, 
so much as was possible, all passage thereunto by 
sea. This streight siege (as most write) continued 
also two yeres, which I suppose by the circumstance 
of the historie, to haue been part of the aforesaid 
eight yeres. Emanuel, the besieged emperor, 
wearied with these long wars, sent an ambassador to 
Baiazet, to intreat with him a peace ; which Baiazet 
was the more willing to hearken vnto, for that he 
heard newes, that Tamerlane, the great Tartarian 
prince, intended shortly to warre upon him. Yet 
could this peace not be obtained, but vpon condition 
that the emperor shoidd grant free libcrlie for the 
Turks to dwell together in one street of Constanti- 
nople, with free exercise of their own religion and laioes, 
vnder a judge of their own nation ; and further, to 
pay unto the Turkish king a yeerely tribute of ten 
thousand duckats. Which dishonorable conditions 
the distressed emperor was glad to accept of. So 
was this long siege broken yp, and presently a great 
sort of Turks with their families were sent out of Bi- 
thynia, to dwell in Constantinople, and a church there 
built for them ; winch hot long after was by the em- 
peror pulled downe to the ground, and the Turks 
againe driuen out of the citie, at such time as Baia- 
zet was by the mighty Tamerlane ouerthrowne and 
taken prisoner." The circumstances of these two 
stories, and the remarks, are so. much alike, that it 
merely remains to notice the propriety with which 
our translators have chosen the word streets, rather 
than any other proposed by commentators. Com- 
pare the bakers' 1 street, Jer. xxxvii. 21. It is worthy 
of observation, that there are extant medals of Ptol- 
emais, referring to "Antiocheans in Ptolemais," 
meaning, in all probability, establishments for the 
purposes of commerce, formed by companies of 
merchants from Antioch ; not unlike our companies 
of merchants in Smyrna, and other cities of the 
East, and similar to the streets of Ahab. 

In the year following the events just narrated, 
Ahab, desiring to possess a kitchen-garden near his 
palace, requested Naboth, a citizen of Jezreel, to sell 
him his vineyard. Naboth, however, refused to 
alienate any part of his paternal inheritance, which 
greatly incensed the king, and brought down upon 
the patriotic man disgrace and death. Jezebel had 
him arraigned as a traitor, and by means of false 
witnesses procured his death. As Ahab was return 
ing to Samaria, after having taken possession of Na- 
both's vineyard, he was met by Elijah, who de- 
nounced the judgment of God against him and his 
house. Ahab expressed his sorrow and contrition. 



AHA 



[ 31 ] 



AHASUEIIUS 



whereupon the Lord promised that the execution of 
these threatenings should be deferred till the days 
of his son, 1 Kings xxi. 

About two years after this, Ahab, contrary to the 
word of the prophet Micaiah, joined his forces to 
those of Jehoshaphat, king ofJudah, who was going 
up to attack Ramoth-Gilead. He went out in dis- 
guise, but, being wounded by an arrow, immediately 
left the field of battle. He continued the whole day, 
however, in his chariot, the blood streaming from 
his wound, and in the evening he died. He was 
carried to Samaria, and there buried. His chariot, 
and the harness of his horses, were washed in the 
fish-pool of Samaria, and there the dogs licked up 
his blood, according to the prophet's prediction, 1 
Kings xxii. A. M. 3107. See Elijah, Jezebel, Mi- 
caiah, Naboth. 

II. AHAB, son of Kolaiah, one of the two false 
prophets who seduced the Israelites at Babylon, Jer. 
xxix. 21, 22. The Lord threatened them, by Jere- 
miah, with delivering them up to Nebuchadnezzar, 
king of Babylon, who should put them to death in 
the presence of those who had been deceived by 
them ; and that the people should use their name 
proverbially, when they would curse any one, say- 
ing, " The Lord make thee like Ahab and Zedekiah, 
whom the king of Babylon Voasted hi the fire." The 
rabbins, who have been followed by several exposi- 
tors, believe these to be the two elders who en- 
deavored to corrupt the chaste Susanna. But the 
punishment annexed to the crime of those in the 
apocryphal history, destroys this opinion ; for Ahab 
and Zedekiah were roasted in the fire, while the 
others were stoned. The text does not say, literally, 
they were stoned ; but that they were treated as they 
would have used their neighbor ; — that they were 
put to death according to the law of Moses ; and as 
that law condemns adulterers to be stoned, which 
was the punishment they would have had inflicted 
on Susanna, it follows that this was the punishment 
they were to suffer in retaliation. 

I. AHASUERUS, a king of Persia mentioned 
Dan. ix. 1. and called Astyages in the Vulgate, Dan. 
xih. 65. He is evidently to be distinguished from the 
Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. See Astyages II. 

II. AHASUERUS, a king of Persia, who is so 
conspicuous in the book of Esther, and is mentioned 
also in Ezra iv. 6. According to the opinion of 
those who identify him with Darius Hystaspes, he 
was a descendant of the royal family of Acha;mones, 
and ascended the throne of Persia in the 28th year 
of his age, A. M. 3483 ; ante A. D. 521. In the 
second year of his reign, the Jews who had returned 
to Palestine, encouraged by the exhortations of the 
prophets Haggai and Zechariah, resumed the re- 
building of the temple, which had been interrupted 
under the reign of Cambyses. On this, the govern- 
ors of the province for the Persians demanded by 
what authority they undertook this work, Ezra v. 
3 — 6, 13. The Jews produced the edict of Cyrus ; 
the governors wrote to Ahasuerus, who gave direc- 
tions to seek this edict. Having found it at Ecba- 
tana, he confirmed it, and commanded his officers to 
assist in the design, and to furnish things necessary 
for sacrifices. Ahasuerus having divorced Vashti, 
his queen, (see Vashti,) Esther, the niece of Mor- 
decai, a Jew, was chosen to be his wife, through 
whose intercession the edict appointing the massacre 
of the Jews was cancelled, and their enemy, Haman, 
disgraced and put to death. See Achmeta, Esther, 
and Haman. 



The rest of Ahasuerus's life has no relation to 
sacred history. He died A. M. 3519, ante A. D. 
485, after a reign of six-and-thirty years, and was 
succeeded by Xerxes, his son by Apharsa, or Vashti. 

The foregoing statement is in conformity with the 
opinion of Usher and others, which supposes Ahas- 
uerus to be Darius, the son of Hystaspes ; but, as 
this opinion has its difficulties, we shall notice what 
Dr. Prideaux has suggested in support of his opinion, 
that Artaxerxes Longimanus was the Ahasuerus of 
Scripture, to whom Esther was queen. Usher 
thought Darius, son of Hystaspes, married Atossa, 
(who is Vashti,) afterwards divorced by him ; and 
that he took to wife Aristone, daughter of Cyrus, 
and widow of Cambyses, who is Esther. But this 
is contradicted by Herodotus, who informs us, that 
Aristone was daughter of Cyrus ; consequently, she 
could not be Esther, who was too young. He says 
further, that Atossa had four sons by Darius, without 
reckoning daughters ; and that she had so great an 
ascendency over him, as to prevail on him to declare 
her son, Xerxes, his successor, to the exclusion of 
his own sons. We foresaw, says Calmet, this ob- 
jection, in our comment on Esther i. 9. and, without 
venturing to ascertain the Vashti divorced by Ahas- 
uerus, we have shown that neither Atossa, whom 
we take to be the daughter of Cyrus, nor Aristone, 
who was a virgin when he married her, and might 
be Esther, — that neither of them was dismissed by 
Ahasuerus. Herodotus says expressly, in his third 
book, that the daughter of Cyrus, and wife of 
Darius, was Atossa, lib. hi. cap. 68. and 88. Dr. 
Prideaux adds, (Hist, part i. book iv.) that the prin- 
cipal reason which influenced Usher, was the notice, 
in the book of Esther (ch. x. 1.), " that Ahasuerus 
laid a tribute on the land, and on the isles of the 
sea," which we read also in Herodotus, of Darius, 
son of Hystaspes, lib. hi. cap. 89. But Strabo at- 
tributes this to Darius Longimanus ; while our author 
would refer it to Artaxerxes Longimanus. Strabo, 
lib. xv. 

The reasons urged by Dr. Prideaux for Artaxerxes 
Longimanus are these : (1.) That Josephus expressly 
affirms Artaxerxes to have been Esther's husband. 
(Antiq. lib. xi. cap. 6.) (2.) The Septuagint, and the 
Greek additions to the book of Esther, call Ahasue- 
rus Artaxerxes. (3.) Several circumstances in these 
additions cannot be applied to Artaxerxes Mneinon. 
(4.) The extraordinary favor with which Artaxerxes 
Longimanus honored the Jews, strengthens the 
probability that he had married a Jewess. This 
opinion is maintained by Sulpitius Severus, and 
many other writers, both ancient and modern. See 
Artaxerxes Longimanus. 

Scaliger supposes Xerxes to be the Ahasuerus of 
Scripture, and his wife Amestris to be queen Esther. 
(De emendat. Temp. lib. iv.) He grounds his belief on 
the resemblance of the names; but the circum- 
stances related in the history of Amestris prove, in- 
disputably, that she is not the Esther of Scripture ; 
for Amestris, wife of Xerxes, had a son by that 
prince, who was of age to marry in the seventh year 
of his father's reign, Herod, lib. ix. She could not, 
therefore, be Esther, who was not married till the 
seventh vear of his reign. 

' [Thus" far Calmet. The opinions of interpreters 
respecting the Persian king designated by this name 
in the books of Ezra and Esther, have been exceed- 
ingly diverse ; and he has in turn been supposed to 
be Astyages, Cyaxares II, Cambyses, Darius Hystas- 
pes, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes Longimanus, i. e. each 



AHASUERUS 



[ 32 ] 



AHASUERUS 



of the whole line of Persian kings from Astyages to 
Artaxerxes Longimanus, with the exception of Cyrus 
and Smerdis. In Ezra iv. 6. the order of time 
would strictly require the name to be understood of 
Cambyses ; nor is there any violence or improbabil- 
ity in supposing, that this monarch had assumed this 
appellation (i. e. lion king, see below) along with his 
other titles. Or, on the supposition that Ahasuerus 
was Xerxes, we have only to suppose that the sacred 
writer, having in v. 5. spoken of the efforts of 
the enemies all the days of Cyrus and unto the 
reign of Darius Hystaspes, goes on to mention the 
continuance of their efforts in general in the days 
of his successor, Xerxes ; while in v. 7. he goes back 
to describe their one great and successful effort in the 
days of Artaxerxes, who is here Smerdis. 

One great difficulty in the way of settling this 
point, seems to have been an impression on the 
minds of the learned men who have endeavored to 
investigate the subject, that every event and circum- 
stance mentioned in the sacred narrative, must also 
be found in, or made out from, the pages of profane 
history. Thus we have seen above, that Usher builds 
his supposition of Darius Hystaspes chiefly on the 
fact, that the imposition of a tribute mentioned Esther 
x. 1. is also mentioned by Herodotus, and ascribed 
to Darius. But Strabo, as we have seen, mentions a 
similar fact, and in connection ■with another monarch. 
Now, was the imposition of a tax by a Persian 
monarch a thing of such rare occurrence, that we 
must expect to find it recorded in every historian, 
and especially in every Greek historian ? We ought 
rather to assume — and all that we know of the Per- 
sian monarchy leads us to assume — that such levies 
were not unfrequent ; and we surely have no right 
to suppose, that Greek historians, writing about the 
affairs of a foreign and distant empire, would neces- 
sarily mention every arrangement of its internal 
policy. Just so, too, in regard to Esther. Interpret- 
ers have sought to identify her with various wives 
of the three Persian monarchs mentioned above by 
Calmet. In this they have as yet been unsuccess- 
ful ; nor does this course seem necessary. The 
Jews were then a conquered, captive, and despised 
people. That an oriental monarch, who looked only 
to beauty, should make a selection from among his 
female slaves, and in this way take a wife from this 
degraded nation, has in itself nothing unusual or of 
high importance. But that we must necessarily ex- 
pect Greek historians, when treating of the external 
affairs of Persia, to describe particularly, or even 
allude to, this occurrence in the monarch's private 
life, would seem to be unnecessary, and contrary to 
sound critical judgment. They might be led by 
circumstances to mention other wives of the mon- 
arch, who were to them of more importance ; while 
they might either know nothing of Esther, or have 
heard of her only as a female slave who had been 
chosen, like hundreds of others, for her beauty, and 
who had for them no further interest. 

The objections, therefore, above made to the sup- 
position that Xerxes is the Ahasuerus of Scripture, 
would seem to fall away. On the other hand, we 
may remark, that both Darius Hystaspes and Arta- 
xerxes Longimanus are mentioned in Scripture by 
their usual names, (Ezra iv. 5. 24 ; v. 6 etc. vii. t 
etc. Neh. ii. 1 etc.) and there is therefore less proba- 
bility that they would also be mentioned under 
another name ; while Xerxes is apparently no where 
spoken of, or alluded to, unless it be under the appel- 
lation of Ahasuerus. To this we may add, that the 



character of Xerxes, as portrayed by Herodotus, — a 
monarch not more cruel than he was imbecile and 
vain, — corresponds entirely to the description of 
Ahasuerus in the book of Esther. — The statements 
of Josephus, in respect to the ancient history of his 
nation, are often so legendary, as to render here his 
testimony in favor of Artaxerxes Longimanus less 
authoritative than it otherwise would be. 

This supposition receives also a strong support in 
the etymology of the name Xerxes, as recently as- 
certained by the labors of Grotefend and Champol- 
lion. The former, in deciphering a cuneiform Per- 
sepolitan inscription, found the name of Xerxes to 
be there written Klish-her-she, or Khsh-ver-she • 
(Heeren Ideen, ed. 4. i. 2. p. 348.) and this was con- 
Armed by the latter from an Egyptian inscription in 
hieroglyphics and in Persian. (Precis du Systeme 
hieroglyphique, p. 24.) The meaning of this word 
is the lion king. For the initial sound, the Greeks 
substituted their similar letter x, and gave the word 
their usual termination, making Xerxes. The He- 
brews, by prefixing their not unfrequent prosthetic 
Alcph, formed the name Akhashverosh, or Akashverosh, 
ppHPhN, which we represent by Ahasuerus, combin- 
ing the Hebrew and the Greek 'Aaatir^of. See Ge- 
senius, Thes. Heb. p. 74, 75. . 

On the whole, then, we may conclude with a good 
degree of probability, that the Ahasuerus of the 
book of Esther was no other than the Xerxes of 
profane history, who succeeded his father Darius 
about B. C. 485, and was succeeded by his son Ar- 
taxerxes Longimanus, about B. C. 464. He was the 
second son of Darius Hystaspes ; and is chiefly 
known in history by the vast preparations which he 
made for the invasion of Greece, against which he 
marched at the head of an army (according to the 
Greek historians) of more than five millions of men. 
His progress was first checked at Thermopylae by 
the devoted valor of Leonidas and his three hundred 
Spartans ; and although he succeeded in burning the 
deserted city of Athens, he was nevertheless soon 
compelled to return disgracefully to his own do- 
minions, where he was, not long after, assassinated. 
The only trait of moral feeling or humanity recorded 
of him, is the circumstance mentioned by Herodo- 
tus, (lib. vii.) that, while reviewing his vast army 
and fleet from an eminence on the shores of Aby- 
dos, he suddenly burst into tears ; and on being asked 
the reason of this by Artabanes his uncle, he replied, 
that he wept at the thought of the shortness of 
human life, since, of all the vast multitudes before 
him, not one would be alive at the end of a hundred 
years ! *R. 

The description given of Ahasuerus's palace, in 
our translation of the first chapter of Esther, is any 
thing but satisfactory, and most of the commenta- 
tors have been embarrassed in their attempts to make 
out its sense : — " The king made a feast to all the 
people that were present at Shushan, the palace; 
both unto great and small, seven days, in the court 
of the garden of the king's palace; where were 
white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords 
of fine linen, and purple, to silver rings and pillars 
of marble ; the beds were of gold, and silver, upon 
a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black 
marble." What are we to understand by all this ? — 
Hangings fastened to silver rings — to pillars of mar- 
ble ? — cords made of fine linen ? — beds of gold and 
silver — laid on the pavement? &c. 

The following remarks are by Taylor, Frag- 
ment 679. 



AHASUERUS 



[ 33 ] 



AHASUERUS 



To justify this description, we may first consider 
b he canopy ; the reader will judge of its probability 
and use from the following quotation :■ — " Among 
the ruins remaining at Persepolis is a court, con- 
taining many lofty pillars ; one may even presume 
that these columns did not support any architrave, 
as Sir John Chardin has observed, (p. 76. torn, hi.) 
but we may venture to suppose, that a covering 01 
tapestry, or linen, was drawn over them, to intercept 
the perpendicular projection of the sun-beams. It 
is also probable that the tract of ground where most 
of the columns stand, was originally a court before 
the palace, like that which was before the king's 
house at Susa, mentioned Esther, chap. v. and 
through which a flow of fresh air was admitted into 
the apartments." (Le Bruyn, vol. ii. p. 222.) This 
idea, formed almost on the spot, supports the sug- 
gestion of a canopy covering the court. It is con- 
firmed also by the custom of India. We have been 
told by a gentleman from whom we requested in- 
formation on this subject, that, "at the festival of 
Durma Rajah in Calcutta, the great court of a very 
large house is overspread with a covering, made of 
canvass lined with calico ; and this lining is orna- 
mented with broad stripes, of various colors, in 
which (in India, observe) green predominates. On 
occasion of this festival, which is held only once in 
three years, the master of the house gives wine and 
cake, and other refreshments, to the English gentle- 
men and ladies who wish to see the ceremonies ; he 
also gives payment, as well as hospitality, to those 
who perform them." That such a covering would 
be necessary in hot climates, we may easily suppose ; 
nor is the supposition enfeebled by remarking, that 
the Coliseum, or Flavian Amphitheatre at Rome, has 
still remaining on its walls the marks of the masts, 
or scaffoldings, which were erected when that im- 
mense area was covered with an awning ; as it was 
during the shows exhibited there to the Roman pub- 
lic. See House. 

In the lower part of the court, the preparations 
consisted in what may be called a railed platform on 
a mustaby ; what these were the reader will under- 
stand, by an extract from Dr. Russell's History of 
Aleppo : — " Part of the principal court is planted 
with trees and flowering shrubs ; the rest is paved. 
At the south end is a square basin of water with 
jets (P eau, and close to it, upon a stone mustaby, is 
built a small pavilion ; or, the mustaby being only 
railed in, an open divan is occasionally formed on 
it. [A mustaby is a stone platform, raised about two 
or three feet above the pavement of the court.] 
This being some steps higher than the basin, a small 
fountain is usually placed in the middle of the divan, 
the mosaic pavement round which, being constantly 
wetted by the jet <f eau, displays a variety of splendid 
colors, and the water, as it runs to the basin, through 
marble channels which are rough at bottom, pro- 
duces a pleasing murmur. Where the size of the 
court admits of a larger shrubbery, temporary divans 
are placed in the grove ; or arbors are formed of 
slight latticed frames, covered by the vine, the rose, 
or the jasmine ; the rose, shooting to a most luxuriant 
height, when in full flower, is elegantly picturesque. 
Facing the basin, on the south side of the court, is a 
wide, lofty, arched alcove, about eighteen inches 
higher than the pavement, and entirely open to the 
court. It is painted in the same manner as the 
apartments, but the roof is finished in plain or gilt 
stucco and the floor round a small fountain is paved 
with marble of sundry colors, with a jet d' eau in the 



middle. A large divan is here prepared, but being 
intended for the summer, chintz, and Cairo mats, 
are employed, instead of cloth, velvet, and carpets. 
It is called, by way of distinction, The Divan, and by 
its north aspect, and a sloping painted shed project- 
ing over the arch, being protected from til? a un, it 
offers a delicious situation in the hot months. The 
sound, not less than the sight, of die jets d' eau, is 
extremely refreshing ; and if there be a breath of 
air stirring, it arrives scented by the Arabian jasmine, 
the henna, and other fragrant plants growing in the 
shrubbery, or ranged in pots round the basin. There 
is usually on each side of the alcove a small room, 
or cabinet, neatly fitted up, and serving for retire- 
ment. These rooms are called kubbe, whence, prob- 
ably, the Spaniards derived their al coba, which is 
rendered by some other nations in Europe alcove." 
(Page 30.) In another place, Dr. Russell gives a 
print of a mustaby, with several musicians sitting 
upon it, on which he observes, " The front of the 
stone mustaby is faced with marble of different col- 
ors. Part of the court is paved in mosaic, in the 
manner represented below." The view which we 
have here copied, " shows, in miniature, the inner 
court of a great house. The doors of the kaah, and 
part of the cupola, appear in front ; on the side, the 
high arched alcove, or divan, with the shed above ; the 
marble facing of the mustaby, the mosaic pavement 
between that and the basin, and the fountain playing." 




This account of Dr. Russell's harmonizes per- 
fectly with the history in Esther ; and we have only 
to imagine that the railings, or smaller pillars of the 
divan, (the balustrades,) on the mustaby, in the palace 
of Ahasuerus, were of silver, (silver gilt,) while the 
larger, called columns, placed at the corners, (as in 
our print,) or elsewhere, were of marble ; the flat 
part of the mustaby also being overspread with car- 
pets, &c. on which, next the railings, were cushions 
richly embroidered, for the purpose of being leaned 
against. — These things, mentioned in the Scripture 
narration, if placed according to the doctor's account, 
enable us to comprehend and justify the whole of 
the Bible description. 



A H A 



[ 34 ] 



AHA 



AHAVA, a country and river of Babylonia, or of 
Assyria, where Ezra assembled those captives who 
were returning to Judea, Ezra viii. 15. 21. 31. It is 
thought by some to have run along the province of 
Adiabene. where a river Diava, or Adiava, the Zab, 
or Lycus, is mentioned, on which Ptolemy places 
a city Abane, or Aavane. The history of Izates, 
king of the Adiabenians, and his mother Helena, who 
became converts to Judaism some years after the 
death of Christ, proves that there were many Jews 
remaining in that country. Jos. Ant. xx. c. 2. — 
[The above supposition would seem not to be well 
grounded ; since it depends solely on the similarity 
of the names in Latin ; of which there is no trace 
in the Hebrew. Besides, it is more probable that 
the rendezvous of the returning Jews would be in 
the S. W. part of Babylonia, rather than in the re- 
mote N. E. part of Assyria. See Rosenm. Bib. Geog. 
i. 2. p. 93. R. 

AHAZ, sou of Jotham, and twelfth king of Judah. 
He was twenty years of age when he ascended the 
throne, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, (2 
Kings xvi. 1,2.) that is, from A. M. 32G2 to 3278. 

Ahaz imitated the kings of Israel and Samaria, in 
idolatry and all manner of disorders. He offered 
sacrifices and incense on the high places, and in 
groves ; and consecrated one of his sons, making 
him to pass through fire, in honor of Moloch. Shortly 
after his accession to the throne, his kingdom was 
invaded by the united forces of Rezin, king of Syria, 
and Pekah, king of Israel, who defeated his troops, 
and besieged Jerusalem, 2 Kings xvi. 1 — 5 ; 2 Chron. 
xxviii. 5, seq. ; Isa. vii. 1. When they found they 
could not take it, they divided their army, plundered 
the country, and made prisoners every where. Rezin 
and his party retired with all their spoil to Damas- 
cus. But Pekah, having in one battle killed 120,000 
of Ahaz's army, took prisoners 200,000 persons, 
men, women, and children. As they were carrying 
these captives to Samaria, the prophet Oded, with 
the principal inhabitants of the city, came out to 
meet the captors, and prevailed on them, by remon- 
strances, to liberate their prisoners, and restore the 
booty. Those who were not able to perform the 
journey homeward on foot, were conveyed in car- 
riages to Jericho, 2 Chron. xxviii. The following 
year, Pekah and Rezin again returned, and laid waste 
the kingdom of Judah. The Philistines and Edom- 
ites also spread themselves like an inundation over 
the territories of Ahaz, committed great disorders, 
killed many people, and carried off" much booty. 
In these circumstances, and just before the siege of 
Jerusalem, the prophet Isaiah, with his son Shear- 
jashub, went to meet Ahaz, and foretold the deliver- 
ance of his country, and the destruction of his ene- 
mies, offering him the choice of any prodigy, in con- 
firmation of the prediction. Under the appearance 
of declining to tempt the Lord, Ahaz refused to se- 
lect a sign. "Hear, then," said Isaiah, "O house of 
David ; behold the sign which the Lord gives you ; 
a virgin conceiving and bearing a son, whose name 
shall be called Emmanuel. (See Emmanuel.) 
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know 
to refuse the evil, and choose the good." Then, 
pointing to his own son, Isaiah assured Ahaz, 
that before this child should be able to distinguish 
good and evil, the two kings confederated against 
Judah should be slain ; which accordingly happened, 
Isaiah vii. In this extremity, Ahaz applied to the 
king of Assyria, presenting him the gold and silver 
from the temple and the palace. Tiglathpileser ac- 



cepted the presents, and marched to assist Ahaz ; 
attacked and killed Rezin, took Damascus his capi- 
tal, and removed the inhabitants to Cyrene, that part 
of Iberia where the river Cyrus runs. Ahaz went 
to Damascus to meet the king of Assyria, whence 
he sent a model of an altar to the high-priest Uri- 
jah, that he might place one like it in the temple at 
Jerusalem. Upon this he offered sacrifices, and 
commanded its exclusive use. He ordered also the 
bases to be taken away, and the lavers of brass ; the 
brazen sea, and its supporting oxen ; and commanded 
them to be placed below, on the pavement of the 
temple, 2 Kings xvi. In his greatest affliction, Ahaz 
showed the highest contempt of God ; he sacrificed 
to the Syrian gods, to render them propitious ; he 
broke the vessels of the temple, shut the gates, and 
erected altars in all parts of Jerusalem, and in all 
the cities of Judah, to burn incense on them, 2 
Chron. xxviii. 22, 23, &c. He died, and was buried 
in Jerusalem ;.but not in the sepulchres of the kings 
of Judah, because of his iniquities. Other princes, 
his predecessors, as Jehoram and Joash, as vvell as 
Manasseh aud Ainon, two of his successors were 
treated with the same ignominy ; and denied the 
privilege of being interred among the kings. For 
some remarks on the dial of Ahaz, see Dial. 

I. AHAZIAH, son and successor of Ahab, king 
of Israel, 1 Kings xxii. 40. 51. He reigned two 
years, alone aud with his father, who associated him 
in the kingdom the year before his death, A. M. 
3106. Ahaziah imitated Ahab's impiety ; and wor- 
shipped Baal aud Astarte, whose rites had been in- 
troduced into Israel by Jezebel his mother. In the 
second year of his reign, the Moabites, who had 
been subject to the kings of Israel since its separa- 
tion from Judah, revolted against Ahaziah, and re- 
fused to pay him the ordinary tribute. About the 
same time, he fell from the terrace of his house, 
and being considerably hurt thereby, he sent to 
Ekron, for the purpose of consulting Beelzebub con- 
cerning his indisposition. His messengers were met 
on their way by the prophet Elijah, reproved for 
their impiety, and sent back to Ahaziah, with the 
assurance that his illness would be fatal. Incensed 
at the interference of the prophet, Ahaziah gave 
orders to have him apprehended. Two officers, 
with fifty men each, successively perished by fire 
from heaven, while endeavoring to execute this com- 
mand ; but Elijah yielded to the supplications of a 
third, and accompanied him into the presence of tht> 
king, whom he again reproved for resorting to idols, 
instead of betaking himself to Jehovah, and re- 
peated his declaration that he should not recover. 
The prophet's words were verified by the death of 
Ahaziah, after a short reign of two years, A. M. 
3108. He was succeeded by his brother Jehoram, 
2 Kings i ; 2 Chron. xx. 35. 

II. AHAZIAH, otherwise Jehoahaz, or Azariah, 
king of Judah, son of Jehoram and Athaliah, suc- 
ceeded his father, A. M. 3119, 2 Kings viii. 25; 2 
Chron. xxii. 2. He was twenty-two years of age 
when he ascended the throne, and he reigned but 
one year at Jerusalem. He followed the house of 
Ahab, to which he was allied by his mother, and 
did evil. Joram, king of Israel, having attacked 
Ramoth-Gilead, was there dangerously wounded ; 
and being carried to Jezreel for cure, Ahaziah, his 
friend and relation, went thither to visit him. In 
the mean time, Jehu, son of Nimshi, whom Joram 
had left besiegiDg Ramoth, rebelled against him, de- 
signing to extirpate the house of Ahab, according to 



AH 1 



[ 35 ] 



A H I 



the commandment of the Lord, and for this pur- 
pose set out for Jezreel with a party of horsemen. 
Joram and Ahaziah, ignorant of his intentions, went 
to meet him. Jehu, after reproaching Joram with 
the wickedness of his family, pierced him through 
the heart with an arrow. Ahaziah fled ; but Jehu's 
people overtook him near Ibleam, and mortally 
wounded him. He had sufficient strength, how- 
ever, to reach Megiddo, where he died, (2 Kings ix. 
21, &c.) or, as it would seem from 2 Chron. xxii. 8, 
9. was sought out and put to death, by the command 
of Jehu. The text of the book of Chronicles im- 
ports that Ahaziah was forty-two years of age when 
he began to reign, in which it differs from that of 
the Kings. This difficulty, however, may be re- 
moved, by reading with the Septuagint, Syriac, and 
Arabic versions, twenty-two instead of forty-two ; 
on the supposition that the reading in Chronicles 
arose in transcribing, by the substitution of sc, 42, 
for 2J, 22. 

AHIAH, son and successor to the high-priest 
Ahitub, 1 Sam. xiv. 3. His son Ahimelech was 
put to death by Saul, 1 Sam. xxii. 18. There are 
several other persons of this name mentioned in the 
Scripture history, but none of any importance. 

AHIEZER, son of Amniishaddai, and chief of 
the tribe of Dan, who came out of Egypt at the 
head of 72,000 men of his tribe. His offering was 
the same as that of his fellow-chiefs, Numb. vii. 
66, 67. 

I. AHIJAH, a prophet of the Lord, who dwelt at 
Shilo, and is conjectured by some to be the person 
who spoke twice to Solomon from God, 1 Kings vi. 
11 ; xi. 11. Ahijah wrote the history of this prince's 
life, 2 Chron. ix. 29. Jeroboam, going one day out 
of Jerusalem, was met by the prophet Ahijah, (1 
Kings xi. 29.) who took a new mantle, in which he 
had wrapped himself, (see Veil,) from off his shoul- 
ders, and, tearing it in twelve pieces, gave ten of 
them to Jeroboam, and declared that God would 
thus rend the kingdom, after the death of Solomon, 
and give ten of the tribes to himself. See 1 Kings 
xii. 2, seq. 

Jeroboam's son having fallen sick, his wife went 
in disguise to Ahijah, to inquire whether he would 
recover. Notwithstanding the disguise of the queen 
and his own blindness, however, the prophet dis- 
covered her, and foretold the death of her son, and 
the entire extirpation of the house of Jeroboam, 1 
Kings xiv. The event was answerable to the pre- 
diction. Ahijah, in all probability, did not long 
survive. 

II. AHIJAH, father of Baasba, king of Israel, 1 
Kings xv. 27. Baasha killed Nadab, son of Jero- 
boam, and usurped his kingdom, thereby executing 
the predictions of the prophet Ahijah. 

AHIKAM, son of Shaphan, and father of Geda- 
liah, sent by Josiah to consult Huldah, the prophet- 
ess, concerning the book of the law, found in the 
temple, 2 Kings xxii. 12 ; xxv. 22 ; Jer. xxvi. 24 ; 
xl. 6. 

AHIMAAZ, son of Zadok the high-priest, succeed- 
ed his father about A.M. 3000, under Solomon. He 
rendered David very important service during the 
war with Absalom, 2 Sam. xv. 27, seq. xvii. 17. 
While his father, Zadok, was in Jerusalem with 
llushai the friend of David, Ahimaaz with Jona- 
than continued a little way without the city, near 
the fountain Rogel. Being informed of the resolu- 
tions of Absalom's council, they immediately has- 
tened to give the king intelligence ; but being dis- 



covered by a young lad, who informed Absalom h«; 
sent orders to pursue them. Ahimaaz and Jo na- 
than, fearing to be taken, retired to a man's houst at 
Baharim, in whose court-yard was a well, in die 
sides of which they concealed themselves. Upon 
the mouth of this well the woman of the house 
spread a covering, and on the covering, corn ground, 
or rather parched. When Absalom's people csme, 
and inquired after them, the woman answered, 
" They have passed over the little brook of water." 
Deceived by this answer, the pursuers passed over a 
brook at no great distance, but not finding them, re- 
turned to Jerusalem, and Ahimaaz and Jonathan 
continued their journey to David. After the battle 
in which Absalom was slain, Ahimaaz was the first 
who arrived with the fatal intelligence to the king. 
Some years afterwards, Ahimaaz succeeded his 
father in the high-priesthood, and was himself suc- 
ceeded by Azariah his son, 1 Chron. vi. 9. 

AHIMAN, a giant of the race of Anak, who dwelt 
at Hebron, when the spies visited the land of Ca- 
naan, Numb. xiii. 22. He was driven from Hebron 
with his brethren, Sheshai and Talmai, when Caleb 
took that city, Josh. xv. 14. 

I. AHIMELECH, son of Ahitub, and brother of 
Ahiah, whom he succeeded in the high-priesthood. 
David, flying from Saul, (1 Sam. xxi. 1.) went to 
Nob, where Ahimelech, with other priests, then 
dwelt, and representing to the high-priest that he 
was on pressing business from the king, obtained the 
shew-bread, and also the sword which he had won 
from Goliah. Doeg, the. Ed'omite, who was then at 
Nob, related what had passed to Saul, who imme- 
diately sent for Ahimelech and the other priests, 
and, after accusing them of having conspired with 
David, commanded his guards to slay them. These 
having refused to execute the sanguinary man- 
date, the king commanded Doeg to execute the 
deed, which he immediately did, and massacred 
fourscore and five persons. He went afterwards 
to Nob, with a party of soldiers, and put men, 
women, children, and cattle, to the sword. One of 
Ahimelech's sons, (Abiathar,) however, escaped the 
carnage, and retired to David, 1 Sam. xxi. xxii. 
Probably Ahimelech himself also bore the name of 
Abiathar. See Abiathar, and Abimelech IV. 

II. AHIMELECH, or, as he is also called, Abi- 
melech, probably the same as Abiathar, which 
see, 1 Chron. xxiv. 3. 6. 31 ; 2 Sam. viii. 17. Comp. 
1 Chron. xviii. 16. 

AHINADAB, son of Iddo, governor of the dis- 
trict of Mahanaim, beyond Jordan, under Solomon, 
1 Kings iv. 14. 

I. AHINOAM, daughter of Ahimaaz, and wife 
of Saul, 1 Sam. xiv. 50. 

II. AHINOAM, David's second wife, and mothe* 
of Amnon, was a native of Jezreel. She was taken 
by the Amalekites when they plundered Ziklag, bu\ 
was recovered by David, 1 Sam. xxx. 5. 

AHIO, with his brother Uzzah, conducted the ark 
from the house of Abinadab to Jerusalem, 1 Chron 
xiii. 7. See Uzzah. 

AHIRA, son of Enan, chief of Naphtali, (Numb, 
ii. 29.) came out of Egypt at the head of 53,400 
men. 

AHITHOPHEL, a native of Gillo, and a person 
who bore a conspicuous part in the war between 
Absalom and his father David. He was originally 
one of David's most intimate and valued friends, but 
upon the defection and rebellion of Absalom, he es- 
poused the cause of that prince, and became one of 



Al 



I 3G ] 



A. J A 



the bitterest enemies to his sovereign. Upon hear- 
ing of AhithophePs position in the party of Absalom, 
David became extremely uneasy, and after praying 
that the Lord would turn his counsel into foolish- 
ness, he despatched Hushai, who had accompanied 
him in his flight, to Jerusalem, for the purpose of 
endeavoring to counteract the effects of Ahithophel's 
expected advice. The anticipations of David, as to 
the counsel of this eminent statesman, were not 
without foundation, for the measures he recom- 
mended were of a description the most calculated 
to extinguish all the authority and power of the 
king, and secure the success of the usurper's designs. 
Ahithophel advised, in the first place, that Absalom 
should publicly abuse his father's concubines ; for 
the purpose, no doubt, of impressing the public mind 
with an idea, that the breach with his father was 
irreconcilable, and also of inducing Absalom, under 
the impression that all probability of pardon was 
past, to follow up his plans with determination and 
vigor. In addition to this, he proposed that David 
should be immediately pursued by twelve thousand 
chosen men, who might come up with him while he 
was weary, and fall upon him while off his guard. 
The advice was approved by Absalom and his chiefs, 
but was defeated by the prompt and skilful interpo- 
sition of Hushai, who foresaw its consequences upon 
David. (See Hushai.) Ahithophel, foreseeing that 
the plan proposed by Hushai would most probably 
issue in the defeat of Absalom, and the return of 
the king, returned to Gillo, where he hanged him- 
self, and thus averted that ignominious punishment 
which he justly apprehended as the reward of his 
perfidy, 2 Sam. xv. 12 ; xvi. 15, seq. xvii. Ahith- 
ophel seems to have been the grandfather of Bath- 
sheba, 2 Sam. xxiii. 34. compared with xi. 3. 

I. AHITUB, the son of Phinehas, and grand- 
son and successor of Eli, the high-priest, 1 Sam. 
xiv. 3. 

II. AHITUB, son of Amariah, and father of Za- 
dok, the high-priest, 1 Chron. vi. 8. It is uncertain 
whether he ever sustained the sacerdotal character 
himself. See Amariah I. 

AHIHUD, the son of Shelomi, of Asher, and one 
of the commissioners appointed by Moses to divide 
the land of Canaan, Num. xxxiv. 27. 

AHOLAH, and AHOLIBAH, two fictitious or 
symbolical names, adopted by Ezekiel, (chap, xxiii. 
4.) to denote the two kingdoms of Judah and Sama- 
ria. They are represented as sisters, and of Egyp- 
tian extraction. Aholah stands for Samaria, and 
Aholibah for Jerusalem. The first signifies a tent, 
(i. e. she has a tent or tabernacle of her own — her 
religion and worship is a human invention ;) the 
second, my tent is with her, (i. e. I, the Lord, have 
given to her a tabernacle and religious service.) 
They both prostituted themselves to the Egyptians 
and Assyrians, in imitating their abominations and 
idolatries ; wherefore the Lord abandoned them to 
the power of those very people, for whom they 
showed such excessive and impure affection. They 
were carried into captivity, and reduced to the se- 
verest servitude. 

AHOLIAB, son of Ahisamach, of Dan, appointed 
with Bezaleel to construct the tabernacle, Exod. 
xxxv. 34. 

AHUZZATH, the friend of Abimelech, king of 
Gerar, who accompanied him with Phicol, a general 
in his army, when he visited Isaac at Beer-sheba, to 
make an alliance with him, Gen. xxvi. 26. 

I. A I, a city near Bethel, eastward, Josh. vii. 2. 



The LXX call it Fui, 'Ayya'i, and Josephus, Aina, 
others Aiah and Aiath. Joshua having detached 
3000 men against Ai, God permitted them to be re- 
pulsed, on account of the sin of Achan, who had 
violated the anathema pronounced against Jericho, 
by appropriating some of the spoil. (See Achan.) 
After the expiation of this offence, Joshua sent by 
night 30,000 men to lie in ambush behind the city, 
and, early the next morning, marched upon it with 
the remainder of his army. The king of Ai sallied 
hastily out of the town with his troops, and attacked 
the Israelites, who fled, as if under great terror, and 
by this feint drew the enemy into the plain. When 
Joshua saw the whole of them out of the gates, he 
elevated his spear, as a signal to the ambuscade, 
which immediately entered the place, now without 
defence, and set it on fire. The people of Ai, per- 
ceiving the rising smoke, endeavored to return, but 
found those who had set fire to the city in their 
rear, while Joshua and his army, advancing in front, 
destroyed them all. The king was taken alive, 
brought to Joshua, and afterwards hanged, Josh, 
viii. Ai was afterwards rebuilt, and is mentioned 
under the name of Aiath, Is. x. 28. After the exile, 
its former inhabitants, Benjamites, returned again to 
their former home, Ezra ii. 28 ; Neh. vii. 32 ; xi. 31. 
In the time of Eusebius and Jerome, its ruins only 
were visible. Euseb. Onomast. under 'Jyyal. 

A difficulty has been felt in reconciling the relations 
in ch. viii. ver. 3 and 12. In the former verse, the 
writer says, that Joshua chose out 30,000 men, and 
sent them away by night, to lie in ambush between 
Bethel and Ai ; whereas the latter states that he chose 
5000 men the next morning, whom he sent to lie in 
ambush also between Bethel andAi. Masius allows 
5000 men for the ambuscade, and 25,000 for the attack 
of the city, being persuaded, that an army of 600,000 
men could only create confusion on this occasion, 
without either necessity for, or advantage in, such 
numbers. The generality of interpreters, however, 
acknowledge two bodies to be placed in ambuscade, 
both between Bethel and Ai, one of 25,000, the other 
of 5000 men. Let it be stated thus : Joshua at first 
sent 30,000 men, who marched by night, and, to 
avoid discovery, went behind the eminences of 
Bethel. These posted themselves at the place ap- 
pointed for the ambuscade. The officer at the head 
of them then detached 5000 men, who lay hid as 
near as possible to the town, in order to throw them- 
selves into it on the first opportunity. — Interpreters 
are divided in opinion, as to the nature of the signal 
used by Joshua upon this occasion. Some suppose 
that the instrument he employed was a shield ele- 
vated on the point of a spear, and others that it was 
a javelin ; the rabbins believe it to have been a staff 
belonging to some of their colors. 

II. AI, in Jer. xlix. 3. seems to have been a city 
in the land of the Ammonites, not far from Rab- 
bah. 

AIAH, mother of Rizpah, who was Saul's concu- 
bine. David delivered her children to the Gibeon- 
ites, to be hanged before the Lord, 2 Sam. xxi. 8. 

AJALON, (from V>n a deer, properly deer-field,) 
the name of at least three cities in Israel. 

1. Ajalon in Dan, assigned to the Levites of Ko- 
hath's family, Josh, xix 42 ; xxi. 24. It lay in o>- 
near a valley, not far from the valley of Gibeon, be- 
tweeen Bethshemesh and Timnath, (2 Chron. xxviii. 
18.) and is the place in which Joshua commanded 
the fight of the moon to be stayed, Josh. x. 12. Jt 
is probably the place mentioned by Jerome as being 



ALA 



[37 ] 



ALE 



situated near Nicopolis, about 20 miles N. W. of Je- 
rusalem. 

2. Ajalojv, in Benjamin, fortified by Rehoboam, 
2 Chron, xi. 10. A city of this name is mentioned 
by Eusebius as being three miles east of Bethel. 

3. Ajalon, in the tribe of Zabulun, where Elon 
was buried, Judg. xii. 12. 

AIN, (a fountain,) a city first given to the tribe of 
Judah, and then to the Simeonites, Josh. xv. 32. 1 
Chron. iv. 32. 

AIR. The air, or atmosphere, surrounding the 
earth, is often denoted by the word heaven ; so the 
birds of the heaven — for the birds of the air. God 
rained fire and brimstone on Sodom from heaven, 
that is, from the air, Gen. xix. 24, "Let fire come 
down from heaven," that is, from the air, 2 Kings i. 
10. Moses menaces Israel with the effects of God's 
wrath, by destruction with a pestilential air, (Deut. 
xxviii. 22.) or perhaps with a scorching wind, pro- 
ducing mortal diseases ; or with a blast which ruins 
the corn, 1 Kings viii. 37. See Wind. 

To "beat the air," and to "speak in the air," (1 
Cor. ix. 26 ; xiv. 9.) are modes of expression used in 
most languages, signifying — to speak or act without 
judgment, or understanding ; or to no purpose; to 
fatigue ourselves in vain. " The powers of the air" 
(Eph. ii. 2.) probably mean devils, who exercise 
their powers principally in the air; exciting winds, 
storms, and tempests, or other malign influences, 
(see Job i. 7.) and to which, perhaps, the apostle 
may allude ; if it be not rather an accommodation 
to the Jewish belief which was current in his days, 
that the air was the abode of evil spirits. See 
Angel. 

ALABARCHA, a term not found in Scripture, 
but which Josephus uses repeatedly, to signify the 
chief of the Jews in Alexandria. Philo calls this 
magistrate, reruQxw, Genarches, and Josephus, in 
some places, Ethnarches ; which terms signify the 
prince, or chief, of a nation. Some believe, that the 
term alabarch was given, in raillery, to the principal 
magistrate, or head of the Jews at Alexandria, by 
the Gentiles, who despised the Jews. Some derive 
it from Aloha, which signifies ink, to write with ; 
Alabarcha would then signify the " chief secretary," 
or collector of the customs and duties on cattle car- 
ried out of the country. Fuller derives it from the 
Syriac Halaph, and Arcin, or Arcon, that is, the in- 
tendant, or the sovereign's delegate; for in places 
where the Jews were numerous, a principal of their 
own nation, or some other to whom they might ad- 
dress themselves, in their own affairs, was placed 
over them. Perhaps it originally signified the per- 
son who had the custom of salt ; but was wantonly 
given to the head, or governor, of the Jews at Alex- 
andria^ 

ALABASTER, a genus of fossils having the color 
of the human nail, nearly allied to marbles, and, 
according to Pliny, found in the neighborhood of 
Thebes, in Egypt, and about Damascus, in Syria. 
This material being very generally used to fabi-icate 
vessels for holding unguents, and perfumed liquids, 
many vessels were called alabaster, though made of 
a different substance, as gold, silver, glass, etc. In 
Matt. xxvi. 6, 7. we read, that, Jesus being at table in 
Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman 
(Mary, sister of Lazarus, John xii. 3.) poured an ala- 
baster box of precious ointment on his head. Mark 
says "she brake the box," signifying, probably, that 
the seal upon the box, or upon the neck of the vase 
or bottle, which kept the perfume from evaporating, 



had never been removed, but was, on this occasion 
first opened. 

ALCIMUS, or, as he is called by Josephus, Jaci- 
mus, or Joachim, high-priest of the Jews, A. M 
3842. He was of the sacerdotal race, but his ances- 
tors had never enjoyed the high-priesthood. Be- 
sides, he had been polluted with idolatry, during the 
persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, (2 Mace. xiv. 
3.) and he obtained his dignity by very irregular 
means. After the death of Menelaus, he was con- 
firmed in his office by Antiochus Eupator, but did 
not perform its functions till after the death of Judas 
Maccabseus. Having obtained intelligence that De- 
metrius, son of Antiochus Epiphanes, had privately 
left Rome, and arrived in Syria, he put himself at 
the head of the apostate Jews who were then at 
Antioch, and throwing himself at the feet of the new 
king, besought him to defend them from the violence 
of Judas Maccabseus, whom he accused as an op- 
pressor of the king's party, and who had dispersed 
and driven them out of their country. He also en- 
treated him to send some one into Judea, to examine 
into the mischiefs and disorders committed by Judas 
Maccabasus, and to chastise his insolence. Deme- 
trius immediately sent Bacchides with an army into 
Judea, and, confirming Alcimus in his office of high- 
priest, charged them both with the conduct of the 
war. Upon their arrival in Judea, they endeavored 
to ensnare Judas and his brethren, under the pre- 
tence of treating with them ; but suspecting or dis- 
covering the snare, the brothers happily avoided it. 
About sixty Assideans, however, and many scribes 
and doctors of the law, relying on his oath, that no 
injury should be offered to them, put themselves in 
his power, and were all murdered. 

Bacchides, having established Alcimus by force 
in Judea, returned into Syria, having committed the 
province to Alcimus, and left troops sufficient for 
the purpose. Alcimus, for some time, successfully 
defended himself, but Judas soon recovered the su- 
periority, and Alcimus returned to the king, with a 
present of a gold crown, a palm-tree, and golden 
branches ; which, in all probability, he had taken 
out of the temple, 2 Mace. xiv. 3, 4, &c. Having 
represented to Demetrius that his authority could 
not be established in Judea so long as Judas lived, 
the king sent another army against him, under the 
command of Nicanor, 1 Mace. vii. 25, seq. After 
several ineffectual attempts to secure the person of 
Judas, Nicanor was killed at Capharsalama, and his 
army routed. Demetrius, being informed of this 
again sent Bacchides and Alcimus, with a strong re- 
inforcement, formed of the choicest of his troops 
Judas, whose little army had been so reduced, that 
he had not above eight hundred men, ventured, with 
this small force, to attack the enemy, and after prod- 
igies of valor, died, overwhelmed by numbers, 1 
Mace. ix. 1—22. 

The death of Judas delivered Alcimus and his 
party from a formidable enemy, and he began to ex- 
ercise the offices of the high-priesthood ; but, at- 
tempting to pull down the wall of the inner court, 
which had been built by the prophets, (that, proba- 
bly, which separated the altar of burnt-offerings from 
the priest's court,) God punished him by a stroke of 
the palsy, of which he died, after enjoying the pon- 
tificate three or four years, 1 Mace. vii. 9 ; ix. 54. 
A. M. 3844. 

ALEMA, a city in Gilead, beyond Jordan, 1 Mace 
v. 26. 

ALEMETH, a city of refuge, in the tribe of Ben 



ALEXANDER 



[ 38 ] 



ALEXANDER 



jamin, (1 Chron. vi. 60.) called Almon, in Josh, 
xxi. 16. 

ALEPH, (n,) the name of the first letter in the He- 
hrew alphabet, whence the Alpha of the Greeks is 
derived. (See A.) Certain psalms, and other parts 
of Scripture, begin with Aleph ; and the verses fol- 
lowing, with the succeeding letters of the alphabet, 
in their order. These are called alphabetic psalms, 
etc. See Psalms, and Letters. 

I. ALEXANDER the Great, son and successor 
of Philip king of Macedon, is denoted in the prophe- 
cies of Daniel, by a leopard with four wings, signi- 
fying his great strength, and the unusual rapidity of 
his conquests, ch. vii. 6 ; also as a one-horned he- 
goat, running over the earth so swiftly as not to 
touch it ; attacking a ram with two horns, over- 
throwing him, and trampling him under foot, with- 
out any being able to rescue him, ch. viii. 4 — 7. The 
he-goat prefigured Alexander ; the ram, Darius Codo- 
mannus, the last of the Persian kings. In the statue 
beheld by Nebuchadnezzar, in a dream, (ch. ii. 39.) 
the belly of brass was the emblem of Alexander, and 
the legs of iron designated his successors. He was 
appointed by God to destroy the Persian empire, 
and to substitute the Grecian monarchy. Alexan- 
der was born at Pella, ante A. D. 355. Philip was 
killed at a marriage feast, when Alexander was 
about eighteen. After he had performed the last 
duties to his father, he was chosen by the Greeks 
general of their troops against the Persians, and en- 
tered Asia with an army of 34,000 men, A. M. 3670. 
In one campaign he subdued almost all Asia Minor. 
He defeated Orobates, one of Darius's generals ; and 
Darius himself, whose army consisted of 400,000 
foot, and 100,000 horse, in the narrow passes which 
lead from Syria to Cilicia. Darius fled, abandoning 
his camp and baggage, his children, wife, and 
mother. After he had subdued Syria, Alexander 
came to Tyre, and the Tyrians opposing his en- 
trance into their city, he besieged it. At the same 
time he wrote to Jaddus, high-priest of the Jews, 
that he expected to be acknowledged by him, and to 
receive those submissions which had hitherto been 
paid to the king of Persia. Jaddus refusing to com- 
ply, as having sworn fidelity to Darius, Alexander 
resolved to march against Jerusalem, when he had 
reduced Tyre. After a protracted siege, the city 
was taken and sacked. This done, Alexander en- 
tered Palestine, and reduced it. As he was march- 
ing against Jerusalem, intending to punish the high- 
priest, Jaddus, fearing his resentment, had recourse 
to God by prayers and sacrifices. The Lord, in a 
dream, commanded Jaddus to open the gates to the 
conqueror, and, dressed in his pontifical ornaments, 
attended by the priests, in their formalities, at the 
head of his people, to receive Alexander in triumph. 
Jaddus obeyed ; and Alexander, seeing from a dis- 
tance this company advancing, was struck with ad- 
miration, and approaching the high-priest, he saluted 
him first, then adored God, whose name was en-' 
graven on a thin plate of gold worn by the high- 
priest on his forehead. The people, in the mean 
while, surrounded Alexander, with great acclama- 
tions. The kings of Syria, who accompanied him, 
and the great officers about Alexander, could not 
comprehend the meaning of his conduct. Parmenio 
alone ventured to ask, Why he, to whom all people 
prostrated themselves, had prostrated himself before 
the high-priest of the Jews? Alexander replied, 
hat he paid this respect to God, and not to the high- 
Driest ; " for," added he, " while I was yet in Mace- j 



donia, 1 saw the God of the Jews, who appeared to 
me in the same form and dress as this high-priest, 
he encouraged me to march my army with expe- 
dition into Asia, promising, under his guidance, to 
render me master of the Persian empire. For this 
reason, as soon as I perceived this habit, I recollect- 
ed the vision, and understood that my undertaking 
was favored by God, and that, under his protection, 
I might expect very soon to obtain the Persian em- 
pire, and happily to accomplish all my designs." 
Having said this, Alexander accompanied Jaddus 
into the city, and offered sacrifices in the temple, 
punctual 1 '' conforming to the directions of the priests, 
and leaving to the high-priest the honors and func- 
tions annexed to his dignity. Jaddus showing him 
the prophecies of Daniel, in which it was said that 
a Grecian prince should destroy the Persian empire, 
the king was confirmed in his opinion, that God had 
chosen him to execute that great work. At his de- 
parture, he bade the Jews ask what they would of 
him ; but the high-priest desired only the liberty of 
living under his government, according to their own 
laws, with an exemption from tribute every seventh 
year, because in that year the Jews neither tilled 
their grounds, nor reaped their products. Alexan- 
der readily granted this request ; and as they be- 
sought him to grant the same favor to the Jews be- 
yond the Euphrates, in Babylonia and Media, he 
promised that privilege, as soon as he had conquered 
those provinces. This done, he left Jerusalem, and 
visited other cities ; being every where received 
with great testimonies of friendship and submission 
The Samaritans who dwelt at Sichem, observing 
how kindly Alexander had treated the Jews, re- 
solved to say that they also were, by religion, Jews ; 
for it was their practice, when they saw the affairs of 
the Jews prosper, to boast that they were descend- 
ed from Manasseh and Ephraim ; but when they 
thought if their interest to say the contrary, they 
would not fail to affirm, and even to swear, that they ' 
had no relation to the Jews. They came, therefore, 
with many demonstrations of joy, to meet Alexan- 
der ; entreated him to visit their temple and city, 
and petitioned him for an exemption from taxes 
every seventh year, because they also neither tilled 
nor reaped that year. Alexander replied, that he 
had granted this exemption only to Jews ; but at his 
return, he would inquire into the matter, and do 
them justice. Joseph. Ant. xi. c. 8. 

It should here be observed, that these accounts 
of Alexander's reverence for the high-priest, his 
dream, etc. rest only on the authority of Jose- 
phus, and are probably to be regarded as a Jewish 
legend. R. 

Alexander, having conquered Egypt, and regu- 
lated it, gave orders for the continuation of his new 
city, Alexandria, and departed thence about spring, 
into the East, in pursuit of Darius. Passing through 
Palestine, he was informed that the Samaritans, in 
a general insurrection, had killed Andromachus, 
governor of Syria and Palestine, who, coming to 
Samaria, to regulate some affairs, had been burned 
in his house by the inhabitants. This action highly 
incensed Alexander, who loved Andromachus, and 
he therefore ordered all who were concerned in his 
murder to be executed ; the rest he banished from 
Samaria, and settled a colony of Macedonians in 
their room. The Samaritans who. escaped this ca- 
lamity, collected in Sichem, at the foot of mount Ge- 
rizim, which became their capital, as it still contin- 
ues. And lest the 8000 men of this nation who 



ALEXANDER 



[39 ] 



ALEXANDER 



were in his service, and had accompanied him since 
the siege of Tyre, if sent back into their own coun- 
try, might renew the spirit of rebellion, Alexander 
sent them into Thebais, the most remote southern 
province of Egypt, and there assigned them lands. 
Joseph, c. Apion. ii. 

After Alexander had subdued Asia, and opened a 
way to India, with incredible rapidity, he gave him- 
self up to intemperance ; and having drank to ex- 
cess, he fell sick, and died, after he had obliged " all 
the world to be quiet before him," 1 Mace. i. 3. 
Being sensible that his end was near, he sent for his 
court, and declared, that " he gave the empire to the 
most deserving." Some affirm, however, that he 
regulated the succession by a will. The author of the 
first book of Maccabees (chap. i. 6.) says, he divided 
his kingdom among his generals while he was living ; 
and it is certain, that a partition was made of his 
dominions among the four principal officers of his 
army. He died A. M. 3681, ante A. D. 323, at the 
age of thirty-three, after reigning twelve years ; six 
as king of Macedon, and six as monarch of Asia. 
He was buried at Alexandria. 

The name of Alexander is equally celebrated in 
the writings of the orientals, as in those of the 
Greeks and Romans ; but they vary extremely from 
the accounts which western historians give of him. 
They call him Iscander Dulkarnaim, "double- 
horned Alexander," alluding to the two horns of his 
empire (or his power) in the east and west. 

II. ALEXANDER Balas, so called from Bala, 
his mother, was the natural son of Antiochus Epipha- 
nes: he is, on medals, surnamed Theopator Euer- 
getes. Some historians, however, will not allow him 
to be even the natural son of Antiochus Epiphanes. 
Floras calls him an unknown person, and of uncer- 
tain extraction. Justin says that the enemies of De- 
metrius, king of Syria, suborned a young man, from 
among the meanest of the people, to declare himself 
son and heir of Antiochus ; and that he, warring 
with success against the king of Syria, obtained his 
kingdom. Appian affirms that Alexander Balas pre- 
tended to be of the family of the Seleucidse, without 
any right to that pretension ; and Athenaeus says, 
that he was the supposed son of Antiochus Epiph- 
anes. But the Roman senate, the Jews, the Egyp- 
tians, and the Syrians, acknowledged him as son and 
heir of that prince. Heraclides of Byzantium was 
the person who undertook to seat Alexander Balas 
on the throne of Syria, and to displace Demetrius, 
who was his particular enemy. He carried Alexan- 
der, and Laodicea, a daughter of Antiochus Epiph- 
anes, to Rome, and by presents and intrigue pre- 
vailed on the senate not only to acknowledge Alex- 
ander as the heir of Antiochus, but also to afford him 
assistance in recovering the dominions of his father. 
Having made preparations at Ephesus to prosecute 
the war against Demetrius, Alexander sailed into 
Syria, and having obtained possession of Ptolemais, 
he wrote to Jonathan Maccabseus, sending him a 
purple robe and a crown of gold, to induce him to 
espouse his cause, 1 Mace. x. 18. Jonathan yielded 
to his solicitation, and, notwithstanding the liberal 
promises and assurances of Demetrius, declared for 
Alexander. 

The contending kings committed the determina- 
tion of their cause to a decisive battle, in which De- 
metrius, after being deserted by his troops, and per- 
forming prodigies of valor, was slain, 1 Mace. x. 48, 
etc. Jos. Ant. xiii. 2. Alexander Balas, having thus 
obtained possession of the kingdom, determined to 



strengthen himself by an alliance with the king of 
Egypt, whose daughter he demanded in marriage. 
Ptolemy complied with the demand, and the mar- 
riage was concluded at Ptolemais, where the two 
kings met, 1 Mace. x. 51 — 58. Jos. Ant. xiii. 4. 
Jonathan was also present, and received marks of 
distinction from both the princes. 

Alexander Balas, however, did not long remain 
undisturbed in possession of his throne. Within 
two years, Demetrius Nicator, the eldest son of the 
former Demetrius Soter, at the head of some troops 
which he had received from Lasthenes, of Crete, 
passed into Cilicia. Alexander was then in Phoe- 
nicia, but instantly returned to Antioch, that he 
might prepare for the arrival of Demetrius. In the 
mean time, Apollonius, who had received the com- 
mand of Demetrius's troops, was defeated by Jona- 
than M.iccabseus and his brother Simon, who also 
took Aisotus and Ascalon, and returned laden with 
spoil to Jerusalem. Alexander, in reward for these 
services, advanced Jonathan to new honors, sent 
him the buckle of gold, which was generally given 
only to near relations of the king, and made an ad- 
dition to his territory, 1 Mace. x. 69. 

While this was transpiring in Syria, Ptolemy Phi- 
lometer was devising how to unite the kingdom of 
Syria with Egypt, and determined upon private 
measures to destroy both Demetrius Nicator and 
Alexander Balas. Under pretence of assisting his 
son-in-law Alexander, he entered Syria with a pow- 
erful army, and after having seized several cities, 
he represented that Balas had prepared ambuscades 
for him in Ptolemais, with intention to surprise him. 
Ptolemy advanced to Antioch without resistance, 
assumed the throne, and put on his head the two 
diadems of Egypt and Syria, 1 Mace. xi. 1 — 13. 
Jos. Ant. xiii. 4. 

Balas, who had returned into Cilicia, there gath- 
ered a numerous army, with which he marched 
against Ptolemy and Demetrius Nicator, now con- 
federated against him, and gave them battle on the 
river (Enreparas ; but being overcome, he fled, with 
five hundred horse, into Arabia; where Zabdiel, a 
prince of the Arabians, cut off his head, and sent it 
to Ptolemy. Such is the history, at least in the first 
book of Maccabees, (xi. 15 — 17.) but other histori- 
ans relate, that Alexander's generals, considering 
their own interests and security, treated privately 
with Demetrius, treacherously killed their master, 
and sent his head to Ptolemy at Antioch, A. M. 
3859. Alexander Balas left a son very young, called 
Antiochus Theos, whom Tryphon raised to the 
throne of Syria. 

III. ALEXANDER Jannjeus, third son of John 
Hircanus, who left three sons, or five, according to 
Josephus, de Bello, i. 3. The father was particularly 
fond of Antigonus and Aristobuhis, but could not 
endure his third son, Alexander, because he had 
dreamed that he would reign after him ; which 
dream extremely afflicted him, inasmuch as, accord- 
ing to the law of nature, it implied the death of his 
two brothers. Events justified the dream. Antigo- 
nus never reigned, and Aristobuhis reigned but for a 
short time. After his death, Salome, or Alexandra, 
his widow, liberated Alexander, whom Aristobulus 
had confined in prison since their father's death, and 
made him king. Alexander, being seated on the 
throne, put to death one of his brothers, who had 
formed a design on his life, and heaped favors on 
another, called Absalom, who, being contented with 
a private condition, lived peaceably, and retired 



ALEXANDER 



L 40 j 



ALEXANDER 



from public employments. Alexander was of a 
warlike, enterprising disposition ; and when he had 
regulated his dominions, he marched against Ptole- 
mais, but was soon compelled to relinquish the ob- 
ject of his expedition, in order to defend his own 
territories against Ptolemy Lathyrus, who had 
marched a powerful army into Galilee. Alexander 
gave him battle near Asophus, not far from the Jor- 
dan ; but Ptolemy killed 30,000, or, as others say, 
50,000 of his men. After this victory, he met with 
no resistance. His mother, Cleopatra, however, ap- 
prehensive for the safety of Egypt, determined to 
stop his further progress, and for this purpose levied 
a numerous army, and equipping a large fleet, soon 
landed in Phoenicia. Ptoleniais opened its gates to 
receive her ; and here Alexander Jannaeus presented 
himself in her camp with considerable presents, and 
was received as an unhappy prince, an enemy of 
Ptolemy, who had no refuge but the queen's protec- 
tion. Cleopatra made an alliance with him in the 
city of Scythopolis, and Alexander marched with his 
troops into Ccelo-Syria, where he took the town of 
Gadara, after a siege of ten months, and after that 
Amathus, one of the best fortresses in the country, 
where Theodorus, son of Zeno, had lodged his most 
valuable property, as in absolute security. This 
Theodorus, falling suddenly on Alexander's army, 
killed 10,000, and plundered his baggage. Alexan- 
der, however, was not deterred by this disaster from 
prosecuting 1 lis purposes: having recruited his army, 
he besieged Raphia, Anthedon, and Gaza, towns on 
the Mediterranean, and took them : the latter, after 
a desperate resistance, was reduced to a heap of 
ruins. 

After this, Alexander returned to Jerusalem, but 
did not find that peace he expected. The Jews re- 
volted ; and on the feast of tabernacles, while he, as 
high-priest, was preparing to sacrifice, the people 
assembled in the temple had the insolence to throw 
lemons at him, taken from the branches which they 
carried in their hands. To these insults they added 
reproaches, crying that he who had been a slave, 
was not worthy to go up to the holy altar, and offer 
solemn sacrifices. Provoked by this insolence, 
Alexander put the seditious to the sword, and killed 
about 6,000. Afterwards he erected a partition of 
wood before the altar and the inner temple, to pre- 
vent the approach of the people ; and to defend him- 
self in future against such attempts, he took into his 
pay guards from Pisidia and Cilicia. Finding Jeru- 
salem likely to oontinue the seat of clamor and 
discontent, Alexander quitted the metropolis, at the 
head of his army ; and, having crossed the Jordan, 
he made war upon the Moabites and Ammonites, 
and obliged them to pay tribute ; attacked Amathus, 
the fortress beyond Jordan, before mentioned, and 
razed it ; and also made war with Obeda, king of the 
Arabians, whom he subdued. On his return to Je- 
rusalem he found the Jews more incensed against 
him than ever ; and a civil war shortly ensued, in 
which he killed above 50,000 persons. All his en- 
deavors to bring about a reconciliation proving fruit- 
less, Alexander one day asked them what they would 
have him do to acquire their good will. They an- 
swered unanimously, 'that he had nothing to do but 
to kill himself.' After this they sent deputies to de- 
she succors from Demetrius Eucaerus, against their 
king, who marched into Judea,with 3000 ' horse, and 
40,000 infantry, and encamped at Sichem. A battle 
ensued, in which Alexander was defeated, and com- 
pelled to fly to the mountains for shelter. This oc- 



currence, however, contributed to his re-establish- 
ment, for a large number of the Jews, touched with 
the unhappy condition of their king, joined him ; and 
Demetrius, retiring into Syria, left the Jews to op- 
pose their king with their own forces. Alexander, 
collecting his army, marched against his rebellious 
subjects, whom he overcame in every engagement, 
and having shut up the fiercest of them in Bethom, 
he forced the town, made them prisoners, and car- 
ried them to Jerusalem, where he ordered eight 
hundred of them to be crucified before him, during 
a great entertainment which he made for his friends ; 
and before these unhappy wretches had expired, he 
commanded their wives and children to be mur- 
dered in their presence — an unheard-of and exces- 
sive cruelty, which occasioned the people of his own 
party to call him " Thracides," meaning "as cruel as 
a Thracian." Some time afterwards, Antiochus, 
surnamed Dionysius, having conquered Damascus, 
resolved to invade Judea ; but Alexander defeated 
his intention, and compelled him to return into 
Arabia, where he was killed. Aretas, the succeed- 
ing king of Damascus, however, came into Judea, 
and defeated Alexander, in the plain of Sephala. 
A peace being concluded, Aretas returned to Da- 
mascus ; and Alexander ingratiated himself with the 
Jews. Having given himself up to excessive drink- 
ing, he brought on a violent quartan fever, which 
terminated his life. His queen, Alexandm. observ- 
ing him to be near his end, and foreseeing all she 
had to fear from a mutinous people, not easily gov- 
erned, and her children not of age to conduct her 
affairs, was greatly distressed. Alexander told her, 
that to reign in peace, she should conceal his death 
from the army, till Ragaba, which he was then be- 
sieging, was taken ; that, when returned to Jerusa- 
lem, she should give the Pharisees some share in 
the government ; that she should send for the prin- 
cipal of them, show them his dead body, give them 
permission to treat it with what indignities they 
pleased, in revenge for the ill treatment they had re- 
ceived from him, and promise that she would in fu- 
ture do nothing in the government without their 
advice and participation. "If you do thus," he add- 
ed, "you may be assured, they will make a very 
honorable funeral for me, and you will reign in 
peace, supported by their credit and authority among 
the people." Having said these words, he expired, 
aged forty-eight, after a reign of twenty-seven years, 
A. M. 3926, ante A. D. 78. This admission of the 
Pharisees into the government, demands the espe- 
cial notice of the reader, as it accounts, not only for 
their influence over the minds of the people, but 
also for their connection with the rulers, and their 
power as public governors, which appear so remark- 
ably in the history of the Gospels ; much beyond 
what might be expected from a sect merely reli- 
gious. Alexander left two sons, Hircanus and Aris- 
tobulus, who disputed the kingdom and high-priest- 
hood, till the time of Herod the Great, and whose 
dissensions caused the ruin of their family, and were 
the means of Herod's elevation. Joseph. Ant. xiii. 
c. 12—16. [21—24.1 See Alexandra. 

IV. ALEXANDER, son of Aristobulus and Al- 
exandra, and grandson of Alexander Jannasus, was to 
have been earned captive to Rome, with his brother 
Antigonus, when Pompey took Jerusalem from Aris- 
tobulus. On the way, however, he found means to es- 
cape, and, returning to Judea, raised an army of 10,000 
foot, and 15,000 horse, with which he performed 
many gallant actions, and seized the fortresses of 



ALEXANDER 



[41 ] 



ALEXANDER 



Alexandrium and Machaerus. Gabinius, the general 
of the Roman troops, however, drove him from the 
mountains, beat him near Jerusalem, killed 3000 of 
his men, and made many prisoners. By the mediation 
of his mother, Alexandra, matters were accommo- 
dated with Gabinius, and the Romans marched into 
Egypt, but were soon compelled to return, by the 
violent proceedings of Alexander. Wherever he 
met with Romans, he sacrificed them to his resent- 
ment, and a number were compelled to fortify them- 
selves on mount Gerizim, where Gabinius found 
him at his return from Egypt. Being apprehensive 
of engaging the great number of troops who were 
with Alexander, Gabinius sent Antipater with offers 
of general pardon, if they laid down their arms. 
This had the desired success ; many forsook Alex- 
ander, and retired to their own houses ; but with 
30,000 still remaining, he resolved to give the Ro- 
mans battle. The armies met at the foot of mount 
Tabor, where, after a very obstinate action, Alexan- 
der was overcome, with the loss of 10,000 men. 

Under the government of Crassus, Alexander 
again began to embroil affairs ; but after the unhap- 
py expedition against the Parthians, Cassius obliged 
him, under conditions, to continue quiet, while he 
marched to the Euphrates, to oppose the passage of 
the Parthians. During the wars between Caesar 
and Pompey, Alexander and Aristobulus, his father, 
espoused C.esar's interest. Aristobulus was poi- 
soned, and Alexander beheaded at Antioch, A. M. 
3945. Joseph. Ant. xiv. Bell. Jud. i. c. 8. [c. 6, 7.] 

V. ALEXANDER, son of Jason, was sent to 
Rome, to renew friendship and alliance between the 
Jews and Romans : he is named in the decree of 
the senate directed to the Jews, in the ninth year of 
Hircanus's pontificate, A. M. 3935 ; B. C. 69. Jos. 
Ant, xiv. 16. 

VI. ALEXANDER, son of Theodoras, was sent 
to Rome, by Hircanus, to renew his alliance with 
the senate. He is named in the decree of the senate, 
addressed to the magistrates of Ephesus, made in 
the consulship of Dolabella; which specified that 
the Jews should not be forced into military service, 
because they could not bear arms on the sabbath day, 
nor have, at all times, such provisions in the armies 
as were authorized by their law. Jos. Ant. xiv. 17. 

VII. ALEXANDER, son of Herod the Great 
and Mariamne. The history of this prince can 
hardly be separated from that of Aristobulus, his 
brother, and companion in misfortune. After the 
tragical death of their mother, Mariamne, Herod 
sent them to Rome, to be educated in a manner 
suitable to their rank. Augustus allowed them an 
apartment in his palace, intending this mark of his 
consideration as a compliment to their father Herod. 
On their return to Judea, the people received the 
princes with great joy ; but Salome, Herod's sister, 
who had been the principal cause of Mariamne's 
death, apprehending that if ever the sons of the lat- 
ter possessed authority, she would feel the effects of 
their resentment, resolved, by her calumnies, to 
alienate the affections of their father from them. 
This she managed with great address, and for some 
time discovered no symptoms of ill-will. Herod 
married Alexander to Glaphyra, daughter of Arche- 
laus, kiug of Cappadocia, and Aristobulus to Bere- 
nice, daughter of Salome. Pheroras, the king's 
brother, and Salome, his sister, conspiring to destroy 
these young princes, watched closely their conduct, 
and often induced them to speak their thoughts 
freely and forcibly, concerning the manner in which 



Herod had put to death their mother, Mariamne. 
Whatever they said was immediately reported to 
the king, in the most odious and aggravated terms, 
and Herod, having no distrust of his brother and sis- 
ter, confided in their representations, as to his sons' 
intentions of revenging their mother's death. To 
check, in some degree, their lofty spirits, lie sent for 
his eldest son, Antipater, to court, — he having been 
brought up at a distance from Jerusalem, because 
the quality of his mother was much inferior to that 
of Mariamne — thinking that by thus making Aristo- 
bulus and Alexander sensible that it was in his pow- 
er to prefer another of his sons before them, they 
would be rendered more circumspect in their con- 
duct. The contrary, however, was the case. The 
presence of Antipater only exasperated the two 
princes, and he at length succeeded in so entirely 
alienating his father's affection from them, that Herod 
carried them to Rome, to accuse them before 
Augustus, of designs against his life, B. C. 11. But 
the young princes defended themselves so well, and 
affected the spectators so deeply with their tears, 
that Augustus reconciled them to their father, and 
sent them back to Judea, apparently in perfect union 
with Antipater, who expressed great satisfaction to 
see them restored-to Herod's favor. When returned 
to Jerusalem, Herod convened the people in the 
temple, and publicly declared his intention, that his 
sons should reign after him ; first Antipater, then 
Alexander, and afterwards Aristobulus. This dec- 
laration exasperated the two brothers still further, 
and gave new occasion to Pheroras, Salome, and 
Antipater, to represent their disaffection to Herod. 
The king had three confidential eunuchs, whom he 
employed even in affairs of great importance. These 
were accused of being corrupted by the money of 
Alexander, and being subjected to the rack, the ex- 
tremity of the torture induced them to confess, that 
they had been often solicited by Alexander and 
Aristobulus to abandon Herod and join them and 
their party, who were ready for any undertaking, in 
asserting their indisputable right to the crown. One 
of them added, that the two brothers had conspired 
to lay snares for their father, while hunting ; and 
were resolved, should he die, to go instantly to 
Rome, and beg the kingdom of Augustus. Letters 
were produced likewise from Alexander to Aristo- 
bulus, wherein he complah ^d that Herod had given 
fields to Antipater, which produced an annual rent 
of two hundred talents. 

This intelligence confirmed the fears of Herod, 
and rendered him suspicious of all persons about 
his court. Alexander was put under arrest, and his 
principal friends to the torture. The prince, how- 
ever, was not dejected at this storm. He not only 
denied nothing which had been extorted from his 
friends, but admitted even more -than they had al- 
leged againts him ; whether designing to confound 
the credulity and suspicions of his father, or to in- 
volve the whose court in perplexities, from which 
they should be unable to extricate themselves. He 
conveyed letters to the king, in which he represent 
ed that to torment so many persons on his account 
was useless ; that, in fact, he had laid ambuscades 
for him; that the principal courtiers were his ac 
complices, naming, in particular, Pheroras, and his 
most intimate friends; adding, that Salome came 
secretly to him by night, and that the whole court 
wished for nothing more than the moment when 
they might be delivered from that pain in which 
they were continually kept by his cruelties. 



ALEXANDER 



[ 42 ] 



ALE 



In the mean time, Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, 
and father-in-law of Alexander, informed of what 
was passing in Judea, came to Jerusalem, for the 
purpose of effecting, if possible, a reconciliation be- 
tween Herod and his son. Knowing the violence 
of Herod's temper, he feigned to pity his present 
situation, and to condemn the unnatural conduct of 
Alexander. The sympathy of Archelaus produced 
some relentings in the bosom of Herod, and finally 
led to his reconciliation with Alexander, and the de- 
tection of the guilty parties. But this calm did not 
long continue. One Eurycles, a Lacedemonian, 
having insinuated himself into Herod's favor, gained 
also the confidence of Alexander; and the young 
prince opened his heart freely, concerning the 
grounds of his discontent against his father. Eury- 
cles repeated all to the king, whose suspicions 
against his sons were revived, and he at length or- 
dered them to be tortured. Of all the charges 
brought against the young princes, nothing could be 
proved, except that they had formed a design to re- 
tire into Cappadocia, where they might be freed 
from their father's tyranny, and live in peace. Herod, 
however, having substantiated this fact, took the 
rest for granted, and despatched two envoys to 
Rome, demanding from Augustus justice against 
Alexander and Aristobulus. Augustus ordered them 
to be tried at Berytus, before the governors of 
Syria, and the tributary sovereigns of the neigh- 
boring provinces, particularly mentioning Arche- 
laus as one ; and giving Herod permission, should 
they be found guilty, to punish them as he might 
deem proper. Herod convened the judges, but 
basely omitted Archelaus, Alexander's father-in- 
law ; and then, leaving his sons under a strong guard, 
at Platane, he pleaded his own cause against them, 
before the assembly, consisting of 150 persons. Af- 
ter adducing against them every thing he had been 
able to collect, he concluded by saying, that, as a 
king, he might have tried and condemned them by 
bis own authority; but that he preferred bringing 
them before such an assembly to avoid the imputa- 
tion of injustice and cruelty. Saturnius, who had 
been formerly consul, voted that they should be 
punished, but not with death ; and his three sons 
voted with him : but they were overruled by Volum- 
nius, who gratified the father, by condemning his 
sons to death, and induced the rest of the judges to 
join with him in this cruel and unjust sentence. 
The time and manner of carrying it into execution 
were left entirely to Herod. Daniascenus, Tyro, 
and other friends, interfered, in order to save the 
lives of the unfortunate princes, but in vain. They 
remained some time in confinement ; and, after the 
report of another plot, were conveyed to Sebaste, or 
Samaria, and there strangled, A. M. 3390, one year 
before the birth of J. C. and four before the usual 
computation of A. D. Joseph. Ant. xv. xvi. 

The reader is requested to pay particular attention 
to this history of the behavior of Herod to his two 
sons, because it has a strong connection with the 
gospel histories of the massacre of the infants — for 
the king who could slay his own sons, would not 
scruple to slay those of others ; and it suggests good 
reasons for the alarm of the whole city, and of the 
priests, from whom Herod inquired where the Mes- 
siah should be born ; also, for the flight of Joseph 
and Mary into Egypt, and for their fear of returning 
again into Judea, under the power of his successor, 
who, as they supposed, might very probably inherit 
this king's cruel and tyrannical disposition. 



VIII. ALEXANDER, a Jew, apparently an ora- 
tor, mentioned Acts xix. 33. The people of Ephe- 
sus being in uproar, and incensed against the Jews 
for despising the worship of Diana, the Jews put 
Alexander forward, to plead their cause, and proba- 
bly to disclaim all connection with Paul and the 
Christians. The mob, however, would not hear him. 

IX. ALEXANDER, a copper smith or brazier, 
who deserted the Christian faith, 1 Tim. i. 20 ; 2 
Tim. iv. 14. 

X. ALEXANDER, a man who had apparently 
been high-priest, Acts iv. 6. 

XI. ALEXANDER, the son of Simon, and 
brother of Rufus. His father, Simon, was compelled 
to aid in bearing the cross of Jesus, Mark xv. 21. 

ALEXANDRA, or Salome, was first married to 
Aristobulus, and afterwards became the wife of Al- 
exander Jannseus, his brother. In the account of 
this prince, we have noticed the advice which he 
gave upon his death-bed to Alexandra, with a view 
to conciliate the Pharisees, and establish herself in 
the kingdom. Alexandra followed his counsel, and 
secured the object of her wishes. The Pharisees, 
won by the marks of respect which she paid to 
them, exerted their influence over the people, and 
Alexander Jannseus was buried with great pomp and 
splendor, and Alexandra ruled during the space of 
nine years. Under her government, the country 
enjoyed external peace, but was distracted by in- 
ternal strife. The Pharisees, having obtained an 
ascendency over the mind of the queen, proceeded 
to exact from her many important advantages for 
themselves and friends, and then to obtain the pun- 
ishment and persecution of all those who had been 
opposed to them during the king's reign. Many of 
the Sadducees, therefore, were put to death ; and 
their vindictiveness proceeded to such acts of cruelty 
and injustice, that none of Alexander's friends could 
be secure of their lives. Many of the principal per- 
sons who had served in the late king's armies, with 
Aristobulus at then- head, entreated permission to 
quit their countiy, or to be placed in some of the 
distant fortresses, where they might be sheltered 
from the persecution of their enemies. After some 
deliberation, she adopted the expedient of distributing 
them among the different garrisons of the kingdom, 
excepting those, however, in which she had depos- 
ited her most valuable property. In the mean time, 
her son Aristobulus was devising the means of seiz- 
ing upon the throne, and an opportunity at length 
presented itself for carrying his project into effect. 
The queen being seized With a dangerous illness, 
Aristobulus at once made himself master of those 
fortresses in which his friends had been placed, and, 
before the necessary measures could be taken to 
stay his progress, he was placed at the head of a 
large number of troops. Alexandra, finding her 
death at hand, left the crown to devolve upon Hir- 
canus, her eldest son; but he, being opposed by 
Aristobulus, retired to private life. Alexandra died, 
B. C. 69, aged seventy-three years. Jos. Ant. xiii. 
ult. xiv. 1. 

ALEXANDRIA, a celebrated city in Egypt, sit- 
uated between the Mediterranean sea and the lake 
Mareotis, the basin of which is now filled up by 
sand. It .was founded by Alexander the Great, 
under Dinocrates, the architect who rebuilt the 
temple of Diana at Ephesus, B. C. 332, and peopled 
by colonies of Greeks and Jews. Had this pnnce 
realized his ambitious projects for becoming the un- 
disturbed master of the world, he could hardly have 



ALEXANDRIA 



[ 43 ] 



ALE 



Belected a more convenient situation for command- 
ing and concentrating its resources. Alexandria 
rose rapidly to a state of prosperity, becoming the 
centre of commercial intercourse between the East 
and the West, and in process of time was, both in 
point of magnitude and wealth, second only to Rome 
itself. 

The ancient city, according to Pliny, was about 
fifteen miles in circuit, peopled by 300,000 free citi- 
zens, and as many slaves. From the gate of the 
sea ran one magnificent street, 2000 feet broad, 
through the entire length of the city, to the gate of 
Canopus, affording a beach, azid a view of the 
shipping in the port, whether north in the Mediter- 
ranean, or south in the noble basin of the Mareotic 
lake. Another street, of equal wiu h, intersected 
this at right angles, in a square half a league in cir- 
cumference. Thus the whole city appears to have 
been divided by two streets intersecting each 
other. 

Upon the death of Alexander, whose body was 
deposited in his new city, Alexandria became the 
regal capital of Egypt, under the Ptolemies, and rose 
to its highest splendor. During the reign of the 
three first princes of this name, its glory was at 
the highest. The most celebrated philosophers 
from the East, as well as from Greece and Rome, 
resorted thither for instruction, and eminent men, in 
every department of knowledge, were found within 
its walls. Ptolemy Soter, the first of that line of 
kings, formed the museum, the library of 700,000 
volumes, and several other splendid works, and his 
son Philadelphus consummated several of his under- 
takings after his decease. At the death of Cleopa- 
tra, ante A. D. 26, Alexandria passed into the hands 
of the Romans, under whom it became the theatre 
of several memorable events, and after having en- 
joyed the highest fame for upwards of a thousand 
years, it submitted to the arms of the caliph Omar, 
A. D. 646. Such was the magnificence of the city, 
that the conquerors themselves were astonished at 
the extent of their acquisition. " I have taken," 
said Amrou, the general of Omar, to his master, 
"the great city of the West. It is impossible for 
me to enumerate the variety of its riches and beauty ; 
I shall content myself with observing that it con- 
tains 4000 palaces," 4000 baths, 400 theatres or places 
of amusement, 12,000 shops for the sale of vegetable 
goods, and 40,000 tributary Jews." With this event, 
says a modern geographer, the sun of Alexandria 
may be said to have set: the blighting hand of 
Islamism was laid on it ; and although the genius 
and resources of such a city could not be immedi- 
ately destroyed, it continued to languish until the 
passage by the Cape of Good Hope, in the fifteenth 
century, gave a new channel to the trade which for 
so many centuries had been its support ; and at this 
day, Alexandria, like most Eastern cities, presents 
a mixed spectacle of ruin and wretchedness — of 
fallen greatness and enslaved human beings. 

[The present Alexandria, or, according to the 
pronunciation of the inhabitants, Skanderia, occupies 
only about the eighth part of the site of the cncient 
city. The splendid temples have been exchanged 
for wretched mosques and miserable churches, and 
the magnificent palaces for mean and ill built dwell- 
ings. The city, which was of old so celebrated for 
its commerce and navigation, is now merely the 
port of Cairo, a place where ships may touch, 
and where wares may be exchanged. The modern 
city is built with the ruins of the ancient. The 



streets are so narrow, that the inhabitants can lay 
mats of reeds from one roof to the opposite, to pro- 
tect them from the scorching sun. The inhabitants 
consist of Turks, Arabs, Copts, Jews, and Armeni- 
ans. Many Europeans have counting houses here ; 
where the factors exchange European for oriental 
merchandise. 

It was under Ptolemy Philadelphus, according to 
Arista?us, that the Greek or Alexandrine version of 
the Scriptures was made here by learned Jews, 
seventy-two in number ; and hence it is called the 
Septuagint, or version of the Seventy. f*"'t this 
narration is entitled to little credit. It is true, i. " v - 
ever, that the Jews established themselves in great 
numbers in this city, very soon after it was founded. 
Josephus says, (c. Apion. ii. 4. Ant. xiv. 7. 2.) that 
Alexander himself assigned to them a particular 
quarter of the city, and allowed them equal rights 
aud privileges with the Greeks. Philo, who him- 
self lived there* in the time of Christ, affirms (Opp. 
ii. p. 525. ed. Mangey.) that of five parts of the city, 
the Jews inhabited two. According to his state- 
ments also, there dwelt in his time in Alexandria, 
and the other Egyptian cities, not less than ten hun- 
dred thousand Jews. (ib. p. 523.) This, however, 
would seem exaggerated. At that period they suf- 
fered cruel persecutions from Flaccus, the Roman 
governor ; which Philo has described in a separate 
treatise. — Christianity was early known and found 
professors here. According to Eusebius, (Hist. 
Ecc. ii. c. 17.) the apostle Mark first introduced the 
gospel into Alexandria ; and according to less au- 
thentic accounts, he suffered martyrdom here, about 
A. D. 68. A church dedicated to this evangelist, 
belonging to the Coptic Jacobite Christians, still ex- 
ists in Alexandria. See Rosenmueller. Bib. Geog. iii. 
p. 291, seq. *R. 

The Jewish and Christian schools in Alexandria 
were long held in the highest esteem, and there is 
reason to believe that the latter, besides producing 
many eloquent preachers, paid much attention to 
the multiplying of copies of the sacred writings. 
The famous Alexandrian manuscript, now deposited 
in the British Museum, is well known. (See Bible.) 
For many years Christianity continued to flourish 
at this seat of learning, but at length it became the 
source, and for some time continued the strong- 
hold, of the Arian heresy. The divisions, discords, 
and animosities, which were thus introduced, ren- 
dered the churches of Alexandria an easy prey to 
the Arabian impostor, and at the time to which we 
have already referred, they were swept away by his 
followers. 

The commerce of Alexandria being so great, es- 
pecially in corn, — for Egypt was considered to be 
the granary of Rome — the centurion might readily 
"find a ship of Alexandria — corn-laden — sailing into 
Italy," Acts xxvii. 6; xxviii. 11. It was in this city 
that Apollos was born, Acts xviii. 24. 

ALEXANDRIUM, a castle built by Alexander 
Jannanis, king of the Jews, on a mountain, near 
Corea, one ofnhe principal cities of Judea, on the 
side of Samaria, in the direction of Jericho, towards 
the frontiers of Ephraim and Benjamin, which was 
demolished by Gabinius, but afterwards rebuilt by 
Herod. Here the princes of Alexander Jannseus's 
family were mostly buried ; and hither Herod or- 
dered the bodies of his sons, Alexander and Aristo- 
bulus, to be carried, after they had been put to 
death at Sebaste, or Samaria. Jos. Ant. xiii. 24 ; xiv 
6. 10. 27; xvi. 2 and ult. 



ALL 



L 44 ] 



ALM 



ALGUM, see Almuo. 

ALIEN, a stranger or foreigner. Those who are 
without an interest in the new covenant, or who 
are not members of the church of Christ, are said to 
be "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel," 
Eph. ii. 12. 

ALLEGORY, a figurative discourse, which em- 
ploys terms appropriate to one thing, in order to 
express another. It is a metaphor prolonged and 
pursued ; as, for example, when the prophets repre- 
sent the Jews under the allegory of a vine, plant- 
ed, cYivated, watered, by the hand of God, but 
"'' .on, instead of producing good fruit, brings forth 
sour grapes ; and so of others. The same, when the 
apostle compares the two covenants of Sinai and the 
gospel, or Jerusalem that now is, and the heavenly 
Jerusalem; "which things," he says, "may be alle- 
gorized." As this was common among the Jews, in 
writing to Jews, he adopts their custom, in which, 
having been deeply learned, he could," no doubt, have 
greatly enlarged ; but then, where had been the 
power of the cross of Christ ; the genuine unsophis- 
ticated doctrines of the gospel ? 

Allegories, as well as metaphors, parables, simili- 
tudes, and comparisons, are frequent in Scripture. 
The Jews, and the people of the East in general, 
were fond of this sort of figurative discourse, and 
used it in almost every thing they said. One chief 
business of a commentator is, to distinguish between 
the allegorical and literal meaning of passages, and 
to reduce the allegorical to the literal sense. The 
ancient Jews, as the Therapeutse, the author of the 
Book of Wisdom, Josephus, and Philo, (and in imi- 
tation of them, many of the fathers,) turned even 
the historical parts of Scripture into allegories ; al- 
though the literal sense in such passages is most 
clear. These allegorical explanations may interest, 
perhaps, but they are good for little ; they cannot 
justly be produced as proofs of any thing ; unless 
where Christ, or his apostles, have so applied them. 

The ancient philosophers and poets also used to 
deliver doctrines, and to explain things allegorically. 
Pythagoras instructed his disciples in this symbolical 
manner, believing it to be the most proper method 
of explaining religious doctrines, and to be a help to 
memory. Euclid of Megara did, indeed, forbid the 
use of allegories and emblems, as fit only to render 
plain things obscure ; and Socrates taught in a man- 
ner the most natural and simple, excepting those 
ironies which he sometimes interspersed in his dis- 
courses. But the philosophers, generally, were ex- 
cessively fond of allegories and mystical theology ; 
and they were too closely imitated by the early 
Christians. See Symbols. 

ALLELUIA, or Hallelu-jah, (praise Jeho- 
vah.) This word occurs at the beginning, and at 
the end, of many of the Psalms. It was also sung 
on solemn days of rejoicing: "And all her streets 
(i. e. of Jerusalem) shall sing alleluia," says Tobit, 
speaking of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, Tob. xih. 
18. John, in the Revelation, says, (chap. xix. 1. 3. 
4. 6.) "I heard a great voice of much people in 
heaven, who cried, Alleluia ; and the four living 
creatures fell down, and worshipped God ; saying, 
Alleluia." This expression of joy and praise was 
transferred from the synagogue to the church, and 
it is still occasionally used in devotional psalmody. 

ALLON BACHUTH, the oak of weeping, a place 
in Bethel, where Rebekah's nurse was buried, Gen. 
xxxv. 8. 

ALLOPHYLI, ' Jr./.uitv/.m , a Greek term, used 



by the LXX. which signifies, properly, strangers ; 
but the Hebrew term, to which it corresponds, is 
generally taken, in the Old Testament, to signify the 
Philistines. 

ALLUSH, or Alush. The Israelites, being in the 
wilderness of Shur, departed from Dophkah to Al- 
lush, and from thence to Rephidim, Numb, xxxiii. 13. 
In Judith, (chap. i. 9.) Chellus or Chalus, and Kades, 
are set down as being near each other. Eusebius 
and Jerome fix Allush in Idumea, about Gabala, that 
is, about Petra, the capital of Arabia Petrsea ; for, ac- 
cording to them, the Gabalene is near Petra. Allush 
is also called Eluza, or Chaluza. In the accounts of 
the empire, it is situated in the third Palestine, and 
is placed by Ptolemy among the cities of Idumea. 
The Jerusalem Targum on Genesis xxv. 18. and on 
Exodus xv. 22. translates Shur and the desert of 
Shur, by Allush. [But Shur could not have been far 
from the present Suez, Exod. xv. 22. It is impossi- 
ble to assign definitely the position of Alush, the en- 
campment of the Israelites. R. 

ALM ON, a city of Benjamin, given to Aaron's 
family, Josh. xxi. 18 ; probably the Alameth men- 
tioned 1 Chron. vi. 60. 

ALMON-DIBLATHAIM, one of the stations of 
the Israelites before they reached mount Nebo, 
Numb, xxxiii. 46. 

ALMOND-TREE, shaked, from a root which 
signifies to ivatch ; for, in fact, the almond-tree is one 
of the first trees that blossom in the spring, and, as 
it were, awakes, while most are asleep by reason of 
winter. This tree is often mentioned in Scripture. 
The Lord, intending to express to Jeremiah (i. 11.) 
the vigilance of his wrath against his people, showed 
him the branch of an almond-tree ; where the du- 
plicity of meaning in the word shaked is difficult to 
express in a translation. " What seest thou ? " He 
answers, " I see the rod of an almond-tree," (i. e. a 
watcher.) The Lord replies : " I will watch over my 
word to fulfil it." 

The almond-tree resembles a peach-tree, but is 
larger. In Judea it blossoms in January, and by 
March has fruit. Aaron's rod, which bore blossoms 
and fruit in the wilderness, (Numb. xvii. 8.) was of 
the almond-tree. The author of Ecclesiastes, (xii. 5.) 
expressing metaphorically the whiteness of an old 
man's hair, says, " The almond-tree shall flourish." 
The blossoms of this tree are white. 

ALMS, charitable donation. The word is derived 
ultimately from the Greek "Ef.toc, mercy, pity, com- 
passion. 

ALMUG, or by transposition Algum, a kind of 
wood which Hiram brought from Ophir, 1 Kings x. 
11 ; 2 Chron. ii. 8. The rabbins generally render it 
coral ; others ebony, or pine. It certainly is not coral, 
for this is not proper to make musical instruments, 
nor to be used in rails, or a staircase, to which uses, 
the Scripture tells us, the wood almug was put. The 
pine-tree is too common in Judea, and the neighbor- 
ing country, to search for it as far as Ophir. The 
wood thyinum (by which the word is rendered in 
the Vulgate) is that of the citron-tree, known to the 
ancieats, and much esteemed for its odor and beauty 
It came from Mauritania. Plin. xiii. 16. 

Calmet is of opinion, that by almug, or algum, or 
simply gum, taking al for an article, is to be under- 
stood oily and gummy wood, particularly of the tree 
which produces gum Arabic. It is said gum Ammo- 
niac proceeds from a tree resembling that which 
bears myrrh ; and gum Arabic comes from the black 
acacia, which he takes to be the same as the Shittirp 



ALO 



L 45 j 



ALP 



wood, frequently mentioned by Moses ; if so, Solo- 
mon's Almug and Moses's Shittim, he remarks, would 
be the same wood. See Shittim. 

[Some have supposed the Almug to be Sandal- 
wood, (Santalum,) which is a native of the East In- 
dies, and much used for costly work. So Rosenmuel- 
ler. Kimchi compares the Arabian Almokam, which is 
theArabic name of the wood usually known in Europe 
by the appellation Brazil-wood, from the tree Casal- 
pinia of Linnaeus. There are various species of 
this tree. That called the Ccesalpinia sappan is a 
native of the East Indies, Siam, the Molucca islands, 
and Japan ; as are also several other species. Its 
wood is very durable, and is used in fine cabinet 
work. It yields also a dye of a beautiful red color, 
for which it is much used. Its resemblance in color 
to coral may have given occasion for the name Al- 
mug, which, in Rabbinic, still signifies coral ; and then 
the meaning of the name would be coral-wood. Ge- 
senius adopts this supposition. See Rees's Cyclop. 
Art. CfEsalpinia. R. 

I. ALOES, or Aloe, an East Indian tree, that 
grows about eight or ten feet high. At the head of it is 
a large bundle of leaves, thick and indented, broad 
at bottom, but narrowing towards the point, and 
about four feet in length ; the blossom is red, inter- 
mixed with yellow, and double like a pink; from 
this blossom comes fruit, like a large pea, white and 
red. The juice of the leaves is drawn by cutting 
them with a knife ; and afterwards it is received in 
bottles. The eastern geographers tell us, that the 
wood of aloes, the smell of which is exquisite, is 
found only in those provinces of India which are 
comprehended in the first climate ; that the best is 
that which grows in the isle of Senf, situated in the 
Indian sea, towards China. Others are of opinion, 
that the wood of aloes, produced in the isle of Comar, 
or at Cape Comorin, is the best, and that it was of this 
kind a certain king of India made a present, weigh- 
ing ten quintals, to Nouschirvan ; which, when ap- 
plied to the fire, melted, and burned like wax. This 
wood is brought likewise from the islands of Su- 
matra and Ceylon. The Siamese ambassadors to 
the court of France, in 1686, brought a present of it 
from their sovereign ; and were the first to commu- 
nicate any consistent account of the tree. It is said 
to be about the height and form of the olive-tree ; 
the trunk is of three colors, and contains three sorts 
•of wood ; the heart, or finest part, is called tambac or 
-calambac, and is used to perfume dresses and apart- 
ments. It is worth more than its weight in gold ; 
and is esteemed a sovereign cordial against fainting 
fits, and other nervous disorders. From this account 
the reader will perceive the rarity and value of this 
perfume, implied in the notice taken of it by the 
spouse in the Canticles, (iv. 14.) and the boast of the 
prostitute, Prov. vii. 17. The sandal-wood ap- 
proaches to many of its properties ; and is applied 
to similar uses, as a perfume at sacrifices, &c. 
The aloes of Syria, Rhodes, and Candia, called 
Aspalathus, is a shrub full of thorns; the wood 
of which is used by perfumers, after they have 
taken off the bark, to give consistency to their per- 
fumes. 

[This tree or wood was called by the Greeks 
ayuV.oxbv, and later £v).aXi>i, and has been known to 
moderns by the names of aloe-wood, paradise-wood, 
eagle-wood, etc. Modern botanists distinguish two 
kinds ; the one genuine and most precious, the other 
more common and inferior. The former grows in 
Cochin-China, Siam, and China, is never exported, 



and is of so great rarity in India itself, as to be worth 
its weight in gold. Pieces of this wood that are 
resinous, of a dark color, heavy, and perforated as if 
by worms, are called calambac ; the tree itself is called 
by the Chinese svk-h'iang. It is represented as 
large, with an erect trunk, and lofty branches. The 
other or more common species is called garo in the 
East Indies, and is the wood of a tree growing in 
the Moluccas, the cxcoecaria agallocha of Linnaeus. 
The leaves are like those of a pear-tree ; and it has 
a milky juice, which, as the tree grows old, hardens 
into a fragrant resin. The trunk is knotty, crooked, 
and usually hollow. The domestic name in India 
is aghil ; whence the Europeans who first visited 
India gave it the name of lignum aquilte, or eagle- 
wood. From this same aghil the Hebrew name 
D^nN seems also to be derived. But as this is also, 
as to form, the plural of Snx, a tent, the Vulgate in 
Numb. xxiv. 6. has translated thus : " As tents 
which the Lord hath spread ;" while the Hebrew is : 
" As aloe-trees which the Lord hath planted ;" — in 
our version, " lign-aloes."— Aloe-wood is said by 
Herodotus to have been used by the Egyptians for 
embalming dead bodies ; and Nicodemus brought it, 
mingled with myrrh, to embalm the body of our 
Lord, John xix. 39. See Gesenius, Thesaurus 
Ling. Heb. p. 33. R. 

II. ALOES, a plant or herb, the leaves of which 
are about two inches thick, prickly, and chamfered ; 
in the middle rises a stem ; and the flower yields a 
white kernel, extremely light, and almost round. 
These aloes are not uncommon among us. It 
has been said, that one kind of aloes flowers 
but once in a hundred years, and that, as its flower 
opens, it makes a great noise ; but there have been 
several seen blowing in the gardens at and round 
London, without making any noise. As the flowers 
have six stamina, and one style, Linnaeus ranges 
this plant in the sixth class, called hexandria monogy- 
nia. Our knowledge of it is obtained not so much 
from oriental specimens, as from American, which 
could not be known to the ancients. The Cape of 
Good Hope furnishes many kinds. 

From this plant is extracted the common drug 
called aloes, which is a very bitter resin. Some 
have supposed that this was what Nicodemus brought 
for embalming the body of Christ, John xix. 39. 
See the close of the preceding article. 

ALPHA, (A,) the first letter of the Greek alpha- 
bet. See the letter A. Martial, in imitation of the 
Greeks, who used to distinguish the rank of people 
by letters, says : 

Quod Alpha dixi, Codre, penulatorum, 
Te nuper, aliqua, cum jocarer in charta : 
Si forte bilem movit hie tibi versus, 
Dicas licebit Beta me togatorum. 

Epig. 1. v. Ep. 26. 

ALPHABET, see Hebrew Letters. 

I. ALPH^EUS, father of James the less, (Matt. x. 
3; Luke vi. 15.) and husband of the Mary who v is 
sister to the mother of Christ ; (John xix. 25.) for 
which reason, James is called the Lord's brother. 
(See Brother.) By comparing John xix. 25. with 
Luke xxiv. 10. and Matt. x. 3. it is evident that Al- 
phseus is the same as Cleophas ; Alphaeus being his 
Greek name, and Cleophas his Hebrew or Syriac 
name, according to the custom of the province, or 
the time, where men often had two names, by one 
of which they were known to their friends and 



ALT 



[ 46 ] 



ALTAR 



countrymen, and by the other to the Romans, or 
strangers. More probably, however, the double 
name in Greek arises from a diversity in pronouncing 
the n in his Aramean name, >cSn ; a diversity which 
is common also in the Septuagint. See Kuinoel on 
John xiv. 25. See also Names. 

II. ALPILEUS, father of Levi, or Matthew, the 
apostle aud evangelist, Mark ii. 14. 

I. ALTAR, the place on which sacrifices were 
offered. Sacrifices are nearly as ancient as worship ; 
and altars are of nearly equal antiquity. Scripture 
epeaks of altars, erected by the patriarchs, without 
describing their form, or the materials of which they 
were composed. The altar which Jacob set up at 
Bethel, Was the stone ■ which had served him for a 
pillow ; and Gideon sacrificed on the rock before 
his house. The first altars which God commanded 
Moses to raise, were of earth or rough stones ; and 
the Lord declared, that if iron were used in con- 
structing them, they would become impure, Exod. 
xx. 24, 25. The altar which Moses enjoined Joshua 
to build on Mount Ebal, Was to be of unpolished 
stones, (Deut. xxvii. 5 ; Josh. viii. 31.) and it is very 
probable, that such were those built by Samuel, Saul, 
and David. The altar which Solomon erected in 
the temple was of brass, but filled, it is believed, 
with rough stones, 2 Chron. iv. 1. That built at 
Jerusalem, by Zerubbabel, after the return from 
Babylon, was of rough stones ; as was that of the 
Maccabees. Josephus says, (De Bello, lib. vi. cap. 
14.) that the altar which was in his time in the tem- 
ple, was of rough stones, fifteen cubits high, forty 
long, and forty wide. 

Among the ancieut Egyptian pictures that have 
been discovered at Herculaueum, are two of a veiy 
curious description, representing sacred ceremo- 
nies of the Egyptians, probably in honor of Isis. 
Upon these subjects we shall lay the substance of 
Mr. Taylor's remarks before our readers. 

In the first picture, the scene of the subject is in 

the area before a 
temple ; (as usual ;) 
the congregation is 
numerous, the mu- 
sic various, and the 
priests engaged are 
at least nine per- 
sons. The temple 
is raised, aud an 
ascent of eleven 
steps leads up to it. 
On this altar we 
observe, (1.) Its 
form and decora- 
tions. (2.) The birds 
about it. In the 
original, one Ibis is 
lying down at ease, another is standing up, without fear 
or apprehension ; a third, perched on some paling, is 
looking over the heads of the people ; and a fourth 
is standing on the back of a Sphinx, nearly adjacent 
t<"> the temple, in the front of it. It deserves notice, 
that ihis altar (and the other also) has at each of its 
four corners a rising, which continues square to about 
half its height, but from thence is gradually sloped 
off to an edge, or a point. These are, no doubt, the 
horns of the altar; and probably this is their true 
figure. See Exod. xxvii. 2, &c. ; xxix. 12 ; Ezekiel 
xliii. 15. On these Joab caught hold, (1 Kings ii. 
28.) and to these the Psalmist alludes, (cxviii. 27.) 
" Bind the sacrifice with cords unto the horns of the 





altar." It is probable that the primary use of these 
horns was to retain the victim. 

(1.) Observe the garland with which this altar is 
decorated. (2.) Observe the occupation of the priest, 
who, with a kind of fan, is blowing up the fire. No 
doubt this fan is employed, because to blow up the 
sacred flame with the breath would have been 
deemed a kind of polluting it. It may bear a ques- 
tion, whether something of the same nature were 
not used in kindling the fire on the Jewish altar. 
That funs were known anciently in the East, is highly 
probable, from the simplicity of the instrument, no 
less than from its use. The ancients certainly had 
fans to drive away flies with, (Greek pv«xroj9t;, Latin 
muscarium, Martial, xiv. Ep. 67.) We do not 
know indeed that any Jewish writer mentions the 
use of a fan in kindling the altar fire ; nor, indeed, 
should we have thought of it, had it not occurred in 
this Egyptian representation. 

The other figure shows the homs of the altar, 
^ formed on the same prin- 

ciple as the foregoing ; but 
this is seen on its angle, 
and its general form is 
more eievated. It has no 
garlands, and perfumes 
appear to be burning on 
it. In this picture the as- 
sembly is not so numer- 
ous as in the other ; but 
almost all, to the number 
of ten or a dozen persons, 
are playing on musical in- 
struments. 

Both these altars have 
a simple projecting ornament, running round them 
on their upper parts ; but this has also a correspond- 
ing ornament at bottom. Upon the base of it stand 
two birds, which deserve notice, on account of their 
being unquestionable representations of the true 
ancient Egyptian Ibis ; a bird long lost to naturalists. 
Perhaps the publication of these portraits of the bird 
may contribute to recover and identify it ; which 
will be deemed a service to natural history. They 
also deserve especial notice, on account of their 
situations, as standing on the altar itself, or lying 
down close to it, even while the sacred fire is burn- 
ing, and the sacred ceremonies being performed by 
the priests, close around them. From their confident 
familiarity, it should seem that these birds were not 
only tolerated, but were considered as sacred ; and, 
in some sense, as appertaining to the altar. Would 
it not have been a kind of sacrilege to have dis- 
turbed, or expelled from their domicile, their resi- 
dence, these refugees, if refugees they were, at the 
altar ? (See the history of Aristodicus, Herod, lib. i. 
cap. 159.) Diodorus Siculus (lib. i.) reports, that the 
Egyptians were very severe to those who killed a 
cat, or an Ibis, whether purposely, or inadvertently ; 
the populace, he says, would attack them in crowds, 
and put them to death by the most cruel means ; often 
without observing any form of justice ; — by a kind 
of judgment of zeal. 

As these Ibises were privileged birds in Egypt, so 
might some clean species of birds be equally priv 
ileged among the Jews, and be suffered quietly 
build in various parts of the temple, in the cou 
around the altar; and if they were of the nature 
our domestic fowl, they might even make nests, and 
lay their eggs, at or about the altar, or among the 
interstices and projections of the bottom layer of 



ALTAR 



I 47 1 



ALTAR 



large rough stones, which formed the base of it. If 
they were the property of the priests, or of their 
children, or of any constant residents in the temple, 
(alluded to in the next verse,) they might give no 
more offence, by straggling about the sacred pre- 
cincts, than the vicar's sheep or horse grazing in the 
church-yard does among ourselves. We know, too, 
that there is scarcely a country church among our- 
selves, in which sparrows, and swallows too, do not 
make their nests ; and yet, though we dislike the de- 
filement they occasion, we do not think the building 
the less sacred. By these considerations, we may 
perhaps illustrate the passage, Psalm lxxxiv. 3. The 
sparrow hath found a liouse, and the swallow a nest for 
herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, 
O Lord of hosts. 

The Altars hi the tabernacle and in the temple at 
Jerusalem were as follow: — (1.) The Altar of Burnt- 
offerings. (2.) The Altar of Incense. (3.) The 
Table of Shew-bread ; but this is improperly called 
an altar. See Shew-bread. 

1. The Altar of Burnt-offerings is thus de- 
scribed by Cahnet. It was a kind of coffer of Shit- 
tim-wood, covered with brass plates, (Exod. xxvii. 1, 
seq.) five cubits square, and three in height. Moses 



placed it towards the east, before the entrance of the 
Tabernacle, in the open air, that so the fire which 
was to be kept perpetually upon it, and the smoke 
arising from the sacrifices which were burnt there, 
might not disfigure the inside of the Tabernacle. 
At the four corners were four horns, of a cubit 
square, covered with the same metal as the rest of 
the Altar. They were hollow, that part of the 
blood might be poured into them. Within the depth 
or hollow of it was a grate of brass, on which the 
fire was made, and through which fell the ashes, 
which were received in a pan below. At the four 
corners of this grate were four rings, and four chains, 
which kept it up at the four horns of the Altar above 
mentioned. As this Altar was portable, Moses had 
rings made, and fastened to the sides of it, into 
which were put staves of Shittim-wood, overlaid 
with brass, by means of which it was removed from 
place to place. 

Such was the Altar of Burnt-offerings belonging 
to the tabernacle erected by Moses in the wilderness ; 
but in Solomon's temple it was much larger. This 
was a kind of cube, twenty cubits long, as maDy 
wide, and ten in height, covered with thick plates 
of brass, and filled with rough stones ; and on the 




east side there was an easy ascent leading up to it. 
When the Jews returned from the captivity of Baby- 
lon, they rebuilt the Altar of Burnt-offerings, upon 
the model of Solomon's ; but after both the temple 
and the altar had been profaned by the orders of 
Antiochus Epiphanes, this altar was demolished, 
and the stones of it laid in some part of the temple 



which was unpolluted, till a prophet should be raised 
up by God, who should come and declare the use 
for which they were reserved, 1 Mace. xiv. 41. 
Herod the Great, having built a new temple, raised 
an altar of burnt-offerings like that which had been 
there before ; but J osephus says, that the ascent 
to it was on the south side. B. J. vi. p. 918. edit. Col 



ALTAR 



[ 48 ] 



ALTAR 



The Altar of Burnt-offerings, according to the 
<abbins, was a "large mass of rough and unpolished 
stones, the base of which was 32 cubits, or 48 feet 
square. From thence the altar rose one cubit, or a 
foot and a half ; then there was a diminishing of one 
cubit in thickness ; and from thence the altar, being 
only 30 cubits square, rose five cubits, and received 
a new diminution or in-benching of two cubits, and 
consequently was reduced to 28 cubits square. From 
thence again it rose three cubits, but was two cubits 
smaller. Lastly, it rose one cubit, and so being in 
all 24 cubits, or 36 feet square, it formed the hearth 
on which the sacrifices were burnt, and the perpet- 
ual fire kept up. The diminution of two cubits, 
which was nearly in the middle of the Altar, served 
as a passage for the priests to go and come about 
the altar, to attend the fire, and to place the sacrifice 
on it. 

This altar, being composed of large plates of massy 
brass, was thence called the brazen altar, 1 Kings 
viii. 64. The ascent was by a sloping rise on the 
south side, called Kibbcsh, 32 cubits in length, and 
16 in breadth ; it landed upon the upper benchiug- 
m, near the hearth, or top of the altar ; because to 
go up by steps was forbidden by the law. The 
priests might go round about the altar, and perform 
their offices very conveniently upon the two in- 
benchings which we have described ; namely, that 
of the middle, and that above it, both of which 
were a cubit broad. 

The following is an explanation of the profile of 
the altar of burnt-offerings according to the rab- 
bins, and Dr. Prideaux. 




9 28 JCft 



a. A Trench which went quite round the Altar, 
wherein was thrown the blood of the sacri- 
fices. 

a. b. The Foundation of the Altar, one cubit high, 

and 32 cubits square. 

b. c. The first in-benching, one cubit broad. 

c. d. The elevation of five cubits. 

d. e. The second in-benching, one cubit broad. 

e. f. The elevation of three cubits. 

/. g. The third in-benching, one cubit broad. • 

g.h. The last rising, one cubit. 

i. The Hearth of 24 cubits, or 36 feet square. 

k. k. The Horns of the Altar, of one cubit, and hol- 
low, half a cubit square. 

I. The sloping ascent to the Altar, 32 cubits in 
length. 

m. d. The passage on both sides the Kibbesh, to the 
second in-benching. 

The altar of burnt-offerings, both in the taberna- 
cle and temple, was regarded as an asylum or place 
of refuge. 1 Kings i. 50, seq. ii. 28, seq. 

2. The Altar of Incense was a small table of 
Shittim-wood, covered with plates of gold, of one 
cubit in length, another in width, and two in height, 
Exod. xxx. 1, seq. At the four corners were four 
horns, and all around a little border or crown over 
it. On each side were two rings, into which staves 
might be inserted for the purpose of carrying it. It 
stood in the holy place, (not in the holy "of holies,) 



over against the table of shew-bread. Every morn- 
ing and evening the priest in waiting for that week, 
and appointed by lot for this office, offered incense 
of a particular composition upon this altar ; and to 
this end entered with the smoking censer filled with 
fire from the altar of burnt-offerings into the holy 
place. The priest, having placed the censer on it, 
retired out of the holy place. This was the altar 
which was hidden by Jeremiah before the captivity, 
2 Mace. ii. 5, 6. On the Altar of Incense the priest 
Zacharias was appointed to place the perfume ; and 
while engaged in this service he received the annun 
ciatiou of the birth of a son, Luke i. 11. 

II. ALTAR at Athens, inscribed 'Jyvwmto dtZ, 
"to the unknown God." Paul, discoursing in that city 
on the resurrection of the dead, was carried by some 
of the philosophers before the judges of the Areop- 
agus, where he uses this expression : (Acts xvii. 22, 
23.) " Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things 
ye are too superstitious, over fond of gods ; for as I 
passed by, and beheld your sacred instruments, 1 
found an altar, with this inscription — " To the un- 
known god ;" him, therefore, whom ye worship as 
"imknown," — him declare (i-epresent, announce) I 
unto you." The question is, What was this altar, 
thus consecrated to the " unknown god?" Jerome 
says, that it was inscribed "to the gods of Asia, Eu- 
rope, and Africa ; to the unknown and strange gods ;" 
and that the apostle uses the singular form, because 
his design was only to demonstrate to the Atheni- 
ans, that they adored an unknown god. In Ep. ad 
Tit. c. i. 12. 

Some, as Grotius, Vossius, Beza, believe that Paul 
speaks of altars extant in several places of Attica, 
without any inscription, erected after a solemn expi- 
ation for the country, by the philosopher Epimeni- 
des ; see the note of Dr. Doddridge below. Others 
conceive that this altar was the one mentioned by 
Pausanias and Philostratus, (Attic, lib. vi. cap. 2.) 
who speak of ' Ayriiatiav 9iSiv poyiol I'Syvrrui, altars, 
at Athens, consecrated "to the unknown gods." 
Lucian, in the Dialogue attributed to him, entitled 
Philopatns, swears — "by the unknown god, at 
Athens." He adds, "Being come to Athens, and 
finding there the unknown god, we worshipped 
him, and gave thanks to him, with hands lifted up 
to heaven." Another statement is made by Peter 
Comestor. He relates, that Dionysius, the Areopa- 
gite, observing, while he was at Alexandria, the 
eclipse, which, contrary to nature, happened at the 
death of our Saviour, from thence concluded, that 
some unknown god suffered ; and not being then in 
a situation to learn more of the matter, he erected, 
at his return to Athens, this altar, " to the unknown 
god," which gave occasion to Paul's discourse at the 
Areopagus. Theophylact, GEcumcnius, and others, 
give a different account of its origin and design, but 
each of their opinions, as also those we have no- 
ticed, has its difficulties. 

Chrysostom thinks the altar, entitled, "To the 
gods of Asia, Europe, and Africa, to the unknown 
and strange gods," is not that mentioned by Paul ; 
as the Areopagites would never have understood 
this altar by the bare designation of the "Unknown 
God." He conceives it to be more probable that the 
Athenians, who were a people extremely super- 
stitious, being apprehensive that they had forgotten 
some divinity and omitted to worship him, erected 
altars in some parts of their city, inscribed " To the 
unknown god ;" whence Paul took occasion to 
preach, first Jehovah, and then Jesus, to them, as a 




ARK OF THE COVENANT. 




ALTAR OF OFFERING. 



ALTAR 



[ 49 ] 



A M A 



God, with respect to them, truly unknc yet, in 
some sort, adored without their knowing him. 
Chrysost. in Acta. 

Augustin did not doubt but that the Athenians, 
under the appellation of the unknoivn God, wor- 
shipped the true one. Others also have thought, 
that the God of the Jews was the object of this altar, 
he being a powerful God, but not fully known, as 
the Jews never used his name in speech, but substi- 
tuted "the Lord" for "Jehovah." 

The following is Dr. Doddridge's note on the 
passage : — " The express testimony of Lucian (Phi- 
lopat. ad fin.) sufficiently proves that there was such 
an inscription at Athens ; and shows how unneces- 
sary, as well as unwarrantable, it was in Jerome to 
suppose, that the apostle, to serve his own purpose, 
gives' this turn to an inscription, which bore on its 
front a plurality of deities. Whence this important 
phenomenon arose, or to what it particularly referred, 
it is more difficult to say. Witsius (Melet. p. 85.) 
with Heinsius (in loc.) understands it of Jehovah, 
whose name, not being pronounced by the Jews 
themselves, might give occasion to this appellation ; 
and to this sense Mr. Biscoe inclines. (Bovle's Lect. 
chap. viii. § 12. p. 322. 325.) Dr. Welwood (pref. 
to the Banquet of Xenophon, p. 18, 19.) supposes 
that Socrates reared this altar, to express his devo- 
tion to the one living and true God, of whom the 
Athenians had no notion ; and whose incomprehen- 
sible being he insinuated, by this inscription, to be 
far beyond the reach of their understanding, or his 
own. And in this I should joyfully acquiesce, could 
I find one ancient testimony in confirmation of the 
fact. As it is, to omit other conjectures, I must give 
the preference to that which Beza and Dr. Ham- 
mond have mentioned, and which Mr. Hallet (Disc, 
on Script, vol. i. p. 307, 308.) has labored at large to 
confirm and illustrate ; though I think none of these 
learned writers has set it in its most natural and ad- 
vantageous light. Diogenes Laertius, in his life of 
Ephnenides, (vide lib. i. p. 29, C. with the notes of J. 
Casaubon and Menagius,) assures us, that in the time 
of that philosopher (about GOO years before Christ) 
there was a terrible pestilence at Athens ; in order to 
avert which, when none of the deities to whom they 
sacrificed, appeared able or willing to help them, 
Ephnenides advised them to bring some sheep to the 
Areopagus, and letting them loose from thence, to 
follow them till they lay down, and then to sacrifice 
them (as I suppose the words tw nqoa^y.om Btw 
signify) to the god near whose temple or altar they 
then were. Now it seems probable, that, Athens not 
being then so full of these monuments of supersti- 
tion as afterwards, these sheep lay down in places 
where none of them were near ; and so occasioned 
the rearing what the historians call anonymous altars, 
or altars, each of which had the inscription ayrmnra 
Rsio, to the unknown god; meaning thereby, the 
deity who had sent the plague, whoever he were ; 
one of which altars, at least, however it might have 
been repaired, remained till Paul's time, and long 
after. Now as the God whom Paul preached as 
Lord of all, was indeed the deity who sent and re- 
moved this pestilence, the apostle might, with great 
propriety, tell the Athenians, he declared to them 
him whom, without knowing him, they worshipped ; 
as I think the concluding words of the 23d verse 
may most fairly be rendered." 

Dr. Lardner has an article on this subject, which 
may be consulted with advantage ; it is in the quarto 
edition vol. iv. p. 174. 

7 



[It is a strong objection to the view taken above bv 
the excellent Dr. Doddridge, that the sacrifices were 
to be offered, not to an ayrwcrco dew, but to tw nQoa>j- 
-/.ovri Sim, i. e. the god to whom the affair pertains, 
or the god who can avert the pestilence, whoever he 
may be ; so that the inscription on such altars, if 
any, would doubtless have been, rZ nt>oo>]y.ovri dtS, 
But these altars are expressly said by the Greek 
writer to have been fiwfiol crvwwLioi, i. e. anonymous 
altars, — though evidently not in the sense in which 
Dr. Doddridge has taken it, but meaning altars 
tvithout any name or inscription. 

Eichhorn conjectures (Allgem. Biblioth. iii. p. 414.) 
that there were standing at Athens various very an- 
cient altars, which originally had no inscription, and 
which were afterwards not destroyed, for fear of pro- 
voking the anger of the god to whom each had' been 
dedicated, although it was no longer known who 
this god was. He supposes that therefore the in- 
scription, ayrwaTo) 9(oi, was placed upon them, which 
would properly signify, " to an unknown god," ana 
not "to the unknown god." Of these altars, Paul 
met with only one, and spoke accordingly. Thai 
there were altars with this inscription, in the plura) 
number, appears from the testimony of Pausanias, 
(V. 14. p. 412.) and we may well conclude, on the. 
authority of Paul, that at least one existed at Athens 
with the inscription in the singular. 

Bretschneider supposes the inscription to have 
been, ayrwOTac ^iolc, i. e. to the gods of foreign na- 
tions, unknown to the Athenians ; indicating eithe- 
that foreigners might sacrifice upon that altar to thei. 
own gods, or that Athenians who were about to 
travel abroad, might first by sacrifices propitiate the 
favor of the gods of the countries they were about to 
visit. He quotes the following sentiment of Tertul- 
lian : " I find indeed altars prostituted to unknow?. 
gods, but idolatry is an Attic trait ; also to unceHah, 
gods, but superstition is a trait of Rome." (Adv 
Marc. i. 9.) This view is in substauce similar to that 
of Jerome, first above mentioned. Bretschn. Lex. 

N. T. art. ayra(TTo ? . 

So much at least is certain, both from Paul's as- 
sertion and the testimony of Greek profane writers, 
that altars to an unknown god or gods existed at 
Athens. But the attempt to ascertain definitely 
whom the A thenians worshipped under this appella- 
tion, must ever remain fruitless for want of sufficient 
data. The inscription afforded to Paul a happy oc- 
casion of proclaiming the gospel ; and those who 
embraced it, found indeed that the Being whom they 
had thus ' ignorantly worshipped,' was the one only 
living and true God. See Kuinoel's Comm. in Act. 
xvii. 23. *R. 

ALUSH, see Alldsh. 

AMALEK, son of Eliphaz and Timna his concu- 
bine, and grandson of Esau. He succeeded Gatam 
in the government of Edom, south of Judab ; (Gen. 
xxxvi. 12, 16. 1 Chron. i. 36.) and is by some sup- 
posed to have been father of the Amalekites who 
dwelt on the south of Judah. This, however, ia 
very disputable, as will appear from what follows. 

AMALEKITES, a powerful people who dwelt 
in Arabia Petrsea, between the Dead sea and the 
Red sea, or between Havilah and Shur ; (1 Sam. xv. 
7.) perhaps in moving troops. We cannot assign the 
place of their habitation, except in general it is ap- 
parent that they dwelt south of Palestine, between 
mount Seir and the border of Egypt ; and it does 
not appear that they possessed cities, though one ia 
mentioned in 1 Sam. xv. 5. They lived generally 



AMALEKITES 



[ 50 ] 



AMALEKITES 



m migrating parties, in caves, or in tents. The Is- 
raelites had scarcely passed the Red sea, when the 
A malekites attacked them in the desert of Rephidim, 
and slew those who, through fatigue or weakness, 
lagged behind. Moses, by God's command, directed 
Joshua to repel this assault ; and to record the act 
of inhumanity in a book, to perpetuate its remem- 
brance for future vengeance. Joshua attacked the 
A malekites, and defeated them, while Moses was on 
the mountain, and, with Aaron and Hur in his com- 
pany, held up his lifted hands to heaven, A. M. 2513. 
According to the Scripture mode of expression, 
Moses required all the virtue of his rod and his 
prayers, to defeat so dreadful an enemy ; and if God 
bad not interfered on behalf of his people, the num- 
oer, valor, and advantage of Amalek's arhis, had 
given them the victory. Moreover, victory, which 
God gives or withholds at his pleasure, had certainly 
favored the Amalekites, if Aaron and Hur, who ac- 
companied Moses on the mount, remote from dan- 
ger, had not supported the extended arms and hands 
of that legislator. The mystery of this we leave to 
commentators. The battle continued till the ap- 
proach of night; for Scripture says, (Exod. xvii. 12.) 
"the hands of Moses were steady till the going down 
of the sun." As the success of this action was the 
sole work of God, he said to Moses, "Write this for 
a memorial in a book." 

Under the Judges, (Judg. vi. 3.) we see the Ama- 
lekites united with the Midianites and Moabites to op- 
press Israel ; but Ehud delivered them from Eglon, 
(Judg. iii. 13.) and Gideon delivered them from Mid- 
ian and Amalek. Many years after, the Lord di- 
rected Samuel to say to Saul, "Thus saith the Lord 
of hosts, I remember what Amalek did to Israel, 
how he laid wait for him in the way when he came 
up from Egypt : iioav go and smite Amalek, and ut- 
terly destroy all." Saul marched therefore against 
the Amalekites, advanced to their capital, defeated 
and drove them from Havilah (towards the lower 
part of the Euphrates) to Shur, (on the Red sea 
towards Egypt,) destroying the people : but he spared 
the best of the cattle and movables ; thereby violat- 
ing the command of God. Nevertheless, some fugi- 
tives escaped ; for though they appear but little more 
in history, yet some years after Saul's expedition 
against them, a troop of Amalekites pillaged Ziklag, 
then belonging to David, where he had left his wife 
and his property. David, returning, pursued, over- 
took, and dispersed them, and recovered all the booty 
which they had carried off, 1 Sam. xxx. 1. In 
Judges x. 14. and xii. 15. we read of an Amalek and 
a mount of the Amalekites in the tribe of Ephraim. 
It is hence probable that colonies of this people had 
formerly migrated into Canaan ; and that one of 
them had thus maintained itself against the Ephraim- 
ites. See Bib. Repos. I. p. 594. 

The Arabians have a tradition, that Amalek was a 
son of Ham ; a notion which we are not disposed to 
reject ; for certainly it is not easy to conceive how 
the Amalekites, if only the posterity of the son of 
Eliphaz, grandson of Esau, could be so powerful and 
numerous as this tribe was when the Israelites de- 
parted out of Egypt. Besides, Moses relates, (Gen. 
xiv. 7.) that in Abraham's time the five confederate 
kings invaded Amalek's country about Kadesh, as 
likewise that of the Amorites at Hazezon-tamar. 
Moses also (Numb. xxiv. 20.) relates, that Balaam, 
observing from a distance the land of Amalek, said, 
in his prophetic style, " Amalek is the first (the head, 
the original) of the nations, but his end shall be, that 



he perish for ever." This will not agree with the 
Amalekites, if they were so modern; for the gener- 
ation then living was but the third from Amalek him- 
self, as appears by the following comparative gene- 
alogy : 

Esau, Jacob, 

Eliphaz, Levi, 

Amalek, Koath, 

Amram, 

■ Aaron. 

It is worthy of notice, also, that Moses never re- 
proaches the Amalekites with attacking the Israel- 
ites, their brethren ; an aggravating circumstance, 
winch it is probable he would not have omitted if 
they had been descended from Esau, and, by that 
descent, brethren to the Israelites. Lastly, we see 
the Amalekites almost always joined in Scripture 
with the Canaanites and Philistines, and never with 
the Edomites; and when Saul destroyed Amalek, 
the Edomites neither assisted nor avenged them. It 
is therefore probable that the Amalekites, so often 
mentioned in Sacred History, were a people descend- 
ed from Canaan, and very different from the de- 
scendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau, who 
perhaps might be but a small tribe, and not conspic- 
uous at the time ; if, indeed, they ever rose to much 
importance. 

Of the Amalek destroyed by Saul, too, the Arabi- 
ans had a tradition, that he was the father of an an- 
cient tribe in Arabia, which contained only Arabians 
called pure ; the remains of which were mingled 
with the posterity of Joktan and Adnan, and so 
became Mosarabes, or Mostaarabes, that is, mixed 
Jlrabians — blended with foreigners. They believe, 
also, that Goliath, who was slain by David, was king 
of the Amalekites, and that the giants who inhabited 
Palestine in Joshua's time, part of whom retired into 
Africa while Joshua was living, and settled on the 
coasts of Barbary, were of the same race ; an account 
which has many circumstances of credibility about 
it. The son of Amalek was Ad, a celebrated prince 
among the Arabians, and as some suppose, the son 
of Uz, and grandson of Aram, the son of Shem. 
The Mahommedans say, Ad was father of an Arabian 
tribe called Adites, who were exterminated for not 
hearkening to the patriarch Eber, who preached the 
unity of God to them. (D'Herbelot, Biblioth. Orient.) 
These accounts are, indeed, very imperfect ; but on 
the whole, we seem to be warranted in suggesting, 
(1.) That there were more kinds of Amalekites than 
one : (2.) that the tribe which Saul destroyed might 
not be very numerous at that time, and that the tract 
of country mentioned in relation to them, was that 
of their flight, not that of their possession, unless as 
rovers, or Bedouins : (3.) that they were turbulent 
and violent toward their neighbors, as formerly they 
had been toward the stragglers of Israel ; which sug- 
gests the reason why their neighbors were not dis- 
pleased at their expulsion : (4.) that such being their 
character, they might have produced a war, by giving 
recent cause of offence to Israel ; though Scripture 
only mentions the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy 
— perhaps there never had been peace between the 
two nations : (5.) that Agag, slam by Samuel, had 
been extremely cruel — a supposition which seems 
warranted by the expression, "As thy sword has 
made mothers childless ;" therefore he met with no 
more than his just punishment in the death he re- 
ceived. See Agag and Samuel. 

Mr. Taylor arranges the different tribes bearing 
the name of Amalek in a geographical view, thus 



AM A 



[ 51 ] 



AM A 



(1.) Amalek, the ancient, Genesis xiv. 7. where the 
phrase is remarkable, " all the country of the Amalek- 
ites," which implies a great extent. This people 
we may place near the Jordan, Numb. xxiv. 20. (2.) 
A tribe in the region east of Egypt ; between Egypt 
and Canaan, Exod. xvii. 8 ; 1 Sam. xv. &c. (3.) The 
descendants of Eliphaz. — It was against the second 
of these that Moses and Joshua fought, (Exod. xvii. 
8 — 13.) against which tribe perpetual hostility was to 
be maintained, ver. 16; 1 Sam. xv. It was also, 
most probably, to tbe ancient Amalekites (1.) that 
Balaam alluded (Numb. xxiv. 20.) as having been 
'■'■first of the nations," for the descendants of Esau 
were very far from answering to this title ; m fact, 
they were but just appearing as a tribe, or family. 
Even at this day, the Arabs distinguish between 
families of pure Arab blood, and those of mixed de- 
scent ; but they include the posterity of Ishmael 
among those of mixed descent, while they reckon 
the Amalekites by parentage as of pure blood. The 
posterity of Esau, therefore, could hardly claim 
privilege above that of Ishmael, either by antiquity, 
or by importance. Neither is it any way likely, that 
the Amalekites of Esau's family should extend their 
settlements to where we find those Amalekites (2.) 
who attacked Israel at the very borders of Egypt, 
and on the shores of the Red sea. Instead of Maa- 
chathi, (Deut. iii. 14: Josh. xii. 5 ; xiii. 11, 13.) the LXX 
read, "the kings of the Amalekites," which implies 
that this people had occupied very extensive territo- 
ries. The same countries seem to be alluded to by 
David, in Psalm lxxxiii. 7. where he had already 
mentioned Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, &c. yet 
distinct from these he mentions Gebel, Ammon, and 
Amalek ; consequently this Amalek was not of the 
descent of Esau, or ol" Ishmael. 

The spies sent to explore the land of Canaan 
(Numb. xiii. 29.) report, that the Amalekites inhabit- 
ed the south ; which agrees exactly with the equiv- 
ocation of David to Achish, 1 Sam. xxvii. David 
invaded the Amalekites, ver. 8. but in ver. 10. he 
says, he went "against the south of Judah," the south 
of the Jerahmeelites, the south of the Kenites ; which 
indeed was very true, as he went against the Amalek- 
ites, who were south of all those places. 

I. AMANA, a mountain, mentioned in Cant. iv. 8. 
and by some supposed to be mount Amanus, in Ci- 
licia. Jerome and the rabbins describe the land of 
Israel as extending northward to this mountain ; and 
it is known that Solomon's dominion did extend so 
far. Mount Amanus, with its continuations, separates 
Syria and Cilicia, and reaches from the Mediterra- 
nean to the Euphrates. — [The Amana of the Canti- 
cles, however, is rather the southern part or sum- 
mit of Antilibanus ; so called perhaps from the river 
Amana, which descended from it. See Gesenius 
Heb. Lex. Reland Pal. p. 320. R. 

II. AMANA, a river of Damascus. See Abana. 

I. AM ARIAH, eldest son of Meraioth, and father 
of the high-priest Ahitub, was high-priest in the time 
of the Judges, but we are not able to fix the years of 
his pontificate. ' His name occurs 1 Chron. vi. 7. 
and if he actually did exercise this office, he should 
be placed, as we think, before Eli, who was succeeded 
by Ahitub, who, in the Chronicles, is put after Ama- 
riah, ver. 7. — [There was another of this name,viz. — 

II. AMARIAH, high-priest at a later period, the 
son of Azariah, but also the father of a second Ahi- 
tub, 1 Chron. vi. 11. In like manner, in the same 
list, there are three high-priests bearing tbe name of 
Azariah. R. 



III. AMARIAH, great-grandfather of the prophet 
Zephaniah, and father of Gedaliah, Zeph. i. 1. 

I. AMASA, son of Jether or Ithra and Abigail, 
David's sister. Absalom, during his rebellion against 
David, placed his cousin, Arnasa, at the head of his 
troops, (2 Sam. xvii. 25.) but he was defeated by 
Joab. After the extinction of Absalom's party, David, 
from dislike to Joab, who had killed Absalom, 
offered Amasa his pardon and the command of the 
army, in rooni of Joab, whose insolence rendered 
him insupportable, 2 Sam. xix. 13. On the revolt 
of Sheba, son of Bichri, David ordered Amasa to 
assemble all Judah against Sheba ; but Amasa de- 
laying, David directed Abishai to pursue Sheba, with 
what soldiers he then had about his person. Joab, 
with his people, accompanied him ; and when thev 
had reached the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa joined 
them with his forces. Joab's jealousy being excited 
he formed the dastardly and cruel purpose of assas- 
sinating his rival — "Then said Joab to Amasa, An 
thou in "health, my brother ? and took him by the 
beard with the right hand to kiss him ;" but at the 
same time smote him with the sword. Such was the 
end of Amasa, David's nephew, ch. xx. 4 — 10. 
A. M. 2982. 

II. AMASA, son of Hadlai, opposed the admis- 
sion of such captives as were taken from the king- 
dom of Judah, in the reign of Ahaz. into Samaria, 2 
Chron. xxviii. 12. 

AMASAI, a Levite, who joined David with thirty 
gallant men, while in the desert, flying from Saul. 
David went to meet them, and said, " If ye be come 
peaceably to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto 
you : but if ye be come to betray me to mine ene- 
mies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the 
God of our fathers look thereon and rebuke it." 
Then said Amasai, " Thine are we, David, and on 
thy side, thou son of Jesse : peace be unto thee, and 
peace be to thine helpers." David, therefore, re- 
ceived them ; and gave thein a command in his 
troops, 1 Chron. xii. 18. 

AMATH, or Emath, a city of Syria ; the same 
with Emesa on the Orontes. See Hamath. 

AMATHITIS, a district in Syria with the capital 
city Hamath, on the Orontes, 1 Mace. xii. 25. See 
Hamath. 

I. AMAZIAH, son of Joash, eighth king of Judah, 
(2 Chron. xxiv. 27.) succeeded his father, A. M. 
3165. He was twenty-five years of age when he 
began to reign, and reigned twenty-nine years at 
Jerusalem. He did good in the sight of the Lord, 
but not with a perfect heart. When settled in his 
kingdom, he put to death the murderers of his father, 
but not their children ; becu 'se it is written in the 
law, " The fathers shall not be put to death for the 
children, neither shall the children be put to death 
for the fathers ; every man shall be put to death for 
his own sin," Deut. xxiv. 16 ; 2 Chron. xxv. 2, 3, 4. 
Designing to proceed against Edom, which had re- 
volted from Judah, in the reign of Joram, about 
fifty-four years before, (2 Kings viii. 20.) Arnaziah 
mustered 300,000 men able to bear arms. To these 
he added 100,000 men of Israel ; for which he paid 
100 talents, about $150,000. But a prophet of the 
Lord came to him, and said, " O king, let not the 
army of Israel go with thee ; for the Lord is not 
with Israel." Arnaziah, hereupon, sent back those 
troops ; and they returned strongly irritated against 
him. They dispersed themselves over the cities of 
Judah, from Beth-horon to Samaria, killed 3000 men, 
and carried off a great booty, to make themselves 



AMB 



[ 52 ] 



A MM 



imends for that they had expected from Edom. 
Amaziah, with his own forces, gave battle to the 
Edomites, in the Valley of Salt, killed 10,000, and 
took 10,000 more, who had saved themselves, in all 
probability, on a rock, where they were assaulted, 
and from whence they were thrown headlong, and 
thereby dashed to pieces. In 2 Kings xiv. 7. it is 
said, " Amaziah took Selah, yc, (Petra,) and gave it 
the name of Joetael ;" i. c. probably he took Petra, 
the capital of Arabia Petrsea ; others are of opinion, 
that he only took the rock (Gr. Petra) to which these 
ten thousand Edomites had retreated. Amaziah, 
having thus punished Edom, and taken their gods 
prisoners, adored them as his own deities. This 
provoked the Lord, who, by a prophet, remon- 
strated with him ; but Amaziah was incorrigible, and 
the prophet departed foretelling his premature end. 

From this time Amaziah appears to have been so 
greatly infatuated as to think himself invincible, and 
sought a quarrel with the king of Israel, for the pur- 
pose of showing his prowess, 2 Kings xiv. 8, 9 ; 2 
Chron. xxv. 17, seq. Joash's attempts to conciliate 
him proving unavailing, the two armies came to 
battle near Bethshemesh, where Amaziah was de- 
feated, and himself carried prisoner to Jerusalem, 
part of whose walls were demolished by Joash, and 
the most valuable things, including the gold and sil- 
ver vessels belonging to the temple, taken away to 
Samaria, ver. 11 — 14. 

Amaziah reigned after this, fifteen or sixteen 
years at Jerusalem ; but as he returned not to the 
Lord with all his heart, he was punished by a con- 
spiracy formed against him at Jerusalem. He en- 
deavored to escape to Lacbisb ; but was assassinated, 
and brought back on horses, and buried with his an- 
cestors, in the city of David, A. M. 3194. Uzziah, 
or Azariah, his son, about sixteen years of age, suc- 
ceeded him, ver. l9, 20, 21. 

II. AMAZIAH, the priest of the golden calves at 
Bethel, who procured the banishment of the prophet 
Amos, because he had predicted the destruction of 
the high places, consecrated to idols, and also of the 
house of Jeroboam, Amos vii. 10, seq. See Amos. 

AMBASSADOR. The ministers of the gospel 
are called ambassadors, because they are appointed 
by God to declare his will to men, and to promote a 
spiritual alliance; with him, 2 Cor. v. 20. 

AMBER, fawn, dimmed, Ezek. i. 4, 27 ; viii. 2.) 
is a yellow or straw-colored gummy substance, 
originally a vegetable production, but reckoned to the 
mineral kingdom. It is found in lumps in the sea 
and on the shores of Prussia, Sicily, Turkey, &c. 
Externally it is rough ; it is very transparent, and on 
being rubbed yields a f> ^grant odor. It was formerly 
supposed to be medicinal ; but is now employed in 
the manufacture of trinkets, ornaments, &c. 

In the above passages of Ezekiel, the Hebrew 
word chashmal is translated by the Sept. and Vulgate 
eledrum, i. e. amber, because the Heb. word denotes a 
very brilliant metal, composed of silver and gold,which 
was much prized in antiquity ; see Pliny xxxiii. 4. 
p. 23. Others, as Bochart, compare here the mixture 
of gold and brass, of which the ancients had several 
kinds ; by which means a high degree of lustre was 
obtained ; e. g. ees pyropum, aes Corinthium, etc. 
Something similar to this was probably also the 
difficult xalxoliflarov in Rev. i. 15. cee Bochart, 
Hieroz. ii. p. 877. *R. 

AMBIVIUS, (Marcus,) succeeded Coponius in 
the government of Judea, A. D. 13. Annius Rufus 
was his successor, A. D. 17. 



AMEN, jcNj in Hebrew, signifies true, faithful, cer- 
tain. It is used likewise in affirmation ; and was 
often thus used by our Saviour : Amen, Amen, ver- 
ily, verily. It is understood as expressing a wish, 
Amen ! so be it ! or an affirmation, Amen, yes : I 
believe it. Numb. v. 22, She shall answer, Amen ! 
Amen! Dcut. xxvii. 15, 16, 17,' &c. All the people 
shall answer, Amen ! 1 Cor. xiv. 16, How shall he 
who occupied] the place of the unlearned say, Amen! 
at thy giving of thanks? seeing he understandeth not 
what thou sayest. The promises of God are Amen 
in Christ ; i. c. certain, confirmed, granted, 2 Cor. 

i. 20. The Hebrews end the five books of Psalms, 
according to their distribution of them, with Amen, 
Atneii ; which the Septuagint translate riroiro, 
ytvoiro, and the Latins Fiat, fat. The gospels, &c. 
are ended Avith Amen. The Greek, Latin, and other 
churches, preserve this word in their prayers, as 
well as alleluia and hosanna. At the conclusion of 
the public prayers, the people anciently answered 
with a loud voice, Amen! and Jerome .says, that, at 
Rome, when the people answered, Amen ! the sound 
was like a clap of thunder. Prsef. in Lib. ii. Ep. ad 
Galat. The Jews assert, that the gates of heaven 
are opened to him who answers Amen ! with all his 
might. 

[The word Amen is strictly an adjective, signifying 
firm, and metaph. faithful. So in Rev. iii. 14, our 
Lord is called "the Amen, the faithful and true Wit- 
ness ;" where the last words explain the preceding 
appellation. So Is. Ixv. 16, it is in the Heb. " the 
God of Amen" which our version renders "God of 
truth," i. e. of fidelity. In its adverbial use it means 
certainly, truly, surely. It is used at the beginning-of 
a sentence, by way of emphasis, rarely in the Old 
Testament, (Jer. xxviii. 6.) but frequently by our 
Saviour in the New, where it is commonly translated 
Verily. In John's Gospel alone, it is often used by 
him in this way double, i. e. Verily, verily. In the 
end of a sentence it is often used, singly or repeated, 
especially at the end of hymns and prayers ; as 
Amen and Amen, Ps. xli. 14 ; lxxii. 19 ; Ixxxix. 53. 
The proper signification of it here is, to confirm the 
words which have preceded and invoke the fulfil- 
ment of them ; so he it, fat, Sept. yhovta. Hence in 
oaths, after the priest has repeated the words of the 
covenant or imprecation, all those who pronounce 
the Amen, bind themselves by the oath, Num. v. 22 ; 
Deut. xxvii. 15, seq. Neh. v. 13. ; viii. 6. ; 1 Chron. xvi. 
36. Compare Ps. cvi. 48. R. 

AMERUTHA, a town of Upper Galilee, which 
Josephus fortified against the Romans ; (Vita sua, 
p. 1013.) probably the same as Meroth, which termi- 
nates Upper Galilee westward; (Jos. Ant. iii. 2.) 
perhaps the Mearah of the Sidonians, Josh. xiii. 4. 

AMETHYST, a precious stone, the ninth in order 
on the high-priest's breastplate, bearing the name of 
Issachar, Ex. xxviii. 19 ; xxxix. 12. Its color resem- 
bles that of new wine, and reflects a violet, Rev. 
xxi. 20. 

I. AMINADAB, of Judah, son, of Aram, and 
father of Naason and Elisheba, wife of Aaron, the 
high-priest, Exod. vi. 23 ; Matt. i. 4. 

II. AMINADAB, whose chariots are mentioned, 
Cant. vi. 12. as being extremely light. " Or ever I 
was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of 
Aminadab." He was very probably a celebrated 
charioteer, whose horses were singularly swift. 

AMMA, a hill opposite to Giah, not far from 
Gibeon, where Asahel was slain by Abner, 2 Sam. 

ii. 24. 



A M M 



[ 53 ] 



AMI 



AMMAN, the capital of the Ammonites, called in 
Scripture, Rabbath Amnion, and in profane authors, 
Philadelphia. See Rabbath. . 

AMMAN AH, in the Jewish writers, is the same as 
mount Hor ; a mount in the northern boundary of 
the- land. In the Jerusalem Targum, mount Hor is 
called mount Manus; Jonathan writes it Umanis. 
Inwards from Ammanah was within the land, beyond 
Ammanah was without the land, according to the 
opinions of the Talmudists. 

I. AMMON, or No-Ammon, or Ammon-No, a city 
of Egypt. The Vulgate generally take this city for 
Alexandria, although they could not be ignorant that 
Alexandria is much more modern than Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel, and Nahum, who speak of No-Ammon. 
But they might believe that this city had stood at or 
near the place where Alexandria now stands ; though 
there is no evidence in history that such was the fact. 
The prophets describe No-Ammon as being situated 
among the rivers ; as having the waters surrounding 
it ; having the sea as 'its rampart ; and as being ex- 
tremely populous. This description has induced 
some interpreters to consider No-Ammon as having 
been the same with Diospolis, or the city of Jupiter, 
in Lower Egypt. The ruin of this city, so distinctly 
foretold by the prophets, occurred partly under 
Sargon ; and more fully, though still not completely, 
under Cambyses. 

[The name of the city is properly No-Ammon, i. e. 
the seat or dwelling of the god Amnion, Nah. hi. 8. 
In Ezek. xxx. 14 — 16 it is called simply No ; and in 
both Nah. iii. 8. and Jer. xlvi.25, the English version 
has also only No ; in the latter case with a misap- 
prehension of the sense. See the next article. It 
means, beyond all reasonable doubt, the city of 
Thebes, the ancient and renowned capital of Egypt, 
called also Diospolis by the Greeks, and the chief 
seat of the worship of Jupiter Amnion. The vast 
ruins of the temples of Luxor and Carnac still pro- 
claim the grandeur and magnificence with which 
this worship was conducted. Nahuni indeed de- 
scribes No-Ammon as 'situated among the rivers, 
and that its rampart was the sea ;' but this, in the 
highly figurative language of the prophet, applies 
rather to Thebes as the capital of Egypt, as the rep- 
resentative of the whole country, than to its literal 
position. — The other Diospolis, although literally 
situated among the branches of the Nile, was not of 
sufficient importance to bear the comparison with 
Nineveh which Nahum institutes. See the Mission- 
ary Herald for 1823, p. 347, seq. Greppo, Essay on 
the Hieroglyphic System, Bost. 1830. p. 156, seq. 
Champollion, Egypte sous les Pharaons, i. p. 199, seq. 
ii. p. 198, seq. 

The ruins of the ancient city of Thebes are the 
wonder and delight of all modern travellers, for their 
extent, their vastness, and their sad and solitary gran- 
deur. Mr. Carrie, in his Letters from the East, (vol. i. p. 
150, seq. Lond. 1826,) gives the following account of 
them : " It is difficult to describe the noble and stu- 
pendous ruins of Thebes. Beyond all others they 
give you the idea of a ruined, yet imperishable, city ; 
so vast is their extent, that you wander a long time 
confused and perplexed, and discov er at every step 
some new object of interest. From the temple of 
Luxor to that of Karnac the distance is a mile and a. 
half, and they were formerly connected by a long 
avenue of sphynxes, the mutilated remains of which, 
the heads being broken off the greater part, still line 
the whole path. Arrived at the end of this avenue, 
you come to a lofty gate-way of granite, and quite 



isolated. About fifty yards farther you enter a temple 
of inferior dimensions ; you then advance into a spa- 
cious area, strewed with broken pillars, and sur- 
rouifded with vast and lofty masses of ruins, — all 
parts of the great temple ; a little on your right is the 
magnificent portico of Karnac, the vivid remem- 
brance of which will never leave him who has once 
gazed on it. Its numerous colonnades of pillars, of 
gigantic form and height, are in excellent preserva- 
tion, but without ornament ; the ceiling and walls of 
the portico are gone ; the ornamented plat-stone still 
connects one of the rows of pillars with a slender 
remain of the edifice attached to it. Passing hence, 
you wander amidst obelisks, porticoes, and statues ; 
the latter without grace or beauty, but of a most 
colossal kind. If you ascend one of the hills of rub- 
bish, and look around, you see a gate-way standing 
afar, conducting only to solitude, — and detached and 
roofless pillars, while others lie broken at their feet ; 
the busts of gigantic statues appearing above the 
earth, while the rest of the body is yet buried, or the 
head torn away. 

"The length of the great temple of Kamac is esti- 
mated at 1200 feet, and its breadth at 400 ; and among 
its hundred and fifty columns are two rows, each pil- 
lar of which is ten feet in diameter. On the left, 
spread the dreary deserts of the Thebais, to the edge 
of which the city extends. The front is a pointed and 
barren range of mountains. The Nile flows at the 
foot of the temple of Luxor ; but the ruins extend far 
on the other side of the river ; to the very base of 
those formidable precipices, and into the wastes of 
sand. The natural scenery around Thebes is as 
fine as can possibly be conceived." See No and 
Thebes. *R. 

II. AMMON, Amoun, or in later times Jupiter 
Ammon, the supreme god of the Egyptians, worship- 
ped also by the Ethiopians and Lybians, and held by 
the Greeks and Romans to be the same with their 
Jupiter. (Herod, ii. 42. Diod. i. 13.) Macrobius 
declares the god Ammon to be the representative of 
the Sun ; and this view is supported by Egyptian 
inscriptione, in which, besides his usual name, he- is 
also called Amon-Re, i. e. Amnion, the Sun. His im- 
age sometimes had the head of a ram ; and Jablon- 
sky hence supposed this to have been an emblem of 
the Sun in spring, when entering the sign Aries. 
(Pantheon iEgypt. i. p. 166.) The New Platonists 
held this god to be the emblem of the eternal 
and hidden source of light, the . supreme creator 
of the universe, St^iovqyoe. Euseb. Prsep. Evang. 
xi. 7. 

The origin and etymology of the name are uncer- 
tain. Champollion supposes it to come from the 
Egyptian word AMOUN, signifying glory, sublimity ; 
(Egypte sous les Pharaons i. p. 217.) though in 
another place (Pantheon No. 1.) he follows Manetho, 
and makes the word Anion signify occult, hidden. 

The images of Ammon, as found on Egyptian mon- 
uments, represent a human figure, with a youthful 
visage, sitting upon a throne ; or sometimes with the 
head and sometimes the whole body of a ram. 
(Champollion, Pantheon No. 1.) He was addressed 
also by the Egyptians with the epithets Lord of the 
regions of the -world, supreme Lord, king of the gods. 
This name also occurs in the epithets bestowed on 
the Pharaohs ; e. g. Son of Ammon, approved of Am- 
mon, beloved of Ammon, &c. He was worshipped in 
temples of the utmost splendor at Meroe, and in an 
oasis of the Lybian desert, whither Alexander the 
Great made an expedition ; but the chief seat of hia 



AIM 



L 54 j 



AMN 



worship was at Thebes, the celebrated capital of 
Egypt, which on this account was called No- Ammon. 
(See the preceding article.) The god himself is only 
once referred to in the Bible, viz. Jer. xlvi. 25, l(< The 
Lord of Hosts saith, Behold I will punish Amnion of 
V , and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and 
i aeir kings," &c. The English version has here in- 
correctly translated the word Amnion by a multi- 
tude. — See Gesenius, Thes. Ling. Heb. p. 115. Grep- 
po, Essay on the Hieroglyphic Syst. Bost. 1830. Ap- 
pendix M. p. 225. *R. 

III. AMMON, or Ben-Ammi, (son of my people,) 
son of Lot, by his younger daughter, Gen. xix. 34, 
38. He was the father of the Ammonites, a famous 
people, always at enmity w r ith Israel. 

AMMONITES, the descendants of Ammon, or 
Ben-Ammi, a son of Lot ; and called, sometimes, 
Ammanites. They destroyed an ancient race of 
giants called Zanizummim, and seized their country, 
which lay south-east of Judea, Deut. ii. 19 — 21. 
Their territory extended from the Arnon to the Jab- 
bok, and from the Jordan a considerable distance into 
Arabia. Their capital city was Rabbah, (also Rab- 
bath Ammon, and afterwards Philadelphia,) which 
stood on the Jabbok. They were gross idolaters ; 
their chief idol being Moloch, supposed to be the 
same with Saturn. They were dispossessed of part 
of their territories by Sihon, king of the Aniorites ; 
but God restrained Moses and Israel from attacking 
them, because he did not intend to give any of the 
remaining part of their land to the Hebrews. Never- 
theless, as, before Israel entered Canaan, the Amo- 
rites had conquered a great part of their country, 
Moses retook it, and divided it between the tribes of 
Gad and Reuben. — After the death of Othniel, the 
Ammonites and Amalekites joined with Eglon, king 
of Moab, to oppress Israel, whom they governed for 
18 years. In the time of Jephthah the Ammonites 
declared war against Israel, under the pretence that 
the latter detained a great part of the country which 
had formerly been theirs, before the Amorites pos- 
sessed it. But Jephthah defeated them with great 
slaughter, Judg. xi. In the beginning of Saul's 
reign, Nahash, king of the Ammonites, having at- 
tacked Jabesh-Gilead, reduced it to a capitulation, 
(1 Sam. xi. 1.) but he would accept of no other con- 
ditions, than the inhabitants submitting to have every 
man his right eye plucked out, as a reproach on 
Israel. Saul, however, coming seasonably to then- 
aid, delivered the people from this intended barbar- 
ity. About 60 years after this, David, who had been 
upon friendly terms with the king of Ammon, sent 
compliments of condolence, after his death, to Hanun, 
his son and successor. The Ammonite, however, 
affecting to regard the ambassadors as spies, treated 
them in a very degrading manner. David avenged 
the affront,, and subdued the Ammonites, the Moab- 
ites, and the Syrians, their allies, 2 Sam. x. From 
this period to the death of Ahab, about 140 years, 
Ammon and Moab continued subject to the kings of 
Israel, 2 Kings j. 1. Two years after the death of 
Ahab, Jehoram, his son, defeated the Moabites, (A. 
M. 3109, 2 Kings iii. 7, to end,) but it does not ap- 
pear that he reduced them to obedience. At the 
same time the Ammonites, Moabites, and other peo- 
ple, made an irruption into Judah, but, according 
to the word of the Lord revealed to Jahaziel, the 
combined army was wholly destroyed by mutual 
slaughter, 2 Chron. xx. 

The Ammonites and Moabites seem now to have 
been reduced to a condition in which they were no 



longer able to harass their enemies, the Israelites , 
but after the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half- 
tribe of Manasseh, had been carried captive by Tig- 
lath-Pileser, (A. M. 3264,) they took possession of the 
cities belonging to those tribes ; and tor this they were 
reproved and threatened by the prophet Jeremiah, 
Jer. vlix. 1 — 6. But great as had been their guilt up 
to this time, it was much aggravated by their insolent 
triumph over the people of Israel, when their temple 
was destroyed and themselves carried away by Nebu- 
chadnezzar. They had even joined with Nebuchad- 
nezzar in making war on the Jews, 2 Kings xxiv. 2. 
Urged on, too, by Baalis, king of the Ammonites, 
Ismael, the son of Nethaniah, murdered Gedaliah, the 
governor over Judea appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, 
Jer. xl. 14, seq. xli. 1 — 10. The Lord, however, 
showed his displeasure at their conduct, and Ezekiel 
was commissioned to foretell that, as the reward of 
their unfeeling and profane triumph, they should 
themselves be delivered to the men of the East for a 
possession, and be cut off, so a"s to perish out of the 
countries, Ezek. xxv. 3, 10. We believe that the 
former part of this prediction was fulfilled, about four 
years afterwards, when Nebuchadnezzar invaded all 
die countries around Judea, and carried away their 
people, A. M. 3420—1. (Josephus.) The fulfilment 
of the latter part of the prediction was deferred for a 
time. Cyrus, it is probable, gave permission to the 
Ammonites and the Moabites to return into their own 
country ; for we find them subsequently in their for- 
mer settlements, exposed to those revolutions by 
which the people of Syria and Palestine were visited ; 
and subject sometimes to the kings of Egypt, and 
sometimes to those of Syria. This agrees, too, with 
Jer. xlix. 6. where the prophet foretells that they 
should be for a time restored. But the calamities to 
which these people had been themselves exposed, 
did not tend in any degree to allay their animosities 
towards their neighbors ; and hence we find them 
ready to hinder the Jews from again building the 
walls of Jerusalem, (Nehem. iv. 3, seq.) and to attack 
them when exposed to the ravages of Antiochus 
Epiphanes. Judas Maccabeus, however, visited them 
with the just reward of their conduct, 1 Mace. v. 6 
— 45. Their power was broken, their hostility ceased, 
and, in compliance with the prophecy already cited, 
they soon after became extinct, as a nation. . They 
were gradually blended with the Arabs, and Origen 
assures us, that in his days they were only known 
under this general name. Origen in Job. lib. i. 

AMNON, the eldest son of David, by Ahinoam 
his second wife, having conceived a violent passion 
for Tamar, his sister, became ill ; Jonadab, son of 
Shimeah, David's brother, inquired the cause, and 
Amnon discovered to him his passion. Jonadab 
advised him to counterfeit extreme sickness, and 
when the king his father visited him, to say, " I pray 
thee, let my sister Tamar come and dress me food in 
my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand." 
Amnon followed this advice, and the king readily 
granted his request. — Tamar came to Amnon's apart- 
ment, " made cakes in his sight, baked them, and 
poured them out before him." Amnon would eat 
nothing, however ; but calling his sister into the most 
private part of the chamber, and obeying only the 
dictates of his passion, he, by violence, abused her. — 
After committing the crime, his aversion to her 
became more excessive than had been his love. Ta- 
mar being expelled from the room of Amnon, her 
brother Absalom met her in the street, in tears, la- 
menting, and having her head covered with ashes. 



AMO 



[ 55 ] 



AMP 



He soothed her, and advised her to be silent, but 
formed a determination to avenge her insult. David, 
when informed of what had transpired, was extremely 
affected ; but, as he tenderly loved Amnon, who was 
his eldest son, he refrained from punishing him. At 
the end of two years, Absalom, who had restrained his 
resentment during this time, determined to create an 
opportunity to avenge it, and for this purpose he invited 
the king, his father, and all his brothers, to an entertain- 
ment, at Baal-hazor. David declined the invitation, but 
the princes went down to the 1'estival, where Amnon 
was assassinated by Absalom's orders, 2 Sam. xiii. 

AMON, the fourteenth king of Judah, son of Ma- 
nasseh and Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz, of Jot- 
bah, began to reign, A. M. 3361, ante A. D. 643, at 
the age of twenty-two, and reigned only two years at 
Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as 
his father Manasseh had done, by forsaking Jeho- 
vah, and worshipping idols. His servants conspired 
against him, and slew him in his own house ; but the 
people killed all the conspirators, and established his 
son Josiah on the throne. He was buried in the 
garden of Uzzah, 2 Kings xxi. 19, seq. 2 Chron. 
xxxiii. 21, seq. 

AMORITES, a people descended from the fourth 
son of Canaan, Gen. x. 16. They first peopled the 
mountains west of the Dead sea, dwelling in Hazezon- 
tamar, and near Hebron ; but afterwards extended their 
limits, and took possession of the finest provinces of 
Moab and Amnion, on the east, between the brooks 
Jabbok and Anion, Josh. v. 1 ; Numb, xiii. 29 ; xxi. 29. 
Moses took this country from their king, Sihon, (A. M. 
2553,) who refused the Israelites a passage, on their 
way out of Egypt, and attacked them with all his force. 
The lands which the Amorites possessed on this 
side Jordan, were given to the tribe of Judah, 
and those beyond the Jordan to the tribes of Reuben 
and Gad. Amos (ch. ii. 9.) speaks of their gigantic 
stature and valor, and compares their height to the 
cedar, their strength to the oak. The name Amorite 
is often taken in Scripture for Canaanite in general, 
Gen. xv. 16. See Rosenmueller, Bibl. Geog. ii. 1. p. 
255. Reland, Palaest. p. 138. 

I. AMOS, dicn, the fourth of the minor prophets, 
belonged to the little town of Tekoah. in Judah, 
about 12 miles south-east of Jerusalem. He was 
a herdsman ; and from his herds and fiocks came for- 
ward as a prophet, not in Judah, nut in Israel. He 
prophesied in Bethel, (where the golden calves were 
erected,) under Jeroboam II. about A. M. 3215 ; and 
Amaziah, high-priest of Bethel, accused him before 
the king, as conspiring against him, and ordered the 
prophet to return into Judah. Amos answered Ama- 
ziah, " I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's 
son ; but I was a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore 
fruit ; and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, 
and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my 
people Israel," Amos vii. 10, to end. (See Syca- 
more.) He began to prophesy the second year be- 
fore the earthquake, in the reign of king Uzziah, 
(Amos i. 1.) which Josephus (with most commenta- 
tors) refers to that prince's usurpation of the priest's 
office, when he attempted to offer incense. The 
rabbins, and Procopius of Gaza, are of opinion that 
this happened in the twenty-fifth year of Uzziah, A. 
M. 3219 ; but this cannot be, for Jotham, son of Uz- 
ziah, born A. M. 3221, was of age to govern, that is, 
between fifteen and twenty years old, when his 
father was struck with a leprosy. — It is, however, im- 
possible to determine the exact date of this earth- 
quake, although it is also referred to in Zech. xiv. 5. 



The book of Amos is divided into two parts. The 
first six chapters contain admonitions and denuncia 
tions ; the three others, visions. The former are di- 
rected partly against Israel and Judah, and partly 
against foreign nations, viz. the Syrians, Phenicians, 
Moabites, and Edomites. Assyria is not mentioned 
by name, but is clearly implied in ch. v. 17. He 
employs sharp invectives against the sins of Israel, 
and especially of the inhabitants of Samaria, their 
effeminacy, avarice, and harshness to the poor ; the 
splendor of their buildings, and the delicacy of their 
tables. He reproves Israel for going to Bethel, Dan, 
Gilgal, and Beersheba, which were the most famous 
pilgrimages of the country; and for swearing by the 
gods of those places. 

The time and manner of Amos's death are not 
known. Some authors relate, that Amaziah, priest 
of Bethel, provoked by the discourses of the prophet 
to silence him, had his teeth broken ; (Cyril, Prsef. in 
Amos;) others say, that Hosea, or Uzziah, son of 
Amaziah, struck him with a stake on the temples, 
and almost killed him ; that in this condition he was 
carried to Tekoah, where he died, and was buried 
with his fathers. Epiphan. de Vita Prophet, c. 12. 

[All this, however, is useless dreaming. From the 
circumstance that Amos was a herdsman, we cannot 
draw the conclusion that he was therefore rude and 
unpolished, or destitute of cultivation. The exam- 
ple of David had shown long before, that even among 
the lower classes a high degree of poetical talent and 
cultivation was sometimes to be found. In regard tc 
style, Amos takes a high rank among the prophets. 
He is full of fancy and imagery, concise, and yet sim- 
ple and perspicuous. His language is occasionally 
harsh. His prophecies are arranged in a certain 
order ; so that we may suppose that, after having ut- 
tered them, he had carefully written them out. As 
interpreters have been aware of his having been a 
herdsman, they have mostly set themselves to find 
only pastoral figures and imagery in his writings, 
and also something which should be low and incor- 
rect. But he exhibits no more imagery from pas- 
toral life than the other Hebrew poets ; and as to 
incorrectness, there is nothing which can be taken 
into account. It is therefore unjust,. when Jerome 
calls him sermone imperitum, i. e. rude in speech. — 
Such is the judgment of Gesenius. R. 

II. AMOS, p n, father of the prophet Isaiah, 
was, it is said, son of king Joash, and brother of 
Amaziah. The rabbins pretend, that Amos, Isaiah's 
father, was a prophet, as well as his son, a< cording to 
a rule among them, that when the father of a prophet 
is called in Scripture by his name, it is an indication, 
that he also had the gift of prophecy. Augustin 
conjectured, that the prophet Amos was the father of 
Isaiah ; but the names of these two persons are writ- 
ten differently : father of Isaiah; azts, amos, the 
prophet Amos. Some are of opinion, that the man 
of God who spake to king Amaziah, and obliged him 
to send back the hundred thousand men of Israel. 
whom he had purchased to march against the Edom- 
ites, (2 Chron. xxv. 7, 8.) was Amos, the father of 
Isaiah, and brother of king Amaziah. But this opin- 
ion is supported by no proofs. See Isaiah. 

HI. AMOS, son of Nahum, and father of Mat- 
tathias, in the genealogy of our Saviour, Luke 
hi. 25. 

AMOZ, see Amos II. 

AMPHIPOLIS, a city of Macedonia, situated not 
far from tue mouth of the river Strymon, which 
flowed around the city, and thus occasioned its name. 



ANA 



[ 56 ] 



ANA 



It was originally a colony of the Athenians, founded 
by Cimon. Under the Romans it became the capital 
of the eastern province of Macedonia. Paul and Si- 
las passed through Ainphipolis to Thessalonica, after 
they had been set at liberty at Philippi, Acts xvii. 1. 
In the middle ages it received the name of Chryso- 
polis. The village which now stands upon the site 
of the ancient city is called Empoli or Yamboli, a cor- 
ruption of Amphipolis. R. 

AMRAM, son of Kohath, of Levi, married Joche- 
bed, by whom he had Aaron, Miriam, and Moses. 
He died in Egypt, aged 137, Exod. vi. 20. 

AMRAPHEL, king of Shinar, confederated with 
Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and two other kings, to 
make war against the kings of Sodom, Gomorrha, and 
the three neighboring cities, which they plundered, 
and carried off many captives, among whom was Lot, 
Abraham's nephew. Abraham pursued them, retook 
Lot, and recovered the spoil, Gen. xiv. A. M. 2092. 

AMULETS are properly certain medicines worn 
around the neck or on other parts ojthe body, as a 
preservative against diseases. Among oriental na- 
tions they exist in the form of charms or Talismans, 
not only against diseases, but also io ward off danger, 
or witchcraft, or the influence of evil spirits. Such 
amulets are of great antiquity, (Pliny, xxx. 24.) and are 
also found at the present day not only in the East, but 
also among the negro tribes of Africa. They consist 
usually of strips of paper written over with sacred 
sentences, etc. or of gems and stones or pieces of metal 
prepared for this purpose. These were also not un- 
known to the Hebrews. In Isa. iii. 20, the rings or 
earrings, there mentioned, appear to have been amu- 
lets of this kind, made thus to serve also the purpose 
of ornament. These were probably precious stones, 
or small plates of gold or silver, with sentences of the 
law or magic formulas engraved upon them, and 
worn in the ears or suspended by a chain around the 
neck. It is certain that earrings were sometimes in- 
struments of superstition in this way, e. g. Gen.xxxv. 
4. where Jacob takes away the earrings of his family, 
along with their false gods. Chardin says (in Har- 
mar's Obs. iv. p. 248.) " I have seen some of these 
earrings with figures on them and strange characters, 
which I believe may be talismans or charms, or per- 
haps nothing but the amusement of old women. 
The Indians say they are preservatives against en- 
chantment. Perhaps the earrings of Jacob's family 
were of this kind." Augustin also speaks zealously 
against earrings which were worn as amulets in his 
time, Ep. 73 ad Posid. See Gesenius, Comm. on Is. 
iii. 20. Schroeder, p. 168, seq. Fuudgruben des 
Orients, iv. p. 86. p. 156, seq.. 

The later Jews regarded also as amulets the phy- 
lacteries, or sentences of the law which Moses had 
commanded them to wear on their foreheads and 
wrists ; although this command of Moses is probably 
to be understood no more literally, than the com- 
mand to impress them upon their hearts. Deut. vi. 6, 
8. There are also various cabalistic amulets among 
the later Jews. *R. 

ANAB, a city in the mountains of Judah, (Josh, 
xi. 2] ; xv. 50.) which Jerome believed to be the same 
with Beth-anaba, eight miles east of Diospolis or 
Lydda. Eusebius places Betlio-anab four miles dis- 
tant from this city. But neither of these is the Anab 
mentioned by Joshua, which he places, with Hebron 
and Debir, more to the south of Judah. 

ANAH, son of Zibeon, the Hivite, and father of 
Aholibamah, Esau's wife, Gen. xxxvi. 24. While 
feeding asses in the desert, he discovered " springs 



of warm water," as Jerome translates tl e Hebrew 
D'o\ The English version has mvles, as also the 
Arab and Venetian Greek versions. But this word 
does not signify mules in any oriental dialect ; while 
the meaning " warm springs" is supported by the 
Arabic ; see Rosenm. Comm. in loc. Such springs 
are also found in the eastern coast of the Dead sea, 
which was not far from the dwelling of the Seirites, 
to whom Anah belonged, and who inhabited at that 
time the country to the south-west and south of that 
sea. Five or six miles south-east of the Dead sea, 
towards Petra, and, consequently, in or near the same 
region in which the Seirites, and afterwards the 
Edomites, dwelt, is a place celebrated among the 
Greeks and Romans for its warm baths, and called by 
them Callirhoe. Josephus mentions (B. J. i. 33. 5.) that 
it was visited by Herod; and says that the waters 
empty themselves into the Asphaltus sea, and are 
also potable on account of their sweetness. Pliny 
also mentions these baths, Hist. Nat. v. 17. Mr. 
Legh also visited the place. In a deep ravine, a 
stream of considerable size tumbles from a perpen- 
dicular rock on one side, the face of which is of a 
splendid yellow from the sulphur deposited by the 
water. A hot rapid stream flows at the bottom, and 
receives the smaller streams of boiling water which 
rush clown on all sides. The water is so hot that it 
is impossible to hold the hand in it half a minute. 
The deposit of sulphur is very considerable. 
Rosenm. Bibl. Geog. ii. 1. p. 217, seq. R. 

ANAIIARATH, a city of Issachar, Josh. xix. 19. 

ANAK, Anakim, famous giants in Palestine. 
Anak, father of the Anakim, was son of Arba, who 
gave name to Kirjath-Arba, or Hebron. He had 
three sons, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, whose de- 
scendants were terrible for their fierceness and stat- 
ure. The Hebrew spies reported, that in compar- 
ison to those monstrous men, they themselves were 
but grasshoppers, Num. xiii. 33. Caleb, assisted by 
the tribe of Judah, took Kirjath-Arba, and destroyed 
the Anakim, Josh. xv. 13, 14. Judges i. 20. A few 
only remained in the cities of the Philistines, Gaza, 
Gath, and Ashdod, Josh. xi. 22. See Giant. 

ANAMIM, second son of Mizraim, Gen.x. 13. 
He peopled the Mareotis, if we may rely on the para- 
phrast Jonathan, son of Uzziel ; but rather the Pen- 
tapolis of Cyrene, according to the paraphrast of 
Jerusalem. Bochart was of opinion, that these Ana- 
mim dwelt in the countries around the temple of 
Jupiter Amnion, and in the Nasamonitis. We believe 
the Anamians and Garamantes to be descended from 
Anamim. The Hebrew Ger, or Gar, signifies a pas- 
senger or traveller. The name of Gar-amantes may 
be derived from Ger-amctnim : their capital is called 
Garamania, in Solinus. All this, however, is mere 
conjecture. 

ANAMMELECH. It is said (2 Kings xvii. 31.) 
that the inhabitants of Sepharvaim, sent from beyond 
the Euphrates into Samaria, burned their children in 
honor of Anammelech and Adrammelech. (See 
Adrammilech.) The god Anammelech is probably 
also the name of some deified heavenly body. Those 
who make the former to be the sun, suppose the latter 
to be the moon ; but this is not well supported. Hyde 
understands it of the constellation Cepheus, which in 
oriental astronomy is called the Herdsman and cattle, 
or the Cattle-star. This accords well with the wor- 
ship of the stars, &c. which was prevalent in those 
regions. (Hyde de Rel. vet. Persarum, p. 131.) The 
latter part of both these names is the oriental word 
Melech, i. e. king. R. 



ANA 



[ 57 1 



ANA 



I. ANANIAS, son of Nebedaeus, and high-priest 
of the Jews, succeeded Joseph, son of Camith, A. D. 
47. He was sent by Quadratus, governor of Syria, 
to Rome, to answer for his conduct to the emperor 
Claudius ; but he justified himself, was acquitted, and 
returned. Jos. Ant. xx. 6. 2. [He did not, however, 
again recover the high priesthood ; for during the 
time that Felix was procurator of Judea, Jonathan, 
the successor of Ananias, was high-priest. But Felix 
having caused him to be assassinated in the temple, 
(Jos. Ant. xx. 8. 5.) the office remained vacant, until 
king Agrippa gave it to Ismael the son of Phabeus. 
(ib. xx. 8. 8.) During this interval the events in which 
Paul was concerned with Ananias, as given below, 
seem to have taken place. Ananias at that time was 
not in fact high-priest, but had usurped the dignity, 
or acted rather as the high-priest's substitute. jt. 

The tribune of the Roman troops which guarded 
the temple at Jerusalem, having taken the apostle 
Paul into his custody, when he was assaulted by the 
Jews, (Acts xxii. 23, 24; xxiii. 1, seq.) convened the 
priests, and placed the apostle before them, that lie 
might justify himself. Paul commenced his address, 
but the high-priest Ananias immediately command- 
ed those who were near him to strike him on the 
face. To this injury and insult the apostle replied, 
" God is about to smite thee, thou whited wall ; for 
thou sittest to judge me according to the law, but 
commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law." 
Being rebuked for thus addressing himself to the 
high-priest, the apostle excused himself by alleging 
that he was ignorant of his office. See Paul. 

The assembly being divided in opinion, the tribune 
ordered Paul to Cesarea, and thither Ananias, and 
other Jews, went to accuse him before Felix, Acts 
xxiv. Ananias was slain by a seditious faction, at the 
head of which was his own son, at the commencement 
of the Jewish wars. Some writers, not distinguishing 
what Josephus relates of Ananias, when high-priest, 
from what he relates of him alter his deposition, have 
made two persons of the same individual. 

II. ANANIAS, surnamed the Sadducee, was one 
of the warmest defenders of the rebellion of the Jews 
against the Romans. He was sent by Eleazar, leader 
of the mutineers, to Metilius, captain of the Roman 
troops, then shut up in the royal palace at Jerusalem, 
to promise him and his people their lives, provided 
they would leave the place, and surrender their arms. 
Metilius having surrendered on these conditions, the 
factious murdered all the Romans, except Metilius, 
who escaped on promising to turn Jew, A. D. 66. 
Ananias was also sent by Eleazar to the Idumseans, 
(A. D. 66.) requesting that they would assist the rebels 
at Jerusalem, against Ananus, whom they accused of 
designing to deliver up the city to the Romans. Jos. 
B. J. ii. 18 or 32. 

III. ANANIAS, one of the first Christians of the 
city of Jerusalem, who, in concert with his wife, Sap- 
phira, sold an estate, and secreting part of the pur- 
chase-money, carried the remainder to the apostles, 
as the whole price of his inheritance, Acts v. 1. Peter, 
knowing the falsehood of this pretension, reproved 
him sharply, telling him, " that he had lied to the 
Holy Ghost, not to men only ;" and Ananias fell sud- 
denly dead at his feet. Shortly after, his wife, Sap- 
phira, ignorant of what had transpired, came into the 
assembly, and Peter, having put the same question to 
her, as he had before put to her husband, she also was 
guilty of the like falsehood ; and was suddenly struck 
dead in the same manner. 

A number of conjectures have been formed as to 
8 



the reasons which induced the Holy Spirit thus to 
punish the falsehood of Ananias and Sapphira. [But 
the sin committed by them was surely of no ordinary 
dye. They had feigned the appearance of piety ; they 
had attempted to deceive the apostles ; they had de- 
liberately undertaken to commit a fraud, and even a 
sacrilegious one, inasmuch as the money destined to 
the use of the church of God was itself a consecrated 
thing ; in short they had ' lied unto the Holy Ghost.' 
The meanness and flagitiousness of their crime was 
also aggravated by the circumstance, that those who 
thus really gave up their possessions for the common 
use, appear to have been themselves sustained from 
the public treasury. The sacred history does not de- 
tail to us specifically the motives which impelled 
them to this course ; but God read their hearts ; and 
we may rest assured that in this awful doom, as well 
as in all things else, the ' Judge of all the earth did 
right.' R. 

IV. ANANIAS, a disciple of Christ, at Damascus, 
whom the Lord directed to visit Paid, then recently 
converted and arrived at Damascus, Acts ix. 10. Ana- 
nias answered, " Lord, I have heard by many of this 
man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints." But 
the Lord said, "Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel 
unto me." Ananias therefore went to the house where 
Paul resided, and putting his hands on him, said, 
" Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared unto 
thee on the road, hath sent me that thou mightest re- 
ceive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." 
We know no other circumstance of the life of Ana- 
nias. The modern Greeks maintain, that he was one 
of the seventy disciples, bishop of Damascus, a martyr, 
and buried in that city. There is a very fine church 
where he was interred ; and the Turks, who have 
made a mosque of it, preserve a great respect for his 
monument. 

I. ANANUS, high-priest of the Jews ; called An- 
nas, Luke iii. 2; John xviii. 13. See Annas. 

II. ANANUS, son of Ananus, the high-priest men- 
tioned above, was high-priest three months, A. D. 62. 
Josephus (Antiq. lib. xx. cap. 8.) describes him as a 
man extremely bold and enterprising, of the sect of 
the Sadducees ; who, thinking it a favorable oppor- 
tunity, after the death of Festus, governor of Judea, 
and before the arrival of Albinus, his successor, as- 
sembled the Sanhedrim, and therein procured the 
condemnation of James the brother (or relative) of 
Christ, who is often called the bishop of Jerusalem, 
and of some others, whom they stigmatized as guilty 
of impiety, and delivered to be stoned. This was 
extremely displeasing to all considerate men in Jeru- 
salem, and they sent privately to king Agrippa, who 
had just arrived in Judea, entreating that he would 
prevent Ananus from taking such proceedings in fu- 
ture. He was, in consequence, deprived of his office ; 
and it is thought that he was put to death at Jerusa- 
lem, at the beginning of the Jewish wars, A. D. 67. — 
Several other Jews of this name are mentioned by 
Josephus in his accounts of the last war between the 
Jews and the Romans. See Agrippa II. 

ANATHEMA, 'Ar&S-iua, from h-ctrl&r lf u, signifies— 
something set apart, separated, devoted. It is under- 
stood principally to denote the absolute, irrevocable, 
and entire separation of a person from the communion 
of the faithful, or from the number of the living, or 
from the privileges of society ; or the devoting of any 
man, animal, city, or thing, to be extirpated, destroyed, 
consumed,' and, as it were, annihilated. The Hebrew 
o-\n, chdram, in Hiph. signifies properly to destroy, 
exterminate, devote. Moses requires the Israelites t& 



ANATHEMA 



I 58 1 



AND 



devote, and utterly extirpate those who sacrifice to 
false gods, Exod. xxii. 20. In like manner God com- 
mands that the cities belonging to the Canaanites 
which did not surrender to the Israelites, should be 
devoted, Deut. vii. 2, 26 ; xx. 17. Achat), having pur- 
loined part of the spoil of Jericho, which had been 
devoted, was stoned, and what he had secreted was 
consumed with fire, Josh. vi. 17, 21 ; vii. — The word 
cherem, or anathema, is also sometimes taken for that 
which is irrevocably consecrated, vowed, or offered to 
the Lord, so that it may no longer be employed in, 
or returned to, common uses, Lev. xxvii. 28, 29. 
" No devoted thing (absolutely separated) that a man 
shall devote (absolutely separate) to the Lord, of man, 
beast, or field, shall be sold or redeemed." Some 
assert, that persons thus devoted were put to death, 
and quote Jephthah's daughter as an example. (See 
Jephthah.) In the old Greek writers, anathema is 
used for a person, who, on some occasion, devoted 
himself for the good of his country ; or as an expia- 
tory sacrifice to the infernal gods. — Here the reader 
will recollect Codrus and Curtius. Sometimes par- 
ticular persons, or cities, were devoted : the Israelites 
devoted king Arad's country ; (Num. xxi. 2, 3.) the 
people at Mizpeh devoted all who should not march 
against the tribe of Benjamin ; (Judg. xx.) and Saul 
devoted those who should eat before sunset, while 
they were pursuing the Philistines, 1 Sam. xiv. 24. 
It appears by the execution of these execrations, that 
those involved in them were put to death. 

Sometimes particular persons devoted themselves, 
if they did not accomplish some specific purpose. 
In Actsxxiii. 12, 13, it is said that above forty persons 
bound themselves with an oath, that they would 
neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paid. The 
Essenians were engaged by oaths to observe the 
statutes of their sect ; and those who incurred the 
guilt of excommunication, were driven from their 
assemblies, and generally starved to death, being 
obliged to feed on grass like beasts, not daring to 
receive food which might be offered them, because 
they were bound by the vows they had made, not to 
eat any. Joseph, de Bello, ii. 12. 

Moses (Exod. xxxii. 32.) and Paul (Rom. be. 3.) in 
some sort anathematize themselves. Moses conjures 
God to forgive Israel ; if not, to blot him out of the 
book which he had written ; and Paul says that he 
could wish to be accursed (anathematized, absolutely 
separated from life, devoted, and made over to death 
— whether stoning — burning — or in the most tremen- 
dous form — as Achan, &c.) for his brethren, the 
Israelites, rather than see them excluded from the 
blessings of Christ's covenant, by their malice and ob- 
duracy. That is, he would, as it were, change places 
with them. They were now excluded from being 
the peculiar people of God ; so would he be : they 
were devoted to wrath in the destruction of their 
state ; so would he be : they were excluded from 
Christian society ; so would he be, if it would bene- 
fit them. — I could wish myself anathematized from 
the body of Christ, if that might advantage Israel : so 
great is my affection to my nation and people ! 

Excommunication, anathema, and excision, are the 
greatest judgments that can be inflicted on any man 
in this world ; whether we understand a violent and 
ignominious death, or a separation from the society 
of saints, with exclusion from the benefit of their 
prayers and communion. Interpreters are much 
divided on the texts above cited, but they agree, 
that Moses and Paul gave, in these instances, the 
most powerful proofs of a perfect charity, and in 



the strongest manner expressed their ardent desire 
to procure or to promote the happiness of their 
brethren. The language must be regarded as hy- 
perbolical, expressing the highest intensity of feeling. 

Another kind of anathema, very peculiarly ex- 
pressed, seems to mean a very different thing from 
that just explained. It occurs, 1 Cor. xvi. 22. "If 
any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be 
Anathema ! Maranatha." This last word is made 
up of two Syriac words, signifying, "The Lord 
cometh ;" i. e. the Lord will surely come and will 
execute this curse, by condemning those who love 
him not. At the same time the opposite is also im- 
plied, i. e. the Lord cometh also to reward those who 
love him. This probably was not now, for the first 
time, used as a new kind of cursing by the apostle, 
but w t as the application of a current mode of speech 
to the purpose he had in contemplation. Perhaps, 
therefore, by inspecting the manners of the East, we 
may illustrate the import of this singular passage. 
The following extract from Bruce, (vol. i. p. 112.) 
though it does not, perhaps, come up to the full 
power of the apostle's meaning, will probably give 
the idea which was commonly attached to the phrase. 
Mr. Bruce had been forced by a pretended saint, in 
Egypt, to take him on board his vessel, as if to carry 
him to a certain place ; Mr. B. however, meant no 
such thing, and having set him on shore at some 
little distance from whence he came, " we slacked 
our vessel down the stream a few yards, filling our 
sails and stretching away. On seeing this, our saint 
fell into a desperate passion, cursing, blaspheming, 
and stamping with his feet; at every word crying 
" Shar Ullah !" i. e. "May God send, and do jus- 
tice !" This appears to be the strongest execration 
this passionate Arab could use, q. d. "To punish you 
adequately is out of my power ; I remit you to the 
vengeance of God :" — Is not this also the import of 
Anathema Maranatha ? 

Excommunication was a kind of Anathema used 
among the Hebrews, as it is now among Christians. 
Anathema was the greatest degree of excommunica- 
tion ; and by it the criminal was deprived, not only 
of communicating in prayers and other holy offices, 
but of admittance to the church, and of conversation 
with believers. Excommunicated persons could not 
perform any public duty ; they could be neither 
judges nor witnesses ; they could not be present at 
funerals, nor circumcise their own sons, nor sit down 
in the company of others, nearer than four cubits ; 
they were incapable of the rites of burial ; and a large 
stone was left on their graves, or the people threw 
stones on their sepulchres, and heaped stories over 
them, as over Achan, and Absalom, Josh. vii. 26; 2 
Sam. xviii. 17. See Excommunication. 

ANATHOTH, a city of Benjamin, (Josh. xxi. 18.) 
about three miles from Jerusalem, according to Euse- 
bius and Jerome, or twenty furlongs, according to Jo- 
sephus, where the prophet Jeremiah was born, Jer. 
i. 1. It was given to the Levites of Kohath's family, 
and was a city of refuge. 

ANCHOR, see Ship. 

ANDREW, the apostle, was a native of Bethsaida, 
and brothei of Peter. He was first a disciple of 
John the Baptist, whom he left, to follow our Saviour, 
after the testimony of John, John i. 40, 44. Andrew 
introduced his brother Simon, and after accompany- 
ing our Saviour at the marriage in Cana, they re- 
turned to their ordinary occupation, not expecting 
perhaps, to be further employed in his service. 
Some months after, Jesus met them while fishing, 



ANG 



[ 59 ] 



ANG 



and called them to a regular attendance on his per- 
son and ministry, promising to make them fishers 
of men, Matt. iv. 18, 19 ; John vi. 8. Of his subse- 
quent life nothing is known ; the book of Acts makes 
no mention of him. Some of the ancients are of 
opinion, that Andrew preached in Scythia ; others, 
that he preached in Greece ; others, in Epirus, 
Achaia, or Argos. The modern Greeks make him 
founder of the church of Byzantium, or Constanti- 
nople, which the ancients knew nothing of. The 
Acts of his Martyrdom, which are cf considerable 
antiquity, though not authentic, affirm that he suf- 
fered martyrdom at Patras, in Achaia, being sen- 
tenced to be executed on a cross by Egseus, procon- 
sul of that province. See Fabric. Cod. Apoc. N. T. 
vol. ii. 

ANDRONICUS, one of the great men belonging 
to the court of Antiochus Epiphanes, was left by 
that prince to govern the city of Antioch, while he 
went into Cilicia, to reduce certain places which had 
revolted. Menelaus, the pretended high-priest of 
the Jews, thought this circumstance might favor his 
design of getting rid of Onias, whose dignity he un- 
justly possessed, and who had arrived at Antioch 
with accusations against him. He therefore addressed 
himself to Andronicus with large presents ; but 
Onias, being informed of it, reproached him very 
sharply, secluding himself all the while in the sanc- 
tuary at Daphne, (a suburb of Antioch, wherein was 
a famous temple, and where Julian the Apostate 
afterwards sacrificed,; lest any violence should be 
offered to him. Menelaus solicited Andronicus so 
powerfully to despatch Onias, that he went in per- 
son to Daphne, and promised, with solemn oaths, 
that he would do him no injury, thereby persuading 
him to leave his place of refuge. As soon as Onias 
had quitted the sanctuary, however, Menelaus seized 
him and put him to death. When the king returned 
from his expedition, and was acquainted with the 
death of Onias, he shed tears, commanded Androni- 
cus to be divested of the purple, to be led about the 
city in an ignominious manner, and to be killed in 
the very place where he had killed Onias, 2 Mace, 
iv. A. 31. 3834. 

ANEM, (lit. two fountains,) a city of Issachar, 
given to the Levites, 1 Chron. vi. 73. 1 In the paral- 
lel passage, Josh. xix. 21, it is called En-gannim, i. e. 
fountain of the gardens. 

I. ANER, a city of Manasseh given to the Levites 
of Kohath's family, 1 Chron. vi. 70. 

II. ANER, Eshcol, and Mamre, three Canaanites 
who joined their forces with those of Abraham, in 
pursuit of the kings Chedorlaomer, Amraphel, and 
their allies, who had pillaged Sodom, and carried off" 
Lot, Abraham's nephew, Gen. xiv. 24. They did not 
imitate the disinterestedness of the patriarch, how- 
ever, but retained their share of the spoil. 

ANGARIARE. The evangelists use this term as 
equivalent to press : — to constrain or take by force. 
The word angari, whence angariare is derived, comes 
originally from the Persians, who called the post- 
boys which carried the letters and orders of the 
king to the provinces, angares. As these officers 
compelled the people, in places they passed through, 
to furnish them with guides, horses, and carriages, 
the word angariare became expressive of constraints 
of that nature. (See Xen. Cyr. viii. 6. 17. Herodot. 
viii. 98. Compare also Estb. viii. 10, 14.) It appears 
that the Jews were subject to these angares under 
the Romans. Jesus said to his disciples, " Whoso- 
ever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him 



twain ;" and Simon, the Cyrenian, was compelled to 
bear our Saviour's cross, Matt. v. 41 ; xxvii. 32. 

These remarks will be sufficient to convey a gen- 
eral idea of the import of the word Angariare, but 
a more accurate conception may be formed, from 
the following portrait of an angare, as furnished by 
Colonel Campbell : — 

"As I became familiarized to my Tartar guide, 1 
found his character disclose much better traits than 
his first appearance bespoke. The first object he 
seemed to have in view on our journey, was to im- 
press me with a notion of his consequence and au- 
thority, as a messenger belonging to the sultan. As 
all those men are employed by the first magistrates 
in the country, and are, as it were, the links of com- 
munication between them, they think themselves of 
great importance to the state ; while the great men, 
whose business they are employed in, make them 
feel the weight of their authority, and treat them 
with the greatest contempt : hence they become 
habitually servile to their superiors, and, by natural 
consequence, insolent and overbearing to their infe- 
riors, or those who, being in their power, they con- 
ceive to be so. As carriers of despatches, their 
power and authority, wherever they go, are in some 
points undisputed ; and they can compel a supply 
of provisions, horses, and attendants, wherever it 
suits their occasion ; nor dare any man resist their 
right to take the horse from under him, to proceed on 
the emperor's business, be the owner's occasion 
ever so pressing. As soon as he stopped at a cara- 
venserai, be immediately called lustily about him in 
the name of the sultan ; demanding, in a menacing 
tone of voice, fresh horses, victuals, &c. on the 
instant. The terror of this great man operated like 
magic ; nothing could exceed the activity of the 
men, the briskness of the women, and the terror of 
the children ; but no quickness of preparation, no 
effort could satisfy my gentleman ; he would show 
me his power in a still more striking point of view, 
and fell to belaboring them with his whip, and kick- 
ing them with all his might." (Campbell's Travels, 
Part ii. pages 92. 94.) If such were the behavior of 
this messenger, whose character opened so favorably, 
what may we suppose was the brutality of those 
who had not the same sensibility in their composi- 
tion ? and what shall we say to that meekness, which 
directed to go double what such a despot should re- 
quire ? — "if he compels thee to go a mile with him — 
go two," Matt. v. 41. See Ports. 

I. ANGEL, a messenger. This word answers to 
the Hebrew >s'Sr, mdldch. In Scripture, we fre- 
quently read of missions and appearances of angels, 
sent to declare the will of God, to correct, teach, re- 
prove, or comfort. God gave the law to Moses, and 
appeared to the patriarchs, by the mediation of 
angels, who represented him, and who spake in his 
name, Acts vii. 30, 53 ; Gal. iii. 19. 

Origen, Bede, and others, think that angels were 
created at the same time as the heavens, and that 
Moses included them under the expression — "In the 
beginning, God created the heavens;" others sup- 
pose that they are intended under the term light 
which God created on the first day ; while some are 
of opinion that they were created before the world 
— which seems countenanced by Job xxxviii. 4. 7 
"Where wast thou, when I laid the foundations of 
the earth ; — and all the sons of God shouted for 
joy ?" 

Many of the fathers, led into mistake by the book 
of Enoch, and by a passage in Genesis, (vi. 2 



ANGEL 



[ 60 ] 



ANGEL 



wherein it is said, " The sons of God saw the daugh- 
ters of men, that they were fair, and they took them 
wives of all which they chose," imagined that angels 
were corporeal, and capable of sensual pleasures. 
It is true, they call them spirits, and spiritual beings, 
but in the same sense as we call the wind, odors, va- 
pors, &c. spiritual. Others of the fathers, indeed, and 
those in great number, have asserted, that angels were 
purely spiritual ; and this is the common opinion. 

Before the captivity at Babylon, we find no angel 
mentioned by name ; and the TaLmudists affirm that 
they brought their names thence. Some have ap- 
propriated angels to empires, nations, provinces, 
cities, and persons. For instance, Michael is con- 
sidered as protector of Israel: "Michael, your 
prince," says the angel Gabriel to Daniel, ch. x. 21. 
Gabriel speaks also of the angel, protector of Persia, 
according to the majority of interpreters, when he 
says, that "the prince of the kingdom of Persia 
withstood him one-and-twenty days." Luke (Acts 
xvi. 9.) tells us, that a man of Macedonia appeared 
to Paul in the night, and said to him, "Come over into 
Macedonia and help us;" which has been [improper- 
ly] understood of the angel of Macedonia inviting him 
into the province committed to his care. The LXX 
(Deut. xxxii. 8.) say, that "God had set the bounds 
of the peoples, according to the number of the 
angels of Israel ;" which has been supposed to mean 
the government of each particular country and na- 
tion, wherewith God had intrusted his angels. But 
our English translators keep more exactly to the 
original, and render it, "He set the bounds of the 

Eieoples according to the number of the children of 
srael." 

John addressed letters to the angels of the seven 
Christian churches in Asia Minor ; meaning, in the 
judgment of many fathers, not the bishops of those 
churches, but angels, who were appointed by God 
for their protection. But, as the learned Prideaux 
observes, the minister of the synagogue, who offi- 
ciated in offering up the public prayers, being the 
mouth of the congregation, delegated by them, as 
their representative, messenger, or angel, to address 
God in prayer for them, was in Hebrew called She- 
liach-Zibbor, i. e. the angel of the church, and that 
hence the bishops of the seven churches of Asia are 
in the Revelation, by a name borrowed from the syn- 
agogue, called, angels of those churches. Connect. 
&c. Part i. Book vi. 

Guardian angels, however appear to be alluded 
to in the Old Testament. Jfccob speaks (Gen. xlviii. 
16.) of the angel ivho had delivered him out of all dan- 
gers. Tne Psalmist, in several places, mentions 
angels as protectors of the righteous ; (Ps. xxxiv. 7 ; 
xci. 11.) and this was the common opinion of the 
Jews in our Saviour's time. When Peter, having 
been released, came from prison to the house where 
the disciples were assembled, and knocked at the 
door, those within thought it was his guardian angel, 
and not himself, Acts xii. 15. Our Saviour enjoins 
us not to despise little ones, (i. e. his followers,) be- 
cause their angels continually behold the face of our 
heavenly Father, Matt, xviii. 10, Both Jews and 
heathen believed that particular angels were com- 
missioned to attend individuals, and had the care of 
their conduct and protection. Hesiod, one of the 
most ancient Greek authors, says, that there are good 
angels on earth ; whom he thus describes : 

Aerial spirits, by great Jove designed 

To be on earth the guardians of mankind; 



Invisible to mortal eyes they go, 
And mark our actions, good or bad, below ; 
The immortal spies with watchful care preside, 
And thrice ten thousand round their charges glide. 
They can reward with glory or with gold ; 
Such power divine permission bids them hold. 

Oper. et Dies, lib. i. ver. 121. 

Plato says (de Legibus, lib. x.) that every person 
has two daemons, or genii, one prompting him to 
evil, the other to good. Apuleius speaks but of one 
daemon assigned to every man by Plato, Ex hac sub- 
limiore daemonum copid, Plato autumat singidis ho- 
minibus in vita agenda testes, ct custodes singulos ad- 
ditos, qui nemini conspicui semper adsint. Libel, de 
Deo Socratis. 

The apostle Paul hints at a subordination among 
the angels in heaven, one differing from another, 
either in office or glory : but the fathers who have 
interpreted the apostle's words are not agreed on 
the number and order of the celestial hierarchy. 
Origen was of opinion, that Paul mentioned part 
only of the choirs of angels, and that, there were 
many others of which he said nothing; and this no- 
tion may be observed in many of the subsequent fa- 
thers. Others have reckoned up nine choirs of angels. 
The author, who is commonly cited under the name 
of Dionysius the Areopagite, admits but three hie- 
rarchies, and three orders of angels in each hierarchy. 
In the first, are seraphim, cherubim, and thrones; 
in the second, dominions, mights, and powers'; in 
the third, principalities, archangels, and angels'. 
Some of the rabbins reckon four, others ten, orders, 
and give thein different names according to their de- 
grees of power and knowledge; but this rests only 
on the imagination of those who amuse themselves 
with speaking very particularly of things of which 
they know nothing. 

Raphael tells Tobias, (Tobit xii. 15.) that he is one 
of the seven angels who attend in the presence of 
God. Michael tells Daniel, that he is one of the 
chief princes in the court of the Almighty, Dan. x. 
13. In the Revelation, (viii. 2, 3.) John saw seven 
angels standing before the Lord. In the Apocryphal 
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, they are called 
angels of the presence, and in the Life of Moses, the 
eyes of the Lord. These denominations are, proba- 
bly, imitations of what was a part of the customary 
order, in the courts of the Assyrian, Chaldean, and 
Persian kings, where there were seven eunuchs, or 
great officers, always near the prince. Cornp. 
Esther i. 13. Dan. v.*7. 

The number of angels is not mentioned in Scrip- 
ture ; but is always represented as very great, and, 
indeed, innumerable. Daniel (vii. 10.) says, that on 
his approach to the throne of the Ancient of Days, 
he saw a fiery stream issuing from it, and that 
"thousand thousands of angels ministered unto him, 
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before 
him." Our Lord said that "his heavenly Father 
could give him more than twelve legions of an- 
gels" (Matt. xxvi. 53.) — more than — seventy-two 
thousand. The Psalmist describes the chariot of 
God as attended by twenty thousand angels, Ps. 
lxviii. 17. 

The Sadducees denied the existence of angels and 
spirits ; (Acts xxiii. 8.) but other Jews paid them a 
superstitious worship, Col. ii. 18. The author of 
the book, entitled, "Of St. Peter's Preaching," a 
a work of great antiquity, cited by Clemens of Al 
exandria, (Stromat. lib. vi.) says, the Jews pay re 



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iigious worship to angels and archangels, and even to 
the months and the moon. Celsns reproached them 
almost in the same manner, (apud Origen. contra 
Cels. lib. v.) Tertullian assures us, that Simon and 
Gerinthus preferred the mediation of angels to that 
of Christ. (Lib. de praescript. cap. 12.) Josephus, 
and after him Porphyry, says, that the Essenes, at 
their initiation, engaged themselves, by oath, to pre- 
serve faithfully the names of angels, and the books 
relating to their sect. De Bello. ii. 12. Porphyry, de 
Abstin. lib. iv. 

By the "angels of the Lord," are often meant, in 
Scripture — men of God — prophets ; for example, 
(Judg. ii. 1.) " An angel of the Lord came up from 
Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out 
of Egypt, &c. And it came to pass when the angel 
of the Lord spake these words, they lifted up their 
voices and wept ; and they sacrificed there to the 
Lord, and Joshua let the people go." It has been 
thought, that this angel was Joshua, or the high- 
priest, or a prophet ; and several interpreters have 
been of opinion, that Joshua is described by Moses, 
under the name of the angel of the Lord, who was 
to introduce Israel into the promised land. Prophets 
are certainly called angels of the Lord ; e. g. Haggai 
i. 3. "Then spake Haggai, the angel of the Lord, 
from among the angels of the Lord," (Heb. in 1 ?,?, Gr. 
v Ayyilog,) although our translation agrees with the 
Vulgate, in interpreting >s -l ?c, messenger; " Thus spake 
Haggai, the Lord's messenger, in the Lord's message, 
unto the people." Malachi, the last of the minor 
prophets, is, by several of the fathers, called " the 
angel of God ;" as his name signifies in Hebrew ; 
but some believe Ezra to be designated by the name 
Malachi, or ang^l of the Lord. (Jerome, Praef. in 
Mai.) Eupolemus, speaking of the prophet Nathan, 
who convicted David of his sin, calls him " an angel," 
or messenger, from the Lord. Calmet remarks that 
Manoah, Samson's father, (Judg. xiii. 2, &c.) calls, 
indifferently, angel, and man of God, him who ap- 
peared to his wife ; till his vanishing with the smoke 
of the burnt-offering convinced him it was an angel ; 
but it seems evident, that neither Manoah, nor his 
wife, took him for other than a prophet, till after his 
disappearance, v. 16. 

Sometimes the name of God is given in Scripture 
to an angel. The angel who appeared to Moses in 
the bush, (Exod. iii. 2, &c. see Acts vii. 30, 31 ; Gal. 
iii. 19.) who delivered the law to him, who spake to 
him, and who guided the people in the wilderness, 
is often called by the name of God ; and the Lord 
said, "My name is in him," Exod. xxiii. 21. The 
angel who appeared to the patriarchs, is likewise 
termed God: (Gen. xviii. 3, 17, 22, etc.) not only 
Elohim and. Adonai, names sometimes attributed to 
judges and to princes, but also by the name Jeho- 
vah, which belonged to God only. 

II. ANGEL, Destroying Angel, Angel of Death, 
Angel of Satan, Angel of the Bottomless Pit. These 
terms signify the devil and his agents ; evil angels, 
ministers of God's wrath and vengeance. God smote 
Sennacherib's army with the sword of the destroying 
angel ; (2 Kings xix. 35.) also, the Israelites, by the 
sword of the angel of death, 2 Sam. xxiv. 16. The 
angel or messenger of Satan buffeted Paul ; (2 Cor. 
xii. 7.) the same angel accused the high-priest, 
Joshua, before the Lord; (Zech. iii. 1, 2.) and dis- 
puted with the archangel Michael, about the body of 
Moses, Jude 9. The angel of the bottomless pit, 
(Rev. ix. 11.) or the angel king of the bottomless'pit, 
as John, in the Revelation, calls him, is the same as 



the prince of devils, the destroying angel. See 
Satan. 

The Angel of Death, is the agent which God com- 
missions to separate the soul 1'rom the body. — The 
Persians call him Mordad, or Asuman ; the rabbins 
and Arabians, Azrael ; and the Chaldee paraphrasts, 
Malk-ad mousa. The book concerning the As- 
sumption, or death of Moses, calls him Samael, prince 
of the devils ; and states that when he advanced 
towards Moses, with a design of forcing the soul of 
that conductor of God's people out of his body, he 
was so struck with the lustre of Ins countenance, 
and the virtue of the name of God written on his 
rod, that he was obliged to retire. 

In the Greek of the book of Job, the angel of 
death ("Ayytlog -daraTocpoQog) is frequently mentioned. 
See chap, xxxiii. 22 ; xx. 15 ; xxxvi. 14. Solomon 
also says, "An evil man seeketh only rebellion, 
therefore a cruel angel shall be sent against him," 
Prov. xvii. 11. This is supposed to be the evil angel 
mentioned Ps. xxxv. 5, 6. 

The devil is considered in Scripture as a prince, 
who exercises dominion over other devils of a lower 
rank, and of less power. In this sense, the- gospel 
speaks of Satan's kingdom, Matt. xii. 26. Our 
Saviour came into the world to overthrow the power 
of Satan; and at the day of judgment he will con- 
demn those who have rejected the gospel, to that 
eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his 
angels; (ch. xxv. 41.) his ministers and agents, beings 
of the same nature, and sentenced to the same pun- 
ishment with himself. 

The preceding observations are derived from Cal- 
met ; but as the subject to which they relate is in 
itself very obscure, all we know of it being gathered 
from incidental hints, scattered here and there in the 
Bible, the reader is presented with the following 
additional remarks by Mr. Taylor. 

As we must wholly rely on Scripture accounts, 
and wave all others, except so far as they are per- 
fectly consonant with these, we shall do well to ex- 
amine, first of all, the language of Scripture, in ref- 
erence to angels, and their nature ; and to ascertain 
its import in different places where it occurs. 

I. The word Angel is taken rather as a name of 
office, than of nature ;■ a messenger, an agent, an 
envoy, a deputy; (1.) personally taken, he who per- 
forms the will of a superior ; (2.) impersonally taken, 
that which performs the will of a superior. 

(1.) Personally taken, the word angel denotes a 
human messenger: for instance, in the Old Testa- 
ment, 2 Sam. ii. 5. "And David sent messengers 
[Heb. angels) to Jabesh Gilead ;" Prov. xiii. 17. "A 
wicked messenger [^abr, angel) fallet.li into evil ;"■ — ■ 
and so in various places. Also, in the New Testa- 
ment, Matt. xi. 10. " I send my messenger ( Gr. 
my angel, t»v ayysluv i/e) before thy face." Also, 
Mark i. 2; Luke vii. 24. "And when the messen- 
gers, ( Gr. the angels) of John were departed." James 
ii. 25. "Rahab received the messengers, (Gr. the 
angels.) Gal. iv. 14. " Ye received me as the angel 
of God, (uyyiXov Wta,) as Christ, Jesus," the prime 
messenger from God to man. Some commentators 
have referred this, which is the simplest idea of the 
word, to John v. 4. " An angel went down and 
troubled the water;" as if this were a messenger 
sent (by the priests or others) for that purpose. So 
Acts xii. 15. " They said, It is the angel of Peter ; 
i. e. a messenger from him. But this conception 
fails of the true import of these passages. (See Be- 
I thesda.) It seems, however, certain, from the 



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ANGEL 



Scriptures quoted, and from many others, that, jjer- 
sonalty taken, the sense of a messenger, or one de- 
puted by another to act for him, is the genuine idea 
of the word angel, both in the Old and in the New 
Testament. Hence, therefore, Christ Jesus may 
well be called, " The angel of God :" he being emi- 
nently the deputy from God to man ; the great Angel 
of the covenant ; (Mai. iii. 1.) the agent for God. 

(2.) Taken impersonally, the word Angel implies, 
that agent which executes the will of another : and, 
as the great natural agents of the world around us 
are wholly beyond the direction of man, and, there- 
fore, are esteemed as exclusively obedient to God, 
the word angel imports something empowered or 
commissioned to execute his will. Now, though all 
the powers of nature, in all their operations, are, in 
this sense, angels of God, as acting for him, yet their 
more extraordinary effects are principally noticed, as 
being most evidently his ageuts : these appearing 
most remarkable to feeble humanity, and most ex- 
citing its attention. In a sense greatly analogous to 
this, we say, in common speech, " Providence inter- 
posed so and so ;" such a thing is " the dispensation 
of Providence." But we rarely express ourselves 
thus, in respect to the ordinary occurrences of life. 
Extraordinary operations of providence, then, though 
accomplished by natural means, arc in Scripture 
considered as angels (agents) of God: and so the 
Psalmist observes, (civ. 4.) that God can, if he please, 
" make winds bis angels," to conduct his dispensa- 
tions ; "and flames of fire his ministers," or servants, 
to perform his pleasure. 

II. But, beside agencies of natural powers, or 
providential angels, we have reason to infer, that 
there exists in the scale of beings, a series of created 
intelligent powers, who are angels, inasmuch as 
they are occasionally agents of God towards man- 
kind. These, in capacity and digrity, are vastly 
superior to ourselves ; indeed, they are so much our 
superiors, that in order to render them in any de- 
gree comprehensible by us, their nature, offices, &c. 
are illustrated by being compared to what occurs 
among mankind. Thus, if a human prince have his 
attendants, his servants, his guards, this circumstance 
is taken advantage of, and is employed to illustrate 
the nature of celestial angels ; and to this effect, by 
way of similitude, and condescending to theconeep- 
tion of humanity, angels are represented as attend- 
ants, servants of God. We know that God needs no 
attendants to perform his commands, being omni- 
present ; but being himself likened to a great king, 
his angels are compared to courtiers and ministers, 
subordinate to him, and employed in his service. 
It cannot be said, God does not need angels, there- 
fore angels do not exist ; for God does not need man, 
yet man exists. This principle is evidently the foun- 
dation of the apologue which prefaces the poetical 
part of the book of Job : (chap. i. 6.) " There was a 
day, when the sons of God came to present them- 
selves (as it were, at court) before the Lord ;" also, 
of 1 Kings xxii. 19. " I saw the Lord sitting on his 
throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him, 
on his light hand, and on his left." Isaiah's vision 
(chap, vi.) is to the same pm-pose ; and our Lord 
continues the same idea, especially, when speaking 
of his glorious return, — " The Son of Man shall send 
his angels, to expel from his kingdom all that offends. 
He shall sit on the throne of his glory, and all his holy 
angels around him," Matt. xxv. 31, seq. Through- 
out the Revelation, many coincident representations 
may be observed. In reference to the services ren- 



dered by angels to mankind, we may safely adopt 
the idea of their being servants of this Great King, 
sent from before his throne to this lower world, to 
execute his commissions : so far, at least, Scripture 
warrants us. In such services, some of them, prob- 
ably, are always engaged, though invisible to us. 
We may receive from them much good, or evil, 
without being aware of any angelic interference. 
Thus the activity of Satan (an agent of evil) in Job, 
is represented as producing great effects, (by storms 
and other means,) but Job knew not that it was 
Satan : he referred all the calamities he felt, or 
feared, to the good pleasure of God acting by natu- 
ral causes ; and thus the angel might long have 
watched Abraham invisibly, before he called out to 
forbid the slaying of Isaac, Gen. xxii. In this sense, 
angels are "ministering spirits, sent forth to do 
a variety of services to the heirs of salvation," 
Heb. i. 14. 

If angels are thus engaged invisibly in the care or 
service of mankind, then we can find no difficulty in 
admitting that they have had orders, on particular 
occasions, to make themselves known, as celestial 
intelligences. They may often have assumed the 
human appearance, for ought we can tell ; but if 
they assumed it completely, (as must be supposed, 
and which nothing forbids,) how can we generally 
know it ? How can we recognize them ? This is 
evidently beyond human abilities, unless it be part 
of their commission to leave indications of their su- 
perior nature. This produces the inquiry — By what 
tokens have angels made themselves known ? 

(1.) Such discovery has usually been after they 
had delivered their message, and always for the 
purpose of a sign, in confirmation o e the faith of the 
party whom they had addressed. It is evident, that the 
angel which appeared to Manoah, was taken by both 
Manoah and his wife only for a prophet, till after he 
had delivered his message, he took leave "wonder- 
fully," to convince them of his extraordinary nature. 
Thus the angel that wrestled with Jacob, at last put 
the hollow of his thigh out of joint — a token that he 
was no mere man. The angel that spake to Zach- 
arias, (Luke i. 20.) rendered him dumb — a token be- 
yond the power of mere man (e. g. an impostor 
speaking falsely in the name of God) to produce ; 
and so of others. 

(2.) But sometimes angels did not reveal them- 
selves fully ; they gave, as it were, obscure, and 
very indistinct, though powerful, intimations of their 
presence. When angels were commissioned to ap- 
pear to certain persons only, others who were in 
company with those persons, had sensations which 
indicated an extraordinary occurrence. Although 
the appearance was not to them, yet they seem to 
have felt the effects of it ; as Dan. x. 7. " I, Daniel, 
alone saw the vision — the men that were with me 
saw not the vision ; but a great quaking fell upon 
them, so that they fed to hide themselves." So Acts ix. 
7. "The men which journeyed with Saul stood 
speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man." 
xxii. 9. " They that were with me saw a peculiar 
kind of light and were afraid ; but they heard not the 
voice (the distinct words) addressed to me." xxvi. 
14. " We were all fallen to the earth." The guards 
of the sepulchre (Matt, xxviii. 4.) seem to have been 
in much the same situation ; they probably did not 
distinctly (i. e. accurately, steadily,) see the angel ; 
but only saw a general splendid appearance, enough 
most thoroughly to terrify them, and to cause them 
to become as dead men, but not enough 'o resist the 



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crafty explanations of the priests, and the influence 
of their money. 

(3.) These instances evince, that angels discovered 
themselves to be angels, with different degrees of 
clearness, as best suited their errand. Sometimes 
they were conjectured to be angels, but they did not 
advance those conjectures into certainty ; and sorrie- 
tim a z they left no doubt who and what they were, and, 
together with their errand, they declared their nature. 

(4.) The general token of angelic presence, seems 
to have been a certain splendor, or brightness, accom- 
panying their persons : but this seems to have had 
also a distinction in degree. It would seem, that 
sometimes a person only, not a splendor, was seen ; 
sometimes a splendor only, not a person ; and 
sometimes both a person and his splendor. Of the 
person only, we have already given instances ; of the 
splendor only, the burning bush seen by Moses, may 
be one instance ; though afterwards a person spake 
from it; the splendor in the sanctuary might be 
another. This splendor seems to have been worn 
by Jesus at his transfiguration ; — (Matt. xvii. 2 ; Mark 
ix. 2.) at his appearance to Saul j — (Acts ix. 3 ; xxvi. 
13.) also when seen by John, Rev. i. Was not this 
splendor, when worn by a person, indicative of the 
presence of the great angel of the covenant ? 

III. Thus we trace a gradation in the use of the 
word angel, which it may be proper to exhibit in 
connection: — (1.) Human messengers; i. e. agents 
for others. — (2.) Divine messengers, yet human per- 
sons ; i. e. agents for God : — as prophets (Haggai i. 
13.) and priests, (Mai. ii. 7; Eccles. v. 6.)— (3.) Offi- 
cers or bishops of the churches. — -(4.) Providence, 
i. e. the agency of divine dispensations, conducting 
natural causes, apparent on remarkable occasions. — 
(5.) Created intelligences ; i. e. agents of a nature 
superior to man ; performing the divine commands, 
in relation to mankind. — (6.) The great angel be- 
tween God and man ; i. e. the deputed agent of God, 
eminently so. Not to extend this very delicate and 
obscure subject too far, it is sufficient, if this mode 
of representing it excite the reader's considera- 
tion ; we should be cautious of intruding into things 
not. seen. 

IV. In the same rank as to nature, though very 
different from celestial angels, as to happiness, 
Scripture seems to place the angels " who kept not 
their first estate." But neither their number, their 
economy, nor their powers are expressed. As the 
nature and offices of good angels are illustrated by 
similitudes, so are the nature and disposition of evil 
angels ;— e. g. 

(1.) If a part of a prince's court be faithful lo his 
government, and under his obedience, another part 
may be unfaithful, may be in rebellion, may hate 
him. This idea, then, is that of rebels. What is 
said of Satan, and the fallen angels, his companions, 
is analogous to such a revolt in a prince's court ; 
i. e. the idea of what passes amoug men, is trans- 
ferred to spiritual beings, in order to help us to 
some conception on a subject otherwise beyond our 
powers. 

(2.) As revolters in provinces distant from court 
may sometimes injure loyal subjects, so may we sup- 
pose that evil (rebel) angels are suffered to injure in- 
dividuals among mankind. They may inflict dis- 
eases, as in the case of Job ; i. e. having the dispo- 
sition, they are suffered to take advantage of natural 
disease, and to augment, and fix it, if possible, as in 
the case of Saul ; or to render it fatal, as in the case 
of the lunatic, Matt. xvii. 15; Mark v. Luke viii. 



Also, if the thorn in the flesh, and the angel of Satan, 
be the same, in the case of Paul, 2 Cor. xii. 7. 

(3.) We may suppose, that evil angels would, if 
permitted, destroy all good from off the earth ; — 
all natural good ; would blast the fruits of the earth, 
spread diseases, and deform the face of nature ; 
would expel all thoughts of God, all emotions of 
gratitude to him, all piety, divine or human, — all 
moral good. 

(4.) We may suppose, that the endeavors of these 
malignant beings to destroy, are, when they attempt 
to exceed their limits, checked and counteracted by 
the agency of benevolent spirits ; or that these are 
employed to ward off or prevent the evils designed 
by Satan and his angels. 

V. On the whole, we may sum up die contradic- 
tory characters of these active and intelligent agents, 
by combining those particulars in which Scripture 
supports us. No doubt but many parts of their na- 
ture, powers, and offices, must remain hidden from 
us here ; but when we exchange earth for heaven, 
this subject, like many others, may be infinitely better 
understood by us ; and if we should not become 
such agents ourselves, yet we may witness the inex- 
pressibly beneficial effects arising among our fellow 
mortals from that agency which now we call super- 
natural, and which we can only comprehend in a 
very small degree, and that by very inadequate com- 
parisons. 

Good angels are God's host ; innumerable ; they 
attend and obey him in heaven, but they occasion- 
ally do services, and give instructions, to the sons of 
men. Good angels attended on Christ, honored him, 
ministered to him, strengthened him ; accompanied 
his resurrection, his ascension, and will attend his 
second coming, when they will separate the godly to 
glory, the ungodly to perdition. Good angels attend 
good men, defend and save them, direct them, carry 
their souls to heaven, will rejoice with them in glory, 
&c. They are humble and modest ; obedient, sym- 
pathizing, complacent, &c. 

Evil angels are unclean, promoters of darkness 
— of spiritual wickedness ; they oppose good angels, 
and good men ; they are under punishment now ; 
they dread severer sufferings hereafter, everlasting 
fire being prepared for them. 

Angels of light, and angels of darkness. 
We call good angels angels of light, their habitation 
being in heaven, in the region of light ; they are- 
clothed with light and glory ; they stand before the 
throne of the Most High, and they inspire men with 
good actions, actions of light and righteousness. 
Angels of darkness, on the contrary, are the devil's 
ministers, whose abode is in hell, the region of dark- 
ness. Paul says, that " Satan sometimes transforms 
himself into an angel of light," (2 Cor. xi. 14.) in 
like manner as our Saviour says, " that wolves some- 
times put on sheep's clothing, to seduce the simple," 
Matt. vii. 15. They are, however, discovered by 
their works ; sooner or later they betray themselves 
by deeds of darkness, wherein they engage with 
their followers. 

ANGER is in Scripture frequently attributed to 
God ; not that he is capable of those violent emo- 
tions which this passion produces ; but figuratively, 
speaking, after the manner of men, and because he 
punishes the wicked with the severity of a superioi 
provoked to anger. 

"Anger" is often used for its effects, i. e. punish- 
ment, chastisement. The magistrate is " a revengei 
to execute wrath," (Rom. xiii. 4.) that is to say, ven 



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geance, or punishment. " Is God unjust, who makes 
people sensible of the effects of his auger ?" or who 
taketh vengeance, (speaking after the manner of 
men,) Rom. iii. 5. " Anger is gone out from the 
Lord, and begins to be felt," (Numb. xvi. 46.) by its 
effects, in a plague. Anger is often joined with fury, 
even when God is spoken of ; but this is by way of 
expressing more forcibly the effects of his anger, or 
what may be expected from the just occasions of his 
indignation, Deut. xxix. 24. " Turn from us the fury 
of thine anger," 2 Chron. xxix. 10 ; Dan. ix. 16. 

" The day of wrath," is the day of God's judg- 
ment, the day of vengeance, or punishment, (Rom. 
ii. 5.) — " the wrath to come ;" (Matt. iii. 7 ; 1 Thess. 
i. 10.) "We were all children of wrath," "vessels of 
wrath, fitted to destruction," Eph. ii. 3 ; Rom. ix. 22. 

Paul enjoins the Romans to " give way, or place, 
to wrath ;" (Rom. xii. 19.) that is, provoke not the 
wicked, who are already sufficiently exasperated 
against you, but let. their anger of itself sink and 
decline ; also, do not expose yourselves unseasona- 
bly to their passion ; as, when we meet a furious and 
unruly beast, we go out of the way, and avoid him ; 
so behave toward your persecutors. The weapons 
of God's anger (Jer. 1. 25.) are the instruments he 
uses in punishment, war, famine, barrenness, dis- 
eases, &c. but particularly war, which is the con- 
junction of all misfortunes, and the fulness of "the 
cup of God's wrath." To consummate, finish, fill, 
his anger, is to cause the effects of it to he felt with 
the utmost rigor. 

The Hebrews express anger by the same word 
which signifies nose and nostrils, borrowed from the 
idea of hard breathing or snuffing, and the conse- 
quent dilatation of the nostrils, which accompanies 
violent anger. So Theoc. i. 8. Martial vi. 64. 
See Nose. 

ANIM, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 50.) probably 
the Anam, or Anea, mentioned by Eusebius and Je- 
rome, about eight or ten miles east of Hebron. 

ANIMALS. The Hebrews distinguish clean ani- 
mals, i. e. those which may be eaten and offered in 
sacrifice to Jehovah, from those which are unclean, 
the use of which is prohibited. The distinction con- 
sists in the form of the foot or hoof, which must be 
thoroughly cloven into two parts, and no more, and 
in chewing the cud. Those animals which possess 
both these qualities are clean ; those which have nei- 
ther, or only one, of them, are unclean. 

The sacrifices the Hebrews generally offered were, 
(1.) of the beeve kind ; a cow, bull, or calf. When 
it is said oxen were sacrificed, we arc to understand 
bulls, for the mutilation of animals was not permitted 
or used among the Israelites, Lev. xxii. 18, 19. (2.) 
of the goat kind ; a she-goat, he-goat, or kid, xxii. 24. 
(3.) of the sheep kind ; an ewe, ram, or lamb. In 
burnt-offerings, and sacrifices for sin, rams were 
offered; for peace-offerings, or sacrifices of pure 
devotion, a female might be offered, if pure and 
without blemish, iii. 1. Besides these three sorts of 
animals used in sacrifice, many others might be eaten, 
wild or tame ; such as the stag, the roe-buck, and in 
general, all that have cloven feet, and that chew the 
cud. All that have not cloven hoofs, and do not 
chew the cud, were esteemed impure, and could nei- 
ther be offered nor eaten, Lev. xi. 3, 4. The fat of 
all sorts of animals sacrificed, was forbidden as food ; 
as was the blood in all cases, on pain of death. Nei- 
ther diil the Israelites eat the sinew which lies on the 
hollow of the thigh, because the angel that wrestled 
with Jacob at Mahanaim, touched it, and occasioned 



it to shrink. Neither did they eat animals which 
had been taken, or touched, by a ravenous or impure 
beast, such as a dog, a wolf, or a boar ; — nor the flesh of 
any animal that died of itself. Whoever touched the 
carcass of it was impure until the evening ; and till 
that time, and after lie had washed his clothes, he 
could not associate with others, Lev. xi. 39, 40. 

Fish that had neither fins nor scales were unclean, 
Lev. xi. 10. Birds which walk on the ground with 
four feet, such as bats, and flies that have many feet, 
were impure; but the law (Lev. xi. 21, 22.) excepts 
locusts, which have their hind feet higher than those 
before, and rather leap than walk. — These are clean, 
and may be eaten ; as, in fact, they were, and still are, 
in Palestine, and other eastern countries. 

Interpreters are much divided with relation to the 
legal purity or impurity of animals. It is believed by 
some, that this distinction obtained before the flood; 
since God commanded Noah (Gen. vii. 2.) to carry 
seven couple of clean animals into the ark, and only 
two of unclean; (see Ark;) but others, as Augustiu, 
Origen, Irena;us, are of opinion, that it is altogether 
symbolical, and that it denotes the moral purity which 
the Hebrews were to endeavor after, or that impu- 
rity which they were to avoid, according to the nature 
of these animals. Thus, if a hog, for example, sig- 
nified gluttony ; a hare, lasciviousness ; a sheep, gen- 
tleness ; a dove, simplicity ; — then the principal design 
of Moses in prohibiting the use of swine's flesh, was 
to condemn gluttony, and excess in eating or drink- 
ing ; or in recommending sheep, or doves, it was to 
recommend gentleness, &c. Others, as Theodoret, 
believe, that God intended to preserve the Hebrews 
from the temptation of adoring animals, by permitting 
them to eat the generality of those which were re- 
garded as gods in Egypt ; and leading them to look 
with horror on others, to which, likewise, divine 
honors were paid. They never had any idea of 
worshipping the animals they ate ; still less of adoring 
those which they could not persuade themselves to 
use, even for nourishment. Tertullian thought, that 
God proposed, by this means, to accustom the He- 
brews to temperance, by en joining them to deprive 
themselves of several sorts of food. Many comment- 
ators, however, discern in the animals which are for- 
bidden as unclean, merely some natural qualities 
which are really hurtful, or which, at least, are un- 
derstood to be so by certain people. Moses forbade 
the use of those beasts, birds, and fishes, the flesh of 
which was thought pernicious to health ; those 
which wore wild, dangerous, or venomous, or that 
were so esteemed. God, likewise, who designed to 
separate the Hebrews from other people, as a nation 
consecrated to his service, seems to have interdicted 
the use of certain animals, which were considered 
as unclean, that by this figurative purity they might 
be inclined to another purity, real and perfect, as is 
intimated, Lev. xx. 24. 

Most nations have fixed on certain animals as less 
fit for human food than others ; in other words, as 
unclean ; and this, independent of their properties, as 
more or less salutary or injurious to health. Yet we 
find considerable variations of opinion and practice, 
even among nations inhabiting the same countries. 
The horse, held unlawful by the Hebrews, is eaten 
by the Tartars ; the camel, forbidden to the Jews, is 
eaten by the Arabs ; as is also the hare, and others. 

In general, it may be observed, that whatever was 
forbidden as ordinary food was still more strongly 
prohibited from the altar ; and, among other reasons, 
because as sacrifices were eaten either in whole or in 



ANN 



[ 65 ] 



ANN 



part, by the priest or offerer, or both, it is evident, 
that the admission of animals legally impure would 
have spread impurity under the sanction of the altar 
itself. And further, that as the altar partook of the 
sacrifice, the fat, &c. which were consumed by its 
fire, that fire, with the sacred implement itself, would 
have been absolutely desecrated by such unwarrant- 
able departure from the instituted rites. See the 
histories of this in the Maccabees, &c. The flesh of 
the swine was usually the pollution forced by perse- 
cutors on the Jews ; but it is evident, that any kind 
of prohibited food, from whatever class derived, 
would have produced the same effect. See further 
under Goat, and Sheep. 

We cannot determine precisely the creatures meant 
in the original, under certain of the following names, 
as the eastern parts of the world have many animals 
different from those which inhabit Europe, and to 
which no English names can properly be given : but 
under their respective articles, what information we 
have been able to procure, will appear. The Vul- 
gate has been followed in this catalogue ; those who 
please may consult the large work of Bochart, con- 
cerning the animals mentioned in the Bible. 

UNCLEAN ANIMALS. 

Quadrupeds. 

The Camel. The Hare. 

The Porcupine, or Hedge-hog. The Hog. 

Birds. 



The Eagle. 
The Ossifrage. 
The Sea-eagle. 
The Kite. 

The Vulture, and all its species. 
The Raven, and all its species. 
The Ostrich. 
The Owl. 
The Moor-hen. 
The Spar-hawk. 



The Screech-owl. 
The Cormorant. 
The Ibis. 
The Swan. 
The Bittern. 
The Porphyrion. 
The Heron. 
The Curlew. 
The Lap-wing. 
The Bat. 



Creeping Quadrupeds. 



The Weasel. 
The Mouse. 
The Shrew-mouse. 
The Mole. 



The Cameleon. 
The Eft. 
The Lizard. 
The Crocodile. 



ANISE, an herb well known, which produces 
small seeds of a pleasant smell. Our Lord reproaches 
the Pharisees with their scrupulous exactitude in 
paying tithe of anise, mint, and cummin, while they 
neglected justice, mercy, and faith, which were the 
most essential principles and practices of religion, 
Matt, xxiii. 23. 

I. ANNA, wife of Tobit, of the tribe of Naphtali, 
carried captive to Nineveh, by Shalmaneser, king of 
Assyria, Tobit i. 1, 2, &c. 

II. ANNA, daughter of Phanuel, a prophetess and 
widow of the tribe of Asher, Luke ii. 36, 37. She 
was married early, and lived but seven years with 
her husband, after which she continued, without 
ceasing, in the temple, serving God, day and night, 
with fasting and prayers. Dr. Prideaux remarks 
that this expression is to be understood no otherwise 
than that Anna constantly attended the morning and 
evening sacrifice at the temple, and then with great 
devotion offered up her prayers to God ; the time of 
the morning and evening sacrifice being the most 
solemn time of prayer among tfye Jews, and the tem- 

9 



pie the most solemn place for it. Anna was fourscore 
and four years of age, when the Virgin came to pre- 
sent Jesus in the temple ; and entering there, while 
Simeon was pronouncing his thanksgiving, Anna, 
likewise, began to praise God, and to speak of the 
Messiah to all who waited for the redemption of 
Israel. 

ANNAS, a high-priest of the Jews, Luke iii. 2; 
John xviii. 13, 24 ; Acts iv. 6. He is mentioned hi 
Luke as being high-priest along with Caiaphas his 
son-in-law. He is called by Josephus, Auanus the 
son of Seth ; and was first appointed to that office by 
Quirinus, proconsul of Syria, about A. D. 7 or 8, (Jos. 
Ant. xviii. 2. 1.) but was afterwards deprived of it by 
Valerius Gatus, procurator of Judea, who gave the 
office first to Isniael the son of Phabseus, and a short 
time after to Eleazar the son of Annas. He held the 
office one year, and was then succeeded by Simon, 
who, after another year, was followed by Joseph, also 
called Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Annas, about A. D. 
27 or 28, who continued in office until A. D. 35. In 
the passages of the New Testament above cited, 
therefore, it is apparent that Caiaphas was the only 
actual and proper high-priest ; but Annas, being his 
father-in-law, and having been' formerly himself 
high-priest, and being also perhaps his substitute, 
(po,) had great influence and authority, and could 
with great propriety be still termed high-priest along 
with Caiaphas. Jos. Ant. xviii. 2. 2. Kuinoel on 
Luke iii. 2. *R. 

ANNUNCIATION, a festival on which Chris- 
tian churches celebrate the conception, or incar- 
nation of the Son of God in the womb of the Vhgin 
Mary. It falls on the 25th of March. The angel 
Gabriel first announced the approach of this event to 
Zacharias, telling him that his son should be the 
fore-runner and prophet of the Messiah. Six months 
afterwards Gabriel was sent to Nazareth, to the Vir- 
gin Mary, of the tribe of Judah, and family of David, 
whom he saluted by saying, " Hail, thou highly-fa- 
vored of the Lord ; the Lord is with thee ; blessed 
art thou among women!" Mary, being greatly per- 
plexed by the salutation, the angel added, " Fear not, 
Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. Thou 
shalt conceive, and bring forth a son, and shalt call 
his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be 
called the Son of the Highest," &c. Then said 
Mary to the angel, "How shall this be, seeing I 
know not a man ?" The angel answered, " The 
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of 
the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore, also, 
that Holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be 
called the Son of God. And behold thy cousin, 
Elisabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old 
age ; and this is the sixth month with her ; for with 
God nothing shall be impossible." And Mary said, 
"Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me 
according to thy word," Luke i. 5, 26. The angel 
then departed; and by the operation of the Holy 
Ghost, Mary conceived the only Son of the Father, 
who had been four thousand years expected ; and 
who was to be the happiness, the light, and the sal- 
vation of men. 

In the Koran, (third Sura,) there is this remarkable 
passage : " Remember what is written of Mary — We 
sent to her our Spirit, in the human form ; she was 
affrighted, and said, ' God will preserve me from you, 
unless you have his fear before your eyes.' But the 
angel answered, ' O Mary ! I am the messenger of 
thy God, and of thy Lord, who will give thee a wise 
and active son !' She replied, ' How shall I have a 



ANNUNCIATION 



[ 66 ] 



ANNUNCIATION 



son, without the knowledge of man?' 'He has said 
it' — answered the angel: 'the event shall be as I 
have announced to thee.' Then she became preg- 
nant." The history of the annunciation, as a part of 
the miraculous conception, having been impugned, 
this extract may serve to show, that it was extant in 
other authorities, beside our present gospels. Ma- 
homet certainly found it in some ancient writing, 
since he says, "Remember ivhat is written,'''' an ap- 
peal which he could hardly have adopted, had not 
the occurrence been the general belief, prior to his 
time ; as its primary aspect is so favorable to 
Christianity. [Mahomet doubtless borrowed this 
passage from the New Testament itself, like many 
other parts of the Koran. R. 

1- This subject has been so often placed before 
our eyes, by representations (rather misrepresenta- 
tions) of the pencil, that it becomes necessary to 
guard against false ideas received through this me- 
dium ; to dismiss the cloud attending the angel — 
the flowers — the brilliancy — and all such artful and 
artificial, but unwarrantable, accessories ; and to 
reduce the story to the simple narrative of Luke. 
From this it appears, that Mary was in a house — 
probably in private ; (but this is not said, nor in what 
part of her house ;) for the angel entered and ad- 
vanced towards her. Nor did he appear in splen- 
dor, or in any extremely disturbing manner, so 
as to astonish Mary, but gave her time to con- 
sider, to reason with herself, respecting his say- 
ing : Gr. "what kind of salutation (not what kind of 
person) this could be" — and to recover from her first 
surprise, at such a compliment paid her. He then 
proceeded to deliver his message ; and she inquires 
of him — if, indeed, her exclamation, "How can that 
be !" be not rather the language of surprise. It does 
not appear that she knew him to be an angel ; for 
then she would have acquiesced in his words with- 
out hesitation ; but after he had, as a sign, given her 
information that her cousin Elisabeth was pregnant, 
he departed. He did not vanish ; but went away 
from her, Mary wient "in haste"- — directly — to visit 
Elisabeth, (a considerable journey,) from whom she 
could acquire information to guide her conduct in 
this matter. — Had Elisabeth not been pregnant, then 
Mary might have thought the appearance delusive; 
but finding Elisabeth really pregnant, she could 
learn from her what kind of vision had appeared to 
Zacharias in the temple, whereby to identify the per- 
son seen by herself. She would thus receive abun- 
dant evidence in confirmation of her own experience, 
and of her confidence in the divine interposition. 

Thus simply considered, this narrative has much 
resemblance to that of the annunciation of the birth 
of Samson, wherein the angel was repeatedly ad- 
dressed as a mere man — a prophet ; and was not 
discovered, till after his message had taken its effect. 
In like manner, an angel announced to Sarah the 
birth of Isaac ; but was not known, at the time, to be 
an angel ; Sarah hesitated, because of her great age ; 
and the Virgin Mary hesitated, because of her (early) 
youth. Mary, being a person of a reflective turn of 
mind, could not but ponder, and consider very atten- 
tively the language and expression used in both 
instances, the similarity of appearances, and other 
circumstances. 

It is worthy of remark, that as Mary was referred 
to Elisabeth, so Elisabeth was in some sense referred 
to Mary. How, if this were not the case, should 
Elisabeth know that Mary was the mother of her 
Lord — and what things were told Mary from the 



Lord — and how should she know that Mary had 
believed ? — See Luke i. 42. 

2. There is another annunciation, which ought not 
to be overlooked here — that made in a dream to Jo- 
seph, (Matt. i. 20.) probably by the same celestial 
messenger that appeared to Mary and Elisabeth, and 
certainly to the same import as the former annunci- 
ation to Mary. Now, as Joseph appears to have 
been a thoughtful, well-informed, and considerate 
man, not a young man, and, above all, a just man, 
(i. e. very strict,) we may be assured that a man of 
his understanding, his experience in life, his reputa- 
tion, (perhaps his family pride as descended from 
David,) and his moderate situation in the world, 
would not degrade and burden himself with a suppos- 
ititious issue, unless he had been fully convinced that 
the case was miraculous. — Thus the mediocrity of 
Joseph's situation, in respect to property, becomes a 
reason of considerable weight — since he could so 
easily have relieved himself from the attendant ex- 
penses of a rising family, at bis time of life, by fulfil- 
ling his first design of putting Mary away privily ; 
which, in fact, unless under complete conviction, 
was his duty. 

It should be remarked, that the angel, in speaking 
to Mary, uses language which may be taken in refer- 
ence to a temporal Messiah — (He shall reign, &c.) 
but to Joseph, lie seems to be more explicit, and to 
speak of a spiritual Messiah, — "He shall save his 
people from their sins." He also refers Joseph to the 
prophecy respecting Emmanuel ; and informs him, 
that this event was the completion of that prophecy : 
"This also all is «ome to pass, that it wight he 
fulfilled." Of course both Joseph and Mary well 
knew the prophetic writings : Mary, as appears from 
the allusions to them in her song ; and Joseph, to 
whom, otherwise, the appeal to Isaiah's prophecy 
had been useless. See Joseph, Mary, &c. 

3. As the annunciation of the birth of John the 
Baptist appears very much to illustrate and to con- 
firm that respecting Jesus, it demands the consider- 
ation of some of its circumstances: — 

(1.) The age of Zacharias (probably above fifty) 
rendered it unlikely that he should be imposed upon ; 
and equally unlikely that he should, through warm 
of imagination, impose on himself. (2.) Elisabeth ap- 
parently was near the same age as her husband, which, 
for a woman in the East, is a much more advanced 
period of life than among us. Considering the early 
age at which the Jews married, this couple had prob- 
ably lived together, barren, thirty or more years. (3.) 
The lot determined whose duty it was to bum in- 
cense. Zacharias, then, could little have expected 
this visit — at this time: — nothing could be more 
contingent, in respect to him. (4.) Being in the 
sanctuary, he there saw a person standing on the 
right side of the altar of incense — that being the 
most convenient situation to permit Zacharias to 
fulfil his office ; and (as we understand it) so that the 
altar and the smoke of the incense was between 
them. (5.) The very great sanctity of this place — 
no person was ever admitted here, but the priests 
who had duty in it ; no ordinary Jew ever approached 
it ; not even a priest had duty in it at this moment of 
solemn worship, except he who was engaged in that 
worship ; and Zacharias not only must have person- 
ally known any intrusive priest, but it was his duty 
to punish his intrusion. The appearance of the an- 
gel, though we suppose it to be completely human, yet 
was certainly different from that of a priest, in dress, 
manners, &c. (6.) The angel's discourse to Zacha- 



ANO 



[ 67 ] 



ANOINTING 



rias. (7.) The unbelief of Zacharias : lie urges not 
only his own age — implying the extinction of corporal 
vigor in himself; but the same impediment with 
respect to his wife. (8.) The angel's answer : " I am 
Gabriel, who stand before God." (9.) The sign 
given to Zacharias, "thou shalt be dumb." — The 
effect of this on the people ; and his telling them by 
action, and dumb show, that he had seen a vision. 
It should seem that he was deaf also, for he received 
information by signs, ver. 62. (10.) He remained in 
this state at the temple some days, till " the days of 
his ministration were accomplished ;" so that all the 
priests in waiting might be informed of these circum- 
stances: for though he could not speak, he could 
ivrite the story. (11.) The conception of Elisabeth, 
which is, indeed, the main incident in this narrative. 
For suppose all the former to . be void of truth — 
suppose that a man of Zacharias's character and time 
of life, to make himself famous, (or rather infamous,) 
had forged all the former parts of the story — that his 
dumbness was obstinate, and wilful, yet what effect 
could all this have had to recall the departed vigor 
of his person ? That is not all : — What effect could 
his relation of these things to Elisabeth, by ivriting, 
as must be supposed, have had on a woman of her 
time of life ? If imagination had for a while invig- 
orated Zacharias, could it have had the effect of 
overcoming even nature itself, in the person of Elisa- 
beth ? A woman at fifty, or more, (equal to a woman 
in England ten years older, at least,) and long barren, 
was surely past both fears and hopes of child-bear- 
ing: let this be duly weighed. (12.) Elisabeth hid 
herself full five months. This deserves notice ; be- 
cause her condition could not be known, much less 
could it be blazoned abroad. Now, in the sixth 
mouth, (i. e. while Elisabeth's pregnancy was pri- 
vate,) Gabriel visits Mary at Nazareth, and tells her 
the secret respecting Elisabeth, as a sign that he was 
no impostor. Mary believed him ; but Mary also 
took rational methods to justify that belief : she went 
directly to visit Elisabeth. — On inquiry and inspec- 
tion, she found what Gabriel had told her to be true ; 
and from the accounts of Zacharias and Elisabeth, 
she acquired information which guided her conduct. 

Now, if it be made a question, whether Zacharias 
could not be deceived, either by others, or by himself, 
it is best answered, by asking — When did self-decep- 
tion produce such effects ? He could certainly judge 
of his own incapacity (real incapacity) to speak : but, 
supposing it assumed, or fancied — what influence 
could this have had in forwarding the birth of John ? 
The general inference is clear : — if the birth of John, 
the forerunner of Jesus, was miraculous, its whole 
weight is in favor of the miraculous conception, 
and the annunciation, of Jesus. See John Bap- 
tist, &c. 

ANOINTING was a> ceremony in frequent use 
among the Hebrews. They anointed and perfumed, 
from principles of health and cleanness, as well as 
religion. They anointed the hair, head, and beard, 
Psalm cxxxiii. 2. At their feasts and rejoicings they 
anointed the whole body ; but sometimes only the 
head or the feet, John xii. 3 ; Luke vii. 37 ; Matt. vi. 
17. The anointing of dead bodies was also practised, 
to preserve them from corruption, Mark xiv. 8 ; xvi. 
1 ; Luke xxiii. 56. They anointed kings and high- 
priests at their inauguration, (Exod. xxix. 7, 29 ; Lev. 
iv. 3 ; Judg. ix. 8 ; 1 Sam. ix. 16 ; 1 Kings xix. 15, 16.) 
as also the sacred vessels of the tabernacle and tem- 
ple, Exod. xxx. 26, &c. 

Anointing, in general, was emblematical of a par- 



ticular sanctification ; a designation to the service of 
God, to a holy and sacred use. God prescribed to 
Moses the manner of making the oil, or the perfumed 
ointment, with which the priests and the vessels of 
the tabernacle were to be anointed, Ex. xxx. 30, seq. 
It was composed of the most exquisite perfumes and 
balsams, and was prohibited for all other uses. Eze- 
kiel upbraids his people with having made a like 
perfume for their own use, chap, xxiii. 41. 

The anointing of sacred persons and sacred orna- 
ments, and utensils of the temple, tabernacle, altars, 
and basins, removed them from ordinary and com- 
mon use ; separated them to an appropriate dignity, 
and rendered them holy, sacred, and reverend. The 
anointing received by Aaron and his sons, devolved 
on his whole race, which thereby became devoted 
to the service of the Lord, and consecrated to his 
worship, Lev. viii ; Exod. xxix. 7 ; Psalm cxxxii. 2. 
The rabbins think the holy oil was poured on the 
head of Aaron in the form of an X ; according to 
others, in the form of a caph — d. Many are of opin- 
ion, that of the ordinary priests the hands only were 
anointed. The Levites did not receive any unction. 
The ceremonies of anointing were continued for 
seven days ; and the rabbins inform us, that while 
the ointment or perfume, that was composed by Mo- 
ses, lasted, they thus anointed all the high-priests that 
succeeded, for seven days. But when this perfume 
was exhausted, they contented themselves with in- 
stalling the high-priest for seven days, in his sacred 
habit. The former, therefore, were called high- 
priests anointed, (Lev. iv. 3 ; v. 16.) the latter were 
said to be initiated in their habits. They say, also,| 
that there was never made any new oil, after that of 
Moses was spent, which they think lasted to the cap- 
tivity of Babylon. But the Christian fathers believe, 
that the unction of the high-priests continued to the 
coming of the true anointed, the Messiah, Jesus 
Christ. Besides, Moses nowhere forbids to renew, 
or compose again, this ointment. It even appears 
that he intended it should be repeated as oc- 
casion required, by setting down its composition so 
punctually. 

The anointing of kings is not commanded by Mo- 
ses ; but we find it practised in sacred history. Sam- 
uel anointed Saul, (1 Sam. x. 1.) which was renewed 
some time after at Gilgal, (1 Sam. xi. 15.) when Saul 
had delivered Jabesh-Gilead from the violence of 
Nahash, king of the Ammonites. Samuel also re- 
ceived orders from the Lord to anoint young David, 
which lue did ; (1 Sam. xvi. 13.) but as his title to the 
crown was much disputed by the house of Saul, the 
unction was given him three times, reckoning this 
the first. He was afterwards consecrated at Hebron, 
by the tribe of Judah, after the death of Saul, (2 Sam. 
ii. 4.) and lastly, at Hebron, by all Israel, after the 
death of Abner, 2 Sam. v. When Absalom rebelled 
against his father, he caused himself to be anointed 
with the holy oil ; and Solomon also was anointed by 
the high-priest Zadok, and the prophet Nathan, 2 
Sam. xix. 10 ; 1 Kings i. 39. 

But we do not find that the kings of Israel gener- 
ally practised this ceremony. The prophet Elijah 
received an order from the Lord to anoint Hazael, 
importing his ruling over Syria ; and also Jehu, son 
of Nimshi, for his reigning over Israel, 1 Kings xix 
15, 16. Elijah did not execute this commission him 
self; but his disciple Elisha performed it on the 
person of Jehu, who is the only king of Israel 
whose anointing is expressly mentioned in Scrip- 
ture. Among the kings of Judah, however, we find 



ANOINTING 



[ G8 ] 



ANT 



many instances, even down to the fall of the kingdom ; 
especially when any difficulty occurred about the 
succession to the crown ; as under Joash and Jeho- 
aliaz, sons of Josiah, 2 Kings xi. 12. After the re- 
turn from the captivity, anointing was no longer 
practised on the kings ; nor even on the priests, if 
the Jews may be believed. Lastly, it is said or im- 
p'ied in Scripture, that the prophets were anointed ; 
but we have no particulars of the manner. It is 
even doubted, w r hether they did receive any real 
unction. Elijah is sent to anoint Elisha, (1 Kings 
xix. 19.1 but as to the execution of this command, 
Elijah did nothing to Elisha but throw his cloak 
over his shoulders. It is therefore very probable 
that the word anointing, in this place, only imports a 
particular appointment, designation, or call, to the 
office of prophet. 

The unction of Christ the Messiah, the anointed 
of the Lord, was represented by all these now men- 
tioned. It was foretold in Psalm xlv. 7. "Thou 
lovest righteousness, and hatest iniquity ; therefore 
God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of 
gladness, above thy fellows." And in Isaiah lxi. 1. 
" The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because 
the Lord hath anointed me," &c. And Dan. ix. 24. 
" Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, 
an I upon thy holy city .... to seal up the vision and 
prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." In the 
Christian dispensation we acknowledge the spiritual 
unction of Jesus Christ, the true anointed of the 
Father, (Luke vi. 18 ; Acts iv. 27 ; x. 38.) who hath 
anointed us by his grace, sealed us with his seal, 
and given us the pledge of the Holy Spirit, which 
dwells in our hearts, 2 Cor. i. 21. Our Lord was 
anointed personally ; at least, some parts of his per- 
son; (see Messiah;) but especially at his baptism, 
when the Shekinah settled on him. Some ancient 
sects thought, that at this time the Christ, i. e. the 
anointing, was peculiarly communicated to him. 
Was not the spitting in his face by the soldiers a 
mock unction ; as the crown of thorns, and the pur- 
ple robe, were mock ensigns of royalty ? 

Mark (vi. 13.) informs us, that when the apostles 
were sent by Christ, to preach throughout Judea, 
they worked many miracles, anointed the sick, and 
healed them in the name of the Lord. James gives 
directions that the sick among the faithful should 
send for the priests of the church, who should pray 
for them, and anoint them with oil in the name of the 
Lord. He says, that prayer, accompanied with faith, 
shall heal the sick ; that the Lord will comfort him, 
and if he have sinned, it shall be remitted to him. 
On this it is that the church of Rome founds her 
extreme unction, acknowledges it as an institution of 
Jesus Christ, and receives it as one of her seven sac- 
raments, to which the sanctifying grace is promised ; 
forgetting that the apostle directs this anointing for 
the purpose of restoring the sick to health ; i. e. for 
life ; whereas the church of Rome employs it for 
the purpose of dismissing the expiring soul : i. e. for 
death. 

The custom of anointing is common in the East, 
where it is used civilly, as a part of personal elegance 
and dress ; medically, as being beneficial in certain 
disorders, and even, as some say, preventing the 
plague. It is also used officially, as appears in the 
former parts of this article. 

[The custom of anointing with oil or perfume was 
also common among the Greeks and Romans ; espe- 
cially the anointing of guests at feasts and other 
entertainments. See Potter's Grec. Ant. ii. p. 385. 



Adam's Rom. Ant. p. 444. Hor. Od. ii. 7. ii. 11 

iii. 29. Joseph. Ant. xix. 4. 1. and 9. 1. Iliad 
xiv. 171. 

The same custom is still prevalent in the East. 
Tavernier says that "among the Arabs olive oil is 
regarded as a very agreeable present. When any 
one offers it to them, they immediately take off their 
turban and anoint their head, face, and beard, raising 
their eyes at the same time to heaven and exclaiming : 
' Thanks be to God.' " Rosenm. A. u. N. Morgenland, 

iv. p. 117. — Sometimes rosewater and perfumes 
are substituted instead of the ancient custom. Nie- 
buhr relates the following : (Descript. of Arabia, 
Copenh. 1772. p. 59.) "When the visitor rises to 
go away, a sign is made to the servants to bring 
rosewater and the chafing-dish of perfumes. This 
ceremony, however, is seen only on extraordinary 
occasions ; or when a hint is very civilly to be given, 
that the master of the house has other business ; for 
so soon as a guest has been sprinkled with rosewater, 
or has had his beard and wide sleeves fumigated 
with the perfume, he must not stay any longer. We 
were received for the first time with all the oriental 
ceremonies at Rosetta, at the house of a Greek mer- 
chant. One of our company was not a little startled, 
as a servant placed himself directly before him, and 
began to throw rosewater into his face and upon his 
clothes. Fortunately there was an European with 
us, who better understood the customs of these 
countries, and explained to us in few words how the 
thing was ; otherwise we should have been the 
laughing-stock of all the orientals present." *R. 

ANSWER. In addition to the usage of the 
phrase, to answer, in the sense of a reply, it has the 
following significations : — (1.) To sing in two cho- 
ruses, or responses, Exod. xv. 21 ; Numb. xxi. 17 ; 1 
Sam. xxix. 5. — (2.) It is also taken in the sense of an 
accusation or defence, Gen. xxx. 33 ; Deut. xxxi. 21 ; 
Hos. v. 5. [But the chief peculiarity lies in the cir- 
cumstance, that the word to ansicer is frequently 
employed in the beginning of a discourse, when it 
does not indicate a response, but simply the commence- 
ment of speaking. The Heb. nj;>, and Gr. unoxoh o- 
fiai, are used in the same manner, and are chiefly 
translated in the English version by to answer, e. g. 
Zech. iii. 4 ; iv. 11, 12 ; Matt. xi. 25 ; xii. 38 ; xvii. 4 ; 
Mark ix. 5 ; Luke vii. 40, etc. In other instances, 
they are translated more according to the proper 
sense; e. g. Job iii. 2. Heb. "Then answered Job 
and said ;" Eng. " And Job spake and said." Cant, 
ii. 10. R. 

ANT, the devourer, a little insect, famous for its 
social habits, economy, unwearied industry, and 
prudent foresight. Proverbs vi. 6 — 8. is a passage 
for a long discourse : " Go to the ant, thou sluggard, 
consider her ways, and be wise. Which having no 
guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the 
summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest ;" but 
a long discourse would be misplaced here. The 
same character of foresight is given to the ant, (appar- 
ently by a different writer from Solomon,) in chap, 
xxx. 25 : " The ants are a people not strong, yet 
they prepare their meat in the summer." Trom 
these testimonies, and from many others among the 
ancients, we conclude, that in warmer climates, the 
ants do not sleep during winter; but continue more 
or less in activity, and during this season enjoy the 
advantages arising from their summer stores ; which 
does not invalidate the remark of our naturalists, 
that in this colder, climate ants are torpid during 
whiter. In our hot-houses — we speak from observa- 



ANT 



t 69 ] 



ANT 



tion — ants are not torpid. We may appeal (as 
Scheuchzer does) to Aristotle, Pliny, Plutarch, Vir- 
gil, and Jerome ; (Life of Malchus ;) but we only 
quote Horace, who says, 

Parvula nam exemplo est magni formica laboris : 
Ore trahit quodcunque potest, atque addit acervo 
Quern struit, haud ignara, ac non incauta futuri. 

Sat. 1. 

" The ant, small as she is, sets us an example ; she 
is very laborious, she carries in her little mouth 
whatever she can, and adds it to her constructed 
store heap, providing against a future period, with 
great precaution." 

" After the example of the ant, some have learned 
to provide against cold and hunger;" says Juvenal, 
Sat. 6. These testimonies may convince us that 
the ant in warmer climates provides agaiust a day 
of want. As this insect is such a favorite with 
.both naturalists and moralists, we shall quote Bar- 
but's account of it. in his work on British insects, 
p. 277. 

"The outward shape of this insect is singular and 
curious, when seen through the microscope. With 
good reason it is quoted as a pattern of industry. A 
nest of ants is a small, well regulated republic ; their 
peace, union, good understanding, and mutual assist- 
ance, deserve the notice of an observer. The males 
and females, provided with wings, enjoy all the 
pleasures of a wandering life ; while the species of 
neuters, without wings or sex, labor unremittingly. 
Follow with your eye a colony that begins to settle, 
which is always in a stiff soil, at the foot of a wall or 
tree, exposed to the sun ; you will perceive one, and 
sometimes several cavities, in the form of an arched 
vault, which lead into a cave contrived by their 
removing the mould with their jaws. Great policy 
in their little labors prevents disorder and confusion ; 
each has its task ; whilst one casts out the particle 
of mould that it has loosened, another is returning 
home to work. All of them employed in forming 
themselves a retreat of the depth of one foot, or more, 
they think not of eating, till they have nothing fur- 
ther left to do. Within this hollow den, supported 
by the roots of trees and plants, the ants come to- 
gether, live in society, shelter themselves from sum- 
mer storms, from winter frosts, and take care of the 
eggs which they have in their trust. The wood-ants 
are larger than the garden ones, and also more for- 
midable. Armed with a small sting, concealed in 
the hinder part of their abdomen, they wound who- 
ever offends them. Their puncture occasions a hot, 
painful itching. They are carnivorous ; for they 
dissect, with the utmost neatness and delicacy, frogs, 
lizards, and birds, that are delivered over to them. 
The preservation of the species is in all animated 
beings the most important care. Behold, with what 
concern and caution the ants at the beginning of the 
spring load themselves between their two jaws with 
the new-hatched larva?, in order to expose them to 
the early rays of the beneficent sun ! The milder 
weather being come, the ants now take the field. 
Fresh cares, new labors, great bustling, and laying 
up of provisions. Corn, fruits, dead insects, carripu, , 
all is lawful prize. An ant meeting another, accosts 
it with a salute worthy of notice. The ant overloaded 
with booty, is helped by her fellow-am. One chances 
to make a discovery of a valuable capture, she gives 
information of it to another, and in a short time a 
legion of ants come and take possession of the new 



conquests. No general engagement with the inl ab- 
itants of the neighboring nest, only sometimes a few 
pri vate skirmishes, soon determined by the conqueror. 
All those stores, collected with so much eagerness 
during the day, are immediately consumed. The 
subterraneous receptacle is the hall, where the feast 
is kept; every one repairs thither to take his re- 
past ; all is in common throughout the little repub- 
lic, and at its expense are the larva? fed. Too weak 
and helpless to go a foraging, it is chiefly in their 
behalf the rest go to and fro, bring home, and lay 
up. They shortly turn to chrysalids, in which state 
they take no food, but give occasion to new cares 
and solicitudes. All human precaunons have not 
hitherto been able to supply that degree of warmth 
and minute attention, which the ants put in practice 
to forward the instant of their last metamorphosis. 
The insect issuing forth to a new life, tears its white 
transparent veil ; it is then a real ant, destitute of 
wings, if it has no sex ; winged, if it be male or 
female, always to be known by a small erect scale 
placed on the thread, which connects the body and 
thorax. The males, who are much smaller, seldom 
frequent. the common habitation; but the females, 
much larger, repair to it to deposit their eggs, which 
is all the labor they undergo. The winter's cold 
destroys them. The fate which attends the mules is 
not well ascertained ; do they fall victims to the se- 
verity of winter ? or are they made over to the rage 
of the neighboring ants ? These latter pass the win- 
ter in a torpid state, as some other insects do, till 
spring restores them to, their wonted activity : they 
have, therefore, no stores for winter, no consumption 
of provisions. What are commonly sold in markeb 
for ants' eggs, are grubs newly hatched, of whicl 
pheasants, nightingales, and partridges, are ver) 
fond. In Switzerland, they are made subservient t« 
the destruction of caterpillars ; which is done bj 
hanging a pouch filled with ants upon a tree ; and 
they, making their escape through an aperture con- 
trived on purpose, run over the tree, without being 
able to reach down to the ground, because care has 
been previously taken to besmear the foot of the tree 
with wet clay or soft pitch ; in consequence of which, 
compelled by hunger, they fall upon the caterpillars 
and devour them." • 

Forskal, speaking of the red ant, says, " It is less 
than the former, inhabits wood, and is in reputation 
among the husbandmen for the useful hatred with 
which it pursues the dharr, which greatly infests the 
date trees." 

ANTARADA, a city of Syria, or Phenicia, on 
the continent, opposite to, and east of, the island 
Arada, and of the city Arada, in that island. Scrip- 
ture does not speak expressly of the city Antarada : 
but in several places, it mentions Arada, or Arva, or 
the Arvadites, who are reckoned among the Canaan- 
ites, whose country God gave to the Hebrews, Gen. 
x. 18 ; 1 Chron. i. 16. Antarada is at present called 
Tortosa, and is still considerable, chiefly on account 
of its fine harbor. See Aradus. 

ANTELOPE. This animal is not mentioned in 
the English Bible, but there is little doubt among the 
best interpreters that the <ax tzebi, which our trans- 
lators have taken for the roe, is really the gazelle or 
antelope. The roe is extremely rare in Palestine 
and the adjoining countries, but the antelope is very 
common in every part of the Levant ; and when it 
is recollected that the *xs was allowed to the Hebrews 
as an article of food, and it is found that the antelope 
answers in character to it, we shall have little dirfi- 



ANTEL* >PE 



[ 70 1 



ANT 



culty in acquiescing in thJ.i interpretation. The 
name from the verb r\y>, to shine., be splendid, is 
very characteristic of the be;: uty and elegance of the 
gazelle, to which the ancients were accustomed to 
compare every thing which w as beautiful and lovely, 
as Cant. ii. 9 ; iv. 5 ; vii. 4. &,c. The gazelle or ante- 
lope is of a gregarious character, and is said to live 
together in large troops, to the number of two or 
three thousand ; (Russell'j Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, vol. 
ii. p. 153.) whereas the roe is an animal of a very 
different disposition, living in separate families, and 
seldom associating with strangers. The LXX uni- 
formly translate the Hebrew name of this animal by 
Soi>xuc, dorcas, as it primarily signifies beauty, and is 
so translated in several places. In corroboration of 
the validity of this interpretation, Dr. Shaw observes, 
that the characteristics which are attributed to the 
Sooxuq, both in sacred and profane history, will well 
agree with the antelope. Thus, Aristotle describes it 
to be the smallest of the horned animals, as the ante- 
lope certainly is. The dorcas is described to have fine 
eyes, and those of the antelope are so to a proverb. 
The damsel whose name was Tabitha, which is by 
interpretation Dorcas, (Acts ix. 3(3.) might be so called 
from this circumstance. David's Gadites, (1 Chron. 
xii. 8.) together with Asahel, (2 Sam. ii. 18.) are said 
to be as swift of foot as the tzebi ; and few creatures 
exceed the antelope in swiftness. The antelope is 
also in great esteem among the eastern nations as an 
article of food, having a very musky taste, which is 
highly agreeable to their palates ; and therefore the 
tzebi, or antelope, might well be received as one of 
the dainties at Solomon's table, 1 Kings iv. 23. 
From Dr. Russell, v/e learn that the people of Syria 
distinguish between the antelope of the mountain and 
that of the plain. The former is the most beautifully 
formed, and it bounds with surprising agility; the 
latter is neither so handsome, so strong, nor so active. 
Both, however, are so fleet, that the greyhounds, 
though reckoned excellent, cannot, without aid of 
the falcon, come up with them, except in soft, deep 
ground. It is to the former species of this animal, 
no doubt, that the sacred writers allude, when they 
speak of its fleetness upon the mountain, 1 Chron. 
xii. 8 ; Cant. ii. 8, 9, 17 ; viii. 14. • 

[The gazelle or antelope of the Bible, is the Anti- 
lopa cervicapra or dorcas of Linnaeus, the common 
antelope. It is about 2A feet in height, of a reddish 
brown color, with the belly and feet white, has long 
naked ears, and a short, erect tail. The horns are 
black, about 12 inches long, and bent like a lyre. It 
inhabits Barbary, Egypt, Arabia, and Syria, and is 
about half the size of a fallow deer. It goes in large 
flocks, is easily tamed, though naturally very timid ; 
and its flesh is reckoned excellent food. 

There are no less than 29 species of antelopes in 
all. This animal constitutes a genus between the 
deer and the goat. They are mostly confined to 
Asia and Africa, inhabiting the hottest regions of the 
old world, or the temperate zones near the tropics. 
None of them, except the chamois and the saiga, are 
found in Europe. In America only one species has 
yet been found, viz. the Missouri antelope, which in- 
habits the country west of the Mississippi. Antelopes 
chiefly inhabit hilly countries, though, some reside in 
the plains ; and some species form herds of two or 
three thousand, while others keep in small troops of 
five or six. These animals are elegantly formed, 
active, restless, timid, shy, and astonishingly swift, 
running with vast bounds, and springing or leaping 
with surprising elasticity ; they frequently stop for a 



moment in the midst, of their course to gaze at their 
pursuers, and then resume their flight. 

The chase of these animals is a favorite diversion 
among the eastern nations; and the accounts that 
are given of it, supply ample proofs of the swiftness 
of the antelope tribe. The greyhound, the fleetest 
of dogs, is usually outrun by them ; and the sports- 
man is obliged to have recourse to the aid of the 
falcon, which is trained to the work, for seizing on 
the animal and impeding its motion, that the dogs 
may thus have an opportunity of overtaking it. In 
India and Persia a sort of leopard is made use of 
in the chase ; and this animal takes its prey not by 
swiftness of foot, but by its astonishing springs, which 
are similar to those of the antelope ; and yet if the 
leopard should fail in its first attempt, the game 
escapes. 

The fleetness of this animal has been proverbial 
in the countries which it inhabits, from the earliest 
time ; as also the beauty of its eyes. So that to say, 
"You have the eyes of a gazelle," is used as the 
greatest compliment that can be paid to a fine 
woman. *R. 

ANTHEDON, a city of Palestine, lying on the 
Mediterranean, about twenty furlongs south of Ga- 
za. Herod the Great called it Agrippias, in honor 
of Agrippa. See Agrippias, and the Map of 
Canaan. 

ANTICHRIST, the name of that Man of Sin who 
is expected to precede the second coming of our 
Saviour ; and who is represented in Scripture, and 
in the Fathers, as the epitome of every tiling impious, 
cruel, and abominable. To him is referred what 
the prophets have said of Antiochus Epiphanes, of 
Gog and Magog, of the son of perdition, and of the 
man of sin, mentioned by Paul, which many have 
applied historically to Nero. For it may be eaid, 
that Nebuchadnezzar, Cambyses, Antiochus Epipha- 
nes, and Nero, were so many antichrists, or fore- 
runners of antichrist. John informs us, that in his 
time there were many antichrists ; meaning heretics 
and persecutors, 1 John ii. 18. But antichrist, the 
true, real antichrist, who is to come before the uni- 
versal judgment, will in himself include all the marks 
of wickedness, which have been separately extant in 
different persons, his types, or forerunners. Paul 
(2 Thess. ii. 3, 4.) says, "That this man of sin, this 
son of perdition, this enemy of God, shall exalt him- 
self above all that is called God, or that is worship- 
ped; so as to sit in the temple of God, showing 
himself that he is God." This terrible picture of 
antichrist seemed so like Nero, that many of the an- 
cients thought that prince was antichrist, or at least 
his forerunner, and that antichrist would appear very 
soon after him. Others thought, that Nero would 
rise again before the consummation of ages, to ac- 
complish what was said of antichrist in the Scrip- 
tures. John (Rev. xi. 7.) describes antichrist under 
the name of the "beast that ascendeth out of the 
bottomless pit, and killeth the two witnesses ; who 
maketh war with the saints; killeth them, and leav- 
eth their dead bodies exposed in the market-place of 
the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and 
Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." He 
afterward (ch. xiii.) represents him as " a beast rising 
up out of the sea, with ten horns, and ten crowns on 
his horns, and on his head the name of blasphemy. 
The dragon (or the devil) gave him his strength and 
power. The beast was worshipped, and had a 
mouth given him, speaking great things, and blas- 
phemies, and power to make war against the saints 



ANTICHRIST 



[ 71 ] 



ANTICHRIST 



for two and forty months : the beast overcame, and 
was worshipped for two and forty months." In 
another place he says, "that the beast should oblige 
all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and 
bond, to receive a mark in their right hands, or in 
their foreheads ; so that no one might buy or sell, 
save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, 
or the number of his name. Here is wisdom ; let 
him that hath understanding count the number of the 
beast ; for it is the number of a man ; and his number 
is six hundred three score and six." Some believe 
this number 666, to be that of the letters in the name 
of antichrist, according to their numerical valuation,' — 
for the letters of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin alpha- 
bets have their numerical values. 

It has greatly perplexed the curious, to know 
whether the name of the beast, which John speaks 
jf, should be written in Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, or 
Latin ; whether this name be that of his person, or of 
his dignity, or that which his followers should give 
him ; or that which he will deserve by his crimes. 
There are many conjectures on this matter; and 
almost all commentators have tried their skill, with- 
out being able to say, positively, that any one has 
succeeded, in ascertaining the true mark of the beast, 
or the number of his name. 

The number 666, has been discovered in the 
names — Ulpius Trajanus (a), Dioclesian (b), Julian 
the Apostate (c), Luther (d), Evanthas (e), Latinus 
(/), Titan (g), Lampetis (h), Niketes (i), Kakos Ho- 
degos (k) that is, bad guide ; Arnoumai (I) I renounce ; 
Romiit (m) Roman; Abinu Kadescha Papa (n) our 
holy father the pope ; and, Elion Adonai Jehovah 
Kadosch (o) the Most High, the Lord, the Holy God. 



(«) Y A H I 2 

70. 400. 30. 80. 10. 70. 6 666 

\b) Diocles Augustus dclxvi. 

\c) C. F. Julianus Cesar, atheus. . . dclxvi. 

Or, rather, C. F. Jul. Caes. Aug. . . dclxvi. 
"\d) -i n S i S 

200. 400. 30. 6. 30 666 

(e) E Y A ~N ft J 2 

5. 400. 1. 50. 9. 1. 200 666 

(/) A A T E I NO 2 

30. 1. 300. 5. 10. 50. 70. 200 666 

(g) TEX TAN 

300. 5. 10. 300. 1. 50 666 

(h) A A M IT E T I 2 

30. 1. 40. 80. 5. 300. 10. 200 666 

(i) ONI K H T H 2 

70. 50. 10. 20. 8. 300. 8. 200 666 

(k) K A K O 2 O A H r O 2 

20. 1. 20. 70. 200. 70. 4. 8. 3. 70. 200. . . 666 
{I) A p N o y ni E 

1. 100. 50. 70. 400. 40. 5 666 

>m) n i % d i i 

400. 10. 10. 40. 6. 200. ....... 666 



in) i s i s - n n - v l "i p n l j i 2 k 
10. 80. 10. 80. 1. 1. 300. 6. 4. 100. 5. 6. 50. 10. 2. 1. 
\o) ty -i p n l n ' i : -i x ] l i S v 
300. 4. 100. 5. 6. 5. 10. 10. 30. 4. 1. 50. 6. 10. 30. 70. 

This last name could have been invented and calcu- 
lated, only to show the vanity of all the pains taken 
in this inquiry ; since the number 666 is found in 
fiames the most sacred, the most opposite to anti- 
christ. The wisest and the safest way is, to be silent. 

We may say the same of the time when antichrist 
is expected to appear. We know, certainly, that, he 



will come before the consummation of ages, before 
the second coming of Jesus Christ. But those who 
have attempted to determine the time of his appear- 
ance, have only discovered their ignorance and rash- 
ness. Ever since Paul's days, impostors have terrified 
believers, by affirming, that the day of the Lord was 
at hand. He writes to the Thessalonians, (2 Epist. 
ii. 1, 2.) "We beseech you, brethren, be not soon 
shaken in mind, as if the day of Christ were at hand ; 
for that day shall not come, except there come a fall- 
ing away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the 
son of perdition." John says, (1 Epist. iv. 3.) " Eveiy 
spirit that confesseth not that Christ is come in the 
flesh, is not of God ; this is that spirit of antichrist, 
whereof you have heard that it should come, and 
even now already is it in the world." The heretics 
of that period were true signs of antichrist ; but these 
cautions show the expectations of the Christians of that 
time. The same opinions and dispositions are observa- 
ble in the generality of the early fathers. The churches 
of Vienne, and Lyons, in Gaul, seeing the violence 
of the persecution under Marcus Aurelius, believed 
that they then beheld the persecution of antichrist. 
An old ecclesiastical author, called Judas, who lived 
under Severus, asserted, that antichrist would very 
soon appear, because of the persecution then raging 
against the church. Judas Syrus, Tertullian, and 
Cyprian, who flourished soon after, did not doubt but 
that the coming of antichrist was very near. Hilary, 
observing the progress of Arianism, believed he saw 
those signs which were the forerunners of antichrist ; 
and Basil, Jerome, Chrysostom, and Gregory the 
Great, were of opinion, that the end of the world 
was at hand, and the coming of antichrist not distant. 
After the tenth century, which concluded the sixth 
millenary, according to that opinion which reckoned 
the birth of Jesus Christ to have happened about 
A. M. 5000, people began to get the better of this 
apprehension of the end of the world, which, accord- 
ing to a tradition of the ancients, was to take place 
after a duration of 6000 years. They began to build 
larger churches and edifices. Jerome's translation of 
the Scriptures, which stated the world to have existed 
not above 4000 years before Christ, contributed like- 
wise to the persuasion, that the final period of the 
world, and the coming of antichrist, were not ex- 
tremely near: this, however, did not hinder some 
from attempting to fix the time of antichrist's appear- 
ance. The council of Florence (A. D. 1105) con- 
demned Fluentius, bishop of that city, for maintain- 
ing that antichrist was then bom. Abbot Joachim, 
who lived in the twelfth century, pretended that an- 
tichrist was to appear in the sixtieth year of his time. 
Arnaud de Villeneuve said, antichrist would come 
A. D. 1326; Francis Melet said, in A. D. 1530, or 
1540; John of Paris, A. D. 1560; Cardinal de Cusa, 
A. D. 1730, or 1734 ; Peter Daille was of opinion, 
that, according to his calculations, he must appear in 
A. D. 1789 ; Jerome Cardan, in A. D. 1800 ; John 
Pico, of Mirandola, in A. D. 1994. Events have 
already confuted the generality of these predictions ; 
and we may affirm, without rashness, that the- rest 
are not superior in certainty. A tradition seems to 
have been received among the ancients, that anti- 
christ should be born of some Jewish family, and of 
the tribe of Dan. The most ancient commentators 
on the Revelation were of opinion, that John's omis- 
sion of the name of Dan, in his enumeration of the 
tribes of Israel, (Rev. vii. 5.) proceeded from his 
foreknowledge, that antichrist should arise from this 
tribe. And how should he arise from this tribe, 



ANTICHRIST 



[ 72 ] 



ANT 



since the Jews dwell no longer in Judea, or, at least, 
are no longer masters of that country ? Why, he 
will come, say these fathers, from the other side of 
the Euphrates, from Babylonia, where some suppose 
that the remainder of the ten tribes (and in particu- 
lar of the tribe of Dan) subsists still. This opinion is 
followed by almost all who have written since Je- 
rome, in whose time it was common. As to the 
parents of antichrist, interpreters are not agreed. 
Some think his father will be a devil, and his mother 
some corrupt woman ; others think, that antichrist 
will be himself a devil incarnate. Hilary thought 
that Satan would appear in the person of antichrist, 
and endeavor to persuade the world that he is God, 
by working false miracles. As our Lord was born 
of a virgin, says Hippolytus, so will antichrist boast of 
having derived his birth from a virgin also ; but, 
whereas the Son of God took upon him real flesh, 
antichrist, says that author, will assume only the ap- 
pearance, the image, or phantom of flesh. Chrysos- 
tom, Theodoret, Theophylact and others, hold that 
antichrist will be a real man, though an agent of Sa- 
tan, in exercising his cruelty and malice against the 
faithful. 

It remains to state some ideas as to the dominion 
of antichrist. It has been supposed by some writers, 
that he will be born in Babylonia — that he will there 
lay the foundation of his empire — that the Jews will 
be the first to declare for him, to acknowledge his 
dominion, and to enjoy the principal employments in 
his government. He will win them by his delusion, 
his false miracles, and by all the appearances of 
goodness, piety and clemency; so that this unhappy 
people will take him for their Messiah ; and will flat- 
ter themselves with the expectation of seeing the 
kingdom of Israel restored by his means to its for- 
mer splendor. After he has subdued Egypt, Ethio- 
pia, and Libya, say the same authors, he will march 
against Jerusalem, which he will easily conquer, — 
and there establish the seat of his empire. Gog and 
Mago,_ will then oppose him ; he will give them bat- 
tle, and defeat them without difficulty, in the midst 
of Palestine ; see Ezek. xxxviii. xxxix. After this, 
he will direct all his endeavors to the destruction 
of Christ's kingdom, and the persecution of Chris- 
tians : he will exalt himself above all that is called 
God, or that is worshipped ; so that he, as God, shall 
sit in the temple of God ; (2 Thess. ii. 4.) in the tem- 
ple of Jerusalem ; which he will rebuild. Some of 
the ancients believed, that he will be seated in the 
churches of Christians, (the temples of God,) and 
there receive the adoration of great numbers of 
apostates, who will renounce the faith of Christ. 
Scripture does not mention the duration of anti- 
christ's kingdom : but in several places, it seems to 
allow three years and a half, for the continuance of 
his persecutions : at least it assigus three years and a 
half, for the persecutions of those who are considered 
as figures of antichrist. 

Mussulmans, as well as Jews and Christians, ex- 
pect another Christ. They call him Daggiel, or Deg- 
giel, from a name which signifies an impostor, or a 
liar; and they hold that their prophet Mahomet 
taught one of his disciples, whose name was Tamini- 
Al-Dari, every thing relating to antichrist ; and, on 
his authority, they tell us, that r.ntichrist must come 
at the end of the world ; that hs will make his entry 
into Jerusalem, like Jesus Christ, riding on an ass ; 
but that Christ, who is not dead, will come at his 
second advent to encounter him : and that, after hav- 
ing conquered him, he will then die indeed. That the 



beast, described by John in the Revelation, will ap- 
pear with antichrist, and make war against the saints. 
That Imam Mahadi, who remains concealed among 
the Mussulmans, will then show himself, join Jesus 
Christ, and with him engage Daggiel ; after which 
they will unite the Christians and the Mussulmans, 
.and of the two religions will make but one. D'Her- 
'belot, Bibl. Orient. 

This subject is confessedly obscure : there are some 
persons in the present day, who, observing late sur- 
prising and interesting events, have thought they 
pointed strongly to the near approach of antichrist : 
time, however, must ascertain whether their calcula- 
tions, observations, and determinations are coinci- 
dent with those appointed by Providence ; or whether 
they are no better founded than those propositions 
which events have already confuted. 

Many Protestant writers have held, that the head 
of the "Romish church, and his power, is the "man 
of sin" or antichrist of the apostle; an opinion which 
Calmet, of course, could not entertain. Indeed, why 
should we attempt a descriptive delineation of a per 
son, whose portrait might, after a little patient wait- 
ing, be drawn from the life ? especially when so many 
others have failed in ascertaining him, as appears in 
this article. 

The apostle John asserts (1 Epist. ii. 18.) that in his 
time there were " many antichrists ;" and it is prob- 
able that, did we accurately know the number of 
pretenders to a divine mission, in- his days, (meaning 
before the destruction of Jerusalem,) we should see 
the propriety of his observation in the strongest light. 
Not only Judas Gaulonites, Theudas, and others men- 
tioned in Scripture, as making such pretences, were 
antichrists, but even the disciples of John the Baptist, 
who formed a numerous sect, not entirely extinct at 
this day. As the term occurs only in the writings 
of John, it is desirable to deduce our explanation of it 
from his authority. He uses it both collectively and 
individually : whence it should appear to be a power, 
or an operative principle, actuating many persons, 
rather than a single person so characterized and so 
denominated. 

I. ANTIGONUS, son of John Hircanus, and 
grandson of Simon Maccabseus. His brother, Aristo- 
bulus, made him his associate in the kingdom ; but 
was at length prevailed upon by their common ene- 
mies to put him- to death, B. C. 105. — Jos. Ant. xih. 
18 and 19. 

II. ANTIGONUS, son of Aristobulus, who was 
brother to Hircanus and Alexandra, was sent as a pris- 
oner to Rome, with his father and brother, by Pom- 
pey, who had taken Jerusalem. After remaining in 
Italy for some time, he returned to Judea, and after a 
variety of fortunes, was established king and high- 
priest, Herod being compelled to fly to Rome. Hav- 
ing obtained assistance from Antony and Caesar, 
Herod returned, and, after a firm and protracted re- 
sistance on the part of Antigonus, retook Jerusalem, 
and repossessed himself of the throne. Antigonus 
was carried to Antioch, and, at the solicitation^ of 
Herod, was there put to death by Antony, B. C. 37. — 
Jos. Ant. xiv. c. 11 and the following. 

ANTI-LIBANUS, see Lebanon. 

I. ANTIOCH, of Syria, on the Orontes, was for- 
merly called Riblath, according to Jerome. (On 
Ezek. xlvii ; Isa. xiii. 1.) It is mentioned only in the 
books of the Maccabees, and in the New Testament ; 
but Riblath, or Riblatha. is named Numbers xxxiv. 
11 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 33 ; xxv. 6, 20, 21 ; Jer. xxxix. 5 ; 
hi. 9, 10, 26, 27. This, however, could not have been 



ANTIOCH 



[ 73 1 



ANT 



the same as Antioch. (See Riblah.) Theodoref. 
says, that in his time there was a city or Riblah, near 
Emesa, in Syria ; which is contrary to Jerome. How- 
ever that might be, it is certain that Antioch was not 
known under this name, till after the reign of Seleu- 
cus Nicanor, who built it, and called it Antioch, in 
consideration of his father Antiochus, ante A. D. 301. 
Being centrally situated, it became the seat of empire 
of the Syrian kings of the Macedonian race, and 
afterwards of the Roman governors of the eastern 
provinces. There also the disciples of Jesus Christ 
were first called Christians, and making it a principal 
station, they from hence sent missionaries out in 
various directions, Acts xi. 26. Strabo describes 
Antioch as being in power and dignity not much in- 
ferior to Seleucia or Alexandria. Annnianus Mar- 
cellinus says it was celebrated throughout the 
world ; and Josephus characterizes it as the third 
city of the Roman provinces. It was long, indeed, 
the most powerful city of the East, and was famous 
among the Jews for the Jus Civitatis, or right of 
citizenship, which Seleucus had given to them in 
common with the Greeks and Macedonians, and 
which Josephus informs us they retained. These 
privileges, no doubt, contributed to render Antioch 
so desirable to the Christians, who were every where 
considered as a sect of Jews, since here they could 
perform their worship in their own way, without 
molestation or interruption. This may also contrib- 
ute to account for the importance attached by the 
apostles to the introduction of the gospel into Anti- 
och ; and for the interest taken by them in its promo- 
tion and extension, in a city so distant from Je- 
rusalem. 

Antioch was almost square, had many gates, was 
adorned with fine fountains, and possessed great fer- 
tility of soil and commercial opulence. The em- 
perors Vespasian, Titus, and others, granted consid- 
erable privileges to Antioch ; but it has also been ex- 
posed to great calamities and revolutions. In the 
years A. D. 340, 394, 396, 458, 526, and 528, it was 
almost demolished by earthquakes. The emperor 
Justinian repaired it, A. D. 529, and called it Theo- 
polis ; that is, " The City of God." Cosrhoes, king 
of Persia, took it, A. D. 540, massacred the inhabitants, 
and burnt it. Justinian ordered it to be rebuilt, A. 
D. 552 : Cosrhoes took it a second time, A. D. 574, in 
the reign of Justin, and destroyed its walls. A. D. 
588, it suffered a dreadful earthquake, in which above 
60,000 persons perished. It was again rebuilt, and 
again was exposed to new calamities. The Saracens 
took it, A. D. 638, in the reign of Heraclius : Nice- 
phorus Phocas retook it, A. D. 966. Cedrenus re- 
lates that, A. D. 970, an army of 100,000 Saracens 
besieged it, without success ; but they afterwards 
subdued it, added new fortifications to it, and made 
it almost impregnable. Godfrey of Bouillon, when 
engaged in the conquest of the Holy Land, besieged 
it, A. D. 1097. The siege was long and bloody ; but at 
length the Christians, by their zeal and by treachery, 
obtained possession, on Thursday, June 3, A. D. 
1098. In 1268, it was taken by the sultan of Egypt, 
who demolished it, destroyed its renown and mag- 
nificence, and placed it under the dominion of the 
Turk. 

Antioch abounded with great men, and its church 
Was long governed by illustrious prelates. It suffered 
much, however, on several occasions, sometimes 
being exposed to the violence of heretics, and at other 
times being rent by deplorable schisms. The bishop 
of Antioch has the title of Patriarch ; and has con- 
10 



stantly had a great share in the affairs of the Eastern 
church. 

Antioch is now called Antakia, and, till the year 
1822, it occupied a remote corner of the ancient 
enclosure of its walls ; its splendid buildings being 
reduced to hovels, and its population living in Turk- 
ish debasement. At that period it was revisited by 
its ancient subterranean enemy, and converted by an 
earthquake into a heap of ruins. It contains now 
about 10,000 inhabitants. 

From the medals of this city which are extant, it 
appears that it was honored as a Roman colony, a 
metropolis, and an asylum. It was also Jlutonomos, 
or governed by its own laws. Among these medals, 
there are two which require notice. The first reads 
'Arrto/emv Tt5r nQog Juyrij, which affords proof that 
Antioch valued itself on its relation to the temple 
and worship established in that 
LZ_ ^ - t ^-JL place. Daphne was, indeed, a 
/ y V! tBL-^M-. league from the city, but by the 
lxh~>f~^'*M zea ' °^ tne devotees, was consid- 
2 o v/iK) *"* " 3 | ere ^ as a su burb, or rather as a 

ii£&Sl> 1> 17 p art of the cit y itseIf " - But b y 

'^'^-"^tr- *" ar tne most interesting medal to 
^ijii^ us as Christians, is one on which 
is read, " Of the Antiocheans 
under Saturninus," who was governor of Syria at the 
time of our Saviour's birth. See Cyrenius. 

II. ANTIOCH, of Pisidia, a city belonging to the 
province of Pisidia in Asia Minor, but situated within 
the limits of Phrygia. It. was also built by Seleucus 
Nicanor. Paul and Barnabas preached here ; but 
the Jews, angry to see that some of the Gentiles re- 
ceived the gospel, raised a tumult, and obliged the 
apostles to leave the city, Acts xiii. 14. It is at pres- 
ent called Versategli, according to some ; but as 
others say, Tahoya, or Sibi, or Antiochio. 

ANTIOCHIS, concubine of AntiochusEpiphanes, 
who gave her the cities of Tarsus and Mallo, that she 
might receive their revenues for her own use. This 
was regarded by their inhabitants as an insupport- 
able mark of contempt: they took arms against Anti- 
ochus, who marched in person to reduce them, 2 
Mace. iv. 30. It was a custom with the kings of 
Persia, to give their wives particular cities ; some for 
their table, some for their head-dress, for their attire, 
for their girdles, &c. The idea was analogous to our 
pin-money. Cicero in Verrem, v. 

I; ANTIOCHUS. There were many kings of 
this name in Syria, after Seleucus Nicanor, (the 
second king of Syria, Alexander the Great being the 
first,) who was father of Antiochus Soter, so named 
for having hindered the invasion of Asia by the 
Gauls. 

II. ANTIOCHUS Theos, (the divine,) son and 
successor of Antiochus Soter, was poisoned by his 
wife Laodice, and succeeded by his son Seleucus 
Callinicus. 

III. ANTIOCHUS the Great, so celebrated on 
account of his wars against the Egyptians, Romans, 
and Jews, was the son of Seleucus Callinicus. and 
brother of Seleucus Ceraunus, whom he succeeded, 
ante A. D. 223. Having resolved to become master 
of Egypt, Antiochus seized Ccelo-Syria, (the province 
lying between Libanus and Antilibanus,) Phoenicia, 
and Judea. The Jews having submitted, and 
received him into their cities, he granted them, 
as a reward, 20,000 pieces of silver, to purchase 
beasts for sacrifice, 1460 measures of meal, 375 
measures of salt, to be offered with the sacrifices, and 
timber to rebuild the porches of the temple The 



ANTIOCHUS 



[ 74 ] 



ANTIOCHUS 



senators, priests, scribes, and singers of the temple, 
he exempted from the capitation tax, and permitted 
the Jews to live according to their own laws, through- 
out his dominions. He remitted the third part of 
their tribute, to indemnify them for their losses, in the 
war ; forbade the heathen from entering the temple 
without being purified, and from bringing into the 
city the flesh of mules, asses, and horses to sell, under 
the penalty of 3000 drachmas. Antiochus married 
his daughter Cleopatra to Ptolemy Epiphaues, king 
of Egypt, (B. C. l'J3,) and gave Ccelo-Syria, Phoeni- 
cia, and Judea, as her dowry, on condition that the 
tribute of these provinces should be equally divided 
between himself and the king of Egypt. Three 
years afterwards he was overcome by the Romans, 
and obliged to cede all his possessions beyond mount 
Taurus, and to give twenty hostages, (among whom 
was his own son, Antiochus, afterwards surnamed 
Epiphaues,) and to pay a tribute of 12,000 Euboic 
talents, each fourteen Roman pounds in weight. To 
defray these charges, he resolved to seize the treas- 
ures of the temple of Belus, at Elymais, which were 
very great ; but the people of that country, informed 
of his design, surprised and destroyed him, with all 
his army, ante A. D. 187. He left two sons, Seleucus 
Philopator, and Antiochus Epiphaues, who succeeded 
him. Joseph us Ant. xii. 3. 

IV. ANTIOCHUS Epiphanes, sou of Antiochus 
the Great, of the former article. Having continued 
as a hostage at Rome fourteen years, his brother 
Seleucus resolved to procure his return to Syria, and 
therefore sent his own son, Demetrius, as a hostage 
to Rome, instead of Antiochus; but while Antiochus 
was on his journey to Syria, Seleucus died ; (ante A. 
D. 175 ;) so that when lie landed, the people received 
hiin as some propitious deity, come to assume the 
government, and to oppose the enterprises of Ptole- 
my, king of Egypt, who threatened to invade Syria. 
It was upon this occasion that he received the sur- 
name of Epiphanes, ,(the illustrious,) that is, of one 
appearing as it were like a god. 

Antiochus soon directed his attention to Egypt, 
which he invaded, and reduced almost entirely to 
obedience, 2 Mace iv, 5. ante A. D. 173. During his 
siege of Alexandria, an occurrence took place which 
exhibited that cruel and ferocious temper that subse- 
quently exemplified itself so fully in the person of 
Antiochus Epiphaues, While besieging this city, a 
report was spread of his death, and the inhabitants 
of Jerusalem, among others, w r ho groaned under his 
yoke, gave expression to their feelings of joy, upon 
the receipt of the intelligence. The consequence of 
this was, that Antiochus, when returning from Egypt, 
entered the city forcibly, treated the Jews as rebels, 
and commanded his troops to slay all they met: 
80,000 were killed in three days' time ; 40,000 were 
made captives ; and as many sold, 2 Mace. v. 14. 
He entered into the holy of holies, being conducted 
hythe corrupt high-priest, Menelaus, from whence he 
took and carried off the most precious vessels, to the 
value of 1800 talents. In the year A. C. 171, Anti- 
ochus again entered Egypt, which he completely 
subdued, and in the year following he sent Apollo- 
nius iuto Judea (2 Mace. v. 24, 25.) with an army of 
22,000 men, with orders to destroy all who were of 
sftill age, and to sell the women and young men. 
Apollonius executed his commission but too punc- 
tually. It was at this time that Judas Maccabteus 
retired into the wilderness, with his father and his 
brethren, 2 Mace. v. 29. These calamities, however, 
were but preludes of what they were to suffer ; for 



Antiochus, apprehending that the Jews wotdd never 
be constant in obedience to him, unless he obliged 
thou to change their religion, and to embrace that 
of the Greeks, issued an edict, enjoining them to 
conform to the laws of other nations, and forbidding 
their usual sacrifices in the temple, their festivals, 
and their sabbath. The statue of Jupiter Olympus 
was placed on the altar of the temple, and the abom- 
ination of desolation polluted the house of God. 
Many corrupt Jews complied with these orders, but 
others opposed them : Mattathias and his sons retired 
to the mountains ; and old Eleazar, and the seven 
brethren, Maccabees, suffered death, with great cour- 
age, at Antioch, 2 Mace. vii. After the death of 
Mattathias, Judas Maccabseus put himself at the 
head of those Jews who continued faithful ; and op- 
posed with success the generals who were sent 
against him. Finding his treasures exhausted, An- 
tiochus went into Persia to levy tributes, and to 
gather large sums, which he had agreed to pay the 
Romans. Knowing there were very great riches in 
the temple of Elymais, he determined to carry them 
off; but the inhabitants of the country made so vigor- 
ous a resistance, that he was compelled to retreat 
towards Babylonia. When he arrived at Ecbatana, 
he received news of the defeat of Nicanor and Timo- 
theus, and that Judas Maccabreus had retaken the 
temple of Jerusalem, and restored the worship of the 
Lord. On receiving this intelligence, transported 
with indignation, he commanded the driver of his 
chariot to urge the horses forward, threatening to 
make Jerusalem a grave for the Jews. He fell from 
his chariot, however, and died, overwhelmed with 
pain and grief, in the mountains of Parataceue, in 
the little town of Tabes, A. M. 3840, ante A.D. 164. 

V. ANTIOCHUS Eupator, son of Antiochus 
Epiphanes, was but nine years old when his father 
died, and left him the kingdom of Syria. Lysias, 
who governed in the name of the young prince, led 
against Judea an army of 100,000 foot, 20,000 horse, 
and thirty elephants, 1 Mace, vi ; 2 Mace. xiii. He 
besieged and took the fortress of Bethsura ; from 
thence he marched against Jerusalem, and, notwith- 
standing the valor and resistance of the Maccabees, 
the city was ready to fall into his hands, when Ly 
sias received news that Philip (whom Antiochus 
Epiphanes, a little before his death, intrusted with 
the regency of the kingdom, during the minority of 
his son) was arrived at Antioch to take the govern- 
ment, according to the disposition of the late king. 
Lysias proposed an accommodation with the Jews, 
that he might return speedily to Antioch, and oppose 
Philip ; and having thus made peace, he immediately 
led the young king and his army into Syria. In the 
mean time Demetrius Soter, son of Seleucu:- Philo- 
pator, nephew of Antiochus Epiphanes, to whom, by 
right, the kingdom belonged, (for Antiochus Epiph 
anes procured it by usurpation from his nephew,) 
having escaped from Rome, where he had been a 
hostage, came into Syria ; and finding the people dis- 
posed for revolt, he headed an army, and marched 
immediately to Antioch, against Antiochus and Ly- 
sias. The inhabitants did not wait till he besieged it, 
but opened the gates, and delivered to him Lysias, 
and the young king, Antiochus Eupator, who were 
put to death by his orders, without being suffered to 
appear before him. A. M. 3842, ante A. D. 162. 

VI. ANTIOCHUS Theos, or the Divine, son of 
Alexander Balas, was placed on the throne of Syria 
by Diodotus, or Tryphon, who had deposed Deme- 
trius Nicanor, and compelled him to retire to Seleu- 



ANTIOCHUS 



[ 75 ] 



ANT 



cia, 1 Mace. xi. 39, &c. ante A. D. 145. To strengthen 
himself in his new dominions, Antiochus secured 
the friendship and assistance of Jonathan Macca- 
bseus, whom he confirmed "in the high-priesthood, 
and also granted him four toparchies (considerable 
districts) in Judea. The career of young Antiochus, 
however, was but short, for Tryphon, to whose per- 
fidy he owed the crown, resolved to take it for him- 
self. He made Jonathan Maccaba?us a prisoner at 
Ptolemais, and put him to death at Bascama, after 
which he returned into Syria, and procured the 
death of Antiochus. Thus Tryphon was left master 
of Syria. A. M. 3861, ante A. D. 143. 1 Mace, xiii ; 
2 Mace. xiv. 

VII. ANTIOCHUS Sidetes, or Soter, (the sa- 
viour,) or Eusebes, (the pious,) was sou of Demetrius 
Soter, and brother of Demetrius Nicanor. Tryphon, 
the usurper of the kingdom of Syria, having rendered 
himself odious to his troops, they deserted him, and 
offered their services to Cleopatra, wife of Demetrius 
Nicanor, who lived in the city of Seleucia, shut up 
with her children, while her husband, Demetrius, was 
a prisoner in Persia, where he had married Rodeguna, 
daughter of Arsaces, king of Persia. (Jos. Ant. xiii. 12.) 
Cleopatra, therefore, sent to Antiochus Sidetes, her 
brother-in-law, and offered him the crown of Syria, if 
he would marry her, to which Antiochus consented. 
He was then at Cnidus, where his father, Demetrius 
Soter, had placed him with one of his friends : he 
came into Syria, and wrote to Simon Maccabasus, to 
engage him against Tryphon, 1 Mace. xv. He con- 
firmed the privileges which the kings of Syria had 
granted to Simon, permitted him to coin money 
with his own stamp, declared Jerusalem and the 
temple exempt from royal jurisdiction, and promised 
other favors, as soon as he should become peaceable 
possessor of the kingdom which had belonged to his 
ancestors. 

Antiochus Sidetes, being come into Syria, married 
his sister-in-law, Cleopatra, A. M. 3865. Tryphon's 
troops resorted to him in crowds, and Tryphon, thus 
abandoned, retired to Dora, in Phoenicia, whither An- 
tiochus pursued him with an army of 120,000 foot, 
and 8000 horse, and with a powerful fleet. Simon 
Maccabfeus sent him 2000 chosen men, but Anti- 
ochus refused them, and revoked all his promises. 
He sent Athenobius to Jerusalem, to oblige Simon to 
restore Gazara and Joppa, with the citadel of Jerusa- 
lem, and to demand 500 talents, as tribute for the 
places Simon held out of Judea ; and 500 talents 
more, as reparation for injuries the king had suffered, 
fnd as tribute for his own cities ; threatening war 
against him if he did not comply. Simon showed 
Athenobius all the lustre of his wealth and power, 
told him he had no place in his possession which 
belonged to Antiochus, and, as to Gazara and Joppa, 
which cities had done infinite damage to his people, 
he would give the king one hundred talents for the 
property of them. 

Athenobius returned with great iudignation to An- 
tiochus, who was extremely offended at Simon's 
answer. In the mean time, Tryphon, having stolen 
privately from Dora, embarked in a vessel and fled. 
Antiochus pursued him, and sent Cendebeus with 
troops into the maritime parts of Palestine, with 
orders to build Cedroh, and to fight the Jews. John 
Hircanus, son of Simon Maccabseus, being then at 
Gazara, gave notice to his father of Cendebeus's 
coming. Simon furnished troops to his sons, John 
Hircanus and Judas, and sent them against Cende- 
beus, whom they routed in the plain, and pursued to 



Azotus. Antiochus followed Tryphon, till he forced 
him to kill himself, after five or six years' reign. 
Antiochus now thought of nothing but reducing 
those cities which, in the beginning of his brother's 
reign, had thrown off subjection. Simon Macca- 
bseus, prince and high-priest of the Jews, being 
treacherously killed by Ptolemy, his son-in-law, in 
the castle of'Docus, near Jericho, the murderer sent 
immediately to Antiochus Sidetes to demand troops, 
that he might recover for him the country and cities 
of the Jews. Antiochus came in person with an 
army, and besieged Jerusalem : John Hircanus, how 
ever, defended it with vigor, and the siege was long 
protracted. The king divided his army into seven 
parts, guarding all the avenues to the city. It being 
the proper time for celebrating the Feast of Tab 
ernacles, the Jews desired of Antiochus a truce of 
seven days, which was granted ; and sent them bulls 
with gilded horns, and vessels of gold and silver, 
filled with incense, to be offered in the temple : he 
also ordered such provisions to "be given to the Jew- 
ish soldiers as they wanted. This courtesy of the 
king so won the hearts of the Jews, that they sent 
ambassadors to treat of peace, and to desire that they 
might live according to their own laws. Antiochus 
required of them to surrender their arms, to demolish 
the city walls, to pay tribute for Joppa, and the other 
cities they possessed out of Judea, and to receive a 
garrison into Jerusalem. They consented to these 
conditions, the last excepted ; for they could not sub- 
mit to see an army of strangers in their capital : they 
rather chose to give hostages, and 500 talents of silver. 
The king therefore entered the city, beat down the 
breast-work above the walls, and returned to Svria, 
A. M. 3870, ante A. D. 134. Three years afterwards, 
Antiochus marched against the Parthians, demand- 
ing the liberty of his brother, Demetrius Nicanor, 
who had been made prisoner by Arsaces ; but, being 
deserted by his own forces, he was killed, A. M. 3874, 
A. C. 130. Demetrius Nicanor, or Nicator, re-ascend- 
ed the throne, after the death of Sidetes. 

VIII. ANTIOCHUS Gryphus, or Philometor, 
son of Demetrius Nicanor, ascended the throne of 
Syria, A. M. 3881. He reigned eleven years alone, 
and fifteen with his brother Cyzicus, and died A. M. 
3907. 

IX. ANTIOCHUS Cyzicus, having obtained from 
his brother Gryphus, as his share of the kingdom, 
Ccelo-Syria, became extremely luxurious, and aban- 
doned himself to excesses of every description. 

John Hircanus, prince and high-priest of the Jews, 
besieged Samaria, A. C. 109. The Samaritans in- 
vited Antiochus Cyzicus to their assistance. He 
advanced speedily to help them, but was overcome 
by Antigonus and Aristobulus, sons of John Hirca- 
nus, who commanded the siege, and who pursued 
him to Scythopolis; after which they resumed the 
siege of Samaria, and blocked up the city so closely, 
that the inhabitants again solicited Cyzicus. Having 
received 6000 men from Ptolemy Lathyrus, son of 
Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, he wasted the lands be- 
longing to the Jews, designing thereby to oblige 
Hircanus to raise the siege of Samaria ; but his troops 
were at last dispersed, and Samaria was taken by . 
storm, and razed by Hircanus. Antiochus was 
also conquered, and put to death by Seleucus, A. 
C. 90, after a reign of eighteen years. Jos. Ant. 
xiii. 18. 

I. ANTIPAS HEROD, or Herod Antipas, son 
of Herod the Great and Cleopatra of Jerusalem, 1 was 
declared by Herod, in his first will, to be his succes- 



ANTIPAS HEROD 



L 76 ] 



ANT 



sor in the kingdom ; but he afterwards substituted 
Arehelaus, king of Judea, giving to Antipas only the 
title of tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. Arehelaus 
going to Rome, to petition Augustus to confirm his 
father's will, Antipas went also, and the emperor 
gave Arehelaus one moiety of what had been as- 
signed to him by Herod's will, with the title of elh- 
narch, and promised to grant him the title of king, 
when he had shown himself deserving of it, by his vir- 
tuous conduct. His revenues amounted to 600 talents. 
To Antipas Augustus gave Galilee and Peraea, which 
produced 200 talents ; and to Philip, Herod's other son, 
the Batanasa, Trachonitis, and Auranitis, and some 
other places, whose income was 100 talents. (Jos. 
Ant. xvii. 13.) Antipas, having returned to Judea, took 
great pains in adorning and fortifying the principal 
places of his dominions; he gave the name of Julias 
to Bethsaida, in honor of Julia, wife of Augustus ; and 
Cinnereth he called Tiberias, in honor of Tiberius, 
afterwards emperor. He married the daughter of 
Aretas, king of Arabia, whom he divorced, ahout A. 
D. 33, to marry his sister-in-law, Herodias, who was 
his own niece and wife of Philip, his brother, who 
was still living. (Jos. Ant. xviii. 2.) (See Herod II.) 
John the Baptist, exclaiming against this incest, was 
seized by order of Antipas, and imprisoned in the 
castle of Macheerus, Matt. xiv. o, 4 ; Mark vi. 14, 
17, 18 ; Luke iii. 19, 20. Even Herod feared and 
respected the virtue and holiness of John, and did 
many things out of regard to him; but his passion 
for Herodias had, no doubt, much sooner prevailed 
against his life, had he not been restrained by his 
fears of the people, who universally esteemed John 
the Baptist as a prophet, Matt. xiv. 5, 6, &c. At a 
time, however, when the king was celebrating his 
birth-day, with the principal persons of his court, 
the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and so 
much pleased him, that he swore to give her whatever 
she should ask. Her mother, Herodias, who was 
anxious to get rid of the Baptist, advised her to ask 
for his head. The king was vexed at the recjuest ; 
but, in consideration of his oath, and of the persons 
at table with him, lie sent one of his guards, who be- 
headed John in prison. The head was brought in a 
basin, and given to Herod's favorite, who carried it 
directly to her mother. 

Aretas, king of Arabia, to revenge the insult which 
Herod had offered to his daughter, declared war 
against him ; and vanquished him in a very obstinate 
fight. Josephus (Antiq. xviii. 7.) assures us, that the 
Jews considered the defeat of Antipas as a punish- 
ment for the death of John the Baptist. Some years 
afterwards, (A. D. 39.) Herodias, being jealous of her 
brother Agrippa's prosperity, (who, from a private 
person, had become king of Judea,) persuaded her 
husband, Antipas, to visit Rome, and to solicit the 
same dignity from the emperor Caius. Agrippa, 
however, being jealous also, though on another 
ground, wrote to the emperor and accused Antipas. 
Agrippa's messenger arrived at the very time when 
Herod obtained his first audience with the emperor. 
Caius read Agrippa's letters with great earnestness, 
and, finding Herod Antipas accused of having been 
a party in Sejanus's conspiracy against Tiberius, and 
of still carrying on a correspondence with Artabanus, 
king of Parthia, against the Romans, he demanded 
to know if it were true. Antipas, not daring to deny 
that he had a large quantity of arms in bis arsenal, 
was banished instantly to Lyons in Gaul. Herodias 
followed her husband, and shared his fortune in 
banishment. The year of Antipas's death is not 



known, but it is certain he died in exile, as well aa 
Herodias. (Ant. xviii. 9.) 

It was Herod Antipas who mocked Jesus at Jeru- 
salem before his condemnation, sending him back to 
Pilate arrayed in a gorgeous robe, Luke xxiii. 7, seq. 

The manner in which the death of John the Bap- 
tist is stated in this narrative to have been procured, 
is so extraordinary, as compared with what occurs 
among European nations, that a few remarks upon 
it may not be without their use. 

In the East, then, it is customary for public dan- 
cers at festivals in great houses to solicit, from the 
company they have been entertaining, such rewards 
as the spectators may choose to bestow. These are 
Usually small pieces of money, which the donor 
sticks on the face of the performer ; and a favorite 
dancer will sometimes have her face covered with 
such presents : nothing further is expected. Herod 
the Great, however, offered half his kingdom to Sa- 
lome, the daughter of Herodias, who had danced to 
please him ; and in this, if he were not equal in wis- 
dom, he wiis certainly superior in extravagance, to 
a monarch, " Shah Abbas, who, being one day 
drunk, [in his palace,] gave a woman that danced 
much to his satisfaction the fairest Hhan in all Ispa- 
han ; which was not yet finished, but wanted little: 
this Hhan yielded a great revenue to the king, to 
whom it belonged, in chamber-rents." So far the 
parallel is tolerably exact ; for that Herod was far 
from being sober, is a pardonable suspicion ; — but 
the sequel is different: "The nazer, having put him 
in mind of it, next morning, took the freedom to tell 
him, that it was unjustifiable prodigality ; so the king 
ordered to give her a hundred tomans, (200L) with 
which she was forced to be contented." Thevenot, 
in Persia, p. ]00. This may assign a reason for the 
hurry of Herodias, to secure the execution of John 
the Baptist ; for, had she waited till the next morn- 
ing for the fulfilment of the king's oath, he might 
have been by that time calmer, and some of his ser- 
vants might have remonstrated with him on the vio- 
lence and injustice of his order, as the Persian na- 
zer did with his master ; and Salome, who now in- 
sists, "Give me here the head of John in a charger," 
might have been otherwise forced to accept, in full 
payment for her activity, the vacant charger only ; 
without accomplishing that death, which was so 
vehemently desired by Herodias ; or, perhaps, the 
pitiful value of a few tomans, instead of the half of 
the promised kingdom. 

II. ANTIPAS, a faithful witness, or martyr, men- 
tioned Rev. ii. 13. It is said that he was one of our 
Saviour's first disciples, and suffered martyrdom at 
Pergamus, of which city he was bishop. 

I. ANTIPATER, an Idumaean, father of Herod 
the Great, was son of another Antipas, or Antipater, 
who had been appointed governor of Idumsea, by 
Alexander Jannseus, king of the Jews. (Josephus, 
Antiq. xiv. 2. de Bello, i. 5.) He was, both for an- 
tiquity of family and for riches, the principal person 
of Idumsea, and obtained from Julius Caesar the gov- 
ernment of Judea for himself, and that of Jerusalem, 
and the country adjacent, for his eldest son Phasael ; 
and the government of Galilee for his other son, 
Herod, who was not at that time above fifteen years 
of age. He was poisoned by Malichus, who after- 
wards took possession of hi government, ante A. 
D. 43. 

II. ANTIPATER, son of Herod the Great, and 
of Doris his first wife, was educated as a private per- 
son, and did not appear at court, until his father re- 



APA 



L 77 ] 



API! 



solved to call him there, in consequence of his sus- 
picion regarding the conduct of his two sons Alex- 
ander and Aristohulus. Antipater, taking advantage 
of Herod's jealousy, plotted the destruction of his 
brothers, which he accomplished, A. M. 3999. (See 
Alexander.) This being effected, he determined 
to destroy his father also, that he might the sooner 
become possessed of the crown ; but Herod, having 
discovered his unnatural proceedings, had him pvit 
to death, by permission of Augustus, A. M. 4001. 
Herod died a few days afterwards. Jos. Ant. xvii. 
c. 3, 6, and 11. B. J. i. 17. 

The history of these times, and of the troubles in 
Herod's family, greatly illustrate the gospel accounts 
of the tyranny and cruelty of this prince. They 
show, that his bloody jealousy at Bethlehem was 
nothing extraordinary for him ; and that no safety 
for the infant Saviour was to be expected from his 
fury, short of a residence in Egypt. In what times, 
and under what tyranny, was the Prince of Peace 
born ! 

ANTIPATRIS, a town anciently called Cafar- 
Saba, Acts xxiii. 31. Josephus says (Antiq. xiii. 23.) 
it was about 150 furlongs, or 17 miles, from Joppa. 
The old Itinerary of Jerusalem places it ten miles 
from Lydda, and twenty-six from Ceesarea. Herod 
the Great changed its name to Antipatris, in honor 
of his father Antipater. Antipatris was situated in a 
very fruitful and agreeable plain, watered with many 
fine springs and rivulets, and near the mountains, in 
the way from Jerusalem - to Csesarea. Josephus, de 
Bello, i. 16. 

ANTONIA, a tower or fortress at Jerusalem, on 
the west and north angle of the temple, built by 
Herod the Great, (and named Antonia in honor of 
his friend, Mark Antony,) on an eminence, cut steep 
on all sides, and enclosed by a wall three hundred 
cubits high ; it contained many apartments, bagnios, 
and halls, so that it might pass for a palace. It was 
in form a square tower, with a turret at each of the 
four corners. It was so high, that persons might 
look from thence into the temple ; and there was a 
covered way of communication from the one to the 
other ; so that, as the temple was in some sort a cit- 
adel to the town, the tower of Antonia was a citadel 
to the temple. Josephus, Antiq. xv. 14. et de Bello, 
vi. 12. There is frequent mention, in Josephus, of 
the tower of Antonia, particularly in his history of 
the Jewish war. The Romans generally kept a gar- 
rison in it ; and from hence it was, that the tribune 
ran with his soldiers, to rescue Paul out of the hands 
of the Jews, who had seized him in the temple, 
and designed to kill him, Acts xxi. 31, 32. See 
Jerusalem. 

I. APAMEA, a city of Syria, on the Orontes, 
built, as is believed, by Seleucus I. king of Syria ; 
or by his son, Antiochus Soter, in honor of queen 
Apamea, wife of Seleucus, and mother of Antiochus. 
It was probably the same with Shephani, a city of 
Syria, Numb, xxxiv. 10, 11. 

II. APAMEA, a city of Phrygia, on the river 
Marsyas, near which, as some have been of opinion, 
Noah's ark rested ; whence the city took the sur- 
name of (Kibotos) Ark. The Sibylline verses place 
the mountains of Ararat, where the ark rested, on 
the confines of Phrygia, at the sources of the Marsyas. 
On a medal, struck in honor of Adrian, is the figure 
of a man, representing the river Marsyas, with this 
inscription — AHAME&N KIJ1S2 T02 MAPXSIA 
— A medal of the Apameans — the Ark and the river 
Marsyas. That this was one of the commemorative 




Still, 



notices of the ark, and of the deluge, tnere is little 
doubt ; but only in the sense, that traditionary me- 
morials of the ark, were here very ancient. In ref- 
erence to the medal, we may add that Strabo affirms 
the ancient name of Apamea to have been Kibotos ; 
by which name the ark (probably of Noah) was un- 
derstood. Kibotos is apparently not a Greek term : 
it might be the name of a temple, in which com- 
memoration was made of the ark, and of the pres- 
ervation of man by it. There are several medals of 
Apamea extant, on 
which are repre- 
sented an ark, with 
a man in it, receiv- 
ing the dove, which 
is flying to him ; and 
part of their inscrip- 
tion is the word 
noe : but either this 
should be read neo, 
an abridgement of 
Neokoron : or, it is 
the end of a word, 
AnAMESlN ; or, 
(some of) the med- 
als are spurious ; which has been suspected, 
as they are from different dies, yet. all referring to 
Apamea, it seems that their authors had a knowl- 
edge of the tradition of commemoration respecting 
the ark preserved in this city. (See Ark.) Many 
more such commemorations of an event so greatly 
affecting mankind were no doubt maintained for 
many ages, though we are now under great difficul- 
ties in tracing them. In fact, many cities boasted of 
these memorials ; and referred to them as proofs of 
their antiquity. See Ararat. 

APE. Among the articles of merchandise im- 
ported by Solomon's fleet were apes, 1 Kings x. 22 ; 
2 Chron. ix. 21. The Greek writers mention a sort 
of ape, native of Ethiopia, and around the Red sea, 
called Kephos, or Keipos, or Kebos, which comes near 
to the Hebrew Kuph, or Koph. It was about' the 
size of a roe-buck. The Egyptians of Babylon, in 
Egypt, adored a kind of ape, which Strabo calls 
Keipos ; and they are still worshipped in many 
places of India. 

APHARSACHITES, Ezra v. 6; or Apharsath- 
chites, Ezra iv. 9 ; the name of an Assyrian people 
who were sent to inhabit the vacant cities of the 
Israelites. They are elsewhere unknown. Gese- 
nius compares the name of the Parattaceni, who dwelt 
between Persia and Media. Herodot. i. 101. R. 

APHEK. There are several cities of this name 
mentioned in Scripture. The name signifies strength, 
hence a citadel, fortified city. — I. A city in the 
tribe of Asher, (Josh. xiii. 4 ; xix. 30.) called also 
Aphik in Judg. i. 31. This can hardly be any other 
than the Aphaca of Eusebius and Sozomenus, situ- 
ated in Libanus, famous for a temple of Venus. A 
village called Afka is still found in mount Lebanon, 
situated in the bottom of a valley ; see Burckhardt, 
p. 25, or p. 70. 493. Germ. ed. — II. A city near 
which Benhadad was routed by the Israelites, (] 
Kings xx. 26, seq.) to which the Aphaca of Eusebius 
corresponds, situated to the east of the sea of Galilee, 
and mentioned by Seetzen and Burckhardt, under 
the name of Feik. Euseb. Onom. v. 'Aipsxu. Burckh. 
p. 279. or p. 438. 539. Germ, ed.— III. A city in the 
tribe of Issachar, near to Jezreel, where the Philis- 
tines twice encamped before battles with the Israel- 
ites, 1 Sam. iv. 1 ; xxix. 1 ; comp. xxviii. 4.- -Either 



API 



L 78 ] 



A PO 



this 01 tne ApLex fmt above mentioned, is probably 
the royal city of the Canaanites, spoken of in Josh, 
xii. 18. — Different from either of these is the Aphekah 
mentioned Josh. xv. 53 ; which was situated in the 
mountains of Judah. R. 

APHEREMA, one of the three toparchies added 
to Judea, by the kings of Syria, 1 Mace. xi. 34. 
Perhaps, the Ephraem, or Ephraim, mentioned 
John xi. 54. 

APHSES, head of the eighteenth sacerdotal fam- 
ily, of the twenty-four which David chose for temple 
service, 1 Chron. xxiv. 15. 

APHUT^EI, Israelites, who returned from the 
captivity, and settled in their own country. The 
name JlphuttEi is perhaps derived from Jiphtah, a city, 
Josh. xv. 43. 

APIS. The Egyptians maintained, at Heliopolis, 
a bullock consecrated to the sun, which they called 
Muevis; and at Memphis, another, named Apis, 
dedicated to the moon, and under which Osiris was 
adored. This animal was not altogether a common 
bull ; but was distinguished by the following marks: 
the whole body was black, except, as some think, a 
white square spot on the forehead ; others say, a 
spot like the figure of an eagle on its back ; but 
rather a crescent-like spot. The hairs of the tail 
were double, and it had the form of a beetle under 
its tongue. When, after a very diligent search, a 
calf of this description was found, it was carried with 
great joy to the temple of Osiris, where it was fed, 
and worshipped as a representative of that god, so 
long as it lived ; and after its death, it was buried 
with great solemnity and mourning. This done, 
they carefully sought another with the same marks. 
Sometimes they were many years before they found 
one ; but when they had succeeded, there was a 
great festival over all the country. It has been gen- 
erally thought that the golden calf which Aaron 
made for Israel in the wilderness, and the calves set 
up by Jeroboam, to be worshipped by the ten tribes, 
were imitations of the Egyptian Apis. See Calf. 

The worship of Apis was not improbably derived 
from India to Egypt ; and the resemblances between 
the two living deities are well stated, from personal 
observation, by Fra Paolino da San Bartolomeo. 
(Voyage to the East Indies, chap. 2. Eng. edit. p. 
21.) He says, " On the day of my return to Pondi- 
chery, I had an opportunity of seeing a very singular 
scene ; as on that day the god Apis was led in pro- 
cession through the city. This deity was a beautiful 
fat, red-colored ox, of a middle size. The Brahmans 
generally guard him the whole year through, in the 
neighborhood of his temple ; but this was exactly 
the period at which he is exhibited to the people with 
a great many solemnities. He was preceded by a 
band of Indian musicians ; that is to say, two drum- 
mers, a fifer, and several persons, who, with pieces 
of iron, beat upon copper basins. Then came a few 
Brahmans ; and behind these was an immense mul- 
titude of people. The pagans had all opened the 
doors of their houses and shops, and before each 
stood a small basket with rice, thin cakes, herbs, and 
other articles in which the proprietors of these houses 
and shops used to deal. Every one beheld Apis 
with reverence ; and those were considered fortunate 
of whose provisions he was pleased to taste a mouth- 
ful as he passed. Philarchus conjectured, as we are 
told by Plutarch, in his treatise on Isis and Osiris, 
that Apis was originally brought from India to Egypt 
by the inhabitants of the latter. Plutarch himself 
asserts, that the Egyptians considered Apis as an em- 



blem of the soul of Osiris : and, perhaps, he here 
meant to say, that under this expression they under- 
stood that plastic power by which Osiris had pro- 
duced and given life to every part of the creatiou. 
Pliny, in his Natural History, speaking of Apis, uses 
the following remarkable words: 'When he eats out 
of the hand of those who come to consult him, it is 
considered as an answer. He refused to receive any 
thing from the hand of Gennanicus Cresar, and the 
latter soon after died.' From this it appears, that the 
Egyptians entertained the same opinions respecting 
Apis as the Indians do. In Egypt, as well as in 
India, people were accustomed to consider him as an 
oracle ; to place food before him, and, according as 
he accepted or refused it, to form conclusions in re- 
gard to their good or bad fortune. The ox [bull] 
which represents Apis must, every three years, give 
place to another. If he die in the course of these 
three years of his deification, he is committed to the 
earth with all that pomp and ceremony observed at 
the interment of persons of the first rank. Various 
pagodas, or pagan temples, have on their front thf. 
figure of a cow, or perhaps two, of a colossal size." 

Dr. Forster (the translator of Fra Paolino) points 
out several differences between the practice of the 
Hindoos and the Egyptians : he says, " The sacred 
ox of the Indians, for example, remains only three 
years in life ; whereas that of the Egyptians, accord- 
ing to Plutarch, remained twenty-five, after which 
he was drowned, then embalmed, and deposited in 
a subterranean burying-place destined for that, pur- 
pose, near the village of Abusir, the ancient BuBiris, 
not far from Memphis. The coffin of an Apis ox 
was found there by Paul Lucas and Wortley Mon- 
tague. [Belzoni also found a tomb of Apis in one 
of the caves in the mountains of Upper Egypt, which 
enclose the tombs or gates of the kings. In one of 
these he found a colossal alabaster sarcophagus, 
transparent and clear toned, sculptured both on the 
inside and outside with hieroglyphics. In this was 
the body of an ox [bull] embalmed in asphaltus. 
This sarcophagus is now in the British museum. R. 

APOCALYPSE signifies revelation, but if. par- 
ticularly referred to the Revelations which John had 
in the isle of Patmos, whither he was banished by 
Domitian, between the years of J. C. 95 and 97. 
The Apocalypse was not at all times, nor in all 
churches, admitted as canonical. Jerome, Amphi- 
lochius, and Sulpitius Severus remark, that in their 
time many churches in Greece did not receive it ; it 
is not in the catalogues of the council of Laodicea, or 
of Cyril of Jerusalem ; but Justin, Irenseuiv, Origen, 
Cyprian, Clemens of Alexandria, Tertullian, and after 
them all the fathers of the fourth, fifth, and following 
ages, quote the Revelation as a book acknowledged 
to be canonical. Indeed, as Sir Isaac Newton has 
remarked, there is no book of the New Testament so 
strongly attested, or commented so early upon, as 
this. 

The book of the Revelation contains twenty-two 
chapters. The first three are epistolary admonitions 
and instructions to the angels (or bishops) of the 
seven churches in Asia Minor, — Epheaus, Smyrna, 
Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Lao- 
dicea. The fifteen following chapters contain repre- 
sentations of the persecutions which the church was 
to suffer from Jews, heretics, and heathens ; princi- 
pally from the emperors Dioclesian, Maximian, He- 
raclius, Galerius Maximian, Severus, Maxentius 
Maximinis, and Licinius ; and, lastly, from Julian 
the Apostate. After this, we have a display of the 



APOCALYPSE 



[79 ] 



APOCALYPSE 



divine vengeance against persecutors, the Roman 
empire, and the city of Rome, described under the 
name of Babylon, the great whore seated on seven 
hills : and the whole is terminated by a description 
of the victories of the church, and its triumph over 
its enemies ; of the marriage of the Lamb, and the 
celestial happiness of the church triumphant. 

[The book of Revelation belongs, in its character, 
to the prophetical writings, and stands in intimate 
relation with the prophecies of the Old Testament, 
and more especially with the writings of the later 
prophets, as Ezekiel, Zechariah, and particularly 
Daniel ; inasmuch as it is almost entirely sym- 
bolical. This circumstance has surrounded the 
interpretation of this book with difficulties, which no 
interpreter has yet been able fully to overcome. 
Most of these are connected with the questions as to 
the author and the time when the book was com- 
posed. As to the author, the weight of testimony 
throughout all the history of the church, is in favor 
of John, the beloved apostle. As to the time of its 
composition, we may better judge after a synoptic 
view of its contents. 

In all prophecy there is a twofold object, viz. of con- 
solation and of exhortation. So here ; the despond- 
ing Christian community are admonished to fidelity 
and perseverance by the assurance of the speedy 
commencement of the kingdom of God, or at least 
of the. overthrow of its most potent enemies. The 
hortatory part is chiefly contained in the epistles to 
the seven churches of Asia Minor. The book may 
be divided into three parts, viz. 

I. The Introduction, in epistles to the seven 
churches, both general and particular, (i. 4. — iii. 22.) 

II. The first Revelation, (iv. 1.— xi. 19.) The book 
of destiny, sealed with seven seals, is given to the 
Lamb to open. (iv. v.) lie opens four of the seals, 
and at the opening of each there appears the emblem 
of a war or plague ; at the opening of the fifth and 
sixth is announced the approach of the great day of 
judgment and wrath for all the enemies of Chris- 
tianity, (vi.) Before the seventh seal is opened, the 
Christians receive a seal as a mark of preservation 
against the impending destruction, (vii.) The sev- 
enth seal is now opened, but the catastrophe is still 
delayed, being made dependent on the sounding of 
seven trumpets. At the sounding of the four first 
trumpets, four plagues appear ; and three woes are 
announced as about to accompany the other three 
trumpets, (viii.) At the sounding of the fifth appears 
the strange and fearful plague of the locusts, the first 
wo ; (ix. 1 — 12.) at the sixth, comes forth a terrible 
army for war, the second wo. (ix. 13 — 21.) The 
annunciation is now given, that with the sounding 
of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God will be 
finished ; (x.) and the prophet is commanded to 
measure the temple and those who worship therein, 
in order that they may be excepted from the general 
calamity of the city, which for a time is to be given 
to the Gentiles, (xi. 1, 2.) Before the final catastro- 
phe, two prophets are still to admonish and exhort 
to repentance ; they will, however, be put to death as 
martyrs, and the holy city will suffer punishment on 
account of them, and those who remain will repent 
and give glory to God. (xi. 3 — 13.) Now follows the 
sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the commence- 
ment of the great judgment against all enemies, and 
the approach of the kingdom of God is announced, 
(xi. 14—19.) 

III. But all this does not follow at once ; but is 
described at large in the second Revelation, which 



now begins, (xii. — xxii.) The theocracy, out of 
which the Messiah springs, is persecuted by Satan, 
who, being cast out from heaven, is actuated for a time 
with rage so much the more vehement against the 
Christians, (xii. 1 — 17.) His instruments are the 
heathen, or antichrist, under the figure of a beast 
with seven heads and ten horns, which persecutes 
the saints; (xii. 18. — xiii. 10.) and also the false 
priesthood which is subservient to him, and which 
is, in like manner, represented under the image of a 
beast, (xiii. 11 — 18.) Then follows the blissful peace 
enjoyed by the Christians who were exempted from 
the plagues, under the dominion of the Lamb. (xiv. 
1 — 5.) Announcement of the fall of Rome, and of 
the judgment upon the heathen, (xiv. 6 — 20.) The 
wrath of God is to be poured out from seven vials 
upon the earth, (xv.) As the four first vials are 
poured out, follow four plagues; (xvi. I — 9.) the 
three others bring down destruction upon Rome, 
(xvi. 10 — 21.) whose destruction, to be completed 
through the beast himself, is now more minutely 
described and celebrated, (xvii. 1. — xix. 10.) At last 
both beasts are subdued by the Messiah, and Satan 
is bound, (xix. 11. — xx. 3.) The reign of a thousand 
years and first resurrection, (xx. 4 — 6.) The last 
conflict with Gog and Magog, the final overthrow of 
Satan, (xx. 6 — 10.) and the last judgment, (xx. II — 
15.) The New Jerusalem, (xxi. 1 — xxii. 5.) Epi- 
logue, (xxii. 6 — 21.) 

Since Eichhorn published his commentary upon 
this book in 1791, (in which he made the great mis- 
take of assigning to the whole a dramatic character,) 
most interpreters agree with him in finding in the 
first revelation the destruction of Jerusalem and 
consequent overthrow of Judaism ; and in the second 
revelation, the downfall of heathenism, i. e. the sub- 
version of the influence of pagan Rome and the 
pagan Roman empire, as such, before the advance 
and general diffusion of Christianity. This of course 
implies that the Apocalypse was written at an earlier 
date than has often been assigned to it. The notices 
of time which may be drawn from the book itself, 
are the following. (1.) In c. xi. 1, 2, Jerusalem is 
spoken of in a manner which pre-supposes that it 
was still standing. (2.) From c. xvii. 10, it would 
seem that it was written under the sixth Roman em- 
peror, Vespasian ; unless one of the three mock em- 
perors, Galba, Otho, or Vitellius, is to be reckoned 
as the sixth ; which would make but the difference 
of a year or two. (3.) The persecution of the 
Christians under Nero is pre-supposed ; (vi. 9 ; xvii. 
<6.) as also * the death of most of the apostles, (xviii. 
20.) These data in themselves would seem to fix 
the time of the composition of the Apocalypse from 
about A. D. 68 to 70 ; and as Jerusalem was de- 
stroyed in A. D. 72, this date would accord well 
with Eichhorn's theory. 

The general view of the Apocalypse given by 
Hug in his introduction to the N. T. is similar to the 
above, but with some modifications. There are in 
the book three cities, on account of which all these 
terrible appearances in heaven and earth take place, 
viz. Sodom or Egypt, Babylon, and the New Jeru- 
salem. Sodom is Jerusalem, for in it our Lord was 
crucified, (xi. 8.) and there also is the temple, xi. 1. 
Babylon is Rome, for it stands on seven hills, (xvii. 
9.) and has the empire of the world, xvii. 18. Jeru- 
salem and Rome therefore are the cities whose over- 
throw is foretold ; but these are not spoken of liter- 
ally, but as the emblems or symbols of those religions 
of which they were the chief seats and supporters, 



APOCALYPSE 



I 80 | 



APO 



viz. Jiulaisin and heathenism. — The New Jerusalem I 
comes down from heaven in place of those cities | 
which are overthrown ; but as these latter are sym- 
bols each of a religion, so also, the former is the em- 
blem of Christianity, which is to endure forever, and 
secure the eternal bliss of man. 

Along with this view, however, the same author 
holds still to the idea, that the banishment of the 
apostle John to Patmos, and the consequent compo- 
sition of this book, did not occur until tire reign of 
Domitian, or about A. D. 95, and more than twenty 
years after the destruction of Jerusalem. To avoid 
this anachronism, he applies, of course, all that is 
said of Jerusalem, symbolically, to the Jewish 
religion, which still prevailed among that people, 
although the temple aud worship were destroyed. 
But this seems to be a forced construction, and is 
not at all necessary, since the historical accounts 
respecting the time of John's banishment are very 
uncertain. 

But whatever view may be taken of this book in 
general, the following remarks of Hug are well de- 
serving of the attention of all interpreters. " It is 
hardly necessary to remark, that all the strokes and 
figures in this great work are by no means signifi- 
cant. Many are inserted only to give life and ani- 
mation to the whole ; or they are introduced by way 
of ornament out of the prophets and holy books ; 
and no one who is any judge of such matters, will 
deny, that the filling up of the whole is in an extra- 
ordinary degree rich, and for occidental readers in 
the highest degree splendid. The description of the 
chastisements by hail, pestilence, floods which are 
changed into blood, by insects and vermin, are imita- 
tions of the plagues of Egypt; and do not here either 
require or admit any particular historical explanation 
or application. The eclipses of the sun and moon, 
the falling stars, are usual figures employed by the 
prophets, in order to represent the overthrow of 
Btates and empires, or the fall of renowned persons, 
by matins of great and terrible physical phenomena. 
And in general, the sublimest and most appropriate 
and striking figures and passages of the prophets are 
interwoven by the author in his work ; and they 
th«s impart to the whole an oriental splendor, which 
leaves all Arabian writers far behind. 

"The numbers also are seldom to be taken arith- 
metically, unless there exist special grounds for it. 
Seven seals, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven vials, 
seven thunders,— who does not here see that this is 
the holy prophetic number, and is employed only as 
ornament and costume ? So also the round numbers, 
and times, and half times; they admit neither of a 
chronological nor numerical reckoning; but are gen- 
erally put for indefinite times and numbers. 

" There are in the whole only two historical 
events, which, consequently, admit of a historical 
interpretation. Aside from the general prevalence 
of Christianity, with which the vision closes, the de- 
struction of Jerusalem is a known fact, — and by the 
side of this stands also the downfall of Rome. — Here 
we are necessarily referred to the historical interpreta- 
tion, so far as it can be applied without violence, 
and so far as history voluntarily affords her aid. 
But every thing minute and frivolous, and every 
thing far-fetched or forced, must be cautiously 
avoided." 

Upon the foregoing principles, the greater part of 
the book of Revelation must be regarded as having 
had its accomplishment in the earlier centuries of 
the church ; while subsequent ages are summarily 



described in the latter part of the book, of which the 
fulfilment is gradually developing itself. *R. 

There have been several other Apocalypses 
attempted to be imposed on the church, at various 
times, but their spuriousness is universally main- 
tained. Calmet enumerates the following : — (1.) 
The Revelations of St. Peter ; an apocryphal book 
mentioned by Eusebius, and Jerome, and cited by 
Clemens of Alexandria, in his Hypotyposes. — (2.) 
The Revelation of St. Paul, an apocryphal book, 
used among the Gnostics and Cainites, and which 
contained, as they pretended, those ineffable things 
which the apostle saw during his ecstasy, and 
which he informs the Corinthians he was not 
permitted to divulge, 2 Cor. xii. 4. — (3.) The Rev- 
elation of St. John, different from the true Apoc- 
alypse ; and of which Lambecius says, there was 
a MS. in the emperor's library at Vienna. — (4.) 
The Revelation of Cerinthus, in which he spoke of 
an earthly kingdom, and certain sensual pleasures, 
which the saints should enjoy for a thousand years 
at Jerusalem. It is probable that the notion enter- 
tained by some of the ancients, that Cerinthus was 
the author of St. John's Revelation, arose from this 
imitation by him of that work, and the ill use which 
he had made of the apostle's writings, the better to 
authorize his own visions. — (5.) The Revelation of 
St. Thomas is known only by pope Gelasius's de- 
cree, which ranks it among apocryphal books. — 
(6.) The Revelation of Adam, forged, probably by 
the Gnostics, from what is said in Genesis, of the 
Lord's causing a deep sleep 'to fall on Adam ; or, as 
the LXX have it, an ecstasy. — (7.) The Revelation 
of Abraham, possessed by the Sethian heretics, and 
which Epiphanius describes as abounding with 
impurity. — (8.) The Revelation of Moses, which, 
Cedrenus says, some authors believe to be the same 
apocryphal work as Genesis the Less, which was 
extant among the ancients. Syncellus, speaking of 
this Apocalypse, says, the passage of Paul to the 
Galatians is taken from it, (ch. vi. 15.) " Neither cir- 
cumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, 
but a new creature." — (9.) The Revelation of Elias, 
from which Jerome thinks that the passage in 1 Cor. 
i. 9, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath 
it entered into the heart of man to conceive, what 
God hath prepared for them that love him," is bor- 
rowed. Origen, in his citation of these words, tells 
us, that they are no where to be found, but in the 
secret books of Elias. 

From this great number of books called by the 
name of Apocalypses, or Revelations, it should seem 
that the title, and perhaps the work itself, of the 
Revelation of St. John, was more popular among the 
early Christians, than is usually thought to be the 
case ; it is, at least, certain that the Mosaic ornaments 
of the most ancient churches now existing, have 
more frequent allusions to scenes in the Revelation, 
than to any other book in the New Testament. 
Imitations so numerous might render the question 
of genuineness and authenticity difficult in those 
days ; but this lays succeeding ages under the greater 
obligations to the considerate and sedate decision of 
the early Christians, and to the preference they have 
adjudged to the book now universally received. 

APOCRYPHAL properly signifies hidden. Books 
are called apocryphal on the following accounts: 
(1.) when the author is not known ; whether he 
lias affixed no name to his work, or has affixed a 
feigned name ; (2.) when they have not been ad- 
mitted into the canon of Scripture, nor publicly read 



APOCRYPHAL 



[ 81 1 



APO 



in the cciigregation, although they may have been 
read in private ; (3.) when they are not. authentic, 
and of divine authority ; even though they may be 
thought the works of eminent or of sacred authors ; 
e. g. the Epistle of Barnabas ; (4.) when they were 
composed by heretics, to authorize, or to justify, 
their errors. 

There are apocryphal books, therefore, of several 
degrees. Some are absolutely false, dangerous, and 
impious, composed to defend error or to promote 
superstition ; such as the GFbspels of St. Thomas, 
of the Valentinians, Gnostics, Marcion, &c. Others 
are simply apocryphal, and not contrary to faith 
and good manners ; as the books of Esdrus, Macca- 
bees, &c. Others, after having been long contested 
by some, have been by others received as canonical ; 
as the church of Rome admits many, which are by 
all Protestants regarded as apocryphal, though 
printed with our English Bibles, and parts of them 
read in the Episcopal service ; all of which Jerome 
reckons among apocryphal writings, and says, the 
church reads them, but without receiving them into 
the canon. 

There are a few inconsiderable parts of Scripture, 
which are at this day received by some as canonical, 
while others consider them as apocryphal ; such as 
the titles to the Psalms, the preface of Jeremiah, Ec- 
clesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Sirach, and the addi- 
tions to Esther and Daniel. 

[Apocryphal books, in the Protestant sense, are 
of two classes, viz. (1.) Those which were in exist- 
ence in the time of Christ, but were not admitted by 
the Jews into the canon of the Old Testament; 
either because they had no Hebrew original, or be- 
cause they were regarded as not divinely inspired. 
The most important of these are collected in the 
Apocrypha often appended to the English Bible ; 
among which the books of Ecclesiasticus and Mac- 
cabees are the most valuable ; the former as con- 
taining many excellent maxims of wisdom, and the 
latter as being for the most part true history, but 
written in a diffuse and legendary manner. Most 
of the others bear the stamp of legends on the face 
of them. All of these stand in the Septuagiut and 
Vulgate as canonical. But besides these there ex- 
isted very many pseudepigraphia, or writings falsely 
attributed to distinguished individuals ; e. g.to Adam, 
Setli, Noah, Abraham, the twelve patriarchs, &c. 
&c. All that is known of these latter may be seen 
in Fabricii Codex Pseudepig. V. T. 

(2.) Those which were written after the time of 
Christ, but were not admitted by the churches into 
the canon of the New Testament, as not being 
divinely inspired. These are mostly of a legendary 
character. They have all been collected by Fabri- 
cius in his Codex Apoc. JY. T. Among them are no 
less than 24 Gospels ; of which the most important 
are those of the Egyptians, of the twelve apostles, of 
Cerinthus, of the Ebionites, of the Gnostics, of Mar- 
cion, of Thomas, and the Gospel of the Infancy of 
Jesus. — There are also 10 different. Books of Acts ; 
and six Epistles, or rather correspondences, includ- 
ing the letters said to have passed between Paul and 
Seneca, an Epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans, one 
from the Corinthians to Paul, and his reply, &e. &c. 
For the nine Apocalypses, see that article. — None 
of all these are received as canonical at the present 
day by any portion of the Christian chu'-ch. 

Other pseudepigraphia of this kind, though not 
intended to be. put forth as parts of the New Testa- 
ment, are the correspondence of Jesus Christ with 
11 



Abgar, king of Edessa, (see Abgar,) and the Epistle 
of P. Leritulus to the Senate of Rome, describing the 
person of Christ, &c. *R. See Lentulus. 

APOLLO, one of the gods worshipped by the 
heathen, to whom they attributed oracles and divi- 
nation. Sec Gospel, Oracle, and Python. 

APOLLONIA, a city of Macedonia, through 
which Paul passed in his way from Amphipolis to 
Thessalonioa, Acts xvii. 1. It was formerly cele- 
brated for its trade. 

I. APOLLONIUS, an officer belonging to Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes, who is called Misarches in the 
Greek, (2 Mace. v. 24.) and whom Antiochus Epiph 
anes sent into Judea to execute his design of draw- 
ing large sums from Jerusalem. Antiochus came 
thither at the head of 22,000 men, and, on the sab- 
bath-day, fell on the people, and put great numbers 
to the sword. The city was burnt and pillaged ; 
10,000 persons were taken, carried captive, and sold 
to the king's profit. Two years afterwards, Judas 
Maccabseus, having gathered an army of 6000 Jews, 
who continued faithful, defeated and killed Apollo- 
nius, dispersed his army, and carried off a very 
rich booty, 1 Mace. i. 30, 31. A. M. 3838, ante 
A. D. 166. 

II. APOLLONIUS Daus, governor of Ccelo- 
Syria, and general of Demetrius Nicanor, having 
abandoned the party of Alexander Balas, and es- 
poused that of Demetrius Nicanor, headed a power- 
ful army, to compel the Jews to declare for Deme- 
trius. A. M. 3856, ante A. D. 148. He was defeated 
by Jonathan Maccabseus, however, and 8000 of his 
men killed, 1 Mace. x. 69 — 76. For this victory, 
Alexander Balas bestowed new favors on Jonathan ; 
among which was a golden buckle, such as the 
king's relations wear, and the property of Accaron, 
ver. 77—89. 

III. APOLLONIUS, son of Geuneus, was one 
of those governors whom Lysias had left in Judea, 
after the treaty formed between the Jews and the 
young king Antiochus Eupator, and who endeav- 
ored, by their ill treatment, to compel the Jews to 
break it, 2 Mace. xii. 2. 

APOLLOS, a Jew of Alexandria, who came to 
Ephesus, A. D. 54, during the absence of Paul, who 
had gone to Jerusalem. He was "an eloquent man, 
and mighty in the Scriptures," (Acts xviii. 24.) but 
he knew only the baptism of John ; so that he was, 
as it were, only a catechumen, and not fully informed 
of the higher branches of gospel doctrine. Never- 
theless, he knew Jesus to be the Messiah, and de- 
clared himself openly as his disciple. At Ephesus, 
where he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, 
demonstrating, by the Scriptures, that Jesus was the 
Christ, Aquila and Priscilla heard him, and took 
him home with them, to instruct him more fully in 
the ways of God. Some time after this, he inclined 
to go into Achaia, and the brethren wrote to the dis- 
ciples there, desiring them to receive him. At Cor- 
inth he was very useful in watering what Paul had 
planted. It has been supposed, that the great affec- 
tion his disciples had for him, almost produced a 
schism, (1 Cor. iii. 4 — 7.) " some saying, I am of 
Paul ; others, I am of Apollos ; others, I am of 
Cephas." But this division, which Paul mentions 
and reproves, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, 
did not prevent him and Apollos from being closely 
united in the bonds of Christian charity and affec 
tiou. Apollos, hearing that the apostle was at Eph- 
esus, went to meet him, and was there when he 
wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians, wherein 



A PO 



[ 82 ] 



APOSTLE 



rte observes thai iie had earnestly entreated A polios 
to return to Corinth, but had not prevailed upon 
him ; that, nevertheless, he gave hiin room to hope, 
that he would visit that city at a favorable opportu- 
nity, ch. xvi. 12. Some have supposed that the 
apostle names Apollos and Cephas, not as the real 
persons in whose names parties had been formed at 
Corinth, but that, in order to avoid provoking a 
temper which he desired might subside, he "trans- 
fers, by a figure, to Apollos, and to himself," what was 
said really of other parties, whom, out of prudence, 
he declines naming. It might be so ; but the reluc- 
tance of Apollos to return to Corinth seems to coun- 
tenance the other, which is the general opinion. 
Jerome says, (ad. Tit. iii.) Apollos was so dissatisfied 
with the division which had happened on his ac- 
count at Corinth, that he retired into Crete, with 
Zeno, a doctor of the law; but that this interruption 
of Christian harmony having been appeased by the 
letter of Paul to the Corinthians, Apollos returned to 
that city, and afterwards became bishop there. The 
Greeks make him bishop of Duras ; but, in their 
Menrea, they describe him as second bishop of Col- 
ophon, in Asia. Ferrarius says he was bishop of 
Iconium, in Phrygia ; others say he was bishop of 
Csesarea ; but this is all uncertain. 

APOLLYON, 'the destroyer;' answering to the 
Hebrew Abaddon, which see. Rev. ix. 11. 

APOSTLE, anoaroXog, a messenger, or envoy. The 
term is applied to Jesus Christ, who was God's en- 
voy to save the world, (Heb. iii. 1.) though, more 
commonly, the title is given to persons who were 
envoys, commissioned by him. Those also who 
were sent on any errand by a church or Christian 
community, are called in the N. T. apostles. Thus 
Paul speaks of two apostles, Eng. messengers, 1 Cor. 
viii. 23. So also Phil. ii. 25, where he calls Epaph- 
roditus, in like manner, the apostle, i. e. messenger 
of that church. 

Herodotus uses the word to denote a public herald, 
an ambassador, or nuncio. The Hebrews had apos- 
tles sent by their patriarch to collect a certain yearly 
tribute, which was called aurum coronarium. (Cod. 
Theod. xiv.) Some assert, that, before Jesus Christ, 
they had another sort of apostle, who collected the 
half shekel, which was paid by every Israelite to the 
temple. These might be called apostles ; but we 
cannot perceive that this name was given to them, 
as it certainly was to other officers, belonging to the 
high-priests and heads of the people, who were sent 
to carry their orders to distant cities and provinces, 
in affairs relating to religion. For example, Paul 
was deputed to the synagogues of Damascus, with 
'lirections to seize and imprison all who professed 
i he religion of Christ ; that is, he was the apostle of 
he high-priest, and others at Jerusalem, for this 
>urpose : and he alludes to this custom, according to 
ferome, in the beginning of his Epistle to the Gala- 
.ians, saying, that he is "an apostle, not of mail, 
leither by [commissioned from] man, but by [com- 
missioned from] Jesus Christ:" as if he had said, an 
ipostle, not like those among the Jews, who derived 
heir mission from the chief priests, or from the 
trincipal men of the nation ; • but an apostle sent by 
'esus Christ himself. Eusebius and Jerome speak 
ikewise of apostles sent by the Jews to defame Jesus 
Jhrist, his doctrine, and his disciples. Justin Mar- 
-JT, in his Dialogue against Trypho, says, fhey sent 
persons whom they called apostles, to disperse cir- 
cular letters, filled with calumnies against the Chris- 
tians and to this, it is supposed, there is a reference, 



"we have not received letters concerning thee from 
Jerusalem ; — but this sect is every where spoken 
against," Acts xxviii. 21, 22. Epiphanius, speaking 
of these apostles, observes, that theirs was a very 
honorable and profitable employment among the 
Jews. 

The Apostles of Jesus Christ were his chief dis- 
ciples, whom he invested with his authority, fille 
with his Spirit, intrusted particularly with his doc 
trincs and services, and chose to raise the edifice of 
his church. After his resurrection, he sent his apos 
ties into all the world, commissioned to preach, t 
baptize, to work miracles, &c. The names of th 
twelve are, — 

1. Peter 6. Bartholomew 10. Jude (Lebbeus, 

2. Andrew 7. Thomas Thaddeus) 

3. John 8. Matthew (Levi) 11. James Minor 

4. Philip 9. Simon 12. Judas Iscariot. 

5. James Major 

The last betrayed his Master ; and, having hanged 
himseW, Matthias was chosen in his place, Acts i. 
15—26. 

The order in which the apostles are named is not 
the same in all the gospels. See Matt. x. 2 ; Mark 
iii. 1G ; Luke vi. 14 ; Acts i. 13. This, though a very 
simple fact and observation, has its weight in show- 
ing that the evangelists neither wrote in concert, nor 
copied from one another. Had they done so, nothing , 
could be more probable than their repetition of a list 
already formed to their hands, of a number of names 
so well known as those of the apostles ; and the 
order of which was so perfectly indifferent to any 
personal object. They all begin with Simon Peter 
and end with Judas Iscariot. 

From the application of the title apostle, as given 
above, we may perceive in what sense Paul claims 
it — "Am not I an apostle ?" — a missionary, an envoy, 
a person authorized by Christ to proclaim his will, 
1 Cor. ix. 1. In the same sense he applies the title 
to Barnabas, whom he includes — "or I only and 
Barnabas, have not we power to be accompanied by 
a wife," &c. ver. 6. So that there are, perhaps, 
three or four persons called apostles in this sense, 
besides the twelve mentioned in the gospels, as 
having been chosen to that office by our Saviour 
when on earth. 

[In regard to the apostles of our Lord, there 
are some particulars deserving of a moment's 
attention. 

1. They were, for the most part at least, Galileans, 
and from the lower class of society. The greater 
part of them were fishermen, who prosecuted their 
employment on the shores of the lake of Tiberias. 
Matthew was a publican or tax-gatherer employed 
by the Romans ; an occupation regarded by the 
Jews in general with the utmost contempt and ab- 
horrence. They were ' unlearned and ignorant 
men,' (Acts iv. 13.) and Paul justly regards it as a 
proof of the wisdom and power of God, that he had 
chosen, through the preaching of unlearned men, to 
overthrow the whole edifice of human wisdom, 
and lead the world to the light of truth, 1 Cor. i. 
27, seq. 

2. The apostles all received instruction from Jesus 
m common ; and on the day of Pentecost were all 
furnished with power from on high, for their great 
enterprise and destination, through the outpouring 
of the Holy Spirit. In respect to the religious 
truths which they were to teach, therefore, they were 
infallible, and so directed and assisted by the Spirit, 
that their doctrines were not alloyed by human 



APP 



L 83 J 



APr 



errors. In all other respects, however, they were 
not at all infallible, nor even inspired, as their history 
clearly shows. Thus, during - the whole ministry of 
Jesus, they were not able to divest themselves of the 
Jewish notion, that the Messiah was to be a temporal 
prince, and the deliverer and restorer of the Jewish 
nation ; so that, even after our Lord's resurrection, 
they put the question to him in a body, " Lord, wilt 
thou at this time restore again the kingdom to 
Israel ?" Acts i. 6. But even after the extraordi- 
nary gifts of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and 
afterwards, we still find Peter needing an express 
direction from the Spirit, before he could so far 
overcome his Jewish prejudices, as to preach the 
gospel to the Gentiles. We find, too, Paul and 
Barnabas disputing and separating from one another ; 
(Acts xv. 36, seq.) and Paul rebuking Peter and 
others for their want of consistency, Gal. ii. 11, seq. 
In respect, also, to certain parts of doctrine, they 
received only by degrees a fuller illumination ; see 
Acts xv. So also Paul several times distinguishes 
between what is merely his own judgment or opin- 
ion, and that which he receives directly from the 
Lord, e. g. 1 Cor. vii. 6. At other times the apostle 
laid plans and attempted to execute them ; which 
plans either remained unfulfilled, or were directly 
frustrated by the influence of the Spirit ; e. g. in Rom. 
xv. 28, Paul expresses the intention of passing 
through Rome on his way to Spain ; in Acts xvi. 7, 
it is related that Paul and Silas " assayed to go into 
Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not." 

3. There was among the apostles no external dis- 
tinction of rank ; indeed, the whole teaching of 
Jesus was directed to do away all such distinc- 
tion, had it been otherwise possible for it to exist, 
Matt. xx. 24, seq. xxiii. 11, 12 ; Mark x. 44. Nev- 
ertheless, there appears to have been a difference of 
character and standing among them in respect to 
influence and activity, so far as this, that Peter, and 
James, and John act a more prominent part than any 
of the others, both during the lifetime of Christ, and 
also after his death ; when they became especially 
■pillars in the church at Jerusalem, Gal. ii. 9. Among 
these three, again, Peter seems to have had a special 
prominence, arising from his zeal, activity, energy, 
and decision of character. He also was the first to 
preach the gospel to the Gentiles, Acts xv. 7. But 
above all the apostles who had personally known our 
Lord and received his instructions, Paul, who after- 
wards became an apostle, like one born out of due 
time, was distinguished for a widely extended and 
successful activity, particularly among the heathen ; 
and he it was, especially, through whose instrument- 
ality Christianity became what it was intended by 
its Founder to be, the religion of the whole human 
race. If it was the zeal, activity, and success of 
Peter which gave him a pre-eminence in the church, 
much more would such pre-eminence be due to 
Paul. — Of the other apostles we have no particular 
personal accounts, after the day of Pentecost. *R. 

APPII FORUM, a city, or market town, founded 
by Appius Claudius, on the great road ( Via Appii) 
which he constructed from Rome to Capua. Some 
authors suppose it to have occupied the site of the 
present hamlet of Le Case Nuove. But it is more 
probably to be found in the present Casarillo di Santa 
Maria, situated 5G miles from Rome, in the borders 
of the Pontine marshes, where are the remains of an 
ancient city. Being thus situated in the marshes, 
it is no wonder that the water was bad, as mentioned 
by Horace 



Egressum magna me excepit Aricia, Roma, 
Hospitio modico. — 

— Inde Forum Appi 
Differtum nautis, cauponibus atque malignis. — 
Hie ego, propter aquam, quod erat deterriina, ventri 
Indico bellum. — Hor. Sat. i. 5. 

The " Three Taverns" were about eight or ten 
miles nearer to Rome than " Appii Forum," as Cice- 
ro intimates, who, going from Rome, writes, " ab 
Appii Foro, hora quarta ; dederam aliam paulo ante 
a Tribus Tabemis a little before he came to the 
Forum of Appius he had written from the Three 
Taverns ; (ad. Att. ii. 10.) so that probably the chief 
number of Christians waited for the apostle Paul at 
a place of refreshment ; while some of their num- 
ber went forward to meet him, and to acquaint him 
with their expectation of seeing him among them, 
for which they respectfully waited his coming. 
See Acts xxviii. 15. 

APPLE and APPLE-TREE, Heb. men tappuach 
Cant. viii. 5 ; Joel i. 12. Commentators have been 
at a loss what tree is strictly meant under this name ; 
the manner in which it is employed seeming to imply 
a tree of great and distinguished beauty ; thus Cant, 
ii. 3, "As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, 
so is my beloved among the sons;" and vii. 8, "the 
smell of thy nose is like apples." Hence Harmar 
supposes it to be the orange or citron-tree. Obs. 
lxxv. The corresponding Arabic word, tyffach, sig- 
nifies not only apples, but also generally all similar 
fruits, as oranges, lemons, quinces, peaches, apricots, 
etc. and it is a common comparison to say of any 
thing, " It is as fragrant as a tyffach.'''' The Hebrew 
word may, perhaps, have been used in the same gen- 
eral sense. There is, however, no need of such a 
supposition. Apple-trees were not very common in 
Palestine, and their comparative rarity would natu- 
rally give them a poetical value. The same word, 
tappuach, is also employed as the name of a person, 
(1 Chron. ii. 43.) and of two cities, one in Judah, (Josh, 
xii. 17 ; xv. 34.) and the other on the border between 
Ephraim and Manasseh, Josh. xvi. 8. 

In Prov. xxv. 11, it is said, in our English version, 
" A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pic 
tures of silver." This is translated by Gesenius and 
others thus : " Like golden apples inlaid with silver 
figures." On this Rosenmueller remarks, that it is 
difficult to see for what purpose such apples of gold 
should be fabricated ; and he prefers, therefore, to 
refer the epithet golden to their color, and translates, 
" like golden apples, or quinces, in vases or baskets 
of silver ;" i. e. as these allure the eye, so a fitly 
spoken word is pleasant to the understanding. *R. 

APPLES of Sodom. The late adventurous 
traveller, M. Seetzen, who went round the Red sea, 
notices the famous Apple of Sodom ; which was said 
to have all the appearance of the most inviting apple, 
while it was filled with nauseous and bitter dust 
only. It has furnished many moralists with allusions: 
and also our poet Milton, in whose infernal regions— 

A grove sprung up — laden with fair fruit — 

greedily they plucked 

The fruitage, fair to sight, like that which grew 
Near that bituminous lake, where Sodom flamed. 
This, more delusive, not the touch, but taste 
Deceived. They, fondly thinking to allay 
Their appetite with gust, instead of fruit 
Chewed bitter ashes, which the offended taste 
With spattering noise rejected :- - 



APPLES 



[ 84 ] 



AQU 



Scetzen thus explains this peculiarity: "The infor- 
mation which I have been able to collect on the ap- 
ples of Sodom (Solanvm Sodomeum) is very contra- 
dictory and insufficient ; I believe, however, that I 
can give a very natural explanation of the phenom- 
enon, and that the following remark will lead to it. 
While I was at Karrak, at the house of a Greek cu- 
rate of the town, J saw a sort of cotton, resembling 
silk, which he used as tinder for his match-lock, as it 
could not be employed in making cloth. He told 
me that it grew in the plains of el-G6r, to the east 
of the Dead sea, on a tree like a fig-tree, called 
Aoeschaer. The cotton is contained in a fruit re- 
sembling the pomegranate ; and by making incisions 
at the root of the tree, a sort of milk is procured, 
which is recommended to barren women, and is 
called Lebbin Aoeschaer. It has struck me that 
these fruits, being, as they are, without pulp, and 
which are unknown throughout the rest of Pales- 
tine, might be the famous apples of Sodom. I sup- 
pose, likewise, that the tree which produces it, is a 
sort of fromager, (Bombyx, Linn.) which can only 
flourish under the excessive heat of the Dead sea, 
and in no other "district of Palestine." 

This curious subject is further explained, in a note 
added by M. Seetzen's editor, who considers the tree 
to be a species of Asclepias, probably the Asclepias 
Gigantea. The remark of M. Seetzen is corroborat- 
ed by a traveller, who passed a long time in situa- 
tions where this plant is very abundant. The same 
idea occurred to him when he first saw it in 1792, 
though he did not then know that it existed near the 
lake Asphaltites. The umbella, somew r hat like a 
bladder, containing from half a pint to a pint, is of 
the same color with the leaves, a bright green, and 
ma)" be mistaken for an inviting fruit, without much 
stretch of imagination. That, as well as the other 
parts, when green, being rut or pressed, yields a 
milky juice, of a very acrid taste : but in winter, 
when dry, it contains a yellowish dust, in appearance 
resembling certain fungi, common in South Britain ; 
but of pungent quality, and said to be particularly 
injurious to the eyes. The whole so nearly corre- 
sponds with the description given by Solinus, (Poly- 
histor,) Josephus, and others, of the Poma Sodomse, 
allowance being made for their extravagant exagge- 
rations, as to leave little doubt on the subject. 

Seetzen's account is partly confirmed by the la- 
mented Burckhardt. He says, " The tree Asheyr is 
very common in the Ghor. It bears a fruit of a red- 
dish yellow color, about three inches in diameter, 
which contains a white substance, resembling the 
finest silk. The Arabs collect the silk, and twist it 
into matches for their fire-locks, preferring it to the 
common match because it ignites more readily. 
More than twenty camel loads might be produced 
annually." p. 392. 

The same plant is also to be seen on the sandy 
borders of the Nile, above the first cataracts, the 
only vegetable production of that barren tract. It 
is about three feet in height, and the fruit exactly 
answering the above description. It is there called 
Oshom. The downy substance found within the 
stem is of too short staple probably for any manufac- 
ture, for which its silky delicate texture and clear 
whiteness might otherwise be suitable. It is used to 
stuff pillows, and similar articles. 

[Chateaubriand supposes the apples of Sodom to 
be the fruit of a shrub which grows two or three 
leagues from the mouth of the Jordan ; it is thorny, 
with small taper leaves, and its fruit is exactly like 



the small Egyptian lemon in size and color. Before 
the fruit is ripe, it is filled with a corrosive and sa- 
line juice; when dried, it yields a blaikish seed, 
which may be compared to ashes, and which in taste 
resembles bittsr pepper.- — Mr. King found the same 
shrub and fruit near Jericho, and seems also inclined 
to regard it as the apple of Sodom. Miss. Herald 
for 1824, p. 99. Mod. Traveller, i. p. 206. 

Most probably, however, the whole story in Taci- 
tus and Josephus is a fable, which sprung up in 
connection with the singular and marvellous char- 
acter of this region and its history. The whole ac- 
count of the Dead sea in Tacitus is of a similar 
kind. Even to the present day a like fable is 
current among the Arabs who dwell in the vicinity. 
Burckhardt says, "They speak of the spurious 
pomegrariate-tree, producing a fruit precisely like 
that of the pomegranate, but which, on being open- 
ed, is found to contain nothing but a dusty powder. 
This, they pretend, is the Sodom apple-tree ; other 
persons, however, deny its existence." p. 392. *R. 

APRIES, king of Egypt, called Pharaoh-Hophrah, 
in the sacred writings, (Jer. xliv. 30.) was son of 
Psammis, and grandson of Nechos, or Necho, who 
fought Josiah king of the Jews. He reigned twenty- 
five years, and was long considered as one of the 
happiest princes in the world ; but having equipped 
a fleet, with design to reduce the Cyrenians, he lost 
almost his whole army in the expedition. The 
Egyptians, exasperated at the occurrence, rebelled 
and proclaimed Amasis, one of his chief officers, 
king. Amasis marched against Apries, and took 
him prisoner, and he was afterwards strangled by 
the people. Such was the end of Apries, according 
to Herodotus, (ii. c. 161, 162, 169.) 

This prince had made a league with Zedekiah, 
and promised him assistance ; (Ezek. xvii. 15.) 
whereupon Zedekiah, relying on his forces, revolted 
from Nebuchadnezzar, A. M. 3414, ante A. D. 580. 
Early in the year following, the Babylonians march 
ed into Judea, but as other nations of Syria had 
likewise shaken off their obedience, he first reduced 
them to their duty ; and, towards the end of the 
year, he besieged Jerusalem, 2 Kings xxv. 5; 2 
Chron. xxxvi. 17; Jer. xxxix. 1; lii. 4. Zedekiah 
defended himself long and obstinately, in order to 
give time to Hophrah, or Apries, to come to his as- 
sistance. Apries advanced, with a powerful army, 
and the king of Babylon raised the siege, to meet 
him ; but, not daring to hazard a battle against the 
Chaldeans, the Egyptian retreated, and abandoned 
Zedekiah. Jeremiah threatened Apries with being 
delivered into the hands of his enemies, as he had 
delivered Zedekiah into the hands of Nebuchad- 
nezzar ; and Ezekiel (ch. xxix.) reproaches him se- 
verely with his baseness ; threatening, since Egypt 
had been "a staff of reed to the house of Israel, 
and an occasion of falling," itself should be reduced 
to a solitude ; that God would send the sword against 
it, which should destroy man and beast. This was 
afterwards accomplished, first, in the person of 
Apries as above stated ; secondly, in the conquest of 
Egypt, by the Persians. Comp. Greppo's Essay on 
the Hieroglyphic System, p. 129. 

AQUILA, a native of Pontus, in Asia Minor 
who, with his wife Priscilla, (Acts xviii. 2.) enter 
tained Paul at Corinth, whither they had been driven 
by the edict of the emperor Claudius, which banished 
ail Jews from Rome. (Sueton. Claud, c. 25.) Paul 
afterwards quitted Aquila's house, and lodged with 
Justus, near the Jewish synagogue, at Corinth, per- 



ARA 



[ 85 1 



ARABIA 



haps, because Aquila was a convert from Judaism, 
whereas Justus was a convert from paganism ; on 
which account the Gentiles might come and hear 
him with more liberty. When the apostle left Cor- 
inth, Aquila and Priscilla accompanied him to 
Ephesus, where he left them to edify the church by 
their instructions and example, while he went to 
Jerusalem. They rendered him very great services 
in this city, and even exposed their own lives to pre- 
serve his, (Rom. xvi. 4.) — as some think, on occasion 
of the tumult raised by Demetrius and his crafts- 
men in behalf of their goddess Diana. They had 
returned to Rome when Paul wrote his Epistle to 
the Romans, (A. D. 58.) in which he salutes them 
with great encomiums ; but. they did not continue 
there ; for they were at Ephesus again, when Paul 
wrote his Second Epistle to Timothy, (A. D. 64.) 
chap. iv. 19. What became of them afterwards is 
not known. 

AR, Areopolis, Ariel of Moab, or Rabbath- 
Moab, names which signify the same city, the capital of 
the territory of the Moabites, on the south of the river 
Arnon. Eusebius remarks, that the idol of these 
people, probably Moabites, was called Ariel. Epi- 
phanius says, that a small tract of land, adjoining to 
Moab, Iturea, and the country of the Nabatha?ans, 
is called Arielitis. Isaiah (xvi. 7, 11.) calls it "the 
city with walls of burnt brick ;" in Hebrew Kirha- 
rescheth, or Khjathhares. Jerome says, the city was 
destroyed by an earthquake, when ,he was young. 
Burckhardt found a place still called Rabba, about 20 
miles south of the Arnon, with ruins about a mile 
and a half in circuit ; doubtless the site of the an- 
cient Rabbah. (p. 377, or p. 640 Germ, ed.) Ar was 
not attacked by Israel, from respect to the memory 
of Lot; to whose posterity God had assigned it, 
Deut. ii. 9. 

ARAB, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 52. 

ARABAH, a city of Benjamin, Josh, xviii. 22. 

ARABIA is a considerable country of Western 
Asia, lying south and south-east of Judea. It ex- 
tends 1500 miles from north to south, and 1200 from 
east to west. On the north it is bounded by part of 
Syria, on the east by the Persian gulf and the Eu- 
phrates, on the south by the Arabian sea and the 
straits of Babelmandel, and on the west by the Red 
sea, &c. Arabia is distinguished by geographers 
into three parts, Arabia Deserta — Petra?a, and — Felix. 

Arabia Deserta has the mountains of Gilead 
west, and the river Euphrates east ; it comprehends 
the country of the Itureans, the Edomites, the Naba- 
thseans, the people of Kedar, and others, who lead a 
wandering life, having no cities, houses, or fixed hab- 
itations ; but wholly dwelling in tents ; in modern 
Arabic, such are called Bedouins. This country 
seems to be generally described in Scripture by the 
word " Arab," which signifies, properly, in Hebrew, 
the west. They may have taken the name of Arabim, 
or Westerns, from their situation, being west of the 
river Euphrates ; and if so, their name Arab is prior 
to the settlement of Israel in Canaan. In Eusebius, 
and authors of that and the following ages, the coun- 
try and the greater part of the cities beyond Jordan, 
and of what they call the Third Palestine, are con- 
sidered as parts of Arabia. 

Arabia Petrjea lies south of the Holy Land, and 
had Petra for its capital. This region contained the 
southern Edomites, the Amalekites, the Cushites, 
(improperly called Ethiopians, by our translators, and 
other interpreters of Scripture,) the Hivites, the Me- 
onians, or Maonim, &c. people at present known 



under the general name of Arabians. Bu it is of 
consequence to notice the ancient inhabitants of these 
districts, as they are mentioned in the text of Scrip- 
ture. In this country was Kadesh-barnea, Gerar, 
Beersheba, Lachish, Libnah, Paran, Arad, Hasmona, 
Oboth, Phunon, Dedan, Segor, &c. also mount Sinai, 
where the law was given to Moses. 

Arabia Felix lay still farther south ; being 
bounded east by the Persian gulf ; south by the ocean, 
between Africa and India ; and west by the Red sea. 
As this region did not immediately adjoin the Holy 
Land, it is not so frequently mentioned as the former 
ones. It is thought, that the queen of Sheba, who 
visited Solomon, (1 Kings x. 1.) was queen of part of 
Arabia Felix. This country abounded with riches, 
and particularly with spices ; and is now called Hed- 
jaz. It is much celebrated, by reason of the cities 
of Mecca and Medina being situated in it. 

Arabia is generally stony, rocky, and mountainous ; 
principally in ihe parts remote from the sea. In the 
course of ages, a vast plain has been interposed be- 
tween the mountains, now in the midst of the coun- 
try, and the sea, which has gradually retired from 
them. This is now the most fruitful and best culti- 
vated part, but it is also the hottest ; for up 'n the 
mountains the air is much cooler than below in the 
plains. The plain is called Tehama; or "the 
Levels." 

The inhabitants of Arabia, who dwelt there before 
Abraham came into Canaan, are supposed to have 
descended from Ham. We find there Midianites, of 
the race of Cush, among whom Moses retired. Abim- 
elech, king of Gerar, is known in the time of Abra- 
ham ; and the Amalekites, in the time of Moses. The 
Hivites, the Amorites, the Kenites, and the Meonians, 
or Mahonians, extended- a good way into Arabia 
Petra;a ; the Horim occupied the mountains which 
lie south of the land of Canaan, and east of the Dead 
sea. The Rephaim, Emim, Zuzim, and Zamzum- 
mim (Gen. xiv. 5 ; Deut. ii. 10, 11.)' inhabited the 
country called afterwards Arabia Deserta, and which 
was subsequently peopled by the Ammonites, Moab- 
ites, and Edomites. 

The Arabs derive their remotest origin from the 
patriarch Heber, whom they called Houd, and who, 
at the distance of four generations, was the father of 
Abraham. He settled, they say, in the southern parts 
of Arabia, and died there about 1817 years before A. 
D. His son Joctan, named by the Arabs Kathan, or 
Kahthan, being the father of a numerous family, be- 
came, also, the first sovereign of the country : his pos- 
terity peopled the peninsula, and from him many 
tribes of Arabs boast their descent. These are called 
pure or unmixed Arabs. They say, too, that the 
name Arabia is derived from Jarab, one of his sons. 
See Joktan. 

The Arabs of the second race derive their descent 
from Ishmael,son of Abraham and Hagar, who came 
and settled among the former tribes. Of his poster- 
ity, some applied themselves to traffic and hus- 
bandry ; but the far greater part kept to the deserts, 
and travelled from place to place, like the modern 
Bedouins. It is probable that a third description 
of Arabs might arise from the sons of Abraham by 
Keturah, as they would naturally associate more or 
less with their brethren the Ishmaelitcs. Other oc- 
casional accessions of a like nature might augment 
the migratory population. The present Bedouins 
are fond of tracing their descent from Ishrnael. and 
consider their numbers as fulfilling the promise made 
to Hagar, of a numerous posterity to issue from her 



ARABIA 



i 86 ] 



ARABIA 



son. Their character, too, agrees with that of their 
alleged progenitor, for their hand is against every man ; 
and every man's hand is against them. Their disposi- 
tion leads them to the exercise of arms, and warlike 
habits ; to the tending of flocks ; and to the keen ex- 
amination of the tracts and passages of their country, 
in hopes of meeting with boot}'. They despise the 
arts of civilized and social life ; nor will they inter- 
marry with settled tribes, nor with the Turks, nor 
with the Moors, lest they should degrade the dignity 
of their pedigree. Their families are now dispersed 
over Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Egypt, and great 
part of Africa, beside their original country, the Ara- 
bias. They have, indeed, but few kingdoms in which 
they possess absolute power, but they are governed 
by (princes) emirs, and by (elders) sheiks ; and though 
no where composing an empire, yet in the whole 
they are a prodigious multitude of men — an unde- 
niable fulfilment (in conjunction with die Jews) of 
the promise made to Abraham, that his posterity 
should be innumerable, as the stars in heaven, or as 
the sand of the sea. 

To us, who inhabit towns, and have fixed resi- 
dences, the wandering and migratory lives of the pa- 
triarchs have a peculiar, and somewhat strange, ap- 
pearance ; but among the Arabs, that very kind of 
life is customary at this day. In Egypt, "The Be- 
douin Arabs are distributed into little companies, 
each with a chief, whom they call sheik ; they dwell 
always under tents, and each platoon forms a little 
camp. As they have no land belonging to them, 
they change their abode as often as they please. 
When they fix themselves any where, for a certain 
time, they make an agreement with the Bey, the 
Cacheff, or the Caimakan, and purchase, for a whole 
year, the permission of cultivating a certain portion 
of laud, or of feeding their flocks there, during the 
time they agree for. They continue there, then, very 
peaceably, go forwards and backwards into the vil- 
lages, or neighboring towns, sell and purchase what 
they please, and enjoy all the liberty they can de- 
oire." But "they often establish themselves on the 
land they occupy, separating from the jurisdiction of 
the government the land they have seized on, and 
taking possession of it, without paying the tax. This 
is a loss for the government, which is, by this means, 
deprived of the revenue of those lands." (Norden's 
Travels in Egypt, p. 96.) This may remind us of the 
mode of life of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob: and so we find Abimelech jealous of Isaac's 
greatness — " Go from us, for thou art much mightier 
than we ; and if we let thee stay a little longer, thou 
wilt seize the land as thy property, and we shall lose 
the revenue of it." — " They go into the villages or 
neighboring towns ;" so " Dinah, the daughter of Ja- 
cob, went out to see the daughters of the land ;" — 
i. e. into the town of Shechem, as the story proves. 
This may also remind us of the injunctions" of Jon- 
adab, son of Rechab, on his posterity : (Jer. xxxv. 6.) 
"Ye shall not build a house, but dwell in tents all 
your days." Nevertheless, they fled for shelter, from 
the army of the Chaldeans, to Jerusalem ; though 
even there, no doubt, they continued to abide in 
their tents ; and this singularity distinguished them, 
not to the prophet only, but to all the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem. Col. Capper, in his " Observations on 
the Passage to India," (1778,) thus describes an Arab J 
encampment: — "From this hill, we could plainly i 
perceive, at the distance of about three miles, an im- 
mense body of Arabs, which, as they had their fam- 
ilies and flocks with them, looked like an encamp- 



ment of the patriarchs : they first sent out a detach 
ment of about four hundred men towards us ; but, 
finding we were drawn up to receive them, five men 
only advanced from the main body, seemingly with 
an intention to treat : on seeing which, we also sent 
five of our people on foot to meet them. A short 
conference ensued ; and then both parties came to 
our camp, and were received with great ceremony 
by our sheik : they proved to be Bedouins, under 
the command of sheik Fadil, amounting together to 
nearly twenty thousand, including women and chil- 
dren. After much negotiation, our sheik agreed to 
pay a tribute of one chequin for every camel carry- 
ing merchandise ; but he refused to pay for those 
carrying tents, baggage, or provisions : — they promised! 
to send a refeek [a protecting companion of their own 
party] with us, till we were past all danger of being 
molested by any of their detached parties," (p. 63.) 
This extract may give us some idea of the Israelites' 
encampment in the wilderness, under Moses. Here 
we find 20,000 persons, women and children in- 
cluded. How heavy was the burden of Babylon ! 
(Isaiah xiii. 20.) ' ; It shall never be inhabited, neither 
shall it be dwelt in, from generation to generation; 
neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there ; neither 
shall the shepherds make a fold there :" — wander 
where they will, they shall keep aloof from Babylon. 
To the same purpose speaks Niebuhr: — " Their way 
of living is nearly the same as that of the other 
wandering Arabs, of the Kurds, and of the Turco- 
mans. They lodge in tents made of coarse stuff, 
either black, or striped Hack and white: which is 
manufactured by the women, of goats' hair. The 
tent consists of three apartments, of which one is for 
the men, another for the women, and the third for 
the cattle. Those who are too poor to have a tent, 
contrive, however, to shelter themselves from the in- 
clemencies of the weather, either with a piece of 
cloth stretched upon poles, or by retiring to the 
cavities of the rocks. As the shade of trees is ex- 
ceedingly agreeable in such torrid regions, the Bed- 
ouins are at great pains in seeking out shaded 
situations to encamp in." (Travels, vol. i. p. 208.) 
"I am black, but comely," says the spouse ; (Cant. i. 
5.) black, as the tents of Kedar, cornel)-, as the tent-cur- 
tains of Solomon. It should be remembered, how- 
ever, that those who are able, have distinct tents, not 
apartments only, for the men, the women, and the 
cattle. See Tents. 

The pure and ancient Arabians were divided into 
tribes, as well as the sons of Ishmael. Some of 
these tribes still exist in Arabia, others are lost and 
extinct. The Ishmaelites formed twelve tribes, ac- 
cording to the number of the sons of Ishmael, (Gen. 
xxv. 13, 14.) viz. Nebajoth, Kedar, Abdiel, Mibsam, 
Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadar, Tenia, Jetur, Na- 
phish,and Kedemah ;but although these people very 
carefully preserve their genealogy, yet they cannot 
trace it" up to Ishmael; they are obliged to stop at 
Adnan, one of his descendants ; the genealogy even 
of Mahomet rises no higher. Besides the descend- 
ants of Ishmael, who peopled the greater part of 
Arabia, the sons of Abraham and Keturah, of Lot, of 
Esau, of Nahor, and others, dwelt in the same country, 
and mixed with, or drove out, the old inhabitanta 

The inhabitants of Arabia are divided into those 
who dwell in cities, and those who live in the 
field and desert: the latter abide continually in 
tents, and are much more honest and simple than the 
Arabians who live in towns. Of these some are 
Gentiles, others Mussulmans ; the former preceded 



ARABIA 



[ 87 ] 



ARABIA 



Mahomet, aud are now called among them " Ara- 
bians of the Days of Ignorance ;" the others, who 
have received the doctrines preached by Mahomet, 
are called Moslemouu, or Mussulmans, that is, be- 
lievers ; and are the people who conquered, aud who 
still possess, great part of Asia and Africa ; and who 
founded the four great monarchies of the Turks, the 
Persians, Morocco, and Mogul ; not to mention less- 
er kingdoms. 

The ancient Arabians were idolaters ; worshipping 
a stone, says Clemens Alexandrinus. Maximus Tyr- 
ius and the modern Arabians accuse them of the 
same. The black stone, which has the repute of 
having been "from time immemorial" the object of 
their worship, is still to be seen in the Caaba at 
Mecca. They say this stone was originally white, 
but has wept itself black, on account of the sins of 
mankind. Herodotus says they had only two deities — 
Bacchus and Venus. Strabo tells us that they adored 
only Jupiter and Bacchus ; which Alexander the 
Great being informed of, resolved to subdue them, 
that he might oblige them to worship him as their 
third deity. The modern Arabians mention other 
names of ancient deities adored in Arabia ; as Lakiah, 
whom they invoked for rain ; Hafedah,for preserva- 
tion from serious accidents in journeys ; Razora, for 
the necessaries of life ; Lath, or Allat, which is a 
diminutive of Allah, the true name of God ; Aza, or 
Uza, from Aziz, which signifies the Mighty God ; 
Menat, from Menan, distributor of favors. It is very 
probable that they adored likewise the two golden 
antelopes, which are frequently mentioned in their 
histories, and which were consecrated in the temple 
at Mecca. The ancient Midianites, among whom 
Moses retired when he was received by Jethro, 
worshipped Abda and Hinda. (D'Herbelof, p. 476.) 
Urotalt, mentioned by Herodotus, denotes probably 
the sun ; and Alilat, the moon. The first of these 
words may signify the God of Light ; the second, 
the God, or Goddess, eminently. 

The Arabs glory in the fertility of their language, 
which, certainly, is one of the most ancient in the 
world ; and is remarkable for its copiousness and the 
multitude of words which express the same thing. 
We read in Pococke's Notes on Abulpharagius, that 
Ibn Chalawaisch composed a book on the names of 
the lion, which amounted to 500 ; and those of the 
serpent to 200. Honey is said to have 80 names ; 
and a sword 1000. The greater part of these names, 
however, are poetical epithets ; just as we say the 
Almighty for God. So in Arabic, the lion is the 
strong, the terrible, &c. Some specimens of their 
poetry are thought by Schultens to be of the age of 
Solomon. The present Arabic characters are mod- 
ern. The ancient writing of Arabia was without 
vowels, like the Hebrew ; and so is also the modern 
Arabic, except in the Koran and other specimens 
of exact chirography. The Arabs studied astron- 
omy, astrology, divination, &c. They suffer no like- 
ness of animated nature on their coins. See Ori- 
ental Languages. 

A history of Arabia is that of human nature in its 
earliest stages of association, and with as little change 
of manners from generation to generation as may be. 
" If any people in the world," says Niebuhr, " afford 
in their history an instance of high antiquity and of 
great simplicity of manners, the Arabs surely do. 
Coming among them, one can hardly help fancying 
one's self suddenly carried backwards to the ages 
which immediately succeeded the flood. We are 
tempted to imagine ourselves among the old patri- 



archs, with whose adventures we have been so much 
amused in our infant days. The language, which has 
been spoken from time immemorial, and which so 
nearly resembles that which we have been accustomed 
to regard as of the most distant antiquity, completes 
the illusion which the analogy of manners began." 
(Travels, vol. ii. p. 2.) "All that is known concern- 
ing the earliest period of the history of this country, 
is, that it was governed in those days by potent 
monarchs called Tobba. This is thought to have 
been a title common to all those princes, as the 
name Pharaoh was to the ancient sovereigns of 
Egypt." (Ibid. p. 10.) " The country which this 
nation inhabits affords many objects of curiosity, 
equally singular and interesting. Intersected by 
sandy deserts, and vast ranges of mountains, it pre- 
sents on one side nothing but desolation in its most 
frightful form, while the other is adorned with all the 
beauties of the most fertile regions. Such is its posi- 
tion, that it enjoys, at once, all the advantages of 
sultry and of temperate climates. The peculiar pro- 
ductions of regions the most distant from one an- 
other, are produced here in equal perfection. Hav- 
ing never been conquered, Arabia has scarcely known 
any changes, but those effected by the hand of na- 
ture ; it bears none of the impressions of human fury 
which appear in many other places." " The natural 
and local circumstances of Arabia are favorable to 
that spirit of independence which distinguishes its 
inhabitants from other nations. Their deserts and 
mountains have always secured them from the en- 
croachments of conquest. Those inhabiting the 
plains have indeed been subdued, but their servi- 
tude has been only temporary ; and the only foreign 
powers to whose arms they have yielded, have been 
those bordering- on the two gulfs between which 
this country lies." (Ibid. p. 99.) " The most ancient 
and powerful tribes of this people are those which 
easily retire into the desert when attacked by a foreign 
enemy." (Ibid. p. 168.) " The Bedouins, who live in 
tents in the desert, have never been subdued by any 
conqueror ; but such of them as have been enticed, 
by the prospect of an easier way of life, to settle 
near towns, and in fertile provinces, are now, in 
some measure, dependent on the sovereigns of those 
provinces. Such are the Arabs in the different parts 
of the Ottoman empire. Some of them pay a rent 
or tribute for the towns or pasturages which they 
occupy. Others frequent the banks of the Eu- 
phrates, only in one season of the year ; and in 
winter return to the desert. These last acknowl- 
edge no dependence on the Porte." (Ibid. p. 164.) 
"Of all nations the Arabs have spread farthest over 
the world, and in all their wanderings they have, better 
than any other nation, preserved their language, 
manners, and peculiar customs. From east to west, 
from the banks of the Senegal to the Indus, are 
colonies of the Arabs to be met with ; and between 
north and south, they are scattered from the Eu 
phrates to the island of Madagascar. The Tartai 
hordes have not occupied so wide an extent of the 
globe." 

The Arabians in general are cunning, witty, gener 
ous, and ingenious; lovers of eloquence and poetry; 
but superstitious, vindictive, sanguinary, and given t( 
robbery, (that is, of those not under the protection oi 
some of their own people,) which they think allow- 
able, because Abraham, the father of Ishmael, say 
they, gave his son nothing, Gen. xxv. 5, 6. 

The Arabs have various traditions among them of 
Scripture personages and events. They relate ad- 



ARABIA 



t 88 ] 



A K A 



ventures of Abraham their progenitor, of Moses, of 
Jethro, of Solomon, and others. They have seen 
originate in their country those modes of religion to 
which a great portion of mankind adhere: the Jew- 
ish, the Christian, and the Mahometan. We have 
no complete list of their kings, nor history of their 
country ; but some few fixed periods have been dis- 
covered by the learned, of which the mention of 
a part may be acceptable. A complete history 
would throw great light on Sciipture ; and notwith- 
standing the broken and divided nature of its sub- 
ject, in relation to various governments, yet the gen- 
eral picture of life and manners which it would ex- 
hibit, could not fail of being both interesting and 
instructive. 

Ante A. D. 1817. Joctan, son of Heber. He was 
succeeded by his son, his grandson, and his great- 
grandson. 

Kabr-Houd — the tomb of Heber — is said to be ex- 
tant, at the extremity of a district named Seger, situ- 
ated between Hadramaut and Marah. 

1698. Hamyar, son of Abd-elshams ; whose 

family possessed the sovereignty 2200 years ; but not 
without intervals of privation. 

1458. Afr^kis, contemporary with Joshua. 

The Arab writers say that he granted an asylum to a 
tribe of Canaanites expelled by Joshua. 

980. Balkis, the queen of Sheba, who visit- 
ed Solomon. 

Malek, brother of Balkis ; who lost an 

army in the moving sands of the desert. 

— — 890. Amram, not of the Hamyarite family. 

860. Al Alkram, of the Hamyarite family. 

Duouhabschan, his son. In his reign a 

prodigious inundation, from a collection of waters, 
overwhelmed the city of Saba, the capital of Yemen, 
and destroyed the adjacent countiy. 

A. D. 436. Dhou'lnaovas, deprived of his do- 
minions by the Ethiopians, threw himself into the sea. 

502. The Hamyarites cease to reign in Arabia, 
whicl' is now governed by Ethiopian viceroys. 

569. Mahomet born : he invents and propagates 
a new religion, which he spreads by conquest. In 
A. D. 622, he fle^s from Mecca to Medina, July 16th, 
which constitutes the commencement of the Hegira, 
or Mahometan era. 

The early successors of Mahomet removed the 
seat of empire into Syria, and afterwards to Bagdad; 
where it continued till the taking of that city by the 
Tartar Houlogan, in the fourteenth century. 

The customs of the Arabians are allied in many 
respects to those which we find in Holy Writ ; and 
are greatly illustrative of them ; many being, indeed, 
the very same, retained to this day. Their personal 
and domestic maxims, their local and political pro- 
ceedings, are the same now as heretofore ; and the 
general character anciently attributed to them, of 
being plunderers, yet hospitable ; greedy, deceitful, 
and vindictive, yet generous, trust-worthy, and hon- 
orable ; is precisely the description of their nation 
at present. The Scripture frequently mentions the 
Arabians (meaning those adjoining Judea) as a pow- 
erful people, who valued themselves on their wis- 
dom. Their riches consisted principally in flocks 
and cattle; they paid king Jehoshaphat an annual 
tribute of 7700 sheep, and as many goats, 2 Chron. 
xvii. 11. The kings of Arabia furnished Solomon 
with a great quantity of gold and silver, 2 Chron. ix. 
14. They loved war, but made it rather like thieves 
and plunderers, than like soldiers. They lived at 
liberty in the field, or the desert, concerned them- 



selves little about cultivating the earth, and were not 
very obedient to established governments. This is 
the idea which Scripture gives of them ; (Isa. xiii. 
20.) and the same is their character at this day. 

There are many other particulars in which this 
people appear to resemble their collateral relations, 
the Jews ; and probably the worship of the true God 
was long preserved among them — to the time of 
Jethro, at least; but the prevalence of Mahometan- 
ism has given a certain character to them, which 
renders them almost obdurate against the gospel. 
The true Arabians are not so intolerant as the Turks, 
and should be carefully distinguished not only from 
the Turks, the Saracens, and- the Moors, but also 
among the Arabs themselves, because the proportion 
of vices and virtues which characterize them, dif- 
fers among the tribes, no less than among indi- 
viduals. 

Since the propagation of the gospel, many Ara- 
bians have embraced Christianity ; and we know of 
some bishops and martyrs of Arabia. In Origen's 
time a council was held there against certain her- 
etics. The Mahometans acknowledge, that before 
Mahomet there were three tribes in this country 
which professed Christianity ; those of Thanouk, Ba- 
hora, and Naclab. That of Thanouk, having had 
some difference with their neighbors on the subject 
of religion, retired to the proyince of Biihariiiu, on 
the Persian gulf. 

[There are three etymologies usually given of the 
name Arabia ; one of which is mentioned under 
Arabia Deserta, above ; the second is also men- 
tioned above, viz. that it was from Jarab, the son of 
Joktan or Kathan ; the third is sanctioned by Rosen- 
mueller, viz. that the Heb. my has the same meaning 
as the feminine naiy, i. e. a plain, a desert. 

The ancient Hebrews gave to all the countries 
afterwards comprehended under the name Ara- 
bia, the general appellation of the East, and called 
the inhabitants children of the East, Gen. xxv. 6 ; 
Judg. vi. 3; Job i. 3, &c. The name Arab and 
Arabia was originally applied by the Hebrews only 
to a small portion of the vast territory now known 
by that title. In Ezek. xxvii. 21, among several 
Arabian provinces which traded with Tyre, Arab 
(Arabia) and the princes of Kedar are mentioned ; 
compare also 2 Chron. xxi. 16, 17 ; xxvi. 7. Under 
all the kings of Arabia, mentioned 1 Kings x. 15, Jer. 
xxv. 24, are doubtless to be understood chiefs of 
Arab nomadic tribes or Bedouins. The Arabians 
spoken of in Isa. xiii. 20, Jer. iii. 2, are in like man- 
ner Bedouins, who wander in the desert and 
dwell in tents. When the apostle Paul says, (Gal. 
i. 17.) that he went into Arabia and returned again to 
Damascus, he means, without doubt, the northern 
part of Arabia Deserta, which lay adjacent to the 
territory of Damascus. He uses the name in a 
wider sense, when he remarks, (Gal. iv. 25.) that 
mount Sinai lies in Arabia. 

For full and particular accounts of Arabia and its 
inhabitants, see Niebuhr's Travels ; Burckhardt's 
Travels in Arabia, Loud. 1829 ; Rosenmueller's Bibl. 
Geogr. vol. iii ; and also the Modern Traveller in 
Arabia, which contains a very good account of the 
history and geography of Arabia, and especially 
of the peninsula of mount Sinai, compiled from 
various authors. *R. 

ARACEANS, or Arkites, a people descended from 
Arak, son of Canaan, who dwelt in the city Arce, or 
Area, at the foot of mount Libanus. Josephus and 
Ptolemy both speak of this city. Antoninus's Itine- 



ARA 



[ 89 ] 



ARARAT 



rary places it between Tfipolis and Antaradus ; and 
Josephus produces a fragment of the history of As- 
syria, wherein it is related, that the inhabitants of 
Arce submitted to- the Assyrians, together with those 
of Sidon and the ancient Tyre. He says, also, that 
the river Sabbatic us empties itself into the Mediter- 
ranean, between Arce and Raphanaea. This is prob- 
ably the Arce said to belong to the tribe of Asher, 
and otherwise called Antipas. (Antiq. book v. chap. 
1.) In Solomon's time, Baariah was superintendent 
of the tribe of Ashe)-, according to the Hebrew ; (1 
Kings iv. 16.) but josephus says, he was governor of 
the country around the city of Arce, which lies on 
the sea. In the later times of the Jewish common- 
wealth, this city was part of Agrippa's kingdom. 
See Rosenm. Bibl. Geog. II. i. 10. 

ARAD, Arada, Arath, Adraa, or Adra, a city 
south of the tribe of Judah and the land of Canaan, in 
Arabia Petraea. The Israelites having advanced to- 
wards Canaan, the king of Arad opposed their pas- 
sage, defeated them, and took a booty from them. 
But they devoted his country as accursed, and de- 
stroyed all its cities, when they became masters of 
the land of Canaan, Numb. xxi. 1. Arad was re- 
built ; and Eusebius places it in the neighborhood 
of Kadesh, four miles from Malathis, and twenty 
from Hebron. 

ARADUS, in the Bible, Arvad, now Ruad, a city 
and island in the Mediterranean, on the coast of 
Phoenicia, over against Antaradus. The isle of Ara- 
dus is but seven furlongs, or 875 paces about, and 
is 200 paces distant from the continent. The Ara- 
dians, or Arkites, descendants of Canaan, dwelt at 
Aradus, Gen. x. 17. This country was promised to 
the Israelites ; but they did not possess it until, per- 
haps, the reign of David, or that of Solomon. 

I. ARAM, the fifth son of Shem, (Gen. x. 22.) was 
the father of the people of Syria, who, from him, are 
called Aramaeans. (See Shem.) Homer and Hesiod 
call those Aramaeans, whom the more modern Greeks, 
call Syrians. The prophet Amos (ix. 7.) seems to 
say, that the first Aramaeans dwelt in the country of 
Kir, in Iberia, where the river Cyrus runs ; and that 
God brought them from thence, as he did the He- 
brews out of Egypt : but at what time this happened 
is not known. Moses always calls the Syrians, and 
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Aramites. The Ara- 
maeans often warred against the Hebrews ; but Da- 
vid subdued them, and obliged them to pay him trib- 
ute. Solomon preserved the same authority ; but, 
after the separation of the ten tribes, it does not ap- 
pear that the Syrians were generally subject to the 
kings of Israel ; unless, perhaps, under Jeroboam II. 
who restored the kingdom of Israel to its ancient 
boundaries, 2 Kings xiv. 25. For the Aramaean lan- 
guage or dialect, see Oriental Languages. 

II. ARAM. There are several countries of this 
name mentioned in Scripture ; as — Aram Naharai'm, 
or Syria of the Two Rivers, that is, of Mesopotamia ; 
Aram of Damascus ; Aram of Soba; Aram of Beth- 
rehob ; and Aram of Maachah. See Syria. 

ARARAT, a country and mountain in Armenia, 
on which the ark is said to have rested, after the 
deluge, Gen. viii. 4. It has been affirmed, that there 
are still remains of Noah's ark on the top of this 
mountain ; but M. de Tournefort, who visited the 
spot, assures us that there was nothing like it; that 
the top of the mountain is inaccessible, both by rea- 
son of its great height, and of the snow which per- 
petually covers it. Ararat is twelve leagues from 
Erivan, east, and is situated in a vast plain, in the 
12 



midst of which it rises. The Eastern people call 
mount Ararat, Jlr-dag, or Parmak-dagh, the finger 
mountain, because it is straight, and stands by it- 
self, like a finger held up ; or the mountain of Dag. 
It is visible at the distance of 180 or 200 miles. 
Tavernier says, there are many monasteries on 
mount Ararat ; that the Armenians call it Mere- 
soussar, because the ark stopped here. It is, as it 
were, taken off" from the other mountains of Arme- 
nia, which form a long chain : from the top to the 
middle, it is often covered with snow three or four 
months of the year. He adds, that the city of Nek- 
givan, or Nakschivan, three leagues from mount 
Ararat, is the most ancient in the world ; that Noah 
settled here, when he quitted the ark ; that the word 
Nakschivan is derived from JVak, which signifies 
ship, and schivan, stopped or settled, in memory of 
the ark's resting on mount Ararat. 

The Armenians maintain, by tradition, that, since 
Noah, no one has been able to climb this mountain, 
because it is perpetually covered with snow, which 
never melts, unless to make room for other snow, 
newly fallen ; that Noah, when he left the ark, set- 
tled at Erivan, twelve leagues from Ararat, and that 
at a league from this city, in a very happy aspect, 
that patriarch planted the vine in a place which at 
present yields excellent wine. Mr. Morier describes 
Ararat as being most beautiful in shape, and most 
awful in height ; and Sir Robert Ker Porter has fur- 
nished the following graphic picture of this stupen- 
dous work of nature : — " As the vale opened beneath 
us, in our descent, my whole attention became ab- 
sorbed in the view before me. A vast plain peopled 
with countless villages ; the towers and spires of the 
churches of Eitch-mai-adzen arising from amidst 
them ; the glittering waters of the Araxes flowing 
through the fresh green of the vale ; and the subordi- 
nate range of mountains skirting the base of the 
awful monument of the antediluvian world, it seemed 
to stand a stupendous link in the history of man, 
uniting the two races of men before and after the 
flood. But it was not until we had arrived upon 
the flat plain that I beheld Ararat in all its ampli- 
tude of grandeur. From the spot on which I stood, 
it appeared as if the hugest mountains of the world 
had been piled upon each other, to form this 'one 
sublime immensity of earth, and rock, and snow. 
The icy peaks of its double heads rose majestically 
into the clear and cloudless heavens ; the sun blazed 
bright upon them, and the reflection sent forth a 
dazzling radiance equal to" other suns. This point 
of the view united the utmost grandeur of plain and 
height, but the feelings I experienced while looking 
on the mountain are hardly to be described. My 
eye, not able to rest for any length of time on the 
blinding glory of its summits, wandered down the 
apparently interminable sides, till I could no longer 
trace their vast lines in the mists of the horizon ; 
when an inexpressible impulse, immediately carry- 
ing my eye upwards again, refixed my gaze on the 
awful glare of Ararat ; and this bewildered sensibil 
ity of sight being answered by a similar feeling in 
the mind, for some moments I was lost in a strange 
suspension of the powers of thought." 

Of the two separate peaks, called Little and Great 
Ararat, which are separated by a chasm about seven 
miles in width, Sir Robert Porter thus speaks ; — 
" These inaccessible summits have never been trod- 
den by the foot of man, since the days of Noah, if 
even then, for my idea is that the ark rested in tlie 
space between ti'ese heads, and not on the top of 



ARARAT 



L 90 ] 



ARARAT 



either. Various attempts have been made in differ- 
ent ages to ascend these tremendous mountain pyra- 
■ mids, but in vain ; their form, snows, and glaciers 
are insurmountable obstacles, the distance being so 
great from the commencement of the icy regions to 
the highest points, cold alone would be the destruc- 
tion of any person who should have the hardihood 
to persevere. On viewing mount Ararat from the 
northern side of the plain, its two heads are sepa- 
rated by a wide cleft, or rather glen, in the body of 
the mountain. The rocky side of the greater head 
runs almost perpendicularly down to the north-east, 
while the lesser head rises from the sloping bottom 
of the cleft, in a perfectly conical shape. Both 
heads are covered with snow. The form of the 
greater is similar to the less, only broader and 
rounder at the top, and shows to the north-west a 
broken and abrupt front, opening about halfway down 
into a stupendous chasm, deep, rocky, and peculiarly 
black. At that part of the mountain, the hollow of 
the chasm receives an interruption from the projec- 
tion of the minor mountains, which start from the 
side of Ararat, like branches from the root of a tree, 
and run along in undulating progression, till lost in 
the distant vapors of the plain." 

[The following interesting and graphic account, 
both of the province and mountain of Ararat, is 
from the pen of the Rev. E. Smith, American mis- 
sionary to Palestine, who made an exploring tour in 
Persia and Armenia, in 1830 and 1831. It was writ- 
ten from Tebreez in Persia, under date of Feb. 18th, 
1831, and is here extracted from the Biblical Repos- 
itory, vol. ii. p. 202. 

"The name of Ararat occurs but twice in the Old 
Testament, Gen. viii. 4, and Jerem. li. 27 ; and both 
times as the name of a country, which in the last pas- 
sage is said to have a king. It is well known, that this 
was the name of one of the fifteen provinces of Ar- 
menia. It was situated nearly in the centre of the 
kingdom ; was very extensive, reaching from a point 
above seven or eight miles east of the modern Erz- 
room, to within thirty or forty miles of Nakhchewan ; 
yielded to none in fertility, being watered from one 
extremity to the other by the Araxes, which divided 
it into two nearly equal parts ; and contained some 
eight or ten cities, which were successively the resi- 
dences of the kings, princes, or governors of Arme- 
nia, from the commencement of its political exist- 
ence about 2000 years B. C. according to Armenian 
tradition, until the extinction of the Pagratian dy- 
nasty, about the middle. of the 11th century; with 
the exception of about 230 years at the commence- 
ment of the Arsacian dynasty, when Nisibis and Orfa 
were the capitals. It is therefore not unnatural that 
this name should be substituted for that of the whole 
kingdom, and thus become known to foreign na- 
tions, and that the king of Armenia should be called 
the king of Ararat. This province we have seen 
almost in its whole extent, first entering it at the 
western and then at its eastern extremity. 

" On the last occasion we passed very near the 
base of that noble mountain, which is called by the 
Armenians, Masis, and by Europeans generally Ara- 
rat ; and for more than twenty days had it constant- 
ly in sight, except when obscured by clouds. It 
consists of two peaks, one considerably higher than 
the other, and is connected with a chain of moun- 
tains running off to the north-west and west, which, 
though high, are not of sufficient elevation to detract 
at all from the lonely dignity of this stupendous 
mass. From Nakhchewan. at the distance of at 



least 100 miles to the south-east, it appeared like an 
immense isolated cone, of extreme regularity, rising 
out of the valley of the Araxes. Its height is said 
to be 16,000 feet, but I do not know by whom 
the measurement was taken. The eternal snows 
upon its summit occasionally form vast avalanches, 
which precipkate themselves down its sides with a 
sound not unlike that of an earthquake. When we 
saw it, it was white to its very base with snow. And 
certainly not among the mountains of Ararat or of 
Armenia generally, nor those of any part of the 
world where I have been, have I ever seen one 
whose majesty could plead half so powerfully its 
claims to the honor of having once been the step- 
ping stone between the old world and the new. I 
gave myself up to the feeling, that on its summit were 
once congregated all the inhabitants of the earth, and 
that, while in the valley of the Araxes, I was paying a 
visit to the second cradle of the human race. Nor 
can I allow my opinion to be at all shaken by the 
Chaldee paraphrasts, the Syrian translators and com- 
mentators, and the traditions of the whole family of 
Syrian churches, which translate the passage in ques- 
tion mountahis of the Kurds. The Septuagint and Jo- 
sephus, who support the Hebrew original, certainly 
speak the language of a tradition quite as ancient 
Not to urge the names of places around mount Ma- 
sis in favor of its claims, as I think in the case of 
Nakhchewan might be done with some force, there 
is one passage of Scripture of some importance, 
which I do not recollect to have ever seen applied 
to elucidate this subject. In Gen. ii. 2, where the 
movements of the descendants of Noah are first al- 
luded to, it is said that they journeyed from the 
east and came into the land of Shinar. Now, had 
the ark rested upon the mountains of Kurdistan, 
they would naturally have issued at once into Meso- 
potamia, and have made their way down to Babylon 
from the north ; nor would they have been obliged 
to go so far to find a plain. But in migrating from 
the valley of the Araxes, they would of course keep 
on the eastern side of the Median mountains until 
they almost reached the parallel of Babylon, before 
they would find a convenient place for crossing 
them. Such is now the daily route of caravans 
going from Tebreez to Bagdad. They go south as 
far as Kermanshah, and then, making almost a right 
angle, take a western direction to Bagdad ; thus mak- 
ing their journey some ten or twelve days longer 
than it would be, were they to take the more moun- 
tainous and difficult road by Soleymania. It has 
been objected to this location of mount Ararat, that 
there are now no olive trees near enough for Noah's 
dove to have plucked her leaf from ; and perhaps 
this opinion gave rise to the tradition in favor of the 
Kurdish mountains, which are so near to the warm 
regions of Mesopotamia. In fact, there are no olive 
trees in the valley of the Araxes, nor of the Cyrus, 
nor in any part of Armenia we have seen, nor yet, as 
we have been told, on the shores of the Caspian. 
They are to be found no nearer than some of the 
warm valleys of the province of Akhaltzikhi and 
the basin of the ancient Colchis. We mentioned 
this objection in a circle of learned monks at Etch- 
miazin. They shrewdly replied by asking, if it 
would be very hard work for a pigeon to fly to Ak- 
haltzikhi and back again. Their explanation was 
in fact satisfactory. The distance, in the direction 
taken by caravans, is about 130 miles, and in a 
straight line must be less ; a distance which, accord 
ing to some recent experiments made upon the flight 



ARC 



L 91 1 



ARE 



it carrier pigeons between London and Antwerp, 
might be easily passed over twice in a day by that 
bird." *R. 

ARAUTNAH, or Ornan, an ancient inhabitant of 
Jerusalem, whose threshing-floor was on mount Mo- 
riah, where the temple was afterwards built, 2 Sam. 
xxiv. 18 ; 1 Chron. xxi. 18. See Jerusalem. 

ARBA, otherwise Hebron, (Josh. xiv. 15.) was 
first possessed by giants of the race of Anak ; after- 
wards given to the tribe of Judali, and the property 
of it transferred to Caleb. The rabbins have a tradi- 
tion that Hebron was called Arba, that is, four, be- 
cause the four most illustrious patriarchs, Adam, 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were buried there ; or, 
as others say, because four of the most celebrated 
matrons of antiquity were interred there, viz. Eve, 
Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah : but there is no account- 
ing for these rabbinical traditions. See Hebron. 

ARBATTIS, a city of Galilee, taken and destroyed 
Dy Simon Maccabseus, 1 Mace. v. 23. 

ARBELA, the name of several places in Palestine. 
It is said (1 Mace. ix. 2.) that Bacchides and Alcimus 
came into Galilee, and encamped at Maseloth, which 
is in Arbela. The city Masai, or Misheal, was in the 
tribe of Asher, near to which was a place called Ar- 
bela, Josh. xix. 26. — Eusebius and Jerome mention a 
city of this name, in the great plain of Esdraelon, 
nine miles from Legio, probably east ; and the former 
writer mentions another belonging to the region of 
Pella. See Beth-arbel. 

ARCA, a city of Phoenicia, allotted to Asher, and 
situated between Arad and Tripolis. See Araceans. 

ARCE, {from Arke,) or Kekem, by change of 
pronunciation, or Petra, the capital of Arabia Petrpea. 
See Rekem, and Petra. 

ARCHANGEL. See Angel. 

I. ARCHELAUS, king of Cappadocia, father of 
Glaphyra, wife of Alexander, son of Herod the Great. 
See Alexander VII. 

II. ARCHELAUS, son of Herod the Great, and 
Maltace, his fifth wife. Herod having put to death 
his sons Alexander, Aristobulus, and Antipater, and 
expunged from his will Herod Antipas, whom he 
had declared king, substituted Archelaus, giving to 
Antipas only the title of tetrarch. (See Antipas.) 
After the death of Herod, Archelaus was proclaimed 
king by the populace, and afterwards went to Rome 
to procure from Augustus the confirmation of his 
father's will. Antipas, his brother, disputed his title 
before the emperor, and the Jews also sent a solemn 
embassy to Rome, to desire Augustus to permit them 
to live according to their own laws, and on the foot- 
ing of a Roman province ; without being subject to 
kings of Herod's family, but only to the governors of 
Syria. Augustus, having heard all parties, gave to 
Archelaus the title, not of king, but of ethnarch, with 
one moiety of the territories which his father Herod 
had enjoyed ; promising him the crown likewise, if 
his conduct should deserve it. Archelaus returned 
to Judea, and under pretence that he had counte- 
nanced the seditious against him, he deprived Joazar 
of the high-priesthood, and gave that dignity to his 
brother Eleazar. He governed Judea with so much 
violence, that, after seven years, the chiefs of the Sa- 
maritans and Jews accused him before Augustus ; 
who sent for him to Rome, and after hearing his 
defence, banished him to Vienne in Gaul, where he 
died. His territory was reduced to the form of a Ro- 
man province, Josephus, de Bello, ii. 6 ; Ant. xvii. ult. 

ARCHI, a citv of Manasseb, near Bethel, Josh, 
xvi. 2. 



ARCHIPPUS, either a teacher or deacon in the 
church at Colosse, of whom Paul speaks, as his fel- 
low-soldier, Col. iv. 17 ; Philem. 2. 

ARCHISYNAGOGUS, or ruler of the synagogue, 
see Synagogue. 

ARCTURUS signifies, properly, the Bear's tail, 
and denotes a star in the tail of the Great Bear, or 
constellation Ursa Major. 

Job is supposed to speak of Arcturus, or the Bear, 
under the name of Ash, (ivy) chap. ix. 9 ; xxxviii. 32. 

Niebuhr observes, that the Arabs have no names 
in their language related to those Hebrew names 
which occur in Job ix. 9, yet some of them, he adds, 
call the Great Bear, Nash, or Benat JVdsh; from 
which the Hebrew Ash, wy, is probably a contrac- 
tion ; and from a conversation he held with a Jewish 
astrologer, at Bagdad, he is of opinion that vy, Ash, 
signifies the Great Bear, [Ursa Major,) which is 
called in Europe, by the common people, a chariot — 
" Charles's Wain." In the tables of Ulugh Bey, pub- 
lished by Hyde, the stars u p y <5, of the Great Bear, 
are called el JYash ; and the stars t t el Bendth. 
Aben Ezra says, "Ash is the wagon, which is also 
called the Bear, and is near to the north pole." Aben 
Ezra also says, " The ancients have assured us, that 
the seven small stars at the tail of the Ram compose 
the Kivia," and Rabbi Isaac Israel says, in express 
terms, " Kima is the Arabian Thuraija — the Pleia- 
des." (Descript. of Arabia, p. 114. Germ, ed.) 

We may therefore with great certainty conclude 
that the Ash, vy, in Job, is Ursa Major, and the Kimak 
nco, the Pleiades or seven stars; although the LXX 
understand Ash to be the Pleiades, and Kimah 
Arcturus. 

That the course of the stars influenced the sea- 
sons, in the opinion of the ancients, is well known . 
whence Pliny says, (lib. 2. cap. 39.) "Arcturus sel- 
dom rises without bringing hail and tempests ;" and 
(lib. xviii. cap. 28.) "the evils which the heavens 
send us are of two kinds ; that is to say, tempests 
which produce hail, storms, and other like things, 
which is called Vis Major, and which are caused, as 
I have often said, by dreadful stars, such as Arcturus, 
Orion, and the Kids." The ancients, however, were 
mistaken in this notion, for the stars only marked that 
time of the year when such things might naturally 
be expected. 

AREOPAGUS, the place, or court, in which the 
Areopagites, the celebrated and supreme judges of 
Athens, assembled. It was on an eminence, for- 
merly almost in the middle of the city ; but nothing 
remains by which we can determine its form or con- 
struction. " Going out of the gate, which is the 
present entrance to the Acropolis," says Mr. Stuart, 
" we had just before us the Areopagus, a hill which 
gave name, as every one knows, to the most celebrated 
tribunal of Athens, built either on it, or contiguous to 
it. This hill is almost entirely a mass of stone ; its 
upper surface is without any considerable irregulari- 
ties, but neither so level, nor so spacious, as that of 
the Acropolis, and though of no great height, not 
easily accessible, its sides being steep and abrupt. 
On this hill the Amazons pitched their tents, when 
they invaded Attica in the time of Theseus ; and in 
after-times, the Persians under Xerxes began from 
hence their attack on the Acropolis. Here we ex- 
pected to find some vestiges of the tribunal — but 
were disappointed, for we did not discover the least 
remaining trace of building upon it. At the foot of 
this rock, on the part facing the north-east, are some 
natural caverns, and contiguous to them, rather the 



ARG 



[ 92 ] 



ARI 



rubbish than the ruins of some considerable build- 
ings. That nearest the Acropolis, according to tra- 
dition, was the palace of Dionysius the Areopagite. 
After Christianity was established at Athens, it be- 
came a church, and was dedicated to him. Near it 
stood the archbishop's palace, but that is at present 
utterly demolished. It is not improbable, that both 
the church and the palace were built on the ruins 
of the ancient tribunal called the Areopagus." 

It is said, the Areopagites pronounced sentence in 
the dark, that they might not be affected by the sight 
of the persons engaged in the prosecution. It is also 
said, that before any person could be elected a judge 
of the Areopagus, he must have discharged the office 
of arch on, or chief magistrate of the city ; but this 
was not attended to in later ages. However, it 
probably gives a character to Dionysius, who was 
converted by Paul. The Areopagites took cog- 
nizance of murders, impieties, and immoralities ; 
they punished vices of all kinds — idleness included ; 
they rewarded or assisted the virtuous; they were 
peculiarly attentive to blasphemies against the gods, 
and to the performance of the sacred mysteries. It 
was, therefore, with the greatest propriety, that Paul 
was questioned before this tribunal. Having preached 
at Athens against the plurality of gods, and declared, 
that he came "to reveal to the Athenians that God 
whom they adored without knowing him, the apostle 
was carried before the Areopagites, as the introducer 
of new deities, (Acts xvii. 19, 22.) where he spoke 
with so much wisdom, that he converted Dionysius, 
one of the judges, and was dismissed, without any 
interference on their part. Our translation, by giving 
the import of the word Areopagus, "Mars' hill," has 
lost the correct representation of the passage ; since 
Mars' hill might not lie a court of justice ; and beside 
this, the station of Dionysius, as one of the Areopa- 
gites, is lost on the reader. Comp. Potter's Antiqui- 
ties of Greece, b. i. c. 19. See Athens. 

AREOPOLIS, the same as Ar, or Ariel, or 
Rabbath-Moab. See Ar. 

ARETAS, the proper name of several kings of 
Arabia Petraea. One was contemporaiy with Anti- 
pater. (Jos. Ant. xiv. c. 2, 3, 4.) Another, the only one 
mentioned in Scripture, gave his daughter in mar- 
riage to Herod Antipas ; but she being repudiated by 
Herod, Aretas made war upon him (A. D. 37) and 
destroyed his army. In consequence of this, the 
emperor Tiberius, indignant at the audacity of Aretas, 
and being entreated by Herod to give him assistance, 
directed Vitellius, then proconsul of Syria, to make 
war upon the Arabian king, and bring him alive or 
dead to Rome. But while Vitellius was in the midst 
of preparation for the war, and had already sent for- 
ward some of his troops, he received intelligence of 
the death of Tiberius; on which he immediately re- 
called his troops, dismissed them into winter quar- 
ters, and then left the province, A. D. 39. (Jos. Ant. 
xvii. c. 5.) Aretas, taking advantage of this supine- 
ness, seems to have made an incursion and got pos- 
session of Damascus ; over which he then appointed 
a governor or ethnarch, who, at the instigation of the 
Jews, attempted to put Paul in prison, 2 Cor. xi. 32, 
33; comp. Acts iv. 24, 25. — Under Nero, however, 
(A. D. 54 to 67,) Damascus appears again on coins as 
a Roman city. See Kuinoel on Acts 1. c. and Pro- 
legom. # R. 

I. ARGOB, (3J1N, with prosth. n for an, a heap of 
stones, etc.) a district east of Jordan, in the half-tribe 
of Manasseh, and in the country of Bashan, one of 
ihe most fruitful territories on the other side Jordan. 



In this district were the sixty towns called Havoth* 
Jai'r, which had walls and gates; without reckoning 
villages and hamlets, not enclosed ; all belonging to 
Og, king of Bashan. There are some remains of the 
word Argob in Ragab, a city east of Jordan, Deut. 
iii. 4, 14 ; 1 Kings iv. 13. 

II. ARGOB, the capital of the region of Argob. 
Eusebius says, that Argob was fifteen miles west 
from Gerasa. It is probably the same as Ragab, or 
Ragabah, mentioned in the Mishna, in Menachoth, 
viii. 3. and in Josephus, Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. 23. The 
Samaritan translation, instead of Argob, generally 
puts Rigobah. 

ARIEL (Ssi-in, lion of God, i. e. hero, or city of 
heroes) is understood of the altar of burnt-offer- 
ings ; or of the city of Jerusalem, in Isaiah xxix. 

I, 2, 7. 

ARIMATHEA, or Ramah, or Ramatha, a city 
whence came Joseph the counsellor, mentioned 
Luke xxiii. 50. and often supposed to be the modern 
Ramie, or Ramla, a pleasant town, standing in a fer- 
tile plain, about thirty-five miles north-west of Jeru- 
salem, on the high road to Jaffa, and containing a 
population of about 5000 souls, who are principally 
occupied in husbandry. [This, however, is a mis- 
apprehension ; for the Hebrew for Arimathea is 
Ramah, not Ratnleh ; and besides, this latter city 
could not be mentioned in the Scriptures, since it 
was first founded about A. D. 716, by Soliman Ben 
Abdohnelek, the seventh caliph of the race of the 
Ommiadae. See Abulfedae Tab. Syr. p. 79 ; Rosenm. 
Bibl. Geog. II. ii. p. 338. 

Arimathea, then, is the Hebrew Ramah ; but as 
there were at least two cities of this name in Pales- 
tine, it is still somewhat uncertain which of these 
is meant. Most probably, however, it was the Ra- 
mah of mount Ephraim, (probably identical with that 
in the tribe of Benjamin, see Rosenin. Bibl. Geog. 

II. ii. p. 186.) the birth-place and residence of Sam- 
uel. This was called also Ramathaim-Zophim, (otiot 
d^sis, heights of the Zophim, 1 Sam. i. 1 ; comp. v. 
19.) from which name, with the article prefixed, Ha- 
ramathaim, (1 Sa^i. 1. 1.) the form Arimathea is readily 
derived. In 1 Mace. xi. 34. it is called Ramathem, 
and bv Josephus, Ramatha, Ant. vi. 11. 4, 5. See 

R'MAH. *R. 

ARISTARCHUS, a disciple mentioned by Paul, 
(Col. iv. 10; Phil. 24.) and also in the Acts, (xix. 29; 
xx. 4 ; xxvii. 2.) was a Macedonian, of Thessalonica. 
He accompanied Paul to Ephesus, and continued with 
him the two years of his abode there, partaking of 
his labors and dangers. He was nearly killed in a 
tumult raised by the Ephesian goldsmiths, whose city 
he left with the apostle, and accompanied him into 
Greece and Asia, and then as a fellow-prisoner to 
Rome. The Greeks say, he was bishop of Apamea, 
in Syria; and was beheaded with Paul, at Rome, 
under Nero. 

I. ARISTOBULUS, a Jew, of the race of the 
priests, a philosopher, and preceptor to Ptolemy, 
king of Egypt, 2 Mac. i. 10. Clemens and Eusebius 
believe him to be the same as is mentioned in the 
preface to the second book of Maccabees, called 
"king Ptolemy's master, who was of the stock of the 
anointed priests," that is, of the priests of the God of 
Israel, consecrated by holy unction. 

II. ARISTOBULUS, of whom Paul speaks, (Rom. 
xvi. 10.) was, according to the modern Greeks, brother 
of Barnabas, and one of the seventy disciples ; was 
ordained a bishop by Barnabas, or by Paul, whom 
he followed in his travels; was sent into Britain, 



ARK 



ARK 



tvhere he labored much, made many converts, and 
at last died. See Christianity ; Histojy. 

III. ARISTOBULUS, or Judas, or Piiilellen, 
(lover of the Greeks,) was the son of Hircanus, whom 
he succeeded, A. M. 3898, but reigned one year only. 
He was cruel and vindictive. He made war upon 
the Itureans, a people descended from Jethur, son 
of Ishmael, who dwelt in Arabia, between Damascus 
and the half-tribe of Manasseh. He subdued them, 
and forced them to receive circumcision, by offering 
them the alternative either of embracing Judaism 
or of quitting their country. Jos. Ant. xiii. c. 18, 19. 

IV. ARISTOBULUS, second son of Alexander 
Jannseus, and youngest brother of Hircanus the high- 
priest, (see Alexandra,) whom he made war upon, 
but was taken by Pompey, and sent prisoner to Rome, 
with his children, where he remained eight years. 
He at length escaped, and returned to Judea, where 
he levied troops, and endeavored to establish himself, 
but was severely wounded by Gabinius, the Roman 
general, and again sent to Rome, where he was kept 
in fetters. He was set at liberty by Julius Cresar, 
after a captivity of seven or eight years, and appointed 
to oppose Pompey's party in Syria, for which pur- 
pose two legions were assigned him. He was poi- 
soned by that party, however, before he could quit 
Rome, and received the honors of a funeral from 
those in the interest of Caesar. His body, being em- 
balmed in honey, remained at Rome, till Mark An- 
tony caused it to be carried to Judea, to be interred 
in the sepulchres of the kings. He died A. M. 3955, 
ante A. D. 49. Jos. Ant. xiii. xiv. 

V. ARISTOBULUS, son of Alexander, and grand- 
son of Aristobulus, second son of Alexander Jannseus, 
was the last of the Asmonaean family. Herod, his 
brother-in-law, exerted himself to prevent his pos- 
sessing the high-priesthood, but being overpowered 
by the solicitations of his wife, Mariamne, and his 
mother-in-law, Alexandra, he invested Aristobulus 
with this dignity, who was then but seventeen years 
of age. He resolved, however, to procure his de- 
struction, and had him drowned, while he was bathing 
near Jericho, A. M. 3970, ante A. D. 34. Jos. Ant. 
xv. c. 2, 3 ; xvi. 3. 

VI. ARISTOBULUS, son of Herod the Great 
and Mariamne, and brother of Alexander. See 
Alexander, VII. 

ARIUS, or Areus, king of Sparta, mentioned 1 
Mace. xii. 7. and by Josephus, Antiq. book xii. chap. 
5. This prince wrote a letter to the high-priest, 
Onias, the contents of which are given, 1 Mace. xii. 
20. One particular feature in it is, that the Lace- 
daemonians are acknowledged as brethren of the 
Jews; that is, sprung from the same origin, having 
Abraham for their father. 

I. ARK, (Noah's,) in Hebrew nan, thebah; Greek, 
MjSoi-roc, a chest, or l.aovaz, a coffer. The term thebah 
used by Moses is different from the common name 
by which he describes a coffer ; and is the same that 
he employs when speaking of the little wicker basket 
in which he was exposed on the Nile ; whence some 
have thought that the Ark was of wicker work. It 
was a sort of bark, in shape and appearance much 
like a chest or trunk. The ancients inform us, that 
the Egyptians used on the Nile barks made of bul- 
rushes, which were so light, as to be carried on their 
shoulders, when they met with falls of water, that 
prevented their passage. Noah's Ark was, in all 
probability, in form like these Egyptian boats. The 
greatest difficulty refers, principally, to its size and 
capacity ; and how Noah was able to build a vessel 



sufficient to contain the men and beasts, with provis- 
ions requisite for their support, during a whole yeai 
To resolve these difficulties, it has been requisite to 
inquire very particularly into the measure of the 
cubit mentioned by Moses, into the number of the 
creatures admitted into the Ark, and into the di- 
mensions of this vast building. After the nicest 
examination and computation, and taking the dimen- 
sions with the greatest geometrical exactness, the 
most learned and accurate calculators, and those most 
conversant with the building of ships, conclude, that if 
the ablest mathematicians had been consulted about 
proportioning the several apartments in the Ark, they 
could not have done it with greater correctness than 
Moses has done ; and this narration in the sacred 
history is so far from furnishing deists with arguments 
wherewith to weaken the authority of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, that, on the contrary, it supplies good arguments 
to confirm that authority ; since it seems, in a manner, 
impossible for a man, in Noah's time, when naviga- 
tion was not perfected, by his own wit and invention, 
to discover such accuracy and regularity of propor- 
tion, as is remarkable in the dimensions of the Ark. 
It follows, that the correctness must be attributed to 
divine inspiration, and a supernatural direction. 
(Wilkins's Essay towards a Real Character, part ii. 
cap. 5. Saurin, Discours Historique, &c. torn. i. p. 
87, 88.) 

If we reckon the Hebrew cubit at twenty-one 
inches, the Ark was 512 feet long, 87 wide, and 52 
feet high ; and the internal capacity of it was 357,600 
cubical cubits. If Ave suppose the cubit to be only 
eighteen inches, its length was 450 feet, its width 75, 
and its height 45. Its figure was an oblong square, 
but the covering might have a declivity to carry off' 
water. Its length exceeded that of most churches in 
Europe. The height might be divided into four 
stories, allowing three cubits and a half to the first; 
srven to the second ; eight to the third ; and five and 
a half to the fourth ; and allotting five cubits for the 
thickness of the top and bottom, and the floors. The 
first story might be the bottom, or what is called the 
hold of ships ; the second might be a granary, or 
magazine ; the third might contain the beasts ; and 
the fourth the fowls. But the hold not being reck- 
oned as a story, and serving only as a conservatory 
of fresh water, Moses says, there were but three sto- 
ries in the Ark : and when interpreters say four, they 
include the hold. Some reckon as many stables as 
there were kinds of beasts, which is not necessary ; 
because many kinds of birds and beasts, which use 
the same food, might very well live together. 

The number of beasts received into the Ark is not 
so great as some have imagined. We know about a 
hundred and forty, or a hundred and fifty, species of 
quadrupeds ; of birds, more in number, but smaller in 
size ; of reptiles, thirty or forty species. We know not 
ofroore than six species of beasts larger than a horse ; 
very few equal to a horse, and many much smaller, 
even under the size of a sheep : so that all the four- 
footed beasts, including 3650 sheep, if they be sup- 
posed necessary for the nourishment of such animals 
as live on flesh, at the rate of ten sheep daily, scarcely 
occupy more room than 120 oxen, 3730 sheep, and 80 
wolves. Among birds, few are larger than a swan, 
and most are less. Reptiles, or creeping animals, arc 
generally small : many can live in the water, and 
these it would not be necessary to receive into the 
Ark. All the beasts might easily have been lodged 
in 36 stables, and all the birds in as many lofts ; al- 
lowing to each apartment 52^ feet Li length, 29 in 



ARK" 



[ 94 ] 



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width, ami 13-i in height. There might be more 
than 31,174 bushels of fresh water in the hold ; which 
is more than is sufficient for drink to four times as 
many men and beasts, for one year, as were in die 
Ark. The granary in the first story might contain 
more provisions than were necessary for all the ani- 
mals in the Ark, during one year ; whether they all 
lived on hay, fruits, and herbs, (which is very proba- 
ble, at this juncture, there being none which, in cases 
of necessity, niight not subsist well eiiough without 
flesh,) or whether there were sheep designed for the 
food of such animals as five on flesh. Beside places 
for the beasts and birds, and their provisions, Noah 
might find room on the third story for thirty-six cab- 
ins occupied by household utensils, instruments of 
husbandry, books, grains, and seeds ; for a kitchen, a 
hall, four chambers, and a space of about forty-eight 
cubits in length, to walk in. 

Such is the substance of Cahnet's reasoning, and 
though modern discoveries have augmented the va- 
riety of species of beasts and birds, the number of 
them is not sufficiently great to annul the argument 
he has adduced. Many animals which feed on flesh 
can endure long fasting ; others are torpid in certain 
degrees of cold; others fold themselves into a very 
small compass, and pass their time with little or no 
motion. We must also recollect, that the innumera- 
ble varieties of species now known, are greatly the 
effect of climate, of food, of habit, whether roving or 
domesticated, and these would allow for considerable 
deductions from the general mass of creatures in the 
Ark. As to trees, plants, and vegetables, in general, 
we know, that most of their seeds can endure water 
for a long while without rotting ; that the taller trees 
were not long wholly covered with the water of the 
deluge ; and that the eggs, &c. of insects, though 
extremely numerous, might be attached in various 
corners of the Ark, and occupy very little space. 

Interpreters generally believe that Noah was one 
hundred and twenty years in building the Ark ; an 
opinion founded on Gen. vi. 3, " My spirit shall not 
always strive with man ; his days shall be a hundred 
and twenty years." They suppose that God here 
predicted an interval of only one hundred and twenty 
years to the deluge ; and that this time was necessary 
for Noah to make preparations, to build the Ark, to 
preach repentance, to collect provisions, animals, &c. 
But how shall we reconcile this with what is said 
Gen. v. 32. of* Noah's being five hundred years old 
at the birth of Shem, Ham, and Japheth ? And when 
God commands him to build the Ark, he says, "And 
thou shalt come into the Ark, thou, and thy sons, and 
thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee," Gen. vi. 18. 
At that time, his three sons, who were not bom till 
after the five hundredth year of his age, were all 
married; though the deluge happened in the six 
hundredth year of Noah. It is impossible, therefore, 
that he should have received orders to build the Ark 
a hundred and twenty years before the deluge, un- 
less he had other sons, though only these three at- 
tended to his orders. 

The wood used for the Ark is called in the He- 
brew, gopher tvood, (Gen. vi. 14.) -isu vsy ; in the LXX, 
h'/.a TtTnuyava. square pieces of wood. Some render 
it cedar, or box, or woods that do not easily perish. 
Bochart maintains, that gopher signifies cypress ; and 
in Armenia and Assyria, where it is supposed, with 
reason, that the Ark was constructed, cypress is the 
only wood fit to make so long a vessel of. Others 
are of opinion, that gopher signifies, in general, oily 
and gummy woods ; such as the pine, the fir-tree, 



and the turpentine -tisee. The word gophrit, which 
comes very near gopher, signifies sulphur, and, in a 
larger sense, may be taken for rosin, pitch, and other 
combustible matters drawn from wood. Jerome 
translates it here, polished wood, but elsewhere, 
wood coated over with bitumen. The point remains 
undecided ; but Calmet prefers the cypress. 

Some persons have started difficulties with regard 
to the square and oblong figure of the Ark ; but they 
did not consider that this vessel was not designed fo 
sailing or rowing, but chiefly for floating on the wate 
a considerable time. Besides, it may be proved, b 
instances, that its form was not less commodious for 
rowing, than capacious for carrying. George Hornius, 
in his "History of the several Empires," tells us, that 
in the beginning of the 17th century, one Peter Hans, 
of Home, had two ships built after the model and 
proportions of the Ark ; one was 120 feet long, 20 
wide, and 12 deep. These vessels had the same fate 
with Noah's, being at first objects of ridicule and rail 
lery ; but experience demonstrated, that they carrie 
a third part more than others, though they did no 
require a larger crew : they were better sailers, an 
made their way with much more swiftness. The on! 
inconvenience found in them was, that they were fi 
only for times of peace, because they were not proper 
to carry guns. (Le Pelletier, Dissert, sur l'Arche de 
Noe, cap. ii. p. 29, 30.) 

The number of men and animals included in th 
Ark, plentifully supplies matter of dispute. As to th 
number of men, if we kept to the texts of Moses an 
Peter, we should have no contest about it ; Mose 
expressly says, that Noah went into the Ark, himself, 
his wife, his three sons, and their three wives : an 
Peter tells us, that there were but eight persons save " 
from the deluge. But the mind of man, fruitful i 
imaginations, always curious, and perpetually unquiet, 
has considerably augmented this number. Some hav 
hereby thought to do God service ; supposing eight 
persons were not sufficient to supply the wants of so 
many animals. Others have imagined, that to affirm 
eight persons only to have been preserved from the 
deluge, was to set too narrow bounds to God's mercy 
The Mahometan interpreters believe, that beside 
the eight persons whom we have mentioned, there 
were seventy-two more who entered ; not the sons 
only of Noah, but their servants likewise. It is, be- 
yond comparison, more difficult to fix the number of 
animals than that of men. Moses himself helps to 
perplex us, in these words : " Of every clean beas 
thou shalt take to thee seven seven, the male and his 
female ; and of beasts not clean, two, the male and his 
female." He places two here but once : but the Sa- 
maritan, the LXX, and Vulgate, read two twice ; and 
the Hebrew itself, chap. vii. ver. 9. reads two two, 
went in — which leaves the difficulty in all its force ; the 
text bearing equally to be construed seven and seven, 
and two and two ; or, of clean beasts, fourteen, or 
seven pair; and of unclean, two pair, or only one 
pair. But what are we to understand by clean and 
unclean beasts? Was this distinction, declared by 
Moses in the law, known and practised before the 
deluge ; or did Moses mention it as known and un- 
derstood by the persons for whom he wrote ? It i 
probable, that this distinction was known to Noah ; 
and that the same animals were esteemed pure (while 
others were impure) both by Noah and by Moses. It 
is manifest, that by pure or clean animals, in general, 
those only were meant which might be offered in 
sacrifice, as bulls, sheep, goats, and their several spe- 
cies; and the like among birds, as pigeons, doves 



ARK 



[ 95 ] 



ARK 



^.ens, and sparrows. For the common uses of life, 
as food, &c. Moses allows a great number of animals ; 
but it is questionable, whether in this place we are 
to extend the pure animals beyond those admitted in 
sacrifice. The pair of unclean could be only one 
male and one female ; but the seven clean beasts 
might be two males and five females ; one male for 
sacrifice, the other for multiplication of the species. 

[The preceding remarks are from Calmet. The 
English editor has expended much time and fruitless 
labor, in attempting to ascertain the form of the Ark; 
and has, for this purpose, compared it with an oriental 
house, and with a variety of objects in heathen my- 
thology. But all oriental houses are not alike. We 
can only draw the conclusion from the Scripture 
account, that the Ark was not a ship, but a building 
in the form of a parallelogram, 300 cubits long, 50 
cubits broad, and 30 cubits high. The length of' the 
cubit, in the great variety of measures which bore 
this name, it is impossible to ascertain, and useless to 
conjecture. The Ark is called in Hebrew thebah, by 
the Sept. z/,*oiTuc, kibotos ; and by Josephus, .iu»rot, 
larnax, a chest. So far as these names afford any evi- 
dence, they also go to show that the Ark of Noah 
was not a regularly built vessel ; but merely in- 
tended to float at large upon the waters. We may, 
therefore, probably with justice, regard it as a large, 
oblong, floating house, with a roof either flat, or only 
slightly inclined. It was constructed with three sto- 
ries, and had a door in the side. There is no men- 
tion of windows in the side ; but above, i. e. probably 
in the flat roof, where Noah was commanded to 
make them of a cubit .in size Gen.vi. 16. That this 
is the meaning of the passage, seems apparent from 
Gen. viii. 13 ; where Noah removes the covering of 
the Ark, in order to behold whether the ground was 
dry ; — a labor surely unnecessary, had there been 
windows in the sides of the Ark. 

The form and dimensions of Noah's Ark have 
given rise to an infinite amount of useless speculation. 
Besides the practical illustration of building similar 
ships, mentioned above, many books have also been 
written on the subject. One of the most important 
was written by the Jesuit Kircher, under the title 
" Area Nose," published at Rome, 1669, in folio, and 
republished at Amsterdam in 1675, fol. pp. 250. This 
work is divided into three parts, and contains an il- 
lustration of what took place before, during, and after 
the deluge. All the different stories and compart- 
ments of the Ark are here delineated ; and the beasts, 
birds, and reptiles, are all appropriately distributed ! 
The plate given by Calmet to represent the Ark, does 
not fall much short of the same fanciful particularity. 

As Noah was the progenitor of all the nations of 
the earth, we might naturally expect to find memo- 
rials of him also among heathen nations, and espe- 
cially interwoven into their mythological traditions. 
This appears to have been undoubtedly the fact. 
The traces of the deluge in heathen mythology have 
been laboriously collected by Mr. Bryant, in his My- 
thology, vol. ii. p. 193, seq. 

It appears, from many circumstances, that the great 
patriarch was highly reverenced by his posterity. 
They styled him Prometheus, Deucalion, Theuth, 
Zuth, Xuthus, Inachus, Dionnusus, etc. In the 
East, his true name was better preserved ; he was 
there called Noas, Naus, and sometimes contracted, 
Nous. Indeed, it must ever remain a striking fact, 
that throughout the whole kindred family of lan- 
guages, from India to us, the syllable JVa, or Nach, 
is one of the fundamental sounds by which water, 



and a multitude of ideas connected wiffj it, are des- 
ignated; as raieu, ruua, vavc, navis, navigate, 7iass 
JYachen, etc. 

Suidas relates an account of this personage, whom 
he calls Annacus, agreeing in its main points with tne 
story of Noah, and which is further illustrated by 
Stephen of Byzantium. Diodorus, and other Greeks, 
call him Deucalion ; and describe the deluge as uni- 
versal. We are assured by Philo, (De prremio et 
poena, vol. ii. p. 412.) that Deucalion was Noah. 
"The Grecians call the person Deucalion, but the 
Chaldeans style him Noe, in whose time there hap- 
pened the great eruption of waters." The Chaldeans 
likewise mentioned him by the name of Xisouthros. 
(Cedren. p. 10.) — Eusebius has preserved a passage 
from Abydenus, (Prsef. Evang. ix. 12.) in which he 
speaks of Noah as a king under the name of Sei- 
sithrus, and says that " during the prevalence of the 
flood, Seisithrus sent out birds, that he might judge 
whether the waters had subsided ; but that the birds, 
not finding any resting place, returned to him again. 
This was repeated three times ; when the birds were 
found to return with their feet stained with soil ; by 
which he knew that the flood was abated. Upon 
this he quitted the ark." Abydenus concludes with 
a particular in which all the eastern writers are 
unanimous, viz. that the place of descent from the 
Ark was in Armenia. — Plutarch also mentions the 
dove of Noah, (Deucalion,) and its being sent from 
the Ark. (de solert. Animal, v. ii. p. 968.) 

But the most particular account of the deluge, and 
the nearest of any to that of Moses, is given by Lu- 
cian. He also describes Noah under the name of 
Deucalion, (De Dea Syra, v. ii. p. 882.) and says he 
"put all his family into a vast ark which he had 
provided ; and went into it himself. At the same 
time animals of every species, boars, horses, lions, 
serpents, whatever lived upon the face of the earth, 
followed him by pairs ; all of which he received into 
the ark, and experienced no evil from them. Thus 
they were wafted with him as long as the flood en- 
dured." After the receding of the waters, Lucian 
says Deucalion went out from the Ark and raised an 
altar to God ; but he transposes the scene to Hiera- 
polis in Syria ; where the natives pretended to have 
particular memorials of the deluge. 

Most of the authors who have transmitted these 
accounts, likewise affirm that the remains of the Ark 
were visible in their days upon one of the mountains 
of Armenia. So also some of the fathers. This, 
however, we may properly assume as fabulous. See 
Ararat. 

Part of the ceremonies, in most of the ancient mys- 
teries, consisted in carrying about a ship or boat; 
which may perhaps, relate to nothing else but Noah 
ana tne deluge. So the ship of Isis, so celebrated 
among tne Egyptians. (Pitiscus Lexicon.) 

Mr. Bryant is of opinion that the appellation of 
many cities, as of Thebes in Egypt and in Bceotia, 
and also of others in Cilicia, Ionia, Attica, Syria, and 
Italy, is derived from the Hebrew tMbah, the word 
signifying ark. But this we may justly regard as 
verging too much upon the fanciful. 

The Ark was also called by the Greeks xiftoauc, 
kibotos, which would seem not to be a word of Greek 
origin. It is in this way that the city Apamea in 
Phrygia seems to have become particularly connected 
with the memory of the deluge. This city was an- 
ciently called Cibotus, whether in commemoration 
of the deluge, or whether, being so called, the name 
was afterwards referred to the Ark, it is difficult to 



ARK 



[ 96 1 



ARK 




say. At any rate, the people of this city seem to 
have collected or preserved more particular and 
authentic traditions concerning the flood, and of the 
preservation of the human race, than are elsewhere 
to be met with out of the Bible. *R. 

A specimen of this is given in the annexed medal, 
which is preserved in the 
cabinet of the king of 
France, and is too remark- 
able to be overlooked ; 
and having been particu- 
larly scrutinized by the 
late Abbe Barthelemy, at 
the desire of the late Dr. 
Combe, was, by that able 
antiquary, pronounced 
authentic. It bears on 
one side the head of Se- 
verus ; on the other a history in two parts ; represent- 
ing, first, two figures enclosed in an ark, or chest, 
sustained by stout posts at the corners, and well 
timbered throughout. On the side are letters ; on the 
top is a dove ; in front, the same two figures which 
we see in the ark are represented as come out, and 
departing from their late residence. Hovering over 
them is the dove, with a sprig in its bill. (Double 
histories are common on medals.) The situation of 
these figures implies the situation of the door ; and 
clearly commemorates an escape from the dangers 
of water, by means of a floating vessel. Whether 
these particulars can be, without difficulty, referred to 
the history of Deucalion and Pyrrha, as usually un- 
derstood, will be strongly doubted by all who duly 
contenip'ate the subject. Moreover, the Abbe Bar- 
thelemy informs us, that the letters on the ark are — 
"the letter N, followed by two or three others, of 
which there remain only the slightest traces ;' or, to 
speak more accurately, there is nothing but the con- 
tour of the second letter to be distinguished, which, 
according to different lights, appears sometimes an 
-Q, (O,) sometimes an E. There are traces of two or 
three others;" say of two others; one of which "in 
some lights appears to be O (S2)" [These letters 
Mr. Bryant reads as NS2E. The inscription refers 
it to Apamea. There seems, indeed, to have been a 
notion that the ark rested on the hills of Celama, 
where the city Cibotus was founded ; and the Sibyl- 
line oracles, wherever they were written, also include 
these hills under the name of Ararat, and mention 
this circumstance. See Apamea, and Ararat. R. 

It is possible, says Mr. Taylor, that the reader may 
not at first perceive the propriety of attaching so 
great importance to the history of Noah's deliverance 
and its commemoration. The outcry of a certain 
class of reasoners against Revelation has long been, 
"Bring us facts which all the world agree in; 

FACTS ADMITTED, ESTABLISHED, BY' UNBIASED EVI- 
DENCE," &c* If, in answer- to this, we adduce proof 
that the Christian dispensation is from above, we 
are reminded — "How few of mankind receive it! 
Christ's own nation deny the subject of it ; heathen 
lands refuse him." If we advert to Moses — " What ! 
a leader of a pitiful horde of leprous slaves ! at most, 
a legislator acknowledged by a single nation ! and 
that a stupid nation too." To establisl>the assertion, 
therefore, that Deity has condescended to make 
known his intentions to man, he invites such persons 
to investigate the instance of Noah : — Was the 
deluge, he asks, a real occurrence ? — All mankind 
acknowledge it. Wherever tradition has been 
maintained, wherever written records are preserved, 



wherever commemorative rites have been instituted 
what has been their subject ? — The deluge ; deliver- 
ance from destruction by u flood. The savage and 
the sage agree in this : North and South, East and 
West, relate the danger of their great ancestor from 
overwhelming waters. — But he was saved : and 
how ? — By personal exertion ? By long supported 
swimming ? By concealment in the highest moun- 
tains ? No : but by enclosure in a large floating edi- 
fice of his own construction — his own construction, 
for diis particular purpose. But this labor was 
long ; this was not the work of a day ; he must have 
foreknown so astonishing an event, a considerable 
time previous to its actual occurrence. — Whence did 
he receive this foreknowledge? Did the earth 
inform him, that at twenty, thirty, forty years' dis- 
tance it would disgorge a flood ? — Surely not. Did 
the stars announce that they would dissolve the ter- 
restrial atmosphere in terrific rains ? — Surely not. 
Whence, then, had Noah his foreknowledge ? Did 
he begin to build when the first showers descended ? 
This was too late. Had he been accustomed to rains 
formerly — why think them now of importance ? Had 
he never seen rain — what could induce him to 
provide against it ? Why this year more than last 
year ? — why last year more than the year before ? 
These inquiries are direct: we cannot flinch from 
the fact. Erase it from the Mosaic records ; still it 
is recorded in Greece, in Egypt, in India, and in 
Britain : it is registered in the very sacra of the pagan 
world ; and is annually renewed by commemorative 
imitation, where the liberty of opinion is not fettered 
by prejudices derived from Hebrew institutions, or 
by the "sophisticated" inventions of Christianity. — 
" Go, infidel," he adds, "turn to the right hand, or to 
the left hand : take your choice of difficulties : dis- 
parage all mankind as fools, as willing dupes to 
superstitious commemoration, as leagued throughout 
the world to delude themselves in order to impugn 
your wisdom, your just-thinking, your love of truth, 
your unbiased integrity ; or allow that this fact, 
at least this one fact, is established by testimony 
abundantly sufficient ; but remember, that if it be 
established, it implies a communication from GOD 
to man. — Who could inform Noah ? Why did 
not that great patriarch provide against Fire ? — 
against Earthquakes? — against Explosions'? — Why 
against a Deluge ? — why against Water? — Away with 
subterfuge. Say frankly, 'This was the dictation of 
Deity ;' say, 1 Only HE who made the world could 
predict the time, the means, the causes of this devas- 
tation ; only HE could excite the hope of restoration, 
or suggest a method of deliverance.' Use your own 
language ; but permit a humble believer to adopt 
language already recorded : ' By faith, Woah — being 
warned of God — of things never seen as yet — in pious 
fear — prepared the Ark (Kibotos) to the saving of his 
family — by which he condemned the world.' May a 
similar condemnation never rest on us, who must at 
least admit the truth of one text in the Bible- — or 
stand convicted by the united voice of all mankind, 
and by the testimony of the earth, the now shattered, 
the now disordered earth itself!" 

II. ARK of the Covenant. The Hebrew 
word p-iN, which Moses employs to denote the 
sacred coffer in which the tables of the law 
were deposited, signifies a chest or box. It was 
of Shittim-wood, covered with plates of gold ; two 
cubits and a half in length, a cubit and a half 
wide, and a cubit and a half high. On the top of it, 
all round, ran a kind of gold crown ; and two cher 



SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICK. 




THE ARK. 



ARK 



[ 97 ] 



ARM • 



ubim were over the cover. It had four rings of 
gold, two on each side, through which staves were 
put, by which it was carried, Exod. xxv. 10 — 22. 
After the passage of the Jordan, the Ark continued 

I some time at Gilgal ; (Josh. iv. 19.) whence it was 
removed to Shiloh, 1 Sam. i. 3. From hence the 
Israelites took it to their camp ; but when they gave 
battle to the Philistines, it was taken by the enemy, 
chap. iv. The Philistines, oppressed by the hand 
of God, however, returned the Ark, and it was lodged 
at Kirjath-jearim, chap. vii. 1. It was afterwards, in 
the reign of Saul, at Nob. David conveyed it from 
Kirjath-jearim to the house of Obed-Edom ; and from 
thence to his palace at Sion ; (2 Sam. vi.) and, lastly, 
Solomon brought it into the temple at Jerusalem, 2 
Chron. v. 2. (See Armies.) It remained in the tem- 
ple with all suitable respect, till the times of the later 
kings of Judah, who, abandoning themselves to idol- 
atry, were so daring as to establish their idols in the 
holy place itself. The priests, unable to endure this 
profanation, removed the Ark, and carried it from 
place to place, to preserve it from the pollution and 
impiety of these princes. Josiah commanded them 

; to bring it back to the sanctuary, and forbade them 
to carry it, as they had hitherto done, into the coun- 
try, 2 Chron. xxxv. 3. 

It is doubted, with good reason, whether the Ark 
was replaced in the temple, after the return of the 
Jews from Babylon. Dr. Prideaux is of opinion, that 
as the Jews found it necessary, for the celebration of 
their worship in the second temple, to have a new 
altar of incense, a new shew-bread table, and a new 
candlestick, they had likewise a new Ark ; and he 
asks, Since the holy of holies, and the veil drawn be- 
fore it, were wholly lor the sake of the Ark, what 
need had there been of these in the second temple, 
if there had not been the Ark also to which they 
referred ? Some think that Nebuchadnezzar con- 
veyed the Ark to Babylon, among the spoil of rich 
vessels carried off by him from the temple ; others, 
that Manasseh, having set up idols in the temple, 
took away the Ark, which was not returned during 
his reign. The author of Esdras (2 Esd. x. 22.) rep- 
resents the Jews lamenting, that the Ark of the 
Covenant was taken by the Chaldeans, among the 
plunder of the temple. The Gemara of Jerusalem, 
and that of Babylon, both acknowledge, that the Ark 
of the Covenant was one of the things wanting in the 
second temple. The Jews flatter themselves, that 
it will be restored by their Messiah, says Abarbanel ; 
but Jeremiah, (chap. iii. 16.) speaking of the time of 
the Messiah, says, they shall neither talk nor think of 
the Ark, nor remember it any more. Esdras, Nehe- 
miah, the Maccabees, and Josephus, never mention 
the Ark in the second temple ; and Josephus says 
expressly, that when Jerusalem was taken by Titus, 
there was nothing in the sanctuary. Lastly, the rab- 
bins agree in saying, that, after the captivity of Baby- 
lon, the Ark was not at Jerusalem ; and that the 
foundation-stone, which they believe to be the cen- 
tre of the holy mountain, was placed in the sanc- 
tuary in its room. The fathers, and Christian com- 
mentators, agree generally with the Jews on this 
point. 

Beside the tables of the covenant, placed by Moses 
in the sacred coffer, God appointed the blossoming 
rod of Aaron to be lodged there, (Numb. xvii. 10.) 
and the omer of manna which was gathered in the 
wilderness, Exod. xvi. 33, 34. 

The heathen, likewise, had, in their religious rites, 
little chests, or cistce, in which they locked up their 
13 



most sacred things. Apuleius says, that in proces- 
sions in Egypt there was a chest-bearer, who carried 
a box, enclosing the richest things for their religious 
uses. Plutarch, on the rites of Isis and Osiris, says 
the same. Pausanias mentions a chest, in which the 
Trojans locked up their mysteries, which, at the 
siege of Troy, fell to Euripulus's share. The an- 
cient Etrurians had also cistre ; so had the Greeks 
and Romans : but these chests often enclosed things 
profane, superstitious, and ridiculous ; whereas the 
Ark of God contained the most sacred and serious 
things in the world. 

ARKITES, (Gen. x. 17.) and Archites,(1 Chron. 

1. 15.) a Canaanitish tribe inhabiting the city Area 
("Jqy.n) in Syria, some miles north of Tripolis. Ar- 
ea was the birth-place of Alexander Severus. Burck- 
hardt found here ruins, which serve to show its an- 
cient importance. Travels in Syr. p. 162, or Germ, 
ed. p. 520, with Gesenius's note. 

ARM. This word is frequently used in the 
Scriptures in a metaphorical sense, to denote power, 
as 1 Sam. ii. 31 ; Ps. x. 15; Ezek. xxx. 21. Hence, 
any remarkable or striking manifestation of God's 
power is referred to his arm, Exod. vi. 6 ; Ps. xliv. 
3 ; xcviii. 1 ; Luke i. 51 ; Acts xiii. 17. The prophet 
represents God as the arm of his people, (Isa. xxxiii. 

2. ) in affording them strength and protection. In 
allusion to the ancient custom of warriors making 
bare the arm when closely engaged in combat, God 
is said to " make bare his arm," when in any signal 
manner he interposes his power for the deliverance 
of his people, and the destruction of his enemies, 
Isa. Iii. 10. 

ARMAGEDDON, [mountain of Megiddo,) a place 
mentioned Rev. xvi. 16. Megiddo is a city in the 
great plain, at the foot of mount Carmel, which had 
been the scene of much slaughter. Under this char- 
acter it is referred to in the above text, as the place 
in which God will collect together his enemies for 
destruction. See Megiddo. 

ARMENIA, a considerable province of Asia ; 
having Media on the east, Cappadocia on the west, 
Colchis and Iberia on the north, Mesopotamia on 
the south, and the Euphrates and Syria on the south- 
west. Care should be taken to distinguish Arme- 
nia from Ararnaea, or Syria, with which it has been 
sometimes confounded. 

The name Armenia is probably derived from 
Harminni, the mountainous country of the Minni, or 
Mineans, who are noticed Jer. li. 27. In Gen. viii. 
4, Moses says the ark rested on the mountains of 
Armenia ; in the Hebrew, the mountains of Ararat : 
and in 2 Kings xix. 37, it is said the two sons of 
Sennacherib, after having killed their father, es- 
caped into Armenia ; in the Hebrew, the land of 
Ararat. 

ARMIES. The Lord, in Scripture, assumes the 
name " Jehovah of Hosts :" mtosrnm. The Hebrew 
nation, in many places, is called the "army of the 
Lord," because God was considered as its head and 
general ; who named the captains of its armies ; 
who ordained war and peace ; whose priests sounded 
the trumpets, &c. The armies of Israel were not 
composed of regular troops kept constantly in pay ; 
the whole nation were fighting men, ready to march 
as occasion required. The army expected no re- 
ward beside honor, and the spoils taken, which were 
dividid by the chiefs. Each soldier furnished him- 
self with arms and provisions, and their wars were 
generally of short duration : they fought on foot, hav- 
ing ho horse, till the reign of Solomon. David is 



• ARMIES 



[ 98 ] 



ARMIES 



the first who had regular troops ; his successors, for 
the most part, had only militia, excepting their body- 
guards, which were not numerous. When they 
expected to give battle, proclamation was made at 
the head of every battalion, according to Deut. xx. 
5. (See War.) The ark of God was often borne 
in the army, (1 Sam. iv. 4, 5 ; 2 Sam. xi. 11 ; xv. 
24.) and the Israelites of the ten tribes, in imitation 
of Judah, carried their golden calves with them in 
their camp, as the Philistines did their idols, 1 Chron. 
xiv. 12 ; 2 Chron. xiii. 8. 

Few things in history are more surprising than 
the great numbers which are recorded as forming 
eastern armies ; even the Scripture accounts of the 
armies that invaded Judea, or were raised in Judea, 
often excite the wonder of their readers. To paral- 
lel these great numbers by those of other armies, 
not all that is acceptable to the inquisitive ; it is 
requisite also to show how so small a province as 
the Holy Land really was, could furnish such mighty 
armies of fighting men ; with the uncertainty of the 
proportion of these fighting men to the whole num- 
ber of the nation ; in respect to which many un- 
founded conjectures have escaped the pens of the 
learned. With a view to this, Mr. Taylor has at- 
tempted, by adducing instances of numerous armies 
which have been occasionally raised, to show what 
may be done by despotic power, or the impulse of 
military glory ;i and also that the composition of 
Asiatic armies is such as may render credible those 
numbers which express their gross amount; while 
no just inference respecting the entire population of 
a country can be drawn from the numbers stated as 
occasionally composing its armies. 

The account given by Knolles, in his " History of 
the Turks," of the contending armies of Bajazct and 
Tamerlane, is no bad specimen of the " I will" of 
military power, of the cares and anxieties attending 
on the station of command, and of the feelings of 
great minds on great occasions. " So, inarching on, 
Tamerlane at length came to Bachichich, where he 
staid to refresh his army eight daies, and there againe 
took a generall muster thereof, wherein were found 
(as most write)y*our hundred thousand horse, and six 
hundred thousand foot ; or, as some others that were 
there present affirme, three hundred thousand horse- 
men, and fine hundred thousand foot of al nations. 
Vnto whom he there gaue a generall pay, and, as 
Iris manner was, made vnto them an oration, inform- 
ing them of such orders as he would haue kept, to 
the end they might the better obserue the same : 
with much other militarie discipline, whereof he was 
very curious with his captains. At which time, also, 
it was lawful! for euery common soldier to behold 
him with more boldness than on other daies, foras- 
much as he did for that time, and such like, lay 
aside imperial majestie, and shew himselfe more fa- 
miliar unto them." p. 215. " Malcozzius hauing 
made true relation vnto Baiazet, was by him de- 
manded 'wbcaier of the two armies he thought big- 
ger or stronger ?' for now Baiazet had assembled a 
mightie armie of three hundred thousand men, or, as 
some report, of three hundred thousand horsemen and 
two hundred thousand foot. Whereunto Malcozzius, 
hauing before craued pardon, answered, ' That it 
could not be, but that Tamerlane might in reason 
haue the greater number, for that he was a com- 
mander of farre greater countries.' Wherewith 
proud Baiazet offended, in great choller replied, 
' Out of doubt, the sight of the Tartarian hath made 
this coward so airraid, that he thinketh euery enemie 



to be two." p. 21C. " All which Tamerlane, walk- 
ing this night vp & down in his campe, heard, and 
much reioiced to see the hope that his soldiers had 
alreadie in general concerned of the victorie. Who 
after the second watch returning vnto his pauillion, 
ami there casting himself upon a carpet, had thought 
to haue slept a while ; hut his cares not suffering him 
so to do, he then, as his manner was, called for a booke 
■wherein was contained the Hues of his fathers and an- 
cestors, and of other valiant worthies, the which he vse.d 
ordinarily to read, as he then did: not as therwith 
vainly to deceiue the time, but to make vse thereof 
by the imitation of that which was by them worthily 
done, & declining of such'dangers as they by their 
rashness or oucrsight l'el into." p. 218. [See the 
same kind of occupation of Ahasuerus, Esther vi. 
1.] " My will is, said Tamerlane, ' that my men 
come forward vnto me as soon as they may, for I 
will aduance forward with an hundred thousand foof- 
men, fiftie thousand vpon each of my two wings, and 
in the middest of them forty thousand of my best 
horsemen. My pleasure is, that after they haue tried 
the "force of these men, that they conic vnto my 
avauntgard, of whom I wil dispose, & fifty thousand 
horse more in three bodies, whom thou shalt com- 
mand : which I wil assist with 80,000 horse, where- 
in shal be mine own person : hauing 100,000 foot- 
men behind me, who shal march in two squadrons : 
and for my arereward I appoint 40,000 horse, and 
fiftie thousand footmen, who shal not march but to 
my aid. And I wil make choice of 10,000 of my 
best horse, whom I wil send into eury place where 
I shal thinke needful] within my armie, for to im- 
part my commands."' p. 218. 

It is impossible, on this occasion, not to recollect 
the immense army led by Napoleon into Russia, 
exceeding six hundred thousand troops ; also, the 
forces engaged around Leipsic ; amounting (includ- 
ing both sides) to half a million of men. 

But it may be said, that "such mighty empires 
may well be supposed to raise forces, to which the 
small state of Judea was incompetent." This may 
safely be admitted ; but Avhat was, in all probability, 
the nature and composition of the Jewish, as of other 
eastern armies, we may learn from the following 
relations ; which contribute to strengthen the cred- 
ibility of the greater numbers recorded as compos- 
ing them. Baron du Tott reports as follows of the 
armies raised by the Cham of the Crimea : " It may 
be presumed that the rustic frugal life which these 
pastoral people lead favors population, while the 
wants and excesses of luxury, among polished na- 
tions, strike at its very root. In fact, it is observed, 
that the people are less numerous under the roofs 
of the Crimea, and the province of Boodjack, than 
in the tents of the Noguais. The best calculation 
we can make, is from a view of the military forces 
which the Cham is able to assemble. We shall 
soon see this prince raising three armies at the same 
time ; one of a hundred thousand men, which he com- 
manded in person ; another of sixty thousand, com- 
manded by the Calga ; and a third of forty thousand, 
by the Nooradin. He had the power of raising 
double the number, without prejudice to the necessary 
labors of the state." (Vol. i. p. 113.) "The invasion 
of New Servia, which had been determined on at 
Constantinople, was consented to in the assembly of 
the Grand Vassals of Tartary, and orders were ex- 
pedited, throughout the provinces, for the necessary 
military supplies. Three horsemen were to be fur- 
nished by eight families ; which number was estimat- 



ARMIES 



L 99 ] 



ARMIES 



ed to be sufficient for the three armies, which were 
all to begin their operations at once. That of the 
Nooradin, consisting of forty thousand men, had or- 
ders to repair to the Little Don ; that of the Calga, 
of sixty thousand, was to range the left coast of the 
Boristhenes, till they came beyond the Orela ; and that 
which the Cham commanded in person, of a hundred 
thousand, was to penetrate into New Servia." (Vol. 
i. p. 150.) The following descriptive account of 
Asiatic armies is from Volney :— " Sixty thousand 
men, with them, are very far from being synonymous 
with sixty thousand soldiers, as in our armies. That 
of which we are now speaking affords a proof of 
this : it might amount, in fact, to forty thousand men, 
which may be classed as follows : — Five thousand 
Mamlouk cavalry, ivhich ivas the whole effective army ; 
about fifteen hundred Barbary Arabs, on foot, and 
no other infantry, for the Turks are acquainted with 
none ; with them the cavalry is every thing. Be- 
sides these, each Mamlouk having in his suite two 
footmen, 'armed with staves, these would form a body 
of ten thousand valets, besides a number of servants 
and serradgis, or attendants on horseback, for the 
Bey and Kachefs, which may be estimated at two 
thousand : all the rest were sutlers, and the usual 
train of followers. — Such was this army, as described 
to be in Palestine, by persons who had seen and 
followed it." (Travels, vol. i. p. 124.) " The Asiatic 
armies are mobs, their marches ravages, their cam- 
paigns mere inroads, and their battles bloody frays. 
The strongest, or the most adventurous party, goes 
in search of the other, which not unfrequently flies 
without offering resistance : if they stand their 
ground, they engage pell-mell, discharge their car- 
bines, break their spears, and hack each other with 
their sabres ; for they rarely have any cannon, and 
when they have, they are but of little service. A 
panic frequently diffuses itself ivithout cause : one 
party flies ; the other pursues, and shouts victory ; 
the vanquished submits to the will of the conqueror, 
and the campaign often terminates without a battle." 
p. 126. It appears, by these extracts, that the num- 
bers which compose the gross of Asiatic armies are 
very far from denoting the true number of soldiers, 
fighting men of that army ; in fact, when we deduct 
those whose attendance is of little advantage, it may 
be not very distant from truth, if we say nine out 
often are such as, in Europe, would be forbidden the 
army ; nor is the suggestion absolutely to be rejected, 
that when we read 40, instead of 400, the true 
fighting corps of soldiers only are reckoned and 
stated. However that may be, these authorities are 
sufficient to justify the possibility of such numbers as 
Scripture has recorded, being assembled for pur- 
poses of warfare ; of which purposes plunder is not 
one of the least in the opinion of those who usually 
attend a camp. It follows, also, that no conclusive 
estitnate of the population of a kingdom can be 
drawn from such assemblages, under such circum- 
stances ; and, therefore, that no calculation oitght to 
be hazarded on such imperfect data. ' 

But there is another circumstance connected with 
eastern armies that ought not to be lost sight of, es- 
pecially as it affords an opportunity for illustrating 
a passage of Scripture. We mean, the apparently 
singular request made by Barak, the general of the 
Israelites, to Deborah the prophetess, Judg. iv. 6. 
Deborah commanded him in the name of the Lord 
to encamp on mount Tabor, with ten thousand men : 
"And I will draw unto thee, to the river Kishon, 
Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots 



and his multitude ; and I will deliver him into thine 
hand. And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go 
with me, then I will go : but if thou wilt not go 
with me, then I will not go." Modern warfare 
would much rather decline the company of a wo- 
man, who, under the circumstances stated, was little 
other than commander-in-chief. But we learn from 
Xenophon, (Cyrop. lib. iv.) "that most of the in- 
habitants of Asia are attended in their military ex- 
peditions by those whom they live with at home." — 
" The army brought chariots which they had taken ; — 
some of them full of the most considerable women, 

for to this day all the inhabitants of Asia, in time 

of war, attend the service accompanied with what 
they value most ; and they say, that they fight the 
better when the objects most dear to them are pres- 
ent." Herodotus (Polhymnia, cap. 39.) narrates the 
following history : " Pythius, the Lydian, had highly 
honored Icing Xerxes by contributions, entertain- 
ments, &c. — whom he thus addressed : ' Sir, I have 
five sons, who are all with you in this Grecian expe- 
dition ; I would entreat you to pity my age, and 
dispense with the presence of the eldest. Take with 
you the four others, but leave this to manage my 
affairs.' — Xerxes in great indignation made this 
reply : ' Infamous man ! you see me embark my all 
in this Grecian war ; myself, my children, my broth- 
ers, my domestics, and my friends ; — how dare you, 
then, presume to mention your son, you who are my 
slave, and whose duty it is to accompany me on 
this occasion — with all your family, and even your 
ivife V " We may now form a better notion of the 
policy of Barak, in stipulating for the presence of the 
prophetess who judged Israel with his army. She 
was a public person, was 'well known to all Is- 
rael, and her appearance would no less stimulate 
the valor of the troops to " fight the better for 
an object most dear to them," than it would sanc- 
tion the undertaking determined on and executed 
against an oppressor so powerful as Jabin, king of 
Canaan. 

This notion may be extended somewhat further ; 
for Deborah, in her triumphant song, supposes that 
Sisera's mother attributed the delay in his return to 
the great number of captives — female captives — 
taken from the enemy — " to every man a damsel, or 
two ;" — families of the warriors of Israel, taken pris- 
oners in their camp, equally with seizures made in 
the villages and towns. Whether this be correct 
or not, no striking objection seems to oppose it — and 
we are sure that the presence of women of rank in 
the camps of the orientals was not uncommon. 
Every body is acquainted with the generosity of 
Alexander in the tent of Darius, when the royal 
family of Persia became his captives ; and the story 
of Panthea is so beautifully told by Xenophon, 
(Cyrop. lib. v.) that if it be already familiar to the 
reader, he cannot be displeased with its repetition. 
The generosity of Alexander might emulate, but it 
could not excel, the generosity of Cyrus. " When 
we first entered her tent (that of Panthea) we did 
not know her ; for she was sitting on the ground, 
with all her women-servants round her, and was 
dressed in the same manner as her servants were : 
but when we looked around, being desirous to know 
which was the mistress, she immediately appeared 
to excel all the others, though she was sitting with 
a veil over her, and looking down upon the ground. 
When we bid her arise, she and the servants around 
her rose. Standing in a dejected posture, her tears 
fell at her feet," &c. This idea of women attending 



ARM 



L 100 ] 



ARMS 



soldiers contributes an illustration to a verse in that 
sufficiently obscure effusion, Psalm lxviii. 12. 

Kings of armies did flee, did flee, 

And she who tarried at home divided the spoil. 

[Here the phrase " she that tarries at home," or, 
more properly, " that abides in the house," is poet- 
ically put for female ; since in the East it is custom- 
ary for the women to remain within doors. The 
distribution of the plunder is here, therefore, attribut- 
ed to the women ; and appropriately ; for it was 
enough for the men to have vanquished the en- 
emies and conquered in battle ; the spoil, obtained 
through their valor, was left to the equitable division 
of others ; and who more proper for this than the 
females ? Comp. Judg. v. 24. R. 

ARMS, military, and ARMOR. The He- 
brews used in war offensive arms of the same kinds 
as were employed by other people of their time, 
and of the East ; swords, darts, lances, javelins, bows, 
arrows, and slings. For defensive arms, they used 
helmets, cuirasses, bucklers, armor for the thighs, 
&c. At particular periods, especially when under 
servitude, whole armies of Israelites were without 
good weapons. In the war of Deborah and Barak 
against Jabin, there were neither shields nor lances 
among 40,000 men, Judg. v. 8. In the time of Saul 
(1 Sam. xiii. 22.) none in Israel, beside Saul and 
Jonathan, was armed with swords and spears ; be- 
cause the Philistines, who were then masters of the 
country, forbade the Hebrews using the trades of 
armorers and sword cutlers; and even obliged them 
to employ Philistines to sharpen their tools of hus- 
bandry ; but these, being their masters, would make 
no arms for them. 

We have in Scripture, not only histories in which 
armor and some of its parts are described, but also 
allusions to complete suits of armor, and to the 
pieces which composed them. Without any formal 
attempt to expose the errors of critics, whose infor- 
mation on this article might have been improved by 
greater accuracy, the following remarks may con- 
tribute to our better acquaintance with the subject. 

The following figure, which is from Calmet, is 
usually offered, by way of illustrating the armor of 
the famous champion Goliath. As it is drawn from 
the description given of him, and according to the 
signification of the words used to describe each 
separate part, it may be something like the original. 

It should be observed, 
however, ( 1 . ) that swords 
so long as this are not 
known in antiquity ; and 
that had it been of the 
length here represented, 
David would have found 
it cumbersome to use af- 
terwards, constantly, as 
we learn he did; (2.) 
that this figure is com- 
posed on the principle 
that the armor was 
worn without any other 
dress, which we think 
may be questioned, and 
is not easily determined ; 
(3.) that the forms of 
Roman or Greek armor 
are not decidedly ap- 
plicable to the Pales- 





tine history ; yet the armor of these people has 
been studied for this figure. 

The next is a soldier in armor, from the column 
usually called that of Anto- 
ninus, but perhaps more prop- 
erly referred to Aurelius. The 
apostle (Eph. vi. 13, 14.) ad- 
vises believers to "take unto 
themselves the whole armor 
of God ;" and he separates 
this panoply into its parts : 
"your loins," says he, "girt 
about with truth." Now, this 
figure has a very strong com- 
position of cinctures round 
his waist (loins) ; and if we 
suppose them to be of steel, 
as they appear to be, the de- 
fence they form to his person 
is very great ; such a defence 
to the mind is truth. Un- 
doubtedly there were, as we 
shall see, other kinds of 
girdles ; but none that could be more thoroughly 
defensive than that of this soldier. Moreover, these 
cinctures surround the person, and go over the 
back, also. So truth defends on all sides. The re- 
mark that " Paul names no armor for the back," 
is also somewhat impaired ; because if this part of 
the dress was what he referred to by niQitaioufijivot, 
"girded round about," then its passing round the 
back, pretty high up, at least, was implied. — The 
apostle proceeds to advise " having on the breast- 
plate of righteousness," to defend the vital parts ; as 
our figure has on a breast-plate ; and as one below 
has a covering made in one piece for the whole 
upper part of his body. "Having the feet shod 
with the preparation of the gospel of peace ;" not 
iron, not steel ; but patient investigation, calm in- 
quiry ; assiduous, laborious, lasting ; if not, rather, 
with firm footing in ■ the gospel of peace. Whether 
the apostle here means stout, well-tanned leather, 
leather well prepared, by his "preparation of the 
gospel of peace," or shoes which had spikes in them, 
which, running into the ground, gave a steadfastness 
to the soldier who wore them, may come under re- 
mark hereafter. We shall only add, that Moses 
seems, at least according to our rendering, to have 
some allusion to shoes, either plated, or spiked, on 
the sole, when he says, (Deut. xxxiii. 25.) " Thy 
shoes shall be iron and brass ; and as thy days shall 
thy strength be." — " Above all taking the shield of 
faith :" not above all in point of value ; but of situa- 
tion ; over all — before all ; as our soldier holds his 
shield ; for his protection. Faith may be a prime 
grace, but if raised too high, like a shield over ela- 
vated, the parts it should defend may become ex- 
posed to the enemy. " Take the helmet of salva- 
tion ;" security — safety. So far our figure applies ; 
however, it has no sword : it had originally a spear, 
but that weapon has been destroyed by time. 
"Praying," says the apostle, "and watching;" these 
are duties of soldiers, especially of Christian soldiers, 
but they are not of a nature to be explained by this 
figure ; however, we very frequently meet with them 
in monuments of antiquity : nothing is more common 
than sacrifices, &c. in camps, and the very first sol- 
diers in the Antonine pillar are sentinels. It may be 
remarked, that this soldier has no armor for his 
legs, or thighs, or arms : they are merely sheltered 
by clothing, but are not defended by armor. We 



ARMS 



[ 101 ] 



ARMS 



Jo not find that the apostle alludes to any pieces of 
defence for the legs, or the thighs, of his Christian 
warrior. 

This engraving shows the parts of a complete suit 




of armor, separately ; from an ancient gem: as, (1.) 
the Leg-pieces, which not only cover the legs pretty 
low down, but also the thighs, up above the knee ; 
(2.) the Spear stuck in the ground ; (3.) the Sword, 
in this instance in its sheath ; (4.) the Cuirass, or 
defence of the body : this appears to be made of 
leather, or some pliant material, capable of taking 
the form of the parts : (5.) the Shield ; upon which, 
in our gem, is placed (6.) the Helmet, with its flow- 
ing crest. 




The next is among the most curious statues of an- 
tiquity remaining, being a portrait of Alexander the 
Great fighting on horseback ; and probably, also, a 
portrait of his famous horse Bucephalus. The 
figure has a girdle round his waist ; in which it is 
rather singular; and close to this girdle falls the 
sheath for his sword ; his loins are girt about with a 
single piece of armor, buckled at the sides ; which 
answers the purposes of a breast-plate, by covering 
high up on the thorax : his feet are not only shod, 
but ornamented with straps, &c. a considerable way 
up the leg. He has neither shield nor helmet ; and 
Mr. Taylor remarks, that he has not found a com- 
manding officer — a general — with a helmet on, 
neithei during his actual engagement in fighting, 



as this figure is represented, nor when addressing 
his soldiers, though that could hardly be the fact. 
The form, size, &c. of this sword deserve notice ; it 
is very different from the ideal sword of Goliath, in 
the first figure above. That girdles were of several 
kinds we need not doubt ; if we did, the entire dif- 
ference between that of this figure and that of the 
second above would justify the" assertion. In that 
there is no room for concealing, or for carrying, any 
thing, but we know that one use of the girdle in the 
East was, and still is, to carry various articles. So 
we read, 2 Sam. xx. 8. that " Joab's garment that he 
had put on, was girded (close) unto him, and upon 
it. a sword-girdle, (or belt,) that is, a girdle of a mili 
tary nature, fit for holding a sword : and in this gir- 
dle was a sword in its sheath ; and as he went it 
fell out." Notwithstanding that there was much 
hypocritical baseness in Joab's behavior, we ought 
to observe, that a sword might thus fall out of the 
girdle which contained it ; for so we are told by 
Herodotus, that the sword of Cambyses fell out of 
the girdle, and wounded him in the thigh, of which 
wounds he died. 

We read of swords having two edges ; and of the 
great execution expected to be done by them. See 
Psalm cxlix. 6, and Prov. v. 4. That a sword so short 
as that of this figure might have two edges seems 
probable enough, while that of Goliath would be 
both the weaker and the worse for such a form. The 
sharp sword issuing out of the mouth of our Lord 
(Rev. ii. 12.) will be noticed elsewhere ; we only ob- 
serve here, that to imagine a long sword issuing out 
of the mouth of a person, suggests a very awkward 
image, or idea, to say the least ; an idea which 
hardly could have its prototype in nature. 

The annexed figures represent 
Standards or Ensigns of the Ro- 
man legions ; and explain on 
what principles the Jews might 
regard them as idolatrous, not 
only because they had been con- 
secrated to idols, and by heathen 
priests, but as they have images 
on them ; which, if they might 
be those of the emperor, might 
also be those of idol deities. 

The passage 2 Sam. i. 9. has 
divided interpreters : " Slay me," 
says Saul, " for anguish (vertigo) 
is come upon me ;" so reads our 
translation, with the Vulgate; but 
the LXX and Syriac read, " deep 
darkness surrounds me ;" the 
Chaldee paraphrast, "I am wholly 
terrified;" and some rabbins, "I 
have the cramp." The Hebrew word (yyc, shabatz) 
signifies to surround — enclose — interweave : it occurs 
several times as descriptive of a coat, or covering; 
as Exod. xxviii. 4, 39 : " And thou shalt make an 
embroidered coat;" a close coat, says the Vulgate, 
Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodction ; the LXX to 
the same effect, xoovftfSorrai ; and elsewhere: but per- 
haps, a coat wrought with eye-let (oilet, Fr.) holes ; 
whence the word signifies, the holes in which jew- 
els are set. Since, then, this word, or its derivatives, 
in more than a dozen places, describes a hodily ves- 
ture, and of a particular kind, should it in this 
passage be understood to signify mental sufferings ? 
Should it not rather, as rabbi Levi Ben Gershon and 
M. Saurin think, be rendered a close coat, made of 
rings (oilets) in the nature of a coat of mail, worn by 




ARMS 



L 102 ] 



ARMS 



Saul, for his personal security and defence in 
battle ? There are still extant among our ancient 
armory some of these close coats, which appear 
to be composed of small steel rings, connected 
into each other ; and thereby permitting a free 
motion of the body on all sides. It is difficult 
to determine this question ; for though it can- 
not be denied that 'the ancient Hebrews might use 
such coats, yet we cannot prove it to have been the 
case. 

The nature of the difficulties ' arising in this his- 
tory being understood, the reader is requested to 
examine the annexed engraving, which represents a 
combat between a person on horseback and another 




on foot : it is from Montfaucon, (Supplement, vol. iii. 
page 397.) who thus remarks on it : " The horseman 
represented on an Etruscan vase, of Cardinal Gual- 
teri, is armed in such a singular manner, that I 
thought it necessary to give the figure here. This 
horseman is mounted on a naked horse with only 
a bridle : though the horse seems to have something 
on his neck, which passes between his two ears, 
but it is impossible to distinguish what it is." " The 
armor also of this horseman is as extraordinary as 
that of the Samaritan horseman on Trajan's Pillar. 
His military habit is verij close, and fitted to his body, 
and covers him even to his wrist, and below his ankles, 
so that his feet remain naked ; which is very extra- 
ordinary. For, I think, both in the ancient and 
modern cavalry, the feet were a principal part which 
they guarded ; excepting only the Moorish horse, 
who have for their whole dress only a short tunic, 
which reaches to the middle of the thigh ; and the 
Numidiaus, who ride quite naked, upon a naked 
norse, except a short cloak which they have fastened 
to their neck, and hanging loose behind them in 
warm weather, and which they wrap about them- 
selves in cold weather. Our Etruscan horseman 
here hath his feet naked ; but he hath his head well 
covered with a cap folded about it, and large slips 
of stuff hanging down from it. He wears a collar 
of round stones. The close bodied coat he wears, is 
wrought all over with zigzags, and large points, down 
to the girdle ; which is broad, and tied round the mid- 
dle of his body ; the same flourishing is continued 
lower down his habit quite to his ankle, and all over 
his arms to his wrist. He brandishes his spear against 
iris adversary, who is a naked man on foot, who 
hath only a helmet on, and holds a large oval shield 
in his left hand, and a spear in his right, which he 
darts at his enemy, without being frighted at his 



being so well equipped. The horseman, besides 
his spear, hath a sword fastened to his belt, 01 
breast girdle. The hilt of his sword terminates in 
a bird's head. Behind the man on foot, is a man 
well dressed, with his hat (which is like the modern 
ones) falling from his head. He is the esquire of 
the horseman ; and holds a spear ready for him, 
which he may take if he happens to break his 
own." This may assist our inquiries on the sub- 
ject of the supposed close coat of Saul's armor. 
(1.) This being an Etruscan vase, is probably of 
pretty deep antiquity ; as vases of the kind were not 
manufactured in later ages. (2.) These vases have, 
very often, histories depicted on them, referring to 
eastern nations : they have events, deities, fables, 
&c. as well as dresses, derived from Asia ; whence 
the Etruscans were a colony. We risk little, there- 
fore, in supposing that our subject is ancient, even 
advancing towards the time of King Saul ; and that 
it is also Asiatic. Our next inquiry is, What it re- 
presents. — Certainly we may consider the person on 
horseback as no common cavalier ; he is an officer 
at least, probably a general; if not rather a king: 
in which case, this is the very common subject of a 
king vanquishing an enemy ; a subject which occurs 
in numerous instances on gems, medals, &c. as is 
well known to antiquaries. But the peculiarities oi 
his dress are what demand our present attention. 
(1.) His coat is so close as to cover his whole per- 
son. (2.) It seems to have marks, which, though 
they may be ornaments, yet are analogous to quilt- 
ings, and raise that idea strongly. Now supposing, 
that under these quiltings is a connected chain of 
iron rings, extending throughout the whole, it pre- 
sents a dress well known in later ages, and, as this 
example proves, in times of remote antiquity ; and 
to which agree the words used in describing Saul's 
shabatz, as already noticed. 

In order further to justify these conjectures on the 
nature of the defence afforded by Saul's coat of mail, 
Mr. Taylor copied one of the Samaritan horsemen 




from the Trajan Pillar. This dress, it will be seen, is 
wholly composed of scales, and fits the wearer with 
consummate accuracy ; even his feet and his hands 
are covered with scales : and though his dress is 
divided into two parts, one for his body, the other 
for his legs, yet the whole shows not only his shape, 
but also every muscle of his body. This dress was 
made of horny substances, such as horses' hoofs, 
(Pausanias Attic, cap. 21.) or other materials of equal 
toughness and hardness : but scaly coats of mail were 
frequently made of iron, and, very commonly, we 
find parts of armor of defence imbricated in this 
manner. 

[The above remarks on the case of Saul have been 
permitted to remain, partly as an instance of the fan- 
ciful, and often groundless, speculations of Taylor; 
but principally for the sake of the general illustrations 
of ancient armor. R. 

An observation or two on the story of Saul's at 
tempt to dress David in his armor, (1 Sam. xvii. 38.) 
and we may dismiss this subject. That youth being 



ARO 



[ 103 1 



ARR 



introduced into the royal presence, in consequence 
of his proposal to meet Goliath, our translation says, 
"Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a 
helmet of brass on his head ; also he armed him 
with a coat of mail." [This ought, however, to be 
translated: "Saul clothed David with his garments; 
and he put a helmet of brass upon his head ; and 
clothed him also with a coat of mail." There is here 
no difficulty. David, as a shepherd youth, had been 
accustomed to rove the hills and deserts in his simple 
dress, with all his limbs at full liberty ; and of course 
he could not at once feel himself at ease in the gar- 
ments and close armor of a warrior. He had never 
tried them, i. e. he was not accustomed to them, and 
could move in them neither with ease nor agility. 
Being, too, the armor of Saul, who was taller than the 
rest of the people, they might also be too large for 
David. At any rate, he preferred to lay them aside ; 
and to go against the Philistine in that garb to which 
alone he had been accustomed, and in which alone 
he felt himself free, and able to act with energy and 
dexterity. Can we wonder at his preference ? R. 

ARNON, a river frequently mentioned in Scrip- 
ture, (Dent. ii. 24, &c.) and which rises in the moun- 
tains of Gilead or Moab, and runs by a north-west 
course into the eastern part of the Dead sea. It is 
now called Wady Mod-jeb, and divides the province 
of Belka from that of Kerek, as it formerly divided 
the kingdom of the Moabites and Amorites, Numb, 
xxi. 13. [It flows through a deep and wild ravine 
of the same name, (in the Heb. Numb. xxi. 15 ; Deut. 
ii. 24 ; iii. 9.) and in a narrow bed. Burckhardt 
describes it as follows: "From the spot where we 
reached the high banks of the Modjeb, we followed 
the top of the precipice at the foot of which the river 
flows, in an eastern direction, for a quarter of an 
hour; when we reached the ruins of Araayr, the 
Aroer of the Scriptures, standing on the edge of the 
precipice From hence a footpath leads down to 
the river. The view which the Modjeb presents is 
very striking. From the bottom, where the river 
runs through a narrow stripe of verdant level about 
forty yards across, the steep and barren banks arise 
to a great height, covered with immense blocks of 
stone which have rolled down from the upper strata ; 
so that when viewed from above, the valley looks 
like a deep chasm, formed by some tremendous con- 
vulsion of the earth, into which there seems to be no 
possibility of descending to the bottom. The distance 
from the edge of one precipice to that of the opposite 
one, is about two miles in a straight line. 

" We descended the northern bank of the W ady 
by a footpath which winds among the masses of 
rock, dismounting on account of the steepness of the 
road. We were about thirty-five minutes in reach- 
ing the bottom. — The river, which flows in a rocky 
bed, was almost dried up ; but its bed bears evident 
marks of its impetuosity during the rainy season, the 
shattered fragments of large pieces of rock which 
had been broken from the banks nearest the river, 
and carried along by the torrent, having been depos- 
ited at a considerable height above the present chan- 
nel of the stream. A few Defle and willow trees 
grew on its banks. — The principal source of the 
Modjeb is at a short distance to the north-east of Ka- 
trane, a station of the Syrian Hadji or caravans to 
Mecca." Travels in Syria, p. 372 ; Gesenius, Comm. 
on Is. xvi. 2. *R. 

ARNONA, a district beyond Jordan, along the 
river Arnon. See Reland, p. 495. 

AROER, the name of vnrious cities. (1.) A city on 



the north side of the river Arnon, which was the 
southern border of the Moabitish-Ammonitish terri- 
tory, or of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, Deut. ii. 36 
iii. 12 ; Josh. xii. 3 ; xiii. 16. In Jerem. xlviii. 19. it 
is called a Moabitish city. Burckhardt found its 
ruins on the Arnon, under the name Araayr ; see 
the extract from Burckhardt in the preceding article 
— (2.) Another city, farther north, situated over against 
Rabboth Ammon, (Josh. xiii. 25.) on the brook Gad, 
i. e. an arm of the Jabbok, (2 Sam. xxiv. 5.) and built 
by the Gadites, Num. xxxii. 34. — (3.) A third city, in 
the tribe of Judah, 1 Sam. xxx. 28. R. 

ARPAD or Arphad, a town in Scripture always 
associated with Hamath, the Epiphauia of the Greeks, 
2 Kings xviii. 34, &c. Some make it the same as 
the Arphas noticed in Josephus, as limiting the 
provinces of Gamahtis, Gaulanitis, Batanaea, and 
Trachonitis, north-east ; (Joseph. Bel. J. iii. c. 2 ;) bu 
this is improbable. Michaelis and others compare the 
Raphan or Raphansea, which Stephen of Byzantium 
places near Epiphania. 

I. ARPHAXAD, son of Shem, and father of Sa- 
lah ; born one year after the deluge ; died A. M. 
2096, aged 438 years, Gen. xi. 12, &c. 

II. ARPHAXAD, a king of Media, mentioned 
Judith i. 1. Calmet supposes him to be the same 
with Phraortes, the son and successor of Dejoces, 
king of Media. But in this he differs from the 
learned Prideaux, who thinks Arphaxad to be Dejo- 
ces, and not Phraortes, his successor ; for, as he 
observes, Arphaxad is said to be that king of Media 
who was the founder of Ecbatane, which all other 
writers agree to have been Dejoces ; and the begin- 
ning of the twelfth year of Saosduchinus exactly 
agrees with the last year of Dejoces, when the battle 
of Ragau is said to have been fought. Herodotus 
says that Phraortes first subdued the Persians, and 
afterwards almost all Asia ; but at last, attacking 
Nineveh, and the Assyrian empire, he was killed, in 
the twenty-second year of his reign. The book of 
Judith informs us, that he built Ecbatane, and was 
defeated in the great plains of Ragau, those probably 
about the city of Rages, or Rey, in Media, Tobit i. 
16 ; iii. 7 ; iv. 11. 

ARROW, a missile offensive weapon, sharp, slen- 
der, barbed, and shot from a bow, 1 Sam. xx. 36. 
Divination with arrows was a practice formerly much 
in use, and is not unknown even in modern times. 
Ezekiel (chap. xxi. 21.) informs us that Nebuchadnez- 
zar, marching against Zedekiah and the king of the 
Ammonites, when he came to the head of two ways, 
mingled his arrows in a quiver, to divine from them 
in which direction he should pursue his march ; that 
he consulted Teraphim, and inspected the livers of 
beasts, in order to determine his resolution. Most, 
commentators believe that he took several arrows, 
and on each of them wrote the name of the king, or 
city, &c. which he designed to attack; as on one — 
Jerusalem ; on another — Rabbah ; on another — 
Egypt, &c. ; and that these, being put into a quiver, 
were shaken together, and one of them drawn out ; 
that coming first being considered as declarative of 
the will of the gods to attack first that city, province, 
or kingdom, whose name was upon the arrow. 

This notion of the manner in which the divination 
was performed, may be correct ; but the following 
mode of doing it, transcribed from Delia Valle, (p. 
276.) is worthy of notice: — "I saw at Aleppo a Ma- 
hometan, who caused two persons to sit upon the 
ground, one opposite to the other; and gave them 
four arrows into their hands, which both of then 



ARS 



r 104 1 



ART 



held with their points downward, and, as it were, in 
two right lines united one to the other. Then a ques- 
tion being put to him, about any business, he fell to 
murmur his enchantments, and thereby caused the 
said four arrows, of their own accord, to unite their 
points together in the midst, (though he that held them 
stirred uot his hand,) and, according to the future 
event of the matter, those of the right side were 
placed over those of the left, or on the contrary." — 
Delia Valle then proceeds to refer this to diabolical 
agency. Without affirming that this mode of divina- 
tion was that practised by the king of Babylon, the 
passage in the prophet would seem to be entitled to 
examination, with special reference to it. 

There were many other ways of divination by ar- 
rows ; such as shooting one, or more, into the air, and 
watching on which side it (or the greater number) 
fell, &c. Comp. 2 Kings xiii. 14 — 19. [Pococke in 
his Spec. Hist. Arab. (p. 329.) relates, that when one is 
about to set out on a journey, or to marry a wife, or 
to undertake any important business, he usually con- 
sults three arrows which are kept in a vase or box. 
The first has the inscription God orders it ; the sec- 
ond, God forbids it ; and the third has no inscription. 
He draws out an arrow with one hand ; and if it be 
the first, he prosecutes his purpose with alacrity, as 
by the express command of God ; if it be the second, 
he desists ; if the third, he puts it back and draws 
again, until he obtains one of the other two. Comp. 
Rosenm. Com. in Ezek. xxi. 26. R. 

The word arrow is often taken figuratively for 
lightning, and other meteors, (the same as the heathen 
would call the thunderbolts of their Jupiter,) but 
there is a passage, (Psalm xci. 5.) where it has been 
thought dubious whether it should be taken literally, 
for war, or figuratively, for some natural evil : 

Thou shalt have no occasion of fear, 

From the terror by night ; 

From the arrow that flieth by day ; 

From the pestilence in darkness walking ; 

From the destruction which wasteth at noon-day. 

[But arroiv is here used, no doubt, figuratively for 
danger in general ; terror by night and airows by day 
include all species of calamity ; while the next lines 
go on to specify more particularly the pestilence. 
This, indeed, l'ke every other calamity, may be 
reckoned ame xg the arrows of divine judgment. So 
the Arabs. R. 

The following is from Busbequius: (Eng. edit.) 
" I desired to remove to a less contagious air. ... I 
received from Solyman, the emperor, this message ; 
that the emperor wondered what I meant, in desiring 
to remove my habitation. Is not the pestilence God's 
arrow which will always hit his mark ? If God would 
visit me herewith, how could I avoid it? Is not the 
plague, said he, in my own palace, and yet I do not 
think of removing ?" We find the same opinion ex- 
pressed in Smith's Remarks, &c. on the Turks : (p. 
109.) "What, say they, is not the plague the dart of 
Almighty God ? and can we escape the blow he lev- 
els at us ? is not his hand steady to hit the persons he 
aims at ? can we run out of his sight, and beyond 
his power ?" So Herbert, (p. 99.) speaking of Cur- 
roon, says, "that year his empire was so wounded 
with God's arroivs of plague, pestilence, and famine, 
as this thousand years before was never so terrible." 
See Ezek. v. 15. "When I send upon them the evil 
arrows of famine," &c. 

ARSACES, or Mithridates, king of the Parthi- 
ans, 1 Mace. xiv. ii. Demetrius Nicanor, or Nicator, 
king of Syria, having invaded his country, at first 



obtained several advantages. Media declared for 
him, and the Elymaeans, Persians, and Bactrians 
joined him ; but Arsaces having sent one of his offi- 
cers to him, under pretence of treating for peace, he 
fell into an ambuscade ; his army was cut off by the 
Persians, and he himself fell into the hands of Ar- 
saces. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. 9; Justin lib. 
xxxvi. and xli. 

ARSENAL. The ancient Hebrews had each man 
his own arms, because all went to the wars ; they 
had no arsenals, or magazines of arms, because they 
had no regular troops, or soldiers, in constant pay. 
There were no arsenals in Israel, till the reigns of 
David and Solomon. David made a large collection 
of arms, and consecrated them to the Lord, in his 
tabernacle. The high-priest, Jehoiada, took them 
out of the treasury of the temple, to arm the people 
and Levites, on the day of the young king Joash's 
elevation to the throne, 2 Chron. xxiii. 9. Solomon 
collected a great quantity of arms n his palace of the 
forest of Lebanon, and established well-provided ar- 
senals in all the cities of Judah, which he fortified, 2 
Chron. xi. 12. He sometimes compelled the conquered 
and tributary people to forge arms for him, 1 Kings 
x. 25. Uzziah not only furnished his arsenals with 
spears, helmets, shields, cuirasses, swords, bows, and 
slings, but also with such machines as were proper 
for sieges. Hezekiah had the same precaution ; he 
made stores of arms of all sorts. Jonathan and Simon 
Maccaboeus had arsenals stored with good arms ; not 
only such as had been taken from their enemies, but 
others which they had purchased, or commissioned 
to be forged for them. 

ARTABA, 'JnTapa't, a measure used by the Baby- 
lonians, containing seventy-two sextarii, according 
to Epiphanius, (de Ponderib. et Mens.) and Isidore 
of Seville ; (lib. xvi. Origen.) or, according to Dr. 
Arbuthnot's tables, one bushel, one gallon, and one 
pint ; allowing, with him, four pecks and six pints to 
the medimnus, and one pint to the choinix. It is 
found only in the apocryphal Daniel, or Dan. xiv. 3. 
Vulg. 

ARTAXERXES,-(Nntt>pnrnN,)a name or title com- 
mon to several kings of Persia, Ezra iv. 7. In Ezra 
vii. 21. the same name is written NrwnmN. 

I. ARTAXERXES, a name given by. Ezra (iv. 7, 
8, 23; comp. 24.) to the Magus, called by Justin 
Oropastes; by Herodotus, Smerdis; by ^Eschylus, 
Mardus ; and by Ctesias, Sphendadates. After the 
death of Cambyses, he usurped the government of 
Persia, (ante A. D. 522,) pretending to be Smerdis, 
son of Cyrus, whom Cambyses had put to death. 
He probably, also, assumed the title of Artaxerx(s, 
though this is not mentioned by the Greek historians. 
This is the Artaxerxes who wrote to his governors 
beyond the Euphrates, signifying, that, having re- 
ceived their advices relating to the Jews, he required 
them to forbid the Jews from rebuilding Jerusalem. 
Thus, from about ante A. D. 522, the Jews did not 
dare to forward the repairs of the city walls, till about 
ante A. D. 520, when Darius Hystaspes renewed the 
royal permission to build them, Ezra iv. 24 ; v. vi. — 
Smerdis reigned only about six months.; when seven 
noblemen conspired against him, assassinated him 
and placed Darius Hystaspes, one of their number 
on the throne, ante A. D. 521. 

II. ARTAXERXES Lojigimanus, the second son 
and successor of Xerxes, ascended the Persian thron 
ante A. D. 464. In the seventh year of his reign he 
permitted Ezra to return to Judea, with all who in- 
clined to follow him, (Ezra vii. viii.) and in the twen 



A S A 



L 1 



ASA 



tieth year of his reign Nehemiah also obtained leave 
to return, and to rebuild the walls and gates of Jeru- 
salem, Neh. ii. From this year some chronologers 
compute Daniel's seventy weeks of years, (Dan. ix. 
24.) but Dr. Prideaux, who discourses very copiously 
and with great learning on this prophecy, maintains 
that the decree mentioned in it for restoring and 
rebuilding Jerusalem cannot be understood of that 
granted to Nehemiah, in the twentieth year of Arta- 
xerxes ; but of that granted to Ezra, by the same 
prince, in the seventh year of his reign. From thence 
to the death of Christ, are exactly four hundred and 
ninety years, to a month ; for in the month of Nisan 
was the decree granted to Ezra : and in the middle 
of the same month, Nisan, Christ suffered; just four 
hundred and ninety years afterwards. (Connect, 
part 1. b. v.) [Others suppose the Artaxerxes men- 
tioned in Ezra vii. viii. to have been Xerxes, the 
predecessor of Artaxerxes Longimanus ; so Winer 
and others following Josephus. But the Scripture 
name of Xerxes is A.hasuerus ; (see this article ;) 
and the authority of Josephus in this respect is very 
slender ; since he makes Xerxes reign 35 years ; 
whereas we know from other accounts that he was 
assassinated in the twenty-first year of his reign. — 
This Artaxerxes is said to have received the name 
of Longimanus from the unusual length of his arms, 
which were so much out of due proportion, that 
when standing erect, he could touch his knees. Oth- 
ers say he had one arm or hand longer than the 
other. He died ante A. D. 425, after a mild reign of 
39 years. R. 

ARTEMAS, a disciple who was sent by the apos- 
tle Paul into Crete, in the room of Titus, while the 
latter continued with Paul at Nicopolis, where he 
passed the winter, Tit. iii. 12. We know nothing 
particular either of his life or death. 

ARUBOTH, or Araboth, a city or country be- 
longing to Judah, (1 Kings iv. 10.) the situation of 
which is not known. 

ARUMAH, otherwise Rumah, a city near She- 
chem, (Judges ix. 41.) where Abimelech encamped. 

ARVAD, properly Aradus, the name of a Phoeni- 
cian city upon the island of the same name, not far 
from the coast, founded, according to Strabo, (xvi. 2. 
§ 13, 14.) by Sidonian deserters, Ezek. xxvii. 8, 11 | 
Their gentile name is Arvadites, Gen. x. 18; 1 
Chron. i. 16. See Aradus, and Antarada. R. 

ARZ A, governor of Tirzah, in whose house Zimri 
killed Elah, king of Israel, 1 Kings xvi. 9. 

ASA, son and successor of Abijam, king of Judah, 
(1 Kings xv. 8.) began to reign A. M. 3049, ante A. D. 
955 ; and reigned forty-one years at Jerusalem. Asa 
expelled those who, from sacrilegious superstition, 
prostituted themselves in honor of their false gods ; 
purified Jerusalem from the infamous practices at- 
tending the worship of idols ; and deprived his 
mother of her office and dignity of queen, because 
she erected an idol to Astarte : which idol he burnt 
in the valley of Hinnom. (See King's Mother.) 
Scripture, however, reproaches him with not de- 
stroying the high places, which he, perhaps, thought 
n was necessary to tolerate, to avoid the greater evil of 
idolatry. He carried into the house of the Lord the 
gold and silver vessels which his father, Abijam, had 
vowed he would consecrate ; and fortified and re- 
paired several cities, encouraging his people to this 
labor while the kingdom was at peace. After this, 
he levied 300,000 men in Judah, armed with shields 
and pik^s; and 280,000 men in Benjamin, armed 
with shields and bows, all men of courage and valor. 
14 



About this time, Zerah, king of Ethiopia, (or of Cush, 
that is, part of Arabia; see Cush, III.) marched 
against Asa with a million of foot, and 300 chariots 
of war, and advanced as far as Mareshah ; probably 
in the fifteenth year of Asa's reign. See 2 Clip ;n. 
xiv. 9. A. M. 3064. Asa advanced to meet him, and 
encamped in the plain of Zephatha, (or Zephalah,) 
near Mareshah. Asa prayed to the Lord, and God 
terrified Zerah's army by a panic fear ; it began to 
fly, and Asa pursued it to Gerah, slaying a great 
number. Asa's army then returned to Jerusalem, 
loaded with booty, (2 Chron. xiv. 15 ; xv. 1, 2.) and 
were met by the prophet Azariah, who encouraged 
warned, and exhorted them. Asa, being thus an - 
mated with new courage, destroyed the idols of Ju- 
dah, Benjamin, and mount Ephraim ; repaired the 
altar of burnt-offerings ; assembled Judah, and Ben- 
jamin, with many from the tribes of Simeon, Ephraim, 
and Manasseh ; and on the third month, in the fif- 
teenth year of his reign, celebrated a solemn festival. 
Of the cattle taken from Zerah, they sacrificed 700 
oxen, and 7000 sheep ; they renewed the covenant 
with the Lord ; and declared, that whosoever would 
not seek the Lord should be put to death. God gave 
them peace ; and the kingdom of Judah, according 
to the Chronicles, was quiet till the thirty-fifth year 
of Asa. But there are difficulties concerning this 
year ; and it is thought probable, that we should read 
the twenty-fifth, instead of the thirty-fifth, since 
Baasha, who made war on Asa, lived no longer than 
the twenty-sixth year of Asa, 1 Kings xvi. 8. In the 
thirty-sixth (rather, says Cahnet, the twenty- sixth) 
year of Asa, Baasha, king of Israel, began to fortify 
Ramah, on the frontiers of the two kingdoms of Ju- 
dah and Israel, to hinder the Israelites from resorting 
to the kingdom of Judah, and the temple of the Lord 
at Jerusalem. Whereupon Asa sent to Benhadad, 
king of Damascus, all the gold and silver of his pal- 
ace, and of the temple, to prevail on him to break his 
alliance with Baasha, and to invade his territories, 
that Baasha might be obliged to abandon his design 
at Ramah. Benhadad accepted Asa's presents, and 
invaded Baasha's country, where he took several 
cities belonging to Naphtali ; Baasha being forced 
to retire from Ramah, to defend his dominions nearer 
home, Asa immediately ordered his people to Ra- 
mah, carried off all the materials prepared by 
Baasha, and employed them in building Geba and 
Mizpah. At this tune, the prophet Hanani came to 
Asa, and said, (2 Chron. xvi. 7.) "Because thou hast 
relied on the king of Syria, and not on the Lord thy 
God, herein thou hast done foolishly ; therefore, from 
henceforth, thou shalt have wars." Asa, offended 
at these reproaches, put the prophet in chains, at 
the same time ordering the execution of several per- 
sons in Judah. Toward the latter part of his life, 
he was afflicted with the gout in his feet, and the 
disorder, rising upward, killed him. Scripture re- 
proaches him with having recourse rather to physi- 
cians than to the Lord. His ashes were buried in 
the sepulchre Avhich he had provided for himself, 
in the city of David, after his body had been burned. 
A. M. 3090, ante A. D. 914. 

ASAHEL, son of Zeruiah, and brother* of Joab; 
one of David's thirty heroes, and extremely swift of 
foot ; killed by Abner, at the battle of Gibeon, 2 
Sam. ii. 18, 19. 

ASAHIAH, one of the persons sent by king Jo- 
siah to consult Huldah, the prophetess, concerning 
the book of the law, found in the temple, 2 Kmgs 
xxii. 14. 



ASH 



[ 106 ] 



ASH 



ASAPH, son of Barachias, of the tribe of Levi, 
father of Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniali, and Asarelah, 
and a celebrated musician, in David's time, 1 Chron. 
>xv. 1, 2. In the distribution of the Levites, which 
t.l at prince directed for the service of the temple, he 
a}, pointed Kohath's family to be placed in the mid- 
dle, about the altar of burnt sacrifices; Merari's 
family to the left ; and Gerson's family to the 
right. Asaph, who was of Gerson's family, presided 
over this band ; and his descendants had the same 
place and rank. There are twelve Psalms with 
Asaph's name prefixed, viz. the 50th, and from the 
73d to the 83d ; but whether Asaph composed the 
words and the music ; or David the words, and 
Asaph the music ; or whether some of Asaph's de- 
scendants wrote them, and prefixed to them the name 
of that eminent master of the music of the temple, 
or of that division of singers of which Asaph's fam- 
ily was the head, is not certain. All these psalms, 
though generally distinguished for their beauty, do 
not suit Asaph's time ; some were written during 
the captivity, others in Jehoshaphat's time. " A 
Psalm for Asaph," might mean a Psalm for Asaph's 
family. 

ASEN ATH, daughter of Potiphar, priest of Heli- 
opolis, and the wife of Joseph (Gen. xli. 45.) and 
mother of Ephraim and Manasseh. (See Potiphar, 
ad Jin.) [The Seventy, whose authority is worth 
something in Egyptian names, write '^oeri-d; which 
is equivalent to the Egyptian or Coptic As-Neith, 
i. e. belonging to JVeith, the Egyptian goddess of wis- 
dom, corresponding to the Minerva of the Greeks. 
See Greppo, Hieroglyph. Syst. Append, p. 226. 
Champollion, Pantheon Egyptien, no. 6. R. 

ASH AN, (smoke,) a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 42.) 
but afterwards apparently yielded to Simeon, Josh, 
xix. 7. Eusebius says that, in his time, Beth-Ashan 
was sixteen miles from Jerusalem, west. In 1 Sam. 
xxx. 30, it is called Chor-ashan, i. e. furnace of 
smoke. 

ASHDOD, one of the five cities of the Philis- 
tines, Assigned to the tribe of Judah, but never con- 
quered by them, Josh. xiii. 8 ; xv. 46, 47 ; 1 Sam. v. 
1 ; vi. 17, etc. It was called by the Greeks Azotus. 
Here stood the temple of Dagon; and hither the 
ark was first brought, after the fatal battle at Eben- 
ezer, 1 Samuel v. 1, seq. It sustained many sieges, 
e. g. by Tartan, the Assyrian general, in the time 
of Hezekiah ; (Is. xx. 1.) afterwards by Psammet- 
ichus, king of Egypt, contemporary with Manasseh. 
Anion, and Josiah. This siege is said by Herodotus 
(ii. 157.) to have lasted twenty-nine years ! It was 
afterwards taken by the Maccabees, and destroyed 
by Jonathan ; (1 Mace. v. 16 ; x. 77, seq.) but was 
again restored by the Roman general Gabinius. 
(Jos. Ant. xiv. 5. 3.) At the present day, it is a mis- 
erable village, still called Esdud. See also the 
article Azotus. R. 

ASHDOTH, a city in the tribe of Reuben, called 
Ashdoth-pisgah, (Josh. xii. 3; xiii. 20.) because it 
was seated in the plains at the foot of mount Pisgah. 
The word signifies low places, or ravines, at the foot 
of a mountain. 

ASHER, one of the sons of Jacob and Zilpah, 
Leah's maid. He had four sons and one daughter, 
Gen. xlix. 20 ; Deut. xxxiii. 24. The inheritance of 
his tribe lay in a very fruitful country, on the sea- 
coast, with Libanus north, Carmel and the tribe of 
Isaachar south, and Zebulun and Naphtali east. 
Tyre and Sidou, with the whole of Phoenicia, were 
assigned as the territory of this tribe, (Josh. xix. 25, 



seq.) but it never possessed the whole range of dis- 
trict assigned to it, Judg. i. 31. See Canaan. 

ASHER, a city between Scythopolis and She- 
chem, and, consequently, remote from the tribe of 
Asher, Josh. xvii. 7. In the Old Itinerary to Jeru- 
salem, it is placed between Scythopolis and Neapo- 
lis, which is the same as Shechem. Eusebius says, 
it was in Manasseh, 15 miles from Neapolis, towards 
Scythopolis. 

ASHES. To repent in sackcloth and ashes, or 
to lie down among ashes, was an external sign of 
self-affliction for sin, or of grief under misfortune. 
We find it adopted by Job ; (chap. ii. 8.) by many 
Jews when in great fear ; (Esth. iv. 3.) and by the 
king of Nineveh, Jonah iii. 6. Homer describes old 
Laertes grieving for the absence of his son, — " sleep- 
ing in the apartment where the slaves slept, in the 
ashes near the fire." Compare Jer. vi. 26. " Daugh- 
ter of my people, — wallow thyself in ashes." " I am 
but dust and ashes," said Abraham to the Lord ; 
(Gen. xviii. 27.) indicating his deep sense of his own 
meanness in comparison with God. God threatens 
to shower down dust and ashes on the lands instead 
of rain ; (Deut. xxviii. 24.) thereby to make them 
barren instead of blessing them. (See Rain.) The 
Psalmist, in great sorrow, says, poetically, that he 
had " eaten ashes," Ps. cii. 9. He sat on ashes, and 
threw them on his head ; his food was sprinkled 
with the ashes wherewith he was himself covered. 
So Jeremiah (Lam. iii. 16.) introduces Jerusalem, 
saying, " The Lord hath covered me with ashes." 
There was a sort of ley and lustral water, made with 
the ashes of the heifer, sacrificed on the great day 
of expiation ; these ashes were distributed to the 
people, and used in purifications, by sprinkling, to 
such as had touched a dead body, or been present at 
funerals, Numb. xix. 17. 

The ancient Persians had a punishment which 
consisted in executing certain criminals by stifling 
them in ashes. (Valerius Maximus, fib. ix. cap. 2.) 
Thus the wicked Menelaus was despatched, who 
caused the troubles which had disquieted Judea; 
(2 Mace. xiii. 5, 6.) being thrown headlong into a 
tower, fifty cubits deep, which was filled with ashes 
to a certain height. The action of the criminal to 
disengage himself, plunged him still deeper in the 
whirling ashes ; and this agitation was increased by 
a wheel, which kept them in continual movement, 
till he was entirely stifled. 

ASHIMA, a deity of very uncertain origin, 
adored by the men of Hamath, who were settled in 
Samaria, 2 Kings xvii. 30. Some of the rabbins 
say, that Ashima had the shape of an ape ; others 
that of a lamb, a goat, or a satyr. (Selden, de Diis 
Syr. Syntagm. ii. cap. 9. el Additiones And. Beyr. 
ibidem.) They who think this divinity was an ape 
seem to have had regard to the sound of the word 
Sima, which has some relation to the Greek word 
for an ape, Simia : but the Hebrews have another 
word for an ape, Levit. xvii. 7. Both the ape and 
the goat were worshipped in Egypt, and in the East. 
(Diodor. Sicul. lib. i. Basnage, Antiq. Jud. torn. i. p 
190.) — The name Ashima may very well be com- 
pared with the Persian asuman, heaven ; in Zend, 
acmand ; so Gesenius, in his Manual Lex. 1832. 
This, also, according to the magi, is the name of the 
angel of death, who separates the souls of men from 
their bodies, and also presides over the 27th day of 
every solar month in the Persian year ; which, there- 
fore, is called by his name. (D'Herbelot. Bibl. Orient, 
o. 141.) — It may be further observed, that these peo- 



ASI 



I 107 i 



ASI 



pie came from Hamath, or E mesa, a city of Syria, 
on the river Orontes ; and we read, in Herodian, that 
the sun was adored in this city, under the name of 
Elah- Gabalah ; whence the emperor Heliogabalus 
took his name. The god, Elagabal, was represented 
hy a large stone, round at the bottom, which, rising 
insensibly to a point, terminated in a conic or pyram- 
idal figure. His worship became celebrated at 
Rome, from the time of Heliogabalus, who caused a 
magnificent temple to be erected to him. Around 
this temple were several altars, on which hecatombs 
of bulls, and great numbers of sheep, were sacrificed 
every morning, and abundance of excellent wine and 
spices poured out. 

ASHCHENAZ, (Jer. li. 27.) and ASHKENAZ, 
(Gen. x. 3.) proper name of a son of Gomer, and of 
a tribe of his descendants. In Jeremiah, this tribe is 
mentioned as. one of those that shall execute the di- 
vine judgments upon Babylon, and is placed together 
with Ararat and Minni, provinces of Armenia. 
Hence the conjecture is not improbable, that Ashke- 
naz itself was also a tribe and province of Ar- 
menia ; or, at least, lay not far from it, near the Cau- 
casus, or towards the Black sea. Further than this 
we can have no data. See Rosenmueller, Bib. Geog. 

I. i. 238. R. 

ASHNAH, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 33. 

ASHPENAZ, intendant, or governor of king Neb- 
uchadnezzar's eunuchs, who changed the name of 
Daniel and his companions, Dan. i. 3. 

ASHTAROTH, see Astaroth. 

ASHUR, a son of Shem, who gave name to As- 
syria. It is believed, that he dwelt originally in the 
land of Shinar, and about Babylonia ; but was com- 
pelled by Nimrod to remove thence, higher towards 
the springs of the Tigris, in the province of Assyria, 
where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah, and 
Resen. This is the sense sometimes given to Gen. x. 

II, 12 : " Out of that land (Shinar) went forth Ashur, 
and builded Nineveh," &c. But others understand 
it to speak of Nimrod, who left his own country, and 
attacked Assyria, which he overcame, built Nineveh, 
and here established the seat of his empire. The 
prophet Micah (chap. v. 6.) calls Assyria the land of 
Nimrod. (See Bochart, in Phaleg, lib. iv. cap. 12.) 
See Assyria. 

ASIA. The ancient Hebrews were strangers to 
the division of the earth into parts or quarters; and 
hence we never find the word Asia in any Hebrew 
book. It occurs only in the books of the Maccabees, 
and in the New Testament. 

Asia is separated from Europe by the Tanais or 
Don, the Euxine, JEgean. and Mediterranean seas; 
the Red sea and isthmus of Suez divide it from Africa. 
This part of the globe is regarded as having been the 
most favored. Here the first man was created ; here 
the patriarchs lived ; here the law was given ; here 
the greatest and most celebrated monarchies were 
formed ; and from hence the first founders of cities 
and nations in other parts of the world conducted 
their colonies. In Asia, our blessed Redeemer ap- 
peared, wrought, salvation for mankind, died, and 
rose again ; and from hence the light of the gospel 
has been diffused over the world. Laws, arts, sci- 
ences, and religions, almost all have had their origin in 
Asia. The soil is fruitful, and abounds with all the 
luxuries as well as necessaries of life. 

Asia was generally divided into Major and Minor. 
Asia Minor was a large country, (Acts xix. 10.) lying 
between the Euxine or Black sea northward, and 
the Mediterranean southward. It is now called Ana- 



lolia, or Natolia. Asia Major denotes all the rest of 
the Asiatic continent. Asia Minor contained the 
provinces of Bithynia, Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, 
Cilicia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, Mysia, 
Troas — all of which are mentioned in the New Tes- 
tament ; — Lydia, Ionia, and iEolis — which are some- 
times included under Lydia — Caria, Doris, and Lycia. 
Of these, Lydia and Caria — taken in their larger 
acceptations, the latter including Doris — Mysia and 
Phrygia, including Troas or Phrygia Minor, formed 
the Roman proconsular Asia, which has been thought 
by some to be the same as the Scripture Asia. But, 
as Dr. Wells remarks, it is evident that Mysia, 
Phrygia, and Troas, are reckoned by the sacred 
writer as distinct provinces from the Asia so called 
in Scripture. [It is therefore more reasonably sup- 
posed, that by Asia, in the New Testament, is to be 
understood, (1.) the whole of Asia Minor, as Acts xix. 
26, 27 ; xx. 4, 16, 18 ; xxvii. 2, &c. or (2.) only pro- 
consular Asia, i. e. the region of Ionia, or the whole 
western coast, of which Ephesus was the capital, and 
which Strabo also calls Asia; (lib. xiv.) thus in Acts 
ii. 9 ; vi. 9 ; xix. 10, 22 ; 2 Tim. i. 15 ; 1 Pet. i. 1 ; 
Rev. i. 4, 11. Cicero speaks of proconsular Asia as 
containing the provinces of Phrygia, Mysia, Caria, 
and Lydia. (Pro. Place. 27. Ep. Fam. ii. 15.) R. 

ASIARCHiE, or Asia Principes, as they are 
called in the Latin version of the Acts, (chap. xix. 
31, "Certain of the chief of Asia," Eng. tr.) — were 
high-priests of Asia. [In the eastern provinces of the 
Roman empire, persons were selected from among 
the more opulent citizens, to preside over the things 
pertaining to religious worship, and to exhibit annual 
games and theatrical amusements, at their own ex- 
pense, in honor of the gods, in the manner of the 
a;diles at Rome. These officers received their titles 
from the province to which they belonged, as Syr 
iarch, (2 Mace. xii. 2.) Lyciarch, Cariarch, etc. and, of 
course, in proconsular Asia, they were called Asi- 
archs. Their appointment was annual, and was 
made in the following manner : At the beginning 
of each year, i. e. about the autumnal equinox,the sev- 
eral cities of Asia held each a public assembly, in order 
to nominate one of their citizens as Asiarch. A per- 
son was then sent to the general council of the prov- 
ince, at some one of the principal cities, as Ephesus, 
Smyrna, Sardis, etc. who publicly announced the 
name of the individual who had been selected. From 
the persons thus nominated by the different cities, 
the council designated ten ; and from these the 
Roman proconsul appointed one to preside over all 
that pertained to the honor and worship of the gods. 
This person was especially called Asiarch ; while 
those, also, who had formerly held the office, still 
retained the name ; or perhaps it was also borne by 
the other nine persons who were designated by the 
council, and who were the colleagues and advisers 
of the chief Asiarch. Their place of residence was 
at Ephesus, Smyrna, Sardis, Cyzicus, or at any 
other city where the council was held. See on 
Acts xix. 31, Kuinoel, Hammond, Poli Synops. 
Also Winer. Bib. Realw. p. 61. R. 

These chiefs, then holding such games at Ephe- 
sus, out of friendly consideration for Paul, restrained 
him from appearing, as he proposed, in the theatre, 
during the sedition raised by Demetrius, the gold 
smith, respecting Diana of Ephesus. The Asiarchs 
were frequently priests of the religion whose games 
they celebrated : thus, in the martyrdom of Poly- 
carp, Philip the Asiarch (a little afterwards called 
the high-priest) is solicited to let out a lion against 



ASK 



I 108 ] 



ASP 



t'olycarp, which he declares he could not do, because 
that kind of spectacle was over. These Asiarchs 
should by no means be confounded with the archou, 
or chief magistrate of Ephesus ; for they were rep- 
lesentatives, not of a single city, but of many cities 
united. The dignity was great; but the expense 
also was great ; so that only men of wealth could 
undertake it. Hence we find Aristides exerting him- 
self strenuously to be discharged from this costly 
office, to which he had been three or four times 
nominated. This notion of the Asiarchs is con- 
firmed by a medal of Rhodes, struck under Hadrian, 
on the reverse of which we read, "a coin struck in 
common by thirteen cities, in honor of the magis- 
trate of Rhodes, Claudio Frouto, Asiarch and high- 
priest of the thirteen cities." 

The consideration of these Asiarchs for the apos- 
tle Paul, during the tumult, is not only extremely 
honorable to his character, and to theirs, but is also 
a strong confirmation of the remark made by the 
evangelist, (ver. 10.) that "all they who dwelt in 
Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and 
Greeks." It shows also in what light the tumult of 
Demetrius was beheld, since he took especial care 
to observe that " all Asia" worshipped their goddess. 
Yet were the very Asiarchs, now engaged in this 
worship, intent on saving the man whom Deme- 
trius represented as its most, formidable enemy. 
Though there was, properly speaking, only one 
Asiarch at a time, yet those who had passed through 
the office retained the title ; for which reason they 
are mentioned in the plural by the evangelist. 

ASKELON, a city in the land of the Philistines, 
between Ashdod and Gaza, on the coast of the Med- 
iterranean. After the death of Joshua, the tribe of 
Judah took Askelou ; but it subsequently became 
one of the five governments belonging to the Philis- 
tines, Judges i. 11. [The prophets Amos, (i. 8.) 
Zephaniah, (ii. 4.) and Jeremiah (xlvii. 5, 7.) announce 
destruction to it, as also to the other cities of the 
Philistines. In the fourth century, Askelon, like 
Ashdod, became the seat of a bishop ; and remained 
till the middle of the seventh century, when the 
Arabs took possession of Palestine. The city under- 
went various fortunes during the crusades, till at 
length it was razed, by the labors of Christians and 
Mussulmans in common, in accordance with the 
treaty between Richard and Saladiu, A. D. 1192. 
Since that time, this formerly opulent, splendid, and 
strong city, has remained a desolate heap of ruins. 
Dr. Richardson thus describes its present state : 
" Askelon was one of the proudest satrapies of the 
Philistines ; now there is not an inhabitant within its 
walls; and the prophecy of Zechariah is fulfilled, 
'The king shall perish from Gaza, and Askelon 
shall not be inhabited,' Zech. ix. 6. When the 
prophecy was uttered, both cities were in an equally 
flourishing condition, and nothing but the prescience 
of Heaven could pronounce ou which of the two, 
and in what manner, the vial of his wrath should 
thus be poured out. Gaza is truly without a king. 
The lofty towers of Askelon lie scattered on the 
ground, and the ruins within its walls do not shelter 
a human being. How is the wrath of man made to 
praise his Creator!" 

The ancients mention the wine of Askelon with 
applause ; as also the onions, which grew here in 
abundance. (Pliny, H. N. xix. 6.) Indeed, the name 
shalot, Fr. echalottt, Ital. sealognia, seems to be cor- 
rupted out of Ascalonia, it being properly the allium 
Ascalonicu* i. According to an aucient tradition, 



Derceto, the mother of the Babylonish queen Semi- 
ramis, cast herself headlong into a lake in the vicin- 
ity of this city, in order to preserve her honor from 
a young man who was pursuing her ; and was there 
transformed into a fish. On this account, the Syri- 
ans ate no fish ; and worshipped Derceto as a god- 
dess in the form of a fish with the head of a woman. 
This same divinity, probably the emblem of the 
prolific powers of nature, the Greeks seem to have 
adored as the heavenly Venus. At least this latter 
had a temple at Askelon, which was plundered of its 
riches by the Scythians. (Herodot. i. 105.) Com- 
pare the article Dagon. 

Askelon was the birthplace of Herod the Great, 
and of several distinguished Mussulmans. *R. 

ASMODEUS,or Asmodi, an evil spirit, mentioned 
in the apocryphal book Tobit, as having beset Sarah, 
the daughter of Raguel, and killed her seven first 
husbands, whom she had married before Tobit. (iii. 
8 ; vi. 14 ; viii. 2, 3.) The rabbins have various 
legends respecting this spirit. He is properly the same 
as Ashmadai, and also Abaddon, and, therefore, the 
same as the Greek Apollyon, i. e. the angel of death. 

ASMONEANS, a name given to the Maccabees, 
descendants of Mattathias, who was, according to 
Josephus, (Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 8.) the great-grandson 
of Asmonseus. The family of the Asmonaeans be- 
came very illustrious in the later times of the He- 
brew commonwealth ; it was the support of the 
religion and liberty of the Jews ; and possessed the 
supreme authority, from Mattathias to Iferod the 
Great. See Maccabees. It is no where said 
whether the Asmonaeans were of the race of Joze- 
deck, in whose family the office of high-priest con- 
tinued in a lineal descent, till Alcimus was promoted 
to that dignity. This is certain of the Asinonaeaus, 
that they were of the course of Joarib, which was 
the first class of the sons of Aaron ; and, therefore, 
on failure of the former pontifical family, (which had 
now happened by the flight of Onias, son of Onias, 
into Egypt,) they had the best right to succeed to that 
station. Under this right Jonathan took the office, 
when nominated to it by the reigning king in Syria ; 
being also elected thereto by the general suffrage of 
the people. Prid. Connect. &c. Part II. book iv. 

ASNAPPER, a king of Assyria, who sent the 
Cuthreans into Israel, Ezra iv. 10. Many think this 
was Salmaneser ; but others, with more probability, 
think it was Esar-haddon. 

ASP, a kind of serpent, whose poison is of such rapid 
operation, that it kills almost the instant it penetrates, 
without a possibility of remedy. It is said to be very 
small. The most remarkable mention of it in Scripture 
is in Psalm lviii. 4. where the adder or asp (jrs) is said 
to "stop its ears, that it may not hear the voice of the 
charmer." This is supposed by Forskal to be the co- 
luber Baetaen,whose bite causes instant death. Some 
are of opinion that there is a sort of asp really deaf, 
which is the most dangerous of its kind, and that the 
Psalmist here speaks of this. (Bochart, de Animal. 
Sacr. Part II. lib. iii. cap. 6.) Others think that the 
asp, when old, becomes deaf ; others, that it, as well 
as other serpents, hears exquisitely well, but that, 
when any one attempts to charm it, it stops its ears, 
by applying one very close to the earth, and stop- 
ping the other with the end of its tail. The expres- 
sion is, probably, taken from actual observation of 
nature. That serpents are overcome, as if charmed, 
so that, while they would bite some p irsons with 
great violence, they are harmless o others, is a 
known fact : but the mode of producing this effect 



ASS 



[ 109 ] 



ASS 



has not yet been communicated to European travel- 
lers. A Hottentot informed Mr. Taylor, that in his 
country, the naja, or hooded snake, was charmed by 
a peculiar whistle, which he repeated several times : 
but from his description of the attitude and situation 
of the creature, as hiding itself behind rocks, in holes, 
&c. and putting out its head from its retreat, as if 
to listen, he could conceive no idea of a charm, 
strictly so called. The attention of the creature 
seemed to be excited by the whistled tune, and that 
instant opportunity was taken to knock him on the 
head. But if there be a kind of asp, over which 
such a whistle, &c. has no power to excite his atten- 
tion, but he steadily keeps himself safe within his 
hole of concealment, this may coincide with the 
Psalmist's idea, and justify the expression used by 
him. Such a serpent, so hid in the cleft of a rock, 
may look at his enemy, and may preserve himself 
motionless and secure, notwithstanding every art to 
entice him from his hiding place. 

[The true asp of the ancients seems to be entirely 
unknown. It is frequently mentioned by ancient 
writers ; but in such a careless and indefinite man- 
ner, that it is impossible to ascertain the species with 
precision. Critics are still undecided with respect 
to the species by which Cleopatra procured her 
death ; and, indeed, whether she was bitten or stung 
at all. In the English version, the word is uni- 
formly used for the Heb. jno, the coluber Baetaen of 
Forskal. In Rom. iii. 14, the Greek word annlg oc- 
curs, and it is also used by the Seventy in Ps. cxl. 4. 
(3.) where it is for the Heb. mito;-, adder. R. 

ASPHALTUS, or Jews' Pitch, bitumen, a gummy, 
inflammable mineral substance, with a smooth, 
shining surface, and usually of a dark brown color, not 
unlike common pitch. It is found in nature, partly 
as a dry, hard fossil, mingled with chalk, marie, 
gypsum, or slate ; and partly as a fluid, tar-like sub- 
stance, issuing from crevices in rocks, and from the 
earth, or swimming on inland lakes. This last oc- 
curs most frequently on the Dead sea ; compare 
Gen. xiv. 10. Tacitus Hist. — The ancients used this 
production, among other things, instead of mortar, 
and the walls of Babylon were cemented by it, Gen. 
xi. 3. In the neighborhood of Babylon there were 
abundant springs of asphaltus, at the place called Is, 
or Hit; see D'Herbelot, Bib. Orient, art. Hit. It 
was used also to cover boats, etc. (Gen. vi. 14 ; 
Ex. ii. 2.) and was, moreover, much employed in the 
preparation of medicines, and particularly in em- 
balming dead bodies. Joseph. Ant. lib. v. tie Bello, 
cap. iv. sew cap. v. in Lat. p. 892. The asphaltus of 
the Dead sea, which rises,«at particular seasons, from 
the bottom of the lake, is thought to be superior to 
every other kind. The Arabians fish for it diligently, 
or gather it on the shore, whither the wind drives it. 
It is shining, dark, heavy, and of a strong smell 
when burnt. 

ASPHAR, a lake in the district of Tekoah, (1 Mace, 
ix. 33.) which Calmet takes to be the Dead sea. 

I. ASS, an animal well known for domestic uses ; 
and frequently mentioned in Scripture. People of 
the first quality in Palestine rode on asses. Deborah, 
in her song, describes the nobles of the land as those 
who ride on white asses; (Judg. v. 10; comp. Bib. 
Repos. i. p. 588.) Jair of Gilead had thirty sons, 
who rode on as many asses, and commanded in thirty 
cities ; (ib. x. 4.) and Abdon, one of the judges of Isi-ael, 
had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on 
seventy asses, (Judg. xii. 14 ; comp. 2 Sam. xvii. 
23. etc.) The oriental asses are not to be com- 



pared with those of northern countries; but are far 
more stately, active, and lively. Indeed they were 
anciently, as still, highly prized ; and were also pre- 
ferred for riding, especially the she-asses, on account 
of their sure-footedness. Hence we so often find 
mention of she-asses alone. — The ass was unclean 
by the law, because it did not chew the cud. To 
draw with an ox and an ass together was prohibited, 
Lev. xi. 26. 

We read in Matt. xxi. 4. that, in order to accomplish 
a prophecy of Zechariah, (ix. 9.) our Saviour rode on 
an ass into Jerusalem, in a triumphant manner. This 
has been made a subject of ridicule by some ; but we 
ought to consider, not only that the greatest men in 
Israel rode on asses anciently, as we have seen above, 
but, also, that God had thought fit absolutely to pro- 
hibit the use of horses and of chariots for war; 
(Dent. xvii. 16 ; compare Josh. xi. 6.) that David rode 
on a mule, and ordered Solomon to use it at his cor- 
onation ; (1 Kings i. 33, 34.) that afterwards, when 
Solomon and succeeding princes multiplied horses, 
they were rebuked for it ; (Isaiah ii. 6, 7 ; xxxi. 1 ; 
Hosea xiv. 3.) and that the removal of horses is 
promised in the days of the Messiah, Ilosea i. 7 ; 
Micah v. 10, 11 ; Zech. ix. 10. So that on the whole 
we find, that this action of our Lord is to be viewed 
not merely as an accomplishment of a prophecy, but 
also as a revival of an ancient and venerable Hebrew 
custom. An uncertainty, if not a difficulty, has been 
started, whether to adhere to the opinion of Dr. Dod- 
dridge, or to that of Mr. Hervey, in respect to the 
kind of ass on which our Lord rode into Jerusalem. 
Dr. Doddridge observes, that the eastern asses are 
larger and much better than ours, and that our 
Lord's triumphant entry was not degraded by indig- 
nity ; though humble, it was not mean. Mr. Hervey, 
on the contrary, glories in whatever of meanness and 
disrepute attached to that circumstance. It may, 
however, be remarked, that much of that extreme 
meanness, which some have found in the character 
and situation of Jesus, arises from their imperfect 
acquaintance with local customs and manners, and 
is greatly diminished on closer inspection ; for, how- 
ever humble might be his appearance, yet it was 
neither vulgar nor mean. How far the following 
extracts support this idea, in respect to the kind of ass 
rode by our Lord when entering Jerusalem, is left to 
the reader ; but this is not the only instance in which 
the medium is safest and best. Niebuhr says, "Chris- 
tians cannot, indeed, repine at being forbidden to 
ride on horseback in the streets of Cairo, for the asses 
are there very handsome ; and are used for riding, by 
the greater part of the Mahometans ; and by the most dis- 
tinguished women of the country," p. 39. (French edition.) 
In fact, this use of asses is general in the East ; and 
only the grandees use horses in the cities. This 
excepts the Arabs of the country, those in offices of 
government, &c. 

In the gospel is mentioned the inv.oc niz«, (Matt, 
xviii. 6 ; Mark ix. 41.) to express a large mill-stone, 
turned by asses, heavier than that turned by women 
or by slaves. See Jahn's Archasol. § 138, 139. 

The Jews were accused by the pagans of wor- 
shipping the head of an ass. Apion, the grammarian, 
who seems to have been the author of this slander, 
(Joseph, lib. ii. contra Apion,) affirmed, that the Jews 
kept the head of an ass in the sanctuary ; that it was 
discovered there when Antiochus Epiphanes took 
the temple, and entered into the most holy place. 
He added, that one Zabidus, having secretly got into 
the temple, carried off the ass's head, and conveyed 



ASS 



[ no 1 



ASS 



it to Dora. Suidas (in Damocrito, and in Juda) says, 
that Damocritus, or Democritus, the historian, aver- 
red that the Jews adored the head of an ass, made 
of gold ; and sacrificed a man to it every three, or 
every seven, years, after having cut him in pieces. 
Plutauch (Symposia, lib. iv. cap. 5.) and Tacitus, 
(Hist. lib. v.) being imposed on by this calumny, re- 
port, that the Hebrews adored an ass, out of gratitude 
for the discovery of a fountain by one of these crea- 
tures in the wilderness, at a time when the army of 
this nation was parched with thirst, and extremely 
fatigued. The heathen imputed the same worship 
to the early Christians ; and Tertullian (Apolog. cap. 
16.) reports, that certain enemies to the Christians 
exposed to public view a picture, wherein was rep- 
resented a person holding a book in his hand, dressed 
in a long robe, with ass's ears, and a foot like an ass, 
which picture was inscribed, " The God of the 
Christians has an ass's hoof." Epiphanius, (de Hoe- 
res.) speaking of the Gnostics, says, they taught that 
the god Sabaoth had the shape of an ass ; but that 
others described him as shaped like a hog. Learned 
men who have endeavored to discover the origin of 
this slander, are divided in their opinions. The 
reason which Plutarch and Tacitus give for it, would 
be the most plausible, were there any truth in the 
fact on which they ground it. But nothing in the 
history of the Jews can be interpreted to favor it. 
Tanaquil Faber has attempted to prove, that this ac- 
cusation proceeded from the temple in Egypt, called 
Onion, after Onias, the high-priest ; (having been 
built by him at Heliopolis, B. C. 150 ;) as if this name 
came from onos, an ass ; which is, indeed, a plausi- 
ble conjecture. Others have asserted, that the niis- 
take of the heathen proceeded from an ambiguous 
mode of reading, as if the Greeks, meaning to say 
that the Hebrews adored heaven, Ouranon, might in 
abbreviation write Ounon; whence the enemies of 
the Jews concluded that they worshipped onos, an 
ass. Bochart (de Animal. Sacr. lib. ii. cap. 18.) is 
of opinion that the error arose from an expression 
of Scripture : (Isaiah i. 20 ; xl. 5 ; lviii. 14.) " The 
mouth of the Lord hath spoken it ;" in the Hebrew, 
Pi-Jehovah, or Pi-Jeo. Now, in the Egyptian lan- 
guage, pieo signifying an ass, the Alexandrian Egyp- 
tians, hearing the Jews often pronounce this word 
pieo, might believe that they called on their god, 
and thence inferred that they adored an ass. But 
though these explications are ingenious, they are not 
solid. — It is probable that no good reason can be 
given for the accusation, which might have arisen 
from a joke, or from accident. M. Le Moine seems 
to have succeeded best, who says, that in all proba- 
bility the golden urn containing the manna, which 
was preserved in the sanctuary, was taken for the 
head of an ass ; and that the omer of manna might 
have been confounded with the Hebrew hamor, 
which signifies an ass. See Assaron. 

II. ASS of Balaam. In the article Balaam, 
some account of his ass may be seen. Here we 
shall only inquire, whether it were a reality, or an al- 
legory ; an imagination, or a vision of Balaam. Au- 
gustin, with the greater number of commentators, 
supposes it was a certain fact, and takes it literally. 
(Qusest. in Gen. 48, 50.) He discovers nothing in 
the whole relation more surprising than the stupidity 
of Balaam, who heard his ass speak to him, and who 
replied to it, as to a reasonable person ; and adds, as 
his opinion, that God did not give the ass a reasona- 
ble soul, but permitted it to pronounce certain words, 
to reprove the prophet's covetousness. 



I Gregory of Nyssa (in Vita Mosis) seems to think ; 
that the ass did not utter words ; but that having 
brayed as usual, or a little more than usual, the di- 
viner, practised in drawing presages from the voices 
of beasts, and of birds, easily comprehended the 
meaning of the ass ; and that Moses, designing to 
ridicule this superstitious art of augury, relates the 
matter as if the ass really spoke articulately. (But 
see 2 Peter ii. 16.) Maimonides asserts the whole 
dialogue to be but a kind of fiction and allegory ; 
whereby Moses relates what passed only in Balaam's 
imagination as real history. Philo, in his life of Mo- 
ses, suppresses it entirely. And the greater part of 
the Jewish authors consider it, not as a circumstance 
which actually took place, but as a vision, or some 
similar occurrence. 

Le Clerc solves the difficulty, by saying, Balaam 
believed in the transmigration of souls, passing from 
one body into another, from a man into a beast, 
reciprocally ; and, therefore, he was not surprised 
at the ass's complaint, but conversed with it as if it 
were rational. Others have imagined different ways 
of solving the difficulties of this history. 

In considering this question, Mr. Taylor assumes 
as facts, (1.) That Balaam was accustomed to au- 
gury and presages. (2.) That on this occasion he 
would notice every event capable of such interpret- 
ation, as presages were supposed to indicate. (3.) 
That he was deeply intent on the issue of his jour- 
ney. (4.) That the whole of his conduct towards 
Balak was calculated to represent himself as an ex- 
traordinary personage. (5.) That the behavior of 
the ass did actually prefigure the conduct of Ba- 
laam in the three particulars of it which are re- 
corded. — First, the ass turned aside, and went into 
the field ; for which she was smitten, punished, re- 
proved : so Balaam, on the first of his perverse 
attempts to curse Israel, was, as it were, smitten, 
reproved, punished, (1.) by God, (2.) by Balak. The 
second time the ass was more harshly treated for 
hurting Balaam's foot against the wall so Balaam, 
for his second attempt, was, no doubt, still further 
mortified. Thirdly, the ass, seeing inevitable danger, 
fell down and was smitten severely : in like manner 
Balaam, the third time, was overruled by God, to 
sjjeak truth, to his own disgrace ; and escaped, not 
without hazard of his life, from the anger of Balak. 
Nevertheless, as Balaam had no sword in his hand, 
though he wished for one, with which to slay his 
ass, so Balak, notwithstanding his fury, and his 
seeming inclination, had no power to destroy Balaam. 
In short, as the ass was opposed by the angel, but 
was driven forward by Balaam, so Balaam was op- 
posed by God, but was driven forward by Balak, 
against his better knowledge. Were we sure that 
Balaam wrote this narrative, and that Moses copied 
it, as the rabbins affirm, (see Balaam,) this view of 
the subject would remove the difficulties which have 
been raised about it. It might then be entitled " a 
specimen of Balaam's augury." 

III. ASS, Wild. This animal, which was for- 
merly well known in the East, and is frequently 
mentioned in Scripture, is a much handsomer and 
more dignified animal than the common ass. It is 
called nip, para, by the Hebrews, and ovayQog, or ona- 
ger, by the Greeks. That the wild ass was known 
and valued for its mettle, appears from a passage in 
Herodotus, (Pol. 86.) where that writer says, "The 
Indian horse were well armed like their foot : but, 
beside led horses, they had chariots of war, drawn 
by horses and wild asses." The reference of these 



ASS 



[ 111 ] 



ASS 



animals to the troops of India (a province at the head 
of the Indus, not our Hindoostan) deserves attention ; 
because the troops of the onager are said by GmelLn 
to " return towards India, where they winter." Aris- 
totle (Hist. lib. vi. cap. 36.) mentions the wild ass, 
which is said to exceed horses in swiftness ; and 
Xenophon says (Cyrop. lib. i.) that he has long legs, 
is very rapid in running, swift as a whirlwind, hav- 
ing strong and stout hoofs. yElian says the same ; 
but that he may be tired, and when taken, is so gen- 
tle that he may easily be led about. Martial gives 
the epithet " handsome" to the wild ass — " Pulcher 
adest onager ;" (lib. xiii. Epig. 100.) and Oppian 
describes it as " handsome, large, vigorous, of stately 
gait, and his coat of a silvery color, having a black 
band along the spine of his back ; and on his flanks 
patches as white as snow." Mr. Morier says, " We 
gave chase to two wild asses, which had so much 
the speed of our horses, that when they had got at 
some distance, they stood still and looked behind at us, 
snorting with their noses in the air, as if in contempt 
of our endeavors to catch them." (Second Journey 
in Persia, p. 200.) The latest traveller who has de- 
scribed the onager is Sir R. K. Porter, in his " Trav- 
els in Persia," who also gives a figure of the animal. 
The mode of hunting it is, as it was in Xenophon's 
time, by means of several horses relieving each 
other, till the onager is completely tired. The color 
of Sir Robert's figure is a blight bay. 

[These animals inhabit the dry and mountainous 
parts of the deserts of Great Tartary, but not higher 
than about lat. 48°. They are migratory, and arrive 
in vast troops to feed during the summer, in the 
tracts to the east and north of the sea of Aral. About 
autumn they'collect in herds of hundreds, and even 
thousands, and direct their course southward towards 
India, to enjoy a warm retreat during winter. But 
they more usually retire to Persia, where they are 
found in the mountains of Casbin, and where part 
of them remain the whole year. They are. also said 
to penetrate even to the southern parts of India, to 
the mountains of Malabar and Golconda. — These 
animals were anciently found in Palestine, Syria, 
Arabia Deserta, Mesopotamia, Phrygia, and Lycao- 
nia ; but they rarely occur in those regions at the 
present time ; and seem to be almost entirely con- 
fined to Tartary, some parts of Persia and India, and 
Africa. — Their manners greatly resemble those of 
the wild horse. They assemble in troops under the 
conduct of a leader or sentinel ; and are extremely 
shy and vigilant. They will, however, stop in the 
midst of their course, and even suffer the approach 
of man for an instant, and then dart off' with the ut- 
most rapidity. They have been at all times celebrated 
for their swiftness. Their voice resembles that of 
the common ass, but is shriller. 

The Persians catch these animals alive for the 
sake of domesticating them, or improving the breed 
of tame asses. The breed of asses in such high es- 
teem in the East, is produced by crossing the tame 
kind with the ass thus reclaimed from a state of 
wildness. — These facts rest principally on the au- 
thority of the Russian professors Pallas and Gme- 
lin. *R. 

It is to professor Gmelin, however, who brought 
a female and a colt from Tartary to St. Petersburgh, 
that we ire principally indebted for our acquaintance 
with the wild ass. The female, which- had been 
'•aught when very young, though of small stature, 
and probably stinted in growth by its captivity, and 
by war t of suitable food, travelled from Astracan to 



Moscow (1400 werstes) with the ordini ry post, with- 
out any other repose than that of a few nights ; she 
also travelled from Moscow to Petersburgh (730 
werstes,) and did not seem to have suffered by the 
journey ; though she died in the autumn following, 
apparently from the effect of the herbage of a 
marshy soil, and the cold and humidity of so north- 
ern a climate. She had nothing of the dulness and 
stupidity of the common ass. " I remarked that she 
often passed two days without drinking, especially 
in moist weather, or when very heavy dews fell. 
She also preferred brackish water to fresh; and 
never drank of what was troubled. She loved bread 
sprinkled with salt, and sometimes would eat a hand- 
ful of salt. I was told, that when at Derbent, she 
always ran to drink of the Caspian sea, though fresh 
water was nearer to her. She also selected plants 
impregnated with saline particles ... or those of 
bitter juices. She loved raw cucumbers ; and some 
herbs, which she refused when green, pleased her 
when dried. She would not touch odoriferous or 
marsh plants, nor even thistles. I was informed that 
the Persians, when taming the young onagers, feed 
them with rice, barley, straw, and bread. Our ani- 
mal was extremely familiar, and followed persons 
who took care of her, freely, and with a kind of at- 
tachment. The smell of bread strongly attracted 
her ; but, if any attempt was made to lead her against 
her will, she showed all the obstinacy of the ass : 
neither would she suffer herself to be approached 
behind, and if touched by a stick, or by the hand, 
on her hinder parts, she would kick ; and this action 
was accompanied by a slight grumbling, as express- 
ive of complaint. The male onager, which was 
bought at the same time as the female, but which 
died in the voyage from Derbent to Astracan, was 
larger and less docile. His length from the nape of 
the neck to the origin of his tail was five feet ; his 
height in front, four feet four inches ; behind, four 
feet seven inches ; his head two feet in length ; his 
ears one foot ; his tail, including the tuft at the end, 
two feet three inches. He was more robust than the 
female ; and had a bar or streak crossing at his 
shoulders, as well as that streak which runs along 
the back, which is common to both sexes. Some 
Tartars have assured me that they have seen the 
cross-bar double in some males. Our onager was 
higher on her legs than the common ass ; her legs 
also were more slender than those of the ass ; and 
she resembled a youug filly: she could also scratch 
her neck and head easily with her hind foot. She 
was weak on her fore legs, but behind she could very 
well support the heaviest man. Notwithstanding her 
state of exhaustion, she carried her head higher than 
the ass, her ears well elevated, and showed a vivacity 
in all her motions. The color of the hair on the 
greater part of the body, and the end of the nose, is 
silvery white ; the upper part of the head, the sides 
"of the^neek, and the body, are flaxen, or pale isabella 
color. The mane is deep brown ; it commences 
between the ears, and reaches the shoulders ; its hair 
is soft, woolly, three or four inches long, like the 
mane of a young filly. The coat in general, espe- 
cially in winter, is more silky and softer than that of 
horses, and resembles that of a camel. The Arabs, 
no less than the Tartars, esteem the flesh of the ona- 
ger ; and the Arab writers, who permit the eating of 
its flesh, make the same difference between tins ass 
and the domestic ass, as the Hebrews did, whose law 
did not permit the coupling of the onager with the 
she ass, as being of different kinds." 



4 



ASS 



[ 112 ] 



ASSYRIA 



ASSID JEANS, a term occurring in the books of 
the Maccabees, which some think comes from the 
Hebrew anon, chasidim, merciful, pious. Ecclesi- 
asticus, (ch. xliv. 10.) praising the greatest men of 
his nation, calls them " merciful men ;" which is 
equivalent to Assidaeans, taken in this sense. Others 
maintain, that the Assitheans are the same as the Es- 
senians, whose manner of living is so much com- 
mended by Josephus, Philo, Pliny, and others ; an 
opinion which seems confirmed by 1 Mace. vii. 13. 
which calls the Essenians Asdanim. Others have 
thought the Assidseans were afterwards divided, and 
produced the Sadducees and Pharisees. The name 
of Sadducees signifies just ; that of Pharisees, sepa- 
rated; to indicate their distinction above other Jews, 
by their justice and sanctity. The members of the 
Jewish church, after the captivity, were divided into 
the Zadikim, or righteous, who observed only the 
written law of Moses ; and the Chasidim, or pious, 
who superadded the constitutions and traditions of 
the elders. These Chasidim Prideaux supposes to 
be the Assidseans, or Chassidseans ; the Hebrew 
cheth, answering to our ch, being expressed some- 
times in Greek by an aspirate ; in Latin sometimes 
by an h ; and sometimes being entirely omitted, as 
in Assidreans. Scaliger supposed the Assidseans to 
be a confraternity of Jews, whose principal devotion 
consisted in keeping up the edifices belonging to the 
temple ; and who, not content with paying the com- 
mon tribute of half a shekel a head, appointed for 
temple reparations, voluntarily imposed on them- 
selves other taxes. They swore by the temple ; every 
day, except the eleventh of Tizri, they offered a 
lamb in sacrifice, which was called the sin-offering 
of the Assida?ans ; and from this sect sprung the 
Pharisees, who produced the Essenians. 1 Mace. ii. 
42. represents the Assidseans as a numerous sect, 
distinguished for valor and zeal. See Essenes. 

ASSOS, a maritime city, by some geographers 
described as belonging to Mysia, by others, to Troas. 
Lukb, and others, went by sea from Troas to Assos : 
but Paul went by land thither, and meeting them at 
Assos, they went together to Mitylene, Acts xx. 13, 
14. A. D. 56. But there were many cities of this 
name. (1.) A maritime citj r in Lycia. (2.) Another 
in the territory of Eolis.. (3.) Another in Mysia. (4.) 
Another in Lydia. (5.) Another in Epirus Minor, 
the native country of Cleanthes the philosopher, 
which also was called Apollonia, as Pliny says. To 
this last city Paul sailed, Acts xx. 13. ' It was be- 
tween Troas and Mitylene, therefore in the district 
of Troas ; and is marked accordingly jjn the maps. 
Strabo says, that the luxurious kings of Persia had 
the grain of which their bread was made brought 
from Assos, the wine which they drank from Syria, 
and the water which they drank from the river 
Ulseus. This need not be taken literally ; the import 
of the phrase being that their power extended 
over these places ; and that they received 4ribute 
from them. 

ASSYRIA, a celebrated territory and empire, has 
Its name from Ashur, (-n?*,) or Assur, the second 
son of Shem, (Gen. x. 22.) who settled in that coun- 
try. But as the Chaldeans and Syrians in their 
ilialect pronounced the name Athur, (instead of 
Ashur,) so it is also called by the Greeks and Ro- 
mans Atyria and Aturia. The name Athur has 
maintained itself in an ancient city on the Tigris, 
not far from Mosul, which already lay in ruins in 
the time of Abulfeda. R. 

The boundaries of Assyria have varied according 



1 to its success in arms. It was at first bounded by 
J the Lycus and Caprus ; but the name of Assyria, 
j more generally speaking, is applied to all that terri- 
I tory which lies between Media, Mesopotamia, Ar- 
I menia, and Babylon. It is now called Kurdistan 
The empire of Assyria is generally supposed to have 
been founded by Ashur, son of Shem, who was 
driven from Shinar by Nimrod, Gen. x. 10, 11. Bo- 
chart, however, adopts the marginal reading of the 
passage — "Out of that land, he (Nimrod) went forth 
into Assur or Assyria, and builded Nineveh," — in 
which he has been followed by Faber, Hyde, Marsh- 
am, Wells, the authors of the Universal History, 
Hales, Rosenmueller, Gesenius, and others. This 
opinion is supported, too, by the Targums of Onke- 
los and Jerusalem, by Theophilus of Antioch, and 
Jerome ; and though not free from difficulty, appears 
to be the more consistent of the two interpretations. 
(See Nimrod.) Nimrod, then, may be considered as 
the founder of the new empire at Nineveh, which, 
being seated in a country almost exclusively peopled 
by the descendants of Ashur, had been called Ashur, 
or Assyria. Of Nimrod's successors we are igno- 
rant. We read (Gen. xiv.) that in Abraham's time, 
about A. M. 2092, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, in 
confederacy with certain kings, attacked the kings 
of Sodom and Gomorrha, and the neighboring cities, 
which had rebelled. Under the Judges, (Judg. iii. 
8.) about A. M. 2591, the Lord delivered Israel into 
the hands of Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopota- 
mia, who oppressed them eight years. Julius Afri- 
canus says, that Evechotis reigned in Chaldea 224 
years before the Arabians, (i. e. A. M. 2242,) in the 
time of Isaac. The Arabians conquered the Chal- 
dean empire, A. M. 2466, and kept it about 216 years, 
to A. M. 2682 ; and Belus, the Assyrian, succeeded 
the Arabians fifty-five years before the foundation of 
the latter Assyrian empire by Ninus. Dionysius 
Halicarnassus (Antiq. Rom. lib. i.) justly observes, 
that the Assyrian empire was, in the beginning, but 
of small extent ; and what we have said confirms 
this ; since we see kings of Shinar, Elam, Chaldea, 
and Ellasar, at a time when the Assyrian empire, 
founded by Nimrod, must have subsisted ; and be- 
fore Ninus, son of Belus, had founded, or rather ag- 
grandized, the only empire of Assyria known to 
profane-authors ; for they had no knowledge of that 
established by Nimrod. During the reigns of David 
and Solomon, • the Assyrian monarchs possessed 
nothing on this side the Euphrates. David subdued 
all Syria, without their concerning themselves about 
it ; and when he attacked the Ammonites, they sent 
for succor to the other side of the Euphrates ; (2 
Sam. x. 16.) but David defeated those troops, and 
even obliged certain people on the other side the 
river to pay him tribute. 

The first king of Assyria mentioned in Scripture 
is the sovereign who reigned at Nineveh, when Jo- 
nah went thither, about A. M. 3180. The prophet 
does not inform us who this monarch was ; but he 
describes the city as being prodigiously large. From 
2 Kings xv. 19. and 1 Chron. v. 26. we learn that 
about 50 years after this, Pul, king of Assyria, invaded 
the territories of Israel, under the reign of Mena- 
hem. It is conjectured that Pul was the father of 
Sardanapalus ; who began to reign, according to 
Usher, A. M. 3237, and under whom the history of 
Assyria assumes a more consistent aspect. 

The measure of Nineveh's sins being completed, 
God raised up enemies against Sardanapalus, in the 
persons of Arbaces, governor of Media, and the Per- 



ASSYRIA 



L "3 ] 



ASSYRIA 



sians and other of his allies, who besieged and took 
che capital, and induced the king to put himself to 
death. Thus terminated the ancient empire of the 
Assyrians, which had lasted from Nhnrod, about 
2500 years, and from Ninus, son of Belus, about 520 
years, A. M. 3254. (Herodot. lib. i. c. 95.) Upon 
the death of Sardanapalus the empire was divided 
into the Assyrian, properly so called, and the Baby- 
lonian kingdoms. Arbaces, whom Prideaux believes 
to be the Tiglath-pileser of the Scriptures, (2 Kings 
xv. 29, &c.) fixed the seat of his government at 
Nineveh, which continued the capital of the Assyr- 
ian empire. He was succeeded by Salmaneser, 
whose son and successor, Sennacherib, is so famous 
in sacred and profane history. He was killed by 
two of his sons, and succeeded by a third, Esarhad- 
don ; who, after having re-united the dissevered 
enemies of Chaldea and Assyria, left the throne to 
Saosduchinus, who reigned twenty years. This is 
supposed by some to be the prince who is named 
Nabuchodonosor, in Judith, but without probability. 
Saosduchinus was succeeded by Chyniladon, the 
Nebuchodonosor mentioned in the Apocrypha, upon 
whose death the throne was filled by Sarachus, or 
Chynaladanus, the true Sardanapalus. Sarachus 
having rendered himself contemptible to his sub- 
jects by his effeminacy, Nabopolassar, to whom he 
had committed the government of Chaldea, deter- 
mined upon seizing the crown, and for this purpose 
formed an alliance with Astyages, or Ahasuerus, son 
of the king of Media. With their united forces they 
besieged Nineveh, took the city, and terminated the 
monarchy of the Assyrians ; Sarachus having burned 
himself to death in his palace. Ante A. D. 612. — 
With this event the prophecies of Jonah, Zephaniah, 
and Nahum against Nineveh were fulfilled. See 
Nineveh. 

[The history of the Assyrian empire is one of the 
most obscure portions of ancient biblical literature ; 
and the manner in which it has hitherto been treat- 
ed, has not contributed, in any measure, to dispel the 
darkness. In the want of all native historians, the 
only original sources from which the fragments of 
the earlier history of this country can be drawn, are 
the Old Testament, Herodotus, and Ctesias. These 
sources are all evidently independent of each other ; 
but the accounts derived from them are so"far from 
constituting an harmonious whole, that they are in 
the chief points entirely discordant. Indeed the two 
Greek historians are so much at variance with the 
biblical writers, and also with themselves, especially 
in regard to the origin and duration of the Assyrian 
and Median empires, that most critics have assumed 
a double Assyrian dynasty ; the first closed by Sar- 
danapalus, about 888 B. C. and followed by Arba- 
ces and the Median kings ; and the second com- 
mencing about 800 or 775 B. C. and subsisting 
dlong with the Median race. But as Herodotus and 
Ctesias both profess to have drawn from genuine 
sources, and yet differ from each other in important 
particulars, as much as if they were speaking of 
different states ; and as there is no ground whatever 
for distrusting the accounts contained in the Old 
Testament respecting the nations with which the 
Hebrews came in contact, it would seem prefera- 
ble, on every critical as well as other ground, to 
make the biblical accounts the foundation of the As- 
syrian history, illustrating them, nevertheless, so far 
as possible, by the Greek accounts, whenever these 
latter harmonize with them. This is done in the 
following svnopsis ; which has been compiled chiefly • 

15 



from the collections made by Rosenmueller and Ge- 
senius. (Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. I. ii. 91, seq. Gesen. 
Comm. zu Isa. xxxix. 1, etc. Thesaur. Ling. Heb. 
p. 163, seq.) 

That Assyria was one of the most ancient empires 
of Asia, appeal's from the united testimony both of 
the Bible and of foreign historians. In the genealo- 
gical and ethnographical table of Genesis it is said, 
(Gen. x. 11.) tl-at Nimrod went forth from Babylon 
to Assyria, i. e. conquered it, and built there Nine- 
veh and other cities. That this is the proper trans- 
lation of this passage, and not (as in the English 
version) that Ashur went forth and built Nineveh, 
is apparent from the connection ; which is entirely 
broken up and destroyed by the latter mode of ren- 
dering, — Ashur, a son of Shem, being thus anoma- 
lously inserted among the descendants of Ham, and 
an event in his history narrated before his birth, 
which is first mentioned in v. 22. In the other 
mode, the narrative is uninterrupted ; and hence the 
prophet Micah calls Assyria the land of Nimrod, 
Mic. v. 6. The native accounts preserved by Cte- 
sias (in Diod. Sic. ii. 1, seq.) call the founder of the 
Assyrian kingdom Ninus; but there is no good 
reason extant for regarding him as a different per- 
son from Nimrod. The stories related by Ctesias 
of the extraordinary deeds of Ninus and his queen 
Semiramis, bear the stamp of exaggerated tradition, 
in which the actions of several kings, or perhaps of 
a whole dynasty, would seem to be referred to a 
single pair. The most that can be assumed from 
these accounts as true, is the probable fact, that the 
successors of Ninus continued to extend their con- 
quests on every side. Indeed, as early as the time 
of Moses, the Assyrians appear to have made them- 
selves already formidable as conquerors, who carried 
away the nations whom they subdued ; for Balaam, 
who came from the Euphrates, announces to the 
Kenites, a Canaanitish tribe on the east side of the 
Jordan, that they should be carried into captivity by 
the Assyrians, (Num. xxiv. 22.) and adds that these 
conquerors should also in their turn be subjugated 
by ships from Chittim, i. e. coming from the west, 
xxiv. 24. In Ps. lxxxiii. 8, the Assyrians are men- 
tioned among David's enemies, in connection with 
the Moabites, Edomites, Philistines, and Tyrians ; a 
proof that, in David's time, (1000 B. C.) the Assyrian 
dominion had extended itself 'into Syria. 

The first king of Assyria mentioned in the Old 
Testament is Pux, who made his appearance on 
the border of Israel about 770 B. C. and compelled 
king Menahem to pay him a thousand talents of sil- 
ver to spare him and confirm him in his usurpation, 
2 Kings xv. 19. In the subsequent internal divisions 
of the kingdom of the ten tribes, one of the parties 
seems also to have appealed to the Assyrians for 
aid ; compare Hos. v. 13. x. 6. When, at a later pe- 
riod, Pekah king of Israel, and Rezin king of Syria, 
made an alliance against Judah, king Ahaz invited 
Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, to become his 
ally, and sent him all the silver and gold of the tern 
pie as a present. He accordingly besieged and took 
Damascus, put Rezin to death, and carried the in- 
habitants away to Kir, or Kur, a province of Assyr- 
ia, 2 Kings xvi. 5 — 10. He did the same also with 
a part of the Israelites, 2 Kings xv. 29. Under the 
following king Shalmaneser, (Enemessar, Tob. i 
2.) the Assyrian empire appears to have reached its 
most flourishing point. The king of Israel, Hoshea, 
became his tributary, (2 Kings xvii. 3.) but soon 
made an alliance with Egypt, and refused to pay the 



ASSYRIA 



[ 114 j 



AST 



promised tribute. Shalmaneser now invaded Israel, 
(about 730 to 720 B. C.) besieged Samaria three 
years, and took it ; reduced the country to an As- 
syrian province ; transported the former inhabitants 
to Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Media ; and introduced 
new inhabitants or colonists from other parts of his 
kingdom, and also from Babylonia, 2 Kings xvii. 6, 
24; xviii. 9 — 11. He subdued, also, all Phoenicia, 
except the island of Tyre. (Jos. Ant. ix. 14. 2.) At 
this time, therefore, about 720 B. C. the Assyrian 
empire was at the summit of its power, and included 
all Upper Asia, from Persia to the Mediterranean, 
and from the Caspian to the Persian gulf. But the 
monarchs were not yet satisfied with these colossal 
dominions. Fearing, it would seem, that the south- 
western provinces might ally themselves with Egypt, 
and thus help to augment the power of that state, 
(as was actually the wish of a large party among 
the Jews ; see Is. xx. 5, 6 ; xxx. 2, seq. xxxi. 1, seq.) 
the successor of Shalmaneser, Sargon, undertook 
the conquest of Egypt. Tartan, his general, opened 
the way thither by the siege and capture of Ash- 
dod ; (Is. xx. 1.) and that about this time an Assyrian 
host actually penetrated into Egypt and captured 
No-Ammon, i. e. Thebes, or Diospolis, the capital of 
Upper Egypt, seems apparent from the passage in 
Nahum iii. 8 — 10. But Sargon must soon have died, 
and his host withdrawn itself from Egypt and Pales- 
tine ; for Hezekiah ventured, in the very first years 
of his reign, to fall away from Assyria and ally him- 
self with Egypt, 2 Kings xviii. 7. Again, therefore, 
Sargon's successor, Sennacherib, made his appear- 
ance in Judea with an army, on his way to Egypt, 
took possession of all the Jewish cities, and demand- 
ed the surrender of Jerusalem, Is. xxxvi. 1 ; 2 Kings 
xviii. 14 — 16. But in the mean time, hearing that 
Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, was advancing against 
him, (Is. xxxvii. 9; 2 Kings xix. 9.) and the Lord 
also having almost destroyed his army by a pesti- 
lence, he raised the siege of Jerusalem, and retired 
to Nineveh, 2 Kings xviii. 13, seq. xix ; Isa. xxxvi, 
sxxvii. 

Encouraged, it would seem, by this unsuccessful 
expedition of Sennacherib against the western coun- 
tries, the eastern provinces also of the Assyrian em- 
pire seized this moment to throw off the yoke. About 
this time Media seems to have become independent 
under Dejoces ; and alsb in Babylonia Merodach-bala- 
dan had set himself up as an independent sovereign, 
but was murdered after a reign of six months. His 
successor, Belibus, was vanquished by Sennacherib 
in a battle, who took him prisoner, and thus brought 
Babylonia again under his dominion. He appointed 
his son Esarhaddon viceroy over it, and returned 
himself to Assyria. He now made an expedition 
against the Greeks as far as to Cilicia, overcame 
them, and founded the city of Tarsus. (These last 
circumstances are related by Berosus, in a fragment 
preserved in the Armenian version of the Chronicon 
of Eusebius, and hitherto not referred to. See Ge- 
sen. Comm. z. Isa. xxxix. 1. p. 999.) After a reign 
of eighteen years, Sennacherib was assassinated by 
two of his sons, who fled to Armenia; and Esar- 
haddon, the viceroy of Babylon, became his succes- 
sor, 2 Kings xix. 37 ; Isa. xxxvii. 38. Of this mon- 
arch the Bible makes no mention, except merely the 
passing notice, (Ezra iv. 2.) that he sent colonists to 
Samaria. It is the not improbable conjecture of 
many learned men, that Esarhaddon is the Sardan- 
apalus of Ctesias, (Diod. Sic. ii. 24 — 27.) who, 
being driven back by the rebellious Medes and 



Babylonians into, Nineveh, his capital, and pushed to 
extremities, destroyed himself, his wives, and his 
treasures, in one common conflagration. 

After Sennacherib, however, the Hebrews do not 
appear to have been troubled by the inroads of the 
Assyrians; except, perhaps, the incursion mentioned 
2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, when Manasseh was carried off 
as a captive. But the name of the Assyrian king 
under whom this took place, is not mentioned; and 
very soon after Sennacherib, certainly, the Chalde- 
ans appear as the conquerors of Hither Asia. Mean- 
time, however, Assyria, although weakened and re- 
duced perhaps within its original limits, appear* to 
have maintained itself as a separate state. But about 
120 years after Esarhaddon, (597 B. C.) Cyaxares, 
king of Media, made an alliance with Nabopolassar 
vice-king of Babylon, against Assyria ; and the two 
captured and destroyed Nineveh, and divided the 
kingdom between them. Assyria itself became a 
Median province. 

As to the interior constitution, and the civil and 
social institutions of the Assyrian state, the fragments 
of its history that have come down to us are en- 
tirely silent. The Assyrians stand out on the historic 
page solely as conquerors. That they possessed any 
important commerce, that they paid any attention to 
arts and sciences, that they exercised any influence 
on the moral cultivation of the nations whom they 
subdued, we find no trace. Their language and re- 
ligion, i. e. the worship of the stars and of nature, 
under symbolic forms, they appear to have had 
in common with the Medo-Persian tribes, their 
neighbors. 

In reference to this historical view of the Assyrian 
empire, we find that the name Assyria is employed 
in the Old Testament in three different significa- 
tions, viz : 

1. Assyria ancient and proper, lay east of the Ti- 
gris, between Armenia, Susiana, and Media ; and 
appears to have comprehended the six provinces at- 
tributed to it by Ptolemy, (vi. 1.) viz. Arrapachis, 
(Heb. Arphaxad ?) Adiabene, Arbelis, (now Erbil,) 
Calachene, (Heb. Halah ? 2 Kings xvii. 6.) Apollo- 
nias, and Sittacene. It is the region which mostly 
comprises the modern Kurdistan and the pashalik 
of Mosul. Of these provinces Adiabene was the 
most fertile and important ; in it was situated Nine- 
veh, the capital ; and the term Assyria in its most 
narrow sense seerns sometimes to have meant only 
this province. Plin. v. 12. 

2. Most generally Assyria means the kingdom of 
Assyria, including Babylonia and Mesopotamia, and 
extending to the Euphrates, which is therefore used 
by Isaiah as an image of this empire, Isa. vii. 20 ; viii. 
7. In one instance the idea of the empire predomi- 
nates so as to exclude that of Assyria proper, viz. 
Gen. ii. 14, where the Hiddekel or Tigris is said to 
flow eastward of Assyria. 

3. After the overthrow of the Assyrian state, the 
name continued to be applied to those countries 
which had been formerly under its dominion, viz. 
(a) To Babylonia, 2 Kings xxiii. 29 ; Jer. ii. 18, etc. 
So Judith i. 5 ; ii. 1 ; v. 1. etc. where Nebu- 
chadnezzar is called king of Assyria, (b) To Persia, 
Ezra vi. 22, where Darius is also called king of As- 
syria, (c) Roman writers also apply this name to 
Syria ; but this use of it is unknown to the orient- 
als ; see Bocharti Phaleg. ii. 3 ; Relandi Palsest 
1012, seq. *R. 

I. ASTAROTH, or Astoreth, or Astartk, 
a celebrated Phoenician goddess. In Scrip- 



AST A ROTH 



[ 115 ] 



ASTAROTH 




ture, this word is often 
plural, minify ; some- 
times, mE'N, aserah, the 
grove ; hivn, aseroth, 
or oi-c\N, aserim, 
woods ; groves were 
her temples ; in groves 
consecrated to her, 
such obscenities were 
committed, as render- 
ed her worship infa- 
mous. She was god- 
dess of the woods, the 
celestial goddess, and 
was also called the " queen of heaven ;" (Jer. xliv. 17, 
18.) and sometimes her worship is described by that 
of the "host of heaven." (SeeMENi.) She is almost 
always joined with Baal, and is called gods ; Scrip- 
ture having no particular word for expressing a god- 
dess. It is supposed that the moon was adored under 
this name. Temples of the moon generally accom- 
panied those of the sun ; and while bloody sacri- 
fices, or human victims, were offered to Baal, bread, 
liquors, and perfumes were presented to Astarte ; 
tables were prepared for her on the flat terrace-roofs 
of houses, near gates, in porches, and at cross- ways, 
on the first day of every month, which the Greeks 
called Hecate's supper. Jerome, in several places, 
translates the name of Astarte by Priapus, as if to 
denote the licentiousness of her worship. The 
eastern people, in many places, worshipped the 
moon as a god, and represented its figure with a 
beard, and in armor. The statue in the temple of 
Heliopolis, in Syria, Pliny says, was that of a woman 
clothed like a man. Solomon, seduced by his foreign 
wives, introduced the worship of Astarte into Israel ; 
but Jezebel, daughter of the king of Tyre, and wife 
of Ahab, principally established her worship. Augus- 
tin assures us, that the Africans (descendants from 
the Phoenicians) maintained Astarte to be Juno. 
But Herodian says, the Carthaginians call the heaven- 
ly goddess, the moon, Astroarche. The Phoenicians 
asserted confidently, says Cicero, that their Astarte 
was the Syrian Venus, born at Tyre, and wife of 
Adonis ; very different from the Venus of Cyprus. 
Lucian, who wrote particularly concerning the god- 
dess of Syria, (Astarte,) says, expressly, that she is 
the moon, and no other ; and it is indubitable, that 
this luminary was worshipped under different names 
in the East. Astarte was probably the same as the 
Isis of Egypt, who was represented with the head 
of an ox, or with horns on her head. But the man- 
ner of representing Astarte on medals, is not always 
the same. Sometimes she is in a long habit; at 
other times, in a short habit ; sometimes holding a 
long stick, with a cross on its top ; sometimes she 
has a crown of rays ; sometimes she is crowned 
with battlements ; or by a victory. In a medal of 
Caesarea Palestina, she is in a short dress, crowned 
with battlements, witli a man's head in her right 
hand, and a staff in her left. This is believed to be 
the man's head mentioned by Lucian, which was 
every year brought from Egypt to Biblos, a city of 
Phoenicia. Sanchoniathon says, she was represented 
with a cow's head, the horns describing royalty, and 
the lunar rays. 

[Thus far Calmet, in accordance with the views 
of most of the earlier commentators ; compare also 
Jahn, Bibl. Archseol. § 409 ; Miinter, Religion der 
Babylonier, p. 20. But Gesenius, Rosenmuller, and 
others, who have devoted particular Mention to the 



subject, have been led to adopt views somewhat 
different, and of the following purport. See Gese- 
nius, Thesaur. p. 162. Comn zu. Isa. ii. p. 337, seq. 

Astarte, or Heb. Ashtoreth, plur. Ashtaroth, is the 
name of a Phoenician goddess, (2 Kings xxiii. 13.) 
whose worship was also introduced among the Isra- 
elites and Philistines, 1 Kings xi. 5, 33 ; 1 Sam. vii. 
3 ; xxxi. 10. She is more commonly named in con- 
nection with Baal, Judg. ii. 13 ; x. 6 : 1 Sam. vii. 4 ; 
xii. 10. Another Hebrew name of the same goddess 
is mw, Asherah, i. e. the happy, the fortunate ; or 
more simply /o?Tfwne. This last name is commonly 
rendered in the English version grove ; as also in 
the Septuagint, Vulgate, Luther, and others. But 
after reviewing all the passages in which the word 
occurs, Gesenius comes decidedly to the conclusion, 
that the meaning grove cannot be supported in any 
one of them, but is manifestly contrary both to the 
etymology and to the context. Both these Hebrew 
names of Astarte, when used in the plural, often 
signify images or statues of Astarte ; which are then 
said to be broken down, destroyed, &c. In connec- 
tion with the worship of Astarte there was much of 
dissolute licentiousness ; and the public prostitutes 
of both sexes were regarded as consecrated to her. 
See 2 Kings xxiii. 7 ; comp. Lev. xix. 29 ; Deut. 
xxiii. 18. 

As now Baal, or Bel, denotes, in the astrological 
mythology of the East, the male star of fortune, the 
planet Jupiter, so Ashtoreth signifies the female star 
of fortune, the planet Venus. The word ninrj-, 
Ashtoreth, for which an etymology has long been 
sought, is equivalent to the Syriac ashteruth and es- 
tero, and to the Persian sitareh, which all signify 
star; and it therefore denotes by way of eminence, 
the star, i. e. Venus. The ancient Orient regarded 
this planet as the goddess of love and fortune; hence 
it was called by the Babylonians Meni, (which see,) 
and by the Hebrews also Asherah, the fortunate; see 
above. It was also worshipped under the names of 
Anaitis, JYancea, Mylitta, among the Babylonians and 
Armenians, with many licentious rites, which are 
mentioned in the Zabian books. It should be here 
remarked, that bishop Miinter concedes this view 
of the subject only in respect to a later age ; but 
supposes that originally Baal and Astarte were 
the representatives of the sun and moon ; Rel. der 
Babylonier, p. 20. See Baal; 

A part of the Phoenician mythus respecting Astarte 
is given by Sanchoniathon, Euseb. de Prsep. Evang. 
i. 10. " Astarte the most high, and Jupiter Dema- 
rous, and Adodus king of the gods, reigned over the 
country, with the assent of Saturn. And Astarte 
placed the head of a bull upon her own head, as an 
emblem of sovereignty. As she was journeying 
about the world, she found a star wandering in the 
air, and having taken possession of it, she conse- 
crated it in the sacred island of Tyre. The Phoe- 
nicians say that Astarte is Venus." This serves to 
account for the horned figure under which she was 
represented ; and affords testimony of a star conse- 
crated as her symbol. # R. 

II. ASTAROTH, Astaroth-Carnaim, or Kar- 
NAii\i,(Gen. xiv. 5A was a city beyond Jordan, six miles 
from Adraa, or Edre'i, between that city and Abila, 
now Mezaraib. Astaroth-Carnaim is supposed to 
be derived from the goddess Astarte, adored there, 
who was represented with horns, or a crescent ; for 
carnaim signifies horns. In 2 Mace. xii. 26. mention 
is made of a temple of the goddess Atargatis, in 
Carnion, which is doubtless the same as Astaroth- 



AS Y 



L H6 ] 



ATH 



Caraalm. Atargatis, (which see,) was the same as 
Derceto, of Askelon, represented as a woman with 
the lower parts of a fish. See Askelon, and Dagon. 

ASTARTE, see Astaroth, I. 

ASTONISHMENT, wine of. See Wink. 

I. ASTYAGES, otherwise Cyaxares, king of the 
Medes, successor of Phraortes, reigned forty years, 
and died A. M. 3409, ante A. D. 595. He had a son, 
called Astyages, or Darius ; and two daughters, Man- 
dane and Amyit. For Astyages, or Darius, see the 
following article. Amyit married Nebuchadnezzar, 
son of Nabopolassar, king of Chaldea, -and was 
mother of Evil-merodach. Mandane married Cam- 
byses the Persian, and was mother of Cyrus. 

II. ASTYAGES, otherwise Ahasuerus, (Tobit 
xiv. 15; Dan. ix. 1.) or Artaxerxes, (Dan. vi. 1. Gr.) 
or Darius the Mede, (Dan. v. 31.) or Cyaxares, (by 
his father's name,) or Apandas, was, by his father, 
Cyaxares, appointed governor of Media, and sent 
with Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, against Sara- 
chus, (or Chiuiladanus,) king of Assyria, whom they 
besieged in Nineveh, took that city, and dismem- 
bered the Assyrian empire. See Assyria. Astya- 
ges was with Cyrus at the conquest of Babylon, and 
succeeded Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Dan. v. 30, 
31. A. M. 3447. Cyrus succeeded him, 3456, Dan. 
xiii. 65. See Isa. xiii. xiv. xxi. xlv. xlvi. xlvii. Jer. 
1. li. 

ASUPPIM, house of. This word occurs 1 Chron. 
xxvi. 15. but considerable diversity of opinion exists 
among learned men as to its import. Dr. Geddes 
renders it, "the store-rooms," and understands it 
of the upper galleries of the temple, where the 
stores were probably kept. Others understand by it 
the treasury of the temple. This opinion is ground- 
ed — 1. upon the import of the word ; 2. because 
Obed-Edom (whose sons are said tfi be placed at 
Asuppim) is said (2 Chron. xxv. 24.) to have the cus- 
tody of the treasures. Dr. Lightfoot, who has a long 
discussion on the subject, concludes that Asuppim 
were two gates in the western wall, which stood 
most south, or nearest to Jerusalem ; and that the 
house of Asuppim was a large building which ran 
between them, and was a treasury of divers rooms, 
for laying up things that served for the use of the 
temple. (Temple Service, chap. v. sec. 3.) [The 
meaning of the word is collections, i. e. stores ; and 
house of Asuppim is, therefore, a store-house connected 
with the temple, probably on the southern part, 1 
Chr. xxvi. 15, 17. R. 

ASYLUM, Gr. '' Javlor, from u and at'ly, prey. 
This word signifies a sanctuary, whither unfortunate 
persons might retire for security from their enemies, 
and from whence they could not be forced. It has 
been supposed, that Hercules's grandsons were the 
institutors of these places of refuge, in Greece, if 
not in Europe ; for, apprehending the resentment of 
those whom Hercules had ill-treated, they appointed 
an asylum or temple of mercy at Athens. Cadmus 
erected another at Thebes, and Romulus another at 
Rome, on mount Palatine. That of Daphne, near 
Antioch, was very famous, 2 Mace. iv. 34. Theseus 
built an asylum at Athens in favor of slaves, and of 
the poor who should fly thither, from the oppression 
of the rich. There was one in the isle of Calauria. 
The temples of Apollo at Delphi, of Juno at Samos, 
of Esculapius at Delos, of Bacchus at Ephesus, and 
many others in Greece, had the privilege of being 
asyla. Romulus gave this right to a wood adjoin- 
ing the temple of Vejovis. (Virgil, Mne'id. viii. 342.) 
Ovid speaks of a wood near Ostium, that enjoyed 



the same privilege. (Fast. 1.1.) Augustin observes, 
(de Civit. lib. i. cap. 34.) that the whole city of Rome 
was an asylum to all strangers. The number of 
these privileged places was so muchj increased in 
Greece, under the emperor Tiberius, that he was 
obliged to recall their licenses, and to suppress them. 
(Sueton. in Tiberio. Tacit. Annal. lib. iii. cap. 6.) 
But his decree was little observed after his death. 

The altar of burnt sacrifices, and the temple at 
Jerusalem, were sanctuaries. Hither Joab retired ; 
(1 Kings ii. 28, 29, 31.) but Solomon, observing that 
he would not quit the altar, ordered him to be killed 
there. Moses commands (Exod. xxi. 14.) that any 
who had committed murder, and fled for protection 
to the altar, should be dragged from thence. Sanc- 
tuaries were not for the advantage of wicked men, 
but in favor of the innocent, when attacked unjustly. 
When criminals retired to the sanctuary of a temple, 
they were either starved, or forced thence by fires 
kindled around them. See Refuge. 

ATAD. At Atad's threshing floor (Gen. 1. 11.) the 
sons of Jacob, and the Egyptians who accompanied 
them, mourned for Jacob, whence it was afterwards 
called Abel-Mizraim, "the mourning of the Egyp- 
tians." See Abel-Mizraim. 

ATARGATIS, a goddess of the Philistines, called 
by the Greeks Derceto, Plin. v. 23. She was repre- 
sented with the head and upper parts of a beautiful 
female, and the tail of a fish. She was worshipped 
particularly at Askelon, which see. She had also a 
temple at Carnaim, i. e. Astaroth-Carnaim, 2 Mace, 
xii. 26 ; comp. 1 Mace. v. 43. This last circumstance 
would naturally lead to the conclusion, that Atarga- 
tis or Derceto was the same as Astaroth or Astarte ; 
and further, Herodotus expressly calls the goddess 
worshipped at Askelon, Venus, (i. 105.) i. e. Astarte. 
See Jahn, Bibl. Archseol. iii. 509. Gesen. *R. 

ATAROTH.' There are several cities of this 
name. — (1.) One in the tribe of Gad, beyond Jordan, 
(Numb, xxxii. 3, 34.) the same, probably, witn Atroth- 
Shophan, given to this tribe, verse 35. — (2.) Another 
on the frontiers of Ephraim, between Janohah and 
Jericho, (Josh. xvi. 7.) probably Ataroth-Addar, xvi. 
5 ; xviii. 13. — (3.) Ataroth Beth-Joab, in Judah, 
1 Chron. ii. 54. 

ATHALIAH, daughter of Ahab, king of Israel, 
and wife of Joram, king of Judah. Being informed 
that Jehu had slain her son Ahaziah, and forty-two 
princes of his family, she resolved to destroy all the 
princes of the blood-royal of Judah, that she might 
ascend the throne without a rival, 2 Kings xi. 1 ; 2 
Chr. xxii. 10. But Jehosheba, daughter of Joram, 
and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, son of Ahaziah, 
and kept him secretly, for six years, in the temple. 
In the seventh year, the high-priest Jehoiada deter- 
mined to place him on the throne of his ancestors ; 
which he accomplished amid the acclamations of the 
multitude. Athaliah, hearing the noise, entered the 
temple ; seeing the young king seated on his throne, 
she tore her clothes, and cried, " Treason ! Treason !" 
Jehoiada commanded the Levites, who were armed, 
to carry her without the temple, where she was slain, 
A. M. 3126; ante A. D. 884. 

ATHAR, see Ether. 

ATHENS, a celebrated city and powerful com- 
monwealth of Greece, distinguished by the military 
talents, learning, eloquence, and politeness of its in- 
habitants. When Paul visited it, A. D. 52, he found 
it plunged in idolatry ; occupied in inquiring and 
reporting news ; curious to know every thing ; and 
divided in opinion concerning religion and happiness. 



ATHENS 



ATO 



Acts xvii. The apostle, taking opportunities to 
preach Jesus Christ, was brought before the judges 
of the Areopagus ; where he gave an illustrious tes- 
timony to truth, and a remarkable instance of pow- 
erful reasoning. (See Areopagus.) The schools, 
professors, and philosophers of Athens were very 
famous. The Lyceum, where Aristotle taught, was 
on the banks of the river Ilissus. The academy 
was part of the Ceramicus, which, being at first 
marshy and unwholesome, was drained and planted ; 
in these shady walks Plato read his lectures ; whence 
his disciples were called Academics. There were 
other sects of philosophers at Athens, as the Stoics, 
the Cynics, and the Epicureans. 

As the customs of this city illustrate certain pas- 
sages of Scripture, we shall add a few particulars 
relating to them ; principally extracted from Stuart's 
Antiquities of Athens. 

On the architrave of a Doric portico, yet standing 
in Athens, are inscriptions to the following pur- 
port : 

" The people [of Athens] out of the donations 
bestowed [on them] by Caius Julius Csesar, the god ; 
and by the emperor Augustus Csesar, the son of the 
god ; [dedicate this] to Minerva Archegetia [chief 
conductress]" &c. 

" The people [honor] Lucius Csesar, the son of the 
emperor Augustus Csesar, the son of the god." 

"The senate of the Areopagus, and the senate of 
the six hundred, and the people [honor with this 
statue] Julia goddess, Augusta, Providence," &c. 

The reader will compare these public memorials 
with the observation of the apostle, that Athens was 
too much addicted to the adoption of objects for wor- 
ship and devotion. It was not, indeed, singular in 
worshipping the reigning emperor ; hut flattery 
could be carried no higher than to characterize his 
descendants as deities, and one of them as no less 
a deity than Providence itself. (Compare Luke 
xxii. 25.) 

The great festival at Athens in honor of Minerva, 
called the Pan-Athenaic procession, deserves partic- 
ular notice. One of its greatest ornaments was a 
ship, which was kept in a repository near the Areop- 
agus, and is mentioned by Suidas, who says, among 
the Athenians, the peplus is the sail of the Pan-Athe- 
naic ship, which every fourth year they prepare for 
Minerva, conducting it through the Ceramicus to 
the Eleusiniuin. The peplus was also esteemed as 
the veil of Minerva. This reference of a ship to Mi- 
nerva, Mr. Taylor thinks, is not without its meaning ; 
and indeed, he adds, we find that almost every an- 
cient divinity is directly, or indirectly, related to the 
sea. The famous statue of Minerva, of ivory and 
gold, was the work of Phidias. Pausanius says, it 
was standing erect, her garment reaching to her 
feet ; she had a helmet on ; and a Medusa's head on 
her hreast ; in one hand she held a spear, and on 
the other stood a Victory of about four cubits high. 
Pliny informs us, that the statue was twenty-six cu- 
bits high ; in which, perhaps, he included the pedes- 
tal, on which, they both say, the birth of Pandora 
was represented. It is probable this statue was 
painted. The gold about it weighed forty talents ; 
and might be worth 120,000L sterling. Laehares 
stript it off about one hundred and thirty years after 
the statue had been finished. The Areopagus was 
not far from the ascent and entrance to the Acropo- 
lis, called the Propylea ; but this is described in its 
proper place. See Areopagus. 

From the invasion of Xerxes to the irrupt' on of 



Alaric into Greece, (A. D. 396,) Athens changed mas- 
ters upwards of twenty times. It was twice burnt 
by the Persians ; destroyed by Philip II. of Mace- 
don ; again by Sylla ; the Acropolis was plundered 
by Tiberius ; desolated by the Goths in the reign of 
Claudius ; and the whole territory ravaged and ruin- 
ed by Alaric. That conqueror, however, spared 
much of Athens, and perhaps most of the antiqui- 
ties. From the reign of Justinian to the thirteenth 
century, the city remained in obscurity, though it 
continued to be a town, and the head of a small 
state. It supplied Roger, king of Sicily, with silk- 
worms, in 1130 ; was besieged by Sgure, a petty 
prince of the Morea, in 1204 ; but was successfully 
defended by the archbishop. It was seized by Bon- 
iface, marquis of Montserrat, who appointed one of 
his followers duke of Athens. It was a fief of the 
kingdom of Sicily, during the latter part of the four- 
teenth century ; and then fell into the possession of 
Reinier Acciajuoli, a Florentine, who bequeathed it 
to the Venetians. Omar, general of Mahomet trie 
Great, seized it in 1455. It was sacked by the Ve- 
netians in 1464 ; was bombarded and taken by them 
in 1687 ; and lost to the Turks, again, in 1688. It 
was always of some consideration ; and those 
winters who describe it as reduced to a village [Bos 
Ant. Grsec. p. 20.] were misinformed. The name 
Settines, which they give it, is a corruption of fi'j 

The population of Athens, in 1812, was about 
12,000, about a fifth part only of which were Turks ; 
but the sanguinary contest which has been since 
carried on between the Greeks and the Turks, has 
left it but a mass of ruins. 

ATONEMENT, i. e. reconciliation. We have 
evidently lost the true import of this word, by our 
present manner of pronouncing it. When it was 
customary to pronounce the word one as own — (as 
in the time of our translators) then the word atone- 
ment was resolvable into its parts, at-one-ment, or 
the means of being at one, i. e. reconciled, united, 
combined in fellowship. This seems to be precisely 
its idea, Rom. v. 11. "being (to God) reconciled — or 
at-one-ed, we shall be saved by his (Christ's) life, by 
whom we have received the at-one-ment" or means 
of reconciliation. Here, it appears, the word atone- 
ment does not mean a ransom, price, or purchase paid 
to the receiver, but a restoration of accord, which is, 
perhaps, the most correct idea we can affix to the 
term expiation or atonement under the Mosaic law. 
Sacrifices, &c. were appointed means for restoring 
fellowship and aecord between God and the nation 
of Israel ; in other words, of rendering God, or cer- 
tain of the divine attributes, as justice, &c. ritu- 
ally propitious, capable of holding (i. e. satisfied to 
hold) communion with the people ; by their interpo- 
sition effectually restoring that one-ness which trans- 
gression had violated. — In Job xxxiii. 24. where our 
translators have placed in the text ransom, and in 
the margin atonement, the marginal word seems 
preferable — " deliver him from going doivn to the pit 
of death, for I have accepted an atonement for his 
life ; therefore his youth shall return — his flesh be- 
come fairer than a child's." To justify these ideas, 
we may refer to Numb. xvi. 46 : " Go quickly, make 
reconciliation, for wrath is gone out." Lev. xvi. 11. 
"Aaron shall make reconciliation for himself and 
his house." Lev. iv. 20. et al. " The priest shall 
make reconciliation for him, and he shall be forgiv- 
en." 2 Sam. xxi. 3. David said to the Gibeonites, 
" Wherewith shall I make the reconciliation, that ye 



ATONEMENT 



[ H8 ] 



AVE 



may bless the inheritance of the Lord ?" — i. e. that 
ye may be at one with the people of Israel. Eng. 
tr. reads atonement. From all this it is evident, 
that the expiatory sacrifice offered by our Saviour 
on Calvary, was the price or ransom, oil the efficacy 
of which the at-one-ment of the race of mankind 
depended ; but to call that sacrifice the atonement, 
instead of the means of atonement, is an incorrect 
application of the word. See Sacrifice, and Mer- 
cy-seat. 

ATONEMENT, DAY OF, was the tenth of Tiz- 
ri, which 'nearly answers to our September. The 
Hebrews call it Kippur, pardon, or expiation, because 
the faults of the year were then expiated. The 
principal ceremonies were the following: (Lev. xvi.) 
The high-priest, after he had washed, not only his 
hands and his feet, as usual at common sacrifices, 
but his wlule body, dressed himself in plain linen 
like the other priests, wearing neither his purple 
robe, nor the ephod, nor the pectoral, because he 
was to expiate his own sins, together with those of 
the people. He first offered a bullock and a ram 
for his own sins, and those of the priests, putting his 
hands on the heads of the victims, and confessing 
his own sins, and the sins of his house. Afterwards, 
he received from the princes of the people two 
goats for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offer- 
ing, to be offered in the name of the whole nation. 
The lot determined which df the two goats should 
be sacrificed, and which set at liberty. After this, 
the high-priest put some of the sacred fire of the 
altar of burnt-offerings into a censer, threw incense 
jpon it, and entered with it, thus smoking, into the 
sanctuary. After having perfumed the sanctuary 
with this incense, he came out, took some of the 
blood of the young bullock he had sacrificed, carried 
that also into the sanctuary, and, dipping his fingers 
in it, sprinkled it seven times between the ark and 
the veil, which separated the holy from the sanctu- 
ary, or most holy. Then he came out a second 
time, and beside the altar of burnt-offerings killed 
the goat which the lot had determined to be the sac- 
rifice. The blood of this goat he carried into the 
most holy place, and sprinkled it seven times be- 
tween the ark and the veil, which separated the holy 
from the sanctuary ; from thence he returned into 
the court of the tabernacle, and sprinkled both sides 
of it with the blood of the goat. During this time, 
none of the priests, or people, were admitted into 
the tabernacle, or into the court. This being done, 
the high-priest came to the altar of burnt-offerings, 
wetted the four horns of it with the blood of the 
goat, and young bullock, and sprinkled it seven times 
with the same blood. The sanctuary, the court, and 
the altar being thus purified, he directed the goat 
which was set at liberty by the lot, to be brought to 
him, which being done, he put his hand on the goat's 
head, confessed his own sins, and the sins of the 
people, and then delivered it to a person to carry it 
to some desert, place, and let it loose, or throw it 
down some precipice. (See Scape Goat.) This 
being done, the high-priest washed himself all over 
in the tabernacle, and, putting on other clothes, (some 
think his pontifical dress, his robe of purple, the 
ephod, and the pectoral,) sacrificed two rams for 
burnt-offering, one for himself, and the other for the 
people. The day was a great solemnity of the He- 
brews ; a day of rest, and of strict fasting. Leo of 
Modena, Buxtorf, and others, have collected 
many particulars relative to the solemnities of this 
day from the rabbins, as may be seen in the 



larger edition of this work, art. Expiation, Aza- 
zel, &c. 

ATROTH, see in Ataroth. 

ATT ALIA, a maritime city of Paniphylia, which 
Paul and Barnabas visited, Acts xiv. 25. A. D. 45. It 
still subsists under the name of .irdali. It was built 
(or refounded) by Attains Philadelphus; king of Per- 
gamus, who gave to it his own name. 

ATTALUS, a king of Pergamus, surnamed Phila- 
delphus, (1 Mace. xv. 22.) to whom the Romans 
wrote in favor of the Jews. The arrival of the Jew- 
ish ambassadors at Rome, to renew their alliance, in 
consequence of which the Roman senate wrote to 
Attains, is fixed to A. M. 38G5 ; and Attains Phila- 
delphus began to govern in 3845. He governed 
twenty-one years ; and, in 3866, resigned the king- 
dom to his nephew Philometor, to whom of right it 
belonged. 

ATTITUDE at table, see Eating. 

AUGUSTUS, emperor of Rome, succeeded Julius 
Caesar, nineteen years before A. D. — A. M. 3985. Au- 
gustus was the emperor who appointed the enrol- 
ment (Luke ii. 1.) which obliged Joseph and the Vir- 
gin to go to Bethlehem, the place where the Messiah 
was to be born. 

Augustus procured the crown of Judsea for Herod, 
whom he loaded with honors and riches ; and was 
pleased also to undertake the education of Alexan- 
der and Aristobulus, his sons, to whom he gave apart- 
ments in his palace. When he came into Syria, 
Zenodorus, and the Gadarenes, waited on him with 
complaints against Herod ; but he cleared himself 
of the accusations, and Augustus added to his hon- 
ors and kingdom the tetrarchy of Zenodorus. He 
also examined into the quarrels between Herod and 
his sons, and reconciled them. (Joseph. Antiq. lib. 
xv. cap. 13.) Syllseus, minister to Obodas, king of 
the Nabatheans, having accused Herod of invading 
Arabia, and destroying many people there, Augus- 
tus, in anger, wrote to Herod about, it ; but he so 
well justified his conduct, that the emperor restored 
him to favor, and continued it ever after. He dis- 
approved, however, of the rigor exercised by Herod 
toward his sons, Alexander, Aristobulus, and Antipa- 
ter ; and when they were executed he is said to have 
observed, " that it were better a great deal to be 
Herod's hog than his son." (Macrob. Saturn, lib. ii. 
cap. 4.) After the death of Lepidus, Augustus as- 
sumed the office of high-priest ; a dignity which 
gave him the inspection over ceremonies and reli- 
gious concerns. One of his first proceedings was, 
an examination of the Sibyls' books, many of which 
he burnt, and placed the others in two gold boxes, 
under the pedestal of Apollo's statue, whose temple 
was within the enclosure of the palace. See Sibyl. 
This is worthy of note, if these prophecies had ex- 
cited a general expectation of some great person 
about that time to be born, as there is reason to sup- 
pose was the fact. It should be remembered, also, 
that Augustus had the honor to shut the temple of 
Janus, in token of universal peace, at the time when 
the Prince of Peace was born. This is remarkable, 
because that, temple was shut but a very few times. 
Augustus died A. D. 14. 

AUKANITIS, see Hauran. 

AURITyE, sons of Cush. See Ur. 

AVEN, a plain in Syria ; the same, probably, as the 
plain of Baal-beck, or valley of Baal, where there was 
a magnificent temple dedicated to the sun. It is sit- 
uate between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and hence 
called the valley of Lebanon, Josh. xi. 17; Amos i.5 



A Z A 



L W ) 



AZO 



AVENGE. See Revenge. 

I. AVIM, a city of Benjamin, Josh, xviii. 3. 

II. AVIM, a people descended from Hevasus, son of 
Canaan, who dwelt originally in the country after- 
wards possessed by the Caphtorim, or Philistines, 
Deut. ii. 23 ; Josh. xiii. 3. There were also Avim, 
or Hivites, at Shechem, or Gibeon, Josh. ix. 7 ; Gen. 
xxxiv. 2. There were some also beyond Jordan, at 
the foot of mount Hermon, Josh. xi. 3. Bochart 
thinks that Cadmus, who conducted a colony of 
Phoenicians into Greece, was a Hivite ; his name, 
Cadmus, deriving from the Hebrew Kedem, the East, 
because he came from the eastern parts to Canaan ; 
and the name of his wife, Hermione, from mount 
Hermon, at the foot of which the Hivites dwelt. In 
this case, the metamorphosis of Cadmus's compan- 
ions into serpents, is founded on the signification of 
the name Hivites ; which, in the Phoenician language, 
signifies serpents. The country of the Avim was also 
called Hazerim ; (Deut. ii. 23.) in the eastern inter- 
preters and Pliny, Raphia. Their territory ended at 
Gaza, beginning at the river of Egypt ; and thus ex- 
tending forty-four miles. Sometimes this country 
appears to be called Shur ; which the Arabic ren- 
ders Gerarim, Gen. xx. 1. See Gerar. 

AVITH, the capital city of Hadad, king of Edom, 
Gen. xxxvi. 35. 

AXE, a well-known instrument of iron, used for 
cutting; and often metaphorically employed in 
Scripture, for a person or power, who, as a cutting 
instrument in the hand of God, is employed to lop 
off branches and boughs, and sometimes to cut 
down the tree itself. Thus, if sinners be compared 
to trees in a forest, he who smites them is compared 
to an axe, Isa. x. 15. This is especially apparent in 
the proverbial phraseology used by John the Bap- 
tist: (Matt. iii. 10; Luke iii. 9.) "The axe is laid to 
the root of the trees"— irresistible punishment, de- 
struction, is near. We risk little in referring this 
(ultimately) to the Roman power and armies ; which, 
as an axe, most vehemently cut away the very ex- 
istence of the Jewish polity and state. In this 
sense it coincides with our Lord's expression, " I am 
come to send a sword on the eari/i" — more properly on 
the land; that is, of Judea. See Judges ix. 8: Psalm 
lxxiv. 5 : Isa. xiv. 6—8 : Ezek. xvii. 22—24 : xxxi. 3. 

AZA. Gaza and Azoth are sometimes so called. 
Josephus notices a mountain of this name, near to 
which Judas Maccabseus fought against Bacchides, 
in his last encounter. In 1 Mace. ix. 15, it is called 
mount Azotus. 

_ I. AZARIAH, high-priest of the Jews, (1 Chron. 
vi. 9.) and perhaps the same with Amariah, who 
lived under Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, 2 Chron. 
xix. 11. about A. M. 3092. 

II. AZARIAH, son of Johanan, high-priest of the 
Jews, 1 Chron. vi. 10. Perhaps the same with 
Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, killed A. M. 3164, 2 
Chron. xxiv. 20, 22. 

III. AZARIAH, the high-priest who opposed 
Uzziah, king of Judah, in offering incense to the 
Lord, 2 Chron. xxvi. 17. 

IV. AZARIAH, a high-priest in the reign of 
Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxxi. 10. 

V. AZARIAH, the father of Seraiah, the last 
high-priest before the captivity, 1 Chron. vi. 14. 

VI. AZARIAH, son of the high-priest Zadok ; 
but we do not read that he succeeded his father, 1 
Kings iv. 2. 

VII. AZARIAH, captain of Solomon's guards, 1 
Kings iv. 5. 



VIII. AZARIAH, or Uzziah, a king of Judah, 
began to reign at sixteen years of age. and reigned 
fifty-two years at Jerusalem, 2 Kings xv. 27. 2 Chron. 
xxvi. 18, 19. The beginning of Uzziah's reign was 
very happy. Having obtained great advantages over 
the Philistines, Ammonites, and Arabians, he added 
to the fortifications of Jerusalezn, and kept up an 
army of 307,500 men, with great magazines of arms. 
He was also a great lover of agriculture, had nu- 
merous husbandmen in the plains, vine-dressers in 
the mountains, and shepherds in the valleys. Pre- 
suming to offer incense in the temple, however, 
which office was peculiar to the priests, he was 
struck with a leprosy, and continued without the 
city, separated, to his death, A. M. 3246. 

IX. AZARIAH, a prophet, who, by God's ap- 
pointment, met Asa, king of Judah, when returning 
after his success against Zerah, king of Ethiopia, or 
Cush, 2 Chron. xv. 1. 

X. AZARIAH, a person to whom the high-priest, 
Jehoiada, discovered that the young prince, Joash, 
was living ; and who contributed to place him on 
the throne, 2 Chron. xxiii. 1. 

XI. AZARIAH, the name of two sons of Jehosha- 
phat, king of Judah, 2 Chron. xxi. 2. 

XII. AZARIAH, the son of Hoshaiah, who ac- 
cused the prophet Jeremiah (chap, xliii. 2.) of de- 
ceiving the people ; because he advised the Jews, 
who remained after the transportation to Babylon, 
against going into Egypt. He carried Jeremiah and 
Baruch into Egypt, with the people who had been 
left behind. 

XIII. AZARIAH, the Chaldean name of Abed- 
nego, who was cast into the fiery furnace by Nebu- 
chadnezzar, for refusing to adore his golden statue, 
Dan. i. 7. iii. 19. 

AZAZEL. See Goat, scape. 

AZEKAH, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 35; 1 Sam. 

xvii. 1.) which Eusebius and Jerome place between 
Jerusalem aud Eleutheropolis. 

AZEM, a city of Simeon, Josh. xix. 3. The same, 
perhaps, as Esmonia, or Asmona. 

AZMAVETH, or Azmoth, or Beth-azmoth, a 
city, probably in Judah, adjacent to Jerusalem and 
Anathoth, Nehem. vii. 28 ; xii. 29. 

AZMON, or Jeshimon, a city in the wilderness of 
Maon, south of Judah, belonging to the tribe of 
Simeon, Numb, xxxiv. 4 ; Josh. xv. 4. 

AZNOTH TABOR, or simply Azanoth, or Az- 
noth, a city of Naphtali, (Josh. xix. 34.) which Euse • 
bius places in the plain, not far distant from Dio- 
csesarea. 

AZOTUS is the Greek name of the same city which 
is called, in the Hebrew, Ashdod. It was not taken 
by Joshua, and, being surrounded with a wall of 
great strength, it became a place of great impor- 
tance, and one of the five governments of the Philis- 
tines. Hither was sent the ark of God, when taken 
from the Israelites ; and here was Dagon cast down 
before it, 1 Sam. v. 2, 3. Uzziah, king of Judah, 
broke down its wall, and built cities, or watch-tow- 
ers, about it, 2 Chron. xxvi. 6. It was taken by 
Tartan, general of the king of Assyria, (2 Kings 

xviii. 17.) when it appears to have been very severely 
treated ; as Jeremiah (chap. xxv. 20.) gives the cup of 
desolation to be drunk by "the remnant of Ashdod." 
It was not wholly destroyed, however, for Amos (chap, 
i. 8.) mentions "the inhabitant of Ashdod ;" Zepha- 
niah(chap. ii.4.) says, " Ashdod shall be driven out at 
noon-day ;" and Zechariah (ix. 6.) says, " a bastard shall 
dwell in Ashdod." From these notices, it appears, 



AZOTUS 



[ 120 ] 



AZOTUS 



that Ashdod was a place of great strength and conse- 
quence. Its New Testament name is Azotus, and here 
Philip was found, after his conversion of the eunuch 
at Gaza, distant about thirty miles, Actsviii. 40. 

Azotus was a port on the Mediterranean, between 
Askalon and Ekron, or between Jamnia and Aske- 
lon, (Judith iii. 2. G?\) or between Gaza and Jamnia, 
(Josephus, Antiq. xih. 23.) i. e. it lay between these 
cities, but not directly, nor in the same sense. The 
present state of the town is thus described by Dr. 
Wittman : (Travels in Syria, &c. p. 285.) " Pur- 
suing our route through a delightful country, we 
came to Ashdod, called by the Greeks Azotus, and 
under that name mentioned in the Acts of the Apos- 
tles ; a town of great antiquity, provided with two 



small entrance gates. In passing through this place, 
we saw several fragments of columns, capitals, cor- 
nices, &c. of marble. Towards the centre is a hand- 
some mosque, with a minaret. By the Arab inhab- 
itants Ashdod is called Mezdel. Two miles to the 
south, on a hill, is a ruin, having in its centre a lofty 
column still standing entire. The delightful verdure 
of the surrounding plains, together with a great 
abundance of fine old olive trees, rendered the scene 
charmingly picturesque. In the villages, tobacco, 
fruits and vegetables are cultivated abundantly by 
the inhabitants ; and the fertile and extensive plains 
yield an ample produce of corn. Ashdod may be 
seen from the 'sloping hill of easy ascent,' nea) 
Jaffa, or Joppa." See Ashdod. 



B 

BAAL BAAL 



I. BAAL, or Bel, (governor, ruler, lord,) a god of 
the Phoenicians and Canaanites. Baal and Astaroth 
are commonly mentioned together; and, as it is be- 
lieved that Astaroth denotes the moon, Calmet con- 
cludes that Baal represents the sun. The name 
Baal is used, in a generical sense, for the superior 
god of the Phoenicians, Chaldeans, Moabites, and 
other people, and is often compounded with the 
name of some place or quality ; as Baal-Peor, Baal- 
zebub, Baal-Gad, Baal-Zephon, Baal-Berith. Baal 
is the most ancient god of the Canaanites, and, per- 
haps, of the East ; and the Hebrews too often im- 
itated the idolatry of the Canaanites, in adoring him. 
They offered human sacrifices to him, and erected 
altars to him, in groves, on high places, and on the 
terraces of houses. Baal had priests and prophets 
consecrated to his service ; and many infamous 
actions were committed in his festivals. Some 
learned men nave maintained that the Baal of Phoe- 
nicia was the Saturn of Greece and Rome ; and cer- 
tainly there was great conformity between their ser- 
vices and sacrifices. Others are of opinion that 
Baal was the Phoenician (or Tyrian) Hercules, (an 
opinion not inconsistent with the other,) but it is 
generally concluded that Baal was the sun ; and, on 
this admission, all the characters which he assumes 
in Scripture, may be easily explained. The great 
luminary was adored over all the East, and is the 
most ancient deity acknowledged among the hea- 
then. See Idolatry. 

The Hebrews sometimes called the sun Baal- 
Shemesh; — Baal the sun. Manasseh adored Baal, 
planted groves, and worshipped all the host of 
heaven ; but Josiah, desirous to repair the evil in- 
troduced by Manasseh, put to death " the idolatrous 
priests that burnt incense unto Baal, to the sun, and 
to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host 
of heaven. He commanded all the vessels that 
were made for Baal, and for the grove, (Ashreh, or 
Astaroth,) and for all the host of heaven, to be 
brought forth out of the temple. He took away the 
horses that the kings of Judah had given to the 
sun, and burnt the chariots of the sun with fire." 
Here the worship of the sun is particularly described ; 
and the sun itself is clearly expressed by the name 
of Baal, 2 Kings xxiii. 11. The temples and altars 
of the sun, or Baal, were generally on eminences. 
Manasseh placed in the two courts of the temple at 
Jerusalem altars to all the host of heaven, and, in ' 



particular, to Astarte, or the moon, 2 Kings xxi. 5. 
7. Jeremiah threatens those of Judah, who had 
sacrificed to Baal on the house-top, (ch. xxxii. 29.) 
and Josiah destroyed the altars which Ahaz had 
erected on the terrace of his palace, 2 Kings xxiii. 12. 

Human victims were offered. to Baal, as they were 
to the sun. The Persian Mithra (who is also the 
gun) was honored with like sacrifices, as was also 
Apollo. Jeremiah reproaches the inhabitants of Ju- 
dah and Jerusalem with " building the high places 
of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt-offer- 
ings unto Baal," (chap. xix. 5.) — an expression which 
appears to be decisive, for the actual slaying by fire 
of the unhappy victims to Baal. 

The Scripture calls temples consecrated to Baal, 
i. e. to the sun, chamanim, Lev. xxvi. 30 ; Isa. xvii. 
8 ; xxvii. 9 ; Ezek. vi. 4, 6, and 2 Chron. xxxiv. 4. 
They were places enclosed with walls, in which a per- 
petual fire was maintained : they were frequent in the 
East, particularly among the Persians ; and the Greeks 
called them pyreia, or pyratheia, from the Greek 
pyr, fire, or pyra, a funeral pile. There was in them, 
says Strabo, (lib. xv.) an altar, abundance of ashes, 
and a fire never suffered to go out. Maundrel, in 
his journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, observed 
some remains of them in Syria. [The word 
D'Jcn, chamanim, signifies, to judge from the clearest 
passage, (2 Chr. xxxiv. 4.) a species of idol statues, or 
images, which stood upon the altars of Baal. The 
word is, therefore, always properly rendered in the 
English version images. The explanation of Jarchi 
is not improbably the correct one, viz. solar pillars, 
sun-columns. The god Baal CJiaman (jcn) is not 
unfrequently mentioned in Phoenician inscriptions, 
which is best explained by Baal i. e. Deus Solaris. R. 

Some critics have thought that the god Belus of 
the Chaldeans and Babylonians was Nimrod, then- 
first king; others, that he was Belus the Assyri- 
an, father of Ninus; and others, a son of Semi- 
ramis. Many have supposed Belus to be the same 
with Jupiter ; but Calmet concludes that Baal was 
worshipped as the sun among the Phoenicians and 
Canaanites ; and that he was often taken in general 
for the great god of the eastern people. 

[The preceding observations are mostly from Cal- 
met himself; but as very much of the idolatry al- 
luded to in the Old Testament is derived from, or 
connected with, the rites of Baal, it seems important 
1 to give here the views of later commentators, who 



BaAL 



[ 121 ] 



BAAL 



nave been led to investigate the subject with par- 
ticular care. The principal of these are Gesenius, 
(in his Thesaurus Ling. Heb. p. 224, and in his Com- 
mentar zu Isa. ii. p. 335.) and bishop Miinter, ol' Co- 
penhagen, in his work entitled " Religion der Baby- 
lonier," Copenh. 1827, p. 16, seq. 

The word Baal, in the Old Testament, when em- 
ployed with the article, and without further addition, 

i. e. the Baal, i. q. the Lord, denotes an idol of the 
Phoenicians, and particularly of the Tyrians, whose 
worship was also introduced, with great solemnities, 
among the Hebrews, and especially at Samaria, 
along with that of Astarte ; Judg. vi. 25, seq. 2 Kings 
x. 18, seq. (See Astaroth 1.) In the plural, Baalim, 
the word signifies images or statues of Baal, Judg. 

ii. 11 ; x. 10, &c. — Of the extent to which the wor- 
ship of this idol was domesticated among the Phoe- 
nicians and Carthaginians, we have an evidence in 
the proper names of persons ; as among the former 
Ethbaal, Jerubbaal ; and among the- latter, Hannibal, 
Asdrubal, &c. — Among the Babylonians the same 
idol was worshipped under the name of Bel ; which 
is only the Aramaean form of Baal, i. e. s 3 for Spa, 
e. g. Isa. xlvi. 1 ; Jer. 1. 2 ; li. 44, &c. His worship 
was established in that city in the famous tower of 
Babel, the uppermost room of which served at the 
same time as an observatory, and was the re- 
pository of a collection of ancient astronomical ob- 
servations. (Herodot. i. 181 — 183. Diod. ii. 10. 
Strabo, xvi. 1. 6.) See also the article Babel. — By 
Greek and Roman writers the Phoenician Baal is 
called Hercules and Hercules Tyrius. (Her. ii. 14. 
Arrian, Exp. Alex. ii. 16. 2 Mace. iv. 18, 20.) 

That in the astronomical, or rather astrological 
mythology of the East, we are to look for the origin 
of this worship in the adoration of the heavenly 
bodies, is conceded by all critics. But, in conse- 
quence of the varying statements of ancient authors, 
who lived at different periods, a considerable di- 
versity of opinion has arisen in respect to what 
heavenly body we are to regard Baal as represent- 
ing. The more common opinion has been, that 
Baal, or Bel, is the sun ; and that, under this name, 
this luminary received divine honors. Bishop Miinter 
supposes that this was the case at least originally ; 
(p. 17.) that the fundamental idea of all oriental 
idolatry, — which may also be traced from India to 
the north of Europe, — is the primeval poiver of nature, 
which divides itself into the generative, and the con- 
ceplive or productive power. Of these two, the male 
and female powers of nature, he supposes (with 
others) the sun and moon to have been worshipped 
as the representatives under the names of Baal and 
Astarte, at least by the most ancient Babylonians 
and other Semitish tribes. — Gesenius, fixing his 
view more particularly on a later period, finds that 
the Greek and Roman writers give to the Babylonian 
Bel the name of Jupiter Belus. (Plin. H. N. xxxvii. 
10. Cic. de Nat. Deor. in. 16. Diod. ii. 8, 9.) By 
this name, however, they did not mean the " father 
of the gods," but the planet Jupiter, stella Jovis, (Cic. 
de Nat. Deor. ii. 20.) which was regarded, along with 
the planet Venus, as the principle of all good, the 
guardian and giver of all good fortune ; and forms 
with Venus the most fortunate of all constellations, 
under which alone fortunate sovereigns can be born. 
(Comm. z. Isa. ii. p. 355, seq.) Hence it is also called, 
by the Arabians, Fortunamqjor. (See Gad, and Meni.) 
This planet, therefore, Gesenius supposes to have 
been the object of worship under the name of Baal ; 
as also the planet Venus unde* that of Astarte. 
16 



Not that the sun was not an object of idolatrous 
worship among these nations ; but in that case he is 
represented under his own name, Shemesh, also Baal- 
shamaim, (lord of the heavens,) Baal-hamman, Baal- 
shemesh, &c. (Thesaur. p. 224, col. 2.) — This view, it 
will be observed, is directly controverted by Miinter, 
only in reference to the very earliest ages. 

The following passages have been retained from 
the English edition of this work, not as illustrating, 
in any way, the Bible or the idolatrous worship ol 
Baal, but as being in themselves interesting, and as, 
perhaps, casting a faint light on the remark of bishop 
Miinter above, in reference to the worship of the 
male and female powers of nature, " from India to 
the north of Europe." *R. 

The worship of Bel, Belus, Belenus, or Belinus, 
was general throughout the British islands ; and cer- 
tain of its rites and observances are still maintained 
among us, notwithstanding the spread and the es- 
tablishment of Christianity during so many ages. It 
might have been thought, that the pompous rituals 
of popery would have superseded the Druidical 
superstitions ; or that the reformation to Protestant- 
ism would have banished them ; or that the prev- 
alence of various sects would have reduced them 
to oblivion : but the fact is otherwise. Surely the 
roots of Druidism were struck extremely deep ! 
What charm could render them so prevalent and 
permanent? — "A town in Perthshire, on the borders 
of the Highlands, is called Tillie- (or Tullie-) beltane, 
i. e. the eminence, or rising-ground, of the fire of Baal. 
In the neighborhood is a Druidical temple of eight 
upright stones, where it is supposed the fire was 
kindled. At some distance from this is another 
temple of the same kind, but smaller, and near it a 
well still held in great veneration. On Beltane 
morning, superstitious people go to this well, and 
drink of it ; then they make a procession round it r 
as we are informed, nine times. After this they in 
like manner go round the temple. So deep-rooted 
is this heathenish superstition in the minds of many 
who reckon themselves good Protestants, that they 
will not neglect these rites, even when Beltane falls 
on sabbath." (Statist. Accounts of Scotland, vol. iiL 
p. 105.) "On the first day of May, which is called 
Bcltan, or Bal-tein, day, all the boys in a township, 
or hamlet, meet in the moors. They cut a table 
in the green sod, of a round figure, by casting a 
trench in the ground of such circumference as to 
hold the whole company. They kindle a fire, and 
dress a repast of eggs and milk in the consistence 
of a custard. They knead a cake of oatmeal, which 
is toasted at the embers against a stone. After the 
custard is eaten up, they divide the cake into so 
many portions, as similar as possible to one another 
in size and shape, as there are persons in the com- 
pany. They daub one of these portions all over 
with charcoal, until it be perfectly black. They put 
all the bits of cake into a bonnet. Every one, 
blindfold, draws out a portion. He who holds the 
bonnet is entitled to the last bit. Whoever draws 
the black bit, is the devoted person who is to be 
sacrificed to Baal, whose favor they mean to implore, 
in rendering the year productive of the sustenance 
of man and beast. There is little doubt of these 
inhuman sacrifices having been once offered in this 
country, as well as in the East, although they now 
pass from the act of sacrificing, and only compel the 
devoted person to leap three times through the 
flames ; with which the ceremonies of this festival 
are, closed." (Id. vol. xi. p. 621.) 



BAA 



[ "22 1 



BAA 



This pagan ceremony of lighting fires in honor 
of the Asiatic god Belus, gave its name to the entire 
month of May, which is to this day called mi na 
Bealtine, in the Irish language. Dr. Keating, speak- 
ing of this fire of Beal, says, that the cattle were 
driven through it, and not sacrificed ; and that the 
chief design of it was to keep off all contagious dis- 
orders from them for that year ; and he also says, 
that all the inhabitants of Ireland quenched their 
fires on that day, and kindled them again out of 
some part of thar fire. He adds, from an ancient 
glossary : " The Druids lighted two solemn fires 
every year, and drove all four-footed beasts through 
them in order to preserve them from all contagious 
distempers during the current year." In Wales this 
annual fire is kindled in autumn, on the first day of 
November. In North Wales, especially, this fire is 
attended by many ceremonies ; such as running 
through the fire and smoke, each participator casting 
a stone into the fire, &c. 

This superstition, says Dr. Macpherson, prevailed 
throughout the North, as well as throughout the West. 
"Although the name of Bel-tein is unknown in Swe- 
den, yet, on the last day of April, i. e. the evening 
preceding our Bel-tein, the countiy people light great 
fires on the hills, and spend the night in shooting. 
This with them is the eve of Walburgh's Mess." 
Leopold Von Buch, who travelled through Norway 
in 1807, noticed this practice at Lodingen, N. lat. 
68£. His words are — " It was Hansdagsaften, the 
eve of St. John's day. The people flocked together, 
on an adjoining hill, to keep up St. John's fire till 
midnight, as is done throughout all Germany and 
Norway. It burnt very well, but it did not render 
the night a whit more light. The midnight sun 
shone bright and clear on the fire, and we scarcely 
could see it. The St. John's fire has not certainly 
been invented in these regions, for it loses here all 
the power and nightly splendor which extend over 
whole territories in Germany. Notwithstanding this 
circumstance, we surrounded the fire in great good 
humor, and danced in continual circles the whole 
night through." This extract informs us, not only 
that this custom maintains itself in the extreme 
north, but also throughout Germany : in short, we 
see that it involves all Europe. It can, therefore, 
occasion no surprise that we find it so inveterately 
established in the countries mentioned in Scripture, 
where the sun had infinitely more power and in- 
fluence, and which are much nearer to the seat of 
the original observances. The world was then 
plunged in idolatry, and we cannot wonder that 
this branch of it prevailed, since many of its cere- 
monies and superstitious rites still exist, notwith- 
standing the influence of the gospel. 

There were many cities in Palestine, into whose 
name the word Baal entered by composition. 

I. BAALAH, otherwise Kirjath-jearim, or Kir- 
jath-Baal, or Baale-Judah, (Josh. xv. 9, 60 ; 2 
Sam. vi. 2; 1 Chron. xiii. 6.) a city of Judah, not far 
from Gibeah and Gibeon, and where the ark was 
stationed after the Philistines returned it, 1 Sam. vi. 21. 
It lay about 9 or 10 miles north-west of Jerusalem. 

II. BAALAH, a mountain on the border of the 
lot of the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 11. 

BAALATH, a city of Dan, Josh. xix. 44 ; 1 
Kings ix. 18. Josephus speaks of Baleth, not far 
from Gazara, Antiq. lib. viii. cap. 2. It was fortified 
by Solomon, 2 Chron. viii. 6. 

BAALATH-BEER,' a city of Simeon, Josh. xix. 
8, probably the same as Baal, 1 Chron. iv. 33. 



BAAL-BERITH, Lord of the covenant, a deity of 
the Shecheniites, (Judg. viii. 33 ; ix. 4.) which the 
Israelites made their god after the death of Gideon. 
There was at Shechem a temple of Baal-Berith, in 
whose treasury they accumulated that money which 
they afterwards gave to Abimelech, son of Gideon. 
The most simple explanation of the name Baal- 
Berith, is to take it generally for the god who pre- 
sides over alliances and oaths. In this sense the 
true God may be termed the God of covenants ; 
and if Scripture had not added the name Baal to 
Berith, it might have been so understood. The most 
barbarous nations, as well as the most superstitious, 
the most religious, and the most intelligent, have 
always invoked the Deity to witness oaths and cove- 
nants. The Greeks had their Zeus Horkios, Jupiter 
the witness and arbitrator of oaths ; and the Latins 
had their Deus Fidius, or Jupiter Pisiius, whom they 
regarded as the god of honesty and integrity, and 
who presided over treaties and alliances. 

BAAL-GAD, a city at the foot of mount Hermon, 
which derived its name from the deity Baal, there 
adored, Josh. xi. 17. Some have erroneously sup- 
posed it to be the same as Heliopolis, or Baalbeck. 
It is probably i. q. Baal-Hermon, which see. 

BAAL-GIJR, or Gur-Baal, i. e. sojourn of Baal. 
We read, 2 Chron. xxvi. 7. "the Lord assisted Uz- 
ziah against the Philistines, and against the Ara- 
bians, that dwelt at Gur-Baal." The Septuagint has, 
" the Arabians that dwelt above Petra." It seems to 
have been a town in Arabia Petrsea, where was 
probably a temple to Baal. 

BAAL-HAZOR, a city of Ephraim, where Absa- 
lom kept his flocks, 2 Sam. xiii. 23. 

BAAL-IIERMON, Judg. iii. 3 ; 1 Chron. v. 23. 
See Hermon, and Baal-Gad. 

BAALIS, a king of the Ammonites, who sent Ish- 
mael to kill Gedaliah, who governed the remnant of 
the Jews, not carried captive to Babylon, Jer. 
xl. 14. 

BAAL-MEON, a city of Reuben, (Numb, xxxii. 
38 ; 1 Chron. v. 8.) sometimes called Beth-Baal- 
Meon, (Josh. xiii. 17.) the house, or temple, of Baal- 
Meon; and also Beth-Meon, Jer. xlviii. 23. The 
Moabites took it from the Reubenites, and were 
masters of it in the time of Ezekiel, Ezek. xxv. 9. 
Eusebius and Jerome place it nine miles from Es- 
bus, or Esebon, at the foot of mount Baaru, or 
Abarim. 

BAAL-PEOR. The import of this name is un- 
certain. Simon takes it to denote " the lord of 
mount Peor" where this deity was worshipped ; as 
the heathen had their Jupiter Olympius, Apollo 
Clarius, Mercurius Cyllenius, &c. It has been taken 
in an obscene sense, and with too much truth ; for 
it is certain that the deities of the heathen were, 
and still are, often of the grossest kind ; not that 
we know their worshippers to have thought them 
scandalous, or to have connected them with any 
offence against decency, or with that sense of shame 
and indignation which they excite in us. They may 
have considered them as commemorative memorials 
of distant persons and times, or as employed to 
bring to recollection truths, in themselves perfectly 
innoxious ; although such means of recording his- 
torical facts, of whatever nature, are in our opinion 
criminally indecorous, and utterly unfit for public 
exposure. Of this the compound of the Lingam 
and Yoni, among the Hindoos, affords open and 
popular proof ; but there are other observances in 
some of their festivals, usually postponed till after aU 



BAA 



L 123 1 



BAB 



Europeans are departed, which too obscenely justify 
the most offensive derivation of the name. 

This false god is, by some, supposed to be the 
Adonis, or Orus, adored by the Egyptians, and other 
eastern people. Scripture informs us (Numb. xxv. 
1 — 3.) that the Israelites, being encamped in the 
wilderness of Sin, were seduced to worship Baal- 
Peor, to partake of his sacrifices, and to sin with the 
daughters of Moab ; and the Psalmist, (Psalm cvi. 
28.) adverting to the same event, says, "they ate the 
offerings of the dead." Peor is Or, or Orus, if we 
cut oft' the article Pe, which is of no signification. 
Orus is Adonis, or Osiris. The feasts of Adonis 
were celebrated after the manner of funerals ; and 
the worshippers at that time committed a thousand 
dissolute actions, particularly after they were told 
that Adonis, whom they had mourned for as dead, 
was alive again. (See Adonis.) Origen believed 
Baal-Peor to be Piiapus, or the idol of turpitude, 
adored principally by women, and that Moses did 
not think proper to express more clearly what kind 
of turpitude he meant ; and Jerome says, this idol 
was represented and worshipped in the same ob- 
scene manner as Priapus. His opinion is, that effem- 
inate men and women, who prostituted themselves 
in honor of idols, as frequently mentioned in Scrip- 
ture, were consecrated to Baal-Peor, or Priapus. 
Maimonides asserts that Baal-Peor was adored by 
the most immodest actions ; and there is no doubt 
that he was the god of impurity. We know with 
what impudence the daughters of Moab engaged the 
Israelites to sin ; (Numb. xxv. 3.) and the prophet 
Hosea, (chap. ix. 10.) speaking of this crime, says, 
"They went unto Baal-Peor, and separated them- 
selves unto that shame." Selden suggests that Baal- 
Peor is Pluto, the god of the dead, founding his con- 
jecture on Psalm cvi. 28, where " offerings to the 
dead" are mentioned, and which he takes to be 
those that were offered to appease the manes of the 
dead. Apollinarius, in his paraphrase on this Psalm, 
says, the Hebrews polluted themselves in the sacri- 
fices of Baal-Peor, by eating hecatombs offered to 
the dead; and some affirm that Saturn ranked his 
son Muth, whom he bad by Rhoa, among the gods, 
and that he was adored by the Phoenicians, some- 
times under the name of Death, (which is the sig- 
nification of the word J\futh,) and sometimes by that 
of Pluto. (Sanchon. apud Euseb. Prsepar. lib. i. cap. 
viii.) But these opinions seem less probable than that 
above proposed, that this deity was (the dead) Ado- 
nis, or Osiris. It may be added, that some believe 
Adonis to have been the father of Priapus ; and that 
funeral entertainments were made in his honor, 
which may well be understood by the name of sacri- 
fices : " The priests roar and cry before their gods, 
as men do at the feast when one is dead," Baruch 
vi. 32. The Psalmist expresses himself in the plural 
number ; " they ate the sacrifices," — for the sacrifices 
of Baal-Peor were repasts, such as were used at 
funerals ; with this difference, that the latter were 
often accompanied with real and sincere sorrow ; 
whereas, in those of Adonis, the tears were feigned, 
and the debauchery, afterwards indulged, real. See 
Chiun, and Adonis. 

BAAL-PERAZIM, a place in the valley of Re- 
phaim, not very far distant from Jerusalem, 2 Sam. 
v. 20; 1 Chron. xiv. 11 ; comp. Is. xxviii. 11. Here 
David gained a victory over the Philistines. 

BAAL-SHALISHA, (2 Kings iv. 42 ; 1 Sam. ix. 
4.) a district placed by Jerome and Eusebius fifteen 
miles from Diospolis north, near mount Ephraim. 



BAAL-TAMAR, lord of the palm-tree, a village 
near Gibeah, where the children of Israel engaged 
the tribe of Benjamin, Judg. xx. 33. 

The palm-tree occurs on many coins as a symboi 
attending Astaite ; a branch of palm is held by the 
goddess sitting on the rock ; and often by J upiter, 
who, most probably, answers to the character of the 
lord of the palm-tree. It may be supposed that 
this symbol was chiefly adopted where the palm was 
best known ; nevertheless, we find it applied where 
it cannot be restrained to the idea of a production 
of the country merely, and therefore, most proba- 
bly, it was introduced from where this symbol was 
locally applicable. 

BA ALTIS, the same as Astarte, or the moon ; next 
to Baal, the god most honored by the Phoenicians. 
See Astarte, and Astaroth. 

BAAL-ZEBUB, see Beel-zebub. 

BAAL-ZEPHON, a station of the Hebrews 
(Exod. xiv. 2, 9 ; Numb, xxxiii. 7.) near Clysma, or 
Colsum. Baal-Zephon was, probably, a temple to 
Baal, at the northern point of the Red sea ; and, most 
likely, in or near an establishment, or town, like the 
present Suez. [See, on this point, Stuart's Course of 
Heb. Study, ii. p. 186, seq. Rosenmueller and Ge- 
senius suppose the name to mean place or temple oj 
Typhon, the evil genius of Egypt and enemy of fer- 
tility, who was worshipped at Heroopolis. R.] — Some 
describe this deity, viz. Baal-Zephon, as a dog in shape, 
'(see Anubis,) signifying his vigilant eye over this 
place, and his office by barking, to give notice of an 
enemy's arrival ; and to guard the coast of the Red 
sea, on that side. It is said, he was placed there, 
principally, to stop slaves that fled frprn their masters. 
The Jerusalem Targum assures us, that all the statues 
of the Egyptian gods having been destroyed by the 
exterminating angel, Baal-Zephon alone resisted ; 
whereupon, the Egyptians, conceiving great ideas of 
his power, redoubled their devotion to him. Moses, 
observing that the people floi ked thither in crowds, 
petitioned Pharaoh that he, too, might make a jour- 
ney thither with the Israelites ; which Pharaoh per- 
mitted ; but as they were employed on the shore of 
the Red sea, in gathering up the precious stones 
which the river Phison had carried into the Gihon, 
and from thence were conveyed into the Red sea, 
(a notable instance of rabtiinical geography !) Pha- 
raoh surprised them, and sacrificed to Baal-Zephon, 
waiting till the next day to attack Israel, whom he be- 
lieved his god had delivered into his hands : but, in the 
mean time, thev passed the Red sea and escaped. 

BAANAH and RECHAB, officers of Ishbosheth, 
son of Saul, who privately slew that prince while 
reposing, and were punished for it by David, 2 Sam. 
iv. 2, seq. 

BAASHA, son of Ahiiah, and commander of the 
armies of Nadab, king of Israel. He killed his mas- 
ter treacherously at the siege of Gibbethon, and 
usurped the kingdom, which "he possessed twenty- 
four years. He exterminated the whole race of Jer- 
oboam, as God had commanded ; but by his bad 
conduct, and his idolatry, incurred God's indigna- 
tion, 1 Kings xv. 27 ; xvi. 7. A. M. 3051. Baasha, 
instead of making good use of admonition, trans- 
ported with rage against a prophet, the messenger 
of it, killed him. 

BABEL, or Babylon, a city and province, which 
received this name, because, when the tower of Babel 
was building, God confounded the languages of 
those who were employed in the undertaking, (Gen. 
x. 10.) about A. M. 1775, 120 years after the deluge 



BABEL 



t 124 ] 



BABEL 



Others derive the name from the Arabic word bob, a 
door or gate, compounded with Bel, e. g. the gate or 
city of Bel. — For an account of the city of Babylon, 
see the next article ; and for the geographical descrip- 
tion, as well as an historical notice of the province 
or kingdom, see Babylonia. Here we confine our- 
selves to the tower. 

Very different conceptions have been formed on 
the nature and figure of the tower of Babel. Some 
have delineated it as being round in shape, with a 
spiral pathway leading up to the top ; but it appears 
more credible that it was square ; and that certain 
buildings, yet remaining in various parts of the 
world, may be considered as transcripts, or imita- 
tions, of it. To enable the reader to judge of this 
proposition, Mr. Taylor copied several instances, 
apparently nearly related to it in form and destina- 
tion, from which we select the following. 

This pyramid, rising in several steps or stages, is 




at Tanjore, in the East Indies ; and affords, it is pre- 
sumed, a just idea of the tower of Babel. It is, in- 
deed, wholly constructe'd of stone, in which it (lifters 
from that more ancient edifice, which, being situated 
in a couutry destitute of stone, was, of necessity, con- 
structed of brick. On the top of this pyramid is a 
chapel or temple ; affording a specimen of the gen- 
eral nature of this kind of sacred edifices in India. 
These amazing structures are commonly erected on, 
or near, the banks of great rivers, for the advantage 
of ablution. In the courts that surround them, in- 
numerable multitudes assemble at the rising of the 
sun, after having bathed in the stream below. The 
gate of the pagoda uniformly fronts the east.. The 
internal chamber commonly receives light only from 
the door. An external pathway, for the purpose of 
visiting the chapel at the top, merits observation. 
This is an ancient pyramid, built by the Mexicans 
in America ; it agrees 
in figure with the 
former ; and has, on 
the outside, an ascent 
of stairs leading up 
one side to the upper 
story, proceeding to 
the chapels on its 
summit. This ascent 
implies that the chap- 
els were used, from 
time to time ; and no 
doubt, it marks the 
shortest track for that 
purpose, as it occu- 
pies one side only. 




That the tower of Belus had a chapel on the top, ap 
pears from Herodotus, who, after mentioning the 
spiral ascent, says, "In the last tower is a large 
chapel, but no statue," &c. (See in Baal.) Diodo- 
rus implies the same, when he says, there were stat- 
ues of gold, of which one was forty feet high : it 
must have been a large chapel that could be sup- 
posed to contain such a figure. The ideas collected 
from the foregoing subjects lead us, (1.) to a pyra- 
mid of solid construction, in its principal parts, but 
of less laborious materials internally : (2.) to a chapel, 
or temple, on the top of such pyramid : (3.) to one 
or more passages leading to the summit. There are 
certain points of comparison between the pyramids 
of Egypt (see Pyramids) and the tower of Babel to 
which our attention may be directed. (1.) A river 
runs before the pyramids, which agrees with the 
notion of their being sacred structures, since the 
stream was suitable to purposes of ablution ; in 
like manner, a river ran before the tower of Babel. 
(2.) The general form of these structures were alike, 
that is, broad at bottom, rising very high, tapering 
at top. (3.) The internal construction was of less 
costly materials than the external ; being of sun- 
baked bricks, at best ; while the external was fur- 
nace-baked bricks at Babel, but immense stones in 
Egypt, which insured the durability of the Egyptian 
edifices. (4.) A city extended on each side of the 
river in both instances. (5.) The royal palace was 
separated from the temple by a considerable width 
of water. (6.) There were apartments, or chapels, 
in each. (7.) There were sacred cloisters or courts 
around. (8.) There was (or was intended to be) at 
the top a great, image: there are indications of such 
an intention on the top of the open pyramid. This 
thought is not new ; the Jerusalem Targum asserts 
it of Babel, and says that the image was to have 
held a sword in its hand, as a kind of protector 
against men and demons — Faciamus nobis Imaginem 
adorationis in ejus fastigio, et ponanms Gladiumin 
manu ejus, id conferat contra acies prrelinm, prius quam 
dispergarnur de superfine terra. These obvious agree- 
ments sufficiently evince that the structures were 
alike in form and in destination [?] so that we may 
judge pretty accurately on what we do not know of 
the one by what we do know of the other. They 
contribute, also, to establish the inference, that the 
same people (though not the same branch of that 
people) were the builders of both. 

Being now enabled, by means of these points of 
comparison, to comprehend the intention of the 
builders of the tower of Babel, we proceed to con- 
sider the mode of its construction. We read (Gen. 
xi. 3.) that they proposed to make bricks and to 
burn them thoroughly ; that these bricks were em- 
ployed by them as stones, of which it should ap- 
pear the country was destitute; — "instead of (mor- 
tar) chomar they had e/iemnr," where the reader will 
observe, that the same word is used under two pro- 
nunciations, and this, probably, ought to be thus 
understood — " instead of" clay-mortar," which is the 
kind used in countries east of Shinar for build- 
ings not expected to exceed ordinary duration, 
these determined builders employed the bitumen 
which rises in the lands adjacent to this tower, or 
was brought from sources higher up the Euphrates: 
— bitumen-mortar, to resist moisture from morasses 
formed by the river. The quantity of bitumen that 
must have been employed in building Babylon is 
scarcely credible. Most probably it was procured 
from Hit on the Euphrates, where it still abounds 



BABEL 



[ 125 ] 



BABEL 



"The master-mason told me, (says M. Beauchamp,) 
that he found some in a spot where he was digging, 
about twenty years ago ; which is by no means strange, 
as it is common enough on the banks of the Euphra- 
tes. I have myself seen it on the road from Bagdad 
to Juba, an Arabian village, seated on that river." 

The men engaged at Babel had two objects in 
view ; (1.) to build a city, and (2.) a tower. There 
could be no impiety in proposing to build a city ; 
yet it is expressly stated, that, in consequence of the 
divine interposition, the continuation of the city was 
relinquished. On the other hand, the tower was 
certainly intended as a place for worship, but not of 
the true God ; yet it is no where said in Scripture 
that it was destroyed, or its works suspended. This 
is not easily explained ; and the circumstance is 
rendered the more obscure, by the accounts of its 
overthrow which have been preserved in heathen 
writers. Eupolemus, quoted by Eusebius, (Praap. 
lib. ix.) says, " The city Babel was first founded, 
and afterwards the celebrated tower; both which 
were built by some of the people who had escaped 
the deluge. — The tower was eventually ruined by 
the power of God." Abydenus, in his Assyrian 
Annals, also mentions the tower ; which, he says, 
was carried up to heaven ; but that the gods ruined 
it by storms and whirlwinds, frustrated the purpose 
for which it was designed, and overthrew it on the 
heads of those who were engaged in the work. The 
ruins of it were called Babylon. (Euseb. Chron. p. 13.) 
The reader will bear this in mind, as it will assist in 
determining our judgment on the character of the 
ruins still extant. 

We do not find in Scripture any subsequent al- 
lusion to the tower of Babel ; but there is in the 
LXX a remarkable variation from our Hebrew 
copies in Isaiah x. 9, where we read, Is not Calno as 
Carchemish? those translators read, "Have I not 
taken the region which is above Babylon and Cha- 
lane, where the tower w r as built ?" That they re- 
ferred to the ancient attempt of the sons of men 
cannot be doubted ; and the passage is so under- 
stood by the Christian fathers, as may be seen in 
Bochart. The latest accounts by our travellers, es- 

- pecially the tract of Mr. Rich, with his plates, had 
raised a doubt whether the original tower of Babel 
were the same with that known to us by the de- 
scriptions of ancient authors as the tower of Belus, 
at Babylon. The same doubt had occurred to Fa- 

• ther Kircher, (Tunis Babel, lib. ii. cap. 3.) but he 
produces no authority in support of his conjecture, 
that a second tower was built by Ninus and Semi- 
ramis. Certain it is, that no ancient author men- 
tions two towers ; but if we might be allowed to ad- 
mit the supposition, it would obviate almost every 
difficulty that at present appears insurmountable, in 
attempting to reconcile ancient accounts with actual 
appearances. — [The supposition of Calmet and others 
is not improbable, viz. that the tower of Belus was 
not the tower of Babel itself, but was rather built 
upon the old foundations of the latter. R. 

We submit here an instance of a building very 
similar in form and proportions to the original 
tower ; and producing effects on the eye and mind 
of a British traveller analogous to what it may be 
presumed was intended by the priests and the 
builders of Babel. It is Mr. Wathen's account of 
the great pagoda at Conjeveram, the Dewal, or tem- 
ple of Vurdaraujah ; extracted from his voyage to 
Madras. " The tower, or most elevated part of this 
budding, consisted of fifteen stories, or stages ; the 



floor of the lowest of these was covered with boards 
somewhat decayed, and was about twenty feet 
square, having much the appearance of the belfry 
of a country church in England. A ladder of fifteen 
rounds conducted us to the next stage, and so on, 
from story to story, until we reached the top, each 
stage or floor diminishing gradually in size to the 
summit. Here our labor was most amply repaid ; 
for never had I witnessed so beautiful and so sub- 
lime a prospect. It so far surpassed every idea I 
had or could have formed of its grandeur and effect, 
that I was almost entranced in its contemplation. 
I forgot all the world beside, and felt as if I could 
have continued on this elevated spot for ever." 

Modern travellers vary in their descriptions of the 
remains of the tower of Babel. Fabricius says, it 
might have been about a mile in circumference. 
Guion says the same. Benjamin, who is much more 
ancient, informs us, that the foundations were two 
thousand paces in length. The Sieur de la Bonlaye 
le Gour, a gentleman of Anjou, who says he made 
a long stay at Babylon, or Bagdad, declares, that 
about three leagues from that city, is a tower, called 
Megara, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates, 
in an open field, which is solid within, and more 
like a mountain than a tower. The compass of it is 
above five hundred paces ; and as the rain and 
winds have very much ruined it, it cannot be more 
than about a hundred and thirty-eight feet high. It is 
built of bricks four inches thick ; and between every 
seven courses of bricks there is a course of straw, 
three inches thick, mixed with pitch and bitumen ; 
from the top to the bottom are about fifty courses. 

The following particulars of the tower of Belus 
are from Dr. Prideaux : — " Till the time of Nebu- 
chadnezzar, the temple of Belus contained no more 
than the [central] tower only, and the rooms in it 
served all the occasions of that idolatrous worship, 
that he enlarged it by vast buildings erected round 
it, in a square of two furlongs on every side, and a 
mile in circumference, which was one thousand 
eight hundred feet more than the square at the tem- 
ple of Jerusalem, for that was but three thousand 
feet round; whereas this was, according to this ac- 
count, four thousand eight hundred ; and on the 
outside of all these buildings, was a wall enclosing 
the whole, which may be supposed to have been of 
equal extent with the square in which it stood, that 
is, two miles and a half in compass, in which were 
several gates leading into the temple, all of solid 
brass ; and the brazen sea, the brazen pillars, and 
the other brazen vessels, which were carried to Bab- 
ylon, from the temple of Jerusalem, seem to have 
been employed in the making of them ; for it is said, 
that Nebuchadnezzar did put all the sacred vessels, 
which he carried from Jerusalem, into the house of 
his god at Babylon, that is, into this house or tem- 
ple of Bel. This temple stood till the time of 
Xerxes, but on his return from the Grecian expedi- 
tion, he demolished the whole of it, and laid it all 
in rubbish, having first plundered it of its immense 
riches, among which were several images or statues 
of massy gold ; and one of them is said by Diodorus 
Siculus to have been forty feet high, which might 
perchance have been that which Nebuchadnezzar 
consecrated in the plains of Dura." 

[A succinct account of the tower of Belus may 
be given as follows ; and it will also serve as an il- 
lustration of the worship of Bel, or Baal, i. e. of the 
planet Jupiter. (See Baal.) Herodotus saw this 
temple, still unimpaired. (Herodot. i. 181, seq.) It 



BAB 



[ 126 ] 



BABYLON 



stood within the city, in the midst of a square area, 
surrounded by walls which were furnished with 
iron gates. It was built of burnt bricks laid in 
bitumen, and rose to the height of a stadium, i. e. 
according to Volney, (Recherches, P. iii. p. 72, seq.) 
about 320 feet. There were eight stages or stories ; 
to which the ascent was by slanting stairs along the 
external walls. These stories gradually diminished in 
breadth from the base upward ; thus giving to the 
tower the form of a pyramid. Hence Strabo also calls 
it a square pyramid, (xvi. 1. 5.) The upper story 
contained a chamber, with a bed, before which 
stood a golden table. In this chamber Herodotus 
says no one slept at night except a female, whom 
the god Belus, according to the Chaldeans the 
priests of this temple, had selected from the females 
of the city. Diodorus Siculus says, this chamber 
served also for astronomical observations. In the 
next story below was a chapel, with a gigantic statue 
of Belus, sitting upon a throne with a table be- 
fore it. The image, throne, and table, throughout, 
were of pure gold. — Niebuhr and R. K. Porter sup- 
pose that the remains of this temple are extant in 
the ruin Birs JYimrood ; and to this Rosenmueller 
also gives his assent. Bib. Geog. I. ii. p. 24. See 
under Babylon. R. 

It is highly probable, that the remains of towers, 
shown in Babylonia, are only ruins of old Babylon, 
built by Nebuchadnezzar. See further in the next 
article. 

" Babel," says Ibn Haukal, " is a small village, 
but the most ancient spot in all Irak. The whole 
region is denominated Babel, from this place. The 
kings of Canaan resided there, and ruins of great 
edifices still remain. I am of opinion, that, in for- 
mer times, it was a very considerable place. They 
say that Babel was founded by Zokali Piurasp ; and 
there was Abraham, to whom be peace ! thrown into 
the fire. There are two heaps, one of which is in 
a place called Koudi Fereik, the other Koudi Der- 
bar : in this the ashes still remain ; and they say 
that it was the fire of Nimrod into which Abraham 
was cast ; may ^eace be on him !" Now, as it is 
evidently impossible that a monarch of the Peishda- 
dian, or first dynasty of the Persian kings, supposed 
to have reigned ante A. D. 780, should have seen Abra- 
ham, may not this tradition have some reference to 
the story of Shadrach, and his companions, cast into 
the fiery furnace, as recorded in Daniel ? The cir- 
cumstances of the miraculous delivery are the same, 
and the memory of this, so much later miracle, is 
more likely to have been preserved than the other. 
A_t all events, these traditions of deliverance from 
the power of fire, show that the memory of a his- 
tory, of which that was the subject, was strongly and 
generally impressed on the minds of the inhaH' r ants 
in neighboring countries; though they migln not 
accurately report all the particulars of it. 

I. BABYLON, (derived from Babel, which see,) 
the capital of Babylonia, or Chaldea, was probably 
built by Nimrod ; but it was long before it obtained 
its subsequent size and splendor. It was enlarged 
by Belus ; and Semiramis added so many and so 
very considerable works, that she might be called, 
not improperly, the foundress of it ; as Constantine 
is called the founder of Constantinople, although 
that city had long been the city Byzantium. It was, 
long afterwards, embellished by Nebuchadnezzar ; 
and hither a considerable portion of the Jewish 
"aptives were led by their haughty and politic con- 
queror. In consequence of this transportation to 



the chief city of the empire, the name Babylon be 
came symbolical among the Jews for a state of suf- 
fering and calamity ; and is, accordingly, used in this 
figurative sense in the Revelations ; not for the city 
of Babylon in Chaldea, but for another place and 
state which might justly be compared to the ancient 
Babylon. [But see under Apocalypse.] The Jews 
carry this notion still further, and give the nanfe of 
Babylon to any place, whether in Babylonia Proper, 
or out of it, where any division of their nation had 
been held in a state of captivity. 

Belus the Assyrian is said to have reigned at Baby- 
lon A. M. 2682, ante A. D. 1322, in the time of Sham- 
gar, judge of Israel ; and to have been succeeded 
by Ninus, Semiramis, Ninyas, and others : but none 
of these princes are noticed in Scripture, at least 
not under the title of kings of Babylon. Ninus, ac- 
cording to Herodotus (lib. i. cap. 95.) founded the 
Assyrian empire, which subsisted in Upper Asia 520 
years. During this interval, the city and province 
of Babylon was under a governor appointed by the 
king of Assyria, till the reign of Sardanapalus, (A. 
M. 3257,) when Arbaces, governor of the Medes, 
and Belesis, or Nabonassar, governor of Babylon, 
are said to have revolted against him. Sardanapa- 
lus burnt himself in his palace ; and the insurgents 
divided the monarchy ; Arbaces reigning in Media, 
and Belesis at Babylon. (See Assyria.) Nebu 
chadnezzar the Great, who destroyed Jerusalem, 
was the most magnificent king of Babylon known. 
Evilmerodach succeeded him, and Belshazzar suc- 
ceeded Evilmerodach. (Beros. apud Joseph, lib. 1. 
contra Apion. p. 1045.) Darius the Mede succeeded 
Belshazzar, and Cyrus succeeded Darius, otherwise 
called Astyages. The death of Belshazzar is fixed 
to A. M. 3448, and the first year of Cyrus's reign at 
Babylon, to A. M. 3457. The successors of Cyrus 
are well known: the following is their order : Cam- 
byses, the Seven Magi, Darius son of Hystaspes, 
Xerxes, Artaxerxes Longimanus, Xerxes II. Secun- 
dianus or Sogdianus, Ochus, or Darius Nothus, Ar- 
taxerxes Mnemon, Ochus, Arses, Darius Codoman- 
nus, who was overcome by Alexander the Great A. 
M. 3673, ante. A. D. 331. For a fuller sketch of 
the history, &c. of Babylon, see the next article, 
Babylonia. 

Scripture often speaks of Babylon, particularly 
after the reign of Hezekiah, who, on his recovery, 
was visited by ambassadors from Merodach-Bala- 
dan, king of Babylon, 2 Kings xx. 12. Isaiah, who 
lived at the time, especially foretells the calamities 
which the Babylonians should bring upon Palestine ; 
the captivity of the Hebrews at Babylon, and their 
return ; the fall of the great city, and its capture by 
the Medes and Persians. The prophets who lived 
after Isaiah, in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and 
who saw the desolation of Jerusalem, and the sur- 
rounding country, enlarge still further on the gran- 
deur of Babylon, its cruelty, and the desolation 
with which God would overwhelm it. 

Babylon is described as the greatest and most 
powerful city in the world — Babylon' the Great. Of 
what other city are terms used equally haughty, 
equally magnificent ?— the Golden City ! (Isaiah xiv. 
4.) — the Glory of Kingdoms '.—the Beauty of the Chal- 
dees' excellency! (xiii. 19.) — the Tender and Delicate! 
the Lady of 'Kingdoms! a Lady! a Queen for ever! 
who says, I am ; and none else beside me ! (xlvii.) 
These and other terms, altogether peculiar, express 
her beauty ; and as for her power, she is cal ed, — 
the Hammer of the whole Earth! (Jer. 1. 23 , — the 



BABYLON 



[ 127 1 



BABYLON 



Battle .Axe! the weapons of war I proper to break in 
pieces nations; and to destroy kingdoms, li. 20. 
Kingdoms and nations she did destroy ; but, after a 
while, her turn came ; and we now contemplate in 
her ruins a speaking instance of the vicissitude of 
human affairs ; a most impressive evidence of the 
fulfilment of prophecies wherein were foretold the 
devastations which those ruins now witness. 

Herodotus, who visited Babylon, and is the most 
ancient author who has written upon it, has left the 
following description of this celebrated city. It was 
square ; 120 furlongs every way, i. e. fifteen miles, 
or five leagues square ; and the whole circuit of it 
was 480 furlongs, or twenty leagues. The walls 
were built with large bricks, cemented with bitu- 
men ; and were 87 feet thick, and 350 feet high. The 
city was encompassed with a vast ditch, which was 
filled with water ; and brick work was carried up on 
both sides. The earth which was dug out was 
employed in making the bricks for the walls of the 
city ; so that one may judge of the depth and width 
of the ditch by the extreme height and thickness of 
the walls. There were a hundred gates to the city, 
twenty-five on each of the four sides ; these gates, 
with their posts, &c. were of brass. Between every 
two of them were three towers, raised ten feet above 
the walls where necessary. A street answered to 
each gate, so that there were fifty streets in all, cut- 
ting one another in right angles ; each fifteen • miles 
in length, and 151 feet wide. Four other streets, 
having houses only on one side, the ramparts being 
on the other, made the whole compass of the city : 
each of these streets was 200 feet wide. As the 
streets of Babylon crossed one another at right an- 
gles, they formed 676 squares, each square four fur- 
longs and a half on every side, making two miles 
and a quarter in circuit. The houses of these 
squares were three or four stories high, their fronts 
were adorned with embellishments, and the inner 
space was courts and gardens. The Euphrates 
divided the city into two parts, running from north 
to south. A bridge of admirable structure, about a 
furlong in length, and 60 feet wide, formed the com- 
munication over the river ; at the two extremities of 
this bridge were two palaces, the old palace on the 
east side of the river, the new palace on the west ; 
and the temple of Belus, which stood near the old 
palace, occupied one entire square. The city was 
situated in a vast plain ; and to people it Nebuchad- 
nezzar carried thither an almost infinite number of 
his captives of all nations. The famous hanging 
gardens which adorned the palace in Babylon, and 
which are ranked among the wonders of the world, 
contained four hundred feet square ; and were com- 
posed of several large terraces, the platform of the 
highest terrace equalling the walls of Babylon in 
height, i. e. 350 feet. From one terrace to that 
above it, was an ascent by stairs ten feet wide. This 
whole mass was supported by large vaults, built one 
upon another, and strengthened by a wall twenty- 
two feet thick, covered with stones, rushes, and bitu- 
men, and plates of lead to prevent leakage. On the 
highest terrace was an aqueduct, said to be supplied 
with water from the river, by a pump, (probably the 
Persian icheel,) from whence the whole garden was 
watered. It is affirmed, that Nebuchadnezzar un- 
dertook this wonderful and famous edifice out of 
complaisance to his wife Amytis, daughter of Asty- 
ages ; who, being a native of Media, retained strong 
inclinations for mountains and forests, which abound- 
ed in her native country. (Diod. Sicul. ii. Strabo, 



xvi. 2. Quint. Curt. v. 1.) Scripture no where no- 
tices these celebrated gardens ; but it speaks of wil- 
lows planted on the banks of the rivers of Babylon : 
" We hanged our harps on the willows in the midst 
thereof," says Ps. exxxvii. 2. Isaiah, describing, in 
a prophetic style, the captivity of the Moabites by 
Nebuchadnezzar, says, " They shall be carried away 
to the valley of willows," xv. 7. The same prophet, 
(ch. xxi. 1.) describing the calamities of Babylon by 
Cyrus, calls this city the desert of the sea ; where 
the word sea is applied to the river Euphrates, 
(comp. xxvii. 1.) as also to the Nile, Is. xix. 5 ; Nah. 
iii. 8. [See also the additions under Babylonia.] 
Jeremiah, to the same purport, says, (li. 36, 42.) "I 
will dry up the sea of Babylon, and make her springs 
dry. The sea is come up upon her: she is cov- 
ered with the multitude of the waves thereof." 
Megasthenes (ap. Euseb. Prsep. ix. 41.) assures us, 
that Babylon was built in a place which had before 
abounded so greatly with water, that it was called 
the sea. But the language of the Psalmist, above 
quoted, suggests the idea that the city of Babylon 
was refreshed by a considerable number of streams ; 
" By the rivers [streams, flowing currents] of Baby- 
lon we sat down." — " On the willows (plural) in the 
midst thereof we hanged our harps" (plural). There 
must then have been gardens visited by these 
streams, easily accessible to the captive Israelites; 
not the royal gardens, exclusively, but others less 
reserved. We know, also, that there was but one 
river at Babylon then, as there is but one now, the 
Euphrates ; so that when these captives represent 
themselves as "sitting by the rivers of Babylon," in 
the plural, they inform us, that this river was divided 
into several branches, or canals ; and these were, 
doubtless, works of art. See under Babylonia. 

From the history in Daniel, (chap, iii.) of the con- 
secration of Nebuchadnezzar's " Golden Image," we 
know that Babylon [i. e. the province] contained a 
vast plain, capacious enough to accommodate the 
assembled officers of his empire, "with all the pomp 
and preparations in the power of this mighty mon 
arch, and, beyond all doubt, also a very great propor- 
tion of the prodigious population of Babylon. This 
is called the plain of Dura, nth ; and, deducing its 
name from the meaning of the root, it imports the 
round, or circular, enclosure. As the occasion was 
the consecration of a statue, it is natural to suppose 
that the ceremony would take place as near as might 
be, and, if possible, immediately before, the temple, 
or sacred station, in which this idol deity was to re- 
main : it would not be dedicated in a distant place, 
and afterwards conveyed to its appointed residence ; 
but the homages of its worshippers would be more 
appropriate on its arrival at home, and its inhabita- 
tion of its destined residence. This enables us to 
affix a character to a large circular enclosure, of 
which the remains are still visible at Babylon, and 
which surrounds the principal mounds, which may 
be those of the temple of Belus, and the royal palace. 
In fact, admitting this very natural supposition, 
[which, however, is entirely fanciful, R.] it contributes 
at the same time an argument, not without its use, 
in attempting to identify and distinguish these exten- 
sive structures. We do not find that this plain is 
described by ancient authors, unless it be included 
in what they report of the accommodations and 
enceinte of the palace. Diodorus says that the tem- 
ple occupied the centre of the city ; Herodotus says, 
the centre of that division of the city in which it 
stood; as the palace in the centre of its division. 



BABYLON 



[ 128 ] 



BABYLON 



But the description of Diodorus is pointed with re- 
spect to the fact of the palace being near to the 
bridge, and, consequently, to the river's bank : and he 
is borne out by the descriptions of Strabo and Cur- 
tius, both of whom represent the hanging gardens to 
be very near the river ; and all agree that they were 
within, or adjacent to, the square of the fortified palace. 

Great boastings have been made of the antiquity 
of the astronomical observations taken by the Baby- 
lonians. Josephus tells us, (c. Apion. i. p. 1044.) 
that Berosus, the Babylonian historian and astrono- 
mer, agreed with Moses concerning the corruption 
of mankind, and the deluge ; and Aristotle, who was 
curious in examining the truth of what was reported 
relating to these observations, desired Calisthenes to 
send him the most certain accounts that he could 
find of this particular, among the Babylonians. Ca- 
listhenes sent him observations of the heavens, which 
had been made during 1903 years, computing from 
the origin of the Babylonish monarchy to the time 
of Alexander. This carries up the account as high 
as the one hundred and fifteenth year after the flood, 
which was within fifteen years after the tower of 
Babel was built. For the confusion of tongues, 
which followed immediately after the building of 
that tower, happened in the year in which Peleg was 
born, 101 years after the flood, and fourteen years 
before that in which these observations begin. 

In ancient authors much confusion is occasioned 
by a too general application of the name Babel : it 
has denoted the original tower, the original city, 
the subsequent tower, the palace, the later city, 
and we shall find it expressing the province of 
Babylonia : in fact, it stands connected in that sense 
with the plain of Dura, which is said to be in the 
province of Babylon, and which might be placed at 
a distance from the city, were it not for considera- 
tions already recited. Ancient authors nave raised 
the wonder of their readers, by allowing to the walls 
of Babylon dimensions and extent which confound 
the imagination, and rather belong to a province than 
to a city. But that they really were of extraordi- 
nary dimensions, should appear from references 
made to them by the prophet, who threatens them 
with destruction. Jeremiah (i. 15.) says, "Her foun- 
dations are fallen : her walls are thrown down ;" and 
again, (li. 44.) " The very wall of Babylon shall fall :" 
and (verse 58.) " the broad wall of Babylon shall be 
utterly broken :" — observe, the broad wall ; and in 
verse 53. we' read, " Though Babylon shall mount 
up to heaven, [that is, her defences,] and though she 
should fortify the height of her strength," [that is, 
her wall.] Thus we find allusions to the height, 
the breadth, and the strength, of the walls of Baby- 
lon : but, before we proceed to examine these pas- 
sages more fully, we shall avail ourselves, in part at 
least, of what descriptions are afforded by heathen 
writers. 

Public belief has been staggered by the enormous 
dimensions allowed to Babylon by the different au- 
thors of ancient times — Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus, 
Pliny, and Quintus Curtius ; because, even if the 
most confined of those measures reported by the fol- 
lowers of Alexander (who viewed it at their fullest 
leisure) be adopted, and the stadia taken at a moder- 
ate standard, they will give an area of 72 square 
miles. We therefore concc -ve, that, with respect to 
the extent of the buildings and population of Baby- 
lon, we ought not to receive the above measure as a 
scale ; from the great improbability of so vast a con- 
tiguous space having ever been built on : but that the 



wall might have been continued to the extent given, 
does not appear so improbable, for we cannot sup- 
pose that so many ancient writers could have been 
misled concerning this point. But, although we may 
extend our belief to the vastuess of the enceinte, it 
does not follow that we are to believe that 80, or 
even 72 square miles, contiguous to each other, were 
covered with buildings. The different reports of 
the extent of the walls of Babylon are given as fol- 
low : — By Herodotus, at 120 stadia each side ; or 
480 stadia in circumference. By Pliny and Solinus, 
at 60 Roman miles ; which, at 8 stadia to a mile, 
agrees with Herodotus. By Strabo, at 385 stadia. 
By Diodorus, from Ctesias, 360 : but from Clitarchus, 
who accompanied Alexander, 365. And, lastly, by 
Curtius, at 368. It appears highly probable that 360, 
or 365, was the true statement of the circumference. 
That the area enclosed by the walls of Babylon was 
only partly built on, is proved by the words of Quin- 
tus Curtius,who says (lib. v. cap. 4.) that ' the buildings 
(in Babylon) are not contiguous to the walls, but some 
considerable space was left all routid .... Nor do 
the houses join ; perhaps from motives of safety. 
The remainder of the space is cultivated ; that, in 
the event of a siege, the inhabitants might not be 
compelled to depend on supplies from without.' 
Thus far Curtius. Diodorus describes a vast space 
taken up by the palaces and public buildings. The 
enclosure of one of the palaces 'which appears to be 
what is called by others the citadel) was a square of 
15 stadia, or near a mile and a half; the other of 
five stadia: here are more than two and a half 
square miles occupied by the palaces alone. Be- 
sides these, there were the temple and tower of Belus, 
of vast extent ; the hanging gardens, &c. But, after 
all, it is certain, and we are ready to allow, that the 
extent of the buildings of Babylon was great, and far 
beyond the ordinary size of capital cities then known 
in the world ; which may indeed be concluded from 
the manner in which the ancients in general speak 
of it. The population of this city, during its most 
flourishing state, exceeded twelve hundred thousand ; 
or perhaps a million and a quarter. 

The hanging gardens, (as they are called,) which 
had an area of about three and a half acres, had 
trees of a considerable size growing in them : and it 
is not improbable that they were of a species differ- 
ent from those of the natural growth of the alluvial 
soil of Babylonia. Curtius says, that some of them 
were eight cubits in the girth ; and Strabo, thai 
there was a contrivance to prevent the large roots 
from destroying the superstructure, by building vast 
hollow piers, which were filled with earth to receive 
them. These trees may have been perpetuated in 
the same spot where they grew, notwithstanding 
that the terraces may have subsided, by the crum- 
bling of the piers and walls that supported them. 

Now, it appears that we ought to make a distinc- 
tion here. That the province of Babylonia should 
be surrounded by a wall of immense thickness, for 
the purpose of a fortification, is little less than ridicu- 
lous ; but that an enclosure or wall might embrace 
a large extent of country, is credible. Ibn Haukal 
speaks of villages " extending for nearly twenty far- 
sang by twelve farsang; all about this space is a 
wall, and within it the people dwell winter and sum- 
mer." — This may be allowed to justify the extent 
assigned to the walls of Babylonia, as a province ; 
while those more proximate to the city of Babylon 
were certainly constructed with wonderful labor, 
skill, and solidity, according to the duty demanded 



HAGAR AND ISHMAEL. 




THE TOWER OF BABEL, 



BABYLON 



[ ia» ] 



BABYLON 



of them in protecting a narrower space. This seems 
rathei to militate against the sentiment of Dr. Blay- 
ney, who would keep to the singular, wall, where 
the term occurs ; as Jer. li. 58 : " The walls [plural] 
of Babylon ; the broad [wall, singular] shall be 
utterly broken." It would be hazardous to insist 
that the prophet intended *a distinction from nar- 
rower walls by using the term broad ; but those who 
observe that in chap. 1. 15. we have also walls, in the 
plural — " her walls are thrown down," as the doctor 
himself renders, will hesitate on reducing this term 
in this place to the singular. 

We are now prepared to examine somewhat 
more closely the predictions quoted from the 
prophet. With regard to the first, (Jer. 1. 15.) "Her 
foundations are fallen," Dr. Blayney observes, very 
justly, that foundations cannot fall : they are already 
deep in the ground ; they may be razed, or uprooted, 
but they can go no lower. He therefore renders, 
with the LXX, ^cUffi?, her battlements, or the turrets 
filled with men who fought in defence of the walls. 
They might be somewhat analogous to the bastions 
of modern fortification ; but, most likely, they were 
raised higher than tbe wall itself. Another passage 
deserves, remark, as being manifestly intended by the 
writer to display uncommon emphasis, (li. 58.) " The 
broad wall of Babylon shall be utterly broken." 
These last words are but a feeble resemblance of 
the original, which is very difficult to be rendered 
into English, ijjipnn "ijhp, in utterly razing it most 
utterly raze it— doubly destroy it with double de- 
struction. And this is denounced on the broad wall 
of Babylon. If, therefore, traces should be found of 
any narrow wall of this ill-fated city, they may be 
allowed to possess their interest : but hitherto no in- 
dications of the broad wall have been so much as 
suspected by the most inquisitive, and probably no 
such discovery ever will be achieved. 

We have now touched on the particulars connected 
with Babylon, except one that has puzzled all com- 
mentators, Jer. li. 41. " How is Sheshach taken ! and 
how is the praise of the whole earth surprised ! how 
is Babylon become an astonishment among the na- 
tions !" On which Dr. Blayney says, "That Babylon 
is meant by Sheshach is certain ; but why it is so 
called, is yet matter of doubt." We have this term, 
also, chap. xxv. 26. "And the king of Sheshach 
shall drink — after the, other kings of the earth." 
[That it is a name for Babylon, there can be no 
doubt, from the first passage above ; but the deriva- 
tion is extremely obscure. The Jewish commenta- 
tors, and Jerome, suppose it to be the name Sjj, 
Babel, written in the cabalistic manner called 
Atbash, i. e. in which n is put for n, v for 3, etc. 
But even supposing, though not admitting, that this 
secret mode of writing is really so ancient, there 
seems to be no good reason why, in the very same 
verse, (li. 41.) Babel should be mentioned once by 
its true name, and then again by a concealed one. 
Others suppose it to be for Shikshak, /aXy.inv/.oc, i.e. 
the city of iron plated gates. But the most apt and 
probable derivation is that of Von Bohlen, (Symbol, 
ad Interp. S. Cod. ex Ling. Pers. p. 22.) viz. that it is 
the same as the Persian Shih-Shdh, or Shah-Shah, 
i. e. house or court of the prince, an appellation which 
could be more suitable to no city than to Babylon. R. 

[Thus far the mingled contributions of Caimet and 
Taylor, in regard to the ancient Babylon. Before 
proceeding to give an account of the mighty ruins, 
which at the present day alone mark its former site, 
it may not be improper to subjoin a few particulars 



relating more especially to the decline and fall of 
this proud city ; leaving the more detailed account 
of the geographical character of the surrounding 
country, and of the history of the state, to be added 
under the article Babylonia. 

The original foundation of the city is referred, in 
the Bible, to the attempt of the descendants of Noah 
to build "a city and a tower;" on account of which 
their language was confounded and they were scat- 
tered, by the interposition of God himself, Gen. 
xi. 1, seq. Hence the name Babel, i. e. confusion. 
With this coincide the traditions related by other 
ancient writers, and professedly extracted from As- 
syrian historians. (See the extract from Abydenus, 
under the article Babel, and compare the Armenian 
Hist, of Moses Choren. i. c. 8. — Josephus, Ant. i. 4, 
3. quotes a similar tradition from the Sibylline ora- 
cles, which is found in the edition of Gallseus, lib 
iii. p. 336, seq. with which compare also Gallasi 
Dissertat. de Sibyllis, p. 459.) Another Assyrian 
account, handed down by Ctesias, (Diod. Sic. ii. 7.) 
makes Semiramis, the queen of Ninus, to be the 
founder of Babylon ; and a later Chaldean ac- 
count, given by Megasthenes and Berosus, describes 
Nebuchadnezzar as its builder. (In Euseb. Prasp 
Evang. ix. 41. Joseph, c. Apion. i. 19.) These ac- 
counts may all be reconciled, by supposing that 
Semiramis rebuilt or greatly extended the ancient 
city ; and that Nebuchadnezzar afterwards enlarged 
it still farther, and rendered it more strong and 
splendid. The description of the city itself by He- 
rodotus, who personally visited it, has already been 
given above. 

Under Nebuchadnezzar, at any rate, Babylon reach- 
ed the summit of her greatness and splendor. She 
was now the capital of the civilized world, and into 
hi r lap flowed, either through conquest or commerce, 
the wealth of almost all known lands. Justly, there- 
fore, might the prophets call her the great, (Dan. iv. 
30.) the praise of the whole earth, (Jer. li. 41.) the 
beauty of the Chaldees'' excellency, (Is. xiii. 19.) the lady 
of kingdoms, (Is. xlvii. 5.) but also the tender and del- 
icate, and given to pleasures, Is. xlvii. 1. 8. Indeed, 
these last epithets are gentle, in comparison with the 
real state of the case ; for, in consequence of the 
opulence and luxury of the inhabitants, the corrupt- 
ness and licentiousness of manners and morals were 
carried to a frightful extreme. Herodotus assures 
us, (i. 199.) that the daughters even of the nobles 
prostituted themselves in the temple of Mylitta, i. e. 
the planet Venus, or Ashtaroth. Quintus Curtius 
gives us the following picture of the horrid profli- 
gacy and beastly indecency of the inhabitants, which 
is quite too bad to be translated : (lib. v. 1.) " Nihil ur- 
bis ejus corruptius moribus, nec ad irritandas illicien- 
dasque immodicas voluptates instructius. Liberos 
conjugesque cum hospitibus stupro coire, modo pre- 
tium flagitii detur, parentes maritique patiuntur. — 
Feminarum convivia ineuntium in principio modes- 
tus est habitus ; dein summa quseque amicula exu- 
unt, paulatimque pudorem profanant ; ad ultimum 
(honos auribus sit) ima corporum velamenta proji- 
ciunt : nec meretricium hoc dedecus est, sed matro- 
narum virginumque, apud quas comitas habetur 
vulgati corporis vilitas." Well, therefore, might the 
prophets proclaim woes against her! Well might 
we expect Jehovah to bring down vengeance on her 
crimes ! Indeed, the woes denounced against Bab- 
ylon by the prophets, constitute some of the most 
awfi lly splendid and sublime portions of the whole 
Bib!< , Is. xiii ; xlvii ; Jer. 1 ; li. et al. ssep. Hence, 



BABYLON 



[ 130 ] 



BABYLON 



too, as tne great capital, in which all the corruptions 
of idolatry were concentrated, Babylon, in the Rev- 
elation of St. John, is put symbolically for Rome, at 
that time the chief seat and capital of heathenism. 

The city of Babylon, however, did not long thus 
remain the capital of the world ; for already, under 
the reign of Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, Nabonnid, 
the Belshazzar of the Scriptures, it was besieged and 
taken by Cyrus. The accounts of Greek historians 
harmonize here with that of the Bible, that Cyrus 
made his successful assault on a night when the 
whole city, relying on the strength of the walls, had 
given themselves up to the riot and debauchery of a 
grand public festival, and the king and his nobles 
were revelling at a splendid entertainment. Cyrus 
had previously caused the Pallacopas, a canal which 
ran west of the city, and carried off the superfluous 
water of the Euphrates into the lake of Nitocris, 
(see under Babylonia,) to be cleared out, in order 
to turn the river into it ; which, by this means, was 
rendered so shallow, that his soldiers were able to 
penetrate along its bed into the city. From this 
time its importance declined ; for Cyrus made Susa 
the capital of his kingdom ; and Babylon thus ceased 
to be the chief city of an independent state. He is 
said also to have torn down the external walls ; be- 
cause the city was too strongly fortified, and might 
easily rebel against him. It did thus revolt against 
Darius Hystaspes; who again subdued it, broke 
down all its gates, and reduced its walls to the height 
of fifty cubits. (Herod, hi. 159.) According to 
Strabo, (xvi. 1, 5.) Xerxes destroyed the tower of 
Belus. The same writer mentions, that under the 
Persians, and under Alexander's successors, Baby- 
lon continued to decline ; especially after Seleucus 
Nicator had founded Seleucia, and made it his resi- 
dence A great portion of the inhabitants of Baby- 
lon removed thither ; and in Strabo's time, i. e. under 
Augustus, Babylon had become so desolate, that it 
might be called a vast desert. Diodorus Siculus, in 
the same century, says, (ii. 27.) that only a small por- 
tion of Babylon was inhabited ; and, in the time of 
Pausanias, in the first half of the second century, 
only the walls remained. (Arcad. c. 33.) After this, 
the sole mention of Babylon, (and only as a village 
on that site,) until the time of Delia Valle, (see below,) 
is in the last half of the fourth century, and at the 
beginning of the fourteenth. *R. 

We shall now direct our attention to the remains of 
those once magnificent structures which distinguished 
Babylon as the wonder of the world : of their elegance 
we cannot judge, as that has ceased to exist ; of their 
magnitude we can form some estimate, though not 
of their connection, or mutual dependence ; we shall, 
nevertheless, find, on examination, sufficient partic- 
ulars attached to these monuments of persevering 
labor, to justify the predictions of the prophets, and to 
clear them from the charge of inconsistency, or pre- 
varication ; which is our principal object. 

[For the easier understanding of the subjoined 
quotations, it should be borne in mind, that all the 
principal ruins yet discovered, are on the east bank 
of the Euphrates. They lie within a triangular area, 
of which the river is the base, and the two sides are 
formed by the ruins of the ancient wall, which com- 
mence at the river above and below, and meet in a 
right angle at the most eastern point. The latest 
traveller who has visited these stupendous ruins is 
Sir R. K. Porter, who has examined them with more 
attention than any former traveller. R. 

The first traveller who communicated an ".i.tcl- 



ligible account of these antiquities was Delia Valle, 
who, in 1616, examined them more minutely and 
leisurely than some who went before him. His ac- 
count of the more northerly of these ruins, which 
he calls the tower of Belus, is instructive, notwith- 
standing later information: "In the midst of a vast 
and level plain, about a' quarter of a league from the 
Euphrates, appears a heap of ruined buildings, Jike 
a huge mountain, the materials of which are so con- 
founded together, that one knows not what to make 
of it. Its figure is square, and it rises in form of a 
tower or pyramid, with four fronts, which answer 
to the four quarters of the compass, but it seems 
longer from north to south than from east to west, 
and is, as far as I could judge, by my pacing of it, a 
large quarter of a league. Its situation and form 
correspond with that pyramid which Strabo calls the 
tower of Belus. The height of this mountain of 
ruins is not in every part equal, but exceeds the 
highest palace in Naples ; it is a mis-shapen mass, 
wherein there is no appearance of regularity ; in 
some places it rises in sharp points, craggy and 
inaccessible ; in others it is smoother and of easier 
ascent ; there are also traces of torrents from the 
summit to the base, caused by violent rains. It is 
built with large and thick bricks, as I carefully ob- 
served, having caused excavations to be made in 
several places for that purpose ; but they do not ap- 
pear to have been burned, but dried in the sun, 
which is extremely hot in those parts. These sun- 
baked bricks, in whose substance were mixed bruised 
reeds and straw, and which were laid in clay mor- 
tar, compose the great mass of the building, but 
other bricks were also perceived at certain intervals, 
especially where the strongest buttresses stood, of 
the same size, but baked in the kiln, and set in good 
lime and bitumen." (Vol. ii. Let. 17.) He paced the 
circumference, and found it to be 1134 of his ordi- 
nary steps ; say about 2552, or 2600, feet : conse- 
quently the dimensions of each side should have 
been about 640 or 650 feet. He observed founda- 
tions of buildings around the great mass, at the dis- 
tance of fifty or sixty paces. This ruin has subse- 
quently been known under the appellation of " Delia 
Valle's Ruin ;" it is the same as the natives call 
Makloube, Mujelibe, that is, overturned; or "the 
pyramid of Haroot and Maroot." 

M. Beauchamp, Vicar General of Babylon, and 
Corresponding Member of the French Academy of 
Sciences, visited these celebrated ruins several times 
within the (then) last twenty years [1799.] He says, 
"The ruins of Babylon are very visible a league 
north of Hellah. There is, in particular, an eleva- 
tion which is flat on the top ; of an irregular figure ; 
and intersected by ravines. It would never have 
been suspected for the work of human hands, were 
it not proved by the layers of bricks found in it. Its 
height is not more than 60 yards. It i» so little ele- 
vated, that the least ruin we pass in the road to it 
conceals it from the view. To come at the bricks 
it is necessary to dig into the earth. They are 
baked with fire, and cemented with zepth, or bitu- 
men : between each layer are found osiers. Above 
this mount, on the side of the river, are those im- 
mense ruins which have served, and still serve, for 
the building of Hellah, an Arabian city, containing 
10 or 12,000 souls. Here are found those large and 
thick bricks, imprinted with unknown characters, 
specimens of which I have presented to the Abbe 
Barthelemy. This place, and the mount of Babel, 
are commonly called by the Arabs Makloube, that 



BABYLON 



L 131 J 



BABYLON 



is, turned topsy-turvy. I was informed by the mas- 
ter mason employed to dig for bricks, that the places 
from which he procured them were large, thick 
walls, and sometimes chambers. He has frequently 
found earthen vessels, engraved marbles, and, about 
eight years ago, a statue as large as life, which he 
threw among the rubbish. On one wall of a cham- 
ber he found the figures of a cow, and of the sun 
and moon, formed of varnished bricks. Sometimes, 
idols of clay are found, representing human figures. 
I found one brick on which was a lion, and on 
others a half-moon in relief. The bricks are ce- 
mented with bitumen, except in one place, which is 
well preserved, where they are united by a very thin 
stratum of white cement, which appears to me to be 
made of lime and sand. The bricks are every where 
of the same dimensions, one foot three lines square 
by three inches thick. Occasionally, layers of osiers 
in bitumen are found, as at Babel. The master ma- 
son led me along a valley, which he dug out a long 
while ago, to get at the bricks of a wall, that, from 
the marks he showed me, I guess to have been sixty 
feet thick. It ran perpendicular to the bed of the 
river, and was probably the wall of the city. I found 
in it a subterranean canal, which, instead of being 
arched over, is covered with pieces of sand-stone, 
six or seven feet long, by three wide. These ruins 
extend several leagues to the north of Hellah, and 
incontestably mark the situation of ancient Babylon." 

The increasing curiosity of travellers, with the 
arrival in Europe of several inscribed bricks, and 
other instances of the kind of letters used in these 
inscriptions, induced the visits of others : the follow- 
ing are extracts from Kinneir's Memoir on Persia. 
"In the latitude of 32 deg. 25 min. north, and, ac- 
cording to my reckoning, fifty-four miles from Bag- 
dad, stands the modern town of Hilleh, on the banks 
of the Euphrates. It covers a very small portion of 
the space occupied by the ancient capital of Assyria, 
the ruins of which have excited the curiosity and 
admiration of the few European travellers, whom 
chance or business has conducted to this remote 
quarter of the globe, and have been partially de- 
scribed by Benjamin of Tudela, Beauchamp, and 
Pietro Delia Valle. p. 2G9. The town of Hilleh is 
said, by the people of the country, to be built on the 
site of Babel ; and some gigantic ruins, still to be 
seen in its vicinity, are believed to be the remains of 
that ancient metropolis. I visited these ruins in 
1808 ; and my friend, captain Frederick, whose 
name I have had frequent occasion to mention in this 
Memoir, spent six days in minutely examining every 
thing worthy of attention, for many miles round 
Hilleh. I shall, therefore, without noticing the de- 
scription given by former travellers, state first what 
was seen by myself ; and afterwards the result of 
captain Frederick's inquiries. The principal ruin, 
and that which is thought to represent the temple of 
Belus, is four miles north of Hilleh, and a, quar- 
ter of a mile from the east bank of the Euphrates. 
This stupendous monument of antiquity is a huge 
pyramid, nine hundred paces in circumference, 
[Captain Frederick measured the east and south 
faces at the top, and found the former to be one 
hundred and eighty, and the latter one hundred and 
ninety, paces, at two feet and a half each pace,] and, 
as nearly as I could guess, about two hundred and 
twenty feet in height at the most elevated part. It 
is an exact quadrangle. Three of its faces are stiU 
perfect ; but that towards the south has lost more of 
\ts regularity than the others. This pyramid is built 



entirely of brick dried in the sun, cemented in some 
places with bitumen and regular layers of reeds, and 
in others with slime and reeds, which appeared to 
me as fresh as if they had been used only a few 
days before. [All that captain Frederick saw were 
cemented with bitumen. On entering a small cav- 
ern, however, about twenty feet in depth, I found 
that the bricks in the interior of the mass were inva- 
riably cemented with slime and layers of reeds at 
each course.] Quantities of "furnace-baked bri^k 
were, however, scattered at the foot of the pyramid : 
aud it is more than probable that it was once faced 
with the latter, which have been removed by the 
natives for the construction of their houses. The 
outer edges of the bricks, from being exposed to the 
weather, have mouldered away : it is, therefore, 
only on minute examination that the nature of the 
materials of which it is composed can be ascertained. 
When viewed from a distance, the ruin has more 
the appearance of a small hill tjjln a building. The 
ascent is in most places so gentle that a person may 
ride all over it. Deep ravines have been sunk by 
the periodical rains ;' and there are numerous long, 
narrow cavities, or passages, which are now the un- 
molested retreat of jackals, hya?nas, and other nox- 
ious animals. The bricks of which this structure is 
built are larger, and much inferior to. any other I 
have seen ; they have no inscriptions on them, and 
are seldom used by the natives, on account of their 
softness. The name given by the Arabs to this ruin 
is Haroot and Maroot ; for they believe that, near 
the foot of the pyramid, there still exists (although 
invisible to mankind) a well, in which those two 
wicked angels were condemned by the Almighty to 
be suspended by the heels until the end of the 
world, as a punishment for their vanity and pre- 
sumption. Delia Valle mentions several smaller 
mounds, as being situated in the plain in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the pyramid. Captam Frederick 
and myself looked in vain for these mounds ; we 
could only discern the high banks of a canal, run- 
ning parallel to the S. W. face of the square, and a 
mound, about half a mile distant, of which I shall 
speak hereafter. 

"On the opposite [the W.] side of the river, about 
six miles S. W. of Hilleh, a second eminence, not 
quite so large as that just mentioned, but of greater 
elevation, would seem to have escaped the observa 
tion of modern travellers ; with the exception ol 
Niebuhr, by whom it is slightly mentioned. It is 
formed of furnace-baked and sun-dried brick, about 
one foot in diameter, and from three to four inches 
thick. This pyramid is styled Nimrood by the 
Arabs ; and on its summit are the remains of a small 
square tower, the wall of which is eight feet thick, 
and, as nearly as I could guess, about fifty in height. 
It is built of furnace-baked bricks, of a yellowish 
color, cemented with slime, but no reeds or bitumen 
were perceptible. From this tower there is a most 
extensive view of the windings of the Euphrates, 
through the level plain of Shinar. Its banks are 
lined with villages and orchards, and here s<id there 
a few scattered hamlets in the desert appe; rea like 
spots on the surface of the ocean. On tht top and 
sides of the mound I observed several frag nents of 
different colors, resembling, in appearam e, pieces 
of mis-shapen rock. Captain Frederick ixamined 
these curious fragments with much atte ition, and 
was at first inclined to think that they we e consoli- 
dated pieces of fallen masonry ; but this idea was 
soon laid aside, as they were found so tiard as to 



BABYLON 



[ 132 ] 



BABYLON 



resist iron, in the manner of any other very hard 
stone, and the junction of the bricks was not to be dis- 
cerned. It is difficult to form a conjecture concern- 
ing these extraordinary fragments, (some of which 
are six and eight feet in diameter,) as there is no 
^tone of such a quality to be procured any where in 
the neighboring country, and we could see or hear 
of no building of which they r could form a part. 
Here those bricks which have inscriptions on them 
are generally found by the Arabs, who are constantly 
employed in digging for them, to build the houses 
at Hilleh. About a hundred and twenty paces from 
this pyramid is another, not so high, but of greater 
circumference at the base. Bricks are dug in great 
quantities from this place ; but none, I believe, with 
inscriptions. 

" [To return to the E. side.] About one mile and 
a half from Hilleh, on the eastern bauk of the Eu- 
phrates, captain Frederick discovered a longitudinal 
mound, close on rj£ edge of the river ; and two 
miles further up, in an easterly direction, a second, 
more extensive than the first. He was given to un- 
derstand that the Arabs were in the habit of procur- 
ing vast quantities of burnt bricks from this mound, 
none of which, however, had any inscription. He 
perceived, on examination, a wall of red bricks, in 
one part even with the surface of the ground, and 
open to the depth of thirty feet in the mound, the 
earth having been moved for the purpose of procur- 
ing the bricks. At another place, not far distant, 
were the remains of an extensive building. Some 
of its walls were in great preservation, ten feet above 
the surface of the rubbish ; and the foundation, at 
another part, had not been reached at the depth of 
forty-five feet. It was six feet eight inches thick, 
built of a superior kind of yellowish brick, furnace- 
baked, and cemented, not with bitumen or reeds, 
but lime mixed with sand. A decayed tree, not far 
from this spot, was shown by the country people, as 
being coeval with the building itself. Its girth, two 
feet from the ground, measured four feet seven 
inches, and it might be about twenty feet in height : 
it was hollow, and apparently very old. [Former 
travellers have asserted that they saw a number of 
very old and uncommon looking trees along the 
banks of the river : but neither captain Frederick 
nor myself saw any but this one ; and it certainly 
differed from the other trees which grow in the 
neighborhood.] The great pyramid, first mentioned, 
is only about half or "three quarters of a mile from 
this mound. Captain Frederick, having carefully 
examined every mound or spot, described by the 
natives as belonging to Babel, endeavored to dis- 
cover if any thing remained of the ancient city wall. 
He commenced by riding five miles down the bank 
of the river, and then by following its windings six- 
teen miles north of Hilleh, on the eastern side. The 
western bank was explored with the same minute- 
ness ; but not a trace of any deep excavation, or any 
rubbish, or mounds, (excepting those already men- 
tioned,) were discovered. Leaving the river, he 
proceeded from Hilleh, to a village named Kara- 
kooli, a distance of fifteen miles in a N. W. direc- 
tion, without meeting any thing worthy of remark. 
He next rode in a parallel line, six miles to the west, 
and as many to the east of the pyramid of Haroot 
and Maroot, and returned to Hilleh, disappointed in 
all his expectations ; for, within a space of twenty- 
one miles in length and twelve in breadth, he was 
unable to discover any thing that could admit of a 
conclusion, that either a wall or ditch had ever ex- 



isted within this area. [Captain Frederick informed 
us, that he dedicated eight or ten hours each day to 
his inquiries, during his stay at Hilleh.] The size, 
situation, and construction of the pyramid of Haroot 
and Maroot have led major Rennell and D'Anville 
to suppose it to be the remains of the temple of 
Belus. The latter, as we have already stated, is 
described as being a square of a stadium in breadth, 
and of equal dimensions at the base, and built of 
brick cemented with bitumen. The mass which we 
now see, is an exact quadrangle, which, ten feet 
within the outer edge of the rubbish, measured nine 
hundred paces, or two thousand two hundred and 
fifty feet, exceeding the circuit of the base of the 
tower of Belus by two hundred and fifty feet — a 
trifling excess, when we consider how much it must 
have increased by the fallen ruins. Its elevation, at 
the S. W. angle, is still upwards of two hundred 
feet ; which is very great, considering its antiquity, 
and the soft materials of which it is composed. 
Strabo represents the temple of Belus as having an 
exterior coat of burnt brick ; and, as I have before 
said, there is every reason to believe, from the ac- 
cumulation of pieces of furnace-baked bricks at the 
foot of each face, that this was the case with the 
great pyramid to the north of Hilleh. We are, how- 
ever, left in some doubt respecting the situation of 
the temple. Diodorus says, that it stood in the 
centre of" the city : but the text is obscure ; and it 
may be inferred, that the palace on the east bank of 
the Euphrates and [the] temple were the same. If 
this be the case, we may be permitted to conjecture, 
that the Euphrates once pursued a course different 
from that which it now follows, and that it flowed 
between the pyramid of Haroot and Maroot, and the 
mound and the ruins, already mentioned as half a 
mile farther to the west. The present course of the 
river would appear to justify this conclusion ; for it 
bends suddenly towards these mounds, and has the 
appearanc.e of having formerly passed between them. 
Should this conjecture be admitted, then will the 
ruins just mentioned be found to answer the de- 
scription given by the ancients of the materials, size, 
and situation of the two principal edifices in Baby- 
lon. But if not, we shall continue in ignorance 
concerning the remains of the palace ; for the pyra- 
mid is far too distant from the river and the other 
ruins, to incline us to suppose it to have been the 
royal residence." p. 279. 

To Mr. Rich, Resident at Bagdad for the East 
India Company, we are indebted for a still more 
particular account of these monuments of antiquity ; 
his tracts have greatly engaged the attention of the 
public, and have given occasion to much investiga- 
tion. The following are extracts from his first 
work. (Lond. 1815.) "The ruins of Babylon may 
in fact be said almost to commence from Mohawil, 
a very indifferent khan, close to which is a large 
canal, with a bridge over it, the whole country be- 
tween it and Hellah exhibiting at intervals traces of 
building, in which are discoverable burnt and un- 
burnt bricks and bitumen. Three mounds in par- 
ticular attract attention from their magnitude. The 
district called by the natives El-Aredh Babel ex- 
tends on both sides of the Euphrates. The ruins of 
the eastern quarter of Babylon commence about twc 
miles above Hellah, and consist of two large masses 
or mounds connected with, and lying N. and S. of, 
each other ; and several smaller ones which cross the 
plain at different intervals. [At] the northern ter- 
mination of the plain is Pietro Delia Yalle's ruin ; 



BABYLON 



[ 133 1 



BABYLON 



from the S. E. (to which it evidently once joined, 
being only obliterated there by two canals) proceeds 
a narrow ridge or mound of earth, wearing the ap- 
pearance of having been a boundary wall. This 
ridge forms a kind of circular enclosure, and joins 
the S. E. point of the most southerly of the two 
grand masses. The whole area, enclosed by the 
boundary on the east and south, and the river on the 
west, is two miles and six hundred yards from E. to 
W. — as much from Pietro Delia Valle's ruin to the 
southern part of the boundary, or two miles and one 
thousand yards to the most southerly mound of all. 
The first grand mass of ruins [south] is one thou- 
sand one hundred yards in length, and eight hundred 
in the greatest breadth. The most elevated part 
may be about fifty or sixty feet above the level of 
the plain, and it has been dug into for the purpose 
of procuring bricks. Ou the north is a valley of 
five hundred and fifty yards in length, the area of 
which is covered with tussocks of rank grass, [is 
longest from E. to W.] and crossed [from S. to N.] 
by a line of ruins of very little elevation. To this 
succeeds [going N.] the second grand heap of ruins, 
the shape of which is nearly a square of seven hun- 
dred yards length and breadth. This is the place 
where Beauchamp made his observations ; and it 
certainly is the most interesting part of the ruins of 
Babylon : every vestige discoverable in it declares it 
to have been composed of buildings far superior to 
all the rest which have left traces in the eastern 
quarter : the bricks are of the finest description, and, 
notwithstanding this is the grand store-house of them, 
and that the greatest supplies have been and are now 
constantly drawn from it, they appear still to be 
abundant. In all these excavations walls of burnt 
brick, laid in lime mortar of a very good quality, are 
seen ; and in addition to the substances generally 
strewed on the surfaces of all these mounds, we here 
find fragments of alabaster vessels, fine earthen ware, 
marble, and great, quantities of varnished tiles, the 
glazing and coloring of which is surprisingly fresh. 
In a hollow, near the southern part, I found a 
sepulchral urn of earthen ware, which had been 
broken in digging, and near it lay some human 
. bones, which pulverized with the touch. 

" To be more particular in my description of this 
mound : — not more than two hundred yards from 
its northern extremity is a ravine, hollowed out by 
those who dig for bricks, in length near a hundred 
yards, and thirty feet wide by forty or fifty deep. 
On one side of it .a few yards of wall remain stand- 
ing, the face of which is very clear and perfect, and 
it appears to have been the front of some building. 
The opposite side is so confused a mass of rubbish, 
that it should seem the ravine had been worked 
through a solid building. Under the foundations of 
the southern end, an opening is made, which dis- 
covers a subterranean passage, floored and walled 
with large bricks laid in bitumen, and covered over 
with pieces of sand stone, a yard thick and several 
yards long, on which the whole [weight rests] being 
so great as to have given a considerable degree of 
obliquity to the side walls of the passage. It is half 
full of brackish water ; (probably rain water impreg- 
nated with nitre, in filtering through the ruins, which 
Hre all very productive of it ;) and the workmen say 
that some way on it is high enough for a horseman 
to pass upright : as much as I saw of it, it was near 
seven feet in height, and its course to the south. — 
This is described by Beauchamp, who most unac- 
countably imagines it must have been part of the 



city wall. The superstructure over tne passage is 
cemented with bitumen-; other parts of the ravine 
[are cemented] with mortar, and the bricks have all 
writing on them. The northern end of the ravine 
appears to have been crossed by an extremely thick 
wall of yellowish brick, cemented with a brilliant 
white mortar, which has been broken through in 
hollowing it out ; and a little to the north of it I dis- 
covered what Beauchamp saw imperfectly, and un- 
derstood from the natives to be an idol. I was told 
the same, and that it was discovered by an old Arab 
in digging, but that, not knowing what to do with it, 
he covered it up again. [It is probable that many 
fragments of antiquity, especially of the larger kind, 
are lost in this manner. The inhabitants call all 
stones with inscriptions or figures on them idols.] 
On sending for the old man, I set a number of men 
to work, who, after a day's hard labor, laid open 
enough of the statue to show that it was a lion of 
colossal dimensions, standing on a pedestal of a 
coarse kind of gray granite, and of rude workman- 
ship ; in the mouth was a circular aperture into 
which a man might introduce his fist. A little to 
the west of the ravine is the next remarkable object, 
called by the natives the Kasr, or Palace, by which 
appellation I shall designate the whole mass. It is 
a very remarkable ruin, which, being uncovered and 
in part detached from the rubbish, is visible from a 
considerable distance ; but so surprising]}' fresh in 
its appearance, that it was only after a minute in- 
spection that I was satisfied of its being in reality a 
Babylonian remain. It consists of several walls and 
piers, (which face the cardinal points,) eight feet in 
thickness, in some places ornamented with niches, 
and in others strengthened by pilasters and buttresses, 
built of fine burnt brick, (still perfectly clean and 
sharp,) laid in lime-cement of such tenacity, that 
those whose business it is have given up working, on 
account of the extreme difficulty of extracting them 
whole. The tops of these walls are broken, and 
many have been much higher. On the outside they 
have in some places been cleared nearly to the foun- 
dations, but the internal spaces formed by them are 
yet filled with rubbish ; in some parts almost to their 
summit. One part of the wall has been split into 
three parts, and overthrown as if by an earthquake ; 
some detached walls of the same kind, standing at 
different distances, show what remains to have been 
only a small part of the original fabric ; indeed it 
appears that the passage in the ravine, together with 
the wall which crosses its upper end, were connected 
with it. There are some hollows underneath, in 
which several persons have lost their lives ; so that 
no one will now venture into them, and their en- 
trances have become choked up with rubbish. Near 
this ruin is a heap of rubbish, the sides of which are 
curiously streaked by the alternation of its materials, 
the chief part of which, it is probable, was unburnt 
brick, of which I found a small quantity in the 
neighborhood, but no reeds were discoverable in the 
interstices. There are two paths near this ruin, 
made by the workmen who carry down their bricks 
to the river side, whence they are transported by 
boats to Hellah ; and a little to the N. N. E. of it is 
the famous tree which the natives call Athele, and 
maintain to have been flourishing in ancient Baby- 
lon, from the destruction of which they say God 
purposely preserved it, that it might afford Ali a con- 
venient place to tie up his horse after the battle of 
Hellah ! It stands on a kind of ridge, and nothing 
more than one side of its trunk remains ; (by which 



BABYLON 



[ 134 ] 



BABYLON 



it appears to have been of considerable girth ;) yet 
the branches at the top are still perfectly verdant, 
and, gently waving in the wind, produce a nfelan- 
choly rustling sound. It is an evergreen, something 
resembling the lignum viice, and of a kind, I believe, 
not common in this part of the country, though I am 
told there is a tree of the same description at Bassora. 
All the people of the country assert that it is ex- 
tremely dangerous to approach this mound after 
night-tall, on account of the multitude of evil spirits 
by which it is haunted. 

"A mile to the north of the Kasr [palace] and nine 
hundred and fifty yards from the river bank, is the 
last nun of this series, described by Pietro Delia 
Valle. The natives call it Mukallibe, (or, according 
to the vulgar Arab pronunciation of these parts, Mu- 
jelibe,) meaning overturned. It is of an oblong 
shape, irregular in its height and the measurement 
of its sides, which face the cardinal points; the 
northern side being two hundred yards in length ; 
"the southern two hundred and nineteen ; the eastern 
one hundred and eighty-two ; and the western one 
hundred and thirty-six; the elevation of the S. E. 
or highest angle, one hundred and forty-one feet. 
Near the summit, W. appears a low wall, built of 
unburnt bricks, mixed up with chopped straw or 
reeds, and cemented with clay-mortar of great thick- 
ness, having between every layer a layer of reeds. . . . 
All are worn into furrows by the weather ; — in some 
places of great depth. The summit is covered with 
heaps of rubbish ; — whole bricks with inscriptions 
on them are here and there discovered : the whole is 
covered with innumerable fragments of pottery, 
brick, bitumen, pebbles, vitrified brick, or scoria, and 
even shells, bits of glass, and mother-of-pearl. 
There are many dens of wild beasts in various parts, 
in one ot which I found the bones of sheep and other 
animals, and perceived a strong smell like that of a 
lion. I also found quantities of porcupine quills, and 
in most cavities are numbers of bats and owls. It is 
a curious coincidence, that I here first heard the 
oriental account of satyrs. I had always imagined 
the belief of their existence was confined to the West : 
but a Choadar, who was with me when I examined 
this ruin, mentioned, by accident, that in this desert 
an animal is found resembling a man from the head 
to the waist, but having the thighs and legs of a sheep 
or goat ; he said, also, that the Arabs hunt it with 
dogs, and eat the lower parts, abstaining from the 
upper, on account of their resemblance to those of the 
human species. ' But the wild beast of the desert shall 
lie there, and their houses shall be full of doleful crea- 
tures ; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall 
dance there,' Is. xiii. 21." 

It was in this Mujelibe that a quantity of marble 
was found, some years ago, and afterwards a coffin 
of mulberry-wood, containing a human body, en- 
closed in a tight wrapper, and apparently partially 
covered with bitumen. The report of this induced 
Mr. R. to set laborers to work, for the purpose of 
discovery. " They dug into a shaft or hollow pier, 
sixty feet square, lined with fine brick laid in bitu- 
men, and filled up with earth ; in this they found a 
brass spike, some earthen vessels, (one of which was 
very thin, and had the remains of fine white var- 
nish on the outside,) and a beam of date-tree wood. 
On the third day's work they made their way into 
the opening, and discovered a narrow passage 
nearly ten feet high, half filled with rubbish, flat on 
the top, and exhibiting both burnt and unburnt 
bricks; the former with inscriptions on them, and 



the latter, as usual, laid with a layer of reeds be- 
tween every row, except in one or two courses near 
the bottom, where they were cemented with bitu- 
men ; a curious and unaccountable circumstance. 
This passage appeared as if it originally had a lining 
of fine burnt brick, cemented with bitumen, to con- 
ceal the unburnt brick, of which the body of the 
building was principally composed. Fronting it is 
another passage, (or rather a continuation of the 
same to the eastward, in which direction it probably 
extends to a considerable distance, perhaps even all 
along the northern front of the Mujelibe,) choked up 
with earth, in digging out which I discovered, near 
the top, a wooden coffin, containing a skeleton in 
high preservation. Under the head of the coffin 
was a round pebble ; attached to the coffin, on the 
outside, a brass bird, and inside an ornament of the 
same material, which had apparently been suspend- 
ed to some part of the skeleton. These, could any 
doubt remain, place the antiquity of the skeleton 
beyond all dispute. This being extracted, a little 
further in the rubbish the skeleton of a child was 
found ; and it is probable that the whole of the pas- 
sage, whatever its extent may be, was occupied in a 
similar manner. No skulls were found, either here 
or in the sepulchral urns at the bank of the river." 

These are all the great masses of ruins on the 
eastern side of the river. The western side affords 
none immediately adjacent to the river ; but aboiu 
six miles south-west of Hellah is a vast mass, pre- 
viously known to us only by the cursory report of 
Niebuhr, who had not opportunity to examine it. 
It is called by the Arabs Birs Nimrood, by the Jews, 
Nebuchadnezzar's Prison. Of this Mr. Rich says, 
"I visited the Birs under circumstances peculiarly 
favorable to the grandeur of its effect. The morning 
was at first stormy, and threatened a severe fall of 
rain ; but as we approached the object of our jour- 
ney, the heavy cloud separating discovered the Birs; 
frowning over the plain, and presenting the appear 
ance of a circular hill, crowned by a tower, with a 
high ridge extending along the foot of it. Its being 
entirely concealed from our view during the first 
part of the ride, prevented our acquiring the gradual 
idea, in general so prejudicial to effect, and so par- 
ticularly lamented by those who visit the pyramids. 
Just as we were within the proper distance, it burst 
at once upon our sight in the midst of rolling masses 
of thick black clouds, partially obscured by that kind 
of haze whose indistinctness is one great cause of 
sublimity, whilst a few strong catches of stormy 
light, thrown upon the desert in the back ground, 
served to give some idea of the immense extent, and 
dreary solitude, of the wastes in which this venera- 
ble ruin stands. It is a mound of an oblong figure, 
the total circumference of which is seven hundred 
and sixty-two yards. At the eastern side it is not 
more than fifty or sixty feet high; at the western 
it rises in a conical figure to one hundred and ninety- 
eight feet ; and on its summit is a solid pile of brick, 
thirty-seven feet high, by twenty-eight in breadth, 
diminishing in thickness to the top, which is irreg- 
ular. It is built of fine burnt bricks, which have 
inscriptions on them, laid in lime-mortar of admira- 
ble cement. The other parts of the summit of this 
hill are occupied by immense fragments of brick- 
work of no determinate figure, tumbled together, 
and converted into solid vitrified masses, as if they 
had undergone the fiercest fire, or been blown up 
with gunpowder, the layers of bricks being perfectly 
dis< ernible — a curious fact, and one for which I am 



BABYLON 



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BABYLON 



ntterly incapable of accounting. The whole of this 
mound is itself a ruin, channeled by the weather, 
and strewed with the usual fragments, and with 
pieces of black stone, sand stone, and marble. No 
reeds are discernible in any part. At the foot of the 
mound a step may be traced, scarcely elevated above 
the plain, exceeding in extent by several feet the 
base : and there is a quadrangular enclosure round 
the whole, as at the Mujelibe, but much more per- 
fect and of greater dimensions. At a trifling distance 
from the Birs, and parallel with its eastern face, is a 
mound not inferior to the Kasr in elevation ; much 
longer than it is broad. Round the Birs are traces 
of ruins to a considerable extent." 

[This ruin was afterwards examined by Sir R. K. 
Porter, who gives some additional facts and notices. 
He found the base of the brick wall, which is still 
standing, to be entirely free from marks of fire, 
and apparently still in its original condition. He 
thence draws the not improbable conclusion, that 
the destroying agent, whatever it was, must have 
acted from above, in a downward direction ; and 
that the immense fragments of vitrified brick-work 
which lie strewed around, must have fallen from 
some point higher than the summit of the remnant 
of wall at present standing. The fire which pro- 
duced these remarkable effects, must have had the 
glow of the hottest furnace ; and from the character 
of the disruption or fissure of the wall, and of the 
vitrified masses, he is disposed to believe that the 
destruction was effected by lightning. (Travels, 
vol. ii. p. 312.) 

Through the researches of Ker Porter and Mr. 
Rich, the former suggestion of Niebuhr, that this 
ruin is the remains of the tower of Belus, is sup- 
posed by Roseunmeller to be placed nearly beyond 
doubt. (Bib. tfeog. I. ii. p. 24.) The traditional 
name, also, Birs Nimrood, tower of Nimrod, favors 
the supposition, so far as this species of proof is of 
any value. The mound to the eastward of the Birs 
may then be the ruins of ancient buildings occupied 
by the numerous priests and servants of the temple. 
— All these heaps of ruins occupy the area of a large 
parallelogram, around which the remains of a strong 
wall or mound are still distinctly to be traced. 

Delia Valle, major Rennell, and others, as may be 
seen in the preceding extracts, have supposed that 
the tower of Belus is to be sought for in Delia Valle's 
ruin, situated on the east side of the river at the most 
northern point of all the ruins. Against this sup- 
position, K. Porter brings very cogent reasons ; (ii. p. 
346.) but supposes that ruin to have been formerly the 
royal palace or castle. The objection urged by 
Rosenmueller against this latter conjecture is a strong 
one, viz. that this ruin lies quite out of the city 
itself, being connected, according to the drawings, 
with the wall which here sweeps around it ; while 
it is also too remote from the river, which divided 
the palace or castle into two parts. The latter 
writer, with great probability, conjectures, that we 
see here the ruins of a fortification or citadel, which 
commanded and protected the walls of the city on 
this side. *R. 

Descending from this ruin southward, we arrive at 
that grand mass of ruins, called by tradition the Kasr, 
or palace. There is no difficulty in deferring to this 
tradition ; or even in believing that perhaps the sin- 
gle remaining tree, the Athele, may be a descend- 
ant of some which formerly composed the ornaments 
of the famous hanging gardens. This building has, 
evidently, been constructed with the greatest care ; 



and its peculiar "freshness," on which major Ren- 
nell founds an argument against its Babylonish 
origin, appears to be nothing beyond what might be 
expected from more careful selection of materials, 
better manipulation and workmanship, and, in one 
word — from royal liberality and patronage. Uni- 
formity of plan is seldom consulted in the palaces of 
eastern monarchs, nor is the arrangement of their 
several offices, such as European judgment would 
prefer. Unless, therefore, we could suppose that the 
palace of Semiramis, or of Nebuchadnezzar, or of 
any other Babylonish monarch, with the additions 
of later times, was conceived oil principles of more 
than common correctness, we must allow that in its 
best condition it was little other than a labyrinth ; 
and, consequently, its ruins can be nothing but 
confusion. 

Mr. Rich says, (Second Memoir, p. 10.) "The 
strong embankment built by the Babylonian mon- 
archs was intended to prevent the overflow, not to 
secure its running in one channel ; and ever since 
the embankment was ruined, the river has expended 
itself in periodical inundations. This is the case in 
many parts of its progress ; for instance at Feluja, 
the inundation from whence covers the whole face 

of the country as far as the walls of Bagdad 

with a depth of water sufficient to render it navigable 

for rafts and flat-bottomed boats At Hellah, 

notwithstanding the numerous canals drawn from it, 
when it rises it overflows many parts of the western 
desert ; and on the east it insinuates itself into the 
hollows and more le vel parts of the ruins, converting 
them into lakes and morasses." The reader, who 
has seen the overflowing Nile called sea, by Nahum, 
in the instance of Memphis, will, without reluctance, 
allow the same appellation to the overflowing Eu- 
phrates ; and truly enough may it be said, that the 
sea has come up over Babylon ; since the more level 
parts of the ruins are converted into lakes and mo- 
rasses, during the seasons of the river's swelling; 
though at intervals these swamps may be tolera- 
bly dry. 

It is evident from what has been adduced, that no 
other remains of ancient Babylon than those of its 
public buildings can now be discovered or distin- 
guished : the houses of individuals, which Herodotus 
describes as being three stories in height, have dis- 
appeared, with all their accommodations and accom- 
paniments. No doubt they had gardens and pleasure 
grounds, embellished and refreshed by streams of 
water, and by plantations affording shade and pri- 
vacy, those indispensable luxuries in the East. These 
are destroyed ; no trace of them exists ; and, there- 
fore, we cannot wonder that more accessible retreats, 
in which those who carried them captive demanded 
of the forlorn Israelites to sing the Lord's song in 
this foreign land, should have shared in the general 
fate. We see by what means the willows on which 
they hanged their harps might grow among the wa- 
ter-courses ; but the water-courses are ruined, and 
the willows are extinct. 

Whether we should seek the exterior walls of the 
province of Babylon in the direction taken by cap- 
tain Frederick is of small importance, since we have 
ventured to conjecture that they were not distin- 
guished by magnitude or solidity: whether those 
more proximate to the city,. and especially whether 
those which have left long mounds, in ruins, bui 
which evidently enclosed the temple and the palace, 
may be any part of ..the broad walls, is a question 
of greater importance, and, at present of difficult 



BABYLON 



[ 136 ] 



BAB 



solution. " Whether these long enclosures have ever 
been faced with brick, whether they have ever had a 
ditch before them, and whether their breadth answers 
to that assigned to the famous walls of Babylon by 
ancient writers, we can neither affirm nor deny, till 
possessed of more accurate information. 

Mr. Rich has very properly called the attention of 
his readers to the accomplishment of that prophecy 
of Isaiah which predicts the overthrow of Babylon, 
" as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha. It 
shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in 
from generation to generation : neither shall the 
Arabian pitch tent there ; neither shall the shepherds 
make their fold there: but wild beasts of the desert 
shall lie there ; and their houses shall be full of dole- 
ful creatures ; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs 
shall dance there : and the wild beasts shall cry in 
their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant 
palaces." The prophet adds in the following chap- 
ter: (xiv. 23.) "I will make it a possession for the 
bittern, (see Bitter?.',) and pools of water" — rather, 
stagnant marshes of reeds. Almost every word of 
these prophecies may be justified from Mr. Rich him- 
self: he mentions his perception of a strong smell 
like that of a lion ; — his finding bones of sheep, &c. 
doubtless of animals carried there and devoured by 
the wild beasts, many dens of which are in various 
parts; he found quantities of porcupine quills; — 
numbers of bats and owls ; — and, to close the list of 
these doleful creatures, here he learned the existence 
of satyrs ; — here he was cautioned against the vio- 
lence of evil spirits after night-fall ; — and, in short, 
his "tussocks of rank grass" are no other than the 
"reeds of the stagnant marshes" of the prophet. 

There would be something extremely melancholy 
in the fate of Babylon, its desolation, its disappear- 
ance, its external annihilation, after so vigorous and 
so long continued exertion to raise it to pre-eminence, 
did we not know that its pride was excessive, and its 
power was cruel. The fierceness of war was the 
delight of its kings. Nebuchadnezzar himself had 
been a warrior of no limited ambition ; the Chaldeans 
were bitter, hasty, sanguinary, ferocious ; and to read 
the accounts of their inhumanity prepares us for a 
reverse, which we await, but do not regret. There 
is something in the idea of retaliation from which 
the human mind is not averse — " As she hath done, 
so do to her ;" is the language not of prophecy or of 
poetry only, but of "even-handed justice," in the 
common acceptation of mankind. It is not only be- 
cause we are better acquainted with the miseries in- 
flicted on Jerusalem and the sanctuary that we admit 
these feelings in respect to Babylon : there can be 
no doubt, but what other nations had equally suffered 
under her oppression : the people who are emphat- 
ically called on to execute the vengeance determined 
against her, had certainly been galled under her yoke. 
Cyrus and Xerxes, who captured her city and de- 
stroyed her temple, were but the avengers of their 
country. Alexander considered himself in the same 
light. It is rather from a deficiency of historical 
accounts than from the facts of the case, that Babylon 
has been supposed to have been reduced by a gradual 
decay only. Already have more symptoms of vio- 
lence been discovered than were formerly supposed, 
and it is more than possible, that our intercourse with 
eastern writers may bring us acquainted with events, 
which will enable us to account for appearances that 
now present nothing but uncertainties. Idolatry took 
its rise at Babylon, was fostered and protected there, 
and from thence was diffused throughout (at least) 



the western world : the liberal arts, the more recon 
dite sciences, with every power of the human mind 
were rendered subservient to systematic idolatry.— 
Its doom, therefore, must correspond with its crimes 
It is enough for us, that we know its punishment to 
be just; and that we are happily enabled to trace in 
its ruins the unequivocal and even the verbal accom- 
plishment of those predictions which denounced its 
calamities — the monuments of miseries long deserved, 
but not remitted though postponed. 

The following are the comparative dimensions of 
the principal ruins of ancient Babylon. 

Mujelibe, circumference 2111 feet; height remain- 
ing on the S. E. 141 feet. 

Kasr, or Palace, square, 700 yards. 

Sea, or Lake, by the plain, length 800 yards ; breadth 
550 yards, by measurement. 

Bridge, (supposed,) length GOO yards ; breadth nearly 
100 yards, ruins. 

Temple of Belus, (Herodotus,) square, 500 feet. 

Temple of Belus, (supposed,) with the buildings near 
it, ruins, length 1100 yards; breadth 800 yards ; 
height remaining 50 or (30 feet. 

Birs Nimrood, circumference 2286 feet ; height re- 
maining, E. 50 or 60 feet ; W. 198 feet ; tower, 
235 feet. 

Extent of the whole enclosure, above two miles and 
a half, N. and S. — the same E. and W. 

II. BABYLON, a city in Egypt, on the borders 
of Arabia, not far from Heliopolis and Aphrodisiopo- 
lis, and not very distant from Cairo. It is mentioned 
by Ptolemy, who calls it Babylis. (Compare Josephus, 
Antiquities of the Jews, book ii. chap. 13.) Diodorus 
Siculus says it was built by the captives brought by 
Sesostris from Chaldea; but Josephus says it was 
built in the time of Cambyses, by some Persians 
whom he permitted to settle there. Some critics 
have supposed that Peter wrote his first Epistle from 
this Babylon ; but we have no evidence that he ever 
was in Egypt ; and probability leads to the contrary 
conclusion. 

[BABYLONIA, the province of which Babylon 
was the capital; now the Babylonian or Arabian 
Irak, which constitutes the pashalik of Bagdad. This 
celebrated province included the tract of country 
contained between the Euphrates and the Tigris, 
bounded north by Mesopotamia and Assyria, and 
south by the Persian gulf. This gulf was indeed its 
only definite and natural boundary ; for towards the 
north, towards the east or Persia, and towards the 
west or desert Arabia, its limits were quite indefinite. 
It is, however, certain, that both in ancient and mod- 
ern times, important tracts on the eastern bank of the 
Tigris, and on the western bank of the Euphrates, 
and still more on both banks of their united stream, 
the ancient Pasitigris and modern Shatt el- Arab, were 
reckoned to Babylonia, or Irak el-Arab. 

The most ancient, name of the country is Shinar, 
Gen. x. 10; Dan. i. 1, 2. Afterwards Babel, Baby- 
Ion, and Babylonia, became its common appellation ; 
with which, at a later period, Chaldea, or the land of 
the Chaldeans, was used as synonymous, after this 
people had got the whole into their possession. Isaiah, 
in the superscription of one of his prophecies re- 
specting the destruction of Babylon, (xxi. 1.) calls 
this land the desert or plain of the sea. This we must 
regard as a poetical, or rather, perhaps, a symbolical, 
epithet, derived probably from the circumstance, that 
before the erection of dikes an 1 mounds by Semira 



BABYLONIA 



L 137 ] 



BABYLONIA 



mis, the whole of this flat region was often over- 
flowed by the adjacent rivers, and thus actually re- 
sembled, and might with propriety be called, a sea. 
See Gesen. and Rosenm. on Is. xxi. 1. 

Babylonia is an extensive plain, interrupted by 
no hill or mountain, consisting of a fatty brownish 
soil, and subject to the annual inundations of the Ti- 
gris and Euphrates, more especially of the latter, whose 
banks are lower and flatter than those of the Tigris. 
The Euphrates commonly rises about twelve feet 
above its ordinary level ; and continues at this height 
from the end of April till June. These frequent inun- 
dations of course compelled the earliest tillers of the 
soil to provide means for drawing off the superabun- 
dant water, and so distributing it over the whole sur- 
face, that those tracts which were in themselves less 
well- watered, might receive the requisite irrigation. 
From this cause, the whole of Babylonia came to be 
divided up by a multitude of larger and smaller ca- 
nals ; in part passing entirely through from one river 
to the other ; in part, also, losing themselves in die 
interior, and serving only the purposes of irrigation. 
(Herodot. i. 193.) These canals seem to be the livers 
of Babylon spoken of in Ps. exxxvii. 1. The most 
important of these were the JYahar Malca, or the 
king's river, which flowed from the Euphrates S. E. 
into the Tigris; the Pallacopas, drawn from the 
Euphrates, above Babylon, and emptying its waters 
into the lakes or marshes formed by it on the S. W. 
borders of the province towards Arabia; (into which 
channel Cyrus turned the main stream of the Eu- 
phrates in his assault upon the city j) and the Maar- 
sares, which flowed parallel to the Euphrates, at the 
distance of some miles from it toward the west. 

Besides this multitude of canals, which are now 
mostly vanished without trace, Babylonia contained 
several large lakes, formed partly by the inundations 
of the two great rivers, and partly the work of art. 
The largest of these is described by Herodotus, (i. 
185.) and was the work of the celebrated queen Ni- 
tocris. It was situated in the northern part of Baby- 
lonia, far above the city, not very remote from the 
river, to which it ran parallel for a great distance. 
The earth which was excavated from it, served to 
build the dikes and mounds along the river ; and the 
whole shore of the lake was encased by a wall of 
stone. Besides this, at a distance below the city, 
there were on the west side of the Euphrates, tracts 
of low marshy land, which were filled with water 
from the river and canals, and extended far into the 
Arabian desert. Babylonia, therefore, was a land 
abounding in water ; and Jeremiah might therefore 
well say of it, that it dwelt upon many waters, Jer. 
li. 13. 

Notwithstanding the extreme heat which reigns 
here for the greater portion of the year, and which 
compels the inhabitants to pass the most of the day 
in subterraneous apartments, called Seralaps, the air 
is in general pure and wholesome, excepting around 
Basra and the low regions in the vicinity. In sum- 
mer the atmosphere is so clear, that at a very short 
distance from the river, neither dampness nor dew 
is to be perceived ; and were it not for the morasses 
formed by the inundations, which might easily be 
reclaimed, the country might still be what it was 
anciently, the most fertile, perhaps, on earth. Thus 
Herodotus describes it, (i. 193.) as rewarding the dil- 
igent irrigation and tillage of its ancient cultivators 
by a return of two hundred and even three hundred 
fold. On the other hand, the country was destitute 
of large trees, and had neither the fig, olive, nor 



vine; though date and palm trees were common 
But the want of timber for building was made up by 
abundant supplies of the best of clay for bricks, 
which, whether burned, or dried in the sUn, acquired 
such hardness, that they have endured without injury 
the storms and violence of ages, although scattered 
and exposed to the weather in the utmost degree. 
Mortar, also, was abundantly prepared and furnished 
by the hand of nature herself. Eight days' journey 
above Babylon, on the small river Is, near the city 
Hit, were copious fountains of naphtha, or bitumen, 
which was used for cement, by intermingling with it 
layers of straw or reeds. Tins process is described 
by Herodotus ; and the present ruins of Babylon 
exhibit this cement and these layers in perfect 
preservation. 

The cities and places mentioned in the Bible as 
lying in Babylonia, besides Babylon the capital, are 
Dura, the great plain around Babylon, where Nebu- 
chadnezzar set up the gigantic golden image, (Dan. hi. 
1.) Erech, Accad, Calneh or Calno, etc. which 
may be seen under these articles respectively. 

The geographical situation of Babylon was un- 
commonly favorable for commercial pursuits. By 
means of its great navigable waters, it received from 
above the productions of Syria and Asia Minor, of 
Media and Armenia ; and from below, through the 
Persian gulf, those of India, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, 
and the whole of Africa. Thus Babylon became 
the repository of all the treasures of Asia and Afric a ; 
and is, therefore, justly termed by Ezekiel, a city of 
merchants, Ezek. xvii. 4. Babylonian garments or 
mantles, renowned for their fineness and splendor, 
seem early to have been articles of exportation ; see 
Josh. vii. 21. Indeed, the Babylonians, from all the 
hints contained in the Bible, and also from the more 
detailed accounts of Herodotus, (i. 195.) seem to have 
been a people who loved splendor, and who had be- 
come accustomed to a multitude of artificial wants, 
which could not be satisfied without a commer- 
cial intercourse with many and even distant nations. 

The Babylonians were celebrated, even in the 
earliest ages, for their knowledge of the sciences ; 
and, more especially, they had cultivated astronomy 
to a very important extent. Professor Ideler, of Berlin, 
has shown, that in the ancient calculations of the 
eclipses of the moon, quoted by Ptolemy from the 
observations of the Chaldeans, they are found to dif- 
fer from modern calculations of the same eclipses 
only, at most, in the minutes. (Memoirs of the Berlin 
Acad, for 1814 and 1815.) It was not all, however, 
a pure love of science, that thus led them to the culti- 
vation of astronomy ; but the belief in the power of the 
stars over the fates of men and over the weather ; in 
short, an astrological faith, which could not but easily 
lead them to pay divine honors to the heavenly bodies. 
(See Baal, Astaroth, Babel.) This sort of astro- 
nomical and astrological knowledge, transmitted down 
through many centuries, was the exclusive possession 
of a caste of priests or learned men, which, as also in 
Egypt and Persia, was divided into different classes. 
They are called, generally, wise men, learned ; also 
Chaldeans, (Dan. ii. 4, 5, 10.) from the nation with 
which they probably migrated to Babylon. As 
Nebuchadnezzar made his entry into Jerusalem, aftet 
the capture of the city, there was among his train of 
notiles the Rab-mag, which, although treated in the 
English version as a proper name, means, doubtless, 
the chief of the magi; (Jerem. xxxix. 3, 13.) but 
whether this term was a general name for the whole 
caste of the priests, or only of a particular class, can- 



BABYLONIA 



[ 138 J 



BAC 



not be determined. To them belonged also, no 
doubt, the astrologers and slar-gazers mentioned in 
_sa xlvii. 13. 

The language of the ancient Babylonians was un- 
doubtedly a branch of the great Semitish stock, to 
which, also, the Hebrew and Arabic belong ; and was 
probably not very, if at all, different from the East 
Aramaean, or Chaldee. The written character was 
also the same as that of the Chaldeans. Later Jew- 
ish writers indeed inaccurately call this the Assyrian, 
inasmuch as they take the name Assyria in its most 
extensive sense, as including Babylonia and Chaldea, 
etc. See Assyria! 

According to the Bible, the kingdom of Babylonia 
was the earliest founded after the flood. Nimrod was 
its founder; and he afterwards extended his con- 
quests over Assyria, Gen. x. 8, 9, 10. The Greek 
and Roman writers knew nothing of Nimrod ; with 
them Belus was the founder of Babel and the Baby- 
lonish kingdom. But as Bel, (Baal,) which signifies 
lord, may very probably have been the general title 
of the earliest kings, so Belus and Nimrod can easily 
have been one person. Several centuries later, in 
the time of Abraham, we hear of a king of Shinar, or 
Babylon, Amraphel, Gen. xiv. 1. From this time 
onward, there is no mention of Babylonia in the ear- 
lier historical books of the Old Testament. Ptolemy 
of Alexandria, in the second century of our era, gives 
us a catalogue of the kings of Babylonia, which he 
probably took from the writings of Berosus. This 
begins with Nabonassar, in 747 B. C. who was 
without doubt a vassal of Assyria ; for among the 
colonists sent by Shalmaneser king of Assyria to Sa- 
maria, about 730 B. C. there were also Babylonians ; 
a proof that Babylonia at that time was dependent on 
Assyria, although it might have its own king. Such 
a vassal or viceroy was also Merodach-baladan, 
who about 711 B. C. sent messengers to Hezekiah, 
to congratulate him on his restoration, and form an 
alliance with him against the Assyrians, 2 Kings xx. 
12; Isa.xxxix. 1. This Merodach-baladan is also men- 
tioned under the same name by Berosus, (see Gese- 
nius, Com. z. Isa. i. p. 999.) who relates of him, that 
he usurped the throne after having murdered his 
predecessor Acises ; that after six months he him- 
self was slain by Belibus, or Elibus, who undertook 
to maintain himself as an independent king. But in 
the third year of his reign, he was conquered by 
Sennacherib, who made his son, Esar-haddon, vice- 
roy of Babylon. Nevertheless, before the lapse of a 
century, the empire of Assyria was destined to be 
overthrown by a power from Babylonia, viz. the 
Chaldeans. (See this article.) This warlike people, 
called in Scripture the Chasdim, who had formerly 
inhabited the mountainous tracts in the north of 
Mesopotamia and Assyria, had now become fixed in 
Babylonia^and must, in a very short time, have ac- 
quired the upper hand in the Assyrian empire. For 
about a century after Esar-haddon, the Babylonian 
viceroy Nabopolassar made himself independent 
of Assyria, and, in alliance with Cyaxares of Media, 
made war upon and conquered that country. (See 
Assyria.) That Nabopolassar was a Chaldean, is 
manifest, from the circumstance that there is no fur- 
ther mention whatever of Assyrian kings, but only 
of Chaldean sovereigns. In his old age he assumed 
as the partner of his throne his son, the celebrated 
Nebuchadnezzar. (See this article.) Under his 
reign the city of*Babylon and the empire of Babylo- 
aia attained to their highest pitch of splendor. He 
died after a reign of 35 years, in the year 562 B. C. ! 



After his death the Babylonish-Chaldee empire has 
tened rapidly to its ruin. His son and successor, 
Evil-merodach, (2 Kings xxv. 7 ; Jerem. lii. 31.) 
whose queen was probably the celebrated Nitocris, 
became so odious by his vices, that he was murdered 
in the second year of his reign, by his brother-in-law, 
Neriglissar, who then mounted the throne. He 
was followed, after a reign of four years, by his son 
Laborosoarchod, a minor, who, after nine months, 
was murdered by several of his nobles. These 
placed Nabonnid, or Labynet (the Belshazzar of 
Daniel) upon the throne, who was a son of Evil- 
merodach and grandson of Nebuchadnezzar ; and 
during his minority his mother Nitocris seems to 
have acted as regent. But at this time the Medo- 
Persian kingdom was every where acquiring strength 
and extent under Cyrus ; and at length Babylon, and 
with it the Chaldean empire, fell before his arms, and 
became incorporated with the empire of the Persians, 
about the year 538 B. C. See Babylon. 

Of the internal constitution of the Babylonian em- 
pire, we only know, in general, that its provinces were 
under governors, or viceroys, pachas, — a constitution 
which seems to be common to all the oriental states 
of ancient and modern times. But the number of 
provinces is unknown. *R. 

BACA, the valley of, or of tears, (Psalm lxxxiv. 
6.) perhaps the same as the valley of Tears, or Weep- 
ers, or Bocliim, Judg. ii. 1 ; 2 Sam. v. 23. In a moral 
sense the vale of tears signifies this world, which, to 
good men, presents only an occasion of grief and 
tears, because of the disorders that prevail, of the 
continual dangers to which we are exposed, and the 
absence of those eternal good things which we ought 
to long after. The Psalmist says, " Blessed is the 
man whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the 
ways of them, who, passing through the valley of 
Baca, or tears, make it a well, the rain also filleth the 
pools ;" from which it has been generally inferred 
that the. valley of Baca was a dreary, thirsty, unde- 
sirable place — the very reverse of what appears to be 
the fact. The following is from De la Roque : (Voy. 
de Syrie, p. 116.) " I was extremely satisfied with our 
walk ; which, besides, gave me an opportunity of 
admiring the most agreeable territory, and the best 
cultivated, perhaps, in all Syria, lying the length of 
the plain from north to south, to the mountains which 
separate it from that of Damascus. This plain, or, 
more properly speaking, the whole territory of Baal- 
bec, to the mountains, is named in Arabic, Al-bkaa, 
which we express by Bekaa. It is watered by the 
river Letanus, and by many other streams ; it is a 
delicious, I might say an enchanted, country, and in 
nothing inferior to the country of Damascus, which 
is so renowned among the orientals. Beka produces, 
among other things, those beautiful and excellent 
grapes which are sent to various parts, under the 
name of grapes of Damascus." This seems to be the 
very same place meant.by the Psalmist, and to have 
retained (or recovered, as many places .have, under 
the present Arab government) its ancient appellation. 
It is among the mountains of Lebanon, north of 
Judea. [It need not, however, be understood, that 
there was really a valley called Baca, or the vcdley of 
weeping: The Psalmist in exile, or at least at a dis- 
tance. from Jerusalem, is speaking of the privileges 
and happiness of those who are permitted to make 
the usual pilgrimages to that city in order to worship 
Jehovah in the temple : " They love the ways which 
lead thither ; yea, though they must pass through 
rough and dreary paths, even a vale of tears, yet such 



BAD 



L 139 j 



BAL 



are their hope and joy of heart, that all this is to them 
as a well watered country, a land crowned with the 
blessings of the early rain." Something like this 
would seerr to be the sense of the passage. The 
plain or valley of Baalbec, referred to above, could 
not of course lie in the way of any Israelites on such 
a pilgrimage ; while its fertility is utterly inappro- , 
priate to the sentiment of the Psalmist. R. 

BACCHIDES, the general of the Syrian king 
Demetrius, and governor beyond the river, *. e. the 
Euphrates, I Mace. vii. 8. The king sent him with 
an army against Judea, to establish the notorious 
Alcimus (q. v.) by force in the dignity of high-priest, 
161 B. C. He left with Alcimus a body of troops, 
that he might maintain himself against Judas Macea- 
bseus. But, as Judas continued to make progress, 
Bacchides returned the next year with a chosen ar- 
my, vanquished and slew Judas at Laisa, (1 Mace, 
ix. 18.) held Jonathan afterwards at bay, and fortified 
Jerusalem ; (ix. 49, 50.) but after the death of Alcimus, 
in the next year, he again withdrew his forces. In 
die following year, (158 B.C.) however, he returned 
to Judea on the invitation of some of the discontented 
Jews ; but concluded a peace with Jonathan on rea- 
sonable terms, and left him to govern the Jewish 
state, 1 Mace. ix. 70, seq. # R. 

BACKBITE, to speak evil of an absent person. 
Paul classes this sin with several others of a heinous 
nature, Rom. i. 30. 

BACKSLIDE, to depart gradually and insensibly 
from the faith, love and practice of God's truth, Jer. 
iii. 6—14 ; Hos. iv. 16. 

BADGERS' SKINS. Among those inadvertent 
renderings, which, for want of better information on 
oriental natural history, have been adopted, in our 
public translation, that of "badgers' skins" for the 
covering of the tabernacle, (Exod. xxv. 5, etal.) and 
for shoes, (Ezek. xvi. 10.) has been liable to great 
exception. The badger is an inhabitant of cold 
countries, certainly not of Arabia, and is rare, even 
where it breeds ; as in England. It i;> a small, in- 
offensive animal, of the bear genus, and remains 
torpid all winter. 

The ancient versions, for the most part, took the 
word Tahash to signify a color, a violet color, to which 
the rams' skins were dyed ; and for this opinion Bo- 
chart contends : but the rabbins insist on its being 
an animal ; and Aben Ezra thinks it to be of the 
bull kind ; some animal which is thick and fat ; and 
in this sense the word appears to be the same as the 
Arabic Dahash, fat, oily. The conjecture, then, of 
those who refer the Tahash to the seal, is every way 
credible; as in our own island the seal is famous 
for its fat or oil, which, in default of whale oil, is 
used for similar purposes. Moreover, seal-skins, on 
account of their durability, are used to cover trunks 
and boxes, to defend them from the weather ; and 
as the skin of the Tahash was used for making shoes, 
(Ezek. xvi. 10.) so the skin of the seal may be, and is, 
tanned into as good leather as calf-skin itself. 

It remains, then, to be proved that an animal, fit 
for the purpose, was readily procurable by the Israel- 
ites in the wilderness ; for this we quote Thevenot, 
(p. 166.) who, being at Tor, a port on the Red sea, 
says, "But they could not furnish me with any 
thing of a certain fish, which they call a sea-man. 
However, I got the hand of one since. This fish is 
taken in the Red sea, about little isles, that are close 
by Tor. It is a great, strong fish, and hath nothing 
extraordinary but two hands, which are indeed like 
the hands of a man, saving that the fingers are 



joined together vvith la skin like the foot of a goose ; 
but the skin of the fsh is like the skin of a wild goat, or 
chamois. When they spy that fish, they strike him 
on the back with harping irons, as they do whales, 
ind so kill him. They use the skin of it for making 
bucklers, which are musket proof." Whether this be 
a species of seal must be left undetermined ; as 
nothing is said of its coming ashore, or being am-, 
phibious ; nevertheless, it may be the Tahash of the 
Hebrews. Niebuhr says, (p. 157, Fr. edit.) " A mer- 
chant of Abushahr called Dahash that fish which the 
captains of English vessels called porpoise, and the 
Germans sea-hog, or dolphin. In my voyage from 
Maskat to Abushahr, I saw a prodigious quantity to- 
gether, near Ras Mussendom, who all were going 
the same way, and seemed to swim with great ve- 
hemence." 

[Gesenius adopts the same opinion, on account of 
the similarity of the Arabic name Dahash, which 
means, properly, the dolphin, but is also applied to 
the seal genus. On many of the small islands of 
the Red sea, around the peninsula of Sinai, are 
found seals ; (hence insula phocarum, Strab. xvi. p. 
776.) likewise, a species of sea-cow, called also sea- 
man or sea-camel, the skin of which is an inch 
thick, and is used by the Arabs of the present day 
for shoe-leather. Burckhardt remarks that he " saw 
parts of the skin of a large fish, killed on the coast, 
which was an inch in thickness, and is employed by 
the Arabs instead of leather for sandals." (Travels 
in Syria and the Holy Land, p. 582.) — Rosenmuel- 
ler(on Ex. xxv. 5.) inclines to the ancient rendering, 
which makes the word denote some color. R. 

BAGOAS, Holofernes' chamberlain, who intro- 
duced Judith into his master's tent. The word Ba- 
goas is used for eunuchs in general, and often oc- 
curs in the history of the East. 

BAHURIM, a town of Benjamin, (2 Sam. iii. 16 
xvii. 5 ; xvi. 18.) probabh built by the young men 
who escaped the destruction of their tribe. It is 
thought to have been also named Almon, (Josh. xxi. 
18.) and Alemath, 1 Chron. vi. 60. 

BAJITH, a tower of Moab, Isaiah xv.2. 

BALA, a city of the tribe of Simeon, Josh. xix. 3 ; 
called also Bi'lhah, 1 Chr. iv. 29. Josephus also 
speaks of a place Bala, Ant. vi. 6. 

BALAAM, a prophet, or diviner, of the city Pe- 
thor, on the Euphrates, Numb. xxii. Balak, king of 
Moab", having seen the multitude of Israel, and fear- 
ing they would attack his country, sent for Balaam, 
to come and curse them. His messengers having 
declared their errand, Balaam, during the night, con- 
sulted God; who forbade his going.' Balak after- 
wards sent others, of superior quality : Balaam still 
declined, but kept them in his house that night; 
during which the Lord said to him, " If the men 
come to call thee, rise up and go with them ; but 
yet the word that I shall say unto thee, that sbalt 
thou do." Balaam, therefore, rose up in the morning, 
(not staying for the signal appointed to him, of 
being called by the messengers, as appears,) and 
went with the' envoys of Balak. God, perceiving 
this froward evil disposition of his heart, was angry ; 
and an angel stood in the way to stop him. This, 
Balaam's ass seeing, while the diviner himself was, 
probably, lost in thought, turned out of the road 
way, into the fields. Balaam, however, forced her 
into the way again, and this occurred a second and 
a third time. (See Ass of Balaam.) At length. 
Balaam was made sensible of the divine interposi 
tion, and offered to return home ; but, receiving oer 



BALAAM 



[ wo ] 



B aL 



mission, he continued his journey to Balak, who 
complained of his reluctance in coining. " Now I 
am come (said Balaam) I can say nothing: the word 
that God putteth into my mouth, that must I speak." 
Balak conducted him to a feast in his capital, (Kir- 
jath Huzoth,) and the next morning carried him to 
the high places of Baal, and showed him the ex- 
tremity of the Iraelitish camp. Here Balaam de- 
sired seven altars to be built, and a bullock and a 
ram to be offered on each altar, Numb, xxiii. ad fin. 
Balak stood by the burnt offering, while Balaam 
withdrew to his enchantments. God bade him re- 
turn, and utter an oracular blessing on Israel, and 
not a curse. This he did a second and a third time, 
to the extreme mortification of Balak, who dismissed 
him in great anger; Balaam declaring, that he could 
not " go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to 
do either good or bad of his own mind." He sub- 
sequently foretold what Israel should, in future 
times, do to the nations round about; and, after hav- 
ing advised Balak to engage Israel in idolatry and 
whoredom, that they might offend God and be for- 
saken by him, quitted his territories for his own 
land, Numb. xxiv. 14 ; Mic. vi. 5 ; 2 Pet. ii. 15 ; Jude 
11 ; Rev. ii. 14. This bad counsel was pursued : 
the young women of Moab inveigled the Hebrews 
to the feasts of Baal-Peor ; persuaded them to idol- 
atry and seduced them to impurity. God com- 
manded Moses to avenge this insidious procedure, 
and he declared war against the Midianites, of whom 
he slew many, and killed five of their princes, Numb, 
xxv. 17, 18. Among those who fell on this occa- 
sion was Balaam, xxxi. 2, 7, 8. 

The rabbins relate many other particulars of Ba- 
laam ; as that at first he was one of Pharaoh's coun- 
sellors ; according to others, he was the father of Jan- 
nes and Jambres, two eminent magicians ; that he 
squinted, and was lame ; that he was the author of 
that passage in JYumbeis, ivherein his history is re- 
lated ; and that Moses inserted it, in like manner as 
he inserted other writings. 

It has been much questioned whether Balaam 
were a true prophet of the Lord, or a mere diviner, 
magician, or fortune-teller. Origen and others say, 
that all his power consisted in magic and cursing ; 
because the devil, by whose influence he acted, can 
only curse and injure. Theodoret, Cyril of Alexan- 
dria, and Ambrose, think he prophesied without 
being aware of the import of what he said ; but Je- 
rome seems to have adopted the opinion of the He- 
brews — that Balaam knew the true God, and was a 
true prophet, though corrupted by avarice. Moses 
certainly says, he consulted the Lord ; and calls the 
Lord, his God, (Numb. xxii. 18.) but this might have 
been merely because he was of the posterity of 
Shem, which patriarch maintained the worship of the 
Lord among his descendants ; so that, while the 
posterity of Ham fell into idolatry, and the posterity 
of Japheth were settled at a distance, in Europe, the 
Shemites maintained the worship of Jehovah, and 
knew his holiness and jealousy. This appears 
in the profligate advice which Balaam gives Ba- 
lak, to seduce the Israelites to transgress against 
Jehovah, with the holiness of whose nature the 
perverted prophet seems to have been well ac- 
quainted. 

It is worthy of notice in the account of Balaam's 
divinations, (Numb. xxiv. 1.) that " When he saw that 
it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not as 
at other times to seek for enchantments ;" i. e. he did 
not pretend to go away and seek for omens and 



practise incantations, but oegan at once to sl .ak n 
the name of the Lord. 

BALADAN, the father of Meroch-Baladan, the 
king of Babylon, who sent messengers to Hezekiah, 
2 Kings xx. 12 ; Isa. xxxix. 1. He is by many sup- 
posed to have been the same as Nabonassar, a for- 
mer Icing of Babylon ; but this does not accord with 
the • account of Berosus. See in Babylonia, and 
Assyria. R. 

BALAK, son of Zippor, king of Moab, being terri- 
fied at the multitude of Israel who were encamped on 
the confines of his country, sent deputies to Balaam 
the diviner, desiring him to come and curse them, or 
devote them to destruction, Numb. xxii. — xxv, (See 
Balaam.) Balaam having advised him to engage 
the Israelites in sin, Balak, politically, as he thought, 
followed his counsel ; which proved equally per- 
nicious to him who gave it, to those who followed 
it, and to those agaiust whom it was intended. The 
Israelites, who were betrayed by it, were slain by 
their brethren who continued unperverted ; Balaam, 
the author of it, was involved in the slaughter of the 
Midianites ; and Balak, who had executed it by 
means of the Midianite women, saw his allies at- 
tacked, their country plundered, and himself charged 
with being the cause of their calamity. 

BALANCE, in Scripture, an instrument much of 
the same nature, probably, as the Roman steelyard, 
where the weight is hung at one end of the beam, 
and the article to be weighed at the other end. 
Balances, in the plural, generally appear to mean 
scales,- — a pair of scales. See Weighing. 

BALDNESS is a natural effect of old age, in 
which period of life the hair of the head, wanting 
nourishment, falls off, and leaves the head naked. 
Baldness was used as a token of mourning ; and is 
threatened to the voluptuous daughters of Israel, 
instead of well-set hair ; (Isa. iii. 24. see also Mic. i 
16.) and instances of it occur, Isa. xv. 2; Jer. xlvii. 
5 ; Ezek. vii. 18 ; Amos viii. 10. 

BALM, see Balsam. 

BALSAM-TREE, or Balsam. The word Balsa- 
mon may be derived from Baal-shemen, ico-tys, i. e. 
lord of oil ; or the most precious of perfumed oils. 
The word is not in the Hebrew of the Song ot 
Solomon, but we find the vii eyards of Engedi, (i. 
14.) which are believed to have been gardens of the 
balsam-tree. In Ezek. xxvii. 17. we find the word 
pannag ; which the Vulgate translates Balsamum : nd 
which is so understood by the Chaldee, and other in- 
terpreters. [The usual Hebrew word is Tzeri, the 
opobalsam, which was found particularly in Gil- 
ead. R. 

The Balsam tree, though not a native of Judea, 
was cultivated in great perfection in the gardens 
near Jericho, on the banks of Jordan. Josephus, 
speaking of the vale of Jericho, says, " Now here is 
the most fruitful country of Judea, which bears a 
vast number of palm trees, besides the balsam tree, 
whose sprouts they cut with sharp stones, and at the 
incisions they gather the juice, which drops down 
like tears." De Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. 7. sect. 6. The 
balsam produced by these trees was of such conse- 
quence as to be noticed by all the writers who 
treated of Judea. Pliny says, " This tree, which 
was peculiar to Juris, or the vale of Jericho, was 
more like a vine than a myrtle. Vespasian and Ti- 
tus carried each of them one to Rome as raritfes, 
and Pompey boasted of bearing them in his triumph. 
When Alexander the Great was in Juria, a spoonful 
of the balsam was all to be collected on a summer'' 



4 



BALSAM [ 141 ] BALSAM 



day ; and in the most plentiful year the great royal 
park of these trees yielded only six gallons, and the 
smaller one only one gallon. It was, consequently, 
so dear, that it sold for double its weight in silver. 
But, from the great demand for it, adulteration soon 
followed, and a spurious sort grew into common use, 
at a less price." Pliny, Natural History, c. xxv. 
Justin, indeed, makes this tree the source of all the 
national wealth ; for in speaking of this part of the 
country he says, " The wealth of the Jewish nation 
did arise from the opobalsamum, which doth only 
grow in those countries, for it is a valley like a gar- 
den, which is environed in continual hills, and, as 
it were, enclosed with a wall. The space of the 
valley containeth 200,000 acres, and is called Jericho. 
In that valley there is a wood as admirable for its 
fruitfulness as for its delight, for it is intermingled 
with palm trees and opobalsamum. The trees of 
the opobalsamum have a resemblance to the fir- 
tree ; but they are lower, and are planted and hus- 
banded after the manner of vines, and on a set 
season of the year they sweat balsam. The darkness 
of the place is, besides, as wonderful as the fruit- 
fulness of it. For although the sun shines no where 
hotter in the world, there is naturally a moderate 
and perpetual gloominess of the air." Justin's His- 
tory, lib. xxxvi. In the estimate of the revenues 
which Cleopatra derived from the region round 
about Jericho, which had been given to her by An- 
tony, and which Herod afterwards fanned of her, it 
is said, "that this country bears that balsam which 
is the most precious drug that is there, and grows 
there only." Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. xv. c. 4. sect. 
2. And in the account of Sheba's visit to Solomon, 
from a desire to see a person so celebrated for his 
wisdom, it is said that she gave him twenty talents 
of gold, and an immense quantity of spices and pre- 
cious stones; and "they say," adds the Jewish his- 
torian, "that we are indebted for the root of that 
balsam, which our country still bears, to this woman's 
gift." Josephus, Ant. Jud. lib. viii. c. 6. sect. 6. This 
balsam is mentioned in the Scriptures under the 
name of balm of Gilead, Jer. viii. 22; xlvi. 11 ; li. 8. 
Since the conquest of Palestine by the Romans, says 
Mr. Buckingham, " the balsam-tree has entirely 
disappeared ; not one is now to be found." The 
following account of the balsam-tree is extracted, by 
Dr. Harris, from Mr. Bruce. The Balessan, balsam, 
or balm, is an ever-green shrub, or tree, which 
grows to about 14 feet high, spontaneously and with- 
out culture, in its native country Azab, and all along 
the coast to Babelmandel. The trunk is about eight 
or ten inches in diameter, the wood light and open, 
gummy, and outwardly of a reddish color, incapable 
of receiving a polish, and covered with a smooth 
bark, like that of a young cherry-tree. It flattens at 
top, like trees that are exposed to snow blasts, or sea 
air, which gives it a stunted appearance. It is re- 
markable for a penury of leaves ; the flowers are 
like those of the acacia, small and white, only that 
three hang upon those filaments or stalks where the 
acacia has but one. Two of these flowers fall off 
and leave a single fruit ; the branches that bear 
these, are the shoots of the present year ; they are 
of a reddish color, and rougher than the old wood. 
After the blossoms, follow yellow, fine scented 
seed, enclosed in a reddish-black pulpy nut, very 
sweet, and containing a yellowish liquor like honey. 
They are bitter, and a little tart upon the tongue, of 
the same shape and size of the fruit of the turpen- 
tine-tree, thick in the middle, and pointed at the 



ends. There were three kinds of Balsam extractec 
from this tree. The first was called opobalsamum 
and was most highly esteemed. It was that which 
flowed spontaneously, or by means of an incision 
from the trunk or branches of the tree in summer 
time. The second was carpobalsamum, made by 
pressing the fruit when in maturity. The third, 
and least esteemed of all, was hylobalsamum, made 
by a decoction of the buds and small young twigs. 

The great value set upon this drug in the East is 
traced to the earliest ages. The Ishmaelites or 
Arabian carriers or merchants, trafficking with the 
Arabian commodities into Egypt, brought with them 
vw, balm, as a part of their cargo, Gen. xxxvii. 25 ; 
xliii. 11. 

Strabo. alone, of all the ancients, has given us the 
truest account of the place of its origin. " In that 
most happy land of the Sabaeans," says he, " grow 
the frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon;" "and 
in the coast that is about Saba, the balsam also." 
Among the myrrh-trees behind Azab, all along the 
coast, is its native country. We need not doubt that 
it was transplanted early into Arabia, that is, into 
the south part of Arabia Felix, immediately fronting 
Azab, where it is indigenous. The high country ol 
Arabia is too cold to receive it, being all mountain 
ous ; water freezes there. The first plantation that 
succeeded seems to have been at Petra, the ancienl 
metropolis of Arabia, now called Beder, or Badei 
Hunim. Notwithstanding the positive authority os 
Josephus, and the great probability that attends it 
that Judea was indebted to Sheba for this tree, wf 
cannot put it into competition with what we have 
been told in Scripture, as we have just now seen 
that the place where it grew and was sold to mer 
chants was Gilead in Judea, more than 1730 years be 
fore Christ, or 1000 before the queen of Sheba ; se 
that, in reading the verse, nothing can be plainer than 
that it had been transplanted into Judea, flourished 
and had become an article of commerce in Gilead 
long before the period he mentions. " A company 
of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their, camels 
bearing spices, and balm, and myrrh, going to carry 
dbwn to Egypt," Gen. xxxvii. 25. Now the spicery 
or pepper was certainly purchased by the Ishmael- 
ites at the mouth of the Red sea, where was the 
market for Indian goods; and at the same place they 
must have bought the myrrh, for that neither grew 
nor grows any where else, than in Saba, or Azabo, 
east of cape Gardefan, where were the ports of India, 
and whence it was dispersed over all the world. 

Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, Strabo, Diodo- 
rus Siculus, Tacitus, Justin, Solimis, and Serapion, 
speaking of its costliness and medicinal virtues, all 
say that this balsam came from Judea. The words 
of Pliny are, "but of all other odors whatever, 
balsam is preferred, produced in no other part but 
in the land of Judea, and even there in two gardens 
only, both of them belonging to the king, one no 
more than 20 acres, and the other still smaller." 
Pliny's History, 1. xxii. c. 25. 

"At this time," continues Mr. Bruce, "I suppose 
it got its name of babamum Judaicum, or balm of 
Gilead, and thence became an article of merchandise 
and fiscal revenue, which probably occasioned the 
discouragement of bringing any more from Arabia, 
whence it was very probably prohibited as contra- 
band. We should suppose that 30 acres planted with 
this tree would have produced more than all the 
trees of Arabia do at this day. Nor does the planta- 
tion of Beder Hulsin amount to much more thai' 



> 



BAM 



[ 142 ] 



BAP 



that quantity : for we are still to observe, that even 
when it had been, as it were, naturalized in Judea, 
and acquired a name in that country, still it bore 
evident marks of its being a stranger there ; and its 
being confined to two royal gardens alone, shows 
that it was maintained there by force and culture, and 
was by no means a native of the country ; and this 
is confirmed by Strabo, who speaks of it as being 
in the king's palace and garden of Jericho: the 
place being one of the warmest in Judea, indicates 
these apprehensions about it." Bruce's Travels, 
vol. v. p. 23. edit. 8vo. Carpenter's Scrip. Nat. 
Hist. 

Nothing is more inexplicable to us than the re- 
mark of the bride, (Cant. v. 5.) who, rising from bed, 
says, " her hands dropped myrrh, (balsam,) and her 
fingers sweet-smelling myrrh, on the handles of the 
lock." But we think this extract may assist our 
conjectures on the subject. Observe, the word 
rendered sweet-smelling signifies self-Jlowing — drop- 
ping — what comes over (as a chemist would say) 
freely. Now as we are not bound, that, we know of, 
to restrain this to a juice, we may take it for this 
very "red, sweet-smelling powder, shed sponta- 
neously by the tree itself." Moreover, as the women 
of Abu Arisch cannot possibly use a powder, simply, 
to wash themselves with, but must combine it with 
water or fluid, or essence of some kind, we shall, 
we apprehend, need only to admit, that with such an 
essence as the bride calls balsam, she had recently 
washed herself, (that is, before going to repose,) to 
perceive that this incident, so perplexing to us, be- 
cause unlike our customs, is perfectly agreeable to 
the customs of eastern countries, and what in Ara- 
bia would be thought nothing extraordinary. If the 
bride had only washed her head with such an es- 
sence, yet some of it might remain on her hands ; 
but if she had, which nothing forbids, washed "her 
arms and hands also, (vide Ai Henna,) then it might 
naturally occur to a person, fancying herself in a 
dream to be acting, that she should suppose her 
hands- and fingers to shed some of this fluid, wher- 
ever, and or whatever, they touched. It appears 
that fragrant essences of several kinds are used "by 
the women i,i Arabia ; of which professor Forskal 
affords sufficient instances. 

As the opobalsam grows in Arabia, we see no 
reason why it may not be the famous balm of Judea, 
mentioned Gen. xxxvii. 25. and Jer. xlvi. 11. et al. 
the Tzeri. There being several other balmy trees, 
perhaps, may have been the reason why this has 
any difficulty in it, since certainly we must admit 
the possibility of its being one of them. 

BAMAH, an eminence, or high place, where the 
Jews worshipped their idols, Ezek. xx. 29. 

BAM IAN, says Ibn Haukal, " is a town half as 
large as Balkh, situated on a hill. Before this hill 
runs a river, the stream of which flows into Gurjes- 
tan. Bamian has not any gardens or orchards, 
and it is the only town in this district situated on a 
hill. The cold part of Khorasan is about Bamian." 
(Sir W. Ouseley's Traus. p. 225.) This town is 
affirmed to have been the residence of Shem. See 
Chaldea. 

BAMOTH, a station of the Israelites, Numb. xxi. 
19, 20. Eusebius says, Bamoth is a city of Moab, 
on the river Anion. It was the same place as the 
following Bamoth-Baal. 

BAMOTH-BAAL, the. high places of Baal, or the 
heights sacred to Baal, was a city east of the river 
Jordan, given to Reuben, Josh. xiii. 17. Eusebius 



says it was situated on the plains oi the Arnon. Se.. 
Bamoth. 

BANNER, see Ensign. 

BAPTISM, Bunriafios, from fianTtLw, to wash, to 
dip, or immerge. 

I. BAPTISM by water. The law and history 
of die Jews abound with lustrations and baptisms 
of different sorts. Moses enjoined the people to 
wash their garments, and to purify themselves, by 
way of preparation for the reception of the law, 
Exod. xix. 10. The priests and Levites, before they 
exercised their ministry, washed themselves, Exod. 
xxix. 4 ; Levit. viii. 6. All legal pollutions were 
cleansed by baptism, or by plunging into water. 
Certain diseases and infirmities, natural to men and 
to women, were to be purified by bathing. To touch 
a dead body, to be present at funerals, &c. required 
purification. But these purifications were not uni- 
form : generally, people dipped themselves entirely 
under the water, and this is the most simple notion of 
the word baptize : but, very commonly, ritual bap- 
tism was performed by aspersion, or such a lustra- 
tion as included no more than the reception of some 
lustral blood and water scattered lightly on the per- 
son ; as, when Moses consecrated the priests and 
altar; (Exod. xxix. 21.) when the tabernacle was 
sprinkled with blood, on the day of solemn expia- 
tion ; (Lev. viii. 11.) or when the sacrifice was offer- 
ed by him for the sins of the high-priest and the 
multitude, (Lev. xvi. 14, 15.) and he wetted the horns 
of the altar with the blood of the victim. When 
a leper was purified after his cure, or when a man 
was polluted by touching or by meeting a dead 
body, they lightly sprinkled such persons with lus- 
tral water, Numb. xix. 13, 18, 20. 

The more strict professors among the Jews washed 
their arms up to their elbows, when returned home 
from market, or out of the street, fearing they might 
have touched some polluted thing, or person. They 
washed their hands, likewise, with great exactness, 
before and after meals ; also, the furniture and uten- 
sils of their table and kitchen, as often as they had 
the least suspicion of their having been polluted, 
Mark vii. 2 : John ii. 6. The following description 
of a sect of Christians will remind the reader of the 
notice taken by the Evangelist Mark (chap. vii. 4.) 
of the ceremonial washings of the Pharisees: "For 
the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash 
their hands oft, eat not ; holding the tradition of 
the elders. And when they come from market, ex- 
cept they wash, they eat not."- — " The Kemmont 
were once the same as the Falasha. . . . They have 
great abhorrence to fish, which they not only refrain 
from eating, but cannot bear the sight of; and the 
reason they give for this is, that Jonah the prophet 
(from whom they boast they are descended) was swal- 
lowed by a whale, or some other such great fish. 
They are hewers of wood, and carriers of water, to 
Gondar, and are held in great detestation by the 
Abyssinians. They hold that, having been once 
baptized, and having once communicated, no sort of 
prayer, or other attention to divine worship, is neces- 
sary. They wash themselves from head to foot, after 
coming from market or any public place, where they 
may have touched any one of a sect different from 
their own, esteeming all such unclean." Bruce, vol. iv 
p. 275. 

It may be at least amusing to trace the ideas of in- 
terpreters on the force of the original words nvy^'f 
vixpuHTai, (Mark vii. 3.) which express^ say some, to 
wash " with the fist," i. e. by rubbing water on the 



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BAPTISM 



palm of one hand with the doubled fist of the other. 
Lightfoot explains the phrase by " washing the hand 
as far as the fist extends," i. e. up to the wrist ; and 
Theophylact enlarged its meaning still further, " up 
to the elbow." We little need to fear that this en- 
largement of Theophylact should be too great, if 
these Kennnont might be the commentators ; for 
they, it seems, washed themselves from head to foot, 
after coining from market. May we not suppose that 
some of the stricter kind of Pharisees did thus en- 
tirely wash themselves, though the Evangelist only 
notices' what was general and notorious, or, rather, 
what he thought best adapted to the conception of 
the foreigners for whose use he wrote, and for whom 
he was under the necessity of explaining the phrases 
relating to this matter, as " defiled, i. e. unwashed — 
hands ?" ver. 2. So he glances at their "washing of 
cups and pots, brazen vessels and tables," which 
might he washed all over ; whatever be taken as the 
import of the word baptism, in this place. We see, 
also, in this instance, how consistent is the idea of 
persons being excessively scrupulous in some things, 
while excessively negligent in others ; as these Kem- 
mont, though super-accurate in washing themselves, 
think attendance on divine worship unnecessary ; in 
which, also, they remind us of the Pharisees, who 
neglected " the weightier matters of the law, justice, 
mercy, and truth," Matt, xxiii. 23. 

But by what means did the Israelites in the wilder- 
ness, where water was so scarce that a miracle was 
necessary to procure sufficient for their sustenance, 
perform the numerous ablutions required by their 
law ? — If the priests could obtain sufficient for their 
sacred services, which no doubt required a consider- 
able quantity, how should the whole camp, men, 
women, and children, be furnished, beside their sup- 
ply for drinking, cooking, &c. with that which was 
requisite for natural and for ceremonial washings ? 
This to each person was no trifling quantity daily, 
and in the whole was a vast consumption : add to 
it, the quantity necessary for supplying the herds of 
cattle, &c. which are represented as numerous ; and 
we know, beneath a burning sky, they must have 
been thirsty, whether at rest or in motion. The 
present question, however, only regards a supposed 
waste of water in personal and ceremonial ablu- 
tions : which those who have observed the frequen- 
cy of them will not esteem trivial, under the circum- 
stances of a prodigious multitude stationary in an 
arid desert. 

The following quotations may assist in regulating 
our conceptions of this matter. " — If they [the Arab 
Algerines] cannot come by any water, then they 
must ivipe [themselves] as clean as they can, till 
water may conveniently be had, or else it suffices to 
take Abdes upon a stone, which I call an imaginary 
Abdes ; i. e. to smooth their hands over a stone two or 
three times, and nib them one with the other, as if they 
were washing with water. (The like Abdes sufficeth, 
when any are sickly, so that water might endanger 
their life) and after they have so wiped, it is Gaise, 
i. e. lawful" to esteem themselves clean. (Pitts' 
Account of the Mahometan Religion, &c. p. 44.) 
Perfectly agreeable to this description is Aaron Hill's 
notice : (Travels, p. 50.) " If the time be cold and 
rigid, 'tis enough to make an outward motion, (i. e. of 
washing,) and the will is taken for the duty of the 
action." So in the Mahometan treatise of Prayer, 
published by De la Motraye, (vol. i. p. 360.) it is said, 
" In case water is not to be had, that defect may be 
supplied with earth, a stone, or any other product 



of the earth ; and this is called Tayamum ; avid is 
performed by cleaning the insides of the hands upon 
the same, rubbing therewith the face once ; and then 
again rubbing the hands upon the earth, stone, or 
whatever it is ; stroking the right arm to the elbow 
with the left hand ; and so the left with the right." 
Now, if such ideas prevailed among the Israelites, 
we see how the whole camp might obtain a suf- 
ficient degree of purity, yet waste no water. So 
might single travellers in the desert, as David, Eli- 
jah, &c. perform their ablutions, at the times when 
the law more paiticularly, or when custom more 
generally, directed them ; although they were dis- 
tant from pool, fountain, or spring. — But the princi- 
pal object of reference here is one which, being sin- 
gular, has always been, in consequence, perplexing : 
We find Naaman (2 Kings v. 17.) requesting of the 
prophet Elisha, "two mules' burthen of earth," evi- 
dently for some religious purpose, but what that pur- 
pose could be, has embarrassed commentators. The 
opinion has prevailed, that he meant to form this 
earth into an altar ; or to spread it for a floor, to 
pray upon, as if he were thereby constantly resident 
in that holy country whence he had brought it. 
But it is not impossible, that there is here a refer- 
ence to the same custom of using earth instead of 
water for purifications. 

There is a description of Elisha the prophet, by a 
part of his office when servant to Elijah, which ap- 
pears rather strange to us. " Is there not here a 
prophet of the Lord ?" says king Jehoshaphat ; and he 
is answered, " Here is Elisha ben Shaphat, who poured 
water on the hands of Elijah," (2 Kings iii. 11.) i. e. 
who was his servant and constant attendant. So 
Pitts tells us : (p. 24.) " The table being removed, 
before they rise, [from the ground whereon they 
sit,] a slave, or servant, who stands attending on them 
with a cup of water to give them drink, steps into 
the middle, with a basin, or copper pot of water 
something like a coffee-pot, and a little soap, and 
lets the water run upon their hands one after another, 
in order as they sit." Such service, it appears, Elisha 
performed for Elijah : what shall we say then to the 
remarkable action of our Lord, who " poured water 
into a basin^ ^nd washed his disciples' feet," after 
supper? Was he indeed among them. a* one luho 
serveth ? On this subject D'Ohsson says, (p. 309.) 
"Ablution, Abdesth, consists in washing the hands, 
feet, face, and a part of the head ; the law mentions 
them by the term — " the three parts consecrated to 
ablution." ..." The Mussulman is generally seated 
on the edge of a sopha, with a pewter or copper ves- 
sel lined with tin placed before him upon a round 
piece of red cloth, to prevent the carpet or mat from 
being wet: a servant, kneeling on the ground, pours 
out water for his master ; another holds a cloth des- 
tined for these purifications. The person who puri- 
fies himself begins by baring his arms as far as the 
elbow. As he washes his hands, mouth, nostrils, 

face, arms, &c. he repeats the proper prayers It 

is probable that Mohammed followed on this subject 
the book of Leviticus." It is well known that there 
was in England an officer, who, at the coronation, 
and formerly at all public festivals, held a basin 
of water for the king to wash his hands in, after din- 
ner ; but it is not equally well known, that cardinal 
Wolsey, one time, when the duke of Buckingham 
held the basin for Henry VIII. after the king had 
washed, put his own hand into the basin ; the duke 
resenting this intrusion, let some of the water fall oi» 
the habit of the cardinal, who never forgave the 



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action, but brought the duke to the block, in conse- 
quence of his resentment. 

When the Jews received a proselyte to their re- 
ligion, they both circumcised and baptized him ; 
affirming that this baptism was a kind of regenera- 
tion, whereby he was made a new man ; f<-o. i being 
a slave, he became free ; and his natural relations 
before this ceremony were, after it, no longer ac- 
counted such. See on Matt. iii. 6, Kuinoel and 
Lightfoot Hor. Heb. also Jahn's Bib. Archaeol. 
§ 325. and his large German work, vol. iii. p. 218. 
Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. Rab. Talm. col. 408. — Jesus is 
supposed to refer to this species of baptism in his 
discourse with Nicodeinus, John iii. -1 — 12. 

When John Baptist began to preach repentance, 
he practised a baptism in the waters of Jordan. 
He did not attribute to this service the virtue of for- 
giving sins, but used it as a preparation for the bap- 
tism of Jesus Christ, and for remission (forsaking) of 
sins, Matt. iii. 2 ; Mark i. 4. He not only exacted 
sorrow for sin, but a change of life, manifested by 
such practices as were worthy of repentance. The 
baptism of John was more perfect than that of the 
Jews, but was less perfect than that of Christ. " It 
was," says Chrysostom^ " as it were, a bridge, which, 
from the baptism of the Jews, made a way to that of 
our Saviour ; it was superior to the first, but inferior 
to the second." That of John promised what that of 
Jesus performed. Notwithstanding that John did 
not enjoin his disciples to continue his baptism after 
his death — it being superseded by the manifestation 
of the Messiah, and the gift of the Holy Ghost — 
many of his followers administered it, several years 
after the death of Christ, and some did not even 
know that there was any other baptism. Among 
this number was Apollos, a learned and zealous man 
of Alexandria, who came to Ephesus twenty years 
after the resurrection of our Saviour, Acts xviii. 25. 
And Paid, coming afterwards to the same city, found 
many Ephesians, who had received no other bap- 
tism than that of John, and knew not that there 
were any influences of the Holy Ghost communi- 
cated by baptism into Christ, Acts xix. 1. Our Sa- 
viour, when sending his apostles to preach the gos- 
pel, said, " Go, teach all nations ; baptizing them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost, Matt, xxviii. 19. Whosoever 
believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that 
believeth not shall be damned," Mark xvi. 16 ; John 
iii. 18. Baptism, therefore, is the first mark by which 
the disciples of Jesus Christ are distinguished. 

Baptism is taken in Scripture for sufferings : " Can 
ye drink of the cup that I drink of, and be baptized 
with the baptism which I am baptized with ?" Mark 
x. 38. And, Luke xii. 50, "I have a baptism to be 
baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be 
accomplished ?" We find traces of similar phrase- 
ology in the Old Testament (Ps. lxix. 2, 3.) where 
waters often denote tribulations ; and where, to be 
swallowed up by the waters, to pass through great 
waters, &c. signifies, to be overwhelmed by mis- 
fortunes. 

II. BAPTISM by fire. The words of John, 
Matt. iii. 11. have given occasion to inquire what 
s meant by baptism by fire. Some of the fathers 
lelieved, that the faithful, before they entered Para- 
iise, would pass through a . certain fire, to purify 
diem from remaining pollutions. Others explaiii 
the term fire of an abundance of graces ; others 
by the descent of the Holy Ghost on the apostles, in 
the form of fiery tongues Others have said, that 



the word fire is an addition, and that we should read, 
" I baptize you with water, but he that cometh after 
me, will baptize you with the Holy Ghost." It is cer- 
tain the word fire is not in several MSS. of Matthew ; 
but we read it in Luke iii. 17. and in the oriental 
versions of Matthew. Some old heretics understood 
the passage literally, and maintained, that material 
fire was necessary in the administration of baptism ; 
but we are not told either how or to what part of the 
body they applied it ; or whether they obliged the 
baptized to pass over or through the flames. Va- 
lentinus re-baptized those who had received bap- 
tism out of his sect, and drew them through the 
fire. Heraclion, cited by Clemens Alexandrinus, 
says, that some applied a red-hot iron to the ears oi 
die baptized, as if to impress some mark on them. 

It deserves notice, that in both the evangelists 
this prediction is expressed in the same manner ; that 
is to say, there is no article, nor any sign of disjunc- 
tion, between the terms Holy Ghost and fire. Ac- 
cording, therefore, to the power of the Greek lan- 
guage, these two terms form but one act, or thing ; 
or, in other words, this one baptism was to be con- 
ferred at the same time, not separately, though under 
two species; the first that of the Holy Ghost, the 
second, that of fire ; and to this agrees the history, 
Acts ii. " there was the sound as of a rushing 
mighty wind." this was the first; and "the cloven 
tongues like as of fire, which sat on each of them," 
this was the second ; — strictly the baptism by fire. 
Immediately after the appearance of the cloven 
tongues, it is said, "they were all filled with the 
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues :" 
— The same we read, also, in the history of Corne- 
lius, (Acts x. 45.) " on the Gentiles also was poured 
out the gift of the Holy Ghost; for they heard them 
speak with tongues." And Peter, in narrating the 
history, (Acts xi. 15.) says, "the Holy Ghost fell on 
them as [he fell] on us at the beginning" — and they 
were " baptized with the Holy Ghost." Yet, as we 
read nothing of wind in this history, it should seem 
that the symbolical fire only appeared ; and that 
these Gentiles were baptized by fire falling from 
heaven ; and afterwards by water, as directed by 
Peter. 

[After all that is said above, the question, respect- 
ing the baptism by fire in Matt. iii. 11, and Luke iii. 
16, must still be determined by a simple reference 
to the succeeding verse in each case. The whole 
passage is as follows : (and John said,) " I indeed 
baptize you with water unto repentance ; but there 
cometh one mightier than I, whose shoes I am not 
worthy to bear ; he shall baptize you with the Holy 
Ghost and with fire : Whose fan is in his hand, and 
he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his 
wheat into his gamer ; but the chaff he will burn 
with unquenchable fire." Here the wheat are evi- 
dently those who receive Christ as the Messiah, and 
embrace his doctrines ; these he will baptize with 
the Holy Ghost, i. e. he will impart to them spiritual 
gifts, the teachings and consolations of the Holy 
Spirit : while the chaff are as evidently those who 
reject Christ and his doctrines, and live in sin ; 
these he will baptize with fire " unquenchable ;" 
they shall "go away to everlasting punishment." 
Compare also Matt. iii. 10. R. 

III. BAPTISM in thf name of Jesus Christ. 
Many difficulties nave been raised on the words of 
Luke: (Acts x. 48.) "Be baptized in the name of 
Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins." And 
again, (chap. viii. 16. i "They were baptizi'i in the 



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BAPTISM 



name of the lord Jesus." It has been questioned, 
whether baptism was ever administered in the name 
of Jesus only, without express mention of the 
Father and the Spirit; and whether such baptism 
could be valid or lawful. Many fathers, and some 
councils, believed that the apostles, occasionally, bad 
baptized in the name of Jesus only ; and Ambrose 
asserts that though one person only of the Trinity 
were expressed, the baptism is perfect. " For," adds 
he, " whosoever names one person of the Trinity, 
means the whole." But, as this opinion is founded 
only on a dubious fact, and an obscure text, it is not 
impossible that these fathers and councils might be 
mistaken ; first, as to the fact, and explanation of 
the text ; and secondly, in the consequences they 
drew from it. It may be shown, (1.) that the text 
in the Acts is not clear for this opinion ; (2.) that it 
is very dubious whether the apostles ever baptized 
in the name of Jesus only. By baptizing in the 
name of Jesus, may be signified, (1.) either to bap- 
tize with invocation of the name of Jesus alone, 
without mentioning the Father and the Spirit ; or 
(2.) to baptize in his name, by his authority, with 
his baptism, and into his religion, (making express 
mention of the three persons of the Trinity,) as he 
has clearly and plainly commanded in Matthew. 
Since, therefore, we have a positive and explicit text 
for this service, — what should induce us to leave it, 
and to follow another capable of different senses ? 
Who will believe that the apostles, forsaking the form 
of baptism prescribed to them by Jesus Christ, had 
instituted another form, quite new, and without ne- 
cessity ? In fact, the opinion that baptism ought to 
be administered in the name of the whole Trinity, 
and with express invocation of three persons, has a 
clear text of Scripture in its favor, where the rite is 
instituted, as it were, and expressly treated of ; and 
this against an incidental mention of it in. a historical 
relation, among other things, and capable of several 
senses. 

There is a very sudden turn of metaphor used by 
the apostle Paul, in Rom. vi. 3 — 5. " Know ye not that 
so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were 
baptized into his death? therefore we are buried with 
him by baptism into death . . . that we should walk in 
newuess of life. For if we have been planted to- 
gether [with him] in the likeness of his death, we shall 
be also planted in the likeness of his resurrection." 
Now what lias baptism to do with planting ? Wherein 
consists their similarity, so as to justify the resem- 
blance here implied ? In 1 Pet. iii. 21. we find the 
apostle speaking of baptism, figuratively, as "saving 
us ;" and alluding to Noah, who long lay buried in 
the ark, as corn long lies buried in the earth. Now, 
as after having died to his former course of life in 
being baptized, a convert was considered as rising to 
a renewed life, so after having been separated from 
his former connections, his seed-bed as it were, after 
having died in being planted, he was considered as 
rising to renewed life also. The ideas, therefore, 
conveyed by the apostle in these verses are precisely 
the same ; though the metaphors are different. 
Moreover, if it were anciently common to speak of a 
person, after baptism, as rising to renewed life, and 
to consider corn also as sprouting to a renewed life, 
then we see how easily Hymeneus and Philetus (1 
Tim. i. 18.) "concerning the truth might err, saying, 
that the resurrection was past already ;" that is, in 
baptism, [quasi in planting, that is, in being transfer- 
red to Curistinnity.] in which error they did little 
more than annex their old heathen notions to the 
19 



Christian institution. The transition was extremely 
easy ; but, unless checked in time, the error might 
have become very dangerous. We think this more 
likely to have been the fact respecting these errone- 
ous teachers, than any allusion to vice, as death, and to 
a return to virtue, as life ; which Warhurton proposes, 
(Div. Leg. vol. i. p. 435.) and the notion seems to have 
been adopted by Menander, who taught (Irenseus, lib, 
i. cap. 21.) that his disciples obtained resurrection by 
his baptism, and so became immortal. How easily 
figurative language suffers under the misconstructions 
of gross conception ! 

IV. BAPTISM for the dead. The apostle Paul, 
(1 Cor.-xv. 29.) proving the resurrection of the dead, 
says, " If the dead rise not at all, what shall they do 
who are baptized for the dead ?" The question is, 
What is meant by " baptism for the dead ?" No one 
pretends, that the apostle approves the practice, or 
authorizes the opinion. It is sufficient, that there 
were people who thus thought and acted at the time. 
Observe, also, he does not say, the Corinthians caused 
themselves to be baptized for the dead; but — "what 
shall they do, who are baptized for the dead ?" How 
will they support this practice, upon what will they 
justify it, if the dead rise not again, and if souls de- 
parted rise not after death ? We might easily show, 
that some at this time, who called themselves Chris- 
tians, were baptized for the dead, — for the advantage 
of the dead. When this epistle to the Corinthians 
was written, twenty-three years after the resurrection 
of our Saviour, several heretics (as the Simonians, 
Gnostics, and Nicolaitans) denied the real resurrec- 
tion of the dead, and acknowledged only a metaphor- 
ical resurrection received in baptism. The Marcion. 
ites, who appeared some time afterwards, embraced 
the same principles ; they denied the resurrection of 
the dead, and, which is more particular, they received 
baptism for the dead. This we learn from Tertullian, 
who tells the Marcionites, that they ought not to use 
Paul's authority, in favor of their practice of receiving 
" baptism for the dead ;" and that if the apostle no- 
tices this custom, it is only to prove the resurrection 
of the dead against themselves. In another place, he 
confesses that in Paul's time, some were baptized a 
second time for the dead,- — on behalf of the dead ; 
hoping it would be of service to others, as to their 
resurrection, (contra Marcion. v. 10; De Resurrect. 
Carnis, c. 48.) 

Chrysostom says, that among the Marcionites, 
when any of their catechumens die, they lay a living 
person under the bed of the deceased ; then, advanc- 
ing toward the dead body, they ask whether he be 
willing to receive baptism. The person under the 
bed answers for him, that he desires earnestly to be 
baptized ; and, accordingly, he is so, instead of the 
dead person ; thus making a mummery of this sacred 
administration. (In 1 Cor. Homil. 40.) Epiphanius also 
asserts that the Marcionites received baptism not only 
once, but frequently, as often as they thought proper ; 
and they procured themselves to be baptized in the 
name of those among them who died without bap- 
tism, as substituted representatives of such persons ; 
and that Paul had these heretics in view. (Hseres. 42. 
et 28.) 

Bochart has collected no less than fifteen senses in 
which this passage has been taken by the learned, 
such is its obscurity ; but it is only obscure to us, by 
reason of our ignorance of ancient customs. It was 
clear to the apostle ; and equally clear to those to 
whom he wrote. He refers to a rite well known, 
openly and avowed y practised : not by a few, nor by 



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a petty sect of Christians, but by a whole people : in 
short, it was familiar to the Corinthians, and needed 
no explanation. It is somewhat singular, that the 
import of the Jewish practice in cases of pollution 
by a dead body, should have been so imperfectly 
applied in explanation of this subject ; but we have 
taken the liberty to apply the idea to the illustration 
of the text. The first office performed to a dead 
body was washing: and this was common to the 
heathen, 

Tarquinii corpus bona famina lavit et unxit ; 

and to the Jews, as appears from the Talmud ; and 
to the early Christians, Acts ix. 37. Accordingly, 
the person who laid out, and washed, a dead body, 
and consequently participated in the pollution occa- 
sioned by death, participated also in the customary 
interment of the dead. Death was, as it were, im- 
puted to him ; and he continued in a state of seclusion 
from society till the third day. On that day he 
washed himself thoroughly in water, and was bap- 
tized by the sprinkling of the ashes of the red heifer ; 
which restored him to his place among the living, 
and was to him a release from his sepulchral state ; 
in other words, a resurrection. This sprinkling is 
expressly enumerated among the Jewish baptisms by 
the apostle, Heb. ix. 10, 13. See also, in Gr. Ecclus. 
xxxiv. 25. Suppose, then, a person to be polluted by 
a dead body on Friday afternoon, he would be sym- 
bolically dead the remainder of the day, the whole 
of Saturday, and until he was baptized by the ashes 
on the Sunday morning: such being the Hebrew 
manner of reckoning three days. It is evident, that 
he sympathized wijh the death of the party who oc- 
casioned his pollution, by symbolizing with his inter- 
ment, and with his washing; and if the Jews under- 
stood the symbol, and attached to the subsequent 
baptism the idea of an illustration of ' the national 
hope of a resurrection, (Acts xxiii. 6.) then the apos- 
tle's argument is extremely cogent on that people : 
"What shall they — the' Jews— do, who are baptized 
for the dead ; [literally, instead of the dead, as sub- 
stitutes for the dead, vexqwv, plural,] if there is not, 
if there cannot be, any such thing as a resurrection 
of the dead, why do they undergo a ceremony the 
very purport and intention of which is the prefigura- 
tion of a resurrection ? Why are they baptized as 
substitutes for — as representatives of— the dead ?" 
From this argument the Sadducees among the Jews 
must be excepted ; and also the heathen. The apos- 
tle's words, therefore, are not general, but an argu- 
mentum ad hominem. The reader will also observe 
the force of the article before the term dead, w 
vcxqSv, not any dead, nor the dead in general, but, 
those dead well- known to the parties ; — as the cus- 
tom was well known to the Corinthians. That the 
Jews really did attach the idea of regeneration to 
baptism in the case of converts, as observed by Cal- 
met, in the early part of this article, is well known 
from Maimonides, and other rabbins : and the resem- 
blance between regeneration, importing a renewal of 
life, and resurrection, importing also a renewal of life, 
is so close, that they might almost be considered as 
two words expressing the same thing ; and, probably, 
they were so used among the Jews. 

[This passage respecting baptism for the dead (1 
Cor. xv. 29.) has been a stumbling-block to interpret- 
ers in every age. Neither of the explanations above 
given is satisfactory ; and it may not, therefore, be 
uninteresting to the reader, to have the subject pur- 
sued to a greater extent. In doing this, the writer 



is happy in being able to avail himself of manuscript 
notes of lectures delivered on this epistle by the 
learned and pious professor Neander of Berlin ; and, 
more particularly, the judgments passed upon the 
testimony of the fathers in the following paragraphs, 
rest upon his authority. 

The most ancient interpretation which we have of 
the passage, follows the simple and literal meaning of 
the words: (iunritindai vnl(> vixqwr, to be baptized, for, 
instead of, the dead. In this it is assumed, that at the 
time when Paul wrote, many Christians had con 
ceived superstitious notions in respect to the efficacy 
of the external rite of baptism ; they supposed that 
those catechumens and others who died without bap 
tism, were exposed to certain damnation ; and there- 
fore they had adopted a vicarious mode by which 
they might still receive the benefit of the rite, viz. the 
relatives or friends of such deceased persons were 
baptized in their stead. Paul (it is admitted) cannot 
of course assent to such a superstition ; but he argues 
here only ad hominem, or ex concessis ; i. e. " this very 
superstition shows, how deeply the belief in a resur 
rection is grounded in the very nature of man." Ter- 
tullian (as quoted above) remarks, that this superstition 
would be something entirely heathenish ; and he 
compares it with the lustrations of the heathen fo» 
the dead on the first of February. This interpreta- 
tion is also found in the commentary of Hiiarius. — 
There are, indeed, many things to be said in favor of 
the supposition of the existence of such a supersti- 
tion ; but the passage of Tertullian cannot properly 
be thus applied ; because he comes to this conclusion 
only through an exegetical inference. Epiphanius 
is of opinion, that among the sect of Cerinthus the 
usage was prevalent, that living persons were baptized 
in place of the dead; and he appeals to an ancient 
tradition, which related that Paul had condemned 
such a superstition. But the 'accounts which are 
given by Epiphanius are to be received with great 
caution and suspicion. Chrysostom also relates of 
the Marcionites the story which has been already 
quoted above. But in respect to this alleged custom 
of the Mai-cionites, it may be said, that it is not so old 
as the sec t of Mansion. At least, the customs which 
were prevalent among the Marcionites of Chrysos- 
tom's day, and in Syria, cannot justly be charged 
upon Mansion himself and his immediate disciples. 
The whole rests upon conjecture ; and this, so far as 
it concerns the apostolic age, is improbable. Indeed, 
the probability is, that the Marcionites would never 
have introduced such a custom, had it not been for 
their misapprehension of this passage of the apostle. 
But even if there was actually such a superstitious 
custom extant, we are by no means entitled to as- 
sume, that Paul would feel himself warranted to 
deduce from it an argument in favor of the resurrec- 
tion. A practice so superstitious and unchristian 
Paul would never have alluded to, without con- 
demning and contesting it. Besides, it is quite im- 
probable, that at so early a period there was any such 
a class of persons as catechumens. 

Another interpretation, adopted by many, takes 
the word baptize in its literal sense ; but gives to 
i'Tcin the sense for the sake of, and supposes the plural 
vtxQiSr to be put by enallage for the singular rtzoov. 
Then the sense is, "What do they, who are baptized 
for the dead ?" i. e. for the sake of Christ, the cruci- 
fied Saviour. The argument would here be good ; but 
the use of >V«'o would be unusual, since it must then 
mean in faith on a deceased Jesus. But the use of 
the plural for the singular is here inadmissible ; both 



BAPTISM L 147 1 BAR 



on account ©f the great harshness, and particularly 
because of the following plural pronoun avrwv. 

It has also been proposed to take imiq in the sense 
of over, " to baptize over the dead ;" i. e. either upon 
the graves of Christian martyrs, or by the deathbeds 
of expiring Christians. But there is no evidence of 
the existence of any such custom ; nor would there 
be any force whatever in such an argument. It 
could, at most, be only as before, an argumentum ad 
hominem. 

There remain, however, two modes of explanation 
here, both of which are natural, and give an easy and 
satisfactory sense. It is perhaps more a matter of 
taste than of argument, which of the two is to be 
preferred. 

The one method sets out from the literal and perhaps 
original meaning of the word pcmTlLctv, to immerse, im- 
merge, i. e. so as to be entirely sunk or immersed in any 
thing. Thus in Isa. xxi. 4. instead of "fearfulness 
affrighted me," the Septuagint reads, "iniquity bap- 
tized me," i. e. overwhelmed me, so that I was 
wholly immersed in it. Hence, also, metaphorically, 
fjaTtTitiadai, to be immersed in calamities ; as in Matt, 
xx. 22, and Mark x. 38, " Can ye be baptized with the 
baptism that I am baptized with ?" and also Luke 
xii. 50, " I have a baptism to be baptized with ; and 
how am I straitened till it be accomplished !" So 
also Josephus, (B. J. iv. 3. 3.) in speaking of bands 
of robbers who had crept into Jerusalem, which was 
then defenceless, says, vartQov ipuTcnaixv ri,v nu).iv, 
"afterwards they baptized the city," i. e. filled it with 
confusion and suffering, immersed it in calamities. 
This meaning now furnishes a very appropriate sense 
in the passage in question. The argument of the 
apostle then is: "If the dead rise not at all, of what 
avail is it to expose ourselves to so many dangers and 
calamities in the hope of a resurrection and future 
reward? in the hope that we shall rise again and 
enter into rest ? since, if the supposition be true, we 
are ol nxooi, dead, and are never to rise." Compare 
verses 30 and 31, where y.ivSvvtva>, to be in jeopardy, 
and aTTo&rilaxio, to die, are substituted for pajTTliw, to 
baptize ; compare also the use of the word dead in 
Luke xx. 38. 

The objections which may be suggested to this 1 
interpretation, are the following : (1.) The word bap- 
tize is thus taken here in a figurative signification, 
while there is in fact nothing which requires it to be 
so taken. (2.) It is remarkable, that Paul should 
here use baptize twice in this sense, instead of using 
some other word, — especially as he repeats no other 
word in the same manner. (3.) The baptizing in v. 
29 seems to be something common to all Christians ; 
whereas the dangers spoken of in v. 30, etc. are 
those of Paul himself, or, at most, those of the 
preachers of Christianity. 

The other remaining method retains the literal and 
usual sense of baptize, as designating the ordinary 
religious rite ; and grounds itself particularly on the 
circumstance, that in the previous verses, as well as 
elsewhere, Paul makes the relation between the 
resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of believ- 
ers an object of great prominency. " They are buried 
with him in baptism unto death ; wherein also they 
are risen with him unto newness of life," etc. Rom. 
vi. 4 ; Col. ii. 12. Baptism, therefore, is to them not 
only the symbol of a present resurrection to a new 
life, but also the symbol of a participation in the 
future resurrection. Keeping this idea in view, the 
question very naturally and cogently arises : " If tho 
dead rise not, what do they who are baptized for the | 



dead ?" i. e. who are baptized into a belief in Christ 
and a resurrection, and into the hope of partici- 
pating in that resurrection, while yet they are never 
to rise again, but for ever to remain dead. Why are 
tney baptized into a belief, in which, after all, they 
do not believe ? What means such baptism as this ? 
and what is the benefit of it either here or hereafter ? 

The objections to be suggested here are : (1.) That 
the argument of the apostle is thus reduced ad homi- 
nem, though more extensive and stronger than in the 
cases above considered. (2.) That the transition 
from verse 29 to verse 30 is thus rendered quite ab- 
rupt and unusual. 

It should be remarked, that verse 29 is to be taken 
in immediate connection with verse 19 ; the inter 
veiling nine verses being a digression or parenthesis. 
Taking into view this connection of verse 29 with 
both the verses 19 and 30, the writer has ever been 
inclined to prefer the former of these two interpreta- 
tions ; since in this way verse 29 forms with those 
two verses a continuous whole, in which the idea of 
calamity and danger is dwelt upon throughout ; while 
in the other mode, a new and less forcible appeal is 
interposed between the two parts of one and the 
same argument expressed in verses 19 and 30. The 
excellent Neander inclines to the latter method ; 
which is also that of Wetstein. *R. 

BARABBAS, a remarkable thief, guilty also of 
sedition and murder ; yet preferred before Jesus 
Christ, by the Jews, John xviii. 40. Origen says, 
that in many copies, Barabbas was called Jesus 
likewise. The Armenian has the same reading : 
"Whom will ye that I deliver unto you ; Jesus Ba- 
rabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ ?" This gives 
an additional spirit to the history ; and well deserves 
notice. 

BARACHIAS, father of Zechariah, mentioned 
Matt, xxiii. 35. [There are two persons to whom 
this name is referred with greater or less probability 
by commentators ; since there are two Zechariahs 
mentioned in history as having been slain by the 
people in the midst of the temple. The first is 
Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, mentioned in 2 Chron. 
xxiv. 20, seq. as having been slain in the court of the 
temple by the command of king Joash. If this was 
the Zechariah intended by Jesus, then his father must 
have borne two names ; a thing not uncommon 
among the Jews. The other is Zechariah the son 
of Baruch, mentioned by Josephus (B. J. iv. 6. 4.) 
as having been slain by the zealots in the midst 
of the temple, just before the taking of Jerusalem. 
The name Baruch, and the circumstances, correspond 
here entirely ; but the difficulty lies in the fact, that 
this Zechariah was not thus murdered until long 
after the death of Christ, who must then have spoken 
prophetically, whereas he evidently appears to speak 
only of the past. To avoid this difficulty, which is 
the only one, some, as Hug, (Einl. ii. p. 10.) have 
supposed that Jesus did in fact speak prophetically 
and prospectively ; but that when Matthew penned 
his Gospel, after the event thus predicted had actu- 
ally taken place, he chose to make the Saviour em- 
ploy an aorist instead of a future tense in respect to 
it ; in order to call the attention of his readers to it 
as an historical fact, rather than as a prophetical allu 
sion. R. 

BARAK, the son of Abinoam, who was chosen 
by God to deliver the 1 lebrews from that bondage 
under which they were held by Jabin, king of the 
Canaanites, Judg. iv. 4. He refused to obey the 
Lord's orders, signified to him by Deborah th 



BAR 



[ 148 ] 



BAR 



S-ophetess, unless she consented to go with him", 
eborah, therefore, accompanied him towards Ke- 
desh of Naphtali ; and having assembled 10,000 men, 
they advanced to mount Tabor. Sisera, being in- 
formed of this movement, marched with 900 chariots 
of war, and encamped near the river Kishon ; but 
Barak rapidly descending from mount Tabor, and 
the Lord having spread terror through Sisera's army, 
a complete victory was easily obtained. Sisera was 
killed by Jael, and Barak and Deborah composed a 
hymn of thanksgiving. See Deborah. 

B/VRBARIAN, a word used by the Hebrews to 
denote a stranger ; one who knows neither the holy 
language nor the law. According to the Greeks, all 
other nations, however learned or polite they might 
be in themselves and in their manners, were barba- 
rians. Hence Paul comprehends all mankind under 
the names of Greeks and barbarians, (Rom. i. 14.) 
and Luke calls the inhabitants of the island of Malta, 
barbarians, Acts xxviii. 2, 4. In 1 Cor. xiv. 11. the 
apostle says, that if he who speaks a foreign language 
in an assembly, be not understood by those to whom 
he discourses, with respect to them he is a barbarian ; 
and, reciprocally, if he understand not those who 
speak to him, they are to him barbarians. Barbarian, 
therefore, is used in Scripture for every stranger, or 
foreigner, who does not speak our native language, 
and includes no implication whatever of savage nature 
or manners in those respecting whom it is used. 

BAR-CHOCHEBA, or Chochebas, or Chochi- 
bus, a famous impostor. It is said, he assumed the 
name of Bar-Chocheba, that is, Son of the Star, from 
the words of Balaam, which he applied to himself as 
the Messiah: "There shall come a star [cocab) out 
of J acob, and a sceptre out of Israel." Bar-Chocheba 
engaged the Jews to revolt, (A. D. 136,) under the 
reign of Adrian, who sent Julius Severus against 
him. The Roman shut him up in Bether, the siege 
of which was long and obstinate. The town, bow- 
ever, was at length taken, and the war finished. Bar- 
Chocheba perished, and the multitude of Jews put 
to death, or sold during the war, and in consequence 
of it, was almost innumerable. After this, Adrian 
published an edict, forbidding the Jews, on pain of 
death, to visit Jerusalem ; and guards were placed at 
the gates, to prevent their entering. The rebellion 
of Bar-Chocheba happened A. D. 136, in the 19th 
year of Adrian. 

BAR-JESUS, a Jewish magician in the isle of 
Cyprus, Acts xiii. 6. Luke calls him Elymas, which 
in Arabic is, the sorcerer. He was with the procon- 
sul, Sergius Paul us, who, sending for Paul and Bar- 
nabas, desired to hear the word of God. Bar-Jesus 
endeavoring to hinder the proconsul from embracing 
Christianity, Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, said, 
"Thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not 
cease to pervert the ways of the Lord ? Behold, the 
hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, 
not seeing the sun, for a season ;" which took place 
immediately. The proconsul was converted, and 
Origen and Chrysostom suppose, that Elymas was 
also converted, and that Paul restored his sight. 

BAR-JONA, a name by which our Saviour some- 
times calls Peter; (Matt. xvi. 17.) i. q. son of Jonah. 

BARIS, the name of a palace begun by John Hir- 
canus, on the mountain of the temple; and which 
afterwards was used for the residence of the Asmo- 
naean princes. Herod the Great made a citadel of it, 
which he called Antonia, in honor of his friend Mark 
Antony. See Antonia. 

BARLEY. In Palestine, barley was sown in au- 



I tumn, and reaped in spring, that is, at the passover 
The rabbins sometimes called barley the food ol 
beasts, because they fed their cattle with it, 1 Kirgu 
iv. 28. In Homer, we find barley always given to 
horses. Herodotus tells us, that the Egyptians ate 
neither wheat nor barley, using a particular sort of 
corn instead of them. Nevertheless, the Hebrews 
frequently used barley bread, 2 Sain. xvii. 28. Da- 
vid's friends brought him in his flight, wheat, barley, 
&c. and Solomon sent wheat, barley, wine, and oil, 
to the servants whom king Hiram had furnished 
him, for the works at Libanus, 2 Chron. ii. 15. See 
also John vi. 9 ; 2 Kings iv. 42. 

Moses remarks, that when the hail fell in Egypt, 
the flax and the barley were bruised and destroyed, 
because the flax was full grown, and the barley form- 
ing its green ears ; but the wheat and the rye were 
not damaged, because they were only in the blade, 
Gen. ix. 31. This was some days before the depart- 
ure of the Israelites out of Egypt ; or before the 
passover. In Egypt, barley harvest does not begin 
till toward the end of April. 

BARNABAS, Joseph, or Joses, a disciple of Je- 
sus, and a companion of the apostle Paul. He was 
a Levite, and a native of the isle of Cyprus, and is 
believed to have sold all his property, and laid the 
price of it at the apostles' feet, Acts iv. 36. It is said 
he Avas brought up with Paul at the feet of Gamaliel. 
When that apostle came to Jerusalem, three years 
after his conversion, Barnabas introduced him to the 
jther apostles, Acts ix. 26, 27. about A. D. 37. Five 
years afterwards, the church at Jerusalem, being in- 
formed of the progress of the gospel at Antioch, sent 
Barnabas thither, who beheld with great joy the 
wonders of the grace of God, Acts xi. 22, 24. He 
exhorted the faithful to perseverance, and some time 
afterwards went to Tarsus, to seek Paul, and bring 
him to Antioch, where they dwelt together two years, 
and converted great numbers. They left Antioch, 
A. D. 44, to convey alms from this church to that at 
Jerusalem, and at their return they brought John 
Mark, Barnabas's cousin, or nephew. While they 
were at Antioch, the Holy Ghost directed that they 
should be separated for those labors to which he had 
appointed them ; i. e. the planting of new churches 
among the Gentiles. After three years they returned 
to Antioch. In their second journey into Asia Mi- 
nor, Barnabas, at Lystra, was taken for Jupiter, but 
was afterwards persecuted by the same people. In 
A. D. 51, he and Paul were appointed delegates from 
the Syrian church to Jerusalem, and then to carry 
the apostolic decrees to the Gentile churches. At 
Antioch he was led into dissimulation by Peter, and 
was, in consequence, reproved by Paul. In their 
return to Asia Minor, Paul and Barnabas having a 
dispute relative to Mark, Barnabas's nephew, they 
separated, Paul going to Asia, and Barnabas, with 
Mark, to Cyprus, Acts xiii — xv; Gal. ii. 13. A 
spurious gospel and epistle are ascribed to Barnabas. 
See Fabr. Cod. Apoc. N. T. 

BARRENNESS, sterility, want of issue or fruiu 
Gen. xi. 30; 2 Kings ii. 19, 21. Barrenness is ac- 
counted a great misfortune among the eastern people ; 
and was especially so among the Jews. Professors 
of Christianity are, figuratively, said to be barren, 
when they are destitute of the fruits of the Spirit, 
or do not abound in good works, Luke xiii. 6 — 9 ; 2 
Pet. i. 8. 

In the description of Jericho, 2 Kings ii. 19. we 
read in the English version as follows : The men of 
Jericho said to Elisha, " Behold, I pray thee, the situ- 



BARRENNESS 



t 149 ] 



BARRENNESS 



ation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth ; but the 
water is naught, and the ground barren ;" — where 
the margin reads, " causing to miscarry." Our trans- 
lators seem to have been startled at such a property 
in the ground ; and, therefore, placed the literal 
rendering in the margin. Again, (v. 21.) " Thus 
saith the Lord, I have healed these waters: there 
shall not be from thence any more death, or barren 
land" — literally, abortion. The import of the root of 
the word here translated barren (n'wi:) is, to bereave, 
as of children : (Gen. xlii. 36.) — to lose, as by abor- 
tion ; to miscarry ; (Gen. xxxi. 38.) " thy she-goats 
have not cast their young." It is here in Piel, and 
has a causative seuse, to cause abortion. This is here 
ascribed to the soil ; though in verse 21 it is implied 
that the water was the cause ; since that being healed, 
the cause of abortion ceased. It cannot well refer 
here to any effect upon natural productions ; because 
Jericho was celebrated for its fertility, is pronounced 
pleasant, and is called "the city of palm-trees," 2 
Chron. xxviii. 15. We must rather, therefore, refer 
it to a destructive influence on animal life, arising 
partly, perhaps, from the drinking of the water, and 
partly from the effects of the water upon the adjacent 
tract of country. 

Nor is this an isolated case ; nor is it peculiar to 
Jericho alone. Even at the present day there are 
cities in the same predicament as that in which Jeri- 
cho was; namely, where animal life of certain sorts, 
pines, and decays, and dies ; cities where that pos- 
terity which should replace the current mortality, is 
either not conceived, or if conceived, is not brought 
to the birth, or if brought to the birth, is fatal in de- 
livery, both to the mother and her offspring. That 
this is the case appears from the following relations : 
"The inclemency of the climate of Porto Bello is 
sufficiently known all over Europe ; not only strangers 
who come thither are affected by it, but even the 
natives themselves suffer in various manners. It 
destroys the vigor of nature, and often untimely cuts 
the thread of life. It is a current opinion, that for- 
merly, and even not above twenty years since, partu- 
rition was here so dangerous, that it was seldom any 
woman did not die in child-bed. As soon, therefore, 
as they had advanced three or four months in their 
pregnancy, they were sent to Panama, where they 
continued till the danger of delivery was past. A 
few, indeed, had the firmness to wait their destiny 
in their own houses ; but much the greater number 
thought it more advisable to undertake the journey, 
than to run so great a hazard of their lives. The 
excessive love which a lady had for her husband, 
blended with the dread that he would forget her 
during her absence, his employment not permitting 
him to accompany her to Panama, determined her to 
set the first example of acting contrary to their gen- 
eral custom. The reasons for her fear were sufficient 
to justify her resolution to run the risk of a probable 
danger, in order to avoid an evil which she knew to 
be certain, and must have embittered the whole re- 
mainder of her life. The event was happy ; she 
was delivered, and recovered her former health ; and 
the example of a lady of her rank, did not fail of in- 
spiring others with the like courage, though not 
founded on the same reasons ; till, by degrees, the 
dread which former melancholy cases had impressed 
on the mind, and which gave occasion to this climate's 
being [reported] fatal to pregnant women, was entirely 
dispersed. Another opinion, equally strange, is, that 
the animals from other climates, on their being 
brought to Porto Bello, cease to procreate. The 



inhabitants bring instances of hens, brought from 
Panama or Carthagena, which, immediately on their 
arrival, grew barren, and laid no more eggs ; and 
even at this time the horned cattle sent from Panama, 
after they have been here a short time, lose theii 
flesh in such a manner as not to be eatable, though 
they do not want for plenty of good pasture. It is 
certain, that there are no horses or asses bred here ; 
which tends to confirm the opinion, that this climate 
checks the generation of creatures produced in a more 
benign or less noxious air. However, not to rely on 
the common opinion, we inquired of some intelligent 
persons, who differed but very little from the vulgar ; 
and even confirmed what they asserted, by many 
known facts and experiments, performed by them- 
selves." Don Ulloa, Voy. S. Amer. vol. i. p. 93. 

This seems to be a clear instance of a circumstance 
very similar to the genuine import of the Hebrew 
word, "causing to miscarry," and of the circum- 
stances attending it. How far the situation of Porto 
Bello and of Jericho might be similar, we need not 
inquire ; nor whether Don Ulloa be correct in re- 
garding the air as the cause of this peculiarity. 

A second extract is from Mr. Bruce's Travels, 
(vol. iv. p. 469, 471, 472.) — "No horse, mule, ass, or 
any beast of burden, will breed, or even live, at Sen- 
naar, or many miles about it. Poultry does not live 
there ; neither dog nor cat, sheep nor bullock, can 
be preserved a season there. They must go, every 
half year, to the sands ; though all possible care be 
taken of them, they die in every place where the fat 
earth is about the town, during the first season of the 
rains. Two greyhounds which I brought from At- 
bara, and the mules which I brought from Abyssinia, 
lived only a few weeks alter I arrived. They seemed 
to have an inward complaint, for nothing appeared 
outwardly ; the dogs had abundance of water, but I 
killed one of them from apprehension of madness. 
Several kings have tried to keep lions ; but no care 
could prolong their lives beyond the first rains. 
Shekh Adelan had two, which were in great health, 
being kept with his horses at grass in the sands, but 
three miles from Sennaar. Neither rose, nor any 
species of jessamine, grows here ; no tree, but the 
lemon, flowers near the city, that I ever saw: the. 
rose has been often tried, but in vain. The soil of 
Sennaar, as I have already said, is very unfavorable 
both to man and beast, and particularly adverse to 
their propagation. This seems to me to be owing 
to some noxious quality of the fat earth with which 
it is every way surrounded, and nothing may be de- 
pended upon more surely than the fact already men- 
tioned, that no mare, or other beast of burden, ever 
foaled in the town, or in auy village within several 
miles round it. This remarkable quality ceases upon 
removing from the fertile country to the sands. Aira, 
between three and four miles off Sennaar, with no 
water near it but the Nile, surrounded with white 
barren sand, agrees pe: fectly with all animals, and 
here are the quarters where I saw Shekh Adelan the 
minister's horse, (as I suppose for their numbers,) by 
far the finest in the world ; where in safety he 
watched the motions of his sovereign, who, shut up 
in his capital of Sennaar, could not there maintain 
one horse to oppose him. But, however unfavorable 
this soil may be for the propagation of animals, it 
contributes very abundantly both to the nourishment 
of man and beast. It is positively said to render 
three hundred for one, [see Gen. xxvi. 12.] which, 
however confidently advanced, is, I think, both from 
reason and appearance, a great exaggeration It ia 



BAR 



[ 150 ] 



BAR 



all sown with dora or millet, the principal food of 
the natives. It produces also wheat and rice,. but 
these, at Sennaar, are sold by the pound, even in years 
of plenty. The salt made use of at Sennaar is all 
extracted from the earth about it, especially at Hal- 
faia, so strongly is the soil impregnated with this 
useful fossil." 

Tli is instance presents a city, a royal city, in some 
respects very fertile, which, nevertheless, in other 
respects, reminds us of Jericho : like that city, it was 
pleasant, but adverse to propagation ; and this Mr. 
Bruce attributes to the nature of the earth, or soil 
around it. We find also this effect oeasing at a small 
distance, which deserves notice ; because it is very 
possible, that this property of the soil was the means, 
in the hand of Providence, to accomplish the predic- 
tion of Joshua, respecting the rebuilding of Jericho, 
Josh. vi. 26. See Abiram. 

I. BARS ABAS, (Joseph,) surnamed The Just, was 
an early disciple of Jesus Christ, and, probably, 
among the seventy, Acts i. 21, 22, &c. After the 
ascension of our Saviour, Peter proposed to fill up 
the place of Judas, the traitor, by one of those dis- 
ciples who had beeu constant eye-witnesses of our 
Saviour's actions. Two persons were selected, Bar- 
sabas and Matthias ; the lot determined for Matthias. 

II. BARSABAS, (Judas,) one of the principal 
disciples, (Acts xv. 22, et seq.) who, with others, was 
sent from Jerusalem to Antioch, carrying a letter 
with the council's decree. 

BARTHOLOMEW, one of the twelve apostles, 
was of Galilee ; (Acts i. 13.) but we know little of 
him. It is generally believed that he preached the 
gospel in the Indies ; (Euseb. lib. v. cap. 10.) and 
that he carried thither the Gospel of Matthew, in 
Hebrew, where Pantenus found a copy of it a hun- 
dred years after. We are told, likewise, that he 
preached in Arabia Felix, and Persia, which he 
might do, in passing through those countries to In- 
dia. Many are of opinion, that Nathanael and Bar- 
tholomew are the same person ; and they support 
this opinion by these reasons: — (1.) No notice is 
taken of Bartholomew's calling, unless his and Na- 
thanael's be the same. (2.) The evangelists who 
speak of Bartholomew, say nothing of Nathanael ; 
and John, who speaks of Nathanael, says nothing of 
Bartholomew. (3.) Bartholomew is not a proper 
name'; it signifies son of Tolmai, i. e. Ptolemy, be- 
sides which he might be named Nathanael, i. e. Na- 
thaniel, son of Ptolemy. (4.) John seems to rank 
Nathanael among the apostles, when he says, that 
Peter, Thomas, the two sons of Zebedee, Nathanael, 
and two other disciples, being gone a fishing, Jesus 
showed himself to them, John xxi. 2. 

The Syrian writers, who are of this opinion, call 
him " Nathanael-bar-Tholemy," and " Nathauael- 
ebn-Tholemy." They say he accompanied his 
brother-apostle, Thomas, into the East; that they 
preached at Nisibis, Mosul, (or Nineveh,) Hazath, 
and in Persia ; that Thomas went on to India : but 
we do not perceive that they generally affirm the 
same of Bartholomew. Yet Amrus, a Syriac author, 
quoted by Assemanni, writes, that " Nathanael-ebn- 
Tholemy, the disciple of Thomas, (rather fellow-dis- 
ciple with Thomas,) and Lebbeus, of the twelve, 
with Addeus, (or Thaddeus,) Marus, and Agheus, 
who had been of the seventy, taught Nisibis, al- 
Gzeirat, (i. e. Mesopotamia,) Mosul, Babylonia, and 
Chaldea ; also Arabia, the East country, Nebaioth, 
Huzzath, and Persia. Also, going into the greater 
Armenia, he convened the inhabitants to Christian- 



ity, and there built a church. Lastly, he removed 
to India, as far as China." This last particular may 
be true of Thomas ; but is very questionable as to 
his associate Bartholomew. All other writers place 
the scene of this apostle's labors in the regions 
around Persia and Armenia. The Syrian canons 
place the fifth seat of ecclesiastical honor at Baby- 
lon, in consideration of " Thomas, the apostle of the 
Hindoos and Chinese ; and of Bartholomew, who is 
also the Nathanael of the Syrians." So that it may 
be taken, generally, that Bartholomew was the apos- 
tle of Mesopotamia and Persia. 

A spurious Gospel of Bartholemew is mentioned 
by pope Gelasius. Bernard, and Abbot Rupert, 
were of opinion, that he was the bridegroom at the 
marriage of Cana Fabric. Cod. ?^poc. N. T. i. p. 
341, seq. 

BAR-TIMEUS, a blind man of Jericho, who sat 
by the side of the public road, begging, when our 
Saviour passed that way to Jerusalem. Mark (x. 
46 — 52.) says, that " Jesus coming out of Jericho, 
with his disciples, and a great crowd, Bar-Timeus 
when he heard it, began to cry out, Jesus, Son of 
David, have mercy on me !" and Jesus restored him 
to sight. But Matthew, (xx. 30.) relating the same 
story, says, that two blind men, sitting by the way- 
side, understanding that Jesus was passing, began to 
cry out, &.c. and both received sight. Mark notes 
Bar-Timeus only, because he was more known, and 
not improbably (as his name is preserved) was born 
iu a superior rank of life, therefore was no common 
beggar ; if, besides, his blindness had been the cause 
of reducing him to poverty, no doubt his neighbors 
would mention his name, and take great interest in 
his cure. Probably, Timeus, his father, was of note 
in that place ; as such wis generally the case, when 
the father's name wa» aken by the son ; and, per- 
haps, some of the neighbors who had known Bar- 
Timeus in better circumstances, who had often 
pitied, but could not relieve him, were the persons 
to encourage the blind man ; " Be of good comfort ! 
Rise ; he calleth thee." This does hot contradict 
the supposition, that on this occasion he, principally, 
expressed his warmth and zeal ; that he spake of 
Jesus Christ, and distinguished himself by his alac- 
rity, faith, and obedience. However, this two in 
Matthew may be nothing more than a literal adhe- 
sion to the Syriac dual form of expression ; there 
being in this evangelist other instances of the same 
idiom ; as the two thieves (xxvii. 44.) who reviled 
Jesus ; whereas Luke mentions only one ; and says, 
the other rebuked his companion. The cure of an- 
other blind man, mentioned Luke xviii. 35, 43. is differ- 
ent from this ; that happened, when Jesus was entering 
into Jericho ; this, the next day, as he was coming out. 
[It should, however, be remarked, that the miracle 
recorded by Luke is apparently the same as that 
mentioned by Matthew and Mark, and is so regarded 
by commentators in general. The apparent discre- 
pancy of Luke's statement vanishes, on the suppo- 
sition of Newcome and others, that Jesus remained 
perhaps several days at Jericho, and in that time 
made one or more excursions from the city and re- 
turned to it again. R. 

BARUCH, son of Neriah, and grandson of 
Maaseiab, was of the tribe of Judah, and the faith- 
ful disciple and scribe of Jeremiah the prophet, Jer. 
xxxii. 12^16 ; xliii. 3, 6 ; li. 61. There is an ipoc- 
ryphal book ascribed to him. 

I. BARZILLAI, a native of Rogelim, in Gilead, 
and one who assisted David when expelled from 



B AS 



[ 151 ] 



BAS 



lerusalem by Absalom, 2 Sam. xvii. 27, 28. When 
David returned to Jerusalem, Barzillai attended him 
to the Jordan. 

II. BARZILLAI, a native of Meholath, father of 
Adriel, who married Michal, formerly wife of David, 
2 Sam. xxi. 8. 

III. BARZILLAI, a priest, who married a daugh- 
ter of Barzillai the Gileadite, Ezra ii. 61 ; Nehem. 
vii. 63. 

BASCA, or Bascama, a town near Bethshan, 
where Jonathan Maccabeus was killed, 1 Mace. xiii. 
23 ; Jos. xiii. 1. 

BASHAN signifies a sandy, soft soil, from the 
Arabic ; and this agrees with the character of the 
country, as fit for pasturing cattle ; and is applicable 
to an extensive province. 

The land of Bashan, otherwise the Batansea, is 
east of' the river Jordan, north of the tribes of Gad 
and Reuben, and in the half-tribe of Manasseh. It 
is bounded east by the mountains of Gilead, the land 
of Ammon, and East Edom ; north by mount Her- 
mon ; south by the brook Jabbok ; west by the Jor- 
dan. Og, king of the Amorites, possessed Bashan 
when Moses conquered it. Bashan was esteemed 
one of the most fruitful countries in the world ; its 
rich pastures, oaks, and fine cattle, are exceedingly 
commended, Numb. xxi. 33 ; xxxii. 33 ; Isa. ii. 13 ; 
Deut. iii. 1 ; Psal. xxii. 12. 

The following description of this region is by Mr. 
Buckingham: "We had now quitted the land of 
Sihon, king of the Amorites, and entered into that 
of Og, the king of Bashan, both of them well known 
to all the readers of the early Scriptures. We had 
quitted, too, the districts apportioned to the tribes of 
Reuben and Gad, and entered that which was allot- 
ted to the half-tribe of Manasseh, beyond Jordan, 
eastward, leaving the land of the children of Am- 
mon on our right, or to the east of the Jabbok, which 
divided Ammon, or Philadelphia, from Gerasa. The 
mountains here are called the land of Gilead in the 
Scriptures; and in Josephus, and according to the 
Roman division, this was the country of the Decap- 
olis so often spoken of in the New Testament, or 
the province of Gaulonitis, from the city of Gaulon, 
its early capital. We continued our way over this 
elevated tract, continuing to behold, with surprise 
and admiration, a beautiful country on all sides of 
us; its plains covered with a fertile soil, its hills 
clothed with forests, and at every new turn present- 
ing the most magnificent landscapes that could be 
imagined. Amongst the trees, the oak was fre- 
quently seen ; and we know that this territory pre- 
sented them of old. In enumerating the sources 
from which the supplies of Tyre were drawn in the 
time of her great wealth and naval splendor, the 
prophet says, ' Of the oaks of Bashan have they made 
thine oars,' Ezek. xxvii. 6. Some learned comment- 
ators, indeed, believing that no oaks grew in these 
supposed desert regions, have translated the word by 
alders, to prevent the appearance of inaccuracy in 
the inspired writer. The expression of ' the fat bulls 
of Bashan,' which occurs more than once in the 
Scriptures, seemed to us equally inconsistent, as ap- 
plied to the beasts of a country generally thought to 
be a desert, in common with the whole tract which 
is laid down in the modern maps as such, between 
the Jordan and the Euphrates ; but we could now 
fully comprehend, not only that the bulls of this lux- 
uriant country might be proverbially fat, but that its 
possessors, too, might be a race renowned for strength 
and comeliness of nerson. . . . The genera' ^Hce of 



this region improved as we advanced further in it , 
and every new direction of our path opened upon 
us views which surprised and charmed us by their 
grandeur and beauty. Lofty mountains gave an 
outline of the most magnificent character ; flowing 
beds of secondary hills softened the romantic wild- 
ness of the picture ; gentle slopes, clothed with wood, 
gave a rich variety of tints, hardly to be imitated by 
the pencil; deep valleys, filled with murmuring 
streams, and verdant meadows, offered all the luxu- 
riance of cultivation, and herds and flocks gave life 
and animation to scenes as grand, as beautiful, and 
as highly picturesque, as the genius or taste of a Claude 
could either invent or desire." 

[Similar to this is also the account given by 
Burckhardt of the Belka, which lies south of the 
Jabbok, constituting the northern part of the ancient 
Gilead, and of course adjacent to Bashan. " We 
had now entered a climate quite different from that 
of the Ghor, [or valley of the Jordan.] During the 
whole of yesterday we had been much oppressed 
by heat, which was never lessened by the slightest 
breeze ; in the Belkan mountains, on the contrary, 
we were refreshed by cool winds, and every where 
found a grateful shade of fine oak and wild pista- 
chio trees, with a scenery more like that of Europe 
than any I had yet seen in Syria. The superiority 
of the pasturage of the Belka over that of all south- 
ern Syria, is the cause of its possession being much 
contested. The Bedouins have this saying: 'Thou 
canst not find a country like the Belka.' " Travels in 
Syria, etc. p. 348, 368. R. 

BASON, or Layer, of the tabernacle, and of the 
temple. See Temple. 

BASTARDS, children begotten out of the state 
of matriirTony. The law forbade the admission of 
bastards into the congregation of Israel, to the tenth 
generation, Deut. xxiii. 2. The rabbins distinguish 
bastards into three kinds ; (1.) those born in mar- 
riage, of parents contracted in cases prohibited by 
the law ; (2.) those born from a criminal conjunction, 
punishable by the judges, as are the children of 
adulterers ; (3.) those born in incest, and condemned 
by the law. They also distinguish between bastards 
certain and uncertain. The first are those whose 
birth is notoriously corrupted, and who without diffi- 
culty are excluded from the congregation of the 
Lord. Doubtful bastards are those whose birth is 
uncertain. These could not be excluded in strict- 
ness, yet the Scribes would not admit them, for fear 
that any certain bastards should slip in among them. 
But the Vulgate, the LXX, and the authors of the 
canon law, take the Hebrew mamzer, (Deut. xxiii. 2.) 
for the child of a prostitute ; while some interpret- 
ers take it for a generic term, which signifies ille- 
gitimate children, whose birth is impure in any 
manner whatever. Others believe the Hebrew 
mamzer rather signifies a stranger or foreigner than 
a bastard. Jephthah, who was the son of a concu- 
bine, (Judg. xi. 1.) became head and judge in Israel. 
Pharez and Zarah, sons of Tamar, conceived from 
a kind of incest, are reckoned among the ancestors 
of David. Among the Hebrews the children followed 
the condition of the mother. How then, it is asked, 
could a bastard son, born of a mother an Israelite, 
be excluded the congregation of Israel to the tenth 
generation, since the Egyptians and Iduma^ans might 
be admitted after the third generation ? This con- 
sideration renders it probable that mamzer means 
more than barely a bastard, perhaps a bastard born 
of a woman a stranger and an idolater. The LXX 



BAT L 152 ] BDE 



render the word iu Zech. ix. 6. a stranger, or an 
alien ; and in Deut. xxiii. 2. the son of a prostitute. 
The Hebrew word occurs only in these two places, 
and i'.s signification is by no means certain. The 
words, "Tney shall not enter into the congregation 
of the Lord, even to the tenth generation," ca_Tno: 
mean that this sort of children might not be convert- 
ed, or be admitted into Judaism, till after ten genera- 
tions ; but that they should not enjoy the employments, 
dignities, or privileges of true Hebrews, till the 
blemish of their birth was entirely obliterated and 
forgotten. 

BAT, an unclean creature, having the body of a 
mouse, and wings not covered with feathers, but of 
a leathery membrane, expansible for the purpose of 
flying. These wings consist in a very curious form- 
ation, which cannot be contemplated without ad- 
miration, the bones of the extremities being con- 
tinued into long and thin processes, connected by a 
most delicate membrane, or skin, capable, from its 
thinness, of being contracted at pleasure into innu- 
merable wrinkles, so as to lie in a small space when 
the animal is at rest, and to be stretched to a very 
wide extent for occasional flight. It produces its 
young alive, and suckles them like four-footed ani- 
mals. The bat is extremely well described in Deut. 
xiv. 19. "Moreover, the bat, and every creeping thing 
that Jlieth, is unclean to you; they shall not be eaten." 
This character, which fixes to the bat the name used 
in both passages, is omitted in Leviticus ; neverthe- 
less, it is very descriptive ; and places this creature 
at the head of a class, of which he is a very clear, 
and a very well known instance. There are bats in 
the East much larger than ours ; and they are salted 
and eaten. The bat never becomes tame ; it feeds 
on flies, insects, and fat things, such as cabdles, oil, 
and grease. It appears only by night, nor then, un- 
less the weather be fine, and the season warm. Some 
of the bats of Africa and Ethiopia have long tails, 
like those of mice, which extend beyond their wings. 
Some have four ears, others only two ; they build 
no nests, but bring forth their young in a hole or 
cleft, or cave, iu tops or coverings of houses ; some 
are black, some white, sallow and ash-colored. The 
old one suckles its young, as they are fastened to its 
teats ; and when she is obliged to leave them, in 
order to go out and seek food, she takes them from 
her teats, and hangs them up against the wall, where 
they adhere by clinging. There are bats in China, 
some say, as large as pullets, and as delicate eating ; 
those of Brazil, Madagascar, and the Maldives, called 
Vampire bats, are very large, and suck the blood of 
men, while they sleep, fastening upon some uncov- 
ered part, while, at the same time, they refresh the 
sufferer by the fanning of their wings, who is in 
very great danger, unless he awakes. 

BATAN^EA was the same as the ancient king- 
dom of Bashan, (which see,) and was part of the 
territory given to Herod Antipas, at the death of 
Herod the Great. 

BATH, or Ephah, a Hebrew measure, containing 
Seven gallons, four pints, liquid measure ; or three 
pecks, three pints, dry measure. Some have imagin- 
ed that there was a sacred bath, different from the 
common, containing a bath and half of the other ; 
which they endeavor to prove by what is said, 1 
Kings vii. 26. of Solomon's molten sea, that it con- 
tained 2000 baths ; compared with 2 Chron. iv. 5. 
which says that it held 3000 baths ; but this differ- 
ence is easily reconciled. (See Sea.) The LXX 
render this word sometimes (Sai* ; sometimes ^<}n- 



I rig; (2 Chron. iv. 5.) sometimes xtQup iog, Isaiah v. 10- 
I The ancient Latin version translates it lagena. It 
j was the tenth part of the homer, in liquid things, as 
the ephah was in dry measure, Ezek. xlv. 11. 
' BATH-KOL, daughter of the voice, the name by 
which the Jewish writers distinguish what they called 
a revelation from God, after verbal prophecy had 
ceased in Israel ; i. e. after the prophets Haggai, 
Zechariah, and Malachi. The generality of their 
traditions and customs are founded on this Bath- 
Kol, which, as Dr. Prideaux has shown, was a fan- 
tastical way of divination, like the Sortes Virgiliauae 
among the heathen. For, as with them, the words 
first opened upon in the works of that poet, were the 
oracle whereby they prognosticated those future 
events which they desired to be informed of; so 
witli the Jews, when they appealed to Bath-Kol, the 
next words which they should hear drop from any 
one's mouth were taken as the desired oracle. 

BATH-SHEBA, or Bathshua, (1 Chr. hi. 5.) the 
daughter of Eliam, or Ammiel, and wife of Uriah 
the Hittite. David having found the means of grati- 
fying his guilty passion with Bath-sheba, in conse- 
quence of which she became pregnant, he further 
added to his crime by procuring the death of Uriah 
her husband, 2 Sam. xi. After her husband's death, 
Bath-sheba mourned as usual ; which ceremony being 
over, David brought her to his house, and married 
her ; soon after which she was delivered of a son. 
The Lord sent Nathan to David, to convince him of 
his sin, and to threaten his punishment by the death 
of this child, which occurred on the seventh day. 
After this, Bath-sheba became the mother of Solo- 
mon, ■Shammuah, Shobab, and Nathan, 1 Chron. iii. 
5 ; 2 Sam. v. 14. 

BATH-ZACHARIAS, a place near Bethsura, 
celebrated for a battle fought between Antiochus 
Eupator, and Judas Maccabseus, 1 Mace. vi. 30. Epi- 
phanius says, the prophet Habakkukwas born in the 
territories of Bath-zacharias. 

BATTLEMENT, a wall round the top of flat- 
roofed houses; as were those of the Jews, and other 
eastern people. (See House.) The Jews were en- 
joined to adopt this precaution against accidents, un- 
der the penalty of death, i^eut. xxih 8. In Jer. v. 
10, the term appears to denote towers, walls, and 
other fortifications of a city. 

BAY-TREE. This is mentioned once in the 
English Bible, (Psalm xxxvii. 35, 36.) but. the origi- 
nal Hebrew word (mtN) denotes rather an indigenous 
tree, one not transplanted, but growing in its own 
native soil. 

BDELLIUM, (nS-o,) occurs Gen. ii. 12 ; Numbers 
xi. 7. Compare Exod. xvi. 31. It is commonly 
supposed that the bdellium is a gum from a tree, 
common in Arabia and the East. Pliny (lib. xii. 
cap. 9.) says, the best bdellium comes from Bac- 
tria ; that the tree which produces it is black, as 
large as an olive-tree, its leaves like those of an oak, 
and fts fruit like that of the caper-tree. There is 
bdellium likewise in the Indies, in Media, and in 
Babylonia. Moses says the manna of the Israelites 
was of the color of bdellium, Numb. xi. 7. [But 
this substance, whatever it was, is mentioned along 
with gold and gems ; while bdellium is certainly not 
so remaz'kable a gift of nature as to deserve this 
classification, or as that the production of it should 
confer on Havilah a peculiar celebrity. Hence the 
opinion of the Jewish writers is not to be contemn- 
ed, which Bochart has discussed, (Hieroz. ii. 674, 
seq.) viz. that pearls are ,o be here understood, of 



EE A 



[ 153 ] 



BEARD 



which great quantities are found on the shores of 
the Persian gull' and in India, and which might not 
inaptly be compared with manna, as in Num. 
xi. 7. R. 

BEAM, see Eye, p. 422. 

BEAM, the cylindrical piece of wood belonging 
to a weaver's loom, on which the web is gradually 
rolled as it is woven, Judg. xvi. 14; 1 Sam. xvii. 7. 

BEAR, (an.) Bears were common in Palestine ; 
David says, (1 Sain. xvii. 34, 36.) he had often fought 
with bears and lions. Elisha having prophetically 
cursed some lads of Bethel, for insulting him, two 
she bears issued from a neighboring forest, and 
wounded forty-two of them, 2 Kings ii. 23, 24. (See 
Elisha.) The sacred writers, to express the sensa- 
tions of a man transported by passion, say, " He is 
chafed in his mind, as a bear bereaved," 2 Sam. xvii. 
8. There are white bears in the north ; but they 
were, probably, unknown in Palestine. 

The prophet Isaiah (xi. 7.) describing the happi- 
ness of the Messiah's reign, says, the ox and the hear 
shall feed together. Daniel, (vii. 5.) in his descrip- 
tion of the four great monarchies, represents that of 
the Persians under the figure of a bear having three 
rows of teeth ; by this, perhaps, principally intend- 
ing Cyrus. 

BEARD. The Hebrews wore their beards, but 
had, doubtless, in common with other Asiatic na- 
tions, several fashions in this, as in all other parts of 
dress. Moses forbids them (Lev. xix. 27.) " to cut 
off entirely the angle, or extremity, of their beard," 
that is, to avoid the manner of the Egyptians, who 
left only a little tuft of beard at the extremity of 
their chins. The Jews, in some places, at this day 
suffer a little fillet of hair to grow from below the 
ears to the chin ; where, as well as upon their lower 
lips, their beards are long. When they mourned 
they entirely shaved the hair of their heads and 
beards, and neglected to trim their beards, to regu- 
late them into neat order, or to remove what grew 
on their upper lips and cheeks, Jer. xli. 5 ; xlviii. 37. 
In times of grief and affliction, they plucked away 
the hair of their heads and beards ; a mode of ex- 
pressing grief common to other nations under great 
calamities. See Shaving. 

The customs of nations, in respect to this part of 
the human countenance, have differed so widely, 
that it is not easy, among us, who treat the beard as 
an encumbrance, to conceive properly of the impor- 
tance which is attached to it in the East. The terms 
in which most of the Levitical laws that notice the 
beard are expressed, are obscure to us, by the very 
reason of their being familiar to the persons to whom 
they were addressed. Perhaps the following quota- 
tions may contribute to throw a light, at least upon 
some of them : " The first care of an Ottoman prince, 
when he comes to the throne, is, to let his beard 
grow, to which sultan Mustapha added, the dyeing 
of it black, in order that it might be more apparent 
on the day of his first appearance, when he was to 
gird on the sabre ; a ceremony by which he takes 
possession of the throne, and answering the corona- 
tion among us." (Baron du Tott, vol. i. p. 117.) So, 
De la Motraye tells us, (p. 247.) "That the new sul- 
tan's beard had not been permitted to grow, but only 
since he had been proclaimed emperor ; arid was 
very short, it being customary to shave the Ottoman 
princes, as a mark of their subjection to the reign- 
ing emperor." Niebuhr says, "In the year 1764, 
Kerim Khan sent to demand payment of the tribute 
due for his possessions in Kermesir ; but Mir Ma- 
20 



henna maltreated the officer who was sent on the 
errand, and caused his beard to be cut off." (Vol 
ii. p. 148. Eng. edit.) This will remind the reader 
of the insult offered to the ambassadors of David, 
by Hanun, (2 Sam. x.) which insult, however, seems 
to have had a peculiarity in it — of shaving one half 
of the beard ; i. e. the beard on one side of the face. 
On this subject, we translate from Niebuhr (French 
edit.) the following remarks : " The orientals have 
divers manners of letting the beard grow ; the Jews, 
in Turkey, Arabia, and Persia, preserve their beard 
from their youth ; and it differs from that of the 
Christians and Mahometans, in that they do not 
shave it either at the ears or the temples. The Arabs 
keep their whiskers very short ; some cut them off 
entirely ; but they never shave off the beard. In 
the mountains of Yemen, where strangers are sel- 
dom seen, it is a disgrace to appear shaven ; they 
supposed our European servant, who had only whis- 
kers, had committed some crime, for which we had 
punished him, by cutting off his beard. On the 
contrary, the Turks have commonly long whiskers ; 
the beard among them is a mark of honor. The 
slaves and certain domestics of the great lords, are 
forced to cut it off, and dare not keep any part of it, 
but whiskers ; the Persians have long whiskers, and 
clip their beard short with scissors, which has an un- 
pleasant appearance to strangers. The Kurds shave 
the beard, but leave the whiskers, and a band of hair 
on the cheeks. The true Arabs have black beards, 
yet some old men dye their white beards red ; but 
this is thought to be to hide their age ; and is rather 
blamed than praised. The Persians blacken their 
beards much more ; and, probably, do so to extreme 
old age, in order to pass for younger than they really 
are. The Turks do the same in some cases. [How 
differently Solomon thought ! Prov. xx. 29. " The 
glory of young men is their strength, and the 
beauty of old men is the gray head."] When the 
younger Turks, after having been shaven, let their 
beards grow, they recite a fatha, which is considered 
as a vow never to cut it off"; (compare Numb. vi. 18 ; 
Acts xxi. 24.) and when any one cuts off his beard, 
he may be very severely punished, (at Basra, at 
least, to 300 blows with a stick.) He would also be 
the laughing stock of those of his faith. A Ma- 
hometan, at Basra, having shaved his beard 
when drunk, fled secretly to India, not daring to 
return, for fear of public scorn, and judicial punish- 
ment." 

"Although the Hebrews took great care of their 
beards, to fashion them when they were not in 
mourning, and on the contrary, did not trim them 
when they were in mourning ; yet I do not observe 
that their regard for them amounted to any venera- 
tion for their beard. On the contrary, the Arabians 
have so much respect for their beards, that they look 
on them as sacred ornaments given by God to 
distinguish them from women. They never shave 
them ; nothing can be more infamous than for a 
man to be shaved ; they make the preservation of 
their beards a capital point of religion, because Ma- 
homet never cut off his ; it is likewise a mark of 
authority and liberty among them, as well as among 
the Turks ; the Persians, who clip them, and shave 
above the jaw, are reputed heretics. The razor is 

j never drawn over the grand signior's face ; they who 
serve in the seraglio, have their beard shaved, as a 
sign of servitude ; they do not suffer it to grow till 
the sultan has set them at liberty, which is bestowed 

; as a reward upon them, and is always accompaniec 



BEARD 



[ 154 ] 



BE A 



with some employment. Unmarried young men 
may cut their beards ; but when married, especially 
if parents, they forbear doing so, to show that, they 
are become wiser, have renounced the vanities of 
youth, and think now of superior things. When 
they comb their beards, they hold a handkerchief on 
their knees, and gather carefully the hairs that fall ; 
and when they have got together a proper quantity, 
they fold them up in paper, and carry them to the 
place where they bury the dead. Among them it 
is more infamous for any one to have his beard cut 
off, than among us to be publicly whipped, or brand- 
ed with a hot iron. Many men in that country 
would prefer death to such a punishment. The 
wives kiss their husbands' beards, and children their 
fathers', when they come to salute them ; the men 
Kiss one another's beards reciprocally, when they 
salute in the streets, or come from a journey. They 
say, that the beard is the perfection of the human 
face, which would be more disfigured by having this 
cut off, than by losing the nose. They admire and 
envy those who have fine beards : ' Pray do but see, 
they cry, that beard ; the very sight of it would per- 
suade any one that he, to whom it belongs, is an 
honest man.' If any one with a fine beard is guilty 
of an unbecoming action, ' What a disadvantage is 
this, they say, to such a beard ! How much such a 
beard is to be pitied !' If they would correct any 
one's mistakes, they will tell him, ' For shame of your 
beard ! Does not the confusion that follows such an 
action light on your beard ?' If they entreat any 
one, or use oaths in affirming, or denying, any thing, 
they say, ' I conjure you by your beard, — by the life 
of your beard, — -to grant me this,' — or, 'by your 
beard, this is, or is not, so.' They say further, in 
the way of acknowledgment, ' May God preserve 
your blessed beard ! May God pour out his bless- 
ings on your beard !' And in comparisons, 'This is 
more valuable than one's beard.' " Moeurs des Arabes, 
par M. D'Arvieux, chap. vii. 4 

These accounts may contribute to illustrate several 
passages of Scripture. The dishonor done by David 
to his beard, of letting his spittle fall on it, (1 Sam. 
xxi. 13.) seems at once to have convinced Achish of 
his being distempered : q. d. " No man in good 
health, of body and mind, would thus defile what 
we esteem so honorable as his beard." If the beard 
be thus venerated, we perceive the import of Mephi- 
bosheth's neglect, in his not trimming it, 2 Sam. xix. 
24. If men kiss one another's beards, when they sa- 
lute in the streets, or when one of them is lately 
come from a journey, then we may discover traces 
of deeper dissimulation in the behavior of Joab to 
Amasa (2 Sam. xx. 9.) than has generally been no- 
ticed : " And Joab held in his right hand the beard 
of Amasa, that he might give it a kiss." No wonder 
that while this act of friendship, of gratulation after 
long absence, occupied Amasa's attention, he did not 
perceive the sword that was in Joab's left hand. The 
action of Joab was, indeed, a high compliment, but 
neither suspicious nor unusual ; and to this compli- 
ment Amasa paying attention, and, no doubt, return- 
ing it with answerable politeness, he could little ex- 
pect the fatal event that Joab's perfidy produced. 
^See further on this perfidy of Joab under Arms and 
Armor.) Was perhaps the behavior of Judas to 
Jesus something like this behavior of Joab to Ama- 
sa ? — a worthy example worthily imitated ! 

The cutting ofF the beard is mentioned (Isaiah xv. 
2.) as a token of mourning; and as such it appears 
to be very expressive: (Jer. xli. 5.) "Fourscore men 



came from Samaria, having their beards shaven, and 
their clothes rent." — See, also, chap, xlviii. 37. Is 
not this custom somewhat illustrated by the idea 
which the Arabs attached to the shaven servant of 
Niebuhr, i. e. as a kind of punishment suffered for 
guilt, expressed or implied ? 

BEAST, an animal destitute of reason ; but the 
word is usually employed to signify a quadruped 
living on land. God created the beasts of the earth, 
and man, on the sixth day ; and brought the fowls 
and the beasts to Adam, to receive their names ; 
that he might begin his exercise of that dominion 
which was given to him over the inferior creatures. 
After the deluge the flesh of beasts was given toman 
as food, but the bl^od was forbidden to be eaten, or 
even to be shed with violence. By the law (Exod. 
xxi. 28, 29.) every beast which should kill a man, or 
become abominably polluted, was to be put to death, 
Lev. xx. 15, 16. In the law of the sabbath, provision is 
made for the rest of domestic animals ; and as a 
memorial of the saving of the first-born Hebrews, 
and the first-born among their cattle, in the last of 
the plagues of Egypt, the first-born of each were to 
be consecrated to the Lord. The Egyptians, and 
other idolatrous people, adored beasts, the souls of 
which they thought to be endowed with reason. 
The doctrine of transmigration was common in the 
Eust, and prevailed among the Hebrews, as is mani- 
fest from some passages in the New Testament. 
Father Pardies, a Jesuit, wrote concerning the 
knowledge of beasts ; to show, that they are not 
destitute of thought or understanding. Willis like- 
wise wrote on the souls of beasts. Solomon, in Ec-, 
clesiastes, whether he proposes his own thoughts, 
or those of the philosophers and free-thinkers of his 
time, expresses himself in a maimer which might 
be understood to ir 'tauate that beasts possess under- 
standing, and reasonable souls. " I have said in my 
heart concerning the sons of men, that they might 
see that they themselves are beasts ; for, as one 
dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one 
breath ; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a 
beast. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth 
upward, and the. spirit of the beast that goeth down- 
ward to the earth ?" Eccl. iii. 18, 19, 21. But we 
should widely mistake the import of such passages, 
should we infer from them, that beasts are equal to 
man, in reason, or in a capacity of religion, of know- 
ing God, of attaining celestial felicity, and of acting 
on spiritual principles. The knowledge, reasoning, 
desires, designs of beasts, are limited to the discern 
ment of what may contribute to their immediate 
and instant enjoyment, their temporal happiness, and 
the multiplication of their species. They can and 
do, indeed, determine between hot and cold, be- 
tween enjoyment and pain, safety -and danger; but 
not between moral good and evil, between just and 
unjust, lawful and unlawful. But, it is asked, what 
becomes of the animating principle of beasts, when 
separated from matter ? We have no principles 
whereby we can discover this. We know that God 
created all things for his glory ; but can beasts be 
capable of an active knowledge and love of their 
Creator? If not, he must be glorified by them some 
other way ; as, doubtless, he is glorified passively by 
simple matter ; but surely not in any other sense, 
than as showing forth his glory, his wisdom, ard 
his power. On this subject, we should recur to the 
distinctions of life ; — body, soul, spirit Body we 
grant them ; soul, i. e. animal life, we also grant them , 
his they njoy up to fixed degrees, each possessing 



BED 



L 155 ] 



BED 




hat kind, degree, power, and duration, appropriate 
to its species ; transmitting that to its posterity, but 
without improvement as without variation. Herein 
the animal life, or soul, is distinct from reason ; which 
is infinitely various, capable of unlimited improve- 
ments, and of strong desires after still further acqui- 
sitions. Instinct, then, is a confined, contented, 
satisfied quality ; reason is directly the contrary ; and 
this strongly characterizes the active nature of spirit, 
which is a higher principle of life, bestowed on man 
for higher purposes of existence. (See Animals.) 
Our translators have rendered iwa (Rev. iv. 6, &c.) 
beasts, instead of living creatures, as the word de- 
notes. 

BEATEN- WORK, see Idol. 
BED. This word frequently occurs in the English 

version of the Scrip- 
tures, and is in many 
cases calculated to 
mislead and perplex 
the reader. The 
beds used in the 
East are very differ- 
ent from those in this 
part of the world ; 
and an attention to 
this is indispensable 
to the right appre- 
hension of several 
passages of Holy 
Writ. It should be 
observed that the use 
of chairs is unknown 
in the East. The 
orientals sit or recline on a duan, divan, or sofa, that 
is, a part of the room raised above the floor, and 
spread with a carpet in winter, and in summer with 
fine mats, and having cushions or bolsters placed 
along the back to Jean against. These divans fre- 
quently serve the purpose of a bed, with the addi- 
tion of two thick cotton quilts, one of which, folded 
double, serves as a mattrass, the other as a covering. 
Such a bed was that of David, 1 Sam. xix. 15. 
This will help us to understand several passages of 
Scripture otherwise unintelligible : Amos iii. 12. 

As the shepherd taketh out' of the mouth of the 
lion two legs, or a piece of an ear ; so shall the chil- 
dren of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria 
in the corner of a bed;" that is, in the corner — which 
is the place of honor, the most easy, voluptuous, in- 
dulging station— of the divan. Will it not also help 
us to ascertain the true attitude of the dying Jacob, 
who, when Joseph brought his two sons to him, 
" strengthened himself and sat upon the bed,"— the 
divan ; and who, after blessing his sons, not "gather- 
ed up his feet into the bed," but " drew them up on 
the divan ?" Sometimes the beds are laid on the 
floor, as we learn from Sir J. Chardin, Mr. Hanway, 
Dr. Russell, and other travellers. Mr. Hanway 
describes the beds in Persia as consisting " only of 
two cotton quilts, one of which was folded double, 
and served as a mattrass, and the other as a cover- 
ing, with a large flat pillow for the head." Was it 
not on such a bed that' Saul slept, 1 Sam. xxvi. 7. ? 
Also, that on which the paralytic was let down, 
Luke v. 19.? The Psalmist says, (Psal. vi. 6.) "I 
am weary with my groaning, all the night I make 
my bed to swim ; (the divan on which I am placed ;) 
I water my couch (or the divan furniture) with my 
tears." Is it not good sense to say, " My tears not 
only copiously wet the divan, or mattrass— the upper 



part on which I lie, but they run over it, and even 
extend to the lower part — the broad part — of the di- 
van, and wet that also ?" i. e. the bed's feet of our 
translators. It is said, Deut. iii. 11. " The bedstead 
(any) °f Og was a bedstead of iron." It may be 
thought, that our translators, in rendering this word 
bedstead, intended the broad smooth part, or floor, 
of the divan ; unless it should rather be referred to 
the covering of that part, i. e. the carpet, or scarlet 
cloth, though it possibly might denote both floor 
and covering, as we say in common speech, " the 
floor of a room," notwithstanding the room may be 
covered by a carpet. Either sense of the word 
takes off much occasion for wonder on account of 
the dimensions of this bedstead, or divan, of Og, 
which appears to have been about fifteen feet and a 
half long, and six feet ten inches broad ; and to have 
been made of iron (its supporters, at least) instead 
of wood, as was customary. English ideas have 
measured this huge piece of furniture by English 
bedsteads ; but, had it been recollected that neither 
the divan, nor its covering, is so closely commensu- 
rate to the usual size of a person as our bedsteads 
in England are, no inconsiderable allowance would 
have been made in the dimensions of the bed for 
the repose of this martial prince. We may now 
also explain that very difficult passage, Ezek. xiii. 
18. "Wo to those ivomen that sew pillows to all 
arm-holes, and make kerchiefs on the head of every 
stature, to hunt souls!" &c. These words seem to 
contain these ideas ; those who utter false prophe- 
cies, to soothe the mind of the wicked, are compared 
by the prophet to women who study and employ 
every art to allure by voluptuousness ; — against such 
he declares wo : " Wo to those who sew, em- 
broider, luxurious cushions for all elbows, i. e. to 
suit the dimensions of persons of all ages ; those 
who make pillows, bolsters, or perhaps quilts, cover- 
ings, (not kerchiefs,) for heads of every stature, stu- 
diously suiting themselves to all conditions, capaci- 
ties, ages, making effeminacy more effeminate," &c. 
The cushions, then, were not to be sewed to all arm- 
holes, and carried about the person, as our transla- 
tion seems to imply ; but they were to be so soft in 
their texture, so nicely adapted in their dimensions 
to suit all leaning arms, as to produce their full vo- 
luptuous effect. These die prophet compares to 
toils, snares, &c. in which the persons were caught, 
into which they were chased, decoyed ; like animals 
hunted by a surrounding company, which drives 
them into a narrow space, or trap, where their cap- 
ture, or destruction, is inevitable, according to the 
eastern mode of hunting; from these compulsive 
seducers he foretells delivery, &c. ver. 20. Under- 
stood thus, the passage becomes easy and plain, and 
analogous to the usages ' of the country wherein it 
was delivered. Com]). Prov. vi. 26. 

This also explains how Haman (Esther vii. 8.) 
not only "stood up to make request for his life," but 
was " fallen on the bed — the divan — whereon Es- 
ther" was sitting. We see; too, the nature of the 
order of Saul to bring up David to him, that he 
might " kill Him in his bed." (1 Sam. xix. 15.) Was 
the pillow of goats' hair a divan cushion, perhaps, 
stuffed with goats' hair instead of cotton ; and laid 
in such a manner as to resemble the disorderly atti- 
tude and appearance of a sick man ? — Other passages 
the reader will observe for himself. 

Nothing sounds more uncouth to English ears, than 
to hear of a person carrying his bed about with him 
To order a man, miraculously healed, to do this, is 



BED 



[ 156 ] 



BED 



so strange to us, that although we discover in it a 
convincing proof of his restoration to bodily strength, 
yet we are almost tempted to ask, with the Phari- 
sees, " Who bade thee carry thy bed ?" But, when 
properly explained, the apparent incongruity vanish- 
es before our better understanding. Such a kind 
of mattrass, or even the simple quilt, above spoken 
of, might be the bed (xqu^utov) of the New Testa- 
ment ; and was often, we may conclude from the 
circumstances of the occupier, without the accom- 
paniment of a cushion, to complete it. So, Mark ii. 
4, 11. "Arise, take up thy bed," i. e. thy mattrass — 
the covering spread under thee. Acts ix. 34. Peter 
said to Eneas, " Arise, and" hereafter " spread" thy 
bed "for thyself;" — thy palsy being cured, thou 
shalt be able not only to do that service for thyself, 
but to give assistance rather than to ask it. Krahbaton, 
then, is the meanest kind of bed in use : our truckle- 
bed, or any other which is supported by feet, &c. 
cannot justly represent it. Perhaps our sailors' 
hammocks are the nearest to it. But we are not to 
suppose that all beds were alike ; no doubt, that 
when David wanted warmth, his attendants would 
put mattrasses below, and coverlets above, to pro- 
cure it for him. Neither are we to understand, when 
a bed is the subject of boasting, that it consisted 
merely of the krahbaton, or plain divan. In Prov. 
vii. 16. the harlot vaunts of her bed, as highly 
ornamented "with tapestry- work — with brocade 
I have brocaded, bedecked my bed; the covering 
of it is of the fine yarn of Egypt, embossed with em- 
broidery." This description may be much illus- 
trated by the account which Baron du Tott gives 
of a bed ; in which he was expected to sleep, and in 
which he might have slept, had not European habit 
incapacitated him from that enjoyment. "The time 
for taking our repose was now come, and we were 
conducted into another large room, in the middle of 
which was a kind of bed ; without bedstead, or cur- 
tains. Though the coverlet and pillows exceeded in 
magnificence the richness of the sofa which likewise 
ornamented the apartment, I foresaw that I could 
expect but little rest on this bed, and had the curi- 
osity to examine its make in a more particular man- 
ner. Fifteen mattrasses of quilted cotton, about three 
inches thick, placed one upon another, formed the 
ground-work, and were covered by a sheet of In- 
dian linen, sewed on the last mattress. A coverlet 
of green satin, adorned with gold embroidered in em- 
bossed ivork, was in like manner fastened to the two 
sheets, the ends of which, turned in, were sewed 
down alternately. Two large pillows of crimson 
satin, covered with the like embroider}), in which there 
was no want of gold or spangles, rested on two cush- 
ions of the sofa, brought near to serve for a back, 
and intended to support our heads. The taking of 
the pillows entirely away, would have been a good 
resource, if we had had any bolster ; and the expe- 
dient of turning the other side upwards having only 
served to show they were embroidered in the same 
manner on the bottom, we at last determined to lay 
our handkerchiefs over them, which, however, did 
not prevent our being very sensible of the embossed 
ornaments underneath." (Vol. i. p. 95.) Here we 
have many mattrasses of quilted cotton ; a sheet of 
Indian linen, (query, muslin, or the fine linen of 
Egypt ?) a coverlet of green satin, embossed ; two 
large pillows, embossed also ; two cushions from the 
sofa, to form a back. So that we see, an eastern 
bed may be an article of furniture sufficiently com- 
plicated. 



This description, compared with a note of De la 
Motraye, (p. 172.) leads to the supposition, that some- 
thing like what, he speaks of as called 7iiakass, i. e. a 
brocaded covering for show, is what the harlot boasts 
of, as being the upper covering to her divan. " On 
a rich sofa," he says, " was a false covering of plain 
green silk, for the same reason as that in the hall ; 
but 1 lifted it up, while the two eunuchs who were 
with lis had their backs turned, and I found that the 
makass of the minders were a very rich brocade, with 
a gold ground, and flowered with silk of several col- 
ors, and the cushions of green velvet also grounded 
with gold, and flowered like them." Note. — " The 
mindeis have two covers, one of which is called 
makass, for ornament ; and the other to preserve 
that, especially when they are rich, as these were." 
This was in the seraglio at Constantinople. It is 
perfectly in character, for the harlot, who (Prov. ix. 
14.) "sits on a kind of throne at her door," and who 
in this passage boasts of all her showy embellish- 
ments, to mention whatever is gaudy, even to the 
tinsel bedeckings of her room, her furniture and her 
inakasses, assuming nothing less than regal dignity 
in words and description ; though her apartment be 
the way to hell, and the alcove containing her bed 
be the very lurking chamber of death. 

A query may be added, whether the ivory beds of 
Amos (vi. 4.) were not the divan whereon the cover- 
ings were laid. These might be ornamented with 
ivory ; and to this sense the use of the Hebrew word 
mitteh agrees. In this acceptation there is no repeti- 
tion in the prophet's words, when he mentions 
voluptuaries " lying upon mittelis — divans — their 
frame-work ornamented with ivory ; and stretching 
themselves (yawning ?) upon the couches — coverings 
of those divans ; meaning carpets, splendid cushions, 
&c. All these embellishments, these enervating lux- 
uries, the nature, the enjoyments, and the actions of 
these voluptuaries, agree with the expected delights 
of an alcove ; they agree also with what has been 
collected from those ancient writers who censured 
the luxury of which they were witnesses in their 
time; luxury which, it must not be forgotten, was 
brought from the East, from Persia, from Syria, 
from the land of silk, of calico, and of canopies. 

We are now, it is evident, at liberty to suppose 
that as much elegance (or, at least, show and pom- 
posity) was displayed on the divans and their furni- 
ture, which served for repose by night, as on those 
used by day. And as perhaps the same furniture 
did not serve both day and night, all the year round, 
but was occasionally changed, it seems natural to 
conclude, that in a great house there must be con- 
siderable stores of such furniture ; which, being not 
a little cumbersome, must require proper, and even 
large, rooms and warehouses, in which to keep it. 
This leads to the true sense of the passage, (2 Kings 
xi. 2.) Joash and his nurse were hidden six years in the 
house of the Lord — in the bed-chamber, (morn "pro,) 
i. e. the repository — or store-room — for the beds — 
for the mattrasses and their numerous accompani- 
ments ; which, being bulky, afforded the means of 
forming space among them sufficient to receive the 
child and his nurse, and to conceal them effectually. 
This was within the precincts of the house of the 
Lord, a sacred place, where none but priests could 
enter ; and where, probably, none did enter but the 
high-priest, Jehoiada, and his wife Jehosheba. This 
explanation banishes all ideas of an English bed- 
room in the house of the Lord ; (which, to keep un- 
visited during six years, would have been very sus- 



BEE 



BEE 



icioiis ;) it renders the concealment extreme .y easy 
and natural, since, certainly, this repository was 
under the charge of its proper keeper, who, only, 
managed its concerns ; and it agrees, to the forma- 
tion of the Hebrew words. Moreover, if the infant, 
Joash, were wounded, apparently to death, (as Atha- 
liah, no doubt, thought him irrecoverably dead be- 
fore she left him,) this large room might afford more 
conveniences while he was under cure from his 
wounds than any other room could do ; and having 
been safe here for a time, where better could they 
place him*after\vards ? 

In closing this article, we should note the various 
acceptations of the word divan, or duan : (1.) for the 
raised floor ; (2.) for the whole settle on which a 
person (or several persons) sits ; (3.) for the room 
that contains the divan ; (4.) for the hall, or council 
chamber ; so called, because the council usually sits 
on the duan constructed around the room; (5.) for 
the council itself; who are said when in consulta- 
tion to be " in divan." 

BEDAN. We read in 1 Sam. xii. 11. that the 
Lord sent several deliverers of Israel ; Jerubbaal, Be- 
dan, Jephthah, Samuel. Jerubbaal we know to be 
Gideon ; but we no where find Bedan among the 
judges of Israel. The LXX, instead of Bedan, read 
Barak ; others think Bedan to be Jair, of Manasseh, 
who judged Israel twenty-three years, Judg. x. 3. 
There was a Bedan, great-grandson to Machir, and 
Jair was descended from a daughter of Machir. 
The Chaldee, the rabbins, and after them the gene- 
rality of commentators, conclude that Bedan was 
Samson, of Dan ; but the opinion which supposes 
Bedan and Jair to be the same person seems the 
most probable. The names of Samson and Barak 
were added in many Latin copies, before the cor- 
rections of them, by the Roman censors, were pub- 
lished. The edition of Sixtus V. reads, " Jerobaal, 
et Baldan, et Samson, et Barak, et Jephte." 

BEE, an insect producing honey. (See Honey.) 
Bees were unclean by the law, Lev. xi. 23. 

BEEL-ZEBUB. The form and quality of this 
ridiculous god have been much disputed. Beel-ze- 
bub, or, as he is called in the Greek and Latin, Beel- 
zebul, or Beel-zebut, had a famous temple and ora- 
cle at Ekron, and Ahaziah, king of Israel, having 
fallen from the terrace of his house, and received 
dangerous bruises, sent to consult him, whether he 
should recover, 2 Kings i. In the New Testament, 
Beel-zebub is called " prince of the devils," Matt! xii. 
24 ; Mark iii. 22 ; Luke xi. 15. Some are of opinion, 
that the name of Achor, the god invoked at Cyrene 
against flies, comes from Accaron, the city where 
Beel-zebub was worshipped; others, that the true 
name which the Philistines gave to their deity, was 
Beel-zebach, god of sacrifice ; or Beel-zebaoth, god of 
hosts, or Beel-zebul, god of the habitation, or of 
heaven ; and that the Jews, who 'delighted in disfig- 
uring the names of false gods, by a play of words, 
or punning upon them, and who were scrupulous 
of calling them by their proper appellations, gave 
him, in derision, that of fly god, or god of ordure. 
The name of Beel-zebuth is not very different from 
that of Beel-zebaoth, god of hosts. Some comment- 
ators suppose, that the true name of the deity was 
Belsamin, the god of heaven ; others, that he was 
called the " god of flies," because he defended people 
from these insects ; as the Eleans adored Jupiter ; 
and the Romans too, though not under the nmie of 
J upiter, but of " Hercules Apomyius." We no where 
read, however, that killing flies was one of the la- 



bors of Hercules. Others think that the fly or beetle 
accompanied the image of Baalzebub, and gave 
name to it : "Baal with the fly ;" and the Egyptians, 
(who lived near the Philistines,) we know, paid di- 
vine honors to the beetle. ,It is said in the book of 
Wisdom, (chap. xii. 8.) that God sent flies and wasps 
to drive the Canaanites and Ammonites by degrees 
out of Canaan ; and then adds, that God made those 
very things, to which they paid divine honors, the 
instruments of their punishment ; which indicates, 
that they adored flies and wasps. Besides, it really 
does appear, that Ekron and its neighborhood is pes- 
tered with a kind of fire-fly, or cincinnella, whose 
stings occasion " a most violent burning tumor," at 
some seasons of the year. Why the Jews, in our 
Saviour's time, called Beelzebub the "prince of the 
devils," we know not. The Jews, however, accused 
him of driving out devils, in the name of Beelzebub, 
prince of the devils, that is, of Satan, Lucifer, or 
the chief of the rebel angels, as appears by our 
Lord's answer : " If Satan cast out Satan, he is di- 
vided against himself ; how then can his kingdom 
stand ?" Matt. xii. 24. 

[Those who write Bti/.tspoi fi, in the- New Testa- 
ment, derive the jbrm from 3131 Sjn the name of an 
idol deity among the Ekronites, signifying lord of 
flies, fly-baal, fly-god, whose office it was to protect 
his worshippers from the torment of the gnats and 
flies with which that region was infested, like the 
Zivc arruiivius of the Greeks, or of the Myagrius of 
the Romans ; 2 Kings i. 2, 3, 16. Those who write 
BitZitpovZ, derive it from Viai Sya, i. e. either lord of 
the dwelling, region, sc. of the demons, the air ; or, 
with more probability, deus stercoris, from Sat stercus, 
(Buxtorf, Lex. Rab. Tal. 641.) They suppose the 
Jews to have applied this appellation to Satan as 
being the author of all the pollutions and abomina- 
tions of idol worship. See Jahn, § 408. iii. Kuinoel 
on Matt. x. 25. See the article Baal. R. 

BEER, a well, a town about 12 miles from Jeru- 
salem, in the way to Shechem, or Napolose. It is 
probable, that Jotham, son of Gideon, retired to this 
place, to avoid falling into the hands of his brother 
Abiinelech, Judg. ix. 21. 

BEER-ELIM, (Isaiah xv. 8.) the well of the 
princes, probably the same with that mentioned 
Numb. xxi. 18. 

BEER-RAMATH, the well on the heights, Josh, 
xix. 8. (See Rama.) Eng. tr. Baalath-beer, Ramath 
of the south. 

BEER-LAHA-ROI, a well between Kadesh and 
Shur, where the angel of God appeared to Hagar, 
Gen. xvi. 14. 

I. BEEROTH, a city of the Gibeonites, after- 
wards belonging to Benjamin, (Josh. ix. 17 ; xviii. 
25 ; 2 Sam. iv. 2 ; Ezra ii. 25.) seven miles from 
Jerusalem, toward Nicopolis. 

II. BEEROTH, of the children of Jaakon, (Deut. 
x. 6.) a station of the Israelites ten miles from the 
city of Petra, according to Eusebius. Numb, xxxiii. 
31. reads only Bene-Jaakan, instead of Beeroth- 
bene-Jaakan, Deut. x. 6. Where water is scarce, 
wells would naturally induce settlements, and give 
name to them ; so Puteoli, the wells, Acts xxviii. 13. 
The property of wells would also be claimed by the 
residents around them ; hence, Beeroth-beni-Jaakan, 
the wells of the sons of Jaakan. 

BEER-SHEBA, the well of an oath. (See Cove- 
nant.) The place where Abraham made an alliance 
with Abimelech, king of Gerar, and gave him seven 
ewe-lambs, in token of that covenant to which they 



BEH 



[ 158 ] 



BEHEMOTH 



had sworn, Gen. xxi. 31. The town subsequently 
built here was given by Joshua to Judah ; but was 
afterwards transferred to Simeon, Josh. xv. 28. It 
was twenty miles south of Hebron, and at the ex- 
tremity of the Holy Land. 

BEESHTERAH, a city, belonging to the half- 
tribe of Manasseh, beyond Jordan, which was given 
to the Levites, Josh. xxi. 27. Compare 1 Chron. vi. 
71, where it is called Jlslaroth. Vulgate, Bozra. 

BEETLE, see Canker-worm, and Locust. 

BEEVES, the generical name for a class of clean 
animals. Collectively, herds. See Heifer. 

BEGGING. Moses, exhorting the Israelites to 
alms-giving, says : (Deut. xv. 4, 7.J " To the end that 
there be no poor among you ; for the Lord shall 
greatly bless thee ;" and, a little lower, " If there be 
among you a poor man, thou shalt not harden thine 
heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother." 
These texts do not speak of begging ; but we know 
that there were at all times beggars, among the Jews, 
as well 'as other nations. God himself says, (Deut. 
xv. 11.) "The poor shall never cease out of the 
land ;" and there were beggars in Jerusalem, and 
other places, Mark. x. 4G ; Luke xviii. 35. The true 
sense of the passage in Moses is, that God would so 
bless the lands of the Hebrews in the sixth year, 
that though there should be no harvest in the sab- 
batical year, yet none among them should be desti- 
tute, if they observed his precepts ; or, it was his 
design to recommend charity and alms-giving 
most effectually ; q. d. " Be so charitable and 
liberal, that there may be no indigent person in 
Israel." 

BEHEMOTH, the animal. The author of the book 
of Job has evidently taken great pains to delineate 
highly finished poetical pictures of two remarkable 
animals — behemoth and leviathan — with which 
he closes his description of animated nature, and 
terminates the climax of that discourse which he 
puts into the mouth of the Creator. The passage 
stands thus in our translation : — 

Behold, now, behemoth, which I made with 
fnee ; 

1. He eateth grass as an ox; 

2. His strength is in his loins, 

3. His force in the navel of his belly ; 

4. He moveth his tail like a cedar ; 

5. The sinews of his stones are wrapt together. 

6. His bones are strong pieces of brass, 

7. His bones like bars of iron. 

8. He is the chief of the ways of God ; 

9. He that made him, can make his sword to ap- 

proach him. 
10. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, 
.... Where all the beasts of the field play: 

12. He lieth under the shady trees, 

13. In the covert of the reeds and fens ; 

14. The shady trees cover him with their shadow, 

15. The willows of the brook compass him about ; 

16. Behold, he drinketh up a river ; he hasteth not ; 

17. He trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his 

mouth ; 

18. He taketh it with his eyes ; 

19. His nose pierceth through snares. 

Bochart has taken great pains to prove that this is 
the hippopotamus, or river-horse ; Sanctius thinks it 
was an ox ; the Fathers suppose it was the devil ; and 
Calmet, with the generality of the older interpreters, 
believes that it is the elephant. In adopting the 
opinion of Bochart, we may offer the following sug- | 



gestion in support of that interpretation. The levi- 
athan is described at still greater length than the be- 
hemoth, and they evidently appear to be presented 
as companions ; to be reserved as fellows and asso- 
ciates. Under this idea, which is almost undeniable, 
we may inquire what were the creatures most likely 
to be companionized in early ages, and in countries 
bordering on Egypt, where the scene of the book of 
Job is laid ; and from the " Antiquities of Hercula- 
neum," the " Prsenestine Pavement," and the famous 
" statue of the hill," it is apparent that, they must 
have been the crocodile, now generally allowed to 
be the leviathan, and the hippopotamus, or river- 
horse. 

After these authorities, we may, without hesitation, 
conclude, that this association was not rare or un- 
common, but that it really was the customary manner 
of thinking, and, consequently, of speaking, in an- 
cient times, and in the countries where these creatures 
were native ; we may add, that being well known in 
Egypt, and in some degree popular objects of Egyp- 
tian pride, distinguishing natives of that country, 
from their magnitude and character, they could not 
escape the notice of any curious naturalist, or writer 
on natural history; so that to suppose they were 
omitted in this part of the book of Job, would be to 
suppose a blemish in the book, implying a deficiency 
in the author And if they are inserted, no other 
description can be that of the hippopotamus. 

It has been above stated, that many learned men 
have taken the elephant for behemoth ; — but to this 
it may be, replied, that no pictorial authority which 
has hitherto been published, has represented the ele- 
phant as known in Egypt ; much less as peculiar to 
that country, though it has been repeatedly, indeed, 
we believe, constantly, adopted as a symbol of Africa. 
Till, therefore, some instances be produced, in which 
the elephant is not only represented as an inhabitant 
of Egypt, but also as associated with the crocodile, 
vr e presume we may consider the weight of evidence 
as decisive in favor of the hippopotamus as being 
behemoth. Omitting, therefore, what might be said 
against the elephant, such as the difficulty of recon- 
ciling certain particulars with the description of be- 
hemoth by the sacred writer, &c. let us now examine 
the description somewhat closely, in the order of the 
verses in the passage. 

1. He eateth grass like an ox. It is evident from 
all-the representations selected, that the hippopota- 
mus feeds on vegetables. In one of the plates in 
the Antiquities of Herculaneum, (vol. ii. p. 295.) he 
is in the very act of feeding on such provisions. 

2. His strength is in his loins. 3. His force in the 
navel of his belly. Each of these delineations repre- 
sents him as powerfully built ; and shows prodigious 
strength of construction. 

4. He moveth (bendeth) his tail like a cedar, i. e. 
shaken by the wind ; not, we suppose, rapidly, with 
a tremulous motion, but slowly, as it were solemnly, 
in a stately manner. This appears, in some degree, 
from representations, where his tail is seen to advan- 
tage, and is evidently in motion. 

5, 6, 7. Are implied in his general form ; but are 
incapable of illustration by these subjects. We shall 
merely paraphrase the version : " His smaller bones 
are like compact bars of brass : his larger bones like 
forged bars of iron." 

9. He, (God,) in making him, has made fast (fixed) his 
weapon. None of the plates exhibit the tusks of the 
hippopotamus like what they are in nature ; yet this 
part of the animal had not entirely escaped notice 



BEHEMOTH 



L 159 ] 



BEHEMOTH 



10. The swellings (risings) produce him food. ; not 
mountains, strictly speaking, but any elevations, such 
as those on which he is represented feeding, in some, 
of these plates. 

11. Where play all the beasts of the field. It may 
be thought sufficiently remarkable, that in several of 
these representations, where so formidable a creature 
as the hippopotamus is depicted as drinking, roaring, 
&c. there should be a duck in perfect quiet, and 
without any fright, or fear of injury from him, as is 
the case. Is it not the chief intention of this verse, 
to express the security of the lesser creatures from 
injury by this inoffensive animal, which permits 
even their frolics and sportiveness without interrup- 
tion ? 

12. He lieth under the shady trees ; 14. The. shady 
trees compass him with their shadow. Here the prints 
fail ; Egypt being a country not abounding in trees ; 
but, as amends, verses 13, 15 (He lieth in the covert 
of the reeds and fens) are strongly illustrated by 
them. 

16. He drinketh up a river ; he hasteth not. One of 
the plates seems to be a direct comment on this verse ; 
and on verses 17, 18. He is confident though Jordan 
rush against his mouth, he taketh it with his eyes. The 
ancient artist has well expressed the eagerness in this 
animal. (The plates may be seen in the large edition 
of this work.) 

It should be remembered, that the subjects from 
Herculaneum were the common ornaments of com- 
mon houses ; their merit, therefore, as instances of 
art, is by no means considerable ; but their common- 
ness (as seems to be a fair inference from the situa- 
tions in which they were found) deserves notice, in 
support of principles adopted on this subject and 
others. 

These remarks, are independent of the general 
natural history of the hippopotamus ; and are merely 
meant to show, that the chief particulars of his man- 
ners were well understood in ancient times ; that 
they are comformable to the accounts of travellers, 
will appear to any who peruse Buffbn's account of 
this animal ; and especially the more recent " Travels 
in Africa" of M. Vaillant : — but, as our present de- 
sign is not to write the natural history of the crea- 
ture, but merely to ascertain and identify the behe- 
moth of the book of Job, with what success this 
design has been fulfilled must be left to the reflective 
reader. See Elephant, and Hippopotamus. 

[That the behemoth of the book of Job is the hip- 
popotamus, or river horse, is now fully conceded by 
all recent commentators of any note ; and for the 
following reasons among others: (1.) That it is an 
aquatic animal follows from the whole plan and order 
of the two discourses of Jehovah ; (c. xxxviii, etc.) 
in which the appeal is made, first, to the phenomena 
of nature, and then to the beasts of the earth and 
birds of the air ; all these are reviewed in the for- 
mer address, and there remain for the second only 
the aquatic animals. (2.) The description of behe- 
moth is immediately followed by that of the croco- 
dile But the crocodile and hippopotamus, as being 
Egyptian wonders, are constantly and every where 
so joined by the ancient writers ; see Herodot. ii. 69 
—71. Diod. Sic._ i. 35. Plin. H. N. xxviii. 8. (3.) 
That it is amphibious follows necessarily from the 
antithesis and contrast expressed in verses 15, 20 — ■ 
22, and verses 23, 34. The probability is that the 
name behemoth is properly an Egyptian word, sig- 
nifying river-ox ; just as the same animal is still 
sometimes called by us sea-cow. 



The appearance of the hippopotamus when on the 
land is altogether uncouth, the body being extremely 
large, flat, and round, the head enormously large in 
proportion, and the legs as disproportionately short. 
Authors vary in describing the size of this animal. 
The length of a male has been known to be seven- 
teen feet, the height seven feet, and the circumference 
fifteen ; the head three feet and a half, and the girt 
'nine feet; the mouth in width about two feet. The 
general color of the animal is brownish ; the ears 
small and pointed, and lined very thickly with fine, 
short hairs; the eyes small in proportion to the 
creature, and black ; the lips very thick, broad, and 
beset with a few scattered tufts of short bristles ; the 
nostrils small. The armament of teeth in its mouth 
is truly formidable ; more particularly the tusks of 
the lower jaw, which are of a curved form, some- 
what cylindrical ; these are so strong and hard that 
they will strike fire with steel, are sometimes more 
than two feet in length, and weigh upwards of six 
pounds each. The other teeth are much smaller ; 
those in the lower jaw are conical, pointed, and pro- 
jecting forwards almost horizontally. The whole 
surface of the body is covered with short hair ; but 
more sparingly on the under parts than on the upper. 
The tail is short, thick, and a little hairy. The feet 
are large, and each of the four lobes, or toes, fur- 
nished with a hoof. The color of the hippopotamus, 
when just emerging from the water, is palish brown, 
or mouse color, inclining to a bluish tinge, with the 
skin appearing through the hair ; but this appear- 
ance vanishes as the skin becomes dry. 

The following account of the capture of a hippo- 
potamus serves greatly to elucidate the description 
in the book of Job, and to show its correctness, even 
in those points which have formerly been regarded 
as poetical exaggerations. It is translated from the 
travels of M. Riippell, the German naturalist, who 
visited Upper Egypt and the countries still farther np 
the Nile, and is the latest traveller in those regions. 
(Reisen in Nubien, Kordofan, etc. Frankf. 1829. p. 
52, seq.) " In the province of Dongola, the fishermen 
and hippopotamus hunters form a distinct class or 
caste ; and are called in the Berber language Hauauit 
(pronounced Howowit). They make use of a small 
canoe, formed from a single tree, about 10 feet long, 
and capable of carrying two, and at most three men. 
The harpoon which they use in hunting the hippo- 
potamus, has a strong barb just back of the blade or 
sharp edge ; above this a long and strong cord is 
fastened to the iron, and to the other end of this 
cord, a block of light wood, to serve as a buoy and 
aid in tracing out and following the animal when 
struck. The iron is then slightly fastened upon a 
wooden handle, or lance, about eight feet long. 

"The hunters of the hippopotamus harpoon their 
prey either by day or by night ; but they prefer the 
former, because they can then better parry the fero- 
cious assaults of the enraged animal. The hunter 
takes in his right hand the handle of the harpoon, 
with a part of the cord ; in his left, the remainder of 
the cord, with the buoy ; in this manner he cautious- 
ly approaches the creature as it sleeps by day upon 
a small island ; or he watches at night on those parts 
of the shore, where he hopes the animal will come 
up out of the water, in order to feed in the fields of 
grain. When he has gained the desired distance, 
(about seven paces,) he throws the lance with his full 
strength ; and the harpoon, in order to hold, must 
penetrate the thick hide and into, the flesh. The 
wounded beast commonly makes for the water, and 



BEHEMOTH 



L 160 ] 



BEL 



lunges beneath it in order to conceal himself ; t'^e 
andle of the harpoon falls oft", but the buoy swime, 
and indicates the direction which the animal takes. 
— The harpooning of the hippopotamus is attended 
with great danger, when the hunter is perceiveu bv 
the animal, before he has thrown the harpoon. In 
such cases the beast sometimes rushes, enraged, up< n 
his assailant, and crushes him at once between his 
wide and formidable jaws, — an occurrence that 
once took place during our residence near Shendi. 
Sometimes the most harmless objects excite the 
rage of this animal ; thus in the region of Aniara, a 
hippopotamus once craunched, in the same way, 
several cattle that were fastened to a water-wheel. 

" So soon as the animal has been successfully 
struck, the hunters hasten in their canoe cau- 
tiously to approach the buoy, la which they fasten 
a long rope ; with the other end of this they pro- 
ceed to the large boat or bark, on board of which 
are their companions. The rope is now drawn in ; 
the pain thus occasioned by the barb of the har- 
poon, excites the rage of the animal, and he no 
sooner perceives 'the bark, than he rushes upon it ; 
seizes upon it, if possible, with his teeth ; and some- 
times succeeds in shattering it, or oversetting it. 
The hunters in the mean time are not idle ; they 
fasten five pr six other harpoons in his flesh, and 
exert all their strength, by means of the cords of 
these, to keep him close alongside of the bark, in 
order thus to diminish, in some measure, the effects 
of his violence ; they endeavor, with a long sharp 
iron, to divide the ligamentum jugi, or to beat in the 
«kull, — ihe usual modes in which the natives kill this 
inimal. Since the carcass of a full-grown hippopot- 
amus is too large to be drawn out of the water 
without quite a number of men, they commonly cut 
jp the animal, when killed, in the water, and draw 
the pieces ashore. In the whole Turkish province 
of Dongola, there are only one or two hippopotami 
killed annually. In the years 1821 — 23 inclusive, 
there were nine killed ; four of which were killed by 
us. The flesh of the young animal is very good 
eating ; when full-grown they are usually very fat, 
and their carcass is commonly estimated as equal to 
fou.r or five oxen. The hide is used only for making 
whips, which are excellent; and one hide furnishes 
from 350 to 500 of them. The teeth are not used. 

" One of the hippopotami which we killed was a 
very old male; and seemed to have reached his ut- 
most growth. He measured, from the snout to the 
end of the tail, about 15 feet ; and his tusks, from 
the root to the point along the external curve, 28 
inches. In order to kill him, we had a battle with 
him of four hours long, and that too in the night. 
Indeed, he came very near destroying our large 
bark ; and with it, perhaps, all our lives. The mo- 
ment he saw the hunters in the small canoe, as they 
were about to fasten the long rope to the buoy, in 
order to draw him in, he threw himself with one 
rush upon it, dragged it with him under water, and 
shattered it to pieces. The two hunters escaped 
this extreme danger with great difficulty. Out of 25 
musket balls, which were fired into the monster's 
head, at the distance of five feet, only one penetrated 
the hide and the bones near the nose ; so that every 
time he breathed, he snorted streams of blood upon 
the bark. All the other balls remained sticking in 
the thickness of the hide. We had, at last, to em- 
ploy a small cannon ; the use of which at so short a 
distance had not before entered our minds ; but it 
was only after five of its balls, fired at the distance 



of a few feet, had mangled, most shockingly, the 
head and body of the monster, that he gave up' the 
ghost. The darkness of the night augmented the 
"horrors and dangers of the contest. This gigantic 
hippopotamus dragged our large bark at his will in 
every direction of the stream ; and it was in a fortu- 
nate moment for us that he yielded, just as he had 
drawn the bark among a labyrinth of rocks, which 
might have been so much the more dangerous, be- 
cause, from the great confusion on board, no one 
had observed them. 

" Hippopotami of the size of the one above de- 
scribed cannot be killed by the natives, for want of 
a cannon. These animals are a real plague to the 
land, in consequence of their voraciousness. The 
inhabitants have no permanent means of keeping 
them away from their fields and plantations ; all that 
they do is, to make a noise dur : ..ig the night with a 
drum, and to keep up fires in different places. In 
some parts the hippopotami are so bold, that they 
will yield up their pastures or places of feeding, only 
when a large number of persons come rushing upon 
them with sticks and loud cries." *R. 

BEKAH, half a shekel ; in Dr. Arbuthnot's Ta- 
ble, 13d. ll-10ths; in Dr. Prideaux's, Is. 6d. [The 
true value was about 25 cents. R.] The half- 
shekel was called bekah, from the verb haka, which 
signifies, to divide into two parts. Every Israelite 
paid one bekah yearly, for the support and repairs 
of the temple, Exod. xxx. 13. See Didrachma. 

BEL, the Chaldean Baal. (See Baal.) They at- 
tributed to Bel the gift of healing diseases ; and be- 
lieved that he ate and drank like a living person. 
Daniel (Apoc.) relates his detection of the cheat of 
Bel's priests, who came every night through private 
doors, to eat what was offered to their deity. 

BELA, Bala, or Zohar, Gen. xiv. 8. See Zoar. 

BELIAL is plainly Hebrew, from 1S3, not, and 
Sj", advantage, utility ; hence, strictly, Belial means 
worthlessness, and is always so used in a moral sense. 
A man or son of Belial, therefore, is a wicked, worth- 
less man ; one resolved to endure no subjection ; a 
rebel ; a disobedient, uncontrollable fellow. The in- 
habitants of Gibeah, who abused the Levite's wife, 
have the name "men of Belial" given to them, Judg. 
xix. 22. Hophni and Phineas, the high-priest Eli's 
sons, are likewise called "sons of Belial," because of 
their crimes, and their unbecoming conduct in the 
temple of the Lord. In later writings, Belial is put 
for the power or lord of evil, i. e. for Satan. Paul 
says, (2 Cor. vi. 15.) "What concord hath Christ 
with Belial ?" Whence it is inferred, that in his 
time the Jews, by Belial, understood Satan, as the 
patron and epitome of licentiousness. 

BELL. Moses ordered that the lower part of 
the blue robe, which the high-priest wore in religious 
ceremonies, should be adorned with pomegranates 
and bells, intermixed, alternately, at equal distances. 
The pomegranates were .ef wool, blue, purple, and 
crimson; the bells were of gold, Exod. xxviii. 33,34. 
The legislator adds, " And it shall be upon Aaron 
to minister; and his sound shall be heard when he 
goetb in unto the holy place before the Lord, and 
when he cometh out ; that he die not." The kings 
of Persia are said to have had the hem of their 
robes adorned like that of the Jewish high-priest, 
with pomegranates and golden bells. The Arabian 
ladies, who are about the king's' person, have little 
gold bells fastened to their legs, their necks, and 
elbows, which, when they dance, make a very 
agreeable harmony. The Arabian princesses also 



i; 




CHILDREN DESTROYED BY BEARS. 



BEL 



[ 161 ] 



BELSHAZZAR 



wear on their legs, and suspended from their hair, 
which is plaited, and hangs long behind, a number 
of little bells, which, when they walk, give notice that 
the mistress of the house is passing, that so the 
servants "may behave themselves respectfully, and 
strangers retire, to avoid seeing the person who ad- 
vances Tt was therefore, in all probability, with some 
such design of giving notice that the high-priest 
was passing, that he also wore these bells at the hem 
of his robe ; it was a kind of public notice that he 
was about to enter the sanctuary. In the court of 
the king of Persia no one might enter the apart- 
ments without giving warning ; not by knocking, or 
speaking, but by the sound of something, Judith xiv. 
8, 9. Thus the high-priest, out of respect, did not 
knock by way of notice, when he entered the sanc- 
tuary ; but, by the sound of the little bells at the 
bottom of his robe, he, as it were, desired permis- 
sion to enter, " that the sound of the bells might be 
heard, and he be not punished with death." The 
prophet Zechariah speaks (chap. xiv. 20.) of " bells 
of the horses ;" probably such as were hung to the 
bridles, or foreheads, or belts round the neck, of war- 
horses, that thereby they might be accustomed to 
noise. (See Binder's Oriental Customs. Rosenmul- 
ler's Alt. u. Neues Morgenland, iv. p. 412.) A horse 
which had not been trained, nor used to wear 
bells, was by the Greeks called — one that had never 
heard the noise of bells. The mules employed in 
the funeral pomp of Alexander the Great had, at 
each jaw, a gold bell. 

BELLY. This word is often used as synon- 
ymous with gluttony ; " The Cretans are always 
liars, evil beasts, slow bellies;" (Tit. i. 12.) and, 
. "There are many whose god is their belly," (Philip, 
iii. 19.) and (Rozn. xvi. 18.) "They serve not the 
Lord Jesus, but their own bellies." It is used, like- 
wise, for the heart, the bottom of the soul : " The 
words of a tale-bearer go down into the innermost 
parts of the belly," and wound the very bottom o.f 
the soul, Prov. xviii. 8, and ch. xx. 27. " The spirit 
of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the 
inward parts of the belly ;" the spirit of man is like 
the light of God, which penetrates the very bottom 
of the soul. And ch. xxii. 18. " Preserve the les- 
sons of wisdom ; if thou keep it within thy belly," 
in thy heart, "it will not break out upon thy lips." 
(Vulgate.) The "belly of hell" is the grave, or im- 
minent danger of death. The author of Ecclesiasti- 
cus says, that he was delivered from the deep belly 
of hell : and Jonah, that he cried to the Lord " out 
of the belly of hell," — from the bottom of the sea. 
See Hell. 

BELMA, or Belmon, a place near the valley of 
Esdraelon, Judith vii. 3. 

BELMAIM, the waters of Bel, or Belus, Judith 
vii. 3. 

BELMEN, (Judith iv. 4. Gr.) the same, probably, 
as Beel-maim ; and, perhaps, Abel-maim, (Abel-me'- 
hira, Syriac,) of Naphtali, 2 Chron. xvi. 4. So that 
Belmen, Belma, Belmaim, and Abel-mehola may be 
the same place. 

.BELSHAZZAR, the son of Evil-merodach, and 
grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, ascended the throne 
of Chaldea, A. M. 3444. He made the great and 
fatal entertainment for a thousand of his courtiers 
in 3449 ; so that he reigned but four years, Dan. v. 
The king, when warmed by wine, commanded the 
gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar, his 
grandfather, had brought from the* temple of- Jeru- 
salem, to be produced before him, that he might 



drink out of them, with his court ; but he was quick- 
ly terror-stricken by an appearance, as it were, of a 
man's fingers, writing on the wall over against the 
candlestick. Belshazzar was greatly astonished, and 
commanded all the diviners and sages of Babylon 
to be fetched, to explain the writing. He promised 
great honors ; but the Magi could comprehend 
nothing of the writing, which increased the disorder 
and uneasiness of the king and his court. The 
queen-mother [probably Nitocris] informed the 
king of Daniel and his prophetic spirit, who was 
quickly sent for. The prophet performed what was 
required, was clothed with scarlet, received a gold 
chain, and was proclaimed the third person in the 
kingdom. But on that very night Belshazzar was 
killed, and Darius the Mede [Cyrus] took possession 
of his kingdom. 

We are considerably perplexed to reconcile pro- 
fane history with this account in the sacred writings. 
It is generally believed that Evil-merodach was suc- 
ceeded by Neriglissor; Neriglissor by Laborasoar- 
doch ; and that Belshazzar is the same with Nabonidas, 
or Labynites. (See the article Babylonia, ad Jin.) All 
the marks whereby Nabonidas is described in history, 
agree with Belshazzar. Herodotus says, (1. 1.) that he 
was the last king of Babylon ; that he was not of 
Neriglissor's or of Laborasoardoch's family; but was 
the son of the great queen Nitocris. Belshazzar, in 
like manner, is in Daniel the last king of the Chal- 
deans, son of a king of Babylon, (who can be no 
other than Evil-merodach,) and of whom the queen 
dowager, by her influence over him, would seem to 
have been mother. Daniel (v. 2.) calls Belshazzar 
the son of Nebuchadnezzar ; but in the style of the 
Hebrews, grandsons or descendants are often named 
sons. Jeremiah (xxvii. 6, 7.) says expressly, " The 
nations shall be subject to Nebuchadnezzar, to his 
son, and to his grandson, till the time come for ven- 
geance on himself, and his country." But whatever 
variations may be observed in historians, the result 
of their accounts is uniform — that the prophecies 
against Babylon were, for the most part, literally ful- 
filled at the death of Belshazzar ; (it was then be- 
sieged by an army of Medes, Elamites, and Arme- 
nians, according to the predictions of Isaiah, xiii. 
17 ; xxi. 2. and Jeremiah 1.11,27—30.) that the 
fords of the river should be seized ; that confusion 
and disturbance should prevail throughout the city ; 
that the bravest of the inhabitants should be dis- 
heartened ; that the river Euphrates should be made 
dry ; (1. 38 ; li. 36.) that the city should be taken in 
a time of rejoicing ; that its princes, sages, and cap- 
tains should be overwhelmed with drunkenness, and 
should pass from a natural to a mortal sleep ; (li. 
39, 57.) that the city which was formerly so beauti- 
ful, so powerful, and so flourishing, should become 
a dwelling for bitterns and unclean birds, Isaiah 
xiv. 23. These particulars not only deserve the 
reader's notice in themselves, but also in the circum- 
stance of their being delivered in -progression ; not 
altogether ; not all by the same prophet ; but at dif- 
ferent times ; the succeeding adding what a former 
had omitted, yet all agreeing in the same general 
issue and description. 

It must have appeared to the mind of every care- 
ful reader of the description of the miracle at Bel- 
shazzar's feast, (Dan. v.) that some of the circum- 
stances attending it require explanation. This has 
been attempted by Mr. Taylor, the substance of 
whose remarks we lay before the reader. [But it 
must be borne in mind, that this is all mere conjee 



BELSHAZZAR 



L 168 ] 



BEN 



iUre. R.] By inspecting the engraving accompanying 
the article House, one of the courts will be seen to 
be a square area, with pillars around it, supporting 
a gallery. In such an area, Mr. T. supposes the king 
to have been entertaining a select party of his 
guests ; that the candlestick, giving a great light, was 
situated in the centre of the area ; the tables placed 
around it, and at the upper end the king to have 
been seated. Having thus arranged the premises, he 
proceeds to inquire, (1.) Where, in what part of the 
court, did the miracle occur? and, (2.) In what did 
it consist? In order to approach toward an answer 
to these questions, he thus minutely analyzes the 
narration of the sacred writer : — 1. In that same 
hour came forth fingers (n di) according to — of — a hu- 
man hand, writing (that is, they wrote) over against — 
that is, near to (not in the comparatively obscure 
angles of the court ; but in the part nearest to) the 
candlestick, where the principal force of the light 
struck; in a bright situation; upon the plaster (in- 
spect the engraving; above, or below, the painted 
tiles marked O) of the wall, enclosure, partition, 
which surrounded the court; (that which in our 
engraving is supported by the pillars ; see Marriage 
Processions ;) (n di) according to- — of, the royal 
palace : then the king was terrified, and sent for 
Daniel. Then (ver. 24.) from before him [God] was 
sent the part (n di) of a hand, that is, like unto a 
hand ; and this writing appeared to be traced upon 
the wall. 

Thus the first question is answered : — The writing 
was upon the plaster, over a central pillar in the 
court ; (say, in our plan, on that next to the opening 
D, on the right hand side ;) in the most conspicuous 
situation the wall could afford. 

2. The miracle is supposed to have consisted in 
tracings, marks, or delineations, on the plaster : — 
now such might be made by various means ; as (1.) 
by lines, drawn with a black substance on a white 
ground ; or (2.) by fissures, cracks, or crevices, 
wrought, as it were, in the plaster ; or (3.) as a finger 
might write on soft plaster, by tracing its course 
along it ; thereby forming hollows, little furrows, 
indented marks on its surface ; much like those 
made by the impression of a seal ; for so the word 
is used, ch. vi. 8. — Now, O king, establish the 
decree and stamp (ann) mark by stamping with thy 
seal, as the custom in the East is, for confirmation, 
the writing. This may be accepted as answering the 
second question. 

So far we are justified, no less by our plate, than 
by the narration itself: there remains another ques- 
tion, which is rather to be answered by conjecture 
than by facts. The following crude ideas on the sub- 
ject are offered that the reader may improve them 
into a better character. 

Why could not the Chaldean wise men read the 
writing? They could not ascertain its meaning, 
probably, because, if it consisted in indented tracings, 
as with a finger, on soft plaster, there was no dis- 
coloration, whereby to distinguish them as letters (i. 
e. well-drawn, well formed letters) from the rest of 
the plaster ; at most, perhaps, the Chaldeans saw 
merely a number of (to them confused) lines ; or if 
the marks were delineated by means of cracks or 
fissures, in the plaster itself, the effect was, to the 
Chaldeans, much the same. When Daniel inspect- 
ed the inscription, he perceived that it formed let- 
ters and words ; he was enabled to combine and 
arrange them ; also, to perceive their hidden mean- 
ing and application tc persons and things ; which 



he had the fortitude to tell the king ; and to apply 
to him, personally. These ideas go far in explana- 
tion of this matter. But if it be thought the letters, 
as letters, were clear to the eyes of the wisp men, as 
they were to Daniel, there still remains a question, in 
what characters were they written ? Not in the 
Chaldee character, it is presumed ; but, probably, in 
the sacred language ; the ancient Hebrew ; which 
for the present we call the Samaritan. This was a 
character not likely to be familiar to the Chaldeans r 
they would not readily think of combining into let- 
ters and words, in this character of the ancient He- 
brews, (now their vanquished subjects and slaves,) a 
few irregular scrawling lines: that character was no 
sacred character to them ; nor were they in the 
habit of investigating it ; while to Daniel, this very 
description of writing had been his daily study 
from his youth, — his daily perusal, in the holy Scrip- 
tures. 

We see no objection against uniting these ideas, — 
As thus : suppose the lines might be formed by hol- 
lows or tracings in the plaster ; these, though they 
appeared to the Chaldean wise men to be no better 
than those random veins which are occasionally ob- 
served in marble, &c. yet, when inspected by the 
learned eye of Daniel, he saw they were letters, in 
that sacred language to which he had been ac- 
customed ; he read them without difficulty, he com- 
bined them, and, more than that, he explained them. 
The text says expressly, that the Chaldeans could 
not read them ; but even if they had happened to 
possess the power of reading them, they might have 
been none the nearer toward ascertaining their pro- 
phetic import. We see daily instances of foreign 
characters, and foreign words, which are unintel- • 
ligible to most persons, much like what these char- 
acters were to the Chaldeans. 

There is a species of eastern wit which consists in 
forming letters and sentences into enigmas, of va- 
rious kinds : no doubt Belshazzar considered this 
inscription as something of the same nature, and 
therefore expected his profound decipherers to ex- 
plain it. This kind of puzzle is more common in 
the East than we are aware of; and we find INadir 
Shah had coins struck with the same play of words 
upon them, " Al kher fi ma vacheh, 'What has hap- 
pened is best :' the numerical letters of this motto 
make up 1148, the year he usurped the crown." 
Frazer's History, p. 119. 

Thus we have endeavored to deflect a few scat- 
tered rays on the nature of this miracle ; always 
meaning to insist on the distinction between inquir- 
ing in what a miracle consisted ; and by what power 
it was accomplished. The first is the proper duty 
of rational minds: the latter is confessedly above 
them. 

BELTESHAZZAR, the name given to Daniel, at 
the court of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. i. 7. 
* BELUS, temple of, see Babel. 

BEN-ABINADAB, governor of the country of 
Dor ; he married Taphath, daughter of Solomon, 1 
Kings iv. 11.- 

BENAIAH, son of Jehoiada, captain of David's 
guard. He slew "the two lions of Moab," that is, 
two Moabitish champions, 2 Sam. xxiii. 20. He also 
killed a lion in a pit, in time of snow. He killed a 
giant five cubits high, who was armed with sword 
and spear, though he himself had a staff only in 
his hand. He adhered to Solomon against Adoni- 
jah ; was sent by 'Solomon to kill Joab ; and was 
| made generalissimo in his place, 1 Kings i. 36 : ii. 



BEN 



[ 163 ] 



BEO 



29. — Some persons of tins name returned from 
Babylon, with Ezra ; x. 25, 30, 35, 43. 

BEN-AMMI, a son of Lot by his daughter, (Gen. 
xix. 38.) and the father of the Ammonites. 

BEN-DEKAR, a governor of several cities under 
Solomon, 1 Kings iv. 9. 

BENE, or Bene-Berak, (Josh. xix. 45.) a city in 
the tribe of Dan ; probably where the " sons of Berak" 
were established. The Vulgate makes two cities of 
it, Bane and Barak. 

BENE-JAAKAN, the sons of Jaakan ; (Numb, 
xxxiii. 31.) and in Deut. x. 6. Beeroth-bene-Jaakan 
is the wells of the sons of Jaakan. 

BEN-GEBER, a son of Geber, of Manasseh, who 
possessed the cities of Jair, and the region of Argob, 
beyond the Jordan, 1 Kings iv. 13. 

I. BEN-HAD AD, a son of Tabrimon, king of Sy- 
ria, who came to assist Asa, king of Judah, against 
Baasha, king of Israel, and obliged him to return 
and succor his own country, and to abandon Ra- 
mah, which he had undertaken to fortify, 1 Kings 
xv. 18. This Ben-hadad is probably Hadad, the 
Edomite, who rebelled against Solomon, 1 Kings 
xi. 25. 

II. BEN-HADAD, a king of Syria, son of the 
above Ben-hadad, who made war against Ahab, A. 
M. 3103. (See Ahab.) Ben-hadad being defeated, 
his generals told* him that the God of the Hebrews 
was god of the mountains only, and that he must 
attack Israel in the plain, where he had no power. 
Ben-hadad pursued this advice the year following ; 
but the Israelites killed 100,000 of his people, and 
he concealed himself, to avoid falling into the hands 
of Ahab, 1 Kings xx. 1 — 30. The king of Israel? 
however, received him into his chariot, and accept- 
ed his conditions of peace, ver. 31 — 34. About 
twelve years afterwards, Ben-hadad declared war 
against Jehoram, son of Ahab ; but the prophet 
Elisha discovered his plans to Jehoram, and thereby 
disappointed them, 2 Kings vi. 8, to end. Ben-hadad 
suspected treachery in his officers ; but learning, 
after a while, that his projects were revealed by 
Elisha, he resolved to seize the prophet ; and under- 
standing that he was at Dothan, he sent thither a 
detachment of his best troops, whom the prophet 
struck with blindness, and led into Samaria. Some 
years afterwards, Ben-hadad again besieged Sama- 
ria, and the famine became extreme in the place : 
but, in the night-time, a panic fear struck the Syrian 
host ; they imagined that Jehoram had procured an 
army of Hittites and Egyptians, and thought only of 
saving themselves by flight. The next year, Ben-ha- 
dad, being sick, sent Hazael with presents to the man 
of God, to learn from him whether there were hopes 
of his recovery. He answered, Go, tell him thou 
mayest certainly recover ; hoivever, the Lord hath shoived 
roe that he shall surely die. Hazael returned to Da- 
mascus, and told Ben-hadad that his health would 
be restored ; but the next day he took a thick cloth, 
which he dipped in water, and spread it over the 
king's face, so that he speedily died. Hazael suc- 
ceeded him, viii. 7—15. A. M. 3120, ante A. D. 884. 
See Hazael. 

III. BEN-HADAD, a son of Hazael, above men- 
tioned, from whom Jehoash, king of Israel, recover- 
ed all that Hazael had taken from his predecessor, 
2 Kings xiii. 3, 24, 25. Jehoash defeated him 
three times, and compelled him to surrender all 
the country beyond Jordan, namely, the lands be- 
longing to Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, which Ha- 
zael had taken. 



Josephus calls those princes Hadad, who, in Scrip- 
ture, are named Ben-hadad, or son of Hadad ; adding 
that the Syrians of Damascus paid divine honors to 
the last Hadad, and Hazael, in consideration of the 
benefits of their government, and particularly be- 
cause they adorned Damascus with magnificent tem- 
ples. (Ant. viii. 8; ix. 2.) 

BEN-HAIL, a prince sent by Jehoshaphat to the 
cities of his dominions to instruct the people. 2 
Chron. xvii. 7. 

BEN-HINNOM, or Geh-hinnom, or Geh-bene- 
hinnom, that is, " the valley of the children of 
Hinnom," or, " the son of intense lamentation," 
south-east of Jerusalem, Josh. xv. 8 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 

10. Some say, it was the common sewer to Jerusa- 
lem, and an emblem of hell ; which is called Ge- 
henna. (See Gehenna.) This valley was likewise 
called Tophet. See Tofhet. 

BEN-HESED, governor of Sochoh, and Hepher, 
under Solomon, 1 Kings iv. 10, margin. 

BEN-HUR, governor ofEphraim, under Solomon, 
1 Kings iv. 8, margin. 

BENJAMIN, the youngest son of Jacob and Ra- 
chel, Gen. xxxv. 16, 17, &c. Rachel died imme- 
diately after he was born, and with her last breath 
named him Ben-oni, the son of my sorrow: but Ja- 
cob called him Benjamin, the son of my right hand. 
He is often called in Scripture Jemini only, that is, 
my right hand. During the famine which afflicted 
Canaan, Jacob, sending his sons into Egypt to buy 
corn, kept Benjamin at home. Joseph, who well 
knew his brethren, though they did not discover 
him, not seeing Benjamin among them, inquired 
whether he were living ; and gave them corn, only 

011. condition that they would bring Benjamin to 
Egypt. Jacob, after great reluctance, permitted Ben- 
jamin to undertake the journey into Egypt, Gen. xlii ; 
xliii. 1 — 15. Joseph, now seeing Benjamin among his 
brethren, carried them to his house, made them eat 
with him, but not at his own table ; and sent Ben- 
jamin a portion five" times larger than that of any 
other. After this, he commanded his steward to 
fill their sacks .with corn ; and in the sack belonging 
to the youngest, to put the silver cup which he used, 
and the money which Benjamin had brought to 
pay for his corn. When the brethren had left the 
city, he sent his steward after them, who reproach- 
ed them with their robbery, searched all their 
sacks, and in that of Benjamin found the cup. They 
returned to Joseph, who, after much solicitation on 
their part, and tears on his, discovered himself to 
them, fell on Benjamin's neck, kissed him, and all 
his brethren ; and invited them into Egypt, with 
their father. He gave to each of them two suits of 
raiment ; but to Benjamin five suits, with three hun- 
dred pieces of silver, xliii. 16. — xlv. 24. After this, 
Scripture says nothing of Benjamin. Of his tribe 
Jacob says, "Benjamin shall raven as a wolf ; in the 
morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall 
divide the spoil ;" (Gen. xlix. 57.) and Moses, in his 
last song, says, "The beloved of the Lord shall 
dwell in safety by him ; and the Lord shall cover 
him all the day long, and he shall dwell between 
his shoulders," Deut. xxxiii. 12. The words " Ben- 
jamin is a ravening wolf," are allusively applied to 
Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin ; but much 
more properly to the valor of the tribe. See Judg. 
xx. and Canaan. 

BEN-ONI, see Benjamin. 

BEON, otherwise Bean, a city of Reuben, beyond 
Jordan, Numb, xxxii. 3. 



BER 



[ 164 1 



BET 



I. BERA, a town in Judah, about eight miles from 
Eleutheropolis, north, Judg. ix. 21. See Beer. 

II. BERA, a king of Sodom, in the time of Abra- 
nam ; who was tributary to Chedorlaomer, king of 
Elam, and with four other kings rebelled against 
him, Gen. xiv. 2. 

I. BEREA, (1 Mace. ix. 4.) probably the same 
town as Bera. 

II. BEREA, a city of Macedonia, near mount Ci- 
thanes ; where Paul preached the gospel with suc- 
cess, Acts xvii. 11 — 13. There is a medal of Berea 
extant, which is remarkable for being inscribed, " of 
the second Macedonia," and also for being the 
only Macedonian medal of the date (A. U. C. 706.) 
inscribed with the name of the city where it was 
struck. Compare Acts xvii. 11, "noble Bereans." 

BERED, a city in Judah, near Kadesh, Gen. xvi. 
14. The Chaldee calls it Jigara ; the Syriac, Gedar ; 
the Arabic, Jader ; it was the same, perhaps, as 
Arad, or Arada, (Numb, xxxiv. 4.) in the south of 
Judah. 

BERENICE, or Bernice, daughter of Agrippa 
the Great, king of the Jews, and sister of Agrippa 
the younger, also king of the Jews. She was first 
betrothed to Mark, son of Alexander Lysimachus, 
alabarch of Alexandria ; but afterwards she married 
Herod, king of Chalcis, her own uncle, by the father's 
side. After the death of Herod, she proposed to 
Polemon, king of Pontus and part of Cilicia, that if 
he would be circumcised she would marry him. 
Polemon complied, but Berenice did not continue 
long with him. She returned to her brother Agrip- 
pa, with whom she lived in such a manner as to 
excite scandal. She was present with him, and 
heard the discourse of Paul before Festus, at Caesa- 
rea of Palestine, Acts xxv. 23. 

BERITH, or Baratres, a city of Phoenicia, on 
the Mediterranean, between Biblos and Sidon, 400 
furlongs north of Sidon. It is doubtful whether 
Scripture speaks of this place ; but there are several 
cities of the same name in Palestine. David car- 
ried off a great quantity of brass from the towns of 
Betah and Berothai, in Syria, 2 Sam. viii. 8. 

BERODACH-BALADAN, son of Baladan, king 
of Babylou, sent ambassadors to Hezekiah, king of 
J udah, with letters and presents, on receiving infor- 
mation that he had been sick, and was recovered 
in a miraculous manner. Hezekiah, extremely 
pleased, showed them the riches of his palace ; but 
God sent Isaiah to forewarn him that every thing in 
his palace, with the sight whereof he had entertained 
the foreigners, would be carried away to Babylon, 
2 Kings xx. 12 — 18. [In Isa. xxxix. 1, he is called 
Merodach-baiadan, (q. v.) and under this name he 
is also mentioned by Berosus. See Assyria, and 
Babylonia. R. 

BEROSUS, the Babylonish historian, was, by na- 
tion, a Chaldean ; and by office a priest of Belus. 
Tatian says, he lived in the time of Alexander the 
Great, and dedicated his work to king Antiochus, 
the third after Alexander, that is, Antiochus Theos, 
or, perhaps, Antiochus Soter ; for the many years 
between Alexander and Antiochus Theos (some 
reckoning 64 from the death of Alexander to the first 
year of Antiochus Theos) might induce us to prefer 
this sense. Berosus, having learned Greek, went 
first to the isle of Cos, where he taught astronomy 
and astrology ; and afterwards to Athens, where he 
acquired so much reputation by his astrological pre- 
dictions, that in the Gymnasium, where the youth 
performed their exercises, a statue, with a golden 



tongue, was erected to him. Josephus and Euse- 
bius have preserved some valuable fragments of 
Berosus's history, which greatly elucidate many 
places in the Old Testament ; and without which it 
would be difficult to produce an exact series of the 
kings of Babylon. [A very important fragment of 
Berosus, which is referred to by Josephus, (Ant. x. 
1. 4.) but not inserted by him, has recently been 
brought to light in the Armenian version of the 
Chronicon of Eusebius, published at Venice, 1818. 
torn. i. p. 42, 43. It is important as illustrating the 
history of Merodach-Baladan ; and has been used for 
this purpose by Gesenius, in his Com. on Is. xxxix. 
1, where it is quoted in full. R.- 

BEROTHAI, (2 Sam. viii. 8.) a city conquered 
by David ; supposed by some to be Berytus, or 
Beyroot, in Phoenicia. But it is probably the same 
as the following. 

BEROTHAH, one of the boundary towns of Is- 
rael, between Hethalou and Emesa, Ezek. xlvii. 16. 
[It is probably the same as the preceding Berothai, 
and from the mention of it here would seem not to 
be a maritime place ; therefore not Beyroot. See 
Rosenm. Bib. Geog. I. ii. p. 292. R. 

BERYL, the eighth stone in the high-priest's pec- 
toral, Exod. xxviii. 20. The Vulgate and LXX call 
it Beryl ; the Hebrew, Shoham. The proper signi- 
fications of the Hebrew names of -precious stones 
are unknown. 

BESOR, or Bosor, a brook which falls into the 
Mediterranean, near Gaza, 1 Sam. xxx. 9, 10, 21. 
This is " the brook of the wilderness," (Amos vi. 
14.) or the river of Egypt, mentioned in Scripture, 
Josh. xv. 4 — 17 ; 2 Chron. vii. 8. 

BETAH, a city of Syria-Zobab ; taken by David 
from Hadadezer, 2 Sam. viii. 8. In the parallel 
passage, 1 Chr. xviii. 8, it is called Tibhath. 

BETEN, a city of the tribe of Asher,Josh. xix. 25. 

BETH, in Hebrew, signifies home ; and is pre- 
fixed to very many proper names and other words, 
thus forming with them the name of a place ; as 
Beth-el, ' house of God ;' Bcth-lehem, 1 house of 
bread,' &c. Most of these names follow here in 
their order. R. 

BETHABARA, beyond Jordan, where John bap- 
tized, (John i. 28.) was the common ford of the river, 
and probably the same as Beth-barah, Judg. vii. 24. 

BETH-ACHARA, or Beth-haccerem, a city of 
Benjamin, situated on an eminence, between Jerusa- 
lem and Tekoa, Neh. iii. 14; Jer. vi. 1. 

BETH-ANATH, a city of Naphtali, Josh. xix. 38 ; 
Judg. i. 33. 

BETHANY, (John xi. 18.) a village, distant about 
two miles east from Jerusalem, beyond the mount of 
Olives, and on the way to Jericho. Here Martha 
and Mary dwelt, with their brother Lazarus, whom 
Jesus raised from the dead ; and here Mary poured 
perfume on our Saviour's head. See Mod. Travel- 
ler in Palestine, p. 157. 

BETHANIM, a village four miles from Hebron, 
and two miles from Abraham's turpentine-tree. 

BETH-ARABAH, a city on the confines of Ju- 
dah and Benjamin, Josh. xv. 6 ; xviii. 22. 

BETH- ARAM, a city in Gad, Josh. xiii. 27 

BETH-ARBEL, a place mentioned Hosea x. 14. 
where we read in the Vulgate, " As Shalmana was 
overcome by him who made war against him, after 
having destroyed the altar of Baal," designing to de- 
scribe Gideon ; (Jud. vi. 25; vii. 8, 10, etc.) but the 
Hebrew imports, " As Shalman spoiled Beth-ar- 
bel, in the day of battle." Some explain this pas- 



B E T 



[ 165 ] 



BEThESDA 



sage as relating to the taking of the city Arbela, by 
Salmaneser ; but this event is not noticed in history. 
Jerome, and the Alexandrian MS. read Jerobaal ; 
and understand it, with the Vulgate, of the victory 
obtained by Gideon over Zalmunna. Arbela, or Ar- 
bah-el, signifies fine countries, countries of God ; for 
which reason, we find many places so named. It 
is said, 1 Mac. ix. 2. that Bacchides and Aleimus 
came into Galilee, and encamped at Maseloth, which 
is in Arbela. The city Masai, or Misheal, was in the 
tribe of Asher, near to which were very fine fields, 
and a place called Arbela, Josh. xix. 26. 

BETH-AVEN, a city of the tribe of Benjamin, 
eastward of Bethel, Josh. vii. 2 ; 1 Sam. xiii. 5. There 
was also a desert of the same name, Josh, xviii. 12. 
The Talmudists have confounded it with Bethel ; 
because after Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had set tip his 
golden calves at Bethel, the Hebrews, who adhered 
to the house of David, in derision, called this latter 
city Beth-aven, that is, the house of nothing, or the 
house of vanity, instead of Bethel, " the house of 
God," as Jacob had formerly named it, Hosea iv. 
15; x. 5 ; Amos v. 5. See Bethel. 

BETH-AZMAVETH, the same as Azmaveth, 
whicli • 

BETH-BAAL-MEON, a city of Reuben, Josh, 
xiii. 17. 

BETH-BARAH, a place beyond Jordan, (Judg. 
vii. 24.) probably Bethabara. 

BETH-BASI, a city of Judah, which the two 
Maccabees, Simon and Jonathan, fortified, 1 Mac. ix. 
62—64. 

BETH-BIREI, a city of Judea, 1 Chron. iv. 31. 
BETH-CAR, a city of Dan, 1 Sam. vii. 11. 

I. BETH-DAGON, temple of Dagon, a city of 
Asher, Josh. xix. 27. Compare 1 Sain. v. 2 — 5. 

II. BETH-DAGON, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 
41.) so called, probably, because here was a temple 
of Dagon, before the Israelites took it. 

BETH-DIBLATHAIM, see Diblatha. 

BETHEKED, or Beth-akad, (2 Kings x. 12, 
14.) which some construe in a general sense — a 
shearing-house, or, the house of shepherds binding 
sheep ; but the LXX take it for a place between 
Jezreel and Samaria. 

BETHEL, a city west of Hai, on the confines of 
the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin, (Gen. xii. 8 ; 
xxviii. 10.) and occupying the spot where Jacob 
slept, and had his memorable dream. (See Jacob.) 
Eusebius places Bethel twelve miles from Jerusa- 
lem, in the way to Sichem, or Napolose. Bethel 
was also called Beth-aven by the prophets in de- 
rision of the worship of the golden calves established 
there. See Beth-aven. 

BETHER, the mountains of, Cant. ii. 17 ; viii. 14. 
The Vulgate reads "mountains of perfume." Some 
take this place to be Bethoron ; others, Betharis, be- 
tween Cresarea and Diospolis ; or Bether, mentioned 
by the LXX, Josh. xv. 60. among the cities of Judah. 
Calmet believes it to be Upper Bethoron, or Bethora, 
between Diospolis and Csesarea. Eusebius speaks of 
Betharim, near Diospolis, and when he mentions 
Bether, taken by Adrian, he says, it was in the 
neighborhood of Jerusalem. [The word Bether 
means, properly, dissection ; the mountains of Bether 
then may be mountains of disjunction, disruption, 
i. e. mountains cut up, divided by valleys, etc. The 
word is no where else found as a proper name ; 
should it, then, be so taken in the Canticles ? R. 

BETHESDA, in the Vulgate Bethsaida, other- 
wise called Piscina probatica, because the sheep were 



washed in it which were designed for the sacrifices, 
in Greek probata. Bethesda signifies "the house oi 
mercy," probably because the sick who lay under 
the porticos that surrounded it, here found shelter. 
The Gospel informs us, that there were five porches 
about this pool, and' many sick persons constantly 
waiting, in order to descend into the water when it 
was stirred ; for an angel came down at a certain 
season and stirred the water; the first who then 
plunged into it was cured, be his disease what it 
might, John v. 1—4. 

The majority of writers have regarded the cures 
wrought at the Pool of Bethesda as a standing mira- 
cle among the Jews ; and yet they have been sur- 
prised" that .Tosephus should omit to mention a fact 
so honorable to his nation. Dr. Doddridge calls 
this " the greatest of difficulties in the history of the 
evangelists ; and that in which, of all others, the 
learned answerers of Mr. Woolston had given him 
the least satisfaction." Mr. Fleming, to avoid some 
difficulties in the narrative, supposed the latter part 
of the third verse, and the whole of the fourth, to 
be spurious: it is wanting in Beza's MS. and is add- 
ed, in a later hand, to a MS. in the French king's 
library : however, it is in all other MSS. in the Sy- 
riac, and the other versions in the Polyglot. 

The learned Dr. Hammoud supposed that the 
blood of the great number of sacrifices which were 
washed in this pool communicated a salutary ef- 
ficacy to the water, on its being stirred up by a mes- 
senger from the high-priest : — a very unphilosophi- 
cal suggestion, surely ! and yet Dr. Pococke was so 
far captivated by it, as to seek at Jerusalem for the 
pool of Bethesda, on the wrong side of the city, 
where it is not ; and where it is, he could not see it ; 
for reasons which we shall state presently. We in- 
sert one of Dr. Doddridge's notes on this history ; 
partly from respect to his memory, and deference to 
his difficulties ; partly, as it sets the idea of a stand- 
ing miracle in a very strong light ; and partly, as an 
instance how greatly learning and piety might some- 
times profit, by a more intimate acquaintance with 
things, as well as words. 

" I imagine this pool might have been remarkable 
for some mineral virtue attending the water ; which 
is the more probable, as Jerome tells us, it was of a 
very high color ; this, together with its being so very 
near the temple, where a bath was so much needed 
for religious purposes, may account for the building 
such stately cloisters round it, three of which re- 
main to this day. (See Jerusalem.) Some time 
before this passover, an extraordinary commotion 
was probably observed in the water : and Providence 
so ordered it, that the next person who accidentally 
bathed here, being under some great disorder, found 
an immediate and unexpected . cure. The like 
phenomenon, in some other desperate case, was 
probably observed on a second commotion ; and 
these commotions and cures might happen period- 
ically, perhaps every sabbath, (for that it was yearly 
none can prove,) for some weeks or months. This 
the Jews would naturally ascribe to some angelic 
power, as they did afterwards the voice from heaven, 
(John xii. 29.) though no angel appeared ; and they 
and St. John had reason to do it, as it was the Scrip- 
ture scheme, that these benevolent spirits had been, 
and frequently are, the invisible instruments of good 
to the children of men, Ps. xxxiv. 7 ; xci. 11 ; Dan. 
iii. 28 ; vi. 22. On their making so ungrateful a re- 
turn to Christ, for this miracle, and those wrought at 
the former passover, and in the intermediate space, 



BETHESDA 



L 166 ] 



BETHESDA 



this celestial visitant, probably from this time, re- 
turned no more : and therefore, it may be observed, 
that though the evangelist speaks of the pool as still 
at Jerusalem when he wrote, yet he mentions the 
descent of the angel as a thing which had been, but 
not as still continuing. (Comp. "ver. 2 and 4.) This 
may account for the surprising silence of Josephus 
in a story which made so much for the honor of 
his nation. He was himself not born when it hap- 
pened ; and though lie might have heard the report 
of it, he would, perhaps, (as in the modern way,) 
oppose speculation and hypothesis to fact, and have 
recourse to some indigested and unmeaning ha- 
rangues, on the unknown force of imagination ; or, 
if he secretly suspected it to be true, his dread of the 
marvellous, and fear of disgusting his pagan read- 
ers with it, might as well lead him to suppress this, 
as to disguise the passage through the Red sea, and 
the divine voice from mount Sinai, in so cowardly 
and ridiculous a manner as it is known he does. 
And the relation in which this fact stood to the his- 
tory of Jesus, would make him peculiarly cautious 
in touching upon it, as it would have been so dif- 
ficult to handle it at once with decency and safety." 

Having noticed these remarks, Mr. Taylor gives 
the following analysis and illustration of the words 
of the evangelical history. 

JVbw there is — in Jerusalem, over against the sheep- 
(gate) a pool (or place for swimming, xoXvftjtifofiv,) 
named in Hebrew, Bethesda, having Jive porches (por- 
ticoes, walking places). In these lay a multitude of 
[ua-d-svovvTiav) debilitated persons, blind, contracted, wast- 
ed, wailing fur the moving of the ivater ; for an angel, ac- 
cording to the season, (occasionally, xut'u xcciquv,) 
descended into the pool, and troubled the ivater : who- 
ever then first went down (into the pool) after the mov- 
ing of the water, ivas cured of whatever disease (of the 
nature of those above enumerated) had seized him. 

1 JVow there is — these words do not determine 
that the evangelist wrote his gospel before the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, as has been inferred from 
them ; — for there are remains of the pool to this 
day, and, as it is sunk in the rock, it may still re- 
main for ages. Dr. Doddridge says, " he does not 
find satisfactory proof (though many have asserted 
it) that the sheep to be sacrificed were washed here ; 
or that the blood of the sacrifices ran into it." — And 
indeed there are no traces, or channels, in the rock 
which forms the ground, (if in fact there were a pos- 
sibility,) of the blood from the altar having ever ran 
toward, or into, the pool. This obliged Pococke, 
who adopted that idea, to seek for the pool of Be- 
thesda in lower ground, on the other side of the tem- 
Dle. The error has consisted in supposing that the 
sheep were washed here, after they were slain : 
whereas, they were washed in it, (if at all,) as soon as 
bought in the adjoining market ; after which, they 
were driven into the temple. The place now shown 
for the pool of Bethesda, is square : nevertheless it 
might have had five porches ; one on each hand at 
entering, the entrance being in the middle of one 
side ; and three on tfife other sides. (See the con- 
jectural plans on the plate of the Plan of Jerusalem.) 
This difficulty, therefore, is removed merely by an 
appropriate construction. It was, probably, very 
simple, and neither "stately" nor fit for "purifica- 
tion for religious purposes," notwithstanding its 
vicinity to the temple. 

2. The diseases mentioned are of the nervous 
kind. We pretend not to sufficient acquaintance 
with the Greek medical writers, to determine 



whether rvcpZnv, blind, is used in the sense of dim 
sighted, i. e. so weak in the nerves &c. serving the 
eye, as to be nearly, yet not hopelessly, blind. But 
we submit whether somewhat very like this sense of 
the word, is not its import in Acts xiii. 11. " Thou 
slialt be blind (rvtpXie) not seeing the sun for a sea- 
son foyi xuiitS). Also, 2 Peter i. 9. " These are — 
blind, (rv<p}.ug can,) not seeing afar off, myops, short- 
sighted, pvta/tutur ;" where it should seem, that the 
latter word is used by way of explaining the former ; 
as there could be no need to describe a person to- 
tally blind as short-sighted. 1 John ii. 11. — He who 
walketh in darkness, — darkness hath blinded (iT» ; g>&»ffs) 
— suspended the offices of — his eyes ; not that his 
eyes are deprived of the power of seeing ; but that 
they cannot exert that power to advantage, because 
of surrounding darkness. The other diseases men- 
tioned by the evangelist, are evidently such as cold 
bathing, especially in medicinal water, would be es- 
teemed a remedy for. For the angel, see the article 
Angel, i. e. a providential agent of God. 

3. But what if here were, in fact, two distinct 
waters ? first, the constant body of water, of a cer- 
tain depth ; the pool, wherein the sheep were washed 
— the bath : secondly, an occasional and inconstant 
issue of water, the source of which was on one side 
of the bath, falling from a crevice of the rock where- 
in this basin was sunk, from the height of several 
feet. What if this were the medicinal water which 
"was troubled at the season ?" and falling perhaps 
in no very large quantity, the person who could first 
get to it, received the full benefit of it, because he 
had it fresh and pure from the rock, which the 
water in the pool, if it were supplied from the same 
source, could not be ; because there was no super- 
fluity of it, of which other patients might partake ; 
because such of it as fell into the pool, became in- 
stantly diluted, mingled with the body of water con- 
stantly there, and was thereby deprived of its ef- 
ficacy, and its concentrated virtues ; and this mixture 
was sure to be completed by the number of persons 
who would rush into the pool, desirous of being 
first, or very early, in it. It should be observed, that 
if the water fell from above into the pool, the people 
might easily watch it ; and would not fail to force 
their way towards it, when they perceived signs of 
it gushing out : whereas, had the pool itself been 
the water that was moved, would not the sheep have 
been prohibited from polluting it ? partly from 
ideas of holiness and virtue connected with it 
partly from apprehension that, while they were wash- 
ing, the water might be troubled, at a moment when 
nobody could benefit by it ; if, indeed, its being 
troubled could be distinguished from the commo- 
tion occasioned by the sheep. 

Let us now accept assistance from travellers who 
have visited the place. " A little above, we entered 
the city at the gate of St. Stephen, (where, on each 
side, a lion retrograde doth stand,) called, in times 
past, the port [gate] of the valley, and of the flock ; for 
that the cattle came in at this gate which were to be 
sacrificed in the temple, and were sold in the mar- 
ket adjoining. On the left hand is a strong 
bridge, which passeth, at the east end of the 
north wall, into the court of the temple of Solomon ; 
the head [of the bridge] to the pool of Bethesda 
(underneath which it [the water of the pool] had a 
conveyance) called also probaticum, for that the sac- 
rifices were therein washed, ere delivered to the 
priests. Now, it is a great square profundity, green 
and uneven at the bottom : into which a barren 



BET 



t 167 1 



B E T 



spring doth drill between the stones of the north- 
ward wall ; and stealeth away almost undiscovered. 
The place is tor a good depth hewn out of" the rock ; 
confined above on the north side with a steep wall, 
on the west with tlie high buildings, (perhaps a part 
of the castle of Antonia ; where are two doors to 
descend by, now all that are, half choked with rub- 
bish,) and on the south with the wall of the court of 
the temple." Such is the account of Sandys, who 
was there in 1611. He found the spring running, 
but in small quantities; and "stealing away" un- 
noticed. But it should seem, that when Mr. Maun- 
drell was there, 1697, this stream did not run — as he 
does not mention that circumstance — so that, pos- 
sibly, it is still intermitting ; and to this day runs 
[xar'u xaitiur} occasionally. We have every reason to 
suppose, that the spring was formerly more copious 
and abundant, as well as medicinal ; as the rubbish 
which now choke's up the passage for its waters, 
may not only diminish their quantity, but injure their 
quality. " On the 9th [April, 1697] we went to take 
a view of what is now called the Pool of Bethesda, 
which is 120 paces long, 40 broad, and 8 deep : at 
the west end are some old arches, now dammed up, 
which, though there are but three in number, some 
will' have to be the five porches, in which sat the 
lame, halt, and blind." (Maundrell's Journey.) 
From the account of Sandys, it appears, that the 
basin being hewn deep in the rock, and upon 
(" above") that rock the northern wall standing, and 
the spring issuing from between the stones of this 
wall, the place whence the spring issues must be 
several feet above the level of the water in the ba- 
sin ; which basin, being deeper in some places than 
in others, " uneven at the bottom," might be deep 
enough to swim in, in some parts, while, in others, it 
might merely serve to wash the sheep. 

Thus, by means of the accounts of travellers, and 
their representations, this history appears in what 
may be thought a new light, (and apparently a just 
one, since, so far as we perceive, it accounts strictly 
for every thing in the text,) and, perhaps, a more ac- 
curate idea is annexed to the name of this place, 
than those who derived it from nrs no "the 
house of issuing of waters," "the house of effusion," 
were aware of. That it was not in any probability 
the drain from the temple is proved ; but may not 
"the spring house" be a title very descriptive of the 
porticoes around this gushing, medicinal, and intermit- 
ting spring ? and as the water was salutary, this der- 
ivation is in fact analogous with that from mon, 
rvo the " house of mercy," or kindness ; from ion, 
chesed, exuberant bounty. See Jahn's Bib. Arch. 
§198. 

We close, by reflecting that it was John's design 
to relate a miracle wrought by his Master ; to honor 
Jesus, and Jesus solely : he had, therefore, no in- 
ducement to allude to any miraculous (angelical, 
spiritual) interference, previous to, or distinct from, 
that of Jesus ; and it is submitted to the reader, 
whether his words, properly taken, do really import 
any such interference ; especially if we advert to the 
various senses of the word Angel ; of which several 
are given under that article. 

BETH-EZEL, a place mentioned Mic.i.ll. It 
was, according to Ephrem Syrus, not far from Sa- 
maria. 

BETH-GADER, a city of Judah, 1 Cnron. ii. 51. 
See Gadara. 

BETH-GAMUL, a city of the Moabites, in Reu- 
ben, Jer xlviii. 23. 



BETH-HACCEREM, see Beth-achara. 

BETH-HAN AN, one of the cities over which Sol 
omon placed Ben-dekar, (1 Kings iv. 9.) but the 
situation of which is unknown. 

BETH-HARAN, (Num. xxxii. 36.) or Beth-ha- 
ram, (Josh. xiii. 27.) a city of Gad beyond the Jor- 
dan, afterwards called Livias, or Julias. 

BETH-HOGLAH, a town of Benjamin, on the 
confines of Judah, Josh. xv. 16; xviii. 19,21. 

BETH-HORON, the name of two cities or towns 
lying apparently near each other, and distinguished 
by the names of Upper and Lower Beth-horon, Josh, 
xvi. 3, 5 ; 1 Chron. vii. 24. They Avould seem to be 
sometimes spoken of as only one place ; and were 
situated on the confines of Benjamin and Ephraim, 
about 12 Roman miles north-west from Jerusalem, 
according to Eusebius and Jerome, on the way to 
Nicopolis. At first they were assigned to Ephraim, 
but afterwards to the Levites, Josh. xvi. 3 ; xxi. 22. 
From the distinction in the names, we may draw the 
conclusion, that the one lay on a hill, and the other 
in a \alley ; and this is confirmed by Josephus, (B. 
J. ii. 19. 8.) who describes here a narrow, steep and 
rocky hollow way or pass, exceedingly dangerous to 
an army ; — the same, no doubt, which is called in 
Josh. x. 11, the descent or going down of Beth-horon ; 
and which is also described in the same manner in 
1 Mace. iii. 15, 24. It therefore often proved disas- 
trous to flying troops. (See in Joshua, Josephus, and 
Maccabees, last above quoted.) The place was 
strongly fortified by Solomon, 1 Kings ix. 17 ; 2 
Chron. viii. 5. — Dr. Clarke found an Arab village, 
Bethoor, on the way from Jaffa to Jerusalem, on a 
hill about 12 miles from the latter place ; which he 
reasonably supposes may be the site of Beth-horon 
the Upper. *R. 

BETH-JESHIMOTH, a city of Reuben, between 
the mountains of Abarim and the Jordan, about ten 
miles south-east of Jericho, (Josh. xii. 3 ; xiii. 20.) 
afterwards possessed by the Moabites, Ezek. xxv. 9. 

BETH-LEBAOTH, a city of Simeon, (Josh. xix. 
6.) called Lebaoth, chap. xv. 32. 

I. BETH-LEHEM, the house of bread, a city of 
Judah ; (Judg. xvii. 7.) generally called Bethlehem 
of Judah, to distinguish it from another Bethlehem 
in Zebulun. It is also called Ephratah, (Bethlehem 
Ephratah,) and its inhabitants Ephrateans, Gen. 
xlviii. 7 ; Mic. v. 2. It was six miles south of Jeru- 
salem, in the way to Hebron ; and was fortified by 
Rehoboam, 2 Chron. xi. 6 ; Ezra ii. 21. 

In this city David was born, and dwelt, until his 
combat with Goliath introduced him to the court of 
Saul, and opened for him a new career. But that 
which imparts to Bethlehem the highest interest, is, 
that here the Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus 
Christ, was born. Micah, (chap. v. 2.) extolling this 
pre-eminence of Bethlehem, says, "Thou Bethlehem 
Ephratah, though thou be little among the thou- 
sands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth 
unto me, who is to be ruler in Israel ;" or, who is 
the Messiah, as the Chaldee paraphrast has trans- 
lated it. Several difficulties are started relating to 
this prophecy of Micah, which foretells the birth of 
the Messiah at Bethlehem. Matthew (ii. 6.) reads, 
" And thou, Bethlehem of Judah, art not the least of 
the cities of Judah ;" whereas the text of Micah runs, 
" And thou, Bethlehem, though thou he little among 
the thousands of Judah." It is objected that here is 
a contrariety between Matthew and Micah, one ol 
whom says, that Bethlehem is small among the cities 
of Judah ; the other that it is not the least of the cities 



BET 



[ 168 1 



BET 



of Judah. But to this it is answered, that a city may 
be little, yet not the least. [Or we have only to sup- 
pose, (what was evidently the fact,) that the apostle 
quoted from memory; and that, therefore, while ti e 
sense remains the same, there is a slight variation in 
the words. R. 

The cave in which it is said our Saviour was born, 
was not strictly in the city. The original church, 
built by the empress Helena over it, still exists, but 
blended with the necessary repairs and restorations 
from the devastations of inimical hordes of Mahome- 
tans and others, during the Crusades, and especially 
at the close of the thirteenth century. Near it are 
said to be the chapel of the innocents and their sep- 
ulchre ; also the sepulchres of Jerome, of Eusebius, 
and of Paula and Eustochius. The tomb of Rachel, 
near Bethlehem, is of no antiquity. 

The inn in which our Saviour was born was prob- 
ably a caravanserai, where guests were received gra- 
tis ; but where nothing was found them but shelter. 
It is generally supposed that the caravanserai being 
full, Joseph and Mary were obliged to repose in a 
cave, or grotto cut out of the rock, which usually 
served as a stable ; but this idea, as the intelligent 
author of the Modern Traveller remarks, is an out- 
rage on common sense. The gospel narrative af- 
fords no countenance to the notion that the Virgin 
took refuge in any cave of this description. On the 
contrary, it was evidently a manger belonging to the 
inn, or khan ; in other words, the upper rooms being 
occupied, the holy family were compelled to take up 
their abode in the court allotted to the mules and 
horses, or other animals. 

The following is Volney's description of the vil- 
lage : (Trav. vol. ii. p. 332.) "The second place 
deserving notice, is Bait-el-lahm, or Bethlehem, so 
celebrated in the history of Christianity. This vil- 
lage, situated two leagues south-east of Jerusalem, is 
seated on an eminence, in a country full of hills and 
valleys, and might be rendered very agreeable. The 
soil is the best in all these districts ; fruits, vines, 
olives, and sesamum succeed here extremely well ; 
but, as is the case every where else, cultivation is 
wanting." 

Dr. Clarke found Bethlehem a larger place than 
he expected, and describes the first view of it as im- 
posing. It is built on the ridge of a hill which over- 
looks the valley reaching to the Dead sea, of which 
it commands a distinct prospect ; so that any phe- 
nomenon elevated over Bethlehem, would be seen 
from afar in the East country, beyond the Dead sea. 
The convent is not in the town, but adjacent : it has 
the air of a fortress ; and might even stand a siege 
against the Turks. The inmates manufacture cru- 
cifixes and beads for the devout, and mark religious 
emblems on the persons of pilgrims, by means of 
gunpowder. The doctor descended into the valley 
of Bethlehem, where he found a well of "pure and 
delicious water," which, he thinks, is that so ardently 
longed for by David, 2 Sam. xxiii. 15. 

II. BETH-LEHEM, a city of Zebulun,( Josh. xix. 
15 ; Judg. xii. 10.) which is scarcely known, but by 
its bearing the same name as the above. 

BETH-MAON, see Baal-Meo*. 

BETH-MARCABOTH, a city of Simeon, Josh, 
xix. 5; 1 Chron. iv. 31. 

BETH-MILLO, a place near Shechem, 2 Kings 
xii. 20. 

BETH-N1MRAH, a city of Gad; (Numb, xxxii. 
36; Josh. xiii. 27.) possibly Nimrim, (Jei\ xlviii. 34.) 
or Bethnabris, five miles nordi from Livias. The 



difficulty lies in extending the tribe of Gad so far 
as Nimrim south, or Bethnabris north. 

BETH-OANNABA, or Beth-hannabah, a town 
which Eusebius places four miles east from Diospo- 
lis ; but Jerome says it is placed, by many, eight 
ink -s distant. Beth-oannaba seems to preserve 
some remains of the word Nob, where the taberna- 
cle continued, some time, in the reign of Saul ; (1 
Sam. xxi. 1.) and Jerome says Nob was not far from 
Diospolis. 

BETH-ORON, see Beth-horon. 

BETH-PALET, or Beth-pheleth, a city in the 
most southern part of Judah, Josh. xv. 27 ; Neh. 
xi. 26. 

BETH-PAZZEZ, a city of Issachar, Josh. xix. 21 
BETH-PEOR, a city of Moab, given to Reuben, 
and famous for the worship of Baal-Peor ; which 
see, Deut. iii. 20 ; iv. 46 ; xxxiv. .6 ; Josh. xiii. 20. 

BETHPHAGE, a little village at the foot of the 
mount of Olives, between Bethany and Jerusalem, 
Luke xix. 29. Jesus, being come from Bethany to 
Bethphage, commanded his disciples to procure an 
ass for his use, in his triumphant entrance into Jeru- 
salem, John xii. The distance between Bethphage 
and Jerusalem is about fifteen furlongs. The Tal- 
mudists say that Bethphage was within the walls of 
Jerusalem, but at the very utmost circuit of them ; 
and it is probable that there was a street or district 
so called, because it led immediately, and indeed 
adjoined, to the Bethphage which produced figs, and 
was out of the city. It is probable, too, that the figs 
of this district were brought into Jerusalem, and sold 
on the spot. But the district itself was, no doubt, at 
the descent of the mount of Olives next to Jerusa- 
lem ; and seems rather to have been so named from a 
house of figs ; a house where figs w»re sold, or in the 
garden of which they were cultivated; and this 
might extend a good way up the mountain. It is, 
perhaps, uncertain, whether or not there was a vil- 
lage, or number of other houses, beside those of the 
gardeners who attended to the cultivation of this 
fruit ; as also of olive-trees, and of palm-trees ; most 
probably, also, of various other esculents for the 
use of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 

I. BETHSAIDA, a city on the north-eastern shore 
of the sea of Galilee, near the spot where the Jordan 
enters that sea. It was enlarged and adorned by 
Philip the Tetrarch, who called it Julias, though it 
is not known by this name in the New Testament. 
[This place is mentioned Luke ix. 10, where Jesus 
is said to have withdrawn himself to a desert place 
belonging to Bethsaida, after the execution of John 
the Baptist ; from whence, also, after the miracle of 
the five loaves, he is said to have returned across 
the lake to Capernaum, Matt. xiv. 22, 34 ; John vi. 17. 
Some also reckon here Mark viii. 22. R. 

II. BETHSAIDA of Galilee (John xii. 21.) lay 
somewhere in the vicinity of Capernaum, on the 
west side of the lake of Tiberias ; as we conclude 
from its being often mentioned with Capernaum as 
one of the chief places of resort for Christ and his 
disciples, Matt. xi. 21 ; Luke x. 13. Eusebius says, 
merely, it lay on the shore of the lake. The 
apostles Peter, Andrew and Philip were of this 
city, (John i. 44.) and are hence called Galileans, 
Mark' xiv. 70, al. John i. 43. *R. 

BETH-SHEAN, more generally known by the 
name of Scythopolis, was a town of Manasseh, but 
situated in Issachar, Josh. xvii. 11, 16 ; Judg. i. 27 ; 
1 Kings iv. 12. In 2 Mac. xii. 29. it is reckoned to 
be 600 furlongs, or 75 miles, from Jerusalem. Jose- 



BET 



L I6» ) 



BEZ 



pnus says it was 120 furlongs from Tiberias ; so that 
it cannot be so near the lake of Tiberias as some 
geographers have supposed. It was on the west of 
Jordan, at the south-east extremity of the great 
plain of Esdraelon. The name of Scythopolis, or 
the city of the Scythians, came, according to George 
Syncellus, from the Scythians, who invaded Pales- 
tine in the reign of Josiah, son of Amos, king of Ju- 
dah. Stephens the geographer, and Pliny, call it 
Nysa; the Hebrews name it Bethshean, or Beth- 
shan ; the LXX, (Judg. i. 27.) " Bethshan, other- 
wise Scythopolis." After the battle of Gilboa, the 
Philistines, having taken the bodies of Saul and 
Jonathan, hung them on the walls of Bethshan ;■ but 
the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, on the other side 
Jordan, came in the night, carried off the bodies, 
and interred them honorably under a grove of oaks 
near their city, 1 Sam. xxxi. 10. 

The fruits of Bethshan were the sweetest in the 
land of Israel ; and tine linen garments were made 
here. Before the Babylonish captivity it was in- 
cluded ivithin the land of Israel ; but after that 
period it was reckoned without the land ; and none 
of its productions were tithed. Probably the pos- 
terity of the Scythians retained their property in it, 
and its demesnes. , 

Bethshan is now called Bysan, and is described 
by Burckhardt as situated on rising ground, on the 
west of the river Jordan, about 24 miles south of 
Tiberias. The present village contains 70 or 80 
houses, the inhabitants of which are in a miserable 
condition, owing to the depredations of the Be- 
douins. The ruins of the ancient city are of con- 
siderable extent, along the banks of the rivulet which 
ran by it, and the valley formed by its branches ; and 
bespeak it to have been nearly three miles in cir- 
cuit. See Bib. Repos. vol. i. p. 599. 

I. BETH-SHEMESH, a city belonging to the 
tribe of Judah, (Josh. xv. 10.) afterwards given to the 
Levites, Josh. xxi. 16". In Eusebius it is placed ten 
miles from Eleutheropolis, east, in the way to Nicop- 
olis, or Emaiis ; that is, about 30 miles north-west 
of Jerusalem. This city is not to be confounded 
with Ir-shemesh, mentioned, Josh. xix. 41, as belong- 
ing to Dan. Ir-shemesh signifies the City of the sun, 
and Beth-shemesh signifies the House of the sun. As 
the tribes of Dan and Judah were adjacent, the 
same city is reckoned sometimes to one tribe, some- 
times to the other. The Philistines returning the 
ark of the Lord into the land of Israel, it came to 
Beth-shemesh ; and some of the people looking 
with too much curiosity into it, the Lord smote 
seventy principal men of the city, and 50,000 of the 
common people, 1 Sam. vi. 12 — 20. 

II. BETH-SHEMESH, a city of Issachar, Josh, 
xix. 22. 

III. BETH-SHEMESH, a city of Naphtali, Josh, 
xix. 38 ; Judg. i. 33. 

IV. BETH-SHEMESH, a city in Egypt, Jer. xliii. 
13. This is, no doubt, the Heliopolis of the Greeks ; 
called On, Gen. xli. 45, 50, and Onion by Ptolemy ; 
which name it retained in the days of Ezekiel, chap, 
xxx. 17. It had a temple in which there was an 
annual festival in honor of the sun. 

BETH-SHITTAH, a place south-west of the sea 
of Tiberias, to which Gideon pursued Midian, Judg. 
vii.22. P b 

BETH-SIMOTH, called also Beth-Jesimoth, 
which see. 

BETH-SURAH, see Beth-zur. 

BETH-TAPPUAH, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 53.) 
22 



^vhich Eusebius says is the last city of Palestine, in 
the way to Egypt, fourteen miles from Raphia. 

BETHUEL, son of Nahor and Milcah, was Abra- 
ham's nephew, and father of Laban, and of Rebecca. 
Isaac's wife. Bethuel does not appear ai the affaii 
of Rebecca's marriage, but Laban only, Gen. xxiv 
50. See Laban" 

BETHUL, or Bethuel, a city of Simeon ; (Josh 
xix. 4 ; 1 Chron. iv. 30.) the same, probably, as Be 
thelia, which Sozomen speaks of, as a town belong- 
ing to the inhabitants of Gaza, well peopled, and 
having several temples remarkable for their struc- 
ture and antiquity ; particularly a pantheon, (or tem- 
ple dedicated to all the gods,) situated on an em- 
inence made of earth, brought thither for the pur- 
pose, which commanded the whole city. He con- 
jectures that it was named Bethelia, which signifies 
the House of God, by reason of this temple. 

BETHULIA, a city celebrated for its siege by 
Holofernes, at which he was killed by Judith, Ju 
dith vii. 1. Calmet thinks it to be the Bethul, oi 
Bethuel, above noticed, and believes that this idea 
may be reconciled with Judith iv. 6 ; vii. 3, which 
say that Bethulia was near Dothaim and Esdraelon, 
cities in the great plain, very remote from Bethulia, 
by supposing that the author of the book of Judith 
describes the march of Holofernes' army, and the 
camp which he left when he broke up to go and 
undertake the siege of Bethulia; not the camp of 
which he took possession, when he sat down before 
the place. 

BETH-ZUR, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 58.) which 
was fortified by Rehoboam, 2 Chron. xi. 7. Lysias, re- 
gent of Syria, under young Antiochus,son of Antiochus 
Epiphanes, besieged Bethzur with an army of 60,000 
foot and 5000 horse ; but Judas Maccabseus coming 
to succor the place, Lysias was obliged to raise the 
siege, 1 Mac. iv. 28 ; vi. 7. Judas put his army to 
flight, and afterwards, making the best use of the 
arms and booty found in the enemy's camp, the 
Jews became stronger and more formidable than 
they had heretofore been. Bethzur lay south of 
Jerusalem, on the way to Hebron, and not far from 
the latter city. It was a fortress against Idumaea, and 
defended the passages into Judea from thence. We 
read, 2 Mac. xi. 5, that Bethzur was five furlongs 
from Jerusalem ; but this is evidently a mistake. 
Eusebius places it twenty miles from that city, 
toward Hebron, and Dr. Pococke speaks of a vil- 
lage on a hill hereabouts, called Bethsaon. 

BETONIM, a city of Gad, towards the north of 
this tribe, bordering on Manasseh, Josh. xiii. 26. 

BETROTHING, see Marriage. 

BEULAH, married ; a name given to the J ewish 
church ; importing its marriage with God, as their 
husband and sovereign Lord, Isa. lxii. 4. 

BEZALEEL, a famous artificer, son of Uri, (Exod. 
xxxi. 2 ; xxxv. 30.) of whom it is said, that he was 
filled with the Spirit of God, to devise excellent 
works in gold, silver, and all other workmanship — 
a remarkable testimony to the antiquity of the arts, 
to the esteem in which they were held, to the source 
whence they were understood to spring, and to the 
wisdom (by inspiration) of this artist. 

BEZEK, a city over which Adoni-Bezek was 
king, (Judg. i. 4. seq.) and where Saul reviewed his 
army, before he marched against Jabesh-Gilead, 1 
Sam. xi. 8. Eusebius says there were two cities of 
this name near one another, seven miles from Si- 
chem, in the way to Scythopolis. 

BEZER, a city east of the Jordan, given to the 



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Reubenites ; and afterwards to the Levites of Ger- 
shom's family, Deut. iv. 43. It was also one of the 
cities of refuge, Josh. xx. 8. The site of it is not 
known. 

BEZETH, a city on this side Jordan, which Bac- 
chides surprised, and threw all the inhabitants into a 
great pit, 1 Mac. vii. 19. 

BEZETHA, or Betzeta, a division or district of 
Jerusalem, situated on a mountain, encompassed with 
good walls ; being, as it were, a new city added to 
the old. Bezetha was north of Jerusalem and the 
temple. See the Map of Jerusalem. 

BIBLE, from the Greek BiiXug, book, a name 
given to our collection of sacred writings, which we 
call the Bible, or the Book, by way of eminence 
and distinction.- The Hebrews call it mpc, mikrah, 
lesson, lecture, or scripture. They acknowledge only 
twenty-two books as canonical, which they place in 
the following order : — . 

Order of the Books of the BIBLE, according to the 
Hebrew. 

The Law. 

1. Genesis, in Hebrew, Bereschith (in the begin- 
ning). 2. Exodus, in Hebrew, Ve-elle Schemoth 
{these are the names). 3. Leviticus, in Hebrew, Vay- 
ikra (and he called). 4. Numbers, in Hebrew, Bam- 
midbar (in the desert). 5. Deuteronomy, in Hebrew, 
Elle haddebarim (these are the words). 

The former Prophets. 

6. Joshua. 7. Judges. 8. Samuel I. and II. as 
one book. 9. Kings I. and II. as one book. 

The latter Prophets. 

10. Isaiah. 11. Jeremiah. 12. Ezekiel. 13. 
The twelve minor Prophets make one book, viz. : — 
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Na- 
hum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, 
Malachi. 

The Sacred Books ; or, Hagiographa. 

14. The Psalms. (Divided into five books.) 15. 
The Proverbs. 16. Job. 17. Solomon's Song. 
(The Jews place the Lamentations and the book of 
Ruth after the Song of Solomon.) 18. Ecclesiastes. 
19. Esther. 20. Daniel. 21. Ezra and Nehemiah. 
22. The two books of Chronicles. 

Catalogue of the Sacred Writings, as received by the 
Jews; from Origen. 

Books of the Old Testament. 

1. Genesis. 2. Exodus. 3. Leviticus. 4. Num- 
bers. 5. Deuteronomy. 6. Joshua. 7. Judges and 
Ruth. 8. The First and Second Book of Samuel. 
9. The First and Second Book of Kings. 10. The 
First and Second Book of Chronicles. 11. The 
First and Second Book of Esdras. 12. The Psalms. 
13. The Book of Proverbs. 14. Ecclesiastes. 15. 
Solomon's Song. 16. Isaiah. 17. Jeremiah, with 
the Lamentations, and the Epistle to the Captives. 
18 Ezekiel. 19. Daniel. 20. Job. 21. Esther. 22. 
The Minor Prophets. 

The above and the following list, both from Ori- 



gen, are important, as showing the canon of Scrip- 
ture in the third century. 

Books of the New Testament. 

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. The 
Acts of the Apostles. 

Epistles of St. Paul. 

To the Romans. To the Corinthians. To the 
Galatians. To the Ephesians. To the Philippiaus. 
To the Colossians. To the Thessalonians. To 
Timothy. To Titus. To Philemon. To the He- 
brews. 

Catholic, or General Epistles. 

The Epistle of James. The Epistles of Peter. 
The Epistles of John. The Epistle of Jude. The 
Revelation by St. John. 

The books of the Old Testament were written for 
the most part in Hebrew. Some parts of Ezra and 
Daniel are written in Chaldee. The books of the 
New Testament were all written in Greek, except, 
perhaps, Matthew, whose Gospel is by some sup- 
posed to have been first written in Hebrew, or Syriac, 
the language then spoken in Judea. 

Lost Books. — There are some Books cited in the 
Old Testament, which are supposed to be lost. 
These are, (1.) the "Book ef the Wars of the Lord," 
Numb. xxi. 14. (2.) the "Book of the Righteous, or 
Jasher," Josh. x. 13. and 2 Sam. i. 18. (3.) the " Chron- 
icles," or " Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel," 
1 Kings xiv. 19. We have also only a part of Solo- 
mon's 3000 Proverbs, and of his 1005 Songs, (1 
Kings iv. 32, 33.) and none of his writings on Natu- 
ral History. It is justly doubted whether we have 
the Lamentations which Jeremiah composed on the 
death of Josiah, king of Judah; (2 Chron. xxxv. 25.) 
because the tak ng of Jerusalem, and the destruction 
of that city by Nebuchadnezzar, appear to be the 
subjects of those extant. 

(1.) "The Book of the Wars of the Lord." This 
is cited by Moses, Numb. xxi. 14, and appears to 
have related some particulars which happened when 
the Hebrews passed the brook of Arnon. Some 
think it was a work of greater antiquity than Moses, 
containing a recital of wars, to which the Israelites 
were parties, before their Exodus under Moses. In- 
deed, it is most natural to quote a book, which is 
more ancient than the author who is writing, par- 
ticularly in support of any extraordinary and mi- 
raculous fact. The Hebrew of this passage is per- 
plexed : " As it is written in the Book of the Wars 
of the Lord; at Vaheb, in Suphah ; and in the brooks 
of Arnon," &c. We know not who or what this 
Vaheb is. M. Boivin, senior, thought it meant some 
prince who had the government of the country, and 
was defeated by the Israelites before they came out 
of Egypt ; others think Vaheb was a king of Moab, 
overcome by Sihon king of the Amorites. Grotius, 
instead of Vaheb, reads Moab, and translates it, 
"Sihon beat Moab at Suphah." Calmet prefers 
Zared, instead of Vaheb, after this manner: "As it 
is written in the Book of the Wars of the Lord, the 
Hebrews came from Zared, and encamped at Suphah, 
and about the stream of the brook of Arnon." 
Zared we know, (Numb. xxi. 12, 13.) from whence 
they came to Suphah, which is mentioned Deut. i. 1, 
and, perhaps, Numb. xxii. 36. From hence they 



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came to the brook ol" Anion, which Hows down to 
At, the capital of the Moabites. This is citetl very 
seasonably in this place, to confirm what is said in 
preceding verses. Others are of opinion, that, the 
" Book of the Wars of the Lord" is the book of 
Numbers itself, wherein this passage is cited ; or 
that of Joshua or the Judges ; and they translate, 
" It is said in the recital of the ivars of the Lord." 
Others, that this narration of the wars of the Lord 
is contained in the 135th and the 136th Psalms ; 
others, that the " Book of the W ars of the Lord," 
and the " Book of Jasher," (Josh. x. 13.) are the 
same. Cornelius a Lapide conjectures, that this ci- 
tation is added to the text of Moses, and that the 
"Book of the Wars of the Lord," related the wars 
of the Israelites, under Moses, Joshua, and the 
judges ; and therefore was later than Moses. Lastly, 
it is said, that Moses either wrote himself, or pro- 
cured to be written, a book, wherein he related all 
the wars of the Lord ; that it was continued under 
the judges and the kings, and was called Chronicles, 
or Annals ; and that from these annals were com- 
posed those sacred books, which contained the his- 
tories of the Old' Testament. The whole passage, 
however, is exceedingly obscure ; and there is no 
end to conjecture concerning it. 

(2.) "The Book of Jasher, or the Upright," is 
cited, Josh. x. 13. and 2 Sam. i. 18, and the same 
difficulties are proposed concerning this as concern- 
ing the former. Some think it to be the same with 
that of the Wars of the Lord ; others, that it is the 
book of Genesis, which contains the lives of the 
patriarchs, and other good men ; others, the " Books 
of Moses." But the opinion which seems most proba- 
ble, is, that there were from the beginning persons 
among the Hebrews, who were employed in writing 
the annals of their nation, and recording the memo- 
rable events in it. These annals were lodged in the 
tabernacle, or temple, where recourse was had to 
them as occasion required. The " Book of the Wars 
of the Lord," the " Book of Days, or Chronicles," 
and the " Book of Jasher, or the Righteous," are 
therefore, properly speaking, the same, but differ- 
ently denominated, according to the difference of 
times. Before "there were kings over the Hebrews, 
these records might be entitled, the " Bqok of the 
Wars of the Lord," or the " Book of Jasher, or 
Right." After the reign of Saul, they might be 
called the "Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of 
Israel, or of Judah." Grotius is of opinion, that 
this book was a triumphant song, made purposely to 
celebrate the success of Joshua, and the miracle at- 
tending it. M. Dupin prefers this opinion, as most 
probable, because, (1.) the words cited by Joshua are 
poetical expressions, not very proper for historical 
memoirs ; and, (2.) because a book under the same 
title is referred to in Samuel, where David's song is 
repeated on the death of Saul and Jonathan, 2 Sam. 
i. 18. But may not these opinions coincide, if we 
suppose this book contained a collection of pieces 
of poetry, made on occasion of remarkable events ? 
In this view, the appeal to the book of Jasher for a 
copy of David's ode, called " The Bow," is very 
pertinent. Might it not contain the Songs of Moses, 
of Deborah, and others ? Dr. Geddes will not allow 
that Josh. x. 13. is a quotation, but it seems clearly 
to be such. 

It is well known to all readers of English history, 
that not only are our rtiost ancient chronicles in 
verse, but also that many national events are record- 
ed in historical songs, which, though unquestionably 



genuine and authentic, yet are no where else to be 
met with. The Saxon Chronicle, and several oth- 
ers, prove this ; but the most popular instances are 
the " border songs," or events narrated in rhyme, of 
the wars and contests between the English and the 
Scots on the " debatable lands," before the union of 
the two crowns. 

(3.) " The Book of Chronicles, or Days," con- 
tained the annals and journals written by public re- 
corders, in the kingdom of Israel and Judah. Thev 
are not now in being, but are cited very frequently 
in the books of Kings and Chronicles, which are 
abstracts chiefly from such ancient memoirs and 
records, as, in all probability, were subsisting after 
the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity. 
The authors were generally prophets. 

As it is of the utmost importance to every pro- 
fessor of that religion which is founded on the Bible, 
that the Bible itself should not only be well under- 
stood by him, but that its authority, as a work com- 
municated by inspiration from Heaven, should be 
well ascertained ; and, moreover, that the authen- 
ticity of such copies of it as are now procurable, 
and the correctness of those translations from such 
copies as are usually read and appealed to by us, 
should lie established, we have thought it might be 
proper to offer an inquiry of some length into these 
latter particulars, not less for the use of the biblical 
student, than for the satisfaction of general readers. 

Of the authority of the Bible, as received by 
inspiration from God, we shall at present say noth- 
iug, presuming it to be fully admitted by the reader ; 
being also aware that the proofs requisite to do this 
subject tolerable justice would extend these sum- 
mary hints to an inconvenient length. As to the 
authenticity of such copies of the Bible as are 
now procurable, we refer the reader to the article 
Scripture. 

Or the original writers of the Bible. — It 
is very credible that the patriarch Abraham, to go 
no higher into antiquity, possessed and brought away 
what information the books or records of his origi- 
nal country, Kedem, could communicate. We are 
not aware that we should say any thing improbable, 
if we considered Noah himself as practising the art 
of writing ; but as great doubts have been enter- 
tained, whether this art were more ancient than the 
intercourse of Moses with the Deity on mount Horeb, 
we are unwilling to be thought too sanguine, or as 
taking too much for granted. 

The remarks suggested under the article Seals, 
are determinate for the nature of the seal of Judah, 
(Gen. xxxviii. 18.) that it contained his name, or ap- 
propriate mark, engraved on it. We assume this as 
fact. But we discern traces of a still more early 
employment of this noble art, in the days of Abra- 
ham. We have in Gen. xxiii. 17, 18. a passage 
which has all the air of an abridgment of a title- 
deed, or conveyance of an estate ; which, indeed, is 
its import. " And the field of Ephron, which was 
in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and 
the cave which was therein, and all the trees in the 
field, that were in all the borders thereof round 
about, were made sure to Abraham, for a possession, 
in the presence of the children of Heth, before all 
that went in at the gate of his city." The Avhole 
history of this purchase and payment strikes us as 
being not only according to the local usages of the 
country, in the present day, but also to be so mi- 
nutely described, that we scarcely think it would 
have been so amply, and even punctiliously, inserted 



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into an epitomized history of the times, had not the 
original lain before the writer ; who, finding himself 
able to communicate this ancient document to his 
posterity, embraced the opportunity of abridging it. 
If this be admitted as an instance of the art of writ- 
ing, and of that art being practised in the days of 
Abraham, we may justly consider whether that pa- 
triarch could be the first possessor of it. We think not : 
and if, as the rabbins say, Abraham himself learned 
of Shem, — and they say, decidedly, that " Isaac went 
to Sheni's school," — then we may hesitate before we 
deny the possibility, at least, that Shem had pre- 
served histories of former events, which histories he 
communicated to Abraham, from whom they de- 
scended to Isaac, to Jacob, to Levi, to Moses. We 
are not singular in supposing a difference of style 
between the early parts of the book of Genesis and 
the origiual writings of Moses. No injury is done 
to the just arguments on behalf of the inspiration 
of Scripture, if we suppose that Shem wrote the 
early history of the world ; that Abraham wrote 
family memoirs of what related to himself; that 
Jacob continued what concerned himself ; and that, 
it length, Moses compiled, arranged, and edited, (to 
use a modern word,) a copy of the holy works ex- 
tant in his time. A procedure perfectly analogous 
to this, was conducted by Ezra in a later age ; on 
whose edition of Holy Scripture our faith now rests, 
as it rests, in like manner, on the prior edition of 
Moses, if he were the editor of some parts ; or on 
his authority, if he were the writer of the whole. 

Accepting Moses as the writer of the Pentateuch, 
though not without the probable concurrence of 
Aaron, we may nevertheless consider Joshua as add- 
ing some minor matters to it, such as the history of 
the death of Moses ; and Ezra, also, in his edition, as 
adding some other minor matters to it, such as va- 
rious explicatory observations, changes of names 
which had happened during the lapse of many ages, 
and particular directions where such or such objects 
were situated, for the benefit of his readers, and of 
remote posterity. When we come to the days of 
Moses, we have clear evidence of written documents 
being composed, purposely, to deliver down to pos- 
terity the history of events. Moses not only was 
willing to write, but he is specifically directed to 
write, by way of record ; and to take special care for 
the preservation of those records, by placing them in 
the most sacred national repository ; and under the 
immediate care of those persons who, by birth, edu- 
cation, and office, were most intimately concerned in 
their preservation. 

This custom of composing public records was 
continued in after-ages in Israel, under the judges 
and the kings ; and when the division took place be- 
tween Israel and Judah, each of those kingdoms 
preserved copies of the writings esteemed sacred, 
whether historical or devotional. We have, indeed, 
reason to be thankful, that beside the Pentateuch 
preserved by the Jewish people, the Samaritans have 
preserved a copy, which, if it be, as many learned 
men have supposed, written in the ancient Hebrew 
character, is so much the more valuable, as it has 
had less danger and less occasion of error, than a 
copy transcribed into another alphabet, to meet an- ; 
other dialect. Rut this is not the only use which we | 
should make of this circumstance ; we ought to rec- 
ollect the natural effects of party in matters of re- 
ligion, especially when heightened by political ran- j 
cor; we may be satisfied that the Samaritans would [ 
suffer no alterations to be made in their copies, by ! 



any authority from the Jewish governors ; and the 
Jews, we well know, would have hardly received a 
palpable truth from " that foolish people which 
dwelt in Samaria." When, therefore, we find the 
copies preserved by these opposing and inimical 
people generally correspondent, and differing only 
in some minor matters, we ought to admire the 
providence of God, which has thus "made even the 
wrath of man to praise him," by transmitting more 
than one copy of this leading portion of Holy Writ, 
in a manner more certain, and much less liable to 
doubt, or collusion, or equivocation, than if a single 
copy had come through the hands of one set of 
friends only, or had been preserved only by those 
whose unsupported testimony might have been sus- 
pected of undue partiality, or of improper bias. We 
find the kings of Judah attentive to the arrangement 
of their sacred code in after-ages : David, no doubt 
authenticated the books of the prophet Samuel; and 
we read that Hezekiah employed several persons to 
collect and arrange the Proverbs of Solomon ; and 
even to add to them others which that prince had 
left behind him. It is usually understood that the 
Psalms, the Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, were added 
under Hezekiah ; and probably the books of Job and 
Isaiah also. The prophecies of Jeremiah were pub- 
lic ;'a large number of them were read to all the 
peopje, and before the king, so that many copies 
might be in circulation. The same may be said of 
most of the minor propl ^ts, and, in short, of all that 
were near to the days .f Neheiniah and Ezra. It is 
very natural to suppose that the chiefs of the Jewish 
people, after their return from captivity, would do 
their utmost to collect, preserve, and maintain the 
dignity and integrity of the writings of their sacred 
code ; and, indeed, excepting the prophet Malachi, 
we may confidently consider Ezra as not only col- 
lecting, but collating the copies of former writings, 
and composing additions to the historical narrations ; 
not in the books themselves, (except here and there 
a few words,) withheld perhaps by their prior sanc- 
tity, but in that separate history which we call the 
Chronicles. 

Here we ought to pause ; because here our faith 
rests on Ezra's edition ; and Ave doubt not that this 
"scribe, well instructed in the law," had not only 
good reasons for what he did, and for his manner of 
doing it, but also divine guidance to preserve him 
from erring. We suspect that we have as many in- 
stances of Ezra's caution as we have marginal read- 
ings in our Hebrew Bibles ; which, in the whole, 
amount to 840. These occur in various places of 
the works extant before Ezra ; but there are none in 
the prophet Malachi, who has been supposed to be 
Ezra himself; if so, the reason for this exception 
from various readings is evident. From the time of 
Ezra the Hebrew canon was esteemed as completed ; 
but, between this time and our Lord, the books of 
the Jews became objects of inquiry among neighbor- 
ing nations; and translations of them being under- 
taken by those whose language we also study, these 
translations become very important to us, who, by 
their means, have additional sanction to the articles 
of our inquiry, and additional means of answering 
the purposes to which our inquiry is directed. 

Jewish labors on Hebrew Copies. The at- 
tention of the Jews was by no means confined to 
writing copies of the Holy Word ; they also made 
most incredible exertions to preserve the genuineness 
and integrity of the text ; which produced what has 
been termed the Masora, the most stupendous mon- 



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timent in the whole history of literature, of minute 
>i)it' persevering labor. (See Masora.) In the Jew- 
ish manuscripts and printed editions, a word is often 
found with a small circle annexed to it, or with an 
asterisk over it, and a word written in the margin of 
the same line. The forme,- is called the KetMbh, the 
latter the Keri. In these, much mystery has been 
discovered by the Masorites. The prevailing opinion 
is, that they are partly various readings, collected 
from the time of Ezra, and partly critical observa- 
tions, or, as they have been called, insinuations, of 
/ the Masorites, to substitute proper or regular, for im- 
proper and irregular words, and sometimes decent 
for indecent expressions, in the text. As to the 
vowel points, which Calmet has considered as Maso- 
retical, the reader may see sufficient information 
under the article Letters, p. 618. 

On the present state of the Hebrew Manu- 
scripts. — No extensive collation of the Hebrew 
manuscripts of the*sacred text was made till the last 
century ; owing, in a great measure, to a notion which 
had prevailed of the integrity of the sacred text, in 
consequence of its supposed preservation from error, 
by the wonder-working Masora. The rabbins boldly 
asserted, and the Christians implicitly believed, that 
the Hebrew text was free from error, and that, in all 
the manuscripts of it, not an instance of <x various 
reading of importance could be produced. The 
first who combatted this notion, in the form of regu- 
lar attack, was Ludovicus Capellus. From the dif- 
ferences he observed between the Hebrew text and 
the version of the Seventy, and between the Hebrew 
and the Samaritan Peiitateuchs ; from the manifest 
and palpable corruptions he thought he saw in the 
text itself; and from the many reasons which made 
him suppose the vowel points and the Masora were 
both a modern and a useless invention, he was led 
to question the general integrity of the text ; and 
even his enemies allowed, that, in his attack upon it, 
he discovered great learning and ingenuity. Still, 
however, he admitted the uniformity of the manu- 
scripts ; and when this was urged against him by 
Buxtorf, he had little to reply. But at length, (what 
should have been done before any thing had been 
said or written on the subject,) the manuscripts 
themselves were examined, and innumerable various 
readings were discovered in them. From this time 
biblical criticism on the sacred text took a new turn. 
Manuscripts were collated, and examined with atten- 
tion, their various readings were discussed with free- 
dom, and their respective merits ascertained by the 
rules of criticism. The celebrated collation of Dr. 
Kennicott was begun in the year 1760. He under- 
took to collate all the manuscripts of the sacred text 
in England, and in Ireland ; and while he should be 
employed in this, (which he supposed might be about 
ten years,) to collate, as far as the expense would ad- 
mit, all the Hebrew manuscripts of importance, in 
foreign countries. The first volume of this great 
work was printed in 1776 ; the second in 1780. Dr. 
Kennicott himself collated two hundred and fifty 
manuscripts ; and under his direction and at his ex- 
pense, Mr. Bruns collated about three hundred and 
fifty ; so that the whole number of manuscripts col- 
lated, on this occasion, was nearly six hundred. In 
his opinion, fifty-one of the manuscripts collated for 
his edition were from 600 to 800, and one hundred 
and seventy-four from 480 to 580, years old. Four 
quarto volumes of various readings have since been 
published by De Rossi, from more than four hundred 
manuscripts • some of which are said to be of the 



seventh or eighth century, as well as from a con- 
siderable number of rare and unnoticed editions. 
The consequence of these extensive collations has 
been, to raise a general opinion among the learned, 
1st, that all manuscript copies of the Hebrew Scrip- 
tures now extant may, in some sort, be called Maso- 
retic copies, because none of them have, entirely, es- 
caped the labors of the Masorites ; 2dly, that the 
most valuable manuscr'pts, generally speaking, are 
those which are oldest, written at first without points 
or accents, containing the greatest number of vowel 
letters, exhibiting marks of an accurate transcriber, 
and conforming most to the ancient versions, and, 
with regard to the Pentateuch, conforming most to 
ihe Samaritan exemplar, and the Greek uninterpo- 
lated version ; 3dly, that the Masoretic copies often 
disagree (and that, the further back they go, the 
greater is their disagreement) from the present printed 
copy ; 4thly, that the synagogue rolls disagree the 
least from the printed copies, so that they are of 
little value in ascertaining the text. From this com- 
bination of reasons they conclude, that the surest 
sources of emendation, are a collation of manuscripts 
and parallel places ; a comparison of the text with 
the ancient versions, and of these with one another ; 
and grammatical analogy ; and where all these fail, 
even conjectural criticism. 

The ancient opinions, however, have some advo- 
cates. They do not go so far as to assert, that a col- 
lation of Hebrew manuscripts is perfectly useless ; 
but they think it may be prized higher that it de- 
serves ; that, when manuscripts of an earlier date 
than the Masora are sought for, it should not be for- 
gotten, that the Masorites had those manuscripts, 
when they settled the text ; and what hopes can 
there be, they ask, that, at the t iose of the eighteenth 
century, after the Hebrew has long ceased to be a 
spoken language, a Christian, so much of whose 
time is employed in other pursuits, and distracted by 
other cares, can make a better use of those manu- 
scripts than was actually made of them, by the Ma- 
soretic literati, whose whole time, whose every 
thought, from their earliest years to their latest age, 
was devoted to that one object ; who lived among 
the people, and almost in the country, where the 
events recorded by them happened, who saw with 
their own eyes the manners they describe, and daily 
and hourly spoke and heard a language kindred to 
that in which they are written? But if there must 
be a collation of manuscripts, then, sav t'ney, no 
manuscript written by any other than a Jew, or want- 
ing any one of the Jewish marks of authenticity, 
should be taken into account : and, trying the ques- 
tion of the integrity of the te.it by these, which they 
call the only authentic manuscripts, no question, they 
assert, will remain of the perfect integrity, and per- 
fect freedom from corruption, of the present text. 
Where it can be shown, that the text of the Masora 
is corrupt, the genuineness of the Bible reading may 
be doubted ; but where there is no reason to impeach 
the Masora, the text, as they assert, is fixed beyond 
controversy. Such is the state of the manuscripts 
of the Hebrew Scriptures. 

Or the printed Hebrew Bibles. Those 
printed editions which deserve particular attention, 
are that of Soncino, in 1488, from its being the first 
printed edition of the whole Bible ; the edition at 
Brescia, in 1494, from its being the edition used by 
Luther, in his translation ; and a third, printed in 
1517, without the name of any place. These three 
editions are called the Soncinates being printed by 



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Jews, of a family which came originally from Ger- 
many, and established themselves at Soncino, a town 
Ln Lombardy. They were the first Hebrew printers. 
Bomberg's edition was printed five times, and is dis- 
tinguished by the beauty of the type ; but, not being 
divided into chapters and verses, is unfit for general 
use. The first of his editions was printed in 1518, 
he last in 1545 ; they were all printed at Venice, 
.nd are all in 4to. RobertSTepheus's 16mo. edition, 
in seven volumes, was printed at Paris, 1544 — 1546. 
He had before printed a 4*0 edition at Paris, in four 
volumes, 1539 — 1544. The celebrated edition of 
Athias was published at Amsterdam, first in 1661, 
and afterwards in 1667 ; and is remarkable for being 
the first edition in Hebrew, in which the verses are 
numbered. It was beautifully republished by Van 
der Hooght, 8vo. 1705. This edition has the general 
reputation of great accuracy. His text was adopted 
by Dr. Kennicott. A stereotype edition of Van der 
Hooght is now printed in London, edited by Judah 
D'Allemande, who also translated the New Testa- 
ment into Hebrew, at the request of the London So- 
ciety for promoting Christianity among the Jews. 
Great pains have been bestowed to render it accu- 
rate. The historical summaries of Van der Hooght 
have been omitted, and the various readings and Ma- 
soretic notes are exhibited at the foot of each page. 
The Plantiniau editions have considerable merit for 
their neatness and accuracy. The edition of Nunes 
Torres, with the notes of Rasche,was begun in 1700, 
was printed in 1705, and was the favorite edition of 
the Jews. Most of the former editions were sur- 
passed, in accuracy, by that of Michaelis- in 1720. 
A critical edition was published by Raphael Cha- 
jim Basila, a Jew at Mantua, in four riarts, 1742 — 
1744. 

The most celebrated edition of the Hebrew, with 
a Latin translation, was that of Sebastian Munster. 
The first volume of the first edition was printed in 
1534, the second volume in 1535 ; the second edition 
was printed in 1546. It was the first Latin trans- 
lation by any of the separatists from the see of Rome. 
Sanctes Pagninus was the first of the Catholics who 
made an entirely new Latin version. It was pub- 
lished at Lyons, in 1528, and has often been repub- 
lished. That the Latinity is barbarous cannot be 
denied ; but, as it was the author's design to frame a 
verbal translation, in the strictest and most literal 
sense of that word, its supposed barbarism was una- 
voidable. The celebrated edition of Houbigant, 
with a Latin version and prolegomena, was published 
in four volumes folio, in 1753, at Paris. The merit 
of this edition is celebrated by all who are not advo- 
cates for the Masora ; by them it is spoken of in the 
harshest terms. Several manuscripts were occa- 
sionally consulted by the author ; but it is evident, 
that he did not collate any one manuscript through- 
out. Prior to Houbigant's edition, was that of Rei- 
neccius, at Leipsic, in 1725, reprinted there in 1739. 
A new edition of it was printed in 1793, under the 
inspection of Dr. Doederlein, and professor Meisner. 
It contains the most important of the various read- 
ings collected by Kennicott and De Rossi ; printed 
under the text. For the purpose of common use, it 
is an excellent edition, and supplies the want of the 
splendid but expensive editions and collations of 
Houbigant, Kennicott, and De Rossi. 

[To thv above list should be added, the edition of 
Shnonis in 8vo, Halle, 1752, 1767, 1822, and Amst. 
1753 ; the edition of Jahn in 4 vols. 8vo. Vienna, 
1806, in which all the passages that are parallel are 



printed side by side in the manner of a harmony 
and the stereotype edition of Tauchnitz, 8vo. Leipsic, 
1831, printed under the supervision of professor Hahn, 
and one of the most correct and beautiful editions ex- 
tant. For a complete account of the editions of th» 
Hebrew Bible, the reader is referred to Le Long's Bib- 
liotheca Sacra, Par. 1723, fol. or to Masch's edition 
of the same work, in quarto, Halle, 1778 — 85. R. 

Translations of the Hebrew Scriptures. — 
The first translation in order of time, and indeed in 
point of importance to us, is that Greek version usu- 
ally called the Seventy., or the Septuagint ; but we 
have nothing to add to the account, given of it under 
Septuagint. The Chaldee translations come next 
in order : they are not so much translations, howev- 
er, as paraphrases. (See Jonathan, Targum, Ver- 
sion, &c.) The Syriac translation has been by some 
referred to the time of Solomon ; by others to the 
time of Abgarus, king of Edessa ; which is certainly 
more probable, but is not universally admitted. It 
unquestionably is ancient. Dr. Prideaux thinks it 
was made within the first century, and that it is the 
best of all translations. (See Syria, ad Jin.) Latin 
translations do not date before the introduction of 
Christianity into Rome. Of these the Vulgate is 
the chief. 

We are now to add to our consideration, the sev- 
eral books which compose the New Testament ; and 
which were studied, copied, and translated, together 
with the Hebrew Scriptures, by Christians, while 
the Jews continued to study and copy those only 
which contained the principles of their ancient 
system. 

Of the present state of the Greek Manu- 
scripts.- — The Greek manuscripts, according to 
Wetstein's account, are written either on parchment 
(or vellum) or on paper. The parchment or vellum 
is sometimes purple-colored. Manuscripts, written 
in capital letters of the kind commonly found on the 
ancient monuments of Greece, are generally suppos- 
ed to be of the sixth century, at the latest : those 
written in an ornamental, semi-barbarous character 
are generally supposed to be of the tenth century 
Manuscripts written in small letters are of a still 
later age. But the Greek manuscripts copied by the 
Latins, after the reign of Charlemagne, are in anoth- 
er kind of alphabet ; the «, the f, and the y, in them, 
arc inflected, in the form of the letters of the Latin 
alphabet. Even in the earliest manuscripts some 
words are abbreviated. At the beginning of a new 
book, the first four or five lines are often written in 
vermilion. There are very few manuscripts con- 
taining the entire New Testament. The greater part 
contain the Gospels only ; very few have the Apoc- 
alypse. The curious and extensive collations, which 
have been made of manuscripts within the last cen- 
tury, have shown, that certain manuscripts have an 
affinity to each other, and that their text is distin- 
guished from others by characteristic marks. This 
has enabled the writers on this subject to arrange 
them under certain general classes. They have oh 
served, that, as different countries had different ver 
sions, according to their respective languages, their 
manuscripts naturally resemble their respective ver- 
sions, as the versions, generally speaking, were made 
from the manuscripts in common use. Pursuing 
this idea, they have supposed four principal exem- 
plars : 1st, the Western exemplar, or that used in the 
countries where the Latin language was spoken ; — 
with this, the Latin versions coincide: 2d, the Al- 
exandrine exemplar ; — with this, the quotations ot 



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Origen coincide : 3d, the Edessene exemplar, from 
which the Syriac version was made : and 4th, the 
Byzantine or Constantinopolitan exemplar : the great- 
est number of* manuscripts written by the monks of 
mount Athos, the Moscow manuscripts, the Sclavo- 
nian or Russian versions, and the quotations of Chry- 
sostom and Theophylact, bishop of Bulgaria, are re- 
ferrible to this edition. The readings of this exem- 
plar are remarkably different from those of the oth- 
er exemplars ; between which a striking coincidence 
appears. A reading supported by all three of them 
is supposed to be of the very highest authority ; yet 
the true reading is sometimes found only in the fourth. 

From the coincidence observed between many 
Greek manuscripts and the Vulgate, or some other 
Latin translation, a suspicion arose in the minds of 
several writers of eminence, that the Greek text had 
been assimilated throughout to the Latin. This 
seems to have been first suggested by Erasmus ; but 
it does not appear that he^ supposed the alterations 
were made before the fifteenth century : so that the 
charge of Latinizing the manuscripts did not, in his 
opinion, extend to the original writers of the manu- 
script, or, as they are called, the writers a prima 
manu, but affected only the subsequent interpolators, 
or, as they are called, the writers a secundd manu. 
Father Simon and Mill adopted and extended this 
accusation ; and it was urged by Wetstein with his 
usual vehemence and ability; so that it came to be 
generally received. Bengel expressed some doubts 
of it ; and Semler formally called it in question. He 
was followed by Griesbach and Woide ; and finally 
brought over Michaelis ; who, in the first edition of 
his Introduction to the New Testament, had taken 
part with the accusers ; but, in the fourth edition of 
the same work, with a candor of which there are 
too few examples, he declared himself persuaded 
that the charge was unfounded ; and totally aban- 
doned his former opinion. 

Besides the manuscripts which contain whole 
books of the New Testament, other manuscripts have 
been consulted : among these are the Lectionaria, or 
collections of detached parts of the New Testament, 
appointed to be read in the service of the church. 
These are distinguished into the Evangelistaria, or 
lessons from the Gospels ; and the Apostoli, or les- 
sons from the Acts and Epistles. The quotations 
from the New Testament, in the works of the an- 
cients, have also been consulted. 

The principal Greek manuscripts now extant, 
are the Codex Alexandrinus, in the British Muse- 
um ; the Codex Cantabrigiensis, or Codex Bez^ ; 
and the Codex Vaticanus. The Codex Alexandri- 
nus consists of four volumes : the first three contain 
the Old Testament; the fourth, the New Testament, 
together with the first Epistle of St. Clement to the 
Corinthians, and a fragment of the Second. The 
Codex Cantabrigiensis, or the Codex Beza, is- a Greek 
and Latin manuscript of the four Gospels and the 
Acts of the Apostles. The Codex Vaticanus contain- 
ed, originally, the whole Greek Bible. The respect- 
ive ages of these venerable manuscripts have been 
a subject of great controversy, and have employed 
the ingenuity and learning of several biblical writers 
of great renown. After a profound investigation of 
the subject, Dr. Woide fixes the age of the Codex Al- 
exandrinus between the middle and the end of the 
fourth century ; after a similar investigation, Dr. 
Kipling fixes the age of the Codex Cantabrigiensis, 
or the Codex Beza, to the second century ; but bish- 
op Marsh, in his notes to Michaelis, (vol. ii. p. 708 — 



715.) seems to prove that it was not written earlier 
than the fifth century. Montfaucon and Blanchini 
refer the Oder Vaticanus also to the fifth century. 
In 1786, a fac-simile edition of the New Testament 
in the Codex Alexandrinus was published in London, 
by Dr. Woide. In 1793, a fac-simile edition, of the 
Codex Cantabrigiensis, or the Codex Bezce, was pub- 
lished at Cambridge, at the expense of the Universi- 
ty, by Dr. Kipling. These editions exhibit their re- 
spective prototypes, line for line, and word for word, 
to a degree of similarity hardly credible. The types 
were cast for the purpose, in alphabets of various 
forms, that they might be varied with those of the 
manuscript, and represent it more exactly ; and the 
ink was composed to suit the color of the faded pig- 
ment. Nothing equal to them had appeared in the 
world of letters. The Alexandrian manuscript is an 
article of such great curiosity, and the labor and ex- 
pense bestowed on it is so truly honorable to the 
country*vhich possesses it, that some further account 
of it may be looked for here by the intelligent reader. 

This celebrated manuscript, which had been re 
vered as a treasure by the Greek church for several 
ages, was presented to king Charles I. by Cyril Lu- 
car, patriarch of Alexandria, and was transmitted to 
England by sir Thomas Roe, ambassador at the Ot- 
toman Porte, in 1628. It was placed in the Royal 
Library at St. James's, whence it was subsequently 
removed to the national collection in the Britisli Mu- 
seum ; of which it forms one of the glorifs. The 
writer of it is said to have been Thecla, an Egyptian 
lady, who lived early in the fourth century ; — but 
here ends our knowledge of her. She was, no doubt, 
a person of eminence, probably of consequence, since 
her copy is complete, as to its contents ; though now 
bearing marks of accidents, to which it has been ex- 
posed. Its value is further enhanced, by observing, 
that, whatever opinions in subsequent ages agitated 
the Christian world, they have had no influence on 
this copy ; it neither omits, nor inserts, nor dismem- 
bers a word to accommodate a passage to such senti- 
ments. It was not many removes distant from the 
originals, of which it is a transcript : the language 
was still spoken ; and whatever ambiguities occurred,, 
(as some will always occur in all writings,) they were 
then easily explained, and properly understood by 
the copyist ; so that one principal cause of literary 
and verbal errors did not exist. It had not been long 
in England, before its value, as an important docu- 
ment in behalf of Christianity, became known. Mr. 
Patrick Young, the learned keeper of the king's li- 
brary at that time, soon discovered the Epistles of 
Clement, the only copy known of the second of them ; 
and was commanded by the king to publish them, 
which he did in 1633, with a Latin translation. Dr. 
Grabe, being commanded by queen Anne to publish 
the manuscript, communicated to the world, in 1707 
— 1710, the Old Testament part of it ; being the Sep- 
tuagint translation. We have noticed Dr. Woide's 
New Testament in 1786. Some years afterwards, 
Mr. Baber, of the British Museum, published the 
book of Psalms, with equal accuracy ; and in the 
year 1814, proposed to publish a fac-simile copy of 
the remaining parts, so that the whole will be before 
the world. The number of copies to be printed is 
two hundred and fifty ; and the expense will be near- 
ly eight thousand pounds, which has been voted by 
the British parliament. 

Punctuation of the Bible. — The numerous 
mistakes of the Fathers, and their uncertainty how 
particular passages were to be read and understood, 



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clearly prove that there was do regular cr ac custom- 
ed mode of punctuation in use in the fourth oentuiy. 
The majority of the points or stops now in use are 
unquestionably of modern date, not being generally 
adopted earlier than the ninth century. It seems to 
have been a gradual improvement, commenced by 
Jerome and continued by succeeding critics. At the 
invention of printing, the editors placed the points 
arbitrarily, probably (Michaelis thinks) without be- 
stowing the necessary attention ; and Stephens in 
particular, it is well known, varied his points in every 
edition. 

Division of the Bible into Verses. — On the 
death of Edward, when Mary came to the crown, 
many of the refoimed fled into divers parts of Ger- 
many : some of them, who resided at Geneva, setting 
about a new translation of the Scriptures, in 1557, 
the New Testament was printed at Geneva, by Con- 
rade Badius, and is said to be the first English Tes- 
tament divided into verses. Whatever the antiquity 
of the Hebrew vowel points may be, the division of 
verses in the Old Testament is antecedent to the dis- 
covery of printing, or to any manuscripts that are 
known to exist ; but in the Greek manuscripts of the 
New Testament there is no distinction of verses, and 
the time when they were first used by printers is 
perhaps not very accurately ascertained. Robert 
Stephens is thought to have been the author or in- 
ventor of verses in the New Testament, which he is 
said to have performed during a journey on horse- 
back from Paris to Lyons. Calmet says, "the first 
division of the New Testament was made by Robert 
Stephens in 1551, and of the whole Bible in 1555." 
Michaelis says, " verses were first used in the New 
Testament by Robert Stephens in 1551, and in the 
Old Testament by Hugo de St. Caro, a Dominican 
monk, in the twelfth century." But a Latin Bible, 
translated by Sanctes Pagninus, and printed at Ly- 
ons in 1527, before Robert Stephens had printed any 
Bible on his own account, is divided, the verses be- 
' xg numbered in the margin, and distinguished in 
the text by paragraphical marks, both in the Old and 
New Testament, and in the Apocrypha. The books 
are, indeed, made into fewer divisions. Matthew's 
Gospel, for example, in this edition, is divided into 
576 verses ; whereas the present division amounts to 
1071. Calmet notices this edition, but not the di- 
vision of verses. There is reason to conclude, that 
Robert Stephens had seen this Bible, perceived the 
utility of verses, and imitated and improved thereon. 
The great advantage of such a division is allowed by 
all who know the use of a concordance. 

Editions of the Greek New Testament. — The 
first, in point of time, was that of Erasmus, with a 
new Latin translation, of which he published five 
editions— 1516, 1519, 1522, 1527, and 1535. The 
edition of 1519 is most esteemed. In fact, the edi- 
tions by Erasmus, with a slight intermixture of the 
text in the Complutensian polyglot, are the principal 
editions from which almost all the subsequent copies 
have been takeu. The next edition of the New Tes- 
tament in Greek, is that inserted in the Compluter • 
s;an polyglot. The learned agree in wishing that 
the editors had described, or specified, the manu- 
scripts they made use of. The editors speak highly 
nfthem; but this was when the number of known 
manuscripts was small, and manuscript criticism was 
in its iufancy ; so that, without impeaching either 
ihe r candor or their judgment, their assertions, in 
this respect, must be understood with much limita* 
lion. It has been charged on them, that they some- 



tunes altered the Greek text, without the authority 
of a single manuscript, to make it conform to the 
r^t-'in. But against this charge they have been de- 
fended by Gceze, and Michaelis, and, to a certain ex- 
tent, by Griesbach. For exquisite beauty and deli- 
uicy of type, elegance and proper disposition of con- 
tractions, smoothness and softness of paper, liquid 
clearness of ink, and evenness of lines and letters, 
the editions of Robert Stephens have never been sur- 
passed, and, in the opinion of many, never equalled. 
There were four editions published by himself, in 
1546, 1549, 1550, and 1551. His son published a 
fifth edition in 1569. The third of these is in folio, 
and has the readings of sixteen manuscripts in the 
margin. The first two are in 16mo. and of those, 
the first (1546) is the most correct. The first edition 
of Beza was printed in 1565; he principally follow- 
ed the third edition of Robert Stephens." He print- 
ed other editions in 1582, 1589, 1598 ; but they do 
not contain, every where, the same text. In his 
choice of readings he is accused of being influenced 
by his Calviuistic sentiments. The ^celebrated edi- 
tion of the Elzevirs was first printed at Leyden, in 
1624. It was taken from the third edition of Robert 
Stephens : where it varies from that edition, it fol- 
lows, generally, the edition of Beza. By this, the 
text, which had previously fluctuated, acquired a 
stability, it being generally followed in all subsequent 
editions. It has deservedly, therefore, obtained the 
appellation of editio recepta. The editors of it are 
unknown 

Editions with various Readings. — The cele- 
brated edition of Mill was published at Oxford in 
1707, after an assiduous labor of thirty years. He 
inserted in his edition all the collections of various 
readings which had been made before his time ; col- 
lated several original editions; procured extracts 
from Greek manuscripts, which had never been col- 
lated ; and, in many instances, added readings from 
the ancient versions, and from the quotations in the 
works of the ancient Fathers. The whole of the va- 
rious readings collected by him, is said, without any 
improbability to amount to thirty thousand. He has 
enriched his work with learned prolegomena, and a 
clear and accurate description of his manuscripts. 
He took the third edition of Stephens for his text. 

The edition of Bengel was published in 1734. He 
prefixed to it his " Introductio in Crisin Novi Testa- 
ment! ;" and subjoined to it his " Apparatus Criticus 
et Epilogus." He altered the text, where he thought 
it might be improved ; but, excepting the Apocalypse, 
studiously avoided inserting any reading which was 
not in some printed edition. Under the text he 
placed some select readings, reserving the whole col- 
lection of various readings, and his own sentiments 
upon them, for his Apparatus Criticus. He express- 
ed his opinion of these marginal readings by the 
Greek letters u, §, y, <\ and e. 

But all former editions of the Greek Testament 
were surpassed by that of Wetstein, which was pub- 
lished in two volumes folio, in 1751, at Amsterdam. 
He adopted for his text the editio recepta of the El- 
zevirs. His collection of various readings far sur- 
passes that of Mill or Bengel, and his notes are par- 
ticularly valuable, for the copious extracts he has 
made from rabbinical writers. These greatly serve 
to explain the idiom and turn of expression used by 
the apostolic writers and evangelists. 

The first edition of Griesbach's New Testament 
was published in 1775 — 1777, in two volumes octa- 
vo, at Halle, in Germany. In the year 1796. the 



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first volume was reprinted, under the patronage and 
at the expense of his grace the duke of Grafton, 
having extracts from two hundred manuscripts, in 
addition to those quoted in the former edition. He 
collated all the Latin versions published by Sabatier 
and Blanchiui. His object was to give a select and 
choice collection of the various readings produced 
by Mill, Bengel, and Wetstein, and of his own ex- 
tracts ; Omitting all such as are trifling in themselves, 
supported by questionable authority, or evidently only 
errata. Griesbach's edition has been reprinted in Eng- 
land in a smaller form, for the use of schools ; also 
in America. Knapp's Greek Testament is the text- 
book commonly used by the students in the German 
universities ; and is gradually acquiring that authority, 
which, in all probability, will render it the general 
book of scholars, tutors, and the literati in general. 

There are many other respectable editions of the 
Greek Testament; but those we have mentioned are 
confessedly the principal. The study of Greek learn- 
ing is at this time pursued with great ardor in the 
British empire ; and English travellers take opportu- 
nities of obtaining copies of MSS. from abroad, which 
greatly increase the literary riches at home. Eng- 
land and America repay the obligation, by printing, or 
by contributing assistance in printing, the sacred 
books for all the world. 

PoLYGLOTT EDITIONS OF THE BlBLE, that is, Bi- 

'tles published in several languages, or at least in 
hree, of which the texts are ranged in different col- 
rmns. Some polyglotts contain all the books of the 
Bible, others contain but a part. — The following are 
the principal editions : — 

1517.] — The first polyglott is that of Complutum, 
or Alcala. It is divided into six parts, and compris- 
ed in four volumes folio. It has the Hebrew, Latin, 
and Greek, in three distinct columns ; the Chaldee 
paraphrase, with a Latin interpretation, is at the bot- 
tom of the page, and the margin is filled with the 
Hebrew and Chaldee radicals. The fourth volume 
contains the Greek Testament, with no other trans- 
lation than the Latin. The expense of the work, 
which, it is said, amounted to fifty thousand ducats, 
was.wholly paid by cardinal Ximenes, of Spain. It 
is certain, that the cardinal spared no expense in 
collecting manuscripts ; but whether he had any that 
were truly valuable has been much doubted. In 
1784, when professor Birch was engaged in his edi- 
tion of the Bible, professor Moldenhawer went to 
Alcala, for the purpose of discovering the manu- 
scripts used in the Ximenian polyglott. After much 
inquiry, he ascertained, that about thirty-five years 
before, they had been sold to a rocket maker, of the 
name of Toryo. But this is now doubted. 

1518.] — The Bible of Justinian, bishop of Nebio, 
of the order of St. Dominic, in five languages ; He- 
brew, Chaldee, Greek, Latin, and Arabic. Only the 
Psalter was printed. 

1546.] — John Potken, provost of the collegiate 
church of St. George, at Cologne, caused the Psalter 
to be printed in four languages; Hebrew, Greek, 
Chaldee, or rather Ethiopic, and Latin. 

1546.]— The J ews of Constantinople printed the 
Pentateuch, in Hebrew, Chaldee, Persian, and Ara- 
bic, with the Commentaries of Solomon Jarchi. 

1547.] — The same Jews caused also to be printed, 
the Peutateuch, in four languages ; Hebrew, Chal- 
dee, vulgar Greek, and Spanish. 

1565.] — John Draconitis, of Carlostad in Franeo- 
nia, published an edition of the Psalter, the Proverbs 
of Solomon, and the prophets Micah and Joel, in 
23 



five languages ; Hebrew, Chaldee, Greek, Latin, and 
German. The death of the author prevented the 
completion of this work. 

1572.] — The polyglott of Antwerp was printed in 
that city in 1569 — 1572, in eight volumes folio, under 
the direction of Arias Moutanus. It contains, beside 
the whole of the Complutensian edition, a Chaldee 
paraphrase of part of the Old Testament, which car- 
dinal Ximenes, having particular reasons for not 
publishing, had deposited in the theological library 
at Complutum. The New Testament has the Syri- 
ac version, and the Latin translation of Pagninus, as 
revised by Montanus. 

1586.] — There appeared at Heidelberg an edition 
of the books of the Old Testament, in Hebrew and 
Greek, with two Latin versions; one by Jerome, 
and the other by Sanctes Pagninus, ranged in four 
columns, at the bottom of which were notes ascribed 
to Vatablus. Hence it obtained the name of the poly- 
glott Bible of Vatablus. This book is rare, but 
held in little estimation. 

1596.] — David Wolder, a Lutheran minister at 
Hamburg, caused to be printed, by James Lucias, a 
Bible in three languages ; Greek, Latin, and German. 

1599. — Elias Hutter, a German, printed several 
polyglotts. The first is in six languages, printed at 
Nuremberg. — There were only printed the Penta- 
teuch, the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth ; in 
Hebrew, Chaldee, Greek, Latin, and the German of 
Luther : the sixth language varied according to what 
nation the copies were designed for. Some had the 
Sclavonian version, of the edition of Wittemberg ; 
others the French, of Geneva; others the Italian, al- 
so of Geneva ; others the Saxon version, from the 
German of Luther. This work is very rare. Hut- 
ter also published the Psalter and the New Testa- 
ment, in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and German. But 
his chief work is the New Testament, in twelve lan- 
guages ; Syriac, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, 
French, Latin, German, Bohemian, English, Danish, 
and Polish. This polyglott was printed at Nurem- 
berg, in two volumes, folio ; and in four volumes, 
quarto. It has no critical value. 

1645.]— The Bible of M. le Jay, in seven lan- 
guages, was printed at Paris by Anthony Vitre, in ten 
volumes, large folio. It contains the Hebrew, Sa- 
maritan, Chaldee, Greek, Syriac, Latin, and Arabic. 
He followed the Greek version printed at Antwerp, 
also the Chaldee and Latin. The Hebrew text is 
extremely inaccurate, but it is, nevertheless, the 
most beautiful polyglott extant. 

1657.] — Less beautiful, but more accurate, and 
comprehending more than any of the preceding poly- 
glotts, is that of London, edited by Dr. Bryan Wal 
ton, and printed in 1653—1657, in six volumes, tc 
which the Lexicon Heptaglotton of Castell, in two 
volumes folio, is usually added. This edition of the 
Scriptures contains learned prolegomena, and sever- 
al other treatises, new oriental versions, and a very 
large collection of various readings. Twelve copies 
were printed on large paper : one, of great beauty, 
is in the library of St. Paul's cathedral ; another was 
in that of the count de Lauragais ; and another is in 
the library of St. John's college, Cambridge. It is 
said to have been the first book printed by subscription 
in England. Dr. Walton had leave from Cromwell 
to import his paper duty free. 

1831.] — Most of the polyglotts we have noticed 
are of great rarity, and, bearing a high price, are to 
be found only, or chiefly, in public libraries, and in 
those of the curious. It gives us much pleasure, 



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therefore, to be able to add to this list another 
work of the same class, which has been publish- 
ed by Mr. Bagster, of London, at a price which 
places it within the reach of all who desire to possess 
themselves of a most important aid in the interpre- 
tation of Scripture. It is published in folio, exhibit- 
ing, at one view, the Old Testament in Hebrew, 
Greek, English, Latin, Spanish, Italian, French, and 
German. The Hebrew text is from Vander Hooght, 
with the Keri, and the Sam. Pentateuch, from 
Kennicott's edition ; the Greek from Bos, with the 
readings of Grabe ; the Vulgate from the edition of 
Clement VIII ; the Spanish from Padre Scio ; the 
Italian from Diodati ; the French from Ostervald ; 
the German from Luther. The New Testament 
embraces the same languages, excepting the Hebrew, 
the place of which is occupied by the Portuguese : 
the Greek is the text of Mill, with Griesbach's read- 
ings. It also contains the Peshito Syriac translation, 
with the Epistles and Apocalypse from the Philox- 
enian version. Each language is published in a sep- 
arate form in small octavo. 

The two last-mentioned editions have made a no- 
ble addition to the materials for studying Holy Scrip- 
ture, and the learned are daily augmenting this as- 
sistance, by collations of ancient versions, with their 
various readings ; which may be esteemed as so 
many polyglotts. 

Every person, to whom the sacred writings are 
dear, must wish them edited in the most perfect 
manner. It would reflect disgrace on the learned 
of the Christian world, that any pagan author should 
be published in a more perfect maimer than the 
word of God. An Englishman must view with 
pleasure the useful and magnificent exertions of his 
countrymen in this respect. Bishop Walton's poly- 
glott ranks first in that noble and costly class of pub- 
lications ; foreign countries can show nothing equal 
to Dr. Kennicott's edition of the Bible, or similar to 
Dr. Woide's edition of the Codex Alexandrinus, Dr. 
Kipling's edition of the Codex Bezae, or Dr. Holmes 
and Mr. Parsons's edition of the Septuagint. 

Where the word of God is concerned, the greatest 
moderation should be used ; and care should be 
taken, that the assertions made, are expressed accu- 
rately, and in such terms as prevent improper con- 
clusions being drawn from them. Where the num- 
ber of the various readings is mentioned before per- 
sons to whom the subject is new, or in any works 
likely to have a general circulation, it should be add- 
ed, that their importance is rather of a literary than 
a religious kind ; and that, whether considered col- 
lectively or individually, they do not affect the gen- 
uineness of the text, or the substance of its history 
or doctrine. The improvements, which proposed 
alterations are thought to make, should not be exag- 
gerated ; it should be remarked, that alterations of 
that description are confessedly few ; and that none 
of them affect the gospel as a history, as a rule of 
faith, or as a body of morality. Conjectural emen- 
dations should be restrained, and almost always be 
resisted. 

English Translations of the Bible. — We. 
proceed now to a subject more particularly interest- 
ing to us, which is, the history of our English trans- 
lations. It would be very difficult to ascertain every 
English translator, or when the Scriptures were first 
translated into the language of this country. That 
the Saxons read the Bible in their own language, is 
an opinion well authenticated ; some parts, at least, 
having been translated by Adhelm, bishop of Sher- 



borne, Eadfrid, (or Ecbert,) bishop of Lindisferne, 
the venerable Bede, and king Alfred. ^Elfric, abbot 
of Malmesbury, translated the Pentateuch, Judges, 
and Job ; — which were printed at Oxford in the 
year 1699. And the four Gospels were printed from 
an ancient Saxon MS. now in the Bodleian library, 
in 1571, under the care of the martyrologist John Fox, 
assisted and encouraged by Matthew Parker, arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. It would appear that the 
Saxons had more than one translation, of parts at 
least, of the Bible among them; though no version 
particularly sanctioned by public authority. They 
had also glosses and comments. Besides these early 
versions, several parts of the Scriptures had been 
from time to time translated by different persons ; 
proofs of which, if not the very translations them- 
selves, exist in different libraries of Great Britain. 
In particular, in 1349, the Psalms were translated by 
Richard Rolle, a hermit of Hampole in Yorkshire ; 
and in the Harleian and the king's libraries, are 
specimens of other and different versions. Soon 
afterwards John Wycliff translated the New Testa- 
ment, several copies of which are in different libra- 
ries, both public and private, though with some de- 
gree of variation. In the year 1731, it was printed 
in folio, with a glossary, under the care of the Rev. 
John Lewis, minister of Margate, and chaplain to 
Lord Malton, and again, in 1810, in quarto, by the 
Rev. ]%. Baber. 

In 1526, William Tyndal printed the first edition of 
his New Testament, at Antwerp, in octavo, without a 
name, with an epistle at the end, wherein he desired 
them that were learned to amend if aught were found 
amiss. This edition is very scarce ; for soon after its 
appearance, the bishop of London, being at Antwerp, 
desired an English merchant to buy up all the copies 
that remained unsold, which, with many other 
books, were burned at Paul's Cross. This Dr. Jor- 
dan thinks was done by the bishop to serve Tyndal, 
which it certainly did, by putting a good sum of 
money into his pocket, and enabling him to prepare 
another edition for the press more correct than the 
former, which, however, was not printed till 1534. 
From the first edition five thousand copies were re- 
printed by the Dutch in 1527, 1528, and in 1530 ; 
but all these editions are represented to be exceed- 
ingly incorrect. In 1534, they printed a fifth edition, 
corrected by George Joye, who not only corrected 
the typographical errors, but ventured to alter, and 
amend, as he thought, the translation. Soon after- 
wards, the second edition by Tyndal himself ap- 
peared, in which he complains of Joye's forestalling 
him, and altering his translation. Besides purchas- 
ing the copies of Tyndal at Antwerp, orders and 
monitions were issued by the archbishop of Can- 
terbury, and the bishop of London, to bring in all 
the New Testaments translated into the vulgar tongue, 
that they might be burned ; and to prohibit the read- 
ing of them. In 1523, Henry VIII. ordered "all 
the books containing several errors, etc. with the 
translation of the Scriptures corrupted by William 
Tyndal, as well in the Old Testament as in the New, 
to be utterly expelled, rejected, and put away out of 
the hands of his people, and not to go abroad among 
his subjects." Tyndal's translation of the Penta- 
teuch was printed at Marlborough, in Hesse, me 
year before ; and that of Jonah this year. Some 
are of opinion these were all he translated, and Fox 
mentions no more ; but Hall and Bale, his contem- 
poraries, say, that he likewise translated the books 
from Joshua to Nehemiah ; which, unless Matthew's 



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be so far a new translation, is most probable. Ful- 
ler presumes, that he translated the Old Testament 
from the Latin, as his friends allowed that he had 
no skill in Hebrew : but in this Fuller might be mis- 
taken. He finished his translation of the Penta- 
teuch in the year 1528 ; but, going by sea to Ham- 
burgh, he suffered shipwreck, with the loss of all 
his books, papers, etc. so that he was obliged to 
begin the whole again. Tyndal himself, in a letter 
to John Frith, written January, 1583, says, " I call 
God to record, against the day we shall appear be- 
fore our Lord Jesus, to give a reckoning of our 
doings, that I never altered one syllable of God's 
word against my conscience ; nor would do this day, 
if all that is in earth, whether it be honor, pleasure, 
or riches, might be given me. Moreover, 1 take God 
to witness to my conscience, that I desire of God to 
myself in this world, no more than that without 
which I cannot keep his laws." It appears, how- 
ever, that the king, in pursuance of his own settled 
judgment, thinking much good might come from 
people reading the New Testament with reverence, 
and following it, commanded the bishops to call 
to them the most learned of the two universi- 
ties, and to cause a new translation to be made ; but 
nothing being done, the people still read and studied 
Tyndal's. It was therefore determined to get rid of 
so dangerous a heretic ; and the king and council 
employed one Henry Philips, who insinuated him- 
self into the acquaintance of Tyndal, and of Pointz, 
an English merchant, at whose house he lodged : 
and at a favorable opportunity he got the procura- 
tor-general of the emperor's court to seize on 
Tyndal, by whom he was brought to Vilvorden, about 
18 miles from Antwerp. After being imprisoned a 
year qnd a half, notwithstanding letters in his favor 
from secretary Cromwell, and others, to the court 
at Brussels, he was tried, and none of his reasons in 
his defence being admitted, he was condemned, by 
virtue of the emperor's decree, made in the assem- 
bly at Augsburgh, in the year 1536. Being brought 
to the place of execution, lie was first strangled, 
calling out in his last moments, " Lord, open the 
king of England's eyes !"— and then he was burned. 
Thus died William Tyndal, with this testimony 
to his character given him by the emperor's pro- 
curator or attorney-general, though his adversary, 
that he was " homo doctits, pius, et bonus ;" and 
others, who conversed with him in the castle, re- 
ported of him, that "if he were not a good Chris- 
ten man, they could not tell whom to trust." 

The first English Bible, or complete translation of 
the Scriptures, printed, was that by Myles Coverdale, 
the first edition of which bears date 1535. It was 
dedicated to Henry VIII. and is printed in folio. A 
copy is in the British Museum. In bishop Cover- 
dale's Bible we meet with the following judicious 
remark, which shows the very respectable knowledge 
and temper of that great man. "Now whereas the 
most famous interpreters of all geve sondrye judg- 
mentes on the texte, (so far as it is done by the 
spiryte of knowledge in the Holye Gooste,) methynke 
no man shoulde be offended thereat, for they referre 
theyr doyngs in mekenes to the spiryte of trueth in 
the congregation of God : and sure I am, that there 
commethe more knowledge and uuderstondinge of 
the Scripture by their sondrye translacions, than 
by all the gloses of our sophisticall doctours. For 
that one interpreted! somthynge obscurely in one 
place, the same translateth another (or els he himselfe) 
in\>re manifestly by a more playne vocable of the 



same meaning in another place." More than com- 
mon care seems to have been taken by Coverdale 
in the language of his translation. We have some 
instances of barbarism, but they are very few, and 
none which are not authorized by the purest writers 
of the times in which he wrote. To him, and to 
other translators of the Scriptures, especially of the 
present authorized version, our language owes, per- 
haps, more than to all the authors who have written 
since : and even though some of the expressions 
may appear uncouth, their fewness renders them in- 
offensive ; they are never vulgar ; they preserve 
their ancient simplicity pure and undefiled : and, in 
their circumstance and connection, perhaps but sel- 
dom could be exchanged for the better. Nor will 
this opinion be condemned when it is considered, 
that that elegant writer and learned prelate, bishop 
Lowth, has constantly used the words where lie has 
not differed from the translation ; and whenever 
amendments have been intended in the language 
of the Scriptures, if we have gained any thing in 
elegance, we have almost assuredly lost in dignity. 

At the convocation (1536, probably) the clergy 
agreed on a petition to the king, that he would be 
graciously pleased to grant unto the laity the reading 
of the Bible in the English tongue ; and that a new 
translation might be made for that purpose ; and 
soon after injunctions were issued to the clergy by 
the authority of the king's highness, the seventh ar- 
ticle of which commands, — " That every person or 
proprietary of any parish church within this realm, 
at this great feast of St. Peter ad vincula, (Aug. 1,) 
next coming, provide a book of the whole Bible, 
both in Latin and also in English, and lay the same 
in the quire for every man that will look thereon • 
and shall discourage no man from the reading any 
part of the Bible, either in Latin or English ; but 
rather comfort, exhort, and admonish every man to 
read the same, as the very word of God, and the 
spiritual food of man's soul; whereby they may 
better know their duties to God, to the sovereign 
lord the king, and their neighbor; ever gentilly and 
charitably exhorting them, that using a sober and 
modest behavior in the reading and inquisition of 
the true sense of the same, they do in no wise stifly 
or eagerly contend or strive one with another about 
the same, but refer the declaration of those places 
that be in controversy to the judgment of them that 
be learned." 

The first edition of Matthew's Bible generally 
known, was printed in the year 1537. The name of 
Thomas Matthew is said to have been fictitious, and 
used by th% real editor, John Rogers, from motives of 
prudence or fear ; for although no clamor was raised 
against Myles Coverdale for his translation, the name 
of Tyndal was exceedingly odious to the clergy ; and 
much trouble might reasonably have been expected 
from an acknowledged republication of his transla- 
tion. " None will deny, says Fuller, but that many 
faults needing amendment are found in the (Tyndal's) 
translation, which is no wonder to those who con- 
sider ; first, such an undertaking was not the task of a 
man, but men. Secondly, no great design is invented 
and perfected at once. Thirdly, Tyndal, being an 
exile, wanted many necessary accommodations. 
Fourthly, his skill in Hebrew was not considerable : 
yea, generally, learning in languages was then but 
in the infancie thereof. Fifthly, our English tongue 
was not improved to that expressiveness whereat, at 
this day, it is arrived. However, what he undertook, 
was to be admired as glorious ; what he performed. 



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)o be commended as profitable ; wherein he failed, 
is to be excused as pardonable, and to be scored 
on the account rather of that age, than of the author 
himself. Yea, Tyndal's pains were useful, had his 
translations done no other good than to help towards 
the making of a better ; our last translators having 
in express charge from king James to consult the 
translation of Tyndal." Matthew's Bible is composed 
partly from Tyndal's and partly from Coverdale's 
translations, with some alterations ; taking Tyndal's 
New Testament, and such parts of the Old as were 
translated by him, except that the prophecy of Jonah 
is of Coverdale's translation ; neither is Tyndal's pref- 
ace prefixed to Jonah, or any other preface inserted, 
except to the Romans, in that which is supposed to 
be the first edition. Sundry alterations are made 
from Coverdale, and some have been of opinion, 
that it was a new work undertaken by Coverdale, 
Tyndal, and Rogers, and that the latter translated 
the Apocrypha ; but Mr. Lewis thinks that Cover- 
dale had none to assist him in his translation, and 
that he was not concerned in that called Matthew's, 
but only John Rogers, who made a few alterations, 
but not a new translation. Grafton was called to an 
account for printing Matthew's Bible, 1537, and ex- 
amined as to the great Bible, what notes he intended 
to set to it; to which he replied, "that he added 
none to the Bible he printed, when he perceived 
the king and the clergy not willing to have any." 
Yet he was confined a prisoner in the Fleet six 
weeks, and then released, on being bound in a bond 
of £300, neither to imprint nor sell any more Eng- 
lish Bibles, till the king and clergy should agree on 
a trmslation. 

In the year 1538, Grafton and Whitchurch had 
obtained permission of Henry VIII. to print the 
Bible at Paris ; but when the work was nearly finish- 
ed, by an order of the Inquisition, dated the 17th of 
December the same year, the printers were inhibited, 
under canonical pains, to proceed ; and the whole 
impression of two thousand five hundred copies was 
seized and confiscated. By the encouragement of 
the lord Cromwell, however, some Englishmen re- 
turned to Paris, recovered the presses, types, etc. 
and brought them to London, where the work was 
resumed, and the Bible finished in 1539. This was 
called Cranmer's Bible, on account of the preface, 
which was written by the archbishop. In this, the 
translations ot Coverdale and Matthew seem to be 
revised and corrected. The Psalms are those now 
used in the liturgy of the established church. There 
are several editions of this Bible ; in particular, one 
in 1541, under the care of Tonstal, bishop of Durham, 
and Heath, bishop of Rochester ; and another, printed 
at Rouen, at the charge of Richard Carmarden, 1556. 

In November, 1539, the king appointed lord Crom- 
well to take special care and charge that no manner 
of person or persons should print any Bible in the 
English tongue during the space of five years, but 
only such as shall be deputed, assigned, and admitted 
by the said lord Cromwell : it is not improbable but 
this might have been done in favor of Tavemer's 
Bible, which appeared at this time ; Bale calls it, 
Sacrorum recognitio, seu potius nova ; but Mr. Lewis 
says, that it is neither a bare revisal nor a correct 
edition of the English Bible ; nor yet strictly a new 
version, but between both ; it is, what may be called, 
a correction of Matthew's Bible, wherever the editor 
thought it needful. He takes in a great part of Mat- 
thew's marginal notes, but omits several, and inserts 
others of his own. 



In the convocation held February 6, 1542, the 
archbishop, in the king's name, required the bishops 
and clergy to revise the translation of the Scriptures ; 
and for that purpose different parts of the New Testa- 
ment were put into the hands of several bishops for 
perusal. Many objections were raised on various 
pretences, and bishop Gardiner read a list of ninety- 
nine Latin words, which he said would not admit of 
being translated into English. By this it was found 
that this motion or translation would come to nothing ; 
and a determination of the king, to wrest the work 
from the bishops, and place it in the hands of the 
universities, seems to have had a similar fate ; for 
the next year an act was passed which condemned 
Tyndal's translation as crafty, false, and untrue ; and 
enacted, that all books of the Old and New Testa- 
ment of his translation should, by authority of this 
act, be abolished, extinguished, and forbidden to be 
kept and used in this realm, or elsewhere in his 
majesty's dominions. But it was provided, "that 
the Bibles and New Testaments in English, not being 
of Tyndal's translation, should stand in force, and 
not be comprised in this abolition or act. Neverthe- 
lesse, if there should be found in anie such Bibles or 
New Testamentes anie annotations or preambles, that 
then the owners of them should cut or blot the 
same in such wise as they cannot be perceived or 
read, on pain of losing or forfeiting for every Bible, 
etc. 40*. Provided, that this article should not ex- 
tend to the blotting any quotations or summaries of 
chapters in any Bibles." It was likewise enacted, 
" That no manner of person or persons after the first 
day of October, the next ensuing, should take upon 
him or them to read openly to other in any church 
or open assembly, within any of the king's domin- 
ions, the Bible or any part of the Scripture in Eng- 
lish, unless he was so appointed thereunto by the 
king, or any ordinarie, on pain of suffering a 
month's imprisonment. Provided, that the chancel- 
lor of England, captaines of the warres, the king's 
justices, the recorders of any city, borough, or town, 
the speaker of the parliament, etc. which heretofore 
have been accustomed to declare or teache any 
good, vertuous, or godly exhortations in anie assem 
blies, may use any part of the Bible or holie Scrip- 
tures as they have been wont ; and that every noble- 
man and gentleman, being a householder, may read, 
or cause to be read by any of his familie servants in 
his house, orchardes, or garden, and to his own fami 
lie, anie text of the Bible or New Testament, and 
also every merchant-man, being a householder, and 
any other persons other than women, premises, &c. 
might read to themselves privately the Bible. But 
no woman, (except noblewomen and gentlewomen, 
who might read to themselves alone, and not to 
others, any texts of the Bible,) nor artificers, pren- 
tises, journeymen, serving-men of the degrees of 
yomen or under, husbandmen, or laborers, were to 
read the Bible or New Testament in Englishe to 
himself, or any other, privately or openly, upon paine 
of one month's imprisonment." When we read 
enactments like these, and contrast such hinderances 
to the spread of sacred knowledge with the present 
state of religious liberty, public and private, what 
intense sensations of gratitude to the Divine Author 
of this holy book should fill the mind of every 
Christian! Another act was passed, July 8, 1546, 
whereby the having and reading of Tyndal's and 
Coverdale's translations were prohibited, as well as 
the use of any other than what was allowed by act 
of parliament 



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]u this state matters continued so long as Henry 
VIII. lived ; but on the accession of his son Edward 
VI. (1547,) they took another turn ; the reformation 
being encouraged, and the acts which prohibited the 
translation of the Scriptures being repealed. In- 
junctions were issued, and sent into every part of 
the kingdom, among other things enjoining, that 
within three months a Bible of the larger volume in 
English, and within twelve months Erasmus's Para- 
phrase on the Gospels, be provided, and convenient- 
ly placed in the churches for the people to read in. 

The reign of queen Mary was too unfavorable for 
any translation of the Scriptures to be printed in 
England ; and, except the Geneva Testament, we 
meet with nothing but a quarto primer, Latin and 
English, according to the use of Sarum, with the 
epistles and gospels in English, printed by John 
Kingston .and Henry Sutton, 1557. Bishop Cover- 
dale, being compelled to leave England, during the 
reign of Mary, took up his residence principally at 
Geneva, where he engaged with some Protestant 
refugees in a new version of the Scriptures, from the 
Hebrew and Greek languages, with notes ; called 
from the place, the Geneva Bible. That which was 
done in this Bible was as follows : — -"(1.) Because 
some translations read after one sort and some after 
another, they noted in the margin the diversities of 
speech and reading, especially according to the He- 
brew. — (2.) Where the Hebrew speech seemed hard- 
ly to agree with ours, they noted in the margin, 
using that which was more intelligible. — (3.) Though 
many of the Hebrew names were altered from the 
old text, and restored to the true writing, and first 
original, yet in the usual names, little was changed, 
for fear of troubling the simple readers. — (4.) Where 
the necessity of the sentence required any thing to 
be added, whether verb or other word, they put it 
in the text with another kind of letter, that it might 
easily be discerned from the common letter of the 
text. — (5.) As touching the division of the verses, they 
followed the Hebrew examples, adding the number 
to each verse. — (6.) The principal matters were 
noted ; and the arguments, both for each book and 
for each chapter. — (7.) They set over the head of 
every page some notable word, or sentence, for the 
help of memory. — (8.) They set brief annotations 
upon all the hard places, as well for the under- 
standing of obscure words, as for declaration of the 
text. And for this purpose they diligently read the 
best commentaries ; and had much conference with 
godly and learned brethren. — (9.) They set forth 
with figures certain places in the books of Moses, 
of the Kings, and Ezekiel, which seemed so dark, 
that by no other description they could be made easy 
to the reader. — (10.) They added certain maps of 
cosmography, of divers places and countries, partly 
described, and partly by occasion touched, both in 
the Old and New Testament. (11.) They adjoined 
two profitable tables ; the one of interpretations of 
Hebrew names, and the other containing all the 
chief and principal matters of the whole Bible." 
The New Testament was published in 1557, and the 
whole Bible in 1560. 

In the first parliament of queen Elizabeth, held 
January, 1558, an act passed for restoring to the 
crown the ancient jurisdiction over the state, eccle- 
siastical and spiritual ; and another for the uniform- 
ity of common prayer, and service in the church. 
The queen also appointed a royal visitation, and 
gave her injunctions, as well to the clergy as the 
laity, by which it was ordered, as in the reign of 



Edward VI. that they should, at the charge of the 
parish, within three months, provide one book of the 
whole Bible, of the largest volume in English ; and 
within twelve months, the Paraphrase of Erasmus. 
The following year the Liturgy was reviewed, and 
altered in some passages ; and, being presented to 
parliament, was by that authority received and es- 
tablished. And, soon after, a design was formed 
to make a new translation of the Scriptures, under 
the direction of archbishop Parker ; which, how- 
ever, was not printed before the year 1568, when it 
first appeared in folio. This is called the Bishops' 
Bible. The work was divided into several parcels, 
and assigned to men of learning and character, se- 
lected for the purpose. Archbishop Parker had the 
chief direction of the affair, reviewed the perform- 
ance, and gave the finishing hand to it. He em- 
ployed several critics in the Hebrew and Greek 
languages to review the old translation, and com- 
pare it with the original. There is a peculiarity ob- 
servable in the Psalms of this translation, for which 
there seems no apparent reason, viz. the word Ljirhv 
is translated Lord, and mrr is translated G od ; con 
trary to general, if not (otherwise) universal custom 
It is not unlikely, that this cir> amstance prevented 
the bishops' Psalms from being read in the church 
service, in which the Psalms of archbishop Cranmer's 
Bible were used, and are continued to this day. 
Cranmer's Psalms were often printed in the Bishops' 
Bible, and sometimes in the Geneva, either by them- 
selves, or with the propel Psalms of those transla- 
tions in opposite columns. 

Davies, bishop of St. David's, was now engaged in 
translating the Bible into Welsh, together with Wil- 
liam Salisbury, bishop of Man, who was very learned 
in British antiquities. A translation of the New 
Testament by Lawrence Tomson, who was under 
secretary to sir Francis Walsingham, was printed in 
1576. This was afterwards reprinted frequently in 
the Geneva Bible, instead of the former translation. 

These labors of the Protestants had their effect on 
the Catholics ; who, as they would not use the ver- 
sions of those whom they considered as heretics 
and being yet ashamed of having no version of 
Scripture for their use, set themselves to translate, as 
farns they lawfully might. In 1582, the New Testa 
ment, translated by the English college at Rheims, was 
printed ; twenty-seven years after, in 1609, appeared 
the first volume, and in 1610, the second volume of 
the Old Testament and Apocrypha, printed at Douay, 
and thence called the Douay Bible. Both these have 
been reprinted several times ; but an edition in five 
volumes, 12mo. 1750 ; s aiucn improved in point of 
language, especially from the Douay, which is in 
many instances very obscure. The translators were 
William Allen, Henry Holland, George Martin, and 
Richard Bristol. The notes were by Dr. Worthing- 
ton. Le Long says, the New Testament was princi- 
pally translated by William Raynold, or Reynolds. 

Account of the present English authorized 
Version.- — -At a convocation in 1603, soon after the 
accession of James I. complaints were made that 
many and great faults existed in the translation au- 
thorized to be read ; and Fuller says, one of the best 
things produced by the Hampton-Court conference 
was, a resolution in his majesty for a new transla- 
tion of the Bible : to this purpose the king wrote to 
the archbishops and bishops, enjoining them to pro- 
vide benefices as speedily as they could, for so many 
of the learned men selected to prepare the new 
translation, as had not previously adequate ecclesi 



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.istical preferment ; and, also, to inform themselves of 
all persons in their respective dioceses, who under- 
stood the Hebrew and Greek languages, and had 
studied the Scriptures in their original tongues, ex- 
horting them to send the results of their private stud- 
ies to Mr. Lively, Hebrew reader at Cambridge, Dr. 
Harding, Hebrew reader at Oxford, or Dr. Andrews, 
dean of Westminster, " that so our said intended 
translation may have the help and furtherance of all 
our principal learned men within this our kingdom." 
Fuller's list of the translators amounts to forty-sever;, 
which number was ranged under six divisions. The 
names of the persons, the places where they met, to- 
gether with the portions of Sciipture assigned to 
each company, are as follows : — ■ 

Ten at Westminster. The Pentateuch ; the his- 
tory, from Joshua to the first book of the Chronicles, 
exclusively. Dr. Andrews, afterwards bishop of 
Winchester; Dr. Overall, afterwards bishop of Nor- 
wich ; Dr. Saravia, prebendary of Canterbury ; Dr. 
Clarke, fellow of Christ's college, Cambridge ; Dr. 
Laifield, fellow of Trinity, Cambridge — being skilled 
in architecture, his judgment was much relied on for 
the description of the tabernacle and temple ; Dr. 
Leigh, archdeacon of Middlesex ; Mr. Burgley ; 
Mr. King ; Mr. Tompson ; Mr. Bedwell, of Cam- 
bridge. 

Eight at Cambridge. From the first of Chroni- 
cles, with the rest of the history, and the Hagiogra- 
pha, viz. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Canticles, Ecclesi- 
astes. Mr. Lively ; Mr. Richardson, fellow of Eman- 
uel ; Mr. Chadderton ; Mr. Dillingham, fellow of 
Christ college ; Mr. Andrews, afterwards master of 
Jesus college ; Mr. Harrison, the Rev. vice-master 
of Trinity college ; Mr. Spalding, fellow of St. 
John's, Cambridge, and Hebrew professor there ; Mr. 
Bing, fellow of Peter-house, Cambridge, and He- 
brew professor there. 

Seven at Oxford. The four greater prophets, 
with the Lamentations, and the twelve lesser proph- 
ets. Dr. Harding, president of Magdalen college ; 
Dr. Reynolds, president of Corpus Christi college ; 
Dr. Holland, rector of Exeter college, Regius pro- 
fessor; Dr. Kilby, rector of Lincoln college, and 
Regius professor ; Mr. Smith, afterwards bishop of 
Gloucester, who composed the learned and religious 
preface to the translation ; Mr. Brett ; Mr. Fair- 
clowe. 

Cambridge. The prayer of Manasseh, and the 
rest of the Apocrypha. Dr. Duport, prebendai-y of 
Ely, and master of Jesus college ; Dr. Brainthwaite, 
afterwards master of Gonvil, and Caius college ; 
Dr. RadclyfFe, a senior fellow of Trinity college ; 
Mr. Ward, afterwards D. D. and Margaret professor ; 
Mr. Dowries, fellow of St. John's, and Greek pro- 
fessor ; Mr. Boyse, fellow of St. John's ; Mr. Ward, 
of King's college, afterwards D. D. prebendary of 
Chichester. 

Oxford. The four Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, 
and Apocalypse. Dr. Ravis, afterwards bishop of 
London ; Dr. Abbot, afterwards archbishop of Can- 
terbury; Dr. Eedes (instead of whom Lewis has 
James Montague, bishop of Bath and Wells); Mr. 
Thompson ; Mr. Savill ; Dr. Peryn ; Dr. Ravens ; 
Mr. Harmer. 

Westminster. The Epistles of St. Paul, and the 
other canonical Epistles. Dr. Barlowe, afterwards 
bishop of Lincoln ; Dr. Hutchinson ; Dr. Spencer ; 
Mr. Fenton ; Mr. Rabbet ; Mr. Sanderson ; Mr. 
Dakins. 

And that they might proceed to the best advan- 



tage in their method and management, the king 
suggested the instructions following : — (1.) The Bible 
read in the church, commonly called the Bishops' 
Bible, was to receive as few alterations as might be : 
and to pass throughout, unless the original called 
plainly for an amendment. — (2.) The names of the 
prophets and the inspired writers, with the other 
names in the text, to be kept so near as may be as 
they stand recommended at present by customary 
use. — (3.) The old ecclesiastical words to be re- 
tained. For instance, the word church not to be 
translated congregation, &c. — (4.) When any word 
has several significations, that which lias been com- 
monly used by the most celebrated Fathers should 
be preferred ; provided it be agreeable to the context, 
and the analogy of faith. — (5.) As to the chapters, 
they were to continue in their present division, and 
not be altered without apparent necessity .-^-(6.) The 
margin not to be charged with any notes, ex- 
cepting for the explanation of those Hebrew or 
Greek words, which cannot be turned without some 
circumlocution ; and, therefore, not so proper to be 
inserted in the text. — (7.) The margin to be furnished 
with such citations as serve for a reference of one 
place of Scripture to another. — (8.) Every member 
of each division to take the chapters assigned for the 
whole company ; and after having gone through the 
version or corrections, all the division was to meet, 
examine their respective performances, and come to 
a resolution which parts of them should stand. — (9.) 
When any division had finished a book in this man- 
ner, they were to transmit it to the rest to be further 
considered. — (10.) If any of the respective divisions 
should doubt or dissent upon the review of the book 
transmitted, they were to mark the places, and send 
back the reasons of their disagreement; if they 
happened to differ about the amendments, the dis- 
pute was to be referred to a general committee, con- 
sisting of the best distinguished persons drawn out 
of each division. However, this decision was not 
to be made till they had gone through the work. — 
(11.) When any place was remarkably obscure, let- 
ters were to be directed by authority to the most 
learned persons in the universities, or country, for 
their judgment upon the text. — (12.) The directors 
in each company were to be the deans of Westmin- 
ster and Chester, and the king's professors in He- 
brew and Greek in each university. — (13.) The 
translations of Tyndal, Matthew, Coverdale, White- 
church, and Geneva, to be used when they come 
closer to the original than the Bishops' Bible.— 
Lastly, Three or four of the most eminent divines in 
ci ch of the universities, though not of the number 
of the translators, were to be assigned by the vice- 
chancellor, to consult with other heads of houses for 
reviewing the whole translation. 

Almost three years were spent in this service, the 
entering on which was somewhat delayed by Mr. 
Edward Lively's death. The whole work being 
finished, and three copies of the whole Bible sent to 
London, viz. one from Cambridge, a second from 
Oxford, and a third from Westminster, a new choice 
was made of two out of each company, six in all, 
to review the whole work and revise it, and extract 
one out of all the three copies, to be committed to 
the press. They went daily to Stationers' Hall, and 
in three quarters of a year fulfilled their task. Last 
of all, Bilson, bishop of Winchester, and Dr. Myles 
Smith, who, from the beginning, had been very 
active in the affair, reviewed the whole work, and 
prefixed arguments to the several books ; and Dr. 



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Smith, who, for his indefatigable pains taken in this 
work, was soon after the printing of it deservedly 
made bishop of Gloucester, was ordered to write a 
preface to it, the same which is now printed in the 
folio editions of the Bible. This translation was 
first printed in 1611, in black letter. The title-page 
in the Old Testament is a copper-plate, with an em- 
blematical border, engraved by Boel. The title of 
the New Testament is in a border cut in wood, with 
..dads of the twelve apostles, tents of the tribes, 
&c. In 1612, a quarto effition was printed on Ro- 
man type, with an engraved title, copied from the 
folio, by Jasper Isac. 

Marginal References. — In 1664, John Canne, a 
leader of the English Brownists at Amsterdam, pub- 
lished a Bible of the present translation in octavo, 
with many marginal references. Dr. Blayney ex- 
amined these for his edition of the Oxford Bible, 
in 1769. 

In 1677, a Bible was printed by Hayes, at Cam- 
bridge, with many references added to the first edi- 
tion ; and in 1678, one was printed at Cambridge 
with many more references, the labor of Dr. Scatter- 
good, rector of Wilwick and Elverton, in Northamp- 
tonshire, and one of the compilers of the Critici 
Sacri. Several editions of this Bible were printed. — 
In 1699, a new edition of the royal Bible, in quarto, 
was printed at London, with a great addition of par- 
allel texts ; and a new chronological index, by. Dr. 
Tenison, archbishop of Canterbury, and Dr. Lloyd, 
bishop of Worcester. This has been many times 
reprinted. It is not to be understood that archbishop 
Tenison and bishop Lloyd were concerned in the 
printing or editing of this Bible, further than furnish- 
ing the additional parallels and new tables ; having 
no superintendence of the press ; and this it is but 
justice to their memories to declare ; for the first 
edition was so full of typographical errors, that a 
complaint was exhibited against the printers by the 
clergy of the lower house of convocation. 

The progressive but very considerable increase of 
parallels from the first edition, by different editors, 
will appear by the following scale. 



Old Tes. Apoc. 

Tirst edition, 1611 .. 6588 885 

Hayes's edition, 1677 . 14629 1409 

Dr. Scattergood, 1678 20357 1417 
Bishops Tenison and 

Lloyd, 1699 24352 1419 

Dr. Blayney, 1769 . . . 43318 1772 

Bishop Wilson, 1785 . 45190 1772 



N. Tes. Total. 

1527 9000 

9857 25895 

11371 33145 

13717 39488 

19893 64983 

19993 66955 



Mr. Purver's translation of the Bible was published 
m 1764, in two volumes folio ; he afterwards revised 
the whole, and made considerable alterations and cor- 
rections for a second edition, which, however, has not 
yet been published ; but the MS. remains in the pos- 
session of his grandson, John Purver Bell. 

Concordances to the Bible — are of two kinds ; con- 
cordances of words, and concordances of parallel 
passages. Of the former class, those of Cruden and 
Butterwoith are by far the best — Cru den's is the 
standard book ; and of the latter, Crutwell and Bag- 
ster take the precedence. These concordances of 
parallels, however, have been in a great measure 
superseded by a later published work, entitled, 
" Scientia Biblica, containing a copious collection of 
parallel passages for the illustration of the New Tes- 
tament, printed in words at length." This valuable 
work will, it is hoped, be extended to the whole of 
the Scriptures. It is extrem -ly useful to the biblical 



student. For the Hebrew Bible, Dr. Taylor's col 
cordance is the most extensive, but the price being 
very high, Buxtorf's may be substituted with 
great advantage. For the Septuagint, the con- 
cordance of Trommius is unrivalled ; and for the 
Greek New Testament, Schmidius and Dr. Williams. 

Concluding Remarks. — Thus we have endeav- 
ored to set before the reader such a history of the 
Bible as may answer most of the principal questions 
usually asked on the subject. The length of the ar- 
ticle must be justified by its importance. There are 
many collateral inquiries which might be entered 
into ; but a hint must suffice. Let us admire the 
providence of God, which first caused the preserva- 
tion of two copies, the Samaritan and the Jewish *, 
then translations into several languages, which may 
be regarded as so many copies, and especially the 
Greek translation, because we have many helps 
among our classical studies for acquiring a compe- 
tent intimacy with this language. Nor let us with- 
hold the acknowledgments of our most weighty 
obligations to our predecessors in Britain ; whose 
labors have transmitted their names to their religious 
posterity, and to the religious world at large, with im- 
mortal honor. To say that their translation is free 
from faults, would be to speak of them as more than 
men ; nevertheless, let no one despise their perform- 
ance, till he has qualified himself to undertake such 
another, — and then, two pages of translation, at- 
tempted by himself, will make him fully sensible of 
the advantages we receive from those who sustained 
that labor before us. — But after acknowledging that 
much has been done, we must also admit that much 
remains to be done ; and we take this opportunity of 
suggesting a few brief hints on the subject, which is 
confessedly of great importance. 

It is not to be denied, that a translation of Holy 
Scripture, if undertaken in the present day, would 
have many advantages superior to those which at- 
tended king James's translation. The state of 
knowledge is much improved, by the labors of 
learned men, in the succeeding interval of time ; and, 
without determining whether religious knowledge 
be improved or injured, by what variations in opinion 
have been since introduced, we are certain that geo- 
graphical knowledge is much more correct, as well 
as extensive ; that the knowledge of natural history 
and of natural philosophy, of the customs, manners, 
modes of thinking, and turns of expression, among 
the orientals, and many other requisite subjects, are 
better understood at present than they were formerly, 
and these are always of consequence, and occasion- 
ally of the utmost importance for conveying the 
true meaning of many passages of Scripture. The 
principles of general science, also, are more widely 
diffused than they formerly were among students 
professedly attached to divinity ; and we may ob- 
serve, with confidence, that knowledge limited to 
divinity, or the principles which lead to salvation, 
though drawn from the Bible itself, however indis- 
pensable, absolutely indispensable, it may be, is not 
sufficient to enable any one to understand, so far as 
correctly to translate the Bible, which furnishes it ; 
because, though the chief, and to us every way the 
most important, intention of the Bible is, to make 
men wise to salvation, yet there are in it, and con- 
nected with it, so many collateral circumstances, so 
many incidents, observations, and notices of various 
kinds, that if these be neglected, or ill-performed, or 
misunderstood, and consequently misrepresented, 
not only is Scripture injured by such mistakes, but 



a 



BIBLE 



L 184 ] 



BIBLE 



a stumbling-block is put Ln the way of those more 
enlightened readers, who, when they observe these 
errors, may be too apt, on their account, to reject 
the whole work in which they are found. By de- 
tecting blemishes, which need little beyond bare in- 
spection to be detected, they may conceive that con- 
tempt for the sacred writings, which, under a more 
favorable and correct version, never would have en- 
tered their minds. We ought also to remark, that 
our language has undergone some changes in the 
course of two centuries, by which it has varied from 
being precisely the same as when our translators 
wrote. Many words which were then polite and 
elegant, are now vulgar, to say the least ; and some, 
perhaps, which were perfectly correct or innocent 
at the period when those learned men employed 
them, are now considered as gross, if not indelicate. 
Other words also which were, more or less, equivo- 
cal or ambiguous in the days of James, are now set- 
tled to a decisive and certain meaning ; if that mean- 
ing be what our translators had in view, no harm en- 
sues ; but if it be contrary to their intention, the 
fault lies not in the original translators, but in the 
later application of the language. And this is more 
noticeable still, in words which have changed their 
import, (as some have,) and are now used in senses 
contrary to what our forefathers annexed to them. 
Nor can we refrain from complaining also of the 
negligent maimer in which the press has been con- 
ducted in all our public editions ; what should be 
printed in poetry is set as prose ; what should be 
marked as a quotation, or a speech, reads like com- 
mon narration ; and if the nature of the original 
language allowed of sudden and rapid transitions 
without falsification or confusion, (which perhaps 
was not so frequent as some have supposed,) yet, in 
a translation, these are very often causes of great 
apparent perplexity. And this perplexity is occa- 
sionally increased by improper divisions of chapters 
and verses, which but too often separate immediate 
connection. It is much more easy to notice these 
and other obstacles to perfection, in our public ver- 
sion, than it is to prevent them, or to provide against 
them in future translations. Whether the difficulty 
of removing them entirely be sufficient to justify the 
suspension of every attempt to correct them, we do 
not. determine. Undoubtedly, the present version is 
sufficient to all purposes of piety ; and our observa- 
tions rather refer to the finishing of the already ex- 
tant superstructure, than to laying new foundations 
for such an edifice ; or rather, perhaps, to the re- 
moval of some Gothic peculiarities, which disfigure 
the appearance of the edifice, and which at least are 
unpleasant to beholders, although they be not danger- 
ous to the stability of the building. 

We ought not to pass over without applause the 
labors of those learned men, who, by translating 
portions of Scripture, have greatly facilitated the un- 
dertaking of a version entirely new and complete, 
whenever that shall be thought proper to be done. 
In fact, it seems to be one previous condition neces- 
sary to the success of so extensfve a design, that 
every part of the sacred volume shall have been 
critically examined, carefully rendered, and its true 
meaning given by individual study, before a general 
revision of the while should be undertaken and 
adopted ; because, such versions having been sub- 
mitted to the opinion of capable judges long before 
the text is definitively settled, and having been sub- 
ject to the investigation and correction of numerous 
readers among the learned, their merits are more 



likely to be fairly appreciated, and to be established 
or rejected, than by a smaller number of judges, 
though such may be very competent ; or on the spur 
of an occasion, when the impatience of the religious 
world may be unfavorable to sedate deliberation. 

We have tin-own out these hints, by way of show- 
ing the magnitude of the subject ; far from wishing 
to discourage even the humblest endeavors which 
may have the illustration of Scripture for their ob- 
ject. On the contrary, we rejoice when any exer- 
tions are made to accomplish that desirable purpose : 
and though all may not be eminently successful, yet, 
as each may contain something valuable, (according 
to the nature and course of those remarks which 
arise from the habits of life of the author, and his 
opportunities of personal information,) and may con- 
sequently prove advantageous to the whole mass, 
and to the general body of biblical learning, we are 
tempted to accommodate the words of Moses, 
"Would God that all the Lord's people were proph- 
ets !" A very correct and extensive acquaintance 
with the English language itself, is a quality by no 
means to be omitted in a translator; we wish this 
were strictly attended to, as then the choice of word:!, 
among many which appear synonymous, or which 
seem equally to express the import of the original, 
would be not only more copious, but more significant, 
more harmonious, and more dignified. It is for 
want of this qualification, perhaps, rather than from 
actua^ incompetence for translation, arising from 
ignorance of the original languages, that many 
laborious efforts appear more faulty than they 
really are. 

It gives us pleasure to notice the progress made 
in biblical learning since these remarks were sub- 
mitted to the public, in the former editions of this 
work. Several learned men have engaged in new 
translations of the whole, or parts, of the Sacred 
Scriptures. Much pains has been taken to obtain a 
correct copy of the public version ; an account of 
which the reader will not be displeased to see in 
this place ; and it will conclude the present article. 

Of the various editious of king James's version, 
that which was published at Oxford in 1769, under 
the care of Dr. Blayiiey, has been considered as the 
standard edition. This, however, now yields the 
palm of accuracy to the very beautiful and correct 
edition published by Messrs. Eyre and Strahan, his 
majesty's printers, but printed by Mr. Woodfall, in 
1806, and again in 1812. In collating the edition of 
1806 with Dr. Blayney's, not fewer than one hun- 
dred and sixteen errors were discovered, and one of 
these was an omission of several words ; after the 
expression "no more" in Rev. xviii. 22. the words 
"at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever 
craft he be, shall be found any more," being omitted. 
Only one erratum, we believe, has been discovered 
in the edition of 1806. The copy printed from was 
the current Cambridge edition, with which Mr. 
Woodfall's edition agrees page for page. It was 
afterwards read twice by the Oxford impression then 
in use ; and the proofs were transmitted to the Rev. 
Lancelot Sharpe, by whom they were read by Dr. 
Blayney's 4to. edition of 1769. After the proofs re- 
turned by Mr. Sharpe for press had been corrected, 
the forms, or sheets of type, were placed upon the 
press at which they were to be printed, and another 
proof was taken. This was read by Mr. Woodfall's 
superintendent, and afterwards by Mr. Woodfall 
himself, with Dr. Blayney's edition, and any errors 
that had previously escaped, were corrected • the 



BIN 



[ 185 ] 



BI R 



forms not having been removed from the press after 
the last proofs had been taken off". By this pre- 
caution they avoided the danger of errors (a danger 
of very frequent occurrence, and of no small mag- 
nitude) arising from the removal of the forms from 
the proof press to the presses on which the sheets 
are finally worked off. Of this edition, which was 
ready for publication in 1806, five hundred copies 
were printed on imperial 4to. two hundred on royal 
4to. and three thousand on medium 4to. size. In the 
course of printing this edition from the Cambridge 
copy, a number of very gross errors were discovered 
in the latter ; and the errors (since corrected) in the 
common Oxford edition above noticed, were not so 
few as 1200. The London edition of 1806 being 
exhausted, a new impression was put to press in 
1810, and was completed, with equal beauty and 
accuracy, in 1812 ; but this also is now out of 
print. 

In the year 1804, the British and Foreign Bible 
Society was formed for the purpose of circulating 
the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, not 
only throughout the British dominions, but also, ac- 
cording to its ability, in other countries, whether 
Christian, Mahometan, or pagan. The success which 
has attended this glorious object has by far exceeded 
the most sanguine expectations of its founders and 
supporters. " Their voice has gone out through all 
the earth, and their words to the end of the world." 
During the twenty-one years this society has been 
established, it has expended upwards of one million 
two hundred and sixty thousand pounds ; has print- 
ed, or assisted in printing, the Scriptures in 140 
languages, in fifty-five of which they had never be- 
fore been printed ; and has issued upwards of four 
millions five hundred thousand copies of the Sacred 
Writings ! Other similar association^ have followed 
nobly this glorious examp'e ; and of these none has 
labored with more effect than the American Bible 
Society. 

BIGTHAN, an officer belonging to Ahasuerus, 
who, having conspired against the king, was discov- 
ered by Mordecai, Esth. ii. 21. 

BILDAD, the Shuhite, and one of Job's friends, 
was descended from Shuah, son of Abraham and 
Keturah, whose family lived in Arabia Deserta. 

BILEAM, a city of Manasseh, on the east of Jor- 
dan ; given to the Levites of Kohath's family, 1 
Chron. vi. 70. Elsewhere called Ibleam, Josh. xvii. 
11 ; Judg. i. 27 ; 2 Kings ix. 27. 

I. BILHAH, Rachel's handmaid, given by her to 
her husband Jacob, that through her means she might 
have children. Bilhah had Dan and Naphtali. See 
Adoption. 

II. BILHAH, a city of Simeon, see Bala. 
BIND, to, and loose, is a figurative expression 

derived from carrying burdens ; that is, confirming 
or removing a burden of the mind. It is also taken 
for condemning or absolving: (Matt. xvi. 19.) "I 
will give unto you the key of the kingdom of heaven, 
and whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be 
bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose on 
earth, shall be loosed in heaven." Binding and 
loosing, in the language of the Jews, expressed per- 
mitting, or forbidding, or judicially declaring any 
thing to be permitted, or forbidden. In the promo- 
tion of their doctors, they put a key into their hands, 
with these words : " Receive the power of binding 
and loosing;" whence the allusion, "Ye have taken 
away the key of knowledge," Luke xi. 52. " I am 
not come to unloose th'i law, but to complete it." says 
24 



our Saviour, Matt. v. 17. that is, as in our translation, 
" not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it." The re- 
ligion of Jesus has perfected the law of Moses, dis- 
covered its true spirit, unfolded its secret meanings, 
and accomplished all its types and figures. If it 
have also abrogated some of its ceremonial institu- 
tions, it is only for the purpose of accommodating 
mankind at large, and causing the essential princi- 
ples of it to be better observed. " To bind the law 
upon one's hand for a sign ;" to " wear it like a 
bracelet on one's arm," (Deut. vi. 8.) was meant figu- 
ratively to imply an intimate acquaintance with its 
precepts ; but the Jews took it literally, and bound 
parts of the law about their wrists. (See Phylac- 
teries.) In Isaiah viii. 16, "Bind up the testimony, 
seal the law," is to be understood thus, " Seal what 
thou hast been writing, bind it about with thread or 
riband, and set thy seal upon it ; — for closure and 
confirmation of its contents ; to witness thy confi- 
dence in its veracity, and thy expectation of com- 
pletion." It is said that Daniel was the most learned 
of the Magi, interpreters of dreams, &c. " for show- 
ing (explaining) hard sentences, and dissolving of 
doubts ;" (Heb. jnBp N-icn, untying of knots ;) also, 
chap. v. 16. where "loosing" things which were 
bound is used to express the explanation of things 
concealed. See Daniel. 

BIRD, or Fowl. It has been very uselessly dis- 
puted, whether birds came originally out of the earth, 
or out of the water ; and whether, as to the use of 
them on fast-days, they may be placed among fishes; 
or whether they are really flesh-meat as much 
as quadrupeds. Moses, speaking of the creation of 
birds, says, (Gen. i. 20.) "Let the waters produce 
living fishes, and fowls upon the earth, under the 
firmament of heaven ;" but the Hebrew runs thus ; 
" Let the waters produce creeping things that have 
life, and let the birds fly over the earth ;" and chap, 
ii. 19. intimates that birds are from the earth : " Out 
of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of 
the field, and every fowl of the air." 

Birds are classed into clean or unclean, see Lev. 
xi. 13 — 24. and Deut. xiv. 11, &c. 
. From the legislator who had issued the strictest 
injunctions on the subject of clean and unclean 
beasts, we might naturally expect directions equally 
strict respecting birds, a class no less distinguished 
among themselves, by their qualities, and their modes 
of life. But here his characteristics of animals de- 
rived from the feet (see Animals) failed ; nor was it 
easy to fix on marks which should, in every instance, 
guide the learned and the unlearned, the country rus- 
tic and the respectable citizen. Hence we meet in 
the Mosaic institutes with no reference to conforma- 
tion, as the means of distinguishing birds into clean 
or unclean, lawful or unlawful ; but a list of excep- 
tions forms the sacred directory, and certain kinds 
are forbidden, without a word concerning those 
which are allowed. 

It will be observed, that the number of species of 
birds is greater than that of beasts ; that the latter 
are more fixed to places, more resident, more home- 
stead ; whereas birds, possessing greater powers of 
extensive migration, and many of them being, in 
fact, temporary visitants, in their passage to various 
distances, according to the seasons, they might give 
rise to many difficulties on their lawfulness as food, 
&c. which without fixed regulations would become 
not a little perplexing. Birds, also, are less confinea 
in their mode of life than beasts are ; some are at- 
tached to the land, and even to the desert ; others 



BIRD 



L 186 1 



BIRD 



take to tlie water naturally, and spend their lives, 
mostly, on that element ; while not a few are free to 
the enjoyment of both land and water, and derive 
their sustenance from either, as accident or inclina- 
tion leads them. The sacred legislator was not un- 
acquainted with these diversities, and he has, virtu- 
ally, rendered them subservient to his leading inten- 
tions. In effect, it may be taken as certain, that 
birds which live on grain are not prohibited ; and 
these, as is well known, comprise the species which 
have been domesticated by mankind ; the wilder 
game are lawful, or not, according to the nature of 
their food. Birds of prey, whether they subsist on 
lesser fowls, or on animals, or on reptiles, or on any 
other creature having life, or having had life, are de- 
cidedly rejected ; this includes all with crooked 
beaks and strong talons ; it takes in also those which 
are now known under the appellation of waders ; 
birds of the marshes, or the shores, and many of 
the open sea, as well as of lakes and rivers. The 
same principle, of admitting no second digestion of 
flesh, which had its influence in distinguishing ani- 
mals, has its influence also here though we cannot 
trace it in all cases, and, indee_c, in some cases, the 
exception seems to have been occasioned by less ob- 
vious causes. 

The reader will not be surprised, if, under these 
circumstances, considerable difficulty should be 
found in identifying the birds enumerated in the 
Mosaic list of exceptions ; they have occasioned no 
small diversity of opinion among the learned ; and 
no one who is competently acquainted with the sub- 
ject, will pronounce, without hesitation, on the spe- 
cies under consideration, though his opinion may in- 
cline to this or the other, and he may reckon gene- 
ral probabilities in his favor. Feeling the weight of 
these difficulties, we submit the following remarks 
in elucidation of the prohibitory list inserted in Le- 
viticus xi. 13, et seq. 

The Eagle. — This, bird is well known, as taking 
a kind of pre-eminence among birds of prey. 
There is no difficulty in determining the genus in- 
tended. 

The Ossifrage. — Interpreters are not agreed on 
this bird ; some read vulture, others the black eagle, 
others the falcon ; the name Peres, by which it is 
called in the Hebrew, denotes to crush, to break ; and 
with this agrees our version, which implies "the 
bone-breaker." This name is given to a kind of 
eagle, from its habit of breaking the bones of its 
prey, after it has eaten the flesh ; some say also, that 
he swallows the bones thus broken. Onkelos uses 
a word which signifies naked, and leads to the vul- 
ture ; indeed, if we take the classes of birds in natu- 
ral order, in the passage before us, the vulture should 
follow the eagle as unclean. The Septuagint and 
Vulgate also render vulture; and so do Minister, 
Schindler, and the Zurich versions. 

The Osprey is most probably the Halietus, or sea- 
eagle; or perhaps the black eagle, which, though 
among the smallest of its tribe, is among the strongest. 
So Homer speaks, (II. xxi. verse 252.) "Having the 
rapidity of a black eagle, {uiZaros,} that bird of 
prey which is at the same time the strongest and the 
swiftest of birds." If this hint be admissible, then 
the vulture, distinguished by its bald head and neck, 
is excluded, on one side ; while the class of eagles 
which have a superfluity of feathers on the throat 
and head, are excluded on the other side. Of these 
Bruce offers two, the Nisser JVerk, which has a kind 
of beard of feathers under his chin ; and the JYisser 



Tokoor, which has a long crest, or tuft, on the back 
of his head. 

The Vulture. — This word is written with i, 
Daah, (nxi) in Lev. but in Deut. xiv. with -i, Raah, 
(nNi) : if the first of these be correct, it leads us, not 
to the vidture, but to the hawk ; as the import of it is 
the swift or rapid ; and this is countenanced by the 
Samaritan version, which reads Daithah. This 
tends much to support the opinion, that the second 
eagle of the list is the vulture ; since the vulture 
could hardly be omitted ; and its station among its 
associates should seem to be earlier than this. As 
modern naturalists, this is the proper place where 
we should expect to find the hawk ; and the order 
is so natural, that little seems to be risked in assuming 
it for the days of Moses ; for, though we are well 
aware that the natural history of that ancient writer 
must not be judged by the principles of the Linnsean 
system ; yet where nature has appointed an order, as 
we may safely say, in this instance, what should for- 
bid the earliest naturalists from observing it ? In 
favor of the hawk are Jerome, the Arabic versions, 
Munster, Castalio, Junius, Diodati, Buxtorf, Schind- 
ler, and others. 

The Kite follows the hawk with propriety. As 
there are several kinds of these birds, no doubt but 
all their classes were intentionally included under 
one name that was best known. Whoever should 
have eaten one species of eagle, or of hawk, because 
another species was named in the text, would have 
found the consequence of his transgression in the 
punishment of his prevarication. 

Every Raven after his kind. — This genus no doubt 
includes the crow, the pie, &c. and therefore, com- 
ing after the hawk and kite, closes this list of birds 
of prey with great propriety. 

It will be observed that the foregoing are birds of 
wing, high-Jlyers, such as roam to great distances, 
and prey wherever they can. Mr. Bruce describes 
multitudes of birds as following the armies in Abys- 
sinia ; and it is likely that among them would be 
found most or all of those here enumerated. Per- 
haps some are not only birds of prey, but feed on 
human carcasses ; which would be a further cause of 
their pollution and prohibition. 

We are now directed to a very different class of 
birds, which commences with — the Owl, — say our 
translators ; but this is clearly a mistake ; the word 
describes " the daughter of greediness," i. e. the Os- 
trich. Is it not astonishing that this bird, whatever 
it be, should have been described as, (1.) the ostiich, 
by the LXX ; (2.) the Sirenes, apparently creatures 
of fancy ; (3.) the owl ; and (4.) the nightingale ?— 
What have these birds in common, that can justify 
such variations ? The three Chaldee versions, On- 
kelos, Jonathan, and the Jerusalem paraphrase, read 
JYaamah, which is the Arabic name for the ostrich ; 
Maimonides and the Talmud agree with them. 

The Night Hawk. — That a voracious bird is in- 
tended seems clear from the import of its name, 
which signifies violence. Bochart supposes it to be 
the male ostrich, and then the preceding word must 
be restricted to the female ostrich. The LXX and 
Vulgate not improperly make it the Night Owl, 
(Strix Orientalis,) which Hasselquist thus describes : 
" It is of the size of the common owl, aud lodges in 
the large buildings or ruins of Egypt and Syria, 
aud sometimes even in the dwelling-houses. The 
Arabs settled in Egypt call it Massasa, and the Syr- 
ians, Banu. *It is extremely voracious in Syria ; to 
such a degree, that if great care is not taken to shut 



BIRD 



[ 187 ] 



BIRD 



the windows at the coming on of night, he enters 
the houses and kills the children ; the women, there- 
fore, are very much afraid of him." 

The Cuckoo. — The strength of the versions is in 
favor of the sea-view ; the original name may de- 
note a slender, lean bird ; but the sea-mew, as a water- 
bird, seems to be very ill placed in this part of the 
list. "The Rhaad, or Sqf-Saf, is a granivorous and 
gregarious bird, which wanteth the hinder toe. There 
are two species of it ; the smaller whereof is of the 
size of an ordinary pullet, but the larger is near as 
big as the Hoobaara, differing also from the lesser in 
having a black head, with a tuft of dark blue feathers 
immediately below it. The belly of them both is 
white, the back and the wings of a buff color, spot- 
ted with brown ; whilst the tail is lighter, marked all 
along with black transverse streaks. The beak and 
the legs are stronger than in the partridge kind. 
Rhaad, which denotes thunder, in the language of this 
country, is supposed to be a name that hath been 
given to this bird from the noise it maketh in spring- 
ing from the ground ; as Saf-Sqf, the other name, 
very naturally expresses the beating of the air, when 
it got upon the wing ;" — "And is not unlike in name 
to the Sahaph, or Sah-hqf, which, in Lev. xi. 16, we 
translate Cockow." (Shaw's Travels, p. 252. fol. 
edit. Note.) Dr. Geddes renders, "the Horn-Owl ;" 
but is this distinct enough from the foregoing ? 

The Hawk, after his kind. — This bird seems to be 
strangely placed here ; we had kites of all sorts in 
the former lists ; (verse 14.) now, after the ostrich, 
and the owl, birds of no flight comparatively, we 
have the hawks, a genus much more likely to have 
been included before, following the eagles and vul- 
tures. The ibis, a bird so common in Egypt, could 
hardly be omitted in the list ; or, can it be the plov- 
er? Hasselquist mentions the plover of Egypt, 
and the three-toed plover. We should seem to want 
a wild bird. If Mr. Bruce's Abou Hannes (vol. v. p. 
172.) be, is he supposes, the ancient Ibis of Egypt, 
perhaps it still retains the Hebrew name JVefe, for 
Abou is merely the Arabic word for father, and Han- 
nes resembles the Hebrew appellation here used, q. 
han-Netz. He begins his account of the Abou 
Hannes by saying, "The ancient and true name of 
this bird seems to be lost ; the present is fancifully 
given to it," &c. Perhaps it is rather disguised 
than lost ; hut this is conjecture, and nothing more. 
This bird is not now found in Egypt, though an- 
ciently it was worshipped there, and was very nume- 
rous ; it is therefore not the ibis of Hasselquist. The 
Arabic title, father, is probably a vestige of the ancient 
idolatry, of which this bird was the object. [But aft 
the ancient versions favor the hawk. R. 

The Little Owl. — Such is the translation of the 
LXX, Aquila, Theodotion, and Jerome ; but why- 
should the owl be introduced here ? he was named 
in the former verse. Our translators seem to have 
thought the owl a convenient bird, as we have three 
owls in two verses. Dr. Geddes thinks this bird is 
the cormorant, and that the following is the sea-gull ; 
but we incline to transpose them. It begins the list 
of water-birds, whatever bird it be. Bochart sup- 
poses it to be the pelican. 

The Cormorant. — Dr. Geddes renders, the "sea- 
gull ;" and observes, " That this is a plunging bird, I 
have little doubt. Some modern critics think it is 
the Pelican Bassanus of Linnaeus. The Chaldee 
and Syriac versions, fish-catcher, favor this rendering ; 
nor less the Greek Cataractes, which; according to 
Aristotle, draws for its food fishes from the bottom 



of the sea." This seems to be a clear description of 
the cormorant, which certainly is one of the best of 
plungers ; and lives wholly on fish ; moreover, this 
bird in some parts of Asia is used as fish-catcher for 
its master, who, by putting a collar round its neck, 
prevents it from swallowing the fish it has caught, 
which the bird, therefore, brings to the boat, and is 
afterwards fed with a part of its prey. To tins also 
agrees the description of Aristotle. Suidas says, 
" the Cataractes is a kind of sea bird ;" Aristotle 
says, "smaller than a hawk." Appian (in Ixeuticis) 
describes the Cataractes exactly according to the 
manner of the Gannet, or Soland goose, on the coast 
of Scotland. At any rate the Hebrew legislator in- 
tended a water-bird ; and therefore the impropriety 
of rendering the preceding and following bird "owl" 
is evident. 

The Great Owl. — This is strangely placed, after 
the little owl, and among water-birds. The LXX 
render Ibis ; and the place seems to be very proper 
for the Ibis ; which yet is not likely to be the ancient 
Ibis of Egypt, but that which in later ages received 
the name. The following is Hasselquist's account 
of this bird : — "The Ardea Ibis is about the size of a 
raven-hen. It is found in Lower Egypt, especially 
in places not overflowed by the Nile; and also in 
those from which the water is withdrawn. He feeds 
on insects and small frogs, which abound in Egypt, 
both before and after the inundation of the Nile ; in 
which he is of great service to the country. They 
assemble morning and evening, especially in the 
gardens, in such great numbers, that the palm-trees 
are covered with them. When he reposes himself, 
he sits upright, so as to cover his feet with his tail, 
and to straighten his neck and breast." As a bird of 
this character and description suits the situation as- 
signed him here, it is much preferable, at any rate, 
to "the great owl." [But the Chaldee and Syriac 
versions make it the common " owl," in which they 
are followed by Bochart. In Isaiah xxxiv. 11, also, 
this bird is mentioned with the raven, as inhabiting 
a desert. R. 

The Swan. — This bird, in Hebrew Tinshemeth, is 
extremely doubtful ; the LXX render Porphyrion, or 
purple hen, which is a water-bird, not unlike in form 
to those which have preceded it. His name is de- 
rived from his general color. Dr. Geddes observes, 
that " the root signifies to breathe out, to respire, if 
etymology were our guide, it would point to a well 
known quality in the swan, that of being able to 
respire a long time with his bill and neck under 
water, and even plunged in the mud." The conjec- 
ture of Michaelis may not be improbable, "that it is 
the goose, which every one knows is remarkable for 
its manner of breathing out, or hissing, when pro- 
voked ; or even when under a small degree of ap- 
prehension, without being provoked. Michaelis 
says, (p. 221.) " What makes me conjecture this is, 
that the same Chaldee interpreters, who, in Leviti- 
cus, render Obija, do not employ this word in Deut- 
eronomy, but substitute 'the ichite Kak? which, ac- 
cording to Buxtorf, denotes the goose." Perhaps 
Egypt has birds of the wild-goose kind ; one of 
which is here alluded to. Norden (vol. ii. p. 36.) 
mentions " a goose of the Nile, whose plumage was 
extremely beautiful. It was of an exquisite aro- 
matic taste, smelled of ginger, and had a great deal 
of flavor." Can a bird of this kind be the Hebrew 
Tinshemeth ? 

The Pelican ; in Hebrew Kaat, in the eastern 
versions, Kik, Kok, or Kak. As the preceding bird 



BIRD 



L 138 ] 



BIRD 



was tailed the white Kak, it seems to suppose a simi- 
larity between that and this, through it infers a differ- 
ence of color. The Talmud describes it as a water- 
bird, with a long neck ; and it also inhabits deserts, 
Isa. xxxiv. 11 ; Zeph. ii. 14 ; Ps. cii. 6. The LXX 
read Palecas, and the Vulgate, Onocrotalus ; on the 
whole this bird is pretty well determined. 

The Gier-Eagle.— No eagle is a water-bird, and 
for this reason, were there no other, in this list of 
water-birds, we ought not to expect an eagle. Most 
interpreters, however, are willing to render the He- 
brew Racham by that kind of Egyptian vulture 
which is now called Rachami, and is abundant in 
the streets of Cairo, Vultur percnopterus. The 
description which Hasselquist gives of this bird is 
horrible ; but, especially, it does not agree with a 
ivater-bird, which is here wanted: "It is hardly ever 
seen in the fields, or around the lakes ; it is an im- 
pure bird, and a carrion-eater." Dr. Geddes says, 
" It is not easy to conceive how this bird came by 
its name, Racham." By tracing it, however, we may 
perhaps advance some way toward ascertaining the 
bird. Jonathan and the Syrian interpreter translate, 
Serakreka; Onkelos, Jerakreka ; the Talmud, Sera- 
krak. Dr. Shaw mentions " the Shaga-rag, of the 
bigness and shape of a jay, though with a smaller 
bill, and shorter legs. The back is brownish ; the 
head, neck, and belly of light green ; and upon the 
wings and tail there are several spots or rings of a 
deep blue. It makes a squalling noise ; and builds 
in the banks of the Shelliff, Booberak, and other 
rivers." This description approaches that of the 
king-fisher, or Alcyone ; the name is sufficiently co- 
incident with those of the versions ; and if the Al- 
cyone may represent the Racham, we see at once that 
it is a water-bird ; and the stories of this bird's ten- 
der affection unite in the character of the Racham. 
"The king-fisher frequents the banks of rivers, J.nd 
feeds on fish. To compare small things with great, 
it takes its prey after the manner of the osprey, 
balancing itself at a certain distance over the water for 
a considerable space, then, darting below the surface, 
brings the prey up in its feet. It makes its nest in 
holes in the sides of the cliffs. The nest is very 
fcetid, by reason of the remains of fish brought to 
feed the young." (Pennant's British Zoology, vol. 
ii. p. 247.) See Ovid, (Metam. lib. xi.) for the ten- 
derness of the Alcyone. Also Theoc. Idyll, vii. 57. 
Virg. Georg. iii. 338. Silius Ital. lib. xiv. 275. There 
are many kinds of Alcyones ; that some are known 
in Egypt we are informed by Hasselquist, who gives 
this account of them: "Alcedo Rudis frequents the 
banks of the Nile, and takes the fish by thrusting his 
long bill into the water like the gull. Alcedo Mgyp- 
tica is found in Lower Egypt, makes his nest on the 
date-trees, and the sycamores, which grow around 
Cairo. Feeds on frogs, insects, and fish which it 
finds in the fields. Its voice resembles that of the 
raven." Without determining on the probability of 
this conjecture, we may be sure that the Rachami of 
Cairo is not the Racham of Moses ; as a bird so well 
known, and hardly capable of being lost, would cer- 
tainly have been acquiesced in by commentators, 
were it the bird designed, notwithstanding the re- 
marks of Bruce, vol. v. 163, &c. 

The Stork. — It is pretty well agreed that the He- 
brew Chasidah is either the stork or the heron; the 
stork is by much the more probable ; and indeed, as 
the heron is not a bird of passage, which the stork is 
well known to be, we may acquiesce in this bird as 
the Chasidah. 



The Heron. — This bird should rather be included 
among the storks, as it resembles them closely. As 
commentators are quite at a loss on this subject, in- 
somuch that Dr. Geddes retains the original word, 
" Anaphas of every kind," we shall be excused if 
we extract from Dr. Shaw the description of a bird 
which answers to what the passage and order re- 
quire. It is probable some bird very near akin to 
this was the reference of the sacred writer. " The 
Boo-onk, or long-neck, is of the bittern kind, some- 
what less than the lapwing. The neck, the breast, 
and the belly are of a light yellow ; but the back 
and upper part of the wings are of a jet black. The 
tail is short ; the feathers of the neck are long, and 
streaked with white, or a light yellow. The bill, 
which is three inches long, is green, in fashion like 
the stork's ; and the legs, which are short and slen- 
der, are of the same color. In walking and search- 
ing for food, it throweth out its neck seven or eight 
inches ; whence the Arabs call it Boo-onk, the long- 
neck, or, the father of the neck." This is reckoned 
by the doctor among water-birds ; it seems to be a 
smaller bird, but allied in form and manners to the 
kinds under prohibition. 

The Lapwing, Hoopoe, or Upupa, is generally 
considered as the bird designed by the original word 
Dukiphath, so called from its crest. It seems, that 
the Egyptians call the hoopoe, Kukupha, and the 
Syrians, Kikupha", both are near enough to the He- 
brew Dukiphath ; which, therefore, we conclude, is 
the hoopoe. 

The Bat. — This rendering has the authority of 
most versions and commentators. 

The number of birds prohibited by Moses is 
twenty, which he ranges most systematically. 
Those which we have tolerable authority to believe 
are correctly rendered, are distinguished by small 
capitals. 



Birds of the Air. 



Eng. Trans. 

Eagle 

Ossifrage, 

Osprey 

Vulture 

Kite 

Raven 



Owl 

Night Hawk 

Cuckoo 

Hawk 



Little Owl 

Cormorant 

Great Owl 

Swan 

Pelican 

Gier-Eagle 

Stork 

Heron 

Lapwing 



Birds of the Land. 



Birds of the Water. 



Probable Species. 

Eagle. 

Vulture. 

Black Eagle. 

Hawk. 

Kite. 

Raven. 



Ostrich. 
Night Owl. 
Saf-Saf. 
Ancient Ibis. 



Sea-Gull. 
Cormorant. 
Ibis Ardea. 
Wild Goose. 
Pelican. 
Alcyone. 
Stork. 
Long Neck. 
Hoopoe. 



Bat Bat. 

For further description see the respective articles. 



BIRD 



[ 189 J 



BIR 



Moses, to inculcate humanity on the Israelites, or- 
ders, if they find a bird's nest, not to take the dam 
with the young, but to suffer the old one to fly away, 
and to take the young only. 

Birds were offered in sacrifice on many occasions : 
in the sacrifices for sin, he who had not a lamb, or a 
kid, (Lev. v. 7, 8.) "might offer two turtles, or two 
young pigeons, one for a sin-offering, the other for 
a burnt-offering." Moses relates' at length the man- 
ner of the sacrifice of fowls in Lev. i. 14, 15, 16. 
Some interpreters insist, that the head of the bird 
was pulled off ; others, that there was only an open- 
ing made with the larger finger-nails, between the 
head and the throat, without separating entirely the 
head from the body. The text does not intimate 
what was done with the head, if it were separated. 
It is observed, that when Abraham offered birds 
(Gen. xv. 10.) for a burnt-offering, he did not divide 
them, but placed them entire on the other victims. 
In other places, where Moses speaks of the sacrifice 
of birds, he does not command the head to be pluck- 
ed off. (See Lev. v. 7, 8.) When a man who had 
been smitten with a leprosy was healed, he came to 
the entrance of the camp of Israel, and the priest 
went out to inspect him, whether he were entirely 
cured, Lev. xiv. 5, 6. After this inspection, the lep- 
rous person came to the door of the tabernacle, and 
offered two living sparrows, or two pure birds, those 
of which it was lawful to eat. He'made a wisp with 
branches of cedar and hyssop, tied together with a 
thread, or scarlet riband ; and after he had filled an 
earthen pot with running water, that the blood of 
the bird might be mingled with it, the priest, dipping 
the bunch of hyssop and cedar into the water, 
sprinkled with it the leper who was healed ; after 
which, he set the living bird at liberty. 

In Palestine, dead bodies were sometimes left ex- 
posed to birds of prey, as appears from Scripture ; 
but, generally, they were buried in the evening. — ■ 
The ancients hunted birds; Baruch (iii. 17.) speak- 
ing of the kings of Babylon, says, " They had their 
pastime with the fowls of the air." Daniel tells 
Nebuchadnezzar, that " God had made the fowls of 
the air subject to him ;" (Dan. ii. 38.) very much as 
the art of hawking was formerly in great repute in 
Britain, as it continues to be in some parts abroad. 

The prophets speak often of birds of passage, of 
the swallow, and of the stork, that return to their 
habitation, < In allusion to this circumstance, God 
says that he will recall his captive people like a bird 
from a far country. The Lord, speaking of his peo- 
ple, says, " Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled 
bird ; the birds round about are against her : come 
ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to de- 
vour," Jer. xii. 9. A speckled, or striped bird, that 
is, unnaturally speckled, or striped, as if by having 
been dyed ; it being very conformable to the nature 
of birds, that such an appearance should draw to- 
gether the neighboring birds, (as an owl does, by 
day-light,) and that they should molest and injure 
the sufferer, often fatally. — Joseph Kimchi, who is 
followed by Calmet, takes the idea in a somewhat 
different sense, saying, a Chaldee word nearly re- 
lated, signifies to dip, or stain : — may the idea import 
here, a bird stained, or sprinkled with her own blood ? 
The LXX and Bochart translate the Hebrew — " Is 
not mine heritage become like a hyena against me ? 
Is not all mine heritage surrounded by wild beasts ?" 
and the latter justly observes, that the original will bear 
the sense of a ravenous wild beast ; while the Arabs 
call the hyena by a name enti »ly similar, and so may 



apply either to bird or to wild beast. In confirmation 
of this rendering, it is remarked, that this agrees weh 
with the foregoing verse, wherein the heritage is com- 
pared to a yelling lion. But may it not be said, that 
the prophet, having taken one metaphor from wild 
beasts, now selects another from among birds ? An 
owl by day-light is followed and provoked by num- 
bers, even of the smaller birds. May then this ex- 
pression signify a bird streaked, wounded, and 
sprinkled with its own blood, surrounded by ene- 
mies, who, themselves not being able completely to 
devour it, call on the beasts of the field to complete 
their purpose ? [The most suitable version of this 
passage seems to be the following : " Lo, a ravenous 
beast, a hyena, is my heritage ! lo, ravenous beasts 
are against it on every side !" i. e. the Jews are 
wild beasts, rather than men, but I will bring against 
them other wild beasts, viz. the Chaldeans, &c This 
comports well with verse 8, and also with what 
immediately follows. See Rosenmiiller Com. in 
Jerem. xii. 9. R. 

The Hebrew word zippor, translated generally 
sparrow, is likewise taken for any small bird. The 
Preacher, speaking of old men, says, (Eccl. xii. 4.) 
" They rise up at the voice of the bird," that is, very 
early. The Greek, ornis, signifies a bird, a hen ; and 
the translator of Origen has used pullet for bird. 

One of the engravings given under the article Al- 
tar has shown that the Ibis, a kind of stork, was so 
venerated in Egypt, as to be an allowed inmate in 
sacred structures : something of the same kind oc- 
curs also in Persia, for Thevenot says, (p. 122.) 
" Within a mosque, at Oudjioun, lyes interred the 
son of a king, called Schah-Zadeb-Imam-Dgiafer, 
whom they reckon a saint ; the dome is rough cast 
over ; before the mosque there is a court, well plant- 
ed over with high plane-trees, on which we saw a 
great many storks., that haunt thereabout all the year 
round." This should be compared with the reason- 
ing at the close of the article referred to. 

BIRTH is taken for the natural descent of off- 
spring from its parent : figuratively, New Birth im- 
ports an entire change of principles, manners and 
conduct. See Regeneration. 

There have been great difficulties started, on the 
nature of the instrument rendered stools in our trans- 
lation, Exod. i. 16. "And the king of Egypt said to 
the Hebrew midwives, When ye do the office of a 
midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon 
the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him ; but 
if it be a daughter, then she shall live." According 
to this rendering, the women in labor were to be 
seated on stools, for their more easy delivery. Now, 
(1.) this is contrary to the attitude adopted in the 
East for women in labor, which is standing; (2.) 
the Hebrew word d^jn, obnayim, dual, implies, 
from its very etymology, instruments of stone ; which 
surely would not be adapted for such occasions. 
[The difficulty, however, is avoided by a correct 
translation of the passage, as follows: "When ye 
deliver the Hebrew women, and ye look upon the 
bathing-troughs, (i. e. upon the children while bath- 
ing them,) if it be a son, ye shall kill him, etc." Not 
but that the midwives would know the sex of the 
child before they came to bathe it ; but the intention 
and spirit of the command seem to be, that they 
should destroy the male infants while thus bathing 
them, by drowning them privately, or as if by acci- 
dent. That the word is in the dual form, may have 
arisen from the circumstance that such a laver was 
composed of two stones, one of which served as a 



I 



BIRTH 



[ 190 ] 



BIRTH 



cover. A practice entirely similar is described by 
Thevenot, (ii. p. 98.) as prevailing at the Persian 
court. R.] " The kings of Persia are so afraid of 
being deprived of that power which they abuse, and 
are so apprehensive of being dethroned, that they 
destroy the children of their female relations, when 
they are brought to bed of boys, by putting them into 
an earthen trough, where they suffer them to starve :" 
that is, we suppose, under pretence of preparing to 
wash them, they let them pine away, or contrive to 
destroy them in the water. 

This expression of Thevenot carries the matter 
further than most authors whom we have perused. 
That eastern sultans have occasionly deprived, and 
still do occasionally deprive, children born in their 
seraglios of life, directly after their birth, even though 
themselves be the fathers, is well authenticated : we 
find, also, that the internal management of a seraglio 
is greatly influenced, or directed, by the head sultana- 
mother ; who usually sways the black eunuchs, and 
who ofteu, as soon as the child is born, appoints its 
destruction, that it may not interfere with others, 
whom she favors in their prospects of the succession. 
But that this should extend to children of the sul- 
tan's female relations is, no doubt, to be referred to 
extraordinary circumstances, such as political suspi- 
cions, rather than to the regular course of things. 
"They pointed us to some handkerchiefs, like cra- 
vats, round the necks of certain figures, in number 
120, being representations of that emperor's children, 
which were all strangled in one day, by order of his 
successor." This was done in the seraglio at Con- 
stantinople, as we learn from Tournefort. The fact 
is confirmed by others ; and, indeed, it comes much 
to the same, if it be not rather less compassionate, to 
suffer a number of young persons to arrive at a cer- 
tain degree of maturity, and then to destroy them 
through political jealousy, than to put them out of 
their misery directly after they enter upon it, and to 
close at once that life which is destined to know lit- 
tle good, perhaps to know much evil ; and, very 
probably, to a melancholy dissolution, at a time when 
it is intimately susceptible both of hopes and of fears. 
See Judges ix. 5 ; 2 Kings x. 7. 

These remarks are introductory to the inferences, 
(1.) that children who are born from branches of 
blood royal, or in such stations as, by an ungracious 
forecast, may be regarded as capable of aspiring to 
the crown, or the government, are the objects of sus- 
picion ; not those of the commonalty in general. 
Children of grandees, or chiefs, that is, of leading 
men, are exposed to this danger, not those of peas- 
ants and slaves. Apply this to the situation of Israel 
in Egypt ; it was not every chdd, every son born 
throughout all Israel, as well those in the country of 
Goshen as those in the capital of Egypt, that was in- 
cluded in the directions of Pharaoh; but those of 
the chiefs, the principals ; for, had Pharaoh thus 
treated all Israel, he had undoubtedly raised a re- 
bellion ; he had diminished his stock of slaves, which 
was his property ; whereas, the depriving that peo- 
ple of chiefs answered his purpose equally well. 
He acted much according to the custom of his own 
court and seraglio, and did not very greatly extend 
it, except by including a distinct race, and a sojourn- 
ing people. (2.) It was impossible that two Hebrew 
midwives could officially attend all the women of 
Israel in Goshen, &c. but they might be sufficient 
for those in the royal city, at least for the wives of 
chiefs, and such, we apprehend, resided here only 
during tl air turn to share in the labors assigned to 



their people. These considerations coincide ivith 
the idea previously suggested, that Moses and Aaron 
were of note and rank, among the Israelites, by birth 
and by natural condition ; and they agree perfectly 
with the account of Josephus, who relates that the 
birth of Moses was predicted, as of a child who 
should wear the crown of Pharaoh, taking it from 
him : that is, Pharaoh feared some illustrious youth 
would rise up to destroy him, and to deliver Israel, 
which fear became his torment. Pharaoh, being 
deluded by the midwives, "directed all his people," 
his officers, his superintendents, his guards, &,c. to 
watch the Israelites, men as well as women, and to 
scrutinize strictly what rites of circumcision were 
going forward, as these indicated the birth of boys ; 
and, on discovering such male infants, they should 
drown them in the Nile; meaning, infants in and 
around the royal city ; for in the open country ol 
Goshen, this watching had been impossible, the ex- 
ecution of the order had been attended with hazard 
to the officers, opportunities of concealment were in- 
finitely more numerous, and the mention of the river 
seems to iinply nearness to it, which might not be 
the fact in some parts of Goshen ; and could not be 
the fact in any great part of it, if the situation usually 
assigned to that country be adopted, that is, between 
Egypt and the Red sea. 

These extracts serve to illustrate the conduct of 
Herod; first, toward his own sons; (see Herod ;) 
secondly, toward the infants at Bethlehem ; for, if 
the kings of Persia destroy the infants of their own 
relations, and if the king of Egypt, fearing the birth 
of Moses, was peculiarly jealous and vigilant, where 
is the wonder, that Herod destroyed the infants of 
Bethlehem, under the idea, that among them was 
concealed a pretender to his crown ? He did no 
more than was approved and practised in the East 
in such cases ; nay, perhaps he might applaud his 
own clemency in that he did not destroy the parents 
also, with their elder offspring, but only infants en- 
tering on their second year. 

In confirmation of the proposition, that the chil- 
dren, not the mothers, were washed in stone vessels 
containing water, Mr. Taylor has given in his Frag- 
ments an engraving from an ornamental basso re- 
lievo on a sepulchral urn, which shows a midwife 
in the act of placing a new-born infant in a vessel, 
apparently of the same nature, and for the same pur- 
pose, as the Hebrew laver : her intention is, evident- 
ly, to wash the child ; while the mother sits in an 
enfeebled attitude, looking on. An attendant holds 
a capacious swather, to receive the child after wash- 
ing ; and the notice of the time of the child's birth, 
and perhaps its horoscope, occupies a female, who 
stands behind, and who inscribes it with a stylus on 
a globe. This representation, he remarks, proves 
that children were committed to the midwife for the 
purpose of being washed ; Pharaoh might, therefore, 
say to the Hebrew midwives, or to these Egyptian 
women who were midwives to the Hebrew women, 
as was the opinion of Josephus, "When you are 
engaged in washing the Israelite infants, if they be 
boys, contrive to drown them in the water." This 
order not succeeding to his mind, he directed Lis 
officers to seize, and to drown by force, whatever 
young Israelites (boys) they could lay their hands on. 

The ancients bestowed considerable attention on 
the washing of a new-born infant ; and, indeed, it 
was in some degree ceremonious. "The Lacede- 
monians," says Plutarch, in his Life of Lycurgus, 
" washed the new-born infant in wine, (principally 



BIRTH 



I ™1 ] 



BIR 



no doubt, persons of property,) meaning thereby to 
strengthen the infant ;" but generally they washed 
the child in water; warmed, perhaps,* in Greece; 
cold, perhaps, in Egypt ; or according to the season. 
We see, then, that the washing of a child newly born 
was a business of some consideration : how easily, 
therefore, did the hearers, and readers, of Christ and 
his apostles comprehend the phrases " the washing 
of regeneration ;" or " the new birth ;" the being 
born "a second time, of water;" the initiatory, and, 
as it were, the revivijicatory, ordinance of baptism ! 

The above mentioned engraving suggests another 
subject of inquiry, respecting the swaddling clothes 
appropriate to infants ; an article but imperfectly 
known by us. Our translation has, as it may be 
thought somewhat improperly, used the term swad- 
dling bands ; which implies a number of small 
pieces — narrow rolls — strips — bands : but the true 
import of the word is, more probably, that of a large 
cloth or wrapper ; such as the female figure in the 
engraving holds up, extended, ready to receive the 
child ; an envelope of considerable capacity and am- 
plitude. With this idea agree what accounts have 
reached us of this part of attention to children among 
the ancients : " The child being washed, it was wrap- 
ped in a cloth, woven for this purpose by the mother 
in the time of her virginity ; as may be conjectured 
by that which Creusa made for Ion." This, we 
may conceive, was lined throughout for greater 
warmth ; we may suppose, too, the lining was soft 
and comfortable, while the outside was richly orna- 
mented. " On this side," that is, the outside of it, 
"the Erecthida? had worked the representation of 
Medusa's head, and the snakes of her hair ; besides 
two dragons, drawn in gold, with other ornaments." 
This description evidently implies that considerable 
labor and care had been bestowed on this article ; 
so that a handsome cloth of the kind could be pro- 
curable only by a parent in easy circumstances. But, 
however that might be, the inference is clear, that 
this" cloth was large ; that it was not properly bands, 
but of some extent ; otherwise, it could not have 
contained all these decorations, nor would it, we 
may suppose, have been esteemed worthy of receiv- 
ing them. 

Let us combine the supposition of size, or ampli- 
tude of dimension, with a swaddling cloth ; while 
we examine places where the word occurs in Scrip- 
ture. — Job xxxviii. 8, 9. " Who closed the opening 
made by the sea, in its bursting forth as from the 
womb ; when I placed my cloud as its vestment, 
and thick darkness as its swaddling cloth ?" — when 1 
enveloped it in thick clouds, for its immediate cloth- 
ing, and surrounded it by extensive darkness, as a 
wrapper — involving it wholly. Surely, the idea of 
a broad, ample covering better suits this passage 
than that of narrow belts, or bands. 

Having hinted that not every woman could pro- 
cure this ample covering, it remains to connect the 
idea of a mother in easy circumstances with the fol- 
lowing passages. Lam. ii. 20. " Behold, O Lord, 
and consider to whom thou hast done this : shall the 
women eat their fruit, their little ones whom they 
have swaddled" in costly robes ; and to whom they 
have paid every attention that delicacy could sug- 
gest to persons of consequence ; persons fit to be as- 
sociated with the " priest and the prophet," honor- 
able by condition of life. Surely, this raises the sen- 
timent, and is perfectly coincident with a similar af- 
flictive prophecy, (Deut. xxviii. 56, 57 ; Jer. xix. 9.) 
and with the well-known melancholy history in Jo- 



sephus. So, in the same chapter, verse 22, " those 
whom I had swaddled, with great care and solici- 
tude, and had reared them to a hopeful time of life, 
my enemy hath consumed." Though nature knows 
no difference between the loss of a child to a poor 
person, and the same loss to a rich person, yet poe- 
try heightens its figure, by contrasting former deli- 
cacy with present distress ; and such seems to be 
the mode adopted by the prophet in this passage, to 
increase the pathos of his representation. [The He- 
brew word in these passages is not that which com- 
monly signifies to swaddle, although so translated ; 
but it means rather to carry on the arm, to dandle, &c. 
The above remarks, therefore, are applicable only to 
the English version. R. 

Ezek. xvi. 4. " And as for thy nativity" it was the 
very reverse of respectable ; " for in the day thou 
wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou 
washed in water, to supple thee : in salting thou wast 
not salted ; in swaddling thou wast not swaddled" — in 
a large, capacious swaddling cloth, as a rich person's 
child would have been. This is certainly the sense 

of the prophet. LXX, xal iv rr/ragyuroic oiiz ianaoya- 

vm-9-ijg. The idea may be applied to an occurrence 
in the New Testament ; of the propriety of which 
application the reader will judge with candor. 
Luke ii. 7. " The virgin mother brought forth her 
son, the first-born ; and she enveloped him in an 
ample swaddling robe, such as befitted, at least in 
some degree, the heir of David's house ; and she 
took that kind of care of him which persons in com- 
petent circumstances take of their new-born infants." 
If this be a fact, observe, how it became a sign to 
the shepherds : "You shall find the babe wrapped 
in a handsome swaddling cloth — though lying in a 
manger," Luke ii. 12. For aught we know, they 
might have found in Bethlehem, then crowded to 
excess, a dozen or a score of infants lying in man- 
gers ; but none with those contradictory marks of 
dignity and indignity ; of noble descent, and of per- 
sonal inconvenience; of respectable station, and of 
refuge-taking poverty ; in short, the comfortable and 
lined swaddling cloth, which no doubt the mother 
brought with her, and the rocky, inconvenient, out- 
cast-looking residence in which for the time being 
the object of their patriotic hopes, and of their pious 
researches, was secluded. This carries us a little 
further : if it were customary for " mothers in their 
virgin state" to work, and ornament, this article of 
future expectancy, and if the Virgin Mary had actu- 
ally worked such a one, then she was not without 
leisure, means, and skill equal to the performance ; 
consequently, she could not have been excessively 
poor, nor under the control of others, that is, in ser- 
vitude ; but must have enjoyed advantages not be- 
low those of the medium rank of women in her time 
and nation. All this, however, is only conjecture. 

BIRTHRIGHT, the privilege of first-born son. 
(See First-born.) Among the Hebrews, as, in- 
deed, among most other nations, the first-born en- 
joyed particular privileges ; and wherever polygamy 
was tolerated, it was highly necessary to fix them. 
(See Deut. xxi. 15 — 17.) They consisted, first, in a 
right to the priesthood, which, before the law, was 
in the eldest of the family ; but when brethren sepa- 
rated into families, each became priest and head over 
his own house. Secondly, the birthright consisted 
in receiving a double portion of the father's property 
above his brethren. This is explained two ways : 
some suppose that half the whole inheritance was 
given to the elder brother, and the other half shared 



BIT 



I 192 1 



BIT 



in equal parts among the rest. But the rabbins in- 
form us, on the contrary, that the first-born took for 
his share twice as much as any of his brethren. If 
the first born died before the division v,f the father's 
inheritance, and left any children, his right devolved 
to his heirs. First-born daughters were net invest- 
ed with these privileges. Esau sold his birthright 
to Jacob, who, in consequence, had a right to de- 
mand from his father the privileges annexed to it ; 
Jacob transferred the right of the first-born from 
Reuben to Joseph; and David from Adonijah to 
Solomon. See Inheritance. 

BISHLAM MITHRIDATH, one of the king of 
Persia's officers on this sid« the Euphrates, who 
wrote to king Artaxerxes, desiring him to forbid 
the Jews to rebuild the temple, Ezra iv. 7. 

BISHOP, in Greek, 'Emaxonos, in Latin, episcopus, 
an overseer, one who has the inspection and direction 
of any thing. Nehemiah speaks of the overseer of 
the Levites at Jerusalem : (Neh. xi. 22.) Uzzi had 
the inspection of the other Levites. The Hebrew 
pdkid, rendered episcopus, has the same signification. 
The Athenians gave this name to the person who 
presided in their courts of justice ; and the Digest 
gives it to those magistrates who had the inspection 
of the bread market, and other things of that nature : 
but the most common acceptation of the word bish- 
op, is that which occurs Acts xx. 28. and in Paul's 
epistles, (Phil. i. 1.) where it signifies the pastor of a 
church. Peter calls Jesus Christ, "the Shepherd 
and Bishop of our souls," 1 Pet. ii. 25. Paul de- 
scribes the qualities requisite in a bishop, 1 Tim. iii. 
2; Tit. i. 7, &c.' 

BITHRON, 2 Sam. ii. 29. This word means the 
same as Bether, which see. It probably denotes 
here a region of hills and valleys, and not any definite 
place. R. 

BITHYNIA, (1 Pet. i. 1.) a province of Asia Mi- 
nor, in the northern part of that peninsula ; on the 
shore of the Euxine, having Phrygia and Galatia to 
the south. It is famous as being one of the prov- 
inces to which the apostle Peter addressed his first 
epistle ; also, as having been under the government 
of Pliny, who describes the manners and characters 
of the Christians there, about A. D. 106 ; also for the 
holding of the most celebrated council of the Christian 
church in the city of Nice, its metropolis, about A. D. 
325. It should seem to be, with some justice, con- 
sidered as a province taught by Peter ; and we read 
(Acts xvi. 7.) that when Paul attempted to go into 
Bithynia, the Spirit suffered him not. It is directly 
opposite to Constantinople. 

BITTER. BITTERNESS. The Lord says to 
the Jews, " I will send the Chaldeans against you, 
that bitter nation," Hab. i. 6. " Take care, lest peo- 
ple who are bitter of soul run upon thee," Judg. 
xviii. 25. David in his flight (2 Sam. xvii. 8.) was 
accompanied by men bitter of soul, or chafed in their 
minds as a bear bereaved. The energy of these ex- 
pressions is sufficiently discernible ; denoting vexa- 
tion, anger, fury. Sometimes bitterness of soul sig- 
nifies only grief, 1 Sam. i. 10 ; 2 Kings iv. 27. The 
waters of jealousy, which women suspected of adul- 
tery were obliged to drink, are called bitter waters, 
Numb. v. 19. (See Jealousy.) "Bitter envying," 
(Jam. iii. 14.) denotes mortal and permanent hatred. 
King Hezekiah in his hymn says (Isa. xxxviii. 17.) 
that, "in the midst of his peace, he was attacked 
with great bitterness," a very dangerous disease. 

BITTER HERBS. The Hebrews were com- 
manded to eat the Passover with bitter herbs; (Exod. 



xii. 8.) but what kind of herbs or salad a intended 
by the Hebrew word merorim, which literally signi- 
fies bitters, is not well known. The Jews think 
cichory, wild lettuce, hoarhound, and the like. 
Whatever may be implied under the term, whether 
bitter herbs, or bitter ingredients in general, it was 
designed to remind them of their severe and bitter 
bondage in Egypt, from which God was now about 
to deliver thein. 

BITTERN, a fowl, about the size of a heron, and 
of that species. Nineveh and Babylon became a 
possession for the bittern and other wild birds, (Isa. 
xiv. 23; xxxiv.il; Zeph. ii. 14.) according to the 
English Bible, but it is very doubtful whether this 
be correct. 

" Three elements," says Scheuzer, " may dispute 
the property of the kip-pod ; earth, air, and water." 
The weight of interpreters is in favor of the hedge- 
hog, or the porcupine, which may stand at the head 
of the hedge-hog species. It must be acknowledg- 
ed, that the Arabic terms kenfud, kunphud, canfed, 
&c. sufficiently resemble the Hebrew kippod, which, 
possibly, was pronounced with n inserted, as lampad, 
written lappad, &c. It may be thought different 
from the common hedge-hog, because the manners 
of that creature do not agree with those attributed to 
the kippod; for the hedge-hog is resident in more 
verdant and cultivated places than we are led to 
place the kippod in. It appears, however, from Dr. 
Russel's Aleppo, (vol. ii. p. 159.) that the porcupine 
is called kunfud : " It is sometimes, though rarely, 
brought to town by the peasants." " The notion of 
his darting his quills still prevails in Syria. I never 
met with any person who had seen it ; but it stands 
recorded in books, and th fact is not doubted." 
" The hedge-hog is regarded by the natives as the 
same species ; is found in the fields in abundance, 
but serves only for medicinal purposes." It is con- 
cluded, from these hints, that the porcupine is wilder 
than the hedge-hog, in Syria. The same inference 
arises from comparing the accounts of these animals 
given by Buffon ; hedge-hogs he placed in his gar- 
den : and they are kept in kitchens as devourers of 
black beetles ; they abound most in temperate cli- 
mates ; the north being too cold for them. The 
porcupine is a native of the hottest climates of Africa 
and India, perhaps is originally of the East, yet can 
live and multiply in less sultry situations, such as 
Persia, Spain, and Italy. Agricola says, the species 
has been in late ages transported into Europe. It is 
now found in Spam, and in the Apennine moun- 
tains, near Rome. Pliny and the naturalists say, 
that the porcupine, like the bear, hides itself in win- 
ter. It eats crums of bread, cheese, fruits, and, 
when at liberty, roots, and wild grain ; in a garden it 
makes great havoc, and eats pulse with greediness ; 
it becomes fat toward the close of summer, and its 
flesh is not bad eating. 

We should now inquire what associates Scripture 
has given to the kippod. It is connected with " pools 
of water," in Isa. xiv. 23, according to our transla- 
tion. This we shall consider hereafter. In chap, 
xxxiv. 11, it is associated with Kaat, the pelican: 
with Ianshuph, which is supposed to be the lesser 
bittern or Ardea Ibis ; and with Oreb, or the raven 
kind ; together with thorns, nettles, and brambles ; 
with Tannim, and with ostriches. If only water- 
birds had been connected with it here, we might 
have been led to conclude that it denoted a water- 
bird also ; but as ravens and ostriches, to say noth- 
ing of the thorns and nettles, are found in dry places 



JOSEPH MAKES HIMSELF KNOWJN TO HIS BRETHREN. 



BITTERN 



[ 193 ] 



B L A 



nothing prevents this from being an animal of dry 
places also. In Zephaniah ii. 14, the kippod is coupled 
only with the Kaat, or pelican ; but, though the peli- 
can be a water-bird, yet she builds her nest in open 
places distant from water ; and the prophet had said, 
in the former verse, "Nineveh shall be dry like a 
wilderness ;" so that creatures inhabiting dry places, 
may readily be supposed to reside there. This as- 
sociation, therefore, is not conclusive for a water- 
bird ; though it must be admitted that it looks rather 
like a bird of some kind as a fellow to the pelican, 
with which it is matched. It appears, then, that 
both Babylon and Nineveh are threatened with des- 
olation, and with becoming the residence of the 
kippod. To ascertain this kippod, Mr. Taylor has 
taken some pains to discover what creatures breed 
in ruins in these countries. The result has proved 
not very satisfactory. Storks, owls, bats, and a bird, 
which is probably the locust bird, are all he finds 
identified. Bats we might naturally expect in vaults 
and caverns ; but whether porcupines also, may be 
questioned. The following extracts are submitted 
to the reader ; if they do not determine the question, 
they may give hints for further inquiries. At Chytor 
— " The mines of above an hundred [temples] to this 
day remain of stone, white, and well polished, albeit 
now inhabited by storks, owls, bats, and like birds." 
— (G. Herbert, Travels, p. 95.) 

"Nineveh was built on the left shoar of the Tigris, 
upon Assyria side, being now only a heap of rubbish, 
extending almost a league along the river. There 
are abundance of vaults and caverns uninhabited ; 
nor could a man well conjecture, whether they were 
the ancient habitations of the people, or whether any 
houses were built upon them in former times ; for 
most of the houses in Turkie are like cellars, or else 
but one storie high." (Tavernier, book ii. p. 72.) 
M. Beauchamp, in his account of the ruins of Baby- 
lon, (European Magazine, May, 1792,) informs us, 
that " this place and the mount of Babel are com- 
monly called by the Arabs Mak-Couhe, that is, 'topsy- 
turvy ;' " which is almost the same as Thevenot 
mentions respecting Nineveh and its inhabitants ; 
and which, could we trace it to its origin, very prob- 
ably would be found deserving our notice. " The 
master mason led me along a valley — I found in it 
a subterranean canal — these ruins extend several 
leagues." Vaults and under-ground constructions 
then remain of ancient Babylon, and these may well 
afford shelter for bats. We understand that trees grow 
in parts of the space formerly occupied by Babylon ; 
and, if so, they may afford shelter for porcupines. 
Against this interpretation of kippod it must be ob- 
served, that in the Chaldee this word denotes a bird 
— taken for the bittern, as by our translators ; and so 
in the Talmud. The root of the word signifies, to 
draiv together, contract, shrink ; which, as applied to 
animals, teaches nothing ; for we cannot admit with 
Scheuzer, that "the beaver is what best agrees to 
me import of the word." It is probable that the 
porcupine does not inhabit dusty ruins, or dry or 
desert places ; but rather common lands or forests, 
where vegetables and grain may be its food : yet, as 
vegetables may grow where towns have stood, per- 
haps this is not a decisive objection. Moreover, this 
objection becomes still less decisive, if the remark of 
Bochart be correct, that the (now) pools of water are 
to be (hereafter) a possession for the kippod; and 
these " pools of water" are, according to the most 
probable notion of the word, artificial, or fish-ponds, 
as in Isa. xix. 10. If so, we may understand them 
25 



here of garden- canals, forming parts of pleasure 
grounds ; fed, no doubt, originally from the river ; 
and long after the destruction, or rather the aban- 
doning, of the city, retaining moisture enough to 
support vegetables, on which porcupines might feed. 
In fact, Babylon became a park, wherein the kings 
of Parthia hunted in after ages, and the same land 
which supported wild boars, might equally well sup- 
port other wild animals, including those native of 
hot climates, such as the porcupine undoubtedly is. 
In a former chapter, the prophet takes some pains 
to consort creatures of the dry desert with creatures 
of the watery marshes ; and from the local situation 
of Babylon, all these classes might dwell there 
together. 

It would have been fortunate, if the etymology of 
this word had afforded means of determining the 
creature intended ; as applied to the hedge-hog, it 
can only refer to his contracting or drawing himself 
together, at the approach of an enemy ; and perhaps 
this reference is sufficient. It is necessary only to 
add, that in Arabic, the class Kanfad, or Kenfud, in- 
cludes three kinds : — (1.) Kanfad al hari, the land- 
hedge-hog. — (2.) Kanfad al bachari, the sea-hedge- 
hog ; what we call the urchin, as indeed we call the 
former also by this name. — (3.) Kanfad al gebeli, the 
hedge-hog of the mountains ; which is, no doubt, the 
porcupine. Seeing, then, the determination of this 
language in favor of this word, can we do better than 
be guided by it in this instance ? Yet, with some re- 
luctance, as this is not precisely that creature which, 
on principles of arrangement, seem to answer the re- 
quisitions of every place in Scripture. 

We conclude, therefore, though wishing for fur- 
ther information, with the idea of Bochart : 

And I will make it [Babylon] a possession for the 

porcupine ; 
Even the garden-canals of water. 

The general reasoning of this article is now re- 
duced to a certainty, by the testimony of the late Mr 
Rich, who says expressly, in his "Memoir on Baby- 
lon," (p. 30.) " I found QUANTITIES OF PORCUPINE- 

quills ; and in most of the cavities are numbers of 
bats and owls." Quantities of quills imply the ex- 
istence of many porcupines, in these deserted des- 
olations. 

BITUMEN, a fat, combustible, oily matter, found 
in many places, particularly above Babylon, and in 
Judea, in the lake Asphaltites, or the Dead sea. Noah 
coated over the ark with bitumen ; (Gen. vi. 14.) the 
builders of the tower of Babel used it for a cement ; 
(Gen. xi. 3.) and the little vessel in which Moses was 
exposed, near the banks of the river Nile, was daub- 
ed over with it, Exod. ii. 3. See Asphaltus, and 
also under Babylonia, p. 137. 

BIZJOTHJAH, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 28. 

BIZTHA, (Esth. i. 10.) a eunuch at the court of 
Ahasuerus, or Xerxes. 

BLACKNESS or the face. We have an ex- 
pression, Joel ii. 6, " Before their approach [the 
locusts'] the people shall be much pained ; all faces 
shall gather blackness ;" which is also adopted by the 
prophet Nahum : (ii. 10.) "the heart melteth, the 
knees smite together, much pain is in all loins, and 
the faces of them all gather blackness." This phrase, 
which sounds uncouth to an English ear, is elucidat- 
ed by the following history, from Ockley's Hist, of 
the Saracens, (vol. ii. p. 319.) which we the rather 
introduce, as Mr. Harmer has referred this blackness 



BLE 



[ 194 ] 



BLI 



to the effect of hunger and thirst ; and Calmet, to a 
bedaubing of the face with soot, &c. a proceeding 
not very consistent with the hurry of flight, or the 
terror of distress. " Kumiel, the son of Ziyad, was 
a man of fine wit. One day Hejage made him come 
before him, and reproached him, because in such a 
garden, and before such and such persons, whom 
he named to him, he had made a great many im- 
precations against him, saying, the Lord blacken his 
face, that is, Jill him ivith shame and confusion ; and 
wished that his neck was cut off, and his blood shed." 
The reader will observe how perfectly this explana- 
tion agrees with the sense of the passages quoted 
above : to gather blackness, then, is equivalent to 
suffering extreme confusion, and being overwhelmed 
with shame, or with terror and dismay. 

BLASPHEMY. A man is guilty of blasphemy, 
when he speaks of God, or his attributes, injurious- 
ly ; when he ascribes such qualities to him, as do not 
belong to him, or robs him of those which do. The 
law sentences blasphemers to death, Lev. xxiv. 12 — 
16. Whosoever heard another blaspheming, and 
witnessed his offence, laid his hand on the criminal's 
head, to express that he was to bear the whole blame 
and punishment of his crime. The guilty person 
was led out of the city and stoned. 

BLASTUS, an officer of king Agrippa, who fa- 
vored the peace with Tyre and Sidon, Acts xii. 20. 

BLEMISHES were of various kinds on men, 
and also on animals. Blemishes, personal deformi- 
ties, excluded priests from performing their sacred 
functions: blemishes on animals excluded them 
from being offered on the altar, &c, Lev. xxii. 20, 
21, &c. ; xxiv. 19, 20 ; Deut. xv. 21. 

BLESS, BLESSING, is referred, (1.) to God, 
and, (2.) to man. Without doubt the inferior is 
blessed by the superior. When God blesses, he 
bestows that virtue, that efficacy, which renders his 
blessing effectual, and which his blessing expresses. 
His blessings are either temporal or spiritual, bodily 
or mental ; but in every thing they are productive of 
that which they import: whereas, the blessings of 
men are only good wishes, personal or official, and, 
as it were, a peculiar kind of prayer to the Author 
of all good, for the welfare of the subject of them. 
God's blessings extend into the future life ; but no 
gift of one man to another, even of a parent to his 
child, can exceed the limits of the present state. 
Blessing was an act of thanksgiving to God for his 
mercies ; or, rather, for that special mercy, which, at 
the time, occasioned the act of blessing; as for food, 
for which thanks were rendered to God, or for any 
other good. 

Those predictions of the ancient patriarchs, which 
we usually call blessings, are much rather prophetic 
hints or suggestions as to what should be the char- 
acter, disposition, or circumstances of those to whom 
they referred. They were probably grounded, in 
some degree, on observations made respecting the 
temper and conduct of the party himself who im- 
mediately received them. So, if Benjamin, son of 
Jac ob, were himself personally sharp, wolf-like, bold, 
predatory, his nature might be expected to descend 
in his posterity ; and so of others. But often, the 
spirit of prophecy prompted the mind of the speaker, 
writer, or composer, to utter sentiments which, in 
the event, were to be fulfilled strictly, literally, or 
verbally, yet in a manner different from what was 
most prominent on the mind of the speaker. So 
when Jacob says of Simeon and Levi, " I will dis- 
perse them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel ;" 



since he intended this dispersion by way of degrai- 
dation and punishment, it is not likely that he fore- 
saw that one tribe should furnish men of letters — 
writers, in the future kingdom of his descendants ; 
that the other should be invested with the priesthood, 
and thereby both be allotted into various districts, 
and cities, throughout the land of Israel : yet the 
fact was so ; and Providence accomplished his 
prophecy, by dispersing and scattering these tribes 
after a manner which, perhaps, did not occur to the 
mind of the dying patriarch, at the instant when he 
delivered the prediction. When Isaac foretold the 
different natures and properties of the countries 
which should be possessed by Jacob and by Esau, 
he did not confer on the persons of his sons any real 
possession ; he merely, as it were, divided to them, 
by prediction, the places of the future habitations of 
their posterity : and these places he described pro- 
phetically, and prophetically referred to the nations, 
rather than to the persons, of Jacob and Esau. 

Blessing is sometimes put for salvation- — for conse- 
cration — for a promise of future good — for the re- 
ception of a good — for a gift or present — for praise — 
for alms — for adoration — for a man's blessing him- 
self ; in short, it implies a felicity, either expected, 
promised, received, or bestowed. The manner of 
blessing is appointed in the Mosaic ritual, by the lift- 
ing up of hands. Our Lord lifted up his hands, and 
blessed his disciples. This action appears to have 
been constant: as the palm of the hand held up- 
wards, was precatory, so the palm turned outwards 
or downwards, was benedictory. Moses says to 
Aaron, "Thus shall ye bless the children of Israel, 
saying unto them, The Lord bless thee and keep 
thee ; the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, 
and be gracious unto thee ; the Lord lift up his coun- 
tenance unto thee, and give thee peace," Numb. vi. 
23. He pronounced these words standing, with a 
loud voice, and his hands elevated and extended. 
God ordains that, on the arrival of Israel in the 
promised land, the whole multitude should be con- 
vened between the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, 
and that blessings should be published on mount 
Gerizim, for those who should observe the laws of 
God, and curses on mount Ebal against the violators 
of those laws. This was performed by Joshua, af- 
ter he had conquered part of the land of Canaan, 
Josh. viii. 30, 31. 

BLESSING, Valley of. This was in the tribe 
of Judah, near the Dead sea and Engedi, not far 
from Tekoa, and was called the valley of Beracha, 
or Blessing, after the miraculous victory of Jehosha- 
phat over the confederated army of Ammon, Moab, 
and Edom, 2 Chron. xx.23— 26. 

BLIND. Blindness is sometimes taken for a real 
privation of sight, sometimes for dimness of sight ; 
so the blindness of the man in the gospel, who was 
born blind, and that of Tobit, were real : they had 
truly no sight. The men of Sodom, who endeavor- 
ed to find Lot's door, and could not ; (Gen. xix. 11.) 
and Paul, during the first three days of his being at 
Damascus, (Acts ix. 9.) lost the use of their sight only 
for a time ; the offices of their eyes were suspended. 
The LXX well represent the situation of the in- 
habitants of Sodom, by saying they were struck 
{aorasid, q. d. avidentid) with an inability of seeing, 
sightless. Moses says, (Lev. xix. 14.) "Thou shalt 
not put a stumbling block before the blind," which 
may be understood literally, or figuratively ; as 
if he recommended that charity and instruction 
should be shown to them who want light and coun 



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BLINDNESS 



sel, or to those who are in danger of going wrong ; 
to instruct the ignorant, &c. He says also, (Deut. 
xxvii. 18.) " Cursed be he who maketh the blind to 
wander out of his way ;" which may also be taken 
in the same manner. The Jebusites, to insult David, 
who besieged Jerusalem, mocked him, saying, (2 
Sam. v. 6.) " Thou shalt not come in hither, except 
thou take away the blind and the lame," as if they 
desired none but the blind and the lame to defend 
their city. Job says, (xxix. 15.) he had been eyes to 
the blind, had given good advice to those who need- 
ed it, had taken pains to set them right, who, through 
want of light and understanding, had gone astray. 
Our Saviour, almost in the same sense, says, (Matt, 
xv. 14.) " If the blind lead the blind, they will both 
fall into the ditch ;" designing to describe the pre- 
sumption of the Pharisees, who, blind as they were 
in the ways of God, yet pretended to lead others. 
He tells them, (John ix. 40, 41.) that he came into 
the world, that " they who see not might see, and 
that they who see might be made blind." The 
Pharisees, perceiving that this alluded to them, re- 
plied, " Are we blind also ?" He answered them, 
"If ye were blind, (naturally or inevitably, or did 
you acknowledge your ignorance,) ye should have 
no sin : but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin 
remaineth." A principal character of the Messiah 
predicted in the prophets is, that the eyes of the 
blind should be enlightened by him, Isaiah xxix. 18 ; 
xxxv. 5 ; xlii. 16. This, therefore, our Lord propos- 
ed to the observation of John's disciples, who came 
from their master, to inquire whether he were the 
person whom they expected. " Tell John," says he, 
"the blind see." The evangelists have preserved 
the memory of several miraculous cures, wrought by 
our Saviour on the blind. 

On the pool of Bethesda it has been suggested, 
that a great dimness of sight might be one degree 
of blindness ; or, at least, that a temporary suspen- 
sion of sight might be expressed by the term blind- 
ness ; other instances of such suspension might have 
been adduced in the Syrians, who were smitten in 
this manner by Elisha, 2 Kings vi. 18. 

It is also hinted in the article on Eastern Veils, 
that the face of Moses was covered with a veil, the 
effect of which was little different from a slight de- 
gree of blindness, or dimness of perception ; and 
this degree of blindness is, by the apostle, referred 
to the heart of the Jews ; (2 Cor. iii. 14.) that being, 
at present, under this veil ; but when it (that is, the 
heart of the nation) shall turn to the Lord, the veil 
shall be taken away — taken off, from round about it, 
ntQiaiQeirat. A few further thoughts on this subject 
may be acceptable, because it apparently contains 
an allusion to an eastern custom, of which the west- 
ern reader can have no conception. They are by 
Mr. Taylor. 

Sultan Coobsurroo mounted the throne by order 
of his grandfather ; his father opposed, defeated, and 
took him prisoner; "impaled many of his followers, 
and bid his son behold the men in whom he trusted." 
His son told him, "he should not have served him 
so .... he had no joy in life, after the beholding 
of so many gallant men dead." Notwithstanding, 
the king spared his life, casting him into prison, 
where his eyes were sealed up (by something put 
before them, tvhich might not be taken off) for the space 
of three years ; after which time that seal was taken 
away, that he might with freedom enjoy the light, 
though not his liberty." (Sir Thomas Roe's Em- 
bassy to India, p. 477.) Delia Valle (p. 29.) describes 



the same fact in terms somewhat different ; and, in- 
deed, without the foregoing explanation, his account 
might have led us into perplexity : — " He caused his 
eyes to be sewed up, as it is sometimes the custom 
here ; to the end to deprive him of sight, without exca- 
cating him, that so he might be unlit to cause any more 
commotions ; which sewing, if it continue long, they 
say it wholly causes loss of sight ; but after a while, 
the father caused this prince's eyes to be unripped 
again, so that he was not blinded, but saw again, and 
it was only a temporal [temporary] penance." Now, 
what could this be, that was thus put before the eyes 
of this young prince, and sealed, or sewed up, but a 
kind of hood, or veil, which covered his head and 
face, and most probably enclosed the whole upper 
part of both. If this notion of a hood, or veil, be 
correct, — and nothing seems to oppose it, — then ob- 
serve, (1.) This was the punishment of a father to 
his son, for rebellion and disobedience ; moreover, it 
was an abated punishment. (2.) It was accomplished 
by the ministry of others, who sealed this wrapper 
on the young prince. (3.) It was to endure for a 
limited time ; after which the father directed its re- 
moval. (4.) After its removal, the son went about 
again, in partial liberty, though, we are informed, 
" strongly guarded ;" and as it was generally believed 
to be the intent of his father (for he would often 
presage so) to make this prince, his first-born, his 
successor ; though for the present, out of some 
jealousy, (he being so much beloved of the people,) 
he denied him his entire liberty. 

Waving the jealousy of this father, is not this his- 
tory an accurate counterpart to the dealings of God 
with Israel, as hinted at by the apostle ? The veil 
was on the heart of that people, as a punishment, 
not a destruction ; moreover, it was to continue for 
a limited time only, and then that nation would be 
again acknowledged by him, as his son, his first- 
born, and be restored to liberty, and eventually to 
favor. 

Mr. Harmer (vol. ii. p. 277.) has quoted the above 
extract to illustrate Isaiah vi. 10. " Shut the eyes of 
this people ;" but the Hebrew word yyw, Hiphil im- 
per. >'cn, does not strictly mean to shut, close, but to 
besmear, plaster over, &c. and thus prevent from 
seeing. This is the strict signification of the root ; 
and, evidently, its translations in the New Testa- 
ment may bear this meaning, y-a/ifi-da, conniveo, (Matt, 
xiii. 15 ; Acts xxviii. 27.) i. e. they have half shut 
their eyes, like those who wish to keep out too strong 
a glare of light. The sentiment therefore of the New 
Testament word will be this, These people have de- 
sisted from seeing ; as we say, they overlook, that 
is, do not see a thing ; or, as it is well expressed, 
" seeing they do not perceive ;" which agrees with 
the import of the Hebrew. 

Blindness, as a disease of the organ of vision, may 
be produced by drying up the natural humors of the 
eyes, through which the rays of light pass ; and this 
may be the effect of old age, which produces dim- 
ness and at length blindness ; or it may be the con- 
sequence of great heat, applied to the eyes ; and in 
this manner one of the kings of England is said to 
have been blinded, by the holding of a heated brass 
basin before his eyes, which gradually exhaled their 
moisture. If the eyes are dried up, they must be 
hardened. Or blindness may proceed from a cata- 
ract, or thick skin, growing over a part of the eye, 
and preventing the passage of the rays of light to 
the interior, the proper seat of vision ; this might 
anciently be thought to give the appearance of hard 



BLINDNESS 



[ 196 ] 



BLINDNESS 



ness to the eye ; and we ourselves call such an ap- 
pearance a wall-eye. — The reader may recollect 
other instances. 

By these considerations we may, perhaps, account 
for the seeming contrariety, which appears some- 
times between the margin and the text in our trans- 
lation, (and in other translations also,) which ren- 
ders the same word blindness and hardness ; for it is 
by no means unusual, for young persons especially, 
to discover the strong distinction between the terms 
blindness and hardness ; while the cause of their 
adoption to express the same distemper entirely es- 
capes them. So we read, Mark hi. 5, " Being grieved 
for the blindness — hardness — of their hearts." So 
Rom. xi. 25, "Blindness — hardness — in part hath 
happened to Israel." Ephesians iv. 18, " Because 
of the blindness — hardness — of their hearts." 2 Cor. 
iii. 14, "Their minds- were blinded — hardened:" 
and elsewhere. Now, if in these and other places, 
the disorder adverted to were a blindness occasioned 
by desiccation of the visual agents, or any of then- 
parts, whether arising from causes already suggested, 
or from any other, then we readily perceive by what 
means the two ideas of blindness and hardness might 
originate from the same word ; and that, in fact, both 
renderings may be correct, since by one we are led 
to the cause, hardness ; and by the other to the 
effect, blindness. 

These observations are intended to parry remarks 
which have been raised from this commission given 
by God to the prophet. Some have said, God com- 
mands the prophet to do a certain thing to this peo- 
ple, and then punishes the people : nay, this appears 
stronger still, where the passage is quoted, as, (John 
xii. 40.) He hath blinded their eyes and hardened 
their hearts ; which seems to be contradictory to 
Matt. xiii. 15, where the people themselves are said 
to have closed their own eyes : and so Acts xxviii. 
27. These seeming contradictions are very easily 
reconciled. God, by giving plenty and abundance, 
affords the meaus of the people's abusing his good- 
ness, and becoming both over-fat with food, and in- 
toxicated with drink ; and thus, his very beneficence 
may be said to make their heart fat, and their eyes 
heavy : while at the same time, the people by their 
own act, their over-feeding, become unwieldy — in- 
dolent — bloated — over-fat at heart; and, moreover, 
so stupified by liquor and strong drink, that their 
eyes and ears may be useless to them : with wide 
open eyes, "staring, they may stare, but not perceive ; 
and listening, they may hear, but not understand ;" 
and in this lethargic state they will continue ; pre- 
ferring it to a more sedate, rational condition, and 
refusing to forbear from prolonging the causes of it, 
lest at any sober interval they should see truly with 
their eyes, and hear accurately with then ears ; in 
consequence of which they should be shocked at 
themselves, be converted, be changed from such 
misconduct, and I should heal them ; shoufd cure 
these delusory effects of their surfeits and dissolute- 
ness. Compare Isaiah v. 11 ; xxviii. 7. Where is 
now the contradiction between these different repre- 
sentations of the same event ? — Is it not an occurrence 
of daily notoriety, that God gives, but the sinner abuses 
his gifts to his own injury, of body and mind ? 

This may also hint a reason why our Lord spoke 
in parables ; that is, the people were too much stu- 
pified to see the plain and simple truth ; but then- 
attention might possibly be gained by a tale, or be 
caught by an inference. 

Because the customs of our country do neither 



authorize, nor tolerate, the maiming of a criminal by 
way of punishment, we are (happily for us) incapable 
of entering into the spirit of several passages of Scrip- 
ture ; for instance, those which speak of not merely 
loss of sight, but loss of the eyes, also, the organs of 
sight ; that is, of blindness, occasioned by a forcible 
extraction of the eye itself : nevertheless, till we 
properly understand this deplorable condition, we 
shall not adequately comprehend the exertion of 
that power which could restore the faculty of sight, 
by restoring the organ of that important sense. We 
wish to impress this on the reader ; and to present 
to his conception the inevitable and remediless mis- 
ery of the unhappy sufferers under such a calamity ; 
which is a punishment constantly used in the East 
for rebellion or treason. 

"Mahommed Khan .... not long after I left 
Persia, his eyes were cut out. (Hanway, p. 224.) 
The close of this hideous scene (of punishment) was 
an order to cut out the eyes of this unhappy man : 
the soldiers were dragging him to this execution, 
while he begged with bitter cries that he might 
rather suffer death, (p. 203.) Sadoc Aga had his 
beard cut off, his face rubbed with dirt, and his eyes 
were cut out. (p. 201.) The Persians regard blind 
men as dead ;" and indeed they are ever after a dead 
weight on their families, who maintain them, with 
great trouble, and who ever have them before their 
eyes. This is the reason why they are not put to 
death at once. 

"As we approached Astrabad, we met several 
armed horsemen carrying home the peasants whose 
eyes had been put out, the blood yet running down 
their faces." (p. 201.) Chardin relates an instance 
of a king of Imiretta, who lived in this condition, 
(p. 180.) Hearing a complaint of continual wars, 
" I am sorry for it, replied the king, but I cannot help 
it : for I am a poor blind man ; and they make me do 
what they themselves please. I dare not discover 
myself to any one whatever; I mistrust all the 
world ; and yet I surrender myself to all, not daring 
to offend any body, for fear of being assassinated by 
every body. This poor prince is young and well 
shaped : and he always wears a handkerchief over 
the upper part of his face, to wipe up the rheum 
that distils from the holes of his eyes ; and to hide 
such a hideous sight from those who come to visit 
him." 

Let us now consider the anatomical force of some 
expressions in the prophet Isaiah: he speaks of a 
person who was to bind up the broken hearted, also, 
to open the eyes that were blinded, i. e. total blind- 
ness itself, as the word seems to imply, 2 Kings xxv 
7. for did not Nebuchadnezzar punish Zedekiah 
with the usual punishment for high treason, or re- 
bellion, (as we have seen above,) by cutting out his 
eyes, in order to blind him effectually ? See also Jer. 
xxxix. 7 ; lii. 11. 

The evangelist Luke (iv. 18.) seems to allude to 
such an import of the word, and to such a fact: 
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me . . to give to 
the blind restoration of sight, remobility of the eyes," 
dvup.txviv. The power which could bind up the 
broken heart, could also restore the eye-balls to their 
deprived sockets, and give them every faculty which 
they had long lost. Let the reader well consider and 
admire this power. Let him also applaud the cor- 
rect and happy phraseology of the evangelist, whom 
tradition reports to have been the " beloved physi- 
cian." In perfect coincidence with this, Mr. Ches- 
selden observes, (Philosophical Transactions, No 



BLINDNESS 



[ 197 1 



BLO 



402.) that he had couched several blind persons ; 
and they all had been "mightily perplexed after the 
operation, how to move their eyes, having had no 
occasion to move them during their blindness ; and 
they were a long time before they could attain this 
faculty, and before they could direct them to any 
object which they wished to inspect :" that is, they 
were long in recovering that avupXexpiv which our 
Lord communicated perfectly in an instant. The 
same evangelist uses a very descriptive expression 
of our Lord's manner of doing such a kindness : 
(Luke vii. 21.) "And to many who were blind he 
freely made a present of sight ; (e/«§i<TaTo to pzinttv ;) 
the word is not now &vupUrpiv,hat simply p.imiv ; 
which seems to justify the stronger import we have 
ascribed to the former word : while the term «/aoioaTo 
expresses the graceful readiness of the donor's 
action. 

Mr. Pope has two lines which have been much 
applauded: speaking of the Messiah, he says, 

He from thick films shall purge the visual ray, 
And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day. 

Critics might remark the fallacy of the metaphor 
in the first line, since the visual ray (that is, of light) 
has no film from which to be purged, whatever the 
visual way (the passage for light into the eye) might 
have. But our observations lead us to the second 
line, which, however happily expressed, is inferior in 
strength to the prophet ; who not only includes the 
restoration of ability for vision to the sightless eye- 
ball, but also, perhaps, the restoration of the eye-ball 
itself to its proper place, and to its rolling activity : 

He from thick films shall clear the visual course, 
The rolling ball restore, with all its former force. 

Whether the application of the instances above 
quoted to the case of Zedekiah, and to the word 
used in reference to him, may be admitted without 
hesitation, we will not determine. But an instance 
of what may certainly be considered as a loss of the 
eye-ball itself, occurs in the case of Samson, 
Judges xvi. 21. " The Philistines took him and 
(lijiy-nx npji) bored — dugout — his very eyes:" treat- 
ing him as a rebel. Well might he, therefore, after- 
wards speak of being " avenged on them for the 
loss of his two eyes," verse 28. " O dark, dark, dark, 
beyond the reach of light !" This shows also the 
barbarity of Nahash, (1 Sam. xi. 2.) who proposed to 
" thrust out," scoop out — hollow out — the right eyes 
of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead. This shows, 
too, the severity of the punishment assigned to " the 
eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey 
his mother ; the ravens of the valley shall pick it out ; 
and the young eagles shall eat it :" — that is, it shall 
suffer the punishment of rebellion and treason. And 
finally, this shows the strong language of the rebels 
in the conspiracy of Korah, Numb. xvi. 14. " Wilt 
thou (Moses) bore out the eyes of these men ?" — wilt 
thou subject them to total and irreparable blindness ? 
— otherwise, q. d. " Is it in thy power to punish so 
extensive a conspiracy, as thou mightest punish a 
single rebel ?" 

If therefore the instances mentioned by. Hanway 
and Chardin are not to be considered as altogether 
coincident with that of Zedekiah, since then the his- 
torian might have used the proper word to express 
such a forced extraction of the eye-ball, yet they will 
apply to the passages subsequently quoted; and 



they will justify the different senses of the word blind- 
ness, according to the nature and origin of its cause 

The idea of blindness seems evidently to vary in 
its strength: — (John ix. 40.) "I am come into this 
world that they who see not might see ; and that 
they who see might become blind ;" not totally 
blind, as those who have lost their eye-balls, but in a 
smaller degree. " The Pharisees said, Are we blind 
also ? — If ye were blind — absolutely, inevitably blind 
— blind through any calamitous dispensation of 
Providence — ye should have no sin ; but now ye 
say, We see ; therefore your sin remaineth." 

Ignorance is a kind of blindness often no less fatal 
than privation of sight ; and partial or deficient in- 
formation is little better than ignorance : so we find 
Moses saying to Hobab, " Leave us not, I pray thee ; 
forasmuch as thou knowest how we ought to encamp 
in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead 
of eyes," Numb. x. 31. The necessity and propriety 
of such a guide will appear from considerations 
easily gathered from the following extract ; and the 
description of a person of this character will be inter- 
esting, though it cannot be equally interesting to us 
who travel on hedge-bounded turnpike roads, as to 
an individual about to take his passage across the 
Great Desert. If it be said, in the case of Moses, the 
angel who conducted the camp might have appointed 
its stations, without the assistance of Hobab ; we an 
swer, it might have been so ; but, as it is now the 
usual course of Providence to act by means, even to 
accomplish the most certain events ; and as no man 
who has neglected any means, has now the smallest 
right to expect an interposition of Providence on his 
behalf ; so we strongly doubt, whether it would not 
have been a failing, an act of presumption, in Moses, 
had he omitted this application to Hobab ; or, indeed, 
any other, suggested by his good sense and under- 
standing. "A Hybeer is a guide; from the Arabic 
word Hubbar, to inform, instruct, or direct, because 
they are used to do this office to the caravan travel- 
ling through the Desert, in all its directions, whether 
to Egypt and back again, the coast of the Red sea, or 
the countries of Sudan, and the western extremities 
of Africa. They are men of great consideration, 
knowing perfectly the situation and properties of all 
kinds of water, to be met on the route ; the distances 
of wells ; whether occupied by enemies or not ; and 
if so, the way to avoid them with the least inconve- 
nience. It is also necessary to them to know the 
places occupied by the simoom, and the seasons of 
their blowing in those parts of the desert ; likewise 
those occupied by moving sands. He generally be- 
longs to some powerful tribe of Arabs inhabiting 
these deserts, whose protection he makes use of, to 
assist his caravans, or protect them in time of dan- 
ger ; and handsome rewards are always in his power 
to distribute on such occasions ; but now that the 
Arabs in these deserts are every where without gov- 
ernment, the trade between Abyssinia and Cairo 
given over, that between Sudan and the metropolis 
much diminished, the importance of that office of 
Hybeer, and its consideration, is fallen in proportion, 
and with these the safe conduct ; and we shall see 
presently a caravan cut off by the treachery of the 
very Hybeers that conducted them ; the first in- 
stance of the kind that ever happened." Bruce, vol. 
iv. p. 586. i 

BLOOD was forbidden to the Hebrews, either alone, 
or mixed with flesh ; that is, creatures suffocated, or 
killed without discharging the blood from them ; be- 
cause the life of the creature is in its blood, Lev 



BLOOD 



[ 198 ] 



BLOOD 



xvii. 11. According to this notion is Virgil's ex- 
pression, describing the death of Rhaetus, 

Purpuream vomit ille auimam. iExEm. ix. 349. 

and from hence proceed several acceptations of the 
word blood : 

(1.) For life, Gen. ix. 5 ; Matt, xxvii. 25 ; Gen. iv. 
10 ; Deut. xix. 6 ; Numb. xxxv. 24, 27.— (2.) Rela- 
tionship, or consanguinity, Lev. xviii. 6 ; Esth. xvi. 
10. Apoc. — (3.) Flesh and blood (signifying the ani- 
mal frame) are placed in opposition to superior 
nature, Matt. xvi. 17 ; 1 Cor. xv. 50, «Scc. — (4.) David 
said he would not drink the blood of his heroes, who 
had exposed their lives to bring him water from the 
well of Bethlehem ; (1 Chron. xi. 19.) the water 
which had been so near costing them their lives. — 
(5.) God reserved to himself the blood of all sacri- 
fices ; he being absolute master of life and death. 
The blood of animals was poured upon his altar, or 
at the foot of his altar, according to the nature of the 
sacrifice ; and if the temple were too remote, it was 
poured upon the ground, and covered with dust. 
The blood of the sacrifice in the Old Testament was 
figurative of that blood which our Redeemer, as the 
great sacrifice, poured forth for us, for the forgive- 
ness of sins. " A man of blood," " a husband of 
blood," is a cruel and sanguinary man, a husband 
purchased with blood, or who is the occasion and 
cause of the effusion of his son's blood ; thus, Zip- 
porah called her husband, Moses, when she had 
circumcised her son ; because she had to redeem 
the life of her husband by circumcising her son, by a 
bloody rite, Ex. iv. 25 ; or, as others render it, " Thou 
art now a husband to me by blood," that is, by the 
blood of the covenant, by circumcision. " To build 
one's house with blood ;" (Hab. ii. 12.) with oppres- 
sion, and the blood of the unhappy. "To wash 
one's feet in blood," to obtain a signal and bloody 
victory, Ps. lviii. 10. The Vulgate reads, to wash 
Ms hands ; the Hebrew, he sliall wash his feet. " I 
will visit the blood of Jezreel," I will avenge the 
blood which Jezebel hath shed there. "The moon 
shall be changed into blood," (Joel ii. 31.) shall ap- 
pear red like blood, as it does, in some degree, 
during a total eclipse. Ezek. xvi. 6, "I said unto 
thee, even when thou wast in thy blood, Live." I 
saw thee polluted with the blood of thy birth, and, 
notwithstanding this impurity, I gave thee life. 

The reader, probably, has never remarked, in the 
expression of David respecting Joab, (1 Kings ii. 5.) 
any thing beyond a simple idea of shedding blood 
unlawfully ; and that may be a sufficient acceptation 
of the passage ; yet, we think, it may acquire a 
spirit at least, if not an illustration, by comparison 
with the following history. The dying king says to 
Solomon, his successor, " Thou knowest what Joab, 
the son of Zeruiah, did to me and to the two chiefs 
of Israel, Abner and Amasa, that he slew them, and 
shed the blood of war (blood which only might be 
shed in fair and open warfare) in peace, under 
friendly professions, and put (sprinkled) the blood of 
war into his girdle, which was on his loins ; (that is, 
on the very front of his girdle ;) and into the shoes 
which were on his feet," that is, into the front of his 
shoes. It is evident that David means to describe 
the violence of Joab, the effects of which seem to 
have been coincident with the sentiment of the 
valiant Abdollah, " who went out and defended him- 
self, to the terror and astonishment of his enemies, 
killing a great many with his own ham so that they 



kept at a distance, and threw bricks at him, and made 
him stagger ; and when he felt the blood run down 
his face and beard, he repeated this verse : 

' The blood of our wounds doth not fall down on our 
heels, but on our feet ;' 

meaning, that he did not turn his bark on his ene- 
mies ; but that his blood fell in front, not behind." 
(Ockley's Hist. Saracens, vol. ii. p. 291 ) In like 
manner, the blood shed by Joab fell on his feet, "on 
his shoes," says David ; it was not inadvertent- 
ly, but purposely shed ; shed in a hardened, un- 
feeling manner ; with malice aforethought ; with 
ferocity, rather than valor. This explanation is very 
different from Mr. Harmer's, vol. iii. p. 312. [and 
must be regarded as far-fetched. R. 

The blood of Jesus Christ is the price of our salva- 
tion; "his blood has purchased his church," Acts xx. 
28. "We are justified by his blood," Rom. v. 9. 
"We have redemption through his blood," Eph. i. 
7 ; Col. i. 14. " By his blood lie hath pacified all 
things in heaven and earth," Col. i. 20. " By his 
own blood he entered in once into the holy place, hav- 
ing obtained eternal redemption for us," Heb. ix. 12. 
— For the phrase Avenger or Blood, see Revenge. 

No discovery made more noise in the inquisitive 
world, than the accounts given by Mr. Bruce relat- 
ing to the eating of blood. Many were the ill- 
advised comments and additions to which the first 
reports of this custom gave rise ; and it was proba- 
bly attributable to these comments that the publica- 
tion of his work was so long delayed. The reader 
will find below that particular incident, which was 
related very differently, by reporters, from what Mr. 
B. himself relates it ; it is given partly as an act of 
justice to that traveller's memory, as well as because 
it elucidates a striking passage in Holy Writ. 

Not only did the Mosaic law forbid the eating of 
blood, but the prohibition appears to be one of the 
earliest injunctions given to renovated mankind ; (Gen. 
ix. 4.) " The fife, i. e. the blood thereof, shall you not 
eat." This was renewed in most positive terms, in Lev. 
xvii. 10. and remarkably in verses 12. and 15. where 
the stranger also is included in the prohibition, under 
the most rigorous penalty. Now it is reasonably 
asked, Unless this custom had been known to Moses, 
or used in his time, wherefore insert the regulation ? 
wherefore forbid what was never practised ? That 
this is now actually ordinarily practised in Abyssinia, 
we have the testimony of Mr. Bruce ; and Mr. Hodges 
also (Travels in India, p. 93. 4to.) relates, that he was 
present at a sacrifice among the mountaineers of Hin- 
dostan, where those assembled at their annual cere- 
mony, after the head of the ox was separated by the 
chief with a sabre, ate the still bleeding flesh, and 
the blood which remained in it. It appears, also, 
that there are tribes in Africa, whose slight manner 
of roasting their food is little different from eating it 
raw ; and if it were not personal to ourselves, as a 
nation, it might be said, that we ate various kinds of 
fish, as oysters, &c. raw ; while yet we are surprised 
at those who feed on snails, and at those who feast 
on locusts.- — So different are the manners of man- 
kind ! and so startling are their apprehensions of 
the customs of others ! For the rest let us hear Mr. 
Bruce : — 

" Not long after our losing sight of the ruins of this 
ancient capital of Abyssinia, we overtook three trav- 
ellers, driving a cow before them ; they had black 
goat-skins upon then shoulders, and lances and 



BLOOD 



[ 199 ] 



BOA 



shields in their hands ; in other respects they were 
but thinly clothed ; they appeared to be soldiers. 
The cow did not seem to be fatted for killing, and it 
occurred to us all that it had been stolen. This, 
however, was not our business, nor was such an oc- 
currence at all remarkable in a country so long en- 
gaged in war. We saw that our attendants attached 
themselves, in a particular manner, to the three sol- 
diers that were driving the cow, and held a short 
conversation with them. Soon after, we arrived at 
the hithermost bank of the river, where I thought 
we were to pitch our tent ; the drivers suddenly 
tripped up the cow, and gave the poor animal a very 
rude fall upon the ground, which was but the begin- 
ning of her sufferings. One of them sat across her 
neck, holding down her head by the horns, another 
twisted the halter about her fore feet, while the third, 
who had a knife in his hand, to my very great sur- 
prise, in place of taking her by the throat, got astride 
upon her belly, before her hind legs, and gave her a 
very deep wound in the upper part of the buttock. 
From the time I had seen them throw the beast 
upon the grqund, I had rejoiced, thinking that when 
three people were killing a cow, they must have 
agreed to sell part of her to us ; and I was much 
disappointed at hearing the Abyssinians say, that we 
were to pass the river to the other side, and not en- 
camp where I intended. Upon my proposing they 
should bargain for part of the cow, my men answer- 
ed, what they had already learned in conversation— 
' that they were not then to kill her, that she was 
not wholly theirs, and they could not sell her.' This 
awakened my curiosity ; I let my people go forward, 
and staid myself, till I saw, with the utmost aston- 
ishment, two pieces, thicker and longer than our 
ordinary beef steaks, cut out of the higher part of 
the buttock of the beast : how it was done I cannot 
positively say, because, judging the cow was to be 
killed from the moment I saw the knife drawn, I 
was not anxious to view that catastrophe, which was 
by no means an object of curiosity ; whatever way it 
was done, it surely was adroitly ; and the two pieces 
were spread upon the outside of one of their shields. 
One of them still continued holding the head while 
the other two were busied in curing the wound. 
This, too, was not done in an ordinary manner ; the 
skin, which had covered the flesh that was taken 
away, was left entire, and flapped over the wound, 
and was fastened to the corresponding part by two 
or more small skewers or pins : whether they had 
put any thing under the skin, between that and the 
wounded flesh, I know not ; but, at the river side 
where they were, they had prepared a cataplasm of 
clay, with which they covered the wound ; they 
then forced the animal to rise, and drove it on be- 
fore them, to furnish them with a fuller meal when 
they should meet their companions in the evening." 
Travels, vol. hi. p. 142. 

In various parts of his Travels, Mr. B. asserts the 
eating of flesh raw, the animal being killed on the 
outside of the door, for the entertainment of a 
company within. Thie raw flesh, he says, is called 
" brind ;" he mentions it as given even to the sick by 
their friends ; and he explains a disorder which it 
produces. He says, he ate of it himself, and (to no- 
tice the force of custom) on this he lived a long 
time together ; — in fact, the soldiery scarcely have, 
or can have, any other food. The following hints 
are introductory to his remarks on the historv of 
Saul : (1 Sam. xiv. 33.) 

" We have un instance, in the life of Saul, that 



shows the propensity of the Israelites to this crime. 
Saul's army, after a battle^ew, that is, fell voraciously, 
upon the cattle they had taken, and threw them upon 
the ground to cut off" their flesh, and eat them raw ; 
so that the army was defiled by eating blood, or liv- 
ing animals. To prevent this, Saul caused to be 
rolled to him a great stone, and ordered those that 
killed their oxen, to cut their throats upon that stone. 
This was the only lawful way of killing animals for 
food ; the tying of the ox, and throwing it upon the 
ground, was not permitted as equivalent. The Is- 
raelites did, probably, in that case, as the Abyssinians 
do at this day : they cut a part of its throat, so that 
the blood might be seen on the ground, but nothing 
mortal to the animal followed from that wound. 
But after laying its head upon a large stone, and cut- 
ting its throat, the blood fell from on high, or was 
poured on the ground like water, and sufficient 
evidence appeared that the creature was dead, be- 
fore it was attempted to eat it. We have seen that 
the Abyssinians came from Palestine, a very few 
years after this ; and we are not to doubt, that they 
then carried with them this, with many other Jewish 
customs, which they have continued to this day." 
(Travels, vol. iii. p. 299.) This fact has since been 
confirmed by Mr. Salt ; it is termed in Abyssinia 
" eating the shulada." 
BLUE, see Purple. 

BOANERGES, that is, Sons of Thunder; a 
name given by our Saviour to the sons of Zebedee, 
James and John, (Mark iii. 17.) on the occasion, 
probably, of their request, that he would call for fire 
from heaven, and destroy a certain village of the 
Samaritans, who had refused to entertain them, Luke 
ix. 53, 54. It is applied to them no where else in the 
New Testament. 

BOAR. The wild boar is usually thought to be 
the parent of the swine kind. It inhabits Asia as 
well as Europe, and retains its character and man- 
ners in almost every climate. On the feet, as mark- 
ing distinction, it may be observed that, though their 
outward appearance resembles that of a cloven-footed 
animal, yet internally they have the same number of 
bones and joints as animals which have fingers and 
toes ; so that the arrangement of their feet-bones 
is, into first, and second, and third phalanges, or 
knuckles, no less than that of the human hand. 
Beside, therefore, the absence of rumination in the 
hog kind, the feet of the species do not accord with 
those of such beasts as are clean, according to the 
established Levitical regulations. (See Animals.) 
It will be found, also, that no carnivorous quadru- 
peds are placed by nature in the class of animals 
having feet divided into two parts only. Such could 
not have been acceptable on the sacred altar ; the 
second digestion of food (as must be the case with 
creatures that feed on flesh, which flesh has been 
already supported by the digestion of food, vegetable 
or animal) being absolutely excluded. Even honey 
was prohibited from the altar, probably, because it 
had undergone a process not unlike digestion, in 
the stomach of the bee. It was lawful as food to 
man ; but not as an accompaniment to sacrifice. 

The prophet figuratively complains (Ps. Ixxx. 
13.) that the wild boar of the forest had rooted up 
the Lord's vine ; which is understood either of Sen- 
nacherib, or Nebuchadnezzar, or Antiochus Epiph- 
anes, who ravaged Judea. The Hebrew word ziz 
is taken generally for wild beasts, see Ps. 1. 11. 
The Syriac understands it in that Dlace of the wild 
ass ; the Chaldee of the wild cock [The language 



BOD 



[ 200 ] 



BOO 



in this passage, however, is only highly figurative ; 
and cannot with propriety be thus definitely applied 
to any individual animal. R. 

I. BOAZ, or Booz, the husband of Ru'„h. See 
Booz. 

II. BOAZ, the name of one of those brazen pillars 
which Solomon erected in the porch of me temple, 
1 Kings vii. 21. The other, called Jachin, was on 
the right hand of the entrance, Boaz on the left. 
Boaz (jjna) signifies strength, firmness. They were 
together thirty-five cubits high, as in 2 Chron. iii. 
15. i. e. each separately was seventeen cubits and a 
half: 1 Kings vii. 15, and Jer. Iii. 21, say eighteen 
cubits, in round numbers. Jeremiah says the thick- 
ness of these columns was four fingers, for they were 
hollow ; the circumference of them was twelve cu- 
bits, or four cubits diameter ; the chapiter of each 
was in all five cubits high. These chapiters, in dif- 
ferent parts of Scripture, are said to be of different 
heights, of three, four, or five cubits ; because they 
were composed of different ornaments or members, 
which were sometimes considered as omitted, some- 
times as included. The body of the chapiter was of 
three cubits, the ornaments with which it was joined 
to the shaft of the pillar, were of one cubit : these 
make four cubits ; the row which was at the top of 
the chapiter was also of one cubit ; in all five cubits. 

BOCHIM, the place of mourners, or of weepings, a 
place near Gilgal, where the Hebrews celebrated 
their solemn feasts. Here the angel of the covenant 
appeared to them, and denounced the sinfulness of 
their idolatry, which caused bitter weeping among the 
people ; whence the place had its name, Judg. ii. 10. 

BODY, the animal frame of man, as distinguished 
from his spiritual nature. James says (iii. 6.) the 
tongue pollutes the whole body ; the whole of our 
actions : or it influences the other members of the 
body. Our Saviour says, (Matt. vi. 22.) " If thine 
eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light" 
— if thy intentions be upright, thy general conduct 
will be agreeable to that character: or, "if thine 
eye be single," if thou art liberal and beneficent, all 
thy actions will be good ; at least, thou wilt avoid 
many sins which attend avarice. Paul speaks of a 
spiritual body, in opposition to the animal, 1 Cor. xv. 
44. The body which we animate, and which re- 
turns to the earth, is an animal body ; but that 
which will rise hereafter, will be spiritual, neither 
gross, heavy, frail, nor subject to the wants which 
oppress the present body. 

Body is opposed to a shadow, or figure, Colos. ii. 
17. The ceremonies of the law are figures arid 
shadows realized in Christ and the Christian re- 
ligion : e. g. the Jewish passover is a figure of the 
Christian passover; the sacrifice of the paschal 
lamb is a shadow of the sacrifice of Christ. The 
fulness of the godhead resides bodily in Jesus 
Christ ; (Colos. ii. 9.) really, essentially. God dwells 
in the saints, as in his temple, by his Spirit, his 
light, his grace ; but in Jesus Christ the fulness of 
the godhead dwelt not allegorical ly, figuratively, and 
cursorily, but really and essentially. 

The body of any thing, in the style of the He- 
brews, is the very reality of the thing. The " body 
of day," "the body of purity," "the body of death," 
"the body of sin." signify — -broad day, innocence 
itself, &c. " The body of death" signifies either 
our mortal body, or the body which violently en- 
gages us in sin by concupiscence, and which domi- 
neers in our members. An assembly or community 
is called a body, 1 Cor. x. 17. 



" Where the body is, there the eagles assemble," 
(Matt. xxiv. 28.) is a sort of proverb used by our 
Saviour. In Job xxix. 30, it is said that the eagle — 
viewing its prey from a distance — as soon as there is 
a dead body, immediately resorts thither. Our 
Saviour compares the nation of the Jews to a body, 
by God, in his wrath, given up to birds and beasts of 
prey ; wherever are Jews, there will be likewise 
enemies to pillage them. Corpus, in good Latin 
authors, is sometimes used to signify a carcass, or 
dead body. But in this passage, it seems to be an 
allusion to the body of the Jews, preyed on by the 
Roman eagles; the eagle being the standard of that 
people. 

BOHAN, (the thumb,) a Reubenite, who had a 
stone erected to his honor, on the frontier between 
Judah and Benjamin, perhaps to commemorate his 
exploits in the conquest of Canaan, Josh. xv. 6; 
xviii. 17. 

BOND, BONDAGE, see Slaves, Slavery. 

BOOK, in Hebrew, idd, sepher, in Greek, plftog, 
in Latin, liber. Several sorts of materials were an- 
ciently used in making books. Plates of lead or 
copper, the bark of trees, brick, stone, and wood, 
were originally employed to engrave such things and 
documents upon, as men desired to transmit to pos- 
terity. Josephus (Antiq. lib. i. cap. 3.) speaks of two 
columns, one of stone, the other of brick, on which 
the children of Seth wrote their inventions, and their 
astronomical discoveries. Porphyry mentions pil- 
lars preserved in Crete, on which were recorded the 
ceremonies practised by the Corybantes in their 
sacrifices. Hesiod's works were at first written on 
tablets of lead, in the temple of the Muses in Bosotia. 
God's laws were written on stone ; and Solon's laws 
on wooden planks. Tablets of wood, box, and ivory 
were common among the ancients ; when they were 
of wood only, they were oftentimes coated over with 
wax, which received the writing inscribed on them 
with the point of a style, or iron pen ; and what was 
written might be effaced by the broad end of a style. 
Afterwards, the leaves of the palm-tree were used 
instead of wooden planks ; and also the finest and 
thinnest bark of trees, such as the lime, the ash, the 
maple, the elm: hence, the word liber, which de- 
notes the inner bark of trees, signifies also a book. 
As these barks were rolled up, to be more readily 
carried about, the rolls were called volumen, a 
volume ; a name given likewise to rolls of paper, or 
of parchment. The ancients wrote likewise on 
linen. But the oldest material commonly employed 
for writing upon, appears to have been the papyrus, 
a reed very common in Egypt, and other places. A 
considerable collection of MSS. written on this sub- 
stance, which were discovered in the overwhelmed 
city of Herculaneum, and which, under the munif- 
icence of George IV, while prince regent, uncom- 
mon pains were taken to restore, are thus de- 
scribed by the Hon. Grey Benne.t : " The papijri are 
joined together, and form one roll, on each sheet of 
which the characters are printed, standing out in a 
species of bas-relief, and singly to be read with the 
greatest ease. ■ As there are no stops, a difficulty, 
however, is found in joining the letters, in making 
out the words, and in discovering the sense of the 
phrase. The MSS. were found in a chamber of an 
excavated house, in the ancient Herculaneum, to 
the number of about 1800, a considerable part of 
which are in a state to be unrolled. Herculaneum 
was buried for the most part under a shower of hot 
ashes. (August 24, A. D. 79.) The MSS. were, 



BOOK 



[ 201 ] 



BOOK 



from the heat, reduced to a state of tinder, or, to 
speak more properly, resembling paper which had 
been burnt. Where the baking has not been com- 
plete, and where any part of the vegetable juice has 
remained, it is almost impossible to unroll them, the 
sheets towards the centre being so closely united. 
In the othei: as you approach the centre, or conclu- 
sion, the MSS. become smoother, and the work pro- 
ceeds with greater rapidity. At present there are 
about fifteen men at work, each occupied at a MS. . . . 
The papyri are very rough on the outside. They 
are of different sizes, some containing only a few 
sheets, as a single play, others some hundreds, and a 
few, perhaps, two thousand." (Archseologia, vol. 
xv. art 9.) 

The papyrus reed is still known in Sicily ; and 
a small manufactory of it is established in the 
neighborhood of Syracuse, to gratify the curious. It 
has been also found in great plenty in Chaldea, in 
the fens, at the confluence of the Tigris and Eu- 
phrates. Another quarter affording ancient papyri, 
is, as already stated, Egypt ; scrolls of it containing 
inscriptions were found by the French, during their 
invasion of that country ; and Den on has given plates 
of more than one. He says, " I was assured of the 
proof 'of my discovery, by the possession of a manu- 
script, which I found in the hand of a fine mummy, 
that was brought me : I perceived in its right hand, 
and resting on the left arm, a roll of papyrus, on 
which was a manuscript, the oldest of all the books 
in the known world. The papyrus on which it is 
written, is prepared in the same way as that of the 
Greeks and Romans ; that is to say, of two layers of 
the medulla of this plant glued to each other, with 
the fibres made to cross, to give more consistence to 
the leaf. The writing goes from right to left, be- 
ginning at the top of the page. Above the figure is 
an inscription composed of seven vertical and four 
horizontal lines : the writing is here different from 
the rest of the manuscript, of which this is part ; and 
the characters appear to be infinitely varied and 
numerous. Various colors appear in the several 
parts of the original figures — red, blue, green, and 
black." The common name for book, sepher, or 
/?i|S/o?, seems to be taken generally ; it is used by 
Herodotus (lib. v. cap. 58.) to denote the Egyptian pa- 
pyrus, and it certainly means books made of that plant, 
though the term has been thought sometimes to de- 
scribe those made of skins, as Mark xii. 26 ; Luke iii. 4, 
et al. Papyrus being, however, more common and less 
costly than dressed skins, it should appear, that notes, 
memoranda, and first draughts of writings, to be 
afterwards more carefully revised and finished, were 
made on papyrus sheets, not on skins, which were 
used for receiving the finished performance ; as 
among our lawyers. This distinction gives a direct- 
ly contrary import to the directions of the apostle — 
(2 Tim. iv. 13.) "Bring with thee the books, |Ji/M2a, 
but especially the parchments, fitfipQava," — (another 
Latin word in Greek characters) — from what has 
usually been supposed. The learned bishop Bull, 
and others, have thought that the membrana were 
Paul's common-place book, in which he had writ- 
ten extracts from various authors, sacred or profane ; 
but according to the above view we may suppose 
that the membrana contained finished pieces, of 
whatever kind, (which accounts for the apostle's so- 
licitude about them,) while the papyrus books were 
of less value and importance, being imperfect. It 
appears that Herodotus uses the term biblion for a 
letter of no great length, (lib. i. cap. 124, 5.) and it is 



used to mark a bill or billet of divorcement, which, 
if Lightfoot be right, was always of twelve lines in 
length ; neither more nor less, Matt. xiv. 7 ; Mark x. 
4. It is possible that biblos expresses a catalogue, or 
list of names, (Matt. i. 1.) and this gives the true im- 
port of the phrase "book of life," meaning, the list 
of Christian professors, (allusive to those records of 
names kept in the churches, comp. Acts i. 15 ; Phil, 
iv. 3 ; Rev. iii. 5, &c.) and these, most likely, were 
not written on parchment, membrana, but on the 
paper most common, and least costly. (See below.) 

Book is sometimes used for letters, memoirs, an 
edict, or contract. The letters which Rabshakeh de- 
livered from Sennacherib to Hezekiah, are called a 
book. The English, indeed, reads letter, but the 
LXX reads piplior, and the Hebrew text onoon hasc- 
phdrim, 2 Kings xix. 14. So is the contract which 
Jeremiah confirmed for the purchase of a field, Jer. 
xxxii. 10. Also Ahasuerus's edict in favor of the 
Jews, Esth. ix. 20; Job (xxxi. 35.) wishes, that his 
judge, or his adversary, would himself write his sen- 
tence, his book. The writing, likewise, which a man 
gave to his wife when he divorced her, was called a 
book of divorce. 

W e read in Gen. v. 1, " the book of the genera- 
tion of Adam," that is, the history of his life ; and 
elsewhere, "the book of the generation of Noah," or 
of Jesus Christ ; that is, their history. 

Book of Life, or Book of the Living, or Book of 
the Lord, Ps. lxix. 28. It is very probable, that 
these descriptive phrases, which are frequent in 
Scripture, are taken from the custom observed gen- 
erally in the courts of princes, of keeping a list- of 
persons who are in their service, of the provinces 
which they govern, of the officers of their armies, of 
the number of their troops, and sometimes even of 
the names of their soldiers. Thus when Moses de- 
sires God rather to blot him out of his book, than to 
reject Israel, (Exod. xxxii. 32.) it is the same almost as 
Paul's expression, in some sort, to be accursed, (Rom. 
ix. 3.) separated from the company of the saints, and 
struck out of the book of the Lord, for the benefit 
of his people. (See Anathema.) When it is said, 
that any one is written in the book of life, it means 
that he particularly belongs to God, is enrolled among 
the number of his friends and servants. When it is 
said, "blotted out of the book of life," this signifies, 
erased from the list of God's friends and servants ; 
as those who are guilty of treachery are struck off 
the roll of officers belonging to a prince. It is prob- 
able, also, that the primitive Christian churches 
kept lists of their members, in which those recently 
admitted were enrolled: these would take a title 
analogous to that of the book of life, or the Lamb's 
book of life : as this term occurs principally in the 
Revelation, it seems likely to be derived from such a 
custom. Something of the same nature we have in 
Isaiah iv. 3, where the prophet alludes to such as 
were " written among the living in Jerusalem ;" that 
is, enrolled among the citizens of that city of God ; 
to which the Christian church was afterwards com- 
pared. In a more exalted sense, the book of life 
signifies the book of predestination to glory, faith, 
and grace ; or the register of those who through 
grace have persevered to eternal life. 

Book of Judgment. Daniel says, "Judgment 
was set, and the books were opened," vii. 10. This 
is an allusion to what is practised, when a prince 
calls his servants to account. The accounts are pro- 
duced, and inquired into. It is possible he might 
allude also to a custom of the Persians, among whom 



BOOK 



[ 202 ] 



BOOK 



it was a constant practice every day to write down 
what had happened, the services done for the king, 
and the rewards given to those who had performed 
them ; as we see in the history of Ahasuerus and Mor- 
decai, Esth. ii. 23 ; vi. 1, 2. When, therefore, the 
king sits in judgment, the books are opened, and he 
compels all his servants to reckon with him ; he 
punishes those who have been failing in their duty, 
compels those to pay who are indebted to him, and 
rewards those who have done him services. There 
will be, in a manner, a similar proceeding at the day 
of God's final judgment. 

For the book of Jasher : — of the wars of the Lord : 
— of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, and the 
respective books of Scripture. See Bible, adinit. 

The Book, or Flying Roll, spoken of in Zecha- 
riah, (v. 1, 2.) twenty cubits long, and ten wide, was one 
of those old rolls, composed of many skins, or parch- 
ments, glued or sewed together at the end. Though 
some of the (rolls) volumes were very long, yet none, 
probably, was ever made of such a size as this. 
This contained the curses and calamities which 
should befall the Jews. The extreme length and 
breadth of it, show the excessive number and enor- 
mity of their sins, and the extent of their punish- 
ment. 

Isaiah, describing the effects of God's wrath, says, 
" The heavens shall be folded up like a book," 
[scroll,] Isa. xxxiv. 4. He alludes to the way among 
the ancients, of rolling up books, when they purposed 
to close them. A volume of several feet in length 
was suddenly rolled up into a very small compass. 
Thus the heavens should shrink into themselves, and 
disappear, as it were, from the eyes of God, when his 
wrath should be kindled. These ways of speaking 
are figurative, and very energetic. 

It is related in the books of the. Maccabees, that 
the Jews, when suffering persecution from Antiochus 
Epiphanes, laid open the book of the law, wherein 
the Gentiles endeavored to find delineated figures of 
idols, 1 Mace. iii. 48. Some believe, that the Jews 
laid open before the Lord the sacred books, wherein 
the Gentiles had in vain sought for something where- 
by to support their idolatry ; others think, they laid 
open the sacred writings, wherein the Gentiles were 
desirous to paint figures of their idols : — otherwise, 
the Hebrews laid open their sacred books, wherein 
the Ge itiles had sought diligently whether they could 
not find figures of some of the deities adored by the 
Jews ; — for the Gentiles were very uneasy on this sub- 
ject, some believing that the Jews worshipped an ass, 
or a living man, or Bacchus, or a something which 
they would not own. With some small variation in 
the Greek text, it might be translated thus : " They 
laid open the book of the law, at the same time that 
the Gentiles consulted the images of their false 
gods." 

Books eaten. "Insomuch that the Turks said 
frequently and justly of them, that other nations 
had their learning in their books, but the Tartars 
had eaten their, books, and had their wisdom in' 
their breasts, from whence they could draw it out as 
they had occasion, as divine oracles." (Busbequius, 
Trav. p. 245. Eng. tr.) This may lead us to the 
true idea of the prophets, when they mention the 
eating of books presented to them ; i. e. that the 
knowledge they had received should be communi- 
cated to others, from time to time, as wanted : they 
were treasures (not for themselves, but for others) of 
wisdom and knowledge. 

It may be added, that as the papyrus plant was 



(and is) eaten, at least in part, the idea of eating a 
book made of it, is not so completely foreign from 
the nature of the article, as it would be, if such a 
thing were proposed among ourselves ; or, as eating 
a book made of skins would be. 

Captain Clapperton mentions a most remarkable 
custom which he found in the interior of South 
Africa, that is worthy of notice, in connection with 
this subject. It is this; where the Mahometan con- 
verts do not understand the Arabic language, the 
most approved mode of imbibing the contents of 
the Koran is by tracing the characters with a sub- 
stance on a smooth, black board, then washing them 
off, and swallowing the liquid! 

The Sealed Book, mentioned Isaiah xxix. 11, 
and the book sealed with seven seals in the Reve- 
lation, (chap. v. 1 — 3.) are the prophecies of Isaiah, 
and of John, which were written in a book, after 
the manner of the ancients, and were sealed ; that 
is, they were unknown, and mysterious ; they 
had respect to times remote, and to future events, 
so that no knowledge could be derived from them, 
till the time should come, and the seals were taken 
off. In early times, letters, and other writings that 
were to be sealed, were first wrapped round 
with thread or flax, and then wax and the seal were 
applied to them. To read them, it was necessary to 
cut the thread, or flax, and to break the seals. With 
regard to this particular book, however, Mr. Taylor 
thinks he has found something of the kind among 
the pictures discovered at Herculaneum. It repre- 
sents a book of a considerable size, the leaves bound 
together at the back, and two of them joined to- 
gether, so that only their external faces are visible, 
or open for the inspection of writing ; their internal 
faces being either blank, or, if written on, their con- 
tents not to be read, till after the leaves are separat- 
ed. The book of which he gives an engraving 
actually does disclose the writing on two pages, 
those leaves being opened, while two other pages 
continue closed by the union of the two leaves on 
which they are inscribed. It is generally thought, 
that the phrase "written within and without" de- 
notes writing on both sides of the rolled skin, but 
if the book were of this form, it is doubtful ; but it 
may, very probably, be questioned, whether it mean 
any thing beyond being written on both pages. 
Certainly, no part of the subject treated of in the 
book was written on the outside ; nothing more than 
the title, if that ; since, in that case, it must have been 
exposed to view, as the sealing of the leaves did 
not enclose it. 

There is a phrase in Ps. xl. which Mr. Taylor 
has attempted to illustrate. "In the volume of the 
book it is written of me" — which the LXX render, 
in the head (ztyaXlc) of the book. Chrysostom has 
described this cephalis as a wrapper (d'X^ua ) ; and 
supposed, that on this was written a word, or words, 
which imported, "about the coming of the Mes- 
siah;" and Aquila uses the same word to express 
what we render volume. Applying this idea, Mr. 
Harmer says, (Obs. vol. iv. p. J.0 ; c. viii. Obs. 4.) 
" The thought is not only clear and distinct, but very 
energetic ; amounting to this, that the sum and sub- 
stance of the sacred books is, 'The Messiah com- 
eth;' and that those words accordingly might be 
written, or embroidered, with great propriety on the 
wrapper, or case, wherein they were kept." Now, 
admitting Mr. Harmer's conclusion to be just, Mr. 
Taylor thinks he has discovered better premises for 
it in a picture found at Herculaneum, than Mr. H. 



BOO 



[ 203 ] 



BOS 



had assigned. This painting represents a portable 
Dook-case, apparently made of leather, and of the 
description known to the Romans by the name of 
scrinium. It is filled with rolled books, each of 
which has a ticket or label appended to it, and which 
is probably the genuine capitulum or argument of 
the book. The words of the Psalm, then, may be 
taken to intimate that the head, cephalis, capitulum, 
label or ticket appended to the volume, or roll, was thus 
inscribed ; and in this view, the capitulum answered 
the purpose of the lettering on the backs of our books. 
The passage, then, may be thus understood : — Burnt- 
offering and sacrifice were not what thou didst re- 
quire ; they were not according to thy will. Then 
said I, Lo, I come, as in the roll (label) of the book is 
written concerning me ; — I delight to accomplish thy 
will. The engraving given by Mr. Taylor shows, 
that these small labels were capable of being rolled 
up, till they were close to the greater roll to which 
they belonged ; as seems to be the meaning of the 
Hebrew term. 

[The suggestion of Mr. Harmer above is ingenious, 
but seems hardly to be required, or even admitted, by 
the words of the context. The roll of the book, by 
way of eminence, would seem to refer to the book of 
the law ; nor is any different term given to it in Heb. 
x. 7. R. 

BOOTH, a tent made of poles, and used as a 
temporary residence. See Tent. 

BOOTY, spoil. It was appointed by Moses, that 
booty taken from the enemy should be divided 
equally between those who were in the battle and 
the rest of the people ; (Numb. xxxi. 27.) that is, into 
two parts, the first for those who had been in the 
action ; the other for those who had continued in the 
camp. He adds, " Ye shall likewise separate the 
Lord's share, which ye shall take out of the whole 
booty belonging to the men of war ; and of every five 
hundred men, oxen, asses, or sheep, ye shall take one 
and give it to the high-priest, because these are the 
Lord's first-fruits. As to the other moiety, which shall 
belong to the children of Israel, who did not fight ; out 
of every fifty men, oxen, asses, or sheep, or other ani- 
mals, whatsoever, ye shall take one and give it to the 
Levites, who have the charge of the tabernacle of the 
Lord." So that the share of Eleazar, and of the 
priest, was much larger in proportion than that of any 
one of the 12,000 soldiers who had been in action, 
and than that of the Levites. And what was prac- 
tised on this occasion became a law for ever after ; 
an instance of which appears in what happened un- 
der David, after the defeat of the Amalekites, who 
had plundered Ziklag. The captives given to the 
high-priest, no doubt, became slaves ; were they 
slaves of the high-priest personally, or of the temple ? 
If to the temple, were they not like the Gibeonites, 
the Nethinim, and others engaged in menial offices, 
as hewers of wood, and drawers of water ? Did then- 
descendants also occupy the same stations ? 

The rabbins allege that under the kings of Israel, 
another rule was followed in distributing the spoil. 
First, every thing was given to the king, which had 
belonged to the conquered king ; his tent, his slaves, 
his cattle, his spoils, his treasure. After this, the re- 
mainder of the booty being divided into two equal 
parts, the king had one moiety, and the soldiers had 
the other. This last part was distributed equally 
between the soldiers who had been in the action, and 
those who continued behind to guard the camp. 
They assert, that these rules had been established 
ever since the time of Abraham. It is difficult, in- 



deed, to prove this; but we know that Abraham 
offered to the Lord the tenth of what he had taken 
from the five kings, and this tithe he made a present 
to Melchisedek. 

BOOZ, or Boaz, one of our Saviour's ancestors 
according to the flesh, son of Salmon and Rahab, a 
Canaanitess of Jericho, whom Salmon, of the tribe of 
Judah, married. Some say, there were three of this 
name, the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Sal- 
mon ; the last being husband of Ruth, and father of 
Obed. This they believe to be the only way in 
which Scripture can be reconciled with itself, since 
it reckons 366 years between Salmon's marriage and 
the birth of David, and yet mentions only three per- 
sons between Salmon and David, viz. Booz, Obed, 
and Jesse. But though it is difficult to fill so great a 
space with four persons from father to son, succeed- 
ing one another, and though it is uncommon to see 
four persons in the same family successively, living 
very long, and having children when far advanced 
in age, yet, as Calmet remarks, there is nothing im- 
possible in it ; particularly at that time, when many 
persons lived above a hundred years. Suppose Sal- 
mon, at the age of a hundred and twenty, might be- 
get Booz ; Booz, at a hundred, might beget Obed, 
who, at something more or less, might have Jesse ; 
and Jesse, when a hundred years old, might have 
David. This, he adds, is only supposition, but it is 
sufficient to show, that there is no contradiction or 
impossibility in the Scripture account. Mr. Taylor, 
however, prefers the solution of Dr. Allix. The 
Targum on Ruth says, that Salmon is styled Salmon 
the Just ; his works and the works of his children 
were very excellent ; Boaz was a righteous-person, by 
whose righteousness the people of Israel were deliv- 
ered from the hands of their enemies, &c. There were 
but 366 years from the first year of Joshua to the birth 
of David — for from the Exodus to the building of the 
temple were 480 years ; add to 366 the 40 years' wan- 
dering in wilderness, the life of David seventy years, 
and four years of Solomon — the total is 480 years. He 
therefore supposes that Salmon might beget Boaz 
when he was 96 years old ; Boaz begat Obed when he 
was 90 years old ; Obed at 90 begat Jesse ; and Jesse 
at 85 begat David. We know that long life often de- 
scends in a family ; old Parr had a son who lived to 
be very old; and, what is no less remarkable, old 
men of such families have had children very late, in 
life, as after the age of a hundred years ; of which 
old Parr himself is one example. 

Some rabbins maintain, that Ibzan, judge of Israel, 
(Judges xii. 8.) is the same as Booz ; the foundation 
of which opinion is, that Ibzan was of Bethlehem, 
and that there is some relation between the nfimes. 
But Ibzan having governed Israel from A. M. 2823 
to 2830, he cannot be the same as Booz, who could 
not be born later than A. M. 2620, his father Salmon 
having married Ruth in 2553. Now, supposing him 
to be born in 2620, he must have lived 210 years ; 
which appears incredible. 

BQRITH, or Bemth, rendered fuller's soap, in 
Mai. iii. 2. is thought to be the herb kali. But we 
should not forget, that the East produces a kind of 
fat earth, used in scouring cloth, like our fuller's 
earth. See Soap. 

BOSCATH, see Bozkath. 

BOSOM, the front of the upper part of the body — 
the breast. The orientals generally wore long, wide, 
and loose garments ; and when about to carry any 
thing away that their hands would not contain, they 
used for the purpose a fold in the bosom of their robe. 



BOT 



[ 204 ] 



BOTTLE 



To this custom our Lord alludes — " Good measure 
shall men give into your bosom," Luke vi. 38. To 
have one " in our bosom," implies kindness, secrecy, 
intimacy, Gen. xvi. 5 ; 2 Sam. xii. 8. Christ is in the 
bosom of the Father; that is, possesses the closest 
intimacy, and most perfect knowledge, of the Father, 
John i. 18. Our Saviour is said to carry his lambs 
in his bosom, which beautifully represents his tender 
care and watchfulness over them, Isa. xl. 11. 

BOSPHORUS. There were two places of this 
name ; (1.) The Cimmerian Bosphorus, which joined 
the lake Mceotis, now sea of Azof, to the Euxine sea. 
(2.) The Thracian Bosphorus, that of Constantinople, 
or the arm of the sea between Chalcedon and Con- 
stantinople. Each of these straits is called, in Greek, 
Bosphorus, or rather Bosporus, because an ox may 
swim over them. Interpreters are much divided 
concerning the (supposed) straits of which Obadiah 
(ver. 20.) speaks. The Jew whom Jerome consulted 
on such difficulties as occurred to him in the Hebrew, 
told him, that the Bosphorus mentioned by the 
prophet was the Cimmerian Bosphorus, whither the 
emperor Adrian had banished many of those Jews 
whom he had taken prisoners during the war in 
Palestine. So the Vulgate. Others believe, with 
more reason, that the captives taken notice of by 
Obadiah, were such as Nebuchadnezzar had sent 
away as far as the Palus Moeotis, about which the 
country is generally thought to be the most frightful 
in the world ; and hither the great persecutors of 
Christianity frequently sent the professors of our re- 
ligion. Lastly, many others understand the Hebrew 
as meaning Spain, and translate thus : — " The cap- 
tives of Jerusalem which are at Sepharad [that is to 
say, in Spain] shall possess the cities of the south." 
Profane historians, as Megasthenes and Strabo, assert, 
that Nebuchadnezzar extended his conquests as far 
as Africa and Iberia, beyond the pillars ; — which we 
apprehend to be those called Hercules' pillars. Now, 
in this expedition against Spain, some say that he 
transported many of the Jews thither. — But we may 
question whether Sepharad signifies Spain. Some 
suppose France to be denoted by it. The old Greek 
interpreters have kept the Hebrew term, without 
changing it in their translation. The Septuagint 
read Ephratha, instead of Sepharad. Calmet supposes 
some country beyond the Euphrates to be meant by 
Sepharad, such as that of the Sapires, or Saspires, 
towards Media, or the city of Hippara, in Mesopota- 
mia. But the most judicious commentators do not 
undertake to determine the country definitely. See 
Obadiah, Spain, Sepharad. 

BOSSES, the thickest and strongest parts of a 
buckler, Job xv. 26. 

BOTTLE. The difference is so great between 
the properties of glass bottles, such as are in common 
use among us, and bottles made of skin, which were 
used anciently by most nations, and still are used in 
the East, that when we read of bottles, without care- 
fully distinguishing in our minds one kind of bottle 
from the other, mistake is sure to ensue. For in- 
stance, (Josh. ix. 4.) the Gibeonites " did work wilily ; 
they took upon their asses wine-bottles, old, and rent, 
and bound up"— patched. So, ver. 13, " These bot- 
tles of wine were new, and behold they be rent." 
Surely to common readers this is unintelligible ! So, 
Matt. ix. 17, "Neither do men put new wine into old 
bottles ; else, the bottles break, and the wine runneth 
out, and the bottles perish :" — " but new wine," says 
Luke, (v. 38.) "must be put in new bottles, and 
both are preserved." Now, what idea have English 




readers of old, and rent, and patched (glass) bottlts ? 
or of the necessity of new glass bottles for holding 
new wine ? Nor should we forget the figure em- 
ployed by Job: (xxxii. 19.) "My belly is as wine 
which hath no vent ; it is ready to burst, like new 
bottles." To render these, and some other passages, 
clear, we must understand some of die properties of 
the bottles alluded to. 

The accompanying engraving, which is copied 
from the Antiquities 
of Herculaneum, (vol. 
vii. p. 197.) show's, 
very clearly, the form 
and nature of an an- 
cient bottle ; out of 
which a young wo- 
man is pouring wine 
into a cup, which in 
the original is held by 
Silenus. It appears 
from this figure, that 
after the skin has been 
stripped off the ani- 
mal, and properly 
dressed, the places 
where the legs had 
been are closed up ; and where the neck was, is the 
opening left for receiving and discharging the con- 
tents of the bottk. This idea is very simple and 
conspicuous in the figure. Such bottles, when full, 
in which state this is represented, differ of course 
from the same when empty ; being, when full, swol- 
len, round, and firm ; when empty, flaccid, weak, 
and bending. By receiving the liquor poured into it, 
a skin bottle must be greatly swelled, and distended ; 
and no doubt, it must be further swelled by the fer- 
mentation of the liquor within it, while advancing to 
ripeness; so that, in this state, if no vent be given to 
it, the liquor may overpower the strength of the bot- 
tle ; or, by searching every crevice, and weaker part, 
if it find any defect, it may ooze out by that. 
Hence arises the propriety of putting new wine into 
neio bottles, which, being in the prime of their 
strength, may resist the expansion, the internal press- 
ure of their contents, and preserve, the wine to ma- 
turity ; while old bottles may, without danger, con- 
tain old wine, whose fermentation is already past, 
Matt. ix. 17 ; Luke v. 38 ; Job xxxii. 19. ■ 

[The Hebrews employed several words signifying 
bottle ; but there seems not to have been any generic 
difference in the idea expressed by them ; unless, 
perhaps, the bottles or skins may have been of differ- 
ent sizes. (1.) In Gen. xxi. 14, Abraham is described 
as giving to Hagar a bottle of water, ncn, cMmeth, 
which she carried with her, and which, therefore, 
could not have been of a large size. — (2.) The bottle 
of wine which Samuel's mother brought to Eli (1 
Sam. i. 24.) is called Saj, ncbel ; which is also repre- 
sented as being transported on horses, (1 Sam. x. 3 ; 2 
Sam. xvi. 1.) and was, therefore, larger. This word 
seems to have been rather a general term like our 
word vessel, because it is the word used in Isa. xxx. 
14. and Lam. iv. 2. where the epithet earthen is joined 
with it. — (3.) The word inj, nod, seems to imply a 
skin or bottle similar to the preceding one ; it was 
from such an one that Jael gave milk to Sisera, (Judg. 
iv. 19.) and in this also Jesse sent wine by David to 
Saul. The same word is employed in Ps. cxix. 83. 
" I am like a bottle in the smoke," i. e. black and 
dried up, like a bottle of wine suspended in the 
smoke, in order to ripen it, as was the common 



BOTTLE 



[ 205 ] 



BOW 



practice of the ancients. — (4.) Another name is ait*, 
6b, mentioned in the plural nuN, oboth, Job xxxii. 19. 
where Elihu says he " is ready to burst like new bot- 
tles" i. e. like those filled with new wine in a state of 
fermentation. These would seem, therefore, to have 
been used for the preservation of wine, as was com- 
mon in the East ; comp. Matt. ix. 17. It is not im- 
possible that this was a larger species than the others ; 
at least this supposition is favored by the use of the 
same word (sin) to signify a necromancer, sorcerer, (1 
Sam. xxviii. 7 — 19.) or the spirit which was supposed 
to dwell in such persons. These were chiefly en- 
gastrimythi, or ventriloquists, respecting whom it was 
supposed they had in them a demon who thus spoke 
from within them. Hence the person himself was 
as it were an 31N, 6b, vessel, bottle, into which the 
demon had entered, and which contained him. This 
is the most common meaning of the word ; indeed it 
occurs in the sense of bottle only once in the whole 
Old Testament, Job xxxii. 19. R. 

Bottles, then, of skins, would naturally be propor- 
tioned to the size of the animal which yields them, — 
kid-skins, goat-skins, ox-skins. The larger were, 
perhaps, not unlike what the Arabs now name the 
Girba, thus described by Mr. Bruce : — " A girba is 
an ox's skin, squared, and the edges sewed together 
very artificially, by a double seam, which does not 
let out water, much resembling that upon the best 
English cricket balls. An opening is left at the top 
of the girba, in the same manner as the bung-hole 
of a cask. Around this the skin is gathered to the 
size of a large handful, which, when the girba is full 
of water, is tied round with whip-cord. These gir- 
bas generally contain about sixty gallons each, and 
two of them are the load of a camel. They are then 
all besmeared on the outside with grease, as well to 
hinder the water from oozing through, as to prevent 
its being evaporated by the heat of the sun upon the 
girba, which, in fact, happened to us twice, so as to 
put us in imminent danger of perishing with thirst." 
(Travels, vol. iv. p. 334.) " There was great plenty 
of shell-fish to be picked up on every shoal. I had 
loaded the vessel with four skins of fresh water, equal 
to four hogsheads, with cords of buoys fixed to the 
end of each of them; so that if we had been ship- 
wrecked near land, as rubbing two sticks together 
made us a fire, I was not afraid of receiving suc- 
cors before we were driven to the last extremity, 
provided we did not perish in the sea." (Vol. i. 
p. 205.) 

[Such bottles, or vessels of skins, are almost uni- 
versally employed at the present day in travelling in 
the East. Niebuhr gives the following account of 
his baggage, when setting out from Cairo for Suez : 
(Trav. vol. i. p. 212. Germ, ed.) " We had each of us a 
vessel of thick leather to drink out of ; and because we 
should find no water for some days, we took also 
quite a number of goat-skins filled with water with 
us. Our wine we had in large glass bottles, [Damas- 
janen, demi-johns ?) which seemed to us to be the best 
for this purpose ; but when a camel happens to fall, or 
strikes with his load against another one, these ves- 
sels easily break ; and therefore it is better, in orien- 
tal journeys, to carry both wine and spirits in goat- 
skins. The skins that are thus used to transport 
water, have the hair outwards ; those that are in- 
tended for wine, have the hair inwards, and are so 
well covered with pitch, that the drink acquires no 
bad taste whatever. And although for an European 
it may be at first somewhat disgusting to keep his 
drenk in such vessels, yet he has not to fear that his 



wine will be spilled and lost by the way, as was the 
case with a part of ours." Mr. King also mentions, 
when departing from Cairo for Jerusalem, that they 
" purchased four goat-skins and four leather bottles 
to carry water." Three days after, they found that, as 
"the goat-skins were new, they had given the water 
a reddish color, and an exceedingly loathsome taste." 
Missionary Her. 1824, p. 34, 35. R. 

BOUNDS, BOUNDARIES, limits. Moses for- 
bids any one to alter the bounds of his neighbor's 
inheritance : (Deut. xix. 14.) " Thou shalt not remove 
thy neighbor's land-mark, which they of old time 
have set on thine inheritance, which thou dost in- 
herit," &c. All the people curse the man who 
should remove the bounds planted by their ancestors, 
Deut. xxvii. 17. Job (xxiv. 2.) reckons those who 
are guilty of this crime among thieves and robbers, 
and oppressors of the poor. Josephus (Antiq. lib. iv. 
cap. 8.) has interpreted the law of Moses in a very 
particular sense. He says, " that it is not lawful to 
change the limits, either of the land belonging to the 
Israelites, or that of their neighbors with whom they 
are at peace ; but that they ought to be left as they 
are, having been so placed by the order of God him- 
self; for the desire which avaricious men have to 
extend their limits is the occasion of war and divis- 
ion ; and whosoever is capable of removing the 
boundaries of lands is not far from a disposition to 
violate all other laws." 

Among the Romans, if a slave, with an evil design, 
changed any boundary, he was punished with death. 
Men of condition were sometimes banished, and pri- 
vate persons punished according to the circumstances 
of their crime, by pecuniary fines, or corporal pun- 
ishment. The respect of the ancients for boundaries 
proceeded almost to adoration. Numa Pompilius, 
king of the Romans, ordained, that offerings should 
be made to boundaries, with thick milk, cakes, and 
first-fruits. Ovid says, that a lamb was sacrificed to 
them, and that they were sprinkled with blood ; and 
Juvenal speaks of cake and pap, which were laid 
every year upon the sacred bounds. 

The Scripture reckons it among the effects of God's 
omnipotence, to have fixed bounds to the sea, Ps. civ. 
9 ; Job xxvi. 10 ; Prov. viii. 29 ; Jer. v. 22. 

BOW, a kind of weapon well known. The Israel- 
ites had many very expert archers among their troops. 
When there is mention in Scripture of bending the 
bow, the verb tread underfoot is generally used ; be- 
cause it was the custom to put the feet upon the bow, 
to bend it. [The phrase a deceit/id boiv, to which 
the people of Israel are compared, (Ps. lxxviii. 57 ; 
Hos. vii. 16.) means a bow which shoots the arrow in 
a wrong direction, not as it is aimed ; and the com- 
parison is just, because Israel swerved from the 
course which God had marked out for them and di- 
rected them to pursue. 

In 2 Sam. i. 18. we read in the English version, 
"Also he (David) bade them teach the children of 
Judab the use of the boAV." Here the words " the ttse 
of" are not in the Hebrew, and convey a sense en- 
tirely false to the English reader. It should be, 
"teach them the bow," i. e. the song o/the bow, the 
lamentation over Saul and Jonathan which follows ; 
and which is called, by way of distinction, the bow, 
from the mention of this weapon in verse 22. This 
mode of selecting an inscription to a poem or work 
is common in the East ; so in the Koran the second 
Sura is entitled the coiv, from the incidental mention 
in it of the red heifer, comp. Numb. xix. 2. In a 
similar manner, the names of the books of the Penta- 



BOZ 



[ 206 ] 



BRA 



teuch in the Hebrew Bibles, are merely the jirst ivord 
in each book. *R. 

God is represented in Scripture with his bow and 
arrows, as warriors and conquerors are described, 
Hab. iii. 9. The Persians, in Scripture called Elam- 
ites, were the most expert archers in the world. See 
War, machines and instruments of 

BOWELS, the inward parts of a human body. 
According to the Jews, these are the seat of mercy, 
tenderness, and compassion ; and hence the Scrip- 
ture expressions of the bowels being moved, bowels 
of mercy, straitened in your bowels, &c. The He- 
brews sometimes place wisdom and understanding 
also in the bowels, Job xxxviii. 36 ; Psal. li. 10 ; 
Isaiah xix. 3, &c. [The reason of this is, that boivcls 
is often put by the Hebrew writers for the internal 
parts generally, the inner man, and so also for heart 
as we use it. R. 

BOX-TREE, •wohp, tashur; so called from its 
flourishing, or perpetual viridity — an evergreen. 
Isaiah says, " I will plant in the wilderness the ce- 
dar, the shittah-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree ; 
I will set in the desert the fir-tree, and the pine, and 
the box-tree together," ch. xli. 19. The nature of the 
box-tree might lead us to look for evergreens among 
the foregoing trees, and perhaps by tracing this idea 
we might attain to something like satisfaction respect- 
ing them, which at present we cannot. A plantation 
of evergreens in the wilderness is not unlikely to be 
the import of this passage. The contrast between a 
perpetual verdure, and sometimes universal brown- 
ness, not enlivened by variety of tints, must be very 
great; nevertheless we must be careful not to group 
unnaturally associated vegetation. — Some suppose a 
species of cedar to be meant. 

BOZEZ, the name of a rock which Jonathan 
climbed up to attack the Philistines, 1 Sam. xiv. 4. 
It was situated between Myron and Michmash, and 
formed, with a similar rock opposite, called Seveh, a 
defile, or strait. 

BOZKATH, a city of Judah, Joshua xv. 39 ; 2 
Kings xxii. 1. 

BOZRAH, a city of great antiquity, known also to 
the Greeks and Romans by the name of Bostra. In 
most of the passages of the Old Testament where it 
is mentioned, it appears as a chief city of the Edom- 
ites ; (Is. xxxiv. 6 ; lxiii. 12 ; Amos i. 12 ; Jer. xlix. 
13, 22.) only in Jer. xlviii. 24. it is named among the 
cities of Moab. It does not hence follow, that we 
must consider these as different cities ; for in con- 
sequence of the continual wars, incursions and 
conquests, which were common among the small 
kingdoms of that region, the possession of particular 
cities often passed into different hands. Thus Sela, 
l. e. Petra, the capital of the Edomites, taken from 
them by Amaziah king of Judah, (2 Kings xiv. 7.) is 
also mentioned by Isaiah among the Moabitish cities, 
xvi. 1. Since now Bozrah lay not in the original 
territory of the Edomites, i. e. south of Judea, but 
north of the territory of the Ammonites, in Auranitis, 
or Haouran ; we must suppose that the Edomites had 
become masters of it by conquest ; and that it was 
afterwards taken from them by the Moabites, and 
held for a time by these latter. — Bozrah lay south- 
easterly from Edrei, one of the capitals of Bashan, 
and, according to Eusebius, twenty-four Roman 
miles distant from it ; with this agrees also the 
specification of Ptolemy. The Romans reckoned 
Bozrah to desert Arabia ; thus Ammianus Marcellinus 
says, (xiv. 27.) "Arabia has among her towns several 
large cities, as Bostra, and Gerasa, and Philadelphia." 



Alexander Severus made it the seat of a Roman 
colony. In the acts of the Nicene, Ephesian, and 
Chalcedonian synods, mention is made of bishops of 
Bozrah ; and at a later period it became an important 
seat of the Nestorians. (See Assemani's Bibloth. Ori- 
ent, torn. iii. pt. ii. p. 595,730.) Abulfeda calls it the 
chief city of Auranitis, or Haouran. And even at the 
present day, according to Burrkhardt, it is one of the 
most important places in the Haouran. (Travels in 
Syria, &c. p. 326.) " Bozrah is situated," he says, 
" in the open plain, and is at present the last inhabited 
place in the south-east extremity of the Haouran; it 
was formerly the capital of Arabia Provincia, and is 
now, including its ruins, the largest town in the 
Haouran. It is of an oval shape, its greatest length 
being from east to west ; its circumference is three 
quarters of an hour. It was anciently enclosed by a 
thick wall, which gave it the reputation of great 
strength. Many parts of this wall, especially on the 
west side, still remain ; it was constructed with stones 
of a moderate size strongly cemented together. The 
principal buildings in Bozrah were on the east side, 
and in a direction from thence towards the middle of 
the town. The south and south-east quarters are 
covered with ruins of private dwellings, the walls of 
many of which are still standing, but most of the roofs 
have fallen in. On the west side are springs of fresh 
water ; of which I counted five beyond the precincts 
of the town, and six within the walls. — The castle 
of Bozrah is a most important post to protect the 
harvests of the Haouran against the hungry Bedou- 
ins ; but it is much neglected by the pachas of Damas- 
cus, and this year the crops of the inhabitants of 
Bozrah have been almost entirely consumed by the 
horses of the Aeneze, a tribe encamped in the vicin- 
ity. — Of the vineyards for which Bozrah was cele- 
brated, and which are commemorated by the Greek 
medals of the colonia Bostra, not a vestige remains. 
There is scarcely a tree in the neighborhood of the 
town ; and the twelve or fifteen families, who now 
inhabit it, cultivate nothing but wheat, barley, horse- 
beans, and a little dhourra. A number of fine rose- 
trees grow wild among the ruins of the town, and 
were just beginning to open their buds." The an- 
cient importance of the city is still demonstrated by 
the ruins of temples, theatres, and palaces ; of which 
Burckhardt gives a full description. *R. 

BRACELET, an ornamental chain, or a clasp, made 
of various metals, always meant to adorn the part on 
which it was worn. [The word bracelet comes prop- 
erly from the Latin brachiale, meaning an ornament 
for the arm ; and to this corresponds the Hebrew 
■vex, tsdmld. This is too common to need any de 
scription. But there is another kind of ornament 
called in Hebrew myx, tseadah, or myxN, etsddah, whic' 
is also often rendered bracelet in our English version • 
sometimes improperly. The Hebrew words come 
from a root which signifies to step, to walk ; hence 
the proper signification seems to be step-chain, or 
foot-chain, i. e. small chains which the oriental 
women wear fastened to the ornaments of the ankles, 
so as to unite the feet, and thus cause them to walk in 
a measured pace ; an affectation which is strong! 
reproved by Isaiah, (iii. 16.) who describes the female 
of Jerusalem as "walking and mincing as they go 
and making a tinkling with their feet." So in th 
enumeration of female ornaments, Isa. iii. 20 ; an 
also Num. xxxi. 50, where the Israelites, after havin 
defeated the Midianites, offered to the Lord th 
"/oof-chains, and bracelets, rings, ear-rings," etc. take 
from the enemy. The word etsddah, however, seem 



BRA 



[ 207 ] 



ERE 



sometimes to have been taken in a more general 
sense, and to have also included the sense of brace- 
let ; as in 2 Sam. i, 10, where the Amalekite who 
had slain Saul, says, that he took off the bracelet 
[etsddah] that was upon the arm of that prince. So 
the Septuagint here has xliSnrti. But this is not the 
specific or usual meaning. R.] The Chaldee 
properly translates it chains of the foot. Clemens 
Alexandrinus (Prsedag. lib. ii. cap. 12.) calls those 
silver or golden circlets that women put about their 
legs, Jiidac neqtoyvQlovs, i. e. fetters or bonds, as do 
other profane authors. The women of Syria and 
Arabia at this day Wear great rings round their legs, 
to which are fastened many other lesser rings, which 
make a tinkling noise, like little bells, when they 
walk or stir. These rings are fixed above the ankle, 
and are of gold, silver, copper, glass, or even of var- 
nished earth, according to the substance and con- 
dition of the wearer. The princesses wear large 
hollow rings of gold, within which are enclosed little 
pebbles, that tinkle. Others have lesser rings called 
Kelkal, hung round them, which have the same 
effect. The larger circles, or rings, are open in one 
place, in form of a crescent, by which they pass the 
small of the leg through them. (See Dresses.) 
The Egyptian ladies wore also very valuable leg- 
rings ; for we read in an inscription found in Spain, 
that the statue of Isis had ornaments of gold on its 
legs, set with two emeralds, and with eleven other 
precious stones. The Roman and Grecian women 
also used them. Trimalchio, (in Petronius,) speak- 
ing of his spouse, says, See what she wears on her 
legs ; Videtis mulieris compedes ; by way of complaint 
at her extravagance. 

BRAMBLE, Judg. ix. 14, 15. The word -ton, dtdd, 
which is here translated bramble, is in Ps. lviii. 9. 
rendered thorn. The most proper name in English 
would be buck-thorn. The LXX and Josephus 
translate it (>uuvog, and the Vulgate rhamnus. Theo- 
doras says the rhamnus is the largest of thorns, and 
is furnished with the most dreadful darts ; and Dios- 
corides, as cited by Bochart, remarks, that the Afri- 
cans, or Carthaginians, called the rhamnus '^iraSlii, 
which is the plural of the Hebrew atad. As to the 
nature of the trees of which Jephthah speaks, we are 
pretty sure of most of them. The olive-tree, the fig- 
tree, the vine, are well known ; and the bramble 
seems to be very well chosen as a representative of 
the original atad ; for probably that vegetable should 
be a tree, bearing a fruit of some kind, (like the 
thorn-apple,) which is associated, though by opposi- 
tion, with the vine, &c. That this atad yvas used for 
the purpose of burning, we have the evidence of the 
Psalmist. The bramble of Britain is a kind of rasp- 
berry ; whether this atad of Judea is of the same 
class, we do not determine. Hasselquist does not 
mention it ; and the rendering of the LXX seems to 
hint at a different kind of thorn. Scheuchzer gives 
the preference on this occasion to the Rhamnus, or 
JYabca Paliurus Athenei, which Hasselquist selected 
for the crown of thorns of our Saviour. It is cer- 
tain that such a tree is required as may well denote 
a tyrant. ; one who, instead of affording shade and 
shelter to such as seek his protection, strips them of 
their property, as a bramble-bush does the sheep 
which come near it, or lie down under its shadow. 
At the same time this tree being associated with 
those which bear valuable fruit, it should appear 
necessary to fix on some bush producing fruit also, 
as most properly answering to this atad. . 

While transcribing this article, a passage in Hol- 



land's translation of Plutarch occurred to our recol- 
lection, which seems admirably illustrative of the 
above idea of the character of the tree which should 
represent the atad, — which, instead of affording 
shelter, should strip of their property those who 
sought its shade and protection. "Whereupon is 
thought that he [Demosthenes] forsook his colors 
and fled ; now, as he made haste away, there chanced 
a bramble to take hold of his cassock behind, whereat 
he turned back and said to the bramble, ' Save my 
life, and take my ransom.' " (Carpenter's Scripture 
Natural History, p. 428.) 

BRANCH. The prophets give this name to the 
Messiah : " Behold the man, whose name is the 
Branch," says Zechariah, chap. vi. 12. also chap. hi. 
8. "Behold, I will bring forth my servant the 
Branch." The Vulgate translates Oriens. Jesus 
Christ is the Branch of the house of David ; he is 
likewise Oriens, the Sun of Righteousness, which is 
risen in order to enlighten us, and to deliver us out 
of the shadow of death. The Messiah is likewise 
called by this name in Isaiah iv. 2 ; Jer. xxiii. 5 ; 
xxxiii. 15. as a kind of prophecy of his miraculous 
birth of a virgin. 

BRASS '< frequently mentioned in the English 
Bible, but there is little doubt that copper is in- 
tended ; brass being a mixed metal, for the manu- 
facture of which we are indebted to the Germans. 
The ancients knew nothing of the art. See Copper. 

BREAD, a word which in Scripture is taken for 
food in general, Gen. iii. 19 ; xviii. 5 ; xxviii. 20 ; 
Exod. ii. 20. Manna is called bread from heaven, 
Exod. xvi. 4. 

The ancient Hebrews had several ways of baking 
bread ; they often baked it under the ashes, upon the 
hearth, upon round copper plates, or in pans or stoves 
made on purpose. At their departure out of Egypt, 
they made some of these unleavened loaves for their 
journey, Exod. xii. 39. Elijah, when fleeing from 
Jezebel, found at his head a cake, which had been 
baked on the coals, (properly upon hot stones,) and a 
cruse of water, 1 Kings xix. 5. The same prophet 
desired the widow of Sarepta to make a little bread 
(cake) for him, and to bake it under the ashes, 1 
Kings xvii. 13. The Hebrews call this kind of cake 
uggoth; and Hosea (vii. 8.) compares Ephraim to 
one of them which was not turned, but was baked 
on one side only. Busbequius (Constantinop. p. 36.) 
says, that in Bulgaria this sort of loaf is still very 
common. They are there called hugaces. As soon 
as they see a guest coming, the women immediately 
prepare these unleavened loaves, which are baked 
under the ashes, and sold to strangers, there being 
no bakers in this country. 

The Arabians, (D'Arvieux Coutumes des Arabes, 
cap. xiv.) and other eastern people, among whom 
wood is scarce, often bake their bread between two 
fires made of cow-dung, which burns slowly, and 
bakes the bread very leisurely. The crumb of it is 
very good, if it be eaten the same day ; but the crust 
is black, and burnt, and retains a smell of the fuel 
used in baking it. This explains Ezek. iv. 9, 10, 
12, 15. which is extremely shocking to the generality 
of readers. The Lord commands this prophet to 
make a paste composed of wheat, barley, beans, len- 
tils, millet, and fitches, and of this to make a loaf, to 
bake it with human excrements in the sight of all 
the people. The prophet expressing extreme reluc- 
tance to this, God permitted him to bake it with 
cow-dung, instead of human dung. We are not to 
imagine that it was God's design to make the prophet 



BREAD 



[ 208 1 



BREAD 



eat man's dung ; he only enjoined him to bake his 
bread with such excrements: but, afterwards, he 
allowed him to bake it with cow-dung, as the Ara- 
bians do. See FuEir, and the extract from Niebuhr 
below. 

The Hebrews, and other eastern people, have a 
kind of oven, called tanour, which is like a large 
pitcher, of gray stone, open at top, in which they 
make a fire. When it is well heated, they mingle 
flour in water ; and this paste they apply to the out- 
side of the pitcher. It is baked in an instant, and 
being dried, is taken off in thin, fine pieces, like our 
wafers. The orientals believe Eve's oveu to have 
been of this kind ; that it was left to Noah, and they 
say that the boiling water which ran over from it, 
occasioned the deluge ; — metaphorical of the exten- 
sive spread and effects of her sin. 

A third sort of bread used among the people of 
the East, is baked (according to Corvieux) in a great 
pitcher half full of certain little flints, which are 
white and glistering, on which they cast the paste in 
the form of little flat cakes. The bread is white, and 
smells well, but is good only for the day on which it 
is baked, unless there be leaven mingled with it to 
preserve it longer. This is the most common way 
in Palestine. 

[Another kind of oriental oven consists of a round 
hole in the earth ; the bottom is first covered over 
with stones, upon which fire is made ; and when the 
stones are hot enough, the coals and ashes are re- 
moved, and the dough laid in thin flakes upon the 
hot stones, and turned several times. Such are the 
cakes of stones, 1 Kings xix. 6. In Persia, according 
to Tavernier and Chardin, those ovens are about 
three feet in diameter, and five or six feet deep. 
Sometimes a whole sheep is thus baked or roasted in 
them, by hanging it over the hot stones or coals. 
Comp. Jahn Bib. Arch. Pt. ii. p. 181, Germ. ed. 
§ 140, Am. ed. 

Niebuhr gives the following description of the 
bread and the mode of baking it in the East : (De- 
script, of Arab. p. 51. Germ, ed.) " The Arabs have 
different ways of baking bread. On board of the 
ship in which we took passage from Djidda to Lo- 
heia, one of the sailors every afternoon prepared as 
much durra, i. e. made it into dough, as was neces- 
sary for one day. Mean time the oven was heated. 
This was nothing more than a large water-pot bot- 
tom upwards, about three -feet high, without a 
bottom, plastered over thick with clay, and standing 
on a movable foot-piece. When this was hot 
enough, the dough, or rather the cakes, were clapped 
upon the sides of the oven internally, without taking 
out the coals, and the oven was then covered. The 
bread was afterwards taken out, when, for a Euro- 
pean it was not half baked, and so eaten as Avarm as 
possible. The Arabs of the desert use a plate of iron 
for baking their cakes of bread. Or they lay a round 
lump of dough among hot coals of wood or of 
camel's dung, and cover it over with them entirely, 
till, as they suppose, the bread is enough baked ; 
they then knock off the ashes from it, and eat it hot. 
The Arabs of the cities have ovens not unlike our 
own. These also are not without wheat bread. It 
has likewise the form and size of our [German] pan- 
cakes, (i. e. of a dough-nut, or a middling-sized 
apple,) and is seldom sufficiently baked. The other 
food of the orientals consists chiefly in rice, milk, 
butter, cheimak, or thick cream, and all kinds of gar- 
den fruits. Nor have they any deficiency of animal 
food." In another place, after relating the same 



facts, this writer remarks, that " the principal suste- 
nance of the orientals in general is new bread, just 
baked in this manner ; and on this account they fur- 
nish themselves on their journeys in the desert es- 
pecially with meal." (Travels, vol. i. p. 234, Germ, 
ed.) *R. 

The forms given to bread in different countries, 
however, are varied according to circumstances, 
whether it be required to sustain keeping for a longer 
or a shorter time ; that bread which is to be eaten 
the same day it is made, is usually thin, broad, and 
flat ; that which is meant for longer keeping is 
larger, and more bulky, that its moisture may not too 
soon evaporate. So far as we recollect, the loaves 
most generally used among the Jews were round ; 
though the rabbins say the shew-bread was square. 
We have representations of loaves divided into twelve 
parts ; Ave cannot affirm, that the loaf used by our 
Lord at the eucharist was thus divided ; but if it 
were, it shows how conveniently it might be dis- 
tributed among the disciples ; to each a part. We 
conceive, too, that such a divided loaf gives no im- 
proper comment on the passage, " We being many 
are one bread" — many partakers, each having his 
portion from the same loaf, 1 Cor. x. 17. 

Moses enjoined the Israelites, on their arrival in 
the promised land, " to offer up a cake of the first 
of their dough, for a heave-offering in their genera- 
tions," Numb. xv. 20. These first-fruits of bread, or 
dough, were given to the priest or Levite, who dwelt 
in the place where the bread was baked ; if no priest 
or Levite dwelt there, that part of the dough de- 
signed for the Lord, or as minister, was thrown 
into the fire, or the oven. The quantity of bread to 
be given for first-fruits was not settled by the law ; 
but custom and tradition had determined it to be be- 
tween the fortieth part of the whole mass at most, and 
the sixtieth part of the mass at least. Philo remarks, 
that something was set apart for the priest, when- 
ever they kneaded, but he does not say how much. 
Leo of Modena tells us, that the modern custom of 
the Jews is, when the bread is kneaded, and a piece 
of dough made as big as forty eggs, to take a small 
part from it, and make a cake, which is instead of 
the first-fruits appointed by the law. It had been a 
custom to give this cake to the priest ; but, at pres- 
ent, it is thrown into the fire, to be consumed. This 
is one of the three precepts which should be ob- 
served by the women, as they generally make the 
bread. The prayer to be recited by them, when they 
throw this little portion of dough into the oven, or 
the fire, is as follows : — " Blessed art thou, O Lord 
our God, the King of the world, who hast sanctified 
us by thy precepts, and hast commanded us to sepa- 
rate a cake of our dough." 

It appears, from several places of Scripture, that 
there stood constantly near the altar a basket full of 
bread, to be offered with the ordinary sacrifices, 
Exod. xxix. 32; Numb. vi. 15. Moses forbids the 
priests to receive from the hands of strangers bread, 
or any thing else that they proposed to give ; because 
all these gifts are corrupted, Lev. xxii. 25. There 
are different opinions concerning the meaning of 
this law. Some think that under the name of bread, 
we should understand all sorts of sacrifices and 
offerings, because the victims that were slain are, in 
Scripture, sometimes called the bread of God. 
Others imagine, that God forbids the receiving sacri- 
fices of any kind, or any real offering immediately 
from the hands of infidel people ; but that he per- 
mits the reception of money wherewith to purchase 



BREAD 



[ 209 ] 



BREAD 



offerings and victims. Others explain it literally, of 
offerings of flour, bread, or cakes ; that none of these 
were to be received in the temple from the hands 
of idolaters, or infidels. 

God threatens to break the staff of bread, that is, 
to send famine among the Israelites, Ezek. iv. 16. 
Our Saviour says, after the Psalmist, " Man doth not 
live by bread only, but by every word which pro- 
ceedeth out of the mouth of God," Matt. iv. 4. God 
can sustain us, not only with bread, or ordinary food, 
but with any thing else, if he think lit to communi- 
cate a nourishing virtue to it. Thus he fed the Is- 
raelites in the wilderness with manna ; and thus five 
thousand men were fed with five loaves, distributed 
by the hands of Christ and his apostles. Bread and 
water are used for sustenance in general, Deut. ix. 9, 
18, &c. " Bread of affliction, and water of afflic- 
tion," (1 Kings xxii. 27.) are th' same as a little bread 
and a little water, or prison-bread and prison-water, 
prison allowance ; as one partakes of them in a 
season of affliction. 

As the Hebrews generally made their bread very 
thin, and in the form of little flat cakes, or wafers, 
they did not cut it with a knife, but broke it ; which 
gave rise to that expression so usual in Scripture, of 
breaking bread, to signify eating, sitting down to 
table, taking a repast. In the institution of the 
eucharist, our Saviour broke the bread which he had 
consecrated ; whence, to break bread, and breaking 
of bread, in the New Testament, are used for cele- 
brating the eucharist. 

The Psalmist speaks of the bread of tears, and 
the bread of sorrows, Psalm xlii. 3 ; cxxvii. 2. 
Meaning continual sorrow and tears, instead of food ; 
or which make us lose the desire of eating and 
drinking. " Bread of wickedness, bread of deceit," 
. s bread acquired by fraudulent and criminal prac- 
tices. These metaphors are very energetic. 

Bread, daily ; to show an entire dependence on 
our heavenly Father's care, we are instructed to pray 
day by day for our daily bread, Matt. vi. 11. The 
Greek word iTriovaioc, sufficient, used by the evange- 
lists, may be understood as opposed to m^iovatog, su- 
perfluous. Many commentators include in this pe- 
tition, a prayer for the daily supply for the spiritual 
wants of the believer by Divine Grace, as well as a 
daily supply for his temporal need by Divine Provi- 
dence. 

Shew-bread, (Heb. bread of presence,) was bread 
offered every sabbath day to God on the golden table 
placed in the holy place, Exod. xxv. 30. The He- 
brews affirm, that the loaves were square, having 
four sides, and covered with leaves of gold. They 
were twelve in number, in memory of the twelve 
tribes of Israel, in whose names they were offered. 
They must have been quite large, since every loaf 
was composed of two assarons or omers of flour, 
which make about ten pints 2-10ths. The loaves 
had no leaven ; were presented hot every sabbath 
day, the old loaves being taken away, which were to 
be eaten by the priests only. With this offering 
there was salt and incense ; and even wine, accord- 
ing to some commentators. Scripture mentions only 
salt and incense ; but it is presumed wine was added, 
because it was not wanting in other sacrifices and 
offerings. It is believed that the loaves were placed 
one upon the other in two piles, of six each ; and 
that between every loaf there were two thin plates 
of gold, folded back in a semicircle, the whole length 
of them, to admit air, and to hinder the loaves from 
growing mouldy. These golden plates, thus turned 



in, were supported at their extremities by two 
golden forks which rested upon the ground, Lev. 

xxiv. 5, seq. 

As there is much difference of opinion among 
commentators as to the manner in which these 
loaves were placed upon the table, it may be neces- 
sary to offer some remarks on the subject. Tin 
following- quotation from Lightfoot, (of the Temple, j 
however, may be previously perused with advan • 
tage :— 

" On the north side of the house, which was on 
the right hand, stood the shew-bread table of twe 
cubits long, and a cubit and a half broad, (Exod 

xxv. 23.) in the tabernacle of Moses, but wanting that 
half cubit in breadth in the second temple (the reason 
of the falling short, not given by them that give the 
relation.) It stood lengthwise in its place, that is, 
east and west, and had a crown of gold round about 
it, toward the upmost edge of it, which [see Baal 
Hatt. in Ex. xxv.] the Jews resemble to the crown 
of the kingdom. Upon this table there stood con- 
tinually twelve loaves, which, because they stood 
before the Lord, were called □>jsn snS, Matt. xii. 4, 
'' Aqroi TtQo&iatmg, the bread of setting before, [the 
bread of presence,] for which our English has found 
a very fit word, calling it the shew-bread ; the man- 
ner of making and placing of which loaves was 
thus, says Maimonides : (in Tamidin, per. 5.) " Out 
of four and twenty hnd, scah, (three of which went 
to an ephah,) that is, out of eight bushels of wheat 
being ground, they sifted out (Lev. xxiv. 5.) four and 
twenty tenth-deals, (Exod. xvi. 36.) or omers, of the 
purest flour ; and that they made into twelve cakes, 
two omers in a cake ; or the fifth part of an ephah 
of corn in every cake ; they made the cakes square, 
namely, ten hand-breadths long, and five broad, and 
seven fingers thick. 

" On the sabbath they set them on the table in 
this manner ; four priests went first in to fetch away 
the loaves that had stood all the week, and other four 
went in after them to bring in new ones in their 
stead ; two of the four last carried the two rows of 
the cakes, namely, six a-piece, and the other two 
carried in, either of them, a golden dish, in which the 
frankincense was to be put, to be set upon the 
loaves ; and so those four that went to fetch out the 
old bread, two of them were to carry the cakes, and 
the other two the dishes ; these four that came to 
fetch the old bread out stood before the table with 
their faces towards the north, and the other four that 
brought in the new stood betwixt the table and the 
wall with their faces towards the south ; those drew 
off the old cakes, and these, as the others went off, 
slipped on the new, so that the table was never with- 
out bread upon it, because it is said, they should 
stand before the Lord continually. They set the 
cakes in two rows, six and six, one upon another, 
and they set them, the length of the cakes cross over 
the breadth of the table, (by which it appears, that 
the crown of gold about the table rose not above the 
surface of it, but was a border below edging even 
with the plain of it, as is well held by Rabbi Solo- 
mon, in Exodus xxv.) and so the cakes lay two hand- 
breadths over the table on either side ; for the table 
was but six hand-breadths broad, and the cakes were 
ten hand-breadths long ; now as for preventing that 
that which so lay over should not break off, if they 
had no other way to prevent it, (which yet they had, 
but I confess that the description of it in their 
authors I do not understand,) yet their manner of 
laying the cakes one upon another was such as that 



BREAD 



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the weight rested upon the table, and not upon the 
points that hung over. The lowest cake of either 
row they laid upon the plain table ; and upon that 
cake they laid three golden canes at distance one 
from another, and upon those they laid the next 
cake ; and then three golden canes again, and upon 
them another cake ; and so of the rest, save only 
that they laid but two such canes upon the fifth cake, 
because there was but one cake more to be laid upon. 
Now these which I call golden canes (and the He- 
brews call them so also) were not like reeds or canes, 
perfectly round and hollow through, but they were 
like canes or kexes slit up the middle ; and the reason 
of laying them thus betwixt cake and cake was, that 
by their hollowness air might come to every cake, 
and all might thereby be kept the better from mould- 
iness and corrupting ; and thus did the cakes lie 
hollow, and one not touching another, and all the 
golden canes being laid so, as that they lay within 
the compass of the breadth of the table ; the ends 
of the cakes that lay over the table on either side 
bare no burthen but their own weight. 

" On the top of either row was set a golden dish 
with a handful of frankincense, which, when the 
bread was taken away, was burnt as incense to the 
Lord, (Lev. xxiv. 7.) and the bread went to Aaron 
and his sons, or to the priests, as their portions to be 
eaten." 

So far this learned author 

This is a representation of this table, as usually 
acquiesced in, on rab- 
binical authority. The 
table itself is a parallel- 
ogram ; in the middle 
stands a vase with its 
covering, which vase is 
understood to contain 
incense ; at each end of 
the table stands a pile, 
formed by the loaves 
of shew-bread ; this 
pile is upheld by gold- 
en prongs, which pre- 
vent the loaves from 
slipping out of then- 
places ; and between the loaves are golden pipes, 
laid for the admission of air, to prevent any kind of 
mouldiness, &c. from attaching to the bread. The 
reader will observe the great height of these piles. 
We cannot but wonder at the conduct of whoever 
originally made the design for this 1 table ; by what 
authority could he place on these prongs the head 
of any animal, whether ox or sheep ? or was it in 
allusion to the four heads of the cherub ? (as there 
were four of these prongs, two on each side of the 
table.) It should seem to be the head of a young 
bull ; — but, if so, if there were really any tradition 
of such a head, might it not become the origin of 
that calumny which reported, that the Jews wor- 
shipped an ass's head? (see Ass ;) for it is remarka- 
ble that the calumny does not say a complete ass, 
but the head of an ass ; and, possibly, some such 
mistake might give occasion to it: — for, had it said 
an ox's head, the report had not been far from the 
truth, if this representation be authentic. However, 
that must rest on the rabbins, whose accounts are 
its authorities ; or on whatever authority the original 
designer might have to plead. It should appear by 
this figure, that the crown of carved work around 
the rim of the table rose above the superficial level 
of the table; if so, as Lightfoot justly remarks, the 





loaves could not exceed it, so as to overhang its edge, 
but must be confined within its limits. It will be 
observed, that the legs of this table are distinct 
and insulated ; not being strengthened by a rail, 
or any similar connection with each other, in any 
part. 

As the foregoing figure has no authority beside 
description, we have 
here given a representa- 
tion of the shew-bread 
table, as it is delineated 
on the arch of Titus, but 
restored to somewhat of 
its true appearance. This 
shows no loaves placed 
upon it; and probably 
Titus found it thus va- 
cant, when it became his 
prey ; but it shows a -up, 
standing at One end of the 
table, nearly, or altogeth- 
er, on the spot where, according to the rabbins, one 
of the piles of bread should be ; and in fact, in such 
a part that it would be impossible to place one of 
those piles, without removing the cup. We observe, 
too, nothing of the supposed golden props, or sup- 
ports to those piles, in this figure. From this situa- 
tion of the cup we have ventured to surmise the 
possibility, that there was on the table a second cup, 
(which we have hinted at by dotted lines,) in a part 
of the table answerable in point of symmetry to 
that of the first cup. It is true, however, that a sin- 
gle cup might stand in the middle of the front of 
the table ; but what if there were in the middle a 
small box of incense and 'a cup standing on each 
side of it? 

It is probable the reader will be struck with the 
manlier of ranging the 
loaves in this engrav- 
ing, which appears to 
differ altogether from 
the rabbinical pile ; 
that supposing them 
to be laid one upon 
another in height ; this 
supposing them to be 
laid by the side of one 
another in length. 

We gather this or- 
der of the loaves, (1.) 
from the use of the 

Hebrew word itself, (-pp, erek,) which our translators 
certainly understood in this sense, and have very 
properly rendered, in Lev. xxiv. 6. " two rows, six 
in a row" — not two piles, six in a pile; but a row, 
that is, at length, one loaf by the side of its fellows. 
The word denotes an orderly arrangement of the 
subjects to which it refers ; so, Prov. ix. 2, " Wis- 
dom hath furnished, arranged the provisions on the 
table ; but provisions are not arranged on a table in 
piles, one upon another ; but in rows, one by the 
side of another, or one row before, one. behind, an- 
other. So, Numb, xxiii. 4, " I 'have arranged seven 
altars ;" surely not one over the other, but in a line. 
It denotes also an army, that is, rows of soldiers, 
standing side by side; the inference, therefore, is 
that the word is conclusive against the rabbinical no- 
tion of piles of shew-bread, since it denotes distribu- 
tions or arrangements, and those in ranks or rows 
(2.) As these twelve loaves represented an offering 
from each of the twelve tribes, it was fit that each 




BREAD 



[ 211 ] 



BREAD 



tribe shofld be equally open to the view of the per- 
son to whom, as it was understood, the present was 
presented, that no tribe might seem to be slighted or 
neglected ; but in piles this could not be, as the under 
loaf would necessarily appear pressed, and concealed 
by those above it ; consequently, the tribe it referred 
to would be symbolically injured and disgraced by 
such a situation of its representative. (3.) The very 
construction and form of the table, as it appears in 
the arch of Titus, shows the impossibility of adopt- 
ing the prongs of the first engraving above, because 
that stem which reaches from the table to the ground, 
at the very nearest possible situation for it to the end 
of the table, must have run down directly before the 
leg of the table, (which is very unlikely, considering 
the situation of the cup,) by reason of the absence 
of that part of the table which was cut away ; and 
these piles could not be placed nearer to the centre 
of the table because of the covercle containing in- 
cense, &c. which stood there, as in that engraving. 
On the whole, therefore, probability leads to the 
opinion, that the loaves were placed in two rows, six 
in each row; that they were of a certain convenient 
breadth, commensurate to the surface of the table, 
but of a more considerable height, as suggested by 
dotted lines ; and they might be as much higher, 
above the full height of the cup, as was necessary. 
This is supposing that they contained the whole 
quantity of flour understood to be allotted to them 
in Leviticus. They might resemble our half-peck 
or peck loaves ; or what are called brides, by our 
bakers. This arrangement of the loaves, too, admits 
perfectly of that diminution of the table in front, 
which appears in what we have considered as the 
authentic representation ; it admits also a place for 
the conjectural cup on the other side of the table ; 
and it leaves a space between these two cups, which 
might be occupied by something else to complete 
the table ; such as incense, salt, &c. It is indifferent 
to this arrangement, whether the loaves were round 
or square. 

This plan shows, by the strong lines, what were 
the limits of the table 
as taken by Titus ; and 
its dotted lines hint at 
its limits as made by 
Moses. It is natural to 
ask, Who directed these 
alterations ? Did they 
obtain under Solomon, 
the Maccabees, or Herod ? They seem to imply a 
spirit of innovation, which one should little expect 
to find among a people so attached as the Jews were, 
to the peculiarities of their ritual, and to their reli- 
gious services. Moses seems to say, (Lev. xxiv. 8.) 
that the Israelites furnished the loaves presented be- 
fore the Lord ; but this ought to be understood only, 
as they paid the first-fruits and tenths to the priests 
(which was the chief of their income.) And of these 
tenths and first-fruits the priests took wherewith to 
make the shew-bread, and whatever else it was their 
duty to furnish, in the service of the temple. In the 
time of David, (1 Chron. ix. 32.) the Levites of the 
family of Kohath had the care of the shew-bread, or, 
as it is called in the Chronicles, " the bread of order- 
ing." Probably the Levites baked and prepared it ; 
but the priests offered it before the Lord, 1 Chron. 
xxiii. 28. However, Jerome says, from a tradition 
of the Jews, that the priests sowed, reaped, ground, 
kneaded, and baked the shew-bread. 

It is more difficult, however, to ascertain the use 




of the shew-bread, or what it represented, than al- 
most any other emblem in the Jewish economy. 
The learned Dr. Cudworth has the following remarks 
on the subject in his treatise on the Lord's supper : 
" When God had brought the children of Israel out 
of Egypt, resolving to manifest himself in a peculiar 
manner present among them, he thought good to 
dwell amongst them in a visible and external man- 
ner ; and, therefore, while they were in the wilder- 
ness, and sojourned in tents, he would have a tent or 
tabernacle built, to sojourn with them also. This 
mystery of the tabernacle was fully understood by 
the learned Nachmanides, who, in few words, but 
pregnant, expresseth himself to this purpose : ' The 
mystery of the tabernacle was this, that it was to be 
a place for the Shekinah, or habitation of Divinity, 
to be fixed in ;' and this, no doubt, as a special type 
of God's future dwelling in Christ's human nature, 
which was the true Shekinah ; but when the Jews 
were come into their landj and had there built them 
houses, God intended to have a fixed dwelling-house 
also ; and, therefore, his movable tabernacle was to 
be turned into a standing temple. Now, the taber- 
nacle, or temple, being thus as a house, for God to 
dwell in visibly, to make up the notion of dwelling 
or habitation complete, there must be all things 
suitable to a house belonging to it. Hence in 
the holy place, there must be a table and a can- 
dlestick, because this was the ordinary furniture 
of a room, as the fore-commended Nachmanides 
observes. The table must have its dishes, and spoons, 
and bowls, and covers belonging to it, though they 
were never used ; and always furnished with bread 
upon it. The candlestick must have its lamps con- 
tinually burning. Hence also there must be a con- 
tinued fire kept in this house of God upon the altar, 
as the focus of it ; to which notion, I conceive, the 
prophet Isaiah doth allude, (chap. xxxi. 9.) ' Whose 
fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem ;' and 
besides all this, to carry the notion still further, there 
must be some constant meat and provision brought 
into this house ; which was done in the sacrifices 
that were partly consumed by fire upon God's own 
altar, and partly eaten by the priests, who were God's 
lamily, and therefore to be maintained by him. 
That which was consumed upon God's altar, was 
accounted God's mess, as appeareth from Malachi, 
(i. 12.) where the altar is called God's table, and the 
sacrifice upon it, God's meat : ' Ye say, The table 
of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even 
his meat, is contemptible.' And often, in the law, 
the sacrifice is called God's nn^ lehem, that is, his 
bread or food. Wherefore it is further observable, 
that, besides the flesh of the beast offered up in sac- 
rifice, there was a mincah, that is, a meat or rather 
bread-offering, made of flour and oil ; and a liba- 
men, or drink-oflering, which was always joined 
with the daily sacrifice, as the bread and drink which 
was to go along with God's meat. It was also strictly 
commanded, that there should be salt in every sacri- 
fice and oblation, because all meat is unsavory with- 
out salt, as Nachmanides hath here also well ob- 
served: 'Because it was not honorable that God's 
meat should be unsavory, without salt.' Lastly, all 
these things were to be consumed on the altar only 
by the holy fire, which came down from heaven, 
because they were God's portion, and therefore to 
be eaten or consumed by himself, in an extraordinary 
manner." 

We have remarked, that the shew-bread was eaten 
by none but priests ; nevertheless, David, having re- 



BRE 



[ 212 ] 



BRE 



ceived some of these loaves from the high-priest 
Abimelech, ate of them, without scruple, in his ne- 
cessity ; (1 Sam. xxi. 6 — 9.) and our Saviour uses his 
example to justify the apostles, who had bruised ears 
of corn, and were eating them on the sabbath day, 
Matt. xii. 3, seq. 

BREAST, bosom. The females in the East are 
more anxiously desirous than those of northern cli- 
mates of a full and swelling breast ; In fact, they 
study embonpoint of appearance, to a degree uncom- 
mon among ourselves ; and what in the temperate 
regions of Europe might be called an elegant slen- 
derness of shape, they consider as a meagre appear- 
ance of starvation. They indulge these notions to 
excess. It is necessary to premise this, before we 
can enter thoroughly into the spirit of the language 
in Cant. viii. 8 — 10. which Mr. Taylor renders some- 
what differently from our public translation. 

Bride. Our sister is little, and she hath no 

breasts ; being as yet too young ; 
immature ; 
What shall we do for our sister, in 
the day when she shall be spoken 
for ? 

Bridegroom. If she be a wall, we will build on her 
[ranges] turrets of silver ; 
If she be a door-way, we will frame 
around her panels of cedar. 

Bride. I am a wall and my breasts like 

Kiosks, 

Thereby I appeared in his eyes as 
one who offered peace [repose ; 
enjoyment]. 

This instance of self-approbation is peculiarly in 
character for a female native of Egypt ; in which 
country, Juvenal sneeringly says, it is nothing un- 
common to see the breast of the nurse, or mother, 
larger than the infant she suckles. The same con- 
formation of a long and pendent breast is marked in 
a group of women musicians, found by Denon 
painted in the tombs on the mountain to the west of 
Thebes ; on which he observes, that the same is the 
shape of the bosom of the present race of Egyptian 
females. The ideas couched in these verses appear 
to be these, " Our sister is quite young," says the 
bride ; — " But," says the bridegroom, " she is upright 
as a wall ; and if her breasts do not project beyond 
her person, as Kiosks project beyond a wall, we will 
ornament her dress [head-dress ?] in the most mag- 
nificent manner with turret-shaped diadems of sil- 
ver." This gives occasion to the reflection of the 
bride, understood to be speaking to herself aside — 
"As my sister is compared to a wall, I also in my 
person am upright as a wall ; but I have this further 
advantage, that my bosom is ample and full, as a 
Kiosk projecting beyond a wall ; and though Kiosks 
offer repose and indulgence, yet my bosom offers to 
my spouse infinitely more effectual .enjoyment than 
they do." This, it may be conjectured, is the simple 
idea of the passage ; the difference being that turrets 
are built on the top of a wall ; Kiosks project from 
the front of it. The name Kiosk is not restricted to 
this construction, but includes most of what are 
commonly called summer-houses or pavilions. [This 
exposition forms a part of Mr. Taylor's translation 
of the whole book of Canticles, which is inserted 
under that article. See the remarks there pre- 
fixed. R. 



I. BREASTPLATE, a piece of defensive armor 
to protect the heart. The breastplate of God is 
righteousness, which renders his whole conduct un- 
assailable to any accusation. Christians are exhorted 
to take to themselves "the breastplate of righteous- 
ness," (Eph. vi. 14.) and "the breastplate of faith and 
love," 1 Thess. v. 8. Being clothed with these 
graces, they will be able to resist their enemies, and 
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one ; a 
beautiful simile. 

II. BREASTPLATE, a piece of embroidery 
about ten inches square, (Exod. xxviii. 15, seq.) of 
very rich work, which the high-priest wore on his 
breast. It was made of two pieces of the same rich 
embroidered stuff of which the ephod was made, 
having a front and a lining, and forming a kind of 
purse, or. bag, in which, according to the rabbins, 
the Urim and Thummim were enclosed. The front 
of it was set with twelve precious stones, on each of 
which was engraved the name of one of the tribes. 
They were placed in four rows, and divided from 
each other by the little golden squares or partitions 
in which they were set, according to the following 
order. 




The names given to the stones here are not free 
from doubt, for we are very imperfectly acquainted 
with this part of natural science. The breastplate 
was fastened at the four corners ; those on the top 
to each shoulder, by a golden hook, or ring, at the 
end of a wreathed chain ; those below to the girdle 
of the ephod by two strings or ribands, which also 
had two rings and hooks. This ornament was never 



BUB 



[ 213 ] 



BUR 



to be severed from the priestly garments ; and it was 
called "the memorial," (Ex. xxviii. 15.) being de- 
signed to remind the priest how dear those tribes 
should be to him, whose names he bore upon his 
heart. It was also named the " breastplate of judg- 
ment," probably because by it was discovered the 
judgment and the will of God ; or because the high- 
priest who wore it was the fountain of justice, and 
put on this ornament when he exercised his judicial 
capacity in matters of great consequence, which 
concerned the whole nation. Compare Urim and 
Thummim. 

BRIDE, a new-married female. In the typical 
language of Scripture, the love of the Redeemer to 
the church is energetically alluded to in the ex- 
pression, " the bride, the Lamb's wife," Rev. xxi. 9. 
See Marriage, and Canticles. 

BRIDEGROOM, see Marriage, and Canti- 
cles. 

BRIERS, see Thorns. 

BRIMSTONE, a well known substance, extremely 
inflammable, that may be melted and consumed by 
fire, but not dissolved in water. God destroyed the 
cities of the plain by raining upon them fire and 
brimstone, Gen. xix. 24. The wicked are threatened 
with this punishment, Psal. xi. 6 ; Rev. xxi. 8. 

BROOK, properly torrent, in Greek, Xil/taooo; ; 
in Hebrew, s n j nachal. A brook is distinguished from 
a river, for a river flows at all times, but a brook at 
some times only ; as after great rains, or the melting 
of snows. As the Hebrew nachal signifies a valley, 
as well as a brook, one is often used for the other ; 
as the brook of Gerar, for the valley of Gerar. But 
this ambiguity is of little consequence, since gene- 
rally there are brooks in valleys. 

BROTHER is taken in Scripture for any rela- 
tion, a man of the same country, or of the same na- 
tion, for our neighbor, for a man in general. It is 
probable that James, Joses, and Judas, (Matt, xxvii. 
56.) though called brethren of Jesus, were not strictly 
his natural brothers ; but (according to the usage of 
the Hebrews, in extending names of affection from 
the proper kin to which they accurately applied, to 
more distant relatives) cousins. James and Joses 
were sons of Mary, (certainly not the Virgin,) Matt, 
xxvii. 56. James and Judas were sons of Alpheus, 
(Luke vi. 15, 16.) and Alpheus is most probably Cle- 
ophas, husband of Mary, sister of the Virgin, John 
xix. 25. Brother is one of the same nation (Rom. 
ix. 3, &c.) — one of the same faith, (first. Epistle of St. 
John,), one of the same nature, Heb. ii. 17. Thus 
we see a regular gradation in the application of the 
word brother in Scripture, and most, perhaps all, 
languages employ some equivalent extension of it. 
We say in English, a brother of the same trade — a 
brother of the same color — " brother black," &c. Of 
the same disposition — "brother miser." Of the 
same vice — " brother thief," &c. And to express 
many other ideas of similarity, we often attach 
meanings no less extensive to this word, than are de- 
noted by it when it occurs in its loosest sense in holy 
writ. 

By the law, the brother of a man who died with- 
out children was obliged to marry the widow of 
the deceased, to raise up children to him, that his 
name and memory might not be extinct. See 
Marriage. 

BUBASTIS, a famous city of Egypt. Ezekiel 
(xxx. 17.) calls it Pibeseth. It stood on the eastern 
shore of the eastern arm of the Nile. See Pi- 
Be 1ETH. 



BUCKET, see Water. 

BUCKLER. (See Arms, Armor.) It was a de- 
fensive piece of armor, of the nature of a shield ; and 
is spoken figuratively of God, (2 Sam. xxii. 31; Ps. 
xviii. 2, 30 ; Prov. ii. 7.) and of the truth of God, 
Ps. xci. 4. 

To BUILD. In addition to the proper and literal 
signification of^this word, it is used with reference 
to children and a numerous posterity. Sarah desires 
Abraham to take Hagar to wife, that by her she may 
be builded up, i. e. have children to support her 
family, Gen. xvi. 2. The midwives who refused 
obedience to Pharaoh's orders, when he commanded 
them to put to death all the male children of the 
Hebrews, were rewarded for it; God built them 
houses — gave them a numerous posterity, says Cal- 
met. But some think the passage signifies that the 
houses of the Israelites were established by the 
numbers of children which the midwives saved. 
The LXX read, " they (the midwives) made them- 
selves houses," more extensive than mere families ; 
and Josephus says, they were Egyptian women ; if 
so, the phrase expresses the accumulation of wealth, 
or great fortunes, Exod. i. 21. [This last is the more 
probable meaning. R. 

BUL, the eighth month in the Hebrew calendar, 
afterwards called Marchesvan ; answering nearly to 
our October, O. S. According to some, (which is 
the more probable supposition,) it corresponded to 
the lunar month from the new moon of November 
to that of December. The name signifies rain 
month. It is the second month of the civil year, 
and the eighth month of the ecclesiastical year. It 
has twenty-nine days. (See Jewish Calendar.) We 
only find the name Bui in 1 Kings vi. 38. under the 
reign of Solomon. 

BULL, Bullock. This animal was reputed clean, 
and was generally used in sacrifice. The Septua- 
gint and Vulgate often use the word ox ; compre- 
hending under the word rather the species, than the 
sex or quality, of the animal ; like our word bullock. 
The ancient Hebrews, in general, never mutilated 
any creature ; and where in the text, we read ox, we 
are to understand a bull, Lev. .xxii. 24. 

The beauty of Joseph is compared to that of a 
bullock. The Egyptians had a particular veneration 
for this animal ; they paid divine honors to it ; and 
the Jews are supposed to have imitated them in their 
worship of the golden calves. Jacob reproaches his 
sons, Simeon and Levi, for having dug down the 
wall of the Sichemites ; but the LXX translate the 
Hebrew, "for hamstringing a bull," Gen. xlix. 6. 
Many of the ancient fathers explained this passage 
of Christ, and referred it to bis being put to death 
by the Jews. The Hebrew signifies either a wall or 
a bull. Bull, in a figurative and allegorical sense, is 
taken for powerful, fierce, insolent enemies. "Fat 
bulls (bulls of Bashan) surrounded me on every 
side," says the Psalmist, Ps. xxii. 12. and lxviii. 
30. " Rebuke the beast of the reeds, the multitude of 
the bulls ;" Lord, smite in thy wrath these animals 
which feed in large pastures, these herds of bulls. 
And Isaiah says, (chap, xxxiv. 7.) " The Lord shall 
cause his victims to be slain in the land of Edom, a 
terrible slaughter will he make, he will kill the uni- 
corns, and the bulls," meaning those proud and cruel 
princes who oppressed the weak. 

BURDEN, a heavy load. The word is common- 
ly used in the prophets for a disastrous prophecy. 
The burden of Babylon, the burden of Nineveh, of 
Moab, of Egypt. The Jews asking Jeremiah cap- 



BUR 



[ 214 ] 



BURIAL 



tiously, What was the burden of the Lord ? he 
answered them, You are that burden; you are, as it 
were, insupportable to the Lord ; he will throw you 
on the ground, and break you to pieces, and you 
shall become the reproach of the people, Jer. xxiii. 
33 — 40. The burden of the desert of the sea 
(Isaiah xxi. 1.) is a calamitous prophecy against 
Babylon, which stood on the Euphrates, and was 
watered as by a sea ; and which, from being great 
and populous, as it then was, would soon be reduced 
to a solitude. See Babylon. 

The burden of the valley of vision, (Isaiah xxii. 
1.) is a denunciation against Jerusalem, called, by 
way of irony, "The Valley of Vision," though it 
stood on an eminence. It is called " of Vision," or 
"of Moriah," because it is thought that on mount 
Moriah Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac. The 
burden of the beasts of the south, (Isa. xxx. 6.) evi- 
dently respects Judea, but we cannot perceive on 
what account it has this inscription. It may be, that 
copiers supplied it ; for it seems to make no sense 
with the context, but, on the contrary, interrupts and 
suspends it. The text may be thus read, (ver. 4, 5.) 
■ — The Jews sent their ambassadors as far as Tanis 
and Hanes ; but they were confounded when they 
saw that these people were not in a condition to as- 
sist them. (The burden of the beasts of the south.) 
They went, I say, "into the laud of trouble and an- 
guish, from whence come the young and old lion, 
the viper and fiery flying serpent ; they will carry 
their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and 
their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a 
people that shall not profit them." It may then be a 
marginal note or inscription, crept into the text, and 
drawn from the mention of the beasts of burden 
that go down to Egypt, i. e. the south. — Zechariah 
says, (xii. 3.) " In that day will I make Jerusalem a 
burdensome stone for all people. All that burden 
themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all 
the people of the earth be gathered together against 
it." Those that would lift it shall be hurt [strain 
themselves] by it. All nations around Jerusalem 
tried their strength against it ; the Assyrians, the 
Chaldeans, the Persians, the Egyptians, &c. but all 
these had been hurt by the Jews. They have taken 
the city, it is true, but they paid dearly for their vic- 
tory by their losses. Jerome observes, that in the 
cities and villages of Palestine, there was an old cus- 
tom, which continued even to his time, to have great 
and heavy round stones, which the young people 
lifted up as high as they could, by way of exercise, 
and to try their strength. He assures us, moreover, 
that in the citadel at Athens, near the statue of Mi- 
nerva, he had seen an iron ball of very great weight, 
and which he could not move but with difficulty, 
Avith which they heretofore used to try the strength 
of the athletse, that their powers might be known, 
and that, they might not be too unequally matched. 
Many think that "the stone of Zoheletb," (1 Kings 
i. 9.) was one of these stones of burden ; and Ec- 
clesiasticus (vi. 21.) alludes to this custom, when he 
says, "She will lie upon him as a mighty stone of 
trial, and he will cast her from him ere it be long." 
The weight, or burden of the day, (Matt. xx. 12.) 
expresses the labor and toil of the day, during 
many hours, especially the meridian heat. 

BURIAL. The Hebrews were, at all times, very 
careful in the burial of their dead ; to be deprived of 
burial, was thought one of the greatest dishonors, or 
causes of unhappiness, that could befall any man ; 
(Eccl. vi. 3.) being denied to none, not even to ene- | 



mies; but it was withheld from self-murderers till 
after sunset, and the souls of such persons were be- 
lieved to be plunged into hell. This concern for 
burial proceeded from a persuasion of the soul's im- 
mortality. Jeremiah (viii. 2.) threatens the kings, 
priests, and false prophets, who had adored idols, 
that their bones should be cast out of their graves, 
and he thrown like dung upon the earth. The same 
prophet foretold that Jehoiakim, king of Judah, who 
built his house by unrighteousness, and who aban- 
doned himself to avarice, violence, and all manner 
of vice, among other severe punishments, should be 
buried with "the burial of an ass;" that he should 
be cast out of the gates of Jerusalem into the com- 
mon sewer, ch. xxii. 18, 19. It is observed, (2 Mace, 
v. 10.) that Jason, who had denied the privilege of 
burial to many Jews, was himself treated in the same 
manner; that he died in a foreign land, and was 
thrown like carrion upon the earth, not being laid 
even in a stranger's grave. Good men made it part 
of their devotion to inter the dead, as we see by the 
instance of Tobit. 

A remarkable expression of the Psalmist (Ps. 
cxli. 7.) appears to have much poetical heightening 
in it^which even its author, in all probability, did not 
mean should be accepted literally ; while, neverthe- 
less, it might be susceptible of a literal acceptation, 
and is sometimes a fact. He says, " Our bones are 
scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth 
and cleaveth wood upon the earth." This seems to 
be strong eastern painting, and almost figurative 
language ; but that it may be strictly true, the fol- 
lowing extract demonstrates: — "At five o'clock we 
left Garigana, our journey being still to the east- 
ward of north ; and, at a quarter past six in the even- 
ing, arrived at the village of that name, whose in- 
habitants had all perished with hunger the year be- 
fore ; their wretched lones being all unhuriedand scat- 
tered upon the surface of the ground, where the village 
formerly stood. We encamped among the bones of 
the dead ; no space could be found free from them ; 
and on the 23d, at six in the morning, full of horror 
at this miserable spectacle, we set out for Teawa ; 
this was the seventh day from Ras el Feel. After 
an hour's travelling, we came to a small river, which 
still had water standing in some considerable pools, 
although its banks were destitute of any kind of 
shade." (Bruce's Travels, vol. iv. p. 349.) The 
reading of this account thrills us with horror ; what 
then must have been the sufferings of the ancient 
Jews at such a sight ? — when to have no burial was 
reckoned among the greatest calamities ; when their 
land was thought to be polluted, in which the dead 
(even criminals) were in any manner exposed to 
view ; and to whom the very touch of a dead body, 
or part of it, or of any thing that had touched a dead 
body, was esteemed a defilement, and required a 
ceremonial ablution ? 

There was nothing determined particularly in the 
law as to the place of burying the dead. There 
were sepulchres in town and country, by the high- 
ways, in gardens, and on mountains; those belong- 
ing to the kings of Judah were in Jerusalem, and 
the king's gardens. Ezekiel intimates that they were 
dug under the mountain upon which the temple 
stood ; since God says, that in future this holy moun- 
tain should not be polluted with the dead bodies of 
their kings. The sepulchre which Joseph of Ari- 
mathea had provided for himself, and in which he 
placed our Saviour's body, was in his garden ; that 
of Rachel was adjacent to the highway from Jeru- 



BURIAL 



BUT 



salem to Bethlehem. That of the Maccabees was 
, at Modin, upon an eminence, whence it was visible 
at a great distance both by sea and land. The kings 
of Israel had their burying-places in Samaria. 
Samuel was interred in his own house, (1 Sam. xxv. 
1.) Moses, Aaron, Eleazar and Joshua were buried 
in mountains ; Saul and Deborah (Rebekah's nurse) 
were buried under the shade of trees. It is affirmed, 
that the sepulchres of the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
were in the valley of Kidron. Here likewise was 
the burying-place for foreigners. 

[The following extract from Dr. Jowett's Christian 
Researches in Syria, etc. (p. 207.) may cast some 
light on the Hebrew modes of burial : " While 
walking out one evening', a few fields distance from 
Deir el Kamr, with the son of my host, to see a de- 
tached garden belonging to his father, he pointed 
out to me, near it, a small, solid stone building, ap- 
parently a house ; very solemnly adding, " Kabbar 
beily, — the. sepulchre of my family.' 1 '' It had neither 
door nor window. He then directed my attention 
to a considerable number of similar buildings at a 
distance ; which to the eye are exactly like houses, 
but which are in fact family mansions for the dead. 
They have a most melancholy appearance, which 
made him shudder while he explained their use. 
They seem, by their dead walls, which must be 
opened at each several interment of the members of 
a family, to say, ' This is an unkindly house, to which 
visitors do not willingly throng; but, one by one, 
they will be forced to enter ; and none who enter 
ever come out again.' Perhaps this custom, which 
prevails here and in the lonely neighboring parts of 
the mountains, may have been of great antiquity, 
and may serve to explain some Scripture phrases. 
The prophet Samuel was buried " in his house at 
Ramah;" (1 Sam. xxv. 1.) it could hardly be in his 
dwelling-house. Joab " was buried in his own house 
in the wilderness ;" 1 Kings ii. 34. This was " the 
house appointed for all living," Job xxx. 23. Carp- 
zov remarks, (Apparat. p. 643.) ' It is hardly to be 
supposed that the sepulchres were in the houses 
themselves, and under the roof; and we are there- 
fore rather to understand by the term every thing 
which belongs or appertains to the house, as a court 
or garden, in a corner of which perhaps such a 
monument was erected.' The view of these sepul- 
chral houses at Deir el Kamr puts the matter be- 
yond conjecture." R. 

The Jews call what we term a church-yard or 
cemetery, " the house of the living," to show their 
belief of the immortality of the soul, and of the 
resurrection of the body ; and when they come 
thither bearing a corpse, they address themselves to 
those who lie there, as if they were still alive, say- 
ing, " Blessed be the Lord who hath created you, 
fed you, brought you up, and at las.t, in his justice, 
taken you out of the world. He knows the number 
of you all, and will in time revive you. Blessed be 
the Lord who causeth death, and restoreth life." 
(Buxtorf, Synag. Jud. cap. xxxv.) Their respect for 
sepulchres is so great, that they build synagogues 
and oratories near those of great men and prophets, 
and go and pray near them. The rabbins teach, 
that it is not lawful to demolish tombs, nor to dis- 
turb the repose of the dead, by burymg another 
corpse in the same grave, even after a long time ; 
nor to carry an aqueduct across the common place 
of burial ; nor a highway ; nor to go and gather 
wood there, nor to suffer cattle to feed there. When 
the Jews come with a funeral to a burying-place, 



they repeat the blessing directed to the dead, as 
above mentioned ; the body is then put down upon 
the ground, and if it be a person of consideration, a 
kind of funeral oration and encomium is made 
over him. This being done, they walk round the 
grave, reciting rather a long prayer, beginning with 
Deut. xxxii. 4. which they call the righteousness of 
judgment; because therein they return thanks to 
God for having pronounced an equitable judgment 
concerning the life and person of the deceased. A 
little sack full of earth is then put under the dead 
person's head, and the coffin is nailed down and 
closed. If it be a man, ten persons take ten turns 
about him, and say a prayer for his soul ; the near- 
est relation tears a corner of his clothes, and the 
dead body is let down into the grave, with his face 
towards heaven, the mourners crying to him, " Go in 
peace," or rather, according to the Talmudists, " Go 
to peace." The nearest relations first throw earth 
on the body ; and afterwards all present. This done, 
they retire, walking backwards ; and before they 
leave the burying-ground, they pluck bits of grass 
three times, and cast them behind their backs, say- 
ing, "they shall flourish like grass on the earth," 
Ps. lxxii. 16. 

Calmet is of opinion, that there is no instance of 
an epitaph inscribed on the tomb of an ancient He- 
brew ; and remarks, that that which is reported of 
Adoniram's, found in Spain, and some others of like 
authority, are not deserving of notice. If a monu- 
ment were erected in memory of a king, a hero, a 
prophet, or a warrior, the tomb itself, he remarks, 
spoke sufficiently, and the memory of the person 
was perpetuated, together with his history, among 
the people. Nevertheless, they might have inscrip- 
tions, distinguishing the party they contained; and 
if the hieroglyphics mentioned in the article on 
tombs be so ancient as there hinted, they may be 
regarded as proofs that monumental inscriptions 
were not unusual in (perhaps Jewish) antiquity. 

BURNING BUSH, wherein the Lord appeared 
to Moses, at the foot of mount Horeb. (See Moses.) 
As to the person who appeared in the bush, Scrip- 
ture, in several places, calls him by the name of 
God, Exod. iii. 2, 6, 13, 14, &c. He calls himself 
the Lord God ; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob ; the God who was to deliver his people from 
their bondage in Egypt. Moses, blessing Joseph, 
says, " Let the blessing of him who dwelt in the 
bush come on the head of Joseph," Deut. xxxiii. 16. 
But in the places of Exodus which we are examin- 
ing, instead of "the Lord appeared to him," the He- 
brew and the Septuagint import, " the angel of the 
Lord appeared to him." Stephen, in the Acts, (vii. 
30.) reads it in the same manner; Jerome, Augustin 
and Gregory the Great teach the same thing. It 
was an angel, agent, messenger, who, representing 
the Lord, spoke in his name. The ancients gene- 
rally hold the Son of God to be the person who ap- 
peared in the bush. 

BURNT-OFFERINGS, see Offerings; and 
for the Altar of Burnt-offerings, see Altar. 

BUSHEL is used in our English version to express 
the Greek word tu'.Siog, Latin modius, a measure con- 
taining about a peck, Matt. v. 15. 

BUTTER is generally taken, in Scripture, for 
cream, or liquid butter. Children were fed with 
butter and honey; (Isa. vii. 15,22.) with milk-diet, 
with cream, and with honey, which was common in 
Palestine. D'Arvieux, (p. 205.) speaking of the 
Arabs, says, " One of their chief breakfasts is cream 



BUTTER 



[216 ] 



BUTTER 



— or fresh butter — mixed in a mess or honey. 
These do not seem to suit very well together, but 
experience teaches that this is no bad mixture, nor 
disagreeable in its taste, if one is ever so little accus- 
tomed to it." The last words seem to indicate a 
delicacy of taste, of which D'Arvieux was sensiLle in 
himself, which did not, at once, relish this mixture ; 
and, very possibly, the prophet alludes to something 
of the same hesitation in children, who must be some 
time before they fancy this mixture ; but, having 
been accustomed to it, they find it pleasant, and 
know how to prefer the good and agreeable, before 
what is evil ; i. e. less suited to their palate. We 
presume, therefore, that this food was, as near as 
conveniently might be, an immediate substitute for 
the mother's milk. Thevenot also tells us, "The 
Arabs knead their bread-paste afresh ; adding thereto 
butter, and sometimes also honey." (Part i. p. 173.) 
We read in 2 Sam. xvii. 29. of honey and butter be- 
ing brought to David, as well as other refreshments, 
"because the people were hungry, weary, and thirsty." 
Considering the list of articles, there seems to be 
nothing adapted to moderate thirst, except this honey 
and butter ; for we may thus arrange the passage : 
the people were hungry, — to satisfy which were 
brought wheat, barley, flour, beans, lentiles, sheep, 
cheese ; the people were weary, — to relieve this were 
brought beds ; the people were thirsty, — to answer 
the purpose of drink was brought a mixture of butter 
and honey ; food fit for breakfast, light and easy of 
digestion, pleasant, cooling, and refreshing. That 
this mixture was a delightful liquid appears from the 
maledictory denunciation of Zophar: (Job xx. 17.) 
The wicked man " shall not see the rivers, the floods, 
the brooks [torrents] of honey and butter;" honey 
alone could hardly be esteemed so flowing as to 
afford a comparison to rivers and torrents ; but cream, 
in such abundance, is much more fluid ; and mixed 
with honey, may dilute and thin it into a state more 
proper for running — poetically speaking, as freely as 
water itself. "Honey and milk are under thy 
tongue," says the spouse, in Cant. iv. 11. Perhaps 
this mixture was not merely a refreshment, but an 
elegant refreshment ; which heightens the inference 
from the predictions of Isaiah, and the description of 
Zophar, who speak of its abundance ; and it in- 
creases the respect paid to David, by his faithful and 
loyal subjects at Mahanaim. 

It is evident, however, from Prov. xxx. 33. that 
churned butter was not unknown in Judea. Jackson 
saw it made in Curdistan in the following manner : 
' The milk was put into a sort of bottle, made of a 
goat's skin, every part of which was sewed up except 
the neck, which was tied with a string to prevent the 
milk running out. They then fixed three strong 
sticks in the ground, in a form somewhat like what 
we often use in raising weights, only on a smaller 
scale. From these they suspend the goat's skin tied 
by each end, and continue shaking it backwards 
and forwards till it becomes butter ; and they easily 
know this by the noise it makes. They then empty 
the skin into a large vessel, and skim off the butter." 
(Journey over land from India to England, p. 188.) 

Hasselquist mentions the following custom of the 
Greek ecclesiastics at Magnesia : " The priests, hav- 
ing washed and dried the feet of the guests, anointed 
them with fresh butter, which, as they told me, was 
made of the first milk of a young cow ;" — perhaps 
the first milk of a cow which had recently calved. 
Bruce says the king of Abyssinia anoints his head 
with butter daily. 



[Job, (chap. xxix. 6.) speaks of " washing his steps 
with butter ; and the rock poured him out rivers of - 
oil ;" where to bathe the footsteps in butter, or rather 
" in thick curdled milk, means, to walk in a country 
overflowing with milk ; and this, with the subse- 
quent parallelism, denotes a land abounding with 
milk and oil. 

A singular custom is described by Burckhardt, as 
being prevalent in Modern Arabia. (Travels in Ara- 
bia, Lond. 1829. p. 27.) " There are in Djidda twen- 
ty-one butter-sellers, who likewise retail honey, oil, 
and vinegar. Butter forms the chief article in Arab 
cookery, which is more greasy than even that of 
Italy. Fresh butter, called by the Arabs zebde, is 
very rarely seen in the Hedjaz. It is a common 
practice among all classes, to drink every morning a 
coffee-cup full of melted butter or ghee, after which 
coffee is taken. They regard it as a powerful tonic, 
and are so much accustomed to it from their earliest 
youth, that they would feel great inconvenience in 
discontinuing the use of it. The higher classes con- 
tent themselves with drinking the quantity of butter, 
but the lower orders add a half-cup more, which 
they snuff up their nostrils, conceiving that they 
prevent foul air from entering the body by that 
channel. The practice is universal, as well with the 
inhabitants of the town as with the Bedouins. The 
lower classes are likewise in the habit of rubbing 
their breasts, shoulders, arms, and legs, with butter, 
as the negroes do, to refresh the skin. During the 
late war, the import of this article from the interior 
almost ceased ; but even in time of peace it is not 
sufficient for the consumption of Djidda ; some is, 
therefore, brought also from Sowakin ; but the best 
sort, and that which is in greatest plenty, comes from 
Massowah, and is called here Dahlak butter ; whole 
ships' cargoes arrive from thence, the greater part of 
which is again carried to Mekka. Butter is likewise 
imported from Cosseir ; this comes from Upper 
Egypt, and is made from buffalo's milk ; the Sowa- 
kin and Dahlak ghee is from sheep's milk. — The 
Hedjaz abounds with honey in every part of the 
mountains. Among the lower classes, a common 
breakfast is a mixture of ghee and honey poured over 
crumbs of bread, as they come quite hot from the 
oven. The Arabs, who are very fond of paste, never 
eat it without honey." 

The Hebrew word (nNcn) usually rendered butter, 
denotes rather cream, or more properly sour or curdled 
milk. (See Bibl. Repos. i. p. 605.) This last is a 
favorite beverage in the East to the present day. 
Burckhardt, when crossing the desert from the coun- 
try south of the Dead sea to Egypt, says, " Besides 
flour, I carried some butter and dried leben, (sour 
milk,) which, when dissolved in water, forms not only 
a refreshing beverage, but is much to be recom- 
mended as a preservative of health when travelling 
in summer." (Travels in Syria, p. 439.) In Djidda 
he says there were " two sellers of leben, or sour milk, 
which is extremely scarce and dear all over the Hed- 
jaz. It may appear strange, that, among the shep- 
herds of Arabia, there should be a scarcity of milk, 
yet this was the case at Djidda and Mekka; but, in 
fact, the immediate vicinity of these towns is ex- 
tremely barren, little suited to the pasturage of cattle, 
and very few people are at the expense of feeding 
them for their milk only. When I was at Djidda, 
the pound of milk (for it was sold by weight) cost 
one piastre and a half, and could be obtained only 
by favor. What the northern Turks call yoghort, 
and the Syrians and Egyptians leben-hamed, i. e. very 



BUZ 



[ 217 ] 



BUZ 



■n ck milk0 rendered sour by boiling and the 
addition of a strong acid, does not appear to 
be a native Arab dish ; the Bedouins of Arabia, at 
least, do not prepare it." (Travels in Arabia, p. 
310 # R. 

BUZ, son of Nahor and Milcah, and brother of 



Huz, Gen. xxii. 21. Elihu, one of Job's friends, was 
descended from Buz, son of Nahor. Scripture calls 
him an Aramean, or Syrian, (Job xxxii. 2.) where 
Ram is put for Aram. The prophet Jeremiah (chap, 
xxv. 23.) threatens the Buzites, who dwelt in Arabia 
Deserta, with God's wrath. 



c 



CAD 



C^S 



CAB, a Hebrew measure, according to the rabbins, 
the sixth part of a seah, or satum ; and the eighteenth 
part of an ephah. A cab contained three pints l-3d 
of our wine measure ; or two pints 5-6ths of our 
corn-measure, 2 Kings vi. 25. 

CABALA, (nSap, tradition.) The Cabala is a mys- 
tical mode of expounding the law, which the Jews 
say was discovered to Moses on mount Sinai, and 
has been from him handed down by tradition. It 
teaches certain abstruse and mysterious significations 
of a word, or words, in Scripture ; from whence are 
borrowed, or rather forced, explanations, by combin- 
ing the letters which compose it. This Cabala is of 
three kinds : the Gematry, the Notaricon, and the 
Themurah, or change. 

The first consists in taking the letters of a Hebrew 
word for arithmetical numbers, and explaining every 
word by the arithmetical value of the letters which 
compose it — e. g. the Hebrew letters of nW N3i, Ja- 
bo-Shiloh, (Gen. xlix. 10.) Shiloh shall come, when 
reckoned arithmetically, make up the same number 
as those of the word rpifn, Messiah; whence they 
infer, that Shiloh signifies the Messiah. The second 
consists in taking each letter of a word for an entire 
diction or word ; e. g. Bereshith, the first word of Gen- 
esis, composed of B.R. A.Sh.I.Th. of which they make 
T5a7-a-Rakia-Aretz-Shamaim-lani- r rhehomoth. " He 
created the firmament, the earth, the heavens, the sea, 
and the deep." This is varied by taking, on the 
contrary, the first letters of a sentence to form one 
word: as Attah-Gibbor-he-olam-Adonai. "Thou art 
strong for ever, O Lord." They unite the first let- 
ters of this sentence, A.G.L.A. and make A GL A, 
which may signify " I will reveal," or " a drop of 
dew." The third kind of Cabala consists in transpo- 
sitions of letters, placing one for another, or one be- 
fore another, much after the manner of anagrams. 

CABBON, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 40. 

I. CABUL, a city of Asher, Josh. xix. 27. 

II. CABUL, a district, given to Hiram by Solo- 
mon, (1 Kings ix. 13.) in acknowledgment for his 
great services in huilding the temple. Some place 
the cities of Cabul beyond Jordan, in the Decapolis ; 
Grotius is of opinion, that the cities which Pharaoh 
had conquered from the Philistines, and yielded to 
Solomon, were among the cities of Cabul. Most 
commentators are persuaded, that the city of Cabul 
(Josh. xix. 27.) was one ; and probably Hiram gave 
this name to the other cities which Solomon had 
ceded to him. Cabul was perhaps the same as Cha- 
balon, or Chabul, which Josephus places near Ptole- 
mais, south of Tyre. [The district of Cabul was 
then prohably in the north-west part of Galilee, adja- 
cent to Tyre. R. 

CAD, or Cadus, in Hebrew, signifies a water- 
pitcjier or bucket ; but in Luke, a particular measure : 
" How much owest thou to my lord ? — A hundred 
'Vulg. cados) measures of oil." The Greek reads 
28 



" a hundred baths." The bath, or ephah, contained 
full ten gallons, Luke xvi. 6. 

CADUMIM, a brook, (Vulg. Judg. v. 21.) which 
many think ran east, from the foot of mount Tabor, 
into the sea of Tiberias : but we have no evidence 
of any such brook in that place. The English trans- 
lators call it " the river of Kishon." We know there 
was a city in these parts called Cadmon, mentioned 
Judith vii. 3, whence the brook Cadumim, or Kishon, 
might be named. [The Vulgate alone has retained the 
epithet cadumim as a proper name. It is properly 
descriptive of the Kishon, and should be translated 
either as in our English version, " that ancient river," 
or, "that stream of battles." (See the Bibl. Repos. 
vol. i. p. 605.) R. 

CAESAR, the name assumed by, or conferred 
upon, all the Roman emperors after Julius Caesar. 
In the New Testament, the reigning emperor is gen- 
erally called Caesar, omitting any other name which 
might belong to him. Christ calls the emperor Ti- 
berius simply Caesar, (Matt. xxii. 21.) and Paul thus 
mentions Nero, " I appeal to Caesar." [The Caesars 
mentioned in the New Testament are, Augustus; 
(Luke ii. 1.) Tiberius ; (Luke iii. 1 ; xx. 22.) Claudius ; 
(Acts xi. 28.) Nero ; (Acts xxv. 8.) Caligula, who suc- 
ceeded Tiberius, is not mentioned. R. 

I. C^ESAREA, in Palestine, formerly called Stra- 
to's Tower, was situated on the eastern coast of the 
Mediterranean, and had a fine harbor. It is reckoned 
to be 36 miles south of Acre, 30 north of Jaffa, and 
62 north-west of Jerusalem. Caesarea is often men- 
tioned in the -New Testament. Here king Agrippa 
was smitten, for neglecting to give God the glory, 
when •flattered by the people. Cornelius the centu- 
rion, who was baptized by Peter, resided here, Acts 
x. At Caesarea, the prophet Agabus foretold to the 
apostle Paul, that he would be bound at Jerusalem, 
Acts xxi. 10, 11. Paul continued two years prisoner 
at Caesarea, till he could be conveniently conducted 
to Rome, because he had appealed to Nero. When- 
ever Caesarea is named, as a city of Palestine, 
without the addition of Philippi, we suppose this 
Caesarea to be meant. 

Dr. Clarke did not visit Caesarea ; but viewing it 
from off the coast he says, " By day-break the next 
morning we were off the coast of Caesarea; and so near 
with the land that we could very distinctly perceive 
the appearance of its numerous and extensive ruins. 
The remains of this city, although still considerable, 
have long been resorted to as a quarry, whenever 
building materials are required at Acre. Djezzar 
Pasha brought from thence the columns of rare and 
beautiful marble, as well as the other ornaments of 
his palace, bath, fountain, and mosque at Acre. The 
place at present is only inhabited by jackalls and 
beasts of prey. As w<e were becalmed during the 
night, we heard the cries of these animals until day- 
break. Pococke mentions the curious fact, of the 



CiESAREA 



[ 218 ] 



C AI 



•existence of crocodiles in the river of Caesarea. Per- 
haps there has not been in the history of the world 
tin example of any city, that in so short a space of 
time rose to such an extraordinary height of splendor 
as did this of Caesarea, or that exhibits a more awful 
contrast to its former magnificence, by the present 
desolate appearance of its ruins. Not a single inhab- 
itant remains. Its theatres, once resounding with 
the shouts of multitudes, echo no other sound than 
the nightly cries of animals roaming for their prey. 
Of its gorgeous palaces and temples, enriched with 
the choicest works of art, and decorated with the 
most precious marbles, scarcely a trace can be dis- 
■cerned. Within the space of ten years after laying 
the foundation, from an obscure fortress it became 
the most celebrated and flourishing city of all Syria. 
It was named Caesarea by Herod, in honor of Au- 
gustus, and dedicated by him to that emperor, in the 
twenty-eighth year of his reign. Upon this occasion, 
that the ceremony might be rendered illustrious, by 
a degree of profusion unknown in any former in- 
stance, Herod assembled the most skilful musicians 
and gladiators from all parts of the world. The so- 
lemnity was to be renewed every fifth year. But, as 
we viewed the ruins of this memorable city, every 
other circumstance respecting its history was ab- 
sorbed in the consideration that we were actually 
beholding the very spot, where the scholar of Tarsus, 
after two years' imprisonment, made- that eloquent 
appeal, in the audience of the king of Judea, which 
must ever be remembered with piety and delight. In 
the history of the acts of the holy apostles, whether 
we regard the internal evidence of the narrative, or 
the interest excited by a story so wonderfully ap- 
pealing to our passions and affections, there is nothing 
that we call to mind with fuller emotions of sublimity 
and satisfaction. ' In the demonstration of the Spirit, 
and of power,' the mighty advocate for the Christian 
faith had before reasoned of righteousness, temper- 
ance, and judgment to come, till the Roman governor, 
Felix, trembled as he spoke. Not ail the oratory of 
Tertullus, nor the clamor of his numerous adversaries, 
not even the countenance of the most profligate of 
tyrants, availed against the firmness and intrepidity 
of the oracle of God. The judge had trembled be- 
fore his prisoner; and now a second" occasion of- 
fered, in which, for the admiration and triunaph of 
the Christian world, one of its bitterest persecutors, 
and a Jew, appeals, in the public tribunal of a large 
and populous city, to all its chiefs and its rulers, its 
governor and its king, for the truth of his conversion, 
founded on the highest evidence, delivered in the 
most fair, open, and illustrious manner." 

Caesarea Palestina was inhabited by Jews, heathen, 
and Samaritans ; hence parts of it were esteemed 
unclean by the Jews ; some of whom would not pass 
over certain places ; others, however, were less scru- 
pulous. Perpetual contests were maintained between 
the Jews and the Syrians, or the Greeks ; in which 
many thousand persons were slain. 

The Arab interpreter thinks this city was first 
named Hazor, Joshua xi. 1. Rabbi Abhu says, " Cae- 
sarea was the daughter of Edom ; situated among 
things profane ; she was a goad to Israel in the days 
of the Grecians ; but the Asmonean family over- 
came her." Herod the Great built the city to honor 
the name of Caesar, and adorned it with most splendid 
houses. Over against the mouth of the haven, made 
by Herod, was the temple of Caesar, on a rising 
ground, a superb structure ; and in it a statue of Cae- 
sar the emperor. Here was also a theatre, an amphi- 



(Joseph 




jolony of the 



theatre, a forum, &c. all of white stone, %c. 
de Bell. lib. i. cap. 13.) 

After he had finished rebuilding the town, Herod 
dedicated it to Augustus; and 
procured the most capable 
workmen to execute the med- 
als struck on the occasion, so 
that these are of considerable 
elegance. The port was call- 
ed Sebastus, that is, Augus- 
tus. The city itself was made 
a colony by Vespasian ; and 
is described on its medals, as 

COLONIA PRIMA ILAVIA AU- 
GUSTA cesarea; Caesarea, the first 
Flavian (or Vespasian) family. 

II. C JESAREA PHILIPPI, (before called Paneas, 
and now Banias,) was situated at the foot of mount 
Paneus, or Hermon, near the springs of the Jordan. It 
has been supposed, that its ancient name was Dan, 
or Laish ; and that it was called Paneas by the Phoe- 
nicians only. Eusebius, however, distinguishes Dan 
and Paneas as different places. Caesarea was a day's 
journey from Sidon, and a day and a half from Da- 
mascus. Philip the tetrarch built it, or, at least, em- 
bellished and enlarged it, and named it Caesarea, in 
honor of the emperor Tiberius ; but afterwards, in 
compliment to Nero, it was called Neronias. The 
woman who had been troubled with an issue of 
blood, and was healed by our Saviour, (Matt. ix. 20 ; 
Luke vii. 43.) is said to have been of Caesarea Phi- 
lippi, and to have returned thither after her cure, and 
erected a statue to her benefactor. The present 
town contains, according to Burckhardt, about 150 
houses, inhabited mostly by Turks. The goddess 
Astarte was worshipped here, 
as appears from the medals 
extant. The annexed en- 
graving represents one of Al- 
exander Severus ; in which 
the emperor is crowning the 
goddess with a wreath. The 
Greek language was more 
used in this city than the 
Latin ; yet it struck medals 
in each language. It seems 
to have been made a Roman colony ; though not 
mentioned as such by any writer. It is likely that 
Caesarea Philippi was among the most forward cities 
to compliment Severus, since several authors report 
that it was his birth-place. Lampridius even says, 
that he was named Alexander, because his mother 
was delivered of him in a temple dedicated to Alex- 
ander the Great, on a festival in honor of that hero, 
at which she had assisted with her husband. The 
editor of the Modern Traveller has industriously 
collected and judiciously compared the several no- 
tices of this place whiijh are found in modern writers. 
Palestine, pp. 353—363, Engl, ed.; pp. 327, seq. 
Am. ed. 

CAIAPHAS, a high-priest of the Jews, succeeded 
Simon, son of Camith, and after possessing this dignity 
nine years (from A. M. 4029 to 4038) he was suc- 
ceeded by Jonathan, son of Ananas, or Annas. He 
married a daughter of Annas, who also is called 
high-priest in the Gospel, because he had long en- 
joyed that dignity. When the priests deliberated on 
the seizure and death of our Saviour, Caiaphas told 
them, there was no room for debate on that matter ; 
"that it was expedient for one man to die, instead 
of all the people, — that the whole nation might not 




C AI 



[ 219 ] 



CAIN 



perish," Johll xi. 49, 50. This sentiment was a kind 
of prophecy, which God suffered to proceed from the 
mouth of the high-priest on this occasion, importing, 
' though not by his intention, that the death of Jesus 
would be the salvation of the world. When Judas 
had betrayed Christ, he was first taken before Annas, 
who sent him to his son-in-law, Caiaphas, who pos- 
sibly lived in the same house, (John xviii. 24.) and 
here the priests and doctors of the law assembled to 
judge Jesus and to condemn him. (See Jerusalem.) 
The depositions of certain false witnesses being found, 
insufficient to justify a sentence of death against him, 
and Jesus continuing silent, Caiaphas, as high-priest, 
adjured him by the living God to say whether he 
was the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus having an- 
swered to this adjuration in the affirmative, Caiaphas 
rent his clothes, and declared him to be worthy of 
death. Two years afterwards (A. D. 38.) he was 
deposed by Vitellius ; but we know nothing of him 
afterwards. His house is still professedly shown in 
Jerusalem. See Annas. 

CAIN, possession, or possessed, the eldest son of 
Adam and Eve, and brother of Abel. Cain applied 
to agriculture, and Abel to feeding of flocks, Gen. iv. 
2, &c. Cain offered the first-fruits of his grounds to 
the Lord, but Abel the fat of his flock ; the latter was 
accepted, but the former rejected, which so enraged 
Cain that his countenance was entirely changed. The 
Lord, however, said unto him, " Why is thy counte- 
nance so dejected ? If thou doest well, shalt thou not 
be accepted ?" But Cain, unrestrained by this ad- 
monition, killed his brother Abel ; and for it became 
an exile and a vagabond. Nevertheless, he received 
an assurance, that he himself should not be murder- 
ed ; of which God gave to him a token ; for so may 
the words be understood, though commonly they are 
considered as expressing a token of guilt, strongly 
marked on his person. Cain quitted the presence 
of the Lord, and retired to the land of Nod, east of 
Eden, where he had a son, whom he named Enoch, 
and in memory of whom he built a city of the same 
name. Josephus says, that having settled at Nod, 
he, instead of being reformed by his punishment and 
exile, became more wicked and violent, and headed 
a band of thieves, whom he taught to enrich them- 
selves at the expense of others ; that he quite changed 
the simplicity and honesty of the world into fraud 
and deceit ; invented weights and measures, and was 
the first who set bounds to fields, and built and forti- 
fied a city. 

The learned Shuckford was not only dissatisfied 
with the usual notion, that God set a mark upon Cain, 
in consequence of his having killed his brother Abel, 
but he makes himself merry with the ludicrous na- 
ture of some of those marks which fancy had ap- 
pointed to be borne about by him. Without attempt- 
ing to defend those conjectures, and without adding to 
their number, Mr. Taylor endeavors to show, that 
the customary rendering of the passage (Gen. iv. 15.) 
may perhaps be supported. 

Among the laws attributed to Menu is the follow- 
ing appointment, which is more worthy notice, be- 
cause it is directly attributed to Menu himself, as if it 
were a genuine tradition received from him. It de- 
scribes so powerfully and pathetically the distressed 
situation of an outcast, that one is led to think it is 
drawn from the recollection of some real instance, 
rather than from foresight, of the sufferings of such 
a supposed criminal. Crimes, in general, have been 
thought by mankind susceptible of expiation, more 
or less, according to the degrees of their guilt ; but 



some are of so flagrant a nature as to be supposed 
atrocious beyond expiation. Though murder be 
usually considered as one of those atrocious crimes, 
and consequently inexpiable, yet there have been 
instances wherein the criminal was punished by 
other means than by loss of life. A judicial inflic- 
tion, of a commutatory kind, seems to have been 
passed on Cain. Adam was punished by a dying 
life ; Cain by a living death. 

" For violating the paternal bed, 

Let the mark of a female part be impressed on 

THE FOREHEAD WITH A HOT IRON; 

For drinking spirits, a vintner's flag ; 
For stealing sacred gold, a dog's foot ; 
For murdering a priest, the figure of a headless 
corpse. 

With none to eat with them, 
With none to sacrifice with them, 
With none to be allied by marriage to them; 
Abject, and excluded from all social duties, 
Let them wander over the earth; 
Branded with indelible marks, 
They shall be deserted by their paternal and ma- 
ternal relations. 
Treated by none with affection ; 
Received by none with respect. 
Such is the ordinance of Menu." 

"Criminals of all classes, having performed an 
expiation, as ordained by law, shall not be marked on 
the forehead, but be condemned to pay the highest 
fine." This also is from Menu. 

These principles are thus applied by Mr. Taylor, 
in illustration of the history of Cain. Cain had slain 
Abel his brother ; this being a very extraordinary and 
embarrassing instance of guilt, and perhaps the first 
enormous crime among mankind which required 
exemplary punishment, the Lord thought proper to 
interpose, . and to act as judge on this singularly 
affecting occasion. Adam might be ignorant of this 
guilt, ignorant by what process to detect it, and 
ignorant by what penalty to punish it ; but the Lord 
(metaphorically) hears of it, by the blood which cried 
from the ground; and he detects it, by citing the 
murderer to his tribunal ; where, after examination 
and conviction, he passes sentence on him: — " Thou 
art cursed from the earth, ivhich hath opened her mouth 
to receive thy brother's blood; a fugitive and a vaga- 
bond shalt thou be in the earth," (yya, be-aretz.) And 
Cain said to the Lord, " Is my iniquity too great for 
expiation? Is there no fine, no suffering, short of 
such a vagabond state, that may be accepted ? Be- 
hold, thou hast banished me this day from the face of the 
land (noiNn, adamah) where I was born, where my 
parents dwell, my native country! and from thy 
presence also, in thy public worship and institutions ; 
/ must now hide myself from all my heart holds dear, 
being prohibited from approaching my former inti- 
mates, and thy venerated altar. / shall be a fugitive, 
a vagabond on the earth ; and any one ivho findeth me 
may slay me without compunction, as if I were rather 
a wild beast than a man." The Lord said, " I men- 
tioned an expiation formerly, on account of your 
crime of ungovernable malice and anger, bidding 
you lay a sin-offering before the sacred entrance 
but then you disregarded that admonition and com- 
mand. Nevertheless, as I did not take the life of. 
your father Adam, though forfeited, when I sat in 
judgment on him, but abated of that rigorous penalty ; 
so I do not design that you should be taken off by 



CA1 



L ^20 ] 



CAL 



sudden ieath ; neither immediately from myself, nor 
mediately by another. I pronounce, therefore, a 
much heavier sentence on whoever shall destroy 
Cain. Moreover, to show that Cain is a person suf- 
fering under punishment, since no one else has 
power to do it ; since he resists the justice of his 
fellow-men ; since his crime has called me to be his 
judge, I shall brand his forehead with a mark of his 
crime ; and then, whoever observes this mark will 
avoid his company ; they will not smite him, but they 
will hold no intercourse with him, fearing his irasci- 
ble passions may take offence at some unguarded 
word, and should again transport him into a fury, 
which may issue in bloodshed. Beside this, all 
mankind, wherever he may endeavor to associate, 
shall fear to pollute themselves by conference with 
him." — The uneasiness continually arising from this 
state of sequestration led the unhappy Cain to seek 
repose in a distant settlement. 

If this conception of the history be just, and if the 
quotation from Menu be genuine, we have here one 
of the oldest traditions in the world, in confirmation, 
not only of the history, as related in Genesis, but of 
our public version of the passage. 

I. CAIN AN, son of Enos, born A. M. 325, when 
Enos was ninety years of age, Gen. v. 9. At the age 
of seventy, Cainan begat Mahalaleel ; and died, aged 
910, A. M. 1235. 

II. CAINAN, a sou of Arphaxad, and father of 
Salah. He is neither in the Hebrew nor in the Vul- 
gate of Gen. xi. 12 — 14. but is named between Salah 
and Arphaxad, in Luke iii. 36. The LXX, in Gen. 
x. 24 ; xi. 12. admit him. Some have suggested that 
the Jews suppressed the name Cainan out of their 
copies, designing to render the LXX and Luke sus- 
pected. Others, that Moses omitted Cainan, being 
desirous to reckon ten generations only from Adam to 
Noah, and from Noah to Abraham, Others, that Ar- ! 
phaxad was father of both Cainan and Salan ; of Sa- 
lah naturally, of Cainan legally. Others, that Cainan 
and Salah were the same person, under two names ; 
this they allege in support of that opinion which 
maintains Cainan to be really son of Arphaxad, 
and father of Salah. Many learned men believe, 
that this name was not originally in the text of Luke, 
but is an addition by inadvertent transcribers, who, 
remarking it in some copies of the LXX, added it. 
See Kuinoel on Luke iii. 36. 

CAIPHA, a town at the foot of mount Carmel, 
north, on the gulf of Ptolemai's ; the ancient name of 
which was Sycaminos, or Porphyreon. Sycaminos 
was derived probably from the sycamore-trees which 
grew here, as Porphyreon might be from catching 
here the fish used in dyeing pm-ple. Perhaps Cepha, 
or Cctipha, was derived from its rocks ; in Syriac, 
Kepha : hut the Hebrews write Hepha, not Kepha. 
This city was separated from Acco, or Ptolemai's, by 
a large and beautiful harbor, the distance to which, 
by sea direct, is not more than fifteen miles ; though 
by land the distance is double. 

CAIUS CALIGULA, emperor of Rome, succeeded 
Tiberius, A. D. 37 ; and reigned three years, nine 
months, and twenty-eight days. It does not appear 
that he molested the Christians. Caius having com- 
manded Petronius, governor of Syria, to place his 
statue in the temple at Jerusalem, for the purpo&e of 
adoration, the Jews so vigorously opposed it, that, 
fearing a sedition, he suspended the order. He 
was killed by Chsereas, one of his guards, while 
coming out of the theatre, A. D. 41, in the fourth 
year of his reign : and was succeeded by Clau- 



dius. He is not mentioned in u.e New Tes- 
tament. 

CAKES. The Hebrews had several sorts of 
cakes, which they offered in the temple, made of 
meal, of wheat, or of barley; kneaded sometimes 
with oil, sometimes with honey ; sometimes only rub- 
bed over with oil when baked, or fried with oil in a 
fryingpan. At Aaron's consecration, "they offered 
unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened, tempered 
with oil ; and wafers unleavened, anointed with oil ; 
the whole made of fine wheaten flour," Exod. xxix. 
1, 2. The Hebrew calls all offerings made of grain, 
flour, paste, bread, or cakes, nroc, mincha. These 
offerings were made either alone, or with other 
things. Sometimes fine flour was offered, (Lev. ii. 

I. ) or cakes, or other things baked, (verse 4.) or cakes 
baked in a fryingpan, (verse 5,) or in a fryingpan with 
holes, or on a gridiron, verse 7. Ears of corn were 
sometimes offered, in order to be roasted, and the 
corn to be got out from them. These offerings were 
instituted principally in favor of the poor. This, 
however, is understood of voluntary offerings, not ap- 
pointed by the law ; for, as to certain sacrifices, the 
law, instead of two lambs and a ewe, permits the 
poor to offer only one lamb, and two young pigeons. 

For offering, these cakes were salted, but unleav- 
ened. If the cakes which were offered were baked 
in an oven, and sprinkled or kneaded with oil, the 
whole was presented to the priest, who waved the 
offering before the Lord, then took so much of it as 
was to be burned on the altar, threw that into the 
fire, and kept the rest himself, Lev. ii. 4. If the 
offering were a cake kneaded with oil, and dressed 
in a fryingpan, it was broken, and oil was poured on it ; 
then it was presented to the priest, who took a hand- 
ful of it, which he threw on the altar-fire, and the 
rest was his own. It should be observed, that oil in 
the East answers the purpose of butter among us in 
Europe. 

Cakes or loaves, offered with sacrifices of beasts, 
as was customary, (for the great sacrifices were al- 
ways accompanied by offerings of cakes, and liba- 
tions of wine and-oil,) were kneaded with oil. The 
wine and oil were not poured on the head of the an- 
imal about to be sacrificed, (as among the Greeks 
and Romans,) but on the fire in which the victim 
was consumed, Numb, xxviii. 1, &c. The law reg- 
ulated the quantity of meal, wine, and oil, for each 
kind of victim. See Bread. 

CALAH, a city of Assyria, built by Ashur, or 
Nimrod ; (see Assyria ;) for the phrase in Gen x. 

II, 12. is ambiguous. It was distant from Nineveh; 
the city Resen lying between them. Bochart thinks 
it is the same city as is called Halah in 2 Kings xvii. 
6, and Cellarius understands Holwan, a famous town 
in the ages of the caliphs, in the Syriac dialect called 
Hhulon, but in the Syriac documents written Hha- 
lach; but the different initial letter in the Hebrew 
militates against this mutation ; since c is too strong 
a sound to be easily changed. Ephraim the Syrian 
understands Hatra, a city in the region of the Zab, 
which falls into the Tigris ; or perhaps he intends 
the city called Chatracharta by Ptolemy, which im- 
ports, " Chaira, the city ;" but then, as Michaelis ob- 
serves, this city was east of the springs of the Lycus 
or Zab. [Rosenmiiller prefers the opinion of Cella- 
rius, that Calah is the same as the Cholwan, or Holwan, 
of the Arabs, and the Chalach of the Syrians. It was 
situated in the north-east part of the present Irak, 
towards Persia, at the foot of the mountains which 
now separate the Ottoman and Persian empires in 



CAL 



[ 221 ] 



this quarter. It proba.bly gave name to the province 
Chalachene of Strabo. (Rosenm. Bib. Geog. I. ii. p. 
98. R.] Holwan would suit the geographical inten- 
tion of the text completely, in reference to its con- 
nection with the other cities mentioned. 
CALAMUS, see Cane. 

I. CALEB, {dog,) son of Jephunneh, of Judah, was 
sent with Joshua and others to view the land of Ca- 
naan, Numb. xiii. They brought with them some of 
the finest fruits as specimens of its productions; but 
some of the spies discouraging the people, they openly 
declared against the expedition. Joshua and Caleb 
encouraged them to go forward, and the Lord sen- 
tenced the whole multitude except these two to die 
in the desert, xiv. 1 — 10. When Joshua had invaded 
and conquered great part of Canaan, Caleb with his 
tribe came to Gilgal, and asked for a particular pos- 
session, which Joshua bestowed upon him with many 
blessings, chap. xiv. 6 — 15. Caleb, therefore, with 
his tribe, marched against Kirjath-arba, (afterwards 
Hebron,) took it, and killed three giants of the race 
of Anak ; from thence he went to Debir, or Kirjath- 
sepher, which was taken by Othniel, xv. 13 — 19. 
Caleb is thought to have survived Joshua. 

II. CALEB, son of Hur, whose sons Shobal, Sal- 
ma, and Hereph, peopled the country about Bethle- 
hem, Kirjath-jearim, Beth-Gader, &c. 1 Chron. ii. 
50—55. 

III. CALEB, the name of a district in Judah, in 
which were the cities of Kirjath-sepher and Hebron, 
belonging to the family of Caleb, 1 Sam. xxx. 14. 

IV. CALEB, son of Hesron, who married first 
Azuba, and afterwards Ephrath, 1 Chron. ii. 9, 18, 24. 

I. CALF, the young of a cow, of which there is 
frequent mention in Scripture, because calves were 
commonly used for sacrifices. A " calf of the herd" 
is probably so distinguished from a sucking calf. 
The fatted calf (Luke xv. 23.) was a calf fatted par- 
ticularly for some feast. In Hos. xiv. 2. the expression, 
"we will render the calves of our lips," signifies sac- 
rifices of praise, prayer, &c. The LXX read "the 
fruit of our lips," as does the Syriac ; and the apostle, 
Heb. xiii. 15. 

II. CALF, the Golden, which the Israelites wor- 
shipped at the foot of mount Sinai, Exod. xxxii. 4. 
(See Aaron.) When the people saw that Moses de- 
layed to come down from the mount, they demanded 
of Aaron to make them gods which should go before 
them. Aaron demanded their ear-rings ; which were 
melted, and cast into the figure of a calf. When this 
was about to be consecrated, Moses, being divinely 
informed of it, came down from the mount, and hav- 
ing called on all who detested this sin, the sons of 
Levi armed themselves, and slew of the people about 
23,000, according to our version ; but the Hebrew, Sa- 
maritan, Chaldee, LXX, and the greater part of the 
old Greek and Latin fathers, read 3000. 

There are some hints in the account of the golden 
calf, which are usually overlooked: as (1.) Aaron 
calls the calf in the plural, " gods" — " J7ie.se are thy 
gods — they who brought thee out of Egypt." So the 
people say, " Make us gods," yet only one image was 
made. (2.) Although the second commandment for- 
bids the making " to thyself" any graven image, 
yet, in the instances of the cherubim, graven images 
were made ; though not for any private individual, 
nor for the purpose of visible worship, but for inte- 
rior emblems, in the most holy place, never seen by 
the people. (3.) Aaron did not make this calf with 
his own hands, most probably ; but committed it to 
some sculptor, who wrought not openly in the midst 



of the camp, but in his workshop. The Jews report, 
that the image was made into the form of a calf by 
some evil spirits who accompanied the Israelites from 
Egypt ; and if they mean evil human spirits, they are 
right enough. The sacred writers in succeeding ages 
plainly speak of the golden calf as a very great sin. 
Ps. cvi. 19, 20; Acts vii. 41 ; Deut. ix. 16— 21. (4.) 
Aaron, though greatly misled, must have meant by this 
worship, something more than the mere worship of 
the Egyptian calf, Apis ; for in what sense had Apis 
" brought Israel out of the land of Egypt" ? an ex- 
pression which Jeroboam subsequently used ; (1 
Kings xii. 28.) which is strange, if Apis, an Egyptian 
deity, had been the object of his calves. The LXX 
say, in Exod. xxxii. 4. that Aaron described the calf 
with a graving tool, but that the people made and cast 
it. The ChaTdee paraphrast says, "Aaron received 
the ear-rings, tied them up in purses, and made the 
golden calf of them," and Bochart maintains, that 
this is the best translation, the Hebrew chanet signi- 
fying a purse, and not a graving tool. — It should seem, 
therefore, that Aaron had given the gold of which he 
had the custody, to a workman appointed by the 
people ; that he followed the people throughout this 
transaction ; and that he endeavored to guide (per- 
haps, even to control) their opinion, in varying and 
appointing to the honor of Jehovah, what many, at 
least "the mixed multitude," would refer to the honor 
of the gods they had seen in Egypt. In this view, 
his expression deserves notice — " to-morrow is a 
solemnity to Jehovah ;" not to Apis, or to any other 
god, but to Jehovah. Such was the sentiment of 
Aaron, whatever sentiments some of the people might 
entertain ; and his confession to Moses (ver. 24.) may 
be so taken : " I cast it," i. e. I gave it to be cast. 
Certainly, the making of the calf was a work of time, 
it was not cast in a moment, nor in the midst of the 
camp, but in a proper workshop, or other convenient 
place ; and even perhaps was forwarded more rapidly 
than Aaron knew, or wished. He might use all 
means of delay, though he sinfully yielded to a pre- 
varication, or to a worship of Jehovah by an image ; 
an impure medium of worship, which was explicitly 
forbidden in the second commandment, Exod. xx. 4. 
Augustin says, Aaron demanded the personal orna- 
ments of the women and children, in hopes they 
would not part with those jewels, and consequently, 
that the calf could not be made. What means of 
resistance to the people he might possess, we cannot 
tell ; perhaps the people satisfied themselves by 
fancying, that, in referring this image to God, they 
avoided the sin of idolatry. Did Aaron imagine the 
same ? not understanding the commandment already 
given as a prohibition of worshipping God by me- 
diatorial representations, or public symbols of his 
presence. 

The termination of this melancholy occurrence 
was as extraordinary as its commencement : " And 
Moses took the calf which they had made, and burnt 
it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it 
upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink 
of it," Exod. xxxii. 20. 

Calves, Golden, of Jeroboam. This prince, 
in order to separate the ten tribes more effectually 
from the house of David, set up objects of worship 
in the land of Israel, that the people might not be 
compelled to go up to Jerusalem, 1 Kings xii. 26 — 
28. He made two calves of gold, and said, " Behold 
thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the 
land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and 
the other he put in Dan, at the two extremities of his 



CAL 



[ 222 ] 



CAL 



kingdom. And this thing became a sin ; for the 
people went to worship before these calves to Dan 
and to Bethel." Monceau thought that these 
calves, as well as the calf of Aaron, were imitations 
of the cherubim, and that they occasioned rather a 
schismatic than an idolatrous worship. We know, 
indeed, that all Israel did not renounce the worship 
of the Lord for that of the calves, but it is highly 
probable that the majority did so. See 1 Kings 
xix. 10. 

It is certain Jeroboam's golden calves were not 
images of Baal ; (see 1 Kings xvi. 31, 32 ; 2 Kings 
x. 28, 31.) neither does Elijah say, "Choose between 
these calves (as emblems of Apis) and Jehovah." 
Nevertheless, most commentators think Jeroboam 
designed, by his golden calves, to imitate the worship 
of Apis, which he had seen in Egypt, 1 Kings xi. 40. 
Scripture reproaches him frequently with having 
made Israel to sin ; (2 Kings xiv. 9.) and when de- 
scribing a bad prince, it says, he imitated the sin of 
Jeroboam, 2 Kings xvii. 21. The LXX and the 
Greek fathers generally read (feminine) golden 
cows, instead of golden calves. Josephus speaks of 
the temple of the golden calf as still in being in bis 
time, somewhere towards Dan ; but he omits the his- 
tory of the sin. The glory of Israel was their God, 
their law, and their ark ; but the worshippers of the 
golden calves considered those idols as their glory : 
"The priests thereof rejoiced on it, for the glory 
thereof," Hosea x. 5. Hosea foretold the destruc- 
tion and captivity of the calves of Samaria, (Hosea 
viii. 5, 6.) and the Assyrians, having taken Samaria, 
carried off the golden calves, with their worshippers. 

CALIGULA, see Caius. 

To CALL frequently signifies to be ; but, perhaps, 
includes the idea of admitted to be, acknowledged to 
be, well known to be, the thing called; since men do 
not usually call a thing otherwise than what they 
conclude it to be. "He shall be called Wonderful, 
Counsellor, the Mighty God, Father," &c. He shall 
possess all these qualities; he shall be truly the 
Wonderful, the Mighty God, &c. Isaiah ix. 6. "He 
shall be called the Son of the Most High," Luke i. 35. 
He shall be truly so. So of John the Baptist, " Thou 
shalt be called the prophet of the Highest ;" — Thou 
shalt be acknowledged under that character. To 
Call any thing by its name '; to affix a name to it, is 
an act of authority : the father names his son ; the 
master names his servant ; " God calleth the stars by 
their names," Psalm cxlvii. 4. To call on God 
sometimes signifies all the acts of religion, the whole 
public worship of God. " Whosoever shall call on 
the 'name of the Lord,"— whosoever shall believe, 
trust, love, pray, and praise as he ought to do, — 
" shall be saved," Rom. x. 13. " Men began to call 
on the name of the Lord," Gen. iv. 26. Others trans- 
late, " The name of God was profaned," that is, by 
giving it to idols. (See Eifos.) God is in some sort 
jealous of our adoration ; he requires that we should 
call on no other god beside himself. 

CALLISTHENES, an officer of the king of Syria, 
who set fire to the temple gates, aud was afterwards 
burned by the people, 2 Mace. viii. 33. 

CALNEH, a city in the land of Shinar, built by 
Nimrod, and formerly the seat of his empire, Gen. x. 
10. Probably the Calno of Isaiah, (x. 9.) and the 
Canneh of Ezek. xxvii. 23. It must have been situ- 
ated in Mesopotamia, since these prophets join it with 
H iran, Eden, Assyria, and Chilmad, which traded 
with Tyre. [According to the Targums, Eusebius, 
Jerome, and others, Calneh, or Calno, was Ctesiphon, 



a large city on the east bank of the Tigris, opposite 
to Seleucia. R. 

CALVARY, or Golgotha, that is, the place of a 
skull, a little hill north-west of Jerusalem, and so 
called, it is thought, from its skull-like form. It 
formerly stood outsit'.e of the walls of Jerusalem, and 
was the spot upon which our Saviour was crucified. 
When Barchochebas revolted against the Romans, 
Adrian, having taken Jerusalem, entirely destroyed 
the city, and settled a Roman colony there, calling it 
iElia Capitolina. The new city was not built exactly 
on the ruins of the old, but further north ; so that 
Calvary became almost the centre of the city of 
^Elia. Adrian profaned the mount, and particularly 
the place where Jesus had been crucified, aud his 
body buried ; but the empress Helena, the mother of 
Constantine the Great, erected over the spot a stately 
church, which is still in being. 

The objections to the location of Calvary, which 
were urged at an early period of the Christian his- 
tory, have been lately renewed by some intelligent 
travellers and writers, whose high character gives to 
their decisions a degree of authority, and renders an 
examination of them necessary in a work like the 
present. Among these writers Dr. E. D. Clarke 
stands foremost, whose objections to the identity of 
the present Calvary with the place of our Saviour's 
crucifixion and sepulture may be thus summed up : — 
(1.) All the evangelists agree in representing the place 
of crucifixion as "the place of a skull that is to say, 
"a public cemetery," whereas the spot now assumed 
as Calvary does not exhibit any evidence which 
might entitle it to this appellation. (2.) The place 
called " Golgotha," or " Calvary," was a mount or hill r 
of which the place now exhibited under this name 
has not the slightest appearance. (3.) The sepulchre 
of Joseph of Arimathea, in which our Saviour was 
laid, was a tomb cut out of a rock, instead of which, 
the modern sepulchre is a building of comparatively 
modern date, aud above ground. 

To these objections captain Light has given his as- 
sent, and adds, " When I saw mount Calvary within 
a few feet of the alleged place of sepulture, and the 
apparent inclination to crowd a variety of events 
under one roof, I could not help imagining that the 
zeal of the early Christians might have been the cause 
of their not seeking among the tombs further from 
the city the real sepulchre." Dr. Richardson, who 
also questions the identity of these sacred places, 
considers,with captain Light, that the contiguity of the 
present tomb of Christ to mount Calvary is another 
objection to its identity with the original one. 

To these objections, which are urged at great 
length, and with much ingenuity, Mr. Taylor has 
devoted considerable attention. The following re- 
marks comprise the substance of his arguments, in 
reply to them. 

1. The name Golgotha — Calvary — the place of a 
skull — given to the scene of our Saviour's crucifixion 
by the evangelists, does not necessarily signify, as 
Dr. Clarke interprets it, after Stockius, "a place of 
sepulture" — " a public cemetery." It is always used 
in the singular — "the place of a skull," which would 
have been a very improper designation for a place 
of many skulls. The language of Luke, however, is 
peculiar, and places it beyond doubt that skull was 
the proper name of the place. This evangelist, 
without mentioning Golgotha, writes, xal ore an:ij).»ov 
inl t6)' t67toi' y.u'i.B u tvov xoavior — "and when they were 
come to a place called skull," chap, xxiii. 33. — Luke 
therefore appears to have strictly translated the word 



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CALVARY 



Golgotha, which signifies, not xnavln runoc, "place of 
a skull." but simply xQctrUv, skull. Now, this name 
was probably given from the peculiar form of the 
place, and not in consequence of any purpose to 
which it was devoted. [It appears, however, to have 
been the place where malefactors were commonly 
executed, and where their bodies were left un- 
buried. R. 

2. It is not a little curious that Dr. Clarke should 
not have perceived that his objection to the present 
site of Calvary — that it has no appearance of a mount 
— imposes an insuperable difficulty in the way of his 
own hypothesis, which places Calvary in "a deep' 
trench" — the valley Tyropseon — between Acna and 
Sion. Not to dwell, however, upon this glaring in- 
consistency, we proceed to consider whether the 
spot now shown as Calvary does not exhibit the ap- 
pearance of a mount, and also that peculiar form, 
from which it has been as probable that Calvary de- 
rived its name. In this inquiry father Bernardino 
may be a guide. He says, " The space occupied by 
mount Calvary is now divided into two parts, form- 
ing chapels ; the first of these is twenty-one palms in 
width, and forty-seven in length. . . . The second di- 
vision of mount Calvary is eighteen palms in width, 
and forttjrseven in length." Speaking of the chapels, 
he says, they are not on the same level; but, "the 
mount is in height towards the north two palms and 
a half; and towards the S. W. two palms and ten 
inches: and the smaller rising (il poggiolo) is in 
height seven inches two minutes and a half. This was 
the place of the bad thief. Towards the north, the 
place of the good thief, — it is in height one palm and 
six inches. . . ." " The steps under the arch towards 
the north leading to the little hill, are in height — 
the first, two palms, — the second, one palm ten inches. 

. ." " The letter H. is the proper mount Calva- 
ry ;" — This letter H.' is placed on the rising described 
as il poggiolo, the little hill ; marked by a circle, 
as the place of the cross of Jesus. This is evidence 
that this ignorant and superstitious monk, as Dr. 
Clarke [and others] would probably call him, distin- 
guished two risings in mount Calvary ; though Dr. 
Clarke passed the distinction over without notice. 
How greatly his observation confirms the derivation 
traced in the name, may safely be left to the reader's 
intelligence. To obtain a clear idea of mount Calvary, 
we must imagine a rising, now about fifteen feet high. 
— The ascent comprises eighteen stairs. The first 
flight contains ten stairs, the second flight contains 
eight. There are also two others, in length more 
than forty feet ; and in width more than thirty feet ; and 
upon this, nearly in the centre, a smaller rising about 
seventeen inches in height ; which smaller rising is, says 
Bernardino, " il proprio Monte Caluario." After 
this, how can Dr. Clarke affirm that there exists no evi- 
dence in the church of the holy sepulchre ; "nothing 
that can be. reconciled with the history of our Saviour's 
sufferings and burial ?" It is affirmed that mount Cal- 
vary was leveled for the foundations of the church. 

3. In reply to Dr. Clarke's last objection, Mr. Tay- 
lor adopts a course of reasoning to the following 
effect : — The first step to be taken in the inquiry is, 
to determine what kind of sepulchral edifice was 
constructed by Joseph of Arimathea ; and this can 
only be accomplished by strictly examining the 
words of the original writers who describe it. Dr. 
Clarke having inspected a great number of ancient 
tombs cut in the rock, in various parts of the coun- 
tries through which he had travelled, and not a few 
at Jerusalem itself, had suffered this idea to take en- 



tire possession of his mind : he looked for an exca- 
vation in a rock, and nothing more. But before we 
determine that there really was nothing more, we are 
bound to examine whether the terms employed by 
the evangelists to describe the eventually sacred 
sepulchre, are completely satisfied, by this restricted 
acceptation. 

Matthew uses two words to describe Joseph's 
intended place of burial ; chap, xxvii. verse 60, he 
says, he laid the body of Jesus in his o wn new firr;fis.lw r 
(tomb, Eng. tr.) — avi they rolled a great stone to the 
door th fivijutis (of the sepulchre, Eng. tr.) — And 
there were Mary Magdalene, fyc. sitting over against 
tb~ Tuyu (the sepulchre, Eng. tr.) This rendering 
of the same word, ,m »;nefoi', by both tomb and sepul- 
chre, is injudicious. Campbell more prudently con- 
tinues to each term of the original that by which he 
had first chosen to express it, in English : " he 
deposited the body in his own monument — Mary Mag- 
dalene, &c. sitting over against the sepulchre.'" — 
" Command that the sepulchre (toy ruyov) be guard- 
ed." — "Make the sepulchre (toy r&ipov) as secure as- 
ye can." — Mary Magdalene, &c. went to visit the sep - 
ulchre, (r'uy Ti«pov.) — " Come, see the place where the 
Lord lay ; — they went out from the monument, ra 
ftvijfis'iu." It is inferred, then, that what is rendered 
monument implies a kind of frontispiece, or orna- 
mental door-way, (the stone portal of captain Light,} 
and the evangelist may include the chambers in this 
term, as from these the women came out. Neither of 
the other evangelists uses more than one term — the 
monument. The nature of this will justify a closer 
inspection of it. 

The evangelist Matthew says, this monument was 

iXaTiiinjOir iv Tij nirqa, cut out — hollowed out — SCOOped 

out of the rock, which formed the substratum of the 
soil ; while his other term (taphos) intends the exter- 
nal hillock, or mound-like form of the rock, rising 
above the general level of the ground. There is no 
occasion for going beyond the volumes of Dr. Clarke 
for proof of this acceptation of the term taphos; 
whether we accompany him among the tumuli of the 
Steppes, or those in the plain of Troy, — to the tomb 
of Ajax,- — to the tomb of iEsyetes, (which are coni- 
cal mounds of earth, like our English barrows,) all 
are taphoi. Mark repeats nearly the words of Mat- 
thew, in reference to the monument : but Luke uses 
the term ).ai.ivrZ. This sepulchre of the "rich man 
of Arimathea" may perhaps be compared to the sep- 
ulchres discovered at Tehnessus ; of which Dr. Clarke 
says, — "In such situations are seen excavated cham- 
bers, worked with such marvellous art as to exhibit 
open facades, porticoes with Ionic columns, gates and 
doors beautifully sculptured, on which are carved the 
representation as of embossed iron-work bolts, and 
hinges." Those ornaments were hewn in the rock ; 
but Luke's words are not restricted to this sense ; for, 
it should seem that the very term rendered monument, 
leads us to building of some kind, prefixed to the rock ; 
or even standing above it. This evangelist's phrase 
(chap. xi. 47.) is express to the point; oixoSopun t'u 
intifuia— " ye build the monuments of the prophets," 
where the term build is explicit. Perhaps even this 
term, uvijuciov, includes or implies some kind of con- 
struction, not merely excavation ; so in the tomb of 
which Dr. Clarke gives a delineation, p. 244. Helen 
"constructed this monument for herself," — to fivi^utov 
xaTiay.evaatv, — but this monument is "composed of five 
immense masses of stone," wrought into conjunction ; 
and forming an upper chamber, " which seemed to 
communicate with an inferior vault." The sepulchre 



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[ 224 ] 



CALVARY 



of David (Ads ii. 29.) was a monument ; not an exca- 
vation in the rock of Sion. The rocks were rent, 
(Matt, xxviii. 32.) but the monuments in which the 
dead were deposited were opened. 

It is concluded, then, on the authority of Matthew, 
that the intended burial-place of Joseph of Arimathea 
presented two distinctions, a taphos — sepulchre, and 
a mnemeion — monument. 

Not unlike is the tomb now shown for that of the 
Saviour. It is affirmed to be a rock encased with 
building. Heartily do we wish the building were not 
there ; heartily do we agree with honest Sandys, — 
" tnose naturall formes are vtterly deformed, which 
would haue better satisfied the beholder ; and too 
much regard hath made them lesse regardable. For, 
as the Satyre speaketh of the fountaine of iEgeria, 

How much more venerable had it beene, 

If grasse had cloth'd the circling banks in greene, 

Nor marble had the native tophis marr'd." . 

Yet Sandys speaks expressly of " a c'ompast roofe 
of the solid rocke, but lined for the most part with 
white marble." This distinction is not noticed by 
Dr. Clarke ; neither has he noticed that the frontis- 
piece to this tomb is confessedly modern ; — that in 
this exterior building the arch of the roof ispointed ; 
whereas, in the interior chamber, the arch is circular; 
— proof enough of reparation, without consulting the 
monks. But if Mr. Hawkins's History of this Church 
be correct, in which he says, " Hequen, caliph of 
Egypt, sent Hyaroc to Jerusalem, who took effectual 
care that the church should be pulled down to the 
ground, conformably to the royal command"- — if this 
be true, no doubt the sepulchre, which was the princi- 
pal object of veneration in the church, was demolish- 
ed most unrelentingly. It would, therefore, be no" 
wonder to find, that the present building is little other 
than a shell over the spot assigned to the tomb ; and 
this without any reflection on the character of Hele- 
na, who could not foresee what the Saracens would 
do nearly nine hundred years after her death. 

So much for the similarities between the evange- 
lists' description of the sacred places and those ap- 
pearances which they now present : it remains to 
inquire, what proof we have that their localities 
were accurately preserved. It is certain that many 
thousands of strangers resorted every year to Jerusa- 
lem, for purposes of devotion, who would find them- 
selves interested, in a more than ordinary degree, in 
the transactions which that city had lately witnessed, 
and with the multitudinous reports concerning them, 
which were of a nature too stupendous to be con- 
cealed. The language of Luke (xxiv. 28.) plainly 
imports wonder that so much as a single pilgrim to 
the holy city could be ignorant of late events : and 
Paul appeals to Agrippa's knowledge that "these 
things were not done in a corner." It is, in short, 
impossible, that the natural curiosity of the human 
mind — to adduce no superior principle — should be 
content to undergo the fatigues of a long journey to 
visit Jerusalem, and yet, when there, should refrain 
from visiting the scenes of the late astonishing won- 
ders. So long as access to the temple was free, so 
long would Jews and proselytes from all nations pay 
their devotions there ; and so long would the inquisi- 
tive, whether converts to Christianity or not, direct 
their attention to mount Calvary, with the garden and 
sepulchre of Joseph. The apostles were at hand, to 
direct all inquirers ; neither James nor John could 
be mistaken ; and during more than thirty years the 



localities would be ascertained beyond a doubt, by the 
participators and the eye-witnesses themselves. — . 
Though the fact is credible, yet we do not read of 
any attempt of the rulers of the Jews to obstruct ac- 
cess to them, or to destroy them : but it is likely that 
they might be in danger on the breaking out of the 
Jewish war, (A. D. 66,) and especially on the circum- 
vallation of Jerusalem, A. D. 70. The soldiers of 
Titus, who destroyed every tree in the country around 
to employ its timber in the construction of their works, 
would effectually dismantle the garden of Joseph ; 
and we cannot from this time reckon, with any cer- 
tainty, on more of its evidence than what was afforded 
by the chambers cut into the rock ; and, possibly, the 
portal, or monument, annexed to them. 

At the time of the commotions in Judea, and the 
siege of Jerusalem, the Christians of that city retired 
to Pella, beyond the Jordan. These must have known 
well the situation of mount Calvary ; nor were they 
so long absent, as might justify the notion that they 
could forget it when they returned; or that they 
were a new. generation, and therefore had no previous 
acquaintance with it. They were the same persons ; 
the same church officers, with the same bishop at 
their head, Simeon son of Cleophas ; and whether we 
allow for the time of thoir absence two year^, or five 
years, or seven years, it is morally impossible that 
they could make any mistake in this matter. Simeon 
lived out the century ; and fromthetime of his death 
to the rebellion of the Jews under Barchochebas, was 
but thirty years — too short a period, certainly, for the 
successors of Simeon at Jerusalem, to lose the knowl- 
edge of places adjacent to that city. That Barcho 
chebas and his adherents would willingly have 
destroyed every evidence of Christianity, with Chris- 
tianity itself, we know ; but whether his power 
included Jerusalem, in which was a Roman garrison, 
may be doubted. The war ended some time before 
A. D. 140 ; and from the end of the war we are to 
consider the emperor and his successors as intent on 
establishing his new city, iElia, and on mortifying to 
the utmost both Jews and Christians, who were gen- 
erally considered as a sect of the Jews. It is worth 
our while to examine the evidence in proof of 
the continued veneration of the Christians for the 
holy places, which should properly be divided into 
two periods ; the first to the time of Adrian's v£lia ; 
the second from that time to the days of Constantine. 
Jerome, writing to Marcella concerning this custom, 
has this remarkable passage : Longum est nunc ah 
ascensu Domini usque ad prcesentem diem per singidas 
estates currere, qui Episcoporum, qui Martyrum, qui 
eloquentiam in doctrina Ecclesiastica virorum venerint 
Hierosolymam, putantes se minus religionis, minus ha- 
bere scientiee, nisi in illis Christum adordssent locis, de 
quibus primum, Evangelium de patibulo coruscaverat. 
(Ep. 17. ad Marcell.) "During the whole time from 
the ascension of the Lord to the present day, through 
every age as it rolled on, as well bishops, martyrs, and 
men eminently eloquent in ecclesiastical learning, 
came to Jerusalem ; thinking themselves deficient in 
religious knowledge, unless they adored Christ in 
those places from which the gospel dawn burst from 
the cross." It is- a pleasing reflection that the lead- 
ing men in the early Christian communities were thus 
diligent in acquiring the most exact information. 
They spared no pains to obtain the sacred books in 
their complete and perfect state, and to satisfy them- 
selves by ocular inspection, so far as possible, of the 
truth of those facts on which , they built the doctrine 
they delivered to their hearers. So Meli'.o, bishop 



CALVARY 



[ 225 ] 



CALVARY 



of Sardis, [A. D. 170,] writes to Onesimus, When I 
went into the East, and was come to the place where 
those things were preached and done :" — so we read 
that Alexander, bishop of Cappadocia, (A. D. 211,) 
going to Jerusalem for the sake of prayer, and to visit 
the sacred places, was chosen assistant bishop of that 
city. This seems to have been aie regular phraseol- 
ogy on such occasions; for t. this cause Sozomen 
ascribes the visit of Helena iO Jerusalem, " for the 
sake of prayer, and to visit sacred places." 

This may properly intr&rioce the second period in 
this history, on which w^ uy great stress ; — it is no 
longer the testimony of fiK.nds ; it is the testimony of 
enemies ; it is the recdc of their determination to 
destroy to their utmost c /ery vestige of the gospel of 
Christ. On that deterw nation we rest our confidence ; 
they could not be > itaken ; and their endeavors 
guide our judgme/. Jerome says, Ah Hadriani 
temporibus usque *t tmperium Constantini, per annos 
circiter centum O'uginta, in loco resurrectioms simula- 
crum Jovis, in fticis rupe statua ex marmore Veneris 
agentibus postta colebatur, existimantibus persecutions 
auctoribus, quod tollerent nobis fidem resurrectionis et 
crucis, si loca Sancta per idola polluissent. Bethlehem 
nunc nostrum et augustissimum orbis locum, de quo 
Psalmista canit, Veritas de Terra orta est, lucus inum- 
brabat Thamuz, i. e. Adonidis ; et in specu, ubi quon- 
dam Christus parvulus vagiit, Veneris Amasius plan- 
gebatur. < [Ess. 13. ad Paulin.) " From the time of 
Hadrian to that of the government of Constantine, 
about the space of one hundred and eighty years, in 
the place of the resurrection was set up an image of 
Jupiter ; in the rock of the cross a marble statue of 
Venus was stationed, to be worshipped by the peo- 
ple ; the authors of these persecutions supposing that 
they should deprive us of our faith in the resurrec- 
tion and the cross, if they could but pollute the holy 
places by idols. Bethlehem, now our most venera- 
ble place, and that of the whole world, of which the 
Psalmist sings, ' Truth is sprung out of the earth,' was 
overshadowed by the grov§ of Thammuz, i. e. of 
Adonis ; and in the cave where once the Messiah ap- 
peared as an infant, the lover of Venus was loudly 
lamented." This is a general account of facts ; a few 
additional hints may be gleaned from other writers. 
Socrates (Hist. Eccl. lib. i. cap. 17.) says, " Those who 
followed the faith of Christ, after his death, held in 
great reverence the monument of that wonderful 
work; but those who hated the religion of Christ, 
filled up the place with a dyke of stones, and built in 
it a temple of Venus, with a figure standing up on it ; 
by which they intended to dissipate all recollection 

of the holy place. 'A<pQodhi]g y.ax'avxu vaiir y.aTaay.tv- 
anuvrtg inianjoav ayaifia, ul t noioihreg /.lytjucioy rod 
xunov. . 

Sozomen is more particular. We learn from him 
that " The Gentiles by whom the church was perse- 
cuted, in the very infancy of Christianity, labored by 
every art, and'in every manner, to abolish it: the 
holy place they blocked up with a vast heap of stones ; 
and they raised that to a great height, which before 
had been of considerable depth ; as it may now be 
seen. And, moreover, the entire place, as well of the 
resurrection as of Calvary, they surrounded by a 
wall, stripping it of all ornament. And first they over- 
laid the ground with stones, then they built a temple 
of Venus on it, and set up an image of the goddess — 

21t<H?.apurT?g de TtsQt^ TTuvTa Tor T^g araoruOewg /wqov 
xat rov Koarln, Suy.uOuyaar, xal ?.l&co rwv hcitpuveiav ««- 
TtG'TQutoav : — y.al ' ^tpQoSirijg rabv zaTsoy.ti'unav, y.ct't lco- 

Siov IdqvoavTo, their intention being, that whoever there 
29 



adored Christ, snouldseem to be worshipping Venus 
so that, in process of time, the true cause of this wor- 
ship in this place should be forgotten ; and that the 
Christians practising this should become also less at- 
tentive to other religious observances ; while the 
Gentile temple and image worship should be, on the 
contrary, established. 

If any credit be due to these historians, the heathen 
levelers had left but little to be done by Helena in 
the way of deforming these sacred objects. They 
had, with the most violent zeal, changed the features 
of every part : what was originally a hollow they 
raised into a hill ; what was high they cut down and 
leveled ; — to use a homely phrase, they turned every 
thing topsy-turvy. Helena could only cause these 
places to be cleared and cleansed: to reinstate them 
in their first forms was out of her power. And that 
the evidence of this desecration should not rest on 
"monkish historians," Providence has preserved in- 
contestible witnesses in the medals of Adrian, which 
mark him as the founder of the new city, iElia, and 
exhibit a temple of Jupiter, another of Venus, and 
various other deities, all worshipped in it. 

It is evident, that if the rock of Calvary and the 
holy sepulchre were surrounded by the same wall, as 
Sozomen asserts, they could not be far distant from 
each other ;* and this wall, with the temples and other 
sacra it enclosed, would not only mark these places, 
but, in a certain sense, would preserve them ; as the 
mosque of Omar preserves the site of the temple of 
Solomon, at this day. While, therefore, we abandon 
to Dr. Clarke and captain Light the commemorative 
altars and stations, which we think it not worth while 
to defend, and while we heartily wish that all these 
places had been left in their original state to tell their 
own story, we must be allowed to relieve the memory 
of the Christian empress from the guilt of deforming 
by intentional honors these sacred localities , 
monks, however ignorant or credulous, from the im- 
putation of imposing on their pilgrims and visitors, in 
respect to the site of the places they now show as 
peculiarly holy. 

On the whole, we are called to admire the proofs yet 
preserved to us by Providence, of transactions in these 
localities nearly two thousand years ago. Facts which, 
for centuries, employed the artifices and the power of 
the supreme government in church and state, of the 
Jewish hierarchy, and of the Roman emperors, to sub- 
vert, to destroy the evidences of ; yet the evidences 
defied their malignity ; — of the barbarians — Saracens 
and Turks, to demolish ; but they still survive ; — of 
heathen philosophy, and soi-disant modern philoso- 
phy, to annul, but in vain. The labors of Julian to 
re-edify the temple continue almost living witnesses 
of his discomfiture. The sepulchres of the soldiers 
who fell in assaulting Jerusalem remain speaking 
evidences of the destruction of the city, according to 
prediction, by the Romans. The holy sepulchre 
stands a traditional memorial of occurrences too in- 
credible to obtain credit, unless supported by super- 
human testimony. Or if that be thought dubious, 
mount Calvary certainly exists, with features so dis- 
tinct, so peculiar to itself, and unlike every thing else 

* This meets the remaining objection, urged by Dr. Richard- 
son and captain Light; namely, the contiguity of the holy sepul- 
chre to mount Calvary. The language of John, too, is decisive 
i upon this poW : " Now, there was in the place (ev rdn^, where 
he was crucified a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre. — 
There they laid Jesus," chap. xix. 41. And he repeats, 
that the sepulchre was nigh at hand — lyybs — close by, adjoin- 
ing 



CAM 



[ 226 j 



CAMEL 



around it, that in spite of the ill-judged labors of hon- 
est enthusiasm, of the ridiculous tales of superstition, 
and the mummery of ignorance and arrogance, we 
have only to compare the original records of our 
faith with circumstances actually existing ; to demon- 
strate that the works on which our belief relies were 
actually written in the country, at the times, and by 
the persons, eye-witnesses, which they purport to be. 
See further on Sepulchre of Christ. 

[It is necessary here only to remark, that the spec- 
ulations of Dr. Clarke, respecting the sepulchre, are 
regarded by other travellers as wholly untenable ; and 
that the general position of Calvary rests upon the 
unbroken tradition of more than eighteen centuries. 
The more specific designations of the sites of various 
holy places are well understood to be without any 
such authority. R. 

CAMBYSES, the son of Cyrus, succeeded his 
father, A. M. 3475. In the Old Testament he is call- 
ed Ahasuerus, Ezra iv. 6 ; and at the solicitation of 
the Samaritans, prohibited the Jews from proceeding 
in rebuilding their temple. What Ezekiel says 
(chap, xxxviii. xxxix.)of the wars of Gog and Magog 
against Israel, and the judgments of God against the 
enemies of his people, Cahnet thinks may be referred 
to the time of Cambyses. Also, what the prophets 
,say of the misfortunes of the Israelites, alter their 
return from captivity. See Joel ii. 30, 31 ; iii. 2, 3, 
4, 5, 15, 16 ; Isa. xli. 15, 16 ; Micah iv. 11. 12, 13. 
Some authors refer the history of Judith to the time 
of Cambyses. 

CAMEL, an animal common in the East, and 
placed by Moses among unclean creatures, Deut. xiv. 
7. We may distinguish three sorts of camels. Some 
are large and full of flesh, fit only to cany burdens ; 
(it is said, 1000 pounds weight ;) others, which have 
two hunches on the back like a natural saddle, are fit 
either to carry burdens or to be ridden ; and a third 
kind, leaner and smaller, are called dromedaries, be- 
cause of their swiftness ; and are generally used by 
men of quality to ride on. Bruce has the following 
remarks on this creature : "Nature has furnished the 
camel with parts and qualities adapted to the office 
he is employed to discharge. The driest thistle and 
the barest thorn is all the food this useful quadruped 
requires ; and even/these, to save time, he eats while 
advancing on his journey, without stopping, or occa- 
sioning a moment of delay. As it is his lot to cross 
immense deserts, where no water is found, and coun- 
tries not even moistened by the dew of heaven, he is 
endued with the power, at one watering-place, to lay 
in a store, with which he supplies himself for thirty 
days to come. To contain this enormous quantity 
of fluid, nature has formed large cisterns within him, 
from which, once filled, he draws, at pleasure, the 
quantity he wants, and pours it into his stomach with 
the same effect as if he then drew it from a spring ; 
and with this he travels patiently and vigorously all 
day long, carrying a prodigious load upon him, 
through countries infected with poisonous winds, and 
glowing with parching and never cooling sands. 
We attempted to raise our camels at Saffieha by 
every method that we could devise, but all in vain ; 
only one of them could get upon his legs ; and that 
one did not stand two minutes till he kneeled down, 
and could never be raise'd afterwards. This the 
Arabs all declared to be the effects of cold ; and yet 
Fahrenheit's thermometer, an hour before day, stood 
at 42\ Every way we turned ourselves, death stared 
us in the face. We had neither time nor strength to 
wast nor provisions to support us. We then took 



the small skins that had contained our water, and 
filled them, as far as we thought a man could carry 
them with ease ; but, after all these shifts, there was 
not enough to serve us three days, at which I had 
estimated our journey to Syene, which still, however, 
was uncertain. Finding, therefore, the camels would 
not rise, we killed two of them, and took so much 
flesh as might serve for the deficiency of bread, and 
from the stomach of each of the camels, got about 
four gallons of water, which the Bishareen Arab 
managed with great dexterity. It is known to peo- 
ple conversant with natural history, that the camel 
has within him reservoirs, in which he can preserve 
drink for any number of days he is used to. In 
those caravans of long course, which come from the 
Niger across the desert of Selima, it is said that each 
camel, by drinking, lays in a store of water, that will 
support him for forty days. I will by no means be a 
voucher of this account, which carries with it an air 
of exaggeration ; but fourteen or sixteen days, it is 
well known, an ordinary camel will live, though he 
hath no fresh supply of water. When he chews his 
cud, or when he eats, you constantly see him throw 
from his repository, mouthfuls of water to dilute his 
food ; and nature has contrived this vessel with such 
properties, that the water within it never putrefies, 
nor turns unwholesome. It was indeed vapid, of a 
bluish cast, but had neither taste nor smell." (Vol. 
iv. p. 596.) 

The Arabians, Persians, and others, eat the flesh 
of camels, and it is served up at the best tables of 
the country. When a camel is born, the breeders 
tie his four feet under his belly, and a carpet over his 
back. Thus they teach him the habit of bending 
his knees to rest himself; or when being loaded, or 
unloaded. The camel has a large solid foot, but not 
a hard one. In the spring of the year all his hair 
falls off in less than three days' time, and his skin re- 
mains quite naked. At this time the flies are ex- 
tremely troublesome to him. He is dressed with a 
switch, instead of a curry comb ; and beaten as one 
would beat a carpet, to clear it of dust. On a jour- 
ney his master goes before him piping, singing, and 
whistling; and the louder he sings the better the 
camel follows. 

[The following is Niebuhr's account of the drom- 
edary of Egypt: (Trav. vol. i. p. 215, Germ, ed.) 
"My four companions took horses for this journey, 
[from Cairo to Suez] ; I chose from curiosity a 
dromedary, and found myself very well off, although 
I feared at first I should not be able to ride comfort- 
ably upon so high a beast. The dromedary lies down, 
like the camel, in order to let his rider mount. In 
getting up, he rises upon his hind legs first, so that 
the rider must take care not to fall down over his 
head ; he has also the same pace as the camels, while 
horses have to go sometimes faster, sometimes slow- 
er, in order to keep along with the caravan.. When 
on the march, he must not be stopped«ven to mount : 
and to avoid the need of this, he is taught on a cer- 
tain signal to lower his head to the ground, so that 
his rider can set his foot upon his neck ; and wheir 
he again raises his head, it requires but little practice 
to be able easily to place one's self upon the saddle. 
The saddle of the camels that carry heavy loads, is 
open on the top, and the load hangs down on each 
side, in order that the hump of fat upon the back of the 
animal may not be subjected to pressure.. A riding 
saddle for a camel or dromedary is not very differ- 
ent from the common saddle, and consequently cov- 
r; s he hump on his back. Upon this saddle I slung 



CAMEL 



[ 227 ] 



CAMEL 



my mattresses ; and could thus set myself on one 
side or the other, or upright, according as I wished 
to avoid the sun's rays, which at this season are very 
oppressive. My companions, on the contrary, could 
only remain in one position upon their horses, and 
were therefore greatly fatigued ; while at evening I 
was commonly not much more weary from riding, 
than if I had had to sit still all day upon a chair. If, 
however, one had to trot upon so high a beast, it 
would indeed be inconvenient. But the camels take 
long and slow steps ; and the motion which one feels 
upon them is, therefore, more like that of a cradle." 
Burckhardt says, too: "When mounted on a camel, 
which can never be stopped while its companions 
are moving on, I was obliged to jump off when I 
wished to take a bearing. The Arabs are highly 
pleased with a traveller who jumps off his beast and 
remounts without stopping it; as the act of kneeling 
down is troublesome and fatiguing to the loaded 
camel, and before it can rise again, the caravan is 
considerably ahead." (Trav. in Syr. p. 445.) 

The hardiness of the camel, and the slender and 
coarse fare with which he is contented, during long 
and severe journeys, are truly surprising. Burck- 
hardt, in his route from the country south of the 
Dead sea, directly across the desert to Egypt, was 
with a party of Bedouins, who heard that a troop 
from a hostile tribe was in the vicinity. " It was, 
therefore, determined to travel by night, until we 
should be out of their reach ; 'and we stopped at 
sunset, after a day's march of eleven hours and a 
half, merely for the purpose of allowing the camels 
to eat. Being ourselves afraid to light a fire, lest it 
should be descried by the enemy, we were obliged 
to take a supper of dry flour mixed with a little salt. 
During the whole of this journey, the camels had no oth- 
er provender than the withered shrubs of the desert, my 
dromedary excepted, to which I gave a few hand- 
fuls of barley every , evening. Loaded camels are 
scarcely able to perform such a journey without a 
daily allowance of beans and barley. — Aug. 31st. 
We set out before midnight, and continued at a quick 
rate the whole night. In these northern districts of 
Arabia the Bedouins, in general, are not fond of pro- 
ceeding by night ; they seldom travel at that time, 
even in the hottest season, if they are not in very 
large numbers, because, as they say, during the night 
nobody can distinguish the face of his friend from 
that of his enemy. Another reason is, that camels 
on the march never feed at their ease in the day time, 
and nature seems to require that they should have 
their principal meal and a few hours' rest in the even- 
ing. The favorite mode of travelling in these parts 
is, to set out about two hours before sunrise, to stop 
two hours at noon, when every one endeavors to sleep 
under his mantle, and to alight for the evening at 
about one hour before sunset. We always sat round 
■ the fire, in conversation, for two or three hours after 
supper." (Trav. in Syr. p. 451.) Similar to this is 
the account given by Messrs. Fisk and King, dur- 
ing their journey from Cairo to Palestine, under date 
of April 10, 1823 : " When the caravan stops, the 
camels are turned out to feed on the thistles, weeds 
and grass which the desert produces. At sunset 
they are assembled, and made to lie down around 
the encampment. Yesterday afternoon four of them, 
which carried merchandise for an Armenian, went 
off, and could not be found. Two or three men 
were despatched in search of them. This morning 
they were not found, and we arranged our baggage 
so as to give the Armenian one of ours. The rest of 



the company also gave him assistance in carrying ins 
baggage, and we set off at seven. In the course of 
the day, the four camels were found at a distance, 
and brought into the encampment at evening." 
(Missionary Herald, 1824, p. 35.) 

The value of the camel to the Arabs, and indeed 
to all the oriental nations, is inestimable ; and indeed 
they regard it as the peculiar gift of Heaven to the 
people of their race. Their wealth often consists 
solely in their camels. So Job is said to have had 
three thousand of them at first, and afterwards six 
thousand, i. 3 ; xlii. 12. An anecdote mentioned by 
Chardin in his MS. (Harmar's Obs. iv. p. 318.) illus- 
trates this, and shows that the wealth of Job was 
truly princely. "The king of Persia being in Ma- 
zanderan, in the year 1676, the Tartars set upon the 
camels of the king in the month of February, and 
took three thousand of them; which was a great 
loss to him, for he has but seven thousand in all, it 
their number should be complete ; especially con- 
sidering it was winter, when it was difficult to pro- 
cure others in a country that was a stranger to 
commerce ; and considering, too, their importance, 
these beasts carrying all the baggage, for which rea- 
son they are called the ships of Persia. Upon these 
accounts the king presently retired." 

The camel is here most graphically compared with 
a ship, and this epithet is justly applied to him, as 
being the medium of commerce, the bearer of bur- 
dens across the pathless deserts of the East, which 
may well be likened to the trackless ocean. This is 
also further illustrated by the following extracts. *R. 

Sandys writes thus : (p. 138.) " The whole Caruan 
being now assembled, consists of a thousand horses, 
mules, and asses ; and of five hundred camels. 
These are the ships of Arabia ; their seas are the 
deserts, a creature created for burthen," &c. It does 
not clearly appear in this extract, though it might be 
gathered from it, that the camel has the name of " the 
ship of Arabia :" but Mr. Bruce comes in to our as- 
sistance, by saying, (p. 388, vol. i.) " What enables 
the shepherd to perform the long and toilsome jour- 
neys across Africa, is the camel, emphatically called, 
by the Arabs, the ship of the desert! He seems 
to have been created for this very trade," &c. 

[From the above extracts it is manifest, that the 
camel is thus poetically called the ship of the desert, 
from the circumstance of his being a beast of bur- 
den, and not with any reference to his speed, which 
is not great. The dromedary, on the contrary, is 
celebrated for its fleetness ; or rather on account of 
its being able to hold out for so long a time in a hard 
rapid trot. R.] In Morgan's History of Algiers, 
this writer states, that the dromedary in Barbary, 
cailed Aashare, will, in one night, and through a lev- 
el country, traverse as much ground, as any single 
horse can in ten. The Arabs affirm that it makes 
nothing of holding its rapid pace, which is a most 
violent hard trot, for four and twenty hours on a 
stretch, without showing the least sign of weariness, 
or inclination to bait ; and that having then swallow- 
ed a ball or two of a sort of paste made up of barley- 
meal, and may be a little powder of dry dates among 
it, with a bowl of water or camel's milk, the indefat- 
igable animal will seem as fresh as at first setting 
out, and be ready to run at the same scarcely credi- 
ble rate, for as many hours longer, and so on from 
one extremity of the African desert to the othei ; 
provided its rider could hold out without sleep and 
other refreshments. During his stay in Algiers, Mr. 
Morgan was a party in a diversion in which one of 



CAMEL 



[ 22ti ] 



C AM 



these Aashari ran against some of the swiftest Barbs 
in the whole Neja, which is famed for having good 
ones, of the true Libyan breed, shaped like grey- 
hounds, and which will sometimes run down an 
ostrich. 

"We all started," he remarks, "like racers, and for 
the first spurt most of the best mounted amongst us 
kept pace pretty well, but our grass-fed horses soon 
flagged : several of the Libyan and Numidian run- 
ners held pace, till we, who still followed upon a 
good round hand gallop, could no longer discern 
them, and then gave out ; as we were told after their 
return. When the dromedary had been out of sight 
about half an hour, we again espied it flying towards 
us with an amazing velocity, and in a very few mo- 
ments was among us, and seemingly nothing con- 
cerned ; while the horses and mares were all on a 
foam, and scarcely able to breathe, as was likewise a 
fleet, tall greyhound bitch, of the young prince's, who 
had followed and kept pace the whole time, and was 
no sooner got back to us, but lay down panting as if 
ready to expire." p. 101. 

[With reference to these facts, Mr. Taylor has at- 
tempted to illustrate the passage in Jobix. 26, "They 
(my days) are passed away like swift ships ;" where 
the proper version is either "ships of desire," i. e. 
eager to arrive at their place of destination ; or, accord- 
ing to Gesenius and others, "ships of papyrus," in 
allusion to the light and rapid skiffs made of this ma- 
terial, and which are celebrated in ancient histo- 
ry. Mr. Taylor supposes the writer to allude to 
these ships of the desert, or dromedaries. But, in the 
first place, neither the camel nor dromedary is ever 
called directly a ship, i. e. merely the word ship 
alone never denotes a camel or a dromedary ; and 
then, too, the qualifying word (heh (pdn) does not- 
here point to any such use of the word. Moreover, 
it is not the dromedary, which is so called on ac- 
count of its speed ; but the camel, on account of its 
usefulness as a beast of burden. R. 

Our Lord's words in Matt. xix. 24, " It is easier 
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than 
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven," 
have given rise to much discussion. Theophylact, 
with many ancient and some modern commentators, 
read xuiu?.ov, or at least interpret xauri?.ov, a cable, as 
does Whitby. But Euthymius, and some ancient 
versions, with Grotius, Erasmus, Drusius, Lightfoot, 
Michaelis, Rosenmtiller, and Kuinoel, contend that 
the xuinp.ov is to be retained. Campbell has well de- 
fended the common reading ; and the rabbinical 
citations adduced by Lightfoot, Schoettgen, and oth- 
ers, prove that there was a similar proverb in use 
among the Jews : " Perhaps thou art one of the 
Pampedithians, who can make an elephant pass 
through the eye of a needle ;" that is, says the Aruch, 
tvho speak things impossible. But the very proverb 
itself is found in the Koran : " The impious shall 
find the gates of heaven shut ; nor shall he enter 
there till a camel shall pass through the eye of a 
needle." The design of our Lord was evidently to 
hint to the rich their danger, in order that they may 
exert themselves to surmount the peculiar tempta- 
tions by which they are assailed ; and learn not to 
trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God. 

In Matt, xxiii. 24, there is another proverbial ex- 
pression, which also has been much misunderstood : 
" Ye strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel." Dr. A. 
Clarke has shovn that there is an error of the press 
in the English translation, in which at has been sub- 
stituted for out. The expression alludes to the Jew- 



ish custom of filtering wine, for fear of swallowing 
any insect forbidden by the law as unclean ; and is 
applied to those who are superstitiously anxious in 
avoiding smaller faults, yet do not scruple to commit 
the greater sins. To make the antithesis as strong as 
may be, two things are selected as opposite as possi- 
ble ; the smallest insect, and the largest animal. 

CAMELS' HAIR, an article of clothing. John 
the Baptist was habited in raiment of camels' hair, 
and Chardin states, that such garments are worn by 
the modern dervishes. There is a coarse cloth made 
of camels' hair in the East, which is used for manu- 
facturing the coats of shepherds, and camel-drivers, 
and also for the cohering of tents. It was, doubtless, 
this coarse kind which was adopted by John. By 
this he was distinguished from those residents in 
royal palaces who wore soft raiment. Elijah is said 
in the Eng. Bible to have been " a hairy man ;" (2 
Kings i. 8.) but it should be "amarulressed in hair;" 
that is, camels' hair. In Zech. xiii. 4, "a rough gar- 
ment," that is, a garment of a hairy manufacture, is 
characteristic of a prophet. 

CAMELEON, a kind of lizard, the flesh of which . 
Moses forbids the Hebrews to eat, Lev. xi. 30. There 
is no reason for supposing that the Hebrew word nis 
means the real cameleon, but some kind of lizard 
distinguished for its strength. 

CAMELO-PARDUS, or Camelo-Pardalus, an 
animal like a camel in form ; and like a panther in 
colors, or spots. The Hebrews were allowed it as 
food, Deut. xiv. 5, 6, according to the Vulgate ; in 
the English version it is translated chamois, which 
see. The camelo-pardalus has been supposed the 
giraffe, an animal found in the East Indies, beyond 
the Ganges ; also in Africa, though rarely in the north 
of that continent. Its neck is very long and slender ; 
its ears are slit ; its feet are cloven ; its tail is round 
and short ; its legs, especially its fore legs, are taller 
than those of any other animal, so that it cannot 
drink without straddling ; and it has two little horns. 
Bochart is of opinion, however, that Moses did not 
intend the giraffe, or camelo-pardus, because the res- 
idence of this animal is in countries too remote ; and 
further, that the camel being unclean, it was not 
likely the giraffe should be allowed. He thinks the 
Hebrew zemer signifies a wild goat. Others translate 
it an elk. See Chamois. 

I. CAMON, a city west of the Jordan, according 
to Eusebius, in the great plain, six miles from Legio, 
inclining north ; perhaps Cadmon. 

II. CAMON, a city of Manasseh, east of the Jor- 
dan, in the cbuntrv of Gilead, Judg. x. 5. 

CAMPHIRE, Cant. i. 14 ; iv. 13. The Hebrew 
copher is rendered cypress in the LXX and the Vul- 
gate. It is an odoriferous shrub, common in the isle ' 
of Cyprus, where it is called henna, or al-henna, and 
the purposes for which it is employed are thus de- 
scribed by Sonnini : — (Travels in Egypt, vol. i. p. 
264, &c.) 

" If large black eyes, which they are at pains to 
darken still more, be essential to Egyptian female 
beauty, it likewise requires, as an accessory of first 
rate importance, that the hands and nails should be 
dyed red. This last fashion is fully as general as 
the other, and not to conform to it would be reckon- 
ed indecent. The women could no more dispense 
with this daubing than with their clothes. Of what- 
ever condition, of whatever religion they may be, all 
employ the same means to acquire this species of or- 
nament, which the empire of fashion alone could 
perpetuate, for it assuredly spoils fine hands much 



CAMPHIRE 



[ 229 ] 



CAN 



more than it decorates them. The animated white- 
ness of the palm of the hand, the tender rose-color 
of the nails, are effaced by a dingy layer of a red- 
dish or orange-colored drug. The sole of the foot, 
the epidermis of which is not hardened by long or 
frequent walking, and which daily friction makes 
still thinner, is likewise loaded with the same color. 
It is with the greenish powder of the dried leaves of 
the henna that the women procure for themselves a 
decoration so whimsical. It is prepared chiefly in 
the Said, from whence it is distributed over all the 
cities of Egypt. The markets are constantly sup- 
plied with it, as a commodity of habitual and indis- 
pensable use. They dilute it in water, and rub the 
soft paste it makes on the parts which they mean to 
color : they are wrapped up in linen, and at the end 
of two or three hours the orange hue is strongly im- 
pressed on them. Though the women wash both 
hands and feet several times a day with lukewarm 
water and soap, this color adheres for a long time, 
and it is sufficient to renew it about every fifteen 
days : that of the nails lasts much longer.; nay, it passes 
for ineffaceable. In Turkey, likewise, the women 
make use of henna, but apply it to the nails only, and 
leave to their hands and feet the color of nature. It 
would appear, that the custom of dyeing the nails 
was known to the ancient Egyptians, for those of 
mummies are, most commonly, of a reddish hue. 
But the Egyptian ladies refine still further on the 
general practice ; they, too, paint their fingers, space 
by space only, and, in order that the color may not 
lay hold of the whole, they wrap them round with 
thread at the proposed distances, before the applica- 
tion of the color-giving paste ; so that, when the 
operation is finished, they have the fingers marked 
circularly, from end to end, with small orange-color- 
ed belts. Others — and this practice is more common 
among certain Syrian dames — have a mind, that their 
hands should present the sufficiently disagreeable 
mixture of black and white. The belts, which the 
henna had first reddened, become of a. shining 
black, by rubbing them with a composition of sal-am- 
moniac, lime and honey." This practice of staining 
the hands and nails explains, perhaps, the phraseol- 
ogy in Deut. xxi. 12. 

"You sometimes meet with men, likewise, who 
apply tincture of henna to their beards, and anoint 
the head with it : they allege, that it strengthens the 
organs, that it prevents the falling off of the hair (the 
followers of Mahomet, it is well known, preserve, on 
the crown of the head, a long tuft of hair) and beard, 
and banishes vermin." 

The plant is thus described : — " The henna is a 
tall shrub, endlessly multiplied in Egypt ; the leaves 
are of a lengthened oval form, opposed to each oth- 
er, and of a faint green color. The flowers grow 
at the extremity of the branches, in long and tufted 
bouquets ; the smaller ramifications which support 
them are red, and likewise opposite : from their arm- 
pit cavity (axilla:) springs a small leaf almost round, 
but terminating in a point : the corolla is formed of 
four petals curling up, and of a light yellow. Be- 
tween each petal are two white stamina with a yellow 
summit; there is only one white pistil. The pedicle, 
reddish at its issuing from the bough, dies away into 
a faint green. The calix is cut into four pieces, of a 
tender green up toward their extremity, which is 
reddish. The fruit or berry is a green capsule pre- 
vious to its maturity ; it assumes a red tint as it 
ripens, and becomes brown when' it is dried : it is 
divided into four compartments, in which are enclos- 



ed the seeds, triangular and brown-colored. The 
bark of the stem and of the branches is of a deep 
gray, and the wood has, internally, a light cast ot 
yellow. In truth, this is one of the plants the most 
grateful to both the sight and the smell. The gently 
deepish color of its bark, the light green of its foliage, 
the softened mixture of white and yellow, with which 
the flowers, collected into long clusters like the lilac, 
are colored, the red tint of the ramifications which 
support them, form a combination of the most agree- 
able effect. These flowers, whose shades are so del- 
icate, diffuse around the sweetest odors, and em- 
balm the gardens and the apartments which they 
embellish ; they accordingly form the usual nosegay 
of beauty ; the women, ornament of the prisons of 
jealousy, whereas they- might be that of a whole 
country, take pleasure to deck themselves with these 
beautiful clusters of fragrance, to adorn their apart- 
ments with them, to carry them to the bath, to hold 
them in their hand, in a word, to perfume their bosom 
with them. They attach to this possession, which the 
mildness of the climate, and the facility of culture, 
seldom refuses them, a value so high, that they would 
willingly appropriate it exclusively to themselves, and 
that they suffer with impatience Christian women 
and Jewesses to partake of it with them. The hen- 
na grows in great quantities in the vicinity of Rosetta, 
and constitutes one of the principal ornaments of the 
beautiful gardens which surround that city. Its root, 
which penetrates to a great depth with the utmost 
ease, swells to a large size in a soil, soft, rich, mixed 
with sand, and such as every husbandman wou M 
have to work upon ; the shrub, of course, acquires a 
more vigorous growth there than any where else ; it 
is, at the same time, more extensively multiplied ; it 
grows, however, in all the other cultivated districts 
of Egypt, and principally in the upper part. There 
is much reason to presume, that the henna of Epypt 
is the kupros of the ancient Greeks. The des crip- 
tions, incomplete it is admitted, which authors have 
given of it, and particularly the form and the f^weet 
perfume of its flowers which they have celebrated, 
leave scarcely any doubt respecting the identity of 
these two plants. [The name of kupros is no longer 
in use among the modern Greeks ; they give to the 
henna the corrupted denominations of kene, kna, &c. 
The seamen of Provence, whose vessels were em- 
ployed in carrying the powder of henna, called it 
quene'.] Besides that, the clusters of Cyprus, botrus 
cypri, of the Song of Songs, (chap. i. 13, 14.) can be 
nothing else but the very clusters of the flowers of the 
henna; this is, at least, the opinion of the best com- 
mentators. It is not at all astonishing, that a flower so 
delicious should have furnished to oriental poesy 
agreeable allusions and amorous comparisons. This 
furnishes an answer to part of the forty-fifth question 
of Michaelis ; for the flower of henna is disposed in 
clusters, and the women of Egypt, who dearly love 
the smell of it, are fond of carrying it, as I have said, 
in the spot which the text indicates — in their bosom." 

CANA, the city in which our Lord performed his 
first miracle, was in Galilee, and pertained to the 
tribe of Zebulun. The village now bearing the 
name, and supposed to occupy the site of the ancient 
town, is pleasantly situated on the descent of a hill 
about sixteen miles north-west of Tiberias, and six 
north-east of Nazareth. Dr. Richardson states that, 
in a small Greek church in this place, he was shown 
an old stone pot, made of the common compact lime- 
stone of the country, which the hierophant informed * 
him was one of the original pots that contained the 



CAN 



[ 230 J 



CANAAN 



water which underwent the miraculous change at 
the wedding, which was here honored by the pres- 
ence of Christ. " It is worthy of note," says Dr. 
Clarke, " that, walking among the ruins of a church, 
we saw large massy stone pots, answering the de- 
scription given of the ancient vessels of the country ; 
not preserved nor exhibited as reliques, but lying 
about, disregarded by the present inhabitants, as an- 
tiquities with whose original use they were unac- 
quainted. From their appearance, and the number 
of them, it was quite evident, that a practice of keep- 
ing water in large stone pots, each holding from 
eighteen to twenty-seven gallons, was once common 
in the country." (Travels, p. ii. ch. 14.) Caua, or, 
as it is now called, Kefer Kenna, or Cane Galil, con- 
tains about 300 inhabitants,-who are chiefly Catho- 
lic Christians. There was another place bearing the 
same name, belonging to the tribe of Asher, which 
was situated in the neighborhood of Sidon. 

I. CANAAN, son of Ham. The Hebrews believe 
that Canaan, having first discovered Noah's naked- 
ness, told his father Ham ; and that Noah, when he 
awoke, having understood what had passed, cursed 
Canaan, the first reporter of his exposure. Others 
are of opinion, that Noah, knowing nothing more 
displeasing to Ham, than cursing of Canaan, resolved 
to punish him in his son, Gen. ix. 25. The posterity 
of Canaan was numerous; his eldest son, Sidon, was 
the father of the Sidonians, or Phoenicians; and his 
other ten sons the fathers of as many tribes, dwelling 
in Palestine and Syria ; namely, the Hittites, Jebu- 
sites, Amorites, Girgasites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 
Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. See Ca- 
naanites. 

II. CANAAN, the name of the land peopled by 
Canaan and his posterity, and afterwards given to the 
Hebrews. It signifies properly level or low country, 
is lying on the coast, in opposition to din, ardm, Syria, 
or a higher country. This country has, at different 
periods, been called by various names, either from 
its inhabitants or some circumstances connected with 
its history. — (1.) The Land of Canaan, from Canaan, 
the son of Ham, who divided it among his eleven 
sons, each of whom became the head of a numerous 
tribe, and ultimately of a distinct people, Gen. x. 15. 
— (2.) The Land of Promise, (Heb. xi. 9.) from the 
promise given to Abraham, that his posterity should 
possess it, Gen. xii. 7; xiii. 15. These being termed 
Hebrews, the region in which they dwelt was called 
—(3.) The Land of the Hebrews, Gen. xl. 15.— (4.) 
The Land of Israel, from the Israelites, or posterity 
of Jacob, having settled themselves there. This 
name is of frequent occurrence in the Old Testa- 
ment. In its larger acceptation, it comprehends all 
that tract of ground on each side of Jordan, which 
God gave for an inheritance to the children of Israel. 
— (5.) Tlie Land of Judah. Under this appellation 
was at first comprised only that part of the region 
which was allotted to the tribe of Judah ; but in sub- 
sequent times, when their tribe excelled the others 
in dignity, it was applied to the whole land. After 
the separation of the teu tribes, that portion of the 
land which belonged to Judah and Benjamin, which 
formed a separate kingdom, was distinguished by the 
appellation of " the land of Judah," or of Judea ; 
which latter name the whole country retained during 
the existence of the second temple, and under the 
dominion of the Romans. — (6.) The Holy Land. 
This name does not appear to have been used by the 
Hebrews themselves, till after the Babylonish captiv- 
ity, when it is applied to the land by the prophet 



Zechariah, ii. 12. The land of Canaan was supposed 
by the Jews to be peculiarly noly, inasmuch as it 
furnished holy offerings for the temple ; but not all 
parts of it indiscriminately. They supposed, also, 
that neither the Shechinah, nor the sacred Spirit, 
dwelt on any person, even a prophet, out of this land. 
In Canaan, say the rabbins. (Sheviith, cap. ix. hal. 
2.) are three countries — Judea, the region beyond 
Jordan, and Galilee. This division designedly ex- 
cludes Samaria, which was considered as unclean by 
reason of its inhabitants. Its land, waters, dwellings 
and paths were clean. — (7.) Palestine, by which 
name the whole land appears to have been called in 
the time of Moses, (Exod. xv. 14.) is derived from 
the Philistines, a people who migrated from Egypt, 
and, having expelled the aboriginal inhabitants, set- 
tled on the borders of the Mediterranean, where they 
became so considerable, as to give their name to the 
whole country, though they in fact possessed only a 
small part of it. By heathen writers, the Holy Land 
has been variously termed, Syrian Palestine, Syria, 
and Phoenicia. (Reland. Palest, cap. i.) 

The boundaries of this country are, the Mediter- 
ranean sea on the west ; Lebanon and Syria on the 
north ; Arabia Deserta, and the lands of the Ammon- 
ites, Moabites, and Midianites, on the east ; the river 
of Egypt, the wilderness or desert of Zin, the south- 
ern shore of the Dead sea, and the river Arnon, on 
the south; and Egypt on the south-west. Near 
mount Lebanon stood the city of Dan, and near the 
southern extremity of the land, Beersheba ; and hence 
the expression "from Dan to Beersheba," to denote 
the whole length of the land of Canaan. Its extreme 
length was about 170 miles, and its width about 80. 
By the Abrahamic covenant, recorded in Gen. xv. 18. 
the original grant of land to the Israelites was "from 
the river of Egypt to the Euphrates." The bounda- 
ries of it are most accurately described by Moses in 
Numb, xxxiv. 1 — 16. 

The land of Canaan has been variously divided. 
Under Joshua it was apportioned out to the twelve 
tribes ; under Solomon it was distributed into twelve 
provinces ; (1 Kings iv. 7—19.) and upon the acces- 
sion of Rehoboam to the throne, it was divided into 
the two kingdoms of Israel 'and Judah. After this 
period, it fell into the hands of the Babylonians, the 
Greeks, the Syrians, and the Romans. During the 
time of our Saviour, it was under the dominion of the 
last-mentioned people, and was divided into five 
provinces, viz. Galilee, Samaria, Judea, Peraea, and 
Idumaea. Peraea was again divided into seven can- 
tons, viz. Abilene, Trachonitis, Itursea, Gaulonitis, 
Batanaea, Perasa, and Decapolis. 

The Israelites do not appear to have restricted 
themselves to this country ; and in the time of the 
kings, their power extended over distant districts. 
On their return from Babylon, they did not regain 
the whole land ; not even the whole of what was 
marked by the boundary line of Moses ; the district 
south of Gaza, and of a line drawn from Gaza to Ka- 
desh-Barnea,was excluded from the national territory. 

The Idumaeans, also, during the Babylonish captiv- 
ity, had encroached, and settled themselves in many 
towns on the south of Judah ; so that Idumaea was 
considered as divided into the greater and the lesser, 
or the upper and the lower : but these being subdued 
by Hyrcanus, (Joseph. Ant. lib. xiii. cap. 17.) the in- 
habitants embraced Judaism, «and were afterwards 
reckoned as Jev/s. Palestine, says Pomponius Mela, 
was divided into five countries ; Idumaea, Judea, Sa- 
maria, Galilee, and beyond Jordan. 



CANAAN 



[ 231 ] 



CANAAN 



Moses draws a line from Sidon to Lasha, and from 
Sidon to Gaza: the rabbins also draw a line "from 
the mountains of Amaha to the river of Egypt ; 
whatever is within that line belongs to the land of 
Israel ; but whatever is without that line is without 
the land :" their meaning is, that the islands in the 
Mediterranean, as Arvad, Tyre, &c. never were oc- 
cupied by the Hebrew nation. These appear to have 
been strongly fortified, and not only inhabited by a 
hardy race of people, but capable of being supplied, 
by sea, with reinforcements, and necessaries of all 
kinds, so that they resisted the power of the Israel- 
ites ; and the conquest of them is particularly boast- 
ed of by a subsequent invader, 2 Kings xviii. 34 ; 
xix. 13. 

The surface of the land of Canaan is beautifully 
diversified with mountains and plains, rivers and val- 
leys, and must have presented a delightful appear- 
ance when the Jewish nation was in its prosperity, 
and under the special providence of God. The 
principal mountains are Lebanon, Carmel, Tabor, 
the mountains of Israel, Gilead, and Hermon, the 
mount of Olives, Calvary, Sion, and Moriah. Of the 
valleys, those of Hinnom, Jehoshaphat, Siddim, Re- 
phaim, and Mature, are the most known. The plain 
of the Mediterranean, of Esdraelon, and the region 
round about Jordan, are celebrated as the scenes of 
many important events. The chief brooks and riv- 
ers are the Jordan, the Arnon, the Sihor, the Jabbok, 
the Bezor, or river of Egypt, the Kishon, the Kedron, 
the lake Asphaltites, or the Dead sea, and the lake of 
Tiberias, or the sea of Galilee. For a description of 
these, see their respective articles. 

The land of Canaan is situated in the fifth climate, 
between the 31st and 34th degrees of north latitude : 
hence the heat during the summer is intense. The 
surface of the land, however, being so greatly diver- 
sified with mountains and plains, renders the climate 
unequal and variable. On the south, it is sheltered 
by lofty mountains, which separate it from the sandy 
deserts of Arabia. Breezes from the Mediterranean 
cool it on the west side. Mount Lebanon keeps off 
the north wind, while mount Hermon intercepts the 
north-east. During the summer season, in the inte- 
rior of the country, particularly in the plains of 
Esdraelon and Jericho, the heat is intense. Gener- 
ally speaking, however, the atmosphere is mild ; the 
summers are commonly dry, the days extremely hot, 
but the nights sometimes intensely cold. 

The soil of Canaan was of the richest description ; 
a fine mould, without stones, and almost without a 
pebble. Dr. Shaw informs us, that it rarely requires 
more than one pair of beeves to plough it. Moses 
speaks of Canaan as of the finest country in the 
world — a land flowing with milk and honey. Pro- 
fane authors also speak of it much in the same man- 
ner. Hecatseus, (Joseph, contr. Ap. p. 1049.) who 
had been brought up with Alexander the Great, and 
who wrote in the time of Ptolemy I. mentions this 
country as very fruitful and well-peopled, an excel- 
lent province, that bore all kinds of good fruit. Pliny 
gives a similar description of it, and says, Jerusalem 
was not only the most famous city of Judea, but of 
the whole East. He describes the course of the 
Jordan, as of a delicious river ; he speaks advan- 
tageously of the lake of Genesareth, of the balm of 
Judea, its palm-trees, &c. Tacitus, (Hist. lib. xv. 
cap. 6.) Ammianus Marcellinus, and most of the 
ancients, who have mentioned Canaan, have spoken 
of it with equal commendations. The Mahometans 
speak of it extravagantly. They tell us, that besides 



the two principal cities of the country, Jerusalem 
and Jericho, this province had a thousand villages, 
each of which had many fine gardens. That the 
grapes were so large, that five men could hardly car- 
ry a cluster of them, and that five men might hide 
themselves in the shell of one pomegranate ! That 
this country was anciently inhabited by giants of the 
race of Amalek. 

Notwithstanding these testimonies of the ancients, 
we find people very incredulous as to the fruitfulness 
of the Holy Land. Some travellers said little to its 
advantage. The country, they say, appears to be 
dry and barren, ill watered, and has but few cultivat- 
ed plains. Strabo, (lib. xvi.) among the ancients, 
speaks of it with contempt. He says that this prov- 
ince is so barren, that it moves nobody's envy, that 
there is no need of fighting for it, in order to obtain 
it, and that Jerusalem stands on a dry and barren 
spot. Jerome was an eye-witness of it, and very well 
acquainted with those qualities which Scripture as- 
cribes to it. He says that Canaan is full of moun- 
tains, that dryness and drought are very common, 
that they had only rain water, which they caught 
and preserved in cisterns, which supplied the ab- 
sence of fountains. Yet Jerome, speaking of the fer- 
tility of Canaan, says no country could dispute with 
it in fruitfulness. 

Having given a general outline of the country, we 
may now proceed to describe it more particularly. 
And first, with reference to its divisions among the 
tribes. 

"From the mountains of Quarantania," says Dr. 
Shaw, " we have a distinct view of the land of the 
Amorites, of Gilead, and of Bashan, the inheritance 
of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and of the half-tribe 
of Manasseh. This tract, in the neighborhood partic- 
ularly of the river Jordan, is, in many places, low and 
shaded — for want of culture, perhaps — with tamarisks 
and willows: but at the distance of two or three 
leagues from the stream, it appears to be made up of 
a succession of hills and valleys, somewhat larger, and 
seemingly more fertile, than those in the tribe of Ben- 
jamin. Beyond these plains, over against Jericho, 
where we are to look for the mountains of Abarim, 
the northern boundary of the land of Moab, our pros- 
pect is interrupted by an exceeding high ridge of des- 
olate mountains, no otherwise diversified than by a 
succession of naked rocks and precipices, rendered 
in several places more frightful, by a multiplicity of 
torrents which fall on each side of them. This ridge 
is continued all along the eastern "coast of the Dead 
sea, as far as our eye can conduct us, affording, all the 
way, a most lonesome and melancholy prospect, not 
a little assisted by the intermediate view of a large, 
stagnating, unactive expanse of water, rarely if ever 
enlivened by any flocks of birds that settle upon it, or 
by so much as one vessel of passage or commerce 
that is known to frequent it. Such is the general plan 
of that part of the Holy Land which fell under my 
observation." But quitting the land of Moab, the 
scene is greatly improved as we proceed further north- 
ward, and advance toward the immense and fertile 
plains of the Haouran. Ibn Haucal gives the same 
name, Masharik, to the country of Haouran, as to the 
plains near Damascus, which have always been con- 
sidered by the orientals as a terrestrial paradise. The 
Arabs report of that city, that Mahomet should say, 
on a distant sight of it, " he would not enter it ; as 
there was but one paradise for man, and he would not 
have his in this world." " Beyond the mountain, and 
to the south-west of Damascus," says a Cathol'c mis- 



CANAAN 



[ 232 ] 



CANAAN 



sionary, " the plain of Haouran begins. Its fertility 
is so great, that it is called the granary of the Turks. 
In fact, there arrive, almost daily, caravans from all 
parts of the empire, which carry away the corn. 
The meal made of it is excellent, whereof they 
make loaves about two feet long, and half a foot in 
thickness. It will keep a whole year without cor- 
rupting. When it. grows dry, they steep it in water, 
and find it as good as if new made. Both rich and 
poor prefer it to all other sorts of bread." (Journey 
from Aleppo to Damascus. 1736. 8vo. p. 66.) Vol- 
ney, too, describes them as " the immense plains of 
Haouran ;" their length, as "five or six days' journey ;" 
and their soil as most fruitful. See Bashan. 

With this description agrees the request of the 
tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manas- 
seh to Moses: (Numb, xxxii. 1-^-5.) " This country is 
a land for cattle, — if we have found grace in thy sight, 
give us this land for a possession." The tribe of Reu- 
ben lay to the south ; east of this tribe was the desert ; 
west of it the Jordan and the Dead sea ; north of it 
was the tribe of Gad ; and southward a tract overrun 
by the Israelites,*but afterwards recovered by the Mo- 
abites. This tribe appears to have had mountains 
accompanying the side of the Jordan ; but as moun- 
tains, supply streams, it may be presumed that they 
had many intervals of great fertility. The tribe of 
Gad lay north of Reuben ; and it would appear that 
the mountains receded from the Jordan, in the terri- 
tories of this tribe. The eastern parts of these moun- 
tains were habitable ; but whether the descendants of 
these Israelites possessed those parts may be doubt- 
ed ; perhaps, only partially. The half-tribe of Ma- 
nasseh, or Eastern Manasseh, extended north to the 
southern ridge of Lebanon, and the springs of Jor- 
dan : the same, no doubt, may be affirmed of these 
parts as of those pertaining to the tribe of Naphtali ; 
which we shall next proceed to describe. 

Dandini, speaking of mount Lebanon, says, " This 
country consists in elevated and stony mountains, ex- 
tending north and south. Nevertheless, the industry- 
and labor of man have made it one uniform plain ; 
for, gathering into dikes the stones which are scattered 
about, they form continued walls, and constantly going 
forwards, they raise others in succession higher ; so 
that at length, by means of equalizing hills and val- 
leys, they convert a barren mountain into a beautiful 
level, easily susceptible of culture, and at once fertile 
and delightful. It abounds in corn, excellent wine, 
oil, cotton, silk, wax, wood, animals wild and tame, 
especially goats. There are but few small animals, 
the winter being severe, and the snow perpetual. 
There are many sheep, fat and large as those of Cy- 
prus, and others in the Levant. In the forests are 
wild boars, bears, tigers, and other animals of the same 
nature. The rest of the plains abounds in partridges, 
which are as large as common hens. There are no 
dove-cotes, but quantities of pigeons, turtle doves, 
thrushes, becca-figos, and other kinds of birds. There 
are also eagles. They do not dig around the vines, 
but till the ground with oxen ; the plants being set in 
straight lines, at proper distances. Neither do they 
prop them, but. let them trail on the ground. The 
wine they produce is delicate and agreeable. There 
are grapes as large as plums. The size of the bunches 
of grapes is surprising : and when I saw them, I easi- 
ly discovered why the Hebrews had so great long- 
ing to taste them, and why they so passionately de- 
sired to conquer the Promised Laud, after having 
seen the specimen which the spies brought from the 
neighboring district. These mountains, then, do not 



only abound in stones, but in all sorts of provisions." 
De la Roque describes the western face of Libanus, 
and the valley between Libanus and Anti-Libanus, in 
the highest terms, as to fruitfulness, pleasantness, and 
salubrity ; but the south aspect of Lebanon he did not 
visit. The following account of the Jordan, which 
takes its rise in these mountains, is principally extract- 
ed from that writer ; who has taken much pains on 
the subject. The source of the river Jordan is incon- 
testably in the mountains of Anti-Libanus, in the re- 
gion now called Wad-d-teln ; it is" subject to the pa- 
cha of Damascus, and comprehends the mount 
Hermon of the ancients. The Jordan rises near the 
district anciently called Panium, or Paneas, where 
the city Paneades stood, which was afterwards called 
Cesarea Philippi. Josephus indeed says the true 
source of the Jordan was at Phiala, in the Tracheli- 
tis, from whence it flowed by subterranean passages, 
till it appeared at Panium. Phiala was a round ba- 
sin, always full, never running over. Panium, says 
the same; writer, was a grotto, excavated by nature at 
the foot of a high mountain ; it is extremely deep, and 
filled with a standing water ; and from below issue 
the fountains of Jordan. Pliny says much the same ; 
to which Eusebius adds, that the mountain also was 
named Panium. But in another place, he says, the 
river Jordan rose at a small town called Dan, four 
thousand paces distant from Paneas. So that two 
fountains uniting their streams united also their names 
— Jor-Dan. Eugene Roger, who travelled in the Holy 
Land in 1636, says, Jor is a small village in the tribe 
of Naphtali, at the foot of mount Libanus, south, 
whence the principal source of the Jordan issues, 
about a league from Dan. These two villages, he 
says, are inhabited by Druses, who breed many goats. 
Notwithstanding these testimonies, however, some 
modern critics have thought that only one source is 
entitled to the honor of originating the Jordan. We 
have hinted that the region of Wad-et-tein, where 
all the inhabitants of mount Libanus place the sources 
of the Jordan, included the mount Hermon of the an- 
cients, — or a part of this mountain ;— as the whole 
was of great extent, and had various appellations. 
Among others, that part of it where the grotto Pa- 
neas was received the name of Panion, being conse- 
crated to the god Pan, the deity of mountains, forests, 
and chases. Here his image was worshipped, and a 
temple probably erected, which became the cause of 
establishing a small town ; which in succeeding ages 
received various names, as Cesarea Philippi, Claudia 
Cesarea, and Neroniadas ; but this last, being odious, 
was not permanent ; the town recovered its name of 
Cesarea Philippi, then of Paneades, or Banias, which 
it retains, though some of the Mahometans call it Be- 
lina. William of Tyre informs us that near to this 
city was a vast forest, named, in his time, the forest of 
Paneades ; a very proper place for feeding sheep ; and 
that a prodigious multitude of Arabs and Turcomans, 
after having made a peace with Godfrey of Bologne, 
retired thither. The Jordan is but an inconsiderable 
stream, till, after receiving several rivulets, and by the 
nature of the country, after running two or three 
leagues, it forms what is now called the marsh of 
Jordan, anciently lake Merom ; which extends about 
two leagues in circumference, when the snows melt 
on mount Libanus, but is dry in the heats of summer. 
This marsh is almost wholly overgrown with reeds, 
of that kind which is used for writing with, and for the 
fledging of arrows. The environs of the lake are full 
of tigers, bears, and even lions, which descend from 
the neighboring mountains. Coming out of this lake, 



CANAAN 



[ 2 33 „ 



CANAAN 



V 



the Jordan resumes its course southwards, and, at 
half a league's distance, is crossed by a stone bridge, 
which the inhabitants call Jacob's bridge, because 
they say it was in this place that the patriarch wres- 
. tied with the angel. After a course of eight or nine 
leagues, the river enters the lake of Genesareth, or 
the sea of Galilee, or of Tiberias. Having passed 
through this lake, it issues near the ruins of Scy- 
thopolis, and, after about thirty leagues, loses itself in 
the Dead sea. See Jordan. 

Volney says, " As we approach the Jordan, the 
country becomes more hilly and better watered ; the 
valley through which this river flows alTounds, in 
general, in pasturage, especially in the upper part of 
it. As for the river itself, it is very far from being of 
that importance which we are apt to assign to it. The 
Arabs, who are ignorant of the name of Jordan, call 
it El-Sharia. Its breadth between the two principal 
lakes, in few places exceeds sixty or eighty feet ; but 
its depth is about ten or twelve. In winter it over- 
flows its narrow channel ; and, swelled by the rains, 
forms a sheet of water sometimes a quarter of a league 
broad. The time of its overflowing is generally in 
March, when the snows melt on the mountains of the 
Shaik ; at which time, more than any other, its wa- 
ters are troubled, and of a yellow hue, and its course 
is impetuous. Its banks are covered with a thick 
forest of reeds, willows, and various shrubs, which 
serve as an asylum for wild boars, ounces, jackalls, 
hares, and different kinds of birds." See Jer. 
xlix. 19. 

The reader will consider the Dead sea as being 
originally divided into several streams, running among 
low grounds,by which they were absorbed ; and among 
which they fertilized the fields, the gardens, and oth- 
er delights of the inhabitants. The present vicinity 
of Damascus is the nearest approach to this idea of 
the " cities of the plain." The waters which render 
this city so enchanting terminate in a marsh, .as we 
presume those of the Jordan did ; without reaching 
the ocean, or falling into any other river. The fol- 
lowing extract may elucidate this conception : " Da- 
mascus is the capital and residence of the pacha. 
The Arabs call it El-Sham, agreeably to their custom 
of bestowing the name of the country on its capital. 
The ancient oriental name of Demeshk is known 
only to geographers. The city is situated in a vast 
plain, open to the south and east, and shut in toward 
the west and the north by mountains, which limit the 
view at no great distance ; but, in return, a number 
of rivulets rise from these mountains, which render 
the territory of Damascus the best watered and most 
delicious province of all Syria ; the Arabs speak of it 
with enthusiasm ; and think they can never suffi- 
. ciently extol the freshness and verdure of its orchards, 
the abundance and variety of its fruits, its numerous 
streams, and the clearness of its rills and fountains. 
No city contains so many canals and fountains ; each 
house has one ; and all these waters are furnished by 
three rivulets, or branches of the same river, which, 
after fertilizing the gardens for a course of three 
leagues, flow into a hollow of the desert, to the south- 
east, where they form a morass called Behairat-el- 
Mardj, or the Lake of the- Meadow." (Volney, vol. 
ii. p. 269.) Another writer says, " This lake is three 
leagues from Damascus, toward the east, ten or 
twelve leagues long, and five or six broad. It pro- 
duces excellent fish, and the copse which surrounds 
it, a great quantity of game. The wonder is, that 
though it receives not only the above-mentioned river, 
but many stray waters besides, yet it never overflows. 



Returning now to the head of the Jordan, we find 
the tribes of Naphtali and Asher. To Naphtali we 
have attended in part. Maundrell gives us reason to 
suppose, that Asher, lying on the sea-coast, had some 
advantages which Naphtali had not. He says, "A 
very fertile plain extends itself to a vast compass be- 
fore Tyre." " The plain of Acra extends itself in 
length from mount Saron as far as Carmel, which i 
at least six good hours ; and in breadth, between the 
sea and the mountains, it is in most places two 
hours over. It enjoys good streams of water at con- 
venient distances, and every thing else that might 
render it both pleasant and fruitful. But this deli- 
cious plain is now almost desolate, being suffered, for 
want of culture, to run up to rank weeds, which were,, 
at the time when we passed it, as high as our horses' 
backs. The plain of Esdraelon is of vast extent, 
and veiy fertile, but uncultivated ; only serving the 
Arabs for pasturage." — "We turned out of the plain 
of Esdraelon, and entered the precincts of the half- 
tribe of Manasseh. From hence our road lay, for 
about four hours, through narrow valleys, pleasantly 
wooded on both sides." As to Zebulun, Maundrell 
only mentions in one place his being " an hour and 
a half in crossing the delicious plain of Zebulun," — to 
that of Acra. " Our stage this day was somewhat 
less than seven hours ; it lay about W. by N. through 
a country very delightful, and fertile bej^ond imagi- 
nation." 

Dr. E. D. Clarke, speaking of this district, says, 
" After leaving Shef 'hamer, the mountainous territo- 
ry begins, and the road winds among valleys covered 
with beautiful trees. Passing these hills, we entered 
that part of Galilee which belonged to the tribe of 
Zabulun ; whence, according to the triumphal song 
of Deborah and Barak, issued to the battle against 
Sisera ' they that handled the pen of the writer.' The 
scenery is, to the full, as delightful as in the rich vales 
upon the south o^ the Crimea: itremindedus of the 
finest parts of Kent and Surrey. The soil, although 
stony, is exceedingly rich, hut now entirely neglected. 
.... Had it pleased Djezzar to encourage the labors of 
the husbandman, he might have been in possession of 
more wealth and power than any pacha in the grand 
signior's dominions.- The delightful plain of Zabu- 
lun appeared every where covered with spontaneous 
vegetation, flourishing in the wildest exuberance." 
(p. 400.) . . ." We left our route to visit the elevated 
mount where it is believed that Christ preached to his 
disciples that memorable sermon, concentrating the 
sum and substance of every Christian virtue. Hav- 
ing attained the highest point of it, a view was pre- 
sented, which, for its grandeur, independently of the 
interest excited by the different objects contained in 
it, has no parallel in the Holy Land. From this situ- 
ation we perceived that the plain, over which we had 
been so long riding, was itself very elevated. Far 
beneath appeared other plains, one lower than the oth- 
er, in hat regular gradation concerning which obser- 
vations were recently made, and extending to the sur- 
face of the sea of Tiberias, or sea of Galilee. This im- 
mense lake, almost equal, in the grandeur of its appear- 
ance, to that of Geneva, spreads its waters over all the 
lower territory, extending from the north-east towards 
the south-west, and then bearing east of us. Its east- 
ern shores present a sublime scene of mountains, ex- 
tending toward the north and south, and seeming to 
close it in at either extremity; both towards Chora- 
zin, where the Jordan enters ; and the Anion, or Cam- 
pus Magnus, through which it flows to the Dead sea. 
The cultivated plains reaching to its borders, which 



CANAAN 



[ 234 ] 



CANAAN 



we beheld at an amazing depth below our view, re- 
sembled, by the various hues their different produce 
exliibited, the motley pattern of a vast carpet. To the 
north appeared snowy summits, towering beyond a 
series of intervening mountains, with unspeakable 
greatness. We considered them as the summits of 
Libanus ; but the Arabs belonging to our caravan 
called the principal eminence Jebel el Sieh, saying it 
was near Damascus; probably, therefore, a part of 
the chain of Libanus. This summit was so lofty, 
that the snow entirely covered the upper part of it ; 
not lying in patches, as I have seen it, during sum- 
mer, upon the tops of very 'elevated mountains, (for 
instance, that of Ben Nevis in Scotland,) but invest- 
ing all the higher part with that perfect white and 
smooth velvet-like appearance which snow only ex- 
hibits when it is very deep ; a striking spectacle in 
such a climate, where the beholder, seeking protec- 
tion from a burning sun, almost considers the firma- 
ment to be on fire. The elevated plains upon the 
mountainous territory beyond the northern extremi- 
ty of the lake are called by a name, in Arabic, which 
signifies 'the Wilderness.' To the south-west, at the 
distance of only twelve miles, we beheld mount Tha- 
bor, having a conical form, and standing quite insu- 
lar, upon the northern side of the plain of Esdraelon. 
The mountain whence this superb view was present- 
ed consists entirely of limestone ; the prevailing con- 
stituent of all the mountains in Greece, Asia Minor, 
Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine." (p. 456.) "As we 
rode towards the sea of Tiberias, the guides pointed 
to a sloping spot from the heights upon our right, 
whence we had descended, as the place where the 
miracle was accomplished by which our Saviour fed 
the multitude ; it is, therefore, called ' The Multipli- 
cation of Bread ;' as the mount above, where the 
sermon was preached to the disciples, is called ' The 
Mountain of Beatitudes,' from the expressions used 
in the beginning of that discourse. This part of the 
Holy Land is very full of wild animals. Antelopes 
are in great number. We had the pleasure of seeing 
these beautiful quadrupeds in their natural state, 
feeding among the thistles and tall herbage of these 
plains, and bounding before us occasionally, as we 
disturbed them. The Arabs frequently take them in 
the chase. The lake now continued in view upon 
our left. The wind rendered its surface rough, and 
called to mind the situation of our Saviour's disciples, 
when, in one of the small vessels which traverse these 
waters, they were tossed in a storm, and saw Jesus, 
in the fourth watch of the night, walking to them 
upon the waves, Matt. xiv. 24. Often as this subject 
has been painted, combining a number of circum- 
stances adapted for the representation of sublimity, 
no artist has been aware of the uncommon grandeur 
of the scenery, memorable on account of the transac- 
tion. The lake of Genesareth is surrounded by ob- 
jects well calculated to heighten the solemn impres- 
sion made by such a picture ; and, independent of the 
local feelings likely to be excited inks contemplation, 
affords one of the most striking prospects in the Ho- 
ly Land. It is by comparison alone that any due con- 
ception of the appearance it presents can be convey- 
ed to the minds of those who have not seen it : and, 
speaking of it comparatively, it may be described as 
longer and finer than any of our Cumberland and 
Westmoreland lakes, although, perhaps, it yields in 
majesty to the stupendous features of Loch Lomond, 
in Scotland. It does not possess the vastness of the 
lake of Geneva, although it much resembles it in par- 
ticular points of view. The lake of Locarno, in Italy, 



comes nearest to it in point of picturesque beautv, al- 
though it is destitute of any thing similar to the islands 
by which that majestic piece of water is adorned. It 
is inferior in magnitude, and, perhaps, in the height 
of its surrounding mountains, to the lake Asphaltites ; 
but its broad and extended surface, covering the bot- 
tom of a profound valley, environed by lofty and pre- 
cipitous eminences, added to the impression of a 
certain reverential awe under which every Christian 
pilgrim approaches it, give it a character of dignity 
unparalleled by any similar scenery." (p. 462.) " On 
the plain of Esdraelon, in the most fertile part of all 
the land *of Canaan, (which, though a solitude, we 
found like one vast meadow, covered with the richest 
pasture,) the tribe of Issachar rejoiced in their tents." 

"The road was mountainous, rocky, and full of 
loose stones ; yet the cultivation was every where 
marvellous : it afforded one of the most striking pic- 
tures of human industry which it is possible to be- 
hold. The limestone rocks and stony valleys of 
Judea were entirely covered with plantations of figs, 
vines, and olive trees; not a single spot seemed to be 
neglected. The hills, from their bases to their upmost 
summits, were entirely covered with gardens ; all of 
these were free from weeds, and in the highest 
state of agricultural perfection. Even the sides of 
the most barren mountains had been rendered fer- 
tile, by being divided into terraces, like steps rising 
one above another, whereon soil had been accumu- 
lated with astonishing labor. Among the standing 
crops, we noticed millet, cotton, linseed, and tobac- 
co, and, occasionally, small fields of barley. A sight 
of this territory can alone convey any adequate idea 
of its surprising produce ; it is truly the Eden of 'the 
East, rejoicing in the abundance of its wealth. Un- 
der a wise and a beneficent government, the produce 
of the Holy Land would exceed all calculation. Its 
perennial harvest ; the salubrity of its air ; its limpid 
springs ; its rivers, lakes, and matchless plains ; its 
hills and vales ; — all these, added to the serenity of 
the climate, prove this land to be indeed ' a field 
which the Lord hath blessed : God hath given it of 
the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and 
plenty of corn and wine.' " The reader will recoi- 
led that this account, refers to the territory passed 
through in the route from Acre to Tiberias and Je- 
rusalem. A less flattering picture is drawn of the 
direct road from Jerusalem to Joppa ; and of the 
countries bordering on the desert to the south. It 
must, however, be confessed, that these parts main- 
tained numerous flocks and herds, anciently, and that 
places are not wanting where the same might be 
maintained, at this day, did circumstances admit the 
necessary safety and protection. 

Dr. Shaw gives the following account of the tribes 
of Issachar, Benjamin, Judah, and Dan : " Leaving 
mount Carmel to the N. W. we pass over the S. W. 
corner of the plain of Esdraelon, the lot formerly of 
the tribe of Issachar, and the most fertile portion of 
the land of Canaan. The most extensive part of it 
lieth to the eastward, where our prospect is bound- 
ed, at about fifteen miles' distance, by the mountains 
of Hermon and Tabor, and by those upon which 
the city of Nazareth is situated. Advancing further 
into the half-tribe of Manasseh, we have still a fine 
arable country, though not so level as the former ; 
where the landscape is changed every hour by the 
intervention of some piece of rising ground, a grove 
of trees, or the ruins of some ancient village. The 
country begins to be rugged and uneven at Samaria, 
the north boundary of the tribe of Ephraim ; from 



CANAAN 



[ 235 1 



CANAAN 



whence, through Sichem, all the way to Jerusalem, 
we have nothing but mountains, narrow defilees, and 
valleys of differeMt extents. Of the former, the 
mountains of Ephraim are the largest, being most 
of them shaded with large forest trees ; whilst the 
valleys below are long and spacious, not inferior in 
fertility to the best part of the tribe of Issachar. 
The mountains of the tribe of Benjamin, which lie 
still further to the southward, are generally more 
naked, having their ranges much shorter, and con- 
sequently their valleys more frequent. In the same 
disposition is the district of the tribe of Judah ; 
though the mountains of Quarantania, those of En- 
gaddi, and others that border on the plains of Jericho 
and the Dead sea, are as high, and of as great ex- 
tent, as those in the tribe of Ephraim. Some of the 
valleys, likewise, which belong to this tribe, such as 
that of Rephaim, Eschol, and others, merit an equal 
regard with that parcel of ground which Jacob gave 
to his son Joseph, Gen. xlviii. 22. But the neighbor- 
hood of Ramah and Lydda is nearly of the same 
arable aud fertile nature with that of the half-tribe 
of Manasseh, and equally inclineth to be plain and 
level. The latter of these circumstances agreeth 
also with the tribe of Dan, whose country, notwith- 
standing, is not so fruitful, having in most parts a 
less depth of soil ; and bordereth upon the sea-coast 
in a range of mountains." 

Of the tribe of Benjamin, Maundrell says, " All 
along this day's travel from Kane Leban to Beer, 
and also as far as we coidd see round, the country 
discovered a quite different face from what it had 
before ; presenting nothing to the view, in most 
places, but naked rocks, mountains, and precipices. 
At sight of which, pilgrims are apt to be much as- 
tonished and balked in their expectations ; finding 
that country in such an inhospitable condition, con- 
cerning whose pleasantness and plenty they had be- 
fore formed in their minds such high ideas, from the 
description given of it in the Word of God ; inso- 
much that it almost startles their faith, when they 
reflect, How could it be possible for a land like this 
to supply food for so prodigious a number of in- 
habitants as are said to have been polled in the twelve 
tribes at one time ? the sum given in by Joab, 2 Sam. 
xxiv. amounting to no less than thirteen hundred 
thousand fighting men, besides women and children. 
But it is certain that any man, who is not a little 
biased to infidelity before, may see, as he passes 
along, arguments enough to support his faith against 
such scruples. For it is obvious for any one to ob- 
serve, that these rocks and hills must have been 
anciently covered with earth, and cultivated, and 
made to contribute to the maintenance of the inhab- 
itants no less than if the country had been all plain, 
nay, perhaps, much more ; forasmuch as such a 
mountainous and uneven surface affords a larger 
space of ground for cultivation than this country 
would amount to, if it were all reduced to a perfect 
level. For the husbanding of these mountains, their 
manner was to gather up the stones, and place them 
in several lines, along the sides of the hills, in form 
of a wall. By such borders, they supported the 
mould from tumbling, or being washed down ; and 
formed many beds of excellent soil, rising gradually 
one above another from the bottom to the top of the 
mountains. Of this form of culture you see evi- 
dent footsteps wherever you go in all the mountains 
of Palestine. Thus the very rocks were made fruit- 
ful. And perhaps there is no spot of ground in this 
whole land that was not formerly improved, to 4he 



production of something or other ministering to the 
sustenance of human life. For, than the plain 
countries nothing can be more fruitful, whether for 
the production of corn or cattle, and consequently 
of milk. The hills, though improper for all cattle, 
except goats, yet being disposed into such beds as 
are afore described, served very well to bear corn, 
melons, gourds, cucumbers, and such like gaiv en 
stuff, which makes the principal food of these coun- 
tries for several months in the year. The most 
rocky parts of all, which couk 1 . not well be adjusted 
in that manner for the production of corn, might 
yet serve for the plantation of vines and olive-trees ; 
which delight to extract the one its fatness, the other 
its sprightly juice, chiefly out of such dry and flinty 
places. And the great plain joining to the Dead 
sea, which, by reason of its saltness, might be thought 
unserviceable, both for cattle, corn, olives, and vines, 
had yet its proper usefulness, for the nourishment of 
bees, and for the fabric of honey ; of which Josephus 
gives us his testimony. (De Bell. Jud. lib. v. cap. 4.) 
And I have reason to believe it, because when I was 
there, I perceived in many places a smell of honey 
and wax, as strong as if one had been in an apiary. 
Why, then, might not this country very well main- 
tain the vast number of its inhabitants, being in every 
part so productive of either milk, corn, wine, oil, or 
honey ? which are the principal food of these east- 
ern nations ; the constitution of their bodies, and the 
nature of their clime, inclining them to a more ab- 
stemious diet than we use in England, and other 
colder regions." 

The following description from Volney, includes 
the tribes of Simeon and Judah : " Palestine, in its 
present state, comprehends the whole country in- 
cluded between the Mediterranean to the west, the 
chain of mountains to the east, and two lines, one 
drawn to the south, by Kan Younes, and the other 
to the north, between Kaisaria and the rivulet of 
Yasa. This whole tract is almost entirely a level 
plain, without cither river or rivulet in summer, but 
watered by several torrents in winter. Notwith- 
standing this dryness, the soil is good, and may even 
be termed fertile ; for when the winter rains do not 
fail, every thing springs up in abundance ; and the 
earth, which is black and fat, retains moisture suffi- 
cient for the growth of grain and vegetables during 
the summer. More dourra, sesamum, water-melons, 
and beans, are sown here than in any other part of 
the country. They also raise cotton, barley, and 
wheat ; but, though the latter be most esteemed, it is 
less cultivated, for fear of too much inviting the ava- 
rice of the Turkish governors, and the rapacity of 
the Arabs. This country is indeed more frequently 
plundered than any other in Syria; for, being very 
proper for cavalry, and adjacent to the desert, it lies 
open to the Arabs, who are far from satisfied with 
the mountains ; they have long disputed it with 
every power established in it, and have succeeded 
so far as to obtain the concession of certain places, 
on paying a tribute, from whence they infest the 
roads, so as to render it unsafe to travel from Gaza 
to Acre." 

From these testimonies the reader may collect the 
general character of this country, and of those par- 
cels of it which fell to the lot of the different tribes 
respectively. But there is one character of it which 
has never been properly estimated ; that is, its strength 
in a military point of view, and as military science 
stood in ancient days. If we examine it as originally 
described, and promised to the sons of Israel, we 



CANAAN 



L 236 ] 



CANAAN 



find it bounded, and at the same time effectually de- 
fended, on the east by the whole length of the river 
Jordan, and the Dead sea; on the north by the 
mountain of Lebanon, and its branches, which, of 
course, afford strong grounds on which to resist an 
invading enemy; on the west by the Great sea, 
where its ports were not favorable to an assailant, 
being but of moderate capacity, and ill calculated to 
accommodate a fleet; and on the south by the 
wearisome desert, with hills, at which the Israelites 
themselves had been repulsed. We conclude, then, 
that the first departure from the plan of settling this 
peculiar people was a fatal error, since it deprived 
the intended country of so great a proportion of 
population as two tribes and a half; whereas, that 
density of population which these tribes must have- 
produced, would have been the security of the whole, 
and would have rendered it impregnable. We may 
also infer, that had these two tribes and a half settled 
in Canaan, they would have enabled the Israelites to 
have driven out the inhabitants of those towns which 
eventually maintained their situations; so that the 
entire country would have been completely Israelite, 
and the consequent uniformity of opinion and of 
interest would have contributed greatly to the per- 
manency of this compact and confirmed common- 
wealth. The country was also so situated, that it 
possessed the power of choosing what intercourse it 
thought proper with surrounding nations. For in- 
stance, caravans for traffic might rendezvous at Da- 
mascus, and pass into Arabia, or into Egypt, without 
entering, or but little, the Israelite dominions ; and 
so from Egypt, to Damascus, to the Euphrates, and 
even to Bozra ; while the intercourse between 
Egypt, Greece, and the whole of Europe, by sea, 
was maintained without any interference with the 
ports of Palestine. We conclude, then, that Balaam 
was perfectly correct when he said, " This people 
shall dwell alone" — secluded, having little commu- 
nication with other nations. That the Hebrews were 
not likely to perform voyages of long continuance, 
may be inferred from the established peculiarities of 
their food ; and this may contribute to account for 
the employment, of Tyrians by Solomon, in his ex- 
peditions to Ophir. In short, every thing leads us 
to consider this nation as intended for an agricultural, 
sedentary, recluse people ; whose country was com- 
pact, and almost insulated, like themselves ; but these 
intended advantages were rendered ineffectual by 
the departure of a considerable portion of the nation 
from the original plan of their settlement, by which 
it was mutilated, if not destroyed ; and the common- 
wealth deprived of that federal bond, that unity of 
interest, of design, of religion, and of fraternity, 
which might have resisted the efforts of enemies to 
subjugate separate parts, and so, by degrees, the 
whole. 

Of the peculiarities of the country east of the 
Jordan, we have some interesting though imperfect 
notices. We have a number of travels in the coun- 
try west of the Jordan, from the Mediterranean to 
Jerusalem, whether from Acre, from Joppa, or from 
Egypt ; but for several centuries the east of the Jordan 
has remained almost unknown. The present inhab- 
itants are such barTditti, that Europeans are justified 
in deeming it the height of imprudence to venture 
among them. Yet it seems possible, by obtaining 
powerful protection, greatly to diminish this clanger. 
The late adventurous M. Seetzen visited this re- 
gion in the early part of this century. His account 
is to this effect: — " I had intended from Acre to visit 



the ancient town of Edrei, now called Draa, and the 
two Decapolitan cities of Abda, now Abil, and Ga- 
dara. The first of these places, Edrei, is often men- 
tioned in the Hebrew Scriptures, as one of the most 
important towns in the territory of the king of Ba- 
san, who, in the time of Moses, lived at Astaroth, 
the present Busra. But the country was so infested 
by the nomad Arabs, that I could procure neither 
horse, nor mule, nor ass. Yussuf [his servant] even 
declared to me a second time that he could not ven- 
ture to go with me. It was not without difficulty 
that I at last found a guide ; but to save the only- 
coat which I had to my back, and which the Arabs 
would not have failed to have taken from me, I was 
obliged to make use of a precaution sufficiently 
strange, which was to cover myself with rags ; in 
fact, to assume the disguise of a mesloch, or com- 
mon beggar. That nothing about me might tempt 
the rapacity if the Arabs, I put over my shirt an old 
kombaz, or dressing gown, and above that an old 
blue and ragged shift — I covered my head with some 
shreds, and my feet with old slippers. An old tat- 
tered Abbai, thrown over my shoulders, protected 
me from the cold and rain, and a branch of a tree 
served me for a walking stick. My guide, a Greek 
Christian, put on nearly the same dress, and in this 
trim we traversed the country nearly ten days, often 
stopped by the cold rains, which wetted us to the 
skin. I was also obliged to walk one whole day in 
the mud with my feet bare, since it was impossible 
to use my slippers on that marshy land, completely 
softened by the water. The town of Draa, situ- 
ated on the eastern side of the route of the pilgrims 
to Mecca, is at present uninhabited and in ruins. 
No remains of the beautiful ancient architecture 
could be found, except a sarcophagus, very well exe- 
cuted, which I saw near a fountain, to which it serves 
as a basin. Most of the houses are built with ba- 
salt. The district of El Botthin contains many 
thousand caverns made in the rocks,.by the ancient 
inhabitants of the country. Most of the houses, 
even in these villages, which are yet inhabited, are a 
kind of grotto, composed of walls placed against the 
projecting point's of the rocks, in such a manner that 
the walls of the inner chamber, in which the inhab- 
itants live, are partly of bare rock, and partly of 
mason-work. Besides these retreats, there are, in 
this neighborhood, a number of very large caverns, the 
construction of which must have cost infinite labor, 
since they are formed in the hard rock. There is 
only one door of entrance, which is so regularly 
fitted into the rock, that it shuts like the door of a 
house. It appears, then, that this country was for- 
merly inhabited by Troglodytes, without reckoning 
the villages whose inhabitants may be regarded as 
such. There are still to be found many families liv- 
ing in caverns, sufficiently spacious to contain them 
and all their cattle. These immense caverns are 
moreover to be found, in considerable numbers, in 
the district of Al-Jedur, some leagues to the south- 
ward of M'kess, where also we met with several 

families of the Troglodytes Besides my guide, 

I had taken with me an armed peasant, and after a 
troublesome walk we arrived at night at a vast natu- 
ral cavern, inhabited by a Mohammedan family. 
After going through a wide and pretty long passage, 
we perceived at the other end a part of the family 
assembled round a fire, and employed in preparing 
supper, which consisted principally of a kind of 
bouilli, mixed with wild herbs, and gruel made of 
wheat. I was wet through by the rain and had 



CAM A AN 



[ 237 ] 



CANAAN 



walked all day barefooted. This fire was, therefore, 
insufficient to warm me, although the persons and 
cattle which came in at sun-set filled nearly all the 
cavern. I should probably have passed a bad night, 
if the old father of the family had not kindly thought 
of conducting us, after supper, to another cavern at 
a small distance. After having passed a door of or- 
dinary size, we found there all the flock of goats be- 
longing to this Troglodyte, and at the end a large 
empty space, where they had lighted for us the im- 
mense trunk of a tree, whose cheerful blaze invited 
us to sleep around it. The fire was kept in all night, 
and the chief of this hospitable family brought lis 
also a good mess of rice. The first appearance of 
these fierce inhabitants of the rocks had given me 
some uneasiness, but I afterwards found that they 
were not more barbarous than other peasants of 
these districts. The old father of the family appeared, 
on the contrary, to be a sensible and humane man. 
.... Several artificial grottoes have been worked in 
the rocks around Karrak, where wheat is preserved 
for ten years." 

The immense caverns mentioned in Scripture, in 
which a number of armed men were hidden, with 
cattle, &c. need no longer excite surprise. We 
learn also that the wonderful caves of the dead, the 
last of houses appointed for all living, were close re- 
semblances to these dwellings : so that the house, or 
the chambers, of death, is correct, as a literal descrip- 
tion of these dreary mansions. Many transactions 
might pass in caverns, in that country, which would 
appear common and ordinary there, though we 
think them wonderfully strange. Compare the resi- 
dence of Lot in one of these caves, in this very 
neighborhood, Gen. xix. 30. 

After Seetzen, the next traveller who has visited 
these districts is Burckhardt, who extended his 
course much farther south than Seetzen, and, in- 
deed, traced very nearly the whole of the route 
taken by Moses and the Israelites, anciently, when 
traversing these countries, in their advance to Ca- 
naan. We shall give his relation in his own words, 
in a letter (dated Cairo, September 12. 1812) ad- 
dressed to the secretary of the African institution : 
" My first station from Damascus was Saffad, ( Ja- 
phet,) a few hours distant from Djessr Beni Yakoub, 
a bridge over the Jordan to the south of the lake 
Samachonitis. From thence I descended to the 
shore of the lake of Tabarya, (Tiberias,) visited Ta- 
barya, and its neighboring districts, ascended mount 
Tabor, and tarried a few days at Nazareth. I met 
here a couple of petty merchants from Szalt, a castle 
in the mountains of Balka, which I had not been 
able to see during my late tour, and which lies on 
the road I had pointed out to myself for passing into 
the Egyptian deserts. I joined their caravan ; after 
eight hours' march, we descended into the valley of 
t'ic Jordan, called El Ghor, near Bysan ; (Scythopo- 
lis ;) crossed the river, and continued along its ver- 
dant banks for about ten hours, until we reached the 
river Zerka, (Jabbok,) near the place where it emp- 
ties itself into' the Jordan. Turning then to our 
left, we ascended the eastern chain, formerly part of 
the district of Balka, and arrived at Szalt, two long 
days' journey from Nazareth. The inhabitants of 
Szalt are entirely independent of the Turkish gov- 
ernment ; they cultivate the ground for a considera- 
ble distance round their habitations, and part of them 
live the whole year round in tents, to watch their 
harvest and to pasture their cattle. Many ruined 
places and mountains in the district of Balka pre- 



serve the names of the Old Testament, and eluci- 
date the topography of the provinces that fell to the 
share of the tribes of Gad and Reuben. Szalt is at 
present the only inhabited place in the Balka, but 
numerous Arab tribes pasture thex-e their camels and 
sheep. I visited from thence the ruins of Aman, or 
Philadelphia, five hours axxd a half distant from 
Szalt. They are situated in a valley on both sides 
of a rivulet, which empties itself into the Zerka. A 
lai'ge amphitheatre is the most remarkable of these 
ruins, which are much decayed, and hi every respect 
infeiior to those of Djerash. At four or five houi-s 
south-east of Aman, are the ruins of Om EiTesas 
and El Kotif, which I could not see, but which, ac- 
cording to report, are more considerable than those of 
Philadelphia. The want of communication betweexx 
Szalt and the southern countries delayed my depai't 
ure for upwards of a week ; I found at last a guide, 
and we l'eached Kerek in two days and a half, after 
having passed the deep beds of the torrents El Wale 
and El Modjeb, which I suppose to be the Nahaliel 
and Anion. The Modjeb divides the district of Balka 
from that of Kerek, as it formerly divided the Mo- 
abites from the Amorites. The ruins of Eleale, He- 
sebon, Meon, Medaba, Dibou, Arver, [for these 
names see Numb. ch. xxi. xxxii.] all situated on the 
north side of the Anion, still subsist, to illustrate the 
history of the Beni Israel. To the south of the wild 
torrent Modjeb I found the considerable ruins of 
Rabbat Moab, and, three hours distant from them, 
the town of Kerek, situated at about twelve hours' 
distance to the east of the southern extremity of the 
Dead sea. Kerek is an important position, and its 
chief is a leading character in the affairs of the des- 
erts of southern Syria ; he commands about 1200 
match-locks, which are the terror of the neighboring 
Arab tribes. About 200 families of Greek Christians, 
of whom one third have entirely embraced the nom- 
ad life, live here, distinguished only fixim their 
Arab brethren by the sign of the cross. The treach- 
eiy of the Shikh of Kerek, to whom I had been pax- 
ticularly recommended by a grandee of Damascus, 
obliged me to stay at Kerek about twenty days. 
After having annoyed me in different ways, he pei- 
niitted me to accompany him southward, as he had 
himself business in the mountains of Djebal, a dis- 
trict which is divided from that of Kerek by the deep 
bed of the torrent El Ahsa, or El Kahary, eight hours 
distant from Kei-ek. We remained for ten days in 
the villages to the north and south of El Ahsa, which 
are inhabited by Arabs, who have become cultiva- 
tors, and who sell the produce of their fields to the 
Bedouins. The Shikh, having finished his business, 
left me at Beszeyra, a village about sixteen hours 
south of Kerek, to shift for myself, after having ma- 
liciously i-ecommended me to the care of a Bedouin, 
with whose character he must have been acquainted, 
and who nearly stripped me of the remainder of my 
money. I encountered here many difficulties, was 
obliged to walk from one encampment to anothei - , 
until I found at last a Bedouin, who engaged to cany 
me to Egypt. In his company I continued south- 
ward, in the mountains of Shera, which are divided 
from the north of Djebal by the broad valley called 
Ghoseyr, at about five hours' distance from Beszeyra. 
The chief place in Djebal is Tafyle, and in Shex-a 
the castle of Shobak. This chain of mountains is 
a continuation of the eastern ' Syrian chain, which 
begins with the Anti-Libanus, joins the Djebel el 
Shikh, forms the valley of Ghor, and boi-ders the 
Dead sea. The valley of Ghor is contin.ied to the 



CANAAN 



[ 238 1 



CANAAN 



south of the Dead sea ; at about sixteen hours' dis- 
tance from the extremity of the Dead sea, its name 
is changed into that of Araba, and it runs in almost 
a straight line, declining somewhat to the west, as 
far as Akaba, at the extremity of the eastern branch 
of the Red sea. The existence of this valley ap- 
pears to have been unknown to ancient as well as 
modern geographers, although it is a very remarka- 
ble feature in the geography of Syria, and Arabia 
Petrsea, and is still more interesting for its produc- 
tions. In this valley the manna is still found ; it 
drops from the sprigs of several trees, but principally 
from the Gharrab ; it is collected by the Arabs, who 
make cakes of it, and who eat it with butter ; they 
call it Assal Beyrouk, or the honey of Beyrouk. In- 
digo, gum arabic, the silk tree called Asheyr, whose 
fruit encloses a white silky substance, of which the 
Arabs twist their matches, grow in this valley. It is 
inhabited near the Dead sea in summer time by a 
few Bedouin peasants only, but during the winter 
months it becomes the meeting place of upwards of 
a dozen powerful Arab tribes. It is probable that 
the trade between Jerusalem and the Red sea was 
carried on through this valley. The caravan, loaded 
at Eziongeber with the treasures of Ophir, might, 
after a march of six or seven days, deposit its loads 
: u the warehouses of Solomon. This valley de- 
serves to be thoroughly known ; its examination will 
lead to many interesting discoveries, and would be 
->ne of the most important objects of a Palestine 
traveller. At the distance of a two long days' jour- 
ney north-east from Akaba, is a rivulet and valley 
in the Djebel Shera, on the east side of the Araba, 
called Wady Mousa. This place is very interesting 
for its antiquities and the remains of an ancient city, 
which I conjecture to be Petra, the capital of Arabia 
Petra?a, a place which, as far as I know, no Europe- 
cm traveller has ever visited. In the red sand-stone 
of which the valley is composed are upwards of two 
hundred and fifty sepulchres, entirely cut out of the 
rock, the greater part of them with Grecian orna- 
ments. There is a mausoleum in the shape of a 
temple, of colossal dimensions, likewise cut out of 
the rock, with all its apartments, its vestibule, peri- 
style, &c. It is a most beautiful specimen of Gre- 
cian architecture, and in perfect preservation. There 
are other mausolea with obelisks, apparently in the 
Egyptian style, a whole amphitheatre cut out of the 
rock, with the remains of a palace and of several 
temples. Upon the summit of the mountain which 
closes the narrow valley on its western side, is the 
tomb of Haroun, (Aaron, brother of Moses.) It is 
held in great veneration by the Arabs. (If I recol-. 
lect right, there is a passage in Eusebius, in which 
he says that the tomb of Aaron was situated near 
Petra.) The information of Pliny and Strabo on 
the site of Petra, agree with the position of Wady 
Mousa. (See Sela.) I regretted most sensibly that 
I was not in circumstances that admitted of my 
observing these antiquities in all their details, but it 
was necessary for my safety not to inspire the Arabs 
with suspicions that might probably have impeded 
the progress of my journey, for I was an unprotect- 
ed stranger, known to be a townsman, and thus an 
object of constant curiosity to the Bedouins, who 
watched all my steps in order to know why I had 
preferred that road to Egypt, to the shorter one along 
the Mediterranean coast. It was the intention of 
my guide to conduct me to Akaba, where we might 
hope to meet with some caravan for Egypt. On our 
way to Akaba, we were, however, informed that a few 



Arabs were preparing to cross the desert direct to 
Cairo, and I preferred that route, because I had 
reason to apprehend some disagreeable adventures 
at Akaba, where the pacha of Egypt keeps a garri- 
son to watch the Wahabi. His officers I knew to 
be extremely jealous of Arabian as well as Syrian 
strangers, and I had nothing with me by which I 
might have proved the nature of my business in these 
remote districts, nor even my Frank origin. We 
therefore joined the caravan of Arabs Allowein, who 
were carrying a few camels to the Cairo market. 
We crossed the valley of Araba, ascended, on the 
other side of it, the barren mountains of Beyane, and 
entered the desert called - El Ty, which is the most 
barren and horrid tract of country I had ever seen ; 
black flints cover the chalky or sandy ground, which 
in most places is without any vegetation. The tree 
which produces the gum arabic grows in some spots ; 
and the tamarisk is met with here and there : but the 
scarcity of water forbids much extent of vegetation, 
and the hungry camels are obliged to go in the even- 
ing for whole hours out of the road in order to find 
some withered shrubs upon which to feed. During 
ten days' forced marches, we passed only four springs 
or wells, of which one only, at about eight hours 
east of Suez, was of sweet water. The others were 
brackish and sulphureous. We passed at a short 
distance to the north of Suez, and arrived at Cairo 
by the pilgrim road." 

The account transmitted by Burckhardt has been 
subsequently verified by Mr. Legh, a gentleman well 
known by his travels in Egypt. His narration forms 
an interesting portion of Dr. Macmichael's Journey 
to Constantinople, in 1818. The perplexities of the 
learned in their endeavors to ascertain the site of 
Petra, a city once so famous and so powerful, are now 
removed ; and we have discovered demonstrations 
of a seat of government, a considerable population, 
and a respectable state of the arts, in the midst of a 
vast accumulation of rocks, and (apparently) an un- 
productive desert. The existence of a rivulet, or 
stream of water, at this place, cannot escape the 
reader's notice ; and he has been partly prepared for 
residences, and even extensive dwellings, among 
rocks, cut out of them, or annexed to them, by the 
description Seetzen has given of the modern Trog- 
lodytes by whom he was received. The importance 
of these discoveries is indisputable ; and the whole, 
as already known, justifies the inference of a state 
of things, of national power, and of intercourse, in 
ancient times, (and, probably, in the most remote an- 
tiquity with which we are acquainted,) entirely dif- 
ferent from any conception we could previously form. 
It is pleasant to see the accounts of ancient writers 
justified ; and still more to see the allusions and his- 
torical facts of Scripture supported by existing evi- 
dences, to which no possible imputation of inaccu- 
racy can be attached. It will be observed, that 
mount Sinai was seen from mount Hor ; also its dis- 
tance, three days' journey ; undoubtedly, therefore, 
mount Hor was visible from Sinai ; and Burck- 
hardt places Wady Mousa (Petra) at two long days' 
journey north-east from Akaba ; and north of it 
he places the valley of Ghor. The reader may 
now compare the Mosaic history with this narrative 
to great advantage. 

Passing on by Roman ruins, and occasionally Ro- 
man roads, Mr. Legh arrived at Shubac the 20th of 
May. " On the 23d, the sheikh of Shubac, Mahomet 
Ebn-Raschid, arrived, and with him also came the 
sheikh Abou-Zeitun, (Father of the Olive-tree,) the 



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governor of Wadi Mousa. The latter proved after- 
wards our most formidable enemy, and we were in- 
debted to the courage and unyielding spirit of the 
former for the accomplishment of our journey, and 
the sight of the wonders of Petra. When we related 
to the two sheikhs, who had just entered the camp, 
our eager desire to be permitted to proceed, Abou- 
Zeitun swore, ' by the beard of the prophet, and by 
the Creator,' that the Caffrees, or infidels, should not 
come into his country." Mahomet Ebn-Raschid as 
warmly supported them, and "Now, there arose a 
great dispute between the two sheikhs, in the tent, 
which assumed a serious aspect : the sheikh of Wadi 
Mousa, at length starting up, vowed that if we should 
dare to pass through his lands, we should be shot 
like so many dogs. Our friend Mahomet mounted, 
and desired us to follow his example, which, when 
he saw we had done, he grasped his spear and fierce- 
ly exclaimed, 'I have set them on their horses ; let 
me see who dare stop Ebn-Raschid.' We rode 
along a valley, the people of Wadi Mousa, with their 
sheikh at their head, continuing on the high ground 
to the left in a parallel direction, watching our move- 
ments. In half an hour we halted at a spring, and 
were joined by about twenty horsemen provided 
with lances, and thirty men on foot, with matchlock 
guns, and a few double-mounted dromedaries, whose 
riders were well armed. On the arrival of this rein- 
forcement, the chief, Ebn-Raschid, took an oath 'in 
the presence of his Arabs, swearing, ' by the honor of 
their women, and by the beard of the prophet, that 
we,' pointing to our party, ' should drink of the wa- 
ters of Wadi Mousa, and go wherever we pleased in 
their accursed country.' " Soon after they left the 
ravine, the rugged peak of mount Hor was seen 
towering over the dark mountains on their right, 
with Petra under it, and Djebeltour, or mount Sinai, 
distant three days' journey, like a cone in the hori- 
zon. They reached Ebn-Raschid's camp of about 
seven tents, (usually 25 feet long and 14 feet wide,) 
in three circles, and next morning attempted, but in 
vain, to obtain the consent of the hostile sheikh to 
pass through his territory. They did not, however, 
come to blows, and at length they passed the much 
contested stream on which stood the mud village of 
Wadi Mousa ; Ebn-Raschid, with an air of triumph, 
insisting on watering the horses at that rivulet. 

While we halted for that purpose, we examined a 
sepulchre excavated on the right of the road. It was 
of considerable dimensions : and at the entrance of 
the open court that led to the inner chamber were 
represented two animals resembling lions or sphinxes, 
but much disfigured, of colossal size. As this was 
the first object- of curiosity that presented itself, we 
began to measure its dimensions ; but our guides 
grew impatient, and said, that if we intended to be so 
accurate in our survey of all the extraordinary places 
we should see, we should not finish in ten thousand 
years." 

They therefore remounted, and rode on through 
niches sculptured in the rocks, frequent representa- 
tions of rude stones, mysterious symbols of an indef- 
inite figure detached in relief, water courses or earth- 
en pipes, arches, aqueducts, and all the signs of a 
wonderful period in the ancient annals of this mem- 
orable scene. ■• We continued (says the narrative) to 
explore the gloomy winding passage for the distance 
of about two miles, gradually descending, when the 
beautiful facade of a temple burst on our view. A 
statue of Victory with wings, filled the centre of an 
aperture like an attic window ; and groups of colos- 



sal figures, representing a centaur and a young man, 
were placed on each side of a portico of lofty propor- 
tion, comprising two stories, and deficient in nothing 
but a single column. The temple was entirely exca- 
vated from the solid rock, and preserved from the rav- 
ages of time and the weather by the massive projections 
of the natural cliffs above, in a state of exquisite and 
inconceivable perfection. But the interior chambers 
were comparatively small, and appeared unworthy 
of so magnificent a portico. On the summit of the 
front was placed a vase, hewn also out of the solid 
rock, conceived by the Arabs to be filled with the 
most valuable treasure, and showing, in the numerous- 
shot-marks on its exterior, so many proofs of their 
avidity ; for it is so situated as to be inaccessible to 
other attacks. This was the hasna, or treasure of 
Pharaoh, as it is called by the natives, which Ebn- 
Raschid swore we should behold." A colossal vase 
belonging, probably, to another temple, was seen by 
captains Irby and Mangles, at some distance to the 
westward, and many excavated chambers were found 
in front of this temple of Victory. About three hun- 
dred yards farther on was an amphitheatre. " Thir- 
ty-three steps (gradini) were to be counted, but, un- 
fortunately, the proscenium, not having been excavat- 
ed like the other parts, but built, was in ruins." 
The remains of a palace, and immense aunibers of 
bricks, tiles, &c. presented themselves on a large 
open space, while "the rocks which enclosed it on 
all sides, with the exception of the north-east, were 
hollowed out into innumerable chambers of different 
dimensions, whose entrances were variously, richly, 
and often fantastically, decorated with every imagi- 
nable order of architecture." Petra was, in the time 
of Augustus, the residence of a king who governed 
the Nabatha?i, or inhabitants of Arabia Petraea, who 
were conquered by Trajan, and annexed to Pales- 
tine. More recently, it was possessed by Baldwin 
I. king of Jerusalem, and called by him Mons Re- 
galis. 

Should any European traveller be so fortunate as 
to be allowed to accompany the caravan from Gaza 
to meet the Mecca pilgrims ; or to examine the district 
of Beersheba, and of Parau, south of the Dead sea, 
our account of the Holy Land would be more com- 
plete than it is at present ; and we might possess the 
means of clearing up many points connected with 
the residence of Israel in the wilderness, and other 
Scripture histories, which continue involved in ob- 
scurity, from want of such information. [The castle 
of Akaba, the site of the ancient Elath, was after- 
wards visited by M. Riippel. For his account of 
this region see the article Elath. R. 

In addition to what has been already said, we may 
remark, that as storms, in Palestine, come from the 
Mediterranean sea, the prophet Elijah was perfectly 
correct in choosing mount Carmel, on the edge of 
that sea, for the scene of his contest with the priests 
of Baal before Ahab, 1 Kings xviii. Also, in his go- 
ing up the mount, and sending Gehazi to look toward 
the sea for that rain which he had predicted, (ver. 
41.) but of which there was then no appearance. It 
would seem possible, too, that this rain was accom- 
panied by thunder ; for Elijah hints prophetically at 
" the sound of abundance of rain :" — this, however, 
is not determinate. Volney says that rain is to be 
expected " in the evening :" it was toward evening 
when Elijah foretold rain to Ahab ; and it was quite 
evening when the rain fell. 

The same writer says, " Thunder is extremely rare 
in summer in the plain of Palestine :" yet Samuel, by 



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his prayers, obtained it from the Lord in the time of 
wheat harvest, 1 Sam. xii. 18. 

Perhaps something of the nature of thunder is al- 
luded to in 2 Sam. v. 24. " When thou nearest the 
voice of proceeding — advancing— in the heads of the 
Becaim" — What are these becaim ? Certainly not 
mulberry-trees ; — but probably a kind of balsam-tree 
or shrub. The word signifies to ooze, to distil in 
small quantities, to weep. " The valleys of rills," or 
rivulets, or moisture. 

It rains on the mountains in Syria when it does 
not rain on the plains. Thus, when Elisha foretold 
a supply of water to the. army of Jehoshaphat, per- 
ishing by thirst, (2 Kings iii.) though they saw nei- 
ther wind nor rain, yet both might have occurred at 
a distance, " by the way of Edom ;" which rain, run- 
ning from the mountains, was providentially directed 
to fill the drains and ditches made by the Israelites. 
Now, as no signs of rain had been observed by the 
Moabites, they concluded, when the sunbeams were 
reflected by the water, that it was blood ; and their 
hasty conclusion ruined them. The suddenness of 
rains among the mountains, with their effects, is what 
perhaps we, at least in some parts of England, can 
hardly conceive of. We have seen that they fall 
evening and morning: Mr. Maundrell also tells us, (p. 
8.) " At Shofatia we were obliged to pass a river — 
a river we might call it now, it being swollen so high 
by the late rains that it was impassable : though at 
other times it might be but a small brook, and in sum- 
mer perfectly dry. These mountain-rivers are ordi- 
narily very inconsiderable ; but they are apt to swell 
upon sudden rains, to the destruction of many a pas- 
senger, who will be so hardy as to venture unadvis- 
edly over them." 

This may also exhibit, perhaps, the true import of 
the history of the destruction of Sisera's army : (Judg. 
iv.) — Barak, by divine assistance, having routed that 
army, the fugitives endeavored to escape, by passing 
the torrent Kishon, which they supposed to be forda- 
ble ; but, in the night, a heavy rain had swelled it to a 
great overflow, so that many were drowned in at- 
tempting to pass it. Sisera, perceiving this, would 
not attempt the passage in his chariot, but fled on 
foot in another direction, which brought him to Jael. 
Thus, it being by night, "the stars in their courses" 
might be said to "fight against Sisera." Moreover, 
if the rain fell on the tops of the mountains adjacent, or 
distant, the glimmer of star-light just visible might 
deceive Sisera's flying army to attempt passing the 
supposed brook ; and to this rapidity of the Kishon 
the poetess adverts, " The river Kishon swept them 
away" — as such " mountain-brooks are apt to swell on 
sudden rains, to the destruction of many passengers." 
There is no reference here to judicial astrology. But 
see the Biblical Repository, vol. i. p. 568, seq. 

Mr. Harmer much wished for such an account of 
the various times, seasons, and events of the year, in 
Palestine or Syria, as znight form a calendar, to reg- 
ulate our notions of the employments and duties of 
the inhabitants ; of their expectations concerning 
what seasons they thought likely to occur ; and 
of those numerous occupations which depend on 
the vicissitudes of summer and winter, of seed- 
time and harvest. The same wishes animated the 
directors of the Royal Society of Gottingen, and being 
persuaded of the advantages to be derived in the 
study of Scripture from such a work, they proposed it 
as a prize question ; to be selected from travellers of 
acknowledged authority. The successful competi- 
tor was J. G. Buhle ; and his work, entitled " Calen- 



darium Palestinse CEnomicum," communicates much 
valuable information. Of this Mr. Taylor has made 
a translation, and inserted it among the Fragments 
to the larger edition of this work ; but as it contains 
much that is useless to the general reader, and occu- 
pies considerable space, we have made the follow- 
ing abridgment. In the larger work the names of 
the several productions are given in detail, and all 
the authorities upon which the statements are found- 
ed, inserted at full length, with a specification of the 
particular editions of the works to which reference is 
made. 

January. 

Weather. — This may be called the second winter 
month. On the elevated parts of Palestine, the cold 
is intense during the early part of the month. There 
is generally a considerable fall of snow, which is dis- 
solved in a few hours. In the plain of Jericho the 
cold is scarcely felt. The western' winds, which 
generally blow during winter, bring heavy rains, es- 
pecially during the night : these swell the rivers, 
lakes, and pools, which are dried up during the sum- 
mer. In the morning the mercury is generally be- 
tween 40° and 46°, and does not rise above 3° or 4° 
in the afternoon. On rainy or cloudy days, it sel- 
dom exceeds 1° or 2° of rise, and frequently remains 
the same during the whole day. Towards the latter 
end of the month, when the sky is clear, it is so hot 
that travellers with difficulty prosecute their journey. 
The winds blow gently, and chiefly from the north 
or east. 

Productions. — All kinds of corn are sown this 
month. Beans blossom, and the trees are again in 
leaf. The almond-tree blossoms earliest, and even 
before it is in leaf. If the winter be mild, the winter 
fig, which is generally gathered the beginning of 
spring, is still found on the trees, though stripped of 
their branches. Mistleto, and the cotton-tree, flour- 
ish. Among the garden herbs and flowers of this 
month are cauliflower, hyacinth, violet, gold- 
streaked daffodil, tulip, wormwood, lentisc-tree, 
auemonies, ranunculuses, and colchicas, a genus of 
lilies. 

February. 

Weather. — The weather is the same as last month, 
except that, towards the latter end, at least in the 
more southern parts, the snows and winter cold are 
observed to cease. Chiefly remarkable for rains ; 
these, however, do not continue many days together : 
but the weather varies about the 4th or 6th. Some- 
times it. changes to cold, with snow. The sky is fre- 
quently covered with clear light clouds : the atmos- 
phere grows warm ; the wind continuing north or east, 
but, latterly, changing westward. The first 14 days, 
the mercury usually stands between 42° and 47°. In 
the afternoon it does not rise above 1, 2, or 3 degrees, 
but afterwards, except the weather should become 
cold, it rises gradually to 50°. 

Productions. — The latter crops now appear above 
ground; barley is sown until the middle of the 
month. Beans acquire a husk, and may be gathered 
all the spring. Cauliflowers, and water-parsnips are 
gathered. The peach and apple-trees blossom, and 
a great variety of herbs captivating the sight by their 
delightful appearance in the fields. 

March. 

Weather. — This month is the forerunner of spring ; 



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but rains, with thunder and hail, are not yet over. 
The weather is generally warm and temperate; 
sometimes extremely hot, especially in the plain of 
Jericho. The western winds often blow with great 
force, and the sky is cloudy and obscured. In the 
middle of the month, the mercury stands at 52° ; 
towards the end, between 56° and 58°. In the begin- 
ning of the month, it does not rise in the afternoon 
above 5° ; towards the end, 8° or 9° ; in rainy weath- 
er, there is scarcely any variation during the whole 
day. Towards the end of the month, the rivers are 
much swollen by the rain, and by the thawing of the 
snow on the tops of the mountains. Earthquakes 
are sometimes felt at this time. 

Productions. — Rice, Indian wheat, and corn of Da- 
mascus are sown in Lower Egypt. Beans, chick- 
peas, lentils, kidney-beans, and gervansos are gather- 
ed. Every tree is in full leaf. The fig, palm, apple, 
and pear-trees blossom ; the former, frequently, 
while the winter fig is on the tree. The Jericho 
plum-tree presents its fruit. The vine, which has a 
triple produce, having yielded its first clusters, is 
pruned of the barren wood. Thyme, sage, rosemary, 
artichoke, fennel, &c. flourish. 

April. • 

Weather. — The latter rains now fall ; but cease 
about the end of the month. The sun's heat is ex- 
cessive in the plain of Jericho, the small streams in 
which are dried up. But in other parts of Palestine, 
the spring is now delightful. Heavy dews sometimes 
fall in the night. The mercury rises gradually, as 
the month advances, from 60° to 66° ; in the after- 
noon, it does not rise, when the sky is clear, above 
8° or 10°. The sky is always without clouds, except 
those small bright ones that rise in the afternoon. 
Never is the sky observed to be cloudy or obscured, 
except when there is rain, which is accompanied 
with thunder much seldomer than in the last month. 
A hoar-frost is seen, for several days together, the 
beginning of the month ; especially when the winds 
blow from the north or east. The air grows very 
hot, but the mornings and eveuings are cooler. The 
snows on the summits of Libanus, and other moun- 
tains, begin to thaw. 

Productions. — The harvest depends upon the du- 
ration of the rainy season. After the rains cease, the 
corn soon arrives at maturity. Wheat, zea or spelt, 
and barley ripen. The spring fig is still hard. The 
almond and the orange-trees produce fruit. The 
turpentine-tree and the charnubi blossom. A new 
shoot, bearing fruit, springs from the branch of the 
vine that was left in the preceding month, which 
must also be lopped. Sugar-canes are planted at 
Cyprus. 

Grass being very high, the Arabs lead out their 
horses to pasture. 

May. 

Weather. — The summer season commences: the. 
excessive heat of the sun renders the earth barren. 
Rain has been observed even in the first part of this 
month. Eginont found the air of the town of Safet 
most pure and salubrious, while the heat was insup- 
portable in the parts adjacent. The sky is generally 
serene and fair, except that small, bright clouds some- 
times rise. The winds blow generally from the 
west. At the beginning of the month, the mercury 
reaches 70° ; then it rises gradually from 76° to 80° i 
tn the afternoon, it does not rise above 6° or 9°. The 



air becomes hotter in proportion as the western winds 
abate, especially if they are calm for several days to 
gether : but even then the violence of the heat is not 
so great as when the wind blows from the north or 
east. When the heat is very great, there is frequent- 
ly observed a dry mist, which obscures the sun. 
The snows on Libanus thaw rapidly, but the cold is 
still sharp on its summit. 

Productions. — Harvest continues. Wheat, barley, 
rice and rye are cut down. The early apples are 
gathered. Hasselquist and Pococke state that cotton 
is sown this month ; but Mariti and Korte affirm, 
that the cotton-tree bears the winter in Syria, and 
now puts forth a yellow blossom. Mandrakes yield 
ripe fruit. Sage, rue, garden purslain, the yellow 
cucumber and the white now flourish. They con- 
tinue, after harvest, to sow various garden herbs : 
many of the vegetables come to maturity twice in 
the same year, in spring and in autumn. The grass 
and herbs reach their greatest height at this time. 

June. 

Weather.- — During this month the sky is generally 
clear, and the weather extremely hot. As the month 
advances, the mercury gradually rises in the morn- 
ing, from 76° to 80° ; in the afternoon, it stands be- 
tween 84° and 92°. The winds, generally blowing 
from the west, refresh the air in the afternoon : and, 
by blowing sometimes during the night, they assuage 
the heats, which are now excessive. The inhabit- 
ants pass their nights in summer upon the roofs of 
their houses, which are not rendered damp by any 
dew. The snow, however, is still frozen on Libanus 
in some parts of which it is so cold, as to compel 
travellers to put on their winter garments. 

Productions. — Rice, early figs and apples, plums, 
cherries and mulberries ripen. The cedar gum dis- 
tils spontaneously, and the baceiferous cedar yields 
berries. The palm-tree produces opobalsamum, or 
balm of Gilead, during this and the two following 
months. The melon is gathered, and rosemary 
flourishes. 

The Arabs, as the summer advances, lead their 
flocks to the hills and mountains situated more to 
the north. 

July. 

Weather. — Heat more intense. There is no rain. 
Libanus is free from snow, except where the sun 
cannot penetrate. The snows on the tops of the 
mountains thawing gradually during the summer, 
Libanus yields a perpetual supply of water to the 
brooks and fountains in the countries below. The 
mercury usually stands in the beginning of the 
month at 80° ; towards the end, 85° or 86°. It does 
not rise in the afternoon above 8° or 10°. The winds 
generally blow from the west ; but, when they fail, 
the heat is excessive. 

Productions. — Dates, apples, pears, nectarines, 
peaches, grapes, and the gourd called citrul ripen. 
Cauliflower and water-parsnip ai-e sown. There is 
no longer a sufficient supply of pasturage for the 
cattle. 

August. 

Weather.— The sky is serene and fair, and the heat 
extreme. The weather is entirely the same during 
the first twenty days, as in the preceding months * 
afterwards white clouds, commonly called niliaca, 
larger than those which are generally observed ;r. 



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CAN 



summer, rise, for the most part, till the end of the 
month. Mr. Burckhardt, who was at Shobak, a vil- 
lage a few miles north of mount Seir, in Arabia Pe- 
trea, on the 20th of this month, states, that in the af- 
ternoon there was a shower of rain, with so violent 
a gust of wind, that all the tents were thrown down 
at the same moment. The mercury, until those days 
when the clouds rise, continues the same as in the 
last month ; afterwards, it falls 4° or 5°. Dew falls, 
but not in any great quantities. Snow has been seen 
on the summits of Libanus during this month, but it 
was wet and slippery. 

Productions. — Figs, olives, and pomegranates are 
ripe. The winter fig, or the third produce, 
which does not ripen before winter, appears this 
month. The shrub al-kenna, or al-henna, (see Cam- 
phire,) brought out of Egypt, puts forth leaves, and 
its fragrant blossoms. The first clusters of the vine, 
which blossomed in March, come to maturity, and 
are ready for gathering. 

September. 

Weather. — During this month the days are very 
hot, and the nights extremely cold. The rainy sea- 
son commences towards the end of the month. The 
mercury remains the same in the beginning of this 
month as it was at the latter end of the preceding 
one ; except that it rises higher in the afternoon. In 
rainy weather it falls 3° or 4°, till it gets down to 65° ; 
but the variation of the day does not exceed 3° or 
4°; and when it rains 1° or 2°. Lightnings are very 
frequent in the night-time ; and if seen in the western 
hemisphere, they portend rain, often accompanied 
with thunder. The winds blow chiefly from the west. 

Productions. — Towards the end of the month 
ploughing begins. Ripe dates, pomegranates, pears, 
plums, citrons, and oranges are now obtained. The 
sebastus, also, yields fruit, and the charnubi ripe 
pods. Cotton is now gathered ; and also the second 
clusters of grapes, which blossomed in April. 

October. 

Weather. — The rainy season now commences ; the 
extreme heat is abated, (although still great in the 
day-time,) the air being much refreshed by cold in 
the night, by which the dew is frozen. The rains 
which now fall, called the early or former rains, are 
sometimes accompanied with thunder. The winds 
are seldom very strong, but variable. The mercury 
in the morning stands, for the most part, before the 
rainy days, at 72°. It does not rise, in the afternoon, 
above 5° or 6°. After the rains, it descends gradu- 
ally to 60°. The variation of one day, seldom, on 
rainy days never, exceeds 3° or 4°. 

Productions. — About the middle of this month 
wheat and barley are sown, as also during the two 
following months. White-blossoming chick-pea, len- 
tils, purple flowering garden spurge, small smooth- 
podded vetches, sesannum, green-rinded melons, an- 
guria, (gourds,) cucumbers, fennel, garden fenugreek, 
and bastard saffron are likewise sown. The pista- 
chio, a tree peculiar to Palestine, Syria, and Egypt, 
yields its fruit. The charnubi still presents its pods ; 
and tne olive and pomegranate trees produce ripe 
fruit. The Jericho rose blossoms ; the third clusters 
of grapes, which in May had produced another 
small branch loaded with the latter grapes, are gath- 
ered ; as are also cotton, lettuces, endives, cresses, 
wild chervil, spinage, beet, garden artichoke, and 
wild artichoke. 



November. 

Weather. — The rains, if not aheady fallen, certain- 
ly fall this month. The heat, alth ough not so great in 
the day-time, is still violent ; but the nights are very 
cold. The rivers and lakes are, at this period, for the 
most part, dried up. The winds are chiefly from 
the north ; but seldom blow with force. The mer- 
cury, as the month advances, gradually falls from 
60° to 50°. The variation of one day is not more 
than from 2° to 5°. 

Productions. — This is the time for the general sow- 
ing of corn. The trees retain their leaves till the mid- 
dle of the month. Dates are gathered. The napleia, 
or cenopha, yields its delicious fruit; in shape, re- 
sembling the crab-apples, and containing a nut as 
large as olives. At Aleppo, the vintage lasts to the 
15th of the month. 

December. 

Weather. — This is the first winter month : the cold 
is piercing, and sometimes fatal to those not inured 
to the climate ; but rain is more common than snow, 
which, when it falls, seldom remains all the day on 
the ground, even in the midst of winter. The winds 
blow from the east or the north, but are seldom vio- 
lent. When the east winds blow, the weather is dry, 
though they sometimes bring mist and hoar-frost, and 
are accompanied with storms. When the sun shines, 
and there is a calm, the atmosphere is hot. The 
mercury usually stands at 46° : it frequently gets up 
3° in the afternoon, if there be no rain. 

Productions. — Pulse and corn are sown. Sugar- 
canes ripen, and are cut down at Cyprus. 

The grass and herbs springing up after the rains, 
the Arabs drive their flocks from the mountains into 
the plains. 

For a description of each of these natural produc- 
tions the reader is referred to their respective ar- 
ticles. 

With regard to the various birds, animals, reptiles, 
&c. indigenous to the land of Canaan, or such as are 
mentioned in the sacred writings, there is necessari- 
ly some difficulty, in consequence of our not possess- 
ing a description of them under their original names. 
Some of them are satisfactorily identified, but others 
■remain in a state of great uncertainty. For a de- 
scription of them the reader is referred to the respect- 
ive articles, and for an account of the biblical ar 
rangement, to the outlines of natural history, at the 
end of the volume. 

CANAANITES, the descendants of Canaan. 
Their first habitation was in the land of Canaan, 
where they multiplied extremely, and by trade and 
war acquired great riches, and settled colonies over 
almost all the islands and coasts of the Mediterrane- 
an. When the measure of their idolatries and abom 
inations was completed, God delivered their country 
into the hands of the Israelites, who conquered it un- 
der Joshua. He destroyed great numbers of them, 
and obliged the rest to fly, some into Africa, others 
into Greece. Procopius says, they first retreated into 
Egypt ; but gradually advanced into Africa, where 
they built many cities, and spread themselves over 
those vast regions, which reach to the Straits, pre 
serving their old language, with little alteration. He 
adds, that in the ancient city of Tingis, (Tangiers,) 
founded by them, were two great pillars of white 
stone, near a large fountain, inscribed in Phoenician 
characters, "We are people "reserved by flight from 



CANAANITES 



[ 243 ] 



CANAANITES 



that robber Jesus, [Joshua,] the son of Nave, who 
pursued us." In Athanasius's time, the Africans 
continued to say, they were descended from the Ca- 
naanites ; and when asked their origin, they answer- 
ed Canard. It is generally agreed, that the Punic 
tongue was nearly the same as the Canaanitish and 
Hebrew ; and this seems to be confirmed by several 
ancient inscriptions found at Malta, which are in 
Phoenician characters, but may be read by means of 
the Hebrew. The colonies which Cadmus carried 
to Thebes, in Boeotia, and his brother Cilex into Cili- 
cia, were from the stock of Canaan. Sicily, Sar- 
dinia, Malta, Cyprus, Corfu, Majorca and Minorca, 
Gades, and Ebusus are thought to have been peopled 
by Canaanites. Bochart, in his Canaan, has set this 
matter in a clear, light. 

This name was given to the Canaanites, not only 
by the Hebrews, but they themselves adopted it ; as 
appears from inscriptions on Phoenician coins, in 
Phoenician letters, (first read by Dr. Swinton, of Ox- 
ford,) on one of which (in Gent. Mag. Dec. 1760) we 
have, "Laodicea, mother in Canaan-;" where we 
also remark, that this city claims the dignity of (asi) 
metropolis, or mother, like certain others which we 
read of in Scripture. This removes an error of Bo- 
chart, who imagined that the Canaanites were asham- 
ed of the name of their ancestor, by reason of his un- 
filial conduct, Gen. ix. 22, 25. We read in the life of 
Abraham, (Gen. xii. 6 ; xiii. 7.) that the Canaanites 
were then in the land. It appears, also, that Esau 
took to wife two Canaanitish women, (Gen. xxxvi. 2.) 
which implies that the parents and relations of these 
women were Canaanites, as Anah and Zibeon, (ver. 
24, 25.) though of Hittite or Hivite families. 

[The Canaanites, who partly expelled the original 
inhabitants of Palestine, and partly incorporated 
themselves with them, were descended from Canaan, 
according to the genealogical table in Gen. x. 6, 15, seq. 
Hence they must, like the Hebrews, though earlier, 
have advanced from the eastern parts of Asia towards 
the western ; and that they really were kindred to the 
Semitish tribes, and had been with them, is shown by 
their common language, the Hebrew and the Phoeni- 
cian languages being only dialects of one great stock. 
Canaan had eleven sons, viz. Sidon, Heth, Jebusi, 
Amori, Girgashi, Hivi, Arki, Sini, Arvadi, Zemari, and 
Hamathi ; and these all became the heads of as many 
tribes, which, accor jng to Gen. x. 19, occupied the 
whole country from Sidon to Gaza. Five of these 
tribes settled in Syria and Phoenicia, viz. the Zidoni- 
ans, Arkites, Arvadites, Hamathites, and Sinites. The 
other six, viz. the Hittites, or children of Heth, Jebu- 
sites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Zemarites, 
fixed themselves in Canaan proper, and were divided 
up into many small districts or domains, of which 
thirty-one are enumerated in Josh. xii. 9 — 24. But 
in the various passages of the Old Testament where 
these tribes are spoken of, there is no uniformity in 
regard to the number of them. Sometimes they are 
all included under the general name of Canaanites ; 
(Ex. xiii. 11 ; Deut. xi. 30.) sometimes two are named, 
the Canaanites and Perizzites, (Gen. xiii. 7.) of which 
names the first is a general patronymic, and the oth- 
er signifies inhabitants of plains ; sometimes three, the 
Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites; (Ex. xxiii. 28.) then 
again five ; (Ex. xiii. 5; 2 Chron. viii. 7.) six ; (Ex. iii. 8, 
17.) seven, Deut. vii. 1 ; Acts xiii. 19. Finally, in Gen. 
xv. 19, seq. ten tribes are named, the Kenites, Keni- 
zites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaims, 
Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites, — 
among which, however, several, as the Rephaims, 



Kenites, and Kenizites, belong to the original inhabit- 
ants of the land, who still dwelt among the Canaan- 
ites, when Abraham migrated into that country. It 
is probable that this difference in the number speci- 
fied is entirely casual, without any definite design. 

1. The Hivites dwelt in the northern part of 
the country, at the foot of mount Hermon, or Anti- 
lebanon, according to Josh. xi. 3, where it is related 
that they, along with the united forces of northern 
Canaan, were defeated by Joshua. They were not, 
however, entirely driven out of their possessions ; for 
according to Judg. iii. 3, they still dwelt upon the 
mountains of Lebanon, from Baal-Hermon to Ha- 
math. In David's time they still existed, 2 Sam. 
xxiv. 7 ; 1 Kings ix. 20. Of the tribes or race of the 
Hivites were also the Shechemites and Gibeonites, 
xxxiv. 2 ; Josh. xi. 19. 

2. The Canaanites, in a stricter sense, in so 
far as they constituted one of the various tribes which 
were included under this general name, inhabited 
partly the plains on the west side of the Jordan, and 
partly the plains on the coast of the Mediterranean 
sea. Hence they are divided into the Canaanites by 
the sea and by the coast of Jordan, (Num. xiii. 29.) 
and into those of the east and of the west, Josh. xi. 3. 

3. The Girgashites dwelt between the Canaan- 
ites and the Jebusites ; as may be inferred from the 
order in which they are mentioned in Josh. xxiv. 11. 

4. The Jebusites had possession of the hill coun- 
try around Jerusalem, and of that city itself, of which 
the ancient name was Jebus, Josh. xv. 8. 63 ; xviii. 28. 
The Benjamites, to whom this region was allotted, 
did not drive out the Jebusites, Judg. i. 21. David 
first captured the citadel of Jebus, 2 Sam. v. 6, seq. 
Still the Jebusites continued to dwell there in quiet ; 
as appears from the transaction of David with Arau- 
nah, a Jebusite chief, 2 Sam. xxiv. 23, seq. 

5. The Amorites inhabited, in Abraham's time, 
the region of Hazazou-tamar, afterwards En-gedi, 
south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Dead 
sea, Gen. xiv. 7. At a later period, they spread 
themselves out over the mountainous country which 
forms the southern part of Canaan, between the 
Dead sea and the Mediterranean, and which was 
called from them the "mountain of the Amorites," 
and afterwards the " mountain of Judah," Deut. 
i. 19, 20 ; Num. xiii. 29 ; Josh. xi. 3. They ex- 
tended themselves also towards the north ; for Ja- , 
cob speaks (Gen. xlviii. 22.) of the " piece of ground 
which he took from the Amorites," and which, 
according to Gen. xxxiii. 18, lay near Shechem. 
Sometimes the name Amorites is used in a wider 
sense for Canaanites in general ; as Gen. xv. 16. 
From Josh. v. 1, it appears, that the name Amorites 
was applied especially to those Canaanitish tribes 
which dwelt in the mountainous region of the south, 

as above described. This is confirmed by Josh. x. 
5, 6, where it is said that the kings of Jerusalem, 
Hebron, &c. were kings of the Amorites, although 
Jerusalem, as we know, belonged to the Jebusites. 
How widely the Amorites had extended themselves 
in the land of Canaan, appears also from Judg. i. 34, 
seq. where they are said to have compelled the Dan- 
ites to remain in the mountains, and also to have es- 
tablished themselves at Aijalon and Shaalbim, places 
within the territory of Ephraim, and consequently in 
the middle of the land ; while, according to verse 19, 
their southern border was the hill Akrabbim. On the 
east side of the Jordan, also, they had, before the time 
of Moses, founded two kingdoms, that of Bashan on 
the north, and the other, bounded at first by the Jab- 



CANAANITES 



[ 244 ] 



CAN 



bok, oil the south. But under Sihon they crossed the 
Jabbok, and took from the Amorites and Moabites 
all die country between the Jabbok and the Anion ; 
so that this latter stream, now became the southern 
boundary of the Amorites, Num. xxi. 13, 14, 26 ; xxxii. 
33, 39 ; Deut. iv. 46, 47 ; xxxi. 4. This last tract the Is- 
raelites took possession of after their victory over 
Sihon, and defended themselves in it by the right of 
conquest against the claims of the Ammonites, Judg. 
xi. 8, seq. 

6. The Hittites, or children of Heth, ac- 
cording to the report of the spies, (Num. xiii. 29.) 
dwelt among the Amorites, on the mountainous dis- 
trict of the south, afterwards called the "mountain 
of Jutlah." In the time of Abraham they possess- 
ed Hebron ; and the patriarch purchased from them 
the cave of Machpelah as a sepulchre, Gen. xxiii ; 
xxv. 9, 10. We may also infer that they dwelt at or 
near Beersheba ; for it was while Isaac was residing 
there, that Esau married two wives of the Hittites, 
Gen. xxvi. 23, 34. After the Israelites entered Ca- 
naan, the Hittites seem to have moved farther north- 
ward. The country around Bethel (Luz) is called 
the land of the Hittites, Judg. i. 26. But even at a far 
later period they continued to maintain themselves in 
the land ; for Uriah the Hittite was one of David's 
officers, (2 Sam. xi. 3.) and Solomon was the first to 
render them tributary, 1 Kings ix. 20. He also had Hit- 
tite females in his harem, 1 Kings xi. 1. Under his 
reign, too, there is still mention of kings of the Hit- 
tites, 1 Kings ix. 29 ; 2 Kings vii. 6. So late also as the 
return of the Jews from the Babylonish exile, the Hit- 
tites are mentioned as one of the heathen tribes from 
which the children of Israel unlawfully took wives, 
Ezra ix. 1. 

7. The Perizzites were found in various parts 
of Canaan. The name signifies inhabitants of the 
plains. According to Gen. xiii. 7, they dwelt with 
the Canaanites, between Bethel and Ai ; and accord- 
ing to Gen. xxxiv. 30, in the vicinity of Shechem. 
It would seem also from Josh. xvii. 15, that they 
were spread out towards the north into the territo- 
ries of Ephraim and Manasseh ; since Joshua recom- 
mends to these tribes, to hew down the forests in the 
district of the Perizzites and Rephaims, and establish 
themselves there. There dwelt Perizzites in the 
southern part of Judah also ; as appears from Judg. 
i. 4, seq. 

The Canaanites, like their neighbors the Phoeni- 
cians, with whom, indeed, they constituted one race 
or people, appear very early to have attained to a not 
unimportant degree of cultivation. Moses informs 
the Hebrews, (Deut. vi. 10, 11.) that they will find 
" great and goodly cities, and houses full of all good 
things, wells, vineyards, and olive-trees." Like the 
Syrians and Phoenicians, the Canaanites also consti- 
tuted no single and independent state ; like the for- 
mer, these, too, were divided up into many small dis- 
tricts and communities, under kings or chiefs. "The 
form of government seems, in the earliest times, to 
have been aristocratic, under a chief with very limit- 
ed powers. This is plain from Gen. xxxiv. where 
Hamor, the chief of the Hivites, could not contract 
an alliance with Jacob and his family, before he had 
laid the matter before the elders and the people, and 
obtained their consent. So also in the case of Abra- 
ham and Ephron, Gen. xxiii. As being peculiar in 
his relations, appears Melchisedek, king of Salem, 
and at the same time priest of the Most High, to 
whom Abraham gave a tenth of the spoil, Gen. xiv. 
18, seq. That th?re were frequent wars among this 



multitude of smaller kings and states, (of which thirty 
one are enumerated, Josh. xii. 9, seq.) is not only prob- 
able in itself, but also evident from Judg. i. 7, where 
Adoni-bezek is said to have cut off the thumbs and 
great toes of seventy kings vanquished by him, and 
then caused them to gather the crumbs under Ins- 
table. Several of the Canaanitish kings appear to 
have had a sort of superior dominion over others 
around them ; as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, 
(Josh. x. 1 — 4,) and also Jabin, king of Hazor, Josh, 
xi. 1 — 5. — See, on this whole subject, Roseniniiller's 
Bibl. Geograph. vol. ii. part i. p. 251, seq. *R. 

CANDACE, an Ethiopian queen, whose eunuch, 
having been at Jerusalem to worship, was met, and, 
being converted, was baptized by Philip the Deacon, 
near Bethsura, as lie was returning to his own coun- 
try, Acts viii. 26. (See Philip.) It is thought that 
Candace, or Chendaqui, was the general name of the 
queens of Ethiopia, in the age of Christ. (Pliny vi. 
29. Ludolf. Comment, ad Hist. ^Ethiop. 89. Light- 
foot. Hor. Heb. 85.) 

CANDLESTICK of gold, made by Moses for the 
service of the temple, (Exod. xxv. 31, 32.) consisted 
wholly of pure gold, and had seven branches ; that 
is, three on each side, and one in the centre. These 
branches were at equal distances, and each one was 
adorned with flowers, like lilies, gold knobs after the 
form of an apple, and smaller ones resembling an al- 
mond. Upon the extremities of the branches were 
seven golden lamps, which were fed with pure olive 
oil, and lighted every evening by the priests on duty, 
and extinguished every morning. The candlestick 
was placed in the holy place, and served to illumine 
the altar of incense and the table of shew-bread, 
which stood in the same chamber. The golden can- 
dlestick has been, sometimes, erroneously represent- 
ed as seven golden candlesticks, placed individually 
in the sanctuary ; and the passage in Rev. i. 12, 13, 
Las been thought to countenance this idea of separate 
candlesticks ; but the representation there given is of 
an entirely different nature, and has no reference to 
the golden candlestick of the temple ; like the de- 
scription in Zechariah mentioned below. 

The word f-v/vla constantly answers in the LXX to 
the golden lamp-sconces of the tabernacle and tem- 
ple, i. e. of the golden candlestick. 

The following is from rabbis Kimchi and Levi 
Gerson. The concluding though.' of Kiinchi is cer- 
tainly ingenious : These lamps were called the candle 
of the Lord, in 1 Sam. iii. 3, where it is said, " before 
the candle of the Lord went out, the Lord called to 
Samuel," upon which words, David Kimchi gives 
this gloss : " If this be spoken concerning the lamps 
in the candlestick, this was somewhat before day ; for 
the lamps burnt from even till morning, yet did they 
sometimes some of them go out in the night. They 
put oil into them by such a measure as should keep 
them burning from even till morning, and many 
times they did burn till morning ; and they always 
found the western lamp burning. Now it is said, 
that this prophecy came to Samuel, 'before the lamp 
went out,' while it was yet night, about the time of 
coek-crowing ; for it is said, afterward, that Samuel 
lay till morning : or, allegorically, it speaks of the 
candle of prophecy ; as they say the sun ariseth, and 
the sun sets : before the holy blessed God cause the 
sun of one righteous man to set, he causeth the sun 
of another righteous man to rise. Before Moses' 
sun set, Joshua's sun arose ; before Eli's sun set, 
Samuel's sun arose ; and this is that which is said, 
before the candle of the Lord ivent out " 



CANDLESTICK 



[ 245 ] 



CANDLESTICK 



In Zechariah, cliap. iv. there is an account of the 
splendid and significant emblem presented in vision 
to the prophet, which will abundantly reward an at- 
tentive examination. The principal object that met 
the eyes of Zechariah, was a candelabrum, a candle- 
stick or lampbearer, entirely of gold, pure, solid, cost- 
ly, precious, consisting of a tall, upright shaft, sur- 
mounted by a bowl, and of a number of branches;, 
each of which supported a lamp, springing out of it, 
as boughs from the trunk of a tree, but only on two 
sides. The image is evidently taken from the can- 
dlesticks in the tabernacle and temple, but differed 
widely from them. The difference is very closely 
examined by Dr. Stonard, in his commentary on the 
prophet : and very remarkable it is. In the first 
place, there was a bowl or basin on the top of the 
shaft, intended to contain oil for the nourishment of 
the lights of the lamps ; " and its seven lamps upon 
it, seven and seven." From the bowl . proceeded 
pipes conveying oil to the lamps; and beside the can- 
dlestick stood two olive-trees, one on each side of it, 
whose branches shed their produce into spouts or 
gutters, from which the bowl was supplied. This is 
thus explained by Dr. Stonard, who has followed it 
at great length, with a minuteness, and often a felici- 
ty of expression, that show the taste and admiration 
with which he contemplates the magnificent picture. 
Light, in general, is the emblem of excellence, dis- 
cerned, acknowledged, and admired by the world. 
A material lamp is an instrument formed to yield an 
artificial light, which, being sustained by oil, is really 
nothing but oil kindled into a flame. When a lamp 
is taken for the emblem of spiritual and intellectual 
excellence, truth must be its oil, the pabulum of its 
light, which, in reality, is nothing else than truth dis- 
played showing itself to the world. Accordingly, the 
oil, which is food of the symbolical lamp set before 
us in the part of the vision, is truth ; divine, moral, 
religious, or saving truth. When the truth is receiv- 
ed by any man, he has then the mystic oil in himself; 
and when that oil is kindled into a flame, not only is 
he internally enlightened, but he conducts himself 
accordingly, and becomes truly good and holy. It is 
the property of light to diffuse itself uponali objects 
within its reach. He that hath in himself that spirit- 
ual'light, who acts and lives according to the truth, 
makes it shine before men ; he gives light to the 
world. • 

. A material candlestick is an instrument construct- 
ed to bear a lamp, or many lamps, for the purpose of 
giving light. A symbolical or spiritual candlestick, 
with many branches and lamps, represents a body or 
assemblage of persons enlightened and shining, as be- 
fore mentioned, collected into a regular society, for 
the purpose of dissipating the spiritual dulness of a 
world lying in sin, and enveloped in ignorance. Such 
a society is the church, which alone containing in it- 
self the principles of saving truth, of holiness, of 
solid comfort, and everlasting happiness, is the in- 
strument constructed and appointed by God, to hold 
forth the light, which may guide the steps of men 
into the way of peace. Every true member of it is 
luminous, at once enlightened and enlightening ; so 
speaking and so living, as to show forth to others the 
light that is in himself. And not only is the symbol 
of a candlestick well adapted to represent the church 
of God, but the church is actually represented by it, 
as we have seen, in other parts of Scripture. Since, 
then, a candlestick, in general, is the scriptural sym- 
bol of a church, a candlestick with seven branches 
and lamps must be the symbol of the universal 



church, (see Seven,) spread abroad through all its 
numerous congregations, having and giving light; at 
the same time that, being fixed upon branches pro- 
ceeding from one shaft, they plainly imply that all 
those congregations are united in one body of the 
universal church. 

The church of Israel was represented by this fig- 
ure of a candlestick, in the tabernacle and temple ; 
and since the Gentile church was, on every account, 
entitled to be represented by a like symbol as the 
Jewish, the two great divisions of the church would 
be properly represented by two candlesticks of seven 
branches each. But since these churches have been 
made one, what symbol could be so apt and so 
consistent with Scripture doctrines and imagery, as 
that of a candlestick bearing fourteen lamps on as 
many branches, issuing in two septenaries from its 
opposite sides ? Such, exactly, was the candlestick 
exhibited to Zechariah. 

The candlestick must have had some base or foot, 
which would represent the foundation on which the 
church stands. This is no other than Jesus Christ, 
and the base, therefore, must have been the stone 
with seven eyes, mentioned in this and the foregoing 
vision of the prophet. The shaft of a candlestick 
springs up immediately from the base, and is, in re- 
ality, nothing more than the elongation or elevation 
of it. In the one, Christ is represented as the foun- 
dation of the church ; in the other, he appears as the 
principle of spiritual vitality to all its congregations 
and members. 

The branches of the candlestick growing out of the 
shaft intimate the closest union and absolute depend- 
ence of all of them upon him ; in exact correspond- 
ence with that other figure, under which our Lord 
is pleased to represent himself, as the trunk of the 
spiritual vine, and his disciples as the branches. 

On the right and left sides of the candlestick were 
two olive-trees, which attracted the particular atten- 
tion of the prophet; and he inquired, "What are 
those two olive-trees?" and again, "What are the 
two branches of the olive-trees, which, through two 
oil gutters, drain off the oil from them ?" The an- 
swer of the interpreting angel seems to imply an al- 
most culpable ignorance in the prophet. " Knowest 
thou not what these be ? These are the sons of oil, 
which stand before the Lord of the whole earth." 
An olive-tree is used as an emblem of the Jewish 
church. (See Olive.) But the church compounded 
of Jewish and Gentile believers is already set before 
us in the significant emblem of the golden candle- 
stick. We must, therefore, find for the two olive- 
trees a different interpretation, which shall join the 
subjects represented by them in the most intimate 
relation to the church. Dr. Blayney presumes them 
to be "no other than the two dispensations of the 
law and the gospel, under which were communicat- 
ed the precious oracles of divine truth, which illu- 
minate the sou], and make men wise to salvation." 
The dispensations of God in the Scriptures of the 
Old and New Testaments, are the sole fountains of 
the spiritual oil, the only sources whence* divine or 
moral, religious or saving, truth is derived to men in 
perfect purity. The olive-trees give out their oil by 
two peculiar and conspicuous branches, and of course 
are intended to represent some eminent and especial 
instruments for the propagation of the true religion. 
These are the ministers of the law and the gospel, 
considered as two distinct bodies of men, following, 
in analogy to the candlestick, the grand division of the 
universal church into its two primitive and principal 



CANDLESTICK 



[ 246 



CAN 



branches, the Jewish and the Gentile. The two 
branches shed forth the juice of the trees to the sup- 
port of the lights on the candlesticks ; so do the min- 
isters of religion convey to their congregations the 
sacred truths contained in the dispensations of the 
law and the gospel. " These," said the angel, " are 
the two sons of oil, which stand before the Lord of 
the whole earth." These two sons of oil possess 
abundantly, and are capable of supplying adequately 
to the wants of the church, those divine and moral 
truths which enlighten men's minds with the knowl- 
edge, and touch their hearts with the love, of God, 
and of the things which are conducive to salvation. 
They are said to stand before the Lord of the whole 
earth — the whole territory of Christendom — as min- 
isters of his presence, strengthened by his might ; as 
stewards of his mysteries, to act the part of the wise 
householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasures 
things new and old. The flow of juice from these 
symbolical trees is n6t limited to any particular sea- 
sons, but is perennial and perpetual. This is quite 
suitable to the nature of the subjects represented by 
them, which continually send forth their sacred 
streams of truth without intermission or failure, in all 
places, at all seasons and periods, through the hands 
and instruments appointed to convey the same. 
Again, the two branches send out the oil through 
two oil gutters or spouts. These must represent the 
channels, as it were, through which the ministers of 
the divine dispensations convey the blessings of reli- 
gious, saving truth ; those institutions which afford to 
the ministry the most convenient and edifying means 
of making known the truth. 

The bowl, which is the reservoir of all the oil 
poured forth from the two olive-trees, must necessa- 
rily signify something which is the recipient of the 
whole body of truth, made known by the two dis- 
pensations. Now, such a recipient is nowhere to be 
found, but in the body of the church universal. The 
bowl, indeed, cannot typify the church, as it is known 
to the world in the outward and visible persons and 
actions of its members ; but as it is discernible in 
contemplation only to the eye of the understanding. 
It represents the church at unity, having all its parts 
nourished by the same food, pervaded by the same 
circulating blood, animated by the same living spirit, 
according to the image repeatedly employed by Paul 
to represent the unity of the church. The pipes, 
which are the media between the lamps and the bowl, 
answer the same purpose to the dishes and cups of 
the former, as the oil gutters do to the latter. They 
consequently represent the same things with respect 
to the several congregations, as the others do with 
respect to the whole body of the catholic church ; 
that is, the ministry of the two dispensations convey- 
ing the doctrines of truth and salvation to their re- 
spective flocks. 

But it may be asked, since the lamps are supposed 
to be alight, and they could not light themselves, Who 
is it that kindled their flames ? The work, being not 
represented by any symbol, is plainly intended to be 
conceived, as Dr. Stonard remarks, as that of an in- 
visible hand of one who operates by natural secret 
influence. This answers precisely to the effect of 
me Holy Spirit upon Christians. In vain will the 
truth be heard with their ears and received by their 
understandings by the two dispensations, if the Holy 
Ghost, by his influences, did not give effect to the 
word, and to the labor of those who publish it. All 
that is well pleasing in the sight of God and truly 
useful to man, all proceed from the operation of the 



Holy Spirit, bringing the principle of truth il o ac- 
tion, kindling the sacred oil into a bright and steady 
flame. 

CANE, or Calamus, sweet, an aromatic reed 
mentioned among the drugs of which the sacred per 
fumes were compounded, Exod. xxx. 23. Acorus 
calamus of Linnams. It is a knotty root, of a red- 
dish color, and containing a soft, white pith. The 
true odoriferous cane comes from India; and the 
prophets speak of it as a foreign commodity, of great 
value, Isa. xliii. 24. Theophrastusand Pliny mention 
a sweet cane, which grows in Syria, beyond Libanus, 
in a lake; probably the lake Semechon ; but this 
being too near Judea, to enhance its value as a for- 
eign commodity, it has been more reasonably suppos- 
ed that it came from Saba, where it grew, as is report- 
ed by Strabo and Diodorus Siculus. Pliny also speaks 
of it as being a native of Arabia ; and it is enumerat- 
ed among the fragrant productions of that country 
by Dionysius. Hasselquist says it is common in the 
deserts of the two Arabias. It is gathered near Iam- 
bo, a port town of Arabia Petraea, from whence it is 
brought into Egypt. The Venetians purchase it, and 
use it in the composition of their theriaca. This plant 
was probably among the number of those which the 
queen of Sheba presented to Solomon ; it is still very 
much esteemed by the Arabs, on account of its fra- 
grance. They call it helsi meccavi, and idldr mecchi. 
This, in all probability, is the sweet cane of Jeremi- 
ah, (vi. 20.) where it is called prime, or excellent, and 
is associated with incense from Sheba ; the same in 
Exod. xxx. 23, where our translation renders " sweet 
calamus ;" see also Isaiah xliii. 24, where the best is 
supposed to come from India, which agrees with the 
" far country" of the prophet. 

CANKER-WORM. Our translators have render- 
ed the Hebrew phi, yttek, " canker-worm," in Joel i. 
4 ; ii. 25 ; Nahum iii. 15. and " caterpillar," in Ps. 
cv. 34 ; Jer. li. 27. Being frequently mentioned with 
the locust, it is thought by some to be a species of 
that insect. In Nahum it is said to have wings, and 
to fly ; to encamp in the hedges by day, and commit 
its depredations in the night. The LXX interpret 
it, the Iruchus, or hedge-chafer. 

In the Philosophical Transactions, (vol xix.) Dr. 
Molyneaux has described a prodigious flight of in- 
sects, which appeared on the south-west coast of the 
county of Galway, in the year 1668, and from his ac- 
count of their depredations they appear greatly to 
have resembled the Hebrew yelek. It belonged to 
the tribe called by naturalists coleoptcros, or vigini- 
pennis, the scarabeus, or beetle kind, which has strong 
thick cases to defend and cover its tender and thin 
wings, which lie out of sight and next to the body. 
It is thought to be the same species of beetle which 
is called by Aristotle melolanthc, from its devouring 
the blossoms of apple-trees ; and is the scarabeus ar- 
boreus of Monfet and Charleton, called by us dorrs or 
hedge-chafers. We give the close of Dr. Molyneaux's 
interesting paper :— 

" This pernicious insect, I am fully convinced, from 
good reasons, is that self-same (so often mentioned in 
Holy Scripture, and commonly joined in company 
with the locust, as being both great destroyers of the 
fruits of the earth) to which the Septuagint and the 
Vulgar Latin translation, retaining the Greek word, 
give the name of bruchos, or bruchus, derived from 
brucho, frendo, vel strideo, intimating the remarkable 
noise it makes both in its eating and flying ; from 
whence, likewise, it has got its Erench name, hanne- 
ton, by corruption from aliton, quasi, alis tonaas. 



CAN 



L m } 



CAN 



ikundering wings. I meet with this sort of fly 
spoken of in the Bible, (Lev. xi. 22 ; Joel i. 4 ; ii. 25 ; 
Nahum iii. 16, 17.) but I find our English version al- 
most constantly translates this word, (bruchos,) though 
improperly, as I think, canker-worm, since this de- 
notes only a reptile or creeping vermin, whereas that 
word imports certainly a flying insect. For the bru- 
chos in chap. iii. 16, 17. of the prophet Nahum is ex- 
pressly said to fly, and have wings, and its nature 
and properties are most truly and particularly de- 
scribed in these words : ' It spoileth and fleeth away ; 
they camp in the hedges in the day, and when the 
sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not 
known where they are ;' that is, they then retire again 
to the hedges and trees, where they lie quiet and con- 
cealed till the sun sets again. If this passage be com- 
pared with what I have said above of our Irish bru- 
chos, we must allow Nahum played the natural phi- 
losopher here, in this short but accurate description, 
as well as the divine prophet in denouncing God's 
judgments. In one of the forementioned texts, I 
find, indeed, the word bruchos more rightly translat- 
ed locust or beetle in our English Bibles ; and this 
place, on another account, seems so apposite and 
agreeable to something I said before, that I cannot 
avoid taking particular notice of it, and giving my 
thoughts more fully concerning the rationale of that 
odd clause in the Jewish law, where Moses tells the 
Israelites, (Lev. xi. 21, 22.) ' These may ye eat, of 
every flying creeping thing that goeth on all four, 
which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon 
the earth ; even these of them ye may eat ; the lo- 
cust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, 
and the grasshopper after his kind.' Now I must 
confess, notwithstanding all that the learned com- 
mentators have said on this passage, it hitherto has 
seemed to me (and I believe to most readers) very 
strange and unaccountable, that here, among the 
pure, wholesome creatures, proper for human nour- 
ishment, beetles, and those other nasty, dry, unprom- 
ising vermin, should be thought fit to be reckoned up 
as clean and proper for the food of man. But since 
I have had some little experience of what has hap- 
pened among ourselves, I cannot but admire the prov- 
idence of God, and the sagacious prudence of his 
lawgiver, Moses, who, foreseeing the great dearth and 
scarcity that these vermin might one day bring upon 
his people, had a particular regard to it, and there- 
fore gives them here a permissive precept, or a sort 
of hint what they should do when the corn, grass, olive 
trees, fruit trees, vines, and other provisions were 
destroyed by the locust and bruchos, or beetle, swarm- 
ing in the land ; why, then, for want of other nour- 
ishment, and rather than starve, he tells them they 
might eat, and live upon, the filthy destroyers them- 
selves, and yet be clean. And thus we see the na- 
tive Irish [they dressed, and lived upon them during 
the time of scarcity occasioned by the depredations 
of the insect] were (though unknown to themselves) 
authors of a practical commentary on this part of the 
Levitical law, and by matter of fact have explained 
what was the sense and meaning of this otherwise 
so dark and abstruse text." 

CANNEH, (Ezek. xxvii. 23.) probably Calneh, 
(Gen. x. 10.) which see. 

CANON, a Greek term which signifies the rule. It 
is used in ecclesiastical language, to signify a rule 
concerning faith, discipline or manners ; also to dis- 
tinguish those books of Scripture which are received 
as inspired, and indisputable, from profane, apocry- 
phal, or disputed books. (See Bible.) The He- 



brews admit twenty-two books into their canon, or, at 
most, twenty-four, supposing Ruth to be separated 
from the Judges, and the Lamentations from Jere- 
miah. They believe, generally, that the canon of 
Scripture was not closed, nor the number of inspired 
books fixed, till Ezra, with the consent of the gener- 
al council of the nation, collected all those which 
were acknowledged as sacred and inspired, compos- 
ed one body of them, and regulated what we call the 
sacred canon of Scripture ; since which time, Jose- 
phus states, that the Jews have not admitted any 
book as canonical. Dr. Prideaux, however, with 
great appearance of reason, says it is more likely that 
the two books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and 
Esther, as well as Malachi, were afterwards added, 
in the time of Simon the Just, and that it was not 
till then that the Jewish canon of the Holy Scriptures 
was fully completed. See Connect, part i. book 5. — 
For the number and arrangement of the books of the 
Hebrew canon, see the article Bible. 

Genebrard and Serranus are of opinion, that, after 
Ezra, the Jews of the great synagogue admitted into 
their canon books which were composed after this 
time, such as Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Tobit, Judith, 
and Maccabees ; nevertheless, they did not obtain 
authority equal to that of the old ones. But this is 
not without difficulty ; for, first, the books of Tobit 
and Judith might be written before the captivity ; 
secondly, if the Jews thought them inspired, why did 
they not receive them into the canon as of equal au- 
thority with the rest ? 

It may be, perhaps, suspected that the Jews, who 
retained the Hebrew tongue, might exclude these 
books from the canon, because they were not writ- 
ten [extant] in Hebrew, the sacred language : but 
they received Daniel and Ezra, wherein are large 
passages written in Chaldee : now Ecclesiasticus, 
Tobit, Judith, and at least the first book of Macca- 
bees, were originally written in this language ; yet 
they do not appear to have been received into the 
canon. 

If particular churches have sometimes deliberated 
whether they should admit certain writings among 
the sacred books ; if some doctors and councils have 
not included them in their catalogues of the Scrip- 
tures ; and if others have rejected them ; such con- 
duct is proof of the great circumspection which was 
used in receiving into its canon only what really was 
deemed to be authentic and inspired. This very 
hesitation should convince us, that if. at last those 
books were received, that determination was found- 
ed on good reasons. Time was necessary to exam 
ine, to be well assured, and to fix the doubts of par- 
ticular churches. 

CANTHARA, (Simon,) succeeded Theophilus, 
son of Jonathan, in the high-priesthood ; and enjoy- 
ed this dignity ahout two years, at two several times. 
After the death of Agrippa, Herod, king of Chalcis, 
deprived him of his office, to confer it on Joseph, son 
of Camith. (Jos. Ant. xix. 5. xx. 1.) 

CANTICLES, or Songs, were frequently compos- 
ed by the Hebrews on important occasions. Moses 
composed one of rejoicing after the passage of the 
Red sea, in honor of that miracle, Exod. xv. David 
composed a mournful song on the death of Saul and 
Jonathan ; (2 Sam. i. 17.) and another on the death 
of Abner, iii. 33. Jeremiah wrote his Lamentations, 
a song, or series of elegies, in which he deplores the 
ruin of Jerusalem ; he wrote also others on the death 
of Josiah, king of Judah. 2 Chron. xxxv. 25. Deb- 
orah and Barak made a triumphant song after the 



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CANTICLES 



defeat of Sisera, (Judg. v.) and Judith after the de- 
feat of Holofernes, Judith xvi. Hannah, the mother 
of Samuel, and king Hezekiah, returned thanks to 
God in solemn hymns, and spiritual songs, 1 Sam. ii. 
Isa. xxxviii. 9. The Canticles, composed by the Vir- 
gin Mary, by Zachariah, and by old Simeon, are of 
the same nature. In 1 Kings iv. 32, we read that 
Solomon composed 1005 songs or verses ; but we 
have only remaining his Song of Songs. 

Canticles, the Book of, {the Song of Songs,) is 
thought by many to have been composed by Solo- 
mon, and it is believed on occasion of his marriage 
with the king of Egypt's daughter. According to 
most commentators, it is a continued allegory, in 
which a divine and spiritual marriage between the 
Redeemer and his church is expressed. 

Seven nights and seven days are distinctly marked 
in this song, (because weddings among the Hebrews 
were celebrated seven days,) and it relates poetically 
the transactions of each day. The Hebrews, appre- 
hending it might be understood grossly, forbade the 
reading of it by any person before the age. of thirty. 

The church generally, as well as the synagogue, 
received this book as canonical. To the objection, 
that neither Christ nor. his apostles have cited it, and 
that the name of God is not found in it, it is answer- 
ed, that there are several other sacred books which 
our Saviour has not quoted ; and that in an allegory, 
in which the Son of God is concealed under the 
figure of a husband, it is not necessary that he should 
be expressed by his proper name ; it would then, in 
fact, cease to be an allegory. 

[There is, perhaps, no book in the whole Bible 
which has given rise to such a variety qf interpreta- 
tion as the Canticles. All these different modes, 
however, may be arranged under three classes : — (1.) 
One class of interpreters regard the book as founded 
on the relation of Jehovah to the Jewish people, and 
they find in every figure a reference to some particu- 
lar event in Jewish history. According to these, the 
whole book is an allegorical, figurative history of the 
divine government in respect to the nation of Israel. 
This mode of interpretation we find among the Jews 
as early as there are any traces of the book itself. 
Indeed, Jesus the son of Sirach seems to have fol- 
lowed it, 200 years before Christ, when he praises 
Solomon for having composed dark parables, Ec- 
cles. xlvii. 13 — 17. These are not to be referred 
to the Proverbs of Solomon ; for the Proverbs are 
separately mentioned. — (2.) According to a second 
mode of interpretation, which has been current in 
the Christian church in all ages, Christ is the princi- 
pal subject of the Canticles. This mode assumes 
two forms ; in both, Christ is assumed as the Lover or 
Bridegroom ; but the Beloved, or the Bride, is in one 
the whole Christian church, and in the other, each 
individual Christian soul. Many have sought to com- 
bine these two modifications. — (3.) A third class of 
interpreters suppose the book to contain throughout 
a description of earthly love. This view has sprung 
up and gained admittance chiefly since the middle of 
the eighteenth century. From that time onward it 
obtained very general currency, and was supported 
in a great variety of modifications. One sought to 
defend the honor of the book, by maintaining it to 
be a description of a happy wedded life, or adefence 
of monogamy ; another affirmed, it was worthy 
of admission into the canon, although it might only 
describe a chaste, un wedded love. One invented this 
history, — another that, — in order by this means to be 
.•ible to explain the poem; and where all this fell 



short, they had recourse to dreams. One declared 
the whole to be a collection of unconnected poetical 
fragments ; another undertook to point out a plan 
running through the whole. The reproach, there- 
fore, of arbitrary interpretation, winch the followers 
of the literal and physical interpretation have so often 
brought against those of the other classes, because of 
their want of unanimity, falls, with equal weight, upon 
themselves ; for there are no two 'of them who ac- 
cord with one another in their views. Both of the 
two first classes of interpreters harmonize with each 
other in this respect, that they regard the Canticles 
as the description of a spiritual relation by means of 
figures drawn from sensible objects. 

In order to show the possibility of such a spirirual 
interpretation of the book in question, we may re- 
mark, that it is neither unworthy of God, nor at all 
at variance with the usual manner of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, to express a spiritual relation through such 
sensible figures. God himself, when he addresses 
mankind through his prophets and through his Son, 
employs such figures and expressions as are drawn 
from human relations. He calls himself a Father and 
a Shepherd ; he describes his love towards them, in 
order to express its strength, under the metaphor of 
wedded love ; he speaks of longings and pinings, of 
sorrow on account of unfaithfulness, and of jealousy. 
Thus, in numerous passages of the Old Testament, 
the relation of Jehovah to the Jewish people is ex- 
hibited in figurative language, borrowed from the 
relation of a lover to his beloved, i. e. of a bridegroom 
to his bride, of a husband to his wife, etc. In the 
departure from Egypt, Israel was a bride ; when the 
nation at Sinai entered into a solemn covenant with 
Jehovah, it was married to him ; every subsequent 
falling away to idolatry is represented as adultery 
and fornication ; and every return to God, as the tak- 
ing back of one divorced. See Isa. liv. 5; lxii. 5: 
Jer. iii. 1 : Ezek. xvi. xxiii : John iii. 29 : Rom. vii: 
Eph. v : 1 Cor. xi. 

In respect to the propriety of such an interpreta- 
tion of this book as shall give a spiritual character of 
this kind to the representations contained in it, there 
are several considerations which go to show that 
such an allegorical interpretation is here the only 
correct one. The first reason is drawn from external 
circumstances, and is of some importance. Among 
a people who hold so much to the authority of tra- 
dition as do the Jews, we are not at liberty wholly to 
neglect such tradition ; although we cannot receive 
it as of any decisive authority. Now, all the Jewish 
teachers, so far as we have any knowledge of their 
writings, are uniformly of one accord in giving to the 
Canticles an allegorical interpretation. In doing this, 
they every where appeal to tradition ; of which the 
principal witness is the Chaldee translator. We can- 
not here pursue the testimony any further ; but there 
can be no question, that those who made the collec- 
tion of the writings of the Old Testament, followed, 
in respect to this book, the allegorical method of in- 
terpretation. Even a hasty glance at these writings 
shows that it could not have been the object of those 
who collected them, to include all the remains of the 
Hebrew national literature. They had constantly in 
view the Hebrew theocracy, and admitted into their 
collection only that which had reference to the rela- 
tion in which God stood towards the Hebrew nation, 
— that which, either as history, prediction, the out- 
gushings of devotion, or as doctrinal instruction, was 
adapted to quicken the theocratic feeling and pro- 
mote a godly life. In receiving, therefore, the book 



CANTICLES 



[ 249 ] 



CANTICLES 



of Canticles into the canon, they must have had the 
firm conviction, that its strains described not a com- 
mon earthly love, but the love of Jehovah towards 
his people. What the moderns have here to say in 
commendation of human affection, and that a poem 
which treats of this was worthy of admission among 
the sacred writings, is nothing to the purpose ; for 
the only question here is, On what principles was 
the book actually received into the canon ? And this 
question is purely historical, and must be answered 
from the evidence afforded by the character of the 
writings of the Old Testament. But if it be once 
shown, that those who formed this collection of these 
writings, understood the book of Canticles allegori- 
cally, it would surely be a most violent assumption 
to affirm, that in their time the true interpretation of 
the book was already lost ; especially since the time 
of its composition could not have been far remote 
from that age ; and since the fact of their thus adopt- 
ing it, shows that the allegorical interpretation must 
in their day have been the common one. 

To this external argument we may add another 
and a stronger one, derived from passages of the po- 
em itself, which compel us to believe that, under the 
images of nuptial love, the highest spiritual love is 
described. We do not here press the consideration, 
that the supporters of the physical mode of interpret- 
ation are obliged to supply, arbitrarily, a multitude of 
historical circumstances, in order to give to their 
explanations even an appearance of probability ; 
since it might be replied, that this obscurity arises 
only from our ignorance of the situation in which the 
nuptial pair were placed. We refer only to some 
passages, which, literally taken, are either destitute of 
sense, or must be subjected to violence in order to 
obtain one ; while, in the allegorical method, they 
present a sense at once easy and elegant. From c. i. 
4, it appears that the name of the beloved must be a 
collective name. The passages in c. i. 5, iii. 4, viii. 2, 
and v. 3 — 7, are entirely at variance with oriental 
usages and customs, when taken in the literal sense ; 
figuratively taken, they are beautiful and appropriate. 
So also the following passages, if literally taken, are 
without meaning ; c. vi. 4, 10 — 12. iv. 8. et al. ssep. 

To these grounds in favor of the allegorical inter- 
pretation, we may also subjoin, as a subsidiary one, the 
names of the two principal persons. The Bridegroom 
is called Sulomoh, (masc.) the peaceful, or the Prince of 
peace; (Is. ix. 6.) the Bride, Sulamith, (fem.) the 
peaceful, or the happy, vii. I. A coincidence like 
this can hardly be accidental. 

We may then properly assume the allegorical in- 
terpretation of the book of Canticles as the correct 
one, and as supported by sufficient arguments. The 
objection, and the only one, commonly urged against 
it, viz. the great want of coincidence among those 
who have followed this method? must be laid, not to 
the account of the book itself, but of its interpreters. 
It has arisen from the fact, that, mistaking the figu- 
rative character of the Old Testament, and having 
themselves no poetic feelings, they ha've, without any 
fixed principles, attempted to explain every single 
figure, and have found in every one an allusion to 
some real circumstance, either of history or of the 
internal spiritual life. This method stands in direct 
opposition to the whole character of the Canticles ; 
in which there is so much of ornament and mere 
costume. One must not expect to find something 
corresponding to each single figure in this book ; but 
he must first unite all the single figures into one gen- 
eral image, and then the corresponding reality will 



be easily found. Thus, e. g. in the descriptions of 
the beauty and gracefulness of the Bride, we should 
look for nothing further than the expressions of the 
love and complacency of Jehovah towards the peo- 
ple of Israel. The comparison of other Oriental 
poets, who, in like manner, describe a higher love 
under the images of a lower, especially among the 
Persians and Arabians, is full of instruction on this 
point. So soon as this principle becomes establish- 
ed, we shall avoid that arbitrariness with which all 
the earlier and later interpreters may, in some degree, 
be charged ; and also that variety of explanation, 
which has so often been adduced as an argument 
against the allegorical method of interpretation. 

If, now, the spiritual interpretation of this book; be 
the correct one, this poem must, of course, maintain 
its place in the canon of the Old Testament : from 
which, of late, many attempts have been made to ex 
elude it. But, on the other hand, many, in former 
times, have gone too far in their estimation of the 
Song of Songs, when they have placed it above all 
the other books of the Old Testament. Had it really 
this pre-eminence of value, how comes it that neither 
Christ nor the apostles have ever cited it ? Although 
the writer of this book acted under the same divine 
influence as the other inspired penmen, yet, so far as 
the Christian world is concerned, we cannot but re- 
gard the prophetic writings as of more direct impor- 
tance. Indeed, we cannot avoid the impression, that, 
for our modern and occidental modes of thinking, 
and for our manners and customs, the figurative, the 
human, the physical, is in this poem too prominent. 
The prophets, indeed, often employ the same figures ; 
but with them the fact, the substratum, the moral re- 
lation of Jehovah to his people, is always apparent ; 
while, in the Canticles, some of those figures are, for 
our times and circumstances, carried out too far. 

To recur, for a moment, to the difference of opin- 
ion which exists among the supporters of the allegor- 
ical interpretation, viz. whether the relation of 
Jehovah to his people, as described in this poem, is 
his relation to the Jewish or to the Christian church, 
or to the souls of individuals ; we may observe that, 
in general, the very grounds which lead us to adopt 
the allegorical interpretation of the book, compel us 
also to assume the relation of Jehovah to the Jewish 
people, as the subject of the representation. The 
question, whether, in this book, the relation of Christ 
to his church is the subject of description, must, 
therefore, receive a negative answer, if it be meant 
thereby to imply, that the book of Canticles has no 
special reference to the times of the Old Testament, 
or that it must be torn away from all historical con- 
nections, and regarded solely as describing propheti- 
cally the love of Christ to his church under the new 
dispensation. But, on the other hand, we must an- 
swer this question affirmatively, in so far as Jehovah, 
whose love to his people of the old covenant is de- 
scribed, is also no other than Christ, who, in all times, 
has revealed to mankind the glory of God, and offer- 
ed up himself a sacrifice for them, in order to estab- 
lish the new covenant. We must also answer it 
affirmatively, in so far as the church of the Old Tes- 
tament, and the church of the New, stand in the 
same general relation to Christ ; and so far as sin and 
grace, defection and reunion, which constitute the 
subject of description in the Canticles, are often re- 
peated in the history of both these churches. To 
the relations of an individual soul with Christ, the 
descriptions of this book can only be applied by way 
of accommodation ; and here "he greatest caution is 



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CANTICLES 



necessary. A false interpretation may here easily 
mislead to a mysticism, which has far more connection 
with the dogmas of the Persian Sufism than with the 
gospel ; to a degradation of that which is most holy, 
inasmuch as the moral relation of the soul to. Christ 
is perverted into a matter of taste ; to a spiritual in- 
toxication, which cannot but be fatal to Christian 
humility and self-denial. It is assuredly not an ac- 
cidental circumstance, that in the whole of the Scrip- 
tures, both of the Old and New Testaments, the 
relation of God or of Christ to the souls of individu- 
als is never described under the figure ofi marriage. 
Although, indeed, the relation of Christ to his church 
and to individual souls is essentially the same, still 
in the former case there is less room for the excite- 
ment of physical or carnal feelings than in the latter. 

The preceding remarks are chiefly drawn from an 
able essay upon the Song of Songs, by professor 
Hengstenberg, of Berlin, contained in the Evange- 
lische Kirchenzeitung for 1827. They cannot fail to 
meet the approbation of every candid and intelligent 
inquirer. Many attempts have been made, of late 
years, to invest this poem with a merely literary and 
worldly character, as an idyl, a pastoral, a descrip- 
tion of nuptial love, &c. Among these last must be 
ranked the following translation by the former editor 
of Calmet, Mr. Taylor. It exhibits a good deal of 
research and ingenuity ; but also very much that is 
fanciful and unfounded, especially in all that relates 
to philology. He does indeed suggest that the poem 
may be allegorical, and may be applied to the union 
of the Jewish and Gentile churches, — a suggestion 
which the preceding remarks have shown to be 
without ground, and which he no where attempts to 
cany out in practice. His whole endeavor is direct- 
ed to the illustration of the poem as a description of 
nuptial affection. It forms indeed a separate treatise, 
distinct from Calmet's Dictionary ; which, there- 
fore, the writer of these lines does not feel himself 
at liberty to meddle with. The general impression left 
by both the version and the illustrations of Mr. Tay- 
lor is, that he has given to the poem a dress too stiffly 
dramatic, and imparted to it a character of modern 
orientalism and of lusciousness, not to say sensuality, 
which is unknown to the Hebrew original. *R. 

The Book of Canticles, By Mr. C. Taylor. 

Introduction. — The first principle to be considered 
in analyzing this poem is, the arrangement of its 
parts ; for it evidently appears to be not one contin- 
ued or uniform ode, but a composition of several 
odes into one connected series. In addition to the 
termination of the poem, there are three places 
where the author has decidedly marked the close of 
a subject. These are, the lively adjurations address- 
ed by the Bride to the daughters of Jerusalem. 
These three periods close by the same words, utter- 
ed by the same person, (the Bride,) who, when she 
is the last speaker, concludes in the same manner 
with very slight variations. They occur at the 
end of the first day, the end of the second day and 
the end of the fifth day ; but at the end of the poem, 
this conclusion is not maintained. If, then, these 
passages be admitted as divisions of the poem origi- 
nally intended to be marked as closes, we have only 
to ascertain two other divisions, in order to render 

he parts of the poem pretty nearly commensurate to 
'jach other in length, and complete in the subject 

ivhich each includes. By attending to the sentiments 
and expressions, we shall find little difficulty in per- 



ceiving such a change of person and occurrence, that 
the ending of the third day must be where we have 
placed it ; because the following words, relating to a 
dream of the over-night, imply that they are spoken 
in a morning ; and they are so totally distinct from 
the foregoing sentiments, as to demonstrate a total 
change of scene and of subject. The same may be 
said of the close of the fourth day. There is such a 
determinate change of style, subject, and person 
speaking, in the succeeding verses, that every feeling 
of propriety forbids our uniting them. These prin- 
ciples, then, divide the poem into six divisions, each 
of which we have considered as one day. It has 
been usual with commentators to regard these six 
days as succeeding the day of marriage ; a mistake, 
as we suppose, which has misled them into many 
mazes of error. On the contrary, they are here con- 
sidered as preceding the day of marriage ; and, we 
think, the poet has distinctly marked the sixth day, 
.•is being itself the day of that union ; which accounts 
for its termination with the morning eclogue, and the 
omission of the evening visit of the Bridegroom to 
the Bride ; as then the sabbath, to which no allusion 
appears in any preceding day, would be beginning, 
in whose solemnities the Jewish bridegroom would 
be attentively engaged. Other interpreters have sup- 
posed these eclogues to be so absolutely distinct as to 
have no connection with each other, and not to form 
a regular series — a supposition that considerably im- 
pairs their beauty, as a whole, and the effect of each 
of them singly ; while it leaves undecided the reason 
for their association, or for their appearance and 
preservation in one book. 

Of the time ofi the year. — That the time of the year 
is spring, has always been supposed ; and, indeed, it 
is so clearly marked as to need no support from rea- 
sonings. The mention of several particulars in the 
poem demonstrates it. Mr. Harmer has identified 
the month to be April ; and, in Judea, we may say 
of April, as in England has been said of May, that 
"April is the mother of love." 

Ofi the divisions ofi each day. — We have supposed it 
right to divide each day into two parts, morning and 
evening ; because there appears to be such appropri- 
ations of persons and sentiments, as detach each 
eclogue from its companion. It should be remem- 
bered that the noon of the day is too hot in Judea to 
permit exertion of body or mind ; and that no per- 
son of the least degree of respectability is abroad at 
that time of the day. The Turks have a proverb 
importing, that "only Franks and dogs walk about 
at noon." And in Europe itself, as in Spain and 
Portugal, while the natives at noon sleep the siesta, 
" the streets," say they, " are guarded by Englishmen 
and dogs." Since, then, noon is the time for repose 
in the East, (see 2 Sam. iv. 5.) we are not to expect 
that an eastern poet should depart from the man- 
ners of his country by representing this part of the 
day as a fit time for visiting, or conversation, or en- 
joyment. Neither can we suppose that night is a fit 
time for visiting, or conversation, among recent ac- 
quaintances especially. Whatever our own unhappy 
manners may ordain, in respect of encroaching on 
the proper repose of night, the East knows nothing 
of such revels ; nor of those assignations, which, 
under favor of night, furnish too much occasion for 
repentance on the morrow. Such considerations 
restrict these eclogues to two parts of the day, morn- 
ing and evening. The morning, among the oriental 
nations, is very early; the cool of the day, day-break, 
before the heat comes on ; and the evening is also 



CANTICLES [ 251 ] CANTICLES 



the cool of the day, after the heat is over. The 
mornings of this poem are mostly occupied by con- 
versations of the Bride with her female visitors, or 
with her attendants, in her own apartments. But on 
the morning of the second day, the Bride, observing 
her beloved engaging in a hunting party, is agreeably 
surprised by a visit from him, and sees him from 
the upper story of her apartments, and through the 
cross-bars of her windows. He solicits a view of 
her countenance : but the poem seems to insinuate 
his further waiting for that till the next morning ; 
when she, being intent on considering his palanquin, 
suffers herself to be surprised ; and the Bridegroom 
compliments her beauty, which, for the first time, he 
has an opportunity — not properly of considering — 
but merely of glancing at. The evening is the reg- 
ular time when the Bride expects to be visited by 
her Spouse ; accordingly, he visits her on the first 
evening ; but on the second evening she describes 
her anxiety, occasioned by his failure in this expect- 
ed attention, for which she had waited even into 
night, when it was too late to suppose he would 
come, and she must needs relinquish all thoughts of 
seeing him. On the other evenings he punctually 
pays his attendance ; and though the import of tfie 
conversation between them is usually to the same 
effect, yet the variety of phraseology and metaphor 
employed by both parties gives a characteristic rich- 
ness, elegance, and interest to this poem ; in which, 
if it be equalled, it is by very few ; — but certainly it 
is not surpassed by any. 

Of the persons who speak. — It is natural to inquire, 
in the next place, who are the interlocutors in this 
poem. That it consists of conversation is an opin- 
ion derived from the earliest times ; from the Jewish 
synagogue, no less than from the Christian church : 
but opinions have varied as to the persons engaged 
in this conversation. There evidently are two prin- 
cipals ; first, the lady herself, whom we distinguish 
as the Bride ; meaning a person betrothed to her 
spouse, but not yet married to him. She evidently 
comes from a distant country, and that country south 
of Judea, and more exposed to the heat of the sun. 
She is accompanied by her mother, or by a representa- 
tive of her mother, and by proper female attendants, 
whom we shall denominate Bridemaids. The second 
principal in the poem is the Bridegroom, who is de- 
scribed in terms which can agree only with a prince ; 
and this prince is accompanied, on his part, by a 
number of companions, with whom he can be free, 
and who in return can be hearty. In addition to 
these, as the Bride is but recently arrived from a dis- 
tant land, it is very natural that some of the ladies 
of her present residence (the Royal Haram) should 
visit her ; no less to congratulate and to compliment 
her, than to engage a share in her good graces, and 
to commence that friendship which may hereafter 
prove valuable and pleasant to both parties. The 
Queen Mother of the Bridegroom perhaps heads 
this group. 

Received opinion, founded on a pretty general tra- 
dition, has called the prince, Solomon, king of Isra- 
el ; and tradition almost, or altogether equally general, 
has called the princess, his Egyptian spouse, the 
daughter of Pharaoh. As we acquiesce in this opin- 
ion, we pass it with this slight mention only. 

Of the place tvhere the action passes. — The place is 
the city of David. This will follow, in some de- 
gree, from the mention already made of the parties ; 
but further proof may be found in the history of this 
connection, 1 Kings iii. 1. Solomon made affinity 



with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's 
daughter, and brought her into the City or Davik, 
until he had made an end of building his own house. 
Solomon made also a house for Pharaoh's daughter," 
1 Kings vii. 8. — " Pharaoh's daughter came up out of 
the City of David, to the house which Solomon had 
built for her," 1 Kings ix. 24. From these passages 
it is clear, that Solomon lodged his bride in the city 
of David, directly as he received her ; consequently at 
the time described in this poem. Tracing the an- 
cient boundaries of the city (or palace) of David, we 
find it connects on one side with the city of Jerusa- 
lem ; oil the other side it is surrounded by the open 
country, the hills, &c. in the neighborhood. Its in- 
ternal distribution, we are not to imagine, was wholly 
like that of a city ; that is, a series of streets through- 
out, leading from end to end ; but comprising the 
palace of David, its courts and appurtenances, the 
gardens and pleasure-grounds belonging to that 
place, in various and irregular forms. If there were a 
few continued lines of houses in it, they might be 
adjacent to the city of Jerusalem, say, to where the 
iron gate is marked in our plan ; and, for the sake of 
perspicuity, we shall admit (but without believing it) 
that I, K, L, M, were streets, or other buildings ; and 
further, where the wall of the present city passes, we 
shall suppose a pile of buildings, the palace of Da 
vid ; having one front toward Jerusalem, and another 
toward the gardens, into which the rest of the ground 
was formed. These gardens, thus occupying full 
half the area of the city of David, or the whole of 
what is marked mount Sion on our plan, must be 
supposed to be amply furnished with the most ad- 
mired plants, shrubs, trees, evergreens, &c. ; with 
water, in basins, streams, and fountains ; with a 
smooth-mowed sward of the most vivid green, that 
is, grass ; and with a variety of flowers in pots, vases 
&c. ; in short, with whatever of decoration art and 
expense could procure ; and the whole so disposed 
as to be seen to the greatest advantage from the win- 
dows, balconies, galleries, pavilions, and internal 
walks of the palace. Nor is this all ; for unless we 
observe how fitly the risings and hills of mount Sion 
were adapted to communicate pleasure, by views of 
them, (that is, being looked towards,) and by the situa- 
tions they afforded for prospects ; (that is, being looked 
from ;) also, what is implied in these risings, the hol- 
lows, dells, &c. their counterparts, which yielded at 
once both coolness and shadow, we shall lose the 
satisfaction arising from several of the allusions in 
the poem : these hillocks, then, the reader will bear 
in mind. We must add the supposition of various 
gates around this enclosure, some communicating 
with the town, others with the country ; all of them 
more or less guarded by proper officers and attend- 
ants. We must also include in our ideas of the pal- 
ace, that king Solomon himself resided in a part of 
it ; say, for distinction sake, the part below e : and 
his Bride, her mother, and attendants, lodged in 
another part of it ; say the part above e. These 
parts of the same palace may easily be understood as 
possessing a ready communication with each other : 
some of them were surrounded by corridors ; others 
were open pavilions, or colonnades, according to the 
nature and composition of a royal residence in the 
East, and adapted to the various purposes of the 
apartments. Add guards — former residents — proper 
officers — servants, &c. 

Thus we have stated our notions of the time, the 
place, the persons, of this conversation poem. We 
desire the reader to transport himself and his con 



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[ 252 ] 



CANTICLES 



ccptions into the palace of the highly-favored king 
of Israel ; to make one among those honored with a 
station in the train of Solomon, when his betrothed 
spouse, newly arrived from Egypt, with her mother, 
surrounded by all the pomp which the superb Pha- 
raoh himself could depute to aggrandize his daugh- 
ter in the eyes of beholders. Egypt was at this time 
in its glory, as to riches and power ; and Solomon 
was rising into the greatest repute for magnificence, 
and into a proverbial fame for wisdom. Thus in- 
troduced, let us attend the conversations of these il- 
lustrious lovers ; but let us remember that they are 
expressed and transmitted in the energetic, the im- 
passioned, the figurative language of poetry, of east- 
ern poetry ; comprised in metaphors, easy, familiar, 
and even constant, in the place and country where 
we hear them ; that a great part of the gallantry at- 
tending a courtship-conversation is (by usage) in- 
cluded in them ; and that the promptitude of the rep- 
artee to such allusions, metaphors, similes, compar- 
isons, &c. is accepted as no small test of the spright- 
ly wit, felicity of fancy, readiness of reply, and men- 
tal dexterity, of the persons between whom they pass. 

Allegorical meaning of the poem. — Upon this topic 
Mr. Taylor merely suggests, that the Song may al- 
legorize the union of the Jewish and Gentile 
churches. The Jewish church, in that view, would be 
the Bridegroom, which (1.) resides at Jerusalem, (2.) 
whose chief, and whose prolocutor, is the Messiah, 
(3.) whose dignity is superior. The Gentile church 
would be, (1.) from a distance, (2.) new in this inti- 
mate relation, (3.) swarthy in some respects, yet fair 
in others, (4.) modest, yet affectionate ; elegant, yet 
rustic ; (5.) willing to yield obedience, property, &c. 
to her lord. (6.) This union would naturally be re- 
ferred to the days of the Messiah ; but, (7.) there 
would be manv countries not directly informed of 
Ms coming; may these be the little sister not yet 
mature in person ? — And to close the whole, (8.) may 
the absence of the chief of the Jewish church, and 
the earnest desire of the Gentile church for his re- 
turn, with which the poem closes, be in any way 
related to the actual state of things, or allude to the still 
expecting Hebrews, and the still immature heathen ? 

The reader will remember, that Mr. Taylor's at- 
tempt professes to illustrate by plates ; no other mean- 
ing, therefore, is to be expected in it, than what plates 
can illustrate ; and indeed it seems absolutely neces- 
sary, as a dictate of common sense, that not till 
after the verbal rendering is clearly established, 
any more elevated import should be constructed 
upon it. Neither is the reader to expect critical re- 
marks, variations of versions, MSS., &c. The ob- 
ject is only arrangement. 

Arrangement. 

TIME. At, and after, the Bride's recent ar- 

rival from Egypt. 

The Marriage Week: six days 
previous to the completion of the 
marriage ; the sixth day being the 
day of marriage. Each day di- 
vided into two eclogues, Morning 
and Evening; except the sixth, 
which is Morning only. 

Time of the year : Spring. . 
PLACE. A Palace of Solomon in Judea; 

with its haram, gardens, fyc. that 
is, the City of David, adjacent to 
Jerusaler 



TIME. 
PLACE. 

PERSONS. 



Bride. 



Ladies 



Bride. 
Ladies. 
Bride. 
Ladies 



Bride. 

Ladies. 

Bride. 



Ladies. 
Bride. 



First Day. Eclogue I. 
Morning. 

The Bride's parlor and apartments 
in the haram. 

Bride. Ladies of the haram, or 
Queen Mother, visiting the 
Bride, to compliment and to ac- 
company her. 

May he salute me with affectionate 
salutations ! (1) 

Or, May he think me worthy to re- 
ceive his addresses — his compli- 
ments of kindness. 

Yes, most certainly ; — Expect, as- 
suredly, his kindest addresses. 

So much are thy (2) love-favors 
excellences above wine. 

By the exquisite odor of thy per- 
fumes 

(Like perfume widely diffused is 
thy renown for beauty.) 

The virgins' affections are concili- 
ated to thee. 

Pray lead the way — [(3) precede me ; 
go before me.] 

. . . . O no, — We follow in thy 
train [cZo.se after thee.] 

The king hath introduced me into 
his palace [(4) Haram, chamber.] 

We shall be happy and rejoice in 
thee : 

We shall commemorate thy love- 
favors more than wine : 

Most consummately shall we love 
thee : 

Or, With perfect integrity shall we 
love thee. 

I am swarthy 

But attractive — [engaging] 

swarthy, O ye daughters of 



Ladies. 



Jerusalem, 
As the tents of Kedar ! 
attractive — as the tent-cur- 
tains of Solomon ! 
Do not too accurately scrutinize 

my swarthiness, 
For indeed the sun hath darted his 

direct rays upon me. 
The sons of my mother treated me 

contemptuously ; (5) 
They appointed me (6) inspect- 
ress of the (7) fruiteries [or- 
chards ;] 

But my fruitery — my own — I have 

not inspected. 
Tell me, O thou beloved of my (8) 

heart [person,] where thou feedest 

thy flock, 

Where thou makest it to repose at 
noon : 

For why should I be like a rover 

[a straggler in confusion,] 
Beside the flocks of thy compan- 
ions ? 

If indeed thou shouldest not know 

of thyself, 
O most (9) elegant of women ! 
Trace thou thy way along the tracks 

of the flock ; 



CANTICLES 



[ 253 ] 



CANTICLES 



Or feed thou thy kids beside the 
shepherds' tents. 

First Day. Eclogue II. 

TIME. Evening. 

PLACE. Bride's Parlor. 

PERSONS Bride and her Attendants. 

Bridegroom and his Attendants. 

Ladies of the Haram. 



Bridegroom. 



Ladies ; or 
Bridegroom's 
Companions. 
Bride, (aside) 



Bridegroom. 



Bride, 



To a chief (rider) in the cavalry of 

Pharaoh, 
(10) Have I compared thee, my 

consort. 

Thy cheeks are so elegantly deco- 
rated with hands of pearls ; 

Thy neck is so resplendent with col- 
lets of gems. 
I We will make for 
bands, 

I With spotted edges of silver. 
While the king is surrounded by his 

(11) circle 
My spikenard diffuses delightful 

fragrance. 
A scent-bag of balsam is my love 

to me, 

In my bosom he shall constantly 
rest : 

A cluster of Al-Henna (12) is my 
beloved to me, 

[Of M- Henna] from the plantations 
of En-gedi. 

Behold, thou art elegant, in thy taste, 
my consort ! 

Behold, thou art elegant! Thine 
eyes are Doves ! 

Behold, thou arf (13) magnificent, 
my associate friend ; 

How delightful, how exquisitely 
green [or flowery] is our (14) car- 
pet covering .' 

The beams of thy palaces are ce- 
dars ! 

Their ornamental inlayings are firs ! 

(15 brutim, or brushim. q. Cypress ? ) 
1 am a rose of the mere 

field: 

A lily of the mere valley. 
As the lily among thorns, 
So is my consort among the maid- 
ens. 

As the citron-tree among the wild 

underwood, 
So is my associate friend among 
the youths. 



Bridegroom having retired. Bride sola; or (16) 
speaking to the Ladies. 

Bride. When I delight in his (17) deep 

shadow, and sit down beneath it, 
And his fruit is delicious to my 
taste ; — 

When he introduces me into his 

house of wine, 
And "Affection" is his banner 

bright-blazing above me ; 
When he cheers me with refreshing 

cordials, 



Bridegroom. 



Bride. 



TIME. 
PLACE. 



PERSONS. 



Bride. 



Bridegroom, 
speaking to 
Bride. 



To his Com- 
panions. 



And revives me with fragrant (18) 

citrons ; 

(I am so wounded to fainting by 

affection !) 
When his left arm is under my 

head, 

And his right arm embraces 
me ; 

I adjure you, O daughters of Je- 
rusalem, 

By the startling antelopes, by the 

timid deer of the field, 
If ye disturb, if ye discompose this 

complete affection, 
Till [affection] herself desire it ! 

Second Day. Eclogue I. 
Morning, early. 

Bride's chamber. Bride at her (1) 
window hears the [hunting horn, 
fyc. ?] music of her beloved, very 
early in the morning. 
Bride, her Attendants. 
Bridegroom, below. 
Bridegroom's Companions, in at- 
tendance, icithin hearing. 



The (2) music [51 -nds] of my be- 
loved ! 

Behold, he himself approaches! 
Lightly traversing the hills, 
Fleetly bounding over the rising 
grounds, 

My beloved is swijl like an ante- 
lope, or a fawn ! 

Behold him stopping [(3) seated, 
placed,] in his (4) carriage ; 

Looking through the apertures ; 
(5) [windows,] 

Gleaming between the blinds ! (6) 
[lattices ;] 

My beloved addresses me, and says, 

"Rise, my consort, my charmer, 
and come away ; 

For lo ! the winter is over, the rains 
are passed, are gone, 

The flowers appear in the meads, 

The singing-time [of the nightin- 
gale] is come, 

And the voice of the turtle- re- 
echoes in our grounds : 

The fig-tree forwards into sweet- 
ness its swelling fruit, 

And the vines advance into fra- 
grance their just setting grapes. 

Arise, my consort, my charmer, 
and come away ! 

My dove (7) hid in the clefts of the 
rocks, 

Concealed in the fissures of the 
cliffs, 

Show me thy (8) swelling neck 
[turgid crop,] 

Let me hear thy [cooing] call ; (9) 

For sweet is thy call, 

And thy swelling neck is beauti- 
ful." 

" Catch the jackals, the little jack- 
als which damage our fruit- 
eries . 



CANTICLES 



t 254 1 



CANTICLES 



Ere their productions come to ma- 
turity. 

[Or, IVhile they have tender /ruifs.]" 

Bridegroom being ivithdrawn. 

Bride. My beloved is mine, and I am his ! 

(10) 

Feeding among lilies ! 

When the day breezes, when the 
lengthening shadows glimmer, 

Then return, then, my beloved, 
show thyself like the antelope, 

Or the young hart, on the moun- 
tains of Bether (11) [crags.] 



TIME. 

PLACE. 

PERSONS. 

Bride. 



Second Day. Eclogue II. 

Very late in the Evening. 
Bride's apartment. 
Bride, sola, [or ivith the Ladies of 
the Haram.] 

Reclined on my sofa till dusky night 

/ look around, 
I seek him — the beloved of my 
heart : 

[Or, I have sought all the long 
evening till dusk; or, till night, 
(12)] 

I seek him — but I find him not. 
What if I rise now, and take a turn 

[a round] in the city, (13) 
In the streets, in the squares : 
Seeking him — the beloved of my 

heart ? 

I may seek him, but not find him. 
What if the watchmen, going their 
rounds through all the city, find 
me ? 

"Have ye seen him — the beloved 

of my heart?" 
I shoidd ask of them : — I migld ask 
in vain. 

But, ivhat if passing ever so little a 

way beyond them, 
I find him — the beloved of my 
heart ? — 

I would clasp him, I would not let 
him go ; 

Until I had brought him to the 

house of my mother, 
To the apartment of my parent 
herself. 

Then ivould I adjure you, O daugh- 
ters of Jerusalem, 
By the startling antelopes, by the 

timid deer of the field, 
If ye disturb, if ye discompose this 

complete affection, 
Till [Affection] herself desire it! 

Third Day. Eclogue I. 

Morning. 

Bride's chamber-window ; looking to- 
wards the country. 
Bride, and her Attendants of the 
Haram ; looking through the 
window. 

Bride, (above) (1) What is that, coming up fro*o 
the common fields, 



TIME. 
PLACE. 

PERSONS. 



Like a vast (2) column of smoke? 
Fuming with balsams and frankin- 
cense, 

Surpassing all powders of the per- 
fumer. 

Ladies, or That is the (3) palanquin appro- 
Attendants. priate to Solomon himself! 

Sixty stout men surround it ; 
The stoutest heroes of Israel ; 
Every one of them grasping a 
sword ; every one of them ex- 
pert at arms ; 
Ready on his thigh the sword of 

the commander, 
[A chief (4) fearless] from fear in 

the night. 
Superior to fear at all times. 
Bride. A nuptial palanquin hath king Solo- 

mon made for himself? 
Ladies, or O yes! He hath made (5) of Leba- 

Attendants. non-wood [cedar] its pillars ; 

Of silver its top covering [canopy;] 

Of gold its lower carriage ; 

With purple [aregamen] its middle 

part [floor] is spread, 
A present from the daughters of Je- 
rusalem. 

Bride. Go forth, O daughters of Zion,and 

behold king Solomon 
Wearing the (6) head-circlet with 
which his mother 1 encircled him 
In the day of his espousals, 
In the day of the gladness of his 
heart. 

Bridegroom (7) having seen the face, or person, of 
his Bride, for the first time, from a distance — inci- 
dentally at her windoiv — by means of this visit, takes 
advantage of this opportunity to praise her beauty. 

Bridegroom. Behold, thou art elegant, my con- 
[below) sort, behold, thou art elegant ! 

Thine eyes are doves peering be- 
tween thy (8) locks : 
Thy hair is like a flock of goats, (9) 
Long-haired glistering goats [de- 
scending] at mount Gilead ; 
Thy teeth like a shorn flock (10) of 
sheep, 

Coming up on (11) mount Cassius. 
All of them twins to each other ! 
And not one has lost its fellow 
twin. 

Like a braid of scarlet are thy lips; 
And the organ of thy voice [mouth] 

is loveliness. 
Blushing (12) like the inner part of 

a piece of pomegranate 
Is thy cheek [temple] beneath thy 

locks ; 

White (13) like the tower of David 
is thy neck, 

14) Built on a commanding emi- 
nence ; • 

A thousand shields are suspended 
around it, as trophies of conquest, 

All of them arms of dignity of 
valiant heroes. 

Thy (15) two nipples are Cke two 
twin fawns of the antelope. 

Nibbling lily flowers. 



CANTICLES 



[ 255 ] 



CANTICLES 



When the day breezes, when the 

lengthening shadows glimmer, 
1 will visit the mountain of balsam, 
The hill of frankincense. 

Third Day. Eclogue II. 

TIME. Evening. 

PLACE. Bride's parlor; inivhichher Ladies, 

8fc. are in waiting. 

PERSONS. Bridegroom, accompanied by At- 
tendants, visiting his Bride. 

Bridegroom. Thou art my entire elegance, my 

consort, 
Not a blemish is in thee. 
Be of my party (16) to Lebanon, 

my' spouse, 
Accompany me to Lebanon, come : 
See the prospect from the head of 

Amanah, 
From the head of Shenir, and of 

Hermon, 

From Lions' Haunts, from Pan- 
ther Mountains. 

Thou hast (17) carried off captive 
my heart, my sister, spouse, (19) 
[partner.] Thou hast carried oft* 
captive my heart, {literally, Thou 
hast dishearted me.] 

By one (18) sally of thine eyes, 

By one link [of the chainette] of thy 
neck. 

How handsome are thy love-favors, 
my sister, my spouse ! (19) {be- 
trothed ] 

How exquisite are thy love-fa- 
vors ! 

How much beyond wine ! 

And the fragrance of thine es- 
sences ! — 

Beyond all aromatics ! 
Bride. Sweetness — as liquid [palm] honey 

drops, such drop thy lips, [speech] 
O spouse : 

[Bee] honey and milk are under 
thy tongue : 

And the scent of thy garments is 
the sweet scent of cedar. 
Bridegroom. A garden locked up is my sister, 
spouse, 

A spring strictly locked up, a foun- 
tain closely sealed. 

Thy plants are shoots of Paradise : 

[Or, Around thee shoot plants of 
Paradise. (20)] 

Pomegranates, with delicious fruits ; 

The fragrant henna, with the 
nards, 

(21) The nard, and the crocus, 
And sweet-scented reed, and cinna- 
mon ; 

With every tree of incense ; 
The balsam and the aloe ; (22) 
With every prime aromatic. 
Thou fountain of gardens! thou 

source of living waters ! 
Thou source of streams — even of 

Lebanon streams ! 
Bride. North wind, awake ! (but (23) sink, 

thou southern gale) 



Blow on my garden, waft around 

its fragrances, 
Then let my beloved come into his 

garden, 

And taste the fruits which he praises 
as his delicacies ! 
Bridegroom. I am (24) come into my garden, my 
sister, spouse, [betrothed, troth- 
plight] 

I gather my balsam with my aro- 
matics, 

I eat my liquid honey with my firm 
honey, 

I drink my wine with my milk. 
To his Eat, my companions : drink, drink 

Companions. deeply, 

My associate friends ! 

Fourth Day. Eclogue I. 

TIME. Morning. 
PLACE. Bride's chamber. 

PERSONS. Bride and her Attendants : 
Ladies of the Haram. 

Bride, I was sleeping, (1) but my [heart] 

relating a imagination was awake : 

dream to When methought I heard 

her visitors. The (2) voice [sound] of my be- 
loved, knocking, and saying : 

"Open to me ! my sister ! my consort 

My dove ! my perfect ! [or immacu- 
late beauty 1] 

For my head is excessively filled 
with dew, 

My locks with the drops of the 
night." 

But I answered : 

" I have put off my vest ; 

How can I put it on ? 

I have washed my feet ; 

How can I soil them ?" 

My beloved put his hand to open 
the door by the lock, (3) 

( — My heart in its (4) chamber pal- 
pitated on account of him ! 

I rose to open to my beloved, 

( — My hand dropped balsam, and 
my fingers self-flowing balsam, 

On the handles of the lock ;) 

I did open to my beloved ; 

But my beloved was turned away 
— was gone — 

( — My soul [person, affection] sprung 
forwards to meet his address.) 

I sought him, but could not find 
him ; 

I called him, but he answered me 
not. 

The watchmen going their rounds 
in the city discovered me, 

They struck me, they wounded me ; 

They snatched my deep veil itself 
from off me, 

Those surly keepers of the walls ! 

I adjure you, O daughters of Jeru- 
salem, 

If ye should find my beloved,— — 
What should ye tell him ! — 
— That I am wounded to fainting 
by Affection. 



CANTICLES 



[ 256 1 



CANTICLES 



Ladies. 



Bride, 

describes his 
countenance. 



Describes his 
dress. 



Ladies 



Bride. 



TIME. 
PLACE. 



PERSONS. 



Bridegroom. 
Fortified cities. 



Wherein is thy beloved superior 

to other beloveds, 

Most elegant of women, 

Wherein is thy beloved superior to 

other beloveds, 
That thou dost thus adjure us? 
My beloved is white and ruddy ; 
The (5) bright-blazing standard of 

ten thousand ! 
His head is wrought gold — of the 

purest quality ! 
His locks are pendent curls — black 

as the raven ! 
His eyes like (6) doves at a white- 
foaming water-fall ; 
Or, dipping themselves in a [garden 

canal — basin] streamlet of milk, 
And [turning themselves, rolling'] 

sporting in the fulness [depth] of 

the pool. 

His temples are shrubberies of odo- 
riferous plants, 

Clumps of aromatic trees: 

His lips are lilies dropping self-flow- 
ing balsam ; 

His wrists [bands, bracelets] are cir- 
clets of gold, 

Full set with topazes ; 

His waist [girdle] is bright ivory. 

Over which the sapphire plays ; 

His legs [drawers, fyc] are columns 
of marble, 

Rising from bases of purest gold 
[his shoes] : 

His figure is noble as the cedars of 
Lebanon ; 

Majestic as the cedars of Paradise, 

His address is sweetness ! 

[The very concentration of sweet- 
ness .'] 

His whole person is loveliness ! 
[The veiy concentration of loveliness!] 
Such is my beloved, such is my 
consort, 

daughters of Jerusalem ! 
Whither may thy beloved be gone, 
Most elegant of women ? 

What course may thy beloved have 
taken, 

That we might bring him to rejoin 
thee ? 

My beloved is gone down to his 
garden, 

To his shrubberies of odoriferous 

plants ; 
To feed in his gardens, 
And to gather lilies. 

1 am my beloved's, and my beloved 
is mine : 

Feediag among lilies ! 



Fourth Day. Eclogue II. 



Evening. 

Bride's parlor ; in which are the 

Ladies in waiting, fyc. 
Bridegroom, with his Attendants, 

visiting his Bride. 



Thou art wholly (8) decorated, my 
love, like Tirzah ; 



Adorned as Jerusalem ; 

Dazzling as flaming-bannered ranks. 

Wheel about (9) thine eyes [glances] 

from off my station, 
For, indeed, they overpower me ! 
A repetition of " Thy (10) hair is as a flock of goats 
Third Day. that appear from Gilead : 
Eclogue I. Thy teeth are as- a flock of sheep 
Common trans- which go up from the washing ; 
lotion. Whereof every one beareth twins, 

and there is not one bairen among 
them. 

As a piece of pomegranate are thy 
temples within thy locks." 

Sixty are those queens, and eighty 
those concubines, 

And damsels beyond number ; 

But my dove is the very one alone ; 

To me she is my perfect one ! 

The very one is she to her mother ; 

The faultless favorite of her pa- 
rent : 

The damsels saw her ; 
And the queens admired her, 
And the concubines extolled her, 
saying, 

" Who is this, advancing [in bright- 
ness] like day-break, 

Beauteous as the moon, clearly ra- 
diant as the sun, 

Dazzling as the streamer-flames of 
heaven?" [q. a comet?] 

To the garden of filberts I had gone 
down, 

To inspect the fruits of the brook 
side ; 

Whether the grape were setting ; 
Whether the pomegranate flow- 
ered ; 

Unawares to my mind, my person 
[II, Affection] beglided itself back 
again, 

More swiftly than the chariots of 
my people at a (12) charge [pour- 
ing out.] 

Bride rises to go away. 

Face about, (13) face about, Selo- 
meh ! 

Face about, face about ! 
That we may (14) reconnoitre 

thee 

What would you reconnoitre in Se- 

LOMEH ? 

Or, How would you reconnoitre Se- 
lomeh ? 

Like [as we do] retrenchments (15) 
around camps !. 



Bridegroom's 
Companions. 



Ladies of ~] 
Haram, or I 
Bride's At- | 
tendants. j 
Brideg. Com. 



Fifth Day. Eclogue I. 
TIME. Morning. 

PLACE. Bride's toilette: Bride dressing, or 

recently dressed. 

PERSONS. Bride, and her Attendants ; La- 
dies of the Haram. 

Ladies of the Haram ; admiring the 
Bride's [Egyptian ?] dress. 

How handsomely decorated are thy 
(1) feet in sandals. 



CANTICLES 



[ 257 ] 



CANTICLES 



O daughter of [liberality] (2) 
princes ! [pouring out] 

[i. e. O liberal re warder of ingenui- 
ty and merit] 

The (3) selve-edges [returns] of thy 
drawers are like (5) open-work, 
[pinked,] 

The performance of excellent hands! 

Thy (6) girdle-clasp is a round 
goblet, 

(7) Rich in mingled wine : 

Thy [bodice] body-vEST is a sheaf 

of wheat, 
Bound about with lilies : 
Thy two (8) nipples are two twin 

fawns of the antelope, 
Feeding among lilies. 
Thy neck is like an ivory tower : 



TIME. 
PLACE. 



PERSONS. 
Bridegroom. 



Thine eyes [dark with stibium] are 
like the fish-pools in Heshbon, 
(9) 

By the gate of Beth-rabbim : 
Thy nose is like the tower of Leba- 
non, 

(10) Which looketh toward Damas- 
cus : 

Thy head-dress upon thee resem- 
bles (11) Carmel ; 

And the tresses of thy hair are like 
(12) Aregamen ! 

The king is (13) entangled in these 
meanderings ! (14) [foldings ; 
plaitings ; intricacies.] 

Fifth Day. Eclogue II. 

Evening. 

Bride's parlor ; with Ladies, &c. 

in waiting. 
Bridegroom visitiiisr his Bride. 



Bride. 



Bridegroom 



How beautiful, and how rapturous, 
O love, art thou in delights ! 

Thy very (15) stature equals the 
palm ; 

And thy breasts resemble its clus- 
ters : 

I said, I would climb this palm, 
And would clasp its branches : 
Now shall thy bosom be odoriferous 

as clusters of grapes, 
And the sweetness of thy breath 

like the fragrance of citrons. 
Yes, thy [palate] (16) address re- 
sembles exquisite wine, [cor- 
dial.] 

(17) Going as a love-favor to asso- 
ciate friends, to consummate in- 
tegrities of love, 
[or, to friends ivhose stanch friend- 
ship has been often experienced.] 
It might make the very lips of the 
sleeping [of age] to discourse. 

I am my beloved's, (18) 

And toward me are his desires, 
[or, And my dependence is upon 
him.] 

Come, my beloved, let us go out 

into the fields. 
Let us abide in the villages, 
33 



Bride. 



Bridegroom. 
Bride. 



TIME. 

PLACE. 
PERSONS. 



Attendants 
at the House. 



Bbidegroom. 



Bride. 



We will rise early to inspect the 

vineyards, 
Whether the vine be setting its 

fruit, 

Whether the smaller grape protrude 
itself, 

Whether the pomegranates flower, 
Whether the (19) dudaim [man- 
drakes] diffuse their fragrance. 
There will I make thee complete 

love-presents ; 
For our lofts (20) contain all new del- 
icacies [fruits,] 
But especially preserved delicacies, 
Stored up, my beloved, for thee. 

wert thou my brother, 
Sucking my mother's breasts, 
Should I find thee in the public 

street, 

1 would kiss thee ; 

Yes, and then would they [bystand- 
ers] not contemn me : 

I would take thee, I would bring 
thee 

To the house of my mother 

Thou shouldest conduct me (21 ) ; 
i. e. show me the way thither. 

1 would give thee to drink 

scented wine, 

Wine I myself had flavored with 
the sweetness of my pomegran- 
ate. 

Then, were his left arm under my 
head, 

And his right arm embracing me, 

I would charge you, daughters of 
Jerusalem, 

(22) By the startling antelopes, by 
the timid deer of the field, 

Wherefore disturb, wherefore dis- 
compose this complete Affection, 

Till [Affection] herself desire it ? 

Sixth Day. Eclogue I. 

Morning : after the marriage cere- 
mony had recently taken place. 

Front of the palace. 

Bride, her Attendants : Bride- 
groom, his Attendants : all in 
procession before and after the 
Royal palanquin, in which the 
Royal Pair are seated. 

Who is this coming up from the 

common fields, 
In full (1) sociability with her be- 
loved ? 

Under the citron-tree (2) I urged 
* thee [overcame thy bashfulness.] 

There thy mother (3) delivered thee 
over to me. 

There thy parent solemnly deliver- 
ed thee over to me. 

Wear me as a seal on thy heart [in 
thy bosom], 

(4) As a seal-ring on thine arm. 

For strong as death is Affection ; 

Its passion unappeasable as the 
grave : 

Its shafts are shafts of fire, 



CANTICLES 



[ 258 ] 



CANTICLES 



The flame of Deity itself! [vehe- 

ment as lightning.] 
Bridegroom. Mighty waters cannot quench this 

complete Affection ; 
Deluges cannot overwhelm it : 
If a chief (man) give all the wealth 

of his house 

In affection, it would be despised as 

despicable in him. 
Bride. Our [cousin, relation] sister is little, 

And (5) her bosom is immature : 
What shall we do for our sister, 
In the day when her concerns shall 

be treated of? 
Bridegroom. If she be a wall, 

We will build on her turrets of 

silver : 
If she be a door-way, 
We will frame around her soffits 

of cedar. 

Bride, [aside) I am a wall — and my breasts are 
like kiosks (6) ; 

Thence I appeared in his eyes as 
one in whom he might find 
peace (7), 

[Jlbsolutt Repose ; or Prosperity of 
, all kinds.] 

To Bridegroom. Solomon himself now has a fruitery 
at (8) Baal-Ham-aun ; 

That fruitery is committed to (9) in- 
spectors ; 

The chief (10) tenant shall bring as 
rent for its fruits, 

A thousand silverlings. 

My fruitery, my own, my own in- 
spection, 

Will yield a thousand to thee, Solo- 
mon : 

But (11) two hundred are due to 
the inspectors of its fruits.) 
Bridegroom. O thou [Dove] who residest in gar- 
dens, 

Thy companions listening await thy 

[cooing] voice, 
Let me especially hear it ! 
Bride. Fly to me swiftly, my beloved, 

And show thyself to be like the 

antelope or the young hart, 
On the mountains of aromatics ! 



Illustrations of the proposed Version. 

We are now prepared to review the characters of 
the principal speakers in this interesting poem. The 
Bride has been a ranger of parks, plantations, &c. 
is fond of gardens and rural enjoyment, and has a 
property of her own, of the same nature ; yet is a 
person of complete elegance of taste and of manners ; 
magnificent in her personal ornaments, and liberal 
with princely liberality in her disposition. She has 
been educated by her mother with the tenderest affec- 
tion, and is her only daugnter ; though her mother has 
several sons. The Bridegroom is noble in his per- 
son, magnificent in his equipage, palace, and pleas- 
ures ; active, military, of pleasing address and com- 
pliment, and one on whom his exalted rank and sta- 
tion sit remarkably easy. The Bride's Mother 
does not speak in any part of the poem ; it is only by 
what is said of her that we find she accompanied her 



daughter: whether this personage be her natural 
mother, or any confidential friend, deputed to that of- 
fice, might engage conjecture. The Bride's Compan- 
ions speak but little ; we think only once, at the close 
of the fourth day, if then. The Bridegroom's Com- 
panions speak, also, only on the same occasion. The 
Ladies of the Haram, or visitors to the Bride, 
are the first persons to compliment and to cheer her; 
and we think they seem to accompany in her train 
throughout the poem. It is likely that these visitors 
praise her in the first day, describe the palanquin in 
the third day, converse with the Bride in the fourth 
day, and admire her dress in the fifth day. These 
parts have hitherto been attributed to the Bride's 
Egyptian attendants ; but Ave rather suppose the in- 
formation they give, and the sentiments they com- 
municate, imply persons well acquainted with the 
Bridegroom and his court — that is, Jcivish attendants, 
maids of honor to the Bride : — or, May these pas- 
sages be spoken by the Queen Mother of the 
Bridegroom ? (See Queen Mother.) Some other 
persons also speak once at the opening of the sixth 
day ; their remark indicates that they stand near, or 
at the palace : for want of more precise knowledge 
of them, they are called " Attendants at the house :" 
say, the chief officers of the palace. But is this 
spoken by the ladies of the Haram? or by the queen 
mother ? 

The first day. — 1. May he salute me with affectionate 
salutations ' Though the import of the word neshek 
undoubtedly is to kiss, yet, in several passages of 
Scripture, it implies no more than mere salutation or 
addressing — a compliment paid on view of a per 
son or object. So those who are said, in our trans- 
lation, to have "kissed the image of Baal," did not 
kiss that image, strictly speaking, but kissed toward 
it ; that is to say, they kissed their hands, and refer- 
red that action to the image ; or kissed at a distance 
from it — addressed it respectfully by the salaam of 
the East. (See Adore, and Kiss.) This expression 
of the Bride, then, implies, simply, an apprehension 
or fear, (united with a wish to the contrary,) that 
when the Bridegroom sees her, he may think slight- 
ly of her person, her qualities, or attractions, and may 
refrain from paying his addresses to her. In reply, 
the ladies commend her beauty, and cheer her mod 
est solicitude, by praising her attractions and her ele- 
gances. They do not indeed praise her person, be- 
cause, according to the customs and decencies of the 
country, the Bridegroom cannot yet see that ; they 
only praise her general appearance, and what must 
first strike a beholder — what are most noticeable at 
the earliest interview- — at a first approach — that is, 
her polite manners and deportment ; also her per- 
fume's, to the diffusion of which they compare her 
renown for beauty. The importance of perfumes in 
the East is veiy great ; the lovers of the Arabian 
poets never omit to notice this attraction of their 
mistresses. 

"When the two nymphs arose, they diffused fragrance 

around them, 
As the zephyr scatters perfume from the Indian 

flower. 

Do not the perfumes of Khozami breathe ? 
Is it the fragrance of Hazer from Mecca, or the odor 
diffusing from Azza? 

She resembled the moon, and she waved like tno 
branches of Myrobalan, 



CANTICLES 



L 259 ] 



CANTICLES 



She diffused perfume like the ambergris, and looked 
beautiful like the fawn." 

Agreeably to this, we find in Scripture the remark, 
that, " Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart ;" 
(Prov. xxvii. 9.) and Isaiah, describing a female de- 
sirous of pleasing her paramour, represents her as 
" increasing her perfumes," chap. lvii. 9. (See also Es- 
ther ii. 12 ; Psalm xlv. 8 ; Prov. vii. 17.) The reader 
will observe the distance to which these perfumes are 
understood to extend their fragrance ; and, relatively, 
that to which the Bride's beauty was famous. 

2. Love-favors. It is usual to render this word 
(dudi) loves — but, by considering, (1.) That the la- 
dies say, they shall commemorate the (dudi) loves of 
the bride ; (2) that (dudi) loves are said to be poured 
out as from a bottle, or to be sent as presents to per- 
sons of integrities (plural); (3.) that the spouse in- 
vites the bride into the country, where he would give 
her his (dudi) loves ; it appears that Iovc-presents 
of some kind are the articles meant by the word. 
Suppose, for instance, the bride presented the ladies 
with curiously- worked handkerchiefs, [as is custcm- 
ary in the East,] the ladies might look on them, at a 
distance of time afterwards, with a pleasing recollec- 
tion of the person by whom they were given ; as is 
customary among ourselves. Such tokens are not 
valued for their intrinsic worth, but for the sake of 
the giver ; and, were it not trivial, we might quote a 
common inscription on this subject as coincident 
with the spirit of this passage, " When this you see, 
remember me." What other than a present of love 
can he poured out from a bottle — delicious wine, that 
might rouse the drowsy to discourse ? or why does 
the Spouse invite his Bride into the country, but in 
order to present her with its best productions ; some 
of which, he tells her, were stored up, and expressly 
reserved for her reception ? Such is the meaning of 
this word, in this place : favors bestowed as the ef- 
fect of love — to remunerate love ; or designed to 
conciliate love, to excite regard toward the presenter 
of the gift. We have used the word favors, since 
that word implies, occasionally, personal decorations ; 
as at marriages, ribands, &c. given by the bride to 
the attendants, or others, are termed bride-favors, or 
simply favors. 

3. The bride proceeds to invite her visitors (as we 
suppose) into the interior of her apartments ; and, 
from good manners, desires them to precede her ; 
which they, with equal good manners, decline. The 
word meshek signifies to advance toward a place ; as 
Judg. iv. 6, "Go and draiv toward mount Tabor, and 
take with thee ten thousand men ;" that is, go first 
to mount Tabor, and be followed by thine army — 
head thine army — precede it. Job xxi. 33, " He 
goeth to the grave, where he (meshuh) precedes a 
great many men ; and so draws them toward him ; 
as he himself has been preceded by many who have 
died before him." Job xxviii. 18, "The price, (me- 
shek,) the precedence of wisdom — its attraction — is 
preferable to rubies." Jer. xxxi. 3, " I have loved 
thee with an everlasting love : therefore with loving- 
kindness have I preceded thee ;" as we say, been be- 
forehand with thee, " drawn thee toward me." Such 
appears to be the import of the word, which, there- 
fore, is in this place rendered — lead the way, that is, 
precede me. 

4. TTie king's chamber. This word, though usually 
rendered chamber, can only mean, in general, his 
apartments, his residence ; the word is used to this 
purport, Deut xxxii. 25 • Prov. xxiv. 4 ; Jer. xxxv. 2 ; 



and we have among ourselves an instance of a simi- 
lar application of the word chamber. In Richard III. 
Shakspeare makes Buckingham say to the young 
king, "Welcome, sweet prince, to London, to your 
chamber :" the reason is, London, from being the 
usual residence of the king, was called camera regis, 
" the king's chamber." It might justly be rendered 
"rooms;" so we have the rooms at Bath, at Mar- 
gate, &c. or chambers in a palace — as the ever-mem- 
orable Star chamber, the Jerusalem chamber, the 
painted chamber, &c. that is, anartments. But here 
it evidently means the Haram or women's apart- 
ment, the secluded chamber, into which the Bride 
invites the ladies ; and where the latter part of 
this eclogue passes, being transferred, as we suppose, 
from the parlor below to the Haram above ; or from 
the parlor exterior, to the Haram interior. 

5. Treated me contemptuously, literally, " snorted at 
me ;" which perhaps might be rendered by our Eng- 
lish phrase, " turned up their noses at me ;" — but 
how would that read in a poem ? To spurn does 
not correctly express the idea, as that action rather 
refers to a motion of the foot; whereas, this term 
expresses a movement of a feature, or of the entire 
countenance. 

6. Inspectress of the fruiteries. This, we imagine, is 
somewhat analogous to our office of ranger of a royal 
park ; an office of some dignity, and of more emol- 
ument : it is bestowed on individuals of noble families 
among ourselves ; and is sometimes held by females 
of the most exalted rank ; as the princess Sophia of 
Gloucester, who is ranger of a part of Bagshot park; 
the princess of Wales, who was ranger of Greenwich 
park, &c. and the office is consistent even with 
royal dignity. This lady, then, was appointed ran 
ger — governess, directress of these plantations ; which 
appears to have been perfectly agreeable to her nat- 
ural taste and disposition, although she alludes, with 
great modesty, to her exposure to the sun's rays, in a 
more southern climate, by means of this office, as an 
apology for a complexion which might be thought by 
Jerusalem females to be somewhat tanned. 

7. Fruiteries. The word signifies not restrictively 
vineyards, but places producing various kinds of 
plants ; for we find the al-henna came from " the 
fruiteries of En-gedi," the plantations, not merely 
vineyards, of "the fountain of Gadi," or the "springs 
of Gadi," chap. i. 14. See No. 12. below. 

8. Beloved of my heart, strictly, beloved by my per- 
son ; but as this is rather an uncouth phrase in Eng- 
lish, the reader will excuse the substitution of one 
more familiar. The word is 'Very improperly ren- 
dered soul, by our translators, throughout the Old 
Testament, though the usage of their time, as appears 
from the best writers, pleads strongly in their ex- 
cuse. — "That soul shall die" — "that soul shall be cut 
off," read person ; for in many places the actions and 
functions, or qualities, of the body, are attributed to 
it ; sometimes those of a living body, sometimes those 
of a dead body ; where we cannot suppose it means a 
dead soul. It may be considered as a general word, 
expressing a person's self : and sir William Jones 
was obliged to use this term self, on more than one 
occasion, in translating a cognate word from the 
Arabic ; as for instance — "he threw his self into the 
water," where it would be extremely erroneous to 
say, "hissowZ,"in our common acceptation of that 
term. 

9. Elegant. We observed, in considering the 
Ship of Tyre, that the word ipi might refer less to 
beauty of person than has been thought. Wc sup- 



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[ 260 ] 



CANTICLES 



pose our word handsome may answer to it, in a gen- 
eral sense ; and we say, oot only a handsome per- 
son, but a handsome dress, handsome behavior, 
speech, &c. We have preferred the term elegant as 
implying all these ideas, but as being more usually con- 
nected with person and manners ; for we rather say, " a 
lady of elegant manners," than of handsome manners. 

10. This passage is examined in the article on 
Marriage Processions. The principles of that ex- 
planation seem to be just. Otherwise, the comparison 
might be, " To my own mare, which is the prime among 
the high-bred hoi'ses I have received from Pharaoh." 

11. Circle. This is precisely according to the 
usage of the East ; the royal personage sits on his 
seat, and his friends stand round him, on each side, 
forming a segment of a circle. The friends of the 
Bridegroom are, we suppose, his companions ; but 
on this first visit he might, perhaps, be accompanied 
by other attendants, for the greater dignity and bril- 
liancy of the interview. Nevertheless, thirty com- 
panions might form a sufficient circle : and one can 
hardly suppose the king of Israel had fewer than 
Samson, (at that time a private person,) Judg. xiv. 
10. aud Ps. exxviii. 3. 

12. Jll-Henna; see Camphire. "The planta- 
tions, or fruiteries, of En-gedi." These were not far 
from Jericho : they did not so much contain vines as 
aromatic shrubs, including, perhaps, the famous bal- 
sam of Judea. It may be thought from Ezek. xlviii 
10. that En-gedi was a watery situation ; perhaps not 
far from the river, beside being itself a fountain. 
This agrees with Dr. Shaw's account of al-henna : he 
says, it requires much water ; as well as the palm, for 
which tree Jericho was famous, and from which it 
derived an appellation. 

13. Elegant ; magnificent. We think the Bride- 
groom here compliments his Bride on the general 
elegance of her appearance (ipi) ; for, as she is veil- 
ed all over, he cannot see the features of her counte- 
nance : he catches, however, a glimpse of her eyes 
through her veil, aud those he praises, as being 
doves' 1 ; for which we refer to a following remark. 
(See Veil.) She returns the compliment, by prais- 
ing his elegance (ipi); but as this elegance refers to 
his palace, it seems here to be properly rendered mag- 
nificence ; which, indeed, as we have observed, is its 
meaning elsewhere. She notices this magnificence, 
as displayed in the cedar, and other costly woods, 
which adorned those apartments of the palace into 
which she had been conducted ; not forgetting that 
evei-acceptable ornament in the East, the green 
grass-plat before the door, which, beside being green, 
was also in this palace adorned with the most state- 
ly and brilliant flowers, compared to which, says the 
Bride, I am not worthy of mention ; I am not a 
palace-flower, not a fragrant rose, carefully cultivat- 
ed in a costly vase ; or a noble lily, planted in a rich 
and favorable soil ; I am a rose of the field, a lily 
from the side of the humble water-course, the sim- 
ple — the shaded valley. To this her self-degrada- 
tion, the Bridegroom returns an affectionate dissent ; 
and here concludes their first interview ; whose chief 
characteristics may be gathered from observing, that 
it is, (1.) short, (2.) distant, (3.) general, (4.) that not 
the slightest approach to any freedom between the 
parties is discoverable in it ; which perfectly agrees 
with our ideas on the import of the opening line of 
this eclogue. 

14. Green ; flowery. It has been remarked, that 
the word here used has both these significations ; and 



if, as we suppose, it refers to the green grass before 
the pavilion, and to the flowers, and flowering 
shrubs, in pots and vases, standing close by the pa- 
vilion, it is applicable to both ideas. On this subject 
there is an appropriate passage in Tavernier : " I never 
left the court of Persia, but some of the lords, es- 
pecially four of the white eunuchs, begged of me to 
bring some flowers out of France ; for they have every 
one a garden before their chamber door ; and happy is he 
that can present the king with a posy of flowers in a 
crystal flower-pot." We know, also, that banquets, 
&c. are held in gardens adjoining the residences of 
persons of opulence, in the East: and when Ahasue- 
rus, rising from table, went into the palace-garden, 
(Esther vii. 7.) he had not far to go ; but might quit 
the banquet chamber, and return to it in an instant ; 
for, evidently, the garden was adjacent. The idea of 
flowery verdure also applies to the rendering of oresh 
— carpet, or covering ; not bed. (See Bed.) That a 
bed for sleeping on should be green, is no great proof 
of magnificence ; but an extensive bed of flowers, as 
it were, in full view of a parlor opening into it, 
would at once delight the senses of sight and smell, 
and would deserve mention, when elegances were 
the subjects of discourse. 

16. After the Bridegroom is withdrawn, the Bride 
expresses herself to the ladies with less reserve. Her 
conversation no longer refers to the palace, but to 
her beloved ; she resumes the recently suggested 
simile of the citron-tree, which, being a garden plant, 
naturally leads her thoughts to a kiosk in a garden, 
where, when they should be in private together, 
they might partake of refreshments; and while 
they should be sitting on the Duan, (see Bed,) 
he might rest his arm on the cushion, which 
supported her head, while his right arm was free 
to offer her refreshments, citrons, &c. or to em- 
brace her. She concludes by saying, that in such a 
pleasing seclusion she would not choose their mutu- 
al affection should be interrupted ; and alludes to the 
very startling antelopes and deer, as the most timid 
creatures she could select, and those most likely to 
be frightened at intrusion on their retreats. 

17. Deep shadow. As the orange-tree does not 
grow to any height, or extent, in Britain, answerable 
to this idea of a deep shadow, we must take the opin- 
ion of those who have seen it in, or near, perfection: 
a single witness may be sufficient, if the orange-trees 
of Judea may be estimated by those of Spain. No 
doubt but the Bride's comparison implies a noble 
tree, a grand tree of its kind. The following are 
from Mr. Swinburne's travels in Spain : "The day 
was sultry, aud I could with pleasure have lolled it 
out in the prior's garden, under the shade of a 
noble lemon-tree, refreshed by the soft perfumes 
ascending on every side, from the neighboring or- 
chards." ..." Being very hot and hungry, we made 
the best of our way home, through large plantations 
of orange-trees, which hete grow to the size of 
moderate timber trees ; the fruit is much more 
pleasing to the eye, if less so to the palate, than the 
oranges of Portugal, as the rich blood color is ad- 
mirably contrasted with the bright tint of the leaves.' 
Pages 250, 260. 

18. That the fruit here meant is not " apples," but 
citrons, is now so generally admitted, that we need 
not stay to prove it: nevertheless, it is proper to 
mention it, that this rendering may not seem to be 
adopted without authority. Almost every writer has 
proofs on this subject. See Apple-Tree 



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The second day. — 1. Bride at her ivind,ow hears Ihe 
hunting-horn. This we think probable, from what 
follows ; the directions of the Bridegroom to his com- 
panions to catch the jackals, partly prove it ; perhaps, 
however, the poet hints, that though, when he set 
out, the prince designed to be of their party, yet, af- 
ter conversation with his Beloved, he is tempted to 
send them alone on that expedition. It is very nat- 
ural that this passing by the Bride's windows should 
occur, if Solomon dwelt below, and was going out 
at a gate above, in the palace ; or even if his chase 
were restricted to the area within the walls, it might 
easily lead him to pass the upper wing of the palace, 
and the windows of the haram. 

2. Music. This is considered in the article on 
Marriage Processions. Are not these hills, these 
rising grounds, within the park of the palace ? If so, 
then perhaps the Bridegroom, in a following day, in- 
vites his Bride to no very distant or very dangerous 
I lioiris' haunts," or " panther mountains ;" — but to 
hillocks, &c. in his park, known by these appella- 
tions. We say perhaps, because, though such names 
are given to parts of a royal palace in the East, yet 
the mention of Lebanon seems to infer a more dis- 
tant excursion. 

3. Seated in his (4) carriage. See the Plate of Ve- 
hicles, p. 269. Also for (5) the windows ; and for 
(6) the blinds, or lattices. 

7. My Dove hid in the clefts of the rocks. To un- 
derstand this simile, consider the Bridegroom as be- 
ing in the garden, below the windows of the cham- 
ber, within which openings the Bride is seen by him ; 
now, windows in the East are not only narrow, but 
they have cross-bars, like those of our sashes, in 
them : the interposition of these prevents a full view 
of the lady's person ; so that she resembles a dove 
peeping, as it were, over, or from within, the clefts 
in a rock ; and only partly visible ; that is, retiring, 
her head and neck, or crop, "which," says the Bride- 
groom, "though I can but just discern, I perceive is 
lovely." Observe, too, that she is closely veiled ; the 
retiring, timid dove, therefore, is the comparison. — 
The Bridegroom continues the simile of the dove, 
praises (8) her turgid crop, and her pleasant voice ; 
this, in a dove, can only be the (9) cooing, or call, of 
that bird, which, under this simile, he desires to hear 
directed toward himself. 

10. My Beloved is mine, and I am his. Does this 
mean, " I am all obedience to his requests ? Our en- 
joyments now are mutual, and it shall be my happi- 
ness to accomplish his desires." What is the import 
of the phrase " feeding among lilies ?" — Who feeds? 
— who is fed? — why among lilies? 

11. Bether. This might be rendered " the craggy 
mountains ;" and if it were certain that the ibex or 
rock-goat, or the chamois, was that particular species 
of gazelle which we have rendered " antelope," it 
might be very proper to preserve that translation ; 
but as Egypt is not a mountainous country, but a 
valley, could the Bride know any thing of the rock- 
goat ? On the other hand, were the mountains of 
Bether famous for swift goats ? — -and how should the 
Bride know that particular ? 

12. Till night I seek him ; meaning, I have waited 
for my Beloved all the evening; and now, though it 
be too late to expect his company, still I seek him : 
my disappointment is great ; — but how to remedy 
it? — Shall I go into the city ? for I am sure he is not 
at home ; I am sure, if he were in his palace, he 
would visit me. The whole of this speech is under- 
stood to be in the optative mood ; we have rather used 



the subjunctive English mood, as more likely to con- 
vey its true import. 

13. City. See the article on Jerusalem, where 
we have suggested the probability of the term City, 
in Acts xii. denoting the City of David. We would 
suggest the same here ; and submit, that the Bride 
does not mean the City of Jerusalem, but the streets, 
the broad places, the handsome courts, squares, &c. 
of the City of David, her present royal residence. 
Under this idea, should she venture on an evening 
promenade, she would be near her apartments, and 
never beyond the walls of her palace : but even this 
she declines; not choosing to expose herself to inci- 
dental meetings with the guards or watchmen. To 
suppose that she has any inclination to ramble in Je- 
rusalem at large, is to forget that she is a foreigner, 
and very recently arrived : how could she know her 
way about that city ? 

Tlie third day.— I. What is that—? In the origi- 
nal, " Wlw is that" — ? But this has been regarded as 
an error of transcribers. If the original word were 
what, then the palanquin is the subject of this inquiry ; 
and to this the answer is given ; if the original word 
were ivho, then the answer implies that the royal own- 
er was seated in this vehicle. But there appears no 
subsequent reference to him. We have rather 
thought that the general turn of the question leads 
to the word what : the reader will take his choice, as 
either word implies the same import, and will justify 
the same answer. 

2. Vast column of smoke. This strong expression 
[plural] is by no means too strong for the poet's de- 
sign : the word is used in Joel ii. 30. to denote the 
smoke of a volcano, or other abundant discharge of 
smoke, rising high in the air like a cloud. The im- 
mense quantity of perfumes burning around the ap- 
proaching visitor is alluded to with very great address, 
under this prodigious comparison. The burning of 
perfumes in the East, in the preceding part of pro- 
cessions, is both very ancient, and very general. 
Deities (images) were probably the first honored 
with this ceremony, and afterwards their supposed 
vicegerents, human divinities. We have a relic of 
the same custom still existing among ourselves, in the 
flowers strewed or borne in public processions, at cor- 
onations, &c. and before our great officers of state ; 
as the lord chancellor, the speaker of the House of 
Commons ; and in some corporations the mace, as an 
ensign of office, has the same origin, though now re- 
duced to a gilded ornament only. 

3. Palanquin. See the Plate of Vehicles, below. 

4. Fearless. We rather think this epithet describes 
the commander of these guards, " the man," that is, the 
head man, or chief, (see No. 10. of the Sixth Day,) 
as a brave fellow ; of tried courage, void of fear, in 
the very darkest night, or rather, at all times: the 
composition of the Hebrew word (with > ) favors 
this thought ; and we think, had not the bed, the sleep- 
ing bed, unluckily preceded it, this word would not 
have been deviated by translators from its proper im- 
port ; to which we have endeavored to restore it. 

5. This passage would startle the reader if he had 
not been prepared for it by what we have already 
said. This arrangement of the words is unusual in 
Hebrew, yet in poetry is very natural ; it merely re- 
fers the subject described to the following words de- 
scribing it, instead of the foregoing words, to which 
it has hitherto been usual to refer it. We shall see 
by the Plates the proprieties which accompany, as 
natural inferences, this manner of regulating the pas- 
sage. See the Plate of Vehicles. 



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[ 2C2 ] 



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6. Head-Circlet. This might be rendered bandeau; 
but then we could not have preserved the play of 
words ; for to have said, " the bandeau with which 
his mother banded, or bandaged, his head," would have 
been intolerable : the expression in our language be- 
comes ludicrous ; we have therefore preferred circlet, 
with which his mother encircled him. What this cir- 
clet was, we may see on another occasion more fully ; 
b it the Plate of the Bridegroom's Dress will assist 
us in part. (See p. 271.) 

7. Bridegroom having seen his Bride for the first 
time. This we infer, because this is his tirst descrip- 
tion of her, or the first compliment he pays to her 
person ,• he praised, in the first day, her general de- 
portment ; in the second day, he only compared her 
neck to that of a dove, that being all he had yet seen ; 
but now, the poet seems to say that he takes advan- 
tage of her contemplation of the royal palanquin to 
inspect her countenance ; which also she has suffered 
to be seen, partially at least. (See Nos. 7. 8. of the 
Second Day.) Observe, he only praises so much of 
her person as we may suppose he could discern, 
while she was standing behind the window ; that is 
to say, her face, her hair, (seen in front,) her neck, 
and her bosom ; having caught a glimpse of these, he 
praises them ; but his Bride has modestly stolen away, 
and returns no answer. She hears him, no doubt, 
with internal pleasure ; but the complete sight of her 
being a favor not yet to be granted, she withholds 
her approbation from the incident which had been 
too much his friend. Observe the art of the poet, 
who introduces an incident, whereby he favors the 
Lover with a gratification to which he was not, strict- 
ly speaking, entitled ; yet contrives to save the delica- 
cy of his Bride entirely harmless and irreproachable: 
he gives to the Bride the choice of what time — how 
long — she would continue at the window ; yet from 
the accident of her going to the window without her 
veil, if the introduction of his palanquin were a plot 
in the Bridegroom, we perceive, by his subsequent 
discourse, that his plot had succeeded ; — and this 
without the smallest imputation on the delicacy of the 
person who was the object of his contrivance. 

8. Between thy locks. The word rendered loclis 
seems to imply that portion of — those curls of — the 
hair which plays around the forehead : whereas, the 
word rendered tresses seems to denote those braids 
which fall down the back of the wearer. (See the 
Plate of the Bride's Dress, below.) Agreeably to 
this supposition, we do not recollect that the king has 
praised her tresses, because he had not seen them ; 
having only seen his Lady in front ; but he praises 
her locks, two or three times ; they being such parts 
of her hair as, in beholding her person in front, nat- 
urally met his inspection. 

9. 10. There is an opposition in this passage which 
requires elucidation. Thy hair, or braids of hair, 
falling on thy shoulders, are like the long hairs of the 
Angora species of goat, whose staple is of great length, 
and very silky, (some of them have been made into 
muffs for our ladies,) which hang down, but bend and 
wave in hanging. Opposed to this is a flock of sheep, 
closely shorn, trimmed of their wool ; no superflu- 
ity, but uniform and perfect neatness. The goats 
are descending at mount Gilead ; where, we suppose, 
the way was winding and tortuous, making the flock 
appear the longer, and more numerous, to a person 
standing at the foot of the mount: the sheep are com- 
ing vp on mount Cassius ; suppose such a road, as 
apparently or really compresses them into one com- 
pany ; (especially if seen by a person standing ->n the 



top of the mount ;) or which only admits two at 
time to pass along it. Mount Gilead was at the ex- 
tremity of Judea, north : mount Cassius was at the 
extremity of Judea, south. The contrast is, that of 
long hair lengthened by convolutions of descent ; op- 
posed to the utmost smoothness contracted into the 
narrowest space. 

11. As to the rendering of " mount Cassius," in- 
stead of "the washing:" — (1.) It rises from reading 
the original as two words, instead of one ; which, in 
fact, does not deserve the name of an alteration : (2.) 
as mount Gilead is a place, the parallelism requires a 
place for this verse ; which, (3.) the oppositions we 
have above remarked fully justify. This correction 
restores the poetry of the passage ; and is perfectly 
agreeable to the usages of Hebrew poetry in general, 
and of this Song in particular. 

12, 13. Blushing ; white. These verses, we appre- 
hend, maintain an opposition of a nature similar to 
that illustrated in the foregoing remarks: blushing 
like a pomegranate ; — ivhitc as a marble tower. We 
presume, that the inference of blushing is not to the 
flower of the pomegranate, but to the inner part of 
its rind when the fruit is cut open ; which certainly is 
sufficiently blushing. The comparison of the female 
complexion to the rind, or skin, of ruddy fruits is 
common in all nations. It is among ourselves a com- 
pliment rather popular than elegant, to say of a young 
woman, "She blushes like a Catharine pear:" but 
comparisons derived from the blushes of the peach are 
used not only in good company but by good writers. 

14. The tower of David, built on a commanding em- 
inence. Probably this tower was part of the palace 
of David; or it might be a guard-house, which stood 
alone, on some hillock of his royal residence. The 
allusion, we presume, is to the lady's neck rising from 
her shoulders and bosom, majestically slender, grace- 
ful, and delicate as the cleai'est marble ; of which ma- 
terial, probably, this tower of David was constructed. 
On the neck of this lady was hung, by way of orna- 
ment, a row or collet of gems, some of which were 
polished, prominent, and oval in shape ; these the 
speaker assimilates to the shields which were hung 
round the tower of David, as military embellishments. 
We would ask, however, whether these shields, thus 
hung on the outside of this tower, were not trophies 
taken from the vanquished ; — if so, antiquity explains 
this custom at once, arid the royal lover may be un- 
derstood as saying, " My father David hung many 
shields of those warriors whom he had subdued, 
many shields of the mighty, as trophies of his prowess, 
around the tower which he built as an armory ; 
trophies no less splendid, and of conquests no less 
numerous over princes vanquished by your beauty, 
adorn your neck." (See 1 Mace. iv. 57.) This is not 
all ; as the word for shields seems to imply a shield 
borne before a warrior ; as before Goliath, when sub- 
dued by David, 1 Sam. xvi. 7. 

15. Thy two nipples. Here we cannot, we appre- 
hend, adopt any other rendering ; for the simile seems 
to allude to two young red antelopes, who, feeding 
among lilies, and being much shorter than the flow- 
ers, are wholly obscured by them, except the tips of 
their noses, which they put up to reach the flowers, 
growing on their majestic stems. As these red tips 
are seen among the white lilies, so are the nipples 
just discernible through the transparent gauze, or 
muslin, which covers the lady's bosom. Otherwise, 
the breast itself is compared to lilies, on account of 
its whiteness ; above which peeps up the red nose of 
the beautiful gazelle. 



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16. Lebanon. This may be understood as if he 
had said, " Your Egypt is a low, a level country ; but 
we have here most delightful and extensive prospects. 
What a vast country we see from mount Lebanon !" 
&c. And this may very possibly be the true sense of 
the invitation ; but we submit, whether these appel- 
lations were not names of places within the precincts 
of the royal park. Such occur in the East ; and to 
such, we suspect, is the allusion of this passage. 

17. Carried captive my heart ; robbed me of my 
heart, and carried it off, as a prisoner of war, into 
slavery : so we say among ourselves, such a one has 
" lost his heart," — " his heart is caotivated ;" which is 
the idea here. 

18. By one sally of thine eyes that is, of which I 
just get a glimpse, behind or between thy veil ; or, of 
which the sparkles, shooting through thy veil, reach 
me ; and that with irresistible effect ; even to my 
heart's captivity, as above. The comparison of 
glances of the eyes to darts, or other weapons, is 
common in the poets. 

19. Spouse. The first time we meet with this word, 
calah, it implies bride : but, we think, it is capable 
of being referred to either sex, like our word spouse. 
The .Bridegroom adds, my sister, (see Abraham,) but 
the Bride, in her answer, though she adopts the word 
spouse, yet omits the term brother ; we suppose, be- 
cause that was understood to convey a freedom not 
yet becoming her modesty to assume ;— she goes so 
far ; but no farther. The reader will perceive several 
words attached, in elucidation of this appellation, to 
the places where it occurs. 

20. Around thee shoot plants ; literally, " thy shoots 
are plants," &c. By means of this supplement, we 
presume, the ideas of the poet are, for the first time, 
rendered clear, correct, and connected. The impor- 
tance of water, fountains, springs, &c. in the East, is 
well known ; but the peculiar importance of this arti- 
cle to a garden, and that garden appropriated to aro- 
matic plants, must be very striking to an oriental 
reader. By way of meeting some ideas that have been 
suggested, we shall add, that the Bride is a fountain, 
&c. securely locked up from the Bridegroom, at pres- 
ent ; that is, he is not yet privileged to have complete 
access to her. What the advantages of water to a 
garden of aromatics might be, we may guess from 
the nature of the plants ; the following extract from 
Swinburne may contribute to assist our conjectures : 
" A large party of sprightly damsels and young men 
that were walking here were much indebted to us 
for making the water-works play, by means of a 
small bribe to the keeper. Nothing can be more de- 
licious than these sprinklings in a hot day ; all the 
flowers seemed to acquire new vigor ; the odors exhaled 
fromthe orange, citron, and lemon trees, greiv more 
poignant, more balsamic, and the company ten times 
more alive than they were ; it was a true April show- 
er. We sauntered near two hours in the groves, till 
we were quite in ecstasy with sweets. It is a most heav- 
enly residence in spring, and I should think the sum- 
mer heats might be tempered and rendered support- 
able enough by the profusion of water that they en- 
joy at Seville." (Travels in Spain, p. 252.) The 
following description of - his mistress, by an Arabian 
lover, in Richardson's Arab. Gram. (p. 151.) bears 
much similitude to several allusions in the poem be- 
fore us: — 

Her mouth was like the Solomon's seal, 
And her cheeks like anemonies, 
And her lips like two carnations, 



And her teeth like pearls set in coral, 
And her forehead like the new moon ; 
And her lips were sweeter than honey, 
And colder than the pure water. 

How very different from our own is that climate 
wherein the coldness of pure water is a subject 
of admiration ! — a comparison to the lips of the 
fair ! 

21. ft^The nard. As this plant occurs in the 
close of the former verse, should it again occur here ? 
Can the words be differently connected ? or is a 
word unfortunately dropped ? or what fragrant shrub 
should be substituted for the nard? but observe, 
that in one passage the word nard is singular, in the 
other it is plural. 

22. We are so accustomed to consider the aloe as 
a bitter, because of the medical drug of that name, (an 
inspissated juice,) that we are hardly prepared to re- 
ceive this allusion to the delicious scent of the flowers 
of this plant ; but that it justly possesses and main- 
tains a place among the most fragrant aromatics, we 
are well assured : — " This morning, like many of the 
foregoing ones, was delicious ; the sun rose glorious- 
ly out of the sea, and the air all around was perfum- 
ed with the effluvia of the aloe, as its rays sucked up 
the dew from the leaves." (Swinburne's Travels 
through Spain. Letter xii.) 

23. Sink, thou southern gale. On this avertive sense 
of the word ba, see the article Shijloh. Had this 
sevitiment been uttered in England, we should have 
reversed the injunction ; but, in Judea, the heat of the 
south wind would have suffocated the fragrancy of 
the garden, to which the north wind would have been 
every way favorable. To desire the north wind to 
blow at the same time when the south wind blows, is 
surely perverted philosophy, inconsistent poetry, and 
miserable divinity. 

24. / am come into my garden ; that is, " I already 
enjoy the pleasure of your company and conversa- 
tion ; these are as grateful to my mind as delicious 
food could be to my palate : I could not drink wine 
and milk with greater satisfaction : I am enjoying it. 
And you,' my friends, partake the relish of those pleas- 
ures which you hear from the lips of my beloved, and 
of those elegances which you behold in her deport- 
ment and address." 

The fourth day. — 1. The Bride says explicitly, that 
these occurrences happened in a dream, 11 1 slept f — 
which at once removes all ideas of indelicacy, as to 
the Bridegroom's attempt to visit her, her going to 
the door, standing there, calling him, being found by 
the watchmen, beaten, wounded, &c. Moreover, 
she seems to have supposed herself to be previously 
married, by mentioning her radid, or deep veil, which 
in reality, we presume, she had not yet worn, as the 
marriage had not actually taken place ; and, though 
betrothed, she probably did not wear it till the wed- 
ding. That the word heart in this passage means 
imagination, dreaming imagination, fancy, appears 
from Eccles. ii. 23 : " The days of laborious man are 
sorrows ; his doing vexations, yea, even in the night- 
time his heart does not rest :" he is still dreaming of 
still engaged about, the subject of his daily labors. — 
This sense of the word heart is not uncommon in the 
Proverbs. 

2. The voice, that is, sound, of my beloved, knocking. 
For the same reasons for which we have rendered 
voice, music, in the Second Day, (2) we have rendered 
voice, sound, in this place ; since the sound of a rapping 
against a door is not properly a voice ; and since the 



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word bears a more general sense than voice, restrict- 
ively. 

3. Lock. On the nature of the locks used in the 
East, Mr. Harmer has said something, and we mean 
to say more elsewhere, with a Plate and explana- 
tion. 

4. Chamber of my heart. See the article Ship. 

5. Standard of ten thousand :— -chief, say many ; — 
standard, say others ; — he for whom the standard is 
borne, say some, observing, that the word lias a pas- 
sive import ; (the standard was a fiery beacon ;) — he 
who carries this beacon — no, that is too laborious — he 
for whom, in whose honor, to light whom, this stan- 
dard is carried; he who shines, glitters, dazzles, by 
the light of it : and, lastly, comes the present elucida- 
tor — what forbids that this royal Bridegroom should 
himself be the standard that leads, that precedes, that 
is followed by — imitated by — ten thousand ? So 
Shakspeare describes Hotspur — 

His honor stuck upon him, as the sun 

In the gray vault of heaven, and by his light 

Did all the chivalry of England move 

To do brave acts : he was indeed the glass 

Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves. 

So that, in speech, in gait, 

In diet, in affections of delight, 

In military rules, humors of blood, 

He was the mark and glass, copy and book, 

That fashioned others ! — And him O wondrous 

him ! 
O miracle of men ! 

6. His eyes are like doves. Nothing can more strik- 
ingly evince the necessity for acquaintance with the 
East, as well in its natural history as in other articles, 
than this passage, and the other passages in which 
eyes are compared to doves ; our translators say, " to 
the eyes of doves," which, as it may be understood to 
imply meekness, tenderness, &c. has usually passed 
without correction : but the facts are, (1.) that our 
translators have added the word eyes ; and (2.) that 
they took black for white. They had in their mind 
the white pigeon, or, at least, the light-colored turtle- 
dove ; whereas the most common pigeon, or dove, in 
the East, is the deep blue, or blue-gray pigeon, whose 
brilliant plumage vibrates around his neck every 
sparkling hue, every dazzling flash of color : and to 
this pigeon the comparison of the author refers. 
The deep blue pigeon, standing amid the foam of a 
water-fall, would be — a blue centre surrounded by a 
white space on each side of him, analogous to the iris 
of the eye, surrounded by the white of the eye. But, 
as the foam of this water-fall is not brilliant enough 
to satisfy the poet, he has placed this deep blue pigeon 
in a pond of milk, or in a garden basin of milk, 
where, he says, he turns himself round, to parallel the 
dipping of the former verse : he wantons, sports, 
frisks : so sportive, rolling, and glittering, is the eye, 
the iris of my beloved. The milk, then, denotes the 
white of the eye, and the pigeon surrounded by it 
the iris : that is, "the iris of his eye is like a deep blue 
pigeon, standing in the centre of a pool of milk." 
The comparison is certainly extremely poetical and 
picturesque. Those who can make sense of our 
public translation are extremely favored in point of 
ingenuity. This idea had not escaped the poets of 
Hiudostan , for we have in the Gitagovinda the fol- 
lowing passage : " The glances of her eyes played 
like a pair of -water-birds of azure plumage, that sport 
near a full-blown lotos on a pool in the season of dew." 



The pools of Heshbon afford a different comparison 
to the eyes of the Bride ; dark, deep, and serene, are 
her eyes ; so are those pools, dark, deep, and serene : 
- — but were they also surrounded by a border of dark- 
colored marble, analogous to the border of stibium 
drawn along the eye-lids of the spouse, and render- 
ing them apparently larger, fuller, deeper ? As this 
comparison is used where ornaments of dress are the 
particular subjects of consideration, we think it not 
impossible to be correct ; and certainly it is by no 
means contradictory to the ideas contained in the 
simile recently illustrated. (See No. 9. in the Fifth 
Day.) For the particulars of the Dress, see the Plates 
of dresses and their explanations, infra. 

7. Decorated as Tirzah, &c. The whole of this 
eclogue, we apprehend, is composed of military allu- 
sions and phrases ; consequently the cities, with the 
mention of which it opens, were those most famous 
for handsome fortifications. " Thou art [ipi] decorat- 
ed as Tirzah ; — [naweh] adorned as Jerusalem ; — 
[aimeh] ornamented in a splendid, sparkling, radiant 
manner, as bannered ranks, or corps of soldiers, are 
ornamented ; which is not far from the compliment 
formerly paid her as resembling an officer of cavahy, 
riding with dignity among the horse of Pharaoh : nor 
is it unlike the reference of the prince himself to a 
[fiery] standard, in the preceding eclogue. See what 
is said on the banner of the heavens in a following 
verse : these banners, we must recollect, were 
flaming fire-pots, usually carried on the top of a 
staff. 

8. Wheel about thine eyes : literally, do that return, 
or, at least, turn round: but this phrase is not in our 
language either military or poetical ; we have, there- 
fore, adopted a word of command, whose import is 
of the same nature, and whose application has been 
sufficiently familiar to us of late. 

9. My station, literally, my region, the ground I 
occupy with my troops, my post, in a military sense ; 
which station you attack, and by your attack force 
me to give ground, to retire ; you drive me off, over- 
power me, advance into my territories, and, in spite 
of my resistance, add them by victory and conquest 
to your own. These are clearly military ideas, and 
therefore, we suppose, are expressed in military 
terms. 

10. Here follow four lines, or verses, repeated from 
the second eclogue of the second day. They have 
every appearance of being misplaced ; a mere dupli- 
cate of the former passage. It should seem rather 
unlikely that, in so short a poem, such a duplication 
should be inserted intentionally. Whether these 
lines replace others which should be here, or merely 
are a repetition, the reader will judge for himself 
by the connection, or want of connection, of the 
passage. 

* Dazzling as the streamers ? a comet The 
reader will probably be startled at this idea, as we 
also should have been, had we not accidentally met 
with the following Arabic verses in Richard- 
son : — 

When I describe your beauty, my thoughts are 

perplexed, 
Whether to compare it 

To the sun, to the moon, or to the wandering star 
[a comet]. 

Now this idea completes the climax of the pas- 
sage, which was greatly wanted ; so that the com- 
parisons stand, (1.) day-break, a small glimmering 



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light ; (2.) the moon ; (full moon ?) (3.) the sun Near- 
ly shining : (4.) the comet ; which, seen by night, is 
dazzling ; as it were, the fiery banner, or streamer of 
the hosts of heaven ; such a phenomenon has ever 
been among the most terrific objects to the eyes of 
the simple Arab, on whose deep blue sky it glows in 
tremendous perfection. Is this word plural by em- 
phasis? — meaning, the chief of streamers; the 
streamer, par excellence. 

The comparison of a lady to the full moon is fre- 
quently adopted in Arabia : 

She appeared like the full moon in a night of joy, 
Delicate in limbs, and elegant of stature. 

We cannot refrain from observing how happily 
this comet illustrates tho simile, in Jude 13 : " Wan- 
dering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of 
darkness for ever." As the apostle uses the word 
planetai, it has been usual to suppose he alludes to 
neighboring orbs, the planets, whose motions appear 
very irregular ; sometimes direct, sometimes station- 
ary, sometimes retrograde ; but, if we i >fer his ex- 
pression to comets, then we see at once how they 
may be said to remain in perpetual darkness, after 
their brilliancy is extinct ; which idea is not applica- 
ble to the planets. We may add, that the Chaldeans 
held comets to be a species of planets, (Senec. 
Quest. Nat.) that the Pythagoreans included com- 
ets among planets which appear after very long in- 
tervals, (Arist. Meteor, lib. i.) and that the Egyp- 
tians calculated their periods and predicted 'heir 
return. 

11. Affection, heart. The Bride had told us be- 
fore, in No. 1. that, while she slept, her affection, 
heart, imagination, was awake ; the heart, among the 
Hebrews, was the seat of the affections ; but, here 
the Bridegroom says, while he was really awake, 
and therefore fully master of his senses, and of his 
actions, his affection overcame his intentions, and 
brought him back, unawares to himself, unconscious- 
ly, or nolens volens, as we say will he nil he, toward 
the object of his regard. This, then, is a stronger 
idea than the former ; and is heightened by his no- 
tice of the swiftness with which he was brought 
back ; equal to that of the rapid chariots of his peo- 
ple, flying to engage the enemy ; literally, cha?~iots of 
my people pouring out (12) : now, this pouring out 
hardly means a review ; but, if it do, it must point, 
especially, to the most rapid movement of that ex- 
ercise ; that is, the charge ; if it mean poured out in 
battle, it amounts to the same ; a charge on the ene- 
my, executed with great velocity ; but some say, 
"chariots of the princes of my people." (See Amin- 
adab.) Who are " the people" of monarchs ? The 
phrase is used by Pharaoh, in Gen. xli. 40, and by 
Solomon here. 

13. Face about : literally, turn round : but as this 
is no military phrase, as already observed, the ex- 
pression adopted seems to be more coincident with 
the general tenor of this eclogue. 

14. This phrase, which literally is, that we may 
fasten our eyes on thee, we have ventured to render 
reconnoitre thee ; for it appears, that they would 
" fasten their eyes" on her, as they did on entrench- 
ments around camps ; which can be nothing but 
what modern military language would term recon- 
noitring. 

15. What, or how, would you fasten your eyes on 
Selomeh ? — Like as we do on the ditches, fosses, or 
entrenchments of the camps. In this sense the root is 

34 



used, in 2 Sam. xx. 15 ; 1 Kings xxi. 23 ; Isa. xxvi. 
1 ; Lam. ii. 1. On the whole, then, it appears, that 
these are military terms ; and it must be owned that 
they prodigiously augment the variety of the poem,, 
and give a highly spirited air to this eclogue in par- 
ticular ; they account, too, for the lively interference 
of the Bridegroom's companions, and, by the rapid 
repartee they occasion, they close it very differently 
from all the others, and with the greatest animation 
and vivacity. 

The fifth day. — 1. Feet in sandals. See the Plata 
of the Bride's Dress. 

2. Daughter of Liberality : or of princes. Here 
the same word occurs as we observed signified 
(Fourth Day, No. 12.) pouring out; it is usually ren- 
dered princes, from the opportunity enjoyed by per- 
sons of high rank, of pouring out their liberality on 
proper occasions ; and perhaps such is its import in 
this place. Daughter, in the looser sense of the word, 
not descendant, but patroness of pouring out, of libe- 
rality, who hast spared no expense, on this occasion, 
to adorn thyself with the most costly apparel ; q. d. 
"Daughter of liberality, how magnificent! how ele- 
gant ! how attractive is thy dress ! the whole to- 
gether is beautiful ; the parts separately are rich and 
ornamental ! We shall consider and commend them 
in their order." 

As the Bride stands up, the ladies begin with de- 
scribing her sandals ; and they not only praise her 
sandals, but her feet in them. The reader will per- 
ceive, by inspecting the prints, that this is extremely 
accurate ; as sandals do not hide the feet, but permit 
their every beauty to be seen ; and although our la- 
dies, being accustomed to wear shoes, may think 
more of a handsome shoe than of a handsome foot, 
the taste in the East is different. We know that the 
Roman emperor Claudius decorated his toes with 
gems, no less than his fingers ; and was so proud of 
his handsome foot, that whereas other sovereigns 
used to give their hands to be kissed by their sub- 
jects, on certain occasions, he gave his foot for that 
purpose ; which some historians have attributed to 
pride of station ; others to pride of person, as if his 
handsome foot would otherwise have been over- 
looked, and deprived of its due admiration. Ob- 
serve, these ladies begin at the Bride's sandals, 
her feet, and their descriptions ascend ; the Bride- 
groom always begins with her locks, her hair, &c. 
and his descriptions descend, but not so low as the 
feet. 

3. The selvedges of thy draivers. This word 
[chemdk] is derived from the same root as that in 
the Second Day rendered " my beloved was turned 
away :" it signifies, therefore, to turn, to return, to 
turn back ; now, what can more correctly describe 
the selvedge of a piece of cloth, &c. which is made 
by the return of the threads back again, to where 
they came from, that is, across the cloth? Thus 
threads, by perpetually turning and returning, com-: 
pose the edge of the cloth ; which we conceive to 
be the very article described by the use of the word 
in this place ; but if it be the edge of the gar- 
ment, the thought is the same ; since that is the 
natural situation for an ornamental pattern of open 
work. 

4. Drawers. This word can never mean thighs 
as thighs have no selvedges, it must mean drawers 
or the dress of the thighs. See the Plate of Egip 
ti in Dresses, infra. 

5. Open-ivork; pinked. Which of these words 
should be adopted depends on what materials these 



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[ 266 ] 



CANTICLES 



drawers were made of: if they were of muslin, then 
the open-work is wrought with a needle, as muslin 
will not bear pinking ; but if they were of silk, then 
they might be adorned with flowers, &e. cut into 
thein by means of a sharp iron, struck upon the 
silk, and cutting out those parts which formed the 
pattern. And this, we apprehend, is the correct 
meaning of the word ; it signifies to prick full of 
holes— to wound — to pierce — to make an open- 
ing — to run through, as with a sword : all which 
ideas agree perfectly with our rendering, pinking; 
which consists in piercing silk full of holes, with 
a steel instrument, forcibly struck through its sub- 
ject. This determines for silk drawers ; howev- 
er, open-work pinkings do not disagree in phrase- 
ology. 

6. Girdle-clasp. See the Plate of Egyptian 
Dresses, Nos. 6, 9. 

7. Rich in mingled wine : the original is, not poor ; 
an expression doubtless adopted by the poet for the 
sake of his verse ; the difference between rendering 
"rich," and "not poor," needs no apology. The 
idea is, that this clasp was set with rubies ; and sir 
William Jones tells us, it is very common among the 
Arabian poets to compare rubies to wine ; hence he 
begins one of his translations from the Arabic, 

"Boy, bid yon liquid ruby flow;" meaning that 

he should pour out wine from the vessel which con- 
tained it. 

8. Nipples. See No. 15. Third Day, where this 
allusion has already occurred. 

9. Eyes like the pools of Heshbon ; (see No. 6. in 
Fourth Day ;) that is, darkened by a streak of stib- 
ium drawn all round them ; as those pools are 
encompassed by a border of black marble. Proba- 
bly, too, the form of these pools was oval rather than 
circular. 

10. Thy nose like the tower of Lebanon. If the 
former line had not alluded to a place, whereby this 
line should require allusion to a place also, we 
should have inclined to risk a version derived from 
the roots of these words; which would stand 
thus : — 

Thy nose like a tower of whiteness itself, 
Which overlooks the levels [thy cheeks, &c.]. 

We are persuaded that this gives the true concep- 
tion of the passage, even if referred to a structure 
called the tower of Lebanon ; for Damascus is situ- 
ated on a level plain ; or this tower might stand so 
as to overlook some of those level plains which are 
interspersed in the mountains of Lebanon. Such, 
however, is the general idea ; an erect tower, but of 
whatever other qualities is not determined. It might 
be desirable to render the foregoing verse also ac- 
cording to its roots ; but the mention of the gate of 
Bathrabbim forbids ; and if Heshbon be of necessity 
retained, then, for the sake of the parallelism, we 
think we must retain also Lebanon and Damascus ; 
of course, the comparisons are entirely local. See 
No. 11. Third Day. 

11. Carmel. (12.) Jiregamen. We confess our 
embarrassment on the subject of these words. 

13. Entangled. This word (assur) is used to sig- 
nify the entangling power of love. Mr. Harmer in- 
terprets Eccles. vii. 26 : "I find more bitter than 
death the woman whose hands are {assurim) bands ;" 
the general sense of- the word is confinement, 
restraint, bondage ; so that our word mtangled seems 
to express the 1 idea sufficiently. 



The idea that the king's heart was entangled 1*1 
the numerous and beautiful braids of hair which 
adorned the head of his spouse, seems plausible 
enough, from the customs of oriental females, and 
the general scope of the passage ; but a particular 
and applicable authority is furnished in an ode of 
the Pend-Nameh, (p. 287, 288.) translated from the 
Persian by baron Silvestre de Sacy. Ode or Jami 
on the Tresses of his Mistress. — "O thou, who 
hast entangled my heart in the net of thy ringlets! 
the name alone of thy curling hair is become a snare 
for hearts. Yes, all hearts are enchained (as in the 
links of a chain) in the (links) ringlets of thy hair ; 
each of thy curls is a snare and chains. O thou, 
whose curls hold me in captivity, it is an honor for 
thy slave to be fettered by the chains of thy ringlets. 
What other veil could so well become the fresh roses 
of thy complexion, as that of thy black curls [fra- 
grant] like musk ? Birds fly the net ; but, most 
wonderful ! my never quiet soul delights in the chains 
of thy tresses ! Thy curls inhabit a region higher 
than that of the moon. Ah ! how high is the region 
of thy tresses ! It is from the deep night of thy 
curls that the day-break of felicity rises at every in 
stant for Jami, thy slave !" 

The reader will probably think this rhapsody 
sufficiently exalted ; it is, however, a not im- 
modest specimen of the poetical exuberance of 
fancy and figurative language in which the orientals 
envelope their ideas, when inspired by the pow- 
er of verse, and frenzied by the fascinations of 
beauty. 

14. Meanderings. This word (rehethim) signifies 
to run down, with a tremulous motion, or winding 
way, as of a stream, or rill of water ; so Jacob's rods 
were placed in the rills, rivulets, gutters ; in the 
watering-troughs : (Gen. xxx. 38, 46.) so the daugh- 
ters of Reuel filled the troughs, watering-places, for 
the sheep to drink from ; (Exod. ii. 16.) not raised 
wooden troughs, such as our horses drink out of, but 
rills running among the stones, &c. This we have 
expressed by the word meanderings ; derived from 
the numerous bendings of the river Meander, and 
now naturalized in our language, in reference to 
streams and winding rivulets, &c. The trough into 
which Rebekah emptied the contents of her pitcher 
(Gen. xxiv. 20.) is described by a different word, and 
might be properly a trough. 

15. Thy stature equals the palm. See the Plate of 
the Bride's Dress, infra. 

16. Thy address ; literally, thy palate ; but this 
must refer to speech of some kind ; the Bride had 
formerly told her spouse, that " his lips dropped 
honey ;" and now he says, " her palate dropped 
wine — prime wine ;" we have the lips and the palate 
noticed together, to the same purpose, in Prov. 
v. 3:— 

The lips of a strange woman drop liquid honey, 
And her palate drops what is smoother than oil. 

It is evident the writer means her flattering words, 
her seductive discourses. The rendering " thy ad- 
dress" seems to coincide with the cheering and per- 
vading effects of wine. 

17. Going to be presented, as a special token of 
affectionate regard, to persons whose consummate 
integrity has been experienced ; literally, going for 
love-favors to uprights [persons]. Now, in such a 
case, a person would naturally select the very best 
wine in his power ; he would r ot send the tart, ot 



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[ 267 ] 



CANTICLES 



the vapid, but the most cordial, the most valuable he 
could procure. We suspect that the Bridegroom 
compliments himself, under the character of a 
friend whose integrity could not be doubted. (For 
the sense of consummate or complete, as that of the 
word Jashur, or Jeshurun, see the article Jeshu- 

RUN.) 

18. Should this chasm be filled up with 

and he is mine ? 

19. Dudaim. See the article Mandrake. 

20. Our lofts ; — that is, the upper part of our 
gates or openings. As it is evident they were 
places to contain stores of fruit from the last year's 
gathering, the word lofts is as proper as any to con- 
vey that idea. It might be added, that presents of 
fruit, especially apples, by youths to their beloveds, 
are well known among the Greek poets ; indeed, the 
practice almost became a custom, and originated a 
proverb, "He loves her with apples;" — as we say 
" with cakes and comfits." 

21. TJwu shouldst conduct vie. The reader's at- 
tention has already been drawn to this passage ; 
without departing from the usual translation of the 
words, we have merely referred them to the proper 
speaker. 

22. Should this chasm be filled up with 

By the startling antelope, by the timid deer of the 
field ? 

It is inserted by the LXX, and the passage is imper- 
fect without the usual termination. 

Tlie sixth day. — 1. Sociability. This seems to be 
pretty nearly the import of the original term, which 
occurs only in this place. Since, as we conceive, 
the parties sat in the palanquin opposite to each 
other, the Bride could hardly be said to be leaning 
on her beloved, nor joining herself to her beloved, as 
some have proposed to render it ; nevertheless, that 
a kind of free intercourse after marriage is meant 
here, which would not have been so proper before 
marriage, admits of no doubt ; and we think the chit- 
chat of sociability may answer the meaning of the 
word. The following conversation is probably a 
continuation of, or at least is of the nature of, that 
intended by the term sociability. 

2. J urged thee ; that is to say, I would not let thee 
indulge thy bashfulness, but brought thee forward to 
the marriage ceremony, and overcame thy maiden 
dilatoriness, "That would be woo'd, and not un- 
sought be won." 

3. Thy mother delivered thee. The word signifies 
to deliver over, as a pledge is delivered over, to the 
person who receives it, or to be brought forward, or 
brought out for that purpose. The reader may dis- 
cover, under the uncouth idiom of our translators, 
this very idea ; " There thy mother brought thee 
forth ;" that is, as a pledge is brought forth to be de- 
livered to a person who stands out of the house to 
receive it. (See Deut. xxiv. 10, 11.) That this is 
sufficiently unhappily expressed, we suppose no ju- 
dicious reader will hesitate to admit. But what 
shall we say to the Romish rendering of this pas- 
sage : " There thy mother was corrupted ; there she 
was deflowered that bare thee !"— and then — such 
mysteries ! in reference to Eve, the general moth- 
er, &c. 

4. As a signet on thy arm. See the article Seals. 

5. Our sister, or cousin, or friend, &c. The word 



sister is not always used — strictly— in the Hebrew, in 

reference to consanguinity. The youth of this 

party is denoted by the phrase — her breast is not 
grown to its proper mature size. In Egypt this part 
of the person was extremely remarkable ; Juvenal 
describes the breasts of an Egyptian woman as being 
larger than the child she suckled. 

6. Kiosks are pavilions, or little closets projecting 
from a wall for the purpose of overlooking the sur 
rounding country ; like our summer-houses, &c. In 
the East they are, also, the indispensable places of 
repose, and of that voluptuous, tranquil gratification 
to which the inhabitants are urged by the heats of 
the climate. 

7. As one who offered peace ; literally, as one finding 
peace ; but, perhaps, the sentiment is- — " I appeared 
to him as inviting as the most delightful kiosk ; a 
kiosk, in which he might be so delighted, that he 
would go no farther in search of enjoyment." That 
peace often means prosperity is well known ; in- 
deed all good is, in the Hebrew language, as it 
were, combined and concentrated in the term 
peace. 

8. Baal Ham Aun. We take this to be altogether 
an Egyptian term ; Ham Aun is " progenitor Ham ;" 
— Baal is " lord" — " The lord Ham our progenitor." 
This agrees perfectly with Egyptian principles. (See 
Ammon-No.) In fact, no other nation so long main- 
tained, or had so just authority to maintain, its rela- 
tion to Ham, who was commemorated in this coun- 
try during many ages. This name of a place, de- 
cidedly Egyptian, confirms the general notion that 
the Bride was daughter to Pharaoh. 

9. I'uipectars. This is the office which had been 
held by tr>e Bride, when in her own country ; but 
here it is expressed in the plural ; implying, probably, 
an inferiority from that of the princess, though to 
the same purposes, &c. 

10. The tenant; literally, the' man; that is, as we 
understand it, the chief man, the first tenant, the oc- 
cupier ; the same here as we have taken " the man" 
for the commander, in No. 4. Third Day, that is, the 
chief, or head man, as we speak ; not each man dis- 
tributively, but the man emphatically ; for, if there 
were many tenants, did each bring a thousand silver- 
lings ? so as to make, say ten thousand ; then, why 
not state the larger number ? or, did all which the 
tenants brought make up one thousand ? then, why 
not use the plural form men ? Moreover, since two 
hundred, which is one fifth of a thousand, was due 
to the inspectors, it reminds us, that this is the very 
proportion established in Egypt by Joseph, Gen. 
xlvii. 24. This is convincing evidence that this prin- 
cess was from Egypt ; and proves that, for purposes 
of protection, &c. this due was constantly gathered 
by the reigning prince. We suppose she hints at 
her father's government, under this allusion to these 
inspectors ; and is still Egyptian enough to insist on 
the propriety of paying the regular tribute to his 
sovereignty, as governor in chief. An extract from 
Mr. Swinburne's account of a similar estate among 
the Spanish Arabs may explain the nature of these 
fruiteries, and their profits : " I cannot give you a 
more distinct idea of this people than by translating 
a passage in an Arabic manuscript, in the library of 
the Escurial, entitled, ' The History of Granada, by 
Abi Abdalah ben Alkalhibi Aboaneni,' written in the 
year of the Hegira 778, A. D. 1378 ; Mahomet Lago, 
being then, for the second time, king of Granada. 
It begins by a description of the city and its envi- 
rons, nearly in "he following terms : ' The city of 



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[ 268 1 



CANTICLES 



Granada is surrounded with the most spacious gar- 
dens, where the trees are set so thick as to resemble 
hedges, yet not so as to obstruct the view of the 
beautiful towers of the Alhambra, which glitter like 
so many bright stars over the green forests. The 
plain, stretching far and wide, produces such quanti- 
ties of grain and vegetables that no revenues but 
those of the first families in the kingdom are equal 
to their annual produce. Each garden is calculated 
to bring in. a nctt income of five hundred pieces of gold, 
(aurei,) out of which it pays thirty minse to the king. 
Beyond these gardens lie fields of various culture, at 
all seasons of the year clad in the richest verdure, 
and loaded with some valuable vegetable production 
or other ; by this method a perpetual succession of 
crops is secured, and a great annual rent is produced, 
which is said to amount to twenty thousand aurei. Ad- 
joining you may see the sumptuous farms belonging 
to the royal demesnes, wonderfully agreeable to the be- 
holder, from the large quantity of plantations of trees 
and the variety of plants. The vineyards in the 
neighborhood bring fourteen thousand aurei. Immense 
are the hoards of all species of dried fruits, such as 
fgs, raisins, plums, fyc. They have also the se- 
cret of preserving grapes sound and juicy from 
one season to another.''" [Comp. Fifth Day, No. 
20.] " N. B. I was not able to obtain any satis- 
factory account of these Granada aurei, 'gold 
coins." (Swinburne's Travels in Spain, Letter 
xxii. p. 164.) 

We have supposed that this Sixth Day is the day 
of marriage ; as this has not usually been under- 
stood, we shall connect some ideas which induce us 
to consider it in that light. Leo of Modena says, 
that (1.) " The Jews marry on a Friday, if the spouse 
be a maid ;" (Thursday, if a widow.) — Now Friday 
morning is the time of this eclogue, supposing the 
poem began with the first day of the week. — (2.) 
" The Bride is adorned, and led out into the open 
air;" so, in this eclogue, the Bride's mother "brings 
her out," for that purpose; — (3.) "into a court or 
garden ;" so, in this eclogue, the ceremony passes 
" under a citron-tree ;" consequently in a garden. 
This eclogue, then, opens with observation of the 
nuptial procession after marriage ; and we learn that 
the ceremony had taken place by the following con- 
versation, in which the Bridegroom alludes to the 
maiden bashfulness of his Bride, as having required 
some address to overcome. Moreover, the Bride 
solicits the maintenance of perpetual constancy to 
h°rself, as implied in the connection now completed ; 
with attention to the interests of a particular friend, 
she transfers all her private property to her husband, 
yet reserves a government-due to her royal parent 
in Egypt ; and the eclogue closes, both itself and 
the poem, by mutual wishes for more of each other's 
conversation and company. See the article Mar- 
riage. 

It is now time to conclude our investigation of 
this poem ; but we must previously observe, how 
perfectly free it is from the least soil of indelicacy ; 
that allusions to matrimonial privacies which have 
been fancied in it, are absolutely groundless fancies ; 
and that, not till the Fifth Day, is there any a ilusion 
to so much as a kiss, and then it is covered by as- 
similation of the party to a sucking infant brother. 
The First Day is distance itself, in point of conver- 
sation ; the Second has no conversation but what 
passes from the garden below up to the first-floor 
window; the Third Day is the same in the morning; 
and the evening is an invitation to take an excursion, 



and survey prospects ; as to the comparison to a 
well, delicacy itself must admire, not censure, the 
simile. The Fourth Day opens with a dream, by 
which the reader perceives the inclination of the 
dreamer, and the progress of her affection ; but the 
Bridegroom himself does not hear it, nor is he 
more favored by it, or for it ; on the contrary, the 
lady permits him in the evening to sport his military 
terms as much as he thinks proper; but she does 
not, by a single word, acquaint him of any breach 
he had made in her heart We rather suspect, that 
she rises to retire somewhat sooner than usual, 
thereby counterbalancing, in her own mind, those 
effusions of kindness to which she had given vent 
in the morning. The Fifth morning is wholly oc- 
cupied by the ladies' praises of the Bride's dress ; 
she herself does not utter a word ; but, in the evening 
of that day, as the marriage was to take place on the 
morrow, she merely hints at what she could find in 
her heart to do, were he her infant brother ; and for 
the first time he hears the adjuration, " if his left 
arm was under her head," on the duan cushion, &c. 
and the discourse, though evidently meant for her 
lover, yet is equivocally allusive to her supposed 
fondling. It must be admitted, that after the mar- 
riage they make a procession, according to the cus- 
tom of the place and station of the parties, in 
the same palanquin together, and here they are 
a little sociable; but modesty itself will not find 
the least fault with this sociability, nor with one 
single sentence, or sentiment, uttered on this 
occasion. 

We appeal now to the candor, understanding, and 
sensibility of the reader, whether it be possible to 
conduct a six-day conversation between persons 
solemnly betrothed to each other, with greater deli- 
cacy, greater attention to the most rigid virtue, with 
greater propriety of sentiment, discourse, action, de- 
meanor, and deportment. — The dignity of the per- 
sons is well sustained in the dignity of their lan- 
guage, in the correctness of their ideas and ex- 
pressions ; they are guilty of no repetitions ; what 
they occasionally repeat they vary, and improve by 
the variation ; they speak in poetry, and poetry fur- 
nishes the images they use ; but these images are 
pleasing, magnificent,. varied, and appropriate; they 
are, no doubt, as they should be, local, and we do 
not feel half their propriety because of their locality ; 
but we feel enough to admit, that few are the authors 
who could thus happily conduct such a poem ; few 
are the personages who could sustain the characters 
in it ; and few are the readers in any nation, or in 
any time, who have not ample cause to admire it, 
and to be thankful for its preservation as the Song 
of Songs ! 



Being well persuaded that the reader has never 
truly seen this poem before, and that (though it has 
always been in our Bibles in prose) under the present 
arrangement it becomes a new poem, we have di- 
rected more attention to be given to the Plates than 
perhaps otherwise might have been done ; these 
must speak for themselves ; we only say, further, 
that, in regard to the arrangement of the poem, 
oiu- opinion advances toward a pretty strong per- 
suasion of its correctness ; but as to the ver- 
sion, our endeavor has been to make that speak 
English. 



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[ 269 J 



CANTICLES 




Explanation of the Plates. 

Vehicles. — Mr. Taylor has collected representa- 
tions of several descriptions of those carriages which 
are used in the East, and which are supposed to he 
alluded to in the opening of the Second Day of this 
poem. We select the most important. 

Behold him seated, placed in his carriage, thus ; 

looking out through the 
apertures, or front win- 
dows. Gleaming, show- 
ing himself, or rather, 
being just visible, just 
glimpsing through, or 
betiveen the lattices, per- 
haps appended to the 
apertures in front of the 
carriage. This engrav- 
ing represents a travel- 
ling carriage ; not a car- 
riage for state or splen- 
dor. But in the Third Day we have the description 
of a superb and stately equipage, different, no doubt, 
from the former, because built expressly by the royal 
lover, to suit the dignity of his intended nuptials. 
Such a palanquin we have in the accompanying en- 
graving, and this is what may be more particularly 
examined by the description given in the poem. 
" King Solomon hath built for himself a nuptial pal- 
anquin ; its pillars" (or what we should call its poles), 
" are made of cedar wood ;" — Lebanon wood : per- 
haps, indeed, the whole of its wood-work might be 
cedar ; but the poles, as being most conspicuous, are 
mentioned in the first place. Now, it is every way 
unlikely that Solomon would make these pillars of 
silver, as we read in our common version ; the use 
of silver poles does not appea r ; but the top, cover- 
ing, roof, canopy — literally the rolling and unrolling 
part, that which might be rolled up — was of silver tis- 
sue. This canopy, or roof, is clearly seen in the 
engraving ; and it is ornamented with tassels, and a 
deep kind of hanging fringe, perhaps of silver also. 
But the lower carnage, or bottom, was of golden tis- 
sue, meaning that part which hangs by cords from 
the pillars or poles ; that part in which the person 
sat — literally, the ridden-in part, which we have ren- 
dered the carriage — was of gold. The internal part 
of this carriage was spread with aregam.cn. Was 
this a finely-wrought carpet, adorned with flowers, 
mottos, &c. in colors, as some have supposed ? How, 
then, was it purple ? as the word is always held to 
denote. We see at each end of the carriage a kind 
of bolster or cushion, or what may answer the pur- 
pose of easy reclining. Is this covered with chintz ? 
or very fine calico? — Was such the carriage-lining of 
Solomon's palanquin, but worked with an ornament- 
al pattern of needle- work, and presented to the king 
by the daughters of Jerusalem? We presume we 
have now approached nearly to a just understanding 
of this poetical description : no doubt, the royal ve- 
hicle was both elegant and splendid. We have 
attempted to distinguish its parts, with their particu- 
lar applications. The propriety of our departing 
from the customary mode of understanding these 
verses must now be left to the reader's decision ; 
but if the words of the original be so truly descrip- 
tive of the parts of this carriage, as we have sup- 
posed, we may anticipate that decision with some 
satisfaction. 

Egyptian Dresses. — There are two ideas which 
ought to be examined before we can justly ascertain 



the particulars of the Bride's appearance : first, Was 
her dress correspondent to those of the East in gen- 
eral ? or, secondly, as she was an Egyptian, was her 
dress peculiarly in the Egyptian taste ? To meet 
these inquiries, we propose to offer a few remarks on 
the peculiarities of Egyptian dress, presuming that 
some such might belong to the dress worn by this 
lady; and indeed, that these are what give occasion 
to the admiration of the ladies of the Jerusalem ha- 
ram ; who, observing her magnificent attire, compli- 
ment every part of that attire, as they proceed to 
inspect it, in the following order. See the notes in 
illustration of the Fifth Day. 

1. Sandals. See Bride's Dress, infra. 

2. Selvedges of thy thigh apparel. — We have al- 
ready examined the import of 

this word. If we look at the 
accompanying figure, we shall 
find, that, in front of the drape- 
ry which descends down the 
thigh, from the waist to the 
ankle, that is to say, where the 
edges °of the drapery meet in 
front, is a handsome border of 
open-work ; this is very dis- 
tinct, and it answers exactly 
to the description and words 
used to denote it in the poem ; 
it is, (1.) at the return — the 
selvedge — of the drapery ; (2.) 
it appertains to the thigh, and 
accompanies it like a petticoat ; 
(3.) it is pinked, or open-ivorked, 
into a pattern, which has evi- 
dently cost great labor, the per- 
formance of excellent hands ! 
This figure is truly Egyptian ; 
for it is from the Isiac Table. 
We find the same kind of orna- 
ment worn by Grecian ladies, but on the outside of 
the thigh, as appears in the Hamilton vases. Wheth- 
er we read returning edge, selvedge, or front borders, 
&c. of this drapery, is indifferent to the idea here 
stated. 

6. Thy girdle clasp. See Bride's Dress, infra. 

Bodice, body vest. See Bride's Dress, infra. 

8. Afipples. (1.) See the engraving under the ar- 
ticle Bed, where the nipples are just discernible 
through the very fine gauze, which covers the bo- 
som. (2.) Observe that the Egyptian figures above 
have the breast and nipple entirely naked : each has 
a kind of neckinger, which crosses the bosom, and is 
brought between the breasts, so that the wearer 
might have covered the breast had she pleased ; 
but the breast itself is left — as if carefully left — un- 
covered, in all these figures: we presume, therefore, 
that this was, anciently, a customary mode of dress, 
rendered necessary by the heat of the country. It 
appears on various mummies, and on many other 
Egyptian representations. Sonnini says, (vol. iii. p. 
204.) " The Egyptian women have no other cloth- 
ing than a long shift, or jacket, of blue cloth, with 
sleeves of an extraordinary size. — This manner of 
dressing themselves by halves, so that the air may circu- 
late over the body itself, and refresh every part of it, is 
very comfortable in a country ivhcre close or thick hab- 
its ivoidd make the heat intolerable.'''' We must not 
judge of the propriety of Egyptian costume by the 
necessary defences against the variations and chills 
of northern climates. The reader will observe the 
head-dress in this figure ; the hair, wr ich we pre 




CANTICLES 



[ 270 ] 



CANTICLES 




fcume is meant to represent curls ; the pectoral, - the 
covering of the bosom ; the petticoat, its border, or- 
naments, &c. 

Bride's Dress. 

This figure represents an oriental lady in full dress, 
from Le Bruyn. The read- 
er will observe the head- 
dress, which consists of a 
cap set with pearls in vari- 
ous forms, the centre hang- 
ing over the forehead. On 
the top of this cap rise a 
number. of sprigs of jew- 
elry work, which imitate, 
in precious stones, the nat- 
ural colors, &c. of the flow- 
ers they are meant to rep- 
resent. The stems are 
made of gold or silver 
wires ; and the leaves, we 
suppose, are made of color- 
ed foil. We saw, in the 
former plate, that Egyptian 
ladies wore a high-rising 
composition of ornaments ; 
and we see in this figure, a composition little, if at all, 
less aspiring. In fact, then, this head-dress renders 
veiy credible the idea of our translators, "thy head- 
dress upon thee is like Carmel ."' — whether, by Car- 
mel, we understand mount Carmel, in which case the 
allusion may be to the trees growing on it ; or, as the 
word signifies, a fruitful field, whose luxuriant vege- 
lation displays the most captivating abundance. 
From the cap of this head-dress hangs a string of 
pearls, which, passing under the chin, surrounds the 
countenance. We observe, also, on the neck, a col- 
let of gems, and three rows of pearls. These are 
common hi the East ; and something of this nature, 
we presume, is what the Bridegroom alludes to, when 
he says, Eclogue II. in the First Day, " Thy cheeks 
are bright, or splendid, with bands, thy neck with col- 
lets:" meaning bauds of pearls, surrounding the 
countenance, and glistening on the cheeks ; and col- 
lets of gems, or other splendid or shining substances, 
disposed as embellishments. Observe, also, the or- 
naments suspended by a gold chain, which hangs 
from the neck. These, though not, strictly speak- 
ing, girdle-clasps, yet have much the same effect in 
point of decoration ; and are composed of precious 
stones, including, no doubt, rubies, " rich in mingled 
wine." Observe the rings worn on the fingers : the 
wrist-bands of the vest, the flowers brocaded on it, 
on the veil, &c. The figure also shows distinctly 
the difference between locks and tresses of hair. The 
locks are those which hang loosely down the temples 
and cheek : the tresses are those braids which natu- 
rally hang down the back, but which, in order to 
show their length, are in this instance brought for- 
ward over the shoulder. The reader will observe 
how these are plaited. Now, this mode of dressing 
the hair seems to have little allusion to the color of 
purple, or to require purple-colored ribands, or rib- 
ands of any color. It may rather be fancied to re- 
semble a mode of weaving, such as might be practised 
at Arech, or Erech, whence it might be denominated 
Arechmen, that is, 11 from the city of Arech ;" and, 
could this be admitted, we should perhaps find some- 
thing like the following ideas in this passage : "Thy 
head-dress is a diffuse, spreading appearance, like 
vegetation and flowers [q. chenille ?] ;" " Thy tresses 




are close, compact, stuck together like an intimatelj 
woven or worked texture ;" say a carpet, diaper, 
calico, &c. It is true, this figure shows only a 
few tresses ; but we ought to extend our conception 
to a much greater number ; for lady Montague says, 
"I never saw, in my life, so many fine heads of hair. 
In one lady's 1 have counted a hundred and ten 
tresses, all natural." Now, what numerous intricacies, 
meanderings, convolutions, &c. would ahundred and 
ten tresses furnish by dexterous plaiting ! And as 
long hair, capable of such ornamental disposition, 
was esteemed a capital part of personal beauty, how 
deeply, how inextricably, was the king — his affection 
— entangled in such a labyrinth of charms, adorned 
in the most becoming manner, and displayed to the 
greatest advantage ! The sex has always been proud 
of this natural ornament ; and, when art and taste 
have well arranged it, all know that its effects are not 
inconsiderable. The reader will recollect, that we 
have already stated embarrassments on the subject 
of the word Aregamen. We have taken some pains 
to examine passages where it occurs ; but we cannot 
acquiesce in the opinion that it means purple ; that 
is, the color of purple only. Nevertheless, as all the 
dictionaries, and lexicons, and concordances, are 
against us, we suspend our determination. 

There is a figure in Sandys, which shows the san- 
dals, not only adorned 
with flowers, wrought 
on them, but which, be- 
ing sandals only, permit 
the whole foot to be 
seen ; and being height- 
ened, they make the 
wearer seem so much 
taller than otherwise she 

would be, that the Bridegroom may well compare 
his bride to a palm-tree, up to whose top he designs 
to climb, that he may procure its fruit. This figure 
also shows an ornament around the ankle, and a gir- 
dle, perhaps of silver embroidery. 

This engraving is from "Estampes du Levant," 
and will assist to illus- 
trate the comparison 
which our public trans- 
lation (chap. ii. 2.) ren- 
ders, " thy belly is a heap 
of wheat set about with 
lilies." In the first place, 
instead of heap, read 
sheaf, of wheat. Second- 
ly, for belly, read bodice, 
or vest ; that is, the cov- 
ering of the belly. Third- 
ly, for set about, read 
bound about, or tied ivp 
ivith a band of lilies. In 
short, the comparison is — a vest of gold tissue, tied 
up with a broad girdle of white satin, or of silver tis- 
sue, like that of this figure, to a sheaf of wheat 
standing on its end, and tied round its middle by a 
broad band of lilies, twisted into itself, whose heads 
would naturally hang down loosely, like the end of 
the girdle of this figure. Having given the above as 
our idea of this comparison, it may be proper to say, 
that if the words set about be absolutely retained, then 
the silver flowers on this ground of gold tissue may 
answer that idea ; but this does not appear to be so 
correct a translation. We may be allowed also to 
observe, how entirely this explanation removes every 
indelicacy to which our public translation is ex 




CANTICLES 



[ 271 ] 



CANTICLES 



posed ; and how greatly it is recommended by its sim- 
plicity. 

This investigation of the Bride's dress may be clos- 
ed with propriety by the following description of a 
dress worn by lady Montague as given by herself ; 
also, that of the- fair Fatiina, of whom she says, 
" She was dressed in a caftan of gold brocade, flow- 
ered with silver, very well fitted to her shape, and 
showing, to admiration, the beauty of her bosom, 
only shaded by the thin gauze of her shift. Her 
drawers were pale pink, her waistcoat green and sil- 
ver; her slippers white satin, finely embroidered; 
her lovely arms adorned with bracelets of diamonds ; 
and her broad girdle set around with diamonds ; 
upon her head a rich Turkish handkerchief of pink 
and silver, her own fine black hair, hanging a great 
length, in various tresses ; and on one side of her head 
some bodkins of jewels. When I took my leave, two 
maids brought in a fine silver basket of embroidered 
handkerchiefs ; she begged I would wear the richest 
for her sake, and gave the others to my woman and 
interpretess." (The dudi, love-favors, of our poem, 
passim.) " The first part of my dress is a pair of 
drawers ; very full, that reach to my shoes, and con- 
ceal the legs more modestly than your petticoats. 
They are of a thin rose-colored damask, brocaded 
with silver flowers. My shoes are of white kid 
leather, embroidered with gold. Over this hangs 
my smock, of a fine white silk gauze, edged with 
embroidery. This smock has wide sleeves, hanging 
half way down the arm, and is closed at the neck 
with a diamond button ; but the shape and color of 
the bosom are very well to be distinguished through 
it. The antery is a waistcoat, made close to the 
shape, of white and gold damask, with very long 
sleeves falling back, and fringed with deep gold 
fringe, and should have diamond or pearl buttons. 
My caftan, of the same stuff with my drawers, is a 
robe exactly fitted to my shape, and reaching to my 
feet, with very long, straight, falling sleeves. Over 
this is my girdle, of about four fingers broad, which 
all that can afford it have entirely of diamonds and 
other precious stones. Those who will not be at 
that expense have it of exquisite embroidery on sat- 
in ; but it must be fastened before with a clasp of 
diamonds. The curdee is a loose robe they throw 
off, or put on, according to the weather, being of a 
rich brocade, (mine is green and gold,) either lined 
with ermine or sables ; the sleeves reach very, little 
below the shoulders. The head-dress is composed 
of a cap, called talpock, which is, in winter, of fine 
velvet embroidered with pearls or diamonds, and in 
summer of a light shining silver stuff*. This is fixed 
on one side of the head, hanging a little way down, 
with a gold tassel, and bound on, either with a cir 7 
cle of diamonds (as I have seen several) or a rich 
embroidered handkerchief. On the other side of 
the head, the hair is laid flat ; and here the ladies are 
at liberty to show their fancies ; some putting flow- 
ers, others a plume of heron's feathers, and in short 
what they please ; but the most general fashion is a 
large bouquet of jewels, made like natural flowers ; 
that is, the buds of pearl ; the roses of different col- 
ored rubies ; the jessamines of diamonds ; the jon- 
quilles of topazes, &c. so well set and enamelled, it 
is hard to imagine ariy thing of that kind so beauti- 
ful. The hair hangs at its full length behind, divided 
into tresses braided with pearls or ribands, which is 
always in great quantity. I never saw in my life so 
many fine heads of hair. In one lady's I have 
pounted a hundred and ten of these tresses, all nat- 



ural ; but it must be owned, that every kind of beau- 
ty is more common here than with us. They 
generally shape their eyebrows ; and both Greeks 
and Turks have the custom of putting round their 
eyes a black tincture, that, at a distance, or by can- 
dle light, adds very much to the blackness of them. 
They dye their nails a rose color ; but, I own, I can- 
not enough accustom myself to the fashion to find 
any beauty in it." Letters xxix. xxxiii. 

Bridegroom's Dress. 

We have elsewhere (see Crown) bestowed some 
thoughts on the nature and shape of the royal crown 
of the kings of the Jews, and we wish now to recall 
those thoughts to the mind of the reader. We ob- 
served, that the crown of king Saul was called na- 
zer, or separated ; but a very different word, othar, is 
used to express the circlet, with which the mother of 
Solomon encircled his head on the day of his mar- 
riage. Our translation renders ^oth these words by 
one English appellation, croivn ; and the word othar 
is thus rendered, where, as it seems, it gives incor- 
rect notions of the subject intended. In distinguish- 
ing the different forms of this part of dress, wo 
consider the cap or crown, 
(or both ideas in one, the 
crowned cap,) in the an- 
nexed figure, as being the 
nazer, or " separated" cap 
of Scripture. This is a 
portrait of Tigranes, king 
of Armenia; and it con- 
tributes, with others, to 
authorize our distinction. 
In addition, however, to 
these, we have also repre- 
sentations of a cap, the separations of which are very 
evident behind ; and one of these separated parts 
falls on each shoulder down the back of the wearer. 
This goes not only in corroboration of the proposed 
distinction in the form and nature of the crowns of 
Jewish monarchs, but also strongly tends to es- 
tablish the nature of the shebetz, or royal coat of < lose 
armor. 

It was not, then, a royal cap of state, with which 
the mother of Solomon decorated his head at his 
nuptials ; that was probably made by a more pro- 
fessed artist : neither was it proper to be worn at such 
a personal ceremony, but only on state occasions : — 
but, if the queen mother had taken pains to embroi- 
der a muslin fillet ; if she had worked it with her own 
hands, and had embellished it with a handsome pat- 
tern, then it was paying her a compliment, to wish 
the daughters of Jerusalem should go forth to ad- 
mire the happy effects of this instance of maternal 
attention and decorative skill. 

The accompanying portrait of Nadir Shah of Per- 
sia, from Frazer, shows his dress to abound in pearls, 
precious stones and golden embroidery. The man- 
ner of the king's sitting and the kind of throne on 
which he sits, may perhaps give some hint of the 
manner of the Bridegroom's sitting in the First Day. 
This is not the royal throne of state, the musnud of 
India ; that is usually stationed in one place, where 
it is fitted up with all imaginable magnificence, and 
to which it is fixed: whereas this seat is movable, 
and is carried from place to place, as wanted. Some 
such settee was perhaps occupied by Solomon, when 
he visited his Bride ; so that the king sat, while 
his companions stood on each hand of him, form- 




CANTICLES 



[ 272 ] 



CAP 




ing a circle. It 
is necessary to dis- 
tinguish the kind 
of throne ; because 
there are (1.) the 
musnud itself, or 
throne of state — (2.) 
this kind of seat or 
settee — (3.) a kind 
of palanquin (call- 
ed takht rcvan, 
that is, moving- 
throne)— and oth- 
ers, all of which 
are thrones ; but 
their names and ap- 
plication are not the 
same in the original 
text of Scripture. 
This figure is copied from De la Valle, and is a 
portrait of Aurengzebe, the 
Mogul of India. Observe 
the pearls, &c. in his tur- 
ban ; the collets of pearls 
and gems hanging from his 
neck ; the same at his wrists : 
so the Bride says of her 
Prince, " his wrists, that is, 
his wrist-bands, the orna- 
ments at his wrists, are cir- 
clets of gold full set with 
topazes." These topazes 
occupy the place of the 
pearls in our figure. Ob- 
serve, also, his shoes, which, 
being gold embroidery, are 
the bases of purest gold, from 
which rise his legs, like pil- 
lars of marble. Observe, 
too, that the stockings, fitting pretty closely to the 
legs, give them an appearance much more analo- 
gous to pillars or columns, that when the draw- 
ers are full, and occupy a considerable space, as they 
are commonly worn in the East. The reader will 
remark the nature and enrichments of this girdle, 
which is, no doubt, of gold embroidery. The tent 
may give some idea of that of Solomon, to which 
the ladies compare the Bride ; they say she is " at- 
tractive as the tent of Solomon ;" and certainly a 
tent so ornamented and enriched, so magnificently 
embellished, is attractive ; attractive in the same 
manner as a magnificent dress, when worn by a 
person. If this tent be of black velvet, the golden 
enrichments embossed upon it must have a grand ef- 
fect. It should be recollected, that the passage de- 
mands the strongest contrast possible to the "tents 
of Kedar," or the black tents of wandering Arabs ; 
and, were it not for a following verse, the reference 
should be to the Bride's dress — discomposed — all in 
a flutter — after a long journey, from which she is 
but alighted at the moment — rather than to her per- 
son, or complexion, which subsequently is described 
as fair, &c. by terms absolutely incompatible with 
blackness or swarthiness. The coverings annually 
sent by the grand seignior for the holy house at 
Mecca, are always black. Mr. Morier has delineated 
a tent, intended to represent that of the prophet, the 
front of which is all but covered with jewels ; the 
whole sides and the top with ornaments, shawl-pat- 
terns, &c. . (Travels in Persia, vol. ii. p. 181.) 

This is a portrait of the grand seignior, sultan 





Achmet. But it shows 
a girdle, or rather the 
clasp which fastens it, 
of a different nature 
from the former. This 
appears to be made of 
some solid material, 
(ivory ,perhaps,) thick- 
ly studded over with 
precious stones, where- 
by it corresponds per- 
fectly with that de- 
scribed by the Bride, 
as bright ivory over 
which the sapphire 
plays : for these gems 
may as well be sap- 
phires as any other. The general appearance of the 
sultan's figure is noble and majestic, and may answer 
not inadequately, to the description given of her be 
loved by the Bride. 

It would be a considerable acquisition to sacred 
literature if those incidents which are furnished by 
the Greek poets, and which resemble certain inci- 
dents in this poem, were collected for the purpose of 
comparison : they would be found more frequent 
and more identical than is usually imagined. But 
this purpose would be still more completely accom 
plished, by a comparison with those productions of 
the Persian and Hindoo poets, which have been 
brought to our knowledge by the diligence and tasto 
of our countrymen in India. It may safely be said, 
that every line of the Hebrew poem may be illustrat 
ed from Indian sources. Even that incident, so re- 
volting to onr manners, of the lady's going out to 
seek her beloved by night, is perfectly correct, ac- 
cording to Indian poetical costume, as appears by 
Calidasa's Megha Dida, (line 250, of Mr. Wilson's 
translation,) also the Gitagovinda, translated by sir 
William Jones, (Asiatic Researches, vol. iii.) and oth- 
ers, which have been subsequently added to the 
stores of English literature. Admitting, as the read- 
er has seen supposed in this work, that the Egyp- 
tians were from India, and that Abraham, the father 
of the Hebrew nation, was also from the East ; this 
conformity to the manners of the original country 
by an Egyptian princess, consort of a Hebrew king, 
could include no difficulty arising from any imputa- 
tion "of indelicacy; especially as the poet explicitly 
assigns the entire occurrence to a dream. 

CAPERNAUM, a city on the western shore of the 
sea of Galilee, on the borders of Zebulun and Naph- 
tali, and in which our Saviour principally dwelt dur- 
ing the three years of his public ministry, Matt. iv. 
13 ; Mark ii. ] ; John vi. 17. Buckingham, Burck- 
hardt, and some other writers, believe it to have been 
the place now called Talhhewn, or Tel Hoom, which 
is upon the edge of the sea, from 9 to 12 miles N. N. 
E. of Tiberias, and where there are ruins indicative 
of a considerable place at some former period. Dr. 
Richardson, however, in passing through the plain 
of Gennesareth, inquired of the natives whether they 
knew such a place as Capernaum ; to which they 
replied, " Cavernahum wa Ghonasi, they are quite 
near, but in ruins." This should, perhaps, induce us 
to fix the site of Capernaum farther south ; but our 
Saviour's denunciation against it seems to have been 
literally accomplished ; and it has been cast down into 
the grave, for hitherto no satisfactory evidence haa 
been found of the place on which it stood, Matt. xi. 23 



CAP 



L 273 ] 



CAP 



CAPHAR, in Hebrew, signifies a field, or village ; 
and hence we often find it in composition with other 
words, as a proper name, and sometimes annexed to 
the name of a city ; because what had been a village, 
when augmented, becomes a city. 

CAPHAR-SALAMA, or Caphar-Sarama ; the 
same, perhaps, as Caphar-Semelia ; not far from 
Jerusalem, 1 Mac. vii. 31. Afterwards called An- 
•tipatris. 

CAPHAR-SOREK. In Jerome's time there was 
a town of this name, north of Eleutheropolis, near 
Saraa. It is thought to have been named from the 
brook or valley of Sorek, where Delilah lived, Judg. 
xvi. 4. 

CAPHTOR, CAPHTORIM. There is great diffi- 
culty in properly analyzing this appellation; some think 
it imports, " islands, every way surrounded by wa- 
ter." Henius refers it to one of the islands in the Nile ; 
Abel thinks it is the same as Rib, or Rihib, the Del- 
ta of Egypt. Bochart, following the Septuagint and 
the Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan, takes 
Caphtor to be Cappadocia, on the Euxine ; Calmet 
and others suppose the island of Crete to be the 
Caphtor of the Scriptures, chiefly on account of the 
resemblances between the laws and manners of the 
Cretans and Caphtorim, or Philistines. So also 
Gesenius and Rosenmuller. In Gen. x. 13, 14, it is 
said that the Philistines and Caphtorim went out 
from Egypt, (probably to Crete,) and from thence 
the Philistines migrated to Canaan ; see Amos ix. 7. 
Hence Jeremiah calls them (xlvii. 4.) "the remnant 
of the island Caphtor." This opinion is also confirm- 
ed by the circumstance, that the Philistines are also 
called Cherethim, or Cherethites, equivalent to Cretans. 
That the Caphtorim, or Cherethim, and the Philis- 
tines, are the same people, is beyond doubt. Ezekiel 
says, (ch. xxv. 16.J " I will stretch out mine hand 
upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Chere- 
thim." Zephaniah also says, (ii. 5.) "Wo unto the 
inhabitants of the sea-coast, the Cherethites :" and 
1 Sam. xxx. 14, 15. " The Amalekites made an irrup- 
tion into the country of the Cherethites ;" that is, of 
the Philistines, as the sequel proves. Afterwards, 
the kings of Judah had foreign guards called Chere- 
thites and Pelethites, who were Philistines. See 
Philistines. 

CAPITATION of the Jews. Moses ordained, 
(Exod. xxx. 13.) that every Israelite should pay half 
a shekel for his soul, or person, as a redemption, 
"that there might be no plague among the people, 
when they were numbered." Many interpreters are 
of opinion, that this payment was designed to take 
place as often as the people were numbered ; and 
that this payment of the half shekel per head being 
evaded when David numbered his subject ; God pun- 
ished the neglect with a pestilence, 2 Sam. xxiv. 1. 
But it is more generally thought that Moses laid this 
tax on all the people, payable yearly, for the main- 
tenance of the tabernacle, for the sacrifices, wood, 
oil, wine, flour, habits, and subsistence of the priests 
and Levites. In our Saviour's time, the tribute was 
punctually paid. (See Didrachma.) The Israelites, 
when returned from Babylon, paid one third part of 
a shekel to the temple ; being disabled probably at 
that time, by poverty, from doing more, Nehem. x. 
32. The rabbins observe, that the Jews in general, 
and even the priests, except women, children under 
thirteen years of age, and slaves, were liable to pay 
the half shekel. The collectors demanded it in the 
beginning of Nisan, but used no compulsion till the 
>assover, when they either constrained its payment, 



or took security for it. After the destruction of the 
temple, the Jews were compelled to pay the half 
shekel to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. 

CAPPADOCIA, a region of Asia, adjoining Pon- 
tus, Armenia, Phrygia, and Galatia, (Acts ii. 9 ; 1 Pet. 

i. 1.) between the Halys, the Euphrates, and the 
Euxine. Ptolemy mentions the Cappadocians, and 
derives their name from a river, Cappadox. They 
were formerly called Leuco-Syri, or " White Syrians," 
in opposition to those who lived south of the moun- 
tains, and more exposed to the sun. Such was their 
character for dulness and vice, that the following 
virulent epigram was written upon them : — 

" Vipera Cappadocem nocitura momordit ; at ilia 
Gustato periit sanguine Cappadocis." 

Cappadocia was also placed first in the proverb 
which cautioned against the three K's — Kappadocia, 
Kilicia, and Krete. 

CAPTIVITY. God generally punished the sins 
of the Jews by captivities or servitudes. The first 
captivity, however, from which Moses delivered them, 
should be considered rather as a permission of Provi- 
dence, than as a punishment for sin. There were six 
captivities during the government by judges : (1.) 
under Chushan-Rishathai'm, king of Mesopotamia, 
which continued about eight years ; (2.) under Eglon, 
king of Moab, from which they were delivered by 
Ehud ; (3.) under the Philistines, out of which they 
were rescued by Shamgar ; (4.) under Jabin, king of 
Hazor, from which they were delivered by Deborah 
and Barak ; (5.) under the Midianites, from which 
Gideon freed them ; (6.) under the Ammonites and 
Philistines, during the judicatures of Jephthah, Ibzan, 
Elon, Abdon, Eli, Samson and Samuel. But the 
most remarkable captivities of the Hebrews were those 
of Israel and Judah, under their regal government. 

Captivities or Israel. — (1.) Tiglath-Pilezer took 
several cities, and carried away captives, principally 
from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe ot 
Manasseh, A. M. 3264. (2.) Salmaneser destroyed 
Samaria, after a siege of three years, (A. M. 3283,) 
and transplanted the tribes which had been spared 
by Tiglath-Pilezer,' to provinces beyond the Eu- 
phrates. (See further, infra.) It is usually believed, 
that there was no general return of the ten tribes 
from this captivity ; but the prophets seem to speak 
of the return of at least a great part of Israel. (See 
Hos. xi. 11; Amos ix. 14; Obad. 20 ; Isa. xi. 12; 
Ezek. xxxvii. 16; Jer. xlvi. 27 ; xlix. 2, &c. ; Micab 

ii. 12 ; Zech. ix. 13 ; x. 6, 10.) From the historical 
books we see that Israelites of the ten tribes, as well 
as of Judah and Benjamin, returned from the captivi- 
ty. Among those who returned with Zerubbabel, 
are reckoned some of Ephraim and Manasseh, who 
settled at Jerusalem, among the tribe of Judah. 
When Ezra numbered those who had returned, he 
only inquired whether they were of the race of Is- 
rael ; and at the first passover celebrated in the tem- 
ple after the return, was a sacrifice of twelve he- 
goats for the whole house of Israel, according to the 
number of the tribes, Ezra vi. 16, 17; viii. 35. Un- 
der the Maccabees, and during the time of our Sa- 
viour, we see that Palestine was peopled by Israelites 
of all the tribes, indifferently. The Samaritan chron- 
icle asserts, that in the 35th year of the pontificate of 
Abdelus, 3000 Israelites, by permission of king 
Sauredius, returned from captivity, under the con 
duct of Adus, son of Simeon. 

Captivities of Judah. — These are generally 
reckoned four : (1.) A. M. 3398, under king Jehoin 



CAPTIVITY 



[ 2:4 ] 



CAPTIVITY 



kim, when Daniel and others were carried to Baby- 
Ion ; (2.) A. M. 3401, in the seventh year of Jehoia- 
kim, when Nebuchadnezzar carried 3023 Jews to 
Babylon ; (3.) A. M. 3406, under Jehoiachim, when 
this prince, with part of his people, was sent to Baby- 
lon ; (4.) A. M. 3416, under Zedekiah. From this 
period begins the seventy years of captivity foretold 
by the prophet Jeremiah. At Babylon they had 
judges and elders who governed them, and decided 
matters in dispute juridically according to their laws. 
Cyrus, in the first year of his reign at Babylon, (A. 
M. 3457,) permitted the Jews to return to their own 
country ; (Ezra i. 1.) but they did not obtain leave 
to rebuild the temple ; and the completion of 
those prophecies, which foretold the termination of 
their captivity after seventy years, was not till A. M. 
3486, when Darius Hystaspes, by an edict, allowed 
them to rebuild the temple. 

It is worthy of inquiry, as involving the illustration 
of several passages of Scripture, whether the depor- 
tations of the Israelites and Judeans were total, or 
only partial. The following is the result of Mr. Tay- 
lor's investigations. 

Under the article Canaan it has been suggested 
that the river Jordan, as it divided the country pos- 
sessed by the Israelites, so it divided the interests and 
the politics of that people. Hence it happened, occa- 
sionally, that the south was invaded, while the north 
was 111 peace ; and often the districts eastward of Jor- 
dan were oppressed or even subdued, before the 
shock was felt on the coasts of the Mediterranean 
sea. This at lengtli proved the ruin of the whole 
nation. The two tribes and a half, settled east of the 
Jordan, — as most exposed to inroads, yet least readi- 
ly assisted, dwelling, too, in a country so very desira- 
ble as to attract the eye of avidity, yet calculated rath- 
er to breed pacific than warlike inhabitants, being 
also, we may conjecture, best known by means of 
passengers, — were the first to be carried into captivi- 
ty by invaders from the north. From these districts, 
if" once occupied by enemies, the transit was easy 
over the Upper Jordan ; and the northern tribes of 
Israel were of course exposed to inroads of the con- 
querors ; by whom, in the issue, they were displaced. 
Judah retained its independence longer ; but Judah 
at length was invaded from the north, was subjugat- 
ed to a foreign power, and its inhabitants treated like 
thi se of other conquered countries, being led away 
by the conqueror at his pleasure. But though we 
saj the inhabitants were removed from their native 
country, yet it appears from incidental observations 
in Scripture that some remained ; and major Rennell 
has offered several reasons for believing that only 
certain classes of this people were carried to Assyria, 
or to Babylon ; and as this is an inquiry of some con- 
sequence, and leads to the consideration of that pro- 
portion of the people which returned to the land of 
Judea in after-ages, we give the major's remarks pret- 
ty fully:— 

" The chronology of Usher and Newton allow the 
lollowing dates, for the events under consideration : 

Ante A. D. Diff. 

Captivity of the two and half tribes, and } 

of the Syrians of Damascus, > 740 
by Tiglath-Pilezer . . . ) 

of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser 721 19 

of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar . . 606 134 

Destruction of Jerusalem 589 151 

Decree of Cyrus for the return of the Jews 536 204 



" The eastern tribes were taken away by 1 iglath- 
Pileser, about 740 B. C. : and this was done, it ap- 
pears, at the solicitation of the king of Judea, against 
those of Israel and Syria, who threatened him. It is 
said (2 Kings xvi. 9.) that 'the king of Assyria took 
Damascus, slew their king Resin, and carried the 
people captive to Kir ;' by which the country of As- 
syria is unequivocally meant. But Josephus says 
(Antiq. ix. cap. 12. 3.) that they were sent to Upper 
Media ; that Tiglath-Pileser sent a colony of Assyr 
ians in their room ; and that, at the same time, he 
afflicted the land of Israel, and took away many cap- 
tives out of it. In 2 Kings xv. 29. it is said, that 
' Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, took Ijon, and 
Abel-beth-Maachah, Janoah, Kadesh and Hazor, and 
Gilead and Galilee ; all the land of Naphtali, and car- 
ried them captive to Assyria.' But, in the account 
of the same transaction, in 1 Chron. v. 26, it is said, 
that Tiglath-Pilezer ' carried away the Keubenites, 
the Gadites, and (the half-tribe of Manasseh, and 
brought them to Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and 
to the liver of Gozan, unto this day.' Josephus, re- 
lating the same transaction, (Antiq. lib. ix. cap. 11. 
1.) says, that Tiglath-Pileser 'carried away the in- 
habitants of Gilead, Galilee, Kadesh, and Hazor, and 
transplanted them into his own kingdom ;' by which, 
in strictness, Assyria should be understood ; but it 
appears from the book of Tobit, that Media was also 
subject to him ; so that there is no contradiction. 
We come, next in order, to the proper subject of the 
ten tribes. In 2 Kings xvii. 6, Shalmaneser, king of 
Assyria, is said to have carried away Israel into As- 
syria, and to have ' placed them in Halah, and in Ha- 
bor, by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the 
Medes.' Josephus, speaking of the same event, says, 
(Antiq. ix. cap. 14. ].) that Shalmaneser took Sama- 
ria, (that is, the capital of the Israelites,) demolished 
the government, and transplanted all the peo- 
ple into Media and Persia ; and that they were re- 
placed by other people out of Cuthah ; which, he 
says, (in section 3 of the same chapter,) is the name 
of a country in Persia, and which has a river of the 
same name in it. Of the Cutheans, he continues, 
there were Jive tribes, or nations; each of which had 
its own gods ; and these they brought with them in- 
to Samaria. These, he observes, were the people 
afterwards called Samaritans ; and who, although 
they had no pretensions, affected to be kinsfolk of 
the Jews. 

" The Cutheans (he says) had formerly belonged 
to the inner parts of Persia and Media. In 2 Kings 
xvii. 24, it is said, that the people brought to supply 
the place of the Israelites, were from five places ; 
i. e. Babylon, Cuthah, Jlva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim ; 
and also that they worshipped as many different dei- 
ties. Thus, we have the history of the removal of 
the ten tribes of Israel, at different periods ; as also of 
the people of Damascus, to the same countries ; all 
of which was effected by the kings of Assyria, whose 
capital was at Nineveh. But previous to the second 
captivity (or that of Judah) by the Babylonians, these 
last had become masters of all Assyria : Nineveh had 
been destroyed, and Babylon had become the capital 
of the empire of Assyria, thus enlarged by conquest. 
There are no particulars given, respecting the carry- 
ing away of Israel to Nineveh, as of Judah to Baby- 
lon ; but v/e may, perhaps, be allowed to consider 
both as parallel cases ; and thence infer that the con- 
duct of the king of Nineveh was much the same with 
that of the king of Babylon. Josephus says, that all 
the nation of Israel was taken away, and their places 



CAPTIVITY L 2 

supplied by the Cutheans. 2 Kings xvii. leaves us 
to understand the same, if taken literally ; that is, 
that Shalmaneser ' carried Israel away into or unto 
Assyria ;' and that people were brought from divers 
countries, and 1 placed in the cities of Samaria, in- 
stead of the children of Israel : and they possessed 
Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.' Certainly, 
if these accounts are to be taken literally, we must 
suppose no other, than that the ivhole nation was car- 
ried away ; which supposition, however, occasions 
some difficulty, not only from the numbers to be car- 
ried away, but from the obvious difficulty of feeding 
by the way, and of finally placing in a situation where 
they could be fed, so vast, and in a great degree so 
useless, a multitude, when removed to a strange coun- 
try. Wheresoever they came, they must either have 
been starved themselves, or they must virtually have 
displaced nearly an equal number of the king's sub- 
jects, who were already settled, and in habits of 
maintaining themselves, and probably of aiding the 
state. They were said to be carried to Nineveh. 
This residue of the ten tribes (that is, seven and a 
half) cannot be estimated lower than two thirds of 
the population of Nineveh itself. And it may be 
asked, Who fed them, in their way across Syria and 
Mesopotamia to Nineveh ? And admitting an ex- 
change of the Cutheans for the Israelites, on so ex- 
tended a scale, as to include the agricultural and 
working people of all classes, a sovereign who 
should make such an exchange, where an interval of 
space of nearly a thousand miles intervened, would 
at least discover a different kind of policy from that 
which, in our conception, was followed by the king 
of Assyria. Were We to avail ourselves of the Bible 
statement, and take between 3h and four millions, for 
the people of Israel ; and of these, three fourths for 
the seven and a half tribes carried away by Shalma- 
nezer, that is, more than 2| millions, we might well 
rest the argument there. But even reduced to the 
more probable number of 700,000, and upwards, — 
how was such a multitude to be provided for ? 
Nor is this stated to be an act of necessity, but of 
choice ! 

" We shall now state the particulars that are given, 
respecting the Babylonish captivity. It appears, then, 
that Nebuchadnezzar carried away the principal in- 
habitants, the warriors, and artisans of every kind, 
and these classes only ; leaving behind the husband- 
men, the laborers, and the poorer classes in general ; 
that is, the great body of the people. May it not be 
concluded, that much the same mode of conduct was 
pursued by the king of Nineveh, as by him of Baby- 
lon ; although it is not particularized ? It cannot be 
supposed that either Media or Assyria wanted hus- 
bandmen. The history of Tobit shows, not only 
that the Jews were distributed over Media, but that 
they filled situations of trust and confidence. And, 
on the whole, it may be conceived that the persons 
brought away from the land of Israel were those 
from whom the conqueror expected useful services, 
in his country, or feared disturbances from, in their 
own ; in effect, that the classes were much the same 
with those brought away from Judea, by the king of 
Babylon ; and that the great body of the people re- 
mained in the land, as being of use there, but would 
have been burthensome if removed. Consequently, 
those who look for a nation of Jews, transplanted in- 
to Media, or Persia, certainly look for what was 
never to be found ; since no more than a select part 
of the nation was so transplanted. In the distribu- 
tion of such captives, it might be expected that a 



75 ] CAPTIVITY 

wise monarch would be governed by two considera 
tions : first, to profit the most by their knowledge and 
industry ; and, secondly, to place them in such a situa- 
tion, as to render it extremely difficult for them to re- 
turn to their own country. The geographical position 
of Media appears favorable to the latter circumstance, 
there being a great extent of country, and deep rivers 
between. 

" One circumstance appears very remarkable. Al- 
though it is positively said, that only certain classes 
of the Jews were carried to Babylon, at the latter 
captivity ; and also that, on the decree of Cyrus, 
which permitted their return, the principal part did 
return, (perhaps 50,000 in all,) yet so great a number 
was found in Babylonia, in after-times, as is really 
astonishing. They are spoken of by Josephus, as 
possessing towns and districts, in that country, so late 
as the reign of Phraates ; about forty years before 
Christ. They were in great numbers at Babylon it- 
self ; also in Seleucia and Susa. Their increase 
must have been wonderful ; and in order to maintain 
such numbers, their industry and gains also must 
have been great. But it must also have been, that a 
very great number were disinclined to leave the 
country in which they were settled, at the date of the 
decree. Ammianus Marcellinus, so late as the ex- 
pedition of Julian, speaks of a Jews' town at the 
side of one of the canals between the Euphrates and 
Tigris." 

Such are the principal arguments of major Ren- 
nell : there are others to which he has not adverted. 
From 2 Chron. xxx. we find that the pious Hezekiah 
wrote to " all Israel, Ephraim, and Manasseh ; — and 
that divers of Asher, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebu- 
lun" obeyed his injunctions, and came to Jerusalem 
to keep his passover ; so that, " since the time of Sol- 
omon, son of David, there had not been the like in 
Jerusalem." Moreover, we read in 2 Chron. xxxiv. 
3,4, 5, that king Josiah not only "purged Judah 
and Jerusalem," in the first place, from idolatry, but 
that he went in person, and did the same " in the 
cities of Manasseh, (the half-tribe west of Jordan,) 
Ephraim, Simeon, and even unto Naphtali, " through- 
out all the land of Israel." This he could not have 
done, had he not possessed some authority over the 
country he visited ; and had not the people of this 
country acquiesced in the propriety of what he was 
doing, knowing it to be agreeable to their ancient 
laws and institutions. But this implies a population 
of Hebrews by descent. Now, as Josiah extended 
his reformation throughout Israel, as he was killed 
at Megiddo, a town in the centre of Israel, and de- 
fending Israel against an invader, there is no room to 
doubt, but that the main body of the population of 
Israel at that time was descended from those who 
had been left in the country, when the principals of 
the nation, as to station and quality, were led into 
captivity. It can hardly be supposed that Israel was 
treated at that time more severely than Judah was 
afterwards ; on the contrary, one would imagine, that 
repeated revolts would be the most signally punish- 
ed. Yet we find that Nebuchadnezzar left some Ju- 
deans behind, although he carried off whoever could 
be of any service to him, in adorning his new capi- 
tal ; that city which he so greatly improved, as to 
render it the subject of his pride : — " this great Baby- 
lon, which I have built." 

If these suggestions be founded on truth, they may 
assist our endeavors to discern the real character of 
the Samaritans. It will be recollected, that what his- 
tory we have of these people is not from Israelite 



CAPTIVITY 



[ 276 ] 



CAPTIVITY 



writers or from themselves, but from their rivals, the 
Jews, whose description of them contains no equivo- 
cal tokens of national animosity and dislike. Where- 
as, if the bulk of the Israelites were left in their na- 
tive land, if the population, though decimated, were 
not wholly deported, tben the descent claimed by 
the Samaritans from the tribe of Ephraim, may well 
be allowed them ; and then it is neither more nor less 
than injustice, to deny their general relation to the 
Hebrew community. This does not exclude the 
fact, that a number of Cutheans was intermingled 
among them, who, probably, occupied advantageous 
situations; whether as to office or property: but 
these must always have been known, must always 
have been distinguished, as the Turks are, at this 
day, in their various lines of descent, among the 
Greeks. Nor is it by any means unlikely, that these 
different people should employ different arguments, 
according to events. When the affairs of the Jews 
were prosperous, the Israelite-Samaritans might 
claim affinity with them, and truly ; when the Jewish 
people were in difficulties, the Cutheans would nat- 
urally endeavor to ingratiate themselves with the 
heathen governors and sovereigns who despotized 
Judea. So far as they appear in the gospel histo- 
ry, we do not see that the Samaritans were worse 
than the Jews ; indeed they seem, on the whole, to 
have been more open to conviction than the zealots 
of the southern tribes. This is clear from their his- 
tory, — that while the temple of Jerusalem is destroy- 
ed, and the national rites are abolished, the Samari- 
tans are still preserved as a people, though inglorious ; 
they maintain their ancient observances, though im- 
perfectly ; they derive their descent from their proper 
patriarchs, in their own country, though, probably, 
not without considerable breaches and intervals in 
their means of proof ; they possess authentic copies 
of the Mosaic institutes, free from Babylonish muta- 
tions, and under which they act; and Provi- 
dence has continued them to the present time, 
as evidence of various points of history, and inci- 
dental facts, connected with holy writ. So little 
cause had the Jewish zealot to despise "those 
who reside in the mount of Samaria ; and that 
foolish people which dwell in Shechem," Ec- 
clus. 1. 28. 

Another question for determination, and one of 
some difficulty, relates to the country whither the ten 
tribes were transplanted. Scripture informs us, as we 
have seen above, that Tiglath-Plleser carried away 
Naphtali, Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manas- 
seh, to Halah, to Habor, and to Hara ; (1 Chron. v. 
26.) and that Salmaneser carried off the rest of Israel 
into Assyria, to Halah, to Habor, on the river of Gozan, 
and into the cities of the Medes, 2 Kings xvii. 6. 
Lahela and Halah are certainly the same, and proba- 
bly denote the land of Havilah, or Colchis. Habor, or 
Chabor, is the river Chaboras, and the country water- 
ed by it, as Gozan, or Gauzan, is the name of the prov- 
ince through which the river Chaboras flows. [But 
see Gozan.] There is also a district in Media called 
Gauzan, between the rivers Cyrus and Cambyses, and 
is placed by Benjamin of Tudela four days' journey 
from Hemdam. Hara, or Ara, is in Media, and is prob- 
ably the province of the Areans, known to the ancient 
geographers. Benjamin of Tudela assures us that there 
were in Media fifty cities peopled by Israelites. We 
see by Tobit i. 11, 16 ; iii. 7 ; v. 8. that there were Is- 
raelites at Nineveh, at Rages in Media, at Shushan, or 
Susa, and at Ecbatana. In our Saviour's time there 
were Israelites scattered through the provinces of the 



East, Acts ii. 9—11 ; James i. 1. Philo describes the 
Jews as being very numerous throughout the East, 
under the empire of the Persians ; and Josephus, 
(Ant. lib. xi. cap. v.) speaking of the ten tribes, says, 
in his time they were in great multitudes beyond the 
Euphrates. The second book of Esdras (xiii. 41, &c.) 
advances a notion, that the Israelites carried captive 
by Shahnaneser, resolved on withdrawing from the 
nations, that they might serve God with greater liber- 
ty ; and that for this purpose they passed over the 
Euphrates, God having opened the channel of the 
river, by a miracle in their favor, like that when he 
gave thern passage over the Jordan. They marched 
a year and a half before they arrived at the place 
they intended, and at last settled at Arzeret, where 
they are to remain to the latter ages, when the Al- 
mighty will recall them, and again open a passage 
for them through the Euphrates. But where is this 
country of Arzeret ? Josephus Ben-Gorion says, 
that when Alexander the Great would have passed 
over the dark mountains which separate the country 
of the Israelites from the other nations, he was pre- 
vented by a voice which cried to him, "Take care 
that you enter not into the house of God." Benja- 
min of Tudela reports that after a journey of one and 
twenty days, as he travelled towards the north, he 
arrived at the kingdom of the Rechabites, the extent 
of which was sixteen days' journey. Of the cities 
of this kingdom he relates many particulars, but does 
not say that this was the kingdom of Arzeret. Ma- 
nasseh-ben-Israel and other writers affirm that the 
ten tribes retired into Tartary, whence many of them 
passed into America, Russia, Muscovy, Lithuania, 
and China. Olaus Rudbek, son of the famous M. 
Rudbek, author of the " Atlantica," in his " Laponia 
Illustrata," maintains, that we must not expect to find 
the remains of the ten tribes of Israel either in Asia, 
or in Africa, and much less in America; but in the 
utmost northern climes, even in his own country, 
Lapland. These surmises he supports by some gen- 
eral probabilities, and by the conformity between the 
manners and ceremonies of the Laplanders and 
those of the Jews. But upon this foundation, there 
can be no country in the world in which the Jews 
of the ten tribes may not be found. 

Sir William Jones inclines to the opinion that 
the ten tribes migrated to India, about Thibet, and 
Cashmire, and such opinion derived support from 
several circumstances. In the year 1828 the follow- 
ing statement appeared in the German papers: — 
"Leipsic, June 30. — After having seen, for some 
years past, merchants from Tiflis, Persia, and Arme- 
nia, among the visitors at our fair, we have had, for 
the first time, two traders from Bucharia, wiih shawls, 
which are there manufactured of the finest wool of 
the goats of Tibet and Cashmire, by the Jewish fami- 
lies, who form a third part of the population. In 
Bucharia (formerly the capital of Sogdiana) the Jews 
have been very numerous ever since the Babylonian 
captivity, and are there as remarkable for their indus- 
try and* manufactures, as they are in England for 
their money transactions. It was not till last year 
that the Russian government succeeded in extending 
its diplomatic missions far into Bucharia. The above 
traders exchanged their shawls for coarse and fine 
woollen cloths of such colors as are most esteemed 
in the East." The number of these Jews must be 
very great, if this account be at all correct, as to the 
proportion which they bear to the whole population, 
this being stated by the most accurately informed 
writers to be from 15,000,000 to 18,000,000. But this 



CAPTIVITY 



CAR 



information is confirmed, in a very satisfactory man- 
ner, from other sources. 

In the year 1822, a Mr. Sargon, one of the agents, 
we believe, to the London Society for converting the 
Jews, communicated to England some interesting ac- 
counts of a number of persons resident at Bombay, 
Cannanore, and the vicinity, who were evidently the 
descendants of Jews, calling themselves Beni-Israel, 
and bearing, almost uniformly, Jewish names, but 
with a Persian termination. Feeling very desirous to 
obtain all possible knowledge of their condition, Mr. 
Sargon undertook a mission to Cannanore for this 
purpose, and the result of his inquiries was a convic- 
tion, that they were not Jews of the one tribe and a 
half, being of a different race from the white and 
black Jews at Cochin, and consequently that they 
were a remnant of the long-lost ten tribes. He also 
concluded, from the information obtained respecting 
the Beni-Israel, that they existed in great numbers in 
countries between Cochin and Bombay, the north of 
Persia, among the hordes of Tartary, and in Cash- 
mire ; the very countries in which the German ac- 
counts state the recent discovery to have been made. 
So far, then, these accounts confirm each other, and 
there is every probability that the Beni-Israel, resident 
on the west of the Indian peninsula, had originally 
proceeded from Bucharia. It will therefore be in- 
teresting to know something of their moral and re- 
ligious character ; and we have collected the follow - 
ing particulars from Mr. Sargou's accounts : (1) In 
dress and manners they resemble the natives so as 
not to be distinguished from them, but by attentive 
observation and inquiry. (2.) They have Hebrew 
names of the same kind, and with the same local ter- 
mination, as the sepoys in the 9th regiment Bombay 
native infantry. (3.) Some of them read Hebrew, 
and they have a faint tradition of the cause of their 
original exodus from Egypt. (4.) Their common 
language is the Hindoo. (5.) They keep idols and 
worship them, and use idolatrous ceremonies inter- 
mixed with Hebrew. (6.) They circumcise their own 
children. (7.) They observe the Kippoor, or great 
expiation day of the Hebrews, but not the sabbath, 
nor any feast or fastdays. (8.) They call themselves 
Gorah Jehudi, or white Jews ; and they term the black 
Jews, Collah Jehudi. (9.) They speak of the Ara- 
bian Jews as their brethren, but do not acknowledge 
the European Jews as such, because they are of a 
fairer complexion than themselves. (10.) They use, 
on all occasions, and at the most trivial circumstances, 
the usual Jewish prayer, " Hear, O Israel, the Lord 
our God is one Lord." (11.) They have no cohen 
(priest), levite, or kasi, among them, under those terms, 
but they have a kasy, (reader,) who performs prayers 
and conducts their religious ceremonies, and they 
appear to have elders and a chief in each community, 
who determine in their religious concerns. (12.) 
They expect the Messiah soon to arrive, and rejoice 
in the belief that at Jerusalem they will see their-God, 
worship him only, and be despised no more. This 
is all the information that can be collected from Mr. 
Sargon's accounts, but the very region in which these 
people have been discovered, has been described by 
the celebrated oriental geographer, Ibn Haukal, with 
great minuteness, under the appellation of Mawer-al- 
nahr. He speaks of it as one of the most flourishing 
and productive provinces within the regions of Islam, 
and describes its inhabitants as a people of probity 
and virtue, averse from evil, and fond of peace. — 
" Such is their liberality, that no one turns aside from 
the rites of hospitality ; so that a person contemplat- 



ing them in this light, would imagine that al. the 
families in the land were but one house. When a 
traveller arrives there, every person endeavors to 
attract him to himself, that he may have opportuni- 
ties of performing kind offices for the stranger; and 
the best proof of their hospitable and generous dis- 
position is, that every peasant, though possessing but 
a bare sufficiency, allows a portion of his cottage for 
the reception of his guest. Thus, in acts of hospital- 
ity, they expend their income. Never have I heard of 
such things in any other country. . . . You cannot see 
any town or stage [station], or even desert, without a 
convenient inn or stage-house, for the accommodation 
of travellers, with every thing necessary. I have 
heard that there are above 2000 nebats or inns, where 
as many persons as may arrive shall find sufficient 
forage for their beasts, and meat for themselves." 

The Hebrews affirm, that since the destruction of 
the temple by the Romans, they have always had their 
heads, or princes, both in the East and West, under 
the name of Princes or the Captivity ; that of the 
East, governing the Jews of Babylon, Chaldea, As- 
syria, and Persia ; that of the West, those of Judea, 
Egypt, Italy, and the Roman empire. 

CARAVAN, a name given in the East to a com- 
pany of travellers or merchants, who, for their greater 
security, march in a body through the deserts, and 
other places, infested with Arabs or robbers. (See 
Gen. xxxvii. 25.) " As the collection of such a num- 
ber of persons [to form a caravan] requires time, and 
the imbodying of them is a serious concern, it is con- 
certed with great care and preparation, and is never 
attempted without permission of the prince in whose 
dominions it is formed, and of those also through 
whose dominions it is to pass, expressed in uniting. 
The exact number of men and carriages, mules, 
horses, and other beasts of burthen, are specified in 
the license ; and the merchants to whom the caravan 
belongs regulate and direct every thing appertaining 
to its government and police, during the journey, and 
appoint the various officers necessary for conducting 
it. Each caravan has four principal officers : (1.) the 
Caravan Bachi, or head of the caravan; (2.) the 
Captain of the March ; (3.) the Captain of the Stop, 
or Rest ; — and (4.) the Captain of the Distrirution. 
The first has the uncontrollable authority and com- 
mand over all the others, and gives them his orders : 
the second is absolute during the march ; but his 
authority immediately ceases on the stopping, or en- 
camping, of the caravan, when the third assumes his 
share of the authority, and exerts it during the time 
of its remaining at rest : and the fourth orders the dis- 
position of every part of the caravan, in case of an 
attack or battle. This last officer has also, during the 
march, the inspection and direction of the distribu- 
tion of provisions, which is conducted, under his 
management, by several inferior officers, who are 
obliged to give security to the master of the caravan ; 
each of them having the care of a certain number of 
men, elephants, dromedaries, camels, &c. which 
they undertake to conduct, and to furnish with pro- 
visions, at their own risk, according to an agreement 
stipulated between them. A fifth officer of the car- 
avan is the pay-master, or treasurer, who has under 
him a great many clerks and interpreters, appointed 
to keep accurate journals of all the material incidents 
that may occur on the journey ; and it is by these 
journals, signed by the superior officers, that the 
owners of the caravan judge whether they have been 
well or ill served or conducted." This description 
is from colonel Campbell, who proceeds to say, 



CARAVAN 



[ 278 ] 



CAR 



" Another kind of officers are mathematicians, with- 
out whom no caravan will presume to set out. There 
are commonly three of them attached to a caravan of 
a large size ; and they perform the offices both 
of quarter-master and aids-de-camp, leading the 
troops when the caravan is attacked, and assigning 
the quarters where the caravan is appointed to en- 
camp. There are no less than five distinct [kinds 
of] caravans: first, the heavy caravans, which are 
composed of elephants, dromedaries, camels, and 
horses ; secondly, the light caravans, which have but 
few elephants; thirdly, the common caravans, where 
are none of those animals; fourthly, the horse cara- 
vans, where are neither dromedaries nor camels ; and 
lastly, sea caravans, consisting of vessels ; from 
whence you will observe, that the word caravan is 
not confined to the land, but extends to the water also. 
The proportion observed in the heavy caravan is 
as follows :— When there are five hundred elephants, 
they add a thousand dromedaries, and two thousand 
horses at the least : and the escort is composed of 
four thousand men on horseback. Two men are re- 
quired for leading one elephant, five for three drom- 
edaries, and seven for eleven camels. This multitude 
of servants, together with the officers and passengers, 
whose number is uncertain, serve to support the 
escort in case of a fight ; and render the caravan more 
formidable and secure. The passengers are not ab- 
solutely obliged to fight ; but, according to the laws 
and usages of the caravans, if they refuse to do so, 
they are not entitled to any provisions whatever from 
the caravan, even though they should agree to pay 
an extravagant price for them. The day of the car- 
avan setting out, being once fixed, is never altered or 
postponed ; so that no disappointment can possibly 
ensue to any one. Even these powerful and well- 
armed bodies are way-laid and robbed by the Arabian 
princes, who keep spies in all pails to give notice 
when a caravan sets out : sometimes they plunder 
them ; sometimes they make slaves of the whole con- 
voy." (Travels to India, p. ii. p. 40.) 

This account may be made very materially to assist 
in illustrating the history of the exodus. In order 
to apply it to that event, we premise, that the manners 
of the East, because resulting from the nature and 
the peculiarities of the countries, have ever been so 
permanent, that what was anciently adopted into a 
custom is still conformed to, with scarcely any (if any) 
variation. 

1. "A caravan is too serious a concern to be at- 
tempted without the permission of the king, in whose 
dominions it is formed ; and of those powers, also, 
through whose dominions it is to pass." This ex- 
plains the urgency of Moses to obtain permission 
from Pharaoh ; and the power of Pharaoh to prevent 
the assemblage necessary for the purpose of Israel's 
deliverance : it accounts, also, for the attack made by 
Amalek ; (Exod. xvii. 8.) which tribe, not having been 
solicited for a free passage, intended revenge and 
plunder for this omission, in a " formidable body, as 
large as an army ;" but Moses could not have previous- 
ly negotiated for their consent, without alarming 
Pharaoh too highly, as to the extent of his proposed 
excursion with the people. 

2. The nature of the " mixed multitude" which 
accompanied the caravan of Israel clearly appears in 
this extract. 

3. " The exact number of men, carriages, mules," 
&c. This we find was the custom also in the time of 
Moses ; as the returns made, and registered, in the 
book of Numbers sufficiently demonstrate. 



4. The time necessary for the formation of a cara- 
van justifies the inference, that the Israelites did not 
leave Egypt in that extreme haste which has been 
sometimes supposed ; they must have had time to 
assemble ; many, no doubt, from distant parts, which 
would require several days : they might be expelled 
in haste from the royal city ; but to collect them all 
together at the place of rendezvous, must have been 
a work of time : we see it is so at this day. For 
further information on this subject, see the article 
Exodus. 

5. Another consideration, not unimportant, arises 
from the nature, the departments, and the powers of 
these officers. It appears from various passages of 
Scripture, that the Lord, or Jehovah, was consider- 
ed as the chief guide, conductor, or commander of 
the Israelites, at the time of their exodus from 
Egypt : he, therefore, was understood to be, as it 
were, Caravan Bachi to this people ; in his name 
Moses acted as the chief of the caravan. [As to the 
other officers, if they existed at all, we have no ac- 
couut of them ; except that Joshua was ordered to 
go and fight Amalek, (Ex. xvii.) who attacked Israel 
when encamped. R.] It is also not improbable that 
Aaron, who assisted Moses in all things, and was his 
substitute when absent, had, as a part of his duty, to 
keep " accurate journals of all material incidents," 
&c. This accounts why, in his penitence and fideli- 
ty, he has given an ample relation of his share in the 
transaction of the golden calf, and of the anger it ex- 
cited against him ; while he has, perhaps, declined to 
transmit to posterity the name or the character of the 
principal in it. As a parallel instance, the reader may 
recollect, how much more circumstantially Peter's 
fall is related in Peter's Gospel (i. e. Mark's) than in 
any other. It accounts, also, for the commendation 
of Moses, as the meekest of men, in the very instance 
of Aaron's rebellion against him ; and it accounts, too, 
for the use of the third person in the narration, in- 
stead of the first person, which Moses himself uses in 
Deuteronomy, composed, or at least published, after 
Aaron's death. It results from the whole, that the 
history of the exodus, &c. was compiled from the 
public, official, authentic register, kept in the camp 
daily ; that the original was not private memoranda, 
but, to use a modern phrase, the Gazette of the time. 

Mathematicians, mentioned by colonel Campbell, 
were completely superfluous in the caravan of Israel. 

The reader will observe other particulars for him- 
self: those here suggested are offered only as hints 
to lead inquiry ; this is not the place to enlarge on 
them. The remark, however, is obvious, that the 
most intricate transactions appear plain, when set in 
their proper light; and that what we now find ob- 
scure, is so, evidently, not from any real obscurity in 
the original narration, but from our imperfect knowl- 
edge of the subjects to which it refers. 

CARAVANSERAI, a building in the East, which 
is expressed in our version of the Scriptures by the 
term Inn. There appear to be three descriptions of 
these buildings. Some are simply places of rest, (by 
the side of a fountain, if possible,) which, being at 
proper distances on the road, are thus named, though 
they are mere naked walls ; others have an attend- 
ant, who subsists either by some charitable donation, 
or the benevolence of passengers; and others are 
more considerable establishments, where families re- 
side and take care of them, and furnish many neces- 
sary provisions. Conformably to these ideas, the 
Scripture uses at least two words to express a cara- 
vanserai, though our translators have rendered both 



CARAVANSERAI 



L 279 ] 



CARAVAN SERAI 




by the same term inn. Thus, Luke ii. 7, There was 
no room for them in the inn, [xaraXr^iari,) " the place of 
untying," of beasts, &c. for rest. Luke x. 34, The 
good Samaritan brought him to the [jtavSox^ov) inn, 
{whose keeper is called in the next verse pandokeius,) 
a receptacle open to all comers. It may reasonably 
be supposed, that a caravanserai in a town should be 
better furnished than one in the country, in a retired 
place, and where few travellers pass ; and Mr. Tay- 
lor therefore inclines, against Harmer, (Obs. vol. iii. 
p. 248.) to think that the inn, to which the good Sa- 
maritan is represented as conducting the wounded 
traveller, was intentionally described of an inferior 
kind. If so, we may reasonably take the other word, 
" the untying place," as denoting a larger edifice ; 
and this accounts for the evangelist Luke's mention 
of there being no room (ronog) in it : q. d. " though it 
was large enough for such occasions as usually 
occurred in the town of Bethlehem, yet now every 
apartment in this receptacle was occupied ; so that 
no privacy fit for a woman in the situation of Mary 
could be had :" — especially as, colonel Campbell has 
informed us, "they are continually attended by num- 
bers of the very lowest of the people" — very unfit 
associates for Mary at any time, and certainly in her 
present condition. " Caravanserais were originally 
intended for, and are now pretty generally applied 
to, the accommodation of strangers aud travellers ; 
though, like every other good institution, sometimes 
perverted to the purposes of private emolument, or 
public job. They are built at proper distances 
through the roads of the Turkish dominions, and 
afford to the indigent and weary traveller an asylum 
from the inclemency of the weather. They have 
commonly one story above the ground-floor; the 
lower story is arched, and serves for warehouses 
to store goods, for lodgings, and for stables, while the 
upper is used merely for lodgings; besides which 
they are always accommodated with a fountain, and 
have cooks'-shops and other conveniences to supply 
the wants of lodgers." (Campbell's Travels, p. ii. p. 
8.) This description applies, of course, to the better 
sort of caravanserais. 

The nearest construction amongst us to a caravan- 
serai, appears in some of our old inns, where galle- 
ries, with lodging rooms in them, run round a court, 
or yard ; but then, as travellers in the East always 
carry with them their own bedding, &c. it is evident 
that our inns are better provided than the best east- 
ern caravanserais. It is necessary to keep this in 
mind ; because we must not suppose that Joseph 
and Mary travelled without taking the necessary 
utensils with them ; or that they could have procured, 
in this inn, any thing beyond provisions and lodging. 
Perhaps even they could not have procured provis- 



ions. But of the poverty of their eastern inns, we 
shall obtain a pretty distinct idea from the following 
extract : — 

" There are no inns any where ; but the cities, aoid 
commonly the villages, have a large building called 
a khan, or kervanserai, which serves as an asylum for 
all travellers. These houses of reception are always 
built without the precincts of towns, and consist of four 
wings round a square court, which serves, by way of 
enclosure, for the beasts of burthen. The lodgings 
are cells, where you find nothing but bare walls, dust, 
and sometimes scorpions. The keeper of this khan 
gives the traveller the key and a mat ; and he pro- 
vides himself the rest. He must, therefore, carry 
with him his bed, his kitchen utensils, and even his 
provisions ; for frequently not even bread is to be 
found in the villages. On this account the orientals 
contrive their equipage in the most simple and port- 
able form. The baggage of a man who wishes to be 
completely provided, consists in a carpet, a mattress, 
a blanket, two saucepans with lids, contained within 
each other, two dishes, two plates, and a coffee-pot, 
all of copper well tinned ; a small wooden box, for 
salt and pepper ; a round leathern table, which he 
suspends from the saddle of his horse ; small leathern 
bottles or bags for oil, melted butter, water, and 
brandy (if the traveller be a Christian) ; a pipe, a tin- 
der-box, a cup of cocoa-nut, some rice, dried raisins, 
dates, Cyprus cheese, and, above all, coffee-berries, 
with a roaster, and wooden mortar to pound them. 
I am thus particular, to prove that the orientals are 
more advanced than we, in the art of dispensing with 
many things, an art which is not without its use 
Our European merchants are not contented with 
such simple accommodations." (Volney's Travels, 
vol. ii. p. 419. Eng. edit.) The reader will bear this 
account in mind : for we shall find that he is not a 
poor man in the East, who possesses this quantity of 
utensils. One would hope that at Bethlehem, "the 
house of bread," it was not difficult to procure that 
necessary of life. 

[The following graphic description of a scene in 
the large khan or caravanserai at Acre, is from the 
pen of Dr. Jowett, under date of Nov. ""3, 1823: 
(Christ. Researches in Syria, etc. p. 115. Am. ed.) 
" Looking out of our window upon the large, open, 
quadrangular court of the khan, we beheld very 
much such a scene as would illustrate the 'Ara- 
bian Nights' Entertainments.' In the centre is a 
spacious fountain, or reservoir, the first care of 
every builder of great houses or cities in the East. 
On one side is a row of camels, each tied by the 
slenderest cord to a long string ; to whicn a small 
bell is appended, so that, by the slightest motion, they 
keep up one another's attention, and the attention 
also of all the inmates of the khan, that of weary 
travellers especially, by a constant jingle. On an- 
other side, horses apd mules are waiting for orders ; 
while asses, breaking loose, biting one another, and 
throwing up their heels, give variety to the scene. 
Goats, geese, poultry, &c. are on free quarters. In 
the midst of all these sights and sounds, the groom, 
the muleteer, the merchant, the pedlar, the passers- 
by, and the by-standers, most of them wretchedly 
dressed, though in coats of many colors, all looking 
like idlers, whatever they may have to do, contrive 
to make themselves audible ; generally lifting up 
their voices to the pitch of high debate, and very often 
much higher. Noise, indeed, at all times, seems to be 
the proper element of the people of these countries; 
their throats are formed for it, their ears are usee to 



CAR 



[ 280 ] 



CAR 



it; neither the men nor the females, grown-up per- 
sons nor children, the rich nor the poor, seem to 
have any exclusive privilege in making it ; and, what 
is very annoying to a Frank traveller, the party with 
whom he is treating, and who wishes most probably 
to impose on him, will turn round to make an appeal 
to all the by-standers, who are no less ready with 
one voice to strike in with their opinion on all mat- 
ters that come before them. 

"The immense khan, of which the consul's rooms 
form a small part, is inhabited by a great variety of 
families. It is three stories high ; and in so dilapi- 
dated a state, that it seems to me to wait only for a 
gentle shock of an earthquake — no imorobable event 
— to bring it all down." 

The same traveller, in passing from Saide (Sidon) 
to Acre, came, near evening, to the foot of the line of 
mountains " which forms a midway barrier betwixt 
Tyre and Acre. After ascending it a little way, we 
reached, just after sunset, a poor hovel, called Khan 
Nahoura ; the owner of which, having several guests 
already arrived, made many difficulties about receiv- 
ing us. A little money, however, changed his heart 
towards us. Happily, just before our arrival, we 
were hailed by some fishermen on the water side, — 
men who, probably, at this day, are unconsciously ful- 
filling the prophecy of Ezekiel, cxxvi. 5, 14, — from 
whom we bought some excellent fish. With no 
other preparation than that of putting them whole 
into the burning embers, they furnished us with 
a very seasonable and refreshing supper." (Ibid, 
p. 112.) 

Khan appears to be the Turkish name for caravan- 
serai. On the great roads, where there are long 
intervals between the cities or settled parts of the 
country, these establishments are maintained by the 
government ; particularly in Persia. Indeed, this is 
a custom of very high antiquity ; for Xenophon in- 
forms us that Cyrus, "'observing how far a horse 
could well travel in a day, built stables at those dis- 
tances, and supplied them with persons to keep them 
in charge." (See sir R. K. Porter's Trav. in Persia, 
vol. i. p. 482.) *R. 

CARBUNCLE, a precious stone, like a large ruby, 
or garnet, of a dark, deep red color, something like 
bullock's blood ; said to glitter even in the dark, and 
to sparkle more than the ruby : but Braun observes, 
after Boetius, that the carbuncle of the ancients is the 
ruby. [The Hebrew word np-o, bdreketh, translated 
carbuncle in the English version, Ex. xxviii. 17. Ezek. 
xxviii. 13, is rendered smaragdus by Josephus, the 
Seventy, and the Vulgate ; and this is vindicated by 
Braun. (De Vest, sacerd. Heb. p. 517, seq.) In Is. 
liv. 12, our translators have put carbuncle for the 
Heb. m-ix, ekddh ; of which it can only be said, that 
its root indicates something bright, shining; but the 
specific kind of stone is not known. R. 

CARCHEMISH, a city of great strength on the 
Euphrates, belonging to Assyria, which was taken by 
Necho, king of Egypt, and retaken by Nebuchad- 
nezzar, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of 
Judah, 2 Chron. xxxv. 20 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 29. Isaiah 
speaks of Carchemish, and seems to say that Tiglath- 
Pilezer conquered it ; perhaps from the Egyptians. 
Probably Carchemish is Cercusium, Circesium, or 
Kirkisia, which is situated in the angle formed by 
the junction of the Chaboras, or Chebar, and the 
Euphrates. 

CARIA, a country of Asia Minor, to which the 
Romans wrote in favor of the Jews, 1 Mac. xv. 23. 
It has been cahV 1 p hoenicia, because a Phoenician 



colony first settled there. Its chief town was Hali- 
carnassus. 

I. CARMEL, a city of Judah, on a mountain of 
the same name, in the south of Palestine, 10 miles 
east of Hebron. Here Nabal the Carmelite, Abigail's 
husband, dwelt. Jerome says, that in his time the 
Romans had a garrison at Carinel. On this moun- 
tain Saul, returning from bis expedition against 
Amalek, erected a trophy, 1 Sam. xv. 12. [This 
mountain still retains its ancient name ; Seetzen 
found, on the west side of the Dead sea, a limestone 
mountain, called el-Carmel, which is without doubt 
the same. R. 

II. CARMEL, a celebrated range of hills running 
north-west from the plain of Esdraelon, and ending 
in the promontory, or cape, which forms the bay of 
Acco. Its height is about 1500 feet, and at its foot 
north, runs the brook Kishon, and a little farther 
north, the river Belus. Josephus makes Carmel a 
part of Galilee ; but it rather belonged to Manasseh, 
and to the south of Asher. Carmel signifies the vine- 
yard ; and Jerome informs us, that this mountain 
had goodj pastures. Toward the sea is a cave, where 
it has been supposed that the prophet Elijah desired 
Ahab to bring Baal's false prophets, and where fire 
from heaven descended on his burnt sacrifice, 1 
Kings xviii. 21 — 40. Pliny mentions "the promon- 
tory Carmel," and on this mountain a town of the 
same name, formerly called Ecbatana. 

[Mount Carmel is an object of so much celebrity 
and importance, that some more particular notice of 
it seems desirable. It is the only great promontory 
upon the coast of Palestine. The foot of the north- 
ern part approaches the water, so that, seen from the 
hills north-east of Acre, mount Carmel appears as if 
" dipping his feet in the western sea ;" farther south 
it retires more inland, so that between the mountain 
and the sea there is an extensive plain covered with 
fields and olive-trees. Carmel consists rather of 
several connected hills, than of one ridge ; the north- 
ern and eastern part being somewhat higher than 
the southern and western. The western sicte of the 
mountain, towards the sea, is five or six miles long, 
not running in a straight line ; but (according to 
Pococke and Volney) the two extremities jut out and 
stand over against each other, forming, in the middle, 
a bow. The mountain, according to the reports of 
the great majority of travellers, well deserves its He- 
brew name ; (Carmel, country of vineyards and gar- 
dens ;) Mariti describes it (Trav. p. 274, seq.) as a 
delightful region, and says the good quality of its 
soil is apparent from the fact, that so many odorifer- 
ous plants and flowers, as hyacinths, jonquilles, ta 
zettos, anemonies, &c. grow wild upon the moun- 
tain. O. von Richter in his " Pilgrimage" (p. 65.) 
says : " Mount Carmel is entirely covered with green ; 
on its summit are pines and oaks, and farther down 
olive and laurel-trees ; every where plentifully 
watered. It gives rise to a multitude of crystal 
brooks, the largest of which issues from the so called 
fountain of Elijah ; and they all hurry along, between 
banks thickly overgrown with bushes, to the Kishon. 
Every species of tillage succeeds here admirably, 
under this mild and cheerful sky. The prospect 
from the summit of the mountain out over the gulf 
of Acre and its fertile shores, and over the blue heights 
of Lebanon to the White cape, is enchanting. " Me 
Carne also ascended the mountain and traversed the 
whole summit, which occupied several hours. (Let 
ters from the East, Lond. 1824, vol. i. p. 286.) Ho 
says: " It is the finest and most beautiful mountain 



CAR 



L 261 ] 



CAT 



in Palestine, of great length, and in many parts cov- 
ered with trees and flowers. On reaching, at last, the 
opposite summit, and coming out of a wood, we saw 
the celebrated plain of Esdraelon beneath, with the 
river Kishou flowing through it ; mounts Tabor and 
Hermon were in front ; and on the left [S. E.] the 
prospect was bounded by the hills of Samaria. This 
scene certainly did not fulfil the descriptions given 
of the desolation and barrenness of Palestine, al- 
though it was mournful to behold scarcely a village 
or cottage in the whole extent ; yet the soil appeared 
so rich and verdant, that, if diligently cultivated, 
there is little doubt it would become, as it once was, 
'like the garden of the Lord.' In another place he 
says : (ibid, vol. ii. p. 119.) " No mountain in or around 
Palestine retains its ancient beauty so much as Car- 
mel. Two or three villages, and some scattered cot- 
tages, are found on it ; its groves are few, but luxu- 
riant; it is no place for crags and precipices, or 
'rocks of the wild goats ;' but its surface is covered 
with a rich and constant verdure." 

These descriptions admirably illustrate the vivid 
representations of the inspired Hebrew poets and 
prophets in respect to Carmel. Thus Isaiah, in de- 
scribing the gospel times, (xxxv. 2.) affirms that " to 
the desert shall be given the excellency (splendid or- 
naments) of Carmel." So, on account of the grace- 
ful form and verdant beauty of its summit, the head 
of the bride, in Cant. vii. 5, is compared to Carmel. 
It was also celebrated for its pastures, and is there- 
fore ranked with Bashan, Jer. 1. 19 ; Is. xxxiii. 9 ; 
Amos i. 2. 

There are in. mount Carmel very many caves; 
it is said more than a thousand ; chiefly on the west 
side. They are said to have formerly been inhabited 
by monks. In one tract, called the Monks' cavern, 
there are four hundred adjacent to each other, and 
furnished with windows and places for sleeping 
hewn in the rock. A peculiarity of many of these 
caverns is mentioned by Schulz, (Leitungen, &c. v. 
p. 187, 383.) viz. that the entrances to them are so 
narrow, that only a single person can creep in at a 
time ; and that the caves are so crooked that a per- 
son is immediately out of sight to one who follows, 
and can conceal himself. This may serve to give us 
a clearer idea of what is intended in Amos ix. 3. 
where Jehovah says of those who endeavor to es- 
cape from punishment, "Though they hide them- 
selves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take 
them out thence." That the grottoes and caves of 
Carmel were already in very ancient times the resort 
and dwelling of prophets and other religious persons, 
is well known. The prophets Elijah and Elisha often 
resorted thither. (See 1 Kings xviii. 19, seq. 42 ; 2 
Kings ii. 25 ; iv. 25 ; and compare, perhaps, 1 Kings 
xviii. 4, 13.) At the present day, is shown a cavern, 
called the cave of Elijah, a little below the Monks' 
cavern mentioned above. It is now a Mahome- 
tan sanctuary. Comp. Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. II. i. 
p. 101, seq... *R. 

CARNAIM, see Astaroth II. 

CARNAL, fleshly, sensual". Wicked or uncon- 
verted men are represented as under the domination 
of a " carnal mind, which is enmity against God," 
and which must issue in death, Rom. viii. 6, 7. 
Worldly enjoyments are carnal, because they only 
minister to the wants and desires of the animal part 
of man, Rom. xv. 27 ; 1 Cor. ix. 11. The ceremo- 
nial parts of the Mosaic dispensation were carnal ; 
they related immediately to the bodies of men and 
beasts, Heb. vii. 16 ; ix. 10. The weapons of a 
36 



Christian's warfare are not carnal ; they are not of 
human origin, nor are they directed by human wis- 
dom, 2 Cor. x. 4. 

CARPUS, a disciple of Paul, who dwelt at Troas, 
2 Tim. iv. 13. 

CART, for threshing, a machine still nsed in the 
East, Amos ii. 13. See Threshing. 

CARTHAGE, a celebrated city on the coast of 
Africa ; a colony from Tyre. According to the Vul- 
gate, Ezekiel says, (xxvii. 12.) the Carthaginians 
traded to Tyre; but the Hebrew reads Tarshish, 
which rather signifies Tarsus in Cilicia, or Tar- 
tessus in Spain, formerly famous for trade. See 
Tarshish. 

CASIPHIA. Ezra says, that when returning to 
Judea, he sent to Iddo, who dwelt at Casiphia ; per- 
haps mount Caspius, near the Caspian sea, between 
Media and Hyrcania, where were many captives, 
Ezra viii. 17. 

CASLUHIM, a son of Mizraim, from whom came 
the Caphtorim, or Philistines. See Caphtor. 

CASPIS, a city in Arabia, inhabited by people of 
various nations, who, having menaced Judas Macca- 
beus and his troops, were slaughtered by them, 2 
Mac. xii. 13—16. 

CASSIA, a spice mentioned by Moses as an ingre- 
dient in the composition of the holy oil, used in the 
consecration of the sacred vessels of the tabernacle, 
Exod. xxx. 24. [The word cassia comes, undoubt- 
edly, from the Hebrew njrxp, ketsidh, which occurs 
once in this sense in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the 
plural ; Ps. xlv. 8, " All thy garments smell of myrrh, 
and aloes, and cassia." The plural was very proba- 
bly used by the Hebrews on account of the small 
detached pieces into which the bark is usually di- 
vided in commerce ; but the Seventy, in conformity 
to the general usage of Greek writers, give it in the 
singular number, and write it with one sigma, xaala. 
The meaning of the word in Hebrew is, something 
stripped off, i. e. bark separated from the trunk ; and 
it was not unnatural that a precious commodity of 
this kind from the remotest East should thus be 
called by the general name bark, just as in modern 
times a different species of bark is thus distinguished. 
The word cassia occurs also in two other passages 
of our English version, viz. Ex. xxx. 24 ; Ezek. 
xxvii. 19 ; where it corresponds to the Heb. mp, kid- 
ddh. In the former passage, the Seventy have "yig, 
a species of lily ; in the latter, they appear not to 
have read the same Hebrew word. That the He- 
brew mp really means cassia, is somewhat doubtful ; 
but from its connection, in Exodus, with myrrh, cinna- 
mon, and sweet calamus, it would seem at any rate 
to have come from the same countries, and to have 
possessed the same properties. 

This oriental aromatic is the cassia of modern 
cookery, but not of modern botany. It is the Laurus 
cassia of Linnaeus, a native of Malabar, Sumatra, 
Java, &c. *R- 

CATERPILLAR (Heb. chdsil) is improperly put, 
by the English translators, for a species of locust now 
unknown. In several passages of Scripture this in- 
sect is distinguished from the locust, properly so 
called ; and in Joel i. 4. is mentioned as "eating up" 
what the other species had left, and may, therefore, 
be called "the consumer" byway of eminence. But 
the ancient interpreters are far from being agreed as 
to what particular species it signifies. The LXX, 
Aquila, the Vulgate, and Jerome understand it of 
" the chafer," which is a great devourer of leaves. 
Michaelis, from the Syriac, supposes it to be the 



C A U 



I 282 ] 



CAUCASUS 



"mole cricket," which in its grub state is very de- 
structive to com. and other vegetables, by feeding on 
their roots. 

I. CATHOLIC. This term is Greek ; signifying 
universal, or general. The church of Christ, is called 
catholic, because it extends throughout the world, 
and during all time. We call some truths catholic, 
because they are generally received, and are of gene- 
ral influence ; so the catholic, that is, the general, 
church. 

II. CATHOLIC, i. e. general, Epistles, are seven 
in number, viz. one of James, two of Peter, three of 
John, and one of Jude. They are called catholic, 
because directed to Christian converts generally, 
and not to any particular church. The principal 
design of these epistles is to warn the reader against 
the heresies of the times, and to establish Christian 
converts against the efforts made to reduce them to 
Judaism, or to a mixture of legal notions with Chris- 
tianity, or of idolatrous principles and practices with 
the gospel. 

CAVES were often used as dwellings in Pales- 
tine. See Rock, and Carmel. 

CAUCASUS, the name of a range of mountains 
in Asia. [The modern Caucasus is that immense 
-chain of mountains which runs from about the mid- 
dle of the western shore of the Caspian sea, north- 
west, to the northern side of the Euxine, or Black 
sea. In ancient times, the name appears to have 
been applied to the whole of that vast tract of ele- 
vated and mountainous country, commencing in 
India and extending to the Mediterranean and 
Euxine seas, forming the highest elevation or region 
of Asia, the Hindu Koh, and comprehending, 
among many other ranges, those of Ararat and Tau- 
rus. These two last names were applied very in- 
definitely to denote ranges of mountaius beyond the 
limits to which these names properly belonged ; 
and thus they were sometimes probably inter- 
changed, or employed by different writers to express 
the same mountains. This whole subject has strict- 
ly no connection with the illustration of the Bible, 
because none of these names (except Ararat) are 
found in Scripture ; but as the Greek word Caucasus 
was probably derived from India, and the tracing of 
it to its source is connected with some important 
geographical views, it may not be uninteresting to 
see here subjoined the following extract from captain 
Wilford, in the Asiat. Res. vol. vi. p. 455. R. 

" The true Sanscrit name of this mountain is 
Chasa-giri, or the mountain of the Chasas, a most 
ancient and powerful tribe, who inhabited this im- 
mense range, from the eastern limits of India to the 
confines of Persia ; and most probably as far as the 
Euxine and Mediterranean seas. They are often 
mentioned in the sacred books of the Hindus. Their 
descendants still inhabit the same regions, and are 
called to this day Chasas, and in some places Cha- 
syas and Cossais. They belonged to the class of 
warriors, or Cshettris ; but now they are considered 
as the lowest of the four classes, and were thus de- 
graded, according to the institutes of Menu, by their 
omission of the holy rites, and by seeing no Brah- 
mins. However, the vakeel of the rajah of Comanh, 
or Almora, who is a learned Pandit, informs me, that 
the greatest part of the zemindars of that country 
are Chasas ; and that they are not considered, or 
treated, as outcasts. They are certainly a very an- 
cient tribe ; for they are mentioned as such in the in- 
stitutes of Menu ; and their great ancestor Chasa, or 
Chasya, is mentioned by Sanchoniathon under the 



name of Cassius. He is supposed to have lived be- 
fore the flood, and to have given his name to the 
mountains he seized upon. The two countries of 
Cashgar, those of Cash-mir, Castwar, and the famous 
peak of Chas-gar, are acknowledged in India to de- 
rive their names from the Chasas. The country 
called Casia by Ptolemy, is still inhabited by Cha- 
syas ; and Pliny informs us, (lib. vi. cap. 20.) that 
the inhabitants of the mountainous region between the 
Indus and the Jumna, were called Cesi, a word ob- 
viously derived from Chasa, or Chisai, as they are 
denominated in the vulgar dialects. The appella- 
tion of Caucasus, or Coh-CAS, extended from India 
to the shores of the Mediterranean and Euxine seas 
most probably, because this extensive range was in- 
habited by Chasas. Certain it is, that the mountains 
of Persia were inhabited by a race of people called 
Cosscei, Cussai, and Cissii ; there was a mount Casius 
on the borders of Egypt, and another in Syria ; the 
Caspian sea, and the adjacent mountains, were most 
probably denominated from them. Jupiter Cassius 
like Jupiter Peninus in the Alps, was worshipped in 
the mountains of Syria, and on the borders of Egypt ; 
moreover, we find that the titles of Cassius and Cas- 
siopseus, given to Jupiter, were synonymous, or 
nearly so. In Sanscrit the words Chasapa, Chasy- 
apa, and Chasyapati, signify the lord and sovereign 
ruler of the Chasyas ; Chasyaptya, or Chasapeya, in 
a derivative form, implies the country of Chasapa. 

"The original country of the Chasas seems to 
have been the present country of Cashgar, to the 
north-east of Cabul ; for the Chasas, in the Institutes 
of Menu, are mentioned with the Daradas, who are 
obviously the Darda of Ptolemy, whose country, 
now called Darad by the natives, and Dawurd by 
Persian authors, is to the north-west of Cashinir, 
and extends towards the Indus ; hence Ptolemy with 
great propriety asserts, that the mountains to the 
north-ea3t of Cabul are the real Caucasus. The 
country of Cashcar is situated in a beautiful valley, 
watered by a large river, which, after passing close 
to Chaga-Seray, Cooner and Noorgul, (Cooner and 
Noorgul are called Guz-noorgul in the Ayeen Ak- 
bery,) joins the Landi-Sindh, or little Sindh, below 
Jalalabad, in the small district of Cameh, (for there is 
no town of that name,) and from this circumstance 
the little Sindh is often called the river Cameh. The 
capital city of Cashcar is called Chatraul, or Cha- 
traur, and is the place of residence of a petty Ma 
homedan prince, who is in great measure tributary 
to the emperor of China, for the Chinese are now in 
possession of Badacshan as far as Baglan to the north- 
west of Anderab." 

" Pliny (lib. vi. cap. 30.) informs us, that mount 
Caucasus was also called Graucasus ; an appellation 
obviously Sanscrit; for Grava, which, in conversa- 
tion, as well as in the spoken dialects, is invariably 
pronounced Grau, signifies a mountain, and being a 
monosyllable (the final being surd) according to the 
rules of grammar, it is to be prefixed thus, Grava- 
Chasa, or Grau-Chasa. Isidorus says that Caucasus, 
in the eastern languages, signifies white ; and that a 
mountain, close to it, is called Casishy the Scythians, 
in whose language it signifies snow and ivhiteness. 
The Casis of Isidorus is obviously the Casian ridge 
of Ptolemy ; where the genuine appellation appears 
stripped of its adjunct. In the language of the Cal- 
muck Tartars, Jasu and Chusu signify snow ; and in 
some dialects of the same tongue, tuwards Ba lac- 
shan, they say Jushd and Chushu, Tushd, and Tu 
cha, or Tuca. These words, in the opinion of mv 



C A I 



[ 283 ] 



CAUSEWAY 



learned friends here, are obviously derived from the 

Sanscrit Tushara, by dropping the final ra The 

words Ckasu, or Chasa, are pronounced Chasa, or 
Cos ; Chusa, or Chtsa, by the inhabitants of the coun- 
tries between Bahlac and the Indus; for they inva- 
riably substitute ch ore in the room of sh This 

immense range is constantly called in Sanscrit Him- 
achel, or ' Snowy Mountain ;' and Himalaya, or the 
'Abode of Snow.' From Hima the Greeks made 
Imaus : Emodus seems to be derived from Himoda, 
or ' snowy ;' Hinu'ma, Haimana, and Haimanas, 
which are appellations of the same import, are also 
found in the Puranas ; from these is probably de- 
rived Amanus, which is the name of a famous moun- 
tain in Lesser Asia, and is certainly part of the Hima- 
laya mountains; which, according to the Puranas, 
extend from sea to sea. The western part of this 
range was called Taurus ; and Strabo says (lib. xi. p. 
519.) that mount Imaus was called also Taurus. The 
etymology of this last appellation is rather obscure ; 
but since the Brahmins insist that Toc'Mrestan is 
corrupted from Tushara-sthan, by which appella- 
tion that country is distinguished in the Puranas ; 
and that Tunan is derived from Tusharan, its San- 
scrit name, the sh being quiescent; may we not 
equally suppose, that Taurus is derived from Tu- 
shara, or Tusharas 9 for this last form is used also, 
but only in declensions, for the sake of derivation. 
Tushara signifies 'snow ;' Tushara-sthan, or Tusha- 
ras sthan, the place or abode of snow ; and Tusha- 
ran in a derivative form, the country of snow." 

CAUSEWAY, a raised way, or path, 1 Chron. 
xxvi. 16; 2 Chron. ix. 4. One of these prepared 
ways is no doubt referred to in Isa. lxii. 10, which 
Mr Taylor thus renders — 

Pass, pass, the gates ; 

Level {even) the way for the people ; 

Throw up, throw up, the causeway — lit. raise, raise, 

the raised way, (Eng. ver. highway,) 
Clear it from every stone ; 
Display a standard to the people. 

Mr. Harmer would refer the fourth member of 
this sentence, to the heaping up stones by the, way 
of land-marks, to direct travellers in their way. 
Without impugning his instances, Mr. Taj lor very 
properly hints that where a causeway had already 
levelled and fixed the road, that further labor of" 
raising mounts was unnecessary. As to the nature 
of these causeways, (called in this place n^Dr, mesil- 
l&h,) George Herbert gives this information : (p. 170.) 
f A word of our last night's journey, [in Hyrcania, 
i. e. Persia ; the country to which Isaiah alludes.] 
The most part of the night we rode upon a paved 
cawsey, broad enough for ten horses to go abreast ; 
built by extraordinary labor and expense, over a part 
of a great desert ; which is so even that it affords 
a large horizon ; howbeit, being of a boggy, loose 
ground upon the surface, it is covered with white 
salt, in some places a yard deep, a miserable pas- 
sage ! for, if either the wind drive the loose salt 
abroad, which is like dust ; or that by accident the 
horse or camel forsake the cawsey, the bog is not 
strong enough to uphold them, but suffers them to 
sink past all recovery ;" — he then compares this to 
the Roman vim militares, whose foundations were 
laid with huge piles, or stakes, pitched into a bog, 
and fastened together with branches or withes of 
wood ; upon which rubbish was spread, and gravel 
or stones afterwards laid, to make the ground more 



firm and solid. Now, if the prophet Isaiah meant 
such a causeway as Herbert describes, passing over 
a bog, the nature of the passage afforded no stones 
to be gathered into a heap for the purpose of form- 
ing land-marks ; but, if it passed where stones or 
gravel, dust, &c. might take the place of the loose 
salt in Herbert's narration, then we see the import 
of the prophet's expressions : " Sweep away every 
impediment ; whatever may render travelling incom- 
modious ; to the very stones and dust which may 
occasionally accumulate, even on a solidly construct- 
ed causeway." Thevenot and Hanway also, occa- 
sionally, mention causeways in Persia. The reader 
cannot but have observed the reduplication of the 
commanding words, " Pass, pa^s ; throw up, throw 
up ;" i. e. continue passing till all be passed ; continue 
throwing up, for a considerable distance, a long way. 
So sir John Chardin, translating a Persian letter, 
renders thus, " To whom I wish that all the world 
may pay homage ;"but he says, "In the Persian it is, 
That all souls may serve his name, his name." He 
adds, "Repetition is a figure very frequent in the 
oriental languages, and without question is borrowed 
from the sacred language, of which there are a 
thousand examples in the original Bible ; as in Ps. 
lxviii. 12, ' They are fled, they are fled ;' that is, they 
are absolutely fled. 

[The whole of the preceding illustration is found- 
ed upon the false supposition, that the Hebrew dSdc, 
mesilldh, means every where causeway, or elevated 
road. This is, no doubt, its original meaning ; but 
there can be also no doubt that, like our word liigh- 
ivay, it had departed from its primitive sense, and 
signified, in general, any public ivay or high-road. 
This is its meaning in Judg. xx. 31, 32 ; 1 Sam. vi. 
12. In like manner it is used Prov. xvi. 17, in a 
metaphorical sense, for ivay, i. e. walk or manner of 
life. In the passage of Isaiah, therefore, above 
quoted, (lxii. 10.) the rendering of the English ver- 
sion, highway, is more appropriate than the one pro- 
posed. In other respects, too, it would be difficult 
to see in what the proposed version of the whole 
passage is in any way superior to that of our com- 
mon English Bible ; since the sense is precisely the 
same. 

The same praise of simplicity and directness can- 
not, however, be given to the English version of Ps. 
lxxxiv. 5, in which the same Hebrew word occurs, 
and is there rendered tvays. To help out the sense, 
as they supposed, the translators have interpolated 
the words of them; making the clause read, "in 
whose heart arc the ways of them ;" a passage which 
is probably not less inexplicable to the English reader, 
than if it had remained in the priginal Hebrew. 
This Psalm was apparently composed while the in- 
spired writer was at a distance from Jerusalem, either 
in exile or detained by other causes, and thus de- 
prived of the privilege of worshipping Jehovah in 
Ins sanctuary. He is thus led to pour out his heart 
before God, and express his longing desires again to 
be present at the public national worship of the tem- 
ple at Jerusalem. " Even the birds," he says, " may 
dwell around thine altars; (see Altar;) and how 
happy are they who inhabit thy house, who may 
worship thee continually ! Happy they whose glory 
is in thee, and in whose heart the ways!" i.e. the 
highways which lead to Jerusalem, where the tem- 
ple is, and the pleasure of thy worship is to be en- 
joyed. The sense here is, " Happy are those who 
glory in thee, and who delight to tread the ways 
which lead to thy presence ;" in allusion, no doubt. 



CED 



L 284 1 



CEDAR 



to the journeys made to Jerusalem, when "the tribes 
went up to worship." Such are their joy and confi- 
dence in God, that the most desolate tracts become 
to them as a fruitful country. (See under Baca.) 
They go on from strength to strength, i. e. increasing 
in strength, — not like other travellers, wasting away 
with fatigue, but gaining strength daily as they ad- 
vance towards Zion, through the rejoicing of their 
hearts in view of the delights of the temple wor- 
ship. Thus the Psalmist describes the emotions of 
those who thus dwell in Zion, or who may visit it 
when they will ; and he expresses his longing desire, 
that this privilege may again be his. In accordance 
with this view, the Psalm may be translated as 
follows : — , 

How lovely are thy tabernacles, Jehovah of Hosts ! 
My soul longeth, yea, fainteth, for the courts of Je- 
hovah ; 

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God ! 

Even the sparrow hath found a dwelling, 

And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may 

place her young, 
Even thine altars, Jehovah of Hosts, my King, and 

my God ! 

Happy the dwellers in thine house, who continually 
praise thee ! 

Happy those who glory in thee ; in whose hearts 
are the ways to Zion. 

Passing through a vale of weeping (or desolate val- 
ley) they convert it into a fountain, 

Yea, with blessings the early rain doth cover it ! 

They go from strength to strength ; they appear each 
before God in Zion. *'R. 

It is usually understood that the prophet Isaiah 
(chap. xl. 3.) alludes to the custom of sending per- 
sons, as we might say, laborers, pioneers, before a 
great prince, to clear the way for his passage. 

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, 
"Prepare (even) ye the way of the Lord ; 
Make straight in the desert u highway for our 
God ; 

Every valley shall be raised ; 
And every mountain and hill shall be lowered ; 
And the winding paths shall be made straight ; 
And the broken (rough) places level." 

It was the common practice, when mouarchs 
travelled, that the ways were made or repaired be- 
fore them. (See Arrian. Exped. Alex. M. iv. 30. 
Diod. Sic. ii. 13.) The following is from sir Thomas 
Roe's chaplain, (p,. 468.) and affords a happy com- 
ment on the passage : " I, waiting upon my lord 
embassador two years, and part of a third, and trav- 
elling with him in progress with that king, [the 
Mogul,] in the most temperate months there, 'twixt 
September and April, were in one of our progresses 
'twixt Mandoa and Amadavar, nineteen days, making 
but short journeys in a wilderness, where (by a very 
great company sent before us, to make those passages 
and places fit to receive us) a way was cut out, 
and made even, broad enough for our conve- 
nient passage ; and in the place where we pitched 
our tents a great compass of ground was rid, and 
made plain for them, by grubbing a number of trees 
and bushes ; yet there we went as readily to our 
tents as we did when they were set up in the 
plains." 

CEDAR, a tree greatly celebrated in the Scrip- 



tures. A few are still standing on mount Lebanon, 
above Byblos and Tripoli east ; but none elsewhere 
in these mountains. In former times there must 
have been a great abundance of them, since they 
were used in so many extensive buildings. These 
trees are remarkably thick and tall ; some among 
them are from thirty -five to forty feet in girth. The 
cedar-tree shoots out branches* at ten or twelve feet 
from the ground ; they are large and distant ; its 
leaves are something like those of rosemary ; it is 
always green ; and distils a kind of gum, to which 
different effects are attributed. Cedar wood is re- 
puted incorruptible ; it is beautiful, solid, free from 
knots, and inclining to a red-brown color. It bears 
a small cone, like that of the pine. 

The cedar grows not only on mount Lebanon, but • 
in Africa, in Cyprus, in Crete, or Candia. The wood 
was used in making statues designed for duration. 
The temple of Jerusalem and Solomon's palace were 
finished with cedar. The roof of the temple of Di- 
ana at Ephesus was of cedar, according to Pliny. 
In 1 Kings x. 27, it is said that Solomon multiplied 
cedars in Judea, till this tree was as common as 
sycamores ; which are very general there ; compare ' 
2 Chron. i. 15 ; ix. 27. 

The cedar loves cold and mountainous places , 
if the top is cut, it dies. The branches which it 
shoots, lessening as they rise, give it the form of a 
pyramid. Le Bruyn, in his journey to the Holy 
Land, says the leaves of the tree point upwards, and 
the fruit hangs downwards ; it grows like the cones j 
of the pine, but is longer, harder, and fuller, and not 
easily separated from the stalk. It contains a seed 
like that of the cypress, and yields a glutinous, thick 'j 
sort of resin, transparent, and of a strong smell, ( 
which does not run, but falls drop by drop. This 
author tells us, that having measured two cedars on 
mount Lebanon, he found one to be fifty palms in j 
girth ; the other forty-seven. Naturalists distinguish 
several sorts of cedars ; but we speak here only of 
that of Lebanon, the only one mentioned in the Bi- 
ble. The wood was used not only for beams, for 
planks which covered edifices, and for ceilings to 
apartments, but likewise for beams in the walls, 1 
Kings vi. 36 ; vii. 12 ; Ezra vi. 3, 4. 

In the purification of a leper, cedar-wood, togeth- 
er with hyssop, was to be used, in sprinkling the 
leper, Lev. xiv. 4, 6. 

[This celebrated tree, the Pinus cedrus of botanists, 
is not peculiar to mount Lebanon, but grows also 
upon mounts Amanus and Taurus in Asia Minor, 
and in other parts of the Levant ; but does not else- 
where reach the size and height of those on Leba- 
non. It has also been cultivated in the gardens of 
Europe ; two venerable individuals of this species 
exist at Chiswick in England ; and there is a very 
beautiful one in the Jardin des plantes in Paris. The 
beauty of this tree consists in the proportion and 
symmetry of its wide-spreading branches. The gum, 
which exudes both from the trunk and the cones or 
fruit, is, according to Schulz, (Leitungen, &c. v. p. 
459.) "soft like balsam; its fragrance is like that of 
the balsam of Mekka. Every thing about this tree 
has a strong balsamic odor ; and hence the whole 
grove is so pleasant and fragrant, that it is delightful 
to walk in it." This is probably the smell of Leba- 
non spoken of in Cant. iv. 11 ; Hos. xiv. 6. The 
wood is peculiarly adapted to building, because it is 
not subject to decay, nor to be eaten of worms ; 
hence it was much used for rafters, and for boards 
with which to cover houses ind form the floors and 



CEDAR 



[ 285 ] 



CEDAR 



ceilings of rooms. The palace of Peisepolis, the 
temple at Jerusalem and Solomon's palace, were all 
in this way built with cedar ; and the latter especially 
appears to have had in it such a quantity of this 
wood, that it was called " the house of the forest of 
Lebanon," 1 Kings vii. 2 ; x. 17. The ships of the 
Tyrians had also masts of cedar, Ezek. xxvii. 5. 

Of the forests of cedars which once covered 
Lebanon, only a small remnant is left. A single 
grove only is now found, lying a little off from the 
road which crosses mount Lebanon from Baalbec to 
Tripoli, at some distance below the summit of the 
mountain on the western side, — at the foot, indeed, 
of the highest summit or ridge of Lebanon. This 
grove consists of a few very old trees, intermingled 
with a large number of younger ones. The former 
are the patriarchs of the vegetable world ; it is cer- 
tain that they were ancient three hundred years ago ; 
but their number is decreasing, as the oldest decay 
or are destroyed. In 1550, the number of these an- 
cient trees is stated by Bellonius at 28 ; from that 
time down to 1818, they are stated at 24, 23, 16, 12, 
and 7. Mr. Fisk, in 1823, says there are 6 or 8 of 
the largest ; but does not see the propriety of the 
statements just enumerated. See the extract from 
his journal below. As the subject is interesting, the 
following extracts from various travellers who have 
visited the spot, are subjoined. It will be seen that 
the account given by Mr. Fisk is the most full and 
satisfactory. 

Maundrell writes, in 1696, as follows : " These 
noble trees grow amongst the snow, near the highest 
part of Lebanon, and are remarkable, as well for 
their own age and largeness, as for those frequent 
allusions made to them in the word of God. Here 
are some of them very old, and of a prodigious 
bulk, and others younger, of a smaller size. Of the 
former I could reckon up only sixteen, and the latter 
are very numerous. I measured one of the largest, 
and found it twelve yards six inches in girth, and 
yet sound, and thirty-seven yards in the spread of its 
boughs. At about five or six yards from the ground, 
it was divided into five limbs, each of which was 
equal to a great tree." 

Pococke, in 1738, describes them with greater 
minuteness: "The cedars form a grove about a 
mile in circumference, which consists of some large 
cedars, that are near to one another, a great number 
of young cedars, and some pines. The great ce- 
dars, at some distance, look like very large spread- 
ing oaks ; the bodies of the trees are short, dividing 
at bottom into three or four ; some of which, grow- 
ing up together for about ten feet, appear something 
like those Gothic columns which seem to be com- 
posed of several pillars. Higher up, they begin to 
spread horizontally. The young cedars are not 
easily known from pines ; I observed, they bear a 
greater quantity of fruit than the large ones. The 
wood does not differ from white deal in appearance, 
nor does it seem to be harder. It has a fine smell 
but not so fragrant as the juniper of America, which 
is commonly called cedar ; and it also falls short of 
it in beauty. I took a piece of the wood from a 
great tree that was blown down by the wind, and 
left there to rot. There are fifteen large ones stand- 
ing." (Descr. of the East, b. ii. c. 5.) 

Burckhardt speaks of the cedars, in 1810, as fol- 
lows : " They stand on uneven ground, and form a 
small wood. Of the oldest and best looking trees, I 
counted eleven or twelve ; twenty-five were very 
large ones, about fifty of middling size, and more 



than three hundred smaller and young ones. The 
oldest trees are distinguished by having the foliage 
and small branches at the top only, and by four, five, 
or even seven trunks springing from one base. The 
branches and foliage of the others were lower ; but 
I saw none whose leaves touched the ground, like 
those in Kew gardens. The trunks of the old trees 
are covered with the names of travellers and other 
persons who have visited them. I saw a date of the 
seventeenth century. The trunks of the oldest trees 
seem to be quite dead ; the wood is of a gray tint. I 
took off a piece of one of them, but it was after- 
wards stolen." (Travels in Syr. p. 19.) 

Dr. Richardson visited the cedars in his way from 
Baalbec to Tripoli, in 1818. From the summit of 
the mountain, the descent towards the west, he 
says, "is rather precipitous, and winds, by a long, 
circuitous direction, down the side of the mountain. 
In a few minutes we came in sight of the far-famed 
cedars, that lay down before us on our right. At 
first, they appeared like a dark spot on the base of 
the mountain, and afterwards like a clump of dwarf- 
ish shrubs that possessed neither dignity nor beauty, 
nor any thing that entitled them to a visit, but the 
name. In about an hour and a half, we reached 
them. They are large, and tall, and beautiful, the 
most picturesque productions of the vegetable world 
that we had seen. There are in this clump two 
generations of trees ; the oldest are large and massy, 
rearing their heads to an enormous height, and 
spreading their branches afar. We measured one 
of them, which we afterwards saw was not the 
largest in the clump, and found it thirty-two feet in 
circumference. Seven of these trees have a particu- 
larly ancient appearance ; the rest are younger, but 
equally tall, though, for want of space, their branches 
are not so spreading. The clump is so small, that a 
person may walk round it in half an hour. The old 
cedars are not found in any other part of Lebanon. 
Young trees are occasionally met with ; they are 
very productive, and cast many seeds annually. The 
surface all round is covered with rock and stone, 
with a partial but luxuriant vegetation springing up 
in the interstices." 

Under date of October 4, 1823, the American mis- 
sionaries, Messrs. Fisk and King, record in their 
journal the following description of the cedars of 
Lebanon : "Taking a guide, we set out for the ce- 
dars, going a little south of east. In about two hours 
we came in sight of them, and in another hour 
reached them. Instead of being on the highest 
summit of Lebanon, as has sometimes been said, 
tl'ey are situated at the foot of a high mountain, in 
what may be considered as the arena of a vast am- 
phitheatre, opening to the west, with high mountains 
on the north, south, and east. The cedars stand on 
fiye or six gentle elevations, and occupy a spot of 
ground about three fourths of a mile in circumfer- 
ence. I walked around it in fifteen minutes. We 
measured a number of the trees. The largest is up- 
wards of 40 feet in circumference. Six or eight 
others are also very large, several of them nearly 
the size of the largest. But each of these was 
manifestly two trees or more, which have grown 
together, and now form one. They generally sepa- 
rate a few feet from the ground into the original 
trees. The handsomest and tallest are those of two 
or three feet in diameter, the body straight, the 
branches almost horizontal, forming a beautiful cone, 
and casting a goodly shade. We measured the 
length of two by the shade, and found each about 



C EN 



[ 286 ] 



CENSER 



b*/ feet. The largest are not so high, but some of 
the others, I think, are a little higher. They produce 
a conical fruit, in shape and size like that of the pine. 
I counted them, and made the whole number 389. 
Mr. King counted them, omitting the small saplings, 
and made the number 321. I know not why trav- 
ellers and authors have so long and so generally 
given 28, 20, 15, 5, or 7, as the number of the cedars. 
It is true, that "of those of superior size and antiqui- 
ty," there are not a great number ; but then there 
is a regular gradation in size, from the largest down 
to the merest sapling. One man, of whom I inquir- 
ed, told me that there are cedars in other places on 
mount Lebanon, but he could not tell where. Sev- 
eral others, to whom I have put the question, have 
unanimously assured me that these are the only 
cedars which exist on the mountain. They are call- 
ed in Arabic ary. The Maronites tell me that they 
have au annual feast, which they call the Feast of the 
Cedars. Before seeing the cedars, I had met with a 
European traveller who had just visited them. He 
gave a short account of them, and concluded with 
saying, "It is as with miracles; the wonder all van- 
ishes when you reach the spot." What is there at 
which an infidel cannot sneer? Yet let even an in- 
fidel put himself in the place of an Asiatic passing 
from barren desert to barren desert, traversing oceans 
of sand and mountains of naked rock, accustomed to 
countries like Egypt, Arabia, Judea, and Asia Minor, 
abounding, in the best places, only with shrubbery 
and fruit trees; let him, with the feelings of such a 
man, climb the ragged rocks, and pass the open ra- 
vines of Lebanon, and suddenly descry, among the 
hills, a grove of 300 trees such as the cedars actually 
are, even at the present day, and he will confess that 
a fine comparison in Amos ii. 9, " Whose height was 
as the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the 
oaks." Let him, after a long ride in the heat of the 
sun, sit down under the shade of a cedai-, and contem- 
plate the exact conical form of its top, and the beau- 
tiful symmetry of its branches, and he will no longer 
wonder that David compared the people of Israel, 
in the days of their prosperity, to the "goodly ce- 
dars," Psalm Ixxx. 10. A traveller, who had just 
left the forests of America, might think this little 
grove of cedars not worthy of so much notice, but 
the man who knows how rare large trees are in Asia, 
and how difficult it is to find timber for building, 
will feel at once that what is said in Scripture of 
these trees is perfectly natural. It is probable that 
in the days of Solomon and Hiram, there were ex- 
tensive forests of cedars on Lebanon. A variety of 
causes may have contributed to their diminution aitd 
almost total extinction. Yet, in comparison with all 
the other trees that I have seen on the mountain, the 
few that remain may still be called " the glory of 
Lebanon." (Missionary Herald, 1824. p. 270.) *R. 

CENCHRE A, a port of Corinth, whence Paul sail- 
ed f ~r Ephesus, Acts xviii. 18. [It was situated on 
the eastern side of the isthmus, about 70 stadia from 
Jie city. The other port, on the western side of the 
isthmus, was Lecha^um. R. 

CENSER, a vessel in which fire and incense were 
carried in certain parts of the Hebrew worship. It 
appears, from numerous instances, that the services 
of divine worship, under the Mosaic dispensation, 
esembled those usually addressed to monarchs and 
sovereigns among the orientals ; and there can be 
little doubt, that the Hebrews directed them to a 
person understood to be resident in the sanctuary, 
before which, and in which, they were performed. 



This notion of Jewish services was so strong among 
the heathen, that we find they reported the object 
of worship in the temple at Jerusalem to be an old 
man with a long beard. That report might possibly 
originate in the description of the JIncient of days, by 
the prophet Daniel. However that might be, it is 
generally concluded that the attendants on the tem- 
ple were nearly similar to the attendants on royalty 
and dignity in general ; and many external acts ot 
worship were of the same appearance and import. 
We have no custom of burning perfumes, as a mode 
of doing honor; and though the church of Rome 
has adopted the use of the censer, and fumigation, it 
is as a part of sacred worship, not of civil gratulation. 
On the contrary, in the East, fumigation forms a part 
of civil entertainment ; and is never omitted when it 
is intended to compliment a guest. Being thus gen- 
eral, and indeed indispensable, in Asiatic manners, it 
was received anciently into divine worship ; and the 
priests in their ordinary service, as well as the high- 
priest in the most solemn acts of his public ministra- 
tion, used incense — a cloud of incense, in approach- 
ing to the more immediate presence of God. 

Little is known on the form and nature of the an- 
cient Hebrew censer. The censers which have 
been received from heathen antiquity, and those 
used in the Romish worship also, being suspended by 
chains, give, not unfrequently, erroneous ideas of this 
sacred utensil, as employed among the Jews. The 
Hebrew has two words, both rendered censer in our 
translation. The first (nnnr, machtdh) describes the 
censers of Aaron, and of Korah and his company, 
Lev. x. 1 ; Numb. xvi. 6. It appears, that these were 
of brass, or copper ; also, that after the death of those 
who had presumptuously used them, they were beaten 
into broad plates for a covering to the altar. From 
this application of them, we infer that they were not 
cast, nor of great thickness, nor made of small 
pieces ; but that they were thin, and their plates of 
considerable surface. This term continued to denote 
a censer under the monarchy ; for we read, 1 Kings 
vii. 50, and 2 Chron. iv. 22, of censers (mPrv , machtoth) 
of gold, made by Solomon. [This Hebrew word, 
according to its etymology, would signify a fire-pan, 
or coal-pan, and was probably not much different, as 
to form, from a fire shovel ; which agrees well with 
the above suggestions. R. 

From 2 Chron. xxvi. 19, we learn that king Uzziah 
attempted to "burn incense in the house of the Lord 
having a censer in his hand." The word is different 
from the former, (mspr, miktereth) and seems to im- 
port an implement of another shape. It was proba- 
bly of a civil, if not a profane, (possibly, of an idola- 
trous,) nature ; for Ezekiel says, (viii. 11.) that the 
seventy apostate Jews engaged in idolatrous worship 
had every man his censer (miktereth) in his hand. 
The same may be inferred from 2 Chron. xxx. 14, 
where it is recorded, that Hezekiah and his people 
took away the idolatrous altars that were in Jerusa- 
lem ; with all the censers for incense. However, it 
must not hastily be concluded that this article was 
wholly idolatrous; for we read, in Exod. xxx. 1, 
" Thou shalt make an altar (mop i:pr, miktar kctoreth) 
to fume with perfume, i. e. to burn incense thereon :" 
so that this kind also was legally adopted in divine 
worship. It deserves notice, that those who used 
these censers are described as holding them in their 
hands ; but this position is not, that we recollect, as- 
cribed to the machtah, or censer of Aaron. This 
leads to the conclusion, that the miktereth may be 
considered as a kind of censer, carried in the hand ; 



CENSER 



[ 287 ] 



C E R 



not alone, as the heat arising from the burning em 
bers it contained would be disagreeably great, but in 
a kind of dish, which dish, with the censer in it, was 
placed on the altar of incense, and there left, diffus- 
ing a smoke, morning and evening, during the trim- 
ming of the lamps, &c. Exod. xxx. 7, 8. Apparently, 
this was regarded as an inferior kind of censer, ap- 
propriate to the priests, and common to them all ; 
but whether the other kind (the machtdh) was pecu- 
liar to the high-priest, is not clear : we find it used 
by the sons of Aaron, (Lev. x. i.) but that was an ir- 
regularity, and was punished as such. It is men- 
tioned, also, as being employed by 250 of the associ- 
ates of Korah ; but that was in rebellion, and proved 
fatal to the transgressors. 

[The Hebrew word for this species of censer 
|rhapc) signifies, properly, incense-pan, i. e. a vessel 
for burning incense. It differs from the former kind, 
therefore, in the etymology of its name ; but that it dif- 
fers from it in any other way, we have no means of 
ascertaining. The difference which it is here at- 
tempted to establish, rests, therefore, merely on con- 
jecture. The two names may have not improbably 
signified the same identical instrument; being called 
in one case, fire-pan, because it contained fire ; and in 
the other, smoke-pan, or incense-pan, because incense 
was put upon the fire within it. So of the remarks 
which follow; except that the Greek (pi*?.tj means 
not vial, but bowl, dish. R. 

A similar distinction of censers is observed in the 
New Testament ; for the twen- 
. :>;. ty-four elders (Rev. v. 8.) had 

JHIglgt golden vials full of odors ; 
iBBSF y ((ptuiaa) — but (chap. viii. 3.) the 
angel had a golden censer, 
[f.ipavuirZr.) These vials were 
not small bottles, such as we 
call vials ; which idea arises in- 
stantly by association in our 
minds ; but they were of the 
nature of the censers and dish- 
es, above spoken of, (compared 
by Doddridge to a tea-cup and 
saucer.) This gives a very different idea to chap, 
xv. 8 ; xvi. 1, &c. of the same book, where the vials 
having the wrath of God, are poured out ; for if they 
contained fire, that is a fit emblem of wrath ; and 
burning embers may be described as poured out from 
a censer, with great pro- 
priety. Nothing can be 
more apparent, if we 
suppose, for instance, the 
covering of the censer to 
be wholly removed ; in 
which state the bowl of 
it, perhaps, may be that 
described by the Apoca- 
lyptic writer as a vial ; 
and it might convenient- 
ly contain the fire to be 
poured out from it. This is perfectly agreeable to its 
form and services as a censer, and to the nature and 
use of the ancient censei - s. 

We ought also to remark, that bearing censers is 
an office of servants, in attendance on their superi- 
ors ; — the same office anciently, in the temple, no 
doubt, denoted waiting on the Deity — being occu- 
pied in his service — in attendance on him. This 
action, therefore, demonstrates the devotedness to false 
gods, of those who worshipped them, by bearing cen- 
sers to honor their images ; especially when it is 





recollected, that offering incense was connected with 
addresses and prayers. 

CENTURION, an officer commanding a hundred 
soldiers : similar to our captain in modern times. (See 
Adam's Rom. Antiq. p. 370.) 

CEPHAS, a Syriac name given to Peter, which by 
the Greeks was rendered Petros, and by the Latins 
Petrus, both signifying stone, or rock. See Peter. 

CERASTES, a serpent so called, because it has 
horns on its forehead. It hides in the sand, is of a sandy 
color, crawls slanting on its side, and seems to hiss 
when in motion. The word occurs only in Gen. xlix. 
17 : " Dan shall be a serpent by the way, a cerastes t 
(in the English text adder, in the margin arroiv-snake r 
that is, the dart-snake, or jaculus,) in the path." The 
Hebrew pcats^ shephiphon, is by some interpreted asp r 
by others basilisk ; but Bochart prefers the cerastes. 

CEREMONIES, the external rites of religion. 
Essential worship is that of the heart and mind — 
worship in spirit and in truth ; but still, ceremonies 
and external worship make a part, and a necessary 
part, of religion. Without them, religious services 
would be confusion, and worship would degenerate 
into superstition. Under the old covenant, God first 
delivered the great precepts of his law. No ceremonies 
were prescribed till afterwards ; and they were then 
intended to check that inclination which the Hebrews 
had discovered for idolatry, and to burthen them 
with the yoke of ceremonies, (Acts xv. 10.) that they 
might he induced to desire, with more ardor, the 
coming of their great Deliverer. In the new cove- 
nant, few ceremonies are enjoined ; and they are 
employed as means only, not as the end ; and in con- 
descension to the weakness of the worshippers, who 
are men, and not angels. 

It has been questioned whether the ceremonies of 
the Jews were imitated from the Egyptians, or vice 
versa. Sir John M a-sham and Dr. Spencer have at- 
tempted to prove the former ; and they have had 
many followers. Indeed there is great resemblance 
between certain ceremonies, which were common to 
both people ; while in other particulars there are dif- 
ferences which appear to be even studied. Moses, 
from condescension to the customs, prejudices, hu- 
mors, inclinations, and even hardness of the Hebrews' 
hearts, may have permitted or prohibited certain 
practices, which were permitted or prohibited among 
the Egyptians ; and he might, for the same reasons, 
borrow something from the forms of their temples 
and their altars. 

But there is another consideration, which has been, 
suggested, and that ought not to be overlooked in 
the determination of this question. It should be re- 
membered, that the origin of many religious rites is 
to be assigned to a period anterior to the establish- 
ment either of the Egyptian or the Jewish polity. 
Now, it was by no means fit that Moses should re- 
ject such merely because they had been adopted by 
the Egyptians. Why should he, for instance, refuse 
to adopt the rite of sacrifice, because this rite was 
common among heathen nations ? Was it not also 
a traditionary mode of worship derived from the ear- 
liest ages, and the most sacred sources ? Was it not 
transmitted to the Hebrews from their ancestors 
also ? Was it not practised by all whose memory 
they venerated ? Why should he omit to notice the 
new moons? Such had been the custom — the patri- 
archal custom — from time immemorial. In short, it 
should appear that, in fact, God had given to man 
certain ordinances ; and his posterity throughout the 
world retained more or less of them. Set much of 



CHA 



[ 288 ] 



CHALDEANS 



them as the Egyptians had retained, though inter- 
mingled among others not so authorized, Moses 
adopted — so far he was the instrument of reform- 
ing the religious worship of his time — and to these 
institutions, thus sifted from the chaff of human ad- 
ditions, he added others congenial in their nature, 
particularly 'adapted to the temper, circumstances, 
and future situation of the Jewish people. These 
additions are truly the Mosaic, and - were intended to 
preserve that peopfe distinct and separate from all 
others. How well they have answered this purpose, 
appears not only from the evidences of it in their 
history, but from what, in their present dispersed 
state, they daily offer to our eyes. Are they not now 
a distinct people, still preserved as memorials con- 
firming historic truth, while nations much more pow- 
erful, and which long triumphed over them, are 
extinct — mingled among those who have conquered 
them — and no longer nations ? — This leads us to re- 
flect, that the design of these rites was not merely to 
keep the Jews from idolatry, but that, after they 
were no longer exposed to that temptation, they 
should be thereby preserved as a standing evidence 
of the truth of prophecy, of the providence of God 
displayed toward them, and especially of the verity 
of Jesus Christ, of his apostles, and of the Christian 
religion in general. Such they will continue, so long 
as their testimony continues to be needful. 

CESAR, CESAR JEA, see Cjesar, C^esarea. 

CESTIUS GALLUS, a Roman governor of Sy- 
ria, under whose government the Jews began their 
rebellion, A. D. 66. 

CHAFF, the refuse of winnowed corn. The un- 
godly are represented as the chaff ; a simile most 
forcible and appropriate. Whatever defence they 
may afford to the saints, who are the wheat, they are 
in themselves worthless and inconstant, easily driven 
about with false doctrines, ai d will ultimately be 
driven away by the blast of God s wrath, Psalm i. 4 ; 
Matt. iii. 12, &c. False doctrines are called chaff : 
they are unproductive, and cannot abide the trial of 
the word and Spirit of God, Jer. xxiii. 28. See Bap- 
tism by Fire. 

CHALCEDONY, a precious stone, in color like a 
carbuncle, Rev. xxi. 19. It is said to have derived 
its name from Chalcedon, a city of Bithynia, oppo- 
site to Byzantium. It comprises several varieties, 
one of which is the modern camelian. Some have 
-supposed this to be the stone also called nophec, Exod. 
xxviii. 18. translated " emerald." 

CHALDEA, a country in Asia, the capital of 
which, in its widest extent, was Babylon. (See 
Babylon.) It was originally of small extent, but the 
•empire being afterwards very much enlarged, the 
name is generally taken in a more extensive sense, 
and includes Babvlouia. See Chaldeans. 

CHALDEANS. This name, is taken, (1.) for the 
people of Chaldea, and the subjects of that empire 
generally. (2.) For philosophers, naturalists, or 
soothsayers, whose principal employment was the 
study of mathematics and astrology ; by which they 
pretended to foreknow the destiny of men born un- 
der certain constellations. 

The difficulty of determining the name and deriva- 
tion of the Chaldeans being great, it may be proper 
to introduce a few considerations on the subject ; 
some of them, for their matter, are principally taken 
from Mr. Bryant ; though the conclusion they are 
intended to support, will differ considerably from the 
hypothesis of that very learned writer. Scripture 
Joes not afford any name from which the appellation 



Casdim can be regularly derived ; hut, Mr. Taylor 
thinks, we may safely consider the Babylonians and 
the Casdim as being in whole, or in part, the same 
people ; for we read that — " Nebuchadnezzar, king 
of Babylon, was a Chaldean, (Casdia,)" Ezra v. 12. 
that — when Darius the Mede obtained the throne of 
Babylon, he was made king over the realm of the 
Chaldees, (Casdim,) Dan. ix. 1. that — when the Baby- 
lonian army besieged Jerusalem, it was the army of 
the Chaldees, (Casdim,) (2 Kings xxv. 4, 10 ; Jer. Iii. 
8.) and — Babylon being called "the beauty of the 
Chaldees' excellence," (Isa. xiii. 19.) is evidence suf- 
ficient to this point. By inquiring who were the 
Babylonians, we may approach, he remarks, toward 
determining who were the Chaldeans ; and if we 
look to Gen. xi. 2. we shall find that the inhabitants 
of this country journeyed from the East, Kcdem, 
which Kcdem he fixes in the neighborhood of Cau- 
casus. We are next to remember that these Chal- 
dees worshipped fire, and light, under the name of 
Aur, Vr, Or, or Our, all words of the same sound, 
and varied only in spelling or in writing, by different 
nations; so that, whether we find Aurita, or Ouritas, 
the meaning is the same. The following are testi- 
monies to our purpose : — 

Upon the banks of the great river Ind 
The southern Scuthae dwell : which river pays 
Its watery tribute to that mighty sea, 
Styled Erythrean. Far removed its source, 
Amid the stormy cliffs of Caucasus : 
Descending thence through many a winding vale, 
It separates vast nations. To the west 
The Oritje live. 

Meaning, that the Aurita? live west of the source of 
the Indus, in mount Caucasus ; which the reader 
will find agrees with our position of Kedem. This 
is Mr. Bryant's version of a passage in the poet Di- 
onysius. (Anc. Myth. vol. iii. p. 226.) He says, 
(Obs. 253.) " The Chaldeans were the most ancient 
inhabitants of the country called by their name ; 
there are no other principals, to whom we may refer 
their original. They seem to have been the most 
early constituted and settled of any people on earth. 
They seem to be the only people which did not mi- 
grate at the general dispersion. They extended to 
Egypt west ; and eastward to the Ganges." Mr. 
Taylor is of opinion, however, that by means of captain 
Wil ford's account of Caucasus, under that article, 
we may conceive, without much danger of error, of 
the Sanscrit C'hasas, Chasyas, and the Scripture 
Casdim, as being closely related, if not the same 
people, originally ; for we learn, as he adds, that 
"they are a very ancient tribe," are mentioned in the 
Institutes of Menu ; and that their ancestor, Zeus 
Cassios, is supposed to have lived before the flood ; 
and to have given name to the mountains he seized. 
Their station, then, is Caucasus. But when a con- 
siderable division of mankind withdrew to Shinar, 
they were accompanied by a certain proportion of 
Chasyas, or Casdim, who, being a superior caste, or 
inheriting stations of trust and dignity, (i. e. priests, 
if not governors also ; or a body out of which the 
kings were elected,) gave name to the Babylonian 
kingdom ; which is called the kingdom of the Chas- 
dim, or CPhasyas. Something of this distinction is 
connected with the patriarch Abraham. We know 
he was of Kedem ; not of Babylonia ; yet Eusebiua 
says, Abraham was a Chaldean by descent (to yt'ioc 
Xa?.Saio(). Admitting, then, the Casdim to be de 



CHALDEANS 



L 289 ] 



CHALDEANS 



scendants in the direct line of Shem, (see Shem,) a 
priest himself, this branch of his posterity might re- 
tain their right to the priestly office, transmitted from 
father to son in succession, according to their cus- 
tom. Diodorus Siculus (lib. ii. cap. 21.) gives the 
character of the Chaldeans at large ; we select the 
following passages : — 

" The Chaldeans are descended from the most an- 
cient families of Babylon, and they maintain a man- 
ner of life resembling that of the priests of Egypt. 
For in order to become more learned, and more 
equal to the service of the gods, they continually apply 
themselves to philosophy, and have procured, above 
all, a great reputation in astronomy. They study with 
great care the art of divination. They foretell the 
future, and believe themselves able to ward off evils, 
and to procure benefits, by their expiations, by their 
sacrifices, and by their enchantments. They have also 
experience in presages by the flight of birds ; and are 
versed in the interpretation of dreams and prodigies. 
Beside this, they consult the entrails of victims, and 
infer predictions, which are considered as certain. 
Among the Chaldeans this philosophy remains con- 
stantly the possession of the same family ; passing 
from father to sons, and this, only, they study. . . . 
They consider matter as eternal, neither needing 
generation, nor subject to corruption. But they be- 
lieve that the arrangement and order of the world is 
the effect of divine intelligence, and that all which 
appears iu the heavens, or on earth, is the effect, not 
of a casual or of a fatal necessity, but of the wisdom 
and power of the gods. The Chaldeans also having 
made numerous observations on the stars, and know- 
ing more perfectly than other astrologers their mo- 
tions and their influences, they foretell to men the 
most part of those events which will hereafter befall 
them. They consider, above all, as a point of diffi- 
culty and of consequence, the theory of the five stars, 
which they call interpreters, and we call planets, es- 
pecially Saturn. Nevertheless, they say that the sun 
is not only the most splendid of the heavenly bodies, 
but also that from which may be drawn most indi- 
cations of great events They conceive that the 

five planets command thirty subaltern stars, which 
they call counsellor-gods, of which one half rules 
over what is above the earth, or what passes in heav- 
en, the other half observes the actions of men. Every 
ten days a messenger-star is despatched, to know 
what passes above, and what in the regions below. 
They reckon twelve superior gods, who preside each 
over a month, and a sign in the zodiac. The sun, 
the moon, and the five planets, go through these 
twelve signs ; the sun takes cue year to perform this 
course ; the moon performs it in one month. Each 
planet has his proper period, but the revolutions of 
these bodies differ greatly in times and rapidity. The 
stars, they affirm, influence particularly over men at 
their birth ; and the knowledge of their aspects at 
that moment, contributes much to reveal the bless- 
ings or the evils which they may expect They 

form, beyond the limits of the zodiac, twenty-four 
constellations, twelve northern and twelve southern; 
' the twelve visible together rule over the living ; the 
twelve invisible rule over the dead ; and they con- 
sider them as judges over all men. The moon, say 
they, is below all the stars and all the planets ; and 

her revolution is complete in a shorter time . 

The Chaldeans, in short, are the most eminent as- 
trologers in the world, as having cultivated this study 
more carefully than any other nation. But we can- 
aot easily believe what they advance on the great 



antiquity of their early observations : foi according 
to them, they began 473,000 years before the passage 
of Alexander into Asia." 

These extracts show the Chaldeans to hold very 
similar notions with the ancient Persian Magi. The 
interpreter -stars of one are, evidently, the mediator- 
stars of the other: the messenger-stars are the watch- 
ers of Daniel ; or aualogous to the Satan of Job : 
and on the reports of such messengers, no doubt, the 
counsellor-gods formed their decrees ; as in the in- 
stance of Nebuchadnezzar. From this account, the 
reader will also understand by what right the Baby- 
lonian monarch called on his Chaldeans, his wise men, 
and astrologers, to explain that revelation which he 
conceived had been made to him by the celestial guar- 
dians of his person and kingdom. Philostratus (Vit. 
Apollon. lib. ii.) says, the Indi are the wisest of all 
mankind. The Ethiopians (the oriental Ethiopians) 
are a colony from them ; and they inherit the wisdom 
of their forefathers. The hieroglyphics on the obe- 
lisks, says Cassiodorus, (lib. iii. epist. 2. 51.) are Chal- 
daic signs of words, which were used, as letters are, 
for the purpose of information. Zonaras (v. i. p. 22.) 
says, the most approved account is, that the arts came 
from Chaldea to Egypt ; and from thence passed in- 
to Greece. The philosophy of this people was 
greatly celebrated. Alexander visited the chief per- 
sons of the country, who were esteemed professors 
of science. . Consider the pre-eminence given to 
Solomon, (1 Kings i v. 30.) "and fuller — more exten- 
sive — -was the wisdom of Solomon, beyond the wis- 
dom of all the sons of Kedem, and beyond all the 
wisdom of Mizraim :" and with this character com- 
pare that of the Chaldeans, as above, and that of the 
original Indi, who are Chaldeans, and sons of Kedem 
too. We find they worshipped fire, so that they were 
Aurita ; and, in short, that IJr of the Chaldees might 
be the residence of such professors, and such devo- 
tees; for which reason Abraham was directed to 
quit it. On the whole, we may consider the Chas- 
dim, or Chaldeans, as the philosophic or the priestly 
order, among the Babylonians ; and rather a caste 
among a nation, than a nation of themselves ; much 
as the Brahmins of India (a race by their own ac- 
knowledgment not truly Indian) are at this day ; 
who preserve knowledge, if any be preserved ; who 
perform religious functions, and are supposed to 
maintain the truth of religion officially, and whose 
order sometimes furnishes kings and nobles. Inso- 
much that if we should say of Abraham — he came 
from Ur, a city of the Brahmins ; or if we should 
say — the Brahmins were the wisest of all mankind, 
yet Solomon was wiser than they were ; though we 
should certainly offend against terms and titles, yet 
we should possibly be tolerably near to a fair notion 
of the Chasdim of" Scripture, and of their character. 

[The view above taken of the Chaldeans, can 
hardly be termed satisfactory ; and the character as- 
signed to them as a people is certainly not accordant 
throughout with the representations of Scripture. 
They are, indeed, described as wise and learned, so 
that the name Chaldean is also taken directly for a 
learned man, an astrologer, &c. but they are also de- 
scribed as being warlike, fierce, and inured to hard- 
ship, Hab. i. It will therefore not be inappropriate 
to exhibit here the views entertained respecting the 
origin of this people by Vitringa ; (Comm. in Jes. 
torn. i. p. 412, ad Jes. xiii. 19.) and after him by 
Gesenius, Rosenmuller, and others. (Gesen. Com. z. 
Jes. xxiii. 13. Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. I. ii. p. 36, seq.^ 

The CI aldeans, called every where in the Hebrew 



CHALDEANS 



[ 290 ] 



CH A 



Scriptures Casdim, were a warlike people, who origi- 
nally inhabited the Carduchian mountains, north of 
Assyria, and the northern part of Mesopotamia. 
According to Xenophon, (Cyrop. iii. 2. 7.) the Chal- 
deans dwelt in the mountains adjacent to Armenia ; 
and they are found in this same region in the cam- 
paign of the younger Cyrus, aud the retreat of the 
ten thousand Greeks. (Xen. Auab. iv. 3, 4 ; v. 5. 9 ; 
vii. 8. 14.) That they were genealogically allied to 
the Hebrews appears from Gen. xxii. 22 ; where 
Chesed, {^vd, whence Casdim,) the ancestor of this 
people, is mentioned as a son of Nahor, and was, 
consequently, the nephew of Abraham. And further, 
Abraham himself emigrated to the laud of Canaan 
from Ur of the Chaldeans, Ur-Casdim ; (Gen. xi. 28 ; 
Neh. ix. 7.) and in Judith v. 6, the Hebrews are said 
to be descendants of the Chaldeans. The region 
around the river Chaboras, in the north of Mesopo- 
tamia, is called by Ezekiel (i. 3.) the Land of the 
Chaldeans ; although this may be perhaps taken in a 
wider sense for the Chaldean or Babylonian empire. 
Jeremiah calls them (v. 15.) " an ancient nation." As 
the Assyrian monarchs extended their conquests to- 
wards the north and west, the Chaldeans came also 
under their dominion ; and this rough and energetic 
people appear to have assumed, under the' sway of 
their conquerors, a new character, by means of the 
removal of a part of them to Babylon; where they 
were probably placed to ward off the irruptions of 
the neighboring Arabians. We may suppose, too, 
that some special form of government was assigned 
to them, in order to convert them from a rude horde 
into a civilized people. Still an important part of 
the Chaldeans must have remained in their ancient 
country, and continued true to their ancient modes 
of life ; for in the time of Xenophon they appear un- 
der the same primeval character and manners, (see 
above,) and enjoyed, also, under the Persians, a certain 
degree of liberty. (Are not the Kurds, who have in- 
habited these regions, at least, since the middle ages, 
and whose character and mode of life agree with Xen- 
ophon's description of the Chaldeans, probably the 
descendants of that people? See Gesenius Comm. z. 
Jes. Th. i. p. 747.) That this establishment of the Chal- 
deans in Babylon did not take place long before the 
time of Shalmaneser, (about 730 B. C.) may be infer- 
red from the fact, that Isaiah (xxiii. 13.) calls the 
Chaldeans a people newly founded hy the Assyrians. 
A very vivid and graphic description of the Chaldean 
warriors is given by the prophet Habakkuk, who 
probably lived about the time when they first made 
incursions into Palestine or the adjacent regions, 
c. i. 6—11. 

6. For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, 
A bitter and hasty nation, 

Which marches far and wide in the earth, 
To possess the dwellings that are not theirs. 

7. They are terrible and dreadful, 

Their decrees and their judgments proceed only 
from themselves. 

8. Swifter than leopards are their horses, 
And fiercer than the evening wolves. 
Their horsemen prance proudly around ; 

And their horsemen shall come from afar and fly, 
Like the eagle when he pounces on his prey. 
9 They all shall come for violence, 

In troops, — their glance is ever forward ! 
They gather captives like the sand ! 
10. Aivd they scoff at kings, 



And princes are a scorn unto them 
They deride every strong hold ; 
They cast up [mounds of] earth and take it. 
11. Then renews itself his spirit, and transgresses and 
is guilty ; 
For this his power is his God. 

This warlike people must, in a short time, and in 
an important degree, have obtained the upper hand 
in the Assyrian empire. For about 120 years after 
Esarhaddon, (see Babylonia, and Esarhaddon,) i. e. 
about 597 B. C. Nabopolassar, a viceroy of Babylon, 
made himself independent of Assyria, contracted an 
alliance with Cyaxares, king of Media, and with his 
aid subdued Nineveh and the whole of Assyria. 
That Nabopolassar was a Chaldean, may be inferred 
from the fact, that there is afterwards no more men- 
tion of Assyrian kings, but only of Chaldean mon- 
archs. Nabopolassar had a powerful enemy in 
Necho, the king of Egypt, who penetrated, victori- 
ous, even to the banks of the Euphrates ; while in 
Syria, Phoenicia, ami Judea, all espoused his part)'. 
Under these circumstances, Nabopolassar, being al- 
ready advanced in age, assumed his son Nebuchad- 
nezzar as the partner of his throne. From this 
period onward, the history of the Chaldeans is given 
under the article Babylonia. *R. 

CHAM, Egypt ; but whether so called from the 
patriarch Ham may be doubted, although the Eng- 
lish translation says " Land of Ham." It denotes 
heat, heated; black, or sun-hurnt, Psalm cv. 23, 27; 
cvi. 22. The heathen writers called this country 
Chemia, and the native Copts, at this day, call it Che- 
mi. See Ham, and Egypt. 

CHAMELEON, see Cameleon. 

CHAMOIS. Our translators have evidently erred 
in inserting the chamois in Deut. xiv. 5. The He- 
brew word is zemer, which the LXX render " Canie- 
lopardalis ;" the Vulgate and the Arabic do the same, 
the latter rendering " Ziraffe." The ziraffe, or gi- 
raffe, however, being a native of the torrid zone, and 
of Southern Africa, it is equally unlikely that it should 
be abundant in Judea, and used as an article of food, 
as that the chamois, which inhabits the chilly regions 
of mountains only, and seeks their most retired 
heights, to shelter it from the warmth of summer, 
preferring those cool retreats where snow and ice 
prevail, should be known among the population of 
Israel. We must yet wait for authorities to justify 
a conclusive opinion on this animal. The class oi 
antelopes bids fairest to contain it. 

CHAMOS, see Chemosh. 

CHAOS, a term expressive of that confusion 
which overspread matter when first produced ; aud 
before God, by his almighty word, had reduced it to 
order. 

CHARACA, a city of Gad, whence Judas Macca 
beus drove Timotheus, 2 Mac. xii. 17. Probably the 
same as Charac-Moab. See Selah. 

CHARIOT. The history of conveyance by 
means of vehicles, carried or drawn, is a subject too 
extensive to be treated of fully here. — There can 
be no doubt, after men had accustomed cattle to 
submit to the control of a rider, and to support the 
incumbent weight of a person, or persons, whethei 
the animal were ox, camel, or horse, that the next 
step was to load such a creature, properly trained, 
with a litter, or portable conveyance ; balanced, per- 
haps, on each side. This might be long before the 
mechanism of the wheel was employed ; a« it is stiD 
practised among pastoral people. Nevertheless, we 



CHARIOT 



[ 291 ] 



CHARIOT 



find that wheel carriages are of great antiquity ; for 
we read of wagons so early as Gen. xlv. 19, and 
military carriages, perhaps for chiefs and officers, 
first of all, in Exodus xiv. 25, " The Lord took off the 
chariot-ji>AeeZs of the Egyptians ;" and, as these were 
the fighting strength of Egypt, this agrees with those 
ancient writers, who report that Egypt was not, in 
its early state, intersected by canals, as in latter ages ; 
after the formation of which, wheeled carriages 
were laid aside, and little, if at all, used. 

The first mention of chariots occurs Gen. xli. 43. 
" Pharaoh caused Joseph to ride (rdcab) in the second 
chariot (merkebeth) that belonged to him." This, most 
likely, was a chariot of state, not an ordinary, or trav- 
elling, but a handsome, equipage ; becoming the rep- 
resentative of the monarch's person and power. We 
find, as already suggested, that Egypt had another 
kind of wheel-carriage, better adapted to the eonvey- 

i ance of burdens ; " take out of the land of Egypt 
(mSjy egaloth) wagons, wheel-carriages, for convey- 
ance of your little ones, and your women." These 
were family vehicles, for the use of the feeble ; in- 
cluding, if need be, Jacob himself : accordingly, we 

i read, ver. 27, of the wagons which Joseph had sent to 
carry him, (Jacob,) and which, perhaps, the aged patri- 
arch knew by their construction to be Egypt-built ; 

I for as soon as he saw them, he believed the reports 
from that country, though he had doubted of them 

. before, when delivered to him by his sons. This 

> kind of chariot deserves attention, as we find it after- 
wards employed on various occasions of Scripture, 
among which are the following : first, it was intended 

; by the princes of Israel for carrying parts of the sa- 
cred utensils : (Num. vii. 3.) " They brought their 
offering — six covered wagons (egaloth) and twelve 

i oxen," — (two oxen to each wagon ;) — here these 
ivagons are expressly said to be covered : and it should 
appear, that they were so, generally ; beyond ques- 
tion, those sent by Joseph for the women of Jacob's 
family were so ; among other purposes, for that of 
seclusion. Perhaps these wagons might be covered 
with circular headings, spread on hoops, like those 
of our own wagons ; — what we call a tilt. Consider- 
able importance attaches to this heading, or tilt, in 
the history of the curiosity of the men of Bethshe- 
mesh, (1 Sam. vi. 7.) where we read that the Philis- 
tines advised to make a new (covered) wagon, or cart 
, (egalah) ; — and the ark of the Lord was put into it, 
— and, no doubt, was carefully covered over — conceal- 
ed — secluded by those who sent it. — It came to Beth- 
shemesb, and the men of that town, who were reaping 
in the fields, perceiving the cart coming, went and ex- 
amined what it contained ; " and they saw the ark, 
and were joyful in seeing it." Those, perhaps, who 
first examined it, instead of carefully covering it up 
again, as a sacred utensil, suffered it to lie open to 
common inspection, which they encouraged, in or- 
der to triumph in the votive offerings it had acquir- 
ed, and to gratify profane curiosity ; — the Lord there- 
i fore punished the people, (ver. 19,) "because they 
had inspected, looked upon, the ark." This affords 
a clear view of the transgression of these Israelites, 
who had treated the ark with less reverence than the 
Philistines themselves ; for those heathen conquer- 
ors had at least behaved to Jehovah with no less re- 
spect than they did to their own deities ; and being 
accustomed to carry them in covered wagons, for 
privacy, they maintained the same privacy as a mark 
of honor to the God of Israel. The Levites seem to 
have bsen equally culpable with the common peo- 
. pie ; they ought to have conformed to the law, and 



not to have suffered their triumph on this victorious 
occasion to beguile them into a transgression so con- 
trary to the very first principles of the theocracy. 

That this word egalah describes a covered wagon, 
we learn from a third instance, that of Uzzah, (2 Sam. 
vi. 3.) for we cannot suppose that David could so far 
forget the dignity of the ark of the covenant, as to 
suffer it to be exposed, in a public procession, to the 
eyes of all Israel ; especially after the punishment of 
the people at Bethshemesh. " They carried the ark 
of God on a new 'covered cart' — and Uzzah put 
forth [his hand, or some catching instrument] to the 
ark of God, and laid hold of it, ' for the oxen shook 
it ; and the Lord smote him there, and he died on 
the spot, with the ark of God upon him. And David 
called the place 'the breach of Uzzah' " — i. e. where 
the anger of the Lord broke out against Uzzah. 

We may now notice the proportionate severity of 
the punishments attending profanation of the ark — 
(1.) the Philistines suffered by diseases, from which 
they were relieved after then - oblations ; — (2.) the 
Bethshemeshites also suffered, but not fatally, by dis- 
eases of a different nature, which, after a time, passed 
off. These were inadvertencies ; but, (3.) Uzzah — 
who ought to have been fully instructed and correct- 
ly obedient, who conducted the procession, who was 
himself a Levite — was punished fatally, for his re- 
missness — his inattention to the law, which express- 
ly directed that the ark should be carried on the 
shoulders of the priests, the Kohathites, (Num. iv. 4, 
19, 20.) distinct from those things carried in wagons, 
chap. vii. 9. 

That this kind of wagon was used for carrying 
considerable weights, and even cumbersome goods, 
(and, therefore, was fairly analogous to our own tilted 
wagons,) we gather from the expression of the Psalm- 
ist, xlvi. 9 : — 

He maketh wars to cease to the end of the earth ; 
The bow he breaketh ; and cutteth asunder the spear ; 
The chariots (egaloth) he burnetii in the fire. 

The writer is mentioning the instruments of war 
— the bow — the spear — then, he says, the wagons 
(plural) which used to return home loaded with 
plunder, these share the fate of their companions, the 
bow and the spear ; and are burned in the fire— the 
very idea of the classical allegory, Peace burning the 
implements of war! — introduced here with the hap- 
piest effect ; not the general's merkebeth ; but the plun- 
dering wagons. This is still more expressive, if these 
wagons carried captives ; which we know they did 
in other instances ; women and children. " The cap- 
tive-carrying wagon is burnt." There can be no 
stronger description of the effect of peace ; and it 
closes the period with peculiar emphasis. 

[This attempt to determine the form and use of the 
Hebrew nSjy rests on mere conjecture, and is op- 
posed by all the evidence which the nature of the 
case admits. Especially in Ps. xlvi. 9, it is obvious, 
that the meaning is simply chariots of war : Jehovah 
is described as desolating the enemy by destroying 
their implements of war, of battle, — the bows, the 
spears, the chariots of the warriors. How tame in 
comparison is here the idea of a baggage-wagon! — Be- 
sides, there is no evidence whatever, that this kind ot 
vehicle was a covered one ; certainly it is not neces- 
sarily to be so understood, at least in the case of war- 
chariots. The ark, too, is said above to have been al- 
ways covered, when transported in a vehicle or 
borne on the shoulders ; but this sure'y does not fol 



CHARIOT 



[ 292 1 



CHARIOT 



low from any thiag that is said in Scripture. That 
the egdldh may sometimes have been covered, is also 
doubtless true. The name is derived from a root 
signifying to roll, and means simply a vehicle on 
wheels, whether chariot or wagon, for the transport- 
ation of goods or persons ; and may, for aught we 
know, have included as many forms and kinds, as 
our word car, or wagon, or carriage. R. 

Having thus shown the antiquity and use of cover- 
ed wagons, which, in most instances, perhaps indeed 
in all, were drawn by oxen, we proceed to notice 
chariots of equal antiquity, but for a different pur- 
pose ; and among these we may perceive a distinc- 
tion, as we find two names employed to denote 
them : (1.) the receh, (2.) the mercabah, the latter 
evidently a derivative from the former. The first 
may be thought the inferior, and drawn by two 
horses only ; the second was the more splendid, 
and drawn by four horses. Joseph, as we have 
seen, rode in the second state-chariot (mercabah) 
of Pharaoh's kingdom : — that this was a handsome 
equipage, need not be doubted ; that it was a public 
vehicle, appears from the proclamation and honors 
attending the statesman who rode in it. Joseph, also, 
when going to meet his father, rode as vizier in his 
mercabah. We find, moreover, that Sisera, when 
expected to make his triumphant entry, was equally 
expected to ride in such a chariot ; for his mother 
says, " Why tarry the wheels of his mercdboth ?" 
Judg. v. 28. This vehicle he had also used in battle, 
chap. iv. 15. Perhaps this conception adds a spirit 
to the history of Naaman, 2 Kings v. 9. That hero 
of Syria came to the prophet Elisha, with his horse 
and attendants, a great retinue ; but being in a state 
of disease, he occupied a humble receb; being a leper, 
he was secluded ; not so, when he went away healed ; 
then, in a state of exultation, he rode in his merca- 
bah ; for so says verse 21, he alighted from his mer- 
cdbdh to meet Gehazi. (See also verse 26.) This kind 
of chariot was not omitted by the ambitious Absa- 
lom, among his preparations for assuming the state 
of royalty ; (2 Sam. xv. 1.) and that this was a char- 
iot of triumph, or of magnificence, is decided by a 
passage of the prophet Isaiah, (chap. xxii. 18.) "the 
chariots — mercdboth — of thy glory shall be the 
shame of thy Lord's house." (See also 1 Kings xii. 
18 ; xx. 33 ; 2 Kings ix. 27.) It may further be ob- 
served, that these mercdboth were used in battle, by 
kings and by general officers ; so we read in 2 Chron. 
xxxv. 24, that king Josiah was mortally wounded in 
battle ; his servants therefore took him out of that 
mercabah which he had used, as commander against 
Pharaoh-Necho, and put him in a second receb, 
which belonged to him, to convey him to Jerusalem. 
The same is related of Ahab, 1 Kings xxii. 35. And 
the king, who was disguised as an officer, was stayed 
up in his mercabah against Syria ; but he died in the 
evening. And the blood from his wound ran into the 
bosom of his receb. That is to say, Ahab had 
been removed, like Josiah, from a chariot of dig- 
nity to a common litter, (for such might be the 
receb here,) for the more easy and private carriage 
of his body, now dead ; and the blood from his wound 
ran into this vehicle, — which, therefore, was washed 
in the pool of Samaria ; (verse 38.) and thus the min- 
gling of his blood with the water of the pool, of which 
the dogs drank, fulfilled the prophet's prediction. 
That the word chariot sometimes means the horses 
which drew the vehicle, appears from 2 Sam. viii. 4, 
" And David houghed all the chariot horses ; but re- 
served to himself a hundred chariot horses :" here the 



horses must be the subject of this operation, not th6 
chariots ; and so the passage is always understood, 
though the word chariot only is used. 

[Of the distinction here attempted to be made 
between the Hebrew 33-1, receb, and rus^c, mercabah, 
the same must be said as above ; it is not only with- 
out evidence, but contrary to all the evidence which 
exists. In the case of Naaman the Syrian, (2 Kings 
v.) no one, who had not a theory to support, would 
ever suspect that the chariot mentioned in verse 21 
was not the very same vehicle just before mentioned 
in verse 9 ; and which in one case is called receb, and 
in the other mercabah. So, also, in the case of Ahab, 
(1 Kings xxii. 35.) where there is no hint of his re- 
moval from one vehicle to another, and yet both 
terms are used of the same vehicle. The word 33-1, 
receb, is the abstract noun from the verb signifying 
to ride, to be borne, and means, in general, any vehicle 
in which one is transported ; just as our word carriage 
designates, in general, that in which one is carried. It is 
also more generally a noun of multitude, signifying a 
plurality of such vehicles ; while, on the contrary, the 
word mercabah is a noun of unity, designating only one 
vehicle, under the idea of the instrument of one's being 
carried. It is also not improbable, that this word 
may have been limited to a more definite significa- 
tion, and applied to some particular forms or kinds of 
chariots. The other word, receb, was exceedingly gen- 
eral in its application, standing sometimes for char- 
iots of war ; (Exod. xiv. 9.) sometimes, possibly, for a 
litter borne by horses, as in the case of Josiah ; (2 
Chron. xxxv. 24.) sometimes for the horses them- 
selves, as 2 Sam. viii. 4 ; x. 18 ; and again for the riders 
on horses and other animals, Is. xxi. 7, 9. That it, 
however, designates any where a litter, is certainly 
very difficult to be made out, and is contradicted by 
Gesenius and all the other best interpreters. R. 

At any rate it is not easy to determine when it means 
a wheeled chariot, drawn by two horses, or when it 
means a litter, carried by two horses ; but this is of 
small consequence, as we may rationally conclude, 
that vehicles with two horses were prior to those 
with four ; the second pair being added for greater 
pomp and dignity. The following may perhaps af- 
ford some hints on the subject of chariots drawn by 
two horses. 2 Kings ii. 11, " There appeared to the 
prophet Elisha a receb, chariot, of fire, and horses 
of fire." Ps. Ixxvi. 6, "In a dead sleep are both 
receb, chariot, and horse ;" if this be a single horse, 
it must needs be a wheeled chariot, which he draws ; 
not a litter. Is. xliii. 17, " Who bringeth forth riceb 
— chariot, and horse," (singular). 2 Kings vii. 13, 
14. " Take, I pray thee, Jive [it should be a few] 
of the horses which remain ;— they took, therefore, 
two receb, chariot horses," i. e. the proper number 
for a receb : and, that the rendering five is here im- 
proper, is evident, because only two were sent ; yet 
this was clearly according to the proposal, and fully 
as much to the purpose as five ; the mention of five is 
evidently intended as a sort of round number, a 
few. 

A passage in the second part of Dr. E. D. Clarke's 
Travels throws additional light on the construction 
of the ancient chariot. That traveller says, (p. 112.) 
— " The women of the place (the hot springs, at Bour- 
nabashi) bring all their garments to be washed in 
these springs, not according to the casual visits of 
ordinary industry, but as an ancient and established 
custom, in the exercise of which they proceed with 
all the pomp and songs of a public ceremony. The 
remains of customs belonging to the most w mote 



CH A 



[ 293 ] 



C II E 



ages are discernible in the shape and' construction of 
the wicker cars, in which the linen is brought on 
these occasions, and which are used all over this 
country. In the first of them, I recognized the form 
of an ancient car, of Grecian sculpture, in the Vati- 
can collection at Rome ; and which, although of Pa- 
rian marble, had been carved to resemble wicker 
work ; while its wheels were an imitation of those 
solid, circular planes of timber used at this day, 
in Troas, and in many parts of Macedonia, and 
Greece, for the cars of the country. They are ex- 

Eressly described by Homer, in the mention of Priam's 
tter, when the king commands his son to bind on 
the chest or coffer, which was of wicker work, upon 
the body cf the carriage. (Iliad xxiv.) This wicker 
chest, being movable, is used or not, as circumstances 
may require." This particular formation did not 
escape the notice of Dr. Sibthorp, when at Troy. He 
says, " The wains were of a singular structure, and 
probably of very ancient origin, and had received 
none of the improvements of modern discoveries. A 
large wicker basket, eight feet long, mounted on a 
four wheeled machine, was supported by four later- 
al props, which were inserted into holes or sockets. 
The wheels were made of one solid piece, round and 
convex on each side." (Walpole. Trav. Asia, vol. 
ii. p. 114.) 

[If we might suppose that the Hebrew receb ever 
designated a litter, the following description of a 
scene in the khan at Acre would afford, perhaps, an 
apt illustration : " The bustle was increased this 
morning, by the departure of the wives of the govern- 
or of Jaffa. They set off in two coaches, of a curi- 
ous construction, common in this country. The 
body of the coach was raised on two parallel poles, 
somewhat similar to those used for sedan-chairs, 
only that in these the poles were attached to the low- 
er part of the coach, — throwing, consequently, the 

1 centre of gravity much higher, and apparently ex- 
posing the vehicle, with its veiled tenant, to an easy 
overthrow, or at least to a very active jolt. Between 
the poles, strong mules were harnessed, one before 
and one behind; who, if they should prove capri- 

\ cious, or have very uneven and mountainous ground 
to pass, would render the situation of the ladies still 

J more critical. But there is nothing to which use 

i may not reconcile us, and they who can be brought 
to endure the trot of the camel, may consider them- 
selves, as franked for every other kind of convey- 
ance." (Jowett's dir. Res. in Syria, p. 115, 116. Am. 
ed.) — R. 

CHARIOTS of War.. Scripture speaks of two 
sorts of these, one for princes and generals to ride in, 
the other to break the enemy's battalions, by rush- 
ing in among them, being armed with iron, [i. e. iron 
hooks or scythes, currus falcati,] which made terri- 
. ble havoc. The Canaanites, whom Joshua engaged at 
the waters of Merom,had horsemen^ and a multitude of 
; chariots, Josh. xi. 4. Sisera, general of Jabin, king of 
• Hazor, had 900 chariots of iron. Judah could not get 
possession of the lands belonging to their lot, because 
■ the ancient inhabitants of the country were strong in 
I chariots of iron, Judg. i. 19. The Philistines, in their 
war against Saul, had 30,000 chariots, and 6000 
horsemen, 1 Sam. xiii. 5. David, having taken 1000 
i chariots of war from Hadadezer, king of Assyria, ham- 
strung the hoises, and burned 900 chariots, reserv- . 
I ing only 100, 2 Sam. viii. 4. It does not appear that 
I the kings of the Hebrews used chariots in war. 

Solomon had a considerable number, but we know 
. not of any military expedition in which they were 



employed, 1 Kings x. 26. As Judea was a moun 
tainous countiy, chariots were of no use. In 2 Mac 
xiii. 2, there is mention of chariots armed with 
scythes, which the king of Syria led against Judea. 

CHEBAR, a river of Assyria, which falls into the 
Euphrates, in the upper part ofMesopotamia, Ezek. i. 
1. The same as the Chaboras. 

CHEDORLAOMER, king of the Elymaeans, or 
Elamites, (i. e. either the Persians, or a people bor- 
dering on them,) was one of four kings who confed- 
erated against the five kings of the Pentapolis of Sod- 
om, who had revolted from his power, A. M. 2092. 
See Eeam. 

CHELMON, a city opposite to Esdraelon ; near 
to which part of Holofernes' army encamped before 
he besieged Bethulia. It is, perhaps, the Salmon of 
Ps. Ixviii. 14 ; Judg. ix. 48 ; or Cammon, noticed by 
Eusebius, seven miles north from Legio. 

CHEMOSH, the national god of the Moabites, and 
of the Ammonites, worshipped also under Solomon 
at Jerusalem, Judg. xi. 24 ; 1 Kings xi. 7 ; 2 Kings 
xxiii. 13 ; Jer. xlviii. 7. Some confound Chemosh 
with Amnion. Jerome and others take Chemosh and 
Peor for the same divinity : but Baal-Peor was Tam- 
muz, or Adonis. 

CHENANIAH, a master of the temple music, who 
conducted the music at the removal of the ark from 
Obed-edom, 1 Chron. xv. 22. 

CHEPHIRAH, a city of the Gibeonites, given to 
Benjamin, Josh. ix. 17 ; xviii. 26. It appeal's to have 
been a village of the Hivites, and to have retained its 
name, to whatever size it might afterwards have at- 
tained. 

CHEREM, see Anathema. 

CHERETHIM, or Cretim, the Philistines. (See 
Cafhtor.) David, and some of his successors, had 
guards which were called Cherethites and Pelethites, 
(2 Sam. viii. 18.) whose office was of the same na- 
ture as that of Capigis among the Turks and other 
orientals, who are bearers of ' the sultan's orders for 
punishing any one, by decapitation, or otherwise ; 
an office which is very honorable in the East, though 
considered as degrading among us. It appears that 
Herod made use of an officer of this description 
in beheading John the Baptist. Of a like na- 
ture, probably, were the "footmen" of Saul, 1 Sam. 
xxii. 17. 

CHERITH, a brook beyond Jordan, which falls 
into that river, below Bethsan, I Kings xvii. 3. See 
Elijah. 

CHERUB, plural Cherubim, a particular order of 
angels; (Ps. xviii. 10, &c.) but, more particularly, 
those symbolical representations which are so often 
referred to in the Old Testament, and in the book 
of Revelation. On no subject, perhaps, have there 
been so many unavailing conjectures as the form and 
design of these figures. Grotius says, the cherubim 
were figures like a calf. Bochart and Spencer think 
they were nearly the figure of an ox. Josephus 
says, they were extraordinary creatures, of a figure 
unknown to mankind. Clemens of Alexandria be- 
lieves that the Egyptians imitated the cherubim of 
the Hebrews in their sphinxes and hieroglyphical 
animals. The descriptions which Scripture gives of 
cherubim differ; but all agree in representing a fig- 
ure composed of various creatures — a man, an ox, an 
eagle, and a lion. Such were the cherubim de'"~rib- 
ed by Ezekiel, chap. i. ■ 5, to the end, and x. 2. 
Those which Solomon placed in the temple must 
have been nearly the same, 1 Kings vi. 23. Those 
which Moses placed on the ark of the covenant 



CHERUBIM 



L 294 ] 



CHE 



^Exoil. xxv. 18, 19, 20,) are not clearly described ; 1 
nor are those which God posted at the entrance of 
Paradise, Gen. iii. 14. Ezekiel (xxviii. 14.) says to 
the king of Tyre, " Thou art the anointed cherub 
that covereth : thou wast upon the holy mountain of 
God ;" like that cherub, resplendent with glory. 
Moses says, the two cherubim covered the mercy- 
seat, with their wings extended on both sides, 
and looked one upon another, having their faces 
turned towards the mercy-seat, which covered 
the ark. 

Amidst these conflicting opinions Mr. Taylor has 
steered his course, and from a number of indepen- 
dent and historical data he has elicited much that is 
plausible, if it cannot be said to he altogether con- 
clusive, as to their general form. But as the disser- 
tation will not admit of abridgment, we must refer 
the reader to the Fragments of which it is com- 
posed. The following remarks, however, may not 
be without their use. 

Each cherub had four faces: (1.) that of a man ; 
(2.) that of a lion ; (3.) that of an ox ; (4.) that of an 
eagle. These four faces were probably attached to 
one head, and seen by the beholder in union, being 
joined, each by its back part to the others. Their body, 
from the neck downwards, was human ; " the likeness 
of a man." This human part first meeting the spec- 
tator's eye, had he seen nothing else, he might from 
thence have supposed the whole form to be human. 
Ezekiel describes the cherub as having four wings ; 
— Isaiah describes the seraph as having six wings ; 
say, two on his head, two on his shoulders, two on 
his flanks. Their arms, rendered in our translation 
hands, were four, one on each side of the creature. 
The remainder, or lower part, of their figure, was, 
from the rim of the belly downwards, either, (1.) hu- 
man thighs, legs, and feet, to which were appended, at 
the posteriors, the body and hind legs of an ox ; or, 
rather, (2.) the body and the fore legs of an ox, out 
of which the human part seemed to rise, so that all 
below the rim of the belly was ox-like, and all above 
that division was human. From which formation a 
spectator paying most attention to their lower parts, 
might have been inclined to think them oxen ; or at 
least bestial. With regard to their services, or 
what they appeared to do, we may ask, Was the 
vision seen by the prophet Ezekiel, as well as that 
by the prophet Isaiah, the resemblance of a mova- 
ble throne or chariot, of prodigious dimensions, on 
which the sovereign was understood to sit ; and to 
which the wheels were annexed, in much the same 
manner as to the royal travelling (or military) thrones 
of the Persian kings ; while the four cherubim occu- 
pied the places of four horses to draw this magnifi- 
cent machine ? This he thinks probable, and illus- 
trates the idea at some length. 

The wheels described in Ezek. i. 15 — 21, in con- 
nection with the cherubim, he conceives to have been 
representative of the throne of the Deity ; the con- 
struction — wheel within wheel — being for the pur- 
pose of their rolling every way with perfect readi- 
ness, and without any occasion of turning the whole 
machine. The cherubim having the conducting of 
this throne, it is obvious to remark how well adapt- 
ed their figure was to their service ; — their faces look- 
ing every way, so that there was no occasion for 
turning (as a horse must) in obedience to directions, 
to proceed to the right, or to the left, instead of going 
straight forward. 

[Much misapprehension respecting these appear- 
ances, has arisen from the idea of the wheels and 




the cherubim being full of eyes, Ezek. i. 18 ; x. 15, 
So in Rev. iv. 6, 8, the four beasts are said to have 
"eyes before and behind," and "within." This is 
doubtless intended as a symbol of the alacrity with 
which the ministers of Jehovah perform his will, — 
of that keen-sighted sense of duty which lets nothing 
escape unseen, unnoticed, unfulfilled. R. 

The accompanying engraving represents a crea- 
ture which ornaments the portal of the palace of 
Persepolis : the legs and the body resemble those of 
an ox ; and it has the tail of an ox : on the body are 
grafted a large pair of wings, — no doubt those of an 
eagle ; and its whole front and shoulders are studded, 
either with feathers, or 
with rising knobs. — What 
its head was, it is now im- 
possible to determine ; but 
by its form, by the cap 
upon it, and by what 
seems to be drapery, at- 
tached to it, it is probable 
that the countenance was 
human. The statues are 
greatly damaged ; partly 
by age, and more by fire ; 
still more, perhaps, by the 
barbarity of their possess- 
ors. But if this subject 
represent an ox's body, 

eagle's wings, and a human countenance, then it 
closely approaches the ancient composition of the 
cherub ; and it is the more satisfactory, because, 
being extant in Persia, it proves that such emblems 
were not confined to Egypt ; but might be of Chal- 
dean, or, at least, of Asiatic, origin. In fact, it is evi- 
dent that they were adopted throughout a very exten- 
sive portion of the East ; and Ezekiel being resident 
in Persia, his reference to them might be easily un- 
derstood by his readers, to whom such symbols were 
familiar. 

In conclusion, was the offence given to Judah, by 
Israel, by the erection of the golden calves, (which 
certainly were allied to the cherubim, in figure and 
import, if they were not absolutely the same,) be- 
cause this was a profession of having the throne of 
God among that division of the sons of Jacob ? Was 
it also because, in Judah, these emblems were kept 
private, in the temple ; whereas, in Israel, they were 
exposed to public view, as objects of worship ? 
Were the figures erected by Jeroboam truly cheru- 
bim, but called calves, i. e. their name being taken 
from the inferior part of their composition by way 
of indignity ; or were they an imperfect association 
of emblems, some being omitted, and what remained 
being chiefly those parts which referred to tbe ox, or 
calf? or, as these are sometimes called heifers, was 
the sex feminine instead of masculine? or had they 
compound parts of both sexes ? as many Egyptian 
sphinxes had, as what remain fully demonstrate. 
[These are all questions which no man can ever an- 
swer affirmatively ; and, therefore, it is better at once 
to say, No. R. 

In 2 Kings xix. 15 ; Ps. Ixxx. 1 ; Isaiah xxxvii. 16, 
God is spoken of as dwelling — residing — between the 
cherubim ; but the word between is supplied by our 
translators : should they not rather have supplied the 
word above or over the cherubim, or some similar ex- 
pression ? — since such is the relative situation of the 
Divine Majestv in these visions. 

CHESALON, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 10. 

.1. CHESIL, a city of Judah ; (Josh. xv. 30.) Euse 



CHI 



[ 295 1 



CHITTIM 



bius <jalls it Xil ; and places it in the south of Judah. 
— II. A constellation. See Orion. 

CHESTNUT- TREE, (pcnj ) Gen.xxx.37; Ezek. 
xxxi. 8. In these places, the LXX and Jerome trans- 
late, " plane-tree ;" and most of the modern interpret- 
ers follow their authority. The Hebrew is derived 
from a root which signifies nakedness ; and it is often 
observed of the plane-tree, that the bark peels off 
from the trunk, leaving it naked ; Platanus orientalis. 

CHIDON, the threshing-floor where Uzzah was 
suddenly struck dead, 1 Chron. xiii. 9. In 2 Sam. 
vi. 6, it is called " the threshing-floor of Nachon ;" 
but we know not whether the names of Nachon and 
Chidon are those of men or of places. 

CHILD, CHILDREN. The descendants of a 
man, generally, are called his sons, or children, in 
the Hebrew idiom ; as the children of Edom, of Mo- 
ab, of Israel. Disciples, also, are often called chil- 
dren or sons. The children of the devil, the sons of 
Belial, are those who follow the maxims of the world 
and of the devil. The expressions, "children of the 
wedding," " children of light," " children of dark- 
ness," signify those invited to the wedding, those 
who follow light, those who remain in darkness ; 
as the children of the kingdom describes those who 
belong to the kingdom. The holy angels are some- 
times described as sons of God, Job i. 6 ; ii. 1 ; Psalm 
Ixxxix. 6. Good men, in opposition to wicked men, 
are likewise thus called ; as the family of Seth in 
opposition to the descendants of Cain, Gen. vi. 6. 
Judges, magistrates, and priests are likewise termed 
children of God, Psalm lxxxii. 6 ; xxix. 1. Israelites 
are called sons of God, in opposition to the Gentiles, 
Hosea i. 10 ; John xi. 52. In the New Testament, 
believers are called children of God, in virtue of 
their adoption, John i. 12 ; Rom. viii. 14 ; Gal. iii. 26. 
See Birth. 

CHILMAD, a city of Asia, Ezek. xxvii. 23. 

I. CHIMHAM, a son of Barzillai, the Gileadite, 
and one who followed David to Jerusalem, after the 
war with Absalom ; and who was enriched by David, 
in consideration of his father Barzillai, whose gene- 
rous assistance he had experienced, 2 Sam. xix. 37, 
38. — II. A place near Bethlehem, Jer. xli. 17. 

CHIOS, or Coos, an island in the Archipelago, 
between Lesbos and Samos, on the coast of Asia 
Minor, now called Scio. Paul passed this way as 
he sailed southward from Mitylene to Samos, Acts 
xx. 15. 

CHISLOTH, or Chisloth-Tabor, a city on the 
side of mount Tabor, (Josh. xix. 12, 18.) which Eu- 
sebius and Jerome call Casalus, or Exalus, and place 
ten miles from Diocsesarea, east. 

It is called Taboi^only, in verse 22, and there is at 
this day a village so called by the Arabs, at the foot 
of the mountain. It is, however, probable that this 
was a fortification higher up the mountain, perhaps 
on the top of it ; whence it might be called the con- 
fidence of Tabor. 

CHINNERETH, see Cinnereth. 

CHISLEU, the ninth month of the Hebrews, be- 
ginning with the new riioon of December, Neh. i. 1 ; 
Zech. vii. 1. Others make it equivalent to our No- 
vember. See Cisleu. 

CHITTIM. Writers on Scripture antiquities are 
not agreed as to the country or countries implied 
under this name. Josephus is for Cyprus, Bochart 
and Vitringa for Italy and Corsica, Grotius, Le Clerc, 
and Calmet understand Macedonia, Jerome the 
islands of the Ionian andiEgean sea, while Lowth and 
Hales understand all the islands and coasts of the 



Mediterranean. It is proper to examine critically 
the various passages of Scripture in which the word 
occurs, for the purpose of ascertaining whether more 
than one region or country may not be intended. 
We have then the following references: — (1.) Chit- 
tim, mentioned by Moses, Numb. xxiv. 24. (2.) Chit- 
tim, mentioned by Daniel, xi. 30. Bochart is of 
opinion that the ships of Chittim, here, refer to the 
Roman fleet, presuming that Chittim signifies Italy 
but, as Mr. Taylor remarks, he calls the Roman fleet 
that of the Chittim, because it lay in the harbors of the 
Macedonians ; thus the fleet of Chittim, and of Mace- 
donia, was, in fact, the Roman fleet also. (3.) Chethim 
in the isle of Cyprus ; from whence, as Josephus 
says, the Hebrews called all islands Chethim, though 
he restrains that title, principally, to a city called 
(Citius) Kitios ; now Larnica. (4.) In Ezek. xxvii. 
6, some of the Arabs translate the word chetcim "the 
isles of India ;" the Chaldee, " the province of Apu- 
lia," meaning the region of elephants, and probably 
intending Pul in Egypt. The Syriac version reads 
Chetthoje, which has some resemblance to Cataya ; 
and by which we are directed towards India. (5.) 
Isaiah, speaking of the destruction of Tyre, by Neb- 
uchadnezzar, says, "Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, for 
it is laid vvaste — from the land of Chittim it is reveal- 
ed to them," ch. xxiii. 1. This Calmet understands 
of Macedonia ; but, then, how is it said, that the de- 
struction of Tyre, occasioned by Nebuchadnezzar, 
should come from Chittim ? Might not the passage 
be more properly interpreted, as relating to the de- 
struction of this city by Alexander the Great ? Bas- 
nage, by Chittim, understands the Cuthaans, inhab- 
itants of the Suziana, near Babylon, who marched 
under Nebuchadnezzar, and assisted at the siege of 
Tyre. But where are the Cuthreans named Chittim ? 
Upon the whole, there is reason to think that the 
word Chittim implies, as Lowth and Hales suppose, 
all the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean sea. 

[The following is the note of Gesenius upon the 
word Chittim, in his commentary upon Is. xxiii. 1 . 
"Among the three different opinions of ancient 
and modern interpreters, according to which they 
sought for the land of the Chittim in Italy, Macedo- 
nia, and Cyprus, I decidedly prefer the latter, which 
is also that of Josephus. (Ant. i. 6.1.) According to 
this, Chittim is the island Cyprus, so called from 
the Phoenician colony KUwv, Citium, in the southern 
part of this island ; but still in such a sense, that this 
name Chittim was at a later period employed also, in 
a wider sense, to designate other islands and coun- 
tries adjacent to the coasts of the Mediterranean ; e. g. 
Macedonia, Dan. xi. 30 ; 1 Mac. i. 1 ; viii. 5. This is 
also mentioned by Josephus. That K l-tioi was some- 
times used for the whole of Cyprus, and also in a 
wider sense for other islands, as Rhodes, is expressly 
asserted by Epiphanius, who himself lived in Cyprus, 
as a well known fact. (Adv. Hseres. xxx. 25.) It 
could also, he adds, be used of the Macedonians, be- 
cause they were descended from the Cyprians and 
Rhodians. That most of the cities of Cyprus were 
Phoenician colonies, is expressly affirmed by Diodo- 
rus, (ii. p. 114. comp. Herodot. vii. 90.) and the prox- 
imity of the island to Phoenicia, together with its 
abundant supply of the utmost variety of productions, 
especially of such as were essentia] to ship-building, 
would lead us to expect nothing else. In respect to 
Citium, at least, it is clear, that it was settled by the 
Phoenicians, and not by the Greeks. (Here follows 
a variety of citations in proof of this point, e. g. Cic 
de Fin. iv. 20. Diog. Laert. vita Zenonis, etc.) One 



CHI 



[ 296 ] 



CHIUN 



of the few passages in the Bible which gives a more 
definite hint in respect to the Chittim, is Ezek. xxvii. 
6, which agrees very well with Cyprus : ' Of the oaks 
of Bashan do they make thine oars ; thy ships' 
benches do they make of ivory, encased with cedar 
from the isles of Chittim ;' where the word Ashurim 
means probably the same as Teashur, a species of ce- 
dar or pine, which is found abundantly in the noble 
forests of Cyprus. The opinion that Italy was the 
land of the Chittim, which is adopted by Bochart and 
Vitringa, seems to me to be wholly untenable ; be- 
cause, in Is. xxiii. 12, (comp. verse 6,) the Chittim 
appear evidently to be a Phoenician possession ; while 
in Italy especially, no colonies of this people ever 
existed. In the present passage, (Is. xxiii. 1.) we 
must understand the sense to be, that the fleets com- 
ing from Tarshish (Tartessus) to Tyre, would on their 
way learn from the inhabitants of Cyprus the news 
of the downfall of Tyre." (See Gesen. Comm. zu 
Isa. Th. ii. p. 721 ; Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. iii. p. 
378.) R. 

CHIUN, [the name of a god worshipped by the 
Israelites in the desert. The name occurs only in 
Amos v. 26, " But ye have borne the tabernacle of 
your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of 
your god, which ye made to yourselves." This is 
quoted somewhat differently in Acts viii. 43, "Ye 
took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of 
your god Remphan, figures which ye made to wor- 
ship them." According to Syriac and Hebrew inter- 
preters, it is the same as the Arabic Chevdn, the 
planet Saturn ; respecting the worship of which by 
the Semitish nations, see Gesenius Comm. zu Jesaia, 
Th. iii. p. 343. They regarded and worshipped the 
planets Saturn and Mars, as evil principles, sources 
of ill ; as they held Jupiter and Venus for sources of 
good. The use of the word star, especially as ap- 
plied in the Acts, refers us directly to a star-god. 
Michaelis not inaptly proposes to change the reading 
of the Hebrew points to Chevdn instead of Chiun. 
The Seventy, and Stephen quoting from them, have 
here simply substituted 'Paupur, or 'Ptuyuv, Rephan, 
or Remphan, the Coptic name of Saturn. R.] Some 
think that three deities are named here — Moloch, 
Chiun, and Remphan : others, that the three names 
mean only one god ; that is, Saturn, and his planet. 
Salmasius and Kircher assert, that Kiion is Saturn, 
and that his star is called Keiran among the Persians 
and Arabians, and that Remphan, or Rephan, signified 
the same among the Egyptians. They add, that the 
Seventy, writing in Egypt, changed the word Chiun 
into Remphan, because it had the same signification. 
Jablonsky and Basnage conclude, that Moloch was 
the sun, and Chiou, or Chiun, and Rephan, the 
moon. 

[The illustration of this subject is attempted by 
Mr. Taylor, by the following references to Hindu 
mythology, and to the Sanscrit language. They may 
stand here for what they are worth. It is no doubt 
true, that the very striking analogies which are found 
to exist between the ancient Sanscrit, and the Per- 
sian, the Greek, and other western tongues, go very 
far to prove an original relation between the races 
which spoke these languages ; but it should also be 
borne in mind, that between the Sanscrit and the 
various Semitish languages no such analog}- exists ; 
the resemblances between them being in fact very 
slight, and not sufficient to warrant any inference of. 
primeval kindred. R. 

It is suggested by Mr. Taylor, that this Chiun may 
be the Chiven of the ancient Sanscrit and the modern 



Bramins. We know, indeed, that Kijun is the name 
of a Persian deity ; and also that Keiwan denotes the 
planet Saturn ; but the reasons for identifying Chiun 
with Saturn are not satisfactory. What, then, is 
Chiven'} — Mr. Taylor answers, The power of de- 
struction and reproduction. Brama, Vistnou, and 
Chiven are the triple power of the Supreme Being, in 
manifestation ; in other words, creation, conservation, 
destruction, and reproduction. Nor was it otherwise 
understood by the Seventy, who, in, translating the pas- 
sage in Amos, offer a remarkable variation ; to uatQo* 
tov Qeov i>fimv 'Panpiiv ■ which is adopted by Stephen. 
(Acts vii. 43.) " The star of your god Remphan, fig- 
ures which ye made to worship them." Now, what 
can Remphan be ? This question has been found 
difficult of solution ; but the following passage from 
the Essay of sir W. Jones on the gods of India, 
(Asiatic Researches, p. 251. Calcutta edit.) may be 
more determinate : " Mahadeva, in his generative 
character, is the husband of Bhavani, whose relation 
to the waters is evidently marked by her image being 
restored to them at the conclusion of her great festi- 
val called Durgotsava: she is known also to have 
attributes exactly similar to those of Venus Ma- 
rina, whose birth from the sea-foam and splendid 
rise from the couch, in which she had been cradled, 
have afforded so many charming subjects to ancient 
and modern artists ; and it is very remarkable that 
the Rembha of India's court, who seems to corre- 
spond with the popular Venus, or goddess of beauty, 
was produced, according to the Indian fabulists, from 
the froth of the churned ocean." . . . . " Bhavani 
now demands our attention ; and in this character 
we suppose her to be...Venus herself ; not the Idalian 
queen of laughter and jollity, who, with her nymphs 
and graces, was the beautiful child of poetical imagi- 
nation, and answers to the Indian Rembha, with her 
celestial train of Apsaras, or damsels of paradise ; but 
Venus Urania, so luxuriously painted by Lucretius, 
and so properly invoked by him at the opening of a 
poem on nature ; Venus presiding over generation, 
and, on that account, exhibited sometimes of both 
sexes; (an union very common in the Indian sculp- 
tures ;) as in her bearded statue at Rome, in the 
images, perhaps, called Hermathena, and in those 
figures of her, which had the form of a conical mar- 
ble, 'for the reason of which figure we are left,' says 
Tacitus, ' in the dark.' — The reason, however, ap- 
pears too clearly in the temples and paintings of 
Hindustan ; where it never seems to have entered the 
heads of the legislators or people that any thing natu- 
ral could be offensively obscene ; a singularity which 
pervades all their writings and conversation, but is 
no proof of depravity in their m^als." (p. 254.) The 
decorous sensibility of this elegant writer has imagined 
a distinction without an essential difference ; it is 
enough for our purpose, however, that Rembha and 
Rempha are evidently the same ; that Rembha is the 
popular Venus, or goddess of reproduction ; and that 
Chiven is the reproductive power: the Seventy, and 
Stephen following them, therefore, in preferring one 
name to the other, have merely substituted an appel- 
lation better known, to express the same character: 
— but both these terms are Sanscrit ; and the infer- 
ence that these deities, worshipped in the West, were 
adopted from the East, follows, unquestionably, from 
the use of these terms to express them. 

It will, no doubt, be observed, that Chiven is a 
term vised many ages after the events to which the 
prophet refers, which are those connected with the 
history of Balaam, (Numb xxii. &c.) and that the 



CHO 



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C H It 



term in Numbers is not Chiven but Baal-peor, chap, 
xxv. 3. Referring to this same occurrence, the 
Psalmist says, (Ps. cvi. 28.' "The Israelites joined 
themselves to Baal-peor, and did eat the sacrifices of 
the dead (otic, mithim)." — What means tms Methim ? 
Some refer to sacrifices offered to, or in honor 
of, the dead : such, probably, as were afterwards, 
though in very early times, offered by the Greeks 
and Trojans. But this does not meet the parallelism 
of the place : as Baal-peor is a deity, we must look 
for a deity in Methim, a deity analogous to Baal- 
peor, and this we find in Chiven, who is lord of de- 
struction as well as of reproduction. In Isaiah xxviii. 
15. we read of " a covenant made with death, (mc,* in 
the singular,) and with hell (the grave, Sins') are we 
at agreement." Here the reference is to death in a 
general sense, the termination of life, as appears from 
mention of the grave ; whereas, in the text of the 
psalm, the term is read in the plural ; deaths [per- 
haps, intensively, for the Supreme Power of death] : 
but the Keri (margin) is correct, which reads death, 
in the singular ; and, therefore, allows us to include 
a reference to the Power of destruction (Moth) with 
that of generation, Baal-peor ; which powers co- 
alesce in the character of the Hindu Chiven. Sir 
William Jones has hinted at the union of both sexes 
in the statues of Venus; the same is most notorious 
in Chiven : his figure in Sonnerat is half man, half 
woman ; and his emblem, in the same author, is of 
the grossest description. In fact, it combines and 
displays what Tacitus has left obscure ; and is a 
compound symbol, which, as sir William observes, 
appears too clearly in the temples and paintings of 
Hindustan. This affords a just notion of Baal-peor ; 
and explains the comparisons to which Jerome and 
Augustin have had recourse in their writings. Chi- 
ven, in India, is " adorned in the temples with the 
best sweet herbs and flowers," says Baldseus, in 
Churchill, (vol. iii. p. 831.) Augustin says the same 
of Phalli, carried in procession in honor of Bacchus, 
in the cities of Italy, [at Rome, in the month of Au- 
gust,] crowned with garlands by the matrons ; (De 
Civitate Dei, lib. vii. cap. 2.) and Jerome, on Hosea, 
accuses the Jewish women of worshipping Baal- 
peor, ob obsceni magnitudinem membri, quem nos 
Priapum possumus appellare. This hesitating phra- 
seology shows, that the Christian father was aware of 
the want of precision in his language ; but he did 
not choose more fully to describe what the Latins 
called fascini, and what to this day is worn as a 
talisman by the Joguis of India. 

[The somewhat ostentatious display in the preced- 
ing paragraph might have been spared, had the 
writer been satisfied with the simple and obvious 
meaning which the text presents. In the passage in 
Ps. cvi. 28, " They [the Israelites] joined themselves 
to Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead :" — the 
sacrifices are simply those of idols in general, who 
are called dead in contrast to the only living and true 
God. Just so in Ps. cxv. 3, seq. In like manner 
idols are also called " lying vanities ;" (Ps. xxxi. 6, 
Jonah ii. 9.) and other terms of the utmost contempt 
and despite are often applied to them. R. 

That the Israelites brought with them from Egypt 
various Egyptian words, which they, had adopted 
during their residence in that country, is generally 
admitted. The appellation Peor has been thought 
of foreign origin, and not Hebrew ; and the deriva- 
tion of it from the Egyptian has lately been urged 
with considerable learning and force. 

CHORAZIN a town in Galilee, near to Caperna- 
38 



um, not far distant from Bethsaida, and, consequently, 
on the western shore of the sea of Galilee. Pococke 
speaks of a village called Gerasi, among the hills 
west of the place called Telhoue, 10 or 12 miles north- 
north-east of Tiberias, and close to Capernaum. The 
natives, according to Dr. Richardson, call it Chorasi. 
It is upbraided by Christ for its impenitence, Matt, 
xi. 21 ; Luke x. 1 3 

CHOZEBA, a tow;; in Judah, 1 Chron. iv.22. 

CHRIST, a Greek word, answering to the Hebrew 
i-pz>c, Messiah, the consecrated, or anointed one, and 
given pre-eminently to our blessed Lord and Saviour. 
Hannah, the mother of Samuel, plainly alludes to 
him, when, at the end of her hymn, and in a time 
when there was no king in Israel, she says, (1 Sam. 
ii. 10.) " The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, 
and he shall give strength unto his King, and exalt 
the horn of his Anointed ;" that is, the glory, the 
strength, the power of his Christ, or Messiah. And 
the Psalmist, (ii. 2.) "The kings of the earth set 
themselves against the Lord, and against his Messi- 
ah," or Anointed. And Ps. xlv. 7, "Therefore 
God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of 
gladness above thy fellows." Also Jeremiah, (Lam. 
iv. 20.) "The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of 
the Lord, was taken in their pits." Daniel foretells 
the death of Christ under the name of Messiah the 
Lord : " And after threescore and two weeks shall 
Messiah be cut off, but not for himself," chap. ix. 26. 
Lastly, Habakkuk says, (iii. 13.) " Thou wentest forth 
for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation 
with thine anointed." It would be needless to 
bring testimonies from the New Testament to prove 
Jesus to be the Messiah, since they occur in almost 
every line. 

The ancient Hebrews, being thus instructed by the 
prophets, had clear notions of the Messiah ; but these 
became gradually depraved, so that when Jesus ap 
peared in Judea, the Jews entertained a false con 
ception of the Messiah, expecting a temporal monarch 
and conqueror, who should remove the Roman yoke, 
and subject the whole - world. Hence they were 
scandalized at the outward appearance, the humility, 
and seeming weakness of our Saviour. The modern 
Jews, indulging still greater mistakes, form to them- 
selves chimerical ideas of the Messiah, utterly un- 
known to their forefathers. (Comp. Bibl. Repos. 
vol. ii. p. 330, seq.) 

The ancient prophets had foretold, that the Messi- 
ah should be God and man, exalted and abased, 
master and servant, priest and victim, prince and 
subje.ct ; involved in death, yet victor over death ; 
rich and poor ; a king, a conqueror, glorious ; a man 
of griefs, exposed to infirmities, unknown, in a state 
of abjection and humiliation. All these contrarieties 
were to be reconciled in the person of the Messiah ; 
as they really were in the person of Jesus. It was 
known that the Messiah was to be born, (1.) of a vir- 
gin, (2.) of the tribe of Judah, (3.) of the race of David, 
(4.) in the village of Bethlehem. That he was to 
continue for ever, that his coming was to be con- 
cealed, that he was the great prophet promised in the 
law, that, he was both the Son and Lord of David, 
that he was to perform great miracles, that he should 
restore all things, that he should die and rise again, 
that Elias should be the forerunner of his appear- 
ance, that a proof of his verity should be the cure 
of lepers, life restored to the dead, and the gospel 
preached to the poor. That he should not destroy 
the law, but should perfect and fulfil it ; that he 
should be a stone of offence, and a stumbling-block 



CHRIST 



[ 29* ] 



CHRIST 



against which many should bruise themselves ; that 
he should suffer infinite oppositions and contradic- 
tions ; that from his time idolatry and impiety should 
be banished, and that distant people should submit 
themselves to his authority. 

When Jesus appeared in Judea, these notions were 
common among the Jews. Our Saviour appeals even 
to themselves, and asks, if these are not the charac- 
ters of the Messiah, and if they do not see their 
completion in himself. The evangelists take care 
to put the Jews in mind of them, proving hereby, 
that Jesus is the Christ whom they expected. They 
quote the prophecies to them, which then were ac- 
knowledged to belong to the Messiah, though they 
have been controverted by the Jews since. It may 
be seen in the early fathers of the church, and in the 
most ancient Jewish authors, that in the beginning 
of Christianity, they did not call in doubt several 
prophecies, which their forefathers understood of the 
Messiah. But in after-ages they began to deny that 
the passages we quote against them should be under- 
stood of the Messiah, endeavoring to defend them- 
selves from arguments out of their own Scriptures. 
After this they fell into new schemes, and new no- 
tions concerning the Messiah. Some of them, as the 
famous Hillel, who lived, according to the Jews, be- 
fore Christ, maintain that the Messiah was already 
come in the person of king Hezekiah ; others, that 
the belief of the coming of the Messiah is no article 
of faith. Buxtorf says that the greater part of the 
modern rabbins believe, that the Messiah has been 
come a good while, but keeps himself concealed in 
some part of the world or other, and will not mani- 
fest himself, because of the sins of the Jews. Jarchi 
affirms, that the Hebrews believed the Messiah was 
born on the day of the last destruction of Jerusalem 
by the Romans. Some assign him the terrestrial 
paradise for his habitation ; others the city of Rome, 
where, according to the Talmudists, he keeps him- 
self concealed among the leprous and infirm, at the 
gate of the city, expecting Elias to come to manifest 
him. A great number believe he is not yet come ; 
but they are strangely divided about the time and 
circumstances of his coming. Some expect him at 
the end of six thousand years. They suppose Jesus 
Christ to be born A. M. 3761. Add to this number 
1800, it will make 5561 ; consequently they have 439 
*years to expect still. Kimchi, who lived in the 
twelfth century, was of opinion, that the coming of 
the Messiah was very near. Maimouides pretended 
to have received certain prophecies from his ances- 
tors, importing that the gift of prophecy should be 
restored to Israel, after the same number of years 
from the time of Balaam, as had passed from the be- 
ginning of the world to Balaam's time. According 
to him, Balaam prophesied A. M. 2488. If we double 
this number, we find the restoration of the gift of 
prophecy should be A. M. 4976, that is, A. D. 1316. 



But this conclusion has been found false. Some 
have fixed the end of their misfortunes to A. D. 1492, 
others to A. D. 1598, others to A. D. 1600, others yet 
later. Last of all, tired out with these uncertainties, 
they have pronounced an anathema against any who 
shall pretend to calculate the time of the coming of 
the Messiah. (Gemara Tit. Sanhedr. cap. xi.) See 
Messiah. 

As the holy unction was given to kings, priests, 
and prophets, by describing the promised Saviour of 
the world under the name of Christ, anointed, or 
Messiah, it was sufficiently evidenced, that the qual- 
ities of king, prophet, and high-priest, would emi- 
nently centre in him ; and that he would exercise 
them, not only over the Jews, but over all mankind ; 
and particularly over those who should receive him 
as their Saviour. Peter and the other believers, being 
assembled together, (Acts iv. 27.) apply psalm ii. to 
Jesus ; and Luke says, (iv. 18.) that our Saviour, en- 
tering a synagogue at Nazareth, opened the book of 
the prophet Isaiah, where he read, "The Spirit of 
the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me 
to preach the gospel to the poor," and proceeded to 
show that this prophecy was accomplished in his 
own person. 

It is not recorded, however, that Jesus ever re- 
ceived any external, official unction. The unction 
that the prophets and the apostles speak of is the 
spiritual and internal unction of grace, and of the 
Holy Ghost, of which the outward unction, with 
which kings, priests, and prophets were anciently 
anointed, was but the figure and symbol. Neverthe- 
less, many have supposed, — and we see no objection 
to it, — that when the Spirit visibly descended on Jesus 
at his baptism, he received a peculiar, solemn, and 
appropriate unction. 

The Jewish nation entertained a very general ex- 
pectation of the appearance of the Messiah, about the 
time of our Lord's birth ; and it is very credible they 
had more ways than one of computing the period of 
the Messiah's advent, so that their expectation was 
justly founded. One of these modes of calculation 
may be seen under the article Generation, and it 
may not be unpleasant to the reader to inspect some 
of those indications of this national feeling, which 
Providence has happily preserved. On this subject 
we shall accept assistance from an able "defender 
of Christianity," Dr. Chandler. " The expectation 
of this great King could not be rooted out of the 
minds of the (Jewish) people to Vespasian's days, 
whose sudden rise to the empire, and conquest of the 
Jews, so turned the heads of many, as to make them 
imagine he must be the king that had been spoken 
of. This account we have in two Gentile and one 
Jewish writers. For the readier comparing their 
accounts, we have placed them in three columns, to 
be seen at one view : — 



" Pluribus persuasio inerat, anti- 
que sacerdotum libris contineri, eo 
ipso tempore fore, ut valesceret 
Oiiens, profectique Judea, rerum 
potirentur. Qua? ambages Ves- 
pasianum et Titum predixerunt. 
Sed vulgus, [JudcEorum,'] more hu- 
man 33 cupidinis, sibi tantum fato- 
rum magnitudinem interpretati, ne 
adversis quidem ad vera mutaban- 
»ur. Tacitus, Hist. cap. 13. 

" The generality had a strong 



"Percrebuerat oriente toto constans 
opinio esse in fatis ut eo tempore, 
Judsei profecti rerum potirentur. 
Id de imperio Romano, quantum 
postea eventu patuit, pradictum, 
Judoei, ad se habentes, rebellarunt. 
Suetonius, Vespasian, c. 4. 

"There had been for a long time 
all over the East a constant per- 
suasion, that it was [recorded] in 
the Fates [books of the Fates, de- 



" That which chiefly excited them 
(the Jews) to war, was an ambigu- 
ous prophecy, which was also 
found in the sacred books, that at 
that time some one within their 
country should arise, that should 
obtain the empire of the whole 

World (mc y.ar'u Tor y.aiQor Ixttrov, an'o 
T/}c /ojQtxg, Ttjc aiWv.v aowEt t\v oiy.ov- 

iilvip ). For this they had receh ed, 
(by tradition, «c oixtioi iiiXapov^ 
that it was spoken of one of their 



CHRIST 



[ 299 ] 



CHRIST 



persuasion, that it was contained in 
the ancient writings of the priests, 
that at that very time the East 
should prevr.il ; and that some who 
should come out of Judea should 
obtain the empire of the world. 
Which ambiguities foretold Ves- 
pasian and Titus. But the com- 
mon people, [of the Jews,] accord- 
ing to the usual influence of human 
wishes, appropriated to themselves, 
by their interpretation, this vast 
grandeur foretold by the Fates, 
nor could be brought to change 
their opinion for the true by all 
their adversities." 



crees, or foretellings] that at that 
time, some who should come out 
of Judea should obtain universal 
dominion. It appeared, by the 
event, that this prediction referred 
to the Roman emperor; but the 
Jews, referring it to themselves, 
rebelled." 



nation ; and many wise men (oocpol, 
or Chachams) were deceived with 
the interpretation. But in truth 
Vespasian's empire was designed 
in this prophecy ; who was cre- 
ated emperor [of Rome] in Judea. 
Joseph, de Bello lib. vii. cap. 31. 



" From the collation of these passages, thus com- 
pared together, it will be observed, (1.) That all three 
historians agree, that there was a general expectation 
of a new kingdom to appear about that time, 
which, from Judea, should extend itself over the 
whole earth. It was a rooted persuasion in many, 
saith one : It was commonly known throughout the 
whole East, saith another : It was the principle that 
chiefly stiired up the Jewish nation to war with the 
Romans ; and many of their wise men, rabbins, or 
learned in their Scriptures and traditions, trusting to 
it, were deceived, saith the third. (2.) This persua- 
sion was ancient and constant, or uninterrupted, saith 
Suetonius : Derived down by tradition, as the sense of 
the sacred prophecies of the Jews, and so understood 
by their wise men, saith Josephus. (3.) This per-, 
suasion was contained in the sacred books of the 
priests, saith Tacitus : In the holy books of the proph- 
ets, saith Josephus : In the Fates, saith Suetonius ; 
meaning the libri fatales, or prophetic books. (4.) 
The opinion that went abroad, according to Sueto- 
nius, of the Jews possessing this empire, is explained 
by Tacitus, that the East should prevail ; and by Jo- 
sephus, that a certain man of their nation should rule 
the world. (5.) From the agreement of the three 
historians, that at that time this king should appear, 
it may be collected, that there were times marked in 
the sacred books for his coming, which (times) were 
then thought to be expired. Nor could Josephus 
have erred so grossly, in applying the prophecy to 
Vespasian, but for this. The period fixed was over. 
He could find no new reckoning to protract the ex- 
pectation. Despairing, then, of a Messiah in his own 
nation, [the Jews,] he pitches upon one in the Ro- 
man. That time appears further from the number 
of impostors, (Ant. lib. xx. cap. 6, 7 ; de Bello, lib. vii. 
cap. 31.) which were not known in any age before ; 
from the readiness of the people to join them at any 
hazard; from the vigor with which they opposed the 
Romans in the siege, without and against all hopes 
of success, beside that which this expectation inspired 
them with. (Joseph, de Bello, iii. 27. Gr.) All the 
time of the siege they were assured of help in some 
extraordinary way (lib. vi. cap. 35). False prophets 
in Jerusalem promised the people that the day of 
salvation was come, even to the last hour of their 
ruin. (Ib. lib. vii. cap. 4.) Even when the Romans 
were masters of the temple, one of them led up 6,000 
men to certain destruction, in confidence of some 
surprising interposition at their last extremity. From 
this persuasion they rebelled ; from this persuasion 
th i hearts of the common people were kept up under 
all the miseries of the siege ; and even their disap- 



pointments did not cause them to forsake it. (Ib. lib. vi. 
cap. 30.) (6.) Though Josephus calls this prophecy 
an ambiguous (or dark) oracle, because the event did 
not answer to his sense of it, yet he owns it was un- 
derstood in the sense I am speaking of, by their wise 
men ; and by those before them, who had delivered 
down this sense of it. Very dark indeed it must be, 
if, describing one of the royal house of David to be 
their king, it intended a Roman of an obscure family : 
if, describing him as the converter of the Gentiles to 
the knowledge of the true God, it was to be under- 
stood of one that lived and died an idolater; if, de- 
scribing him as the person that should put an end to 
the Roman empire, in belief whereof the Jews took 
up arms against them, it meaned a Roman should 
destroy the Jewish nation and religion. Josephus, 
therefore, whatever motives he had for so applying 
the prophecy, on writing his Antiquities, returned 
to his first belief; and fairly hints there, as do the 
rest of his nation, that Daniel's Messiah was yet to 
come and subdue the Romans." 

The conception of our Saviour occurred at Naza- 
reth, a small city in Galilee, where his virgin mother 
was visited, and informed of the extraordinary event 
by the angel Gabriel. (See Annunciation.) About 
nine months afterwards an edict was issued by Au- 
gustus, enjoining all persons throughout his domin- 
ions to be registered in the place of their nativity. 
This led Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, and while 
there the infant Jesus was born, in the year of the 
world 4000. On the eighth day he was circumcised, 
in conformity with the law, and called Jesus, in com- 
pliance with the divine injunction laid upon his 
mother before his birth. As Joseph and Mary were 
preparing to return to Nazareth, they were warned 
by a divine messenger to fly with their infant son 
into Egypt, to avoid the cruelty of Herod, whose 
jealousy was roused by the news of the birth of the 
King of the Jews, and who had ordered all the male 
children about Bethlehem, under two years old, to 
be slain. This cruel tyrant, however, soon afterwards 
died, and Joseph was admonished to return into Ju- 
dea. The holy family retired to Nazareth, and there 
Jesus abode, subject to his earthly parents, till A. D. 
30, when he was baptized by John in the river Jor- 
dan, and publicly declared, by a voir ->m heaven, 
to be the Son of God, and the teaci he world. 

After having been subjected to the assaiflts of Satan, 
in the wilderness, Jesus entered upon his public min- 
istry of teaching the people, making disciples, and 
working miracles, during which he traversed the 
land nearly from one extremity tr the other, vis- 
iting also the Samaritans, and the Gentiles in the 



CHR 



[ 300 1 



CHRISTIANITY 



coasts of Tyre and Sidon. At length, however, one 
of his own disciples, Judas Iscariot, giving place to 
the devil, undertook to deliver him up to his impla- 
cable enemies, the Jews. This he effected, and 
Jesus, after having been subjected to every species 
of indignity, was crucified on Calvary as a common 
malefactor. He remained in the tomb for three days, 
when he rose from the dead, and, after continuing 
with his disciples for the space of forty days, he led 
them out to Bethany, where he blessed them, and 
visibly ascended up into heaven. 

For some account of the genealogy of Christ, see 
the articles Adoption, and Genealogy. 

As to the personal appearance of Christ, some 
have asserted that he was the most beautiful of men, 
while others have maintained that he was without 
handsome form and comeliness. Is there any au- 
thentic memorial of his human form? — Nicephorus 
has given a description of his features ; but Nicepho- 
rus is too late to be much depended on ; and so are 
all representations of the person of Jesus. So also 
the epistle of Lentulus, which is evidently spurious. 
(See the Biblical Repository, vol. ii. p. 367, seq.) Tra- 
dition is an ill guide in matters of personal descrip- 
tion ; and if it may convey a general idea, that idea 
is too general, and too loose, to attach to the descrip- 
tion of any individual whatever. There are, on 
some of the coins of the later emperors, heads of 
Christ, with the motto Rex Regnantium, King of 
kings. Whether it would be possible, in the exami- 
nation of a complete series, to fix on any which 
might approach to a credible degree of verisimility, 
we know not. We cannot suppose that so late as 
Constantine, and less still, so late as the successors of 
his name and family, there should be any accurate por- 
traits extant of this venerable and illustrious Person, 
that is, three hundred years, or later, after his decease. 

We expect a time, when He shall appear to all na- 
tions under that illustrious character — the Prince 
of Peace ; and the humble form of the man, who 
had no personal beauty to attract applause, shall be 
lost in the dignity and glory of his exalted station. 

CHRISTIAN, a name given at Antioch to those 
who believed Jesus to be the Messiah, Acts xi. 26. 
They generally called themselves brethren, faithful, 
saints, believers ; and were named by the Gentiles, 
Nazarenes and Galileans. It has been the opinion 
of several, that Christian was originally derived from 
the Greek Chrestos, good, useful ; and Tertullian 
says, " The name of Christian comes from the unc- 
tion received by Jesus Christ ; and that of Chres- 
tianus, which you sometimes through mistake give 
us, (for you are not particularly acquainted with our 
name,) signifies that gentleness and benignity whereof 
we make profession." 

CHRISTIANITY, the religion taught by Jesus 
Christ, the Saviour of the world, and comprised in 
the writings of the New Testament. The evidences 
of the truth of Christianity are usually divided into 
two classes, external and internal, and they furnish, 
in their details, the highest degree of proof of which 
such a subject is capable. 

To be able to communicate a clear and distinct 
Idea of that extent to which the gospel of Christ 
was promulgated in the early ages of the church 
would afford great pleasure ; and it is of some con- 
sequence, in justification of several predictions which 
seem to announce its general propagation : but our 
authorities are so incompetent, or the facts they re- 
port are so uncertain, that not much which may be 
depended jpon, can be considered as having come 



down to us. We have seen that the Old Testament 
may be understood as affording references to the ex- 
tremes of the ancient continent, as well eastward as 
westward ; and if we might rely on occasional hints 
of ecclesiastical writers, the spread of the gospel was 
commensurate with the indications of the ancient 
prophets. In attempting this subject, we cannot 
avoid remarking how effectually Divine Providence 
had prepared the way for circulating the "glad 
tidings of great joy," by the achievements of that vic- 
torious madman, Alexander the Great, in the East, 
and by the extended dominion of the Roman empire 
in the West. By the first of these circumstances, the 
Greek language was carried almost to the centre of 
India ; and the Greek power was established, and 
long maintained itself, in those provinces which de- 
pended on Babylon, or Seleucia, as the seat of their 
government. This is the more worthy of notice, as 
in these very provinces the captive Jews were sta- 
tioned by their conquerors, Nebuchadnezzar and 
others; and their posterity maintained the expecta- 
tion of a Messiah from their own nation, descended 
from a king of their own blood, of whose character 
and qualities they had information from the sacred 
books, which they carefully preserved as their com- 
panions wherever they went, and from the religious 
institutions on which they attended, though under 
many disadvantages. Addresses to these Jews, 
whether by discourse or by writing, would be intel- 
ligible to them, either in the Syriac, in the Chaldee, 
or in the Greek tongue ; while the latter would be 
the medium of communication to the descendants of 
Alexander's companions in arms, who were very 
numerous in these parts. Beside the perusal of the 
sacred books, and the maintenance of their national 
rites, by these Jews, we know that their pilgrims 
visited Judea ; and the natural curiosity of the hu- 
man mind would keep alive a spirit of inquiry after 
the holy places, and the sacred customs of their na- 
tion as practised in the Holy Land. We must add, 
that every pious Jew would willingly pay the half- 
shekel contribution to the sanctuary, which was for- 
warded by every opportunity ; and if any inclined 
to withhold it, they would be, by shame or by force, 
compelled to that duty. Moreover, pilgrims who 
had visited Jerusalem would be distinguished among 
their brethren ; and, much like the Hadgis among 
the Mahometans at present, would tenaciously retain 
the tokens of that distinction. This fact of pilgrim- 
age is sufficiently proved in the narration, (Acts ii. 9.) 
where we find visitors — " Parthians, Medes, Elamites, 
Mesopotamians," — but the next description of per- 
sons, " dwellers in Judea," is certainly liable to cor- 
rection. Judea, properly speaking, was not intended, 
because the whole enumeration consists of foreign 
countries, among which Judea could not possibly be 
ranked. On the question whether instead of Judea 
we should read India, or Lydia, opinions are divided. 
It may be strongly objected, that Lydia is greatly 
misplaced in being separated from Phrygia and Pam- 
phylia, to which it was "neighbor ; while it was 
remote from Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, and Pontus, 
with which it is ranged. It is acknowledged that 
the same objection applies in some degree, though 
not so strongly, to the reading of India, between 
Mesopotamia and Cappadocia : we know of no India 
between those provinces, as usually understood. If, 
indeed, we might take Mesopotamia for the originpl 
country of that name, as the proto-martyr Stephen 
appears to have done, then we may, withe-. 1 * 
tion, read India in this text ; and this enumeration dj 



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Luke, thus understood, would be a correct list of 
countries to which the gospel was early sent; of 
which we have credible, though not abundant, evi- 
dence. It would be rash to affirm that as actually 
the case, yet the reader will not reject the suggestion, 
till he has well considered what may be stated in 
support of it. [It is only necessary here to remark, 
that the reading Judea is uniformly supported by the 
unanimous authority of all the manuscripts and ver- 
sions. R. 

We should also observe the different phrase em- 
ployed by the sacred writer in this passage : he men- 
tions Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, as if they were 
natives of those countries, by their direct appellations ; 
but he describes those of Mesopotamia, Judea, &c. 
as dwellers, using the same word as in verse 5. " Now 
there were at Jerusalem dwellers, Jews, devout men, 
out of every nation under heaven." It is clear that 
these were only temporary residents at Jerusalem ; 
and it may be supposed that the same word in verse 
9. intended only temporary residents in Mesopotamia. 
This distinction contributes to support what has been 
proposed, since it cannot for a moment be admitted 
that in the Greek Mesopotamia (between the rivers 
Euphrates and Tigris) the Jews were in any degree 
unsettled'; on the contrary, here they were firmly 
fixed and established ; whereas in India, they might 
be considered as residents only, as they certainly 
were in Rome, in Cyrene, Libya, and elsewhere. 

As the sacred Spirit has directed Luke to place 
the eastern parts of the world first in his list, we shall 
first offer a few words in reference to the promulga- 
tion of the gospel among them. 

It is certain that the apostle Peter had visited the 
provinces addressed in his First Epistle, — Pontus, 
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia : — these lay 
north of Antioch, at which city he left the apostles 
Paul and Barnabas. Antioch was half way from 
Jerusalem to these provinces, and no more conve- 
nient opportunity for this visit of Peter to them can 
be pointed out, nor any employment for this apostle 
be so probable as such a journey. We therefore 
place his excursion thither about A. D. 50. From 
Cappadocia and Pontus, perhaps, Peter descended 
into Mesopotamia, where the gospel is supposed by 
many writers to have been introduced directly after 
the ascension of our Lord. Be this as it may, the Syr- 
ian writers inform us, that Bartholomew the apostle 
(whom they assert to be the same as Nathanael, the 
friend of Philip, and named Bar-Tolmai, from his fa- 
ther Tolmai, or Ptolemy) visited Mesopotamia, where 
he contributed to the establishment of the gospel. 
They say,also,that the apostle Thomas passedthrough 
Mesopotamia, and spread the gospel in its vicinity ; in 
which service he was assisted by the apostle Jude, 
the brother of James. Whether these fellow-evan- 
gelists acted in conjunction, whether the times of 
their labors were concurrent, is not easily ascertain- 
ed, nor is it of moment here. Yet we attach some 
importance to the proposition, that the apostle Jude 
labored far eastward, because it contributes to ex- 
plain the similarity of his Epistle with some parts of 
the Second of Peter ; which seems strongly to con- 
firm the idea that both were addressing much the 
same people. In fact, the style of imagery, eleva- 
tion, and metaphor which they adopt, is altogether 
oriental ; a phraseology to which the western world 
reconciles itself with difficulty, and rarely sanctions 
in regular and correct composition. Jude certainly 
had preached, previously, in various parts of Syria ; 
at Antaradus, Laodicea, Palmyra, Callinicum, now 



Racca, and Circeum, now Kerkisieb . ihei , as we 
have said, he visited Thomas in Mesopotamia, whence 
they made an excursion into Media aud Parthia ; 
after which Jude returned to Mesopotamia and 
Syria, but Thomas, who appears to have devoted his 
life to the service of the gospel in the East, remained 
in Parthia ; or continued pressing on still farther 
eastward, till he reached India, where he first propa- 
gated the doctrine of the cross. But here it is proper 
to inquire, What, and where, was this country de- 
nominated India ? — and this we shall attempt to 
determine, by considering the application of the 
name in the Bible, rather than among heathen 
writers. 

The first, and, indeed, the only mention (as usually 
understood) of India, in Scripture, is in Esther i. 1, 
and viii. 9, where we read that Ahasuerus ruled from 
India eastward, to Cush westward. Bactria was, 
usually, the most eastern province of the Persian 
empire ; but that, under some fortunate sovereigns, 
the Persian dominion included the bank of the In- 
dus, may readily be granted : beyond this, its posses- 
sions rarely, if ever, extended. Semiramis, indeed, 
crossed the Indus at Attock, (the prohibited river,.) 
but was defeated. Alexander also crossed the Indus, 
and advanced some distance beyond it, but a perpet- 
ual succession of obstacles, mountain after mountain, 
and river after river, disheartened his troops and en- 
forced his return. We conclude, therefore, that 
Ahasuerus did not rule over India, meaning Hindus- 
tan, but his empire might include a province beyond 
Bactria, on the bank of the Indus, and deriving its 
name from that river. Nor should we forget that 
the original India of the Hindus, or the primary 
settlement of the Brahmins, was not the modern 
India : into this country they came, as they acknowl- 
edge, through the pass of Hurdwar; nevertheless, 
the name India, if derived from them, might distin- 
guish the regions where they had been established, 
north and west of their present situation ; and such a 
province might at times form part of the Persian 
territories. This would restrict the appellation India 
to a province in the vicinity of the Indus, while it 
favors the supposition that the spread of the gospel 
was co-extensive with the power of the Persian em- 
pire. This hypothesis is consistent with those opin- 
ions which have hitherto been reckoned discordant, 
namely, that Matthew is by some reported to have^ 
extended his labors to India, while others confine 
them to Assyria. These parts were inhabited by 
Jews, who, though in captivity, occasionally furnish- 
ed zealous adherents to their country, and to their 
Kaaba, who willingly suffered no little fatigue, to 
manifest their attachment to the law of Moses, and 
their endeavors to fulfil all righteousness. These, 
having heard the gospel at Jerusalem, at the great 
national feasts, would be partly prepared to receive 
the apostles at their own residence ; while the apos- 
tles would naturally choose to visit countries of 
which they had some previous knowledge, and where 
they might flatter themselves in favor of their nation, 
that the good seed might fall on good ground. They 
would also, no doubt, offer the gospel, in the first in- 
stance, to Jews, wherever they went ; and, (not 
excluding the Gentiles,) probably, would expect their 
chief harvest of converts among those whom they 
still regarded as their countrymen. 

It is probable that Matthew, Peter, Thomas, and 
Jude, though equally inspired with Paul, less openly 
opposed Judaism than he did ; considering them- 
selves as apostles of the circumcisioD and paying 



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6ome deference to institutions indifferent, in regard to 
the gospel, they might less excite opposition than the 
apostle of the Gentiles, who magnified his office, not 
without incessant hazard to his person, principally 
from his own countrymen. We may reasonably 
conclude, also, that however some of these distant 
residents might defy difficulties when their religion 
was concerned, yet, that the main body of the dis- 
persion would feel a diminished regard to places 
which they never could behold, and to services of 
which they never could partake. So that by combi- 
nation of this abated zeal with apostolic moderation, 
•fie propagators of the gospel eastward might expe- 
rience fewer perplexities, less severe sufferings, per- 
haps less animosities and contentions, on the whole, 
than their fellow-laborers in the West ; notwith- 
standing that some of them ended their lives by 
martyrdom. 

If it be asked, whether the course of the gospel 
absolutely terminated at the Indus, the question is 
difficult to answer. There is an obscure report that 
China itself received the gospel very early, (see 
Thomas,) but the authority on which it rests is slen- 
der, and the true country understood by that appel- 
lation is uncertain. Though perfectly willing to 
admit the possibility of the fact, yet it must be al- 
lowed that the same passage of Isaiah which has 
been quoted as mentioning the land of Sinim, or 
Tsin, i. e. China, might be the chief stay of such re- 
port. More might be said in favor of that opinion 
which supposes the gospel to have reached the 
peninsula of India, the coast of Malabar particularly, 
where we trace au ancient establishment of Christi- 
anity under the title of " Christians of St. Thomas." 
But this Thomas appears to have been later than the 
apostle of that name ; we are disposed therefore to 
terminate the personal labors of the apostles with the 
boundary of the Persian empire. To this boundary 
they had the company of their nation, the protection 
of the same government as protected that, nation, the 
same language, manners, observances religious and 
civil, with the innumerable facilities derivable from 
that " more sure word of prophecy," which furnish- 
ed a proper introduction on all occasions, private or 
public. If farther progress were really made east- 
ward so earl}', we may attribute it to converts deput- 
ed for that purpose, rather than to the personal 
"exertions of the apostles. 

We return now to Jerusalem, as to the centre 
whence the doctrine of the gospel diverged in all 
directions. In the journeys of Peter we have seen it 
reach northward to Antioch, Pontus, Cappadocia, 
and Bithynia ; these provinces formed the shore of 
the Euxine or Black sea. The travels of Paul were 
partly parallel to these, but south and west of them. 
A mere enumeration of the places he passed through 
in his several journeys, as recorded, may suffice to 
show what parts were visited by his means with evan- 
gelical blessings. His first expedition for the pur- 
pose of communicating light to those who sat in 
darkness, was that with Barnabas, (Acts xiii.) usually 
placed A. D. 44, the fourth year of the Roman em- 
peror Claudius ; and supposed to extend into A. D. 
47. The places enumerated have been already no- 
ticed. After the council at Jerusalem, (Acts xv.) 
about A. D. 49, or 50, Peter went to Antioch, where 
he met with Paul and Barnabas ; not long after 
which Paul's second journey commences, and ex- 
tends to A. D. 54 (in company with Silas.) Paul's 
third journey,' from Antioch in Syria, A. D. 54, to 
A. D. 57, or 58, the fourth year of Nero, Acts 



xxviii. 23. At Jerusalem Paul is apprehended, and 
sent away guarded, A. D. 58, or 59. His voyage to 
Rome, A. D. 60, ends, with his history, about A. D. 63. 
We have the direct testimony of the Acts of the 
Apostles for these several journeys ; the following 
can only be inferred from incidental expressions in 
different parts of Paul's Epistles : — 

Italv.— No doubt, when Paul was liberated from 
his first imprisonment at Rome, he would visit differ- 
ent parts of the country around that metropolis. 

Spain. — Paul mentions (Rom. xv. 24, 25.) his in- 
tention of visiting this country. Clemens Romanus 
in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, observes, that 
the apostle preached in the West, to its utmost bounds, 
which no doubt includes Spain. Theodoret adds, 
that he visited " the islands of the sea ;" which ap- 
pear to correspond with the islands afar off, in Isaiah 
Ixvi. 19. The same writer mentions Gaul and Britain 
among the disciples of the tent-maker. There 
seems, therefore, to be no period more convenient in 
the short remainder of Paul's life, than soon after his 
liberation, for an excursion from Italy to Spain, 
probably by sea ; from Spain to Britain, also by sea ; 
from Britain through Gaul to Italy, by land, for the 
most part. Whether he ever returned into the East 
is uncertain : from Philemon 22, he appears to have 
expected it. Some writers have supposed a fifth 
journey, which they thus arrange : Italy, Spain, 
Crete, Jerusalem, Antioch in Syria ; then, after some 
residence there, Colosse, Philippi, Nicopolis in Epi- 
rus, Corinth, Troas, Miletum in Crete, Rome. Ade- 
quate proof of this last route is wanting ; but as he 
might easily from Gaul or Italy pass over into 
Greece, it is possible he might revisit Philippi, Troas, 
Colosse, Corinth, and Nicopolis before he returned 
to Rome ; where he was seized, and with Peter suf- 
fered martyrdom. [It must here be borne in mind, 
that all these alleged journeys of Paul rest only on 
the reports of later writers, and are of very doubtful 
credit. R. 

We may now turn to a question peculiarly inter- 
esting ; namely, the early introduction of Christianity 
among the ancient Britons. Although antiquity, in 
ordinary cases, is but a weak plea for either power 
or purity, since we know that corruptions sprung up 
early in the church, yet, in the present, case, it is 
most probable that the nearer we approach to the 
times of the apostles, and the more directly we de- 
rive from them, or their immediate agents, the prin- 
ciples of faith and manners, with the greater satisfac- 
tion may we rely on their correctness and authority. 
It is, indeed, impossible to suppose, that while Chris- 
tianity was alloyed with notions retained by those 
who quitted various sects to embrace it, — while the 
Judaizing Christians deferred much to their ancient 
Judaism, and the Gentile philosophers, though con- 
verted, continued to be tinctured with their long 
studied philosophy,- — it is impossible to suppose that 
the Druidical converts should so completely relin- 
quish their national Druidism that they should never 
more be influenced by it, either personally or in com- 
munity. This,, however, may be said in favor of 
Britain, that its distance from the principal scenes of 
ecclesiastical ambition secured it in no inconsidera- 
ble degree from the disastrous consequences of that 
fatal fascination ; nor did the various persecutions 
suffered by the churches on the continent rage with 
equal violence in this island, which often continuec" 
in peace, while flames and fury involved the Chris- 
tians of other parts. 

At what time the Christian refgion was first intro- 



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duced into Britain, is a question on which our eccle- 
siastical historians have been divided. Most of them, 
however, seem to agree in fixing that event before 
the expiration of the first century ; and the testimo- 
nies of several of the ancients have been produced 
in support of this opinion. Both Tertullian and 
Origen speak of Christianity as having made its way 
into Britain ; nor do they represent it as a recent 
event, so that it may be presumed to have taken 
place long before their time. The former says, 
" There are places among the Britons which were in- 
accessible to the Romans, but yet are subdued by 
Christ." (Adv. .Tudaeos, cap. 7.) — The latter says, 
" The power of God our Saviour is even with them 
in Britain, who are divided from our world." (In 
Luc. cap. i. Horn. 6.) — It was usual with the ancients, 
long before Origeu's time, to speak of Britain as di- 
vided from the world. Even king Agrippa, in his 
speech to the Jews at Jerusalem, (as related by Jose- 
phus,) about the beginning of the revolt, uses a similar 
language. Eusebius is more explicit : speaking of 
the pious labors of the apostles, he declares, that 
some of them " had passed over the ocean, and 
preached to those which are called the Britannic 
islands." From his connection with the imperial 
court, and his intimacy with the emperor himself, 
who was a native of Britain, he may well be sup- 
posed to have possessed the best information ; and, 
as much of his reasoning depends on the truth of 
the above allegation, it is natural to presume that he 
was well assured of the fact. Theodoret, also, another 
ancient and respectable ecclesiastical historian, ex- 
pressly names the Britons among the nations whom 
the apostles (the fishermen, publicans, and tent- 
makers, as he calls them) "had persuaded to embrace 
the religion of him who was crucified." (Tom. iv. 
Serm. 9.) To these testimonies may be added that of 
Gfldas, the earliest of the British historians. Ac- 
cording to him, (Epist. c. i.) the gospel began to be 
published in Britain about the time of the memorable 
revolt and overthrow of the Britons under Boadicea, 
(A. D. 60, or 61,) and was followed by a long inter- 
val of peace. Speaking of this revolt, with its dis- 
astrous termination and consequences, Gildas adds, 
" In the mean time, Christ, the true Sun, afforded 
his rays, that is, the knowledge of his precepts, to 
this island, benumbed with extreme cold, having 
been at a great distance from the Sun, not the sun in 
the firmament, but the Eternal Sun in heaven." On 
what authority Gildas places this event at that time, 
he does not say. From domestic or British records 
he appears to have derived no assistance ; and he 
was of opinion that no documents of that kind re- 
mained then in the country. And if there ever had 
been any such, he thought they had either been burnt 
by the enemy, or were carried into foreign parts by 
his exiled or emigrated countrymen ; so that, to his 
great regret, he had not been able to discover any. 
He must, therefore, have relied on the authority of 
some foreign records ; or he might follow the tradi- 
tion of the country. However that might be, his 
statement appears on the whole correct, and is re- 
markably supported by the Triades of the Isle of 
Britain, some of the most curious and valuable frag- 
ments preserved in the Welsh language, and relating 
lo persons and events from the earliest times to the 
beginning of the seventh century. These ancient 
British documents, which are of undoubted credit, 
though but little known till lately, state that the 
famous Caractacus, who, after a war of nine years in 
defence of the liberties of his country, was basely 



betrayed and delivered up to the Romans by Areg- 
wedd Foeddig, (the Cartismandua of Roman au- 
thors,) was, together with his father Bran, and the 
whole family, carried captive to Rome, about A. D. 
52, or 53, where they were detained seven years, or 
more. At this time the gospel was preached at 
Rome; and Bran, with others of the family, became 
converts to Christianity. After about seven years, 
they had permission to return, and were the means 
of introducing the knowledge of Christ among their 
countrymen ; on which account Bran was long dis- 
tinguished as one of the three blessed sovereigns, 
and his family as one of the holy lineages of Britain. 
At the return of these earliest British converts, it 
might be expected that some of the Christians, with 
whom they had associated at Rome, would be pre- 
vailed on to accompany them to their native country. 
Several of the disciples of Christ, whose names are 
recorded in the New Testament, were probably at 
Rome when the Britons quitted that city ; but it does 
not appear that any of them did at this time visit Brit- 
ain. We find, however, that certain Christians from 
Rome did actually accompany the liberated captives - T 
and the names of three have been preserved. One 
was called Hid, and is said to have been an Israelite ;, 
the other two were Cyndav, and Arwystli Hen, both 
of them probably Gentiles. What their Roman 
names were, it is now impossible to say. They are 
supposed to have been all preachers, and are said to. 
have been instrumental (the former especially) in 
turning great numbers of the Britons from the error 
of their ways, and persuading them to believe in 
Christ. Their names are the more remarkable, as 
they were, if not the first, yet, doubtless, among the 
very first, Christian preachers that ever set foot on 
the British island. 

As Bran and Caradoc (otherwise Brennus and 
Caractacus) were Silurian or Welsh princes, we 
may safely conclude that Christianity made its way 
into Wales as early as into any part of the kingdom. 
When Bran returned to his native land, some of his 
family, it is thought, staid behind and settled at 
Rome. Of these Claudia, mentioned with Pudens- 
and Linus, in 2 Tim. iv. 21, is deemed to have been 
one, and supposed to be the same with Claudia, the- 
wife of Pudens, mentioned by Martial the poet, who. 
speaks of her as a British lady of extraordinary vir- 
tue, wit, and beauty. (Epig. lib. iv. 13 ; lib. xi. 54.), 
Some have thought her to be the daughter of Carac- 
tacus ; and Mr. Taylor has rendered this highly 
probable. (See Fragment, No. 608.) Besides these 
royal captives, Pomponia Grsecina, the wife of Aulus 
Plautius, Claudius's lieutenant, and the first Roman 
governor here, has also been thought a Briton and a 
Christian, consequently one of the earliest British 
Christians. Of her Tacitus says, " An illustrious 
lady, married to Plautius, who was honored with an 
ovation, (or lesser triumph,) for his victories in 
Britain, was accused of having embraced a strange 
foreign superstition ; and her trial for that crime was 
committed to her husband. He, according to an 
cient law and custom, convened her whole family 
and relations ; and having in their presence tried her 
for her life and fame, pronounced her innocent of 
any thing immoral. Pomponia lived [to a great 
age] many years after this trial, but always led a 
gloomy, melancholy kind of life." (Annal. lib. xiii. 
c. 32.) On this it has been remarked that Tacitus, 
no doubt, deemed the lives of the primitive Chris- 
tians gloomy and melancholy ; and had he been 
called on to describe them, he would, in all proba- 



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lility, have represented their religion as a vile foreign 
superstition ; and the sobriety and severity of their 
lives (abstaining from pagan rites and excesses) as a 
continual solitude, and intolerable austerity. " It 
was the way," says bishop Stillingffeet, "of the men 
of that time, such as Suetonius and Pliny, as well as 
Tacitus, to speak of Christianity as a barbarous and 
wicked superstition, (as appears by their writings,) 
being forbidden by their laws, which they made the 
only rule of their religion." (Orig. Britannicse, p. 
44.) This trial of Pomponia happened, it seems, 
while Nero and Calpurni us Piso were consuls; [A. 
D. 57.] after the apostle Paul's coming to Rome the 
first time ; and therefore she may, not unreasonably, be 
supposed to have been one of his converts. It appears 
that there were other persons of distinction among 
the apostle's friends then at Rome ; for instance, those 
of Caesar's household, among whom might be some 
of the British captives. 

It does not appear by the Triades, that the whole 
of Caractacus's family embraced Christianity at 
Rome, or even that he himself did so ; but a son 
and a daughter of his are mentioned, as well as his 
father, as very eminent Christians. The name of 
the son was Cyllin, (see Linos,) and that of the 
daughter Eigen ; both classed among the British 
saints. That son is said to be the grandfather of 
Lleurwg, commonly called king Lucius, who greatly 
exerted himself, at a later period, to promote Chris- 
tianity in Britain, or at least in Wales, the country 
of his ancestors, and where he himself also reigned 
by the favor or permission of the Romans. Even 
the famous king Arthur appears to be a descendant 
of this illustrious family. 

" That St. Paul did go to Britain, we may collect 
from the testimony of Clemens Romanus, Theodo- 
ret, and Jerome, who relate, that after his imprison- 
ment he preached the gospel in the western parts ; 
that he brought salvation to the islands that lie in the 
ocean, and that, in preaching the gospel, he went to 
the utmost bounds of the west. What was meant by 
the west, and the islands that lie in the ocean, we may 
judge from Plutarch, Eusebius, and Nicephorus, 
who call the British ocean the western ; and again 
from Nicephorus, who says, that one of the apostles 
went to the extreme countries of the ocean, and to 
the British isles, but especially from the words of 
Catullus, who calls Britain the utmost island of the 
west ; and from Theodoret, who describes the Brit- 
ons as inhabiting the utmost parts of the west. 
When Clement, therefore, says that Paul went to 
the utmost bounds of the west, we do not conjecture, 
hut are sure, that he meant Britain, not only because 
Britain was so designated, but because Paul could 
not have gone to the utmost bounds of the west 
without going to Britain. It is almost unnecessary, 
therefore, to appeal to the express testimony of Ve- 
nantius Fortunatus and Sophronius, for the apostle's 
journey to Britain. Venantius Fort, quoted by God- 
win, says, Sophronius Patriarcha Hierosolymitanus 
disertis verbis asserit Britanniam nostrum eum invi- 
sisse." (Burgess's Seven Epochs of the Ancient 
British Church, p. 7.) 

There is a force in the expressions of Clemens 
Romanus (1 Epist. Cor. cap. 5.) that is seldom justly 
appreciated, inasmuch as he repeats his assertion. 
His words are, " Paul received the reward of his 
patience — He preached both, in the east and in the 
west ; — and having taught the whole world righteous- 
ness, and for that end travelled to the utmost bounds 
of the west, .... he suffered martyrdom." Had 



not the writer been well assured of his fact?, he 
would have been contented with his first assertion, 
— "he preached in the west ;" whereas, he greatly 
strengthens this assertion by repetition and addition, 
"He travelled to the utmost bounds or the west ;" 
a mode of expression rising greatly in energy above 
the former ; and evidently intended to mark out to 
the reader a determinate, specific, and well-known 
proposition as the object of the phrase. The later 
writers may be dispensed with, after this unequivo- 
cal testimony ; the more powerful because inci- 
dental. 

In the judgment of Mr. Taylor, the resemblance 
between the British name Arwystli and the Greek 
Aristobulus (Rom. xvi. 10.) deserves more consider- 
ation than it has hitherto received. It is certain, he 
remarks, that the formation of this name [from the 
Greek] is according to the analogy of the ancient 
British language ; it is certain, also, that the apostle 
does not salute Aristobulus himself, personally and 
directly, but those related to him. It is not absolute- 
ly clear that. Aristobulus was a Christian, any more 
than Narcissus, mentioned in the same manner, in 
the following verse, who is by some thought to have 
been the emperor's freed-man, and dead some time 
before the date of this epistle. We may, however, , 
observe a difference, if we attend closely to the pur- 
port of the phrase used. The apostle salutes so 
many (restrictively) of those attached to Narcissus 
as were in the Lord ; therefore,- some were not in 
the Lord ; but he uses no such restriction concern- 
ing Aristobulus's family, but salutes them generally ; 
therefore, they were all in the Lord ; and the proba- 
bility may pass for nothing less than certainty, that 
where all the family was Christian, the head of the 
family was so, especially and primarily. The ex- 
pression employed by the apostle implies, further, 
that Aristobulus was not at Rome when this epistle 
was composed, or when it was expected to reach 
that capital ; and if, as is customary, we date it A. D. 
58 or 59, it reduces within narrow limits the ques- 
tion whether Aristobulus accompanied Bran to 
Britain. If Bran were sent to Rome A. D. 52, and 
kept there seven years, we are brought to A. D. 59, 
for the time of his release. It very late in 58, 
or early in 59, when Paul sent off his Epistle to the 
Romans ; it appears by the breaks in the last chap- 
ter, that he laid it aside, and resumed it, several 
times, and that he retained it to the moment of his 
[or its] departure from Corinth, where it was written. 
If, theD, Paul had, at this time, intelligence of the in- 
tention of Aristobulus to quit Rome for Britain, or 
of his having actually done so, very lately, his mode 
of expression is accounted for, correctly and com- 
pletely. 

It "further appears (see Aristobulus) that the 
Greeks say, this preacher " was sent into England, 
where he labored very much, made many converts, and 
at last died.'''' As it is impossible that the Greeks 
should have known any thing about the British Tri- 
ades; and on the other hand, that the Triades should 
have known any thing about the Greeks, these wit- 
nesses appear to be not only very- distant, but per- 
fectly distinct and independent ; their combined tes- 
timony, therefore, is the more corroborative, and the 
more striking. And it may now be asserted, with 
the utmost appearance of truth, that whoever were 
employed in introducing Christianity into Britain, 
Aristobulu* was one of the earliest missionaries, and 
under the royal protection of the Silurian princes. 
We are enabled also by this statement to explain ami 



CHRISTIANITY- 



[ 305 ] 



CHR 



to verify the words of Tertullian, which some have 
considei-ed as a mere flourish of rhetoric, Britanno- 
rum inaccessa Rornanis loca, Christo vero subdita. 
Places in Britain, which were inaccessible to the 
Roman arms, might, nevertheless, be subdued to 
Christ, in Wales, where, amid the recesses and re- 
treats furnished by the mountains, there were, no 
doubt, many who had fled, after the capture of Ca- 
ractacus, and who there continued to resist the Ro- 
mans. In fact, Ostorius, who had taken Caractacus 
captive, sunk under the fatigue of the succeeding 
war ; Manlius Valens, with a legion of Romans, 
was attacked and defeated by the Britons, and the 
war continued with various success. Nero even en- 
tertained thoughts of withdrawing his army from 
Britain, says Suetonius. In A. D. 62, Petronius 
Turpillianus succeeded to the government of Britain ; 
who, says Tacitus, " gave the name of peace to his 
own inactivity, and, having composed former disturb- 
ances, attempted nothing further." Is it impossible 
that this inactivity, during three years, should be 
the result of the return of the principal royal Brit- 
ons to their homes ? — Britain fell to the lot of Ves- 
pasian in A. D. 71, and to Agricola in A. D. 78. By 
this time, we may safely say with the Greeks, that 
Jlristobidus had made many converts in Britain. We 
may now also attach a stronger sense to the expres- 
sion of Theodoret, who reckons Gaul and Britain 
among the disciples of the tent-maker. For, say the 
Greeks, Aristobulus " was brother to Barnabas, — 
was ordained by Barnabas, or by Paul, whom he fol- 
lowed in his travels ;" so that the Britons, converted 
by Aristobulus, might with propriety be called the 
disciples of Paul, even if that apostle never set foot 
in Britain. But it will be acknowledged, at the 
same time, that if Paul did follow Aristobulus, and 
confirm his converts in Britain, the comfort of his 
visit was greatly increased, and the necessity of his 
prolonged residence was greatly diminished, by the 
previous success of his disciple. Might he come 
during the peaceful government of Petronius Tur- 
pillianus ? 

But we may adopt a chronology still more con- 
venient ; for it appears that Ostorius arrived as gov- 
ernor in Britain, A. D. 50, and immediately opened 
a winter campaign against the Britons. Allowing a 
proportionate time for the events of war, as urged by 
this active genei-al, Caractacus might be sent prisoner 
to Rome in A. D. 51, instead of A. D. 52, which 
would give the following dates : 

A. B. 

Aulus Plautius governor in Britain 43 

Bran and Caradoc at Rome 51 

Bran liberated after 7 years' captivity ... 58 
Paul writes to the Romans, at the end of 58, or 
early in 59 ; Aristobulus gone from Rome to 
Britain with Bran, at the date of Paul's 
letter. 

Paul visits Britain 63 

The apostle mentions sundry British Christians, 
residing at Rome, when writing to Timothy. 
Had Timothy a personal acquaintance with 
them ? It should appear so, from the tenor 
and mode of the salutation 65 or 66 

Thus we have seen that to the extent of the 
prophecies of the Old Testament, either the records 
of the N ew Testament expressly affirm, or very 
credible testimony leads us to believe, that the gos- 
tel quickly communicated its salutary influence; 
39 



and so far the investigation of biblical geography 
demonstrates the authority of the Bible itself, by the 
fulfilment of its prophecies, and the general estab- 
lishment of its truth. If it be asked, whether the 
parts thus favored have not lost their first faith, we 
confess that the charge implied in the question is 
too true ; nevertheless, they seem in general to have 
retained some tincture at least of the principles they 
had imbibed ; and, though greatly debased by error, 
or discouraged by oppression, yet the faith of Jesus 
Christ, even in countries remote from its origin, is 
professed, is retained, in spite of a thousand disad- 
vantages, and notwithstanding a thousand oppositions, 
secular or religious, national or local. May the 
happy time soon come, .when no doubt shall remain 
whether the most distant nations have or have not 
been favored with the gospel ; but when evident and 
notorious facts shall justify an appeal in proof of tha* 
felicity ; and the whole earth shall acknowledge 
that "the Lord is One, and his name One, from 
the rising of the sun to the going down of the 
same !" 

CHRONICLES, Books of. This name is given 
to two historical books of Scripture, which the He- 
brews call Dibre-haydmim, ( Words of Days, i. e. Di- 
aries, or Journals,) and make but one book of them. 
They are called in the LXX Paralipomena, (things 
omitted,) as if they were a supplement of what had 
been omitted, or too much abridged, in the other 
historical books. But it must not be thought that 
these are the records, or books of the acts of the 
kings of Judah and Israel, so often referred to. 
Those were the original memoirs, and the Chroni- 
cles make long extracts from them. The Hebrews 
ascribe the Chronicles to Ezra, after the return from 
the captivity, assisted by Zechariah and Haggai. But 
if there be some things which seem to determine for 
Ezra as the author, others seem to prove the con- 
trary. (1.) The author continues the genealogy of 
Zerubbabel down to the twelfth generation ; but 
Ezra did not live late enough for that. (2.) In seve- 
ral places he supposes the things which he mentions 
to be then in the same condition as they had for- 
merly been, for example, before Solomon, and before 
the captivity, 2 Chron. v. 9, and 1 Kings viii. 8. (See 
also 1 Chron. iv. 41, 43 ; v. 22, 26 ; 2 Chron. viii. 8, 
and xxi. 10.) (3.) The writer of these books was 
neither a contemporary nor an original writer ; but 
a compiler and abridger. He had before him ancient 
memoirs, genealogies, annals, registers, and other 
pieces, which he often quotes or abridges. It seems 
that the chief design of" the author was to exhibit 
correctly the genealogies, the rank, the functions, 
and the order of the priests and Levites ; that, after 
the captivity, they might more easily resume their 
proper ranks," and reassume their ministries. He had 
also in view to show how the lands had been dis- 
tributed among the families before the captivity ; that 
subsequently each tribe, so far as was possible, might 
obtain the ancient inheritance of their fathers. He 
quotes old records by the name of ancient things, 1 
Chron. iv. 22. He recites four several rolls, or num- 
berings of the people ; one taken in the time of David, 
a second in the time of Jeroboam, a third in the time 
of Jotham, and the fourth in the time of the captivitj 
of the ten tribes. He speaks elsewhere of the numbers 
taken by order of king David, and which Joab did not 
finish. Jerome truly observes, that these books contain 
a very great number of things important for the expli- 
cation of Scripture ; that all the scriptural traditions are 
contained in them ; and that it is deceiving ourselves to 



CHR 



[ 306 ] 



CHU 



inagine we have any knowledge of the holy books, 
if we are ignorant of these. Also, that in the Chron- 
icles we may find the solution of a great number of 
questions that concern the gospel. 

There are many variations, as well in facts as in 
dates, between the books of Kings and the Chroni- 
cles, which are to be explained and reconciled, 
chiefly on the principle, that the latter are supple- 
mentary to the former ; not forgetting that the lan- 
guage was slightly varied from what it had been ; 
that various places had received new names, or had 
undergone sundry vicissitudes ; that certain things 
were now better known to the returned Jews, under 
other appellations than what they formerly had been 
distinguished by ; and that, from the materials before 
him, which often were not the same as those used 
by the abridgers of the histories of the kings, the 
author takes those passages which seemed to him 
best adapted to his purpose, and most suitable to the 
times in which he wrote. It must be considered, too, 
that he often elucidates obsolete and ambiguous 
words, in former books, by a different mode of spell- 
ing them, or by a different order of the words used' 
even when he does not use a distinct phraseology of 
narration, which he sometimes does. The first book 
contains a recapitulation of sacred history, by gene- 
alogies, from the beginning of the world to the 
death of David, A. M. 2289. The second book con- 
tains the history of the kings of Judah, without those 
of Israel, from the beginning of the reign of Solo- 
mon only, A. M. 2290, to the return from the cap- 
tivity of Babylon, A. M. 3468. 

CHRONOLOGY is the science of computing 
and adjusting periods of time, and is, necessarily, of 
considerable importance in relation to Scripture his- 
tory. See Time. 

The chronology adopted by the English transla- 
tors, and placed in the margin of the larger Bibles, 
is that of the Masoretic, or common Hebrew text ; 
but of the authenticity of this, strong doubts are en- 
tertained by the best biblical critics. Compared with 
the more extended chronology of the Septuagint, it 
is of modern adoption ; the venerable Rede, who 
flourished in the.eighth century, having been the first 
Christian writer who manifested a predilection for 
it. It has been observed, however, that prior to the 
reformation, the views of the celebrated monk of 
Durham had made but little progress among the 
clergy, and that when Luther roused the attention 
of Europe to the errors of the ancient communion, 
the authority of the Greek version and the unani- 
mous consent of the primitive writers were still 
found to regulate all the calculations concerning the 
age of the world. In the warmth of the contro- 
versy which ensued, the more rigid Protestants were 
induced to rank among the corruptions, of the west- 
ern church, che chronology of the Samaritan Penta- 
teuch, of the Seventy, and of Josephus ; and with- 
out taking time or pains to examine the grounds of 
their opinion, they resolutely pronounced that the 
numbers of the original text were to be preferred 
to those of any version ; and forthwith bestowed 
the weight of their authority upon the Jewish 
side of the question, and opposed that which the 
Christians had maintained from the days of the 
apostles. 

The cjiief difference between these two schemes 
of chronology, is found in those periods which ex- 
tend from the creation to the deluge, and from thence 
to tne birth of Abraham. According to the Hebrew 
computation, the number of years comprised in the 



first period, amounts only to 1656 ; and the second 
to 292. But in the Septuagint, the numbers respect- 
ively are 2262 and 1072 ; thus extending the interval 
between the creation and the birth of Christ, from 
4000 to nearly 6000 years. These variations have 
not yet been satisfactorily accounted for, but much 
light has been thrown upon the subject by the labo- 
rious investigations of Hayes, Jackson, and Hales ; 
and the result has been to give a somewhat increased 
degree of confidence in the larger computations of 
the Septuagint. 

Ages of the World. — The time preceding the 
birth of Jesus Christ has generally been divided into 
six ages: (1.) from the beginning of the world to the 
deluge, comprehending 1656 years ; (2.) from the 
deluge to Abraham's entering the land of promise,, 
in A. M. 2082, comprehending 426 years ; (3.) from 
Abraham's entrance of the promised land, to the 
exodus, A. M. 2513, comprehending 431 years ; (4. J 
from the exodus to the foundation of the temple by 
Solomon, A. M. 2992, comprehending 479 years ; 
(5.) from the foundation of the temple to the Baby- 
lonish captivity, in A. M. 3416, comprehending 424 
years ; (6.) from the captivity to the birth of Christ, 
A. M. 4000, the fourth year before the vulgar era, 
or A. D. comprehending 584 years. 

We need not enlarge on the different systems of 
ancient and modern chronologers, concerning the 
years of the world. Those who would study these 
matters, must consult those authors who have ex- 
pressly treated the subject. We have followed Usher 
in the chronology of the Old Testament, with some 
trifling differences only; and among the appendices 
is a Chronological Table, with the dates inserted ac- 
cording to Dr. Hales. 

CHRYSOLITE, a precious stone, probably the 
tenth on the high-priest's pectoral ; bearing the name 
of Zebulun, Exod. xxviii. 20; xxxix. 19. It is 
transparent, the color of gold, with a mixture of 
green, which displays a fine lustre. The Hebrew 
tt"Enn (tarshish) is translated by the LXX, and by Je- 
rome, sometimes, carbuncle ; by the rabbins, beryl ; 
it was the seventh foundation of the New Jerusalem, 
Rev. xxi. 20. Some suppose it to be the topaz of the 
moderns. 

CHRYSOPRASUS, the tenth of those precious 
stones which adorned the foundation of the heaven- 
ly Jerusalem ; its color was green, inclining to 
gold, as its name imports, Rev. xxi. 20. See Rees' 
Cyclop. 

CHUB, a word which occurs only in Ezek. xxx. 
5. and probably signifies the Cubians, placed by 
Ptolemy in the Mareotis. Bochart takes it to be 
Paliurus, a city in Marmorica, because the Syriac 
word denotes paliurus, a sort of thorn. It would 
seem to be a southern country, from the circum- 
stance of its being mentioned with Egypt and Cush. 

CHUN, a city of Syria, conquered by David, 1 
Chron. xviii. 8. In the parallel ; assage, 2 Sam. viii. 8, 
it is called Berothai, (which see,j i. e. probably Be- 
rytus, now Beirout. 

CHURCH. The Greek word ixxU,ma signifies 
au assembly, whether common or religious ; it is 
taken, (l.)'for the place where an assembly is held ; 
(2.) for the persons assembled. In the New Testa- 
ment it generally denotes a congregation of believers. 
By the church is sometimes meant the faithful who 
have preserved the true religion from the beginning, 
and will preserve it. The history of this church is 
narrated by Moses, from the beginning to his time ; 
from Moses to Christ, we have the sacreu writings 



CIR 



CIRCUMCISION 



of the Hebrews. Moses is our guide from Sliem to 
Abraham, but lie does not inform us whether the 
true religion were preserved by the descendants of 
Ham and Japheth ; nor how long it subsisted among 
them. We see, that Abraham's ancestors worshipped 
idols in Chaldea, Josh. xxiv. 2. On the other hand, 
we know, that the fear of the Lord was not entirely 
banished out of Palestine and Egypt when Abra- 
ham came thither ; for the king of Egypt feared 
God, (Gen. xii. 17 ; xx. 3.) and had great abhorrence 
of sin. Abraham imagined, that there were at least 
ten or twenty righteous persons in Sodom, (Gen. xviii. 
23, 24, 25.) and it is probable, that the sons of Abra- 
ham, by Hagar and Keturah, for some time pre- 
served the faith which they had received from their 
father. Job, who was of Esau's posterity, and his 
friends, knew the Lord, and the Ammonites, and Mo- 
abites, who descended from Lot, did not, probably, 
fall immediately into idolatry. The Ishmaelites, 
sons of Hagar and Abraham, value themselves on 
having always adhered to the worship of the true 
God, and having extended the knowledge of him in 
Arabia, as Isaac did in Palestine ; but we are cer- 
tain, that in the time of Mahomet, and long before, 
they had forsaken the true faith. See CHRIS- 
TIANITY. 

CHUSHAN-RISHATHAIM, king of Mesopota- 
mia, oppressed the Israelites eight years ; from A. 
M. 2591, to 2599, Judges iii. 8, 9, 10. 

CHUZA, steward to Herod Agrippa, and husband 
of Joanna, Luke viii. 3. 

CILICIA, a country of Asia Minor, on the sea- 
coast, at the north of Cyprus, south of mount Tau- 
rus, and west of the Euphrates. Its capital was 
Tarsus. A synagogue of this province is mentioned, 
Acts vi. 9, and as Paul was of this country, and of a 
city so considerable as Tarsus, it may be thought that 
he was also of this synagogue ; so that it is probable 
he was one of those who had been disputing with Ste- 
phen, and were overcome by the arguments of that 
proto-martyr. See Tarsds. 

CINNAMON, one of the ingredients in the per- 
fumed oil with which the tabernacle and its vessels 
were anointed, Exod. xxx. 23. The cinnamomum is 
a shrub, the bark of which has a fine scent ; several 
of the moderns confound it with the cinnamon-tree, 
and cassia aromatica ; but others distinguish three 
species. It is now generally agreed, that the cinna- 
momum spoken of so confusedly by the ancients, is 
our cinnamon ; it is a long, thin bark of a tree, rolled 
up, of a dark red color, of a poignant taste, aromatic, 
and very agreeable. The finest description comes 
from Ceylon ; but there might formerly have been 
cinnamon in Arabia, or Ethiopia ; or it might be im- 
ported then into Egypt, Arabia, &c. as it is now into 
Europe ; so that it might come originally from 
Ceylon. 

CINNERETH, or Ceneroth, or Cinneroth, a 
city of Naphtali, south of which lay a great valley or 
plain, whichreached to the Dead sea, all along the river 
Jordan, Josh. xix. 35. Many believe, and with proba- 
bility, that Cinnereth was the same as Tiberias; for, 
as the lake of Gennesareth (in Hebrew, the lake of 
Cinnereth) is, without doubt, that of Tiberias, it 
seems reasonable that Cinnereth and Tiberias should 
also be the same city, Deut. iii. 17. See Tiberias, 
and Gennesareth. 

CIRCUMCISION, a Latin term, signifying 'to 
cut around,' because the Jews, in circumcising 
their children, cut off, after this manner, the little 
skin which forms the prepuce. God enjoined Abra- 



ham to use circumcision, as a sign of his covenant ; 
and, in obedience to this order, the patriarch, at nine- 
ty-nine years of age, was circumcised, as also his 
son Ishmael, and all the males of his property, Gen. 
xvii. 10. God repeated the precept to Moses : and 
ordered that all who intended to partake of the pas- 
chal sacrifice should receive circumcision ; and that 
this rite should be performed on children on the 
eighth day after their birth. The Jews have always 
been very exact in observing this ceremony, and it 
appears that they did not neglect it when in Egypt. 
But Moses, while in Midian, with Jethro, his father 
in-law, did not circumcise his two sons born in that 
country ; and during the journey of the Israelites in 
the wilderness their children were not circumcised ; 
probably by reason of the danger to which they 
might have been exposed in sudden removals, &c. 
because of their unsettled state, and manner of life. 

The law mentions nothing of the minister, or the 
instrument, of circumcision ; which were left to 
the discretion of the people. They generally used 
a knife or razor, or sharp stone, Exod. iv. 25 : 
Josh. v. 3. 

The ceremonies observed in circumcision are 
particularly described by Leo of ^|odena, (cap. 
viii.) ana may also be seen in Allen's Modern Ju- 
daism. 

The Arabians, Saracens, and Ishmaelites, who, as 
well as the Hebrews, sprung from Abraham, prac- 
tised circumcision, but not as an essential rite to 
which they were bound, on pain of being cut oft" 
from their people. Circumcision was introduced 
with the law of Moses among the Samaritans, Cuthe- 
ans, and Idumeans. Those who assert that the 
Phoenicians were circumcised, mean probably the 
Samaritans ; for we know, from other authority, that 
the Phoenicians did not observe this ceremony. As 
to the Egyptians, circumcision never was of general 
and indispensable obligation on the whole nation; 
certain priests only, and particular professions, were 
obliged to submit to it. 

Circumcision is never repeated. When the Jews 
admitted a proselyte of another nation, if he had 
received circumcision, (concision,) they were satisfied 
with drawing some drops of blood from the part 
usually circumcised; which blood was called "the 
blood of the covenant." 

The Jews esteemed the foreskin or uncircumcision 
as a very great impurity ; and the greatest offence 
they could receive was to be called " uncircumcised." 
Paul (Rom. ii. 26.) frequently mentions the Gentiles 
under this term in opposition to the Jews, whom he 
names " circumcision." He also alludes to an im- 
perfect mode of circumcision, or a partial removal 
of the foreskin, which apparently was practised by 
the Edomites, Egyptians, &c. This he calls con- 
cision; and associates those who practised it with 
dogs, Phil. iii. 2. He probably here turns the appli- 
cation of Jewish terms of contempt and ridicule 
against the Jews themselves. 

As a consequence of the opinion entertained by the 
Jews, that uncircumcision was unclean and dis- 
honorable, but circumcision the contrary ; they 
sometimes use the word uncircumcision in a figura- 
tive sense, to signify something impure, superfluous, 
useless, and dangerous : e. gr. Moses says of himself 
he is " of uncircumcised lips," (Exod. vi. 12, 30. 
that is, he had an impediment in his speech. Jere 
miah (vi. 10.) says of the Jews, they had " uncircum- 
cised ears," that is, they would not hear instruction. 
He exhorts them (chap, iv 4 ; ix. 26.) to " circumcisa 



CLA 



[ 308 ] 



CLE 



their hearts ;" literally, to take away the foreskins of 
their hearts ; to be tractable and attentive. Moses 
inveighs against the uncircumcised hearts of the 
Jews, who would not obey the Lord ; and we have 
similar expressions in the New Testament. Stephen 
reproaches the Jews with the hardness of their heart, 
and their indocility, Acts vii. 51. 

Jews who renounced Judaism, sometimes endeav- 
ored to erase the mark of circumcision : " They 
made themselves uncircumcised, and forsook the 
holy covenant," 1 Mac. i. 15. Some are of opinion, 
that the Israelites in the wilderness had done so, 
which obliged Joshua to circumcise them a second 
time, Josh. v. 2. Under the persecutions of the 
Romans, after the destruction of the temple, many 
Jews were guilty of this ; and it seems as if Paul 
alluded to the same thing, 1 Cor. vii. 18. 

CIRCUMSPECT, cautious, seriously attentive to 
every part of the revealed will of God, and very 
careful not to cast stumbling-blocks in the way of 
others, Exod. xxiii. 13 ; Eph. v. 15. 

CISLEU, the ninth month in the ecclesiastical 
year, and the third in the civil, or political, year of 
the Hebrews. It is supposed to answer nearly to 
our NovembVj O. S. See Chisleu, and JEwfsH 
Calendar. 

CISTERN. There were cisterns throughout 
Palestine, in cities and in private houses. As the 
cities were mostly built on mountains, and the rains 
fall in Judea at two seasons only, (spring and au- 
tumn,) people were obliged to keep water in vessels. 
There are cisterns of very large dimensions, at this 
day, in Palestine. Two hours distant from Bethle- 
hem are the cisterns or pools of Solomon. They are 
three in number, situated in the sloping hollow of a 
mountain, one above another ; so that the waters of the 
uppermost descend into the second, and those of the 
second descend into the third. The breadth is near- 
ly the same in all, between eighty and ninety paces, 
but the length varies. The first is about 160 paces long; 
the second 200 ; the third 220. These pools formerly 
supplied the town of Bethlehem and the city of Je- 
rusalem with water. Wells and cisterns, fountains 
and springs, are seldom distinguished accurately in 
Scripture. Worldly enjoyments are called " broken 
cisterns that can hold no water," (Jer. ii. 13.) from 
their unsatisfying and unstable nature. (See Mod. 
Traveller, Palestine, p. 165.) 

[Dr. Jowett says : (Chr. Res. in Syria, p. 225.) 
"With regard to water, some parts of the Holy Land 
appeared, in the months of October and November, 
to labor under great privation. Yet even in this re- 
spect art might furnish a remedy, in the tanks and 
cisterns, which a little industry would form and pre- 
serve. The cities and villages have such supplies ; 
and in every stage of seven or eight hours, there are 
usually found, once or twice, at least, cisterns or 
muddy wells. In some places, a person at the well 
claimed payment for the water, which he drew for 
us and our animals ; but this was probably an impo- 
sition, although by us willingly paid." R. 

CITIES OF REFUGE, see Refuge. 

CITRON, see Apple. 

CLAUDA, a small island towards the south-west 
of Crete, Acts xxvii. 16. 

CLAUDIA, a Roman lady converted by Paul, 2 
Tim. iv. 21. Some think she was the wife of Pu- 
dens, who is named immediately before her ; others 
conjecture, that she was a British lady, sister of Li- 
nus. See Christianity. 

I. CLAUDIUS, the emperor of Rome, mentioned 



in the New Testament, succeeded Cains Caligula, 
A. D. 41, and reigned upwards of thirteen years. 
He gave to Agrippa all Judea ; and to his brother 
Herod, the kingdom of Chalcis. He terminated the 
dispute between the Jews and the other inhabitants of 
Alexandria, confirming the former in the freedom of 
that city, and in the free exercise of their religion and 
laws ; but not permitting them to hold assemblies at 
Rome. Agrippa dying in the fourth year of Claudius, 
A. D. 44, the emperor again reduced Judea into a prov- 
ince, and sent Cuspius Fadus as governor. About 
this time happened the famine, as foretold by the 
prophet Agabus, (Acts xi. 28,29, 30.) and at the same 
period, Herod, king of Chalcis, obtained from the 
emperor the authority over the temple, and the 
money consecrated to God, with a power of depos- 
ing and establishing the high-priests. In the ninth 
year of Claudius, (A. D. 49.) he published an order, 
expelling all Jews from Rome, (Acts xviii. 2.) and 
it is probable that the Christians, being confounded 
with the Jews, were banished likewise. Suetonius 
plainly intimates this, when he says that Claudius ex- 
pelled the Jews, by reason of the continual disturb- 
ances excited by them, at the instigation of Chres- 
tus : — an ancient way of spelling the title of Christ. 
Claudius was poisoned by his wife Agrippina, and 
was succeeded by Nero. 

II. CLAUDIUS LYSIAS, tribune of the Roman 
troops, which kept guard at the temple of Jerusalem. 
Observing the tumult raised on account of Paul, 
whom the Jews had seized, and designed to mur- 
der, he rescued him, and (Acts xxi. 27 ; xxiii. 31.) 
carried him to fort Antonia, and afterwards sent him 
guarded to Csesarea. 

III. CLAUDIUS FELIX, successor of Cumanus 
in the government of Judea, and husband of Drusil- 
la, sister of Agrippa the younger. Felix sent to 
Rome Eleazer, son of Dinseus, captain of a band of 
robbers, who had committed great ravages in Pales- 
tine ; he procured the death of Jonathan, the high- 
priest, who occasionally represented his duty to him, 
with great freedom, and defeated a body of 3000 
men, which an Egyptian, a false prophet, had assem- 
bled on the mount of Olives. Paul being brought to 
Csesarea, Felix treated him well, permitted his 
friends to see him, and to render him services, hoping 
he would procure his redemption by a sum of 
money, Acts xxiii. Felix, with his wife Drusil- 
la, who was a Jewess, having desired Paul to explain 
the religion of Jesus Christ, the apostle spoke with 
his usual boldness, and discoursed to them concern- 
ing justice, chastity, and the last judgment. Felix, 
being terrified, remanded the apostle to his confine- 
ment, and detained him two years at Csesarea, to 
oblige the Jews. He was recalled to Rome, A. D 
60, and was succeeded by Portius Festus. (Joseph. 
Ant. 1. xx. c. 7.) 

CLAY, a substance frequently mentioned in Scrip- 
ture, and universally known. It was formerly used 
in the East, as it is to this day, for sealing. Norden 
and Pococke both observe that the inspectors of the 
granaries in Egypt, after having closed the door, put 
their seal upon a handful of clay, with which they 
cover the lock. This may tend to explain Job 
xxxviii. 14, where the earth is represented as assum- 
ing form and imagery from the brightness of the 
rising sun, as rude clay receives a figure from the 
impression of a signet. 

CLEAN, CLEANSE, see Purifications, and 
also Animals. 

CLEMENT, whose name is in the Book of Life. 



CLO 



[ 309 ] 



Phil. iv. 3. Most interpreters conclude that this is 
the same Clement who succeeded in the government 
of the church at Rome, commonly called Clemens 
Romanus. 

The church at Corinth having been disturbed by 
divisions, Clement wrote a letter to the Corinthians, 
which was so much esteemed by the ancients, that 
they read it publicly in many churches. It is still 
extant, and some have inclined to rank it among the 
canonical writings. We have no authentic accounts 
of what occurred to Clement during the persecution 
of Domitian ; we are assured, that he lived to the 
third year of Trajan, A. D. 100. 

CLEOPAS, according to Eusebius and Epipha- 
nius, was brother of Joseph, both being sons of Ja- 
cob. He is probably the same person with Alpheus, 
which see. He was the father of Simeon, bishop of 
Jerusalem, of James the Less, of Jude, and of Joseph, 
or Joses. Cleopas married Mary, sister of the Vir- 
gin ; so that he was uncle to Jesus Christ. He, his 
wife, and sons, were disciples of Christ ; but Cleopas 
did not sufficiently understand what Jesus had so 
often told his disciples, that it was expedient he 
should die, and return to the Father. Having beheld 
our Saviour expire on the cross, he lost all hope of 
seeing the kingdom of God established by him on 
earth ; but going to Emmaus with another disciple, 
they were joined by our Lord, who accompanied 
them, and on his breaking bread they recognized 
him, Luke xxiv. 13, to end. 

I» CLEOPATRA, daughter of Antiochus the 
Great, and wife of Ptolemy Epiphanes, king of 
Egypt. Some are of opinion, that this princess is 
described in Dan. xi. 17, under the title " Daughter 
of Women." 

II. CLEOPATRA, daughter of the above Cleopa- 
tra and Ptolemy Epiphanes. She married Ptolemy 
Philometor, her own brother ; and is mentioned Es- 
ther xi. 1. Jlpoc. 

III. CLEOPATRA, daughter of Ptolemy Philo- 
metor, and the latter Cleopatra, married first to Alex- 
ander Balas,.king of Syria, then to Antiochus Side- 
tes; and afterwards to Demetrius Nicanor. She 
is named in Mac. x. She designed to poison her son 
Gryphus, but he prevented her, and obliged her to 
drink the draught she had provided for him, A. M. 
3882 

IV. CLEOPATRA, sister and wife of Ptolemy 
Physcon. See Alexander III. 

V. CLEOPATRA, the last queen of Egypt, and 
daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, celebrated for her 
beauty and accomplishments. When Cleopatra 
passed through Judea, in her return from a jour- 
ney she had made with Antony to the Euphrates, 
Herod received her with all imaginable magnificence. 
Cleopatra killed herself by the sting of an asp, 
A. M. 3974. 

CLOTHES, see Dresses. 

CLOUD, (1.) a collection of vapors:— (2.) the 
morning mists, Hos. vi. 4 ; xiii. 3. When the Is- 
raelites had left Egypt," The Lord went before them 
in a pillar of cloud," to direct their march, Exod. xiii. 
21, 22. This pillar was commonly in front of the 
tribes ; but at Pihahiroth, when the Egyptian ar- 
my approached behind them, it placed itself be- 
tween Israel and the Egyptians, so that the Egyptians 
could not come near the Israelites all night "The 
angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, 
removed and went behind them ; and the pillar of 
the cloud went from before their face, and stood 
s ehiud them," Exod. xiv. 19. In the morning, the 



cloud moving on over the sea, and foLowing the 
Israelites who had passed through it, the Egyp- 
tians followed the cloud, and were drowned. This 
cloud from that time attended the Israelites : it was 
clear and bright during night, in order to give them 
light, but in the day it was thick and gloomy, 
to defend them from the excessive heats of the desert. 
The cloud by its motions gave the signal to Israel, 
either to encamp, or to decamp ; so that where that 
stayed, the people stayed, till it rose again ; then they 
broke up their camp, and followed it till it stopped. 
It was called a pillar, from its form, rising high and 
elevated, as it were a pile, or heap of mists ; as we 
say, a pillar of smoke. Rabbi Solomon and Aben 
Ezra suppose that there were two clouds, one to 
enlighten, the other to shade the camp. 

The Lord appeared at Sinai in the midst of a 
cloud ; (Exod. xix. 9 ; xxxiv. 5.) and after Moses had 
built and consecrated the tabernacle, a cloud filled 
the court around it, so that neither Moses nor the 
priests could enter, xl. 34, 35. The same occurred 
at the dedication of the temple by Solomon, 2 Chron. 
v. 13 ; 1 Kings viii. 10. 

When, then, the cloud appeared on the tent, in front 
of which were held the assemblies of the people, in 
the desert, it was believed that God was then present, 
for the motion of the cloud which rested on the tent 
was a sign of the divine presence, Exod. xvi. 10 ; 
xxxiii. 9 ; Num. xi. 25. The angel descended in the 
cloud, and from thence spoke to Moses, without 
being seen by the people, Exod. xvi. 10 ; Num. xi. 
25 ; xxi. 5. It is usual in Scripture, when mention- 
ing the presence of God, to represent him as encom- 
passed with clouds, serving as a chariot, and veiling 
his dreadful majesty, Job xxii. 14 ; Isaiah xix. 1 ; 
Matt. xvii. 5 ; xxiv. 30, &c. Ps. xviii. 11, 12 ; xcvii. 2 ; 
civ. 3. The Son of God is described as ascending to 
heaven in a cloud ; (Acts i. 9.) and at his second 
advent, as descending upon clouds, Matt. xxiv. 30 ; 
Rev. xiv. 14, 16. 

CLYSMA, or Clisma, or Colsum, the place 
where the Israelites passed the Red sea. According 
to Epiphanius, it was one of the three ports which 
lay on the Red sea : Suez is now its representative. 
See Exoncs. 

CNIDUS, a city standing on a promontory of the 
same name, in that part of the province of Caria 
which was called Doris, a little north-west from 
Rh( des. It was remarkable for the worship of Ve- 
nus, and for possessing the celebrated statue of this 
"oi'dess, made by the tamous artist Praxiteles. The 
Romans wrote to this city in favor of the Jews, (1 
Mac. xv. 23.) and Paul passed it in his way to 
Rome, Acts xxvii. 7. 

• COA. In 1 Kings x. 28, and 2 Chron. i. 16. it is 
said that horses were brought to Solomon from Coa, 
at a certain price. The Septuagint read, iz Oezurt . 
some, by Coa, understand the city of Coa, in Arabia 
Felix ; others Co, a city of Egypt, and capital of the 
province called Cypopolitana. The Hebrew may 
be translated, " They brought horses to Solomon 
from Egypt and from Michoe;"and Pliny (lib. vi. 
cap. 29.) assures us, that the country of the Troglo- 
dytes, near Egypt, was formerly called Michoe. 
Others translate, " They brought horses, and spun 
thread ;" (linen-yarn, Eng. trans.) supposing that the 
Hebrew mikoa signifies thread. Jarchi supposed it 
to mean a string of horses, fastened from the tail 
of one to another ; — they brought horses in strings — 
at a settled duty or price ; and this interpretation is 
followed by several expositors. Bochart, by mikoa. 



c o c 



[ 310 ] 



C OH 



understands tribute : and translates. 11 They brought 
aorses — and as to the tributes, this prince's farmers 
received them at certain rates." The usual manner 
of tying camels together, by four or five, in the way 
that we tie horses, is favorable to this interpretation : 
and we may read: — "And Solomon had horses 
brought out of Egypt, even (literally, drawings-out — 
prolongations.) strings, that is, of horses, and the king's 
broker received the strings, that is, of horses — in 
commutation- — exchange — barter. And a chariot came 
up from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and 
a single horse for one hundred and fifty f and these 
he sold again at a great profit to the neighboring 
kings. — As the whole context seems rather applica- 
ble to horses than to linen-yarn, this idea preserves 
the unity of the passage, while it strictly maintains 
the import of the words used in it. 

[The word coa is found only in the Vulgate. The 
Hebrew is nipt, mikveh, the same word which, in 
Gen. i. 10, is rendered the gathtring together, collec- 
tion, of the waters. How the Septuagint and Vul- 
gate could here make a proper name of it, is difficult 
to see : it may best be applied here in the same sense 
as in Genesis, viz. " And Solomon had horses brought 
out of Egypt : and a collection, caravan, (mikveh,) of 
the king's merchants brought a collection, caravan, 
(mikveh, of horses.) for money." In verse 17, the 
wmer proceeds in the same manner to state the cost 
of them, — a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, 
and a horse for one hundred and fifty. In this way 
the word is used both of the merchants and of the 
horses, — just as our word caravan may be used in the 
same manner ; and there is thus a son of paronoma- 
sia. R. 

COCK, a well known and tame bird. He gene- 
rally crows three times in the night — at midnight, two 
hours before dav, and at break of dav. 

COCK-CROWIXG, a division of time. See Hour. 

COCKATRICE, a fabulous species of serpent, 
supposed to be hatched from the egg of a cock. The 
translators of the English Bible have variously ren- 
dered the Hebrew pas, or by adder and cocka- 
trice ; and we are by no means certain of the partic- 
ular kind of serpent to which the original term is 
applied. In Isa. xi. 8, " the tziphoni," says Dr. Har- 
ris, "is evidently in advance in malignity beyond the 
pethen which precedes it ; and in ch. xiv. 29, it must 
mean a worse kind of serpent than the nachash f 
hut this still leaves us ignorant of its specific charac- 
ter. Mr. Taylor is of opinion that it is the naja, or 
cobra di capello, or hooded snake, of the Portuguese, 
which we find thus described by Goldsmith : — 

" Of all others the cobra di capello, or hooded ser- 
pent, inflicts the most deadly and incurable wounds. 
Of this formidable creature there are five or six dif- 
ferent kinds : hut they are all equally dangerous, and 
their bite is followed by speedy and certain death. 
It is from three to eight feet long, with two long 
fangs hanging out of the upper jaw. It has a broad 
neck, and a mark of dark brown on the forehead ; 
which, when viewed frontwise, looks like a pair of 
spectacles : but behind like the head of a cat. The 
eyes are fierce and full of fire : the head is small, and 
the nose flat, though covered with' very large scales, 
of a yellowish ash-color: the skin is white, and the 
large tumor on the neck is flat, and covered with ob- 
long, smooth scales. The bite of this animal is said 
to be incurable, the patient dying in about an hour 
after the wound : the whole frame being dissolved 
into one putrid mass of corruption." The effects 
here atrributed to the bite of this creature answer 



I very well to what is intimated of thi tziphoni in 
Scripture. Thus, in Isa. xi. 9, "They (i le tziphoni) 
shall not hurt nor destroy (corrupt) in all my holy 
I mountain." And Prov. xxiii. 32, " At the last it biteth 
' like a serpent, and stingeth (spreads, diffuses ita 
poison : so the LXX and Vulgate) like an adder." 
See Serpent and Enchantments. 

The greatest difficulty, at first sight, against accept- 
ing the naja as the tzepha, is, that it is said, that ser- 
pent shall not be tamed, but shall resist enchantment, 
whereas the naja is in some sort domesticated. But 
Mr. Taylor remarks, (1.) that though the naja is 
: managed by human contrivance and art, yet it is not 
tamed, but would as readily bite its master as any 
i other; (2.) that we may take the prophet to mean, 
! " though this kind of serpent be occasionally subdued, 
S yet those I send shall be proof against such manage- 
i ment ; more venomous, more ferocious ; of the same 
species, but of greater powers and malignity." — [But 
a still more formidable objection to this supposition 
I is, that the naja. or cobra di capello, is found only in 
India, and never in Palestine or the adjacent countries 
; (See Rees's Cyclop, art. Coluber.) The Hebrew terms 
tzepha and tziphoni designate the adder race in gene- 
I ral : not, apparently, any particular species. R. 

The unyielding cruelty of the Chaldean armies, 
, under Nebuchadnezzar, who were appointed minis- 
I ters of Jehovah's vengeance on the Jewish nation, 
| whose iniquities had made liim their enemy, is ex- 
I pressively alluded to in the following passage : " For 
[ behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, 
) which shall not be charmed, and they shall bite you, 
saith the Lord," Jer. viii. 17. 

COCKLE. This herb is only mentioned Jobxxxi. 
40. By the Chaldeeitis rendered "noxious herbs:" 
and our translators have placed in the margin "noi- 
some weeds." Michaelis, after Celsius, understands 
it of the aconite, a poisonous plant, growing sponta- 
neously and luxuriantly on sunny hills, such as are 
used for vineyards. This interpretation suits the 
passage, where it is mentioned as growing instead of 
barley. [The Hebrew word signifies simply weeds 
j in general, " noisome weeds." R. 

CCELE-SYRIA, Hollow-Syria, is properly the 
! valley between Libanus and Antihbanus, extending 
j from north to south, from the entrance of Hamath 
beyond Heliopolis, or Baal-beck. But, in the larger 
j sense, the country south of Seleucia, to Egypt and 
Arabia, is called Ccele-Syria. Josephus (Antiq. lib. 
i. cap. 11.) places the country of Ammon in Ccele- 
Syria: and Stephens, the geographer, fixes the city 
of Gadara in it, which was'east of the sea of Tibe- 
I rias. The following is a list of the cities in Ccele- 
Syria, according to Ptolemy : Abila, Lysanium, Saana, 
I Inna, Damascus, Samulis, Abida, Hippos, Capitolias, 
Gadara, Adra, Scythopolis, Gerasa, Pella, Dium, 
Philadelphia, and Canatha. Hence we see that it 
! included several cities of the Peraea. 

Ccele-Syria has no particular name in Scripture, 
but is comprised under the general one of Aram , 
and, perhaps. Syria of Zoba, or Aram Zoba. extended 
to Coele-Syria : of which, however, we know not any 
good proofs : for we cannot tell where the city of Zoba 
was, from which Aram of Zoba is supposed to take 
its name ; unless it be the same with Hobah, (Gen. 
xiv. 15.) or Chobal, as the LXX read it. See Stria 
COHORT, a military term used by the Romans, to 
: denote a company generally composed of 600 foot sol 
'< diers : a legion consisted often cohorts, every cohor 
being composed of three maniples, and every mani 
pie of 200 men ; a legion, consequently, contained in 



CON 



[31 



CON 



all 6,000 men. Others allow but 500 men to a cohort, 
which would make 5,000 in a legion. It is probable, 
that cohorts among the Romans, as companies among 
the moderns, often varied as to their number. 

COLONY. This word does not always imply that 
any considerable body of citizens from Rome had left 
their native city, and had founded a new town where 
there had been none, as the first colonies in America 
were founded. No doubt, a settlement of Romans 
might give rise to Roman colonies ; and many bodies 
of their troops, after they were dismissed from mili- 
tary service, received allotments in distant towns. 
But anciently* many cities were favored with the 
character of colonies, by which they became entitled 
to the privileges of Roman citizens, and were consid- 
ered as being in a manner Roman, in reward for ser- 
vices which they had rendered to the government of 
Rome, or to the emperors. See Philippi. 

COLOSSE, a city of Phrygia, which stood not far 
from the junction of the river Lycus with the Mean- 
der; being situated at an equal distance between 
Laodicea and Hierapolis. These three cities were 
destroyed by an earthquake, according to Eusebius, 
in the tenth year of Nero, that is, about two years after 
the date of Paul's epistle. Some believe, that the 
apostle never visited this place, though he preached in 
Phrygia ; but that the Colossians received the gospel 
from Epaphras. Paul having been informed, either 
try Epaphras, then prisoner with him at Rome, (A. D. 
62.) or by a letter from the Laodiceans, that false 
prophets at Colosse had preached the necessity of 
legal observances, wrote that epistle to Colosse which 
we now have, in which he insists on Jesus Christ 
being the only mediator with God, and true head of 
the church. His letter was carried to the Colossians 
by Tychicus, his faithful minister, and Onesimus. 

COMFORTER, [Paracletus,) an exhorter, defend- 
er, interceder. This title is given to the Holy Spirit 
by our Saviour, John xiv. 16, and John gives it to 
our Saviour himself ; " we have an advocate [paracle- 
tus) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, 1 Ep. 
ii. 1. But the title is chiefly given to the Holy Spirit. 

COMMON, profane, ceremonially unclean, Mark 
vii. 2, 5 ; Acts x. 14, 15 ; Rom. xiv. 14. 

COMMUNION, fellowship, concord, agreement, 
I Cor. x. 16 ; 2 Cor.vi. 14 ; 1 John i. 3. The com- 
munion of a number of persons in the same religious 
service is frequently adverted to in Scripture ; and it 
is usually understood, that the twelve tribes of Israel 
were virtually represented, at the time of offering up 
the daily sacrifice in the temple at Jerusalem, by 
twelve persons called stationary men, who constantly 
attended this duty, and who composed a congrega- 
tion. Besides this, we read of the apostle Paul's par- 
taking in the service to be performed on account of 
certain Nazarites ; (Acts xxi. 24.) so that joining in 
their expenses was considered as partaking in some 
degree in the sanctity and merit of their offerings. 
As we have no sacrifices among ourselves, we are 
little able to appreciate the usages attending such 
consociations. 

CONCUBINE, a term which, in western authors, 
commonly signifies a woman who, without being 
married to a man, lives with him as his wife : but, in 
the sacred writers, the word concubine is understood 
in another sense ; meaning a lawful wife, but one of 
the second rank ; inferior to the first wife, or mistress 
of the house. She differed from a proper wife in 
that she was not married by solemn stipulation, but 
only betrothed ; she brought no dowry with her ; and 
had no share in the government of the family. Chil- 



dren of concubines did not inherit their father's 
property ; but he might provide for them, and make 
presents to them. Thus Abraham, by Sarah his 
wife, had Isaac, his heir ; but by his two concubines, 
Hagar and Keturah, he had other children, whom he 
did not make equal to Isaac, Gen. xxv. 6. As polyg- 
amy was tolerated in the East, it was common to see 
in every family, beside lawful wives, several concu- 
bines; but since the abrogation of polygamy by 
Christ, and the restoration of marriage to its primi- 
tive institution, the admission and maintenance of 
concubines has been condemned among Christians. 

CONCUPISCENCE, a term used by the apostle 
John, to signify an irregular love of pleasure, wealth, 
or honors, 1 John ii. 16. Concupiscence is both the 
effect and cause of sin : bad desires, as well as bad 
actions, are forbidden ; and the first cate of those 
who would please God, is to restrain concupiscence. 
When the Hebrews demanded change of diet, in 
mutinous terms, with excessive and irregular desire, 
God punished many of them with death, and the 
place of their burial was called the graves of lust, 
Num. xi. 34. God prohibits the desiring with con- 
cupiscence any thing which belongs to our neighbor. 
Concupiscence is generally taken in a bad sense ; 
particularly for carnal inclinations. 

CONDEMN, to declare guilty ; an expression which 
is used not only in judicial acts, but in whatever re- 
lates to them. The priests condemned lepers of im- 
purity ; that is, they declared them unclean. So Dan. 
i. 10, "Ye shall condemn my head to the king (Eng. 
trans, make me endanger); and Job ix. 20, "My 
mouth shall condemn me :" God shall judge me by 
my own words. " The righteous that is dead, shall 
condemn the ungodly whi^h are living," Wisd.iv. 16. 

CONEY, (shaphdn,) an unclean animal, Lev. xi. 5. 
There is little doubt 
thatthe shaphan is the 
gannim Israel, or, as it 
is called by Bruce, the 
ashkoko, a harmless 
animal, of nearly the 
same size and quality 
as the rabbit, but of a 
browner color, small- 
er eyes, and a more pointed head. Its feet are round, 
and very fleshy and pulpy ; notwithstanding which, 
however, it builds its house in the rocks, Prov. xxx. 
26. [The word coney is an old name for the rabbit, 
and the Jewish rabbins say that the Heb. shaphdn is 
the same animal. It is described as chewing the cud, 
(Lev. xi. 5.) as inhabiting- mountains and rocks, (Ps. 
civ. 18.) and as gregarious and sagacious, Prov. xxx. 
26. All these seem best to designate the Arabian 
jerboa, or m Vuntain rat ; mus v. dipus jaculus of 
Linnaeus. It is about the size of a large rat ; the hind 
feet are very long, and enable them to make prodi- 
gious bounds ; and with their fore feet they carry 
food to their mouths like the squirrel. They burrow 
in hard, clayey ground, not only in high and dry spots, 
but also even in low and salt places. They dig holes 
with their fore feet, forming oblique and winding 
burrows of some yards in length, ending in a large 
hole or nest, in which a store of provision, consisting 
of herbs, is preserved. These burrows are conceal- 
ed and defended with great sagacity ; indeed, the 
Hebrew name implies cunning. At the approach of 
danger, they spring forward so swiftly, that a man 
well mounted can hardly overtake them. The figure 
of this animal is given under the article Mouse. R. 

CONFESSION, a public or private declaration 




CON [ 312 ] COP 



which any one makes of his sins. Matthew says, 
(chap. iii. 6.) that the Jews came to receive baptism, 
confessing their sins. James (chap. v. 16.) requires 
us to confess our faults one to another ; and John 
says, that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and 
just to forgive them, 1 John i. 9. We see, in the 
Acts of the Afostles, that many Gentiles who were 
converted, came and confessed their sins, cli. xix. 18. 

In the ceromony of the solemn expiation, under 
the Mosaic low, the high-priest confessed in general 
his own sins, the sins of other ministers of the tem- 
ple, and thofie of all the people ; and when an Israel- 
ite offered a sacrifice for sin, he put his hand on the 
head of the victim, and confessed his faults, Lev. iv. 4. 

CONFESSOR, a name given to those who con- 
fessed the doctrine of Christ before heathen, or per- 
secuting, judges ; or to those who firmly endured 
-punishment for defending the faith ; if they died un- 
der their torments they were called martyrs. Our 
Lord says, he will confess before his heavenly Father, 
those who shall have confessed him before men ; 
(Matt. x. 39.) and Paul commends Timothy (1 Tim. 
vi. 12.) for having confessed a good confession (Eng. 
trans. profession ;) for having, at the hazard of his life, 
given a glorious and steady testimony to the truth. 
The same apostle says, that Jesus Christ witnessed a 
good confession before Pontius Pilate, 1 Tim. vi. 13. 

CONIAH, see Jeconiah. 

CONSCIENCE, the testimony, or judgment of the 
soul, approving its actions which it judges to be good, 
or reproaching itself with the commission of those 
which it judges to be evil. Conscience is a moral 
principle, which determines on the good or evil ten- 
dency of our actions. In Rom. xiii. 5, Christians are 
required to be submissive to secular powers, "not 
only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake." Paul 
permits them, also, to eat at the houses of Gentiles, if 
invited thither, and to partake of what is served at 
their tables, without making particular inquiries from 
any scrupulosity of conscience ; asking no questions 
for conscience' sake. But if any one, meaning to 
inform them, say, " This has been sacrificed to idols," 
eat not of that meat, says the apostle, for his sake 
who gave you this information ; and, likewise, lest 
you should wound another's conscience, 1 Cor. x. 25 
— -29. If he who gives you this notice be a Chris- 
tian, and, notwithstanding the information he gives 
you, you eat, he will condemn you in his heart, or 
will eat of it after your example, and thereby will 
wound his own conscience : if he be a heathen, and 
he sees you eat of it, contrary to Christian custom, 
he will conceive a contempt for you and your reli- 
gion, which had not power to induce you to refrain 
from so small a gratification. 

CONSECRATE, Consecration, the offering or 
devoting any thing to God's worship and service. In 
the law, God ordained that the first-born of man and 
beast should be consecrated : he consecrated, also, the 
race of Abraham, particularly the tribe of Levi, and 
more especially the family of Aaron. The whole 
Hebrew commonwealth, however, was consecrated, 
on their arrival in the land of Canaan. (See Ebal.) 
Consecrations depended on the good will of men, 
who consecrated themselves, or things, or persons 
depending on them, to the service of God, whether 
for a time only, or in perpetuity. Joshua devoted, 
or set apart, the Gibeonites to the service of the tab- 
ernacle, Josh. ix. 27. David and Solomon devoted 
the Nethinim, or remains of the ancient Canaanites. 
Hannah consecrated her son Samuel to the Lord, to 
serve all his life in the tabernacle. The angel who 



promised Zechariah a son, (Luke i. 15.) commanded 
him to consecrate him to the Lord, and to take care 
that he observed those laws during his whole life, 
which the Nazarites (who were consecrated to God, 
though but for a time) observed during their conse- 
cration. 

The Hebrews sometimes devoted fields or cattle to 
the Lord ; after which they were no longer in their 
own power. Did not Jacob do the same ? Gen. 
xxviii. 22. If they desired to possess them again, 
they were obliged to redeem them. David, and other 
kings, often consecrated to the Lord the arms and 
spoils of their enemies, or their enemies' cities, and 
country. (See Anathema, and Devoting.) In the 
New Testament we also see consecrations. Believ- 
ers are consecrated to the Lord, as a holy race, a 
chosen people, 1 Pet. ii. 9. Bishops and other sacred 
ministers are devoted more peculiarly, &c. 

CONTRITION, sorrow for sin, attended with a 
sincere resolution of reformation. Scripture never 
uses this term in this sense, but has many equivalent 
expressions; without contrition there is no repent- 
ance, and without repentance no remission of sins. 
Ps. li. 17. 

CONVERSION, a turning from one state, man- 
ner of life, course of conduct, or principles, to an- 
other ; as from the worship of idols to that of the 
true God. In the gospel it means a change of mind, 
spirit, disposition, or behavior. So the apostles are 
advised to forsake the haughty, ambitious, and 
worldly views of men, to become like children, to 
entertain child-like sentiments, Matt, xviii. 3. Sin- 
ners are converted when they turn from sin to God, 
(Psalm li. 13.) when they forsake their old courses, 
and practise holiness in heart and life. " When thou 
art converted, strengthen thy brethren," (Luke xxii. 
32.) — when thou ait changed and recovered from thy 
feebleness of mind, to sentiments of greater fortitude, 
to feelings of stronger faith, and more devout assur- 
ance, then strengthen those who may be ready to 
sink into despondency, error, or apostasy, and en- 
deavor to prevent the prevalence of these evils over 
their minds, by recollecting those hazards to which 
thou hast felt thine own exposure. 

COOS, a small island of the Grecian Archipelago, 
at a short distance from the south-west point of Lesser 
Asia, 1 Mac. xv. 23. Paul passed it in his voyage to 
Jerusalem, Acts xxi. 1. It is now called Stan-co. 
The Coan vests, which probably were not unlike our 
gauzes, or transparent muslins, are alluded to by 
Horace and Tibullus. It was celebrated for its fer- 
tility, for the wine and silk- worms which it produced, 
and for the manufacture of silk and cotton of a beau- 
tiful texture. 

COPONIUS, the first governor of Judea, estab- 
lished by Augustus, after the banishment of Arche- 
laus to Vienne, in France. (Joseph. Ant. xviii: 1. 1.) 

COPPER, one of the primitive metals, and the 
most ductile and malleable after gold and silver. Of 
this metal and lapis calaminaris is made brass, which 
is a modern invention. There is little doubt but that 
copper is intended in those passages of our transla- 
tion of the Bible which speak of brass. Copper was 
known prior to the flood, and was wrought by Tubal- 
Cain, the seventh from Adam, Gen. iv. 22. It ap- 
pears to have been used for all the purposes for which 
we now use iron. Job speaks of bows of copper;, 
(xx. 24.) and the Philistines bound Samson with fet- 
ters of copper, Judg. xvi. 21. In Ezra viii. 27, there 
is mention of "two vessels of fine copper, precious 
as gold." The LXX, Vulg. Castalio, and Arabic, 



COR 



I 313 ] 



COR 



•ender " vases of shining brass ;" the Syriac, " vases 
of Corinthian brass." It is more probable, however, 
that this brass was from Persia, or India, which Aris- 
totle describes as being so shining, so pure, and so 
free from tarnish, that its color differs nothing from 
that of gold. Bochart takes this to be the chasmal of 
Ezek. i. 27. and the fine brass of the Revelation, (i. 
15; ii. 18.) the electrum of the ancients. (See Amber.) 
Ezekiel (xxvii. 13.) speaks of the merchants of Javan, 
Jubal, and Meshech, as bringing vessels of brass 
(copper) to the markets of Tyre. According to Bo- 
chart and Michaelis, these were people situated to- 
wards mount Caucasus, where copper mines are 
worked at this day. 

CORAL, a hard, cretaceous, marine production, 
produced by the labors of millions of insects, and re- 
sembling in figure the stem of a plant, divided into 
branches. It is of various colors, black, white, and 
red. The latter is the most valuable. It is ranked 
by the author of the book of Job, (xxviii. 18.) and by 
the prophet Ezekiel, (xxvii. 16.) among precious 
stones. 

CORBAN, a gift, a present made to God, or to his 
temple. The Jews sometimes swore by corban, or 
by gifts offered to God, Matt, xxiii. 18. Theophras- 
►us says, that the Tyrians forbade the use of such 
)aths as were peculiar to foreigners, and particularly 
of corban; which, Josephus informs us, was used 
only by the Jews. Our Saviour reproaches the Jews 
with cruelty towards their parents, in making a cor- 
ban of what should have been appropriated to their 
use. Matthew expresses this reply from children to 
their parents : " It is a gift — whatsoever thou might- 
est be profited by me," i. e. I have already devoted to 
God that which you request of me. Is not the idea 
to this effect : " That succor which you request of me 
is already devoted to God ; therefore I cannot pro- 
fane it by giving it to you, although you are my pa- 
rent, and such might be my duty ?" — Now, this might 
take place in particular articles, without the child's 
whole property being so devoted ; or it might be a 
pretence to put off the soliciting parent for the time. 
This the Jewish doctors esteemed binding ; yet easily 
remitted. The form of the vow is in express terms 
mentioned in the Talmud ; and though such a vow 
is against both nature and reason, yet the Pharisees, 
and the Tahnudists, their successors, approve it. To 
facilitate the practice of these vows, so contrary to 
natural duty, to charity and religion, to confirm and 
increase the superstition of their people, the Jewish 
doctors did not require them to be pronounced in a 
formal manner; it was of little consequence whether 
the word corban were mentioned, though this was 
most in use, provided something was said which 
came near it. They permitted even debtors to de- 
fraud their creditors, by consecrating their debt to 
God ; as if the property were their own, and not 
rather the right of their creditor. Josephus remarks, 
that, among the Jews, men and women sometimes 
made themselves corban ; that is, consecrated them- 
selves to God, or to certain offices' in his service. If 
they were afterwards desirous to cancel their obliga- 
tion, they gave to the priest, for a man fifty, for a 
woman thirty, shekels. (Antiq. iv. 4.) 

Moses speaks of different sorts of corban, or dedica- 
tions by the Hebrews, of part of their estates, which 
might be afterwards redeemed, or if it were cattle, 
sanctified, Lev. xxvii. 29. 

They who made a vow neither to eat nor drink till 
they had killed Paul, (Acts xxiii. 12.) in some sort 
made every thing corban that belonged to them : or 
40 



every thing that might supply them with meat and 
drink. 

CORBONA, the treasury of the temple, so called 
because the offerings, made in money, were there 
deposited. The Jews scrupled to deposit the money, 
returned by Judas, in the temple treasury, because it 
had been the price of blood ; and as such was esteem- 
ed impure, Matt, xxvii. 6. 

CORD. To put cords about one's reins, to gird 
one's self with a cord, was a token of sorrow and 
humiliation, Job xii. 18 ; 1 Kings xx. 31, 32. Cord 
is often used for inheritance : "I will give thee the 
land of Canaan, the cord of thine inheritance," Psalm 
cv. 11, margin. "Joseph hath a double cord," (Ezek. 
xlvii. 13. Eng. tr. two portions); which expression 
originated from the custom of measuring land with a 
cord. So Joshua distributed to every tribe a certain 
number of cords, or acres. " My cords (Eng. tr. the 
lines, that is, my lot) are fallen unto me in pleasant 
places," Psalm xvi. 6. " The waves of death com- 
passed me about," (2 Sam. xxii. 5.) Heb. the cords of 
hell (of the grave) ; alluding to the fillets bound about 
dead bodies : he also calls them the bands of death. 
The LXX, instead of cords of death, translate it, pains 
of death, Psalm xviii. 5. "The bands (cords) of the 
wicked," (Psalm cxix. 61.) the snares with which 
they catch weak people. "The cords of sin" (Prov. 
v. 22.) are the consequences of crimes and bad hab- 
its ; bad habits are, as it were, indissoluble bands, 
from which it is almost impossible to extricate our- 
selves. To stretch a cord or line about a city signifies, 
to ruin it, to destroy it entirely, to level it with the 
ground, Lam. ii. 8. The cords extended in setting 
up tents furnish several metaphors, Isa. xxxiii. 20 ; 
Jer. x. 20. 

CORIANDER, a small, round seed of an aromatic 
plant. Moses says, that the manna which fell in the 
wilderness was like coriander-seed ; its color was 
white, Exod. xvi. 31 ; Numb, xi 7. See Manna. 

CORINTH, the capital of Achaia, called ancient 
ly Ephyra, and seated on the isthmus which separates 
the Peloponnesus from Attica, and hence called bi- 
maris, on two seas. The city itself stood a little 
inland, but it had two ports, Leehreum on the west, 
and Cenchrea on the east. It was one of the most 
populous and wealthy cities of Greece ; but its riches 
produced pride, ostentation, effeminacy, and all the 
vices generally consequent on plenty. Lascivious- 
ness, particularly, was not only tolerated, hut conse- 
crated here, by the worship of Venus, and the noto- 
rious prostitution of numerous attendants devoted to 
her. Such was here the expense at which these 
pleasures were procured, as to give occasion to the 
proverb : " Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corin- 
thurn." Corinth was destroyed by the Romans, B. C. 
146 ; and during the conflagration, several metals in 
a fused state accidentally running togemer, produced 
the composition named JEs Corinthium, or Corinth- 
ian brass. It was afterwards restored by Julius 
Caesar, who planted in it a Roman colony ; but while 
it soon regained its ancient splendor, it also relapsed 
into all its former dissipation and licentiousness. 
Paul arrived at Corinth, A. D. 52, (Acts xviii. 1.) 
and lodged with Aquila and his wife Priscilla. who, 
as well as himself, were tent-makers. He preached 
in the Jewish synagogue, and converted some to the 
faith of Christ; and from hence he wrote two Epis 
ties to the Thessalonians. Finding that the Jews o. 
Corinth, instead of being benefited, opposed him 
with blasphemy, he shook his raiment, and turned to 
the Gentiles, lodging with Justus, surnamed T'ms, a 



COR 



I 314 1 



CORN 



Gentile, but one who feared God. Many of these 
embraced the faith. Paul suffered much here ; but 
continued in the neighborhood eighteen months. 

From Corinth he went to Jerusalem ; and about 
A. D. 56, wrote his First Epistle to the Corinthians, 
from Ephesus, in which he reproves some persons 
who disturbed the peace of that church ; complains 
of disorders in their assemblies, of lawsuits among 
them, and of a Christian who, by taking his father's 
wife, had committed incest with his mother-in-law. 
This letter producing in the Corinthians deep sorrow, 
great vigilance against the vices reproved, and a very 
beneficial dread of God's anger, they removed the 
scandal, and expressed determined zeal against the 
crime committed, 2 Cor. vii. 9, 10, 11. The apostle, 
having ascertained the good effects which his first 
letter had produced among the Corinthians, wrote a 
second to them, from Macedonia, probably from 
Philippi, (A. D. 57.) in which he expresses his satis- 
faction at their conduct, justifies himself, and com- 
forts them : he glories in his sufferings, and exhorts 
them to liberality. There is great probability that 
Paul visited Corinth a second time, towards the end 
of this year, (Acts xx. 2 ; and 2 Cor. xii. 14 ; xiii. 1.) 
and a third time, on his second return to Rome, 
2 Tim. iv. 20. See further on the date of these 
epistles under Paul. 

CORMORANT, an unclean water-bird, Lev. xi. 

17, &c. The Chaldee and Syriac versions render 
the Hebrew t]Ss*, fish-catcher, and the LXX, cata- 
ractes, which bird, according to Aristotle, agrees well 
enough with the cormorant. In Isa. xxxiv. 11, we 
have the cormorant in our translation, instead of the 
pelican. See Birds. 

CORN. The generic name for gram, in the Old 
Testament writings, is pi, dagan, corn, so named for 
its abundant increase. In Gen. xxvi. 12, and Matt, 
xiii. 8, grain is spoken of as yielding a hundred-fold ; 
and to the ancient fertility of Palestine all authorities 
bear testimony. Of the difference in quantity of 
produce in different parts, Wetstein has collected 
many accounts. 

It is evident from Ruth ii. 14, 2 Sam. xvii. 28, 29, 
&c. that parched corn [i. e. grain] constituted part of 
the ordinary food of the Israelites, as it still does of 
the Arabs resident in Syria. Their methods of pre- 
paring corn for the manufacture of bread were the 
following : The threshing was done either by the 
staff or the flail, (Isa. xxviii. 27, 28.) — by the feet of 
cattle, (Deut. xxv. 4.) — or by "a sharp threshing in- 
strument having teeth," (Isa. xli. 15.) which was some- 
thing resembling a cart, and drawn over the corn by 
means of horses or oxen. When the corn is threshed, 
it is separated from the chaff and dust, by throwing it 
forward across the wind, by means of a winnowing 
fan, or shovel ; (Matt. in. 12.) after which the grain is 
sifted to separate all impurities from it, Amos ix. 9 ; 
Luke xxii. 31. Hence we see that the threshing- 
floors were in the open air, Judg. vi. 11 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 

18. The grain thus obtained was commonly reduced 
to meal by the hand-mill, which consisted of a lower 
mill-stone, the upper side of which was concave, and 
an upper mill-stone, the lower surface of which was 
convex. The hole for receiving the corn was in the 
centre of the uppnr mill-stone ; and in the operation 
of grinding, the lower was fixed, and the upper made 
to move round upon it, with considerable velocity, 
by means of a handle. These mills are still in use 
in the East, and in some parts of Scotland. Dr. E. 
D. Clarke says, "In the island of Cyprus I observed 
upon the ground the sort of stones used for grinding 




corn, called querns in Scotland, common also in Lap- 
land, and in all parts of Palestine. These are the 
primeval mills of the world ; and they are still found 
in all corn countries, where rude and ancient customs 
have not been liable to those changes introduced 
by refinement. The employment of grinding with 
these mills is confined solely to females ; and the prac- 
tice illustrates the 
prophetic obser- 
vation of our Sa- 
viour, concerning 
the day of Jerusa- 
lem's destruction : 
" Two women 
shall be grinding 
at the mill ; one 
shall be taken,and 
the pther left," 
Matt. xxiv.. 41. 
Mr. Pennant, in 
his Tour to the 
Hebrides, has given a particular account of these 
hand-mills, as used in Scotland, in which he observes 
that the women always accompany the grating noise 
of the stones with their voices ; and that when ten 
or a dozen are thus employed, the fury of the song 
rises to such a pitch, that you would, without breach 
of charity, imagine a troop of female demoniacs to be 
assembled. As the operation of grinding was usual- 
ly performed in the morning at day-break, the noise 
of the females at the hand-mill was heard all over 
the city, which often awoke their more indolent mas- 
ters. The Scriptures mention the want of this noise 
as a mark of desolation in Jer. xxv. 10, and Rev. xviii. 
22. There was a humane law, that " no man shall 
take the nether or upper mill-stone in pledge, for he 
taketh a man's life in pledge," Deut. xxiv. 6. — He 
could not grind his daily bread without it. 

The close of life at mature age is compared to a 
shock of corn fully ripe ; " Thou shalt come to thy 
grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in 
(to the garner) in its season," Job v. 26. (See also 
Gen. xxv. 8, and Job xiii. 17.] Our Lord compares 
himself to a corn of wheat falling into the ground, 
but afterwards producing much fruit, John xii. 24. 
The prophet Hosea (xiv. 7.) speaks of " growing as 
the vine, and reviving as the corn ;" and we have 
seen already that the return of vegetation in the 
spring of the year, has been adopted very generally, 
as an expressive symbol of a resurrection. The 
apostle Paul uses this very simile, in reference to a 
renewed life ; " The sower sows a bare — naked — 
grain of corn, of whatever kind it be, as wheat, or 
some other grain, but after a proper time, it rises to 
light, clothed with verdure ; clothed also with a husk, 
and other appurtenances, according to the nature 
which God has appointed to that species of seed : — 
analogous to this is the resurrection of the body," &c. 
1 Cor. xv. 37. Our reference is, that if this compar- 
ison were in use among the ancients, (and a gem, in 
Montfaucon, declares its antiquity,) it could hardly 
be unknown to the Corinthians, in their learned and 
polite city, " The Eye of Greece ;" neither could it 
be well confined to the philosophers there, but must 
have been known by those to whom the apostle 
wrote, generally ; if so, then not only was the sacred 
writer justified in selecting it by way of illustration, 
but he had more reason for calling them " fools" 
who did not properly reflect on what was acknowl- 
edged and admitted among themselves, than modern 
inconsiderates have supposed ; and whatever of hai sb 



COR 



L 315 1 



CO V 



■.less may be fancied in this appellation, it was nothing 
beyond what they might both deserve and expect. 

The apostle might, no doubt, have instanced the 
power of God in the progress of vivification ; and 
might have inferred, that the same power which 
could confer life originally, could certainly restore it 
to those particles which once had possessed it. It is 
possible he has ''done this covertly, having chosen 
to mention vegetable seed, that being most obvious 
to common notice ; yet not intending to terminate 
his reference in any quality of vegetation. We find 
the same manner of expression in Menu, who, dis- 
coursing of children, says, " Whatever be the quality 
of the seed scattered in a field prepared in due sea- 
son, a plant of the same quality springs in that field, 
with peculiar visible properties. That one plant 
should be sown and another produced, cannot hap- 
pen ; whatever seed may be sown, even that pro- 
duces its proper stem. Never must it be sown in 
another man's field." By this metaphor he forbids 
adultery, as he immediately states at large. There is 
a very sudden turn of metaphor used by the apostle 
Paul, in Rom. vi. 3 — 5 : " Know ye not that so many 
of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were bap- 
tized into his death ? therefore we are buried with 
him by baptism into death — that we should walk in 
newness of life. For if we have been planted to- 
gether [with him] in the likeness of his death, we 
shall be also planted in the likeness of his resurrec- 
tion." But what has baptism to do with planting ? 
Wherein consists their similarity, so as to justify the 
resemblance here implied ? In 1 Pet. iii. 21, we find 
the apostle speaking of baptism, figuratively, as 
" saving us ;" and alluding to Noah, who long lay 
buried in the ark, as corn lies buried in the earth. 
Now, as, after having died to his former course of 
life, in being baptized, a convert was considered as 
rising to a renewed life, so, after having been sepa- 
rated from his former connections, his seed-bed, as it 
were, after having died in being planted, he was con- 
sidered as rising to renewed life also. The ideas, 
therefore, conveyed by the apostle in these verses are 
precisely the same, though the metaphors are differ- 
ent. Moreover, if it were anciently common to speak 
of a person after baptism, as rising to renewed life, 
and to consider corn also as sprouting to a renewed 
life, then we see how easily Hymeneus and Philetus 
(2 Tim. ii. 17, 18.) " concerning the truth might err, 
saying, that the resurrection was past already," in 
baptism, {quasi in planting — that is, in being trans- 
ferred to Christianity,) in which error they did little 
more than annex their old heathen notions to the 
Christian institution. The transition was extremely 
easy ; but unless checked in time, the error might 
have become very dangerous. We think this more 
likely to have been the fact respecting these errone- 
ous teachers than any allusion to vice, as death, and 
to a return to virtue, as life : which Warburton pro- 
poses, and the notion seems to have been adopted by 
Menander, who taught that his disciples obtained 
resurrection by his baptism, and so became immor- 
tal. How easily figurative language suffers, under 
the misconstructions of gross conception ! [See Bap- 
tism, where the same illustration is found. R. 

CORNELIUS, centurion of a cohort, belonging to 
the legion surnamed Italian, Acts x. He was a 
Gentile ; one who feared God ; of constant devotion, 
and much charity. His whole family served God, 
and it pleased God to favor him, in a miraculous man- 
ner, with a knowledge of the gospel, through Peter, 
from whom he received instruction. As the apostle 



way speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius 
and his family, and they were added to the Christian 
church, as the first-fruits of the Gentiles. It deserves 
notice, that Julian the Apostate reckons only two 
persons of consideration, who were converted to 
Christianity on its first promulgation : — Sergius Pau- 
lus the proconsul, and Cornelius the centurion. 
From tins reference, it is probable that Cornelius was 
a person of greater distinction than he is usually sup- 
posed to be. 

CORNER, the extremity of any thing, according 
to the Hebrews. "Ye shall not round the corners of 
your head, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy 
beard," Lev. xix. 27. — 1 Sam. xiv. 38. " Draw near, all 
ye chief (Heb. corners) of the people." " They have 
seduced Egypt, even they who are the stay [corner) 
of the tribes thereof," Isa. xix. 13. And Zeph. iii. 6. 
" I have cut off the nations, their corners are deso- 
late." The corner sometimes signifies the most dis- 
tinguished place, that part of an edifice which is most 
in sight. Zechariah, speaking of Judah, after the 
return from captivity, says, " Out of him came forth 
the corner, out of him the nail," x. 4. This tribe shall 
afford corners, heads; it shall produce the corner- 
stone, the Messiah. Corner is taken, likewise, for the 
most retired part of a house, Prov. xxi. 9. The cor- 
ner of a bed or divan (xlmos iii. 12.) is the place of 
honor. See Bed. 

CORNER-STONE, Greek ixooyowatoc, Heb. ps- 
rue, Is. xxviii. 6. Our Lord is compared in the New 
Testament to a corner-stone, in three different points 
of view. First, as this stone lies at the foundation 
and serves to give support and strength to the build- 
ing, so Christ, or the doctrine of a Saviour, is called 
axQoyttivaVog , SC. >. «3oc^Eph. ii. 20.) because this doctrine 
is the most important feature of the Christian reli- 
gion, and is the fundamental object of all the precepts 
given by the apostles and other Christian teachers. 
Further, as the corner-stone occupies an important 
and conspicuous place, Jesus is compared to it (1 Pet. 
ii. 6.) because God has made him distinguished, and 
has advanced him to a dignity and conspicuousness 
above all others. Lastly, since men often stumble 
against a projecting corner-stone, Christ is therefore 
so called, (Matt. xxi. 42.) because his gospel will be 
the cause of aggravated condemnation to those who 
reject it. *R. 

COTTAGE, see Tent. 

COTTON, a white woolly or downy substance, 
found in a brown bud, produced by a shrub, the 
leaves of which resemble those of the sycamore-tree. 
The bud, which grows as large as a pigeon's egg, 
turns black, when ripe, and divides at top into three 
parts : the cotton is as white as snow, and with the 
heat, of the sun swells to the size of a pullet's egg. 
Scripture speaks of cotton under the Hebrew name 
s>i£>, shesh, (Exod. xxv. 4.) [where the English version 
has fine linen. The Heb. shesh designates generally 
cotton, afterwards called hutz, jjia, Both words, how- 
ever, are also used of linen. The fine hyssus, a cotton 
cloth of the Egyptians, to judge of the specimens 
found on mummies, was much like the sheetings of 
the present day ; certainly not finer. R. 

COUCH, see Bed. 

COVENANT. The word testamentum is' often 
used in Latin, and Sia&^xri in Greek, to express the 
Hebrew nna, berith, which signifies covenant ; whence 
the titles Old and New Testaments are used improp- 
erly to denote the Old and New Covenant? Gram- 
marians remark that the alliance whip* we term a 
covenant is expressed in Greek by two words : (1.) 



COVENANT 



[ 316 1 



COVENANT 



When both parties are equal, so that each may stand 
upon terms, or canvass the terms of the other, pro- 
pose his own, agree or disagree, &c. the word used is 
2TN&HKH'; but, (2.) when the covenant is of that 
nature, when one party being greatly the superior, 
proposes, and the other, willing to come to agreement, 
accepts his propositions ; then the word used is 
AIA&TIJCH ; which signifies an appointment — dis- 
pensation — institution ; whereby the proposer pledges 
himself, but does not bind the acceptor, by the prop- 
ositions, till he has actually accepted them. If this 
distinction be well founded, .... then it will imme- 
diately appear, that there is great propriety in the 
title given to our " Book of the New Covenant," the 
new /ITJQHKTT ; inaccurately termed by us "the 
New Testament," since herein the proposals of God 
to man are made, and recorded ; but these proposals 
imply that the party to be benefited by them, should 
accept and appeal to them, in a personal and a bind- 
ing manner. 

There is an importance attached to the term cove- 
nant, which must justify a little further enlargement 
on it. That it sometimes signifies simply a proposal, 
the following instances will determine. 1 Kings xx. 
34. Benhadad said to Ahab, "The cities which my 
father took from thy father, I will restore," &e. Then 
said Ahab — I take thee at thy word, I accept thy 
proposals, " I will send thee away with this cove- 
nant." " And the king stood by a pillar, and made 
a covenant .... to keep the commandments of the 
Lord, with all the heart, and all the soul ; and all the 
people stood to the covenant," 2 Kings xxiii. 3. They 
agreed to the proposals made ; — they assented to 
what was required of them. This seems to be the 
import of the apostle's reasoning, 2 Tim. ii. 13. "If 
we believe not," and will not accept his proposals, 
made with a view to our believing, and acceptance 
of them, "yet he abideth faithful," and $vill strictly 
adhere to whatever he has offered, or proposed to us: 
"he cannot deny himself ;" he cannot withdraw those 
proposals to which he has invited us to accede : i. e. 
our unbelief does not diminish the good faith, or the 
perpetuity of God's offers. (See Rom. iii. 3.) Thus 
we see that the word covenant implies, (1.) an ap- 
pointment to which the respondent could agree pas- 
sively, only, by obedience ; as a covenant made with 
day and night ; (Jer. xxxiii. 20.) or with the earth, 
and the beasts of the earth, Gen. ix. 10. (2.) A law, 
a constituted regulation, and appointment ; given to 
intelligent agents. (3.) A proposal made, and offered 
to the acceptance of intelligent agents: not to be va- 
ried, or diversified by them ; but to be accepted in 
toto. (4.) Proposals made by two equal parties, 
which, after being properly canvassed and examined, 
are finally adjusted by them, and deliberately con- 
firmed. (5.) The ratification-offering ; customary on 
such occasions. 

It may be proper here to hint at the signs of cov- 
enants, i. e. memorials, things never to be looked on 
without bringing to recollection the agreement made 
on the original and primary occasion of their ap- 
pointment. (1.) Was not, perhaps, the tree of knowl- 
edge such a sign to Adam ? (2.) God says expressly 
of the rainbow, (Gen. ix. 12.) " This is the sign which 
I give of the covenant (the dispensation which I ap- 
point) between myself and all flesh. And when I 
becloud with clouds (i. e. storms, rains, &c.) the earth, 
the bow shall appear in the clouds, and I will recol- 
lect my agreement, and there shall be no deluge" to 
destroy the earth, &c. (3.) Abraham received the 
sign — seal — memorandum — of circumcision. (4.). Ja- 



cob and Laban raised "the heap of witnesses," as a 
memorial of an agreement made ; and this heap was 
not to be passed at any future time, even to the re- 
motest ages, without reminding themselves, or their 
posterity, of the original agreement thereby com- 
memorated. (5.) As such a sign the Israelites received 
circumcision, and the sabbath, Exod. xxxi. 16. The 
first covenant with the Hebrews was that made when 
the Lord chose Abraham and his posterity for his 
people ; a second covenant, or a solemn renewal of 
the former, was made at Sinai, comprehending all 
who observe the law of Moses. The new covenant, 
of which Christ is the Mediator and Author, and 
which was confirmed by his blood, comprehends all 
who believe in him, and are in his church. 

The first covenant between God and rr^in was 
made with Adam, at his creation, when he was pro- 
hibited to eat a certain fruit, Gen. ii. 17. A second 
covenant God made with man after his fall, prom- 
ising not only forgiveness, on his repentance, but also 
a Messiah, who should redeem the human race from 
the death of sin, and from the second death, Rom. v. 
12, 19. A third covenant God made with Noah, 
when he directed him to build the ark, (Gen. vi. 18.) 
and which was renewed, Gen. ix. The covenants 
between the patriarchs Adam and Noah, and their 
posterity, were general ; that made with Abraham 
was limited ; concerning that patriarch and his fam- 
ily by Isaac exclusively ; Gen. xii. 1 ; xv. 4, 5, 18. 
The seal or confirmation of it, was the circumcision 
of all the males in Abraham's family. The effects of 
this covenant appear throughout the Old Testament ; 
the coming of the Messiah is the consummation and 
end of it. The covenant of God with Adam forms 
what we call the state of nature ; that with Abraham, 
explained further under Moses, constitutes the law ; 
that ratified' through the mediation of Jesus Christ is 
the kingdom of grace. 

In common discourse, we usually say the Old and 
New Testaments ; the covenant between God and 
the posterity of Abraham ; and that which he has 
made with believers by Jesus Christ ; because these 
two covenants contain eminently all the rest, which 
are consequences, branches, or explanations of them. 
The most solemn and perfect of the covenants of 
God with men, is that made through the mediation 
of our Redeemer ; which must subsist to the end of 
time. The Son of God is the guarantee of it ; it is 
confirmed with his blood ; the end and object of it is 
eternal life, and its constitution and laws are infinitely 
more exalted than those of the former covenant. 

The prophet Jeremiah (chap, xxxiv. 18.) speaks of 
a remarkable ceremony attending a covenant. The 
Lord says, "I will give (to punishment) the men 
who have transgressed my covenant, which have not 
performed the words of the covenant which they had 
made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, 
and passed between the parts thereof." The custom 
of cutting a victim in two, of placing the several 
moieties upon two different altars, and making those 
who contracted pass between both, is well known h- 
Scripture, and in profane authors. The instance of 
the covenant made with Abraham may serve to con- 
firm this sense ; the binning lamp (the shechinah) 
passed between the separated parts ; as Abraham 
probably had already done. (See Gen. xv. 9, 10, 17.) 
It is not easy to determine, however, in what manner 
the victim was anciently divided ; whether crosswise, 
i. e. across the loins ; or lengthwise, i. e. from the 
front of the belly, through the whole length of the 
back bone, and down the spinal marrow. Tie lattei 



COVENANT 



[ 317 ] 



COVENANT 



node would be much the most expressive and sol- 
emn. May there not be an allusion to this in Heb. 
iv. 12, " The word of God is lively and efficacious, 
and more penetrating than any double-edged sword ; 
piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and 
joints and marrow?" Oh, for that sincerity of 
heart and mind, which may be found acceptable un- 
der so critical ah examination ! 

Among other descriptions of a covenant, there is 
one which demands explanation : Numb, xviii. 10, 
" The offerings I have given to thee, and thy sons 
and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever ; it 
is a covenant of salt, for ever, before the Lord." 2 
Chron. xiii. 5, " Ought you not to know that the 
Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to 
David, for ever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of 
salt ?" 

It is generally thought that salt is here made an 
emblem of perpetuity ; but the covenant of salt seems 
to refer to an agreement made in which salt was used 
as a token of confirmation. Baron du Tott says, 
" [Moldovanji Pacha] was desirous of an acquaint- 
ance with me, and seeming to regret that this busi- 
ness would not permit him to stay long, he departed, 
promising in a short time to return. I had already 
attended him half way down the staircase, when, 
stopping, and turning briskly to one of my domestics 
who followed me, 'Bring me directly,' said he, 'some 
bread and salt.' I was not less surprised at this 
fancy, than at the haste which was made to obey 
him. What he requested was brought ; when, tak- 
ing a little salt between his fingers, and putting it 
with a mysterious air on a bit of bread, he ate it 
with a devout gravity ; assuring me, that I might 
now rely on him. I soon procured an explanation 
of this significant ceremony ; but this same man, 
when become visir, was tempted to violate his oath, 
thus taken in my favor. Yet if this solemn con- 
tract be not always religiously observed, it serves, 
at least, to moderate the spirit of vengeance so natural 
to the Turks." The baron adds in a note : " The 
Turks think it the blackest ingratitude,- to forget the 
man from whom we have received food ; which is 
signified by the bread and salt in this ceremony." 
(Trav. part i. p. 214. Eng. edit.) The baron al- 
ludes to this incident in part iii. p. 36. Moldovanji 
Pacha, being ordered to obey the baron, was not 
pleased at it. " I did not imagine I ought to put any 
great confidence in the mysterious covenant of the 
bread and salt, by which this man had formerly vowed 
inviolable friendship to me." Yet he "dissembled 
his discontent," and "his peevishness only showed 
itself in his first letters to the Porte." 

It will now appear credible, that the phrase "a 
covenant of salt" alludes to some such custom in an- 
cient times ; and without meaning to symbolize very 
deeply, we take the liberty of asking, whether the 
precept, (Lev. ii. 13.) "With all thine offerings thou 
shalt offer salt," may have any reference to ideas of a 
similar nature. Did the custom of feasting at a 
covenant-making include the same, according to the 
ssntiment of the Turks hinted at in the baron's 
note ? 

We ought to notice the readiness of the baron's 
domestics, in proof that they well understood what 
was about to take place. Also, that this covenant is 
usually punctually observed ; and where not so, has a 
restraining influence on the party who has made it ; 
and his non-observance of it disgraces him. 

We proceed to give a remarkable instance of the 
power of this covenant of salt over the mind ; it 



seems to imply a something attributed to salt, which 
it is very difficult for us completely to explain, but 
which is not the less real on that account : 

" Jacoub ben Laith, the founder of a dynasty of 
Persian princes called the Saflarides, rising, like 
many others of the ancestors of the princes of the 
East, from a very low state to royal power, being, in 
his first setting out in the use of arms, no better than 
a freebooter or robber, is yet said to have maintained 
some regard to decency in his depredations, and 
never to have entirely stripped those that he robbed, 
always leaving them something to soften their afflic- 
tion. Among other exploits that are recorded of 
him, he is said to have broken into the palace of the 
prince of that country, and having collected a very 
large booty, which he was on the point of carrying 
away, he found his foot kicked something which 
made him stumble ; he imagined it might be some- 
thing of value, and putting it to his mouth, the better 
to distinguish what it was, his tongue soon informed 
him it was a lump of salt. Upon this, according to 
the morality, or rather superstition, of the country,, 
•* - here the people considered salt as a symbol and 
pledge of hospitality, he was so touched, that he left 
all his booty, retiring without taking any thing away 
with him. The next morning, the risk they had run 
of losing many valuable things being perceived, great 
was the surprise, and strict the inquiry, what could 
be the occasion of their being left. At length Jacoub 
was found to be the person concerned ; who having 
given an account, very sincerely, of the whole trans- 
action to the prince, he gained his esteem so effectu 
ally, that it might be said with truth, that it was his 
regard for salt that laid the foundation of his after- 
fortune. The prince employed him as a man of 
courage and genius in many enterprises, and finding 
him successful in all of them, he raised him, by little 
and little, to the chief posts among his troops ; so 
that, at that prince's death, he found himself possess- 
ed of the command in chief, and had such interest 
in their affections, that they preferred his interests to 
those of the children of the deceased prince, and he 
became absolute master of that province, from 
whence he afterwards spread his conquests far and 
wide." (D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orient, p. 466. Also Har- 
mer's Obs.) 

Mr. Harmer has well illustrated the phrase, " We 
were salted with the salt of the palace," (Ezra iv. 14.) 
and the reader will be pleased with his remarks : 
"It is sufficient to put an end to all conjecture, tore- 
cite the words of a modern Persian monarch, whose 
court Chardin attended some time about business. 
Rising in a wrath against an officer who had attempt- 
ed to deceive him, he drew his sabre, fell upon him, 
and hewed him in pieces, at the feet of the grand 
visir, who was standing (and whose favor the poor 
wretch courted by this deception.) And looking 
fixedly on him, and on the other great lords that 
stood on each side of him, he said, with a tone of in- 
dignation, ' I have, then, such ungrateful servants and 
traitors as these to eat my salt ! Look on this sword ; 
it shall cut off all those perfidious heads.' " It is 
clear, that this expression, " eating this prince's salt," 
is equivalent to — receive a maintenance from him. 
"It is a common expression of the natives in the East 
^Indies, ' I eat such an one's salt ;' meaning, I am fed 
by him. Tamerlane, in his Institutes, mentioning 
one Shaw Behaun, who had quitted his service, 
| joined the enemy, and fought against him, ' At 
length,' says he, ' my salt which he had eaten over- 
I whelmed him with remorse : he again threw him- 



CRA 



[ 318 ] 



CRE 



self on my mercy, and humbled himself before 
me.' " 

COVETOUSNESS. This word is sometimes 
used in a good sense, as ' to covet the best gifts,' (1 Cor. 
xii. 31.) but usually in a bad sense, to denote an inor- 
dinate desire of earthly things, especially of that 
which belongs to another. Covetousness is declared 
by the apostle to be idolatry, Col. iii. 5. 

COUNCIL is occasionally taken for any kind of 
assembly ; sometimes for that of the Sanhedrim, at 
others for a convention of pastors met to regulate 
ecclesiastical affairs. Thus the assembly of the 
apostles, &c. at Jerusalem, (Acts xv.) met to deter- 
mine whether the yoke of the law should be imposed 
on Gentile converts, is commonly reputed to be the 
first council of the Christian church. See Tribunals. 

COUNSEL. Beside the common signification of 
this word, as denoting the consultations of men, it is 
used in Scripture for the decrees of God, the orders 
of his providence. God frustates the counsels, the 
views, the designs of princes ; but " the counsels of 
the Lord stand for ever," Ps. xxxiii. 11; cvii. 11; 
Luke vii. 30. According to the LXX, Christ is call- 
ed the angel of the great counsel ; the minister, the 
executor of the great and admirable design of God, 
for the salvation of mankind, Isaiah ix. 6. 

COUNTRY, a land, or town. It is taken likewise 
for family, Ps. xcv. 7. Patria, in Greek, siguifies a 
race, a nation. The heavenly country denotes that 
residence in heaven, which is hoped for and sought 
by Christians. 

COURT. The courts belonging to the temple of 
Jerusalem were three : (1.) the court of the Gentiles, 
because the Gentiles were allowed to enter no far- 
ther ; (2.) the court of Israel, because Israelites, if 
clean, had a right of admission into it ; (3.) the court 
of the priests, where the altar of burnt-offerings stood, 
and where the priests and Levites exercised then- 
ministry. Israelites, who offered sacrifices, might 
bring then- victims to the inner part of this court, but 
could not pass a certain separation which divided it ; 
the} 7 withdrew as soon as they had delivered their 
sacrifices and offerings to the priest, or had made 
their confession, with laying their hand on the head 
of the victim, if it were a sin-offering. 

Before the temple was built, there was a court 
around the tabernacle, formed only of pillars, and of 
veils hung by cords. (See Tabernacle.) These 
courts resembled those of the Egyptian temples. 
The palaces of kings and of great men had also exten- 
sive courts, as appears from those of Solomon and of 
king Ahasuerus. (See Hocse.) The evangelists men- 
tion the high-priest's court, and Luke speaks of the 
strong armed man ivho guardeth the palace; that is, 
the armed guard, as in the feudal times, at the gates 
of baronial castles. 

Court is used for a city in Ezek. xlvii. 17, xlviii. 1, 
that is, the cities of Ennon and Netophath. In the 
Hebrew, this is frequent : including all those towns 
in which the word Hazer is combined ; as Hazer- 
Suza, the court of Suza: Hazer- Shual ; so, Hazer-a, 
Hazer-im, Hazer-oth : these names of towns signify 
courts. The courts of Jerusalem are sometimes put 
for the city. 

COURTS, Judicial, see Tribunals. 

COZBI, daughter of Zur, a prince of the Midian- 
ites, who, with others of her sex and age, seduced 
the principal Israelites to commit idolatry and impu- 
rity ; Phineas slew her and Zimri at the same time, 
Numb. xxv. 7 — 15. 

CRANE, a tall and long-necked fowl, which, ac- 



cording to Isidore, takes its name from its vo,:e, 
which we imitate in mentioning it. The prophet 
Jeremiah mentions this bird as intelligent of the sea- 
sons by an instinctive and invariable observation of 
their appointed times, viii. 7. The same thing is 
noticed by Aristophanes and Hesiod ; the latter of 
whom says, " When thou hearest the voice of the 
crane, clamoring annually from the clouds on high, 
recollect that this is the signal for ploughing, and in- 
dicates the approach of showery winter." [The 
Hebrew reads first did, swallow, and then -njy, crane ; 
our translators have either transposed the two words : 
or, what is more probable, mistaken the sense of 
them. R. 

CREATION, To Create. These terms properly 
signify a production of something out of nothing. 
The Hebrew uses the verb N"o, hard, to form, to hring 
into order, to signify creation, having no word which 
accurately expresses absolute creation out of nothing. 

CRESCEjNS, a companion of Paul, (2 Tim. iv. 
10.) who is thought by Eusebius and others to have 
preached in Gaul, and to have founded the church 
of Vienne, in Dauphiny. 

CRETE, a large island, now called Candia, in the 
Mediterranean, (1 Mac. x. 67.) almost opposite to 
Egypt ; and it may be considered as having been 
originally peopled from thence, probably by a branch 
of the Caphtorim. The Cretans affected the utmost 
antiquity, as a nation, and distinguished themselves 
as Eteocretenses, " true Cretans." Homer celebrates 
this island as famous for its hundred gates, which 
Virgil (JEneid. iii.) seems to refer to cities ; but in 
the Odyssey, Homer calls it "ninety-citied." Being 
surrounded by the sea, its inhabitants- were excellent 
sailors, and its vessels visited all coasts. They were 
also famous for archery, which they practised from 
their infancy. But the glory of Crete was Minos the 
legislator, said to be son of Jupiter and Europa, or 
rather Manueh, which was but another name for Ju- 
piter himself. Minos was the first, it is said, who 
reduced a wild people to regularity of life ; and in 
order to effect this the more completely, he retired 
during nine years into the cavern of Jupiter : which 
seems to be the same as what is related by the Hin- 
doo Puranas, that Sami Rama performed austere de- 
votion nine years in the hollow of a tree, before she 
effected her settlement. After nine years, Minos 
established religious rites : and these and other usages 
of Crete were copied by the Greeks. See Cafhtor. 

The Cretans were one of the three K's against 
whose unfaithfulness the Grecian proverb cautioned — 
Kappadocia, Kilicia, and Krete. It appears, also, that 
the character of this people for lying was thoroughly 
established in ancient times ; for in common speech, 
the expression " to Cretanize," signified to tell lies ; 
which contributes to account for that detestable 
character the apostle (Titus i. 12.) has given of the 
Cretans, that they were "always liars.''' This was not 
only the opinion of Epimenides, from whom Paul 
quotes this verse, but of Callimachus, who has the 
same words. When Epimenides adds, that " the 
Cretans are savage beasts," or fierce beasts, "and gor- 
bellies," — bellies which take a long time in being 
filled — he completes a most disgusting description. 
Polybius represents them as disgraced by piracy. 
robbery 7 , and almost every crime, and Paul charges 
Titus to rebuke them sharply, and in strong terms, 
to prevent their adherence to Jewish fables, human 
ordinances, and legal observances. 

Crete was taken by the Romans under Metellus, 
hence called Creticus, after a vigorous resistance of 



c no 



CROSs 



above two years, (A. D.66.) and, with the small king- 
dom of Cyrene, on the coast of Libya, formed a 
Roman province. In the reign of the emperor Leo, 
it had twelve bishops, subject to Constantinople. In 
the reign of Michael II. the Saracens seized it, and 
held it until, after 127 years, they were expelled by 
the emperor Phocas. It remained under the domin- 
ion of the emperor, till Baldwin, earl of Flanders, 
being raised to the throne, rewarded Bonifacio, mar- 
quis of Montserrat, with it, who sold it to the Vene- 
tians, A. D. 1194. Under their government it 
flourished greatly ; but was unexpectedly attacked 
by the Turks, A. D. 1645, in the midst of peace. 
The siege lasted 24 years, and cost the Turks 200,000 
men. It is now subject to the Turks, and, conse- 
quently, is impoverished and depopulated. In many 
places it is unhealthy. 

CRIMSON, see Purple, Scarlet. 

CRISPUS, chief of the Jewish synagogue at Cor- 
inth, was converted and baptized by Paul, (Acts 
xviii. 8.) about A. D. 52, 1 Cor. i. 14. Some affirm 
that Crispus was bishop of ^Egiua, an island near 
Athens. The Greeks observe his festival, October 4. 

CROCODILE, see Leviathan. 

CROSS, a kind of gibbet made of pieces of wood 
placed transversely ; whether crossing at right angles, 
one at the top of the other, or in the middle, or diag- 
onally, or fork -wise. The Greek aruvQu;, stauros, a 
cross, often denotes only a piece of wood fixed in 
the ground, by the Latins called palus, or vallum. 
Death by the cross was a punishment of the meanest 
slaves ; and was a mark of infjimy. This punish- 
ment was so common among the Romans, that pains, 
afflictions, troubles, &c. were called crosses ; and the 
verb cruciare was used for sufferings both of body 
and mind. Our Saviour says, that his disciple must 
take up his cross and follow him. The cross is the 
sign of ignominy and sufferings ; yet it is the badge 
and glory of the Christian. Jesus Christ is the way 
we are to follow ; and there is no way of attaining 
that glory and happiness which is promised in the 
gospel, but by the cross of Christ. The punish- 
ment of the cross was common among the Syrians, 
Egyptians, Persians, Africans, Greeks, Romans, and 
Jews. Pharaoh's chief baker was beheaded, and his 
carcass fastened to a cross, Gen. xl. 19. (Eng. trans. 
tree.) Hainan prepared a great cross, (Eng. trans. 
gallotvs,) on which to hang Mordecai, Esth. vii. 10. 
The Jews will not admit that they crucified people 
while living ; they affirm that they first put them to 
death, and then fastened them to a cross either by 
the hands or the neck. But though there are many 
instances of men thus hung on a gibbet after death, 
there are indisputable proofs of their crucifying them 
alive. The worshippers of Baal-peor, (Numb. xxv. 
4.) and the king of Ai, (Josh. viii. 22.) were hungup 
alive ; as were the descendants of Saul, by the Gibe- 
onites ; (2 Sam. xxi. 9.) and Alexander Jannasus cru- 
cified 800 of his subjects at an entertainment. 

The law ordained that persons executed should 
not be left on the cross after sun-set, because he who 
is hanged is cursed by God, DeuL xxi. 23. The 
Jews believed that the souls of those who remained 
on the gibbet without burial, enjoyed no peace, but 
wandered until their bodies were buried. This also 
was an idea of the Greeks and Romans. 

Sometimes the criminal was crucified on a tree, 
and fastened to it with cords ; and sometimes he was 
fastened with his head downwards ; as was Peter, 
from respect to his Master, Jesus Christ, not thinking 
himself worthy to be fixed to a cross in the same 



manner as he had been. Sometimes a fire was 
kindled at the foot of the cross, by the smoke and 
flame of which the sufferer might perish. The 
common way of crucifying was by fastening the 
criminal with nails, one at each hand, and one at 
both his feet, or one at each foot. Sometimes they 
were bound with cords, which, though it seems 
gentler, because it occasions less pain, was really 
more cruel, because the sufferer was hereby made to 
languish longer. Sometimes they used both nails 
and cords for fastenings ; and when this was the 
case, there was no difficulty in lifting up the per- 
son, together with his cross, he being sufficiently 
supported by the cords. Before they nailed him 
to the cross, they generally scourged him with 
whips, or leathern thongs, which was thought more 
severe, and more infamous, than scourging with 
cords. Sometimes little bones, or pieces of bones, 
were tied to the scourges, to increase the pain. 
Slaves, who had been guilty of great crimes, were 
fastened to a gibbet, or a cross; and were thus led 
about the city, and beaten. Our Saviour was loaded 
with his cross ; and, as he sunk under the burden, 
Simon, the Cyrenian, was constrained to bear it after 
him, and with him, Mark xv. 21. The criminal was 
crucified quite naked ; and the Saviour of the world, 
in all probability, was not used more tenderly than 
others who suffered this punishment, although Chris- 
tians, out of respect and modesty, represent the Re- 
deemer as decently covered, sometimes from his 
loins to his knees. 

The cross to which our Saviour was nailed, had 
the form of a T, but with the head-piece rising above 
the transverse beam. Some say it was fifteen feet 
high ; that the arms of it were seven or eight feet 
long ; that the top on which the title, or sentence of 
condemnation, was fastened, was a piece of wood 
added afterwards, with a board, on which was writ- 
ten, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." But 
this is all conjecture, lfid rather against probability, 
as it seems, from the circumstances narrated, that the 
cross was much lower ; so that a person speaking 
from it could easily be heard, that a foot soldier's 
spear could pierce the side of our Lord, and that a 
reed or cane, in addition to a person's height, could 
reach his mouth. Painters commonly represent the 
cross as lowered when our Saviour is fastened to it, 
and afterwards set upright again, and the body of 
our Saviour raised with it. But this opinion is not 
at all probable. The shaking and motion of the 
cross, together with the weight of the body, might,, 
without any thing else, have broken the hands and 
feet, and have loosened him from the cross, with 
indescribable pains. It is most probable that he was- 
nailed to the cross, as it stood already erected. 

Sometimes those who were fastened upon the cross 
lived long in that condition ; from three to nine days. 
Hence, Pilate was amazed at our Saviour's dying 
so soon, because naturally he must have lived 
longer, Mark xv. 44. The legs of the two thieves 
were broken, to hasten their death, that their bodies 
might not remain on the cross on the sabbath-day, 
and to comply with the law, which forbade the bodies 
to hang after sunset ; but among other nations, they 
were suffered to continue long ; sometimes, till they 
were devoured alive by birds and beasts of prey. 

The Hebrews did not pray for those of their na- 
tion who were crucified or hanged, at least not 
publicly in the synagogue ; nor did they permit them 
to be placed in the tombs of their families, till their 
flesh had been first consumed in the public sepul 



CRO 



[ 320 ] 



CR U 



chres. Perhaps it was for this reason that Joseph of 
Arimathea desired leave from Pilate to lay the body of 
Jesus in his own torub, that it might not be thrown 
undistinguished into the public burying-place. 

CROWN, an ornament frequently mentioned in 
Scripture, and in very common use, apparently, 
among the Hebrews. The high-priest wore a crown 
about his mitre, or the lower part of his bonnet, tied 
behind his head. It seems as if private priests, and 
even common Israelites, also, wore a sort of crown ; 
for God commands Ezekiel not to take off his crown, 
(tire, Eng. trans.) nor assume the marks of mourn- 
ing' Ezek. xxiv. 17, 23. This crown was a riband or 
rillet, which surrounded the head. When Closes 
commands the Israelites to bind the words of the 
law on their hands, and as frontlets between then- 
eyes, he alludes to the use of crowns and bracelets 
among them, Deut. vi. 8. 

Crowns are so little in use among us, that we dis- 
tinguish the supreme magistrates of countries by the 
phrase "crowned heads ;" but in the East they are 
worn on many occasions which require demonstra- 
tions of joy. (Comp. Eccles. and Job.) Job (xxxi. 
36.) speaks of binding a crown on his head, which we 
are not, we presume, to take as a royal crown, (that 
would not need binding,) but as one of those tokens 
of rejoicing which the custom of his country de- 
manded at proper opportunities. But we have this 
custom described at full length in Wisdom and Ec- 
clesiasticus : — " Let no flower of the spring pass by 
us; let us crown ourselves with rose-buds," chap. ii. 
8. " Wisdom weareth a crown, triumphing for ever," 
chap. iv. 2. " The fear of the Lord is a crown of 
rejoicing," Eccles. i. 2. These passages lead us to 
:he true import of the crown of thorns, placed by 
he Roman soldiers on the head of our Lord — it was 
\ derision of his inauguration as king of the Jews ; 
ind it was not a tarnished golden crown which they 
employed, but a prickly vegetable one ; to degrade, 
i ) a very expressive, and intendedly ridiculous, man- 
Djt, the triumphant occasion on which they thus 
bc-decked him. The use of crowns among the vic- 
to; ious athlet<z, or combatants in the games of an- 
tiquity, is well known. Newly married people of 
both sexes wore crowns, more rich and beautiful 
than those generally used, Isa. lxi. 10 ; Cant. iii. 11. 

The crown, mitre, and diadem, royal Jillet, and tiara, 
are frequently confounded. Crowns are bestowed 
on gods, kings, and princes, as marks of their "digni- 
ty. David took the crown from the god Moloch, or 
Milcom, which was of gold and enriched with 
jewels, (we Moloch.) (2 Sam. xii, 30 : 1 Chron. xx. 
2.) and the Amalekite who boasted of killing Saul, 
brought that prince's diadem, or royal fillet, to David, 
2 Sam. i. 10. Queens among the Persians wore 
diadems, Fsth. ii. 17. God says, he had put a crown 
of gold on .he head of the Jewish nation, which is 
represented as his spouse, Ezek. xvi.. 12. Kings 
used severa. diadems, when they possessed several 
kingdoms. Ptolemy, having conquered Syria, made 
his entry inti > Antioch, and put two diadems on his 
head, that of Egypt and that of Asia. In the Reve- 
lation, the ('ragon with seven heads bad seven 
crowns, one o.i each head, (xii. 3.) and the beast which 
sprung out of the sea, with ten horns, had, likewise, 
ten crowns. Lastly, the Eternal Word, the True 
and Faithful One, had manv crowns on his head, 
xix. 12. 

Crown is figuratively used to signify honor. "Ye 
are my joy and my crown," say s Paul" to the Philip- 
pians, iv. 1. Crown is used likewise for reward, be- 



cause conquerors in die public games were crowned 
with wreaths, garlands, &c. 

CRUCIFIXION, see Cross. 

CRUSE, a small vessel for holding water, and 
other liquids, 1 Sam. xxvi. 11. 

Our translators have rendered by the word cruse, 
no less than three words, which are offered by the 
Hebrew ; and which, no doubt, describe different 
utensils ; though, perhaps, all may be taken as ves- 
sels for the purpose of containing liquid. The first 
occurs, 1 Sam. xxvi. 11. David, when in Saul's 
tent, would not smite him, but carried off his spear, 
and his cruse (tsappachath) of water. That this was 
a small vessel, not a capacious cistern, is evident ; 
that it was a personal appendage to Saul, appears 
from its being readily recognized as belonging to 
him. Probably, as the spear was royal, so was the 
water-vessel. However, it is certain it was not large. 
In 1 Kings xvii. 12, the same word is used for the 
widow's cruse of oil. So also 1 Kings xix. 20. — 
We read also, 1 Kings xiv. 3, " Take in thy hands . . 
a cruse of honey;" but here the word is different, 
(bakbuk debash,) because, honey not being, by a great 
deal, so fluid as water, a different vessel might con- 
tain it; this should, most properly, be rendered ajar 
or pot of honey. In 2 Kings ii. 20, Elisha says, 
"Bring me a new cruse" (tselochith). This vessel is 
described by a word different from either of the for- 
mer ; and one which, in 2 Chron. xxxv. 13, appears 
to denote a vessel in which the sacrifices were boiled ; 
but elsewhere, a vessel — a dish, brought to table, 
containing food, 2 Kings xxi. 13 : Prov. xix. 24 ; 
xxvi. 15. Perhaps this might answer to our bowl, 
or porringer. See Dish, and Kneading Troughs. 

Now, it seems to be most probable, that as Saul 
(like Elijah) was journeying, he took with him such 
vessels as are customarily used by those who now 
journey in the East ; and, as the widow in Sarepta 
is described as being reduced to the very extremity 
of famine, we may conclude that the narrower, the 
smaller, the more diminutive, and the less capacious, 
were her cruse, the better it agrees with the handful 
of meal, and with the other circumstances of her 
situation and history. 




To those acquainted with the shape and nature of 
the Florentine flasks of oil, one of the above figures 
(a) will appear a close resemblance of them ; and as 
there is, probably, a reason, in the nature of that com- 
modity, for making the flask with a neck so long 
and so narrow, if the same reason hold in J udea, 
the same would be the shape of the Jewish flasks. 
Moreover, as this is the shape of the water-flasks 
now used by travellers in the East, it may well rep- 
resent the ancient tsappachath, which our translators 
have rendered cruse. The reader will observe the 
wicker case to this flask ; which we may suppose, in 
the instance of Saul's, was of superior materials, or 
more ornamented than usual, by way of denoting in 



CHRIST FROM THE CROSS. 



I 



CUB [ 32] ] CUP 



employment by a royal personage. But, as it must 
be admitted that it might be of another shape, we 
have in our engraving a vessel differently shaped, 
(d) which likewise is used by travellers in the East, 
to contain water for personal accommodation ; and 
the ornaments on which might easily be rendered 
royal, and even superb. Pococke says, " If they go 
long journeys, they have such vessels for containing 
water as are represented in fig. (b) and (c) which 
they use in the journey to Mecca. 

To CRY. This word is used in several senses. 
"The blood of Abel crieth from the ground," where 
it was spilt, Gen. iv. 10. " The cry of Sodom as- 
cended up to heaven," xviii. 20. The cries of the 
Israelites, oppressed by the Egyptians, rose up to 
the throne of God, Exod. iii. 9. "He looked for 
judgment, but behold oppression ; for righteousness, 
but behold a cry," Isa. v. 7. " If my land cry against 
me, or the furrows likewise thereof complain," says 
Job, xxxi. 38. The force of these expressions is 
such, that any explanation would only weaken them. 

CRYSTAL. The Hebrew Kerech is rendered by 
our translators, crystal, (Ezek. i. 22.) frost, (Gen. 
xxxi. 40, &c.) and ice, Job vi. 16, &c. The word 
primarily denotes ice, and it is given to a perfectly 
transparent and hyaline gem, from its resemblance 
to this substance. 

CUBIT, a measure used among the ancients, and 
which the Hebrews call ammdh. A cubit was origi- 
nally the distance from the elbow to the extremity 
of the middle finger ; which is the fourth part of a 
well-proportioned man's stature. The Hebrew cu- 
bit, according to bishop Cumberland, and M. Pel- 
letier, is twenty-one inches; but others fix it at 
eighteen. The Talmudists observe, that the Hebrew 
cubit was larger, by one quarter, "than the Roman. 
It is thought that there were two sorts of cubits 
among the Hebrews, one sacred, the other common ; 
the sacred containing three feet, the common, a foot 
and a half. Moses (Numb. xxxv. 4.) assigns to the 
Levites 1000 sacred cubits of land round about their 
cities ; and in the next verse he gives them 2000 
common ones. The two columns of brass, in Solo- 
mon's temple, are reckoned eighteen cubits high, in 
1 Kings vii. 15, and in 2 Chron. iii. 15, thirty -five 
cubits. (See Boaz.) Other writers, however, allow 
the sacred cubit to exceed the common cubit by only 
a hand's breadth. They suppose Moses to speak of 
the common cubit, when he describes it as the 
measure of a man's arm folded inward ; (Deut. iii. 
11^) and that the sacred cubit was a hand's breadth 
longer than this, as Ezek. xliii. 13. The very learned 
and ingenious Dr. Arbuthnot says, that to him it 
seems plain, that the Jews used two sorts of cubits, 
a sacred one, and a profane or common one ; for in 
Deut. iii. 11. the bed of Og is said to have been nine 
cubits long, and four cubits broad, after the cubit of 
a man. But (Ezek. xl. 5.) Ezekiel's reed is said to 
be six cubits long, by the cubit and a hand-breadth ; 
whence it appears, that the larger cubit, by which 
the reed was measured, was longer than the common 
one, by a hand-breadth, or three inches. But, not- 
withstanding these reasons, Calmet believes that 
there was but one cubit among the Hebrews, from 
the exodus to the Babylonish captivity ; and that 
this was the Egyptian cubit, the measure of which 
was taken, some years ago, from the old standards 
extant at Grand Cairo ; and that only after the cap- 
tivity, Scripture notices two sorts of measures to 
distinguish the ancient Hebrew cubit from that of 
Babylon, which the captives had used during their 
41 



abode in that city. On this, he thinks, is grounded 
the precaution of Ezekiel in observing, that the 
cubit he is speaking of is the true ancient cubit, 
larger by a hand's breadth than the common cubit. 

CUCKOO, an unclean bird, Lev. xi. 16. We are 
not certain of the bird intended by Moses under this 
name ; the strength of the versions is in favor of the 
sea-meio, or gull. Geddes renders, the horn-owl," 
but we incline to the opinion of Shaw, who under- 
stands it of the rhaad, or sqf-sqf, a granivorous and 
gregarious bird, which wants the hinder toe ; though 
we confess we see no reason for the exclusion of 
this bird by Moses. See Birds. 

CUCUMBER, a vegetable very plentiful in the 
East, especially in Egypt, (Numb. xi. 5.) where they 
are esteemed delicacies, and form a great part of the 
food of the lower class of people, especially during 
the hot months. [The dinb>p, kishdim, of Numb. xi. 
5, is the Egyptian cucumber, the Cucumis chate of 
Linnaeus, similar in form to our cucumber, but larger, 
being usually a foot in length. It is described by 
Hasselquist as greener, smoother, softer, sweeter, 
and more digestible than our cucumber. (Travels, 
p. 530, Germ, ed.) He also says, that it grows in 
perfection around Cairo, especially after the inunda- 
tions of the Nile. In other parts of Egypt it is less 
cultivated, because it does not succeed as well. They 
are not watery, but rather of a firm substance, like 
melons, with a sweetish and refreshing taste. In 
summer they are brought upon the tables of the 
great, and of the Europeans in Egypt, as the best 
and most pleasant refreshment, and from which no 
ill consequences are to be apprehended. R. 

CUD, the food deposited in the first stomach in 
cattle, and some other animals, for the purpose of 
rumination, i. e. of being chewed again, when it re- 
turns upwards, after having been swallowed. Ani- 
mals not chewing the cud were prohibited as food 
to the Hebrews, Deut. xiv. 6 — 8. See Animals. 

CUMMIN, a plant much like fennel ; and which 
produces blossoms and branches in an umbellated 
form. Our Lord reproved the scribes and Pharisees 
for so very carefully paying tithe of mint, anise, 
and cummin, and yet neglecting good works, and 
more essential obedience to God's law, Matt, 
xxiii. 23. 

CUP. This word is taken in Scripture . both in 
a proper and in a figurative sense. In a proper 
sense, it signifies a common cup, such as is used for 
drinking out of at meals ; or a cup of ceremony, as 
used at solemn and religious meals ; as at the pass- 
over, when the father of the family pronounced cer- 
tain blessings over the cup, and, having tasted it, 
passed it round to the company and his whole family, 
who partook of it. In a figurative sense, cup gene- 
rally imports afflictions or punishments : " Stand up, 
O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the 
Lord the cup of his fury," Isaiah li. 17. (See Psalm 
lxxv. 8.) In the same sense, men are represented as 
drunk with sorrow, with afflictions, with the wine 
of God's wrath ; which expressions are consequences 
following this first metaphor of a cup. It is de- 
rived from the custom observed at entertainments for 
the guests to drink round out of the same cup. Such 
persons as refused to drink in their turn at feasts, 
were not endured: "Let him drink or begone," was 
a kind of proverb. Cup denotes, likewise, share or 
portion, (Psalm xvi. 5.) because at meals each had 
his 'cup. Or the prophet alludes to those cups which 
were drunk by every one in his turn : "I will have 
no share in the inheritance, the feasts, sacrifices, por- 



cus 



[ 322 ] 



CUSH 



dons, society of the wicked ; God alone is sufficient 
i)r me ; he is my portion and my cup ; I desire notli- 
ng further." 

Cup of Blessing (1 Cor. x. 16.) is that which 
was blessed in entertainments of ceremony, or 
solemn services, out of which the company drank 
all round. Or a cup over which God was blessed 
for having furnished its contents ; — and occasionally, 
for having afforded cause, as well as means, of re- 
joicing. Our Saviour, in the last supper, blessed the 
cup, and gave it to each of his disciples to drink, 
Luke xxii. 20. 

Cup of Salvation (Ps. cxvi. 13.) is a cup of 
thanksgiving, of blessing the Lord for his mercies. 
We see this practice where the Jews of Egypt, in 
their festivals for deliverance, offered cups of salva- 
tion. The Jews have at this day cups of thanksgiv- 
ing, which are blessed, in their marriage ceremonies, 
and in entertainments made at the circumcision of 
their children. Some commentators believe " the 
cup of salvation" to he a libation of wine poured on 
the victim sacrificed on thanksgiving occasions, ac- 
cording to the law of Moses, Exod. xxix. 40. 

Cup of Joseph, by which, according to the Eng- 
lish translation, he is said to have divined, Gen. 
xliv. 5. From customs still used in the East, it 
seems probable that this, instead of being a cup by 
which to divine, was a cup of distinction, or one pe- 
culiar to the governor, which had been presented, 
as they now are in some parts, by the citizens whom 
he governed. See under Joseph. 

CURSE. God denounced his curse against the 
serpent which had seduced Eve, (Gen. iii. 14.) and 
against Cain, who had imbued his hands in his 
brother Abel's blood, iv. 11. He also promised to 
bless those who should bless Abraham, and to curse 
those who should curse him. The divine maledic- 
tions are not merely imprecations, nor are they im- 
potent wishes ; but they carry their effects with 
them, and are attended with all the miseries they 
denounce or foretell. 

Holy men sometimes prophetically cursed par- 
ticular persons ; (Gen. ix. 25 ; xlix. 7 ; Deut. xxvii. 
15 ; Josh. vi. 26.) and history informs us, that these 
imprecations had their fulfilment ; as had those of 
our Saviour against the barren fig-tree, Mark xi. 21. 
But such curses are not consequences of passion, 
impatience, or revenge ; — they are predictions, and 
therefore not such as God condemns. No one shall 
presume to curse his father or his mother, on pain 
of death ; (Exod. xxi. 17.) nor the prince of his peo- 
ple; (xxii. 28.) nor one that is deaf; (Lev. xix. 14.) 
whether a man really deaf be meant here, or one 
who is absent, and therefore cannot hear what is said 
against him. Blasphemy, or cursing of God, is pun- 
ished with death, Lev. xxiv. 10, 11. Our Lord pro- 
nounces blessed those disciples who are (falsely) 
loaded with curses ; and requires his followers to 
bless those who cm - se them ; to render blessing for 
cursing, &c. Matt. v. 11. 

The rabbins say, that Barak cursed and excom- 
municated Meroz, who dwelt near the brook Ki- 
shon, but who came not to assist Israel against Jabin. 
Wherefore Barak excommunicated him by the sound 
of 400 trumpets, according to Judg. v. 23. But Me- 
roz is more probably the name of a place. See 
Anathema, Devoting. 

I. CUSH, eldest son of Ham, and father of Nim- 
rod, Gen. x. 8. His sons were Seba, Havilah, Sab- 
tah, Raamah, Sabtecha, and Nimrod, ver. 7. 

II. CUSH, and CUSHAN, the countries peopled 



by the descendants of Cush, and generally called 
Ethiopia, in the English Bible, as though but one 
place were intended. Such, however, is not the 
fact, and a want of attention to this will involve 
some passages of Scripture in inextricable confusion. 

[Commentators diner exceedingly in respect to 
the countries which are included under the name of 
Cush, or Ethiopia. Bochart every where understands 
the southern parts of Arabia ; (Phaleg. iv. 2.) Ge- 
senius affirms that Cush, and all the tribes connected 
with this name, are to be sought only in Africa. 
(Lex. art. 012.) Michaelis supposed that both the 
African Ethiopia and southern Arabia were intended. 
(Spicileg. i. 143, seq.) To this opinion Rosenmuller 
also assents ; (Bib). Geog. iii. p. 154.) and adds, that 
in a wider sense, the Hebrews designated by the name 
Cush all southern countries, or the torrid zone, with 
their inhabitants, so far as these were of a black or 
tawny color, — in an indefinite extent, from west to 
east. He supposes, too, that if the Hebrews had any 
knowledge of the countries around the Indus and 
Ganges, which we now call the East Indies, they 
also included all these regions under the name Cush; 
i. e. they employed this name generally and indefi- 
nitely, just as the Greeks did Ethiopia, and as we do, 
at the present day, the term East Indies. Mr. Bry- 
ant supposes the Scripture to mention three different 
countries of this name, viz. in Africa, in southern 
Arabia, and the third comprehending the regions of 
Persis, Chusistan, and Susiana. (Mythology, vol. iii. 
p. 180 ; p. 175, seq.) As this last opinion is the more 
consonant, both with the Bible and with profane his- 
tory, it will be proper here to point out the grounds 
on which it rests. 

1. Cush, the oriental Cush, or Ethiopia, is men- 
tioned by Herodotus ; (vii. 70.) and Zephaniah mani- 
festly alludes to it, when he speaks of the return of 
Judah from captivity: (iii. 10.) "From beyond the 
rivers of Cush (Ethiopia), my suppliants, even the 
daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering." 
The principal of these rivers were, of course, the 
Ulai, Kur, Chobar, and Choaspes ; all eastern 
branches of the Tigris ; near which were the chief 
places of the captivity. (Bryant's Mythol. iii. p. 181.) 
Cholchis was also included in this oriental Cush, or 
Ethiopia ; for Jerome mentions St. Andrew's preach- 
ing the gospel in the towns upon the two Cholchic 
rivers, the Apsarus and Phasis ; and calls the natives 
Ethiopes interiores ; he also relates the same circum- 
stance of Matthias, and calls the country altera Ethi- 
opia. (Hieron. de Scriptoribus ecclesiast.) Many 
other notices to the same effect from classic authors 
are quoted by Mr. Bryant, as above cited. Besides 
this, Moses Choronensis, a native of Armenia, who 
wrote, in the fifth century, a history of that country, 
and also a geography still extant, includes all the 
country east of the Tigris, from the Caspian sea to 
the Persian gulf, under the name of Cush. He calls 
Media, Chushi-Capcoch ; Elyniais, Chushi-Chora- 
san ; Persia, Chushi-Nemroz ; and under Elymais 
he reckons a province named Chusastan. (Ed. 
Winston, p. 363.) This province of Chusastan, or 
Chusistan, or Khosistan, corresponds to the ancient 
Susiana, is bounded on the south by the Persian 
gulf, and on the west and south-west by the Tigris, 
which separates it from the Arabian Irak ; and its 
name is no other than the ancient Cush with a Per- 
sian termination. (See sir R. K. Porter's map of 
Persia in his Travels ; also in Rosenmuller's Bib. 
Geog. vol. i.) As a still further illustration, we may 
add, that the country called nno, Cuthah, in 2 Kings 



CUSH 



GUSH 



xvii. 24, where the king of Assyria is said to have 
transported from Babylon, and Cuthah, and Ava, and 
Hamath, colonists into the cities of Samaria, can 
hardly be any other than this oriental Cush; the 
name Cuthah, or Cuth, being only the Aramaean mode 
of pronouncing Cush; since the letters shin and 
tau were by them often thus interchanged ; as in 
the name -nipN, Ashur, or Assyria, which they pro- 
nounced -iinN, Athur, or Aturia. (See under Assyria.) 
From the fact of its being mentioned along with Baby- 
lon, it is evidently a country lying eastward of Pales- 
tine, and the coincidence of the name leaves little room 
to doubt its identity with the oriental Cush, as above 
described. To this country, then, we must assign 
the river Gihon. (See Stuart's Heb. Chrestomathy 
on Gen. ii. 13.) 

2. Cush, as employed by the Hebrews, included 
the southern parts of Arabia, principally along the 
coasts of the Red sea ; since there are several pas- 
sages of Scripture which apply to no other coun- 
try ; and least of all to the African Ethiopia, or Abys- 
sinia. From this country originated Nimrod, who 
conquered Babel, Gen. x. 8, seq. The Ethiopian 
woman, whom Moses married during the march of 
the Israelites through the Arabian desert, can hardly 
be supposed to have come from the distant Abys- 
sinia, but rather from the adjacent southern Arabia, 
Num. xii. 1. When the prophet Habakkuk says, 
(iii. 7.) " I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction ; and. 
the [tent-]curtains of the land of Midian did trem- 
ble," those whom he addressed surely did not 
think of the distant African Ethiopia, but of the 
parts adjacent to Midian, i. e. southern Arabia. So 
in 2 Chron. xxi. 16, among the enemies of the He- 
brews are mentioned, after the Philistines, the Ara- 
bians, who dwelt near, by the side of the Cushites, 
or Ethiopians; this cannot well apply -to the African 
Ethiopians, who were separated from Arabia by the 
Red sea and wide deserts. In like manner, when it 
is said, in 2 Chron. xiv. 9, that Zerah, king of Ethio- 
pia, made an incursion into Judea as far as Mare- 
shah, we can hardly suppose him to come from the 
African Ethiopia ; for in that case he must first have 
conquered Egypt ; of which there is no mention. 
It is, therefore, more probable, that he was the king 
of an Arabian tribe ; who might more easily come in 
contact with the king of Judah. Moreover, in wri- 
ters of the fifth century, the Homerites, or Hamyar- 
ites, a people who always inhabited the south of Ara- 
bia, are called Cushites and Ethiopians. (Asseman- 
ni, Biblioth. Orient, torn. iii. pt. ii. p. 568.) Hence 
the Chaldee paraphrast Jonathan was not far out of 
the way, when he translates the word Cush in Gen. 
x. 6, by Arabia ; as also the paraphrast of the Chroni- 
cles, 1 Chron. i. 8, 9. *R. 

3. Cush, Ethiopia, south of Egypt, or Ethiopia 
propei-, now generally named Abyssinia, which name 
the Arabians derive from Habasch, a son of Cush. 
This Habasch is not mentioned in the Bible, nor the 
Cush from whom the Mahometans suppose him to 
be descended ; for the Scripture Cush was brother 
of Canaan, and father of Nimrod, Seba, Sabtah, Ha- 
vilah, Raamah, and Sabtecha ; whereas, the Arabians 
make Cush the father of Habasch to be son and not 
brother of Canaan ; and certainly it is probable, that 
Cush the father of Nimrod, &c. who dwelt in Ara- 
bia, is different from Cush the son of Canaan, who 
peopled Ethiopia proper. Ethiopia proper is de- 
scribed in the following passages : " I will make 
Egypt waste, from Migdol to Syene," (Assouan, on 
the confines of Ethiopia,) Ezek. xxix. 10, marg. and | 



Jer. xiii. 23, "Can the Ethiopian change his 
skin?" Jeremiah joins the Cushim with the Liby- 
ans ; Daniel, (xi. 43.) which can be naturally ex- 
plained only of the Ethiopians and Abyssinians ; 
also Ezekiel, xxx. 4, 5. Queen Candace's eunuch 
was of the same country. In all these passages it 
appears that Cush comprehends not only Ethiopia, 
above Syene and the Cataracts, but likewise a part 
of Thebai's, or Upper Egypt. Ahasuerus (Esther i. 
1 ; viii. 9.) reigned from the Indies to Ethiopia, that 
is, to Abyssinia; for Herodotus says, this country 
paid tribute to Darius son of Hystaspes. Isaiah says, 
(chap. xlv. 14.) "The labor of Egypt, and merchan- 
dise of Ethiopia, and of the Sabeans, men of stature, 
shall come over to thee, and they shall be thine." 
Here, says Mr. Bruce, the several nations are dis- 
tinctly and severally mentioned in their places, but 
the whole meaning of the passage would have been 
lost, had not the situations of these nations been per- 
fectly known ; or had not the Sabeans been men- 
tioned separately ; for both the Sabeans and the Cush- 
ites were certainly Ethiopians. The meaning of the 
verse is, that the fruit of the agriculture of Egypt, 
which is wheat; the commodities of the negro, gold, 
silver, ivory, and perfumes, would be brought by 
the Sabean shepherds, their carriers, and a nation 
of great power, who shall join themselves with you. 
Again, Ezekiel says, (chap. xxx. 8, 9.) "And they 
shall know that I am the Lord, when I liave set a 
fire in Egypt, and all her helpers shall be destroyed." 
"In that day shall messengers go forth from me in 
ships, to make the careless Ethiopians afraid." Now 
Nebuchadnezzar was to destroy Egypt (Ezek. xxix. 
10.) from the frontiers of Palestine to the mountains 
above Atbara, where the Cushite dwelt. Between 
this and Egypt is a great desert ; the country beyond 
it and on both sides was possessed by half a million 
of men. The Cushite, or negro merchant, was se- 
cure, under these circumstances, from any insult by 
land : as they were open to the sea, and had no de- 
fender, messengers, therefore, in ships, or a fleet, had 
easy access to them, to alarm and keep them at home, 
chat they did not fall into danger by marching into 
Egypt against Nebuchadnezzar, or interrupting the 
service on which God had sent him. But this does 
not appear from translating Cush, Ethiopian ; the 
nearest Ethiopians to Nebuchadnezzar, the most 
powerful and most capable of opposing him, were 
the Ethiopian shepherds of the Theba'id, and these 
were not accessible to ships ; and the shepherds so 
posted near to the scene of destruction to be com- 
mitted by Nebuchadnezzar, were enemies to the 
Cushites Jiving in towns, and they had repeatedly 
themselves destroyed them, and, therefore, had no 
temptation to be other than spectators. (Bruce, 
Travels, vol. i. p. 107.) 

These distinctions are of greater importance than 
it may at first appear ; because, by attributing to one 
country, called Cush, what properly belongs to an- 
other Cush, at a considerable distance from the for- 
mer, much confusion ensues ; and confusion, too, of 
a nature not easily remedied. It should be, how- 
ever, remembered, that all ancient writers have at 
least equal confusion in their descriptions of Ethio- 
pia, (Cush,) and arising from the same cause — the 
different families of the Cushites, which, by various 
removals, inhabited these places, so widely separated 
from each other. 

We should not close this article without noticing 
the rivers of Cush, (Ethiopia, Eng. trans.) men- 
tioned in Isa. xviii. 1, although it is not practicable, 



CUT 



[ 324 ] 



CUTTINGS 



within the limits prescribed by this work, to enter 
into a critical examination of the prophecy. Mr. 
Taylor has devoted two or three Fragments to the 
subject, and he arrives at the following conclusions : 

1. ) The rivers of Cush are the branches of the Nile. 

2. ) The object of the prophecy is to excite the Nu- 
bians and Ethiopians to send gifts to mount Zion, in 
honor of Jehovah ; which they might as easily do, 
as confederate with Hoshea, king of Israel. (3.) 
The people to whom it is addressed are the Nubians 
and Ethiopians, in their own country ; though at 
this time their king was advancing toward the pos- 
session of Egypt. (4.) The history to ivhich it belongs 
is that of the extension of the Ethiopian power over 
Egypt, and the silent termination of it. (5.) The 
person ivho sends the messengers. The prophet him- 
self sends to the southern Egyptians ; the southern 
Egyptians send to Nubia, which Nubia is the nation 
to which the message is ultimately addressed. If 
this representation be just, the restoration of the 
Jews to their own land, by any western power, is 
not the application of it. 

CUTHITES, a people who dwelt beyond the 
Euphrates, and were from thence transplanted into 
Samaria, in place of the Israelites, who had before 
inhabited it. They came from the land of Cush, or 
Cutha ; their first settlement being in the cities of 
the Medes, subdued by Shalmaneser, and his prede- 
cessors. (See Cush.) The Israelites were substi- 
tuted for them in those places. On their arrival in 
Samaria, the Cuthites resumed the worship of the 
gods they had adored beyond the Euphrates. The 
Lord, being hereby provoked, sent lions among them, 
which destroyed them. This being reported to 
Esarh addon, king of Assyria, he appointed an Isra- 
elitish priest to instruct them in that worship which 
was pleasing to God ; but the people, thinking they 
might reconcile their old superstitions with the wor- 
ship of the God of Israel, worshipped the Lord and 
their false gods together, and made of the lowest of 
the people priests of the high-places. They con- 
tinued this practice long, but afterwards forsook 
idols, and adhered to the law of Moses, as the Sa- 
maritans, then descendants, continue to do. When 
the Jews returned from their captivity, the Samari- 
tans desired to assist them in rebuilding the temple, 
(Ezra iv. 1, 2.) but Zerubbabel, and Jeshua son of 
Jozedek, with the elders of Israel, answered that 
they could not grant their request ; the king of 
Persia having given permission to Jews only to 
build a temple to the Lord. Hence it appears, 
that the Cuthites had hitherto no temple in their 
country ; but that in each city they worshipped God, 
and, perhaps, idols in consecrated places. Josephus 
informs us, that they did not build a common tem- 
ple on mount Gerizim till the reign of Alexander 
the Great. See Samaritans. 

CUTTINGS in the Flesh. There has been much 
conjecture as to the reason for which the priests of 
Baal " cut themselves, after their manner, with knives, 
and with lancets, till the blood gushed out upon 
them," 1 Kings xviii. 28. This seems, by the his- 
tory, to have been after Elijah had mocked them, or 
while he was mocking them, and had worked up 
their fervor and passions to the utmost height. Mr. 
Harmer has touched lightly on this circumstance, 
but has not set it in so clear a view as it seems to be 
capable of, nor has he given very cogent instances.. 
It may be taken as an instance of earnest entreaty, 
of conjuration, by the most powerful marks of affec- 
tion ; q. d. " Dost thou not see, O Baal ! with what 



passion we adore thee ? — how Ave give thee most de- 
cisive tokens of our affection ? We shrink at no 
pain, we decline no disfigurement, to demonstrate 
our love for thee ; and yet thou answerest not ! By 
every token of our regard, answer us ! By the freely 
flowing blood we shed for thee, answer us!" &c. 
They certainly demonstrated their attachment to 
Baal ; but Baal did not testify his reciprocal attach- 
ment to them, in proof of his divinity ; which was 
the point in dispute between them and Elijah. Ob- 
serve how readily these still bleeding cuttings would 
identify the priests of Baal at the subsequent slaugh- 
ter; and how they tended to justify that slaughter; 
being contrary to the law, that ought to have gov- 
erned the Hebrew nation ; as we shall presently see. 
As the demonstration of love, by cuttings made in 
the flesh, still maintains itself in the East, a few in- 
stances may be, at least, amusing to European read- 
ers, without fear of its becoming fashionable among 
us: "But the most ridiculous and senseless method 
of expressing their affection is, their singing certain 
amorous and whining songs, composed on purpose 
for such mad occasions ; between every line of which 
they cut and slash their naked arms, with daggers ; 
each endeavoring, in their emulative madness, to ex- 
ceed the other by the depth and number of the 
wounds he gives himself. (A lively picture this, of 
the singing, leaping, and self-slashing priests of Baal !) 
Some Turks, I have observed, when old, and past 
the follies which possessed their youth, to show their 
arms, all gashed and scarred from wrist to elbow; 
and express a great concern, but greater wonder, at 
their past simplicity." The "oddness of the style 
invited me to render some of the above-named songs 
into English : 

Could I, dear ray of heavenly light, 
Who now behind a cloud dost shine, 

Obtain the blessing of thy sight, 
And taste thy influence all divine ; 

Thus would I shed my warm heart's blood, 

As now I gash my veiny arm ; 
Wouldst thou but like the sun think good 

To draw it upward by some charm. 

Another runs thus : 

O, lovely charmer, pity me ! 

See how my blood does from me fly ! 
Yet were I sure to conquer thee, 

Witness it, Heaven ! I'd gladly die." 

Aaron Hill's Travels, p. 108. 

This account is confirmed by De la Motraye, who 
giv.es a print of such a subject. This custom of 
cutting themselves is taken, in other places of Scrip- 
ture, as a mark of affection : so, Jer. xlviii. 37 : " Ev- 
ery head shall be bald, every beard clipped, and upon 
all hands cuttings ; and upon the loins sackcloth ;" 
as tokens of excessive grief, for the absence of those 
thus regarded. So, chap. xvi. ver. 6: "Both the 
great and the small shall die in the land ; they shall 
not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, 
nor cut themselves," in proof of their affection, and 
expression of their loss ; " nor make themselves bald 
for them," by tearing their hair, &c. as a token of 
grief. So, chap. xli. 5 : " There came from Samaria 
fourscore men having their beards shaven, and their 
clothes rent ; and having cut themselves ; with offer- 
ings to the house of the Lord." So, chap, xlvii. 5 . 



CYM 



[ 325 ] 



CYR 



" Baldness is come upon Gaza : Askelon is cut off, 
with the residue of her valleys ; how long wilt thou 
cut thyself?" rather, perhaps, how deep ? or to what 
length wilt thou cut thyself? All these places in- 
clude the idea of painful absence of the party belov- 
ed. Cuttings for the dead had the same radical idea 
of privation. The law says, Lev. xix. 28, and Deut. 
xiv. 1 : "Ye are the children of the Lord your God ; 
ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness 
between your eyes, for the dead," i. e. restrain such 
excessive tokens of grief: sorrow not as those with- 
out hope — if for a dead friend ; but if for a dead idol, 
as Cahnet always takes it — then it prohibits the idol- 
atrous custom, of which it also manifests the antiqui- 
ty. Mr. Harmer has properly referred " the wounds 
in the hands" of the examined prophet, (Zech. xiii. 6.) 
to this custom : — the prophet denies that he gave 
himself these wounds in token of his affection to an 
idol ; but admits that he had received them in token 
of affection to a person. It is usual to refer the ex- 
pression of the apostle (Gal. vi. 17 : "I bear in my 
body the marks, stigmata, of the Lord Jesus,") to those 
imprinted on soldiers by their commanders ; or to those 
imprinted on slaves by their masters ; but would there 
be any impropriety in referring them to tokens of affec- 
tion towards Jesus ? q. d. " Let no man take upon 
him to [m'olest, fatigue] trouble me by questioning 
my pretensions to the apostleship, or to the charac- 
ter of a true lover of Jesus Christ, as some among 
you Galatians have done ; for I think my losses, my 
sufferings, my scars, received in the fulfilment of my 
duty to him, are tokens sufficiently visible to every 
man who considers them, of my regard to him, 
for whose sake I have borne, and still bear them : I 
shall, therefore, write no more in vindication of 
my character, in that respect, however it may be 
. impugned." 

CYAMON, a place opposite to Esdraelon, (Judith 
vii. 3. Gr.) perhaps the same as Camon, placed by 
Eusebius in the great plain, six miles from Legio, 
north. 

I. CYAXARES I. son of Phraortes, succeeded 
his father in the kingdom of the Medes, and. was suc- 
ceeded by Astyages, otherwise called Ahasuerus. 
Cyaxares began to reign about A. M. 3391, died about 
A. M. 3430. 

II. CYAXARES II. son and successor of Asty- 
ages, observing the progress of Evii-merodach, king 
of the Assyrians, or Belshazzar his son, called Cyrus 
his nephew to his assistance, and attacked Babylon, 
A. M. 3448. (See Belshazzar, and Babylon.) 
Xenophon says, that Cyrus left the government of 
Babylon to his uncle Cyaxares, who held it only two 
years. This Cyaxares is otherwise called Darius the 
Mede. See Darius I. 

CYMBAL, a musical instrument, consisting of 
two broad plates of brass, of a convex form, which, 
being struck together, produce a shrill, piercing 
sound. They were used in the temple, and upon 
occasions of public rejoicings, (1 Chron. xvi. 19.) as 
they are by the Armenians, at the present day. In 
1 Cor. xiii. l,the apostle deduces a comparison from 
sounding brass, and tinkling cymbals : perhaps the 
latter words had been as well rendered clattering 
cymbals ; since such is the nature of the instrument : 
but, if we may suppose that, in the phrase "sounding 
brass," the apostle alluded to an instrument compos- 
ed of merely two pieces of brass, shaken one aga : nst 
the other, and thereby producing a kind of rattling 
jingle, void of meaning, intensity or harmony, perhaps 
we should be pretty near the true idea of the passage. 



Boys, among ourselves, have such a kind of snappers, 
and the crotalistria of the ancients were no better. 

CYPRIARCHES ; that is, governor of Cyprus. 
Nicanor has this title, 2 Mac. xii. 2. 

CYPRUS, the largest island in the Mediterranean, 
situated between Cilicia and Syria ; the inhabitants 
of which were plunged in all manner of luxury and 
debauchery. Their principal deity was Venus, who 
had a celebrated temple at Paphos. The island is 
extremely fertile, and abounded in wine, oil, honey, 
wool, copper, agate, and a beautiful species of rock- 
crystal. There were also large forests of cypress- 
trees. (See Chittim.) Of the cities in the island, 
Paphos and Salamis are mentioned in the New Tes- 
tament. The apostles Paul and Barnabas landed 
here, A. D. 44, Acts xiii. 4. While they continued 
at Salamis, they preached Jesus Christ in the Jewish 
synagogues; and from thence they visited all the 
cities of the island, preaching the gospel. At 
Paphos, they found Bar-Jesus, a false prophet, with 
Sergius Paulus, the governor : Paul struck Bar- Jesus 
with blindness ; and the proconsul embraced Chris- 
tianity. Some time after, Barnabas went again into 
this island with John, surnamed Mark, (Actsxv. 39.) 
and it is said he was martyred here, being stoned to 
death by the Jews of Salamis. 

CYRENE, a city and province of Libya Pentapo- 
litana, between the great Syrtes, and the Mareotis ; 
at present called Cairoan, in the kingdom of Barca. 
It was sometimes called Pentapolis, from the five 
principal cities which it contained — Cyrene, Apollo- 
nia, Arsinoe, Berenice, and Ptolemais. From hence 
came Simon the Cyrenian, father of Alexander and 
Rufus, on whom the Roman soldiers laid a part of 
our Saviour's cross, Matt, xxvii. 32 ; Luke xxiii. 26. 
There were many Jews in the province of Cyrene, 
a great part of whom embraced the Christian reli- 
gion, though others opposed it with much ^o.stinacy. 
Among the most inveterate enemies of our religion, 
Luke reckons those of this province, who had a 
synagogue at Jerusalem, and excited the people 
against Stephen, Acts xi. 20. 

CYRENIUS, or P. Sulpitius Quirinus, (according 
to his Latin appellation,) governor of Syria, Luke ii. 
1, 2. Very great difficulties have been raised on the 
history of the taxing under Cyrenius ; as it appears, 
by history, that Cyrenius was not governor of Syria 
till nine or ten years after our Saviour was born. 
Cyrenius was not of a noble family ; but, by early 
public services, he obtained the honor of the consul- 
ship of Rome, A. U. 742 ; and he gained a memora- 
ble victory over the Homonadenses, A. U. 747, or 
748. Usher thinks he was then proconsul of Cilicia ; 
but others think he was sent into that province as an 
extraordinary officer. However, having finished this 
war, he might be sent, say they, into Syria, for the pur- 
poses of the enrolment to be made there, A. U. 749, 
which is about the time fixed by Luke ;• for Herod 
died A. U. 750, or 751. Cyrenius was appointed 
governor to Caius Csesar, A. U. C. 755. It is gener- 
ally admitted that Cyrenius was not properly govern- 
or of Syria at the time of our Lord's birth, though 
he was afterwards, Saturninus being then governor. 
Still, however, Cyrenius might have been associated 
with him. 

We should observe on Luke ii. 1, 2. (1.) that the 
word olxovuirij, rendered all the world, sometimes sig- 
nifies only the whole of a country, region, or district; 
as certainly, Luke xxi. 26. and, perhaps, Acts xi. 28. 
But the expression all the country is peculiarly prop- 
er here, because Galilee, as well as Judea, was ir>- 



CYRENIUS 



L 326 ] 



CYRENIUS 



•;luded; and perhaps all places where there were 
Jews. (2.) That the word ajroyQortpyj , rendered taxing, 
should have been rendered enrolment ; as a taxation 
did not always follow such enrolment, though this 
was generally the prelude to it. The difficulty lies 
in the word nqarcti, "first;" because there really was 
a taxation ten or eleven years afterwards, which, as 
a decisive mark of subjection to the Roman power, 
was very mortifying to the Jewish nation. And to 
this taxation Gamaliel alludes, Acts v. 37. Dr. 
Prideaux thought he had found traces of a Roman 
census, or universal assessment, or enrolment, in the 
second census of Augustus; and that the time occu- 
pied in making it, before it came to Judea, accounts 
for the difference between the dates when the decree 
was issued, ante A. D. 8, and the period of its execu- 
tion, at Jesus's birth, ante A. D.3, or 4 ; observing, that 
a census of the same kind, made by William the Con- 
queror in England, (Domesday Booke,) was six years 
in making. Dr. Lardner, however, objects, that the 
census of Augustus was of Roman citizens only ; 
whereas this of Luke is not so restricted ; but, evi- 
dently, included Jewish subjects, and of every town. 
Justin Martyr, in his first Apology, says to the em- 
peror and senate, " You may assure yourselves, (of 
the birth of Jesus, in Bethlehem,) from the census 
made in the time of Cyrenius, your first procurator 
in Judea ;" and this description of Cyrenius, as we 
shall see, deserves notice. ■ Clement of Alexandria, 
Origen and Tertullian, appeal to this census of Cyre- 
nius; and the emperor Julian the Apostate says, 
"The Jesus whom you extol, was one of Caesar's 
subjects. If you make a doubt of it, I will prove it, 
by and by, though it may as well be done now : for 
you say yourselves, that he was enrolled with his 
father and mother in the time of Cyrenius." (Apud 
Cyril, lib. vi.) 

Assisted by this information, we may combine the 
narrative of Luke into the following order ; which, 
probably, is not far from its true import. " In those 
days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree, (he being dis- 
pleased at some parts of Herod's conduct, and mean- 
ing that he should feel his dependence on the Ro- 
man empire,) that the whole land of Judea should be 
enrolled, as well persons as possessions, in order that 
the true state of the inhabitants, their families, and 
their value in property of every kind, might be 
known and recorded. Accordingly, all were enrolled, 
but the taxation did not immediately follow this en- 
rolment, because Augustus was again reconciled to 
Herod, which accounts for Josephus's silence on an 
assessment not carried into effect. And this enrol- 
ment ivas made when Cyrenius the censor (afterwards 
better known under the title of Cyrenius the govern- 
or) ivas first sent into Judea ; (Your first procurator in 
Judea, says Justin Martyr, above quoted ;) or, more 
exactly, this was the first assessment, or enrolment, of 
Cyrenius, governor of Syria. And all went to be en- 
rolled, each to his own city : and as the emperor's order 
was urgent, and Cyrenius was known to be a man 
for despatching business, even Mary, though far ad- 
vanced in her pregnancy, went with Joseph ; and ivhile they 
waited, for their turn, to be enrolled, Mary teas deliv- 
ered of Jesus ;" and Jesus was enrolled with Mary and 
Joseph, as Julian says expressly, in the quotation 
given above. 

[The difficulty which exists in Luke ii. 2, in re- 
gard to the census of Cyrenius, can probably never 
be fully removed, because of the absence of the 
necessary historical data. The passage may be 
properly translated thus : " This enrolment was the 



first, while Cyrenius was governor of Syria." Now 
Cyrenius, or Quirinus, was not proconsul of Syria 
until A. D. 7 or 8, when, according to chronologers, 
our Saviour was 10 years of age ; (Jos. Ant. xviii. 1.) 
but Saturninus was proconsul of Syria at the time 
of his birth, and was succeeded by Quintus Varus. 
The latter was recalled in A. D. 7, and was succeed- 
ed by Quirinus, who was sent expressly by the empe- 
ror to take the census of the country and collect a 
tax ; which census and tax Luke also mentions, Acts 
v. 37. The difficulty, therefore, which arises here, is 
of a twofold nature ; first, the existence of such an 
enrolment at the time of Christ's birth ; and, second- 
ly, the fact of its having been made by Cyrenius. 
Both of these facts rest on the authority of Luke 
alone ; not being mentioned either by Josephus, or 
by any profane historian. 

In regard to the enrolment, it may be said, that 
it was probably not thought of sufficient importance 
by Roman historians to deserve mention ; being con- 
fined to a remote and comparatively unimportant 
province ; nor was it perhaps of such a nature, as 
would lead even Josephus to take notice of it. It 
would seem to have been a mere enumeration of 
persons, capitum descriptio ; since the Jews at this 
time were not a Roman province, but were subject 
to Herod the Great, to whom they paid tribute. As 
Herod, however, like the other allied kings, was un- 
der the dominion of the Romans, it was in the power 
of Augustus to require an enumeration of his sub- 
jects; to which, in this instance, the Jews seem to 
have submitted willingly, since it involved no aug- 
mentation of their taxes, nor interference with their 
private affairs. But afterwards, when Archelaus had 
been banished to Vienne in Gaul, and his govern- 
ment had been reduced to the form of a Roman 
province, and when Quirinus was sent from Roim? 
to make a census, not only of persons, but of property, 
with a view to taxation, the Jews resisted the meas- 
ure, and under the conduct of Judas and his asso- 
ciate Sadducus, broke out into open rebellion. (See 
Acts v. 37. and Jos. Antiq. xviii. 1. 1.) 

In regard to the other part of the difficulty, there 
have been several modes of solution proposed. 

1. The first is founded on the supposition, that 
Quirinus, at the time of Christ's birth, was joined 
with Saturninus in the government of Syria, as the 
procurator of that province. We know that a few 
years previous to this date, Volumnius had thus been 
joined with Saturninus ; and the two, Saturninus and 
Volumnius, are several times spoken of together by 
Josephus, and are then equally called governors of 
Syria. (Jos. Ant. xvi. 9. 1 ; xvi. 10. 8.) Josephus 
does not mention the recall of Volumnius ; but there 
is certainly the possibility, that this had taken place 
before the time of Christ's birth, and that Quirinus, 
who had already distinguished himself, had been sent 
in his place. He would then have been, under Sa- 
turninus, a iflm&>v, governor, of Syria, just as Volum- 
nius had been; and just as Pilate afterwards was 
i,ytfitor, governor, of Judea. That he should then 
be mentioned here by Luke as such, rather than Sa- 
turninus, is very naturally accounted for by the fact, 
that he returned, ten years afterwards, as proconsul 
or chief governor, and held a second and more im- 
portant census. The language of Justin Martyr, 
above quoted, would seem to favor this supposition. 
The objection sometimes urged against this view, 
that it requires the word l y',." !*' 1 " to be taken in too 
wide a sense, is not valid: because Josephus applies 
the same word to the procurators Volumnius and 



CYRENIUS 



[ 327 ] 



CYR 



Pilate. The only real objection is, the silence of all 
other history. But, although profane history does not 
affirm the fact of Cyrenius' having formerly been 
procurator of Syria, before he was proconsul, yet 
she does not in any way deny it ; and we may, there- 
fore, safely rest upon the authority of the sacred 
writer for the truth of this fact, just as we do for the 
fact of the existence of this first enrolment itself. 
We know that, in all other respects, his historical 
details are supported by the testimony of other wri- 
ters ; in this case, his statement is not impeached by 
any opposing testimony ; why, then, not receive it in 
simplicity ? It may here be remarked of the medal 
copied under the article Antioch, by means of 
which Mr. Taylor claims to have solved the difficul- 
ty in this passage, that it contains the names of Sa- 
turninus and (as he supposes) Volumnius. This, 
however, if it proves any thing, only proves just what 
Josephus does, viz. that they were spoken of togeth- 
er as governors of Syria. Hence he draws from this 
medal the inference which others had long before 
drawn from Josephus, that if Volumnius was so rep- 
resented, Cyrenius might have succeeded him, and 
also have been so represented. 

2. According to another mode of solution, the 
passage is made to read thus : " This enrolment was 
made before Cyrenius was governor of Syria." The 
advocates of this view suppose that Luke inserted 
this verse as a sort of parenthesis, to prevent his 
readers from confounding this enrolment with the 
subsequent census made by Quirinus. The positive, 
or rather the superlative, ttqwt^ is thus understor d 
in the sense of the comparative irijoTega, and is ma le 
to govern the following genitive. That both the 
positive and superlative are sometimes used instead 
of the comparative, is no doubt true ; (see Kypke on 
John i. 15 ; Glassius, Phil. Sac. p. 48.) but such a con- 
struction in the present case would be, to say the 
least, harsh, and very foreign to the usual simplicity 
of Luke. 

3. A third mode is sanctioned by the names of 
Calvin, Valesius, Wetstein and others, and gives the 
sense of the passage thus, — first changing at/rj; into 
avrrj: "In those days, there went out a decree 
from Augustus, that the whole land should be enrol- 
led ; but the enrolment itself was first made when 
Cyrenius was governor of Syria." The supposition 
here is, that the census commenced under Saturni- 
nus, but was not completed until 10 years after, un- 
der Quirinus. But this supposition is not only not 
supported by any his^rical evidence, but is con- 
tradicted by all the evidence of this kind that exists. 
J osephus not only does not mention any census as hav- 
ing been begun previous to the arrival of Quirinus, but 
he says that Quirinus was sent by the emperor for 
the express purpose of taking a census, and speaks 
of the progress and termination of it, without a hint 
of its having been continued ten years, and under 
three successive proconsuls. (Antiq. xvii. 1. 1.) 

The above are the more important solutions which 
have been proposed in order to remove the difficul- 
ty from the passage before us. Besides these, some 
have supposed the verse to be a marginal gloss, 
which has crept into the text ; others have boldly af- 
firmed that the sacred writer has here made a mis- 
take ; and several others still have proposed various 
solutions, which have been adopted only by them- 
selves. The conjecture of Michaelis furnishes a very 
good solution, were it any thing more than a mere 
conjecture : he proposes to insert tiqo ti~c after iylrtro, 
so that it would then read : " This was the first en- 



rolment before that of Cyrenius," &c. But no 
manuscript furnishes any trace of such a read- 
ing. *R. 

CYRUS, son of Cambyses the Persian, and of 
Mandane, daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes. 
He was born in the king his father's court, (A. M. 
3405,) and was educated with great care. When he 
was about twelve years of age, his grandfather, As- 
tyages, sent for him to court, with his mother, Man- 
dane. Some time after, the king of Assyria's son 
invading Media, Astyages, with his son Cyaxares, and 
his grandson Cyrus, marched against him. Cyrus 
defeated the Assyrians, but Cambyses soon after- 
wards recalled him, that he might have him near his 
person. Astyages dying, his son Cyaxares, uncle by 
the mother's side to Cyrus, succeeded him in the 
kingdom of Media ; and Cyrus, being made general 
of the Persian troops, was sent, at the head of 30,000 
men, to assist Cyaxares, whom the Babylonians 
were preparing to attack. Cyaxares and Cyrus gave 
therr battle, and dispersed them ; after which Cyrus 
carried the war into the countries beyond the river 
Halys, subdued Cappadocia, marched against Croesus, 
king of Lydia, defeated him, and took Sardis his 
capital. Having reduced almost all Asia, he repassed 
the Euphrates, and turned his arms against the As- 
syrians : having defeated them, he laid siege to Baby- 
lon, which he took on a festival clay, after having 
diverted the course of the river which ran through 
it. On his return to Persia, he married his cousin, the 
daughter and heiress of Cyaxares. He afterwai'ds 
subdued all the nations between Syria and the Red 
sea, and died at the age of seventy, after a reign of 
thirty years. 

There are but few particulars respecting Cyrus in 
Scripture ; but what there are, are more certain than 
those derived from other sources. Daniel, in the 
remarkable vision, (chap. viii. 3, 20.) in which God 
showed him the ruin of several great empires, which 
preceded the birth of the Messiah, represents Cyrus 
as a ram which had two horns, both high, but one 
rising higher than the other, and the higher coming 
up last. This ram " pushed westward, and north- 
ward, and southward, so that no beasts might stand 
before him, neither was there any that could deliver 
out of his hand ; but he did according to his will, and 
became great." — The two horns signify the two em- 
pires, which Cyrus united in his person — that of the 
Medes and that of the Persians. (See Persia.) In 
another place, Daniel compares Cyrus to a bear, with 
three ribs in its mouth, to which it was said, " Arise 
devour much flesh." 

Cyrus succeeded Cambyses in the kingdom of 
Persia, and Darius the Mede (by Xenophon called 
Cyaxares, and Astyages in the Greek of Daniel xiii. 
65.) also in the kingdom of the Medes, and the em- 
pire of Babylon. He was monarch, as he speaks, of 
all the earth, (Ezra i. 1, 2 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23.) 
when he permitted the Jews to return into their own 
country, A. M. 3466, ante A. D. 538. He had always 
a particular regard for Daniel, and kept him in high 
offices. 

The prophets foretold the coming of Cyrus: 
Isaiah (xliv. 28.) particularly declared his name, 
above a century before he was born. Josephus says, 
(Antiq. lib. ii. cap. 2.) that the Jews of Babylon 
showed this passage to Cyrus ; and that, in the edict 
which he granted for their return, he acknowledged, 
that he received the empire of the world from the 
God of Israel, and that the same God had described 
him by name, in the writings of the prophets, and 



CYRUS 



[ 328 ] 



CYRUS 



foretold that he should build a temple to him at Je- 
rusalem. The taking of Babylon, by Cyrus, is clear- 
ly foretold by the prophets, Is. xiii. xiv. xxi. xlv. xlvi. 
xlvii. Jer. xxv. 12 ;1. li. Dan. vii. viii. 

Cyrus being a Persian by his father, and a Mede 
by his mother, he is called in an oracle, cited by He- 
rodotus, (lib. i. cap. 33, 91.) " a mule :" « Be afraid," 
said the oracle to Croesus, " when the Medes shall be 



commanded by a mule." And Nebuchadnezzar 
some time before his death, said to the Babylonians, 
I foretell a misfortune, which none of your gods will 
be able to avert : a Persian mule shall come against 
you, who, with the help of their gods, shall bring you 
into bondage." (Megasthenes, apud Euseb. Prrepar. 
lib. ix. cap. 41.) 



D 

DAG DAM 



DABBASHETH, a town of Zebulun, Josh, 
xix. 11. 

DABERATH. Joshua (xix. 12.) mentions Da- 
berath as a town of Zebulun, or on its borders, but 
in chap. xxi. 28. it is placed in the tribe of Issachar ; 
which tribe ceded it to the Levites. Josephus calls 
it Dabaritta, or Darabitta, in the great plain at the ex- 
tremity of Galilee and Samaria ; perhaps it is Dahira, 
which Jerome places toward mount Tabor, in the 
district of Diocsesarea. Maundrell speaks of Debora 
at the foot of mount Tabor. 

I. D AGON, a god of the Philistines. The Etymolo- 
gicum Magnum says that Dagon was Saturn ; others 
say, he was Jupiter ; others say, Venus, whom the 
Egyptians worshipped under the form of a fish ; be- 
cause, in Tryphon's war against the gods, Venus con- 
cealed herself under this shape. (Ovid Met. lib. v. 
fab. 5.) Diodorus Siculus says (lib. ii.) that at Aske- 
lon the goddess Derceto, or Atergatis, was worship- 
ped under the figure of a woman, with the lower 
parts of a fish ; and Lucian (de Dea Syr.) describes 
that goddess, or Venus, as being adored under this 
form. There is an ancient fable, that 'S2arvijc, 
(Oannes,) who was half a man and half a fish, came 
to Babylon, and taught several arts : and qfterivards 
returned to the sea .... there were several of these 
Oannes . . . the name of one was Odacon, i. e. « Da- 
gon (the Dagon). Berosus, speaking of Oannes, 
says, he had the body and head of a fish ; and above 
the head of the fish he had a human head ; and below 
the tail of the fish he had human feet. This is the 
true figure of Dagon. Helladius reports of Oes, 
what Berosus reports of Oannes ; (whence Scaliger 
thought Oes was the name Oannes mutilated ;) he 
says, he was a monster who came out of the Red 
sea. He had the head, the hands, and the feet of a 
man ; in the rest of his body he was a fish : he first 
taught letters and astronomy to mankind. We con- 
clude, then, that Oes and Oannes are the same 
person ; and that Oannes is Dagon.- See Deluge. 

A temple of Dagon at Gaza was pulled down by 
Samson, Judg. xvi. 23. In another at Ashdod, the 
Philistines deposited the ark of God, 1 Sam. v. 1 — 3. 
A city in Judah was called Beth-Dagon, that is, the 
house [or temple] of Dagon ; (Josh. xv. 41.) and an- 
other on the frontiers of Asher, Josh. xix. 27. Euse- 
bius speaks of a town called Caphar Dagon, the Field 
of Dagon, between Jamnia and Diospolis. Philo-Bib- 
lius, in his translation of Sanchoniathon, says that Da- 
gon means Siton, the god of wheat. Dagdn does, in- 
deed, signify ivheat, in the Hebrew ; but who is this god 
of wheat ? probably Ceres, the goddess of agriculture 
and plenty : the Hebrews have no feminine names to 
signify goddesses : and Elian informs us, that among 
the names of Ceres, Siton was one. Ceres was 
" the goddess of wheat," in her character of the in- 



ventress and protectress of agriculture. We find her 
likewise delineated with fish around her on some 
medals, as those of Syracuse. In Philo-Biblius, 
Dagon is brother to Saturn, as in Greek authors 
Ceres is sister to Saturn. Ceres submitted to the 
embraces of her brother, according to the Greeks ; 
Atergatis is sister to Saturn, according to Philo-Bib- 
lius. Lastly, Ceres is sometimes described with the 
attributes of Isis, the goddess of fertility among the 
Egyptians. An Egyptian medal represents half the 
body of a woman with a cornucopia in her hands, 
the tail of a fish bent behind, and feet like those of a 
crocodile, or a sea-calf. Salmasius is of opinion, 
that Dagon is the same as Ceto. a great fish. Ceto 
the sea-monster, to which Andromeda was exposed 
at Joppa, and Derceto the goddess of the Askelonites, 
are the same deity. Selden thinks Atergatis to be the 
same as Dagon, and derived from the Hebrew Adir- 
Dagan, "magnificent fish;" and Diana, the Per- 
sian, or Venus, was, it is said, changed into a fish, by 
throwing herself into the waters of Babylon. There 
was a deep pond near Askelon filled with fish, con- 
secrated to Derceto, from which the inhabitants of 
the town abstained, through superstitious belief that 
Venus, having cast herself into this pond, was there 
metamorphosed into a fish. [The name Dagon 
is derived from dag, fish, and signifies a large fish. 
This god seems originally to have been the same 
with Astarte. For fuller information respecting 
Dagon, see Selden de Diis Syris, ii. 3. Creuzer's 
Symbolik, ii. 12. De Wette, Heb. Jiid. Archseol. 
§ 233. R. 

II. DAGON, Dog, or Docus, a fortress in the 
plain of Jericho, where Ptolemy, son of Abubus, 
dwelt, and where he treacherously killed his father- 
in-law, Simon Maccaba?us, with Mattathias and Ju- 
das, his two sons, 1 Mac. xvi. 11. 

DALMANUTHA, a city west of the sea of Tibe- 
rias, in the district of Magdala, Matt. xv. 39 ; Mark 
viii. 10. (See Magdala.) Others suppose it to have 
been on the south-eastern shore of the lake. 

DALMATIA, part of Illyricum, on the gulf of 
Venice, 2 Tim. iv. 10. 

DAMASCUS, a celebrated city of Syria, which 
was long the capital of a kingdom of Damascus, or 
Aram of Damascus, i. e. Syria of Damascus. It was 
a city in the time of Abraham ; and some of the an- 
cients say that this patriarch reigned there, imme- 
diately after Damascus, its founder. Scripture says 
nothing more of this city till David's time ; when 
Hadad, king of Damascus, sending troops to assist 
Hadadezer, kinc of Zobah, was defeated with the 
latter, and subdued by David, A. M. 2992. Toward 
the end of Solomon's reign, God stirred up Rezin, 
son of Eliadah, who restored the kingdom of Damas- 
cus, and shook off the yoke of the Jewish kings 



DAMASCUS 



[ 329 ] 



DAMASCUS 



Asa, king of Judah, implored the help of Benhadad, 
son of Tabrimmon, king of Damascus, against Baa- 
sha, king of Israel, and engaged him, by subsidies, to 
invade his enemy's territories. After this time, the 
kings of Damascus were generally called Benhadad, 
Which they assumed as a surname, like the Caesars 
of Rome. Jeroboam II. king of Israel, regained the 
suneriority of Israel over the kings of Syria. He 
conquered Damascus and Hamath, the two principal 
cities of Syria, (2 Kings xiv. 25.) but after the death 
of Jeroboam II. the Syrians reestablished their 
monarchy. Rezin assumed the title of king of Da- 
mascus ; entered into a confederacy with Pekah, 
usurper of the kingdom of Israel, and, in conjunction 
with him, made great havoc in the territories of Jo- 
tham and Ahaz, kings of Judah, 2 Kings xvi. 5. 
Tiglath-Pileser, however, coming to the assistance 
of Ahaz, invaded the dominions of' Rezin, took 
Damascus, destroyed it, killed Rezin, and sent 
the Syrians into captivity beyond the Euphrates ; 
according to the predictions of the prophets Isaiah 
and Amos, 2 Kings xv. 29 ; Is. vii. 4, 8 ; viii. 4 ; xxii. 
1 — 3 ; Amos i. 3. Damascus, however, recovered 
from these misfortunes ; and it appears, that Sen- 
nacherib took it, when he marched against Hezekiah, 
Is. ix. 11. Holofernes also took it, Judith ii. 27. 
Ezekiel speaks of it as flourishing, chap, xxvii. 11. 
Jeremiah threatens it with the attacks of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, xxv. 9.; xxvii. 8 ; xlix. 23. After the return 
from the captivity, Zechariah (ix. 1.) foretold several 
calamities which should befall it, and which, in all 
probability, did befall it when it was conquered by 
the generals of Alexander the Great. The Romans 
took it about A. M. 3939, when Pompey made war 
against Tigranes, and sent MeteLlus and Lselius 
thither, who seized it. Damascus remained under 
the Roman government till it fell into the hands of 
the Arabians. Obodas, father of Aretas, king of 
Arabia, whom Paul mentions, (2 Cor. xi. 32.) was 
master of Damascus in the reign of Augustus ; but 
was subject to the Romans. Aretas, whose officer 
was governor at Damascus when Paul came thither, 
quarrelled with the Romans, and was then at war 
with them, A. D. 37. (See Aretas.) In A. D. 713, 
it was conquered by the Saracens, and miserably 
devastated. In 1147, it was besieged by the crusa- 
ders, but not taken ; it yielded to the Christian forces 
125 years afterwards. In 1396, Tamerlane besieged 
it with a large army, some say a million of men. 
After a desperate and prolonged resistance, it yielded 
to his forces ; and, irritated at its obstinate defence, 
he put its inhabitants to the sword without mercy. 
Selim took it, A. D. 1517, under whose successors, 
the Ottoman emperors, it still continues. 

The Arabians call this city Damasch, or Demeschk, 
or Schams, which is also their name for the province. 
They generally believe that this city derived its name 
from Demeschk Eliezer, Abraham's steward, and that 
Abraham was its founder. Yet some Arabian histo- 
rians affirm, that it was founded and named by Dem- 
schak,son ofCanaan,sonofHam,and grandson of Noah. 

Damascus was a metropolitan see under the patri- 
arch of Antioch ; at present the Greek patriarch of 
Antioch resides there. The Persian geographer says, 
that the field or plain of Damascus is one of the four 
Paradises of the East ; and, notwithstanding all the 
revolutions which have happened to it, Damascus is 
still one of the most considerable cities in Syria. It 
is situated in a very fertile plain, at the foot of mount 
Libanus, being surrounded by hills, in, the manner of 
a triumphal arch. It is bounded bv a river, which 
42 



the ancients named Chryson-hoas, as if it flowed with 
gold, divided into several canals. The city has still 
a great number of fountains, which render it ex- 
tremely agreeable. Its fertile and delightful mead- 
ows, covered with fruits and flowers, contribute, also, 
to its fame. Damascus, says Ibn Haukal, or, as he 
writes it, " Demeshk, is a chief city ; the right hand 
of the cities of Syria. It has ample territories among 
the mountains; and is well watered by streams 
which flow around. The land about it produces 
trees, and is well cultivated by husbandmen. This 
tract is called Ghouteh. It extends about one mer- 
idian by two. There is not in all Syria a more de- 
lightful place. Here is one of the largest mosques 
in all the land of the Mussulmans, part of which was 
built in ancient times, by the Sabians." — He then 
traces this mosque into the hands of the Greeks, 
the Jews, the Christians and the true believers: 
he adds, "Walid ben Abd-al-Molk repaired this 
building, beautified it with pavements of marble, and 
pillars of variegated marble, the tops of which were or- 
namented with gold, and studded with precious stones, 
and all the ceiling he caused to be covered with gold: it is 
said he expended the revenues of all Syria in this work." 

The Via Recta, or street called Straight, (Acts ix. 
11.) extends from the eastern to the western gate, 
about a league, crossing the whole city and suburbs 
in a direct line. On both sides of it are shops, in 
which are sold the rich merchandise brought by the 
caravans. Near the eastern gate is a house, said to 
be that of Judah, where Paul lodged after his con- 
version ! There is in it a very small closet, where 
tradition reports, that the apostle passed three days 
without food, till Ananias restored him to sight. 
Tradition also says, that here he had the vision re- 
ferred to, 2 Cor. xii. 2. About forty paces from the 
house of Judah, stands a little mosque, where Ana- 
nias is said to have been buried. There is also in 
the Great Street, or Straight, a fountain, whose wa- 
ter is drunk by the Christians, in remembrance of 
that which the same fountain supplied for the bap- 
tism of Paul. Near the eastern gate, on the south 
of it, is a kind of window or port-hole, in the para- 
pet of the great wall ; by which tradition says Paul 
escaped from the Jews ! Near the city, on the way 
leading to the Turkish burying-ground, is a building 
said to be that of Naaman the Syrian. It is an 
hospital for lepers ; and near it is a tomb, report- 
ed to be that of Gehazi, servant to Elisha, who, after 
his disgrace, retired to Damascus, where he died ! 

The ancient road from Jerusalem near Damascus 
lies between two mountains, not above a hundred 
paces distant from each other: both are round at bot- 
tom, and terminate in a point. That nearest the 
great road is called Cocab, the star, in memory of 
the dazzling light which here appeared to Paul. 
The other mountain is called Medawer el Cocab, the. 
circle of light. Towards the middle of this moun- 
tain is an oJd monastery, almost destroyed, of which 
only one grotto remains, and this so small that a man 
can hardly turn himself in it. This is reported to 
have been Paul's shelter after his conversion, till he 
could make ready for continuing his journey to Da- 
mascus. South-west is the plain of Hauran, the 
granary of Turkey. 

The external appearance of the houses in Damas- 
cus is mean ; the internal is magnificent. There are 
many covered markets built of hewn stone, and well 
vaulted, with openings from space to space. The foot- 
ways in the streets are raised ; and there are many khans 
or lodging merchants and travellers. The Straight 



DAMASCUS 



[ 330 ] 



DAN 



Street is at present a covered bazaar, exchange, or 
market. 

Damascus is one of the most commercial cities in 
the Ottoman empire, and has many rich manufac- 
tures. The inhabitants are witty and cunning ; they 
are, however, polite, and less oppressed by the pacha 
than many others. The Christians are mostly of the 
Greek church, with a few Maronites. The popula- 
tion is estimated at from 100,000 to 150,000. 

Damascus was highly favored by the emperor 
Julian. It was a metropolis and a colony ; it is 
so called on the medals of Gordian and Philip ; and 
it appears that the latter gave his veteran soldiers es- 
tablishments in the city and its neighborhood. It 
was also made the capital of that part of Coele-Syria 
which was called from it Damascene. In the divis- 
ion of the country established by Constantine and his 
successors, it was included in Phoenicia Libanica, 
which had for its chief town, Heliopolis (Baalbek). 

[The city of Damascus, with the surrounding coun- 
try, is celebrated by all travellers, as one of the most 
beautiful and luxuriant regions in the world. The 
orientals themselves call it the Paradise on earth. 
Mr.Carne gives the following account of his approach 
to the city from the S. W. and of the city itself: 
(Letters from the East, vol. ii. p. 76, seq.) 

" On the following day, we set out early, impatient 
to behold the celebrated plain of Damascus. A large 
round mountain in front prevented us from catching 
a glimpse at it, till, on turning a point of the rock, it 
appeared suddenly at our feet. Perhaps the bar- 
ren and dreary hills we had been for some days pass- 
ing, made the plain look doubly beautiful, and we 
stood gazing at it for some time ere we advanced. 
The domes and minarets of the sacred city rose out 
of the heart of a forest of gardens and trees, which 
was twelve miles in circumference. Four or five 
small rivers ran through the forest and the city, glit- 
tering at intervals in the sun ; and to form that vivid 
contrast of objects in which Asiatic so much excels 
European scenery, the plain was encircled on three 
of its sides by mountains of light and naked rocks. 

" After descending the mountain, we were some 
time travelling through avenues of trees and gardens 
before we entered the city. Damascus is seven miles 
in circumference ; the width is quite disproportioned 
to the length, which is above two miles. The walls 
of this, the most ancient city in the world, are low, 
and do not enclose it more than two thirds round. 
The street still called Straight, and where St. Paul 
is, with reason, said to have lived, is entered by the 
road from Jerusalem. It is as straight as an arrow, 
a mile in length, broad, and well paved. A lofty 
window in one of the towers to the east, is shown us 
as the place where the apostle was let down in a 
basket. In the way to Jerusalem is the spot where 
his course was arrested by the light from heaven. A 
Christian is not allowed to reside in Damascus, ex- 
cept in a Turkish dress. 

" The great number of tall palm and cypress-trees 
in the plain of Damascus add much to its beauty. 
The fruits of the plain are of various kinds, and of 
excellent flavor. Provisions are cheap ; the bread is 
the finest to be found in the East ; it is sold every 
morning in small, light cakes, perfectly white, and 
surpasses in quality even that of Paris. This luxu- 
rious city is no place to perform penance in ; the 
paths around, winding through the mass of woods 
and fruit-trees, invite you daily to the most delightful 
rides and walks. Summer-houses are found in pro- 
fusion ; some of the latter may be hired for a day's 



use, or are open for rest and refreshment, and you sit 
beneath the fruit-trees, or on the divan which opens in- 
to the garden. If one feels at any time satiated, he has 
only to advance out of the canopy of woods, and 
mount the naked and romantic heights of some of 
the mountains around, amidst the sultry beams of the 
sun, and he will soon return to the shades and waters 
beneath, with fresh delight. Among the fruits pro- 
duced in Damascus are oranges, citrons, and apricots 
of various kinds. The celebrated plain of roses, 
from the produce of which the rich perfume [attar 
of roses) is obtained, is about three miles from the 
town ; it is a part of the great plain, and its entire 
area is thickly planted with rose-trees, in the cultiva- 
tion of which great care is taken. 

" Our abode was not far from the gate that con- 
ducted to the most frequented and charming walks 
around the city. Here four or five of the rivers meet, 
and form a large and foaming cataract a short distance 
from the walls. In this spot it was pleasant to sit or 
walk beneath the trees ; for the exciting sounds and 
sights of nature are doubly welcome near an eastern 
city, to relieve the languor and stillness that prevail. 

"We often went to the pleasant Village at the 
foot of the mountain Salehieh. One of the streams 
passed through it ; almost every house had its gar- 
den : and above the mass of foliage, in the midst of 
them, rose the dome and minaret of the mosque, and, 
just beyond, the gray and naked cliffs. The finest 
view of the city is to the right of this place: a light 
kiosk stands partly up the ascent of the mountain ; 
and from its cool and upper apartment, the prospect 
of the city, its woods, plain, and mountains, is inde- 
scribably rich and delightful. The plain in front is 
unenclosed, and its level extent stretches to the east 
as far as the eye can reach. 

" The place called the ' Meeting of the Waters,' is 
about five miles to the north-west of the city. Here 
the river Barrady, which may be the ancient Abana, 
being enlarged by another river that falls into it about 
two miles off, is divided into several streams, which 
flow through the plain. The separation is the result 
of art, and takes place at the foot of one or two rocky 
hills, and the scene is altogether very picturesque. 
The streams, six or seven in number, are some of 
them carried to water the orchards and gardens of 
the higher grounds, others into the lower, but all 
meet, at last, close to the city, and form the fine cata- 
ract." *R. 

EPHES-DAMMIM, a city of Judah, 1 Sam. 
xvii. 1. 

DAMNATION, a word used among us, in a theo- 
logical sense, to express a total loss of the soul ; or a 
state of suffering under spiritual punishment: but 
this is not its proper import in all places where it 
occur^ in Scripture ; and the use of it is in some 
passages of our translation extremely unfortunate. 
We read, John v. 29, of the "resurrection to dam- 
nation ;" of " eternal damnation," (Mark iii. 29.) 
of "the damnation of hell," (Matt, xxiii. 33.) where 
the stronger sense of the word is exacted by the 
context: but in Matt, xxiii. 14, we read of the 
" greater damnation," which evidently implies a 
lesser damnation ; and in Rom. xiii. 2, 1 Cor. xi. 29, 
and 1 Tim. v. 12, we should read "condemna'ion," 
or "judgment." Rom. xiv. 23, "He tiiat doubteth 
is damned," should be read "self-condemned,'' — if 
he eat flesh, or any thing else which may offend a 
weak brother. 

I. DAN, fifth son of Jacob, being his eldest by 
Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, Gen. xxx. 4, 5, ?>. Jacob 



DAN 



[ 331 ] 



DANIEL 



olessed Dan in these words : (Gen. xlix. 16, 17.) " Dan 
shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 
Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the 
path, (see Serpent, Cerastes,) that biteth the horse's 
heels, so that his rider shall fall backward ;" mean 7 
ing that, though this tribe was not the most powerful 
or the most celebrated in Israel, it would, notwith- 
standing, produce one, who should be the prince of 
his people ; which prediction was accomplished in 
Samson, who was of Dan. Dan had but one son, 
named Hushim, (Gen. xlvi. 23.) notwithstanding 
which, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, this 
tribe contained 62,700 men, Numb. i. 39. 

The tribe of Dan possessed a very rich and fertile 
soil, between the tribe of Judah east, and the country 
of the Philistines west ; but the limits of their land 
were narrow, because it was only part of the territo- 
ries of Judah divided from the rest. For their suc- 
cess in enlarging their territories, see Judges xviii. 

II. DAN, originally called Laish, (Judg. xviii.) a 
town at the northern extremity of Israel, in the tribe 
of Naphtali. " From Dan to Beersheba," denotes the 
two extremities of the land of promise, Dan being 
the northern city, and Beersheba the southern one. 
Dan was seated at the foot of mount Libanus, on the 
spring of Dan, or Jordan. Several authors have 
thought that the river Jordan took its name from the 
Hebrew Jor, a spring, and Dan, a town near its source. 
( See Jordan.) Dan lay four miles from Paneas, to- 
wards Tyre, though some have confounded it with 
Paneas. Here Jeroboam set up one of his golden 
calves, 1 Kings xii. 29. Dan was afterward called 
Daphne, 2 Mac. iv. 33. 

DANIEL, called Belteshazzar by the Chaldeans, 
a prophet, descended from the royal family of David, 
who was carried captive to Babylon, when very 
young, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Ju- 
dah, A. M. 3398. He was chosen, with his three 
companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, to re- 
side in Nebuchadnezzar's court, where he received 
a suitable education, and made great progress in all 
the sciences of the Chaldeans, but declined to pollute 
himself, by eating provisions from the king's table, 
Dan. i. Nebuchadnezzai - , having dreamed of a large 
statue, composed of several metals, which was beaten 
to pieces by a stone, and believing this dream to be 
prophetical, was very solicitous to have it explained ; 
but having lost the recollection of it, he insisted that 
the Magi should not only interpret its meaning, but 
recall it to his mind ; this being impossible, they were 
condemned to death. Daniel recovered and explain- 
ed the dream ; and was, as a reward, established 
governor of the province of Babylon, and chief of the 
Magi, ii. 14 — 48. Another time, Nebuchadnezzar 
having dreamed of a large tree cut down, yet so that 
its root remained in the earth, Daniel explained it of 
the king himself, whose fate it prefigured. (See 
Nebuchadnezzar.) In the reign of Belshazzar, 
Daniel had a vision of four beasts, which represented 
the four great empires of the Chaldeans, the Per- 
sians, the Greeks, and the Romans, or, rather, the 
Seleucidee and Lagidse, Dan. vii. In the follow- 
ing chapter, he saw in vision a ram and a he-goat ; 
(the ram denoted Darius Codomannus, the last king 
of Persia, and the he-goat denoted Alexander the 
Great ;) the ram was overcome, and the he-goat be- 
came irresistibly powerful. (See Darius.) He de- 
scribes, also, the successors of Alexander ; and partic- 
ularly the persecutions of the Jews under Antiochus 
Epiphanes ; the vengeance of God upon him ; and 
the victories of the Maccabees. It was to this mon- 



arch that Daniel explained the import of the myste- 
rious writing on the wail. (See Belshazzar.) Bel- 
shazzar, being killed on the night in which he had 
profaned the sacred vessels of the temple, was suc- 
ceeded by Darius the Mede, (Dan. v. A. M. 3449,) who 
promoted Daniel above all his governors, and de- 
signed to give him the general administration of his 
kingdom. This mark of favor, however, excited 
envy in the governors, who prevailed upon the king 
to issue an edict, forbidding every man, during a 
time, to solicit any thing from God or man, except 
from the king. Daniel, continuing his prayers to 
God, setting his face towards Jerusalem, was im- 
peached to the king, who was obliged to enforce the 
unalterable law, and order him to be thrown into the 
lions' den. Early the next morning, Darius went 
thither, and, finding Daniel safe, commanded him to 
be taken out, and his accusers, with their wives and 
families, to be thrown to the lions, chap. vi. 

Daniel, having read in Jeremiah that seventy years 
would be accomplished in the desolation of Jerusa- 
lem, prayed and fasted, to receive the explanation 
of this period of time. After his devotion, the angel 
Gabriel appeared to him, and revealed something of 
much greater importance, even the death and sacri- 
fice of the Messiah ; which was to happen after 
seventy weeks of years, chap. ix. (See Artaxerxes 
Longimanus.) In the third year of Cyrus's reign in 
Persia, which coincides with the first year of Darius 
at Babylon, Daniel had another remarkable vision, in 
which the angel Gabriel discovered to him, in a 
manner almost as clear as if he had related a history, 
what was to happen in Persia, after Cyrus, (chap, x.) 
viz. the coming of Alexander the Great, the over- 
throw of the Persian empire, the Greek dominion in 
Asia, the continued wars between the kingdoms of 
Syria and Egypt, the persecutions by Antiochus 
Epiphanes, the destruction of that persecuting prince, 
nd the victory and happiness of the saints, chap. xi. 
After the death of Darius the Mede, Cyrus ascended 
the throne of the Persians and Medes ; and Daniel 
continued to enjoy great authority. 

The reputation of Daniel was so great, even in hia 
life-time, that it became a proverb. " Thou art wiser 
than Daniel," says Ezekiel, (xxviii. 3.) ironically, to 
the king of Tyre: and in chap. xiv. 14, 20, God says, 
"Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, 
were in it, they should deliver but their own souls 
by their righteousness." He enjoyed the favor of 
the princes whom he served, with the affection of 
the people, to his death ; and his reputation was 
immortal. 

Formerly, some of the Jews showed an inclination 
to exclude Daniel from among the prophets, because 
his predictions were too clear and express for Jesus 
being the Messiah, and fixed with too much precision 
the time of his coming. Our Saviour, however, bears 
testimony to his prophetic character, Matt. xxiv. 15. 

It is believed that Daniel died in Chaldea, being 
probably detained there by his high employments in 
the Persian empire. Epiphanius says he died at 
Babylon ; and this sentiment is followed by most 
historians. Others think he died at Shushan, or Susa. 
Benjamin of Tudela relates, that his monument was 
shown at Chuzestan, which is the ancient Susa. 

Among Daniel's writings, some have at all times 
been esteemed canonical ; others have been contest- 
ed. Whatever is written in Hebrew or Chaldee is 
generally acknowledged as canonical both by Jews 
and Christians ; but there has been constant opposi- 
tion to those parts which are extant only in Greek, 



DANIEL 



L 332 ] 



DANIEL 



as the history of Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon 
The first twelve chapters of Daniel are written partly 
in Hebrew, partly in Chaldee. He writes Hebrew 
where he delivers a simple narrative ; but he relates 
in Chaldee his conversations with the Magi, and 
Nebuchadnezzar's edict, published after the inter- 
pretation of his dream of the golden image. This 
shows the extreme accuracy of this prophet, who 
relates the very words of those persons whom he in- 
troduces as speaking. The Greek which we have of 
Daniel is Theodotion's ; that of the LXX has been" 
long lost. Porphyry asserted, that the prophecies 
which we receive as Daniel's were falsely ascribed 
to him ; and that they were, in fact, histories of past 
events. But that Daniel lived at Babylon long be- 
fore Antiochus Epiphanes, and there wrote the 
prophecies ascribed to him, cannot reasonably be 
contested. 

The rabbins maintain that Daniel ought not to be 
ranked among the prophets for two reasons; (1.) be- 
cause he did not live in the Holy Land, out of which 
the spirit of prophecy, they say, does not reside ; (2.) 
because he spent his life in a court, in honor and 
pleasure ; contrary to the other prophets. Some add, 
that he was, personally, a eunuch, and, therefore, ex- 
cluded from the congregation ; for which opinion 
they quote the words of Isaiah to Hezekiah, (2 Kings 
xx. 18.) " And of thy sons — shall they take away ; 
and they shall be eunuchs, in the palace of the king 
of Babylon." Ma"ny of the Jews, therefore, place his 
writings among the Hagiographa, as of much less 
authority than the canonical Scriptures. 

There are two or three things appertaining to this 
eminent prophet, which could not be noticed in their 
proper place, without breaking the thread of the nar- 
rative, but which we may not pass over without 
remark. 

A title given to the prophet in chap. v. 12. — "an 
untier of knots" — though it may appear strange to us, 
was highly expressive of the powers of his mind ; 
and, as we leam from sir John Chardin, is not un- 
known at present in the East. 

The patent given to sir John by the king of Persia, 
is addressed — " To the Lords of Lords, who have the 
presence of a lion, the aspect of Deston ; the princes 
who have the stature of Tahem-ten-ten, who seem to 
be in the time of Ardevon, the regents who carry the 
majesty of Ferribours ; the conquerors of kingdoms, 
superintendents that unloose all manner of knots, and 
who are under the ascendant of Mercury," &c. In 
his explanation, sir John says, it is, in the original, 
who unloose all sorts of knots. — The Persians rank all 
penmen, books, and writings, under Mercury, whom 
they call Attared ; and hold all people born under that 
planet, to be endued with a refined, penetrating, clear- 
sighted, and subtile wit. Now, on turning to Daniel 
v. 12, it will be observed with what accurate coinci- 
dence to these principles the queen describes the 
prophet: "In all respects an abundant spirit, and 
knowledge, and understanding, which manifests it- 
self in his interpreting dreams, and explaining intri- 
cate enigmas, and untying of knots, is found in 
Daniel." We gather from this comparison, that as 
superintendents (of provinces) are described as un- 
tiers of knots, and Daniel is thus described, he was, 
or had been, a superintendent. Daniel had been 
made governor of the province of Babylon by Nebu- 
chadnezzar : as he is not so described on this occa- 
sion, it is every way probable he was not now in that 
office, yet the queen continues his titles to him. 

The prophecy of the seventy weeks may justify, by 



its importance, a few remarks, oy way of elucidation 
Part of it is thus rendered in our translation : — " Af- 
ter threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut 
off, but not for himself," c. ix. 26. 

The passage contains two expressions for exami- 
nation ; the first is, the term "Messiah." The Jews 
insist, with all their might, that this term must not be 
restricted to a single individual, but means, "proper- 
ly, the whole class, or race of those who were anointed, 
whether kings or priests." — That is to say, the legal 
exercise of civil or ecclesiastical functions ; or the just 
title to the office and power of government, in both 
its branches. But observe, (1.) This sense arises, in 
some degree, from the placing of a point in the sen- 
tence ; (2.) that it is no new principle ; for both Eu- 
sebius and Clemens Alexandrinus, by " Messiah the 
Prince," in verse 25, understand an anointed governor, 
or settled government; and Eusebius expressly ex- 
plains it to be, the series and succession of the high- 
priests who held the government till Herod's time. 
There is some difference among translators in ren- 
dering the words Messiah the Prince. — Our present 
Septuagint, which is Theodotion's translation, says 
/pmroti ),;'«,'" ' », the Christ the governor ; or the anointed 
governor : Arias Mpntanus says, unctem ducem, the an- 
ointed leader : Tertullian, and the Vulgate, say, Chris- 
tum ducem : Castalio says, Messiam principem, like our 
English version : Tremellius says, Christum anteces- 
sorem, the anointed antecessor, or leader. These versions 
evidently refer to a particular person preeminent of 
a whole sei'ies, all of which series might be anointed, 
but this person distinguishedly. This is very similar 
to what Mr. Taylor has suggested ; — that the united 
claims of the two Jewish branches of royalty centred 
in the one person of Jesus, so that he was, as it were, 
doubly anointed — anointed from each line of descent. 
(See Genealogy.) This view of the passage com- 
bines the notion of a continued line of persons, le-> 
gaily entitled to the government, with that of an 
individual especially entitled to govern. But our 
attention is more particularly directed to the latter 
phrase of the passage quoted, which our translators 
have rendered, "but not for himself." That this 
translation was well intended we cannot doubt ; but 
it is not the customary meaning of the Hebrew words. 
Theodotion renders them — the anointing shall be 
destroyed, and no judgment shall he in it. Aquila — 
the anointed shall be destroyed (xal oil?, laxiv mhoi) and 
shall have nothing : Symmachus — the anointed shall 
be cut off, (*ui ovx imuQtei avTm,) and there shall be 
nothing to him: Vulgate — et non erit ; and he shall 
notbe: Tertullian — the anointing shall be extirpated, 
and shall not be. The phrase commonly signifies, 
shall be no more ; or a total and entire loss — cessation 
— without any continuity or renewal. This is, then, 
in other words, the very sentiment of the venerable 
Jacob : " Shiloh shall be destroyed" — the power of 
government shall sink in him whose especial right it is : 
this is the very sentiment of the prophet Ezekiel : 
" The diadem, the crown, the legal right of govern- 
ment, shall first be overturned, and then shall be 
destroyed with him whose right it is," ch. xxi. 27. 
Thus we see that the prophet does but connect with 
a prefixed period of time that event which the dying 
Jacob left at large ; and that Ezekiel and Daniel do, 
as it were, echo the indications of each other. All 
agree, from the earliest notice of any government to 
be established in Judea, down to the time when the 
character of that government was ascertained and 
experienced, that when that particular person, whose 
legal title, whose just pretensions, whose specific 



DANIEL 



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DANIEL 



Claims, might excite the most animated hopes, the 
most fervid expectations — when he should come — 
the issue would disappoint hope and expectation : — 
which would behold their object sink in destruction, 
and the accomplishment of their prolonged anxieties 
annihilated in utter impossibility ! See Shiloh. 

Hieroglyphic animals. — Among the figures which 
Le Bruyn has copied from the ruins of Persepolis, in 
Persia, there are some which seem remarkably coin- 
cident with the purport of certain passages in the 
prophet Daniel. It is not easy to ascertain the era 
of these ruins, which are universally considered as 
having formed a palace of the Persian kings. Prob- 
ably it is assuming too much to attribute them to 
Cyrus ; but if, as is stated, they may date soon after 
that monarch, they will be sufficiently ancient to 
justify the use we propose to make of them. The 
palace of Persepolis was destroyed by Alexander the 
Great; yet, from its remaining ruins, we infer its 
former grandeur. Among its ornaments are several 
hundred figures, sculptured on the wall in basso 
relievo. Some of them are certainly of a religious 
nature ; others are emblematical ; of these, several 
have greatly the appearance of being political em- 
blems, commemorating past events, which, being 
flattering to the Persian kings, they wished to per- 
petuate the memory of. Under this aspect they 
justify examination. Le Bruyn gives the following 
account of some of them : — 

" These portals are twenty-two feet and four inches 
in depth, and thirteen feet and four inches in breadth. 
In the inside, and on each pilaster, is seen a large 
figure in low relief, and almost as long as the pilas- 
ter ; with a distance of twenty-two feet from the fore 
to the hinder legs, and a height of fourteen feet and 
a half. The heads of these animals are entirely de- 
stroyed, and their breasts and fore feet project from 
the pilaster. Their bodies are, likewise, greatly dam- 
aged." ..." The figures in the two first portals very 
much resemble a horse, both before and behind, only 
the head seems to be like that of an ape ; and, indeed, 
the tail has no great similitude to that of a horse ; but 
this may be imputed to the ornaments which are 
fastened to it, and were much used among the an- 
cient Persians." . . . . " Under a portal to the west, is 
the figure of a man hunting a bull, who has one horn 
in his forehead, which is grasped by the man's left 
hand, while his right plunges a large dagger into the 
belly of the bull. On the other side, the figure of 
another man clasps the horn with his right hand, 
and stabs the beast with his left. The second portal 
discovers the figure of a man carved in the same 
manner, with a deer that greatly resembles a lion, 
having a horn in his forehead, and wings on the 
body. The same representations are to be seen under 
the portal to the north, with this exception, that, in- 

Emblematical Representation. 

1. I saw a lion, 

2. Having eagle's wings ; 

3. The wings were plucked ; 

4. It was raised from the ground, 

5. Made to stand on its feet as a man, 

6. A man's heart {intellect) was given to it. 

Dan. chap. vii. 

Does not this sculpture represent the destruction of 
this metaphorical lion ? The ideas are remarkably 
coincident ; they differ but as the language of sculp- 
ture necessarily differs from that of poetry. 



stead of the deer, there is a great lion, which a man 
holds by the mane." . . . . " There are also two other 
figures on each side, in the two niches to the souths 
one of which grasps the horn of a goat with one 
hand, while the other rests on the neck of that ani- 
imal." . . . . " In one of these portals, to the east, we 
observed the figure of a man encountering a lion ; 
and in another compartment, a man fighting with a 
bull. We likewise beheld, under the two portals to 
the west, several figures of lions, one of which is 
represented with wings." .... "The Spanish ambas- 
sador was persuaded, that the animal attacked by the 
lion, on the staircase, represents an ox, or a bull ; 
but I rather think it intended for a horse or an ass. 
This particular piece of sculpture is no more than a 
hieroglyphic, representing virtue victorious over force; 
and every one knows, that the ancient Persians and 
Egyptians concealed their greatest mysteries under 
equivocal figures, as Heliodorus observes. As all 
these animals, therefore, are represented with horns, 
which are not natural to them, some mystery must 
certainly be intended by that sculpture ; and this sup- 
position seems the more reasonable, because it is well 
known that horns were anciently the emblem of 
strength, and even of majesty itself." . ..." I take 
the other figure, which encounters a lion, and is hab- 
ited like a Mede, to be a hieroglyphic ; because the 
Egyptians, from whom the Persians borrowed sev- 
eral customs, represented strength and fortitude by 
the figure of a lion. The reader may consult Clemens 
Alexandrinus with relation to this particular. It may 
likewise be intended for a real combat, the Medes 
and Persians having been very fond of encountering 
animals, as Xenophon observes in his ' Institution of 
Cyrus.' Those who are versed in antiquity may 
judge of these figures as they think proper." 

It is evident from these extracts, that Le Bruyn 
had no fixed opinion as to what these figures repre- 
sent. Without controverting what he offers, Mr. 
Taylor thus proposes his own conceptions. One of 
these figures "represents a man who has seized a 
lion with one hand : in his other hand he holds a 
sword, as if drawn back, in order to plunge it the 
more forcibly into the body of the lion ; the lion is 
lifted up from the earth, and stands upright on its 
hind legs ; he looks behind him, as if fearing harm 
from thence. This lion is partly clothed with feath- 
ers ; and these, from their size, &c have the appear- 
ance of being eagle's feathers : his feathers seem to 
be diminishing ; at least, he is by no means so full of 
feathers as another figure adjoining. The man, from 
his cap, &c. is doubtless a person of distinction ; in 
fact, a Persian king, victorious over a power denoted 
by a lion ; but possessed of the additional strength 
and celerity of an eagle. The correspondence of 
events is thus : — 

Historical Narration. 

1. The Babylonian empire : 

2. Nineveh added to it — but, 

3. Nineveh almost destroyed at the fall of Sar- 

danapalus : 

4. Again raised, but by artificial means, 

5. To stand in an unnatural posture, 

6. Through the policy and good management 

of its king; perhaps Nebuchadnezzar. 

" Another of these sculptures also represents a man, 
certainly no less a personage than a king, who with 
one hand seizes the [single] horn of an animal, which 
he has attacked; while, with the other hand, he 



DAE 



[ 334 ] 



DAR 



plunges a sword into its belly. This animal has the 
body, fore legs, and head of a beast ; he is also great- 
ly clothed with feathers, has wings, and birds' legs, 
on which he stands upright. He seems to make a 
stout resistance. 

" It is not easy to determine what beast is here rep- 
resented, but it seems to be clear that the king is 
breaking its [single] horn, (power,) and destroying it. 
It probably alludes to some province of the Persian 
empire, acquired by victory ; and most likely the 
other emblems in this palace have similar reference : 
for we learn from Diodorus, that military actions of 
the Egyptian monarchs were represented on the tem- 
ples and palaces of Egypt ; and we may fairly pre- 
sume that the vanity of Persia would not be inferior 
to that of Egypt." Mr. Taylor's opinion is, that these 
figures represent the king, or the deity, under whose 
auspices the king conquered, by whom the neighbor- 
ing powers, allegorized by these figurative beasts, 
were subdued ; and that these are allusions to such 
actions : but his opinion goes no further, than to ac- 
knowledge their coincidence with the animals de- 
scribed by the prophet Daniel ; whose emblems are 
not only justified by the comparison, but it is proved, 
also, that such national allegories were in use at th&t 
time, and were then well known and publicly ad- 
mitted. 

It is remarkable, that Daniel does not determine 
the species of the fourth beast in his vision ; perhaps 
because its insignia were then unknown in so distant 
a region as Persia. 

That ancient opponent of Christianity, Porphyry, 
affirmed that the book of Daniel was a history writ- 
ten figuratively after the events it refers to had hap- 
pened; even after Antiochus Epiphanes, and long 
after the empire of the Greeks ; and Eichhorn and 
others adopt his notion ; but, as the emblems on this 
palace are, at all events, prior to Alexander, who de- 
stroyed them, and have no Greek allusions among 
them, their antiquity becomes a voucher for the an- 
tiquity of Daniel, with whom they coincide so remark- 
ably ; and if the antiquity of Daniel be established, 
his prophetic character follows of course. The 
reader will reflect on the importance of establishing 
the antiquity of Daniel ; since our calculations of the 
time of the Messiah's coming, &c. originate from 
him, who remarkably, clearly, and systematically, 
calculates the periods and dates of following events. 

Mr. Taylor further suggests, that the reason why 
Daniel calculates so systematically, perhaps was, be- 
cause he dwelt in Babylon, where a new era had 
lately been established, which we call that of Nabo- 
nassar : this formed a fixed point, of which Daniel's 
proficiency in Chaldean studies enabled him to avail 
himself. No such era was as yet adopted in Greece, 
Judea, or Syria. 

I. DARIUS THE MEDE, spoken of in Daniel, 
(chap. v. 31 ; ix. 1-; xi. 1.) was son of Astyages, king 
of the Medes, and brother of Mandane, mother of 
Cyrus, and Amyit, the mother of Evil-merodach and 
grandmother of Belshazzar : thus he was uncle, by 
the mother's side, to Evil-merodach and to Cyrus. 
The Hebrew generally calls him Dariavesch, or 
Darius ; the LXX, Artaxerxes ; and Xenophon, 
Cyaxares. See Astyages II. 

II. DARIUS CODOMANNUS was one of the 
most handsome men in the Persian empire ; and at 
the same time the most brave and generous of the 
Persian kings. Alexander the Great defeated Darius 
several times, and at length subverted the Persian 
monarchy, after it had been established 206 years. 



Darius was killed by his own generals, after a short 
reign of six years. Thus were verified the prophe- 
cies of Daniel, (chap, viii.) who had foretold the en- 
largement of the Persian monarchy, under the sym 
bol of a ram, butting with its horns westward, 
northward, and southward, which nothing could 
resist : and its destruction, by a goat having a very 
large horn between his eyes, (Alexander the Great,) 
coming from the West, and overrunning the world 
without touching the earth. Springing forward with 
impetuosity, he ran against the ram with all his force, 
attacked him with fury, broke his two horns, and 
trampled him under foot, without anyone being able 
to rescue him. Nothing can be added to the clear- 
ness of these prophecies. 

DARKNESS, obscurity. " Darkness was upon 
the face of the deep," (Gen. i. 2,) that is, chaos was im- 
mersed in thick darkness, because light was withheld 
from it. The most terrible darkness was that brought 
on Egypt as a plague ; it was so thick as to be, as it 
were, palpable ; so horrible, that no one durst stir out 
of his place ; and so lasting, that it endured three 
days and three nights, Exod. x. 21, 22 ; Wisd. xvii. 
2, 3. The darkness at our Saviour's death began at 
the sixth hour, or noon ; and ended at the third hour, 
or three o'clock in the afternoon. Thus it lasted al- 
most the whole time he was on the cross ; compare 
Matt, xxvii. 45, with John xix. 14, and Mark xv. 25. 
Some are of opinion, that this darkness covered 
Judea only ; which is sometimes expressed by the 
whole earth ; that is, land or country ; others, that it 
extended over a hemisphere. It should be remarked, 
that the moon being at full, a natural eclipse of the 
sun was impossible ; though Julius Africanus, Euse- 
bius, and Jerome, in their several chronicles, refer 
that eclipse of the sun which Phlegon mentions, to 
our Saviour's death. That author says, it was the 
greatest eclipse ever seen, since at noon-day the stars 
were discernible in the heavens. It happened in the 
fourth year of the 102d Olympiad, which is that of 
Jesus Christ's death. And Tertullian refers the 
heathen to their public archives for an account of 
this darkness. The remarks, however, made by Dr. 
Lardner, in opposition to the application of what has 
been adduced from Phlegon, have great force. That 
ancient writer speaks of what passed in Bithynia, not 
in Judea ; the references he makes to the year are 
uncertain, and do not specify the time of the year ; 
his language, so far as appears, may be referred to a 
natural eclipse of the sun ; and, further, the quota- 
tions made from his work, or the allusions to it by 
Christian writers, are very loose, imperfect, and un- 
satisfactory. On the whole, it does not appear that 
Phlegon intended a reference to the period of Christ's 
passion. 

Darkness is sometimes used metaphorically: for 
death, Job x. 22. The land of darkness — the grave. 
It is also used to denote misfortunes and calamities, 
Psalm cvii. 10. " A day of darkness," (Esth. xi. 8. 
Apoc.) an unhappy day. " Let that day be darkness 
— let darkness stain it," (Job iii. 4, 5.) let it be reck- 
oned among the unfortunate days. " I am encom- 
passed with darkness." " I will cover the heavens 
with darkness." "The sun shall be turned into 
darkness, and the moon into blood," &c. These 
expressions signify very great calamities ; personal 
and national. In a moral sense, darkness denotes 
sin ; the children of light, in opposition to the chil- 
dren of darkness ; the righteous in opposition to the 
wicked. "Ye were sometimes darkness, but now 
are ye light" Ephes. v. 8, 11. "God hath called us 



D AU 



[ 335 ] 



DAY 



out of darkness," &c. (1 Pet. ii. 9.) from idolatry, 
ignorance, &c. to Christianity. 

DATE, the fruit of the palm-tree. See Palm. 

DAUGHTER. This word, like other names of 
relation employed in Scripture, being a noun express- 
ing similitude, no less than kindred, is used in refer- 
ence to many subjects, which are not properly the 
offspring of that person, or that thing, of which they 
are said to be daughters. The following are senses 
in which the word daughter is used in Scripture. 

(1.) Female offspring, by natural birth, Gen. vi. 1 ; 
xxiv. 23, and other places. — (2.) Grand-daughter; so 
the servant of Abraham calls Rebekah " my master's 
brother's daughter," (Gen. xxiv. 48.) whereas she 
was daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, as appears 
from verse 24 ; consequently, grand -daughter of Na- 
hor, brother of Abraham, the master of the speaker. — 
(3.) Bemote descendants, of the same family or tribe, 
but separated by many ages ; " daughter of Heth," of 
his posterity ; daughters of Canaan, of Moab, of 
Amnion ; and Luke (i. 5.) says, Elisabeth was of the 
"daughters of Aaron," of his descendants, though 
many generations had intervened. — (4.) Daughter by 
nation. Dinah went out to see the young women of 
Shechem, called the " daughters of the land," Gen. 
xxxiv. 1. (See also Numb. xxv. 1 ; Deut. xxiii. 17.) — 
(5.) Daughter, by reference to the human species; 
young women, of whatever nation, Gen. xxx. 13. (See 
Prov. xxxi. 29 ; Cant. ii. 2.) — (6.) Daughter, by person- 
ification, of a people, or city, whence daughter of 
Jerusalem, or of Zion ; of Babylon ; (Isa. xlvii. 1, 5.) 
of Edom ; (Lam. iv. 21.) of Egypt, Jer. xlvi. 11, 14. — 
(7.) Daughter by law ; (Ruth iii. 1.) and this is com- 
mon in all nations, to call a son's wife daughter ; but 
Boaz calls Ruth " daughter" by courtesy, as express- 
ing kindness, affability, affection, from a senior- to a 
junior in age, from a superior to an inferior by sta- 
tion, iii. 10, 11. — (8.) Daughter by adoption, as Esther 
was to Mordecai, (Esther ii. 7.) and as God promises 
his people by his grace, 2 Cor. vi. 18. — (9.) Daughter, 
in reference to disposition and conduct : as we have 
"sons of Belial," so .we have " daughter of Belial," a 
woman of an unrestrainable conduct, uncontrollable, 
1 Sam. i. 16. (See also Belial, and Sons.) — (10.) 
Daughter, in reference to age : as we have " a son of 
so many years," so we have " a daughter of ninety 
years," Heb. — a woman of that age ; (Gen. xvii. 17.) 
and the same is said of a female beast, Lev. xiv. 10. — 
(11.) The female offspring of a bird, (Isa. xiii. 21. 
marg.) "daughter of the owl." — (12.) The branches, 
which are, as it were, the offspring of a tree, (Gen. 
xlix. 22.) the branches — daughters, Heb. — of Joseph, 
compared to a tree, spread over a wall. — (13.) Towns, 
or villages, around a mother city, that is, probably 
originating from it, or supported by it : so Tyre is 
called the daughter of Zidon, Isa. xxiii. 12. (See 
also 2 Sam. xx. 19.) So we read of Gath-AMMAH, 
that is, Gath the mo£/ter-town ; of a town being a 
mother in Israel : (see Numb. xxi. 25, 32 ; Josh. xv. 
45 ; 2 Chron. xiii. 19 ; Psalm xlviii. 11. in the He- 
brew :) and many cities in ancient medals are quali- 
fied as metropolis, mother-towns, implying, no doubt, 
lesser towns, and towns not equally ancient, as being 
included in their jurisdiction. We might ask wheth- 
er "the daughter of Tyre" (Psalm xlv. 12.) be a per- 
son, the king's daughter, or a town, offering a present 
by its deputies. [The meaning is, Tyre itself. R. 

The state of daughters, that is, young women, in 
the East, their employments, duties, &c. may be gath- 
ered from various parts of Scripture ; and seem to 
have borne but little resemblance to the state of 



young women of respectable parentage among our- 
selves. Rebekah drew and fetched water ; Rachel 
kept sheep, as did the daughters of Jethro, though 
Jethro was a priest, or a prince, of Midian. They 
superintended and performed domestic services for 
the family ; Tamar, though a king's daughter, baked 
bread ; and the same of others. We have the same 
occupations for the daughters of princes in the an- 
cient poets, of which Homer is an unquestionable 
evidence. 

DAVID, son of Jesse, of Judah, and of the town 
of Bethlehem, was born A. M. 2919. After the re- 
jection of Saul, as to the descent of the crown in his 
family, the Lord sent Samuel to Bethlehem to' anoint 
a son of Jesse to be the future king. Jesse produced 
his seven sons one after another ; but the intended 
sovereign was not among them. David, therefore, 
was sent for, who was about fifteen years of age, and 
Samuel conferred on him an unction in the midst of 
his brethren. After which, David returned to his 
ordinary occupation of feeding his father's flocks, 1 , 
Sam. xvi. 15, 16, A. M. 2934. Some time after- 
wards, Saul falling into a lamentable state of melan- 
choly, David was chosen to play before him, and the 
king appointed him his armor-bearer, 1 Sam. xvi. 14 
— 23. When Saul recovered, David returned to his 
father's house ; but some years after, Goliath, a Phi- 
listine giant, having insulted Israel by a challenge, he 
encountered the giant and slew him. The Philis- 
tines, seeing their hero killed, fled, 1 Sam. xvii. 1 — 
52. When Saul saw David coming against this Phi- 
listine, he inquired of Abner who he was ; but Abner 
answered that he knew not. Calmet remarks that 
this appears strange, considering Saul had seen David 
in his own house, where he played before him on 
his harp, and had appointed him armor- bearer. 
He supposes that either David's face, voice, and air, 
must have been changed since that time ; or that 
Saul, during his gloomy insanity, had acquired false 
ideas of David's person ; or, after his recovery, had 
forgotten him. But we are not certain that David 
had ever been a regular attendant on the person of 
Saul ; that he had often played before him ; nor do 
we know under what circumstances of dress or place. 
It does not appear that even Jonathan had seen Da- 
vid, at least not familiarly, before, and this is the 
greater difficulty : Abner, as general, might be absent, 
but Jonathan was, no doubt, more or less, about his 
father. Abner, however, presented David to the 
king, with the head and sword of Goliath in his 
hands. From this instant, Jonathan conceived a 
great affection for David, which continued ever after, 
1 Sam. xvii. xviii. 1 — 4. When Saul and David re- 
turned from this expedition, the women of Israel 
met them, singing, "Saul has slain his thousands, 
and David his ten thousands ;" which so enraged 
Saul against David, that henceforth he looked on 
him with an evil eye ; though he kept him about his 
person, and gave him the command of some troops. 
He, however, refused to give him his daughter in 
marriage, though he had promised her to the man 
who should kill Goliath, xvii. 25. Saul's distemper 
having returned, David played on the harp before 
him, and Saul with his spear twice attempted to kill 
him, xviii. 10, 11. Having discovered that his second 
daughter entertained kind thoughts of David, Saul 
caused it to o be communicated to him, that to merit 
the honor of becoming the king's son-in-law, he 
required no great gifts, dowry, or presents, but a 
hundred foreskins of the Philistines ; his design 
being to have David fall by their hands. David, 



DA\TD 



[ 336 ] 



DAVID 



however, with his people, killed two hundred Philis- 
tines, and brought their foreskins to the king, who 
could, therefore, no longer refuse him his daughter ; 
though he did not lay aside the intention of his de- 
struction. His distemper again possessing him, 
David, as usual, played on the harp before him ; but 
the king endeavoring to pierce him with his lance, 
ae fled to his house, xviii. 17 ; xix. 10, A. M. 2944. 

Having thus repeatedly escaped from Saul's mal- 
.ce, David went to Samuel at Rauiah, and related to 
him what had passed. They went together to Nai- 
oth, but David, not thinking himself secure here, 
secretly visited Jonathan, who encouraged him, and 
promised to discover Saul's real disposition towards 
him, distinct from his disease. This proving to be 
altogether inimical to David, the two friends renewed 
protestations of perpetual. friendship, and David re- 
tired to the high-priest Abimelech at Nob, to whom 
he represented, that the king had sent him on busi- 
ness that required haste. Abimelech gave him 
Goliath's sword which was deposited in the taberna- 
cle, and some of the shevv-bread, taken the day be- 
fore from the golden table. Not believing himself to 
be safe in Saul's territories, David retired to Achish, 
king of Gath ; but being soon discovered, he was pre- 
served, either by counterfeiting madness, or by a real 
epilepsy, 1 Sam. xx. xxi. From hence he went to 
Adullum, where his relations and others resorted to 
him, so that he was at the head of about four hun- 
dred men. The prophet Gad advised his return into 
the land of Judah, where Abiathar the priest joined 
him, bringing the priestly ornaments. The Philis- 
tines having invaded the threshing-floors of Keilah, 
David attacked and dispersed them ; but Saul march- 
ing against him, he retreated to the desert of Maon. 
Saul pursued him thither ; but, receiving information 
that the Philistines had invaded the land, he desisted 
from his pursuit. Being delivered from this danger, 
David retired to the wilderness of En-gedi, whither 
Saul soon followed him with 3000 men ; but going 
into a cave, David, who lay there concealed with his 
people, cut off the skirt of his robe, without his per- 
ceiving it. When Saul had proceeded to some dis- 
tance, David went out, cried after him, protested his 
innocence, and showed him the skirt of his robe. 
Saul was so touched with what he said t that he shed 
tears, acknowledged David's integrity, and made him 
swear not to exterminate his family, when he should 
be advanced to the throne, xxii. — xxiv. A. M. 2946. 

While in the wilderness of Maon, David protected 
the flocks of Nabal, not only from his own people, 
but from the tribes of wandering Arabs, who seize 
as prey all they can find. For this service he solicit- 
ed a present from Nabal, but meeting a denial, his 
anger prompted him to destroy him and his family. 
With this resolution he set forward ; but Abigail, 
Nabal's wife, pacified him with presents, for which 
David returned thanks to God ; and after Nabal's 
death he married Abigail. 

The Ziphites having informed Saul that David lay 
concealed in the hill of Hachilah, he marched with 
3000 men against him ; but David, by night, got into 
Saul's tent, took his spear and cruse of water, and 
departed without being discovered, 1 Sam. xxvi. 1 — 
25. After this, Achish, king of Gath, (1 Sam. xxvii.) 
gave David Ziklag for a habitation ; whence he made 
several incursions on the Amalekites, and on the 
people of Geshur and Gezri ; killing all who oppos- 
ed him, to prevent any discovery where he had 
been. He brought all the cattle to Achish, reporting 
that they were from the south of Judah. This prince 



did not scruple to carry David with him to war 
against Saul ; but the other princes of the Philistines 
obtained his dismission, which must have been most 
agreeable to David, A. M. 2949, 1 Sam. xxix. On 
his return to Ziklag, he discovered that the Amalek- 
ites, in revenge of his incursions, had burned the 
city, and carried off all the property and persons. 
David and his people pursued them, put the greater 
part of them to the sword, and recovered all their 
booty. 

While this was passing in the south, the Philistines 
had defeated the Hebrews, on mount Gilboa ; Saul 
being overpowered and slain in the engagement, 
with Jonathan and his two other sons, 1 Sam. xxxi. 
The news was brought to David by an Amalekite ; 
who boasted that he had assisted Saul in despatching 
himself, and as a proof presented the king's diadem 
and bracelet. David ordered this Amalekite to be 
slain, who boasted that he had Jain hands on the 
Lord's anointed ; composed a mournful elegy in 
honor of Saul and Jonathan ; and with all his people 
lamented their deaths, and the defeat 'of Israel, 2 
Sam.' i. 

Directed by God, David advanced to Hebron, 
where the tribe of Judah acknowledged him as their 
king, (2 Sam. ii.) while Ishbosheth, son of Saul, reign- 
ed at Mahanaim beyond Jordan, over the other tribes. 
For some years, there were almost perpetual skir- 
mishes between their troops, in which David was al- 
ways successful ; but Ishbosheth having reprimanded 
Abner, his general, he visited David, and promised 
to make him master of all Israel ; but was treacher- 
ously killed by Joab, at the gate of Hebron. Ishbo- 
sheth was killed soon afterwards, and David punished 
the murderers. Being now proclaimed king overall 
Israel, he expelled the Jebusites from Jerusalem, and 
there settled his residence. Some years afterwards, 
he removed the ark of the Lord from Kirjath-jearim 
to bis own palace, 2 Sam. v. vi. xxiii. 13 — 17 ; 1 
Chron. xii. — xvi. 

David, now enjoying peace, formed the design of 
building a temple to the Lord ; and the prophet Na- 
than applauded his intention. The night following, 
however, God discovered to the prophet, that this 
honor was reserved for David's son, because David 
had shed blood. About A. M. 2960, David fought 
the Philistines, and freed Israel from these enemies ; 
also from the Moabites, whom he treated with a se- 
verity, for which we are not well acquainted with 
the motives, nor, indeed, with all the circumstances. 
He subdued likewise all Syria ; made an expedition 
as far as the Euphrates, and conquered the Edom- 
ites in the valley of Salt, 2 Samuel viii. Nahash, 
king of the Ammonites, being dead, he sent compli- 
ments of condolence to his son and successor ; but 
his courtiers having persuaded him, that David sent 
them as spies, the prince insulted the ambassadors, 
and thus provoked David's anger. Joab was sent 
against the Ammonites, who were routed, together 
with the Syrians ; and the next year David marched 
in person against the former, who had received suc- 
cors from the Syrians beyond the Euphrates, and 
dispersed them. The year following, having resolved 
to subdue Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites, he 
sent Joab with the army, while he continued at Je- 
rusalem, ch. x. It was at this time that he fell into 
the dreadful crimes of adultery and murder in regard 
to Bathsheba, and Uriah her husband, xi. 2—27. 
After the death of Uriah, David married Bathsheba. 
Joab having reduced Rabbah to extremities, David 
went thither, took the city, and plundered it ; ordtr 



THE DELUGE. 



DAVID 



L 337 ] 



DAVID 



ing the people to be subjected to the most severe 
labors, ver. 26 — 31. This was probably before he 
was brought to repentance on account of his criminal 
connection with Bathsheba. Upon his return to Je- 
rusalem, Nathan, by God's command, visited him, 
and, under an affecting parable of a rich man, who 
had taken from a poor man the only ewe-lamb he 
had, induced David to condemn himself. Nathan 
foretold that his house should be filled with blood, 
as a punishment for his crime ; and that the child 
born of this adultery should die ; as it did within a 
few days, ch. xii. 1—25. 

As the beginning of his predicted punishment in 
David's own family, his son Amnon was slain by his 
brother Absalom, who fled, but was brought back by 
Joab's intercession. Shortly after this, he aspired to 
the royal dignity, and was acknowledged king at 
Hebron, David being compelled to fly from Jerusa- 
lem ; just beyond mount Olivet, he met Ziba, the 
servant of Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan, to 
whom he gave the whole inheritance of his master, 
chap. xvi. Near Bahurim, Shimei loaded him with 
curses ; but David endured all with a patience analo- 
gous to his remorse for his past iniquity. Absalom 
followed him to Mahanaim, and a battle ensued, in 
which Absalom's army was defeated ; and he, hang- 
ing by his hair 'on a tree, was slain by Joab, chap, 
xviii. The news of his death overwhelmed the king 
with sorrow ; but, by the advice of Joab, he showed 
himself publicly to the people, and set out on his re- 
turn to Jerusalem. The tribe of Judah met him, 
but Sheba said, " We have no part in David, neither 
have we inheritance in the son of Jesse." Israel 
followed Sheba, but Judah adhered to David, 
chap, xx. 

The land being afflicted by a famine of three 
years' continuance, the Lord reminded David of the 
blood of the Gibeonites unjustly shed by Saul. Da- 
vid, therefore, asked the Gibeonites, what satisfaction 
they required ; and they demanding that seven of 
Saul's sons should be hanged up in Gibeah, David 
complied, A. M. 2983, 2 Sam. xxi. Some time after 
this, David having proudly and obstinately com- 
manded the people to be numbered, the Lord sent 
the prophet Gad to offer him the choice of three 
scourges ; either that the land should be afflicted 
by famine during seven years, or that he should fly 
three months before his enemies, or that a pesti- 
lence should rage during three days. David chose 
the latter, and, though 70,000 persons died, the sen- 
tence was not fully executed. David, as an act of 
thanksgiving, erected an altar in the threshing-floor 
of Araunah, where, as some think, the temple was 
afterwards built, xxiv. 

David, from his great age, could now scarcely ob- 
tain any warmth ; a young woman, therefore, named 
Abishag, was brought to him, to lie with him, and 
attend him ; but continued a virgin, 1 Kings i. 1 — 4. 
At this time, Adonijah, his fourth son, set up the 
equipage of a king, and formed a party ; but Nathan, 
who knew the promises of David in favor of Solo- 
mon, acquainted Bathsheba with it, who claiming 
those promises, David gave orders that Solomon 
should be anointed king. David, being now near his 
end, sent for Solomon, committed to him the plans 
and models of the temple, with the gold and silver he 
had prepared for it, and charged him to be constant- 
ly faithful to God. He died, aged 71, A. M. 2990, 
ante A. D. 1 014. He reigned seven years and a half 
at Hebron, and thirty-three at Jerusalem, in all forty 
years, chap ii. 

43 



In the account here given, chiefly from Calmet. 
the history of David only is narrated ; but he must 
also be regarded as an eminent type of our Saviour, 
and as being the author of a large portion of the 
Psalms, from which the church of Christ in all ages 
has derived the utmost advantage in consolation, in- 
struction, and assistance in divine worship ; and in 
which the clearness and fulness of the prophecies re- 
lating to the advent, and offices, and kingdom of our 
Lord, are remarkable. See Psalms. 

Joseph us relates, that Solomon deposited abun- 
dance of riches in David's monument ; and that, 
1300 years after, the high-priest Hircanus, being be- 
sieged in Jerusalem by Antiochus Pius, opened 
David's monument, took out 3000 talents, and gave 
Antiochus part of them. He adds that, many years 
after, Herod the Great searched this monument, and 
took great sums out of it. In the memoirs published 
in Arabic by M. le Jay, in his Polyglott, we read that 
Hircanus, when besieged by king Antiochus Sidetes 
opened a treasure chamber, which belonged to some 
of David's descendants, and that, after he had taken 
a large sum out of it, he still left much, and sealed it 
up again. This is very different from Josephus's 
account ; but is probably the foundation of it. Da- 
vid's monument was much respected by the Jews. 
Peter (Acts ii. 29.) tells them, it was still with them, 
and Dio informs us, that part of the mausoleum fell 
down in the emperor Adrian's reign. 

There is one circumstance in the history of David 
which requires further notice than it has received in 
the narrative just given. 

There is an apparent discrepancy between the ac- 
counts of his numbering the people, as given in 
2 Sam. xxiv. 9. and 1 Chron. xxi. 5. In the former 
place it stands thus -.—Israel 800,000 ; Judah 500,000 ; 
in the latter it is, Israel 1,100,000 ; Judah 470,000. 
A very striking difference, certainly ; and the question 
for solution is, Are the accounts to be reconciled ? 
Patrick, Lightfoot, Hales, and others, are of opinion 
that the returns were not completed when sent in to 
the king ; and that the writer of the book of Samuel 
mentions the number according to the list actually 
given in ; whereas the author of the Chronicles gives 
the list not laid before the king, nor inserted in the 
public records, but generally known among the peo- 
ple. It is difficult, however, to conceive that the 
compiler of public annals, such as are the Chroni- 
cles, should depart from the authentic or authorized 
returns, and insert such as were obtained from cur- 
rent report, or sources of private information. Per- 
haps the conjecture of a more recent writer, Mr. 
Baruch, is better adapted to meet the case, and we 
shall, therefore, lay the substance of his remarks be- 
fore the reader : — 

"It appears," he observes, "by 1 Chron. xxvii.that 
there were twelve divisions of generals, who com- 
manded monthly, and whose duty was to keep guard 
near the king's person, each having a body of troops, 
consisting of twenty-four thousand men, which 
jointly, formed a grand army of two hundred and 
eighty-eight thousand ; and as a separate body of 
twelve thousand men naturally attended on the 
twelve princes of the twelve tribes, mentioned in the 
same chapter, the whole will be three hundred thou- 
sand ; which is the difference between the two ac- 
counts of eight hundred thousand, and of one million 
one hundred thousand. As to the men of Israel, the 
author of Samuel does not take notice of the three 
hundred thousand, because they were in the actual 
service of the king, as a standing army, and, therefore 



DAY 



[ 338 ] 



DE A 



here was no need to number them ; but Chronicles 
joins them to the rest, saying expressly (SN-ie» Ss) ' all 
those of Israel were one million one hundred thou- 
sand ;' whereas the author of Samuel, who reckons 
only the eight hundred thousand, does not say, 
C?nie» bj) 'all those of Israel,'' but barely (Sn-ke» inni) 
' and Israel were,' &c. It must also be observed, that, 
exclusive of the troops before mentioned, there was 
an army of observation on the frontiers of the Phi- 
listines' country, composed of thirty thousand men, 
as appears by 2 Sam. vi. 1. which, it seems, were 
included in the number of five hundred thousand of 
the people of Judah, by the author of Samuel ; but 
the author of Chronicles, who mentions only four 
hundred and seventy thousand, gives the number of 
that tribe, exclusive of those thirty thousand men, 
because they were not all of the tribe of Judah, 
and, therefore, he does not say, (nyn> S3) 'all those 
of Judah, ' as he had said, (Sine" S3,) 'all those of 
Israel? but only, (mvpi) ' and those of Judah.' 1 Thus 
both accounts may be reconciled, by only having re- 
course to other parts of Scripture, treating on the 
same subject, which will ever be found the best 
method of explaining difficult passages." 

The remarks which follow are so just and valuable, 
that no apology will be required for their insertion : 

"The above variations are, in appearance, so glar- 
ingly contradictory, that, if the standing army of two 
hundred and eighty-eight thousand men, and the ar- 
my of observation of thirty thousand, had not been 
recorded in Scripture, by which the difficulties are 
solved, those modern critics who take a delight in 
finding seeming defects, blemishes, and corruptions 
in our copies of the sacred books, might, with great 
plausibility, produce the present collation, as an irref- 
ragable instance to support their position. But let 
us, for a moment, suppose that those circumstances, 
though real facts, had not been recorded ; how would 
the state of the question then rest? Those critics 
would plume themselves on what they would call 
the irresistible force of such contradictory instances ; 
but all their boasting would be grounded on the 
baseless fabric of a vision, I mean, on our ignorance 
of those particulars, which, if known, would imme- 
diately reconcile the variations. The inference I 
would draw from this observation is, that many diffi- 
culties may appear insurmountable, which might 
easily be solved, had the sacred writers been more 
explicit in recording circumstances, which, perhaps, 
they have omitted, as being well known in their 
time : and, therefore, critics should be more cautious, 
than peremptorily to pronounce all seeming varia- 
tions to be a proof of corruption, since our present 
inability to reconcile them is no certain proof of any 
blemish or defect." 

DAY. The day is distinguished into natural, as- 
tronomical, civil, and artificial ; and there is another 
distinction which may be termed prophetic ; the proph- 
ets being the only persons who call years days ; of 
which there is an example in the explanation given 
of Daniel's seventy weeks. The natural day is one 
revolution of the sun. The astronomical day is one 
revolution of the equator, added to that portion of it 
through which the sun has passed in one natural 
day. The civil day is that, the beginning and end of 
which are determined by the custom of any nation. 
The Hebrews began their day in the evening ; (Lev. 
xxiii. 32.) the Babylonians from sun-rising. The 
artificial day is the time of the sun's continuance 
above the horizon, which is unequal according to 
different seasons, on account of the obliquity of the 



sphere. The sacned writers generally divide the 
day and night into twelve unequal hours. The sixth 
hour is always noon throughout the year ; and the 
twelfth hour is the last hour of the day. But in sum- 
mer, the twelfth hour, as all the others were, was 
longer than in winter. See Hours. 

To-Day, does not only signify the particular day 
on which we are speaking, but any definite time ; as 
we say, the people of the present clay, or of that clay, 
or time. 

DEACON. Among the Greeks those youths who 
served the tables were called Siuxoroi, deacons, i. e. 
ministers, attendants ; and there is a manifest allu- 
sion to them in our Lord's rebuke of his disciples : 
(Luke xxii. 25.) "The kings of the Gentiles exercise 
lordship over them ; and those possessing authority 
over them, are called benefactors [v'tQyirai). But 
among you it shall not be so ; but he who is great- 
est among you, let him be as the youngest ; and he 
who takes place as a ruler, as he who serveth (i. e. a 
deacon). For whether is greater, he who reclines at 
table, (inuy.f'iftivuQ.'y or he who serveth (i. e. the dea- 
con) ? Whereas I am among you as (the deacon) he 
who serveth." Is there not great humility in our 
Lord's allusion ? But the word is used in ecclesias- 
tical language, to denote an officer who assists either 
the bishop or priest, or in the service of the poor. 
(For the institution of deacons, see Acts vi. 1.) They 
were selected by the people from among themselves, 
were then presented to the apostles, and ordained by 
prayer and imposition of hands. Paul enumerates 
the qualifications of a deacon in 1 Tim. hi. 8- — 12. 
[The word Staxoroc, deacon, attendant, &c. as spoken 
in reference to the primitive institutions of the Chris- 
tian churches, means one who collects and distributes 
alms to the poor, an overseer of the poor, an almoner. 
Persons of both sexes were appointed to perform 
the duties of this office ; which consisted in a gen- 
eral inquiry into the situation and wants of the poor, 
in taking care of the sick, and in administering all 
necessary and proper relief, Phil. i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 8 
12; Rom. xvi. 1. From this word, as applied to 
this office, is derived the English word deacon ; which, 
however, retains little of its original signification. R. 

DEACONESS. Such women Were called dea 
conesses, as served the church in those offices in 
which the deacons could not with propriety engage - 
such as keeping the doors of that part of the church 
where the women sat ; assisting the women to un- 
dress and dress at baptism ; privately instructing 
those of their own sex ; and visiting others impris- 
oned for the faith. They were of mature and ad- 
vanced age when chosen ; of good manners and 
reputation. They were, in the primitive times, ap- 
pointed to this office, with the imposition of hands. 
Paul speaks of Phoebe, deaconess of the church at 
the port of Cenchrea, the eastern haven of Corinth, 
Rom. xvi. 1. See Deacon. 

These persons appear to be the same as those 
whom Pliny, in his famous letter to Trajan, styles 
"Ancillis, qua ministry dicebantur" — female attend- 
ants called assistants, ministers, or servants. It 
appears, then, that these were customary officers 
throughout the churches ; and when the fury of 
persecution fell on Christians, these were among the 
first to suffer ; the most cruel of tortures being in- 
flicted on them, not sparing even extreme old age. 
Is it not remarkable that the office, which is so well 
adapted to the matronly character of the female sex, 
should be ivholly excluded from our list of assistants 
in the church ? 



DEA 



[ 339 ] 



DEB 



It is usually understood, that at first deaconesses 
were widows, who had lived with one husband only ; 
not less than sixty years of age ; which, by the 
fifteenth canon of the council of Chalcedon, was re- 
duced to forty years. In later times, they wore a 
distinguishing dress. The apostle Paul says, that 
Phoebe had been his patroness, as well as that of 
many others, (Rom. xvi. 2.) which implies a dignity 
seldom considered ; and shows that great respecta- 
bility of station was the reverse of inconsistent with 
the office of deaconess. 

DEAD. It was natural that the Hebrews should 
have great consideration for the dead, since they be- 
lieved the soul's immortality, and a resurrection of 
the body. They esteemed it the greatest misfortune 
to be deprived of burial, and hence made it a point 
of duty to bury the dead, (Tob. i. 19 ; ii. 3,9; iv. 17.) 
and to leave something on their graves to be eaten by 
the poor. When an Israelite died in any house or 
tent, all the persons and furniture in it contracted a 
pollution, which continued seven days, Numb. xix. 
14 — 16. All who touched the body of one who died, 
or was killed, in the open fields ; all who touched 
men's bones, or a grave, were unclean seven days. 
To cleanse this pollution, they formerly took the 
ashes of the red heifer, sacrificed by the high-priest 
on the day of solemn expiation : (Numb, xix.) on 
these they poured water in a vessel, and a person 
who was clean dipped a bunch of hyssop in the water, 
and sprinkled with it the furniture, the chamber, and 
the persons, on the third day and on the seventh day. 
It was required that the polluted person should pre- 
viously bathe his whole body, and wash his clothes ; 
after which he was clean, ver. 17 — 22. Since the 
destruction of the temple, the Jews have ceased 
generally to consider themselves as polluted by a 
dead body. 

It appears to have been a custom in Palestine, to 
embalm the bodies of persons of distinction and for- 
tune : but this was never general. The evangelist 
John remarks, that our Saviour was wrapt in linen 
clothes, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews 
is to bury ; (John xix. 40.) and we read, that either 
with, or near, the bodies of some kings of Judah, 
abundance of spices was burnt ; (2 Chron. xxi. 19.) 
but we cannot affirm that this was customary, Jer. 
xxxiv. 5. See Embalming. 

Anciently the Jews had women hired to lament at 
funerals, and who played on doleful instruments, and 
walked in procession. The rabbins say, that an 
Israelite was enjoined to have two of these musicians 
at his wife's obsequies, besides the women hired to 
weep. Persons who met the funeral procession, in 
civility joined the company, and mingled their 
groans. To this our Saviour seems to allude : (Luke 
vii. 32.) " We have mourned to you, and ye have 
not wept." And Paul — " Rejoice with them that 
do rejoice, and weep with them that weep," Rom. 
xii. 15. See Burial. For baptism of the dead, see 
Baptism. 

DEAD SEA, see Sea. 

DEATH is taken in Scripture, (1.) for the separa- 
tion of body and soul, the first death ; (Gen. xxv. 11.) 
(2.) for alienation from God, and exposure to his 
wrath, 1 John iii. 14, &c. ; (3.) for the second death, 
that of eternal damnation ; (4.) for any great calami- 
ty, danger, or imminent risk of death, as persecution, 
2 Cor. i. 10. " The gates of death" signify the grave ; 
" instruments of death," dangerous and deadly weap- 
ons ; "bonds or snares of death," snares intended to 
produce death ; "a son of death," one who deserves 



death, or one condemned to death ; " the dust of 
death," the state of the body in the grave, &c. 

Adam, having eaten of the forbidden fruit, incurred 
the penalty of death, for himself and his posterity. 
Had he continued obedient, it is generally supposed 
he would not have died, and the fruit of the tree of 
life was, perhaps, intended to preserve him in a happy 
state of constant health ; perhaps, too, after a long 
life, God might have translated him, by some easy 
mutation, into a life absolutely immortal. Death was, 
therefore, brought into the world by the envy and 
malice of the devil ; (Wisdom iii. 24.) and the sin of 
Adam introduced the death of all his descendants, 
Rom. v. 12. He was driven out of paradise after his 
guilt, lest he should eat the fruit of the tree of life. 

Our Saviour, by his death, however, subdued the 
power of death, and merited for us a blessed immor- 
tality, Heb. ii. 14, 15. Not that the soul, mortal be- 
fore, has been by him rendered immortal ; or that he 
has merited for us the favor of not dying ; for he has 
not changed the nature of the soul, nor exempted us 
from the necessity of dying; but he has given us the 
life of grace in this world, and has merited eterna' 
happiness for us in the future wor'd ; provided the 
merits of his death are received by faith. 

DEBIR, the name of a city. (It signifies that sepa- 
rated part of a 'temple, called the adytum; the mos*. 
retired or secret part, from which the oracle was un- 
derstood to issue, in Solomon's temple, the holy of 
holies was called the debir, in Hebrew, 1 Kings vi. 5 
19 — 22, etc.) The city Debir is called, also, Kirjath- 
sepher, " the city of the book," or learning ; and 
Kirjath-sannali, the "city of purity," from the Chal- 
dee and Arabic root to cleanse. This ancient city 
was near Hebron, in the south of Judah, and its first 
inhabitants were giants of the race of Anak. Joshua 
took it, and slew its king, Josh. x. 39 ; xii. 13. It fell 
by lot to Caleb ; and Othuiel first entering the place, 
Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah, xv. 15, 16. It 
subsequently belonged to the Levites, xxi. 15; 1 
Chron. vi. 58. See Kirjath-sepher. 

There were two other cities of this name ; one be- 
longing to Gad, beyond Jordan, (Josh. xiii. 26.) the 
other to Benjamin, though originally to Judah, Josh, 
xv. 7. 

I. DEBORAH, a prophetess, and wife of Lapi- 
doth, judged the Israelites, and dwelt under a palm- 
tree between Ramah and Bethel, Judg. iv. 4, 5. She 
sent for Barak, directed him to attack Sisera, and 
promised him victory. Barak, however, refused to- 
go, unless she accompanied him ; which she did, but 
told him, that the success of the expedition would be 
imputed to a woman, and not to him. After the 
victory, Deborah and Barak composed a splendid 
triumphal song, which is preserved in Judges c. v. 
(For a translation of this song, with a commentary, see 
the Biblical Repository, vol. i. p. 568, seq.) 

II. DEBORAH, Rebekah's nurse, who accompa- 
nied Jacob, and was buried at the foot of Bethel, 
under an oak ; for this reason called the oak of 
weeping, Gen. xxxv. 8. 

DEBT, an obligation which must be discharged by 
the party bound so to do. This may be either spe- 
cial or general : special obligations are where the 
party has contracted to do something in return for a 
service received ; general obligations are those to 
which a man is bound by his relative situation. 
" Whoso shall swear by the gold of the temple — by 
the gift on the altar — is a debtor ;" (Matt, xxiii. 16.) is 
bound by his oath ; is obliged to fulfil his vow. " I 
am debtor to the Greeks and barbarians ;" Rom. i. 14. N 



DED 



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DE G 



under ooligations to persons of all nations and char- 
acters. Gal. v. 3, he is a debtor — is bound — to do the 
whole law. Men may be debtors to human justice, 
or to dirine justice ; bound to obedience, and if that 
be not complied with, bound to suffer the penalties 
annexed to transgression. 

DECALOGUE, the ten principal commandments, 
(Exod. xx. 1, &c.) from the Greek ten, and 

Xoyog, toord. The Jews call these precepts, The ten 
words. 

DECAPOLIS, (from the Greek ten, and 

noXig, a city,) a country in Palestine, which contained 
ten principal cities, on both sides of Jordan, Matt. iv. 
25 ; Mark v. 20 ; vii. 31. According to Pliny, they 
were, 1. Scythopolis ; 2. Philadelphia ; 3. Raphana? ; 
4. Gadara; 5. Hippos ; 6. Dios ; 7. Pella ; 8. Gerasa; 
9. Canatha ; 10. Damascus. Josephus inserts Oto- 
pos instead of Canatha. Though within the limits 
of Israel, the Decapolis was probably inhabited by 
foreigners ; and hence it retained a foreign appella- 
tion. This may also contribute to account for the 
numerous herds of swine kept in the district, (Matt, 
viii. 30.) a practice which was forbidden by the Mo- 
saic law. See further under Canaan. 

DECREE, a determination or appointment, judi- 
cial, civil, ecclesiastical, or divine. The divine ap- 
pointments never err, being founded on truth, judg- 
ment, perfect wisdom, and perfect knowledge, united 
with perfect goodness, kindness, and grace. See 
Predestination. 

DED AN, Dedanim, a country or city, and a peo- 
ple, several times mentioned in the Old Testament, 
but which there is some difficulty in identifying. 
DAnville places a city called Dadan, or, according to 
Bochart, Dadena, in the eastern part of Arabia, near 
the Persian gulf. This is probably the Dedan 
of Gen. x. 7, and Ezek. xxvii. 15, the men of 
which are mentioned in conjunction with the mer- 
chants of many isles, as furnishing the men of Tyre 
with ivory and ebony, which they probably procured 
from India. About this spot a very extensive com- 
merce flourished many ages after Tyre was destroy- 
ed, of which these very articles formed a considera- 
ble part. 

It must be remarked, however, that there were tvvo 
Dedans, who gave name to their descendants — the 
son of Raamah, the son of Cush, (Gen. x. 7.) and the 
son of Jokshan, the son of Abraham by Keturah, 
Gen. xxv. 3. The descendants of the latter settled in 
Arabia Petrsea, in the vicinity of Idumea, (Jer. xlix. 
8 ; Ezek. xxv. 13.) and it is only by carefully at- 
tending to the circumstances in which the names are 
introduced, that the people to whom reference is 
made can be determined. 

DEDICATION, a religious ceremony, by which 
any thing is declared to be consecrated to the wor- 
ship of God. Moses dedicated the tabernacle built in 
the wilderness, (Exod. xl ; Numb, vii.) and the ves- 
sels set apart for divine service. Solomon dedicated 
the temple which he erected, (1 Kings viii.) as did the 
Israelites, returned from the captivity, their new tem- 
ple, Ezra vi. 16, 17. The Maccabees, having cleansed 
the temple, which had been polluted by Antiochus 
Epiphanes, again dedicated the altar, 1 Mac. iv. 52 — 
59. This is believed to be the dedication which the 
Jews celebrated in winter, at which our Lord was 
present,' John x. 22. The temple rebuilt by Herod 
was dedicated with great solemnity ; and in order to 
make the festival more august, Herod appointed it on 
the anniversary of his accession to the crown. This 
was towards the end of ante A. D. 40 ; and the tem- 



ple which he built was dedicated at the end of his > 
32d year, four years before the true date of the birth 
of Christ. Some think it probable that this was the 
dedication referred to above. 

But not only were sacred places thus dedicated ; 
cities, walls, and gates, and even the houses of private 
persons, were sometimes thus consecrated, Neh. xii. 
27, the title of Ps. xxx ; Deut. xx. 5. Hence the 
custom of dedicating churches, oratories, chapels 
and other places of worship. 

DEEP, see Abyss. 

DEER, fallow, a wild quadruped, of a middle 
size, between the stag and the roe-buck ; its horns 
turn inward, and are large and flat. The deer is 
naturally very timorous : it was reputed clean, and 
good for food, Deut. xiv. 5. Young deer were par- 
ticularly esteemed for their delicacy ; and are no 
ticed in the Canticles, Proverbs, and Isaiah, as beau- 
tiful, lovely creatures, and very swift, Cant, iv.5; viii. 
3 : Prov. v. 19. See Hind. 

DEFILE, DEFILEMENT. Many were the 
blemishes of person and conduct, which, under the 
law, were esteemed defilements ; some were volun- 
tary, some involuntary ; some originated with the 
party, others were received by him ; some were in- 
evitable, being defects of nature, others the conse- 
quences of personal transgression. Under the gos- 
pel, defilements are those of the heart, of the mind, 
the temper, the conduct. Moral defilements are as 
numerous, and as strongly prohibited as ever; but 
ceremonial defilements are superseded, as requiring 
religious rites, though many of them claim attention 
as usages of health, decency, and civility. (See Matt, 
xv. 18 ; Gen. xlix. 4 ; Rom. i. 24 ; James iii. 6 ; Ezek. 
xliii. 8 ; also many passages in Leviticus and Num- 
bers.) See Purification. 

DEGREES, Psalms of, is the title prefixed to 
fifteen Psalms, from Ps. cxx. to Ps. cxxxiv. inclusive. 
This title has given great difficulty to commentators, 
and a variety of explanations have been proposed. 
The most probable are the three following: (1.) Pil- 
grim songs, carmina ascensionum, sung by the Israel- 
ites while going up to Jerusalem to worship ; (comp. 
Ps. cxxii. 4.) but to this explanation the contents of 
only a few of these Psalms are appropriate, e. g. of 
Ps. cxxii. — (2.) Others suppose the title to refer to a 
species of rhythm in these Psalms ; by which the 
sense ascends, as it were, by degrees, — one member 
or clause frequently repeating the words with which 
the preceding member closes. Thus, in Ps. cxxi. 

1. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, 
From whence cometh my help. 

2. My help cometh from the Lord, 
Who made heaven and earth. 

3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved ; 
Thy keeper will not slumber. 

4. Lo, not slumber nor sleep will the keeper of 

Israel. 

5. Jehovah is thy keeper, etc. 

But the same objection lies against this solution, as 
before, viz. that it does not suit the contents of all 
these psalms. — (3.) Perhaps the poetry of the Syrians 
may hereafter throw some light upon this title. Of 
the eight species of verse which they distinguish, one 
is . called gradus, scalce, degrees, like these psalms ; 
and the name appears to refer- to a particular kind of 
metre. But what that metre is, and whether it exists 



DEL 



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DELUGE 



in the psalms bearing this title, we have not yet 
the means of determining. (See. Oberleitner's Chres- 
tom. Syr. p. 287. Stuart's Heb. Chrestom. on Ps. 
cxxxiv.) *R. 

DLHAVITES, perhaps inhabitants of that part of 
Assyria which was watered by the river Diaba ; prob- 
ably the dUoi of Herodotus, (i. 325.) a Persian tribe, 
Ezra iv. 9. 

DELILAH, a woman who dwelt in the valley of 
Sorek, belonging to Dan, near the land of the Philis- 
tines. Samson abandoned himself to her, and, as 
some think, married her, Judg. xvi. 4. The princes 
of the Philistines, by bribes, prevailed on her to betray 
Samson : he eluded her first demands ; but at length 
she succeeded, and reduced his strength to weakness, 
by cutting off his hair. See Samson. 

DELOS, one of the Cyclades, a number of islands 
in the JEgean sea. It was much celebrated, and 
held in the highest veneration, for its famous temple 
and oracle of Apollo, 1 Mac. xv. 23. 

DELUGE. We understand principally by this 
word, that universal flood which happened in the 
time of Noah, and from which, as Peter says, there 
were but eight persons saved. Moses's account of 
this event is recorded Gen. vi. vii. See Ark, Noah. 

The sins of mankind were the causes of the del- 
uge ; and commentators agree to place it A. M. 1656 ; 
but they find difficulties as to the month in which it 
began. Several of the fathers were of opinion, that 
it began and ended in the spring of the year ; under- 
standing the second month mentioned by Moses, of 
the second in the ecclesiastical year, beginning at 
Nisan, (March, O. S.) about the vernal "equinox. 
Among other proofs, they borrow one from the dove's 
bringiug back an olive-leaf to Noah, which was, they 
think, a tender shoot of that year. But the most 
learned chronologists believe, that the sacred author 
designed the second month in the civil year, which 
answered partly to October, and partly to November ; 
so that the deluge began in autumn. 

CALENDAR OF THE YEAR OF THE DELUGE. 

A. M. 1656. [According to M. Basnage, Ant. Jud. 
torn. ii. p. 399.) 

Month. 

I. September. Methuselah died, aged 969 years. 

II. October. Noah and his family entered the 

ark. 

III. November. The fountains of the great deep 

broken up. 

IV. Decemb. 26. The rain began ; and continued 

forty days and nights. 

V. January. The earth buried under the waters. 

VI. February. Rain continued. 

VII. March. The waters at their height till the 

27th, when they began to abate. 

VIII. April 17. The ark rested on mount Ararat, 

in Armenia. 

IX. May. Waiting the retiring of the wa- 

ters. 

X. June 1. The tops of the mountains ap- 

peared. 

XI. July 11. Noah let go a raven, which did not 

return. 

18. He let go a dove, which returned. 

25. The dove, being sent a second 
time, brought back the olive- 
branch. 

XII. August 2. The dove, sent out a third time, 

returned no more. 



A. M. 1657 

I. September 1. The dry land appeared. 

II. October 27. Noah went out of the ark. 

The question concerning the universality of the 
deluge, is very serious and important. Some learn- 
ed men have denied it, and pretended that to main- 
tain it, is an absurdity ; that the universality of the 
deluge is contrary both to the divine power and the 
divine goodness ; that it may be geometrically de- 
monstrated, that were all the clouds in the air reduced 
to water, that water would not cover the superficies 
of the earth to the height of a foot and a half ; and 
that all the waters in the rivers and the sea, if spread 
over the earth, would never reach the tops of the 
mountains, unless rarified in an extraordinary man- 
ner, and that then it could not support the weight of 
the ark ; that all the air which encompasses the 
earth, if condensed into water, would not rise above 
thirty-one feet, which would be far from enough to 
cover the surface of the earth and the mountains to 
fifteen cubits above their tops. All this, they say, 
seems contrary to reason, as what follows is contrary 
to nature. Rain does not fall upon eminences above 
600 paces high : it does not descend from a greater 
height ; but if formed higher, it would immediately 
be frozen by the cold that prevails in those upper re- 
gions. Whence, then, it is asked, came the water to 
cover the tops of those mountains that rise above 
this region ? Will any one say that the rain found a 
way back again ? How could the plants be preserved 
so long under water ? How could the animals that 
came out of the ark disperse themselves throughout 
the whole world ? Besides, all the eartn was not 
peopled at that time ; why, then, should the deluge be 
universal ? Was it not sufficient if it reached those 
countries which were inhabited ? How were beasts 
brought from the extremities of the world, and col- 
lected into the ark ? 

The universality of the deluge, says Vossius, is im- 
possible and unnecessary ; was it not sufficient to 
deluge those countries where there were men ? — But 
how did Vossius learn that the world was not then 
fully peopled ? According to the LXX, whose 
chronology is supported by him, the world was 
above 2200 years old. Besides, supposing a partial 
deluge only, what necessity was there to build, at a 
great expense, a prodigious ark ? to bring all sorts of 
animals into it for preservation ? or to oblige eight 
persons to enter into it, &c. Was it not more easy to 
have directed these people and animals to travel into 
those countries which the deluge was not to reach ? 
How could the waters continue above the mountains 
of Armenia without spreading into the neighboring 
countries ? How should the ark float many months 
on a mountain of water, without sliding down the 
declivity of it? which Vossius himself confesses 
would be the situation of the ark, supposing a partial 
deluge. He says, if the deluge extended through the 
world, the plants and trees would have died; but 
that they did not die, since Noah, and the animals, 
when they quitted the ark, settled in those very 
countries which the deluge overflowed. In answer 
to this, Calmet asks why, if the plants and trees in 
this country did not die, they should die elsewhere. 
If the waters of the deluge destroyed the trees and 
plants where they reached, whence, he asks, came 
the shoot of the olive-tree, which the dove brought 
to Noah ? and adds, that there is an infinite fertility 
of nature in the production and reproduction of 



DELUGE 



[ 342 ] 



DELUGE 



plants ; and that water is a principle much more 
proper to preserve, than to destroy them ; that many 
plants grow under water, and that all vegetables re- 
quire moisture to cause them to germinate. To this 
is to be added, that the waters of the deluge covered 
the whole surface of the earth not more than about 
a hundred and ten days ; not half a year. 

As to the bringing of beasts of all kinds to Noah, 
the difficult}' is not so great as might be imagined. 
The number of beasts created in the beginning might 
not be very many ; for if the various tribes of man- 
kind proceeded from one man and one woman, why 
might not the various kinds of animals proceed from 
one pair of each kind ? The differences between the 
most unlike sort of 'dogs and horses, is not greater 
than between the different nations of men, of whom 
some are white and others black ; some of an olive 
color, and others red. Besides, of every species of 
animals, some individuals might inhabit the country 
about paradise, where Noah most probably resided, 
perhaps not far from Armenia ; and there is little 
doubt, but that Noah's ark was built in Mesopotamia, 
towards Chaldea. If there be any animals, that, 
through long habit, which becomes a second nature, 
cannot now live in this part of the world, (which, 
however, seems very difficult to prove,) it does not 
follow that there were such in Noah's time. If men 
or beasts were suddenly conveyed from the extreme- 
ly heated regions of Africa, to the coldest parts of the 
North, then, indeed, it is credible, they would perish ; 
but the case is greatly altered, if they remove, by in- 
sensible degrees, to those places, or if they were bred 
there ; and if now some creatures are found only in 
particular countries, we are not warranted to infer, 
that there never were any of the same kind else- 
where. On the contrary, we know, that formerly 
beasts of several species were numerous in countries 
where, at present, none of the kind inhabits, as the 
hippopotami of Egypt ; wolves and beavers in Eng- 
land ; and even several kinds of birds, as the crane, 
stork, &c. which formerly bred in England, where 
they are now unknown ; though they still breed in 
Holland. 

But the strongest objection against the universality 
of the deluge, is, the quantity of water requisite to 
cover the whole earth, to the height of fifteen cubits 
above the mountains. It has been said, as above, 
that if all the air in the atmosphere around our globe 
were condensed into water, it would not yield above 
two-and-thirty feet depth of water over all the earth. 
This calculation is founded on experiments made to 
prove the gravity of the air ; but these experiments 
are contradicted by others., which allow us to ques- 
tion, at least, the precision of the inference, because 
there is a prodigious extent of atmosphere above that 
which can reasonably be supposed to have any influ- 
ence on the barometer, or on any instrument which 
we can construct for the purpose of ascertaining the 
weight of the air. At the creation, the terrestrial 
globe was surrounded with water, the whole of which 
might not be exhaled into the atmosphere, but of 
which a part might run into reservoirs below the sur- 
face of the globe. But wherever these primitive 
waters were deposited, and whatever became of 
them, certainly they were not annihilated ; and it 
was as easy for God to restore them into the state and 
action of fluidity at the deluge, as in the beginning it 
was to rarify the other portions of water into air or 
vapors ; or to appoint them other (inferior, or supe- 
rior) situations. Moses relates, (Gen. vii. 11, 12.) 
that the foundations f the great deep were broken 



up, as well as that the windpAvs of heaven were 
opened ; — evidently meaning to describe a rising of 
waters from beneath the earth, no less than a. falling 
of waters from above upon it. 

But, supposing the ark to be raised fifteen cubits 
above the highest mountains, how could the men and 
creatures in it live and breathe amidst the cold, and 
the extreme tenuity of the air, in that middle region ? 
Two things are offered in reply to this objection : 
(1.) Though the air is colder and sharper on the tops 
of the highest mountains, than in the plains, yet peo- 
ple do not die there from those causes. — (2.) The 
middle region of the air, in respect to temperature, is 
more or less elevated, according to the greater or 
lesser heat of the sun. During winter, it is much 
nearer the earth than in summer ; or, to speak more 
properly, the cold which rises into the middle region 
of the air during summer, descends to the lower re- 
gion during winter. Thus, supposing the deluge to 
be universal, it is evident, that the middle region of 
the air must have risen higher above the earth and 
waters, during the long winter of that calamity ; con- 
sequently, the men and beasts enclosed in the ark. 
breathed nearly, or altogether, the same air as they 
would have ordinarily breathed a thousand or twelve 
hundred paces lower, that is, on the surface of the 
earth. It is not intended, however, by these argu- 
ments, to prove, that the deluge was produced with- 
out a miracle ; but only to show that it does not 
involve all the difficulties imputed. 

Dr. Burnet attempted to explain the physical 
causes of the deluge. He supposed the earth in its 
beginning to be round, smooth, and even, through- 
out ; without mountains or valleys ; that the centre 
of the earth contained a great abyss of water ; that 
the earth, by sinking in many places, and by rising in 
others, in consequence of different shocks, and of 
divers earthquakes, opened a passage for the internal 
waters, which issued impetuously from the centre 
where they had been enclosed, and spread over all 
the earth; that, in the beginning, the axis -of the 
earth was parallel with the axis of the world, moving 
directly under the equator, and producing a perpet- 
ual equinox ; and that in the first world there were 
neither seas, nor rain, nor rainbow. 

The objections to this theory arise rather from the 
extremes to which the author pushed his suppositions, 
than from the general idea itself. If, instead of main- 
taining that the earth was uniformly level, he had 
admitted hills and valleys, though not such high 
mountains as at present ; if he had admitted lakes or 
small seas, though not such oceans as at present ; 
much might have been said in its support. For it is 
every way credible, that the state of the globe before 
the deluge was very different from what it is now ; 
but to show in what those differences might consist, 
requires, besides a lively fancy, a correct judgment, 
and much scientific information. Mr. Whiston en- 
deavored to account for this phenomenon by the pro- 
jection of a comet, which, he supposes, passed so 
close to the body of the earth, at the time of the del- 
uge, as to involve it in its atmosphere and tail ; which, 
consisting of vapors, rarified and expanded in differ- 
ent degrees, caused the tremendous fall of rain spoken 
of by Moses. The presence of the comet would also 
occasion a double tide, by the power of which the 
orb of the earth would undergo a change, in which 
innumerable fissures would be made, whence the 
waters from its centre would rush, — corresponding 
with the other part of the narrative, — the fountains 
of the great deep being broken up. Dr. Woodward 



DELUGE 



[ 343 ] 



DELUGE 



thought that the whole mass of the earth being dis- 
solved by the waters of the deluge, a new earth was 
afterwards formed, composed of different beds or 
layers of terrestrial matter which had floated in this 
fluid ; that these layers were disposed one over the 
other, almost according to their different gravities ; 
so that plants or animals, and particularly shell-fish, 
which were not dissolved like others, remained en- 
closed by mineral and fossil materials, which have 
preserved them entire, or at least have retained im- 
pressions of them : and these are what we now call 
fossils. By this hypothesis he accounts for the shells 
found in places very remote from the sea, the ele- 
phants' teeth, the bones of animals, the petrified 
fishes, and other things found on the tops of moun- 
tains, and other elevated places. In his work are 
many very curious facts and observations relating to 
the deluge ; and Dr. Woodward ranks among the 
first, who, by inquiring into the actual appearances 
of nature, produced proofs of this great event still re- 
maining in sufficient abundance. He opened those 
memorials of evidence which have since been en- 
larged by others— Mr. Whitehurst and Mr. Parkin- 
son, and more recently Mr. Townsend and professor 
Buckland. 

The Mussulmans, Pagans, Chinese, and Ameri- 
cans, have traditions of the deluge ; but each nation 
relates it after its own manner. Josephus (contra 
Apion. lib. i.) cites Berosus, who, on the testimony of 
ancient documents, describes the deluge much like 
Moses ; and gives also the history of Noah, of the 
ark, and of the mountains where it rested. Abyde- 
nus (apud Euseb. Praepar. lib. ix. cap. . 12.) relates, 
that one Sesistrus was informed by Saturn of a del- 
uge approaching to drown all the earth ; that Sesis- 
trus, having embarked in a covered vessel, sent forth 
birds to learn in what condition the earth was ; and 
that these birds returned three times. Alexander 
Polyhistor relates the same story with Abydenus, 
adding that the four-footed beasts, the creeping 
things, and birds of the air, were preserved in this ves- 
sel. Lucian, in his book de Dea Syra, says, that 
mankind having given themselves up to vices, the 
earth was drowned by a deluge, so that none but 
Deucalion remained upon it, he having taken shelter 
in a vessel, with his family, and the animals. Apol- 
lodorus, Ovid, and many others, have discoursed 
of Deucalion's deluge ; but have intermixed many 
circumstances, which agree only with that of Noah. 

On these various traditions, as well as on the com- 
memorative emblems of this event, preserved by the 
Egyptians, Hindoos, Druids, Greeks, Persians, Phoe- 
nicians, and others, Mr. Taylor has collected a large 
mass of information, in his Fragments ; we select a 
few striking examples. 

The following is from Syncellus: — "In the first 
year there came up, according to Berosus, from the 
waters of the Red sea, (the Indian ocean,) and ap- 
peared on the shore contiguous to Babylonia, a crea- 
ture void of reason [this is a palpable error, as the 
whole history shows ; therefore, for i<7>ov UyQsvor read 
troov evt/iqav, a creature truly wise] named Oannes ; 
and as Apollodorus reports, having the whole body 
of a fish ; above the head of this fish rose another 
head (of a man) ; he had human feet, (or legs,) which 
came out from each of the two sides of the tail ; he 
had also human voice and language. They still pre- 
serve at Babylon, says Berosus, his resemblance 
painted. This creature remained some time, during 
the day, among the natives, without taking any nour- 
ishment, aud conversed with them from time to 



time ; he taught them letters and learning ; showed 
them the arts of life ; instructed them to build cities ; 
to raise temples to the Deity ; to institute laws ; to 
study geometry ; the various manners (and seasons) 
of committing to the earth the seeds of fruits, and 
of gathering their productions ; and generally, what- 
ever conduces to soften and to polish the manners 
of mankind. Since that period nothing more has 
been heard of him. After the setting of the sun, 
this creature, Oannes, went toward the sea, plunged 
into it, and passed the night in the water. After- 
wards, other similar creatures appeared ; concerning 
whom Berosus promises to relate many things, in 
his history of the kings." This " history" is unfortu- 
nately lost ; but Oannes is thus mentioned by Apollo- 
dorus (in Syncellus). " Berosus reports, that Alorus 
was the first king of Babylon, native of that city ; 
he reigned ten sari ; then came Alasparus and Ame- 
lonus, of the country of Pantibiblos ; then the Chal- 
dean Ammenonus, under whose reign was seen to 
issue from the Red sea (the Indian ocean) that 
Oannes which Alexander Polyhistor, by anticipation 
of time, placed in the first year, and which we place 
after a lapse of forty sari. Abydenus places the 
second Oannes after a period of twenty-six sari." 
Apollodorus goes on to mention other kings, as Meg 
Alorus, Da-onus, and Evedorachus, in whose time 
appeared another creature, half man, half fish, named 
o Jaywv, the Dagon. Helladius, an author of the 
fourth century, cited by Photius, (Biblioth. p. 194.) 
also reports, " that a person named Oan was seen in 
the Red sea ; who had the body of a fish ; but his 
head, feet and hands were human ; he taught the 
use of letters and astronomy. Some said he was 
born of the first parent, which is the egg. This 
Oan was altogether a man ; and he appeared like a 
fish, only because he was covered with the skin of a 
fish." It is clear that Oan is the same as Oannes ; 
and that Oannes is the same as Dagon. " He was a 
man, but clad with the appearance of a fish ;" — " he 
was born of the first parent, the egg." — This egg 
once contained all mankind. 

The n ost complete series of emblems coincident 
with this subject, hitherto 
procured, consists of a num- 
ber of medals of Corinth, 
which represent very dis- 
tinctly the ark, with the in- 
fant rising into renewed life, 
after having been preserved ■ 
by the fish (the ark). The 
Apamean medal (see Apamea) 
contains a history of that 
event, rather than an emblem of it. 

The incidental mention of the " Lady of the Egg," 
the "Goddess of the Egg," venerated among the 
Druidical Britons, incites me to wish to add a few 
words in illustration of that appellation. I do not 
know, indeed, that it occurs expressly in Scripture ; 
yet, if the rabbins have (or had) any authority for 
explaining the import of the terms Succoth Benoth 
by reference to the emblem of a hen and chickens, 
(the doves, among the Greeks,) the occurrence of 
the title alluded to, is not impossible. Many creatures 
lay eggs ; and the seed of a plant is but another 
term for an egg. The title "Goddess of the Egg,' 
may, therefore, be taken in a general sense, as de- 
noting the procreative power universal ; otherwise, 
with a stricter reference to a specific object, symbol- 
ized under the type of an egg. And this was adopted 
among the Asiatics and the Greeks. 




DEM 



[ 344 ] 



DEM 



On some of the medals of Tyre is seen the em- 
blem of a serpent enfolding an egg. Now, that the 
serpent was on many occasions significant of benevo- 
lent superintendence, is expressly recorded on some 
of the medals of Egypt, by the motto JYEO ATA®. 
J AIM, the New Good Genius, inscribed around a 
serpent crowned ; on either side of which are the 
symbols of peace and plenty ; poppy-heads and ears 
of corn, marking, also, increase, fertility. The egg 
was that great and important object on which the 
power of benevolent superintendence was most as- 
siduously employed, most eminently, on a particular 
occasion. It was no other than the ark, with the 
world, its contents. But the difficulty of showing 
the issue of living beings, thousands of living beings, 
of different kinds, from an egg, when reduced to a 
type, is great, and hence the sculptors, and painters, 
and medalists of antiquity, have rather chosen to 
represent the same thing under emblems derived 
from vegetable nature : the poppy-head, or the pome- 
granate, contains thousands of seeds, each possessing, 
as is well known, the power of eventual life ; where- 
as, an egg conveys the idea of a single life only, at 
the utmost, unless explained ; and delineation cannot 
explain it. It might be thought, that the egg should 
properly refer to the creation ; especially by those 
who render Gen. i. 2. " the Spirit of God brooded (as 
a bird over her eggs) on the face of the deep : " but 
the second creation, i. e. after the deluge, seems to 
be a more satisfactory reference. The following ex- 
tracts are from Bryant : (Anc. Mythol. vol. ii. p. 352.) 
"At this season, according to Aristophanes, sable- 
winged night produced an egg ; from whence sprouted 
up like a blossom, Eros, [Love,] the lovely and desirable, 
with his glossy golden ivings." The egg is called d>bv 
vnijviuiof ; which is interpreted, Ovum absque concu- 
bitu ; but it likewise signifies iiiiiog, rainy. This was 
certainly an emblem of the ark, when the rain de- 
scended : and it may, I think, be proved from a like 
piece of mythology in Orpheus (Hymn 5) concern- 
ing Protogonus — " J invoke Protogonus, who was of a 
two-fold state or nature, (ieyui!) who wandered at large 
under the wide heavens, ('Sloyinj) egg-born, — who was 
also depicted ivith golden wings.'''' " I have before ob- 
served, that one symbol, under which the ancient 
mythologists represented the ark, was an egg, called 
Ovum Typhoids. Over this sometimes a dove was 
supposed to have brooded, and to have produced a 
new creation ... At other times, a serpent was de- 
scribed round it ; either as an emblem of that provi- 
dence, by which mankind was preserved ; or else to 
signify, a renewal of life from a state of death ; which 
circumstance was denoted by a serpent ; for that an- 
imal, by annually casting its skin, was supposed to 
renew its life, and to become positis novus exuviis, 
vegete and fresh after a state of inactivity. By the 
bursting of this egg, was denoted the opening of the 
ark ; and the disclosing to light whatever was within 
contained." p. 361. 

We conclude by mentioning a re-action to which 
some of these principles have given occasion ; it is 
that of placing in the heavens, in the form of con- 
stellations, memorials of those transactions which so 
greatly interested mankind. The constellation of the 
Ship, [Argo,] of the Raven, of the Dove, of the 
Altar, of the Victim, and the Sacrificer, bear no in- 
competent witness to the history of the deluge. See 
Ark, p. 95. 

DEMAS, a Thessalonian mentioned by Paul, (2 
Tim. iv. 10.) who was at first a most zealous disci- 
ple of the apostle, and very serviceable to him at 



Rome during his imprisonment, but afterwards 
forsook him to follow a more secular life. 

I. DEMETRIUS SOTER, king of Syria, reigned 
twelve years, from A. M. 3842 to 3854. He was son 
of Seleucus IV. surnamed Philopater ; but, being a 
hostage at Rome when his father died, his uncle An- 
tiochus Epiphanes, who in the interim arrived in 
Syria, procured himself to be acknowledged king, 
and reigned eleven years : after him his son, Antio- 
chus Eupator, reigned two years. At length De- 
metrius Soter regained his father's throne. He is 
often mentioned in the books of the Maccabees. 

II. DEMETRIUS NICANOR, or Nicator, son 
of Demetrius Soter, was for many years deprived of 
the throne by Alexander Balas; but he at length recov- 
ered it by the assistance of Ptolemy Philometor, his 
father-in-law. After a number of vicissitudes, he 
was killed, ante A. D. 126, and was succeeded by his 
eldest son, Seleucus, to whom he left a dangerous ri- 
val in the person of Alexander, surnamed Zebina. 

III. DEMETRIUS, a goldsmith of Ephesus, who 
made niches, or little chapels, or portable models of 
the famous temple, for Diana 6f Ephesus, which he 
sold to foreigners, Acts xix. 24. Observing the prog- 
ress of the gospel, not in Ephesus only, but in all 
Asia, he assembled his fellow craftsmen ; and repre- 
sented that, by this new doctrine, not only their trade 
would suffer, but that the worship of the great Diana 
of Ephesus was in danger of being entirely forsaken. 
This produced an uproar and confusion in the city ; 
till at length the town-clerk appeased the tumult by 
firmness and persuasion. 

IV. DEMETRIUS, mentioned by John as an em- 
inent Christian, (3 John 12.) is by some believed to 
be the Demetrius of the former article, who had re- 
nounced heathenism to embrace Christianity. But 
this wants proof. 

DEMON, or Djemon, Jatfiwv. Good and bad an- 
gels, but generally bad angels, are called in Greek 
and Latin, Demones, or Da:mones. The Hebrews ex- 
press. Demon by Serpent; Satan, or Tempter; Shed- 
dim, or destroyers ; Seirim, goats, or hairy satyrs : and 
in Greek authors we find Damones, or Diabolus, that 
is, calumniators, or impure spirits, &c. See Angel. 

The Jews represent evil angels as being at the left 
hand of God's throne, to receive his orders, while 
the good angels are at his right hand, ready to exe- 
cute his will. Lactantius believed that there were 
two sorts of demons, celestial and terrestrial ; that 
the celestial were the fallen angels who engaged in 
impure amours, and that the terrestrial were their is- 
sue, and the authors of all the evils committed on 
earth. 

Many of the ancients allotted to each man an evil 
angel continually tempting him to evil, and a good 
angel continually inciting him to good. The Jews 
hold the same sentiment at this day ; and the same 
may be remarked in the ancient philosophers. 

We commonly hold that the devils are in hell, 
where they suffer the punishment of their rebellion. 
But the ancient fathers placed (sec Ephes. ii. 2 ; vi. 
12.) the devils in the air ; and Jerome says, it was the 
general opinion of the doctors in the church, that the 
air between heaven and earth is filled with evil spir- 
its. Augustin. and others of the fathers, believed 
that the demons fell from the highest and purest re- 
gion of the air into that near the earth, which is but 
darkness in comparison to the serenity and clearness 
of the other. 

The request of the devils to our Saviour, not to 
send them into the deep, but to permit them to enter 



DEMON 



[ 345 ] 



d e s 



the herd of swine, intimates that these evil spirits 
found some enjoyment while on earth ; and the fear 
of torment before the time, shows, that the time of 
their extreme punishment was not yet come, Matt, 
viii. 29 ; Luke viii. 31. When our Saviour pro- 
nounces sentence against the wicked, he says, "Depart, 
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
and his angels," Matt. xxv. 41. This fire, therefore, 
was prepared for the devil, who may not as yet suf- 
fer the full pain of it. But we are not to suppose that 
devils suffer nothing at present ; grief, despair, and 
rage, to find themselves fallen from happiness, and 
banished to infinite and eternal misery, must be a 
very great punishment. 

That the devil formerly affected divine honors, 
and that whole nations were so far blinded as to pay 
them, cannot be questioned. (See Deut. xxxii. 17; 
Ps. cvi. 37 ; Baruch iv. 7.) It does not appear that 
the Hebrews ever paid any worship to the devil, in 
our sense of this word, as understanding by it Satan, 
th^ fallen angel ; or the head of the fallen angels. 
The heathens worshipped Pluto, or Hades, the god 
of hell, and other infernal deities, manes, furies, &c. 
But the Greeks and Romans had not the same idea 
of Satan as we have. The Persians, who acknowl- 
edged two principles, one good, Oromazes, the other 
bad, Arimanes, offered to the first sacrifices of 
thanksgiving, and to the second sacrifices to avert 
misfortunes. They took an herb, called omomi, 
which they bruised in a mortar, invoking the god of 
hell and darkness; then, mingling with it the b ood 
of a wolf, they carried this composition to a place 
where the rays of the sun never entered, and threw 
it down. There are people of America, Asia, and 
Africa who pay superstitious worship to the devil, 
that is, the evil principle, under whose government 
they suppose this earth to be. 

Examples of demoniacal possession are fre- 
quent, especially in the New Testament. Christ and 
his apostles cured great numbers of possessed per- 
sons. But as it has been found in many cases, that 
credulity has been imposed on, by fictitious posses- 
sions, some have maintained, that all were diseases 
of the mind, the effects of distempered imagination ; 
that persons sometimes thought themselves really 
possessed ; that others feigned themselves to be so, 
in order to carry on some design ; in a word, that 
there never were any real possessions. In answer 
to this, it is observed, that, if there were no real pos- 
sessions, Christ and his apostles, and the whole church, 
would be in error, and must wilfully involve us in 
error, also, by speaking, acting, and praying, as if 
there were real possessions. Our Saviour speaks to 
and commands the devils, who actuated the possess- 
ed ; which devils answered, and obeyed, and gave 
proofs of their presence by tormenting those misera- 
ble creatures, whom they were obliged to quit. They 
cast them into violent convulsions, throw them on 
the ground, leave them for dead, take possession of 
hogs, and hurry those animals into the sea. Can 
this be merely delusion ? Christ alleges, as proof of 
his mission, that the devils are cast out ; he promises 
his apostles the same power that he himself exercis- 
ed against those wicked spirits. Can all this be 
nothing but chimera ? It is admitted that there are 
several tokens of possession which are equivocal and 
fallible, but there are others which are indubitable. 
A person may counterfeit a demoniac, and imitate 
the actions, words, motions, contortions, cries, bowl- 
ings and convulsions of one possessed. — Some ef- 



forts, that seem to be supernatural, may be effects ol 
heated imagination, of melancholy blood, of trick and 
contrivance. But if a person suddenly should speak 
and understand languages he never learned, talk of 
sublime matters he never studied, or discover things 
secret and unknown ; should he lift up himself in 
the air without visible assistance, act and speak in a 
manner very distant from his natural temper and 
condition ; and all this without any inducement from 
interest, passion, or other natural motive ; if all these 
circumstances, or the greater part of them, concur in 
the same possession, can there be any room to sus- 
pect that it is not real ? There have, then, been pos- 
sessions in which all these circumstances have con- 
curred. There have, therefore, been real ones, but 
especially those which the gospel declares as such. 
God was pleased to permit, that in our Saviour's 
time there should be many such in Israel, to furnish 
him with occasions of signalizing his power, and to 
supply further and convincing proofs of his mission 
and divinity. It is admitted, that true possessions 
by the devil are miraculous. They do not hap- 
pen without divine permission ; but they are neither 
contrary nor superior to the laws of nature. God 
only suffers the demons to act ; and they only exer 
cise a power that is natural to them, but which was 
before suspended and restrained by Divine Provi- 
dence. See Angel. 

DENARIUS, a Roman coin, worth four sesterces, 
generally valued at seven pence three farthings Eng- 
lish, or, more properly, about 12£ cents. In the New 
Testament, it is taken for a piece of money in gener- 
al ; Matt. xxii. 19 ; Mark xii. 15 ; Luke xx. ;«•». 

DERBE, a city of Lycaonia, to which Paul ana 
Barnabas fled when expelled from Iconium, Acts xiv. 
G. A. D. 41. 

DESERT. The Hebrews, by midbar, "a 

desert," mean an uncultivated place, particularly if 
mountainous. Some deserts were entirely dry and 
barren ; others were beautiful, and had good pas- 
tures ; Scripture speaks of the beauty of the desert, 
Psalm Ixv. 12, 13. Scripture names several deserts 
in the Holy Land ; and there was scarcely a town 
without one belonging to it, i. e. uncultivated places, 
for woods and pastures ; like our English commons, 
common lands. The principal deserts were the fol- 
lowing : — 

Arabia, through which the Israelites passed be- 
fore they came to Moab. This is particularly call- 
ed "The Desert." It lies between the Jordan, or 
the mountains of Gilead, and the river Euphrates, 
Exod. xxiii. 31. God promised the children of Isra- 
el all the land between the desert and the river ; that 
is, all the country from the mountains of Gilead to 
the Euphrates. In Deut. xi. 24, he promises them 
all between Libanus, the desert, the Euphrates, and 
the Mediterranean. 

Edom. We cannot determine its limits ; as Edom 
extended far into Arabia. 

Egypt. Ezekiel xx. 36, seems to denote the des- 
ert in which the Hebrews sojourned after quitting 
Egypt. Tobit (viii. 3.) speaks of the deserts of Upper 
Egypt, probably of the Thebais. 

Judea, where John the Baptist preached, began 
near Jericho, and extended to the mountains of 
Edom, Matt. hi. 1. 

Kadesh, about Kadesh Barnea, in the south of 
Judah, and in Arabia Petrasa. 

Ma on, (1 Sam. xxiii. 24.) in the country, and 
perhaps near the capital, of the Maonians, or 



D E U 



L 346 J 



D I A 



Meonians, in Arabia Petrrea, at the extremity of 
Judah. 

Palmyra. Solomon built Palmyra, in the desert, 
between the Euphrates, the Orontes, and the Chry- 
sorrhoas. See Tadmor. 

Paran, in Arabia Petraea, near the city of Paran. 
Ishmael dwelt in this wilderness, Gen. xxi. 21. Ha- 
bakkuk says (iii. 3.) that the Lord appeared to his 
people in the mountains of Paran. The Hebrews 
remained long in this desert. See Paran. 

Shdr, on the north-east of the Red sea. Hagar 
wandered in this wilderness, (Gen. xvi.7.)and Israel, 
after passing the Red sea, came into it, Exod. xv. 22. 
Here was, probably, a city named Shur. 

Sin. There are two deserts of this name in Scrip- 
ture ; the first, written pD, (Exod. xvi. 6.) lies between 
Elim and mount Sinai. The second, written px, is 
near Kadesh Barnea, which was in the desert of Sin, 
■or Tzin, Numb. xx. 1. 

Sinai, adjacent to mount Sinai. The Israelites 
encamped here a long time, and received most of 
their laws, Exod. xix. 

DESSAU, a town, or castle, near to which the Is- 
raelites lodged themselves under Judas Maccabseus, 
2 Mac. xiv. 16. Its situation is unknown. 

DEVIL, a fallen angel, especially the chief of 
them. • See Angel, Demon, Diabolus, Satan. 

DEVOTING, cursing, anathema. The most 
ancient instance, and, indeed, the only instance, of 
devoting, strictly speaking, in Scripture, is that which 
Balak, king of Moab, would have had Balaam use 
■against Israel, Numb. xxii. 6. Josephus has furnish- 
r>' i .vith another, in the case of the two brothers 
mrcanus and Aristobulus. But several devotings of 
another sort are noticed in sacred history ; as when 
any people, city, country, or family, was devoted. 
(See Anathema.) The heathen, who admitted a 
plurality of gods, and who believed them to be sub- 
ordinate in power one to another, used enchant- 
ments and devotings to bring mischief on their ene- 
mies. They sometimes called forth the tutelary dei- 
ties of cities, to deprive their enemies of their pro- 
tection and defence. It is said that, for fear of this, 
the Tyriaus chained the statue of Apollo to the altar 
of Hercules, the tutelar deity of their city, lest he 
should forsake them. The Romans, says Macrobius, 
being persuaded that every city had its tutelary dei- 
ties, when attacking a city, used certain verses to 
call forth its gods, believing it impossible otherwise 
to take the town ; and even when they might take a 
place, they thought it would be a great crime to take 
the gods captive with it ; for this reason the Romans 
concealed the real names of their cities very closely, 
they being different from what they were generally 
called ; they concealed likewise the names of the tu- 
telary gods of their cities. Pliny informs us that the 
secret name of Rome was Valentia, and that Valeri- 
us Soranus was severely punished for revealing it. 

DEUTERONOMY, the repetition of the law, the 
fifth book of the Pentateuch, so called by the Greeks, 
because in it Moses recapitulates what he had or- 
dained in the preceding books. Some rabbins call 
it Mishnah, the second law ; others "the book of rep- 
rehensions," from the reproaches which occur in 
chap. i. viii. ix. xxviii. xxx. xxxii. This book con- 
tains the history of what passed in the wilderness 
from the beginning of the eleventh month to the sev- 
enth day of the twelfth month, in the fortieth year 
after the Israelites' departure from Egypt ; that is, 
about six weeks. Some have doubted whether it 
was written by Moses, because it mentions his death, j 



and the author speaks of the land beyond Jordan, 
like one who writes west of that river. (See Aaron.) 
It is admitted that the relation of Moses' death was 
added to the book ; but the word -ojy, eber, translated 
beyond Jordan, may be translated on this side. In 
the book of Deuteronomy, Moses recites to the peo- 
ple what had passed since their coming out of Egypt ; 
explains, and adds some others, to the laws of God 
which he had received at Sinai ; exhorts the people 
to obedience ; and declares, that Joshua was ap- 
pointed by God to succeed him. He wrote down 
this transaction, committed the writing to the Levites 
and elders, and charged them to read it every seven 
years, in a general assembly of the people, at the 
feast of tabernacles, Deut. xxxi. 9 — 14. It includes, 
also, his last song ; to which is added the history of 
his death. 

DEW. Dews in Palestine are very copious, (Judg. 
vi. 38 ; Gen. xxvii. 28.) and furnish many beautiful 
similes to the sacred penmen, Deut. xxxii. 2 ; Hos. 
vi. 4 ; xiv. 5. 

DIABOLUS, an accuser, a calumniator. We rare- 
ly meet with this word in the Old Testament. Some- 
times it answers to the Hebrew Belial ; sometimes 
to Satan. The former signifies a libertine ; the latter, 
an adversary, or an accuser. The word Satan in 
Job i. 6, is rendered 6 Siupolos, by the LXX. The 
Eblis of the Mahometans is the same with our Luci- 
fer; and the nar^e is similar to that of Diabolus. 
The Mussulmans call him likewise Azazel, which is 
the Scripture name for the scape-goat ; and is prob- 
ably the Azazel of the book of Enoch. They main- 
tain, that Eblis was called by this name, signifying 
perdition, or refracton/, which is nearly the meaning 
of Belial, because, having received orders to pros- 
trate himself before Adam, he would not comply, 
under pretence that, being of the superior nature of 
fire, he ought not to bend the knee to Adam, who 
was formed only of earth. (See Adam.) Diabolus 
sometimes signifies the devil, as Wisd. ii. 24 ; some- 
times an accuser, an adversary who prosecutes be- 
fore the judges ; as Ps. cix. 6 ; Eccles. xxi. 27. 
DIADEM, see Crown. 

DIAL. This instrument for the measuring of 
time is not mentioned in Scripture before the reign 
of Ahaz, (A. M. 3262,) and we cannot clearly ascer- 
tain that, even after his reign, the Jews generally di- 
vided their time by hours. The word hour occurs 
first in Tobit, which may confirm the opinion, that 
the invention of dials came from beyond the Eu- 
phrates. But others believe that the invention came 
from the Phoenicians, and that the first traces of it 
are discoverable in what Homer says, (Odys. xv. 402.) 
of " an island called Syria, lying above Ortygia, where 
the revolutions of the sun are observed ;" that is, in 
this island they noted the returns of the sun ; the sol- 
stices. As the Phoenicians are thought to have 
inhabited this island of Syria, it is presumed that 
they left there this monument of their skill in astron- 
omy. (See Hours.) About three hundred years 
after Homer, Pherecydes, in the same island, set up 
a sun-dial to distinguish the hours. The Greeks 
confess that Anaxirnander first divided time by hours, 
and introduced sun-dials among them. Usher fixes 
the death of Anaxirnander to A. M. 3457, under the 
reign of Cyrus, and during the captivity of Babylon. 
As this philosopher travelled into Chaldea, he might 
bring with him from thence the dial and the needle, 
which were both in use there. Pliny gives the hon- 
or of this invention to Anaximenes, by mistake con 
i founding the disciple with the master: for. as Bas 



DIAL 



[ 347 ] 



DI A 



nage observes, it is more reasonable to think Pliny 
was mistaken than Diogenes Laertius ; or rather that 
this name is an erroneous reading. 

Interpreters differ concerning the form of the dial 
of Ahaz, 2 Kings xx. Cyril of Alexandria and 
Jerome believed, that it was a staircase so disposed, 
that the sun showed the hours upon it by the shad- 
ow ; an opinion which the generality of expositors 
have followed. Others believe it was a pillar erected 
in the middle of a very level and smooth pavement, 
upon which the hours were engraved. The lines 
marked on this pavement are, according to these au- 
thors, what the Scripture calls degrees. Grotius 
describes it thus, after rabbi Elias Chomer : It was 
a concave hemisphere, in the midst of which was a 
globe, whose shadow fell upon several eight-aud- 
twenty lines, engraved in the concavity of the hemi- 
sphere. This description comes near to that land of 
dial which the Greeks called scapha, a boat, or hem- 
ispherion; the invention of which Vitruvius attributes 
to Berosus, and describes as " a half-circle, hollowed 
into the stone, and the stone cut down to an angle." 
Now Berosus lived above three hundred years (per- 
haps three hundred and thirty) before A. D. which, 
indeed, is long after Ahaz, who died 726 before A. 
D.; but there is no necessity for considering Berosus 
as the inventor of this kind of dial; it seems suffi- 
cient to say, that he was reported to be the first who 
introduced it into Greece. Berosus was a priest of 
Belus at Babylon, and compiler of a history that 
contained astronomical observations for four hundred 
and eighty years. Passing from Babylon into 
Greece, he taught astronomy, first at Cos, afterwards 
at Athens, where we still find one of his dials, and 
where he was honored with a public statue in the 
gymnasium. The four hundred and eighty years 
included in this writer's history, carry us higher than 
the date of Ahaz ; but some time must be allowed 
for these dials to have reached Israel from Babylon, 
if we suppose the invention to have been adopted, 
and to have become popular, at that period of time : 
they might be of much earlier invention, and that 
they were, seems probable from what Herodotus 
says (lib. i. c. 109.) of "the pole, the gnomon, and 
the division of the day into twelve parts," which 
" the Greeks received from the Babylonians." Mr. 
Taylor discovered some representations of ancient 
instruments of this kind, one of which was found at 
Herculaneum, and was probably originally from 
Egypt, which he conceives to answer, in many re- 
spects, to the circumstances of the sacred narrative. 

This kind of sun-dial was portable ; it did not re- 
quire to be constructed on, or for, a particular spot, 
to which it was subsequently confined ; and, there- 
fore, one ready made might easily be brought on a 
camel from Babylon to Ahaz. That he had com- 
munications with those countries, appears by his al- 
liance with Tiglath-Pileser ; (2 Kings xvi. 7, 8.) and 
that he was what in modern language would be 
called a man of taste, is evinced by his desiring to 
possess a handsome altar, similar to one he had seen 
at Damascus ; (ver. 10.) which is also another in- 
stance of his introducing foreign curiosities, or 
novelties. 

On these dials, like some still used in India, each 
hour appears to have been divided into three parts, 
which, varying with the season, contain from 20 to 
24 of our minutes each, according to the length of 
the day. These divisions are in India called Ghuri. 
Now, supposing that the dial of Ahaz was in the 
form of a half circle, and that each hour was divid- 



ed into three parts, the shadow would in the morning 
move down, till it would be nearly noon, when Isaiah 
spake to Hezekiah : — thus 




It was not quite noon : for at noon it could not be 
said of the shadow, " which now descends," or is, at 
this time, going down ; but it might be close upon 
noon, until which point the shadow might be con- 
sidered as descending. Perhaps the prophet had 
said Hezekiah should die at noon, as his sickness 
was in its nature mortal ; if so, his instant return was 
necessary ; and, as a sign *of amendment, in a case 
so critical, the instant beginning of the shadow to 
retrograde, was equally necessary : the shadow ret- 
rograded, then, ten stations, or one fourth of the 
circle ; and having reached this station, it thence re- 
sumed and re-accomplished its natural course. 

If the instrument used in this instance were 
brought from Babylon, we see the reason why the 
king of Babylon was so peculiarly interested in the 
event, 2 Kings xx. 12. 

As to the retrogradation of the shadow, and the 
means by which it was produced, there are various 
opinions. It seems the most probable that the 
change was in the shadow only ; that is, the solar 
rays being deflected in an extraordinary manner by 
the interposition of a cloud, or some other means, 
they produced the change, or retrogradatory motion, 
of the place of the shadow in the dial. 

DIAMOND, the sixth stone in the high-priest's 
breastplate, bearing the name of Naphtali, Exod 
xxxviii. 18. It is, however, questionable whether 
the diamond was in use in the time of Moses. See 
Adamant. 

DIANA, a celebrated goddess of the heathen, and 
one of the twelve superior deities. In the heavens 
she was Luna, or Meni, (the moon,) on earth Diana, 
in hell Hecate. She was invoked by women in 
child-birth under the name of Lucina. She was 
sometimes represented with a crescent on her head, 
a bow in her hand, and dressed in a hunting habit ; 
at other times with a triple body, (triple-faced Pros- 
erpine,) and bearing instruments of torture in her 
hands. At Rome there is a full length and complete 
image of this goddess, which is clearly an emble- 
matical representation of the dependence of all crea- 
tures on the powers of nature ; or the many and ex- 
tensive blessings bestowed by nature, on all ranks of 
existence ; whether man, lions, stags, oxen, animals 
of all kinds, or even insects. The goddess is sym- 
bolized as diffusing her benefits to each in its proper 
station Her numerous rows of breasts speak the 
same allegorical language, i. e. fountains of supply : 
whence figures of this kind were called (noXruaorog) 
many-breasted. To cities, also, she bears a peculiar 
regard, as appears by the honorable station (on her 
head) of the turrets, their proper emblems, On her 



DIANA 



[ 348 ] 



DIN 




Dreastplate (pectoral) is a necklace of pearls ; it is 
also ornamented with the signs of the zodiac, in al- 
lusion to the seasons of the year, throughout which 
nature dispenses her various bounties. In fact, the 
whole course of nature, and her extensive distribu- 
tions, are mystically represented in this image. 
Here we have a representation of the front of the 

famous temple of 
Diana of Ephesus, 
(the pronaos, or 
front of the 7iaos,) 
from which it ap- 
pears to have been 
odostyle, i. e. hav- 
ing eight columns: 
the image of Di- 
ana is in this 
medal represented 
clothed : a motto 
at bottom, " Of 
the Ephesians :" 
around it NESi- 
KOPS2N — a clear allusion to, and a strong confirma- 
tion of, what the grammateus asserts, that the city of 
Ephesus was justly entitled to, and held, by univer- 
sal consent, the office of ncokoron to the temple (and 
statue) of Diana ; nor was this any thing new ; the 
city had long been so esteemed. Ncokoron signifies 
guardian of the temple and its contents, manager of 
its concerns ; — something analogous to our church- 
warden ; but of superior power and dignity. It 
might be rendered " superintendent of the sacra." 

It is well known that many heathen deities resolve 
themselves into the sun and moon ; and that Diana 
is the moon, in most or all of her offices and charac- 
ters. " The precious things put forth by the moon," 
are mentioned so early as the days of Jacob ; and 
long afterwards we frequently read of the " queen of 
heaven," &c. The moon was also the goddess pre- 
siding over child-birth. This deity was known by 
distinction, as Diana of Ephesus, where she had a 
famous temple, (see Ephesus,) to some of the per- 
sons connected with which Paul rendered himself 
obnoxious by the discharge of his apostolic duties, 
Acts xix. 27, &c. The language of this narrative is 
worthy of notice here. Demetrius was a worker in 
silver, (a chaser perhaps,) who made representations 
— some on medals — some in alto-relievo — or other 
kinds of wrought, or of cast, work, (or small mod- 
els, perhaps,) of the portico and temple (the naos) of 
the goddess Diana. Now, the city of Ephesus, in 
her office of superintendent of the sacra to this tem- 
ple, was bound to promote its interests ; it could not 
therefore be indifferent, or insensible, when this great 
and famous edifice was about to be degraded, to be 
rendered contemptible — through the impiety of a 
few hated Jews. Notwithstanding the reported dan- 
ger, however, and the danger always attendant on 
popular commotion, the grammateus, or recorder, 
(town-clerk, Engl, ver.) harangues the people on the 
subject of their riot ; states, " that the honor of their 
city as neokoron was incontrovertible ; that the per- 
sons in custody were neither guilty of sacrilege, nor 
of blaspheming their goddess, in particular, especial- 
ly considering that this image was not ' made with 
hands,' but was well known to be Jove-descended ; 
and, moreover, that if the accused were guilty of any 
misdemeanor, they should be properly indicted for 
it : but if the complainants were desirous of extend- 
ing their measures beyond merely insuring the honor 
and security of Diana, they should call a general 



meeting of the town, in which to propose their reso- 
lutions ; because the honor of the neokorate apper- 
tained to the whole town, and not to any separate 
part of it ... . such as Demetrius with his fellow- 
craftsmen and associates." 

There appears in the language of this very sensi- 
ble man an ambiguity employed in describing the 
goddess, or her image — Jiu:kthq, Jove-descended 
or fallen. For instance, supposing he might wish to 
say, — the things signified by the image of the god- 
dess, i. e. the powers of nature, descended from 
Jove ; this, taking Jove for the supreme deity, would 
be the truth ; but, no doubt, the popular belief was, 
and the people would so understand the speaker, that, 
the image itself, the object of their worship, fell down 
from Jove. If this be fact, it is an instance of the 
esoteric and exoteric doctrines ; or, that the philoso- 
phers, by expressions capable of two senses, intend- 
ed to convey ideas of principles understood by 
philosophers, in a sense different from what they in- 
culcated on the people. It seems incredible that this 
very rational public writer could believe, that the 
marble image now standing in the adytum of the 
temple, should fall from neaven, in its present 
wrought and allegorical state, though he might, per- 
haps, when speaking in public, call it "a divine im- 
age ;" which expression its votaries were at liberty 
to take literally, if they chose — as if wrought by the 
hand of Jove ; while, in his own mind, he would 
consider this " divine image" as an image represent- 
ing divine things ; or things which descended from 
Jove. 

I. DIBON, a city of Moab, and thought to be the 
Dimon of Isaiah xv. 9. It was given to the tribe of 
Gad by Moses, and afterwards yielded to Reuben, 
Numb, xxxii. 3, 33, 34 ; Josh. xiii. 9. It was again 
occupied by the Moabites at a later period, Is. xv. 2 ; 
Jer. xlviii. 18, 22. Eusebius says, it was a large 
town on the northern bank of the river Arnon, 
Numb, xxxiii. 45. Burckhardt speaks of a place 
called Diban, about three miles north of the Arnon. 
See Gad. 

II. DIBON, a city of Judah : the same, perhaps, 
as Debir, or Kirjath-Sepber, Neh. xi. 25. The LXX 
call that place Dibon, which in Hebrew is Deber, 
Josh. xiii. 26. 

DIDRACHMA, a Greek word, signifying a piece 
of money, in value two drachmas, about fourteen 
pence English, or, more nearly, 25 cents. The Jews 
were by law obliged, every person, to pay two 
drachmas, that is, half a shekel, to the temple. To 
pay this, our Lord sent Peter to catch a fish, which, 
probably, had just swallowed such a coin, Matt, 
xvii. 24—27. 

DIDYMUS, a twin. This is the signification ot 
the Hebrew or Syriac word Thomas. See Thomas. 

DIGIT, a finger (y23N , Etzba,) a measure contain- 
ing |^ of an inch. There are four digits in a palm, 
and six palms in a cubit. 

DIKLAH, seventh son of Joktau, (Gen. x. 27.) 
whose descendants are placed either in Arabia Fe- 
lix, which abounds in palm-trees, called Dikla in 
Chaldee and Syriac ; or in Assyria, where is the 
town of Degla, and the river Tigris, or Dikkel. 

DILEAN, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 38. 

DIMNAH, a city of Zebulun, given to the Levites 
of Merari's family, Josh. xxi. 35. 

DIMONAH, a town in south Judah, Josh. xv. 22. 

DINAH, daughter of Jacob and Leah, (Gen. xxx. 
21.) born after Zebulun, and about A. M. 2250. 
When Jacob returned into Canaan, Dinah, then 



DIS 



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DIS 



-ibout the age of fifteen or sixteen, attended a festi- 
val of the Shechemites, to see the women of the 
country, (Gen. xxxiv. 1, 2.) when Shechem, son of 
Hamor the Hivite, prince of the city, ravished or se- 
duced her, and afterwards desired his father to pro- 
cure her for his wife. Dinah's brothers, being 
informed of what had passed, were much exasperat- 
ed ; and having made insidious proposals to She- 
chem, to his father Hamor, and to the inhabitants of 
their city, slew and plundered them, and carried off 
Dinah. Jacob, when informed of the occurrence, 
cursed their anger and cruelty, xlix. 5 — 7. 

DINAITES, a people who opposed the rebuilding 
of the temple, Ezra iv. 9. 

DINHABAH, a city of Edom, Gen. xxxvi. 32. 

DIONYSIUS, the Areopagite, a convert of Paul, 
(Acts xvii. 34.) and supposed to have been a citizen 
of Athens. Dionysius is said to have been made the 
first bishop of Athens; and after having labored, and 
suffered much in the gospel, to have been burnt at 
Athens, A. D. 95. The works attributed to him are 
spurious. 

DIOSPOLIS, the city of Jupiter, or Thebes. We 
do not meet with this name in the sacred writings ; 
but Nahum is thought to have intended it under the 
name of No-Ammon. See Ammojt-No. 

DIOTREPHES, a person who did not receive 
with hospitality those whom the apostle bad sent to 
him, nor suffer others to do so. (See 3 John 9.) 

DISCERNING of spirits, a divine gift mentioned 
1 Cor. xii. 10, and which consisted in discerning 
among those who professed to be inspired by God, 
whether they were inspired by a good or an evil 
spirit ; whether truly or falsely ; and also, probably, 
whether they were sincere in their profession of 
Christianity. This gift was of very great importance 
under the Old Testament, when false prophets often 
rose up, and seduced the people ; and also in the 
primitive ages of the Christian church, when super- 
natural gifts were frequent ; when the messenger of 
Satan was sometimes transformed into an angel of 
light, and false apostles, under the meek appearance 
of sheep, concealed the disposition of ravening 
wolves. 

DISCIPLE signifies, in the New Testament, a be- 
liever, a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. 

DISEASES. Many kinds of disease are men- 
tioned in Scripture, and the Hebrews attributed 
several of them to the devil. Diseases and death 
are consequences of sin ; and the Hebrews, not 
much accustomed to recur to physical causes, often 
imputed them to evil spirits. (See Luke xiii. 16.) If 
their infirmities appeared unusual, and especially if 
the cause were unknown to them, they concluded it 
to be a stroke from the avenging hand of God ; and 
to him the wisest and most religious had recourse 
for cure. King Asa is blamed for placing his confi- 
dence in physicians, 2 Chron. xvi. 12. Job's friends 
ascribed all his distempers to God's justice. Paul 
delivers the incestuous Corinthian to Satan " for the 
destruction of the flesh :" that the evil spirit might 
afflict him with diseases, 1 Cor. v. 5. (See Satan.) 
The same apostle attributes the death and diseases of 
many Corinthians to their communicating unwor- 
thily, chap. xi. 30. He also elsewhere ascribes the 
infirmities with which he was afflicted to an evil an- 
gel ; " a thorn in the flesh — an angel of Satan," 2 
Cor. xii. 7. An angel of death slew the first-born of 
the Egyptians ; a destroying angel wasted Sennach- 
erib'? army ; an avenging angel smote the people 



of Israel with a pestilence, after David's sin. Sau 
fell into a fit of deep melancholy, hypochondriacal 
depression, and it is said "an evil spirit came upon 
him." Abimelech, king of Gerar, for taking Sarah, 
the wife of Abraham, was threatened with death, 
(Gen. xx. 3, 4.) and the Philistines were smitten with 
an ignominious disease, for not treating the ark with 
adequate respect, 1 Sam. v. 6, 7. These diseases, 
and others that we read of, were evident interposi- 
tions of Providence, by whatever agency they were 
produced. 

DISH. It has been remarked, on the subject of 
the words rendered cruse by our translators, that 
one of them seems to be totally different from that 
which bids fairest to explain the story of the widow's 
cruse of oil, or king Saul's cruse of water ; that 
word it is here necessary to examine, with the de- 
sign to determine its application. TzeLOHiTH, (n<nSs) 
or TzeLAHATH, is used to denote a vessel of some 
capacity ; a vessel to be turned upside down, in order 
that the inside may be thoroughly wiped ; (2 Kings 
xxi. 13.) u I will wipe Jerusalem as a man ivipeth a 
dish, turning it upside down." This implies, at least, 
that the opening of such a dish be not narrow, but 
wide ; that the dish itself be of a certain depth ; yet 
that the hand may readily reach to the bottom of it, 
and there may freely move, so as to wipe it thor- 
oughly. This vessel was capable, also, of bearing 
the fire, and of standing conveniently over a fire ; 
for we read in 2 Chron. xxxv. 13, that " The priests 
and others boiled parts of the holy offerings in pans 
(tzelachoth) ; and distributed them speedily among 
the people." Meaning, perhaps, that this was not 
the very kind of dish or boiler which they would 
have chosen, had time permitted a choice ; but that 
haste and multiplicity of business made them use 
whatever first came to hand, that was competent to 
the service. This application of these vessels, how- 
ever, shows that they must have been of considera- 
ble capacity and depth ; as a very narrow or a very 
small dish, would not have answered the purpose re- 
quired. A kind of dish or pan, which appears to 
answer these descriptions, is represented in the 
" Estampes du Levant," in the hands of a confec- 
tioner of the grand seignior's seraglio, who is car- 
rying a deep dish, full of heated viands, (recently 
taken off the fire,) upon which he has put a cover, in 
order that those viands may retain their heat and 
flavor. His being described on the plate as a con- 
fectioner, leads to the supposition that what he carries 
are delicacies ; and to this agrees his desire of pre- 
serving their heat. The shape of the vessel is evi- 
dently calculated for standing over a fire ; and from 
its form it may easily be rested on its side, for the 
purpose of being thoroughly wiped. Now, a dish 
used to contain delicacies, is most likely to receive 
such attention ; for the comparison, in the text refer- 
red to, evidently implies some assiduity and exertion 
to wipe from the dish every particle inconsistent 
with complete cleanliness. [That the Hebrew 
tzelachath means a dish in general, is obvious from 
the passages where the word occurs. All that is 
here said more than this, is mere fancy. R. 

We are now prepared to see the import of Eli- 
sha's direction to the men of Jericho, (2 Kings ii. 20.) 
" Bring me a new — not cruse — but tzelochith," — 
one of the vessels used in your cookery — in those 
parts of your cookery which you esteem the most 
delicate ; a culinary vessel, but of the superior kind ; 
" and put salt therein," what you constantly mingle 



DI V 



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DOC 



in your food; what readily mixes with water : and 
this shall be a sign to you, that in your future use of 
this stream, you shall find it salubrious, aud fit for 
daily service in preparing, or accompanying, your 
daily sustenance. 

There is a striking picture of sloth, sketched out 
very simply, but very strongly, by the sagacious Solo- 
mon, in Prov. xix. 24, and repeated almost verbatim, 
in chap. xxvi. 15 : 

A slothful man hideth his hand in the tzelachith; 
But will not re-bring it to his mouth. 

A slothful man hideth his hand in the tzelachith — 
It grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. 

Meaning, he sees a dish, deep and capacious, filled 
with confectionary, sweetmeats, &,c. whatever his ap- 
petite can desire in respect to relish and flavor ; and 
of this he is greedy. Thus excited, he thrusts his 
hand — his right hand — deep into the dish, and loads 
it with delicacies ; but, alas ! the labor of lifting it up 
to his mouth is too great, too excessive, too fatiguing : 
he, therefore, does not enjoy or taste what is before 
him, though his appetite be so far allured as to de- 
sire, and his hand be so far exerted as to grasp. He 
suffers the viands to become cold, and thereby to 
lose their flavor ; while he debates the important 
movement of his hand to his mouth ; if he do not 
rather totally forego the enjoyment, as demanding 
too vast an action ! 

DISHAN, and DISHON, sons of Seir, the Horite, 
Gen. xxxvi. 21, 30 ; 1 Chron. i. 38, also 41, 42. 

DISPENSATION, an authority to administer the 
ordinances of the gospel, 1 Cor. ix. 17. Called the 
dispensation of grace, (Eph. iii. 2.) and the dispensa- 
tion of God, Col. i. 25. 

DISPERSION. Peter and James wrote to the 
Jews of the dispersion, 1 Pet. i ; Jam. i. 1. The 
former directs his letter to those who were dispersed 
in the countries of Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Asia, 
Cappadocia ; but the latter more indefinitely addresses 
the twelve tribes scattered abroad. — Not that air 
the tribes were then dispersed, for Judea was yet fill- 
ed with Jews ; (these epistles being written before 
the war with the Romans;) but, after the captivities 
, into Assyria and Chaldea, there were many Jews of 
all the tribes constantly resident in various places 
throughout the East. This was called "The Dis- 
persion. Nehemiah prays God to collect the disper- 
sion of his people ; and the Jews said of Christ, 
(John vii. 35.) " Will he go unto the dispersed among 
the Gentiles?" 

DIVAN, see Beds. 

DIVINATION. The eastern people were al- 
ways fond of divination, magic, the art of interpreting 
dreams, and of acquiring the prescience of futurity. 
When Moses published the law, this disposition had 
long been common in Egypt, and the neighboring 
countries, and to correct the Israelites' inclination to 
consult diviners, wizards, fortune-tellers, and inter- 
preters of dreams, it was forbidden them, under very 
severe penalties ; and the true spirit of prophecy 
was promised to them as infinitely superior. They 
were to be stoned who pretended to have a familiar 
spirit, or the spirit of divination ; (Deut.xviii. 9, 10, 
15.) and the prophets are full of invectives against 
' the Israelites who consulted such, as well as against 
false prophets, who seduced the people. 

Divination was of several kinds ; by water, fire, 
eartn, air ; by the flight of birds, and their sing- 



ing ; by lots, dreams, serpents, arrows, &c. See 
Arrow. 

DIVORCE, or Repudiation, was tolerated by Mo- 
ses, for sufficient reasons, (Deut. xxiv. 1 — 3.) but our 
Lord has limited it to the single case of adultery 
Matt. v. 31, 32. There is great probability that di- 
vorces were used among the Hebrews before the 
law, since the Son of God says, that Moses permit- 
ted them by reason only of the harduess of their 
hearts; that is to say, because they were accustomed 
to this abuse, and to prevent greater evils. Abraham 
dismissed Hagar, on account of her insolence, at the 
request of Sarah. We find no instance of a divorce 
in the books of the Old Testament written since 
Moses ; though it is certain that the Hebrews sepa- 
rated from their wives on trifling occasions. Sam- 
son's father-in-law understood that, by his absence 
from her, his daughter was divorced, since he gave 
her to another, J udg. xv. 2. The Levfte's wife, who 
was dishonored at Gibeah, had forsaken her husband, 
and would not have returned, had he not gone in 
pursuit of her. ch. xix. 2, 3. Solomon speaks of a 
libertine woman, who had quitted her husband, the 
director of her youth, and had forgotten the cove- 
nant of her God, Prov. ii. 16, 17. The prophet Mal- 
achi (ii. 15.) commends Abraham for not divorcing 
Sarah, though barren ; and inveighs against the 
Jews, who had abandoned " the wives of their youth." 
Micah also (ii. 9.) reproaches them with having 
" cast out their wives from their pleasant houses, and 
taken away the glory of God from their children for 
ever." 

Josephus was of opinion (Antiq. lib. xv. cap. 11.) 
that the law did not permit women to divorce them- 
selves from their husbands. He believes Salome, 
sister of Herod the Great, to be the first who put 
away her husband ; though Herodias afterwards dis- 
missed hers, (Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. 7.) as did also 
the three sisters of the younger Agrippa, and others, 
theirs. 

DIZAHAB, the name of a place, not far from the 
plains of Moab, mentioned Deut. i. 1. 

DOCTOR, or Teacher, of the Law, may, per- 
haps, be distinguished from scribe, as rather teaching 
viva voce, than giving written opinions.- It is difficult, 
when the expression, "counsel learned in the law," 
is used among us, to divest ourselves of the idea of 
the political law aud its administration ; but if we 
could wave that idea, and restrict the phrase to learn- 
ed in the divine law, we should, probably, not be far 
from a just conception of what the doctors of the 
law were in Judea. It deserves notice, that Nicode- 
mus, himself a doctor [SiSuoxa'/.oc, teacher) of the law, 
came to consult Jesus, whom he complimented in 
the same terms as he himself was accustomed to : 
"Rabbi, we know that thou art SiSuexuXos, a compe- 
tent teacher — from God :" — and most probably add- 
ing, " Pray what is your opinion of such and such 
matters ?" q. d. " Our glosses have been too far- 
fetched, too overstrained ; they have never satisfied 
my mind : — pray let me hear your sentiments." So 
our Lord among the doctors (Luke ii. 46.) not only 
heard their opinions, but asked them questions — pro- 
posing his queries in turn, and examining their an- 
swers ; whether they were consonant to the law of 
God : and the doctors, we find, were in ecstasies at 
the intelligence of his mind, and the propriety of his 
language and replies. 

Doctors of the law were mostly of the sect of the 
Pharisees ; but are distinguished from that sect, in 
Luke v \% where it appears that the novelty of our 



D O G 



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DOU 



Lord's doctrine drew together a great company of 
law-doctors (vutioSiSunxu/.ui). 

Doctors, or teachers, are mentioned among divine 
gifts in Ephes. iv. 11, and it is possible, that the 
apostle does not mean such ordinary teachers (or 
pastors) as the church now enjoys : but, as he seems 
to reckon them among the extraordinary donations of 
God, and uses no mark of distinction, or separation, 
between apostles, with which he begins, and doctors, 
with which he ends, — it may be, that he refers to the 
nature of the office of the Jewish doctors ; meaning 
well-informed persons, to whom inquiring Christian 
converts might have recourse for removing their 
doubts and difficulties, concerning Christian observ- 
ances, the sacraments, and other rituals, and for re- 
ceiving from Scripture the demonstration that "this 
is the very Christ ;" and that the things relating to 
the Messiah were accomplished in Jesus. Such a 
gift could not be very serviceable in that infant state 
of the church, which, indeed, without it, would have 
seemed, in this particular, inferior to the Jewish in- 
stitutions. To this agrees the distinction (Rom. xii. 
7.) between doctors (teaching, SiS^axwr) and exhort- 
ers, q. d. " he who gives advice privately, and resolves 
doubts, &c. let him attend to that duty ; he who ex- 
horts with a loud voice, (nuQaxafoor,) let him exhort" 
with proper piety. The same appears in 1 Cor. xii. 
28, where the apostle ranges, Jirst, apostles, public in- 
structers ; secondly, prophets, occasional instructers ; 
thirdly, (iiS!xaxa).ui,) doctors, or teachers, private in- 
structers. 

DODAI, one of David's captains, over the course 
of the second mouth, 1 Chron. xxvii. 4. 

DODANIM, the youngest son of Javan, Gen. x. 
2. Several Hebrew MSS. read Rhodanim, and be- 
lieve that he peopled the island of Rhodes. See 
Dedan. 

DOEG, an Edomite, and Saul's chief herdsman. 
Being at Nob, a city of the priests, when David came 
thither, and received provision from Ahimelech, he 
reported this to Saul, who, thereupon, sent for the 
priests, and massacred them, by the hand of Doeg, 
to the number of fourscore and five, 1 Sam. xxii. 16. 

DOG, a well-known domestic animal, which was 
held in great contempt among the Jews. It was 
worshipped by the Egyptians. 

The state of dogs among the Jews was probably 
much the same as it is now in the East ; where, hav- 
ing no owners, they run about the streets in troops, 
and are fed by charity, or by caprice ; or they live 
on such offal as they can pick up. That they were 
numerous and voracious in Jezreel, is evident from 
the history of Jezebel. (See that article.) 

To compare a person to a dog, living or dead, was 
a most degrading expression ; so David uses it, (1 
Sam. xxiv. 14.) " After whom is the king of Israel 
come out ? after a dead dog?" So Mephibosheth, (2 
Sam. ix. 8.) "What is thy servant, that thou should- 
est look upon such a dead dog as I am ?" The name 
of dog sometimes expresses one who has lost all 
modesty ; one who prostitutes himself to abominable 
actions; for so several understand the injunction 
(Deut. xxiii. 18.) of not offering "the hire of a 
whore ;" or " the price of a dog ;" and Ecclus. xiii. 
18, " What fellowship is there between a pure and 
sanctified person, (Eng. tr. the hyena,) and a dog ?" 
Our Lord, in Rev. xxii. 15, excludes "dogs, sorcer- 
ers, whoremongers, murderers, and idolaters" from 
the new Jerusalem. Paul says, " Beware of dogs" 
(Phil. iii. 2.) — of impudent, sordid, greedy professors ; 
and Solomon, (Prov. xxvi. 11.) and Peter, (2 Epist. 



ii. 21.) compare sinners, who continually relapse into 
sins, to dogs returning to their vomit. 

[Mr. Harmer remarks, that "the great exter- 
nal purity which is so studiously attended to by the 
modern eastern people, as well as the ancient, pro- 
duces some odd circumstances with respect to their 
dogs. 

" They do not suffer them in their houses, and even 
with care avoid touching them in the streets, which 
would be considered as a defilement. One would 
imagine, then, that, under these circumstances, as 
they do not appear by any means to be necessary in 
their cities, however important they may be to those 
that feed flocks, there should be very few of these 
creatures found in those places. They are, notwith- 
standing, there in great numbers, and crowd their 
streets. They do not appear to belong to particular 
persons, as our dogs do, nor to be fed distinctly by 
such as might claim some interest in them ; but get 
their food as they can. At the same time, they con- 
sider it as right to take some care of them, and the 
charitable people among them frequently give money 
every week or months to butchers and bakers, to feed 
the dogs at stated times ; and some leave legacies at 
their deaths, for the same purpose. This is Le 
Bruyn's account ; torn. i. p. 361." (Harmer's Obs. 
i. p. 351.) 

Dogs in the East being thus left to prowl about 
without masters, and get their living generally as they 
can, from the offals which are cast into the gutters, 
are often on the point of starvation ; and then they 
devour corpses, and in the night even attack living 
men, Ps. lix. 6, 14, 15 ; 1 Kings xiv. 11, al. *R. 

DOORS, see Gates. 

DOPHKAH, the ninth or tenth encampment of 
the Israelites, Numb, xxxiii. 12. See Exodus. 

DOR, or Dora, in Hebrew, Nephat-Dor, heights 
of Dor, the capital of a district in Canaan, which Josh- 
ua conquered and gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh, 
on this side Jordan, Josh. xii. 23; xvii. 11. 

Dor was situated on a peninsula, which, from pro- 
jecting into the Mediterranean sea, rendered the city 
extremely strong, and very difficult of attack ; espe- 
cially on the land side. It pretended to be founded 
by Dor, or Dorus, son of Neptune, assumed the title 
of" sacred, and navarchida ; and enjoyed the right of 
asylum, and of being "governed by its own latvs." 

" The modern name of Dor is Tortoura, and it is 
about midway between Csesarea Palestina and the 
bay of Acre." Captain Mangles mentions extensive 
ruins at Tortoura, but says they possess nothing of 
interest. 

DORCAS, Tabitha in Syriac, [the gazelle.) See 
Tabitha. 

DOSITHEUS, an officer in the troops of Ju- 
das Maccabseus, (2 Mac. xii. 19 — 21, &c.) sent to 
force the garrison of Characa, in the country of the 
Tubienians. 

DOTHAN, or Dothaim, a town about twelve 
miles north of Samaria, where Joseph's brethren 
sold him to the Ishmaelites, Gen. xxxvii. 17. Holo- 
fernes' camp extended from Dothaim to Belmain, 
Judith vii. 3. 

DOUBLE has many significations in Scripture. 
" A double garment" may .mean a lined habit, such 
as the high-priest's pectoral ; or a complete habit, or 
suit of clothes, a cloak and a tunic, &c. Double 
heart, double tongue, double mind, are opposed to a 
simple, honest, sincere heart, tongue, mind, &c. 
Double, the counterpart to a quantity, to a space, to a 
measure, &c. which is proposed as the exemplar 



DOW 



[ 352 ] 



DRA 



"Double money" — the same value as before, with 
an equal value added to it, Gen. xliii. 12, 15. If a 
stolen ox or sheep be found — the thief shall restore 
double, that is, two .oxen, or two sheep. For the 
right understanding of Isa. xl. 2, " She hath receiv- 
ed of the Lord's hand double for all her sins" — read, 
the counterpart — that which fits, the commensurate 
quantity, extent, or number of her sins ; that which 
<s adecpiate, all things considered, as a dispensation 
of punishment. This passage does not mean 
twice as much as had been deserved, double 
what was just, but the fair, commensurate, ade- 
quate retribution. The same is the meaning of 
this phrase in other places, Isa. Ixi. 7 ; Jer. xvi. 18 ; 
xvii. 18. 

DOVE, a tame clean bird ; in its wild state called 
a pigeon. It was ordained (Lev. xii. 8.) that when a 
woman went to the temple after child-bearing, she 
should offer a lamb, and a dove or turtle ; or else a 
young pigeon, or a young turtle, Numb. vi. 10. The 
lamb was offered as a burnt-offering, the pigeon or 
dove as a sin-offering. Or if she could not afford a 
lamb, then she might offer two pigeons, or two tur- 
tles. (See Luke ii. 24.) As it was difficult for all 
who came from distant places to bring doves with 
them, the priests permitted the sale of these birds in 
the courts of the temple. Our Lord one day entered 
the temple, and with a scourge of cords drove out 
those who there traded in pigeons, Matt. xxi. 12 ; 
Mark xi. 15. [In Jer. xxv. 38 ; xlvi. 16 ; 1. 16, the 
Hebrew word njp is also rendered by the Vulgate, 
dove; but it is here the fem. participle of the verb ni", 
to oppress, and is used as an adjective, signifying op- 
pressive. R. 

The dove is used as a symbol of simplicity and in- 
nocency, Matt. iii. 16 ; x. 16 ; Hos. vii. 11, &c. Noah 
sent the dove out of the ark, to discover whether the 
waters of the deluge were abated, Gen. viii. 8, 10. 
He chose the dove, probably, because it was a tame 
bird, and averse to carrion and ordure. 

DOVES' DUNG. It is said, (2 Kings vi. 25.) that 
during the siege of Samaria, " the fourth part of a 
cab (little more than half a pint) of doves' dung was 
sold for five pieces of silver ;" about twelve shillings 
sterling, or two and a half dollars. It is well known 
that doves' dung is not a nourishment for man, even 
in the most extreme famine; and hence Josephus 
and Theodoret were of opinion, that it was bought 
instead of salt, to serve as a kind of manure for the 
purpose of raising esculent plants of quick vegeta- 
tion. The general opinion since Bochart is, that it 
was a kind of chick-pea, lentil, or tare, which has 
very much the appearance of doves' dung, whence 
it might be named. Great quantities of these are 
sold in Cairo, to the pilgrims going to Mecca ; and 
at Damascus, Belon says, " there are many shops 
where nothing else is done but preparing chick-peas. 
These, parched in a copper pan, and dried, are of 
great service to those who take long journeys." This 
may account for the stock of them stored up in the 
city of Samaria ; and the cab would be a fit measure 
for this kind of pulse, which was the fare of the 
poorer class of people. 

DOWRY. Nothing distinguishes more the nature 
of marriage among us in Europe, from the same con- 
nection when forming in the East, than the different 
methods of proceeding between the father-in-law 
and the intended bridegroom. Among us, the father 
usually gives a portion to his daughter, which be- 
comes the property of her husband ; and which often 
.makes a considerable part of his wealth ; but in the 



East, the bridegroom offers to the father of his bride 
a sum of money, or value to his satisfaction, before 
he can expect to receive his daughter in marriage. 
Of this procedure we have instances from the earli- 
est times. When Jacob had nothing which he could 
immediately give for a wife, he purchased her, by 
his services to her father Laban, Gen. xxix. 18. So 
we find Shechem offers to pay any value, as a dowry 
for Dinah, Gen. xxxiv. ]2. In this passage is men- 
tioned, a distinction still observed in the East : (1.) 
" A dowry" to the family, as a token of honor, to 
engage their favorable interest in the desired alli- 
ance : (2.) "A gift" to the bride herself, e. g. of jew- 
els and other decorations, a compliment of honor, as 
Abraham's servant gave to Rebekah. We find king 
Saul, (1 Sam. xviii. 25.) instead of wishing for a pe- 
cuniary dowry from David, which David was sensi- 
ble he could not pay in proportion to the value of 
the bride, required one hundred foreskins of the 
Philistines, thereby proposing his daughter in reward 
of valor, as Caleb had formerly done his daughter 
Achsah to whoever should take Kirjath-sepher ; that 
is, he gave her, as a reward of honor, without re- 
ceiving the accustomed dowry, Josh. xv. 16. The 
dowry was esteemed so essential, that Moses even 
orders it, in a case where it might otherwise, per- 
haps, have been dispensed with ; " If a man entice a 
maid, that is not betrothed, he shall endow her to be 
his wife ;" (Exod. xxii. 16.) he shall make her the 
usual nuptial present ; according to that rank which 
he holds in the world, and to that station which his 
wife might justly be expected to maintain; propor- 
tionate, also, to that honor which he would have put 
upon her, had he regularly solicited her family for 
her ; that is, jewels, and other trinkets. " If her 
father refuse his daughter," he shall pay money, 
"according to the dowry of virgins;" that is, what 
the father of a virgin of that rank of life might 
justly expect should have been offered for his 
daughter when solicited in marriage. And this we 
find was the proposal made by Shechem, in repara- 
tion of the injury done to Dinah. 

DRACHMA, a piece of money commonly reputed 
to be equal in value to the denarius ; which is stat- 
ed at seven pence three farthings, or near twelve 
and a half cents. 

DRAGON. This word, which frequently occurs 
in the English Bible, generally answers to the He- 
brew jn, pjn, and dmh, though these words are some- 
times rendered serpents, sea-monsters, and whales. 
The Rev. James Hurdis, in a " Dissertation upon the 
true meaning of the word D\)>jn" contends, that in 
its various forms it uniformly signifies the crocodile ; 
an opinion which can be supported by no authentic 
facts, and by no legitimate mode of reasoning. Mr. 
Taylor, who argues at great length for restraining 
the word to amphibious animals, is of opinion that it 
includes the class of lizards, from the ivater-newt to 
the crocodile, and also the seal, the manati,' the 
morse, &c. His arguments are certainly ingenious 
and deserving of attention ; but they have failed to 
convince us of the legitimacy of his deductions. 
The subject is involved in much obscurity, from the 
apparent latitude with which the word is employed 
by the sacred writers. In Exod. vii. 9, et seq. Deut. 
xxxii. 33, and Jer. li. 34, it seems to denote a large 
serpent, or the dragon, properly so called ; in Gen. i. 
21, Job vii. 12, and Ezek. xxix. 3, a crocodile or any 
large sea animal ; and in Lain. iv. 3, and Job xxx. 
29, the Heb. fn designates so me kind of wild beast, 
most probably the jackal or wolf as the Arabic tee- 



DRAGON 



L 353 ] 



DRAGON 



nan denotes. It is to the dragon, properly so called, 
that we shall now direct our attention. 

The proper dragon, the Draco volans of Linnaeus, 
is a harmless species of lizard, found in Asia and 
Africa. Three kinds of dragons were formerly dis- 
tinguished in India ; but they are unknown to mod- 
ern naturalists. 1. Those of the hills and mountains. 
2. Those of the valleys and caves. 3. Those of the 
fens and marshes. The first is the largest, and cov- 
ered with scales, as resplendent as burnished gold. 
They have a kind of beard hanging from their lower 
jaw ; their aspect is frightful, their cry loud and 
shrill, their crest bright yellow, and they have a pro- 
tuberance on their heads the color of a burning 
coal. 2. Those of the flat country are of a silver 
color, and frequent rivers, to which the former never 
come. 3. Those of the marshes are black, slow, and 
have no crest. Their bite is not venomous, though 
the creatures be dreadful. 

The following description of the boa is chiefly ab- 
stracted and translated from De Lacepede, by Mr. 
Taylor, who considers it as the proper dragon of the 
Scriptures. At any rate, some species of enormous 
serpent seems to have been intended. 

The boa is among serpents, what the lion or the 
elephant is among quadrupeds ; he usually reaches 
twenty feet in length, and to this species we must 
refer those described by travellers, as lengthened to 
forty or fifty feet, as related by Owen. Kircher 
mentions a serpent forty palms in length ; and such 
a serpent is referred to by Ludolph, as extant in 
Ethiopia. Jerome, in his life of Hilarion, denomi- 
nates such a serpent, draco or dragon ; saying, that 
they were called boas, because they could swallow 
(boves) beeves, and waste whole provinces. Bosnian 
says, entire men have frequently been found in the 
gullets of serpents on the gold coast ; but the longest 
serpent I have read of, is that mentioned by Livy, 
and by Pliny, which opposed the Roman army un- 
der Regulus, at the river Bagrada in Africa. It 
devoured several of the soldiers ; and so hard were 
its scales, that they resisted darts and spears : at 
length it was, as it were, besieged, and the military 
engines were employed against it, as against a forti- 
fied city. It was a hundred and twenty feet in 
length. At Batavia was taken a serpent, which had 
swallowed an entire stag of a large size ; and one 
taken at Bunda had, in like manner, swallowed a 
negro woman. 

Lequat, in his Travels, says, there are serpents 
fifty feet long in the island of Java. At Batavia they 
still keep the skin of one, which, though but twenty 
feet in length, is said to have swallowed a young 
maid whole. The serpent quaka, or liboya, (boa,) is 
unquestionably the biggest of all serpents ; some be- 
ing eighteen twenty -four, and even thirty feet long, 
and of the thicsness of a man in the middle. The 
Portuguese call it Kobre de hado, or the roebuck- 
serpent ; because it will swallow a whole roebuck or 
other deer ; and this is performed by sucking it 
through the throat, which is pretty narrow, but the 
belly vastly big. Such a one I saw near Paraiba, 
which was thirty feet long, and as big as a barrel. 
Some negroes accidentally saw it swallow a roebuck, 
whereupon, thirteen musketeers were sent out, who 
shot it and cut the roebuck out of its belly. It is 
not venomous. This serpent, being a very devour- 
ing creature, greedy of prey, leaps from among the 
hedges and woods, and, standing upright on its tail, 
wrestles both with men and wild beasts ; sometimes 
it leaps from the trees upon the traveller, whom it 
45 



fastens on, and beats the breath out of his body with 
its tail. 

From this account of the boa, it is, perhaps, not 
improbable, that John had it in his mind when he 
describes a persecuting power under the symbol of a 
great red dragon. The dragon of antiquity was a 
serpent of prodigious size, and its most conspicuous 
color was red ; and the apocalyptic dragon strikes 
vehemently with his tail ; in all which particulars it 
perfectly agrees with the boa. " And there appear- 
ed another wonder in heaven, and behold a great 
red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and 
seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew 
the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast 
them to the earth," Rev. xii. 3, 4, 15—17. The 
number of heads here given to this creature is cer- 
tainly allegorical ; as are also the ten horns, and the 
seven crowns which are attached to them. But in 
all these instances, says Paxton, it is presumed that 
the inspired writer alludes either to historical facta 
or natural appearances. It is well known, that there 
is a species of snake called amphisbaena, or double- 
headed, although one of them is at the tail of the 
animal, and is only apparent. A kind of serpent, in- 
deed, is so often found with two heads growing from 
one neck, that some have fancied it might form a 
species ; but Ave have, as yet, no sufficient evidence 
to warrant such a conclusion. Admitting, however, 
that a serpent with two heads is an unnatural pro- 
duction, for this very reason it might be chosen by 
the Spirit of God, to be a prototype of the apocalyp- 
tic monster. 

The horns seem to refer to the cerastes or horned 
snake, the boa or proper dragon having no horn. 
But this enormous creature has a crest of bright yel- 
low, and a protuberance on his head, in color like a 
burning coal, which naturally enough suggests the 
idea of a crown. The remaining particulars refer to 
facts in the history of the boa, or other serpents. 
The tail of the great red dragon " drew the third 
part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the 
earth." The boa frequently kills his victim with a 
stroke of his tail. Stedman mentions an adventure 
in his " Expedition to Surinam," which furnishes a 
very clear and striking illustration of this part of our 
subject. It relates to one of these large serpents, 
which, though it certainly differs from the red dra- 
gon of Asia and Africa, combines several particulars 
connected with our purpose. He had not gone from 
his boat above twenty yards, through mud and water 
when he discovered a snake rolled up under the fall- 
en leaves and rubbish of the trees ; and so well cov- 
ered, that it was some time before he distinctly 
perceived the head of the monster, distant from him 
not above sixteen feet, moving its forked tongue, 
while its eyes, from their uncommon brightness, ap- 
peared to emit sparks of fire. He now fired ; but 
missing the head, the ball went through the body, 
when the animal struck round, and with such aston-' 
ishing force, as to cut away all the underwood around 
him, with the facility of a scythe mowing grass, and 
by flouncing his tail, caused the mud and dirt to fly 
over his head to a considerable distance. He return- 
ed, in a short time, to the attack, and found the snake 
a little removed from his former station, but very 
quiet, with his head as before, lying out among ihe 
fallen leaves, rotten boughs, and old moss. He fired 
at him immediately ; and now, being but slightly 
wounded, he sent out such a cloud of dust and dirt, 
as our author declares he never saw but in a whirl- 
wind At the third fire the snake was shot through 



DRE 



[ 354 ] 



DRE 



the head ; all the negroes present declared it to be but 
a young one, about half grown, although, on measur- 
ing, he found it twenty-two feet and some inches, 
and its thickness about that of his black boy, who 
might be about twelve years old. 

These circumstances account for the sweeping de- 
struction which the tail of the apocalyptic dragon 
effected among the stars of heaven. The allegorical 
incident has its foundation in the nature and structure 
of the literal dragon. The only other circumstance 
which requires explanation is the flood of water eject- 
ed by the dragon, after he had failed in accomplish- 
ing the destruction of the woman and her seed. The 
venom of poisonous serpents is commonly ejected 
by a perforation in the fangs, or cheek teeth, in the 
act of biting. We learn, however, from several facts, 
that serpents have a power of throwing out of their 
mouth a quantity of fluid of an injurious nature. 
The quantity cast out by the great red dragon, is in 
proportion to his immense size, and is called a flood 
or stream, which the earth, helping the woman, 
opened her mouth to receive. Gregory, the friend 
of Ludolph, says, in his History of Ethiopia, " We 
have in our province a sort of serpent, as long as the 
arm. He is of a flowing red color, but somewhat 
brownish. This animal has an offensive breath, and 
ejects a poison so venomous and stinking, that a man 
or beast within the reach of it, is sure to perish 
quickly by it, unless immediate assistance be given. 
At Mouree, a great snake being half under a heap 
of stones and half out, a man cut it in two, at the 
part which was out among the stones ; and as soon 
as the heap was removed, the reptile, turning, made 
up to the man, and spit such venom into his face, as 
quite blinded him, and so he continued some days, 
but at last recovered his sight." » 

The word dragon is sometimes used in Scripture 
to designate the devil, (Rev. xW.freq.) probably on 
account of his great power, and vindictive cruelty ; 
though not without reference to the circumstances 
attending the original defection of mankind. 

DRAGON- WELL, the, (Neh. ii. 13.) lay east of 
Jerusalem. 

DREAM. The eastern people, and in particular 
the Jews, greatly regarded dreams, and applied for 
their interpretation to those who undertook to explain 
them. We see the antiquity of this custom in the 
history of Pharaoh's butler and baker, (Gen. xl.) and 
Pharaoh himself, and Nebuchadnezzar, are also in- 
stances. God expressly forbade his people from ob- 
serving dreams, and from consulting explainers of 
them. He condemned to death all who pretended 
to have prophetic dreams, and to foretell events, even 
though what they foretold came to pass, if they had 
any tendency to promote idolatry, Deut. xiii. 1 — 3. 
But they were not forbidden, when they thought 
they had a significative dream, to address the proph- 
ets of the Lord, or the high-priest in his ephod, to 
have it explained. Saul, before the battle of Gilboa, 
consulted a woman who had a familiar spirit, " be- 
cause the Lord would not answer him by dreams, 
nor by prophets," 1 Sam. xxviii. 6, 7. The Lord 
frequently discovered his will in dreams, and enabled 
persons to explain them. The Midianites gave credit 
to dreams, as appears from that which a Midiauite 
related to his companion ; and from whose interpret- 
ation Gideon took a happy omen, Judg. vii. 13, 15. 
The prophet Jeremiah (xxiii. 25, 28, 29.) exclaims 
against impostors who pretended to have had dreams, 
and abused the credulity of the people. The prophet 
Joel (ii. 28.) promises from God, that in the reign of 



the Messiah, the effusion of the Holy Spirit should bo 
so copious, that the old men should have prophetic 
dreams, and the young men should receive visions. 
The word signifies, likewise, those vain images be- 
held in imagination while we sleep, which have no 
relation to prophecy, Job xx. 8 : Isa. xxix. 7. (See 
also Eccl. v. 3, 7.) 

Dreams should be carefully distinguished from 
visions : the former occurred during sleep, and, there- 
fore, were liable to much ambiguity and uncertainty ; 
the latter, when the person, being awake, retains pos- 
session of his natural powers and faculties. God 
spake to Abimelech in a dream — but to Abraham by 
vision. Jacob saw in a dream the method of pro- 
ducing certain effects on his cattle; and God told 
Laban, in a dream, not to injure Jacob. Now, in 
these and other instances of dreams, the subjects 
dreamed of appear to be the very matters which had 
occupied the minds of these persons while awake ; 
and, when asleep, Providence overruled, or improved 
their natural cogitations, to answer particular pur- 
poses. Put in the case of visions, the thing seen 
was unexpected ; the mind was not prepared for it 7 
nor could it previously have imagined what was 
about to occur. But to fix the distinction between 
visions and dreams, we do not recollect more appro- 
priate instances than those furnished by the book of 
Job. The vision is thus described, chap. iv. 12. 
" Now a thiug was secretly brought to me, stole upon 
me, and mine ear received a little thereof." "In 
thoughts from, of, visions of the night, when deep 
sleep falleth on man, fear came upon me, and trem- 
bling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a 
spirit passed before my face, the hair of my flesh 
stood up: it stood still, but I could not discern the 
form thereof ; an image was before mine eyes, there 
was silence, and I heard a voice," &c. That is, his 
senses were in exercise, but the image was too fine, 
too aerial, for his complete discernment of it ; his 
bodily organs were not defective, but the subject 
surpassed their powers ; — probably the prophets had 
additional or superior powers bestowed on them, 
when they were enabled to behold visions. Now, a 
dream is described (chap, xxxiii. 15.) as happening 
"when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings 
upon the bed." Perhaps it is neither easy nor neces- 
sary to distinguish, always, when the word dream is 
used, whether it may not denote a vision ; but it 
should seem likely that when the agency of an angel 
is mentioned, that then more than a mere dream is 
implied ; as, to Jacob, (Gen. xxxi. 11.) and to Joseph,, 
Matthew i. 20 ; ii. 13, 19. 

DREAMER is used as a word of reproach ; of 
Joseph by his brethren, (Gen. xxxvii. 19.) and of 
Shemaiah, Jer. xxix. 24. (See chap, xxvii. 9, and! 
Jude 8. See also Isa. lvi. 10.) 

DRESSES, or Garments. The Hebrews wore a 
coat, or waistcoat, tunic, called nam, chetoneth ; and a 
cloak, called h'yz, metl. The coat was their under 
garment, next the skin, and the cloak their upper 
one. These two garments made what Scripture 
calls a change of raiment, (2 Kings v. 15, 22.) such as 
those which Naaman brought as presents to Elisha. 
The coat was commonly of linen ; and the cloak of 
stuff, or woollen ; and as this was only a great piece 
of stuff, not cut, there were often many made, each 
of a single piece, of which they used to make pres- 
ents. [The meil was, properly, not a cloak, but a long 
and wide robe or tunic, without sleeves. R.] The 
Hebrews never changed the fashion of their clothes 
that we know of ; but they dressed after the manner 



DRESSES 



[ 355 ] 



DRESSES 



of the country in which they dwelt. A white color, 
or a purple, was in the most esteem among them. 
Solomon advises him who would live' agreeably, 
(Eccl. ix. 8.) to let his garments be always white ; 
and Josephus observes of this prince, that, being the 
most splendid and magnificent of kings, he was com- 
monly clothed in bright and white garments. Angels 
generally appeared in white ; and in our Saviour's 
transfiguration, his clothes appeared as white as 
snow. 

It is well known that Christians newly baptized, 
immediately after the rite, put on white garments, 
anciently, as symbolical of a new life, to be devoted 
to holiness and piety. These garments they wore at 
least a week publicly. Hence we read in the Reve- 
lation of those who had washed their robes and 
made them white ; and of those who should walk 
with the Lamb, in white, being worthy ; and of being 
clothed in white raiment, as a mark of having over- 
come the world. This token of joy and gratulation 
was familiar at the time ; and to a certain degree it is 
so still. Most virgins, when newly married, wear 
white; and that is thought becoming in them which, 
in a widow who re-married, would be deemed 
affectation. 

Mention is made in Scripture of a coat of many 
colors, (Gen. xxxvii. 3.) with which Joseph was 
clothed ; as also Tamar, daughter of Dav id ; (2 Sam. 
xiii. 18.) but interpreters are divided about the signi- 
fication of this word. Some translate it by a long 
gown, reaching to the ankles, talaris, and this is the 
more probable sense ; others, by a gown striped with 
several colors ; and others by a gown with large 
sleeves. The Arabians wear very wide sleeves to 
their coats, having a very large opening at the end, 
which hangs sometimes down to the ground ; but at 
the shoulder they are much narrower. 

Some coats were without seams, woven in a loom, 
and had no openings, either at the breast, or on the 
sides ; but only at the top, to let the head through. 
Such, probably, were the coats of the priests, (Exod. 
xxviii. 32.) and that of our Lord, (John xix. 23.) 
which the soldiers would not divide, but chose rather 
to cast lots for. The women formerly made the 
stuffs and cloth, not only for their own clothes, 
but also for their husbands and children, Prov. 
xxxi. 13. 

Moses informs us (Deut. viii. 4.) that the clothes 
worn by the Hebrews in the wilderness did not wear 
out. " Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither 
did thy foot swell these forty years." Justin Martyr, 
and some interpreters, following the rabbins, take 
these ' words literally, and think that not only the 
clothes of the Israelites did not grow old, or wear 
out, but also that those of the children grew with 
them, and constantly fitted them at every age ! But 
others think, with much greater probability, that 
Moses intended only that God so effectually provided 
them with necessaries, that they did not want clothes, 
nor had been forced to wear old or ragged clothes 
in all their journey. 

To distinguish the Israelites from other people, the 
Lord commanded them to wear tufts, or fringes, at 
the four corners of their upper garments, of a blue 
color, and a border of galoon on the edges, Numb, 
xv. 38 ; Deut. xxii. 12. From Matt. ix. 20, we see 
that our Saviour wore these fringes ; for the woman 
who had the issue of blood, promised herself a cure, 
if she did but touch the hem, that is, the fringe, of his 
garment. The Pharisees, still further to distinguish 
themselves, wore these borders, or fringes, longer 



than others, Matt, xxiii. 5. Jerome adds, that to make 
a show of greater austerity, they fastened thorns to 
them, that when they struck against their naked legs, 
they might be reminded of the law of God. 

The garments of mourning among the Hebrews 
were sack-cloth and hair-cloth ; and their color dark 
brown, or black. As the prophets were penitents by 
profession, their common clothing was mourning. 
Widows, also, dressed themselves much the same. 
Judith fasted every day, except on festival days, and 
the sabbath day, and wore a hair-cloth next her 
skin, Judith viii. 6. The prophet Elias, (2 Kings i. 
7,8.) and John the Baptist, (Matt. iii. 4.) were clothed 
in skins or coarse stuffs, and wore girdles of leather. 
Paul says, (Heb. xi. 37.) that the prophets wore 
(melotes) sheep-skins, or goat-skins. The false proph- 
ets put on habits of mourning and penitence, the 
better to deceive the people, Zech. xiii. 4. 

It is well known that red-colored garments were 
the usual dresses worn by the frantic Bacchantes. It 
is not, then, without a specific object, that the writei 
of the Revelation describes the woman — the prosti- 
tute — the mother of harlots, as " arrayed in purple and 
scarlet color, and decked with gold, and precious 
stones, and pearls — having a golden cup in her hand 
— and drunken with the blood of the saints, and of the 
martyrs," chap. xvii. His original readers would 
sufficiently understand what power it was which the 
merchants of the earth lamented, as no longer pur- 
chasing her luxuries. 

Presents of dresses are alluded to very fre- 
quently in the historical books of Scripture, and in 
the earliest times. When Joseph gave to each of his 
brethren a change of raiment, and to Benjamin five 
changes, it is mentioned without particular notice, 
and as a customary incident, Gen. xlv. 22. Naaman 
gave to Gehazi, from among the presents intended 
for Elisha, who declined accepting any, two changes 
of raiment ; and even Solomon received raiment as 
presents, 2 Chron. ix. 24. This custom is still main- 
tained in the East, and is mentioned by most travel- 
lers. The following extract from De la Motraye, 
notices, as a peculiarity, that the grand seignior 
gives his garment of honor before the wearer is ad- 
mitted to his presence ; while the vizier gives his 
honorary dresses after the presentation. This will, 
perhaps, apply to the parable of the wedding gar- 
ment, and to the behavior of the king, who expected 
to have found all his guests clad in robes of honor 
(Matt. xxii. 11.) as also to Zech. iii. where Joshua, 
being introduced to the angel of the Lord, stood before 
the angel with filthy garments ; who ordered a hand- 
some robe to be given to him. Jonathan divested 
himself of his robe, and his upper garment, even to 
his sword, his bow, and his girdle— partly intending 
David the greater honor, as having been apparel 
worn by himself; but principally, as it may be con- 
jectured, through haste and speed, he being impa- 
tient of honoring David, and covenanting for his 
affection. Jonathan would not stay to se7id for rai- 
ment, but instantly gave David his own. The idea 
of honor connected with the caffetan, appears also "in 
the prodigal's father, — "bring forth the best robe." 
We find the liberality in this kind of gifts was con- 
siderable. — Ezra ii. 69, " The chief of the fathers 
gave one hundred priests' garments." Neh. vii. 70, 
" The Tirshatha gave five hundred and thirty priests' 
garments." — This would appear sufficiently singular 
among us ; but in the East, where to give is to hon- 
or, the gift of garments, or of any other usable com- 
modities, is in perfect compliance w.'th established 



DRO 



[ 356 ] 



DUL 



sentiments and customs. " The vizier entered at 
another door, and their excellencies rose to salute 
him after their manner, which was returned by a 
little inclining of the head ; after which he sat down 
on the corner of his sofa, which is the most honorable 
place ; then his chancellor, his kiahia, and the chi- 
aouz bashaw, came and stood before him, till coffee 
was brought in ; after which M. de Chateauneuf 
presented M. de Ferriol to him, as his successor, who 
delivered him the king his master's letters, compli- 
menting him as from his majesty and himself, to 
which the vizier answered very obligingly ; then they 
gave two dishes of coffee to their excellencies, with 
sweetmeats, and afterwards the perfumes and sher- 
bet ; then they clothed them with caffetans of a 
silver brocade, with large silk flowers ; and to those 
that were admitted into the apartments with them 
they gave others of brocade, almost all silk, except 
some slight gold or silver flowers ; according to the 
custom usually observed towards all foreign minis- 
ters." (De la Motraye's Travels, page 199.) '■'Caffe- 
tans are long vests of gold or silver brocade, flowered 
with silk ; which the grand seignior, and the vizier, 
present to those to whom they give audience ; the 
grand seignior, before, and the vizier after, audi- 
ence." Idem. 

Very few English readers, however, are sufficient- 
ly aware of the importance attached to the donation 
of robes of honor in the East. They mark the de- 
gree of estimation in which the party bestowing them 
holds the party receiving them ; and sometimes the 
conferring or withholding of them leads to very seri- 
ous negotiation, and misunderstandings. 

For some remarks on, and descriptions of, the 
dresses of the bride and bridegroom in Solomon's 
Song, see the article Canticles. Mr. Taylor has 
devoted much labor in attempts to elucidate several 
passages of Scripture in which articles of dress are 
spoken of; but as his speculations do not admit of 
abridgment, we can only thus refer to them. 

To DRINK. This phrase is used sometimes 
properly, sometimes figuratively. Its proper sense 
needs no explanation. The wise man exhorts his 
disciple (Prov. v. 15.) to "drink water out of his own 
cistern ;" to content himself with the lawful pleasures 
of marriage, without wandering in his affections. To 
eat and drink is used in Ecclesiastes v. 18, to signify 
people's enjoying themselves ; and in the gospel for 
living in a common and ordinary manner, Matt. xi. 
18. The apostles say, they ate and drank with 
Christ after his resurrection ; that is, they conversed, 
and lived in their usual manner, freely, with him, 
Acts x. 41. Jeremiah (ii. 18.) reproaches the Jews 
with having had recourse to Egypt for muddy water 
to drink, and to Assyria, to drink the water of their 
river ; that is, the water of the Nile and of the Eu- 
phrates ; meaning, soliciting the assistance of those 
people. To drink blood, signifies to be satiated with 
slaughter, Ezek. xxxix. 18. Our Lord commands us 
to drink his blood and to eat his flesh: (John vi.) we 
eat and drink both figuratively, in the eucharist. To 
drink water by measure, (Ezek. iv. 11.) and to buy 
water to drink, (Lam. v. 4.) denote extreme scarcity 
and desolation. On fast days the Jews abstained 
from drinking during the whole day, believing it to 
be equally of the essence of a fast, to suffer thirst as 
to suffer hunger. 

DROMEDARY, a species of smaller camel, hav- 
ing on their backs a kind of natural saddle, com- 
posed of two great hunches. Persons of quality in 



the East generally use dromedaries for speed ; and 
we are assured that some of them can travel a hun- 
dred miles ' a day. The animal is governed by a 
bridle, which, being usually fastened to a ring fixed 
in the nose, may very well illustrate the expression, 
(2 Kings xix. 28.) of putting a hook into the nose of 
Sennacherib, and may be further applicable to his 
swift retreat. Isaiah (lx. 6.) calls this creature, as 
Bochart believes, biccuroth. Bichra, the feminine of 
bicher, is taken for a dromedary, in Jer. ii. 23, by 
Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. Bonaparte, 
when commanding the French army in Egypt, 
formed a military corps mounted on dromedaries. 
See further under Camel. 

DRUMA, Gideon's concubine, and mother of 
Abimelech, Judg. viii. 31. 

DRUNK, DRUNKENNESS, a well known and 
debasing indisposition, produced by excessive drink- 
ing. The first instance of intoxication on record is 
that of Noah, (Gen. ix. 21.) who was probably igno- 
rant of the effects of the expressed juice of the grape. 
The sin of drunkenness is most expressly condemned 
in the Scriptures, Rom. xiii. 13 ; 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10 ; 
Eph. v. 18 ; 1 Thess. v. 7, 8. Men are sometimes 
represented as drunk with sorrow, with afflictions, 
and with the wine of God's wrath, Isa. Ixiii. 6 ; Jer. 
Ii. 57 ; Ezek. xxiii. 33. Persons under the influence 
of superstition, idolatry, and delusion, are said to be 
drunk, because they make no use of their natural 
reason, Isa. xxviii. 7 ; Rev. xvii. 2. Drunkenness 
sometimes denotes abundance, satiety, Deut. xxxii. 
42; Isa. xlix. 26. To "add drunkenness to thirst," 
(Deut. xxix. 19.) is to add one sin to another, i. e. not 
only pine in secret after idol-worship, but openly 
practise it. (See Stuart's Heb. Chrest. on this passage.) 

DRUSILLA, the youngest daughter of Herod 
Agrippa I. and sister of the younger Agrippa and of 
Bernice, celebrated for her beauty and infamous for 
her licentiousness. She was first espoused to 
Epiphanes, son of Antiochus, king of Comagena, 
on condition of his embracing the Jewish religion ; 
but as he afterwards refused to be circumcised, Dru- 
silla was given in marriage by her brother to Azizns, 
king of Emessa. When Felix came as governor of 
Judea, he persuaded her to abandon her husband 
and her religion, and become his wife. Paul bore 
testimony before them to the truth of the Christian 
religion, Acts xxiv. 24. (See Joseph. Ant. xix. 9. 1 ; 
xx. 7. 1, 2.) *R. 

DUKE. This word, being a title of honor in use 
in Great Britain, and signifying a higher order of 
nobility, is apt to mislead the reader, who, in Gen. 
xxxvi. 15 — 43, finds a long list of dukes of Edom : 
but the word duke, from the Latin dux, merely sig- 
nifies a leader or chief, and the word chief ought 
rather to have been preferred in our translation. (See 
1 Chron. i. 51.) 

DULCIMER, (Dan. iii. 5, 10.) an instrument of 
music, as is usually thought; but the original word, 
which is Greek, [avficpmr'td, symphony,) renders it 
doubtful whether it really mean a musical instrument, 
or a musical strain, chorus, or accompaniment of 
many voices, or instruments, in concert and harmony 
It is difficult to account for the introduction of this 
Greek word into the Chaldee language, unless we 
suppose that some musicians from Greece, or from 
western Asia, had been taken captive by Nebuchad- 
nezzar, in his victories over the cities on the coast of 
the Mediterranean, and that these introduced certain 
of their own terms of art among (he king's bund of 



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music ; as we now use much of the language of Ita- 
ly in our musical entertainments. 

[The rabbins describe the sumponya of Daniel as 
a sort of bagpipe, composed of two pipes connected 
with a leathern sack, and of a harsh, screaming sound. 
Even at the present day, the common pipe, or shalm 
of the common people, (nearly resembling the haut- 
boy,) is in Italy called zampogna, and in Asia Minor 
sambonya. The dulcimer, by which the Hebrew is 
improperly rendered in the English version, is an 
instrument of a triangular form, strung with about 
fifty wires, and struck with an iron key, while lying 
on a table before the performer. It is confined 
mostly to puppet shows and itinerant musicians. R. 

I. DUMAH, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 52. 

II. DUMAH, a tribe and country of the Ishmael- 
ites in Arabia, Gen. xxv. 14; Isa. xxi. 11. This is 
doubtless the same which is still called by the Arabs 
Duma the stony, the Syrian Duma, situated on the 
confines of the Arabian and Syrian desert, with a 
fortress. (See Gesenius Lex. Heb. Man. Lat. Nie- 
buhr's Arabia, p. 344.) *R. 

DUMB. (1.) One unable to speak by reason of 
natural infirmity, Exod. iv. 11. (2.) One unable 
to speak by reason of want of knowledge what to 
say, or how to say it ; what proper mode of address 
to use, or what reasons to allege on his own behalf, 
Prov. xxxi. 8. (3.) One unwilling to speak, Ps. xxxix. 
9. We have a remarkable instance of this venerat- 
ing dumbness, or silence, in the case of Aaron, (Lev. 
x. 3.) after Nadab and Abihti, his sons, were con- 
sumed by fire. "Aaron held his peace;" did not 
exclaim against the justice of God, but saw the pro- 
priety of the divine procedure, and humbly acquiesced 
in it. 

DUNG. The directions given to the prophet Eze- 
kiel, (chap. iv. 12 — 16.) have been much misunder- 
stood, and have also given occasion for many imper- 
tinent remarks. In the following observations, the 
disingenuousness of Voltaire on this subject is set in 
a just light : — 

"Monsieur Voltaire seems to be extremely scan- 
dalized at this circumstance, for he has repeated the 
objection over and over again in his writings. He 
supposes somewhere that denying the providence of 
God is extreme impiety ; yet in other places he sup- 
poses the prophetic intimation to Ezekiel, that he 
should prepare his bread with human dung, as ex- 
pressive of the hardships Israel were about to under- 
go, could not come from God, being incompatible 
with his majesty : God, then, it naturally follows, 
never did reduce by his providence any poor mortals 
into such a state, as to be obliged to use human flung 
in preparing their bread ; never could do it. But 
those who are acquainted with the calamities of hu- 
man life will not be so positive on this point, as this 
lively Frenchman. To make the objection as strong 
as possible, by raising the disgust of the elegant part 
of the world to the greatest height, he, with his usu- 

•al ingenuousness, supposes that the dung was to be 
eaten with the bread prepared after this manner, 
which would form an admirable confection, Commc 
il n est point dhisage de manger des telles confitures 

jsur son pain, la pluspart des homines trouvent ces com- 
mandemens indignes de la Majeste Divine. (La Raison 
par Alphabet, Art. Ezekiel.) The eating bread baked 
by being covered up under such embers, would most 
certainly be great misery, though the ashes were 
swept and blown off with care ; but they could 
nardly be said to eat a composition of bread and 
human excrements. With the same kind of liberty. 



he tells us that cow-dung is sometimes eaten through 
all desert Arabia, (Letlre du Traducteur du Cantique 
des Cantiques,) which is only true as explained to 
mean nothing more than that their bread is, not un- 
frequently, baked under the embers of cow-dung : 
but, is eating bread so baked eating cow-dung?" 
(Harmer, Observations.) 

As every reader may not be acquainted with the 
ordinary usages of the East, a few remarks may sug- 
gest the value of fire, i. e. fuel; which in all parts 
of Asia is considerable, and in some districts exces- 
sive, whilefthey will tend to set the passages in the 
prophet in its true light. 

"In Arabia," says Niebuhr, (vol. i. p. 91.) "the 
dung of asses and camels is chiefiy used for fuel, be- 
cause these two species are the most numerous and 
common. Little girls go about, gathering the dung in 
the streets and upon the highways; they mix it 
with cut straw; and of this mixture make cakes, 
which they place along the walls, or upon the de- 
clivity of some neighboring eminence, to dry them 
in the sun." But this is cleanliness itself compared 
with the accounts of Tournefort, (vol. iii. p. 137.) who 
reports of Georgia, — " where our tents were pitched, 
for the first time, in the dominions of the king of 
Persia [we could see] a great many pretty considera- 
ble villages ; but all this fine country yields not one 
single tree, and they are forced to burn cows' dung. 
Oxen are very common here, and they breed them 
as well for their dung as for their flesh." Speaking 
of Erzeroum, he says, (page 95.) " Besides the sharp- 
ness of the winters, what makes Erzeroum very un- 
pleasant, is, the scarcity and dearness of wood ; 
nothing but pine wood is known there, and that they 
fetch two or three days' journey from the town : all 
the rest of the country is quite naked — you see neither 
tree nor bush ; and their common fuel is cows' dung, 
which they make into turfs ; but they are not com- 
parable to those our tanners use at Paris ; much less 
to those prepared in Provence of the husks of the 
olive. I don't doubt better fuel might be found, for 
the country is not wanting in minerals ; but the peo- 
ple are used to their cow-dung, and will not give 
themselves the trouble to dig for it. 'Tis almost in- 
conceivable what a horrid perfume this dung makes 
in the houses, which can be compared to nothing but 
fox-holes, especially the country houses ; everything 
they eat has a stench of this vapor ; their cream 
would be admirable but for this pulvilis; and one 
might eat very well among them, if they had wood 
for the dressing their butchers' meat, which is very 
good." 

We find, then, that the use of such fuel is the or- 
dinary custom of the country ; and that not only, or 
chiefly, those who are outcasts from society, or are 
" steeped in poverty to the very lips," use this dis- 
gusting kind of fuel, but also the general level of the 
inhabitants, in a city of considerable note and mag- 
nitude. Le Bruyn is still more particular : he says, 
(p. 228.) "Wood is very dear in this country, and is 
sold by weight; they give you but twelve pounds of 
it for four pence or five pence, and the same it is 
with regard to coals. Whence it is they are obliged 
to make use of turf, made of camels' dung, cow-dung, 
sheep's dung, horse-dung, and ass-dung. The chief 
Armenians of Julfa do so as well as the rest, or else 
the fire would cost more than the victuals ; whereas 
they give but thirty pence for two hundred and 
twenty, or two hundred and thirty, pound weignt of 
this turf. They use it more particularly for heating 
of ovens, in which they bake most of their meats in 



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this country without trouble, and at a small expense. 
They even apply human dung in this Avay." . . This 
was in Persia also. 

These extracts from Tournefort and Le Bruyn, 
who are describing much the same country, deserve 
our marked attention, as likely to illustrate the histo- 
ry of the prophet Ezekiel. Le Bruyn assures us 
that human dung is used to heat ovens for the pur- 
pose of baking food, (consequently Mr. Harmer mis- 
takes, when he says, " no nation made use •of that 
horrid kind of fuel,") and against this Ezekiel remon- 
strates and petitions, till he procures leave to use a 
fuel, which, though bad enough, is not quite so bad. 
Does the prophet's solicitation for his personal relief 
from that defilement, imply his hope ot the same al- 
leviation, in respect to those whom he typified ? i. e. 
the Jewish people. It may also be asked, whether 
the custom, mentioned by Le Bruyn, may not tend 
to determine in what country the prophet resided at 
this time ? — It is clear, he remarks, that he did not 
live constantly at Babylon, though involved in the 
Babylonish captivity ; and if he were carried to, and 
stationed on, the confines of Persia, near to Georgia, 
then, possibly, in this very neighborhood, he re- 
ceived the command which has been so unjustly 
commented on by Voltaire ; which appears so very 
unintelligible, or so very wretched to us ; but which 
would excite no astonishment in the country where 
it was given. Perhaps Ezekiel, or his fellow Jews, 
unaccustomed to this usage, were the only persons 
likely to be scandalized at it. Let this consideration 
have its due force. 

DUNGHILL. We are informed by Plutarch, 
that the Syrians were affected with a particular dis- 
ease characterized by violent pains of the bones, ul- 
cerations over the whole body, swelling of the feet 
and abdomen, and wasting of the liver. This .mala- 
dy was in general referred to the anger of the gods ; 
but was supposed to be more especially inflicted by 
the Syrian goddess, on those who had eaten some 
kinds offish deemed sacred to her. In order to ap- 
pease the offended divinity, the persons affected by 
this disorder were taught by the priests to put on 
sackcloth, or old tattered garments, and to sit on a 
dunghill ; or to roll themselves naked in the dirt as a 
sign of humiliation and contrition for their offence. 
(Menander apud Porphyrium ; Plut. de Supersti- 
tione ; Persius, Sat. v. ; Martial, Epigr. iv. 4.) This 
will remind the reader of Job's conduct under his 
affliction, and that of other persons mentioned in 
Scripture as rolling themselves in the dust, &c. 

DURA, a great plain near Babylon, where Nebu- 
chadnezzar erected a colossal image of gold to be 
worshipped, Dan. iii. 1. See Babylon. 

DUST. The Hebrews, when mourning, strewed 
dust or ashes on their heads, (Josh. vii. 6.) and in 
their afflictions sat in the dust ; or threw themselves 
with their faces on the ground, Isa. xlvii. 1. 

Our Saviour commanded his apostles to shake the 
dust from off their feet against those who would not 
hearken to them, nor receive them ; to show that 
they desired to have no intercourse with them, and 
that they gave them up to their blindness, misery, 
and hardness of heart, Matt. x. 14 ; Mark vi. 11 ; Luke 
ix. 5. 

Rain of dcst. In Deut. xxviii. 24. God threatens 
to punish Israel severely, by a rain of dust. It 
may be of use to inquire a little into the nature and 
properties of such a kind of rain ; and in this the fol- 
lowing extracts may assist. " Sometimes the wind 
blows very high in those hot and dry seasons [in In- 



dia] — raising up into the air, to a very great height, 
thick clouds of dust and sand. . . . These dry showers 
most grievously annoy all those among whom they 
fall ; enough to smite them all with a present blind- 
ness ; filling their eyes, ears, and nostrils; and their 
mouths are not free, if they be not also well guard- 
ed ; searching every place, as well within as without 
our tents or houses ; so that there is not a little key- 
hole of any trunk, or cabinet, if it be not covered, 
but receives some of that dust into it ; the dust forced 
to find a lodging any where, every where, being 
so driven and forced as it is by the extreme "violence 
of the wind." (Sir T. Roe's Embassy, p. 373.) To 
the same purpose speaks Herbert: (p. 167.) "And 
now the danger is past, let me tell you, most part of 
the last night we crossed over an inhospitable, sandy 
desert, where here and there we beheld the ground 
covered with a loose flying sand, which, by the fury of 
the winter weather, is accumulated into such heaps 
as, upon any great wind, the track is lost ; and passen- 
gers (too oft) overwhelmed and stifled : yea camels, 
horses, mules, and other beasts, though strong, swift, 
and steady in their going, are not able to shift for 
themselves, but perish without recovery ; those roll- 
ing sands, when agitated by the winds, move and 
remove more like sea than land, and render the way 
very dreadful to passengers. Indeed, in this place 
I thought that, curse fulfilled, where the Lord, by 
Moses, threatens instead of rain to give them showers 
of dust." 

These instances are in Persia ; but such storms 
might be known to the Israelites ; as, no doubt, they 
occur also on the sandy deserts jf Arabia, east of 
Judea: and to this agrees Tournefort, who says, 
"At Ghetsci there arose a tempest of sand; in the 
same manner as it happens sometimes in Arabia, and 
in Egypt; especially in the spring. It was raised by 
a very hot south wind, which drove so much sand, 
that one of the gates of the Kervanseray was half 
stopped up with it ; and the way could not be found, 
being covered over, above a foot deep; the sand ly- 
ing on all hands. This sand was extremely fine, and 
salt, and was very troublesome to our eyes, even in 
the Kervanseray, where all our baggage was covered 
over with it. The storm lasted from noon to sunset ; 
and it was so very hot the night following, without 
any wind, that one could hardly fetch breath ; which, 
in my opinion, was partly occasioned by the reflec- 
tion of the hot sand. Next day I felt a great pain in 
one eye, which made it smart, as if salt had been 
melted into it," &c. Pt. ii. p. 139. 

This may give us a lively idea of the penetrating 
powers of the dust of the land of Egypt; which 
(Exod. viii. 16.) was converted into lice ;— also (chap, 
ix. 8.) of the effect of the ashes of the furnace 
which Moses took, and sprinkled " up toward heaven 
and (being driven by the wind to all parts, and en 
tering 'any where, and every where,') it became a 
boil breaking forth in blains upon man, and upon 
beast . . . the boil was even on the magicians, and on 
all the Egyptians." The phraseology " from heaven • 
shall it come down upon thee," deserves notice ; 
since we see that heaven, in this instance, signifies 
the air only : why may it not be so taken where oth 
er things are said to come down from thence ? as » 
rain, fire, lightning, hail, &c. so Gen. vii. 11 ; xix.24; 
xlix. 25 ; Josh. x. 11, &c. 

The following is from the journal of Mr. Bucking- 
ham ; it renders certain, what is above left as a con 
jecture : " Suez. — After having travelled all the morn- 
ing in the bed of the ancient canal 'hat formerly 



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connected the Red sea with the Mediterranean 

we had entered upon a loose, shifting sand ; here we 
found a firm clay mixed with gravel, and perfectly 
dry, its surface incrusted over with a strong salt. On 
leaving the site of these now evaporated lakes, we 
entered upon a loose and shifting sand again, like 
that which Pliny describes when speaking of the 
roads from Pelusium, across the sands of the desert ; 
in which, he says, unless there be reeds stuck in the 
ground to point out the line of direction, the way 
could not be found, because the wind blows up the 
sand, and covers the footsteps. The morning was 
delightful on our setting out, and promised us a fine 
day ; but the light airs from the south soon increased 
to a gale, the sun became obscure, and as every hour 
brought us into a looser sand, it flew around us in 
such whirlwinds, with the sudden gusts that blew, 
that it was impossible to proceed. We halted, there- 
fore, for an hour, and took shelter under the lee 
of our beasts, who were themselves so terrified 
as to need fastening by the knees, and uttered in 
their wailings but a melancholy symphony. I 
know not whether it was the novelty of the situation 
that gave it additional horrors, or whether the habit 
of magnifying evils to which we are unaccustomed, 
had increased its effect ; but certain it is, that fifty 
gales of wind at sea appeared to me more easy to be 
encountered than one amongst those sands. It is 
impossible to imagine desolation more complete ; we 
could see neither sun, earth, nor sky : the plain at 
ten paces distance was absolutely imperceptible : our 
beasts, as well as ourselves, were so covered as to 
render breathing difficult ; they hid their faces in the 
ground, and we could only uncover our own for a 
moment, to behold this chaos of mid-day darkness, 
and wait impatiently for its abatement. Alexander's 
journey to the temple of Jupiter A mmon, and the de- 
struction of the Persian armies of Cambyses, in the 
Lybian desert, rose to my recollection with new im- 
pressions, made by the horror of the scene before 
me ; while Addison's admirable lines, which I also 
remembered with peculiar force on this occasion, 
seemed to possess as much truth as beauty : 

Lo, where our wide Numidian wastes extend, 
Sudden the impetuous hurricanes descend ; 
Which through the air in circling eddies play, 
Tear up the sands, and sweep whole plains away. 
The helpless traveller, with wild surprise, 
Sees the dry desert all around him rise, 
And, smothered in the dusty whirlwind, dies. 

" The few hours we remained in this situation 
were passed in unbroken silence : every one was oc- 
cupied with his own reflections, as if the reign of 
terror forbade communication. Its fury spent itself, 
like the storms of ocean, in sudden lulls and squalls : 
but it was not until the third or fourth interval that 
our fears were sufficiently conquered to address each 
other; nor shall I soon lose the recollection of the 
impressive manner in which that was done. 'Allah 
kereem !' exclaimed the poor Bedouin, although 
habit had familiarized him with these resistless blasts. 
'Allah kereem !' repeated the Egyptians, with terri- 
fied solemnity ; and both my servant and myself, as 
if by instinct, joined in the general exclamation. The 
bold imagery of the eastern poets, describing the 
Deity as avenging in his anger, and terrible in his 
wrath, riding upon the wings of the wind, and breath- 
ing his fury in the storm, must have been inspired by 
scenes like these. 1 ' 



There is a remarkable figurative representation in 
Job, (chap. xxx. 22,) thus rendered in our translation: 
" Thou liftest me up to the wind ; thou causest me to 
ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance ;" but it is 
probable that after we have examined the phraseolo- 
gy of the passage, its force may be further evident ; 
and it may receive additional illustration. " Thou 
dost raise me up on high, into the air, by the agency 
of, upon, the wind ; thou dost make me to ride on it, 
as on a chariot, or other vehicle ; and dost dissolve, 
dissipate, my whole, my all ; all that I ever was ; all 
that I ever possessed." Such is the power of the 
original, which might perhaps be referred to a va- 
por, raised by the wind, which, after being borne 
about among the clouds, is dissolved, and falls in 
dew: but, (1.) the wind which raises it seems rather 
to describe a storm, and during storms dew does not 
perceptibly rise. (2.) The current of wind, which, 
like a chariot, bears away the subject of its power, is 
a vehement, powerful, rapid blast ; as we say, a high 
wind ; and does not agree with the formation of dew, 
which is a tranquil, deliberate process. The word 
(jic, Pilel jjia mogig,) is applied to express the melt- 
ing of a solid body ; as of the earth with rain, (Ps. 
Ixvii.) and of the hills through intense heat, Nahum 
i. 5 ; so Amos ix. 13. Mr. Scott has rendered the 
passage, 

Roused by almighty force a furious storm 
Upcaught me, whirled me on its eddying gust, 
Then dashed me down, and shattered me to dust. 

Under these considerations, we may, perhaps, refer 
the passage to a sand storm ; possibly, such as that 
described by Mr. Buckingham, or such as is describ- 
ed by the following information, which the reader 
will not be displeased to peruse, as it stands high 
among the most picturesque and most terrific de- 
scriptions of the kind to be met with. " On the 14th, 
at seven in the morning, we left Assa Nagga, our 
course being due north. At one o'clock we alighted 
among some acacia-trees at Waadi el Halboub, hav- 
ing gone twenty-one miles. We were here at once 
surprised and terrified by a sight surely one of the 
most magnificent in the world. In that vast expanse 
of desert, from W. and to N. W. of us, we saw a 
number of prodigious pillars of sand at different dis- 
tances, at times moving with great celerity, at others 
stalking on with a majestic slowness ; at intervals we 
thought they were coming in a very few minutes to 
overwhelm us; and small quantities of sand did ac- 
tually more than once reach us. Again they would 
retreat so as to be almost out of sight, their tops reach- 
ing to the very clouds. There the tops often sepa- 
rated from the bodies; and these, once disjoined, dis- 
persed in the air, and did not appear more. Some- 
times they were broken near the middle, as if struck 
with a large cannon shot. About noon they began 
to advance with considerable swiftness upon us, the 
wind being very strong at north. Eleven of them 
ranged alongside of us about the distance of three 
miles. The greatest diameter of the largest appear- 
ed to me at that distance as if it would measure ten 
feet. They retired from us with a wind at S. E. 
leaving an impression upon my mind to which I can 
give no name ; though surely one ingredient in it 
was fear, with a considerable deal of wonder and as- 
tonishment. It was in vain to think of flying; the 
swiftest horse, or fastest sailing ship, could be of no 
use to carry us out of this danger, and the full per- 
suasion of this riveted me as if to the spot where 1 



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stood, and let the camels gain on me so much in my 
state of lameness, that it was with some difficulty I 
could overtake them. The whole of our company 
were much disheartened, (except Idris,) and imagin- 
ed that they were advancing into whirlwinds of mov- 
ing sand, from which they should never be able to 
extricate themselves ; but before four o'clock in the 
afternoon, these phantoms of the plain had all of them 
fallen to the ground and disappeared. In the evening 
we came to Waadi Dimokea, where we passed the 
night, much disheartened, and our fear more increas- 
ed, when we found, upon wakening in the morning, 
that one side was perfectly buried in the sand that 
the wind had blown above us in the night. The sun, 
shining through the pillars, which were thicker, and 
contained more sand apparently than any of the pre- 
ceding days, seemed to give those nearest us an ap- 
pearance as if spotted with stars of gold. I do not 
think at. any time they seemed to be nearer than two 
miles. The most remarkable circumstance was, 
that the sand seemed to keep in that vast circular 
space surrounded by the Nile on our left, in going 
round by Chaigie towards Dongola, and seldom was 
observed much to the eastward of a meridian pass- 
ing along the Nile through the Magiran, before it 
takes that turn ; whereas the simoom was always on 
the opposite side of our course, coming upon us from 
the south-east. The same appearance of moving 
pillars of sand presented themselves to us this day, 



in form and disposition like those we had seen at 
Waadi Halboub, only they seemed to be more in 
number, and less in size. They came several times 
in a direction close upon us ; that is, I believe, with- 
in less than two miles. They began, immediately 
after sunrise, like a thick wood, and almost darken- 
ed the sun : his rays, shining through them for near 
an hour, gave them an appearance of pillars of fire. 
(Bruce's Travels, vol. iv. p. 553 — 555.) 

If this conjecture be admissible, we see a magnifi- 
cence in this imagery, not apparent before ; we see 
how Job's dignity might be exalted in the air ; might 
rise to great grandeur, importance, and even terror, 
in the sight of beholders; might ride upon the wind, 
which bears it about, causing it to advance, or to re- 
cede : and, after all, the wind, diminishing, might dis- 
perse, melt, scatter, this pillar of sand, into the undis- 
tinguished level of the desert. This comparison 
seems to be precisely adapted to the mind of an 
Arab, who must have seen similar phenomena in the 
countries around him. 

[To ride upon the wind, signifies in Arabic, "to be 
carried away suddenly." Instead of "thou dissolv- 
est my substance," others, as Gesenius, translate ; 
"thou causest my prosperity to melt away ;" or if the 
Kethib be followed, "thou causest me to melt away, 
thou terrifiest me." But the common version, as 
above illustrated, seems to be preferable. R. 



E 



EAGLE 



EAGLE 



EAGLE. By the Hebrews, the eagle was called 
-ie'j, the lacerator; and as this species of birds is em- 
inent for rapacity, and tearing their prey in pieces, 
the propriety of the designation is sufficiently ob- 
vious. 

There are several kinds of the eagle described by 
naturalists, and it is probable that the Hebrew nesher 
comprehends more than one of these. The largest 
and noblest species with which we are acquainted, 
is that called by Mr. Bruce, " the golden eagle," and 
by the Ethiopians, " Abou Auch'n," or father long- 
beard, from a tuft of hair which grows below his 
beak. From wing to wing, this bird measures eight 
feet four inches ; and from the tip of his tail to the 
point of his beak, when dead, four feet seven inches. 
Of all known birds, the eagle flies not only the high- 
est, but also with the greatest rapidity. To this cir- 
cumstance there are several striking allusious in the 
sacred volume. Among the evils threatened to the 
Israelites in case of their disobedience, the prophet 
names one in the following terms : " The Lord shall 
bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of 
the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth," Deut. xxviii. 
49. The march of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusa- 
lem, is predicted in the same terms: "Behold, he 
shall come up as clouds, and his chariots as a whirl- 
wind: bis horses are swifter than eagles;" (Jer. iv. 
13.) as is his invasion of Moab also : " For thus saith 
the Lord, Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall 
spread his wings over Moab ;" (chap, xlviii. 40.) i. e. 
he shall settle down on the devoted country, as an 
eagle over its prey. See, also, Lam. iv. 19 ; flos. viii. 
2 ; Hab. i. 8. 

The eagle, it is said, lives to a great age ; and, like 
other birds of prey, sheds his feathers in the begin- 



ning of spring. After this season, he appears with 
fresh strength and vigor, and his old age assumes 
the appearance of youth. To this David alludes, 
when gratefully reviewing the mei-cies of Jehovah- 
" Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that 
thy youth is renewed like the eagle's ;" (Ps. ciii. 5.) 
as does the prophet, also, when describing the reno- 
vating and quickening influences of the Spirit of 
God : " They that wait upon the Lord shall renew 
their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as 
eagles ; they shall run and not be weary ; and they 
shall walk and not faint;" Isa. xl. 31. It has been 
supposed that there is an allusion to the mounting of 
the eagle in the prophet's charge to the people, to 
mourn deeply, because of the judgments of God: — 
" Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate chil- 
dren ; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle ;" (Mic. i. 16.) 
but we rather think that the allusion is to the natural 
baldness of some particular species of this bird, as 
that would be far more appropriate. The direction 
of the prophet is to a token of mourning, which was 
usually assumed by making bald the crown of the 
head ; here, however, it was to be enlarged, extended, 
as the baldness of the eagle. Exactly answering to 
this idea is Mr. Bruce's description of the head of the 
" golden eagle :" the crown of his head was bare or 
bald ; so was the front where the bill and skull joined. 
The meaning of the prophet, therefore, seems to be, 
that the people were not to content themselves with 
shaving the crown of the head merely, as on ordina- 
ry occasions, but, under this special visitation of re- 
tributive justice, were to extend the baldness 'over 
the entire head. 

We have to admire frequently the intimate ac- 
quaintance which the writer of the book of Job dis 



EAGLE 



[ 361 ] 



EAR 



plays with many parts of animated nature. His ac- 
count of the eagle is drawn up with great accuracy 
and beauty. 

Is it at thy voice that the eagle soars, 

And maketh his nest on high? 

The rock is the place of his habitation : 

He dwells on the crag, the place of strength. 

Thence he pounces upon his prey ; 

And his eyes discern afar off. 

Even his young ones drink down blood; 

And wherever is slaughter, there is he. 

Chap, xxxix. 27—30. 

To the last line in this quotation, our Saviour 
seems to allude in Matt. xxiv. 28. "Wheresoever 
the cai-cass is, there will the eagles be gathered to- 
gether;" that is, wherever the Jewish people, who 
were morally and judicially dead, might be, there 
would the Roman armies, whose standard was an 
eagle, and whose strength and fierceness resembled 
that of the king of birds, in comparison with his 
fellows, pursue and devour them. 

In Deut. xxxii. 11. there is a beautiful compari- 
son of the care and paternal affection of the Deity 
for his people, with the natural tenderness of the 
eagle for its young : 

As the eagle stirreth up her nest; 

Fluttereth over her young; 

Expandeth her plumes, taketh them; 

Beareth them upon her wino-s; . 

So Jehovah alone did lead him, 

And there was no strange god with him. 

In Lev. xi. 18. we read of the " gier eagle" — Heb. 
rjnii rachdm ; but being associated with water birds, 
as the swan, the pelican, the stork, &c. it has been 
doubted whether any kind of eagle is the bird in- 
tended. Most interpreters are willing, after Bochart, 
to render the Hebrew word rachdm by that kind of 
Egyptian vulture which is now called rachami, and 
is abundant in the streets of Cairo, Vultur percnop- 
terus. Some want a water-fowl; Dr. Geddes trans- 
lates stork, but, in his critical remarks, doubts its pro- 
priety, without, however, determining for any other 
bird. Perhaps the king-fisher, or alcyone, is the bird 
intended by the Jewish legislator, and this opinion 
is, to some extent, countenanced by the ancient ver- 
sions. The tender affection of the bird, too, well 
agrees with the import of the Hebrew word, which 
is from a root signifying tenderness and affection. 
See more under Birds. 

It must not be concealed, however, that this opin- 
ion has its difficulties ; and from a passage in the 
book of Proverbs, (chap. xxx. 16.) in which the ra- 
chdm is mentioned, we shall, perhaps, be justified 
in concluding for some species of the vulture kind. 
Describing four things which are never satisfied, the 
sacred writer mentions the grave, and the ravenous 
rachdm, unhappily rendered u the barren womb," in 
our version. We close these remarks with Hassel- 
quist's description of the Egyptian vulture, to which 
we have before referred, and which is thought by 
many writers to be the Hebrew rachdm. " The ap- 
pearance of the bird is as horrid as can well be im- 
agined. The face is naked and wrinkled, the eyes 
are large and black, the beak black and crooked, 
the talons large and extended ready for prey, and 
the whole body polluted with filth. These are qual- 



ities enough to make the beholder shudder with 
horror. Notwithstanding this, the inhabitants of 
Egypt cannot be enough thankful to Providence for 
this bird-. All the places round Cairo are filled 
with the dead bodies of asses and camels; and 
thousands of these birds fly about and devour the 
carcasses, before they putrefy, and fill the air with 
noxious exhalations." See under Birds. 

EAR. " I will uncover thine ear," is a Hebraism, 
by which is meant, I will reveal something to thee, 
1 Sam. ix. 15; 2 Sam. vii. 27, margin. The servant 
who renounced the privilege of freedom, in the sab- 
batical year, had his ear pierced with an awl, in the 
presence of the judges, at his master's door, Exod. 
xxi. 6; Deut. xv. 17. This practice continued in 
Syria to the time of Juvenal : — 

Modes quod in aure fenestra?, 

Arguerint, licet ipse negem ? Sat. I. 

" which the soft slits in the ear will prove, though I 
myself should deny it." The Psalmist says, in the 
person of the Messiah, " Sacrifice and offering thou 
didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened," Ps. 
lx. 5. Heb. Thou hast digged my ears; thou hast 
opened them, removed impediments and made them 
attentive; i. e. thou hast prepared me for obedience, 
or, thou hast pierced them, as those of such ser- 
vants were pierced, who chose to remain with their 
masters. Paul reads, (Heb. x. 5.) "a body hast 
thou prepared forme;" and thus the LXX and the 
generality of the ancient fathers read the passage ; — 
amounting to the same sense as above. " To have 
heavy ears," is said of natural as well as of vol- 
untary deafness. "Make the ears of this people 
heavy," (Isa. vi. 10.) perhaps, repeat thy admoni- 
tions to them till their ears are tired of them ; or 
tell them that I will suffer them to harden their 
hearts, and stop their ears against my word. Scrip- 
ture sometimes says the prophets do what they fore- 
tell only. See Blindness. 

EARING, an agricultural term. 

There is a passage, (Gen. xlv. 6.) which, if it has 
been occasionally misunderstood by a reader, may 
be pardoned: — " There remain five years, in which 
shall be neither earing nor harvest." The fact is, 
that earing is an old English word for ploughing ; — 
the original word {pv-in is that generally rendered 
" ploughing," and why it should not be so translated 
here we cannot tell, as earing now suggests the idea 
of gathering ears of corn after they are arrived at ma- 
turity ; whereas Joseph means to say, " There shall 
be neither ploughing nor harvest during five years." 
The reader will perceive that this variation of im- 
port implies a totally different course of natural phe- 
nomena in Egypt; for the Nile must have risen so 
little as to have rendered ploughing hopeless; or, its 
waters must have been so abundant, as to have over- 
flowed the country entirely, and to have annihilated 
the use of the plough: moreover, if no ploughing, no 
sowing: that is, harvest was not expected ; conse- 
quently it was not prepared for, in respect of corn. 
No doubt but the Nile was deficient ; it did not rise; 
the peasants, therefore, did not plough; and to this 
agrees the account of an ancient author, that for nine 
years together the Nile did not rise to half a harvest. 
The same word chdrish occurs, 1 Sam. viii. 12: — 
" The king will appoint your sons, to* ear his ground 
and to reap his harvest:" Heb. to plough his plough- 
ing ; which sounds, to modern ears, at least, as a 



EAR 



[ 362 ] 



EAR 



very distinct branch of agriculture. We read, Exod. 
xxxiv. 21, " Six days spend in labor, but on the sev- 
enth day rest, in earing time (ploughing time, beckd- 
rish) and in harvest tbou shalt rest." And in Isa. 
xxx. 24. '-The oxen likewise, and the young asses 
which ear the ground;" — but in this place the word 
in the original for ear is not, as heretofore, charisk, 
but dbad, which signifies to labor in almost any 

manner. On this subject it sbould be observed, tbat 
our translation has used the word earing in the sense 
of tillage, general labor, labor of any kind, bestowed 
on the ground, in Deut. xxi. 4: " The elders shall 
bring down the heifer into a rough valley, (rather to 
the rough bank of a brook, or running water,) which 
is neither eared nor sown" — read, which is not tilled, 
cultivated in any manner; literally, "which has no 
cultivation in it:" — the word is dbad here, also. 
Though, in strict propriety, these two very distinct 
Hebrew words ought to have been rendered by two 
answerable English expressions, equally distinct ; 
yet, these latter instances of the word earing may 
satisfy us what was the intention of our translators 
■when they used it, to represent that word which 
should be rendered ploughing ; that is, that they 
took it generally for cultivation of any kind; and 
meant to imply (Gen. xlv. 6.) that Egypt should be 
five years without any hopeful exertions of agricul- 
ture. Whether this be accurate, is another question, 
as certainly there may be a cessation of ploughing, 
yet other labors designed to promote fertility may be 
advanced. They meant, also, (1 Sam. viii. 12.) to 
say, The king will appoint your sons to till his lands 
by some means; whether that means be ploughing, 
or any other. It follows, that we ought to make 
very great allowances for changes in our language 
since the time of our translators, and not blame 
them for the use of words now become obsolete; but 
which, in their day, well expressed their meaning. 

EAR-RINGS. We have a passage in Gen. xxxv. 
4, which has been supposed capable of different 
senses; Jacob ordered his household to give up the 
" strange gods which were in their hands, and all 
their ear-rings which were in their ears;" that is, 
say some, in the ears of the strange gods ; while 
others with more propriety say, in the ears of the 
persons of Jacob's family. To determine this ques- 
tion, we subjoin an instance of ear-rings, which the 
patriarch Jacob would surely have buried as deep 
under ground, as he would any other instrument 
of superstition: it is from Montfaucon, Antiq. Expl. 
vol. iii. Supp. " There was discovered at Porto, 
when I was at Rome, in a vault under ground, which 
was made for the family Caesennia, two large stat- 
ues ; one of a man dressed like a senator, the other 
of a woman, in a Roman habit, with two gold pen- 
dants in her ears; one with the figure of Jupiter on 
it, the other with that of Juno: and also the statue 
of a little child, their son. Aulus Cassennius Hernea 
caused these statutes to be made for himself and his 
wife; as the inscription informs us, which was found 
near them." See Amulet. 

The word ear-ring sometimes occurs in the Eng- 
lish Bible, when a similar ornament for the nose is 
rather intended. 

EARTH. This word is taken in various senses: — 
(1.) For that gross element, which sustains and nour- 
ishes us; which nourishes plants, and fruit; for the 
continent, as distinguished from the sea. — (2.) For 
that rude matter which existed in the beginning, 
Gen. i. 1. — (3.) For the terraqueous globe, and its 



contents, Psalm xxiv. 1; cxv. 16. — (4.) For the in- 
habitants of the earth, Gen. xi. 1. See also vi. 13; 
Psalm xcvi. 1. — (5.) For the empire of Chaldea and 
Assyria, Ezra i. 2. And (6.) for the land of Judea. 
The restricted sense of this word to Judea and the 
region around it, we apprehend to be more common 
in Scripture than is usually supposed; and this ac- 
ceptation of it has great effect in elucidating many 
passages, where it ought to be so understood. 

To demand earth and water, was a custom of the 
ancient Persians, by which they required a people 
to acknowledge their dominion ; Nebuchodonosor, in 
the Greek of Judith, (chap. ii. 7.) commands Holo- 
fernes to march against the people of the West, who 
had refused submission, and to declare to them, that 
they were to prepare earth and water. Darius or- 
dered his envoys to demand earth and water of the 
Scythians ; and Megabysus required the same of 
Amyntas, king of Macedonia, in the name of Darius. 
Polybius and Plutarch notice this custom among 
the Persians. Some believe, that these symbolical 
demands denoted dominion of the earth and sea ; 
others, that the earth represented the food received 
from it, corn and fruits; the water, drink, which is 
the second part of human nourishment. Ecclesias- 
ticus xv. 16. in much the same sense, says, "The 
Lord hath set fire and water before thee ; stretch 
forth thy hand unto whether thou wilt;" and chap, 
xxxix. 26. " Fire and water are the most necessary 
things to life." Fire and water were considered by 
the ancients as the first principles of the generation, 
birth, and preservation of man. Proscribed persons 
were debarred from their use; as, on the contrary, 
wives in their nuptial ceremonies were obliged to 
touch them. 

Earth, in a moral or spiritual sense, is opposed 
to heaven and spirit. " He that is of the earth is 
earthy, and speaketh of the earth : he that eometh 
from heaven is above all," John iii. 31. " If ye then 
be risen with Christ, set not your affections on things 
on the earth," Col. ii. 1, 2. 

EARTHLY, EARTHY. Having the affections 
fixed on the affairs of this life: it is opposed to 
heavenly-mindedness, spiritual, Jam. iii. 15; 1 Cor. 
xv. 48. 

EARTHQUAKE, a convulsion of the earth. 
Scripture speaks of several earthquakes. One of 
the most remarkable is that which swallowed up Ko- 
rah, Dathan, and Abiram, Numb. xvi. This was, 
no doubt, a miraculous event; but whether the mir- 
acle consisted in the earthquake itself, or in the cir- 
cumstances attending it, is not clear; possibly there 
would have been an earthquake had not Israel been 
encamped around that spot; or had not Korah re- 
belled ; but then Korah and his associates would 
have escaped from it; that is, the punishment might 
be miraculous, though the earthquake were natural. 
Another earthquake is that which happened in the 
27th of Uzziah king of Judah, A. M. 3221, ante A. 
D. 783. This is mentioned, Amos i. 1 ; Zech. xiv. 5. 
and in Josephus, who adds, that its violence divided 
a mountain, which lay west of Jerusalem, and drove 
one part of it four furlongs ; when it was stopped by 
the wall on the east of the city, but not till the earth 
had closed up the highway, and covered the king's 
gardens. A very memorable earthquake is that 
which happened at our Saviour's death, (Matt, xxvii. 
51.) and many have thought, that it was perceived 
throughout the world. Others think it was felt only 
in Judea, or in the temple at Jerusalem. Cyril of 



E AS 



[ 363 ] 



EAT 



Jerusalem says, that the rocks on mount Calvary 
■were shown in his time, which had been rent asun- 
der by this earthquake. Sandys and Maundrell 
testify the same; and say that they examined the 
breaches in the rock, and were convinced that they 
were effects of an earthquake. It must have been 
terrible, since the centurion and those with him, 
were so affected by it, as to acknowledge the inno- 
cence of our Saviour, Luke xxiii. 47. The word 
earthquake is also used in a more limited sense, to 
denote prodigious agitations of mountains, shocks of 
the foundation of the universe, effects of God's pow- 
er, wrath, and vengeance, — figurative exaggerations, 
which represent the greatness, strength, and power 
of God, Psalm civ. 32; xviii. 7; xlvi. 2; cxiv. 4. It, 
sometimes figuratively expresses a dissolution of the 
powers of government in a country, or state, Eev. 
xvi. 18, 19. 

EAST. The Hebrews express east, west, north, 
and south, by before, behind, left and right; accord- 
ing to the situation of a man whose face is turned 
to the rising sun. Hence forwards means towards 
the east. 

It appears from many places in the Old and New 
Testaments, that the sacred writers called the prov- 
inces around and beyond the Tigris and Euphrates, 
(Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Persia,) Kedem, or the 
East. Moses, who was educated in Egypt, and lived 
long in Arabia, might probably follow that custom; 
especially as Babylonia, Chaldea, Susiana, Persia, 
much of Mesopotamia, and the rivers Euphrates and 
Tigris, are, for the greater part of their course, east 
of Palestine, Egypt, and Arabia. Beside this, as those 
who came from Armenia, Syria, Media, and Upper 
Mesopotamia, entered Palestine and Egypt on the 
east side, it was sufficient to warrant the Hebrews in 
saying, that these people lay east of them ; and that 
these countries were known among the Hebrews 
under the name of the East, appears from several 
passages. Balaam says, (Numb, xxiii. 7.) that Balak, 
king of Moab, had brought him from the mountains 
of the East; i. e. from Pethor on the Euphrates. 
Isaiah says, (xli. 2.) that Abraham came from the 
East into the land of Canaan; and (xlvi. 11.) that 
Cyrus should come from the East against Babylon. 
In chap. ix. 12. he places Syria east of Judea. Dan- 
iel says, (xi. 44.) Antiochus should be troubled with 
news of a revolt of the eastern provinces; i. e. the 
provinces on the other side of the Euphrates; and 
Matthew says, that the wise men who came to wor- 
ship Jesus, same from the East, chap. ii. 1. All this 
confirms the opinion, that in the Scripture style, the 
East is often used for the provinces which lie easter- 
ly, though perhaps inclining to the north of Judea 
and of Egypt. It is remarked, that this word in the 
Greek of Matthew, (ii. 1.) gives us no certain idea of 
the country whence the Magi came; but it might not 
be so in the original Syro-Chaldaic document, from 
which perhaps the apostle copied. In that language, 
a certain country was most probably determined by 
this appellation. We know not whether the Talmud- 
ists may help us in this instance; but they thus 
speak: " from Rekam to the East, and Rekam itself 
is as the East' ' — that is, excluded from the land of 
Israel, eastward, and consequently is heathen land; 
if, then, Bekam adjoined the land of Israel, we need 
not go very far to seek the East, which adjoined Re- 
kam. We may ask also as to the Magi — What was 
their Syriac title ? In the Gemara we have a story 
of an Arabian informing a Jew that the Messiah was 



born: — if this were a memorial of Eastern Arabia, it 
may agree with the country east of Rekam; which 
would not greatly differ from the districts occupied 
by the sons of Abraham, and called " the East," Gen. 
xxv. 6 ; Judg. vi. 3. 

We read (Gen. xi. 1,2.) that mankind departed 
from Kedem ; in our translation " the East; " upon 
which there has been much controversy. It would 
be useless to detail the various conjectures of learn- 
ed men- as to the situation of Kedem. ■ We have 
seen that there are several districts in Scripture so 
called; some being close to Syria; but for this 
Kedem we must direct our researches to a country 
east of Babylonia ; since the inhabitants of this coun- 
try came thither after a journey " from the East." 
[The country here meant is, unquestionably, that in 
the vicinity of mount Ararat, where mankind first 
settled after the deluge. To come from that coun- 
try to Babylonia, it was necessary to keep along on 
the east side of the Median mountains, and then issue 
at once from the east upon the plain. (See Bryant's 
Mythol. iii. p. 24; also Mr. Smith's letter under the 
article Ararat.) R. 

EAST WIND. See Wind. 

EASTER. It is no honor to our translators, that 
this word occurs in the English Bible, Acts xii. 4 ; it 
should have been passover, which feast of the Jews 
we well know. Easter is a word of Saxon origin ; 
and imports a goddess of the Saxons, or rather of the 
East, Estera, in honor of whom sacrifices being an- 
nually offered about the passover time of the year, 
(spring,) the name became attached by association 
of ideas to the Christian festival of the resurrection, 
which happened at the time of the passover ; hence 
we say Easter-day, Easter-Sunday, but very improp- 
erly ; as we by no means refer the festival then 
kept to the goddess of the ancient Saxons. So the 
present German word for Easter, Ostern, is referred 
to the same goddess, Estera or Ostera.' 

EATING. The ancient Hebrews did not eat in- 
differently with all persons ; they would have esteem^ 
ed themselves polluted and dishonored by eating 
with those of another religion, or of an odious pro- 
fession. In Joseph's time they neither ate with the 
Egyptians, nor the Egyptians with them ; (Gen. xliii. 
32.) nor in our Saviour's time, with the Samaritans, 
John iv. 9. The Jews, were scandalized at his eating 
with publicans and sinners, Matt.-ix. 11. As there 
were several sorts of meats, the use of which was 
prohibited, they could not conveniently eat with 
those who partook of them, fearing to receive pollu- 
tion by touching such food, or if by accident any 
particles of it should fall on them. See Meats. 

At their meals, some suppose, they had each his 
separate table ; and that Joseph, entertaining his 
brethren in Egypt, seated them separately, each at 
his particular table, while he himseJf sat down sepa- 
rately from the Egyptians, who ate with him ; but 
he sent to his brethren portions out of the provisions 
which were before him, Gen. xliii. 31, et seq. Elka- 
nah, Samuel's father, who had two wives, distributed 
their portions to them separately, 1 Sam. i. 4, 5. In 
Homer, each guest is supposed to have had his little 
table apart ; and the master of the feast distributed 
meat to each, Odyss. xiv. 44G seq. We are assured 
that this is still practised in China; and that many in 
India never eat out of the same dish, nor on the 
same table with another person, believing they can- 
not do so without sin ; and this, not only in their owd 
country, but when travelling, and in foreign lands. 



EATING 



[ 364 ] 



EATING 



This is also the case with the Brahmins and vari- 
ous castes in India ; who will not even use a vessel 
after a European, though he may only have drank 
from it water recently drawn out of a well. The 
same strictness is observed by the more scrupulous 
among the Mahometans ; and instances have been 
known of every plate, and dish, and cup, that had 
been used by Christian guests, being broken imme- 
diately after their departure. 

The ancient manners which we see in Homer, we 
see likewise in Scripture, with regard to eating, 
drinking, and entertainments. There was great 
plenty, but little delicacy ; great respect and honor 
paid to the guests by serving them plentifully. Jo- 
seph sent his brother Benjamin a portion five times 



larger than those of his other brethren. Samuel 
set a whole quarter of a calf before Saul ; Sam. ix. 
24. The women did not appear at table in enter- 
tainments with the men ; this would have been an 
indecency ; as it is at this day throughout the East. 

The Hebrews anciently sat at table, but afterwards 
imitated the Persians and Chaldeans, who reclined 
on table-beds, or divans, while eating. As a knowl- 
edge of this fact is of importance to a right under- 
standing of several passages in the New Testament, 
we shall offer some remarks upon it. The accom- 
panying engraving represents one of the common 
eating tables. 

(1.) The reader is requested to notice the construc- 
tion of the tables, i. e. three tables, so set together 




as to form but one. (2.) Around these tables are 
placed, not seats, but couches, or beds, one to each ta- 
ble; each of these beds being called clinium, three 
of these united, to surround the three tables, formed 
the triclinium (three beds.) These beds were formed 
of mattrasses stuffed ; and were often highly orna- 
mented. (3.) Observe the attitude of the guests; 
each reclining on his left elbow; and therefore using 



principally his right hand, that only (or at least 
chiefly) being free for use. Observe also, that the 
feet of the person reclining being towards the exter- 
nal edge of the bed, they were much more readily 
reached by any body passing, than any other part of 
the person so reclining. 

For want of proper discrimination and description, 
in respect to the attitude at table, as before noticed, 




Ancient Egyptian Dinner Party. a,j, n, r. Tables with various dishes, b, p, Figs, d, e, y, and Baskets of grapes. Fig. 3 is taking a 
wing from a goose. Fig. 4 holds a joint of meat. Figs. 5 and 7 are eating fish. Fig. 6 is about to drink water from an earthen vessel. 



several passages of the Gospels are not merely injur- 
ed as to their true sense, but are absolutely reduced 
to nonsense, in our English translation. So Luke 
vii. 36: "A woman in the city who was a sinner, 
when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the phari- 
see's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, 
and stood at his feet behind him, weeping; and began 



to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with 
the hairs of her head; and kissed his feet, and 
anointed them with the ointment." Now, surely, when 
a person sits at meat, according to those ideas which 
naturally suggest themselves to an English reader, 
his feet, being on the floor under the table, are before 
him, not behind him; and the impossibility of any 



EATING 



[ 365 ] 



EATING 



one standing at his feet behind him, and while stand- 
ing, kissing his feet, wiping them, &e. is glaring. 
However, by inspecting the engraving, the narration 
becomes intelligible ; the feet of a person recumbent, 
being outermost, are most exposed to salutation, or to 
any other treatment, from one standing behind them. 
The same observations apply to John xii. 3: "Laza- 
rus was one who reclined at table (avax^^^vwv) with " 
Jesus ; and Mary " anointed the feet of Jesus," &c. 

Assisted by these ideas, we may better understand 
the history of our Lord's washing his disciples' feet, 
(John xiii. 5.) He poureth water into a basin, and go- 
ing round the beds whereon the disciples reclined, 
he began to wash their feet, which lay on the external 
edge of the couch, and to wipe them with the towel 
wherewith he was girded, &c. (verse 12.) " after he had 
taken his garments and was reclined again, he 
said," &c. 

It is not easy to ascertain precisely the form of the 
beds anciently used among the Persians; but, by re- 
garding them as something like what our engravings 
represent, we may see the story of Hainan's petition- 
ing Esther for his life, in nearly its true light. While 
the king went into the garden, Haman first stood up 
to entreat Esther to grant him his life; and being 
desirous of using even the most pathetic mode of 
entreaty, he fell prostrate on the bed where the 
queen was lying recumbent; the king, that instant re- 
turning, observing his attitude, and his nearness to 
the queen, which was utterly contrary to female 
modesty, and to royal dignity, exclaimed, " What! 
will he also force the queen ! she being in my company, 
in the palace f " But, when Esther fell at the king's 
feet, (chap. viii. 3.) we are to consider the king as 
seated on the divan, or sofa, in a very different at- 
titude, and disposition of his person. See Bed. 

This may be a proper place to notice the import of 
some other expressions, which, appearing to be simi- 
lar, might seem to infer the same attitude. So, 
" Mary sat at Jesus' s feet " to hear his discourse; 
while Martha was cumbei-ed about much serving. 
Martha, standing before Jesus, said, " Lord, direct my 
sister to help me," but Mary was sitting at the feet of 
Jesus, close to the divan on which he sat ; where we 
see clearly that both the sisters, one standing, the 
other sitting, might be before Jesus, as he sat on the 
divan. See Bed. 

It would be perhaps overstraining these remarks, 
to apply them to some of those slighter incidents 
which sacred history has recorded; it is nevertheless 
proper to notice, how justly John might be said to 
"lie in Jesus's bosom" (John xiii. 23.) at the supper 
table. Is it supposable, from circumstances, that our 
Lord was not in the chief place of honor, (according 
to the Greeks, the right extremity of the triclinium), 
as such a person could not have any one lying in his 
bosom; or is it probable that the Jews esteemed 
some other part, perhaps the left extremity, as the 
place of honor? It is certain that the Turks and 
Chinese do so. 

The tables which the Jews are represented as pu- 
rifying by washing, (Mark vii. 4.) are these kind of 
beds, (kAijw) — purifying, as if they had been polluted 
by the recumbence of strangers ; unless it were cus- 
tomary, as in point of neatness it ought to be, to 
wash the tables after every meal, and before they 
received guests again. This, however, could not 
extend to the bolsters and pillows, as they could not 
be made sufficiently dry to receive guests, in so short 
a time as intervened between one meal and another. 



[The mode of reclining at table on couches was 
common in the East, and also among the Greeks 
and Romans. The general character of these meals 
appears to have been the same in the latter nations 
and among the Hebrews, and may be found described, 
with references to the necessary classical authorities, 
in Potter's Greek Antiquities, vol. ii. p. 375, seq. and 
Adam's Rom. Antiq. Philad. 1807. p. 434, seq. It 
was at a later period, under the emperors, that the 
semicircular couch, above mentioned, was introduced. 
,In still later times, the custom was adopted which 
still prevails in the East, of sitting or reclining on 
the floor at meat, and at other times on cushions, 
etc. 

The present mode of eating in the East is shown 
in the following extracts from travellers. Dr. Jow- 
ett, while on a visit to Deir el Kamr, not far from 
Beyroot, has the following remarks: (Chr. Research- 
es in Syria, &c. p. 210. Amer. ed.) " To witness the 
daily family habits, in the house in which I lived at 
Deir el Kamr, forcibly reminded me of Scripture 
scenes. The absence of the females at our meals has 
been already noticed. There is another custom, by no 
means agreeable to a European ; to which, however, 
that I might not seem unfriendly, I would have will- 
ingly endeavored to submit, but it was impossible to 
learn it in the short compass of a twenty days' visit. 
There are set on the table, in the evening, two or 
three messes of stewed meat, vegetables, and sour 
milk. To me, the privilege of a knife and spoon 
and plate was granted; but the rest all helped them- 
selves immediately from the dish; in which it was 
no uncommon thing to see more than five Arab 
fingers at one time. Their bread, which is extremely 
thin, tearing and folding up like a sheet of paper, is 
used for the purpose of rolling together a large 
mouthful, or sopping up the fluid and vegetables. 
But the practice which was most revolting to me 
was this: when the master of the house found in 
the dish any dainty morsel, he took it out with his 
fingers, and applied it to my mouth. This was true 
Syrian courtesy and hospitality ; and, had I been suf- 
ficiently well-bred, my mouth would have opened to 
receive it. On my pointing to my plate, however, 
he had the goodness to deposit the choice morsel 
there. I would not have noticed so trivial a circum- 
stance, if it did not exactly illustrate what the Evan- 
gelists record of the Last Supper. St. Matthew 
relates that the traitor was described by our Lord 
in these terms — He that dippeth his hand with me in 
the dish, the same shall betray me, xxvi. 23. From 
this it may be inferred that Judas sat near to our 
Lord ; perhaps on one side next to him. St. John, 
who was leaning on Jesus's bosom, describes the 
fact with an additional circumstance. Upon his ask- 
ing, Lord, who is it ? Jesus answered, He it is to whom 
1 shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when 
he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the 
son of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered into 
him, xiii. 25 — 27. 

Niebuhr's account is as follows: (Descr. of Arabia, 
p. 52.) " The table of the orientals is arranged ac- 
cording to their mode of living. As they always sit 
upon the floor, a large cloth is spread out in the mid- 
dle of the room upon the floor, in order that the bits 
and crumbs may not be lost, or the carpets soiled. 
[On journeys, especially in the deserts, the place of 
this cloth is supplied by a round piece of leather, 
which the traveller carries with him. Travels, ii. p. 
372.] Upon this cloth is placed a small stool, which 



EATING 



[ 366 ] 



E C B 



serves as a support for a large round tray of tinned 
copper; on this the food is served up in various 
small dishes of copper, well tinned within and with- 
out. Among the better class of Arabs, one finds, 
instead of napkins, a long cloth, which extends to all 
■who sit at table, and which they lay upon their laps. 
Where this is wanting, each one takes, instead of a 
napkin, his own handkerchief, or rather small towel, 
which he always carries with him to wipe himself 
with after washing. Knives and forks are not used. 
The Turks sometimes. have spoons of wood or horn. 
The Arabs are so accustomed to use the hand instead 
of a spoon, that they can do without a spoon even 
when eating bread and milk prepared in the usual 
manner. Other kinds of food, such as we commonly 
eat with a spoon, I do not remember to have seen. 

" It is, indeed, at first, very unpleasant to an Euro- 
pean, just arrived in the East, to eat with people 
who help themselves to the food out of the common 
dish with their fingers ; but this is easily got over, 
after one has become acquainted with their mode of 
life. As the Mohammedans are required, by their 
religion, very often to wash themselves, it is there- 
fore even on this account probable, that their cooks 
prepare their food with as much cleanliness as those 
of Europe. The Mohammedans are even obliged to 
keep their nails cut so short, that no impurity can 
collect under them ; for they believe their prayers 
would be without any effect, if there should be the 
least impurity upon any part of the body. And 
since, now, before eating, they always wash them- 
selves carefully, and generally too with soap, it 
comes at length to seem of less consequence wheth- 
er they help themselves from the dish with clean 
fingers, or with a fork. 

" Among the sheikhs of the desert, who require 
at a meal nothing more than jiillau, i. e. boiled rice, a 
very large wooden dish is brought on full; and 
around this one party after another set themselves, till 
the dish is emptied, or they are satisfied. InMerdin, 
where I once ate with sixteen officers of the Wai- 
wode, a servant placed himself between the guests, 
and had nothing to do, but to take 'away the empty 
dishes, and set down the full ones which other ser- 
vants brought in. As soon as ever the dish was set 
down, all the sixteen hands were immediately thrust 
into it ; and that to so much purpose, that rarely 
could any one help himself three times. They eat, 
in the East, with very great rapidity ; and at this meal 
in Merdin, in the time of about twenty minutes, we 
sent out more than fourteen empty dishes." *R. 

In closing this subject, we may properly notice 
the obligations which are considered by ©astern peo- 
ple to be contracted by eating together. Niebuhr 
says, " When a Bedouin sheikh eats bread with 
strangers, they may trust his fidelity and depend on 

his protection. A traveller will always do well, 

therefore, to take an early opportunity of securing the 
friendship of his guide by a meal." The reader will 
recollect the complaint of the Psalmist, (xli. 9.) pen- 
etrated with the deep ingratitude of one whom he 
describes as having been his own familiar Mend, in 
whom he trusted — " who did eat of my bread, even he 
hath lifted up his heel against me ! " To the morti- 
fication of insult was added the violation of all con- 
fidence, the breach of every obligation connected 
with the ties of humanity, with the laws of honor, 
with the bonds of social life, with the unsuspecting 
freedom of those moments when the soul unbends 
itself to enjoyment, and is, if ever, off its guard. 



Under the article Covenant of Salt, we saw the 
obligation contracted by the participation of bread 
and salt ; we now find, that among the Arabs, at least, 
the friendship and protection implied attaches no 
less to bread. Hence, in part, no doubt, the convivi- 
ality that always followed the making of a covenant. 
Hence, also, the severity of some of the feelings ac- 
knowledged by the indignant man of patience, Job, 
as appears in several passages of his pathetic expos- 
tulations. It is "well known that Arabs, who have 
given food to a stranger, have afterwards thought 
themselves bound to protect him against the ven- 
geance^' demanded by consanguinity, for even blood 
itself. 

EBAL, a mountain in Ephraim, near Shechem, 
over against mount Gerizim, from which it is sepa- 
rated by a valley of about two hundred paces wide, 
in which stands the town of Shechem. Both moun- 
tains are much alike in length, height, and form, and 
their altitude is stated by Mr. Buckingham not to ex- 
ceed 700 or 800 feet, from the level of the valley. 
But if they are alike in these particulars, in others 
they are very unlike; for Ebal is barren, while 
Gerizim is beautiful and fruitful. The Jews and 
Samaritans have great disputes about them. (See 
Gerizim.) Moses commanded Israel, that as soon 
as they had passed the Jordan, they should go to 
Shechem, and divide into two bodies, each com- 
posed of six tribes, one placed on, that is, adjacent 
to, Ebal; the other on, that is," adjacent to, Gerizim. 
The six tribes on, or at, Gerizim, were to pronounce 
blessings on those who should faithfully observe the 
law; and the six on mount Ebal, were to pronounce 
curses against those who should violate it, Deut. 
xxvii. This Joshua executed, Josh. viii. 30, 31. 
Moses enjoined them to erect an altar of unhewn 
stones on mount Ebal, and to plaster them over, that 
the law might be written on the altar; but the Sa- 
maritan Pentateuch, instead of Ebal reads Gerizim; 
because the altar and sanctuary of the Samaritans 
were there. See Shechem. 

EBED-MELECH, a eunuch or servant of king 
Zedekiah, who being informed that Jeremiah was 
imprisoned in a place full of mire, informed the king 
of it, and was the means of his restoration to safety, 
though not to liberty. For this humanity he was 
promised divine protection, and after the city was 
taken by Nebuzaradan he was preserved, Jeremiah 
xxxviii. 7. 

EBEN-EZER, stone of help, a witness stone 
erected by Samuel, of divine assistance obtained, 1 
Sam. vii. 12. 

EBER, see Heber. 

EBODA, a town in Arabia Petraea. Probably 
Oboda, or Oboth, Numb. xxi. 10; xxxiii. 43, 44. 

ECBATANA, the ancient capital of Media, built, 
or, perhaps, enlarged and fortified, by Dejoces, or 
Arphaxad, fourth king of the Medes. It was en- 
compassed with seven walls, of unequal heights; 
the largest, according to Herodotus, (lib. i. cap. 98.) 
was equal in extent with those of Athens ; that is, 
1 78 furlongs, or nearly eight leagues, (Thucyd. lib. i.) 
After the union of Media with Persia, Ecbatana be- 
came the summer residence of the kings of Persia, 
because of the freshness of the air. It still subsists, 
under the name of Hamadan, in lat. 34° 53' N. long. 
40° E. Its inhabitants are stated by Mr. Kinnier to 
be about 40,000, including about 600 Jewish families. 
It is supposed to be mentioned under the name of 
Achmetha, Ezra vi. 2. 



ECL 



[ 367 ] 



EDE 



ECCLESIASTES. This word is feminine in 
the Hebrew, and literally signifies, one who speaks in 
public; or, one who convenes the assembly. The 
Greeks and Latins, not regarding the gender, render 
it Ecclesiasles, an orator, one who speaks in public. 
Solomon describes himself in the first verse, " The 
words of Koheleth, [Eng. Vers. ' the Preacher,'] the 
son of David, king of Jerusalem." He mentions his 
works, his riches, his buildings, and his proverbs, or 
parables, and that he was the wisest and happiest of 
all kings in Jerusalem; which description plainly 
characterizes Solomon. This book is generally 
thought to be the production of Solomon's repent- 
ance, towards the latter end of his life. It proposes 
the sentiments of the Sadducees and Epicureans in 
their full force ; proves excellently the vanity of all 
things ; the little benefit of men's restless and busy 
cares, and the uncertainty of their knowledge ; but 
concludes, " Let us hear the conclusion of the whole 
matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments, for 
this is the whole of man." In this all his obligations 
terminate; this is his only means to happiness, pres- 
ent and future. In reading this book, care should be 
taken not to deduce opinions from detached senti- 
ments, but from the general scope and combined 
force of the whole. 

ECCLESIASTICUS, a book so called in Latin, 
either to distinguish it from Ecclesiastes, or to show 
that it contains, as well as that, precepts and exhor- 
tations to wisdoni and virtue. The Greeks call it 
" The Wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach." It con- 
tains maxims and instructions, useful in all states and 
conditions of life. Some of the ancients ascribed 
this work to Solomon ; but the author is much more 
modern than Solomon, and speaks of several persons 
who lived after that prince. He mentions himself in 
chap. i. 27: " I, Jesus, the son of Sirach, have writ- 
ten in this book the instruction of understanding and 
knowledge." Chap. li. is inscribed, " A prayer of 
Jesus, the son of Sirach." The interpreter of it out 
of Syriac or Hebrew into Greek, says, that his 
grandfather Jesus composed it in Hebrew; but we 
have no authentic information who he was, nor 
when he lived. He praises the high-priest Simon, 
and speaks of him as not then living: but there were 
more high-priests than one of this name. Neverthe- 
less, it is probable, he means Simon II. after whose 
death those calamities befell the Jews, which might 
induce the son of Sirach to speak as he does, chap, 
xxxvi. and 1. The translator of it into Greek came 
into Egypt in the thirty-eighth year of Ptolemy VII. 
surnamed Euergetes, the second of that name; as 
he says in his preface. The author of the Latin 
translation from the Greek is unknown. Jerome 
says, the church receives Ecclesiasticus for edifica- 
tion, but not to authorize any point of doctrine. 
ECDIPPA, otherwise Achzib, which see. 
ECLIPSE. The Hebrews seem not to have phi- 
losophized much on eclipses, which they considered 
as sensible marks of God's anger. Se.e Joel ii. 10, 
31; iii. 15; Job ix. 7. — Ezekiel (xxxii. 7.) and Job 
(xxxvi. 32.) speak more particularly, that God covers 
the sun with clouds, when he deprives the earth of 
its light, by eclipses. Yet, when we read that " the 
sun shall be turned into darkness ; and the moon in- 
to blood," we can hardly avoid discerning an ac- 
quaintance with the appearance of those luminaries 
while under eclipse. The interruption of the sun's 
light causes him to appear black; and the moon 
during a total eclipse exhibits a copper color ; or 



what Scripture intends by a blood color. See 
Darkness. 

ED, witness, the name given to the altar erected 
by the two tribes and a half, who were settled beyond 
Jordan, Josh. xxii. 34. It was probably a copy or 
repetition of that which was used among the He- 
brews, their brethren, and it was built Xo witness to 
posterity the interest of these tribes in the altar com- 
mon to the descendants of the patriarch Israel. 

I. EDEN, a province in Asia, in which was para- 
dise. " The Lord planted eastward a garden, p 
■HV2> inJEden, and there he put the man whom he 
had formed," Gen. ii. 8. The topography of Eden 
is thus described: " Anda river went out of Eden to 
water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and 
became into four heads. The name of the first is 
Pison ; that is it which compasseth the whole land 
of Havilah, where is gold . . . bdellium, and the onyx- 
stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon ; 
the same is it that compasseth the whole land of 
Cush. And the name of the third river is Hidde- 
kel; that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. 
And the fourth river is Euphrates," ver. 10-14. 

There is hardly any part of the world in which it 
has not been sought: in Asia, in Africa, in Europe, 
in America ; in Tartary, on the banks of the Gan- 
ges, in the Indies, in China, in the island of Ceylon, 
in Armenia ; under the equator ; in Mesopotamia, in 
Syria, in Persia, in Babylonia, in Arabia, in Palestine, 
in Ethiopia, among the Mountains of the Moon ; near 
the mountains of Libanus, Antilibanus, and Damas- 
cus. Huet places it on the river produced by the 
junction of the Tigris and Euphrates, now called the 
river of the Arabs; below this conjunction and the 
division of the same river, before it falls into the 
Persian sea. He selects the eastern shore of this 
river, which being considered according to the dis- 
position of its channel, and not according to the 
course of its stream, was divided into four heads, or 
four different openings, that is, two upwards, the 
Tigris and Euphrates, and two below, the Pison and 
Gihon. The Pison, according to him, is the western 
channel, and the Gihon is the eastern channel of the 
Tigris, which discharges itself into the Persian gulf. 
It is said that Bochart was much of the same opin- 
ion. (Phaleg. lib. i. cap. 4; De Anim. Sacr. part ii. 
lib. v. cap. vi.) Other skilful men have placed Eden 
in Armenia, between the sources of the rivers, (1.) 
Tigris, (2.) Euphrates, (3.) Araxis, (4.) Phasis, taken 
to be the four rivers described by Moses. Euphra- 
tes is expressly mentioned; Hiddekel is the Tigris; 
the Phasis is Pison : the Gihon is the Araxes. 

The orientals think, that the terrestial paradise 
was in the island of Serendib, or Ceylon; and that 
when Adam was driven out of paradise, he was sent 
to the mountain of Rahoun in this island, two or 
three days' journey from the sea. The Portuguese 
call this mountain Pico de Adamo, or mountain of 
Adam, because it is thought that this first of men 
was buried under it, after he had lived in repentance 
a hundred and thirty years. The Mussulmans do 
not believe that the paradise, in which Adam was 
placed, was terrestrial, but that it was in one of the 
seven heavens ; and that from this heaven he was 
thrown down into the island of Ceylon, where he 
died, after having made a pilgrimage into Arabia, 
where he visited the place appointed for building 
the temple of Mecca. — They say also, that when God 
created the garden of Eden, he created there what 
the eye has never seen, the ear has never heard, and 



EDEN 



[ 368 ] 



EGY 



what has never entered into the heart of man to con- 
ceive. That this delicious garden has eight doors ; 
whereas hell has but seven; and that the porters 
which have the care of them are to let none enter 
before the learned, who make a profession of despis- 
ing earthly, and of desiring heavenly, things. 

The orientals reckon four paradises in Asia. (1.) 
About Damascus, in Syria. (2.) About Obollah in 
Chaldea. (3.) About the desert of Naoubendigian in 
Persia, in a place called Sheb-Baovan, watered by 
the Nilab. And lastly, in the isle of Ceylon, or Se- 
rendib. We may perceive from hence, .that the 
opinion which places the terrestrial paradise about 
Damascus, and near the sources of the Jordan, is no 
novel opinion, nor peculiar to European writers — 
Heidegger in the Lives of the Patriarchs, M. le Clerc, 
father Abraham, and father Hardouin, having main- 
tained it. 

It may be inferred from a number of circum- 
stances, that paradise was placed on a mountain, or at 
least in a country diversified with hills, because only 
such a country could supply the springs necessary 
to form four heads of rivers ; and because all heads 
of rivers rise in hills, from whence their waters de- 
scend to the sea. Such a country has been found 
in Armenia, with such an elevation, or assemblage 
of elevations, also, as appeared to be requisite for 
the purpose. On these principles, the Phasis was the 
Pison of Moses, and the similarity of sound in the 
name seemed to confirm the opinion ; it was a nat- 
ural consequence, that the Araxes should be the 
Gihon ; since its waters are extremely rapid, and the 
Greek name Araxes, like the Hebrew Gihon, denotes 
the dart, or swift. [A full and satisfactory discussien 
in favor of this theory is given by Prof. Stuart in 
his Hebrew Chrestomathy, on Gen. ii. 14, sq. R. 

Such were the principles most generally enter- 
tained among the learned ; when Captain Wilford 
came forth from his study of the Indian Puranas, 
opened what was at least a new source of informa- 
tion, and placed Eden on the Imaus mountains of 
India. (Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. p. 455. — Lond. 
edit.) We give his closing remarks: — ■ 

" It appears from Scripture, that Adam and Eve 
lived afterwards in the countries to the eastward of 
Eden ; for at the eastern entrance of it, God placed 
the angel with the flaming sword. This is also con- 
firmed by the Puranics, who place the progenitors 
of mankind on the mountainous regions between 
Cabul and the Ganges, on the banks of which, in the 
hills, they show a place where he resorted occasion- 
ally for religious purposes. It is frequented by pil- 
grims, and is called Swayambhuvasthan: I have not 
been able yet to ascertain its situation, being but 
lately acquainted with it; but I believe it is situated 
to the north-west of Sri-Nagar. At the entrance of 
the passes, leading to the place where I suppose was 
the garden of Eden, and to the eastward of it, the 
Hindus have placed a destroying angel, who gener- 
ally appears, and is represented like a cherub; I 
mean Garud'a, or the Eagle, upon whom Vishnu and 
Jupiter are represented riding. Garud'a is repre- 
sented generally like an eagle; but in his compound 
character, somewhat like the cherub, he is represent- 
ed like a young man, with the countenance, wings, 
and talons of the eagle. In Scripture, the Deity is 
represented riding upon a cherub, and flying upon 
the wings of the wind. Garud'a is called Vahdn 
(literally rte vehicle) of Vishnu or Jupiter, and he thus 
answers to the cherub of Scripture; for many com- 



mentators derive this word from the obsolete root 
C'harab in the Chaldean language, a word implicitly 
synonymous with the Sanscrit Vahdn." 

Mr. Taylor has bestowed much labor on an ex- 
amination of this hypothesis, and declares himself 
to be favorable to it. We give his concluding ob- 
servations: — 

The situation of Paradise, in Armenia, where the 
heads of the Euphrates and Tigris spring, where the 
head of the Araxes, and a branch of the Phasis, rise 
not very distant from each other, according to the 
best accounts we are able to procure of that country, 
(which, however, are not altogether satisfactory,) has 
many plausibilities in its favor. Nevertheless, there 
is this to be, said against it, that mankind could not 
journey from the East to Babylon, if Armenia were 
the seat of Noah's deliverance; and if that seat were 
adjacent to Paradise, as we have uniformly sup- 
posed. But the situation of Paradise on the In- 
dian Caucasus, or Imaus mountains, unites all those 
requisites which are deemed necessary coincidences 
with the Mosaic narration. Mountains furnish the 
sources of rivers; many great rivers rise in these 
mountains. Paradise furnished four rivers; four 
rivers rise in these mountains, in a vicinity sufficient- 
ly near, though not now from the same lake. Man- 
kind travelled from the East to Babylon; these 
mountains are east of Babylonia. [But for the proper 
meaning of the East, and of the phrase travelled from 
the East, see the article East, and also the letter of 
Mr. Smith under the article Ararat. R. 

II. EDEN. The prophet Amos (chap. i. 5.) speaks 
of the " House of Eden," or " Beth-Eden," which is 
thought to have been a house of pleasure in the 
mountains of Lebanon, near to the river Adonis, and 
about midway between Tripoli and Baalbek. 

EDER, a town of Judah, Josh. xv. 21. 

EDOM, red, earthy, or of blood, otherwise Esau, 
son of Isaac, and brother of Jacob. The name Edom 
was given him, either because he sold his birthright 
to Jacob for a mess of red pottage, or because of the 
color of his hair and complexion, Gen. xxv. 25, 30. 
Idumaja is named from Edom, and is often called 
the land of Edom. See Esau and Idum^ea. 

EDOMlTES. See Idum/ea. 

I. EDREI, a town of Manasseh, east of Jordan, 
(Josh. xiii. 31.) called likewise Edrsea and Adrsea, 
and perhaps Edera in Ptolemy, when speaking of 
the towns in the Batansea. Eusebius places it about 
25 miles north from Bostri. 

II. EDREI, a town of Naphtali, Josh. xix. 37. 
EGLAH, sixth wife of David, and mother of Ith- 

ream, 2 Sam.iii. 5. Many are of opinion, thatEglah 
and Michal are the same, and that she died in labor 
of Ithream. But see 2 Sam. vi. 23. 

EGLAIM, a city beyond Jordan, east of the Dead 
sea, in the land of Moab, which Eusebius places 8 
miles south of Ar, or Areopolis. Isa. xv. 8. 1 Sam. 
xxv. 44. 

I. EGLON, king of Moab, (Judg. iii. 12-15.) op- 
pressed Israel eighteen years, A.M. 2661 — 2679. In 
conjunction with the Ammonites and Amalekites, he 
advanced to the city of palm-trees, or Jericho, or 
Engedi, which he took, and where was his usual 
residence. The Lord raised up Ehud to deliver 
Israel from his oppression. 

II. EGLON, a city of Judah, Josh. x. 3; xv. 39. 
I. EGYPT, a celebrated country in Africa ; in 

Hebrew called Mizraim, Greek Atyvnros, whence 
the Latin JEgyptus, and the English Egypt and 




ESAU. 



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[ 369 ] 



EGYPT 



Copt; but the etymology of these names has not 
been satisfactorily determined. Mizraim was son of 
Ham; JEgyptus was, it is said, an ancient king of 
this country, son of Belus, and brother of Armais. 
The sons of Mizraim were Lndim, Anamim, Seha- 
bim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, and Caslnhim, who peo- 
pled several districts of Egypt, or adjacent to it. 
The word Mizraim, being of the dual number, may 
express both Egypts, the superior and inferior, or the 
two parts of the country, east and west, divided by 
the Nile. Cairo, the capital of Egypt, and even 
Egypt itself, is still called Mezer by the Arabians. 
But the natives call it Chemi, that is, the land of 
Cham, or Ham, as it is also sometimes called in 
Scripture, Psalm lxxviii. 12; cv. 23; cvi. 22. The 
prophet Micah (vii. 12. Heb.) gives to Egypt the 
name of Mezor, or Matzor ; and rabbi Kimchi, fol- 
lowed by several learned commentators, explains by 
Egypt what is said of the rivers of Mezor, 2 Kings 
xix. 24 ; Isaiah xix. 6; xxxvii. 25. Heb. 

Egypt was divided into forty-two nomes, or dis- 
tricts, which were little provinces, or counties ; and 
also into Upper and Lower. Upper Egypt was call- 
ed Thebais, from Thebes, its capital, and extended 
south to the frontiers of Ethiopia. Lower Egypt 
contained principally the Delta, and the country on 
the coast of the Mediterranean. The Arabians call 
Lower Egypt, Rib, or Rif; Upper Egypt, Sais, or 
Thebais; and the part between, Souf. The word 
Rib, (Rahab,) occurs Psalm lxxxvii. 4. "I will men- 
tion Rahab ;' ' also lxxxix. 1 0. Isaiah li. 9. The word 
Souf occurs likewise, for Moses calls the Red sea by 
this name. 

In the time of Herodotus, Egypt was divided into 
two parts, with distinct appellations: the one belong- 
ing to Libya, the other to Asia ; and the same divis- 
ion appears in Ibn Haukal; who says, "The left 
side of the Nile is called Khouf. — The opposite divis- 
ion, on the right side, they call Zeif.' 1 ' 1 We may call 
these divisions Western Egypt and Eastern Egypt ; 
which may throw some light on the expression, 
(Ezek. xxix. 10.) "I will make the land of Egypt 
waste from the tower of Syene to the border of 
Cush;" meaning the Cush on the Red sea. So that 
this threat includes Eastern Egypt; beginning, as 
the Egyptians themselves began, " from the tower 
-of Syene," which is opposite to the island of Ele- 
phantina, all along the confines of Cush — that is, run- 
ning up the Red sea from the port of Berenice south, 
to Suez and Colsum north. This gives a very dif- 
ferent aspect to the following denunciation of the 
prophet, (verse 11,) "No foot of man or beast shall 
pass through it," (rather across it,) that is, from the 
Nile to the Red sea, from Coptos to Berenice, or to 
Kosseir, as the caravans of merchants with their 
goods were used to pass: — "neither shall it be in- 
habited, forty years." We know of no such interval 
in which this complete depopulation has been true 
of Egypt, generally taken; but it is very credible 
that after the ravages of Nebuchadnezzar, and till 
after the death of Cambyses, this track of mercantile 
conveyance was stopped; so that the foot of man 
or beast did not pass that way in conveying goods. 
The passage -by this road was, however, afterwards 
much promoted by the Ptolemies, when they reign- 
ed in Egypt ; and when explored by Belzoni, he 
found traces of the stations 'taken by the ancient 
Egyptian merchants, in this passage ; such as wells, 
or tanks for holding water, remains of villages and 
temples ; and, in the port of Berenice itself, ruins of 
47 



considerable structures, with others tolerably entire, 
works for the security of the port, &c. also, cross 
roads, demonstrating important and extensive inter- 
course. By this distinction a great difficulty is re- 
duced within the compass of high probability; and 
the rendering proposed by Prideaux, in correction 
of our public version, becomes unnecessary. The 
doctor would vary the words (not very agreeably to 
the Hebrew) " from the tower of Syene" to — •" from 
Migdol, or Magdolum, to Syene." Magdolum was 
at the extreme north of Egypt, and Syene in the ex- 
treme south. But, we have no proof, neither is it 
credible, that the intervening country was ever total- 
ly uninhabited by man or beast, during one year, 
much less during forty years, as threatened by the 
prophet ; for this would have been to have rendered 
the whole inhabited land of Egypt a wilderness, a 
desert, which is very unlikely. 

The following allegorical characterization of Egypt 
is from Major Wilford (Asiat. Res. vol. iii. p. 93. 
Lond.) — ' ' The parts of Barbara, towards the mouths 
of the Nile, were inhabited by the children of Ra- 
hu ; — Rahu is represented, on account of his tyranny, 
as an immense river-dragon, or crocodile, or rather 
a fabulous monster with four talons, called Graha, 
from a root implying violent seizure: the word is 
commonly interpreted hanger, or shark; but in some 
dictionaries, it is made synonymous to nacra, or croc- 
odile; and in the Puranas, it seems to be the crea- 
ture of poetical fancy." This may be compared 
with at least two passages of Scripture : first, Psalm 
Ixxiv. 12 — 14. 

God is my king of old, 

Working salvation in the midst of the earth. 
Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength : 
Thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the 
waters. 

Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces. 

The allusion is to the departure of Israel from 
Egypt, to the division of the Red sea, anciently; and 
Egypt is symbolized under the notion of a leviathan 
with several heads. To a natural leviathan, the croc- 
odile, one head had been sufficient : but a symboli- 
cal leviathan may possess as many heads as com- 
ports with the original object which is figuratively 
alluded to. There is another passage where the 
same imagery is adopted, Ezek. xxix. 3, 4. "I am 
against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great drag- 
on that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath 
said, My river is my own, I have made it for myself. 
But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause 
the fish of thy rivers to stick to thy scales, and I will 
bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers." In this 
prophecy Pharaoh is expressly named, so that we 
have no difficulty in referring it to that prince. 
Undoubtedly these allegories, by their similarity, 
strengthen the idea of a connection between India 
and Egypt : aud show that in ancient times it was 
well understood, and adopted by the inspired writers. 
For, what is this dragon, but the Rahu of India? 

Homer calls the Nile, Egyptus (Odyss. xiv. v. 258.); 
and several of the ancients assert, that Egypt was a 
tract of land produced by deposition of the mud of 
this river, which regularly overflows the country. 

The Egyptians boasted of being the most ancient 
people in the world ; and the inventors of arts and 
sciences. They communicated to the Greeks the 
names of the gods, and their theology; they exceed- 



EGYPT 



[ 370 ] 



EGYPT 



ed in superstition and idolatry, worshipping stars, 
men, animals, and even plants. Moses informs us, 
that the Hebrews sacrificed beasts whose slaughter 
was considered by the Egyptians as an abomination : 
(Exod. viii. 26.) and also that they would not eat 
with the Hebrews, because they abhorred all shep- 
herds. This country, properly speaking, was the 
cradle of the Hebrew nation. Joseph being carried 
thither and sold as a slave, was, by God's wisdom 
and providence, established viceroy of Egypt. Hith- 
er he invited his father and family, in number about 
seventy persons; after dwelling here 215 years, the 
whole family and their people departed hence, in 
Qumber 603,550 men. The king of Egypt, however, 
would not permit them to leave his country, till he 
was compelled by miracles and chastisements. And 
ifter he had dismissed and expelled them, he repent- 
ed, pursued them, and followed them into the Red 
sea, where he perished. 

The common name of the Egyptian kings was 
Pharaoh, which signified sovereign power. History 
has preserved the names of several of these kings, 
and a succession of their dynasties. But the inclina- 
tion of the Egyptian historians to magnify the great 
antiquity of their nation, has destroyed their credi- 
bility. See Pharaoh. 

The inhabitants of Egypt may be considered as 
including three distinctions: (1.) The Copts, or de- 
scendants of the ancient Egyptians. (2.) The Fel- 
lahs, or husbandmen ; which are supposed to repre- 
sent the people in Scripture called Phul. (3.) The 
Arabs, or conquerors of the country, including the 
Turks, Mamelukes, &c. The Copts have seen so 
many revolutions in the governing powers, [see 
infra,'] that they concern themselves very little aboufc 
the successes or misfortunes of those who aspire to 
dominion. The Fellahs suffer so much oppression, 
and are so despised by the Bedouins, or wandering 
Arabs, and by their despotic rulers, that they seldom 
acquire property, and very rarely enjoy it in security. 
The Arabs hate the Turks; yet the Turks enjoy 
most offices of government; though they hold their 
superiority by no very certain tenure. 

It is usual to include under the name Egypt, from 
Syene, south, to the most northern point of the 
coast adjacent to the mouths of the Nile. At Syene, 
Ethiopia may be said to begin. The southern part 
of this extent is extremely rocky and arid. During 
this part of its course, the Nile is a single stream; 
where it divides into two or more streams, it em- 
braces that part of Egypt which the Greeks named 
the Delta, in the north of Egypt. This region ap- 
pears to be a vast plain, yielding an abundance of 
corn, and other productions, and interspersed with 
numerous villages, built on eminences surrounded 
by date- trees. On the banks of the Nile, the Arab 
inhabitants cultivate water-melons, gourds, tobacco, 
indigo, called nilek, a few fruits, and other vegeta- 
bles; also Indian corn. The water of the Nile not 
only fertilizes the lands included between its streams, 
but also those on each side of its external channels, 
even where the inundation itself does not appear. 
The Turks boast of Egypt as of the most beautiful 
country in the world: one of them says, the soil is 
for three months in the year white and sparkling like 
pearl, for three months black like musk, for three 
more green like emeralds, and for three more yellow 
as amber. It is not surprising to find the Israelites in 
the wilderness regretting so excellent a country. The 
ancient Egyptians had two crops of corn yearly from 



the same ground; at present they get but one. After 
barley-harvest they sowed rice, melons, and cucum- 
bers. Egypt is said to have furnished to Rome, an- 
nually, twenty millions of bushels of corn. Pliny 
says, they sow early in November; that they begin 
their harvest in April, and end in May. Moses ob- 
serves, that in the middle of March, when the Israel- 
ites departed out of Egypt, the barley and flax, being 
far advanced, were spoiled by the hail; but that the 
wheat, being not so forward, was preserved, Exod. 
ix. 31. The Egyptians sowed their barley and flax 
in the beginning of November, after the waters of the 
Nile had retired. The winter is very moderate. 
The wheat-harvest was ended by Pentecost. 

The heat of Egypt is excessive: Volney says, "The 
Egyptians, who go almost naked, and are accustomed 
to perspire, shiver at the least coolness. The ther- 
mometer, which at the lowest, in the month of Feb- 
ruary, stands at 8° or 9° of Reaumur, (50 oi\ 52 of 
Fahrenheit,) above the freezing point, enables us to 
determine with certainty, and we may pronounce 
that snow and hail are phenomena which no Egyp- 
tian has seen in fifty years." He says also, " Two 
seasons only should be distinguished in Egypt; the 
spring and summer; that is to say, the cold season, 
and the hot. The latter continues from March to 
November; and from the end of February the sun is 
not supportable for a European at nine o'clock in the 
morning. During the whole of this season, the air is 
inflamed, the sky sparkling, and the heat oppressive 
to all unaccustomed to it. The body sweats profuse- 
ly, even under the lightest dress, and in a state of the 
most profound repose." (Trav. vol. i. p. 67, 68.) Dr. 
Whitman says, " The night setting in, the company 
retired to rest; many of the men without doors, ac- 
cording to the usual practice of the Arabs in the 
summer season. They lie scattered over the plains, 
like flocks of sheep, with the clothes they have taken 
off spread beneath them, and themselves covered 
from head to foot by the large handkerchief, which 
they wear in the day time across the shoulders," p. 
334. This sleeping in the open air, and so lightly 
covered, is among those customs which appear most 
strange to Europeans; but it occurs frequently in 
Scripture, and is adopted without hesitation through- 
out the East. ' ' The inhabitants of humid countries 
cannot conceive how it is possible for a country to. 
subsist without rain; but in Egypt, besides the quan- 
tity of water which the earth iflibibes at the inunda- 
tion, the dews which fall in the night suffice for veg- 
etation. The water-melons afford a remarkable 
proof of this; for though they have frequently noth- 
ing under them but a dry dust, yet their leaves are 
always fresh. These dews, as well the rains, are 
more copious towards the sea, and less considerable 
in proportion to the distance from it; but differ from 
the latter by being more abundant in summer than in 
winter. At Alexandria, after sunset, in the month 
of April, the clothes exposed to the air, and the ter- 
races, are soaked with dew, as if it had rained. Like 
the rains, again, these dews are more or less plentiful, 
according to the prevailing wind. The southerly 
and the south-westerly produce none; the north 
wind produces a great deal; and the westerly still 
more. When rain falls in Egypt and Palestine, there 
is a general joy; the people assemble in the streets; 
they sing, they are all in motion ; and shout ' ye A llah; 
ye MobarekP O God! O blessed 1 &c. ( Volney 's 
Trav. vol. i. p. 56.) 

On account of the scarcity of rain, " the best part 



EGYPT 



[ 371 ] 



EGYPT 



of Egyptian agriculture," says Niebuhr, "is the 
watering of their grounds. The water which the 
husbandman needs, is often in a canal much below 
the level of. the land which he means to refresh. The 
water he must therefore raise to an equality with the 
surface of the grounds; and distribute it over them 
as it is wanted. The great art of Egyptian husband- 
ry is thus reduced to the having proper machines for 
raising the water, and enough of small canals judi- 
ciously disposed to distribute it." (Trav. vol. i. p. 88.) 

The great supply of water in Egypt is from the 
Nile, which river obtains its increase from Ethiopia 
and Abyssinia, and upon the rise of which the fertility 
of Egypt depends. The inhabitants suppose, that at 
14 cubits rise, they may ha ve an inferior»harvest; at 
16, a very good one: but should it rise much higher, 
there would not be time for the draining of the water 
off the lands, in order to their reception of the seed. 
These high risings do other mischief also ; such as 
washing away villages, &c. See Nile. 

The history of Egypt is of consequence to the 
proper understanding of events recorded in Scrip- 
ture; but the early part of it is extremely obscure, 
and we are under the necessity of trusting to those 
excerpts and fragments, which may be deemed for- 
tuitous, rather than intentional. 

There can be no doubt that Egypt was peopled 
from the East; but the tribes which first entered it, 
seem to have been under no regular guide. We con- 
ceive that Ham was intent on establishing himself in 
Asia; and that he actually founded there several po- 
tent kingdoms. He might afterwards visit* Africa; 
and his son Mizraim might govern Egypt. How- 
ever that was, we find Egypt peopled in the days of 
Abraham ; and governed also by a Pharaoh. There 
is some reason to think that the Hamites, who settled 
in the provinces allotted to the posterity of Shem, 
ejected them from thence; and were the cause of 
their transmigration into Egypt. At least, appear- 
ances indicate that the first Pharaohs of Egypt spoke 
the language of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph; and 
that Jehovah, the God of those patriarchs, was not 
unknown to them. Between the period of Joseph's 
elevation in Egypt, and the exodus of Israel, we 
place an invasion of Egypt by the Palli, from India, 
and refer to this race that new "king which knew 
not Joseph." We read little more of Egypt in Scrip- 
ture, for many ages; not, indeed, till the kings of 
Israel had political intercourse with that country. 

The Egyptians claimed an antiquity of 10, 20, or 
even 50,000 years. They affirmed that their coun- 
try was originally governed by gods ; and that their 
first mortal king was Menes. We might better judge 
of the first assertion, if we knew what length of time 
answered to that termed a year; of the second, if we 
knew whether the same word which is rendered 
gods, did not also signify judges, as it does in the 
Hebrew. From Menes the Egyptians deduced a list 
of kings, comprising about 330, in 1400 years. 

It is supposed that the mode of the ancient Egyp- 
tian computation of years, contributed to swell their 
chronology so immoderately. Palasphatus says, that 
in remote ages they reckoned the duration of their 
princes' reigns by days, not by years. And who will 
warrant us, that they who came after, did not set 
down years instead of days? so that Helios, son of 
Vulcan, reigning 4477 days, was only twelve years, 
three months, and four days, instead of 4477 years. 
Diodorus Siculus says, some have suggested that 
their year consisted only of one month, so that the 



1200 years of every god's reign were reduced to 1200 
months, or 100 years; afterwards the Egyptian year 
consisted of four months. This reduces the exces- 
sive antiquity of the Egyptian dynasties to a reasona- 
ble duration. It is further certain, that the dynasties 
of Egypt were not all successive ; many of them 
were collateral, and the greater part of the kings, 
placed one after the other, were contemporary; one 
reigning in one part of Egypt, another in another. 
These lists also bear seven different names, according 
to the seven districts in which the dynasties subsist- 
ed: viz. at This, Memphis, Diospolis, Thanis, Sethron, 
Elephantina, and Sais. Before the time of Menes, 
Lower Egypt was a marsh, not absolutely uninhabit- 
able, perhaps not unfertile, yet unfit for the reception 
of a dense population. Menes controlled the course 
of the Nile, probably stopped up one of its branches, 
and so obtained a length of solid ground, and drained 
the lower levels of the country. We learn, from 
Major Wilford's information concerning Egypt, ex- 
tracted from the Indian Puranas, that those books 
relate several circumstances of the early history of 
this country. (Asiatic Researches, vol. iii.) — " Ta- 
mah, or Saturn, had two wives, Age, and Decrepi- 
tude," that is, he was an extremely old man. " Ta- 
mah was expelled from Egypt exactly at the time 
when Aramah, a grandson of Satyavrata, died." 
(P. 93.) — " Lower Egypt is called by the Puranas, the 
Land of Mud; and they give a dreadful idea of it; 
and even assert, that no mortal durst approach it." 
(P. 96.) The Puranas say that the ocean anciently 
covered Egypt; but that the waters withdrew at the 
prayer of a holy man, or Rishi, " for the space of a 
hundred ydjanas, or 492 miles." (P. 104.) The 
probability is, that this withdrawment of the waters 
alludes to the fact of the draining of the lower coun- 
try, by restraining the Nile to a single channel, pretty 
far south. " The first inhabitants of Egypt found, 
on their arrival, that the whole country about the 
mouths of the Nile was an immense forest; part im- 
pervious, which they called Atavi, part uninhabited, 
but practicable, which received the name of Aranya.' ' 
(P. 97.) These accounts agree, perfectly, with the 
primitive state of all uninhabited countries ; and they 
contribute to support the opinion, that Egypt was 
peopled from India. See Philistines. 

For the connection of the Egyptians with the peo- 
ple of Israel, the reader is referred to the historical 
sketch under the article Hebrews. See also the 
additions below. 

Ezekiel (xxx. 13.) says, that there never any more 
shall be a reigning prince of the Egyptian nation 
over this country. Egypt was, indeed, to be a base 
kingdom; and what can be more base than a govern- 
ment composed of rulers who have been slaves, and 
the properties of others ? Governors, not hereditary, 
nor elective by the people, nor promoted according 
to merit; but rising by intrigue from the lowest sta- 
tions, and degraded by the vilest of crimes, as well 
political as personal. " Such is the case with Egypt," 
says Volney. " Deprived three and twenty centuries 
ago of her natural proprietors, she has seen her fer- 
tile fields successively a prey to the Persians, the 
Macedonians, the Romans, the Greeks, the Arabs, 
the Georgians, and, at length, to the race of Tartars, 
distinguished by the name of Ottoman Turks. 
Among so many nations, several of them have left 
vestiges of their transient possession; but, as they 
have been blended in succession, they have been so 
confounded, as to render it very difficult to discrimi- 



EGYPT 



[. 372 ] 



EGYPT 



nate their respective characters. We may, however, 
still distinguish the inhabitants of Egypt into four 
principal races, of different origin." (Travels, vol. 
i. 74.) 

These four he considers as, (1.) Arabs, the classes 
of husbandmen and artisans; (2.) the Copts, the 
writers, and government collectors; (3.) the Turks, 
who are masters of the country; (4.) the Mamelukes, 
who possess the authority over it, and who are a race 
of slaves, bought in distant countries." Surely the 
country lorded over by slaves may be justly consid- 
ered as " the basest of kingdoms! " 

" When we reflect on the revolutions which this 
country has undergone, and upon the length of time 
during which it has been under the dominion of 
strangers, we can no longer be surprised at the de- 
cline of its wealth and population. It has been suc- 
cessively subdued by the Persians, the Greeks, the 
Romans, the Arabians, and the Turks: — has enjoyed 
no interval of tranquillity and freedom, but has been 
constantly oppressed and pillaged by the lieutenants 
of a distant lord, who scarcely left the people bare 
means of subsistence. Agriculture was ruined by 
the miseries of the husbandman : and the cities de- 
cayed with its decline. Even at present, the popu- 
lation is decreasing: and the peasant, although in a 
fertile country, is miserably poor; for the exactions 
of government, and its officers, leave him nothing to 
lay out in the improvement and culture of his lands; 
while the cities are falling into ruins, because the 
same unhappy restraints render it impossible for the 
citizens to engage in any lucrative undertaking." 
" The Copts are descended from the ancient Egyp- 
tians: and the Turks, on this account, call them, in 
derision , ' ' the posterity of Pharaoh." But their un- 
couth figure, their stupidity, ignorance, and wretch- 
edness, do little credit to the sovereigns of ancient 
Egypt. They have lived for 2000 years under the 
dominion of different foreign conquerors, and have 
experienced many vicissitudes of fortune. They have 
lost their manners, their language, their religion, and 
almost their existence. They are reduced to a small 
number in comparison of the Arabs, who have 
poured like a flood over this country. Of the dimi- 
nution of the numbers of the Copts, some idea may 
be formed from the reduction of the number of their 
bishops. There were seventy in number at the peri- 
od of the Arabian conquest. There are now only 
twelve." (Niebuhr's Travels, vol. i. p. 104.) 

[As both the country and the inhabitants of Egypt 
occupy so prominent a place in the history of the 
Jewish people, and almost every thing which relates 
to them, goes directly to illustrate the Hebrew Scrip- 
tures, it may not be improper to give here a more de- 
tailed account of this important country, than is 
found in the preceding interesting, but somewhat 
meagre, article. 

Egypt is, in the Old Testament, usually called 
Mizraim, after the second son of Ham, and grandson 
of Noah; less frequently it is called Mazor, 2 Kings 
xix. 24; Isa. xix. 6; xxxvii. 25; Micah vii. 12; where, 
however, our English version has rendered this word 
by besieged place, fortress, defence. The ancient name 
of the country among the inhabitants themselves, was 
Chimi, or Cliami, (XHMI, or in the dialect of Upper 
Egypt, KHMI,) which the Hebrews probably pro- 
nounced Cham, or Ham, and referred to Ham, 
the grandfather of Mizraim. The Egyptian word 
signified black, according to Plutarch; (dels. et Osir. 
p. 364.) and the land was so called from the dark 



color of its fruitful soil, manured by the slime depos- 
ited by the inundations of the Nile. In the Old Tes- 
tament the name of Rahab, (arrogance) is sometimes 
given to Egypt; (Jer. xxx. 7, li. 9; Ps. lxxxvii. 4; 
lxxxix. 11.) but it would seem to be only a poetical 
epithet, applied in consequence of the arrogance and 
oppression experienced by the Jews from the Egyp- 
tians. The origin and meaning of the name jEgyp- 
tus (whence Egypt) is unknown. The present 
Arabic name of this country, Misr, comes from the 
Hebrew Mizraim. 

The proper land of Egypt is, for the most part, a 
great valley, through which the river Nile pours its 
waters, extending in a straight line from north to 
south, and skirted on the east and west by ranges of 
mountains, which approach and recede from the 
river more or less in different parts. Where this 
valley terminates, towards the north, the Nile divides 
itself, about 40 or 50 miles from the sea-coast, into 
several arms, which enclose the so called Delta. The 
ancients numbered seven arms and mouths; the 
eastern was that of Pelusium, now that of Tineh; 
and the western that of Canopus, now that of Abou- 
kir. As these branches all separate from one point 
or channel, i. e. from the main stream, and spread 
themselves more and more as they approach the 
coast, they form with the latter a triangle, the base of 
which is the sea-coast; and having thus the form of 
the Greek letter A, delta, this part of Egypt received 
the name of the Delta, which it has ever since re- 
tained. The northern and southern points of Egypt 
are thus assigned by the prophet Ezekiel, xxix. 
10; xxx. 6 ; from Migdol, i. e. Magdolum, not far 
from the mouth of the Pelusian arm, to Syene, now 
Essuan, namely, to the border of Ethiopia. Essuan is 
also assigned by Greek and Arabian writers as the 
southern limit of Egypt. Here, in north latitude 24° 
2', the Nile issues from the granite rocks of the cata- 
racts, and enters Egypt proper. The length of the 
country, therefore, in a direct line, is 112 geographi- 
cal miles. The breadth of the valley, between Es- 
suan and the Delta, is very unequal; in some places 
the inundations of the river extend to the foot of the 
mountains; in other parts there remains a strip of a 
mile or two in breadth, which the water never covers, 
and which is therefore always dry and barren. Origin- 
ally the name Egypt designated only this valley and 
the Delta; but at a later period it came to include 
also the region between this and the Red sea from 
Berenice to Suez, a strong and mountainous tract, 
with only a few spots fit for tillage, but better adapt- 
ed to pasturage. It included also, at this time, the 
adjacent desert on the west, as far as to the oases, 
those fertile and inhabited islands in the ocean of 
sand. The name Delta, also, was extended so as to 
cover the districts between Pelusium and the border 
of Palestine, and Arabia Petrsea, — the ancient desert 
of Shur, nowDjefar; and on the west it included the 
adjacent tract as far as to the great deserts of Libya 
and Barca, — a region of sand of three days' journey 
east and west, and as many north and south. 

The country around Syene and the cataracts is 
highly picturesque; the other parts of Egypt, and 
especially the Delta, are exceedingly uniform and 
monotonous. The prospect, however, is extreme- 
ly different, according to the season of the year. 
From the middle of the spring season, when the har- 
vest is over, one sees nothing but a grey and dusty 
soil, so full of cracks and chasms, that he can hardly- 
pass along. At the time of the autumnal equinox, 



EGYPT 



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EGYPT 



tlv: whole country presents nothing but. an immeas- 
urable surface of reddish or yellowish water, out of 
which rise date-trees, villages, and narrow dams, 
which serve as a means of communication. After 
the waters have retreated, which usually remain only 
a short time at this height, you see, till the end of 
autumn, only a black and slimy mud. But in win- 
ter, nature puts on all her splendor. In this season, 
the freshness and power of the new vegetation, the 
variety and abundance of vegetable productions, ex- 
ceed every thing that is known in the most celebrat- 
ed parts of the European continent ; and Egypt is 
then, from one end of the country to the other, noth- 
ing but a beautiful garden, a verdant meadow, a field 
sown with flowers, or a waving ocean of grain in the 
ear. This fertility, as is well known, depends upon 
the annual and regular inundations of the Nile. See 
Nile. 

The sky is not less uniform and monotonous than 
the earth ; it is constantly a pure unclouded arch, of 
a color and light more white than azure. The at- 
mosphere has a splendor which the eye can scarcely 
bear ; and a burning sun, whose glow is tempered 
by no shade, scorches through the whole day these 
vast and unprotected plains. It is almost a peculiar 
trait in the Egyptian landscape, that although not 
without trees, it is yet almost without shade. The 
only tree is the date-tree, which is frequent; but 
with its tall, slender stem, and bunch of foliage on the 
top, this tree does very little to keep off the light, and 
casts upon the earth only a pale and uncertain shade. 
Egypt, accordingly, has a very hot climate; the 
thermometer in summer standing usually at 80 or 90 
degrees of Fahrenheit ; and in Upper Egypt still 
higher. The burning wind of the desert, Simoom, or 
Camsin, is also experienced, usually about the time 
of the early equinox. The country is also not un- 
frequently visited by swarms of locusts. See Lo- 
custs. 

The chief agricultural productions of Egypt are 
wheat, durrah or small maize, Turkish corn or maize, 
rice, barley, beans, cucumbers, water-melons, leeks 
and onions ; also flax and cotton. The date-tree and 
vine are frequent. The papyrus is still found in 
small quantity, chiefly near Damietta ; it is a reed 
about nine feet high, as thick as a man's thumb, with 
a tuft of down on the top. The animals of Egypt, 
besides the usual kinds of tame cattle, are the wild ox 
or buffalo in great numbers, the ass and camel, dogs in 
multitudes without masters, the ichneumon, (a kind 
of weasel,) the crocodile, and the hippopotamus ; for 
which, see these articles respectively. 

In the very earliest times, Egypt appears to have 
already been regarded under three principal divisions ; 
and writers spoke either of Upper and Lower Egypt ; 
or of Upper Egypt or Thebais, Middle Egypt, Hep- 
tanoinis or Heptapolis, and Lower Egypt or the Del- 
ta, including the districts lying east and west. The 
provinces and cities of Egypt mentioned in the Bible 
may, in like manner, be arranged under these three 
great divisions. 

1. Lower Egypt. The north-eastern point of this 
wns the Brook of Egypt, (see below,) on the border 
of Palestine. The desert between this point, the Red 
sea, and the ancient Pelusium, seems have been 
the desert of Shur, (Gen. xx. 1. al.) now el-Djefar. 
Sin, "the strength [key] of Egypt," Ezek. xxx. 15, 
was probably Pelusium. The land of Goshen ap- 
pears to have lain between Pelusium, its branch of 
the Nile, and the Red sea, having been skirted on 
the north-east by the desert of Shur ; constituting, 



perhaps, a part of the province Raamses ; Gen. xlvii. 
11. In this district, or adjacent to it, are mentioned 
also the cities Pithom, Raamses, Pi-Beseth, and 
On or Heliopolis. In the proper Delta itself, lay 
Tahapanes, i. e. Taphne or Daphne ; Zoan, the 
Tanis of the Greeks ; Leontopolis, mentioned per- 
haps in Is. xix. 18. To the west of the Delta was 
Alexandria. 

2. Middle Egypt. Here are mentioned Moph or 
Memphis ; and Hanes, the Coptic Hues or Ehnes, 
the Anysis of Herodotus, and Great Heracleopolis of 
the Greeks. 

3. Upper Egypt. The southern part of Egypt the 
Hebrews appear to Lave called Pathros, (Jer. xliv. 
1, 15.) The Bible mentions here only two cities, viz. 
No, or more fully No-Ammon, for which the Seventy 
put Diospolis, the Greek name for Thebes, the most 
ancient capital of Egypt; (see Ammon and Thebes ;) 
and Syene, the southern city and limit of Egypt. 

The early history of ancient Egypt is involved in 
great obscurity ; and this is not the place to enter 
into its details. All accounts, however, and the re- 
sults of all modern researches, seem to concur, in 
representing culture and civilization as having been 
introduced and spread in Egypt from the south, and 
especially from Meroe ; and that the country in the 
earliest times was possessed by several contemporary 
kings or states, which at length were all united into 
one great kingdom. A priesthood seems to have 
governed the land ; and in some of the smaller states, 
the head of the state was also a priest. Not long 
after the death of Joseph, apparently, the Hyksos or 
shepherds, most probably an Arabian nomadic tribe, 
began their irruptions, and at last got possession of 
the country. After they were driven out, the whole 
land appears to have been again united under one 
sovereign, and from this time, or (about 1100 B. C.) 
to have enjoyed its greatest prosperity. The first 
king of the 19th dynasty, as it is called by Manetho, 
was the celebrated Sesostris, about 1500 B. C. His 
successors are all called in the Bible, not by their 
proper names, but by the general appellation Pha- 
raoh, i. e. kings. The first who is mentioned by his 
proper name is Shishak, (1 Kings xiv. 25, 26,) sup- 
posed to be the Sesonchosis of Manetho, about 970 
B. C. In the same century, Ethiopian kings reigned 
over Upper Egypt ; of whom two are mentioned 
in the Bible, viz. So, or Sevechus, (2 Kings xvii. 4.) 
about 722 B. C. and Tirhaka, contemporary with Hez- 
ekiah, 2 Kings xix. 9. The latter is said by Herodo- 
tus, to have withdrawn from Egypt, (ii. 139.) After 
this, the whole country was for a time under twelve 
kings, (about 711 B. C.) who at length were all sub- 
dued by Psammetichus, to whom allusion is made in 
Isa. xix. 4. His son Necho is mentioned 2 Kings 
xxiii. 29, seq. xxiv. 7, and elsewhere. The grandson 
of Necho was Hophra, who is also often mentioned 
in the Scriptures. This dynasty was overthrown bv 
Nebuchadnezzar, as announced by the prophets Jte« 
emiah and Ezekiel. Jer. xliii. 10 — 13 ; xlvi. 13, seq. 
Ezek. xxix. 18, seq. xxx. 10, seq. xxxii. 11, seq. 
With these annunciations the reports of Arabian 
writers distinctly agree. 

Egypt was afterwards conquered by Cambyses, and 
became a province of the Persian empire about 525 
B. C. Thus it continued until conquered by Alex- 
ander, 350 B. C., after whose death it formed, along 
with Syria, Palestine, Lybia, &c. the kingdom of the 
Ptolemies. After the battle of Actium, 30 B. C it 
became a Roman province. Since that time it has 
ceased to be an independent state, and its history ia 



EGYPT 



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EGYPT 



incorpctaied with that of its different conquerors and 
possessors. In 640, it was conquered by the Arabs ; 
and in later periods has passed from the hands of the 
caliphs under the power of Turks, Arabs, Kurds, 
Mamelukes ; and since 1517, has been governed as a 
province of the Turkish empire. 

The division of the inhabitants which prevails in 
Egypt, and especially the ancient division into castes, 
has been spoken of above. 

From the histories of Egypt by Manetho, Herodotus, 
Diodorus, Strabo, Plutarch, and others, and from the 
modern discoveries of Champollion in hieroglyphics, 
chronologists have been led to divide the Egyptian 
empire into five periods. These are as follows: (1.) 
The first begins with the establishment of their gov- 
ernment, and comprehends the time during which 
all religious and political authority was in the hands 
of the priesthood, who laid the first foundation of 
the future power of Egypt, founding and embellish- 
ing the great city of Thebes, building magnificent 
temples, and instituting the mysteries of Isis, from 
Mizraim to Menes. (2.) The second period begins at 
the abolition of this primitive government, and the 
first establishment of the monarchical government 
by Menes. From this time commences what is gen- 
erally called the Pharaonic age, and ends at the irrup- 
tion of Cambyses. This is the most brilliant period 
of Egyptian history ; during which Egypt was cover- 
ed with those magnificent works which still com- 
mand our admiration and excite our astonishment ; 
and by the wisdom of its institutions and laws,. and 
by the learning of its priests, was rendered the most 
rich, populous, and enlightened country in the world. 
(3.) The third epoch includes the period of the Per- 
sian dominion, about 200 years. (4.) The fourjh 
covers the reigns of the Ptolemies. (5.) The fifth be- 
gins when Egypt became a Roman province, and 
continues to the middle of the fourth century. 
Compare Spineto's Lectures on Hieroglyphics, p. 
15, seq. 

The religion of Egypt consisted in the worship of the 
heavenly bodies and the powers of nature ; the priests 
cultivated at the same time astronomy and astrology, 
and to these belong probably the wise men, sorce- 
rers, and magicians, mentioned Ex. vii. 11, 22. It 
was probably this wisdom, in which Moses also was 
learned, Acts vii. 22. But the Egyptian religion had 
this peculiarity, that it adopted living animals as sym- 
bols of the real objects of worship. 

The Egyptians not only esteemed many species of 
animals as sacred, which might not be killed without 
the punishment of death, but individual animals were 
kept in temples and worshipped with sacrifices, as 
gods. (See Apis.) But although this worship of ani- 
mals was common throughout Egypt, yet it differed 
in different parts of the country. There were but a 
few species which all Egypt worshipped. The oth- 
ers were sacred in one district, but not in another. 
In one province, they might be killed and eaten ; in 
another, the punishment of death was the price of 
doing them an injury. (Herod, ii. 65, seq.) It was in 
consequence of this, that the destruction of the first- 
born in Egvpt was made to extend also to the beasts. 
Ex. xii. 12. 

The language of the ancient Egyptians differed es- 
sentially from all the Asiatic languages, as appears 
from the remains of it still extant in the Coptic. This 
last indeed has ceased to be a living language since 
the eighth century ; for although the Copts continue 
to form a distinct class in the Egyptian population, 
yet, like the other inhabitants, they speak Arabic. 



But their former language still exists in their writings, 
which are limited to a version of the Scriptures, 
homilies, lives of the saints nd martyrs, aud the like. 
The language of these writings, however, is no long- 
er the pure ancient Egyptian, but intermingles many 
Greek words ; and also the Coptic alphabet is bor- 
rowed from the Greek, with the addition of eight 
letters, for sounds which could not be marked by the 
Greek characters. With the help even of the lan- 
guage as found in these writings, learned men, par- 
ticularly Jablonsky, Quatremere, and Champollion, 
as well as others, have been able to illustrate the 
meaning of many old Egyptian words which occur 
in the Old Testament, and in Greek and Roman 
writers. It cannot, however, be supposed, that the 
language at the time of the introduction of Christian- 
ity was in all respects the same as that spoken in the 
times of the Pharaohs ; and this is confirmed by the 
modern attempts to decipher the inscriptions on mon- 
uments, and the language of papyrus rolls, from the 
times of the Pharaohs and Ptolemies. The language 
of these differs from the Coptic, as was to be expect- 
ed, in forms, flexion, and syntax. The subject will 
be more fully developed, when the researches of 
Champollion and others shall have been completed, 
aud laid before the public. For the connection or 
resemblance between the ancient Egyptian and He- 
brew alphabets, see professor Stuart's note in Grep- 
po's Essay on the Hieroglyphic System, p. 267, to 
which work also the reader, who wishes to obtain 
further information respecting hieroglyphics, may be 
referred. 

The most extraordinary monuments of Egyptian 
power and industry were the pyramids, which still 
subsist, to excite the wonder and admiration of the 
world. A description of these extraordinary struc- 
tures has generally been considered as matter of cu- 
riosity, rather than as being applicable in illustrating 
the Scriptures, since there appears to be no allusion 
to them in the Bible. They have, however, by some, 
been supposed to have been erected by the Israelites 
during their bondage in Egypt. Josephus, indeed, 
says expressly, that the Egyptians " treated the Is- 
raelites inhumanly, and thought to wear them out by 
various labors ; they caused them to divide up the 
river into many channels, to build walls around the 
cities, and mounds to prevent the access of water 
where it would become stagnant ; and by building the 
pyramids, also, they diminished our people." (Antiq. 
ii. 9.1.) Whether Josephus made this statement on 
the authority of a national tradition, or as a conjec- 
ture of his own, cannot be determined. But the 
tenor of ancient history in general, as well as the re- 
sults of modern researches, is against the supposition 
of the pyramids having been built by the Israelites ; 
and they are usually assigned to a later period. Mr. 
Taylor, however, has adopted the above hypothesis, 
and attempts to support it by the arguments which 
follow. They may stand here, as a specimen of that 
kind of learning, which delights in doubtful and 
shadowy speculation, rather than in sober and judi- 
cious research. *R. 

Mr. Taylor conceives that Providence has left us * 
the pyramids, as everlasting monuments of the vera- 
city of that Sacred History with which we are fa 
vored. In fact, that they are part, at least, of the 
labors of the Israelites, previous to the exodus ; and 
that they remain to witness the leading events of that 
portion of the history of the sons of Jacob. -The fol- 
lowing considerations are advanced in support of 
this opinion : 



EGYPT 



[ 375 1 



EGYPT 



1. If we inquire what were the labors of the Israel- 
les for the Pharaohs, we find that they consisted in 
making bricks, to be hardened in the sun, for such 
bricks alone require the aspistance of straw in their 
composition, which material is particularly mentioned 
by the officers of this people, Exod. i. 14. Now, it 
appears from various travellers, that the internal con- 
struction of these mighty masses consists, among 
other materials, of brick of this description ; and 
thereby agrees with that circumstance of the sacred 
narrative. This is true of the great pyramid, which 
is usually visited ; but the pyramids of Sakkara, at 
some distance, are wholly composed of sun-burnt 
bricks, so that these are undeniable. 

2. The multitude, when in the wilderness, regret 
the fish which they ate in Egypt, freely, (gratis, not 
at their own expense,) the cucumbers, the melons, 
the leeks, the onions, the garlic, Numb. xi. 5. In 
conformity with this, we are told by Herodotus, that 
on the pyramid was an inscription, " expressing the 
expense of the articles of food consumed by the la- 
borers ; radishes, (the leeks, perhaps, of Scripture,) 
onions, and garlic; they cost 1,600 talents of silver." 
No doubt these vegetables were cheap enough ; so 
that this considerable sum implies a prodigious num- 
ber of workmen, employed during a great length of 
time. Herodotus also admires the further sum which 
must have been expended in food and clothes. 

3. As to the number of persons employed in their 
erection, Diodorus Siculus says, that 360,000 work- 
men, or slaves, were occupied twenty years in con- 
structing the pyramid ofChemnis. "Herodotus says 
100,000 were employed in bringing stones ; 10,000 
at a time, who relieved each other every three 
months. It may be supposed, therefore, that the 
number given by Diodorus, includes the whole of the 
population employed in all departments, while the 
number given by Herodotus is that employed in a 
specific department ; but, that all were relieved every 
three months, and that only a proportion of one 
tenth was employed at a time, seems to have been a 
kind of rule in the business. Now, it is very likely 
that the Israelites were in this manner relieved ; for 
we find, (Exod. iv. 27.) that the mother of Moses was 
able to conceal him, when an infant, no longer than 
three months. And Aaron was able to take a jour- 
ney (which usually occupies two months, says Dr. 
Shaw) to mount Horeb, to meet Moses, which, had 
he been kept without intermission to his labor, would 
have been impossible. Indeed, if the Israelites la- 
bored in the field, they could not have been con- 
stantly employed in building; and that they did la- 
bor in the field is evident from their possession of 
great herds of cattle, when they went out of Egypt. 
Add to this, that their profession was that of shep- 
herds, that they were placed in the richest pasturage 
in Egypt, that Moses stipulates that not a hoof should 
be left behind, and that the. very institution of the 
passover-lamb implies the possession of flocks ; these, 
with other circumstances, show clearly that the Is- 
raelites must have had intervals of time, in which to 
pay attention to their own property and business. 

4. It is almost certain that the native Egyptians, or 
the governing nation, at least, did not labor on these 
structures ; for Diodorus Siculus says, (lib. i. cap. 2.) 
"He [Sesostris] built .... he employed in these 
works none of his own subjects, but only the labors 
of captives. He was even careful to engrave these 
words -on the temples, ' JVo Egyptian had a hand in 
this structure.'' They say further, that the captives 
brought from Babylon, unable *o endure these labors, 



found means to escape, and . . . made war against the 
Egyptians," &c. It is therefore likely that the stran- 
ger Israelites found in Egypt, by " the king who knew 
not Joseph," and whose increasing numbers and 
strength he dreaded, would be set to labor, though in 
mere waste of their strength, on structures only useful 
in a political view, rather than any of the natural in- 
habitants, towards whom the same policy was not 
necessary. This conduct was afterwards adopted by 
Solomon ; (1 Kings ix. 27.) " Solomon built . . . of the 
Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, &.e. who were not of 
the children of Israel did Solomon levy a tribute of 
bond service — but of the children of Israel did Solo- 
mon make no bondmen ; but they were men of 
war," &c. 

5. That it was anciently, as it still is in the East, 
the custom to employ bondmen in building, is noto- 
rious ; we have therefore only to inquire, whether 
this character was attached to the Israelites. It is 
expressly attributed to them ; for they are said to be 
brought out of the house of bondage ; (Exod. xx. 2.) 
they are charged to remember they were bondmen 
in Egypt, Deut. vii. 21 ; xy. 15. That the Israelites 
did not make brick only, but performed other labors 
of building, may be inferred from Exod. ix. 8, 10. 
Moses took " ashes of the furnace" — no doubt that 
which was tended by his people. — So Psalm lxxxi. 6, 
" I removed his shoulder from the burden, and his 
hands were delivered from the basket, i. e. basket of 
burden," (not pots, as in our translation,) and with this 
rendering agree the LXX, Vulgate, Symmachus, and 
others. It is recorded, indeed, that the Israelites 
built cities for Pharaoh, and in such building they 
might and must carry the burden, and the mortar- 
basket, (analogous to our mortar-hod,) yet as their 
delivery from these things is spoken of, as the fur- 
nace is evidently not distant from the residence of 
Pharaoh, and as there is no reason to suppose that 
soon after they had built these cities they were dis- 
missed ; these circumstances seem to corroborate the 
positive testimony of Josephus, that Israel was em- 
ployed on the pyramids. We may, perhaps, attrib- 
ute the omission of finishing the last pyramid to the 
confusion consequent on the death of Pharaoh in 
the Red sea, and the hatred which attended his 
memory, among the genuine Egyptians, to which 
race he did not belong ; but was usurper over them, 
as he was a tyrant over Israel. 

6. The space of time allotted to the erection of 
these immense masses, coincides with what is usually 
allotted to the slavery of the Israelites. Israel is un- 
derstood to have been in Egypt 215 years ; of which, 
Joseph ruled seventy years, nor was it till long after 
his death, that the " new king arose who knew not 
Joseph." If we allow about forty years for the ex- 
tent of the generation which succeeded Joseph, added 
to his seventy, there remain about a hundred and 
five years to the exodus. Now — Herodotus tells us, 
(lib. ii. cap. 124.) that " till the reign of Rampsinitus, 
(the Harnesses of Scripture,) Egypt was not only 
remarkable for its abundance, but for its excellent 
laws. Cheops, who succeeded this prince, degene- 
rated into the extremest profligacy of conduct. He 
barred the avenues to every temple, forbade the 
Egyptians from offering sacrifices, and next proceed- 
ed to make them labor servilely for himself, by build- 
ing the pyramids. Cheops reigned fifty years. 
(Cap. 127.) His brother Chephren succeeded, and 
reigned fifty-six years : he adopted a similar conduct; 
Thus for the space of 106 years, were the Egyptians 
exposed to every species of oppression and calamity ; 



EGYPT 



t 376 ] 



EGYPT 



not having in all this period permission to worship 
in their temples. For the memory of these two 
monarchs they have so extreme an aversion, that 
they are not willing to mention their names. They 
call their pyramids by the name of the shepherd Phili- 
ti s, who at that time fed his cattle in those places. 
Mycerinus succeeded Chephren ; disapproved his 
father's conduct ; commanded the temples to be 
opened, and the people, who had been reduced to 
the most extreme affliction, were again permitted to 
offer sacrifice." — Here are plain traces of a govern- 
ment by a foreign family, and of a worship contrary 
to that which had been previously established in 
Egypt, which agrees exactly with circumstances nar- 
rated in Exodus. The historian relates that it lasted 
106 years, in which it coincides with the bondage- 
time of the sons of Israel. 

But there is information couched under the am- 
biguous mention of the shepherd Philitis, which 
should not escape us. It is clear, that the Egyptians 
could not call the kings by whose order the pyramids 
( plural) were built, by this name, in the hearing of 
Herodotus, since they referred them to their kings 
Cheops and Chephren ; besides which, it would 
seem that the shepherd Philitis had formerly, and 
customarily, fed his cattle elsewhere. We may, 
therefore, understand this passage thus : — They at- 
tributed the labor of constructing these pyramids to 
a shepherd who came from Philistia ; but who at 
that time fed his cattle in the land of Egypt. Im- 
plying, that they more readily told the appellation 
of the workmen [the sons of Israel, the shepherd, 
Gen. xlvii. 5.] employed in the building, than of the 
kings by whose commands they were built. They 
seem to have done the same in the days of Diodorus, 
who remarks, "They admit that these works are 
superior to all which are seen in Egypt ; not only 
by the immensity of their mass, and by their pro- 
digious cost, but still more by the beauty of their con- 
struction ; and the workmen who have rendered 
them so perfect, are much more estimable than the 
kings who paid their cost: for the former have here- 
by given a memorable proof of their genius and skill, 
whereas the kings contributed only the riches left 
by their ancestors, or extorted from their subjects. . . 
They say, the first was erected by Arm-cms, the sec- 
ond by Ammosis, the third by Inaron." The first 
name, Armeeus, Mr. Taylor corrects into Aromaus ; 
that is, " the Syrian :" and then the title perfectly 
coincides with the mention of the shepherd of Pal- 
estine, by Herodotus. This passage being extreme- 
ly curious, and perhaps never properly understood, 
the original Greek is subjoined. (Diod. Sic. lib. i. 
sect. 2.) 

— Tir utyiaTi^' noi^aai Xtyovniv ' dquatov, \_' dQtxuuiov^] 
T/ r fie StvTeQav ' AfliLtoOiv , t\(v Se tqit'^v 'IvaQwvct. 

This coincidence will appear more striking if the 
names be considered distinct from their prefixes, 
for, if we compare them with the description of 
Moses and Aaron, (Ex. vi. 26. 27.) we find them the 
same, as near as traditionary pronunciation by na- 
tives of different countries could bring it : aMousin, 
or haMousin. is huMouseh, rvfo Nin : and inArona, or 
hinArona, is huAaron, p-H .sin, which, where two 
vowel sounds came together, took a consonant be- 
tween them, when spoken, — JmnAaron. This, there- 
fore, confirms the supposition, that the Israelites 
were employed on the pyramids ; first, under the 
appellation of the Syrian, or Aramean, (the very title 
given to Ja°ob, " An Aramite ready to perish was 



my father, he went down into Egypt . . '. and the 
Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and 
laid upon us hard bondage," Deut. xxvi. 5.) — and 
afterwards, under the names of the two most famous 
principals of that people. 

But beside the names of Moses and Aaron, the 
builders, we may possibly find that the names of the 
kings by whose order they were built, are also pre- 
served, so far at least as by the help of Scripture 
to afford assistance in this inquiry. " Rampsinilus, 
(supposed to be the Remphis of the next paragraph, 
from Diodorus Siculus) .... possessed such abund- 
ance of wealth, that so far from surpassing, none of 
his successors ever equalled him in affluence ;" says 
Herodotus; who also relates a history of his trea- 
sury, from which the least we can gather is that it 
was very extrao "dinary. " Remphis, (son of Protheus,) 
having succeeded his father, employed the whole 
period of his reign in increasing his revenues, and 
amassing gold and silver .... he left behind him 
more riches than any of his predecessors ; for it is 
said that in his coffers were found 400,000 talents," 
Diod. Sic. lib. i. sect. 2. 

Rawnesses or Raugmesses (Benjamin of Tudela 
writes it Raghmcsses ; Eusebius, Ramises ; Josephus, 
Ramphates ; and such differences indicate a foreign 
origin) is the name of a town, (Exod. i. 11 ; xii. 37.) 
apparently named after this king of Egypt ; and if 
pronounced Ruemetses, it would be the Indian Ruc- 
mavatsa. This elision is common in India, and ma- 
jor Wilford adopts it himself, by supposing that the 
Tamovatsa of this passage is the Timaus of the 
Greek writers. Rucmavatsa was, say the Puranas, 
not of the royal race of Egypt ; but his grand- 
father Tamovatsadefeated the Egyptian king, " placed 
himself on the throne of Misra, and governed the 
kingdom with perfect equity: his son Rahya-vatsa 
devoted himself to religion, having resigned his do- 
minion to his son Rucmavatsa, who tenderly loved 
his people, and so highly improved this country, that 
from his just revenues he amassed an incredible 
treasure. His wealth was so great, that he raised 
three mountains called Rucmadri, Rajatadri, and 
Retnadri ; or, the Mountain of gold, of silver, and 
of gems. The author says, mountains, but it appears, 
says major Wilford, from the context, that they were 
fabrics. (The Arabs and Turks, call them Djebel 
Pharouni, Pharaoh's Mountains, to this day.) — There- 
can be little or no doubt, that they are the three 
pyramids near Misra-sthan, or Memphis. Rucma- 
vatsa was no tyrant to his own people, whom he 
cherished, says the ' Mahacalpa,' as if they had been 
his own children ; but he might have compelled the 
native Egyptians to work, for the sake of keeping 
them employed, and subduing their spirit. The first 
was said to be of gold, because coated with yellow 
marble ; the second of silver, because coated with 
white marble ; the third of gems, because coated 
with variegated marble;" or perhaps marbles set in 
some pattern. 

Now, the opposite character of this Rucmavatsa 
is what we should expect would be delivered by 
writers of opposite nations. (] .) He ivas a foreigner 
introduced by conquest, therefore, "he knew not Jo- 
seph," nor cared for any former services rendered 
by that "Saviour. of the (Egyptian) world." (2.) He 
tenderly loved his people — his own people, foreigners 
like himself ; but the Egyptians were not so fond 
of him, they rather banished his name from their 
memory, and hated the mention of it. (3.) From his 
just revenues he amassed treasures — but his conquer- 



EGYPT 



L 377 ] 



E H U 



ed subjects would describe this as iniquitous exac- 
tion. (4.) This family shut up the temples ; and we 
are sure they prohibited sacrifices in the instance of 
Israel. This might be piety in the opinion of the 
writers of the Mahacalpa ; but the original Egyptians 
would esteem it persecution for religion's sake, and 
consequently wickedness of no common guilt. (5.) 
He built three mountains: — rather three mountains 
were built during the reign of his family ; — on these 
he did not employ his own people, but partly the 
native Egyptians, with others whom he found in the 
country, (the mixed multitude of Exod. xii. 38.) and 
partly the Israelites, whom he wished to subdue by 
labor. The character of this prince agrees suffi- 
ciently to prove his identity ; and it disagrees suffi- 
ciently to prove, that on one side it is viewed with 
the eye of national and religious partiality ; on the 
other, with the aversion of national and religious ab- 
horrence. The progress is as usual in these cases. — 
Taxation accumulates wealth ; wealth is dissipated 
in expensive buildings, and is accompanied by over- 
driven slavery ; this issues in insurrection, and the 
escape of the sufferers. Precisely parallel to this is 
the occasion of the revolt of the ten tribes from the 
family of Solomon, 1 Kings xii. 3, 4. 18 ; 2 Chron. 
x. 4. It is impossible to refrain from observing how 
aptly historical narration and geographical discus- 
sion illustrate each other. And we form this general 
conclusion, that so many coincidences justify us in 
believing that the pyramids of Egypt were built 
when Israel was in that land ; were partly construct- 
ed by that people ; and that the labors they exacted 
fostered that aversion of mind which the true Egyp- 
tians entertained against the memories of their op- 
pressors ; so that in later ages, the priests rather 
mentioned, to inquiring foreigners, the names of the 
operative builders, than of the kings whose treasures 
had been expended on their construction. As to 
the difference of names between Cheops and Harnes- 
ses ; probably one may be a title, or a name taken 
on a certain occasion ; or one may be a Hindoo, the 
other an Egyptian, appellation. At all events, we 
know so little on this subject, that no objection can 
be maintained from it, without further information. 

The pyramids are such extraordinary works, that 
they justify extraordinary attention ; and having at- 
tempted to ascertain their builders, we shall subjoin 
a few remarks on their purpose. They have been 
described as three mountains, but it appears from 
the context, says major Wilford, that they were fab- 
rics ; — and he adds, "As to the three stupendous 
edifices, called mountains, from their size and form, 
there can be little or no doubt that they were the 
three great pyramids near Misra-st'han or Memphis ; 
which, according to the Puranas and to Pliny, were 
built from a motive of ostentation, but, according to 
Aristotle, were monuments of tyranny." "The Bra- 
mens never understood, that any pyramid in Misra- 
st'hala, or Egypt, was intended as a repository for 
the dead ; and no such idea is conveyed by the Ma- 
hacalpa, where several other pyramids are expressly 
mentioned as places of worship. There are pyra- 
mids now at Benares, but on a small scale, with sub- 
terranean passages under them, which are said to 
extend many miles ; when the doors, which close 
them, are opened, we perceive only dark holes, 
which do not seem of great extent, and pilgrims no 
longer resort to them, through fear of mephitic air, 
or of noxious reptiles. The narrow passage, leading 
to the great pyramid in Egypt, was designed to ren- 
der the holy apartment less accessible, and to inspire 
48 



the votaries with more awe. On my describing the 
great Egyptian pyramid to several very learned 
Brahmens, they declared it at once to have been a 
temple, appropriated to the worship of Padmadevi, 
and that the supposed tomb was a trough, which, 
on certain festivals, her priests used to fill with the 
sacred water and lotos-flowers." These sentiments 
are repetitions of those which governed the builders 
of Babel, who proposed a tower, the top of which 
"should be (sacred) to the heavens;" and these 
Egyptian pyramids were imitations of that in the 
land of Shinar, and were intended for the same pur- 
poses. (See Babel.) But, we must not pass that 
colossal performance, the Sphinx, without remark- 
ing that it greatly contributes to strengthen our ar- 
gument. 

The Sphinx is a figure composed of a lion's body, 
and a woman or man's bosom, neck, and head. 
This is perfectly agreeable to the notion of a foreign 
nation, supposed to have overrun Egypt ; and it 
forms an instance of the care taken to perpetuate 
the insignia of the original country. In short, the 
Hindoo conquerors (see Shem) placed it in front of 
the pyramids, looking eastward, that it might con- 
stantly recall the memory of the Sun-rising land. 
The number of smaller pyramids, and of temples, 
still existing in ruins around, demonstrate that here 
was a prodigious establishment for national worship ; 
such an one, no doubt, the builders at Babel contem- 
plated ; but the want of stone in that couutry oblig- 
ing them to use brick, the labors of the Pharaohs 
have outlasted the efforts of the chiefs of Babylon. 

But though it be admitted that the Israelites con- 
tributed to erect the pyramids, it does not follow 
that they cased them with their coating of marble or 
granite. That was, in all probability, performed by 
professed artists ; the stones were brought from a 
distance, and doubtless required skill as well as labor 
in their preparation and use. It is indeed a tradition 
on the spot, that the Israelites dug out from the 
rocks adjacent those grottos which show from 
whence came the layers of stone which accompany 
the rubble work ; and this may be true ; but the 
granite, it is presumed, they did not cut. 

EGYPT, brook, or river of. This is frequent- 
ly mentioned as the southern limit of the Land of 
Promise, Gen. xv. 18 ; 2 Chron. vii. 8 ; Num. xxiv. 5 ; 
Joshua xv. 4. Calmet is of opinion, that this was the 
Nile : remarking that Joshua (xiii. 3.) describes it by 
the name of Sihor ; which is the true name of the 
Nile; "the muddy river:" and that Amos (vi. 14.) 
calls it the river of the wilderness, because the east- 
ern arm of the Nile adjoined Arabia, or the wilder- 
ness, in Hebrew Araba, and watered the district by 
the Egyptians called Arabian. In answer to this, it 
is said that this stream was the limit of Judea toward 
Egypt ; and that the LXX, (Isaiah xxvii. 12.) "unto 
the river of Egypt," render "to Rhinocorura;" a 
town certainly not adjacent to the Nile. Besides, it 
is extremely dubious whether the power of the He- 
brew nation extended, at any time, to the Nile ; and 
if it did, it was over a mere sandy desert. But as 
this desert is unquestionably the natural boundary 
of the Syrian dominions, no reason can be given 
why the political boundary should exceed it. Such 
an anomaly is an error against both nature and geo- 
graphy. We take the river of Egypt, therefore, to 
he the brook Besor, between Gaza and Rhinocorura. 
See Josh. xv. 47. See Nile. 

EHUD, son of Gera; a judge of Israel, who slew 
Eglon, king of Moab. Judg. iii. 15. 



EL A 



[ 378 ] 



ELATH 



There is a circumstance in the history of Ehud 
Judg. iii. 15, &c.) which is well illustrated by an oc- 
currence noticed by Mr. Bruce. "Ehud said, l I 
have a secret errand unto thee, O king!' who said, 
' Keep silence !' and all that stood by him went out 
from before him. And Ehud came unto him," &c. — 
This seems to imply, that the delivery of messages 
announced as secret was nothing uncommon, but 
that the king's people knew their duty, and, on the 
mention of such a thing, quitted the presence, as 
good manners directed them. This idea of the fre- 
quency of such messages accounts also for the non- 
suspicion of Eglon, or of his attendants, respecting 
this communication of Ehud ; in fact, this part of 
the history assumes much more the air of an ordina- 
ry occurrence, after having read the passage from 
Bruce, which renders the whole action so much the 
easier ; as there can be no doubt that Ehud laid his 
plan with strict attention to the manners of the times, 
and conducted it, also, in correct conformity to the 
modes prevalent in the king's court ; as might best 
insure his purpose, might prevent suspicion of his 
design, and might most effectually render detection 
of it unavailing. — "I drank a dish of coffee, and told 
him that I was bearer of a confidential message from 
Ali Bey of Cairo, and wished to deliver it to him, 
without witnesses, whenever he pleased. The room 
was accordingly cleared, without delay, excepting his 
secretary, who was also going away, when I pulled 
him back by the clothes, saying, 'Stay, if you please ; 
we shall need you to write the answer.' We were 
no sooner left alone, than I told the aga that, .... I 
wished to put it in his power, as he pleased or not, 
to have witnesses of delivering the small present I 
had brought him from Cairo." (Trav. vol. i. p. 153.) 

EKRON, the most northern city of the Philistines, 
allotted to Judah by Joshua, (xv. 45.) but afterwards 
given to Dan, (xix. 43.) though it does not appear 
that the Jews ever peaceably possessed it. It was 
near the Mediterranean, between Ashdod and Jam- 
nia, and is probably the ruined village now called 
Tookrain. The Ekronites were the first who pro- 
posed to send back the ark, in order to be delivered 
from those calamities which it brought on their 
country, 1 Sam. v. 10. Baalzebub was adored at 
Ekron, 2 Kings i. 2. 

I ELAH, Aholibamah's successor in the govern- 
ment of Edom, Gen. xxxvi. 41. 

II. ELAH, a son of Baasha king of Israel ; as- 
sassinated by Zimri, after reigning two years, 1 
Kings xvi. 6—9. His son Hoshea killed Pekah, the 
usurper, 2 Kings xv. 30. 

III. ELAH, a valley, where the Israelites encamp- 
ed when David fought Goliath, (1 Sam. xvii. 19.) 
three miles from Bethlehem, on the road to Jaffa. 

I. ELAM, son of Shem, Gen. x. 22. 

II. ELAM, the name of the country originally 
possessed by the Persians, (Gen. xiv. 1.) and so call- 
ed from the son of Shem above noticed. That Elam 
took possession of the southern tract, east of the Eu- 
phrates, and comprising the mountainous regions of 
Khusistan and Louristan, is certain, not only from 
Scripture, in which the inhabitants of these regions 
are called Elamites, but also from heathen writers, 
who speak of the Elymaei as a people dwelling on 
the Persian gulf. It corresponded to the Elymais 
of Greek and Roman writers, which comprehended 
a part of Susiana, now Khusistan, — or, more prob- 
ably, included the whole of Susiana. The city 
Susa, or Shushan, was in it, Dan. viii. 2. See Elt- 

MAl Q 



ELATH, or Eloth, a city of Edom on the east- 
ern gulf of the Red sea, and which Smidts thinks 
was named from Ela, a duke of Edom, who built it, 
Gen. xxxvi. 41. Eloth was singularly varied in the 
writing, and no doubt in the pronunciation, of its 
name : ^Elath, iElana, Aila, Ailana, Ailas, Ailath, 
Ailoth, Elath, Elana, Haila, Hailath, &c. Pliny says 
it was called Leana, from the Leanites, a people 
that dwelt on the shores of the Elanitic gulf, which 
gulf was between Eloth and Gaza. In later ages 
it was commonly called Elana, and was, according to 
Jerome, the first port from which to sail from India 
to Egypt. After the decease of Alexander, and the 
wars consequent on his death, Elana was subject m 
the kings of Egypt ; afterwards tq those of Syria ; 
then to the Romans, who, in the days of Jerome, 
stationed the tenth legion there. 

Ibn Haukal (Appendix to Eng. Tr. of D'Arvieux,) 
describes Ailah as " formerly a small town, with 
some fruitful lands about it : it is the city of those 
Jews who were turned into hogs and monkeys. It 
stands upon the coast of the Red sea, pretty near the 
road of the Egyptian pilgrims that go to Mecca. It 
is now nothing but a tower, the residence of a gov- 
ernor, who depends upon him of Grand Cairo. 
There are now no longer any sown fields there. 
There was formerly a fort built in the sea, but it is 
all gone to ruin, and the commander lives in the 
tower we were just speaking of, which stands by the 
water-side." This information is of consequence, 
as it shows that the character of the country is 
changed. It had formerly " fruitful lands ;" it had 
"sown fields." It had also "a fort built in the sea:" 
but there would have been no occasion for a fort, 
and still less for a fort in the sea, if it had not for- 
merly been a seaport, and a place worth defending. 

Describing the Red sea, the same writer says, (p. 
353.) — "Leaving Madyan, it comes to Ailah, which 
is under the 55th degree of longitude, and 29th of 
latitude. From Ailah the sea bends southward as 
far as Al-tour, which is mount Sinai, that by a very 
high cape, jutting out into the sea, divides it into two 
arms. From thence, turning back again northward, 
it comes at last to Kolzum, which stands to the west 
of Ailah, both of them having almost the same lati- 
tude. Kolzum and Ailah are situate upon the two 
ends of the sea we have been speaking of, and so are 
we arrived at the northern Terra Firma. Among 
the turnings and windings which this sea makes, 
which we have just now been describing, the land 
juts out on the south ; and the place where it parts 
the sea is Al-tour, — mount Sinai, the longitude of 
which is almost the same as that of Ailah. Ailah 
stands upon the extremity of the eastern arm or 
channel, and Kolzum upon the extremity of the 
western one. Ailah is more easterly than Kolzum. 
What is between Kolzum and Ailah is mount Al- 
tour, which is more southerly than Kolzum, and 
Ailah lies at the end of the cape that runs out into 
the sea. The sea flows between Al-tour and the 
coast of Egypt, and shuts up the channel or arm, 
upon the extremity of which Kolzum stands. Just 
so between Al-tour and the shore of Hegiaz there is 
another channel, upon the extremity of which the 
town of Ailah stands. To go from Al-tour to either 
of the opnosite lands is a very short passage by sea, 
but it is abundantly a longer way by the desert of 
Fakiah, because those who come from Al-tour to 
go into Egypt must of necessity pass round Kol- 
zum ; or beyond Ailah, if they are going to Hegiaz. 
1 Al-tour is joined to the continent on the north side; 



ELATII 



L 379 ] 



ELATfl 



out ll is encompassed by the sea on the other three 
sides." The following is Mr. Bruce's account of the 
eastern, or Elanitic, gulf of the Red sea:- "We 
sailed from cape Mahomet, just as the sun appeared. 
We passed the island of Tyrone in the mouth of the 
Elanitic gulf, which it divides nearly equally into 
two ; or, rather, the north-west side is the narrowest. 
The direction of the gulf is nearly north and south. 
I judge it to be about six leagues over. Many of the 
Cairo ships are lost in mistaking the entry of the 
Elanitic gulf for that of the Heropolitic gulf, or gulf 
of Suez ; for, from the island of Tyrone, which is 
not above two leagues from the main, there runs a 
string of islands, which seem to make a semicircu- 
lar bar across the entry from the point, where a ship, 
going with a south wind, would take its departure ; 
and this range of islands ends in a shoal with sunken 
rocks, which reaches near five leagues from the main. 
It is probable, that upon these islands the fleet of 
Rehoboam perished when sailing for the expedition 
of Ophir, 2 Chron. xx. 37." (Trav. vol. i. p. 241.) 

[The country around the eastern, or Elanitic, gulf 
of the Red sea, has been, until within a few years, 
almost a terra incognita. One of the most important 
of Burckhardt's discoveries, is said by his editor, Mr. 
Leake, himself a traveller and man of science, to be the 
ascertaining of " the extent and form of the Elanitic 
gulf, hitherto so imperfectly known, as either to be 
omitted in the maps, or marked with a bifurcation at 
the extremity, which is now found not to exist." 
(Preface to Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, &c. p. v.) 
It is to the same traveller, also, that we are first in- 
debted for a knowledge of the existence of the long 
valley, known by the names of El Ghor, and El Araba, 
extending from the Dead sea to the Elanitic gulf, 
and forming a prolongation of the great valley of the 
Jordan ; thus indicating, that not improbably the 
Jordan once discharged itself into the Red sea. See 
Burckhardt's letter, inserted in the article Canaan ; 
also, the extract below, from Riippell ; and compare 
the articles Exodus and Jordan. 

It was in the spring of 1816, that Burckhardt visit- 
ed the peninsula of mount Sinai, and examined the 
western coast of the Elanitic gulf, with the intention 
of proceeding to Akaba, situated at its northern ex- 
tremity. Having arrived, however, within sight of 
that place, he found it impossible to proceed, because 
of the hostile and perfidious character of the tribes 
of Bedouins, in that vicinity, to whom his guides 
were strangers. (Travels in Syria, &c. p. 508, seq.) 
"The Alowein and the Omran' are the masters of 
the district of Akaba, intrepid robbers, who are to 
this day entirely independent of the government of 
Egypt. Through them we must unavoidably pass, 
to reach Akaba; and Ayd [the guide] could not give 
me the smallest hope of being able to cross their 
valleys without being attacked ; — -I saw little chance 
of success, and knew, from what I had heard on my 
journey, that the Omran not only rob but murder 
passengers. I had no alternative but to turn back ; 
and, under these circumstances, I reluctantly deter- 
mined to retrace my steps the next day." He had, 
indeed, advanced too far already ; for the very next 
day he and his three Arab guides were attacked by 
a party of Bedouins, and escaped only after killing 
one of the latter. 

" Akaba was not far distant from the spot from 
whence we returned. Before sunset, I could dis- 
tinguish a black line in the plain, where my sharp- 
sighted guides clearly saw the date-trees surround- 
ing the castle, which bore N. E. by E ; it could not 



be more than five or six hours distant. Before us 
was a promontory ; and behind this, as I was told, 
another, which begins the plain of Akaba. The 
castle is situated at an hour and a half or two hours 
from the western chain of hills, down which the 
Hadji route leads ; and about the same distance 
from the eastern chain, a lower continuation of Tor 
Hcsma, a mountain which I have mentioned in my 
journey through the northern parts of Arabia Pe- 
trsea. The descent of the western mountain is very 
steep, and has probably given to the place its name 
of Akaba, which in Arabic means a cliff or steep de- 
clivity ; it is probably the Akabet Aila of the Arabian 
geographers. [Compare the extract from Ibn Hau- 
kal, above.] In Numbers xxxiv. 4. the "ascent of 
Akrabbim" is mentioned, which appears to corre- 
spond very accurately to this ascent of the western 
mountain from the plain of Akaba. Into this plain, 
which surrounds the castle on every side except the 
sea, issues the Wady el Araba, the broad sandy val- 
ley which leads towards the Dead sea, and which I 
crossed, in 1812, at a day and a half, or two days' 
journey from Akaba. At about two hours to the 
south of the castle, the eastern range of mountains 
approaches the sea. The plain of Akaba, which is 
from three to four hours in length, from west to east, 
and, I believe, not much less in breadth northward, 
is very fertile in pasturage. To the distance of 
about one hour from the sea, it is strongly impreg- 
nated with salt, but farther north sands prevail. 
The castle itself stands at a few hundred paces from 
the sea, and is surrounded with large groves of date- 
trees. It is a square building, with strong walls, 
erected, as it now stands, by sultan el Ghoury, of 
Egypt, in the sixteenth century. The castle has 
tolerably good water in deep wells. The pasha of 
Egypt keeps here a garrison of about thirty soldiers, 
to guard the provisions deposited for the supply of 
the Hadji, [or annual caravan to Mecca,] and lor the 
use of the cavalry, on their passage by this route to 
join the army of the Hedjaz. 

"It appears that the gulf extends very little farther 
east than the castle, distant from which one hour, in 
a southern direction, and on the eastern shore of the 
gulf, lies a smaller and half-ruined castle, inhabited 
by Bedouins only, called Kaszer el Bedawy. At 
about three quarters of an hour from Akaba, and the 
same distance from Kaszer, are said to be ruins in 
the sea, which are visible only at low water. They 
are said to consist of walls, houses, and columns, 
but cannot easily be approached, on account of the 
shallows. I inquired particularly whether the gulf 
did not form two branches at this extremity, as it 
has always been laid down in the maps ; but I was 
assured it had only a single ending, at which the 
castle is situated. 

" Makrizi, the Egyptian historian, says, in his 
chapter on Aila (Akaba), ' It is from hence that the 
Hedjaz begins ; in former times it was the frontier 
place of the Greeks ; at one mile from it is a trium 
phal arch of the Caesars. In the time of the Islam, 
it was a fine town, inhabited by the Beni Omeya. 
Ibn Ahmed Ibn Toulon (a sultan of Egypt) made 
the road over the Akaba, a steep mountain before 
Aila. There were many mosques at Aila, and many 
Jews lived there ; it was taken by the Franks, dur- 
ing the crusades ; but in 566, [of the Hegira,] Sala- 
heddyn [Saladin] transported ships upon camels 
from Cairo to tl is place, and recovered it from 
them. Near Aila was formerly situated a large and 
handsome town, called Aszyoun' (Ezion-geber)." 



i ; 



ELD 



With better success, Mr. Ruppell, in 1822, visited 
this region, and came to Akaba itself. His personal 
observation goe« to show the great general accuracy of 
the information collected by Burckhardt from the tes- 
timony of others. He approached the plain from the 
west, on the route of the Hadji, or great annual cara- 
van from Egypt to Mecca, alluded to above. The 
following is a translation of his remarks upon this 
region. (Reisen, etc. Fraukf. 1829, p. 247, seq.) " On 
this high table-land, we remarked, as we descended 
by a steep path among the rocks, that we were ele- 
vated at least fifteen hundred feet above the level of 
the sea. The view from the terrace of this plateau 
was very picturesque ; but probably produced the 
greater effect on me, because we had behind us a 
most hideous desert. From this point one beholds, 
in the distance, the steep blue granite mountains on 
the other side of Akaba ; on the right, a section of 
the deep-green sea. In the foreground, are wild and 
ragged masses of dark primitive rocks ; on which 
recline, in different parts, layers of yellowish shell- 
limestone. On the left is the valley of Wady Araba, 
through which the dry bed of a stream, shaded with 
bushes, winds among luxuriant meadow-grounds. 

"We occupied more than five hours in descending 
fi'om this high table-land to the sea-shore, on account 
of the many windings of the road among wild masses 
of porphyry rocks. In the more dangerous places, 
the way is hewn out of the rock, thirty feet wide. 
Here, also, an inscription records the founder of this 
toilsome work; who is doubtless annually remem- 
bered with gratitude by the pilgrims upon their way 
to Mecca. This declivity is called Djebel Mahemar ; 
that on the other (eastern) side of the valley is named 
Djebel Araba. 

" Our way now followed, for an hour, in an easter- 
ly direction, the sea-shore ; which here forms a salt 
marsh. We then reached the site of an ancient town, 
distinguished by many large mounds of rubbish, and 
probably the remains of the ancient Ailat (Elath) ; 
on this point I afterwards received express confirma- 
tion. The dry channel of the Wady Araba separates 
these ruins from the remains of a far more modern 
settlement, which lie scattered among date-trees. 
These consist of low walls of rough stones laid in 
clay. Some of these serve periodically as dwellings 
for the Bedouins. In the immediate vicinity, towards 
the east, lies the castle of Akaba, among plantations 
of date-trees. In form it is a square fortress, with 
walls in good preservation, and octagonal towers at 
the corners. It lies some hundred paces from the 
sea-shore. The pasha of Egypt keeps here a garri- 
son of forty soldiers. The gateway is still further 
defended by two bulwarks in the form of towers. 

"It has been a general opinion, that the sea of 
Akaba forms here two bays. This, however, is in- 
correct ; no one here knows any thing of such a 
bifurcation. This information, however, was not 
enough to satisfy me ; I wished myself to visit in per- 
son the eastern coast of the gulf. A good half hour 
south-east of Akaba, I found, on an excursion along 
the coast, the ruins of a castle called Kasser Bedowi ; 
it is an Arabian building, probably erected before the 
fortress of Akaba, to protect the caravan of pilgrims 
to Mecca. From this point I could see a great part 
of the eastern coast of the gulf ; I afterwards visited 
very particularly its western coast ; but I could no 
where perceive any bays like those which have been 
conjectured to exist here. In the region of Akaba 
there is not a single boat or water-craft of any kind ; 
the Arabs in fishing use only rafts made of the trunks 



of palm-trees tied together. It was, therefore, impos 
sible for me to make any investigation respecting the 
depth of the sea, or the nature of its bottom. 

"On inquiring the name of the spot where the 
above mentioned mounds of rubbish are situated, I 
was told that it was called Djelena; probably the 
ancient site of Ailat. I often wandered among these 
ruins in various directions, but never met with any 
thing of importance. 

" In the court of the castle of Akaba is a walled-up 
well, with excellent water ; indeed, throughout this 
whole region, there is every where good water. I 
took some pains to assure myself, that, at the time of 
ebb, on digging a foot deep in the sand which the sea 
has just covered, the hole is instantly filled with most 
excellent water for drinking. I often quenched, in 
this way, my thirst during long walks; and it was so 
much the more refreshing, because, during the time 
of my stay in this place, the temperature of the air 
was sometimes above thirty degrees of Reaumur, [or 
one hundred of Fahrenheit.] The existence of this 
water can be explained in no other way, than by sup- 
posing a very copious filtration of the water which 
collects in the Wady Araba, through the layer of sand 
which covers the granite formation beneath." 

Is it perhaps admissible here, to suppose that it is 
the waters of the Dead sea, which continue thus to 
filter through beneath the sands that have filled up 
the ancient channel, in which the Jordan would 
seem once to have flowed ? 

" The environs of the castle of Akaba are very in- 
secure ; in all my walks and excursions I was accom- 
panied by several soldiers ; the Hamaran Arabs 
[Omran of Burckhardt] who dwell in this region, 
are notorious on account of their faithless character. 
The Turkish garrison, however, described the dan- 
ger, no doubt, as much greater than it really is, in* 
order thus to magnify the value of the protection 
which they afforded me." *R. 

EL-BETH-EL, to the God of Bethel, the name 
given by Jacob to an altar which he built, (Gen.xxxv. 
7.) and which stood, probably, in the very spot where 
he had formerly seen the prophetic dream of the 
ladder, chap, xxviii. 22. 

ELD AD and MEDAD, were appointed by Mosea 
among the seventy elders of Israel, who were to as- 
sist in the government: though not present in the 
general assembly, they were filled with the Spirit oi 
God, equally with those who were there, and began 
to prophesy in the camp. Joshua would have had 
Moses forbid them, but he replied, "Enviestthou for 
my sake ? Would God that all the Lord's people 
were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit 
upon them !" Numb. xi. 24 — 29. 

ELDERS of Israel, the headsof tribes, who, before 
the settlement of the Hebrew commonwealth, had a 
government and authority over their own families 
and the people. When Moses was sent into Egypt 
to deliver Israel, he assembled the elders, and inform- 
ed them, that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
had appeared to him, Exod. iv. 29 ; xii. 21. Moses 
and Aaron treated the elders as representatives of the 
nation. When the law was given, God directed 
Moses to take the seventy elders, as well as Aaron, 
and Nadab and Abihu, his sons, that they might be 
witnesses, xxiv. 1, 9, 10. Ever afterwards, we find 
this number of seventy, or rather seventy-two, el 
ders ; six from each tribe. 

Some have been of opinion that these seventy el- 
ders formed a kind of senate in Egypt, for the better 
governing the people while in bondage ; and that 



ELE 



[■ 381 ] 



ELE 



from hence the famous Sanhedrim was derived in 
later ages. But it is more credible, that in the begin- 
ning they exercised, each over their respective tribe, 
and all together over the whole people, a jurisdiction 
only like that which fathers of families exercise over 
their children ; founded on the respect and obedience 
due to parents. The commissioners appointed to 
inspect in what manner the children of Israel per- 
formed their tasks in Egypt, (called in Hebrew ;tpt.3^, 
Shoterim,) were, according to some, the elders of Is- 
rael, who judged and commanded the people. The 
LXX translate scribes, that is, commissioners, who 
had lists of those that worked, who appointed them 
their tasks, and saw that they performed them. 

After Jethro's arrival in the camp of Israel, Moses 
made a considerable change in the governors of the 
people. He established over Israel heads of thou- 
sands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, that justice might 
be readily administered to applicants ; difficult cases 
only being referred to himself, Exod. xviii. 24, 25, 
&c. This constitution, however, did not long con- 
tinue ; for on the murmuring of the people at the 
encampment called the Graves of Lust, (Numb. xi. 
24, 25.) Moses appointed seventy elders of Israel, to 
whom God communicated part of that legislator's 
spirit. 

This judicial body appears to have continued, not 
only during the life of Moses, but also under Joshua, 
if not under the Judges. See Josh. ix. 15; xxiii. 
xxiv. 1, 32. See Sanhedrim. 

In allusion to the Jewish elders, the ordinary gov- 
ernors of the Christian church are called elders, or 
presbyters, and are the same as bishops or overseers, 
Acts xx. 17. 28 ; Tit. i. 5.7. 

ELEALEH, a town of Reuben, (Numb, xxxii. 37.) 
placed by Eusebius a mile from Heshbon. 

I. ELEAZAR, the third son of Aaron, (Exod. 
xxvii. 1.) and his successor as high-priest, entered 
the land of promise with Joshua, and is thought to 
have lived there about twenty-five years. The high- 
priesthood continued in his family to the time of Eli, 
who was of Ithamar's family. Eleazar was buried 
at Gabaath, [a hill,] belonging to Phinehas, his son, 
in the tribe of Ephraim, Josh. xxiv. 33. — II. A son 
of Aminadab, to whose care the ark was committed, 
when sent back by the Philistines, 1 Sam. vii. 1. It 
is believed that Eleazar was a priest, or at least a 
Levite, though his name is not inserted among the 
Levites. — III. One of the three gallant men who 
broke through the camp of the Philistines, to bring 
David water from Bethlehem. He checked an army 
of Philistines, and made great slaughter of them, 
2 Sam. xxiii. 9 ; 1 Chron.xi. 12, 16, 17.— IV. Brother 
to Judas MaccabiBus, 1 Mac. vi. 43. — V. A venerable 
old man of Jerusalem, who suffered death under the 
persecution, and in the presence of Antiochus Epiph- 
anes, 2 Mac. vi. vii. 1, 2. — VI. Son of Onias I. and 
brother of Simon surnamed the Just. Simon having 
left his son, Onias, too young to be high-priest, Ele- 
azar exercised this charge nineteen years in his stead ; 
from A. M. 3727 to 3744. There are several others 
of this name in Scripture. 

ELECT, ELECTION, see Predestination. 

ELECTA was, as is generally believed, a lady of 
quality, who lived near Ephesus, to whom John ad- 
dressed his second Epistle, cautioning her and her 
children against heretics, who denied the divinity of 
Christ, and his incarnation. Some think Electa, 
which signifies chosen, is not a proper name, but an 
honorable epithet ; [elect lady, Eng. trans.] and that 
the Epistle was directed to a church The same 



apostle salutes Electa, and her children, in his third 
Epistle ; but the accounts of this Electa are as per- 
plexed as those of the former. 

EL-ELOHE-ISRAEL, " To God the. God of Is- 
rael," the name of an altar built by Jacob in a piece 
of ground which' he bought of Hamor, Shechem's 
father, Gen.xxxiii. 20. 

ELEPH, a town of Benjamin, Josh, xviii. 28. 

ELEPHANT, the largest of existing quadrupeds, 
celebrated for his sagacity, faithfulness, and prudence. 
Calmet is of opinion that the behemoth of Job xl. is 
the elephant ; but this notion is generally held to be 
untenable. See Behemoth. 

There is frequent mention of elephants in the books 
of Maccabees; because, after the time of Alexander, 
they were much used in the armies of the kings of 
Syria and Egypt. We read, in 1 Mac. vi. 34, that the 
elephants of Antiochus Eupator's army had the blood 
of grapes and mulberries shown to them for the pur- 
pose of animating them to the combat, and to accus- 
tom them to the sight of blood. In 3 Mac. v. we see 
that it was usual to intoxicate them by wine mixed 
with incense, with the design that they should crush 
the Hebrews to death under their feet. 

The elephant yielded ivory, which is first mention- 
ed in Scripture in the reign of Solomon. If the forty- 
fifth Psalm were written before the Canticles, and 
before Solomon had constructed his royal and mag- 
nificent throne, then that is the first mention of this 
commodity. It is spoken of as decorating those 
boxes of perfume, which contained odors employed 
to exhilarate the king's spirits : " Ivory palaces by 
which they have made thee glad." The application 
of it as an article of elegance, appears also in 1 Kings 
x. 18, where the throne of Solomon is described as 
decorated with ivory, and inlaid with gold ; — the 
beauty of these materials relieving the splendor, and 
heightening the lustre of each other. Ivory is here 
described as shengadol, " great tooth ;" — which shows 
clearly that it was imported into Palestine in the 
whole tusk. It was, however, ill described as a 
tooth ; for tooth, properly so called, it is not, but a 
weapon of defence, not unlike the tusk of a wild- 
boar ; and for the same purposes as the horns of 
other animals. This has prompted Ezekiel to use 
another periphrasis for describing it ; and he calls it 
"horns of tooth," xxvii. 15. But this also is liable to 
great objection, since the idea of horns and teeth, to 
those who had never seen an elephant, must have 
been very confused, if not contradictory. The com- 
bination, however, is ingenious ; for the defences 
which furnish the ivory answer the purposes of 
horns ; while, by issuing from the mouth, they are 
not unaptly likened to teeth, which they are called 
among the dealers, who know perfectly well that the 
elephant has teeth, expressly formed for mastication 
of food ; grinders of no trifling weight and dimen- 
sions. Bochart was desirous of finding elephants 
themselves in Scripture, and inclined to read 1 Kings 
x. 22, shen-kahabim instead of shen-habbim ; but this 
is much better broken into two words, shen, tooth, 
and habenim,, ebony wood ; for which we have the 
authority of Ezek. xxvii. 15. As to beds and houses 
of ivory, they can only mean beds adorned, not con- 
structed, of ivory. (See Beds, ad fin.) Indeed, ivory 
in every state is unfit for any use requiring firmness. 
See Ivory. 

ELEUTHERUS, a river in Syria, which rises be- 
tween Libanus and Antilibanus. After watering the 
valley between these two mountains, it falls into the 
Mediterranean sea, 1 Mac. xi. 7. 



ELI 



L 382 1 



E _, 1 



ELEUTHEROPOLIS, a city of Judea, which, 
though not mentioned in the sacred writings, must 
have been very celebrated in the time of Eusebius 
and Jerome. It was an episcopal city, whence these 
authors estimated the distances and positions of other 
cities. Josephus says it was twenty miles from Je- 
rusalem, and Antoninus places it twenty-four miles 
from Askalon, and eighteen from Lydda. Eusebius 
says five miles from Gath, six from Lachish, twenty- 
five from Gerar, twenty from Jattir, and eight from 
Keilah. 

I. ELI, the last of our Saviour's ancestors accord- 
ing to the flesh, Luke iii. 23. 

II. ELI, my God. Our Saviour on the cross cried, 
" Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani ;" My God, why hast thou 
forsaken me ? See Psalm xxii. 1 ; Matt, xxvii. 46. 

III. ELI, a high-priest, of the race of Ithamar, 
died A. M. 2888, having been forty years judge of 
Israel, 1 Sam. iv. 18. He succeeded Abdon, and was 
succeeded by Samuel in the government ; but in the 
high-priesthood by his third son Ahitub. While Eli 
judged the people, Samson was the deliverer and de- 
fender of Israel. How Eli came to possess the liigh- 
priesthood, and by what means that dignity was 
transferred from Eleazar's family to that of Ithamar, 
from which Eli was descended, we are not informed. 
Some believe it was in consequence of the negligence, 
minority, or want of proper qualifications, of Elea- 
zar's family. Others, that tins dignity was bestowed 
on Eli as judge of Israel. That it was not done 
without an express declaration of God's will, we may 
gather from the language of the man of God, 1 Sam. 
ii. 27. 28. Eli's great fault was his negligence, and 
his indulgence of his sons. Instead of vigorously 
punishing them, and removing them from the sacred 
ministry, he was satisfied with gently reprimanding 
them. God admonished him by Samuel, then a 
child, (iii. 1, 2, 3.) but he only replied, " It is the 
Lord, let him do what seemeth him good." God 
deferred the execution of his vengeance twenty-seven 
years, but at length Hophni and Phinehas, the sons 
of Eli, were slain by the Philistines ; the ark of the 
Lord taken; and Eli himself hearing the melancholy 
news, fell backward from his chair, and broke his 
neck, iv. 12. 18. According to Josephus, he was 
succeeded by Ahitub, his grandson ; but others say, 
by Ahiah, who was certainly high-priest in the be- 
ginning of Saul's reign, xiv. 3. 

[That Eli was of the house of Ithamar, may be 
deduced from 1 Chr. xxiv. 3, " Then David distributed 
them, both Zadok of the sous of Eleazar, and Ahim- 
elech of the sons of Ithamar." This Ahimelech is 
the same as the Abiathar, son o*" Ahimelech, who 
escaped from the slaughter of the priests at Nob, 
1 Sam. xxii. 20, seq. (See Ahimelech and Abiathar.) 
His father is every where called the " son of Ahitub ;" 
more properly his grandson, 1 Sam. xiv. 3; from 
which same passage it appears that this Ahitub was 
the son of Phinehas, and therefore grandson of Eli. 
Of course, the Ahimelech of 1 Chron. xxiv. 3, being 
of the race of Ithamar, his ancestor Eli was also of 
that race. With the above account carresponds the 
statement of Josephus, Antiq. v. 11. 5. R. 

I. ELIAKIM, son of Hilkiah, steward of the 
household, or keeper of the palace under king Hez- 
ekiah, 2 Kings xviii. 18. 

II. ELIAKIM, king of Judah, surnamed Jehoia- 
kim, succeeded his brother Jehoahaz, and did evil 
before the Lord, 2 Kings xxiii. 34, 35. See Jehoi- 
akim. 

ELIAS, see Elijah. 



ELIASHIB, a high-priest, of the race of Eleazar, 
who succeeded Joiakim, in the time of Nehemiah, A. 
M. 3550. 

ELIDAD, son of Chislon, of Benjamin, a deputy, ap- 
pointed to divide the land of Canaan, Num. xxxiv. 21. 

I. ELIEZER, Abraham's steward. The Mussul- 
mans call him Daineschack, or Damascennis, and 
believe him to have been a black slave given to 
Abraham by Nimrod, at the time when he saw him, 
by virtue of the name of God, walking out of the 
midst of the flames, (Ur,) into which he had been 
cast by his orders. (See Abraham.) Abraham 
conceived such regard for Eliezer, that he gave him 
the superintendence of his whole family ; and, before 
the birth of his sons, designed him for his heir. — 
When Abraham sent Eliezer into Mesopotamia, he 
compelled him to swear that he would not take a 
Canaanite for a wife to Isaac, but that he would take 
one from among his relations. Eliezer went to the 
city of Nahor, in Mesopotamia ; and from thence 
brought Rebecca, Gen. xxiv. 

The passage (Gen. xv. 2.j in which Abraham 
speaks of Eliezer as his heir, has greatly perplexed 
commentators; it stands thus in our translation, "I 
go childless, and the steward of my house is this 
Eliezer, of Damascus ;" but in the original it is, "And 
the son of possession of my house, is this Damascenor 
Eliezer," [i. e. he who will possess my house, my prop- 
erty after my death. In t''e next verse, the Hebrew 
has son of my house, which our translators have prop- 
erly given, by "one born in my house." Eleazar 
might have been a relation of Abraham, and in pros- 
pect his heir. R. » 

What is meant by the phrase, "son of my house,'* 
which has been the stumbling-block to translators, 
is showu by the following extracts ; — " Since the 
death of Ali Bey, the Beys and the Cachefs who 
owed their promotion to his house, (that is to say, of 
whom he had been the patron : among the Mamlouks, 
the freedman is called the 'child of the house,') had 
repined in secret, at seeing all the authority passed 
into the hands of a new faction." (Volney's Travels, 
vol. i. p. 153, and the note.) " He had so multiplied 
and advanced his freemen, that of the twenty-four 
Beys, which should be their number, no less than 
eight were of his household." — " At his death, 
which happened in 1757, his house, that is, his en- 
franchised slaves, divided among themselves, but 
united against all others, continued to give the law.' r 
(P. 112, 113.) From these extracts it is inferred, that 
Eliezer, a Damascena by descent, had been born in 
the house of Abraham, or had been purchased by 
him, and had behaved so well, that his master gave 
him his liberty, and at length promoted him to the 
superintendence of all his property. (See a similar 
occurrence in the case of Joseph, Gen. xxxix. not to 
quote the libertini, or freedmen of later ages.) On 
the decease of his master, this chief over Abraham's 
property would, naturally enough, succeed to that 
property ; for who could be his competitor? Whether 
Eliezer might live so long as to be again mentioned, 
(Gen. xxiv. 3. "Abraham said unto his eldest servant 
of his house, that rided over all that he had") we 
know not ; by his fidelity, he seems likely to have 
been the same person, and it is usually so understood ; 
but he is not there called the " son of the house," pos- 
sibly, because Abraham had now sons of his own 
body, Ishmael as well as Isaac, who were his natural 
heirs. If it be supposed that this was not Eliezer, 
I the omission of his name in the history may counte- 
I nance that supposition. 



ELI 



[ 383 ] 



ELIJAH 



II. ELIEZER, son of Moses and Zipporah, born 
in Midian, while Moses was in that country. He 
had a son named Rehabiah, Exod. xviii. 4 ; 1 Chron. 
xxiii. 17. Some have thought that what is related, 
(Exod. iv. 24, 25.) of an angel's meeting Moses, 
when returning to Egypt, is to be understood, as if 
this angel intended to kill Eliezer, because he was 
not circumcised. The Scripture does not say, ex - 
pressly, whom the angel had a design to slay. There 
are several other persons of this name in the Old 
Testament. 

ELIHU, one of Job's friends, descended from Na- 
hor, (Job xxxii. 2 ; xxxiv. 1.) and one of the most re- 
markable characters in Scripture. He is said to be 
of Buz ; which, as the name of a place, occurs only 
once in Scripture, (Jer. xxv. 23.) where it stands in 
connection with Tenia and Dedan, towns bordering 
on Idumea. The Chaldee paraphrase expressly de- 
scribes him as a relation of Abraham. He enters the 
poem so late as chap, xxxii. and opens his discourse 
with great modesty. He does not enlarge on any 
supposable wickedness in Job, as having brought his 
present distresses on him ; but controverts his replies, 
his inferences, and his arguments. He observes on 
the mysterious dispensations of Providence, which 
he insists, however they may appear to mortals, are 
full of wisdom and mercy ; that the righteous have 
their share of prosperity in this life, no less than the 
wicked ; that God is supreme, and that it becomes us 
to acknowledge and submit to that supremacy ; since 
"the Creator wisely rules the world he made ;" and 
he draws instances of benignity from the constant 
wonders of creation, of the seasons, &c. His lan- 
guage is copious, glowing, and sublime ; and it de- 
serves notice, that Elihu does not appear to have of- 
fended God by his sentiments ; nor is any sacrifice 
of atonement commanded for him as for the other 
speakers in the poem. It is more than pardonable, 
that the character of Elihu has been thought figura- 
tive of a personage interposed between God and man 
— a Mediator — one speaking " without terrors," and 
not disposed to overcharge mankind. This senti- 
ment may have had its influence on the acceptability 
and preservation of the book of Job. 

ELIJAH, or Elias, a prophet, of Tishbe, beyond 
Jordan, in Gilead, was raised up by God, to oppose 
idolatry, particularly the worship of Baal, which Jez- 
ebel and Ahab Supported in Israel. Elijah is intro- 
duced as delivering an unwelcome message to Ahab : 
" As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I 
stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, 
but according to my word." 1 Kings xvii. 1. Hav- 
ing delivered this prediction, the Lord commanded 
him to conceal himself beyond Jordan, near the brook 
Cherith, where the ravens brought him food. After 
a time, the brook which had supplied him with wa- 
ter being dried up, God sent him to Zarephath, a 
city of Sidon. Here he met a widow, whose cruse 
of oil and barrel of meal were miraculously the means 
of supporting the prophet, herself, and her son, for a 
period of two years. During Elijah's abode with 
this woman, her son died, and she, overwhelmed 
with grief, entreated the assistance and interposition 
of the prophet. Elijah, moved by her sorrow, took 
the child in his arms, and cried to the Lord for the 
restitution of its life. His prayer was heard, and the 
child restored, ver. 2 — 24. During the time that 
Elijah dwelt at Zarephath, the famine prevailing at 
Samaria, Ahab sent people throughout the country 
to seek pasturage for the cattle. Obadiah, an officer 
of the king's household, being thus employed, the 



prophet met him, and directed him to tell Ahab that 
Elijah was there. The king came and reproached 
him, as the troubler of Israel ; but Elijah retorted the 
charge on him, and on his iniquities, and proposed a 
sacrifice to be openly offered, which should deter- 
mine between Jehovah and Baal. Ahab accepted 
the challenge, and convened the people of Israel, 
with 400 of the prophets of Baal. The latter sacri- 
ficed, prayed, and cut themselves, but no answer was 
given to them. Elijah ridiculed their folly with bit- 
ter irony, and then offered his own sacrifice and 
prayer. His sacrifice being consumed by fire from 
the Lord, all the people fell on their faces, crying,, 
" The Lord he is the God." Elijah then ordered the 
people to slay the prophets of Baal, according to the 
law, and his directions were promptly obeyed. After 
this, the prophet promised rain, which fell immedi- 
ately, ch. xviii. Jezebel, wife of Ahab, being inform- 
ed that Elijah had caused the prophets of her god to 
be put to death, threatened him, that on the following 
day his life should be sacrificed for theirs. The 
prophet therefore fled to Beer-sheba, in the south of 
Judah, and from thence into Arabia Petrsea. In this 
journey he was again miraculously supported during 
forty days and forty nights, until he came to Horeb, 
the mount of God. Having taken up his abode in a 
cave, the Lord inquired, "What dost thou here, 
Elijah ?" The prophet complained of Israel's apos- 
tasy ; but the Lord gave him tokens of his presence 
— a tempest, an earthquake, a fire, a still small voice. 
Elijah covered his face in his mantle ; and the Lord 
again inquired, "What dost thou here, Elijah ?" to 
which he answered as before. He was then desired 
to return to the wilderness of Damascus, and anoint 
Hazael king over Syria, Jehu king over Israel and 
Elisha, his disciple, to succeed himself. The de- 
sponding prophet was also encouraged by being in- 
formed that God had reserved seven thousand in 
Israel, who had not bowed their knees to Baal. De- 
parting from mount Horeb, Elijah went into the 
tribe of Ephraim, and anointed Elisha to the prophet- 
ic office, 1 Kings xix. 

Some years after this, Ahab having seized Naboth's 
vineyard, Elijah reproached him with his crime; and 
warned him of his own and Jezebel's violent deaths, 
ch. xxi. xxii. 38. On another occasion, Ahaziah, king 
of Israel, who had fallen from the platform of his 
house, having sent to consult Baal-zebub, the god of 
Ekron, whether he should recover, Elijah met tlje 
messengers, reproached ibis criminal idolatry, and 
foretold the death of the king. By the description 
given of his person, Ahaziah knew it to be Elijah, 
and, enraged at the prophet's boldness, sent to him a 
captain, with fifty men, to apprehend him. These 
being destroyed by fire from heaven, and also a sec- 
ond fifty, the third captain ejitreated him to respect 
his life and his people's lives. The prophet accom- 
panied him to the king, again denounced the divine 
displeasure, and foretold his speedy death, 2 Kings i. 

Understanding by revelation, toat God would soon 
translate him out of this world, Elijah was desirous 
to conceal if from Elisha, but his companion refused 
to leave him. In passing the Jordan, the prophet 
took his mantle and struck the waters with it, which 
divided, and they passed over on dry ground. He 
then said to Elisha, "Ask wlai I shall do for thee be- 
fore I be taken away from thee.'' " I pray tnee, ' sai x 
Elisha, " let a double portion of thy spirit be upon 
me ;" that is. obtain the gift of prophecy from God 
fir me, in the same measure that thou possessest it 
WiT rouble may signifv like ■ or, give me a double 



ELI 



L 384 ] 



ELI 



share of thine inheritance, a double portion of thy 
spirit, the gift of prophecy, and of miracles, in a de- 
gree double to what I now possess : — the portion of 
the first-born. " Thou hast asked a hard thing," 
said Elijah, "nevertheless, if thou see me when I 
am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee ; but if 
not, it shall not be so." As they continued their 
journey, a chariot and horses of fire suddenly sepa- 
rated them, and Elijah was carried in a whirlwind 
up to heaven, Elisha receiving his mantle, ii. 1 — 12. 

Eight years after the miraculous ascension of 
Elijah, a letter of reproof, admonition, and threaten- 
ing, was brought from the prophet to Jehoram king 
of .Tudah. Some believe, that this was written by 
Elijah, after his translation ; others, that it was sent 
before that event, or that Jehoram dreamed of it. 
May it not have been written prophetically by Elijah 
before his death, but laid by, with orders not to be 
produced till a certain time, or under certain events? 

TJie author of Ecclesiasticus has an encomium on 
the memory of this prophet, (chap, xlviii.) andMala- 
chi foretells the appearance of Elijah before " the 
coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord." 
Our Saviour informs us, (Matt. xi. 14 ; xvii. 10 — 12.) 
that this was fulfilled in the person of John the 
Baptise. The evangelists relate, that at the transfig- 
uration of our Saviour, Elijah and Moses both 
appeared and conversed with him concerning his 
future passion, Matt. xvii. 3 ; Mark ix. 3 ; Luke ix. 30. 
Many of the Jews in our Lord's time believed him 
to be Elijah risen from the dead, Matt. xvi. 14 ; 
Mark vi. 15 ; Luke ix. 8. 

ELIM, the seventh encampment of Israel in the 
wilderness, where they found twelve fountains, and 
seventy palm-trees, Exod. xv. 27. See Exodus. 

ELiMELECH, of Bethlehem, husband of Naomi, 
oy whom he had two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. 
During a great famine he retired with his wife and 
children into the country of Moab, where he died 
after ten years, Ruth i. 1, &c. See Naomi, Ruth. 

ELIONEUS, a high-priest of the Jews, who suc- 
ceeded Matthias, son of Ananus, (A. M. 4047,) and 
was the next year succeeded by Simon Cautharus. 

I. ELIPHAZ, son of Esau and Adah, Gen. xxxvi. 
10. He had five sons, Teman, Omah, Zepho, Ga- 
tam, and Kenaz, ver. 11. 

II. ELIPHAZ, one of Job's friends, probably 
a descendant of Eliphaz, son of Esau, Job iv. 
1» He was of Teman, in Idumea, (Jer. xlix. 7. 
20 , Ezek. xxv. 13 ; Amos i, 11, 12 ; Obad. 8, 9,) 
and in the Greek versions of the poem, is described 
as king of his city. His natural temper, as appears 
by his speeches, was mild and modest ; he makes 
the first reply to the complaints of Job ; argues that 
the truly good are never entirely forsaken by Provi- 
dence, but that exemplary punishments may justly 
be inflicted for secret sins. He denies that any man 
is innocent, censures Job for asserting his freedom 
from guilt, and exhorts him to confess his concealed 
iniquities, as a probable means of alleviating their 
punishment. His arguments are well supported, but 
he is declared, at the close of the poem, to have 
taken erroneous views of the divine dispensations ; 
and Job offers a sacrifice on his account. 

ELISABETH, the wife of Zachariah,and mother 
of John the Baptist, was of the daughters of Aaron, 
or tbe race of the priests, Luke i. 5. An angel fore- 
told to her husband Zachariah the birth of John, 
and Zachariah returning home, Elisabeth conceived. 
During five months she concealed the fav r God had 
granted her ; but the angel Gabriel disco sred to the 



Virgin Mary this miraculous conception, as an assur 
ance of the birth of the Messiah, by herself. (See 
Annunciation.) Mary visited her cousin Elisabeth, 
and when she saluted her, the child with which 
Elisabeth was pregnant leaped in her womb. When 
her child was circumcised, she named him John ; 
according to previous instructions from her husband, 
Luke i. 39—63. 

ELISEUS, the same as Elisha, in die English 
Trans, of the New Testament. 

I. ELISHA, son of Shaphat, and Elijah's disciple 
and successor in the prophetic office, was of Abel- 
meholah, 1 Kings xix. lb'. Elijah having received 
God's command to anoint Elisha as a prophet, came 
to Abel-meholah, and finding Elisha ploughing with 
twelve pair of oxen, he threw his mantle over him. 
Elisha left his oxen, and accompanied Elijah, chap, 
xix. 19 — 21. We have observed in the article Eli- 
jah, that Elisha was accompanying his master, when 
the Lord took him up in a whirlwind ; and that he 
inherited Elijah's mantle, with a double portion of 
his spirit. He smote the Jordan and divided the 
stream ; and cured the water of a rivulet near Jeri- 
cho. Going afterwards to Bethel, the children of 
the place ridiculed him, and Elisha cursing them in 
the name of the Lord, two bears came out of a 
neighboring forest, and, as Calmet says, devoured 
two and forty of them, 2 Kings ii. 14 — 24. This, 
however, is not credible. Surely one child had ful- 
ly satisfied the hunger of one bear. Happily our 
own translation keeps clear of this error, and renders 
"two she-bears tare these children," — not limb from 
limb; not "to death with blood and groans, and 
tears ;" but scratched, clawed, wounded, tare them, 
as the Hebrew root (j>pa) signifies. 

The kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom, having 
taken the field against the king of Moab, who had 
revolted from Israel, were in danger of perishing by 
want of water ; but, according to the words of Elisha, 
they received a miraculous supply, 2 Kings iii. 13— 
17. The widow of one of the prophets being re- 
duced to great distress, and lamenting that a creditor 
of her husband was determined to take her two sons, 
and sell them for slaves, Elisha multiplied the oil in 
her house so abundantly, that by its produce she was 
enabled to discharge the debt, iv. 1 — 7. Elisha went 
frequently to Shunem, where a certain matron gave 
him entertainment; and as she bad no child, the 
prophet promised her a son. His prediction was 
accomplished, but some years afterwards, the child 
died, and Elisha restored him to life, verses 8—37. 
At Gilgal during a great famine, he corrected the 
deleterious effects of a poisonous mess of pottage, 
ver. 38 — 41. Naaman, suffering under a leprosy, 
was directed by Elisha to wash in the Jordan, by 
which he was perfectly healed. The king of Assyr- 
ia being at war with the king of Israel, could not 
imagine how all his designs were discovered by the 
enemy, but being told that the prophet Elisha reveal- 
ed every thing, he sent troops to seize him at Dothan. 
Elisha, however, struck them with, blindness, and led 
them into the very city of Samaria. There he 
prayed to God to open their eyes ; gave them meat 
and drink, and sent them back to their master, chap. 
v i. 8 — 23. Some time after, Benhadad, king of 
Syria, besieged Samaria, and the famine became 
extreme. Elisha promised abundance by the next 
day ; and his prediction was verified by the flight 
of "the Syrians, 2 Kings vi. vii. 

The Lord having determined to remove Jehoram 
from the throne of Israel, and to transfer the sceptre 




ELIJAH FED BY THE ANGEL. 



ELN 



[ 385 ] 



E L Z 



to Jehu, Elisha sent one of the sons of the prophets 
to anoint him king, chap. ix. Some time afterwards, 
Elisha fell sick, and Joash king of Israel came to 
visit him. The prophet desired him to bring a bow 
and arrows, and bidding him to let fly an arrow, said, 
"This is the arrow of the Lord's deliverance ; thou 
shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek." Elisha desired 
him again to shoot, which he aid three times, and 
then stopped. The man of God said, " Thou shouldst 
have smit^n five or six times, then hadst thou con- 
sumed Syria ; whereas, now thou shalt smite Syria 
but thrice," chap. xiii. 14 — 19. This sign was ac- 
complished in the event, ver. 25. 

After the death of Elisha, a band of Moabites in- 
vaded the land ; and some Israelites, going to bury 
a man in a field, saw them, and, being terrified, threw 
the body hastily into Elisha's grave. The body hav- 
ing touched his remains, received life, and the man 
stood up, ver. 20, 21. This is noticed Ecclesiasticus 
xlviii. 13, in the encomium on Elisha. 

II. ELISHA, the fountain of, rises two bow-shots 
from mount Quarantania, and runs through the plain 
of Jericho, into the Jordan ; passing south of Gilgal, 
and dividing into several streams. This is said to be 
the fountain whose waters were sweetened, by Eli- 
sha, 2 Kings ii. 19 — 22. See Jericho. 

ELISHAH, son of Javan, (Gen. x. 4.) from whom 
the isles of Elishah are named, (Ezek. xxvii. 7.) is 
believed to have peopled Elis in the Peloponnesus. 
We find there the province of Elis, and a country 
called Alisium, by Homer. Ezekiel, above, speaks 
of the purple of Elishah, brought to Tyre. The 
fish used in dyeing purple were caught at the mouth 
of the Eurotas, and the ancients frequently speak of 
the purple of Laconia. 

ELISHAPHAT, son of Zichri, assisted Jehoiada 
the high-priest to enthrone the young king Joash, 2 
Chron. xxiii. 1, &c. 

ELISHEBA, daughter of Amminadab, and wife 
of Aaron. Mother of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and 
Ithamar, Exod. vi. 23. 

ELISHUA, son of David, born at Jerusalem, 2 
Sam. v. 15. 

ELIUD, son of Achim, and father of Eleazar. In 
the genealogy of Jesus, Matt. i. 14, 15. 

I. ELIZAPHAN, son of Uzziel, uncle of Aaron, 
and head of the family of Kohath, Numb. iii. 30. 
Moses commanded Elizaphan to carry the corpses of 
Nadab and Abihu out of the camp, Lev. x. 4. 

II. ELIZAPHAN, son of Parnach, of Zebulun, a 
deputy appointed to divide the land, Numb, xxxiv. 25. 

I. ELKANAH, [God created,) second son of Ko- 
rah, Exod. vi. 24 ; 1 Chron. vi. 26. 

II. ELKANAH, father of the prophet Samuel ; 
1 Sam. i. 1. Several others of the same name are 
mentioned in 1 Chron. vi. and other places. 

ELKOSH, a village in Galilee, the birth place of 
the prophet Nahum, Nah. i. 1. It was shown in 
Jerome's time, but almost in ruins. Theophylact 
says it is beyond Jordan. 

ELLASAR. There was a city (mentioned by 
Stephanus, de Urbibus) called Ellas, in Coele-Syria, 
on the borders of Arabia, where Arioch, one of the 
confederate kings, (Gen. xiv. 9.) perhaps commanded. 

ELM. This word occurs but once in the English 
Bible ; (Hos. iv. 13.) but the Heb. rhx, aleh, is in every 
other place rendered oak, which see. 

ELNATHAN, son of Achbor, and father of Ne- 
husta, mother of Jehoiakim king of Judah. He 
opposed the king's burning of Jeremiah's prophe- 
cies ; and was sent into Egypt to bring back the 
49 



prophet [Trijah, Jer. xxvi. 22; xxxvi. 12; 2 Kings 
xxiv. 8. 

ELOAH, or Elohim, one of the names of God, 
Angels, princes, great men, judges, and even false 
gods, are sometimes called Elohim. The connection 
of the discourse assists us in determining the proper 
meaning of this word where it occurs. It is the 
same as Eloah ; one being singular, the other plural. 
Nevertheless, Elohim is generally construed in the 
singular, particularly when the true God is spoken 
of; when false gods are spoken of, it is rather con- 
strued in the plural. 

[The Hebrew word Eloah comes from the verb 
rSn, to venerate, adore, and signifies, therefore, object 
of adoration. It is the same in all the Semitish lan- 
guages, e. g. it is the Allah of the Arabians. The 
name Jehovah, on the other hand, seems to be the 
ineffable name of God. See Jehovah. R. 

The Jewish critics find great mysteries in some of 
these words, Eloi, Elohi, Elohim, &c. which are 
always written full, while others are written deficient, 
as with the i (yod) or without it ; with the i (van) or 
without it. They observe, too, that some of the let- 
ters of the name Jehovah, are added to Sn, God, 
but not all at the same time ; also, that Jehovah is 
sometimes pointed with the vowel points of Elohim, 
but Elohim never with the vowel points of Jehovah. 
Whether the word Elohim be singular or plural, ad- 
jective or substantive, or whether it have any root in 
the Hebrew language, they are not agreed. 

I. ELON, a grove of oaks ; Elon-Mamre, Elon- 
More, Elon-Beth-Chanan, the grove, or oak, of 
Mamre, &c. — II. A city of Dan, Josh. xix. 43. — III. 
The Hittite, father of Bashemath, wife of Esau, 
Gen. xxvi. 34. — IV. Chief of a family of Zebulun, 
Numb. xxvi. 26. V. A judge of Israel, who suc- 
ceeded Ibzan, and was succeeded by Abdon, Judg. 
xii. 10. He was of Zebulun, and judged Israel ten 
years ; from A. M. 2830, to 2840. 

ELTEKEH, a city of Dan, given to the Levites 
of Kohath's family, Josh. xix. 44 ; xxi. 23. 

ELTEKON, a town of Judah, on the confines ot 
Benjamin, Josh. xv. 59. 

ELTOLAD, a town of Judah, (Josh. xv. 30,) given 
to Simeon, Josh. xix. 4. 

ELUL, one of the Hebrew months, (Neh. vi. 15.) 
answering nearly to August, O. S. having only twen- 
ty-nine days. It was the twelfth month of the civil 
year, and the sixth of the ecclesiastical. Others sup- 
pose it to have included the time from the new moon, 
of September to that of October. 

ELYMAIS, the capital of Elam, or the ancient 
country of the Persians. 1 Mac. vi. 1. informs us, 
that Antiochus Epiphanes, understanding there were 
very great treasures in the temple at Elymais, deter- 
mined to plunder it ; but the citizens resisted him 
successfully. 2 Mac. ix. 2. calls this city Persepolis, 
probably because it formerly had been the capital of 
Persia; for Persepolis and Elymais were very differ- 
ent cities ; the former situated on the Araxes, the lat- 
ter on the Eulseus. The temple which Antiochus 
designed to pillage was that of the goddess Nannaea, 
according to Maccabees ; Appian says a temple of 
Venus ; Polybius, Diodorus, Josephus, and Jerome, 
say a temple of Diana. See Parthians. 

ELYMiEANS. Judith i. 6. mentions Arioch king 
of the Elymteans; that is, probably, the ancient 
kingdom of Persia. 

ELYMAS, see Bar-Jesus. 

ELZABAD, one of the thirty gallant men in Da- 
vid's army, 1 Chron. xii. 12. 



EMBALMING 



[ 386 ] 



EME 



EMBALMING. The ancient Egyptians and He- 
brews embalmed the bodies of the dead. Joseph or- 
dered the embalming of his father Jacob ; and his 
physicians, employed in this work, were forty days, 
the usual time, about it. Some think that embalm- 
ing became necessary in Egypt in consequence of 
the inundation of the Nile, whose waters overflow- 
ing all the flat country nearly two months, obliged 
the people all this while to keep their dead in their 
houses, or to remove them to rocks and eminences, 
which were often very distant. To which we may 
add, that bodies buried before the inundation might 
be thrown up by it ; a sandy moist soil not being 
strong enough to retain them against the action of the 
water. 

When a man died, a coffin was made proportion- 
ed to the stature and quality of the dead person, and 
to the price, in which there was a great diversity. 
The upper exterior of the coffin represented the 
person who was to be enclosed in it. A man of 
condition was distinguished by the figure on the 
cover of the coffin ; suitable paintings and embellish- 
ments were generally added. The embalmers' prices 
varied; the highest was a talent, .$1600; twenty 
miiMZ was moderate ; the lowest price was small. 
The process of embalming dead bodies among the 
Egyptians was as follows: — A dissector, with a very 
sharp Ethiopian stone, made an incision on the left 
side, and hurried away instantly because the relations 
of the deceased, who were present, took up stones, 
and pursued him as a wicked wretch, who had dis- 
figured the dead. The embalmers, who were look- 
ed upon as sacred officers, drew the brains through 
the nostrils with a hooked piece of iron, and filled 
the skull with astringent drugs ; they drew all the 
bowels, except the heart and kidneys, through the 
hole in the left side, and washed them in palm wine, 
and other strong and astringent drugs. The body 
was anointed with oil of cedar, myrrh, cinnamon, 
&c. about thirty days, so that it was preserved en- 
tire, without putrefaction, without losing its hair, 
and without contracting any disagreeable smell ; and 
was then put into salt for about forty days. Hence, 
when Moses says that forty days were employed in 
embalming Jacob, we understand him of the forty 
days of his continuing in the salt of nitre ; not in- 
cluding the thirty days engaged in the previous cer- 
emonies, so that, in the whole, they mourned seventy 
days for him in Egypt ; as Moses observes. 

The body was afterwards taken out of the salt, 
washed, wrapped up in linen swaddling-bands dipped 
in myrrh, and closed with a gum, which the Egyp- 
tians used instead of glue. It was then restored to 
the relations, who enclosed it in a coffin, and kept it 
in their houses, or deposited it in a tomb. Great 
numbers of mummies have recently been found in 
Egypt, in chambers or subterraneous vaults. 

Those who could not defray such expenses as this 
process involved, contented themselves with infusing, 
by a syringe, through the fundament, a liquor ex- 
tracted from the cedar, which they left there, and 
wrapt up the body in salt of nitre. This oil preyed 
on the intestines, so that when they took it out, the 
intestines came along with it dried, but not putrefied. 
The body, being enclosed in nitre, became dry. The 
poor sometimes cleansed the inside by injecting a 
liquor, after which they put the body into nitre for 
seventy days to dry it. A recent discovery in Egypt 
informs us, that the common people of that country 
were embalmed by means of a bitumen, a cheap 
material, and easily managed. With this the corpse 



and its envelopes were smeared, with more or less 
care and diligence. Sepulchres have been opened, 
in which thousands of bodies have been deposited in 
rows, one on another, without coffins, preserved in 
this maimer. 

It is observed concerning Joseph, that he was em- 
balmed, and put into a coffin, in Egypt, (Gen. 1. 26.) 
but the LXX, who lived in Egypt, by translating this 
coffin nuin.c, seem to allude to a stone receptacle, 
sarcophagus, for the whole, including the mummy 
chest, or proper coffin ; so that at the departure of 
the people from Egypt, they had only to take the 
mummy, with its case or coffin, out of this stone re- 
ceptacle, or tomb, in which it had been preserved, 
and by which it had been distinguished; and this 
being a public monument known to all, they were 
sure the body they carried with them was that of the 
patriarch Joseph, and of no other person. 

Scripture mentions the embalming of Joseph, of 
king Asa, and of our Saviour. Joseph doubtless 
was embalmed after the Egyptian manner, as he died 
in Egypt. Asa was embalmed, or rather burnt, in a 
particular manner. The Hebrew is literally, "They 
laid him in the bed which they had filled with sweet 
odors, and divers kind of spices ; and they burnt 
odors for him with an exceeding great burning ;" (2 
Chron. xvi. 14.) as if these spices had been burnt 
near his body. But the generality of interpreters 
believe, that he was burnt with spices in a bed of 
state, similar to the Roman emperors in later times. 
It seems certain, that dead bodies, of kings particu- 
larly, were sometimes burnt ; and We know not 
whether the custom were not derived from this in- 
stance of Asa. Scripture notices of Jehoram, that 
"his people made no burning for him like the burn- 
ing of his fathers," 2 Chron. xxi. 19. Jeremiah 
promises king Zedekiah, "According to the burning 
of thy fathers, so shall they burn odors for thee." 
The body of Saul was burnt after it had been taken 
down from the walls of Bethsan ; but this was, 
probably, because of its state of corruption. 

As to the embalming of our Saviour, the evangel- 
ists inform us, that Joseph of Arimathea having 
obtained his body, brought a white sheet to wrap it 
in ; and that Nicodemus purchased a hundred 
pounds of myrrh and aloes, with which they em- 
balmed him, and put him into Joseph's own unfinish- 
ed sepulchre, cut in a rock. They could not use 
more ceremony, because the night came on, and the 
sabbath was just beginning. Nevertheless, the wo- 
men who had followed him from Galilee designed to 
embalm him more perfectly at better opportunity 
and leisure ; they remarked the place and manner of 
his sepulchre, and bought spices for their purpose. 
They rested all the sabbath-day, and on the first day 
of the week, early in the morning, they went to the 
sepulchre, but could not execute their design, our 
Lord having risen from the dead. He had only been 
rubbed with myrrh and aloes, wrapped up in swad- 
dling-bands, and buried in a great sheet, his face 
covered with a napkin. This is what we observe on 
comparing the passages of John. We see bandages 
of the same kind in the account of Lazarus's resur 
rection, with this difference, that there is no mention 
of spices. John xix. 40 ; xx. 5. See Burial. 

EMERALD, a precious stone, of a green color ; 
in Latin, smaragdus ; which signifies rather a genus 
of precious stones including the emerald as a spe- 
cies. The emerald is placed (Exod. xxviii. 18.) on 
the high-priest's pectoral. [Our English version 
every where puts emerald for the Heb. jsj, a kind of 



E M M 



[ 387 ] 



ENG 



gem which it is impossible to make out. In the 
New Testament, it is put for the Greek nuuqaySog, 
Rev. iv. 3 ; xxi. 19. R. 

EMERODS. The ark having been taken by the 
Philistines, and being kept at Ashdocl, the band of 
God afflicted them with a painful disease, 1 Sam. v. 
6. Interpreters are not agreed on the signification 
of the original ai'jfljt, ophdlim, or Dni'na, tehorim ; nor 
on the nature of the disease. The Hebrew properly 
signifies, that which is obscure and hidden, and most 
interpreters think, that those painful tumors in the 
fundament are meant, which sometimes turn into ul- 
cers, i. e. the piles. Psal. lxxviii. 66. The LXX and 
Vulgate add to verse- 9, that the Philistines made 
seats of skins, upon which to sit with more ease, by 
reason of their indisposition. Herodotus seems to 
have had some knowledge of this history ; but has 
assigned another cause. He says, the Scythians hav- 
ing plundered the temple of Askalon, a celebrated 
city of the Philistines, the goddess who was wor- 
shipped there afflicted them with a peculiar disease. 
The Philistines, perhaps, thus related the story ; but 
it evidently passed for truth, that this disease was an- 
cient, and had been sent among them by some aveng- 
ing deity. To remedy this suffering, and to remove 
the ravages committed by rats, which wasted their 
country, the Philistines were advised by their priests 
and soothsayers to return the ark of God with the 
following offerings : (1 Sam. vi. 1 — 18.) five figures of 
a golden emerod, that is, of the part afflicted, and 
five golden rats; hereby acknowledging, that this 
plague was the effect of divine justice. This advice 
was followed ; and Josephus, (Antiq. lib. vi. c. l.)and 
others, believed that the five cities of the Philistines 
made each a statue, which they consecrated to God, 
as votive offerings for their deliverance. This, how- 
ever, seems to have originated from the figures of 
the rats. The heathen frequently offered to their 
gods figures representing those parts of the body 
which had been diseased ; and such kinds of ex votis 
are still frequent in Catholic countries ; being conse- 
crated in honor of some saint, who is supposed to 
have wrought the cure : they are images of wax, or 
of metal, exhibiting those parts of the body in which 
the disease was' seated. 

EMESA, or Hamath, see Hamath. 

EMIM, ancient inhabitants of Canaan, east of the 
Jordan, who were defeated by Chedorlaomer at Sha- 
veh Kiriathai'm, or in the plain of Kiriatha'im, Gen. 
xiv. 5. They were warlike, and gigantic stature : 
" great, many, and tall, as the Anakim. ' See Anah. 

EMMANUEL, God with us. Isaiah, in nib cel- 
ebrated prophecy (chap, xi.) of the birth of the Mes- 
siah from a virgin, says, this child shall be called, 
that is, really be, " Emmanuel." He repeats this 
while speaking of the enemy's army, which, like a 
torrent, was to overflow Judea; " The stretching out 
of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O 
Emmanuel." Matthew informs us, that this proph- 
ecy was accomplished in Jesus Christ, born of the 
Virgin Mary, in whom the two natures, divine and 
human, united ; so that he was really Emmanuel, or, 
God ivith us. 

I. EMMAUS, Hot Baths, a village, sixty furlongs, 
or seven miles and a half, north-west of Jerusalem, 
celebrated for our Lord's conversation with two dis- 
ciples who went thither on the day of his resurrec- 
tion. Josephus (de Bello, lib. viii. cap. 27.) says, that 
Vespasian left 800 soldiers in Judea, to whom he 
gave the village of Emmaus, which was sixty fur- 
longs from Jerusalem. D'Arvieux states, (vol. vii. p. 



259.) that going from Jerusalem to Rama, he took 
the right from the high road to Rama, at some little 
distance from Jerusalem, and "travelled a good 
league over rocks and flint stones, to the end of the 
valley of terebinthine trees," till he reached Emmaus. 
" It seems, by the ruins which surrounded it, that it 
was formerly larger than it was in our Saviour's 
time. The Christians, while masters of the Holy 
Land, re-established it a little, and built several 
churches. Emmaus was not worth the trouble of 
having come out of the way to see it. Ruins, indeed, 
we saw on all sides ; and fables we heard from every 
quarter, though under the guise of traditions. Such 
is the notion of the house of Cleopas ; on the site of 
which a great church was erected ; of which a few 
masses of the thick walls remain, but nothing else." 

II. EMMAUS, a city of Judea, twenty-two miles 
from Lydda, and afterwards called Nicopolis. Here 
were hot baths, in which, it was reported among the 
inhabitants, our Lord washed his feet, and to which 
he communicated a healing virtue. 

III. EMMAUS, a town near Tiberias, the "warm 
mineral baths" of which are still much frequented, 
according to Dr. E. Clarke. (Trav. vol. ii. p. 463.) 
The ancient name of Emmaus is still preserved in 
its Arabic appellation, Hamam. The editor of the 
Modern Traveller has collected together nearly every 
thing that can be known concerning this place. 
(Palestine, p. 254, seq. Amer. ed.) 

EN, pjj, ain, signifies a fountain ; for which reason 
we find it compounded with many names of towns, 
and places ; as en-dor, en-gedi, en-eglaim, en-shemish, 
i. e. the fountain of dor — of gedi, &ic. 

ENABRIS, a place between Scythopolis and 
Tiberias. 

ENAIM, or Enam, a town of Judah, (Josh. xv. 
34.) mentioned also in Gen. xxxviii. 14. where the 
Vulgate reads, that Tamar sat in a place where two 
ways met ; Heb. she sat at Enaim ; LXX, she sat at 
Enan by the way. English translation, she sat in an 
open place which is by the way. Enan, or Enaim, sig- 
nifies " the two wells," or " the double well ;" a very 
likely place of rendezvous. 

I. 'ENAN, father of Ahira of Naphtali ; (Numb. i. 
15.) head of bis tribe in the time of Moses. 

II. ENAN. Ezekiel speaks of Enan, (chap, xlviii. 
1.) or Hazar-Enan, as of a town well known ; the 
northern boundary of the laud. See also Numb, 
xxxiv. 9. This may be Gaana, north of Damascus, 
or Ina, mentioned by Ptolemy, or Aennos in Peutin- 
ger's tables, south of Damascus. Possibly likewise 
the En-hazor of Naphtali, Josh. xix. 37. 

ENCHANTMENTS, see Inchantments. 

ENDOR, or ^Endor, a city of Manasseh, (Josh, 
xvii. 11.) placed by Eusebius four miles south of 
mount Tabor, near Na'in, in the way to Scythopoli *. 
Here the witch lived whom Saul consulted, 1 Sain, 
xx viii. 12. 

EN-EGLAIM. Ezekiel (xlvii. 10.) speaks of this 
place in opposition to En-gedi: "The fishers shall 
stand upon it from En-gedi, even to En-eglaim : they 
shall be a place to spread forth nets." Jerome says, 
En-eglaim is at the head of the Dead sea, where 
the Jordan enters it. 

I. ENGANNIM, a city in the plain belonging to 
Judah, Josh. xv. 34. — II. A city of Issachar ; given 
to the Levites of Gershom's family, Josh. xix. 21 ; 
xxi. 29. 

EN-GEDI. This name is probably suggested by 
the situation among lofty rocks, which, overhanging 
the valleys, are very precipitous. A fountain of pure 



ENO 



[ 388 ] 



ENS 



water rises near the summit, which the inhabitants 
cal! En-gedi — the fountain of the goat — because it is 
hardly accessible to any other creature. It was call- 
ed also Hazazon-Tamar, that is, the city of palm- 
trees, there being a great quantity of palm-trees 
around it. It stood near the lake of Sodom, S. E. of 
Jerusalem, not far from Jericho, and the mouth of 
the river Jordan ; though later travellers place it 
about the middle of the western shore of the lake. 
In some cave of the wilderness of En-gedi, David had 
an opportunity of killing Saul, who was then in 
pursuit of him, 1 Sam. xxiv. The vineyards of 
En-gedi are mentioned, Cant. i. 14. and the hills 
around it produce, at present, the best wines of the 
country. .. 

ENGRAVING. This art of cutting precious 
stones and metals is frequently referred to in the Old 
Testament Scriptures. Its origin and progress, as 
connected with biblical inquiries, has been investi- 
gated and illustrated with much ingenuity by Mr. 
Landseer, in his " Sabaean Researches,"^am'wi. See 
Seals, Writing. 

EN-HADDAH, a town of Issachar, Josh. xix. 21. 
Eusebius mentions a place of this name between 
Eleutheropolis and Jerusalem ; ten miles from the 
former place. 

EN-HAZOR, a city of Naphtali, Josh. xix. 37. 
Whether this be the Atrium Ennon, or Hazar-enan 
of Ezekiel, (xlvii. 17 ; xlviii. 1.) and of Moses, 
(Numb, xxxiv. 9.) it is difficult to determine. 

EN-MISHPAT, Fountain of Judgment. Moses 
says, (Gen. xiv. 7.) that Chedorlaomer and his allies, 
having traversed the wilderness of Paran, came to 
the fountain of Mishpat, otherwise Kadesh. It had 
not this name till Moses drew from it the waters of 
strife ; and God had exercised his judgments on Mo- 
ses and Aaron, Numb. xx. 13 ; xxvii. 14. See 
Kadesh. 

I. ENOCH, son of Cain,.(Gen. iv. 17.) after whom 
the first city noticed in Scripture was called. It was 
east of Eden, and its name is thought to be preserv- 
ed in Hanuchta, which Ptolemy places in the Susi- 
ana. The spurious Berosus, and Adrichomius after 
him, place the city Enochia, built by Cain, east of 
Libanus, towards Damascus. 

II. ENOCH, the son of Jared, was born A. M. 
622, and begat Methuselah, at the age of sixty-five, 
lie walked with God ; and after he had lived three 
hundred and sixty-five years, " he was not, for God 
took him," Gen. v. 24. Paul says, "By faith Enoch 
was translated, that he should not see death, and was 
not found, because God had translated him." Heb. 
xi. 5. 

Jude (14, 15.) cites a passage from the book of 
Enoch, which has much perplexed interpreters. The 
question is, whether the apostle took this passage 
from any book written by Enoch, which might be 
extant in his time ; or, whether he received it by tra- 
dition, or by revelation. It is most probable, he read 
it in a book attributed to Enoch, which though 
apocryphal, might contain several truths ; among 
others, this might be one, which Jude, favored with 
a supernatural degree of discrimination, might use 
to purposes of instruction. Justin, Athenagoras, 
Irenseus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Lactantius, and oth- 
ers, borrowed an opinion out of this book of Enoch, 
that the angels had connection with the daughters of 
men, of whom they had offspring. Tertullian, in 
several places, speaks of this book with esteem ; and 
would persuade us, that it was preserved by Noah 
during the deluge. It has, however, been rejected 



by the church, and Origen, Jerome, and Austin 
mention it as of no authority. Specimens of the 
book of Enoch have been brought into Europe from 
Abyssinia by Mr. Bruce and others, and translations 
of parts of it have been published. It should seem 
to be founded, as to its historical tenor, on the Mosaic 
history of the antediluvians, and the judgments that 
might naturally be expected to follow such enormous 
wickedness, violences, audacities, and gluttonies, as 
were then practised by the giants, or people in power. 
The lower classes were represented in it, as being 
extremely oppressed and ill treated ; and, perhaps, 
the intention of the author was to inculcate on the 
great, lessons of humanity towards their inferiors, 
enforced by the instance of punishment inflicted by 
the deluge on criminals of the highest rank and the 
greatest power. 

The eastern people have preserved several very 
uncertain traditions relating to Enoch, whom they 
call Edris. Eusebius, from Eupolemus, tells us, that 
the Babylonians acknowledged Enoch as the invent- 
or of astrology ; that he is the Atlas of the Greeks ; 
that Methuselah was his son, and that he received all 
his uncommon knowledge by the ministry of an 
angel. 

ENON, where John baptized, because there was 
much water there, (John iii. 23.) was eight miles south 
of Scythopolis, between Shalim and the Jordan. 

ENOS, son of Seth, and father of Cainan, was 
born A. M. 235, and died, aged 905 years, A. M. 1140. 
Moses says that Enos began to call on the name of 
the Lord ; that is, he was the inventor of religious 
rites and ceremonies in worship, and formed the 
public and external manner of honoring God. This 
worship was preserved in his family, while that of 
Cain involved itself in irregularities and impieties. 
Our translators say, " Then began men to call on 
the name of the Lord," (Gen. iv. 26.) which several 
Jews translate, "Then began men to profane the 
name of the Lord," — i. e. by calling on creatures and 
idols. It may likewise be translated, " Then began 
men to call themselves by the name of the Lord ;" 
i. e. good men, to distinguish themselves from the 
wicked, began to take the name of sons or servants 
of God; for which reason Moses (Geh. vi. 1, 2.) says, 
that " the sons of God," that is, the descendants of 
Enos, " seeing the daughters of men," &c. The 
eastern people make the following additions l/i his 
history : That Seth, his father, declared him sove- 
reign prince and high-priest of mankind, next after 
himself ; that Enos was the first who ordained pub- 
lic alms for the poor, established public tribunals for 
the administration of justice, and planted, or rather 
cultivated, the palm-tree. 

EN-ROGEL, a fountain on the south-east side of 
Jerusalem, on the boundary line between the tribes 
of Judah and Benjamin, Josh. xv. 7 ; xviii. 16 ; 2 
Sam. xvii. 17 ; 1 Kings i. 9. It would seem to have 
been the same with the fountain of Siloam. 

EN-SHEMESH, was on the frontiers of Judah 
and Benjamin, (Josh. xv. 7.) but whether it was a 
town or a fountain, is questionable. The Arabians 
give this name to the ancient metropolis of Egypt, 
which the Hebrews called On, and the Greeks 
Heliopolis. 

ENSIGN, a military token or signal to be follow- 
ed ; a standard. The ancient Jewish ensign was a 
long pole, at the end of which was a kind of chafing- 
dish, made of iron bars, which held a fire, and the 
light, shape, &c. of which, denoted the party to 
whom it belonged. God says he would lift up an 



EPH 



[ 389 ] 



ensign, lsa. v. 26. Christ was an "ensign to the 
people ; and to it shall the Gentiles seek," chap. xi. 
10. The brazen serpent was lifted up on an ensign 
pole ; and to this our Lord compares his own "lifting 
up," (John iii. 14.) in consequence of which he will 
draw all men to him, as men follow an ensign, chap, 
xii. 32. 

ENVY, a malignant disposition, or state of mind, 
which grudges at the welfare of others, and would 
willingly deprive them of their advantages. Rachel 
envied the fertility of Leah ; (Gen. xxx. 1.) and Jo- 
seph was envied by his brethren, Gen. xxxvii. 11. 
Envy slayeth the silly, (Job v. 2.) is rottenness to the 
bones ; (Prov. xiv. 30.) in short, it defiles, destroys, 
consumes both soul and body ; and is the very char- 
acteristic of Satan, through whose envy of human 
happiness, sin and death entered into the world. 

EPAPHRAS was, it is said, the first bishop of 
Colosse. He was converted by Paul, and contrib- 
uted much to convert his fellow-citizens. He came 
to Rome while Paul was there in bonds, and was 
imprisoned with the apostle. Having understood 
that false teachers, taking advantage of his absence, 
had sown tares among the wheat in his church, he 
engaged Paul, whose name and authority were rev- 
erenced throughout Phrygia, to write to the Colos- 
sians, to correct them. In this epistle Paul calls 
Epaphras his " dear fellow-servant, and a faithful 
minister of Christ," chap i. 7 ; iv. 12 ; Philem. 23. 
[It is, however, not improbable, that Epaphras is the 
same person with Epaphroditus ; the former name 
being merely contracted from the latter. R. 

EPAPHRODITUS, apostle, as Paul calls him, of 
Philippi ; or, if we take the word apostolus literally, 
a messenger of the Philippians, who was sent by that 
church to carry money to the apostle, then in bonds ; 
and to do him service, A. D. 61. He executed this 
commission with such zeal, that he brought on him- 
self a dangerous illness, which obliged him to remain 
long at Rome. The year following (A. D. 62) he 
returned with haste to Philippi, having heard that 
the Philippians, on receiving information of his sick- 
ness, were very much afflicted, and Paid sent a letter 
to them by him, Phil. iv. 18. 

EPENETUS, a disciple of Paul ; (probably one 
of the first he converted in Asia ;) " the first fruits 
of Asia;" in the Greek, "first fruits of Achaia," 
Rom. xvi. 5. 

I. EPHAH, the eldest son of Midian, dwelt in 
Arabia Petrsea, and gave name to the city Ephah, 
by the LXX called Ga?pha, or Gephar, because they 
frequently pronounce the letter like a j. Ephah, 
and the small extent of land around it, made part of 
Midian on the eastern shore of the Dead sea, very 
different from another country of this name on the 
Red sea. Ptolemy speaks of a town called Ippos on 
the eastern coast of the Dead sea, a little below Mo- 
dian or Midian. The countries of Midian and 
Ephah abounded in dromedaries and camels, Judg. 
vi. 5 ; lsa. lx. 6. 

II. EPHAH, or Ephi, a measure of capacity used 
among the Hebrews, containing three pecks and 
three pints. The ephah was a dry measure ; as of 
barley (Ruth ii. 17.) and meal, (Numb. v. 15 ; Judg. 
vi. 19.) and was of the same capacity with the bath in 
liquids. (See Bath.) Sometimes it is confounded 
with the satum or seah. 

I. EPHER, second son of Midian, and brother of 
Ephah, 1 Chron. i. 33. He dwelt beyond Jordan, 
(1 Kings iv. 10.) and might people the isle of Upher 
in tbe Red sea, or the city of Orpha, in the Diarbekr. 



Jerome cites Alexander Polyhistor ai.d Cleodemus, 
surnamed Malec, who affirm, that Ephir made an 
incursion into Libya, conquered it, and called it aftei 
his own name, Africa. Hercules is said to have ac- 
companied him. — II. Son of Ezra, 1 Chron. iv. 17. 
III. Head of a family of Manassites, 1 Chron. v. 24. 

EPHESUS, a celebrated city of Ionia, in Asia 
Minor, about 40 miles south of Smyrna ; chiefly fa- 
mous for its temple of Diana, the magnificence of 
which attracted a great concourse of strangers. Its 
length was 425 feet, breadth 220 ; and it had a hun- 
dred and twenty -seven pillars, 60 feet high, presented 
by as many kings. All tbe provinces of Asia con- 
tributed to the expenses of its building, and two 
hundred years were employed on it. Paul first vis- 
ited Ephesus, A. D. 54, (Acts xviii. 19, 21.) but after 
a few days he went to Jerusalem, promising the 
Jews of Ephesus to return ; which he did some 
months afterwards, and continued there three years, 
when he was obliged to leave the city on occasion of 
a sedition, raised by Demetrius the silversmith. 
From hence the apostle wrote his First Epistle to 
the Corinthians. The Ephesians were addicted to 
the study of curious arts, to magic, sorcery, and ju- 
dicial astrology ; so much so, that Ephesian letters 
(Ephesia grammata) became a proverbial expression 
for magic characters. Gertain Jews at Ephesus, 
who assumed authority to exorcise persons possessed 
with the devil, were ill treated by one of the possess- 
ed, which so terrified several persons addicted to the 
curious arts, that they publicly burnt their books re- 
lating to such subjects, although of very considerable 
value, Acts xix. 14, &c. Tbe apostle, in his last jour- 
ney to Rome, took Ephesus in his way, (A. D. 65.) and 
while he was prisoner at Rome, he wrote to the 
Ephesians a very pathetic, elevated and sublime let- 
ter. Aquila and Priscilla, with whom Paul had 
lodged at Corinth, came from thence with him to 
Ephesus, and made some stay there, Acts xviii. 2, 3. 
18.) and Apollos, a Jew of Alexandria, preached 
there. The apostle John passed a great part of his 
life at Ephesus, and died here; as did the Virgin 
Mary and Mary Magdalen, according to tradition. 

Timothy, according to tradition, was made first 
bishop of Ephesus by the apostle ; which, however, 
did not prevent John from residing in the city and 
performing apostolic functions. If it be true that 
Timothy did not die till A. D. 97, it can scarcely be 
denied that he was the angel of the church at Ephe- 
sus, to whom a reprimand is addressed, Rev. ii. 1 — 5. 
See Timothy. 

Stephens the geographer gives this city the title of 
Epiphanestate, or, " most illustrious ;" Pliny styles it 
the " ornament of Asia." In Roman times it was 
the metropolis of Asia ; and of the city then extant, 
Lysimachus was the founder. Ephesus was greatly 
damaged by an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius, 
who repaired and embellished it. In the war be- 
tween Mithridates and the Romans, Ephesus took 
part with the former, and massacred the Romans 
who dwelt in it. Sylla severely punished this cru- 
elty ; but Ephesus was afterwards treated with lenity, 
and enjoyed its own laws, with other privileges. 
About the end of the eleventh century it was seized 
by a Turkish pirate, named Tangripermes, but he 
was routed by John Ducas, the Greek admiral, in a 
bloody battle. In 1306, it suffered from the exac- 
tions of the grand duke Roger, and two years af- 
terwards it surrendered to sultan Saysan, who 
removed the inhabitants to Tyroeium, where they 
were massacred. Theodorus Lascarus, a Greek 



EPHESUS 



[ 390 ] 



EPHESUS 



made himself master of it in 1206. The Mahome- 
tans recovered it after 1283. Tamerlane, after the 
battle of Angora, (A. D. 1401.) commanded the lesser 
princes of Anatolia to join him at Ephesus ; and em- 
ployed a whole month in plundering the city and its 
adjacencies. Daccas says, that the gold, silver, jew- 
els, and even the clothes of the inhabitants were car- 
ried off. Shortly after, the city was set on fire, and 
mostly burnt, in a combat between the Turkish 
governor and the Tartars. In 1405 — 22, Mahomet I. 
took Ephesus, since which it has continued in the 
possession of the Turks. Dr. Chandler says, " The 
inhabitants are a few Greek peasants, living in ex- 
treme wretchedness, dependence, and insensibility ; 
the representatives of an illustrious people, and in- 
habiting the wreck of their greatness; some in the 
substructions of the glorious edifices which they 
raised ; some beneath the vaults of the stadium, once 
the crowded scene of their diversions ; and some by 
the abrupt precipice, in the sepulchres which received 
their ashes. Its streets are obscured and overgrown. 
A herd of goats was driven to it for shelter from the 
sun at noon ; and a noisy flight of crows from the 
quarries seemed to insult its silence. We heard the 
partridge call in the area of the theatre and of the 
stadium. The glorious pomp of its heathen worship 
is no longer remembered*; and Christianity, which 
was here nursed by apostles, and fostered by general 
councils, until it increased to fulness of stature, bare- 
ly lingers on in an existence hardly visible." (Trav. 
p. 131. Oxford, 1775.) 

The Jews, according to Josephus, were very nu- 
merous in Ephesus, and had obtained the privilege 
of citizenship : of course the Christians, being con- 
sidered as a sect of Jews, would be pretty secure 
here from persecution by the political powers ; as 
Ephesus was autonomos — governed by its own laws. 

The worship of the great goddess Diana was es- 
tablished at Ephesus in a remote age, and it is relat- 
ed, that the Amazons sacrificed to her here, on their 
way to Attica ; Pindar says, in the time of Theseus. 
Some writers affirm that they first set up her image 
under an elm-tree ; or in a niche, which they formed 
in the trunk of an elm. The statue is said to have 
been but small : the work, says Pliny, of Canitia, an 
iiucient artist, and witnessing its great antiquity by 
irs attitude and form, having its feet closed together; 
like many Egyptian statues still remaining. It was 
of wood, by some reported to be cedar, by others 
ebony. Mutianus, consul of Rome, (A. D. 75.) 
affirmed, from his own observation, that it was made 
of vine wood ; and that its crevices were filled with 
nard, to nourish and moisten the wood, and to pre- 
serve it. It was gorgeously apparelled ; the vest 
thrown over it being richly embroidered with sym- 
bolical devices. Each hand was supported by a bar ; 
most likely of gold. A veil hanging from the ceiling 
of the temple concealed it, except when the service 
required its exposure. It is said, that this statue was 
never changed, though the temple had been restored 
seven times. The populace believed that it descend- 
ed from Jupiter: it was, probably, an allegorical rep- 
resentation of the powers and productions of nature, 
generally ; but especially as displayed in the country 
where the ark of deliverance discharged the crea- 
tures it had contained. The priests of the goddess 
were eunuchs ; anciently assisted in their offices by 
virgins. There were also the sacred herald, the in- 
censer, the flute player, and the trumpeter. The 
privilege of asylum was granted to the temple, first to 
the distance of one hundred and twenty-five feet : 



Mithridates enlarged it to a bow-shv t, and Mark An- 
tony doubled it. Tiberius abrogated the privilege ; 
it having been grossly abused. As the following in- 
scription not only confirms the general history in 
Acts xix. but even approaches to several sentiments 
and phrases used by the sacred writer, we copy it, 
verbatim, from Dr. Chandler : (Trav. p. 135.) 

"TO THE EPHESIAN DIANA. 

" ' Inasmuch as it is notorious, that, not only among 
the Ephesians, but also every where among the Greek 
nations, temples are consecrated to her, and sacred 
portions ; and that she is set up, and has an altar 
dedicated to her, on account of her plain manifesta- 
tions of herself ; and that besides, as the greatest 
token of veneration paid her, a month is called by 
her name ; by us Jlrtcmision, by the Macedonians, 
and other Greek nations, and in their cities, Artemi- 
si'~n : in which, general assemblies and Hieromenia 
are celebrated, but not in the holy city, the nurse 
of its own, the Ephesian goddess : the people of 
Ephesus, deeming it proper that the whole month 
called after her name be sacred and set apart to the 
goddess, have determined by this decree, that the 
observation of it by them be altered. Therefore it is 
enacted that in the whole month Artemision the days 
be holy, and that nothing be attended to on them, but 
the yearly feastings, and the Artemisiac Panegyris, 
and the Hieromenia ; the entire month being sacred 
to the goddess ; for, from this improvement in our 
worship, our city shall receive additional lustre, and 
be permanent in its prosperity for ever.' — The person 
who obtained this decree, appointed games for the 
month, augmented the prizes of the contenders, and 
erected statues of those who conquered. His name 
is not preserved, but he probably was a Roman, as 
his kinsman, who provided this record, was named 
Lucius Phajnius Faustus. The feast of Diana was re- 
sorted to yearly by the Ionians, with their families." 

This evidence proves, that the disposition to cry 
" Great is Diana of the Ephesians !" was by no means 
confined to Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen ; the 
whole city was guardian, neokoros, to the temple. 
See Diana. 

The phrase, " nurse of its own" goddess, in this 
decree, refers to a story of the birth of Diana in Or- 
tygia, a beautiful grove of trees of various kinds, 
chiefly cypresses, near Ephesus, on the coast, a short 
distance from the sea. This place was filled with 
shrines and images. A panegyris, or general assem- 
bly, was held there annually ; splendid entertain- 
ments were provided, and mystic sacrifices solem- 
nized. This place, with its embellishments, appears 
no more. The extreme sanctity of the temple of 
Diana inspired universal awe and reverence. It was, 
for many ages, a repository of treasures foreign and 
domestic. This property was deemed secure ; the 
temple having been spared by Xerxes, who spared 
scarcely any other ; but Nero removed many costly 
offerings and images, and an immense quantity of 
silver and gold. It was again plundered in the time 
of Gallienus, A. D. 262, by Goths from beyond the 
Danube, who carried off a prodigious booty. The 
temple was probably destroyed at the same time as 
other heathen temples were, by an edict of Constan 
tine. But there is a possibility that the total ruin of 
it was effected by an earthquake ; although, by way 
of prevention, it was situated in a marsh : however 
that might be, " we now," says Dr. Chandler, " 6eek 



EPHESUS 



[ 391 ] 



EPH 



in vain for the temple ; the city is prostrate, and the 
goddess is gone." 

De la Motraye mentions some circumstances con- 
cerning Ephesus, which we subjoin : "This renown- 
ed city,'with the finest temple that ever was conse- 
crated to Diana, is reduced by the changes it has 
met with in the wars, and under the different masters 
it has had, to five or six miserable houses inhabited 
by Greeks, and about as many by Turks, with a cas- 
tle for some few of these, a poor church for the first, 
and a mosque tolerably handsome for the latter, 
which, as they say, was formerly a church consecrat- 
ed to St. John ; in short, it is nothing but a chaos of 
noble ruins, which, with some inscriptions and basso 
relievos, are the only marks of its ancient magnifi- 
cence. I shall not add any thing to what M. Spon 
and so many other travellers have already said of 
these ruins, only that there are almost nothing re- 
maining, but subterraneous vaults and foundations 
of hard stone, or of brick, well cemented, upon 
which the temple was built." The " candlestick is," 
indeed, "removed out of his place." Rev. ii. 5. 

[In 1821, Mr. Fisk, the American missionary, vis- 
ited the site of Ephesus, of which he gives the follow- 
ing account : " We sent back our horses to Aiasaluck, 
and set out on foot to survey the ruins of Ephesus. 
The ground was covered with high grass or grain, 
and a very heavy dew rendered the walking rather 
unpleasant. On the east side of the hill we found 
nothing worthy of notice ; no appearance of having 
been occupied for buildings. On the north side was 
the circus or stadium. Its length from east to west 
is forty rods, or one stadium. The north or lower 
side was supported by arches which still remain. 
The area, where the races used to be performed, is 
now afield of wheat. At the west end was the gate. 
The walls adjoining it are still -standing, and of con- 
siderable height and strength. North of the stadium, 
and separated only by a street, is a large square en- 
closed with fallen walls and filled with the ruins of 
various edifices. A street running north and south 
divides this square in the centre. West of the stadi- 
um is an elevation of ground, level on the top, with 
an immense pedestal in the centre of it. What build- 
ing stood there it is not easy to say. Between this 
and the stadium was a street passing from the great 
plain north of Ephesus into the midst of the city. 

" I found on the plains of Ephesus some Greek 
peasants, men and women, employed in pulling up 
tares and weeds from the wheat. It reminded me 
of Matt. xiii. 28. I addressed them in Romaic, but 
found they understood very little of it, as they usual- 
ly answered me in Turkish. I ascertained, however, 
that they all belonged to villages at a distance, and 
came there to labor. Not one of them could read, 
but they said, there were priests and a schoolmaster 
in the village to which they belonged, who could 
read. I gave them some tracts, which they promised 
to give to their priests and schoolmaster. Tourne- 
fort says, that when he was at Ephesus, there were 
thirty or forty Greek families there. Chandler found 
only ten or tweive individuals. Now no human be- 
ing lives in Ephesus ; and in Aiasaluck, which may 
be considered as Ephesus under another name, 
though not on precisely the same spot of ground, 
there are merely a few miserable Turkish huts. 
' The candlestick is removed out of his place.' ' How 
doth the city sit solitary that was full of people.' 

"While wandering amongthe ruins, it was impos- 
sible not to think, with deep interest, of the events 
which have transpired on this spot. Here has been 



displayed, from time to time, all the skill of the archi- 
tect, the musician, the tragedian, and the orator. 
Here some of the most splendid works of man have 
been seen in all their glory, and here the event has 
shown their transitory nature. How interesting 
would it be to stand among these walls, and have 
before the mind a full view of the history of Ephesus 
from its first foundation till now ! We might observe 
the idolatrous and impure rites, and the cruel and 
bloody sports of pagans, succeeded by the preaching, 
the prayers, the holy and peaceable lives of the first 
Christians — these Christians martyred, but their reli- 
gion still triumphing — pagan rites and pagan sports 
abolished, and the simple worship of Christ instituted 
in their room. We might see the city conquered 
and reconquered, destroyed and rebuilt, till finally 
Christianity, arts, learning, and prosperity, all vanish 
before the pestiferous breath of 'the only people 
whose sole occupation has been to destroy.' 

"The plain of Ephesus is now very unhealthy, 
owing to the fogs and mist which almost continually 
rest upon it. The land, however, is rich, and the 
surrounding country is both fertile and healthy. The 
adjacent hills would furnish many delightful situa- 
tions for villages, if the difficulties were removed 
which are thrown in the way by a despotic govern- 
ment, oppressive agas, and wandering banditti." 
(Missionary Herald for 1821, p. 319.) *R. 

EPHOD, an ornamental part of the dress worn by 
the Hebrew priests. [It was worn above the tunic 
and robe (meil) ; was without sleeves, and open below 
the arms on each side, consisting of two pieces, one 
of which covered the front of the body and the other 
the back, joined together on the shoulders by golden 
buckles set with gems, and reaching down to the 
middle of the thigh. A girdle belonged to it, by 
which it was fastened around the body. Ex. xxviii. 
6—12. R. 

There were two kinds of ephod , one plain, of 
linen, for the priests, another embroidered for the 
high-priest. As there was nothing singular in that 
of the priests, Moses does not describe it ; but that 
belonging to the high-priest, (Exod. xxviii. 6.) which 
was composed of gold, blue, purple, crimson, and 
twisted cotton, was a very rich composition of differ 
ent colors. On that part of the ephod, which came 
over the shoulders of the high-priest, were two large 
precious stones, on which were engraven the names 
of the twelve tribes of Israel, six names on each 
stone. Where the ephod crossed his breast, was a 
square ornament called the pectoral, in which were 
set twelve precious stones, with the na7nes of the 
twelve tribes of Israel engraved on them, one on 
each stone. (See Breastplate.) Calmet is of opin- 
ion, that the ephod was peculiar to priests, and Je- 
rome observes, that we find no mention of it in the 
Scripture, except when priests are spoken of. But 
some considerations render dubious this opinion. 
We find that David wore it at the removal of the ark 
from the house of Obed-edom to Jerusalem ; and 
Samuel, although a Levite only, and a child, yet wore 
the ephod, 1 Sam. ii. 18. The Jews held, that no 
worship, true or false, could subsist without the 
priesthood, or the ephod. Gideon made an ephod 
out of the spoils of the Midianites, and this became 
an offence in Israel. Micah, having made an idol, 
did not fail to make an ephod, Judg. viii.,27 ; xvii. 5. 
God foretold, by the prophet Hosea, (iii. 5.) that Is- 
rael should long remain without kings, princes, sac- 
rifices, altar, ephod, and teraphim. The ephod is 
often taken for the pectoral ; and for the Urixn 



EPH 



[ 392 ] 



EPI 



and Thummim also ; because these were united 
to it. 

The Levites did not regularly wear the ephod : 
Moses appointed nothing particular with relation to 
their dress. (See Levite.) But at the dedication of 
Solomon's temple, the Levites and singing men, 
who were not of the priests' order, were clothed in 
fine linen. Josephus remarks, that in the time of 
king Agrippa, a short time before the taking of Jeru- 
salem by the Romans, the Levites desired that prince 
to convene the Sanhedrim, in order to allow them 
the privilege of wearing the linen stole, like the 
priests. They flattered Agrippa that this would 
contribute to the glory of his reign. Agrippa com- 
plied ; but the historian observes, that this innovation 
violated the laws of their country, which never had 
been violated with impunity. Spencer and Cimseus 
both affirm, that the Jewish kings had a right to wear 
the ephod, and to consult the Lord by Urim and 
Thummim. Their opinion they ground principally 
on the behavior of David at Ziklag, who said to 
Abiathar the high-priest, " Bring me hither the 
jphod ; and Abiathar brought thither the ephod," 
L Sam. xxx. 7. The sequel favors this opinion, 
' And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I 
pursue after this troop ? Shall I overtake them ? And 
he answered him, Pursue ; thou shalt recover all," 
ver. 8. We read likewise, (1 Sam. xxviii. 6.) that 
" Saul inquired of the Lord," and that " the Lord 
answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, 
nor by prophets." He consulted God by the Urim, 
tonsequently he put on the ephod. But most com- 
mentators are of opinion, that neither David, Saul, 
nor Joshua dressed themselves in the high-priest's 
«phod, to consult God in their own persons ; but, 
chat these passages signify only, " Put on the ephod, 
*nd consult the Lord for me ;" literally, " Bring the 
«phod to me, and Abiathar caused the ephod to be 
brought to David." Grotius believes, that the high- 
priest turned the ephod, or pectoral, towards David, 
that he might see what God should answer to him by 
the stones on the breastplate. (See Urim and 
Thummim.) 

EPHPHATHA, be opened, a Syriac word, which 
our Saviour pronounced, when he cured one deaf 
and dumb, Mark vii. 34. 

EPHRA, a city of Ephraim, and Gideon's birth- 
place. Its true situation is unknown ; but it is 
thought to be the same as Ophrah, Judg. vi. 11. 

I. EPHRAIM, Joseph's second son, by Asenath, 
Potiphar's daughter ; born in Egypt, about A. M. 
2294. Ephraim, with his brother Manasseh, was 
presented by Joseph, his father, to the patriarch Jacob 
on his death-bed. Jacob laid his right hand on 
Ephraim, the youngest, and his left hand on Manas- 
seh, the eldest. Joseph was desirous to change this 
situation of his hands; but Jacob answered, "I know 
it, my son ; he (Manasseh) also shall become a people, 
and he also shall be great ; but truly his younger 
brother shall be greater than he," Gen. xlviii. 13 — 19. 
The sons of Ephraim having made an inroad on 
Palestine, the inhabitants of Gath killed them, 1 
Chron. vii. 20, 21. Ephraim, their father, mourned 
many days for them, and his brethren came to com- 
fort him. Afterwards, he had sons named Beriah, 
Rephah, Resheph, and Tela, and a daughter named 
Sherah. His posterity multiplied in Egypt to the 
number of 40,500 men, capable of bearing arms, 
Numb. ii. 18, 19. Joshua, who was of this tribe, 
gave the Ephraimites then portion between the 
Mediterranean sea west, and the river Jordan east, 



Josh. xvi. 15. (See Canaan.) The ark, and the tab- 
ernacle, remained long in this tribe, at Shiloh ; and, 
after the separation of the ten tribes, the seat of the 
kingdom of Israel being in Ephraim, Ephraim is fre- 
quently used to signify that kingdom. Ephrata is 
used also for Bethlehem, Mic. v. 2. The tribe of 
Ephraim was led captive beyond the Euphrates, with 
all Israel, by Salmaneser, king of Assyria, A. M. 3283, 
ante A. D. 721. 

II. EPHRAIM, a city of Ephraim, towards the J or 
dan, whither it is probable, Jesus retired before his 
passion, John xi. 54. This Ephraim was a city in 
the confines of the land of Ephraim, (2 Chron. xiii. 
19.) and was famous for fine flour. Josephus calls 
Ephraim and Bethel, two small cities ; and places 
the former not in the tribe of that name, but in the 
land of Benjamin, near the wilderness of Judea, in 
the way to Jericho. 

III. EPHRAIM. The forest of Ephraim was east 
of the Jordan, and in it Absalom lost his life, 2 Sam. 
xviii. 6 — 8. It could not be far from Mahanaim. 

I. EPHRATAH, Psalm exxxii. 6, denotes, the lot 
of Ephraim. See the latter part of the article 
Ephraim I. 

II. EPHRATAH, otherwise Bethlehem. See 
Bethlehem. 

I. EPHRON, son of Zohar ; who sold the cave of 
Machpelah to Abraham, Gen. xxiii. 6. 

II. EPHRON, a city beyond Jordan, which Judas 
Maccabeus took and sacked, 1 Mac. v. 46. 

EPICUREANS, (Acts xvii. 18.) the name of a 
celebrated sect of ancient philosophers, who placed 
happiness in pleasure ; not in voluptuousness, but in 
sensible, rational pleasure, properly regulated and 
governed. They denied a Divine Providence, how- 
ever, and the immortality of the soul. They were so 
named after Epicurus, a philosopher, whom they 
claimed as founder of their sect ; and who lived 
about 300 years before A. D. so that whatever his 
doctrines originally were, the time that had elapsed 
since his death, was sufficient to allow of their de- 
basement ; and his later disciples adopted the sensual 
import of their master's expressions, rather than the 
spiritual power of his principles. It is well known, 
that they latterly were called " Epicurus's hogs ;" 
(Hor. Epist. I. i. 4.) implying the sloth and sensuality 
of the sect. Against these debauchees the apostle 
argues, that Providence governs all the affairs of 
men, as communities, and as individuals; that the 
resurrection of one person (Christ) is proof of a sep- 
arate state ; and that a future judgment, to be pre- 
sided over by him, evinces the notice taken by the 
Deity of virtue and vice, with the ultimate reward 
and punishment of characters so opposite. 

EPIPHANES, splendid, illustrious, an epithet 
given to the gods, when appearing to men. Antio- 
chus, brother of Seleucus, coming fortunately into 
Syria, a little after the death of his brother, was re- 
garded as some propitious deity ; and was hence 
called Epiphanes — the illustrious. (See Antiochus 
IV.) We call that festival Epiphany, on which the 
church celebrates the adoration of the Messiah by 
the Magi, or wise men. 

EPIPH AN I A, a city of Syria, on the river Orontes, 
between Antioch and Apainea. Several of the an- 
cients say, it was called Hamath, before Antiochus 
Epiphanes named it Epiphania. Jerome and others 
are of opinion, that it is Hamath the Great. He says, 
that even in his time, the Syrians called Epiphania, 
Emmas. But, that this was Emesa in Syria, see 
Hamath. 



EPISTLE 



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E S A 



EPISTLE, a letter written from one party to an- 
other ; but the term is eminently applied to those let- 
ters in the New Testament which were written by 
the apostles, on various occasions, to approve, con- 
demn, or direct the conduct of Christian churches. 
It is not to be supposed that every note, or memo- 
randum, written by the hands of the apostles, or by 
their direction, w r as divinely inspired, or proper for 
preservation to distant ages ; those only have been 
preserved, by the overruling hand of Providence, 
from which useful directions had been drawn, and 
might in after-ages be drawn, by believers, as from a 
perpetual directory for faith and practice ; — always 
supposing that similar circumstances require similar 
directions. In reading an epistle, we ought to con- 
sider the occasion of it, the circumstances of the par- 
ties to whom it was addressed, the time when written, 
the general scope and design of it, as well as the in- 
tention of particular arguments and passages. We 
ought also to observe the style and manner of the 
writer, his mode of expression, the peculiar effect he 
designed to produce on those to whom he wrote, to 
whose temper, manners, general principles, and actu- 
al situation, he might address his arguments, &c. 
The epistles afford many and most powerful evi- 
dences of the truth of Christianity : they appeal to a 
great number of extraordinary facts ; and allude to 
principles, and opinions, as admitted, or as prevailing, 
or as opposed, among those to whom they are ad- 
dressed. They mention a considerable number of 
persons, describe their situations in life, hint at their 
connections with the churches, and by sometimes 
addressing them, and sometimes recommending them 
by name, they connect their testimony with that of the 
writer of the epistle ; .and often, no doubt, they gave a 
proportionate influence to those individuals. Beside 
this, it is every way likely, that individuals mentioned 
in the epistles, would carefully procure copies of these 
writings, would give them all the authority and all 
the notoriety in their power, would communicate 
them to other churches, and, in short, would become 
vouchers for their genuineness and authenticity. 
We in the present day, who possess these instructive 
documents, may learn from them many things for 
our advantage and our conduct ; how to avoid those 
evils which formerly injured the professors of true 
religion ; and haw to rectify those errors and 
abuses to which time and incident occasionally gave 
rise, or to whose spread and prevalence particular 
occurrences or conjunctures are favorable. See 
BitfLE, Canon, &c. 

The epistles being placed together in our canon, 
without reference to their chronological order, are 
perused under considerable disadvantages ; and it 
would be well to read them occasionally in connec- 
tion with what the history in the Acts of the Apostles 
relates respecting the several churches to which they 
are addressed. This would also give us, nearly, 
their order of time ; which should also be considered, 
together with the situation of the writer ; as it may 
naturally be inferred that such compositions would 
partake of the writer's recent and present feelings. 
The epistles addressed to the dispersed Jews by John 
and James, by Peter and Jude, are very different in 
their style and application from those of Paul written 
to the Gentiles; and those of Paul, no doubt, contain 
expressions, and allude to facts, much more familiar 
to their original readers than to later ages. For the 
several epistles, see the articles of the respective 
writers ; or those of the churches to which they are 
addressed. 

50 



ER, Judah's eldest son, who married Tamar ; but 
who, being wicked, brought himself to an untimely 
end, Gen. xxxviii. 7. 

ERASTUS, a Corinthian, and one of Paul's dis- 
ciples, Rom. xvi. 23. He was chamberlain of the 
city, 'Oiy.oiifiog, that is, of Corinth, where Paul was 
at that time ; but of Jerusalem, according to the mod- 
em Greeks. He followed Paul to Ephesus, where 
he was A. D. 56, and was sent by Paul to Macedonia 
with Timothy, probably to collect alms expected 
from the brethren. They were both with him at 
Corinth, A. D. 58, when he wrote his epistle to the 
Romans, whom he salutes in both their names ; and 
it is probable that Erastus afterwards accompanied 
him till his last voyage to Corinth, in the way to 
Rome, where he suffered martyrdom ; for then 
Erastus remained at Corinth, 2 Tim. iv. 20. 

ERECH, a city of Chaldea, built by Nimrod, 
grandson of Cusb, (Gen. x. 10.) and probably Aracca, 
placed by Ptolemy in the Susiana, on the river Ti- 
gris, below where it joins the Euphrates. Ammia- 
nus calls it Avecca. From this city the Arectaean 
fields, which abound with naphtha, and sometimes 
take fire, derive their name. The capital of the 
province, under the Chaldeans and Assyrians, was 
Babylon ; under the princes named Cosrhoes, it was 
Madai'n ; and under the Arabians, Bagdat. It is 
called Chaldea, or Babylonia, by the Greeks and 
Latins. 

ERI, son of Gad, and head of a family, Gen. xlvi. 
16 ; Numb. xxvi. 16. 

ESAR-HADDON, son of Sennacherib, and his 
successor in the kingdom of Assyria, 2 Kings xix. 37. 
Nothing is said of him in Scripture, except it is men- 
tioned that he had sent colonists, to Samaria, Ezra 
iv. 2. He is supposed to have been the Sardanapa- 
lus of profane historians. He is said to have reigned 
29 or 30 years at Nineveh, and thirteen years at Bab- 
ylon ; in all, forty-two years. See Assyria. 

ESAU, son of Isaac and Rebekah, was born A. M 
2168. When the time of Rebekah's delivery came, 
she had twins ; (Gen. xxv. 24 — 26.) the first born 
being hairy, was called Esau ; which signifies hairy. 
The other twin was Jacob. Esau delighted in hunt- 
ing, and his father Isaac had a particular affection 
for him. One day, Esau returning from the fields, 
greatly fatigued, desired Jacob to give him some red 
pottage, which he was then making. Jacob con- 
sented, provided he would sell him his birthright. 
Esau, conceiving himself weakened almost to death, 
sold it ; and by oath resigned it to his brother, Gen. 
xxv. 29 — 34. At the age of forty, Esau married two 
Canaanitish women ; Judith, daughter of Beeri the 
Hittite, and Bashemath, daughter of Elon, (Gen. xxvi. 
34.) which were very displeasing to Isaac and Re- 
bekah, because they intermingled the blood of Abra- 
ham with that of Canaanite aliens. Isaac being old, 
and his sight decayed, directed Esau to procure him 
delicate venison, by hunting, that he might give him 
his last blessing, Gen. xxvii. Esau, therefore, went 
to the chase, but, during bis absence, Jacob, disguised 
by their mother Rebekah, obtained Isaac's blessing. 
When Esau returned, he learned what had passed, 
and, with weeping, mourned a secondary benediction 
from his father. Esau now contracted an aversion 
against Jacob, and determined to slay him ; but his 
designs were frustrated by Rebekah. 

Esau settled in the mountains south of the Dead 
sea, and became very powerful. When Jacob re- 
turned from Mesopotamia, Esau received his mes- 
sengers kindly, and came with four hundred men to 



ESD 



[ 394 ] 



ESH 



meet him. The two brothers embraced each other 
tenderly. Esau offered fb accompany his brother 
over the Jordan ; but Jacob declined his offer, and 
Esau returned to Seir, xxxiii. 

The two brothers were present when their father 
died ; but being both very rich in cattle, and the 
country not affording pasture for all their flocks, they 
separated ; Esau retiring to mount Seir, xxxvi. 6 — 8. 
Esau had three wives ; Judith, or Aholibamah, Ba- 
shemath, or Adah, Mahelath, or Bashemath. Judith 
was mother of Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah ; Adah was 
mother of Eliphaz ; and Mahelath, mother of Reuel, 
ver. 2 — 5. We know nothing certain concerning the 
death of Esau. King Erythros, from whom the Red 
sea is said to have been named, and whose tomb was 
shown in the isle of Tyrina or Aggris, is believed to 
be Edom. Erythros in Greek signifies red, the same 
as Edom in Hebrew. See Iddmea. 

ESDRAELON, a plain in the tribe of Issachar, 
extends east and west from Scythopolis to mount 
Carmel : it is called also the great plain ; the valley 
of Jezreel ; and the plain of Esdrela. 

[The following notices of this plain by Dr. Jowett, 
may not be uninteresting. After leaving Nazareth 
for Jerusalem, he says : (Christian Researches in 
Syria, &c. p. 146.) "Our road for the first three 
quarters of an hour, lay among the hills which lead 
to the plain of Esdraelon ; upon which, when we 
were once descended, we had no more inconvenience, 
but rode for the most part on level ground, interrupt- 
ed by only gentle ascents and descents. This is that 
' mighty plain' — uiyu niSior, as it is called by ancient 
writers- -which, in every age, has been celebrated for 
so many battles. It was across this plain, that the 
hosts of Barak chased Sisera and his nine hundred 
chariots of iron: from mount Tabor to that ancient 
river, the river Kishon, would be directly through the 
middle of it. At present, there is peace ; but not 
that most visible evidence of enduring peace and 
civil protection, a thriving population. We counted, 
in our road across the plain, only five very small 
villages, consisting of wretched mud-hovels, chiefly 
in ruins ; and very few persons moving on the road. 
We might again truly apply to this scene the words 
of Deborah, (Judg. v. (!, 7.) The highways ivere un- 
occupied: the inhabitants of the villages ceased — they 
ceased in Israel. The soil is extremely rich ; and, in 
every direction, are the most picturesque views — the 
hills of Nazareth to the north— those of Samaria, to 
the south — to the east, the mountains of Tabor and 
Hermon — and Carmel, to the south-west. About four 
o'clock in the afternoon, we arrived at the village of 
Gennyn, which is situated at the entrance of one of 
the numerous vales which lead out of the plain of 
Esdraelon to the mountainous regions of Ephraim. 
One of these passages would be the valley of Jezreel ; 
and from the window of the khan where we are 
lodging, we have a clear view of the tract over which 
the prophet Elijah must have passed, when he gird- 
ed up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance 
of Jezreel. But, in the present day, no chariots of 
Ahab or of Sisera, are to be seen — not even a single 
wheel-carriage, of any description whatever." 

In another place he remarks, (p. 222.) " To the south 
of the chain of hills on which Nazareth is situated, 
is the vast and ever-memorable plain of Esdraelon. 
We computed this plain to be at least fifteen miles 
square ; making allowance for some apparent irreg- 
ularities, such as its running out, on the west, toward 
mount Carmel, and on the opposite side toward Jor- 
dan. We passed rather on the eastern side of the 



middle of the plain, in our way to Gennyn. Although 
it bears the title of ' plain,' yet it abounds with hills, 
which, in the view of it from the adjacent mountains, 
shrink into nothing. On this noble plain, if there 
were perfect security from the government — a thing 
now unknown for centuries — twenty-five good towns, 
where we saw but five miserable villages, might 
stand, at a distance of three miles from one another, 
each with a population of a thousand souls, to the 
great improvement of the cultivation of so bountiful 
a soil. The land is not, indeed, neglected ; but let 
none suppose, that, in this country, the greatest, oi 
any thing like the greatest possible profit is made of 
the soil ; while wars, feuds, extortions, and all the 
disadvantages resulting from Turkish government 
and Arab rivalry are continually harassing the com- 
mon people, and reducing husbandry and every 
art to the lowest state of degradation." 

This memorable plain has ever been a chosen place 
for battles and military operations in every age. The 
following rapid and brilliant sketch of the martial 
events, which, during a period of thirty centuries, 
have passed upon this spot, is from the pen of the late 
Dr. C. D. Clarke, (Travels in Greece, Egypt, and the 
Holy Land, ch. xv.) " Here it was that Barak, de- 
scending with his ten thousand men from mount Ta- 
bor, discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, even nine 
hundred chariots of iron ; and all the people that 
were with him, gathered from Harosheth of the Gen- 
tiles, unto the river of Kishon ; when all the host of 
Sisera fell on the sword, and there was not a man 
left. Here also it was, that Josiah, king of Judah, 
fought in disguise against Necho, king of Egypt, and 
fell by the arrows of his antagonist. It has been a 
chosen place for encampment in every contest earned 
on in this country, from the days of Nabuchodonosor, 
king of the Assyrians, (in the history of whose war 
with Arphaxad it is mentioned as the great plain of 
Esdrelom,) until the disastrous march of Napoleon 
Buonaparte from Egypt into Syria. Jews, Gentiles, 
Saracens, Christian Crusaders, and anti-Christian 
Frenchmen, Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and 
Arabs, warriors out of every nation which is under 
heaven, have pitched their tents upon the plain of 
Esdraelon, and have beheld the various banners of 
their nations wet with the dews of Tabor and of 
Hermon." *R. 

ESDRAS, see Ezra. 

ESEK, the name of a well dug by the patriarch 
Isaac, Gen. xxvi. 20. 

ESHBAAL, or Ishbosheth, fourth son of Saul, 
1 Chron. viii. 33. The Hebrews, to avoid pronoun- 
cing the word Baal (lord) used Bosheth (blushing, 
confusion.) Instead of Eshbaal, they said Ish- 
bosheth, 2 Sam. ii. 8. See Ishbosheth. 

I. ESHCOL, one of Abraham's allies in the valley 
of Mamre, who accompanied him in the pursuit of 
Chedorlaomer, Gen. xiv. 24. — II. A valley in the 
south of Judah, where the Hebrew spies cut a bunch 
of grapes, as large as two men could carry. 

ESHEAN, a town of Judah, Josh. xv. 52. 

ESHTAOL, a town of Dan ; though it belonged 
first to Judah, (Josh. xv. 33 ; Judg. xiii. 25 ; xvi. 31.) 
Eusebius says, it was ten miles from Eleutheropolis, 
towards Nicopolis, between Azotus and Askalon. It 
is called by Jerome, Asco. Eshtaol is thought to be 
a village, now called by the Arabs Esdad, about fif- 
teen miles south of Yebna. It is a wretched place, 
composed of a few mud huts. 

ESHTEMOA, or Eshtemoh, a town of Judah, 
Josh. xxi. 14 ; xv. 50 ; 1 Sam. xxx 28 Eusebius 



\ 



'ESS 



[ 395 ] 



ESSENES 



says, it was a large town in the district of Eleuthero- 
polis, north of that city. It was ceded to the priests, 
1 Chron. vi. 57. 

ESPOUSE, ESPOUSALS. This was a ceremo- 
ny of betrothing, or coming under obligation for the 
purpose of marriage ; and was a mutual agreement 
between the two parties, which usually preceded the 
marriage some considerable time. (See Marriage.) 
The reader will do well carefully to attend to the 
distinction between espousals and marriage ; as es- 
pousals in the East are frequently contracted years 
before the parties are married, and sometimes in very 
early youth. This custom is alluded to figuratively, 
as between God and his people, (Jer. ii. 2.) to whom 
he was a husband, (xxi. 32.) and the apostle says he 
acted as a kind of assistant (pronuba) on such an oc- 
casion : " I have espoused you to Christ ;" (2 Cor. xi. 
2.) have drawn up the writings, settled the agree- 
ments, given pledges, &c. of your union. See Isa. 
liv. 5 ; Matt. xxv. 6 ; Rev. xix. 

ESSENES, or Essenians, a Jewish sect. We 
aje not acquainted with the origin of the Essenes, or 
the etymology of their name. Pliny says, they had 
been many thousand years in being, living without 
marriage, and without the other sex. The first book 
of Maccabees (see Assideans) calls them Hasdanim, 
and says, they were formed into a society before 
Hircanus was high-priest. The first of the Essenes, 
mentioned by Josephus, is Judas, in the time of 
Aristobulus, and Antigonus, son of Hircanus. Sui- 
das, and some others, were of opinion, that the 
Essenes were a branch of the Rechabites, who sub- 
sisted before the captivity. Calmet takes the Chas- 
dim of the Psalms, and the Assideans in the Macca- 
bees, to be their true source. 

Josephus gives the following account of the Es- 
senes : They live in perfect union, and abhor volup- 
tuousness as a fatal poison ; they do not marry ; but 
bring up other men's children as if they were their 
own, and infuse into them very early their own spirit 
and maxims ; they despise riches, and possess all 
things in common. Oil and perfumes are prohibited 
their habitations ; they have an austere and mortified 
air, but without affectation ; they always dress in 
white ; they have a steward, who distributes to each 
what he wants ; they are hospitable to their own 
sect ; so that they are not obliged to take provisions 
with them on their journeys. The children which 
they educate are all treated and clothed alike, and do 
not change their dress till their clothes are worn out. 
Their trade is carried on by exchange ; each giving 
what is superfluous, to receive what he needs. They 
do not speak before the sun rises, excepting some 
prayers taught them by their fathers, which they ad- 
dress to this luminary, as if to incite it to appear ; 
afterwards they work till the fifth hour, near eleven 
o'clock in the morning. They then meet together, 
and, putting on linen, bathe in fresh water, and retire 
to their cells, where no strangers enter. From 
thence they go into their common refectory, which 
is, as it were, a sacred temple, where they continue 
in profound silence ; they are served with bread, and 
each has his own mess ; the priest says grace, after 
which they eat : they finish their meal also with a 
prayer ; they then pull off their white clothes, which 
they wore while at table, and return to their work 
until the evening ; at that time they come again to 
the refectory, and bring their guests with them, if 
they have any. They are religious observers of their 
word; their bare promise is as binding as the most 
sacred oaths ; they avoid swearing, as they would 



perjury ; their care of their sick is very particular, 
and they never suffer them to want any thing ; 
they read carefully the writings of the ancients, and 
thereby acquire the knowledge of plants, stones, 
roots, and remedies. Before they admit any who 
desire it into their sect, they put them to a year's pi o- 
bation, and inure them to the practice of the most 
uneasy exercises ; after this tei - m, they admit them 
into the common refectory, and the place where they 
bathe ; but not into the interior of the house until 
after another trial of two years; then they are al- 
lowed to make a kind of profession, wherein they 
engage by horrible oaths to observe the laws of piety, 
justice, and modesty ; fidelity to God and their 
prince ; never to discover the secrets of the sect to 
strangers ; and to preserve the books of their mas- 
ters, and the names of angels, with great care. If 
any one violate these engagements, and incur nota- 
ble guilt, he is expelled, and generally dies of want ; 
because he can receive no food from any stranger, 
being bound to the contrary by his oaths. Some- 
times the Essenes, moved with compassion, receive 
such again, when they have given long and solid 
proofs of conversion. Next to God, they have the 
greatest respect for Moses, and for old men. The 
sabbath is very regularly observed among them ; they 
not only forbear from kindling any fire, or preparing 
any thing, on that day, but they do not stir any mova- 
ble thing, nor attend to the calls of nature. They 
generally live long, owing to the simplicity of their 
diet, and the regularity of their lives ; they show in- 
credible firmness under torments ; they hold the soul 
to be immortal, and believe that souls descend from 
the highest air into the bodies animated by them, 
whither they are drawn by some natural attraction, 
which they cannot resist ; and after death, they swiftly 
return to the place from whence they came, as if 
freed from a long and melancholy captivity. In re- 
spect to the state of the soul after death, they have 
almost the same sentiments as the heathen, who place 
the souls of good men in the Elysian fields, and 
those of the wicked in Tartarus. Some among them 
are married ; in other respects they agree with the 
other Essenes. They live separate from their wives 
while pregnant. Slavery is esteemed by them an 
injury to human nature ; wherefore they have no 
slaves. Many of them were said to have the gift of 
prophecy, which is ascribed to their continual read- 
ing of the sacred writers ; and to their simple and 
frugal way of living. They believe that nothing 
happens but according to the decrees of God ; and 
their sect is nearly related to that of the Pythago- 
reans among the Greeks. There were women, also, 
who observed the same institutions and practices. 

Although the Essenes were the most religious of 
their nation, yet they did not visit the temple at Je- 
rusalem, nor offer bloody sacrifices ; they were afraid 
of being polluted by other men; they sent their 
offerings thither ; and themselves offered up to God 
the sacrifices of a clean heart. Philo says, the Es- 
senes were in number about four thousand in Judea; 
and Pliny seems to fix their principal abode above 
En-gedi, where they fed on the fruit of the palm- 
tree. He adds, that they lived at a distance from the 
sea-shore, for fear of being corrupted by the conver- 
sation of strangers. Philo assures us, that in certain 
cities some of them occasionally resided ; but that 
they usually chose rather to dwell in the fields, and 
apply themselves to agriculture, and other laborious 
exercises, which did not take them from their soli- 
tude. Their studies were the laws of Moses; espe- 



ESSENES 



[ 39fi 1 



EST 



cially ou sabnatii days, on which they assembled in 
their synagogues, where each was seated according 
to his rank ; the elder above, the younger below. 
One of the company read, and another of the most 
learned expounded. They very much used symbols, 
allegories, and parables, after the manner of the an- 
cients. We do not see that our Lord has spoken of 
them, or that he preached among them. It is not 
improbable that John the Baptist lived among them, 
till he began to baptize and preach. The wilderness, 
where Pliny places the Essenes, was not very far 
from Hebron, which is thought by some to be the 
place of John's birth. 

The following particulars are from Philo, concern- 
ing the Essenes, who may be called practical, to dis- 
tinguish them from the Therapeuta?, who may be 
termed contemplative Essenians. Some employ them- 
selves in husbandry ; others in trades and manufac- 
tures, of such things only as are useful in time of 
peace ; their designs being beneficial only. They 
amass neither gold nor silver, nor make any large 
acquisitions of land to increase their revenues, but 
are satisfied with possessing what is requisite to re- 
lieve the necessities of life. They are, perhaps, the 
only men who without land or money, by choice 
rather than by necessity, find themselves rich enough ; 
because their wants are but few, and, as they under- 
stand how to be content with nothing, as we may say, 
they always enjoy plenty. You do not find an artifi- 
cer among them who would make any sort of arms, 
or warlike machines ; they make none of those 
things, even in time of peace, which men pervert to 
bad uses ; they concern themselves neither with 
trade nor navigation ; lest it should engage them to 
be avaricious. The method which they follow in 
their explanation, is to unfold the allegorical mean- 
ings of Scripture. Their instructions run principally 
on holiness, equity, justice, economy, policy, the dis- 
tinction between real good and evil ; of what is 
indifferent, what we ought to pursue, or to avoid. 
The three fundamental maxims of their morality are, 
the love of God, of virtue, and of our neighbor ; they 
demonstrate their love of God in a constant chastity 
throughout their lives, in a great aversion from swear- 
ing and lying, and in attributing every thing that is 
good to God, never making him the author of evil ; 
they show their love to virtue in disinterestedness, in 
dislike of glory and ambition, in renouncing pleas- 
ure, in continence, patience, and simplicity, in being 
easily contented, in mortification, modesty, respect 
for the laws, constancy, and other virtues ; lastly, 
their love to their neighbor appears in their liberali- 
ty, in the equity of their conduct towards all, and in 
their community of fortunes, on which it may be 
proper to enlarge a little. 

First, no one among them in particular is master 
of the house where he dwells ; any other of the 
same sect who comes thither, may be as much mas- 
ter as he is. As they live in society, and eat and 
drink in common, they make provision for the whole 
community, as well for those who are present, as for 
those who come unlooked for. There is a common 
chest in each particular society, where every thing 
is reserved which is necessary for the support and 
clothing of each member. Whatever any one gets 
is brought into the common stock ; and, if any one 
fall sick, so as to be disabled from working, he is 
supplied with every thing necessary for the recovery 
of his health, out of the common fund. The young- 
er pay great respect to the elder, and treat them 
almost in the same manner as children treat their 



parents in their old age. They choose priests of the 
most distinguished merit to be receivers of the es- 
tates and revenues of their society, who likewise 
have the charge of issuing what is necessary for the 
table of the house. There is nothing singular or 
affected in their way of living ; it is simple and 
unassuming. 

It is surprising commentators and divines make 
no reference to these peculiarities in the character, 
manners, and principles of the Jewish sect of the 
Essenes. The fact is, that, not being explicit]}' men- 
tioned in the Gospels, they are usually disregarded. 
In many respects they seem to have agreed with the 
character of John the Baptist, as described or im- 
plied in the Gospels. They are also described as 
"having all things in common," no one of them 
claiming personal property in goods, but referring 
them to the whole community. This then abates the 
singularity of the primitive church, of which we are 
told, no one said that aught "of the things which he 
possessed was his own, but they had all things in 
common," Acts iv. 32. That is to say, these first 
converts imitated the Essenes, a sect well known 
among them ; they were in the city what the Essenes 
were in the desert. This also sets the behavior of 
Ananias and Sapphira in a strong light ; since they 
must have known perfectly well the custom of this 
sect, and had, like them, made a profession of re- 
nouncing riches. Observe, " the Essenes took no 
provisions on their journeys ;" so the disciples ; (Mark 
vi. 8 ; Luke ix. 3.) " they were hospitable ;" (see 
Rom. xii. 13 ; 1 Tim. iii. 2 ; Titus i. 8 ; 1 Peter iv. 9.) 
" they did not marry ;" perhaps the fear that this 
principle should be extended too far, ought to be 
taken into our consideration, when we examine the 
grounds of some of the apostle's advice, 1 Cor. vii ; 
Heb. xiii. 14; 1 Tim. iv. 3. We may suppose, too, 
that the Christian deacons resembled " the steward 
among the Essenes, who distributed to every one 
what he wanted." In short, if the reader will pe- 
ruse with attention the articles Essenes and The- 
rapeut-E, with these ideas in his mind, he will 
perceive that this sect deserves a consideration which 
it does not usually receive. A late ingenious writ- 
er has endeavored to prove that the Essenes were, in 
fact, a Christian society. (See Jones's Ecclesiastical 
Researches.) 

[It has been supposed by some, that our Saviour 
was educated among the Essenes ; as also John the 
Baptist. But this is mere conjecture, and does not 
harmonize with the other facts which are known. 
John was indeed a Nazarite, (Luke i. 15,) like Samuel 
and Samson, 1 Sam. i. 11 ; Judg. xiii. 5. R. 

ESTHER, or Hadassah, of the tribe of Benja- 
min, daughter of Abihail. Her parents being dead, 
Mordecai, her uncle by her father's side, took care 
of her education. After Ahasuerus had divorced 
Vashti, search was made throughout Persia for the 
most beautiful women, and Esther was one selected. 
She found favor in the eyes of the king, and he mar- 
ried her with royal magnificence, bestowing largesses 
and pardons on his people, Esth. ii. Mordecai re- 
fusing to honor Hainan, he, in revenge, obtained an 
order from the king to destroy the whole nation of 
the Jews. Mordecai apprized Esther of the plot, 
and by her means the danger was averted, (chap, iv.) 
and Hainan executed, chap. vii. See Haman and 
Mordecai. 

The book of Esther has always been esteemed 
canonical both by Jews and Christians ; but the au- 
thority of those additions in the Latin editions are 



E T II 



[ 397 ] 



EVA 



disputed. The Greek copies are not uniform, and 
differ much from the Hebrew ; while the old Latin 
translations differ both from the Hebrew and from 
the Greek. At the end of our printed Greek copies 
we read, that in " the fourth year of Ptolemy and 
Cleopatra, Dositheus, accompanied by his son Ptole- 
my, carried the letter of Purim into Egypt, which 
was said to have been translated into Greek by Ly- 
simachus the son of Ptolemy." This Ptolemy is 
believed to be Philometer, who died A. M. 3861, long- 
after Ptolemy Philadelphia, in whose reign the ver- 
sion of the LXX is supposed to have been made. 
Lysimachus was, probably, author of the additions 
in the Greek of Esther. Clemens of Alexandria, 
some rabbins, and many commentators, suppose the 
original author of this book to have been Mordecai ; 
and the book itself favors this opinion, saying, that 
he wrote the history of this event. Others think it 
was composed and placed in the canon by Ezra, or 
by the great synagogue. The time of the history is 
probably in the reign of Xerxes. See Ahasue- 

RUS II. 

ETAM, a rock to which Samson retired, Judg. xv. 
8, 11. Probably near a city of the same name in 
Judah, built by Rehoboam, (1 Chron. iv. 3, 32 ; 2 
Chron. xi. 6.) which lay between Bethlehem and 
Tekoah. Josephus speaks of a place of pleasure 
called Hethan, distant from Jerusalem five leagues, 
to which Solomon frequently retired. From hence, 
probably, Pilate, some few years before the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, brought water through aqueducts 
into the city, at a great expense ; in accomplishing 
which, he was forced to take a large compass round 
the mountains lying in the way. See Cistern. 

ETERNAL, ETERNITY. 1 hese words often 
signify a very long time, and therefore must not al- 
ways be understood literally ; so we find " eternal 
mountains," to denote their antiquity, Gen. xlix. 26 ; 
Deut. xxxiii. 15. God promises to David an " eter- 
nal kingdom and posterity ;" that is, his and his son's 
empire will be of long duration ; and even absolutely 
eternal, if we include the kingdom of the Messiah. 
But eternity, when God is the subject, always denotes 
an absolute eternity. " The Lord ruleth for ever. I 
lift up my hand to heaven, and swear, I live for 
ever," eternally. The Son of God is called " Priest 
for ever after the order of Melchisedec ;" his gospel, 
"the eternal gospel ;" his redemption, "eternal re- 
demption ;" his blood shed for us, "the blood of the 
eternal covenant ;" his glory, "an eternal weight of 
glory." For eternal punishment, see Hell. 

ETHAM, the third station of the Israelites when 
coming out of Egypt, (Numb, xxxiii. 6 ; Exod. xiii. 
20.) lay at the extremity of the western gulf of the 
Red sea. 

ETHAN, the Ezrahite, and son of Kishi, was one 
ol the wisest men of his time, except Solomon, 1 
Kings iv. 31 ; Psal. lxxxix ; 1 Chron. vi. 44. Ethan 
was a principal master of the temple music, 1 Chron. 
xv. 17, and other places. Ps. lxxxix. is attributed 
to him. 

ETHANIM, a Hebrew month, (1 Kings viii. 2.) 
alter the captivity called Tizri. It is supposed to 
answer to our September, O. S. See Jewish 
Calendar. 

ETH-B AAL, king of the Zidonians, father of Jeze- 
bel, wife of Ahab, 1 Kings xvi. 31. 

ETHER, a city twenty miles from Eleutheropolis, 
near Malatha, in the south of Judah. Allotted first 
to Judah, afterwards to Simeon, Josh. xv. 42 ; xix. 7. 

ETHIOPIA, one of the great kingdoms in Africa, 



part of which is now called Abyssinia. Ethiopia is 
frequently mentioned in Scripture under the name of 
Cush ; but as there were several countries so named, 
we should be careful to discriminate between them. 
(See under Cush.) The Abyssinians are by some be- 
lieved to have received the Christian faith from Mat- 
thew, or Bartholomew, or Philip, or from queen 
Candace's eunuch, who was baptized by Philip, one 
of the seven deacons, Acts viii. 27. But these opin- 
ions are unfounded. Matthew, we are told, preached 
the gospel to the Ethiopians, that is, those above the 
Araxes, near the Persians. Bartholomew preached 
to the Indians, called by the ancients Ethiopians, that 
is, in Arabia Felix. Philip the deacon, or the 
eunuch, might preach the gospel to queen Candace, 
who reigned in the peninsula of Meroe, which is 
sometimes named Ethiopia. 

[The various significations in which the name 
Cush or Ethiopia is taken in the Old Testament, have 
been discussed under the article Cush ; which see. 
Ethiopia proper lay south of Egypt, on the Nile , 
and was bounded north by Egypt, i. e. by the cata- 
racts near Syene ; east by the Red sea, and perhaps 
a part of the Indian ocean ; south by unknown re- 
gions of the interior of Africa; and west by Libya 
and deserts. It comprehended, of course, the mod- 
ern countries of Nubia, or Sennaar, and Abyssinia. 
The chief city in it was the ancient Meroe, situated 
on the island or tract of the same name, between the 
Nile and Astaboras, not far from the modern Shendi. 

The Ethiopian queen Candace, whose treasurer is 
mentioned, Acts viii. 27, was probably queen of 
Meroe, where a succession of females reigned, who 
all bore this name. (Pliny, Hist. Nat. vi. 29.) As 
this courtier is said to have gone up to Jerusalem to 
worship, he was probably a Jew by religion, if not 
by birth. There is a current tradition among the 
Ethiopians themselves, that the queen of Sheba, who 
visited Solomon, was called Maqueda, and that she 
was not from Arabia, but was a queen of their own 
country. They say, that she adopted the Jewish re- 
ligion, and introduced it among her people ; and 
that her son and successor, Monilek, (whom she is 
said to have conceived by Solomon,) took the name of 
David I. (Bruce's Trav. i. p. 524.) Christianity was 
first introduced into Ethiopia about A. D. 330, by 
Frumentius, who became the first bishop of 
Ethiopia. 

The old Ethiopian language is a dialect of the 
Arabic, having an alphabet of its own, and some 
distinctive peculiarities ; thus, e. g. it is read from left 
to right, while the Arabic and all the other Semitish 
languages are read from right to left. In the alpha- 
bet, too, the vowels are represented by small hooks 
or circles appended in different ways to die conso- 
nants. It was in daily use so late as the 14th cen- 
tury ; when it was supplanted by the Amharic dialect. 
It still continues to be used in books ; but most of 
the literature in it is of a religious and ecclesiastical 
character ; among which the first place is due to the 
Ethiopic version of the Scriptures. The principal 
works on the language, literature, and history, of 
Ethiopia, are those of Ludolph. *R. 

EVANGELIST, one who publishes good news; 
they therefore who write, as well as they who preach, 
the gospel of Jesus Christ, are evangelists ; and in 
general all who declare happy tidings. In Isaiah xli. 
27, the Lord says, he will give to Jerusalem one who 
bringeth good tidings — an evangelist. Philip the 
deacon is called an evangelist, Acts xxi. 8. Paul 
speaks of evangelists, (Eph. iv. 11.) and ranks them 



E VI 



[ 398 ] 



e u r 



after apostles and prophets. He exhorts Timothy to 
perform the duty of an evangelist.. There were 
originally evangelists and preachers, who, without be- 
ing fixed to any church, preached wherever they 
were led by the Holy Spirit. We commonly call 
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, "the evangelists," 
because they were the writers of the four Gospels, 
which bring the glad tidings of eternal salvation to 
all men. 

EUCHARIST, thanksgiving, a word particularly 
signifying the sacrament of the body and blood of 
our Saviour Jesus Christ. Called eucharist, because 
Christ, in the institution of it, gave thanks to God. 

EVE, the name of the first woman : Chava, in He- 
brew, is derived from the same root as chajim, life ; 
because she was to be " the mother of all living." It 
is supposed she was created on the sixth day, after 
Adam had reviewed the animals. See Adam. 

Adam and Eve were placed in Paradise, and God 
forbade them from touching one particular fruit. 
But the envious evil one insidiously seduced Eve to 
eat of the forbidden fruit ; and she afterwards se- 
duced Adam. By thus transgressing the prohibition, 
they both became degraded ; and were punished by 
expulsion from Paradise, and by subjection to evils, 
natural and moral. God said to Eve, " I will greatly 
multiply thy sorrow and thy conception ; in sorrow 
thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall 
be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee ;" but, 
at the same time, the Messiah and his power were 
foretold, Gen. iii. After being expelled from Para- 
dise, Eve conceived and brought forth Cain, saying, 
'{ I have gotten a man from the Lord :" the year of 
Eve's death is not known. It is presumed she died 
.about the same time as Adam, cir. A. M. 930. The 
eastern people have paid honors to Adam and Eve 
as to saints, axid have some curious traditions con- 
cerning them. 

EVENING. The Hebrews reckoned two even- 
ings ; as in the phrase between the evenings, Marg. Ex. 
xii. 6 ; Num. ix. 3; xxviii. 4. In this interval the 
passover was to be killed, and the daily evening sacri- 
fice offered, Ex. xxix. 39 — 41, Heb. According to 
the Cara'ites, this time between the evenings is the in- 
terval from sunset to complete darkness, i. e. the 
evening twilight, (comp. Deut. xvi. 6.) According to 
the Pharisees, Josephus (B. J. vi. 9. 3.) and the rab- 
bins, the first evening began when the sun inclined 
to descend more rapidly, i. e. at the ninth hour (Gr. 
Jtl'/.tx rcQtaia .) while the second or real evening com- 
menced at sunset (Gr. Sett?} dipla.) Compare, also, 
Matt. xix. 15, with verse 23. ■ R. 

EVI, a prince of Midian, killed in war, Numb, 
xxxi. 8. A. M. 2553. 

EVILMERODACH, foolish Merodach, son and 
successor of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 
Under this name there lies concealed, probably, a 
Chaldee or Persian one of a different meaning ; which 
the Jews thus perverted to show their hatred and con- 
tempt of their idolatrous oppressor, 2 Kings xxv. 7 ; 
Jer. Iii. 31. Evilmerodach, as some think, was im- 
prisoned by him. In this confinement he contracted 
an acquaintance and friendship with Jehoiakim king 
of Judah, so that immediately after the king's death, 
Evilmerodach, succeeding him, delivered Jehoiakim 
out of prison, and placed him above all the other 
kings, who were captives at Babylon. Evilmerodach 
reigned two years, and was then murdered and suc- 
ceeded by Neriglissar, his sister's husband ; then 
by Laborosoarchod ; and lastly by Belshazzar. See 
Assyria. 



EUMENES, king of Bithynia and Pergamus, 1 > 
Mac. viii. 8. Having joined the Romans in their 
war against Antiochus the Great, he received in re- 
compense the country of " the Indians, Medes, and 
Lydians ;" as the text of the Maccabees reads ; but 
it is probable we should read, " the Ionians, Mysians, 
and Lydians." 

EUNICE, mother of Timothy, (2 Tim. i. 5.) was a 
Jewess by birth, but married to a Greek, who was 
Timothy's father. Paul found, at Lystra, Eunice 
and Timothy far advanced in grace and faith. 

EUNUCH. In the courts of eastern kings, the 
care of the beds and apartments is generally com- 
mitted to eunuchs. The Hebrew saris signifies a 
real eunuch, whether naturally born such, or render- 
ed such ; but in Scripture this word often denotes an 
officer belonging to a prince attending his court, and 
employed in the interior of his palace. Potiphar, 
Pharaoh's euuuch or officer, and Joseph's master,, 
had a wife, Gen. xxxix. 1 — 7. God forbade his peo- 
ple to make eunuchs ; and prohibited such to enter 
into the congregation of the Lord, (Deut. xxiii. 1.), 
that is, debarred them the possession of some out- 
ward privileges belonging to the Israelites. They 
were looked on in the commonwealth as dry and 
useless wood ; and might say of themselves — " Be- 
hold, I am a dry tree." But notwithstanding, "Thus 
saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sab- 
baths, and take hold of my covenant, even unto them 
will I give in mine house, and within my walls, a 
place and a name better than of sons and daughters,"' 
Isa. lvi. 4. In the courts of the kings of Judah and 
Israel, were officers called Serasim ; probably real- 
eunuchs, if they were slaves or captives, bought from 
foreigners ; but if they were Hebrews, their name 
expresses simply their office and dignity. Our Sa- 
viour (Matt. xix. 12.) speaks of men who "made 
themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven," 
who, on some religious motive, renounced marriage 
and carnal pleasures. Origen, and some ancient 
heretics, construed our Saviour's words literally ; and 
Eusebius informs us, that this was done so common- 
ly by the inhabitants of Syria and Osroene, in honor 
of the goddess Cybele, that king Abgarus, to abolish 
the practice, made a law, that they who were guilty 
of it should have their hands cut off. 

EUODIAS, a female disciple mentioned by Paul, 
Philip, iv. 2. 

EUPHRATES, a famous river of Asia, which has 
its source in the mountains of Armenia, and runs 
along the frontiers of Cappadocia, Syria, Arabia De- 
serta, Chaldea, and Mesopotamia, and falls into the 
Persian gulf. At present it discharges itself into the 
sea in union with the Tigris ; but formerly it had a 
separate channel. Moses says, (Gen. ii. 14.) the Eu- 
phrates was the fourth river whose source was in 
Paradise. (See Eden.) Scripture often calls it, the 
Great River, and assigns it for the eastern boundary 
of that land which God promised to the Hebrews,, 
Deut. i. 7; Josh. i. 4. The Euphrates overflows in 
summer, like the Nile, when the snow on the moun- 
tains of Armenia begins to melt. The source of the 
Euphrates, as well as that of the Tigris, being in the 
mountains of Armenia, some of the ancients were of 
opinion, that these two rivers rose from one common 
spring ; but at present their sources are distant one 
from the other. The Arabians divide the Euphrates^ 
into the larger and the lesser ; the larger, rising in the 
Gordian mountains, discharges itself into the Tigris-- 
near Anbar and Pelongiah. The smaller, whose- 
channel is often wider than that of the larger, runs 



EXC 



[ 399 ] 



EXCOMMUNICATION 



towards Chaldea, passes through Corofah, and falls 
into the Tigris, between Vassith and Naharvan, at 
Carna, that is, the Horn, because, in reality, it is the 
horn or confluence of the great and the little Eu- 
phrates. Parsons, in his Travels in Asia, writes, — 
" At Korna, on the extreme point of Mesopotamia, 
the head of our vessel was in the Tigris, the stern in 
the Euphrates, and the middle in the great river 
where the two former unite. This point is reckoned 
to be from Hellah about 180 English leagues." From 
the lesser, a canal, dug by Trajan's order, passes into 
the larger Euphrates. This is the Fossa Regia, or 
Basilius Jluvius of the Greeks and Romans, by the 
Syrians called Nahar-Malca, through which the em- 
peror Severus passed in his way to Ctesiphon on the 
Tigris, when he besieged that city. The violence of 
the Persian gulf causes a reflux of water thirty 
leagues above the mouth of the Euphrates. The 
Arabians are persuaded that the waters of this river 
are very wholesome, and have virtue in curing dis- 
eases. Be. ween this river and the Tigris, which is 
east of it, is Mesopotamia, and the laud of Shinar ; 
and east of the Tigris is Assyria. 

The Mesopotamian Euphrates is a river of conse- 
quence in Scripture geography, being the boundary 
which separated Padan Aram from Syria, and the ut- 
most limits, east, of the kingdom of the Israelites. It 
was indeed only occasionally, that the dominion of 
the Hebrews extended so far; but it would appear, 
that even Egypt, under Pharaoh Neclio, made con- 
quests to the western bank of the Euphrates. Its 
general course is south-east ; but in some places it 
runs westerly, and approaches the Mediterranean, 
near Cilicia. It is accompanied in most parts of its 
course (about 1400 miles) by the Tigris. There are 
many towns on its banks, which are in general rath- 
er level than mountainous. The river does not 
appear to be of any very great breadth. Otter says, 
" When we passed the Euphrates, the 12th of March, 
this river had only 200 common paces in width ; in 
its height, it extends 500 or 600 paces into the plains 
on the right." Thevenot observes, that near to Bir, 
the Euphrates (July 3) seemed no larger than the 
Seine at Paris ; but it was said to be very broad in 
winter. Near Hellah, which marks the situation of 
the ancient Babylon, it was about four hundred feet 
wide. Mr. Rich, in his memoir on Babylon, says, 
the current was, at Hellah, at a medium, about two 
knots (miles) per hour. The Euphrates now over- 
flows the site of Babylon, where, says sir R. K. 
Porter, "its banks were hoary with reeds, and the 
gray osier willows were yet there, on which the cap- 
tives of Israel hung up their harps, and, while Jeru- 
salem was not, refused to be comforted." See 
Babylonia. 

EUPOLEMUS, son of John, an ambassador whom 
Judas Maccabasus sent to Rome, 1 Mac. viii. 17. 

EUROCLYDON, a dangerous wind in the Le- 
vant, or eastern part of the Mediterranean sea, Acts 
xxvii. 14. It is usually said that this wind blows 
from the north-east; but perhaps it is what our sea- 
men call a Levanter, which is confined to no point 
of the compass, but by veering to all points, is at- 
tended with great danger. 

EUTYCHUS, the name of a young man of Troas, 
who, sitting in a window while the apostle Paul was 
preaching, slept, and fell from the third story, and 
was taken up dead. Paul restored him to life, Acts 
xx. 10. A. D. 57. 

EXCOMMUNICATION, an ecclesiastical penalty, 
by which they who incur the guilt of any heinous 



sin, are separated from the church, and deprived ol 
spiritual advantages. There are two or three sorts 
of excommunication. (1.) The greater, by which 
the person offending is separated from the body of 
the faithful ; thus Paul excommunicated the incestu- 
ous Corinthian, 1 Cor. v. 1 — 5. (2.) The lesser, by 
which the sinner is forbidden the sacraments. (3.) 
That which suspends him from the company of be- 
lievers ; which seems to be hinted at, 2 Thess. iii. 6. 
Augustin speaks in several places of this excom- 
munication ; and Theophylact says, that it was es- 
teemed a great punishment. The primitive church 
was very cautious in the use of excommunication ; 
using it only for very serious and important reasons, 
and always with great concern. The manner of ex- 
communicating in the primitive church was this ; the 
faithful separated themselves from those whose com- 
pany the church had prohibited, without obliging 
their superiors to proceed any further. In process 
of time, however, the bishops used threatenings, 
anathemas, and sentences of excommunication ; and 
at last, to make these ceremonies more frightful, they 
were attended with actions proper for infusing ter- 
ror, such as the lighting of wax candles, extinguish- 
ing them, throwing them on the ground, and tram- 
pling them under foot, while the bishop pronounced 
excommunication, thundering also curses against the 
excommunicated. 

The principal effect of excommunication is, to 
separate the excommunicated from the society of 
Christians, from the privilege of being present in re- 
ligious assemblies, from the eucharist, from attend- 
ance at the prayers, the sacraments, and all those 
duties by which Christians are connected in one so- 
ciety and communion. An excommunicated person 
is, with regard to the church, as a heathen man and 
a publican, Matt, xviii. 17. But this excision from 
Christian communion does not exempt him from any 
duties to which he is liable as a man, a citizen, a 
father, a husband, or a king, either by the law of na- 
ture and nations, or by the civil law. And when the 
apostles enjoin men to have no conversation with the 
excommunicated, not to eat with them, not even to 
salute them, this is to be understood of offices of 
mere civility, (which a man is at liberty to pay, or to 
withhold,) and not of any natural obligations ; such 
as are founded on nature, humanity, and the law of 
nations, 1 Cor. v. 1 — 5 ; 2 Thess. iii. 6 — 14 ; 2 John 
10, 11. 

Among the Jews we see excommunication prac- 
tised in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, with re- 
gard to those who would not dismiss the strange 
women whom they had married contrary to the law, 
Ezra x. 10 ; Neh. xiii. 25 — 28. Our Saviour, speaking 
to his apostles, foretold that the Jews, out of hatred 
to him, would treat them ill, and excommunicate 
them, " cast them out of their synagogues." They 
generally scourged the excommunicated persons, 
before they expelled them out of their synagogues. 
The act was preceded by censure and admonition, 
at first, privately ; if the guilty person did not amend, 
the house of judgment, the assembly of judges, de- 
clared to him, with menaces, the necessity for his 
reformation. If he continued obstinate on four sab- 
bath days successively, his name and the nature of his 
fault were proclaimed, in order to bring him to shame ; 
and then, if he were incorrigible, he was excommu- 
nicated. Our Saviour seems to allude to this prac- 
tice, where he commands us to tell .our brother of 
his fault between him and us alone ; then — that we 
should take witnesses with us in order to ad mon- 



EXO 



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EXODUS 



ish him ; and lastly, — that we should inform the 
church against him. And if, after this, he do not re- 
turn to his duty, then we should look on him as a 
• heathen man and a publican, Matt, xviii. 15 — 17. 

The sentence of excommunication among the Jews 
was conceived in these terms : "Let such an one be 
in excommunication, or separation." The judges, or 
the synagogue, or even private persons, had a right 
to excommunicate; but regularly, "the house of 
judgment," or the court of justice, solemnly pro- 
nounced the sentence. One particular person might 
excommunicate another, and he might likewise ex- 
communicate himself ; as they who bound them- 
selves under a curse, neither to eat nor to drink till 
they had killed Paul, Acts xxiii. 12. Beasts were 
sometimes excommunicated : and the rabbins teach, 
that excommunication has its effect even on dogs. 

It has been a matter of surprise to some, that our 
Saviour, whose design was to build his church on 
the ruins of Judaism, and who evidently attacked 
the very foundations of the Jewish religious preju- 
dices, was, notwithstanding, never excommunicated. 
Perhaps the Jews might look on Christ and his fol- 
lowers as a new sect ; and as it was not then a cus- 
tom to excommunicate whole bodies, they might 
receive the same indulgence as the Sadducees, 
Essenes, Herodians, and Pharisees. See Anathema. 

EXODUS, (from the Greek " Ekodoc, going out,) the 
term generally applied to the departure of the Israel- 
ites from Egypt, under Moses, their divinely ap- 
pointed leader and legislator. 

There are a few things connected with the Exodus 
which require illustration previously to our consid- 
eration of the departure itself. 

1. The true reason which actuated Moses in his 
conduct, was, no doubt, the ultimate deliverance of 
Israel from bondage ; but, what is the nature and im- 
port of the apparent reason which he gives to Phara- 
oh, in Exod. v. 1, 3. " to go three days' journey into 
the desert, for the purpose of a festivity and sacrifice 
to the God Jehovah ?" — This may perhaps receive 
elucidation, from the similar undertakings which are 
actually accomplished every year, from Egypt, by 
the caravan of Mecca ; and the question naturally 
arises, Whether such a custom be as ancieut as Mo- 
ses ? — Did Moses reason with Pharaoh something 
after this manner ? " We see other people journey 
through your dominions, and many of your own sub- 
jects also leave your dominions for a time, to perform 
their worship in what they esteem a peculiarly sacred 
place, whereas you do not suffer us to enjoy that lib- 
erty ; but bind us continually to our burdens : we 
also desire the same permission as they receive, and 
propose to form a caravan of Israelites, who may 
worship the God of their fathers, in a place, and in a 
manner of his own appointment, where we may be 
secure from the profane interference of by-standers, 
while performing our sacred services." To see the 
force of this supposition, it must be observed, (1.) 
That pilgrimages to certain cities and temples are ot 
most ancient date in Egypt, and, in fact, appear to 
have been interwoven with the original establish- 
ments and institutions of that country: — (2.) that the 
pilgrimage to Mecca, in particular, though now the 
most famous, was not instituted by Mahomet; he 
found it already established among the Arabs. Its 
antiquity is, beyond a doubt, very great ; as is also, 
(3.) that of the Kaaba of Ishmael ; and though we 
may reject the Arabian tale of the origin of the well 
Zemzem, and that of the miraculous deliverance of 
Ishmael (instead of Isaac) from the knife of Abra- 



ham, yet that Ishmael might dwell at Mecca, or in 
the country adjacent, is unquestionable, and is suffi- 
ciently credible : he might institute some kind of po- 
litical, religious, or commercial meeting of the tribes 
called Arabs, (for the descendants of Ishmael are 
not the only Arabs,) which, after his death, they 
might continue, for the same reasons as caused its 
institution. (4.) As the Arabs do not carry the an- 
tiquity of the Kaaba beyond Ishmael, we are led to 
inquire whether the interval of time, between Ishma- 
el and Moses, would be sufficient for the establish- 
ment of such an institution as this annual concourse. 
Might the tribes of Arabs settled in Egypt in the 
days of Moses, and using this pilgrimage, be suffi- 
ciently numerous to be observed, and to become a 
precedent? Was the race of " kings that knew not 
Joseph," foreigners, whose people were in the habit 
of thus annually visiting, and confederating with, 
their former compatriots ? It should be remembered, 
that commerce, no less than devotion, has a great 
share in forming these caravans; and we are sure 
that caravans for commerce were customary long be- 
fore the time of Moses, for to such a one travelling 
into Egypt, from Gilead, was Joseph sold. Did not, 
then, caravans for commerce, in those days, as they 
do at present, furnish the means of devotion, at par- 
ticular places ? and did not such caravans either set 
out from, or pass through, the land of Egypt from 
the more westerly parts of Africa, as they now do, 
so that their nature and their purposes were suffi- 
ciently understood by Pharaoh ? [It must here be 
remembered, that the above is merely fanciful con- 
jecture. R. 

2. The places named, and the events of the jour- 
ney of the Israelites. — 

(1.) It is said of the place from whence the Israel- 
ites departed; (Exod. xii. 37.) "and the children of 
Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth." See 
also Numb, xxxiii. 3. — Where, and what, was this 
Rameses 1 ? We are told, (Exod. chap. i. 11.) that the 
Israelites built, for Pharaoh, treasure cities— Ra- 
meses and Pithom. If, as has been generally suppos- 
ed, Pithom was the ancient Pelusium, then it might 
be the extremity of Pharaoh's dominions toward the 
east, and probably Rameses was the extremity of his 
dominions toward the west ; for in such frontier 
situations, it is natural to expect that fortified cities, 
or magazines, would be placed. Now, in Niebuhr's 
map of the mouths of the Nile, on the western branch 
of that river, and rather south of the canal which 
goes to Alexandria, is a district, or village, named 
Ramsis. If this may be taken as an indication of 
the name and situation of the ancient Rameses, then 
these two accounts of Moses express — that all the 
Israelites, from the most distant parts of Pharaoh's 
dominions, assembled, with their property, at the 
proper station for the departure of caravans, Succoth ; 
which, indeed, we know must have been the fact ; 
but which has not previously been discerned in the 
Mosaic history. [With far more probability, Gesenius 
regards the city of Rameses or Raamses as the capital 
of the land of Goshen, and consequently situated to 
the eastward of the Delta. This idea is also adopted 
by Prof. Stuart; who fixes the site of this city at 
about half the distance between the Nile and Suez, 
where the present village of Aboukeyshid is situated, 
(in accordance with M. Ayme and lord Valentia,) 
where are found extensive ruins. If thus located, 
Rameses lay on the borders of the great canal ; or, if 
this were not yet in existence, it lay on the great val 
ley or Wady, up which the waters of the Nile flov 



EXODUS 



[ 401 ] 



EXODUS 



ed, so as sometimes nearly to meet those of the Bitter 
lakes, which were connected with the Red sea. It 
would thus have been about forty miles distant from 
Suez. (Stuart's Course of Heb. Study, vol. ii. No. 1. 
p. 173. Modern Traveller in Arabia, p. 185. Amer. 
ed.) R. 

(2.) Mr. Taylor supposes that Succoth, where the 
Israelites assembled, may be placed at Birket-el-Hadj, 
or Pilgrim's pool : here the caravans still assemble, 
and here that destined for Mecca waits the arrival of 
the western pilgrims. The reasons are evident ; it 
is at a convenient distance from Cairo ; it furnishes 
water, and vegetation ; so that the same wants which 
occur in all caravans, inclined, in fact obliged, the 
ancient assemblage of Israel, as they now do the 
modern assemblage of Arabs, to make it their tem- 
porary residence. It appears also that Birket-el- 
Hadj is considerably in advance towards Suez, and 
consequently the journey is shortened in proportion. 
[It is more probable, as Prof. Stuart supposes, that 
Succoth was merely a place of encampment, — di- 
viding the distance between Rameses and Etham 
Adjerout,) i. e. about twenty miles from each. R. 

We have seen under the article Caravan, that 
iwses probably regulated the Israelites in an accu- 
rate manner, and appointed proper officers. To ac- 
complish this, the delay at Birket-el-Hadj would fur- 
nish him advantageous opportunities, and, as the vari- 
ous families arrived in succession, he might directly 
order them to their stations. In fact, some delay is 
implied in the name Succoth (booths); for, in gen- 
eral, the caravans only pitch their tents here ; but if 
the first comers of the Israelites, while waiting for 
their kinsmen, built booths here, they might naturally 
enough call their temporary town by this name — 
" the booths." It is also probable, that having long 
dwelt in houses, few were provided with tents ; so 
that the erection of booths was the most convenient 
mode of shelter in their power. This account of the 
matter seems justified by the history ; (chap. xiii. 17.) 
" When Pharaoh had let the people go." So, verse 
17. " And they took their journey from Succoth, and 
encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness." 
As nothing particular happened at Etham, little need 
be said on it ; its situation, described as being in the 
edge of the wilderness, marks distinctly enough in 
what direction we must look for it. We shall only 
observe, that the nearer to the wilderness, in the direct 
road towards the wilderness, (or the northern termi- 
nation of the Red sea,) we place Etham, the better we 
apply the description of it, as " in the edge of the 
wilderness." 

The chief difficulty which remains, is, to under- 
stand correctly the command given in chap. xiv. 2 : 
" Turn and encamp." — It is supposed, then, that the 
Israelites continued their route from Etham, toward 
the desert, to somewhere about the place marked 
with a turning-off in the map, and here turned to- 
ward the sea, which lay to their right — "encamp be- 
fore (Heb. in the face of) Pi-ha-hiroth." — The word 
hiroth lias usually been taken as a proper name ; but 
Dr. Shaw justly renders it, " the gullet," though he 
did not perceive its direct application : Pi is the 
mouth, i. e. the mouth of the gullet. — " Encamp in the 
face (in front) of the mouth of the gullet, between 
Migdol (the tower) and the sea." [The word Pi-ha- 
hiroth is more probably of Egyptian origin, denoting 
a place of reeds, a salt marsh. R.] To ascertain this 
Migdol or tower, we need not seek any distant town, 
but must be guided by the nature of the country ; at 
the same tim? recollecting the orders given, "to 
51 



turn." We may place this tower at Bir Suez, " the. 
well of water," because this well was worth protect- 
ing by a tower, there being no other fresh water, 
then known, in the neighborhood ; and nobody ac- 
quainted with the value and scarcity of water in this 
desert, will imagine a tower, if inhabited, could be 
of use, or its inhabitants or garrison subsist, without 
water. It was necessary, therefore, for the protec- 
tion of this well for the use of the inhabitants atBaal- 
zephon, that a tower should secure it. [It lies on the 
route between Adjerout (Etham) and Suez, and is 
situated just so that it corresponds with the description 
here, on the supposition that Pi-ha-hiroth was near 
the sea. R.] "Encamp over-against (Heb. in the 
face of) Baal-zephon " — Baal-zephon is placed at 
Suez, because it adjoins Pi-ha-hiroth ; so that what 
ever station was "in the face of Pi-ha-hiroth," was 
also " in the face of Baal-zephon ;" yet Pi-ha-hiroth 
being more extensive than the town of Baal-zephon, 
this repetition, descriptive of the position to be taken, 
was neither useless nor redundant. That a town 
should be established here anciently, appears every 
way reasonable, from the same causes as now main- 
tain the town, of Suez, notwithstanding its numerous 
inconveniences. Observe, also, "Encamp between 
the tower and the sea ;" i. e. from Bir Suez to the 
gulf, eastward, or from Bir Suez to the head of 
the sea, southward, either of which may answer 
the expression ; but if we say from Bir Suez to 
the gulf, then the encamping from Baal-zephon to 
the sea, is from Suez, westward,' along the head of 
the sea-shore. While Moses was in this position, 
Pharaoh approached ; and he might justly say of 
the Israelites, that " they were enclosed by the desert, 
and the sea," as verse 9. — so that if he did not destroy 
them by a vigorous attack, they must .inevitably 
perish by famine, while under his blockade. 

We now come to the passage of the sea itself, and 
shall do well accurately to analyze the narration. — 
Moses said, " Fear not ! Stand still !" Here seems 
to be an indication of intentional delay, as if time 
and circumstances were not at this moment ready 
or favorable. During this interval of waiting, " Mo- 
ses cried unto the Lord," verse 15. In this conjunc- 
ture, a strong easterly wind blowing all night, 
divided the waters. — Now, the position of this gulf 
being from south to north, an east or perhaps north- 
east wind was the most proper that could blow for 
the purpose of dividing the gullet in the middle, and 
thereby preserving a body of water, above and below, 
i. e. north and south, of that division ; these waters 
defended the passage, like a wall, on the right and 
on the left, while the Israelites went over on dry 
ground. " The Egyptians pursued to the midst of the 
sea ; but in the morning watch" — this point of time, 
no doubt, was punctually expressed ; and would be 
punctually understood by those accustomed to count 
time by watches : it has lost that punctuality to us, 
yet we may pretty correctly fix it at about three 
o'clock in the morning, about which time — the sands, 
&c. of the oozy sea-bottom took off the chariot 
wheels of the Egyptians ; and now, the east wind 
sinking, the waters returned from the north and 
south, and overwhelmed the Egyptians ; whereas the 
Israelites passed during the power of this strong 
wind, which blew full in their faces. 

Such seem to be the circumstances of this famous 
passage ; the result of the whole is, that Providence 
engaged natural means in accomplishing its purpose. 
The strong east wind is expressly recorded in the his- 
tory ; and, again, in the thanksgiving song for this 



EXODUS 



[ 402 J 



EXODUS 



deliverance, "Thou didst blow with thy wind.'' — Af- 
ter reflecting on this, can it possibly be regarded as 
any disparagement to the interference of the same 
Providence, if advantage were also taken of the tide ? 
Certainly not ; we ought rather to conclude, that all 
natural advantages were taken, and that by these, and 
over these, Providence operated. Th'i£ idea seems 
to receive support from the command, to "stand 
still," which may relate to the abatement of the wa- 
ters by the falling of the tide in the gulf, as it does to 
the rising of the wind for the division of the remain- 
ing waters after the tide was out ; the two agents 
were probably concurrent. 

We are now ready for an inspection of the map 
of the journey from Egypt to the Red sea. 




Nearly opposite to Mizr-el-Atlik, on the other side 
of the Nile, are the pyramids ; at which it is sup- 
posed a considerable number of Israelites were en- 
gaged in labor. Lower down the Nile, to the north, 
lies the land of Goshen. The lines drawn from 
these extremes to Birket-el-Hadj, show the courses 
of the Israelites to the place of rendezvous, in order 
to join the main caravan. From Birket-el-Hadj, or 
Succoth, to Etham the caravan takes the usual route 
for the wilderness of Zin ; but, being past Etham, it 
is ordered to turn towards Baal-zephon, where being 
encamped, the army of Pharaoh is supposed to co%je 
in sight; and here the Israelites are evidently en- 
closed, and unable to move to right or left, either 
forward or backward. The gulf, it must be re- 
marked, extended much farther north than is de- 
noted by the shaded lines, and was wider toward the 
eastern shore ; so that we may conceive of the Is- 
raelites as crossing at least double the space marked 
by being shaded ; but, as geometrical precision is 
not our object, an extension of the shaded lines in 
the map would have answered no good purpose. 
The direction of the wind, with its fitness to divide 
the gulf, is apparent. — The following extracts are 
translated from Niebuhr : (p. 353, &c. French edit.) 
" To go from Cairo to Suez requires thirty hours 
and three quarters, and from the Nile requires one 
hour more. The great caravan, which goes yearly 
from Cairo to Mecca, assembles some days before it 
sets off, at four leagues from Cairo, on the way to 
Suez, near Birket-el-Hadj, a small lake, which 
(eceives the water of the Nile. A great caravan, 
which is in haste, may go from Birket-el-Hadj to 
Suez in three days : we took 28 hours 40 minutes, 
not reckoning the hours of rest. Every where on the 
coast of Arabia, we met with indications that the 
waters are withdrawn ; for instance, Musa, which all 
the ancient authors mention as a port of Arabia, is 
now at many leagues distance from the sea: near 
Loheia, and Djidda we see great hills fillet 1 with the 



same kind of shells, and corals, as are now found 
living in the sea : near Suez are petrifications of all 
these things. I saw, at three quarters of a league 
west of the city, a heap of shells, with living inhabit 
ants, upon a rock covered only at high water, and 
shells of the same kind, uninhabited, upon another 
rock of the shore, which was too high for the 
tide now to cover it. Some thousand years ago, there- 
fore, this Arabian gulf was much larger and ex- 
tended much further north, especially that arm of 
it near Suez, for the shore of this extremity of the gulf 
is very low. The breadth of the arm of the sea, 
at Suez, is about 3500 feet [in its present state.] 
Though it would much shorten the distance of their 
way, no caravan now crosses this arm, nor could 
the Israelites have crossed it without a miracle. The 
attempt must have been much more difficult to the 
Israelites, some thousand years ago, the gulf being 
then probably larger, deeper, and longer toward the 
north. At the lowest time of the tide, I crossed 
when returning from mount Sinai, that arm of the 
sea, over to Kolsoum, upon my camel ; and the 
Arabs who accompanied me, were only up to their 
thighs in water. I did not find in this sea, south of 
Suez, any bank or isthmus [reef] under water : from 
Suez to Girondel, we sounded, and had at first four 
fathom and a half; in the middle of the gulf, at three 
leagues from Suez, we had four fathom ; and about 
Girondel, near the shore, we had ten fathom. The 
banks of the Red sea are pure sand, from Suez to 
Girondel ; but lower to the south, I saw banks of cor- 
al. Now, had the Israelites crossed the sea upon such 
banks, they would have been greatly incommoded 
by them ; because they were very cutting, especially 
to the bare feet, or to feet but slightly defended." — 
What, then, must such rough banks have been to 
the women, the children, and the cattle ? 

It should be remembered, also, that the country 
further to the south (where some have supposed the 
Israelites passed) is so very rocky, that if the Israel- 
ites, marching on foot, with their cattle, women and 
children, could have journeyed by that road, Pha- 
raoh's chariots could not have so journeyed, but 
would have had few wheels, if any, left on them, by 
the time they had reached the banks of the sea ; — 
not to insist on the difference between crossing a 
smaller portion of the bed of the sea, that bed being 
sand, and nearly level, with the water only 10 or 12 
feet deep, and crossing a much longer distance, over 
a bottom of coral rock, and the water fifty feet deep 
at least. Those who say the magnitude of a miracle 
is no object to Almighty Power, may be asked, 
Which of the ways of Divine Wisdom, of which we 
have any knowledge, appears to justify the supposi- 
tion of any superabundance of power exerted, in the 
production of any effect, beyond what is necessary 
to produce that effect ? In what instance has such 
waste of power been detected ? It is honorable to the 
Divinity, to believe that Divine Wisdom so propor- 
tions the necessary power, that it shall be amply com- 
petent to the duty charged on it, but without an over- 
plus, whose infructuous reserve, being unemployed, 
is mere idleness. But to return to our traveller : — 

" Eusebius relates, after ancient traditions, that the 
Israelites passed at C'lysma. The Clysma of the 
Greeks was apparently the Kolsoum of the Arabs, as 
Bochart proves, in his Phaleg. (lib. ii. cap. 18. p. 107, 
108.) Macrizi, Abulfeda, and the present inhabitants 
of Suez, assure us that Kolsoum was near Suez. 
The tide falls here three feet, or three feet and a half, 
which, considering the shallowness of th is water, is 



EXODUS 



[ 403 1 



EXODUS 



a great proportion. Perhaps a thick fog hastened the 
destruction of the Egyptians ; I cannot decide on 
what was the pillar of cloud of Moses." 

Such are the notices of Niebuhr ; to which may be 
added, that the Greek name Clysma signifies destruc- 
tion; and Kolsoum is of similar import in Arabic. A 
very expressive appellation, surely, if commemora- 
tive of this destruction of the ancient Egyptian army. 

A further confirmation of the supposition, that here 
the Israelites passed, may be drawn from the names 
of the adjacencies mentioned in the history, as Baal- 
zephon, i. e. on the northern extremity of the Red sea 
itself, or on the northern extremity of the gullet ; 
either of which situations ascertains the part repre- 
sented in the map. 

We may now accompany the Israelites on their 
journey, by presuming, that so many of them as were 
employed on the pyramids quitted Memphis, to ren- 
dezvous at the Pilgrim's lake, where the caravan for 
Mecca now assembles, a few miles east from Cairo. 
Being joined by their kinsmen from the Delta, the 
whole body moved easterly towards the wilderness. 
[Professor Stuart supposes the general rendezvous to 
have been at Rameses, half way between the Nile 
and Suez. R.] We have already observed, that the 
northern extremity of the Red sea advanced much 
farther inland, anciently, than it does at present ; in- 
deed, the gulf becomes yearly shallower ; and before 
long, will be dry land. This is owing to the sands 
driven by the easterly winds, from the continent of 
Arabia, which have also, according to the best evi- 
dence we can obtain, shifted the sands in so long a 
course of ages, from their ancient stations, very much 
westward. This circumstance will be found to have 
considerable influence on the character of the wil- 
derness into which the Israelites entered ; and not 
less on its extent. In all probability, in the days of 
Moses, it did not begin so near to Egypt as it does 
now ; nor was it of that entirely sandy appearance, 
or of that absolute barrenness, which it now is. In- 
deed Egypt itself was anciently well covered with 
tall and jjoble trees on its eastern side ; which usual- 
ly marks a powerful vegetation. It will follow, also, 
that a district, affording food for a flock, as Moses 
conducted his flock on mount Sinai, and the numer- 
ous herds and flocks of the Israelites, (accustomed, 
it must be recollected, to the fertile pasture of the 
Delta,) was essentially different from the deserts at 
this time lying between Egypt and mount Sinai. The 
same causes which have diminished the depth of 
water at Suez, and daily operate to that effect, have 
also contributed to overspread the adjacent country 
with an unproductive surface. The Red sea is con- 
stantly retiring southward. Kolsoum, which was a 
port in the time of the caliphs, is now three quarters 
of a mile inland. It is probable, therefore, that Baal- 
zephon, though now represented as a town, by Suez, 
was nevertheless some miles further north. How 
far Baal-zephon was the same town which afterwards 
was called Serapiu, we know not ; but the probability 
is, that Baal and Serapis were the same deity, so that 
the two names may refer to the same temple, under 
different appellations in different ages. 

Having already accompanied the Israelites in their 
journey from Egypt to the Red sea, we shall here 
only observe, that most probably the resting places 
which had obtained names anciently are still used as 
resting places, though under other names ; and as 
only Succoth, Etham, Pihahiroth, Migdol, and Baal- 
zephon occur in this passage, there needs no great 
skill to determine them. Succoth may be placed at 



Birket el Hadgi, or Pilgrim's pool, a few miles east 
of Cairo. Etham was probably north of the present 
Adjeroud ; perhaps near the Bitter lake, or fountains ; 
though some, we believe, suppose Etham to be Ad- 
jeroud itself. D'Anville marks this " Calaat Adje- 
roud," Sand-pit castle. Might this castle be the 
Migdol or " tower " of the Hebrew historian ? Piha- 
hiroth was the opening of the present gulf of Suez ; 
but probably further north. Baal-zephon might be 
a town at the point of a gulf in the Red sea ; analo- 
gous to Suez at present. As to Migdol, Dr. Wells 
seems to have altogether mistaken its situation. The 
Antonine Itinerary places Magdolo, whose name, 
coincides completely with the sacred books, nearly 
half way between Sile and Pelusiurn, about twelve 
miles from each : it was therefore rather in the north 
of the isthmus of Suez than in the south where the 
doctor places it. This is also confirmed by the order 
in which Jeremiah ranges the towns inhabited by the 
Jews, advancing from north to south : Migdol, 
Tapanhes, (Daphne, near Pelusiutn,) Noph, or Men- 
nouf, that is, Memphis, Pathros ; and this order, 
equally with the distance from Pelusiurn, proves, 
that the Migdol near Baal-zephon could not be Mag- 
dolo. As the Hebrew Migdol signifies " a tower," 
we have thought it might be a Calaat, or an erection 
at a well, surrounded by walls ; which suits no less 
the circumstances of the history, than a city of this 
name would do. 

The road taken by the Israelites was a regular and 
customary track: during the first half of it, it was a 
direct road to Canaan ; and it effectually concealed 
from Pharaoh what Moses ultimately intended, till 
after he' had branched off from this road into that 
which led to mount Sinai. He appears to have 
halted at Etham, " in the edge of the wilderness ;" 
and after his quitting this station, Pharaoh is inform- 
ed that "the people fled," and immediately prepared 
to pursue and recover the fugitives. 

[It has already been stated above, that a different 
view respecting the rendezvous of the Israelites is 
taken by professor Stuart ; while in respect to the 
passage of the Red sea he coincides with the view 
here expressed. See a full discussion in his Course 
of Hebrew St udy, vol. ii. Excursus iv. R. 

No part of the history of the Israelites is more per- 
plexing and obscure, in its geography, than the 
stations of this people during their continuance in the 
desert, and on their progress toward Canaan. Geog- 
raphers have, indeed, given us what they call "Maps 
of the Travels of the Children of Israel," but these 
have usually been constructed with so little resem- 
blance to the actual dimensions and real features of 
the country, to the necessities of a multitude, or to 
probability, that they have more perplexed the in- 
quiry than if it had been left entirely unattempted. 
The following sketch of their route is given by Mr. 
Taylor, as the result of a very laborious investigation : 
it differs materially from that assumed by many re- 
spectable writers, especially as to the return, by the 
way of the Mediterranean sea. The reader wi 11 j udge 
of the proofs by which it is supported. [The hy- 
pothesis alluded to cannot well be supported ; see 
the additions at the end of this article. R. 

It is necessary, in the first place, to fix a few prin- 
cipal stations mentioned in the history, as points, if 
not absolutely yet comparatively certain ; or at least 
of sufficient probability to be considered as settled : 
such are Baal-zephon or Suez ; Elim ; mount Sinai ; 
Eloth or Ezion Gaber. These places being admit - 
ted, we may safely infer the station mentioned im 



EXODUS 



[ 404 j 



EXODUS 



.mediately before, and that immediately after, each of 
these. This will contribute greatly to ascertain the 
general track, and will much reduce the number of 
stations which want of information obliges us to 
leave uncertain. 

In Numb, xxxiii. we have a register of the stations 
where the people encamped for any considerable 
time: we identify those which, in the following list, 
are marked with small capitals. Those marked in 
italics, we cannot determine. Perhaps, the varia- 
tions among the names which appear on comparison 
might be accounted for, by supposing the camp ex- 
tended to places which had different names, and that 
the station was sometimes refe'rred to one place, 
sometimes to the other. 



Numbers. 



9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 



14. 

15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 

31. 
32. 
33. 

34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 
40. 
41. 
42. 



Ramesses. 

SUCCOTH. 

Etham . 



Baal-zephon . . 
Marah .... 
Elim. 

By the Red Sea. 
In the Wilderness 

OF ZlN .... 

Dophkah. 

Mush. 

Rephidim. 

Wilderness ofSiNAi 

KibrothHataavah 



Hazeroth .... 
Rithmah. 
Rimmon parez. 
Libnah. 
Rissah. 
Kehalathah. 
Mount Shapher. 
Haradah. 
Makkdoth. 
Tahath, 
Tar ah. 
Mithcah. 
Hashmonah. 
Moseroth .... 
Children of Jaakan 
Hill Gidgad . . . 
Jotbathah . . . 

Ebronah. 
Ezion Gaber. 
Wilderness of Zin, or 

Kadesh. 
Mount Hor. 
Zalmonah. 
Punon. 
Oboth. 

Ije-abarim, near Moab. 
Dibon Gad. 
Almon Dibiathaim. 
Mount Abarim. 
By Jordan, opposite 
Jericho. 



Exodus. 



In the edge of the Wilder- 
ness. 
By the Red sea. 
Wilderness of Shur. 



Between Elim and Sinai. 



SINAI Mount. 
Quails brought from the 
sea. 

At Kadesh, many days. 
Abode at Hazeroth. 



Mosera, Deut. x. 6. 
Children of Jaakan, wellsof. 
Gudgadah, Deut. x. 7. 
Jotbath, ib. a land of rivers 
of waters. 



To obtain a more easy conception of their respec- 
tive situations and characters, we may divide these 
stations into four parts. (I.) The journey from Egypt 



to Sinai. (II.) Advance from Sinai to Kadesh Bar- 
nea, in Palestine. (IIL) Retreat to Ezion Gaber 
near Sinai. (IV.) From Ezion Gaber, eastward, to the 
passage of the river Jordan. From Egypt to Sinai 
we are certain that Moses followed the customary 
road still taken by caravans of pilgrims as far as 
Suez or Baal-zephon ; that, from Sinai to Kadesh 
Barnea, he did not forsake the regular tract ; that, in 
retreating from Kadesh Barnea, westward, he also 
took much the same course as is now taken by as- 
semblages of people ; and, lastly, that the passage 
from Ezion Gaber to the east of Jordan is at this 
time in use. The roads thus fixed enable us to de- 
termine some of the places mentioned in them ; and 
these will mutually confirm each other. 

1. From Egypt to Sinai. — Succoth, we have al- 
ready considered, as being fixed at Birket el Hadgi, 
the usual place of the pilgrims' assembly ; a small 
distance from Cairo. 

The true situation of Baal-zephon was perhaps 
some miles more northerly than its present represen- 
tative, Suez, as unquestionably this country has un- 
dergone considerable changes in the lapse of ages, 
and the sea is daily diminishing about it. 

Marah is with great probability placed in the val- 
ley of Girondel, of which Dr. Shaw says : " Coron- 
del, I presume, made the southern portion of the 
desert of Marah ; from whence to the port of Tor, the 
shore, which hitherto was low and sandy, begins now 
to be rocky and mountainous, while that of Egypt is 
still more impracticable; and neither of them affords 
any convenient place, either for the departure or the 
landing of a multitude. Moreover, from Corondel 
to Tor, the channel is ten or twelve leagues broad ; 
too great a space, certainly, for the Israelites, in the 
manner at least they were encumbered, to traverse in 
one night. And at Tor, the Arabian shore begins to 
wind itself (round what we may suppose to be Ptol- 
emy's promontory of Paran) towards the gulf of 
Eloth ; at the same time the Egyptian shore retires 
so far to the south-west, that it can scarcely be per- 
ceived. The Israelites, therefore, could neither have 
landed at Corondel nor at Tor, according to the con- 
jectures of several authors. Over against Jibbel At- 
tackah, at ten miles' distance, is the desert, as it is 
called, of Sdur, the same with Shur, (Exod. xv. 22.) 
where the Israelites landed, after they had passed 
through the interjacent gulf of the Red sea. In 
travelling from Sdur towards mount Sinai, we come 
into the desert, as it is still called, of Marah, where 
the Israelites met with those bitter waters, or waters 
of Marah, Exod. xv. 23. And as these circumstances 
did not happen till after they had wandered three 
days in the wilderness, we may probably fix it at 
Corondel, where there is a small rill of water, which, 
unless it be diluted by the dews and rains, still con- 
tinues to be brackish. Near this place the sea forms 
itself into a large bay, called Berk el Corondel, which 
is remarkable for a strong current, that sets into it, 
from the northward. The Arabs preserve a tradi- 
tion, that a numerous host was formerly drowned at 
this place ; occasioned, no doubt, by what we are 
informed of in Exod. xiv. 30, that 'the Israelites saw 
the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore.' There is 
nothing further remarkable, till we see the Israelites 
encamped at Elim, (Exod. xv. 27 ; Numb, xxxiii. 9.) 
upon the northern skirts of the desert of Sin, two 
leagues from Tor, and near thirty from Corondel. I 
saw no more than nine of the twelve wells that are 
mentioned by Moses, the other three being filled up 
by those drifts of sand, which are common in Arabia 



EXODUS 



[ 405 ] 



EXODUS 



Yet tliis loss is amply made up by the great increase 
of the palm-trees, the ' seventy' having propagated 
themselves into more than two thousand. Under the 
shade of these trees is (Hammam Mousa) the Bath of 
Moses, which the inhabitants of Tor have in extraor- 
dinary esteem and veneration ; acquainting us, that 
it was here that Moses himself and his particular 
household were encamped. We have a distinct 
view of mount Sinai from Elim ; the Wilderness, as 
it is still called, of Sin, lying betwixt us." 

These extracts determine the places not only of 
Marah, but of the Desert of Shur; the Desert of 
Marah; the promontory of Paran; the Wilder- 
ness of Sin ; and of Elim. These, therefore, will 
not detain us. 

Mount Sinai is thus described by the doctor: "The 
summit of mount Sinai is somewhat conical, and not 
very spacious, where the Mahometans, as well as 
Christians, have a small chapel for public worship. 
Here, we were shown the place where Moses fasted 
forty days, (Exod. xxiv. 18 ; xxxiv. 28.) where he re- 
ceived the laxo, (Exod. xxxi. 18.) where he hid him- 
self from the face of God, (Exod. xxxiii. 22.) where 
his hand was supported by Aaron and Hur, at the battle 
ivith Amalek, (Exod. xvii. 9, 12.) besides many other 
stations and places that are taken notice of in the 
Scriptures." See Sinai. 

Rephidim isby universal consent placed south-west 
of Sinai. Dr. Shaw gives the following information 
respecting it : " After we had descended, with no 
small difficulty, down the western side of this moun- 
tain, we came into the other plain that is formed by 
it, which is Rephidim, Exod. xvii. 1. Here we still 
see that extraordinary antiquity, the rock of Meribah, 
(Exod. xvii. 6.) which hath continued down to this 
day, without the least injury from time or accidents. 
It is a block of granite marble, about six yards square, 
lying tottering, as it were, and loose in the middle of 
the valley ; and seems to have formerly belonged to 
mount Sinai, which hangs, in a variety of precipices, 
all over this plain. The monks show us several other 
remarkable places round about this mountain ; as 
where Aaron's calf was molten, Exod. xxxii. 4, (but 
the head only is represented, and that, very rudely,) 
where the Israelites danced at the consecration of it, 
(Exod. xxxii. 19.) where Korah and his company 
were swallowed up, (Numb. xvi.32.)and where Elias 
hid himself when he fled from Jezebel, 2 Kings viii. 
9. But the history of these and other places is at- 
tended with so many monkish tales, that it would be 
too tedious to recite them." 

2. From Sinai to Kadesh Barnea. — The desert of 
Paran is thus described by Dr. Shaw : " From mount 
Sinai, the Israelites directed their marches north- 
ward, towards the land of Canaan. The next re- 
markable stations, therefore, were in the desert of 
Paran, which seems not to have commenced, till after 
they departed from Hazeroth, three stations from 
Sinai, Numb. xii. 16. Now as tradition hath pre- 
served to us the names of Shur, Marah, and Sin, so 
we have also that of Paran, which we enter at about 
half way betwixt Sinai and Corondel, in travelling 
inrough the. midland road, along the defiles of what 
were probably the 'Black mountains' of Ptolemy. 
In one part of it, ten leagues to the northward of 
Tor, there are several ruins, particularly of a Greek 
convent (called the convent of Paran) which was not 
long ago abandoned, by reason of the continual in- 
sults they suffered from the Arabs. Here likewise 
we should look for the city of that name, though, 
according to the circumstances of its situation, as j 



they are laid down by Ptolemy, Tor, a small mari- 
time village, with a castle hard by it, should rather 
be the place. From the wilderness of Paran, Moses 
sent a man out of every tribe, to spy out the land of 
Canaan, (Numb. xiii. 3.) who returned to him, after 
forty days, unto the same wilderness, to Kadesh 
Barnea, Numb. xiii. 26 ; Deut. i. 19 ; ix. 23 ; Josh, 
xiv. 7. This place, which in Numb. xiii. 3, 26 ; and 
xxxiii. 36, is called Tzin Kadesh, or simply Kadesh, 
was eleven days' journey from mount Horeb, (Deut. 
i. 3.) and, being ascribed both to the desert of Tzin 
and Paran, we may presume that it lay near upon 
the confines of them both." 

To this we add the testimony of Niebuhr: "The 
Arabs call plains, which lie somewhat low, Wadi, or 
valleys, because water remains stagnant in them after 
heavy rains. We rested under a palm-tree, in a 
place called Aijoun Musa, Moses's Fountains. These 
pretended fountains, are five holes in the sand, in a 
well of very indifferent water, that becomes turbid 
whenever any of it is drawn. As the holes bear the 
name of Moses, the Arabs ascribe them to the Jewish 
lawgiver. The Arabs set up our tents near a tree, in 
the valley of Faran, and left us to amuse ourselves 
there in the best manner we could, while they went 
to see their friends in gardens of date-trees, scattered 
over the valley. We were at no great distance from 
our schiech's camp, which consisted of nine or ten 
tents. We were informed that the ruins of an an- 
cient city were to be seen in the neighborhood. But, 
when the Arabs found us curious to visit it, they left 
us, and would give us no further account of it. The 
famous valley of Faran, in which we now were, has 
retained its name unchanged since the days of Moses, 
being still called Wadi Faran, the valley of Faran. 
Its length is equal to a journey of a day and a half, 
extending from the foot of mount Sinai to the Arabic 
gulf. In the rainy season it is filled with water ; and 
the inhabitants are then obliged to retire up the hills ; 
it was dry, however, when we passed through it. 
That part of it which we saw was far from being 
fertile ; but served as a pasture to goats, camels, and 
asses. The other part is said to be very fertile ; and 
the Arabs told us, that, in the districts to which our 
Ghasirs had gone, were many orchards of date- 
trees ; which produced fruit enough to sustain some 
thousands of people. Fruit must, indeed, be very 
plenteous there ; for the Arabs of the valley bring 
every year to Cairo an astonishing quantity of dates, 
raisins, pears, apples, and other fruits, all of excellent 
quality. Some Arabs, who came to see us, offered 
us fresh dates, which were yellow, but scarcely ripe. 
The chief of our schiech's wives (for he had two) 
came likewise to see us, and presented us with some 
eggs and a chicken. One was placed at ^ome dis- 
tance from where our tents happened to be pitched, 
in order to manage a garden of date-trees. The 
other was our neighbor, and superintended the cattle 
and servants." 

These remarks were made in going to mount Si- 
nai : the following were made on his return : " In 
the afternoon of the 16th of September, we descend- 
ed Jibbel Musn, and passed the night at the bottom 
of that cliffy mountain, at the opening into the valley 
of Faran. Next day, after advancing three miles 
through the vale, we halted near the dwelling of our 
schiech of the tribe of Said. Our Ghasirs left us 
again, and went to see their friends in the gardens of 
date-trees. Our Ghasirs returned, and we continued 
our journey on the 20th of the month. On the day 
following we had an opportunity of seeing a part of 



EXODUS 



[ 406 ] 



EXODUS 



ihe road which we had passed by night when trav- 
elling to Jibbel Musa. In this place, near a defile, 
named Omzer-ridg-lein, I found some inscriptions in 
unknown characters, which had been mentioned to 
me at Cairo. They are coarsely engraven, apparent- 
ly with some pointed instrument of iron, in the rock, 
without order or regularity." 

The reader will observe, (1.) the -ruins of an an- 
cient city. (2.) Ancient inscriptions, roughly cut. 
As the sacred history marks the scenes of Kibroth 
Hataavah, the " graves of lust," in the wilderness of 
Paran, there is a possibility that here or hereabouts, 
was the place of those events which gave that name 
to this station. At any rate, this station could not be 
far from the sea, as the quails are said to come flying 
from the sea to it : and this fixes it in such a latitude 
as is parallel to some part of the sea, if such be a cor- 
rect view of the passage. But if, on the contrary, 
the quails were flying to the sea, still this could not 
be far off ; as is implied in such a reference. 

At mount Sinai, when intending to reach Canaan, 
the sacred legislator had the choice of three ways. 
The shortest and most direct, though tending a little 
to the east, may be called for distinction sake the 
northern. This, says Deut. i. 2, was eleven days' 
journey, that is, from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea, by 
mount Seir, direct. This was occupied by enemies 
to Israel. The second road was the western; the 
same as the}' had taken from Egypt ; and this they 
followed till they reached the confines of their ex- 
pected country. But here they were repelled by the 
faint-hearted reports of their spies, and by their own 
folly and discontent. The third road from mount 
Sinai was the eastern, this they took at last ; and by 
this they penetrated into Canaan, in a direction dif- 
ferent from that before attempted, but which probably 
Moses had in view when he asked leave of Edom to 
pass through his territories. It appears from this 
that Moses judged rightly of his people at first, that 
war would have terrified them ; and that even after 
they had been some time under regulation, their 
courage was very moderate, and their habits of sub- 
mission very weak ; as in the first instance, they 
would not fight, in the second, they would not obey. 
But after this capricious generation was extinct, bet- 
ter discipline produced better effects ; and a muti- 
nous spirit no longer prevailing, Joshua, the succes- 
sor of Moses, effected his purpose on the east of 
Canaan. It will be observed, that this change of the 
point of attack changed also the enemy which was 
to be attacked : and the probability is, that the in- 
habitants east of Jordan became an easy prey in this 
instance, as the descendants of these very Israelites 
were in after-ages. This easiness of subjection seems 
to have been one character of this country. 

We have no traces by name of any other station of 
the Israelites till we come to Libnah, and this we 
presume to be the same which Joshua smote, (Josh, 
x. 29, 30.) which he gave to the priests (xxi. 13.) 
which revolted, (2 Kings viii. 22.) and against which 
the king of Assyria fought ; (xix. 8.) from all which 
texts it appears to be extremely south in the territo- 
ries of Judah ; or extremely north in those of Edom. 
It was probably west of mount Hor ; and after the 
repulse of Israel by the Canaanites, that Moses de- 
sired the permission of Edom to pass through his 
territories, in order to attack Canaan on the east. 
This Edom refused ; and Israel was in no condition 
to enforce the request, but was obliged to return 
by the way of the Red sea, on the west ; and to 
travel round the whole country of Edom by the ' 



south, in order to get to the eastward of the river 
Jordan. 

3. Retreat from Libnah to Ezion Gaber. — In oppo- 
sition to other writers, Mr. Taylor considers the 
present El-Arish as Rissah, the next station ; because 
it is at no great distance west from Libnah, and be- 
cause it yields that necessary article water. It is on 
the road from Syria to Egypt, and is properly the 
last station in Syria. It agrees perfectly with the di- 
rection : (Numb. xiv. 25.) " Get you into the wilder- 
ness by the way of the Red sea." Sandys says, 
" Arissa is a small castle, environed with a few 
houses ; the garrison consisting of 100 soldiers. This 
place is something better than desert, and blessed 
with good water. — The territory of Gaza begins at 
Arissa." Thevenot says, " Riche (or Rishe) is a village 
not far distant from the sea ; it hath a castle well 
built of little rock stones, as all the houses are. They 
have so many lovely ancient marble pillars at Riche, 
that their coffee-houses and wells are made of them, 
and so are their burying-places full." He had a storm 
of rain here, which lasted thirty hours. Volneysays, 
quitting Syria, "El-Arish is the last place where 
water which can be drank is found. — It is three quar- 
ters of a league from the sea, in a sandy country, as 
is all that coast." As these travellers entered Syria 
from Egypt, their testimony is less appropriate than 
that of Mr. Morier, who entered Egypt from Syria, 
and who accompanied the Turkish army. He thus 
describes this station in his Journal of the March of 
the Turkish Army through the Desert between Syria 
and Egypt. " Feb. 5. The army began its march to- 
wards Catieh in the afternoon, and encamped at 
three hours' distance from El-Arish. An hour's 
march is calculated at two miles and a half, which is 
about the rate that a camel travels at. Eeb. 6. A 
march of six hours: halted in the afternoon. Feb. 
7. A inarch of nine hours. Feb. 8. Encamped at 
Catieh : the French evacuated this place yesterday. 
The road from El-Arish to Catieh lies through the 
most inhospitable part of the desert which separates 
Syria from Egypt. The sand that covers it is fine, 
and so white that the eyes suffer much from the 
strong glare produced by the reverberation of the 
sunbeams ; and I should be inclined to attribute the 
disorder of the eyes in that country to this cause, 
combined with the irritation occasioned by the ni- 
trous particles contained in the sand, of which clouds 
are constantly blown about by the least wind. But 
that is not the only suffering which the traveller in 
those regions has to go through. The thirst, occa- 
sioned by the excessive heat, increases by the alluring 
but false hope of soon quenching it ; for the flat sur- 
face of the desert gives to the horizon an appearance 
which the stranger mistakes for water ; and, while he 
is all anxiety to arrive at it, it recedes as a new hori- 
zon discovers itself. The optical deception is so 
strong, that the shadow of any object on the horizon 
is apparently reflected as in water. [Compare Job vi. 
19, 20 ; Isaiah xxxv. 7.] At the first halt after leav- 
ing El-Arish, the water was palatable ; after that, it 
can only be so to those who experience all the tor- 
ments of thirst ; and it is dangerous to drink much 
of it, as it occasions dysenteries. It is observed, that 
wherever date-trees grow, there the water is sweeter, 
and it is invariably found by digging to the depth of 
five or six feet in the sand. A party was generally 
sent before the army, to dig wells where it was to 
encamp. The impatience of the troops to satisfy 
their thirst was often productive of very serious 
quarrels The native Arabs that cross this desert in 



EXODUS 



[ 407 ] 



EXODUS 



all directions, carry their water with them in skins ; 
but that resource would be attended with too many 
difficulties for the supply of a large army : a great 
number of camels would be necessary to carry water 
only for a day's consumption." 

The reader will observe that at about seven miles 
distance from El-Arish the Turkish army encamped ; 
and that here only the water is palatable. The He- 
brew word Kehalathah signifies " the place of assem- 
bling :" now El-Arish itself is at present actually the 
place of assembling, for a numerous body of people 
which intends passing into Egypt ; as it was of the 
Turkish army which Mr. Morier accompanied. 
Nevertheless, it may be supposed that in ancient time 
the wells at one stage nearer to Egypt were the sta- 
tion for that purpose ; as there evidently is a distinc- 
tion between Rissah and Kehalathah, though we 
cannot ascertain the distance between them. It is, 
however, clear, that where the Turkish army en- 
camped, the Israelites might encamp ; and it is in- 
different whether this station were a few miles more 
or less in advance, as the course of the journey lies 
the same way. 

If we follow this track, the next station of the 
Israelites is mount Shapher, or Sephir, another pro- 
nunciation of Sepher. Sepher appears to have been 
the ancient name of this mount, which is almost sur- 
rounded by the sea ; and on which was afterwards 
built a temple dedicated to Jupiter Cassius of the 
Greeks, the ruling deity of the illustrious mountain ; 
which is the same deity as was worshipped by the 
inhabitants of the Sephers, or Sepharvaim ; (2 Kings 
xvii. 31.) — Adrammelech, " the king of splendors," 
or the " illustrious king." " Catieh," says Thevenot, 
is a village where there is a well of water, unpleas- 
ant for drinking ; but two miles off is a well whose 
water is good after it hath stood a little : at Catieh 
we ate fresh fish half as long as one's arm, as broad 
and thick as carp, and of as good a relish ; they did 
not cost us five farthings apiece." "Mount Cassius, 
or Catjeh, is a huge mole of sand, famous for the 
temple of Jupiter and the sepulchre of Pompey," 
says Sandys. It is probably alluded to under the 
name of Catjeh, in Cant. iv. 2, so that, if this conjec- 
ture be just, its name had been changed during the 
interval from Moses to Solomon. 

In further pursuing this route, the next station is 
Haradah, to which no resemblance is found among 
the names marked in the maps, except Haras, which 
is the next village to Catieh ; but this is too slight a 
circumstance to determine our judgment. 

There is, however, a possibility that the present 
" fountains of Mousa," not far from the head of the 
Red sea, eastward, are the Mosera, or Moseroth, 
of Holy Writ : for, that they derived their name from 
having been used by Moses, immediately after the 
passage of the Red sea, is improbable, to say the 
least ; as the sacred text assures us, the people "jour- 
neyed three days into the wilderness, and found no 
water, till they came to Marah," Exod. xv. 22. Now, 
this was not the fact, if at that time Moses used 
the wells of Mousa ; as these are but a few hours 
from the place of his passage. But if they were the 
Moseroth of this place, then, as they were used by 
Moses on this occasion, by a very easy corruption 
they are now called Ain el Mousa, instead of Ain el 
Mousera. This Mosera, if we take it either as the 
well Naba, or Ain el Mousa, is about seven or eight 
miles from Suez. Niebuhr says of Suez, " The in- 
habitants of this town draw their principal commod- 
ities from Egypt, at the distance of three days' jour- 



ney ; or from mount Sinai, distant five oi .six days' 
journey ; or from Gaza, distant seven or eight days' 
journey." — This implies that there is a direct road to 
Gaza ; and if we reckon the stations from El-Arish, 
that is, Rissah, to Moserah, we find them to be eight 
or nine, which agrees with the distance to Gaza well 
enough. Or, if we reckon forward to mount Sinai, 
we find four or five stations, which also agrees with 
the distance given by Niebuhr ; so that hereabouts 
we may probably place Moseroth (in the plural) 
without much risk of error. This, however, depends 
on the supposed difference of the face of the country 
between its ancient and its modern state. 

We are now in the regular track of the caravans 
to Mecca, and may presume to determine the ancient 
stations by those in present use. The wells of the 
children of Jaakan, however, we cannot determine, 
as no wells are marked, in this course, after the well 
Naba, till we come to Calaat el Nahal, " the castle at 
the river," which appears to stand on a stream, 
marked by D'Anville "torrent that has water," in 
which it agrees with the description of Jotbathah, as 
a " land of rivers or streams." 

As the phrase Beni Jaakan is precisely according 
to the present phraseology of the Arabs, it must not 
be passed in silence. The Arabs are all of some 
tribe ; and this they express by saying they are 
"sons — beni — of such an one;" and the Beeroth 
Beni Jaakan, ought therefore most certainly to have 
been rendered " the wells of Beni Jaakan," meaning, 
the wells belonging to the tribe so called. There can 
be no doubt that the Israelites paid for the use of 
these wells, as the Mecca caravan now does. 

The stages adopted by the Mecca pilgrims are thus 
marked in Dr. Shaw's list : 



Adjeroud 
Rastywatter 
Tear wahad 
Callah Nahar 
Ally 



bitter water 
no water 
no water 
good water 
no ivater 



Callah Accaba good water 



near Etham. 



Jotbathah. 
Ebronah.^ 

near Ezion Gaber. 



There is no doubt that the Elath of Scripture is 
that Eloth which gave, and still gives, name to a gulf 
of the Red sea ; nor that Ezion Gaber, which is al- 
ways mentioned with Eloth, was nearly, or altogeth- 
er, adjacent to it. It is probable, indeed, that Ezion 
Gaber is the port intended by Dr. Shaw under the 
name of Meenah el Dsahab, " the port of gold," de- 
rived from the gold imported here by Solomon ; but 
the doctor's account of its situation is extremely im- 
perfect, and his position for it seems rather to be 
assumed, by conjecture, than determined from valid 
information. Mr. Taylor, therefore, places it near to 
Eloth ; presuming, that neither of them stood pre- 
cisely at the head of the gulf, that being of course too 
shoal and sandy for the building and fitting of large 
and stout ships ; but rather at some small distance 
from it; one on one side of the gulf, the other on the 
other side, perhaps ; or, both might be on the same 
side, though not close together. Having thus fixed 
Ezion Gaber, we must seek Ebrona backwards, at 
the distance of one station from it, that is, towards 
Catieh ; it must therefore either be at Sat el Acaba, 
where is good water ; or at Abiar Alaina ; but the 
former of these seems to be the best situated for the 
station of a numerous caravan. 

Jotbathah is described as "a land of brooks of 
water ; " with this description there is only one place, 
at the distance of two stations from Eloth. which can 



EXODUS 



[ 408 ] 



EXODUS 



possibly agree. There is marked "a torrent of 
water," -and here is marked good water, on the author- 
ity of Dr. Shaw. It will be observed that Jotjbathah, 
Ebrona, and Eloth, are precisely in the road now 
taken by the caravans going to Mecca, and are sta- 
tions of those caravans in their journey. This shows 
clearly that the same considerations influenced the 
Hebrew conductor formerly, as influence the caravan 
bashaws of the present day. It leads us also to unite 
the line of march from Catieh, and to seek the in- 
tervening stations in various parts of that line, though 
we cannot identify the places. 

4. From Ezion Gabei; eastward, to the Jordan. — In 
advancing from the station of Ezion Gaber, the next 
place named is the Wilderness of Ziil. We cannot 
suppose, the progress of the Israelites having lately 
been wholly easterly, that they are now directed to 
retrace their steps, and to take a westerly course for 
Canaan : they must therefore, take a north-easterly 
course, till they arrive at the eastern side of the 
Dead sea, and enter the country of Moab. That this 
very path, or one not far distant from it, is now fol- 
lowed by the pilgrims from Damascus to Mecca, is 
certain ; but, as it is the most difficult to arrange, or 
describe, because rarely, if ever, taken by European 
travellers, Mr. Taylor endeavors to compensate this 
deficiency by other testimony. 

Ishmael Abulfeda, sultan of Hamah, describing the 
peninsula of Arabia, quotes Ibn Haukal, who says, 
"From Ailah (Eloth) to Harah are three stations [of 
the caravan ;] from Harah to Balaka (Balca) three 
stations; from Balaka to Masharik Houvran, six sta- 
tions ; from Masharik Houvran to Masharik Goutah, 
where the gardens of Damascus are, three stations." 
This agrees with the Mosaic history, which says, 
from near Ezion Gaber to Kadesh in the Wilderness 
of Zin, one station ; from Kadesh to mount Hor, 
marked by the Harah of Ibn Haukal, (possibly a res- 
idence of some kind on the northern face of the 
mountain,) a second station. The third is Zahnonab ; 
then Punon, Oboth, and Ije Abarim, near Moab ; 
which answer to the three stations from Harah to 
Balaka, of the Arab writer. That this is the track of 
the caravan, appears also from Volney, who says, 
" Damascus is the rendezvous for all pilgrims from 
the north of Asia. Their number every year 
amounts to from 30,000 to 50,000 — this vast multi- 
tude set out confusedly on their march, and travelling 
by the confines of the desert, arrive in forty days at 
Mecca. As this caravan traverses the country of 
several independent Arab tribes, it is necessary to 
make treaties with them. In general, the preference 
is given to the ribe of Sardia, which encamps to the 
south of Damascus, along the Hauran. South of 
Damascus are the immense plains of the Hauran. 
The pilgrims of Mecca, who traverse them for five 
or six days' journey, assure us they find at every step 
the vestiges of ancient habitations. The soil is a 
fine mould without stones, and almost without even 
the smallest pebble. What is said of its actual fer- 
tility, perfectly corresponds with the idea given of it 
in the Hebrew writings. Wherever wheat is sown, 
if the rains do not fail, it repays the cultivator with 
profusion, and grows to the height of a man. The 
pilgrims assert also, that the inhabitants are stronger 
and taller than the rest of the Syrians." This is fur- 
ther proved from an extract inserted farther on ; and 
leaves no doubt but the present track of the caravan 
is east of the Jordan ; the same as Moses took in 
former ages. Compare p. 415 below. 

The general result of what has been said is, First, 



That Moses led his people to mount Sinai, for the 
purpose of solemnly engaging them in devotion, and 
consecration to the Deity who had appeared to him 
there, (Exod. chap, iii.) and had given him this very 
solemnity as a sign of further favors, verse 12. 
Secondly, That having accomplished the sacred trans- 
actions at Sinai, he led them northwards, until they 
came withi'n a moderate distance of the land prom- 
ised to the patriarchs. This seems to have been ex- 
ecuted by a pretty rapid march from Kibroth 
Hataavah to Kadesh Barnea, principally after the 
departure of the spies. Now, Kadesh Barnea must 
have been some way, at least, in the rear of Hormah ; 
for, as the Amalekites and Canaanites pursued the 
discomfited Israelites to that town, they would nat- 
urally relinquish the pursuit as they approached the 
camp of Israel. The fugitives also would unques- 
tionably fly toward the grand encampment of that 
nation to which they were attached. It is clear, too, 
that this battle was not out of the district of the 
Amalekites, since these were engaged in it ; nor so 
far from Canaan, but that a detachment of Canaan- 
ites sent to watch the motions of Israel, contributed 
to the victory. 

After the events at Kadesh, the people are ordered 
to turn and get them (again) by the way (the common 
road) of the wilderness by the Red sea — that is, into the 
districts they had formerly quitted ; as appears by 
their passing mount Sinai, in their route to Ezion 
Gaber. 

By invading Canaan on the east, after many years, 
and crossing Jordan for that purpose, not only an 
entirely different people was attacked now, from 
what had been attempted formerly, but (1.) The in- 
habitants east of Jordan not being succored by those 
on the west, their subjection was inevitable. (2.) The 
passage of the Jordan cut off the southern part of 
Canaan from the northern part; and being thus di- 
vided, each division opposed less resistance, as they 
could not act in concert ; and more force could be 
employed against each, under their entire uncertain- 
ty of what district would be next invaded. 

The general character of the desert, the edge of 
which was journeyed round, is thus described by 
Volney. The road in which the people of Gaza 
meet the caravans of Damascus, is the same, no 
doubt, as that which Israel took from Akaba, or 
Ezion Gaber, to the country of Moab. — He says, "A 
branch of commerce advantageous to the people of 
Gaza, is furnished by the caravans which pass and 
repass between Egypt and Syria. The provisions 
they are obliged to take for their four days' journey 
in the desert produce a considerable demand for their 
flour, oils, dates, and other necessaries. Sometimes 
they correspond with Suez, on the arrival or depar- 
ture of the Djedda fleet, as they are able to reach 
that place in ten long days' journey. They fit out, 
likewise, every year, a great caravan, which goes to 
meet the pilgrims at Mecca, and conveys to them the 
convoy, or Djerda, of Palestine, and supplies of va- 
rious kinds, with different refreshments. They meet 
them at Maon, four days' journey to the south-east 
of Gaza, and one day's journey to the north of 
Akaba, on the road to Damascus. They also pur- 
chase the plunder of the Bedouins ; an article which 
would be a Peru to them, were these accidents more 
frequent. In the desert by the east, we meet with 
strips of arable land, as far as the road to Mecca. 
These are little valleys, where a few peasants have 
been tempted to settle, by the waters, which collect 
at the time of the winter rains, and by some wells. 



EXODUS 



[ 409 ] 



EXODUS 



They cultivate palm-trees, and tloura, under the pro- 
tection, or rather exposed to the rapine, of the Arabs. 
These peasants, separated from the rest of mankind, 
are half savages, and more ignorant and wretched 
than the Bedouins themselves. Incapable of leav- 
ing the soil they cultivate, they live in perpetual 
dread of losing the fruit of their labors. No sooner 
have they gathered in their harvest, than they hasten 
to secrete it in private places, and retire among the 
rocks which border on the Dead sea. . . . We cannot 
be surprised at these traces of ancient population, 
when we recollect that this was the country of the 
Nabatheans, the most powerful of the Arabs ; and of 
the Idumeans, who, at the time of the destruction of 
Jerusalem, were almost as numerous as the Jews ; as 
appears from Josephus, who informs us, that on the 
first rumor of the march of Titus against Jerusalem, 
thirty thousand Idumeans instantly assembled, and 
threw themselves into that city for its defence. It 
appears that, besides the advantage of being under a 
tolerably good government, these districts enjoyed a 
considerable share of the commerce of Arabia and 
India, which increased their industry and population. 
We know that, as far back as the time of Solomon, 
the cities of Atsioum-Gaber (Ezion-Gaber)and Ailah 
(Eloth) were highly frequented marts. These towns 
were situated on the adjacent gulf of the Red sea, 
where we still find the latter yet retaining its name. 
This desert, which is the boundary of Syria to the 
south, extends itself in the form of a peninsula be- 
tween the two gulfs of the Red sea ; that of Suez to 
the west, and that of El-Akaba to the east. Its 
breadth is ordinarily thirty leagues, and its length 
seventy. This great space is almost entirely filled 
by barren mountains, which join those of Syria on 
the north, and, like them, consist wholly of calcareous 
stone ; but as we advance to the southward, they be- 
come granitic, and Sinai and Horeb are only enor- 
mous masses of that stone. Hence it was the 
ancients called this country Arabia Petrea. The 
soil in general is a dry gravel, producing nothing but 
thorny acacias, tamarisks, firs, and a few scattered 
shrubs. Springs are very rare, and the few we meet 
with are sometimes sulphureous and thermal, as at 
Hammam-Faraoun ; at others, brackish and disagree- 
able, as at El-Naba, opposite Suez ; this saline qual- 
ity prevails throughout the country, and there are 
mines of fossil salt in the northern parts. In some 
of the valleys, however, the soil, becoming better, as 
it is formed of the earth washed from the rocks, is 
cultivable, after the winter rains, and may almost be 
styled fertile. Such is the vale of Djirandel, in 
which there are even groves of trees. Such also is 
the vale of Faran, where the Bedouins say there are 
ruins; which can be no other than those of the an- 
cient city of that name. In former times, every ad- 
vantage was made of this country that could be 
obtained from it ; but at present, abandoned to na- 
* ture, or rather to barbarism, it produces nothing but 
wild herbs. Yet, with such scanty provision, this 
desert subsists three tribes of Bedouins, consisting of 
about five or six thousand Arabs, dispersed in vari- 
ous parts." (Travels, vol. ii. p. 341.) 

ADDITIONS BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. 

[There are some things in the preceding state- 
ments which require remark, before we proceed to 
give the grounds of a different view in respect to the 
journeyings of the children of Israel, especially after 
leaving mount Sinai. For the sites of Marah and 



Elim, which seem to be incorrectly given above, see 
the remarks below, on p. 410, 411. 

What is said above of Rephidim, and of the rock of 
Meribah, depends solely on the legends of the monks 
of the monastery of mount Sinai ; and therefore 
may, or may not, be true. But in respect to the wil- 
derness of Paran, it seems hardly probable that this 
is to be found in the Wady of Feiran or Faran, (as 
is supposed above,) a large valley extending from the 
vicinity of mount Sinai north-west to the gulf of Suez. 
From Paran the spies were sent out to survey the 
land of Canaan ; (Num. xiii. 3.) and they returned 
again "to the congregation of the children of Israel, 
unto the wilderness of Paran to Kadesh ;" which 
evidently implies that the desert of Paran was adja- 
cent to Kadesh Barnea. Burckhardt therefore justly 
remarks, (p. 618.) that " Paran must be looked for in 
the desert west of Wady Mousa, and the tomb of 
Aaron, which is shown there ;" i. e. adjacent to Pal- 
estine on the south. Besides, in removing from 
Sinai, the Israelites went first three days' journey, 
and then removed again twice, before they pitched 
in the wilderness of Paran, (Num. x. 33;xii. 16.) — 
which does not at all accord with the above hypoth- 
esis respecting Wady Feiran. 

In respect to the three routes above suggested, 
from Sinai to Canaan, they rest upon conjecture ; and 
there is no probability that the Israelites returned 
from Sinai over any portion of the route they had 
travelled in reaching it; they appear rather to have 
taken a direct course towards Kadesh Barnea, as in- 
deed is stated in Deut. i. 19. The Libnah mentioned 
in Num. xxxiii. 20, appears to have been a station 
somewhere near this ; — that it was the Libnah which 
Joshua afterwards smote, (Josh. x. 29, 30.) as is above 
supposed, is not only not supported by any evidence, 
but would seem to be impossible ; for this Libnah is 
evidently spoken of as near Makkedah, and is so 
marked in all maps, and was therefore situated in the 
plain of Judah, a short distance south-west from 
Jerusalem. 

The command of Jehovah was, " Turn you, and 
get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red 
sea," Num. xiv. 25 ; and he also said to the Israel- 
ites, "Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness ; and 
your children shall wander in the wilderness forty 
years ;" xiv. 32. Does this look like a command to 
turn by the way of the Mediterranean sea, as is sug- 
gested above ? Had the Israelites come in sight of 
the Mediterranean, or even approached it, can we 
suppose this fact would not have been mention- 
ed by the sacred historian ? Or that, had they re- 
turned to the western head of the Red sea, the very 
place where they had miraculously passed through 
it, this too would have been passed over without any 
notice? "How different from this is the representa- 
tion of Moses, in Deut. ii. 1 ; "Then we turned (from 
Kadesh Barnea,) and took our journey into the wil- 
derness by the way of the Red sea, as the Lord 
spake unto me ; and we compassed mount Seir many 
days ; i. e. the thirty-eight years of wandering in the 
desert (verse 14) were spent in traversing the eastern 
part of it, adjacent to the Ghor and mount Seir; andnof 
in traversing the western part between the Mediterra- 
nean and Suez. Hence, the supposition above made, 
that the station Mosera is the present "fountains of 
Moses," nearly opposite Suez, falls to the ground. 
See under Aaron. 

We are now prepared to present the view which 
we have taken of the journeyings of the Israelites 
through the deserts, after having passed through the 



EXODUS 



t 410 ] 



EXODUS 



Red sea near Suez, as we suppose. Indeed, this 
point would seem now to be very clearly established, 
after the researches of Niebuhr, with whose opinion 
Burckhardt coincides, and the discussion of the top- 
ic by Prof. Stuart in his Course of Hebrew Study, 
above referred to. 

From the passage of the Red sea to mount Sinai, 
the stations of the Israelites mentioned between the 
passage of the Red sea and Sinai, are, (1.) Marah, 
after a march of three days through the wilderness 
of Shur. Here the water was bitter, and the Lord 
6howed Moses a tree, which when he had cast into 
the waters, they were made sweet, Ex. xv. 22, seq. 
{2.) Elim, with twelve wells of water, and seventy 
palm trees, Ex. xv. 27. — (3.) Encampment by the 
sea-shore, Num. xxxiii. 10. — (4.) The wilderness of 
Sin, between Elim and Sinai, where manna was first 
given, Ex. xvi. 1. — (5.) Dophkah. — (6.) Alush. — 
(7.) Rephidim, called also Massah and Meribah, Ex. 
xvii. 1 — 7. — (8.) Sinai. Among these, of Rephidim 
it can only be said, that it was near Sinai, probably 
on the west or north-west of that mountain ; in 
which direction the Israelites must have approached 
Sinai. Dophkah and Alush are not mentioned in 
Exodus, and nothing more can be known about 
them. The other stations it will be less difficult to 
trace. We cannot do better than to take Burckhardt 
as our guide, who travelled over the same route in 
the year 1816. As the whole subject is interesting, 
our extracts will be copious. (See Burckhardt's 
Travels in Syria, etc. p. 470, seq.) 

On the 25th of April, Burckhardt left Suez. "The 
tide was then at flood, and we were obliged to make 
the tour of the whole creek north of the town, which 
at low water can be forded. [Here we suppose the 
Israelites to have crossed.] In winter time, and im- 
mediately after the rainy season, thi» circuit is ren- 
dered still greater, because the low grounds to the 
northward of the creek are then inundated, and be- 
come so swampy, that the camels cannot pass them. 
We rode one hour and three quarters in a straight 
line northwards, after passing, close by the town, sev- 
eral mounds of rubbish, which afford no object of 
curiosity except a few large stones, supposed to be 
the ruins of Clysma or Jlrsinoe. We then turned 
eastwards, just at the point where the remains of the 
ancient canal are very distinctly visible ; two swell- 
ings of the ground, of which the eastern is about 
eight or ten feet high, and the western somewhat 
less, run in a straight line northwards, parallel with 
each other, at the distance of about twenty-three feet. 
They begin at a few hundred paces to the north- 
west of high-water mark, from whence northwards 
the ground is covered by a saline crust. We turned 
the point of this inlet, and halted for a short time at 
the wells of Ayoun Mousa, the fountains of Moses, 
under the date-trees. We rested [for the night] at 
two hours and three quarters from the wells, in the 
plain called El Kordhye." Mr. Carne remarks, that 
these fountains are a " few hours" distant from the 
head of the creek above mentioned ; and this also 
accords with Burckhardt's statement ; for except the 
one hour and three quarters in the morning, and two 
hours and three quarters in the afternoon, the rest of 
the day was spent in passing between those two 
points. Niebuhr reckons them to be six miles south 
•of the point opposite Suez. (Reiseb. i. p. 225.) 

Here, not improbably, the Hebrews rested, after the 
passage through the sea ; when Moses and the peo- 
ple sang their triumphal song. Hence "they went 
■out into the wilderness of Shur, and went three days 



in the wilderness, And found no water," Ex. xv. 22. 
With this corresponds the account of Burckhardt. 
"J}pril26th. We proceeded over a barren, sandy, 
and gravelly plain, called El Ahtha, direction south 
by east. For about an hour the plain was uneven ; 
we then entered upon a widely extended flat, in 
which we continued south-south-east. Low moun- 
tains, the commencement of the chain of Tyh, run 
parallel with the road, to the left, about eight miles 
distant. At the end of four hours and a half, we 
halted for a few hours in Wady Seder, which takes 
its name of Wady only from being overflowed with 
water when the rains are very copious. Its natural 
formation by no means entitles it to be called a val- 
ley, its level being only a few feet lower than that of 
the desert on both sides. Some thorny trees grow 
in it, but no herbs for pasture. We continued our 
way south by east over the plain, which was alter- 
nately gravelly, sandy, and stony. At the end of 
seven hours and a half we reached Wady Wardan, 
a valley or bed of a torrent, similar in its nature to 
the former, but broader. Near its extremity, at the 
sea side, it is several miles in breadth. A low chain 
of sand-hills begins here to the west, near the sea ; 
and the eastern mountains approach the road. At 
nine hours and a half, south -south-east, the eastern 
mountains form a junction with the western hills. 
At ten hours we entered a hilly country ; at ten 
hours and three quarters we rested for the night in a 
barren valley among the hills, called Wady Amara. 
We met with nobody in this route except a party of 
Yembo merchants, who had landed at. Tor, and were 
travelling to Cairo. 

" Jlpril 27th. We travelled over uneven, hilly 
ground, gravelly and flinty. At one hour and three 
quarters, we passed the well of Howara, around 
which a few date-trees grow. Niebuhr travelled the 
same route, but his guides probably did not lead him 
to this well, which lies among hills about two hun- 
dred paces out of the road. The water of the well 
of Howara is so bitter, that men cannot drink it ; 
and even camels, if not very thirsty, refuse to taste 
it." This well Burckhardt justly supposes to be the 
Marah of the Israelites; and in this opinion Mr. 
Leake, Gesenius, and Rosenmuller, concur. 

" From Ayoun Mousa to the well of Howara we 
had travelled fifteen hours and a quarter. Referring 
to this distance, it appears probable that this is the 
desert of three days mentioned in the Scriptures to 
have been crossed by the Israelites immediately after 
their passing the Red sea ; and at the end of which 
they arrived at Marah. In moving with a whole na- 
tion, the march may well be supposed to have occu- 
pied three days ; and the bitter well at Marah, which 
was sweetened by Moses, corresponds exactly to that 
at Howara. This is the usual route to mount Sinai, 
and was probably, therefore, that which the Israel- 
ites took on their escape from Egypt, provided it be 
admitted that they crossed the sea at Suez, as Nie- 
buhr, with good reason, conjectures. There is no 
other road of three days' march in the way from 
Suez towards Sinai, nor is there are any other well 
absolutely bitter on the whole of this coast. The 
complaints of the bitterness of the water by the chil- 
dren of Israel, who had been accustomed to the 
sweet water of the Nile, are such as may be daily 
heard from the Egyptian servants and peasants who 
travel in Arabia. Accustomed from their youth to 
the excellent water of the Nile, there is nothing 
which they so much regret in countries distant from 
Egypt; nor is there any eastern people who feel so 



EXODUS 



[ 411 ] 



EXODUS 



iteenly the want of good water, as the present na- 
tives of Egypt. With respect to the means employ- 
ed by Moses to render the waters of the well sweet, 
I have frequently inquired among the Bedouins in 
different parts of Arabia, whether they possessed 
any means of effecting such a change, by throwing 
wood into it, or by any other process ; but I never 
could learn that such an art was known. (See 
Marah.) 

"At the end of three hours we reached Wady 
Grharendel, which extends to the north-east, and is 
almost a mile in breadth, and full of trees. The 
Arabs told me that it may be traced through the 
whole desert, aud that it begins at no great distance 
from El Arysh, on the Mediterranean ; but I bad no 
means of ascertaining the truth or this statement. 
About half an hour from the place where we 
halted, in a southern direction, is a copious spring, 
with a small rivulet, which renders the valley the 
principal station on this route. The water is disa- 
greeable, and if kept for a night in the water skins, 
it turns bitter and spoils, as I have myself experi- 
enced, having passed this way three times. If, now, 
we admit Bir Howara to be the Marah of Exodus, (xv. 
23.) then Wady Gharendel is probably Elim, with its 
well and date-trees ; an opinion entertained by Nie- 
buhr, who, however, did not see the bitter well of 
Howara. The non-existence, at present, of twelve 
wells at Gharendel must not be considered as evi- 
dence against the just-stated conjecture ; for Niebuhr 
says, that his companions obtained water here by 
digging to a very small depth, and there was great 
plenty of it when I passed. Water, in fact, is read- 
ily found by digging, in every fertile valley in Arabia, 
and wells are thus easily formed, which are filled up 
again by the sands. 

"The Wady Gharendel contains date-trees, tam- 
arisks, acacias of different species, and the thorny 
shrub Gharkad, the Peganum retusum of Forskal, 
which is extremely common in this peninsula, and is 
also met with in the sands of the Delta on the coast of 
the Mediterranean. Its small red berry, of the size 
of a grain of the pomegranate, is very juicy and re- 
freshing, much resembling a ripe gooseberry in taste, 
but not so sweet. The Arabs are very fond of it. 
The shrub Gharkad delights in a sandy soil, and 
reaches its maturity in the height of summer, when 
the ground is parched up, exciting an agreeable sur- 
prise in the traveller, at rinding so juicy a berry pro- 
duced in the driest soil and season. Might not the 
berry of this shrub have been used by Moses to 
sweeten the waters of Marah ? [The Hebrew in 
Ex. xv. 25, reads : " And the Lord showed him a 
tree, and he cast into the waters, aud they became 
sweet." The Arabic translates, " and he cast of it 
into the waters," &c] As this conjecture did not 
occur to me when I was on the spot, I did not in- 
quire of the Bedouins, whether they ever sweetened 
the water with the juice of berries, which would 
probably effect this change in the same manner as 
the juice of pomegranate grains expressed into it." 
See Marah. 

From Elim the children of Israel " removed and 
encamped by the Red sea," Num. xxxiii. 10; and 
then " came into the wilderness of Sin, which is be- 
tween Elim and Sinai," Ex. xvi. 1. From Elim, 
Burckhardt says, " We continued in a south-east half 
east direction, passing over hills ; and at the end of 
four hours from our starting in the morning, we 
came to an open, though hilly country, still slightly 
ascending, south-south-east, and then reached, by a 



similar descent, in five hours and a half, Wady Os- 
zaita, enclosed by chalk hills. From here we rode 
over a wide plain south-east by east, and at the end 
of seven hours and three quarters came to Wady 
Thale. To our right was a chain of mountains, 
which extend towards Gharendel. Proceeding from 
hence south, we turned the point 'of the mountain, 
and entered the valley called Wady Taybe, which 
descends rapidly to the sea. At the end of eight 
hours and a half, we turned out of Wady Taybe into 
a branch of it, called Wady Shebeyke, in which we 
continued east-south-east, and halted for the night, 
after a day's march of nine hours and a quarter." Is 
this Wady Taybe, which ".descends rapidly to the 
sea," the place of encampment by the sea ? It would 
be about eight hours, or twenty-four miles, from 
Elim, a somewhat long journey for a multitude of 
this kind ; but there does not seem to be a nearer 
place of encampment "by the sea," inasmuch as a 
" chain of mountains" runs along the coast to this 
point. 

From this spot Burckhardt was still four days in 
reaching the convent at the foot of Sinai. The way 
leads through several Wadys or valleys, and the trav- 
eller passes from one to another of these valleys, 
sometimes over elevated plains, and sometimes ovei 
mountains of sand. At the end of the first day 
(April 28th,) they "ascended with difficulty a steep 
mountain, composed, to the very top, of moving sands, 
with a very few rocks appearing above the surface. 
We reached the summit after a day's march of nine 
hours and three quarters, and rested upon a high 
plain, called Rami el Morah." On the third day, 
(April 30th,) after a steep ascent and descent, which 
occupied two hours, they continued to " descend into 
the great valley called Wady el Sheikh, one of the 
principal valleys of the peninsula. It is broad, and 
has a very slight acclivity ; it is much frequented by 
Bedouins for its pasturage. Whenever rain falls in 
the mountains, a stream of water flows through this 
wady, and from thence through Wady Feiran into 
the sea." May we not regard the country between 
Wady Taybe and this great valley, which the Israel- 
ites could hardly have failed to visit, as the desert of 
Sin ? M. Riippel says in general of the route from 
Wady Sheikh to Suez through the Wadys and desert 
plains of Ramie, Hemar, Tie, and Gharendel, as being 
very uninteresting, although described by many trav- 
ellers. " In one word," he says, " it is a most fright- 
ful desert, almost wholly without vegetation." (p. 269.) 

If we regard this, then, as the wilderness of Sin, 
the stations Dophkah and Alush may be supposed 
to have been in the great valleys El Sheikh and 
Feiran. The latter of these is a continuation of the 
former, which commences in the vicinity of Sinai, 
on its north-western side, and is prolonged in a north- 
westerly direction to the gulf of Suez. BurcMiardt 
fell into it on his return, a little lower down. " I 
found it here," he says, " of the same noble breadth 
as it is above, and in many parts it was thickly over- 
grown with the tamarisk or Tarfa ; it is the only val- 
ley in the peninsula where this tree grows at present, 
in any great quantity ; though small bushes of .it are 
here and there met with in other parts. It is from 
the Tarfa that the manna is obtained." p. 599. (See 
Manna.) "We descended this valley north-west by 
west, and at the end of four hours we entered the 
plantations of Wady Feiran through a wood of 
tamarisks. This is a continuation of Wady el 
Sheikh, and is considered the finest valley of the 
whole peninsula. From the upper extremity, an un- 



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L 412 ] 



EXODUS 



interrupted row of gardens and date plantations ex- 
tends downwards for four miles. In almost every 
garden is a well, by means of which the grounds are 
irrigated the whole year round." (p. 602.) This is the 
valley described above (p. 405.) by Niebuhr under the 
name of Faran, through which the Israelites, doubt- 
less, passed on their way to Sinai after leaving the 
desert of Sin ; but which they probably did not pass 
through on their way from Sinai to Kadesh, as it would 
be far out of their direct course. Here they could 
not want for water ; nor did they murmur on this ac - 
count until they came to Rephidim, which was most 
probably higher up among the mountains, and near 
the western base of Sinai itself. 

The upper region of Sinai forms an irregular cir- 
cle of thirty or forty miles in diameter, possessing 
numerous sources of water, a temperate climate, and 
a soil capable of supporting animal and vegetable 
nature. This therefore was the part of the peninsu- 
la best adapted to the residence of nearly a year, dur- 
ing which the Israelites were numbered, and received 
their laws from the Most High. This tract is thus 
described by Burckhardt. "The upper nucleus of 
Sinai, composed almost entirely of granite, forms a 
rocky wilderness of an irregular circular shape, in- 
tersected by many narrow valleys, and from thirty to 
forty miles in diameter. It contains the highest 
mountains of the peninsula, whose shagged and point- 
ed peaks, and steep and shattered sides, render it 
clearly distinguishable from all the rest of the coun- 
try in view. It is upon this highest region of the 
peninsula, that the fertile valleys are found, which 
produce fruit-trees ; they are principally to the west 
and south-west of the convent, at three or four hours' 
distance. Water, too, is always found in plenty in this 
district ; on which account it is the place of refuge 
of all the Bedouins, when the low country is parch- 
ed up. I think it probable, that this upper country 
or wilderness is, exclusively, the desert of Sinai so 
often mentioned in the account of the wanderings of 
the Israelites." In approaching this elevated region 
from the north-west, Burckhardt writes, May 1st, 
"We now approached the central summits of mount 
Sinai, which we had had in view for several days. 
Abrupt cliffs of granite from six to eight hundred 
feet in height, whose surface is blackened by the sun, 
surround the avenues leading to the elevated region, 
to which the name of Sinai is specifically applied. 
These cliffs enclose the holy mountain on three sides, 
leaving the east and north-east sides only, towards 
the gulf of Akaba, more open to the view. At the 
end of three hours we entered these cliffs by a nar- 
row defile about forty feet in breadth, with perpen- 
dicular granite rocks on both sides. The ground is 
covered with sand and pebbles, brought down by 
the torrent which rushes from the upper region in 
the winter time." (Compare also the account of Nie- 
buhr, Descr. of Arabia, p. 401.) 

The general approach to Sinai from the same 
quarter is thus described by Mr. Carne. (Letter i. 
p. 208.) " A few hours more, and we got sight of 
the mountains round Sinai. Their appearance was 
magnificent. When we drew near and emerged out 
of a deep pass, the scenery was infinitely striking ; 
and on the right extended a vast range of mountains, 
as far as the eye could reach, from the vicinity of 
Sinai down to Tor [on the gulf of Suez.] They 
were perfectly bare, but of grand and singular form. 
We had hoped to reach the convent by daylight, 
but the moon had risen some time, when we entered 
the mouth of a narrow pass, where our conductors 



advised us to dismount. A gentle yet perpetual as- 
cent led on, mile after mile, up this mournful valley, 
whose aspect was terrific, yet ever varying. It was 
not above two hundred yards in width, and the 
mountains rose to an immense height on each side. 
The road wound at their feet along iie edge of a 
precipice, and amidst masses of rock tliat had fallen 
from above. It was a toilsome path, generally over 
stones placed like steps, probably by the Arabs; and 
the moonlight was of little service to us in this 
deep valley, as it only rested on the frowning summits 
above. Where is mount Sinai? was the inquiry of 
every one. The Arabs pointed before to Gebel 
Mousa, the mount of Moses, as it is called ; but we 
could not distinguish it. Again and again, point 
after point was "turned, and we saw but the same 
stern scenery. But what had the beauty and soft- 
ness of nature to do here ? Mount Sinai required 
an approach like this, where all seemed to proclaim 
the land of miracles, and to have been visited by the 
terrors of the Lord. The scenes, as you gazed 
around, had an unearthly character, suited to the 
sound of the fearful trumpet, that was once heard 
there. We entered at last on the more open valley, 
about half a mile wide, and drew near this famous 
mountain. Sinai is not so lofty as some of the 
mountains around it ; and in its form there is noth- 
ing graceful or peculiar, to distinguish it from others. 
Near midnight we reached the convent." 

M. Riippell, in travelling from Akaba to the con- 
vent, approached Sinai from the north-north-east, 
through the Wadys Safran and Salaka. " The na- 
kedness of the landscape is frightfully mournful. 
In the distance lay before us a lofty chain of moun- 
tains; and three summits lift their heads above the 
whole chain. That in the middle, directly before us 
south, is Gebel Mousa or Sinai ; the south-western 
is St. Catharine, the Horeb of some. We penetrated 
into this chain from the north ; very soon we turned 
towards the east ; all is here of perpendicular and 
ragged granite formation. After some hours we 
reached the walls of the convent of St. Catharine, 
situated in a very narrow valley or chasm of the 
mountains, which extends from north-west to south- 
east. One chief object of my visit here was to de- 
termine the geographical position of the convent by 
means of lunar observations ; but the mountains 
around the convent, especially to the south and 
west, are so lofty and perpendicular, that the moon 
was visible only for a very short time ; and never at 
the same time w'uh the sun or planets." (p. 257.) 

"The convent is situated," according to Burck- 
hardt, "in a valley so narrow, that one part of the 
building stands on the side of the [south] western 
mountain, [Gebel Mousa,] while a space of twenty 
paces only is left between its walls and the eastern 
mountain. The valley is open to the north, from 
whence approaches the road from Cairo ; to the 
south, close beyend the convent, it is shut up by a 
third mountain, less steep than the others, over which 
passes the road to Sherm. The convent is an irreg- 
ular quadrangle of about one hundred and thirty 
paces, enclosed by high and solid walls, built with 
blocks of granite, and fortified by several small tow- 
ers. The convent contains eight or ten small court 
yards, some of which are neatly laid out in beds of 
flowers and vegetables ; a few date-trees and cj press- 
es also grow there, and great numbers of vines." (p. 
541.) "In the convent are two deep and copious 
wells of spring water. A pleasant garden adjoins 
the building, into which there is a subterraneous 



EXODUS 



[ 413 ] 



EXODUS 



•assage ; the soil is stony ; but in this climate, 
wherever water is plenty, the very rocks will pro- 
duce vegetation. The fruit is of the finest quality." 
(p. 544, 549.) According to tradition, the convent 
dates from the fourth century, when the empress 
Helena is said to have built a church here ; but the 
present building was erected by the emperor Justin- 
ian, in the sixth century. 

Directly behind the convent, towards the south- 
west, (Niebuhr Reiseb. i. 247.) rises Gebel Mousa, or 
the proper Sinai ; the path to the summit of which 
begins to ascend immediately behind the walls of the 
convent. At the end of three quarters of an hour's 
steep ascent is a small plain, on which is a large 
building called the convent of St. Elias, formerly in- 
habited, but now abandoned. " According to the 
Koran and the Moslem traditions, it was in this part 
of the mountain, which is now called Djebel Oreb, 
or Horeb, that Moses communicated with the Lord." 
(Burckhardt, p. 566.) Is not this, perhaps, the real 
Horeb, which indeed seems in the Scriptures to be 
synonymous with Sinai ? From hence a still steeper 
ascent of half an hour leads to' the summit of Djebel 
Mousa. The view from this summit is very grand. 
Mr. Carne says, "Sinai has four summits ; and that 
of Moses stands almost in the middle of the others, 
and is not visible from below." (p. 221.) Burck- 
hardt also speaks of a mosque on a lower peak, 
about thirty paces distant from the church on the 
proper summit, which is a plain of about sixty paces 
in circumference. To the west-south-west of Sinai 
lies mount St. Catharine, separated from the former 
by a narrow valley, in which is situated a deserted 
convent, called El Erbayin, or the convent of the For- 
ty. The eastern side of mount St. Catharine is not- 
ed for its excellent pasturage ; herbs sprout up every 
where between the rocks, and, as many of them are 
odoriferous, the scent early in the morning, when 
the dew falls, is delicious. A slow ascent of two 
hours brought Burckhardt to the top of the mountain ; 
" which, like the Djebel Mousa, terminates in a sharp 
point. Its highest part consists of a single immense 
block of granite, whose surface is so smooth, that it 
is very difficult to ascend it. Luxuriant vegetation 
reaches up to this rock." (p. 574.) This mountain is 
higher than that of Moses ; the view from its sum- 
mit is of the same kind, only much more extensive, 
than from the top of Sinai ; it commands a view of 
some parts of the two gulfs of Akaba and Suez. It 
is in this valley, between the two mountains, where 
the convent El Erbayin stands, that the site of 
Rephidim has been fixed by tradition ; about twenty 
minutes' walk northward from this convent is shown 
the rock out of which water is said to have issued. 
The valley is now called El Ledja, is very narrow, 
and extremely stony ; and at forty minutes' walk 
north-eastward from El Erbayin, it opens into the 
broader valley which leads south-eastward to the 
convent of St. Catharine. At this point, i. e. on the 
northern side of Sinai, the valley has considerable 
width, and constitutes, according to Mr. Carne, (p. 
227.) a plain capable of containing a large number of 
people. He remarks, (p. 222.) "From the summit 
of Sinai you see only innumerable ranges of rocky 
mountains. One generally places, in imagination, 
around Sinai, extensive plains or sandy deserts, where 
the camp of the hosts was placed, where the families 
of Israel stood at the doors of their tents, and the line 
was drawn round the mountain, which no one might 
break through on pain of death. But it is not thus. 
Save the valley by which we approached Sinai, 



about half a mile wide and a few miles in length, and 
a small plain we afterwards passed through, [just 
above mentioned,] there appear to be few open places 
around the mount." He says further on, (p. 258,) 
"We had not the opportunity of making the tour of 
the whole of the region of Sinai ; yet we traversed 
three sides of the mountain, [the east, west, and 
north,] and found it. every where shut in by narrow 
ravines, except on the north, in which direction we 
had first approached it. Here there is, as before ob- 
served, a valley of some extent, and a small plain, in 
the midst of which is a rocky hill. These appear to 
have been the only places in which the Israelites 
could have stood before the mount ; because on the 
fourth [or south] side, though unvisited, we could 
observe from the summit, were only glens or small 
rocky valleys, as on the east and west." 

Such is the most graphic account which the writer 
has been able to compile, from the accounts of trav- 
ellers, of that celebrated region of which the summit 
Djebel Mousa is the centre ; and which has now for 
centuries been supposed to be the Sinai of the Scrip- 
tures, and the scene of the awful communications 
between God and his covenant people of old, in the 
giving of the law. It must not, however, be denied, 
that the identity of this mountain rests upon tradition, 
strengthened indeed by its geographical position and 
several other circumstances ; while some other cir- 
cumstances seem to indicate a tradition of a still ear- 
lier date in favor of another mountain, mount Serbal, 
situated some distance to the west-north-west of 
Djebel Mousa. According to Burckhardt, "it is sep- 
arated from the upper [region of] Sinai by some 
valleys, especially Wady Hebran ; and it forms, with 
several neighboring mountains, a separate cluster, 
terminating in peaks, the highest of which appears 
to be as high as mount St. Catharine. It borders on 
Wady Feiran," (p. 575.) He afterwards ascended 
this mountain, and writes of it as follows : " The 
fact of so many inscriptions being found upon the 
rocks near the summit of this mountain, together 
with the existence of the road [steps] leading up to 
the peak, afford strong reasons for presuming that 
the Serbal was an ancient place of devotion. It 
will be recollected that no inscriptions are found 
either on the mountain of Moses, or on mount St. 
Catharine. From these circumstances, I am per- 
suaded that mount Serbal was at one period the chief 
place of pilgrimage in the peninsula ; and that it was 
then considered the mountain where Moses received 
the tables of the law ; though 1 am equally convinced, 
from a perusal of the Scriptures, that the Israelites en- 
camped in the upper Siyiai, and that either Djebel Mou- 
sa or the mount St. Catharine is the real Horeb. At 
present neither the monks of mount Sinai nor those 
of Cairo consider mount Serbal as the scene of any 
events of sacred history ; nor have the Bedouins any 
tradition among them respecting it," (p. 608, 609.) To 
the opinion of this very intelligent and judicious trav- 
eller, formed from personal observation on the spot, 
we may well yield our assent ; especially as the 
foundation of the present convent dates back to the 
fourth century. 

The children of Israel left Egypt on the fifteenth 
day of the first month of the sacred year, on the 
morning after the passover, (Num. xxxiii. 3.) that is 
to say, about the middle of April. They reached 
Sinai in the third month ; (Ex. xix. 1.) and the ex- 
pression, " the same day came they to Sinai," would 
seem to imply that they reached the mountain on the 
fifteenth of the third month, or June, having beer 



EXODUS 



f 414 ] 



EXODUS 



just two months on the way. At any rate, it is man- 
ifest that they did not travel every day ; and indeed 
in most of the places mentioned, they probably re- 
mained several days. In Rephidim, at least, several 
important transactions took place, which imply a de- 
lay of some time ; water was miraculously brought 
from the rock ; the Amalekites were discomfited ; 
Jethro visited Moses, and in consequence of his ad- 
vice, a new arrangement of judges was introduced, 
Ex. xvii. xviii. At Sinai the Israelites remained 
during all the transactions recorded in the remain- 
der of the book of Exodus, in Leviticus, and in the 
first nine chapters of Numbers. In Num. x. 11, it is 
recorded, that "on the twentieth day of the second 
month, in the second year, the cloud was taken up, 
and the children of Israel took their journeys out of 
the wilderness of Sinai." Their sojourn at Sinai 
may, therefore, be counted from the fifteenth day of 
June to the twentieth of May ; a period of eleven 
months and five days, according to our mode of 
reckoning ; but as they reckoned by lunar months, 
the whole interval was in fact something less than 
eleven of our months. 

From Sinai to Kadesh, and the wandering in the 
Desert. — We have now a more difficult task, viz. to 
determine the course and stations of the Israelites 
after leaving Sinai, during all the years of wandering 
in the desert, until their arrival on the borders of the 
promised land. Until they reached mount Sinai, the 
Scripture accounts in Exodus and . in Numbers 
xxxiii. harmonize with each other ; and the country 
lias been visited and described by intelligent travel- 
lers. But from this time onward, the accounts of 
Scripture are apparently at variance with each other, 
or at least do not obviously harmonize; and the 
country through which they passed is still a terra in- 
cognita; having been visited by no modern traveller, 
except slightly. Burckhardt crossed the southern 
part of this desert from near Wady Mousa to Suez 
in 1812 ; and Seetzen travelled directly from Hebron 
to Akaba ; but of his journey no account has reach- 
ed the public. In order to arrive at a better under- 
standing of the subject, it will be proper here to give 
a general description of this whole region of coun- 
try — a region of which very little has hitherto been 
known, and on some parts of which the travels of 
Burckhardt and others have shed much light. Our 
information will be drawn principally from this in- 
telligent traveller. (See his Travels in Syria, p. 401, 
seq. passim.) 

Of the two gulfs of the Red sea which enclose the 
peninsula of mount Sinai, the western, or gulf of Su-- 
ez, runs in a general direction from south-south-east 
to north-north-west, and terminates at Suez, in lat. 
30° north, and long. 30° 12' east from Paris. The 
eastern, or gulf of Akaba, runs nearly from south by 
west to north by east, and ends at Akaba, in lat. 29° 
30' north, and long. 32° 35' east from Paris. The 
distance between these two extremities, therefore, is 
about 143 minutes of longitude in lat. 30°, or about 
125 miles in a straight line, tending from west-north- 
west to east-south-east. The above positions are 
given from the chart of Ruppell, which was con- 
structed from astronomical admeasurement. The 
peninsula included within these limits is filled up 
with mountains, and narrow valleys, and desolate 
plains. Of the mountains, the chain, or elevated cir- 
cle, of Sinai, as described above, is the chief. West 
of this is the Serbal. " To the northward of this 
central region, and divided from it by the broad val- 
ey called Wady El Sheikh, and by several minor 



wadys, begins a lower range of mountains called 
Zebeir, which extends eastwards ; having at one ex- 
tremity the two peaks called El Djoze above the 
plantations of Wady Feiran, and losing itself to the 
east in the more open country towards Wady Sal. 
Beyond the Zebeir northwards are sandy plains and 
valleys. This part is the most barren and destitute 
of water of the whole country. It borders on the 
north on the chain of El Tyh, which stretches in a 
regular line eastwards, parallel with the Zebeir, be- 
ginning at Sarbout el Djemel. " (Burckh. p. 574.) 
According to the map of Burckhardt, this chain be- 
gins near the coast of the western gulf, between 
Wady Gharendel and Wady Taybe, and extends 
eastward ; towards the middle of the peninsula it di- 
vides into two chains, which continue to run parallel 
with each other, and terminate near the coast of the 
eastern gulf, at some distance south of Akaba. But 
low mountains, strictly the commencement of this 
chain, appear on the left of the road opposite Suez, 
about eight miles di tant, and there run parallel with 
that road. (p. 471.) North of El Tyh, the great 
Egyptian Hadj, a pilgrim road, passes from Suez to 
Akaba over the desert. 

The northern end of the gulf of Akaba is connected 
with the southern extremity of the Dead sea by the 
great valley, called towards the north, El Ghor, and 
towards the south, El Araba, and forming a prolon- 
gation of the valley of the Jordan, through which, 
in all probability, in very ancient times, before the 
overthrow of the cities of* the plain, that river pour- 
ed its waters into the Red sea. The course of this 
valley is between south and south-south-west. Its 
length from the Dead sea in about lat. 31° 5' to Aka- 
ba in lat. 29° 30', is therefore not far from 95 minutes 
of latitude, or about 110 miles in a direct line. From 
the extremity of the sea, (according to Mr. Bankes 
and his companions,) a sandy plain or flat extends 
southward between hills, and on a level with .the see, 
for the distance of eight or ten miles, where it is in- 
terrupted by a sandy cliff, from sixty to eighty feet 
high, which traverses the valley like a wall, forming a 
barrier to the waters of the lake when at their great- 
est height. Beyond this cliff the valley is prolonged 
without interruption to Akaba. It is skirted on each 
side by a chain of mountains ; but the streams which 
descend from these, are in summer lost in their grav- 
elly beds before they reach the valley below ; so that 
the lower plain, or bottom of the great valley, is in 
summer entirely without water, which alone can 
produce verdure in the Arabian deserts, and render 
them habitable. BurckhardJ crossed it opposite the 
Wady Gharendel, which opens into it from the east, 
about 40 or 50 miles north of Akaba. Here the 
whole plain presented to the view an expanse of 
shifting sands, whose surface was broken by innu- 
merable undulations and low hills. The sand ap- 
pears to have been brought from the shores of the 
Red sea by the southerly winds ; and the Arabs in- 
formed him, that the valley continued to present the 
same appearance towards the north. Numerous 
Bedouin tribes encamp here in the winter, when the 
torrents produce a copious supply of water, and a 
few shrubs spring up upon their banks, affording 
pasturage to the sheep and goats. Our traveller was 
one hour and a half in crossing the Wady Araba, 
which would make it about five miles broad ; about 
the same as the valley of the Jordan. In some 
places the sand is very deep ; but it is firm, and the 
camels walk over it without sinking. The heat was 
suffocating, and it was increased by a hot wind from 



EXODUS 



L 415 ] 



EXODUS 



:he south-east. There is not the slightest appear- 
ance of a road, or of any other work of human art, 
in this part of the valley, (p. 444.) At the southern 
extremity of the valley, where it opens upon the plain 
of Akaba, Ruppell describes it, towards the end of 
April (1822,) as shaded by bushes and covered with 
luxuriant pasturage. See in Elath. 

The chain of mountains on the east of this great 
valley, forming the continuation of those which sur- 
round the eastern side of the Dead sea, is known in 
different portions of it by the names of Djebal, or 
mountains, Djebel Shera, and Djebel Hesma. The 
first, or Djebal, extends from the Dead sea, or the re- 
gion about Kerek, to the wide valley El Ghoeyr, 
which descends towards the west into the Ghor ; 
this part is manifestly the ancient Gebal of the He- 
brews and the Gebalene of the Romans. Djebel 
Shera follows and extends to the south of the Wady 
Gharendel above mentioned ; this name is the mount 
Seir of Scripture, (which, however, probably com- 
prised in general the whole chain,) and in this part 
are situated the ruins of Petra, the ancient capital of 
Edom, first discovered by Burckhardt. Farther 
south Djebel Hesma forms the continuation of the 
chain to the waters of the Elanitic gulf. The whole 
of this tract seems to have constituted the ancient 
Idumea or mount Seir. The mountains do not 
cover a broad extent ; and beyond them, on the east, 
lies the vast plain of the Arabian desert, which the 
great Syrian caravan of pilgrims crosses on its way 
to Medina. It is covered with stones, especially 
flints, and may properly be called a stony desert. 
The road of the caravan lies along the western edge 
of the plain, near the mountains. Burckhardt re- 
marks of the mountains of Shera in particular, that 
" they are considerably elevated above the level of 
the Ghor, but they appear only as low hills, when 
seen from the eastern plain, which is upon a much 
igher level than the Ghor. This great valley [El 
Ghor] seems to have a rapid slope towards the south ; 
for the mountains on the east of it appear to increase 
in height the farther we proceed southward, while 
the upper [eastern] plain apparently continues upon 
the same level." (p. 435.) Thus the mountains of 
Hesma are apparently higher than any of the others 
farther north. The whole of this chain is intersect- 
ed by many wadys or valleys descending from the 
upper or eastern plain to the Ghor or El Araba. Not 
far from Beszeyra in the Djebal, in passing over the 
summit of a hill, Burckhardt remarks : " Here a fine 
view opened upon us ; to our right we had the deep 
valley of Wady Dhana, with the village of the same 
name on its south side ; farther west, about four hours 
from Dhana, we saw the great valley of the Ghor ; 
and towards the east and south extended the great 
Arabian desert." (p. 409.) The valley of Ghoeyr, 
mentioned above, which divides Djebal from Shera, 
"is a large, rocky and uneven basin, considerably 
lower than the eastern plain, upwards of twelve miles 
across at its eastern extremity, but narrowing to- 
wards the west. It is intersected by numerous 
wadys of winter torrents, and by three or four valleys 
watered by rivulets which unite below and flow into 
the great valley of the Ghor. The Ghoeyr is famous 
for the excellent pasturage produced by its numer- 
ous springs ; and it has, in consequence, become a 
favorite place of encampment for all the Bedouins of 
the Djebal and Shera." (p. 410.) The Wady Mousa, 
in which are the ruins of ancient Petra, is of the 
same description ; so also the Wady Gharendel, above 
spoken of, which empties itself into the valley El 



Araba, in whose sands its waters are lost, and into 
which it issues by a narrow passage, formed by the 
approaching rocks, (p. 441.) 

Respecting the chain of hills on the western side 
of the Ghor, we have much less information. Burck 
hardt remarks, that they contain no springs of water 
whatever, (p. 442.-) From the place where he crossed 
the great valley, opposite the Wady Gharendel, he 
" ascended the western chain of mountains. The 
mountain directly opposite to [before] us appeared 
to be the highest point of the whole chain, as far as I 
could see north and south ; it is called Djebel Beyane ; 
the height of this chain, however, is not half that of 
the eastern mountains. It is intersected by numerous 
broad wadys, in which the Talh-tree grows ; the 
rock is entirely silicious, of the same species as that 
of the desert which extends from here to Suez. I 
saw some large pieces of flint perfectly oval, three to 
four feet in length, and about a foot and a half in 
breadth. After an hour and a half of gentle ascent, 
we arrived at the summit of the hills, and then de- 
scended by a short and very gradual declivity into 
the western plain, the level of which, although higher 
than that of the valley El Araba, is perhaps one 
thousand feet lower than that of the eastern desert. 
We had now before us an immense expanse of 
dreary country, entirely covered with black flints, 
with here and there some hilly chains rising from the 
plain." (p. 444.) At Akaba, however, both the west- 
ern mountain and plain are more elevated above the 
bottom of El Araba. Riippell estimates the elevation 
there to be not less than fifteen hundred feet. (Reisen, 
p. 247.) See in Elath. 

Thus it appears, that the country on each side of 
the Ghor, beyond the mountains which skirt the val- 
ley, is a vast and almost pathless desert. This west- 
ern desert, lying north of the peninsula of Sinai, was 
crossed by Burckhardt from the point where he en- 
tered it, as described in the preceding paragraph, to 
Suez. The time occupied in this journey was about 
five days. A few extracts from his journal will best 
point out the character of the country. He entered 
the desert, as above mentioned, on the 27th of Au- 
gust, 1812, toward evening. " Jhig. 28th [first day. J 
In the morning we passed two broad wadys full of 
tamarisks and of Talh-trees. At the end of four 
hours we reached Wady el Lahyane. In this desert 
the wafer collects in a number of low bottoms and 
wadys, where it produces verdure in winter time ; 
and an abundance of trees with green leaves are 
found throughout the year. In the winter, some of 
the Arabs of Ghaza, as well as those from the shores 
of the Red sea, encamp here. The Wady Lahyane 
is several hours in extent ; its bottom is full of gravel. 
The road from Akaba to Gaza passes here ; it is a 
journey of eight long days. At the end of five hours 
we issued from the head of Wady Lahyane again 
upon the plain. The hill on the top of this wady is 
called Ras el Kaa, and is the termination of a chain 
of hills, which stretch across this plain in a northern 
direction for six or eight hours ; it projects like a 
promontory, and serves as a landmark to travellers. 
The plain which we now entered was a perfect flat, 
covered with black pebbles. The high insulated 
mountain, behind which Gaza is situated, bore from 
hence north by west, disn, * three long days' jour- 
ney." (p. 445. seq.) — " Aug. 29th [second" day.] This 
day we passed several wadys of Talh and tamarisk- 
trees, intermixed with low shrubs. Direction west 
by south. The plain is, for the greater part, covered 
with flints ; in some places it is chalky. Wherever 



EXODUS 



EXODUS 



the rain collects in winter vegetation of trees and 
shrubs is produced. In the midst of this desert we 
met a poor Bedouin woman, who begged some water 
of us. She was going" to Akaba, where the tents of 
her family were, but had neither provisions nor water 
with her, relying entirely on the hospitality of the 
Arabs she might meet with on* the road. She 
seemed 10 be as unconcerned as if she were merely 
taking a walk for pleasure. After an uninterrupted 
march of nine hours and a half, we reached a moun- 
tain called Dharf el Rokob, which extends for about 
eight hours from north-west to south-east. At its 
foot we crossed the Egyptian Hadj [or pilgrim cara- 
van] road ; it passes along the mountain towards 
Akaba, which is distant from hence fifteen or eight- 
een hours. The level plain over which we had 
travelled from Ras el Kaa terminates at Dharf el 
Rokob. Westward of it the ground is more inter- 
sected by hills and wadys, and here begins the desert 
El T)), [or of ivanderings,~\ in which, according to 
tradition, both Jewish and Mohammedan, the Israel- 
ites wandered for several years, and from which be- 
lief the desert takes its name." (p. 447, seq.) — "Aug. 
'30th [third day.] We passed a chain of hills called 
Odjme, running almost parallel with the Dharf el 
Rokob. We had now reentered the Hadj route, a 
broad, well-trodden road, strewed with the whitened 
bones of animals that have died by the way. The 
soil is chalky, and overspread with black pebbles. 
At the end of five hours and a half we reached Wady 
Rouak. Here the term ivady is applied to a narrow 
strip of ground, the bed of a winter torrent, not more 
than one foot lower than the level of the plain, where 
the rain water, from the inequalities of the surface, 
collects, and produces a vegetation of low shrubs and 
a few Talh-trees. The greater part of the wadys 
from hence to Egypt are of this description. The 
Coloquintida grows in great abundance in all of them ; 
it is used by the Arabs to make tinder. In nine 
hours and a half we passed a low chain of chalky 
hills. On several parts of the road were holes, out 
of which rock salt had been dug. At the end of ten 
hours and a half we arrived in the vicinity of Nakhel, 
{i. e. date-tree,) a fortified station of the Egyptian 
Hadj. Our direction was still west by north. Na- 
khel stands in a plain, which extends to an immense 
distance southward, but which terminates to the 
north at about one hour's distance from Nakhel, in a 
low chain of mountains. The fortress is a large 
square building, with stone walls, without any hab- 
itations round it. The pasha of Egypt keeps here a 
garrison of about fifty soldiers." (p. 449, seq.) — "Aug. 
31st [fourth day.] We marched for four hours over 
uneven ground, and then reached a level plain, con- 
sisting of rich red earth, fit for culture, and similar to 
that of the northern Syrian desert. We crossed sev- 
eral wadys, in which we started a number of hares. 
At every twenty yards lay heaps of bones of camels, 
horses, and asses, by the side of the road. At the 
end of ten hours and a half we, reached the moun- 
tainous country called El Theghar, or the mouths, 
which forms a boundary of the desert El Ty, and 
separates it from the peninsula of mount Sinai. We 
ascended for half an hour by a well-formed road, cut 
in several places in the rock, and then followed the 
windings of a valley, in .ie bed of a winter torrent, 
gradually descending. On both sides of the Hadj 
road we saw numerous heaps of stones, the tombs of 
pilgrims who had died of fatigue. At the end of 
fifteen hours we alighted in a valley of the Theghar, 
where we found an abundance of shrubs and trees." 



(p. 452.) — Sept. 1st, on the fifth day, the route lay 
across the moving sands of the desert of Shur, which 
lies around the head of the western gulf of the Red 
sea, and our traveller encamped for the night about 
two hours short of Adjeroud. 

The same general view of this journey is given in 
the letter of Burckhardt, inserted under the article 
Canaan, p. 237. He there describes this desert as 
"the most barren and horrid tract of country he had 
ever seen." 

In 1822, M. Riippell travelled from Suez to Aka- 
ba, by the Hadj route, leaving Suez April 21st, and 
arriving at Akaba on the 29th. To Nakhel or Negele, 
his route was of course the same as that of Burck- 
hardt, in an opposite direction. Farther east, the 
country possesses the same character ; chalky hills 
alternating with rolling plains. This tiresome mo- 
notony is in one place interrupted by a steep chalky 
mountain, near Dabt el Baggele, over which pious 
Mussulmans have hewn a pass two hundred feet 
long in the rock. East of this is a green valley, and 
then the plain Darfureck, which is wholly without 
vegetation, at least in the vicinity of the route. This 
high desert region is bounded on the east by the 
mountains of reddish sandstone, which skirt the plain 
of Akaba and the valley El Araba ; and from which 
the Hadj route descends by a steep path, in many 
places hewn out of the rock. The general character 
of this wide tract is given by Riippell in the words 
—"a frightful desert." (p. 241—247.) 

To this general description of the whole country 
between mount Sinai and Palestine, we have here 
devoted the more attention, because this information 
has no where else been brought together, and be- 
cause it all tends to illustrate the journeyings of the 
Israelites after leaving Sinai. Their departure from 
Sinai was on the 20th day of the second month, in 
the second year from the departure out of Egypt ; 
(Numb. x. 11.) i. e. as we have seen above, not far 
from the middle of May. The stations are thus 
marked: — (1.) Three days' march to the wilderness 
of Paran ; to Taberah, where part of the camp was 
burned, Num. x. 12, 33 ; xi. 3.— (2.) To Kibroth-hat- 
taavah, the graves of lust, xi. 34. This is a different 
place from Taberah, although a departure from the 
latter is not mentioned. Moses speaks of the two 
places as distinct, Deut. ix. 22. — (3.) Hazeroth, xi. 35. 
— (4.) Desert of Paran, i.e. Kadesh ; xii. 16; xiii. 26. 
Here the spies returned ; and hence the people were 
directed to turn and get them into the wilderness by 
the way of the Red sea, xiv. 25. — (5.) We next read 
(Num. xx. 1,) that they came into the desert of Zin 
in the first month, to Kadesh, where they abode, and 
Miriam died. Hence they sent to ask a passage 
through Edom (xx. 14.) which was refused. — (6.) 
Mount Hor, where Aaron died, xx. 22. After this 
they journeyed by the way of the Red sea, (Ezion 
Gaber) to compass the land of Edom, xxi. 4. 

With this representation agrees also that in Deut. 
i. where there are said to be eleven days' journey from 
Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea ; 
(verse 2.) and where it is said that the Israelites de- 
parted from Horeb and "went through all that great 
and terrible wilderness, and came to Kadesh Barnea ;" 
(verse 19.) after which they were commanded to turn 
and take their journey into the wilderness by the 
way of the Red sea, verse 40. They are then de- 
scribed as abiding many days in Kadesh, (i. 46.) and 
afterwards as turning and taking their journey into 
the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, and com- 
passing mount Seir many days ; and then as passing by 




DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS. 



EXODUS 



[ 417 ] 



EXODUS 



Ezion-gaber, around Edom, as before, Deut. ii. 
1,8. 

Thus far all harmonizes. But in the catalogue of 
stations contained in Num. xxxiii. and which accords 
with the preceding statements (except Taberah) as far 
as to Hazeroth, there are no less than eighteen sta- 
tions inserted between Hazeroth and Kadesh ; and 
among these is Ezion-gaber, which is not mentioned 
elsewhere until after the Israelites had left Kadesh, 
and were about to compass Edom, Deut. ii. 8. How 
is this account to be reconciled with the other state- 
ments of the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, 
as above exhibited ? 

Let us first examine the various references to time 
which are to be found in these accounts. The Is- 
raelites left Sinai about the middle of May, in the 
second year of their departure from Egypt, as we 
have seen above ; and came by the way of the wil- 
derness of Paran to Kadesh, according to Num. xiii. 
26 ; apparently after eleven days (not necessarily 
successive days) of marching, and by the way of mount 
Seir, according to Deut. i. 2. From the wilderness 
of Paran spies were sent out to the land of Canaan, 
(Num. xiii. 3.) who returned after forty days to Kadesh, 
(xiii. 25, «26.) bringing with them a sample of the 
grapes of the land ; it being " the time of the first ripe 
grapes," xiii. 20. But we have seen in the article 
Canaan, (pp. 241,242.) that grapes ripen in Palestine 
in July and August. We may therefore conclude, 
that the Israelites were at Kadesh in August of the 
second year ; there they rebelled on the report of the 
spies, and received the threat from Jehovah, that 
their carcasses should all fall in the wilderness, and 
their children should wander in the desert forty 
years ; and there they were commanded to turn back 
into the wilderness, by the way of the Red sea. The 
next movement, recorded in Num. xx. 1. is, that " the 
whole congregation came into the desert of Zin in 
the first month, and abode in Kadesh." Does not 
this indicate a return to Kadesh, after having once 
left it? Before, they left Sinai in the second month, 
or May, and were in Kadesh in August ; now, they 
arrive at Kadesh in the first mouth, or April. Here 
Miriam now dies ; the people murmur for water ; 
Moses and Aaron disobey God's command in regard 
to the mode of performing the miracle in order to 
procure it, and are told in consequence that they 
shall not enter the promised land ; Moses begs a pas- 
sage through Edom, which is refused ; they then 
journey from Kadesh to mount Hor, in the edge of 
Edom, " here Aaron dies in the fortieth year of the 
departure '"om Egypt, on the first day of the fifth 
month, Nun xx. xxxiii. 37, 38. These events all 
immediately succeed each other, and directly follow 
this last departure from Kadesh ; Aaron dies here in 
fulfilment of the threat there given, and in all proba- 
bility in the same year of this return to Kadesh. But 
between the time of the return of the spies to Ka- 
desh in August of the second year, and the death of 
Aaron on the first day of the fifth month (correspond- 
ing to August) of the fortieth year, there is an interval 
of thirty-eight years. Again, in Deut. ii. 14, it is said, 
that "the space in which we came from Kadesh-Bar- 
nea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was 
thirty-eight years." Must not this refer to the first 
departure from Kadesh, when they were commanded 
to turn back and wander in the wilderness ; and not 
to the last departure from that place, just before the 
death of Aaron ? If so, then the coming to Kadesh in 
the first month, (Num. xx. 1.) and that mentioned in 
Num. xxxiii. 36, are the same, and refer to the sub- 
53 



sequent return of the Israelites to that station. And 
as it is said in Deut. i. 46, that they abode in Kadesh 
(the first time) many. days; and as Aaron's death 
took place in August, just thirty-eight years after, — ■ 
and they came to the brook Zered just thirty-eight 
years after leaving Kadesh the first time, we may, 
perhaps, infer that their first residence in Kadesh 
continued for the same space of time, as their subse- 
quent march from mount Hor to the brook Zered 
This, however, is a point of little comparative impor- 
tance. 

If, now, the death of Aaron occurred in the fifth 
month of that same year, in the first month of which 
the Israelites returned to Kadesh, as there is every 
reason to suppose ; i. e. the fortieth year of the de- 
parture from Egypt, then there is an interval of more 
than thirty-seven years, of which the history in Num- 
bers and Deuteronomy gives no account whatever ; 
unless it be in the catalogue of stations ccntained in 
Num. xxxiii. We have seen above that the arrival at 
Kadesh, mentioned in this catalogue, corresponds to 
the second sojourn at that place, as inferred above ; 
and we may, therefore, without hesitation, assume 
the eighteen stations, there named between Hazeroth 
and Kadesh, as belonging to this interval of eight and 
thirty years. These, of course, are not all the stations 
occupied during that period ; only those probably 
are noted where they abode for some time. From 
Ezion-gaber to Kadesh, for instance, (Num. xxxiii. 
36.) could not be much less than the whole length of 
the great valley of the Ghor — a distance of not less 
than one hundred miles, whatever might be the ex- 
act situation of Kadesh ; and of course in passing 
from one to the other, there must have been several 
intervening stations, although none are mentioned. 

To this hypothesis there seem to be but two objec- 
tions. First, that in Num. xxxiii. 18, we ought then 
to read Paran or Kadesh, instead of Rithmah, as in 
xii. 16 ; xiii. 26. Secondly, that Ezion-gaber, which, 
in Num. xxxiii. 36, is put before Kadesh, is not else- 
where mentioned until the Israelites came thither in 
order to compass the land of Edom, Deut. ii. 8. 

To the first of these objections it may be replied, 
that Kadesh was the name not only of a city, but of 
the tract of desert country adjacent to it ; as we shall 
show more at large hereafter. It is, therefore, to be 
taken as the desert of Kadesh (Ps. xxix. 8.) in the ac- 
count of the first coming to it ; as indeed is suffi- 
ciently obvious from the language of the passage it- 
self, Num. xiii. 26. Rithmah is then to be regarded 
as a place or station in this desert. Or, if we adhere 
strictly to the statement in Deut. i. 2, that they came 
to Kadesh after eleven stations, then Makheloth in 
xxxiii. 25, is the station corresponding to Kadesh. 
The solution is the same in either case. 

To obviate the force of the second objection, it is 
necessary to bear in mind the character and circum- 
stances of the Israelitish people, as well as the char- 
acter of the country in which they were now placed. 
They were essentially a nomadic people ; their fa- 
thers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had ever been so ; 
they were emphatically Bedouins, removing with 
their flocks and herds from place to place, as occasion 
might require. In Egypt they had ever been shep- 
herds, — their province of Goshen was adapted to 
pasturage, and not to tillage ; and now, when they 
had come out into the deserts, with their flocks and 
herds, they were still the nomadic race they had ever 
been, — a people resembling those by whom these 
desert plains, and valleys, and mountains, are pos- 
sessed to this very day. Hence, according to the 



EXODUS 



L 418 ] 



EXODUS 



command of God, they wandered in the desert; and 
their wanderings would be determined, like those of 
the Arabs at present, by the opportunities of water 
and pasturage. When the scanty " pastures of the 
desert" failed in one place, they removed to another ; 
.ind they would naturally resort to those tracts, 
where water, and consequently vegetation, were most 
abundant. In the long period of eight and thirty 
/ears, therefore, while thus removing from place to 
place in the vast deserts between Palestine and the 
peninsula of Sinai, although they might not improb- 
ably at times take up their residence in the desert El 
Ty, according to tradition, as above mentioned, yet 
: t is hardly to be supposed that they would not also 
»iometimes visit the Ghor, which even now is a fa- 
vorite resort of the Bedouins in winter. Nor can 
*ve well suppose, that they would not visit the same 
place more than once ; since in these deserts the 
wells and springs of water are places of general re- 
port, and the pasturage, which had been devoured in 
one year, would be renewed in other years. If, then, 
'.hey did thus visit the Ghor, it would be natural for 
ihem, in this long interval, to visit also the southern 
part of it, where it opens to a plain, and affords lux- 
uriant pasturage. Indeed, the list in Num. xxxiii. 
deems to imply, that they did thus sojourn at times in 
the Ghor or El Araba, and along its eastern skirts ; 
for, in verse 31, Moseroth is mentioned, to which they 
came before coining to Ezion-gaber. But in Dent, 
x. 6, Aaron is said to have died at Mosera, the same 
as Moseroth, which of course must have been the 
station adjacent to mount Ilor. But mount Horlies, 
as we know, on the east of the Ghor, nearly half way 
from Akaba to the Dead sea. Hence we may infer, 
that this list of stations indicates in general the move- 
ments of the Israelites from north to south, and prob- 
ably along the valley El Araba. Arriving at its 
southern extremity, they returned to Kadesh, advan- 
cing, probably, from station to station, in the same 
occasional and leisure manner. This return was a 
part of their thirty-eight years of wandering ; but 
afterwards, when they had made an unsuccessful at- 
tempt from Kadesh to pass through the territory of 
Edom, and found it necessary to march back to Ezi- 
on-gaber, in order to pass around mount Seir, we 
may suppose that their march was more rapid, and 
not so much regulated merely by a regard to an 
abundant supply of water and pasturage. 

In this manner we may not only remove the diffi- 
culty suggested above, but also another difficulty 
which has troubled commentators. In Num. xxxiii. 
31, seq. the Israelites are said to have occupied the 
stations Moseroth, Bene-jaakan, Hor-hagidgad, and 
.Totbathah ; while in Deut. x. 6, 7, these same sta- 
tions are named in a different order, — Beeroth of the 
children of Jaakan, Mosera where Aaron died, Gud- 
godah, and Jotbath. That these names are at bottom 
the same, there can be no doubt. But in Numbers 
they are mentioned in reference to the first visit of the 
Hebrews, during the long wandering southwards, be- 
fore their return to Kadesh the second time ; while in 
Deuteronomy, they have reference to the second pas- 
sage of the Israelites, when marching south in order 
to compass the land of Edom. It is easy to conceive, 
how Moseroth and the wells of Jaakan might lie in 
such a direction from each other, that a nomadic 
tribe, wandering in different years southward along 
the great valley, might at one time take the former 
first in its way, and at another time, the latter. 

We have thus given a general view of the manner 
in whicn we suppose t'.ie list of stations in Num. xxxiii. 



is to be harmonized with the other accounts ol the 
journeyings of the children of Israel ; and in so do- 
ing have been led to give also an exhibition of the 
general course of these journeyings and wanderings 
themselves. It now remains to ascertain more par- 
ticularly, if possible, the situations of some of the 
principal stations, in order to obtain a more definite 
idea of the route in general. Of the position of 
Taberah, (Num. xi. 3.) Kibroth-hattaavah, (xi. 34.), 
and Hazeroth, (xi. 35; xxxiii. 17.) we know nothing 
further, than that they were stations between mount 
Sinai and the wilderness of Paran, Num. x. 12; 
xii. 16. 

The wilderness of Paran some have chosen to find 
in the Wady Fciran or Faran, which extends north- 
west from mount Sinai ; but this hypothesis has been 
sufficiently confuted above, p. 409. This desert is 
several times mentioned in Scripture, besides in these 
chapters. It is said of Hagar, when Abraham sent 
her away, that she wandered first in the wilderness 
of Beer-s'neba, and afterwards dwelt with Ishmael in 
the wild ;rness of Paran, and took lor him a wife out 
of the land of Egypt, Gen. xxi. 14, 21. Beer-sheba, 
as is well known, was at the southern extremity of 
Palestine. David, also, after the death of Samuel, 
retired into the wilderness of Paran, where also the 
flocks of Nabal, who dwelt in the southern Carmel, 
west of the Dead sea, are represented as feeding, 
1 Sam; xxv. 1, 14, seq. Both these notices go to 
show that the wilderness of Paran lay on the south 
of Palestine ; the latter one would indicate that its 
borders were near Palestine ; while the former would 
imply that it also stretched far to the south and west, 
including the present desert El Ty above described, 
p. 416. Moses, in his farewell song, says, (Deut. 
xxxiii. 2.) "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up 
from Seir unto them ; he shined forth from mount 
Paran ;" and Habakkuk also says, (iii. 3.) " God came 
from reman, and the Holy One from mount Paran." 
In these descriptions of a theophania, God is repre- 
sented as coming from the south, and the allusion is 
in general to the thunders and lightnings of Sinai ; 
but other mountains in the same direction are men- 
tioned with it, — Seir and Paran. The location of 
Seir, we know, was on the east of the Ghor ; that of 
Paran was, of course, in or adjacent to the desert of 
that name. Was mount Paran, then, perhaps, the 
chain on the west of the Ghor, bordering the desert 
of Paran on the east ? or was it rather the mountains 
on the southern border of the desert, towards the 
peninsula? At any rate, it seems a necessary con- 
clusion from the above notices, couple^ ,th Num. 
x. 12, 33, where the Israelites are said nave enter- 
ed it in three days from Sinai, that „ name Wilder- 
ness of Paran was applied, probably as a general 
designation, to the whole of the desert region lying 
between Palestine and the peninsula of Sinai on the 
south, and between the Ghor on the east and the 
desert of Egypt on the west. Josephus also men- 
tions a valley in this region with many caves, called 
Pharan. (Bell. .Tud. iv. 9. 4.) Eusebius, too, speaks 
of a Pharan through which the Israelites passed ; but 
places it, according to the translation of Jerome r 
three days' journey east of Aila or Akaba. The 
Greek of Eusebius, however, may just as well be 
read so as to mean, that Aila was three days' journey 
east of Pharan ; which would correspond entirely 
with the view above given. (Euseb. Onomost. ed. 
Cleric, p. 74.) 

That Paran was a name given to this desert in a 
very wide and general sense, is also apparent from 



EXODUS 



[ 419 ] 



EXODUS 



lue fact, that in Num. xiii. 26, Kadesh is said to be 
situated in it; while in xx. 1, and other passages, 
Kadesh is spoken of as being in the desert of Zin. 
The conclusion, therefore, is, that the desert of Zin 
was a portion of the great desert of Paran. The 
wilderness of Zin lay around the south-western shore 
of the Dead sea, and extended southward along the 
Ghor, as we know from Num. xxxiv. 4 ; Josh. xv. 1. 
It constituted, therefore, the north-east part of the 
great desert of Paran ; how far south it extended, we 
have no means of ascertaining. There seems also to 
have been in it a station called Zin; (Josh. xv. 3.) 
though the principal place mentioned is Kadesh. 

Kadesh, or, more fully, Kadesh-Barnea, (Barnea 
signifies field or plain of wandering, like the Arabic 
El Ty,) is described in Num. xx. 15, as a city in the 
" uttermost border of Edom." It is mentioned as one 
of the south-eastern limits of the territory of Israel, 
Num. xxxiv. 4 ; Josh. xv. 3. In Josh. x. 41, it is 
said, that Joshua smote the Canaanites from Kadesh- 
Barnea even unto Gaza ; where Kadesh stands for 
the eastern border of the children of Israel, as Gaza 
for the western. It is also said to be eleven days' 
journey from Horeb, by the way of mount Seir, Dent, 
i. 2. All these notices compel us to place Kadesh 
quite on the eastern side of the great desert of Paran ; 
and especially the first, which says that it lay in the 
" uttermost border of Edom." So mount Hor is said 
to be " by the coast of the land of Edom," Num. xx. 
23 ; and " in the edge of the land of Edom," xxxiii. 
37. But we know that mount Hor is situated on the 
eastern side of the Ghor, at some distance up the 
Wady Mousa, and therefore in mount Seir. Is, now, 
the "uttermost border of Edom" equivalent to the 
"coast" or "edge" of the laud of Edom ? and if so, 
are we warranted in assigning a position to Kadesh 
also on the east side of the Ghor, in the skirts of the 
mountains of Edom ? Or was it, perhaps, situated on 
the ivestern side of the Ghor, in some wady of that 
region which no modern traveller has yet explored ? 
But wherever the city itself was situated, it was of 
sufficient importance to give its name to the tract of 
desert country which lay around it ; and which is 
therefore spoken of by the Psalmist as the desert of 
Kadesh ; probably as synonymous with the desert of 
Zin, Ps. xxix. 8. It is doubtless the desert of Ka- 
desh, which is meant in Num. xiii. 20 ; Deut. i. 19 ; 
since in the corresponding passage in Num. xxxiii. 
18, we read Rithinah, probably a station in the 
desert near to Kadesh. Burckhardt suggests, that 
the great valley of the Ghor was possibly the Kadesh- 
Barnea of the Scriptures ; in which suggestion Ro- 
senmiiller coincides. This is not very improbable, 
particularly if we may place the city Kadesh on the 
eastern or even on the western border of this valley. 
(Burckh. Trav. in Syr. p. 443.) That Rithmah, or 
the desert of Kadesh, whither the spies returned, 
was in this valley, or possibly in some wady extending 
from it westward, seems probable from the facts men- 
tioned in Num. xiv. 40, seq. where the Israelites are 
said to have " got them up into the mountain," — " unto 
the hill-top," not far from the camp ; and the " Ama- 
lekites and Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, came 
down and smote them, and discomfited them unto 
Hormah." 

Of all the other stations mentioned in the wander- 
ings of the children of Israel, until they came to the 
brook Zered, the border of Moab, we can determine 
the situation of only two. Moseroth, in Num. xxxiii. 
31, is again mentioned as Mosera in Deut. x. 6, and 
s there said to ba *he place where Aaron died ; it 



was therefore adjacent to mount Hor, and in or near 
Wady Mousa, the site of the ancient Petra. (See under 
Aaron.) Ezion-gaber, mentioned Num. xxxiii. 36, 
Deut. ii. S, was at the northern extremity of the 
Elanitic gulf, near Akaba. The country around it 
has been fully described under the article Elath, 
which see. 

After these ample illustrations, it only remains to 
collect into a summary view the several facts which 
we have endeavored to establish in respect to the 
wanderings of Israel from Sinai, till they arrived at 
the brook Zered, and entered the territory of Moab. 
Farther than this, it is not necessary to accompany 
them ; as their subsequent route is attended with no 
special difficulties, and all the places mentioned in it 
may be found described in this work under their 
respective articles. 

About the middle of May, in the fourteenth month 
from their departure out of Egypt, the Israelites left 
Sinai, and marched by a direct course to the vicinity 
of Kadesh, by the way of mount Seir, Deut. i. 2. 
Their route lay probably from Sinai through the 
Wady Safran and similar valleys, until they issued 
upon the great plain or desert of Paran, and passed 
along its eastern part, and perhaps for some portion 
of the way in the valley of the Ghor, skirting mount 
Seir, until they arrived in the district of Kadesh. 
Here the spies were sent out ; and on their return, in 
August, the people murmured, and were command- 
ed to turn back and wander in the wilderness. After 
remaining for some time in the vicinity of Kadesh, and 
making some unsuccessful attacks upon the Canaan- 
ites, (Deut. i. 41, seq.) they removed and commenced 
that wandering nomadic life which continued for the 
space of more than thirty-seven years ; during which 
time they sojourned in different parts of the great 
desert west of the Ghor, (El Ty,) and in the Ghor it- 
self, extending their removals in the latter to its 
southern extremity, from mount Hor (Mosera) to 
Ezion-gaber, and afterwards removing again north- 
ward, and being governed at all times in the choice 
of their stations by a regard to water and pasturage, 
until, at last, in the first month (April) of the fortieth 
year from their departure out of Egypt, they found 
themselves again at Kadesh. Moses having given 
up all hope of penetrating into Palestine from the 
south, on the west of the Dead sea, and being proba 
bly unwilling to expose the people to a temptation 
which might cause them to murmur a second time 
against the Lord, endeavored to negotiate a passage 
through the territory of Edom, which comprised 
mount Seir, the chain which stretches along the east- 
ern side of the Ghor from the Dead sea to Akaba, 
and now known under the names of Djebal, Shera, 
and Hesma. Among the , narrow valleys which 
traverse this abrupt chain from west to east, that of 
the Ghoeyr, described on p. 41 5, above, furnishes a 
passage that would not be extremely difficult. This 
was, perhaps, the " king's way," by which Moses, 
aware of the difficulty of forcing a passage, request- 
ed permission of the Edotnites to pass, on condition 
of leaving the fields and vineyards untouched, and of 
purchasing provisions and water from the inhabitants. 
But Edom refused, and " came out against him with 
much people and a strong hand," Num. xx. 14, seq. 
About this time, also, the Canaanites made hostile 
demonstrations ; and soon after king" Arad attacked 
the Israelites, but was defeated. But the situation of 
the latter, nevertheless, was now critical. Unable to 
force their way in either direction, and surrounded 
in a measure with enemies, the Edomites in front 



EXODUS 



[ 420 ] 



EXP 



towards the east, and the Canaanites and Anialekites 
on the north, and also on the west, if they chose to 
make an attack from that quarter,— no alternative 
remained for the Israelites but to follow again the 
great valley El Araba southwards, towards the Red sea. 
In this journey Aaron died at mount Hor, and they 
rested again at several stations which they had visited 
in their former nomadic wanderings. Arrived at the 
Red sea, they turned to the left and crossed the ridge 
of mountains to the eastward of Ezion-gaber, where 
Burckhardt remarked, from the opposite coast, that 
the mountains were lower than elsewhere, (p. 500.) 
It was in this part of their route that the Israelites 
were discouraged on account of the way, and suffer- 
ed from serpents ; (Num. xxi. 5, 6.) of which Burck- 
hardt observed traces of great numbers on the oppo- 
site side of the gulf, and some apparently very large, 
(p. 499.) He was informed, " that the fishermen are 
much afraid of them, and extinguished their fires in 
the evening before they went to sleep, because the 
light was known to attract them." (Conrp. Deut. viii. 
15.) The Israelites then issued into the great and 
elevated plains, which are still traversed by the Syr- 
ian pilgrims in their way to Mecca, and appear to have 
followed northward nearly the same route which is 
now taken by the Syrian Hadj, along the western 
skirts of this great desert, near the mountains of 
Edom ; see p. 415, above. On entering these plains, 
Moses received the command, " Ye have compassed 
this mountain long enough ; turn ye northward ; ye 
are to pass through the coast of the children of Esau, 
and they shall be afraid of you," Deut. ii. 3, seq. 
The same people who had successfully repelled the 
approach of the Israelites from their strong western 
frontier, was alarmed novv that they had come round 
upon the weak side of the country. But Israel was 
ordered " not to meddle" with the children of Esau, 
but merely "to pass through their coast," and to 
" buy meat and water of them for money," (ii. 6.) in 
the same manner as the Syrian caravan of Mecca is 
now supplied by the people of the same mountains, 
who meet the pilgrims on the Hadj route. After 
traversing the wilderness on the eastern side of Moab, 
the Israelites at length entered that country, crossing 
the brook Zered thirty-eight years after their first 
departure from Kadesh, and about forty years from 
the time of their departure out of Egypt. 

In accordance with the views above exhibited, the 
several accounts given of the stations of the Israel- 
ites in Num. x. seq. and Deut. i. ii. x. may all be 
synoptically arranged with the list in Num. xxxiii. as 
follows : 



Num. x. seq. Deuteron. 



B. 

Num. xxxiii. 



From Sinai on the twentieth day of the 
second month. 



Tothe wildernessof Paran. 

1. Taberah, Num. xi. 3. 

2. Kibroth-hattaavah, 

Num. xi. 34. 

3. Hazeroth, Num. xi. 35. 

4. Region of Kadesh, in 

the wilderness of Pa- 
ran, after eleven days 
of marching, Num. xi. 
16 ; xii. 26 ; Deut. i. 
2, 19. 



2. Kibroth-hattaavah, 

verse 16. 

3. Hazeroth, 17. 

4. Rithmah, by Kadesh, 

18. 



5. They turn back from 5. 
Kadesh, and wander 
in the desert, Num. 
xiv. 25, seq. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 

22. Return to Kadesh, 22. 

Num. xx. 1. 

23. Beeroth Bene Jaakan, 

Deut. x. 6. 

24. Mount Hor, Num. xx. 

22, or Mosera, Deut. 
x. 6, where Aaron 
died. 

25. Gudgodah, Deut. x. 7. 

26. Jotbath, Deut. x. 7. 

27. The way of the Red 

sea,Num.xxi.4;from 
Elath and Ezion-ga- 
ber, Deut. ii. 8. 



Rimmon-Parez, 19. 



Libnah, 20. 
Rissah, 21. 
Kehelathah, 22. 
Mount Shapher, 2o. 
Haradah, 24. 
Makheloth, 25. 
Tahath, 26. 
Tarah, 27. 
Mithcah, 28. 
Hashmonah, 29. 
Moseroth, 30. 
Bene-jaakan, 31. 
Hor-hagidgad, 32 
Jotbath ah, 33. 
Ebrouah, 34 
Ezion-gaber, 35. 
Kadesh, the city, 36. 



24. Mount Hor, 37. 



28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 



Zalmonah, 41. 
Punon, 42. 
Oboth, 43. 

Ije-abarim, in the 
border of Moab, 44. 



30. Oboth, Num. xxi. 10. 

31. Ije-abarim, in the wil- 

derness east of Moab, 
Num. xxi. 11. 

32. The valley of Zered, 

Num. xxi. 12; or the 
brook Zered, after 38 
years from the first 
departure from Ka- 
desh, Deut. ii. 13, 1 4. 



EXODUS, book ok, the second of the sacred 
books in the Old Testament, is so called, because it 
contains the history of the departure of Israel out of 
Egypt under Moses. It contains the history of the 
birth of Moses ; his education and flight ; his return ; 
the plagues of Egypt ; the departure of the Hebrews ; 
the passage of the Red sea ; the giving of the law ; 
the erection of the tabernacle ; and the celebration 
of the second passover. It contains the history of 
145 years, from the death of Joseph, A. M. 2369 to 
A. M. 2514, the end of the first year after the going 
out of Egypt. The Hebrews call this book nictp nSxi, 
Veele Shemoth, because it begins with these words. 

EXORCISTS. From the Greek word *6o§*ft«r, 
to conjure, to use the name of God, with design to 
expel devils from places or bodies which they pos- 
sess. We see from the early apologists of our reli- 
gion, that the devils dreaded the exorcisms of Chris- 
tians, who exercised great power against those wicked 
spirits. The Jews had their exorcists, as our Lord 
intimates, (Matt. xii. 27,) and as do also the apostles, in 
Mark ix. 38 ; Acts xix. 13. 

I. EXPIATION, the act of atoning for a fault, 
The Hebrews had several sorts of expiatory sacri- 



EXP 



[ 421 ] 



EYE 



fices ; — for sins of ignorance ; for purifications from 
certain legal pollutions, as of a woman after child- 
birth, or of a leper when healed ; so, also, those who, 
having touched something impure, had forgotten or 
neglected to purify themselves at the time and in the 
manner which the law prescribed. These expiatory 
sacrifices did not of themselves remit faults commit- 
ted against God, nor take away the guilt of sin ; they 
only repaired the legal and external fault, and secured 
the transgressor from the temporal penalty with 
which those faults were punishable. See Lev. iv. 
27, &c. 

For a sin-offering, a ram, a lamb, a kid, or two 
pigeons might be offered ; or the poor might offer 
meal. There were particular ceremonies, for the 
high-priest, or a prince of the people, or when all the 
people had committed trespasses. But in general, 
they were nearly the same. The flesh of beasts, 
offered for expiation, belonged exclusively to the 
priests. See Sacrifice. 

II. EXPIATION, the great day of, was the 
tenth of the month Tizri. The Hebrews call it Kip- 
pur, or Chippur, pardon, or expiation, because the 
faults of the year were then expiated. The princi- 
pal ceremonies were the following. The high-priest, 
after he had washed not only his hands and his feet, 
as is usual at ordinary sacrifices, but his whole body 
also, dressed himself in plain linen like the other 
priests, wearing neither his purple robe nor the ephod, 
nor the pectoral, because he was to expiate his own 
sins with those of the people. He first offered a bul- 
lock and a ram for his own sins, and those of the 
priests ; placing his hands on the heads of the victims, 
and confessing his own sins, and the sins of his 
house. Afterwards, he received from the princes of 
the people two goats for a sin-offering, and a ram for 

burnt-offering, to be offered on behalf of the whole 
nation. 

The lot having determined which of the two goats 
should be sacrificed, the high-priest put some of the 
sacred fire of the altar of burnt-offerings into a cen- 
ser, threw incense upon it, and entered with it, thus 
smoking, into the sanctuary. After he had thus per- 
fumed the sanctuary, he came out, took some of the 
blood of the young bullock he had sacrificed, and 
carrying that into the sanctuary, he dipped his fin- 
gers in it, and sprinkled it seven times between' the 
ark and the vail, which separated the holy place from 
the sanctuary, or most holy. He then came out a 
second time, and at the foot of the altar of burnt-of- 
ferings killed the goat which the lot had determined 
to be the sacrifice. The blood of this goat he then 
carried into the most holy place, and sprinkled it 
seven times between the ark and the vail. Thence 
he returned into the court of the tabernacle, and after 
sprinkling both sides of it with the blood of the goat, 
he came to the altar of burnt-offerings, wetted the 
four horns of it with the blood of the goat and young 
bullock, and sprinkled it seven times with the same. 
During the performance of this ceremony, none of 
the priests, or people, were admitted into the taberna- 
cle, or into the court. 

The sanctuary, the court, and the altar, being thus 
purified, the high-priest directed the goat, which was 
set at liberty by the lot, to be brought to him. This 
being done, he put his hand on its head, and after 
confessing his own sins, and the sins of the people, 
he delivered the goat to a person, who was to carry 
it to some desert place, and let it loose ; or, as others 
think, throw it down some precipice. (See Goat, 
scape. ) This being done, the high-priest washed 



himself all over in the tabernacle, and putting on 
other clothes, perhaps his pontifical dress, (that is, his 
robe of purple, the ephod, and the pectoral,) he sac- 
rificed two rams for a burnt-offering, one for himself, 
the other for the people. 

The great day of Expiation was a day of rest, and 
strict fasting. Buxtorf and Calmet have collected 
many particulars relative to the observance of this 
solemnity by the modern Jews. 

EYE. The Hebrews call fountains, eyes ; and 
give the same name to colors. "And the eye (color} 
of the manna was as the eye (color) of bdellium. 
Numb. xi. 7. By an " evil eye," is meant, envy, 
jealousy, grudging, ill-judged parsimony. " To lay 
their eyes on any one," is to regard him and his in- 
terests. "To find grace in any one's eyes," (Ruth ii. 
10.) is to win his friendship and good graces. 
" Their eyes were opened," (Gen. iii. 7.) they began 
to comprehend in a new manner. " The wise man's 
eyes are in his head," (Eccles. ii. 14.) he does not act 
by chance. " The eye of the soul," in a moral sense, 
is the intention, the desire. God threatens to " set 
his eyes" on the Israelites for evil, and not for good, 
Amos ix. 4. Nebuchadnezzar recommends to Neb- 
uzaradan that he would "set his eyes" on Jeremiah, 
(xxxix. 12 ; xl. 4.) and permit him to go where he 
pleased. Sometimes expressions of this kind are 
taken in quite an opposite sense, " Behold, the eyes 
of the Lord are on the sinful kingdom, and I will de- 
stroy it," Amos ix. 8. To be "eyes to the blind," or 
to serve them instead of eyes, is sufficiently intelli- 
gible, Job xxix. 15. The Persians called those offi- 
cers of the crown who had the care of the king's 
interests, and the management of his finances, "the 
king's eyes." " I made a covenant with my eyes, 
why then should I think upon a maid ?" a very ex- 
pressive way of speaking, whose force would be im- 
paired by any explanation, Job xxxi. 1. "Eye ser- 
vice" is peculiar to slaves, who are governed by fear 
only, and is to be avoided by Christians, Eph. vi. 6 ; 
Col. iii. 22. The " lust of the eyes," or, " the desire 
of the eyes," comprehends every thing that curiosity, 
vanity, &c. seek after ; every thing that the eyes can 
present to men given up to their passions, 1 John ii. 
16. " Cast ye away every man the abomination of 
his eyes," (Ezek. xx. 7, 8.) that is, let not the idols of 
the Egyptians seduce you. Paul says, (Gal. iv. 15.) 
that the Galatians would willingly "have plucked 
out their eyes for him ;" expressing the intensity of 
their zeal, affection, and devotion for him. In a con- 
trary sense, the Israelites said to Moses, "Wilt thou 
put out the eyes of these men?" Numb. xvi. 14. To 
keep any thing as the apple of the eye, is to preserve 
it with particular care, Dent, xxxii. 10. The eye and 
its actions are very expressively transferred to God, 
Zech. iv. 10 ; 2 Chron. xvi. 9 ; Psal. xi. 4 ; Prov. xv. 
3. Our Lord says, (Matt. vi. 22.) " the light (or lamp) 
of the body is the eye — if therefore thine eye be sin- 
gle, (single — simple, clear, aiiZuvg,) thy whole body 
shall be full of light; but if thine eye be evil — (dis- 
tempered — diseased) thy whole body shall be full of 
darkness." The direct allusion may hold to a lan- 
tern, or lamp (h'/roc) • — if the glass of it be clear, the 
light will shine through it strongly : but if the glass 
be soiled — foul, hut little light will pass through it. 
They may not have had glass lanterns, such as we 
use, in the East, but they had others made of thin 
linen, &c. which Were very liable to receive spots, 
stains, and foulnesses, that would hinder the passage 
of the rays from the light within. So, in the natural 
eye, if the cornea be single, and the huriors clear, 



EYE 



[ 422 ] 



EYE 



the light will act correctly ; but if there be a film 
over the cornea, or a cataract — or a skin between any 
of the humors, the rays of light will not act on the 
internal seat of sight, the retina. By analogy, there- 
fore, if the mental eye, the judgment, be honest, vir- 
tuous, sincere, well meaning, pious, it may be con- 
sidered as enlightening and directing the whole of a 
person's actions ; but if it be perverse, malign, biased 
by undue prejudices, or drawn aside by improper 
views — it darkens the understanding, perverts the 
conduct of the party, and suffers him to be misled 
by his unwise and his unruly passions ; as Saul was 
towards David, see 1 Sain, xviii. 9, in Heb. (" Saul 
eyed David," Eng. Trans.) 

May there not be an allusion to distempers of the 
eye, in Matt. vii. 3? " Why beholdest thou the mote 
(the little black speck) which is in thy brother's eye — 
but considerest not the beam — (the almost cataract- 
like film) which is in thine own eye ?" The word 
translated mole, (xuQtpoe,) say some, signifies a little 
splinter of wood ; others say, a little seed : it may be 
referred to a small film, or speck, the size of a seed, 
floating in the eye, a disease known among medical 
writers. The word iixos signifies a beam, or rafter, 
and, no doubt, is used parabolically : — but might it 
not import a real disorder of the eye, far more inju- 
rious to distinct vision than the mote ? This sense of 
the phrase is independent of any parable which 
might be used among the Jews, referring to a beam, 
or large piece of wood, being iu the eye. As if it 
were said, " Why beholdest thou with affected supe- 
riority and keenness of observation, the little seed-like 
JUm which floats in thy brother's eye, but art insensi- 
ble of the purblind state of thine own eye?" 

There is an expression in Psal. cxxiii. 2, "the eyes 
of servants look unto the hands of their masters," 
&c. the proper force of which we are not likely to 
perceive, unless acquainted with eastern customs. 

Accustomed to the free intercourse of conversation, 
to the expression by words of our thoughts as they 
rise within us, we relate every thing verbatim ; and 
except a sentiment be openly conveyed by speech, 
we attribute no blame to those who do not regard it, 
or understand it. On the same principle, the orders 
we give our servants are directed to them in words, 
and according to our words we expect their obedi- 
ence. But the case is altogether different in the 
East ; gravity and silence, especially before superi- 
ors, are there so highly esteemed, as denoting respect, 
that many of the most important orders which a 
master can give, or a servant can receive, are given 
and received in profound silence. This mode of be- 
havior is the basis of the Psalmist's representation. 

An illustration more happy than the following can 
hardly be expected. Some, indeed, have supposed 
the chastening hand of the master, or mistress, to be 
that to which the servant attends ; but it should be 
remarked that the Psalmist is not complaining to the 
person who chastises him, but of the contempt and 
scorn (not strictly persecution) of the proud. 

" One can hardly imagine the respect, civility, and 
serious modesty, that is used among them [the east- 
ern ladies] when they are visited by any one, as I 
have been informed by some ladies of the Franks, 
who have been with several. No nuns, or novices, 
pay more deference to their abbess, or superior, than 
the maid-slaves to their mistresses ; they are waited on, 
as are likewise their female visitors, with a surprising 
order and diligence, even at the least wink of the 
eye, or motion of the fingers, and that in a manner 
not perceptible to strangers, as I have said of the 



men elsewhere." (Motraye, vol. i. 249.) "Nobody 
appears on horseback but the Grand Seignior, in the 
second court, and they observe so respectful a silence, 
not only in the palace, when the Grand Seignior is in 
it, but the court yards, (notwithstanding the great 
number of people who come there, especially into 
the first, where, generally, a number of servants wait 
for their masters, who are either at the Divan, or in 
some other part of the seraglio,) that if a blind man 
should come in there, and <fid not know that the 
most courtly way of speaking, among the Turks, is in 
a low voice, and by signs, like mutes, which are gen- 
erally understood by them, he would believe it unin- 
habited ; and 1 have heard them say, in reference to 
other nations, that two Franks, talking merely of 
trifles, make much more noise than a hundred 
Turks in treating about affairs of consequence, or 
making a bargain ; and they add, in speaking against 
our manner of saluting, by pulling off our hats, and 
drawing our feet backward, that we seemed as if we 
were driving away the flies, and wiping our shoes 
and they extol their custom of putting their right 
hand upon their heart, and bowing a little, as being 
much more natural and reasonable. When they sa- 
lute a superior, they take the bottom of his caftan, or 
vest, that hangs down to his ankles, and bending 
down, they lift it about two feet, and kiss it." (P. 170.} 
Baron du Tott gives a remarkable instance of the 
authority attending this mode of commanding ; and of 
the use of significant motions : — " The customary 
ceremonies on these occasions were over, and Racub 
[the new Vizier] continued to discourse familiarly 
with the ambassador, when theMuzur-Aga (or High 
Provost) coming into the hall, and approaching the 
Pacha, whispered something in his ear ; and we ob- 
served that all the answer he received from him was 
a slight horizontal motion with his hand ; after which, 
the Vizier, instantly resuming an agreeable smile, con- 
tinued the conversation for some time longer. We 
then left the hall of audience, and came to the foot 
of the great staircase, where we remounted our 
horses : here, nine heads cut off, and placed in a row 
on the outside of the first gate, completely explained 
the sign which the Vizier had made use of in our 
presence." (vol. i. p. 30.) 

TPhese extracts prove, that not only in private' and 
domestic concerns, but also in those of public impor- 
tance, on occasions of life or death, inferiors in the 
East do actually " look to the hands of their superi- 
ors," and receive orders from them. The orientals 
have even a kind of language for the fingers, and, by 
various positions of them, they give silent orders to 
their domestics, who are watching to receive them. 

But this article has an aspect still more important 
on a usage frequently alluded to in Scripture, and 
regarded as nothing uncommon, though it appear 
strange to us. — No account of any such attendants on 
the court of Judea, as dumb men, or mutes, occurs in 
Scripture, but it is certain that the Grand Seignior 
has a number of such persons ; " who," says Knolles, 
(p. 1487.) " will vnderstand any thing that shall be 
acted vnto them by signs and gestures ; and will 
themselves, by the gesture of their eyes, bodies, 
hands, and feet, deliuer matters of great difficultie, to 
the great admiration of strangers." 

From this, and similar accounts, it may be inferred, 
that language by signs forms a common and ordinary 
manner of directing in the East; — that the most dif- 
ficult matters are thus related ; and very probably by 
means of the mutes, (in the Turkish seraglio, espe- 
cially,) matters not alwavs of the most agreeable 



EYE 



" 423 ] 



EZE 



nature, are communicated to personages in the most 
important stations, whom they immediately concern. 

The result of the whole is, that when the prophets 
under the Old Testament were divinely directed to 
act a portion of the information they had in charge 
to communicate to the people, they did little or noth- 
ing more than what was done every day, in the 
countries where they resided. Action, as a system of 
indication, was familiar to the spectators, and though 
calculated to excite their curiosity and attention, it 
was not, by its novelty, or singularity, either beyond 
their understanding, or beside their application of it 
to themselves, or to circumstances ; nor did it seem 
crazy to them ; as it might to us, who are not accus- 
tomed to such a mode of communicating ideas. 
When Isaiah says, he and his children are for signs ; 
when Jeremiah found his girdle marred, as a sign ; 
— when Ezekiel was a sign to the people, in not 
mourning for the dead, (chap, xxiv.) — in his remov- 
ing into captivity, and digging through the wall, 
{chap, xii.) — these and similar actions were not only 
well understood, but they had the advantage of being 
in ordinary use among the people to whom they were 
addressed. 

For some account of blinding the eyes, as a pun- 
ishment, not unfrequently practised in the East, see 
Blindness. 

EYE-LIDS. As it is not customary among us for 
women to paint their eye-lids, particularly, we do not 
usually perceiveythe full import of the expressions in 
Scripture referring to this custom, which appears to 
be of very great antiquity, and which is still main- 
tained in the East. So we read, (2 Kings ix. 30.) 
"Jezebel painted her face," Heb. "put her eyes in 
paint :" more correctly, " she painted the internal 
part of her eye-lids," by drawing between them a 
silver wire, previously wetted, and dipped in the 
powder ofphac, (a rich lead ore,) which, adhering to 
the eye-lids, formed a streak of black upon them, 
thereby, apparently, enlarging the eyes, and render- 
ing their effect more powerful ; invigorating their 
vivacity. This action is strongly referred to by Jer- 
emiah (iv. 30.) in our translation, "though thou rent- 
est thy face with painting ;" or, though thou cause 
thine eye-lids to seem to be starting out of thine head, 
through the strength of the black paint which is ap- 
plied to them, yet shall that decoration be in vain. 
The powerful effect of this supposedly charming 
addition is alluded to by the sagacious preceptor : 
(Prov. vi. 25.) "Lust not after her beauty (of the 
strange woman) in thine heart ; neither let her cap- 
tivate thee with her eye-lids" — which she has ren- 
dered so large and brilliant by the assistance of art, 
as to enchant beholders. So Ezekiel : (xxiii. 40.) " for 
whom hast thou washed thyself, and hast colored — 
painted — thine eyes — (eye-lids, rather) — and hast or- 
namented thyself with ornaments ?" 

[Many authors have mentioned the custom which 
has prevailed from time immemorial among the fe- 
males of the East, of tinging the eyes and edges of 
the eye-lids with a powder, which, at a distance, or 
by candle-light, adds much to the blackness of the 
eyes. Lady M. W. Montague speaks of this custom. 
(Letters, vol. ii. p. 32.) Pietro della Valle, the Italian 
traveller, giving a description of his wife, who was 
born in Mesopotamia, and educated at Bagdad, where 
he married her, says : (Viaggi, torn. i. lett. 17. ) " Her 
eye-lashes, which are long, and, according to the cus- 
tom of the East, dressed with stibium, as we often 
read in the Holy Scriptures of the Hebrew women 
of old, (Ezek. xxiii. 40.) and in Xenophon, of As y- 



ages the grandfather of Cyrus, an i of the Medes of 
that time, (Cyrop. i.) give a dart, and, at the same 
time, majestic shade to the eyes." 

Dr. Shaw affords us the following information 
(Travels, p. 294. fol ed.) "None of these ladies take 
themselves to be completely dressed, till they have 
tinged the hair and edajes of their eye-lids with the 
powder of lead ore. Now as this operation is per- 
formed by dipping first into the powder a small 
wooden bodkin, of the thickness of a quill, and then 
drawing it afterwards, through the eye-lids, over the 
ball of the eye, we shall have a lively image of what 
the prophet (Jer. iv. 30.) may be supposed to mean 
by rending the eyes with painting. The sooty color, 
which is in this manner communicated to the eyes, is 
thought to add a wonderful gracefulness to persons 
of all complexions." 

Similar is the testimony of Niebuhr: (Descr. of 
Arab. p. 65.) "The females of Arabia," he says, 
"color their nails blood red, and their hands and feet 
yellow, with the herb Al-henna. (See Camphire.) 
They also tinge the inside of their eye-lids coal-black 
with kochel, a coloring material prepared from lead 
ore. They not only enlarge their eye-brows, but 
also paint other figures of black, as ornaments, upon 
the face and hands. Sometimes they even prick 
through the skin, in various figures, and then lay 
certain substances upon the wounds, which eat in so 
deeply, that the ornaments thus impressed are ren- 
dered permanent for life. All this the Arabian wo- 
men esteem as beauty. Even men sometimes strew 
kochel upon their eyes, under the pretext that it 
strengthens the sight ; but they are regarded by the 
more judicious as petits maitres." 

This custom is not confined to the Shemitish mat- 
rons. alone. Captain Symes says, that " the Birmans, 
both men and women, color their teeth, their eye- 
lashes, and the edges of their eye-lids, with black. 
The Avomen of Hindostan and Persia, also, common- 
ly practise the operation of coloring the eye-lashes. 
They deem it beneficial as well as becoming. The 
eollyrium they use is called surma, the Persian name 
of antimony." (Embassy to Ava, vol. ii. p. 235.) 

The ancients call the mineral, with which the eyes 
are thus colored, stibium or antimony ; (Pliny xxxiii. 
23.) the usual Hebrew name is pis, pfik, but in Ezek. 
xxiii. 40, we find the verb hro, kdchal, to color, &c. 
to which the modern Arabic al cohol, or kochol, cor- 
responds. This is described as a fine mineral pow- 
der, usually a compound of lead ore and zinc, which 
is moistened with oil or vinegar, etc. and laid upon 
the inner part of the eye-lids, so as to cause a small 
black line to appear around the edge. (See Hart- 
mann's Hebr'aerinn, Th. ii. p. 149, seq.) *R. 

EZEKIEL, son of Buzi, a prophet of the sacer- 
dotal race, was carried captive to Babylon by Neb- 
uchadnezzar, with Jehoiachin king of Judah, A. M. 
3405. He began his ministry in the thirtieth year of 
his age* according to the general account ; but per 
haps in the thirtieth year after the covenant was re 
newed with God in the reign of Josiah, (Ezek. i. l.j 
which answers to the fifth year of Ezekiel's captiv- 
ity, A. M. 3409. He prophesied twenty years, to A. M. 
3430 ; the fourteenth year after the taking of Jeru- 
salem. 

When Ezekiel was among the captives on the 
river Chebar, the Lord appeared to him in a vision, 
on a throne, borne by four cherubim, supported by 
four wheels, and appointed him the watchman of 
his people. He was commanded to shut himself up 
in his house, and forewarned, that he should be 



EZEKIEI 



[ 424 ] 



EZ R 



seized, and bound with chains as a madman. 
While thus confined, God commanded him to delin- 
eate on a brick, or piece of soft earth, the city of 
Jerusalem, besieged and surrounded with ramparts ; 
to put a wall of iron between himself and the city ; 
and to continue 390 days lying on his left side, anal- 
ogous to the iniquity of the kingdom of Israel ; and 
40 days on his right side, to signify the iniquities of 
Judah. These 430 days denoted, also, the siege of 
Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar ; its duration, and the 
subsequent captivity, from the sacking of Jerusalem 
in the reign of Zedekiah ; or, rather, in the fourth 
year after this siege, when Nebuzaradan carried 
away the remains of the Jews prisoners to Babylon, 
A. M. 3420, until the death of Belshazzar, A. M. 
3466, according to Usher ; or reckoning from the 
taking of Jerusalem, in 3416 to 3457, which, accord- 
ing to Calmet's computation, is the first year of 
Cyrus's reign at Babylon. 

Ezekiel was afterwards commanded to make as 
many k>aves of mixed corn as he was to continue 
days lying upon his side, and to bake them with hu- 
man excrements. (See Dung.) The prophet, express- 
ing his reluctance to this, was permitted to substi- 
tute cow-dung, signifying hereby, that the inhab- 
itants of Jerusalem should be reduced, during the 
siege, to the necessity of eating unclean bread, in 
small quantity, and in continual terror. After this, he 
was to cut oft" his hair, to divide it into three parts, — 
to burn one part, to cut another to pieces with a 
sword, and to scatter the rest in the wind ; hereby 
typifying the fate of the people. The year follow- 
ing, he was transported in spirit to Jerusalem, and 
shown the abominations and idolatries committed 
there ; God commanding an angel to mark, as a 
pledge of security, the penitents in the city, and other 
angels to slay those not marked. Five years before 
the last siege of Jerusalem, the Lord directed Eze- 
kiel to prepare for escape, as it were from enemies, 
by stealth ; as king Zedekiah should also do. He 
subjoins a strong invective against false prophets and 
false prophetesses, and those seduced by them. 

During these predictions of the prophet in Meso- 
potamia, Zedekiah king of Judah combined with 
Egypt, Edom, and neighboring princes, to rebel 
against Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonian prince 
marched against Jerusalem, and besieged it, A. M. 
3414 ; and on the same day, Ezekiel, who was two 
hundred leagues from Jerusalem, declared the event 
to his companions in captivity, and predicted to them 
the ruin of their metropolis. At this time the proph- 
et's wife dying, God forbade him to mourn for her; 
and the people inquiring the meaning of these figur- 
ative actions, Ezekiel answered, that God was about 
to deprive them of their temple, city, country, and 
friends; and that they should not have even the sad 
consolation of mourning for them. 

During the siege of Jerusalem, Ezekiel prophesied 
against Egypt and Tyre. He was not informed that 
Jerusalem was taken, till the fifth day of the tenth 
month, A. M. 3417, about six months after the event ; 
whence we may judge, that he was at that time in 
some retired situation remote from Babylon. In the 
evening of that day, the Lord opened the prophet's 
mouth, to foretell, that the remains of the people 
would be dispersed ; which happened four years 
after. He also foretold the calamities of Sidon, Tyre, 
Edom, and Amnion, as they occurred five years after 
.he destruction of Jerusalem. 

The siege of Tyre, and Nebuchadnezzar's war 
against Egypt, are, next to the affairs of the Jews, 



most remarkable in Ezekiel's writings. After thest 
melancholy visions, God showed him more consola- 
tory events ; — the return from the captivity — the re- 
building of the temple and city — the restitution of the 
kingdom of Judah and Israel, &c. chap, xxxvi. 
xxxvii. xxxviii. &c. 

Jerome is of opinion, that as Jeremiah prophesied at 
Jerusalem at the same time as Ezekiel did beyond 
the Euphrates, the prophecies of the latter were sent 
to Jerusalem, and those of the former into Mesopota- 
mia, to comfort and encourage the captive Jews. 
It is said by Epiphanius, that Ezekiel was put to 
death by the prince of his people, because he exhort 
ed him to leave idolatry ; but it is difficult to say who 
this prince could be. It is affirmed, that his body 
was laid in the same cave in which Shem and Ar- 
phaxad were deposited, on the banks of the Euphra- 
tes. Benjamin of Tudela says, that his tomb is be- 
hind the synagogue, between the Euphrates and the 
Chebar, in a very fine vault built by Jehoiachin ; 
that the Jews keep a lamp always burning there, and 
boast that they possess the prophet's work, written 
with his own hand, which they read every year on 
the great day of expiation. 

Josephus (Antiq. lib. x. cap. 6, 10.) says, that Eze- 
kiel left two books concerning the captivity ; that 
having foretold the ruin of the temple, and that 
Zedekiah should not see Babylon, these writings were 
sent to Jerusalem ; circumstances which we do not 
read in Ezekiel ; but which seem to favor the opin- 
ion of Jerome. Athanasius believed, that one of two 
books of Ezekiel was lost; and Spinoza thinks, that 
what we have of his writings is a fragment only ; 
but there is no proof of all this; nor do we know 
upon what authority Josephus made his assertion. 

The writings of Ezekiel have been always acknowl- 
edged canonical ; nor was it even disputed that he 
was their author. The Jews, however, say, that the 
Sanhedrim deliberated long, whether his book should 
form part of the canon. The great obscurity of 
his prophecy, at the beginning and the end, was ob- 
jected; and also what he says in chap, xviii. 2 — 20, 
that the son should not bear the iniquity of his father ; 
which was thought contrary to Moses, who says, the 
Lord visiteth the sins of the fathers on the children 
to the third and fourth generation. But. this difficul- 
ty was removed by Ananias. It may be observed, 
that Moses himself says the same thing, in Deut. 
xxiv. 16 : " The fathers shall not be put to death for 
the children, neither shall the children be put to 
death for the fathers: every man shall be put to 
death for his own sin." 

Ezekiel speaks of a resurrection, (ch. xxxviii. 1.) 
and says that, having been conducted [in vision] into 
a field of bones, the Spirit of God induced him to 
prophesy to them, upon which they gradually re- 
assembled and revived. 

EZION-GABER, or Ezion-geber, a city of Ara- 
bia Deserta, on a gulf of the Red sea, called the 
Elanitic gulf, and close by the city of Elath. The 
Israelites came from Ebrona to Ezion-gaber ; and 
thence to the wilderness of Zin. At this port Sol- 
omon equipped his fleets for the voyage to Ophir, 
Num. xxxiii. 35 ; Deut. ii. 8; 1 Kings ix. 26. See 
Elath and Exodus. 

EZRA, or Esdras, the famous Jewish high-priest 
and reformer, was of a sacerdotal family ; by some 
thought to be son of Jeraiah, the high-priest, who 
was put to death at Riblatha by Nebuchadnezzar, 
after the capture of Jerusalem ; but as Calmet thinks 
only his grandson, or great-grandson. It is believed 



EZRA 



[ 425 ] 



EZR 



that the first return of Ezra from Babylon to Jeru- 
salem was with Zerubbabel, in the beginning of Cy- 
rus's reign, A. M. 3468, of which he himself wrote 
the history. He was veiy skilful in the law, and 
zealous for God's service ; and had, doubtless, a 
great share in all the transactions of his time. 

The enemies of the Jews procured from the court 
of Persia an order, forbidding them to continue the 
rebuilding of the temple, which they had resumed 
after the death of Cyrus and Cambyses ; but this 
order being revoked in the beginning of the reign of 
Darius Hystaspes, (A. M. 3485,) they proceeded, and 
dedicated the temple in 3489, Ezra vi. Ezra, not- 
withstanding, returned to Babylon, probably on some 
affairs of his nation ; and in the seventh year of Ar- 
taxerxes Longitnanus, (A. M. 3537, ante A. D. 467,) 
was sent back to Jerusalem, with letters patent, per- 
mitting all Israelites in his kingdom to return to 
Judea, with all their gold and silver, the vessels of 
the temple, and also offerings of the king and his 
counsellors, to buy victims for the sacrifices. Arta- 
xerxes commanded his treasurers in the provinces be- 
yond the Euphrates to furnish Ezra with corn, wine, 
oil, salt, or money ; granted immunities to the priests 
and ministers of the temple ; and authorized Ezra 
to appoint judges and magistrates, and to govern and 
instruct those who returned to Jerusalem, chap. vii. 

Ezra therefore assembled a great company of Is- 
raelites, and set forward for Jerusalem. At the banks 
of the river Ahava, he sent to invite certain priests 
and ministers of the temple, who were at Casiphia, 
(probably in the Caspian mountains,) to return with 
him ; 258 of whom joined him. He appointed a sol- 
emn day to p - ay to God for a happy journey ; and 
gave an account of the gold and silver vessels which 
the king had restored. They proceeded on their 
journey, in number 1775 men, and all arrived hap- 
pily in Judea, A. M. 3537, ch. viii. Ezra being in- 
formed that both priests and Levites, magistrates and 
common people, had married wives who were stran- 
gers and idolaters, he rent his clothes, and having 
taken his seat in the temple, continued absorbed 
in grief and silence till the evening sacrifice. He 
then put up prayers to God for the sins of the people, 
ch. ix. A great multitude having flocked together, 
he engaged the principal of the people by oath, to 
renew the covenant with the Lord, to dismiss their 
strange wives, with their children, and directed all 
of them to assemble, within three days, at the temple 
for the same purpose, and with the same effect, ch. 
x. Ezra had the principal authority in Jerusalem 
till the arrival of Nehemiah. 

In the second year of Nehemiah's government, the 
people being assembled at the temple, during the 



feast of tabernacles, Ezra was desired to read the 
law, which he did frorn morning to noon, accompa- 
nied by Levites, who stood beside him in silence. 
The next day they desired information from him 
how to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. This he 
explained to them, and continued eight days reading 
the law in the temple, which was followed by a sol- 
emn renewal of the covenant, Neh. viii. ix. 

Josephus says, Ezra was buried at Jerusalem ; but 
the Jews believe that he died in Persia, in a second 
journey to Artaxerxes, and show his tomb in the city 
of Zamuza. He is said to have lived nearly 120 years. 

It is believed that Ezra was chiefly concerned in 
revising and arranging the books of Scripture. He 
bad great zeal and knowledge, and having the spirit 
of prophecy, it is very probable that he took great 
pains in collecting the sacred writings and forming 
the present canon. It is also thought that he assist- 
ed in compiling both books of the Chronicles, and 
added in all the books what appeared necessary for 
illustrating, connecting, or completing them. Some 
are of opinion that Ezra and Malachi were the same 
person ; and it is certain, that Malachi is not so much 
a proper as a common name,— angel or messenger 
of the Lord ; and that in Ezra's time, prophets were 
called Malachias, or angels of the Lord. (See Hag. 
i. 13. Mai. i. 1.) The fathers have cited Malachi 
under the name of angel. See Malachi. 

There are four books in the Vulgate bearing the 
name of Ezra or Esdras ; but the first only is ac- 
knowledged to be his. This is certainly the work 
of Ezra ; and in it he relates events of which lie was 
witness, speaking often in the first person. The 
second book is attributed to Nehemiah, and is called 
after him in the English translation. It is admitted, 
however, that some trifling matters have been added 
to it, which cannot belong to Nehemiah ; as the 
mention of the high-priest Jaddua, and king Darius, 
Neh. xii. 22. The third book is the same in sub- 
stance as the first, but interpolated. The fourth 
book is written with art enough, as if Esdras himself 
had composed it ; but the marks of falsehood are dis- 
cernible throughout. It is not extant in Greek, and 
it never was in Hebrew. The Jews also ascribe to 
Ezra certain regulations, blessings, and prayers ; and 
some speak of a revelation, a vision or dream ; but 
this is spurious. They have an extraordinary esteem 
for him ; and say, if the law had not been given by 
Moses, Ezra would have deserved to have been their 
legislator. The Mahometans call him Ozair the son 
of Seraiah. 

EZRI, overseer of the gardens, or of the agricul- 
tural and farming department under David, 1 Chron. 
xxvii. 26. 



F 



FABLE 

FABLE, a story destitute of truth. Paul exhorts 
Timothy and Titus to shun profane and Jewish fa- 
bles, (1 Tim. iv. 7 ; Tit. i. 14.) as having a tendency 
to seduce men from the truth. By these fables some 
understand the Gnostics' cabalistical interpretations 
of the Old Testament. But the fathers, generally, 
and after them most of the modern commentators, 
interpret them of the vain traditions of the Jews, 
especially concerning meats, and other things to be 
54 



FAC 

abstained from as unclean, which our Lord also 
styles " the doctrines of men," Matt. xv. 9. This 
sense of the passages is confirmed by their context. 
In another sense, the word is taken to signify an ap- 
ologue, or instructive tale, intended to convey truth 
under the concealment of fiction, as Jotham's fable 
of the trees, Judg. ix. 7 — 12. See Parable. 

FACE. The Lord promised Moses, that his face 
should go before Israel : "I myself," say the LXX 



FACE 



[ 426 ] 



FAI 



but rather "the angel of my face." This, and the 
angel of his presence, (Isa. lxiii. 9.) mean the Messi- 
ah. See Word of the Lord. 

Moses begged of God to show him his face, or to 
manifest his glory. God replied, " I will make all 
my goodness pass before thee ; and I will proclaim 
the name of the Lord before thee ; — but thou canst 
not see my face ; for there shall no man see me and 
live," Exod. xxxiii. The persuasion was very 
prevalent in the world, that no man could support 
the sight of Deity, Gen. xvi. 13 ; xxxii. 30 ; Exod. 
xx. 19; xxiv. 11 ; Judg. vi. 22, 23. We read in 
Numb. xii. 8. that " God spake mouth to mouth with 
Moses, even apparently, and not in dark speeches." 
And in Numb. xiv. 14. "The Canaanites have heard 
that thou, Lord, art among this people, and seen face 
to face." InDeut. v. 4. God talked with the He- 
brews "face to face, out of the midst of the fire." 
All these phrases are to be understood as intimating 
that God manifested himself to the Israelites ; that he 
made them hear his voice as distinctly as if he had 
appeared to them face to face ; not that they actually 
saw him. 

The face of God sometimes denotes his anger, 
Psal. Ixviii. 2. Sometimes it is used in a different 
sense. To consider the face of any one, is to respect 
his person, Pro v. xxviii. 21. The judge ought to 
shut his eyes, as not regarding any person whose 
cause comes before him, and to open them only to 
justice. Sometimes, to know thy face, signifies to 
do a favor, Mai. i. S, 9 ; Gen. xix. 21 . "I have accept- 
ed thee concerning this thing also." Heb. "1 have 
accepted thy face." To spit in one's face, is a sign of 
the utmost contempt, Isa. i. 6 ; Matt, xxvii. 67. 

We have an expression in Joel ii. 6 — " Before their 
approach [the locusts'] the people shall be much 
pained, all faces shall gather blackness ;" which is also 
adopted by the prophet Nihurn, ii. 10. " The heart 
melteth, the knees smite together, much pain is in all 
loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness" — 
which sounds uncouth to an English ear ; but it is 
elucidated by the following extract from Ock- 
ley's history of the Saracens. (Vol. ii. p. 319.) 
Mr. Harmer has referred this blackness to the effect 
of hunger and thirst; and Calmet to a bedaubing 
of the face with soot ; a proceeding not very consist- 
ent with the hurry of flight, or the terror of distress. 
" Kumeil, the son of Ziyad, was a man of fine wit. 
One day, Hejage made him come before him, and 
reproached him, because in such a garden, and be- 
fore such and such persons, whom he named to him, 
he had made a great many imprecations against him, 
saying, the Lord blacken his face, that is, fill him with 
shame and confusion ; and wished that his neck was 
cut off, and his blood shed." The reader will ob- 
serve how perfectly this explanation agrees with the 
sense of the passages above quoted. To gather black- 
ness is equivalent to suffering extreme confusion, and 
being overwhelmed with shame, or with terror and 
dismay. — Injustice to Kumeil, we ought not to omit 
the ready turn of wit, which saved his life. " It is 
true," said he, " I did say such words in such a gar- 
den ; but then 1 was under a vine-arbor, and was 
looking on a bunch of grapes, that was not yet ripe : 
and I wished it might be turned black soon ; that they 
might be cut off, and be made wine of." We see, in 
this instance, as the sagacious moralist remarks, that 
M with the well-advised is wisdom ;" and that " the 
tongue of the wise is health ;" that is, preservation 
and safety. 

[In both these passages, however, the Heb. mNs, 



arur, does not signify blackness, but brightness, 
eauty, comeliness, &c. The phrase is, therefore, 
illustrated by Joel i. 10, where the stars are said "to 
gather in, withdraw their shining ;" so here, men's 
faces are said " to gather in, withdraw their bright- 
ness, cheerful expression," etc. i. e. grow pale with 
fear before the judgments of God. R. 

FAIR-HAVENS, (Acts xxvii. 8.) is called by Ste- 
phen, the geographer, " the fair shore." It was, 
probably, an open kind of road, not so much a port as 
a bay, which did not afford more than good anchor- 
age for a time, on the south-east part of Crete. Je- 
rome and others speak of it as a town on the open 
shore. 

FAITH, a disposition of mind by which we hold 
for certain the matter affirmed. This faith, which 
produces good works, gives life to a righteous man, 
Rom. i. 17 ; Hab. ii. 4. It may be considered, ei- 
ther as proceeding from God, who reveals his truths 
to man ; or from man, who assents to and obeys the 
truths of God ; in both these senses it is called faith, 
Rom. iii. 3. Faith is taken also for a firm confidence 
in God, by which, relying on his promises, we ad- 
dress ourselves without hesitation to him, whether 
for pardon or other blessings, Matt. xvii. 20 ; James 
i. 5, 6. 

Faith is a reliance on testimony : if it be human 
testimony, in reference to human things, it is not en- 
titled to reception until after examination and con- 
firmation. Human testimony, in reference to divine 
things, must also be scrupulously investigated before 
it be received and acted on ; since the grossest of all 
deceptions have been imposed on mankind in the 
name of God. Nor is testimony, assuming to be di- 
vine, entitled to our adherence or affection, or obedi- 
ence, until after its character is proved to be genuine, 
and really from heaven. The more genuine it is, 
the more readily will it undergo and sustain the tri- 
al ; and the more clearly will its character appear. 
But after a testimony, a maxim, or a command, is 
proved to be divine, it does not become a creature 
so ignorant and so feeble as man, to doubt its possi- 
bility, to dispute the obedience to which it is entitled, 
or to question the beneficial consequences attached 
to it, though not immediately apparent to human 
discernment. 

Faith has respect to evil as well as to good ; and 
in this it differs from hope. Hope wishes for good 
only ; — no man hopes for afflictions or evils. Hope 
desires rewards only ; faith expects punishments as 
well as rewards. Faith deters from bad conduct, 
through fear, no less than through desire of advan- 
tage ; hope allures through promises of blessings. 
Faith is the full assurance or personal conviction, of 
the reality of things not seen ; it looks backward to 
past ages, as well as forward to futurity. Hope looks 
only forward. By faith we believe that the world 
was originally created by God ; though we can form 
no conception of, much less can we see, the matter 
out of which it was composed. By faith we believe in 
the existence of ancient cities, as Babylon, Jerusalem, 
&c. also of distant cities and places, as Rome, Egypt, 
&c. also of persons formerly living, as Abraham, 
David, our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. Faith antici- 
pates things never seen as yet: so Noah, by faith, 
built the ark, though no general deluge had ever 
then been witnessed ; so Moses, actuated by faith in 
the descent of the Messiah from Israel, quitted the 
honors and pleasures of Egypt ; and so every pious 
Christian, believing that what God has promised he 
is able to perform, looks forward with realizing 



FAS 



[ 427 1 



FAT 



belief in the existence of heaven and of hell ; of re- 
wards and punishments beyond the grave ; not su*h 
as are restricted to this world ; but such as coincide 
with the immortality of the soul, and with the power 
and wisdom of the supreme and universal Judge. 

Faith is taken for honesty, fidelity in performing 
promises, truth ; and in this sense it is applied both 
to God and man. 

FAITHFUL, an appellation given in Scripture to 
professing Christians, to all who had been baptized ; 
and it is used to this day in that application in eccle- 
siastical language. See 1 Cor. iv. 17 ; Eph. vi. 21 ; 
Col. iv. 9 ; 1 Pet. v. 12 ; Acts xvi, 1, 15 ; 2 Cor. vi. 15 ; 
1 Tim. v. 16. and many other passages. The apostle 
directs Titus, (chap. i. 6.) that the children of the 
bishops should be faithful ; no doubt, as examples to 
the flock, of the dedication of the children of the 
clergy to the most holy Trinity, by the introductory 
ordinance of Christianity. 

FAMILIAR SPIRITS, see Divination. 

FAMINE. Scripture records several famines in 
Palestine, and the neighboring countries, Gen. xii. 
10 ; xxvi. 1. The most remarkable one was that of 
seven years in Egypt, while Joseph was governor. 
It was distinguished for continuance, extent, and 
severity ; particularly, as Egypt is one of the coun- 
tries least subject to such a calamity, by reason of its 
general fertility. Famine is sometimes a natural 
effect, as when the Nile does not overflow in Egypt, 
or rains do not fall in Judea, at the customary sea- 
sons, spring and autumn ; or when caterpillars, 
locusts, or other insects, destroy the fruits. The 
prophet Joel notices these last causes of famine. 
He compares locusts to a numerous and terrible 
army ravaging the land, Joel i. Famine was some- 
times an effect of God's anger, 2 Kings viii. 1, 2. 
The prophets frequently threaten Israel with the 
sword of famine, or with war and famine, evils that 
generally go together. Amos (viii. 11.) threatens an- 
other sort of famine : " I will send a famine in the 
land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, 
but of hearing the words of the Lord." 

FAN, an instrument used in the East for winnow- 
ing corn. Fans are of two kinds ; one a sort of fork, 
having teeth, with which they throw up the corn to 
the wind, that the chaff may be blown away ; the oth- 
er is formed to produce wind when the air is calm, Isa. 
xxx. 24. Our Lord is represented as having his fan in 
his hand, in order to purge his floor. By the Chris- 
tian dispensation, and the moral influence which it 
introduced, men are placed in a state of trial, and 
the righteous separated from the wicked, Matt. iii. 
12. God's judgments are compared to a fan, (Jer. 
xv. 7.) by these he subjects uations and individuals to 
the blast of his vengeance, and scatters and disperses 
them for their sins. See Thrashing. 

FASTING has, in all ages and among all nations, 
been practised in times of mourning, sorrow, and 
affliction. It is in some sort inspired by nature, 
which, under these circumstances, refuses nourish- 
ment, and suspends the cravings of hunger. We 
see no example of fasting, properly so called, before 
Moses ; whether the patriarchs had not observed it, 
which yet is difficult to believe, since there were 
great mournings among them, which are particularly 
described, as that of Abraham for Sarah, and that 
of Jacob for Joseph ; or whether he did not think it 
necessary to mention it expressly, is uncertain. It 
appears by the law, that devotional fasts for expiation 
of , sins were common among the Israelites. Moses 
passed forty days in fasting on mount Horeb, (Exod. 



xxiv. 18 ; Deut. x. 10.) as did our Lord in the wilder 
ness, Matt. iv. 2 ; Luke iv. 2. The Jewish legislatoi 
enjoined no particular fast ; but it is thought that the 
great day of expiation was strictly observed as a fast. 
Joshua and the elders of Israel remained prostrate 
before jhe ark, from morning until evening, with- 
out eating, after Israel was defeated at Ai, (Josh, 
vii. 6.) and the eleven tribes which fought against 
that of Benjamin, did the same, Judg. xx. 26. See 
also 1 Sam. vii. 6; 2 Sam. xii. 16. The king of Nin- 
eveh, terrified by Jonah's preaching, ordered that not 
only men, but beasts also, should continue without 
eating or drinking ; should be covered with sackcloth, 
and each after their manner cry to the Lord, Jon^n 
iii. 5, 6. 

The Jews, in times of public calamity, appointed 
extraordinary fasts, and made even the children at 
the breast fast. See Joel ii. 16. They begin the 
observance of their fasts in the evening after sunset, 
and remain without eating until the same hour the 
next day, or until the rising of the stars ; on the 
great day of expiation, when they are more strictly 
obliged to fast, they continue without eating for 
twenty-eight hours. Men are obliged to fast from 
the age of full thirteen, and women from the age of 
full eleven years. Children from the age of seven 
years fast in proportion to their strength. During 
this fast, they not only abstain from food, but from 
bathing, perfumes, and ointments ; they go barefoot, 
and are continent. This is the idea which the 
eastern people have generally of fasting ; it is a total 
abstinence from pleasures of every kind. The prin- 
cipal fast-days of the Jews may be seen in the Jew- 
ish Calendar, at the end of the Dictionary. Be- 
side those fasts, which are common to all Jews, 
others, which are devotional, are practised by the 
most zealous and pious. The Pharisee says, (Luke 
xviii. 12.) "I fast twice a week," that is, on Thurs- 
day, in memory of Moses' going up mount Sinai 
on that day ; and on Monday, in memory of his 
coining down from thence. It it said, that some 
Pharisees fasted four days in the week ; and in the 
Greek of Judith, we read, that she fasted every day, 
except " the eves of the sabbaths, and the sabbaths ; 
and the eves of the new moons, and the new moons; 
and the feasts and solemn days of the house of 
Israel." 

It does not appear by his own practice, or by hib 
commands, that our Lord instituted any particular 
fast. When, however, the Pharisees reproached 
him, that his disciples did not fast so often as theirs, 
or as John the Baptist's, he replied, " Can ye make 
the children of the bride-chamber fast, while the 
bridegroom is with them ? but the days will come, 
when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, 
and then shall they fast in those days," Luke v. 34, 
35. Accordingly, the life of the apostles and first 
believers was a life of self-denials, of sufferings, aus- 
terities, and fastings. Paul says, (2 Cor. vi. 5 ; xi. 
27.) he had been, and still was, "in hunger and thirst, 
in fastings often," and he exhorts the faithful to imi- 
tate him in his patience, in his watchings, in his 
fastings. Ordinations and other acts of importance 
in the church were attended with fasting and prayers. 
The fasts of Wednesday and Friday, called stations 
in the Romish church, and that of Lent, particularly 
of the holy week, have been thought to be of early 
institution. 

FAT. God forbade the Hebrews to eat the fat 
of beasts. "All the fat is the Lord's. It shall be a 
perpetual statute for your generations throughout all 



FAT 



| 428 ] 



F E A 



your dwellings, that ye neither eat fat nor blood," 
Lev. iii. 16, 17. Some interpreters take these words 
literally, and suppose fat as well as blood to be for- 
bidden. Joseph us says, Moses forbids only the fat 
of oxen, goats, sheep, and their species, which agrees 
with Lev. vii. 23. " Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of 
ox, or of sheep, or of goats." The modern Jews 
observe this, but the fat of other sorts of clean crea- 
tures they think is allowed for use, conformably to 
Lev. vii. 24. Others maintain, that the law, which 
forbids the use of fat, should be restricted to fat sep- 
arated from the flesh ; such as that which covers the 
kidneys and intestines ; and this only in the case of 
)*s being offered in sacrifice ; which is confirmed 
by L,ev. vii. 25. 

Fat, in the Hebrew idiom, signifies, not only that 
of beasts, but the rich or prime part of other things. 
"He should have fed them also with the fat [Eng. 
trans, finest] of wheat," Ps. lxxxi. 16 ; cxlvii. 14. 
Fat expresses also the source of compassion or mer- 
cy. As the bowels are stirred at the recital of mis- 
fortune, oi' at the view of melancholy and afflicted 
objects, it has been thought that sensibility resided 
principally in the bowels, which are commonly fat. 
The Psalmist reproaches the wicked with shutting 
up their bowels, feeling no compassion at the sight 
of his extreme grief. " Mine enemies compass me 
about, they are enclosed in their own fat," Psalm x vii. 
9, 10. In another passage he says, they sinned with 
affectation, almost like Jeshurun, who, when waxed 
fat, kicked, and forgot God which made him, 
Deut. xxxii. 15. "The fat of the earth," implies the 
fruitfulness of the land, Gen. xxxvii. 28. Fat denotes 
abundance of good things, Jobxxxvi. 16 ; Psalm lxiii. 
5 ; Jer. xxxi. 14. 

FATHER. This word is often taken in Scrip- 
ture for grandfather, great-grandfather, or the founder 
of a family, how remote soever. So the Jews call 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their fathers. Christ 
is called son of David, though David was many 
generations distant from him. By father is likewise 
understood the institutor, the original practiser, or 
master, of a certain profession. Jabal was "father 
of such as dwell in tents, an'd such as have cattle." 
Jubal was " father of all such as handle the harp and 
organ," or flute, &c. Gen. iv. 20, 21. Huram is call- 
ed father by the king of Tyre ; (2 Chron. ii. 13.) and 
(2 Chron. iv. 16.) even to Solomon, because he was 
the principal workman, and chief director of their 
undertakings. Father is a term of respect given by 
inferiors to superiors, and by servants to their mas- 
ters. The principal prophets were considered as 
fathers of the younger, who were their disciples ; 
" sons of the prophets," 2 Kings ii. 12 ; v. 13 ; vi. 21. 
Joseph says, that God had made him "a father to 
Pharaoh," had given him great authority in that 
prince's kingdom : that Pharaoh looked on him as 
his father, and had given him the government of his 
house and dominions, — Grand Vizier. Rechab, 
the founder of the Rechabites, is called their father, 
Jer. xxxv. 6. A man is said to be a father to the 
poor and orphans, when he supplies their necessities 
and sympathizes with their miseries, as a father 
would do towards them, Job xxix. 16. God declares 
himself to be the father of the fatherless, and the 
judge of the widow ; (Psalm lxviii. 5.) and he is fre- 
quently called heavenly father, and simply, father; 
eminently, the father, creator, preserver, and protec- 
tor of all, especially of those who invoke him, and 
serve him. See Deut. xxxii. 6. 

Since the coming of our Saviour, we have a new 



right to call God our father, by reason of the adop- 
tion and filiation which he has merited for us, by 
clothing himself in our humanity, and purchasing us 
by his death ; " Ye have received the spirit of adop- 
tion, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit 
itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the 
children of God," Rom. viii. 15, 16. The devil is 
called the father of the wicked, and the father of 
lies, John viii. 44. He deceived Eve and Adam ; he 
introduced sin and falsehood ; he inspires his follow- 
ers with his spirit and sentiments. The prophets 
reproach the wicked Jews with calling idols, "my 
father," Jer. ii. 27. They said so in effect, if not in 
words, since they adored them as gods. The hea- 
then gave the name father to several of their divini- 
ties ; — as to Jupiter, " father of gods and men ;" 
father Jove, &c. and to Bacchus, Liber Pater, &c. 
These appellations the idolatrous Jews repeated and 
imitated. The father of Sichem, the father of Teko- 
ah, the father of Bethlehem, &c. signify the chief 
person who inhabited these cities ; or he who built 
or rebuilt them. To be gathered to their lathers, to 
sleep with their fathers, are common expressions, 
signifying death ; and perhaps referring to interment 
in the same sepulchre. Christ is called, (Isa. ix. 6.) 
" the everlasting father," because by him, says Cal- 
met, we are begotten in God for eternity ; he procures 
life eternal to us, by adopting us to be sons of God, 
and by the communication of his merits. The ex- 
pression, however, is, " father of the everlasting (the 
Gospel) age." Our Lord (Matt, xxiii. 9.) forbids us 
to call any man " master," because we have one in 
heaven. Rather, to call no man father, in the same 
sense as the sons of the prophets called their teacher 
father ; to follow no earthly leader ; to follow blindly 
the dictates of no man, however eminent or digni- 
fied ; but to obey God only. Not that we should 
abandon, or despise, earthly fathers ; God requires 
us to honor that relation ; but, when the glory of 
God, or our salvation, is at stake, if our fathers or 
our mothers are obstacles, we should say to them, 
"We know you not;" and to God, "Doubtless thou 
art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, 
and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art 
our father, our redeemer," Isaiah lxiii. 16. Adam is 
the father of the living ; Abraham is the father of the 
faithful ; called also the father of many nations, be- 
cause many people sprung from him ; as the Jews, 
Ishmaelites, Edoinites, Arabs, &c. 

FEAR, a painful apprehension of danger. In 
the Scriptures, when spoken of as exercised towards 
God, or in a religious sense, it means rather reverence, 
veneration. It is sometimes used for the object of 
fear; as the fear of Isaac, that is, the God whom 
Issac feared, Gen. xxxi. 42. God says that he would 
send his fear before his people, to terrify and destroy 
the inhabitants of Canaan. Job (vi. 4.) speaks of 
the terrors of God, as set in array against him; and 
the Psalmist, (Ixxxviii. 15.) that he had suffered the 
terrors of the Lord with a troubled mind. The fear 
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ; (Ps. cxi. 10.) 
and to fear God, and keep his commandments, is the 
whole duty of man, Eccl. xii. 13. It deserves notice, 
that true religion is more frequently described as the 
fear of God in the Old Testament than in the New ; 
one reason of which might be the temporal sanctions 
annexed to the sovereignty of God, as it respected 
the nation of the Jews; and which, under the Gos- 
pel, are not applicable to all nations of the earth to 
whom the Gospel is sent, and to whom the most 
wonderful and supreme instance of divine love is 



FEA 



[ 429 ] 



FIG 



now revealed. We read, that "God is love," and to 
be ioved ; not that God is fear, and to be feared, or 
dreaded ; though we read of godly fear (Heb. xii. 
28.) and of the fear of God, as showing itself in re- 
ciprocal affection between Christian brethren, 2 
Cor. vii. 1 ; Eph. v. 21. Compare Rom. viii. 15 ; 
2 Tim. i. 7. 

FEASTS. God appointed several festivals among 
the Jews : (1.) To perpetuate the memory of great 
events wrought in favor of them: the Sabbath com- 
memorated the creation of the world ; the Passover, 
the departure out of Egypt ; the Pentecost, the 
law given at Sinai, &c. (2.) To keep them stead- 
fast to their religion, by the view of ceremonies, and 
the majesty of divine service. (3.) To procure them 
certain pleasures and allowable times of rest ; their 
festivals being accompanied with rejoicings, feasts, 
and innocent diversions. (4.) To give them instruc- 
tion ; for in their religious assemblies the law of 
God was read and explained. ;5.) To renew the 
acquaintance, correspondence, and friendship, of 
their tribes and families, which, coming from distant 
towns in the country, met three times a year, in the 
holy city. For a description of these feasts, see Sab- 
bath, Jubilee, Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets, 
Moon, Expiation, Tabernacles, Purim, Ded- 
ication. 

Of the three great feasts of the year, (the Passover, 
Pentecost, and that of Tabernacles,) the octave, or 
the eighth day, was a day of rest as much as the 
festival itself ; and all the males of the nation 
were obliged to visit the temple. But the law did 
not require them to continue there during the whole 
octave ; except in the feast of Tabernacles, when 
they seemed to be obliged to be present for the 
whole seven days. 

In the Christian church we have no festival that 
clearly appears to have been instituted by our Sa- 
viour, or his apostles ; but as we commemorate his 
passion as often as we celebrate his supper, he has 
hereby seemed to institute a perpetual feast. Chris- 
tians have always celebrated the memory of his 
resurrection on every Sunday. We see from Rev. i. 
10. that it was commonly called "the Lord's day;" 
and Barnabas, Ignatius, Justin, Irenanis, Tertullian, 
and Origen, say, we celebrate the eighth day with joy, 
because on that day Jesus Christ rose from the dead. 
It appears from Scripture, that after the promulga- 
tion of the Gospel, the apostles and Jewish Christians 
kept the Jewish feasts ; but these, being national, did 
not concern other nations ; nor could other nations 
come from their distant residences to attend them at 
Jerusalem. But, so early as we can trace, and cer- 
tainly as early as the second century, the Gentile 
Christians kept certain feasts, analogous to those of 
the Jewish Passover and Pentecost ; — that is to say, 
Easter, or rather the Pascha, on which was commem- 
orated the death and resurrection of Christ; and Whit- 
suntide, on which was commemorated the descent of 
the Holy Spirit. This was a favorite time for re- 
ceiving baptism ; and the white robes then worn by 
the new converts, gave name to the season. Some 
have thought that Easter was kept in the Christian 
sense, by the apostles ; and that it is referred to in 
1 Cor. v. 8. As no Jewish feast fell about Christmas, 
there is no probability of any substitution in this fes- 
tival, as in the others. 

We sometimes read of the governor or master of 
the feast. He gave directions to the servants, and 
superintended every thing as he thought proper. 
He tasted the wine, and distributed it to the guests. 



The author of Ecclesiasticus thus describes his office 
(chap, xxxii. 1, 2.) "If thou be made the master of a 
feast, lift not thyself up, but be among them as one. 
of the rest ; take diligent care of them, and so sit 
down. And when thou hast done all thy office, take 
thy place, that thou mayest be merry with them, and 
receive a crown for the well-ordering of the feast." 
This office is mentioned in John ii. 8, 9, upon which 
Theophylact has a good remark: "That no one 
might suspect their taste was vitiated, by having 
drunk to excess, so as not to know water from wine, 
our Saviour orders it to be first carried to the gov- 
ernor of the feast, who certainly was sober ; for those 
who on these occasions are intrusted with this office, 
observe the strictest sobriety, that they may be able 
properly to regulate the whole." 

FEASTS OF LOVE, see Agapje. 

FEET, see Foot. 

FELIX, see Claudius III. 

FENCE. The Hebrews use two terms to denote 
a fence of different kinds ; -ru, gai/er, or m-u, gederah, 
and rowt, mesucdh. According to Vitringa, the latter 
denotes the outer thorny fence of the vineyard ; and 
the former, the inner wall of stones surrounding it. 
The chief use of the former was to keep off men, and 
of the latter, to keep off beasts ; not only from gar- 
dens, vineyards, &.c. but also from the flocks at night. 
See Prov. xv. 19; xxiv. 31. From this root the 
Phoenicians called any enclosed place guddir, and 
particularly gave this name to their settlement in the 
south-western coast of Spain, which the Greeks 
from them called /Vrfe/yu, the Remans, Gades, and 
the moderns, Cadiz. In Ezek. xiii. 5, xxi:. 30. gader 
appears to denote the fortifications cf a city ; and in 
Ps. lxii. 3. the wicked are compared to a tottering 
fence, and bowing wall ; i. e. their destruction comes 
suddenly upon them. Fenced cities were such as 
were walled or fortified. 

FERRET, a sort of weasel, which Moses declares 
to be unclean, Lev. xi. 30. The Greek ftvyaXi^ is 
composed of mus, a rat, and gale, a weasel, because 
this animal has something of both. The Hebrew 
npjN, anaca, [Eng. trans, ferret.] is by some translated 
hedgehog, by others leech or salamander ; by Bochart, 
lizard. It was most probably a species of lizard. 

FESTUS, PORTIUS, succeeded Felix in the 
government of Judea, A. D. 58. To oblige the Jews, 
Felix, when he resigned his government, left Paul in 
bonds at Csesarea in Palestine, (Acts xxiv. 27.) and 
when Festus arrived, he was entreated by the prin 
cipal Jews to condemn the apostle, or to order him 
up to Jerusalem ; they having conspired to assassi- 
nate him in the way. Festus, however, answered, 
that it was not customary with the Romans to con- 
demn any man without hearing him ; and promised 
to hear their accusations at Cassarea. But Paul ap- 
pealed to Caesar ; and so secured himself from the 
prosecution of the Jews, and the intentions of Fes- 
tus. Finding how much robbing abounded in Judea, 
Festus very diligently pursued the thieves ; and he 
also suppressed a magician, who drew the people 
after him into the desert. He died in Judea, A. D. 
62, and Albums succeeded him. 

FIELD, see Furrows. 

FIG. The fig-tree is very common in Palestine 
and the East ; and flourishes with the greatest luxu- 
riance in those barren and stony situations, where 
little else will grow. Figs are of two sorts, the 
" boccore" and the " kermouse." The black and white 
boccore, or early fig, is produced in June, though 
the kermouse, the fig properly so called, which is 



FIG 



f 430 1 



FIC> 



preserved, and made up into cakes, is rarely ripe be- 
fore August. There is also a long dark-colored ker- 
mouse, that sometimes hangs upon the trees all 
winter. For these figs generally hang a long time 
upon the tree before they fall off'; whereas the boc- 
cores drop as soon as they are ripe, and, according to 
the beautiful allusion of the prophet Nahum, "fall 
into the mouth of the eater, upon being shaken," ch. 
iii. 12. Dr. Shaw, to whom we are indebted for this 
information, remarks, that these trees do hot proper- 
ly* blossom, or send out flowers, as we render men, 
Hab. iii. 17. They may rather be said to shoot out 
their fruit, which they do like so many little buttons, 
with their flowers, small and imperfect as they are, 
enclosed within them. 

When this intelligent traveller visited Palestine, in 
the latter end of March, the boccore was far from 
being in a state of maturity ; for, in the Scripture 
expression, "the time of figs was not yet," (Matt. xi. 
13.) or not till the middle or latter end of June. The 
"time" here mentioned, is supposed by some authors, 
quoted by F. Clusius, in his Hierobotanicon, to be the 
third year, in which the fruit of a particular kind of 
fig-tree is said to come to perfection. But this spe- 
cies, if there be any such, needs to be further known 
and described, before an}' argument can be founded 
upon it. Dionysius Syrus, as he is translated by Dr. 
Loftus, is more to the purpose : " it was not the time 
of figs," he remarks, because it was the month 
Nisan, when trees yielded blossoms, and not fruit. 
It frequently happens in Barbary, however, and it 
need not be doubted in the warmer climate of Pales- 
tine, that, according to the quality of the preceding 
season, some of the more forward and vigorous trees 
will now and then yield a few ripe figs, six weeks or 
more before the full season. Something like this 
may be alluded to by the prophet Hosea, when he 
says, he " saw their fathers as the first -ripe in the 
fig-tree at her first time ;" (ch. ix. 10.) and by Isaiah, 
who, speaking of the beauty of Samaria, and her 
rapid declension, says, she "shall be a fadingflower, 
and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which, 
when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in 
his hand, he eateth it up," ch. xxviii. 4. 

When the boccore draws near to perfection, then 
the kermouse, the summer fig, or caricae, begin to be 
formed, though they rarely ripen before August; at 
which time there appears a third crop, or the winter 
fig, as it may be called. This is usually of a much 
longer shape and darker complexion than the ker- 
mouse, hanging and ripening on the tree, even after 
the leaves are shed ; and, provided the winter proves 
mild and temperate, is gathered as a delicious morsel 
in the spring. We learn from Pliny, that the fig-tree 
was bifera, or bore two crops of figs, namely, the 
boccore, as we may imagine, and the kermouse ; 
though what he relates afterwards, should intimate 
that there was also a winter crop. " Seri fructus per 
hiemem in arbore manent, et sestate inter novas fron- 
des et folia maturescunt." "Ficus alteram edit 
fructum," says Columella, "et in hiemem seram dif- 
feret maturitatem." It is well known, that the fruit 
of these prolific trees always precedes the leaves ; 
and consequently, when our Saviour saw one of them 
in full vigor having leaves, (Mark xi. 13.) he might, 
according to the common course of nature, very 
|ustly " look for fruit ;" and haply find some boc- 
cores, if not some winter figs likewise, upon it. But 
the difficulties connected with the narrative of this 
transaction, will not allow of its dismission in this 
summary manner. 



Mr. Taylor conjectures that this tree was the syca 
more, which bears fruit several times in the year, 
without observing any certain seasons, so that a per- 
son cannot determine, without a close inspection, 
whether it has fruit or not. But, to say nothing 
against the authority by which the avr.Tj is here pro- 
posed to be rendered "a sycamore," which has its 
own proper appellation, avxoumyia, (Luke xix. 4.) 
the assumption seems inadequate to account for the 
malediction which was levelled against it ; because it 
is plain that such a tree might at that time have been 
destitute of fruit, and yet by no means be barren. 
Dr. Shaw's conjecture, therefore, seems to be the 
most satisfactory; namely, that as the fig-always 
puts forth the fruit before its leaves, and this was not 
the season for figs, (rather fig harvest, for so the 
words xuiq'uc avy.Mr import, our Saviour was justified 
in expecting to meet with some on the tree. As Mr. 
Bloomfield remarks, The whole difficulty results 
from the connection of the two last clauses of the 
13th verse: "And when he came to it he found 
nothing but leaves — for the time of figs was not yet;" 
for the declaration, it was not yet fig harvest, cannot 
be (as the order of the words seems to import) the 
reason why there was nothing but leaves on the 
tree ; because, as we have seen, the fig is of that 
tribe of vegetables on which the fruit appears before 
the leaf. Certainly fruit, says Mr. Wiston, might be 
expected of a tree whose leaves were distinguished 
afar off, and whose fruit, if it bore any, preceded the 
leaves. If the words had been, "he found nothing 
but green figs, for it was not the time of ripe fruit," 
says Campbell, we should have justly concluded that 
the latter clause was meant as the reason of what is 
affirmed in the former, but as they stand, they do not 
admit this interpretation. All will be clear, however, 
if we consider, with the writer above referred to, that 
the former of these clauses is parenthetical, and admit 
such a sort of tiajeciio as is not unfrequent in the 
ancient languages. The sense of the passage will 
then be as follows : "He came to see if he might 
find any thing thereon ; (for it was not yet the time 
to gather figs ;) but he found leaves only ; and he 
said," &c. Similar inversions and trajections have 
been pointed out by commentators in various other 
parts of the New and Old Testaments, and Camp- 
bell particularly notices one in this very Gospel : 
(chap. xvi. 3, 4.) " They said, Who shall roll us away 
the stone ? and when they looked, the stone was 
rolled away, for it was very great" — that is, "They 
said, Who shall roll us away the stone ; for it was 
very great." 

[The fruit of the fig-tree is one of the delicacies of 
the East ; and is of course very often spoken of in 
Scripture. Dried figs are probably like those which 
are brought to our own country ; sometimes, how- 
ever, they are dried on a string. We likewise read 
of cakes of figs, (nS:n) 1 Sam. xxv. 18 ; 1 Chron. xii. 
40. 2 Kings xx. 7. These were probably formed by 
pressing the fruit forcibly into baskets or other ves- 
sels, so as to reduce them to a solid cake or lump. 
In this way dates are still prepared in Arabia. In 
Djedda, Burckhardt remarks, (Travels in Arabia, p. 
29.) are " eight date-sellers ; at the end of June the 
new fruit comes in ; this lasts two months, after 
which, for the remainder of the year, the date-paste, 
called adjoue, is sold. This is formed by pressing 
the dates, when fully ripe, into large baskets, so forci- 
bly as to reduce them to a hard, solid paste or cake, 
each basket weighing usually about two hundred 
weight ; in the market, it is cut out of the basket, and 



F 1 11 



L 431 ] 



FIRE 



sold by the pound." He describes also smaller bas- 
kets, weighing about ten pounds each. See under 
Flagon. R. 

FIGURES, see Types. 

To FIND, to meet with, is used sometimes for to 
attack, to surprise one's enemies, to light on them 
suddenly, &c. so Anah "found the Emim," Gen. 
xxxvi. 24. (See Emim.) So the verb to find is used 
in Judg. i. 5. " They found Adonibezek in Bezek ;" 
that is, they attacked him there. The Philistine 
archers found king Saul ; they reached him, hit him, 
1 Sam. xxxi. 8. See also 1 Kings xiii. 24. It is said 
of a man smitten by God, that lie is no more found ; 
he has disappeared. Comp. Psalm xxvii. 10 ; Job 
vii. 10 ; xx. 9. To find favor in the sight of any 
one, is an expressive form of speech common in 
Scripture. 

FINGER. The finger of God denotes his power, 
his operation. Pharaoh's magicians discovered the 
finger of God in some of the miracles of Moses, Ex- 
odus viii. 19. That legislator gave the tables writ- 
ten with the finger of God to the Hebrews, Exod. 
xxxi. 18. The heavens were the work of God's 
fingers, Psalm viii. 3. Our Lord says, he casts out 
devils with the finger of God ; meaning, perhaps, by 
his authority, Luke xi. 20. To put forth one's finger, 
is a bantering gesture. If thou take away from the 
midst of thee the chain or yoke wherewith thou 
overwhelmest thy creditors, and forbear pointing at 
them, and using jeering and insulting gestures, Isaiah 
lix. 8. Some take this for a menacing gesture, as 
Nicanor stretched out his hand against the temple, 
threatening to burn it, 2 Mac. xiv. 33. 

FIR, an evergreen tree, of beautiful appearance, 
whose lofty height and dense foliage afford a spa- 
cious shelter and shade. It is worth observing, on 
the Heb. vra, berosh, how contradictorily the LXX 
have rendered it, for want of established principles 
of natural history — cypress, fir, myrtle, juniper. The 
Chaldee reads fir constantly ; and it is likely this 
translator should be quite as well acquainted with 
the subject as any foreigner. The Hebrew word 
seems, however, to mean the cypress ; or possibly an 
evergreen tree in general. 

In 2 Sam. vi. 5, it is said, that " David and all the 
house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner 
of instruments made of fir-wood," &c. Mr. Taylor 
inclines to think that the word beroshim in this pas- 
sage, may express some instrument of music, rather 
than the wood of which such instrument was made ; 
but. with his usual candor, he gives the following 
passage from Dr. Burney's history of music : " This 
species of wood, so soft in its nature and sonorous in 
its effects, seems to have been preferred by the an- 
cients, as well as the moderns, to every other kind, 
for the construction of musical instruments, particu- 
larly the bellies of them, on which their tone chiefly 
depends. Those of the harp, lute, guitar, harpsichord, 
and violin, in present use, are constantly made of 
fir- wood." 

I. FIRE is often a symbol of the Deity, Deut. i v. 24. 
He appeared to Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John, in 
the midst of fire ; the Psalmist describes his chariot 
as a flame, (Psal. xviii. 9, 10.) and Daniel says (vii. 
10.) that a fiery stream issued from before him. Fire 
is a common symbol of God's vengeance, also ; and 
the effects of his wrath, as war, famine, and other 
scourges, are compared fire. Fire from heaven 
fell on victims sacrificed to the Lord, as a mark of 
approbation ; but when Abraham made a covenant 
with the Lord, a fire passed between the divided 



pieces of the sacrifices. This was probably the 
Shekinah. 

A perpetual fire was kept up in the temple, on the 
altar of burnt-sacrifices, by burning wood continually 
on it. In addition to this fire, there were several 
kitchens in the temple, where the provisions of the 
priests and the peace-offerings were dressed. 

The Son of God says, that he had brought fire on 
the earth, and desired nothing more than to have it 
kindled ; (Luke xii. 49.) that is, to subject the land of 
Judea to judgments, in consequence of its wicked- 
ness ; part of which was already begun in the do- 
minions of the Romans. The sword of this people 
would complete the punishment. He came to bap- 
tize with the Holy Ghost and fire, (Matt. iii. 11.) and 
to verify this prediction, the Holy Ghost descended 
on his disciples in the form of tongues of fire, Acts 
ii. 3. 

Fire will one day consume this world, according 
to Peter, 2 Epist. iii. 7, 12. The heathen had some 
knowledge of this ; whether they received it from 
the Hebrews, or from the sacred writings ; from tra- 
dition, or from reasoning, and their knowledge of the 
elements and the actual state of the earth, we know 
not. Josephus speaks of an ancient tradition, that 
before the deluge-the sons of Seth had learned from 
Adam that the world would be destroyed first by 
water, afterwards by fire. Heraclitus held, that after 
it had passed through the flames, it would receive a 
new birth amidst the fire ; the Stoics maintained the 
same ; and Cicero particularly notices it in his book 
De Nat. Deorum, (lib. ii.) as does Ovid, (Met. lib. i.) 

The Chaldeans, Persians, and some other people 
of the East, adored fire ; and there is a tradition that 
Abraham was thrown into a fire, because he refused 
to worship this element. See Zoroaster, Abra- 
ham. 

Few things are more shocking to humanity than 
the custom of which such frequent mention is made 
in Scripture, of making children pass through fire in 
honor of Moloch ; a custom, the antiquity of which 
appears from its having been repeatedly forbidden 
by Moses, as Lev. xviii. 2], and, at length, in chap, 
xx. 1 — 5. where the expressions are very strong, of 
"giving his seed to Moloch." This cruelty, one 
would hope, was confined to the strangers in Israel, 
and not adopted by any native Israelite ; yet we af- 
terwards find the kings of Israel, themselves, practis- 
ing this superstition, and making their children pass 
through the fire. 

There is a remarkable variation of terms in the 
history of Ahaz, who, in 2 Kings xvi. 3, is said to 
make "his son to pass through the fire, according to 
the abomination of the heathen," i. e. no doubt, in 
honor of Moloch, — while, in 2 Chron. xxviii. 3, it is 
expressed by " he burned his children in the fire." 
Now, as the book of Chronicles is best understood, 
by being considered as a supplementary and explan- 
atory history to the book of Kings, it is rather sin- 
gular, that, it uses by much the strongest word in this 
passage — -for the import of ijai is, generally, to con- 
sume, to clear off; so Psal. lxxxiii. 14. " As the fire 
burnetii a wood," so Isaiah i. 31, and this variation of 
expression is further heightened, by the word son 
(who passed through) being singular in Kings, but 
plural (sons) in Chronicles. It seems very natural to 
ask, " If he burned his children in the fire, how could 
he leave any posterity to succeed him?" 

The rabbins have histories of the manner of pass- 
ing through the fires, or between the fir<ts, or into 
caves of fire ; and there is an account of an image, 



FIRE 



[ 432 ] 



FIRE 



which received children into its arms, and let them 
drop into a fire beneath, amid the shouts of the 
multitude, the noise of drums, and other instruments, 
to drown the shrieks of the agonizing infant, and 
the horrors of the parent's mind. Waving further 
allusion to that account at present, the following ex- 
tract mry afford a good idea, in what manner the 
passing through, or over, fire, was anciently perform- 
ed ; the attentive reader will notice the particulars. 
" A still more astonishing instance of the superstition 
of the ancient Indians, in respect to the venerated 
fire, remains at this day in the grand annual festival 
holden in honor of Darina Rajah, and called the 
Feast of Fire ; in which, as in the ancient rites of 
Moloch, the devotees walk barefoot over a glowing 
fire, extending forty feet. It is called the feast of 
fire, because they then walk on that element. It 
lasts eighteen days, during which time, those that 
make a vow to keep it, must fast, abstain from wo- 
men, lie on the bare ground, and walk on a brisk 
fire. The eighteenth day, they assemble, on the 
sound of instruments; their heads crowned with 
flowers, the body bedaubed with saffron, and follow 
in cadence the figures of Darma Rajah, and of Dro- 
bede, his wife, who are carried there in procession. 
When they come to the fire, they stir it, to animate 
its activity, and take a little of the ashes, with which 
they rub their forehead, and when the gods have been 
three times round it, they walk either fast or slow, 
according to their zeal, over a very hot fire, extend- 
ing to about forty feet in length. Some carry their 
children in their arms, and others lances, sabres, and 
standards. The most fervent devotees walk several 
times over the fire. After the ceremony the people 
press to collect some of the ashes to rub their fore- 
heads with, and obtain from the devotees some of 
the flowers with which they were adorned, and 
which they carefully preserve." (Sonnerat's Trav- 
els, vol. i. 154.) See Baal. 

This extract is taken from Maurice's "History of 
Hindostan," (p. 448.) and it accounts for several ex- 
pressions used in Scripture : such as causing children 
(very young, perhaps) to pass through fire, as we see 
they are carried over the fire, by which means, 
though devoted, or consecrated, they were not de- 
stroyed ; neither were they injured, except by being 
profaned. It might, however, and probably did, 
happen, that some of those who thus passed, were 
hurt or maimed in the passing, or if not immediately 
slain by the fire, might be burned in this superstitious 
pilgrimage, in such a manner as to contract fatal dis- 
eases. May we suppose, then, that while some of 
the children of Ahaz passed safely over the fire, 
others were injured by it, and injured even to death ? 
But this could not be the case with all of them ; as 
beside Hezekiah, his successor, we read of " Maa- 
seiah, the king's son," 2 Chron. xxviii. 7. 

[Similar rites are still practised by the Chinese 
devotees. The following account is from the jour- 
nal of Mr. Abeel, American missionary at Canton, 
under date of April 14th, 1831. " This afternoon we 
rode about six miles in the country and attended a 
Chinese ceremony, which refninded us of the rites 
of " Moloch, bloody king." It occurs on the birth- 
day of the Taou gods, and is performed by running 
barefoot, through a heap of ignited charcoal. The 
fire covered a space of about 10 or 12 feet square, 
and was probably about 18 inches in height. It 
threw out a sweltering heat, and kept the spectators 
at some distance. The concourse was large, and 
the crash of gongs almost deafening. When we 



arrived, we found two priests standing near the fire, 
earnestly conning a book, and performing a variety of 
acts which its pages appeared to prompt. One of 
them held a cow's horn in his hand, with which he 
occasionally assisted the noise. The other was more 
actively engaged in burning paper, making his obei- 
sance, sprinkling water upon the heap, and striking 
it violently with a sword. During these ceremonies, 
he frequently bowed to the ground, and gazed up- 
ward, with an expression of most intense earnest- 
ness. There was something striking in the whole 
appearance and conduct of the man. It was very 
evident, that if not himself fully persuaded of the 
presence and power of the being he invoked, he 
well knew how to produce this persuasion in the 
minds of the ignorant around him. 

" The prescribed rites being performed, the priest 
approached the pile, went through a number of 
antics, and dashed furiously through the coals. A 
passage was kept clear from the adjacent temple, and 
as soon as the signal was given by the priest, a num- 
ber of persons, old and young, came running with 
idols in their hands, and bore them through the fire. 
Others followed, and among them an old man who 
halted and staggered in the very jaws of death. The 
scene was one of mad confusion, but its continuance 
was short, and the crowd soon dispersed. It is 
thought a test of the character of those who attempt 
it; if they have a "true heart" and confidence in 
the gods, they cannot receive injury. Some of them 
pass through the fire in fulfilment of a vow made in 
time of danger or necessity. One of the votaries 
last year fell in the midst of the fire, and was se- 
verely burned." (Miss. Herald for 1832, p. 97.) *R. 

Humanity would induce us to hope that the ex- 
pression " burned," should be taken in a milder sense 
than that of slaying hy fire ; and, perhaps, this idea 
may be justified, by remarking the use of it in Exod. 
iii. 2, 3, " the bush burned (if njj nya) with fire, yet the 
bush was not consumed (-ijn' nS)." The word, there- 
fore, being capable of a milder, as well as of a strong- 
er sense, like our English word, to burn, it is desi- 
rable, if fact would permit, to take it in the milder 
sense in the instance of Ahaz, and possibly in others. 
Nevertheless, the Indian custom of widows burning 
themselves to death with the body of their deceased 
husbands, contributes to justify the harsher construc- 
tion of the word to burn ; as the superstitious cruelty 
which can deprive women of life, may easily be 
thought guilty of equal barbarity in the case of chil- 
dren. In fact, the drowning of children in the Gan- 
ges, as an act of dedication, is common. 

The narrative of Daniel and his three companions 
being thrown into the fiery furnace, by order of 
Nebuchadnezzar, (Dan. iii.) has been thought to in- 
volve some difficulties ; indeed Eichhorn selects this, 
among other reasons, for divesting Daniel of the pro- 
phetic character. The difficulty in the narrative, 
however, results, it is more than probable, from our 
want of information as to the form of the furnace, 
or place of fire, in which the memorable occurrence 
took place. An enclosed structure, similar to our 
ovens or furnaces, is certainly incompatible with 
some of the circumstances attendant upon the event; 
but we are not compelled to adhere to this notion. 
Maundrell discovered, in Syria, near Tortosa, a sin- 
gular structure, which was no doubt a temple of the 
Phoenician and Chaldean idol, Baal, or the sun, 
whose representative was fire, and which may be 
very fairly supposed to represent, on a small scale 
the temple or court in which Nebuchadnezzar erect- 



FIRE 



\ 433 ] 



FIRE 




ed his image, and in which the flames were kli» lied 
for the Hebrew confessors. There was a court 

of fifty-five yards 
square, cut in the 
natural rock , the 
sides of the lock 
standing round it, 
bout three yards 
high, supplied the 
place of walls. On 
three sides it was 
thus encompassed, 
but to the north- 
ward it lay open. 
In the centre of this 
area was a square 
part of the rock 
left standing ; being 
three yards high, 
and five yards and 
a half square. This served for a pedestal to a throne 
erected upon it. The throne was composed of four 
large stones, two at the sides, one at the back, another 
hanging over all at top, in the manner of a canopy. 
The whole structure was about twenty feet high, 
fronting toward that side where the court was open. 
The stone that made the canopy was five yards and 
three quarters square, and carved round with a hand- 
some cornish. What all this might be designed for, 
we cannot imagine ; unless perhaps the court may 
pass for an idol temple, and the pile in the middle 
for the throne of the idol ; which seems the more 
probable, in regard that Hercules, that is, the sun, the 
great abomination of the Phoenicians, was wont to be 
adored in an open temple. At the two innermost 
angles of the court, and likewise on the open side, 
were left pillars of the natural rock ; three of each at 
the former, and two at the latter." (Journal, Sunday, 
March 7.) 

The account of the apocryphal writer of the his- 
tory of this miracle says, that "the angel of the 
Lord descended, and smote the flame of fire out 
of the furnace, (or place of fire,) and made the mid- 
dle of the furnace as if a moist, dewy, whistling 
wind" were passing over it. Admitting this passage 
of wind over it, it could not be a close building ; and 
this seems to be finally determined by the recollec- 
tion, that Nebuchadnezzar saw what occurred within 
it; which was absolutely impossible if it were en- 
closed like our tile-kilns ; but, supposing it to be 
open, like the place of fire in our engraving, he 
might easily contemplate every occurrence of which 
it was the scene. 

This notion of an open furnace, or place of fire, 
appears, then, to be of some consequence to the 
proper understanding of the history. It is more 
congenial with the customs of the country, the idol- 
atry of the people, and the supposed dignity of the 
occasion. It leads us also to infer, that the transac- 
tion passed in the very sight, so to speak, of the gold- 
en image, in defiance of its influence and power, 
which, no doubt, were presumed to be most vigor- 
ous, most concentrated, within the precincts of its 
own immediate residence : yet here, where most 
competent to exertion, it was baffled, counteracted, 
and defeated. 

There is no just reason for doubting, as Mr. Tay- 
lor supposes, from whom we have abridged these 
observations, that the open temple, mentioned by 
Mauudrell, being in the country of Tyre and Sidon, 
were used for the. worship of the Tyrian Hercules. 
55 



the Baal of the East ; that is, the sun, whose repre- 
sentative on earth was elementary fire. (But see 
under Baal.) This element, we know, was the pri- 
mary deity of Chaldea, and the Chaldeans boasted 
of their deity, as superior to all others, because he 
was able to consume their representations, whether 
in wood, stone, or metal. The identity of these 
deities was maintained by the Tyrians also ; hence 
we read, that to prevent his desertion from their city, 
they chained the statue of Hercules to the altar of 
Apollo. If, then, the deity of the Chaldeans was also 
the deity of the Tyrians, doubtless the rites of his 
worship were similar in both countries ; and since 
we find an open court in Syria still remaining, it takes 
off the difficulty (if any were supposed) in consider- 
ing an open court as the scene of religious rites ad- 
dressed to the same deity in Chaldea. 

It is probable enough that the history of the fiery 
furnace is much more intelligible in the East than 
among ourselves ; that the publicity of this execu- 
tion would there be better understood ; that the con- 
test between (Baal) the deity fire, and Jehovah, 
would there excite not merely the liveliest interest 
throughout the nation, but, that the i-esult of it would 
produce the most general confusion on one side, and 
the most vehement joy on the other ; also, that, when 
the Chaldeans saw their national deity vanquished, 
not by another element, as water, of which we have 
a history, but by a protecting, preserving power infi- 
nitely its superior, their perplexity would be extreme ; 
and they would feel their embarrassment with all 
the tenderness of eastern sympathy, and the exqui- 
site sensibility of eastern imagination. 

There are among the eastern people, as already 
noticed, traditions of a similar trial of Abraham by 
Nimrod, and a similar deliverance. They mighl 
confirm our remarks ; but for the present we draw 
no other conclusion, than that of the open construe, 
tion of the Chaldean place of fire : that the whole 
was transacted as a kind of sacrifice to the deity, 
and in the immediate presence of his consecrated 
image. 

Hell-iure is clearly described in the Old Testa- 
ment. Moses says, " A fire is kindled in my anger, 
and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall con- 
sume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the 
foundations of the mountains." Here hell-fire or the 
place of torment is placed in the deepest parts of 
the earth. Isaiah is express : (xxxiii. 14.) " Who 
among us shall dwell with devouring fire ? Who 
among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings ? " 
Our Saviour speaks of eternal fire prepared for the 
devil, his angels, and reprobates ; and John (Rev. xx. 
14, 15.) saw a lake of fire, into which the beast and 
his false prophet were cast, and which was the por- 
tion of infidels, murderers, and abominable persons. 
But whether- these expressions are to be understood 
literally or metaphorically; that is, whether the fire of 
hell consists only in vehement anguish, and the 
worm in remorse and despair, is what critics and 
fathers are much divided about. Origen, Ambrose, 
Jerome, Gregory of Nice, and John Damascenus, say 
expressly, that it is not a material fire, but that the 
fire is bitterness for past sins, and the worm remorse 
of conscience ; a sentiment still common among the 
Greeks. But in the Latin church, the general opinion 
is, that the damned are tormented with real fire, and 
gnawed by a real worm, which does not die. If it be 
asked, How can an elementary fire, or a living worm 
operate on the soul, which is a spiritual substance ? 
Augustin replies, Why should not this be credible of 



FIR 



[ 434 1 



FIR 



the soul when separated from the body, since the 
mind of man, which certainly is not corporeal, does 
actually experience the pain of fire ? For, after all, 
it is not the body which suffers heat, or cold, or pain ; 
it is the soul, united to that body. And why should 
not devils, and the souls of the damned, be insepara- 
bly linked to the fire that burns them, and the worm 
which gnaws them, as well as our soul is during our 
life-time united to our body ? It has been thought, 
that there is an allusion in Isaiah lxvi. 24. and Mark 
ix. 44. to the different modes of consuming dead 
bodies among the ancients;— by burning, and by 
burial: q. d. "the punishments in the future state 
will not become extinct, as fire must needs be extin- 
guished when the subject of it, that is, the body, is 
consumed ; nor will they cease to exist, as the body 
ceases to exist when it is wholly perished in the 
earth, or wholly consumed by worms, which worms 
themselves shall die ; but as the spirit survives, so its 
punishments shall continue." This interpretation 
implies that the punishments spoken of are wholly 
spiritual, and existing independently of the body. 

FIRMAMENT. Moses says, that God made a 
firmament in the midst of the waters to separate the 
inferior from the superior waters. By the word jnpi 
rakia, the Hebrews understood the heavens, which, 
like a solid and immense arch, served as a barrier 
between the upper and lower waters, having win- 
dows, through which, when opened, the upper 
waters descended and formed the rain. But we are 
not to infer from this idea of the ancient Hebrews, 
that it really was so ; in matters indifferent, the sa- 
cred writers generally suit their expressions to popu- 
lar conceptions. 

FIRST. This word does not always signify pri- 
ority of rank, or order, but sometimes before that, as 
— John i. 15, 30. Gr. " He was first of me ;" he was 
before me. And chap. xv. 18. " If the world hate 
you, ye know it hated me before it hated you," &c. 
Our Saviour required his disciples " to seek first the 
kingdom of God ;" i. e. before all things ; (Matt. vi. 
33.) and Paul says, that God displayed his mercy 
towards him, " who was the chief [first] of sinners," 
and that in him first [eminently, wonderfully] "he 
showed forth all long-suffering," 1 Tim. i. 15, 16. 

FIRST-BORN. This phrase is not always to be 
understood literally ; it is sometimes taken for the 
prime, most excellent, most distinguished of things. 
Thus, "Jesus Christ" is "the first-born of every 
creature, the first-begotten, or first-born from the 
dead ;" begotten of the Father before any creature 
was produced ; the first who rose from the dead by 
his own power. Wisdom says, that she came out of 
the mouth of the Most High before he had produced 
any creature, Ecclus. xxiv. 3; Isa. xiv. 30. "The 
first-born of the poor," signifies the most miserable 
of the poor; Job xviii. 13. "the first-born of death," 
the most terrible of deaths. After the destroying 
angel had killed the first-born of the Egyptians, God 
ordained that all the Jewish first-born, both of men, 
and of beasts for service, should be consecrated to 
him ; but the male children only were subject to this 
law If a man had many wives, he was obliged to 
offer the first-born son by each one of them to the 
Lord. The first-born were offered at the temple, 
and redeemed for five shekels. The firstling of a 
clean beast was offered at the temple, not to be re- 
deemed, but to be killed ; an unclean beast, a horse, 
an ass, or a camel, was either redeemed or exchang- 
ed ; an ass was redeemed by a lamb, or five shekels ; 
if not redeemed, it was killed. Commentators hold 



that the first-born of dogs were killed, because they 
were unclean ; and that nothing was given for them 
to the priests, because there was no trade or com- 
merce in them. See Deut. xxiii. 18. 

It has been questioned whether our Saviour, as 
first-born of the Virgin, was subject to this law. 
Some believe that he was not; others, that by the 
terms of the law he was. 

The ceremonies of the Jews for the redemption 
of their first-born, are as follows : If the child be a 
boy, when he is thirty days old, a descendant of 
Aaron is sent for, who is most agreeable to the fa- 
ther; and the company being met, the father brings 
gold or silver in a cup or basin. The child is then 
put into the priest's hands, who asks the mother 
aloud, whether this boy is hers. She answers, Yes. 
He adds, "Have you never had any other child, 
male or female ; no untimely birth, or miscarriage ? " 
She answers, No. "If so," says the priest, "this 
child, as the first-born, belongs to me." Then turn- 
ing to the father, he says, " If you desire to have him, 
you must redeem him." " This gold and this silver," 
replies the father, "is offered to you for that purpose 
only." The priest, turning to the assembly, says, 
"This child, as the first-born, is therefore mine, ac- 
cording to this law, — those who are to be redeemed 
from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to 
thine estimation, for the money of five shekels," &c. 
— " but I am content with this in exchange." He 
then takes two gold crowns, or thereabouts, and re- 
stores the infant. If the father or mother are of the 
race of priests, or Levites, they do not redeem their 
son. The first-born among the Hebrews, as among 
all other nations, enjoyed particular privileges. See 
Birth-right. 

In addition to the first-born of men and beasts 
which were offered to the Lord, or were redeemed 
by money, there was another kind of first-born, 
which were carried to the temple, in order to fur- 
nish the table for feasts of charity. Of this kind 
mention is made in Deut. xii. 17, 18 : " Thou mayest 
not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn or 
wine, or the firstlings of thy herds, or of thy flock, 
nor any of thy vows . . . but thou must eat these 
things before the Lord thy God in the place which 
he shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, 
thy man-servant and thy maid-servant, and the Le- 
vite that is within thy gates." And again Deut. xii. 
18. (See below.) 

FIRST-FRUITS were presents made to God, of 
part of the fruits of the harvest, to express the sub- 
mission, dependence, and thankfulness of the offerers. 
They were offered at the temple, before the crop 
was gathered ; and, when the harvest was over, be- 
fore any private persons used their corn. The first 
of these first-fruits, offered in the name of the na- 
tion, was a sheaf of barley, gathered on the fifteenth 
of Nisau, in the evening, and threshed in a court of 
the temple. After it was well cleaned, about three 
pints of it were roasted, and pounded in a mortar. 
Over this was thrown a log of oil, and a handful of 
incense ; and the priest, taking the offering, waved it 
before the Lord towards the four cardinal points, 
throwing a handful of it into the fire on the altar, and 
keeping the rest. After this, all were at liberty to get 
in the harvest. (See Sheaf.) When the wheat har- 
vest was over, on the day of Pentecost, they offered 
as first-fruits of another kind, in the name of the na- 
tion, two loaves, of two assarons (about three pints) 
of flour each, made of leavened dough. Josephus 
mentions only one loaf, and says it was served up to 



FIS 



[ 435 ] 



FIS 



the priests that evening at supper, with the other 
offerings; and that all were to be eaten that day 
without leaving any thing. In addition to these 
first-fruits, every private" person was obliged to bring 
his first-fruits to the temple ; but Scripture prescribes 
neither the time nor the quantity. The rabbins say, 
they were obliged to bring at least the sixtieth part of 
their fruits and harvest. The most liberal gave the 
fortieth, the least liberal, the fiftieth or sixtieth. They 
met in companies of four and twenty persons, to 
'carry their first-fruits in a ceremonious manner. The 
company was preceded by an ox appointed for the 
sacrifice, with a crown of olives on his head, and his 
horns gilded ; and a player on the flute walked before 
them to Jerusalem. The first-fruits were of wheat, 
barley, grapes, figs, apricots, olives, and dates. Each 
carried his basket. The rich had gold or silver, 
(Prov. xxv. 11, "a word fitly spoken is like apples of 
gold, in pictures of silvei-," &c. perhaps of first-fruits 
carried in baskets of fillagree-work, on such a joyful 
occasiou,) the poor had wicker baskets. At Jerusa- 
lem, the citizens came out to meet and to salute them. 
When they arrived at the mountain on which the 
temple was situated, each one, even the king him- 
self, if he were there, took his basket on his shoul- 
der, and carried it to the court of the priests ; the 
Levites singing, " I will magnify thee, O Lord," &c. 
Pgal. xxx. He who brought the first-fruits, said, "I 
profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am 
come unto the country, which the Lord sware unto 
our fathers for to give us ;" (Deut. xxvi. 4, 5, &c.) and 
then putting the basket on his hand, (the priest sup- 
porting it at the bottom,) he continued — " A Syrian 
ready to perish was my father," &c. He then put 
his basket by the side of the altar, prostrated himself, 
and went away. 

There was, besides this, another sort of first-fruits 
paid to God, Num. xv. 19, 21. When the bread in 
the family was kneaded, a portion of it was set apart, 
and given to the priest, or Levite, of the place : if 
there were no priest, or Levite, it was cast into the 
oven and there consumed. The law had not fixed 
the quantity of this bread ; but Jerome says, that cus- 
tom and tradition had determined it to be between 
the fortieth and sixtieth part of what was kneaded. 
Philo speaks of this custom ; and Leo of Modena de- 
clares, it was observed in his time. This is one of 
the three precepts peculiar to the women, because 
they generally make the bread. The rabbins hold 
that no one is obliged to pay the first-fruits, excepting 
in the Land of Promise. 

Those offerings are often called first-fruits, which 
were brought by the Israelites from devotion, to the 
temple, for the feasts of thanksgiving, to which they 
invited their relations and friends, and the Levites of 
their cities. The first-fruits and tenths were the most 
considerable revenue of the priests and Levites. 

Paul says, Christians have the first-fruits of the 
Holy Spirit, a greater abundance of God's Spirit, 
more perfect and more excellent gifts than the Jews. 
" Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first- 
fruits of them that slept," (1 Cor. xv. 20.) the first- 
begotten from the dead, or the first-born of those who 
rose again : the Thessaloniaus were, as it were, the 
first-fruits whom God had chosen to salvation ; (1 
Thess. ii. 12.) chosen with a particular distinction, as 
first-fruits were chosen from amidst the most ex- 
quisite of the several fruits, with a design of offering 
them to the Lord. 

FISH, it, dag, a general name in Scripture for 
aquatic animals, which the Hebrews place among 



reptiles. We have few Hebrew names, if any, for 
particular fish. Moses says in general, (Lev. xi. 9.) 
that all sorts of river, lake, and sea fish may be eaten 
if they have scales and fins ; others are unclean. 

Some interpreters believe that the fish whicb 
swallowed Jonah was a whale ; but others, with more 
probability, suppose that it was a shark. 

FISHERS are frequently spoken of by the proph- 
ets, in their metaphorical discourses. A passage oi 
two requires notice. . Jeremiah says, (ch. xvi. 16.) 
" Behold,! will send for many (d'Jh, davvagim^s/i- 
ers, and they shall (au'i, digvm) fish them ; and after, 
I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt 
them from every mountain, and from every hill, and 
out of the holes of the rocks." Mr. Taylor thinks 
this would be more correct, if understood thus — "I 
will send divers who shall dive after them, or, take 
them by wading, diving, plunging, following them 
among the holes and crannies of the rocks, and 
bringing them from thence." For it should seem, he 
remarks, that the hunting associated with this fishing, 
being an active pursuit, demands more than mere 
angling, or fishing with nets, as its parallel ; neither 
among holes of the rocks are nets of use ; but diving 
is an active pursuit by water, as hunting is by land, 
and seems to maintain the requisite association of 
import in this passage. Diving for pearls was (and 
is) practised in the East ; and, that diving is prac- 
tised as one way of taking fish, is strongly implied in 
the subsequent quotation from Niebuhr. 

[There is no reason whatever for taking the word 
fisher out of its usual sense ; — nothing can be more ap- 
propriate than its being employed along with hunter, 
as above. Still, a diver might, by possibility, be in- 
cluded under it, as it is in English. R. 

Is this the allusion of the prophet Ezekiel, (chap, 
xlvii. 10.) " And fishers shall stand upon it, from En- 
gedi to En-eglaim ; they shall be a place to spread 
forth nets ?" Such is our translation ; but, reading 
with the keri (noy, AiueRu) shall gather, instead of 
(noy, AM6DU ) shall stand, the words may be rendered 
thus: "And divers shall gather upon its banks; and 
from the kids' fountain to the calves' fountain, shall 
be the extent of separations." But what does this 
mean ? Mr. Taylor suggests, " They shall gather into 
heaps, (the word signifies to compress close together,) 
as pearl oysters are gathered into distinct hillocks ; 
and the ground appointed for such separate heaps 
shall be from En-gedi, the kids' fountain, to En-eglaim, 
the calves' fountain." The prophet goes on to say, 
this river shall also have all other kinds of fish, in 
the same number and variety as the ocean itself. If 
this be the import of the place, then diving, as one 
branch of fishing, is uniformly included in the deriv- 
atives from the word dag ; and this idea increases 
the symbolical riches of these prophetic waters. 

Attaching the idea of diving to this word, gives a 
decided import to a noun used in Amos iv. 2 : " The 
Lord God hath sworn that the days come .... that 
he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity 
with fish-hooks.''' 1 Mr. Harmer (Obs. vol. iv. p. 199.) 
enters at large into the rendering of this passage. 
Mr. Taylor would render thus : " The Lord shall take 
you (yourselves) aivay with, or among, or being beat 
forward by, prickles ; but those whom you leave behind 
you shall be driven away by a diver's weapon ; an in- 
strument equally sharp, and with points as numerous, 
and piercing as those used by divers to strike at the 
fish which they pursue." — By this rendering, he ob 
serves, the idea of driving forward cattle is preserved 
throughout the passage; and the change of meta- 



FIT 



[ 436 ] 



FLA 



plior, by allusion to fishing (i. e. angling) is avoided. 
[The figure is here taken from the custom of taming 
or subduing animals by placing hooks or rings in 
their noses: Compare Is. xxxvii. 29, "Therefore I 
will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy 
lips, and I will turn thee back by the way which thou 
earnest." Why these hooks are here called fish-hooks, 
appears from fizek. xxix. 4 ; Job xli. 2, — viz. because 
it was customary to let the larger fish, when once 
caught, hang in the water, being fastened by a hook 
in the nose. See Brace's Travels. Oedmann's 
Sammlungen, etc. V. 5. R. 

" Of all the creatures which live in the water, the 
Mahometans eat only fish, and not all sorts of them. 
Those which are considered as pure and e'dible, ac- 
cording to the books of the old Mahometan theologist, 
ought to have been taken in nets, or with the hand, 
while alive ; when the water being ebbed away, leaves 
the shores dry. Nevertheless, they take them, at 
least in the Euphrates, with the hook, or with a grain 
which intoxicates them. Some have questioned 
whether a piece of fish, which swims on the water, 
may be eaten ? and it is decided, that it is lawful 
when there appears some mark that the fish was 
killed by a knife, or by a sabre ; because then, it is 
presumed, that the words bism alia akbar were pro- 
nounced over it. I do not remember to have seen 
fishes alive among the Mahometan fishermen. Those 
of Djidda and Loheia only brought ashore such as 
were dead : without a doubt they had cut their throats, 
lest they should die of themselves, and so become 
impure." (Niebuhr, Descrip. Arabie, p. 150. Fr. edit.) 
Here we see that fish are taken by the hand ; they 
are also killed by sharp weapons, as a knife, or a sa- 
bre ; and therefore other sharp and piercing instru- 
ments, better adapted to the purpose than knives or 
sabres, could hardly fail of being employed by fish- 
ermen. Our translation mentions fish-spears, (Job 
xli. 1.) but in the original it is another word. 

FITCHES. There are two words in the Hebrew 
Bible which the English translators have rendered 
fitches or vetches — nsp Kttsach, and ntD3 Kussemeth ; 
the latter probably denotes rye, or spelt ; we have now 
to inquire about the former, which occurs only in 
Isaiah xxviii. 25 — 27, and about which critics are not 
agreed. Jerome, Maimonides, and the rabbins un- 
derstand it of the gith, which was c led by the 
Greeks MiZuv&lov, and by the Latins nigella; and 
Rabbi Obdias de Bartemora expressly says, that the 
barbarous or vulgar name of the nxp> was '^"j nielli, 
nigella. Ausonius says the gith is " pungent as pep- 
per ;" and Pliny adds, that its seed is good for sea- 
soning food. He also states it to be of great use in 
the bakehouse, and that it affords a grateful season- 
ing to bread ; perhaps by sprinkling upon it, as we 
do caraway and other small seeds. Some think 
the gith to have been the same as our fennel, and 
Ballester is quoted ns saying "gith is commonly 
met with in garden . . it grows a cubit in height, 
sometimes more. The leaves are small, like those of 
fennel, the flower blue, which disappearing, the ovary 
shows itself on the top, like those of a poppy, fur- 
nished with little horns, oblong, divided by mem- 
branes into several partitions and cells, in which are 
enclosed seeds of a very black color, not unlike 
those of a leek, but very fragrant. But the cir- 
cumstance of Ballester comparing the gith to the 
fennel is decisive against the notion that it was this 
particular plant. That it classes with the fennel 
may be readily admitted ; but not that it was the 
same. 



FLAG. There are two words in the original, ins*, 
achit, and rpo, si'tph, translated "flag," in our Bibles, 
though not uniformly so ; for in Gen. xli. 2, 18, the 
former word is rendered meadotv, and in Jonah ii. 5, 
■e latter is translated weeds. It probably denotes 
the sedge or long grass, which grows in the meadows 
of the Nile, very grateful to the cattle. The following 
is from Dr. Harris. Jerome, in his Hebrew questions 
or traditions on Genesis, writes, "Achi neque Grsecus 
sermo est, nec Latinus, sed et Hebra?us ipse corruptus 
est." The Hebrew van (i) and jod (■<) being like one* 
another, and differing only in length ; the LXX in- 
terpreters, he observes, wrote tin, achi for mx, achu ; 
and according to their usual custom, put the Greek x 
for the double aspirate n. That the grass was well 
known among the Egyptians, he owns in his com- 
ment upon Isa. xix. 7, where the LXX render nny, 
aroth, paper reeds, to a/t ri> z?.mQuv — "Cum ab eruditis 
qusererem, quid hie sermo significaret, audivi ab 
.lEgyptiis hoc nomine lingua eorum omne, quod in 
palude virens nascitur appellari." 

"We have no radix," says the learned Chappellow, 
"for inN, unless we derive it, as Schultens does, from 
the Arabic achi, to bind or join together." Thus it 
may \v. defined "a species of plant, sedge, or reed, so 
called from its fitness for making ropes, or the like, 
to connect or join things together; as the Latin 
'juncus,' a bulrush, a jungendo, from joining, for the 
same reason :" and some suppose that it is the plant, 
or reed, growing near the Nile, which Hasselquist 
describes as having numerous narrow leaves, and 
growing about eleven feet high ; of the leaves of 
which the Egyptians make ropes. It should, how- 
ever, be observed, that the LXX, in Job viii. 11, ren- 
der butomus which Hesychius explains as "a plant 
on which cattle are fed, like to grass ;" and Suidas, 
as "a plant like to a reed, on which oxen feed." 
These explanations are remarkable, because we read, 
Gen. xli. 2, that the fat kine of Pharaoh fed in a 
meadow, says our translation, on achu'm the original. 
This leads us to wish for information on what aquatic 
plants the Egyptian cattle feed ; which, no doubt, 
would lead us to the achu of these passages. 

The word rpo, suph, is considered by Aben Ezra to 
be "a reed growing on the borders of the river." 
Bochart, Fuller, Rivetus, Ludolphus, and Junius and 
Tremellius, render it by juncus carex or alga, and 
Celsius thinks it the fiucus or alga [sea weed.] Dr. 
Geddes says, there is little doubt of its being the 
sedge called " sari ;" which, as we learn from Theo- 
phrastus and Pliny, grows on the marshy banks of 
the Nile, and rises to the height of almost two cubits. 
This, indeed, agrees very well with Exod. ii. 3, 5, 
and " the thickets of arundinaceous plants, at some 
small distances from the Red sea," observed by Dr. 
Shaw ; but the place in Jonah seems to require some 
submarine plant. 

FLAGON. In Cant. ii. 5, the bride says, "Stay 
me with flagons ; comfort me with apples." Some 
kind of fruit would seem to be intended here by 
flagons, in order to parallel the following versicle, 
" comfort me with apples ;" for as the latter is a fruit, 
it seems necessary that the former should be a fruit 
also. And as these apples are a round fruit, some- 
thing of the melon kind may be intended, as extreme- 
ly refreshing, sweet, and juicy; which seems to be 
the ideas included — whether an apple, or a citron be 
the fellow-fruit referred to. As one kind of gourd is 
by us called flagon, so might another kind, but of a 
similar genus, be formerly called. The word occurs 
here without the insertion "of wine," but in Hosea 



FLE 



[ 437 ] 



FLY 



lii. 1, is added "of grapes," — "Loving measures — 
flagons of grapes." Slight these be grapes gathered 
into gourds ? Or do they mean wine, as our trans- 
lators have rendered them here ; and have inserted 
the word wine in the other places — thereby fixing 
them to this sense ? 

[The Hebrew word nwvx, ashishah, every where 
rendered in the English version flagon, (2 Sam. vi. 
19 ; 1 Chron. xvi. 3 ; Hos. iii. 1 ; Cant. ii. 5.) means 
rather a cake, especially of dried grapes, or raisins, 
pressed into a particular form. These are mentioned 
as delicacies, by which the weary and languid were 
refreshed ; they were also offered to idols, Hos. iii. 1. 
They differed from the p^^tsimmiik, (Ital. Simmuki,) 
dried clusters of grapes not pressed into any form ; 
(1 Sam. xxv. 18.) and also from the cakes of Jigs ; 
(see Figs, sub Jin.) We may compare the manner in 
which with us cheeses are pressed in various forms, 
as of pine-apples, &c. and also the manner in which 
dates are prepared at the present day by the Arabs. 
See under Figs. R. 

FLAX, a well known plant, upon which the in- 
dustry of mankind has been exercised with the great- 
est success and utility. Moses speaks of the flax in 
Egypt, (Exod. ix. 31.) which country has been cele- 
brated, from time immemorial, for its production and' 
manufacture. The " fine linen of Egypt," which was 
manufactured of this article, is spoken of for its su- 
perior excellence, in Scripture, Prov. vii. 16 ; Ezek. 
xxvii. 7. It was under the stalks of this plant that 
Rahab hid the spies, Josh. ii. 6. In predicting the 
gentleness, caution, and tenderness, with which the 
Messiah should manage his administration, Isaiah 
(xlii. 3.) happily illustrates it by a proverb, " The 
bruised reed lie shall not break, and the smoking flax 
he shall not quench." — He shall not break even a 
bruised reed, which snaps asunder immediately, 
when pressed with any considerable weight ; nor 
shall he extinguish even the smoking flax, or the wick 
of a lamp, which, when it first begins to kindle, is 
put out by every little motion. This is quoted in 
Matt. xii. 20, where, by an easy metonymy, the mate- 
rial for the thing made,^a.r, is used for the wick of a 
lamp or taper ; and that, by a synecdoche, for the 
lamp or taper itself, which, when near going out, 
yields more smoke than light.— He will not put out 
or extinguish the dying lamp. 

FLESH is taken, literally, for the substance 
which composes bodies, whether of men or animals, 
Gen. vi. 13. The word flesh is also used to denote a 
principle opposite to the spirit : " The flesh lusteth 
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and 
these are contrary the one to the other," Gal. v. 17. 
" Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of 
the flesh," ver. 16. To crucify the flesh with its 
lusts ; not to fulfil the desires of the flesh ; the wis- 
dom of the flesh, &c. are expressions which require 
no explanation. " We are thy flesh and thy bone," 
are familial- expressions to denote kindred and rela- 
tionship, Gen. xxix. 14; xxxviii. 27. 

The wise man says, that the flesh of the intempe- 
rate is consumed by infamous diseases, Prov. v. 11. 
See also Eccles. v. 6. Ecclesiasticus requires a pru- 
dent man to separate his flesh from a prostitute, 
chap. xxv. 26. In 2 Peter ii. 10, we read of" those 
who walk after the flesh, in the hist of uncleanness ;" 
and in Jude 7, of "going after strange flesh." In 
both places reference is expressed to the vile prac- 
tices of the Sodomites. In 2 Pet. ii. 7, we read of 
"the filthy conversation of the wicked ;" and also of 
their "unlawful deeds," ver. 8. The intention of the 



sacred writers is clear ; though veiled for the sake of 
decorum in a general term. 

" Oh that we had of his flesh !" said Job's enemies, 
even his domestics, in his affliction, chap. xxxi. 31. 
They would have eaten him up alive, says Calmet; 
thus they repaid with ingratitude his services to 
them. But Job seems rather to describe his former 
condition, as having been so honorable, that what- 
ever was placed on his table was longed for as the 
most desirable of its kind. So Rosenmuller : " Did 
not my domestics say, Who is there that is not filled 
with his banquets ?" The Psalmist says, The wicked, 
even mine enemies, came upon me to eat up my 
flesh, Ps. xxvii. 2. Wisdom (xii. 5.) reproaches the 
Canaanites with devouring man's flesh ; and Jere- 
miah threatens the inhabitants of Jerusalem that they 
should be constrained to eat the flesh of their friends 
and children. See also Lam. ii. 20 ; iv. 10 ; and 
Ezek. v. 10. .Tosephus relates an instance of this 
during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. 

The revolting custom of eating human flesh is still 
common in many islands of the eastern seas. Some 
eat their parents when they are old ; others eat Eu- 
ropeans, when they can seize them. The Peguans 
sold human flesh publicly. In Whidah, also, it is 
said that human flesh is sold as food. 

FLOOD, see Deluge. 

FLORUS, (Gessius,) the last procurator of Judea, 
succeeded Albinus in the government, A. D. 64. His 
excesses exasperated the Jews beyond patience, and 
forced them to rebel against the Romans, A. D. 66. 
He is thought to have left Judaea, when Vespasian 
went there, A. D. 67. 

FLOUR, see Bread, Cakes, Offerings, &c. 

FLUTE, a musical instrument, sometimes men- 
tioned in Scripture by the names Chalil, Machalath, 
Masrokoth, and Uggab. The last word is generally 
translated organ ; but Calmet thinks it was nothing 
more than a flute ; though his description of it corres- 
ponds to " the Pandean pipes," which are extreme- 
ly ancient, and were perhaps the original organ. 

There is notice taken in the Gospels, of players on 
the flute, [Eng. trans, minstrels,] who were collected 
at funerals. See Matt. ix. 23, 24. The rabbins say, 
that it was not allowable to have less than two play- 
ers on the flute, at the funeral of persons of the mean- 
est condition, beside a professional woman hired to 
lament ; and Josephus relates, that a false report of 
his death being spread at Jerusalem, several persons 
hired players on the flute, by way of preparation for 
his funeral. In the Old Testament, however, we see 
nothing like it. The Jews probably borrowed the 
custom from the Romans. When it was an old wo- 
man who died, they used trumpets ; but flutes when 
a young woman was to be buried. 

FLY, an insect well known ; in the law, declared 
to be unclean, Lev. xi. 42. The Philistines and Ca- 
naanites adored a god of flies, under the name of 
Beelzebub. Wisdom xii. 8. 

The Hebrew language has at least two words for 
flies: the first is arob, (Exod. viii. 21 ; Psal. lxxiii. 45 ; 
cv. 31.) which the Seventy interpreters, who, by re- 
siding on the spot, have had the best opportunity of 
identifying, have rendered the dog-fly ; the Zimb of 
Abyssinia. Others suppose it to be the cock-roach, 
an insect very common in the East. Another word 
for a fly is, zebub, (Eccles. x. 1.) which some have 
conjectured might be the "great blue-bottle fly ;" or 
flesh-fly. Barbut says, (p. 298.) "This is one of the 
numerous classes of insects. Variety runs through 
their forms, their structure, their organization, their 



FLY 



[ 438 ] 



FLY 



metamorphoses, their manner of living, propagating 
their species, and providing for their posterity. Eve- 
ry species is furnished with implements adapted to its 
exigencies. What exquisiteness ! what proportion 
in the several parts which compose the body of a 
fly ! What precision, what mechanism in the springs 
and motion ! — Some are oviparous, others viviparous ; 
which latter have but two young ones at a time, 
whereas the propagation of the former is by hun- 
dreds. Flies are lascivious, troublesome insects, that 
put up with every kind of food. When storms im- 
pend, they have most activity, and sting with greatest 
force. They multiply most in hot, moist climates ; 
and so great was formerly their numbers in Spain, 
that there were fly-hunters commissioned to give 
them chase." 

Schindler, in his Lexicon, considers the Hebrew 
word zebub, with its Chald.ee and Arabic cognates, 
as including the whole of winged insects ; culex, the 
gnat ; vespa, the wasp ; astrum, the gad-fly ; and 
crabro, the hornet : this certainly implies the inclu-, 
sion of true flies, generally ; a species well known 
to be sufficiently numerous. Moreover, that this 
word should hardly be restrained to a single species 
of fly, maybe inferred from the pun employed in 
playing on the appellation of the deity Beelzebub, 
" Lord of flies," to convert it into Beelzebul, " Lord 
of the dunghill ;"— alluding probably to the disposi- 
tion of certain kinds of flies, which roll themselves 
and their eggs in the filth of such places ; so that 
the change of name has a reference, a degrading 
reference, to the manners of the symbol of this deity, 
including, no doubt, a sarcastic sneer at those of his 
worshippers. The general import of this word may be 
further argued from what Pliny tells us (lib. x. cap. 
18.) concerning the deity Achorem, from the Greek 
achor, which may be from the Hebrew Ekron or 
Jlccaron, the city where Beelzebub, the "Lord of 
flies," was worshipped. "The inhabitants of Cy- 
rene," he says, " invoke the assistance of the god 
Achorem, when the multitude of flies produces a 
pestilence ; but when they have placated that deity 
by their offerings, the flies perish immediately." 
Whether only one species of fly pestered the Cyre- 
naicum does not appear. 

The following description of the Zimb, the Ethi- 
opian fly, (zebub) mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, 
(chap. vii. 18.) is furnished by Mr. Bruce. " This 
insect is called Zimb ; it has not been described by 
any naturalist. It is, in size, very little larger than a 
bee, of a thicker proportion, and has wings, which 
are broader than those of a bee, placed separate, 
like those of a fly ; they are of pure gauze, without 
color or spot upon them ; the head is large, the upper 
jaw or lip is sharp, and has at the end of it a strong 
pointed hair, of about a quarter of an inch long ; the 
lower jaw has two of these pointed hairs ; and this 
pencil of hairs, when joined together, makes a resist- 
ance to the finger, nearly equal to that of a strong 
hog's bristle. Its legs are serrated on the inside, 
and the whole covered with brown hair or down. 
As soon as this plague appears, and their buzzing is 
heard, all the cattle forsake their food, and run wildly 
about the plain, till they die, worn out with fatigue, 
fright, and hunger. No remedy remains, but to leave 
the black earth, and hasten down to the sands of At- 
bara ; and there they remain, while the rains last, this 
cruel enemy never daring to pursue them farther. 

"Though his size is immense, as is his strength, 
and his body covered with a thick skin, defended 
with strong hair, yet even the camel is not able to 



sustain the violent punctures the fly makes with his 
pointed proboscis. He must lose no time in remov- 
ing to the sands of Atbara ; for, when once attacked 
by this fly, his body, head, and legs, break out into 
large bosses, which swell, break, and putrefy to the 
certain destruction of the creature. Even the ele- 
phant and rhinoceros, who, by reason of their enor- 
mous bulk, and the vast quantity of food and water 
they daily need, cannot shift to desert and dry places, 
as the season may require, are obliged to roll them- 
selves in mud and mire; which, when dry, coats 
them over like armor, and enables them to stand 
their ground against this winged assassin: yet I 
have found some of these tubercles upon almost 
every elephant and rhinoceros that I have seen, and 
attribute them to this cause. 

"All the inhabitants of the sea-coast of Melinda, 
down to cape Gardefan, to Saba, and the south coast 
of the Red sea, are obliged to put themselves in mo- 
tion, and remove to the next sand, in the beginning 
of the rainy season, to prevent all their stock of 
cattle from being destroyed. This is not a partial 
emigration ; the inhabitants of all the countries, from 
the mountains of Abyssinia northward, to the con- 
fluence of the Nile, and Astaboras, are once a year 
obliged to change their abode, and seek protection 
on the sands of Beja ; nor is there any alternative, 
or means of avoiding this, though a hostile band was 
in their way, capable of spoiling them of half their 
substance. 

" Of all those that have written upon these coun- 
tries, the prophet Isaiah alone has given an account 
of this animal, and the maimer of its operation, Isa. 
vii. 18, 19: 'And it shall come to pass, in that day, 
that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the ut- 
termost part of the rivers of Egypt. And they shall 
come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate val- 
leys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all 
thorns, and upon all bushes.' — That is, they shall cut 
off from the cattle their usual retreat to the desert, 
by taking possession of those places, and meeting 
them there, where ordinarily they never come, and 
which, therefore, were the refuge of the cattle. 

" We cannot read the history of the plagues which 
God brought upon Pharaoh by the hands of Moses, 
without stopping a moment to consider a singularity, 
a very principal one, which attended this plague of 
the fly [Exod. viii. 21, &c] It was not till this time, 
and by means of this insect, that God said, he would 
separate his people from the Egyptians. And it 
would seem that then a law was given to them, that 
fixed the limits of their habitation. It is well known, 
as I have repeatedly said, that the land of Goshen or 
Geshen, the possession of the Israelites, was a land 
of pasture, which was not tilled or sown, because it 
was not overflowed by the Nile. But the land over- 
flowed by the Nile was the black earth of the valley 
of Egypt, and it was here that God confined the flies ; 
for, he says, it shall be a sign of this separation of 
the people, which he had then made, that not one 
fly should be seen in the sand, or pasture-ground, 
the land of Goshen ; and this kind of soil has ever 
since been the refuge of all cattle, emigrating from 
the black earth, to the lower part of Atbara. Isaiah, 
indeed, says, that the fly shall be in all the desert 
places, and, consequently, the sands ; yet this was a 
particular dispensation of Providence, to a special 
end, the desolation of Egypt, and was not a repeal 
of the general law, but a con firmation of it ; it was 
an exception for a particular purpose, and a limited 
time. 



FOO 



[ 439 ] 



FOO 



"I have already said so much on this subject, that 
it would be tiring my reader's patience, to repeat any 
thing concerning him ; I shall, therefore, content 
myself by giving a very accurate design of him, only 
observing that, for distinctness sake, I have magnified 
him something above twice the natural size. He 
has no sting, though he seems to me to be rather of 
the bee kind ; but his motion is more rapid and sud- 
den than that of the bee, and resembles that of the 
gad-fly in England. There is something particular 
in the sound or buzzing of this insect. It is a jarring 
noise, together with a humming ; which induces me 
to believe it proceeds, at least in part, from a vibra- 
tion made with the three hairs at his snout. 

"The Chaldee version is content with calling this 
animal simply zebub, which signifies the fly in gene- 
ral, as we express it in English. The Arabs call it 
zimb in their translation, which has the same gen- 
eral signification. The Ethiopic translation calls it 
tsaltsalya, which is the true name of this particular 
fly in Geez, and was the same in Hebrew." (Bruce's 
Travels, vol. i. p. 5 ; vol. v. p. 191.) 

Thus, at length, we have the true signification of 
a word which has embarrassed translators and com- 
mentators, during two thousand years. The reason 
is evident : the subject of it did not exist nearer than 
Ethiopia; — and who knew that it existed there ? or 
who would go there to inspect it ? What shall we 
say now to the difficulties in Scripture ? — are there 
any, distinct from our own want of information re- 
specting them ? 

FOOL and FOLLY, in Scripture, signify not only, 
according to the literal meaning, an idiot, or one 
whose senses are disordered ; the discourses and 
notions of fools and madmen ; but also sin, and partic- 
ularly sins of impurity, Psal. xxxviii. 5 ; 2 Sam. xiii. 
12, 13. 

The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, 
1 Cor. i. 20, 21 ; iii. 18, 19. The character of fool, 

WISDOM. 

Wisdom hath builded her house, 

She hath hewn out her numerous ornamental pillars, 

She hath killed her beasts, 

She hath mingled her wine ; 

She hath furnished her table ; 

She hath sent forth her maidens ; 

She crieth on the highest places of the city 

" Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither." , 

To him who wanteth understanding, she saith, 

" Come, eat of my bread, 

And drink of the wine I have mingled, 

Forsake the foolish and live, 

And go in the way of Understanding ; 

For by me thy days shall be multiplied, 

And the years of thy life shall be many." 

Thus Folly assumes the counterpart of Wisdom, 
and invites no less generally ; but her invitation is 
easily detected by due consideration, being very 
different from that of real wisdom. The conse- 
quences of following the counsels of these contrasted 
personages are very strongly marked, and are dia- 
metrically opposite ; one tending to prolonged life, 
the other to premature and violent dissolution. It 
appears by the reference to the fatal ends of her 
guests, that the gratification of illicit passion is what 
Folly intends by " stolen waters," and " secret bread :" 
this is the utmost enjoyment she offers, and this en- 
joyment teminates in death ! a description how 



as well as the attribute folly, seems to be used in 
the Proverbs in more than one sense ; sometimes it 
seems to mean lack of understanding, and sometimes 
perverseness of will. Mr. Taylor supposes that a 
companionized picture of Wisdom and Folly is in- 
cluded in the descriptions presented in the ninth 
chapter of the Proverbs. He thinks that the former 
verses of the chapter contain a description of Wis- 
dom personified of her actions, conduct, and beha- 
vior : and that from verse 13 to 18 contains a 
description of Folly, similarly personified ; who mim 
ics the actions, conduct, and behavior of Wisdom ; 
and so closely mimics them, that a person who will 
not exercise deliberation and reflection, would as 
readily be persuaded to follow the false, the imposi- 
tions goddess Folly, as to obey the true, the genuine 
power of Divine Wisdom herself. That such per- 
sonification is common in the Proverbs, and in Ec- 
clesiastes, must be evident to every reader. 

This idea may open the way also, he thinks, to a 
true construction and correction of the passage, 
which, as it stands at present, is obscure ; and, as 
some think, corrupted. The LXX read, verse 13. 
"A foolish and brazen-faced woman, she comes to 
want a piece of bread ; she has no shame ;" the Chal- 
dee reads, " she has no goodness." Some have sup- 
posed that the word (nrno,) simplicity is redundant ; 
but if any word be redundant, it was probably the 
first word, "a woman," in which case, as the nouns 
are of the feminine gender, and imply a woman, 
without that distinctive description, the import of the 
passage would stand thus : 

" Simplicity is foolish and clamorous ;" or, " Folly 
is clamorous — simplicity itself !" that is, extremely 
simple ; and drives away knowledge of any valuable 
kind from her. Yet she sits at the door of her house, 
and imitates the actions of Wisdom ; as appears by 
comparing these two personages, and their addresses, 
to those who need instruction. 

FOLLY. 

Folly is stupid and clamorous, 

Indeed, she repels all knowledge from her: 

She sitteth at the door of her house, 

On a throne in the high places of the city, 

To call passengers who go right on their ways : 

Saying, 

" Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither :" 

To him who wanteth understanding, she saith, 

" Stolen waters are sweet ; 

And bread eaten in secret is pleasant." 

She invites him to her house of rendezvous, 

But he knoweth not that the dead are there, 

That her guests are in the depth of the grave. 

Compare chap. v. 3 — 6. 



applicable to great numbers of unhappy youth among 
us ! Compare Flesh. 

FOOT. By this word the Hebrews modestly ex- 
press those parts which decency forbids us to name ; 
e.g. "the water of the feet," urine. "To cover the 
feet," to dismiss the refuse of nature. "The hair of 
the feet," of the pubes. " Withhold thy foot from 
being unshod, and thy throat from thirst ;" (Jer. ii. 
2.) i. e. do not prostitute yourselves, as you have 
clone, to strange people. Ezek. xvi. 25. " Thou hast 
opened thy feet to every one that passed by." Feet, 
in the sacred writers, often mean inclinations, affec- 
tions, propensities, actions, motions. " G uide my feet 



FOOT 



[ 440 ] 



FO W 



in thy paths ;" keep my feet at a distance from evil : 
"The feet of the debauched woman go down to death," 
— " Let not the feet of pride come upon me,"&c. 

" A wicked man speaketh with his feet," (Prov. vi. 
13.) i. e. he uses much gesture with his hands and 
feet while talking, which the ancient sages blamed. 
Ezekiel (xxv. 6.) reproaches the Ammonites with 
clapping their hands and stamping with their feet in 
token of joy on seeing the desolation of Jerusalem. 
He also describes similar motions as signs of grief, 
because of the ruin of his people, chap. vi. 11. To 
be at any one's feet, is used for obeying him ; being 
in his service, following him, 1 Sam. xxv. 27. Moses 
says, that " the Lord loved his people, and those that 
sat down at his feet ;" who heard him, who belonged 
to him, who were instructed in his doctrine (his pu- 
pils). Paul says, he was brought up at the feet of Ga- 
maliel (as his scholar). Mary sat at our Saviour's feet, 
and heard his word. Jacob said to Laban, (Gen. xxx. 
30.) " The Lord hath blessed thee at my feet ;" which 
Jerome translates ad introitum meum, ever since I 
came to you, and undertook the conduct of your 
flocks. To be under any one's feet, to be a footstool 
to him, signifies the subjection of a subject to his 
sovereign, of a slave to his master. " My foot stand- 
eth right ;" I have pursued the paths of righteousness ; 
or, rather, supposing a Levite to be the speaker, My 
foot shall stand in the place appointed for the Levites 
in the temple, in the court of the priests, where my 
proper station is. Job says, (xix. 15.) he was "feet 
to the lame, and eyes to the blind ;" he led one, and 
supported the other. In another place, that God 
had " put his feet in the stocks, and looked nar- 
rowly to all his paths ;" like a bird, or some other 
animal led along, with a foot fastened to a cord, and 
Unable to go the least step, but as he who guides it 
pleases. Nakedness of feet was a sign of mourning: 
God says to Ezekiel, " Make no mourning for the 
(lead, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet," &c. It 
Was likewise a mark of respect, Exod. iii. 5. Moses 
put off his shoes to approach the burning bush ; and 
most commentators are of opinion, that the priests 
served in the tabernacle with their feet naked, as 
they did afterwards in the temple. The Talmudists 
teach, that if they had but stepped with their feet 
Upon a cloth, a skin, or even upon the foot of one of 
their companions, their service would have been un- 
lawful. That, as the pavement of the temple was 
of marble, the priests used to incur several inconve- 
niences, because of the nakedness of their feet ; to 
prevent which, in the second temple there was a 
room in which the pavement was warmed. The 
frequent ablutions appointed them in the temple 
seem to imply, that their feet were naked. 

It is also thought that the Israelites might not enter 
this holy place, till they had put off" their shoes, and 
cleaned their feet. To this purpose Eccl. v. 1. is ap- 
plied : " Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house 
of God." Take care that your feet be clean. Mai- 
monides says expressly, that it was never allowed to 
enter the house of God on the holy mountain with 
shoes on, or with their ordinary clothes on, or with 
dirty feet. 

The Turks never enter their mosques till after they 
have washed their feet, and their hands, and have 
put off the outward covering of their legs. The 
Christians of Ethiopia enter their churches with their 
shoes off, and the Indian Brahmans and others have 
the same respect for their pagodas and temples. 

Washing of Feet. (See also under Sandals.) 
The orientals used to wash the feet of strangers, 



who came off a journey, because they commonly 
walked with their legs bare, and their feet were de- 
fended only by sandals. So Abraham washed 
the feet of the three angels, Gen. xviii. 4. They 
washed the feet of Eliezer, and those who accom- 
panied him, at the house of Laban, (Gen. xxiv. 
32.) and also those of Joseph's brethren, when they 
came into Egypt, Gen. xliii. 24. This office was 
commonly performed by servants and slaves ; and 
hence Abigail answers David, who sought her in 
marriage, that she should think it an honor to wash 
the feet of the king's servants, 1 Sam. xxv. 41. 
When Paul recommends hospitality, he wotdd have 
a widow assisted by the church, to be one who had 
washed the feet of saints, 1 Tim. v. 10. Our Sa- 
viour, after his last supper, gave his last lesson of hu- 
mility, by washing his disciples' feet, John xiii. 5, 6. 
"Then cometh he to Simon Peter; and Peter saith 
unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus an- 
swered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part 
with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my 
feet only, but also my hands and my head." Our 
Saviour's observation to Peter, " If I wash thee not, 
thou hast no part with me," gave occasion to several 
of the early Christians to believe, that the washing 
of feet had something of the nature of baptism. 

On Good Friday, the Syrians celebrate the festival 
of washing of feet. The Greeks perform the sacred 
Niptere, or holy washing; and in the Latin church 
this ceremony is practised. The bishops, abbots, 
and princes in many places, practise it in person. 
The council of Elvire, seeing the abuse that some 
persons made of it, by putting a confidence in it for 
remission of sins, suppressed it in Spain. 

FORESKIN, see Circumcision. 

FOREST, a woody tract of ground. There were 
several such tracts in Canaan, especially in the north- 
ern parts. The chief of these were, 

The Forest of Ephraim, near Mahanaim. See 
Ephraim IV. 

The Forest of Hareth, in Judah. 

The Forest of Libanus. In addition to the 
proper forest of Libanus, where the cedars grow, 
Scripture thus calls a palace, which Solomon built 
at Jerusalem, contiguous to the palace of the king of 
Egypt's daughter ; and in which he usually resided. 
All the vessels of it were of gold. It was called the 
house of the forest of Libanus, probably from the great 
quantity of cedar used in it, 1 Kings vii. 2 ; x. 27. 

FORNICATION. This word is used in Scrip- 
ture, not only for the sin of impurity, but for idolatry, 
and for all kinds of infidelity to God. Adultery and 
fornication are frequently confounded. Both the 
Old and New Testaments condemn all impurity and 
fornication, corporeal and spiritual ; idolatry, aposta- 
sy, heresy, infidelity, &c. 

FORTUNATUS, mentioned 1 Cor. xvi. 15, 17. 
came from Corinth to Ephesus, to visit Paul. We 
have no particulars of his life or death, only that 
Paul calls Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, the 
first-fruits of Achaia, and set for the service of the 
church and saints. They carried Paul's first epistle 
to Corinth. 

FOUNTAIN, a spring of water. The word is met- 
aphorically used in Prov. v. 16. for a numerous pos- 
terity ; and in Cant. iv. 12. the chastity of the bride 
is denoted by a sealed fountain. "A fountain of liv- 
ing water," or fountain of life, (Cant. iv. 15.) is a 
source of living water, whether it spring out of the 
earth like a fountain, or rise in the bottom of a well. 

FOWL ; the Hebr ;w ipy, oph, which we translate 



FOX 



[ 441 ] 



FOX 



fowl, from the Saxon Jleon, to fly, is a word used to 
denote birds in general. See Birds. 

FOX, or Jackal. This animal is called in Scrip- 
ture byr&, probably from his burrowing, or making- 
holes in the earth, to hide himself, or to dwell in. 
The LXX render it by at-am,*, the fox ; so the Vul- 
gate, vulpes, and our English translation, fox. But 
still, it is no easy matter to determine, whether the 
animal intended be the common fox, or the jackal, the 
little eastern fox, as Hasselquist calls him. Several 
of the modern oriental names of the jackal, from 
their resemblance to the Hebrew, favor the latter in- 
terpretation ; and Dr. Shaw, and other travellers, 
inform us, that while jackals are very numerous in 
Palestine, the common fox is rarely to be met with. 

We shall be safe, perhaps, under these circum- 
stances, in admitting, with Shaw and other crit- 
ics and writers on natural history, that the Hebrew 
Shual conprehended at least the jackal ; although 
this animal has also his distinctive name in Hebrew, 
viz. 'N, the jackal of the East. We shall first describe 
this animal, and then notice those passages of Scrip- 
ture in which he is spoken of. 

The jackal, or Thaleb, as he is called in Arabia 
and Egypt, is said to be of the size of a middling 
dog, resembling the fox in the hinder parts, particu- 
larly the tail ; and the wolf in the fore parts, espe- 
cially the nose. Its legs are shorter than those of the 
fox, and its color is of a bright yellow. There seems 
to be many varieties among them ; those of the 
warmest climates appear to be the largest, and 
their color is rather of a reddish brown, than of that 
beautiful yellow by which the smaller jackal is chief- 
ly distinguished. 

Although the species of the wolf approaches very 
near to that of the dog, yet the jackal seems to be 
placed between them ; to the savage fierceness of the 
wolf, it adds the impudent familiarity of the dog. Its 
ciy is a howl, mixed with barking, and a lamentation 
resembling that of human distress. It is more 
noisy in its pursuits even than the dog, and more 
voracious than the wolf. The jackal never goes 
alone, but always in a pack of forty or fifty together. 
These unite regularly every day, to form a combi- 
nation against the rest of the forest. Nothing then 
can escape them ; they are content to take up with 
the smallest animals ; and yet, when thus united, they 
have courage to face the largest. They seem very 
little afraid of mankind, but pursue their game to the 
very doors, testifying neither attachment or appre- 
hension. They enter insolently into the sheepfolds, 
the yards, and the stables, and, when they can find 
nothing else, devour the leather harness, boots, and 
shoes, and run off with what they have not time to 
swallow. They not only attack the living, but the 
dead. They scratch up with their feet the new- 
made graves, and devour the corpse, how putrid 
soever. In those countries, therefore, where they 
abound, they are obliged to beat the earth over the 
grave, and to mix it with thorns, to prevent the jackals 
from scraping it away. They always assist each 
other as well in this employment of exhumation as in 
that of the chase, and while at their dreary work, ex- 
hort each other by a most mournful cry, resembling 
that of children under chastisement; and when they 
have thus dug up the body, thay share it amicably 
between them. Like all other savage animals, when 
they have once tasted human flesh, they can never 
after refrain from pursuing mankind. They watch 
the burying grounds, follow armies, and keep in the 
rear of caravans. They mav be considered as the 
56 



vulture of the quadruped kind ; every thing that once 
had animal life seems equally agreeable to them ; the 
most putrid substances are greedily devoured ; dried 
leather, and any thing that has been rubbed with 
grease, how insipid soever in itself, is sufficient to 
make the whole go down. Such is the character 
which naturalists have furnished of the jackal, or 
Egyptian fox : let us see what references are made 
to it in Scripture. To its carnivorous habits there is 
an allusion in Ps. lxiii. 9, 10: "Those that seek 
my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts 
of the earth : they shall fall by the sword ; they shall 
be a portion for foxes ;" and to its ravages in the 
vineyard, Solomon refers in Cant. ii. 15: "Take us 
the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines ; for 
our vines have tender grapes." In Scripture, says 
professor Paxton, the church is often compared to a 
vineyard ; her members to the vines with which it is 
stored ; and by consequence, the grapes may signify 
all "the fruits of righteousness" which those mystical 
vines produce. The foxes that spoil these vines must 
therefore mean false teachers, who corrupt the purity 
of doctrine, obscure the simplicity of worship, over- 
turn the beauty of appointed order, break the unity 
of believers, and extinguish the life and vigor of 
Christian practice. These words of Ezekiel may be 
understood in the same sense ; " O Jerusalem ! thy 
prophets, (or, as the context clearly proves,) thy flat- 
tering teachers, are as foxes in the deserts;" (cb. xiii. 
4.) and this name they receive, because, with vulpine 
subtlety, they speak lies in hypocrisy. Such teachers 
the apostle calls "wolves in sheep's clothing;" 
deceitful workers, who, by their cunning, subvert 
whole houses ; and whose word, like the tooth of a 
fox upon the vine, eats as a canker. 

On one particular occasion, our Lord, sr leaking of 
Herod, who had threatened to kill him, applies to 
him metaphorically the name or character of the fox 
or jackal : " Go, tell that fox, that crafty, cruel, insid- 
ious, devouring creature, that jackal of a prince, who 
has indeed expressed his enmity by his threats, as 
jackals indicate their mischievous dispositions by 
their barking, and who yelps in concert with other of 
my enemies, jackal-like — go, tell him that I am safe 
from his fury to-day and to-morrow ; and on the 
third day I shall be completed, — completely beyond 
his power ;" alluding, perhaps, to his resurrection on 
the third day. There have been some doubts as to 
the propriety of our Redeemer's speaking in such 
terms of a civil ruler, whose subject he was, and whose 
character he was therefore bound to respect and to 
honor. For these scruples, however, there is no 
ground ; the character of Herod as a cruel, insidious 
and crafty prince, was too notorious to be disguised 
among any part of his subjects ; and he who knew 
his heart, as well as witnessed his conduct, could 
speak with certainty as to his dispositions and mo- 
tives. Besides this, such metaphorical applications 
as these are much more common in the East than 
here, and would, therefore, not appear so strong »o 
our Lord's attendants as to us. This is shown by a 
passage in Busbequius : (p. 58.) "They [the jackals, or 
ciacals, as the Asiatics call them] go in flocks, and sel- 
dom hurt man or beast; but get their food by craft 
and stealth, more than by open force. Thence it. is 
that the Turks call subtle and crafty persons, especial- 
ly the Asiatics, by the metaphorical name of Ciacals." 

In Judges xv. 4, 5. we read, that "Samson went 
and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, 
and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in 
the midst between two tails ; and when he had 



FOX 



[ 442 ] 



FRO 



set the brands on fire, he let them go into the stand- 
ing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the 
shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vine- 
yards and olives." This narrative has frequently 
been made the butt of ridicule by the unbeliever in 
divine revelation, who has asked with an air of tri- 
umph, How could Samson catch so many foxes in 
so short a time? And when caught, how could he 
make them the instruments of his revenge on the 
Philistines, in the manner which the story represents ? 
To this question we think several satisfactory replies 
have been given ; but as they are still pertinaciously 
urged, it becomes our business again to show, that 
they possess no weight, as militating against the 
claims which the history presents to our belief. That 
the species of fox, of which we are treating, is very 
numerous in the East, we have already shown, by 
the unimpeachable testimony of respectable travel- 
lers ; to these we will add another, whose impartial- 
ity as a witness in favor of Scripture facts will not be 
disputed. Volncy says, " The wolf and the real fox 
are very rare ; but there is a prodigious quantity of 
the middle species named Shacal, which in Syria is 
called wanwee, from its howl; they go in droves." 
And again : " Jackals are. concealed by hundreds in 
the gardens, and among ruins and tombs." We ask, 
then, Where was the difficulty for Samson to procure 
three hundred of these animals, especially as the 
time during which he had to provide them for his 
purpose is not limited to a week or a month ? Be- 
sides this, it should be recollected, that Samson at 
this time sustained the highest office in the common- 
wealth, and consequently could be at no loss for per- 
sons to assist him in ibis singular enterprise. Having 
secured the instruments by which lie designed to 
ruin the property of the oppressors of his country, 
the next thing for consideration is the method by 
which he effected his purpose. 

In considering the circumstances of this narrative, 
there is some attention due to the nature and uses of 
the torches, or flambeaux, or lamps, employed by 
Samson in this procedure ; and perhaps, could we 
identify the nature or form of these, the story might 
be relieved from some of its unctiuthness. They 
are called □■hcS, lapadim, or, rather lampadim, as 
the Chaldee and Syriac write it; whence the Greek 
lampos, and our lamp. Now, these lamps, or burners, 
were placed between two jackals, whose tails were 
tied together, or, at least, there was a connection 
formed between them by a cord ; this is the reading 
of the LXX in the Complutensian. Possibly, then, 
this cord was of a moderate length, and this burner, 
being tied in the middle of it, had something of the 
effect which we have seen among ourselves, when 
wanton malice has tied to the tail of a dog crackers, 
squibs, &c. which, being fired, have worried the 
poor animal to his den, where, supposing them still 
to burn, they might set all around them on fire. We 
know it is the nature of the jackal to roam about 
dwellings and out-houses ; this would lead them to 
where the corn of the Philistines was stored ; which, 
being ignited, would communicate the conflagration 
in every direction. Besides this, the fire giving them 
pain, they would naturally fight each one his associ- 
ate to which he was tied. This would keep them 
among the corn longer than usual ; and few pairs 
thus coupled would agree to return to the same den 
as they had formerly occupied in the mountains ; so 
that nothing could be better adapted to produce a 
general conflagration, than this expedient of combus- 
tion — communicating jackals. We must therefore i 



suppose,^rst, that these burners were at some dis ■ 
tance from the animals, so as not to burn them. 
Secondly, that they were of a nature to hold fire long, 
without being consumed. Thirdly, that they were 
either dim, in the manner of their burning, and their 
light ; or, perhaps, were not to be alarmingly distin- 
guished by their illumination. They might burn dead, 
as we say ; so that their effect might be produced 
too late to prevent the mischief which attended them. 
FRANKINCENSE, see Incense. 
FRIEND is taken in Scripture for a neighbor in 
general, Lev. xix. 18 ; Deut. xix. 4, 5 ; xxiii. 24, 25. 
Saints are called friends of God ; but this title was 
given eminently to Abraham ; (Gen. xxvi. 24.) the 
Mahometans generally call him by this name ; and 
they call Hebron, where they believe his tomb to be, 
the city of the friend of God. The friend of the 
bridegroom, is the brideman ; who does the honors 
of the wedding. 

It is much to be regretted, that our language has 
not a more appropriate word than friend, by which 
to render the Greek IraiQog ; which by no means 
signifies friend in the sense of cp'do;. This is desi- 
rable in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard ; 
(Matt. xx. 13 ; also chap. xxii. 12.) but it is absolute- 
ly necessary in reference to the appellation given by 
our Lord to the traitor Judas, (xxvi. 50.) who cer- 
tainly was not the friend of Jesus when he betrayed 
him. The original word seems here to mean com- 
panion ; or, as our workmen call their fellow-work- 
men, mate ; as, "shop-mate," — a fellow- workman in 
a shop; and "ship-mate," which merely means one 
who sails in the same ship ; but is far enough from 
implying one to whom properly belongs the appella- 
tion of friend ; or one for whom the smallest degree 
of friendship is entertained ; for, in fact, a ship-mate 
may be an enemy. 

FROG, a small and well known amphibious ani- 
mal. Frogs were unclean ; Moses, indeed, does not 
name them, but he includes them by saying, Ye shall 
not eat of any thing that moves in the waters, unless 
it have fins or scales, Lev. xi. 9. John (Rev. xvi. 
13.) says, he saw three unclean spirits issuing out of 
the false prophet's mouth like frogs; and Moses 
brought on Egypt a plague of frogs, Exod. viii. 5, &c. 

FRONTLETS are thus described by Leo of Mo- 
dena: The Jews take four pieces of parchment, and 
write with an ink made on purpose, and in square 
letters, these four passages, one on each piece, (1.) 
" Sanctify unto me all the first-born," &c. Exod. 
xiii. to the 10th verse. (2.) From verse 11 to 16: 
" And when the Lord shall bring thee into the land . 
of the Canaanites," &c. (3.) Deut. vi. 4. "Hear, O 
Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord," to verse 9 
(4.) Deut. xi. 13. "If you shall hearken diligently 
unto my commandments," to verse 21. This they 
do in obedience to the words of Moses : " These 
commandments shall be for a sign unto thee upon 
thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes." 
These four pieces are fast- ^<s#§k 



ened together, and a square 
formed of them, on which 
the letter v is written ; then 
a little square of hard calf's 




skin is put at the top, out 
of which come two leath- 
ern strings an inch wide, 



and a cubit and a half, or 
thereabouts, in length. 
This square is put on the 




i middle of the forehead. 



FUL 



[ 443 ] 



FULFIL 



and the strings, being girt about the head, make a 
knot in the form of the letter i ; they are then 
brought before, and fall on the breast. It is called 
Teffila-schel-Rosch, the Tephila of the head. The 
most devout Jews put it on both at morning and 
noon-day prayer ; but the generality wear it only at 
morning prayer. Only the chanter of the synagogue 
is obliged to put it on at noon, as well as morning. 

It has been much disputed whether the use of 
frontlets and phylacteries was literally ordained by 
Moses. Those who believe their use to be binding, 
observe, that the text speaks as positively of this as 
of other precepts. Moses requires the command- 
ments of God to be written on the doors of houses, 
as a sign on their hands, and as an ornament on their 
foreheads, Exod. xiii. 16. If there be any obligation 
to write these commandments on their doors, as the 
text intimates, then it is said, there is the same for 
writing them on their hands and foreheads. The 
use of frontlets was common in our Saviour's time, 
not only in Judea, but also among the Indian Jews, 
the Persians, and Babylonians. Indeed, long before 
that time, the doctors, whom the high-priest Eleazar 
sent to Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, spoke 
of the phylacteries, and referred the origin of them 
to Moses. 

Others, on the contrary, maintain, that these pre- 
cepts should be taken figuratively and allegorically ; 
meaning, that the Hebrews should carefully preserve 
the remembrance of God's law, and observe his 
commands ; that they should always have them in 
their " mind's eye." Before the Babylonish captivi- 
ty, no traces of them, appear in the history of the 
Jews ; the prophets never inveigh against the 
neglect of them ; nor was there any question con- 
cerning them in the reformation of manners at any 
time among the Hebrews. The almost general cus- 
tom in the East of wearing phylacteries and front- 
lets, determines nothing for the obligation or useful- 
ness of the practice. Christ did not absolutely 
condemn them ; but he condemned the abuse of 
them in the Pharisees, their wearing them with 
affectation, and larger than other Jews. The Cara'ite 
Jews, who adhere to the letter of the law, and de- 
spise traditions, call the rabbinical Jews "bridled 
asses," because they wear these tephilim and front- 
lets. See also Mezuzoth, and Phylacteries. 

FRUIT. By this word is sometimes meant re- 
ward, Prov. i. 31 : they shall receive the reward of 
their bad conduct. "The fruit of the body," signi- 
fies children, Ps. cxxxii. 12. " The fruit of the 
lips," the punishment or reward of words, bad or 
good, Isa. x. 12. "Uncircumcised fruit," or impure 
fruit, (Lev. xix. 23.) is the fruit of a tree newly plant- 
ed, during the first three years. In the fourth year 
it was offered to the Lord ; after which it was in 
general use. 

" The fruits of the Spirit," mentioned by Paul, are 
love, joy, peace, Gal. v. 22. "The fruits of right- 
eousness," mentioned by the same apostle, are sown 
in peace, Phil. i. 11. Irregular passions and carnal 
dispositions produce the fruits of death: they are 
mortal to the soul, James iii. 18 ; Rom. vii. 5. 

FULFIL. This is one of the most difficult words 
in the Bible, to treat within a narrow compass ; for 
as it refers to something foretold, and there are many 
modes of foretelling, as well as different degrees of 
clearness, with which future events may be foretold, 
we naturally expect as many corresponding modes of 
fulfilment as there are varieties in such predictions. 
For instance, Ahijah the prophet foretold to the wife 



of Jeroboam, that as soon as she got home, her child 
should die ; this prediction received an instant and 
direct fulfilment in the death of her child, 1 Kings 
xiv. 17. Joshua foretold, that whoever would under- 
take to rebuild Jericho, should begin it with the loss of 
his first-born son, and finish it with the death of his 
youngest; this was not fulfilled for 500 years, and 
we are uncertain whether it included the death of 
the intermediate children ; but Hiel of Bethel expe- 
rienced its fulfilment. See Abiel. 

Sometimes prophecy has a direct and sole refer- 
ence to a certain fact to come to pass hereafter, at a 
distant period ; but sometimes it refers (doubly) as 
well to a fact which is appointed to take place at no 
very distant period, as to another fact of which the 
first is only a sign or earnest. (See Hezekiah.) So 
that when the first fact has actually happened, the 
prediction may be said in one respect to be fulfilled ; 
while in another respect it may be said to continue 
unfulfilled ; because its complete and final accom- 
plishment is not yet arrived. Many prophecies seem 
to be in this state at present : they have been partly 
fulfilled in past events, and they are fulfilling now 
progressively ; but their final and complete accom- 
plishment is to be looked for hereafter. The Jewish 
nation is a striking instance in proof of this obser- 
vation. 

Sometimes a remarkable phraseology, which has a 
direct reference only to one specific event, is said to 
be fulfilled in another event ; that is, the phrase may 
be well applied to, may be remarkably illustrated by, 
or may, indeed, in a loose and distant acceptation, be 
referred to the latter event ; which appears as another 
and further fulfilment, though, strictly speaking, the 
first fulfilment was enough to satisfy (and actually 
did satisfy) the prophecy. The slaughter of the in- 
fants at Bethlehem may be taken as- an instance of 
this nature ; for certainly the prophet Jeremiah 
(xxxi. 15.) employed the phrase of "Rachel weeping 
for her children, and refusing to be comforted," in 
reference to an event much nearer to himself than 
that to which the evangelist Matthew applies it; 
though the latter event was a remarkable coinci- 
dence, and the expression might readily be accom- 
modated to it. 

Sometimes a phrase which originally meant to 
describe a particular man, or class of men, is said to 
be fulfilled by a class of men distinct, and distant, 
from those of whom it was first spoken ; because 
the resemblance is so close, and their characters so 
similar, that what was predicted of one, may very 
aptly and expressively be applied to the other. So, 
when the prophets complain of the perverseness of 
the Jews in their days, the same kind of perverse- 
ness in the days of the Messiah may naturally be 
described by the same kind of language ; the import 
of which is revived, or more powerfully fulfilled, in 
the later application of it, though to a very distant 
generation. 

Proverbial expressions, which do not refer to any 
specific occurrence, or fact, are said to be fulfilled 
when an event happens — not which may be applied 
or referred to them — but to which they may be ap- 
plied or referred as very similar and descriptive. 

All these, and many other modes of fulfilment, are 
expressed in Scripture ; and it requires attention to 
distinguish whether a stricter or a looser sense is to 
be put on the world fulfil. We ought also to re- 
marly that some things are said to be done, "that it 
might be fulfilled ;" but in general, persons who were 
absolutely engaged in fulfilling prophecy, had nc 



FUR 



[ 444 ] 



FUR 



suspicion that their actions were in any degree pre- 
dicted ; nor did they perceive the relation of them 
to the prophecy, or the prophecy to them, till after 
the events which accomplished the prediction were 
over. Still, it would seem, that our Lord did pur- 
posely and with design to fulfil former predictions, 
use certain expressions, and perform certain actions. 
So he rode on an ass, " that it might be fulfilled" 
which was spoken by the prophet; and Jesus him- 
self knew that he was fulfilling this prophecy, but 
his disciples did not know it ; they did not recollect 
that Scripture contained any such passage ; still less, 
that it thus described any part of the Messiah's char- 
acter or conduct. This appears very remarkably in 
John xix. 28. "After this, Jesus, knowing that all 
things were now accomplished, that the Scripture 
might be fulfilled, said, I thirst." 

Time is said to be fulfilled, or filled up, in various 
places of Scripture. Disposition of mind is said to 
be fulfilled, Deut. i. 36 ; 1 Kings xi. 6. The coun- 
sels of God are said to be fulfilled ; the law and the 
prophets, &c. but these phrases require no ex- 
planation. 

FULLER'S FIELD, FULLER'S FOUNTAIN, 
see Rogel, and Siloam. 

FULLER'S SOAP, see Soap 

FULNESS, a word which is used to signify very 
different things ; but it usually denotes perfection, 
completion, consummation. 

FUNERALS, see Buiual, and Dead. 

FURNACE, a large fire used for melting and re- 
fining metals, &c. but metaphorically taken for a 
state of affliction. Thus, Egypt is called an " iron 
furnace," with reference to Israel, Deut. iv. 20 ; Jer. 
xi. 4. For some remarks on the miraculous preser- 



vation of the Hebrew youths in the fiery furnace, 
see Fire. 

FURROWS, openings in the ground, made by a 
plough, or other instrument. The sacred writers 
sometimes borrow similitudes from the furrows of 
the field, Job xxxi. 38. " If my land cry against me, or 
the furrows thereof complain ;" if I have employed 
the poor to till my ground, without paying them for 
their labor. " Thou waterest the ridges abundantly," 
(Psal. lxv. 10.) "thou settlest the furrows thereof;" 
Heb. thou brakest the clods of it, Eccles. vii. 3, says, 
figuratively, "Sow not upon the furrows of unright- 
eousness," for if thou sowest iniquity, thou shalt reap 
all sorts of evils and misfortunes. See Gal. iv. 7 ; 
Hosea x. 4. "Judgment springeth up as hemlock in 
the furrows of the field." Judgment and wrath will 
produce bitterness in thy fields (Vulgate.) Here is a 
double metaphor, judgment, that is, the vengeance of 
God ; it springs, it produces bitterness, bitter herbs, 
as it were a ploughed field, ready to receive seed. 
And verse 11, 12, I will make Judah plough, and 
Jacob shall break the clods, and form the furrows. 
The ten tribes and Judah shall, one after the other, 
endure the effects of my anger. But the prophet 
adds, immediately, " Sow in righteousness, and reap 
in mercy." 

FURY is attributed to God metaphorically, or 
speaking after the manner of men ; that is, God's 
providential actions are such as would be performed 
by a man in a state of anger. So that when he is 
said to pour out his fury on a person, or on a people, 
it is a figurative expression for dispensing afflictive 
providences ; but we must be very careful not to at- 
tribute human infirmities, passions, or malevolence 
to the Deity. 



G 



GAB 

GAAL, son of Ebed, having entered Shechem, to 
assist it against Abimelech, the people amidst their 
entertainments cursed the invader. Gaal advanced 
to engage him, but was defeated, Judg. ix. 26, A. 
M. 2771. 

I. GAASH, a mountain of Ephraim, north of 
which stood Timnath-Serah, celebrated for Joshua's 
tomb, (Josh. xxiv. 30.) which, Eusebius says, was 
known in his time. 

II. GAASH, a brook or valley, (2 Sam. xxiii. 30.) 
probably at the foot of mount Gaash. 

GABA, a city at the foot of mount Carmel, be- 
tween Ptolemais and Cesarea. Josephus says, it was 
called the city of horsemen, because Herod gave it 
to his veteran cavalry. Reland is of opinion, that it 
is the same as Ca'ipha, or Hepha ; but Eusebius 
places a little town called Gaba, or Gabe, sixteen 
miles from Cesarea in Palestine, on the side of the 
great plain. It is mentioned only by Josephus, iii. 2. 
In Josh, xviii. 24, a Gaba is mentioned, which is 
elsewhere called Geba, which see. 

GABALA, see Gebae. 

GABATHA, a town in the south of Judah, twelve 
miles from Eleutheropolis, where the prophet Ha- 
bakkuk's sepulchre was shown. 

GABBATHA, high, or elevated. In Greek, \<3o- 
oTQioror, paved loith stones. This was the Hebrew 
name of a place in Pilate's palace, (John xix. 13.) 



GAB 

from whence he pronounced sentence against our 
Saviour. It was probably an eminence, or terrace, 
paved with stone or marble, and of considerable 
height. [It was properly a tesselated marble pave- 
ment, or a pavement of mosaic work. From the 
time of Sylla, ornamented pavements of this sort be- 
came common among the wealthy Romans ; and 
when they went abroad on military expeditions or to 
administer the government of a province, they car- 
ried with them pieces of marble ready fitted, which, 
as often as an encampment was formed or a court of 
justice opened, were regularly spread around the 
elevated tribunal on which the commander or pre- 
siding officer was to sit. Julius Csesar followed this 
custom in his expeditions. (See Sueton. Cses. 46. 
Plin. H. N. xxxv. 25.) The word r«>iadh there- 
fore refers to a raised tribunal of this sort. Others, 
considering the origin of the word and the fact that 
Josephus, in describing the exterior of the temple, 
speaks of a pavement of this sort, (B. J. V. 5. 2,) 
suppose that a particular part of Jerusalem is intend- 
ed, pertaining, it would seem, to that part of the tem- 
ple which was called the court of the Gentiles. 
(Winer Bibl. Realw. p. 414.) R. 

GABINIUS, (Aulus,) one of Pompey's generals, 
who was sent into Judea against Alexander and An- 
tigonus. (See Alexander, and Antigonus III.) 
He restored Hircanus at Jerusalem, confirmed him 



GAD 



f 445 ] 



G AI 



in the hign-priesthood, and settled governors and 
judges in the provinces, so that Judea, from a mon 
archy, became an aristocracy. He established courts 
of justice at Jerusalem, Gadara, (or at Dora,) Ama- 
tha, Jericho, and Sephoris ; that the people, finding 
judges in all parts of the country, might not be 
obliged to go far from their habitations. Some learn- 
ed men are of opinion, that the establishment of the 
Sanhedrim owed its origin to Gabinius. On return- 
ing to Rome, Gabinius was prosecuted by the Syri- 
ans, and exiled, ante A. D. 55. He was recalled by 
Julius Caesar, and returned to Syria as triumvir, 
about ante A. D. 41. He showed great friendship to 
Phasael and Herod, and fell in the civil war. (Joseph. 
Ant. xiv. 6—10 ; Bel. Jud. i. 6.) 

GABRIEL, a principal angel. He was sent to the 
prophet Daniel to explain his visions; also toZacha- 
rias, to announce to him. the future birth of John the 
Baptist, Dan. viii. 16; ix. 21 ; x. 16; Luke i. 11, et 
seq. Six months afterwards, he was sent to Naza- 
reth, to the Virgin Mary, Luke i. 26, &c. (See An- 
nunciation.) Probably, also, Gabriel was the angel 
which appeared to Joseph, when thinking to dismiss 
the Virgin Mary; also, on another occasion, enjoin- 
ing him to retire to Egypt ; and, after the decease of 
Herod, directed him to return into Judea. The 
Cabalists say, Gabriel was master or preceptor to the 
patriarch Joseph. 

I. GAD, (prosperity, fortune,) son of Jacob and 
Zilpah, Leah's servant, Gen. xxx. 9, 10, 11. Leah 
called him Gad, saying, "Good fortune cometh !" 
The Engl, translation reads a t?-oop. Gad had seven 
sons, Ziphion, Haggai, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and 
Areli, Gen. xlvi. 16. Jacob, blessing Gad, said, "A 
troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at 
the last," Gen. xlix. 19. Moses, in his last song, men- 
tions Gad, "as a lion which teareth the arm with the 
crown of the head," &c. Deut. xxxiii. 

The tribe of Gad came out of Egypt, in number 
45,650. After'the defeat of the kings Ogand Sihon, 
Gad and Reuben desired to have their allotment east 
of Jordan, alleging their great number of cattle. 
Moses granted their request, on condition that they 
should accompany their brethren, and assist in con- 
quering the land west of Jordan. Gad had his in- 
heritance between Reuben south, and Manasseh 
north, with the mountains of Gilead east, and Jordan 
west.' See Canaan. 

II. GAD, David's friend, who followed him when 
persecuted by Saul. Scripture styles him a prophet, 
and David's seer, 2 Sam. xxiv. 11. The first time 
we find him with this prince, is, when in the land of 
Moab, to secure his father and mother, (1 Sam. xxii. 
5.) in the first year of his flight, and of Saul's perse- 
cution. The prophet Gad warned him to return into 
the land of Judah. After David had determined to 
number his people, the Lord sent the prophet Gad to 
him, who gave him his choice of three scourges : 
seven years' famine, or three months' flight before 
his enemies, or three days' pestilence. Gad advised 
David to erect an altar to the Lord, in the thrashing- 
floor of Oman, or Araunah, the Jebusite. He wrote 
a history of David's life, which is cited 1 Chron. 
xxix. 29. 

III. GAD, a heathen deity, mentioned in several 
passages of Scripture. He is apparently the same as 
Baal, i. e. the planet Jupiter, the star of good fortune. 
(See Baal.) We find a place in Canaan, called the 
Migdal-Gad, Josh. xv. 37, and another in the valley of 
Lebanon, called Baal-Gad, Josh. xi. 17. In Isaiah lxv. 
11, those who prepare the table for Gad are allotted to 



the sword ; and those who furnish a drink-offering 
to Meni, to the slaughter. Perhaps these were ser- 
vices to the powers of heaven, to conjure them to be 
favorable to the productions of the earth, &c. ; 
therefore the subsequent threatening is famine. We 
have, in various parts of England, the ceremonies of 
the wassail bowl ; of going round the orchards, sing- 
ing and sprinkling the trees on twelfth night ; wish- 
ing them fertility, &c. Is this a relic of the services 
prepared for Gad and Meni ? or may it, by resem- 
blance, serve to illustrate them ? It seems to be a 
rite derived from deep antiquity ; as are many 
others of which traces remain. See Baal, ad Jin. 
and Meni. 

Although the deity hitherto commemorated under 
the nameof Gad, is masculine, we have a female di- 
vinity, also, of this name in Hazar-Gaddah ; (Josh, 
xv. 27.) and as Fortune is most commonly female, in 
such statues and figures of her as remain, we need 
not doubt but the Canaanites adored her under 
this sex. 

GADARA, surrounded, walled, a city east of the 
Jordan, in the De- 
capolis. Josephus 
calls it the capital 
of Persea : and Pli- 
ny (lib. v. cap. 16.) 
places it on the riv- 
er Hieromax, (Jar- 
much,) about five 
miles from its junc- 
tion with the Jor- 
dan. It gave name 
to a district which 
extended, probably, 
from the region of 
Scythopolis to the 

borders of Tiberias. Pompey repaired Gadara, in 
consideration of Demetrius his freedrnan, a native 
of it; and Gabinius settled there one of the five 
courts of justice for Judea. Polybius says, that An- 
tiochus the Great besieged this city, which was 
thought to be one of the strongest places in the coun- 
try, and that it surrendered to him on composition. 
Epiphanius speaks of its hot baths. 

The evangelists Mark (v. 1.) and Luke (viii. 26. 
Gr.) say that our Saviour, having passed the sea of 
Tiberias, came into the district. of the Gadarenes. 
Matthew (viii. 28.) calls it Gergasenes ; but as the 
lands belonging to one of these cities were included 
within the limits of the other, one evangelist might 
say, the country of the Gergasenes, another the 
country of the Gadarenes ; either being equally 
correct. 

Mr. Bankes thinks that the place called Oom-kais, 
where are shown numerous caverns and extensive 
ruins, marks the site of Gadara ; but. Mr. Bucking- 
ham speaks of Oom-kais as Gamala. If Gadara be 
properly understood as denoting a fenced protection, 
the name might, with great propriety, be common in 
many parts ; and such retreats would be no less ne- 
cessary at the northern extremities of the country, 
than at the southern. See Geder. 

GADDI, son of Susi, of Manasseh, sent by Moses 
to explore the land, Numb. xiii. 11. 

GADDIEL, son of Sodi, of Zebulun, one of the 
spies, Numb. xiii. 10. 

I. GAIUS, the Greek form of the Latin name 
Caius. He was Paul's disciple, (Acts xix. 29.) and 
was probably a Macedonian, but settled at Corinth, 
where he entertained Paul during his abode there 




GAL 



[ 446 ] 



GAL 



Rom. xvi. 23. When the apostle went into Asia, 
Gaius and Aristarchus accompanied him to Ephe- 
sus, where they abode some time with him ; so that 
in the sedition raised there about the great Diana, 
the Ephesians ran to the house of Ga'ius and Aris- 
tarchus, and dragged them to the theatre. 

II. GAIUS, the person to whom the apostle John 
directed his third epistle, was, in the opinion of sev- 
eral commentators, the same as we have just noticed ; 
but others think he is mentioned in Acts xx. 4, as 
being of Derbe. in Lycaonia ; and consequently not 
the Macedonian. The fact is, that the name was so 
common in antiquity, that there is great difficulty in 
fixing on any one as the person to whom John wrote. 
He might be neither of those known to us in the 
New Testament ; if we might be guided by his char- 
acter, he is certainly the Gaius of Corinth ; for Paul 
describes him, not only as being his host, but also, 
that of the whole church ; — not of the Corinthian 
church, which could not need a host ; but of the 
whole Christian church, whether Jews or Gentiles 
by nation ; whether in opinion followers of Peter or 
of Paul. Such was his Christian benevolence, and 
unrestricted hospitality. Now, this is the very vir- 
tue for which the Gaius to whom John wrote is 
highly praised by the apostle, who could not have 
described the host of the whole church in terms 
more appropriate than he uses of Gaius. It would 
also appear, that the Gaius of Corinth was known at 
Ephesus, he having been with Paul, and in great 
personal danger ; and John, writing from Ephesus in 
favor of certain travelling Christian brethren, might 
probably take this opportunity of commending Gaius. 

GALATIA, a province in Asia Minor, having Pon- 
tus on the east, Bithynia and Paphlagonia north, 
Cappadocia and Phrygia south, and Phrygia west. 
The Gauls, having invaded Asia Minor, in several 
bodies, conquered this 'country, settled in it, and 
called it Galatia, which, in Greek, signifies Gaul. 

The apostle Paul preached several times in Gala- 
tia ; first, A. D. 51, (Acts xvi. 6.) afterwards, A. D. 54, 
(Acts xviii. 23.) and formed considerable churches 
there. It is probable he was the first who preached 
there to the Gentiles; but,possibly,Peter had preached 
there to the Jews, since his first epistle is directed to 
Hebrews, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, &c. 
These Jews were probably the persons who occa- 
sioned those differences in the Galatian church, on 
account of which Paul wrote his epistle, in which he 
takes some pains to establish his character of apostle, 
which had been disputed, with intention to place him 
below Peter, who preached generally to Jews only, 
and who observed the law. 

In 2 Mac. viii. 20, it is said, that Judas Maccabseus, 
exhorting his people to fight valiantly against the 
Syrians, related to them several instances of God's 
protection"; among others, that which they had ex- 
perienced in a battle fought in Babylonia, wherein 
' 6000 Jews killed 120,000 Galatians. We have no 
particulars of the time or circumstances of this de- 
feat ; but it is probable, that the Galatians, settled in 
Galatia, were not meant, but the Gauls, who at that 
time overran Asia, as we have observed from Pausa- 
nias : the Greek Galatai being taken equally for either. 

The Galatians worshipped the mother of the gods. 
Callimachus, in his hymns, calls them "a foolish 
people ;" and Hilary, himself a Gaul, as well as Je- 
rome, describes them as Gallos indociles ; expressions 
which may well excuse Paul's addressing them as 
"foolish," chap. iii. It was probably an appellation 
given to v hem, current in their neighborhood. 



The possessors of Galatia were of three different 
nations, or tribes of Gauls: the Tolistobogi, the 
Trocmi, and the Tectosagi. There are imperial 
medals extant, on which these names are found. (See 
Rosenmuller Bib. Geogr. I. ii. 210, seq.) 

It is of some consequence to maintain these dis- 
tinctions. We have supposed that while Peter was 
preaching in one part of Galatia, the apostle Paul was 
making converts in another part ; and that some, 
claiming authority from Peter, propagated tenets not 
conformable to the opinion of Paul ; to correct and 
expose which was the occasion of Paul's epistle. It 
is probable, th-K the different nations of Gauls fur- 
nished partisans, whose overweening zeal far ex- 
ceeded the doctrines of their instructers. Such has 
ever been the character of the Gauls. Hence, while 
they were at one time ready to pluck out their eyes, 
if it might benefit their evangelical teacher, they 
quickly relinquished his principles, and were as 
readily brought to adopt another gospel, which in- 
deed was not a gospel, but a continuation of unne- 
cessary observances, to which they had already paid 
too much attention. 

Epistle to the Galatians. Some suppose that 
this epistle is the first that was written by Paul. Its 
early date was asserted by Marcion, in the second 
century ; and Tertullian represents the writer as a 
" Neophytos," full of zeal, and not yet brought to be- 
come a "JevV to the Jews, that he might gain the 
Jews." Without adopting this sentiment, we may 
conclude that Paul's first visit to the Galatians was 
not long after his return to Antioch from the council 
at Jerusalem, (Acts xvi.) when he and Silas went 
through Phrygia and Galatia, &c. Calmet has fixed 
this journey to A. D. 51, but Michaelis argues for 
A. D. 49, and it would seem that this letter was writ- 
ten very soon after the departure of the apostle from 
his converts on this journey; for he expresses his 
wonder that they were so soon alienated from him, 
their spiritual father, chap. i. 6. Th'e apostle writes 
this epistle in his own name, and in the names of the 
brethren who were with him ; and who were, in all 
probability, personally known to the Galatians, Acts 

xv. 40 ; xvi. 2. This leads us to think, that it was 
written before he went into Macedonia ; probably 
from Troas, where the apostle made some stay, (Acts 

xvi. 8.) and where he had books and parchments, 
which he committed to the care of Carpus. Others, 
however, have supposed it to have been written at 
Corinth, (Acts xviii.) about A. D. 51 or 52 ; or, at 
Ephesus ; (Acts xviii. 23, 24.) — or, at the same time 
with the epistle to the Romans ; (Acts xx. 2, 4.) — or 
at Rome, which is most improbable: as the writer 
mentions nothing of his bonds, as he does in all his 
epistles written from hence ; nor could he, at that 
time, have reproached the Galatians with being so 
soon perverted from his principles. See more under 
Paul. 

GALBANUM, a gum, or sweet spice, and an in- 
gredient in the incense burned at the golden altar, in 
the holy place, Exod. xxx. 34. It is a juice, drawn 
by incision from a plant, much like the large kind of 
fennel. The smell is not very agreeable, especially 
alone. The word signifies— -fat, unctuous, gummy. 
[It is the gum of a plant growing in Abyssinia, Ara- 
bia, and Syria, called by Pliny Stagonitis, (xii. 25.) 
but supposed to be the same as the Bubon Galbanum 
of Linnaeus. The gum is unctuous and adhesive, of 
a strong and somewhat astringent smell. R. 

GALILEE, one of the most extensive provinces 
into which the Holy Land was divided ; but it prob- 



GAL 



[ 447 ] 



GAT 



ably varied in its limits at different periods. It is 
divided by the rabbins into (1.) The Upper ; (2.) The 
Nether; and, (3.) The Valley. Josephus limits Gal- 
ilee west, by the city of Ptolemais and mount Carmel ; 
on the south by the country of Samaria and Scytho- 
polis ; on the east by the cantons of Hippos, Gadara, 
and Gaulan ; on the north by the confines of the 
Tyrians. Lower Galilee reaches in length from 
Tiberias to Chabulon, or Zabulon, the frontier of 
Ptolemais ; in width from Chaloth, in the great plain, 
to Bersabee. The breadth of Upper Galilee begins 
at Bersabee, and extends to Baca, which separates it 
from the Tyrians. Its length reaches from Telia, a 
village on the river Jordan, to Meroth. But the ex- 
act situation of these places is not known. 

This province contained four tribes ; Issachar, 
Zebulun, Naphtali, and Asher ; a part also of Dan ; 
and part of Perea, beyond the river. Upper Galilee 
abounded in mountains, and was termed " Galilee of 
the Gentiles," as the mountainous nature of the 
country enabled those who possessed the fastnesses 
to maintain themselves against invaders. Strabo 
(lib. xvi.) enumerates among its inhabitants Egyp- 
tians, Arabians, and Phoenicians. Lower Galilee, 
which contained the tribes of Zebulun and Asher, 
was sometimes called the Great Field, "the cham- 
paign," Deut. xi. 30. The valley was adjacent to the 
sea of Tiberias. Josephus describes Galilee as being 
very populous, containing two hundred and four 
cities and towns, the least of which contained 15,000 
inhabitants. It was also very rich, and paid two 
hundred talents in tribute. The natives were brave, 
and made good soldiers ; they were also seditious, 
and prone to insolence and rebellion. Their lan- 
guage and customs differed considerably from those 
of the Judeans, Mark xiv. 70. 

Josephus states that the Galileans were naturally 
good soldiers, bold and intrepid ; that they bravely 
resisted the foreign nations around them ; that their 
country was fruitful, and well cultivated ; and the 
people laborious and industrious. The Galileans, 
according to Josephus, agreed in all things with the 
Pharisees ; but were distinguished by an excessive 
love of liberty ; being strongly prejudiced with the 
idea, that they ought to obey God alone as their 
prince. Perhaps there was some reference to this, 
in representing Jesus as a Galilean to Pilate, Luke 
xxiii. 2. His accusers, to render him suspected of 
this heresy, say, they found him perverting the na- 
tion, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar. 

Our Saviour was surnamed Galilean, (Matt. xxvi. 
69.) because he was brought up at Nazareth, a city of 
this province ; and it deserves notice, that he was so 
addressed by his bitter adversary the dying Julian: — 
" Thou hast conquered, O Galilean !" His disciples, 
and Christians in general, were called Galileans after 
their master, or because several of his apostles be- 
longed to that province, Acts ii. 7. 

Sea of Galilee. See Cinnereth, and Tiberia s. 

GALL. Moses, in the name of God, threatens the 
Israelites to make their grapes — "grapes of gall, and 
their wine the poison of dragons," (Deut. xxxii. 32, 
33.) i. e. to change the sweetness of their grapes into 
bitterness, and their wine into poison ; which, instead 
of cheering and nourishing, would intoxicate and 
destroy them. In the story of Tobit, the gall of a 
fish is used in curing his father's eyes, Tobit vi. 8 ; 
xi. 8, 13. In Jeremiah viii. 14 ; ix. 15, to give water 
of gall to drink, denotes very bitter affliction, Lam. 
iii. 19. The Psalmist (lxix. 21.) says, that his- ene- 
mies, or rather the enemies of the Messiah, offered 



him gall to eat, and vinegar to drink. (See Myrrh, 
and Wine.) " The gall of bitterness," (Acts viii. 23.) 
signifies the most excessively bitter gall ; the most 
desperate disposition of mind ; the most incurable 
malignity, as difficult to be corrected as to change 
gall into sweetness. 

GALLIM, a city of Benjamin, having many foun- 
tains, 1 Sam. xxv. 44 ; Isa. x. 30. 

GALLIC", brother of Seneca the philosopher, and 
proconsul of Achaia, A. D. 53. Like his brother 
Seneca, he was put to death by order of Nero. 
(Tacit. Ann. vi. 3 ; xv. 73.) The Jews being enraged 
against Paul, for converting many Gentiles, dragged 
him to Gallio's tribunal, who, as proconsul, generally 
resided at Corinth, (Acts xviii. 12, 13.) and accused 
him of " teaching men to worship God contrary to 
the law." Paul being about to speak, Gallio told the 
Jews, that " if the matter in question were a breach 
of justice, or an action of a criminal nature, he should 
think himself obliged to hear them ; but as the dis- 
pute was only concerning their law, he would not 
determine such differences." Sosthenes, the chief 
ruler of the synagogue, was seized and beaten, before 
Gallio's seat of justice, without his concerning himself 
about it. 

GAMALA, a considerable town beyond Jordan, in 
the Gaulanitis ; called Gamala, because its appear- 
ance somewhat resembled the form of a camel. It is 
not mentioned in Scripture. It is placed by Jose- 
phus over against Tarichea, but on the opposite side 
of the lake. Gamala was part of Agrippa's kingdom ; 
but the inhabitants refusing to submit to him, it was 
besieged, first by Agrippa's forces, and afterwards 
by the Romans, who, after a long siege, took and 
sacked it. Mr. Legh supposes the ruins of Oora- 
Kais to mark the site of Gamala ; we have, however, 
identified them with Gadara, which see. 

I. GAMALIEL, son of Pedahzur, prince of Ma- 
nasseh when the Israelites left Egypt, Numb. i. 10; 
ii. 20; vii. 54. 

II. GAMALIEL, a doctor of the law, a Pharisee, 
and Paul's master. The Jews having brought Peter 
before the assembly of rulers, Gamaliel moved that 
the apostles should retire ; and then advised the as- 
sembly to take heed what they intended to do touch- 
ing these men, and to treat them with lenity. Ga- 
maliel's advice was followed ; and the apostles were 
liberated, Acts v. 34. 

GAMES, see Race. 

GAMMADIM, brave, valiant warriors. It is very 
uncertain what people are meant by this term, in 
Ezek. xxvii. 11. The learned Fuller supposes them 
to be the people of Phoenicia; Ludolphus conjec- 
tures that they were Africans ; the Cha'dee para- 
phrase makes them Cappadocians ; and the Vulgate 
renders the word " pygmies." Dr. Spencer thinks 
they were images of the tutelar gods, like the lares 
among the Romans, not above a cubit in height. 
[Many of the conjectures on this word are ridiculous. 
It is not necessary to understand it as the name of a 
people ; but rather as an adjective, brave, warlike. So 
Gesenius. R. 

GAREB, a hill near Jerusalem, (Jer. xxxi. 39.) the 
situation of which is not known. 

GARMENTS, see Dresses. 

GATE. The gates or doors to the houses of the 
Hebrews, with their posts, were generally of wood : 
such were the gates of Gaza which Samson carried 
away on his shoulders ; (Judg. xvi. 3.) that is, the 
gate, bars, posts, and locks, if there were any. " Gate" 
is often used in Scripture to denote a place of public 



GAT 



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G AZ 



assembly, where justice was administered, (Deut. 

xvii. 5, 8 ; xxi. 19 ; xxii. 15 ; xxv. 6, 7, &c.) because, 
as the Jews mostly labored in the fields, assemblies 
were held at their city gates, and justice administered 
there, that laborers might lose no time ; and that 
country people, who had affairs of justice, might not 
be obliged to enter the town. See Ruth iv. 1 ; Gen. 
xxiii. 10, 18. [The gates of oriental cities were at 
the same time the market-places, the place of justice ; 
Prov. xxii. 22 ; Amos v. 10, 12, 15; there, too, peo- 
ple assembled to spend their leisure hours, Gen. xix. 
1. Hence " they that sit in the gate" is put for idlers, 
loungers, who are coupled with drunkards, Ps. lxix. 
12. R. 

Hence, also, "gate" sometimes signifies — power, 
dominion ; almost in the same sense as the Turkish 
sultan's palace is called the Porte. God promises 
Abraham, that his posterity shall possess the gates 
of their enemies — their towns, their fortresses, (Gen. 
xxii. 17.) and Christ says to Peter, " Thou art Peter ; 
and on this rock will I build my church, and the gates 
of hell shall not prevail against it," Matt. xvi. 18. See 
Hell, ad Jin. 

It is remarked, that the idol Dagon, having fallen 
before the ark, and the two hands of his statue hav- 
ing fallen on the threshold of his temple, the priests 
afterwards forbore to tread on this part of the door- 
way, 1 Sain. v. 5. The prophet Zephaniah, perhaps, 
alludes to this custom of the Philistines, under the 
expression of "Those who leap on" or over "the 
threshold," chap. i. 9. 

GATES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, (Psal. cxviii. 
19.) those of the temple, where the righteous, the 
saints, true Israelites, pay their vows and praises to 
God ; where none enter but purified Israelites — a na- 
tion of righteous men. 

GATH, (a iv'nie-press,) a city of the Philistines, and 
one of their five principalities ; (1 Sam. v. 8 ; vi. 17.) 
was famous for having given birth to Goliath. It was 
18 miles south of Joppa, and 32 west of Jerusalem. 
David conquered Gath in the beginning of his reign 
over all Israel, (1 Chr. xviii. 1.) and it continued 
subject to his successors till the declension of the 
kingdom of Judah, 2 Chr. xxvi. 6. Rehoboam re- 
built or fortified it, (2 Chron. xi. 8.) and it was after- 
wards recovered by the Philistines, but Uzziah re- 
conquered it. Josephns makes it part of the tribe of 
Dan. Metheg or Metheg-Ammah (Metheg the 
Mother) of 2 Sam. viii. 1, is explained in 1 Chron. 

xviii. 1, by — " Gath and her daughters ;" Gath being 
the mother, and Metheg the daughter. Or it may 
be, that the district of Gath, and its dependencies, 
was in David's time called Metheg-Ammah ; which, 
being unusual, or becoming obsolete, the author of 
the Chronicles explains it to be Gath and its villages. 

Jerome says, there was a large town called Gath, 
ia the way from Eleutheropolis to Gaza ; and Euse- 
bius speaks of another Gath, five miles from Eleu- 
theropolis, towards Lydda, and, consequently, differ- 
ent from that of which Jerome speaks. The former 
author, also, speaking of Gath-Hepher, the place of 
the prophet Jonah's birth, says, it was called Gath- 
Hepher, or Gath in the district of Hepher, to distin- 
guish it from others of the same name. Gath signi- 
fies a wine-press; wherefore it is no wonder that we 
find several places of this name in Palestine, where 
wine-presses were common. Cahnet, who is follow- 
ed by many subsequent writers, makes Gath to be 
the most southern city of the Philistines, and Ekron 
the most northern ; when he supposes that Ekron 
and Gath are placed as the boundaries of their land, 



1 Sam. v. 8, 10 ; xvii. 52. But, as Mr. Conder re- 
marks, this phrase may be more properly interpreted 
as intimating that Gath was the south-eastern border, 
as Ekron was the north-eastern ; and this much better 
accords with the sense of the passages. David had 
a company of Gittite guards. 

GATH-HEPHER was the birth-place of the 
prophet Jonah, 2 Kings xiv. 25. Joshua (xix. 13.) 
places it in Zebulun ; and Jerome says it was two 
miles from Sephoris, or Diocesarea, on the way to- 
wards Tiberias. 

GATH-RIMMON, the ivine-press of Rimmon, or of 
the deity, whose symbol was the pomegranate. — I. A 
city of Dan, (Josh. xix. 45.) which Jerome places ten 
miles from Diospolis, towards Eleutheropolis. It 
was given to the Korathites. — II. A town in the 
half-tribe of Manasseli, west of Jordan ; given to the 
Korathites, Josh. xxi. 25. — III. A city of Ephraim, 
given to the Korathites, 1 Chron. vi. 69. 

GAULAN, or Golan, a city of Bashan, from which 
the small province of Gaulanitis was named. It was 
given to the half-tribe of Manasseh, (Deut. iv. 43.) but 
was ceded to the Levites of Gershom's family, and 
became a city of refuge, Josh. xxi. 27. Eusebius 
says, that in his time, the city of Gaulan was still con- 
siderable, but he does not exactly describe its situa- 
tion. It was in Upper Galilee, and Judas of Gaulan, 
head of the Galileans, was a native of it. 

GAZA, or Azzah, (Gen. x. 19.) a city of the Phi- 
listines, given by Joshua to Judah, Josh. xv. 47 ; 1 
Sam. vi. 17. It was one of the five principalities of 
the Philistines, towards the southern extremity of 
Canaan. It was situated between Raphia and Aske- 
lon, about 60 miles south-west of Jerusalem. ' Its 
advantageous situation exposed it to many revolu- 
tions. It belonged to the Philistines ; then to the 
Hebrews ; recovered its liberty in the reigns of Jo- 
tham and Ahaz ; but was reconquered by Hezekiah, 

2 Kings xviii. 8. It was subject to the Chaldeans, 
with Syria and Phoenicia ; and afterwards to the 
Persians, and the Egyptians, who held it when Alex- 
ander Jannanis besieged, took, and destroyed it, ante 
A. D. 98. (See Zeph. ii. 4.) A new town was after- 
wards built, nearer to the sea, which is now existing. 
Luke speaks (Acts viii. 26.) of Gaza as a desert 
place ; meaning, most probably, the greater Gaza, 
situated on a mountain twenty miles from the sea; 
not Little Gaza, or Majuma, which was very popu- 
lous. Diodorus Siculus mentions old Gaza, and 
Strabo notices " Gaza the desert," which agrees with 
Acts viii. 26. The emperor Constantine gave Maju- 
ma the name of Constantia, in honor of his son ; and 
granted it the honors and privileges of a city, inde- 
pendent on Gaza. The emperor Julian deprived it 
both of its name and its privileges. 

Gaza was a city of great antiquity ; being noticed 
among those cities which marked the boundaries of 
the Canaanite territory. It was a frontier defence 
against Egypt, and has at all times been a town of 
importance. 

The rabbins mention a street outside the city of 
Gaza, where were shambles and an idol temple ; as 
also a place called the Leper's Cloister. See 2 Kings 
vii. 3, &c. Dr. Wittman gives the following de- 
scription of the modern town : — 

" Gaza is situated on an eminence, and is rendered 
picturesque by the number of fine minarets which 
rise majestically above the buildings, and by the 
beautiful date-trees interspersed. A very fine plain 
commences about three miles from the town, on the 
other side, in which are several groves of olive-trees. 



GEB 



[ 449 ] 



GEB 



Advancing toward Gaza, the view becomes still more 
interesting; the groves of olive-trees extending to the 
town, in front of which is a fine avenue of these trees. 
About a mile distant from the town is a commanding 
height. The soil in the neighborhood is of a superi 
or quality. Much pasturage. On the east side of 
the town is a small gateway, near to which, it is said, 
Samson performed his exploit of carrying away the 
gate of the city ; and where he threw down the 
building which killed him and his adversaries. The 
suburbs of Gaza are composed of wretched mud 
huts ; but the interior of the town contains buildings 
superior in appearance to those generally met with 
in Syria. The streets are of a moderate breadth : 
many fragments of statues, columns, &c. of marble, 
are seen in the town walls and other buildings. Oph- 
thalmia and blindness are very prevalent. The sub- 
urbs and environs of Gaza are rendered extremely 
agreeable by a number of large gardens, cultivated 
with great care, on the north, south, and west of the 
town. Plantations of date-trees, also, are numerous. 
The landing place of Gaza is an open beach, highly 
dangerous to boats, especially if laden, a heavy surf 
constantly beating on the shore. Quails are very 
abundant in the neighborhood." 

Gaza distinguishes itself on its medals as sacred, 
and an asylum. Some of them have a key of a pe- 
culiar shape, which seems to have been the appro- 
priate ( — nbol of the city. It is possible that, beside 
the character of this city, as the key of Syria towards 
Egypt, which it really is, the inhabitants might boast 
of the excellence of a kind of key or bolt which was 
proper to it. Whether such might or might not be 
the fact, this representation may perhaps illustrate a 
circumstance mentioned in Judges xvi. 2. The Ga- 
zaites laid wait (or snares) for Samson, all night, in 
the gate of the city, and were quiet, depending on the 
impossibility of hi! opening the bolt of their city door 
— but Samson, at midnight, took away the doors — ■ 
the two posts — bar (bolt) and all — which had been 
the reliance of the Gazaites for securing him. This 
bolt is what Mr. Taylor thinks appears on the medals 
of Gaza. The middle bar of the instrument is rep- 
resented as shooting through that which crosses it ; 
and this is precisely the application elsewhere of the 
word rendered bar in this passage, as appears from 
Exod. xxxvi. 33. "He made the middle bar to shoot 
through the boards from one end to the other," which 
is otherwise phrased, chap. xxvi. 28, " the middle bar 
in the midst of the boards shall reach from end to 
end." These two ideas are very consistent ; for if 
Gaza prided itself on being the key of Syria, no doubt 
but it would denote this character by employing on 
its medals a key of that kind, which it considered as 
the most secure and substantial. In modern times, 
the arms of Gibraltar have been a key, that town 
having been formerly esteemed the key of Spain. 

GAZELLE, see Antelope. 

GEBA. By comparing 2 Sam. v. 25. with 1 Chron. 
xiv. 16, we find apparently the same place called 
Geba and Gibeon ; for David is said, in Samuel, to 
smite the Philistines from Geber to Gazer, which in 
Chronicles is, " from Gibeon even to Gazer." That, 
however, they were not the same city is manifest from 
Josh. xxi. 17, where "Gibeon with her suburbs and 
Geba with her suburbs," are said to be given to the 
Levites. They probably lay not far distant from one 
another. (See Gibeon.) That Geba is not the same 
place as Gibeah of Saul, appears from Isaiah x. 29. 
'They have taken up quarters at Geba ; Ramath is 
afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled." Gibeah was near 
• 57 



Ramah, (Judg. xix. 13; comp. Hos. v. o.) but it ap- 
pears, that Geba is called " Geba of Benjamin " in 1 
Kings xv. 22, though Geba simply, in the parallel 
passage, (2 Chron. xvi. 6.) on occasion of its being 
mentioned among the cities rebuilt by Asa. Geba 
seems to have been the northern limit of the kingdom 
of Judah, (2 Kings xxiii. 8.) "From Geba to Beer- 
sheba," seems to be, with respect to Judah, of the 
same import as "from Dan to Beersheba" had been, 
with respect to all Israel, when under one dominion. 

I. GEBAL, a district, or perhaps a sovereignty, 
south of Judah, and in south Idumea. Gebal signifies 
a mountain ; and the denomination of Gebal is not 
ancient, since it appears only in Psalm lxxxiii. which 
was written, probably, in the time of Jehoshaphat, 
king of Judah. The country south of the Dead sea 
and on the east of El Ghor, or great valley, bears the 
same name to the present day, Djebal, i. e. the ancient 
Gebal, or the Gebalene of the Romans. See Burck- 
hardt's Trav. in Syr. p. 401, seq. (See under Exodus.), 

II. GEBAL, a city of Phoenicia, between Sidon 
and Orthosia, on the shore of the Mediterranean, 
(Ezek. xxvii. 9.) written by Stephens, Ptolemy, and 
Strabo, Gabala ; by Pliny, Gabale ; and by the LXX, 
Byblus. The city of Gebal has the important office 
of " calkers" to the ships of Tyre assigned to it by 
the prophet Ezekiel ; its chiefs are also character- 
ized as wise. 

This city was famous for its worship of Adonis, 
who was believed to have been wounded by a boar 
in mount Libanus. The river Adonis, whose waters 
are at some seasons as red as blood, passes by it ; 
and when this phenomenon appeared, the inhabitants 
lamented Adonis, pretending their river to be colored 
with his blood. See Adonis. 

The best modern description of this city is given 
by Mr. Maundrell, who calls it Jebilee : "Jebilee is 
seated close by the sea, having a vast and fruitful 
plain stretching round it, on its other sides. It makes 
a very mean figure at present ; though it still retains 
the distinction of a city, and discovers evident foot- 
steps of a better condition in former times. In the 
time of the Greek emperors, it was dignified with a 
bishop's see, in which some time sate Severian, the 
grand adversary and arch-conspirator, against Chry- 
sostom. The most remarkable things that appear 
here at this day, are a mosque, and an almshouse 
just by it, both built by sultan Ibrahim. In the for- 
mer his body is deposited. We were admitted to 
see his tomb,-though held by the Turks in great ven- 
eration. We found it only a great wooden chest, 
erected over his grave, and covered with a carpet of 
painted calico, extending on all sides down to the 
ground. In this mosque we saw several large in- 
cense pots, candlesticks for altars, and church furni- 
ture, being the spoils of Christian churches at the 
taking of Cyprus. Close by the mosque is a very 
beautiful bagnio, and a small grove of orange-trees, 
under the shade of which travellers are wont to pitch 
their tents in the summer time. Jebilee seems v> 
have had anciently some convenience for shipping. 
There is still to be seen a ridge composed of huge 
square stones, running a little way into the sea, which 
appears to have been formerly continued further on, 
and to have had a mole. Near this place we saw a 
great many pillars of granite, some by the water side, 
others tumbled into the water. There were others 
in a garden close by, together with capitals of white 
marble, finely varied : which testify, in some meas- 
ure, the ancient splendor of this city. But the most 
considerable antiquity in Jebilee, and greatest mon- 



G EH 



[ 450 ] 



GEN 



ument of its former eminency, is the remains of a 
noble theatre, just at the north gate of the city. All 
of it that is now standing is the semicircle. It extends 
from corner to corner, just a hundred yards. In this 
semicircular part is a range of seventeen round win- 
dows, just above the ground; and between the win- 
dows all round were raised, on high pedestals, large 
massy pillars, standing as buttresses against the wall, 
both for the strength and ornament of the fabric ; but 
these supporters are at present most of them broken 
down. Within is a very large arena. On the west 
side the seats of the spectators remain still entire, as 
do likewise the caves or vaults which run under the 
subsellia all round the theatre. The outward wall is 
three yards three quarters thick, and built of very 
large and firm stones ; which great strength has pre- 
served it thus long from the jaws of time, and from 
that general ruin which the Turks bring with them 
into most places where they come." 

GEBER, son of Uri, governor of Gilead, in the 
reign of Solomon, 1 Kings iv. 19. 

I. GEDALIAH, son of Ahikam, was made gov- 
ernor of Palestine, by Nebuchadnezzar, after the de- 
struction of Jerusalem and the temple ; (Jer. xl. xli. 
2 Kings xxv. 22.) A. M. 3416. Jeremiah and many 
Jews who had fled into Moab and Amnion, retired 
to him at Mizpah. Gedaliah assured them of Nebu- 
chadnezzar's protection, on condition that they lived 
peaceably. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, of the royal 
family of Judah, having been entertained at the table 
of Gedaliah, the prince and his associates massacred 
him, and all about him, as well Jews as Chaldeans. 

II. GEDALIAH, son of Amariah, and grandfa- 
ther of the prophet Zephaniah, Zeph. i. 1. 

GEDER. This word signifies a wall, enclosure, 
fortified place ; as do also the names in the following 
articles, which are all derived from it. Geder itself 
was an ancient Canaanitish place, in the plain of 
Judah, (Josh. xii. 13 ;) and was probably the same 
with the following Gederah. R. 

GEDERAH, a city in the plain of Judah, (Josh, 
xv. 36.) probably the same with the preceding Ge- 
der, and with Beth-Gader, 1 Chron. ii. 51. It would 
thence seem to have pertained to the family of 
Caleb. R. 

GEDEROTH, a place in the tribe of Judah, Josh, 
xv. 41 ; 2 Chron. xxviii. 18. R. 

GEDEROTHAIM, a place in the plain of Judah, 
Josh. xv. 36. R. 

GEDOR, a city apparently in the south of the 
mountains of Judah, surrounded by fat pastures, and 
formerly occupied by the Amalekites ; 1 Chron. iv. 
39 seq. xii. 7 ; Josh. xv. 58. It is also the name of a 
man, 1 Chron. viii. 31 ; ix. 37. R. 

GEHAZI, Elisha's servant, almost continually at- 
tended that prophet, and was concerned in whatever 
happened to him ; till being overcome by avarice, he 
solicited, and obtained, in the prophet's name, from 
Naaman the Syrian, a talent of silver, and two 
changes of garments, 2 Kings v. 20. His avarice, 
however, was punished, for he was seized with a 
leprosy, and quitted Elisha. The king of Israel 
would sometimes make Gehazi relate the wonders 
which God had wrought by Elisha, 2 Kings viii. 4, 
5, &c. See Elisha. 

GEHENNA, or Gehennom, or valley of Hinnom ; 
or valley of the son of Hinnom, (see Josh. xv. 8 ; 
2 Kings xxiii. 10. Heb.) a valley adjacent to Jerusa- 
lem, through which the southern limits of the tribe 
of Benjamin passed. Eusebius says, it lay east of 
Jerusalem, at the foot of its walls ; but we are cer- 



tain it also extended south, along the brook Kedron 
It is thought to have been the common sewer be- 
longing to Jerusalem, and that a fire was always 
burning there to consume the filth of the city. In 
allusion to this circumstance, or to the fire kept up in 
the valley in honor of Moloch, the false god, to whom 
the Hebrews frequently offered human sacrifices, 
and even their own children, (Jer. vii. 31.) hell is 
called Gehenna, in some parts of the New Testa- 
ment. Josiah, to pollute this place, and render it 
odious, commanded all manner of ordure, and dead 
men's bones, to be thrown into it, 2 Kings xxiii. 10. 

After having been the scene of much cruelty, then 
Gehenna became the receptacle of much pollution ; 
so far it coincided in character with hell ; and the 
perpetual fires that were kept burning there to con- 
sume the filth of the city, added another similarity 
to those evils attributed to the place of torment. The 
combined ideas of wickedness, pollution, and pun- 
ishment, compose that character which might well 
justify the Syriac language in deriving its name of 
hell from this valley of the sons of Hinnom. (Comp. 
Matt. v. 22.) 

[The name rrfvrd, Gehenna, properly signifies the 
valley of Hinnom, am nu, Ghe-Hinnom, (Jer. vii. 31.) a 
valley just south of Jerusalem, running westward 
from the valley of the Cedrqn, well watered, and in 
ancient times, most, verdant and delightfully shaded 
with trees. It was here that the idolatrous Israel- 
ites established the worship of Moloch, under the 
form of a brazen image having the face of a bull ; 
and to this image they offered their own children in 
sacrifice, causing them to be consumed in a furnace of 
fire into which they dropped from the arms of the 
idol ; 1 Kings xi. 7 ; 2 Kings xvi. 3. The valley is 
also called nop, Tophet, (Jer. vii. 31,) from the drums, 
r|n, d'bp, which were beaten to drown the cries of the 
victims. After the captivity, the Jews regarded this 
spot with abhorrence, on account of the abomina- 
tions which had been practised there, and following 
the example of Josiah, (2 Kings xxiii. 10.) they threw 
into it every species of filth, as well as the carcasses 
of animals and the dead bodies of malefactors, etc. 
To prevent the pestilence which such a mass would 
occasion if left to putrify, constant fires were main- 
tained in the valley in order to consume the whole ; 
and hence the place received the appellation of Ge- 
henna of fire. By an easy metaphor, the Jews, who 
could imagine no severer torment than that of fire, 
transferred this name to the infernal fire, — to that 
part of Hades in which they supposed that demons 
and the souls of wicked men were punished in eter- 
nal fire. (See Jahn, § 411. Wetstein N. T. torn. i. p. 
299.) R. 

I. GEM ARIAH, son of Hilkiah, was sent to Baby- 
lon with Elasah, son of Shaphan, from Zedekiah, 
king of Judah, to carry the tribute-money to Nebu- 
chadnezzar. They carried also a letter from Jere- 
miah to the Jewish captives at Babylon, warning 
them against certain false prophets, who flattered 
them with promises of a speedy return to Judea ; 
(Jer. xxix. 3, 4.) about A. M. 3408. 

II. GEMARIAH, the son of Shaphan, and a 
counsellor to Jehoiakim, before whom Baruch read 
Jeremiah's prophecies ; and who reported them to 
the king, Jer. xxxvi. 12. 

GENEALOGY. Never was a nation more cir- 
cumspect about their genealogies than the Hebrews. 
We find them in their sacred writings carried on for 
upwards of 3500 years. In the evangelists we have 
the genealogy of Christ, for four thousand years, 



GENEALOGY 



[ 451 ] 



GENEALOGY 



from Adam to Joseph his father, and to Mary his 
mother. It is observed in Ezra ii. 62, that such 
priests as could not produce an exact genealogy of 
their families, were not permitted to exercise their 
sacred functions ; and Josephus says, that they had 
an uninterrupted succession of priests for 2000 
years ; that the priests were particularly careful to 
preserve their genealogies, not only in Judea, but 
wherever they were. They never married but into 
their own rank, and they had exact genealogical tables, 
prepared from those authentic documents which were 
kept at Jerusalem, and to which they had recourse. 

It is observable that the genealogies recorded by 
Ezra and Nehemiah vary in some particulars ; the 
reason of which is thus assigned by Prideaux: "For 
the true settling of these genealogies, search was 
made by Nehemiah for old registers, and having 
among them found a register of the genealogies of 
those who came up at first from Babylon, with Ze- 
rubbabel and Joshua, he settled this matter accord- 
ing to that, adding such as afterwards came up, and 
expunging others whose families were extinguished : 
and this hath caused the differences between the 
accounts which we have of these genealogies in 
Ezra and Nehemiah. For in the second chapter of 
Ezra, we have the old register, made by Zerubbabel ; 
and in the seventh of Nehemiah, from the sixth 
verse to the end of the chapter, we have a copy of 
it as settled by Nehemiah, with the alterations I have 
mentioned." (Connect. &c. part i. book iv.) 

Since the last war of the Romans against the Jews, 
about thirty years after the death of our Saviour, and 
particularly since their dispersion in the reign of 
Adrian, they have lost their ancient genealogies ; and 
perhaps not even one of the sacerdotal race can 
produce his pedigree. 

Genealogy of Jesus Christ. — The variations in the 
genealogical tables of Matthew and Luke have been 
discussed by almost every commentator from the 
earliest times, and different methods have been pro- 
posed for their solution. It is obviously impossible, 
however, within the limits of an article of any rea- 
sonable length, in a work like the present, even to 
enumerate the various hypotheses that have been ad- 
vanced on the subject. One thing is certain ; — that 
they were derived from authentic sources, and were 
at least sufficiently accurate to satisfy the persons 
for whom they were moi-e especially designed. It 
cannot be believed for a moment, that in an affair of 
so much importance as that of an exhibition of the 
evidence by which the descent of Jesus from Abra- 
ham and David was to be proved, upon which, in 
fact, his official character depended, and in which a 
single error, accidental or otherwise, would have 
been fatal — it cannot be believed that here the evan- 
gelists would either have copied incorrectly, or have 
wilfully falsified. Had they done so, the public regis- 
tries, which were open to inspection, would have 
enabled any one to expose the fraud ; and we may 
be sure that among the enemies of the Redeemer, 
men who denied his Messiahship, many would have 
been found to undertake that which would so com- 
pletely effect their wishes. That no such attempts 
were made, furnishes a sufficient guarantee of the 
accuracy of these tables, whatever difficulties they 
may present to modern readers. 

In the article Generation, Mr. Taylor has sug- 
gested a different idea of the fourteen generations 
of Matthew to that generally entertained ; yet being 
desirous of doing justice to other modes of deter- 
mining those generations, he gives the following 



comparative Genealogy. [The following compara- 
tive table is constructed on the hypothesis, that Mat- 
thew gives the genealogy of our Saviour through 
Joseph his father ; while Luke exhibits that of his 
mother Mary. R. 



These names, Luke (iii. 34 — 38.) reckons alone ; going back twenty 
degrees higher in the genealogy of Jesus than Matthew ; that is, 
from Abraham to Adam. 



GOD. 




1 Adam. 




11 Shem. 


2 Seth. 




12 Arphaxad. 


3 Enos. 




13 Selah. 


4 Cainan. 




14 Heber. 


5 Mehalaleel. 




15 Peleg. 


6 Jared. 




16 Reu. 


7 Enoch. 




17 Serug. 


8 Methuselah. 




18 Nahor. 


9 Lamech. 




19 Terah. 


10 Noah. 






Matthew (i. 1 — lC) and Luke 


(iii. 31 — 34.) reckon together the 


natural line of Jesus, from Abraham to David, as follows : 


1 ABRAHAM. 




20 ABRAHAM. 


2 Isaac. 




21 Isaac. 


3 Jacob. 




22 Jacob. 


4 Judah. 




23 Judah. 


5 Pharez. 




24 Pharez. 


6 Hesron. 




25 Hesron. 


7 Aram. 




26 Aram. 


8 Aminadab. 




27 Aminadab. 


9 Nahshon. 




28 Nahshon. 


10 Salmon. 




29 Salmon. 


11 Boaz. 




30 Boaz. 


12 Obed. 




31 Obed. 


13 Jesse. 




32 Jesse. 


14 David. 




33 David. 


The first 14 generations mentioned by Matthew. 


Matthew (i. 13 — 16.) reckons 




Luke (iii. 23.) reckons 


in this line the ancestors of 




in this line the ances- 


Joseph. 




tors of Mary. 


1 Solomon. 




34 Nathan. 


2 Rehoboam. 




35 Mattatha. 


3 Abijah. 




36 Me nan. 


4 Asa. 




37 Meleah. 


5 Jehoshaphat. 




38 Eliakim. 


6 Jehoram. 




39 Jonan. 


Ahaziah. } omitted 




40 Joseph. 


Joash. > by 




41 Judah. 


Amaziah. ) Matthew. 




42 Simeon. 


7 Uzziah. 




43 Levi. 


8 JOTHAM. 




44 Matthat. 


9 Ahaz. 




45 Jorim. 


10 Hezekiah. 




46 Eliezer. 


11 Manasseh. 




47 Joses. 


12 Ammon. 




48 Er. 


13 JOSIAH. 




49 Elmodam. 


14 Jehoiakim. 




50 Cosam. 


The second 14 generations 


mentioned by Matthew. 


1 Jechoniah, dying childless, his 


51 Addi. 


son, or nearest of kin, according 


52 Melchi. 


to Numb, xxviii. 8 — 11, 


is to be 


53 Neri. 






3 55 Zerubbabel. 


The regal line of Solomon ends. 





* Where Luke (iii. 27.) calls Salathiel son of Neri, understand the 
natural son. 

Whern Matthew (i. 12.) calls Salathiel son of Jechoniah, under- 
stand his legal son, succeeding as nearest of kin j perhaps, also, by 
adoption. See Adoption. 



GEN 



[ 452 ] 



GENERATION 



4 Abiud. 


0\J I» lIL,^ \. 




^» V 1 i l v MVA 

«J# «J U Al\ i\ A. 


tj IjLI AK1.W, 


^ft T TTTi A IT 




<:M 1 - ' . 1 I ] . 


r a 

O AZAR» 


rill S! H "P \T V T 

vivy o n n. i>i iL.ii 




1 1YT 1TT1THI4 TT 
\J J. 1T1 Al 1 A 1 tl 1 A 11 • 




fi9 M A ATM 




UO llACiLrAl. 


8 A j ■ 1 1 i nr 


f{A Fcti 

J_jo 11. 




rl^ INJ AX1TT1M 

U«J ill A HUM. 


J HjIilUD. 


fifi A iyt r» c 




\J I 111 Al lAllilAli. 


10 Eleazar. 


68 Joseph. 




69 Jannah. 


1 1 TV! 1TTH1N 
X 1 1TJ.A J 1 il A.i, 


70 Melchi. 




71 Levi. 


12 Jacob. 


72 Matthat. 




73 Hfi i 

/ O i ■ III 1 ■ 


13 JOSEPH.*' 


74 MARY. 


A just man of the house 


Ji virgin of the 


and lineage of David. 


house of David. 


(Matt. i. 19. Luke ii. 4.) 


(Luke i. 27.) 


14 JESUS CHRIST. 


75 from ADAM. 


The third 14 generations mentioned by Matthew. 


* Where Luke (iii. 93.) cal 


s Joseph son of Heli, understand his 


son-in-law by marriage of his 


daughter Mary; but not excluding 


adoption. See Adoption. 





GENERATION. Besides the common accept- 
ation of this word, as signifying race, descent, lineage, 
it is used for the history and genealogy of a person ; 
as Gen. v. 1. " The book of the generations of Ad- 
am," i. e. the history of Adam's creation and of his 
posterity. So Gen. ii. 4, " The generations of the 
heavens and of the earth," i. e. their genealogy, so to 
speak, the history of the creation of heaven and earth. 
Matt. i. 1, "The book of the generation of Jesus 
Christ," i. e. the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the histo- 
ry of his descent and life. 

" The present generation" comprises all those who 
are now alive. Matt. xxiv. 34. "This generation 
shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled ;" some now 
living shall witness the event foretold. Acts ii. 40. 
" Save yourselves from this untoward generation 
from the punishment which awaits these perverse 
men. — Sometimes also the word refers to future ages ; 
" To generation and generation," i. e. to future ages ; 
Isaiah liii. 8. "Who shall declare his generation?" 
who can enumerate his posterity ? i. e. He was cut 
off by an untimely death, yet his posterity, his fol- 
lowers, shall be innumerable. 

The Hebrews, like other ancient nations, some- 
times computed loosely by generations. Thus Gen. 
xv. 16. " In the fourth generation thy descendants 
shall come hither again." Deut. xxiii. 2. "A bastard 
shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, 
even to his tenth generation." The duration of a 
generation is of course very uncertain ; indeed, it is 
impossible to establish any precise limits. Hence it 
has been fixed by some at one hundred years; by 
others, at a hundred and ten ; by others at thirty-three, 
thirty, twenty -five, and even twenty years ; being 
neither uniform nor settled. It is, however, gener- 
ally admitted, that a generation in the earliest periods 
is to be reckoned longer than one in later times. 

It is well known that the learned have been much 
embarrassed to make out the even number of fourteen 
generations in the genealogy of Christ, reckoned by 



the evangelist Matthew ; (chap, i.) " So all the gen- 
erations from Abraham to David, are fourteen gen- 
erations ; and from David unto the Babylonish 
captivity, are fourteen generations ; and from the 
Babylonish captivity to Christ, are fourteen genera- 
tions." Bishop Pearce proposes to read "seventeen 
generations" in the second number ; and others say, 
"Cut out the whole." Upon this perplexing subject, 
Mr. Taylor has the following remarks. [These re- 
marks are suffered to remain here, although they are 
built on very slight foundations, and amount to nothing 
but conjecture after all. The best mode of recon- 
ciling the two genealogies of our Lord is given 
above. A very judicious view of the whole subject, 
is given by Newcome in the notes to his Harmony 
of the Gospels, which see. R. 

It is notorious, (1.) that three princes of short 
reigns are omitted, between Jehoram and Uzziah, in 
verse 8. (2.) Some MSS. in order to make up the 
number of fourteen generations, insert in verse 11. 
"And Jehoiakim begat Jechoniah." (3.) Other va- 
riations of the numbers of these generations, are 
well known to those who have investigated the sub- 
ject. Now, to preserve the number of fourteen gen- 
erations in each class, is impossible, if we adhere to 
the historical succession of the kings, and refer the 
word " generation" to natural descent. But let us 
see the consequences, if we take the word " genera- 
tion" as expressing a portion of time, or mean of 
calculation, by the general (not individual) course of 
human life. 

" From Abraham to David is fourteen generations." 
Now, a generation, in those early ages, might be 
taken at 93, 80, or 70 years, in the former part of the 
period ; and 60, 50, or 40 years, at the close of it. 
If we take the average, or medium, it will be 65 
years — for Abraham was born about ante A. D. 
1996, and David ante A. D. 1085, making the inter- 
val 911 years — which, divided by fourteen, gives 
full sixty-five years to a generation. That about 70 
years might denote a generation, in the days of 
Abraham, seems probable from Gen. xv. 16. "In the 
fourth generation — from thy posterity's going into 
Egypt, or servitude — they shall return to Canaan ;" 
the interval being about four periods of 70 years 
each, i. e. 280 years ; for Joseph was sold ante A. D. 
1729, and Israel entered Canaan, under Joshua, about 
ante A. D. 1451. But if it should be thought a gen- 
eration in the days of Abraham extended to a hun- 
dred years, it will not affect the argument ; because 
human life was proportionably diminished towards 
the time of David. 

It seems that forty years was not esteemed to be a 
complete generation in the days of Moses, since 
those sinners who had grieved God forty years in the 
wilderness (Psal. xcv. 10.) are considered as having 
been cut off' at an untimely period of life. From the 
birth of David to the Babylonish captivity, the medi- 
um of fourteen generations approaches very near to 
that of the regular estimate of generations among the 
ancients, which were usually reckoned three to a 
century, say 33 years. In this interval they are 
about 36 years ; for David was born ante A. D. 1085 
and the deportation to Babylon was ante A. D. 581 
The difference is about 504 years ; which, divided by 
fourteen, gives 36 years to a generation. From the 
Babylonian captivity to Chrjst, the generations are 
varied to forty or forty -one years each. 

Now the Messiah was restricted by divine appoint- 
ment, (1.) to the posterity of Abraham. (2.) To the 
family of David. (3.) To the then exit ting temple. 



GENERATION 



[ 453 ] 



GENERATION 



The preceding calculations are taken from the 
beginning of the respective periods mentioned ; but 
they should rather be taken from periods more im- 
mediately connected with the pedigree of the Messi- 
ah. As thus : — From the covenant made with Abra- 
ham, including "the blessing of all nations." &c. or 
from the birth of Isaac, (ante A. D. 1893.) to the 
revival of this promise, and the fixing of Messiah to 
the family of David, (2 Sam. vii. 16.) about ante A. 
D. 1044. This interval is 850 years ; which, divided 
by 14, gives somewhere about 60 years to a genera- 
tion. From the promise fixing the Messiah in the 
family of David, (ante A. D. 1044,) to that of his 
coming to visit his people, this temple, &c. (ante A. D. 
520,) — the next great promise, at the commencement I 
of a new order of things, attaching the Messiah to ! 
place and time — the interval is 524 years ; which di- 
vided by 14, gives 37 years to a generation. The 
remaining 520 years, from the promise made in hon- 
or of the second temple, till Christ was brought to 
that temple, evidently gives the same number of 37 
years to a generation. 

We believe it is usual in the English court of 
chancery to reckon generations from 33 to 35 years, 
but on some occasions the court reckons so low as 
30 years. However, in estimating the genealogy 
given by Matthew, we do not seek precisely legal 
accuracy ; it is enough, if we show that the mode 
of his computation may be explained, without refer- 
ring to names of kings or descendants, admitted or 
omitted, or to other circumstances which have per- 
plexed the learned, which is what we have in view. 

This leads to a few observations ; as, (1.) Our 
Lord uses the term generation to express a period of 
about 36 or 37 years, when he says, "This generation 
shall not be passed away till Jerusalem be destroyed ;" 
say A. D. 70. (2.) That fourteen periods of 37 years 
each, reckoned upwards from Christ, bring us up to 
the consecration of the second temple, being about 
520 years. (3.) That fourteen periods of 37 years 
each, (524 years,) from the consecration of the sec- 
ond temple, reckoned upwards, bring us to that pe- 
riod of David's reign, when he received the promise 
that the Messiah should spring from his family. (4.) 
That there were more ways than one of calculating 
the time of the expected coming of the Messiah ; 
and that the vetus et constans opinio of Suetonius and 
Tacitus, that "about this time the king of the Jews 
was expected," had more (we do not say better) 
foundations than we know of, or are aware of : and 
that it is very likely, when the ancient prophets exam- 
ined to what period the Spirit that spake by them 
referred, they might obtain (and might also commu- 
nicate) much information, which has not come down 
to us. Daniel's seventy weeks are closely connected 
with our last period of fourteen generations. 

The following are the sentiments of Montfaucon 
on the period of time, intended among the ancients 
by the word generation, and the use of it in calcula- 
tion. " The ancients painted the several parts of 
time under human forms ; as for example atmr and 
yf»E«, an age and a generation. The first of these 
(the al'uiv) is taken by the Greeks in various senses. 
Jerome in his commentcuy on Ezekiel xxix. says, 
that the word otiW, or age, is the space of 70 years ; 
and may be reckoned about the full age of a man. It 
is likewise often taken for the full term of a man's life ; 
sometimes for an undeterminate time, and at other 
times for eternity. As the Greeks had their yn e«, 
generation, so the Latins also had their seculum, or 
generation ; concerning both which words there 



have been great disputes, that is, as to the space of time 
signified by them. For some would have the two 
words (that is, seculum or gen eration) to be equivalent 
to, and to denote, a space of thirty years ; but at 
length custom prevailed, and determined the seculum 
to be a hundred years ; while the most common opin- 
ion was, that the Greek (y«««) generation was no more 
than thirty years. I know not certainly whether the 
Greeks ever represented their (ysi tu,) generation un- 
der a human form, as well as other parts of time ; 
though it is very probable they did, considering that 
in those days they expressed almost every thing so. 
As to the custom of reckoning their years by gener- 
ations, it is of great antiquity ; seeing we find Hero- 
dotus reckoning in that manner in several places." 
(Sup. Antiq. Exp. vol. i. 8.) 

Among the Syrians it appears to have been cus- 
tomary to compute time by generations ; at least, it 
occurs in several places in their writings. In Nor- 
berg, (vol. i. p. 51, 53, 95.) we read, "After the lapse 
of twenty-five generations, the world was visited by 
water, and the sons of men by the progress of this 
water were exiled from the body . . . except Nuh, 
the man, and Nuraito, his wife, also Schum, Jamin, 
and Jafet, sons of that Nuh ; who were delivered 
from death by water, and by whom the world was 
restored. From Schurbai and Scharhabil to the 
generation of Nuh were fifteen generations. . . But 
from Nuh and the ark until Ibrahim, who had the 
prophetic spirit, and until Meseho [Melchizedek ?] 
and until the city of Jerusalem was built, were six 
generations. They also say, that, " From Adam to 
Ram and Rud were thirty generations; from these 
to Schurbai and Scharhabil were twenty-five gener- 
ations." As it is evident, then, that the chronology 
of the Syriac sacred history was computed by gen- 
erations, there is nothing unreasonable in assuming, 
independently of the proofs previously given, that in 
giving a genealogical epitome of that history, the 
evangelist conformed his text to documents extant in 
the language in which he wrote. If this were the 
case, it follows, that all the embarrassments occa- 
sioned by the omission of three names in the genea- 
logical table, have been unnecessary ; and also, with 
evidence little short of demonstration, that the gene- 
alogy formed part of Matthew's original ; and, con- 
sequently, is an integral part of his Gospel. 

Let us now paraphrase the evangelist's words, 
connecting the sense of the first with that of the 
seventeenth verse. " I said, in the beginning of my 
discourse, that Jesus was ' the son of David ; the son 
of Abraham :' and I have given you tables of his de- 
scent, by which I have proved his relation to those 
ancestors. Now, you might desire that I should say 
something to justify the expectation of his coming 
about this period of time. We know it has been 
disputed among our wise men, what number of years, 
precisely, elapsed from Abraham to David ; but it is 
enough for my purpose to observe that, however they 
may differ as to a few years, (for no two of them 
agree,) they all reckon a period of time equal to four- 
teen generations, as they were then calculated ; that is 
to say, the time previous to the settlement of the kingly 
office, and to the promise of the descent of the Mes- 
siah in the family of David, was fourteen generations : 
and so, from David to- the restoration from the Baby- 
lonish captivity, after the kingly office was suspend- 
ed, when our hopes of Messie h revived, is admitted 
to be fourteen generations, as they were then calcu- 
lated : and yo will, with me, think it very remarka- 
ble, that from the time of the Babylonish captivity 



GEN 



[ 454 1 



GENTILES 



to tbe appearance of the person, whose memoirs 1 
am about to write, was fourteen generations also :— 
a coincidence certainly deserving attention, and on 
which the universal expectation of our nation, that 
they should again Mnjoy, about this time, a king of 
their own olood, has been (in some degree) found- 
ed." 

That there was really such a general expectation 
of a Jewish king at the time the evangelist alludes 
to, may be seen in the article Christ. 

The design of Providence in giving *s two geneal- 
ogies of Jesus Christ, may be presumed to have 
been to show that he was not only of the family of 
David, but, as Luke remarks, (and it seems to be 
the precise import of his word iraruiac, chap. ii. 4.) 
of the direct line, the elder branch of the family ; 
and, in short, that very person who, if the exercise 
of royalty had continued in the family of David, 
would have legally sat on the throne : " The scep- 
tre shall not depart from Judah, until he come whose 
right it is ;" (Gen. xlix. 10.) that is, that person who 
ought legally to sway the sceptre. Strange indeed, 
that when he comes whose right it is, it should then 
depart ; but such is the prediction ; and might there 
not be a reference to this in the question of John 
the Baptist, "Art thou he that should come?" Matt. xi. 
3. q. d. "Art thou he whom we expect shall deliver 
Israel ?" as afterwards the apostles asked, " Lord, wilt 
thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel ?" 
Our Lord avoids a direct answer, yes, or no ; but 
says, " Go, tell John what you have seen ; no signs 
of external greatness ; but the blind receive sight. . . . 
and to the poor the gospel is preached : John will 
thence infer, decidedly, that my kingdom is not of 
this world ; but is infinitely more beneficial to the 
sons of men, than if I assumed the most magnificent 
monarchy, as sovereign over Israel." See further in 
the article Shiloh. 

GENESIS, the first of the sacred books in the Old 
Testament, so called from the title given to it in the 
Septuagint, and which signifies "the book of the 
generation, or production," of all things. Moses is 
generally admitted to have been the writer of this 
book ; and it is belie-ved that he penned it after the 
promulgation of the law. Its authenticity is attested 
by the most indisputable evidence, and it is cited as 
an inspired record thirty-three times in the course of 
the Scriptures. The history related in it comprises 
a period of about 2369 years, according to the low- 
est computation, but according to Dr. Hales, a much 
larger period. It contains an account of the crea- 
tion ; the primeval state and fall of man ; the history 
of Adam and his descendants, with the progress of 
religion and the origin of the arts ; the genealogies, 
age, and death of the patriarchs, until Noah ; the 
general defection and corruption of mankind, the 
general deluge, and preservation of Noah and his 
family in the ark ; the history of Noah and his family 
subsequent to the time of the deluge ; the re-peo- 
phng and division of the earth among the sons of 
Noah ; the building of Babel, the confusion of tongues, 
and the dispersion of mankind ; the lives of Abra- 
ham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. 

GENNESARETH, a small district of Galilee, 
adjacent to the lake of the same name, or, as subse- 
quently called, the sea of Tiberias, and described 
by Josephus as being extremely fertile, and, in con- 
sequence of the temperature of the air, abounding in 
fruits of different climates. For a description of the 
lake, see Tiberias II. 

GENTILES, a name given by the Hebrews to all 



th ose that had not received the law. Those who 
were converted, and embraced Judaism, they called 
proselytes. Since the promulgation of the gospel, 
the true religion has been extended to all nations 
God, who had promised by his prophets, to call the 
Gentiles to the faith, with a superabundance of grace, 
having fulfilled his promise ; so that the Christian 
church is composed principally of Gentile converts ; 
the Jews being too proud of their privileges, to ac- 
knowledge Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Re- 
deemer. In the writings of Paul, the Gentiles are 
generally called Greeks; (Rom. i. 14, 16; ii. 9, 10; 
x. 12 ; 1 Cor. i. 22, 24 ; Gal. iii. 28.) and Luke, in the 
Acts, expresses himself in the same manner, chap. vi. 
1 ; xi. 20 ; xviii. 4. et at. Paul is commonly called 
the apostle of the Gentiles, (1 Tim. ii. 7.) or Greeks, 
because he, principally, preached Christ to them ; 
whereas Peter, and the other apostles, preached gen- 
erally to the Jews ; and are called apostles of the 
Circumcision, Gal. ii. 8. 

The prophets declared very particularly the calling 
of the Gentiles. Jacob foretold that the Messiah, he 
who was to be sent, the Shiloh, should be the ex- 
pectation of the Gentiles ; and Solomon, at the ded- 
ication of his temple, prayed for the stranger, who 
should there entreat God. The Psalmist says (ii. 8.) 
that the Lord shall give the Gentiles to the Messiah, 
for his inheritance; that Egypt and Babylon shall 
know him ; (Ps. lxxxvii. 4.) that Ethiopia shall 
hasten to bring him presents; (Ps. lxxii. 9, 10.) and 
that the kings of Tarshish, and of the isles, the kings 
of Arabia and Sheba, shall be tributary to him. 
Isaiah abounds with prophecies of a similar nature, 
on which account he has justly been distinguished 
by the name of the prophet of the Gentiles. 

In the New Testament, we see that Gentiles came 
to Jerusalem to worship. Some of these, a little be- 
fore the death of our Saviour, addressed themselves 
to Philif), desiring him to show them Jesus, John 
xii. 20, 21. 

Many of the fathers believed, that Gentiles, who 
lived in a laudable manner, and observed the law of 
nature, were saved; and Paul (Rom. ii.) assigns 
"glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh 
good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile." 
Clemens Alexaudrinus asserts, that the Gentiles had 
two means for acquiring justification, the law and 
philosophy; the latter of which might at least dis- 
pose them to justice, though it produced not perfect 
righteousness. But if it be inquired whether hea- 
thens have lived up to their knowledge ; that is, 
whether, with proper knowledge of God, they have 
loved him, given him glory, hoped in him, followed 
the precepts of the law of nature, and observed them 
as they ought to do, (with a view to God,) and de- 
monstrated the power and exercise of these princi- 
ples, by actions animated with grace and charity ; 
whether they have practised the first and greatest 
commandments, to love God with all their hearts, 
and their neighbor as themselves.; we have much 
reason to fear they will be found wanting. See 
Philosophy. 

Court of the Gentiles. Josephus says, that 
there was, in the court oi the temple, a wall, or bal- 
ustrade, breast high, with pillars at certain distances, 
with inscriptions on them in Greek and Latin, im- 
porting that strangers were forbidden from approach- 
ing nearer to the altar. 

Isles of the Gentiles (Gen. x. 5.) evidently 
denote Asia Minor and the whole of Europe, which 
were peopled by the descendants of Japheth. 



GER 



[ 455 ] 



GEZ 



GERAH, the smallest piece of money among the 
Hebrews, twenty of which made a shekel, Exod. 
xxx. 13. 

GERAR. We find a city of this name so early as 
Gen. xx. 1 ; xxvi. 1, 17. expressly stated to be a city 
of the Philistines. The probability is, that some 
wandering tribe of this people had settled here, be- 
fore the great influx of their nation into these parts, 
during the captivity of the Israelites in Egypt. As 
Abraham himself was a pilgrim from a region not very 
distant from their original country, they might, per- 
haps, feel some kind of sympathy with him and for 
him. He appears to have been, on the whole, on 
good terms with the king of Gerar ; and Isaac lived 
many years in the neighborhood. Gerar appears to 
have been a favorable station for flocks ; and it might 
be called "the fixed residence," that is, not tents, but 
buildings, by those who here abode, whether they 
were, properly speaking, exiles or not. Gerar was 
not far from Gaza, in the south of Judah. Moses 
says, it lay between Kadesh and Shur ; and Jerome 
states, that from Gerar to Jerusalem was three days' 
journey. Moses also mentions the brook or valley 
of Gerar, Gen. xxvi. 17. 

GERASA, or Gergesa, a cit, east of the Jordan, 
and in the Decapolis, Matt. vii. 28. Burckhardt, 
Buckingham, and other writers consider the ruins 
of Djerash to be those of the ancient Gerasa. They 
are nearly 50 miles from the sea of Tiberias, and 
nearly opposite to mount Ebal. 

GERGESENES, or Girgashites, a people of 
the land of Canaan, who settled east of the sea of 
Tiberias, and gave name to a region and city. See 
Gadara, and Gerasa. 

GERIZIM, a mount in Ephraiin, a province of 
Samaria, between which and Ebal lay the city of 
Shechem. (See Judg. ix. 7.) Gerizim was fruitful, 
Ebal was barren. God commanded that the He- 
brews, after passing the Jordan, should be so divided, 
that six tribes might be stationed on mount Gerizim, 
and six on mount Ebal. The former were to pro- 
nounce blessings on those who observed the law of 
the Lord ; the others, curses against those who should 
violate it, Deut. xi. 29 ; xxvii. 12. 

After the captivity, Manasseh, by permission of 
Alexander the Great, built a temple on Gerizim, and 
the Samaritans joined the worship of the true God to 
that of their idols: "They feared the Lord, and 
served their own gods, after the manner of the na- 
tions whom they carried away from thence," 2 
Kings xvii. 33. 

The Samaritans maintain, that Abraham and Ja- 
cob erected altars at Gerizim, and that here Abraham 
prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac, Gen. xii. 6, 7 ; 
xiii. 4 ; xxxiii. 20, They, too, affirm, that God re- 
quired the blessings to be given from mount Ge- 
rizim, to those who observed his laws, and the curses 
from Ebal, (Deut. xxvii. 12, 13.) and they further 
cite from their Pentateuch the passage ; (Deut. xxvii. 
4.) "When ye be gone over Jordan, ye shall set up 
these stones, which I command you this day, in 
mount Gerizim, [in the Hebrew copies, Ebal,] thou 
shalt plaster them," &c. (verses 12, 13 ;) thus making 
Moses direct an altar to be erected in Gerizim instead 
of Ebal. [They accuse the Jews of falsifying the text 
in this passage, and of putting Ebal instead of Ge- 
rizim, in order to deprive this mountain of the honor 
of having been a place appointed for the public wor- 
ship of Jehovah. The suspicion of falsifying the 
text, however, falls much more heavily upon the Sa- 
maritans than upon the Jews ; since they had a far 



greater interest to change the reading Ebal into Ge- 
rizim, than the Hebrews had to change Gerizim for 
Ebal. For after the proposition of the Samaritans, 
to take part in rebuilding the temple at Jerusalem, 
had been rejected by the Jews, (Ezra iv. 1 — 3.) the 
former erected a temple for themselves in mount 
Gerizim, which is mentioned 2 Mace. vi. 2. By 
changing the text, therefore, of this passage from 
Ebal to Gerizim, they wished to procure for their 
temple the honor of" standing on that mountain, 
where, after the conquest of Canaan, the first public 
religious transaction was to be performed. R. 

This temple was built on Gerizim, and conse- 
crated to the God of Israel, ante A. D. 332 ; and as the 
mountain was very high, there were steps cut for the 
convenience of the people. When Antiochus Epi- 
phanes began to persecute the Jews, (ante A. D. 
168,) the Samaritans entreated him, that their temple 
upon Gerizim, which hitherto had been dedicated to 
an unknown and nameless God, might be conse- 
cr' ted to Jupiter the Grecian ; which was readily 
c jnsented to by Antiochus. 

The temple was destroyed by John Hircanus, and 
was not rebuilt till Gabinius was governor of Syria ; 
who repaired Samaria, and called it by his own 
name. In our Saviour's time, this temple was in be- 
ing ; and the true God was worshipped there, John 
iv. 20. Herod the Great, having rebuilt Samaria, 
and called it Sebaste, in honor of Augustus, would 
have compelled the Samaritans to worship in the 
temple which he had erected, but they constantly 
refused ; and have continued to this day to worship 
on Gerizim. See Ebal and Shechem. 

GERSHON, son of Levi, and under Moses prince 
of a family of the Levites, consisting of 7500 men, 
Numb. iii. 21, &c. Their office, during marches, 
was to carry the veils and curtains of the taber- 
nacle ; and their place in the camp was west of the 
tabernacle. 

I. GESHUR, Geshuri, Geshurites, the name 
of a district and people in Syria, of whose king Tol- 
mai, David married the daughter, by whom he had 
Absalom, 2 Sam. iii. 3 ; xiii. 37 ; xv. 8. It lay upon 
the eastern side of the Jordan, between Bashan, 
Maachah, and mount Hermon, and within the limits 
of the Hebrew territory, (2 Chron. ii. 23 ; Deut. iii. 14 ; 
Josh. xii. 5.) but the Israelites did not expel the in- 
habitants, Josh. xiii. 13. That they were not con- 
quered at a later period, appears from the fact of 
their having a separate king. — The word GesJiiir sig- 
nifies bridge, and corresponds to the Arabic Djisr ; 
and in the same region, where, according to the 
above data, we must place Geshur, between mount 
Hermon and the lake of Tiberias, there still exists 
an ancient stone bridge of four arches over the Jor- 
dan, called Djisr-Beni-Jakub, i. e. the bridge of the 
children of Jacob. There seems to have been here 
an important pass. *R. 

II. GESHURI, Geshurites, a people in the south 
of Palestine, near the Philistines, Josh. xiii. 2 ; 1 Sam- 
xxvii. 8. R. 

GETHSEMANE, the oil-press, a place at the foot 
of the mount of Olives, over against Jerusalem, to 
which our Saviour sometimes retired ; and in a gar- 
den belonging to which he endured his agony; and 
was taken by Judas, Matt. xxvi. 36. seq. It is an even 
plat of ground, according to Maundrell, about 57 
yards square. There are several ancient olive- 
trees standing in it. (See the Missionary Herald for 
1824. p. 66.) See Jerusalem. 

GEZEZ, formerly a royal city of the Canaanites, 



GIB 



[ 456 ] 



GIB 



in the western part of the tribe of Ephraim, from 
which the Canaanites were not expelled, Josh. x. 33 ; 
xvi. 3, 10. Judg. i. 29. It was nevertheless assigned 
to the Levites, Josh. xxi. 21. Destroyed by the 
Egyptians, it was rebuilt by Solomon, i Kings ix. 
15—17. R. 

GIAH, a valley, probably not far from Gibeon, 
which might be an outlet, as its name imports, from 
a narrow and contracted road or country, to one 
more open ; or it might be an eruption of water, as 
it were, 'from the mountain, 2 Sam. ii. 24. 

GL\NT, (Heb. ^dj, nephil, one ivho bears down 
other men.) Scripture speaks of giants before the 
flood; "Nephilim, mighty men who were of old, 
men of renown," Gen. vi. 4. Aquila translates 
nephilim, men ivho attack, who fall with impetuosity 
on their enemies ; which agrees very well with the 
force of the term. Symmachus translates it BiaCoi, 
violent men, cruel, whose only rule of action is vio- 
lence. Scripture sometimes calls giants Rephaim, 
Gen. xiv. 5, &c. The Eniim, ancient inhabitants of 
Moab, were of a gigantic stature, that is, Rephaim. 
Job says, that the ancient Rephaim groan under the 
waters; and Solomon, (Prov. ii. 18; ix. 18.) that the 
ways of a loose woman lead to the Rephaim, and 
that he who deviates from the ways of wisdom, 
shall dwell in the assembly of Rephaim ; that is, in hell, 
Prov. xxi. 16, &c. (See Gen. xiv. 5 ; Dent. ii. 11, 20 ; iii. 
11, 13 ; Josh. xii. 4 ; xiii. 12 ; Job xxvi. 5.) The Ana- 
kim, or sons of Auak, who dwelt at Hebron, were 
the most famous giants of Palestine, Numb. xiii. 33. 

The LXX sometimes translate ioj, gibbor, giant, 
though literally it signifies — a strong man, a man of 
valor, a warrior. See in the LXX, Gen. x. 8 ; Ps. 
xix. 5. Isa. iii. 2 ; xiii. 2; xlix. 24, 25 ; Ezek. xxxix. 
18, 20. 

It is probable that the first men were of a strength 
and stature superior to those of mankind at present, 
eince they lived a much longer time ; long life being 
commonly the effect of a strong constitution. Giants, 
however, were not uncommon in the times of Josh- 
ua and David, notwithstanding that the life of man 
was already shortened, and, as may be presumed, 
the size and strength of human bodies proportiona- 
bly diminished. Goliah was ten feet seven inches in 
height, (1 Sam. xvii. 4.) according to Calmet ; but 
this depends on the length at which the Hebrew 
cubit is taken. 

GIBBETHON, a city of the Philistines, given to 
Dan, and allotted to the Levites, (Josh. xix. 44 ; xxi. 
23.) and probably the same as the Gabatho of Jose- 
phus. Baasha killed Nadab, son of Jeroboam, in 
Gibbethon, 1 Kings xv. 27. 

I. GIBEAH, (a hill,) a city of Benjamin, (1 Sam. 
xiii. 15 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 29.) and the birth-place of Saul 
king of Israel ; whence it is frequently called ' Gib- 
eah of Saul," 1 Sam. xi. 4 ; xv. 34 ; 2 Sam. xxi. 
6 ; Isa. x. 29. Gibeah was also famous for its sins ; 
particularly for that committed by forcing the young 
Levite's wife, who went to lodge there ; and for the 
war which succeeded it, to the almost entire exter- 
mination of the tribe of Benjamin, Judg. xix. Scrip- 
ture remarks, that this happened at a time when 
there was no king in Israel, and when every one did 
what was right in his own eyes. Gibeah was about 
seven miles north from Jerusalem, not far from Gibe- 
on and Kirjath-jearim. 

II. GIBEAH. There was another Gibeah in the 
tribe of Judah, (Josh. xv. 57.) which, for distinction, 
is written Gibeah, (with an n final in the Hebrew,) 1 
Chron. ii. 49. 



III. GIBEAH. Another Gibeah, which apper 
tained to Phinehas, is rendered "hill" in our version 
(Josh. xxiv. 33.) where Eleazar was buried ; but in the 
original it is "Gibeah of Phinehas." 

GIBEON, the capital of the Gibeonites, who hav- 
ing taken advantage of the oaths of Joshua, and the 
elders of Israel, which they procured by an artful 
representation of belonging to a very remote country, 
(Josh, ix.) were condemned to labor in carrying 
wood and water for the tabernacle, as a mark of 
their pusillanimity and duplicity. Three days after 
the Gibeonites had thus surrendered to the Hebrews, 
five of the kings of Canaan besieged the city of Gib- 
eon ; but Joshua attacked and put them to flight, 
and pursued them to Bethoron, josh. x. 3, &c. 

The Gibeonites were descended from the Hivites, 
and possessed four cities ; Cephirah, Beeroth, Kir- 
jath-jearim, and Gibeon, their capital ; all of which 
were given to Benjamin, except Kirjath-jearim, 
which fell to the lot of Judah. The Gibeonites 
continued subject to the burdens which Joshua im- 
posed on them, and were very faithful to the Israel- 
ites ; but Saul, through what enmity we know not, 
destroyed a great nun .ber of them, 2 Sam. xxi. 1. In 
the reign of David the Lord sent a great famine, 
which continued tor three years, and which, the 
prophets informed him, would continue, while Saul's 
cruelty remained unavenged. David therefore per- 
mitted the Gibeonites to put to death seven of Saul's 
sons to avenge the blood of their brethren ; after 
which the famine ceased. 

From this time there is no mention of the Gibeon- 
ites, as a distinct people ; but Calmet supposes they 
were included among the Nethinim, who were ap- 
pointed for the service of the temple, 1 Chron. ix. 2. 
Those of the Canaanites, who were afterwards sub- 
dued, and had their lives spared, were added to the 
Gibeonites. We see in Ezra viii. 20 ; ii. 58 ; 1 Kings 
ix. 20, 21. that David, Solomon, and the princes of 
Judah, gave many such to the Lord ; these Nethinim 
being carried into captivity with Judah and the Le- 
vites, many of them returned with Ezra, Zerub- 
babel, and Nehemiah, and continued, as before, in 
the service of the temple, under the priests and 
Levites. 

Gibeon stood on an eminence, as its name imports, 
and was forty furlongs north from Jerusalem, ac- 
cording to Josephus. [In 2 Sam. v. 25. it would 
seem to be called Geba, as compared with 1 Chron. 
xiv. 16 ; but it is to be distinguished from both Geba 
and Gibeah, and lay to the northward of them. See 
Geba. R. 

We neither know when, nor by whom, nor on 
what occasion, the tabernacle and altar of burnt- 
sacrifices, made by Moses, in the wilderness, were 
removed to Gibeon ; but toward the end of David's 
reign, and in the beginning of Solomon's, they were 
there, 1 Kings iii. 4, 5 ; 1 Chron. xxi. 29, 30. David, 
seeing an angel of the Lord at Araunah's thrashing- 
floor, was so terrified, that he had not time nor strength 
to go so far as Gibeon, to offer sacrifice. Solomon 
went to sacrifice at Gibeon, and there the Lord ap- 
peared to him, 1 Kings iii. 4. 

It is said (2 Sam. ii. 13.) that there was a pool in 
Gibeon. Whether it were of any considerable ex- 
tent, does not appear from this passage ; but there is 
little doubt that it is the same as " the great waters 
that are in Gibeon," Jer. xli. 12. As this, then, was 
probably a running stream, the discovery of such a 
one may contribute to distinguish and ascertain the 
city. There was also a great stone or rock here, (2 



GIL 



t 457 ] 



GIL 



Sam. xx. 8.) and also the great high place, 1 Kings 
iii. 4. Eusebius mentions a place called Gibeon, 
which stood four miles west of Bethel. From Jer. 
xli. 16, we may infer that after the destruction of Je- 
rusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Gibeon became again 
the seat of government. It produced prophets in the 
days of Jeremiah, Jer. xxviii. L 

GIBLITES, Josh. xiii. 5. See Gebal II. 

GIDEON, son of Joash, of Manasseh ; called also 
Jerubbaal, that is, let Baal see to it, or let Baal contest 
with him who has thrown down his altar. After the 
deaths of Deborah and Barak, the Israelites were 
cruelly oppressed by Midian, for the deliverance 
from which Gideon had an extraordinary call, which 
was confirmed by a double miracle. After having 
destroyed the altar and grove of Baal,' he gathered 
together 30,000 troops, for the purpose of attacking 
the enemy. By divine direction these were reduced 
first to 10,000, and subsequently to 300 ; with which 
number Gideon, by stratagem, defeated the Midian- 
ites, and delivered Israel from their yoke, Judg. vi. 
vii. The people of Succoth and Penuel, having re- 
fused to supply him and his warriors with bread 
during his pursuit, were visited with exemplary pun- 
ishment on his return from battle, viii. 1 — 17. The 
Israelites after this victory solicited Gideon to become 
their ruler. This he declined ; but taking the ear- 
rings of the Midianites from among the spoils, he 
made an ephod — which became the occasion of idol- 
atry to Israel, the cause of Gideon's ruin, and the 
destruction of his house. He judged Israel nine 
years, from A. M. 2759 to 2768. He had 70 sons, 
who were destroyed by Abimelech, their, brother, 
who afterwards reigned at Shechem, chap. viii. 18 ; 
ix. 5. 

GIDGAD, a mountain in the wilderness of Paran, 
between Bene-jaakau and Jotbathah, where the He- 
brews encamped, Numb, xxxiii. 32. 

I. GIHON, a fountain south-east of Jerusalem, 
where Solomon was anointed king by Zadok and 
Nathan. Hezekiah ordered the waters of the upper 
channel of Gihon to be conveyed to the west side of 
the city, 1 Kings i. 33 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 30. It is 
probably the same fountain which elsewhere is called 
Siloam, which see. 

II. GIHON, the name of one of the four rivers of 
Paradise, (Gen. ii. 13:) which many have believed, 
against probability, to be the Nile of Egypt. (See 
Eden.) The Araxes, which has its source, as well 
as the Tigris and Euphrates, in the mountains of 
Armenia, and running with almost incredible ra- 
pidity, falls into the Caspian sea, is supposed to be 
the Gihon, which, in Hebrew, signifies — impetuous, 
rapid, violent. Ecclesiasticus (xxiv. 27.) speaks of 
the inundations of Gihon, in the time of vintage ; and 
the Araxes swells towards the latter end of summer, 
in consequence of the snow upon the mountains of 
Armenia dissolving about that time. 

GILBOA, a ridge of mountains, memorable for the 
defeat and deaths of Saul and Jonathan, (1 Sam. 
xxxi.) running north of Bethshan or Scythopolis, and 
forming the western boundary of that part of the 
valley of the Jordan, between it and the great plain 
of Esdraelon. They are said to be extremely dry 
and barren, and are still called, by the Arabs, Djebel 
Gilbo. (Bib!. Repository, vol. i. p. 599.) 

I. GILEAD, a mountainous district east of the 
Jordan, and which separated the lands of Amnion, 
Moab, Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, from Aittoia 
Deserta. 

Jacob, returning from Mesopotamia, came in six 
58 



days to the mountains of GileSd, where Laban over- 
took him, Gen. xxxi. 21. Here they made a cove- 
nant, and raised a heap of stones as a monument oH 
it. Laban called it Jegar-Sahadutha ; but Jacob 
called it Gal-haed, the heap of witness ; whence 
came the name Gilead. Eusebius says that mount 
Gilead reached from Libanus to the laud of Sihon, 
king of the Amorites, which was given to the tribe 
of Reuben. It must, therefore, have been above 
seventy leagues from south to north, and have in- 
cluded the mountains of Bashan, and perhaps, 
also, those of the Traehonitis, Auran and Her- 
mon. See also Jer. xxii. 6. Gilead, however, is 
sometimes put for the whole of the country east of 
the Jordan, between the river and Arabia. 

The scenery of the mountains of Gilead is de- 
scribed by Mr. Buckingham as being extremely 
beautiful. The plains are covered with a fertile soil, 
the hills are clothed with forests, and at every new 
turn the most beautiful landscapes that can be im- 
agined are presented. The Scripture references to 
the stately oaks and herds of cattle in this region are 
well known. 

[The name Gilead, as is said above, is sometimes 
put for the whole country east of the Jordan. Thus 
in Deut. xxxiv. 1, God is said to have showed Moses 
from mount Nebo " all the land of Gilead unto Dan." 
The proper region of Gilead, however, lay south of 
Bashan, but probably without any very definite line 
of separation. Bashan and Gilead are often men- 
tioned together, Josh. xvii. 1, 5; 2 Kings x. 33, &c. 
A part of Gilead was the district now called Belka, 
one of the most fertile in Palestine. See the descrip- 
tion of it by Burckhardt, inserted under the article 
Bashan. 

Mount Gilead, in the strictest sense, was doubt- 
less the mountain now called Djebel Djelaad, or 
Djebel Djelaoud, mentioned by Burckhardt, (p. 348.) 
the foot of which lies about two hours' distance, or 
six miles south of the Wady Zerka, or Jabbok. The 
mountain itself runs from east to west, and is about 
two hours and half (eight or ten miles) in length. 
Upon it are the ruined towns of Djelaad and Djelaoud ; 
probably the site of the ancient city Gilead of Hos. 

vi. 8 ; elsewhere called Ramoth Gilead. Southward 
of this mountain stands the modern city of Szalt. It 
was probably in this mountain where Jacob and Laban 
set up their monument, as above related. — In Judg. 

vii. 3, those in the army of Gideon who are fearful, 
are directed "to depart early from mount Gilead." 
Some have, therefore, supposed, that there was an- 
other mount Gilead near the plain of Esdraelon, where 
Gideon then was. But there is elsewhere no allusion 
to such a mountain ; and the hypothesis is unneces- 
sary. The Hebrew reads, " Let him turn back again 
from mount Gilead," i. e. from Gilead beyond Jordan, 
whence the Midianites have come up, and whither 
they must be driven back. *R. 

II. GILEAD, son of Machir, and grandson of Ma- 
nasseh, received his inheritance in the mountains of 
Gilead, whence he took his name, Numb. xxvi. 
29, 30. 

I. GILGAL, a celebrated place between the Jor- 
dan and Jericho, where the Israelites first encamped, 
after the passage of that river, Josh. v. 9. It con- 
tinued to be the head-quarters of the Israelites for 
several years, while Joshua was occupied in subdu- 
ing the land, Josh. ix. 6; x. 6, 9, 15, 43. A consid- 
erable city was afterwards built there, (xv. 7.) which 
became famous for many events. (I.) It was a reli- 
gious station ; for we read (Judg. ii. 1.) that a " mes- 



G I R 



L 458 ] 



GLO 



senger of the Lord came up from Gilgal." Comp. 2 
Kings ii. 1. (2.) It was a station of justice ; for Sam- 
uel ia his circuit went yearly to Gilgal, 1 Sam. vii. 
16. (3.) It was where the coronation of Saul was 
performed, (1 Sam. x. 8 ; comp. 2 Sam. xix. 15, 40.) 
and therefore a fit place for national business. Sac- 
rifices were offered at Gilgal, 1 Sam. x. 8 ; Hos. xii. 11. 

Gilgal was named upon the occasion of Joshua 
circumcising the Israelites who had been wandering 
during forty years in the wilderness. "The Lord 
said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the 
reproach of Egypt from off you : wherefore the 
name of the place is called Gilgal, unto this day," — 
the literal meaning of "Gilgal" being rolling, Josh. v. 
2 — 9. Here Joshua placed the twelve stones that 
were taken out of the Jordan, when the waters of 
that river were miraculously divided, to form a pas- 
sage for Israel into the promised land. The placing 
of these stones, taken in connection with other simi- 
lar acts mentioned in the early books of Scripture, 
presents an interesting subject of inquiry, and leads 
to conclusions of a singular nature. See Stones. 

II. GILGAL, the city of an ancient Canaanitish 
king, Josh. xii. 23. It is also mentioned by Moses 
(Deut. xi. 30.) in order to designate the position of 
Gerizim and Ebal, and was therefore probably not 
far from Shechem. Gesenius and others suppose this 
to be the same with the preceding Gilgal ; but there 
is no hint that the Gilgal near Jericho was ever the 
seat of a king. (Compare Josh. iv. 19,20 ; v. 10.) R. 

GILOH, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 51 ; 2 Sam. 
xv. 12. 

GIMZO, a city in the south of Judah, which the 
Philistines took from Ahaz, 2 Chron. xxviii. 18. 

GIRDLE. The Hebrews only wore a girdle when 
at work, or on a journey. At these times, they girt 
their clothes about them, as the eastern people now 
do, as appears from many passages of the Old and 
New Testaments. Our Saviour, preparing himself 
to wash the feet of his disciples, " girt himself about 
with a towel," John xiii. 4, 5. Soldiers also had 
their belts generally girt about them, Ps. xviii. 39. 

Belts were often made of precious stuffs. The vir- 
tuous wife made rich girdles, and sold them to the 
Canaanite or Phoenician merchants, Prov. xxxi. 24. 
They were used both by men and women, Ezek. xvi. 
10. We may judge of their value, by the kings of 
Persia sometimes giving cities and provinces to their 
wives, for the expense of their girdles. (Plato Alcib. 
Athen. 1.) Our Lord, in the Revelation, (i. 13.) ap- 
peared to John with a golden girdle ; and the seven 
angels, who came out of the temple, had similar ones. 
On the contrary, the prophets, and persons secluded 
from the world, wore girdles of skin or leather, 2 
Kings i. 8 ; Matt. iii. 4. In times of mourning, the 
Hebrews used girdles of ropes, or sackcloth, as marks 
of humiliation, Isa. iii. 24 ; xxii. 12. 

The military girdle, or belt, of the Hebrews, did 
not come over the shoulder, as among the Greeks, 
but was worn upon the loins ; whence the expression 
of "sword girded on the loins." They were gene- 
rally rich ; and sometimes given as rewards to sol- 
diers, 2 Sam. xviii. 11. Job, exalting the power of 
God, says, " He looseth the bond of kings, and gird- 
eth their loins with a girdle," (chap. xii. 18.) where 
we observe two kinds of girdles, (1.) the royal cinc- 
ture ; (2.) the ordinary girdle. The girdle was used 
as a purse, (Matt. x. 9 ; Hag. i. 6.) where the English 
version has purse. 

GIRGASHITES, see Gergesenes, and Canaan- 
ites, p. 243. 



GITH, a grain, by the Greeks called Melanthion, 
by the Latins Nigella, because it is black. In cur 
translation fitches or vetches, which see. 

GITTITES, the inhabitants of Gath, Josh. xiii. 3. 
Obed-Edom and Ittai are called Gittites, (2 Sam. vi.' 
10; xv. 19.) probably, because they visited David at 
Gath, or because they were natives of Gittaim, a city 
of Benjamin, 2 Sam. iv. 3. 

GITTAIM, a town of Benjamin, 2 Sam. iv. 3 ; 
Neh. xi. 33. 

GITTITH, a word which occurs frequently in the 
titles of the Psalms. The conjectures of" interpreters 
as to its import are various. Some think it signifies 
a sort of musical instrument, invented at Gath ; oth- 
ers that the Psalms with this title were sung during 
the vintage. ' The word Gath, from which this is 
the feminine gentile form, signifies wine-press. 

GLEANING. The Hebrews were not permitted 
to go over their trees or fields a second time, to gath- 
er the fruit or the grain, but were to leave the glean- 
ings for the poor, the fatherless, and the widow, Lev. 
xix. 10 ; xxiii. 22 ; Deut. xxiv. 21. 

GLORY, splendor, magnificence. The glory of 
God, in the writings of Moses, denotes, generally, the 
Divine presence, Exod. xxiv. 9, 10, 16, 17. Moses, 
with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Is- 
rael, went up mount Sinai, and " saw the glory of the 
Lord." The glory of the Lord appeared (Exod. xvi. 
7, 10.) to Israel in the cloud, also, when he gave them 
manna and quails. Moses having earnestly begged 
of God to reveal his glory to him, was answered that 
he could not see his face and live, Exod. xxxiii. 
18,22. 

The ark of God is called the glory of Israel ; and 
the glory of God, (1 Sam. iv. 21, 22; Ps. xx d 8.) 
and Calmet remarks that the Psalmist calls his in- 
struments of music his glory, in Ps. xxx. 12; lvii. 8, 
but he perhaps rather means, his voice, his tongue. 
The priestly ornaments are called " garments of 
glory," (Exod. xxviii. 2, 40.) and the sacred vessels, 
"vessels of glory," 1 Mac. ii. 9, 12. When the 
prophets describe the conversion of the Gentiles, 
they say, " the glory of the Lord" shall fill all the 
earth ; or, the whole earth shall see " the glory of the 
Lord." Paul terms the happiness of believers, " the 
glory of the sons of God," Rom. v. 2 ; 2 Cor. iv. &c. 
When the Hebrews required an oath of any man, 
they said, " Give glory to God :" confess the truth, 
give him glory, confess that God knows the most 
secret thoughts, the very bottom of your hearts, Josh, 
vii. 19 ; John ix. 24. " Children's children are the 
crown of old men, and the glory of children are theii 
fathers," Prov. xvii. 6. "Woman is the glory of 
man," 1 Cor. xi. 7. 

When God thought fit to call his servant Moses to 
himself, he directed him to go up to mount Abaiim, 
And the Lord commanded him to take Joshua, say- 
ing, " He is a man in whom is the spirit ; lay thine 
hand upon him, and set him before Eleazar, and be- 
fore all the congregation, and give him a charge in 
their sight. And thou shalt put some of thine honor 
[Heb. glory] on him," Numb, xxvii. 20. The ques- 
tion is, what was this glory ? Onkelos, and some rab- 
bins, are of opinion, that Moses imparted to him that 
lustre which surrounded his countenance after his 
conversation with God ; that is, a part of it, Exod. 
xxxiv. 29. Moses, they say, shined like the sun, 
and Joshua like the moon. But it may be better un- 
derstood of that authority of which he stood in need, 
for the government committed to him. Moses gave 
him his orders and instructions, that he might acquit 



GNA 



[ 459 ] 



GOA 



himself with dignity and honor. Part of his official 
dress, also, which was proper to confer a kind of 
glory, in the eyes of the multitude, might have been 
given to him. 

GNAT, a small insect well known. Several com- 
mentators differ from our translators in the only 
place where the latter use the word gnat (Matt, xxiii. 
24.) by introducing another insect, more immediately 
referable, as they suppose, to the subject there in- 
tended. (See Camel.) — On the other hand the LXX, 
Wisdom, Philo, Origen, and Jerome, consider the 
insects which produced the plague translated of lice, 
(Exod. viii. 16.) as rather being effected by gnats. It 
will be remarked, that the miracles performed in 
Egypt refer mostly, if not entirely, to the water, and 
to the air ; gnats would be a mixture of both. Barbut 
says of these creatures, "Before they turn to flying 
insects, they have been in some manner fishes, under 
two different forms. We observe in stagnant waters, 
from the beginning of JVIay till winter, small grubs, 
with their heads downwards, their hinder parts on 
the surface of the water ; from which part arises 
sideways a kind of vent-hole, or small hollow tube, 
like a funnel, and this is the organ of respiration. 
The head is armed with hooks, that serve to seize 
insects and bits of grass, on which it feeds. On the 
sides are placed four small fins, by the help of which 
the insect swims about, and dives to the bottom. 
These larva? retain their form during a fortnight or 
three weeks, after which period they turn to chrysa- 
lids. All the parts of the winged insect are distin- 
guishable through the outward robe that shrouds 
them. The chrysalids are rolled up into spirals. 
The situation and shape of the windpipe is then al- 
tered; it consists of two tubes near the head, which 
occupy the place of the stigmata, through which the 
winged insect is one day to breathe. After three or 
four days' strict fasting, they pass to the state of gnats. 
A moment before water was its element ; but now, 
become an aerial insect, he can no longer exist in it. 
He swells his head and bursts his enclosure. The 
robe he lately wore turns to a ship, of which the in- 
sect is the mast and sail. If at the instant the gnat 
displays his wings there arises a breeze, it proves to 
him a dreadful hurricane ; the water gets into the 
ship, and the insect, who is not yet loosened from it, 
sinks, and is lost. But in calm weather the gnat 
forsakes his slough, dries himself, flies into the air, 
and seeks to pump the alimentary juice of leaves, or 
the blood of man and beasts. It is impossible to be- 
hold, and not admire, the amazing structure of its 
sting, which is a tube, containing five or six spicula, 
of exquisite minuteness ; some dentated at their ex- 
tremity like the head of an arrow, others sharp-edged 
like razors. These spicula introduced into the veins, 
act as pump-suckers, into which the blood ascends 
by reason of the smallness of the capillary tubes. 
The insect injects a small quantity of liquor into the 
wound, by which the blood becomes more fluid, and 
is seen through the microscope passing through those 
spicula. The animal swells, grows red, and does not 
quit its hold till it has gorged itself. The female de- 
posits her eggs on the water by the help of her mov- 
able hinder part and her legs, placing them one by 
the side of another, in the form of a little boat. This 
vessel, composed of two or three hundred eggs, 
swims on the water for two or three days, after 
which they are hatched. If storms arise, the boats 
are sunk. Every month there is a fresh progeny of 
these insects. Were they not devoured by swallows, 
by other birds, and by several carnivorous insects, 



the air would be darkened by them. Gnats, in this 
country, however troublesome, do not bite so severe- 
ly as the musketoe-flies of foreign parts. Both by day 
and night these insects enter houses, and when peo- 
ple are in bed and would sleep, they begin their 
disagreeable humming noise ; by degrees they ap- 
proach the bed, and often fill themselves with blood, 
sucked from the suffering sleeper. Their bite causes 
blisters in people of any delicacy. Cold weather 
diminishes their activity ; but after rain they gather in 
quantities truly astonishing. In the great heats of 
summer, the air seems to be full of them. In some 
places the inhabitants make fires before their houses 
to expel these troublesome guests. Nevertheless, 
they accompany the cattle when driven home ; and 
they enter in swarms wherever they can. Forskal 
describes the stinging gnat as being of the size and 
general appearance of the common humming gnat. 
"At Rosetta, Cairo, and Alexandria, are immense 
multitudes ; they disturb sleep at night ; and can 
hardly be kept out, unless the curtains be carefully 
closed." Hasselquist says, (at Cairo,) "It was not in 
the power of our janissary to protect us from the 
gnats, so great are their numbers. The rice fields are 
their breeding places, and they lay their eggs in a 
marshy soil. They are smaller than those of Egypt, 
but their sting is sharper ; and the itching they cause 
is insupportable. They are ash-colored, and have 
white spots on the articulation of the legs." Sir R. 
Wilson affirms, their bite was particularly venomous, 
especially near Rosetta. " Many of those disagreea- 
ble animals, the Egyptians may say, are also inmates 
of Europe, but in no other country are they so nu- 
merous or so voracious as in Egypt." (Exped. Egypt, 
p. 252.) 

The reader will judge from these representations, 
whether the gnat do not bid fair to be the Hebrew 
uDJD, Cinnim ; being winged, it would spread over a 
district or country, with equal ease as over a village 
or a city, and would be equally terrible to cattle as to 
men. It seems also to precede the dog-fly, or zimb, 
with great propriety. (See Fly.) It should be added, 
that the gnat abounds not in great rivers, but in 
ditches, ponds, and repositories of water. Moses, 
therefore, did not strike the hill, but clods of earth, as 
the word rendered dust may import. 

GNOSTICS. This name is not in the sacred 
writings ; but the apostles Peter and Paul, in their 
epistles, if they did not attack the heretics who after- 
wards were known by this name, did certainly op- 
pose those principles which afterwards produced the 
Gnostic heresy. They professed to enjoy a higher 
degree of gnosis, knowledge ; and regarded all those 
who held to a literal interpretation of the Scriptures, 
as simple and ignorant. (Comp. 1 Tim. i. 3 ; iii. 2.) 

I. GOAT, fiy, -vyc,) a well known animal, which 
was used under the law both for food and for sacri- 
fice. — The following is from Harrner : — " Dr. Russell 
observed two sorts of goats about Aleppo : one that 
differed little from the common sort in Britain ; the 
other remarkable for the length of its ears. ' The 
size of the animals,' he tells us, 'is somewhat larger 
than ours, but their ears are often a foot long, and 
broad in proportion. They were kept chiefly for 
their milk, of which they yielded no inconsiderable 
quantity.' (p. 52.) The present race of goats in the 
vicinity of Jerusalem are, it seems, of this broad- 
eared species, as I have been assured by a gen- 
tleman that lately visited the Holy Land, (in 1774,) 
who was struck with the difference between the 
goats there, and those that he saw in countries not 



GOAT 



[ 460 ] 



GOAT 



far distant from Jerusalem. ' They are,' he says, 
' black, black and white, and some gray, with re- 
markable long ears, rather larger and longer than 
our Welch goats.' This kind of animal, he observed, 
in some neighboring places, differed greatly from the 
above description, those of Balbec in particular, 
which were generally, if not always, so far as he ob- 
served, of the other species. These last, I presume, 
are of the sort common in Great Britain, as those 
about Jerusalem are mostly of the long-eared kind ; 
and it should seem they were of the same long-eared 
kind that were kept anciently in Judea, from the 
words of the prophet, ' As the shepherd taketh out of 
the mouth of the lion, two legs, or a piece of an ear : 
so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell 

in Samaria and in Damascus,' Amos iii. 12. 

Though it is, indeed, the intention of the prophet to 
express the smallness of that part of Israel that escaped 
from destruction, and were seated in foreign coun- 
tries ; yet it would have been hardly natural to have 
supposed a shepherd would exert himself to make a 
lion quit a piece only of an ear of a common goat ; it 
must be supposed, I should think, to refer to the 
large-eared kind. It is rather amusing to the im- 
agination, and a subject of speculation, that the same 
species of goats should chiefly prevail about Jerusa- 
lem, and the other at Balbec ; and that what are now 
chiefly kept in the Holy Land, should have been the 
same species that were reared there two thousand 
five hundred years ago. Is it the nature of the 
country, or the quality of the feed of it, that is the 
occasion of the continuance of this breed, without 
deviation, from very remote times ? Rau'wolff ob- 
served goats about Jerusalem with hanging ears, al- 
most two feet long; (p. 234.) but he neither mentions 
their being all, or mostly, of that species, nor that it 
is another species that is most commonly kept in some 
of the neighboring countries. 

" Whether the kids of the two species are equally 
delicious, travellers have not informed us ; but it ap- 
pears from the Hariri, a celebrated writer of Meso- 
potamia, that some kinds at least are considered as a 
delicacy; for, describing a person's breaking in upon 
a great pretender to mortification, he found him with 
one of his disciples entertaining themselves in much 
satisfaction with bread made of the finest of flour, with 
a roasted kid, and a vessel of wine before them. 
This last is an indulgence forbidden by the Mahome- 
tans, and with bread of the finest flour, proves that a 
roasted kid is looked upon as a very great delicacy. 
This shows in what light we are to consider the 
gratification proposed to be sent to Tamar, (Gen. 
xxxviii. 16, 17.) the present made by Samson to his 
intended bride ; (Judg. xv. 1.) and what was the com- 
plaint made by the elder hrother of the prodigal son, 
that his father had never given him a kid to entertain 
his friends with : he might have enabled him to give 
them some slight repast ; but never qualified him to 
treat them with such a delicacy, Luke xv. 29." 

The word goat is sometimes used metaphorically. 
Our Saviour says, that "at the day of judgment, the 
goats [the wicked, the reprobate] shall be placed on 
the left hand, and condemned to eternal fire," Matt, 
xxv. 33, 41. (See also Zech. x. 3 ; Isa. xiv. 3 in the 
Heb. Jer. 1. 8.) 

In Lev. xvii. 7, God commands that all animals, 
designed to he sacrificed, shall be brought to the door 
of the tabernacle : " And they shall no more offer 
their sacrifice unto devils [literally, to goats] after 
whom they have gone a whoring." 2 Chron. xi. 15, 
says, " Jeroboam established priests for the high 



places, and for the goats and the calves he had made." 
The Israelites would therefore seem to have made 
the goat an object of idolatrous. worship, like the 
Egyptians. Herodotus says, (lib. i. cap. 46.) that at 
Mendes, in Lower Egypt, both the male and female 
goat were worshipped ; that the god Pan had the 
face and thighs of a goat ; not that they believed 
him to be of this figure, but because it had been cus- 
tomary to represent him thus. They paid divine 
honors, also, to real goats, as appears in the table of 
Isis. The abominations committed during the feasts 
of these infamous deities are well known. 

II. GOAT, Scape-Goat. On the great day of 
expiation, the elders of the people presented two 
goats, as offerings, for the sins of all Israel ; of which, 
one was to be slain, the other banished into the wil- 
derness ; as the lot determined. The latter was the 
Azazel, or scape-goat, which, thus liberated, yet 
loaded with the imprecations of the high-priest, ex- 
pressing the sins of all the people, was like those 
animals which the heathen consecrated to some of 
their deities and then set at liberty. 

The following ceremonies, the Jews say, were ob- 
served relating to the scape-goat. Two goats were 
led into the inner court of the temple, and presented 
to the high-priest on the north side of the altar of 
burnt-offerings ; one being placed on his right, the 
other on his left hand. An urn was then brought 
and set down between them, and two lots were cast 
into it, of wood, silver, or gold, (under the second 
temple, always of the last.) On one lot was en- 
graved, for the Lord, on the other,/or Jlzazel. After 
the urn had been well shaken, the high-priest put 
both his hands at once into it, and in each hand 
drew out a lot ; that in his right hand decided the 
fate of the goat placed on his right, — that in his left, 
of the goat on his left hand. The Jews relate, that 
during the whole pontificate of Simon the Just, the 
lot which he drew with his right hand, was always 
that inscribed for the Lord, which was taken as a 
happy omen ; but after his death, sometimes the lot 
for the Lord was in the right hand, sometimes in the 
left. After drawing these lots, the high-priest fast- 
ened a long fillet, or narrow piece of scarlet, to the 
head of Azazel, the scape-goat. Under Simon the 
Just, the Jews say, this piece appeared always white, 
which was a divine favor, signifying that God grant- 
ed the people remission of sins ; whereas, under 
other high-priests, it appeared sometimes white, and 
sometimes of its natural color, scarlet. To this, they 
apply the words of Isaiah : "Though their sins were 
as scarlet, they shall be white as snow," &c. After 
the sacrifice of that goat, which the lot had deter- 
mined for the Lord, .the scape-goat was brought to 
the high-priest, who putting both his hands on its 
head, confessed his own sins, and those of the people. 
It is then supposed to have been taken into the wil- 
derness by some fit person, and left on the brink of a 
precipice, at a great distance from Jerusalem ; thus, 
figuratively, carrying away with it all the sins of the 
people of Israel. 

The following curious ceremony, related by Mr. 
Bruce, presents a striking relation to that of the 
scape-goat : — 

" We found that, upon some discussion, the garri- 
son and townsmen had been fighting for several days, 
in which disorders the greatest part of the ammuni- 
tion in the town had been expended; but it had 
since been agreed on by the old men of both parties, 
that nobody had been to blame on either side, but 
the whole wrong was the work of a camel A camel. 



GOAT 



GOAT 



therefore, was seized, and brought without the toivn, 
and there a number on both sides having met, they 
upbraided the camel with every thing that had been 
either said or done. The camel had killed men ; he 
had threatened to set the town on fire ; the camel had 
threatened to burn the aga's house, and the castle ; 
he had cursed the grand signior, and the sheriffe 
of Mecca; (the sovereigns of the two parties ;) and, 
the only thing the poor animal was interested iu, he 
had threatened to destroy the wheat that was going 
to Mecca. After having spent great part of the af- 
ternoon in upbraiding the camel, whose measure of 
iniquity, it seems, was nearly full, each man thrust 
him through with a lance, devoting him, diismanibus 
et diris, by a kind of prayer, and with a thousand 
curses upon his head. After which every man re- 
tired, fully satisfied as to the wrongs he had received 
from the camel ! The reader will easily observe in 
this some traces of the A zazel, or scape-goat of the 
Jews, which was turned out into the wilderness 
loaded with the sins of the people, Levit. xvi. 21." 
Such is the remark of Mr. Bruce, to which it is not 
necessary to add. We remember an account of the 
Hindoo Ashummed Jug, or sacrifice of a horse, which 
is greatly analogous to the above. 

III. GOAT, Wild Goat. There are three 

places in Scripture where an animal of the goat kind 
is mentioned, either directly or by allusion, which it 
is desirable to identify. — (1.) 1 Sam. xxiv. 2, "Saul 
went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the 
wild goats :" literally, on the superfices, or on the face 
of the rocks of the ye-ilim, (2.) Ps. civ. 18, "The 
high mountains to the ibices are a refuge ; rocks are 
the refuge to the saphanim." But (3.) there is a 
third passage, (Job xxxix. 1.) where this creature is 
more distinctly referred to, and its manners described 
at greater length : in our translation, " Knowest thou 
the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth ? 
Canst thou mark when the hinds do calve ? Canst 
thou number the months they fulfil? or, knowest 
thou the time when they bring forth ? They bow 
themselves ; they bring forth their young ones ; they 
cast out their sorrows. Their young ones ai-e in 
good liking ; they grow up with corn : they go forth, 
and return not to them.V (4.) A fourth passage (Prov. 
v. 19.) presents this creature (the yd-dlah,) in a femi- 
nine form : "Let thy wife be as the loving hind, and 
the pleasant roe." 

These two last passages seem to be unhappily ren- 
dered : for (1.) what is in one, the wild goat of the 
rocks, is in the other, the pleasant roe ; a creature 
so very different, that one rendering or the other 
must be erroneous ; (2.) the wild goat of the rocks is 
said to nourish its young with corn ; but corn is not 
cultivated on or about the rocks where these wild 
goats are found ; and still more unfortunately, the ori- 
ginal word, if taken in the sense of corn, denotes corn 
which has been thrashed, and stripped of its husk : a 
state of preparation every way ill associated with the 
barrenness intended to be described, as marking the 
residence of the wild goats of the rocks. We may, 
without scruple, take the word for the ibex, or rock- 
goat ; and to this agree all the manners attributed to 
the creature in Scriptui'e ; which describes it as in- 
habiting rocks and mountains, and of a strongly affec- 
tionate disposition. 

It is proper in the first place to discharge the pas- 
sage in Job from its corn ; in fact, the word render- 
ed com [bar, -n] signifies a wild desert place, an open 
clear country ; a roaming track. So, in Dan. ii. 38, 
animals of a wild country have the epithet bar ; and 



the Targums use it frequently in this sense; barariA 
bara, in the Chaldee form. This correction leads to 
a different view of the passage. 

Knowest thou the time of delivery of the ibices of 
the rock ? 

And the parturition of the hinds hast thou noted? 
Hast thou numbered the months they fulfil ? 
And knowest thou the period when they bring forth ? 
They bow themselves ; they discharge their concep- 
tions ; 

They cast forth their burdens ; 

Their offspring increase in strength ; 

They augment in size in the wilds, 

They go off, and return to them [their dams] no more. 

This paragraph, then, it appears, forms the con- 
tinuation of one inquiry ; a representation perfectly 
accordant throughout, which agrees with matter of 
fact, and is therefore entitled to be received as 
correct. The ibex being extremely rare, and inhab- 
iting the highest and almost inaccessible mountains, 
the descriptions of it have been very inaccurate and 
confused. For the best description of its nature and 
manners we are indebted to Dr. Girtanner and M. 
Van Berchern. 

From the information communicated by these two 
writers, we learn that the ibex is now chiefly found 
upon that chain of mountains which stretches from 
Dauphine through Savoy to the confines of Italy, 
and principally on the Alps bordering on Mont 
Blanc, which is the most elevated part of the chain. 
Naturalists agree in taking the specific character of 
the ibex from the beard and the horns, which they 
describe as knobbed along the upper or anterior sur- 
face, and reclining towards the back. The male is 
larger than the tame goat, but resembles it in the 
outer form. The head is small in proportion to the 
body, with the muzzle thick and compressed, and a 
little arched. The eyes are large, round, and have 
much fire and brilliancy. The horns are large, when 
of a full size, weighing sometimes sixteen or eighteen 
pounds, flatted before and rounded behind, with one 
or two longitudinal ridges, and many .transverse 
ridges ; which degenerate towards the tip into knobs. 
The color is dusky brown ; the beard long, tawny, 
or dusky. The legs slender, with hoofs short, hol- 
low on the inside, and on the outside terminated by 
a salient border, like those of the chamois. The 
body is short, thick, and strong ; the tail short, naked 
underneath, and the rest covered with long hairs, 
white at the base and sides, black above and at the 
end. The coat is long, but not pendant, ash-colored, 
mixed with some hoary hairs ; a black list runs along 
the back ; and there is a black spot above and below 
the knees. Its color, however, like that of other 
animals, must necessarily vary according to its age 
and to local circumstances. The female is one third 
smaller than the male, and not so corpulent; her 
color is less tawny ; her horns are very small, and 
not above eight inches long. In these, and in her 
figure, she resembles a goat that has been castrated 
while young. She has two teats, like the tame she- 
goat, and never has any beard, unless perhaps in an 
advanced age. 

In a state of tranquillity, the ibex commonly carries 
the head low ; but in running it holds it high, and 
even bends it a little forward. It mounts a perpen- 
dicular rock of fifteen feet at three leaps, or rather 
three successive bounds. It does not seem as if it 
found any footing on the rock, appearing to touch it 



GOAT 



\ 462 ] 



GOAT 



merely to be repelled, like an elastic substance strik- 
. ing against a bard body. If it be between two rocks 
which are near eacb other, and want to reach the 
top, it leaps from the side of one rock to the other, 
alternately, till it has attained the summit. 

Tbe ibices feed, during the night, in the highest, 
woods ; but as soon as the sun begins to gild the 
summits, they quit the woody region, and mount, 
feeding in their progress, till they have reached the 
most considerable heights. They betake themselves 
to the sides of the mountains which face the east or 
south, and lie down in the highest places and hottest 
exposures ; but when the sun has finished more than 
three quarters of its course, they again begin to feed, 
and to descend towards the woods ; to which they 
retire when it is likely to snow, and where they al- 
ways pass the winter. They assemble in flocks, 
consisting at the most of ten, twelve or fifteen ; or in 
smaller numbers, according to M. Van Berchem ; 
but Burckhardt says, of forty or fifty. 

Tbe females go with young five months, and pro- 
duce in the last week of June, or the first of July. At 
the time of parturition they separate from the males, 
retire to the side of some rill, and generally bring 
forth only one young, though some naturalists affirm 
that they occasionally produce two. The female 
shows much attachment to her young, and even de- 
fends it against eagles, wolves, and other enemies; 
she takes refuge in some cavern, and presenting her 
head at the entrance of the hole, thus opposes tbe 
enemy. 

The season for hunting the ibex is towards the end 
of summer, and in autumn, during the months of 
August and September, when they are usually in 
good condition. None but the inhabitants of the 
mountains engage in tbe chase ; for it requires not 
only a head that can bear to look down from the 
greatest heights without terror, address and sure- 
ibotedness in the most difficult and dangerous passes, 
and to be an excellent marksman, but also much 
strength and vigor to support hunger, cold, and pro- 
digious fatigue. 

The reader will gather from these accounts, that 
the rock-goat feeds on plants sufficiently distinct from 
the nature of corn ; insomuch that corn may be con- 
sidered as the food allotted by Providence for the 
support of its young. Also, that the time of its gesta- 
tion is known — being five months. But, direct proof 
is still wanting of the affectionate constancy of the 
female ibex, which it has been supposed might be the 
reference intended in Prov. v. 19. However, the 
general nature and habits of both sexes of this rock- 
goat are undoubtedly so similar, that the circumstan- 
tial evidence to this effect is little short of positive 
testimony. Moreover, Pennant informs us, that " the 
females at the time of parturition separate from the 
males, and retire to the side of some rill, to bring 
forth." This looks as if the females usually kept 
company with the males ; and where the creature is 
scarce, it is probable they associate in pairs. Neither 
is this probability diminished by observing that the 
female ibex has usually one kid, very rarely two. 
This, if admissible, sets aside the objection of Mi- 
chaeiis, who says, "The only passage, where n"?j" 
may appear not to agree with the ibex, is Prov. v. 19. 
This difficulty may be removed, if it be possible, or 
customary, among the orientals, to consider the fe- 
male ibex as an emblem of a beautiful woman ; but 
I cannot conceive how an animal so uncomely can, 
in any language, be adopted as an image of the fair 
sex." (Quest. No. 81.1 



There is another species of ibex, the horns of 
which are smooth. It inhabits the mountains of 
Caucasus and Taurus, all Asia Minor, and perhaps 
the mountains of India. It abounds on the inhos- 
pitable hills of Laar and Khorasan in Persia. It ia 
an animal of vast agility, forMonardus saw one leap 
from a high tower, and fall on its horns; then 
springing on its legs, leap about, without having re- 
ceived the least hurt. Pennant thinks this may be 
the origin of the tame goat. The female of this kind 
is either destitute of horns, or has short ones. 

[The Sy, ydel, of Scripture, is doubtless the ibex or 
mountain-goat, several families of which still feed 
upon the scanty vegetation of the mountains in the 
peninsula of Sinai. It is the Capra Arabica, and is 
called by the Arabs Beden. They exist also in great 
numbers in the mountains east and south of the 
Dead sea, the ancient mount Seir. The following 
account of them is from Burckhardt: (Travels in 
Syria, &c. p. 405.) " In all the wadys south of the 
Modjeb (Anion,) and particularly in those of the 
Modjeb and El Absa, large herds of mountain-goats, 
called by the Arabs Beden, are met with. This is 
the Steinbock, or Bouquetin, of the Swiss and Tyrol 
Alps ; they pasture in flocks of forty or fifty together ; 
great numbers of them are killed by the people of 
Kerek and Tafyle, who hold their flesh in high esti- 
mation. They sell the large knotty horns to the 
Hebrew merchants, who carry them to Jerusalem,, 
where they are wrought into handles for knives and 
daggers. I saw a pair of these horns at Kerek three 
feet and a half in length. The Arabs told me that 
it is very difficult to get a shot at them, and that the 
hunters hide themselves among the reeds on the 
banks of streams, where the animals resort in the 
evening to drink. They also asserted, that, when 
pursued, they will throw themselves from a height of 
fifty feet and more upon their heads without receiv- 
ing any injury. The same thing is asserted by the 
hunters in the Alps." 

The same traveller relates the following incident 
in ascending mount St. Catharine, adjacent to mount 
Sinai, on the south-west: (p. 571.) "As we ap- 
proached the summit of the mountain, we saw at a 
distance a small flock of mountain-goats feeding 
among the rocks. One of our Arabs left us, and by 
a widely circuitous route endeavored to get to the 
leeward of them, and near enough to fire at them ;. 
he enjoined us to remain in sight of them, and to sit 
down in order not to alarm them. He had nearly 
reached a favorable spot behind a rock, when the 
goats suddenly took to flight. They could not have 
seen the Arab ; but the wind changed, and thus they 
smelt him. The chase of the Beden, as the wild goat 
is called, resembles that of the chamois of the Alps, 
and requires as much enterprise and patience. The 
Arabs make long circuits to surprise them, and en- 
deavor to come upon them early in the morning,, 
when they feed. The goats have a leader, who keeps 
watch, and on any suspicious smell, sound, or object,, 
makes a noise, which is a signal to the flock to make 
their escape. They have much decreased of late, if 
we may believe the Arabs ; who say that fifty years- 
ago, if a stranger came to a tent, and the owner of it 
had no sheep to kill, he took his gun and went in 
search of a Beden. They are, however, even now- 
more common here than in the Alps, or in the moun- 
tains to the east of the Red sea. I had three or four 
of them brought to me at the convent, which I bought 
at three fourths of a dollar each. The flesh is excel- 
lent, and has nearly the same flavor as that of thw 



GOD 



[ 463 ] 



GO L 



deer. The Bedouins make water-bags of their skins, 
and rings of their horns, which they wear on their 
thumbs. When the Beden is met with in the plains, 
the dogs of the hunters easily catch him ; but they 
cannot come up with him among the rocks, where 
he can make leaps of twenty feet." *R. 

GOATS' HAIR was used by Moses in making 
the curtains of the tabernacle, Exod. xxv. 4, &c. 
The hair of the goats of Asia, Phrygia, and Cilicia, 
which is cut off, in order to manufacture stuffs, is 
very bright and fine, and hangs to the ground ; in 
beauty it almost equals silk, and is never sheared, but 
combed off. The shepherds carefully and frequent- 
ly wash these goats in rivers. The women of the 
country spin the hair, which is carried to Angora, 
where it is worked and dyed, and a considerable 
trade in the article carried on. The natives attribute 
the quality of the hair to the soil of the country. 

GOB, a plain where two battles were fought be- 
tween the Hebrews and Philistines, 2 Sam. xxi. 18, 19. 
In 1 Chron. xx. 4, we read Gezer instead of Gob. 
The LXX, in some copies, read Nob instead of Gob; 
and in others, Gath. 

GOD. This name we give to that eternal, infinite, 
and incomprehensible Being, the Creator of all things; 
who preserves and governs all, by his almighty power 
and wisdom, and is the only proper object of worship. 
God, properly speaking, can have no name ; for as 
he is one, and not subject to those individual quali- 
ties which distinguish men, and on which the differ- 
ent denominations given to them are founded, he 
needs not any name to distinguish him from others, 
or to mark a difference between him and any, since 
there is none like him. The names, therefore, which 
we ascribe to him, are descriptions or epithets, which 
express our sense of his divine perfections, in terms 
necessarily ambiguous, because they are borrowed 
from human life or conceptions ; rather than true 
names which justly represent his nature. (See Elohi.) 
The Hebrews call God, Jehovah, or Jaho, which 
they never pronounce ; substituting for it, Adonai, or 
Elohim ; lords, masters : or El, strong : or Shaddai : or 
Elion, the Most High : or El-Sabaoth, God of Hosts : 
or Jah, God. In Exod. iii. 13, 14, the angel who 
spoke in God's name, said to Moses, " Thus shalt 
thou say, I AM hath sent me unto you :" I am He 
who is; or, I shall ever be He who shall be. See' 
Jehovah and Name. 

GODLY, that which proceeds from God, and is 
pleasing to him. It also signifies conformity to his 
will, and an assimilation to his character, Ps. xii. 1 ; 
Mai. ii. 15 ; 2 Cor. i. 12 ; Tit. ii. 12, &c. 

GODS, False Gods. The name of God (Elohim) 
is very ambiguous in the Hebrew Scriptures. The 
true God is often called Elohim ; as are the angels, 
judges, and sometimes idols and false gods. (See Gen. 
i. 1 ; Exod. xxii. 20 ; Ps. Ixxxvi. 8, also the follow- 
ing passages in the Hebrew : Exod. xxi. 6 ; xxii. 8 ; 
1 Sam. ii. 25 ; Exod. xxii. 28.) Josephus and Philo 
believe, that Moses, in the last passage, designed to 
forbid the speaking evil of strange gods. Good Is- 
raelites had so great an aversion and contempt for 
strange gods, that they would not name them ; but 
substituted some term of contempt : so, instead of 
cn s t- , Elohim, they called them a^N, elilim, nothings, 
vanities, gods of no value. Sometimes they called 
idols, ordures ; Heb. o'Sibj, gillulim. God forbids the 
Israelites from swearing by strange gods, or pro- 
nouncing their names in oaths, Exod. xxiii. 13. 
Moses says, that the Israelites worshipped strange 
gods, whom they knew not, and whom he had not 



given to them, (Deut. xxix. 26.) gods who were net 
their own; gods to whom they did not belong; 
which increases the ingratitude, and the crime of 
their rebellion. The Hebrew may be translated, 
" strange gods, and who had given them nothing." 
When we compare this p«^ssage with others of 
Scripture, God seems to have abandoned other na- 
tions to strange gods, to the stars, to their idols, but 
to have reserved his own people to himself ; not that 
he hereby excuses the idolatry of other people ; but 
it is without comparison, less criminal than that of 
the Hebrews. (Compare Deut. xxix. 26, with iv. 19 ; 
xvii. 3 ; Acts vii. 42 ; Jer. xix. 13 ; 2 Kings xvii. 16 ; 
xxi. 3, 5 ; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 3, 5 ; Amos v. 25 — 27.) 

GOG and MAGOG. We unite these two names, 
because Scripture generally joins them. Moses (Gen. 
x. 2.) speaks of Magog, son of Japheth, but says 
nothing of Gog, who was prince of Magog, accord- 
ing to Ezekiel xxxviii. xxxix. Magog, no doubt, sig- 
nifies the country, or people; and Gog signifies the 
king ; but critics are much divided as to the people 
and country intended under these names. The 
Scythians, the Goths, the Persians, and several other 
nations, have been identified by interpreters as the 
Magog of the Scriptures ; but we incline to think 
that it is a name given generally to the northern na- 
tions of Europe and Asia ; or the districts north of the 
Caucasus. — Calmet is of opinion, that Gog wasCam- 
byses, king of Persia. He thinks Gog and Magog, in 
Ezekiel and the Revelation, (ch. xx. 7 — 9.) are to be 
taken allegorically, for princes who are enemies to 
the church. By Gog in Ezekiel, many understand 
Antioehus Epiphanes, the persecutor of the Jews; 
and by Gog in the Revelation, Antichrist. 

GOLAN, see Gatjlon. 

GOLD, a well-known valuable metal, found in 
many parts of the world, but the greatest quantity of 
which is obtained from the coast of Guinea. It is 
spoken of throughout Scripture ; and the use of it 
among the ancient Hebrews, in its native and mixed 
state, and for the same purposes as at present, was 
very common. The ark of the covenant was over- 
laid with pure gold ; the mercy-seat, the vessels and 
utensils belonging to the tabernacle, and those also 
of the house of the Lord, as well as the drinking 
vessels of Solomon, were of gold. 

GOLGOTHA, (in Greek, zQan&r, cranium, the top 
of the skull, or head,) a small hill, or rising, on a greater 
hill, or mount, north-west of Jerusalem ; so called, 
either from its form, which resembles a human skull ; 
or because criminals were executed there. Here our 
Saviour was crucified ; and near to it he was buried, 
in a garden belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, in a 
tomb cut in the rock. The emperor Adrian, when 
he rebuilt Jerusalem, and called it iElia, profaned 
the tomb, filling it up, and placing idols over it; but 
the empress Helena had it cleansed, and built over it 
a magnificent church. See Calvary and Sepul- 
chre. 

I. GOLIATH, a famous giant of Gath, (1 Sam. 
xvii. 4, &c. A. M. 2941. ante A. D. 1063.) who defied 
the Hebrews, and was encountered and slain by 
David. He was descended from Arapha ; that is. the 
old Rephaim. 

II. GOLIATH, another giant, killed by Elha- 
nan, son of Jair, of Bethlehem, 2 Sam. xxi. 19. In 
1 Chron. xx. 5, he is called the brother of Goliath 
the Gittite ; but whether he were really his brother, 
or only resembled him in the height of his stature, 
and therefore his brother in the sense of being his 
equal, we know not. 



GOS 



[ 464 ] 



GOSHEN 



I. GOMEll, the eldest son of Japheth, (Gen. x. 2.) 
peopled a considerable part of Asia Minor, particu- 
larly the region of Phrygia ; the appellation of which 
Bochart conceives, with great probability, to be a 
translation into Greek of the Hebrew word Gomer, 
"a coal:" Phrygia is literally the burnt country. 
From these parts the descendants of Gomer emigrat- 
ed, till Germany, France, and Britain, were peopled 
by them. They still continue marked, if not distinct, 
in the ancient Britons in Wales, who consider them- 
selves to have emigrated from the Crimea, and by 
that route, from the East ; a course which well agrees 
with the hypothesis here proposed. In fact, as Mr. 
Mansford remarks, under the names of Cimmerii, 
Cimbri, Cymrig, Cumbri, Umbri, and Cambri, the 
tribes of Gomeriaus extended themselves from the 
Euxine to the Atlantic, and from Italy to the Baltic, 
having to their original names, those of Celts, Gauls, 
Galatte, and Gaels superadded. 

II. GOMER, a harlot, whom Hosea the prophet 
married, Hos. i. 3. 

GOMORRHA, one of the principal cities of the 
Pentapolis ; consumed by fire from heaven. (See Sea 
Dead.) The Hebrew reads Amora, orHomora; but 
the LXX frequently express the letter ain, y, by g. 

GOOD, agreeable, beautiful, perfect in its kind. 
" God beheld all he had created, and it was very 
good," (Gen. i. 31,) every creature had its proper good- 
ness, beauty, perfection. " This man never prophe- 
eieth good to me," (2 Chron. xviii. 7.) nothing agree- 
able. A good eye signifies — liberality; an evil eye — 
a covetous, an envious person. 

GOPHER WOOD. Bochart, Fuller, and some 
other writers have maintained, that the gopher wood 
of which the ark was made (Gen. vi. 14.) was cypress. 
This is argued — First, from the appellation: for if, from 
the Greek y.ununmao;, be taken the termination maog, 
xvTzctq and idj gopher \x\\\ nearly resemble each other. 
Secondly, because, as they prove from the ancients, 
no wood is more durable against rot and worms. 
Thirdly, because, as Bochart particularly shows, the 
cypress was very fit for ship-building, and actually 
used for that purpose where it grew in sufficient 
plenty. And lastly, beeause it abounded in Assyria, 
where Noah probably built the ark. On the other 
hand, Asenarius, Minister, Taylor, and some other 
critics, think the pine bids fairest to furnish the wood 
described by the Hebrew word ; its relative gophrit 
signifying sulphur, brimstone, &c. and no wood pro- 
ducing pitch, tar, turpentine, and other inflammables, 
in such quantities as the pine. After all, gopher may 
probably be a general name for such trees as abound 
with resinous inflammable juices ; as the cedar, cy- 
press, fir-tree, pine, &c. 

GOPHNA, Guphna, or Gophnith, the principal 
place of one of the ten toparchies of Judea. Josephus 
generally joins it with the Acrabatene ; and Eusebius 
places it fifteen miles north of Jerusalem. 

I. GOSHEN, the name of that tract of country in 
Egypt, which was inhabited by the Israelites from 
the time of Jacob to that of Moses. It was most 
probably the tract lying eastward of the Pelusian 
arm of the Nile, towards Arabia, i. e. between that 
arm on the one side, and the Red sea and the borders 
of Palestine on the other. Commentators, however, 
have been greatly divided in respect to the situation 
of Goshen. Cellarius, Shaw, and others, suppose it 
to be the region around Heliopolis, not far from the 
nodern Cairo ; Bryant places it in the Saitic nome 
or province ; (Obs. on the Plagues of Egypt.) while 
Jablonsky strangely endeavors to fix it near Heraclea i 



in Middle Egypt, on the western bank of the Nile 
But most modern interpreters and travellers coincide 
in the view above given, that it was the part of Egypt 
eastward of the Delta ; so Michaelis, Gesenius, Ro- 
senmiiller, Niebuhr, and also the deputation of 
French engineers sent by Bonaparte to explore this 
country, and especially the route of the ancient canal, 
while the French had possession of Egypt in 1799. 
In accordance, also, with this view, professor Stuart 
has treated of the subject in his Course of Hebrew 
Study, Vol. II. Excursus ii. p. 158 ; to which the 
reader is referred. The reasons on which this opin- 
ion is founded may be briefly stated as follows : 

1. The notices contained in Scripture itself. — (1.) 
From Exod. xiii. 17, and 1 Chron. vii. 21, it appears 
that tlie land of Goshen was adjacent to the land of 
the Philistines, or at least nearer to it than the other 
parts of Egypt. — (2.) In Gen. xlvii. 29, Joseph, it is 
said, went up from Egypt to meet his father on his 
arrival in Goshen, — a mode of expression which is 
always used in respect to those who go from Egypt 
towards Palestine ; while those who go from Pales- 
tine to Egypt are always said to go down. — (3.) Ac- 
cording to Gen. xlv. 10, Goshen was not far ofF from 
(was near to) the royal residence of the kings of 
Egypt at that time, which according to Josephus was 
Memphis, but according to Ps. lxxviii. 12, was Zoan 
or Tanis, on the second branch of the Nile, and 
within the Delta. — (4.) The Israelites set off from 
Rameses, (Ex. xii. 37.) the metropolis of Goshen, and 
probably near the centre of the province, and reach- 
ed the Red sea in three days ; or more probably in 
two, if Etham lay at its northern extremity, in the 
edge of the desert. This would have been impossi- 
ble, had they come from the vicinity of the Nile. — 
(5.) The probable sites of the cities built in Goshen 
by the Israelites, as Rameses and Pithom, are found 
in this region. 

2. With the above notices agree also those existing 
in the ancient translators of the Scriptures, and in 
other writers. — (1.) The Seventy, who made their 
version in Egypt, and who are consequently of great 
authority in every thing relative to that country, give 
the Hebrew name in Gen. xlv. 10, by rtahr '^Qapiag, 
Goshen of Arabia, manifestly signifying that Goshen 
was on the east of the Nile. Indeed the name of 
Arabia was sometimes applied to all that part of 
Egypt and Ethiopia which lies between the Nile and 
the Red sea ; and especially the so called Arabian 
nome (vuuoc 'slQafilac) was in the tract which we 
assign to Goshen. (Ptolem. Geogr. vi. 8 ; Plin. v. 9.) 
In another place, (Gen. xlvi. 28.) for the Hebrew 
reading land of Goshen, they put r-o.9 ' 'JfQwair n&liv etg 
yijv'Pautaaij, to Heroopolis in the land of Rameses; 
from which we may gather that the city of Heroopo- 
lis was reckoned to Goshen, and that the whole 
country was sometimes called Rameses after its cap- 
ital. — (2.) Josephus evidently reckons Heliopolis to 
Goshen ; (Antiq. ii. 7. 6.) following probably the Sep- 
tuagint version of Ex. i. 11, where, in enumerating 
the cities built by the Israelites, in addition to Ra- 
meses and Pithom, they mention also On, which is 
Heliopolis. On our hypothesis, this city might have 
been in quite the south-western corner of Goshen. — 
(3.) The authority of Saadias, the Arabic translator, 
is here very great, as he was himself an Egyptian, 
Fijumensis ; he always, for Goshen, puts Sedir. This 
was the name of a fortress and of the region around 
it, in the Egyptian province Sharkiyeh, in which also 
was the nome Tarabia, (the Arabian nome of Ptole- 
my,) as is shewn by De Sacy and also by Quatre- 



GOSHEN 



[ 465 ] 



GOSHEN 



mere. (Mem. sur l'Egypte I. p. 61.) In accordance 
with this view is also the testimony of Makrizi, the 
celebrated Arabian writer, who describes the land of 
Goshen as being the country around Bilbeis, and 
extending to the land of the Ainalekites. 

With the above hypothesis agrees well also the 
general character of this district. It is in general not 
capable of tillage, because it lies for the most part 
beyond the reach of the inundations of the Nile ; but 
it is so much the more adapted to the uses of noma- 
dic shepherds, such as were Jacob and his sons, and 
was consequently for them the best of the land. (Gen. 
xlvii. 6, 11.) So true was this, that even in later 
times, after the conquest of Egypt by the Mohamme- 
dans, the region around Bilbeis (the land of Goshen) 
was assigned to the Arabian nomadic tribes, who had 
taken part in the conquest, as their appropriate por- 
tion. (Quatremere, Mein. I. p. 60.) 

This tract of country in general, or isthmus, is 
described by M. Roziere, a member of the French 
deputation above-mentioned, as a vast plain, but little 
elevated above the sea ; now and then having a roll- 
ing surface ; interspersed also with hills, in general 
small, steep on one side, and gradual on the other. 
It is every where intersected by valleys, (wadys) wide, 
but not deep, apparently made by the Nile and the 
rains. In these, particularly during the rainy season, 
there is abundance of grass, bushes, and other vege- 
tation, on which the camels that cross the deserts in 
caravans, are fed. In general, the whole plain is 
covered with more or less of vegetation, excepting 
those parts where drift-sands compose the principal 
part of the soil, or where there are salt lagoons, near 
which the whole soil is covered or mixed with saline 
excrescences. 

In February, 1827, the Rev. Mr. Smith, American 
missionary, passed with a caravan direct from Bil- 
beis to El Arish, on the borders of Palestine, across 
the desert, and of course through the northern part 
of the district of Goshen. From Bilbeis they travel- 
led the first day over an immense plain of coarse 
sand, almost entirely destitute of vegetation. "Af- 
terwards," he observes, " the desert became uneven 
and hilly, and presented a great variety of surface 
and prospect as we advanced, the fine movable sand 
increased, forming little hillocks around the shrubs, 
and covering the tops of the highest hills with 
immense drifts, formed and shaped in the same 
manner as banks of snow. Several species of ever- 
green shrubs, resembling our whortleberry bush, find 
sustenance in the sand of the desert, and are scattered 
in some places more, and in others less thickly, over 
the whole of it. Of grass I saw none, except a little 
in a very few places, growing in bogs, as if in 
swamps. It is on the shrubs just mentioned, that 
the Bedouins pasture their flocks. Of these we saw 
none until the fifth day ; after that, many, which were 
always composed of goats and sheep together, and 
attended by females." (Stuart's Course of Heb. Study, 
II. p. 165.) 

A very striking feature of this region of country, 
i. e. Goshen, is the great valley of Saba Byar, i. e. 
seven wells, through which passed the ancient canal 
that united the Nile with the Red sea. This canal 
was found by the French engineers to be still in a 
state of preservation in many parts of it. The first 
section of it begins near the head of the Red sea, just 
north of Suez, (see under Exodus, p. 410.) and runs 
up through a low wady to the Bitter lakes, about 
thirteen and a half* miles. The second section con- 
sists of the basin of these lakes, which run in a north- 
59 



westerly direction about twenty-seven miles, and the 
bottom of which is from twenty to fifty-four feet lower 
than the high-watermarkof the Red sea. The third 
section of the canal runs from Serapeum, at the head 
of these lakes, westward, through the above-mentioned 
Wady Saba Byar, about thirty-nine miles, to Abasseh, 
at the western end of the wady, where it joins the 
valley of the Nile. The fourth and last section run9 
from Abasseh to Bubastis, (Pi Beseth, Ezek. xxx. 17.) 
which was on the Pelusiac, or eastern branch of the 
Nile, about twelve miles from Abasseh. The whole 
valley of Saba Byar, from Abasseh to Serapeum, is 
subject to be overflowed by the Nile, when fully 
swelled. In 1800, while the French were there, the 
Nile not only flowed into the valley, but broke 
through a great dyke near the middle of it, and pen- 
etrated almost to the Bitter lakes. The water on this 
occasion, in some parts of the valley, was from twen- 
ty to thirty feet deep. The soil is consequently cov- 
ered by the rich deposit of the Nile, and is of the 
same character as that of the rest of Egypt near the 
Nile, though not so deep. Sweet water is every 
where found in it on digging a few feet. The canal 
ran along the northern side of this valley, upon the 
hill or ascent which bounds it on that side. 

A similar, but more extensive, valley still farther 
west is mentioned by Mr. Smith on his route from 
Bilbeis to El Arish. Soon after leaving Bilbeis, they 
struck off* to the right into the desert. Afterwards, 
he says, " We passed one tract of land, the features 
of which were so distinctly marked as to excite con- 
siderable curiosity. It was a sort of valley, a little 
lower than the surrounding country, into which we 
descended, about ten and a half hours [some thirty- 
five miles] from Bilbeis. It extends north-west and 
south-east, descending towards the Nile, and narrow- 
ing in this direction. We were told that the Nile 
occasionally flows up this valley to the spot where 
we crossed it. Towards the south-east, it gradually 
ascends, and widens into an immense plain, the lim- 
its of which, in that direction, we could not discern. 
From this plain, the eastern extremity of Suez 
mountain, which now for the first time showed itself, 
bore south by east. The soil of this tract was a dark 
mould. I do not doubt that water might be found 
in any part of it, by digging a few feet. Indeed, after 
travelling upon it four and a half hours, [about four- 
teen or fifteen miles] we came to a well only twelve 
or fifteen feet deep, but sufficiently copious to water 
the [two hundred] camels and fill the water-skins of 
the whole caravan, and containing the only sweet 
water that we found in the desert, all the other wells 
being brackish. It is called Jlbu Suair. Having 
seen how extensively artificial irrigation is practised 
in Egypt, I was easily persuaded that this whole tract 
might once have been under the highest state of cul- 
tivation." (Stuart 1. c. p. 166.) 

Valleys or wadys like these would furnish to the 
Israelites an abundance of fertile soil to live upon, 
with the opportunity of pasturing their flocks in the 
surrounding deserts. That this was, therefore, the 
best of the land of Egypt for the Hebrews, is manifest ; 
that it was so also for the Bedouin tribes who helped 
the Mohammedans to conquer Egypt, has been men- 
tioned above ; and that at a still later period it was 
regarded as one of the wealthiest portions of Egypt, 
is apparent from a circumstance mentioned in De 
Sacy's translation of Abdollatiph's Description ol 
Egypt. Appended to this work is a valuation of the 
Egyptian provinces made in A. D. 1376, for the pur- 
uoses of taxation. The province Sharkiyeh (Go- 



GOS 



[ 466 ] 



GOSPEL 



sben) is there said to contain 380 towns and villages, 
and is valued at 1,411,875 dinars ; a valuation high- 
er than that of any of the other provinces (except 
one) either of Lower or Upper Egypt. (De Sacy, 
Relat. d'Egypte, par Abdallatiph, p. 593, seq.) 

As cities of Goshen, are mentioned Pithom and 
Rameses; the former, probably the Patoumos of the 
Greeks, on the canal, at the western embouchure of 
the Wady Saba Byar ; and the latter situated proba- 
bly about the middle of that valley, at Aboukeyshid, 
a place where ruins are still found. This is the 
opinion of M. Roziere, and also of lord Valentia ; and 
it is also adopted by professor Stuart. Other places 
are also mentioned, as Succoth, Etham, Pi-hahiroth, 
Baal-zephon, and Migdol ; for which see these arti- 
cles respectively, and also the article Exodus, p. 
400, seq. *R. 

II. GOSHEN, a city and the territory around it 
in the mountains of Judah, Josh. x. 41 ; xi. 16 ; xv. 
51. R. 

GOSPEL, Evayyif.ior, good news. The subject of 
the apostolic message is called the Gospel ; that is, 
a good message, or glad tidings, as the same word is 
sometimes rendered, Luke ii. 10 ; Acts xiii. 32. It 
is also called " the Gospel of peace," (Rom. x. 5.) 
because it proclaims peace with God to guilty rebels 
through Jesus Christ. " The word of reconciliation," 
(2 Cor. v. 19.) because it shows how God is recon- 
ciled to sinners, and contains the great motive or ar- 
gument for reconciling their minds to him. " The 
Gospel of salvation," (Eph. i. 13.) because it holds 
forth salvation to the lost or miserable. " The Gospel 
of the grace of God," (Acts xx. 24.) as being a dec- 
laration of God's free favor and unmerited love and 
good-will to the utterly worthless and undeserving. 
" The Gospel of the kingdom," (Matt. xxiv. 14.) be- 
cause it proclaims the power and dominion of the 
Messiah, and the nature and privileges of his king- 
dom, which is not of this world. — It is termed the 
truth, (John xviii. 37; 2 Thess. ii. 13; 1 John ii. 21.) 
not only as being the most important of all truths, 
and the testimony of God, who cannot lie, (1 John 
v. 9.) but also because it is the accomplishment of 
Old Testament prophecies, and the substance, spirit, 
and truth of all the shadows and types of the former 
economy. A general idea of the Gospel may also 
be formed from the short summaries given of it in 
various parts of the New Testament. Jesus sums 
up the Gospel to Nicodemus thus: "As Moses lifted 
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the 
Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth 
on him should not perish, but have eternal life. 
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only- 
oegotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him 
might not perish, but have everlasting life," John iii. 
14, 15, 16. Paul gives several brief compendiums 
jf the Gospel, from which we shall select the follow- 
ng : " Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the 
Gospel which I preached unto you — by the which ye 
are also saved — how that Christ died for our sins 
according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, 
and that he rose again the third day, according to the 
Scriptures," 1 Cor. xv. 1 — 5. "God hath given to us 
the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in 
Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not im- 
puting their trespasses unto them. For he hath 
made him (auaoriav) a sin-offering for us who knew 
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of 
God in him," 2 Cor. v. 19—21. "This is a faithful 
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus 
Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom 



I am chief," 1 Tim. i. 15. John gives the substance 
of the Gospel testimony in these words: "This is the 
record {uuorvQia, witness or testimony) that God hath 
given unto us, eternal life ; and this life is in his Son. 
He that hath the Son hath life," 1 John v. 11, 12. 
Maclean. 

The writings which contain the recital of our 
Saviour's life, miracles, death, resurrection, and 
doctrine, are called Gospels, because they include 
the best news that coidd be published to mankind. 
We have but four canonical Gospels — those of Mat- 
thew, Mark, Luke, and John. These have not only 
been generally received, but they were received 
very early, as the standards of evangelical history ; 
as the depositories of the doctrines and actions of 
Jesus. They are appealed to under that character 
both by friends and enemies ; and no writer im- 
pugning or defending Christianity, acknowledges a 
fifth Gospel as of equal or concurrent authority, al- 
though there were many others which purported to 
be authentic memoirs of the life and actions of Christ. 
A lull account of these spurious productions may be 
found in Fabricius's Codex Apocryphus Novi Testa- 
menti. Jones's well-known work in the Apocryphal 
canon also gives an account of the principal of them. 

The evangelist Luke, in the preface to his Gospel, 
observes, that " many" had taken in hand to draw 
up histories of Christian events. He does not blame 
these writers ; but rather associates himself with 
them by the phrase, " It hath seemed good to me 
also." Nothing could be more natural, than that 
transactions which raised so much interest, among 
the Jewish people especially, should excite the wishes 
of those at a distauce from the places where they 
occurred, to receive that information which writing 
only could correctly furnish. Paul, pleading before 
Agrippa, ascribes to that prince a knowledge of Chris- 
tian events ; and asserts, that " these things were not 
done in a corner." What was so public and notori- 
ous was, doubtless, in general circulation, as well 
by writing as by report; but, after the publication 
of the four Gospels now extant, the former docu- 
ments sunk into oblivion, and were no longer distin- 
guished. 

[The remarks which follow here are from the pen of 
Mr. Taylor. They exhibit a view of the subject which 
has been taken by some ; but which more thorough 
investigation has shown to be untenable. For the 
present state of the question as to the sources of the 
striking resemblances, as well as striking differ- 
ences, of the three first Gospels, see the additions 
below. R. 

There have been a variety of opinions respecting 
the time and the order of the four Gospels ; but, 
perhaps, the plan on which each of them is written, 
has not hitherto been sufficiently attended to, or as- 
certained. 

Matthew. — The following remarks on the Gos- 
pel of Matthew may have their effect in solving 
some difficulties of chronology, &c. 

Let us suppose that Matthew wrote his Gospel the 
first of the four — not in one continued or orderly 
narrative, but divided into books, according to the 
different subjects, or classes of transactions. If this be 
admissible, it removes entirely the chronological diffi- 
culties which embarrass commentators, in attempt- 
ing to reconcile Matthew with Luke ; because it 
supposes Matthew to associate similar facts in 
one book, while Luke proposes "an orderly his- 
tory," according to the course of events. The dif- 
ferent plans of these writers led them to adopt differ- 



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ent arrangements. This also furnishes a reason why 
Luke might compose an orderly history, which 
Matthew's, however correct, was not, he having no 
such design ; while it relieves Mark from the charge 
of having abstracted Matthew. It has been main- 
tained by many eminent critics, that Matthew wrote 
his Gospel first in Syriac, and that it was afterwards 
translated into Greek ; whether by himself is not 
certain, though it is highly probable. Some of the 
fathers date the writing of this Gospel eight years 
after the death of Jesus ; while others date it fifteen or 
even twenty years after. (See the additions below.) 

Mark's Gospel may be considered, upon the tra- 
ditionary testimony of antiquity, as a collection of 
facts, gathered by him from authorities adduced by 
Peter ; as well from his private discourse, as from his 
public preachings. Now, it is not very likely that 
these facts, which might be heard, or obtained, at 
various times, and on various occasions, should be 
arranged by the evangelist precisely in chronologi- 
cal order. It woidd answer his purpose, if they 
were accurately related, though but loosely connect- 
ed, or, perhaps, not intentionally connected at all ; 
that is, in reference to their order as a series of 
events. But we see no reason why Mark might not 
also avail himself of such written information as was 
extant at the time ; such, for instance, as Matthew's 
Gospel. This would account for the verbal resem- 
blance observed between some parts of Matthew 
and some parts of Mark ; while, elsewhere, Mark 
might adhere to such facts as he had collected, and 
to such expressions as he had adopted. To ex- 
change these for others, when the histories were 
the same, would have answered no valuable 
purpose. 

Luke. — It remains that we consider the Gospel by 
this evangelist as the most regular in arrangement, 
according to the order of facts ; and we ought to 
reflect with the deepest gratitude on the pains taken 
by him to acquire such a knowledge of the series of 
Gospel events, as that which his history presents. 
In fact, in his Gospel, no less than in his " Acts of 
the Apostles," Luke displays manifest proofs of a 
liberal and cultivated mind, and of ardent research 
after truth. This is of great importance ; for on the 
accuracy and research of Luke depend much of our 
satisfaction, if not of our faith. See Luke. 

A certain class of persons have manifested great 
anxiety to get rid of the first two chapters of Luke, 
in conjunction with part of the first chapter of Mat- 
thew ; but it has never, perhaps, been suggested that 
a question of the utmost importance rests exclusive- 
ly upon these impugned portions of the sacred his- 
tory. The people of the Jews expected, and with 
the utmost propriety, that Messiah should be, (1.) of 
the tribe of Judah ; (2.) of the posterity of David ; 
(3.) in the direct line of that prince ; so that, had he 
enjoyed his own, as a descendant from David, his 
right to the throne itself was unquestionable ; (4.) 
born in David's town, Bethlehem of Judah. (Com- 
pare John vii. 42; Matthew xxii. 42, 45; Mark xii. 
35, 37.) 

Now, it happens, that no other parts of the Gospels 
will prove this fact ; so that if we had not these chap- 
ters, whatever we might think of the person termed in 
reproach "Jesus born at Nazareth," "Jesus the Naza- 
rene," we could not prove that we received as the Mes- 
siah, Jesus born at Bethlehem ; we could not prove 
that this person traced his descent from David, still 
less in the immediate line, and direct descent, from 
him ; we could not even prove that he was of the 



tribe of Judah ; all which particulars are absolute- 
ly indispensable in determining the person of 
Messiah. And then what will follow ? — That the 
Jews, in rejecting Jesus born at Nazareth, as Mes- 
siah, were perfectly laudable ; for he was defective 
in a main branch of that evidence which was neces- 
sary, indispensably necessary, to vindicate his claim 
to this title. Supposing him to be born at Nazareth 
he was not of Judah, but of Galilee ; he was not of 
Bethlehem, by the terms of the affirmation ; he was 
not descended from David, or at least there could be 
no proof of it; for how should the town records of 
Bethlehem concern themselves about a birth at 
Nazareth ? — therefore he could not be the Messiah. 
It appears that those who were unacquainted with 
the early history of Jesus, uniformly considered him 
a Galilean, Matt. xxi. 11 ; Luke xxiii. 6, seq. John 
vii. 41. They also unanimously described him as 
born at Nazareth ; and this was a circumstance of 
such direct opposition to a justly founded character- 
istic mark of Messiah, that we cannot but approve of 
Saul's opposing, with all his might, the prevalence of 
of Jesus born, as he supposed at Nazareth. Indeed, a 
prominent topic of discussion between those who fa- 
vored and those who opposed Jesus, was — the place of 
his birth ; and, unless we can prove negatively, that he 
was not born at Nazareth, or in Galilee, a| the Jews 
affirm ; and positively, that he was born in Judah, 
and in Bethlehem, of which our only proof lies in 
these to-be-exploded chapters — we have no (com- 
plete) rational evidence to produce, nor any (deci- 
sive) reasons to justify us, in supporting our faith. 
Such is the importance of the introductory chapters 
to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. To disman- 
tle the Gospels of any integral part is to injure the 
religion of which they are the basis, in proportion 
to the importance of that part ; and, if we be not 
mistaken, a more vital part than what our attention 
has now been directed to, can hardly be selected. 
The genealogy in Matthew was necessary to evince 
the descent of Jesus in the royal line of David, and 
his right to the kingdom ; a right, that he constantly 
refused to recognize during his life- — and, being 
asserted only after his decease, could give no just 
umbrage to the ruling powers. That was a public 
document. The genealogy in Luke was a private 
document ; and his preservation of it coincides 
with that accuracy which is characteristic of him. 

John. — This Gospel is universally allowed to be 
supplementary to the others. It abounds more in 
instructive discourses than in narrative ; which is 
easily accounted for, if we suppose John to have had 
a knowledge of Matthew and Luke's writings. He 
would, naturally, not desire to load the public with 
books, for the reasons assigned by him, at the close 
of his own work. 

There are many indications, in the Gospel by John, 
that the writer had specially in view the refutation 
of certain religious errors which were prevalent in 
his time, (see Sabeans,) affecting both the divinity 
and the humanity of the Son of God. 

[The preceding remarks furnish only a very mea- 
gre and one-sided view of a very interesting and im- 
portant subject. But the very extent of the subject 
itself precludes the possibility of doing it justice in a 
work of this kind ; and these additions, therefore, 
must be limited to a .bare outline of the present 
state of the question. 

The four Gospels contain, in general, the record of 
the birth, actions, teaching, death, resurrection, and 
ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Mat. 



GOSPEL 



[ 468 ] 



GOSPEL 



thew and Luke commence with his birth, as intro- 
juctory to his ministry ; Mark and John omit this 
ntroductory matter. Matthew, Mark, and Luke 
nil narrate the events of his ministry in a maimer gen- 
erally similar ; while John contains mostly matter 
not contained in the other three, and may, therefore, 
be called supplementary to them. All four exhibit an 
account of our Lord's death and the subsequent 
events. Under thes^e circumstances, a general re- 
semblance would naturally be expected, especially 
in the three first Gospels, as is, indeed, the fact ; but 
then this resemblance, which is often manifested in 
a literal identity, is also attended with very remark- 
able differences, both in regard to chronological 
order, and in respect to the facts themselves. It 
has, therefore, ever been a favorite study of comment- 
ators and interpreters of Scripture, to endeavor to 
arrange the accounts given us in these different Gos- 
pels, in such a manner as to show their harmony 
with each other ; to place them together in such a 
way, as out of the several disconnected accounts to 
form one connected and harmonious whole in the 
proper chronological order. Such an arrangement 
is called a Synopsis or Harmony of the Gospels. 
The first attempt of this kind is attributed to Tatian 
or Theophilus of Antioch in the second century ; 
his vvorkiis called Diatesseron, i. e. the four. Others 
were afterwards composed by Ammonius of Alex- 
andria, about A. D. 220 ; by Eusebius of Caesarea, 
about A. D. 315 ; and in modern times by Osiander, 
Jansenius, Whiston, Lamy, Le Clerc, Doddridge, 
Macknight, Priestley, Newcome, White, Griesbach, 
De Wette, Liicke, H. Planck, and others. One 
of the most judicious of these Harmonies, is that of 
Newcome for the Greek, which has also been pub- 
lished in English. In all these attempts there are 
two grand difficulties to be overcome ; in which the 
writers of harmonies have hitherto differed very 
widely. The first is, the duration of our Lord's 
ministry, which Priestley and others, after Origen and 
Clerneus Alexandrinus, limit to oneyearand, perhaps, 
a few months ; while Newcome and others suppose 
it to have continued three years and a half, and to 
have included four passovers. Sir Isaac Newton 
makes it include five passovers. The second diffi- 
culty is to ascertain the true chronological order ; and 
on this point the opinions have been almost as nu- 
merous as the writers; some assuming that Matthew 
has strictly followed the order of time in his narra- 
tion, and, therefore, accommodating the narrations 
of the other evangelists to his ; others (as Mr. 
Taylor above) adopting Luke as the standard of 
chronological order ; others again preferring Mark ; 
and others, still, supposing that neither evangelist has 
adhered strictly to the order of time in his narrative. 
Such is the opinion of Newcome : "In fact, chrono- 
logical order is not precisely observed by any of the 
evangelists; St. John and St. Mark observe it most ; 
and St. Matthew neglects it most." (Pref. to Harmo- 
ny.) Indeed, it is every where obvious, as the same 
writer remarks, " that the evangelists are more in- 
tent on representing the substance of what is spoken, 
than the words of the speaker ; that, they neglect ac- 
curate order in the detail of particular incidents, 
though they pursue a good general method ; that de- 
tached and distant events are sometimes joined to- 
gether on account of a sameness in the scene, the 
persons, the cause, or the consequences ; and that in 
such concise histories as the Gospels, transitions are 
often made from one fact to another, without any in- 
timation that important matters intervened." (Ibid.) 



The arrangement of the Gospels in a harmony 
shows at once to the eye, that, both in the facts and in 
the language, there is a very close resemblance be- 
tween the three first Gospels ; and that the Gospel of 
John is in a great measure supplementary to the others. 
Indeed, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, sometimes cor- 
respond word for word ; at other times, the sense and 
general language are the same, with variations in the 
single expressions. One needs only to open a Greek 
Harmony, to be convinced of this fact. Still more 
striking is the relation in which Mark stands to both 
Matthew and Luke ; he has only tiventy-four verses 
peculiar to himself; all the rest is found in the other 
two. He seldom stands independently between the 
two ; but follows sometimes one and sometimes the 
other, or is the medium of harmonizing all the three. 
According to bishop Marsh, in that which is com- 
mon to all three, Luke never accords perfectly with 
Matthew, except where Mark also accords with him ; 
though, in such cases, Luke is sometimes nearer to 
Matthew than Mark is. It is singular that Mark 
sometimes has a mixed text, compounded from those 
of Matthew and Luke. (See Matt. viii. 3 ; Mark i. 42 
Luke v. 13.— Matt. viii. 4 ; Mark i. 44 ; Luke v. 14.— 
Matt. ix. 9 ; Mark ii. 3 ; Luke v. 27 ; and elsewhere.) 

To account for these remarkable appearances, has 
been a subject of deep interest to learned men, and 
also of great research, especially during the last hair 
of the eighteenth century. It is obvious, that the re- 
semblances can be accounted for only on two hy- 
potheses, or by a union of the two, viz. (1.) that one 
evangelist saw and copied from the others ; or (2.) 
that they all three drew from a common source ; or 
(3.) that they not only had this common source, but 
also copied from each other. These hypotheses 
seem, in themselves, very simple ; but to carry them 
out and apply them in detail is attended with difficul 
ties which no writer has yet been able wholly to solve. 

On the first hypothesis, some have adopted the or- 
der of the canon, without further inquiry, and have 
at once assumed that Mark made use of Matthew's 
Gospel, which he abridged and corrected ; while Luke 
corrected and supplied what he thought necessary in 
both the others. So Grotius, Mill, Wetstein, and 
Hug. Storr held Mark's Gospel to be the oldest, and 
the source of the others ; while others ascribe the 
same character to Luke. Griesbach showed from 
observation, without regard to any theory, that Mark 
extracted from both Matthew and Luke ; and he also 
assumed that Luke, in writing his Gospel, had some 
reference to Matthew. To this hypothesis, however, 
there lie many difficulties in the way. Each evan- 
gelist has every where something peculiar to him- 
self ; here and there he is more definite, exact, mi- 
nute ; it is, therefore, difficult to see why a following 
evangelist, who used and copied from him, should 
make no use of these circumstances ; and why he 
should rather adopt unnecessary changes of ex- 
pression; and even sometimes expressions less definite 
and appropriate. Especially, if Mark compiled his 
Gospel from those of Matthew and Luke, can we not 
free him from the charge of want of plan and of mere 
arbitrary procedure? 

Upon the other hypothesis, that of one common 
source, some have assumed that this was the so call- 
ed Gospel of the Hebrews ; but this assumption was 
made on conjecture, and without knowing what this 
Gospel of the Hebrews was. Others held the sup- 
posed Hebrew Gospel of Matthew to be the primitive 
source of all the others. Eichhorn first endeavored, 
by a more definite conjectural theory, to "jrnove the 



GOSPEL 



[ 469 ] 



GOU 



difficulties. He assumed a certain original Gospel, 
which existed and was used by the evangelists in 
different editions or recensions ; that which they all 
have in common is from the groundwork or body 
of this original Gospel ; that which only two of .iem 
have in common, is from a recension with soi e ad- 
ditions, which was used by both ; that which c iy one 
has, is from another recension used by him aione, or 
from some other source. This original Gospel he sup- 
posed to be written in Aramaean ; and thus was able, 
very naturally, to explain, how the three Gospels, as 
being independent translations, might coincide in 
similar terms and expressions. But still he could not 
thus account for the remarkable coincidence in the 
use of the same Greek words and expressions, some 
of which are unusual and singular. Bishop Marsh, 
therefore, (in the additions to his translation of Mi- 
chaelis's Introduction,) improved Eichhorn's theory, 
by supposing that there existed a Greek translation 
of this Aramaean original Gospel, which Mark and 
Luke used in the composition of their Greek Gospels ; 
he supposed, too, that the Greek translator of Matthew 
probably made use of the Greek texts of Mark and 
Luke. These suggestions were afterwards adopted 
in substance by Eichhorn. This theory for a time 
made great noise in the theological world ; but when 
it came to be seen, that a theory so complex and arti- 
ficial, and requiring the aid of so many subordinate 
theories, is utterly at variance with the simple char- 
acter of the apostolic writings ; and that no hint oc- 
curs of the existence of any such primitive Gospel, 
which could be of such paramount authority ; on 
these and other grounds, the good sense of the public 
recoiled from this hypothesis ; and the only wonder 
now is, how it could ever have been received with 
so much favor. 

On the whole, then, we must give up the hope of 
finding any definite theory, which will entirely ac- 
count for the close resemblances of the three first 
Gospels, and at the same time solve the opposite diffi- 
culties. We can only, in general, make the supposi- 
tion, that the evangelists wrote down the traditionary 
accounts (so to speak) which they had retained of the 
actions and words of Jesus. In their teaching and 
preaching, the apostles must necessarily often have 
had occasion to relate the actions and repeat the dis- 
courses of their Lord and Master ; these relations and 
repetitions would naturally assume, at length, a defi- 
nite shape, and were, no doubt, written down and 
copied among the Christian converts. But such 
writings, thus coming into circulation, could not have 
the sanction of apostolical authority ; and, therefore, it 
would be very natural that the apostles themselves, 
or those who were intimately connected with them, 
should at length give a more full and complete ac- 
count of all these things. It is to such previous 
writings, and to such a state of things, that Luke 
alludes, eh. i. 1. In this way, the writers would nat- 
urally follow the same train as in their oral discourses, 
and might, perhaps, make occasional use of writings 
already extant. Thus far only can we safely go. 

Gospel of Matthew. — The time when this Gos- 
pel was written is very uncertain. All ancient testi- 
mony, however, goes to show that it was published 
before the others. Hug draws from internal evidence 
the conclusion, that it was written shortly before the 
siege and capture of Jerusalem by the Romans, when 
they already had possession of Galilee, about A. D. 
65. It has been much disputed, whether this Gospel 
was originally written in Hebrew or Greek. The 
unanimous testimony of ancient writers is in favor of 



a Hebrew original, i. e. that it was written in the lan- 
guage of Palestine and for the use of the Hebrew 
Christians. But, on the other hand, the definiteness 
and accuracy of this testimony is drawn into ques- 
tion ; there is no historical notice of a translation into 
Greek ; and the present Gospel bears many marks of 
being an original ; the circumstances of the age, too, 
and the prevalence of the Greek language in Pales- 
tine, seem to give weight to the opposite hypothesis. 
Critics of the greatest name are arranged on both 
sides of the question. 

Gospel of Mark. — All the writers of the church 
are unanimous in the statement, that Mark wrote his 
Gospel under the influence and direction of the apos- 
tle Peter. The same traditionary authority makes it 
to have been written at Rome, and published after the 
death of Peter and Paul. 

Gospel of Luke. — In like manner, Luke is said 
to have written his Gospel under the direction of Paul, 
whose companion he was on his journeys. Hug 
supposes this Gospel to have been written at a late 
period, after those of Matthew and Mark, and after 
the destruction of Jerusalem. 

Gospel of John. — The ancient writers all make 
this Gospel the latest. Hug places its publication in 
the first year of the emperor Nerva, A. D. 96, sixty- 
five years after our Saviour's death, and when John 
was now more than eighty years of age. This 
would be about thirty years later than the Gospel of 
Matthew. *R. 

I. GOURD, Wild, a plant which produces leaves 
and branches similar to garden-cucumbers, which 
creep on the earth, and are divided into several 
branches ; Cucumeres asinini. Its fruit is of the size 
and figure of an orange, of a white, light substance 
beneath the rind, and extremely bitter, 2 Kings iv. 
39. It furnished a model for some of the carved 
work of cedar in Solomon's temple, 1 Kings vi. 18. 
Engl, version, knops. 

II. GOURD of JONAH. There is some diffi- 
culty in ascertaining the plant intended by the He- 
brew pv'p, kikdyon, and interpreters are greatly at 
variance. Modern writers, however, almost all 
agree, that it signifies the Palma Christi, or Ricinus ; 
in Egypt called Kiki; a plant like a lily, having 
smooth leaves scattered here and there, and spotted 
with black ; the stem round and glossj' ; and pro- 
ducing flowers of various colors. Dioscorides says, 
that one species of it grows like a large tree, and as 
high as the fig. 

Niebuhr has the following remarks: — "I saw for 
the first time, at Basra, the plant el-kheroa, mentioned 
in Michaelis's " Questions." (No. 87.) It has the form 
of a tree ; the trunk appeared to me rather to resem- 
ble leaves than wood ; nevertheless, it is harder than 
that which bears the Adam's Jig. Each branch of 
the kheroa has but one large leaf, with six or seven 
corners. This plant was near to a rivulet, which 
watered it amply. At the end of October, it had 
risen, in five months' time, above eight feet, and bore 
at once flowers and fruit, ripe and unripe. Another 
tree of this species, which had not had so much wa- 
ter, had not grown more in a whole year. The flow- 
ers and leaves of it, which I gathered, withered in a 
few minutes ; as do all plants of a rapid growth. This 
tree is called at Aleppo, Palma Christi." (Descrip. 
Arab. p. 148, Fr. edit.) Volney, speaking of the vege- 
tation of Egypt, says, "Wherever plants have water, 
the rapidity of their growth is prodigious. Whoever 
has travelled to Cairo, or Rosetta, knows that the 
species, of gourd called kerra, will, in twenty-four 



GRA 



L 470 ] 



G R A 



hours, send out shoots near four inches long." (Trav. 
vol. i. p. 71.) 

These descriptions agree well enough with the 
plant of Jonah, and may he taken to identify the 
species to which it belonged. 

[Niehuhr, at the close of the passage above quoted, 
further remarks : " The Jews and Christians at Mo- 
sul and Aleppo affirm, that el-kheroa is not the plant 
which furnished shade for Jonah, but a species of 
gourd, called d-keira, which has very large leaves, 
and bears a very large fruit; and which does not last 
more than about four months." R. 

GOZAN, a river of Media, (2 Kings xvii. 6.) and 
also a province, (chap. xix. 12 ; Isa. xxxvii. 12.) prob- 
ably that through which the river ran. Salmaneser, 
after he had subdued the ten tribes, carried them be- 
yond the Euphrates, to a country bordering on the 
river Gozan ; and Sennacherib boasts, that the kings 
of Assyria had conquered the people of Gozan, 
Haran, and others. Ptolemy places the Gauzanites 
in Mesopotamia ; and there is a district in Media 
called Gauzan, between the rivers Cyrus and Cam- 
byses. 

[The passage in 2 Kings xvii. 6, Gesenius trans- 
lates thus: — "and placed them in Chalcitis (Halah) 
and on the Chabor, (Habor,) a river of Gozan, and in 
the cities of the Medes." This would make the river 
to be the Chaboras, the Chebar of Ezekiel, which 
empties into the Euphrates in the northern part of 
Mesopotamia. This accords with the notice of 
Ptolemy, (v. 18.) who calls the region lying between 
the rivers Chaboras and Laocoras, by the name of 
Gauzanitis, e. g. the Hebrew Gozan. In 1 Chron. v. 
26, the name Hara is inserted between Chabor and 
the river of Gozan, — which may be an error of tran- 
scribers, as the reading of 2 Kings xvii. 6 seems cor- 
rect and appropriate. In other places, too, Gozan is. 
mentioned along with and before other cities and 
countries of Mesopotamia, 2 Kings xix. 42 ; Isa. 
xxxviii. 12. According to Bochart, Habor, or Chabor, 
is the mountain Chaboras, between Assyria and Me- 
dia ; (Ptolem. Geogr. vi. 1.) between this mountain 
and the Caspian sea there is, according to Ptolemy, 
(vi. 2.) a city and country called Gausania, with a river 
of the same name, probably the present Kizzil-Ouzan 
or Kizel-Ozan, which flows eastward into the Cas- 
pian. (Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Persia, i. p. 267.) 
That tliis tract is the Gozan of Scripture is the opin- 
ion of Rosenmiiller ; (Bibl. Geogr. I. ii. 102.) — and 
the mention of it along with the " cities of the Medes" 
would seem to indicate a remote district. See Ha- 
bor. R. 

GRACE is taken (1.) for beauty, graceful form, 
or agreeableness of person, Prov. i. 9 ; iii. 22. (2.) 
For favor, friendship, kindness, Gen. vi. 8 ; xviii. 3 ; 
Rom. ix. 6 ; 2 Tim. i. 9. (3.) For pardon, mercy, un- 
expected remission of offences, Eph. ii. 5 ; Col. i. 6. 
(4.) For certain gifts of God, which he bestows free- 
ly, when, where, and on whom he pleases; such are 
the gifts of miracles, prophecy, languages, &c. (Rom. 
xv. 15 ; 1 Cor. xv. 10 ; Eph. iii. 8.) which are intend- 
ed rather for the advantage of others, than of the 
person who possesses them ; though the good use he 
makes of them may contribute to his sanctification. 
(5.) For the gospel dispensation, in contradistinction 
to that of the law, Rom. vi. 14 ; 1 Pet. v. 12. (6.) 
For a liberal and charitable disposition, 2 Cor. viii. 7. 
(7.) For eternal life, or final salvation, 1 Pet. i. 13. (8.) 
There are several sorts of inward graces; for the graces 
of the understanding may be called by this name, as 
^ell as the graces of the will. There are habitual 



graces, and actual graces. Augustin defines inwaru, 
actual grace to be the inspiration of love, which 
prompts us to practise according to what we know, 
out of a religious affection and compliance. He says, 
also that the grace of God is the blessing of God's 
swet influence, by which we are induced to take 
pleas, e in that which he commands, to desire and to 
love it ; and that if God does not prevent us with this 
blessing, what he commands not only is not perfected, 
but is not so much as begun in us. Without the 
grace of Christ, man is not able to do the least thing 
that is good. He stands in need of this grace to begin, 
continue, and finish all the good he does, or, rather, 
which God does in him and with him, by his grace. 

This grace is free ; it is not due to us : if it were, 
it would be no more grace, but a debt, Rom. xi. 6. 
It is in its nature an assistance so powerful and effi- 
cacious, that it surmounts the obstinacy of the most 
rebellious human heart, without destroying human 
liberty. 

There is no subject on which theologians have 
written so largely, as on the grace of God. The dif- 
ficulty consists in reconciling human liberty with the 
operation of divine grace ; the concurrence of man 
with the influence and assistance of the Almighty. 
And who is able to set just bounds between these 
two things ? Who can pretend to know how far the 
privileges of grace extend over the heart of man, and 
what that man's liberty is, who is prevented, enlight- 
ened, moved, and attracted by grace ? 

Although the books of the Old Testament express 
themselves very clearly with relation to the fall of 
man, his incapacity to good, his continual necessity 
of God's aid, the darkness of his understanding, and 
the evil propensities of his heart ; although all this is 
observable, not only in the historical parts of the 
Bible, but also in the prayers of the saints, and in the 
writings of the prophets ; yet these truths are far 
from being so clearly revealed in the Old Testament 
as in the New. 

GRAIN, see Corn. 

I. GRAPES, the fruit of the vine. The bunch of 
this fruit cut in the valley of Eshcol, and brought on 
a staff, between two men, to the camp of Israel, at 
Kadesh-barnea, (Numb. xiii. 24.) may give an idea of 
its excellence in that country. Doubdan assures us, 
that in the supposed valley of Eshcol there are still 
bunches of grapes often and twelve pounds' weight ; 
and Forster says he was informed by a religious, who 
had lived many years in Palestine, that there were 
some in the valley of Hebron, so large that two men 
could scarcely carry one of them. 

Scripture speaks of the grapes of Sorek, which 
were so called either because they grew in the val- 
ley of Sorek, or because they had no stones. (See Isa. 
v. 2, Heb. ; Zech. i. 8.) See Sorek. 

Moses commanded, that when the Israelites gath- 
ered their grapes, those that fell, or were left on the 
vine, should be for the poor, Lev. xix. 10. It was 
permitted to people who were passing, to enter a 
vineyard and eat of the grapes, but not to carry any 
away, Deut. xxiv. 21,22; xxiii. 24. Some learned 
men are of opinion, the prohibition against gleaning 
grapes after the vintage may signify a second vin- 
tage, Lev. xix. 10-; Deut. xxiv. 21 ; Ecclus. 1. 16. 

Scripture frequently describes a total destruction, 
by the similitude of a vine wholly stripped ; without 
a bunch of grapes being left for those who came 
gleaning, Isa. xvii. 6 ; xxiv. 13. 

"The blood of the grape" signifies wine, Gen 
xlix. 41. The vineyards of Sodom produced bitter 



Gil A 



I 471 ] 



GRASS 



grapes ; probably because of the nitre and sulphur 
with which the soil was impregnated, Deut. xxxii. 32. 

" The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the chil- 
dren's teeth are set on edge," was a proverb, (Jer. 
xxxi. 29 ; Ezek. xviii. 2.) importing that the fathers 
sinned, but their children bore the punishment. In 
using this proverb, the Jews reproached God, who 
punished iu them those sins of which they pretended 
they were not personally guilty. The Lord said, he 
would cause this proverb to cease in Israel, and that 
every one should suffer the punishment of his own 
faults. 

II. GRAPES, Wild, the fruit of a wild vine, La- 
brusca, which, according to Pliny, bore a red grape 
that never came to maturity. It is probably the Vitis 
Labrusca of Linnaeus, the wild claret-grape. The 
fruit of the wild vine is called Oenanthes, or the 
flower of wine. They never ripen, and are good 
only for verjuice. In Isaiah (v. 2, 4.) God complains 
of his people whom he had planted as a choice vine, 
an excellent plant, that he expected they would bear 
good fruit, but had brought forth only wild grapes ; 
Heb. fruit of a bad smell, and a bad tasle. (See Gese- 
nius's Comm. zu Jesu. v. 2.) 

GRASS. The management of grass, as food for 
cattle, in the East, the ideas connected with it, and 
the similes drawn from it, or the allusions to the na- 
ture of it, which there is extremely perishable, are so 
different from the attention paid to that article of ag- 
riculture among ourselves, and from the permanent 
verdure of it in our own meadows, that we are in 
constant danger of mistaking the representations 
which refer to it in Scripture. " The internal area 
of the theatre of Bacchus at Athens is now annually 
sown witli barley, which, as the custom here is, the 
disdar aga's (commander of the garrison) horses eat 
green ; little or no grass being produced in the neigh- 
borhood of Athens." (Stuart's Athens, vol. ii. p. 24.) 
In general "they mow not their grass (as we do) to 
make hay, but cut it off the ground, either green or 
withered, as they have occasion to use it. And here 
a strong argument, that may further and most infalli- 
bly show the goodness of their soil, shall not escape 
my pen ; most apparent in this, that when the ground 
there hath been destitute of rain nine months together, 
and looks all of it like the barren sand in the deserts of 
Arabia, where there is not one spire of green grass to 
be found, within a few days after those fat and en- 
riching showers begin to fall, the face of the earth 
there (as it were by a new resurrection) is so revived, 
and throughout, so renewed, as that it is presently 
covered all over with a pure green mantle." (Sir T. 
Roe's Voyage to India, p. 360.) To the same pur- 
pose Dr. Russell speaks, in his account of Aleppo; 
and calls it " a resurrection of vegetable nature." 

This rapidity with which grass grows in the East 
may illustrate several passages of Scripture ; among 
others the 16th verse of Psalm cxxix. " There shall 
be a handful of corn sown in the earth, in the head 
of the mountain, the fruit thereof shall grow so tall, 
that it shall shake as majestically as cedars of Leba- 
non ; so from the city the people shall flourish in like 
manner as the grass of the earth ;" — meaning, at 
once as rapidly and as extensively, as this vegetable 
resurrection. The writers who have furnished these 
extracts, agree in calling the renovation of vegetation 
a resurrection ; the idea had not escaped the proph- 
ets : " Thy dead shall live ; with my corpse shall they 
arise ; for thy dew is as the dew of herbage, and the 
earth shall cast out her dead," Isa. xxvi. 19. 

Grass is described in Scripture as feeble, perish- 



ing, soon withered, (Ps. xxxvii. 2; cii. 4, 11 ; James 
i. 11.) as not always coming to maturity, ( 2 Kings 
xix. 26 ; Isa. xxxvii. 27 ; Ps. cxxix. 6.) as revived 
by dew, (Deut. xxxii. 2; Prov. xix. 12.) and by 
showers, 2 Sam. xxiii. 2 ; Ps. lxxii. 6, 16. 

Mr. Harmer has properly referred the words trans- 
lated the king's mowings, in Amos vii. 1, to what 
should have been the king's feedings ; agreeably to 
the extract above given from Mr. Stuart. They took 
place probably in March. The same idea should be 
attached to the passage, (Ps. lxxii. 6.) "He shall 
come down like rain on the mown grass ;" it should 
be " on the grass that has been fed off:" The targum 
here is remarkable, " grass eaten down by locusts." 

Human life is compared to grass, (Ps. xc. 5.) ... 
"As the grass — tender risings of grass — they are 
changi. d : in the day-dawn it flourishes, and sprouts, 
proceeding to established life ; — towards evening it is 
plucked up, and is dry." So Ps. ciii. 15 ; Isa. xl. 6. 
All flesh is tender grass. The wicked are compared 
to grass, (Ps. xcii. 7.) not of the weakly but of the 
general kind, vegetables. These are exquisitely 
beautiful poetical images. 

There is a great impropriety in our version of Prov- 
erbs xxvii. 25. "The hay appeareth, and the tender 
grass showeth itself, and herbs of the mountains are 
gathered." Now, certainly, if the tender grass is but 
just beginning to show itself, the hay, which is grass 
cut and dried, after it has arrived at maturity, ought 
by no means to be associated with it ; still less to pre- 
cede it. The accurate import of this word seems to 
be the first shoots, the rising spires of grass. [The 
passage, therefore, would be more appropriately ren- 
dered thus : " The grass appeareth, and the green herb 
showeth itself, and the plants of the mountains are 
gathered." R. 

Joel says, (ii. 22.) "Fear not, ye beasts of the field, 
(that the earth shall be totally barren after the locusts 
have devoured its produce,) because the pastures of 
the wilderness do spring ;" do put forth the rudi- 
ments of future pasturage, in token of rapid advance 
to maturity. See also Deut. xxxii. 2, " As the small 
rain on the first shoots of the grass." In like man- 
ner in Is. xv. 6, where the English version has hay, 
it should be grass, thus: "The waters of Nimrim 
shall be desolate (i. e. dried up) ; so that the grass 
withereth, the green herb faileth, there is no green 
thing." 

The anxiety of Ahab induced him to send all over 
his kingdom to discover whether the brooks afforded 
grass enough to save the horses alive. It seems he 
hoped for the possibility of finding grass ; i. e. not 
grass left from a former growth, but fresh tender 
shoots of grass just budding, 1 Kings xviii. 5. A 
beautiful gradation of poetical imagery is used in 2 
Kings xix. 26: "Their inhabitants were of small 
power; they were dismayed and confounded ; they 
were as the tender plant of the field, and the green 
herb ; as the grass on the house-tops, and as corn 
blasted before it be grown up." 

Here, as in several places, Scripture refers to grass 
growing on the house-tops, but which comes to 
nothing. The following quotation will show the na- 
ture of this: "In the morning the master of the 
house laid in a stock of earth, which was carried up, 
and spread evenly on the top of the house, which is 
flat. The whole roof is thus formed of mere earth) 
laid on, and rolled hard and flat. On the top of every 
house is a large stone roller, for the purpose of 
hardening and flattening this layer of made soil, sc 
that the rain may not penetrate ; but upon this stir- 



GRE 



GREECE 



face, as may be supposed, grass and weeds grow 
freely. It is to such grass that the psalmist alludes, 
as useless and bad." (Jowett's Christian Researches 
in Syria, p. 89.) 

GRASSHOPPER. It appears from the testimony 
of Denon, that there are grasshoppers in Egypt; for 
so we understand his " locusts which do no damage " 
— but the creature intended by our public version, 
under this name, is certainly a kind of locust. See 
Locust. 

GREECE, Heb. p>, the same as ' lav, '/wr/a, Ionia. 
This word, in Scripture, often comprehends all the 
countries inhabited by the descendants of Javan, as 
well in Greece as in Ionia and Asia Minor. After 
the time of Alexander the Great, when the Greeks 
became masters of Egypt, Syria, and the countries 
beyond the Euphrates, the Jews included all Gen- 
tiles under the name of Greeks. In the Old Testa- 
ment, both Greece and Greeks are called Javan. 
Isaiah says, (lxvi. 19.) "The Lord shall send his am- 
bassadors to Javan, who dwells in the isles afar oft'." 
Ezekiel, (ch. xxvii. 13, 19.) that Javan, Tubal, and 
Meshech came to the fairs at Tyre. Daniel, (xi. 2.) 
speaking of Xerxes, says, " He shall stir up all 
against the realm o'f Javan." Alexander the Great 
is described by the same prophet as "king of Javan," 
chap. viii. 21 ; x. 20. Javan was a son of Japheth, 
(Gen. x. 2, 4.) after whom that part of Greece called 
Ionia was named. It is remarkable that the Hindoos 
call the Greeks Yavanas, which is the ancient He- 
brew appellation. They also regard them with a 
contempt bordering on abhorrence. They are sel- 
dom described in the Hindoo books, but as molest- 
ing other people, who are better than themselves. 

Greece, in its largest acceptation, as denoting the 
countries where the Greek language prevailed, in- 
cluded from the Scardian mountains north, to the 
Levant, south ; and from the Adriatic sea west, to 
Asia Minor east. Hence it is used by Daniel to 
denote Macedonia ; whereas, we read in Acts xx. 2, 
that Paul, passing through Macedonia, came to 
Greece ; that is, Grecia Proper. In this more re- 
stricted sense, Macedonia and the river Strymon 
formed the northern boundary of Greece. The 
Greeks were called Achaei, or Achivi, from Achaeus, 
son of Jupiter ; hence the name of Achaia. They 
were also named Hellenes, from a son of Deucalion. 
It is probable, however, that these names describe 
distinct nations, or the inhabitants of Greece at dif- 
ferent periods. The name Iones is not only the most 
ancient, but the most general. 

[The Greek name of Greece in the New Testa- 
ment is " EX'/.ac, Hellas. The name Hellas is sup- 
posed to have been originally appropriated to a sin- 
gle city in Thessaly, said to have been built by 
Hellen, the son of Deucalion, and named from him- 
self. It was afterwards applied to the region of 
Thessaly, then to Greece exclusive of the Pelopon- 
nesus, and at last to the whole of Greece including 
the Peloponnesus, and extending from Macedonia to 
the Mediterranean sea. The name of Greeks, rnaixul, 
by some is supposed to be derived from a people of 
that name in the southern part of the country, a part 
of whom migrated to Italy, and founded the colonies 
of Magna Greecia ; others suppose the name to have 
come from Vqaixug, an ancient king of the country. 
About the year 146 after Christ, the Romans under 
Mummius conquered Greece, and afterwards divid- 
ed it into two great provinces, viz. Macedonia, in- 
cluding Macedonia Proper, Thessaly, Epirus, and 
lllyricum ; and Achaia including all the country 



which lies south of the former province. (See 
Achaia.) In Acts xx. 2, Greece is probably to be 
taken in its widest acceptation, as including the 
whole of Greece Proper and the Peloponnesus. This 
country was bounded north by Macedonia and lllyr- 
icum, from which it was separated by the mountains 
Acrocerauuii and Cambunii ; south by the Mediter- 
ranean sea ; east by the iEgean sea ; and west by the 
Ionian sea. It was generally known under the three 
great divisions of Peloponnesus, Hellas, and Northern 
Greece. 

The Peloponnesus, more anciently called Pelasgia, 
and Argos, and now the Morea, included the follow- 
ing countries, viz. Arcadia, with the cities Megalopo- 
lis, Tegaea, Man tinea ; Laconia v. Laconica, with the 
cities Sparta, now Misitra, Epidaurus Limera ; Mes- 
senia, with the cities Messene, Methone, now Modon ; 
Elis, with the village Olympia and the city Elis; 
Achaia, more anciently called /Egialea, or Ionia, with 
its twelve cities, including the minor states of Sicyon 
and Corinth ; Argolis, with the cities Argos and 
Troezene. 

The division of Hellas, which now constitutes a 
great part of Livadia, included the following states 
and territories, viz. Attica, with the city Athenas, now 
Atini, or Setines ; Megaris, with the city Megara • 
Baiotia, with the cities Thebae, Plataeae, Leuctra 
Coronea, Chaeronea, Orchomenus ; Phocis, with the 
cities Delphos, Anticyra; Doris; Locris, with the 
towns Thermopylae, Naupactus, now Lepanto ; JEto- 
lia, with the cities Calydon, Chalcis, Thermis ; Acar- 
nania, with the city Actium, now Azio. 

The remaining division of Northern Greece includ 
ed the following territories, viz. Thessaly, more an- 
ciently called Pelasgia, iEmonia, or Hellas, with the 
cities Larissa, Larissa Cremaste, Phthia, Magnesia, 
Methone, Pharsalus; Epirus, more anciently Dodo- 
nea, now Albania, with the cities Ambracia, Nicopo- 
lis, Apollonia, Dyrrhachium, or Epidamnum. 

The most important islands which belonged to 
Greece were the following, viz. Eubo>a, now Negro- 
pont, with the cities Chalcis, Eretria, Carystus ; 
Crete, now Candia, with the cities Cnossus, Gortyna, 
Minoa, Cydonia ; the islands of the Archipelago, i. e. 
the Cyclades, including Naxos, Paros, Delos, and 
about fifty others ; the Sporades, including Samos, 
Patmos, Rhodes, etc. the islands higher up the JEge- 
an sea, as Samothrace, Lemnos, Lesbos, with the city 
Mitylene ; and the Ionian islands, including Cythe- 
rea, now Cerigo, Zacynthus, Cephalonia, Ithica, now 
Teaki, Leucadia, now Santa Maura, Paxos, Corcyra, 
now Corfu. *R. 

Scripture refers but little to Greece, till the time 
of Alexander, whose conquests extended into Asia, 
where Greece had hitherto been of no importance. 
Yet that some intercourse was maintained with these 
countries from Jerusalem, may be inferred from the 
desire of Baasha to shut up all communication be- 
tween Jerusalem and Joppa, which was its port, by 
the building of Ramah ; and from the anxiety of Asa 
to counteract his scheme, 1 Kings xv. 2, 17. Greece 
was certainly symbolized by a goat having a strong 
horn between his eyes, Dan. viii. 5, 21. 

After the establishment of the Grecian dynasties in 
Asia, Judea could not but be considerably affected 
by them, and the books of the Maccabees afford 
proofs that they were. The Roman power super- 
seded the Grecian establishments, but left traces of 
Greek language, customs, &c. to the days of the 
Herods, where the gospel history commences. By 
the activity of the apostles, and especially of Paul, the 



GREECE 

i 



[ 473 1 



GUD 



gospel was propagaled in those countries which 
used the Grecian dialects ; hence, we are interested 
in the study of this language, and of the peculiar 
manners of the people by whom it was spoken. 

From a consideration of the Grecian disposition, to 
combine all wisdom in themselves, and to suppose all 
others in darknetes, to regard their own institutions 
as supremely excellent, while they were enslaved by 
superstition, we may discern, with greater evidence, 
the propriety of the cautions addressed to some of the 
new converts to Christianity ; of the reprimands in- 
tended for others; of the exhortations directed to 
all ; and of those pathetic entreaties which occasion- 
ally animate the apostolic writings. We may also 
safely conclude, that many hints are incidentally 
dropped, many expressions used, and many remarks 
made, with reference to local phrases, peculiarities, 
and turns of thought ; to local institutions, and exist- 
ing circumstances and opinions, of which we have 
but a slight or imperfect knowledge. 

Many flourishing churches were, in early times, 
established among the Greeks: and there can be no 
doubt but that they, for a long time, preserved the 
apostolic customs with considerable care. At length, 
however, opinions fluctuated considerably on points 
of doctrine ; schisms and heresies divided the 
church ; and rancor, violence, and even persecution, 
followed in their train. To check these evils, coun- 
cils were called, and various creeds composed. The 
removal of the seat of government from Rome to 
Constantinople, gave a preponderance to the Grecian 
districts of the empire, and the ecclesiastical deter- 
minations of the Greek church were extensively 
received. 

The Greek is the original language of almost all 
the books in the New Testament ; but the sacred au- 
thors have followed that style of writing which was 
used by the Hellenists, or Grecizing Hebrews, blend- 
ing idioms and turns of speech, peculiar to the Syriac 
and Hebrew languages, very different from the clas- 
sical spirit of the Greek writers. After Alexander 
the Great. Greek became the common language of 



almost all the East, and was generally used in com- 
merce. As the sacred authors had principally in 
view the conversion of the Jews, then scattered 
throughout the East, it was natural for them to write 
to them in Greek, that being a language to which 
they were of necessity accustomed. [For the char- 
acter of the Greek language of the New Testament, 
see a celebrated essay by H. Planck, published in the 
Biblical Repository, vol. i. p. 638, seq. and also 
Winer's Grammar of the New Testament. For the 
prevalence of the Greek language in Palestine, see 
an essay by Hug, in the Bibl. Repos. vol. i. p. 530, 
seq. R. 

At this time, many Jews had two names, one 
Greek, the other Hebrew; others Grecized their He- 
brew names: of Jesus they made Jason ; of Saulus, 
Paulus ; of Simon, or Simeon, Petros, &c. 

GREEKS were, properly, the inhabitants of 
Greece ; but this is not the only acceptation of the 
name in the New Testament. It seems to import, 
(1.) Those persons of Hebrew descent who, being 
settled in cities where Greek was the natural lan- 
guage, spoke this language rather than their parental 
Hebrew. They, are called Greeks, to distinguish 
them from those Jews who spoke Hebrew. (2.) Such 
persons as were Greek settlers in the land of Israel, 
or in any of its towns. After the time of Alexander, 
these aliens were numerous in some places. 

It seems that we* have, in Mark vii. 26, the name of 
Greek, applied not to a native, or an inhabitant of 
Greece, but to a descendant of a Greek family set- 
tled in Syria. We read that, " in the borders of 
Tyre and Sidon, a woman who was a Greek, a Sy- 
rophenician by nation," addressed our Lord. The 
evangelist characterizes her as a Syrophenician, to 
distinguish her from the Greeks of Europe. In the 
parallel passage, (Matt. xv. 21.) she is called a woman 
of Canaan, and the history is said to pass in the 
coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 

GUDGODAH, a station of the Israelites in the 
wilderness ; (Deut. x. 7.) called Hor-hagidgad, Numb, 
xxxiii. 32. 



II 



HABAKKUK 

HABAKKUK, one of the minor prophets. Of 
his life we have no account, except in the apocry- 
phal part of Daniel; (Dan. xiv. 32, seq. in the Vul- 
gate ;) according to which he must have lived in the 
last years of the exile, in the palace of the king of 
Babylon. This legend, however, carries with it its 
own condemnation ; for this date accords in no de- 
gree whatever with the contents of the book of Ha- 
bakkuk. The latter necessarily presupposes the 
commencement of the Chaldean period ; when this 
people began to wax powerful, and to become dan- 
gerous to the Jewish nation. (See ch. i. 5, seq.) The 
actual destruction of the Jewish state by the Chalde- 
ans he seems not to have experienced ; at least there 
is no allusion to it in his prophecy. We may, there- 
fore, best regard him as cotemporary with Jeremiah ; 
but rather with the earlier period of the latter's life. 

The book of Habakkuk consists of three chapters, 
which all constitute one oracle ; or at least may prop- 
erly be regarded as one. They contain complaints 
60 



HABAKKUK 

over the calamities brought upon the Jews by theChal- 
deans ; together with the expression of strong desires 
and hopes that these savage enemies will be requited. 
The costume is highly poetical ; the train of thought 
something like the following : He begins with 
lamentations over the cruelties exercised upon the 
Jews, and then describes the rude and warlike Chal- 
deans, (see that article,) and awaits an answer from 
God, ch. i. The answer is, that deliverance is in- 
deed still remote, but will certainly arrive at last, ch. 
ii. Upon another prayer of the prophet, there fol- 
lows in ch. iii. a solemn theophania, where God ap- 
pears in his majesty in order to destroy the enemy 
and set free the Jewish people. 

This third chapter is one of the most splendid por- 
tions of the prophetical writings ; the language of it 
rises to the loftiest flight of lyric poetry. On the 
ground of this portion of his prophecy, Habakkuk 
may be placed in the first rank of the Hebrew poets. 
He is not entirely original ; for this chapter contains 



HAB 



[ 474 ] 



HAD 



an imitation of earlier writings ; ( Judg. v. 4 ; Ps. lxviii. 
7, seq.) but he is distinguished for the purity and ele- 
gance of his diction, and the fire and vivacity of his 
imagery. *R. 

. HABERGEON, [a coat of mail ; an ancient piece 
of defensive armor, in the form of a coat, descending 
from the neck to the middle, and formed of small iron 
rings or mashes, linked into each other. It is also 
written haubert, and hauberk. Our translators have 
used this word (Ex. xxviii. 32 ; xxxix. 23.) for the 
Heb. N-inr, tachara, which denotes a thick quilted 
linen, 5<igij5, or garment furnished above with a coat 
of mail. In other passages, habergeon stands for the 
Heb. pnc, shirion, a coat of mail in general. So in 
Job xli. 26. [Heb. 18.] for nnr, shiryah, where the 
context seems to require some offensive weapon, as 
dart, javelin. R. 

HABITS. Moses forbids women and men to in- 
terchange their habits. The importance of these 
laws will be apparent if we consider the manners of 
the East. There the women continue secluded in 
close apartments, to which men, who are strangers, 
have no access. Some writers believe, that the pro- 
hibition principally forbade those superstitious cere- 
monies, which accompanied certain heathen festivals. 
In the feasts of Bacchus, Venus and Mars, men dis- 
guised themselves like women ; in the first, the 
men put on women's clothes ; in the second, the 
women put on men's. In the Bast, the men sacri- 
ficed generally to the moon dressed in women's 
clothes, and the women sacrificed to that deity 
dressed in men's clothes ; because this planet was 
adored both as a god and a goddess ; and was 
affirmed to be of bo'h sexes. This interpretation is 
rendered probable by the declaration that " all who 
do so are an abomination to the Lord." 

A change of habit, and the washing of the clothes, 
were enjoined on the Jews, to prepare them for ac- 
tions of particular purity, Gen. xxxv. 2; Exod. xix. 
10, 14. 

To tear the clothes, as a token of mourning, is a 
custom frequently noticed in the sacred writings. 
See Mourning, or Burial, Dead. 

The strange apparel mentioned in Zeph. i. 8, may 
denote habits worn by the Hebrews in imitation of 
strangers ; (or, in the fashions of strangers ;) who, not 
content with the stuffs and cloths, the colors and 
dyes, of their own country, must seek others among 
strangers in Babylonia, Chaldea, Egypt, Tyre, &c. 
Some believe that the Hebrews not only imitated the 
worship and superstitions of idolaters, but also wore 
their habits in their sacrilegious ceremonies. Others, 
by " strange habits," suppose those to be meant, which 
were taken in pawn from the poor and unfortunate, 
contrary to the prohibition of the law, which required 
that they should be returned against night, Exod. 
xxii. 26, 27. 

The habit down to the foot, or that trails along the 
ground, (Wisdom xviii. 24 ; Ecclus. xxvii. 8 ; Rev. i. 
13.) signifies, literally, a habit or garment hanging 
down to the feet; a long, trailing habit, used on days 
of ceremony. In Wisdom, it denotes the high-priest's 
sacerdotal mantle. In Ecclesiastieus, a habit of hon- 
or and distinction, allowed only to persons of dignity. 
In the Revelation, our Saviour appeared to John in a 
long habit, girt wnii a golden girdle. See Dress. 

HABOR, Chabor, Chaboras, a river in Mesopo- 
tamia, which falls into the Euphrates, whither part 
of Israel was transplanted. Ezekiel addresses his 
prophecies from the river Chebar, or Habor. Our 
translation takes Habor for a city situated " by the 



river of Gozan ;" and major Rennell says there is 
found in the country anciently named Media, in the 
remote northern quarter, towards the Caspian sea, 
and Ghilan, a considerable river named Ozan, or 
Kizal-ozan. There is also found a city named Ab- 
har, or Habor, situated on a branch of the Ozan ; and 
it has the reputation of being exceedingly ancient." 
(Herod, p. 395, 396.) This is probably the place 
mentioned in Scripture. See Gozan. 

HACHILAH, a mountain about ten miles south of 
Jericho, where David concealed himself from Saul, 

1 Sam. xxiii. 19. Jonathan Maccabseus built here 
the castle of Massada. 

I. HADAD, son of Bedad, succeeded Hushan, as 
king of Edom, (Gen. xxxvi. 35.) and obtained a vic- 
tory over the Midianites in Moah. The city where 
he reigned was named Avith ; but its situation is not 
known. 

II. HADAD, king of Syria, reigned at Damascus 
when David attacked Hadadezer, another king of 
Syria, 2 Sam. viii. Nicholas of Damascus states that 
Hadad carried succors to Hadadezer, as far as the 
Euphrates; where David defeated them both. (See 

2 Sam. viii. 5.) 

III. HADAD, son to the king of Edom, was car- 
ried into Egypt by his father's servants, when Joab, 
general of David's troops, extirpated the males of 
Edom. Hadad, who was then a child, had a house 
and lands given to him by the king of Egypt, who 
married him to the sister of Tahpenes his queen. 
Hadad, being informed that David and Joab were 
dead, returned into his own country, where he raised 
disturbances against Solomon, 1 Kings xi. 17. 

IV. HADAD, son of Baal-hanan, king of Edom. 
He reigned in the city Pai, and after his death, 
Edom was governed by dukes or princes, 1 Chron. 
i. 51, &c. 

The name of Hadad was long common to the 
kings of Syria. 

HADADEZER, king of Zobah, a country which 
extended from Libanus to the Orontes. David de- 
feated Hadadezer, and took 700 horse and 20,000 
foot, 2 Sam. viii. 3. ante A. D. 1044. Seven years 
afterwards, the king of the Ammonites dying, David 
sent ambassadors to Hanun his son, with compli- 
ments of condolence. The young prince affronted 
his ambassadors, and called the neighboring princes 
to his assistance, particularly Hadadezer; who, not 
daring to declare openly against David, sent private- 
ly into Mesopotamia, and there hired troops for the 
king of the Ammonites. These auxiliary forces, in 
all probability, came after the battle had been won by 
Joab, 2 Sam. x. 6, seq. 

HADAD-RIMMON, a place in the valley of Me- 
giddo, Zech. xii. 11. 

HADAR, son and successor of Achbor, king of 
Edom, reigned in the city Pai, Gen. xxxvi. 39. 

HADASHAH, or Chadassa, a town in Judah, 
(Josh. xv. 37.) which Eusebius says lay near Taphnae. 

HADASSAH, see Esther. 

HADES, see Hell. 

HADID, or Chadid, a city of Benjamin, (Ezra ii. 
33 ; Nehem. vii. 37.) probably the Adita or Adiada of 
Josephus, and of 1 Mac. xii. 38, xiii. 3, in Sephela, 
or in the plain of Judah. Eusebius and Jerome 
speak of two chips called Aditha, or Adi ; one near 
Gaza; the other near Diospolis, or Lydda. But this 
carries us too far from Benjamin. 

H ADRACH, or Adra, a city mentioned by Zech- 
ariah, (ix. 1.) who denounced dreadful threatenings 
against it. Ptolemy notices a city called Adra, in 



* 



HAG [ 475 ] H A I 



lat. 68 |, long. 32 A. It could not be far from 
Damascus; for Zechariah calls Damascus the bul- 
wark, defence, and confidence of Hadrach. 

HAGAR, an Egyptian servant belonging to Sarah, 
who, being barren, gave her to Abraham for a wife, 
that by her, as a substitute, she might have children. 
Sarah having used her harshly, Hagar fled from the 
dwelling of Abraham ; but an angel of the Lord, find- 
ing her in the wilderness, commanded her to return. 
She obeyed his voice, submitted to Sarah, and was 
delivered of a son, whom she named Ishmael. Four- 
teen years after this, Sarah gave birth to Isaac. 
When the child was weaned, Ishmael, who was then 
seventeen years of age, was observed by Sarah to be 
teasing him ; in consequence of which she urged 
Abraham to expel Hagar and her son. Abraham was 
greatly afflicted at this proposal ; but the Lord com- 
manded him to comply with Sarah's request. Ris- 
ing early in the morning, therefore, Abraham took 
bread and a bottle of water, and sent away Hagar, 
with her son. The afflicted woman intended to re- 
turn into Egypt, but lost her way, and wandered in 
the wilderness of Beer-sheba. The water in her 
bottle failing, she left Ishmael under one of the trees 
in the wilderness, and, going a small distance from 
him, sat down, saying, "I will not see him die ;" and 
lifted up her voice and wept. The angel of the 
Lord, however, comforted her, and showed her a well 
of water. She retired to the wilderness of Paran, 
where she settled. Ishmael became very expert at 
the bow ; and his mother married him to an Egyp- 
tian woman. We know not when Hagar died. 
The Mussulmans and Arabians, who are descended 
from Ishmael, speak highly in her commendation. 
They call her " Mother Hagar," and maintain that 
she was Abraham's lawful wife ; the mother of Ish- 
mael, his eldest son, who as such possessed Arabia, 
which very much exceeds, in their estimation, both 
in extent and riches, the land of Canaan, which was 
given to his younger son Isaac. 

Hagar, according to Paul, may symbolize the syn- 
agogue, which produces only slaves — the offspring 
always following the condition of the mother, Gal. 
iv. 24. 

HAGARENES, the descendants of Ishmael : 
called also Ishmaelites and Saracens, or Arabians, 
from their country. The name Saracens is not de- 
rived, as some have thought, from Sarah, Abraham's 
wife, but from Sahara, the desert ; Saracens, " in- 
habitants of the desert." 

HAGGAI, the tenth of the minor prophets, was 
probably born at Babylon, whence he accompanied 
Zcrubbabel. The captives immediately after their 
return to Judea began with ardor to rebuild the 
temple ; but the work was suspended fourteen years, 
till after the death of Cambyses. Darius Hystaspes 
succeeding to the empire, Haggai was excited by 
God to exhort Zerubbabel, prince of Judah, and the 
high-priest Joshua, son of Josedeck, to resume the 
work of the temple, which had been so long inter- 
rupted, {ante A. D. 521.) The remonstrances of the 
prophet had their effect, and in the second year of 
Darius, and the sixteenth year after the return from 
Babylon, they resumed this work, Hag. i. 14 ; ii. 1. 
The Lord commanded Haggai to tell the people, 
that if any one recollected the temple of Solomon, 
and did not think this to be so beautiful and magnif- 
icent as that structure was, he ought not to be dis- 
couraged ; because God would render the new tem- 
ple much more august and venerable than the for- 
mer had ever been ; not in embellishments of gold 



or silver, but by the presence of the Messiah, the de- 
sire of all nations, and by the glory which his coming 
would add to it. 

We know nothing of Haggai's death. Epiphani- 
us asserts, that he was buried at Jerusalem among 
the priests ; which might induce us to believe that 
he was of Aaron's family : but Haggai says nothing 
of himself to favor this opinion. 

HAGGITH, David's fifth wife, mother of Adoni- 
jah, 2 Sam. iii. 4. 

HAGIOGRAPHA. The Hebrews distinguish 
the canonical books of the Old Testament into three 
classes; (1.) the Law ; (2.) the Prophets; (3.) the 
Hagiographa, or Chethubim. See Bible, p. 170. 

HAHIROTH, whence Pi-hahiroth, as it is called 
in Exod. xiv. 2, 9, but simply Hahiroth, in Numbers 
xxxiii. 8. See Exodus, p. 401. 

HAI, or Ai, or Aijah, a city near Bethel, west. 
The LXX call it Agai ; Josephus, Aina ; others, 
Aiath. See Ai. 

HAIL ! a salutation, importing a wish for the 
welfare of the person addressed. It is now seldom 
used among us ; but was customary among our Sax- 
on ancestors, and imported as much as "joy to you ;" 
or " health to you ;" including in the term health all 
kinds of prosperity. 

Hx\IL-Stones are congealed drops of ram, form- 
ed into ice by the power of cold in the upper re- 
gions of the atmosphere. Hail was among the 
plagues of Egypt ; (Exod. ix. 24.) and that hail, 
though uncommon, is not absolutely unknown in 
Egypt, we have the testimony of Volney, who men- 
tions a hail-storm, which he saw crossing over mount 
Sinai into that country, some of whose frozen stones 
he gathered ; " and so," he says, " I drank iced water 
in Egypt." Hail was also the means made use of 
by God, for defeating an army of the kings of Canaan, 
Josh. x. 11. God's judgments are likened to a hail- 
storm, in Isaiah xxviii. 2. But the most tremendous 
hail mentioned in Scripture, or in any writer, is that 
alluded to in Rev. xvi. 21 ; " Every stone about the 
weight of a talent." (The Jewish talent was about 125 
lbs.) How strong is this description ! In comparison 
with it all accounts of hail-stones and hail-storms 
are diminutive. We have, in the Philosophical 
Transactions, mention of hail as large as pullets' 
eggs, and in America, hail-stones sometimes fall of 
several pounds weight : but what is this to the weight 
of a talent ! 

HAIR. The law enjoined nothing respecting the 
mode of wearing the hair. The priests had theirs 
cut, it is said, every fortnight, while in waiting at the 
temple. They were forbidden, to cut their hair in 
honor of the dead ; that is, of Adonis ; though, on 
other occasions of mourning, they cut it without 
scruple. " Ye shall not round the corners of your 
heads ;" in imitation of the Arabians, Ammonites, 
Moabites, and the Edomites ; of the people of De- 
dan, Tenia, and Buz ; who did this, it is said, in 
imitation of Bacchus. The LXX translate, "Ye 
shall not make sisoc of the hair of your head ;" 
the Hebrew word sisoc imports a lock of hair of- 
fered to Saturn. Lucian is an evidence, that the 
Syrians offered their hair to their gods; and it is 
well known to have been common among other 
people. 

It was usual with the heathen to make vows, that 
they would suffer their hair (or their beards) to grow, 
till they had accomplished certain things. Civilis, 
having taken arms against the Romans, vowed never 
to cut his hair, which was of a red color, and which, 



HAM 



[ 47C ] 



HAM 



out of mere artifice, he wore long, after the manner 
of the Germans, till he had defeated the legions. 
(Tacitus, Hist. lib. iv.) This has some relation to 
the law of the Nazarites, who were never to have 
their hair cut, Numb. vi. 5, 9. 

When a man was suspected of having a leprosy, 
inspection was carefully made, whether the color of 
his hair were changed, or if it fell ; this being one in- 
dication of the disease. When he was healed, he 
washed his body and his clothes, cut oft" the hair of 
his head, and of his whole body, and presented his 
offering at the door of the tabernacle, Lev. xiii. 4, 10, 
31, 32, &c. But he did not enter into the camp till 
eight days after, again cutting away all the hair off 
his body, in demonstration of his desire not to leave 
any place where the .least pollution might remain 
undiscovered, and uncleansed, Lev. xiv. 8, 9 The 
Levites, on the day of their consecration to God's 
service, shaved their whole bodies. 

Black hair was thought to be the most beautiful, 
Cant. v. 11. This was also the taste of the Romans ; 
at least, in the days of Horace. 

Plucking off the hair was a species of punishment. 
See Punishment. 

HALAH, a city or country of Media, to which the 
kings of Assyria transplanted the ten tribes. It is 
mentioned with Habor ; (2 Kings xvii. 6.) which 
shows it to have been on the river Gozan. Hyde 
supposes it to be Holwau ; Bochart thinks it to be 
Calachene in Media. [Gesenius and Rosenmuller 
incline to the opinion of Hyde, and suppose it to be 
the same as Calah, which see. R. 

HALHUL, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 58.) thought 
to be near Hebron. 

HALI, Cali, or Chali, a city of Phoenicia, in 
Asher, Josh. xix. 25. 

HALLELUJAH, see Alleluia. 

To HALLOW. (See Sanctification, Holy.) 
To halloiv, is to render sacred, set apart, consecrate. 
The English word is from the Saxon, and is properly 
to make holy ; hence hallowed persons, things, places, 
rites, &c. ; hence, also, the name, power, dignity of 
God, is hallowed ; that is, reverenced as holy. 

HALT, to go lame on the feet or legs. Many 
persons who were halt were cured by our Lord. 
To halt between two opinions, (1 Kings xviii. 21.) 
should, perhaps, be to stagger from one to the other, 
repeatedly ; but some say, it is an allusion to birds, 
who hop from spray to spray, forwards and back- 
wards : — as the contrary influence of supposed con- 
victions, vibrated the mind in alternate affirmation 
and doubtfulness. 

HAM, or Cham, burnt, swarthy, black ; the young- 
est son of Noah. One day when Noah had drank 
wine, Ham perceived his parent lying in his tent, 
with his person exposed, which he ridiculed. No- 
ah, when he awoke and was informed of his sin, 
said, " Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall 
he be to his brethren." Ham was father of Cush, 
Misraim, Phut, and Canaan. It is believed that he 
had Africa for his inheritance ; and that he peopled 
it ; but he dwelt in Egypt. (See Egypt.) Africa is 
called " the land of Ham" in several places of the 
Psalms. 

Many writers have been of opinion, that the pos- 
terity of Ham suggested the design, and formed the 
presumptuous project, of building the tower of Ba- 
bel. But this is without proofs. 

" In the Rozit ul Suffa it is written, that God be- 
stowed on Ham nine sons — Hind, Sind, Zenj, Nuba, 
Kanaan, Kush, Kopt, Berber, and Hebesh ; and 



their children having increased to an immense mul 
titude, God caused each tribe to speak a different 
language; wherefore they separated, and each of 
them applied to the cultivation of their own lands." 
(Asiatic Miscel. p. 148. 4to.) Most of these nations 
may be traced with tolerable certainty. 

Hind must be the origin of the Hindoos. 

Si7id, the origin of the nations bordering on the 
Indus. 

Zenj, may we place in Zanguebar in Africa, East ? 
Nuba, father of the Nubians, more central in 
Africa. 

Kanaan, and Kush, the same as are well known 
from Scripture. 

Kopt, the Egyptians ; who, it appears, did not re- 
ceive name from any town called Coptos, as the 
learned have usually said, but from a father of this 
name, after whom such a town might be called. 

Berber, whence the Barabari, beyond Nubia, and, 
remotely, Barbary. 

Hebesh, Abyssinia : its present name among the 
Turks and Arabs is Habesh. 

We find, then, that Hind, Sind, and Kanaan, with 
more or less of Kush, remained in Asia, notwith- 
standing Africa was the allotted portion of Ham. 
With this agrees, in part, the tradition of the Brah- 
mins, who acknowledge that they are not originally 
of India, but came into India through the pass of Her- 
idwar, or Hardwar. This also contributes to account 
for the existence of Hamite kingdoms, and powerful 
kingdoms, too, in western Asia. But the reader will 
recollect, in perfect coincidence with this observation, 
that " God caused each tribe to speak a different lan-. 
guage ; wherefore they separated." This restricts 
the interference of Deity in the confusion of tongues 
to the sons of Ham ; which certainly accords with 
the true import of the Mosaic history of that event : 
not — all mankind on the face of the earth, but — all 
the tribes connected with Shinar, and its population. 

HAMAN, son of Hainrnedatha the Amalekite, of 
the race of Agag ; or, according to other copies, of 
Hamadath the Bugsean or Gogsean ; that is, of the 
race of Gog, or it may be read, Hainan the son of 
Hamadath, which Hanian was Bagua or Bagoas, 
eunuch or officer to the king of Persia. We have 
no proof of Hainan's being an Amalekite ; but Es- 
ther iii. 1. reads, of the race of Agag. In the apoc- 
ryphal Greek, (chap. ix. 24.) and the Latin, (chap, 
xvi. 6.) he is called a Macedonian. Ahasuerus, hav- 
ing taken him into favor, promoted him above all 
the princes of his court, who bent the knee to him 
when he entered the palace. This Mordecai the 
Jew declined, for which slight, Haman plotted the 
extirpation of the whole Jewish nation ; which was 
providentially prevented. He was hanged on a gib- 
bet fifty cubits high, which he had prepared for 
Mordecai ; his house was given to queen Esther, and 
his employments to Mordecai. His ten sons were 
also executed. See Esther. 

There is something so entirely different from the 
customs of European civilization, in Hainan's pro- 
posed destruction of the Jewish people, (Esther, 
chap, iii.) that the mind of the reader, when perus- 
ing it, is alarmed into hesitation, if not into incredu- 
lity. And, indeed, it seems barely credible that a king 
i should endure a massacre of so great a proportion of 
his subjects — a whole nation cut oft" at a stroke! 
However, that such a proposal might be made, is 
attested by a similar proposal made in later times, 
which narrowly escaped witnessing a catastrophe of 
the same nature. M. De Peysonnel, in delineating 



HAM 



[ 477 ] 



HA N 



die character of the celebrated Hassan Pacha, (who, 
in the war of 1770, between Russia and Turkey, 'be- 
came eminent as a seaman,) says of him, " He pre- 
served the Greeks, when it was deliberated in the 
council [of the grand signior] to exterminate them 
entirely, as a punishment for their defection, and to 
prevent then- future rebellion : he obtained for them 
a general amnesty, which he took care should be 
faithfully observed, and this ....... brought back a 

great number of emigrants, and prevented the total 
desertion of that numerous class of subjects, which 
an unseasonable rigor would have occasioned, and 
which must have depopulated the provinces, render- 
ed a great part of the country uncultivated, and de- 
prived the fleet of a nursery of sailors." (Remarks of 
Baron du Tott, page 90.) Political evils these, which, 
nevertheless, would not have preserved the Greeks, 
without the personal influence of the admiral ; — as 
the consideration of similar evils could not restrain 
the anger of Hainan, and the misled confidential ca- 
price of Ahasuerus. This account has subsequently 
been confirmed by Mr. Elton, of Smyrna. 

HAMATH, a celebrated city of Syria. [Hamath, 
together with Jerusalem and Damascus, belongs to 
the few places in Syria and Palestine, which have 
retained a certain degree of importance from the 
very earliest ages to the present tune. The name oc- 
curs in Gen. x. 18, as the seat of a Canaanitish tribe ; 
and it is often mentioned as the northern limit of 
Canaan in its widest extent, Num. xiii. 21 ; Josh, 
xiii. 5; Judg. iii. 3. In David's time, Toi, king of 
Hamath, was his ally, 2 Sam. viii. 9, 10. The As- 
syrians became masters of this city and the neigh- 
borhood about 753 B. C. 2 Kings xvii. 24 ; Is. x. 
8, seq. Under the Syro-Macedonian dynasty, the city 
was called Epiphauia. (Theodoret on Zech. ix. 1. 
Jerome, Quaest. in Gen. x. 15. Comm. on Ezek. 
xlvii. 15. Rosenm. Bib. Geogr. I. ii. 313.) The na- 
tives, however, continued to use the ancient name ; 
which became current again in the middle ages. At 
this period it was the residence of the celebrated 
Arabian prince and writer Abulfeda. 

Burckhardt describes Hamath as " situated on both 
sides of the Orontes ; a part of it is built on the de- 
clivity of a hill, and a part in the plain. The town 
is of considerable extent, and must contain at least 
30,000 inhabitants. There are four bridges over the 
Orontes in the town. The river supplies the upper 
town with water, by means of buckets fixed to high 
wheels, which empty themselves into stone canals, 
supported by lofty arches on a level with the upper 
part of the town. There are about a dozen of the 
wheels ; the largest of them is at least seventy feet 
in diameter. The town, for the most part, is well 
built, although the walls of the dwellings, a few pal- 
aces excepted, are of mud ; but their interior makes 
amends for the roughness of their external appear- 
ance. The principal trade of Hamath is with the 
Arabs, who buy here their tent furniture and clothes. 
The government of Hamath comprises about one 
aundred and twenty inhabited villages, and seventy 
or eighty which have been abandoned. The west- 
ern part of its territory is the granary of northern 
Syria ; though the harvest never yields more than 
ten for one, chiefly in consequence of the immense 
numbers of mice, which sometimes wholly destroy 
the crops." (Travels in Syria, &c. p. 147.) Abulfeda 
also describes this city ; and does not forget the men- 
tion of it in Scripture, nor its many water wheels. 

Others have supposed that Hamath was the city 
Emessa, also situated on the Orontes farther south. R. 



HAMMON, a city of Asher, Josh. xix. 98. Also 
another in Naphtali, 1 Chron. vi. 76. 

HAMMOTH-DOR, a city of the Levites, in 
Naphtali, ceded to the family of Gershom, Josh, 
xxi. 32. 

HAMONAH, a city where Ezekiel (xxxix. 16.) 
foretold the burial of Gog and his people would be. 
We know not any town of this name in Palestine. 
Hamonah signifies multitude ; and the prophet in- 
tended to show, that the slaughter of Gog's people 
would be so great, that the place of their burial might 
be called Multitude. 

HAMOR, prince ■ of Shechcm ; father of young 
Shechem, who ravished Dinah, the daughter of Ja- 
cob, Gen. xxxiv. (See Dinah, and Shechem.) Ja- 
cob, returning from Mesopotamia, set up his tents at 
Shechem, and bought of Hamor, for the price of a 
hundred kesitahs, or pieces of silver, (about $200,) 
that part of the field where he had pitched his tents, 
Gen. xxxiii. 18, seq. The bones of Joseph were af- 
terwards buried there, Josh. xxiv. 32. 

HAMUTAL, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, 
wife of king Josiah, and mother of Jehoahaz and 
Zedekiah, kings of Judah, 2 Kings xxiii. 31. 

HANAMEEL, son of Shallum, a kinsman of 
Jeremiah's, who sold the prophet a field at Ana- 
thoth, Jer. xxxii. 7, &c. 

HANANEEL, an Israelite who gave name to one 
of the towers of Jerusalem, Neh. iii. 1 ; xii. 39 ; Jer. 
xxxi. 38 ; Zech. xiv. 10. 

I. HANANI, the father of the prophet Jehu, 1 
Kings xvi. 7. 

II. HANANI, a prophet, who came to Asa, king 
of Judah, and said, " Because thou hast put thy 
trust in the king of Syria, and not in the Lord, the 
army of the king of Syria is escaped out of thine 
hands," 2 Chron. xvi. 7. We know not on what oc- 
casion the prophet spake thus ; but Asa ordered him 
to be seized and imprisoned. Some suppose him to 
have been father to the prophet Jehu ; but this does 
not appear from Scripture. Jehu prophesied in Is- 
rael ; Hanani in Judah. Jehu was put to death by 
Baasha, king of Israel, who died A. M. 3075 ; but 
Hanani reproved Asa, king of Judah, who reigned 
from A. M. 3049 to 3090. 

I. HANANIAH, one of the three young men of 
the tribe of Judah and of the royal family, who, be- 
ing carried captive to Babylon, were selected for in- 
struction in the sciences of the Chaldeans, and to 
wait in Nebuchadnezzar's palace. His name wasi 
changed to Shadrach ; and he became celebrated for 
his refusal to worship the golden image set up bj 
Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. i. 11 ; iii. 4. 

II. HANANIAH, son of Azur, (Jer. xxviii. 1.) » 
false prophet of Gibeon, who, coming to Jeru 
salem in the fourth year of Zedekiah, king ol 
Judah, (A. M. 3409,) lbretold to Jeremiah and 
all the people, that within two years all the ves 
sels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar, 
king of Babylon, had carried to Babylon, would 
be restored. At the same time Hananiah laid 
hold of the chains (or yokes) which Jeremiah wore 
about his neck, as emblems of the future captivity ol 
Judah, and, breaking them, said, " Thus saith the 
Lord, even so in two years' time will I break the 
yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon." Jere 
miah answered, "Thou hast broken the yokes ol 
wood, but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron 
thou shalt die this year, because thou hast taught 
rebellion against the Lord." He did so. 

HAND sometimes denotes the power and ven 



HAND 



[ 478 ] 



HAND 



geance of God. " The hand of the Lord was heavy 
on them of Ashdod," after they had taken the ark, 1 
Sam. v. 6, 7. " Hand " is also used for parts, times, 
or degrees. Daniel and his companions were ten 
hands (pit -i .:■>•) wiser than all the magi and di- 
viners of Babylon, i. e. ten times, Dan. i. 20. To 
pour water on any one's hands signifies to serve him, 
2 Kings iii. 11. (See Washing, and Baptism.) To 
wash one's hands denotes innocence, Matt, xxvii. 
24. The righteous washes his hands with the inno- 
cent, (Ps. xxvi. 6.) in token of innocency. To kiss 
one's hand, is an act of adoration, 1 Kings xix. 18 ; 
Job xxxi. 27. (See Kiss.) To fill o/ie's hands, to 
take possession of the priesthood, to perform the 
functions of that office ; because in this ceremony, 
those parts of the victim which were to be offered, 
were put into the hand of the new-made priest, Judg. 
xvii. 5, 12 ; Lev. xvi. 32 ; 1 Kings xiii. 33. To lean 
upon any one's hand is a mark of familiarity and su- 
periority. The king of Israel had a confidant upon 
whom he thus leaned, 2 Kings vii. 17. The king of 
Syria leaned on the hand or arm of Naaman, when 
he went up to the temple of Rimmon, 2 Kings v. 18. 
To stretch out the hand signifies (1) to chastise, to ex- 
ercise severity, or justice, Ps. lv. 11. God deliver- 
ed his people out of Egypt with a stretched-out 
hand, and an arm lifted up : by great power, by per- 
forming many wonders, and inflicting many chas- 
tisements on the Egyptians, " The hand of - God is 
still stretched out ;" he is still ready to strike, Isa. v. 
25 ; ix. 12, 17. — (2) Mercy : " I have stretched out 
mine hand [entreated] all the day long," towards an 
ungrateful and rebellious people, Isa. lxv. 2. " I 
have called," says the wise man, " and ye have re- 
fused : I have stretched out my hand, and no man re- 
garded," Prov. i. 24. 

Joining of hands, or placing one's hand in that of 
another person, is a very common method of pledg- 
ing oneself, making an alliance, or swearing fidelity. 
Bruce says, " These were priests and monks of then- 
religion, and the heads of families ; so that the house 
could not contain half of them. The great people 
among them came, and, after joining hands, repeat- 
ed a kind of prayer, of about two minutes long, [this 
kind of oath was in use among the Arabs, or shep- 
herds, as early as the time of Abraham, Gen. xxi. 
22, 23 ; xxvi. 28] by which they declared themselves 
and their children accursed, if ever they lifted their 
hands against me, in the tell, (or field,) in the desert 
or on the river ; or, in case that I, or mine, should 
fly to them for refuge, if they did not protect us, at 
the risk of their lives, their families, and then- for- 
tunes, or, as they emphatically expressed it, ' to the 
death of the last male child among them.' (See 1 
Sam. xxv. 22 ; 1 Kings xiv. 10 ; xvi. 11 ; xxi. 21 ; 2 
Kings ix. 8.) Medicines and advice being given on 
my part, faith and protection pledged on theirs, two 
bushels of wheat and seven sheep were carried down 
to the boat ; nor could we decline their kindness ; as 
refusing a present in that country, is just as great an 
affront as coming into the presence of a superior, 
without any present at all," Gen. xxxiii. 10 ; Mai. i. 
10 ; Matt. viii. 11. 

There is a remarkable passage in Prov. xi. 21, thus 
rendreed by our translators, " Though hand join in 
hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished ; but the 
seed of th« righteous shall be delivered :" i.e. though 
they make many associations and oaths, and join 
hands among themselves, (as formed part of the 
ceremony of swearing among these shepherds of 
Suakem, as related by Mr. Bruce, yet they shall 



be punished." C. B. Michaelis proposes another 
sense, " hand in hand" — my hand in your hand, i. e. 
as a token of swearing, " the wicked shall not go un- 
punished."— How far this sense of the passage is il- 
lustrated by the foregoing and the following extract, 
the reader will judge.— " I cannot help here accus- 
ing myself of what, doubtless, may be well reputed 
a very great sin. I was so enraged at the traitorous 
part which Hassan had acted, that, at parting, I 
could not help saying to Ibrahim, ' Now, shekh, I 
have done every thing you have desired, without 
ever expecting fee or reward; the only thing I now 
ask you, and it is probably the last, is, that you 
avenge me upon this Hassan, who is every day in 
your power.' Upon this, he gave me his hand, 
saying, He shall not die in his bed, or I shall never 
see old age." (Bruce's Trav. vol. i. p. 199.) Bruce's 
conduct in this instance, seems, in some sense, simi- 
lar to the behavior of David, when he gave charge 
to his son Solomon, to execute that justice upon Jo- 
ab and Shimei, which he himself had been unable to 
do, by reason of the vicissitudes of his life and king- 
dom ; and of the influence which Joab, the general, 
had in the army ; but of which the pacific reign of 
Solomon would deprive him, 1 Kings ii. 6. We 
learn from Ockley that the custom is observed by 
the Turks. [But in this passage (Prov. xi. 21.) the 
second clause refers to the seed of the righteous ; the 
parallelism requires, therefore, that the first clause 
should refer te the seed of the wicked. Hence A. 
Schu kens and Rosenmiiller translate: "From hand 
to hand the wicked shall not be unpunished," i. e. 
from generation to generation his seed shall see pun- 
ishment ; in allusion to the descent of name, proper- 
ty, &c. from hand to hand, father to son. This seems 
more appropriate. R. 

Perhaps, also, this joining of hands may add a 
spirit to the passage, (2 Kings x. 15.) " Is thine heart 
right, as my heart is with thy heart ? if it be, give 
me thy hand" — "And he (Jehonadab) gave him 
(Jehu) his hand ;" i. e. in token of affirmation; "and 
he (Jehu) took him (Jehonadab) up into his chariot." 
So that it was not as an assistance to enable Jehona- 
dab to get into the chariot, that Jehu gave him his 
hand, but, on the contrary, Jehonadab gave his hand 
to Jehu. This seems confirmed by verse 16 ; " So 
they made him (Jehonadab) ride in his (Jehu's) 
chariot." All these pronouns embarrass our trans- 
lation, but they were perfectly understood by those 
who knew the customs of their country. 

Another thing deserves remark — the elevation of 
hands in swearing : (Gen. xiv. 22.) "I have lift up 
mine hand to the Lord," Deut. xxxii. 40 ; Ezek. xx. 
28. This is the attitude of prayer also : (Psalm 
xx viii. 2.) "Hear the voice of my supplication — 
when J lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle ;" 
again, (Psalm lxviii. 4.) " I will lift up my hands in 
thy name," et al. This continued to be the attitude 
of prayer in New Testament times : " I will that 
men pray every where, lifting up holy hands," 1 Tim. 
ii. 8. It is supposed that this lifting up the hand by 
attendants on prayer, was a sign of their participa- 
tion in the prayer offered. 

The right hand was held up on all the occasions ; 
no doubt, as implying the most active, the most rea- 
dy member of the person. Does not this give us the 
import of the passages, Psalm cxliv. 8 : " Their right 
hand is a right hand of falsehood," that is, they lift 
up their right hand in swearing to lies. — Isa. xliv. 
20 : " Is there not a lie in my right hand ?" am I not 
swearing to a falsehood ? 



H AR 



[ 479 1 



H AR 



The reader will observe how greatly Scripture is 
illustrated by a knowledge of the customs of the 
times and places to which it refers : there are innu- 
merable passages where the expression is only a 
hint, but that hint implies consequences, to under- 
stand which requires much information. 

HANGING, see Punishment. 

HANNAH, wife of Elkanah, who dwelt at Ra- 
math, or Ramathaim, in Ephraim, 1 Sam. i. 2. El- 
kanah going to Shiloh, to worship there, took with 
him his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Penin- 
nah had children who accompanied her to the feast ; 
but Hannah had none. Elkanah, having offered his 
sacrifice of pure devotion, made an entertainment 
for his family before the Lord, and gave portions to 
Peninnah for herself and children ; to Hannah, his 
well-beloved wife, he gave but one portion, because 
she had no child. Hannah became melancholy ; 
and her rival Peninnah increased her affliction, by 
reproaching her barrenness. Elkanah comforted 
her ; but Hannah went alone privately to the taber- 
nacle, and vowed, that if God would bless her with 
a son, she would give him to God all the days of his 
life. As she was 'very fervent in her devotion, the 
high-priest Eli conceived she had been drinking to 
excess, and reproved her ; but upon being informed 
of her purpose, prayed that the God of Israel would 
grant her petition. Hannah soon after conceived, 
and had a son, whom she called Samuel, because 
she had asked him of the Lord ; ante A. D. 1155. 
Hannah did not again go to the temple or taberna- 
cle till she had weaned her son ; when she brought 
him thither, in compliance with her vow. Having 
made her offering and prayer, she presented her son 
to the Lord, committing him to Eli. She also com- 
posed a hymn of thanksgiving, in which she exalts 
the power of God's mercy, who dispenses fruitful- 
ness or barrenness as he pleases, 1 Sam. ii. Her 
subsequent history is not known. 

HANNATHON, a city of Zebulun, Josh. xix. 14. 

HANUN, son of Nahash king of the Ammonites, 
is known for his insult to David's ambassadors, sent 
to compliment him after his father's death, 2 Sam. x. 
and 1 Chron. xix. David, exasperated at his dishon- 
orable conduct, declared war against the Ammon- 
ites, and sent Joab to invade them. The Ammon- 
ites procured assistance from Syria, and from be- 
yond the Euphrates ; but Joab, giving part of the 
army to his brother Abishai, attacked the Syrians, 
while Abishai fought the Ammonites. They con- 
quered both enemies. David, receiving intelligence 
of this success, passed the river Jordan in person, 
with the rest of his troops, and defeated the Syrians 
in h battle. The year following, David sent Joab to 
besiege Rabbath, their capital : when it was reduced 
to extremities, he informed David, who came with 
the rest of Israel, took the city, enslaved the inhabit- 
ants, and carried off a great booty. 

HAPHARAIM, a city of Issachar, Josh. xix. 19. 
Eusebius says, there was a place called Apharaim, 
six miles from Legio, north. 

HARA, a city or district of Media, to which the 
Israelites of the ten tribes were transplanted by Tig- 
lath-Pileser, 1 Chron. v. 26. (See Habor.) Accord- 
ing to Bochart, it was the Aria of Ptolemy and Stra- 
bo, i. e. the capital of the modern Chorasan. It was, 
at any rate, a place or province of the Assyrian em- 
pire, perhaps Media Magna. 

HARADAH, a camp station of Israel, Numb, 
xxxiii. 24. See Exodus. 

HARAM, see in Mordecai. 



I. HARAN, eldest son of Terah, and father to 
Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He died before his father 
Terah, Gen. xi. 27, seq. 

II. HARAN, or Charr.e, a city in Mesopotamia, 
to which Abraham retreated after he had left Ur ; and 
where Terah his father died, Gen. xi. 31, 32. Hither, 
likewise, Jacob retired to Laban, when he fled from 
his brother Esau, Gen. xxvii. 43. At Haran, Cras- 
sus the Roman general was defeated and killed by 
the Parthians. Harran, as it is now called, is situat 
ed in 36° 52' N. lat. and 39° 5' E. long, in a flat and 
sandy plain, and is only peopled by a few wandering 
Arabs, who select it for the delicious water which it 
contains. 

HARD imports difficult, sad, unfortunate, cruel, 
austere, &c. Pharaoh overwhelmed the Israelites 
with hard labor, with tasks that were difficult and 
insupportable, Exod. i. 14. Ye are a people of " a 
hard head," untractable, inflexible, indocile, Exod. 
xxxii. 9. These sons of Zeruiah are "too hard for 
me ;" treat me with insolence, with overbearing, 
unseasonable cruelty. Nabal was "a hard and 
evil-conditioned man ;" without humanity, gen- 
tleness, or consideration, 1 Sam. xxv. 3. " I follow- 
ed hard ways," an austere life ; my behavior was 
morose, Psalm xvii. 4. " A hard heart," a hardened, 
insensible mind. "A hard forehead," determined, 
insolent. " I have made thy forehead hard against 
their foreheads ;" (Ezek. iii. 8. ) the Israelites are 
hardened to insensibility, have lost all shame ; but I 
will make you still harder, still bolder in reproving 
evil, than they are in committing it. Isa. 1. 7, "I 
have made thy face like a rock," very hard ; for their 
sins have become hard, and they are become in- 
corrigible. 

HARE, an animal resembling a rabbit, but some- 
thing larger. Moses ranks it among unclean crea- 
tures, notwithstanding it chews the cud, because it 
divides not the hoof, Lev. xi. 6. Naturalists gene- 
rally say that the hare does not chew the cud ; but 
Cowper, the poet, in his account of the three hares 
he domesticated, asserts that they " chewed the cud 
all day till evening." See Coney. 

HAREM, see in Mordecai. 

HARETH, a forest in Judah, to which David fled 
from Saul, 1 Sam. xxii. 5. 

HAROD, a well or fountain not far from Jezreel 
and mount Gilboa, so called from the apprehensions 
and fears of those who were here tried by Gideon, 
Judg. vii. 1, 3, i. e. " Palpitation" of the heart, as a 
symptom of alarm and terror. 

HAROSHETH of the Gentiles, a city in the north of 
Palestine, probably not far from Hazor, where Sisera, 
who commanded the troopsof Jabin, dwelt, Judg. iv. 2. 

HARP. The ancient Hebrews called the harp 
the pleasant harp ; and not only employed it in their 
devotions, but in their entertainments and pleasures. 
Those who have heard it, as animated by ancient 
British vivacity, will probably be of opinion that it 
was quite as well calculated for mirth as for solem- 
nity. The harp was nearly the earliest, if not the 
very earliest, instrument constructed for music 
David danced when he played on the harp ; so did 
the Levites : it was, therefore, light and portable, and 
its size was restricted within limits, which admitted 
of that action, and of that manner of employment. 
Such instruments have been found at Herculaneum. 

[The harp played upon by David was the Heb. 
-IU5, kinnor, the Greek xivvqa, more properly called 
a lyre. Josephus describes it as having ten strings, 
anil says it was struck with a plectrum or key ; 



HAZ 



[ 480 ] 



HEA 



(Ant. vii. 12, 3.) but this seems contrary to 1 Sam. 
xvi. 23 ; xviii. 10 ; xix. 9, where David is said to 
have played with the hand. Another kind of harp 
mentioned in Scripture is the ?3j, nebel, Greek vup.a, 
Lat. nablia, which Josephus (I. c.) describes as 
having twelve strings, and as played upon with the 
hand. Jerome says it had the form of a triangle, or 
inverted Delta V, Ps. lvii. 8. et al. — It is also men- 
tioned as having sometimes ten strings, Ps. xxxiii. 2 ; 
cxliv. 9. (See Jahn, § 94.) R. 

HASHMONAH, a station of the Israelites, Numb, 
xxiii. 29. See Exodus. 

HATACH, Esther's chamberlain, Esth. iv. 9. 

HATE, HATRED, are not always to be taken 
rigorously, but frequently signify merely a lesser de- 
gree of love. " No one can serve two masters : for 
he will hate the one, and love the other," (Luke xvi. 
13.) he will neglect the service of one, and attach 
himself to the other. " He who spareth the rod, 
hateth his child," i. e. fathers often spare their chil- 
dren out of excessive love to them; but to forbear 
correcting them is improper affection. " If any man 
nave two wives, one beloved, and another hated," 
or less beloved, Deut. xxi. 15. Thus Christ says, 
(Luke xiv. 26.) he who would follow him, must 
" hate father and mother," that is, love them less than 
tiis salvation ; must not prefer them to God. 

I. HAVILAH, son of Cush, (Gen. x. 7.) according 
to Bochart, peopled the country where the Tigris 
and Euphrates unite, and discharge themselves to- 
gether into the Persian gulf. This Calmet takes to 
be the land of Havilah, (Gen. xxv. 18 ; 1 Sam. xv. 7.) 
which extended to Shur, over against Egypt. [It ad- 
joined the eastern limits of the Ishmaelites, (Gen. xxv. 
18.) and also of the Amalekites, 1 Sam. xv. 7. Gese- 
nius takes it for the Chaulotai of Strabo, (xvi. p. 728.) 
near the Persian gulf. The name then probably extend- 
ed westward over a wide extent ; indeed, so as to in- 
clude the whole country to the borders of Egvpt. R. 

II. HAVILAH, son of Joktan, (Gen." x. 29.) 
probably peopled Colchis, and the country encom- 
passed by the river Pison, or Phasis, Gen. ii. 11. 
There are in Armenia, and in the territories of the 
Colchians, the cities Cholva and Cholvata, and the 
region of Cholobeta, noticed by Haiton. (See 
Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. I. i. 202.) 

HAVOTH-JAIR. The Hebrew and Arabic Ha- 
<>olh signifies cabins, or huts, such as belong to the 
Arabians, and are placed in a circle ; such a col- 
lection of them forming a hamlet or village. The 
district mentioned in Numb, xxxii. 41 ; Deut. iii. 14,. 
were in the Batanaea, beyond Jordan, in the land of 
Gilead, and belonged to the half-tribe of Manasseh. 

HAURAN (Ezek. xlvii. 16.) was originally a 
small district between Damascus and the sea of Ti- 
berias ; but was afterwards extended, and under the 
Romans was called Auranitis. It now includes the 
ancient Trachonitis, the Djebel Haouran, Iturcea, 
and part of Batanaea, and is very minutely described 
by Burckhardt. See Canaan, p. 236. 

HAWK, a bird of prey, of which there are many 
kinds; it is very quick-sighted, ravenous, and bold. 
It was declared unclean by the law, Lev. xi. 16; 
Deut. xiv. 15. See Birds, p. 187. 

HAY, see Grass. 

HAZAEL. The prophet Elijah, (1 Kings xix. 15, 
16.) being commanded by God to anoint Hazael to 
be king of Syria, returned home for this purpose, 
but it does not appear that he himself executed his 
commission. Some years afterwards, (2 Kings viii. 
7.) Hazael was sent by Benhadad, who lay ill, to in- 



quire of Elisha whether he should recover. The 
prophet, foreseeing the cruelty of Hazael, wept, and 
said, " The Lord hath revealed to me that thou shalt 
be king of Syria." Hazael returned to the king, his 
master, and told him he would recover ; but the next 
day he laid a cloth dipt in water over his person, 
which caused his death ; and immediately ascended 
the throne. Mr. Taylor thinks it probable that Ha- 
zael did not intend the death of his master ; and has 
shown that an application of cold water to the per- 
son is used in. the East, in certain cases of fever. 
However unamiable the character of Hazael was, 
there is nothing in the text, we believe, which pos- 
itively fixes this upon him as an act of murder. 
Hazael, without delay, executed on Israel all the 
evils which Elisha had foretold. When Jehu raised 
the siege of Ramoth-Gilead, Hazael took advantage 
of his absence, fell on his territories beyond Jordan, 
and destroyed the land of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and 
Manasseh, from Aroer to Bashan. Many years 
passed without his attacking the kingdom of Judah, 
because it was more remote from Damascus ; but he 
began to distress it in the reign of Joash, son of Je- 
hoahaz. He took Gath, and marched against Jeru- 
salem ; but Joash, perceiving himself unable to resist, 
gave him all the money in his treasury, and in the 
treasuries of the house of God, to purchase his for- 
bearance. The year following, however, Hazael 
returned against Judah and Jerusalem, slew all the 
princes, and sent a very rich spoil to Syria. The 
S}'rian army was not numerous ; but God delivered 
it up to the inhabitants of Judah ; and Joash him- 
self was treated by the Syrians with great ignominy, 
as was also the king of Israel. Hazael died about 
the same time as Jehoahaz, king of Israel, (2 Kings 
xiii.) and was succeeded by his son Benhadad, ante 
A. D. 839. 

HAZAR-GADDA, a city of Judah, lying far 
south, Joshua xv. 27. 

HAZAR-SHUAL, a city of Simeon, or Judah, 
Josh. xv. 28 ; Neb. xi. 27. 

HAZAR-SUSIM, a city of Simeon, (1 Chron. iv. 
31.) called Hazar-Susah, Josh. xix. 5. 

HAZERIM, HAZEROTH, HAZOR, AZERO- 
THAIM, are all names which signify villages or 
hamlets ; and are often put before the names of places. 
There is a town called Hazor in Arabia Petraea, in 
all probability the same as Hazerim, the ancient hab- 
itation of the Hivites, before they were driven away 
by the Caphtorim, (Deut. ii. 23.) who settled in Pal- 
estine. It might, perhaps, be the Hazeroth, where 
the Hebrews encamped, Numb. xi. 35 ; xii. 16 ; 
xxxiii. 15. 

HAZEZON-TAMAE, a town (Gen. xiv. 7.) call- 
ed Engaddi in Josh. xv. 62 ; 1 Sam. xxiv. 1 ; 2 
Chron. xx. 2 ; Cant. i. 14; Ezek. xlvii. 10. See 
En-gedi. 

I. HAZOR, a city of Naphtali, (Josh. xix. 36.) 
probably the capital of Jabin, the Canaanitish king, 
taken by Joshua, after the great battle, in which he 
defeated Jabin, and his allies near the waters of 
Merom, Josh. xi. 7, 10, 11. It was afterwards forti- 
fied by Solomon, 1 Kings ix. 15. 

II. HAZOR, a city in Benjamin, Neh. xi. 33. 

III. HAZOR, a region of Arabia, mentioned 
along with Kedar, Jer. xlix. 28. 

HEAD, a word which has several significations, 
in addition to its natural one. To be at the head is 
to command, conduct, govern. " Thou hast caused 
men to ride over our heads," (Ps. lxvi. 12.) subject- 
ed us to masters. " Thou hast made me the head of 



HE A 



[ 481 ] 



the heathen," (Ps. xviii. 43.) advanced me to the 
regal state. Moses says, the Lord shall make thee 
the head, and not the tail ; (Deut. xxviii. 13.) thou 
shalt be always master, and never in subjection. 
The stone which the builders rejected was placed in 
the head of the corner, (Ps. cxviii. 22.) the first in 
the angle, whether at the top of that angle to adorn 
and crown it, or at the bottom to support it. The 
ground at the head of all the streets, in the begin- 
ning of the highways, Isa. li. 20. 

In grief, mourners covered their heads, and cut 
and plucked off their hair ; " Upon all heads bald- 
ness,'' says the prophet Amos, (viii. 10.) speaking of 
unhappy times ; in prosperity they anointed their 
heads with sweet oils: "Let thy head lack no [per- 
fumed] ointments," Eccl. ix. 8. To shake the head 
at any one expresses contempt, Isa. xxxvii. 22. 

HEAP. In early times, heaps of stones were 
erected to preserve the memory of events. See 
Stones. 

HEAR or Hearing. This word is taken in several 
senses in Scripture. It literally denotes the exercise 
of that bodily sense, of which the ear is the organ — 
to receive information by the ear, (2 Sam. xv. 10.) 
and, as hearing is a sense by which instruction is 
conveyed to the mind, and the mind excited to atten- 
tion and obedience, so the ideas of attention and 
obedience are grafted on the expression or sense of 
hearing. God is said, speaking after the manner of 
men, to hear prayer ; that is, to attend to it, and to 
comply with request made in it, Ps. cxvi. 1. On 
the contrary, he is said— not to hear, that is, not 
comply with — the desires of sinners, John xi. 31. So 
men are said to hear when they attend to, or com- 
ply with, the requests of others, or obey the com- 
mands of God, John viii. 47; x. 27; Matt. xvii. 5. 
{Comp. Deut. xviii. 15, 18, 19; Acts iii. 22.) 

Other senses, attached to the word hear, seem to 
arise out of the foregoing, and may be referred to the 
same ideas. To hear signifies to judge, to settle a 
matter, 2 Sam. xv. 3. The caution to take heed how 
we hear, or what we hear, as it includes application, 
reception, and practice, was never more necessary 
than in the present day among ourselves; never was 
the necessity greater for appealing " to the law and 
to the testimony." 

HEART, the seat of life in the animal body. The 
Hebrews regarded the heart as the source of wit, 
understanding, love, grief, and pleasure ; and hence 
are derived many expressions: To find his heart, to 
possess his heart, to incline his heart, to bind his 
heart toward the Lord. A good heart, an evil heart, 
a liberal heart, a heart which does a kindness freely, 
voluntarily, generously, &c. To harden one's heart, 
to lift up one's heart to God ; to beseech him to 
change our stony hearts into hearts of flesh. To 
love with all one's heart : to have but one heart and 
one soul with another person. "To turn the hearts 
of children to the fathers, and the hearts of fathers 
to the children," (Luke i. 17.) to cause them to be 
perfectly reconciled, kindly affectioned, and of the 
same mind. To want heart, sometimes denotes to 
want understanding and prudence, Hosea vii. 11. 
" O fools, and slow of heart," (Luke xxiv. 25.) not 
exerting reflection and understanding. The heart 
of this people is stupifiecl, destitute of understanding ; 
(Matt. xiii. 15.) their heart is loaded with fat. 
" Thou shalt speak to all that are wise-hearted," 
(Exod. xxxviii.3.) whom I have filled with the spirit 
of wisdom. The false prophets speak from their 
heart ; or, more probably, without their heart ; kuow- 



HEB 

ing their own falsehood, (Ezek. xiii. 2.) who give out 
their imaginations for true prophecies. To lay any 
thing to heart, or set one's heart on any thing ; to 
remember it, to apply one's self to it, to have it at 
heart. " The righteous perisheth, and no one layeth 
it to heart," (Jer. xii. 11.) no one concerns himself 
about it. To return to one's heart ; to recollect 
one's self. The heart is dilated by joy, and con 
traded by sadness ; is broken by sorrow, grows fat, 
and is hardened in prosperity. The heart some- 
times resists truth. God opens it, prepares it, turns 
it as he pleases. To steal one's heart, (Gen. xxxi 
20. ) to do a thing without one's knowledge. The 
heart melts under discouragement ; forsakes one, 
under terror ; is desolate, in amazement ; and flue 
tuating, in doubt. To possess one's heart, is to be mas- 
ter of its motions. To speak to any one's heart, is 
to comfort him effectually, to say pleasing and pene- 
trating or affecting things to him. 

The heart expresses the middle of any thing : 
" Tyre is in the heart," in the midst, " of the sea," 
Ezek. xxvii. 4. "We will not fear, though the 
mountains be carried into the heart of the sea," Ps. 
xlvi. 2. " As Jonah was three days and three nights 
in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be 
three days and three nights in the heart of the earth," 
Matt. xii. 40. Moses, speaking to the Israelites, says, 
"And the mountain burnt with fire, unto the heart 
of heaven ;" the flame rose as high as the clouds. 

We should rend our hearts, and not our garments, 
in mourning, Joel ii. 13. To obtain righteousness, 
we must believe with the heart, Rom. x. 10. God 
promises to give his people "an understanding heart, 
and a heart fearing God." 

HEATH, a well known shrub, that grows on bar- 
ren moors ; it " knows not when good cometh," does 
not flourish in the spring, but towards the end of 
summer. Men are likened to it, Jer. xvii. 6. It also 
repi-esents men in a destitute and concealed condi- 
tion, Jer. xlviii. 6. 

HEATHEN. As it was customary with polished 
nations to call all others barbarians, so it was custom- 
ary with the Jews to call all other nations heathen ; 
and to consider them as totally void of any knowl- 
edge of God. See Gentile. 

HEAVEN and Earth (Gen. i. 1.) are used to de- 
note all visible things. 

Heaven often denotes the air, and the firmament, 
or expanse. (See Gen. xix. 24 ; i. 14 — 17, et al.) 

The Heaven of Heavens is the highest heaven ; 
as the song of song is the most excellent song ; the 
God of gods, or the Lord of lords, the greatest of 
gods, or the supreme of lords. Paul mentions the 
third heaven, (2 Cor. xii. 2.) which has always been 
considered as the place of God's residence, the dwell- 
ing of angels and blessed spirits. [The third heav- 
en is the same as the highest heaven ; and both are 
used to express the idea of the highest exaltation and 
glory ; q. d. God dwells not only in heaven, but 
above the heavens, in the third, or very highest, 
heaven. So the rabbins and the Mohammedans 
make, in the same way, seven heavens. (Compare 2 
Cor. .xii. 2 ; Eph. iv. 10 ; Heb. vii. 26.) R. 

For the Kingdom of Heaven, see Kingdom. 

HEAVINESS of heart and ears, see Blindness. 

I. HEBER, or Eber, son of Salah, was born 
A. M. 1723. It has been thought that from Heber, 
Abraham and his descendants were called Hebrews; 
h'Jt it is more probable, that this name was given to 
Abraham and his family, because they came from 
I beyond (over) the Euphrates or some other river. 



KEB [ 482 ] HEBREWS 



further east, into Canaan. Why should Abraham, 
who was the sixth in generation from Heber, take 
his name from this patriarch, rather than from any 
other of his ancestors ? Why not rather from Shein, 
for example, who is styled by Moses, the father of 
all the children of Heber ? Abraham is first called 
a Hebrew about ten years after his arrival in the 
land of Canaan, on occasion of the war with Che- 
dorlaomer. The LXX and Aquila translate Heber, 
Perates, or Peraites, which signifies a passenger, one 
who came from beyond the river. See Hebrews. 

II. HEBER, the Kenite, of Jethro's family, and 
husband of Jael, who killed Sisera, Judg. iv. 17, &c. 
Heber's tents and flocks were near the city of Hazor. 

HEBREWS. The Hebrew writers regard this 
term as a patronymic from Heber ; but, as we have 
suggested under that article, it is more reasonably 
considered to have been originally an appellative, 
from -12;', eber — " the country on the other side," and 
hence " those who live on the other side," or come 
from thence — a name which might very appropri- 
ately be given by the Canaanites to the migrating 
horde under Abraham, Gen. xiv. 13. It was the 
proper name of the people, by which they were 
known to foreigners; and thus distinguished from 
" the children of Israel," the common domestic name. 
The name Hebrew is used in the Bible principally by 
way of antithesis to other nations. 

The origin and history of this extraordinary people 
is replete with instruction of the most important na- 
ture, and should be attentively studied by every stu- 
dent of the Bible. 

At a very remote period of antiquity, when the 
sacerdotal caste in Babylonia had begun to spread 
idolatry even among the nomadic tribes of the land, 
a man named Abraham, distinguished by wealth, 
wisdom, and probity, in obedience to the commands 
of the Deity, quitted the land of his fathers, and 
journeyed with his family and his herds towards the 
land of Canaan. His faith in the only God, and his 
obedience to his will, were here rewarded by in- 
creasing wealth and numbers. His son and grand- 
son continued the same nomadic life, in Palestine, 
which Abraham and his fathers had led. By a sur- 
prising turn of fortune, one of the sons of Jacob, the 
grandson of Abraham, became vizier to the king of 
Egypt ; he brought his father and family to that 
country, and a district in the north-east of Egypt 
was assigued to them by the king, for the sustenance 
of themselves, and their flocks and herds. 

During 430 years their numbers increased exceed- 
ingly. A new dynasty now filled the Egyptian 
throne, and they feared the power of a numerous 
people attached to the former line, and dwelling in 
the key of the land towards Asia. They sought, 
therefore, to change their mode of life, and, by im- 
posing heavy tasks upon them, to check their in- 
crease, and gradually wear them out. 

During this period of oppression, Moses was born. 
The Egyptian monarch had ordered all the male 
children of the Israelites to be destroyed at the birth ; 
and the mother of Moses, after concealing him for 
some time, was obliged to expose him. The daugh- 
ter of the king found him, and reared him as her 
own. As he grew up, he was instructed in the se- 
cret wisdom of the priests ; but neither knowledge, 
nor the honors and splendors of the court, could 
make him behold with indifference the state of his 
native people. He mourned over their oppression, 
and panted to behold them in their former happy 
independence. 



Seeing an Egyptian ill-treat an Israelite, he slew 
him; and, fearing the vengeance of the king, fled to 
Arabia, where he led a shepherd's life, near Sinai, in 
the service of an Arab sheikh. While here, he re- 
ceived the command of God to lead his people out 
of Egypt: he returned thither, and, by performing 
many wondrous deeds, compelled the reluctant mon- 
arch to let his slaves depart. But Pharaoh repented, 
pursued, and he and his whole army perished in the 
waves of the Red sea. 

During their long residence in Egypt, the Israelites 
had gradually been passing from the nomadic to the 
agricultural life, and had contracted much of the im- 
pure religious ideas and licentious manners of the 
Egyptians. They were now to be brought back to 
the simple religion of their fathers, and a form of 
government established among them calculated to 
preserve them in the purity of their simple faith. It 
pleased the Deity to be himself, under the name of 
Jehovah, the KING of Israel, and their civil institu- 
tions were to resemble those of the country they had 
left, freed from all that might be prejudicial to the 
great object in view, — that of making them a nation 
of monotheistic faith. 

In the midst of lightning and thunder, while Sinai 
re-echoed to the roar, the first simple elements of 
their future law were presented to the children of 
Israel. No images, no hieroglyphics, were admitted 
into the religion now given: ceremonies of signifi- 
cant import were annexed, to employ the minds and 
engage the attention of a rude people. There was 
a sacerdotal caste, to whom the direction of all mat- 
ters relating to religion and law (which were in this 
government the same) was intrusted ; but they had 
no dogmas or mysteries wherewith to fetter the 
minds of the people ; and being assigned for their 
maintenance, not separate lands, but a portion of the 
produce of the whole country, their interest would 
lead them to stimulate the people to agriculture, and 
thus carry into effect the object of the constitution. 
As priests, judges, advocates, and physicians, they 
were of important service to the community, and 
fully earned the tenth of the produce which was al- 
lotted to them. Their division into priests and Le- 
vites, was a wise provision against that too sharp 
distinction which in Egypt and India prevailed be- 
tween the sacerdotal and the other castes. The Le- 
vites, being assigned some lands, formed a connect- 
ing link between the priests and the cultivators. 

Agriculture being the destination of the Israelites, 
trade was discouraged ; for the fairs and markets 
were held in the neighborhood of the heathen tem- 
ples. But to compensate them for the prohibition 
against sharing in the joyous festivities of the sur- 
rounding nations, feasts were held three times in 
each year, to commemorate their emancipation, the 
giving of the law, and their abode in the desert. At 
these festivals, all Israel was required to attend, that 
the bonds of brotherhood might be kept up among 
the tribes by participation in social enjoyment. 

Thus, many years before Con-fu-tse gave the 
Kings to the Chinese, long ere any lawgiver arose 
in Greece, Moses, directed by God, gave to Israel, in 
the wastes of Arabia, a constitution, the wonder of 
succeeding ages, and even memorable for the influ- 
ence it has exerted on the minds and institutions of 
a large and important portion of mankind. 

During forty years, till all the degenerate race who 
had left Egypt had died off, Moses detained the Is- 
raelites in the deserts of Arabia, accustoming them 
to obey their law, and preparing them for the con- 



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quest of the land assigned as their possession. At 
the end of that period, their inspired legislator led 
them to the borders of the promised land, and, hav- 
ing appointed Joshua to be his successor, he ascended 
a lofty mountain to take a view of the country he 
was not to enter : he there died, in the 120th year of 
his age. Under the guidance of Joshua, Israel 
passed the Jordan ; the God of Moses was with them, 
and inspired them with valor to subdue their foes. 
A speedy conquest gave them the land. No fixed 
government had been appointed ; the people gradually 
fell from the service of Jehovah to worship the idols 
of the surrounding nations ; and Jehovah gave them 
up to the power of their enemies. At times there 
arose among them heroes, denominated judges, who, 
inspired with patriotism and zeal for the law, aroused 
the slumbering tribes, and led them to victory. 
Then, too, arose that noble order of prophets, who, 
in heaven-inspired strains of poetry, exalted the Mo- 
saic law, and impressed its precepts, its rewards, and 
threats, on the minds of the people. 

After the time of the judges, the temporal and 
spiritual dignities were, contrary to the intention of 
the lawgiver, united, and the high-priest received 
the sovereign power. This lasted but a short time : 
in the person of the upright Samuel, a prophet, the 
temporal was again divided from the spiritual dignity. 
The sons of Samuel trod not in the steps of their 
virtuous father. The prospect of being governed 
by them, and the waut of a military leader to com- 
mand them, in their wars with the surrounding na- 
tions, made the people call on Samuel to give them 
a king. He complied with their wishes, warning 
them of the consequences of their desire, and ap- 
pointed Saul. This monarch was victorious in war ; 
but he disobeyed the voice of the prophet, and mis- 
fortuue ever after pursued him. It pleased Jehovah 
to take the kingdom from him, and Samuel anointed 
the youthful David to occupy his place. Saul was 
seized with a melancholy derangement of intellect. 
David, who was his son-in-law, won the affections 
of the powerful tribe of Judah ; but while Saul lived, 
he continued in his allegiance, though his sovereign 
sought his life. At length Saul and his elder and 
more worthy sons fell in battle against the Philistines, 
and the tribe of Judah called their young hero to 
the vacant throne. The other tribes adhered, during 
seven years, to the remaining son of Saul. His 
death, by the hands of assassins, gave all Israel to 
David. 

David was the model of an oriental prince, hand- 
some in his person, valiant, mild, just, and generous, 
humble before his God, and zealous in his honor, a 
lover of music and poetry, himself a poet. Success- 
ful in war, he reduced beneath his sceptre all the 
countries from the borders of Egypt to the moun- 
tains where the Euphrates springs. The king of Tyre 
was his ally ; he had ports in the Red sea, and the 
wealth of commerce flowed, during his reigu, into 
Israel. He fortified and adorned Jerusalem, which 
he made the seat of government. Glorious prospects 
of extended empire, and of the diffusion of the pure 
religion of Israel, and of happy times, floated before 
the mind of the prophet king. 

The kingdom of Israel was hereditary ; but the 
monarch might choose his successor among his sons. 
Solomon, supported by Nathan, the great prophet of 
those days, and by the affection of his father, was 
nominated to succeed. The qualities of a magnifi- 
cent eastern monarch met in the son of David. 
He, too, was a poet ; his taste was great and splendid ; 



he summoned artists from T yre, (lor Israel had none,) 
and, with the collected treas ire of his father, erected 
at Jerusalem a stately temp e to the God of Israel. 
He first gave the nation a queen, in the daughter of 
the king of Egypt, for whom he built a particular 
palace. He brought horses and chariots out of 
Egypt, to increase the strength and the glory of his 
empire. Trade and commerce deeply engaged the 
thoughts of this polite prince : with the Tyrians, his 
subjects visited the ports of India and eastern Africa ; 
he built the city of Tad more, or Palmyra, in the des- 
ert, six days' journey from Babylon, and one from 
the Euphrates, a point of union for the traders of 
various nations. Wealth of every kind flowed in 
upon Jerusalem ; but it alone derived advantage from 
the splendor of the monarch : the rest of Israel vas 
heavily taxed. 

On the death of Solomon, the tribes called on his 
son to reduce their burdens : he haughtily refused, 
and ten tribes revolted and chose another king. An 
apparently wise, a really false, policy, made the kings 
of Israel set up the symbolical mode of worship 
practised in Egypt. Judah, too, wavered in her alle- 
giance to Jehovah. A succession of bold, honest, 
and inspired prophets reproved, warned, encouraged 
the kindred nations, and a return to the service of the 
true God was always rewarded by victory and better 
times. At length, the ten tribes, by their vices and 
idolatry, lost the divine protection : they were con- 
quered, and carried out of their own country by the 
king of Assyria, and their land given to strangers. 
A similar fate befell the kingdom of Judah : the 
house of David declined, and the king of Babylon, 
Nebuchadnezzar, carried away the people to Baby- 
louia. On the fall of that state, seventy years after- 
wards, Cyrus, king of Persia, allowed to return 
to their own land a people whose faith bore some re- 
semblance to the simple religion of the Persians, and 
whose country secured him an easy access to Egypt. 
Restored to their country, the Israelites, now called 
Jews, became as distinguished for their obstinate at- 
tachment to their law, as they had been before for 
their facility to desert it. But the purity and sim- 
plicity of their faith was gone ; they now mingled 
with it various dogmas which they had learned dur- 
ing their captivity. The schools of the prophets, 
whence, in olden time, ha f emanated such lofty in- 
spiration, simple piety, and pure morality, were at 
an end ; sects sprang up among them, and the 
haughty, subtle, trifle-loving Pharisees, the worldly- 
minded Sadducees, and the simple, contemplative 
Essenes, misunderstood and misinterpreted the 
pure, ennobling precepts of the Mosaic law. (Cabinet 
Cyclop, part i. c. 2.) 

During a period of nearly three hundred years, 
after their return from Babylon, the Jews enjoyed 
almost uninterrupted tranquillity, governed by their 
high-priests, though subject first to Persia, then to 
Syria. The persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes 
raised up the valiant family of the Maccabees, who, 
after a war of twenty-six years, succeeded in estab- 
lishing the independence of Judea, and the sove 
reignty of the Maccabees, or Asmoneans ; — so called 
from Asmoncus, father of Mattathias. These princes 
united in their persons the regal and sacerdotal dig- 
nity, and governed the Jews for a period of 126 years, 
when the disputes between Hyrcanus and Aristobu 
lus gave a pretext for the interference of the Romans, 
under Pompey, and Judea was reduced to a province 
of the empire. Julius Caesar gave the prefecture of 
the province to Antipater, an Idumean, who, at bis 



HEBREWS 



[ 484 ] 



HEBREWS 



loath, divided it between his sons Phasael and Herod, 
but the latter was afterwards made sole ruler, by the 
Roman senate, with the title of king. 

During the reign of this cruel tyrant, misnamed 
"the Great," the people groaned under numerous 
oppressions, though he greatly added to the external 
splendor of the country. At his death, which hap- 
pened in the first year after the birth of our Saviour, 
he divided his kingdom, by will, among his three 
sons — Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip. These princes, 
however, did not long maintain the Herodian dy- 
nasty ; for about A. D. 44, Judea sunk to the rank of 
a minor province, and the government was confided 
to procurators sent from Rome, under whom it con- 
tinued till the destruction of Jerusalem. After the 
destruction of the once holy city, it was compre- 
hended under the government of the presidents of 
Syria, and the Jews continued subject to the Romans 
till the reign of .Adrian ; when they rebelled, and 
were entirely dispersed.. 

The government of the Hebrews is, by Josephus, 
called a theocracy ; by which he means a form of 
government which assigns the whole power to God, 
with the management of all the national affairs — he, 
in fact, being the proper king of the state. This 
government, however, underwent several changes. 
Calmet notices the legislator Moses ; his successor 
Joshua; the judges; the kings, and the high-priests. 
Under all these revolutions, God was considered as 
the monarch of Israel ; but he did not exercise his 
authority and jurisdiction always in the same man- 
ner. In the time of Moses he governed immediately ; 
for, on all emergencies, he revealed his will, which 
was put in execution. He dwelt among his people 
as a king in his palace, or in the midst of his camp ; 
always ready to give an answer when consulted, to 
restrain those who transgressed his laws, to instruct 
those who had difficulties about the sense of his or- 
dinances, to determine those who were in suspense 
about any important undertaking. This was, prop- 
erly, the time of the theocracy, in the strictest sense 
of the term. Under Joshua and the judges it con- 
tinued the same ; the former, being filled by the spirit 
which animated Moses, would undertake nothing 
without consulting Jehovah ; and the latter were 
leaders, raised up by himself, to deliver the Hebrews 
and govern in his name. The demand of the people 
for a king occasioned the prophet-judge great dis- 
quietude, for he regarded it as a rejection of the the- 
ocratic government, 1 Sam. viii. 5, 7. God com- 
plied with the wishes of the people, but he still 
retained his own sovereign authority. He grants 
them a king ; settles his rights ; disposes of him as he 
pleases; and reproves him when he fails in obedi- 
ence and submission. God "granted them a king in 
his indignation, and took him away in his wrath," 
Hosea xiii. 11. 

Moses, in anticipation of this event, had prescribed 
i number of regulations for the government of the 
Hebrew kings, in which the principle of the theoc- 
racy is fully recognized, Deut. xvii. 14, &c. The 
monarchs were to be chosen by God ; to be iustructed 
by his priests ; to be submissive to his orders ; not to 
undertake any thing of consequence without consult- 
ing him ; and to be under such dependence on his 
will that he might reject them, as he did Saul, when 
they neglected their duty. When God promised 
David to make the crown hereditary in his family, 
it was a departure from the fundamental maxim of 
the monarchy, that the kings should be elective, and 
be placed over the people by God. 



It must be admitted, that after this prince, the kings 
of Judah and Israel governed according to their own 
will ; and after the schism of Jeroboam, few of them 
observed the rules of the theocracy. They would 
not submit to restraint, but endeavored to cast off 
that happy subjection to which the judges and the 
first kings had submitted. All kinds of calamities 
then poured in upon them and their subjects : they 
were delivered as a prey to their enemies, and had 
no peace or prosperity at home or abroad. God 
visited them with a multitude of troubles, and at last 
dispersed them into distant countries. To remind 
them of their dependence, and bring them back to 
their duty, however, the Lord raised up, from time 
to time, prophets, full of zeal and courage, who 
boldly upbraided them with their prevarications and 
impieties ; and who opposed themselves, like a wall 
of brass, to whatever they committed contrary to the 
rights of God. These holy men did not only appear 
in Judah, where the public worship of Jehovah was 
maintained, but also in Israel, however schismastic 
and polluted that might be. 

It is obvious, therefore, that, notwithstanding the 
almost general defection of the two kingdoms, God 
still maintained his theocracy in them, as well by his 
vengeance executed against wicked kings, as by those 
good princes who obeyed his commands, and those 
prophets whom he raised up, from time to time, till 
the captivity of Babylon. 

During the captivity, we are not to expect any cer- 
tain form of government in Israel, nor any regular 
polity. In vain the Jews pretend to find one beyond 
the Euphrates, either before or since Cyrus's time. 
We know of none that was well supported even after 
the return from the captivity, during the time the 
Hebrews were subject to the kings of Persia and of 
Greece. During these times the government was a 
kind of aristocracy, subordinate to the Persians and 
the Grecians. The high-priest, was at the head of 
the principal people, whose power, being limited by 
the sovereign authority, only extended to matters 
relating to the law and religion. It was a kind of 
voluntary or conventional jurisdiction, to which the 
people submitted, so far as they pleased. 

The Asmonean princes introduced a fifth period, 
which presents a new aspect of government. After 
the Maccabees had supported the religion of their 
country, with great hazard of their lives, and had, 
with extraordinary bravery, repelled the wicked com- 
mands of Antiochus Epipbanes, they shook off the 
yoke of the kings of Assyria, and, asserting their 
liberty, took the title of princes of the Jews, and of 
kings. By the consent of the people, they united the 
high-priesthood to the supreme authority. Under 
the government of these princes, we find evident 
traces of the theocracy. The supreme governor was 
invested with the sacerdotal character ; so that the 
kingdom was what Moses calls "a kingdom of 
priests;" (Exod. xix. 6.) or, as Peter speaks, (1 Epist. 
ii. 9.) "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood." The 
royal power, and the sacerdotal united, made a sin- 
gular kind of polity, under princes entirely devoted 
to the service of God, instructed in his laws, and in- 
terested by the rules of politics to support them, and 
to make the people observe them. They could by 
no possibility endure idolatry, ignorance, impiety ; 
or those gross disorders which had prevailed under 
the kings. So that the commonwealth of the He- 
brews was never more in earnest to perform the laws 
of God, or more exempt from those crimes denounced 
by the prophets, than under the Asmonean princes. 



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[ 485 ] 



HEBREWS 



Under their government, the Romans did not in- 
terfere with religion : they even left a considerable 
share of authority to the later princes of the Asmo- 
nean race. Herod succeeded to the kingdom, under 
the protection of the Romans, but he sacrificed every 
thing to his ambition and politics ; and though he 
made an outward profession of the Jewish religion, 
he violated it on many occasions. The priests and 
people, however, continued firmly attached to it; 
and when Christ appeared, external religion was in 
a flourishing condition. His preaching chiefly re- 
proved the Pharisees, who, by their subtle distinc- 
tions, and refinements on the law, had obscured its 
true sense, and subverted its real intention. Our 
Saviour exposed their hypocrisy, censured and cor- 
rected their mistakes, restored primitive piety, and 
gave the rules of a pure and sincere worship, in mind 
and in truth. 

The religion of the Jews may be considered in 
different points of view, with respect to the different 
conditions of their nation. Under the patriarchs, 
they were occasionally instructed in the will of God, 
opposed idolatry and atheism, used circumcision as 
the appointed seal of the covenant made by God with 
Abraham, and followed the laws which reason, as- 
sisted by the lights of grace and faith, discover to 
honest hearts, who seriously seek God, his righteous- 
ness, and truth. They lived in expectation of the 
Messiah, the desire of all nations, to complete their 
hopes and wishes, and fully to instruct and bless 
them. Such was the religion of Abraham, Isaac, 
Jacob, Judah, Joseph, &c. who maintained the wor- 
ship of God, and the tradition of the true religion. 
After{,the time of Moses, the religion of the Hebrews 
became more fixed. Previously, every one honored 
God according to his heart and judgment ; but now, 
ceremonies, days, feasts, priests and sacrifices were 
determined with great exactness. The legislator de- 
scribed the age, sex, and color of certain victims ; 
their number, qualities, and nature ; at what hour, 
by whom, and on what occasions they were to be 
offered. He prescribed the several purifications to 
be used in preparing themselves for their approach 
to things holy, and the legal impurities which forbade 
their approach ; the means of preventing, of avoid- 
ing, and of expiating pollutions. He regulated the 
tribe, the family, the bodily qualities, the habits, or- 
der, rank, and functions of the priests and Levites. 
He specified the measures, metals, woods, and works 
of the tabernacle, or portable temple ; the dimensions, 
metal, and figure of the altar, and its utensils ; in a 
word, he omitted nothing which concerned the wor- 
ship of God, who was the first and principal, or, more 
properly speaking, the only object of the Jewish re- 
ligion. 

The long abode of the Hebrews in Egypt had 
cherished in them a strong propensity to idolatry ; 
and neither the miracles of Moses, nor his precau- 
tions to withdraw them from the worship of idols, 
nor the rigor of his laws, nor the splendid marks of 
God's presence in the Israelitish camp, were able to 
conquer this unhappy perversity. We know with 
what facility they adopted the adoration of the golden 
calf, when they had scarcely passed the channel of 
the Red sea, where they had been eye-witnesses of 
divinely preserving wonders ! 

Moses delivered his laws in the wilderness ; but 
they were not all observed there. (See Deut. xii. 8, 9.) 
The Hebrews did not circumcise the children born 
during their wanderings, because of the danger to 
which infants newly circumcised would have been 



exposed ; and also because the people of Israel, not 
being then mingled with other nations, were not un- 
der such a necessity of taking that sign, which was 
instituted principally to distinguish them, Josh. v. 4, 
5, 6, 7. 

During the wars of Joshua against the Cauaanites, 
and before the ark of God was established in a fixed 
place, it was difficult to observe all the laws of Moses ; 
and hence we see under Joshua and the Judges, and 
even in the reign of Saul, much laxity of conduct, 
not observable under David or Solomon, when the 
Hebrews were at peace, and when there was more 
easy access to the tabernacle. " In those days there 
was no king in Israel, and every man did that which 
was right in his own eyes," Judg. xvii. 5, 6. Hence 
Micah's ephod, at Laish, (ch. xviii. 31.) that which 
Gideon made in his family, (ch. viii. 27.) the irregu- 
larities of Eli's sons, (1 Sam. ii. 12, 13.) the crime of 
the inhabitants of Gibeah, (Judg. xix. 22, &.c.) and the 
frequent idolatries of the Israelites. 

Saul and David, with all their authority, were not 
able entirely to suppress such inveterate disorders. 
Superstitions, which the Israelites did not dare to 
exercise in public, were practised in private. They 
sacrificed on the high places, and consulted diviners 
and magicians. Solomon, whom God had chosen to 
build his temple, was himself a stone of stumbling to 
Israel. He erected altars to the false gods of the 
Phoenicians, Moabites, and Ammonites ; and not only 
permitted his wives to worship the gods of their own 
country, but himself adored them, 1 Kings xi. 5 — 7. 
Most of his successors showed a similar weakness. 
Jeroboam introduced the worship of the golden 
calves into Israel, which took such deep root that it 
was never entirely extirpated. 

By the captivity in Babylon the Hebrews were 
brought to repentance, and renounced idolatry. 
Henceforth they became devoted to the service of the 
true God, and no false gods were tolerated amongst 
them. During the reign of the Maccabaean princes, 
however, another evil, equally pernicious in its effects 
on genuine religion, sprung up among them. The 
sect of the Pharisees, who divested the law of its 
simplicity and purity, and superadded to it a number 
of pernicious doctrines, said to have been preserved 
by tradition from Moses, acquired great importance 
in the state, and their opinions and observances had 
the tendency of diverting the minds of the people 
from the essence of religion — the pure and spiritual 
worship of God, and attaching them to a number of 
unmeaning, and to some immoral, ceremonies. At 
the time of our Saviour's appearance, he found the 
Hebrews divided, with few exceptions, into the two 
sects of the Pharisees and the Sadducees ; the former 
of whom made the law of God void by their tradi- 
tion, and the latter of whom were a sort of religious 
Epicureans. They denied the resurrection of the 
dead, and the existence of angels and spirits. Never 
had there been so much zeal and punctuality among 
the Hebrews in the observance of their ritual, united 
with so great an aversion to the religion of the heart, 
which these were intended to promote. His remon- 
strances, instructions, and denunciations were fruit- 
less, as to the nation generally ; they pursued their 
infatuated career, until, having filled up the measure 
of their iniquity, they were given over by God to 
those bitter punishments, which have rendered them 
a by-word among all people. 

The Hebrew ceremonial was of a typical charac- 
ter ; prefiguring the priesthood and kingdom of Christ, 
and the privileges and happiness of his people Their 



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[ 486 ] 



HEBREWS 



bondage in Egypt, their miraculous deliverance, their 
passage through the Red sea, their sojourning in the 
wilderness, their entrance into the promised land, 
their circumcision, ceremonies, priests, and sacri- 
fices, were all predictive figures of Christ's coming, 
of the establishment of Christianity, and of the wor- 
ship, sacraments, and excellence of the gospel. (For 
an account of the religious feasts, &c. of the Hebrews, 
see the respective articles.) 

The administration of just ice among the Hebrews 
is a subject which demands some notice in a sketch 
of their history. Under the patriarchs, sovereign ju- 
dicial authority was vested in the heads of tribes or 
families. They disinherited, banished, or inflicted 
capital punishment, without being responsible to any 
higher earthly power. (See Gen. xxi. 9 — 14; xxxviii. 
24; xlix. 7 ; xxii.10.) Much of the patriarchal spirit 
of the law was retained after the exodus, but Moses, 
under the immediate direction of God himself, was 
appointed supreme judge. At the suggestion of 
Jethro, the legislator relieved himself from some part 
of his judicial duties, by appointing inferior judges 
over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens; reserving 
the weightier or more important causes for himself, 
Exod. xviii. 13 — 26. When the people became set- 
tled in the land, every city appears to have had its 
elders, who formed a court of judicature, with a 
power of determining lesser matters in their respect- 
ive districts, Deut. xvi. 18 ; xvii. 8, 9. (See also 
Deut. xxi. 1 — 9.) According to the rabbins, every 
city which contained a hundred inhabitants possessed 
a court of judicature, consisting of three judges; but 
those cities which were larger had twenty-three of 
these officers. But Josephus, in whose time these 
courts existed, states that Moses ordained seven 
judges, of known virtue and integrity, to be estab- 
lished in every city, to whom two ministers were 
added out of the tribe of Levi ; so that there were 
in every city nine judges — seven laymen and two 
Levites. (Antiq. b. iv. c. 14 ; Wars, b. ii. c. 20.) The 
Hebrew legislator enjoins the strictest impartiality on 
the judges, in the discharge of their judicial func- 
tions, and prohibits their taking of gifts under any 
circumstances ; (Exod. xxiii. 8.) reminding them, at 
the same time, that a judge sits in the seat of God, 
and that, therefore, no man should have any pre- 
eminence in his sight, neither ought he to be afraid 
of any man in declaring the law, Exod. xxiii. 6, 7 ; 
Lev. xix. 15 ; Deut. i. 17 ; xxi. 18 — 20. 

From Deut. xvii. 8 — 11, we see that appeals lay 
from the courts already mentioned to a supreme tri- 
bunal. But the earliest mention of any such tribunal 
is under the reign of Jehoshaphat, and which, it is 
expressly stated, was erected for the decision of such 
cases, 2 Chron. xix. 8 — 11. The Jewish writers in- 
sist that this was the Sanhedrim, to which there are 
so many allusions made in the New Testament, and 
which they also assert to have existed from the time 
of Moses, possessing the supreme authority in all 
civil matters. Of this, however, there is no proof : 
it was not instituted till the time of the Maccabees, 
from which period it is frequently spoken of as the 
supreme judicial tribunal. It consisted of seventy, 
seventy-one, or seventy-two members, chosen from 
among the chief priests, Levites, and elders of the 
people, of whom the high-priest was the president, 
and took cognizance of the general affairs of the na- 
tion. It gave judgment, however, only in the most 
important causes, reserving inferior matters for the 
lower courts, appeals from which, as we have before 
stated, lay here. (Godwyn's Moses and Aaron, b. v. ; 



Lightfoot's Prospect of the Temple, ch. xxii. ; Lamy's 
Apparatus Biblicus, b. i. ch. 12 ; Michaelis on the 
Laws of Moses, vol. i. p. 247, &c.) 

Of judicial procedure, or form of process, as we call 
it, our information is scanty. In the early period of 
the Hebrew commonwealth, the procedure was no 
doubt very summary, as few rules are prescribed for 
conducting it. Every man managed his own cause ; 
1 Kings iii. 15 — 28. From a passage in Job, (xxix. 
15 — 17.) Michaelis infers that men of wisdom and 
influence might be asked for their opinions in diffi- 
cult cases, and that they might also interfere to assist 
those who were not capable of defending themselves 
against malicious accusers. The exhortation in Isa. 
i. 17. he also thinks to have a reference to such a 
practice. In criminal cases the judges' first business 
was to exhort the accused person to confess the crime* 
with which he stood charged, " that he might have a 
portion in the next life," Josh. vii. 19. The oath 
was then administered to the witnesses, (Lev. v. 1.) 
who offered their evidence against him ; after which 
he was heard in defence, John vii. 51. In matters 
where life was concerned, one witness was not suf- 
ficient ; (Numb. xxxv. 30 ; Deut. xvii. 6, 7 ; xix. 15.) 
but in those of lesser moment, particularly those re- 
lating to money and value, it seems that a single wit- 
ness, if unexceptionable, and upon oath, was enough 
to decide between plaintiff* and defendant. From the 
account of our Saviour's trial before the supreme 
council, wc see that witnesses were examined sepa- 
rately, and without hearing each other's declaration, 
and that it was necessarily in the presence of the ac- 
cused. This is evident, from the contradiction in 
the evidence of the two witnesses brought against 
Jesus, (Mark xiv. 56, seq.) which would doubtless 
have been avoided, had they been admitted into court 
together. 

Sentence having been pronounced on a person 
found guilty of a capital crime, he was hurried away 
to the place of execution ; and in cases where the 
punishment of stoning was inflicted, the witnesses 
were compelled to take the lead, Deut. xvii. 7 ; Acts 
vii. 58, 59. It was also customary for the judge and 
the witnesses to lay their hands on the criminal's 
head, saying, "Thy blood be upon thine own head." 
In allusion to this usage, which was a declaration of 
the justice of the sentence, the Jews alluded, when 
they said, with reference to our Lord — "His blood 
be upon us and our children," Matt, xxvii. 25. In 
Matt, xx vi. 39, 42, where our Lord says, "Father, if 
it be possible, let this cup pass from me," there is an 
allusion to the practice which obtained of giving to 
the malefactor a cup of wine, in which there was in- 
fused a grain of incense, for the purpose of intoxi- 
cating and stupifying him, that he might be the less 
sensible of pain. For deciding in disputed cases of 
property, where no other means remained, recourse 
was had to the sacred lot, which was regarded as the 
determination of God, Prov. xvi. 33 ; xviii. 18. It 
was for this purpose that the urim and thummim 
was employed ; as it was in criminal cases for the 
discovery of the guilty ; but never for convicting them. 

During the times of the New Testament, the Roman 
tribunal was the last resort, in cases of a criminal na- 
ture. The Jews could put no man to death without 
the consent of the governor, (John xviii. 31.) though 
thej' had the power of inflicting inferior punishments, 
and in most other respects lived according to their 
own laws. Hence the allusions to the Roman law, 
mode of trial, &c. in the New Testament are very 
numerous; as (1.) crucifixion; (2.) hanging, or the 



HEBREWS 



[ 487 1 



HEBREWS 



rope; (3.) stoning; (4.) fire, or burning; (5.) the tym- 
panum, or whipping; (6.) imprisonment; (7.) the 
sword, or beheading; (8.) precipitation, or stoning; 
(9.) rending to pieces by thorns, or treading under 
the feet of animals; (10.) sawing asunder; (11.) suf- 
focation in ashes; (12.) cutting off the hair; (13.) 
blinding the eyes ; (14.) stretching on the wooden 
horse. Several of these modes of punishment were 
introduced among the Hebrews in consequence of 
their intercourse with surrounding nations, and are, 
therefore, not to be attributed to their lawgiver. 

For an account of the writing, language, books, 
and literary composition of the Hebrews, the reader 
is referred to the respective articles ; as also for their 
dress, houses, &c. See Language, Letters, Poe- 
try, House, Dresses, &c. 

The existence of the Hebrews as a people distinct 
from all others, to this day, is a miracle of that in- 
disputable kind which may well justify a few re- 
marks. 

1. They are spread into all parts of the earth ; being 
found not only in Europe, but to the utmost extrem- 
ity of Asia, even in Thibet and China. They abound 
in Persia, Northern India, and Tartary, wherever our 
travellers have penetrated. These are, as they as- 
sert, probably, descendants of the tribes carried away 
captive by the Assyrian monarchs. They are also 
numerous in Arabia, in Egypt, and throughout 
Africa. 

2. These dispersions are of different epochs ; some 
were voluntary, others forced. That many Hebrews 
settled in Egypt from the days of Solomon, is very 
credible. (See 1 Kings xi. 40 ; Jer. xli. xlii. et al.) 
Many thousands were in Alexandria alone ; and we 
learn from the Acts, that they had synagogues in 
Cyrene, Libya, &c. as well as throughout Greece and 
Asia Minor ; as Rome, and elsewhere in Italy, &c. 

3. In most parts of the world their state is much the 
same— one of dislike, contempt, or oppression. With- 
in the last few years they have received more justice 
at the hands of some of the European states ; but it 
is evident that they hold their possessions by a very 
precarious tenure. 

4. They every where maintain observances peculiar 
to themselves ; such as circumcision, performed after 
their own manner, and at their own time of life, that 
is, during infancy ; also the observance of a sabbath, 
or day of rest, not the same day of the week as that 
of nations which also observe a sabbath. They have 
generally retained some remembrance of the pass- 
over ; but there are Jews who, not being included in 
the plot of Haman, to destroy their nation, do not 
commemorate the Purhh. This national constancy 
demonstrates a most wonderful energy in the Mosaic 
institutions ; which are still fresh and vigorous, and 
not obsolete. 

5. They are divided into various sects. Some of 
them are extremely attached to the traditions of the 
rabbins, and to the multiplied observances enjoined 
in the Talmud. Others, as the Caraites, reject these 
with scorn, and adhere solely to Scripture. The 
majority of the Jews in Europe, and those with whose 
works we are mostly conversant, are rabbinists ; and 
maybe taken as representatives of the ancient Phari- 
sees. But all Jews profess a veneration for their 
sacred books ; and according to the best information 
that can be obtained, they preserve them carefully, 
and read them with respect in their places of worship ; 
to which, in all countries, they fail not to resort. 

6. They every where consider Judea as their proper 
country, and Jerusalem as their metropolitan city. 



Wherever settled, and for however long, they still 
cherish a recollection or reference, unparalleled 
among nations. They have not lost it; they will 
not lose it; and they transmit it to their posterity, 
however comfortably they may be settled in any resi- 
dence, or in any country. They hope against hope, 
to see Zion and Jerusalem revive from their ashes. 

7. The number of the Jewish nation was estimated, 
a few years ago, for the information of Buonaparte, 
at the following amount; but from what documents 
we know not : 

In the Turkish empire .... 1,000,000 
In Persia, China, India, on the east 

and west of the Ganges .... 300,000 
In the west of Europe, Africa, A mer- 

ica . 1,700,000 



Total 3,000,000 

This number is probably very far short of the truth. 
Maltebrun estimates them at 4,000,000 to 5,000,000. 

8. The long protracted existence of the Hebrews as 
a separate people, is not only a standing evidence of 
the truth of the Bible, but is of that kind which defies 
hesitation, imitation, or parallel. Were this people 
totally extinct, some might affect to say, that they 
never existed; or that if they didonce exist, that they 
never practised such rites as were imputed to them ; 
or that they were not a numerous people, but a small 
tribe of ignorant and unsettled Arabs. The care with 
which, the Jews preserve their sacred books, and the 
conformity of those preserved in the East with those 
of the West, as lately attested, is a satisfactory argu- 
ment in favor of the genuineness of both ; and, further, 
the dispersion of the nation has proved the security 
of these documents ; as it has not been in the power 
of any one enemy, however potent, to destroy the 
entire series, or to consign it to oblivion. 

There appears to have been a distinction or pre- 
rogative generally attached to the appellation Hebrew, 
in the early days of the gospel. Paul describes him- 
self as a " Hebrew of the Hebrews," (Phil. iii. 5.) and 
the Grecians are said to murmur against the Hebrews, 
(Acts vi. 1.) though both parties were of the same 
nation. It seems, therefore, that the residents in the 
Holy Land, at least, if not the whole nation, pre- 
ferred the name of Hebrew, as more honorable than 
that of Jew, which was rather a foreign appella- 
tion imposed upon them, especially out of their own 
country. This discovers a propriety in Paul's ad- 
dressing, as most respectful, his epistle " to the He- 
brews," not " to the Jews." Perhaps, also, the con- 
verts to Christianity retained this preference, and 
declined being called Jews, as no longer professing 
Judaism ; even while they acknowledged themselves 
to be Hebrews by descent from the father of the 
faithful. 

Epistle to the Hebrews. — Neither the nature 
nor the limits of a dictionary will admit of a critical 
dissertation on the controverted questions affecting 
this sacred composition. The majority of critics 
agree in referring it to the apostle Paul ; though sev- 
eral writers of sound judgment and learning contest 
the evidence on which this opinion is founded. For 
satisfaction upon this subject, as well as upon the 
language in which the epistle was written, we must 
refer to those authors who have professedly treated 
upon them ; among these we may notice particular- 
ly the work of professor Stuart. Omitting, then, 
the question of the Pauline origin of the epistle, we 



HEB 



[ 488 ] 



HEI 



• emark, that its canonical authority, and its genuine- 
ness and authenticity, are so fu'ly attested by the 
strongest evidence, historical and internal, that they 
may safely be pronounced unimpeachable. " That 
the church, during the first century after die apos- 
tolic age, ascribed it to some one of the apostles," re- 
marks the writer to whom we have just referred, "is 
clear, from the fact, that it was inserted among the 
canonical books of the churches in the East and the 
West ; that it was comprised in the Peschito ; in the 
old Latin version ; and was certainly admitted by 
the Alexandrine and Palestine churches. The ob- 
ject of this epistle, which ranks amongst the most im- 
portant of the new-covenant Scriptures, was to prove 
to the Jews, from their own Scriptures, the divinity, 
humanity, atonement, and intercession of Christ ; 
particularly his pre-eminence over Moses and the 
angels of God — to demonstrate the superiority of the 
gospel to the law ; and the real object and design of 
the Mosaic institutions — to fortify the minds of the 
Hebrew converts against apostasy under persecu- 
tion, and to engage them to a deportment becoming 
their Christian profession. In this view, the epistle 
furnishes a key to the Old Testament Scriptures. 
(See the Bibl. Repository, vol. ii. p. 409.) 

HEBRON, or Chebron, one of the most ancient 
cities of Canaan, being built seven years before 
Tauis, the capital of Lower Egypt, Numb. xiii. 22. 
It is thought to have been founded by Arba, an 
ancient giant of Palestine, and hence to have been 
called Kirjath-arba, Arba's city, (Josh. xiv. 15.) which 
aame was afterwards changed into Hebron. The 
Anakim dwelt at Hebron when Joshua conquered 
Canaan, Josh. xv. 13. 

Hebron, which was given to Judah, and became a 
city of refuge, was situated on an eminence, about 
twenty-seven miles south of Jerusalem, and about 
the same distance north of Beersheba. Abraham, 
Sarah, and Isaac were buried near the city, in the 
cave of Machpelah, Gen. xxiii. 7,8,9. After the 
death of Saul, David fixed his residence at Hebron, 
and it was for some time the metropolis of his king- 
dom, 2 Sam. ii. 2 — 5. It is now called El Hhalil, 
and contains a population of about 400 families of 
Arabs, besides a hundred Jewish houses. "They 
are so mutinous," says DArvieux, " that they rarely 
pay [the duties] without force; and commonly a re- 
inforcement from Jerusalem is necessary. The peo- 
ple are brave, and when in revolt extend their incur- 
sions as far as Bethlehem, and make amends by 
their pillage for what is exacted from them. They 
are so well acquainted with the windings of the 
mountains, and know so well how to post themselves 
to advantage, that they close all the passages, and 
exclude every assistance from reaching the Sonba- 
chi. . . . The Turks dare not dwell here, believing 
that they could not live a week if they attempted it. 
The Greeks have a church in the village." The 
mutinous character of this people, one would think, 
was but a continuation of their ancient disposition ; 
which might render them fit instruments for serving 
David against Saul, and Absalom against David. — 
The advantage they possessed in their knowledge of 
the passes, may account also for the protracted re- 
sistance which David made to Saul, and the neces- 
sity of the latter employing a considerable force in 
order to dislodge his adversary. David was so well 
aware of this advantage of station, that when Absa- 
lom had possessed himself of Hebron, he did not 
think of attacking him there, but fled in all haste 
from Jerusalem, northward. [The Turks now dwell 



there, and there is a Turkish governor. (See Mod. 
Trav. Palestine, p. 182, seq.) R. 

HEIFER, (Red,) Sacrifice or. The order for 
this service is given in Numb. xix. Spencer believes 
it to have been instituted in opposition to Egyptian 
superstition. Jerome and others think, that the red 
heifer was sacrificed yearly ; but some of the rab- 
bins maintain, that one. only was burnt from Moses 
to Ezra; and from Ezra to the destruction of 
the temple by the Romans, only six, or at most nine. 
The ceremony is said to have been always perform- 
ed on the mount of Olives, over against the temple, 
after the ark was fixed at Jerusalem. See Red 
Heifer. 

Some authors suppose that the red heifer was one 
of the sacrifices offered in the name of all the peo- 
ple. It was to be without blemish ; its blood was 
sprinkled seven times towards the entrance of the 
tabernacle ; the whole body was consumed ; and the 
ashes used in purifying those who were polluted by 
touching any dead body, or otherwise. Calmet 
thinks the red heifer was a sacrifice for sin, but not 
an oblation, that name being proper only to what 
was offered solemnly to God on the altar of burnt- 
offerings. When the red heifer was burned without 
the camp, its ashes were gathered and preserved in 
a clean place. Part of them were occasionally put 
into water, with which all who had contracted legal 
defilement were to be sprinkled ; on pain of being 
cut off" from the congregation. It was a water of 
separation. The heifer was a type of Christ, Heb. 
ix. 13. 

HEIFERS. As the words ox and bull, in their 
figurative sense, signify rich and powerful persons, 
who live in affluence, who forget God, and contemn 
the poor; so by heifers are sometimes meant wo- 
men who are rich, delicate, and voluptuous, — who 
make pleasure their god, Amos iv. 1 ; Hos. iv. 
16; x. 11. 

HEIR, a person who succeeds by right of inherit- 
ance to an estate, property, &c. But the principles 
of heirship in the East differ from those among us ; 
so that children do not always wait till their parents 
are dead, before they receive their portions. Hence, 
when Christ is called, " heir of all things," it does 
not imply the death of any former possessor of all 
things ; and when saints are called heirs of the prom- 
ise, of righteousness, of the kingdom, of the world, 
of God, "joint heirs" with Christ, it implies merely 
participants in such or such advantages, but no de- 
cease of any party in possession would be under- 
stood by those to whom these passages were ad- 
dressed ; though among ourselves there is no actual 
heirship till the parent, or proprietor, is departed. 

Another principle in which the orientals differ 
from us, is that which regulates the heirship of 
princes and the succession to the throne. The fol- 
lowing extracts will illustrate the subject: — 

" The word sultan is a title given to the Ottoman 
princes, born while their fathers were in possession 
of the throne, and to those of the Ginguissian fami- 
ly. The epithet sultan, therefore, is bestowed on 
him who enjoys the right of succession ; and this, by 
the Turkish iaw, belongs to the eldest of the family. 
It is to be remembered, as has before been remark- 
ed, that he must be born while his father possesses 
the throne." (Baron du Tott, vol. i. p. 65.) To these 
principles we find an eastern prince appealing ; and 
as he also states the reasons on which they are found- 
ed, it may not be amiss to introduce his discourse on 
this subject. " Zemes, sailing to Rhodes, was there 



HEL 



L 489 ] 



II EL 



honorably received by the great master, anil all 
the rest of the knights of the order ; to whom, in 
their publicke assemblie three daies after, hee openly 
declared the causes of the discord betwixt his broth- 
er and him ; alledging for the color of his rebel- 
lion, That although Baiazet was his elder brother, 
yet that he was born whilst his father yet lined in pri- 
uate estate, vnder subiection and command, long be- 
fore he possessed the kingdome, and so no king's 
Sonne : whereas he himselfe was the first borne of 
his father, heeing an emperor, and so not heire of his 
private fortune, (as was Baiazet,) but of his greatest 
honour and empire," &c. (Knolles's History of the 
Turks, p. 442.) This usage will, perhaps, remove 
the difficulty which presents itself in the Scripture 
statement of the age of Hezekiah, when he ascended 
the throne. If this prince were but 25 years old, 
when he began to reign, as stated in 2 Chron. xxix. 
1. then he must have been bom when his father 
Ahaz was under 11 years of age — an almost natural 
impossibility. But if we refer to this principle which 
regulates the succession to the throne in the East, 
and consider Hezekiah as having been the first born 
after his father's accession, and " a son of 25 years," 
estimating his age from that period, all will be natu- 
ral and easy. It is obvious to remark, that compu- 
tations of time, by descents, (as that of Christ, by his 
genealogy,) are greatly affected by this principle ; 
since the length of lives, reigns, &c. when the suc- 
cessor is not the eldest son, but the youngest, are 
rendered obviously, and materially, imperfect by it. 
See Adoption. 

HELAM, a place celebrated for a defeat of the 
Syrians by David, in which he took their horses and 
chariots ; (2 Sam. x. 17.) it would seem to have been 
not far from the Euphrates. But in 1 Chron. xix. 
17. instead of Helam (of which city we have no 
knowledge) we read (an^n, Alehem,) "David fell up- 
on them ;" which Calmet takes to be the best reading. 

HELBAH, or Chelba, a city of Asher ; (Judg. i. 
31.) perhaps Helbon in Syria. 

HELBON, a city of Syria famous for its wines, 
(Ezek. xxvii. 18.) and probably the present Haleb, or, 
as called in Europe, Aleppo. It is situated, accord- 
ing to Russell, who has given a very full description 
of it, in lat. 36° 11' 25" N. long. 37° 9' E. ; about 180 
miles north of Damascus, and about 80 inland from 
the coast of the Mediterranean sea. In 1822, Alep- 
po was visited by a dreadful earthquake, by which 
it was almost entirely destroyed. 

HELIOPOLIS, a celebrated city of Egypt, called 
in Coptic, the Hebrew, and in the English version, 
On, Gen. xli. 45. The Egyptian name signifies light, 
sun ; and hence the Greek name Heliopolis, which 
signifies city of the sun. The Seventy mention ex- 
pressly that On is Heliopolis, Sept. Ex. i. 11. Jere- 
miah (xliii. 13.) calls this city in Hebrew Beth-She- 
mesh, i. e. house or temple of the sun. In Ezek. 
xxx. 17, the name is pronounced Aven, which is the 
same as On. The Arabs call it Ain-Shems, fountain 
of the sun. All t hese names come from the circum- 
stance, that the city was the ancient seat of the 
Egyptian worship of the sun. Thus Joseph's father- 
in-law, Potiphera, was priest at On, i. e. he was 
doubtless a priest of the sun, as his name Poti-phera 
denotes, viz. one who belongs to the sun. Strabo 
visited the ruins of this city, the destruction of 
which he refers to Cambyses, and saw there still 
large buildings in which the priests dwelt. He re- 
marks that the city was formerly the seat of priests 
who occupied themselves with philosophy and as- 
62 



tronomy ; but that now they only took care of the 
sacrifices and rites of worship. " The city," he says, 
" lies upon an immense dike. In it is the tem- 
ple of the sun, and the ox Mnevis, which is kept in 
a chapel, and is worshipped by the inhabitants, like 
the Apis at Memphis. At present the city is desert- 
ed. The temple is very ancient, and in the Egyp- 
tian style. Two obelisks of this temple, which were 
the least injured, have been carried to Rome ; the 
rest are still in their places." (xvii. 1. § 29.) To these 
obelisks or images the prophet Jeremiah probably re- 
fers, xliii. 13. These obelisks and ruins are also 
mentioned by Abulfeda, and likewise by Abdollatif, 
who gives a particular description of them. (Relation 
de l'Egypte, ed. De Sacy, p. 180.) 

The present state of these ruins is described by 
Niebuhr: ("Reisebeschr. i. p. 98.) "The ruins of this 
ancient city (Heliopolis) lie near the village Matarea, 
about two hours [six miles] from Cairo, towards the 
north-east. But nothing now remains except im- 
mense dikes and mounds full of small pieces of mar- 
ble, granite, - and pottery, some remnants of a sphinx, 
and an obelisk still standing erect. This last is one 
single block of granite, covered on its four sides with 
hieroglyphics. Its height above ground is 58 feet. 
It belonged to the ancient temple of the sun." 

Another Heliopolis is alluded to in Scripture un- 
der the name of the " plain of Aven," or field of the 
sun, Amos i. 5. This was the Heliopolis of Coele- 
Syria, now Baalbeck. See Aven. *R. 

HELL. The Heb. W, Sheol, and the Gr." J$ n <;, 
Hades, often signify the grave, or the place of depart- 
ed spirits, Ps. xvi. 10 ; Isa. xiv. 9 ; Ezek. xxxi. 15. 
Here was the rich man, after being buried, Luke 
xvi. 23. The rebellious angels were also " cast down 
into hell, and delivered unto chains of darkness," 2 
Pet. ii. 4. These and many other passages in the 
Old Testament show the futility of that opinion, 
which attributes to the Hebrews an ignorance of a 
future state. The Jews place hell in the centre of 
the earth : they call it the deep, and destruction ; 
they believe it to be situated under waters and 
mountains ; they also term it Gehennom, or Gehen- 
na, which signifies the valley of Hinnom, or the val- 
ley of the sons of Hinnom, which was, as it were, 
the common sewer of Jerusalem, where children 
were sacrificed to Moloch. See Gehenna. 

But the term hell is most commonly applied to the 
place of punishment in the unseen world. Jews, 
Mussulmans, and Christians have all depicted the hor- 
rors and the punishments of hell as their several fan- 
cies have conceived of it ; but without entering into 
a discussion upon these topics, we may remark, that 
Scripture is decisive as to the principal punishment, 
consisting in a hopeless separation from God, and a 
privation of his sight, and of the beatific vision. 

The eternity of hell-torments is acknowledged 
throughout Scripture : the fire of the damned will 
never be extinguished, nor their worm die. (See 
Fire.) But the Jews believe, that some among 
them will not continue for ever in hell. They main- 
tain that every Jew, not infected with heresy, or 
who has not acted contrary to certain points men- 
tioned by the rabbins, is not above a year in purga- 
tory ; and that infidels only, or people eminently 
wicked, remain perpetually in hell. Manasseh Ben 
Israel names three sorts of persons who would be 
damned eternally: (1.) Atheists, who deny the exist- 
ence of God ; (2.) they who deny the divine author- 
ity of the law ; (3.) they who reject the resurrection 
of the dead. These people, though otherwise of 



HEN 



[ 490 ] 



II ER 



moral lives, will be punished with endless tortures. 
Other rabbins, such as Maimonides, Abarbanel, &c. 
assert, that after a certain time, the souls of wicked 
men will be annihilated. 

As the happiness of paradise is expressed in 
Scripture under the idea of a feast or wedding, sur- 
rounded by abundant light, joy, and pleasure, so hell 
is represented as a place of dismal darkness, where 
is nothing but grief, sadness, vexation, rage, despair, 
and gnashing of teeth. The regret, remorse, and 
despair of the damned are expressed by the rabbins 
under the name of disorder in the soul: which is 
what Isaiah (Ixvi. 24.) and Mark (ix. 43, 45.) mean 
by that worm which gnaws and does not die. 

" The gates of hell," mentioned by our Saviour, 
(Matt. xvi. 18.) signify the power of hell ; for the 
eastern people call the palaces of their princes 
gates. (See Gate.) The Jews say there are three 
gates belonging to hell : the first is in the wilderness, 
and by that Korah, Dathan, and Abiram descended 
into hell : the second is in the sea ; for it is said that 
Jonah, who was thrown into the sea, " cried to God 
out of the belly of hell," Jonah ii. 3. The third is in 
Jerusalem; for Isaiah tells us that "the fire of the 
Lord is in Sion, and his furnace in Jerusalem," Isa. 
xxxi. 9. — 1. Earth; 2. water; 3. fire. These are 
evidently three modes of death, or destruction. 

[The Sheol of the Old Testament or the Hades 
of the New, according to the notions of the Hebrews, 
was a vast subterranean receptacle, where the souls 
of the dead existed in a separate state until the res- 
urrection of their bodies. The region of the blessed, 
or paradise, they supposed to be in the upper part of 
this receptacle ; while beneath was the abyss or Ge- 
henna, in which the souls of the wicked were sub- 
jected to punishment, Is. xiv, 9, seq. Luke xvi. 23, 
seq. (See Lowth, Lect. on Heb. Poetry, vii. Camp- 
bell, Prel. Diss. vi. pt. 2. § 2, seq. § 19.) R. 

HELLENISTS, " the Grecians," Acts vi. 1, et al. 
They were called Hellenistical Jews, who lived in 
cities and provinces where the Greek tongue was 
spoken. Not being much accustomed to Hebrew or 
Syriac, they generally used the Greek version of the 
LXX, both in public and private, which was disap- 
proved of by Hebraizing Jews, who could not en- 
dure that the Holy Scriptures should be read in any 
language beside their original Hebrew. This, how- 
ever, was not the only difference between the Hel- 
lenistical and the Hebraizing Jews. The latter re- 
proached their brethren with reading Scripture after 
the Egyptian manner, that is, from the left to the 
right ; whereas the rabbins say, that as the sun 
moves from east to west, so they should read from 
the right hand to the left. This difference, however, 
produced no schism or separation. 

HELMET, a piece of defensive armor for the 
head. See Arms, and Armor. 

I. HEMAN, of the tribe of Judah, celebrated for 
his wisdom. He flourished before Solomon, 1 Kings 
iv. 31 ; [v. 11 in the Heb.] 1 Chr. ii. 6. *R. 

II. HEMAN, the son of Joel, aKohathite, of the 
tribe of Levi, a leader of the temple music, 1 Chr. vi. 
33; [18;] xvi. 41, 42. *R. 

HEMLOCK. In Amos vi. 12, we read of " right- 
eousness turned into hemlock ;" the very same worjd 
which in chap. v. 7. is rendered wormwood : " turn 
judgment to wormwood." This impropriety is 
obvious ; the word is usually rendered Avormwood, 
which see. 

HENA, a city of Mesopotomia, the same, proba- 
bly, which was afterwards called Ana, situated on a 



ford of the Euphrates, 2 Kings xviii. 34 ; xix. 13 ; Is. 
xxxvii. 13. R. 

HEPHER, a Canaanitish city with a king, subdued 
by Joshua, Josh. xii. 17. 

HERESY, (Jl'Qtnic,) an option, or choice. It la 
usually taken in a bad sense, for some fundamental 
error in religion, adhered to with obstinacy. Paul 
says that there should be heresies in the church, that 
they who are tried might be made manifest, 1 Cor. 
xi. 19. He requires Titus to shun, and even wholly to 
avoid the company of a heretic, alter the first and sec- 
ond admonition, Tit. iii. 10. Luke speaks of the heresies 
of the Sadducees and Pharisees, Acts v. 17 ; xv. 5. — 
Christianity was called a sector heresy, (Acts xxviii. 
22.) for in the beginning it was scarcely looked upon 
by strangers as any thing more than a sect of Juda- 
ism ; and the primitive writers made no difficulty 
of calling it, sometimes, a divine sect. Tertullus, 
the advocate of the Jews, accused Paul with 
being the head "of the sect of the Nazarenes," 
Acts xxiv. 5. 

From the beginning of the Christian church, there 
have been dangerous heresies, which attacked the 
most essential doctrines of our religion, such as the 
divinity of Jesus Christ, his office of Messiah, the 
reality and truth of his incarnation, the resurrection 
of the dead, the liberty of Christians from legal cere- 
monies, and many other points. The most ancient 
of these heretics was Simon Magus, who desired to 
buy the gift'of God with money, (Acts viii. 9, 10.) 
and who afterwards set himself up for the Messiah, 
God Almighty, the Creator. Cerinthus, also, and 
those false apostles against whom Paul inveighs 
in his epistles, who determined that the faithful 
should receive circumcision, and subject themselves 
to all the legal observances, are considered to be 
heretics, Gal. iv. 12, 13, 17 ; v. 11 ; 'Vi. 12; Phil. iii. 
18. The Nicolaitans, who, it is said, allowed a 
community of women, committed the most ignomin- 
ious actions, and followed the superstitions of hea- 
thenism, are charged by John (Rev. ii. 6, 15.) with 
producing great disorders in the churches of Asia. — 
At the same time there were false Christs and false 
prophets. Paul speaks of Hymenseus and Alexander, 
(1 Tim. i. 20.) and of Hymenaeus and Philetus, 
(2 Tim. ii. 17.) who departed from the truth. He 
foretold, that in the last times, some should forsake 
the truth, and give themselves up to a spirit of error, 
and to doctrines of devils, 1 Tim. iv. 1. Peter and 
Jude foretell the same things, and herein only repeat 
what Christ himself had said, that false Christs and 
false prophets should come, who would seduce the 
simple. 

HERMAS, a disciple mentioned Rom. xvi. 14, 
was, according to several of the ancients, and many 
learned modern interpreters, the same as Hernias, 
whose works are said to be still extant. 

HERMON, a mountain often mentioned in Scrip- 
ture. In Deut. iii. 9, it is said that Hermon is called 
by the Sidonians Sirion and by the Ammonites She- 
nir. In Deut. iv. 48. it is also said to be called 
mount Sion, (Heb. )n>u', different from the Sion 
of Jerusalem, which is written p>s.) It is an 
eastern arm of Anti-libanus, branching off from the 
former a little lower down than Damascus, and ex- 
tending in a direction S. S. E. to the vicinity of the 
lake of Tiberias. The northern part is lofty, and is 
now called Djebel el Sheikh, and the southern, which 
is lower, Djebel Heish. (See Burckhardt, Trav. in 
Syria, p. 313.) Some have, without good reason, sup- 
posed, that there was another Hermon, near mount 



HER 



[ 491 j 



HEROD 



Tabor; and have, therefore, improperly given this 
name to the mountain of Gilboa, Ps. lxxxix. 12. In 
Ps. xlii. 6, the English version has Hermonites ; it 
should be the Hermans, the word in Hebrew being in 
the plural to denote a chain of mountains ; just as the 
Alps are always spoken of in the plural. The psalm- 
ist says in Ps. cxxxiii. 3, that the union of brethren 
is pleasant " as the dew of Hermon, which descend- 
ed upon the mountains of Zion," i. e. Jerusalem. — 
This as it stands makes no sense, and the thing appar- 
ently expressed is an impossibility. Our translators 
have, therefore, justly and properly supplied the words 
necessary to fill out the comparison ; " as the dew of 
Hermon and as the dew which descended upon the 
mountains of Zion." 

We read in Judg. iii. 3, of a mount Baal-Hermon, 
and in 1 Chr. v. 23, of a Baal-Hermon, which seems 
to be a city near mount Hermon. The former, per- 
haps, may be best taken as the name of a portion of 
the mountain near the city Baal-Hermon. This lat- 
ter appears to be the same as the city Baal-Gad (for- 
tune) mentioned Josh. xi. 17; xii. 7; xiii. 5, and 
which appears from these passages to have been situ- 
ated on the northern confines of the territory of the 
Israelites, in the vicinity of Lebanon, and, particu- 
larly, under mount Hermon. Hence it appears 
abundantly, that Baal-Gad cannot have been (as 
Iken, Michaelis, and Rosenmiiller suppose) the same 
with Heliopolis, or Baalbeck, but lay rather in the 
vicinity of the source of the Jordan. Baalbeck lay 
much farther to the north, in the great valley of 
Ccele-Syria, between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ; 
and we no where read that Joshua extended his con- 
quests thus far, or even to Damascus ; nor is it indeed 
probable, from the nature of the country. He must, 
then, have conquered mount Lebanon, which is no 
where said of him ; but, on the contrary, it is express- 
ly said, (Judg. iii. 3.) that the Hivites continued to 
dwell in mount Lebanon, from Baal-Hermon to Ha- 
math, just as it is said in Josh, xiii 5, that all Lebanon 
toward the east, i. e. Anti-Lebanon, from Baal-Gad un- 
der Hermon even to Hamath, remained unsubdued. *R. 

I. HEROD, son of Antipater and Cypros, and 
brother of Phasael, Joseph, Pheroras, and Salome. 
He married (1.) Doris, by whom he had Antipater. 
(2.) Mariamne, of the Asmonean family, by whom 
he had Alexander, Aristobulus, Herod, Salampso, 
and Cypros. (3.) Mariamne, daughter of Simon the 
high-priest, by whom he had Herod, the husband of 
Herodias. (4.) Malthace, by whom he had Arche- 
laus, Philip, and Olympias. (5.) Cleopatra, by whom 
he had Herod Antipas and Philip. (6.) Pallas, by 
whom he had Phasael. (7.) Phaedra, by whom he 
had Roxana. (8.) Elpis, by whom he had Salome, 
who married one of the sons of Pheroras. He had 
also two other wives, whose names are not known. 

Herod was born ante A. D. 72, and at the age of 
twenty-live was appointed governor of Galilee, with 
the approbation of Hyrcanus. By his prudence and 
valor he restored the peace of his province, which 
had been interrupted by the depredations of hordes 
of robbers, and procured the friendship of Sextus 
Caesar, governor of Syria. The Jews, becoming 
jealous of the growing power of Antipater and his 
sons, laid complaints against them before Hyrcanus, 
and Herod was cited to appear and answer for his 
conduct, at Jerusalem. Herod obeyed the summons, 
but played his part so well that Hyrcanus advised 
him to retire into Syria. After the death of Julius 
Caesar, Herod was appointed governor of Coele- 
Syria, by Cassius and Marcus Brutus, who promised 



him the kingdom of Judea, when the war with Mark 
Antony should terminate. 

The invasion of Judea by the Parthians secured 
to Herod the possession of the kingdom. The >ar- 
thians had taken Jerusalem, and placed Antigonus 
the nephew of Hyrcanus, on the throne, and carried 
away Hyrcanus with them as then - prisoner. In this 
emergence Herod hastened to Rome, intending to 
ask the kingdom for his brother-in-law, Aristobulus, 
the brother of Mariamne ; but Antony was so willing 
to advance Herod himself, and, withal, so accessible 
to the influence of promises of remuneration, that a 
decree was instantly proposed to the senate, import- 
ing that in consideration of the dangers which might 
arise from the Parthian invasion, it was expedient to 
make Herod king of Judea. The senate did not hesi- 
tate to confirm the decree ; and at the breaking up 
of the assembly, Antony and Augustus, placing Her- 
od between them, and accompanied by the consuls 
and magistrates, went in solemn procession to enrol 
the decree in the capitol. The day concluded with 
a sumptuous entertainment, given to Herod in the 
house of Antony. In seven days after his arrival 
at Rome, Herod left Italy on his return to Judea. 

On his arrival in Judea, he received so little assist- 
ance from the Roman generals, that more than two 
years elapsed before he commenced the siege of 
Jerusalem. When the siege was so far advanced as 
to render success no longer doubtful, Herod consum- 
mated his marriage with Mariamne, the daughter of 
Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, by a daughter of 
Hyrcanus ; hoping by this union with the royal fam- 
ily of the Asmoneans, to insure the affection of the 
Jews to his person. To pave the way for this union, 
he divorced his former wife Doris, the mother of his 
son Antipater : but if he sought the marriage at first 
only from motives of interest, it became afterwards, 
on his part at least, a union cemented by the strong- 
est affection ; but the uncertainty of the wisest ef- 
forts of mere human policy may be seen in the sub- 
sequent events of his history ; for this marriage, 
which seemed most conducive to his power, and 
which he achieved by most unjust behavior to his 
former wife, proved to him the source of almost all 
the miseries which he endured. 

After a siege of six months, Jerusalem surrender- 
ed. The first acts of Herod's government were 
marked with cruelty and revenge, yet not without 
some tincture of generosity. He advanced to rank 
and power those persons who had espoused his in- 
terest, and conferred the highest distinction upon 
Pollio and Sameas, as the reward of the counsel they 
had given during the siege to deliver up the city. Of 
the adherents of Antigonus, forty-five persons were 
put to death, and the most vigilant search was made 
that none should escape ; the gates of the city being 
guarded, and even the dead bodies searched as they 
were carried out, lest the living should escape by 
concealment among them. 

Herod found the high-priest's office vacant. It 
belonged of right to his brother-in-law, Aristobulus, 
the son of Alexandra, the young man for whom, on 
his flight to Rome, he at first intended to have asked 
the kingdom ; but upon him Herod was afraid to 
confer this honor, lest the influence attached to the 
office should prove a source of clanger to himself ; 
he therefore sent to Babylon for one Ananelus, a 
man descended from the inferior families of the 
tribes of Levi, and made him high-priest. The pride 
of Alexandra could not brook such an insult ; and 
she acquainted Cleopatra with the injury, through 



\ 



HEROD 



[ 492 ] 



HEROD 



whose influence with Antony, Ananelus was deposed, 
and Aristobulus, now a youth of sixteen years of 
age, made high-priest. Not long after, Herod se- 
cretly determined to rid himself of Aristobulus ; and 
his purpose was soon effected while the youth was 
bathing in the pools which adorned the gardens of 
the palace at Jericho. Herod was hypocrite enough 
to shed tears, and pretend sorrow for his death, and 
further tried to conceal the murder by the most 
magnificent display of expense at his funeral. Such 
vanities could ill compensate Alexandra for the 
loss of her son, or soothe her anger. She communi- 
cated the particulars of the transaction to Cleopatra, 
and found in her a most powerful ally. Antony was 
on his way to Laodicea, and by the advice of Cleo- 
patra, lie summoned Herod to appear and answer be- 
fore him. Herod obeyed the command ; but money 
soon soothed the pretended indignation of Antony, 
and Herod returned to Jerusalem, having been receiv- 
ed as a prince instead of condemned as a criminal. 

When Herod was summoned to Laodicea, fearful 
of the worst, he secretly commissioned his uncle Jo- 
seph, in the event of his death, not to suffer Mariamne 
co live, and become the partner of Antony.. Joseph 
communicated to her and to Alexandra the orders 
which he had received. On the return of Herod, 
his sister Salome, in revenge for some insult which 
she had received from Mariamne, insinuated against 
her own husband Joseph, the existence of a criminal 
intercourse between them. The accusation was as 
unfounded as it was malicious, and Mariamne soon 
assuaged the wrath of Herod ; but happening to re- 
ply to some expression of his affection, that his 
having given orders to put her to death, was no 
proof of love, this betrayal of his secret instructions, 
convinced Herod of the truth of the charge of illicit 
intercourse with Joseph, and it was with difficulty 
that he restrained himself from ordering her imme- 
diate death : Joseph, however, was instantly executed, 
without being heard in his defence. 

The fall of Antony was justly a cause of alarm to 
Herod : his friends despaired of his safety ; his at- 
tachment to the rival of Augustus was commonly 
known ; and his enemies rejoiced at the prospect of 
his ruin. On his departure to visit Augustus, he 
committed Alexandra and Mariamne to the custody 
of his two friends, Joseph and Soemus, with orders 
that neither of them should be permitted to survive 
the event of his death, lest the spirit of Alexandra 
should disturb the settlement of the chief power in 
the hands of his children. At Rhodes, Herod met 
Augustus, whom he addressed in the tone of a man 
conscious of having displayed towards his friend a 
fidelity which was in the highest degree praise-wor- 
thy: he did not palliate his conduct, but seemed 
rather to lament that the assistance in money and 
provisions which he had afforded to his unfortunate 
ally, was, if possible, less than his duty required. He 
represented that he had been prevented from joining 
actively in the war, but that he had done all that was 
in his power to advance the best interests of his 
friend, and that if Antony had taken his advice, and 
put Cleopatra aside, he might still have lived, and 
have been reconciled to Augustus. He proceeded 
then to state of himself, that from his fidelity to An- 
tony, Augustus might judge of his general disposition 
to his friends ; for that such as he was to Antony, he 
was also to all those to whom he was bound by the 
ties of gratitude and affection. Such openness and 
generosity, seconded by liberal preseuts, both to Au- 
gustus and all who were about the person of the con- 



queror, obtained for Herod the safety ot s person, 
and the security of his kingdom ; the* possession of 
which was confirmed to him by a second decree of 
the senate. Augustus soon after passed through 
Judea, and was attended by Herod, who presented 
him with the immense sum of 800 talents, and fur- 
nished him with profusion. Herod naturally ex- 
pected that none would rejoice so much at the happy 
result of his interview with Augustus, as Mariamne. 
Soemus, however, having revealed to her the orders 
of Herod, he found to his surprise, that neither the 
relation of the dangers which he had escaped, nor 
the honors which he had received, excited the least 
interest in her bosom. Hate and love by turns dis- 
tracted him ; at one moment he determined to pun- 
ish her with death ; at the next, his passion returned, 
and disarmed his intention of its cruelty. The state 
of Herod's mind could not be concealed from his 
mother and his sister Salome, who viewed with bar- 
barous exultation the changed temper of the king, as 
affording them the fairest opportunity of revenging 
upon Alexandra and Mariamne some words which 
they had contemptuously spoken against the family 
of Herod. The discord of Herod and Mariamne had 
continued a whole year after his return from Augus- 
tus ; it happened one day that the king, retiring to 
rest about noon, sought her company : she came, but 
instead of requiting his love with corresponding 
affection, she reproached him with the murder of 
| her father and her brother. The king naturally was 
indignant, but his anger might have passed away, 
had not Salome seized the opportunity winch she 
had long sought, to excite him to severity against his 
wife, by suborning his cupbearer to assert that Mari- 
amne had bribed him to give a certain potion, the 
nature of which, however, he knew not. Herod 
would not condemn his wife without the appearance 
at least of a regular sentence : he therefore summon- 
ed his most familiar friends, and accused her of ad- 
ministering the potion. The result was a sentence 
of death ; which Herod commuted into imprison- 
ment. Salome, however, persuaded the king that the 
death of Mariamne was necessary to secure himself 
against the tumults of the populace; and *>v her ad- 
vice she was led away to execution. Marian. ne met 
her death displaying in her end a firmness of charac- 
ter which corresponded to her noble birth. Herod, 
however, soon felt all the miseries of a wounded 
conscience, increased by the remembrance of ardent 
love. He sought for pleasure in frequent banquets, 
but it fled from him ; until at last he declined all re- 
gard to public business. Under pretence of enjoying 
the amusements of the chase, he retired from socie- 
ty, and passed his days sorrowing in solitude ; in a 
short time, the sufferings of his mind brought on him 
a fever and delirium, which baffled the skill of his 
physicians ; who, finding all remedies ineffectual, 
left him to his fate. Whilst laboring under this dis- 
order, the king resided at Samaria. That he should 
recover from such an illness, appeared to be impossi- 
ble. Alexandra, therefore, lost no time in preparing 
measures to secure to herself the chief command, in 
the event of his death, and made proposals to the offi- 
cers who were intrusted with the two forts in Jeru- 
salem, which commanded the temple and the city, 
that for the sake of security under the present ca- 
lamity of the king's illness, they should deliver up 
the charge to herself and to Herod's sons. The offi- 
cers were faithful to Herod, and sent him intelligence 
of Alexandra's proposal. The result was the imme- 
diate execution of Alexandra. 



HEROD 



[ 493 ] 



HEROD 



In process of time Herod recovered iiuin his ill- 
ness, and a remarkable change took place in his 
conduct : he threw off the mask of religion, and 
labored zealously to remove all the prejudices of the 
Jews in favor of the law of Moses, by introducing 
among them the customs of heathen nations. All 
his views seem to have been henceforth directed to 
Romanize Judea. 

The designs which he had manifestly formed 
against their religion, and his violation of every cus- 
tom dear to the Jews, were, however, considered by 
many as sure forerunners of still more dreadful evils. 
Herod was, in name, their king, but, in deed, the en- 
emy of their country, and their God. Ten men, 
zealous for the law, conspired to assassinate him in 
the theatre. The plan was discovered, and the con- 
spirators were arrested, with daggers concealed about 
their persons. Herod now understood the feelings 
of the people, and found it necessary to increase his 
fortifications for the security of his own person, and 
to provide against rebellions. He now planned the 
restoration of Samaria, and fortified it, probably as a 
balance to the strength of Jerusalem ; for he not only 
rebuilt it, but peopled it with inhabitants, calling it 
Sebaste, in honor of Augustus, and erecting a temple, 
which he dedicated to Cresar. These fortresses, with 
many others, were built for safety ; but to increase 
the prosperity of his kingdom by trade, he entertained 
and executed the grand design of converting the 
tower of Strato into a city and seaport, which he 
called Csesarea. The sums which he expended in 
building cities and fortresses must have been im- 
mense ; but he took care to prevent the Romans 
from interrupting the completion of his designs, by 
making his numerous dedications to Augustus seem 
so many public testimonies of his dependence upon 
the emperor. In many instances, however, the 
structures which he erected were monuments to the 
memory of those whom he loved. The city Anti- 
patris he built, as a testirn-ony of his affection to his 
father; and dedicated to his mother's memory - a 
magnificent castle at Jericho, which, after her, was 
called Cyprion. The tower of Phasael and Hippicus, 
in the circuit of the walls of Jerusalem, were lasting 
memorials of fraternal and friendly affection ; nor 
was his love to the unfortunate Mariamne forgotten, 
for the fairest tower in the walls bore her name. , 

When the indignation of the Jews at his conduct 
oegan to display itself in open murmurs, Herod strove 
to suppress the feelings of the people, by a most rigid 
and vexatious system of police ; but finding this to 
be in vain, he perceived that it would be better to 
yield entirely to their prejudices ; and in proof of his 
good will to their religion, he undertook to rebuild 
the temple on the greatest scale of magnificence. In 
a set oration he exposed his designs to them ; but so 
great was their unwillingness to undertake the execu- 
tion of such vast plans, as well as their suspicion lest 
the building once begun should remain unfinished, 
that Herod found himself obliged to make all his 
preparations for the erection of the new temple, be- 
fore he could venture upon removing a single stone 
of the old structure. The execution of that part of 
the former building which strictly constituted the 
temple, and which comprehended the porch, the holy 
place, and the holy of holies, occupied a space of not 
more than eighteen months ; but the porticoes and 
other works surrounding the temple were not com- 
pleted until the lapse of a further space of eight 
years. The adorning of the building occupied a 
nuch longer time, as appears both from John ii. 20, 



where we read of the disciples speaking to our Lord, 
"Forty and six years hath this temple been building," 
and also from Josephus, (Antiq. xx. 8.) where it is re- 
lated, that whilst Gessius Florus was governor of 
Judea, the works were completed, and eighteen thou- 
sand artificers were discharged, who had been en- 
gaged up to that time. 

The dreadful troubles which arose from the dis- 
sensions of Herod's family, and which hastened his 
death, compose a tragical story, the parallel to which 
scarcely occurs in the annals of history. The par- 
ticulars of its developement are related by Josephus 
at great length ; but we cannot enter into the minute 
details of the intrigues of female malice. By Mari- 
amne he had two sons, Alexander and Aristobulus. 
whom he treated with affection ; purposing to leave 
his dominions as an inheritance to one or both of 
them. They were sent at an early age to Rome for 
education, and their return to Judea was a cause of 
great public joy ; but to Salome, and to all those who 
had borne a part in the condemnation of Mariamne, 
the popularity of the young princes, and their as- 
cendency over their lather, occasioned the most 
painful reflections upon the past, accompanied with 
forebodings of certain punishment. They saw no 
way of escape, but in striving to alienate from them 
the affection of Herod ; and lor this purpose they 
sedulously spread reports that the young men dis- 
liked their father, and regarded him in no other 
light than as the murderer of their mother. Their 
machinations proved too successful, and Herod gave 
orders for their death. (See Alexander.) Antipater, 
who had now succeeded in removing out of the way 
the sons of Mariamne, became fearful lest Herod 
should live long enough to discover the part he had 
taken against his brothers, and determined at once to 
plot his father's destruction. Pheroras, Herod's 
brother, and all the females of the family of Herod, 
Salome excepted, were willing to assist the ulterior 
designs of this ambitious prince. The conspiracy, 
however, did not escape the notice of Salome, who 
watched their meetings, and gave constant intelli- 
gence to Herod of the dangers which surrounded 
him. 

It was, at length, resolved by the conspirators to 
despatch Herod by poison; but Antipater, fearful of 
discovery, procured a summons from Augustus to 
Rome, that, being out of the way when the attempt 
should be made, he might be the less suspected of 
participation in the murder. Herod, however, dis- 
covered the plot which had been arranged for his 
destruction. Antipater returned, and reached Se- 
baste, before he suspected that his share in the con- 
spiracy had been discovered, and that he must pre- 
pare to make his defence before Varus and the 
council. The accusation was first made by Herod, 
and proceeded in by Nicolaus Damascenus. No 
proofs of guilt could be stronger than those produced 
against him. Having been condemned and thrown 
into prison, an embassy was despatched to Csesar, to 
acquaint him with the conviction of the accused, and 
to request his final decision of the case. Whilst the 
embassy was at Rome, Herod fell sick ; (Josephus, 
de Bell. Jud. lib. i. c. 33.) and Judas and Matthias, 
who were the chief among the teachers of the law, 
in the belief that he could not recover, excited the 
people to throw down the golden eagle, which the 
king had, contrary to the laws and customs of the 
nation, erected over the temple. The conspirators 
were seized ; and Herod, though now so ill as to be 
unable to sit up, assembled the members of his coun- 



HEROD 



[ 494 ] 



HER 



cil. They disclaimed any approval of the transac- 
tion, aud recommended that the authors of it should 
be punished ; upon which Herod gave orders to burn 
Matthias alive, and all who were concerned in the 
affair. Herod's disease soon after became more vio- 
lent; his sufferings were painful in the extreme; 
attended with ulcerations iu the lower parts of the 
body, and strong convulsions. His torments, instead 
of moving him to repentance, seemed rather to excite 
anew the cruelty of his temper ; for, having collected 
together the chiefs of the Jewish nation, he shut them 
up in the Hippodrome at Jericho, and gave orders to 
Salome, as soon as he should be dead, to put them 
all to death ; lest, in the joy at his decease, mourners 
should be wanted for his funeral. In the meanwhile 
the ambassadors returned from Rome, and brought 
the permission of Caesar for the punishment of Au- 
tipater, either by exile or by death. The pleasure 
which Herod derived from the success of bis em- 
bassy, for the moment, revived him ; but his pains 
soon returned with such violence, that he made an 
attempt to commit suicide: the alarm created by the 
event ran through the palace, and was heard by An- 
tipater, who, concluding that his father's death occa- 
sioned it, endeavored to bribe the jailer to permit his 
escape ; but the man was faithful to his trust, aud 
communicated the proposal to the king, who imme- 
diately gave orders for his death, attaching to it a 
command to bury him in an ignoble manner at Hyr- 
canium. Herod then, once again, made his will ; 
giving the kingdom of Judea to Archelaus ; the 
tetrarchy of Galilee and Persea, to Antipas ; Gauloni- 
tis, Trachonitis, and Batanea, to Philip ; and the 
cities Jamnia, Azotus, and Phasaelis, besides very 
considerable sums of money, to Salome. To each 
one of his relations he bequeathed handsome estates 
and legacies, leaving them in the possession of afflu- 
ent wealth. His legacies to Augustus, and his wife 
Julia, were worthy the acceptance of chiefs of the 
Roman empire. 

On the fifth day after the death of Anti pater, 
Herod died, having reigned thirty-four years from 
the death of Antigonus, aud thirty-seven from the 
time of his investment by the Romans. Before the 
report of his death was noised abroad, Salome and 
Alexas dismissed those who were imprisoned in the 
Hippodrome ; but as soon as the event was known 
they assembled the soldiery in the amphitheatre, and 
read to them the will of Herod. The troops pro- 
claimed Archelaus king, and rent the air with shouts 
of joy and prayers for his prosperous reign. 

Josephus (xvii. 8.) thus sums up the character of 
Herod: "He was a man universally cruel, and of an 
ungovernable anger ; and though he trampled justice 
underfoot, he was ever the favorite of fortune. From 
a private station, he rose to the throne. Beset on 
every side with a thousand dangers, he escaped them 
all ; and prolonged his life to the full boundary of 
old age. They who considered what befell him in 
the bosom of his own family, pronounced him a man 
most miserable ; but to himself he ever seemed most 
prosperous, for, of all his enemies, there was not one 
whom he did not overcome." Such is the history of 
a prince whose name is familiar to us, from our 
childhood, as the first persecutor of our blessed 
Lord, and the murderer of the infants at Bethlehem. 
The account given of the transactions of his life will 
evince, that if, according to the judgment of the 
world, he who reigns splendidly and fortunately, in 
spite of all the difficulties opposed to his government, 
be entitled to the attribute of greatness, that appella- 



tion has not been unjustly bestowed upon Herod. 
(Encyclop. Metropol. Biog.) 

II. HEROD PHILIP, see Philip. 

III. HEROD ANTIPAS, see Antipas. 

IV. HEROD AGRIPPA, see Agrippa. 
HERODIANS, a sect of the Jews in our Saviour's 

time, (Matt. xxii. 16 ; Mark iii. 6 ; viii. 15.) but as to 
their particular character there is much diversity of 
opinion. Dr. Prideaux has shown, that they held 
doctrines distinct from those of the Pharisees and 
Sadducees ; against which our Saviour cautions his 
followers ; and he thinks there can be no doubt that 
they were the creatures, or domestics, as the Syriac 
version calls them, of Herod the Great. He judges 
that their doctrines were reducible to two heads ; 
(l.),a belief that the dominion of the Romans over 
the Jews was just, and that it was their duty to sub- 
mit to it ; (2.) that in the present circumstances they 
might with a good conscience follow many heathen 
modes aud usages. It is certain these were Herod's 
principles, who pleaded the necessity of the times, 
for doing many things contrary to the maxims of the 
Jewish religion. Calmet, however, thinks that the 
characteristics of the Herodians, as they may be 
gathered from the Gospels, will agree to none but 
the disciples of Judas Gaulonitis, who formed a sect 
which was in its vigor in our Saviour's time. 

HERODIAS, daughter of Aristobulus and Bere- 
nice, and granddaughter of Herod the Great. Her 
first husband was her uncle Philip, by whom she had 
Salome ; but he falling into disgrace, and being 
• obliged to live in private, she left him, and married 
his brother Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, who 
offered her a palace aud a crown. (See Philip.) As 
John the Baptist censured this incestuous marriage, 
(Matt. xiv. 3 ; Mark vi. 17.) Antipas ordered him to 
be imprisoned. Some time afterwards, Herodias 
suggested to her dancing daughter, Salome, to ask 
John the Baptist's head, which she procured. (See 
Antipas.) Mortified to see her husband tetrarch 
only, while her brother Agrippa, whom she had 
known in a state of indigence, was honored with the 
title of king, Herodias persuaded Antipas to visit 
Rome, and procure from the emperor Caius the royal 
title. Agrippa, however, sent letters to the emperor, 
informing him that Herod had arms in his arsenals 
for seventy thousand men, and by this means pro- 
cured his banishment to Lyons. Herodias, who ac- 
companied her husband to Rome, followed him in 
the banishment she had thus brought upon him. 

HERON. A wide latitude has been taken in the 
rendering of the Hebrew hojn, anaphah ; some critics 
interpreting it of the crane, others of the curlew ; 
some of the kite, others of the woodcock ; some of 
the peacock, some of the parrot, and some of the 
falcon. But let not the reader be alarmed at this 
diversity of rendering, since it is the necessary con- 
sequence of the scantiness of references to the bird in 
the sacred text, and the absence of all description of 
its character and qualities, in those passages in which 
it is spoken of. The truth is, it is only referred to 
in the catalogue of birds prohibited by the Mosaic 
code, (Lev. xi. 19 ; Deut. xiv. 18.) and it is only from 
the import of its name, or the known character of the 
birds with which it is grouped, that we can form any 
opinion of its specific character. That the creature 
intended is some species of water-bird, there can be 
little doubt, if we give the sacred writer any credit 
for propriety in his grouping, or system in his ar- 
rangement; but what that species may be, we are 
unable to decide. See Bird, p. 188. 



HEZ 



[ 495 ] 



HIE 



HESHBON, a celebrated city of the Ainorites, 
twenty mileseastof Jordan, Josh. xiii. 17. Itwasgiveu 
to Reuben ; but was afterwards transferred to Gad, 
and then to tlie Levites. It had been conquered from 
the Moabites, by Sihon, and became his capital ; and 
was taken by the Israelites a little before the death of 
Moses, Num. xxi. 25 ; Josh. xxi. 39. After the ten 
tribes were transplanted into the country beyond 
Jordan, the Moabites recovered it. Pliny and Je- 
rome assign it to Arabia. Solomon speaks of the 
pool of Heshbon, Cant. vii. 4. The town still sub- 
sists under its ancient name, and is situated, accord- 
ing to Burckhardt, on a hill. (Travels, p. 365.) 

HESHMON, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 27. 

HETH, father of the Hittites, was eldest son of 
Canaan, and dwelt south of the promised land, at or 
near Hebron. Ephron, of Hebron, was of the race 
of Heth ; and that city, in Abraham's time, was peo- 
pled by the children of Heth. Some think there was 
a city called Heth ; but we find no traces of it in 
Scripture. 

HETHLON, a city mentioned in Ezek. xlvii. 15, 
xlviii. 1, as limiting the land of promise, north. 

HEZEKIAH, king of Judah, succeeded his father 
Ahaz, ante A. D. 726. (See Heir.) He destroyed 
the high places, cut down the groves, and broke the 
statues which the people had adored ; he broke also 
the brazen serpent which Moses had made, because 
the children of Israel burnt incense to it ; he ordered 
the great doors of the Lord's house to be opened and 
repaired ; he exhorted the priests and Levites to pu- 
rify the temple, and to sacrifice in it as formerly. As 
the institution of the passover had been neglected, he 
invited not only all his own subjects to keep it, but 
likewise all Israel. Some ridiculed his proposal ; but 
many observed it with great solemnity. Hezekiah 
took care to maintain the good regulations which he 
had established in the temple, and to provide' for the 
priests and ministers. Some years afterwards, Hez- 
ekiah shook off the Assyrian yoke, and refused to 
pay tribute : he also defeated the Philistines, and de- 
stroyed their country, 2 Kings xviii. 7; 2 Chron. 
xxxii. He repaired and fortified the walls of Jeru- 
salem, laid in stores, appointed able commanders over 
his troops, stopped up the springs without the city, 
and put himself into a condition of making a vigorous 
resistance. Sennacherib invaded Judah, and sub- 
dued almost every town ; and Hezekiah, observing 
that the kings of Egypt and Ethiopia, with whom he 
had made an alliance, did not come to his assistance, 
sent ambassadors to the Assyrian, desiring peace. 
Sennacherib demanded 300 talents of silver, and 
thirty talents of gold. To raise this sum, Hezekiah 
exhausted his treasures, and pulled off the gold plates 
with which he had formerly overlaid the temple 
doors. His infidelity to God, however, was severely 
chastised ; for Sennacherib, instead of withdrawing 
his troops, sent three of his principal officers from 
Lachish, which he was besieging, to Jerusalem, 
summoning it to surrender. Hezekiah sent Eliakim, 
Shebnah, and Joah, to hear their proposals, to whom 
Rabshakeh addressed himself with extreme inso- 
lence. Hezekiah, having heard of this, rent his 
clothes, put on sackcloth, went to the house of the 
Lord, and sent to the prophet Isaiah. Sennacherib, 
sitting down before Libnah, was informed that Tir- 
hakah, king of Egypt and Ethiopia, was marching 
against him. He went, therefore, to meet Tirhakah ; 
and sent letters to Hezekiah, telling him not to place 
his. confidence in his God. Hezekiah, having re- 
ceived these letters, went up to the temple, and 



spread them before the Lord ; whom he entreated to 
deliver him from this insolent enemy. The Lord 
heard his prayer, and sent the prophet Isaiah to in- 
form him, that Sennacherib should not besiege Je- 
rusalem. The very night after this prediction, an 
angel of the Lord destroyed in the camp of the As- 
syrians 185,000 men, which obliged Sennacherib to 
retire to Nineveh. 

Soon afterwards, Hezekiah fell dangerously ill, 
and Isaiah, who visited him, .said, "Thou shalt die." 
Hezekiah, turning his face to the wall, prayed to 
God, and Isaiah was commanded to return, saying, 
" I have healed thee, and will add fifteen years to thy 
life." (See Dial.) Hezekiah, after his recovery, 
composed a song of thanksgiving, which Isaiah has 
preserved, chap, xxxviii. 10, 11. 

Merodach, or Berodach-Baladan, king of Babylon, 
having heard of this miracle, sent letters and presents 
to Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. The weak prince, 
delighted with the respect implied in this embassy, 
showed the envoys all his treasures, spices, and rich 
vessels, and in fact concealed nothing from them. 
Isaiah afterwards foretold that a time would come, 
when all he had shown would be removed to Baby- 
lon ; and when his sons would be made eunuchs in 
the palace of that king. Hezekiah passed the latter 
years of his life in tranquillity, laid up great riches, 
conveyed water into Jerusalem, and died, ante A. D. 
698. The sacred writings praise his piety and merit ; 
and Ecclesiasticus has an encomium on him, chap, 
xlviii. 

There are several other persons of the same name 
mentioned in Scripture, but they are of no impor- 
tance. 

HIDDEKEL, see Eden. 

HIEL, of Bethel, rebuilt Jericho, notwithstanding 
the predictive curse of Joshua against the person who 
should attempt it, and of which he experienced the 
effects, by losing his eldest son Abiram, and his 
youngest son Segub. See Abiram. 

HIERAPOLIS, a city of Phrygia, not far from 
Colosse and Laodicea, Colos. iv. 13. " Hierapolis, 
(now called by the Turks Pambuck-Kulasi, or the 
Cotton Toiver, by reason of the white cliffs lying 
thereabouts,) a city of the greater Phrygia, lies under 
a high hill to the north, having to the southward of 
it a fair and large plain about rive miles over, almost 
directly opposite to Laodicea, the river Lyrus run- 
ning between, but nearer the latter ; now ..tterly for- 
saken and desolate, but whose ruins are so glorious 
and magnificent, that they strike one with horror at 
the first view of them, and with admiration too ; such 
walls, and arches, and pillars of so vast a height, and 
so curiously wrought, being still to be found there, 
that one may well judge, that when it stood, it was one 
of the most glorious cities not only in the East, but 
of the world. The numerousness of the temples 
there erected in the times of idolatry, with so much 
art and*cost, might sufficiently confirm the title of 
the holy city, which it at first derived from the hot 
waters flowing from several springs, to which they 
ascribed a divine healing virtue, and which made the 
city so famous ; and for this cause Apollo, whom 
both Greeks and Romans adored as the god of med- 
icine, had his votaries and altars here, and was very 
probably their chief deity. In the theatre, which is 
of a large compass and height from the top, there 
being above forty stone seats, we found, upon a cu- 
rious piece of wrought marble belonging to a por- 
tal, these words, AIIOJJSINI APXHZ, < To Apollo 
the chief president ;' a title peculiar to him. Where 



HIN 



L 496 ] 



HIND 



tiiese springs rise is a very large bath, curiously paved 
with white marble, about which formerly stood sev- 
eral pillars, now thrown into it. Hence the waters 
make their way through several channels which they 
have formed for themselves ; oftentimes overflowing 
them, and crusting the ground thereabouts, which is 
a whitish sort of earth, they turn the superficial parts 
into a tophus. Several tombs still remain ; some of 
them almost entire, very stately and glorious, as if it 
had been accounted a kind of sacrilege to injure the 
dead ; and upon that account they had abstained from 
defacing their monuments — entire stones of a great 
length and height; some covered with stone, shaped 
into the form of a cube ; others ridge-wise. On the 
14th, in the morning, we set forward for Colosse, 
where, within an hour and a half, we arrived." (Trav- 
els by T. Smith, B. D. 1678.) 

HIGH PLACES, (mca, Bamoth.) [The ancient 
Canaanites, and other nations, worshipped their idols 
upon hills and mountains, Deut. xii. 2. The Israel- 
ites were commanded to destroy these places of idol 
worship; but instead of this, they imitated the prac- 
tice, and at first worshipped Jehovah in high places : 
(1 Sam. ix. 12, seq. ; 1 Kings iii. 4.) and afterwards 
idols, 1 Kings xi. 7 ; 2 Kings xii. 3; Is. xxxvi. 7, et 
al. Here, also, they built chapels or temples, houses 
of the high places, (1 Kings xiii.32; 2 Kings xvii.29.) 
and had regular priests, 1 Kings xii. 32; 2 Kings 
xvii. 32. R.] The prophets reproach the Israelites 
with want of zeal, for worshipping on the high places, 
the destroying of which is a commendation given 
but to few princes in Scripture ; though several of 
them were zealous for the law. Before the temple 
was built, the high places were not absolutely con- 
trary to the law, provided God only was adored there. 
Under the judges, they seem to have been tolerated ; 
and Samuel offered sacrifice in several places where 
the ark was not present. Even in David's time, the 
people sacrificed to the Lord at Shilo, Jerusalem, and 
Gibeon. 

The high places were much frequented in the king- 
dom of Israel ; and on these hills they often adored 
idols, and committed a thousand abominations. 

HIGH-WAY, see Causeway. 

HILEN, a city of Judah, given to the Levites, 1 
Chron. vi. 56. 

HILKIAH. Several persons of this name occur 
in Scripture, of which the following are the chief : — 
(1.) The father of Jeremiah, Jer. i. 1.— (2.) A high- 
priest, in the reign of Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 4, 8, 10. — 
(3.) The father of Eliakim, 2 Kings xviii. 18, 26; Is. 

xxii. 20. 

HIN, a Hebrew measure containing half a seah, or 
the sixth part of a bath — one gallon and two pints. 
The hin was a liquid measure ; as of oil, (Exod. xxx. 
24 ; Ezek. xlv. 24.) or of wine, Exod. xxix. 40 ; Lev. 

xxiii. 13. — The prophet Ezekiel was commanded to 
drink an allowance of water, to the quantity of the 
sixth part of a hin, (iv. 11.) that is, one pint«nd two 
thirds. 

HIND, or Female Deer, (Heb. nSss, aydldh, atid 
rr? 1 !*, ayelHh,) a lovely creature, and of an elegant 
shape : she is more feeble than the hart, and is des- 
titute of horns. It is not known, we believe, that the 
hind is more sure-footed than the hart, although the 
figure employed by both David and Habakkuk seems 
to indicate this as the fact. The royal psalmist,.al- 
luding to the security of his position, under the pro- 
tection of his God, says, "He maketh my feet like 
hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places;" 
(Ps. xviii. 33.) and the prophet, reposing in the same 



power, anticipates a full deliverance from his existing 
troubles, and a complete escape from surrounding 
dangers : " He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and 
he will make me to walk upon mine high places," 
Hab. iii. 19. 

In our version of Ps. xxix. 9, we read, " The voice 
of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discov- 
ereth the forests." This passage has given rise to 
considerable discussion among the learned, who are 
much divided on its interpretation. Bishop Lowth 
contends that this rendering agrees very little with 
the rest of the imagery, either in nature or dignity ; 
and dissents from the reasoning of the learned Bo- 
chart on the subject. For nib'N, hinds, the Syriac 
appears to have read piSn, oaks, in which words the 
reader will perceive there is but the variation of one 
letter. For this reading, bishop Lowth decides, re- 
marking, that the oak, struck with lightning, admira- 
bly agrees with the context. Dr. Harris thus versi- 
fies the passage, according to Lowth's rendering: 

Hark ! his voice in thunder breaks, 
And the lofty mountain quakes; 
• Mighty trees the tempests tear, 
And lay the spreading forests bare! 

We confess, however, that we are so averse from 
conjectural emendations of the sacred text, that we 
cannot admit them without the most obvious neces- 
sity ; and that this necessity exists in the passage be- 
fore us, we are not prepared to concede. It is a fact 
well known, that the hind calves with considerable 
difficulty, and in extreme pain. The writer of the 
book of Job alludes to this circumstance: "Canst 
thou mark when the hinds do calve? They bow 
themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they 
cast out their sorrows," chap, xxxix. 1, 3. Is it not 
probable, then, that the parturition of this animal 
may sometimes be promoted by awakening her fears, 
and agitating her frame by the rolling thunder? — a 
natural occurrence which is meant by the well-known 
Hebraism of "the voice of the Lord." The reader 
may take his choice of these interpretations. In 
Prov. v. 18, 19, Solomon admonishes the young man 
to let the wife of his bosom be to him "as the loving 
hind and pleasant roe;" a beautiful allusion to the 
mutual fondness of the stag and hind. 

The only remaining passage of Scripture in which 
this animal is mentioned, requiring illustration, is the 
prophetic blessing pronounced on Naphtali by the 
dying patriarch — a passage which is involved in con- 
siderable difficulty and obscurity. In our translation 
it stands thus: "Naphtali is a hind let loose, he 
giveth goodly words," Gen. xlix. 21. In adjusting 
the sense of the text, little assistance is derivable from 
the versions ancienfor modern. One of the Greek 
versions, the Vulgate, the Persian, the Arabic, Mon- 
tanus, and, with a slight metaphor, the Syriac, agree 
in the sense of our translation. Whereas the Sep- 
tuagint, Onkelos, Bochart, Houbigant, Durell, Dathe, 
Michaelis, and Geddes, render, " Naphtali is a spread- 
ing terebinth, producing beautiful branches." This, 
it is true, renders the simile uniform, but should be 
received with extreme caution, since it proceeds upon 
an arbitrary alteration of the original text, wholly un- 
supported by ancient MSS. [The first of these, or 
the English version, is probably the correct one, ex 
cept that instead of let loose, the Heb. nnV, sheliihdh, 
should be translated (as we say of any thing which 
grows rapidly) shot up, i. e. grown up in a slender 
and graceful form. A fine woman is compared t<> 



HIGH PRIEST ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 



HIV 



[ 497 ] 



HOL 



the roe or hind, (Prov v. 19.) and also swift-footed 
heroes, 2 Sam. ii. 18. Such are to be the descend- 
ants of Naphtali: they are also to "give goodly 
words," i. e. the tribe is to be distinguished for its 
orators, prophets, poets, perhaps, also, for its singers, 
etc. — The other sense above given is not a bad one ; 
but it rests upon a change of reading in two of the 
principal words. R. 

HIPPOPOTAMUS, see Behemoth. 

I. HIRAM, a king of Tyre, distinguished for his 
magnificence, and for adorning the city of Tyre. 
When David was acknowledged king by Israel, Hi- 
ram sent ambassadors, with artificers, and cedar, to 
build his palace, 1 Chron. xiv. 1. He also sent am- 
bassadors to Solomon, to congratulate him on his 
accession to the crown ; and subsequently supplied 
him with timber, stones, and laborers for building 
the temple, 1 Kings v. 1, seq. These two princes 
lived in mutual friendship for many years. It is said 
that in Josephus's time, their letters, with certain 
riddles, which they proposed one to the other, were 
extant. When Solomon had completed his works, 
he presented to Hiram twenty towns in Galilee ; but 
Hiram, not being pleased with them, called them the 
land of Cabul, saying, " Are these, my brother, the 
towns which you have given me?" 1 Kings ix. 10, 
seq. See Cabul. 

II. HIRAM, an excellent artificer in brass or cop- 
per, who made the columns called Jachin and Boaz, 
the brazen the smaller brazen basins for the 
priests, &c. ivings vii. 13, 14. 

HIRCANUS, see John. 

To HISS expresses insult and contempt: "All 
they, who shall see the destruction of this temple, 
shall be astonished and shall hiss, and say, How 
comes it that the Lord hath thus treated this city ?" 
] Kings ix. 8. Job, (xxvii. 23.) speaking of the wicked, 
says, " They sh 11 clap their hands at him, and shall 
hiss him out of his place." I will make this city the 
subject of ridicule and scorn; "I will make it deso- 
late and a hissing; every one that passeth by shall be 
astonished and hiss, because of all the plagues there- 
of," Jer. xix. 8; xlix. 17; li. 13; Lam. ii. 15, 16; 
Ezek. xxviii. 36; Zeph. ii. 15. 

To call any one with hissing, is a mark of power 
and authority. The Lord says, that in his anger he 
shall hiss, and call the enemies against Jerusalem. 
"He will hiss unto them from the end of the earth," 
Isa. v. 26. He will bring them with a hiss from the 
remotest countries. And ch. vii. 18, " The Lord shall 
hiss for the fly," and shall bring it, " that is in the 
unermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee 
that is in the land of Assyria." (See Fly.) Theodo- 
ret and Cyril of Alexandria, writing on Isaiah, re- 
mark, that in Syria and Palestine, those who looked 
after bees drew them out of their hives, carried them 
into the fields, and brought them back again with the 
sound of a flute, and the noise of hissing. Zeeha- 
riah, (x. 8.) speaking of the return from Babylon, 
says, that the Lord will gather the house of Judah, 
as it were, with a hiss, and bring them back into their 
own country ; which shows the ease and authority 
with which he would perform that great work. 

HITTITES, the descendants of Heth, inhabited 
the country round Hebron, Gen. xxiv. 7, 10. (See 
Canaanites, p. 244.) A man of Bethel went into 
the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called 
the name of it Luz, Judg. i. 26. 

HIVITES, the descendants of Havseus, a son of 
Canaan. The name, in the Chaldee, imports serpents ; 
and we find people so called (Ophites) in many places. 
63 



Whether, as some suppose, the Hivites were Trog- 
lodytes, and dwelt in caves, and from that circum- 
stance derived their name by comparison with ser- 
pents; or whether they were countrymen, high- 
landers, mountaineers, especially in mount Lebanon, 
as is indicated in Josh. xiii. 3, writers are not agreed. 
They might be of the widely spread serpent family 
and nation, and yet dwell in mount Lebanon as their 
abode, Gen. xxxiv. 2 ; xxxvi. 2. In Gen. xv. 15, the 
Samaritan and LXX insert Hivite after Canaanite, 
apparently with propriety. See Canaanites, p. 243. 

HOBAB, another name of Jethro, the father-in- 
law of Moses. The inspired legislator prevailed upon 
him to accompany Israel when departing from mount 
Sinai for the promised land, Numb. x. 29. Some 
think that the Kenites, who dwelt south of Judah, 
were the descendants of Hobab, Judg. i. 16 ; 1 Sam. 
xv. 6. 

HOBAH, the concealed, (Gen. xiv. 15.) is, probably, 
some hollow, between mountains, which effectually se- 
cludes those who occupy it. It lay north of Damascus. 

HOIIAM, king of Hebron, one of the five who be- 
sieged Gibeon, with Adonizedeck, and were hanged 
by Joshua's orders, Josh. x. 

HOLOFERNES, lieutenant-general of the armies 
of Nabuchodonozor, king of Assyria, was sent against 
Syria, at the head of a powerful army. He passed 
the Euphrates, entered Cilicia and Syria, and sub- 
dued almost all the provinces north of Judea, every 
where exercising cruelties, and endeavoring to have 
his master worshipped as a god. Having resolved 
to conquer Egypt, he advanced toward Judea, (Ju- 
dith v.) when he was informed that the Jews were 
preparing to oppose him ; and Achior, commander 
of the Ammonites, represented to him that they were 
a people protected in a particular manner by God, so 
long as they were obedient to him ; and that, there- 
fore, he should not flatter himself with the expecta- 
tion of overcoming them, unless they had committed 
some offence against their God. Holofernes, pro- 
voked at this discourse, commanded his servants to 
convey Achior before the walls of Bethulia; where 
they tied him to a tree, and left him. In the mean 
time, Holofernes commenced the siege of Bethulia, 
and having cut off the water, and set guards at the 
only fountain near the walls, the city was reduced to 
extremity, and resolved to surrender, if God did not 
send them succor in five days. Judith, being in- 
formed of their resolution, conceived the design of 
killing Holofernes in his camp, which she effected, 
and delivered her people. See Judith. 

I. HOLON, a city of refuge, belonging to the 
priests, in the mountains of Judah, Josh. xv. 51 ; xxi. 
15. Perhaps the same as Hilen, q. v. 

II. HOLON, a city of Moab, Jer. xlviii. 21. 
HOLY, HOLINESS. These terms sometimes 

denote outward purity or cleanliness ; sometimes in- 
ternal holiness. God is holy in a transcendent and 
infinitely perfect manner. He is the fountain of 
holiness, purity, and iimocency. He sanctifies his 
people, and requires perfect holiness in those who 
approach him. He rejects all worship which is not 
pure and holy, whether internal or external. The 
Messiah is called "the Holy One," (Ps. xvi. 10; Isa. 
xli. 14; Luke iv. 34; i. 35; Acts iii. 14.) and holy is 
the common epithet given to the third person of the 
Trinity, the Holy Spirit. 

The Israelites are generally called holy, because 
they are the Lord's, profess the true religion, and are 
called to holiness, Exod. xix. 6 ; Lev. xi. 44, 45 ; 
Numb. xvi. 3 ; Tobit ii. 18. Christians are declared 



HOLY 



L 498 ] 



HOLY 



holy, as being culed to, and designed for, a more 
excellent holiness, and having received earnests of 
the Holy Spirit in a more plentiful and perfect man- 
ner. Luke, in the Acts, and Paul, in his epistles, 
generally describe Christians under the name of 
saints, or holy persons. 

In the original, as well Greek as Hebrew, two 
words are used, which appear under one, "holy," in 
the English translation. But they are not synony- 
mous ; for one seems to import what may be called, 
*br distinction's sake, "holiuess imparted," that is, 
external ; the other, " holiness inherent," that is, in- 
ternal :— one seems to be passive, the other active : 
one appertains to rites and ceremonies, the other to 
character : one imports a strict separation from com- 
mon things of the same kind and order; whereas, 
the other imports a condescension extended to others, 
whether common or inferior. 

Holiness by separation : — (1.) Cleanliness of places. 
The Hebrew word tsnp, kadesh, to which the Greek, 
«;-'oc, answers, imports the opposite to foul, filthy, 
defiled ; that is, clean : so we have (Deut. xxiii. 14.) 
a precept for preserving the camp from excremen- 
titious ordure, "for the Lord thy God walketh in the 
midst of thy camp .... therefore shall thy camp 
be holy, that he see no unclean thing in thee." So 
Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxix. 5.) commands the Levites 
to "sanctify the house of the Lord ;" that is to say, 
"to carry forth the filthiness," &c. as immediately 
follows. (2.) Cleanliness of persons: and this is by 
avoiding pollution ; as, not eating unclean food, (Lev. 
xi. 41.) also, by removing from a dead body, (chap, 
xxi. 1.) in a case of the priests ; by purifying the per- 
son and the clothes, Exod. xix. 10, 14, 22 ; com]). 
Josh. iii. 5. In Numb. v. 17, what the Hebrew reads 
"holy water," the LXX read "clean water;" and 
this sense of free from pollution occurs in the Tar- 
gums, as expressing the import of the Hebrew kadesh, 
as Isa. lxv. 5, "I am holier (cleaner) than thou." It 
is also strongly implied in 1 Sam. xxi. 5, "the vessels 
of the young men are holy ;" whether we take the 
term vessels literally or figuratively. (3.) Separa- 
tion, or preparation, for a special purpose. So Josh, 
xx. 7, Eng. tr. "and they appointed," Heb. "sancti- 
fied Kadesh in Galilee," &c. The mother of Micah 
(Judg. xvii. 3.) had "wholly dedicated," Heb. "in 
sanctifying had sanctified her silver," to make an 
idol. Hence the prophets Jeremiah, (vi. 4.) Joel, (iii. 
9.) and Micah (iii. 5.) speak of preparing (sanctifying) 
war. Hence kadeshah is a woman sanctified to an 
idol : a class well known throughout India : also, 
kedeshim, of the male sex. (Comp. 2 Kings x. 20 ; 
Isa. lxvi. 17.) (4.) Holiness was sometimes tempo- 
rary ; ceasing after a special purpose had been ac- 
complished. Moses was directed to take off his 
shoes, "for the place whereon he stood was holy 
ground ;" (Exod. iii. 5 ; Acts vii. 33.) that is, holy for 
the time being. Peter (2 Epist. i. 18.) speaks of ttye 
" holy mount" of transfiguration ; that is, holy for the 
time being. In Lev. xxvii. 14, Moses supposes that 
a man had "sanctified his house," and afterwards 
wished to redeem it : after it was redeemed, it could 
be no longer holy. And when persons were sanctified 
to qualify them for attending a sacrifice, as Jesse and 
his sons, (1 Sam.xvi. 5.) the sanctification eventually 
ceased ; for only David was distinguished " from that 
day forward." (Comp. Zeph. i. 7, margin.) (5.) Ho- 
liness by descent or parentage. The first-born son, 
inheriting from the earliest ages the right to the 
priesthood of the family, was, by pre-eminence' and 
destination, holy to th<- Lord, Exod. xiii.2; Luke ii. 



23. Among the Israelites (Numb. iii. 12, 13.) the 
tribe of Levi was afterwards substituted, and was 
holy, inheriting the birthright holiness of the first- 
born : the priests were more holy by descent, as 
well as by office ; and the high-priest was most holy. 
(6.) In these cases the Greek word ayio? uniformly 
answers to the Hebrew word kadesh ; and it retains 
the same meaning, but with considerable enlarge- 
ment, in the New Testament, when denoting an as- 
sembly of persons, of whatever nation or rank, sepa- 
rated by profession from the heathen world : so Acts 
xx. 32, "To give you an inheritance among all them 
who are sanctified ;"— the whole Christian commu- 
nity, in all parts, and all ages, of the world. (Comp. 
xxvi. 18; Eph. v. 3; Col. i. 27.) Also, the members 
of a certain Christian church or society, taken col- 
lectively, (Rom. i. 7; xvi. 15; 1 Cor. i. 2; vi. 1, 2.) 
though individuals among them might be doubtful or 
irregular, (ch. vii.) or even criminal, as the incestuous 
person ; (ch. v.) and tins became a title given freely 
and unreservedly, by the faithful at large, to each 
other, during many ages. Nor is it wholly lost among 
the Greeks. The teachers of Christianity were dis- 
tinguished as a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual 
sacrifices; (1 Pet. ii. 5.) and the mystery of Christ is 
said to be " now revealed to the holy apostles and 
(new testament) prophets by the Spirit," Eph. iii. 5. 

Now, if holiness be conferred for a temporary or 
a special purpose, to which it is of course restricted, 
the conjugal relation, already contracted, might be 
sanctified specially to (or by) a wife, or a husband ; 
that is, to its purposes, duties, and affections, without 
conferring holiness generally. This idea may eluci- 
date the true import of a passage (1 Cor. vii. 14.) that 
has been too often wrested from its proper sense. 
And, if holiness attached by descent, previous to the 
law, and under the law, to the very last, it might, also, 
and most justly, attach by descent from a Christian 
parent, as the apostle determines : — " for the unbeliev- 
ing husband is sanctified, to all the purposes of mar- 
riage, through the believing wife ; and the unbelieving 
wife is sanctified, to all the purposes of marriage, 
th rough the believing husband ; else were your chil- 
dren [that is, of the Corinthians, though church mem- 
bers] unclean ; whereas, now they are holy." It should 
be observed, also, that in the Jewish books, the chil- 
dren of proselytes are called holy, as is shown by 
Braunius, referred to by Sehleusner, sub voce uyiuc. 

Holiness by character. — But there is another word 
rendered holy by our translators, to which attention 
is also due — " Omo? — the import of which may be best 
understood from its application in the Old Testament 
by the LXX, Prov. x. 29 : " The way of the Lord 
is strength to the upright; but destruction to the 
workers of iniquity ;" it is evident from the contrast 
of ideas in the passage, that "workers of good," 
should stand opposed to workers of iniquity. " Even 
a child is known by his doings, whether his work be 
pure, and whether it be upright;" (xx. 11.) whether 
the intention, the bias of his mind, be benevolent. 
"The blood-thirsty hate the upright;" (xxix. 10.) — 
the very opposite to blood-thirsty, the beneficent. 
We may now see the intention of the apostle in 1 Tim. 
ii. 8, "I will that men pray every where, lifting up 
holy hands," more than aytoc, that is, beneficent, pa- 
cific, the very contrary to " wrath and squabbling." 
If Christians at large should be thus kindly affec- 
tioned, much more a Christian bishop, (Tit. i. 8.) 
who must be — tpil&iwev , the stranger's friend, — <ptXa- 
ya&or, the good man's lover, steady in his deport- 
ment, just towards all, — "Ooiov, holy, much rathef 



HON 



[ 499 ] 



HON 



beneficent, extending his bounty beyond the stran- 
ger whose friend he is, or the good man of whom he 
is the lgver, to the miserable and the distressed. 
The great Christian pattern is repeatedly denoted 
by this term : (Ps. xvi. 10 ; Acts ii. 27 ; Heb. vii. 26.) 
"Such an high -priest became us, who is holy;" — 
rather, extending universally the sympathies of his 
compassion, his tenderness, his pity ; and, as such, 
the distinguished object of prophecy ; — " thou wilt 
not leave his soul in hell, nor suffer thine holy one — 
thy commissioned agent, who went about doing 
good — to see corruption." This term is applied a 
second time to the Messiah, in full conviction that 
it could apply to no other, as every hearer must ac- 
knowledge, Acts xiii. 35. — as Clem. Alex, exclaims, 
what benefits (" Oaia) do we not owe to Christ ! And 
though our opinion differ from that of commentators, 
(comp. Dr. Campbell's Dissert, vi.) we cannot but 
think, that this term retains the same meaning in 
Rev. xv. 4 ; xvi. 5 : " Who shall not fear thee, O 
Lord, anri glorify thy name, for thou only art be- 
neficent !" 

HONEY was formerly very plentiful in Palestine ; 
and hence frequent expressions of Scripture, which 
import that that country was a land flowing vOith 
milk and honey. Moses says, that the Lord brought 
his people into a land whose rocks drop oil, and 
whose stones produce honey, Deut. xxxii. 13. (See 
also Ps. lxxxi. 16.) Modern travellers observe, that 
it is still very common there, and that the inhabitants 
mix it in all their sauces. Forskal says, the cara- 
vans of Mecca bring honey from Arabia to Cairo; 
and often in the woods in Arabia has he seen honey 
flowing. It would seem that this flowing honey is bee- 
honey, which may illustrate the story of Jonathan, 1 
Sam. xiv. 27. Apparently, it could not be palm- 
• honey which Jonathan found ; for it was a honey- 
comb, and so far out of his reach that it required the 
[Hitting forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, 
to be able to dip it into the refreshing delicacy. 
John Baptist, too, fed on wild honey, Matt. iii. 4. 
There is, howevej, as incidentally alluded to above, 
a vegetable' honey that is very plentiful in the East. 
Burckhardt, speaking of the productions of the Ghor, 
or valley of the Jordan, says, one of the most inter- 
esting productions of this place, is the Beyrouk honey, 
or, as the Arabs call it, Assal Beyrouk. It was 
described to him as a juice dropping from the leaves 
and twigs of a tree called gharrab, of the size of an 
olive tree, with leaves like those of the poplar, but 
somewhat broader. The honey collects upon the 
leaves like dew, and is gathered from them, or from 
the ground under the tree, which is often found com- 
pletely covered with it. It is very sweet when fresh, but 
turns sour after being kept for two days. The Arabs 
eat it with butter ; they also put it into their gruel, and 
use it in rubbing their water skins, for the purpose 
of excluding the air. (Travels in Syria, p. 392.) 

Children were fed with milk, cream, and honey, 
(Isa. vii. 15.) which was the sweetest substance in 
use before sugar was manufactured. The following 
extracts will give a different idea of this mixture 
from that generally entertained : — D'Arvieux, (p. 
205.) speaking of the Arabs, says, " One of then- 
chief breakfasts is cream, or fresh butter, mixed 
in a mess of honey: these do not seem to suit very 
well together, but experience teaches that this is no 
bad mixture, nor disagreeable in its taste, if one is 
ever so little accustomed to it." The last words 
seem to indicate a delicacy of taste, of which 
D'Arvieux was sensible in himself, which did not, at 



once, relish this mixture. Theveiiet also tells us ; 
that " the Arabs knead their bread-paste afresh ; 
adding thereto butter, and sometimes also honey." 
(Part i. page 173.) [Burckhardt informs us, that " the 
Hedjaz abounds with honey in every part of the 
mountains. Among the lower classes, a common 
breakfast is a mixture of ghee (melted butter) and 
honey poured over crumbs of bread as thfy come 
quitehot from the oven. The Arabs, who are very 
fond of paste, never eat it without honey. (Travels 
in Arabia, p. 28.) R. 

In 2 Sam. xvii. 29, we read of honey and butter 
being brought to king David, as well as other 
refreshments, "because the people were hungry, 
weary, and thirsty." Considering the list of articles, 
there seems to be nothing adapted to moderate thirst, 
except this honey and butter ; for we may thus ar- 
range the passage : the people were hungry, — to 
satisfy which were brought wheat, barley, flour, 
beans, lentiles, sheep, cheese : the people were weary, 
— to relieve this were brought beds ; the people were 
thirsty, — to answer the purpose of drink was brought 
a mixture of butter and honey ; food fit for break- 
fast ; light and easy of digestion, pleasant, cooling, 
and refreshing. That this mixture was a delightful 
liquid appears from the maledictory denunciation of 
Zopliar: (Job xx. 17.) The wicked man "shall not 
see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and 
butter." Honey alone could hardly be esteemed so 
flowing as to afford a comparison to rivers or tor- 
rents ; but cream, in such abundance, is much more 
fluid ; and mixed with honey, may dilute and thin it, 
into a state more proper for running — poetically 
speaking, as freely as water itself. " Honey and 
milk are under thy tongue," says the spouse, Cant, 
iv. 11. Perhaps this mixture was not merely a re- 
freshment, but an elegant refreshment ; which height- 
ens the inference from the predictions of Isaiah, and 
the description of Zophar, who speak of its abun- 
dance ; and it increases the respect paid to David, 
by his faithful and loyal subjects at Mahanaim. 

Honey was not permitted to be offered on the altar 
of the Lord, (Lev. ii. 11.) for which various reasons 
are assigned. Conjecture, however, has hitherto 
been fruitless. But, though God forbade honey to 
be offered in sacrifice, he commanded the first-fruits 
of it to be presented to him ; these first-fruits and 
offerings being designed for the support of the priests, 
and not to be offered on the altar. By the word, ijo-t, 
debash, the rabbins and lexicographers understand 
not only the honey of bees, but also the honey of. 
dates, or the fruits of the palm-tree, or the dates 
themselves, from which honey is extracted ; and 
when God enjoins the first-fruits of honey to be 
offered to him, the first-fruits of dates seem to be 
meant ; for generally, the produce only of fruits was 
offered. 

HONOR is taken not only for respect paid to su- 
periors, but for real services: "Honor thy father and 
thy mother;" (Exod. xx. 12.) i. e. not only show re- 
spect and deference, but assist them, and perform 
such services as they require. Balak, king of Moab, 
said to Balaam, "I thought to promote thee to 
great honor, but, lo, the Lord hath kept thee back 
from honor," (Numb. xxiv. 11.) i. e. from reward. 
" Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the 
first-fruits of thine increase," (Prov. iii. 9.) i. e. tes- 
tify your respect and obedience to him. "Honor" 
also denotes that adoration which is due to God only, 
Esth. xiii. 14, Apocrypha. Ps. xxix. 2, margir ; Mai. 
i. 6 ; 1 Tim. i. 17. 



HOP 



[ 500 ] 



HOR 



HOPE, a confident expectation of future good. 
In the New Testament, it is generally taken for hope 
in Jesus Christ, hope of eternal blessings, hope of a 
future resurrection : " Experience produceth hope, 
and hope maketh not ashamed," Rom. v. 4, 5. Our 
hope is founded on the patience and consolation 
which we derive from the Scriptures. Faith, hope 
and charity are the treasures of Christians, 1 Cor. 
xiii. 13. Jesus Christ is all our hope; (1 Tim i. 1.) 
our hope in this life, and the next, arises from his 
merits, blood, grace ; his promises, and his Spirit. 

Hope is distinguished from faith by its desire of 
good only ; and by its reference to futurity. Faith 
contemplates evil as well as good, and refers to 
things past, as well as to things future ; but this is 
not the case with hope. We are, therefore, said to 
be "saved by hope ;" by the hope, or conviction, or 
desire, of unseen things; and we read of the "full 
assurance of hope," which may be taken as synony- 
mous with cheerful and earnest expectation. 

Hope, like all other graces, admits of degrees ; it is 
sometimes feeble, but when it is the result of expe- 
rience, it is confident, and proof against shame, or 
hesitation ; it is sometimes limited to things hear, or 
to things likely ; but it also extends beyond this 
world, to possessions laid up in heaven ; to glory, 
immortality, and eternal life. It is repeatedly con- 
nected with patience, with waiting, with expectation, 
with rejoicing, and with reason ; for the hope of a 
Christian, however it may refer to divine things, or be 
founded on divine promises, or be derived from, and 
promoted by, the sacred Spirit, is yet a reasonable 
hope, and combines purity of heart and life; that is, 
, obedience, with devout and fervent reliance on the 
promises and perfections of God. 

The hope of Israel was the end of the Babylo- 
nish captivity, the coming of the Messiah, and the 
happiness of heaven. The Lord is the hope of the 
righteous ; their hope shall not be confounded ; the 
hope of the ungodly shall perish ; it shall be without 
effect ; or they shall live and die without hope. 
Abraham against hope believed in hope, when, be- 
ing advanced in years, God promised him a son. 
The prisoners of hope, (Zech. ix. 12.) are the Is- 
raelites' who were in captivity, but in hopes of de- 
liverance. 

HOPHNI and Phinehas, sons of Eli, the high- 
priest, were sons of Belial ; that is, wicked and dis- 
solute persons, 1 Sam. ii. 12. They knew not the 
Lord, nor performed the functions of their ministry, 
as they ought to have done ; for when an Israelite 
had sacrificed a peace-offering, the son or servant of 
the priest came while they were dressing the flesh, 
and, holding a fork with three teeth in his hand, 
he put it into the pot, and what he could take up 
with it was the priest's portion. So, before the 
fat was burnt, the priest's servant came, and said to 
him who sacrificed, " Give me flesh to roast, for 1 
will have the flesh raw." " Let us first burn the fat, 
according to custom," said he who sacrificed ; but 
the servaut replied, " No ; you shall give it me in- 
stantly, or I will take it by force," ver. 13 — 16. 
Rightly to understand this transgression, it should be 
observed, that the text refers not to burnt-offerings, 
or sacrifices for sin, but to peace-offerings, or those 
presented from voluntary devotion. The blood of 
these, and also the fat. the kidneys, and the caul, 
were offered to the Lord ; all the rest of the sacrifice 
belonged to the offerer : the priest's portion was the 
right shoulder and the breast. Moses does not say, 
I Lf-v, vii. 31,32.) whether this should be given to him 



dressed or raw ; but it appears from this place, that 
it was not given to the priest till it was dressed ; and 
that the priest had no right to demand it, till the fat 
had been offered on the fire of the altar. 

Some years after these young men had entered 
upon the office of the priesthood, (1 Sam. iii. 11, 12.) 
the Lord threatened them and their father by the 
young prophet Samuel ; and soon afterwards Hoph- 
ni and Phinehas were slain in battle by the Philis- 
tines, together with 30,000 men of Israel. , See Eli. 

HOPHRAH, or Apries, king of Egypt, in the 
time of Zedekiah, king of Judah, and of Nebuchad- 
nezzar the Great, king of Chaldsea, Jer. xliv. 30. 
Zedekiah, being weary of the Babylonish yoke, 
made an alliance with Hophrah, king of Egypt, for 
which Ezekiel reproaches him in very strong terms, 
chap. xvii. 15. In the ninth year of his reign, Neb- 
uchadnezzar came against Jerusalem, and took all 
the cities of Judah except Lachish, Azekah, and Je- 
rusalem, 2 Kings xxv. 1 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17; Jer. 
xxxix. 1 ; hi. 4. Hophrah advanced to his assistance ; 
and Nebuchadnezzar marched against him. Jere- 
miah, however, foretold (chap, xxxvii. 5, 6.) that the 
Egyptians would return without venturing a battle 
against the Chaldeans, and also (chap. xliv. 30.) that 
the king of Egypt should be delivered into the hands 
of his enemies, as Zedekiah had been into v.:e hands 
of Nebuchadnezzar. See also Ezekiel xxx. xxxi. who 
describes the fall of Egypt in a very pathetic manner. 

These predictions were executed, first against 
Apries, or Hophrah, by Amasis ; and afterwards 
against Egypt and the Egyptians, by Nebuchadnez- 
zar. After the death of Hophrah, Nebuchadnezzar 
destroyed Jerusalem, and then attacked Tyre, which 
he took after a siege of thirteen years. During this 
long siege, he was reduced to great difficulties, but 
God promised him, by Ezekiel, the land of Egypt, ch. 
xxix. 18, 20 ; xxx. 1, 19. See Egypt, and Pharaoh 
HOR, a mountain in Arabia Petraea, on the con- 
fines of Idumea, and forming part of mount Seir. 
Here Aaron died and was buried, in the fortieth year af- 
ter the departure from Egypt, Deut. xxxiii. 50 ; Numb, 
xx. 26 ; xxvii. 13. A small building is shown in mount 
Hor, which is said to be- the tomb of Aaron. Jt is a 
white building, surmounted by a cupola, and having 
a descent of several steps into a chamber excavated 
in the rock. See Aaron, p. 2 ; Canaan, p. 238 ; Ex- 
odus, p. 418. 

HORAM, a king of Gezer ; who, assisting the 
king of Lachish, was defeated, and his country rav- 
aged, Josh. x. 33. 

HOREB, a mountain in Arabia Petraea. See Si- 
nai, and Exodus, p. 413. 

HOR-H AGIDGAD, an encampment of Israel, 
when coming out of Egypt, Numb, xxxiii. 32, 33. 
See Exodus, p. 418. 

HORITES, or Horims, an ancient people, 
who dwelt in the mountains of Seir, Gen, xiv. 6. 
The name imports dwellers in caves, Troglodytes. 
They had princes, and were powerful before Esau 
conquered their country, Deut. ii. 12, 22. The Ho- 
rites and the Edomites seem afterwards to have com- 
posed but one people, Gen. xxxvi. 20. 

HORMAH, a city taken from the Canaanites by 
Judah and Simeon, (Judg. i. 17; Numb. xxv. 3.) and 
originally called Zephath. 

HORN, an eminence or angle, a corner or rising, 
Isa. v. 1. By horns of the altar of burnt-offerings, 
many understand the angles of that altar ; but there 
were also horns or eminences at these angles, Exor 1 
xxvii. 2 ; xxx. 2. See Altar. 



H OR 



[ 501 ] 



II OS 



As the ancients frequently used horns to hold 
liquors, vessels containing oil, and perfumes, are 
often so called, whether made of horn or not, 1 Sam. 
xvi. 1 ; 1 Kings i. 39. Compare Alabaster. 

The principal defence and strength of many beasts 
are in their horns ; and hence the horn is often a 
symbol of strength and power. The Lord exalted 
the horn of David, and the horn of his people ; he 
breaketh the horn of the ungodly ; he cutteth off the 
horn of Moab ; he cutteth off, in his fierce anger, all 
the horn of Israel. He promises to make the horn 
of Israel to bud forth ; to re-establish its honor, and 
restore its vigor. There may be an allusion in these 
passages, however, to a very common part of the fe- 
male dress in some parts of the East. Mr. Buck- 
ingham, describing the ornaments of a female at 
Tyre, says, "She wore also on her head a hollow 
silver horn, rearing itself upwards obliquely from 
her forehead, being four or five inches in diameter 
at the root, and pointed atMts extreme ; and her ears, 
her neck, and her arms were laden with rings, 
chains, and bracelets. This peculiarity reminded 
me very forcibly of the expression of the psalmist : 
'Lift not up thine horn on high, speak not with a 
stiff neck. All the horns of the wicked will I cut 
off, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted ;' 
(Ps. lxxv. 5, 10.) similar illustrations of which, Bruce 
had also found in Abyssinia, in the silver horns, of 
warriors and distinguished men." Kingdoms and 
great powers are also described by the symbol of 
horns, 1 Mac. vii. 46. In Dan. vii. viii. horns repre- 
sent the power of the Persians, of the Greeks, of 
Syria, and of Egypt. The prophet describes these 
animals as having many horns, one of which grew 
from another. In 1 Mac ix. 1, the wings of an 
army are called its horns. 

HORNET, a kind of large wasp, which has a 
powerful sting. The Lord drove out the Canaanites 
before Israel by means of this insect, Deut. vii. 20 ; 
Josh. xxiv. 12 ; £xod. xxiii. 28. (Compare Fly.) 
For an illustration of the '-manner in which this might 
be effected, without at the same time injuring tin- Is- 
raelites, it should be remarked, that the latter, in the 
sandy wilderness, would escape this creature. 

HORON, or Oronaim, a city of Arabia, whence 
Sanballat came, Neh. ii. 10, &c. 

HORONAIM, a town of Moab, Isa. xv. 5 ; Jose- 
phus Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. 23 ; xiv. cap. 2. 

HORSE, a domestic animal, well known, but not 
so common among the Hebrews, till the time of Sol- 
omon. God forbade the kings of Israel to keep 
many horses, (Deut. xvii. 16.) and their judges and 
princes srenerally rode on mules and asses. 

Josian *ook away the horses which the kings of 
Judah, ms predecessors, had consecrated to the sun, 
2 Kings xxiii. 11. This luminary was worshipped 
over all the East, and was represented as riding in a 
chariot, drawn by the most beautiful and swiftest 
horses in the world, and performing every day his 
journey from east to west, to enlighten the earth. 
In Persia, and among the Massagetee, horses were sac- 
rificed to the sun. (Herodot. lib. i. cap. 55. Ovid Fast, 
lib. viii. Xenoph. Cyropsed. lib. viii.) It is thought 
that those which Josiah removed from the court of 
the temple, were appointed for a similar purpose. 

HORSE-LEACH, or Blood-sucker. The im- 
port of the Hebrew npiSj', rendered horse-leach by 
the LXX, the Vulgate, and the Targums, as - ell as 
in the English, and other modern versions of Scrip- 
ture, is by no means ascertained. " The ahikdh, 
[horse-lepch,]" says Solomon, " hath two daughters, 



crying, Give, give," Prov. xxx. 15. Bochart thinks 
the translators have mistaken the import of one word 
for that of one very similar, and that it should be 
translated destiny, or the necessity of dying ; to 
which the rabbins give two daughters, Eden, or Par- 
adise, and Hades, or Hell ; the first of which invites 
the good, the second calls for the wicked. This in- 
terpretation is thought to be strengthened by chap 
xxvii. 20 : " Hell and destruction [Hades and the 
grave'] are never satisfied." Professor Paxton, on 
the other hand, contends that the common interpre- 
tation is in every respect entitled to the preference. 
Solomon, having in the preceding verses mentioned 
those that devoured the property of the poor, as the 
worst of all the generations he had specified, pro- 
ceeds, in the fifteenth verse, to state and illustrate the 
insatiable cupidity with which they prosecuted their 
schemes of rapine and plunder. [Gesenius refers the 
word to a fabulous monster of oriental superstition, 
which sucks the blood of human victims, like the 
vampyre of western popular belief. Rosenmiiller 
adheres to the sense leach. R. 

As the horse-leach has two daughters, cruelty and 
thirst of blood, which cannot be satisfied ; so the op- 
pressor of the poor has two dispositions, cruelty and 
avarice, which never say they have enough, but con- 
tinually demand additional gratifications. 

HOSAH, a town of Asher, Josh. xix. 29. 

HOSAI, a prophet or seer, in the time of Manasseh, 
king of Judah, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 19, margin. The 
Jews are of opinion, that Hosai and Isaiah are the 
same person ; the LXX take Hosai in a general 
sense for prophets and seers : the Syriac calls him 
Han an ; the Arabic Saphan. 

HOSANNA, save now, succor now, make him vic- 
torious ! is a form of blessing or wishing well. At 
our Saviour's entrance into Jerusalem, when the 
people cried Hosanna, their meaning was, Lord, 
preserve this son of David ; heap favors and bless- 
ings on him ! Mr. Hanner is of opinion, (Obs. 
vol. iii. p. 37.) that the people scattered rose leaves 
in the way as he went. However, to say no more, 
though rose leaves might possibly be attainable at that 
early season, yet rose trees hardly grew on the pub- 
lic way ; and besides, this does not give any reason 
for the exclamations of hosanna, nor does it appear 
to be connected with them. But in Levi's "Lingua 
Sacra," under the article :ny, oreb, we find the follow- 
ing extracted from the Talmud : " The willow (used 
in the Feast of Tabernacles) is of the foundation of 
the prophets ; that is, the prophets instructed the 
people in the proper form and manner thereof, as it 
was delivered by tradition ; and which, having been 
forgotten, was restored by the prophets. HencP we 
meet, in rabbinical Hebrew, with the phrase 'the pre- 
cept of the willow, on Hosanna the Great,' This is 
the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles, when 
each person has (carries) a branch of willow, and in 
the prayer of the day, frequently makes use of the 
word Hoshana ! save, we beseech thee ; whence 
the willows used at that time are called the ' Hosha- 
nuth.'" If this be correct, we see that the people 
applied to our Lord a custom with which they were 
well acquainted, and which, indeed, formed an annual 
ceremony. 

They formed, as they were used to do on Hosanna 
the great, a procession ; and those in the leading di- 
vision of it, cried, "Hosanna! blessed be the king of 
Israel, who cometh in the name of the Lord ! Peace 
in heaven ! Glory in the highest !" to which those 
who brought up the rear, answered, " Blessed be 



HOS 



[ 502 ] 



HOSEA 



the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the 
name of the Lord ! Hosanna in the highest !" [the 
great Hosanna] as we have been used to shout at our 
Feast of Tabernacles. 

Does not this history appear, under this elucida- 
tiou, to be a clearer reference of the Feast of Taber- 
nacles to the Messiah than heretofore, and a reference 
that was in some degree wanted ? Are not the 
shouts of the multitude strong indications of what 
(hey so earnestly looked for — a king to deliver them 
from their present bondage ? Did the prophets hint 
at such a king, to be expected, when they appointed 
the willows of the great Hosanna ? Is this the covert 
meaning of the rulers of the synagogue, "Hearest 
thou what these children say ? in allusion to a king 
whom we expect; which they refer to thee?" And 
is this the import of our Lord's answer, "Yea; did 
you never hear the remark, that children will tell the 
truth when men will not; that when men- are afraid, 
or incredulous, the mouths of babes and sucklings 
may strongly proclaim due and proper praise ?" 
Was our Lord's action of driving the intruding deal- 
ers from the temple an act of royalty, coincident 
with these acclamations, and national ideas, which 
on this occasion he thought proper to exert, and to 
which those concerned thought proper at this time 
to submit, as^inable to foresee how far the popular 
feeling might extend? 

I. HOSEA, son of Beeri, the first of the minor 
prophets, and said to have been of Reuben, and a 
native of Beelnieon, beyond Jordan. He lived in 
the kingdom of Israel, and his prophecies for the 
most part regard that state. The title of his works 
says, he prophesied under the reigns of Uzziah, Jo- 
tham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah ; and un- 
der Jeroboam II. king of Israel ; which would em- 
brace, at the very least, a period of 80 years. There 
is nothing, however, to induce a belief that he proph- 
esied so long ; besides that it is strange his prophecies 
should be dated by the reigns of the kings of Judah, 
when he did not live under their dominion. It is 
therefore probable, that the title is not Hosea's, but 
that the true beginning of his work is, " The begin- 
ning of the work of the Lord by Hosea." Or the 
specification may relate to his life rather than to his 
prophesying. Calmet thinks he began to prophesy 
about the end of the reign of Jeroboam II. king of 
Israel. Jerome and others believe Hosea to be the 
oldest prophet whose writings are in our possession. 
He saw the first captivity of the four tribes, by 
Tiglath-pileser ; and the extinction of the kingdom 
of Samaria, by Salmaneser. 

In the third chapter of Hosea's prophecy, we read, 
that the Lord directed him to take unto him " a wife 
of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms ;" i. e. to 
marry a woman who had formerly lived a debauched 
life, but who, after her marriage, should retire from 
all bad conversation. Many interpreters, however, 
shocked at the idea, have maintained that this was 
only a parable ; and that the prophet called the wife 
whom he married a prostitute, only with design of 
awakening the attention of the Israelites ; or that 
the whole was transacted in a vision. But the sequel 
of the narration sufficiently shows, that the marriage 
was real, though figurative as to the things it sym- 
bolized. 

As the circumstances, however, appear sufficiently 
strange to us, it may be worth while to add baron 
du Tott's account of marriages by Capin ; — which 
agrees with the relations of other travellers into the 
East : " There is another kind of marriage, which, 



stipulating the return to be made, fixes likewise the 
time when the divorce is to take place. This con- 
tract is called Capin ; and, properly speaking, is only 
an agreement made between the parties to live to- 
gether,^? - such a price during such a time." (Prelim- 
inary Discourse, p. 23.) It is scarcely possible to 
expect more direct illustration of the prophet's con- 
duct than this extract affords. We learn from it 
that this contract is a regular form of marriage, and 
that it is so regarded, generally, in the East ; conse- 
quently, such a connection and agreement could give 
no scandal, in the days of Hosea, though it would 
not be justifiable under Christian manners. The 
prophet says — " So I bought her [my wife] to me, 
for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer of barley, 
and a half homer of barley. And I said unto her, 
Many days shalt thou abide for me [Heb. sit ivith me]. 
Thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be 
for another man ; so will I also be for thee." What 
was this but a marriage by Capin, according to the 
baron's account ? And the prophet carefully lets us 
know, that he honestly paid the stipulated price, that 
he was very strict in his agreement, as to the behav- 
ior of his wife, and that he also bound himself to 
the same fidelity, during the time for which they 
mutually contracted, it may easily be imagined 
that this kind of marriage was liable to be abused ; 
and that it was glanced at, and included, in our 
Lord's prohibition of hasty divorces, need not be 
doubted. 

II. HOSEA, or Hoshea, son of Elah, and last 
king of Israel. Having conspired against Pekah, 
son of Remaliah, king of Israel, he killed him, and 
seized his dominions. He did evil in the sight of 
the Lord, however, though not equal to the kings of 
Israel, who preceded him ; that is, say the Jewish 
doctors, he did not restrain his subjects from going, 
if they would, to Jerusalem, to worship ; whereas 
the kings of Israel, his predecessors, had forbidden it, 
and placed guards on the road to prevent it, 2 Kings 
xv. 30. Salmaneser, king of Assyria, having intelli- 
gence that Hosea meditated a revolt, and had con- 
certed measures with So, king of Egypt, to shake 
off* the Assyrian yoke, marched against him, and be- 
sieged Samaria, which was taken after a siege of 
three years, in the ninth year of Hosea's reign ; and 
was reduced to a heap of ruins. The king of Assyria 
removed the Israelites of the ten tribes to countries 
beyond the Euphrates, ch. xvii. 3, 6. 

The chronology of Hosea's reign is extremely per- 
plexed, by the inconsistency of certain dates. It is said 
in ch. xv. 30, that Hosea began to reign in the twentieth 
year of Jotham, son of Uzziah ; (this was the fourth 
of Ahaz ; for Jotham his father died four years be- 
fore, having reigned only sixteen years, ver. 32, 33.) 
but in ch. xvii. 1, it is said, that Hosea began to reign 
in the twelfth of Ahaz ; ver. 27. also allows Pekah to 
have reigned but twenty years ; whereas, if the last 
year of Pekah and the first year of Hosea concur 
with the twentieth of Jotham, (ver. 30.) Pekah must 
have reigned twenty-two years, since Jotham began 
to reign in the second year of Pekah. To reconcile 
these differences, Calmet suggests that Hosea con- 
spired against Pekah in the twentieth year of that 
prince, which was the eighteenth of .Totham's reign ; 
and that it was two years longer before Hosea made 
himself master of Pekah's dominions, and was ac- 
knowledged king of Israel ; that is, in the fourth 
year of Ahaz, and the twentieth of Jotham. In the 
twelfth year of Ahaz, he reigned quietly over a": 
Israel, according to chap. xvii. ] 



HOSPITALITY 



[ 503 ] 



HOSPITALITY 



HOSPITALITY has ever been much in esteem 
among civilized people. The ancient Greeks be- 
lieved that the gods sometimes visited this world, 
disguised like travellers, and their apprehensions of 
despising some of these celestial visitors, instead of a 
traveller, induced them to receive strangers with 
respect, and the rights of hospitality. 

It is a very customary and a very desirable thing in 
the East, to eat under the shade of trees ; and this 
situation the inhabitants seem to prefer, to taking 
their repasts in their tents or dwellings. Thus De 
la Roque says, (p. 203.) "We did not arrive at the 
foot of the mountain till after sunset ; and it was 
almost night when we entered the plain ; but as it 
was full of villages, mostly inhabited by Maronites, 
we entered into the first we came to, to pass the night 
there. It was the priest of the place, who wished to 
receive us ; he gave us a supper under the trees, 
before his little dwelling. As we were at table, there 
came by a stranger, wearing a white turban, who, 
after having saluted the company, sat himself down 
to the table, without ceremony ; ate with us during 
some time, and thus went away, repeating several 
times the name of God. They told us it was some 
traveller who, no doubt, stood in need of refresh- 
ment, and who had profited by the opportunity, 
according to the custom of the East, which is to ex- 
ercise hospitality at all times, and toward all persons." 
The reader will be pleased to see the ancient hospi- 
tality of the East still maintained, and even a stran- 
ger profiting by an opportunity of supplying his 
wants. It reminds us of the guests of Abraham, 
(Gen. chap. xviii.)of the conduct of Job, (chap. xxxi. 
17.) and especially, perhaps, of that frankness with 
which the apostles of Christ were to enter into a 
man's house after a salutation, and there to continue 
"eating and drinking such things as were set before 
them," Luke x. 7. Such behavior would be con- 
sidered as extremely intrusive, and indeed insupport- 
able, among ourselves ; but the maxims of the East 
would qualify that, as they do many other customs, 
by local proprieties, on which we are incompetent to 
determine. 

It cannot be supposed, that the sluggard, who is 
too lazy to feed himself, should be very forward in 
feeding others. The discharge of the duties of hos- 
pitality, though it has occasionally conferred the 
honor and advantage of entertaining angels, actuates 
him too rarely, and too feebly, to be mentioned ; in 
fact, it is in him a nullity. But it may serve to 
heighten the contrast with those noble spirits, who 
light up the fires of hospitality to attract and to guide 
the benighted traveller ; and it is to the honor of the 
Arabs, that the same feeling pervades all ranks, 
though all ranks cannot show it equally. There is 
something very pleasing in Niebuhr's description of 
tnis custom: "The hospitality of the Arabs has 
always been the subject of praise ; and I believe that 
those of the present day exercise this virtue no less 
than their ancestors did. It is true that in this 
country, as in Europe, if a stranger is not known, no 
one will entreat him to come in. Nevertheless, there 
are in the villages of the Tehama, houses which are 
public ; where travellers may lodge and be enter- 
tained some days gratis, if they will be content with 
the fare : they are very much frequented. We our- 
selves were, during two hours, in one of these inns, in 
the village of Menejze, in going from Loheia to Beit- 
el-fakih : my servants, my camels, my asses, and all 
my company received shelter. The sheich of the 
village to whom this inn belonged was not satisfied 



with visiting us, and offering us a better faie than 
others ; he also entreated us to stop the night with 
him. In another journey from Beit-el-fakih to Ta- 
kaite, in company with a fakih, or man of letters, of 
Arabia, although my fakih had no acquaintance with 
the sheich, yet as a stranger he paid him his respects 
hardly was he returned, when the sheich came him 
self to invite us to lodge with him ; which we de 
dining, he sent us a good supper, which came 
extremely a-propos. When the Arabs are at table 
they invite those who happen to come, to eat with 
them, whether they be Christians or Mahometans, 
gentle or simple. In the caravans I have often seen 
with pleasure a mule-driver press those who passed 
to partake of his repast, and though the majority 
politely excused themselves, he gave, with an air of 
satisfaction, to those who would accept of it, a 
portion of his little meal of bread and dates ; and I 
was not a little surprised when I saw, in Turkey, 
rich Turks withdraw themselves into corners to avoid 
inviting those who might otherwise have sat at table 
with them." 

But, though the hospitality of the Arabs is general, 
and not confined to the superior classes, yet we are not 
to suppose that it admits of imposition, or is without 
proper bounds. Of this we have a manifest instance 
in the directions of our Lord to the apostles, Matt. x. 
11. To send a couple of hearty men with appetites 
good, and rendered even keen, by the effect of travel- 
ling, to send two such to a family, barely able to 
meet its own necessities, having no provision of 
bread, or sustenance for a day beforehand, were to 
press upon indigence beyond the dictates of pru- 
dence, or the permission of Christian charity. Our 
Lord, therefore, commands his messengers, "Into 
whatsoever city or town ye enter, inquire who in it 
is worthy ; and there abide till ye go thence." 
"Worthy," ui'io;, this has no reference to moral 
worthiness ; our Lord means suitable ; to whom 
your additional board for a few days will be no in- 
convenience, a substantial man. And this is exactly 
the import of the same directions, given in Luke x. 
5, 6 : " Into whatever oikia, house-establishment on 
a respectable scale, residence affording accommoda- 
tion for strangers, (the hospitalia of the Latins,) ye 
enter, in the same remain : go not from house to 
house, in search of superior accommodations ; though 
it may happen that, after you have been in a town 
some days, you may hear of a more wealthy individ- 
ual, who could entertain you better. No ; in the 
same house remain, eating and drinking such things 
as they give ; — whatever is set before you." The 
same inference is deduced from the advice of the 
apostle John to the lady Eclecta, (2 Epist. 10.) "It 
there come any to you, and bring not this doctrine, 
receive him not into your house." She was, there- 
fore, a person of respectability, if not of rank ; mistress 
of a household establishment, on a scale proper for 
the exercise of Christian benevolence in a convenient 
and suitable manner ; — of liberal heart, and of equally 
liberal powers. Whoever has well considered the 
difficulties to which travellers in the East are often 
exposed to procure supplies, or even sufficient pro- 
visions to make a meal, will perceive the propriety 
of these directions. Although it was one sign of the 
Messiah's advent, that to the poor the gospel was 
preached, yet it was not the Messiah's purpose to adc 
to the difficulties of any man's situation. He sup- 
poses that a family-man, a house-keeper, might be 
without bread, obliged to borrow from a friend, to 
meet the wants of a single traveller; Luke xi. 5, "I 



II o u 



[ 504 ] 



HOURS 



have nothing to set before him ;" no uncommon 
case ; but, if this were occasioned by real penury, 
the rights of hospitalit\ r , however congenial to the 
manners of the people, or to the feelings of the indi- 
vidua , and however urgent, must be waved. 

The primitive Christians considered one principal 
part of their duty to consist in showing hospitality to 
strangers ; remembering that our Saviour had said, 
whoever received those belonging to him, received 
himself ; and that whatever was given to such an 
one, though but a cup of cold water, should not lose 
its reward, Matt. x. 40, 41. They were, in fact, so 
ready in discharging this duty, that the very heathen 
admired them for it. They were hospitable to all 
strangers, but especially to those of the household of 
faith. Believers scarcely ever travelled without 
letters of communion, which testified the purity of 
their faith, and procured them a favorable reception 
wherever the name of Jesus Christ was known. 
Calmet is of opinion, that the two minor epistles of 
John may be such letters of communion and recom- 
mendation. 

This article should not be closed without notice of 
the obligations understood to be contracted by the 
intercourse of the table. Niebuhr says, "When a 
Bedouin sheich eats bread with strangers, they may 
trust his fidelity and depend on his protection. A 
traveller will always do well, therefore, to lake an 
early opportunity of securing the friendship of his 
guide by a meal." This will bring to recollection the 
complaint of the psalmist, (xli. 9.) penetrated with 
the deep ingratitude of one whom he describes as 
having been his own familiar friend, in whom he 
trusted — "who did eat of my bread — even he hath 
lifted up his heel against me !" To the mortifi- 
cation of insult was added the violation of all confi- 
dence, the breach of every obligation connected with 
the ties of humanity, with the laws of honor, with 
the bonds of social life, with the unsuspecting free- 
dom of those moments when the soul unbends itself 
to enjoyment, and is, if ever, off" its guard. We have 
seen the covenant contracted by the participation of 
bread and salt. (See Covenant of Salt.) We now 
find that, among the Arabs at least, the friendship 
and protection implied attaches no less to bread. — 
Hence, in part, no doubt, the conviviality that always 
followed the making of a covenant. Hence, also, the 
severity of some of the feelings acknowledged by the 
indignant man of patience, Job, as appears in several 
passages of his pathetic expostulations. It is well 
known that Arabs who have given food to a stranger, 
have afterwards thought themselves bound to protect 
him against the vengeance demanded by consan- 
guinity, for even blood itself. 

HOURS. The ancient Hebrews did not divide 
the day and night into hours, but into parts. The 
word hour, in the Septuagint, signifies the seasons of 
the year ; as in Homer and Hesiod. In the books of 
Moses, and in other Hebrew writings, hour is used 
for the time, or season. In Daniel, we find the Chal- 
dee word nj!», shadh, which is translated hour, and 
is derived from the verb shadh, which signifies to see, 
to look, and hence the noun shadh properly means 
a glance, a moment of time. The books of Daniel, 
Tobit, and Judith are the earliest in which we find 
the word hour used to signify a part either of day or 
night. Daniel (iv. 19.) says he was about an hour 
(properly a moment) considering king Nebuchadnez- 
zar's vision. Tobit (xi. 14.) tells us, he continued 
about half an hour in very great pain ; and also (xii. 
22.) that after the angel Raphael had discovered him- 



self, they prostrated themselves for about two hours. 
Judith (vii. 18.) declares that the people of Bethulia 
spent many hours in crying to the Lord. The - 
Greeks knew nothing of the origin of hours among 
foreign nations, and trace them no higher among them- 
selves than the time of Anaximenes, or Anaximander, 
in the reign of Cyrus, toward the end of the Babylo- 
nish captivity. This author had travelled into Chaldea, 
and might have brought from thence the manner of 
dividing the day by hours. Herodotus says expressly, 
that the Greeks received from the Babylonians the use 
of the gnomon and dial. (See Dial.) And Xenophon 
introduces Euthydemus, saying, that the sun discovers 
to us the hours of the day, and the stars the hours of 
the night. Aristophanes also speaks of the gnomon 
or index, and of hours. The result of what has been 
said is, that the use of time-measurers, or sun-dials, 
and the distribution of the day into hours, is more 
ancient in the East than among the Greeks ; that the 
author of the invention is not known, and that we 
cannot tell in what manner the ancient Babylonians 
and Chaldeans divided their hours of day and night. 

We have already intimated that the Hebrews di- 
vided the day and night into parts : some further 
information may be useful. We derive it chiefly 
from Godwin. 

The night was divided into four quarters, or great- 
er hours, termed watches, each watch containing 
three lesser hours. The first they called the begin- 
ning of the watches ; (Lam. ii. 19.) the second the 
middle watch, (Judg. vii. 19.) not because there were 
only three watches, as Drusius (on Judg. vii. 19.) 
thinks, but becavise it lasted till midnight; the third 
watch began at midnight, and continued till three 
o'clock in the morning ; (Luke xii. 38.) the last, called 
the morning watch, (Exod. xiv. 24.) began at three 
o'clock, and ended at six in the morning, Matt. xiv. 
24, 25. These watches were also called by other 
names, according to that part of the night which 
closed each one. The first was called '6\pi, the even; the 
second, fieaovvxnov, midnight ; the third, a}.exro(>o<po>v!a, 
cock-crowing; the fourth, noon, the dawning. — Ye 
know not when the master of the house will come, 
(1.) at even, or (2.) at midnight, or (3.) at cock-crowing, 
or (4.) at the dawning, Mark xiii. 35. The day was 
also divided into four quarters, as appears by the 
parable of the laborers hired into the vineyard, Matt, 
xx. The first quarter began at six o'clock in the 
morning and continued till nine ; the second quartei 
ended at twelve ; the third quarter at three in the 
afternoon ; the fourth quarter at six at night. The 
first quarter was called the third hour, (verse 3.) 
the second quarter the sixth hour, (verse 5.) the third 
quarter the ninth hour, (verse 5.) the last quarter the 
eleventh hour, verse 6. 

This shows that the hours among the Jews were of 
two sorts : some lesser, of which the day contained 
twelve ; others greater, of which the day contained 
four: the lesser are termed hours of the day, (John 
ix. 9.) the greater, hours of the temple, or hours of 
prayer, Acts iii. 1. But in fact there were but three 
hours of prayer, the third, the sixth and the ninth. 
At the third hour the Ho-ly Ghost descended upon 
the apostles, Acts ii. 15. About the sixth, Peter wpnt 
up to the house-top to pray, Acts x. 9. At the ninth, 
Peter and John went into the temple, Acts iii. 1. 

The word hour, as previously stated, is used with 
great latitude in Scripture: it seems to imply the 
space of time occupied by a whole watch, in Matt, 
xxvi. 40 ; Mark xiv. 37 : " What ! could ye not watch 
one hour? one space of time allotted to that duty 



HOU 



[ 505 ] 



HOUSE 



Rev. iii. 3, " If thou shalt not watch, thou shalt nor. 
know what hour I will come upon thee." Matt, 
xxiv. 43, 44 ; xxv. 13, " Watch, therefore, for ye 
know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son 
of man cometh." In addition to those instances 
quoted above, these now given prove a connection 
between the word hour and the period of a watch. 
The same may be inferred from some of the'follow- 
ing passages, Luke xxii. 59: Peter having denied 
his knowledge of Jesus to the guard, a new set of 
guards came to relieve the former ; among them was 
one who challenged Peter, about the space of one 
hour, one watch, after his former denial. Felix or- 
dered Paul to be sent away at the third hour, perhaps 
a military watch, of the night, Acts xxiii. 23. 

The word hour is used with no less latitude in mod- 
ern languages. " The hours" are the seasons of the 
year in Italian ; and the four hours of the day, in 
French, are morning, noon, evening, night. The 
hours of divine service, or canonical hours, accord- 
ing to the Roman ritual, contain three common hours ; 
add to these the usual calculation of hours, and we 
shall perceive, that, however the signification of this 
word may have become fixed since the invention 
and adoption of mechanical time-measurers among 
us, yet it, in fact, expresses little beyond a definite 
portion of time ; or a portion varying its limits, ac- 
cording to the usages of places and nations. See 
Day. 

[The word hour in Scripture signifies, one of the 
twelve equal parts into which each day was divided, 
and which ol course were of different* lengths at dif- 
ferent seasons of the year. This mode of dividing the 
day prevailed among the Jews at least after the exile, 
and perhaps earlier. Anciently, however, the usual 
division of the day was into four parts, viz. the morn- 
ing ; the heat of the day, commencing about the middle 
of the forenoon ; midday ; and evening. In a similar 
manner the Greeks appear at first to have divided the 
day into only three parts, viz. oj>5go;, y.aiybg p«nj,u/)g () >«$, 
and 'iriTitqoc, to which they afterwards added a fourth 
division, iitXirh? *«>«'?. (Of. Sturz Lex. Xenophont. 
sub voc.) These divisions are what Socrates appears 
to have in mind, when he speaks of hours of the day, 
and afterwards of hours of the night, Mem. iv. 3, 4. 
The ancient Hebrews, as well as the Greeks, appear 
to have divided the night also into three parts or 
watches, yvXaxal, viz. the first watch, (Lam. ii. 19.) the 
middle, or second watch, (Judg. vii. 19.) and the morning, 
or third watch, Ex. xiv. 24. But after the Jews 
became subject to the Romans, they adopted the 
Roman manner of dividing the night into four 
watches, as above described. (Winer, Bibl. Realw. p. 
470, 681. Jahn, § 101.) R. 

HOUSE, a place of residence. The purpose of a 
hous ; being for dwelling, and that of tents being the 
same, they are called by one name (beth) in the 
Hebrew. On the same principle, the tabernacle of 
God, though only a tent, is sometimes called the 
temple, that is, the residence, of God. 

Of the ordinary buildings, or houses, in the East, 
the intelligent traveller Dr. Shaw has given a very 
full and interesting description, of which we shall 
here avail ourselves, as it will tend to the illustration 
of several passages In Scripture : — 

" The general method of building, both in Barbary 
and the Levant, seems to have continued the same, 
from the earliest ages, without the least alteration or 
improvement. Large doors, spacious chambers, 
marble pavements, cloistered courts, with fountains 
sometimes playing in the midst, are certainly conve- 
64 



niences very well adapted to the circumstances o. 
these climates, where the summer heats are generally 
so intense. The jealousy, likewise, of these people is 
less apt to be alarmed, whilst all the windows open 
into their respective courts, if we except a latticed 
window or balcony which sometimes looks into the 
streets. It is during the celebration only of some 
Zeenah, as they call a public festival, that these houses 
and their latticed windows and balconies are left open 
For this being a time of great liberty, reveling, and 
extravagance, each family is ambitious of adorning 
both the inside and the outside of their houses with 
their richest furniture ; whilst crowds of both sexes, 
dressed out in their best apparel, and laying aside all 
modesty and restraint, go in and out where they 
please. The account we have (2 Kings ix. 30.) of 
Jezebel's painting her face, tiring her head, and look- 
ing out at a window, on Jehu's public entrance into 
Jezreel, gives us a lively idea of an eastern lady at 
one of these Zeenahs, or solemnities. 

"The streets of these cities, the better to shade 
them from the sun, are usually narrow, with some- 
times a range of shops on each side. If from these 
we enter into one of the principal houses, we shall 
first pass through a porch or gate-way, with benches 
on each side, where the master of the family receives 
visits aud despatches business ; few persons, not 
even the nearest relations, having a further admis- 
sion, except upon extraordinary occasions. From 
hence we are received into the court, or quadranglej 




which, lying open to the weather, is, according to the 
ability of the owner, paved with marble, or such ma- 
terials as will immediately carry off the water into the 
common sewers. There is something very analogous 
betwixt this open space in these buildings, and the 
Impluvium, or Cava JEdium, of the Romans ; both of 
them being alike exposed to the weather, and giving 
light to the house. When much people are to be 
admitted, as upon the celebration of a marriage, the 
circumcising of a child, or occasions of the like 
nature, the company is rarely or never received into 
one of the chambers. The court is the usual place 
of their reception, which is strewed, accordingly, with 
mats and carpets for their more commodious enter- 
tainment. Now, as this part of the house is always, 
allotted for the reception of large companies, being* 
also called the middle of the house, literally answer- 
ing to (to uiaov) " the midst" of Luke, (v. 19.) it is 
probable, that the place where our Saviour and the 
apostles were frequently accustomed to give their 
instructions, might have been in the like situation ; 
that : s, in the area, or quadrangle, of one of this kind 
of houses. In the summer season, and upon all oc- 



HOUSE 



[ 506 ] 



HOUSE 



•easions when a large company is to be received, this 
court is commonly sheltered from the heat or inclem- 
ency of the weather, by a Velum, umbrella, or veil, 
which, being expanded upon ropes from one side of 
the parapet wall to the other, may be folded or 
unfolded at pleasure. The psalmist seems to allude 
■either to the tents of the Bedouins, or to some 
covering of this kind, in that beautiful expression, of 
spreading out the heavens like a veil, or curtain. The 
court is for the most part surrounded with a cloister ; 
as the Cava .Indium of the Romans was with a Peri- 
styllium, or Colonnade ; over which, when the house 
hath one or more stories, (and I have seen them with 
two or three,) there is a gallery erected, of the same 
dimensions with the cloister, having a balustrade, or 
•else a piece of carved or latticed work going round 
about it, to prevent people from falling from it into 
the court. From the cloisters and galleries, we are 
conducted into large spacious chambers, of the same 
length with the court, but seldom or never commu- 
nicating with one another. One of them frequently 
serves a whole family ; particularly when a father 
indulges his married children to live with him; or 
when several persons join in the rent of the same 
house. From whence it is, that the cities of these 
countries, which in general are much - inferior in 
bigness to those of Europe, yet are so exceedingly 
populous, that great numbers of people are always 
swept away by the plague, or any other contagious 
distemper. A mixture of families of this kind seems 
to be spoken of by Maimonides, as he is quoted by 
Dr. Lightfoot on 1 Cor. x. 16. 

"In houses of better fashion, these chambers are 
hung with velvet or damask from the middle of the 
wall downwards, are covered and adorned with vel- 
vet or damask hangings of white, blue, red, green, or 
other colors, (Esth. i. 6.) suspended on hooks, or 
taken down at pleasure : but the upper part is em- 
bellished with more permanent ornaments, being 
adorned with the most ingenious wreathings and 
devices, in stucco and fret-work. The ceiling is 
generally of wainscot, either very artfully painted, or 
else thrown into a variety of panels, with gilded 
mouldings, and scrolls of their Coran intermixed. 
The prophet Jeremiah (xxii. 14.) exclaims against 
some of the eastern houses that were ceiled with 
cedar andpainted with vermilion. The floors are laid 
with painted tiles or plaster of terrace ; but as these 
people make little or no use of chairs, (either sitting 
cross-legged, or lying at length upon these floors,) 
they always cover or spread them over with carpets, 
which for the most part are of the richest materials. 
Along the sides of the wall, or floor, a range of nar- 
row beds, or mattresses, is often placed upon these 
carpets ; and for their further ease and convenience, 
several damask or velvet bolsters are placed on these 
carpets or mattresses — indulgences that seem to be 
alluded to by the stretching themselves upon couches, 
and the sewing of pilloivs to arm-holes, as we have it 
expressed Amos vi. 4 ; Ezek. xiii. 18, 20. At one 
end of each chamber, there is a little gallery, raised 
three, four, or five feet above the floor, with a balus- 
trade in the front of it, with a few steps likewise 
leading up to it. Here they place their beds ; a 
situation frequently alluded to in the Holy Scrip- 
tures, 

"The stairs are sometimes placed in the porch, 
sometimes at the entrance into the court. When 
there is one or more stories, they are afterwards 
continued, through one corner or other of the gallery, 
to the top of the house, whither they conduct us 



through a door, that is constantly kept shut, to pre- 
vent their domestic animals from daubing the terrace, 
and thereby spoiling the water which falls from 
thence into the cisterns below the court. This door, 
like most others we meet with in these countries, is 
hung, not with hinges, but by having the jamb form- 
ed at each end into an axletree, or pivot ; whereof 
the uppermost, which :s the longest, is to be received 
into a correspondent socket in the lintel, whilst the 
other falls into a cavity of the like fashion in the 
threshold. The stone door so much admired and 
taken notice of by Mr. Maundrcll, in his Description 
of the Royal Sepulchres at Jerusalem, is exactly of 
this fashion, and very common in most places. 

'• I do not remember ever to have observed the stair- 
case conducted along the outside of the house ; neither, 
indeed, will the contiguity and relation which these 
houses bear to the street, and to each other, (exclusive 
of the supposed privacy of them,) admit of any such 
contrivance. However, we may go up or come down 
them, by the stair-case I have described, without 
entering into any of the offices or apartments, and, 
consequently, without interfering with the business of 
the house ; which will be explanatory enough of 
Matt. xxiv. 17 : ' Let him that is upon the house-top 
not come down to take any thing out of the house,' 
provided the action there recorded requireth any such 
interpretation. 

" The top of the house, which is always flat, is 
covered with a strong plaster of terrace ; from whence, 
in the Frank language, it hath attained the name of 
The Terrace ; a word made use of, likewise, in several 
parts of these countries. It is usually surrounded by 
two walls ; the outermost whereof is partly built over 
the street, partly maketh the partition with the con- 
tiguous houses, being frequently so low that one 
may easily climb over it. The other, which I call 
the parapet wall, hangs immediately over the court, 
being always breast high, and answereth to the 
npi'D (Vulg. Lorica,) Deut. xxii. 8, which we render 
the battlements. Instead of this parapet wall, some 
terraces are guarded in the same manner the galleries 
are, with balustrades only, or latticed work ; in which 
fashion probably, as the name seems to import, was the 
[ro^ir] net, or lattice, as we render it, thatAhaziah (2 
Kings i. 2.) might be carelessly leaning over, when he 
fell down from thence into the court. For upon these 
terraces several offices of the family are performed ; 
such as the drying of linen and flax, (Josh. ii. 6.) the 
preparing of figs and raisins ; here, likewise, they enjoy 
the cool, refreshing breezes of the evening ; converse 
with one another, and offer up their devotions. In 
the Feast of Tabernacles booths were erected upon 
them, Neh. viii. 16. When one of these cities is 
built upon level ground, we can pass from one end of 
it to the other, along the tops of the houses, without 
coming down into the street. 

" Such, in genera], is the manner and contrivance of 
the eastern houses. And if it may be presumed that 
our Saviour, at the healing of the paralytic, was 
preaching in a house of this fashion, we may, by 
attending only to the structure of it, give no small 
light to one circumstance of that history, which hath 
lately given great offence to some unbelievers. For, 
among other pretended difficulties and absurdities 
relating to this fact, it hath been urged, that, 'as the 
uncovering or breaking up of the roof, (Mark ii. 4.) or 
the letting a person down through it, (Luke v. 19.) sup- 
poses the breaking up of tiles, rafters, &c. so it was 
well' (as the author goes on in his ludicrous manner) 
' if Jesus and his disciples escaped with only a broken 



HOUSE 

pate, by the falling of the tiles, and if the rest were 
not smothered with dust.' But that nothing of this 
nature happened, will appear probable from a differ- 
ent construction that may be put upon the words in 
the original. For it may be observed with relation 

to the Words of Mark, [ocntaTiyaaar Ti;r nriyijf (inn i t v, 

y.al tZoov'iarTtg, &c.) that as ariyn (no less, perhaps, 
than tatlilo, the correspondent word in the Syriac 
version) will denote, with propriety enough, any kind 
of covering, the veil which I have mentioned, as well 
as a roof or ceiling properly so called ; so for the 
same reason a-noari yav may signify the undoing or the 
removal of such a covering. 'EioQi'&arxe?, [the same 
word rendered Gal. iv. 15, "plucked out,"] which we 
render breaking up, is omitted in the Cambridge MS. 
and not regarded in the Syriac and some other ver- 
sions ; the translators, perhaps, either not rightly 
comprehending the meaning of it, or finding the con- 
text clear without it. In Jerome's translation, the 
correspondent word is patefacientes, as if iBoyvtarrtg 
was further explanatory of ansari yaaar. The same in 
the Persian version is expressed by quatuor angulis 
lectuli totidem funibus annexis, as if tioorSurTt c related 
either to the letting down of the bed, or was prepara- 
tory thereto ; to the making holes in it for the cords 
to pass through. Though it is still more probable 
that it should be joined with oriyj], and denote, agree- 
ably to the correspondent word patefacientes in Je- 
rome's translation, a further laying of it open, by 
breaking or plucking up the posts, balustrades, para- 
pet wall, or whatever else supported it. The con- 
text, therefore, according to this explication, will run 
thus: 'When they could not come at Jesus for the 
press, they drew back the veil where he was,' or 
they laid open that part of it especially (oVra ,)v) which 
was spread over the place where he was sitting, ' and 
having removed (plucked away) whatever should 
keep it extended, (and thereby hinder them from 
doing their intended good office,) they let down the 
bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.' For that 
there was not the least force or violence offered to 
the roof, and, consequently, that i&ogrtavTic, no less 
than airioTiyanav, will admit of some other interpre- 
tations than what have been given to them in our 
version, appears from the parallel place in Luke, 
where <5'« tcov xtqautav y.aStjxav avriiv (which we trans- 
late, 'they let him down through the tiling,' as if that 
had actually been already broken up) should be ren- 
dered, ' they let him down over, along the side or by 
the way of, the roof.' For, as xioauot, or tegula, 
which originally, perhaps, denoted a roof of tiles, 
like those of the northern nations, were afterwards 
applied to the Tectum, or Jmtta in general, so the 
meaning of letting down a person into the house per 
tegulas, or Si'u r<ov xtQafiwv, can depend only on the 
use of the preposition Sta. Now, both in Acts ix. 25, 
xa&ijxav [«?>tov] Silt jov Tcl/ng, and 2 Cor. xi. 33, i/ct- 
Aaa&tjv dth tov n i'^bc, (where the like phraseology is 
ob&erved as in Luke,) &iu is rendered in both places 
by, that is, along the side, or by the ivay, of the wall. 
By interpreting :herefore, (Vr in this sense, <5<« rw 
xtqufimv xa&ijxav uvtov will be rendered as above, 'they 
let him down over,' or ' by the way of, the wall,' just 
as we may suppose M. Antony to have been, agree- 
ably to a noted passage in Tully. An action of the 
same nature seems to be likewise implied in what is 
related of Jupiter, (Ter. Eun. iii. 5, 37.) where he is 
said sese in hominem convertisse, atque per alienas 
tegulas venisse clanculum per Impluvium. And of 
the snake, which we learn, (Ter. Phorm. iv. 4, 47.) 
per Impluvium decidisse de tegulis. What Dr. Light- 



HOUSE 

foot also observes out of the Talmud, on Mark ii. 4, 
will, by an alteration only of the preposition which 
answers to <5iu, further vouch for this interpretation. 
For, as it is there cited, ' when Rabh Honna ivas dead, 
and his bier coidd not be earned out through the door 
which ivas too straight and narrow, therefore 1 (in order, 
as we may supply, to bury it) [iWVp tod] ' they 
thought good to let it down [pjj yri] through the roof, 
or through the way of the roof,' as the doctor renders 
it, but it should be rather, as in <5<u rSm xtQauim 
or drti tuv reigns, 'by the way of,' or 'over the roof, 
viz. by taking it upon the terrace, and letting it dowr 
upon the wall, that way, into the street. We have a 
passage in Aulus Gellius, exactly of the same purpoit, 
where it is said, that if ' any person in chains should 
make his escape into the house of the Flamen Dialis 
that he should be forthwith loosed ; and that his fet 
ters should be drawn up through the Impluvium, 
upon the roof, (terrace,) and from thence be let down 
into the highway or street.' When the use, then, of 
these phrases, and the fashion of these houses, are 
rightly considered, there will be no reason, I pre- 
sume, for supposing any breach to have been made 
in the tegulce, or xiqapoi, since all that was to be done 
in the case of the paralytic, was, to carry him up to the 
top of the house, either by forcing their way through 
the crowd, up the stair-case, or else by conveying 
him over some of the neighboring terraces ; and 
there, after they had drawn away the [orfp] veil, to 
let him down, along the side of the roof (through the 
opening or Impluvium) into the midst (of the court) 
before Jesus." 

Such are Dr. Shaw's remarks on this narrative ; 
but there are some omissions which Mr. Taylor has 
attempted to supply. 

It should be premised, that, in general, houses in 
the East are but one story high ; so that the men 
who carried the paralytic had not far to mount with 
him, nor far to lower him down from the roof to 
which they had ascended. They went up the private 
stair-case of the oleah, or attached building, which 
was free from the crowd, because Jesus, being in the 
interior, was distant from this entrance. In fact, Je- 
sus was in the middle court of the house ; for Dr. 
Shaw tells us, that the (to /niaov,) " the midst" of Luke, 
is the el Woost, the court allotted for the reception of 
large companies, whereas, in our version, this " in the 
midst" seems to imply among the people, in the 
midst of the crowd ; and that a large company was 
now attending the discourses of Jesus, is plain from 
the history. The mention of a middle court implies 
a large house ; while the observation, that doctors of 
the law and Pharisees were sitting by (who were 
come from surrounding towns, and even from Jeru- 
salem) agrees with an extensive building, inhabited 
by a person of consequence, who accommodated 
these dignified visitors on this occasion ; — which 
some have supposed was an appointed meeting of 
these great men. Now, to a house of magnitude, a 
private stair-case always is an appendage ; and is 
next the porch, or street, says the doctor, " without 
giving the least disturbance to the house." Up these 
stairs, therefore, the bearers of the paralytic carried 
him and his bed ; and so far over the (flat) rool of the 
house, till they came to the middle court ; — but, when 
arrived here, how should they make known their 
errand ? — they could not possibLy show the patient to 
the people (nor communicate with any, not even 
with Jesus himself) below them ; so they determined 
on letting him down over the parapet. Our patient 
is now on the roof ; (to Sr'uia ;) but this roof was flat 



[ 507 ] 



HOUSE 



and even paved ; we must, therefore, absolutely pro- 
hibit the idea of tiles covering this roof, which, with- 
out such prohibition, will rise in the mind of English 
readers. On the contrary, these men lifted up their 
burden over the parapet, (say two feet in height,) and 
having tied the four corners of the bed with cords, 
they lowered him down the face of the wall, along 
the painted tiles, with which that face was adorned, 
into the middle court, where Jesus stood, teaching. 
To establish this representation, we remark, that the 
word xtoauog means a tile of a better kind, not a 
brick-kiln tile, but an ornamental, painted piece of 
pottery; — a potter's production, which he has taken 
pains with ; like the Dutch-tiles, or galley-tiles, of 
our old-fashioned chimneys. Such is the kind of 
tile which should be understood in this place ; and 
that such are used to ornament the faces of the walls 
of the internal court, we have the authority of Dr. 
Shaw himself; who not only describes them, but 
shows them very distinctly in his print. This de- 
scription of the place where the event happened, ex- 
cludes at once every possibility of " breaking up tiles, 
spars, and rafters" — every possibility of "Jesus and 
his disciples escaping with only a broken pate, by the 
falling of the tiles, and the rest being smothered with 
the dust ;" which is the ludicrous language of a re- 
marker on the miracles of Jesus ; but with what ju- 
dicious ideas of this transaction let the reader now 
judge; and let the reader judge, too, on the necessity 
for accui %te information on some minutice, seemingly 
unimponant, in order to vindicate, correctly and ade- 
quately, the miracles of Jesus. 

We now turn to the evangelist Mark's account of 
this event, chap. ii. 4. Our translators say, " And 
when the men who carried the paralytic could not 
come nigh to Jesus for the press [read, through the 
crowd] they uncovered the roof [uirmriyunuv x) t v 
oTfyijr) where he was ; and when they had broken it 
up, (fJoorSaiTf?,) they let down the bed (agu/ijlaTov) 
wherein the sick of the palsy lay." The first action 
nere, as it seems, is — they uncovered- the roof, and 
broke it up ; notwithstanding that Luke says, this oc- 
curred in the middle court of a great house, which 
court could have no roof. But Dr. Shaw tells us, 
and we know from other sources, that the court was 
covered by a canopy, as a shelter from the solar rays ; 
and this is clearly expressed by the word artyi,. ren- 
dered roof, which should have been rendered cover- 
ing, or shade. This is the rendering of the Syriac 
version ; tatlio, any kind of covering, and the phrase- 
ology of the evangelist affords a kind of paronomasia, 
or repetition of the same word ; as if we should 
say, "they uncovered the covering" of the court; 
this conveys the idea, though the phraseology is 
not pleasant. To say simply, " remove the cover- 
ing," though it marks the action, yet does not convey 
the relation of the words to each other ; but, had this 
relation of the woHs been expressed, our translators 
could never have been understood as meaning "un- 
roof the roof ;" that would have appeared preposter- 
ous ; a labor and a liberty not to be taken by four 
strangers, who might with strict propriety have 
waited till the sermon was over. But if the braces of 
this veil, as we suppose, were fastened to hooks, or 
something similar, in the parapet wall, or into the 
roof, or beams of the building, then the men, by un- 
fastening one of these braces, would open the canopy 
which prevented them from seeing below, and pre- 
vented the people below from seeing them. This 
opening would remove the obstruction to the pres- 



508 ] HOUSE 

ence of Jesus ; and thrrsThey would, strictly speak 
ing, uncanopy the canopy ; according to the phrase- 
ology of the evangelist. 

Our translators, having mentioned the roof, seem 
to say, " they broke it up." — But this word (itoQi%avreg\ 
rather refers to the bed ; though whether it signifies 
broke up may be questioned. It is omitted in the 
Cambridge MS. and is not regarded in the Syriac 
version ; the Persian version renders, " to the four 
corners of the bed they attached cords." We find 
the same word in Gal. iv. 15, rendered plucked out — 
but how can that be its meaning in this instance ? 
The answer becomes easy, after we have considered, 
that the evangelists use two words, both inaccurately 
rendered bed. Luke's word [xXinj) signifies a kind of 
truckle-bed ; that is, a bedstead, or a bed having a 
frame-work round it ; whereas, Mark calls it krab- 
baton, a bed consisting of a single carpet, or sacking, 
only. Yet there is no contradiction between the 
evangelists, because it was both these kinds of bed. 
Let it be considered, first, that this man was " borne 
of four" — which may safely be taken to imply one 
bearer at each corner of his truckle-bed (x'/.hi\); but 
a truckle-bed was much too cumbersome to allow the 
bearers to force their way through the passages lead- 
ing to the inner court, and through the crowd assem- 
bled ; they, therefore, carried this xiiri\ up the private 
stair-case, and having brought it to the parapet next 
to the inner court, they took out the sacking from the 
bedstead ; and this sacking, a mere krabbaton, a mere 
hammock, they let down, with the patient on it, into 
the court below. 

The propriety of using a word which signifies 
plucked oid, is now clear ; for, in fact, they plucked 
out the sacking from the bedstead ; and here comes 
in the idea of the Persian translator, these four men 
tied four cords to the krabbaton, one at each corner, 
and lowered it into the court, through the opening 
they had made in the canopy. Can we avoid reflect- 
ing how deeply we are indebted to the evangelists, 
whose different words, when properly understood, 
mutually illustrate each other ? Luke says, " Behold, 
men brought a man in a bed, (xXlvrj,) and let him down 
through (along) the tiling, with his couch" (xXiviS'tov) 
— which answers precisely to the krabbaton — the 
sacking, the hammock, of Mark. Nor is it difficult 
to arrange these narrations into one : " And behold, 
for it is well worthy of notice, they came unto Jesus, 
bringing one sick of the palsy, who, lying along in a 
truckle-bed, [x/.h > h Matt, ix. 2.] was borne by four 
bearers, one at each corner of the bedstead ; and they 
sought means to bring him in, with this encumbrance 
of a bedstead, because the poor sufferer was unable to 
walk, designing to lay him before Jesus, as a remark- 
able object of compassion. And when they could 
not find by what way they might bring him in, and 
could not even come near him (Jesus) because of the 
multitude, they took the paralytic, in his bedstead, 
and went up the private stair-case, by which they 
entered on the roof of the house, and going along the 
roof, till they arrived at the inner court, they loosed 
some of thebraces of the covering that was extended 
over that court ; which braces were connected with 
the parapet on the roof. And when they had sepa- 
rated the sacking, (krabbaton) from the bedstead, 
(xliri],) they tied a cord to each of the four corners of 
the sacking, and let down this diminished bed, or 
couch, (klinidion,) along the painted tiles, into the 
middle court, direct before Jesus; close to him, ia 
fact, so that he could not avoid seeing the patien' 



HOUSE 



[ 509 ] 



HOUSE 



nor could the people avoid looking up, to see where 
the disabled sufferer came from." 

We now resume Dr. Shaw's description of an 
eastern house : — 

" To most of these houses there is a smaller one 
annexed, which sometimes rises one story higher 
than the house ; at other times it consists of one or 
two rooms only, and a terrace ; whilst others, that 
are built (as they frequent!}' are) over the porch or 
gateway, have (if we except the ground floor, which 
they have not) all the conveniences that belong to the 
house, properly so called. There is a door of com- 
munication from them into the gallery of the house, 
kept open or shut at the discretion of the master of 
the family ; besides another door, which opens im- 
mediately from a privy -stairs, (Luke xxiv. 17.) down 
into the porch or street, without giving the least dis- 
turbance to the house. These back-houses are known 
by the name of Alee, or Oleah, (for the house, prop- 
erly so called, is Dar, or Beet,) and in them strangers 
are usually lodged and entertained ; in them the sons 
of the family are permitted to keep their concubines; 
and thither, likewise, the men are wont to retire, from 
the hurry and noise of their families, to be more at 
leisure for meditation or diversions ; besides the use 
they are at other times put to, in serving for ward- 
robes and magazines. 

" The Oleah (rr>>y) of Holy Scripture, being literal- 
ly the same appellation, is accordingly so rendered in 
the Arabic version. We may suppose it, then, to 

have been a structure 
of the like contriv- 
ance. The little cham- 
ber, consequently, 
that was built by the 
Shuuamite for Eli- 
sha; (whither, as the 
text instructs us, he 
retired at his pleasure 
without breaking in 
on the private affairs 
of the family, or be- 
ing in his turn inter- 
rupted by them in his 
devotions;) the sum- 
mer chamber of Eg- 
lon ; (which, in the 
same manner with these, seems to have had privy- 
stairs belonging to it, through which Ehud escaped 
after he had revenged Israel upon that king of Moab ;) 
the chamber over the gate ; (whither, for the greater 
privacy, king David withdrew himself to weep for 
Absalom ;) and that upon whose terrace Ahaz, for 
the same reason, erected his altars ; seem to have 
been structures of the like nature and contrivance 
with these Olees. Besides, as each of these places, 
called Oleah (why, or ruSy) in the Hebrew text and in 
the Arabic version, is expressed by vn'eQmor, in the 
LXX, it may be presumed, that the same word, 
vnefioiov, where it occurs in the New Testament, im- 
plieth the same thing. The upper chamber, there- 
fore, (vntQioor,) where Tabitha was laid after her 
death, and that where Eutychus fell down from the 
third loft, besides other instances, may be taken for 
so many of these back-houses, or Olees ; as they are 
indeed so called in the Arabic version. That imtqmov 
denotes such private apartments as these (for garrets, 
from the flatness of the roof, are not known in these 
climates) seems likewise probable from the use of the 
word among classic authors. For the imtqiHoy where 
Mercury and Mars (11. 77.184.) carried on their amours, 




and where Penelope (Od. o. 515.) and the young vir- 
gins kept themselves at a distance from the solicita- 
tions of their wooers, appear to carry along with 
them circumstances of greater privacy and retire- 
ment than are consistent with chambers in any other 
situation. Further, that Oleah, or vneq&or, could not 
barely signify a single chamber (canaculurn) or 
dining-room, but one of these contiguous houses, 
divided into several apartments, seems to appear from 
the circumstance of the altars which Ahaz erected 
upon the top of his Olee. For,- besides the supposed 
privacy of his idolatry, (which could not have been 
carried on undiscovered in any apartment of the 
house, because under the perpetual view and obser- 
vation, as it may be supposed, of the family,) if his 
Oleah had been only one chamber of the [Beth m] 
house, the roof would have been ascribed to the 
Beth, and not to the Oleah, which, upon this suppo- 
sition, could only make one chamber of it. A cir- 
cumstance of the like nature may probably be col- 
lected from the Arabic version of vniqioor, in Acts ix, 
39, where it is not rendered as in ver. 37, but Girfat ; 
intimating, perhaps, that part or particular chamber 
where the damsel was laid. The falling, likewise, 
of Eutychus, from the third loft (as the context 
seems to imply) of the Oleah (for there is no men- 
tion made of a house) may be received, I presume, 
as a further 'proof of this supposition. For it hath 
been already observed that these Olees are built with 
the same conveniences as the house itself; conse- 
quently, what position soever the vniqioor may be 
supposed to have, from the seeming etymology of 
the name, will be applicable to the Olee as well as to 
the house. The word vneqiior will admit of another 
interpretation in our favor ; denoting not so much a 
chamber remarkable for the high situation of it, (as 
Eustathius and others after him gave in to,) but such 
a building as is erected upon or beyond the walls or 
borders of another: just as the Olees are actually 
contrived in regard to the house. Neither will this 
interpretation interfere with the high situation that 
imtQaor may be further supposed to have, from being 
frequently joined with arapaivtir, or y.uxufSa'nar. Be- 
cause the going in or out of the house (whose ground- 
floor lieth upon the same level with the street) could 
not be expressed by words of such import . whereas, 
the Olees being usually built over the porch or gate- 
way, a small staircase is to be mounted before we can 
be said properly to enter them, and consequently 
arafalrnr and zaTapalreir are very applicable to struc- 
tures in such a situation. 

"The eastern method of building may further as- 
sist us, in accounting for the particular structure of 
the temple or house of Dagon, (Judg. xvi.) and the 
great number of people that were buried in the ruins 
of it, by 7 pulling down the two principal pillars. We 
read, (ver. 27.) that about "three thousand persons 
were upon the roof to behold while Samson made 
sport." Samson must, therefore, have been in a court 
or area below them ; and consequently the temple will 
be of the same kind with the ancient Ttfiirij or sacred 
enclosures, surrounded only in part or altogether 
with some plain or cloistered buildings. Several 
places and Dau-wanas, as they call the courts of jus- 
tice in these countries, are built, in this fashion ; 
where, upon their festivals and rejoicings, a great 
quantity of sand is strewed upon the area for the 
(Pello-wans) wrestlers to fall upon ; whilst the roof 
of these cloisters, round about, are crowded with 
spectators of their strength and agility. I have often 
seen several hundreds of people diverted in this 



HOUSE 



[ 510 ] 



HOUSE 



manner upon the roof of the dey's palace at Algiers ; 
which, like many more of the same quality and 
denomination, hath an advanced cloister, over against 
the gate of the palace, (Esth. v. 1.) made in the fash- 
ion of a large pent-house, supported only by one or 
two contiguous pillars in the front, or else in the 
centre. In such open structures as these, in the 
midst of their guards and counsellors, are the bashas, 
kadees, and other great officers, to distribute justice 
and transact the public affairs of their provinces. 
Here, likewise, they have their public entertainments, 
as the lords and others of the Philistines had in the 
house of Dagon. Upon a supposition, therefore, that 
in the house of Dagon there was a cloistered struc- 
ture of this kind, the pulling down the front or cen- 
tre pillars only which supported it, would be attended 
with the like catastrophe that happened to the Philis- 
tines." (Shaw's Travels.) 

The doctor has not alluded to Peter's vision, (Acts 
x. 9.) yet as that was on the top of the house, on the 
terrace, we may see how fit a place it was for such 
a purpose ; as being; (1.) open to the heaven, whence 
the sheet seemed to descend ; (2.) private, and at that 
time secluded, fit for prayer. David walked on his 
terrace ; Nebuchadnezzar walked on his royal ter- 
race, whence he could have a full prospect of " the 
great Babylon which he had built." Absalom defiled 
his father's wives on the terrace of the royal palace ; 
that is, in the open sight of heaven and of men. 

We have repeated intimations in Scripture, of a 
custom which would be extremely inconvenient in 
this country — that of sleeping on the top of the house, 
exposed to the open air, and sky. Thus, " Samuel 
came to call Saul about the spring of the day, not to, 
but on, the top of the house, and communed with 
him on the house-top," 1 Sam. ix. 25, 26. So Solo- 
mon observes, " It is better to dwell in a corner on 
the house-top, than with a brawling woman in a wide 
house," Prov. xxv. 24. "It has ever been a custom 
with them, [the Arabs in the East,] equally connect- 
ed with health and pleasure, to pass the nights in 
summer upon the house-tops, which, for this very 
purpose, are made flat, and divided from each other 
by walls. We found this way of sleeping extremely 
agreeable ; as we thereby enjoyed the cool air, above 
the reach of gnats and vapors, without anv other 
covering than the canopy of the heavens, which un- 
avoidably presents itself in different pleasing forms, 
upon every interruption of rest, when silence and 
solitude strongly dispose the mind to contemplation." 
(Wood's Balbec, Introduction.) " I determined he 
should lodge in a kiosk, on the top of my house, 
where I kept him till his exaltation to the patriarch- 
ate, which, after a long negotiation, my wife's brother 
obtained, for a pretty large sum of money, to be paid 
in new sequins." (Baron du Tott, vol. i. p. 83.) The 
propriety of the Mosaic precept, (Deut.xxii. 8.) which 
orders a kind of balustrade, or parapet, to surround 
the roof, lest any man should fall thence, is strongly 
enforced by this relation ; for, if we suppose a person 
to rise in the night, without being fully awake, he 
might easily kill himself by falling from the roof. 
Something of the kind appears in the history of Am- 
aziah, 2 Kings i. 2. In several places we read of 
grass growing on the house-tops ; (see Grass ;) also 
of persons on the house-top hastily escaping thence 
without entering the house to secure their property 
— as if hastily awaked out of sleep, by the clamors 
of an invading enemy. 

There remains to be noticed something of the in- 
ternal structure of these houses ; so far, at least, as is 



necessary to elucidate some occurrences mentioned 
in Scripture. 

" In one of the halls of the seraglio at Constanti- 
nople," says De la Motraye, " the eunuch made us 
pass by several little chambers, with doors shut, like 
the cells of monks or nuns, as far as I could judge 
by one that another eunuch opened, which was the 
only one I saw ; and by the outside of others." (Vol. 
ii. p. 170.) " Assan Firally Bachaw — 'being summon- 
ed by his friends — came out of a little house near the 
towers, where he had been long hidden in his harem, 
which, had it been suspected by the mufti, he had 
not denied his fetfa to the emperor, for seizing his 
person, even there." — " The harems are sanctuaries, 
as sacred and inviolable, for persons pursued by jus- 
tice, for any crime, debt, &c. as the Roman Catholic 




churches in Italy, Spain, or Portugal ; though the 
grand seignior's power over his creatures is such, that 
he may send some of his eunuchs even there, to ap- 
prehend those who resist his will." (Vol. i. p. 242. 
Note.) " The harems of the Greeks are almost as 
sacred as those of the Turks ; so that the officers of 
justice dare not enter, without being sure that a man 
is there, contrary to the law : and if they should go in, 
and not find what they look for, the woman may 
punish, and even kill them, without being molested 
for any infringement of the law : on the contrary, the 
relations would have a right to make reprisals, and 
demand satisfaction for such violence." (p. 340.) 
Those persons who have not seen the cells of monks, 
or nuns, in foreign countries, may conceive of a long 
gallery, or other spacious apartment, as a large hall, 
or gallery, into which the doors of the cells open. 
So it appears, that in the East, also, we must first pass 
through a long hall, or gallery, before we can enter 
the peculiar abode of any particular woman of the 
harem. We may first apply this mode of dwelling 
to a circumstance threatened by the prophet Micaiah r 
to his opponent, Zedekiah, in 1 Kings xxii. 25 r 
" Thou shalt go into an inner chamber, to hide thy- 
self." Our translators have put in the margin, " from 
chamber to chamber." — The Hebrew is " chamber 
ivithin chamber ;" which exactly agrees with the de- 



I 



HOUSE [ 511 i HOUSE 



ecription extracted from Motraye ; but it is new, to 
consider this threat as predicting that Zedekiah 
should fly for shelter to a harem ; (as we find Assan 
Firally Bachaw had done ;) that his fear should ren- 
der him, {is it were, effeminate, and that he should 
seek refuge where it was not usual for a man to seek 
it; where neither "the officers of justice," nor even 
those of conquerors, usually penetrated. There is 
an additional disgrace, a sting in these words, if this 
be the intention of the speaker, stronger than what 
has hitherto been noticed in them. Is not something 
similar, also, related of Benhadad, in 1 Kings xx. 30, 
"He fled" and was so overcome with fear, that he 
hid himself in " a chamber within chamber ?" As it 
is very characteristic of braggarts and drunkards (see 
verses 16, 18, &c.) to be mentally overwhelmed, 
when in adversity, may we suppose that Benhadad 
was now concealed in the harem? — The circum- 
stances following dr not militate against this suppo- 
sition. That the word cheder means a woman's 
chamber, appears from Judg. xv. 1, where Samson 
says, "I will go to my wife into her chamber" 
(n-nnn.) (See also Cant. iii. 4.) 

Does not this representation also illustrate the story 
of Michal's stratagem to save David ? (1 Sam. xix. 12, 
&c.) — in which we observe, that, to effect his purpose, 
Saul sent messengers to Michal ; but these messen- 
gers treated the harem of Michal (the king's daughter) 
with too much respect to enter it at first : but, being 
subsequently authorized by Saul, they entered even 
into her chamber, and during the delay occasioned 
by their respect for the privacy of Michal, David es- 
caped. How urgent was this order of Saul, which 
thus, in the person of his daughter, violated the pro- 
priety and decorum due to the sex ! A confirmation 
of this idea may be deduced from baron du Tott ; in 
whose work we find a sick prince confined to the 
harem of his palace : " Krim Gueray [the cham of' 
the Crimea] was so weak, he scarcely could appear 
in public; but the artful physician declared it a salu- 
tary crisis, describing the symptoms as they followed, 
and warranted a cure. Krim Gueray, however, was 
confined to his harem ; and I was justly terrified at 
his situation. I had lost all hope, and never expected 
more to see the cham, when he sent for me, to come 
and speak to him. I was introduced into his harem, 
where I found several of his women, whose grief, and 
the general consternation, had made them forget to 
retire. I entered the apartment where the cham 
lay . . . ." (Vol. i. part iii. p. 209.) 

This sanctity of the harem agrees also with the 
story of Jael and Sisera :— for, doubtless, Sisera ex- 
pected the greatest security, by retiring into the pe- 
culiarly private tent of Jael ; and certainly, if the 
harems of the Greeks (a conquered and despised na- 
tion) are now "almost as sacred as those of the 
Turks," the private tent of the wife of Heber, the 
Kenite, might have been esteemed a sanctuary, suf- 
ficiently secure from intrusion among the Israelites, 
with whom she was in alliance. 

By means of this construction of cells, or chamber 
within chamber, Mr. Taylor also proposes to elucidate 
the account of Samson and Delilah, (Judg. xvi. 9.) 
which is generally explained by means of an alcove 
to contain the bed, in the chamber. But it is sub- 
mitted, whether the idea of chamber within cham- 
ber does not better suit this history than that of an 
alcove, separating (or separated from) part of the 
chamber; — whether it do not allow more conve- 
niences for concealment, as well as for requisite op- ! 
erations, and is not more conformable to that decency, | 



of which the appearance, at least, was necessary to 
deceive Samson, and to elude the consequences of 
his wrath, if he had discovered his enemies in their 
ambush. 

There seems to be an allusion to the kind of cham- 
bers (wide house, horise of chambers) which we have 
been describing, in Prov. xxv. 24. q. d. "If a per- 
son, by good fortune, should dwell in the most dis- 
tant chamber of the gallery, from a quarrelling 
woman, yet her contention will disturb the whole 
dwelling, and every one of its inhabitants will suffer 
by their troublesome neighbor, who will either spread 
the flame of strife from chamber to chamber, or an- 
noy the whole gallery by her brawls and squabbles." 

The houses of the poorer class of people in the 
East are very bad constructions, consisting of mud 
walls, reeds, and rushes ; whence they become apt 
comparisons to the fragility of human life ; and as 
mud, slime, or at best unburnt brick, is used in form- 
ing the walls, the expression (Job xxiv. 16.) of "dig- 
ging through houses " is easily accounted for ; as is 
the behavior of Ezekiel, (chap. xii. 5.) who dug 
through such a wall in the sight of the people ; where- 
by, as may be imagined, he did little injury to his 
house, notwithstanding which, the symbol was very 
expressive to the beholders. Niebuhr describes and 
represents an Arabian hut, in Yemen, composed of 
stakes, and plastered with clay. To such a one Job 
seems to allude : (chap. iv. 19.) "God putteth no 
confidence in his angels ; how much less in them 
who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in 
the dust ; who are crushed by a moth striking against 
them !" He compares the human body and consti- 
tution to one of these tenements of clay, by reason of 
its speedy dissolution, under any one accident of the 
many to which it is exposed. How uncertain is 
health, strength, favor ! — a breeze of wind too strong, 
a shower of rain too heavy, often produces disorders 
which demolish the tenement. The appearance of 
this hut seems to imply the very contrary of dura- 
bility ; and, indeed, those houses made of merely 
dried clay, are often endangered by a shower of rain, 
if it be of any continuance. Such a house, only set, 
as it were, on the ground, would easily be swept away 
by one of those torrents which in the rainy season 
burst from the hills, according to our Lord's descrip- 
tion, in Matt. vii. 27. 

Heaven is considered as the house of God : (John 
xiv. 2.) "In my Father's house are many mansions." 

The grave is the house appointed for all the living, 
Job xxx. 23 ; Isa. xiv. 18. 

House is taken for the body: (2 Cor. v. 1.) "If 
our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved;" 
if our bodies were taken to pieces by death. The 
comparison of the body to a house is used by Mr. 
Harmer to explain the similes, EceL xii. and is illus- 
trated by a passage in Plautus, Mostell. Act i. Scene 2, 

The church of God is his house: (1 Tim. iii. 15.) 
"How thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house 
of God, that is, the church of the living God." In 
the same sense, Moses was faithful in all the house of 
God, as a servant, but Christ as a son over his own 
house ; whose house are we (Christians). But this 
sense may include that of household, persons com- 
posing the attendants, or retainers to a prince, &c 
(See Household.) This intimate reference of house 
or dwelling, to the adherents, intimates, or partisans 
of the householder, is, probably, the foundation of 
the simile used by the apostle Peter: (1 Epist. ii. 5.) 
"Ye (Christians), as living stones are built up into a 
spiritual house." 



HOUSEHOLD [ 512 ] HUM 



HOUSEHOLD. The word house is frequently 
used in Scripture to denote a family or household. 
Thus the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house, Gen. 
xii. 17. What is my house, that thou hast brought 
me hitherto ? 2 Sam. vii. 18. So Joseph (Luke i. 
27 ; ii. 4.) was of the house of David, but more es- 
pecially he was of his royal lineage, or family ; and, 
as we conceive, in the direct line or eldest branch of 
the family; so that he was next of kin to the throne, 
if the government had still continued in possession of 
the descendants of David. (See also 1 Tim. v. 8.) 

The following extracts have a bearing upon this 
sense of the word house, and illustrate the passages 
to which they are referred : " This Turk, accustomed 
to see me employed by the grand seignior, intrusted 
me with all his intended military operations, and 
made no doubt but I should exert myself in the re- 
duction of the rebels of the Morea. The army he 
had collected, the command of which he designed 
for me, was only composed of volunteers; his do- 
mestics were of the number; and this body appeared 
more animated with the expectation of plunder than 
the love of glory." (Baron du Tott, vol. ii. p. 152, 
part 4.) This extract is very similar to the history 
in Gen. xiv. 14: "Abraham armed his trained ser- 
vants, born in his house, [born among his property,] 
three hundred and eighteen." The number of these 
domestics can occasion no difficulty ; many grandees 
in the East have at least an equal number in their 
households, or under their orders. 

As to the numbers engaged by great men in the 
East, either in the household, or in other services, 
there is no room to doubt that they are very con- 
siderable, and much beyond what European man- 
ners are accustomed to. " The most powerful house 
is that of Ibrahim Bey, who has about six hundred 
Mamlouks. Next to him is Manrod, who has not 
above four hundred; but who, by his audacity and 
prodigality, forms a counterpoise to the insatiable 
avarice of his rival. The rest of the beys, to the 
number of eighteen or twenty, have each of them 
from fifty to two hundred. Besides these, there is a 
great number of Mamlouks who may be called indi- 
vidual, who, being sprung from houses which are ex- 
tinct, attach themselves sometimes to one, and some- 
times to another, as they find it their interest, and are 
always ready to enter into the service- of the best 
bidder." (Volney, vol. i. p. 116.) 

Niebuhr says, (Descrip. Arab. p. 264,) "Bel arrab 
ben Sultan, brother of Seif ben Sultan, two sons of 
Seif beu Sultan, and probably many other of the fam- 
ily of former imams, live as private individuals in 
the country of the imam; nevertheless, s> sufficiently 
respectable, that Bel arrab is able to maintain, by his 
revenues, from three to four hundred slaves ;" — con- 
sequently, he must have many " born in his house ;" 
and these he might arm, on occasion ; for Niebuhr 
mentions, a few lines lower, that " the slaves and 
soldiers of imam Seif ben Sultan had been infamous 
robbers." 

That the term house expresses property, see 1 
Kings xiii. 8, compared with Psalm cv. 21. Joseph 
had been over Potiphar's house, i. e. his property 
generally, before he was placed, by Pharaoh, in the 
same office of superintendence over the royal prop- 
erty, or house. 

ft should be observed, that in the New Testament 
there are two Greek words which our translators 
have rendered both house and household: in their 
time usage did not separate them. . The first (olzoc) 
signifies the immediate family of the householder ; 



the other [olxia) includes his servants also ; and they 
are not interchanged, in respect to persons, in the 
original. Hence we never read of vixiu as being bap- 
tized, but of otxog only: the children following their 
parents in this rite ; but not the servants their pro- 
prietor, master, or mistress. 

HUKOK, a city of Asher ; the same probably as 
that of Naphtali, (Josh. xix. 34.) yielded to the Levites, 
and assigned for a city of refuge, 1 Chron. vi. 75. 
Some think it is the same with Helkath, Josh. xix. 
25 ; xxi. 31. 

HULDAH, a prophetess, wife of Shallum, who was 
consulted by Josiah concerning the book of the law, 
which had been found in the treasury of the temple. 
See Josiah. 

HUMILITY is the virtue of Christ and Christians. 
It consists in low thoughts of ourselves, founded on 
the knowledge of our unworthiness, and our depend- 
ence on God for every thing. " Learn of me," says 
our Saviour, " for I am meek and lowly iD heart," 
Matt. xi. 29. Humility, though it be not overmuch 
in favor among men, has many excellent things said 
of it in Scripture: " Before honor is humility ;" (Prov. 
xv. 33.) " by humility, and the fear of the Lord, are 
riches, honor, and life," ch. xxii. 4. Humility is a 
settled and permanent disposition of the mind, which 
shows itself in external actions, and is very express- 
ively alluded to by the apostle Peter: (1 Epist. v. 5.) 
" Be clothed with humility" — as with an outer, de- 
fensive garment, tied closely upon the wearer; — 
implying that the humility of Christians should con- 
stantly be manifested in their deportment and beha- 
vior — should constantly envelope every other grace, 
or excellence, or amiable quality, which they may 
possess or practise ; as a surtout envelopes inner gar- 
ments ; like a strong covering, bound around them 
and attached to them by the firmest connections ; by 
connections proof against temptations, calamities, or 
far more dangerous adversaries — prosperities. With 
reference to Luke i. 48, it may be inquired, whether 
the " low estate " of the Virgin referred to her dispo- 
sition of mind or to her situation in life. The word 
Tuni'tvwatv occurs also in Acts viii. 33: "In his hu- 
miliation his judgment was taken away." Also in 
Philip, iii. 21 : "Who shall change the body of our 
abasement ('vile body') to the likeness of his glorious 
body." And James i. 9, 10: "Let the humbled, 
abased brother glory in his exaltation ; [Eng. tr. 
" brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted"] 
but the rich in that he is abased, humbled, made 
low." Now, in this passage it seems clearly to refer 
to a disposition of mind ; for no man is called to re- 
joice in loss of wealth, or of property: but he may 
well and wisely rejoice in receiving an humble dis 
position of mind, as a divine grace, or which is im 
parted by divine grace, and which will lead him to 
think less vainly, less superciliously of his riches than 
previously, and to value them less. Moreover, if the 
poor brother is to rejoice in attaining that state which 
this person is to rejoice at quitting, then there seems 
to be a contradiction in the spirit of the precepts 
but as one brother may possess a mind exalted by 
divine grace, yet continue poor in the world ; so an- 
other brother may possess a mind humbled by divine 
grace, notwithstanding the temptation to which his 
worldly riches subject him. This is, indeed, imprac- 
ticable to man, but practicable to God. If this sense 
of the word be admitted, it does not follow from the 
use of it in the Virgi "s song, that her station in life 
is described by it, diterminately and exclusively 
whatever Erasmus might insist on. 



HUS 



[ 513 j 



HUS 



That there may be a vicious or bastard khiu of hu- 
mility, or that humility may exceed in degree or in 
object, would appear from the apostle's caution (Col. 

ii. 18.) against an overweening, voluntary humility, 
a humility which might refer to the agents of God 
what should be referred only to God himself. This 
kind of supposititious humility has its origin in real 
pride, "being vainly puffed up of a fleshly mind;" 
swelled by carnal and inadequate conceptions and 
fancies, totally misbecoming the subject. 

To humble signifies often to afflict, to subject, to 
beat, to subdue, 2 Sam. viii. 1 ; Ps. lxxi. 4. To hum- 
ble a virgin, or a woman taken in war, signifies to 
pollute her honor, Deut. xxi. 14 ; xxii. 24, 25 ; Lam. 
v. 11 ; Ezek. xxii. 10. 

HUNTING, To HUNT. Hunting is a kind of 
apprenticeship to war, and an imitation of the haz- 
ards and occurrences of the chase. Nimrod was a 
mighty hunter before God, Gen. x. 9. He was a war- 
rior, a conqueror, a tyrant, who subdued free people, 
and who put to death those who would not submit 
to his dominion. The prophets sometimes depict 
war under the idea of hunting: "I will send for 
many hunters," says Jeremiah, "and they shall hunt 
them from every mountain, and from every hill, and 
out of the holes of the rocks," ch. xvi. 16. He speaks 
of the Chaldeans, or Persians, who hunted or subdued 
the Jews, and held them under their dominion. Some 
are of opinion that these hunters are the Persians, 
who set the Hebrews at liberty ; and, in a more ele- 
vated sense, the apostles, who are, as it were, hunters, 
that endeavored to take men with their preaching. 
Ezekiel also (xxxii. 30.) speaks of the kings, who were 
persecutors of the Jews, under the name of hunters. 
The psalmist thanks God for having delivered him 
from the snares of the hunters, [Eng. tr. "fowler,"] 
Ps. xci. 3. Micah complains (vii. 2.) that every one 
lays ambuscades for his neighbor, and that one brother 
hunts after another to destroy him. Jeremiah (Lam. 

iii. 52.) represents Jerusalem as complaining of her 
enemies, who have taken her, like a bird, in their nets. 

I. HUR, son of Caleb, of Esron, and, according to 
Josephus, husband of Miriam, sister of Moses. We 
know but few particulars concerning his life ; but by 
the little which Scripture relates, we see that Moses 
had a great affection for him. When he had sent 
Joshua against the Amalekites, he went up the moun- 
tain with Hur and Aaron, (Exod. xvii. 10.) and while 
he lifted up his hands in prayer, Aaron and Hur sup- 
ported his arms, to prevent their growing weary. 
When he ascended mount Sinai to receive the law, 
he referred the elders, if any difficulty should arise, 
to Aaron and Hur, chap. xxiv. 14. Hur was the 
father of Uri, and Uri was the father of Bezaliel. 

II. HUR, a prince of Midian, killed in an encoun- 
ter between Phinehas and the Midianites, Numb, 
xxxi. 8. 

HUSBAND, a married man, the house-band, or 
band which connects the whole family, and keeps it 
together. Johnson refers the term to the Runic, 
house-bonda, master of the house ; but several of his 
instances seem allied to the sense of binding together, 
or assembling into union. So we say, to husband 
small portions of things ; meaning, to collect and unite 
them, to manage them to the greatest advantage, &c. 
which is, by associating them together ; making the 
most of them, not by dispersion, but by union. A 
man who was betrothed, but not actually married, 
was esteemed a husband, Matt. i. 16, 20 ; Luke ii. 5. 
A man recently married was exempt from going 
out to war; (Deut. xx. 7; xxiv. 5.) yet we have, in 
65 



Homer, instances of young men slain, whose brides 
waited for them at home ; or, who had plighted their 
troth to their spouses, but were never more to see them. 

The husband is described as the head of his wife, 
and as having control over her conduct, so as to su- 
persede her vows, &c. Numb.xxx. 6 : — 8. He is also 
the guide of her youth, Prov. ii. 17. Sarah called 
her husband Abraham lord ; a title which was con- 
tinued long after, Hos. ii. 16 : [baali, my lord.] The 
apostle Peter seems to recommend it as a title im- 
plying great respect, as well as affection, 1 Pet. iii. 6. 
Perhaps it was rather used as an appellation in public 
than in private. Our own word, master, (and so 
correlatively mistress,) is sometimes used by married 
women, when speaking of their husbands ; but the 
ordinary use made of this word to all persons, and 
on all occasions, deprives it of any claim to the ex- 
pression of particular affection or respect ; though it 
was probably in former ages implied by it, or con- 
nected with it ; as it still is in the instances of pro- 
prietors, chiefs, teachers, and superiors, whether in 
civil life, in polite arts, or in liberal studies. 

HUSBANDMAN, one whose profession and labor 
is to cultivate the earth ; to dress it, to render it fer- 
tile, and generally to manage it. This is the most 
noble, as well as the most ancient of all professions : 
it was begun by Adam, resumed by Noah, and has 
been always the most comfortable state of human life. 

God is compared to a husbandman, (John xv. 1 ; 
1 Cor. iii. 9.) and the simile of land carefully culti- 
vated, or of a vineyard carefully dressed, is often 
used in the sacred writings. The art of husbandry 
is from God, says the prophet Isaiah, (xxviii.24 — 28.) 
and the various operations of it are each in their sea- 
son. The sowing of seed, the waiting for harvest, 
the in-gathering when ready, the storing up in grana- 
ries, and the use of the products of the earth, afford 
many points of comparison, of apt figures, and simili- 
tudes in Scripture. The course of husbandry in the 
East differs greatly from that among us. See Thrash- 
ing, <fec. 

HUSHAI, the Archite, David's friend. Being in- 
formed of Absalom's rebellion, and that David was 
obliged to fly from Jerusalem, he met him on an emi- 
nence without the city, with his clothes rent, and his 
head covered with earth. David suggested, that if 
he went with him, he would be a burden to him 
but that he might do him important service, if he 
remained, and pretended to be in Absalom's interest, 
in order to defeat the counsel of Ahathophel, 2 Sam. 
xv. 32, &c. Hushai, therefore, returned to Jerusalem, 
and by defeating the counsel of Ahithophel, and gain- 
ing time for David, to whom he sent advices, was the 
cause of Ahithophel's suicide, and of Absalom's mis- 
carriage, chap. xvi. 16 — 19 ; xvii. 5, &c. 

HUSHAM, king of Edom, successor to Jobab, Gen. 
xxxvi. 34. 

HUSKS, (KtQuTia, siliqua,) shells, as of peas or 
beans. The prodigal son, oppressed by want, and 
pinched by hunger, desired to feed on the husks 
given to the hogs, Luke xv. 16. Most interpreters are 
of opinion that the Greek word signifies carob-beans, 
the fruit of a tree of the same name ; Ceratonia Siliqua 
of Linnaeus. There was a sort of wine or liquor, 
much used in Syria, drawn from it, and the lees of 
it were given to the hogs. The Greeks and Latins 
both name carob-beans Ceratia; and Pliny, as well 
as the Vulgate, calls them Siliquce. This fruit is com- 
mon in Palestine, Greece, Italy, Provence, and Bar- 
bary : it is suffered to ripen and grow dry on the tree ; 
the poor eat it, and cattle are fattened with it. The 



HYJE 



[ 514 1 



HYM 



tree is of a middle size, full of branches, and abound- 
ing with round leaves, an inch or two in diameter. 
The blossoms are little red clusters, with abundance 
of yellowish stalks. The fruits are flat pods, from 
half a foot to fourteen incljes long, and an inch and 
a half broad : they are brown at the top, sometimes 
crooked, composed of two husks, separated by mem- 
branes into several cells, and containing flat, shining 
seeds, something like those of cassia. The substance 
of these husks is filled with a sweetish, honey-like 
kind of juice, not unlike that of the pith of cassia. 
In all probability, its crooked figure occasioned its be- 
ing called, in Greek, Keratia, which signifies little 
horns. 

HYACINTH. By this word we understand, (1.) a 
precious stone ; (2.) a sort of flower; and, (3.) a par- 
ticular color. The flower hyacinth is not spoken of 
in Scripture, but the color and the stone of this name 
are. The spouse compares her beloved's hands to 
gold rings set with hyacinth, (Cant. v. 14.) [Eng. tr. 
beryl] ; and John (Rev. xxi. 20.) says, that the 
eleventh foundation of the heavenly Jerusalem is of 
a hyacinth [Eng. tr. jacinth]. There are four sorts 
of hyacinths. The first is something of the color of 
a ruby; the second is of a gilded yellow; the third 
of a citron yellow; the fourth the color of a granite. 
The Hebrew of Canticles, instead of hyacinth, reads 
the stone of Tarshish, c»cnn ; mentioned also in Exod. 
xxviii. 20. [Eng. tr. beryl.] We do not certainly 
know what stone it is ; but interpreters generally ex- 
plain it of the chrysolite, or the yellow topaz of mod- 
ern travellers. It took the name of Tarshish because 
brought from that country, i.e. from the vicinity of Ca- 
diz. Spain is rich in topazes, rubies, and other gems. 

Of the hyacinth color — according to the most 
learned interpreters, an azure blue, or very deep pur- 
ple, like a violet color — Moses often speaks ; as Ex. 

xxvi. 4, 31 ; Num. iv. 6, seq. ; also Ezek. xxiii. 6 ; 

xxvii. 7, 24 ; where the English version renders, blue. 
It was dyed with the blood of a shell-fish ; in Latin, 
murex, in Hebrew, chilson. 

HYAENA, a wild beast. The animal known to us 
as the hyaena is a quadruped almost as large as a 
wolf, whose hair is rough, and its skin spotted or 
streaked. Hyaenas were formerly produced at Rome 
in the public games, and they are represented on 
ancient medals. Pliny speaks of the hyaena, but de- 
scribes it in a fabulous manner ; (Nat. Hist. lib. viii. 
cap. 30; lib. xviii. cap. 8.) as, that it changes its sex 
every year, being one year male, and the next fe- 
male ; and that from its eyes are taken precious 
stones, called hyena. Aristotle and yElian say, that 
it makes dogs dumb with its shadow ; that it imitates 
the speech of mankind, and deceives them, endeav- 
oring to draw them out of their houses and devour 
them. They add, that it has feet like a man's, and 
no vertebra? in the neck. Busbequius, in his travels 
to Amasia, (p. 76.) says the hyaena is almost like a 
wolf, but not so tall ; that its hair is like that of a 
wolf, except in being more bristling, and marked at 
certain distances with great black spots. It has no 
length of neck, but is forced to turn itself quite round 
when it would look behind. It is very cruel and vo- 
racious ; drags dead bodies out of their graves, and 
devours them; instead of teeth, has one continued 
bone in the jaw. It is said to imitate the voice of a 
man, and by this it often deceives travellers. 

It is singular that a creature so w«Jl known in the 
East as the hyaena is, should be so seldom mentioned 
in Scripture. It is understood to be named in two 
places only ; the first is 1 Sam. xiii. 18, " the valley 



of Zeboim," which Aquila renders " of the hyaenas ;" 
the second place is Jer. xii. 9, where the LXX render 
the "speckled bird" of our translation by "the cave 
of the hyaena." Bochart labors to introduce the 
hyaena in this place, and Scheuchzer also inclines 
this way. They would render, "My heritage is unto 
me as a fierce hyaena ; all the beasts round about are 
against her;" which is then entirely parallel with 
verse 8. (See under Birds.) The hyaena is the ani- 
mal most probable to be this tzebua, at present; and 
as such we receive it. "It is well known at Aleppo," 
says Russel ; " lives in the hills, at no great distance 
from town, and is held in great horror ; is the size 
of a large dog ; is remarkably striped or streaked ; 
has much similitude to the wolf, in nature and form ; 
but has only four toes on each foot, in which it is 
very nearly singular; is extremely wild, sullen, and 
ferocious; will sometimes attack men; rushes with 
great fury on flocks and cattle; ransacks graves; 
devours dead bodies, &c. ; is untamable." 

We suggest the possibility that that very obscure 
animal, the sheeb, may be the tzebua of this place. 
Russel (vol. ii. p. 185.) gives the following account of 
it : " The natives talk of another animal, named sheeb, 
which they consider as distinct from the wolf, and 
reckon more ferocious. Its bite is said to be mortal, 
and that it occasions raving madness before death . . . 
is like a wolf ... is perhaps only a mad wolf. Long 
intervals elapse in which nothing is heard of the 
sheeb. In 1772, the fore-part and tail of one was 
brought from Spheery to Dr. Freer. It was shot 
near Spheery; was one of several that had followed 
the Bassora caravan over the desert, from near Bas- 
sora to Aleppo. Many persons in the caravan had 
been bitten, all of whom died in a short time, raving 
mad. It was reported that some near Aleppo were 
bitten, and died in like manner; but the doctor saw 
none himself. The circumference of the body and 
neck rather exceeded that of the wolf. Color yel- 
lowish gray." As this creature was scarce, (never 
seen by Dr. Russel or his brother,) this may account 
for the rare insertion of it in Scripture, and the igno- 
rance of travellers. It would seem rather to accord 
with the accounts we sometimes see of mad wolves 
or hyaanas. Were a mad dog to establish himself 
in any person's house among us, would he and his 
family not be terrified, and abandon it? 

HYMENvEUS was probably a citizen of Ephesus, 
converted by some of the early discourses of Paul. 
He fell afterwards into the heresy which denied the 
resurrection of the body, and said it was already ac- 
complished, 2 Tim. ii. 17. Augustin thinks that the 
error of such opinions consisted in saying, there was 
no resurrection beside that of the soul, which by 
faith, profession, and baptism is revived from sin to 
grace. Paul informs Timothy that he had excom- 
municated Hyinenaeus, and given him over to Satan, 
1 Tim. i. 20. Two years afterwards, Hymenaeus en- 
gaged with Philetus in some new error, 2 Tim. ii. 17. 
We know nothing of the end of Hymenaeus. 

HYMN, a religious song or poem. The word is 
used as synonymous with canticle, song, or psalm, 
which the Hebrews scarcely distinguish, having no 
particular term for a hymn, as distinct from a psalm 
or canticle. Paul requires Christians to entertain one 
another with "psalms and hymns, and spiritual 
songs." Matthew says, that Christ having supped, 
sung a hymn, and went out. He probably recited 
the hymns or psalms which the Jews used to sing 
after the Passover, which they called the Halal ; that 
is, the Hallelujah Psalms. 



HYPERBOLE 



[ 515 ] 



HY PERBOLE 



HYPERBOLIC language is among the loftiest 
flights of poetic composition — of unrestrained imagi- 
nation ; and it prevails principally among those who 
are in the habit of associating combinations of fan- 
cied imagery ; or those who, being well acquainted 
witli the ideas drawn from natural things, which it 
means to convey, readily admit such exalted phrase- 
ology, because they understand its import and the 
intention of the author who employs it. On the con- 
trary, those who have little or no acquaintance with 
the natural ideas meant to be conveyed by hyper- 
bolical extravagauces, are always surprised, and 
sometimes shocked, when they meet with them in 
works where simple truth is the object of the reader's 
researches. Hyperbolic expressions are but rare in 
Scripture, though figurative or poetic expressions are 
abundant ; rare as they are, however, they have been 
severely commented on by infidels, and have occa- 
sionally embarrassed believers. There is certainly 
some force in the reflection, " What would infidels 
have said, had it pleased God to have chosen eastern 
Asia, instead of western Asia, for the seat of revela- 
tion ? What would they have thought of the most 
correct truth, had it happened, under the influence 
of such locality, to have been arrayed in the hyper- 
bolic attire of that country ?" 

By making western Asia the seat of revelation, a 
nedium is obtained between European frigidity, as 
Asiatics would think it, and Asiatic hyperbole, as 
Europeans would think it : so that the Asiatic may 
find some similarity to his own metaphorical maimer, 
and suited to excite his attention ; while the Euro- 
pean, who professes to be charmed with the sim- 
plicity of truth, may find in Scripture abundance of 
that simplicity, most happily adapted to his more 
sober judgment, his more correct and better regu- 
lated taste. Add to this remark two other hints: 
(1.) There is no reason to think the Scripture writers 
imitated, in any degree, the authors of the passages 
produced below, though their mode of expression is 
sometimes strikingly similar; (2.) that however, in 
complimenting (or in describing) mortal men, kings, 
and heroes, Indian poetry may succeed by the use of 
hyperbole, yet the Hebrew writers, when describing 
Deity, employ, beyond all controversy, a style much 
more pleasing to genuine and correct taste. 

Without supposing that all readers will feel the 
effect intended to be produced by the foregoing re- 
marks, it is hoped that the style of the following ex- 
tracts may moderate the surprise of some at certain 
poetic phrases which occur in Holy Writ. They are 
transcribed from the Asiatic Researches: "Riches 
and life are two things more movable than a drop 
of water trembling on the leaf of a lotos, [the water- 
lily,] shaken by the wind." For similar ideas, see 
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, &c. " Gospaat, king of 
the world, possessed matchless good fortune : he was 
lord of two brides, the earth and her wealth. When 
his innumerable army marched, the heavens were so 
filled with the dust of their feet, that the birds of the 
air could rest upon it." (Compare Nahum i. 3, 
"The clouds are the dust of his feeV) " At Mood- 
goghreree, where is encamped his victorious army ; 
across whose river a bridge of boats is constructed 
for a road, which is mistaken for a chain of moun- 
tains ; where immense herds of elephants, like thick 
black clouds, so darken the face of day, the people 
think it the season of the rains; whither the princes 
of the north send so many troops of horse, that the 
dust of their hoofs spreads darkness on all sides ; 
whither resort so many mighty chiefs of Iumbod- 



weep, to pay their respects, that the ea th sinks be- 
neath the weight of their attendants.' After (his, 
how flat and low is the fulsome boast of the haughty 
Sennacherib ! 2 Kings xix. 24. " Whea the foot of 
the goddess, with its tinkling ornamenit ^compare 
Isa. iii. 18, the Lord will take away the oravery of 
their tinkling ornaments about their feet,] was planted 
on the head of (the evil spirit) Maheeshasoor, all the 
bloom of the new-born flower of the fountain (the 
lotos) was dispersed with disgrace by its superior 
beauty. May that foot, radiant with a fringe of reful- 
gent beams, issuing from its pure bright nails, [com- 
pare Hab. iii. God's ' brightness was as the light ; he 
had horns coming out of his hand;'' i. e. refulgent 
beams issuing from the hollow of it ; ' where was 
the concealment of his power,'] endue you with a 
steady and unexampled devotion, offered up with 
fruits ; an 1 show you the way to dignity and wealth." 
For other instances of resplendence attending Deity, 
see the reflective lustre of Moses, Exod. xxxiv. 29, 
and of our Lord, Mark ix. 15 ; also Acts ix. 3. It is 
probable that all these ideas may ultimately be re- 
ferred to appearances of the. Shekinah. See also 
Rev. i. 15 : " His eyes were as a flame of fire ; his 
feet resplendent as fine brass, burning in a furnace ; 
his countenance as the sun shining in its strength ;'' 
so greatly was it radiant, &c. 

The expression of Habakkuk, above quoted, w» 
nearly a transcript of the verse of Moses, Deut. xxxiiv 
2 : " From his right hand issued [not a fiery law, but 
fiery streams — rather radiant streams of refuJgen 
splendor, unto them.'''' 

" There the sun shines not, nor the moon and start 
there the lightnings flash not: how should even fin 
blaze there ? God irradiates all this bright substance 
and by its effulgence the universe is enlightened." — 
(Compare Isa. Ix. 19.) "The sun shall be no more 
thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon 
give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto 
thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory," 
&c. — " The city had no need of the sun, neither of the 
moon to shine in it, for the gU-ry of God did enlighten 
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof," Rev. xxii. 

Herodotus records a remarkable hyperbole, of 
which he did not penetrate the meaning; he inserts 
it indeed, but professes his disbelief of it : " In Ara- 
bia is a large river named Corys, which loses itself 
in the Red sea ; from this river the Arabian king is 
said to have formed a canal of the skins of oxen and 
other animals, sewed together, which was continued 
from the river to the desert, a journey of twelve clays, 
in three distinct canals." (Thalia ix.) Those who 
have perused the article on bottles will be at no loss 
to understand the nature of " the skins of oxen, &c. 
sewed together," i.e. the Girba; and the "canal" is, 
probably, merely an hyperbolical expression for a 
very long train of camels, &c. bearing a very plen- 
tiful supply of water, and journeying in three di- 
visions. We meet with an hyperbole exactly similar 
in Ockley's History of the Saracens : (vol. i. p. 314.) 
"Omar wrote to Amrou, acquainting him with their 
extremity, and ordered him to supply the Arabs with 
corn out of Egypt; which Amrou did in such plenty, 
that the train of camels, which were loaden with it, 
reached in a continued line from Egypt to Medina ; 
so that when the foremost of them were got to Me- 
dina, the latter part of the gang were still in the 
bounds of Egypt." — Now this, being a journey of 
forty days, and six or seven degrees of latitude, is 
evidently impossible, even if all the camels in the 
world had been collected on the spot. It imports no 



HYS [ 516 ] HYSSOP 



more, in plain language, than that by the time the 
first troop of camels might be supposed to have 
reached the place of their destination, the last troop 
quitted Egypt. How necessary it is to understand 
the figurative language of a people, which often, if 
not commonly, arises from local peculiarities ! 

HYPOCRITE, one who feigns to be what he is not; 
one who puts on a false person, like actors in trage- 
dies and comedies. The epithet is generally applied 
to those who assume the appearances of a virtue, 
without possessing the reality. Our Saviour accused 
the Pharisees of hypocrisy. In the Old Testament, 
the HebreWrpn, chaneph, which is rendered hypo- 
crite, counterfeit, signifies also a profane, wicked 
man ; a man polluted or corrupted ; a man of im- 
piety, a deceiver, Job viii. 13; xiii. 16, &c. Jere- 
miah (iii. 1 ; xxiii. 15.) uses the verb chanaph to ex- 
press the infection, the pollution of the land of Judah, 
caused by the sins of its inhabitants. 

HYSSOP is an herb generally known, and often 



mentioned in Scripture. It was commonly used in 
purifications as a sprinkler. God commanded the 
Hebrews, when they came out of Egypt, to take a 
bunch of hyssop, to clip it in the blood of the paschal 
lamb, and sprinkle the lintel and the two side-posts 
of the door-way with it. Sometimes they added a 
little scarlet wool to it, as in the purification of lepers. 
Hyssop is mentioned as one of the smallest of herbs, 
1 Kings iv. 33. It is of a bitter taste, and grows on 
the mountains near Jerusalem. The hyssop of John 
xix. 29, is probably what is called a reed or cane in 
Mark xv. 36 ; Matt, xxvii. 48 ; or else this hyssop was 
like a sponge imbued with the drink. It was per- 
haps a handful gathered of the nearest herbs to the 
spot, which might be mostly hyssop. Hasselquist 
says, there grows out of the city, Jerusalem, near the 
fountain of Solomon, (Siloam ?) a very minute moss ; 
and he asks, "Is not this the hyssop? It is at least 
as diminutive as the cedar is tall and majestic." (Let- 
ter, Sept. 22, 1751.) 



IDD 



IDL 



IBEX, a wild goat. See Goat (Wild). 

IBIS, (iicj', yanshuph, Eng. trans, owl,) an un- 
clean bird, common in Egypt, Lev. xi. 17. Strabo 
describes it as being like a stork ; some are black, and 
others white. The Egyptians worshipped them be- 
cause they devour the serpents, which otherwise 
would overrun the country. It was a capital crime 
to kill an ibis, though inadvertently. Cambyses, 
king of Persia, being acquainted with this, placed 
some of them before his army, while he besieged 
Damietta. The Egyptians, not daring to shoot 
against them, suffered the town to be taken. Mr. 
Taylor is of opinion that the yanshuph is not the an- 
cient ibis, but the Ardea ibis, described by Hassel- 
quist. See Birds. 

IBLEAM, a town in the half-tribe of Manasseh, 
east of Jordan ; (Josh. xvii. 11.) probably the Bileam 
(1 Chron. vi. 70.) given to the Levites of Kohath's 
family. 

IBZAN, of Judah, the eighth judge of Israel, suc- 
ceeded Jephthah, (A. M. 2823,) and died at Beth- 
lehem, after seven years' government, Judg. xii. 
8—10. 

ICHABOD, son of Phinehas, and grandson of 
Eli, the high-priest. He was born at the moment 
when his mother heard the fatal news of the ark 
being taken ; whence he obtained his name, " Alas, 
the glory .'" i. e. inglorious, 1 Sam. iv. 19 — 21. 

ICONIUM, now called Cogni, or Konieh, formerly 
the capital of Lycaonia, as it is now of Caramania, 
in Asia Minor. Paul, visiting Iconium, (A. D. 45.) 
converted many Jews and Gentiles ; (Acts xiii. 51 ; 
xiv. 1, &c.) but some unbelieving Hebrews excited 
a persecution against him and Barnabas, and they 
escaped with difficulty. — He undertook a second 
journey to Iconium, A. D. 51. 

IDALAH, a city of Zebulun, Josh. xix. 15. 

I. IDDO, (n>x,) chief of the Nethinim, in captivity 
in Casiphia, (Ezra viii. 17.) who were invited by Ezra 
to return to Jerusalem. 

II. IDDO, (i-v,) chief of the half-tribe of Manas- 
seh beyond Jordan, 1 Chron. xxvii. 21. 



III. IDDO, (hi',) father of Barachiah, and grand- 
father of the prophet Zechariah, Zech. i. 1. In Ezra 
v. 1 ; vi. 14, Zechariah is called son of Iddo, accord- 
ing to Hebrew usage. 

IV. IDDO, (nj?,) a prophet of Judah, who wrote 
the history of Rehoboam and Abijah. It seems by 
2 Chron. xiii. 22, that he had entitled his work Mid- 
rash, or Inquiries. Josephus and others are of opin- 
ion, that he was sent to Jeroboam, at Bethel, and 
that it was he who was killed by a lion, 1 Kings xiii. 

IDLE, IDLENESS. These words are capable 
of at least two senses ; (1.) of an inevitable vacation 
from employment, from want of opportunity ; (Matt, 
xx. 3, 6.) (2.) of a criminal inattention to labor or 
duty, when it ought to be discharged, Exod. v. 8. 17 ; 
Prov. xix. 15. This idleness is a great evil; so we 
read, 1 Tim. v. 13, " They learn to be idle . . . and 
not only idle, but tattlers also, and busybodies." The 
remedy for such idleness is, "let them not eat," 2 
Thess. iii. 10. This leads us to the true import of 
our Lord's words, (Matt. xii. 36.) "Men shall give 
account for every idle word ;" meaning that vain 
conversation which tends to injury, that inconsider- 
ate discourse which is not only without advantage, 
but actually pernicious. The rabbins have a prov- 
erb, that " the Spirit of God never resides in a light 
head, nor with idle words ;" that is, unseemly dis- 
course banishes the Holy Spirit. They say also, 
"Against idle discourse a man must stop his ears," 
as they do at hearing blasphemy. In short, vain 
words, lies, follies, are what is meant by idle words. 
The LXX use this word to translate the Hebrew 
which signifies lying ; (Exod. v. 9 ; Hos. xii. 1 ; 
Mic. i. 14; Hab. ii. 3 ; Zeph. iii. 13.) and the Latins 
employ the word " useless" to the same import. [On 
the 'jijfia aQyur, empty word, of Matt. xii. 36, see Titt- 
mann in the Bibl. Repository, vol. i. p. 481. R. 

In the sense of idle, as a relaxation from labor, the 
best of men have their idle times, and their idle words • 
in the sense of idle, as vain, pernicious, impious, the 
worst of men, only, indulge idle discourse, and indo- 
lent, wasteful idleness. (Comp. Tit. i. 12 ; 2 Pet. i. 8 ) 



IDOL 



t ^ ] 



IDOL 



IDOL, IDOLATRY. The Greek mmlov signi- 
fies, in general, a representation, or figure. It is 
always taken in Scripture in a bad sense, for repre- 
sentations of heathen deities, whether men, stars, 
or animals ; whether figures in relievo, or in painting, 
or of what matter or nature soever. God forbids all 
sorts o'f idols, or figures and representations of crea- 
tures, formed or set up with intention of paying- 
superstitious worship to them, Exod. xx 3, 4. 

The heathen had idols of all sorts, and of all kinds 
of materials ; as gold, silver, brass, stone, wood, pot- 
ter's earth, &c. Stars, spirits, men, animals, rivers, 
plants, and elements were the subjects of them. 
Some nations worshipped a rough stone. Such is 
the black stone of the ancient Arabs, retained by 
Mohammed. It is said by the prophet Amos (v. 26.) 
that the Israelites, in their wanderings in the wilder- 
ness, " bore the tabernacle of their Moloch, and 
Chiuu their images, the star of their gods, which 
they made to themselves." Stephen (Acts vii. 43.) 
upbraids them with the same. It is thought, with 
great probability, that Moloch and those other pagan 
deities, which they carried with them in the desert, 
were borne in niches upon men's shoulders, or drawn 
about in covered carriages, as we know the heathen 
carried their idols in procession, or in public marches. 

The carrying of the images of the gods under tents, 
and in covered litters, came originally from the 
Egyptians. Herodotus speaks of a feast of Isis, in 
which her statue was carried on a chariot with four 
wheels, drawn by her priests ; and elsewhere of 
another deity which was carried from one temple to 
another, enclosed in a little chapel made of gilt wood. 
Clement of Alexandria speaks of an Egyptian pro- 
cession, in which they carried two dogs of gold, a 
hawk, and an ibis ; and Macrobius says, the priests 
carried the statue of Jupiter of Heliopolis on their 
shoulders, as the gods of the Romans were carried 
in pomp at the games of the circus. The Egyptian 
priests placed Jupiter Ammon in a little boat, whence 
hung plates of silver, by the motion of which they in- 
ferred the will of the Deity, and made their responses 
to such as consulted them. The Egyptians and the 
Carthaginians had little images, which were carried 
on chariots, and gave oracles by the motion they 
communicated to those carriages. The Gauls, as 
we are informed by Sulpicius Severus, carried their 
gods abroad into the fields, covered with a white veil. 
Tacitus speaks of an unknown goddess, who resided 
in an island of the ocean, and for which the wor- 
shippers kept a covered chariot, which none dared ap- 
proach but her priest. When the goddess was placed 
in it, two heifers were harnessed to it, who drew 
it where they thought fit, and then brought it back into 
her grove. They washed the chariot, and the veils 
that covered it, and drowned the slaves that were em- 
ployed in the service. Here are examples of gods 
carried in niches and in chariots ; and the car of 
Juggernaut, and others in the East Indies, will press 
themselves on the mind of the intelligent reader. 
The heathen also employed little temples of metal. 
Diodorus Siculus speaks of two small temples of 
gold ; and we know that there was, at Lacedwmon, 
one entirely of brass, and therefore called Chalcotoi- 
chos, or the house of brass. Victor, in his descrip- 
tion of Rome, gives an account of some of the same 
metal in that city. Calinet thinks that the silver 
temples of Diana of Ephesus, which were made and 
sold by Demetrius the silversmith, were either small 
models of the temple of this goddess, or niches in 
which she was represented, for devotion. 



Writers are not agreed about the origin of idolatry 
or the superstitious worship paid to idols and false 
gods. The book of Wisdom (xiii. 13, 14; xiv. 15 ; 
xv. 7, 8.) proposes three causes of it : — First, The 
love of a father, who, having lost his son in an ad- 
vanced age, to comfort himself, causes divine honors 
to be paid to him. Secondly, The beauty of works 
engraved. Thirdly, The skill of an artificer in 
potter's earth, who consecrates a statue of his own 
making, as if it were a deity. 

A large number of writers on this subject are per- 
suaded, that the first objects of idolatrous worship 
were the sun, moon, and stars. 

The order, the regularity, and the beauty of the 
ordinances of the heavens, have been at all times 
subjects of gratulation and wonder. Whether men 
were rude or refined, in a social or a savage state, they 
felt the importance inseparable from the seasons of 
the year, and gradually associated in their minds 
the periodical returns of those luminaries which at 
first announced the returns of the seasons, and at 
length were supposed to exert an influence over them. 
The sun and the moon were, indisputably, the two 
greater lights of heaven ; to these the most powerful 
influences were ascribed ; and the most important 
obligations universally acknowledged. They led on 
the year and the months, with their respective pro- 
ductions ; they afforded means of calculating time, 
and of defining periods ; and eventually, they con- 
tributed to the formation of systems, and to exten- 
sive combinations of numbers into multiples, pro- 
gressions, and series. But in addition to these 
principals, known to all as the sources of light, the 
heavens presented, to the observant and intelligent, 
various minor luminaries, the periods of which 
were not only incommensurate among themselves, 
but required long continued investigation of their 
appearances, to obtain materials for the theory of 
their orbits and motions. It had been well, had man- 
kind stopped here ; but, having acquired an element- 
ary knowledge of the heavenly bodies and their 
circuits, the misplaced gratitude of some, and the 
pious credulity of others, attributed to them offices 
for which their Creator never designed them, and 
consequently never prepared them. The smallest 
spark of rationality too powerfully illuminates the 
human breast, to allow its possessor to conceive of 
the Great Supreme, other than as a Spirit of incom- 
prehensible attributes and infinite wisdom and pow- 
ers ; a portion of which he at pleasure delegates to 
the emanations of his creative fiat, and which, in 
fact, he has in some degree delegated to man, as a 
rational creature ; and to beings much superior, in 
degrees proportionately higher. And where should 
the imagination of man establish these superior be- 
ings, if not in those celestial bodies, the aspects of 
which were deemed propitious, or were thought to 
be detrimental, beyond the interference of mortals, 
or the ken of inhabitants of earth ? It was, then, 
from attributing to the heavenly bodies the office of 
mediators between man and the Supreme Deity, that 
idolatry took its rise. It was from entreaties ad- 
dressed to the circulating orbs of our system, from 
solicitations beseeching their favorable acceptance 
and report, of worship intended to be conciliatory, as 
it respected themselves, and intended to be most pro- 
foundly reverential as it respected the Self-existent, 
the first Cause, and last End of being ; who was 
indeed the only proper object of adoration, but who 
was supposed to be too high, too exalted to be ap- 
proached, immediately, by feeble man. 



IDOL 



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IDOL 



Such was the state of things when the sacred pen- 
man composed his history of the creation, in which 
he describes, in direct terms, the origin and the offices 
of the sun and the moon, but confines his account 
of other celestial bodies to a single phrase, — " he 
made the stars also." It was not because Moses 
was ignorant of the importance attached to the stars, 
that he studied this brevity ; it was because he knew 
it too well, and had too sensibly felt its evil conse- 
quences, in the course of his own life, and had seen 
them too extensively prevalent, to the great injury 
of the world at large, and to the no small crimination 
of that peculiar people over which he had now the 
charge. This argument acquires additional strength 
on a reference to the original text ; for the fact is, 
that the stars are not spoken of, except as being 
placed under the power or influence of the two 
greater lights : "And God made two great lights; 
the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light 
to rule the night ; the stars also," Gen. i. 16. 

The beginnings of all arts, and of all practices, are 
extremely simple, and it is impossible, from the 
simple beginnings of practices founded on a mere 
mental idea, so much as to conjecture in what they 
may issue, when the ingenuity of man has refined 
upon them, and they have been the study of succes- 
sive generations. To suppose that every star, and 
especially every revolving planet, was animated by 
a resident angel peculiar to itself, was, doubtless, ac- 
cepted as the happy thought of a mind deeply im- 
bued with the learning of the age, with astronomical 
knowledge in more than usual proportion, and per- 
haps favored by some superior power, with a reve- 
lation, by which it was enabled to penetrate into 
mysteries far "beyond this visible diurnal sphere." 
Nor less felicitous and convenient was the formation 
of a symbolical representation of a star ; it required 
no skill ; a mere effort of the hand was sufficient to 
execute the design ; and the model once obtained, 
the idol was constantly before the eye of the wor- 
shipper, whether the original were above or below 
the horizon. And yet, in these rude efforts originat- 
ed that idolatry which eventually, like a flood, 
overwhelmed the whole human race ; to which the 
sacred books, though standing in direct opposition, 
bear but too striking witness, and which to this day 
retains its tyranny in some of its most odious and de- 
structive forms. For the issue proved, that when the 
stars and the planets were once named, their idols 
were named after them ; that when their idols were 
formed, they gradually assumed the personal figure 
of those intelligences whose names they bore, and 
of which they became the human representatives. 
Hence gods and goddesses of every description 
and attribute ; until at length their numbers became 
incalculable, and their characters flagitious, and 
"darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the 
people." 

A few thoughts on this inveterate moral malady 
of the human mind, from which no nation has been 
wholly exempt, may with propriety introduce our 
views of the incidents recorded in Scripture. 

The modern system of planetary worlds, of which 
our earth is one, was not generally received, even if 
it were known, in the early ages. The Persian sages, 
for instance, adopted a scheme essentially differ- 
ent ; and, perhaps, they received it from remote 
antiquity. That scheme is expressed in the following 
terms, in the Desdtir, which, professes to contain the 
sentiments of the prophets of Persia, including those 
of Zoroaster, anterior to the time of Alexander the 



Great The notes enclosed in parentheses ( ) are 
those of the Persian translator of the original work. — 
"The simple being — of his own beneficence created 
a substance free and unconfined, unmixed, immate- 
rial — the chief of angels. liy him he created inferior 
heavens, and to each an intelligence, and a squI, and 
a body ; as for example, Ferensa, (the intelligence of 
the sphere of Keiwan (Saturn) also, Latinsa (its soul), 
and Armensa (its body), And Anjumdad (the intelli- 
gence of the sphere of Hormusd (Jupiter), and Nejma- 
zad (its soul) and Shidarad (its body), And Hehmenzad 
(the intelligence of the sphere of Behrdm (Mars), and 
Fershad (its soul), and Kizbadwad (its body), And 
Shadaram, (the intelligence of the sphere of the sun), 
and Shadayam (its sold), and Nishadirsam (its body), 
and Nirwan (the intelligence of the heaven of JYahid 
( Venus), and Tirwan (its soul), and Rizwan (its body), 
And Was (the intelligence of the sphere of r l\r 
(Mercury), and Firlas (its soul), and Warlas (its body), 
And Fernush (the intelligence of the sphere of the 
moon), and Wernush (its soul), and Ardush (its body). 
The heavy-moving stars are many, and each has 
an intelligence, •& soul, and a body. And, in like 
manner, every distinct division of the heavens and 
planets hath its intelligence and its soul. The number 
of the intelligences, and souls, and stars, and heavens, 
Mezdam [only] knows." The reader will observe 
the order of these intelligences: — Saturn, Jupiter, 
Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon. It might 
be compared with the systems of Ptolemy, and of 
Tycho Brahe ; but that is not our present object. 
The Persian prophet proceeds to say, " The lower 
world is subject to the sway of the upper world. In 
the beginning of its revolution, the sovereignty over 
this lower world is committed to one of the slow- 
moving stars, which governed] it alone for the space 
of a thousand years ; and for other thousands of 
years each of the heavy-moving stars, and swift- 
moving stars, becometh its partner, each for one 
thousand years. Last of all, the moon becometh its 
associate. After that, the first associate will get the 
sovereignty. The second king goeth through the 
same round as the first king ; [for a thousand years ;] 
and the others are in like manner his associates . . . 
And understand, that the same is the course as to all 
the others. When the moon hath been king, [when] 
all have been associates with it, and its reign, too, is 
over, one grand period is accomplished. After 
which the sovereignty again returneth to the first 
king, and in this way there is an eternal succession." 
...."After performing the worship of Mezdam, 
worship the planets, and kindle lights unto them. 
Make figures of all the planets, and deem them proper 
objects to turn to in worship .... that they may con- 
vey thy prayers to Mezdam" ..." In prayer turn 
to any side ; but it is best to turn to the stars, and the 
light." 

Here, undoubtedly, we have the origin of Sabiism, 
or the worship of the host of heaven, so often allud- 
ed to in Scripture ; — and the real origin of terres- 
trial idolatry also ; for, to those intelligences, first 
worshipped under the form of stars, were subse- 
quently erected altars, temples, statues, and other 
sacra. Their influences were supposed to be most 
beneficial to those who most fervently worshipped 
them ; nor was this all, for those who devoted them- 
selves to the rites instituted in their honor, conceived 
that they could, by their solicitations, (or incanta- 
tions,) induce these celestial intelligences to favor 
with their special presence and residence, the build- 
ings, the figures, the emblems, consecrated to them 



IDOL 



C 519 ] 



IDOL 



upon earth ; and these gross and deceptive imagina- 
tions led the way to the vilest degradation of the 
human heart and character. 

Whatever might be the conceptions of the learned 
and scientific among the orientals, who studied the 
courses and properties of the heavenly bodies, their 
mutual relations, and their alleged powers and influ- 
ences, when they became objects of worship among 
the multitude, they became also subject to their 
caprice, superstition, and ignorance, as well as to 
their depravity. Not long could the simple star 
remain the sole representative of a celestial intelli- 
gence ; the idea of personality prevailed over every 
other, and with it combined the varied passions and 
dispositions which form the character and distinguish 
the persons of our species. But, most probably, the 
progress, though rapid, was not instantaneous ; and 
though too fatal in the issue, it was not, at first, con- 
sidered as absolutely unlawful or unbecoming. There 
was much to be said in favor of the doctrine, that the 
planetary bodies governed the seasons ; that they 
produced, and, consequently, that they bestowed, 
abundant harvests, and plentiful supplies of the rich 
and important productions of the field, the vineyard, 
the orchard, and the garden. Not did their operations 
terminate here ; the increase of the fold was attrib- 
uted to their agency ; together with that of cities, tribes, 
and families. Precisely in this spirit is the argument 
of the Israelites who professed to ask counsel of 
Jeremiah, the prophet of the Lord, but who acted in 
direct opposition to it, when they not only determined 
to go into Egypt themselves, but carried the remon- 
strating prophet along with them, Jer. xliv. What 
had been their practices we learn from chap. vii. 
17, seq. 

Seest thou not what these are doing, 
In the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusa- 
lem ? 

The sons gather wood, 

And the fathers kindle the fire, 

And the women knead the dough, 

To make cakes for the regency of the heavens, 

[queen of heaven, Engl, tr.] 
And to pour out libations to strange gods. 

This is Blayney's translation ; who also reads chap, 
xliv. 15, seq. in the following manner : " Then all the 
men, who knew that their wives had burned incense 
unto strange gods, and all the women who stood by, 
a great company, even all the people that dwelt in 
the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, 
saying, As for the word which thou hast spoken to 
us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken unto 
thee. But we will surely perform what is gone forth 
out of our mouth, in burning incense to the regency 
of the heavens, [queen of heaven,] and pouring out 
libations thereunto ; like as we did, we, and our 
fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of 
Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, when we had 
plenty of bread and were prosperous, and saw no 
adversity. But from the time we left off to burn in- 
cense to the regency of the heavens, and to pour out 
libations thereunto, we have been in want of every 
thing, and have been consumed by the sword and by 
famine : and when we burned incense to the regency 
of heaven, pouring out also libations thereunto, did 
we, exclusively of our men, make cakes for it, wor- 
shipping it, end pouring out libations thereunto ?" 

From our imperfect acquaintance with the idola- 
trous rite here described, this passage presents many 



difficulties. But, before we proceed further, it should 
be observed, that our English margin, adopting the 
reading of the Complutensian, (vii. 18.) renders, the 
frame or workmanship of heaven ; the LXX render, 
rij axQaria, the host of heaven ; but, in chap. xliv. 17 — 
19, they render rij ^aai'/Aaa^Tov oiqavov, the queen of 
heaven. [Eng. mavg. frame or workmanship, in verse 
17 ; queen, in verses 18, 19, according to the Com- 
plutensian ; which strangely varies the reading in 
these verses, though intending the same power.] 
These variations are sufficient proofs of confusion , 
and that arising from a cause of no modern date 
But by the help of the second extract from the 
Desatir above, we may, perhaps, be able to explain 
this. We there read that the planets, in succession, 
obtain first as associates, afterwards as principals, the 
office of king, each for a thousand years ; and that 
the series ends with the moon. It is evident that 
whp:i a feminine planet is king, whether as associate 
or as principa' she would be called queen. Now the 
moon is not fen inine ; but is addressed as " Lord of 
moistures" — and is, in many languages, as well as in 
these ancient Persian prayers, of the masculine gender. 
It follows that Venus is the only planet which can be, 
properly speaking, queen of heaven ; and during her 
millennium she would be the counterpart of all the 
characters described in this passage ; — a female regent, 
enjoying dominion, rule, or superiority ; a delegated 
agent ; especially, in association with a slow-moving 
star ; and, in such association, not only one of the host 
of heaven, herself, but also, and especially, by her con- 
nection with her principal, according to the frame, 
workmanship, or organization of the celestial orbs in 
their courses and mutual relations. 

We see now the reason why the women were prin- 
cipals in the idolatry so severely reproved by Jere- 
miah ; they worshipped the female regent in her 
grosser character of Venus Genetrix ; and are, there- 
fore, threatened, in opposition to her character, with 
the very annihilation of their desires : " I will pour 
out my fury upon man and upon beast, and upon the 
trees of the field, and upon the fruits of the ground : 
in short, on all the powers of increase, animal and 
vegetable." 

The prophet, in continuation, charges all the peo- 
ple as parties to the idolatry practised in their country : 

At that time, saith Jehovah, shall they east forth 
The bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of 
the princes, 

And the bones of the priests, and the bones of the 
prophets, 

And the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of 
their graves ; 

And they shall spread them before the sun and the 
moon, 

And all the host of heaven, which they have loved, 
And which they have served, and after which they 
have gone, 

And which they have served, and to which they 
have bowed down, &c. 

Here we have the sun, the moon, and the host of 
heaven — the stars, generally ; hut in 2 Kings xxiii. 5. 
we have a more particular enumeration — " They 
burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, 
and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven." 
Here Baal is distinguished from the sun, (see Baal, 
p. 121.) and the planets are clearly distinguished from 
the fixed stars, though usually reckoned among the 
host of heaven. As this text is the only one that 



IDOL 



[ 520 ] 



IDOL 



separates the planets from the host of heaven, it 
deserves particular notice ; and the rather, as com- 
mentators incline to cousider Mazaloth, the word 
here, as being the same with Mazaroth in Job xxxviii. 
31. Now Mazaroth, in Job, they interpret the zodiac, 
on the authority of Chrysostom ; but, supposing the 
words to be distinct, as they stand in our Hebrew 
Bibles, the English rendering of" the planets," may be 
supported ; as this class of heavenly bodies is exactly 
what is wanted in the order of the words; that is, 
according to the ancient Persian system, the swiftly- 
moving stars, distinct from the slowly-moving stars. 

It is remarkable that Manasseh, a tyrant who del- 
jged Jerusalem with innocent blood, is said (2 Kings, 
xxi. 9.) to have "seduced Israel to do more evil than 
did the nations which the Lord destroyed before the 
children of Israel ;" whereas, Moses cautions the 
people — " Lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, 
and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the 
stars, all the host of heaven, thou shor dest be driven 
to worship them." — It might be t' ought that the 
terms should change places: it was not, however, 
because Sabiism, the worship of the heavenly host, 
was the only kind of idolatry known to the Hebrew 
legislator, that he laid such a stress on this ; for the 
connection of the passage shows that he equally 
warned his charge against corrupting themselves by 
making a graven image, the similitude of any figure, 
the likeness of male or female, [of mankind,] the like- 
ness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of 
any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the likeness of 
any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness 
of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth. 
We infer, that images of all these were common 
accessories to idolatry so early as the days of Moses. 

When the imagination had discovered intelligences, 
and consequently deities, in the celestial bodies, the 
way was opened for peopling the earth also with in- 
ferior deities ; and for believing the descent of the 
superior, to take cognizance of the conduct and 
affairs of mortals. The inferior deities are thus an- 
nounced : — " Below the sphere of the moon was 
made the place of the elements. Over the fire, the air, 
the water, and the earth, were placed four angels — 
Anirab, and Hirab, and Senurab, and Zehirab. . . . 
Whatever things are compounded of the elements 
are either impermanent or permanent. The imper- 
manent are fog, and snow, and rain, and thunder, and 
cloud, and lightning, and such like. Over each of 
these there is a guardian angel. The guardians of 
the fog, and snow, and rain, and thunder, and clouds, 
and lightning, are Milram, Silram, Nilram, Mehtas, 
Betam, and Nisham, and so of others." The scheme 
of idolatry is now complete ; the man who wished 
for rain implored it from the guardian angel of 
the rain ; and to that guardian angel, or his prin- 
cipal, he attributed the fertility of his fields, in 
consequence of the heaven-descended showers. 
True it is, that Jehovah claims to himself, in numer- 
ous places in Scripture, the power of giving or of 
withholding rain ; and the prophet asks, (Jer. xiv. 
22.) " Are there any among the vanities of the Gen- 
tiles which can cause rain ? Or can the heavens 
(the heavenly powers) give showers ? Art not thou 
He, (the giver of rain,) O Lord our God? Therefore 
we will wait upon thee ; for thou hast made all these 
things." Exactly analogous are the remonstrances 
of the apostles : (Acts xiv. 17.) — "Turn from these 
vanities unto the living God, which made heaven and 
earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein : — 
who hath not left himself without witness, in that he 



did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful 
seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." 
But this history assists the progress of our argument 
for, say the Lycaonians, "The gods are come down 
to us in the likeness of men ;" — a current notion 
among the heathen ; and it was no more than natural, 
and just, that the superior deities should inspect the 
conduct of the inferior, as well in person, as by their 
agents ; (so Satan roamed over the earth, to make his 
observations, and report ;) — nor less should they ex- 
amine the maxims of men ; and punish transgressors, 
or reward the obedient, in modes beyond the scrutiny 
of common observation. The poets of Greece and 
Italy furnish abundant proofs of this. But these 
were incidental and uncertain visits ; there were 
others which, by their regular returns, or by their 
uninterrupted permanency, announced the constant 
interposition of the supposed deity who presided over 
that meteor, or that phenomenon ; insomuch, that 
while, on some occasions, the heathen insisted that 
"Jupiter is whatever exists, whatever you see," on 
others he was merely the god of the atmosphere, and 
directed the operations of the rain, the snow, &c. as 
supplicated by the earth. Egypt only was an excep- 
tion ; and the exception confirmed the rule : 

Te propter radios tellus tua postulat imbres, 
Arida nec pluvio supplicat herba Jovi. 

Tibull. lib. i. Eleg. 7. 

Among the most determinate and obvious gifts of 
the gods, rivers held a distinguished place ; in fact, 
not a few of them were considered as gods them- 
selves, and this probably arose, not merely from a 
sense of the benefits they confer on a country, but 
also from appearances somewhat striking and pecu- 
liar in their sources. All who have read Homer — 
and who has not read Homer? — know that the river 
Scamander was esteemed a deity, and venerated as 
divine. Herodotus says of the Persians, that they 
held rivers in especial veneration, that they worship- 
ped them, and offered sacrifices to them ; nor would 
they suffer any thing to be thrown into them, that 
could possibly pollute their waters. The. same notion 
obtained among the Medes, the Parthians, and the 
Sarmatians. The Nile was certainly consecrated in 
Egypt, was called Father and Saviour ; (or protector ;) 
was esteemed their prime national deity, and was 
worshipped accordingly. They supposed it gave 
birth to all their deities who were born, they said, on 
its banks. That the Nile concealed its head, was 
proverbial ; and something of the same kind was, it 
is credible, believed of the other divine streams. 

All know that Ida was the seat of the immortal 
gods, of which Jove was the sovereign. But why, 
and how, was the Scamander said to flow from him, 
to be his offspring, &c. ? Dr. E. D. Clarke has set 
this in a striking light. (Trav. vol. ii. p. 142.) On 
ascending Gargarus, the chief summit of Ida, he says, 
" Our ascent, as we drew near the source of the river, 
became steep and stony. Lofty summits towered 
above us, in the greatest style of Alpine grandeur; 
the torrent, in its rugged bed below, all the while 
foaming on our left. Presently, we entered one of 
the sublimest natural amphitheatres the eye ever be- 
held ; and here the guides desired us to alight. The 
noise of waters silenced every other sound. Huge, 
craggy rocks rose perpendicularly to an immense 
height ; whose sides and fissures, to the very clouds, 
concealing their tops, were covered with pines, 
growing in every possible direct'on. among a varietv 



IDOL 



L 521 ] 



IDOL 



:>f evergreen shrubs, wild sage, hanging ivy, moss, 
and creeping herbage. Enormous plane-trees waved 
their vast branches above the torrent. As we ap- 
proached its deep gulf, we beheld several cascades, 
all of foam, pouring impetuously from chasms in the 
naked face of a perpendicular rock. It is said the 
same magnificent cataract continues during all sea- 
sous of the year, wholly unaffected by the casualties 
of rain or melting snow. That a river so ennobled 
by ancient history should at the same time prove 
equally eminent in circumstances of natural dignity, 
is a fact worthy of being related ... it bursts at 
once from the dark womb of its parent, in all the 
greatness of the divine origin assigned to it by Ho- 
mer : — where the voice of nature speaks in her most 
awful tone ; where, amidst roaring waters, waving 
forests, and broken precipices, the mind of man be- 
comes impressed, as by the influence of a present 
Deity. I climbed the rocks with my companions, to 
examine more closely the nature of the chasms 
whence the torrent issues. Having reached these, 
we found, in their front, a beautiful natural basin, 
six or eight feet deep, serving as a reservoir for the 
water in the first moments of its emission. It was so 
clear, that the minutest object might be discerned at 
the bottom. The copious overflowing of this reser- 
voir causes the appearance, to a spectator below, of 
different cascades falling to the depth of about forty 
feet : but there is only one* source. Behind are the 
chasms whence the water issues. We entered 
one of these, and passed into a cavern. Here the 
water appeared, rushing with great force beneath the 
rock, towards the basin on the outside. It was the 
coldest spring we had found in the country. . . . The 
whole rock about the source is covered with moss. 
Close to the basin grew hazel and plane-trees ; above 
were oaks and pines ; all beyond was a naked and 
fearful precipice." Such is the source of the river, 
the offspring of Jove. On the summit of the moun- 
tain whence it flows, the deities of classic antiquity 
held their court, Jupiter, Mars, Apollo, Venus, Mer- 
cury, Diana, &c. who were, in short, the celestial in- 
telligences of the planets transferred to earth. 

The deities of Greece were not originally Greek ; 
neither were they, strictly speaking, Egyptian ; but 
India was their primary station ; — not the provinces 
now called Bengal, but those more to the north, 
where rises the long chain of mount Himalaya, in all 
the pride of eternal snows, and endless peaks of ice. 
Surrounded by these mountains, the highest in the 
world, is the famous lake Mansarowara, whose ca- 
pacious waters are deemed sacred by all the Brah- 
minical tribes and their followers. Here also rise the 
most famous rivers; the Bramahputra ; ("son of 
Brahma," the deity ;) the Ganges, (Gauga, feminine ;) 
who sprung from the head of the Indian Jove ; the 
Indus, or Nilab, with its contributing streams ; and 
tiie Gihoon, which runs northerly, a direction con- 
trary from the former. As we are not able to offer 
so particular an account of the sources of these rivers 
as Dr. Clarke has furnished of the sources of the 
river Scarnander, we must entreat the reader to bear 
in mind the identity of the Grecian deities with those 
of the original India, and to expect to meet them 
again, in exactly the same situation, at the summit of 
a mountain, at the source of a stream, rendered sa- 
cred by their presence, and doubly sacred as being 
their offspring. — Change of name effects no change 
of character. 

A Plate of the Origin of the River Ganges in the 
larger edition of Calmet, (No. LXXVI.) shows these 
66 



ideas in the form of an allegory, at once mythological 
and geographical ; the principal deities of India are 
represented on the summits of the Snowy mountains, 
giving birth to the Ganges ; which, from those moun- 
tains, falls from precipice to precipice, till it reaches 
the entrance into the lower provinces, which it an- 
nually overflows. The river is seen to issue from 
the foot of Vishnu, the pervading spirit of the su- 
preme, who here assumes a female form. Behind 
her sits Nared, (Mercury.) playing on the Una, a 
musical instrument, analogous to the lyre of Mercu- 
ry; and before her dances Bhavaui, (Venus,) ani- 
mated no doubt by Nared's celestial melody ; near 
Bhavani stands Brahma, (Jupiter,) who sanctions the 
joyful occurrence by his presence. Adjacent are the 
temples of Scheu Log ; that is, of Siva, (the changer 
of forms,) of Parvati, (Cybele,) the " general mother ;" 
and in the sanctuary adjoining is Ganesa, with the 
head of an elephant. Attached is a dwelling of Chi- 
ven, and of the Bramins engaged in his service. 
Another temple marked Beschan Log, " the residence 
of Vishnu," is inhabited by the Bramins attached to 
his worship. Here are worshipped Lachmi, wife of 
Vishnu, the goddess of riches. A third structure, 
Brem Log, "the residence of Brahma," was no doubt 
the dwelling of Brahma, and of the Bramins attached 
to him. It is said that this temple no longer exists ; 
which, if true, seems to prove that the original draw- 
ing of it was composed while it was standing ; which 
is allowing it considerable antiquity. Gaitris and 
Sarsatis appear in the chapel of this convent ; the 
last is the wife of Brahma, and the goddess of the 
sciences, Minerva. Sanoc Sanandam, the eldest of 
her sons, is here in the chapel dedicated to his family. 
The stream that issues from the foot of the goddess 
dashes on the head of a deity, sitting at some distance 
below, on a great rock ; and in the early part of its 
course it is visited by Brahma, who receives part of 
the water into a patera or vase, as if he intended to 
drink of it ; and by this he confers additional sanctity 
on the stream. From the head of the deity, the 
water rebounds into another direction, and falls in a 
cascade, or cataract, forming a mass of spray, where 
it is received by seven men, the Richis, peculiarly 
holy persons, or devotees ; and it seems that baptism, 
by being wetted with the falling spray of this cataract, 
is esteemed a very happy and sacred ablution ; and 
is a kind of baptism very ancient among the Hindoos, 
and others. These seven Richis are said to come 
every seventh day of the week, to receive this falling 
shower on their heads. From this cataract the river 
proceeds to another rock, signified by the head of a 
cow, and known under the name of "the Cow's 
Mouth ;" through this rock it passes, and is received 
into an octagon basin, apparently formed by art ; 
leaving which, it continues its course to another fall, 
near the city of Hordear, or Hardwar, (Heridwar,) 
where it enters the fertile provinces of India. 

The image of a female form, as giving birth to a 
river, appears, with some variation, on medals of An- 
tioch, of Carrhae, of Damascus, of Ptolemais, of Rhe- 
sen, of Singara, of Shinar, of Tartus ; and in fact, on 
coins of very many other cities ; — cities of the great- 
est antiquity, situated in the midst of deserts, and 
wanting water themselves ; cities very distant from 
each other, and by no means likely to appropriate 
each other's device. The inference is conclusive, 
therefore, of a common and early origin of this type ; 
and that origin could be no other than the country 
whence all these people drew their own origin ; 01, 
derived from localities, the memory of which they 



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all desired to preserve ; as in their religious rites, so 
also on their public tokens. But if it be granted that 
these people commemorated the country of their 
common and early origin, and that origin was at, or 
near, the sources of the Ganges, it will lead to a con- 
clusion confirmatory of the opinion for a very eastern 
position of Paradise, &c. (See Eden.) (The resem- 
blance between the Hindoo and the Egyptian deities 
will suggest themselves to the reader. See Asiatic 
Researches, vol. i. p. 242.) « 

With these tokens we should also connect the tra- 
ditionary accounts, which long continued among the 
leathen, of that most memorable catastrophe, the 
deluge. There can be no doubt, but what many 
memorials of that event were popular, and even were 
venerated, throughout Asia ; and with little risk we 
may affirm, that the country in which the second 
great father of mankind resided, gave occasion to 
various emblems, and to figures as well compound as 
simple, which entered deeply and extensively into 
the rituals and the mysteries of those tribes of his 
descendants which formed colonies and obtained set- 
tlements in distant parts. See Deluge. 

It is proper to mention a reaction, to which some 
of the principles now adduced have given occasion ; 
it is that of placing in the heavens, in the form of 
constellations, memorials of those transactions which 
so greatly interested mankind. The constellation of 
the ship, [Argo,] of the raven, of the dove, of the al- 
tar, of the victim, and the sacrificer, bear no incom- 
petent witness to the history of the deluge. Orion 
has been thought to be Noah ; and the astcrism of the 
river, as Ptolemy calls it, the head of which river 
commences at the foot of Orion, will be easily un- 
derstood by the reader of the preceding pages. As 
we are not aware of any allusion to this reaction in 
Scripture, it may be passed over with this slight no- 
tice. But the subject may bear a few general re- 
marks. The first remark is, that since idolatry had 
several sources, and more than one origin, it is not cor- 
rect to refer all the idols of the Gentiles, without ex- 
ception, to a single source. When Macrobius affirms, 
that all deities run ultimately into the sun, he is cer- 
tainly mistaken : nor is Bryant less mistaken, when 
he refers all deities to persons and events connected 
with the deluge. Still, it must be admitted, that many 
deities coalesce in the sun, and that many memorials 
of the deluge became, eventually, objects of venera- 
tion, and gradually of worship. Nor must we forget 
that the intelligences, or guardians of the elements, 
&c. were multiplied, till every hill, and dale, and 
tree, and grotto, had its titulary protector or protect- 
ress. That the Magian notion of guardians over the 
elements was by no means confined to Persia, is evi- 
dent from the opinions of the Egyptians, who, says 
Porphyry, commenced the worship of Serapis by fire 
and ivater. Diodorus says, " The Egyptians esteemed 
fire, which they called Hephaistus, to be a great god." 
— They even thought it to be a living animal, en- 
dowed with a soul, according to Herodotus, (lib. iii. 
cap. 16.) And this might be independent of ref- 
erence to the sun. Moreover, every traveller into 
Greece and Italy knows abundance of caves, and 
forests, and rills, which formerly were haunts of 
dryads and nymphs. 

A second remark is, that it is desirable, in reading 
Scripture, and other historical writings, to distinguish 
the species of idolatry alluded to, where it is possible. 
For instance, the teraphizri of Laban may be the 
earliest idols mentioned ; yet, whether they were 
commemorative of the deluge, or of Noah, the prin- 



cipal personage of the deluge, may be questioned. 
The time seems to be too early ; and, probably, there 
would be a feeling of opposition in the families de- 
scended from Shem, to all the proceedings at Babel, 
where, certainly, idolatry of the commemorative kind 
was patronized. The teraphim were, doubtless, 
guardians : and Laban supposed that with them was 
connected the prosperity of his residence and his 
family. 

The prophets allude to many idols which do not 
occur in the historical books of Scripture ; and to 
several among other nations than their own. It is 
well to be able to distinguish these, because, for want 
of such distinction, the threatenings directed against 
them are unintelligible ; or, at least, their forcible im- 
port remains undiscerned. 

The apostles and writers of the New Testament 
had the same deities to contend against; but under 
another form, and presented under the more elegant 
fashion of Grecian skill. Hence the originals were 
forgotten; Vishnu and Bhavani, Nared- and Seres- 
watti, gave place to Jupiter, to Venus, to Mercury, to 
Ceres ; and the deities best known, held their court 
on mount Ida, not on mount Meru, at the head of the 
Scamander, not of the Ganges. Still, their attendant 
emblems continued much the same ; the same ani- 
mals marked their shrines ; and these gave occasion 
to a worship addressed to brutes, to plants, to insects 
— to every kind of absurdity, at which the mind re- 
volted while it complied. We have, however, the 
consolation of knowing, that as the western idols 
disappeared Defore the light of the truth of the Gos- 
pel, so the eastern idols, though the parents of the 
other, will in time be expelled from their station ; and 
their influence, their dominion, and their destructive 
powers, will become matters of history and of won- 
der to succeeding generations. 

The prophet Isaiah has clearly predicted this, in his 
threatening against pride and idolatry : (ch. ii. 20.) 

Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust. 
For fear of the Lord, and the glory of his majesty. 



For the day of the Lord of hosts is upon all that is 
proud and lofty. 



And the idols he shall utterly abolish. 
And they shall go into the caverns, 
And into hollow places of the dust. 
In that very day the chief shall cast 
His idols of silver, and his idols of gold, 
Which they had made for him to worship, 
To the moles and to the bats, 
To go into the clefts of rocks, 
And into the cavities of the rugged rocks; 
For fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majes- 
ty, &c. 

Bishop Lowth says, on this passage, "They shall 
carry their idols with them into the dark caverns, old 
ruins, or desolate places, to which they shall flee for 
refuge ; and so shall give them up, and relinquish 
them to the filthy animals that frequent such places, 
and have taken possession of them as their proper 
habitation." There is, however, a confusion of ideas 
in this note of the learned author ; because, (1.) those 
who fled, did not flee to old ruins, to places already 
ruined, already desolated, but to rocks; (2.) their 
" carrying their idols with them," in order to leave 
them behind when they came out again — "relin- 
quished them to the filthy animals" — seems directly 



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IDOL 



contrary to the prophet's meaning ; which implies a 
getting rid of these idols as fast as possible— instanta- 
neously: neither is it very natural, after their fright is 
over, to leave their deities behind them. Scheuchzer 
has approached much nearer, probably, to the im- 
port of the passage ; and, indeed, has given it fairly, 
though without perceiving it : — " In that day men 
shall cast down (the idols) from the top of the altar to 
the bottom of it ; and to avoid all occasion of defile- 
ment and superstition, shall hide them in dark places, 
and at the bottom of caverns." 

The progress of error is. generally from bad to 
worse. We have seen idolatry addressed in the first 
instance to the celestial luminaries ; next, it transfer- 
red the intelligences with which it had animated 
those luminaries, to the seats of their conspicuous 
effects on earth, and invested with a thousand im- 
aginary powers the guardians which it appointed over 
the permanent and non-permanent meteoric phe- 
nomena of the globe we inhabit, and the atmosphere 
that surrounds it. We are now about to notice a 
third step in this descending progress ; which leads 
to consequences and practices more degrading to the 
human mind, more fatal to human life, and more 
detrimental to morals, than either of those which 
preceded it. And yet, it seems difficult to conceive 
of notions more revolting to the good sense and feel- 
ings of mankind, than those which attended the sec- 
ond general declension, at which we have hinted. 
What could be more base than the deification of dis- 
eases, with their offensive accompaniments, "which 
flesh is heir to ?" What can we think of rational be- 
ings, who exalted to the rank of divinities — Fever, 
Cough, Fear, Calumny, Envy, Impudence ; and even 
the excrementitious discharges of the body, Cloacina, 
Crepitus, and Mephitis ? Our contempt for the sec- 
ond series of deities strongly prompts us to wish, in 
behalf of decorum, and the honor of human nature, 
that mankind had stopped at the first: our abhor- 
rence of the third series will still more strongly ex- 
cite our regret that the folly of idolatry had not ter- 
minated with the second. The first may pass almost 
for innocence, when placed in comparison with the 
second ; the second may pass almost with indiffer- 
ence, when placed in comparison with the third. 

That mankind should retain a respect for depart- 
ed worth, should tread with reverence the places 
formerly inhabited by their great forefathers, should 
venerate such memorials of them as bear the stamp 
of antiquity and authenticity, is a natural sentiment, 
neither despicable nor blamable. Hence the value 
generally set on portraits and other recollections of 
the mighty dead, or of those who rendered them- 
selves illustrious by the benefits they conferred, 
whether such benefits were public or private, na- 
tional or individual, intellectual or practical; whether 
they improved the condition of man, by institutions 
of the legislator, or thp statesman, or by teaching the 
most effectual processes of handicraft, of mechanics, 
of agriculture, or of domestic establishment. But of 
all persons who ever breathed, none could possibly 
be so singularly distinguished beyond his compeers 
as the patriarch Noah. His history was a tissue of 
wonders of the most striking kind ; and his suffer- 
ings and deliverance were of a nature to make an 
indelible impression on the minds of all who knew 
them, of all who were interested in them. Add to 
this, the deference and obedience due to parental su- 
premacy ; — and it must be acknowledged, that the 
motives of unlimited respect to the great second 
father of our race might be justified on some of the 



noblest principles of humanity. Buc not content 
with this, his posterity, profoundly venerating his 
piety, doubted not of his reception to celestial glory, 
nor of the immortality that awaited him, when he ex- 
changed his tabernacle of clay for a spiritual exist- 
ence, nor of his power, connected with that spiritual 
existence, nor of his good will to interpose that 
power, in favor of those whose advantage he had 
promoted, by all possible means, when on earth. In 
short, their unbounded affection, their sympathy, 
their duty, their reverence, were not satisfied till they 
had raised their father and benefactor to the rank of 
a deity ; and his name and person, and the repre- 
sentations of his person, gradually assumed as well 
the form as the fervency of the most direct, and 
eventually of the most perverse, idolatry. The 
events of his life were commemorated by images, by 
symbols, by expressive appellations infinitely varied, 
by imitative processions, extensively practised, by 
whatever art could devise, or ingenuity could exe- 
cute, or language could express. By degrees, the 
allusions, the processions, the symbols, the images, 
though nothing more than shadows, were contem- 
plated as the substance ; and they remained long after 
their original intention had been buried in the depths 
of oblivion. 

Will it be believed, that from the deification of the 
best of men arose the custom of deifying the worst ? 
that the apotheosis of eminent personages, who had 
departed this life, was gradually abused and debased, 
till the living also claimed divinity; and to gods who 
were yet to die, were erected temples, statues, altars, 
and were consecrated priests, victims, and incense, 
with all the pompous paraphernalia of sacrifice? To 
the most infamous of men, to murderers of fathers, 
and murderers of mothers, to tyrants who shed blood 
without limitation, and without remorse. — But it is 
enough thus to glance at the magnitude and multi- 
plicity of the crimes which history imputes to those 
who, during life, were adored as immortals; at once 
the terror, the contempt, and the abhorrence of their 
votaries. 

The notion of the deities of heathenism being of 
no sex, or of either sex, at pleasure, is so imperfectly 
understood among us, that it requires a few words 
by way of elucidation. We shall instance the sun 
and moon, chiefly, because nothing can be more re- 
pugnant to our language, our established customs, 
and our feelings, than to consider the sun as femi- 
nine, and the moon as masculine. Milton, who is 
good English authority, speaks of the sun and moon 
as 

Dispensing male and female light, 
Which two great sexes animate the world : 

but in the German language, the moon is masculine, 
der Mond, and the sun is feminine, die Sonne. An 
Arabian poet says expressly, 

To be in the feminine gender is no disgrace to the sun ; 
Nor to be of the masculine gender is any honor to the 
moon. 

In India, the moon is masculine, in the character 
of the god Soma ; and we have already seen that the 
moon is king, in its turn, among the heavenly bodies, 
according to the notions of the ancient Chaldeans, as 
stated in the Desatir. We must, therefore, fix in our 
minds this intercommunity, or rather ad libitum as- 
sumption of gender, among the pagan immortals, 
before we can justly appreciate, or understand, though 
imperfectly, certain passages of Scripture. Nor shouUl 



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IDOL 



we be surprised to find Moloch, though king, as a 
potentate, and though bearded as a male, yet merging 
into a female, possessing female properties, with the 
qualities and attributes of Venus herself, the goddess 
of love and beauty. For instance; 1 Kings xi. "Sol- 
omon loved many strange women .... who turned 
away his heart . . . he went after Ashtoreth, goddess 
of the Zidonians, and Milcom, the abomination of the 
Ammonites. . . . He built a high place for Moloch, the 
abomination of the children of Amnion." It seems 
clear, that Moloch is the same as Milcom, bearing the 
same character; and that Milcom is a goddess of the 
Ammonites, no less than Ashtoreth, with whom she 
is associated, is goddess of the Zidonians. By female 
deities the heart of Solomon was turned away. [This, 
however, is no where said ; and the god Moloch, of 
which Malcom and Milcom are only different names, 
is always masculine, and most probably represents 
the planet Saturn. See Moloch. II. 

It will be naturally inferred, from what has been 
adduced, that only a small portion of the depravities 
of heathenism is known, where Christianity, the 
greatest blessing ever offered to suffering humanity, 
has prevailed. Happily, they have been suppressed 
by public opinion, as well as by public law. Nor 
should it be forgotten, that the better informed class 
of heathen, alive to the feelings of natural conscience, 
and of shame, endeavored .*.o palliate these monsters 
of immorality under the pretext of their being sym- 
bolical stories, "cunningly devised fables," mythos for 
the initiated, and containing wonderful mysteries! 
only to be disclosed under the seal of secrecy. To 
what subterfuges will not the perversity of the 
human mind have recourse, to evade the clear dic- 
tates of unpolluted nature ! 

It is impossible to ascertain the period at which the 
worship of idols was introduced. Some of the rab- 
bins say, that the descendants of Cain had introduced 
it into the world before the flood. They believe 
Enos to have been the inventor of it ; and in this 
sense they explain Gen. iv. 26, which, according to 
the Hebrew, may be thus interpreted — "Then the 
name of the Lord was profaned ;" i.e. by giving it to 
idols. But the old Greek interpreters and Jerome 
understood it otherwise. Still there is reason to think 
that idolatry was common before the deluge ; the 
inundation of wickedness intimated in the expression, 
"All flesh had corrupted its way," no doubt included 
impiety of worship, as well as the infamous irregu- 
larities of incontinence and violence. Josephns, and 
many of the fathers, were of opinion that soon after 
the deluge, idolatry became the prevailing religion ; 
and certainly wherever we turn our eyes after the 
time of Abraham, we see only a false worship. The 
patriarch's forefathers, and even himself, were en- 
gaged in it ; as is evident from Josh. xxiv. 2, 14. 

The Hebrews had no peculiar form of idolatry ; 
they imitated the superstitions of others, but do not 
appear to have been inventors of any. When they 
were in Egypt, they worshipped Egyptian deities ; 
in the wilderness they worshipped those of the Ca- 
naanites, Egyptians, Ammonites, and Moabites ; in 
Judea those of the Phoenicians, Syrians, and other 
people around them. Rachel, probably, had adored 
idols at her father Laban's, since she carried off his 
teraphim, Gen. xxxi. 30. Jacob, after his return 
from Mesopotamia, required his people to reject the 
strange gods from among them, and also the super- 
stitious pendants worn by them in their ears, which 
he hid under the turpentine-tree near Sichem. He 
preserved his family in the worship of God while he 



lived ; but after his death, part of his sons worship- 
ped Egyptian deities. (See Josh. xxiv. 23.) 

Under the government of the judges, they often 
fell into idolatry. Gideon, after he had been favored 
by God with so particular a deliverance, made an 
ephod, which ensnared the Israelites in unlawful 
worship, Judg. viii. 27. Micah's Teraphim are well 
known, and the worship of them continued in Israel 
till the dispersion of the people, Judg. xvii. 5 ; xviii. 
30, 31. Previously " the children of Israel did evil 
in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim. They 
forsook the Lord God of their fathers, .... and 
followed other gods — of the gods of the people that 
were round about them ; and bowed themselves unto 
them : . . . and they forsook the Lord and served 
Baal and Ashtaroth," Judg. ii. U. During the times 
of Samuel, Saul, and David, the worship of God 
seems to have been preserved pure in Israel. There 
was corruption and irregularity of manners, but little 
or no idolatry ; unless it is to be inferred from the 
names given to some of Saul's sons — Ish-baal, or 
Ish-bosheth, &c. Solomon, seduced by complaisance 
to his strange wives, caused temples to be erected in 
honor of their gods, and himself impiously offered 
incense to them, 1 Kings xi. 5 — 7. He adored Ash- 
taroth, goddess of the Phoenicians, Moloch, god of the 
Ammonites, and Chemosh, god of the Moabites. Je- 
roboam, who succeeded Solomon, set up golden 
calves at Dan and Bethel, and made Israel to sin. 
The people, no longer restrained by royal authority, 
worshipped not only these golden calves, but all 
the deities of the Phoenicians, Syrians, Ammonites, 
and Moabites. Under the reign of Ahab, idolatry 
reached its height. The impious Jezebel endeavored 
to extinguish the worship of the Lord, by persecuting 
his prophets, (who, as a barrier, still retained some 
of the people in the true religion,) till God, incensed 
at their idolatry, abandoned Israel to the kings of 
Assyria and Chaldea, who transplanted them beyond 
the Euphrates. Judah was almost equally corrupt- 
ed. The descriptions given by the prophets of their 
irregularities and idolatries, their abominations and 
lasciviousness on the high places, and in woods con- 
secrated to idols, fill us with dismay, and discover the 
corruption of the heart of man. After the return 
from Babylon, we do not find the Jews any more 
reproached with idolatry. They expressed much 
zeal for the worship of God ; and except some trans- 
gressors under Antiochus Epiphanes, (1 Mac. i. 12, 
&c.) the people kept themselves clear from this sin. 

There is one passage in the prophetic writings, 
having a reference to this subject, which requires a 
more specific consideration than it has hitherto re- 
ceived — we have had occasion to notice it incident- 
ally once or twice already — we mean Amos v. 25, 
26, quoted by Stephen, in Acts vii. 43. The follow- 
ing is Doddridge's note on the latter text: — "The 
learned De Dieu has a most curious and amusing, but 
to us a very unsatisfactory, note on this verse. He 
saw — and we wonder so many great commentators 
should not have seen — the absurdity of imagining, that 
Moses would have suffered idolatrous processions in 
the wilderness. Therefore he maintains that Amos 
here refers to a mental idolatry, by which, consider- 
ing the tabernacle as a model of the visible heavens, 
(a fancy, to be sure, as old as Philo and Josephus,) 
they referred it, and the worship there paid, to Mo- 
loch, so as to make it in their hearts, in effect, his 
shrine ; and there, also, to pay homage to Saturn, 
whom he would prove to be the same withChiun, or 
Remphan, who (as this critic thinks) might be called 



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[ 525 ] 



IDOL 



tneir star, because some later rabbins out of then- 
great regard to the sabbath, which was among the 
heathen Saturn's day, have said many extravagant 
and ridiculous things in honor of that planet. Ca- 
pellus hints at this interpretation too. But the words 
of the prophet, and of Stephen, so plainly express 
making of images, and the pomp of their supersti- 
tious processions, (see Young on Idolatry, vol. i. p. 
128 — 131.) that we think, if external idolatry is not 
referred to here, it will be difficult to prove it was 
ever practised. We conclude, therefore, considering 
what was urged in the beginning of this note, that 
God here refers to the idolatries, to which, in suc- 
ceeding ages, they were gradually given up ; (after 
having begun to revolt in the wilderness by the sin 
of the golden calf;) which certainly appears (as Gro- 
tius justly observes) from its being assigned as the 
cause of their captivity ; which it can hardly be con- 
ceived the sin of their fathers in the wilderness, al- 
most seven or eight hundred years before, could 
possibly be, though in conjunction with their own 
wickedness, in following ages, God might (as he 
threatened, Exod. xxxii. 34.) remember that. Com- 
pare 2 Kings xvii. 16; xxi. 3; xxiii. 5." Such are 
the embarrassments of the learned ! — Feeling these, 
Mr. Taylor has submitted for consideration, whether 
ihe nature and design of the sacred tents represented 
cn some ancient medals, may not contribute toward 
elucidating the obscurity. The words of Amos, he 
remarks, may bear the following interpretation (and 
the quotation in the Acts may be rendered to the 
same effect) : "But you set up the succoth, booths, 
tabernacles, temporary residences of your king [Mo- 
loch] ; and of that Chiun you set up your images ; and 
the star of your divinities which ye made, formed, in- 
stituted, to yourselves.'''' (See Chiun.) Now, if we 
suppose that these succoth (booths) of the Israelites 
were formed for the like purposes as those to which 
we have alluded, and like them might have been en- 
titled to the honors of the neokorate, then we see 
how easily any tents, or tabernacles, might be con- 
verted into such receptacles whether in the camp, 
or apart from it, or in retirements at a little distance 
up the country, and might be appropriated — conse- 
crated to similar purposes, in a manner more or less 
private. As these tents are distinguished by a pecu- 
liar kind of ornament, or fringe, so might those of 
their professed votaries be ; or if not, — yet they might 
equally be considered as sacred to the impure di- 
vinity, though appearing as ordinary tents, and under 
this explanation, the notorious publicity of the taber- 
nacles, the taking up, carrying in procession, &c. may 
be dismissed from these passages. As to the " star," 
as this was of small size, it might easily be con- 
cealed, and carried about the person ; as we find 
practised by the soldiers of Judas Maccabeus, (2 
Mac. xii. 40.) also ear-rings, or other ornaments, thus 
marked, might be worn as amulets, and carried with 
superstitious intentions, as those of Jacob's family 
(Gen. xxxv. 4.) in all probability were. Nothing was 
more common among the heathen in all ages. 

But a difficulty still remains ; on what occasion 
had the Israelites thus transgressed, by setting up 
tents to impure deities ? (1.) It is well known, that 
in the instance of the golden calf " the people ate 
and drank, and rose up to play," (Exod. xxxii. 6 ; 1 
Cor. x. 7.) which expression, play, is understood by 
many commentators in a profligate sense. (2.) By 
the advice of Balaam (Numb. xxv. 1.) Balak, king 
of Moab, through the Midianite women, seduced the 
Israelites to commit whoredom with the daughters 



of Moab; with whom they had contr&,iiv3d acquaint- 
ance, by a long stay in one place ; and these women 
"called the people away, that is, from the camp to 
their own privacies, their own residences, where 
they ate of the sacrifices ; were pampered, and 
bowed down, not merely to their seducers, but to 
their idols. In short, Israel joined himself by degrees 
to the obscene Baal-peor:" and the immorality arose 
to such a height, that one of the princes of Israel 
brought it publicly home to his own tent, and was 
severely punished for his open wickedness. Now, 
whether on this occasion the Midianite women had 
tents set up, at home, dedicated to the voluptuous 
goddess ; whether they so consecrated their custom- 
ary dwelling-tents for a time; or whether the Is- 
raelites themselves consecrated their oavti, or sepa- 
rate tents, it will be admitted, that they set up, insti- 
tuted, residences for criminal purposes, where they 
committed fornication, and where they worshipped 
images, stars, &c. if they did not even carry them 
about their persons ; which some might do, as gifts 
of their paramours, or tokens of identification and 
cognizance by participants in the same practices. 
No doubt, there were various degrees of guilt among 
the individuals of the Israelitish nation. 

On the whole, it is clear, (1.) That tents, or tem- 
porary residences, were erected to Venus ; (2.) That 
the Israelites sinned by fornication ; (3.) Baal-peor 
was an obscene deity ; and therefore it should seem, 
that we risk little in referring these tabernacles, not 
so much to public processions, and carryings about — 
as to a vice at first practised privately, afterwards 
spreading generally in the camp, and at length trans- 
acted so publicly as to require an equally general and 
public punishment. The passage in Amos might be 
understood to this effect : " I hate your feast days, 
&c. because you do not keep my worship and ser- 
vice pure, but, together with sacred solemnities, you 
practise injustice and iniquity ; just as your fathers 
in the desert, who offered sacrifices, &c. to me very 
pompously in public, but they did not serve me with 
integrity — simply, me only, but, together with their 
worship of me, they inconsistently, and at length, 
notoriously, worshipped also impure deities ; the 
same temper and spirit is in you, and therefore I 
will punish you, by banishment from your country." 
The quotation in the Acts coincides with this in 
sense. 

As the maintenance of the worship of the only 
true God was one of the fundamental objects of the 
Mosaic polity, and as that God was regarded as the 
king of the Israelitish nation ; so we find idolatry, 
that is, the worship of other gods, occupying, in the 
Mosaic law, the first place in the list of crimes. It 
was indeed a crime, not merely against God, but 
also against the fundamental law of the state, and 
thus a sort of high treason. Among the command- 
ments which God gave to the people of Israel, the 
first was i; ,".I Jehovah am thy God, who have brought 
thee out of Egypt, the prison of slaves ; thou shalt 
have no other god before my face," Exod. xx. 2, 3. 
It is, therefore, the more necessary, that we under- 
stand the true nature of this crime, and the light in 
which it is viewed in the Mosaic law. The crime 
to which Moses annexed the punishment of death, 
consisted not in ideas and opinions, but in the overt 
act of worshipping other gods. Though a man be-- 
lieved that there were more gods than one, he would 
not, therefore, by the Mosaic statute, have become 
amenable to the magistrate, nor would an inquisitiop 
have taken place. 



IDOL 



[ 526 J 



IDOL 



We must be careful, therefore, to distinguish 
between two crimes, which, by the idiom of our 
language, are sometimes comprehended under the 
common name of idolatry, and which, even when 
speaking about Israelitish matters, we are very apt 
to confound together. These are — (1.) The crime 
of worshipping other gods besides the only true God, 
to whom Moses gave the name of Jehovah ; this 
was, properly speaking, the state crime already de- 
scribed, and it is at the same time the greatest of all 
offences against sound reason and common sense. 
( 2.) The crime of image-worship, which is not always 
idolatry, because not merely false gods, but even the 
only true God, may be worshipped under the form 
of an image. Thus the Israelites wanted to worship 
under the similitude of a golden calf, the God who 
hud brought them out of Egypt, and Aaron, in pro- 
claiming a festival on its being set up, expressly de- 
nominated the God, in honor of whom that festival 
was to be solemnized, Jehovah, Exod. xxxii. 4, 5. 
Image worship, it is true, indicated a crime against 
the true God ; but then it was not, if we may so 
speak, high treason, or a crime against the funda- 
mental law of the state ; nor is it so clearly and so 
completely repugnant to sound reason, as the crime 
of idolatry. 

These two crimes, therefore, are in their nature 
extremely different, and the one of them is much 
more heinous than the other. If, however, we read 
the descriptions of them given by Moses, we shall 
not be apt to confound them ; for to serve other gods 
besides Jehovah, or to serve the gods of strange na- 
tions, and to make an image in order to serve it or 
adore it, must strike us at the first glance as very 
different modes of expression. 

Idolatry, properly so called, was, as we have al- 
ready mentioned, the greatest of all crimes against 
the state itself, and expressly prohibited in the very 
first of the commandments. Moses besides prohib- 
ited every thing that was likely to give any occasion 
or temptation to it, or to excite a suspicion of its be- 
ing practised ; and the principal scope of his last 
discourses in the book of Deuteronomy, is to warn 
the Israelites against idolatry, and to exhort them in 
the most urgent manner to the service of the only 
true God. The curses, also, and blessings which he 
proposes to the people in Lev. xxvi. and Deut. xxvii. 
xxviii. and xxxii. turn chiefly on the transgression or 
observation of this commandment. If any individual 
Israelite worshipped strange gods, he subjected him- 
self to the punishment of stoning, Deut. xvii. 2 — 5. 
This punishment may appear unnecessarily severe, 
but it resulted from the principle of the Mosaic 
polity. The only true God was the civil legislator 
of the people of Israel, and accepted by them as 
then - king, and hence idolatry was a crime against 
the state, and, therefore, just as deservedly punished 
with death, as high treason is with us. Whoever 
worshipped strange gods, shook at the same time 
the whole fabric of the laws, and rebelled against 
him in whose name the government was carried on. 

When a whole city became guilty of idolatry, it 
was considered in a state of rebellion against the 
government, and treated according to the laws of 
war ; its inhabitants and all their cattle were put to 
death. No spoil was made, but every thing it con- 
tained was burnt with itself ; nor durst it ever be re- 
built, Deut. xiii. 13 — 19. Whether the children were 
also to be put to death, is not expressly specified in 
the statute. The appropriate term by which the 
punishment announced against any such idolatrous 



city was expressed in the law, is (=p-mn) Hecherim, to 
consecrate to Jehovah ; or, as Luther renders it, to 
put under ban, to outlaw, or proscribe. It was re- 
garded as wholly consecrated to Jehovah, for the 
execution of its punishment ; the people being de- 
voted to the sword, and the city itself consigned to 
the flames, by way of an offering for its sins; ac 
cording to what is said on the subject of spoil in 
Deut. xiii. 15 — 17, "It shall be consumed as a burnt- 
offering, of which nothing remains." 

When it thus happened that the people, as a 
people, brought guilt upon themselv'es by their idol- 
atry, God reserved to himself the infliction of the 
punishments denounced against that national crime, 
which consisted in wars, famines, and other national 
judgments ; and when the measure of their iniquity 
was complete, in the destruction of their polity, and 
the transportation of the people into other lands, 
Lev. xxvi ; Deut. xxviii. xxix. and xxxii. 

For the crime of seducing others to the worship 
of strange gods, but more especially where a pre- 
tended prophet, who could often naturally anticipate 
what would come to pass, uttered predictions that 
tended to lead the people into idolatry, the appointed 
punishment was stoning to death, Deut. xiii. 2 — 12. 
With regard to private seducers, although Moses in 
other cases was far from encouraging informers, yet 
such is here the rigor of his law, that it enjoins in- 
forming without reserve upon every such seducer ; 
even although it were a uterine brother, a son, a 
daughter, a wife, or one's best friend ; but it would 
seem, at the same time, that no one was bound to 
impeach a father, mother, or husband, at least they 
are not particularized with the others mentioned in 
Deut. xiii. 7, 8, 9. 

All idolatrous ceremonies, and even some which, 
though innocent in themselves, might excite suspicion 
of idolatry, were prohibited ; of these, human sacri- 
fices are most conspicuous, as the most abominable 
of all the crimes to which superstition is capable of 
hurrying its votaries in defiance of the stronger feel- 
ings of humanity. Against no other sort of idolatry 
are the Mosaic prohibitions so rigorous as against 
this; and yet we find it continued among the Israel- 
ites to a very late period. For even the prophets 
Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who survived the ruin of the 
state, and wrote in the beginning of the Babylonish 
captivity, take notice of it, and describe it not as an 
antiquated or obsolete abomination, but what was 
actually in use a little before and even during their 
own times. 

The other practices prohibited by Moses as idola- 
trous, or as, at any rate, suspicious on account of 
idolatry, are the following : — (1.) The making images 
of strange gods. This was already forbidden in the 
case of the true God ; but the curse in Deut. xxvii. 
15. seems to be especially levelled against idolatrous 
images. — (2.) Prostration before, or adoration of, such 
images, or of any thing else revered as a god, sucn 
as the sun, moon, and stars, Exod. xx. 5 ; xxxiv. 14 ; 
Deut. iv. 19. But prostrations before men, not held 
as gods, were by no means prohibited ; but, as we 
see from the writings of Moses himself, were very 
common. Adorare is the Latin term applied to the 
act of prostration ; and the Greeks, who, out of na- 
tional pride, commonly refused to pay that honor to 
the Persian kings, expressed it by the word nqoazv- 
vuv. It consisted in falling down on one's knees, and 
at the same time touching the ground with the fore- 
head. — (3.) Having altars or groves dedicated to idols 
or images thereof. By the Mosaic law these were 



IDOL 



1 52' 



ID U 



all expressly to be destroyed ; (Exod. xxiv. 13 ; Dent, 
vii. 5; xii. 3.) and considering the strange propensity 
of mankind in those days to idolatry, it became 
necessary to obliterate every such memorial of idol- 
atrous practices ; else, in aftertimes, the sight of an 
image, an idol god, might have excited such ideas of 
its divinity, or have impressed men's minds with 
such superstitious terrors, as, in a consecrated grove, 
would soon pass into prayer and veneration. This 
rigor in the extermination of every remnant of 
idolatry was carried so far, that by the statute of 
Deut. vii. 25, 26, the Israelites durst not even keep 
nor bring into their houses the gold and silver that 
had been on any image, lest it should prove a snare 
and lead them astray. Because, having been once 
consecrated to an idol god, considering the prevalent 
superstition as to the reality of such deities, some 
idea of its sanctity, or some dread of it, might still 
have continued, and have thus been the means of 
propagating idolatry afresh among their children. 
Moses, therefore, declared it an abomination in the 
sight of God, and warned them against bringing it 
to their houses, lest it should, being itself accursed, 
bring a curse upon them. Conformable to the Mo- 
saic prohibition is the language of the prophecy of 
Isaiah, in chap. xxx. 22, where he says, " The silver 
and gold wherewith your graven and molten images 
were coated, you shall account unclean, and turn 
from with aversion, as from a menstruous woman, 
saying, Begone." — (4.) Offering sacrifices to idols. — 
(5.) Eating of offerings made to idols by other people, 
who invited them to their offering feasts ; in other 
words, attending the festivals of other gods. — (6.) 
Eating or drinking of blood ; which naturally cre- 
ated strong suspicions of idolatry, and was, therefore, 
absolutely prohibited. — (7.) Prophesying in the name 
of a strange god. — (8.) All usages and ceremonies, 
whereby a man dedicated himself to a strange 
god. — (9.) Prostitution in honor of an idol, and 
where the wages of such iniquity usually went to 
the idol and its temple. — (10.) Imitation of the 
idolatrous ceremonies of the Canaanites, and at- 
tempting to transfer them into the worship of the 
true God. 

In fact, every audacious transgression of the cere- 
monial law, in other words, of that law which pre- 
scribed the usages of divine worship and the differ- 
ent ceremonies of purification, that were to be per- 
formed in different cases, was regarded as an aban- 
donment of the services of the true God, and of 
co irse as a transition to the services of other gods 
punished with extirpation, that is, with death. (Mi- 
chae'lis's Commentaries.) 

Idolatrous marks and tokens. — We read in 
.he book of Revelation of a persecuting power that 
prevailed so far as to "cause all, both small and 
great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark 
in their right hand, or in their forehead ; and that no 
man might buy or sell save he that had the mark, or 
the name of the beast, or the number of his name," 
chap. xiii. 1G, 17. It may not strike English readers, 
that this custom still prevails, in India, to this day. 
The following extracts from Paolino's Voyage to the 
East Indies will set it in its true light : " As the Pa- 
gans, Mahometans, and Christians, in India, all wear 
white cotton dresses, and made almost in the same 
manner, you must look very closely at their forehead 
or breast, if you wish to distinguish an idolater from 
a Christian. The former have on the forehead cer- 
tain marks which they consider us sacred, and by 
whi'-.h you may know to what sect they belong anil 



what deity they worship. They bear such marks in 
honor of Brahma, on the forehead ; in honor of 
Vishnu, on the breast ; and in honor of Siva, on the 
arms. . . . They are called Shudhamayaga ; that is, 
purification, purity." (Note, p. 17.) " When the 
pagans after their ablutions paint marks of this kind 
on their forehead, &c. they always repeat certain 
forms of prayer, in honor of the deity to whom these 
marks are dedicated. At the time of public ablu- 
tions this is performed by the priest, who paints with 
his finger the foreheads of all those who have already 
purified themselves. At private lustrations each 
person lays on the colors himself, without being un- 
der the necessity of offering up prayers. No pagan 
dan assist in any part of divine worship without 
being painted with the above marks." (p. 344, note.) 
Some of these marks are not the most decent ; they 
are numerous ; have different appellations and forms, 
and are painted with various colors and substances. 
How far, when idolatry was triumphant, it was neces- 
sary to adopt such marks in order to buy or sell, we 
know not. It is certain, that they are objects of no 
inconsiderable pride among devotees ; and that they 
never think themselves dressed to appear in public 
without them. Nor must we imagine, that although 
individuals are at liberty to adore what idol they 
please, yet that the spirit of rivalship is unknown. 
Thevenot uses strong language in allusiou to this : 
" There is a caste of Gentiles called Byragees, who 
damn the yellow color ; and who in the morning put 
white on their forehead, contrary to the custom of 
other castes, who have red put on by the Brahmins. 
When a Gentile is painted with this red, he bows 
his head three times, and lifts his joined hands thrice 
up to his forehead ; and then presents to the Brah- 
min rice and cocoa." But some of these marks are 
drawn up the forehead in triple lines ; a white line, 
or perhaps yellow on each side, and red (always) in 
the middle ; which shows that these colors admit of 
association. 

IDUMEA, the name given by the Greeks to the 
land of Edom, which extended, originally, from the 
Dead sea to the Elanitic gulf of the Red sea. After- 
wards it extended more to the south of Judah, to- 
wards Hebron. The character and present state of 
mount Seir, the ancient Edom, or Idumea, is described 
in the article Exodus, p. 415. Besides this region, 
the proper seat of the Edomites, they appear to have 
extended their conquests to the east and north-east 
of Moab, and to have had possession of the country 
of which Bozra was the chief city. To this they 
of course had access through the intervening desert, 
without crossing the countries of the Moabites and 
Amorites. The capital of East Idumea was Bozra ; 
the capital of south Edom was Petra, or Jectael. 
The Idumeans, or Edomites, were, as their name 
implies, descendants of Edom, or Esau, elder brother 
of Jacob. They were governed by dukes or princes 
and afterwards by their own kings, Gen. xxxvi. 31. 
They continued independent till the time of David, 
who subdued them, in completion of Isaac's ( 
prophecy, that Jacob should rule Esau, xxvii. 29, 30. 
The Idunia?ans bore their subjection with great im- 
patience, and at the end of Solomon's reign, Hadad 
the Edomite, who had been carried into Egypt during 
his childhood, returned into his own country, where 
he procured himself to be acknowledged king, 1 
Kings xi. 22. It is probable, however, that he reigned 
only in East Edom ; for that south of Judea con- 
tinued subject to the kings of Judah till the reign 
of Jehoram, against whom it rebelled, 2 Chrow. xxi. 8 



IMA 



[ 528 ] 



IMAGE 



Amaziah, king of Judah, took Petra, killed 1000 men, 
and compelled 10,000 more to leap from the rock on 
which the city of Petra stood, xxv. 11. But these 
conquests were not permanent. When Nebuchad- 
nezzar besieged Jerusalem, the Idumaeans joined 
him, and encouraged him to raze the very founda- 
tions of the city ; but their cruelty did not long con- 
tinue unpunished. Five years after the taking of 
Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar humbled all the states 
round Judea, particularly Idumaea ; and John Hir- 
canus entirely conquered the people, and obliged 
them to receive circumcision and the law. They 
continued subject to the later kings of Judca till the 
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Ultimately, 
the Idumaeans became mingled with the Ishmaelites, 
and they were jointly called Nabatheans, from Na- 
bath, a son of Ishmael. 

IGNORANCE is taken, in Scripture, in several 
senses. It denotes (1.) the absence of knowledge or 
information, when the subject in question was truly 
unknown, Lev. iv. 13. So Jonathan was ignorant of 
Saul's oath, 1 Sain. xiv. 27. (See also 2 Sam. xv. 12.) 
(2.) The absence of distinguishing knowledge, or the 
not rightly discerning when the subject was known ; 
(Lev. iv. 2, 3, 22 ; Numb. xv. 25 ; Heb. v. 12, 13.) that 
is, for mistake, after having considered the subject; 
erring by incorrect judgment. Ignorance is some- 
times simple, sometimes wilful ; or ignorance of the 
power of God, while surrounded by the works of 
God, ignorance of the will of God, while favored by 
the word of God, are inexcusable. 

IJE-ABARIM, an encampment of Israel, east of 
the land of Moab, Numb. xxi. 11. Jeremiah (xlix. 3.) 
speaks of Hai, or Gai, which is Je, or Jai, in the land 
of Moab. 

IJON, a fortified place in Naphtali, 1 Kings xv.20 ; 
2 Chron. xvi. 4. 

ILLYRICUM, a province lying to the north-west 
of Macedonia, of which the old northern limits were 
the two Pannonias, the Adriatic sea south, Istria west, 
and Upper Moesia and Macedonia east ; so that Paul 
(Rom. xv. 9.) preached in Syria, Phoenicia, Arabia, 
Cilicia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, Lycaonia, Galatia, Pon- 
tus, Paphlagonia, Phrygia, Troas, Asia, Caria, Lycia, 
Ionia, Lydia, the isles of Cyprus and Crete, Thracia, 
Macedonia, Thessalia, and Achaia. 

I. IMAGE, or representation, of any thing. God 
created man after his own image ; that is, as another 
self upon earth, to exercise a dominion subordinate to 
his. (See Adam.) Otherwise (Eccl. xvii. 3.) he created 
him after his image, immortal, good, just, provident, 
intelligent, &c. Lastly, God imprinted his image in 
man, his holiness, virtue, wisdom. He created man, 
gave him an earthly body and a reasonable soul; as, 
in after ages, his Word, his Wisdom, was to assume 
the nature of man — body and soul. Adam, by sin, 
disfigured his image of God, and forfeited the gifts of 
grace and immortality ; which Christ, by his Spirit, 
forms anew in our hearts. God forbade the Hebrews 
from making any image or representation of any 
creature in heaven, or in earth, or in the waters, with 
intent to worship it. Moses and Solomon, however, 
made cherubim over the ark, and in the tabernacle. 
Moses made a brazen serpent; and Solomon cast 
lions and oxen, and placed them in the temple. But 
this was not with design that they should be wor- 
shipped, though the brazen serpent of Moses did 
receive worship. Who knows whether the oxen, 
&c. of the temple might not have received the same 
perverted attention, had they not been taken away to 
Babylon ? 



Beside the common acceptation of the word image, 
meaning a representation of something real, as of a 
horse, an ox, a star, &c. this term is understood in 
several other senses : Psalm lxxiii. 20. says, " Thou 
shalt dissipate their image," their shadow, their figure ; 
thou shalt reduce them to nothing. Eliphaz says 
(Job iv. 16.) that at midnight an image, a phantom, 
appeared to him ; he heard, as it were, a voice, or 
whisper. " Image " is sometimes taken in a contrary 
sense, in opposition to a transient image, a phantom : 
so "the law having a shadow of good things to come, 
and not the very image of the things," it represented 
these good things in a slight and superficial manner, 
like shadows, which have nothing substantial and 
permanent ; whereas the gospel represents the same 
good things under a lively, solid, firm, stable, and real 
figure ; the law was but a shadow, of which the gos- 
pel is the reality. The law was an outline, a sketch ; 
the gospel is a finished figure, whether picture or 
statue. In Paul's epistles, Christ is called " the image 
of the Father," (2 Cor. iv. 4.) "the image of the in- 
visible God, the first-born of every creature," (Col. i. 
15.) and "the brightness of his glory, the express 
image of his substance," Heb. i. 3. This is not a 
mere image and no more, a ray only ; but it is an 
emanation from the Father, an efflux of his light and* 
substance. The apostle requires that, " as we have 
borne the image of the earthly, we should likewise 
bear the image of the heavenly," 1 Cor. xv. 49. As 
we have borne the image of sinful and offending 
Adam, as we have imitated his sin and disobedience, 
so we should endeavor to retrace on our souls the 
features of the heavenly man, Christ Jesus ; his obe- 
dience, humility, patience, meekness, &c. ; or as the 
passage, perhaps, more properly means, to be cast in 
the mould, as a figure. 

Image is often taken for a statue, figure, or idol. 
The book of Wisdom, speaking of the causes of idola- 
try, says, that a father, afflicted for the death of his 
son, made an image of him, to which he paid divine 
honors. We read (Rev. xiii. 14, 15.) that God per- 
mitted the beast to seduce men, whom it commanded 
to make an image of the beast, which became living 
and animated ; and that all who refused to adore it 
were put to death. The images mentioned in Lev. 
xxvi. 30 ; Isa. xxvii. 9, were, according to rabbi Solo- 
mon, idols exposed to the sun, on the tops of houses. 
Abenezra says they were portable chapels or temples, 
in the form of chariots, in honor of the sun. 

II. IMAGE of Nebuchadnezzar. The golden 
colossus of Nebuchadnezzar has been considered as 
an embarrassing subject, because measured by false 
proportions. A proper understanding of its attitude 
and accompaniments, however, may solve the diffi- 
culties which have been collected out of the descrip- 
tion given of it : " It was an image of gold : its height 
threescore cubits, and its breadth six cubits," Daniel, 
chap. iii. The learned Prideaux felt very strongly 
the embarrassment which arises from these dimen- 
sions: he expresses himself thus: "This temple [of 
Belus] stood till the time of Xerxes; but he, on his 
return from the Grecian expedition, demolished the 
whole of it, and laid it all in rubbish, having first 
plundered it of all its immense riches, among which 
were several images or statues of massy gold, and one 
which is said by Diodorus Siculus to have been forty 
foot high, which might, perchance, have been that 
which Nebuchad.nezzar consecrated in the plains of 
Dura. Nebuchadnezzar's golden image is said, in- 
deed, in Scripture, to have been sixty cubits, i. e. 
ninety feet high ; but that must be understood of the 




IDOLATROUS WORSHIP. 




THE SACRED GOLDEN COW. 



IMAGE 



[ 529 ] 



IMAGE 



image and pedestal both together. For that image 
being stated to have been but six cubits broad, or 
thick, it is impossible that the image could have been 
sixty cubits high. For that makes its height to be 
ten times its breadth or thickness, which exceeds all 
the proportions of a man ; no man's height being 
above six times his thickness, measuring the slenderest 
man living at his waist. But where the breadth of 
this image was measured, is not said ; perchance it 
was from shoulder to shoulder; and then the pro- 
portion of six cubits breadth will bring down the 
height exactly to the measure which Diodorus hath 
mentioned. For, the usual height of a man being 
four and a half of his breadth between the shoulders, 
if the image were six cubits broad between the shoul- 
ders, it must, according to this proportion, have been 
twenty-seven cubits high, which is forty foot and a 
half. Besides, Diodorus tells us, that this image of 
forty foot high contained a thousand Babylonish 
talents of gold ; which, according to Pollux, who, 
in his Ouomasticon, reckons a Babylonish talent to 
contain 7000 Attic drachmas, i. e. 875 ounces, this 
[according to the lowest computation, valuing an 
Attic drachm at no more than 7^d. or 15 cents ; 
whereas, Dr. Bernard reckons it to be 8\d. or 17 cents, 
which would raise the sum much higher] amounts 
to three millions and a half of our money. But if 
we advance the height of the statue to ninety foot, 
without the pedestal, it will increase the value to a 
sum incredible ; and therefore it is necessary to take 
the pedestal also into the height mentioned by Daniel. 
Other images and sacred utensils were also in that 
temple, all of solid gold." (Connect, p. 100, 101.) It 
will be perceived that Prideaux supposes the image 
itself to have been only forty feet high, while his 
pedestal was fifty feet high ; a disproportion of parts, 
which, if not absolutely impossible, is utterly contra- 
dictory to every principle of art, even of the rudest 
art ; and a fortiori of the more refined periods of art. 
We have no instance of such disproportion remain- 
ing. • The arts had long been cultivated in India and 
Egypt, and doubtless in Babylon, also. 

Let us hear the original authors. Herodotus, who 
saw the temple of Belus, is the best authority respect- 
ing it: "The temple of Jupiter Belus, whose huge 
gates of brass may still be seen, is a square building, 
each side of which is two furlongs. In the midst rises 
a tower, of the solid depth and height of one furlong ; 
upon which, resting as upon a base, seven other lesser 
towers are built in regular succession. The ascent is 
on the outside, which, winding from the ground, is 
continued to the highest tower ; and in the middle of 
the whole structure there is a convenient resting 
place. In the last tower is a large chapel, in which 
is placed a couch, magnificently adorned ; and near 
it a table of solid gold ; but there is no statue in the 
place. In this temple there is also a small chapel, 
lower in the building, which contains a figure of Ju- 
piter, in a sitting posture, with a large table before 
him : these, with the base of the table, and the seat 
of the throne, are all of the purest gold ; and are es- 
timated, by the Chaldeans, to be worth eight hundred 
talents. On the outside of this chapel are two altars ; 
one is of gold, the other is of immense size, and ap- 
propriated to the sacrifice of full grown animals : 
those only which have not yet left their dams may be 
offered on the golden altar. On the larger altar, at 
the anniversary festival in honor of their god, the 
Chaldeans regularly consume incense to the amount 
of a thousand talents. There was formerly in this 
temple a statue of solid gold, twelve cubits high: 



this, however, I mention from the information of the 
Chaldeans, not from my own knowledge." (Clio. 183.) 
Diodorus Siculus, a much later writer, speaks to this 
effect: (lib. ii.) "Of the tower of Jupiter Belus, 
the historians who have spoken have given different 
descriptions ; and this temple being now entirely de- 
stroyed, we cannot speak accurately respecting it. 
.... It was excessively high ; constructed through- 
out with great care ; built of brick and bitumen. 
Semiramis placed on the top of it three statues of 
massy gold, of Jupiter, Juno, and Rhea. Jupiter was 
erect, in the attitude of a man walking: he was forty 
feet in height, and weighed a thousand Babylonian 
talents. Rhea, who sat in a chariot of gold, was of 
the same weight. Juno, who stood upright, weighed 
eight hundred talents." Diodorus proceeds to men- 
tion many more articles of gold; among others, "a 
vast urn, placed before the statue of Jupiter, which 
weighed twelve hundred talents." 

The reader will judge for himself respecting this 
extract: it seems that the Babylonians, regretting 
exceedingly the loss of their sacred treasures from 
this temple, magnified both their value and their 
importance, when speaking of them to inquiring 
strangers. Diodorus acknowledges that "he could 
not speak accurately respecting it." The relation of 
Herodotus is the more credible, at least in these par- 
ticulars : (1.) there was no statue in the highest chapel ; 
but (2.) in another chapel there was a statue of Jupi- 
ter [Belus] sitting ; (3.) the worth, not the weight, was 
calculated at so many talents; i. e. including the 
labor, skill, preparation, and accompaniments of the 
statue, its throne, &c. (4.) the festival, in honor of the 
god Belus, was annual ; and it was prodigious, since, 
no doubt, the other offerings corresponded to that of 
the incense — a thousand talents ! (5.) a statue of solid 
gold, of twelve cubits, (eighteen feet,) is mentioned 
by the historian as a thing barely credible : observe, 
of solid gold ; yet a statue not solid, but an external 
shell of that metal, as statues are usually cast, might 
have been very much larger, at much less expense 
of gold. (6.) We conclude that Nebuchadnezzar 
consecrated his image at an anniversary festival in 
honor of his deity. 

After stating these variations and embarrassments 
of conception and description, it will be thought de- 
sirable to obtain an idea of this image more accurately 
approaching its true appearance and dimensions. The 
following attempt has been made by Mr. Taylor. 

In the first place, it is assumed that the taste of 
sculpture, in those ages, was much the same through- 
out the East, in Babylon and in Egypt ; so that, by 
what figures of equal antiquity now exist, in Egypt 
for instance, we may estimate what was then adopted 
in Babylon, whose works of art have perished. Sec- 
ondly, that Nebuchadnezzar, having conquered and 
ravaged Egypt but a few years before this period, 
had undoubtedly seen there the colossal statues of 
that country, erected by its ancient monarchs ; and, 
as these were esteemed not only sacred objects, but 
also capital exertions of art, it is inferred that he 
proposed to imitate these, as to their magnitude, and 
to surpass them, as to their materials. These as- 
sumptions being admitted, we proceed to examine 
some of those colossi which still continue to orna 
ment Egypt. 

Norden (plate 110) represents two colossal figures 
which remain at the ancient Thebes, and thus de- 
scribes them : — "This figure, A, seems to be that of a 
man ; the figure B that of a woman. They are about 
fifty Danish feet in height, from the bases of the 



IMAGE 



[ 530 ] 



IMAGE 



pedestals to the summit of the head ; from the sole of 
the feet to the knees is fifteen feet; the pedestals are 
five feet in height, thirty-six and a half long, nineteen 
aud a half broad." He here speaks of perpendicular 
height ; and this idea of perpendicular height has 
contributed to embarrass Prideaux ; for it does not 
seem to have occurred to him, that the prophet Daniel 
rather means proportional height, when describing 
that of the golden colossus. Suppose we understand 
the prophet's description thus: "Nebuchadnezzar, 
the king, made an image of gold, whose proportional 
height, if it had stood upright, was sixty cubits; but, 
being in a sitting posture, conformable to the style of 
Indian and of Egyptian art, in reference to their dei- 
ties, it was little more than thirty cubits, or fifty feet, 
perpendicular height ; and its thickness, or depth, 
measured from breast to back, [not its breadth, meas- 
ured from shoulder to shoulder, as has been hitherto 
understood, and as our translation renders,] was one 
tenth part of its proportional height; i.e. six cubits." 
The proportion of a full-grown man, from breast to 
back, is one tenth part of the height. — Since, then, 
the accepting of this word in reference to depth, rather 
than to breadth, reduces its application to appropriate 
and accurate measurement, no more need be said in 
vindication of the version proposed. 

But we have another image, generally called after 
Nebuchadnezzar ; namely, the statue seen by this 
monarch in his dream, Dan. ii. 31, &c. It was very 
large and terrible: its head was of gold, its breast 
and its arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, 
the legs of iron, and the feet partly of iron and partly 
of clay. Calmet's explication is: — that the empire 
of Nebuchadnezzar, i. e. of the Chaldeans, was rep- 
resented by the head of gold ; the empire of the Per- 
sians, founded by Cyrus, by the breast and arms of 
silver ; the empire of the Grecians, founded by Alex- 
ander the Great, by the belly and thighs of brass ; 
the empire of the Romans by the legs of iron :— or 
rather, this empire being divided into two, is first, 
that of the Seleucidse in Syria ; secondly, that of the 
Lagidae in Egypt. The attempts of the kings of 
Egypt and Syria, to unite their interests by intermar- 
riages, not succeeding, are represented by the feet 
being partly of iron and partly of clay. The little 
stone that issues from the mountain, and overturns 
the statue, is the empire of the Romans, under which 
appeared the Messiah, whose kingdom saw the fall of 
the Roman colossus. 

Others vary a little, supposing the ten toes to be the 
ten kingdoms of the Roman empire. Mr. Taylor, 
however, doubts very strongly whether any part of 
this image should be extended beyond the empire of 
Nebuchadnezzar ; for if so, why, he asks, add the 
vision of the four beasts ? and why reveal to Nebu- 
chadnezzar what in nowise concerned him or his 
kingdom? It is much more reasonable, he thinks, 
to suppose that the first vision (the image) referred to 
the political person (realm) of Nebuchadnezzar, and 
is to be restricted to that empire of which Babylon 
was the head ; while the second vision, that of the 
tree, referred to the human person of Nebuchadnez- 
zar, and to events accomplished in himself. The 
vision of the four beasts was a revelation to the 
prophet, not to the statesman ; not to the king's officer 
or attendant, but to a person commissioned to write 
for general instruction and general advantage; and 
further, the prophet seems to be transported from 
Shwshan, or from his customary residence, to "the 
great sea," in the Hebrew acceptation of that term, 
the Mediterranean, where he was about midway be- 



tween the eastern beast (Babylon) and the western 
beast, (Rome,) so that he might readily be supposed 
to refer to both, being so situated as to observe them 
both ; independent of the circumstance of his seem- 
ing to himself to be hereby stationed in his native 
country, the holy land of Israel, which he does not 
appear to have been in any other of his visions. 

This view of the subject, if admitted, corrects the 
representation of bishop Newton on the prophecies, 
(who has but followed the opinions of others,) that 
the t^es of the image are the kingdoms into which 
the (western) Roman empire was broken. No doubt 
that Babylon is the golden head ; (crown, or rather 
casque, if we suppose this figure to have been in 
armor, like certain statues of the god Bel, which is 
not improbable ;) the breast and arms of brass (that 
is, the pieces of armor which covered the belly, and 
hung down over the thighs, and which the Romans 
formed into labels) are the empire of Alexander, who 
made Babylon the seat of it, and whose successors 
maintained their power in these countries; but, in- 
stead of going out of Asia for the two thighs of brass, 
we may take the Grecian monarchy of Babylon, under 
Seleucus, for one, and the Syrian monarchy, under 
Antigonus, for the other. Theodoras, and the Par- 
thians, under Arsaces, established themselves in the 
eastern part of the dominions of Nebuchadnezzar ; 
as, after a time, did the Romans in western Asia. To 
the Parthian empire the Persian succeeded, east of 
Babylon ; and the Turkish to the Roman, west of 
Babylon : so that no power rules (or has for many 
ages ruled) at the same time over both these districts 
of the ancient Babylonish dominion. Moreover, we 
are assured, by every traveller who passes through 
these countries, that the governing power is felt by 
the inhabitants as iron which tramples on (them- 
selves) the clay, under pretence of protecting it: — as 
the armor on the feet, being made of iron, does nor. 
combine with the foot it covers ; or as iron plates 
may have clay between them, yet these substances 
do not coalesce. That there exists no more union 
between the inhabitants of these parts of the Turkish 
government and those who govern them, than be- 
tween iron and clay, is notorious, from the genera 
disposition of the country to revolt, in case the bol<L 
attempt of Buonaparte, to overturn the Turkish power, 
had not been stopped by the providential repulse he 
received from sir Sidney Smith, at Acre. 

The state of the Turkish power, in these countries, 
cannot, therefore, be better (metaphorically) ex- 
pressed than by the words of the prophet: "And as 
the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, 
so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly 
broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with 
miry clay, they, the governors, shall mingle them- 
selves (by connections, marriages, &c.) among the 
seed of (Anusha) low men, as the inhabitants shall be 
esteemed ; but they, the governors and the governed, 
shall not cleave one to another, shall not coalesce, 
even as iron is not mixed with clay." How exactly 
this is the case, wherever the Arabs are under the 
yoke of the Turks, [the same in Egypt, and the same 
also in Greece, in reference to the Greeks,] is too 
notorious to require a word of proof ; and could we 
obtain equal information in respect to Persia, we 
should discover precisely the same contradictory 
feelings in that country ; as appears from the rela- 
tion of Hanway, who, unhappily for himself, found 
the Persian peasants too ready to revolt against their 
then despot, the famous Nadir Shah. 

The reader will understand, then, that although a 



4 



I M P 

part of the Roman empire may be referred to in this 
figure, yet only the eastern part of" that empire ; ex- 
cluding all western dominion whatever. This prin- 
ciple is supported, no less than others appear to he, 
by those ancient interpretations which refer to the 
Romans, (as Jerome, and others,) but does not allow 
of that comparison between the ten toes of this image, 
and the ten horns of the fovvth beast in chap. vii. to 
which commentators have resorted. It considers 
them as subjects independent of each other, and to 
be explained by independent history accordingly. 

It may be worth while here to insert the observa- 
tion of Gibbon, that Babylonia was reckoned equal to 
one third of Asia, in point of revenue, previous to the 
time of Cyrus; and latterly, the daily tribute paid to 
the Persian satrap was equal to an English bushel of 
silver. If we ask, What is its present condition ? Mr. 
Kinneir informs us, (p. 237.) ^'Thc mighty cities of 
Nineveh, Babylon, Seleucia, and Ctesiphon hiwe 
crumbled into dust: the humble tent of the Arab 
now occupies the spot formerly adorned with the 
palaces of kings, and his flocks procure but a scanty 
pittance of food amidst the fallen fragments of an- 
cient magnificence. The banks of the Euphrates 
and Tigris, once so prolific, are now, for the most 
part, covered with impenetrable brushwood ; and the 
interior of the province, which was traversed and 
fertilized with innumerable canals, is destitute of 
either inhabitants or vegetation." He adds in a note : 
" Where private property is insecure, and where the 
cultivator can never reckon on reaping the fruits of 
his labors, industry can never flourish. The land- 
holder, under die iron despotism of the Turkish gov- 
ernment, is at all times liable to have his fields laid 
waste, and his habitation pillaged by the myrmidons 
of those in power." What is this but the inconsis- 
tent mixture of iron and clay ? 

IMMANUEL, see Emmanuel. 

IMMORTALITY, in an absolute sense, belongs to 
God only ; he cannot die. Angels are immortal, but 
God, who made them, can terminate their being ; 
man is immortal in part, that is, in his spirit, but his 
body dies ; inferior creatures are not immortal, they 
die wholly. Thus the principle of immortality is 
differently communicated, according to the will of 
the communicator, who can render any creature im- 
mortal by prolonging its life ; can confer immor- 
tality on the body of man, together with his soul ; 
and who maintains angels in immortality by main- 
taining them in holiness. Holiness is the root of 
immortality ; but God only is absolutely holy, as God 
only is absolutely immortal. All imperfection is a 
drawback on the principle of immortality ; 'only God 
is absolutely perfect; therefore, only God is abso- 
lutely immortal. 

IMPOSITION OF HANDS is understood in dif- 
ferent senses in the Old and New Testaments. For 
the ordination and consecration of priests and sacred 
ministers, as well among the Jews as Christians, 
Numb. viii. 10 — 12; Actsvi.6; xiii.3; 1 Tim. iv. 14; 
v. 22 ; 2 Tim. i. 6. To signify the establishment of 
judges and magistrates, on whom it was usual to lay 
hands when they were invested with their offices, 
Numb, xxvii. 18. The Israelites who presented sin- 
offerings at the tabernacle, confessed their sins while 
they laid their hands upon those offerings, Lev. i. 4 ; 
iii. 2 ; ix. 22. Witnesses laid their hands upon the 
head of the accused person, (Dan. xiii. 34. Apoc.) as 
if to signify that they charged on him the guilt of his 
blood, and freed themselves from it. Our Saviour 
laid his hands upon those children who were pre- 



IMP 

sented to him, and blessed them, Mark x. 16. We 
find imposition of hands used also in confirmation, 
Acts viii. 17; xix. 6. The apostles conferred the 
Holy Ghost by laying their hands on those who 
were baptized ; as the Israelites laid their hands on 
the Levites, when they offered them to the Lord, to 
be consecrated to his service, Numb. viii. 10, 12. 

IMPURITY, Legal. There were several sorts ot 
impurity under the law of Moses. Some were vol- 
untary, as the touching a dead body, or any animal 
that had died; or any creeping thing, or unclean 
creature: or the touching things holy by one who 
was not clean, or who was not a priest ; or the touch- 
ing one who had a leprosy, one who had a gonor- 
rhoea, or one who was polluted by a dead carcass ; 
a woman who had newly lain in, or was in her 
courses, or was incommoded with an extraordinary 
issue of blood. Sometimes these impurities were in- 
voluntary ; as when any one unknowingly entered 
the chamber of a person who lay dead, or touched 
bones, or a sepulchre, &c. ; or, either by night or 
day, suffered an involuntary pollution ; or such dis- 
eases as pollute, as the leprosy, or a gonorrhoea ; or 
the use of marriage, lawful or unlawful. Beds, clothes,, 
movables, and utensils, which had touched any thing 
unclean, contracted a pollution, and often commu- 
nicated it. Legal pollutions were generally purified 
by bathing, and continued only till the evening, when, 
the person polluted plunged over head and ears into 
water; either with his clothes on, or else washed 
himself and his clothes separately. Some pollutions, 
however, continued seven days, as that contracted by 
touching a dead body ; others forty or fifty days, as 
that of women lately delivered ; while others lasted 
till the person was cured, as the leprosy or a gonor- 
rhoea. Certain diseases excluded the patients from 
all social intercourse, as the leprosy ; others excluded 
only from the use of things holy, as the involuntary 
touching of an unclean creature, the use of marriage, 
&c. Others only separated the person from his rela- 
tions in his own house, restraining such to a particu- 
lar distance ; as women who had newly lain in, &c. 
Many of these pollutions were purified by bathing ; 
others were expiated by sacrifices ; others by a cer- 
tain water, or ley, made with the ashes of a red heifer,, 
sacrificed on the great day of expiation. When a 
leper was cured, he went to the temple, and offered 
a sacrifice of two birds ; one of which was killed, the 
other liberated. He who had been polluted by touch- 
ing a dead body, or by being present at a funeral,, 
was to be purified with the water of expiation, on 
pain of death. A woman who had been delivered of 
a child, came to the tabernacle at the time prescribed^ 
and there offered a turtle-dove and a lamb for her pu- 
rification ; or two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons. 

The impurities, which the law of Moses expressed 
with so much accuracy and care, were figures of 
other more important impurities, meant to be pro- 
hibited ; such as sins against God, or trespasses against 
our neighbor. Believers under the Old Testament 
well understood this difference ; and our Saviour 
has strongly inculcated that outward and corporeal 
pollutions do not render us unacceptable to God ; 
but inward pollutions, such as infect the soul, and 
violate piety, truth, and charity. 

The regulations prescribed by Moses, relating to 
impurity, are very numerous and perplexing ; but the 
rabbins have multiplied them enormously, and thereby 
have made the law a still more insupportable burden. 
A great part of the Mishnah is occupitd in resolving 
cases o!' conscience on this subject. See Talmud 



[ 531 ] 



INC 



[ 332 1 



TNCHANTMENTS 



INCENSE, more properly Frankincemse, an ar- 
omatic and odoriferous gum, which issues out of a 
tree named by the ancients Thurifera ; its leaves re- 
semble those of a pear-tree, according to Theophras- 
tus, and it grows in Arabia and around mount Leb- 
anon. Incisions are made in it, in the dog-days, to 
procure the gum. Male incense is the best ; it is 
round, white, fat, and kindles on being put to the 
fire. It is also called Olibanum. Female incense is 
described as soft, more gummy, and less agreeable in 
smell than the other. That of Saba was the best, 
and most esteemed by the ancients, who speak of it 
with great approbation. (See Rees' Cyclopaedia, art. 
Frankincense.) 

The proper incense burnt in the sanctuary, was a 
mixture of sweet spices, Ex. xxx. 34, seq. To offer 
incense among the Hebrews was an office peculiar 
to the priests ; for which purpose they entered into 
the holy apartment of the temple, every morning and 
evening. On the great day of expiation, the high- 
priest burnt incense in his censer as he entered the 
sanctuary, that the smoke which arose from it might 
prevent his looking with too much curiosity on the 
ark and mercy-seat, Lev. xvi. 13. The Levites were 
not permitted to touch the censers ; and Korah, Da- 
than, and Abiram suffered a terrible punishment for 
violating this prohibition. " Incense" sometimes sig- 
nifies the sacrifices and fat of victims ; as no other 
kind of incense was offered on the altar of burnt- 
offerings, 1 Chron. vi. 49. For a description of the 
altar of incense see the article Altar, p. 48. 

INCEST, an unlawful conjunction of persons re- 
lated within the degrees of kindred prohibited by 
God and the church. In the beginning of the world, 
and even long after the deluge, marriages between 
near relations were allowed. God prohibits such 
alliances, in Lev. xviii. 3. and the degrees of con- 
sanguinity, within which the prohibition applied, are 
detailed in ver. (3 — 18. 

Most civilized people have held incest as an abom- 
inable crime. (See 1 Cor. v. 1.) Tamar's incest with 
her father-in-law Judah is well known. (See Ta- 
mar.) Lot's incest with his two daughters can be 
palliated only by his ignorance, and the simplicity of 
his daughters, who seem to have believed, that after 
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, there re- 
mained no man upon the earth to perpetuate the race 
of mankind. The manner of their procedure shows 
that they regarded the action as unlawful, and that 
they did not question but their father would have 
abominated it, had they not put it out of his power 
to detect it, by making him drunk, Gen. xix. 31, &c. 

INCHANTMENTS. The law of God condemns 
inchantments and inchanters. Several terms are 
used in Scripture to denote inchantments. (1.) 
Lahhash, (cnS,) which signifies to mutter, to speak 
with a low voice, like magicians in their evocations, 
and magical operations, Ps. Iviti. 5. — (2.) Latim, 
(ovj?,) secrets, when Moses speaks of the inchant- 
ments wrought by Pharaoh's magicians. — (3.) Ca- 
shaph, (tpa,) meaning those who practise juggling, 
legerdemain, tricks and witchery, deluding people's 
eyes and senses, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6. — (4.) Hhabar, 
(-on,) which signifies, properly, to bind, assemble, as- 
sociate, re-unite ; this occurs principally among those 
who charm serpents, who tame them, and make 
ti ise gentle and sociable, which before were fierce, 
dangerous, and untractable, Deut. xviii. 11. 

We have examples of each of these modes of in- 
chanting. It was common for magicians, sorcerers, 
and inchanters to speak in a low voice, or to whisper. 



They are called ventriloqui, because they spake, as 
one would suppose, from the bottom of their stomachs. 
They affected secrecy and mysterious ways, to con- 
ceal the vanity, folly, or infamy of their pernicious 
art ; though their pretended magic often consisted in 
cunning tricks only, as sleight of hand, or some natu- 
ral secrets unknown to the ignorant. They affected 
obscurity and night, or would show their skill only 
before the uninformed, and feared nothing so much 
as serious examination, broad daylight, and the in-, 
spection of the intelligent. 

The inchantments of Pharaoh's magicians, in imi- 
tation of the miracles wrought by Moses, were either 
mere witchcraft and illusion, by which they deceived 
the eyes of the spectators ; or, if they performed 
miracles, and produced real changes of the rods, of 
the water of the Nile, &c. they did it by the applica- 
tion of second causee to the production of effects, 
which depend originally on the power of God ; and 
by giving certain forms to, or impressing certain mo- 
tions on, a created substance ; and as these changes 
and motions were above the popularly known pow- 
ers of nature, they were thought to be miraculous. 
But God never permits miracles produced by evil 
spirits to be such as may necessarily seduce us into 
error ; for either he limits their power, as with Pha- 
raoh's magicians, who were obliged to acknowledge 
the finger of God in some instances, or they discover 
themselves by their impiety, or bad conduct ; which 
are the marks appointed by Moses for discerning a 
false from a true prophet, Deut. xiii. 12, &c. 

The inchantment of serpents, the cure of wounds 
by charms, fancied metamorphoses, &c. were com- 
mon among the ancients. The psalmist speaks 
(Ps. lviii. 5.) of " the serpent, or deaf asp, that stop- 
peth her ears, lest she should hear the voice of the 
charmers, charming wisely ;" Heb. The voice of 
those who speak low, and of those who make use of 
charms with skill ; or the voice of him who tameth, 
who softeneth serpents. The Lord (Jer. viii. 17.) 
threatens the Jews, "Behold, I will send serpents 
among you, which will not be charmed." Ecclesias- 
tes (x. 11.) says, "A babbler is like those serpents 
against which charms have no power." Job also 
speaks of inchanters by whose power serpents were 
burst asunder: " Shall the inchanter cause the levia- 
than to burst?" Job xl. 25. and Ecclus. xii. 13. 
" Who will pity a charmer that is bitten with a ser- 
pent ?" Augustin says that the Marsians, a people 
of Italy, had formerly the secret of inchanting ser- 
pents : " Any one would say, that serpents understood 
the language of this people, so obedient do we see 
them to their orders; as soon as the Marsian has 
done speaking, they come out of their holes." Origen 
and Eusebius speak of the charming of serpents as 
being common in Palestine. 

[The accounts given by travellers in Egypt and 
the East, respecting the power which certain persons 
possess of charming serpents by music or other 
means, are too remarkable not to be inserted here ; 
although a probable solution of these appearances 
has not yet been given. The facts, however, seem 
too well attested "to admit of doubt; and they are 
also, often alluded to by ancient writers. (Compare 
Apollonius Rhodius, iv. 147. Ovid, Metamorph. vii 
153. Virgil JEn. vii. 753, seq.) See Asp. 

Mr. Browne, in his Travels in Africa, &c. (p. 83.) 
thus describes the charmers of serpents : " Romeili is 
an open place of an irregular form, where feats of 
juggling are performed. The charmers of serpents 
seem also worthy of remark ; their powers seem ex- 



INCHANTMENTS 



[ 533 ] 



1ND 



traordinary. The serpent most common at Kahira, 
[Cairo,] is of the viper class, and undoubtedly poison- 
ous. If one of them enter a house, the charmer is 
sent for, who' uses a certain form of words. I have 
seen three serpents enticed out of the cabin of a ship 
lying near the shore. The operator handled them, 
and then put them into a bag. At other times I have 
seen the serpents twist around the bodies of these 
Psylli in all directions, without having had their 
fangs extracted or broken, and without doing them 
any injury." 

Niebuhr, in speaking of the puppet-shows and 
sleight-of-hand tricks exhibited for the amusement of 
the populace in Cairo, remarks : (Reisebeschr, i. p. 
189.) " Others exhibit serpents dancing. This may 
appear incredible to those who are unacquainted 
with the natural propensities of these animals ; but 
certain kinds of serpents seem to be agreeably affected 
by music. They raise their heads, when they hear 
a drum, and this, their instinctive propensity to ele- 
vate the head and part of the body and to make soine 
motions and turns, is called dancing.' 1 '' 

That some species of serpents have this sort of 
musical ear, is also confirmed by Chardin, in a manu- 
script note on the " deaf adder" of Ps. lviii. 4, 5. 
(Harmer's Obs. iii. p. 305.) " Adders will swell at the 
sound of a flute, raising themselves up on one half of 
their body, turning the other part about, and beating- 
proper time ; being wonderfully delighted with mu- 
sic, and following the instrument. Its head, before 
round and long, like an eel, it spreads out broad and 
flat, like a fan. Adders and serpents twist themselves 
round the neck and naked body of young children, 
belonging to those that charm them. At Surat, an 
Armenian seeing one of them make an adder bite his 
flesh, without receiving any injury, said, I can do 
that ; and causing himself to be wounded in the hand, 
lie died in less than two hours." 

In Forbes's Oriental Memoirs, (vol. i. p. 43.) we 
find an account of the Cobra de Capcllo, or hooded 
snake, (Coluber JVaja,) called also the spectacle snake ; 
it is a large and beautiful serpent, but one of the most 
poisonous known ; its bite occasions death usually 
in less than an hour. (See under Cockatrice.) Of* 
this kind are the dancing serpents, which are carried 
about in baskets throughout all Hindostan by a certain 
class of persons, who get their living in this way. 
They give certain tones upon a flute, which appear 
to produce an agreeable effect upon the serpents ; 
since they seem to beat time, as it were, to the flute, 
by a graceful motion of the head. They raise the 
upper part of their body from the ground, and fol- 
low the music in graceful curves, like the undulating 
movements of a swan's neck. It is a fact sufficiently 
well attested, that when any of these or of other 
kinds of vipers have got into a house, and make havoc 
among the poultry or other small domestic animals, 
it is customary to send for one of these musicians, 
who, by tones upon his flute or flageolet, finds out the 
hiding-places of the serpents and allures them to 
their destruction ; indeed, so soon as the serpents 
hear the music, they creep quietly out of their holes, 
and are easily taken. This may serve to illustrate 
Ps. lviii. 4, 5. In regard to the dancing serpents, 
the music seems essential to their motions ; for as 
soon as it ceases, the serpent lies motionless ; and un- 
less it is immediately replaced in its basket, the 
spectators are in great danger. Mr. Forbes had a 
drawing of a Cobra de Capello, which danced for an 
hour upon a table while he made the drawing. He 
took it several times in his hand in order the better 



to observe the hood and spectacles, not doubting but 
that its fangs had been extracted. But the next day, 
in the market place, the same serpent bit a young 
woman in the neck, who died in half an hour. 

The following remarks are from Hasselquist's 
Travels in Palestine, &c. (p. 76, 79, seq. Germ, edit.) 
"The Egyptian jugglers can perform some feats, 
which those of Europe are not able to imitate ; viz. 
they can deprive serpents of their poison. They 
take the most poisonous vipers in their naked hands, 
play with them, place them in their bosom, and make 
them perform all sorts of tricks. All this I have 
often seen. The man whom I saw to-day, had only 
a small viper: but I have seen him when he had 
others three or four feet long, and of the very worst 
species. I examined in order to see whether the 
serpents had been deprived of their poisonous fangs ; 
and convinced myself, by actual observation, that this 
was not the case. . . . On the 3d of July, I received 
at once, four different species of serpents, which I 
described and preserved in spirits. They were the 
Vipera vulgaris, Cerastes Alpini, Jaculus, Anguis 
marinus. They were brought me by a female, who 
excited the astonishment of all of us Europeans, by 
the manner in which she handled these most poison- 
ous and dangerous animals, without receiving the 
least injury. As she put them into the bottle in 
which I intended to preserve them, she managed 
them just as one of our ladies would handle their 
ribands or lacings. The others gave her no diffi- 
culty, but the vipers did not seem to like their intend- 
ed dwelling ; they slipped out, before the bottle 
could be covered. They sprang upon and over her 
hands and naked arms ; but she betrayed no symp- 
tom of fear. She took them quite tranquilly from 
her body, and placed them in the vessel that was to 
be their grave. She had caught them, as our Arab 
assured us, without difficulty in the fields. Without 
doubt she must possess some secret art or skill • but 
I could not get her to open her mouth upon the 
subject. This art is a secret even among the Egyp- 
tians. The ancient Marsi and Psylli in Africa, who 
daily exhibited specimens of the same art in Rome, 
afford evidence of its antiquity in Africa ; and it is 
a very remarkable circumstance, that such a thing 
should remain a secret above two thousand years, and 
be retained only by a certain class of persons." (See 
also a similar extract from Bruce, under Serpents. 
Cerastes.) *R. 

Music and singing, which is a kind of charm, were 
sometimes used to cure certain diseases of the mind, 
or at least diseases caused by disorder of the mind, 
or of the passions. Galen (De sanitate tuenda, lib. i. 
cap. 8.) says, that he had great experience in this, 
and that he could produce the authority of ^Escula- 
pius, his countryman, who by melody and music re- 
lieved constitutions impaired by too great heat. The 
Hebrews, though a people extremely superstitious, 
did not carry so far the use of charms and inchant- 
ments in the cure of diseases, because they were re- 
strained by their law, and because their kings and 
priests were vigilant in preventing these misdoings. 
Still we find traces of this superstition among them. 
Saul employed music, David's harp, to procure relief 
in his fits of melancholy. 

INDIA, the appellation which the ancients appear 
to have given to that vast region of Asia, stretching 
east of Persia and Bactria, as far as the country of 
the Sina ; its northern boundary being the Scythian 
desert, and its southern limit the ocean. The name 
is generally supposed to have been derived from the 



INH 



[534 ] 



INK 



river Indus, which waters its western extremity, and 
which signifies the Blue or Black river. Mr. Con- 
der thinks, however, that the extensive application of 
the word renders it more probable, that it was em- 
ployed to denote the country of the Indi, or Asiatic 
Ethiops ; answering to the Persian Hindoostan, or 
the country of the Hindoos. The only place where 
India is mentioned in Scripture is Esth. i. 1. 

It is said in the passage above referred to, that 
Ahasuerus reigned from India to Ethiopia. This 
fixes the extent of the Persian dominions eastward to 
the original station of the Hindoos, at the head of the 
Indus. There is not, we believe, any memorial of 
the Persian power having permanently maintained 
itself east of the Indus, Alexander the Great only 
having ever thought of establishing a dominion in 
those countries. The Mahometans, indeed, have so 
done ; but then they have renounced the west. Na- 
dir Shah penetrated to Delhi, but he returned to 
Persia, and did not attempt to retain both regions 
under his rule. 

It will be seen in the article on idolatry, that we 
have assumed, as a principle, that India was the 
great source of those observances which we find es- 
tablished wherever our knowledge extends. It may 
be necessary here to remark, in addition to what is 
there said, that the Hindoos could not have adopted 
religious rites from the Romans, the Greeks, the 
Egyptians, or the Persians. Whoever has bestowed 
a moment's attention on this people, must know, that 
it would be in utter violation of their most sacred 
tenets to do so ; and whoever recollects that the 
sages of Greece travelled into India to learn wisdom, 
will be confirmed in the persuasion, that others 
derived information from them, not they from others. 
In fact, all testimony brings letters, learning and 
knowledge from the East. 

INHERITANCE, a portion which appertains to 
another, after some particular event. As the princi- 
ples of inheritance differ in the East, from those 
which are established among ourselves, it is neces- 
sary to notice them particularly. The reader will 
observe, that there is no need of the death of the 
parent in these countries, as there is among us, before 
the children possessed their inheritance. (See Heir.) 
Among the Hindoos, the rights of inheritance are 
laid down with great precision, and with the strictest 
attention to the natural claim of the inheritor in the 
several degrees of affinity. A man is considered but 
as tenant for life in his own property ; and, as all 
opportunity of distributing his effects by will, after 
his death, is precluded, hardly any mention is made 
of such kind of bequest. By these ordinances, also, 
he is hindered from dispossessing his children of his 
property in favor of aliens, and from making a blind 
and partial allotment in behalf of a favorite child, to 
the prejudice of the rest ; by which the weakness of 
parental affection, or of a misguided mind in its do- 
tage, is admirably remedied. These laws strongly 
elucidate the story of the prodigal son in the Scrip- 
tures, since it appears from hence to have been an 
immemorial custom in the East for sons to demand 
their portion of inheritance during their father's life- 
time, and that the parent, however aware of the dis- 
sipated inclinations of his child, could not legally re- 
fuse to comply with the application. If all the sons 
go at once in a body to their father, jointly request- 
ing then - respective shares of his fortune ; in that 
case, the father is required to give equal shares of 
the property earned by himself, to the son incapable 
of getting his own living, to the son who has been 



particularly dutiful to him, and to the son who has a 
very large family, and also to the other sons who do 
not lie under any of these three circumstances ; in 
this case, he has not power to give any one of them 
more or less than to the others. If a father has oc- 
cupied any glebe belonging to his father, that was 
not before occupied, he has not power to divide it 
among his sons in unequal shares, as in the case of 
property earned by himself. (Halhed's Gentoo 
Laws, p. 53.) 

Our translators have frequently used the term in 
heritance in the sense of participation or property. 
So Mark xii. 7, Let us kill the son, and the inherit- 
ance, the property, shall be ours. Acts xx. 32 ; xxvi. 
18, An inheritance, participation, among those who 
are sanctified. Eph. i. 18, The riches of the glory of 
his inheritance, his immediate property, in the saints. 
(Compare 1 Pet. i. 4.) So Abraham is spoken of 
(Ezek. xxxiii. 24.) as inheriting the land ; which could 
not be true, as his family had no previous possession 
in Canaan ; and it is expressly contrary to Acts vii. 
5, which says, Abraham had no inheritance there ; 
but he had possessions, or property. (Comp. 2 Chron. 
x. 16, et al.) 

INIQUITY. This word means not only sin, but 
the punishment of sin, and the expiation of it : " Aaron 
will bear the iniquities of the people ;" he will atone 
for them, Exod. xxviii. 38. The Lord " visits the 
iniquities of the fathers upon the children ;" (Exod. 
xx. 5.) he sometimes causes visible effects of his 
wrath to fall on the children of criminal parents, 

" To bear iniquity" is to endure the punishment 
of it, to be obliged to expiate it. The priests bear 
the iniquity of the people ; that is, they are charged 
with the expiation of it, Exod. xxviii. 38 ; Lev. x. 17. 

INKHORN. The prophet Ezekiel (chap. ix. 2.) 
describes six men clothed in linen, and having each 
a writer's inkhorn by his side, which may require 
some explanation to occidental readers. The follow- 
ing remarks are from Mr. Harmer : — 

" The modern inhabitants of Egypt appear to 
make use of ink in their sealing, as well as the Arabs 
of the desert, who may be supposed not to have such 
conveniences as those that live in such a place as 
Egypt ; for Dr. Pococke says, that ' they make the 
impression of their name with their seal, generally of 
cornelian, which they wear on their finger, and 
which is blacked when they have occasion to seal 
with it.' This may serve to show us, that there is a 
closer connection between the vision of John (Rev. 
vii. 2.) and that of Ezekiel, (chap. ix. 2.) than com- 
mentators appear to have appi-ehended. They must 
be joined, I imagine, to have a complete view of 
either. John saw an angel with the seal of the living 
God, and therewith multitudes were sealed in their 
foreheads ; but to understand what sort of mark was 
made there, you must have recourse to the inkhorn 
of Ezekiel. On the other hand, Ezekiel saw a per- 
son with an inkhorn, who was to mark the servants 
of God on their foreheads, with ink, that is ; but how 
the ink was to be applied is not expressed ; nor was 
there any need that it should be, if in those times ink 
was applied with a seal ; a seal being in the one case 
plainly supposed ; as in the Apocalypse, the mention 
of a seal made it needless to take any notice of any 
inkhorn by his side. 

"This position of the inkhorn of Ezekiel's writer 
may appear somewhat odd to a European reader ; but 
the custom of placing it by the side, continues in the 
East to this day. Olearius, who takes notice (Voy. 
en Muscovie, &c. p. 857.) of a way that they have of 



INS 



[ 535 ] 



IRO 



thickening their ink with a sort of paste they make, 
or with sticks of Indian ink, which is the best paste 
of all, a circumstance favorable to their sealing with 
ink, observes — (Dr. Shaw also speaks of their writ- 
ers suspending their inkhorns by their side. I should 
not, therefore, have taken any notice of this circum- 
stance, had not the account of Olearius led us to 
something further) — that the Persians carry about 
with them, by means of their girdles, a dagger, a 
knife, a handkerchief, and their money ; and those 
that follow the profession of writing out books, their 
inkhorn, their penknife, their whetstone to sharpen 
it, their letters, and every thing the Muscovites were 
wont in his time to put in their boots, which served 
them instead of pockets. The Persians, in carrying 
their inkhorn, after this manner, seem to have retain- 
ed a custom as ancient as the days of Ezekiel ; while 
the Muscovites, whose garb was very much in the 
eastern taste in the days of Olearius, and who had 
many oriental customs among them, carried their 
inkhorns and their papers in a very different man- 
ner. Whether some such variation might cause the 
Egyptian translators of the Septuagint version to ren- 
der the words, a girdle of sapphire, or embroidery, on 
the loins, I will not take upon me to affirm ; hut I do 
not imagine our Dr. Castell would have adopted this 
sentiment in his Lexicon, (see Lowth on this place,) 
had he been aware of this eastern custom : for with 
great propriety is- the word keseth. mentioned in this 
chapter three times, if it signified an inkhorn, the 
requisite instrument for sealing those devout mourn- 
ers ; but no account can be given why this keseth 
should be mentioned so often, if it only signified an 
embroidered girdle." (Obs. vol. ii. p. 459.) It should 
be recollected, also, that in the East the artisans carry 
most of the implements of their profession in the 
girdle ; the soldier carries his sword ; the butcher 
his knife ; and the carpenter his hammer and his 
saw. 

INNOCENT, INNOCENCE. The signification 
of these words is well known. The Hebrews con- 
sidered innocence as consisting chiefly in an exemp- 
tion from external faults committed contrary to the 
law ; hence they often join innocent with hands, 
Gen. xxxvii. 22 ; Ps. xxiv. 4 ; xxvi. 6. " I will wash 
iny hands in innocency." And Ps. Ixxiii. 13, " Then 
have I cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my 
hands in innocency." Josephus admits of no other 
sins than those actions which are put in execution. 
Sins in thought, in his account, are not punished by 
God. To be innocent, is used sometimes for being 
exempt from punishment. "I will not treat you as 
one innocent;" (Jer. xlvi. 28.) literally, I will not 
make thee innocent : I will chastise thee, but like a 
kind father. Jeremiah (xlix. 12.) speaking to the 
Edomites says, They who have not (so much) de- 
served to drink of the cup of my wrath, have tasted 
of it. Nahum (i. 3.) declares that "God is ready to 
exercise vengeance, he will make no one innocent : 
he will spare no one." Exod. xxxiv. 7. Heb. " Thou 
shalt make no one innocent ;" no sin shall remain 
unpunished. " With the pure, thou wilt show thy- 
self pure," Ps. xviii. 26. Thou treatest the just as 
just, the good as good ; thou never dost confound the 
guilty with the innocent. 

INSPIRATION, in the highest sense, is the im- 
mediate communication of knowledge to the human 
mind by the Spirit of God ; but it is commonly used 
by divines, in a less strict and proper sense, to denote 
such a degree of divine influence, assistance, or guid- 
ance, as enabled the authors of the Scriptures to 



communicate knowledge to others, without error oi 
mistake, whether the subjects of such communica 
tions were things then immediately revealed to those 
who declared them, or things with which they were 
before acquainted. Hence it is usually divided into 
three kinds, — revelation, suggestion, and superintend- 
ence. See Revelation. 

INTERCESSION, an entreaty used by c;.e per 
son toward another ; whether this person solicit on 
his own account, or on account of one for whom he 
is agent. Man intercedes with man, sometimes to 
procure an advantage *o himself, sometimes as a 
mediator to benefit another ; he may be said to inter- 
cede for another, when he puts words into the sup- 
pliant's mouth, and directs and prompts him to say 
what otherwise he would be unable to say ; or to say 
in a more persuasive manner what he might intend 
to say. The intercession of Christ on behalf of sin- 
ners, (Rom. viii. 34 ; 1 John ii. 1.) and the interces- 
sion of the Holy Spirit, (Rom. viii. 26.) are easily il- 
lustrate I by this adaptation of the term. See Com- 
forter. 

IOTA, i, (Eng. tr. jot,) a letter in the Greek alpha- 
bet derived from the (•>) jod of the Hebrews, or the 
ji.dh of the Syrians. Our Lord says, (Matt. v. 18.) 
that every iota, jot, or tittle, in the law, would have 
its accomplishment ; which seems to have been a 
kind of proverb among the Jews, meaning that all 
should be completed to the uttermost. Iota is the 
smallest letter in the Greek alphabet. 

IR-MELACH, city oj salt, Josh. xv. 62. It stood 
probably on the margin of the Salt sea, or lake As- 
phaltites. 

IR-NAHASH, city of the serpent, a city of Judah, 
which some supposed to have been named from the 
abundance of serpents in its neighborhood ; but more 
probably from a person named Nahash, or from an 
image of the animal, worshipped here, 1 Chron. 
iv. 12. 

IR-SHEMESH, city of the sun, a city in Dan, 
(Josh. xix. 41.) supposed to be the same with Beth- 
Shemesh, the temple of the sun, 1 Kings iv. 9. 

IR-TAMARIM, city of palm-trees, that is, Jericho, 
Deut. xxxiy. 3 ; Judg. i. 16 ; 2 Chron. xxviii. 15. 

IRAM, the last duke of Edom, of Esau's family, 
Gen. xxxvi. 43. 

IRIJAH, an officer who arrested the prophet Jer- 
emiah as he was going to Anathoth, Jer. xxxvii. 
13, &c. 

IRON. Moses forbids the Hebrews to use any 
stones to form the altar of the Lord, which had been 
in any manner wrought with iron : as if iron commu- 
nicated pollution. He says the stones of Palestine 
are of iron, (Deut. viii. 9.) that is, of hardness equal 
to iron ; or that, being smelted, they yielded iron. 
"An iron yoke," (1 Kings viii. 51.) is a hard and in- 
supportable dominion. " Iron sharpeneth iron," says 
the wise man, " so a man sharpeneth the countenance 
of his friend ;" i. e. the presence of a friend gives us 
more confidence and assurance. God threatens his 
ungrateful and perfidious people with making the 
heaven iron, and the earth brass ; that is, to make the 
earth barren, and the air to produce no rain. Chariots 
of iron are chariots armed with iron, with spikes, and 
scythes. See Chariots. 

The following extract from Bruce will diminish 
the apparent strangeness of Zedekiah's conduct, 
(1 Kings xxii. 11.) who made himself Horns of iron, 
and said, " Thus saith the Lord, With these" milita- 
ry insignia "shalt thou push the Syrians until thou 
hast consumed them." We are apt to conceive of 



ISA 



L 536 ] 



ISA 



these norns, as projecting like bulls' horns, on each 
side of Zedekiah's head. But how different from the 
real fact ! Zedekiah, though he pretended to be a 
prophet, did not wish to be thought mad, to which 
imputation such an appearance would have subject- 
ed him. He only acted the hero ; — the hero return- 
ing in military triumph ; it was little more than a 
flourish. " One thing remarkable in this cavalcade, 
which I observed, was the head-dress of the govern- 
ors of provinces. A large broad fillet was bound 
upon their forehead, and tied behind their head. In 
the middle of this was a horn, or conical piece of 
silver, gilt, about four inches long, much in the shape 
of our common candle extinguishers. This is called 
kern [pp] or horn, and is only worn in reviews, or 
parades after victory. This, I apprehend, like all 
other of their usages, is taken from the Hebrews, and 
the several allusions made in Scripture to it, arises 
from this practice : — ' I said to the wicked, lift not 
np the horn,'— 'Lilt not up your horn on high; 
speak not with a stiff neck ' — ' The horn of the 
righteous shall be exalted with honor.' " 

ISAAC, son of Abraham, was born A. M. 2108. 
Sarah gave him this name, because when the angel 
promised that she should become a mother, she, being 
beyond the age of having children, privately laughed 
at. the prediction. When the child was born, she 
said, " God hath made me to laugh, so that all that 
hear will laugh with me." She suckled the child 
herself, and would not suffer Ishmael to inherit with 
him ; but prevailed on Abraham to turn him and his 
mother Hagar out of doors. When Isaac was about 
twenty-five years of age, the Lord tried Abraham, 
and commanded him to sacrifice his son. Abraham 
implicitly obeyed, and took Isaac, with two of his 
servants, to the place which the Lord should show 
him. On the third clay, discerning this place, (sup- 
posed to be mount Moriah,) he took the wood as for 
a burnt-offering, placed it on his son Isaac, and took 
fire in his hand, and a knife. As they went together 
toward the mount, Isaac said, " Behold the fire and 
the wood, but where is the victim for the burnt-offer- 
ing?" Abraham answered, "My son, God will pro- 
vide a victim for himself." Arrived at the appointed 
place, Abraham put the wood in order, bound his 
beloved Isaac as a victim, and taking the knife, 
stretched forth his hand to kill him. But an angel 
of the Lord prevented the sacrifice and provided 
another victim. ■ 

When Isaac was forty years of age, Abraham sent 
Eliezer, his steward, into Mesopotamia, to procure a 
wife for him, from Laban, his brother-in-law's fami- 
ly. Rebekah was sent, and became the wife of Isaac. 
Being barren, Isaac prayed for her, and God granted 
her the favor of conception. She was delivered of 
twins, named Esau and Jacob. Isaac favored Esau, 
and Rebekah Jacob. Some years afterwards, a fam- 
ine obliged Isaac to retire to Gerar, where Abimelech 
was king ; and, as his father had done previously, he 
reported that Rebekah was his sister. Abimelech, 
having discovered that she was his wife, reproved 
him for the deception. Isaac grew very rich, and 
his flocks multiplying, the Philistines of Gerar were 
so envious, that they filled up all the wells which 
Isaac's servants had dug. At the desire of Abime- 
lech, he departed, and pitched his tent in the valley 
of Gerar, where he dug new wells, but was again put 
to some difficulties. At length, he returned to Beer- 
sheba, where he fixed his habitation. Here the Lord 
appeared to him, and renewed the promise of blessing 
him, and Abimelech visited him, to form an alliance. 



Isaac, having grown very old, (13? years,) and his 
sight being extremely weakened, called Esau, his 
eldest son, and directed him to procure for him some 
venison. But while Esau was hunting, Jacob sur- 
reptitiously obtained the blessing, so that Isaac could 
only give Esau a secondary benediction. (See Jacob, 
and Esau.) Isaac lived some time after this, and 
sent Jacob into Mesopotamia, to take a wife of his 
own family. He died, aged 188 years ; and was 
buried with Abraham, by his sons Esau and Jacob. 
The Hebrews say, that Isaac was instructed in the 
law by the patriarchs Shem and Eber, who. were 
then living ; and that when Abraham departed, with 
a design to sacrifice Isaac, he told Sarah, that he 
was carrying his son to Shein's school. They be- 
lieve, likewise, that Abraham composed their morn- 
ing prayers, Isaac their noon prayers, and Jacob their 
evening prayers. 

ISAlAH was the son of Amos, who is thought by 
some to have been of the royal family of Judah, but 
without any good foundation. The commencement 
of Isaiah's prophecies are dated by Calmet from the 
death of Uzziah ; and his death is fixed in the reign 
of Manasseh, who ascended the throne ante A. D. 
698. Isaiah's wife is called a prophetess ; (chap. viii. 
3.) and thence the rabbins conclude, that she had the 
spirit of prophecy. But it is probable, that the proph- 
ets' wives were called prophetesses, as the priests' 
wives were called priestesses, only from the office of 
their husbands. The Scripture mentions two sons 
of Isaiah, one called " Shear-Jashub," the remainder 
shall return; the other " Hashbaz," hasten to the 
slaughter. The first showed, that the captives carried 
to Babylon should return, after a certain time ; the 
second showed, that the kingdoms of Israel and Syria 
should soon be ravaged. 

The prophecies of Isaiah are divided by Calmet 
into three parts; the first, including six chapters, 
which relate to the reign of Jotham ; the six follow- 
ing to the reign of Ahaz ; and all the rest to the reign 
of Hezekiah. The principal objects of Isaiah's 
prophecies are, the captivity of Babylon, the return 
of the Jews from that captivity, and the reign of the 
Messiah. For this reason the sacred writers of the 
New Testament have cited him more than any other 
prophet ; and the fathers say, he is rather an evan- 
gelist than a prophet. 

In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, Sennacherib, 
king of Assyria, coming against Judea, Isaiah fore- 
told the destruction of his army, and shortly after- 
wards the miraculous lengthening of Hezekiah's life. 
(See Hezekiah.) He next received orders from the 
Lord to walk three years barefoot and without his 
upper garment, to denote the approaching captivity 
of Egypt and Cush. 

There is a rabbinical tradition, that Isaiah was put 
to death by the saw, in the beginning of the reign of 
Manasseh, the pretence of this impious prince for thus 
executing him, being an expression in chap. vi. 1, "I 
saw the Lord sitting on a throne ;" which he affirmed 
to be a contradiction to Moses, (Exod. xxxiii. 20.) 
" No man shall see me and live." But Gesenius, who 
has traced this tradition to its source, has shown it to 
be of a very doubtful character. Some say that his 
body was buried near Jerusalem, under the fuller's 
oak, near the fountain of Siloam ; whence it was re- 
moved to Paneas, near the sources of Jordan, and 
from thence to Constantinople, in the reign of The- 
odosius the younger, A. D. 442. 

Isaiah is esteemed to be the most eloquent of tho 
prophets. Jerome says, that his writings are, as '• 



ISAIAH 



L 537 1 



ISH 



were, an abridgment of the holy Scriptures, a collec- 
tion of the most uncommon knowledge that the mind 
of man is capable of ; of natural philosophy, morali- 
ty, and divinity. Grotius compares him to Demos- 
thenes. In his writings we meet with the purity of 
the Hebrew tongue, as in the orator, with the delicacy 
of the Attic taste. Both are sublime and magnificent 
in their style, vehement in their emotions, copious in 
their figures, and very impetuous when they describe 
things of an enormous nature, or that are grievous 
and odious. Isaiah was superior to Demosthenes in 
the honor of illustrious birth. What Quintilian (lib. 
x. cap. 20.) says of Corvinus Messala may be applied 
to him, that he speaks in an easy, flowing manner, and 
a style which denotes the man of quality. Caspar 
Sanctius thinks Isaiah to be more florid, and more 
ornamented, yet at the same time more weighty and 
nervous, than any writer we have, whether historian, 
poet, or orator ; and that in all kinds of discourse he 
excels every author, either Greek or Latin. The 
prophet appears to justify this character even in our 
common version ; but in the elegant diction of bishop 
Lowth, he more eminently supports it. In addition 
to the writings which are in our possession, Isaiah 
wrote a book concerning the actions of Uzziah, 
which is cited 2 Chron. xxvi. 22, and is not now 
extant. 

[The chronological division of the prophecies of 
Isaiah into three parts, as mentioned above, is of very 
doubtful propriety ; since several of the chapters are 
evidently transposed and inserted out of their chron- 
ological order. But a very obvious and striking 
division of the book into two parts, exists ; the first 
part, including the first thirty-nine chapters, and the 
second, the remainder of the book, or chap. xl. — Ixvi. 
The first part is made up of those prophecies and 
historical accounts, which Isaiah wrote during the 
period of his active exertions in behalf of the present, 
when he mingled in the public concerns of the rulers 
and the people, and acted as the messenger of God 
to the nation in reference to their internal and exter- 
nal existing relations. These are single prophecies, 
published at different times, and on different occa- 
sions ; afterwards, indeed, brought together into one 
collection, but still marked as distinct and single, 
either by the superscriptions, or in some other obvi- 
ous and known method. The second part, on the 
contrary, is occupied wholly with the future. It was 
apparently written in the later years of the prophet, 
when he had probably left all active exertions in the 
theocracy to his younger associates in the prophet- 
ical office. He himself transferred his contempla- 
tions from the joyless preset t, into the future. In 
this part, therefore, which was not, like the first, oc- 
casioned by external circumstances, it is not so easy 
to distinguish in like manner between the different 
single prophecies. The whole is more like a single 
gush of prophecy. 

The prophecies of the second part refer chiefly to 
a twofold object. The prophet first consoles his 
people by announcing their deliverance from the 
Babylonish' exile ; he names the monarch whom 
Jehovah will send to punish the insolence of their 
oppressors, and lead back the people to their home. 
But he does not stop at this trifling and inferior de- 
liverance. With the prospect of freedom from the 
• Babylonish exile, the prophet connects the prospect 
of deliverance from sin and error through the Mes- 
siah. Sometimes both objects seem closely inter- 
woven with each other; sometimes one of them ap- 
pears alone with particular clearness and nrominency. 
68 



Especially is the view of the prophet sometimes sc. 
exclusively directed upon the latter object, that, filled 
with the contemplation of the glory of the spiritual 
kingdom of God and of its exalted founder, he wholly 
loses sight for a time of the less distant future. In 
the description of this spiritual deliverance, also, the 
relations of time are not observed. Sometimes the 
prophet beholds the author of this deliverance in his 
humiliation and sorrows; and again, the remotest 
ages of the Messiah's kingdom present themselves to 
his enraptured vision ; when man, so long estranged 
from God, will have again returned to him ; when 
every thing opposed to God shall have been destroy- 
ed, and internal and external peace universally pre- 
vail ; and when all the evil introduced by sin into the 
world, will be for ever done away. Elevated above 
all space and time, the prophet contemplates from the 
height on which the Holy Spirit has thus placed him, 
the whole developement of the Messiah's kingdom, 
from its smallest beginnings to its glorious com- 
pletion. 

Until the latter part of the 18th century, Isaiah has 
been universally regarded, both by Jews and Chris- 
tians, as the sole author of the whole book which is 
called by his name. Doederlein first uttered a defi- 
nite suspicion against the genuineness of the second 
part ; a suspicion which Justi adopted more fully, and 
endeavored to establish. From this time onward, all 
the neological commentators of Germany have united 
in regarding the second part of the book of Isaiah as 
spurious, and as composed near the close of the Bab- 
ylonish exile. The ablest attack upon its genuine- 
ness, is that of Gesenius, in his Commentary. Many 
arguments are brought forward ; but the main point, 
after all, with these interpreters, is, that denying, as 
they do, divine inspiration and the power of prophe- 
cy, they cannot admit the genuineness and antiquity 
of this second part, without falling into self-contra- 
dictions. The declarations contained in it are too 
precise and definite to be regarded as mere sagacious 
conjecture ; if, therefore, it was actually written by 
Isaiah himself, before the exile, it follows that Isaiah 
was a truly inspired prophet. To avoid this conclu- 
sion, this part is pronounced spurious. All the ar- 
guments brought forward to detract from its genu- 
ineness have been very fully and ably reviewed by 
professor Hengstenberg, in his Christology, and their 
feebleness demonstrated. He has also subjoined 
many strong arguments in favor of the genuineness 
of the whole book. That part of his work which 
relates to this subject has been translated and pub- 
lished in the Biblical Repository, vol. i. p. 700, seq. 
As his reasonings do not admit of abridgment, the 
reader is referred to that work for further informa- 
tion. *R. 

ISHBI-BEN-OB, that is, Ishbi, the son of Ob, of 
the giants, or Rephaim, carried a spear which 
weighed 300 shekels, twelve pounds and a half. 
This giant, being on the point of killing David, who 
was fatigued in the battle, was himself killed bv 
Abishai, son of Zeruiah, 2 Sam. xxi. 16, 17. 

ISHBOSHETH, son of Saul, and also his suc- 
cessor. Abner, Saul's kinsman, and general, so man ■ 
aged, that Ishbosheth was acknowledged king at Ma- 
hanaim by the greater part of Israel, while David 
reigned at Hebron over Judah. He was 44 years of 
age when he began to reign, and he reigned two 
years peaceably ; after which he had skirmishes, 
with loss, against David, 2 Sam. ii. 8, &c. Saul had 
left a concubine named Rizpah, with whom Abner 
was accused of having been intimate. Ishbosheth 



J S II 



[ 538 ] 



ISL 



.eproved him, and Abner, being thereby provoked, 
swore he would endeavor to transfer the crown 
from the house of Saul to David ; but he was treach- 
erously killed by Joab. Ishbosheth, informed of Ab- 
ner's death, lost ull courage ; and Israel fell into great 
disorder. Ishbosheth was assassinated by two cap- 
tains of his troops, who entered his house while he 
-was sleeping during the heat of the day : and cut- 
ting oft' his head, they brought it to David at Hebron, 
thinking to receive a considerable reward. David, 
however, commanded the murderers to be killed, 
and their hands and feet to be cut off, and hung near 
the pool in Hebron. The head of Ishbosheth he 
placed in Abner's sepulchre at Hebron. With this 
prince terminated the royal family of Saul, ante A. D. 
1048. 

I. ISHMAEL, son of Abraham and Hagar, was 
born A. M. 2094. The angel of the Lord appeared 
to Hagar in the wilderness, when she fled from her 
mistress, and bade her return, adding, " Thou shalt 
bring forth a son, and call his name Ishmael, 'the 
Lord hath hearkened ;' because the Lord hath heard 
thee in thy affliction. He shall be a fierce, savage 
man, whose hand shall be against all men, and the 
hands of all men against him." Hagar returned, 
therefore, to Abraham's house, and had a son, 
whom she named Ishmael. (See Hagar.) Four- 
teen years after this, the Lord visited Sarah, and 
Isaac being born to Abraham, by his wife Sarah, 
Ishmael, who till then had been considered as the 
sole heir, saw his hopes disappointed. Five or six 
years afterwards, Ishmael displeased Sarah, who pre- 
vailed on Abraham to expel him and his mother. 
Hagar, with Ishmael, wandered in the wilderness of 
Beersheba, and when reduced to great distress, a 
■voice from heaven said, "Fear not, Hagar, the Lord 
hath heard the child's voice. ... I will make him the 
father of a great people." They abode in the wilder- 
ness of Paran, where Ishmael became expert in 
archery, and his mother married him to an Egyptian 
woman. He had twelve sons ; viz. Nabajoth, Kedar, 
Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Duinab, Massa, Hader, or 
Hadad, Tenia, Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah. He had 
likewise a daughter named Mahalath, or Bashemath, 
(Gen. xxxvi. 3.) who married Esau, Gen. xxviii. 9. 
From the twelve sons of Ishmael are derived the 
twelve tribes of the Arabians, still subsisting ; and 
Jerome says that in his time they called the districts 
of Arabia by the names of their several tribes. The 
descendants of Ishmael inhabited from Havilah to 
Shur, i. e. from the Persian gulf to the border of 
Egypt ; and are usually mentioned in history under 
the general name of Arabians and Ishmaelites. Since 
the seventh century, they have almost all embraced 
the religion of Mahomet. Ishmael died in the pres- 
ence of all his brethren, (Gen. xxv. 18.) as the Vul- 
gate renders ; or, according to another and better 
translation, his inheritance lay to the eastward of that 
of all his brethren. (See Gen. xvi. 12.) 

Arabia was peopled by old Arabians, before the 
sons of Ishmael settled there, and not till after long 
■disputes with the Giorhamides, the first possessors. 
These old Arabians still subsist, but blended with the 
Ishmaelites. See Arabia. 

Mr. Taylor thinks that the phrase in the English 
version, " he shall dwell in the presence of his breth- 
ren," refers to the mode in which the Arabs pitch 
their tents ; to illustrate which he adduces the follow- 
ing extract from Thevenot : (part. ii. p. 148.) " The 
basha's tent, pitched near Cairo, was a very lovely 
tent, and reckoned to be worth ten thousand crowns. 



It was very spacious, and encompissed round with 
walls of waxed cloth. In the middle was his pavil 
ion, of green waxed cloth, lined within with flowered 
tapestry, all of one set. Within the precincts be- 
hind, and on the sides of his pavilion, were cham- 
bers and offices for his women. Round the pale of 
his tent, within a pistol shot, were above two hun- 
dred tents, pitched in such a manner, that the doors 
of them all looked towards the basha's tent ; and it 
ever is so, that they may have their eye always upon 
their master's lodging, and be in readiness to assist 
him, if he be attacked." Did not the basha dwell 
over against the faces of those who lodged in these 
tents? and was not this one sign of his superiority ? 
Did Ishmael, in like manner, announce his superi- 
ority ? and if so, was this, in part at least, his dwell- 
ing close over against the faces of all his brethren ? 
[That the Arabs often pitch their tents in a circle, is 
no doubt true, as is affirmed also by D'Arvieux; but 
this is not always the case, nor apparently is it usu- 
ally so. A fine sketch of a Bedouin encampment, 
where the tents are represented in a straight line, is 
prefixed to Carne's Letters from the East. R. 

II. ISHMAEL, son of Nethaniah, of the royal 
family of Judah, treacherously killed Gedaliah, 
whom Nebuchadnezzar had established over the re- 
mains of the people, in Judea, after the destruction 
of Jerusalem ; but was obliged to fly to Baalis, king 
of the Ammonites, Jer. xli. 

ISLANDS, JSLES. Considerable errors in sa- 
cred geography have arisen from taking the word 
rendered islands, for a spot surrounded by water. It 
rather imports a settlement ; that is to say, a colony or 
establishment, as distinct from an open, unappropri- 
ated region. Thus we should understand Gen. x. 5. 
■ — "By these were the settlements of the Gentiles 
divided in their lands." The sacred writer evident- 
ly had enumerated countries, which were not isles in 
any sense whatever. So Job xxii. 30, "He (God) 
shall deliver the island of the innocent," i. e. settle- 
ment or establishment. Isa. xlii. 15, " I will make 
the rivers islands ;"— rather settlements of human 
population. In these places, and many others, the 
title idea of the Hebrew word is establishments, or 
colonies, understood to be at some distance from 
others of a similar nature. The oases of Africa, 
which are small districts comprising wells, verdure, 
and population, surrounded by immense deserts of 
sand, are called islands, in Arabic, to this day ; and 
no doubt but such were so called by the Hebrews, 
notwithstanding that they had no stream of water 
within many days' journey around them. 

[The Hebrew word in, which is more commonly 
translated isle, means strictly dry land, habitable coun- 
try, in opposition to water, or to seas and rivers. So 
Is.xlii.15, "I will makethe rivers dry]and,"notisZcm&, 
which would make no sense. Hence, as opposed 
to water in general, it means land adjacent to water, 
either washed or surrounded by it, i. e. maritime 
country, coast, island. Thus it means coast, when 
used of Ashdod ; (Is. xx. 6.) of Tyre ; (Is. xxiii.2, 6.) 
of Peloponnesus, or Greece, (Ezek.xxvii.7.) " The isles 
of Elishah." It means island when used e. g. of 
Caphtor, or Crete ; (Jer. xlvii. 4.) also Ezek. xxvi. 6; 
Jer. ii. 10 ; so also Esth. x. 1, where the phrase isles 
of the sea is in antithesis with the land or continent. 
The plural of this word, usually translated islands, 
was employed by the Hebrews to denote distant re- 
gions beyond the sea, whether coasts or islands ; and 
especially the islands and maritime countries of the 
west, wkich had become indistinctly known to the 



ITU 



[ 539 ] 



I VO 



Hebrews, through the voyages of the Phoenicians ; 
so Is. xxiv. 15 ; xl. 15 ; xlii. 4, 10, 12 ; li. 5 ; Ps. lxxii. 
10, et. al. In Ezek. xxvii. 15, the East Indian Archi- 
pelago would seem to be intended. R. 

ISRAEL, ivho prevails with God, a name given to 
Jacob, after having wrestled with him at Mahanaim, 
or Penuel, Gen. xxxii. 1, 2, and 28, 29, 30; Hosea 
xii. 3. (See Jacob.) By the name Israel is some- 
times understood the person of Jacob ; sometimes the 
people of Israel, the race of Jacob ; and sometimes 
the kingdom of Israel, or the ten tribes, as distinct 
from the kingdom of Judah. 

ISRAELITES, the descendants of Israel, called 
afterwards Jews, (Judrei,) because, after the return 
from the captivity of Babylon, the tribe of Judah 
was the most numerous, and foreigners had scarcely 
any knowledge of the other tribes. See Hebrews. 

ISSACHAR, the fifth son of Jacob and Leah, was 
born about ante A. D. 1749. He had four sons, To- 
la, Phuvah, Job, and Shimron, Gen. xlvi. 13. We 
know nothing particular of his life. Jacob, blessing 
him, said, " Issachar is a strong ass, couching down 
between two burdens. And he saw that rest was 
good, and the land that it was pleasant, and bowed 
his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto 
tribute." The Chaldee translates it in a quite contrary 
sense, "He shall subdue provinces, and make those 
tributary to him, who shall remain in his land." The 
tribe of Issachar had its portion among the best parts 
of the land of Canaan, along the great plain, or val- 
ley of Jezreel, with the half-tribe of Manasseh to the 
south, Zebulun to the north, the Mediterranean sea 
west, and Jordan, with the south point of the sea of 
Tiberias, east. See Canaan. 

ITALY, a Latin word, which some derive from 
Vitulus, or Vitula, because this country abounded in 
calves and heifers; but others, from a king called 
Italus. We know not the ancient name of Italy in 
the Hebrew language. Jerome has sometimes ren- 
dered Chittim, Italy, (Numb. xxiv. 24 ; Ezek. xxvii. 
6.) and in Isa. lxvi. 19, he translates Thubal, Italy, 
though, according to others, the Tibarenians are here 
* meant. In the New Testament, written in Greek, 
there is no ambiguity in the word Italy ; it signifies 
that country of which Rome is the capital. 

[The Italian band mentioned in Acts x. 1, was 
probably a Roman cohort from Italy, stationed at 
Caesarea ; so called to distinguish it from the other 
troops, which were drawn from Syria, and the adja- 
•cent regions. (Compare Joseph, b. Jud. iii. 42.) R. 

ITHAM AR, Aaron's fourth son, who, with his de- 
scendants, exercised the functions of common priests 
only, till the high-priesthood passed into his family 
in the person of Eli. The successors of Eli, of the 
family of Ithamar, were Ahitub, Ahiah, Ahimelech, 
and Abiathar, whom Solomon deposed, 1 Kings ii. 
27. See Eli. 

ITUREA, a province of Syria, or Arabia, beyond 
Jordan, east of the Batanea, and south of Trachonitis ; 
it seems to have been the same as the ancient Aura- 
nitis, or modern Haouran ; or it was, perhaps, a gen- 
eral name including Auranitis, Batanea, &c. Luke 
(iii. 1.) speaks of Iturea ; and 1 Chron. v. 19, of the 
Itureans, or of Jetur, who was one of the sons of 
I&hmael, and gave name to Iturea. Early in his 
reign, Aristobulus made war with the Itureans, sub- 
dued the greater part of them, and obliged them to 
embrace Judaism, as Hircanus his father had some 
years before obliged the Idumseans to do. He gave 
them their choice, either to be circumcised and em- 
brace the Jewish religion, or to leave the country. 



They chose the forn.3r. Philip, one of Herod's sons, 
was tetrarch of Iturea, when John the Baptist en- 
tered on his ministry, Luke iii. 1. 

IVORY is first mentioned in the reign of Solo- 
mon, unless, indeed, Psalm xlv. were written previ- 
ous to his time, in which ivory is spoken of, as used 
in decorating those boxes of perfume, whose odors 
were employed to exhilarate the king's spirits. It is 
probable that Solomon, who traded to India, first 
brought thence elephants and ivory to Judea. "For 
the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish, with the navy 
of Hiram : once in three years came the navy of 
Tarshish, bringing gold and silver and ivory," 1 Kings 
x. 22 ; 2 Chron. ix. 21. It seems that Solomon had 
a throne decorated with ivory, and inlaid with gold ; 
the beauty of these materials relieving the splendor, 
and heightening the lustre, of each other, 1 Kings x. 
18. Ivory is here described as Su \w, shen gadol, 
" great tooth," which clearly shows, that it was im- 
ported in the whole tusk. It was, however, ill de- 
scribed as a tooth, for tooth it is not, but a weapon of 
defence, not unlike the tusks of a wild boar, and for 
the same purposes as horns of other animals. This 
has prompted Ezekiel (xxvii. 15.) to use another 
periphrasis for describing it ; and he calls it jc nm,?, 
kamoth shen, " horns of teeth." This, however, is 
liable to great objection, since the idea of horns and 
of teeth, to those who have never seen an elephant, 
must have been very confused, if not contradictory. 
Nevertheless, the combination is ingenious, for the 
defences which furnish the ivory, answer the pur- 
poses of horns; while, by issuing from the mouth, 
they are not unaptly allied to teeth." Several of the 
ancients have expressly called these tusks horns, par- 
ticularly Varro, (de Ling. Sat. lib. vi.) The LXX 
render the two Hebrew words by oSovxuq t'/.ttparnvos, 
and the Vulgate dcntes ehurneos. The Targum, how- 
ever, in Ezekiel, separates nuip and }v, explaining 
the former word by horns of the rock goats, and the 
latter, by elephants' 1 teeth. 

Cabinets and wardrobes were ornamented with 
ivory, by what is called marquetry, Ps. xlv. 8. 
These were named "houses of ivory ;" perhaps, be- 
cause made in the form of a house or palace ; as the 
silver Naol of Diana, mentioned Acts xix. 24, were in 
the form of her temple at Ephesus ; and as we have 
now ivory models of the Chinese pagodas or temples. 
In this sense, Dr. Harris understands what is said of 
the ivory house which Ahab made, 1 Kings xxii. 39, 
for the Hebrew word, translated house, is used, as 
Dr. Taylor well observes, for a place, or case, where- 
in any thing lieth, is contained, or laid up. Ezekiel 
gives the name of house to chests of rich apparel ; 
(chap, xxvii. 24.) and Dr. Dure]], in his note on Ps. 
xlv. 8, quotes places from Homer and Euripides, 
where the same appropriation is made. Hesiod 
makes the same (Ap. et. D. v. 96.) As to "dwelling- 
houses," the most we can suppose in regard to them 
is, that they might have ornaments of ivory, as they 
sometimes have of gold, silver, or other precious ma- 
terials, in such abundance as to derive an appellation 
from the article of their decoration ; as the emperor 
Nero's palace, mentioned by Suetonius, (Nerone, 
c. 31.) was named, aurea, or golden, because overlaid 
with gold. This method of ornamenting buildings 
or apartments was very ancient among the Greeks, 
and is mentioned by Homer, Odyss. iv. v. 72. The 
Romans sometimes ornamented their apartments in 
like manner, as is evident from Horace, Carm. 1. ii. 
Ode xviii. v. 1. 

Our marginal translation of Cant. v. 13, renders tho 



1V0R\ 



[ 540 ] 



IVORY 



Hebrew words " towers of perfume," which Harmer 
says, (Outlines, p. 1G5.) may mean vases, in which 
odoriferous perfumes are kept. Amos (vi. 4.) speaks 
of beds or sofas of ivory. (See Bed.) If we might 
trust to Chaldee interpreters, the knowledge of ivory 
would be much more ancient than we have supposed 
it ; for this authority informs us, that Joseph placed 
his father Jacob on a bed of ivory. This interpreta- 
tion is not altogether to be rejected ; for ivory might 
be known in Egypt, either from Ethiopia, or by the 



caravans from the central parts of Afrka, or .t might 
be procured from India, by means of trading vessels, 
or trading merchants ; and certainly its beauty and 
ornaments should well become the residence of the 
Nazir, or lord steward of the royal household of the 
Egyptian Pharaohs. In Ezek. xxvii. 6, the benches 
of Tyrian ships are said to be " made of ivory." The 
meaning is, ornamented, probably, though Mr. Tay- 
lor contends that " shrines" must be intended. 



J 



JAB 

JABAL, son of Lamech and Adah, father of those 
who lodge under tents, and of shepherds ; (Gen. iv. 
20.) that is, instituter of those who, like the Arab 
Bedouins, live under tents, and are shepherds. See 
Father. 

JABBOK, a brook east of the Jordan, which takes 
its rise in the mountains of Gilead, and falls into the 
Jordan at some distance north of the Dead sea. It 
separated the land of the Ammonites from the Gaula- 
nitis, and that of Og, king of Bashan, Gen. xxxii.22, 
23. It is now called El Zerka. 

I. JABESH, father of Shallum, the fifteenth king 
of Israel, or of Samaria, 2 Kings xv. 10. 

II. JABESH, a city in the half-tribe of Manasseh, 
east of the Jordan, and generally called Jabesh- 
Gilead, because situated at the foot of the mountains 
so named. Eusebius places it six miles from Pella, 
towards Gerasa. Jabesh-Gilead was sacked by the 
Israelites, because it refused to join in the war 
against Benjamin, Judg. xxi. 8, and at a subsequent 
period, Nahash, king of the Ammonites, besieged it, 
but Saul dislodged him. In remembrance of this 
service the men of Jabesh-Gilead carried off the 
bodies of Saul and his son Jonathan, which the Philis- 
tines had hung upon the walls of Bethsan, and buried 
them honorably at their city, 1 Sam. xxxi. 11 — 13. 

I. JABIN, king of Hazor, in the northern part of 
Canaan, Josh. xi. 1, &c. Discomfited at the con- 
quests of Joshua, who had subdued the south of 
Canaan, he formed, with other kings in the northern 
part along the Jordan, and the Mediterranean, and 
in the mountains, a league offensive and defensive. 
With their troops they rendezvoused at the waters 
of Merom, but Joshua attacked them suddenly, 
defeated them, and pursued them to great Zidon, 
and the valley of Mizpeh. He lamed their horses, 
burnt their chariots, took Hazor, and killed Jabin, 
about A. M. 2555. 

II. JABIN, another king of Hazor, who oppressed 
the Israelites twenty years, from A. M. 2699, to 2719, 
Judg. iv. 2, &c. Sisera, his general, was defeated by 
Barak, at the foot of mount Tabor ; and the Israelites 
were delivered. 

I. JABNEEL, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 11. 

II. JABNEEL, a city of Naphtali, Josh. xix. 33. 
JABNEH, or Jabnia, a city of the Philistines, 

(2 Chron. xxvi. 6.) called Jamnia, (1 Mac. iv. 15.) 
and Jamneia, chap. 5. 58 ; 2 Mac. xii. 8. Its situation 
may be gathered from the passage last cited, as being 
not far from Jaffa, or Joppa. The following is Dr. 
Wittman's account of it : "Yebna is a village about 
twelve, miles distant from Jaffa ; in a fine open plain, 
surrounded by hills and covered with herbage. A 



J AC 

rivulet formed by the rains supplies water. It is 
conjectured that the rock Etarn, where Samson was 
surprised by the Philistines, was not far from Yebna. 
North-east of Yebna is a lofty hill, from which is an 
extensive and pleasing view of Ramla, distant about 
five miles. On sloping hills of easy ascent, by which 
the plains are bordered, Yebna, Ekron, Ashclod, and 
Ashkalon, were in sight." (Comp. 2 Chron. xxvi. 6.) 

Josephus says Jamnia was given to the tribe of 
Dan. It was taken from the Philistines by Uzziah, 
2 Chron. xxvi. 6. In 2 Mac. xii. 9, it is stated to be 
240 furlongs from Jerusalem. 

JACHIN, stability, the name of a brass pillar 
placed at the porch of Solomon's temple. See Boaz. 

JACINTH, see Hyacinth. 

JACOB, son of Isaac and Rebekah, was born ante 
A. D. 1836. He was twin-brother to Esau, and as 
at his birth he held his. brother's heel, he was called 
Jacob, the heel-holder, one who comes behind and 
catches the heel of his adversary, a deceiver, Gen. 
xxv. 26. This was a kind of predictive intimation 
of his future conduct in life. While Rebekah was 
pregnant, Isaac consulted the Lord concerning the 
struggling of the twins in her womb, and God de- 
clared that she should have two sons, who should 
become two great people ; but that the elder should 
be subject to the younger. Jacob was meek and 
peaceable, living at home; Esau was more turbulent 
and fierce, and passionately fond of hunting. Isaac 
was partial to Esau, Rebekah to Jacob. Jacob hav- 
ing taken advantage of his brother's necessity, to ob- 
tain his birthright, (see Birthright,) and of his 
father's infirmity, to obtain the'blessingof primogen 
iture, was compelled to fly into Mesopotamia, to 
avoid the consequences of his brother's wrath, Gen. 
xxvii. xxviii. On his journey the Lord appeared to 
him in a dream, promised him his protection, and 
declared his purpose relative to his descendants pos- 
sessing the land of Canaan, and the descent of the 
Messiah through him, chap, xxviii. 10, &c. Arriving 
at Mesopotamia, he was received by his uncle Laban, 
whom he served fourteen years for his two daugh- 
ters, Rachel and Leah. 

Jacob had four sons by Leah ; but Rachel, having 
no children, gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob, who 
by her had Dan and Naphtali. Leah also gave her 
servant Zilpah to her husband, who brought Gad 
and Asher. After this Leah had Issachar and Zeb- 
ulun, and Dinah, a daughter. At last the Lord re- 
membered Rachel, and gave her a son, whom she 
called Joseph, chap. xxix. Jacob's family having 
become numerous, and his term of service to Laban 
being expired, he desired to return into his own 



JACOB 



[ 541 ] 



JACOB 



country with his wives and children. Laban, 
however, having prospered by his services, and 
wishing to retain him, proposed that Jacob should 
take as his wages in future, the marked sheep and 
kids of the flock. To this, Jacob assented, and, 
by a singular stratagem suggested to him in a dream, 
acquired so much property, that Laban and his sons 
became jealous of his prosperity ; and the Lord de- 
sired him to return into his own country, chap. xxx. 
25, &c. He took his wives, therefore, his children 
and his cattle, and had performed three days' jour- 
ney before Laban was aware of his departure. He 
immediately pursued him, however, and overtook 
Jacob on the seventh day of his pursuit, on the 
mountains of Gilead. He reproached him for his 
flight, and with having stolen his gods, or teraphim, 
which Rachel had taken without her husband's 
knowledge, chap. xxxi. (See Teraphim.) Having 
come to a mutual explanation, Jacob and Laban en- 
tered into a covenant, and then separated. Arriving at 
the brook Jabbok, east of Jordan, Jacob, fearing that 
Esau might retain his former resentment, sent him 
notice of his arrival, with handsome presents, and 
Esau advanced with four hundred men to meet him. 
After all his people had passed the brook Jabbok, 
Jacob remained alone, on the other side, and wres- 
tled with an angel in the form of a man, who, not 
being able to prevail against Jacob, touched the 
hollow of his thigh which immediately withered. 
His name was also changed from Jacob to Israel, 
-i. e. a prince with God. Jacob called the place 
Peniel, saying, I have seen God face to face, yet my 
life is preserved, chap, xxxii. When Esau advanced 
toward him, Jacob went forward, and threw him- 
self seven times on the earth before him ; as did also 
Leah and Rachel, with their children. The two 
brothers tenderly embraced each other, and Jacob 
prevailed upon Esau to accept his presents. Esau 
returned home, and Jacob arrived at Succoth beyond 
Jordan, where he dwelt some time. He afterwards 
passed the Jordan, and came to Salem, a city of the 
Shechemites, where he set up his tents, having pur- 
chased part of a field for the sum of a hundred 
kesitas or pieces of money, of the children of Hamor, 
Shechem's father, chap, xxxiii. While Jacob dwelt 
at Salem, his daughter Dinah was ravished by She- 
chem ; and her brothers, Levi and Simeon, took a 
crafty and severe revenge, by killing the Shechem- 
ites, and pillaging their city, chap, xxxiv. Jacob, 
dreading the resentment of the neighboring people, 
retired to Bethel, where God commanded him to 
stay, and to erect an altar. In preparation for the 
sacrifice which he was to offer there, he desired his 
people to purify themselves, to change their clothes, 
and to reject all the strange gods, which they might 
have brought out of Mesopotamia. These he took, 
and buried under an oak near Shechem. At his 
sacrifice the Lord appeared to him, and renewed 
his promises of protecting him, and of multiplying 
his family. After he had performed his devotions, 
he took the way to Hebron, to visit his father Isaac, 
who dwelt in the valley of Mamre. In the journey 
Rachel died in labor of Benjamin, and was buried 
near Bethlehem, where Jacob erected a monument 
for her, (Gen. xxxv. 16, 17.) and, proceeding to Heb- 
ron, pitched his tents at the tower of Edar. He had 
the satisfaction to find his father Isaac, and that 
good patriarch lived twenty-two years with his son, 
chap, xxxv About ten years before the death of 
Isaac, Joseph was sold by his brethren, and Jacob, 
believing he had been devoured by wild beasts, was 



afflicted in proportion to his tenderness for him. He 
passed about twenty-two years mourning for him, 
but at length Joseph discovered himself to his breth- 
ren in Egypt, chap, xliii. xliv. xlv. Being informed 
that Joseph was living, Jacob awaked, as it were, 
from slumber, and exclaimed, " It is enough ; Joseph 
my son is yet alive, I will go and see him before 1 
die." On his arrival in Egypt, Joseph hasted to the 
land of Goshen, and they embraced with tears. 
Joseph presented him to the king, and Jacob having 
wished him all happiness, Pharaoh asked him his age. 
He answered, "The time of my pilgrimage is a hun- 
dred and thirty years ; few and evil have my years 
been, in comparison of the age of my fathers," chap, 
xlvi. 29, &c. 

Jacob lived seventeen years in Egypt, and some 
time before his death adopted Ephraim and Manas- 
seh, and directed that they should share the land of 
Canaan, which God had promised him at Bethel. 
Joseph placed his sons on each side of his father, 
Ephraim on Jacob's left, and Manasseh on his right 
hand. But Jacob, directed by the spirit of prophecy, 
laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, and his left 
on Manasseh's. Joseph would have changed the 
disposition of his hands ; but Jacob answered, 
"I know what I do, my tod." Thus he gave 
Ephraim the pre-eminence over Manasseh ; which 
the tribe always maintained, being, after Judah, 
the most considerable in Israel. Jacob also fore- 
told that God would bring his posterity back into 
the land of Canaan, which was promised to their 
fathers, and bequeathed to Joseph one portion above 
his brethren, which he took from the Amorite with 
his sword and his bow, chap, xlviii. 

Some time after this, Jacob assembled his sons to 
give them his prophet c blessing. He desired to be 
buried in the cave ov ->r against Mamre, where Abra- 
ham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebekah were buried ; and 
then laid himself down and died. Joseph embalmed 
him after the manner of the Egyptians, and there 
was a general lamentation for him in Egypt seventy 
days ; after which, Joseph and his brethren, with 
the principal men of Egypt, carried him to the 
burying-place of his fathers, near Hebron, chap. xlix. 

There are two or three incidents in the life of this 
patriarch which require more particular notice than 
they have received in this narrative. The bargain 
concluded between him and Laban (Gen. xxx. 32.) 
appears sufficiently singular to us ; and not a little 
sarcasm has been wittily wasted on the patriarch, for 
the cunning and depth of plan which lie manifested 
in this agreement; most, however, if not all, the lev- 
ity has either been misapplied, or recoils on the igno- 
rance of those who have thought proper to indulge 
it. Jacob, it is possible, (not certain,) might make 
some alterations in the usual terms of such agree- 
ments ; but they were, no doubt, understood to be 
equally advantageous to one party, as to the other ; and 
we find Jacob complaining of Laban, "He has 
changed my wages ten times," verse 7. It would 
appear, that there were general rules established by 
custom, at least, if not by positive law, on this sub- 
ject ; but that private individuals might vary from 
them by specific agreement, as they thought most 
advantageous. The following extracts may enable 
the reader to judge for himself: "If a person, with- 
out receiving wages, or subsistence, or clothes, at- 
tends ten milch cows, he shall select, for his own use 
the milk of that cow which ever produces most • 
if he attend more cows, he shall take milk, after 
the same rate in lieu of wages. If a person attend 



t 



JACOB [ 542 ] JACOB 



o>ze hundred cows for the space of one year, without 
any appointment of wages, he shall take to himself 
one heifer of three years old ; and, also, of all those 
cows that produce milk, whatever the quantity may 
be, after every eight days, he shall take to himself 
the milk, the entire product of one day." [That this 
custom continued long, appears from the apostle's 
appeal to it, (1 Cor. ix. 7.) "Who feedeth a flock, 
and eateth not of the milk of the flock?"] "If he 
attend two hundred cows, the milk of one day, &c. 
— also a cow and her calf. Cattle shall be delivered 
over to the cowherd in the morning ; the cowherd 
shall tend them the whole day with grass and water, 
and in the evening shall re-deliver them to the mas- 
ter, in the same manner as they were intrusted to 
him : if by the fault of the cowherd, any of the cat- 
tle be lost, or stolen, that cowherd shall make it good. 
If cattle suffer by thieves, tigers, pits, rocks, &c. if 
the cowherd cry out no fault lies on him, the loss 
shall fall on the owner. When employed night and 
day, if any by his fault he h urt, he shall make it good. 
When a cowherd hath led cattle to a distant place to 
feed, if any die of some distemper, notwithstanding 
the cowherd applied the proper remedy, the cow- 
herd shall carry the head, the tail, the fore foot, or 
some such convincing proof taken from that animal's 
body, to the owner of the cattle ; having done this, 
he shall be no further answerable : if he neglect to 
act thus, he shall make good the loss." (Gentoo 
Laws, p. 150, 151.) By this time we are prepared 
to notice a much more dignified conduct in Jacob, 
than perhaps we have been aware of. " The rams 
of thy flock have I not eaten ; that which was torn 
of beasts, though the laws and usages in such cases 
would have authorized me, yet I brought not unto 
thee the maimed limb, for a convincing proof of 
such an accident: I bore the loss of the creature, in 
silence ; of my hand didst thou also require the equiv- 
alent for that which was stolen by day, or even that 
stolen by night, when I could not possibly prevent 
the theft! In short, to avoid words, I have borne much 
more loss, than in strictness, and according to cus- 
tom, I need to have done," Gen. xxxi. 38, 39. 

It may not be out of place to remark, that this rep- 
resentation gives additional spirit to the valor of 
David: "Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and 
there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of 
the flock ; and as I could not endure to be liable to 
any imputation of negligence or of cowardice, though 
the loss was not by my fault, and the laws would have 
cleared me, yet I ran after the wild beasts, and risked 
my life, to recover my father's property," 1 Sam. 
xvii. 34. See also Amos iii. 12 : " Thus saith the 
Lord, As the shepherd recovereth out of the mouth 
of the lion, two legs, or a piece of an ear," — in order 
that he may carry to his owner " convincing proof 
from the animal's body," of the accident that has 
happened to it, that he himself had neither sold nor 
slain the creature, to his owner's injury. Is not this 
the allusion ? — Is not the behavior of Jacob's sons 
also founded on the same principle ? Gen. xxxvii. 31. 
" They took Joseph's coat, and dipped it in the blood 
of a kid, and sent (not brought) it to their father — 
saying, This have we found ; discern, now, whether 
it be thy son's coat, or no. And Jacob knew it, and 
said, It is my son's coat ; Joseph is, doubtless, rent in 
pieces " by a wild beast. — Did not his brethren thus 
endeavor to send "convincing proof" of Joseph's 
hopeless fate ; as they would have brought ." the 
head, the tail, or the fore foot of an animal " in the 
true characteristic style of shepherds ? 



Most readers, no doubt, have been used to consider 
the case of Jacob, in his marriage with the two sis- 
ters, Leah and Rachel, as not merely hard, but as 
uncustomary and illegal ; perhaps, as scarcely bind- 
ing, Gen. xxi. 21, seq. Had he not been imposed 
upon by Laban, he would have married Rachel, but 
would have declined Leah ; though, after having 
married her, he would not divorce her. Admitting, 
as extremely probable, that Laban's conduct was 
more cunning than upright, yet the excuse he makes 
for himself, we must acknowledge was founded iti 
fact ; though it leaves him guilty of not having ex- 
plained the laws or usages of the country to Jacob. 
On the contrary, he encouraged him to believe he 
had bargained for one daughter to be his wife, and 
afterwards deluded him by substituting another. Mr. 
Halhed observes, in his preface to the Gentoo Laws, 
(p. 69.) that " We find Laban excusing himself, for 
having substituted Leah in the place of Rachel, to 
Jacob in these words : ' It must not be so done in our 
country, to give the youngest daughter before the 
first-born.' This was long before Moses. So in this 
compilation, it is made criminal for a man to give his 
younger daughter in marriage before the elder ; or 
for a younger son to marry while his elder brother 
remains unmarried. 

With regard to Jacob, it does not appear that in 
his marriage of two sisters, there was at that time, 
and in that country, what would be deemed a noto- 
rious and flagrant breach of propriety, if, indeed, 
there was any thing remarkable in it. We live in 
days of happier refinement, than to tolerate such 
connections; but that such continued to be formed 
in that country, long after the time of Jacob, is ascer- 
tained by a history recorded of Omar, the second 
caliph of the Mahometans after Mahomet. "While 
he was on his journey, there came, at one of his 
stages, a complaint before him, of a man who had 
married two wives that were sisters both by father 
and mother ; a thing which the old Arabians, so long 
as they continued in their idolatry, made no scruple 
of, as appears from that passage in the Koran, where 
it is forbidden for the time to come, and expressed in 
such a manner as makes it evident to have been no 
uncommon practice among them. Omar was very 
angry, and cited him and his two wives to make 
their appearance before him forthwith. After the 
fellow had confessed that they were both his wives, 
and so nearly related, Omar asked him ' What reli- 
gion he might be, or whether he was a Mussulman.' 
— 'Yes,' said the fellow. 'And did you not know, 
then,' said Omar, ' that it was unlawful for you to 
have them, when God said, " Neither marry two sisters 
any more?"' (Koran, chap. iv. 277.) The fellow 
swore, that he did not know that it was unlawful ; 
neither was it unlawful. Omar swore, 'he lied, and 
he would make him part with one of them, or else 
strike his head off".' The fellow began to grumble, 
and said ' he wished he had never been of that reli- 
gion, for he could have done very well without it ; 
and never had been a whit better for it since he had 
first professed it.' Upon which Omar called him a 
little nearer, and gave him two blows on the crown 
with his stick, to teach him better manners, and learn 
him to speak more reverently of Mahometanism t 
saying, 'O thou enemy of God, and of thyself, dost 
thou revile Islam ; which is the religion that God, and 
his angels, and apostles, and the best of the creation 
have chosen ?' and threatened him severely if be did 
not make a quick despatch, and take which of them; 
he loved best. The fellow was so fond of them both, 



J A E 



[ 543 J 



JAM 



that he could not tell which he had rather part with : 
upon which, some of Omar's attendants cast lots for 
the two women : the lot falling upon one of them 
three times, the man took her, and was forced to dis- 
miss the other." (Ockley's Hist. Sarac. vol. i. p. 219.) 
Had Jacob been questioned, which of the two sisters 
he would have relinquished, we may readily con- 
ceive his ansvi er ; and yet, perhaps, in parting with 
Leah and her children, he would have felt such a 
pang as genuine affection only could feel. (See Gen. 
xxx. 1, 2.) 

Will this sljpry throw any light on the precept of 
Moses? (Lev. xviii. 18.) "And a wife, to her sister, 
thou shalt not take to vex her, during her life." Does 
not this restriction look somewhat like Mahomet's in 
the Koran, as if such practice had been common ? 
Why else forbid it ? Does Moses forbid it, only when 
it would vex the other sister ; but does he leave it as 
before, if the first sister did not remonstrate against 
it ? or does lie take for granted, that the .first wife 
must be vexed by the admission of a sister ? In the 
story of Omar's determination, it should seem that 
both sisters were satisfied ; for, had one been veced, 
doubtless that had been the one to be put away. A 
custom, though not identically the same, yet allied to 
what we have mentioned, is plainly supposed in 
Judg. xv. 2. Samson's father-in-law says, "I gave 
thy wife to thy companion ; is not her younger sister 
fairer than she? take her, I pray thee, instead of 
her." He certainly does not propose an unheard- 
of connection, in this offer; or a connection noto- 
riously unlawful. 

For Jacob's Well see the article Shechem. 

JADDUA, or Jaddus, high-priest of the Jews in 
the time of Alexander the Great. See Alexander. 

JAEL, or Jahel, wife ol'Heber the Kenite, killed 
Sisera, general of the Canaanitish army. Having 
fled to her tent, Jael took her opportunity, and, while 
he was sleeping, drove a large nail, or tent-pin, 
through his temples, Judg. iv. 17, 21. Why this 
woman violated the sacred rites of hospitality, by 
murdering her guest, does not appear. Scripture 
hints at the relation of her family to Moses by Ho- 
bab, and no doubt he and his family had received 
many advantages by means of Israel ; for so Moses 
promised, " We will surely do thee good." Still, we 
must consider the secluded and sacred nature of the 
women's tent in the East, (see Tent,) and that the 
victor would not have intruded there ; the implied 
pledge of security in the food Jael had given to Sise- 
ra, which in the East is of considerable solemnity. 
(See Eating.) — By way of apology, the rabbins say 
that the words, " At her feet he bowed, he fell," &c. 
(chap. v. 27.) imply, that he attempted rudeness to 
her ; and that to resist such violation, she had re- 
course to " the workman's hammer." But it should 
be remembered, that a fugitive, as Sisera was, would 
have had little inclination at such a time ; and it ap- 
pears clearly that fatigue and sleep overpowered him. 
We suggest as probable, (1.) that Jael had herself felt 
the severity of the late oppression of Israel by Sisera ; 
(2.) that she was actuated by motives of patriotism, 
and of gratitude toward Israel ; (3.) that the general 
character of Sisera might be so atrocious, that at any 
rate his death was desirable. We find a similar 
proceeding in the case of Judith, whose anxiety for 
the deliverance of her people led her to the employ- 
ment of artifice to accomplish her purposes. 

[As to the morality of the proceeding of Jael, in put- 
ting Sisera to death, we have no right to bring it to the 
test o-f modern principles and occidental feelings. 



We must judge of it by the feelings of those among 
whom the right of avenging the blood of a relative 
was so strongly rooted, that even Moses could not 
take it away. Jael was an ally by blood of the Is- 
raelitish nation ; their chief oppressor, who had 
mightily oppressed them for the space of twenty 
years, now lay defenceless before her ; and he was 
moreover one of those whom Israel was bound by 
the command of Jehovah to extirpate. Perhaps, too, 
she felt herself called to be the instrument of God in 
working out for that nation a great deliverance, by 
thus exterminating their heathen oppressor. At least, 
Israel viewed it in this light ; and in this view, we 
cannot reproach the heroine with that as a crime, 
which both she and Israel felt to be a deed performed 
in accordance with the mandate of Heaven. R. 

JAGUR, a city in the south of Judah, Josh. xv. 21. 
Its situation is not known. 

.TAH, one of the names of God ; contracted from 
Jehovah. It is compounded with many Hebrew 
words ; as Adonijah, Halleluiah, Malachia ; — God is 
my Lord, Praise the Lord, The Lord is my king, &c. 

JAHAZ, also Jahazah, and Jahzah, a city east of 
Jordan, near to which Moses defeated Sihon. It was 
given to Reuben, (Dent. ii. 32.) and was situated to the 
north, near Ar, the capital of Moab. It was given to- 
the Levites, Josh. xxi. 36 ; 1 Chron. vi. 78. 

I. JA1R, of Manasseh, possessed the whole coun- 
try of Argob beyond Jordan, to the borders of Geshur 
and Maachathi, Judg. x. 3. He succeeded Tola in 
the government of Israel, and was succeeded by 
Jephthah. His government continued twenty-two 
years, from A. M. 2795 to 2817. (Comp. Numb, 
xxxii. 41 ; Deut. iii. 14 ; Josh. xiii. 30 ; 1 Kings iv. 13 ; 
1 Chron. ii. 22.) 

II. JAIR, the eighth month of the Hebrew civil 
year, and the second of the sacred year. It corre- 
sponded partly to March and April. 

JAIRUS, chief of the synagogue at Capernaum, 
whose daughter was restored to life by Jesus, Mark 
v. 22 ; Luke viii. 41, seq. 

JAMBRES, a magician, who opposed Moses iit 
Egypt. See Jannes. 

I. JAMES, surnamed Major, or the elder, to dis- 
tinguish him from James the younger, brother of 
John the Evangelist, and son of Zebedee and Sa- 
lome, Matt. iv. 21 ; xxvii. 56 ; compare Mark xv. 40. 
James was of Bethsaida in Galilee, and left his prop- 
erty to follow Christ. His mother, Salome, was one 
of those women who occasionally attended our Sa- 
viour in his journeys, and one day desired that her 
two sons might be seated at his right and left hand in 
his kingdom. Jesus replied, that this was only in the 
appointment of his heavenly Father, Matt. xx. 21, 
&c. James and John were originally fishermen, 
with Zebedee their father, Mark i. 19. They were 
witnesses of our Lord's transfiguration, (Matt. xviL 
1,2.) and when certain Samaritans refused to receive 
him, James and John wished for fire from heaven 
to consume them, Luke ix. 54. For this reason, it 
is thought the name of Boanerges, or sons of thun- 
der, was afterwards given to them. Some days after 
the resurrection of our Saviour, James and John 
went a fishing in the sea of Tiberias, where they 
saw Jesus, and were afterwards present at the ascen- 
sion of our Lord. James is said to have preached 
to all the dispersed tribes of Israel ; but of this there 
is no proof. His martyrdom, by Herod Agrippa, is 
related in Acts xii. 1, 2 ; cir. A. D. 42, or 44, for the 
date is not well determined. Clemens Alexandrinus 
informs us, that the man who brought James before 



JAMES 



L-544 ] 



JAMES 



me judges was so affected with his constancy in con- 
fessing Christ, that he declared himself a Christian, 
and was condemned, as well as the apostle, to be 
beheaded. 

II. JAMES, surnamed the Less, brother of our 
Lord, (Gal. i. 19 ; Joseph. Ant. lib. xx. cap. 8.) was 
son of Cleopas (or Alphteus) and Mary, sister of the 
Virgin Mary. (See Mark xv. 40 ; xvi. 1 ; compared 
with John xix. 25.) He was consequently cousin- 
german to Christ, and is therefore termed his brother, 
in the wider sense of that word, Gal. i. 19. (See 
Brother.) He was surnamed the Just, for the ad- 
mirable holiness and purity of his life. By Clemens 
Alexandrinus and Hegesippus he is said to have 
been a priest, and to have observed the laws of the 
Nazarites from his birth, eating or drinking nothing 
capable of intoxicating ; but this is not credible. 
Jerome assures us that the Jews so greatly esteemed 
him, that they strove to touch the hem of his gar- 
ment, and the Talmud relates several miracles said 
to have been wrought by James, the disciple of Jesus 
the carpenter. 

Our Saviour appeared to James eight days after 
the resurrection, 1 Cor. xv. 7. He was appointed 
bishop of Jerusalem ; and we are assured by Euse- 
bius, was at Jerusalem, and considered as a pillar of 
the church, when Paul first visited that city after his 
conversion, Gal. i. 18. In the council of Jerusalem, 
(A. D. 51.) James gave his vote last ; and the result 
of the council was principally formed on what he 
said ; who, notwithstanding that he himself observed 
the ceremonies of the law, with his church, (comp. 
Gal. ii. 11, 12.) was of opinion, that such a yoke was 
not to be imposed on converts from among the hea- 
then, Acts xv. 13. The progress of the gospel 
alarmed the chief of the Jews, and Ananus, son of 
Annas the high-priest, mentioned in the gospel, un- 
dertook to put James to death, and accomplished his 
purpose. 

James was stoned by the Pharisees, and buried 
near the temple, in the place where he had suffered 
martyrdom, and where a monument was erected, 
which was much celebrated till Jerusalem was de- 
stroyed by the Romans. The wisest of the Jews 
much disapproved this murder, and the behavior of 
Ananus, of which they made complaints to king 
Agrippa, and to Albinus, the Roman governor of the 
province. The latter threatened to, punish his te- 
merity ; and Agrippa divested him of the high- 
priesthood, which he had exercised only three months. 
Josephus is cited as affirming, that the war which 
the Romans made against the Jews, and all the fol- 
lowing calamities, were imputed to the death of this 
just man. The ancient heretics forged writings, 



which they ascribed to James, the brother of our 
Lord ; but the church acknowledges his epistle only 
as authentic. In this he argues principally against 
the abuse which many made of Paul's principle, that 
faith and not works justifies before God, strongly 
maintaining the necessity of good works. 

It is probable that James's strict observance of the 
Mosaic institutions, contributed to his preservation 
during many years at Jerusalem ; and shows the pru- 
dence of those who desired him to preside in the 
Christian church there ; as he would be least offen- 
sive to the Jewish rulers, though an apostle ; nor 
would he detract from the reputation of the national 
rites among his own people. 

The Epistle of James. — There are doubts to 
which Jai.'es the church is indebted for this Epistle. 
The most ancient traditionary reports ascribe this 
Epistle to James the elder, the son of Zebedee, and 
consequently the brother of John. He was one of 
the three apostles in whom Christ placed the great- 
est confidence, who alone were witnesses to the 
raising of Jairus's daughter from the dead, to the 
transfiguration of Christ, and to his agony in the gar- 
den. In the Syriac version, undoubtedly one of the 
oldest, and perhaps the best, into which the First 
Epistle of Peter, the First of John, and the Epistle 
of James, only, are admitted, there is a subscrip- 
tion, according to the edition of Widmanstadt, to 
this effect : — " In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 
we here close the three Epistles of James, Peter, 
and John, who were witnesses to the revelation 
of our Lord, when he was transfigured on mount 
Tabor, and who saw Moses and Elias speaking 
with him." To this Miehaelis adds the subscrip- 
tion to the edition of the Syriac version, pub- 
lished by Tremellius, which is to the same pur- 
port; also, that of a manuscript of the old Latin 
version, the Codex Corbiensis, which is, Explicit 
Epistola Jacobi, filii Zebedai. Could we depend 
on these subscriptions, the question were settled ; 
but all subscriptions are doubtful, and can justly 
claim no great reliance. However, they show what 
some, at least, thought anciently. James the elder 
was beheaded about A. D. 43 or 44. " If, therefore, 
he was the author of this Epistle," says Miehaelis, 
" it must have been the first written of all the Epis- 
tles." But this opinion is not tenable, if the First 
Epistle of John were written in Jerusalem, if it were 
addressed to the visitants of that city, and if its ob- 
jects were such as most properly may be attributed 
to the infant state of the church. (See John.) A 
comparison between these two Epistles might be 
instituted with considerable effect. The coincidence 
is more than accidental. 



Sentiments of John. Sentiments of James. 

God is Light, and in him is no darkness at all. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from 
1 John i. v. above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights, 

with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of 
turning, i. 17. 

Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his If a brother or a sister be naked and destitute of 
brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in 
«ompassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye 
in him ? My little children, let us not love in word, give them not those things which are needful to the 
neither in tongue ; but in deed and in truth, iii. 17. body, what doth it profit ? ii. 15. 

This commandment have we from him, That he If ye fulfil the royal law, according to the Scrip- 
who loveth God, love his brother also. iv. 21. ture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, thou 

dost well. ii. 8. 




JACOB. 



JAN 



[ 545 ] 



JAP 



Love not the world, neither the things that are in the Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that 

world. If any man love the world, the love- of the the friendship of the world is enmity with God? 

Father is not in him, for all that is in the world, the whoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is 

lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride the enemy of God. iv. 4. 
of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world, ii. 15. 

If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and 
unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life one convert him, let him know, that he who con- 
for them that sin not unto death, v. 16. verteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall 

save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of 

sins. v. 19. 



It is not proper to do more than submit these pas- 
sages to the reader, who will draw his own conclu- 
sions from them. If they really were written by the 
two brothers, these traces of similarity are easily ac- 
counted for ; if they were the first published papers 
in behalf of the Christian cause, they justify an addi- 
tional portion of respectful consideration ; and if we 
had the history of the time completely before us, we 
should find them very suitable to the state of the 
Jews in foreign parts. The " wars and fightings " 
mentioned by James may well be thought those 
which took place under Asinseus and Anileus, in Mes- 
opotamia, &c. about A. D. 40, as described by Jose- 
phus. If so, this Epistle must be placed after the 
First Epistle of John. Those contests, with others 
in various parts, might occasion the Epistle ; and the 
Epistle might occasion the death of the author. To 
examine the style or the phraseology of this tract, 
would be out of place here. It may be observed, 
however, that the term " synagogue " applied to places 
of worship, where Christians met, marks a very early 
date ; since that appellation was certainly not long 
continued among believers. If it be thought, that 
these places of worship were those which appertained 
to the Jewish nation, as such, under the indulgence 
of the governing powers, it agrees equally well with 
an early date ; since it proves that the separation be- 
tween Christians and Jews had not yet taken place. 
The Jewish believers in Christ in foreign parts, con- 
tinued to hold communion with their nation ; they 
had not been expelled, neither had they, as yet, 
withdrawn themselves. 

[The attempt here made to refer the Epistle of 
James to the elder apostle of this name, is by no means 
satisfactory in itself; nor does it accord with the tradi- 
tion of the church, nor the results of critical research. 
Commentators are almost unanimous in ascribing it 
to James the Less, and suppose it to have been writ- 
ten just before his death, about A. D. 62. R. 

JANNES and JAMBRES, two magicians who re- 
sisted Moses, in Egypt, 2 Tim. iii. 8. As these names 
are not found in the Old Testament, the apostle prob- 
ably derived them from tradition. They are often 
mentioned by Jewish and rabbinical writers. The 
paraphrast Jonathan, on Numb, xxiii. 22, says they 
were the two sons of Balaam, who accompanied him 
to Balak, king of Moab. They are called by several 
names, in several translations. Artapanus affirms, 
that Pharaoh sent for magicians, from Upper Egypt, 
to oppose Moses; and Ambrosiaster, or "Hilary "the 
Deacon, says, they were brothers. He cites a book 
entitled Jannes and Mambres, which is also quoted 
py Origen, and ranked as apocryphal by Gelasius. 
There is a tradition in the Talmud, that Juhanni and 
Mamre, chief of Pharaoh's physicians, said to Moses, 
" Thou bringest straw into Egypt, where abundance 
of corn grew ;" — To bring your magical arts hither, 
is to as much purpose as to bring water to the Nile. 
Nurnenius, cited by Aristobulus, says, " Jannes and 
69 



Jambres were sacred scribes of the Egyptians, who 
excelled in magic at the time when the Jews were 
driven out of Egypt. These were the only persons 
whom the Egyptians found capable of opposing 
Moses, who was a man whose prayers to God were 
very powerful. These two men, Jannes and Jam- 
bres, were alone able to frustrate the calamities which 
Moses brought upon the Egyptians." Pliny speaks 
of the faction or sect of magicians, of whom he says 
Moses, Jannes, and Jocabel, or Jotapa, were heads. 
The Mussulmans have several particulars to the same 
purpose. Their recital supposes, that the magicians 
wrought no miracle, but only played conjuring tricks, 
in which they endeavored to impose upon the eyes 
of spectators. Moses, however, expresses himself as 
if Pharaoh's magicians really operated the same ef- 
fects as himself ; so that Pharaoh and his whole court 
were persuaded, that the power of their magicians 
was equal to that of Moses, till those magicians, not 
being able to produce lice, as Moses had done, were 
constrained to acknowledge that the finger of God 
was in the work, Exod. viii. 18, 19. 

JANONAH, a city of Ephraim, on the frontiers 
of Manasseh, Josh. xvi. 6. 

J APHA, a city of Galilee, near Jotapata, according 
to Josephus. Probably the city called Japhia, (Josh, 
xix. 12.) belonging to Zebulun. 

JAPHETH, the enlarger, the eldest son of Noah, 
though generally named last of the three brothers — 
Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Japheth is known in 
profane authors under the name of Iapetus. The 
poets (Hesiod, Theogonia) make him father of heaven 
and earth, or of Titan and the earth. His habitation 
was in Thessaly, where he became celebrated for his 
power and violence. He married a nymph named 
Asia ; by whom he had four sons, Hesperus, Atlas, 
Epimetheus, and Prometheus, who are all very fa- 
mous among the ancients. The Greeks believed 
that Japheth was the father of their race, whence the 
proverb, " As old as Japheth." It is very possible 
that Neptune is a memorial or transcript of Japheth. 
There is some resemblance in the character ; Nep- 
tune is god of the sea, as Japheth is lord of the isles. 
Saturn divided the world among his three sons, Jupi- 
ter, Pluto, and Neptune; thus Noah dietributed the 
earth among Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Jupiter is 
Ham, Pluto is Shem, and Japheth is Neptune. The 
sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, 
Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras, Gen. x. 4. Gomer was 
probably father of the Cimbri, or Cimmerians ; Ma- 
gog of the Scythians ; Madai of the Macedonians, or 
of the Medes ; Javan of the Ionians and Greeks ; 
Tubal of the Tibarenians ; Meshech, of the Musco- 
vites, or Russians ; and Tiras, of the Thracians. By 
the isles of the Gentiles, the Hebrews understood the 
islands of the Mediterranean, and all other countries 
to which they could go by sea only, as Spain, Gaul, 
Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, &c. 

The descendants of Japheth possessed all Europe, 



J AS 



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the islands in the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, and 
the northern parts of Asia. Noah, when blessing 
Japheth, said, " God shall enlarge Japheth ; and he 
shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; and Canaan shall 
be his servant," Gen. ix. 27. This was accomplished 
when the Greeks, and after them, the Romans, sub- 
dued Asia and Africa, where were the dwellings and 
dominions of Shem, and of Canaan. It is worthy of 
remark, that the allusion to countries the most dis- 
tant which occurs in the Bible, is in this prophetic 
benediction of Noah, "God shall enlarge the enlarger" 
(Japheth.) Now, as from the earliest ages, the eldest 
son was, by his birthright, entitled to a double por- 
tion of his father's property, it leads us to conceive 
of such a distribution in this instance. 
JAPHO, see Joppa. 

JAREB, (Hos. v. 13; x. 0.) the name of a king ; 
or more probably it signifies hostile, i. e. here, the 
hostile king. Others make it the great king, viz. 
the king of Assyria. (Compare 2 Kings xviii. 19.) 

JASHER, Book or, see Bible, p. 171. 

I. JARMUTH, a city of Issachar, given to the Le- 
vites of Gershom ; it was a city of refuge, Josh. xxi. 29. 

II. JARMUTH, a city of Judah, the king of 
which was killed by Joshua, Josh. x. 5, etc. Jerome 
places it four miles from Eleutheropolis, near Es- 
thaol, in one place, but in another, ten miles, in the 
way to Jerusalem. 

JASHOBEAM, a son of Zabdiel, who commanded 
twenty-four thousand men, who did duty in David's 
court in the month Nisan, 1 Chron. xxvii. 2. Some 
believe him to be Jashobeam son of Hachnioni, 
which signifies the wise, and was perhaps a surname, 

1 Chron. xi. 11. In the corresponding passage in 

2 Sam. xxiii. 8, we read: "The Tachmonite, that 
sat in the seat, the head of the three, Adino of Ezni, 
who lifted up his spear against eight hundred men, 
whom he slew." But the text of Chronicles imports 
that "Jashobeam, a Hachmonite, chief of the thirty, 
lifted up his spear against three hundred, whom he 
slew at one time." How are these statements to 
be reconciled ? Jashobeam is the son of Hachmoni, 
he kills three hundred men, and he is chief of the 
thirty. Adino, on the contrary, is head of the three, 
and kills eight hundred men. When we examine 
the subject closely, however, it appears, that the dif- 
ference proceeds only from some letters which are 
read differently in the texts. Calmet would there- 
fore correct the text in the second book of Samuel 
thus: "Jashobeam, son of Hachmoni, head of the 
thirty, he lifted up the wood of his spear against 
three hundred men, whom he slew." The Sep- 
tuagint reads, "Jeshbaal, son of Techemani, was 
head of the three. This is Adino the Eznite, who 
drew his sword against eight hundred." In the 
Roman edition, Jebosthe the Canaanite, head of the 
three, &c. We cannot see from whence they took 
Adino the Eznite, which is entirely superfluous in 
this place. Another mode of removing the dis- 
crepancy, is by supposing that Jashobeam, the 
Hachmonite, died during David's life, and that Adino, 
the Eznite, was appointed in his place. And it is 
remarked that 2 Sam. xxiii. 8, literally rendered, im- 
ports, "these are the names of the mighty men whom 
David had — he who sits in the seat of the Tachmo- 
nite, that is, of Jashobeam the Hachmonite, who was 
chief among the captains, he is Adino, the Eznite ;" 
— who perhaps is the Adino, son of Shiza, (1 Chr. 
xi. 42.) chief of the Reubenites, who had thirty under 
him. Shiza might be the name of his family ; Eznite 
that of his country. 



JASHUB, or Shear-Jashub, son of Isaiah, Isa. 
vii. 3. Shear-Jashub signifies the remainder shall re- 
turn ; and the prophet, by giving his son this name, 
intended to show, that the Jews, who should be car- 
ried to Babylon, would return. 

I. JASON, a high-priest of the Jews, and brother 
of Onias III., was a man of unbounded ambition, 
who scrupled not to divest his brother of the high- 
priesthood, in order to seize that dignity himself, 
sacrilegiously purchasing it of Antiochus Epiphanes. 
Jason did all he could to abolish the worship of God 
in Jerusalem, and to prevail with the very priests to 
adopt the religion of the Greeks. He is to be con- 
sidered as the cause of all the calamities which befell 
the Jews under Antiochus. He died at Lacedemon, 
a city in alliance with the Jews, to which he had 
fled from Aretas, or Menelaus ; and his body re- 
mained without burial, the greatest indignity that 
could be offered to him. 

II. JASON, Paul's kinsman, and his host at 
Thessalonica, (Rom. xvi. 21.) hazarded his life to pre- 
serve him during a sedition in that city, Acts xvii. 7. 

JASPER, in Latin, in Greek jaspis, in Hebrew 
nDZ",jaspeh, a precious stone of various colors, as 
purple, cerulean, green, &c. Ex. xxviii. 20 ; Rev. iv. 3. 

JATTIR, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 48.) after- 
wards given to the Levites of Kohath's family, chap, 
xxi. 14. Eusebius places it in the district of Daroma 
toward the city of Malatha, twenty miles from 
Eleutheropolis. 

JAVAN, fourth son of Japheth, (Gen. x. 2, 4.) and 
father of the Ionians, or Greeks. See Greece. 

JAVELIN, a kind of long dart, or light spear, 
thrown as a missile weapon at the enemy. 

JAZER, a city east of Jordan, and at the foot of 
the mountains of Gilead, given to Gad, and after- 
wards to the Levites, Josh. xxi. 39. 

JEALOUS, JEALOUSY, suspicions of infidelity, 
especially as applied to the marriage state. God's 
tender love toward his church is sometimes called 
jealousy. Paul says to the Corinthians, that he is 
jealous over them with a godly jealousy, that he might 
present them as a chaste virgin to Christ. The word, 
however, is frequently used to express the vindictive 
acts of dishonored love. Thus the psalmist, (Ixxix. 
5.) representing the church as smarting under divine 
judgments, occasioned by her infidelity to God, says, 
" How long, Lord, shall thy jealousy burn like fire ?" 
(See also 1 Cor. x. 22.) 

Waters of Jealousy. — There is something ex- 
tremely curious, if not inexplicable, in the solemn 
process prescribed in Numb. v. 11—31. for the detec- 
tion and punishment of a woman who had excited 
her husband's jealousy, without affording him the or- 
dinary means of proving her infidelity. See Adul- 
tery. 

JEARIM, mount, (Josh. xv. 10.) a boundary of the 
inheritance of Judah. It was a woody mountain, 
on which the city of Balah, or Kirjath-jearim, was 
situated. 

I. JEBUS, son of Canaan, and father of the Jebu- 
sites, (Josh." xv. 63.) who dwelt in Jerusalem, and in 
the mountains around it. 

II. JEBUS, the ancient name of Jerusalem, de- 
rived from Jebus, the son of Canaan, Judg. xix. 11. 
See Jerusalem. 

JEBUSITES, see Jebus I, and Canaanites, p.243. 

JECONIAH, see Jehoiachin. 

.JEDIAEL, of Manasseh, a brave man m David's 
army, who abandoned Saul's party, (1 Chron. xi. 45; 
xii. 20.) and came to David at Ziklag. 



JEH 



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JEHOIACHIN 



JEDUTHUN, a Levite of Merari's family ; and 
one of the four great masters of music belonging to 
the temple, 1 Chron. xvi. 41, 42. The name is 
also put for his descendants, Jeduthunites, who occur 
later as singers and players on instruments, 2 Chron. 
xxxv. 15 ; Neh. xi. 17. So in the superscription of 
Psalms xxxix. lxii. lxxvii. 

JEGAR-SAHADUTHA, the heap of witness, a 
name given by Laban to a heap or circle of stones, 
which was erected by himself and Jacob, in witness 
of an agreement made between them, Gen. xxxi. 47, 
&c. The term is Chaldee, and it is usually thought 
to prove that the Chaldee language was different from 
the Hebrew. It might be so ; but we should re- 
member that Jacob gave two names to this place, 
"Galeed, and Mizpeh." Might not Laban do the 
same ? varying the term, as Mizpeh differs from Ga- 
leed ; for it does not appear that Laban, when speak- 
ing afterwards, uses the Chaldee words, Jegar saha- 
dutha ; but the Hebrew words which Jacob used, 
"this {gal) heap be witness, and this [mizpeh) pillar 
be witness." So that in these instances he certainly 
retained his Hebrew. See Stones. 

I. JEHOAHAZ, son of Jehu, king of Israel, suc- 
ceeded his father, ante A. D. 856, and reigned seven- 
teen years, 2 Kings xiii. He did evil in the sight of 
the Lord, like Jeroboam, son of Nebat, wherefore the 
anger of the Lord delivered Israel during all his 
reign to Hazael, king of Syria, and Benhadad, son of 
Hazael. Jehoahaz, overwhelmed with so many ca- 
lamities, prostrated himself before the Lord ; and the 
Lord heard him, and sent him a saviour in Joash his 
son, who re-established the affairs of Israel, and se- 
cured his people from the kings of Syria. Of all his 
soldiers, Jehoahaz had left only 50 horsemen, 10 
chariots, and 10,000 foot ; for the king of Syria had 
defeated them, and made them like the dust of the 
threshing-floor. Neither punishment nor mercy, 
however, was sufficient to prevail with the Israelites 
to forsake their evil ways. Joash, the successor of 
Jehoahaz, was more fortunate than his father, but not 
more pious. 

II. JEHOAHAZ, or Shallum, son of Josiah, king 
of* Judah, (Jer. xxii. 11.) succeeded his father, (2 
Kings xxiii. 30 — 32.) though he was not the eldest 
son. He was 23 years old when he began to reign, 
and reigned about three months, (ante A. D. 609,) 
when he was deposed by Necho, king of Egypt, who 
loaded him with chains, and sent him into Egypt, 
where he died, Jer. xxii. 11, 12. 

There is a considerable difficulty in the chronology 
of this prince's reign. In 2 Kings xxiii. 31, we read, 
" That he was 23 years old when he began to reign, 
and he reigned three months in Jerusalem." His 
brother Jehoiakim succeeded him, being 25, ver. 36. 
It is generally concluded from hence, that the people 
placed Jehoahaz on the throne without following the 
natural order of succession, he not being the eldest 
son of Josiah. The reason of this preference is not 
known, but it seems unquestionable, and a number of 
conjectures have been offered for its solution. Is it 
probable that Jehoiakim was born before Josiah's ele- 
vation to the throne ? See Heir. 

JEHOIACHIN, .TEcomAH, (Jer. xxvii. 20.) or Co- 
niah, (Jer. xxxvii. 1.) son of Jehoiakim, king of Ju- 
dah, and grandson of Josiah, reigned but three 
months over Judah, 2 Kings xxiv. 8 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 
9. It is believed that he was born about the time of 
the first Babylonish captivity, (A. M. 3398,) when Je- 
hoiakim, or Eliakim, his father, was carried to Babylon. 
Jehoiakim afterwards returned, and reigned ti I A. 



M. 3405, when he was killed by the Cha deans in tne 
eleventh year of his reign. Jehoiachin succeeded 
him, and reigned alone three months and ten days ; 
after having reigned ten years in conjunction with 
his father. By this distinction, the above-cited pas- 
sages are reconciled. In the second book of Kings, it 
is said he was eighteen years of age when he began 
to reign ; whereas in the Chronicles it is said he was 
but eight ; that is, he was but eight years old when 
he began to reign with his father, but eighteen when 
he began to reign alone. The Kings and Chronicles 
intimate, that the people set up Jehoiachin, or that they 
acknowledged him as king in his father's room. But 
Josephus (Antiq. lib. x. cap. 9.) says, Nebuchadnezzar 
gave him the kingdom ; and some months after, fear- 
ing he might revolt, to avenge the death of his father 
Jehoiakim, he sent an army against him, which be- 
sieged him in Jerusalem. Jehoiachin would not ex- 
pose the town on his account ; he sent his mother 
and his nearest relations as hostages to Nebuchad- 
nezzar's generals, having first received a promise and 
an oath from them, that they would not injure the 
town or the hostages. Nebuchadnezzar, however, 
ordered his generals to send the prince to Babylon, 
with his mother, his friends, and all the youth and 
trading part of the city, amounting to 10,832 persons. 
The account in Kings is shorter, and differs from Jo- 
sephus. It says, that the king of Babylon first sent his 
generals and his army to open the siege of Jerusalem, 
and afterwards was himself present at it ; that Jehoi- 
achin went out of the city with his mother, his princes, 
servants, and officers, and surrendered to Nebu- 
chadnezzar, who took away the riches, and all the 
best inhabitants of Jerusalem, to the number of 10,000, 
leaving only the poor ; taking the king, the queen, &c. 
7000 men of war, 1000 good artificers, and all that 
were capable of bearing arms. Whether in the 
10,000, the subsequent 8000 are to be comprehended, 
we know not. It is credible, that Nebuchadnezzar's 
view in transporting to Babylon all the good work- 
men in iron, gold, silver, wood, &c. was to fill the 
city of Babylon, which he had embeJlished and en- 
larged. This also was his aim in bringing whole na- 
tions from other countries to Babylon, or Babylonia, 
which he intended to make the most beautiful and 
flourishing country in the world. 

Jeremiah (xxii. 24.) mentions Jehoiachin as a very 
bad prince, whose sins had incurred the indignation 
of God. " As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah, 
the son of Jehoiakim, were the signet upon my right 
hand, yet would I pluck thee thence," chap. xxii. 24. 
" Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, 
a man that shall not prosper in his days ; for no man 
of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of 
David, and ruling any more in Judah," ver. 30. All 
this was executed ; Jehoiachin succeeded in none of 
his designs. He was taken and carried to Babylon, 
where he died ; but it is supposed that he repented, 
and that God treated him with mercy ; for Evilmero- 
dach, Nebuchadnezzar's successor, used him honora- 
bly, took him out of prison, spoke kindly to him, and 
placed his throne above the throne of other princes, 
at his court, 2 Kings xxv. 27 ; Jer. lii. 31. The words, 
Write this man childless, cannot be taken literally, 
since we know that Jehoiachin was the father of Sa- 
lathiel, and other children, enumerated 1 Chron. iii. 
17, 18. and Matt. i. 12. But the Hebrew word trans- 
lated childless, is taken likewise for one who has lost 
his children, who has no successor or heir. In this 
sense, Jehoiachin, son of a king, and himself a king, 
was as a man without issue, since no son succeeded 



JEH 



[ 548 ] 



JEH 



him in his kingdom : for neither Salathiel, who was 
born and died in captivity, nor Zerubbabel, who re- 
turned from Babylon, nor any of Jehoiachin's descend- 
ants, sat on the throne of Judah. This is fairly im- 
plied in the words, " No man of his seed (that is, 
posterity) shall prosper ;" so that it appears he might 
have seed ; but no one who should enjoy the royal 
dignity. The passage should be rendered, " Write 
this man forsaken, successorless." We know not the 
year of his death. 

JEHOIADA, by Josephus called Joadus, succeed- 
ed Azariah in the high-priesthood, and was succeed- 
ed by Zechariah. In 1 Chron. vi. 9, 10, Johanan 
and Azariah seemed to be confounded with Jehoiada 
and Zechariah. This high-priest, with his wife Je- 
hoshabeath, rescued Joash, son of Joram, king of 
Judah, when but one year old, from the murderous 
violence of Athaliah ; and concealed him in the tem- 
ple. After seven years, he set him on the throne of 
David, 2 Kings xi. xii. and 2 Chron. xxiii. xxiv. 
(See Athaliah, and Joash.) While Jehoiada lived, 
and Joash followed his advice, every thing happily 
succeeded. The high-priest formed a design of re- 
pairing the temple, and collected considerable sums 
in the cities of Judah ; but the Levites did not ac- 
quit themselves of their commission with diligence 
till after the king was of age, and the prince and the 
high-priest united their authority in promoting the 
design, 2 Kings xii. and 2 Chron. xxiv. 5, &c. Jehoi- 
ada left a son, Zechariah, who was high-priest after 
him, and was put to death by Joash, with an ingrati- 
tude which has loaded his memory with eternal 
ignominy, 2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21. Jehoiada died, 
aged one hundred and thirty, ante A. D. 834. He was 
buried in the sepulchre of the kings at Jerusalem ; a 
distinction due to those services which he had ren- 
dered to the king, the state, and the royal family, 
ver. 15. 

JEHOIAKIM, or Eliakim, brother and successor 
of Jehoahaz, king of Judah, was made king by Ne- 
cho, king of Egypt, at his return from an expedition 
against Carchemish, 2 Kings xxiii. 34 — 36. ante A. 
D. 609. Necho changed his name from Eliakim to 
Jehoiakim, and set a ransom on him of a hundred 
talents of silver, and ten talents of gold ; to raise 
which, Jehoiakim laid heavy taxes on his people. 
He was twenty-five years old when he began to 
reign, and he reigned eleven years at Jerusalem. He 
did evil in the sight of the Lord, and Jeremiah (xxii. 
13, &.c.) reproaches him with building his house by 
unrighteousness, with oppressing unjustly his sub- 
jects, with keeping back the wages of those whom 
he had employed ; with having his heart and his 
eyes turned to avarice and inhumanity ; and with 
following his inclination to barbarities and wicked 
actions. The same prophet informs us, that he sent 
men to bring the prophet Urijah out of Egypt, whith- 
er he had fled ; that he put him to the sword, and 
left him without burial, Jer. xxvi. 23. For these and 
other crimes, the Lord threatens him with an unhap- 
py end. He shall die, says Jeremiah, (xxii. 18, 19.) 
and shall be neither mourned for nor regretted. 
" He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn 
and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." After 
about four years' subjection to the king of Egypt, 
Jehoiakim fell under the dominion of Nebuchadnez- 
zar, king of the Chaldeans, who, having recovered 
what Necho bad taken on the Euphrates, came into 
Phoenicia and Judea, subdued Jerusalem, and sub- 
jected it to the same burdens and conditions which 
it suffered under the king of Egypt, 2 Kings xxiv. 1, 



2. Jehoiakim was taken, and Nebuchadnezzar put 
him in fetters, intending to carry him to Babylon ; 
but he restored him to liberty, and left him in his 
own country, on condition of paying a large tribute. 

Thus, Daniel and Jeremiah are reconciled with 
the Kings and Chronicles. In 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6, 
according to the Hebrew, it is said, that Nebuchad- 
nezzar bound Jehoiakim in chains to carry him to 
Babylon ; and Daniel relates, that the Lord delivered 
Jehoiakim into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar; that 
that prince carried to Babylon a great part of the 
vessels belonging to the house of God, with some 
captives, among whom were Daniel and his com- 
panions ; but he does not say that Jehoiakim Was 
carried there. The books of Kings and Chronicles 
inform us, that Jehoiakim reigned eleven years at 
Jerusalem, 2 Kings xxiii. 36 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 5. 
Jeremiah says, that Nebuchadnezzar retook Carche- 
mish from Necho, king of Egypt, in the fourth year 
of Jehoiakim ; and elsewhere, that the first year of 
Nebuchadnezzar agreed with the fourth of Jehoia- 
kim. All these chronological marks evince that 
Nebuchadnezzar did not come into Judea till A. M. 
3399, which is the fourth year of Jehoiakim ; that 
Jehoiakim was not carried into Babylon, but put in 
chains in order to be removed thither, yet afterwards 
was set at liberty, and left at Jerusalem ; and lastly, 
that Jehoiakim was four years subject to Necho, be- 
fore he became tributary to Nebuchadnezzar. 

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah having 
dictated to Baruch the prophecies which he had pro- 
nounced till that time, the scribe read them the year 
following before all the people in the temple, Jer. 
xxxvi. 1 — 10, 20 — 32. Jehoiakim was informed of 
this, and, ordering the book to be brought to him, he 
had a page or two read, and then destroyed the rest 
by cutting and burning. He also gave orders for 
seizing Jeremiah and Baruch ; but the Lord conceal- 
ed them. 

The prophet, having been commanded to have his 
prophecies again written down, pronounced terrible 
menaces against Jehoiakim, of which the king soon 
experienced the truth. Three years afterwards, he 
rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, who sent troops of 
Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites into 
all the country, who carried 3320 Jews to Babylon, 
in the seventh year of Jehoiakim, A. M. 3401. Four 
years afterwards, Jehoiakim himself was taken, slain, 
and thrown into the common sewer, as Jeremiah had 
predicted. He was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, 
ante A. D. 599. 

JEHOIARIB, head of the first family of priests 
established by David, 1 Chron. xxiv. 7. From 
this illustrious family the Maccabees descended, 1 
Mac. ii. 1. 

JEHONADAB, see Jonadab. 

I. JEHORAM, or Joram, (2 Kings xi. 2.) son and 
successor of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, (2 Kings 
viii. 16.) was born A. M. 3080, and associated with 
his father in the kingdom, A. M. 3112. He reigned 
alone after the death of Jehoshaphat, and died, ac- 
cording to Usher, ante A. D. 885. His queen, Atha- 
liah, daughter of Omri, engaged him in idolatry, and 
other sins, which produced calamities throughout his 
reign. Jehoram, being settled in the kingdom, be- 
gan his career with the murder of all his brothers 
whom Jehoshaphat had removed from public busi- 
ness, and placed in the fortified cities of Judah. To 
punish his impiety, the Lord permitted the Edomites 
who had been subject to the kings of Judah to revolt, 
2 Kings viii. 20, 21 ; 2 Chron. xxi. 8, 9 Jehoram 



JEH 



L 549 ] 



JEH 



marched against them and defeated their cavalry, but 
could not subdue them: from that time they continued 
free. About this time Libnah, a city of Judah, also 
rebelled. The Philistines and Arabians ravaged the 
territories of Judah, plundered the king's palace, and 
carried away his wives and children, so that he had 
none remaining except Jehoahaz, the youngest. In 
addition to this, God afflicted him with a cruel dysen- 
tery, which tormented him two years, and brought 
him to his grave. The people refused to pay him 
the same honors as they had paid to his predecessors, 
by burning spices over their bodies. He was buried 
;n Jerusalem, but not in a royal sepulchre, ante 
A. D. 885. 

II. JEHORAM, king of Israel, see Joram II. 

JEHOSHABEATH, see Jehosheba. 

JEHOSHAPHAT, king of Judah, son of Asa, as- 
cended the throne when aged thirty-five, and reigned 
twenty-live years. He prevailed against Baasha, 
king of Israel ; and placed garrisons in the cities of 
Judah and Ephraim, which had been conquered by 
his father. He demolished the high places and 
groves, and God was with him, because he was faith- 
ful. In the third year of his reign, he sent officers, 
with priests and Levites, throughout Judah, with the 
book of the law, to instruct the people, and God 
blessed his zeal. He was feared by all his neighbors ; 
and the Philistines and Arabians were tributaries to 
him. He built several houses in Judah in the form 
of towers, and fortified several cities. He generally 
kept an army, or more probably an enrolled militia, 
of 1,000,000 men, without reckoning the troops in his 
strong holds. Scripture reproaches Jehoshaphat on 
account of his alliance with Ahab, king of Israel, 1 
Kings xxii. 44 ; 2 Chron. xviii. 35. Being on a visit 
to this wicked prince, at Samaria, Ahab invited him 
to march with him against Ramoth-Gilead. Jehosh- 
aphat consented, but asked first for an < pinion from 
a prophet of the Lord. In the battle, the enemy 
took him for Ahab, but he crying out, they discover- 
ed their mistake, and he returned safely to Jerusalem. 
The prophet Jehu reproved him sharply for assisting 
Ahab, (2 Chron. xix. 1, &c.) and Jehoshaphat repair- 
ed his fault by the regulations and good order which 
he established in his dominions, both as to civil and 
religious affairs ; by appointing honest and able judges, 
by regulating the discipline of the priests and Le- 
vites, and by enjoining them to perform punctually 
their duty. After this, the Moabites, Ammonites, 
and Meonians, people of Aiabia Petraea, declared 
war against him. They advanced to Hazazon-Ta- 
mar, or En-gedi, and Jehoshaphat went with bis 
people to the temple, and offered up prayers to God. 
Jahaziel, son of Zechariab, encouraged the king, and 
promised, that the next day he should obtain a victory 
without fighting. This was fulfilled, for these people, 
being assembled against Judah, quarrelled, and killed 
one another ; so that Jehoshaphat and his army had 
only to gather their spoils, chap. xx. 

Some time afterwards, Jehoshaphat agreed with 
Ahaziah, king of Israel, jointly to equip a fleet in the 
port of Ezion-gaber, on the Red sea, in order to go 
to Tarshish, ver. 35, 36. Eliezer, son of Dodovah, 
of Mareshah, came to the king, and said, " Because 
thou hast made an alliance with Ahaziah, God hath 
disappointed thy designs, and thy ships are shattered." 
Jehoshaphat continued to walk in the ways of the 
Lord ; but did not destroy the high places ; and the 
hearts of the people were not directed entirely to the 
God of their fathers. — He died after reigning twenty- 
five years, and was buried in the royal sepulchre. 



His son Jehoram reigned in his stead ante A. D 
889, 2 Chron. xxi. 1, &c. 1 Kings xxii. 4,<i. 

JEHOSHAPHAT, The Valley of, a narrow 
glen which runs from north to south, between the 
mounts Olives and Moriah, and through which flows 
the Kidron. The prophet Joel (iii. 2, 12.) says, 
"The Lord will gather all nations in the valley of 
Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there." Je- 
hoshaphat, in Hebrew, signifies the judgment of God ; 
and there can be no doubt that the valley of Jehosh- 
aphat, that is, of Go<fs judgment, is symbolical, as 
well as the valley of decision, i. e. punishment, in the 
same chapter. From this passage, however, the 
Jews, and many Christians also, have been of opinion, 
that the last judgment will be solemnized in the val- 
ley of Jehoshaphat. See Jerusalem. 

JEHOSHEBA, or Jehoshabeath, daughter of 
Joram, and sister of Ahaziah, king of Judah. She 
married Jehoiada the high-priest, and saved Joash ? 
then but a year old, from the fury of Athaliah, who mur- 
dered all the princes of the royal family, 2 Kings xi. 
1 — 3; 2 Chr. xxii. 11. See Joash, and Athaliah. 

JEHOSHUAH, (Num. xiii. 16.) see Joshua. 

JEHOVAH, the ineffable and mysterious name of 
God. I appeared, says the Almighty, to Abraham, 
and to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Al- 
mighty, (Al-Shaddai,) but by my name Jehovah was 
I not known to them. Shaddai signifies the almighty, 
(or all bountiful,) Jehovah signifies the self-existent, 
he who gives being and existence to others. Calmet 
thinks that when God declared to Moses, that he had 
not made known his name Jehovah, he did not mean, 
that former patriarchs had been ignorant of him, as 
God the creator, the self-existing ; but that he had 
not revealed this name, which so well expresses his 
nature, and by which he would afterwards be in- 
voked ; and that where Moses uses the name when 
speaking of times prior to this appearance, (Gen. iv. 
26 ; xiv. 22 ; xv. 7.) he uses it by way of anticipation, 
and because, at the time when he wrote, the Jews 
used the name Jehovah ; that is, he followed 
the custom of his own time, not that of the 
patriarchs. 

The Jews, after the captivity of Babylon, out of 
superstitious respect for this holy name, ceased to re- 
peat it, and forgot its true pronunciation. Calmet is 
of opinion that the LXX were accustomed not to 
pronounce it, since they generally render it Kyrios, as 
our English, the Lord. Origen, Jerome, and Euse- 
bius testify, that in their time the Jews left the name 
of Jehovah written in their copies with Samaritan 
characters, instead of writing it in the common Chal- 
dee or Hebrew, which shows their veneration for the 
holy name, and their fear lest strangers should dis- 
cover and misapply it. These precautions, however, 
did not hinder the heathen from misapplying it fre- 
quently, as we learn from Origen and others. The 
modern Hebrews affirm that Moses, by virtue of the 
word Jehovah engraven on his rod . erformed all his 
miracles ; and that Christ, while in the temple, stole 
the ineffable name, which he put into his thigh be- 
tween the skin and the flesh, and by its power ac- 
complished all the prodigies imputed to him. They 
add, that we might be able to do as much as they did, 
if we could attain the perfect pronunciation of this 
name. They flatter themselves that the Messiah will 
teach them this mighty secret. The Tetragramma- 
ton, or four-lettered name, is called by Josephus, rb 
hoa yquii tiara, to ipoixrov ovoiia Oeov — "the sacred let- 
ters, the shuddering name of God ;" and Caligula, in 
Philo, swears to him and the ambassadors his associ- 



JEH 



[ 550 ] 



J El! 



ates, by the God who was to them axararvuaoroc, of 
unknown (unpronounceable) name. 

[The Seventy have almost uniformly given the 
Hebrew mrv, by ICvqio?, Lord, as is also the case in the 
English version ; the word Lord being there always 
printed in small capitals. The Hebrew word is never 
written with vowel-points of its own ; but with those 
of dwSn, Elohim. Hence the true pronunciation, ety- 
mology, and signification of the word are lost. For a 
discussion of these points, see an article by professor 
Stuart in the Biblical Repository, vol. i. p. 738, seq. R. 

The Jewish cabalists have refined much on the 
name Jehovah. The letters which compose it they 
affirm to abound with mysteries. He who pronounces 
it shakes heaven and earth, and inspires the very 
angels with terror. A sovereign authority resides in 
it; it governs the world ; is the fountain of graces and 
blessings ; the channel through which God's mercies 
are conveyed to men. 

The very heathen seem to have had some knowl- 
edge of tins great, ineffable name. We have an oath 
in Pythagoras's golden verses, By him who has the 
four letters — Ter^ax-rug. On the frontispiece of a 
temple at Delphi was inscribed, (says Eusebius,) 
" Thou art." The Egyptians on one of their tem- 
ples inscribed, " I am." The heathen had names of 
their gods, which they did not dare to pronounce. 
Cicero produces an example in his catalogue of hea- 
then deities, (de Nat. Deorum, lib. iii.) and Lucan 
says, the earth would have trembled had any one 
pronounced them. 

The Mussulmans frequently use the name Hu, or 
Hou, which has almost the same signification as Je- 
hovah ; that is, He who is. They place this name in 
the beginning of their rescripts, passports, and letters 
patent ; they pronounce it often in their prayers ; 
some so frequently and so vehemently, crying out with 
all their strength, Hou, hou, hou, that at last they are 
stunned, and fall into fits, which they call ecstasies. 

It would be waste of time and patience to repeat 
all that has been said on this incommunicable name ; 
it may not be amiss, however, to remind the reader, 
(1.) that although it signifies the state of being, yet it 
forms no verb. (2.) It never assumes a plural form. 
(3.) It does not admit an article, or take an affix. (4.) 
Neither is it placed in a state of construction with 
other words; though other words may be in con- 
struction with it. It is well rendered in Rev. i. 4 ; 
xi. 17, " He who is, and who was, and who is to 
come ;" that is, Eternal, as the schoolmen speak, both 
a parte ante, and aparte post. (Comp. John viii. 58.) It 
is usually marked in Jewish books, where it must be 
alluded to, by an abbreviation— •>, Yodh. It is also abbre- 
viated in the term, rp Jah, which enters into the for- 
mation of many Hebrew apDellations. See Elohim. 

JEHOVAH JIREH, Jehovah will provide. [Abra- 
ham used this expression and gave this name to the 
place where he had been on the point of slaying his 
son Isaac, Gen. xxii. 14. The name was given in 
allusion to his answer to Isaac's question, in verse 8, 
that God would provide a victim. In reference to 
this unexpected deliverance in a time of utmost need, 
the same expression passed into a proverb among 
the descendants of Abraham, the Hebrews, so that, 
when in trouble and distress they wished to express 
their trust in God, they said, ' In the mountain of the 
Lord it will be provided,' i. e. as God had compas- 
sion on Abraham, so will he have compassion on us. 
The force of the sentence is lost in the English ver- 
sion. R.] When we consider the building of the 
temple of Solomon nearly adjacent, (if not on the very I 



spot,) where " the Lord had chosen to put his name ;" 
(Deut. xii. 5; 1 Kings xiv. 21 ; 2 Chron. xii. 13.) and 
also the crucifixion of Jesus, at, or near, perhaps on, 
this very spot, we cannot but think that such titles 
not only commemorated past facts, but predicted fu- 
ture expectations. 

JEHOVAH N1SSI, Jehovah my banner. Among 
the most perplexing passages of Scripture is Exod. 
xvii. 15, 16, " And Moses built an altar, and called its 
name Jehovah Nissi: Jehovah my banner, [in allu- 
sion to the preceding battle with the Amalekites.] 
And he said, Because the Lord hath sworn war with 
Amalek — so our translation ; but the Hebrew is, " be- 
cause of the hand (Sy) upon D3, kes, of Jehovah, war 
against Amalek." The words are very difficult to 
translate satisfactorily ; as appears by the variations 
in the versions. [As the Hebrew now stands, dj, kes, is 
probably a contraction for ndu, kisse, throne, and it is 
so regarded by most interpreters. The sense, then, is 
either as in our version, literally, " because the hand is 
on the throne of Jehovah," i. e. Jehovah hath sworn by 
himself, referring the hand to Jehovah: or better, 
perhaps, " because the hand, i. e. of the Amalekites, 
is against the throne of Jehovah," therefore there 
shall be war against them. It is not, however, im- ( 
probable, that dd, kes, is a corrupted reading for 
dj , nes, banner ; for then there would be a direct 
allusion, in this verse, to the name of the altar in the 
preceding one. (Compare Gen. xvi. 13.) R. 

JEHOVAH SHALOM, Jehovah of peace, or of suc- 
cess, a name given by Gideon to an altar which he built 
in a place where an angel of Jehovah had appeared to 
bin), and saluted him by saying, " Peace be to thee," 
Judg. vi. 24. Probably the name may be taken, (1.) 
to Jehovah of peace, that is, taking peace for general 
welfare, to the divine Protector, (2.) as the words are 
usually rendered, Jehovah shall send peace ; that is, 
we expect prosperity under the auspices of Jehovah. 
The phrase appears to have become, in after-ages, a 
kind of proverb, as probably was the case with all 
those remarkable titles, which are come down to us. 
What else has been their preservation, when so many 
thousand other titles have perished ? 

JEHOVAH SHAMMAH, Jehovah is there ;.that is, 
God's city ; Jehovah's city ; a name given by Ezekiel to 
a future holy city, which he describes in the close of 
his prophecy, chap, xlviii. 35, margin. 

JEHOVAH TZIDEKENU, Jehovah our right- 
eousness, Jer. xxiii. 6 ; xxxiii. 16, margin. In the first 
of these passages we read of a branch, a king, called 
the Lord our righteousness ; in the second passage we 
read, " This is the name wherewith she [Jerusalem] 
shall be called, the Lord our righteousness." 

JEHOZADx\K, son and successor of Seraiah, 
high-priest of the Jews, (1 Chron. vi. 14, 15; Ezra 
iii. 2.) though it does not appear that he ever exer- 
cised the sacred functions. He died at Babylon ; but 
his son Joshua, or Jesus, returned from the captivity, 
and assumed the sacerdotal dignity, after rebuilding 
the temple, Ezra iii. 2 ; x. 18, &c. 

1. JEHU, son of Hanani, was sent by God to Baa- 
sha, king of Israel, to predict punishment for his mis- 
deeds, 1 Kings xvi. 1, 4. " Him that dieth of Baa- 
sha in the city, shall the dogs eat ; and him that dieth 
of his in the fields, shall the fowls of the air eat." The 
Vulgate adds that Baasha, incensed at this message, 
put Jehu to death; but the Hebrew says, "Jehu 
having declared to Baasha what the Lord had pro- 
nounced against him, and that the Lord would treat his 
house as he had treated the house of Jeroboam ; for 
this he slew him;" leaving it doubtful whether Ban 



JEHU 



L 551 1 



JEP 



sha slew Jehu, or the Lord slew Baasha. What 
renders the latter more credible, is, that about thirty 
years after the death of Baasha, we find Jehu, son of 
Hanani, again sent by God to Jehoshaphat, king of 
Judah, 2 Chron. xix. 1, &c. Some think there were 
two persons named Jehu, sons of Hanani ; but Cal- 
met is of opinion that in the passage above quoted, 
the death of Baasha, not that of Jehu, is intimated. 
It is said in chap. xx. 34, that the rest of the acts of 
Jehoshaphat, first and last, are written in the book of 
Jehu, son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book 
of the Kings of Israel ; whence it appears, that the 
prophets employed themselves in recording the trans- 
actions of their times, and that what Jehu had writ- 
ten of this kind, was thought worthy to be inserted 
in the Memoirs, in which the several events in every 
prince's reign were registered. 

II. JEHU, son of Jehoshaphat, and grandson of 
Nimshi, captain of the troops of Joram, king of Israel, 
was appointed by Go, to reign over Israel, and to 
punish the sins of the house of Ahab. The Lord had 
ordered Elisha to anoint Jehu, (1 Kings xix. 16.) 
which order was executed by one of the sons of the 
prophets, 2 Kings ix. 1, &c. The Lord declared his 
will to Elisha concerning Jehu, ante A. D. 907 ; but 
he was not anointed till twenty-three years after the 
order given to Elisha. Jehu was at Ramoth-Gilead, 
besieging the citadel of that place, with the army of 
Israel, when a young prophet entered, who took him 
aside, and when they were alone, poured oil on his 
head, saying, " Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed 
thee king over Israel ; thou shalt extirpate the house 
of Ahab, and avenge the blood of the prophets shed 
by Jezebel." The prophet instantly opened the door 
and fled ; and Jehu, returning to his officers, declar- 
ed to them what had passed, upun which they rose 
up, and each taking his cloak, they made a kind of 
throne, and sounding the trumpets, cried, " Long live 
king Jehu !" ver. 11—13. 

Jehu instantly quitted the army, in order to sur- 
prise Joram, who was at Jezreel. The king came 
out to meet him, riding in his chariot, with Ahaziah, 
king of Judah. Joram said, "Is it peace, Jehu?" 
who answered, " What peace, so long as the whore- 
doms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are 
so many?" Joram immediately exclaimed, "We 
are betrayed ;" and Jehu, drawing his bow, smote 
him between his shoulders, and pierced his heart. 
He then commanded his body to be thrown into the 
portion of Naboth, the Jezreelite, to fulfil the predic- 
tion of the prophet Elijah, ver. 15 — 26. 

Jehu afterwards went to Jezreel, and as he entered 
the city, Jezebel, who was at a window, said to him, 
" Can he who has killed his master hope for peace ?" 
Jehu immediately commanded some eunuchs, who 
were above, to throw her out of the window, which 
they did, and she was trampled to death under the 
-horses' feet. Her corpse was afterwards devoured 
by dogs, so that when Jehu sent to have her buried, 
they found only parts and bones, 2 Kings ix. 30, 
&c. After this, Jehu commanded the inhabitants of 
Samaria to slay all the late king's children, besides 
which he slew all his relations and friends, the great 
men of his court, and his priests, who were at Jez- 
reel. On his way to Samaria, he met the relations of 
Ahaziah, king of Judah, going to Jezreel to salute the 
late king and queen's children, of whose death they 
were ignorant. Jehu ordered them to be massacred ; 
and proceeding to the city, he slew all who remained 
of Ahab's family. After this, he collected all the 
priests and prophets of Baal, as if for a great festival, 



and had the whole of them massacred. The statue 
of Baal was pulled down, broken, and burnt; and the 
temple itself destroyed, and converted into a draught- 
house, chap. x. 15 — 27. 

The Lord promised Jehu that his children should 
sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation ; 
but Scripture accuses him of following the sins of 
Jeroboam, son of Nebat ; and the prophet Hosea 
(i. 4.) threatens him, " Yet a little while, and I will 
avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu." 
He had, indeed, been the instrument of God's ven- 
geance on the house of Ahab, but in what he had 
done he had been impelled by the spirit of animosity 
and ambition. He had followed his#own passion, 
rather than the will of God. He had not kept with- 
in due bounds ; and God, therefore,* while he reward- 
ed his obedience, punished his injustice, ambition, 
and idolatry, and the blood unjustly spilt by him. He 
reigned twenty-eight years over Israel, and was suc- 
ceeded by Jehoahaz, his son, 2 Kings x. 35, 36. The 
reign of Jehu was perplexed with war against Ha- 
zael king of Syria, who ravaged the frontiers of Israel, 
and wasted the whole country east of Jordan, and 
the tribes of Manasseh, Gad, and Reuben. 

JEKABZEEL, a village belonging to the tribe of 
Judah, after the captivity, Neh. xi. 25. 

JEPHTHAH, judge of Israel, successor to Jair, 
was a son of Gilead by one of his concubines, Judg. 
xi. 1, 2. Being driven from his father's house, 
Jephthah retired into the land of Tob, where he be- 
came captain of a band of rovers. At this time the 
Israelites beyond Jordan, being oppressed by the 
Ammonites, offered Jephthah the command. He 
reproached them with their injustice to him when 
he was forced from his father's house ; but agreed 
to succor them, on condition that, at the end of the 
war, they would acknowledge him for their prince. 
Having been acknowledged prince of Israel, in an 
assembly of the people, Jephthah sent a message of 
defiance to the king of the Ammonites, assembled 
his troops, and afterwards marched against him, 
vowing to the Lord, that if he were successful, 
he would offer up a burnt-offering, and whatsoever 
should first come out of his house to meet him. He 
vanquished the Ammonites, and ravaged their land ; 
but as he returned to his house, his only daughter 
came out to meet him, with timbrels and dances, and 
thereby became the subject of his vow. The tribe 
of Ephraim, jealous of Jephthah, passed the Jordan 
in a tumultuous manner, and, complaining that he 
had not invited them to share in the war, threatened 
to fire his house. Jephthah answered, that he had 
sent to desire their assistance, but that they did not 
come. But he did more than reply ; he assembled 
the people of Gilead, gave the Ephraimites battle, 
and defeated them. The conquerors made them- 
selves masters of the fords of Jordan, and when an 
Ephraiinite desired to go over, the Gileadites asked, 
"Art thou an Ephraimite ?" If he replied, "No ;" 
they said, Pronounce, then, Shibboleth ; (which signi- 
fies an ear of corn ;) but if, instead of Shibboleth, he 
said Sibboleth, without an aspiration, he was imme- 
diately killed. Forty-two thousand men of Ephraim 
fell on this occasion. 

Jephthah judged Israel six years, and was buried 
in Mizpeh, in Gilead, Judg. xii. 7. Paul (Heb. xi. 
32.) places him among the saints of the Old Testa- 
ment, whose faith had distinguished them. The 
fable of Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon, seems 
to have been borrowed from the history of Jephthah 
and his daughter. 



JEPHTHAH ' [ 552 ] 



JER 



Jephthah's Vow. There is something so ex- 
traordinary in Jephthah's vow, that notwithstanding 
Scripture mentions it in clear terms, yet difficulties 
perplex commentators. The Spirit of the Lord came 
upon Jephthah, says the sacred writer, (Judg. xi. 29 
—31, &c.) and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh ; 
no doubt to gather troops, and form an army against 
the Ammonites. "And he made a vow unto the 
Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the 
children of Ammon into my hands, then it shall be, 
that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my 
house to meet me, when I return in peace from the 
children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and 
I will offer it<up for a burnt-offering." He does not 
say the first thing, the first animal, but — the first 
person ; he does - not say, barely, that he will vow, 
consecrate, or offer him to the Lord, but adds that 
he will offer him up for a burnt- offering. This is 
the true meaning of the text, and the fathers so ex- 
plained it. Several modern interpreters, however, 
translate thus : "And the thing which shall go forth 
out of the doors of my house, when I return in 
peace from making war with the Ammonites, that 
shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up to him for 
a burnt-offering." Jephthah, they remark, vows to 
God whatever should come forth to meet him, wheth- 
er man or beast, but not in the same manner ; that 
is, if it be a man or woman, I will consecrate him 
(or her) to the Lord ; if it be an unclean animal, I 
will kill or redeem him. Would he have dared, say 
they, to have offered a dog? Could Jephthah be 
ignorant, that the sacrifice of human victims was 
odious to God ? Would not the principal men of 
the nation, and the priests, have opposed such a sac- 
rifice ? Supposing that he had devoted his daughter, 
was he ignorant of the law which allowed him to 
redeem her for a moderate sum of money ? " He 
who shall have vowed his life to the Lord, shall pay 
the price that shall be ordained ; a man fifty shekels ; 
a woman thirty," &c. Lev. xxvii. 2, 3. But to this it 
is replied, (1.) That this interpretation wrests the 
meaning of the text, which says expressly, "He who 
should come out to meet him should be the Lord's, 
and should be offered up for a burnt-sacrifice." (2.) 
No one attempts to justify either the precipitate vow 
of Jephthah, or his literal execution of it. It is ad- 
mitted that the vow was not according to knowledge, 
and that God did not require such a victim. Jeph- 
thah had done much better, had he asked forgive- 
ness, and imposed on himself, with the advice of the 
high-priest, some penalty proportioned to his fault. 
(3.) The redemption of things devoted, which the 
law permits, is not of things devoted by anathema, 
but of such only as are devoted simply ; in the for- 
mer case they are not redeemable. "No devoted 
thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord, of all 
that he hath, both of man and beast .... shall be sold 
or redeemed .... none devoted which shall be de- 
voted of men shall be redeemed ; but shall surely be 
put to death," Lev. xxvii. 28, 29. (4.) The fathers 
and many learned commentators have found no diffi- 
culty in acknowledging, that Jephthah did really 
offer up his daughter for a burnt-sacrifice. Jose- 
phus (Antiq. lib. v. cap. 9.) expressly says he did so. 
The Chaldee "paraphrast says, "He sacrificed her 
without consulting the high-priest ;" and that "if he 
had consulted him, he would have redeemed his 
daughter with a sum of money." Ambrose, 
Augustin, and others, disapprove the conduct of 
Jephthah, and say, that in this particular, he did 
what was forbidden by the law. Jerome and 



Chrysostom believe, that God permitted the per- 
formance of it, to punish the imprudent father for 
his temerity. 

This is the substance of Calmet's remarks on the 
subject ; whether they are satisfactory, must be left 
to the determination of the reader. We may ob- 
serve, however, that the question, in some measure, 
depends on the acceptance of the Hebrew particle 
(i) in verse 31. The text may, without doing it vio- 
lence, be rendered, "Whatever comes to meet me, I 
will devote to the Lord, or I will offer him up a 
burnt-sacrifice." Otherwise, we may read, "What- 
ever comes to meet me, I will devote to the Lord ; 
and I will offer up to him a burnt-sacrifice ;" although 
the most obvious rendering is, " and I will offer up 
to him that which comes out of my house ;" as Cal- 
^net. We ought further to notice, that Jephthah's 
rashness had time to subside, since his daughter went 
two months into the country to bewail her virginity, 
(it is not said, her sacrifice,) which seems to mean 
her consecration to God, which obliged her to re- 
main single, without posterity. Moreover, the Israel- 
ite women went yearly four times a year to mourn 
for the daughter of Jephthah ; to lament her seclu- 
sion from the world, and the hardship of her situa- 
tion, cut off from domestic life and enjoyment. Now, 
if in the course of two months nobody could have 
suggested to Jephthah a ransom for his daughter, yet 
surely she must have been alive, though dead to him 
and his family, (she being his only child,) and to the 
world, by her seclusion — if the Israelite women 
went to condole for or with her. It should be ob- 
served, also, that it is not said afterwards, that he 
sacrificed her, but, "he did with her according to his 
.vow ;" and it is added, she knew no man. If she were 
sacrificed, this remark is frivolous ; but if she were 
consecrated to perpetual virginity, the idea coincides 
with the visits of the Israelitish women. If there 
were at this time women attendants at the taberna- 
cle, as Calmet supposes, might not the daughter of 
Jephthah have joined their company ? 

JEPHUNNEH, father of Caleb, of Judah, Numb 
xiii. 6. 

JERAHMEEL, a district in the south of Judah 
possessed by the descendants of Jerahmeel, son of 
Hezron, 1 Sam. xxvii. 10 ; xxx. 29. David told 
Achish that he invaded the country of Jerahmeel, 
while he was ravaging the territories of the Amalek- 
ites, Geshurites, and Jezrites. 

JEREMIAH, son of Hilkiah, of a priestly family, 
and a native of Anathoth, of Benjamin, Jer. i. I. 
Before his birth he was destined to be a prophet ; 
but when God first sent him to speak to the kings 
and princes, the priests and people of Judah, he ex- 
cused himself by alleging his youth. This was -in 
the fourteenth year of his age , and the thirteenth 
year of Josiah, ante A. D. 629. He prophesied till 
after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, 
(A. M. 3416,) and died, as is believed, in Egypt, two 
years afterwards. Jeremiah preached viva voce, till 
the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. When 
God called him to the prophetic ministry, he discov- 
ered to him, that he should suffer much from the 
Jews ; but he at the same time promised to make 
him as a wall of brass against the kings, princes, and 
people of Judah. He also showed him, under the 
figure of the branch of an almond tree, and that of 
a pot heated by fire, blown up by a vehement north 
wind, that Judea was threatened by a very great and 
near calamity, from the Chaldeans, Jer. i. 11, &c. 
We may say, that this is the general subject of his 



JEREMIAH 



[ 553 ] 



JEREMIAH 



prophecies. They turn on the sins of Judah, and 
their punishment hy Nebuchadnezzar. 

The prophet begins with a sharp invective against 
the sins of Judah, during the first year of Josiah's 
reign, in which these prophecies were pronounced, 
and before that prince had reformed his dominions. 
During this time Jeremiah endured great persecu- 
tions, (2 Kings xxiii. 4, &c.) his very relations and 
fellow-citizens of the little town of Anathoth threat-, 
ening to kill him if he continued prophesying. But 
he forewarned them, too, that they should perish by 
the sword, or by famine, chap. xii. — xvi. About this 
time, God forbade the prophet from taking a wife, 
and having children in Jerusalem ; from entering 
any house of mirth, or of mourning, to comfort those 
in sorrow. Calmet is of opinion, that under the 
reign of Shalhim, Jeremiah received God's orders 
to go to a potter's house, (chap. xvi. — xviii.) where 
he observed a pot broken in the potter's hands, who 
immediately made another of the same clay. Jere- 
miah represented this as an indication of Judah's 
reprobation, in whose place God would raise up an- 
other people. To render this prophecy the more 
striking, he was commanded to take an earthen 
pitcher, and to break it before the priests and elders 
of the people in the valley of Hinnom. From hence 
he went up to the temple, where he confirmed all he 
had said. Pashur, captain of the temple, seized and 
confined him in a prison belonging to the temple, 
till the next day, when he again foretold the cap- 
tivity. 

Jehoiakim, king of Judah, having succeeded Shal- 
him, Jeremiah assured him, (chap, xxii.) that if he 
would be steadfast in fidelity to God, there should 
still be kings of Judah in his palace, with all the 
lustre of their dignity ; but that if he persevered in 
xiis irregularities, God would reduce that palace to a 
wilderness. As Jehoiakim, instead of reforming, 
abandoned himself to cruelty and avarice, and to the 
raising of costly buildings, the prophet threatened 
him with a miserable death, deprived of the honors 
of burial. He further foretold against Coniah, 
brother of Jehoiakim, that he should be delivered 
to the Chaldeans, and that no prince of his family 
should sit on the throne of Judah, ch. xxiii. Shal- 
lum reigned about three months, Jehoiakim succeed- 
ing him the same year, A. M. 3394. The prophecies 
of Jeremiah against Jehoiakim may have been pro- 
nounced A. M. 3395. 

About this time, Jeremiah, going up to the temple, 
foretold its destruction ; upon which the priests 
seized him, and declared he deserved to die. The 
princes being assembled to judge him, Jeremiah un- 
dauntedly told them that he had said nothing but by 
God's order ; and that unless they were converted, 
they would soon see the accomplishment of his men- 
aces. This affecting some of his judges, they dis- 
missed him, and justified him hy the example of the 
prophet Micah, who had foretold the same event 
under Hezekiah, without suffering for it. 

Before the fourth year of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah 
had prophesied against several people bordering on 
Judea, (ch. xlvi. — xlix.) against the Egyptians, Philis- 
tines, Tyrians, Phoenicians, Edomites, Ammonites, 
and Moabites ; against Damascus, Kedar, Hazor, 
&c. for Jeremiah was appointed prophet of the Gen- 
tiles, as Paul was " apostle of the Gentiles." The 
prophet threatens all these people with the cup of 
God's wrath ; and his prophecy was fulfilled after 
the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. 

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar 
70 



besieged Jerusalem, and took prisoners Jehoiakim 
and others, among whom was Daniel. He designed 
to carry them to Babylon ; but set Jehoiakim at lib- 
erty. In this year Jeremiah again positively foretold 
the captivity of the Jews, and its duration for seventy 
years, after which he declared that God would pun- 
ish the Chaldeans and Babylonians in their turn. In 
this year also, the prophet was ordered to write 
what had been revealed to him, from the thirteenth 
year of Josiah to this time, chap, xxxvi. He dic- 
tated his prophecies to Baruch, and directed him to 
read them in the temple, himself being in fetters by 
the king's command. Baruch went to the temple, 
and on the great day of expiation read, before the 
concourse of people, the unwelcome predictions of 
Jeremiah. The king was informed of the occur- 
rence, and Baruch was examined concerning the 
manner in which this volume was dictated by Jere- 
miah. The king heard three or four columns of the 
prophecies read ; when, being .enraged, he cut the 
manuscript with a pen-knife, and threw it into the 
fire, and commanded Baruch and Jeremiah to be 
seized. Jeremiah received orders to dictate a second 
time to Baruch, what had been thus burnt ; and God 
added many new things. 

In the seventh year, the prophet, by God's order, 
brought the Rechabitesinto the temple, and presented 
wine to them, which they declined drinking, because 
Jonadab, their ancestor, had forbidden them. Jere- 
miah took occasion from this circumstance to re- 
proach the Jews with their want of submission to 
God's laws, while the Rechabites showed so much 
to the orders of their ancestor. Some ,short time 
after, Jehoiakim was killed, and thrown by the Chal- 
deans into a common sewer. His son Jehoaichin 
succeeded him, and reigned only three months ; 
when he, too, was taken by the Chaldeans, and car- 
ried captive to Babylon. Zedekiah succeeded Je- 
hoiachin. 

The countries of Moab, Amnion, Edom, Tyre, and 
Sidon sent ambassadors to Zedekiah in the begin- 
ning of his reign. To each of these ambassadors, 
Jeremiah gave a yoke to carry to their masters, with 
orders to tell them from God, that whosoever should 
refuse submission to Nebuchadnezzar, should be 
compelled to yield it. He said the same to Zede- 
kiah ; and as the prophet wore bonds and yokes on 
his neck, hinting to the Israelites their approaching 
captivity, Hananiah, a false prophet, laid hold of 
them, and breaking them publicly, said, " Thus will 
the Lord break the yoke which Nebuchadnezzar 
would impose on the Jews." As Jeremiah was re- 
tiring, God secretly directed him to return, and tell 
Hananiah, that instead of the wooden yoke which 
he had broken, Nebuchadnezzar would put on them 
(the Jews) another of iron. The prophet added, 
" Since you (Hananiah) abuse the name of God with 
your lies, you shall die before the end of this year." 
He died within two months, chap, xxviii. 

In the reign of Zedekiah, as Calmet supposes, 
Jeremiah received God's ordei*s to goto some cavern 
near the Euphrates, and hide a linen girdle. Some 
time afterwards he returned, and found the girdle 
rotted ; prefiguring thereby God's desertion of Ju- 
dah, which heretofore he had valued as a girdle. In 
the fourth year of the same prince, Seraiah, Baruch's 
brother, being sent to Babylon, probably to solicit of 
Nebuchadnezzar the restitution of the vessels be- 
longing to the temple, Jeremiah gave him his prophe- 
c es against Babylon, with directions to read them 
to the captive Jews ; and then to fasten them to a 

♦ 



JEREMIAH 



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JEREMIAH 



•stone and throw them into the Euphrates, ch. ]. li. 
2 — 59, 61, 62. He wrote again to the same captives, 
by Gemariah, whom the king sent to Babylon, ad- 
vising them to settle in that country, and to build 
houses, and marry, because their captivity was to 
last seventy years. Shemaiah at Babylon wrote to 
Zephaniah, one of the chief priests, and reproved 
him for permitting Jeremiah to write these things. 
Zephaniah read the letter to Jeremiah, and the 
prophet wrote again to the captives of Babylon, and 
foretold to Shemaiah, that he should die in captivity, 
and that neither he, nor any of his posterity, should 
see the deliverance of Judah. 

While Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem, 
jn the tenth year of Zedekiah, Jeremiah, who was 
continually prophesying adversities, was imprisoned 
in the court of the palace. Ilanameel, the son of 
his uncle, visited him, and told him, that the right of 
redeeming a certain field at Anathoth was his. Jere- 
miah bought the field, sealed the writings, and paid 
the money for it. lie committed the writings to Ba- 
ruch, to keep them, remarking that the time would 
•come when the land would be again cultivated and 
inhabited. During the siege, the king and the in- 
habitants of Jerusalem liberated their slaves, be- 
cause it was a sabbatical year ; but Nebuchadnezzar 
having withdrawn, to oppose the king of Egypt, who 
advanced to the relief of the city, the king and people 
seized again their slaves, regardless of their word, 
or of the law of God, for which they were terribly 
threatened by the prophet. After the siege was sus- 
pended, Jeremiah's liberty was restored, and Zede- 
kiah recommended himself to his prayers. The 
prophet sent the king word, that Nebuchadnezzar 
would return against the city, that he would take it, 
aud reduce it to ashes. When he was retiring to 
Anathoth, the place of his nativity, the guards seized 
him as a deserter, and the princes threw him into a 
dungeon, where his life was in great danger. Zede- 
kiah some time afterwards released him, and ordered 
bread for him every day while there should be any 
in the city. 

Nebuchadnezzar returned to the siege, and the 
prophet continuing to fi etell calamities, the great 
men of Jerusalem complained to Zedekiah, who 
permitted them to do with him what they pleased. 
They let him down into a muddy well, where he 
must have soon perished, if Ebedmelech had not 
informed the king, who commanded him to be taken 
out. He was kept in the court of the prison till the 
city was taken, (chap, xxxviii.) when with other cap- 
tives he was carried to Raman. Nebuzaradan gave 
him the choice of going to Babylon, or remaining in 
Judea. The prophet chose the latter, and went to 
Gedaliah at Mizpeh, where they lived in security, 
when Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, murdered Geda- 
liah, chap. xl. xli. 

Johanan having collected together a number of 
Jews at Bethlehem, they consulted Jeremiah, whether 
they should stay in Judea, or retire into Egypt. The 
prophet desired time to consult God ; and after ten 
days he answered them, that if they went into Egypt, 
they would there perish by the sword, famine, and 
pestilence : but that il they continued in Judah, God 
would pieserve them. The chiefs of the people as- 
serted, that this answer proceeded not from God, but 
from Baruch, to divert them from going into Egypt. 
They reso.ved therefore to proceed, and compelled 
Jeremiah and Baruch to accompany them. Here 
the prophet uttered several predictions against the 
Jews and Egyptians ; — among others, that Nebuchad- 



| nezzar would invade the country, describing the 
very place where he would erect his throne ; — and 
that God would give the king of Egypt into the 
hands of the Chaldeans, as he had given Zedekiah, 
chap. xlii. 

The place of Jeremiah's death is uncertain. Seve- 
ral of the ancients maintain, that he was put to death 
at Taphnis in Egypt, by the Jews, who were enraged 
at his menaces and reproaches ; and they explain 
Heb. xi. 37. (" They were stoned,") as relating to his 
death. Some think he returned into Judea ; others, 
that he died in Babylon. 

In addition to the book of Jeremiah's prophecies, 
we have his Lamentations, in five chapters, which 
are mournful songs, composed on occasion of those 
calamities which befell Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. 
He also wrote lamentations on the death of Josiah, 
(2 Chron. xxxv. 25.) but they have not come down 
to us. He is said by some also to be the author of 
Ps. cxxxvii : and some believe that he, with Eze- 
kiel, composed Ps. lxv. Some have thought that 
he compiled the two books of Kings ; because the 
last chapter of his prophecies is the same with the last 
chapter of the Second Book of Kings. But the reason 
of tl lis appears to be, that the last chapter of Jere- 
miah was taken from the Second Book of Kings, 
as a supplement to his prophecy. Jerome observes, 
that Jeremiah's style is lower and more neglected 
than some others of the prophets, (Isaiah's, for ex- 
ample,) which he ascribes to the prophet's birth and 
education at Anathoth, a village or little country 
town. Other critics discover a sublimity and great- 
ness in his style. Grotius thinks, that his talent lay 
principally in touching and exciting the tender 
passions ; and certainly, the Lamentations are a 
masterpiece in this way. See Lamentations. 



Mr. Harmer (vol. ii. p. 276.) has some remarks on 
the double evidences of Jeremiah's purchase, (chap, 
xxxii.) which passage he supposes he has illustrated, 
by an extract from Chardin. His words are these ; 
"Both the writings were in the hands of Jeremiah, 
and at his disposal ; (ver. 14.) for what purpose, then, 
were duplicates made ? To those unacquainted with 
eastern usages, it must appear a question of some 
difficulty. ' The open, or unsealed writing,' says an 
eminent commentator, ' was either a copy of the 
sealed deed ; or else a certificate of the witnesses, 
in whose presence the deed or purchase was signed 
and sealed.' But it still recurs, of what use was a 
copy that was to be buried in the same earthen ves- 
sel, and run exactly the same risk with the original ? 
— Why were they separate writings, and why was 
one sealed, and not the other ?" Mr. H. then quotes 
from Chardin : " After a contract is made, it is kept 
by the party himself, not the notary ; and they cause 
a copy to be made, signed by the notary alone, which 
is shown on proper occasions, and never exhibit 
the other." This illustration certainly leaves much 
to be wished for ; as appears by quoting the passage : 
"I bought the field, subscribed the evidence, sealed 
it, took witnesses, and weighed the money in the 
balances. I took the evidence of the purchase, that 
which was sealed according to law and custom, and 
that which was open — I gave the evidence to Ba- 
ruch, and I charged Baruch, Take these evidences., 
the sealed and the open, and put them in an earthen 
vessel, that they may continue many days; for thus 
saith the Lord, Houses, and fields, and vineyards. 



JEREMIAH 



[ 555 ] 



JER 



shall be possessed again in this land," ver. 44. " Men 
shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, 
•and seal them, — and take witnesses, in the land of 
Benjamin." The incident receives illustration, per- 
haps, from- the Gentoo law of boundaries, and limits, 
which is thus translated : — " Dust, or bones, or se- 
ioos, (bran, ) or cinders, or scraps of earthenware, or 
the hairs of a cow's tail, or the seed of the cotton 
plant ; all these things above mentioned, being put 
into an earthen pot filled to the brim, a man must 
privately bury upon the confines of his own bound- 
ary ; and there preserve stones also, or bricks, or 
sea sand ; either of these three things may be buried 
by way of landmark of the limits ; for all these 
things, upon remaining a long time in the ground, 
are not liable to rot, or become putrid ; any other 
thing, also, which will remain a long time in the 
.ground, without becoming rotten or putrid, may be 
t>uried for the same purpose. Those persons who 
iby any of these methods can show the line of their 
boundaries, shall acquaint their sons with the respect- 
ive landmarks of those boundaries ; and, in the 
•same manner, those sons also shall explain the signs 
of their limits to their children. — If all persons would 
act in this manner, there could be no dispute con- 
cerning limits and boundaries." Might not Jere- 
miah's earthen pot, which would last, " without be- 
coming rotten,'" many days, be destined to enclose 
the purchase-deeds of this field, to be buried some- 
where in the field itself, if possible ; in order for its 
preservation, that it might be, at a future period, an 
■evidence of the purchase? — This seems to be 
strengthened by the consideration, that, at the future 
period foretold by the prophet, the inhabitants should 
be restored to their own lands, and in order to re- 
sume them, they should seek after such concealed 
tokens of their forefathers' possession ; at which 
time, being able to describe the nature of such ves- 
sels, their situation and their contents, the identity 
of the claimants, and their families, with the truth 
of their claims, should appear undeniable. If this 
pot were buried in the city of Jerusalem, the end 
would be answered, (though not so completely,) 
since Baruch might inform the proper heirs where 
to seek it, and how to describe its contents. 

We may remark, further, on the method of seal- 
ing, that the word here rendered seal does not re- 
strictively imply a waxen seal, or a seal for evidence 
■only, but to close up, to secure, by some solid or 
glutinous matter. So, Deut. xxxii. 34, " Is not this 
laid up in store with me, and sealed up (closed up, 
secured, for preservation) among my treasures ?" 
In Job xxxviii. 14, a seal is mentioned as being made 
of clay ; which, indeed, is customary in the East. 
Suppose, then, this deed were enclosed in a roll of 
some strong substance, pitched over, to protect it 
from water, or surrounded with a coat of firm clay, 
for the same purpose, and placed at the bottom of 
an earthen vessel; while the writing not thus en- 
closed, or coated over, was laid among a quantity of 
dry matters, u stones, bricks, or sea-sand," above the 
vessel. In this case, both, or very probably one, of 
them in an earthen vessel, well closed, and carefully 
■buried, might last a much longer period than seventy 
years ; and the peculiarity of its contents might be 
much longer remembered by those to whom it was 
communicated, and who were concerned in claiming 
the property. Whoever has been conversant with 
the history of our civil wars, and of later times, must 
recollect many instances of pots of money and other 
treasures found in such good condition, that had they 



been accompanied by papers, they would have been 
legible, and well preserved. Now, as Jeremiah 
could not himself go out of his prison, he delivers 
these deeds to Baruch, for the purpose of their pres- 
ervation from the general pillage, burning, &c. of 
the city, when taken ; in which otherwise they had 
little chance' of escaping total destruction ; and, 
probably, for the purpose of being buried, as above 
described. 

JERICHO, a city of Benjamin, about 20 miles 
E. N. E. from Jerusalem, and 6 from Jordan, Josh, 
xviii. 21. This was the first city in Canaan taken by 
Joshua, (Josh. ii. 1, •&<:.) who sent spies thither, that 
were received by Rahab, and preserved from the 
king. Joshua received God's orders to besiege Jeri- 
cho, soon after his passage over Jordan, and perhaps 
on the evening before, or on the day of the first pass- 
over, which the Hebrews celebrated in Canaan, chap, 
vi. 1, &c. The manner of the siege was very ex- 
traordinary. God commanded them once a day for 
seven successive days to march round the city. The 
soldiers marched first, . (probably beyond the reach 
of the enemy's arrows,) and after them the priests, 
ark, &c. On the seventh day they marched seven 
times round the city; and at the seventh, while the 
trumpets were sounding, and all the people shouting, 
the walls fell down. The first day, the rabbins say, 
was (our) Sunday, and the seventh the sabbath day. 
During the first six days the people continued in 
profound silence ; but on the seventh, Joshua com- 
manding them to shout, they all exerted their voices ; 
and the walls being overthrown, they entered the 
city, every man in the place opposite to him. The 
city being devoted, (see Anathema,) they set fire to 
it, and consecrated all the gold, silver, and brass. 
Joshua then said, "Cursed be the man before the 
Lord, who shall rebuild Jericho." Hiel of Bethel, 
about 537 years afterwards, rebuilt it, (1 Kings xvi. 
34.) and lost his eldest son, Abiram, and his young- 
est son, Segub. See Abiram. 

We are not to suppose, however, that there was no 
city of Jericho till the time of Hiel. There was a 
city of palm-trees, the same probably as Jericho, under 
the Judges; (Judg. iii. 13.) and David's ambassadors, 
who had been insulted by the Ammonites, resided at 
Jericho till their beards were grown again, 2 Sam. 
x. 4, 5. There was, therefore, a city of Jericho ; but 
it stood, probably, in the neighborhood of the original 
Jericho. Josephus distinguishes these two places 
when he says, that in his time, near ancient Jericho, 
which was destroyed by Joshua, there was a foun- 
tain which abounded with water. But after Hiel of 
Bethel had rebuilt old Jericho, no one scrupled to 
dwell there. Herod built a very beautiful palace 
here ; and our Saviour wrought some miracles on a 
visit to the city. 

In the article Barrenness, we have ventured to 
associate Jericho with other towns producing abor- 
tion ; and to what is there said may be added the 
testimony of Josephus, who says, (Bell. Jud. iv. 8. 3.) 
" Near Jericho is a very plentiful spring ; it riseth 
near the old city ; of which spring there is a report 
that, in former times, it did not only make the fruits 
of the earth and of the trees to decay, but also the off- 
spring of women ; and was universally deleterious; 
. . . . but this was amended by Elisha .... these 
waters have now so great a virtue in them, that 
wherever they are conveyed, they produce very 
speedy ripeness." To these observations on the 
nature of the soil of Jericho, we may add, that the 
rabbins mention another place in the mountains of 



JERICHO 



[ 55G ] 



JER 



Judah, which they call Caphar-decaraim, because 
" unless the women departed from this town to some 
other place, they could not bring forth male children," 
— meaning they were liable to abortions. (Hieros. 
Taanith, fol. 69. 1.) 

Jericho was the second city in Judea: in its royal 
palace Herod died; it had also a hippodrome and 
an amphitheatre. There is a tradition in the Jeru- 
salem Talmud, that there were at least twelve thou- 
sand priests at Jericho, ready to supply any deficiency 
that might occur at Jerusalem. (Comp. Luke x. 31, 
32.) The wheat at Jericho was gathered before the 
first fruits at Jerusalem ; as the productions of this 
neighborhood were much forwarder in respect of 
ripeness. 

D'Arvieux thus describes the state of Jericho in 
his time ; (A. D. 1659 ;) but it is likely that the village 
he visited, and the same that is described by mojre 
modern travellers, was at some distance from the 
ancient town ; not a vestige of which now remains, 
unless some tumuli, discovered by Mr. Buckingham, 
three or four miles nearer to Jerusalem, may be sup- 
posed to mark the course of its walls. " After having 
travelled a quarter of a league in the plain, we en- 
camped near to the gardens of Jericho, by the side of 
a small brook; and while our supper was preparing, 
we walked in the gardens, and among the ruins of 
Jericho. This very ancient city is now desolate, and 
consists of only about fifty poor houses in bad con- 
dition, wherein the laborers who cultivate the gardens 
shelter themselves. The plain around is extremely 
fertile ; the soil is middling fat ; but it is watered by 
several rivulets, which flow into the Jordan. Not- 
withstanding these advantages, only the gardens ad- 
jacent to the town are cultivated. We saw here 
abundance of those trees which are called in Arabic 
Zacoum ; they are furnished with thorns like acacias, 
and resemble bushes. They bear fruits the size of 
large plums ; the stone of which resembles a rough- 
sided melon. These are pounded, and the kernel 
yields an oil, which is a kind of balsam, perfectly 
good against bruises, cold tumors, nervous contrac- 
tions, and rheumatisms. We visited the fountain of 
the prophet Elisha, which, for many ages, has fur- 
nished water for the gardens; it was formerly bitter, 
but was healed by that prophet. The head of this 
water is enclosed in a basin of a triangular shape, of 
which each side is about three fathoms in length. It 
is lined with wrought stone, and is even paved in 
parts. There are two niches in one of its sides, which 
is higher than the others, and an orifice by which the 
water issues, in a stream sufficient to turn a mill. It 
is said that several sources discharge themselves into 
the same basin ; but their depth prevents them from 
being explored. In returning to our tents we passed 
by some ruins on the side of a hill, where is a cistern 
and some buildings, with a channel which conveys 
to the Jordan the waters of a spring which issues 
on the mountains of Quarantania." Maundrell calls 
Jericho " a poor, nasty village of the Arabs." 

The Plain of Jericho, in which the city lay, ex- 
tends from Seythopolis to the bay of the Dead sea, 
and is overhung on all sides by ridges of barren and 
rugged mountains. The road from the city to Jeru- 
salem is through a series of rocky defiles, and the 
surrounding scenery is of the most gloomy and for- 
bidding aspect. "The whole of this road is held to 
be the most dangerous in Palestine ; and, indeed, the 
very aspect of the scenery is sufficient, on the one 
hand, to tempt to robbery and murder, and, on the 
other, to occasia i dread of it in those who pass 



that way. The bold projecting mass of rocks, the 
dark shadows in which every thing lies buried below, 
the towering height of the cliffs above, and the for- 
bidding desolation which every where reigns around, 
present a picture that is quite in harmony throughout 
all its parts. With what propriety did our Saviour 
choose this spot, as the scene of that delightful tale 
of compassion recorded by St. Luke ! x. 30 — 34. 
One must be amid these wild and gloomy solitudes, 
surrounded by an armed band, and feel the impa- 
tience of the traveller, who rushes on to catch a new 
view at every pass and turn ; one must be alarmed 
at the very stamp of the horses' hoofs, resounding 
through the caverned rocks, and at the savage shouts 
of the footmen, scarcely less loud than the echoing 
thunder, produced by the discharge of their pieces in 
the valleys ; one must witness all this upon the spot,, 
before that the full force and beauty of the admirable 
story of the good Samaritan can be perceived. Here 
pillage, wounds, and death would be accompanied 
with double terror, from the frightful aspect of every 
thing around. Here, the unfeeling act of passing by 
a fellow creature in distress, as the priest and Levite 
are said to have done, strikes one with horror, as an 
act almost more than inhuman. And here, too, the 
compassion of the good Samaritan is doubly virtuous, 
from the purity of the motive which must have led to 
it, in a spot where no eyes were fixed on him to draw 
forth the performance of any duty, and from the 
bravery which was necessary to admit of a man's 
exposing himself, by such delay, to the risk of a simi- 
lar fate to that from which he was endeavoring to 
rescue his fellow creature." (Buckingham's Travels, 
p. 292, 293, 4to.) 

JERIMOTH, or Jeremoth, one of the warriors 
who came to David to Ziklag, 1 Chron. xii. 5. He 
was the son of Becher, a Benjamite, vii. 8. — Also the 
name of several other persons. 

I. JEROBOAM, son of Nebat, who made Israel to 
sin, is often characterized in Scripture as the author 
of the schism and idolatry of the ten tribes. His 
mother was a widow, named Zeruah, and was born 
at Zereda, in Ephraim. Jeroboam was bold and en- 
terprising, and Solomon gave him a commission to 
levy the taxes of Ephraim and Manasseh. As he 
went out of Jerusalem, one day, the prophet Ahijah 
met him, having on a new cloak, 1 Kings xi. 29, which 
he rent in twelve pieces, saying to Jeroboam, " Take 
ten to thyself ; for the Lord will rend the kingdom 
of Solomon, and give ten tribes to thee," ante A. D. 
978. Jeroboam, who was previously disaffected, 
soon began to incite the people to revolt ; but Solo- 
mon having intelligence of his designs, he fled into 
Egypt, and there continued till the death of the king. 
His successor, Rehoboam, behaving in a haughty 
and menacing manner, ten of the tribes separated 
from the house of David ; and Jeroboam returning 
from Egypt, they invited him among them to a general 
assembly, in which they appointed him king over Is- 
rael. He fixed his residence at Shechein, ante A. D. 975. 

Forgetting the fidelity due to God, who had given 
him the kingdom, Jeroboam resolved to make two 
golden calves, in imitation, probably, of the god Apis ; 
to place one at Dan, the other at Bethel. "Hence- 
forth," said he to his people, "go no more to Jeru- 
salem," chap. xii. (See Calves.) He appointed a 
solemn feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, 
to dedicate his new altar, and to consecrate his golden 
calves. Jeroboam himself went up to the altar to 
offer incense and sacrifices; (1 Kings xiii.) and just 
I at that time a man of God (generally believed to be 



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the prophet Iddo) came ."-om Judah to Bethel by 
God's direction. Upon seeing Jeroboam at the altar, 
he cried, " O altar,.altar, thus saith the Lord, A child 
shall be born to the house of David, by name Josiah, 
and upon thee shall he sacrifice the priests of the 
high places, who now burn incense upon thee : he 
shall burn men's bones upon thee," &c. The king, 
stretching out his hand, commanded the prophet to 
be seized ; but the hand became withered, and he 
could not draw it back. The altar was immediately 
broken, and the fire, with the ashes, fell on the ground. 
Then the king said, "Pray to God that he may re- 
store my hand." The man of God besought the 
Lord, and the king's hand was restored, chap. xiii. 
This extraordinary event, however, did not recover 
Jeroboam from his impiety ; this was the sin of his 
family, and the cause of its extirpation. He died 
after a reign of twenty-two years, (ante A. D. 953.) 
and Nadab, his son, succeeded him. 

II. JEROBOAM the Second, king of Israel, was 
son of Jehoash, and succeeded his father, ante A. D. 
825. He reigned forty-one years, but walked in the 
evil ways of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, 2 Kings xiv. 23. 
He restored the kingdom of Israel to its splendor, 
from which it had fallen under his predecessors ; 
reconquered those provinces and cities which the 
kings of Syria had usurped ; and extended his author- 
ity over all the countries beyond Jordan, to the Dead 
sea. The prophets Hosea, Amos, and Jonah prophe- 
sied under his reign, and we see, by their writings, 
that idleness, effeminacy, extravagance, and injustice, 
at this time, polluted Israel ; that the licentiousness 
of the people, in point of religion, was extreme ; that 
they not only frequented the golden calves at Dan 
and Bethel, but Mizpeh in Gilead, Beersheba, Tabor, 
Carmel, Gilgal, almost all the high places, and 
wherever God had at anytime appeared to the patri- 
archs. At the same time, several articles of the cere- 
monial law were observed. The first-fruits and tithes 
were paid ; the feasts and sabbaths were observed ; 
and Nazarites were consecrated ; Amos, chap. ii. iv. 
v. viii. 

JERUBBAAL, Gideon's surname, after he had 
destroyed Baal's grove, and his father had said it was 
Baal's business to avenge it, Judg. vi. 31, 32. 

JERUEL, a wilderness west of the Dead sea, and 
south of Judah, where Jehoshaphat obtained a great 
victory over the Ammonites, Moabites, <fec. It was 
called the valley of Berachah, or blessing; and lay 
between Engedi and Tekoah, 2 Chron. xx. 16 ; com- 
pare verse 26. 

JERUSALEM, Jebus, or Salem, is generally sup- 
posed to owe its origin to Melchizedek, who is called 
king of Salem, (Gen. xiv. 18.) and who is thought to 
have founded it about the year 2023, and called it 
Salem (peace). About a century after its foundation, 
it was captured by the Jebusites, who extended the 
walls, and constructed a castle, or citadel, on mount 
Sion. By them it was called Jebus. In the conquest 
of Canaan, Joshua put to death its king. (Josh. x. 23 ; 
xiii. 10.) and obtained possession of the town, which 
was jointly inhabited by Jews and Jebusites till the 
reign of David, who expelled the latter, and made it 
the capital of his kingdom, under the name of Jebus- 
Salem, or (for the sake of euphony) Jerusalem. It 
maintained its eminence for a period of 477 years, 
when it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. During 
the seventy years' captivity, it lay in ruins, after which 
it was restored by Zerubbabel and his associates, and 
continued 562 vears, when it was finally destroyed 
b- Titus. 



When Judea was made a Roman province, under 
the governor of Syria, the Romans kept a garrison in 
the citadel Antonia. The last and fatal rebellion of 
the Jews began by their besieging this fortress 
whence they forced and destroyed the Roman garri 
son. The year following (A. D. 70) Titus besieged 
the city, and reduced it to a heap of ruins. Josephus 
remarks, that Titus commanded his soldiers to de- 
molish the whole city, except three of the largest and 
most beautiful towers — those of Phasael, Hippicus, 
and Marianme, which he was desirous of preserving, 
as a monument of the valor and power of the Ro 
mans. He also left the city wall, on the western 
side, as a rampart to the Roman camp and troops. 
The rest of the city was so completely levelled, that 
it scarcely appeared to have been inhabited. Jewish 
authors assure us, that Terentius Rufus, whom Titus 
left in command, ploughed up the ground on which 
the temple had stood, that it might not be rebuilt: 
the Roman laws prohibited the rebuilding of places 
where this ceremony had been performed, without 
permission from the senate. It is generally believed, 
however, that this was not done till after the revolt 
of the Jews under Adrian, down to whose time a 
number of Jews certainly remained in the city. See 
Adrian. 

The city of Jerusalem is situated in 31° 50' north 
latitude, and 35° 20' east longitude ; about twenty- 
five miles west of Jordan, and forty-two east of the 
Mediterranean; 102 miles south of Damascus, and 
150 north of the Elanitic gulf of the Red sea. It was 
built on four hills, called Sion, Acra, Moriah, and 
Bezetha. Indeed, the whole foundation was a high 
rock, formerly called Moriah, or Vision, because it 
could be seen afar off, especially on the south, Gen. 
xxii. 2 — 4. The mountain is a rocky limestone hill, 
with steep ascents on every side, except on the north ; 
surrounded with a deep valley ; again encompassed 
with hills, in the form of' an amphitheatre, Ps. exxv. 2. 
The accurate and minute account of Josephus is the 
highest authority to which we can resort for ascer- 
taining the form and limits of the Jewish capital. It 
is as follows : " The city was built on two hills, which 
are opposite to each other, having a valley to divide 
them asunder; at which valley the corresponding 
rows of houses on both hills terminate. Of these 
hills, that which contains the upper city is much 
higher, and in length more direct. Accordingly, it 
was called 'the citadel,' by king David: he was 
father of that Solomon who built this temple at the 
first; but it is by us called 'the upper market place. 1 
But the other hill, which is called ' Acra,' and sustains 
the lower city, is of the shape of the moon when she 
is horned ; over against this there was a third hill, 
but naturally lower than Acra, and parted, formerly, 
from the other by a broad valley. In the time when 
the Asmoneans reigned, they filled tip that valley with 
earth, and had a mind to join the city to the temple. 
They then took off part of the height of Acra, and 
reduced it to a less elevation than it was before, that 
the temple might be superior to it. Now the valley 
of the cheesemongers, as it was called, was that which 
distinguished the hill of the upper city from that of 
the lower, and extended as far as Siloam ; for that is 
the name of a fountain which hath sweet water in it, 
and this in great plenty also. But on the outsides, 
these hills are surrounded by deep valleys, and, by 
reason of the precipices belonging to them on both 
sides, are every where impassable." He afterwards 
adds, "As the city grew more populous, it gradually 
crept beyond its old limits, and those parts of it that 



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stood northward of the temple, and joined that hill to 
the city, made it considerably larger, and occasioned 
that hill which is in number the fourth, and is called 
' Bezetha,' to be inhabited also. It lies over against 
the tower Antonia, but is divided from it by a deep 
valley, which was dug on purpose. This new built 
part of the city was called 'Bezetha' in our language, 
which, if interpreted in the Grecian language, may be 
called 'the new city.' " (Jewish Wars, book v. ch. 4.) 

This account describes the gradual extension of the 
holy city, from the time when the Jebusites were dis- 
possessed, till the foundation of the northern walls 
was laid by Herod Agrippa. It is evident that the 
old city was built upon "Acra," and the "strong 
hold of Sion" (2 Sam. v. 7.) upon the hill bearing that 
name ; both of which were taken from the Jebusites 
by David. After having possessed himself of these 
important places, this munificent prince appropriated 
the latter for the royal residence, and named it " the 
city of David." The extent of this "upper city," as 
it is called by Josephus, seems to be pointed out by 
an expression in 2 Sam. v. 9: "David built round 
about, from Millo inward." Now, whether by " Millo" 
we understand, with some critics, the "house of 
Millo," which stood on the north-east of mount Sion, 
or with others, the valley which divided the upper 
and the lower city, and which was filled up by Solo- 
mon, and called Millo, the meaning still appears to 
be, that David built from one side of mount Sion 
quite round to the opposite part. 

Moriah, properly so called, which is the third hill 
of Josephus, lay on the eastern side of Jerusalem, 
over against mount Acra. This hill, on which Solo- 
mon erected the temple, was originally divided from 
Acra by a broad valley, subsequently filled up by the 
Asmoneans, and thus joined to the lower city. The 
valley which divided Sion from Acra and Moriah is 
called, by Josephus, "the valley of Cheesemongers," 
and extended as far as Siloam. Across this valley 
Solomon appears to have raised a causeway, leading 
from the royal palace on mount Sion to the temple 
on mount Moriah. The way was not level, but was 
an easy ascent and descent from one mountain to the 
other. Hence we read of "the ascent by which 
Solomon went up to the house of the Lord," and of 
"the causeway," or "going up." 

On the east of the city, and stretching from north 
to south, stands the mount of Olives, facing the spot 
formerly occupied by the temple, of which it com- 
manded a noble prospect. It is separated from the 
city by the valley of Jehoshaphat. On the west of 
the city, and formerly without the walls, stood the 
little hill of Calvary, or Golgotha. But so much has 
the city moved in that direction, that it now stands in 
its very centre. 

When the city of Jerusalem became the capital of 
the kingdom, and the chosen place of Jehovah's wor- 
ship, every mean was used to render it impregnable, 
by high walls, massy gates, and towers of observation 
and annoyance. But of its fortifications we have 
no particulars extant till after the captivity, when 
Nehemiah recorded the portions, which the several 
individuals engaged in the work, repaired. This 
document being of great importance in settling the 
circuit of the city, and its principal gates, we shall 
attempt to follow the patriotic governor in his descrip- 
tion. Beginning with the sheep gate, (chap. iii. 1.) 
which was on the east side of the city, in the neigh- 
borhood of Bethesda, and through which the sheep 
destined for sacrifice were driven to the temple, we 
travel along the east wall, with our. faces to the north, 



and come to the tower of Meah, ver. 1. Turning the 
north-east corner, we reach the tower of Hananeel j 
(ver. 1.) beyond which, further west, was the fish 
gate; (ver. 3.) and beyond this, again, the old gate, 
ver. 6. The broad wall (ver. 8.) appears to have 
been near the north-west corner; and so named from 
the lowness of the ground in that place, which re- 
quired the wall to have a wide foundation, in order 
to raise it to an equal height with the rest. But 
although these are all the gates which were built by 
Nehemiah on the north side of the city, they did not 
constitute the whole number; for we have three 
others mentioned, viz. the gate of Benjamin, which 
is generally placed near the north-east corner, be- 
tween the sheep gate and the fish gate ; the gate of 
Ephraim, which is placed between the fish gate and 
the north-west corner ; and the come?- gate, which is 
placed at the north-west corner. On turning the 
north-west corner, and proceeding along the west 
side of the city wall, our faces southward, we come 
to the tower of the furnaces; (Neh. iii. 11.) then to 
the valley gate ; (ver. 13.) a thousand cubits beyond 
which stood the dung gate ; (ver. 13.) and still further 
south, the gate of the fountain ; (ver. 15.) so called 
from its proximity to the lower fountain of Gihon. 
There are no gates mentioned in the south outer 
wall ; probably from the steepness of the mount there, 
no public road could be made. But modern geogra- 
phers mention three, as being within the city, in the 
wall which separates it from mount Sion, viz. one 
without any distinctive name on the east ; the middle 
gate ; and Zion gate, on the west. On turning the 
south-east corner, to travel along the east side of the 
city, we pass "the pool of Siloam, by the king's gar- 
dens and the king's pool," which lay at some distance 
from the city, on the right hand ; and the wall oppo- 
site the stairs that led to the city of David, or Zion, 
" the wall opposite the sepulchres and the house of 
the mighty," within the city on the left, Neh. iii. 15, 
16. Hence these are said to have been "at the turn- 
ing of the wall," (ver. 19.) or near the south-east 
corner. A little farther on, and at the place where 
the inner wall, which divides between the city of 
Zion, touches this outer wall, geographers place the 
dung gate ; but although this be its present position, 
it is evident from Nehemiah that it lay anciently on 
the other side, where we have placed it. Farther to 
the north was another "turning" or corner, where 
was " the tower which lay out from the king's high 
house, and near the court of the prison," ver. 24, 25. 
There, probably, the prison gate, mentioned after- 
wards by Nehemiah, (chap. xii. 39.) was situated. 
And beyond that were the water gate, (chap. iii. 26.) 
near which the waters of Etam, that were employed 
in the temple service, escaped to the brook Kedron ; 
the house gate, (ver. 28.) where Athaliah, the queen, 
was slain, (2 Chron. xxiii. 15.) on this side the water 
gate, and joined to it by the wall that enclosed Ophel, 
(Neh. iii. 27, 28.) and the gate Miphkad, (ver. 31.) on 
the other side of the water gate, not far from the sheep 
gale, where we set out. Geographers place other 
two gates between Miphkad and the sheep gate ; 
namely, the golden gate and the sheep gate ; but they 
are of later date than the days of Nehemiah. During 
the time that elapsed between the days of Nehemiah 
and the destruction of the city by Titus, several im- 
portant alterations were made in its fortifications. 
Latterly it was enclosed by three walls, on those sides 
that were not encompassed with impassable valleys. 
A particular description of them is given by Josephus. 
Wars, b. v. chap. 4. 



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JERUSALEM 



Having given a slight sketch of the history and to- 
pography of the city of Jerusalem, we proceed to a 
more minute examination of its ichnography and 
antiquities, as 'well as of some historical incidents 
connected with it. 

The alterations made by time on the face of the 
earth, though considerable, are not comparable to 
those produced by the labors of man ; mountains, 
rocks, and for the most part rivers, also, remain, not 
greatly changed from their ancient appearances, 
where only acted upon by the lapse of ages ; but 
where the devices and exertions of human art, and 
the varying intentions of human purpose have been 
directed, the consequent changes are striking, and 
their effect in producing dissimilarity is wonderful. 
Every city .bears witness to the truth of this; but, as 
very few cities, in addition to the character of society, 
habitation or polity, add that of sanctity, we with 
difficulty make proper allowance for the power of 
this principle, or for the various permanent effects 
which inevitably follow it. Votaries who attribute 
to a particular locality the character of sanctity, will 
desire not only to honor, but also to adorn the sub- 
ject of their consecration ; they will dignity the place 
of their devotion to the utmost of their power — while 
this very attention will excite rivalship and enmity: 
and a place thus distinguished will be distinguished 
also by the consequences of that enmity ; it will be 
attacked and defended, destroyed and restored, with 
a resolution and perseverance not always experienced 
by establishments merely civil. Such has been the 
lot of the ancient city of Jerusalem. We have already 
stated that we consider the ancient Salem as the 
nucleus of the succeeding Jerusalem, the name of 
which was compounded of the two more ancient ap- 
pellations — Jebus-salem, or Jeru-salem. 

Instances of a sacred precinct, or spot set apart for 
worship, giving rise to a town, are numerous, and the 
progress is nothing more than natural ; yet must it 
be carefully remembered, that every sacred precinct 
is not a temple, nor does it imply the existence of a 
temple ; for, in early ages, many places were allotted 
for religious ceremonies, and for public worship, to 
which no building ever was attached. Indeed, tribes 
who constantly dwelt in tents, and were perpetually 
removing from place to place, according to the sea- 
sons, might consecrate particular patches of ground, 
and remarkable rocks or hills, but could have no 
inducement to erect buildings upon them for pur- 
poses of devotion. 

To treat this inquiry properly, it must be assumed 
that mount Moriah was one of those places esteemed 
sacred. It afforded, probably, a plot of ground of 
convenient size, for the resort of worshippers, and 
'his obtained repute on account of its character. Such 
a separate hill-top being resorted to, at first a few 
tents were pitched ; to these succeeded a few houses, 
and, by degrees, the village increased to a town, until 
at length the establishment assumed the importance 
of a city. In o # ne of these stages, probably that of a 
small town, we first become acquainted with Salem ; 
of which we read, that Melchizedec came forth from 
it; that the valley of "Shaveh," or "the King's 
Dale," was adjacent to it ; that it was considered as 
a place peculiarly sacred, and where the word of the 
Lord was communicated to the sons of men. It is 
not easy to say with certainty whether this mount 
Moriah be that on which Abraham offered up his son 
Isaac, Gen. xxii. General opinion favors the affirma- 
tive ; but general opinion is not decisive, though it 
may be accep'ed as presumptive, evidence. This 



would point to its acknowledged sanctity at a still 
earlier period, for it appears that Abraham did not 
find an altar constructed on that mountain where he 
sacrificed ; yet it was probably a consecrated place. 

That many places were distinguished in the man- 
ner described is well known in classic antiquity ; and 
they are the most ancient high places ; a kind of 
sacred establishments that afterwards occur fre- 
quently enough in the history of the Hebrews. 

The next event of importance to the city of Salem 
is, apparently, in 2 Sam. v. 6, &c. (but really the in- 
cident of David's depositing there the head of Goli- 
ah, happened some years earlier ; of which hereaf- 
ter). It might be asked, why David should wish to 
establish himself in this city particularly. Was it 
because here had been the scene of transactions in 
ancient time, analogous to those which he meditat- 
ed as proper for the seat of his sovereignty ? or be- 
cause this was the place chosen by the Lord, an- 
ciently, to put his name there ? Certainly this 
presumed sanctity is at least plausible ; and it agrees 
with the supposable motives by which the Jebusites 
were induced to refuse David. The addition of the 
royal residence could add nothing to its dignity, but 
rather the contrary, in the opinion of those whose 
veneration for it was inherited from their remote an- 
cestors. But here it is necessary to inquire, Who 
was this Jebusite which so tauntingly insulted David ? 
Looking back to Josh, xviii. 28, we find Jebusi the 
name of Jerusalem, which is varied, in Judg. xix. 10, 
to Jebus ; it is noticed also as one of the cities of the 
Jebusites, a people " not of the children of Israel." 
In Gen. x. 16, we read, that Canaan was the father 
of the Jebusite ; and it seems that from the early age 
to which that chapter refers, this family had been 
settled here ; — a family unquestionably of the ancient 
Canaanites, such as those with whom Abraham and 
Isaac covenanted. 

We are now prepared to assign reasons for two 
circumstances which have strangely puzzled inter- 
preters ; the first is, that in 2 Sam. xxiv. 23, Arau- 
nah the Jebusite is called " king," (and in all copies 
and all versions, as Geddes notes with surprise,) mean- 
ing, probably, that he derived a pedigree from the an 
cient Canaanite kings of the place, and even at this 
time held at least family authority over his clan, the 
inhabitants of the town. Perhaps, too, the name 
Oman given him (1 Chron. xxi. 18.) was his Hebrew 
or Jewish, name ; while Araunah was his Canaanite, 
or Jebusite, appellation. The second circumstance 
is of greater consequence. We read (1 Chron. xxi. 
29.) that the Jewish national altar, on which David 
certainly ought to have sacrificed, was at this time 
stationed at Gibeon. But if so, what could induce 
the angel of the Lord to tell Gad, and Gad to tell 
David, (verse 18.) that he should go up, and raise an 
altar to the Lord, in the threshing-floor of Oman, 
that is, Araunah, the Jebusite, unless here had been 
a consecrated place formerly ? Why did David go out 
from his royal palace, mount Zion, and pass through 
the interjacent city? Was there not ample space on 
Zion, with plenty of conveniences, the king's own 
property, but he must, under peremptory direction, 
go down mount Zion, and go up mount Moriah, to 
raise an altar on premises not his own ? If this 
threshing-floor adjoined the originally consecrated 
spot on mount Moriah, then it was the nearest ap- 
proach to that most ancient Fanum, which was in 
David's power ; he could not enter this holy place 
personally ; but be sacrifices as near to it as possible, 
close to it. This threshing-floor he purchases of 



JERUSALEM 



[ 560 ] 



JERUSALEM 



Araunah (with cattle, &c.) for "fifty shekels of sil- 
ver ;" but, afterwards, explaining to the Jebusite his 
intention of building a magnificent temple on mount 
Moriah, he obtains in addition, for that purpose, the 
whole summit of the mountain, including the site of 
ancient Fanum itself, from its natural guardian 
Araunah, for " six hundred shekels of gold," 1 Chron. 
xxi. 25. The price seems to have been very great ; 
too great, indeed, for the mere value of the ground ; 
but this view of the subject accounts for it, it was 
sacred property, it would not have been alienated, 
even for the reception of a royal establishment or a 
palace ; but as its sacred character was to be pre- 
served and perpetuated, as additional religious honor 
was the purpose for which it was resigned, objections 
subsided. David obtained it for perpetual consecra- 
tion, yet at a great price ; so that Araunah received, 
on occasion of this transfer, fifty shekels of silver in 
payment for his own private property ; and six hun- 
dred shekels of gold as a consideration for the public 
property of his family and of his people. Thus, 
the sacred character of the place marks it as the 
proper station for an intercessory altar, under cir- 
cumstances so urgent, extraordinary, and afflictive ; 
while these very circumstances, in connection with 
the impulse of piety, induce David to purchase it, and 
Araunah to part with it ; perhaps not without reluc- 
tance, and certainly at a price liberal, if not magnifi- 
cent. The reader will turn to the map, and estimat- 
ing the relative situations of mount Zion and mount 
Moriah, he will perceive to what distance David pro- 
ceeded from one, that he might erect an altar on the 
other. It should be remarked, also, that David 
afterwards brought the tabernacle-altar, &c. into his 
own palace, mount Zion, and Solomon transferred 
them to the temple on mount Moriah ; which seems 
to manifest a pretty steady adherence on the part 
of the Jebusite to the honor of his possession ; 
which he did not relinquish, till every thing was 
ready for constructing the intended temple. It 
was too sacred to be made a working place, 1 
Kings vi. 7. 

There is another passage, which must not be over- 
looked in this inquiry. That it was customary for 
victors to carry the trophies of their victory to the 
temples of their deities, and there to consecrate them, 
is well known. So we find the Philistines (1 Sam. 
xxxi. 10.) suspending in triumph the bodies of Saul 
and his sons on the walls of Beth-Shan ; but the 
aimor of Saul they deposited in the temple of Ash- 
taroth. So also, (1 Sam. xvii. 54.) David carried the 
head of Goliath in triumph to Jerusalem ; but he put 
his armor in the sacred tent (not in David's own 
tent, for he had none, being merely sent out on a 
message, but) in the national tabernacle, for here we 
find part of it (the sword) long after ; and from the 
tabernacle he received it again, by the hand of Ahim- 
elech, 1 Sam. xxi. 9. Now, what could induce Da- 
vid to carry the bloody trophy of his victory to Jeru- 
salem, rather than to any other sacred, or public, or 
fiimous depository, unless Jerusalem were renowned 
for sanctity ? Was the national ark there ? Was 
this city at this time a royal residence ? No. Had it 
a stronger claim than Bethlehem, where the victor 
lived? Not unless it were derived from superior 
sanctity, undei which all becomes easy ; and clear- 
ly the subsequent proceedings of the Philistines with 
the body of Sa-ul, were but a repetition of David's 
proceedings with the head of Goliath. 

The result of these considerations affirms the 
proposition, that here was a sacred place of wor- 



ship from the most remote antiquity, and before 
Solomon embellished this mount, by erecting his 
temple on its summit. " The orientals," says Vol- 
ney, " never call Jerusalem by any other name, than 
Elkuds, the Holy. Sometimes adding the epithet 
El-sheriff, the noble. This word, El-kuds, seems to 
me the etymological origin of all the Cassiuses of 
antiquity, which, like Jerusalem, were high places ; 
and had temples and holy places erected on them." 
(Vol. ii. p. 305.) 

This extract confirms the opinion of the learned 
Prideaux, that the Cadytis of Herodotus is the city 
of Jerusalem. (See Connect, vol. i. p. 57, where he 
traces the etymology of the word.) But it is remark- 
able on another account : — for what reason did the 
orientals call Jerusalem, the holt, so early as the 
days of Herodotus, and why continue that tftle while 
it is under their subjection, and in a low and dis- 
tressed state, unless some peculiar holiness had been 
generally attributed to it ? It accounts also for that 
remarkable choice of expression, in Matt, xxvii. 53, 
the saints arose " and went into the holy city." So, 
chap. iv. 5, "taketh him into the holy city." It does 
not appear that the other evangelists have used this 
appellation of Jerusalem. Is it a Syriasm, remain- 
ing in Matthew ?• It is proper, therefore, strongly to 
urge the distinction between mount Zion the city of 
David, and mount Moriah the city of Jerusalem. 
These names are frequently used by theological 
writers, as if they were identically the same place ; 
whereas, one of them, Zion, was distinguished as 
being the seat of the royal or kingly office ; the 
other as being the seat of the national worship ; and 
how frequently soever these may be associated by 
the sacred writers, after the time of David, yet they 
are not the same ; neither are they, strictly taken, 
equivalent to each other, but are distinct, though 
combined. 

We have already stated that the city was built on 
hills, and was encompassed with mountains, (Ps. 
exxv. 2.) on a stony and barren soil. It was about 
sixty furlongs in length, according to Strabo, lib. xvi. 
Jerusalem had never been so large as when it was 
attacked by the Romans. It was then thirty-three 
furlongs in circumference : — nearly four miles and a 
half. Josephus informs us, that the wall of circum- 
vallation, constructed by Titus, was thirty-nine fur- 
longs; or four miles, eight hundred and seventy-five 
paces. Others describe a much larger extent. The 
condition of Jerusalem in the time of Christ was 
much the same as afterwards, when assaulted by the 
Romans ; and what this was, Tacitus, being a Roman 
and a military man, may inform us. He says, " Je- 
rusalem stood upon an eminence, difficult of ap- 
proach. The natural strength of the place was in- 
creased by redoubts and bulwarks, which, even on 
the level plain, would have made it secure from in- 
sult. Two hills, that rose to a prodigious height, 
were enclosed by walls, constructed with skill, in 
some places projecting forward, in others retiring in- 
wardly, with the angles so formed, that the besiegers 
were always liable to be annoyed in flank. The 
extremities of the rock were sharp, abrupt, and 
craggy. In convenient places, near the summit, 
towers were raised 60 feet high, and others, on the 
declivity of the sides, rose no less than 120 feet. 
These works presented a spectacle altogether aston- 
ishing. To the distant eye they seemed to be of 
equal elevation. Within the city, there were other 
fortifications enclosing the palace of the kings 
Above all was seen, conspicuous to view, the tower 




DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 



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[ 561 ] 



JERUSALEM 



of Antonia, so called by Herod in honor of the tri- 
umvir, who had been his friend and benefactor. The 
temple itself was a strong fortress, in the nature of a 
citadel. The fortifications were built with consum- 
mate skill, surpassing in art, as well as labor, all the 
rest of the works. The very porticos that surround- 
ed it were a strong defence. A perennial spring sup- 
plied the place with water. Subterraneous caverns 
were scooped under the rock. The rain water was 
saved in pools and cisterns. Since the reduction of 
the place by Pompey, experience had taught the 
Jews new modes of fortification ; and the corrup- 
tion and venality that pervaded the whole reign 
of Claudius favored all their projects. By bribery 
they obtained permission to rebuild their walls. The 
strength of their works plainly showed, that in pro- 
found peace they meditated future resistance." (Ta- 
citus, Hist. lib. v. Mr. Murphy's translation.) 

These accounts are particularly interesting, be- 
cause they clearly illustrate the natural strength of Je- 
rusalem, and justify the boastings of the native He- 
brews ; of which Scripture gives instances, as Ps. 
cxxii. 3 ; cxxv. 2. Under these circumstances, how 
very unlikely, perhaps even ridiculous, did the 
prophecy of our Lord appear to the Jews, (Luke xix. 
43.) every word of which opposes their confidence 
in these defences. " Thine enemies shall cast a 
trench about thee (rather raise a circumvallation) and 
compass thee around — and shall keep thee in on 
every side — and shall lay thee even with the ground 
— and thy children within thee — and they shall not 
leave within thee one stone on another." It is not 
impossible that this was literally fulfilled in every 
particular, so far as regarded Jerusalem itself ; though 
certain towers, or even lines of houses, or streets, of 
the cities, appended to the ancient town, might be 
spared, to accommodate the Roman garrison sta- 
tioned in the place. • 

Our Lord also foretold the present state of Jerusa- 
lem, the Holy City, the Holy Temple, " trodden 
down by the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles 
be fulfilled." It is necessary that we should fix this 
idea in our minds, " till the times of the Gentiles be 
fulfilled" — and then the probability is, that this same 
spot which, during so many ages, has been distin- 
guished, and still is distinguished, by consecration and 
sanctity, though degraded, shall again enjoy favors 
which will render it conspicuous. Different opin- 
ions may be entertained respecting the nation of the 
Jews, and consequently respecting the fate of their 
capital, Jerusalem ; but the result of these inquiries 
is not adverse to the conjecture, that it is still to be the 
scene of events foretold in prophecy, which will be 
no less corroborative of faith, when they do happen, 
than those events have been which are narrated in 
history ; events which surely no one can properly 
consider without feeling a persuasion, rising to ex- 
pectation, of a somewhat ; though to describe, or to 
determine, that somewhat may be difficult. 

The places distinguished by any remarkable oc- 
currence in the city of Jerusalem, may be distributed 
into (1.) those well ascertained ; (2.) those credibly 
supposed to be genuine ; (3.) those of little or no au- 
thority. Among places the situation of which war- 
rants our confidence, may be reckoned the Temple 
with its courts, the pool of Bethesda, the house of 
Pilate, or fort Antonia ; for it is credible that 
Pilate had no house in Jerusalem, but his residence 
as governor being at Caesarea, there also was his 
palace ; and that when he came up to the great feasts 
yearly, or on other occasions, he occupied the resi- 



dence of the commanding officer of the Roman gai» 
•rison in Jerusalem, which, no doubt, was fixed in 
fort Antonia. Now, we know that fort occupied 
the north side of the temple ; and here is shown 
what is denominated Pilate's house ; this, therefore 
we may accept as such. Opposite to the house of 
Pilate is the palace of Herod ; and tradition seems, in 
this respect, to agree with history. The gate of Jus- 
tice is likely to maintain the true situation of one of the 
gates of the ancient city ; as may be inferred no less 
from its proximity to Calvary, the place of public exe- 
cution, than from the direction of the roads leading to it. 
The Iron gate is so generally thought to be accurately 
placed by travellers, that we concur in the opinion. 

Most of the places without the city may be con- 
sidered as certain, from their nature ; such as the 
mount of Olives, the brook Kedron, the pool of Si- 
loam, the Valleys, Calvary, &c. These being natu- 
ral and permanent objects, cannot have changed their 
situation at all, nor their forms, to any considerable 
degree. It is also probable, that the spot where 
Stephen is said to have been stoned, is not far from 
where that fact happened ; because, he seems to 
have been led from the presence of the council to 
the nearest convenient opening without the sacred 
precincts ; and the council sat not far from this cor- 
ner of the temple, in the cloisters. The house of 
Mark may be correct ; and possibly the houses of 
Annas, and of Caiaphas, in the city of David, i. e. 
mount Sion. 

The reader will remember that the jealousy of 
the Turks does not permit measurements of any 
kind to be taken ; so that all plans of this city, 
and its adjacencies, being composed in a private and 
furtive manner, are liable to mis-recollections, and 
to errors of a slighter nature. There is no opportu- 
nity of surveying the city of Jerusalem, as the city 
of London is surveyed, by a map. Still, those who 
are used to estimate by the eye, or to calculate dis- 
tances by the number of their steps, can form a judg- 
ment sufficiently exact to guide our inquiries, if not 
to satisfy precision ; and, in fact, the error of a few 
yards, which is all that can happen, may well be ex- 
cused ; and is of no great importance to general 
purposes. We must also recollect, that, in the course 
of so many ages during which Jerusalem has exist- 
ed, the buildings, their foundations, repairs, and al- 
terations, the sieges which the city has suffered, its 
repeated conflagrations, and its numerous changes, 
both public and private, have so altered the site, the 
declivities, and the risings on which it stands, that 
probably neither Herod nor Caiaphas, and certainly 
neither David nor Solomon, could they now inspect 
it, would recollect the very ground on which the 
palaces stood, or which they labored to honor and 
adorn ; — always excepting the temple. 

Having fixed the situation of the temple, and of 
the Roman governor's residence, we next inquire, not 
so much where was the situation of the palace, that 
is, the stated residence of the high-priest, as of that 
building which the evangelists denote by the title of 
the high-priest's hall ; in our translation, his " palace." 
We mean to ask, whether some of the buildings in the 
courts of the temple might not be thus denominated, 
either because Caiaphas had built them ; or much 
rather, because here he sat in council with the San- 
hedrim ; and being his public office, this might nat- 
urally be named " the hall of the high-priest." To 
justify this idea, we should recollect, that in the time 
of our Lord, the Sanhedrim sat in some of the cham- 
bers, rooms, or halls, of the cloisters around the 



JERUSALEM 



[ 562 ] 



JERUSALEM 



temple ; and indeed more than one of them was oc- 
cupied as a court of justice ; for the court of twenty- 
three (judges) sat in one room of the temple ; but 
the Sanhedrim having quitted the room gazith forty 
years before the destruction of the temple, because 
they could no longer execute capital sentences, sat 
now in the room hanoth, or tabernee, near the east 



gate, or the gate of Shush an. This information we 
derive from the rabbins, through Lightfoot. 

As this is a point of some consequence in estab- 
lishing the principles assumed in the following narra- 
tion, the reader will compare what the evangelists 
say respecting it. 



Matt. xxvi. 57, &c. 

And they, holding Je- 
sus in custody, led him to 
Caiaphas the high-priest, 
where the scribes and the 
elders were assembled. 
Peter followed at a dis- 
tance, even to the hall 
of the high-priest. Now 
the chief priests, elders, 
and all the Sanhedrim, 
sought false witness 
against him, to put him 
to death. 



Mark xiv. 53, &c. 
And they led Jesus 
away to the high-priest : 
and with him were as- 
sembled all the chief 
priests, and elders, and 
scribes. And Peter fol- 
lowed afar off, even into 
the (court or) hall (atri- 
um) of the high-priest. 
And in the morning the 
chief priests held a coun- 
cil With THE WHOLE SaN- 
HEDRIM. 



Luke xxii. 54. 
They took Jesus, and 
led him to the house of 
the high-priest (rbv ol"-r.) 
— Peter followed afar off: 
they kindled a fire in the 
midst of the hall. And 
when it became day, the 
elders, &c. led him into 
their Sanhedrim. And 

the FULL BODY (-TlAij&Og) 

of them arose, and led 
him to Pilate, &c. 



John xviii. 13. 

They led Jesus away 
first to Annas : . . . who 
sent him bound to Caia- 
phas, ver. 24. 

That disciple went in 
with Jesus into the hall 
of the high-priest . . /. . 
ver. 15. Then led they 
Jesus into the pretorium, 
(or Roman hall of judg- 
ment,) but did not go in 
themselves, 28. 



These accounts evidently imply that the examina- 
tion of Jesus passed in the regular and usual mode 
before the Sanhedrim ; and had it been at an un- 
usual place, would not at least one of the evangelists 
have noticed that irregularity ? We observe, that 
three of the evangelists use the word a.vh\v, hall, 
(rather than palace, in the sense of residence,) but 
Luke uses the word olxor, house ; and this is, we 
think, the only obstacle against admitting decidedly 
that this hall of the high-priest was that suite of apart- 
ments usually occupied, as a public court, by him as 
the public officer of his nation, with the Sanhedrim, 
as his council, during their sittings. However, this 
olaov doe's not compel us to accept tljis as the dwell- 
ing of Caiaphas, who most probably did not dwell 
in the temple, or in any part of it; and certainly at 
whose dwelling-house the Sanhedrim, &c. could not 
regularly assemble for purposes of judgment. In 
this view the expressions of' the evangelists are re- 
markable ; they do not say, the house of Caiaphas ; but 
the hall of the high-priest, say Matthew, Mark, and 
John ; the house of the high-priest, says Luke, 
which we need not scruple to consider as the official 
hall where the high-priest sat at the head of the San- 
hedrim. If there were any difficulty in accepting 
the term house, used by Luke, (which we apprehend 
there is not,) as signifying the same as the hall of the 
high-priest, of the other evangelists ; yet, whoever 
will recollect the extensive application of the He- 
brew or Syriac word (ro) house, which Luke appears 
to have translated in this passage, and the import of 
the Greek term vlxoc, when applied to buildings, and 
to apartments, larger or smaller, in buildings, will 
perceive at once that it cannot be taken restrictively, 
for a house to dwell in. We conclude, therefore, 
that the Sanhedrim was convened, and held its sit- 
tings on this occasion, in the same place as was usual 
it this time ; which was in that room of the temple- 
courts called hanoth. 

The evangelists are understood to describe two 
meetings of the Sanhedrim ; the first, over night ; the 
second, early the next morning ; or, one long-con- 
tinued sitting might have intervals, as some com- 
mentators suppose. It should seem, that Judas had 
made his bargain, not with the whole Sanhedrim, 
but with the chief rulers ; who, nevertheless, hav- 
ing Jesus in their custody, assembled the Sanhedrim ; 
(whether in private, by previous appointment, or by 



summonses sent by the usual officers ;) and when 
that body was convened in the customary place of 
its sittings, it consulted both publicly and privately, 
put to the vote, resolved, and executed its resolution, 
as it would have done the day before, or the day after, 
on any other business within its jurisdiction. But 
we suppose, the first assembling of the members by 
night, or so very early in the morning as the second 
meeting, was an accommodation to the emergency 
of the occasion ; though it might also be designed 
to secure a majority of those members who adopted 
the sentiments of Caiaphas, on the political necessity 
for cutting off Jesus. 

We may now state pretty correctly the manage- 
ment of this seizure of our Lord, by the priests. If 
Jesus supped that night on mount Sion, as is usually 
said, it follows, that he was at that time at a distance 
from the temple, and in a place of security, in the 
city ; but he voluntarily retired to a privacy, Geth- 
seinane, where he knew he could have no rescue or 
assistance from any of his numerous friends in the 
city ; and this was in strict conformity to his pre- 
vious declarations, and to his perfect foreknowledge 
of the event. Jesus (at supper, probably) having given 
some hint that he designed to visit the garden of 
Gethsemane that evening, Judas h;es to the temple, 
which was in his way thither ; or, if it be supposed, 
that Caiaphas was now at his own dwelling on mount 
Sion, the situation of that residence was equally 
convenient for the purposes of Judas, who might, as 
it were, instantly follow our Lord's monition, " What 
you. do, do quickly," by stepping directly to the 
high-priest's dwelling ; he acquaints the priests what 
an admirable opportunity they would have for arrest- 
ing Jesus, who would be within their reach at a 
given time ; that they had only to go down the tem- 
ple stairs, to cross the Kedron, and they might seize 
him, before he was aware, and certainly before the 
people, from any part of the town, could assemble 
in his favor, or even know of his caption. To this the 
priests assenting, they ordered out from the temple 
a band, which seized Jesus in Gethsemane, and 
brought him into those precincts of the temple, those 
chambers,' halls, or courts, where the Sanhedrim 
usually sat. Here he was examined, adjured, guard- 
ed, abused, and detained, till, having been adjudged 
to death by the supreme council of his nation, they 
remitted him to Pilate. Now Pilate, residing in fort 



JERUSALEM 



[ 563 ] 



JERUSALEM 



Antonia, which was close adjacent, (on the north 
side of the temple,) and had various communications 
with the courts of the temple, some more open, as 
the great staircase, (Acts xxi. 40.) and others more 
private, for convenience of the guards, garrison duty, 
&c. the Sanhedrim could easily fill the courts of the 
fort and pretorium with their partisans, and, by such 
management, make their clamors appear to the 
governor as the voice of the people of Jerusalem and 
Judea, now assembled at the feast. The governor, 
aware of this artifice, and desirous of gaining time, 
among other reasons, sent Jesus through fort Anto- 
nia, to Herod, whose palace was not far off. Herod 
returned Jesus to Pilate, and Pilate returned him to 
the Jews, who, by the 'Roman soldiers in fort An- 
tonia, prepared for his crucifixion. He was led, 
therefore, along the Dolorous Way to Calvary, 
just without the gate of Justice, and there exe- 
cuted. 

On considering this order of events, does it not 
assume an appearance of credibility, equally strong, at 
least, as that which supposes Jesus to have been led 
from Getbsemane, through the whole extent of the 
city, to and from the house of Caiaphas, on mount 
Sion, where the Sanhedrim were convened, though 
not accustomed there to hold their sittings? Is this 
extent of perambulation consistent with the policy 
of those who would not seize Jesus " on a feast-day, lest 
there should be an uproar among the people," and 
who had been sufficiently alarmed at the cries of II o- 
sannah ! a few hours before ? And may this rapid 
execution of the plan adopted by the high-priest 
contribute to account for the notes of time recorded 
by the evangelists, q. d. " All this was performed in 
so short a space of time as a few hours ; — from over 
night, to six o'clock the next morning." Is not this 
the import of John's note of time, chap. xix. 14, as 
if he had said, " It was about the sixth (Roman) hour 
from the seizure of Jesus ?" — which was coincident 
with the same time from the preparation of the pass- 
over peace-offerings, to which Mr. Harmer would 
refer this sixth hour. (Observations, vol. iii. p. 134.) 
Suppose, too, that the soldiers mocked our Lord, in 
fort Antonia ; whence they led him to be crucified : 
(Matt, xxvii. 31.) " And, coming out (of the fort ?), they 
found Simon the Cyrenian ;" to which Mark agrees ; 
" they led him out, and pressed Simon, who was 
passing by." Luke says nearly the same. 

From this statement it results, that the seizure 
of Jesus was conducted with all the privacy of fear, 
that he was hurried to condemnation and execution, 
with all the terrors of rulers who dreaded a popular 
commotion, after a decision agreed to by a partial 
majority only, in the Sanhedrim ; and, when sen- 
tence had been wrung from the terrified mind of 
Pilate, it was rapidly completed ; no delay, no re- 
prieve, no after-consideration being permitted, to 
clear the innocent sufferer, or to allay the anguish 
of his friends. 

The situation of Calvary demands peculiar atten- 
tion, as being just without the gate ; — to which the 
apostle alludes : (Heb. xiii. 12.) "Jesus also suffered 
without the gate," &c. But it was so near the walls, 
that possibly the priests from thence might see the 
whole process of the execution, without hazarding 
defilement either by too familiar intercourse with the 
Roman soldiers, or by approaching the dead or dying 
bodies. Here they might safely quote, " He trusted 
in God," &c. and here they might exclaim, " Let him 
descend from the cross, and we will believe on him," 



Matt, xxvii. 42 ; Mark xv. 32 Calvary appears to 
have been a piece of waste ground, just on the out- 
side of the city walls, or rather beyond the ditch that 
surrounded those walls ; being itself an elevation, 
and about the centre of it, perhaps, an eminence of 
small extent rising something above the general level, 
like a kind of knob in the rock, (the true Calvary,) 
whatever was transacted here was conspicuous at a 
distance. Thus the evangelist Matthew notes : (xxvii. 
55.) " Many women of Galilee, beholding afar off;" 
possibly from some rising ground on the other side 
of the road, Mark xv. 40 ; Luke xxiii. 49. John ob- 
serves, that the title put on the cross " was read by 
many of the Jews ; the place where Jesus was cru- 
cified being nigh the city." The two roads from 
Bethlehem and Joppa meeting about this spot, and 
both entering the city by this gate, would afford 
enough of " those who passed by," i. e. travellers, 
from the country, who might " revile Jesus," Matt, 
xxvii. 39 ; Mark xv. 29. 

After the destruction of the city by Titus, the his- 
tory of Jerusalem presents little other than a series 
of struggles and desolations. The same fatal persua- 
sion, that it was the peculiar residence of Deity, and 
therefore could not be taken, continued to influence the 
Jewish nation with expectations of recovering it. 
Many of the Jewish Christians returned to the deso- 
lated city, and were suffered to inhabit it. But in 
the time of Adrian, (A. D. 134 to 179.) the Jews of 
Judea and the neighboring countries rebelled ; and 
the emperor completed the destruction of whatever 
could remind them of their former polity. He for- 
bade them from entering the city, on pain of death. 
He built a new city, which he named "iElia Adria 
Capitolina." He erected several temples to heathen 
divinities ; and especially a very magnificent one to 
Jupiter. He placed the figure of a hog over the gate 
leading to Bethlehem ; and did his utmost to oblit 
erate the memorials of Christianity as well as of Jit 
daism. This state of things continued till the time 
of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, (A. D. 
306.) notwithstanding occasional commotions under 
Antoninus, Septimus Severus, and Caracalla. Helena, 
mother of Constantine, built many churches in 
Judea, and in Jerusalem, about A. D. 326 ; and Julian, 
who, after his father, succeeded to the empire of his 
uncle Constantine, endeavored to rebuild the temple, 
but his design (and that of the Jews, whom he pat- 
ronized) was frustrated, A. D. 363. 

The subsequent history of Jerusalem may be dis- 
missed in a few words : — In A. D. 613, it was taken 
by Cosrhoes, king of the Persians, who slew 90,000 
of the inhabitants, and demolished, to the utmost of 
his power, whatever they (the Christians) had vene- 
rated ; A. D. 627, Heraclius defeated Cosrhoes, and 
Jerusalem was recovered by the Greeks ; nine years 
afterwards, it was taken from the Christians, by the 
caliph Omar, after a siege of four months, and con- 
tinued under the caliphs of Bagdad till A. D. 868, 
when it was taken by Ahmed, a Turkish sovereign 
of Egypt. During the space of 220 years, it was 
subject to several masters, Turkish and Saracenic, 
and in 1099 it was taken by the crusaders under 
Godfrey Bouillon, who was elected king. He was 
succeeded by his brother Baldwin, who died 1118, 
and having no son, his eldest daughter Melisandra 
conveyed the kingdom into her husband's family. In 
A. D. 1188, Saladin, sultan of the East, captured the 
city, assisted by the treachery of Raymond, count of 
Tripoli, who was found dead in his bed, on tho 



JERUSALEM 



[ 564 ] 



JERUSALEM 



morning of the day in which he was to have delivered 
up the city. It was restored, in 1242, to the Latin 
princes, by Saleh Ismael, emir of Damascus ; they 
lost it in 1291, to the sultans of Egypt, who held it 
till 1382. Selim, the Turkish sultan, reduced Egypt 
and Syria, including Jerusalem, in 1517, and his son 
Solyinan built the present walls in 1534. It con- 
tinues under the Turkish dominion, "trodden down 
of the Gentiles." 

Thus we see that Jerusalem was destined to be 
subject to a neighboring power, either from the 
north or from the south. Amidst so many revolu- 
tions and destructions, it may well be supposed that 
few of its early antiquities retain their original ap- 
pearance, or remain in -<a state to be recognized. 
Some have been continued by means of reparations, 
and restorations, by which the very heights and di- 
mensions of the ground are changed. The mounts 
Sion and Moriah are greatly levelled from what they 
once were ; and only the places around the city, as 
the mount of Olives, the brook Kedron, &c. retain 
their former character. 

Of the modern city of Jerusalem we have several 
very full and accurate accounts in the writings of 
intelligent travellers. We select the following, from 
a German writer — Joh. Heinrich Mayr — in the Re- 
pertorium Theologicum, because it is concise, and 
also because it is not likely to be known to many of 
our readers : — 

" To see the principal places, I was expected, as I 
might conclude from the grimaces of the keepers, to 
take off my boots ; but being resolved, once for all, to 
rid myself of this inconvenience, I declared, that I 
would rather see nothing and return, than every 
where subject myself to this vexation. In which 
resolution I was strengthened by the intimation of 
the porter, that I might enter with them, who was 
evidently fearful, that otherwise he would lose his 
fee. I now found the same plan easily avail me 
every where. 

" The city of Jerusalem, which in the time of 
Christ is said to have contained nearly three millions 
of inhabitants (?), now included from twelve to fifteen 
thousands. The circumference of the city itself, as 
we may conceive, had proportionably decreased ; for 
within an hour I had completed its circuit. It ap- 
peared to me as if I were going round a very great 
fortification ; and I could not explain to myself, why 
David, Solomon, and the kings of Israel in general, 
here fixed their abode ; for the country is destitute 
of attraction and desolate, girted all round by naked 
blue rocks and cliffs, without water, without level 
ground, without any of the common recommenda- 
tions of a country. Here and there, indeed, at this 
season, (at the beginning of April,) the fields were 
green ; but I was assured, that in June, not the 
smallest vestige of this color would be seen, and that 
when the heat began, not even a salad would be 
found in the gardens. 

" The streets are mostly narrow, and the paving- 
stones uneven, hard as marble ; and when it rains, 
the path is as if composed of bits of soap ; it is, in- 
deed, as slippery as if it were actually made of this 
material ; for, in walking, a person needs be as care- 
ful as if he were treading upon ice. 

"From Solomon's temple, probably, the true 
locale is preserved: there, the elegant mosque now 
magnificently raises itself, on a clear and airy height, 
on a free and roomy place, as a foreground of Je- 
rusalem. From the mount of Olives, this stupendous 
building forms a structure to which nothing can be 



compared ; but it is forbidden to any but a Mussul 
man to enter it. Sidney Smith, however, is reported 
to have entered it with his followers, and when he 
was asked to produce the firman, to have replied, 
that he himself was the sultan, and therefore required 
no firman ! [Dr. Richardson entered the mosque, of 
which he has given a minute description in his 
Travels.] 

"It is also said, that since this event the Turks 
have become in general more tractable. Before this, 
it was common to spit in the faces of the Christians 
and foreigners resident here, as they walked in the 
street ; to say nothing of other like contumelies. It 
has now ceased in a great degree ; in consideration 
of which, however, more golu* is extorted from the 
Christians at Easter than formerly. When the French 
advanced to the neighborhood, all the Christians were 
thrown into prison : had they actually pressed for- 
ward to the city, these would have been all put to 
death, without^ solitary exception. Their imprison- 
ment, notwithstanding, continued for several months, 
and the government availed itself of this circumstance, 
afterwards, to restore them to liberty on the payment 
of money. 

# # # # # 

" David's palace, also, lies outside of the present 
city, on the height of Sion. At present, it is con- 
verted all round into a fortification, and a firman is 
required before it can be entered. Nothing worthy 
of notice is stated to be within it : but I did not en- 
ter it. 

"The convent of St. James, (St. Giacomo,) be- 
longing to the Armenians, is of vast circumference ; 
it is esteemed the most wealthy in the Levant. This 
convent, as well as that of the Greeks, contains many 
religious curiosities. It is the prevailing custom to 
adorn the walls of the churches with white and blue 
China plates : this sight involuntarily reminded me 
of the tile ovens which were formerly' common among 
us, and is very far from being prepossessing. The 
appearance of the many inlays of mother-of-pearl 
work on a dark ground is more beautiful and is far 
better. 

"The mount of Olives, situated on the eastern side 
of Jerusalem, offers a lovely prospect : on its veiy 
summit is a mosque, where the ascension is declared 
to have taken place. All the spots visited by the 
Christians are guarded by Turks : every where the 
caffaro or tribute is paid to them, even if it be only a 
few parahs. It is better to endure this than the in- 
solence of these scoundrelly guardians. 

" The mount of Olives, probably, was in another 
condition formerly. I had represented it to myself 
woody and full of bushes ; but I found it bare, and 
where there are buildings, of a yellowish earth : pos- 
sibly not more than fifty olive-trees can be found upon 
it. I occasionally met with some vines, almonds, 
and fig-trees, which, however, as yet pushed forth no 
leaves. In Switzerland, the mountain would only 
be accounted a small hill ; for in a quarter of an 
hour I had ascended from its foot to its top. 

" But there is a splendid view on its summit to- 
wards the east : in the distance, are seen the Dead 
sea and the course of the Jordan, which empties it- 
self into it: the ruins of Jericho lie farther to the left, 
and at its feet is Jerusalem. The mosque, on the site 
of Solomon's tempie, witn the wide and spacious flat 
soil and green country around it, raises itself magnifi- 
cently with its dark cupola and blue porcelain orna- 
ments above the groups lying in the back-ground, 
and the roofless houses of Jerusalem, gradually rising 



JERUSALEM 



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JERUSALEM 



in an amphitheatrical form. The structure ot' the 
Turkish mosque is in beautiful style; the immense 
court, and the brilliant and parti-colored hues of this 
building, relieve both the monotony of the yellow 
stones of the houses crowded together, and the high 
wall of the same color which .surrounds the whole 
with the multitude of its irregular towers. 

"At a little distance below the top of the mount is 
the Grotto of the Apostles, as it is called, which, ac- 
cording to ancient taste, is built under ground. This 
building, with its twelve splendidly-turned arches, 
which are gradually sinking into the morass, assured- 
ly belonged formerly to the finest works of architec- 
ture. Many similar remains of dwellings in this 
place, part of them half sunk, part of them entirely 
covered, prove that the mount of Olives might have 
been in a very different condition some centuries or 
thousands of years ago. Likewise at its foot is the 
grotto of the Madonna, almost entirely under ground : 
its remains even now attest the grand and rich style 
of its magnificent structure. Stairs, indeed, of white 
marble, about thirty feet broad, consisting of fifty 
steps, lead into this grotto, where the Greeks account 
devotion and the service of God their peculiar em- 
ployment ; all which, in fact, the burning lamps and 
devices in all the environs of the exterior announce. 

" On a festival, I descended for the second time to 
inspect this beautiful building : I beheld much that 
was brilliant in the ceremonies, the vestments, and 
other appendages of divine, worship ; but when I re- 
turned home, and perceived the whole street beset on 
both sides by cripples, lame, blind, and beggars, who 
personified misery itself, I was indignant at the 
sanctified display of this external mockery, and the 
entire want of the chief object — relief for the afflicted. 

" Not far from this grotto, the Garden of Geth- 
semane is said to have been situated ; eight fine 
olive-trees, belonging to most ancient times, (whose 
roots are surrounded with heaps of stones, and whose 
preservation is effected by continual supplies of good 
earth,) rear their heads on this memorable spot. 

"The tomb of Absalom, as it is called, lies in the 
lower part of this same place. It contains a tower, 
in Gothic taste, which raises itself on high, and in 
which a noble style may yet be recognized : never- 
theless, the building appears much older than Gothic 
architecture : by its side also are found several sub- 
terranean apartments, of very great extent. Tradi- 
tion avers these to have been the grottos or caves into 
which the disciples' fled after the capture of our Sa- 
viour. Close to these cavities are shown the graves 
of the kings and judges of Israel: they likewise 
merely present fragments of arches and walls under 
rubbish and earth. It is almost incredible, that the 
Jews should not have sufficient public spirit to honor 
these venerable remains, even if it were but in a tri- 
fling degree. 

" The entrance to these sepulchres would rather 
induce us to conjecture a place which led to a cloaca 
than to the catacombs of chiefs. In the very same 
district is situated the burial-place of the Jews of the 
present Jerusalem: — it comprises a circuit scarcely 
to be walked round in half an hour — this cemetery is 
covered with well-hewn, quadrangular flag-stones, 
placed one upon the other, each being furnished with 
inscriptions. Without the possession of a prophetic 
spirit, it may be easily foreseen, that this quantity of 
excellent stones will at some time become very useful 
to the building of massive edifices. 

"Between the mount of Olives and the hid on 
which the city of Jerusalem rests, flows the brook 



Cedron. Here also was my expectation disappoint- 
ed. I had conceived it to myself much greater, and 
found merely a ditch about two feet broad, which at 
this time was almost, and in summer is totally, dry ; 
but in winter it becomes like a wood-torrent, which 
in one instant impetuously swells on its ccarse, and 
in the other disappears. 

" Deeper down lies the spring of the Siloe : a long 
stony flight of steps leads to it, far below the earth, 
below which a crystalline clear water springs up 
It is light, though somewhat saline ; yet it is uncom- 
monly pleasant, and tasted, in my opinion, like milk. 
This spring is said to have an ebbing and flowing in 
common with the ocean ; during six hours it is full, 
and during six it is empty. (This is perhaps the 
most satisfactory solution of the phenomenon which 
has yet been given, and, if true, fully accounts for 
every legend which the Arabians have written re- 
specting it.) 

" On the left hand, on the height, is situated the 
.village of Siloe ; there but little is seen of dwelling- 
houses, which mostly consist of grottos or caves, 
which are built in rocks. This place, whose wild 
inhabitants are in every respect Turks, is a miserable 
nest : — as far as it was possible to throw a stone, boys 
from ten to twelve years of age were pelting ue from 
the heights." (For a description of the holy sepul- 
chre, see Sepulchre.) 

How unlike the ancient city is the modern Jerusa- 
lem ! " From the daughter of Sion all her beauty is 
departed ! " Dr. Clarke, who approached Jerusalem 
from the direction of the Napolose, on which side it is 
seen to the greatest advantage, has described its first 
appearance in the most glowing terms. But his de- 
scription is decidedly overcharged. Mr. JollifFe says, 
" Were a person carried blindfold from England, and 
placed in the centre of Jerusalem, or on any of the 
hills which overlook the city, nothing, perhaps, 
would exceed his astonishment on the sudden re- 
moval of the bandage. From the centre of the 
neighboring elevations he would see a wild, rugged, 
mountainous desert — no herds depasturing on the 
summit, no forests clothing the acclivities, no water 
flowing through the valleys ; but one rude scene of 
melancholy waste, in the midst of which the ancient 
glory of Judea bows her head in widowed desola- 
tion. On entering the town, the magic of the name 
and all his earlier associations would suffer a still 
greater violence, and expose him to still stronger 
disappointment. No ' streets of palaces and walks 
of state,' no high-raised arches of triumph, no foun- 
tains to cool the ail - , or porticos to exclude the sun, 
no single vestige to announce its former military 
greatness or commercial opulence ; but in the place 
of these, he would find himself encompassed on 
every side by walls of rude masonry, the dull uni- 
formity of which is only broken by the occasional 
protrusion of a small grated window." The follow- 
ing very spirited sketch of modern Jerusalem, from 
the pen of Mr. Buckingham, may close this account. 

"Reposing beneath the shade of an olive-tree upon 
the brow of this hill, (the mount of Olives,) we en- 
joyed from hence a fine prospect of Jerusalem on the 
opposite one. This city occupies an irregular square, 
of about two miles and a half in circumference. Its 
shortest apparent side is that which faces the east, 
and in this is the supposed gate of the ancient tem- 
ple, now closed up, and the small projecting stone on 
which Mohammed is to sit, when the world is to be 
assembled to judgment in the vale below. The 
southern side is exceedingly irregular, taking quite a 



JERUSALEM 



[ 566 ] 



JES 



iigzag direction ; the south-west extreme being ter- 
minated by the mosque built over the supposed sep- 
ulchre of" David, on the summit of mount Sion. The 
form and exact direction of the western and southern 
walls are not distinctly seen from hence ; but every 
part of this appears to be a modern work, and exe- 
cuted at the same time. The walls are flanked at 
irregular distances by square towers, and have bat- 
tlements running all around on their summits, with 
loop-holes for arrows or musketry close to the top. 
The walls appear to be about fifty feet ill height, but 
are not surrounded by a ditch. The northern wall 
runs over slightly declining ground ; the eastern 
wall runs straight along the brow of mount Moriah, 
with the deep valley of Jehoshaphat below ; the 
southern wall runs over the summit of the hill as- 
sumed as mount Sion, with the vale of Hinnom at its 
feet; and the western wall runs along on more level 
ground, near the summit of the high and stony 
mountains over which we had first approached the 
town. As the city is thus seated on the brow of one 
large hill, divided by name into several smaller hills, 
and the whole of these slope gently down towards 
the east ; this view, from the mount of Olives, a po- 
sition of greater height than that on which the high- 
est part of the city stands, commands nearly the 
whole of it at once. 

" On the north, it is bounded by a level and appar- 
ently fertile space, now covered with olive-trees, 
particularly near the north-east angle. On the south, 
the steep side of mount Sion, and the valley of Hin- 
nom, both show patches of cultivation and little gar- 
den enclosures. On the west, the sterile summits of 
the hills there barely lift their outlines above the 
dwellings. And, on the east, the deep valley of Je- 
hoshaphat, now at our feet, has some partial spots re- 
ieved by trees, though as forbidding in its general 
aspect as the vale of death could ever be desired to be, 
by those who have chosen it for the place of their 
interment. 

"Within the walls of the city are seen crowded 
dwellings, remarkable in no respect, except being 
terraced by flat roofs, and generally built of stone. 
On the south are some gardens and vineyards, with 
the long red mosque of Al Sakhara, having two tiers 
of windows, a sloping roof, and a dark dome at one 
end, and the mosque of Sion and the sepulchre of 
David in the same quarter. On the west is seen the 
high, square castle, and palace of the same monarch, 
near the Bethlehem gate. In the centre rise the two 
cupolas, of unequal form and size ; the one blue, and 
the other white, covering the church of the Holy 
Sepulchre. Around, in different directions, are seen 
the minarets of eight or ten mosques, amid an assem- 
blage of about two thousand dwellings. And on the 
east is seated the great mosque of Al Harrem, or, as 
called by Christians, the mosque of Solomon, from 
being supposed, with that of Al Sakhara near it, to 
occupy the site of the ancient temple of that splendid 
and luxurious king." (Travels in Palestine, &c. 
p. 203—205, 4to.) 

[The plan of Jerusalem which we have placed op- 
posite the title-page of this work, is that given by Dr. 
Jowett, who had ample opportunity of testing its 
correctness. It varies from most others in represent- 
ing the Kidron as bending to the south-west after 
passing the valley of Hinnom. Mr. Carne, however, 
describes the stream from Siloa [the Kidron was dry 
when he saw it] as passing down the valley of Je- 
hoshaphat, and winding between rugged and deso- 
late hills towards the wilderness of St. Saba. Ac- 



cording to the same traveller, the convent of S. Saba 
overlooks the deep and rugged glen through >vhich 
the Kidron flows in order to reach the Dead sea. 
The bend of this stream to the south-west upon the 
plan, therefore, is probably nothing more than a 
winding of the valley. R. 

JERUSALEM, The new. The city of Jerusalem 
furnishes a metaphorical application of its name, in 
an exalted and spiritual sense. The first hint of this 
in the New Testament, occurs in Gal. iv. 25, where 
the apostle refers to the formation of the Hebrew na- 
tion into a church state, by the giving of the law from 
Sinai; under which terrific and slavish dispensation, 
the " Jerusalem that now is," he says, " continues ; 
but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother 
of us all," Gentiles as well as Jews, (perhaps narrow 
M'/' T, iS, the Universal Mother,) the formation of all 
mankind, as it were, (not of a single nation,) into a 
church state, beginning at Jerusalem, the city of 
peace ; though properly originating in heaven, the 
seat of the celestial Jerusalem, the mansion of com- 
plete and uninterrupted tranquillity. The metaphor 
is resumed and enlarged by the writer of the Reve- 
lation : (Rev. iii. 12.) "The city of my God, the new 
Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven, from 
my God." It appears here, by its coming down from 
heaven, to refer to the Christian establishment or 
church, which now had taken place of the Jewish. 
But the same writer afterwards employs it in a still 
superior sense : (chap, xxi.) " And I saw a new 
heaven, and a new earth : for the first heaven and 
the first earth were passed away — and I saw the holy 
city, new Jerusalem," ver. 1. This he describes at 
large, (ver. 10, et seq.) in a strain of oriental meta- 
phor, that can only agree to the celestial state : simi- 
lar allusions to certain parts of its decorations are 
found, Isa. liv. 11 ; Tobit xiii. 16. 

This celestial city, called the holy city, and the 
great city, was to have no temple, nor other pecu- 
liarities of the Jewish service; and the whole de- 
scription of it, the dimensions, the parts, and the 
properties of it, are symbolical in the highest degree. 
The new Jerusalem on earth should be carefully 
distinguished from the new Jerusalem in heaven, in 
explaining this book ; nor should it be forgotten, that 
much of the scenery in it is conceived in the spirit 
of one who had been familiar with the courts, altars, 
&c. of that Jewish Jerusalem and temple, of which 
he had lived to witness the destruction. 

JESHANAH, a city of Ephraim, 2 Chron.xiii. 19. 
Eusebius and Jerome place it seven miles north from 
Jericho. 

JESHIMON, perhaps the same as Hesmona, Ase- 
mona, Esem, Esemon, and Esemona, a city in the 
wilderness of Maon, belonging to Simeon; in the 
south of Palestine, or Arabia Petrsea, 1 Sam. xxiii. 

24. • 

JESHUA, or Joshua, son of Jozedek, the first high- 
priest of the Jews, after their return from the Baby- 
lonish captivity, Ezra iii. 2 ; iv. 3. His first care after 
his arrival at Jerusalem, was to restore the sacrifices, 
to regulate the offices and orders of the priests and 
Levites, and to rebuild the temple, as far as the con- 
dition of the Jews would allow of the work. The 
prophets Haggai and Zechariah often mention Jesus, 
or Joshua, son of Jozedek. Haggai (i. 1.) addresses 
himself to him and Zerubbabel, exciting them to build 
the temple after the death of Cyrus and Cambyses. 
Zechariah relates, (chap. iii. 1.) that the Lord showed 
him the high-priest Joshua, son of Jozedek, standing 
before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standirg at 



JET 



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JEZ 



nis right hand to accuse him. The same prophet 
having seen a vision of two olive-trees, which fur- 
nished oil for the golden candlestick, through which 
the oil ran into the lamps, the angel of the Lord told 
him, that these two olive-trees were Joshua, son of 
Jozedek, and Zerubbabel, son of Salathiel, " who are 
the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the 
whole earth." (See also Zech. vi. 11, and the article 
Candlestick.) Jesus, son of Sirach, in Ecclesiasticus, 
commends Jesus, (Joshua,) son of Jozedek, and Ze 
rubbabel, as signets on the Lord's right hand, chap, 
xlix. 12. Joshua was succeeded in the high-priest- 
hood by his son Joachim, who was high-priest in the 
reign of Xerxes. 

JESHURUN, a poetical name given to Israel, in 
Deut. xxxiii. 5 ; xxxii. 15, &c. Translators differ in 
their ideas of its meaning, some rendering it, the just, 
or upright ; others, the beloved ; others, taking it as a 
diminutive, render it, " little Israel," i. e. the beloved, 
upright, little Israel. It is derived from -it", upright. 

JESSE, son of Obed, and father of David, Eliab, 
Abinadab, Shammah, Nethaneel, Raddai, and 
Ozem. David was the youngest son ; but became 
the most illustrious, Ruth iv. 17, 22 ; 1 Chron. ii. 
12 ; Matt. i. 5. 

I. JESUS CHRIST, the son of God, the Messiah, 
and Saviour of the world, the first and principal ob- 
ject of the prophecies, who was prefigured and prom- 
ised in the Old Testament, was expected and de- 
sired by the patriarchs ; the hope and salvation of 
the Gentiles ; the glory, happiness, and consolation 
of Christians. The name Jesus, or, as the Hebrews 
pronounce it, Jehoshuah, or Joshua, signifies, he who 
shall save. No one ever bore this name with so 
much justice, nor so perfectly fulfilled the significa- 
tion of it, as Jesus Christ, who saves from sin and 
hell, and has merited heaven for us by the price of 
his blood. See Christ. 

II. JESUS, or Joshua, which see. 

III. JESUS, surnamed Justus, see Justus II. 
JETHRO, priest, or prince, of Midian, (for the 

Hebrew jro, cohcn, signifies a prince as well as a 
priest,) the father-in-law of Moses. It is believed 
that he was a priest of the true God, and maintained 
ihe true religion, being descended from Midian, son 
of Abraham and Keturah. Moses does not conceal 
his alliance with Jethro's family, but invites him to 
offer sacrifices to the Lord, on his arrival in the camp 
of Israel, as one who adored the same God,Exod. xviii. 
11, 12. Some assert that he had four names, Jethro, 
Raguel or Reuel, Hobab, and Ceni. Others, that Je- 
thro and Raguel were the same person ; that Hobab 
was son of Jethro, and brother of Zipporah ; and that 
Ceni is a common name, signifying the country of 
the Kenites, inhabited by the posterity of Hobab, 
south of the promised land. The Hebrew hothen, 
which Jerome translates kinsman, is used in Numb, 
x. 29, and Exod. xviii. 1, 27, to denote the relation 
Detween Moses and Hobab ; in Numbers, however, 
Hobab is called son of Raguel, whence others are of 
opinion that Raguel was the father of Jethro, and 
Jethro the father of Hobab. On the other side, 
Raguel gives Zipporah to Moses, Exod. ii. 21. The 
signification of the Hebrew hothen not being fixed, 
it is impossible to determine this question with cer- 
tainty. Moses, having killed an Egyptian who ill- 
treated a Hebrew, was obliged to fly from Egypt, in- 
to the land of Midian, east of the Red sea, near the 
gulf of Elam, where he married one of the daughters 
of Jethro. After he had been here forty years, he 
saw the vision of the burning bush, and Jethro, un- 



derstanding the will of God, permitted him to return 
to Egypt with his wife and children. Zipporah be- 
ing obliged to return to her father, Jethro brought 
her to Moses, at the foot of mount Sinai, about a year 
after the Hebrews came out of Egypt. Moses went 
out of the camp to meet Jethro, and falling prostrate, 
embraced him, introduced him into his tent, and re- 
lated to him what the Lord had done for Israel. Je- 
thro blessed God for it, offered bumt-offerings, and 
peace-offerings, and ate with Moses, Aaron, and the 
elders of Israel, in the presence of the Lord. The 
next day, Moses sitting to judge Israel, from morn- 
ing to evening, Jethro insisted that the fatigue was 
too great, and advised him to appoint deputies for 
lesser causes. 

When the Israelites were decamping on their 
journey, Moses importuned Jethro to accompany 
them ; but he returned to Midian, leaving, as some be- 
lieve, Hobab his son, to conduct the Israelites, Exod. 
xviii. 5, 27. But Hobab was more probably Jethro 
himself. 

JEWELS, valuables, whether for store, or for ap- 
parel. This word does not mean jewelry works, 
gems, &c. but whatever is stored up in consequence 
of its superior estimation. God calif? his people jew- 
els ; (Mai. iii. 17.) the hps of knowledge are a jewel, 
Prov. xx. 15. 

JEWS, the name borne by the Jews, among for- 
eign nations, especially after the return from Baby- 
lon, from Judah, their ancestor. See Hebrews. 

JEZEBEL, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zi- 
donians, and wife of Ahab, king of Israel, (1 Kings 
xvi. 31.) introduced into the kingdom of Samaria the 
public worship of Baal, Astarte, and other Phoenician 
deities, which the Lord had expressly forbidden ; and 
with this impious worship, a general prevalence of 
those abominations which had formerly incensed God 
against the Canaanites, to their utter extirpation. 
Jezebel was so zealous, that she fed at her own table 
four hundred prophets belonging to the goddess As- 
tarte ; and Ahab in like manner kept four hundred 
of Baal's prophets, as ministers of his false gods. 
Jezebel seems to have undertaken the utter abolition 
of the worship of the Lord in Israel, by persecuting 
his prophets ; and she had destroyed them all, if a 
part had not been saved by some good men. Elijah, 
who lived at this time, having brought fire from 
heaven on his burnt-offering, in sight of Ahab and of 
all Israel, assembled at mount Carmel, and the peo- 
ple having killed four hundred and fifty of Baal's 
prophets, Jezebel sent to Elijah, declaring, that the 
next day she would take care he should be despatched, 
1 Kings xix. Some time afterwards, Ahab being 
desirous to buy Nabbth's vineyard, but meeting with 
a refusal from him, Jezebel wrote in the king's name 
to the principal men of Jezreel, requiring them to 
accuse him of blaspheming God and the king, and 
to punish him capitally. These orders were but too 
punctually executed. Ahab returning from Jezreel, 
Eli jah met him, and threatened his destruction in the 
name of God ; and that Jezebel, who had been the 
cause of this evil, should be eaten by dogs in the 
field of Jezreel ; or, according to the Hebrew, by the 
outward wall of Jezreel. These predictions were 
verified, when Jehu had her. thrown out of her win- 
dow, and left exposed by the outer wall, 2 Kings ix. 
35. " And they went to bury her, but they found no 
more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the 
palms of her hands." (See Jehu.) To an English ear 
it sounds very surprising, that, during the time of a 
single meal, so many dogs should be on the spot, 



JEZEBEL 



[ 568 ] 



JO A 



ready to devour ; and should so speedily despatch 
this business, in the very midst of a royal city, close 
under the royal gateway, and where a considerable 
train of people had so lately passed, and, no doubt, 
many were continually passing: this appears ex- 
tremely unaccountable ; but we find it well account- 
ed for by Mr. Bruce, whose information the reader 
will receive with due allowance for the different 
manners and ideas of countries ; after which, this 
rapid devouring of Jezebel will not appear so ex- 
traordinary as it has hitherto done : " The bodies of 
those killed by the sword were hewn to pieces, and 
scattered about the streets, being denied burial. I 
was miserable, and almost driven to despair, at see- 
ing my hunting dogs, twice let loose by the careless- 
ness of my servants, bringing into the court-yard the 
heads and arms of slaughtered men, and which I 
could no way prevent, but; by the destruction of the 
dogs themselves : the quantity of carrion, and the 
stench of it, brought down the hyaenas in hundreds 
from the neighboring mountains ; and, as few people 
in Gondar go out after it is dark, they enjoyed the 
streets to themselves, and seemed ready to dispute 
the possession of the city with the inhabitants. Often, 
when I went home late from the palace, (and it was 
this time the king chose chiefly for conversation,) 
though I had but to pass the corner of the market- 
place before the palace, had lanterns with me, and 
was surrounded with armed men, I heard them 
grunting by twos and threes, so near me, as to be 
afraid they would take some opportunity of seizing 
me by the leg. A pistol would have frightened them, 
and made them speedily run, and I constantly carried 
two loaded at my girdle ; but the discharging a pistol 
in the night would have alarmed every one that 
heard it in the town, and it was not now the time to 
add any thing to people's -fears. I at last scarcely 
ever went out, and nothing occupied my thoughts 
but how to escape from this bloody country, by way 
of Sennaar, and how I could best exert my power 
and influence over Yasine at Ras el Feel to pave my 
way, by assisting me to pass the desert, into Atbara. 
The king, missing me at the palace, and hearing I 
had not been at Ras Michael's, began to inquire who 
had been with me. Ayto Confu soon found Yasine, 
who informed him of the whole matter. Upon this 
I was sent for to the palace, where I found the king, 
without any body but menial servants. He immedi- 
ately remarked, that I looked very ill ; which, indeed, 
I found to be the case, as I had scarcely ate or slept 
since I saw him last, or even for some days before. 
He asked me, in a condoling tone, what ailed me — 
that, besides looking sick, I seemed as if something 
had ruffled me, and put me out of humor. I told 
him, that what he observed was true : that, coming 
across the market-place, I had seen Za Mariam, the 
Ras's door-keeper, with three men bound, one of 
whom he fell a-hacking to pieces in my presence, 
and upon seeing me running across the place, stop- 
ping my nose, he called me to stay till he should 
come and despatch the other two, for he wanted to 
speak with me, as if he had been engaged about or- 
dinary business ; that the soldiers, in consideration of 
his haste, immediately fell upon the other two, whose 
cries were still remaining in my ears ; that the hy- 
senas, at night, would scarcely let me pass hi the 
Streets, when I returned from the palace ; and the 
dogs fled into my house, to eat pieces of human carcasses 
at their leisure." (Travels, vol. iv. p. 81, &c.) 

Without supposing that .Tezreel was pestered with 
hysenas, like Gondar, though that is not incredible, 



we may easily admit of a sufficiency of dogs, accus- 
tomed to carnage, which had pulled the body of 
Jezebel to pieces, and had devoured it before the 
palace-gate, or had withdrawn with parts of it to their 
hiding-places. But, perhaps, the mention of the 
head, hands, and feet, being left on the spot, indicates 
that it had not been removed by the dogs, but was 
eaten where it fell, (as those parts adjoined the mem- 
bers most likely to be removed,) so that the prophecy 
of Elijah was literally fulfilled, " in the portion of 
Jezreel, shall dogs eat Jezebel." See Dogs. 

This account illustrates, also, the readiness of .the 
dogs to lick the blood of Ahab, (1 Kings xxii. 38.) in 
perfect conformity to which is the expression of tho 
prophet Jeremiah, (xv. 3.) " I will appoint over them 
. . . the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls 
of the heaven and the beasts of the earth, (the hyae- 
nas of Bruce, perhaps,) to devour and destroy." It 
also explains the mode of execution adopted by the 
prophet Samuel, with regard to Agag, king of the 
Amalekites, whom Samuel thus addresses : "In like 
manner as thy sword has made women barren, so 
shall thy mother be rendered barren [childless] 
among women," 1 Sam. xv. 33. If these words do 
not imply that Agag had ripped up pregnant women, 
they at least imply, that he had hewed many prison- 
ers to death ; for we find that " Samuel caused Agag 
to be hewed in pieces before the face of the Lord in 
Gilgal," directing that very same mode of punish- 
ment (hitherto, probably, unadopted in Israel) to be 
used towards him, which he had formerly used to- 
wards others. The character of the prophet Samuel 
has been vilified for cruelty on account of this histo- 
ry ; with how little reason let the reader now judge ; 
and compare a similar retributive justice on Adoni- 
bezek, Judg. i. 7. 

In Rev. ii. 20, the angel of Thyatira is reproached 
with suffering Jezebel, "that woman who calleth 
herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce the ser- 
vants of Jesus Christ," &c. Jezebel is in this place 
a figurative name, and signifies some impious and 
cruel woman, who dogmatized and domineered in 
the church. 

I. JEZREEL, (whom God plants,) a city of Judah, 
Josh. xv. 56. 

II. JEZREEL, son of Etam, of Judah, 1 Chron. 
iv. 3. 

III. JEZREEL, son of the prophet Hosea, i. 4. 
In verse 11 there is an allusion to the meaning of the 
name, which is there applied to Israel. 

IV. JEZREEL, a celebrated city of Issachar, 
(Josh. xix. 18.) in the great plain, between Legio 
west, and Scythopolis east. Ahab had here a pal- 
ace ; and this city became famous on account of his 
seizure of Naboth's vineyard, and the vengeance ex- 
ecuted on Ahab, 2 Kings ix. 10, &c. Jerome says, 
Jezreel was near Maximiauopolis ; and that not far 
from it was a very long vale. Josephus calls Jezreel 
Azarius, or Azares. In the time of William of Tyre, 
it was called Little Gerin. There was a fine foun- 
tain in it. - 

JOAB, son of Zeruiab David's sister, and brother 
of Abishai and Asahel, was one of the most valiant 
soldiers and greatest generals in David's time ; but he 
was also one of the most cruel, revengeful, and im- 
perious of men. He was commander in chief of his 
troops, when David was king of Judah only, and was 
always firm to his interests. He signalized himself 
at the battle of Gibeon against Abner, (2 Sam. ii. 13, 
14, &c.) but Asahel, his brother, was killed in that 
engagement by Abner. To revenge his death, Joab 



JO A 



[ 569 ] 



JOB 



treacherously Killed Abner, who had ome to Hebron 
to make an alliance with David, and (ring all Israel 
to his obedience, 2 Sam. iii. 27, .39. David abhorred 
the base action ; but did not dare to punish Joab, 
who was too formidable. After David was acknowl- 
edged king by all Israel, he besieged Jebus, and 
promised to make captain-general of his army the 
man who should first mount the walls, and beat off 
the Jebusites, 1 Chron. xi. 6. Joab was the first who 
appeared on the walls, and by his valor well merited 
to be continued in his station. He subdued the Am- 
monites, and procured the destruction of the brave 
Uriah, at the siege of Rabbah, their capital, 2 Sam. 
xi. 17. He interceded for Absalom's return from 
exile, and his restoration to favor. But though he 
showed himself a friend to Absalom in his disgrace, 
he was his enemy at his rebellion. He overcame him 
in a battle near Mahanaim ; and being informed that 
he hung by the hair on an oak, he pierced him to 
death with his own hands, though he well knew that 
David had given strict orders to preserve him. When 
the king discovered too much sorrow for the death 
of his son, Joab remonstrated with him. 

When Adonijah, David's eldest son, aspired to the 
throne, he carefully secured the friendship and assist- 
ance of Joab, (see Adonijah,) who, by lending him- 
self to the designs of the prince, increased David's 
aversion from him, so that, when near his end, he 
advised Solomon to punish him for the various mis- 
demeanors of which he had been guilty. Some time 
after the death of David, Joab, being informed that 
Solomon had caused Adonijah to be put to death, 
and had banished the high-priest Abiathar to his 
country residence at Anathoth, thought it time to 
provide for his own security. He fled into the tem- 
ple, and laid hold on the horns of the altar, but Solo- 
mon sent Benaiah, who put him to death at the foot 
of the altar. He was buried by Benaiah in his own 
house in the wilderness, 1 Kings ii. 28, seq. 

JOACHIN, see Jehoiachin. 

I. JOAKIM, high-priest of the Jews, succeeded 
Joshua, son of Jozedek, his father, after the return 
from the captivity. 

II. JOAKIM, son of Hilkiah, high-priest of the 
Jews, in the reigns of Manasseh and Josiah ; more 
generally known by the name Hilkiah, or Eliakim, 
Judith iv. 6, 14. 

JOANNA, wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, (Luke 
viii. 3.) was one of those women who followed our 
Saviour, and assisted him with their property. Luke 
observes that these women had been delivered by 
Christ from evil spirits ; or cured of diseases. It was 
customary among the Jews, for men who dedicated 
themselves to preaching, to accept services from 
women of piety, who attended them without any 
scandal. 

I. JOASH, or Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, king of 
Judah, was saved from the design of the impious 
Athaliah, by Jehoshebah, or Jehoshabath, daughter 
of Joram, sister of Ahaziah, and wife of the high- 
priest Jehoiada. In the seventh year, Jehoiada pro- 
cured him to be acknowledged king, and so well con- 
certed his plan, that the young prince was placed. on 
the throne, and saluted king, in the temple, before 
the queen had notice of it, 2 Kings xi. xii. Joash 
received the diadem, with the book of the law, from 
the hands of Jehoiada, the high-priest, who, in the 
young king's name, made a covenant between the 
Lord, the king, and the people, for their future fidelity 
to God ; and also obliged the people to take an oath 
to the king. Joash reigned forty years at Jerusalem, 



and governed with justice and piety, so long as no 
was guided by Jehoiada; .In the king's minority, the 
high-priest had issued orders for collecting voluntary 
offerings to the holy place, with a design of repairing 
the temple ; but his orders were ill executed, till the 
twentieth year of Joash, who directed chests to be 
placed at the entrance of the temple, and an account 
to be given of what money was collected, that i 
might be faithfully employed in reparations of the- 
house of God. Jehoiada d y ing at the age of a hun- 
dred and thirty y r ears, Joash was misled by the evil 
counsels of his courtiers, who had before been re- 
strained by the high-priest's authority. They began 
to forsake the temple of the Lord, and to worship 
idols and groves, or Asteroth, goddess of the groves, 
which drew down wrath on Judah and Jerusalem. 
The Spirit of God came upon the high-priest Zeeha- 
riah, son of Jehoiada, who reprimanded the people ; 
but they who heard him, stoned him, according to 
orders from the king. It was not long before God 
inflicted on Joash the just punishment of his ingrati- 
tude to Jehoiada, and his son : Hazael, king of Syria,, 
besieged Gath, which belonged to Judah ; and, having 
taken it, he marched against Jerusalem. Joash, to 
redeem himself from the difficulties of a siege, and 
from the danger of being plundered, took what 
money he coidd find in the temple, which had been 
consecrated by Ahaziah his father, Jehoram his 
grandfather, and himself, with what he had in the 
royal treasury ; all of which he gave to Hazael, to 
stay his hostilities. It is believed that the next year 
the Syrian army marched again into Judah ; but Ha- 
zael was not with it in person. The Syrians made 
great havoc, defeated the troops of Joash, entered Je- 
rusalem, slew the princes of Judah, and sent a great 
booty to the king of Syria at Damascus. They treated 
Joash himself with great ignominy ; and left him ex- 
tremely ill. Shortly afterwards, his servants revolted 
against him, and killed him in his bed, by which the • 
blood of Zechariah the high-priest was avenged. 
He was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal 
sepulchre. 

II. JOASH, king of Israel, son and successor of 
Jehoahaz, was declared king in his father's life-time, 
A. M. 3163. He reigned sixteen years, including the 
two that he reigned with his father ; and though he 
did evil in the sight of the Lord, and imitated Jero- 
boam, son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, the Lord 
re-established, during his reign, the affairs of the 
kingdom of Israel, which had been thrown into very 
great confusion under Jehoahaz his father. 

Elisha falling sick, Joash went to visit him, and 
wept before the prophet, who directed him to shoot 
with arrows. The king shot three times, and ceased ; 
he gained, therefore, only three victories over Syria. 

Amaziah, king of Judah, having been victorious 
over the Edomites, challenged Joash, saying, "Come, 
let us see one another in the face ;" but Joash reprov- 
ed him by the fable of the cedar, and the thistle of 
Lebanon. Amaziah, however, would not take his 
counsel, and was defeated, and taken in the battle 
Joash entered Jerusalem, and ordered four hundre* 
cubits of the city walls to be demolished, from th 
gate of Ephraim to the corner-gate. He took all the 
treasures of the temple and the royal palace, and re- 
turned in triumph to Samaria, where he died in peace 
soon afterwards, and was succeeded by Jeroboam, 2 
Kings xiii. 10. 

JOB, a patriarch celebrated for his patience, con- 
stancy, piety, and virtue. He dwelt in the land of 
Uz, or the Ausitis, in East Edom ; but there are dif- 



JOB 



I 570 ] 



JOB 



ferent opinions concerning his family and his time. 
At the end of the Greek and Arabic copies of the 
book of Job, and in the bid Latin Vulgate, we read 
these words, there said to be taken from the Syriac : 
"Job dwelt in the Ausitis, on the confines of Idumea 
and Arabia ; his name at first was Jobab. He mar- 
ried an Arabian woman, by whom he had a son, 
called Ennon. He himself was son of Zerah, of the 
posterity of Esau, and a native of Bozrah : so that he 
was the fifth from Abraham. He reigned in Edom ; 
and the kings before and after him reigned in this 
order : Balak, the son of Beor, in the city of Dinha- 
bah ; after him Job (otherwise called Jobab). Job 
was succeeded by Husham, prince of Teman. After 
him reigned Hadad, the son of Bedad, who defeated 
the Midianites in the fields of Moab. The name of 
his city was Arith. Job's friends who came to visit 
him were Eliphaz, of the posterity of Esau, and king 
of Teman ; Bildad, king of the Shuhites ; and Zo- 
phar, king of the Naamathites." This is the most 
ancient account of Job's genealogy. Aristeus, Philo, 
and Polyhistor acknowledged it to be true ; as did 
the Greek and Latin fathers. The tradition is deriv- 
ed, probably, from the Jews. In tracing the gene- 
alogy, we find Job to have been contemporary with 
Moses. 

Abraham. 
Isaac. 



Jacob. Esau. 
Levi. Reuel. 
Amram. Zerah. 
Moses. Jobab. 

1 Chron. i. 35—44. 

Job was a man of great probity, virtue, and religion, 
iind he possessed much riches in cattle and slaves ; 
• which at that time constituted the principal wealth 
even of princes in Arabia and Edom. He had seven 
eons and three daughters ; and was in great repute 
among all people, on both sides of the Euphrates. 
His sons, by turns, made entertainments for each oth- 
•er ; and when they had gone through the circle of 
their days of feasting, Job sent to them, purified them, 
and offered burnt-offerings for each one ; that God 
might pardon any faults inadvertently committed 
against him during such festivities. He was wholly 
averse from injustice, idolatry, fraud, and adultery ; 
he avoided evil thoughts, and dangerous looks ; was 
compassionate to the poor ; a father to the orphan, a 
protector to the widow, a guide to the blind, and a 
Bupport to the lame. 

God permitted Satan to put the virtue of Job to the 
test ; at first giving him power over his property ; but 
forbidding him to touch his person. Satan began 
with taking away his oxen ; a company of Sabeans 
slew his husbandmen, and drove off all the beasts ; 
one servant only escaping to bringthe news. While 
he was reporting this misfortune, a second came, and 
informed Job that fire from heaven had consumed 
his sheep, and those who kept them ; and that he 
alone had escaped. A third messenger arrived, who 
said, " The Chaldeans have carried away the camels, 
have killed all thy servants, and I only am escaped." 
He had scarcely concluded, when another came, and 
said, "While thy sons and thy daughters were eating 
and drinking in their eldest brother's house, an im- 
petuous wind suddenly overthrew it, and they were 
all crushed to death under the ruins ; I alone am es- 
caped to bring thee this news." Job rent his clothes, 



and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground 
saying, " Naked came I out of my mother's womb, 
and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave, 
and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name 
of the Lord." 

As Job endured these calamities without repining 
against Providence, Satan solicited permission to af- 
flict his person, and the Lord said, "Behold he is in 
thine hand, but touch not his life." Satan, therefore, 
smote him with a dreadful disease, probably the lep 
rosy ; and Job, seated in ashes, scraped off the cor- 
ruption with a potsherd. His wife incited him to 
" curse God, and die : " but Job answered, " Shall we 
receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not 
receive evil ? " In the mean time, three of his friends, 
having been informed of his misfortunes, came to 
visit him — Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, 
and Zophar the Naamathite. A fourth was Elihu 
the Buzite, who from chap, xxxii. bears a distinguish- 
ed part in the dialogue. (See Elihu.) They con- 
tinued seven days sitting on the ground by him, 
without speaking ; but at last Job broke silence, and 
complained of his misery. His friends, not distin- 
guishing between the evils with which God tries 
those whom he loves, and the afflictions with which 
he punishes the wicked, accused him of having in- 
dulged some secret impiety, and urged him to re- 
turn to God by repentance, and humbly to submit to 
his justice, since he suffered only according to hi? 
demerits. 

Job, convinced of his own innocence, maintained, 
that his sufferings were greater than his faults, and 
that God sometimes afflicted the righteous only to 
try them, to give them an opportunity of manifesting 
or of improving their pious dispositions; or because 
it was his pleasure, for reasons unknown to mankind 
Elihu takes a middle path, referring strongly to thn 
sovereignty of God. To terminate the controversy, 
the Deity appears in a cloud, and decides in favor 
of Job ; but does not approve those' harsh expres- 
sions, which the extremity of his sorrow, and thn 
warmth of dispute, had excited. Job humbly ac- 
knowledges his fault, and asks forgiveness. The 
Lord condemns his friends, and enjoins them to ex- 
piate their sins with sacrifices, offered by his hands. 
He restores Job to health, gives him double the riches 
which he before possessed, blesses him with a beau- 
tiful and numerous family, and crowns a holy life 
with a happy death. 

The time in which this pious man lived is much 
contested. But supposing him to have been contem- 
porary with Moses, and fixing the time of his trial at 
some years after the departure of the Hebrews out of 
Egypt, (it cannot be placed earlier, because it is sup- 
posed he speaks of this event,) he might have lived 
till the time ofOthniel. Supposing, for instance, that 
he was afflicted seven years after the Exodus, (A. M. 
2520,) and that he lived 140 years afterwards, he must 
have died in 2660. 

Tombs, called Job's, have been shown in several 
places. The most celebrated is in the Trachonitis, 
towards the springs of the Jordan, where for many 
ages a pyramid was believed to be Job's tomb. It is 
placed between the cities of Teman, Shuah, and 
Naamath, which are supposed to have been in this 
country. Some writers have doubted whether there 
ever was such a person as Job ; but there is no deny- 
ing his existence without contradicting Ezekiel, To- 
bit, and James, who speak of him as a holy man, and 
hold him up as a true pattern of patience ; and with- 
out opposing also the current of tradition among both 



JOE . [571 ] 



JOH 



Jews and Christians. Others place his history as low 
as the time of David or Solomon, and some even so 
late as the captivity of Babylon ; forgetting that he is 
cited by Tobit and by Ezekiel as an ancient patriarch. 

The Book of Job. — Various conjectures have 
been made concerning the author of this book. The 
original work was probably more ancient than the 
time of Moses, and seems to have been written in the 
old Hebrew, or perhaps the Arabic. Our present 
copy is evidently altered in its style, so as to have 
transfused into it a Hebrew phraseology, resembling 
that in the age of Solomon, to the writings of which 
author the style bears a great resemblance. This 
idea, for which we are indebted to Dr. J. P. Smith, 
meets the difficulty that has been urged from the style 
of the book, against its antiquity, and unites the dis- 
cordant opinions that have been entertained on the 
subject. It is written in verse, whose beauty consists 
principally in noble expressions, bold and sublime 
thoughts, lively emotions, fine descriptions, and great 
diversity of character. We believe there is not in all 
antiquity a piece of poetry more copious, more lofty, 
more magnificent, more diversified, more adorned, or 
more affecting. The author has practised all the 
beauties of his art, in the characters of the four per- 
sons whom he brings upon the stage. The history, as 
to the substance of it, is true ; the sentiments, reasons, 
and arguments of the several persons are faithfully 
expressed ; but the terms and turns of expression are 
the poet's own. 

The canonical authority of the book of Job is gen- 
erally acknowledged. Paul, in several places, seems 
to quote the book of Job ; or, at least, to allude to it ; 
and James commends the patience of Job, which, he 
says, was well known to those to whom he wrote. 

JOCHEBED, wife of Amram, and mother of Mi- 
riam, Moses, and Aaron. Several difficulties are start- 
ed concerning the degree of relationship between 
Amram and Jochebed, she being called in Ex. vi. 20, 
the father's sister to Amram. Some assert that she 
was the daughter immediately of Levi, and aunt of 
Amram, her husband, because (Exod. ii. 1 ; Numb, 
xxvi. 59.) she is called daughter of Levi. Others 
maintain, that she was only cousin-german to 
Amram, being daughter of one of Kohath's breth- 
ren. The Chaldee, on Exod. vi. 20, says, she was 
daughter of Amram's sister ; the LXX say, she was 
the daughter of Amram's brother. Calmet thinks it 
most probable, that Jochebed was only cousin-ger- 
man to Amram ; because, (1.) had she been the im- 
mediate daughter of Levi, the disproportion between 
her age and Amram's would have been too great; 
(2.) marriages between aunt and nephew were forbid- 
den by the law ; and we have no proof that they were 
allowed previously ; (3.) by daughter of Levi, may 
very well be meant granddaughter, according to the 
style of the Hebrews. 

I. JOEL, the prophet Samuel's eldest son, who 
with his brother Abiah was judge over Israel, 1 Sam. 
viii. 1,2, &c. They exercised their jurisdiction in 
Beersheba, in the south of Palestine. Their injustice 
induced Israel to desire a king. 

II. JOEL, [one of the minor prophets. Of the cir- 
cumstances of his life, and of the time in which he 
lived and prophesied, the Scriptures afford us no ac- 
count whatever ; except what may be inferred from 
different hints and circumstances contained in the 
book itself. From these it is clear, first, that he lived 
in the kingdom of Judah, at a time when the temple 
and the temple-worship still existed. (Compare chap, 
i. 14 ; ii. 1, 15, 32 ; iii. 1, seq.) We may, secondly, 



infer very nearly the time in which he prophesied, 
from the political circumstances and relations alluded 
to. He adduces as the enemies of Judah, only the 
Phenicians, Philistines, Egyptians, and Edoniites. 
(Compare ch. iii. 4, 19.) Neither the Syrians nor As- 
syrians are mentioned. He must, therefore, in all 
probability, have written before the time when the 
Syrians and Assyrians had become formidable ene- 
mies of Judah ; consequently before the time of 
Isaiah. The same nations here mentioned are also 
enumerated by Amos (ch. i.) as the enemies of the 
Jewish state ; and we may, therefore, assume, that 
the prophet Joel was nearly or quite contemporary 
with him ; and lived, probably, under Uzziah. He 
must, however, be placed somewhat early in the 
reign of Uzziah, and rather before Amos; because in 
the latter prophet the Syrians already appear as ene- 
mies of Judah. This opinion is held by Vitringa, 
Gesenius, Rosenmuller, and others. Credner (1831) 
places the date of the prophecy still earlier. Ber- 
tholdt supposes the prophet to have lived under 
Hezekiah ; but to this is opposed the fact that the 
Assyrians are no where alluded to, who at that time 
were so powerful and so much dreaded. Still less 
probable is the supposition of those who place the 
prophet under Manasseh ; since the latter was an 
idolater, and had abrogated the worship of Jehovah. 

The whole book is made up of one oracle. The 
occasion of the prophecy was the devastation caused 
by swarms of locusts, one of the most terrible of all 
the plagues of the East. (See Locusts.) Such a 
plague, accompanied with drought, the prophet viv- 
idly describes in c. i, and subjoins warnings and 
admonitions. He represents this calamity as a pun- 
ishment sent from God ; the locusts are a host which 
God has sent, ii. 11. He admonishes to fasting and 
penitence ; and promises them the removal of the 
calamity and renewed fertility, ii. 21, seq. While 
describing this returning plenty and prosperity, the 
prophet casts his view forward on a future still more 
remote, and predicts the outpourings of the Holy 
Spirit, and the signs, and wonders, and spiritual pros- 
perity of the Messiah's reign, ii. 28, seq. This pas- 
sage is quoted by the apostle Peter, in Acts ii. 16, 
seq. Returning to the immediate circumstances of 
the kingdom of Judah, the prophet in c. iii. pro- 
claims the vengeance which Jehovah will take upon 
its enemies, — those who have hitherto trampled the 
nation under foot; he will bring them together into 
the valley of Jehoshaphat or judgment, (iii. 2, 14.) and 
there sit in judgment upon them and punish them 
with destruction. 

Many commentators, as Jerome, Grotius, Bertholdt, 
&c. have preferred to understand the description of 
the swarms of locusts in c. i. as an allegory, and sup- 
pose it is intended as a figurative representation of 
the march of a hostile army, e. g. that of Sennacha- 
rib. (Compare Amos vii. ], seq.) In this way the 
antithesis between the commencement and the end 
of the book would become very striking ; but there 
are no clear traces of any allegory or any metaphori- 
cal sense whatever, and such an interpretation must 
ever remain arbitrary, forced, and unnatural. 

The style and manner of the book are excellent. 
The language is pure, elegant, and flowing. In short, 
the book belongs among the most splendid exhibi- 
tions of Hebrew poetry. 

The best commentaries are by Pococke, in his 
Works, vol. i ; Rosenmuller, 1827 ; Justi, 1792 ; Cred- 
ner, 1831. *R. 

JOH AN AN, high-priest, son of Azariali the high« 



J OH 



[ 572 ] 



JOHN 



priest, and father of another Azariah, 1 Chron. vi. 9, 
10. Some believe him to be Jehoiada, the father of 
Zechariah, in the reign of Joash, king of Judah, 2 
Chron. xxiv. 11, &c. 

I. JOHN, father of Mattathias, the celebrated Mac- 
cabee, 1 Mac. ii. 1. 

II. JOHN, a son of Mattathias, and brother of Ju- 
das, Jonathan, and Simon Maccabseus. He was 
treacherously killed by the sous of Janibri, as he was 
conducting the baggage belonging to his brethren 
the Maccabees to the Nebathites, their allies, 1 Mac. 
ix. 3d. 

III. JOHN HIRCANUS, son of Simon Macca- 
baeus, was by his father made governor of the sea- 
coast of Judea, where he defeated Cendeheus, general 
of Antiochus Sidetes, then besieging Tryphon in 
Dora. He escaped from the intended slaughter of 
the Maccabee family by his brother 7 in-law Ptolemy, 
in which his father Simon fell ; after whose death, 
John was acknowledged prince and high-priest of 
his nation. He was attacked in Jerusalem by Antio- 
chus ; but defended the city vigorously, and took occa- 
sion of the Feast of Tabernacles to negotiate a peace; 
which he effected, paying the king a great sum of 
money (300 talents) ; which, some say, he obtained 
from David's sepulchre. John accompanied Antio- 
chus in his war against the Parthians ; which, how- 
ever favorable at first, at length issued in the defeat of 
the king ; and John seized the opportunity to render 
himself independent of the kings of Syria. In the 
following year, he conquered the Idumeans, and 
compelled them to receive circumcision after the 
Jewish manner, with other Jewish rites. He sent 
ambassadors to Rome, to renew the alliance with that 
people ; and, some years afterwards, besieged Sama- 
ria, which was taken by his sons Antigonus and Ar- 
istobulus, after a year's resistance. John ordered the 
city to be demolished, in which state it continued to 
the time of Gabinius. He was now master of all Ju- 
dea, Samaria, Galilee, and many frontier towns ; so 
that he was one of the most powerful princes of his 
time. At home, however, he was troubled by the 
Pharisees, who envied his exaltation, and at length 
their mutual ill-will broke out into open enmity. 
John forbade the observance of such ceremonies as 
were founded on tradition only ; and he enforced his 
orders by penalties on the contumacious. He is said 
to have built the castle of Baris, on the mount of the 
temple, which became the palace of the Asmonean 
princes ; and where the pontifical vestments were 
kept. After having been high-priest twenty-nine 
years, John died, ante A. D. 107. Josephus says he 
was endowed with the spirit of prophecy, Antiq. lib. 
xiii. 17, 18 ; xviii. 6. 2 Mac. iii. 11. et al. 

IV. JOHN the Baptist, the forerunner of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and son of Zacharias and Elisa- 
beth, was born A. M. 4000, about six months before 
Jesus Christ. His birth, name, and office were fore- 
told to his father Zacharias, when he was perform- 
ing his functions as a priest in the temple of Jerusa- 
lem, Luke i. 10, 11, "&c. (See Annunciation.) On 
the eighth day after the birth of the child, when the 
time for circumcising him was come, they called him 
by his father's name, Zacharias ; but his mother told 
them his name should be John, which his father con- 
firmed. The child grew, and was strengthened in 
spirit, and dwelt in the wilderness till the day of his 
manifestation to Israel, ver. 59—81. 

Chrysostom and Jerome believe that John was. 
brought up from his infancy in the wilderness, where 
he abode without eating or drinking, as Jesus says, 



Matt. xi. 18, (that is, eating and drinking little, and 
things of a plain kind,) and being clothed only with 
camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, 
Matt. iii. 4. (See Camel's Hair.) When he had ar- 
rived at thirty years of age, God manifested him to 
the world, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, A. D. 28; 
and he began his ministry, by publishing the ap- 
proach of the Messiah, in the country along and be 
yond Jordan, preaching repentance. He induced 
many persons to confess their sins ; whom he baptized 
in the river Jordan, exhorting them to believe in him 
who was coming after him ; and who would baptize 
with the Holy Ghost and with fire. From this bap- 
tism, John derived the surname of Baptist, or Bapti- 
zer. Many persons became his disciples, exercising 
themselves iii acts of repentance, and urging it on 
others. When Jesus presented himself to receive 
baptism from him, John excused himself, saying, "I 
need rather being baptized by thee ; " but Jesus de- 
claring that it became them to fulfil all righteousness, 
John complied. This was A. D. 30. The next day 
John publicly announced Jesus, as the Lamb of God, 
that taketh away the sins of the world, John i. 19 — 29. 

Herod Antipas having married his brother Philip's 
wife, John, with his usual boldness, reproved him to 
his face. Herod, incensed, ordered him into custody, 
in the castle of Machaerus, where he remained a long 
time, Herod fearing to do him further harm, know- 
ing that he was much beloved by the people. He- 
rodias, however, sought an opportunity of putting 
him to death, which she accomplished (Matt. xiv. 
1 — 12.) about the end of A. D. 31, or early in A. D. 
32. The Gospels do not say where John was buried ; 
but in the time of Julian the Apostate, his tomb was 
shown at Samaria, where the inhabitants opened it, 
and burnt part of his bones ; the rest were saved by 
some Christians, who carried them to an abbot of Je- 
rusalem, named Philip. (Eccl. lib. iii. cap. 3. Chronic 
Alex. p. 686.) 

V. JOHN the Evangelist, son of Zebedee, was 
a native of Bethsaida in Galilee, and by trade a fish- 
erman. Our Saviour called him and his brother 
James, Boanerges, sons of thunder. It is believed 
that John was the youngest of the apostles. Our Sa 
viour had a particular friendship for him, and he de 
scribes himself by the phrase of " that disciple whom 
Jesus loved." He was present at the transfiguration, 
and at the last supper, when he lay on his mastei's 
bosom, who discovered to him who should betray 
him, John xiii. 25 ; xxi. 20. Jesus also chose Jan es 
and John, with Peter, as witnesses of his agony in 
the olive-garden. After the soldiers had seized his 
master, it is believed that John was the disciple who 
followed him to Caiaphas's house, where he went in, 
and afterwards introduced Peter. He attended our 
Saviour to the cross : and Jesus observing him, said 
to his mother, " Woman, behold thy son ;" and then 
to his disciple, "Behold thy mother," xix. 26, 27. 
After the resurrection, and while several of the disci- 
ples were fishing on the sea of Tiberias, Jesus appear- 
ed on the shore, where John first discovered him, 
and told Peter. They came on shore, dined with 
their risen Lord, and after dinner, as John was follow- 
ing him, Peter asked Jesus, what was to become of 
John. Jesus answered, " If I will that he tarry till I 
come, what is that to thee ? " — a remark which in- 
duced the disciples to believe, that Jesus had said he 
should not die. John himself, however, confutes this 
opinion. The period referred to was, no doubt, the 
punishment of Jerusalem, which this evangelist lived 
to see ; not the general judgment, which is yet distant- 



JOHN 



JOK 



Within a few days after the apostles had received 
the Holy Ghost, Peter and John went up to the tem- 
ple, and near it cured a man lame from his birth, 
Acts iii. 1 — 10. This miracle occasioned their im- 
prisonment, but the next day they were liberated, 
and forbidden to speak in the name of Jesus Christ. 
They continued preaching, however, and were again 
imprisoned several times. 

Peter and John were sent to Samaria, to confer the 
Holy Ghost on those whom Philip tire deacon had 
baptized, Acts viii. 5 — 14. John was of the council 
of Jerusalem, and was evidently one of the pillars of 
the church. It is believed that he preached to the 
Parthians, and the Indians maintain, that he published 
the gospel in that country. There is no doubt of his 
preaching in Asia, and of his remaining some time at 
Ephesus, and near it, though we do not know the 
exact time. It could scarcely be before A. D. 66. 
Jerome says, he founded and governed the churches 
of Asia. 

The emperor Uomitian persecuted the church in 
the fifteenth year of his reign ; (A. D. 95.) and John, 
it is said, was carried to Rome, where he was plunged 
into boiling oil, without being hurt, and afterwards 
exiled to the isle of Patmos, in the iEgean sea, where 
he wrote his Revelations. (See Apocalypse.) Domi- 
tian being killed in A. D. 96, his successor, Nerva, re- 
called all who had been banished ; and John returned 
to Ephesus, A. D. 97, being about ninety years of 
age. The bishops and Christians of Asia pressing 
him to write what he had heard from our Saviour, he 
complied, and wrote his Gospel, after a public fast 
and prayers. His principal view in this narration 
was, to relate such things as might confirm the divin- 
ity of the Son, in opposition to heretics of that time. 
See Gospel. 

John lived to a very great age, so that he could 
scarcely go to the assembly of the church, without 
being carried by his disciples. Being now unable to 
make long discourses, his custom was to say, in all as- 
semblies, to the people, "My dear children, love one 
another." At length they grew weary of this con- 
cise exhortation ; and when he was informed of this, 
his answer was, "This is what the Lord commands 
you ; and this, if you do it, is sufficient." He died at 
Ephesus, in the third year of Trajan, the 100th of 
Jesus Christ, being then, according to Epiphanius, 
ninety-four ; though some say he was 93 or 99 ; 
others 104, 106, or 120. He was buried near that 
city ; and several of the fathers mention his sepul- 
chre as being there. 

We have three Epistles by John. The first is a 
kind of tract, designed to refute certain erroneous 
doctrines, which had been propounded in the church, 
similar to, if not the same with, those of the Cerinthi- 
ans and the Gnostics. The second is addressed to a 
lady of rank, named Electa ; or, as others think, to a 
Christian church. The third letter is directed to 
Gaius, whom John praises for hospitality to the faith- 
ful, and exhorts to continue his pious practice. It 
should be remarked, that the intention of these two 
eoistles is directly contrary one to the other. In that 
to iiilecta, the apostle cautions her against receiving 
and patronizing travelling teachers who held not the 
truth correctly ; whereas in that to Gaius, the apostle 
greatly commends him for receiving travelling teach- 
ers, generally ; censures Diotrephes for rejecting 
some ; and praises Demetrius for his candor. It 
should seem, therefore, that these epistles are mis- 
placed. If Gaius be Paul's host, the epistle to him 
may be placed the earliest in point of time ; and to 



this agrees the absence of allusion to heretical opin- 
ions, which had not yet infected the church : but, in 
later days, not a few discordant symptoms were prop- 
agated, and consequently Christian hospitality was 
exposed to imposition. It seems likely, also, that 
Gaius, living at Corinth, was visited by sea, by John ; 
but as John had met (probably) at Ephesus, with "the 
children of Electa, whom he found walking in the 
truth," to his great joy, and to their mother's praise, 
it is very credible, if not rather certain, that this 
lady lived at no great distance from that city, that is, 
in Asia Minor; so that notwithstanding his advanced 
age, he might easily, " having many things to say, 
come unto her, and speak face to face." Her sister 
probably lived at Ephesus, near, or possibly with, the 
apostle. 

Several apocryphal writings are attributed to John ; 
as, a book of his supposed travels, another of his acts 
used by the Encratites, Manichees, and Priscillian- 
ists ; a book concerning the death and assumption of 
the Virgin, &c. John is generally surnamed "the 
Divine," from the sublimity of his knowledge, par- 
ticularly in the beginning of his Gospel. He is paint- 
ed with a cup and a serpent issuing out of it, in allu- 
sion to a story of poison given to him by some here- 
tics in a glass, the venom of which he dispelled under 
the form of a serpent, by making a sign of the cross 
over it. 

VI. JOHN MARK, cousin to Barnabas, and his 
disciple, was the son of a Christian woman named 
Mary, who had a house in Jerusalem, where the dis- 
ciples and apostles met. Here they were at prayers 
in the night, when Peter, who was delivered out of 
prison by an angel, knocked at the door, (Acts xii. 15.) 
and in the same house the celebrated church of Sion 
is said to have been afterwards established. John at- 
tached himself to Paul and Barnabas, whom he fol- 
lowed to Antioch, and thence to Perga and Pampby- 
lia, where he left them, and returned to Jerusalem, 
Acts xv. 38. A. D. 45. 

Six years afterwards, he accompanied Barnabas to 
the isle of Cyprus ; and, in A. D. 63, we find him at 
Rome, performing signal services for Paul during his 
imprisonment. The apostle speaks advantageously 
of him, in Col. iv. 10, and again in his epistle to Phi- 
lemon, (ver. 24.) written A. D. 62. Two years after- 
wards he was in Asia, with Timothy, whom Paul de- 
sires to bring him with him to Rome ; adding, that 
he was useful to him for the ministry of the gospel, 
2 Tim. iv. 11. It is thought that John Mark died at 
Ephesus ; but the year of his death, and the manner 
of it, are unknown. 

Calmet is of opinion, that John Mark is a different 
person from Mark the evangelist ; but they are con- 
sidered to have been the same person by Jones, Light- 
foot, Wetstein, Lardner, Michae'lis, and Taylor. To 
strengthen this opinion, Mr. Taylor remarks that it 
should be observed, that throughout the Acts he is 
spoken of as " John, whose surname was Mark ;" that 
is, Luke, writing in Italy, Latinizes ; it being custom- 
ary for Jews, when in foreign countries, to use names 
more familiar to those countries than their Hebrew 
appellations ; and if Mark, as is beyond a doubt, ac- 
companied Peter to Rome, he would be known 'there 
by his surname only. 

JOIADA, or Judas, high-priest of the Jews, suc- 
ceeded Eliashib, or Joashib, who lived under-Nehe- 
miah, about ante A. D. 454, Neh. xiii. 28. 

JOKMEAM, a city of Ephraim, afterwards given 
to the Levites of Kohath's family, 1 Chron. vi. 68. 

JOKNEAM, a city of Zebulun, given to the Lo 



JON 



[ 574 | 



JON 



vites of Merari's family ; (Josh, xxi.34 ; xix. 11.) sur- 
named Jokneam, of Carmel, (Josh. xii. 22.) because 
adjacent to that mountain. 

JOKSHAN, second son of Abraham and Keturah, 
(Gen. xxv. 2.) is thought to have peopled part of 
Arabia, and to be the person whom the Arabians call 
Cahtan,and acknowledge as the head of their nation. 
He dwelt in part of Arabia Felix, and part of Arabia 
Deserta. This Moses expressly mentions, Gen. xxv. 6. 
Jokshan's sons were Sheba and Dedan, who dwelt in 
the same country, ver. 3. 

JOKTAN, the eldest son of Eber, who had for his 
portion all the land which lies " from Mesha, as thou 
goest unto Sephar, a mount of the East," or Kedem, 
Gen. x. 25. Mesha, Calmet takes to be the place 
where Masias was situated, in Mesopotamia, and 
Sephar the country of the Sepharvaim, or Sephar- 
enians, or Sapiores, or Serapares ; for these all de- 
note the same ; that is, a people which, according 
to Herodotus, were placed between the Colehians 
and the Medes. Now this was in the provinces 
which Moses commonly describes by the name of 
Kedem, or the East. We find traces in this country 
of the names of Joktan's sons, which is a further 
confirmation of this opinion. These sons were Al- 
mohad, Shaleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, 
Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimeel, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, 
and Jobab, Gen. x. 26, &c. The Arabians believe 
that their country was originally peopled by Joktaii, 
the son of Eber, and brother of Peleg ; who, after 
the division of languages, came and dwelt in the 
peninsula of Asia, which might take its name from 
Jarab the son of Joktan, or from a large plain in the 
province of Tehema called Arabat. These ancient 
Arabians lived here without mingling with other 
people, till Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar, and 
his sons, settled here, who, mixing with them, were 
called Mos-arabes, or Mostse-arabes, that is, mixed 
Arabians. 

I. JOKTHEEL, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 38. 

II. JOKTHEEL, obedience to the Lord, a place 
previously called Selah, which Amaziah, king of Ju- 
dah, took from the Edomites, and which is supposed 
to have been the city of Petra, the celebrated capital 
of the Nabathaei, in Arabia Petraea, by the Syrians 
called Rekem, 2 Kings xiv. 7. There are two places, 
however, which dispute this honor, Kerek, a town 
two days' journey south of Syalt, the see of a 
Greek bishop, who resides at Jerusalem ; and Wady- 
Mousa, a city which is situated in a deep valley at 
the foot of mount Hor, and where Burckhardt and 
more recent travellers describe the remains of a 
magnificent and extensive city. The latter is no 
doubt the Petra described by Strabo and Pliny. See 
Sela. 

I. JONADAB, son of Shimeah, David's nephew. 
He was a very subtle man, and the adviser of Amnon 
in the violation of Tamar, 2 Sam. xiii. 3. 

II. JONADAB, or Jehonadab, son of Rechab, 
and head of the Rechabites, lived in the time of Jehu, 
king of Israel. He is thought to have added to the 
ancient austerity of the Rechabites, that of abstinence 
from wine ; and to have introduced the non-cultiva- 
tion of their lauds, 2 Kings x. 15, 16. Jehu being 
raised up to punish the sins of Ahab's house, came to 
Samaria, to destroy the false prophets and priests of 
Baal, where he met with Jonadab, whom he carried 
with him to Samaria, and before him executed all that 
remained of Ahab's family, with the ministers of 
Baal's temple. 

JONAH, son of Amittai, and one of the minor 



prophets, was a Galilean, of Gath-hepher, which is 
supposed to be Jotapata. Jonah was ordered first to 
prophesy at Nineveh, which he endeavored to avoid 
by voyaging to Tarshish ; but, being overtaken by a 
storm, he was thrown overboard, and miraculously 
preserved, by being swallowed by a large fish. This 
fish, in the New Testament, is called zjJtoc, (Matt. xii. 
40, Eng. tr. whale) ; but it more probably refers to 
the large shark, common in the Mediterranean, the 
Cards carcharius of naturalists, whose size and habits 
correspond entirely to the representation given of 
Jonah's being swallowed. The fish afterwards cast 
him out again upon the land. The word of the Lord 
a second time directed him to visit Nineveh. He 
went thither, therefore, and walked through it for a 
whole day, crying, "In forty days Nineveh shall be 
destroyed." The Ninevites believed his word, and 
appointed a public fast, from the meanest of the 
people to the greatest ; the king himself putting on 
sackcloth, and sitting in ashes. God, being moved 
with their repentance, did not execute at that time 
the sentence pronounced against them. 

Jonah, from a notion, probably, that his divine mis- 
sion would be disputed, was afflicted at this result, 
and complained to God that he had always ques- 
tioned, whether, as being a God of mercy, he would 
not yield to their prayers ; after which he retired out 
of the city, and made a shelter for himself, waiting the 
event. The Lord caused a plant to grow over his 
booth, (see Gourd,) but a worm bit its root, and it 
withered. Jonah, being now exposed to the burning 
heat of the sun, became faint, and desired that God 
would take him out of the world. The Lord said 
unto him, " Hast thou reason to be thus concerned 
at the death of a plant, which cost thee nothing, which 
rises one night, and dies the next ; yet wouldest thou 
not have me pardon such a city as Nineveh, in which 
are 120,000 persons not able to distinguish their right 
hand from their left ?" that is, children not arrived 
at the use of reason ; nor having offended God by 
actual sin. As children make, generally, about one 
fifth part of the inhabitants of cities, it is presumed 
that Nineveh contained above 600,000 persons. 

We know not at what time Jonah foretold how 
Jeroboam II. king of Israel, should restore the king- 
dom of Samaria, from the entrance of Hamath to the 
Dead sea, (2 Kings xiv. 25.) whether before or after 
his journey to Nineveh. Our Saviour mentions him, 
(Matt. xii. 41 ; Luke xii. 32.) and says that the Nine- 
vites should rise in judgment against the Jews, and 
condemn them, because they repented at the preach- 
ing of Jonah. When the Pharisees required a sign 
from him, his answer referred them to that of the 
prophet Jonah ; that is, his resurrection. 

I. JONATHAN, a Levite, son of Gershom, and 
grandson of Moses, dwelt some time at Laish, with 
Micah, (Judg. xvii. 10.) ministering as a Levite, with 
an ephod, and images, which Micah had made, and 
placed in his house. Some years afterwards, six 
hundred men, of the tribe of Dan, seeking a new 
settlement in 'the territories of the Sidonians, engaged 
Jonathan to accompany them. He settled at Dan, 
where that tribe placed the images they had taken 
out of Micah's house, and appointed Jonathan to be 
their priest, and his son to succeed him, Judg. xviii. 
30. Their idols remained at Dan while the ark of 
the Lord was at Shiloh, and till the captivity of Dan ; 
that is, as Calmet thinks, till the last year of Eli, the 
high-priest, when the ark was taken by the Philis- 
tines, ante A. D. 1116. But the captivity of Dan may 
denote either the oppression of this tribe by the 



J O P [ 575 ] J01TA 



Philistines, after the ark was taken, or the more 
remarkable captivity of the ten tribes, which were 
carried away beyond the Euphrates by the Assyrian 
kings. 

II. JONATHAN, son of Saul, and the faithful 
friend of David, was a prince of great valor and 
piety. During the war between Saul and the Philis- 
tines, Jonathan, intent upon following up the victory, 
with his armor-bearer, attacked the camp of the 
enemy, and threw them into such disorder, that they 
killed one another. Saul pursued the enemy, and 
pronounced a curse on the man who should hinder 
the pursuit by taking of food. Jonathan, who was 
absent when this anathema was uttered, ate of some 
honey which he found in the wood, and was only 
saved from death by the firmness of the people, 1 
Sam. xiv. 

War breaking out between the Hebrews and the 
Philistines, Saul and Jonathan encamped on mount 
Gilboa with the army of Israel ; but their camp was 
forced, their troops routed, and themselves slain, eh. 
xxxi. ante A. D. 1055. The news being brought to 
David, he mourned for a year, and composed a fune- 
ral song to their honor, thus evincing his tenderness 
loward his friend Jonathan, 2 Sam. i. He left a son 
named Mephibosheth, on whom David conferred 
v'arious favors. 

III. JONATHAN, son of Abiathar, the high- 
priest, who gave notice to Adonijah and his party, 
near the fountain of Rogel, that David had declared 
Solomon his successor, 1 Kings i. 42, 43. 

IV. JONATHAN, or Johanan, or John, high- 
priest of the Jews, soil of Jehoiada, and father of 
Jeddoa, or Jaddus, celebrated in the time of Alexan- 
der the Great, Neh. xii. 11. He lived under Ezra 
and Nehemiah. He died, after having exercised the 
high-priesthood thirty-two years, and was succeeded 
by Jeddoa, his son. 

V. JONATHAN, a scribe, and keeper of the pris- 
ons in Jerusalem under Zedekiah, Jer. xxxvii. 15, 20. 
He was very severe to the prophet Jeremiah, who 
therefore earnestly desired Zedekiah that he might 
not be sent back into that dungeon, where his life 
was in danger. 

VI. JONATHAN BEN UZZIEL, see Targum. 

VII. JONATHAN, surnamed Apphus, son of 
Mattathias, and brother of Judas Maccabaeus, was, 
after the death of Judas, appointed general of the 
troops of Israel, and, after a number of feats of valor, 
was basely killed by Tryphon, ante A. D. 144, 1 Mac. 
ii. &c. There are several other persons of this name 
mentioned in Scripture, but they have no important 
relation to such events as we are required to notice. 

JOPPA, Japho, or Jaffa, is one of the most an- 
cient seaports in the world ; its traditional history 
stretching far back into the twilight of time. Pliny 
assigns it a date anterior to the deluge. It was a 
border town of the tribe of Dan, and is situated in a 
fine plain, on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, 
thirty miles south of Csesarea, and forty-five north- 
west of Jerusalem. It owes all the circumstances of 
its celebrity, as the principal port of Judea, to its 
situation with regard to Jerusalem. — As a station for 
vessels, its harbor is one of the worst on the coast. 
Josephus speaks of it as "not fit for a haven, on 
account of the impetuous south winds which beat 
upon it ; which, rolling the sands that come from the 
sea against the shores, do not admit of ships lying in 
their station : but the merchants are generally there 
forced to ride at their anchors on the sea itself." 
D'Arvieux, however, is of opinion that this port was 



anciently much superior to what it is at present. He 
observed, in the sea, south of the port, the vestiges 
of a wall, which extended to a chain of rocks at some 
distance from the shore, by which the port was 
formed, and protected against the violence of the 
south-west winds. " This port," he remarks, "was, 
no doubt, sufficiently good before it was filled up, 
although its entrance was exposed to winds from the 
north." As it was used by Solomon for receiving 
his timber from Tyre, and by the succeeding kings 
of Judah, as their port of communication with foreign 
nations, they would unquestionably bestow upon it all 
the advantages within their power. 

The present town of Jaffa is seated on a promon- 
tory, jutting out into the sea, rising to the height of 
about 150 feet above its level, and offering, on all 
sides, picturesque and varied prospects. Towards 
the west is extended the open sea ; towards the south 
spread fertile plains, reaching as far as Gaza ; towards 
the north, as far as Carmel, the flowery meads of 
Sharon present themselves ; and to the east, the hills 
of Ephraim and Judah raise their towering heads. 
The town is walled round on the south and east, 
towards the land, and partially so on the north and 
west, towards the sea. Mr. Buckingham describes 
the approach to Jaffa as quite destitute of interest. 
The town, seated on a promontory, and facing chiefly 
to the northward, looks like a heap of buildings, 
crowded as closely as possible into a given space ; 
and, from the steepness of its site, they appear in 
some places to stand one on the Other. The interior 
of the town corresponds with its outward mien, and 
has all the appearance of a poor village. The streets 
are very narrow, uneven, and dirty ; and are rather 
entitled to the appellation of alleys. The inhabitants 
are estimated at between four and five thousand, of 
whom the greater part are Turks and Arabs; the 
Christians are stated to be about six hundred, con- 
sisting of Roman Catholics, Greeks, Maronites, and 
Armenians. The Latins, Greeks, and Armenians 
have each a small convent for the reception of pil 
grims. 

The high antiquity attributed to the town oi 
Joppa, as well as the remarkable circumstances con 
nected with its history, excites a laudable curiositj 
regarding it. We have already stated that Pliny 
assigns its foundation to a period anterior to the 
flood ; and a tradition is preserved, that here Noah 
lived and built his ark. — Some authors ascribe its 
origin to Japheth, son of Noah, and thence derive its 
name. However fabulous such accounts may be 
justly deemed, they afford proofs of the great an- 
tiquity of the place, having been recorded by histo- 
rians, for so many ages, as the only traditions extant 
concerning its origin. In the time of Pliny and of 
Jerome the inhabitants pretended to exhibit the 
marks of the chains with which Andromeda was 
fastened to a rock. The skeleton of the huge sea- 
monster, to which she was exposed, is said by Pliny 
to have been brought to Rome by Scaurus, and there 
carefully preserved. Pausanias, too, insists that near 
Joppa was to be seen a fountain, where Perseus 
washed off the blood with which he had been cov- 
ered from the wounds received in his combat with 
the monster ; and adds that, from this circumstance, 
the water ever afterwards remained of a red color. 
This fable has been ingeniously explained, by sup- 
posing that this daughter of the Ethiopian king was 
courted by the captain of a ship, who attempted to 
carry her off, but was prevented by the interposition 
of another more faithful lover. From this port the 



JOPPA 



L 576 ] 



J OR 



disobedient prophet embarked, to.flee to Tarsus from 
the presence of the Lord ; (Jonah i. 3.) and it is more 
than probable, that the profane account of the sea- 
monster may have some connection with the sacred 
one of the large fish that swallowed up the prophet. 
Dr. E. D. Clarke has concluded, from the ribs of 
forty feet in length, and the other anatomical pro- 
portions given of the sea-monster to which Androm- 
eda was exposed, that it was really a whale. These 
conjectures, coupled with the fact of that fish having 
been, from the earliest times, an object of worship at 
Joppa, though it by no means proves the foundation 
of this city before the deluge, as has been assumed, 
gives the appearance of some affinity between the 
accounts of the Jews and Gentiles regarding it. 

Tn the wars of the Maccabees, when Juc'ea was a 
scene of great contention, a deed of treachery is laid 
to the charge of the men of Joppa, in destroying the 
innocent with the guilty. This was so completely in 
the spirit of the early wars that deluged this country 
with blood, as almost to justify the exemplary ven- 
geance which was taken on their town for such an 
act. It was burnt and exposed to pillage by Judas 
Maccabeeus, who called on God, the righteous judge, 
to avenge him on the murderers of his brethren, 
2 Mac. xii. 3 — 7. About this time, Joppa appeal's as 
sustaining a siege, and at length falling before the 
arms of Jonathan, the high-priest, who had invested 
it. It was soon afterwards entered a second time by 
an officer of Simon, the brother of Jonathan, who had 
been entrapped at Ptolemais. He had been elected, by 
acclamation, to become the captain and leader of the 
Jews, instead of Jonathan, and had sent down a force 
from Jerusalem, to cast out those who were in Joppa, 
ind to remain therein, 1 Mac. x. 74. It is afterwards 
enumerated among the cities desired to be restored 
■o the Jews, by a decree of the Roman senate, after 
having been taken from them by Antiochus, as ex- 
pressed in a letter sent by the ambassadors of the 
Jews, from Jerusalem to Rome. It was about this 
time, also, peculiarly privileged by a decree of Caius 
Julius Caesar, imperator and dictator, in being ex- 
empted from the yearly tribute, which all the other 
cities of the Jews were obliged to pay, for the city 
Jerusalem. Its history, in the days of the apostles, 
13 more familiar to us ; and the vision of Peter, who 
saw a sheet descending from heaven, covered with 
animals, clean and unclean, and heard a voice ex- 
claiming, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat;" as well as the 
raising of Tabitha, the female disciple, from the dead, 
and the reception of the messengers from Csesarea 
there, need only be mentioned to be remembered. 
The history of the taking of this place from the 
pirates, by Vespasian, (Joseph. Ant. iii. c. 9. s. 2.) is 
worthy of being consulted ; particularly as the opera- 
tions strikingly illustrate the local description by 
which the account of them is accompanied, and 
which is remarkable for its clearness and fidelity. 

About two centuries after this, it was visited by 
Jerome, who speaks of it under its original name of 
Japho, which it still retained, with very little corrup- 
tion, when it was held by the Saracens, into whose 
hands it had fallen during the Syrian war. It was 
necessarily a contested point with the crusaders, as 
the port of debarkation for Jerusalem ; and it there- 
fore figures in all the naval operations of their wars. 
The rabbi Benjamin, who has been so often accused 
of magnifying the numbers of the Jews, in all parts 
of the world, with a view to enhance the impoitance 
of his own nation, found here, about this period, only 
one solitary individual, who was a dyer of linen, 



seemingly the most common occupation of the labor- 
ing Jews in those days, as that of money-changing is 
at present. 

After the last crusade of Louis IX. of France, Jaffa 
fell, with the other maritime towns of Syria, under 
the power of the Mamelouks of Egypt, who first shut 
up the Franks within their last hold at Acre, and 
soon after closed, by its capture, the bloody history 
of these holy wars. In 1776, it again suffered all the 
horrors of war, having its population, young and old 
male and female, barbarously cut to pieces, and a 
pyramid formed of their bleeding heads, as a monu- 
ment of a monster's victory. (Volney, Trav. vol. i. 
p. 150.) Its history, since that period, is numbered 
among the events of our own day. 

I. JORAM, son of Toi, king of Hamath, was sent 
to David by his father, to congratulate him on his 
victory over Hadadezer, 2 Sam. viii. 10. 

II. JORAM, or Jehoram, son of Ahab, king of 
Israel, and successor to his eldest brother, Ahaziah, 
who died without children, 2 Kings iii. 1, &c. He 
did evil before the Lord ; but not like Ahab, his 
father, and Jezebel, his mother. He removed the 
statues of Baal which Ahab had erected ; but he con- 
tinued to worship the golden calves. Mesha, king 
of Moab, having refused to pay his tribute, Joram 
warred against him, and invited Jehoshaphat, king 
of Judah, to accompany him, who also brought the 
king of Edom, his tributary. These princes advanced 
through the wilderness of Edom ; but were soon in 
danger of perishing for want of water, from which 
they were relieved by Elisha. The prophet after- 
wards rendered very important services to Joram, 
during his wars with Syria, by discovering to him 
the designs of Benhadad. During the siege of Sa- 
maria, the famine was so terrible, that a woman ate 
her own son. Joram, being informed of the calamity, 
rent his clothes, wore sackcloth, and ordered a ser- 
vant to go and cut off Elisha's head ; as if the cause 
of these distresses had been with the prophet. Elisha, 
who was then in his house, desired his friends to 
hold the door, and to prevent such a person from 
entering ; adding, that Joram was close at his heels, 
to revoke the order. Accordingly, the king came 
almost at die same instant, and complained to Elisha, 
who comforted him, and foretold a great plenty for 
the morrow, which came to pass, 2 Kings vii. 

At the siege of Ramoth-Gilead, Joram, being dan- 
gerously wounded, was obliged to return to JezreeL 
He left Jehu in command of his army, but he, having 
been anointed king by a young prophet, hastened to 
Jezreel, and destroyed Joram, (2 Kings ix.) in the 
twelfth year of his reign, ante A. D. 884. 

III. JORAM, see Jehoram I. 

JORDAN, the principal river of Canaan. It was 
formerly believed, chiefly on the authority of the 
Jewish historian, that the source of the Jordan was 
in the lake Phiala, about 12 miles distant from Paneas 
or Caesarea Philippi, whence it passed underground, 
and emerged again from the cave of Paneas, in the 
vicinity of the town. This double source of the river 
is now, however, generally exploded. Burckhardt 
says, it rises an hour and a quarter, or about 4 miles, 
north-east from Panias, in the plain, near a hill called 
Tel-el-Radi : it is soon after joined by the river of 
Panias, which runs east of the Jordan for some dis- 
tance, and the united streams, now a considerable 
piece of water, fall into the Bahr-el-Houly, or the 
lake Merom, or Semechonitis, which has several 
other tributary streams, and is, perhaps, better entitled 
to be considered as the source of the Jordan than 



JORDAN 



[ 577 ] 



JOS 



any other place to which this honor is assigned. 
Leaving this lake, the river runs in a southerly direc- 
tion for about 120 or 130 miles ; in its way passing 
through the lake of Tiberias, and 1 ses itself in the 
Dead sea. See Canaan, p. 232. 

It is not to be expected that we s' ould have a very 
accurate description of the dimen ;ions of this cele- 
brated river, considering the great disadvantages 
under which travellers are obliged to make their 
observations. Modern writers vary much in their 
accounts as to its breadth ; a comparison of their 
statements induce a belief that it is about thirtv yards 
in breadth, having a very rapid current, and there- 
fore discharging a great body of water. Tb;. course 
and channel of the river are accurately described by 
Maundrell, Burckhardt, and Buckingham. "The 
whole of the plain," says the last mentioned writer, 
"from the mountains of Judea on the west, to those 
of Arabia on the east, may be called the vale of Jor- 
dan, in a general way ; but in the centre of the plain, 
which is at least 10 miles broad, the Jordan runs in 
another, still lower valley, perhaps a mile broad, in 
some of the widest parts, and a furlong in the nar- 
rowest. There are close thickets all along the edge 
of the stream, as well as upon this lower plain, which 
would afford ample shelter for wild beasts ; and, as 
the Jordan might overflow its banks when swollen 
with rains, sufficiently to inundate this lower plain, 
though it could never reach the upper one, it was, 
most probably, from these that the lions were driven 
out from the inundations, which gave rise to the 
prophet's simile, 'Behold, he shall come up like a 
lion from the swelling of Jordan, against the habita- 
tion of the strong,' Jer. xlix. 19 ; 1.44." (Trav.p.313.) 
Volney is positive as to this fact. He says, " In win- 
ter it overflows it's narrow channel ; and, swelled by 
the rains, forms a sheet of water sometimes a quarter 
of a league broad. The time of its overflowing is 
generally in March, when the snows melt on the 
mountains of the Shaik : at which time, more than 
any other, its waters are troubled, and of a yellow 
hue, and its course is impetuous. Its banks are cov- 
ered with a thick forest of reeds, willows, and various 
shrubs, which serve as an asylum for wild boars, 
ounces, jackals, hares, and different kinds of birds." 
(Travels, vol. ii. p. 300.) Burckhardt, however, is 
more particular as to the exact course of the river: 
"The valley of the Jordan, or El Ghor, which may 
be said to begin at the northern extremity of the lake 
of Tiberias, has, near Bysan, a direction of north by 
east and south by west. Its breadth is about two 
hours. The great number of rivulets which descend 
from the mountains on both sides, and form numerous 
pools of stagnant waters, produce, in many places, a 
pleasing verdure, and a luxuriant growth of wild 
herbage and grass ; but the greater part of the ground 
is a parched desert, of which a few spots only are 
cultivated by the Bedouins .... The river Jordan, 
on issuing from the lake of Tiberias, flows for about 
three hours near the western hills, and then turns 
toward the eastern, on which side it continues its 
course for several hours. The river flows in a valley 
of about a quarter of an hour in breadth, which is 
considerably lower than the rest of the plain of the 
Ghor : this low valley is covered with high trees of 
a luxuriant verdure, which afford a striking contrast 
with the sandy slopes that border it on both sides. 
The river, where we passed it, was about eighty 
paces broad, and about three feet deep : this, it must 
be recollected, was in the midst of summer. In the 
winter it inundates the plain in the bottom of the 
73 



narrow valley ; but never rises to the level of the 
upper plain of the Ghor, which is at least 40 feet 
above the level of the river." (Trav. p. 344, 345.) 

[The general course of the Jordan has also been 
described under the article Canaan, pp. 232 and 233, 
in which latter passage the great valley El Ghor and 
El Araba, stretching from the Dead sea to the Ela- 
nitic gulf, is described. This is also done, with still 
more particularity, under the article Exodus, p. 41 4. 
Through this valley it is highly probable that rhe 
Jordan, in very ancient times, pursued its course to 
the Red sea, until the convulsions occasioned by the 
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the sub- 
sequent filling up of the bottom of the valley by the 
drifting sand, caused the stoppage of its waters. See 
under Canaan, p. 238, and Eiath, p. 380. R. 

The Tahmidists say that "the waters of the Jordan 
are not fit to sprinkle the unclean, because they are 
mixed waters ;" meaning, mixed with the waters of 
other rivers and brooks, which empty themselves into 
it. The reader will compare with this the opinion 
of Naaman the Syrian, (2 Kings v. 11, 12.) who prob- 
ably had received the same notion. Perhaps, too, 
this their inferiority was well understood, and not 
forgotten by the prophet of Israel. 

The regular passages over the Jordan were, (1.) 
Jacob's bridge, between the lakes Merom and 
Gennesareth, said to be the place where Jacob met 
his brother Esau, and where he wrestled with an 
angel. — (2.) A bridge at Chammath, at the issue of 
the river from the lake of Gennesareth. — (3.) A ferry 
at Beth-abara, 2 Sam. xix. 18 ; 2 Kings ii. 8.- — (4.) It 
is probable that there was another at Bethshan, or 
Scythopolis. 

The phrase " beyond Jordan," in the early books 
of Moses and in Joshua, sometimes means the west 
of the river; but subsequently, that is, when the 
Hebrews had taken possession of the country, the 
term has the opposite meaning, denoting the country 
east of the river. 

I. JOSEPH, son of Jacob and Rachel, was born 
in Mesopotamia. He was favored by God, in his 
youth, with prophetic dreams, and his father, Jacob, 
loved him tenderty, and gave him a coat of many 
colors; or rather a long robe, as a mark of partial 
paternal affection. His brothers became jealous of 
these marks of affection ; and Joseph unconsciously 
increased the evil disposition in them, by accusing 
them of some crime, or by reporting to his father 
their wicked discourses ; but, above all, by relating 
to them certain dreams, in one of which he had seen 
twelve sheaves, belonging to them, bow before his 
sheaf, which stood upright in the field. His father 
heard the relation without remark ; but his brethren 
could not bear the allusion. Being sent by his father 
to visit his brethren, they conspired against him, and 
would have slain him; but Reuben opposing this, 
they threw him into an old well, which had no water ; 
and soon after, perceiving a caravan of Midianite 
merchants going into Egypt, they sold him, and de- 
ceived Jacob into a belief of his destruction by a wild 
beast. 

The merchants carried Joseph into Egypt, and 
sold him as a slave to Potiphar, an officer of Pha- 
raoh, whose confidence he soon obtained, and was 
by him made steward of his house, and director of 
ail his domestic affairs, Gen. xxxix. But Potiphar's 
wife, conceiving a criminal passion for him, solicited 
him to gratify her desires ; and at last pressed him 
so closely, that he could only escape by leaving his 
cloak in her possession. Seeing herself thus de- 



JOSEPH 



[ 578 ] 



JOSEPH 



spised, she cried out, and complained that the young 
Hebrew had offered her violence, showing his cloak 
as evidence against him. Potiphar, believing him to 
be guilty, threw Joseph into prison, where by his 
conduct he soon obtained the confidence of the war- 
den, and was made overseer. It so happened that 
two of the king's officers, his butler and baker, hav- 
ing incurred his displeasure, were put into the same 
prison with Joseph. Each of them had a dream in 
reference to himself, which Joseph explained, and 
his interpretation of both was fulfilled. The butler 
was restored to his dignity, but did not remember 
Joseph. Two years after this event, Pharaoh had 
dreams by which he was perplexed, but which none 
of his wise men were able to explain. His butler at 
length remembered Joseph, whom Pharaoh com- 
manded to be brought into his presence. The king 
related his dreams, and Joseph interpreted them ; 
foretelling a prodigious plenty, which would be suc- 
ceeded by exhausting famine ; to guard against the 
consequences of which he recommended that a pru- 
dent man should be appointed to lay up stores, dur- 
ing the season of plenty. His counsel was approved 
by Pharaoh, and himself appointed to the office. 
The king also put his own ring on Joseph's finger, 
clothed him in fine linen, or cotton, put a chain of 
gold about his neck, made him ride in the chariot 
next to his own, and gave orders to proclaim him 
governor of all Egypt. He changed Ins name to 
Zaphnath-paaneah, which in Egyptian signifies 
"Saviour of the world," a high-sounding title, like 
those given to oriental princes at the present day. 
Joseph married Asenath, daughter of Potipherah, 
priest of On, or Heliopolis, by whom he had two 
sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 

During the famine which had been foretold, and 
which extended to Canaan, Jacob, reduced to extrem- 
ities, sent his sons into Egypt to purchase corn, re- 
taining only Benjamin, his beloved one, at home. 
On their arrival they were introduced to Joseph, 
and stated the nature of their errand. Joseph im- 
mediately recognized his brethren, but being desirous 
to obtain from them an artless statement of their 
family circumstances, and especially an account of 
his father Jacob and his brother Benjamin, he as- 
sumed a great sternness of manners, affected to doubt 
the truth of their story, and accused them of being 
spies. This had the desired effect ; the sons of Jacob 
prostrated themselves before him, and related their 
artless tale. Joseph, however, detained them three 
days in custody, probably to observe them more nar- 
rowly, or to awaken in them a proper sense of the 
misconduct which had marked their past lives, and 
then consented that they should, with the exception 
of Simeon, return to their father, and bring back 
Benjamin. Feelings of remorse were now awakened 
in their minds, and they exclaimed with one voice, 
"We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that 
we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought 
us, and we would not hear ; therefore is this distress 
come upon us." Jacob was greatly afflicted at the 
command to send Benjamin into Egypt, the reason 
for which he could not comprehend, but after a se- 
vere struggle with his feelings, consented that he 
should depart with his brothers. They again arrived 
in Egypt, and were introduced into the presence of 
Joseph, who, scarcely able to conceal the yearnings 
of his affection towards Benjamin, ordered a dinner 
to be prepared. After this they were sent off on 
their journey, but an expedient was resorted to by 
Joseph again to bring them back. Their corn was 



loaded, and in Benjamin's sack was concealed, by 
Joseph's orders, his silver cup. Scarcely had they 
left the city, therefore, when they were pursued, 
charged with ro ibery, and brought back trembling 
into the presenc ! of their brother. The time had 
now arrived for the discovery to be made. The 
hearts of his brethren had been fully laid bare before 
Joseph, and he felt convinced that they had deeply 
bewailed and deprecated their former cruel demeanor 
towards hirn. He threw off his disguise, embraced 
them with, all the ardor of genuine affection, and 
such a scene ensued as only the pen of inspiration 
could portray. (See Gen. xliii. xliv. xlv.) Joseph im- 
mediately, with the approbation of Pharaoh, sent for 
his father, and the land of Goshen was appropriated 
for the residence of the family. 

But we must glance at the affairs of Egypt during 
this period, in relation to Joseph's administration. 
During the years of famine the Egyptians necessa- 
rily purchased their supplies of corn from the royal 
granaries; and in order to obtain these they parted 
first with their money, next with their cattle, and 
then with their lands and persons. Their lands and 
cattle were restored, on condition of the payment of 
a fifth part of their crops to the king. 

Joseph attended the death-bed of his venerable 
parent, who gave to the two children of his favorite 
son — Ephraim and Manasseh — portions among the 
tribes, and assured Joseph that the Lord would again 
bring his family into the land of his fathers. At this 
time Joseph was about 56 years of age ; he is sup- 
posed to have lived 54 years afterwards, and then 
died in Egypt, " by faith making mention of the de- 
parting of the children of Israel, and giving com- 
mandment concerning his bones" — i. e. that his 
brethren should carry them up into Canaan when 
they departed thence, Heb. xi. 22 ; Gen. xlvi. — 1. 
After his death, his body was put into a stone coffin, 
and was carried away at the exodus, Exod. xiii. 19. 
The tribe of Ephraim buried it near Shechem, in 
the field which Jacob had given to Joseph, Josh, 
xxiv. 32. 

There are one or two incidents in the life of Jo- 
seph that seem to require further notice than Ave 
could give them in this brief narrative. 

A difficulty has suggested itself to the minds of 
some persons with reference to Joseph's cup, men- 
tioned in Gen. xlv. 5. In our translation it is said, 
not only that it was the cup out of which he drank, 
but the one also " whereby he divineth." Now, as 
divination is by no means a study which reflects 
honor on the character of Joseph, interpreters, who 
are jealous of the patriarch's piety, give another ren- 
dering to the passage — " and for which he would 
search accurately." So ver. 5, instead of "know you 
not that such a man as I can certainly divine ? " they 
render, "I would search carefully ;" i. e. for the cup. 
Without disputing these ideas, Mr. Taylor proposes 
a different import of the passage. Dining one day, 
he remarks, with a relation, he took particular notice 
of a silver cup, used as a salt-cellar, which was a 
present from a friend, who had received it from a 
governor of Madras. This cup was three inches 
long, and two inches and a third wide at the brim ; 
which at bottom was diminished to an inch and 
three quarters long, and an inch and one third wide. 
It had two handles, one at each end ; and was orna 
mented with compartments, filled with flowers, &c. 
in relief, on the sides. The centre compartments 
contained Arabic inscriptions, in relief also. It was 
an inch and a half in depth ; and was cut off oblique- 



JOSEPH 



[ 579 J 



JOSEPH 



Iy at the corners. It was the custom, it seems, for 
the town of Madras (probably not the European part 
of it) to make every new governor, as a token of re- 
spect, a present of a similar cup, out of which to 
drink his arrack after dinner. The governor's name 
and titles, with those of the parties who presented 
it, compose, probably, the Arabic inscriptions upon 
it. Now such was, as he thinks, Joseph's cup ; i. e. 
like this, small, fit for the hand to cover and slip away ; 
(turned bottom upward, it exactly fills the hand ; 
thereby rendering Benjamin's theft plausible ;) it 
was a cup used at table, in the cheerful hours of 
drinking, after the meal was ended ; so that Benja- 
min was charged with having abused the hospitality 
and confidence of Joseph ; it was a cup of privilege, 
such as the town could not be supposed to furnish 
the fellow of ; so that Benjamin could not pretend 
he had bought it ; but all the citizens must have been 
witnesses, that this was their present (properly in- 
scribed) to their governor, and must have been in- 
terested accordingly. [But there is no necessity for 
this far-fetched attempt at illustration. The Hebrew 
word cr.J, nachash, translated to divine, has this mean- 
ing also in the intellectual sense, i. e. to conjecture, 
guess out, e. g. divine that some one would take the 
cup, or who had got the cup. 11. 

This view of the subject absolves Joseph from the 
crime and folly of divination. The following extract, 
however, may serve to show that, at any rate, a par- 
ticular cup, annexed to his office by way of distinc- 
tion, was neither peculiar to the ancient governor of 
the Egyptian metropolis, nor to the modern governor 
of Madras : " One day, Ras Michael, [who was gov- 
ernor of the province of Tigre, and prime-minister 
of the kingdom,] dining with Kasmati Gita, the 
queen's brother, who was governor of Samen, and 
drinking out of a common glass decanter, called 
Brulhe, when it is the privilege and custom of the 
governor of Tigre" to use a gold cup ; being asked 
why he did not claim his privilege, he said, 1 Ml 
the gold he had was in heaven ;' alluding to the name 
of the mountain Samayat, where his gold was sur- 
rendered, which word signifies heaven. The king, who 
liked this kind of jests, of which Michael was full, 
on hearing this, sent him a gold cup, with a note 
written, and placed within it, ' Happy are they who 
place their riches in heaven ;' which Michael di- 
rected to be engraved by one of the Greeks upon 
the cup itself. What became of it, I know not ; I 
saw it the first day he dined after coming from coun- 
cil, at his return from Tigre, after the execution of 
Abba Salamana ; but I never observed it at Ser- 
braxos, nor since. I heard, indeed, a Greek say, he 
had sent it as a present to a church of Saint Michael, 
in Tigre." (Bruce's Travels, vol. ii. p. 657.) The 
reader will notice the engraving, the inscription, on 
this cup of privilege. 

Joseph has been severely censured by some writers 
for his method of procuring, for the king of Egypt, 
the property and persons of the inhabitants in ex- 
change for food ; but it should not be oi erlooked, 
that the thought seemed to originate with the people 
themselves, and that probably it was not uncommon 
in those times. The subjoined extract from the 
Gentoo Laws, (p. 140.) will support this idea, and 
inform us, further, on what terms the slave might 
regain that liberty which he had been induced to 
pledge, in the hour of distress. This institute cer- 
tainly differs in this respect from that of Joseph, who 
laid a perpetual land-tax of four shillings in the pound 
on the Egyptians, but suffered them to retain the use 



of their property. " Whoever, having received his 
victuals from a person during the time of a famine, 
hath become his slave, upon giving to his provider 
whatever he received from him during the time of 
the famine, and also two head of cattle, may become 
free from his servitude, according to the ordination 
of Pacheshputtee Misr. — Approved. Chendusar 
upon this head speaks thus : ' that he who has re- 
ceived victuals during a famine, and hath, by those 
means, become a slave, on giving two head of cattle 
to his provider, may become free.' Whoever, having 
been given up as a pledge for money lent, performs 
service to the creditor, recovers his liberty whenever 
the debtor discharges the debt ; if the debtor neglects 
to pay the creditor his money, and takes no thought 
of the person whom he left as a pledge, that person 
Wecomes the purchased slave of the creditor. Who- 
ever, being unable to pay his creditor a debt, hath 
borrowed a sum of money from another person, and 
paid his former creditor therewith, and hath thus 
become a slave to the second creditor ; or who, to si- 
lence the importunities of his creditor's demands, 
hath yielded himself a slave to that creditor, such kind 
of slaves shall not be released from servitude, until 
payment of the debts. 

May not these principles suggest some sort of 
reason why Pharaoh retained the Israelites in bond- 
age ? i. e. that their fathers had originally been sup- 
ported in Egypt, and their lives preserved in time of 
famine, by Egyptian benevolence ? It is true, the 
Pharaohs of the former dynasty might have consid- 
ered the sustaining of Israel as a small return for 
advantages derived by Egypt from the wisdom of 
Joseph ; but this Pharaoh " knew not Joseph ;" he 
either was wilfully ignorant of past events, or disre- 
garded, disacknowledged Joseph ; or was of a new 
race, from a distant country, and treated as a fable 
the services that " Saviour of the Egyptian world" 
had formerly rendered the kingdom. That the Is- 
raelites were considered in the light of bondmen 
is openly acknowledged, " Thou shalt say to thy son, 
We were Pharaoh's bondmen, in Egypt :" " Thou 
shalt remember thou wast a bondman in the land of 
Egypt, and Jehovah, thy God, redeemed thee," 
Deut. vi. 21 ; xv. 15. That bondmen were taken for 
debt appears from the fears of Jacob's sons : (Gen. 
xliii. 18.) "Because of the money that was in our 
sacks — he may take us for bondmen." So (chap, 
xliv. 33.) Judah offers himself to be a bondman, in- 
stead of Benjamin ; and that this custom continued 
long after, we learn from 2 Kings iv. 1, where the 
prophet's widow complains, "the creditor may take 
my children for bond-slaves, we being unable to pay 
him ;" and from Matt, xviii. 25 : " But, whereas, he 
had not property to pay with, his lord commanded 
him to be sold, his wife, and his children, and all 
that he had." 

But another consideration presents itself in look- 
ing at the payment imposed on the Egyptians by 
Joseph. Was this the only tax they paid to Pharaoh 
in support of his government ? If it were, it is much 
more easily vindicated than some have thought ; it 
being evident that the nation could not repay what 
they had received, in kind ; or, indeed, in any mode, 
except by their productive labor, which operated as 
an annuity in favor of Pharaoh. 

II. JOSEPH, son of Jacob, and grandson ol 
Matthan, husband of Mary, and foster-father of 
Christ, Matt. i. 15, 16. His age, and other circum 
stances of his life, excepting what are related in the 
Gospels, are uncertain. Many of the ancients be- 



JOS 



[ 580 ] 



JOSHUA 



iieved that before his marriage with the Virgin, he 
had a wife, named Escha, or Mary, by whom he had 
James the Less, and those who are called in Scrip- 
ture, " brethren" of our Lord. But this opinion is 
not maintainable, since Mary the mother of James 
was living at the time of our Saviour's passion, and 
it is not probable that she had been divorced by Jo- 
seph, to many the Virgin, or that he was married at 
the same time to two sisters ; which is contrary to 
the law, Lev. xviii. 18. Joseph (Matt. i. 19.) was a 
just man; (see Annunciation;) his ordinary abode 
was at Nazareth, particularly after his marriage ; and 
he lived by labor, at a trade, (Matt. xiii. 55, Oi>x oStus 
ianv u toO teztui oc vfoc,) which has been generally 
thought to be that of a carpenter. It is thought that 
he died before Jesus entered upon his public ministry. 

III. JOSEPH BARSABAS, the Just, who wa% 
proposed to fill up the traitor Judas's place, Acts 
i. 23. 

IV. JOSEPH of Arimathea was a Jewish sena- 
tor, and privately a disciple of Christ, John xix. 38. 
He did not consent to the acts of the Sanhedrim, who 
condemned Jesus; and when our Saviour was dead, 
he went boldly to Pilate and desired the body, that 
he might bury it, which he did, in his own tomb, 
Mark xv. 43;'John xix. 38, &c. 

I. JOSES, son of Mary and Cleophas, was brother 
of James the Less, and nearly related to our Lord, 
being son of the Virgin's sister, and of Cleophas, 
Joseph's brother, Mark xv. 40, 47. 

II. JOSES, see Barnabas. 

I. JOSHUA, son of Nun, by the Greeks called 
Jesus, son of Nave, was of the tribe of Ephraim ; 
and is commonly called the servant of Moses. His 
first name was Oshea, (Numb. xiii. 8, 16.) which 
some believe Moses changed, by adding that of God 
to it. Oshea signifies saviour; Jehoshua, the salva- 
tion of God, or he ivill save. In the New Testament 
he is called Jesds, which signifies the same, Acts 
vii. 45 ; Heb. iv. 8. Joshua displayed his valor 
against the Amalekites, and routed their whole army. 
When Moses went up mount Sinai, to receive the 
law, and remained there forty days and forty nights, 
Joshua abode with him, though in all probability 
not in the same place, nor with the same abstinence ; 
and when Moses descended from the mountain, 
Joshua heard the noise of the people, shouting about 
.he golden calf, and thought it was the cry of battle, 
Exod. xxxii. 17. 

Joshua was very constant at the tabernacle of the 
congregation; of which he had the care and custody, 
(Exod. xxxiii. 11.) and seems to have dwelt in or 
near it. When the people came to Kadesh-Barnea, 
he, with others, was deputed to survey the land of 
Canaan ; and when these deputies returned, and 
represented the difficulties of conquering the country 
as extremely great, Joshua and Caleb maintained, 
that the conquest was easy, if the Lord were with 
them. The murmurers were all excluded from the 
.land of promise ; but God promised Joshua and Ca- 
leb that they should enter and possess it. 

When Moses was near his end, God commanded 
him to lay his hands on Joshua, to communicate to 
him part of his spirit, and his glory, that the people 
might obey him.' After the death of Moses, he took 
the command of the Israelites ; and after leading 
them into the promised land, subduing their enemies, 
and dividing the country among the tribes, he called 
I hem together, recapitulated the favors they had re- 
ceived from God, and exhorted them to continue 
faithful. He then made a covenant on the part of 



God with them, and the people reciprocally engaged 
to serve the Lord. Joshua wrote it in the book of 
the law of the Lord ; and to preserve the memory 
of this transaction, he erected a very large stone, 
under the oak, near Shechem. He died, aged a hun- 
dred and ten, A. M. 2570. 

II. JOSHUA, a high-priest, see Jeshda. 

III. JOSHUA, the book of, is generally attributed 
to the person whose name it bears, though it con- 
tains certain terms, names of places, and particu- 
lar circumstances, which do not agree with his time. 
These are accounted for, by supposing that the book 
has been revised, and that additions and corrections 
were made by Ezra in his edilion. 

The Samaritans have a copy of this book, which 
they preserve with respect, and use in support of 
their pretensions against the Jews. It contains forty- 
seven chapters, filled with fables and childish stories, 
commencing where Moses chooses Joshua to succeed 
him. It relates the history of Balaam ; of the war 
of Moses against the Midianites, with the occasion 
of it ; of Balaam's death ; of the death of Moses, 
and the lamentation made for him. It relates the 
passage of the river Jordan at large ; the taking of 
Jericho ; and adds a great number of miracles which 
are not in the genuine book of Joshua. It describes 
a certain war which it mentions to have been carried 
on against Saubec, son of Heman, king of Persia, 
with the addition of a thousand fabulous circum- 
stances. After the death of Joshua, it names one 
Terfico, of the tribe of Ephraim, for his successor. 
There are some other apocryphal works ascribed 
to Joshua ; but they carry their own refutation. 

Upon the miracle wrought at the word of Joshua, 
recorded in Josh. x. 12 — 14, much has been written. 
Objectors have urged that the language of Joshua, in 
correspondence with which the miracle is said to 
have occurred, is not in accordance with the ascer 
tained economy of the universe ; and that if even 
this objection could be disposed of, an unanswerable 
one against the fact would remain, because such an 
occurrence must have involved the whole system in 
a common ruin. To these objections it has been re- 
plied, (1.) that the Hebrew general expressed himself 
in popular language, as, indeed, he was compelled to 
do, unless he would have incurred the charge of in- 
sanity ; and, (2.) that the miracle consisted in an ex- 
traordinary refraction of the solar and lunar rays, 
and did not imply any cessation of the motion of the 
heavenly bodies. In support of this view of the 
transaction, Mr. Taylor has an essay, the close of 
which we lay before the reader. 

It must be granted, that Joshua saiv the objects 
respecting which he spake. E. g. that looking toward 
the sun, he beheld the place of that luminary, and 
its rays shining abroad; then turning towards the 
place of the moon in the heavens, he beheld that 
luminary also ; so that both luminaries were above 
the horizon (therefore visible) at the time when he 
uttered these words: "Thou sun — thou moon." 
This supposition is reasonable enough, and, indeed, 
undeniable ; ■ but its consequences are important, and 
influence the whole history. It shows, (1.) that the 
time of the year was about midsummer, when the 
sun is at its highest northern station ; (2.) that it was 
at nearly full moon, because then the moon would 
be visible in the heavens at the close of the day; 
yet would shine all night till the next morning ; (3.) 
that it was toward the close of day, because before 
the evening of the day, there was no occasion for 
the desire of prolonged light. 



JOSHUA 



t 581 ] 



JOS 



Now, if the light of the moon wei d wanted, she 
oould dispense that while pursuing" her course ; so 
that there was no need for her standing still, in order 
to shine on any supposed spot, whether Ajalon, or 
elsewhere. If the light of the sun were wanted, 
his rays might be so inflected as to enlighten parts 
much more south than they otherwise would have 
done ; and their motion might accompany that of 
his orb .along the horizon. Consequently, there was 
no need for keeping him standing still, in order to 
his shining on any particular spot, whether Gibeon, 
or elsewhere. At London the length of the longest 
day, and those adjacent to it, is sixteen hours and a 
half; and the twilight (not night) is only seven hours 
and a half: — if we transfer this idea from the latitude 
of London, 52 deg. 30 min. to that of Judea, 35 deg. 
30 mm. we shall find that the longest day at Jerusa- 
lem is about fifteen hours : to this add a twilight of 
an hour and a half ; which doubled for evening and 
morning, makes three hours ; in all eighteen hours of 
natural light : — so that, to maintain the solar light, 
during the remaining six hours, until it would natu- 
rally have risen again in the morning, would answer 
the nature and the purposes of the miracle. Having 
adverted to the natural annual situation and effect 
of the sun at midsummer, in the latitude of London, 
we may now perceive, that what was a miracle of 
protracted light in Judea, would have been a much 
less (a shorter) miracle at London ; since, had the 
solar light by any means been elevated ten or fifteen 
degrees, during an hour or two, it would have shone 
all night upon London. Advancing, therefore, 
toward the pole, if at the north of Scotland, or the 
Shetland islands, the light had been elevated half 
that quantity, and during half that time, it would 
have shone all night there ; as at Iceland, Norway, 
Sweden, &c. without any unusual elevation, it actu- 
ally does shine all night at the midsummer time of 
the year. This fact does not rest on astronomical 
calculations only ; there are hundreds of witnesses 
of it; any person who has been a Greenland voyage is 
sufficient evidence, and will confirm it ; he will de- 
scribe the course of the sun as circulating all round 
the horizon, but not sinking below it ; not merely 
during one night, but during a whole month, or two 
months ; making perpetual day, and being constantly 
visible. 

It is well known that the chief, if not the only, 
objection, to this miracle is, that it disturbed the 
whole progress of nature ; if it stopped the sun in 
his course, it must, it is said, have made a double 
day to a whole hemisphere ; and a double night to 
the other hemisphere ; with all their attendant effects. 
So, if it delayed the moon in her course, it must 
have made this month (or lunar revolution) longer 
*han any other ; must have kept the tides stationary, 
or have increased them so exceedingly where it was 
high tide, that great inundations must have ensued ; 
while the want of water would have been equally 
felt where it was low water. The object of this 
reasoning, then, is to show that the lunar orb was 
not stopped one moment, but kept on her course; 
yet maintaining her brightest beams on the valley of 
Ajalon. and the country adjacent, where the enemy 
were flying ; — for the history itself expresses that 
they did not stay all night in the valley of Ajalon, or 
on any other spot, but fled to a great distance ; conse- 
quently, when they were gone," the moon's light 
might be spared from the valley. On the same prin- 
ciple is suggested, the perfect indifference to Joshua, 
whether the solar light were fixed in one point, or 



whether it kept moving along the horizon ; provided 
it gave him light, that was all he wanted ; and this 
it would equally do, in motion, as at rest. 

This statement of the subject answers, in Mr. 
Taylor's opinion, every objection respecting the in- 
jury done, by disturbing the progress of nature, since 
it shows that, in fact, the progress of nature was 
neither delayed nor accelerated, but maintained its 
regular proceeding. The moon was not delayed in 
her course ; neither was the sun, but his light kept 
moving along the horizon that night, in Judea, as it 
does now annually in the Shetland islands, or at 
Tornea, in Lapland ; where the body of the sun 
(which is not necessary in this miracle) is visible at 
midnight, before and after the solstice. 

JOSIAH, son of Anion, king of Judah, and Jedi- 
dah, daughter of Adaiah, of Boscath, (2 Kings xxii.) 
began to reign when eight years of age, ante A. D. 
641. He did right in the sight of the Lord, and 
walked in the ways of David. He began to seek 
after God from the eighth year of his reign, which was 
'the sixteenth year of his age; and in the twelfth 
3 r ear of his reign, he cleared Judah and Jerusalem 
from high places, groves, idols, and superstitious im- 
ages ; and visited, for the same purpose, the cities of 
Epbraim, Manasseh, Simeon, and Naphtali, which 
he is thought to have held under the kings of Cbal- 
dea. He next proceeded to repair the temple of 
the Lord, which in the preceding reigns had been 
neglected. As the workmen were removing the 
money which had been offered by the Israelites at the 
temple, the high-priest Hilkiah found in the treasury- 
chamber " a book of the law of the Lord given by 
Moses," which is thought to have been the original 
of the law, found either in some wall, or chest, — for 
it appears, that the ark was not then in the sanctu- 
ary, since Josiah commands the priests to restore it to 
its place, and forbids them to carry it about any 
more. Josiah, having heard this book read, rent his 
clothes, and sent to Huldah the prophetess for advice ; 
after which lie convened the elders of Judah and 
Jerusalem, and went up with them to the temple of 
the Lord. Here he read to them the book lately 
found, and made a covenant with God, engaging to 
walk in his ways, and to observe his precepts and 
ordinances ; and he made the assembly promise the 
same. He afterwards ordered the destruction of all 
the remains of superstitious and idolatrous monu- 
ments in Jerusalem and Judah : he cut oft" the 
soothsayers, those who worshipped the stars, and 
the sodomites ; and enjoined those priests who had 
offered sacrifices on the high places, to desist. He 
defiled Tophet and the valley of Hinnom, and pro- 
faned all places which had been consecrated to 
superstition and idolatry, filling them with dead 
men's bones, and breaking down the statues which 
were in them. He demolished the altar erected by 
Jeroboam at Bethel, and dug up the bones of the 
false prophets and priests of the golden calves, but 
spared the sepulchre of the prophet whom the Lord 
had sent to prophesy against Jeroboam, 1 Kings xiii. 
31, 32. Josiah afterwards commanded all his people 
to keep the passover according to the law, and 
Scripture says, that from the time of the judges, and 
during the reigns of all the kings, no passover had 
been kept like this ; and that no king before Josiah 
turned as he did to the Lord with all his heart, with 
all his soul, and witli all his strength. 

Some years afterwards, Pharaoh Necho, king of 
Egypt, desiring to pass through Judea, to attacs the 
city of Carchemish on the Euphrates, Josiah opposed 



JUB 



[ 582 ] 



JUBILEE 



his passage at Megiddo, at the foot of Carmel, and 
was mortally wounded ; he died at Jerusalem, ante 
A. D. 610. The people mourned very much for his 
death, and Jeremiah composed an elegy on the oc- 
casion. Josiah was buried with the kings his pred- 
ecessors at Jerusalem, and the people made Jehoa- 
haz, or Shallum, one of his sons, king in his stead. 
Jesus, the son of Sirach, speaks highly of king Josi- 
ah, Ecclus. xlix. 1, &c. 

There were several prophets in Judah while Josiah 
reigned ; Jeremiah and Baruch, Joel and Zeplraniah ; 
as also the prophetess Huldah. Some critics have 
been of opinion, that the Lamentations of Jeremiah, 
which are now extant, were composed on the death 
of Josiah ; and that these are the Lamentations men- 
tioned in 2 Chron. xxxv. 24, 25, which were so cel- 
ebrated, that they continued to be sung long after. 
But this opinion is certainly wrong. The mourning 
of the people on the death of this prince, passed, as 
it were, into a proverb ; and the prophet Zecliariah, 
(xii. 11.) speaking of the lamentation of future ages 
at the death of the Messiah, alludes to that of Josiah, 
as " the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of 
Megiddo." 

JOTBATHAH, an encampment of Israel, in the 
wilderness, between Gidgad and Ebronah, Numb, 
xxxiii. 34. See Exodus. 

I. JOTHAM, Gideon's youngest son, escaped the 
slaughter which the inhabitants of Ophrah made of 
his seventy brethren, Judg. ix. 5. The men and 
soldiers of Shechem, having made Abimelech, who 
had executed this bloody deed, king because he was 
then - countryman, Jotham went up to the top of 
mount Gerizirn, whence he addressed them in the 
famous fable of the trees, and then fled to Beer. We 
know not what became of him after this, but his 
prediction against Shechem and Abimelech was 
soon accomplished, Judg. ix. 5, &c. 

II. JOTHAM, son and successor of Uzziah, or 
Azariah, king of Judah, who having been smitten 
with a leprosy for attempting to offer incense, (2 
Chron. xxvi. 16, 17.) the government was committed 
to Jotham his son, ante A. D. 783. After having gov- 
erned twenty-five years he assumed the title of king, 
and reigned alone sixteen years, to ante A. D. 742 ; so 
that he governed Judah forty -one years. He did 
right in the sight of the Lord, and imitated the piety 
of his father Uzziah, but did not destroy the high 
places. He built the great gate of the temple, and 
other works on the walls of Jerusalem, in Ophel, and 
also caused forts and castles to be erected in the 
mountains and in the forests of Judah. The Am- 
monites, who had been brought into subjection by 
Uzziah his father, having attempted to revolt, he 
defeated them, and imposed on them a tribute of a 
hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures 
of wheat, with as many of barley. Towards the 
end of his reign, the Lord sent Rezin, king of Syria, 
and Pekah, king of Israel, against him ; and it ap- 
pears from Isti. i. that Judah was in a very melan- 
choly condition in the beginning of the reign of 
Ahaz, his son and successor. 

JUBAL, s>on of Lamech and Adah, and the inventor 
of musical instruments, Gen. iv. 21. 

JUBILEE, a Hebrew festival, celebrated in the 
fiftieth year which occurred after seven weeks of 
years, or seven times seven years, Lev. xxv. 10. 
Several commentators, however, maintain that it was 
celebrated in the forty-ninth year, the last year of the 
seventh week of vears, and Lev. xxv. 8, favors this 
opinion ■ " Thou «halt number seven sabbaths of 



years, seven times seven years, and the space of 
seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and 
nine years." It is also remarked, that it would have 
involved many inconveniences to have celebrated 
the jubilee in the fiftieth year, after the sabbatical 
rest of the forty-ninth year. Our limits will not per- 
mit of entering into this controversy, which, after all, 
involves no question of moment. 

If we were certain that the civil year began at a 
different time from the ecclesiastical year, that 
would solve the difficulty ; that is, the fiftieth year, 
by one account, might begin before the forty-ninth 
year, by the other account, was fully completed. Be- 
sides, we know that any part of a year was reckoned 
as a whole year, by the Hebrews, as it commonly is 
in the East. 

The jubilee year began on the first day of Tizri, 
(the first month of the civil year,) and about the au- 
tumnal equinox. During the year no one either 
sowed or reaped ; but all were satisfied with what 
the earth and the trees produced spontaneously. 
Each resumed possession of his inheritance, whether 
it were sold, mortgaged, or alienated ; and Hebrew 
slaves of every description were set free, with their 
wives and children, Lev. xxv. The first nine days 
were spent in festivity, during which no one worked, 
and every one put a crown on his head. On the 
tenth day, which was the day of solemn expiation, 
the Sanhedrim ordered the trumpets to sound, and 
instantly the slaves were declared free, and the lands 
returned to their hereditary owners. This law was 
mercifully designed to prevent the rich from oppress- 
ing the poor, and reducing them to perpetual sla- 
very ; and also to prevent their getting possession of 
all the lands by purchase, mortgage, or usurpation ; 
that debts should not be multiplied too much ; and that 
slaves should not continue, with their wives and chil- 
dren, in perpetual bondage. Besides, Moses intend- 
ed to preserve, as much as possible, the liberty of 
persons, a due proportion of fortunes, and the order 
of families ; as well as that the people should be 
bound to their country, their lands, and inheritances ; 
and that they should cherish an affection for them, 
as estates descended from their ancestors, and to be 
transmitted to their posterity. 

There were several privileges belonging to the 
jubilee year, which did not belong to the sabbatical 
year ; though the latter had some advantage above 
the former. The sabbatical year annulled debts, 
which the jubilee did not ; but the jubilee restored 
slaves to their liberty, and lands to their owners ; be- 
sides which, it made restitution of the lands imme- 
diately on the beginning of the jubilee; whereas, in 
the sabbatical year, debts were not discharged till its 
close. Houses and other edifices built in walled towns 
did not return to the proprietor in the jubilee year. 

After the captivity of Babylon, the Jews continued 
to observe the sabbatical, but not the jubilee, year. 
Alexander the Great granted the Jews an exemption 
from tribute every seventh year, by reason of the 
rest which they then observed. But as the jubilee 
was instituted only to prevent the utter destruction 
of the partition made by Joshua, and the confusion 
of tribes and families, it was no longer practicable as 
before the dispersion of the tribes ; those which re- 
turned from the captivity settling as they could, and 
where they could, while a great number of families, 
and perhaps whole tribes, continued in the place of 
I their captivity. Usher places the first jubilee after 
t the promulgation of the law by Moses, A. M. 2609 , 
! the second, A M. 2658 ; the third, A. M. 2707 



J U D 



[ 583 ] 



JUDAS 



JUDAH, or Jehuda, the fourth son of Jacob and 
Leah, was born in Mesopotamia, A. M. 2249. He 
advised his brethren to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelite 
merchants, rather than to imbrue their hands in his 
blood. He married Shuah, daughter of a Canaanite, 
named Hirah, and had three sons by her, Er, Onan, 
and Shelah, Gen. xxxvii. 26. He married Er to a 
young woman named Tamar ; but Er died prema- 
turely. Judah required Onan his second son to 
marry his brother's widow, and to raise up seed to 
him ; but Onan eluded the purpose of his father, 
and the law, and was punished with death. Judah, 
being afraid to give Shelah his third son to Tamar, 
amused her with promises, till at length she disguised 
herself, and taking her seat in a way by which Judah 
was to pass, she imposed upon his ignorance, and 
obtained two children by him. See Tamar. 

Judah was always considered as the chief of Ja- 
cob's children, and his tribe was the most powerful 
and numerous. The blessing given by Jacob on his 
death -bed to Judah was as follows: "Judah, thou 
art he whom thy brethren shall praise, thy hand 
shall be on the neck of thine enemies, thy father's 
children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a 
lion's whelp ; from the prey, my son, thou art gone 
up : he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an 
old lion, who shall rouse him up ? The sceptre shall 
not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between 
his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the 
gathering of the people be." This seems to imply 
a transfer of the birth-right to Judah, Reuben having 
forfeited it ; and it also includes a promise that the 
regal power should not go out of his family, and that 
the Messiah should derive his birth from him. See 
Shiloh. 

The southern part of Palestine fell to the lot of 
Judah. (See Canaan.) His tribe was at the exo- 
dus composed of 74,600 men capable of bearing 
arms. After the return from the captivity, this tribe 
in some sort united in itself the whole Hebrew na- 
tion, who from that time were known only as Judesi, 
Jews, descendants of Judah. Judah, when named 
in contradistinction to Israel, or the kingdom of the 
ten tribes, or Samaria, denotes that of Judah, and of 
David's descendants. One of the principal preroga- 
tives of this tribe was, that it preserved the true re- 
ligion, and the public exercise of the priesthood, 
with the legal ceremonies in the temple at Jerusa- 
lem ; while the ten tribes gave themselves up to 
idolatry, and the worship of the golden calves. 

I. JUDAS MACCABEUS, son of Mattathias, 
succeeded his father as captain of the people during 
the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, 1 Mac. iii. 
1. He gave numberless proofs of his valor, and of 
his zeal for God's law, by opposing those who for- 
sook the Lord, and sacrificed to idols ; and at last 
fell nobly in battle while opposing the Syrian army, 
under Bacchides. Calmet thinks that this great man 
was one of the figures of the Messiah, the true Saviour 
of Israel ; and in his opinion, the prediction of Isaiah 
prophetically referred to him, as a figure of Christ : 
(chap. Ixiii.) "Who is he that cometh from Edom, 
with dyed garments from Bozrah ?" &c. 

II. JUDAS ISCARIOT, being chosen by Christ 
as one of his apostles, and appointed their treasurer, 
was so wicked as to betray his Lord into the hands 
of his enemies, for thirty shekels, about fifteen 
dollars. 

It has been disputed whether Judas partook of the 
eucharist iu the last supper. The affirmative of this 
opinion is the most general, but it is not recommend- 



ed by considerations of propriety or convenience. 
That the feet of Judas were washed by our Lord is 
clear ; and it is equally clear that our Lord marks 
him as an exception, by saying, " Ye are clean ; but 
not all." This action was in the introductory part 
of the supper. Subsequently, our Lord observes, "I 
speak not of you all ; — but he that eateth bread with 
me, hath lift up his heel against me." The traitor 
was still more distinctly pointed at, when, as they re- 
clined during the supper, the hand of Judas happened 
tQ be placed on the table, at the same time as our 
Lord's hand was so placed ; and to John he was 
personally marked by the sop given to him, which 
sop was dipped in the sauce composed of bitter herbs, 
that accompanied the paschal lamb. A moment 
after, he was discovered to all the company, by the 
answer to his question, " Lord, is it I ?" This was 
so instant on his receiving the sop, that the evange- 
list John observes, " Jesus said to him, What you 
do, do directly ;" and " he, having received the sop, 
went immediately out." It is therefore evident, that 
Judas went out during the paschal supper, but the 
eucharist was not instituted till after the paschal sup- 
per had been concluded ; and the last action of that 
supper was what gave opportunity to the institution 
of the new rite. To suppose that Jesus would give 
to Judas the sacramental cup in token of his 
blood "shedyb?- theremission of sins,'" — of sins which 
Judas had traitorously committed, or which he de- 
signed traitorously to commit, — is to trifle with this 
most solemn of subjects ; and, indeed, is a contradic- 
tion to the evangelist, who says, " W hen he (Judas) 
was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man 
glorified," &c. He then gave warning to Peter of 
his frailty ; and to all his disciples of their instability. 
Some of the fathers seem to speak favorably of Ju- 
das's repentance ; others think it absolutely defective 
and unprofitable, since he despaired of mercy. Ori- 
gen and Theophylact, writing on Matthew, say, that 
Judas, seeing his master was condemned, and that 
he could not obtain pardon from him in this life, 
made haste to get the start of him, and wait for him 
in the other world, in order to beg mercy of him 
there. 

There are :ome difficulties concerning the manner 
in which Ju as died. Matthew says, simply, that 
he hanged hiii.self ; whereas Luke (Acts i. 18.) says, 
further, that "falling headlong, he burst asunder in 
the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." This ap- 
parent discrepancy has occasioned much controversy, 
and various solutions have been offered. Mr. Hew- 
lett, we think, has hit upon the true one. He consid- 
ers the narrative of Luke to be supplemental to that 
of Matthew's, and to state an additional fact. Mat- 
thew having related that Judas departed, and went 
and hanged himself, Luke had not the least doubt 
respecting the fact, but knew that all suicides, who 
hang themselves, are cut down sooner or later by 
those who find them. It is at this point that Mr. 
Hewlett supposes the short, supplementary narrative 
in the Acts to begin. The rope being cut, or untied, 
[nqrivi,? ytrofii voc,) " falling headlong," or rather, "fall- 
ing on his face, he burst asunder," &c. It was 
perfectly natural for Luke, on this occasion, if not as 
an evangelist, yet as a physician, to relate, by way of 
parenthesis, the pathological fact here recorded ; 
which is so far from being incredible, that it is very 
natural, and not unlikely to happen. A skilful phy- 
sician informed Mr. Hewlett, that in cases of violent 
and painful death there is usually an effusion of lymph, 
oi' lymph mixed with blood, into the cavities of the 



J UD 



L 584 1 



JUDEA 



chest and abdomen. If the body be kept till pu- 
trescence takes place, a gas is evolved from the fluid 
in such quantity as to distend enormously, and some- 
times to rupture, the peritonaeum and abdominal 
muscles: this effect has been observed in bodies 
hung on gibbets in England ; and it would take 
place much more readily in warmer climates. 

III. JUDAS, or Jude, surnamed Barsabas, was 
sent from Jerusalem, with Paul and Barnabas, to the 
church at Autioch, to report the resolution of the 
apostles at Jerusalem, concerning.-tfhe non-observ- 
ance of the law by the Gentiles, Acts xv. 22, 23. 
A. D. 54. Some think, that this Judas was the 
brother of Joseph, surnamed also Barsabas, who 
was proposed, with Matthias, to fill up the place of the 
traitor Judas, Acts i. 23. Luke says that Judas Barsa- 
bas was a prophet, and one of the chief among the 
brethren ; and it is also believed that he was one 
of the seventy disciples. 

IV. JUDAS, or Jude, surnamed Thaddeus, or 
Lebbeus, or the Zealot, is called the Lord's brother, 
(Matt. xiii. 55.) because he was, as is believed, son of 
Mary, sister to the Virgin, and brother to James the 
Less. In the last supper he asked Jesus "how he 
could manifest himself to his apostles, and not to the 
world ?" Paulinus says, that he preached in Libya, 
and seems to say, that his body remained there. Je- 
rome affirms, that after the ascension, he was sent 
to Edessa, to king Abgarus ; and the modern Greeks 
say that he preached in that city, and throughout 
Mesopotamia ; and in Judea, Samaria, Idumea, Syria, 
and principallv in Armenia, and Persia. But we 
know no particulars of his life. 

We have a canonical Epistle written by Jude, 
addressed to all the saints who are beloved by the 
Father, and called by the Son, our Lord. It appears 
by the 17th verse, where he cites the Second Epistle 
of Peter, and thoughout the letter, in which he inti- 
mates that the expressions of that apostle were al- 
ready known to those whom he writes to, that he had 
principally in view the converted Jews, who were 
scattered throughout the East, in Asia Minor, and 
beyond the Euphrates. He contends against false 
teachers, the Gnostics, Nicolaitans, and Simonians, 
who corrupted the doctrine, and disturl id the peace 
of the church. The date of the Epistle is uncertain ; 
but Jude speaks of the apostles as ol persons who 
had been some time dead. He quotes the Second 
Epistle of Peter, and alludes to Paul's Second Epis- 
tle to Timothy ; whence it appears, that it was not 
written till after the death of these apostles, and con- 
sequently after A. D. G6. It is credible that he did 
not write it till after the destruction of Jerusalem. 
(Comp. Jude 17, with 2 Pet. ii. &c. ; and 2 Tim. iii. 
1. with Jude 18.) 

V. JUDAS GAULANITIS, or the Gaulanite, op- 
posed the enrolment of the people made by Cyrenius 
in Judea ; (see Cyrenius ;) and raised a very great 
rebellion, pretending that the Jews, being free, ought 
to acknowledge no dominion besides that of God. 
His followers chose rather to suffer extreme torments 
than to call any power on earth lord or master. The 
same Judas is named Judas the Galilean, (Acts v. 
37.) because he was a native of the city of Gamala 
in the Gaulanitis, which was comprised in Galilee. 
Calmet believes that the Herodians were the follow- 
ers of Judas. 

JUDE, see Judas IV. 

JUDEA, a province of Asia, successively called 
Canaan, Palestine, the Land of Promise, the Land of 
Israel, and Judea after the Jews returned from the 



Babylonish captivity ; because then the tribe of Ju- 
dah was the principal : the territories belonging to 
the other tribes being possessed by the Samaritans, 
Idumeans, Arabians, and Philistines. The Jews, 
when returned from the captivity, settled about Je- 
rusalem, and in Judah, from whence they spread 
over the whole country. 

Judea may be considered as divided into four 
parts : (1.) the western district, Palestine, inhabited 
by the Philistines; on the east of this, (2.) the moun- 
tainous district, called the hill country, (Josh. xxi. 
11 ; Luke i. 39.) which the rabbins affect to call the 
king's mountain ; whether because on the northern 
part of this ridge Jerusalem is situated, or for any 
other reason, is not known. East of these moun- 
tains was, (3.) the wilderness of Judea, along the 
shore of the Dead sea: (4.) the valleys, &c. west of 
Jerusalem, towards the Mediterranean. Judea, no 
doubt, derived its name from Judah, which tribe was 
settled in the south of the land, and maintained its 
kingdom after the northern tribes had been expatri- 
ated. This circumstance, together with that of Ju- 
dah being principally peopled with Israelites after 
the return from the captivity, and being first settled, 
on account of the temple being established in it, ac- 
counts for the general name of Jews being given to 
the Hebrew nation. Judea was one of the principal 
divisions of the Holy Land in the days of Christ : it 
included from the Mediterranean sea west, to the 
Dead sea east, and was bounded north by Samaria, 
and south by Edom, or the Desert. It is extremely 
mountainous in some parts, as from Hebron to Jeru- 
salem. West of these mountains is the principal ex- 
tent of country ; but this has many hills. East of 
them, running along the western shore of the Dead 
sea, is a wilderness, viz. 

The Wilderness of Judea. Here John Baptist 
first taught, (Matt. iii. 1.) and Christ was tempted ; 
probably towards the north of it, not far from Jericho. 
Some parts of it were not absolutely barren or unin- 
habited ; of other parts the following, descriptions 
are, we believe, very accurate. Dr. Carlyle, who 
visited the monastery of St. Saba, which stands in 
this wilderness, says, " The valley of St. Saba is an 
immense chasm in a rifted mountain of marble. It 
is not only destitute of trees, but of every other spc • 
cies of vegetation ; and its sole inhabitants, except 
the wretched monks in the convent, are eagles, tigers, 
and wild Arabs." Chateaubriand describes it in 
truly melancholy terms : " I doubt whether any con- 
vent can be situated in a more dreary and desolate 
spot than the monastery of St. Saba. ... As we ad- 
vanced, the aspect of the mountains continued the 
same — that is, white, dusty, without shade, without 
tree, without herbage, without moss." Mr Bucking- 
ham says, " Nothing can be more forbidding than the 
aspect of the hills ; not a blade of verdure is to be 
seen over their whole surface, and not the sound of 
any living being is to be heard throughout their whole 
extent." What a scene surrounded the Saviour 
when he dwelt in this wilderness, with the wild 
beasts ! Matt, iv ; Luke iv. See Canaan. 

There are several medals of Judea extant, repre- 
senting a woman (the daughter of Zion) sitting under 
a palm-tree, in a mournful attitude, and having 
around her a heap of arms, shields, &c. on which 
sire is seated. The legend is jud^ea capta. s. c. 
This may remind us of the captives in Babylon, who 
" sat down and wept." " But what is more remark- 
able," says Mr. Addison, " we find Judea represented 
as a woman in sorrow, sitting on the ground, in « 



JU1) 



L 585 ] 



JUD 




passage of the prophet which foretells the very cap- 
tivity recorded on these medals." (See Isa. iii. 26 ; 
xlvii. 1.) 

[The name Judeawasapplied in different ageseither 
to the whole or to a part of Palestine. In the time 
of David it denoted that portion of the country which 
belonged to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, Josh, 
xi. 21 ; cotnp. verse 16 ; 2 Sam. v. 5 ; 1 Chron. xxi. 5. 
After the secession of the ten tribes, the territory of 
the kingdom of Judah was called Judea, including 
the tracts belonging to Judah and Benjamin, and 
also part of that which appertained to the tribes of 
Dan and Simeon. Hence it became at length a gen- 
eral name for the southern part of Palestine, while 
the northern part was called Galilee, and the middle 
Samaria. After the captivity, as most of those who 
returned were of the kingdom of Judah, the name 
Judea was applied generally to the whole of Pales- 
tine, Hag. i. 1, 14; ii. 3. When the whole country 
fell into the power of the Romans, the former divis- 
ion into Galilee, Samaria, and Judea, seems to have 
again become current. Josephus describes Judea 
in his day as bounded north by Samaria, its northern 
extremity being the village of Anouath, east by the 
Jordan, west by the Mediterranean, and south by the 
territory of the Arabs. These boundaries would 
seem to include a part at least of Idumea. Judea in 
this extent constituted part of the kingdom of Herod 
the Great, and afterwards belonged to his son Arche- 
laus. When the latter was banished for his cruel- 
ties, Judea was reduced to the form of a Roman 
province, annexed to the proconsulate of Syria, and 
governed by procurators, until it was at length given 
as part of his kingdom to Herod AgrippaH. During 
all this time the boundaries of the province were 
often varied, by the addition or abstraction of different 
towns and cities. See Jos. B. J. iii. 3. 5, et passim. 
Relandi Palrest. p. 31, 174, 178 ff. Jahn § 25. 
§ 13 ff- R. 

JUDGES (c3ii2DC, shophetim) governed the Israel- 
ites from Joshua to Saul. The Carthaginians, a col- 
ony of the Tyrians, had likewise governors, whom 
they called Suffetes, or Sophetim, with authority like 
those of the Hebrews, almost equal to that of kings. 
Some are of opinion, that the archontes among 
the Athenians, and dictators among the Romans, 
were shnilar to the judges among the Hebrews. Gro- 
tius compares the government of the Hebrews, under 
the judges, to that of Gaul, Germany, and Britain, 
before the Romans changed it. This office was not 
hereditary among the Israelites ; they were no more 
than God's vicegerents. When the Hebrews desired 
a king, God said to Samuel, " They have not reject- 
ed thee, but they have rejected me, that I should 
not reign over them," 1 Sam. viii. 7. (See also Judg. 
viii. 23.) 

The dignity of judge was for life, but the succes- 
sion was not always constant. There were anar- 
chies, or intervals, during which the commonwealth 
' was without rulers. There were likewise long in- 
74 



tervals of servitude and oppression, under which the 
Hebrews groaned, and were without either judges 
or governors. Although God only did regularly ap- 
point the judges, yet the people, on some occasions, 
chose that individual who appeared to them most 
proper to deliver them from oppression ; and as it of- 
ten happened, that the oppressions which occasioned 
recourse to the election of a judge, were not felt over 
all Israel, the power of such judge extended only over 
that province which he had delivered. We do not 
find that Jephthah exercised his authority on this side 
Jordan ; nor that Barak extended his beyond it. 
The authority of judges was not inferior to that of 
kings : it extended to peace and war : they decided 
causes with absolute authority ; but had no power 
to make new laws, or to impose new burdens on the 
people. They were protectors of the laws, defenders 
of religion, and avengers of crimes, particularly of 
idolatry: they were without pomp or splendor ; and 
without guards, train, or equipage, unless their own 
wealth might enable them to appear answerable to 
their dignity. Their revenue consisted in presents 
exclusively. — The time of the judges from Joshua 
to Saul is 399 years. For their succession see the 
Chronological Tables. See also Tribunals. 

JUDGES, the Book of, is by some ascribed to 
Phinehas, by others to Ezra, or to Hezekiah, and by 
others to Samuel, or to all the judges, who wrote 
each the history of his time and judicature. But it 
appears to be the work of one author, who lived 
after the time of the judges ; and he is generally 
thought to be Samuel, for the following reasons : — 
(1.) The author lived at a time when the Jebusites 
were masters of Jerusalem, and consequently before 
David, Judg. i. 21. (2.) It appears that the Hebrew 
commonwealth was then governed by kings, since 
the author observes, in several places, that at such a 
time, there was no king in Israel. 

There are considerable difficulties, however, against 
this opinion, as Judg. xviii. 30, 31 : " And the chil- 
dren of Dan made Jonathan and his sons priests in the 
tribe of Dan, until the day of the captivity of the 
land. And they set them up Micah's graven image, 
which he made, all the time that the house of God 
was in Shiloh." Now, the tabernacle or house of 
God was not at Shiloh till about the time of Samuel's 
first appearance as a prophet ; for then it was brought 
from Shiloh and carried to the camp, where it was 
taken by the Philistines ; and after this time it was 
sent back to Kirjath-jearim, 1 Sam. iv. 4, 5, &c. ; vi. 
21. As to the captivity of the tribe of Dan, it can 
scarcely, one would think, be understood of any 
other than that under Tiglath-pileser, many hundred 
years after Samuel, and, consequently, he could not 
write this book ; unless it be supposed that this pas- 
sage has been added since. 

JUDGMENT is taken (1.) for the power of judg- 
ing absolutely; (Deut. i. 17; John v. 27.) (2.) for 
rectitude, equity, and the other good qualities of a 
judge ; (Ps. Ixxii. 1 ; xcix. 4 ; lxxxix. 14.) (3.) the 
vindictive justice and rigor of God's judgment. For 
example, Exod. xii. 12 ; Ps. cxix. 84 ; Isa. xxvi. 9. 
(4.) To do judgment and justice denotes the exer- 
cise of all virtues — justice, equity, truth, and fidelity,. 
Gen. xviii. 19; Ps. cxix. 121; Isa. v. 7. (5.) Judg- 
ment is often put for the laws of God, and particularly 
for judicial laws, Exod. xxi. 1 ; xxiv. 3; Ps. cxlvii. 
20. (6.) For a court of justice. See Tribunals. 

It is not improbable, that the decisions given from 
the oracle, or by he priests, in cases of difficulty, 



JUD 



[ 586 ] 



JUDITH 



which had been brought to Jerusalem, according to 
the law, formed, in process of time, a body of judg- 
ments, distinguished as being divine : hence, in the 
Psalms, we frequently read of the judgment of God 
being according to truth, to justice, to equity ; mean- 
ing, not his judgment, in the sense of punishment 
inflicted on individuals, or on nations ; but his legal 
or discriminative decisions. On the other hand, care 
should be taken not to confound the divine judg- 
ments in the sense of punishments — evils inflicted — 
with those decisions which were merely judicial and 
administrative. 

Judgment is taken for the last judgment. " It is 
appointed that all men should die, and that judgment 
should follow," Heb. ix. 27. In Joel iii. 2, the Lord 
says, " that he will gather together all the nations in 
the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will enter into judg- 
ment with them, to avenge his people, whom they 
have oppressed." (See also Ecclus. xi. 9 ; Ps. cxliii. 2.) 

Judgment of zeal. The Jews affirm, that under 
particular circumstances, when any one saw a Jew 
offending against God, or violating the law, or even 
if any one saw a heathen, who would engage the 
people in irregularities, in idolatry, or in the breach 
of God's laws, they might with impunity kill him ; 
and, without any form of justice, remove this scandal 
from the people. They cite the example of Phine- 
has, son of Eleazar, who, having seen an Israelite 
enter the tent of a Midianitish woman, took a javelin, 
followed them, and killed them both, (Numb. xxv. 6, 
&c.) and also the example of Mattathias, the father 
of the Maccabees, who, in his transport of zeal, 
killed an Israelite while he was sacrificing to false 
gods, 1 Mac. ii. 24, 25. But the inconveniences of 
this sort of judgment are very evident : an inconsid- 
erate multitude, a provoked Israelite, or a fanatic, 
might believe themselves allowed to kill any man 
whom they wildly fancy to be an enemy to the in- 
terests of God and religion. With this mistaken 
zeal the Jews stoned Stephen, they laid hands on 
Paul, determined on his death, and more than forty 
men made a vow, neither to eat nor drink till they 
had killed him. James, bishop of Jerusalem, was 
executed in this manner ; and Christ had not escaped 
death in the temple, when they imagined he uttered 
blasphemy, had he not retired, John viii. 59. 

Judgment, Fountain of, is the same as the Foun- 
tain of Kadesh, south of the land of promise, the 
waters of which were called the Waters of Strife, be- 
cause Moses was here contradicted and provoked by . 
the murmurs of the Israelites. It was also called 
the Fountain of Judgment, as here God displayed 
his displeasure against his prophet, and warned him 
that he should not enter the promised land, because 
he had not honored him in the eyes of Israel. Engl, 
version, En-Mishpat. 

JUDITH, of Reuben, daughter of Merari, and 
widow of Manasseh, is celebrated for her beauty, and 
for the deliverance of Bethulia, when besieged by 
Holofernes. Being informed that Ozias had prom- 
ised to deliver the town up, within five days, to Holo- 
fernes, she sent for Chabris and Carmis, elders of 
the people, and informed them of her purpose, but 
without explaining the mode by which it was to be 
effected. She then prayed, dressed herself in her 
best apparel, and pretending to have fled from the 
city, went over to the camp of Holofernes, and pros- 
trated herself before him. As soon as he saw her, he 
was captivated, and, ordering her to be raised, assured 
her of protection. 

Judith continued with Holofernes, but had liberty 



of going out of the camp at night. On the fourth 
day, he sent Bagoas, his eunuch, to invite her to pass 
the night with him. Judith went, decorated with all 
her ornaments, and Holofernes was so transported, 
that he indulged largely in wine. In the evening, his 
servants retired, and Bagoas shut the chamber doors 
and departed. Holofernes, being overcome with 
drink, slept very soundly. Judith, therefore, placed 
her maid on the watch, and having put up her prayer 
to God, took down the general's sabre, and, having 
severed his head from his body, wrapped him up in 
the curtains of his bed, and, giving the head to her 
maid, directed her steps to Bethulia. The head of 
Holofernes being exhibited on the walls of the city, 
his army was seized with dismay ; and their defeat 
was so extraordinary, that the whole country was 
enriched with their spoils. The high-priest Jehoia- 
kim came from Jerusalem to Bethulia, to compliment 
Judith ; and every thing belonging to Holofernes was 
presented to her, and afterwards consecrated to the 
Lord. Having lived 105 years at Bethulia, and made 
her maid free, she died ; and was buried with her 
husband. All the people lamented for her seven 
days, and the day on which the victory was obtained 
was placed among the Hebrew festivals. 

There is great difficulty relating to the time of this 
history. The Greek and Syriac seem to decide, that 
it was after the captivity of Babylon ; but the Vulgate 
may be explained as referring to a time preceding 
that captivity. To remove all difficulties, and an- 
swer all objections, seems impossible. Those who 
maintain that the history of Judith passed before the 
captivity, and in Manasseh's time, think it sufficient 
to demonstrate, that there is nothing in the narrative 
repugnant to this assertion. They suppose the 
Nabuchodonozor in the text to be the Saosduchinus 
in Ptolemy ; that Arphaxad is the Phraortes of He- 
rodotus ; that these two princes made war with one 
another in the twelfth year of Saosduchinus; that 
Arphaxad being overcome, Saosduchinus sent Holo- 
fernes to reduce by force those who refused to ac- 
knowledge him for sovereign ; and that at this time 
Manasseh, then recently delivered from captivity, in 
Babylon, now dwelt at Jerusalem, concerning him- 
self little with the government, but leaving it mostly 
to Joachim, or Eliakim, the high-priest. Supposing 
all this, there is nothing in it against the laws of 
history or chronology. The war between Nabu- 
chodonozor and Arphaxad is placed A. M. 3347, 
the expedition and death of Holofernes in 3348. 
Manasseh was earned to Babylon in 3329. He re- 
turned some years afterwards, and died in 3361. 

The opinion which places the history of Judith 
after the captivity of Babylon is founded principally 
on the authority of the Greek copy, which is cer- 
tainly very ancient. This translation says in chap, 
iv. % "that the Israelites were newly returned from 
the captivity, and all the people of Judea were lately 
gathered together, and the vessels, and the altar, and 
the house, were sanctified after the profanation." 
Achior, general of the Ammonites, says the same to 
Holofernes : " They were destroyed in many battles 
very sore, and were led captives into a land that was 
not theirs ; but now they are returned to their God, 
and are come up from the places where they were 
scattered, and have possessed Jerusalem, where their 
sanctuary is." This last passage is taken from the 
Vulgate ; but the Greek adds, " And the temple of 
their God was overthrown ;'' literally, reduced to the 
pavement, or trampled under foot, " and their cities • 
were taken by the enemies, and they dwell again in 



JUL 



[ 587 ] 



JUS 



the mountains which were not inhabited." It is in I 
vain to endeavor to correct the sense of these pas- 
sages ; the bare reading of them naturally leads us to 
say, that this history was translated after the return 
from the captivity ; and thus almost all the ancients, 
and many of the moderns, have believed. Eusebius 
places it in the reign of Cambyses ; Syncellus in that 
of Xerxes ; Sulpitius Severus in that of Ochus ; oth- 
ers under Antiochus Epiphanes, and in the time of 
the Maccabees. 

The last opinion, Calmet thinks, is the most easy 
to maintain. Grotius, and other learned writers, are 
of opinion that this book is rather a parabolical than 
a real history ; (Praefatio ad Annotaiiones in lAbrum 
Judith ;) and Prideaux almost gives up its authenticity, 
in consequence of the historical difficulties it involves. 

JULIA, a female Christian, mentioned Rom. 
xvi. 15. 

JULIAS, a name given by Philip to Bethsaida, in 
honor of Augustus's wife. See Bethsaida. 

I. JULIUS C/ESAR, the first Roman emperor, 
had some connection with Jewish affairs, although 
he is not mentioned in the New Testament. He was 
the son of Lucius Csesar and Aurelia, daughter of 
Cotta, and born in the year of Rome 654 ; 98 years 
before Jesus Christ. After having passed through 
the offices of tribune, qua?stor, sedile, high-priest, and 
prretor or governor of Spain, he obtained the consul- 
ship in the year of Rome 695, and chose the govern- 
ment of Gaul, which he reduced into the form of a 
province, after nine or ten years of government. 
After the death of his daughter Julia, he went to war 
with Pompey, but when he entered Italy with his 
victorious army, he so terrified his enemies, that they 
fled. He set at liberty Aristobulus, king of Judea, 
and sent him with two legions to support his inter- 
ests in Syria, Phoenicia, and Arabia. But Pompey's 
party found means to poison him by the way. Alex- 
ander, son of Aristobulus, had already levied troops 
in Syria, to join his father, but Pompey sent orders 
to Scipio in Syria, to have him killed, which was 
done. Passing into Egypt, Caesar was shut up in 
Alexandria, with some troops, where he was very 
much embarrassed, and pressed by the Egyptian 
army. He therefore sent Mithridates into Syria and 
Cilicia, to procure succors ; and Ahtipater, father of 
Herod the Great, who governed the high-priest Hir- 
canus, prince of the Jews, engaged assistance for 
him. He himself marched into Egypt with 3000 
men, and, joining Mithridates, they together attacked 
Pelusium, which they carried ; and afterwards ad- 
vanced towards Alexandria, where Antipater induced 
the Jews in the canton of Onion, to open the pas- 
sages, and declare for Caesar, who obtained a com- 
plete victory, and thus became master of Egypt. 
Caesar always preserved a grateful recollection of the 
important service which Antipater had rendered 
him. He confirmed all the privileges of the Jews in 
Egypt, and caused a pillar to be erected, on which 
he ordered them all to be engraved, with the decree 
which confirmed them. As he passed through Pal- 
estine, Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, threw himself 
at his feet, and represented to him in a very affecting 
manner the death of his father and brother. The 
first had been poisoned, and the second beheaded, 
for supporting his interests. He desired to be re- 
stored to his father's principality, and also complained 
of the wrong done him by Antipater and Hircanus. 
Antipater, however, who was still in Caesar's retinue, 
justified their conduct. In his fifth and last consul- 
ship, Caesar permitted Hircanus to rebuild the walls 



of Jerusalem, which Pompey had demolished. He 
was killed March 15, ante A. D. 54. 

II. JULIUS, a centurion of the cohort of Augus- 
tus, to whom Festus, governor of Judea, committed 
Paul, to be conveyed to Rome. Julius had great re- 
gard for Paul, Acts xxvii. 1, &c. He suffered him 
to land at Sidon, and to visit his friends there ; and 
in a subsequent part of the voyage he opposed the 
violence of the soldiers directed against the prisoners, 
generally, in order to save the apostle. When he 
delivered his charge to the custody of the chief cap- 
tain of the guard, there can be no doubt but that his 
favorable report of the apostle contributed essentially 
to the indulgences he afterwards met with, and by 
which his imprisonment was greatly moderated. 

JUNIA, or, as some copies read, Julia, is joined 
with Andronicus, in Rom. xvi. 7, " Salute Andronicus 
and Junia, my kinsmen and fellow-prisoners, who are 
of note among the apostles." 

JUSTICE is generally put for goodness, equity ; 
that virtue which renders to every man his due. 
Sometimes for virtue and piety in general ; or for the 
conjunction of all those virtues which make a good 
man, Ezek. xviii. 5 — 9. It branches out into so many 
significations, and is applied so differently to men 
and things, that it deserves peculiar and even anx- 
ious investigation. In general, it seems to refer to 
some rule, law, or standard, by which a quality, an 
intention, or an action, may. be estimated. So Xen- 
ophon speaks of a car as being just, meaning, what it 
ought to be, fit for the use intended : and Pollux calls 
good and fertile land just, and barren land unjust. 
The same idea may be transferred to man. Hence 
one who fulfils the law is a just man ; he answers 
the intention of the lawgiver. Cicero says, justice is 
used for conduct as it regards man, but piety is the 
proper term as referring to God ; whence we may 
learn that the heathen acknowledged the impotence 
of man to equal what God had a right to expect ; 
though man might be just toward his fellow man. 
Still, those who " hunger and thirst after righteous- 
ness ;" who earnestly desire complete rectitude of 
heart and life ; who endeavor after perfect conform- 
ity with the rule of action, as well in the sight of 
God as men, are pronounced blessed. 

As parts of righteousness, or justice, due from 
man to man, single virtues are sometimes put for the 
whole ; as truth, clemency, integrity, &c. So alms 
are a species of righteousness, that is, from man to 
man ; so kindness and moderation, not pushing to the 
utmost, whether of strictness or severity, those de- 
mands which we have a right to make on others ; or 
not pressing them unseasonably, or at all events ; and 
in these respects, and the like, it may well be, that 
our Lord insists on the righteousness of his disciples 
surpassing that of the scribes and Pharisees, whom 
he frequently brands with the appellation of hyp- 
ocrites. 

It requires considerable skill in the Greek language 
to trace the correct import of this word in the seve- 
ral places where it occurs, either in its direct forms, 
or in collateral phraseology ; and to distinguish when 
it is used in a more classical or in a more Hebraical 
sense : — not omitting its sacerdotal application, in va- 
rious parts of holy writ. 

We ought not to pass over a personification of the 
justice nf God, rendered " vengeance" in our public 
version, but properly importing the power commis- 
sioned by the Deity to punish malefactors, the divine 
nemesis. The barbarians said among themselves, 
when they saw the viper fasten on the 'and of Paul. 



JUS 



[ 588 ] 



JUT 



No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though 
ne hath escaped the sea, yet justice, divine justice, 
suffereth not to live," Acts xxviii. 4 ; a sentiment 
which was founded in the nature of things, and in a 
deep sense of the divine government, and which 
was expressed in terms the evangelist has not scru- 
pled to repeat. 

JUSTIFICATION is a term which implies that 
the party has been, or is. charged with some matter 
of complaint, from which he vindicates himself, or is 
vindicated by another, either by producing proofs of 
his innocence, or of his having already suffered the 
penalty of that transgression ; (autrefois acquit, of our 
lawyers ;) or referring to some other person who has 
allegations on his behalf, which will effect his justifi- 
cation. Justification, then, is a law term, that was 
used in ancient times, and is greatly analogous to 
our term acquitted. When sinners are charged with 
their sins before God, they cannot in any wise prove 
their innocence, since they are accused of only bond 
fide crimes. They cannot say they have been for- 
merly acquitted, in any other sense than by reference 
to an expected pardon through God's grace, and his 
proposals of mercy. Though some sins are evident- 
ly punished in this life, all are not, as is equally evi- 
dent ; but the allegations which may be offered by a 
mediator-party remain in full force. When an Is- 



raelite had transgressed against any divine law, he 
acknowledged his transgression, brought his sacri- 
fice to the altar, confessed over it his fault, thereby 
symbolically transferring his guilt ; and the victim 
was the substituted sufferer, which being sacrxficially 
offered, the offerer had complied with the appoint- 
ments of the law ; so that should he be afterwards 
charged with that crime, he might plead autrefois 
acquit. But sacrifices were not in their nature capa- 
ble of making absolute reconciliation between God 
and man ; they could only refer to a nobler blood,, 
which should accomplish that perfectly which they 
did imperfectly, should effectually vindicate the 
guilty from the consequences of their guilt, and should 
justify, when appealed to, from accusations of con- 
science, of the world, of human laws, or of the divine 
law, through the gracious acceptance of the divine 
Lawgiver. 

I. JUSTUS, surnamed Barsabas, see Joskph. 

II. JUSTUS, a Jew, who was at Rome with Paul 
(A. D. 62.) when he wrote to the Colossians. The 
apostle says that Jesus, called Justus, and Marcus,, 
were his only fellow-workers unto the kingdom of 
God, Col. iv. 11. 

JUTTAH, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 55.) which 
Calmet takes to be the Itlmam of Josh. xv. 23. Eu- 
sebius places it eight miles from Hebron, east. 



K 



K AT 



KED 



KABZEEL, a city in the southern part of Judah, 
(Josh. xv. 21.) called Jekabseel, Neh. xi. 25. 

KADESH,or Kadesh-Barnea,oi- Ex-Mishfhat, 
(Gen. xiv. 7.) a city and desert around it, in the south- 
eastern border of the promised land, Numb, xxxiv. 4 ; 
Josh. xv. 3. Here Miriam died ; (Numb. xx. 1.) and 
here Moses and Aaron, distrusting God's power, when 
they smote the rock at the waters of strife, were 
appointed to die without the satisfaction of entering 
the promised land, Numb, xxvii. 14. The king of 
Kadesh was killed by Joshua, (Josh, xii.22.) and the 
city given to Judah. The situation of Kadesh has 
been fullv treated of in the article Exodus, p. 419. 

KADMONITES, (Gen. xv. 19.) a tribe of people 
who inhabited the promised land east of the Jordan, 
about mount Hermon. They were descended from 
Canaan the son of Ham. Cadmus, the founder of 
Thebes in Bceotia, has been conjectured to have been 
originally a Kadmonite, and his wife Hermione to 
have been so named from mount Hermon. The 
Kadmonites, says Calmet. were Hivites : the word 
Hivites is derived from a root which signifies a ser- 
pent; and fable says, that Cadmus sowed serpents' 
teeth, from which sprung up armed men ; because 
he settled at Thebes, his Hivites, or Kadmonites, who 
were valiant and martial. 

I. KANAH, a brook on the borders of Ephraim 
and Manasseh, (Josh. xvi. 8 ; xvii. 9.) which falls into 
the Mediterranean, a few miles south of Cesarea. 

II. KANAH, a city of Asher, Josh. xix. 28. 
KARKAA, a town on the southern confines of the 

tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 3. 

KATTATH, the limit of the tribe of Zebulun, 
(Josh. xix. 15.) in Judg. i. 30, called Kithron, which is 
the same in sense. The Vulgate, LXX, Syriac, arid 
Arabic, render these names, which are from the 



same root, by small, trifing, insignificant things : the 
Chaldee to the same effect ; whence the name of this 
city, perhaps, might be analogous to our name little- 
town, Littleton. 

I. KEDAR, a region in the desert of the Agarenes, 
Gen. xxv. 13; 1 Chron. i. 29. 

II. KEDAR, a city, as some think, called by Jose- 
phus, Camala, Isa. xlii. 11 ; lx. 7; Ezek. xxvii. 21 ; 
Ps. cxx. 5 ; Jer. ii. 10 ; xlix. 28. 

III. KEDAR, a son of Ishmae), (Gen. xxv. 13.) the 
father of the Kedarenians, Cedrei, mentioned by 
Pliny, (H. N. v. 11.) who dwelt in the neighborhood 
of the Nabatha?ans, in Arabia Deserta. These peo- 
ple living in tents, it is not possible to show the place 
of their habitation, because they often changed it. 
Arabia Deserta is sometimes called Kedar; but the 
Kedarenians dwelt principally in the south of Arabia 
Deserta, or in the north of " Arabia Petrrea: there 
were some as far as the Red sea, Cant. i. 5; Isa. 
xlii. 11. 

KEDEM, see East. 

KEDEMAH, Ishmael's youngest son, who dwelt, 
as did his brethren, east of the mountains of Gilead, 
Gen. xxv. 15. The town of Kedemoth might at first, 
perhaps, belong to his descendants ; but we cannot 
consider him as father of the Kadmonites; (Gen.xv. 
19.) for these were ancient inhabitants of Canaan, 
and already powerful in the time of Abraham. 

KEDEMOTH, a town of Reuben, east of the 
brook Anion, (Josh. xiii. 18.) and one of the stations 
of the Hebrews in the wilderness ; (Dent. ii. 26.) given 
to the sous of Merari, the Levite, 1 Chron. vi. 79. The 
name also included the desert around it. 

I. KEDESH, a city in Judah, Josh. xv. 23. 

II. KEDESH, a city in Naphtali, Josh. xii. 22 ; 
xix. 37 ; xxi. 32 ; Judg. iv. 6, 9 ; 1 Chron. vi. 76 



K JB Y 



[ 589 ] 



KIN 



J II. KEDESH, a city in Issachar, 1 Chron. vi. 72 ; 
called Kishion, Josh. xix. 20 ; xxi. 28. 

IV. KEDESH NAPHTALI, called by Josephus 
Cadesa, or Csedesa, and in the Greek of Tobit (i. 2.) 
Cadis, lay in Upper Galilee, above Naasson, having 
Saphet to the north. It was given to Naphtali, and 
afterwards ceded to the Levites of Gershom's family, 
(Josh. xix. 37.) and became a city of refuge, Josh. xx.7. 

KEDRON, see Kidron. 

KEHELATII AH, an encampment of Israel in the 
wilderness, Numb, xxxiii. 22. As it appears to de- 
note " the place of assembly," some have thought 
the gathering and revolt of Korah, Dathau and Abi- 
ram happened here. 

KEILAH, a town of Judah, (Josh. xv. 44.) which 
Ensebius places seventeen miles from Eleutheropolis, 
on the side of Hebron ; and Jerome eight miles from 
the late city. It is said that the prophet Habakkuk's 
tomb was shown there. 

KEMUEL, the third son of Nahor, and father of 
the Syrians ; or rather of Aram, Gen. xxii. 21. He 
had a son surnamed "the Syrian," or "the Aram- 
ite ;" for the Syrians were really derived from Aram, 
a son of Shem. Kemuel may have given name to 
the Kamilites, a people of Syria lying west of the 
Euphrates. 

KENATH, a town of Manasseh, beyond Jordan, 
{Numb, xxxii. 42.) named Nobah, 'after Nobah, an 
Israelite, had conquered it. Eusebius places it in the 
Trachonitis, about Bozra ; and Pliny in the Decapolis, 
lib. v. cap. 18. 

I. KENAZ, father of Othniel and Caleb, Josh.xv. 
17 , Judg. i. 13 ; iii. 9, &c. 

II. KENAZ, the fourth son of Eliphaz;a duke, or 
chief, of Edom, Gen. xxxvi. 15. 

KENI, a region of the Philistine country, 1 Sam. 
xxvii. 10 ; Judg. i. 16. " The children of the Kenite," 
should be, according to the LXX, "of Jethro, the 
Kenite." 

KENITES, a people who dwelt west of the Dead 
sea, and extended themselves far into Arabia Petroea. 
Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a Kenite, 
and out of regard to him all of this tribe who sub- 
mitted to the Hebrews were suffered to live in their 
own country. The rest fled, in all probability, to the 
Edomites and Amalekites. (See 1 Sam. xv. 6.) The 
lands of the Kenites were in Judah's lot. Balaam, 
when invited by Balak to curse Israel, stood on a 
mountain, whence, addressing himself to the Kenites, 
he said, " Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou put- 
test thy nest in a rock ; nevertheless the Kenite shall 
be wasted until Ashur shall carry thee away captive," 
Numb. xxiv. 21. They were carried into captivity 
by Nebuchadnezzar. 

KENIZZITES, an ancient people of Canaan, 
whose land God promised to the descendants of 
Abraham, (Gen. xv. 19.) and who dwelt, it is thought, 
in Idumsea. Kenaz, son of Eliphaz, probably took 
his name from, the Kenizzites, among whom he 
settled. 

KETURAH, Abraham's second wife, (Gen. xxv. 
1, 2.) is thought by the Jews to be the same as Ha- 
gar. We know nothing of her, except as the mother 
of Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and 
Shuah. Abraham gave presents to these, and sent 
them east into Arabia Deserta. 

KEY, an instrument frequently mentioned in 
Scripture, as well in a natural as in a figurative sense. 
The keys of the ancients were very different from 
ours ; because their doors and trunks were general- 
ly closed with bands, and the key served only to 



loosen or fasten those bands. Chardin says, that a 
lock in the East is like a little harrow, winch enters 
half way into a wooden staple, and that the key is a 
wooden handle, with points at the end of it, which 
are pushed into the staple, and so raise this little har- 
row. A key was a symbol of power or authority. 
Isa. xxii. 22, "And the* key of the house of David 
will I lay upon his shoulder: he shall open and none 
shall shut; he shall shut and none shall open," i. e. 
he shall be grand master and principal officer of his 
prince's house. Christ gives Peter authority in his 
church, (Matt. xvi. 19.) the key of the kingdom of 
heaven, the power of binding and loosing ; that is, of 
opening and shutting ; for this frequently consisted 
only, as we have said, in tying and untying. Isaiah 
remarks, that Eliakim should wear his key upon his 
shoulder, as a mark of office, of his power to open 
and shut with authority. Callimachus says, that. 
Ceres carried a key upon her shoulder ; a custom 
which appears very strange to us ; but the ancients 
had large keys in the form of a sickle, and which, 
from their weight and shape, could not otherwise be 
carried conveniently. 

Christ reproaches the scribes and Pharisees with 
having taken away the key of knowledge ; (Luke xi. 
52.) that is, with reading and studying the Scriptures, 
without advantage to themselves, and without dis- 
covering to others the truth ; which in some sort 
they held captive in unrighteousness, Rom. i. 18. He 
also says (Rev. i. 18.) that he has the key of death 
and hell ; that is, power to bring to the grave, or to 
deliver from it ; to appoint to life or to death. The 
rabbins say, that God has reserved to himself four 
keys ; the key of rain, the key of the grave, the key 
of fruitfulness, and the key of barrenness. 

KEZIZ, a valley, and perhaps a city, in Benjamin 
Josh, xviii. 21. 

KIBEROTH-AVAH, or Kiberoth-hattaavah 
the graves of lust, was one of the encampments of Is- 
rael in the wilderness, where they desired of God 
flesh for their sustenance, declaring they were tu - ed 
of manna, Numb. xi. 34, 35. Quails were sent in 
great quantities, but while the meat was in their 
mouths, (Ps. lxxviii. 30.) God smote so great a 
number of them, that the place was called the graves 
of those who lusted. 

KIBZAIM, a city of Ephraim, (Josh. xxi. 22.) but 
as the name is in the dual form, it is probable there 
were two cities comprehended under it, adjoining 
each other. 

KID, see Lamb. 

KIDRON, a brook in the valley east of Jerusalem, 
between the city and the mount of Olives, and which 
discharges itself along the valley of .Teh.oshaphat, and 
winding between rugged and desolate hills through 
the wilderness of St. Saba, into the Dead sea. It has 
generally but little water, and often none ; but after 
storms, or heavy rains, it swells, and runs with much 
impetuosity. A branch of the valley of Kidron was 
the sink of Jerusalem, and here Asa, Hezekiah, and 
Josiah burnt the idols and abominations of the apos- 
tate Jews, 2 Kings xxiii. 4. (See Gehenna.) The 
blood poured out at the foot of the altar in the tem- 
ple, as well as other filth, ran by a drain into the 
brook Kidron ; a fact which confutes the notion, 
that virtue was imparted to the pool of Bethesda 
from the blood of the sacrifices, as some have sup- 
posed. (Babyl. Join. 58. 2.) 

KIN AH, a town of Judah, Josh. xv. 22. 

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is an expression used 
in the New Testament, to signify the reign, dispen 



KIN 



[ 590 1 



KING 



sation, or administration, of Jesus Christ. The an- 
cient prophets, when describing the characters of the 
Messiah, scarcely ever failed to use the name of king 
or deliverer ; so that when they spoke of his humili- 
ations and sufferings, they interspersed hints of his 
power, his reign, and his divinity. Thus Zachariah, 
foretelling his entry into Jerusalem, says, " Behold, 
thy King cometh unto thee. He is just, and having 
salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a 
colt the foal of an ass." The Jews and the apostles, 
accustomed to this way of speaking, expected the 
kingdom of the Messiah to resemble that of a tempo- 
ral king, exercising power on his enemies, restoring 
the Hebrew monarchy, and the throne of David to 
all its splendor; subduing the nations, and rewarding 
his friends and faithful servants, in proportion to 
their fidelity and services. Hence the contests among 
the apostles about precedency in his kingdom ; and 
hence the sons of Zebedee desired the two chief 
places in it. Jesus, to prove that he was the true 
Messiah, often declared, that the kingdom of heaven 
was at hand, or was come ; and when he spoke of 
what was to happen after his resurrection, he said, 
such a thing would be seen in the kingdom of heaven. 
He frequently began his parables, " The kingdom of 
heaven is like unto — a rich man — a father of a fami- 
ly — a treasure," &c. 

"The kingdom of heaven" sometimes denotes 
eternal bliss, (Matt. vii. 21 ; xix. 14.) and sometimes, 
nnd more frequently, the church of Christ, Matt. xiii. 
47, 48. [Our Saviour designates usually by the phrase 
kingdom of heaven, the community of those, who, 
united through his Spirit under him, as their Head, 
rejoice in the truth, and enjoy a holy and blissful life, 
in communion with him. R. 

The KINGDOM OF GOD is often synonymous 
with the kingdom of heaven ; but in the Old Testa- 
ment the kingdom, or reign, of God, signifies his in- 
finite power, or, more properly, his sovereign author- 
ity over all creatures, kingdoms, and hearts. Wisdom 
says, (x. 10.) God showed his kingdom to Jacob ; i. e. 
he opened the kingdom of heaven to him in showing 
him the mysterious ladder by which the angels as- 
cended and descended ; and Ecclesiasticus (xlvii. 13.) 
says, God gave to David the covenant assurance, 
or promise of the kingdom, for himself and his suc- 
cessors. 

KING. The Israelites had no kings till Saul; 
naving been governed, first, by elders, as in Egypt ; 
then by rulers of God's appointment, as Moses and 
Joshua ; then by judges, as Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, 
Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Eli, Samuel ; and lastly, 
by kings, as Saul, David, Solomon. For the succes- 
sion of the kings, see the Chronological Tables. 

After their return from captivity, (A.M. 3468,) the 
Jews lived under the dominion of the Persians 140 
years, till Alexander the Great, who came to Jerusa- 
lem, 3672. After his death, (3681,) Judea submitted 
to the kings of Egypt, and then to the kings of Syria ; 
but Antiochus Epiphanes having forced them to 
take arms for the defence of their religion, in 3836, 
the Maccabees recovered by degrees their ancient 
liberty, and lived independent, from the government 
of John Hircanus, in 3874, till Judea was reduced 
into a province by the Romans. 

In Scripture, the word king does not always imply 
the same degree of power, or importance ; neither 
does it imply the magnitude of the dominion or ter- 
ritory of this national officer. Many persons are 
called kings in Scripture, whom we should rather 
denominate chiefs or leaders ; and many single towns, 



or towns with their adjacent villages, are said to have 
had kings. Being unaware of this lower sense of the 
word king, many persons have been embarrassed by 
the passage, Deut. xxxiii. 4, 5, " Moses commanded us 
a law — he was king in Jeshurun," or king among the 
upright ; i. e. he was the principal among the assem- 
bly of the heads of the Israelites. He was the chief, 
the leader, the guide of his people, fulfilling the du- 
ties of a king, though not king in the same sense as 
David or Solomon. This also explains Gen. xxxiv. 
31, "These kings reigned in Edom, before there 
reigned any king over the children of Israel: for 
Moses, though he was king in an inferior sense, yet 
did not reign, in the higher sense, over the children 
of Israel," the constitution not being monarchical 
under him. These remarks will remove the surprise 
which some persons have felt, at seeing that so small 
a country as Canaan contained thirty-one kings, who 
were conquered, (Josh. xii. 9 — 24.) beside many who, 
no doubt, escaped the arms of Joshua. Adonizedek, 
himself no very powerful king, mentions seventy 
kings, whom he had subdued and mutilated. (See 
also 1 Kings iv. 20.) 

Idolatrous nations, and even the Hebrews, some- 
times called their gods kings; thus, Moloch, Mil- 
chorn, Adramelech, and Anamelech, are names of 
deities importing the title of king. The words of 
Isaiah, (xxxvii. 13.) "Where is the king of Hamath, 
and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of 
Sepharvaim, Henah, and Ivah ? " seem parallel to 
those of chap, xxxvi. 19, " Where are the gods of 
Hamath and Arphad ? Where are the gods of Se- 
pharvaim ?" In Amos i. 15, God threatens Milchom, 
the god of the Moabites, with sending him and his 
princes into captivity. In Scripture, God is called in 
every page almost, the king of the Hebrews. See 
Hebrews (government.) 

King is used metaphorically by Job, (chap, xviii. 
14.) "the king of terrors ;" i. e. death ; the ruler, the 
supreme of terrors. So chap. xli. 34, " The Leviathan 
is king ; i. e. chief, principal, superior over all the 
children of pride ;" those who most pride themselves 
on their stations, or qualities, are nevertheless com- 
pelled to acknowledge, that the Leviathan is their 
superior ; and to refrain from comparing, or equal- 
ling, their powers to those of that tyrant of the 
waters. The word is also used figuratively by our 
Lord : (John xviii. 37.) Pilate said, "Art thou a king 
then ? " Jesus answered, " Thou sayest," thou ex- 
pressest what is the fact ; I am a king, but not of this 
world. Accordingly, in Rev. i. 15, we read of Jesus 
Christ the prince of the kings of the earth, i. e. supe- 
rior to all earthly monarchs ;— and in 1 Tim. i. 17, 
of " The King eternal, immortal ;" and again, (vi. 15.) 
" Our Lord Jesus Christ, the blessed and only poten- 
tate : King of kings and Lord of lords." See also 
Rev. xvii. 14. This application of the title "king" 
to our Saviour, subjected the primitive Christians to 
many inconveniences ; as appears, among other 
places, from Acts xvii. 7, where they are accused of 
acting " contrary to the decree of Caesar, saying, 
there is another king, one Jesus." 

King sometimes signifies government, such as a 
king usually exercises; even though it be not con- 
ducted under one person. Rev. xvii. 10, " There 
are (rather, have been) seven kings — forms of gov- 
ernment ; five are fallen, one is ; the other is not 
come ;" so ver. 12. 

We may now proceed to give an account of the 
person and office, with other circumstances con- 
nected with the Hebrew kings. 



KING 



r zry - 
L J 



KING 



It appears to have been a maxim of the Hebrew 
law, that the person of the king was inviolable, 
whatever his character may have been, 1 Sam. xxiv. 
5 — 8 ; 2 Sam. i. 14. We have already seen, that by 
the law of Moses the lsraelitish monarchy was to be 
hereditary, and the history of the Jews shows that 
this law was strictly attended to. Nevertheless, it 
appears from the history of David, that the succession 
did not necessarily go by the right of primogeniture, 
for he appointed Solomon as his successor, in pref- 
erence to Adonijah, his elder brother. In this the 
people yielded to the will of the king ; and that the 
subjects really considered the right as inherent in 
him, appears the more clearly from the circumstance, 
that David at the time he caused Solomon to be an- 
ointed, was scarcely more than nominally king, while 
Adonijah, his eldest son, had Joab, the commander- 
in-chief of the army, on his side. No sooner, how- 
ever, was the king's mandate made known, than it 
was obeyed, and Solomon seated on the throne. This 
right, exercised by David in a matter undetermined 
by the Mosaic laws, and which he probably derived 
from a capitulation, wherein the Israelites, from their 
great partiality to him, acceded to his wishes, in 
order to have rather the best than the eldest of his 
sons for their king, seems to have been the great 
cause of all the commotions which arose during his 
reign. His first-born son was Amnon, whom Absa- 
lom despatched, probably not so much to revenge 
the disgrace of his beloved sister, Tamar, as to be- 
come eldest son himself. As soon as he was so, and 
had regained his father's favor, he set on foot a re- 
bellion ; because he saw that he had otherwise no 
chance of succeeding to the throne, from the pref- 
erence his father gave to Solomon. He was slain in 
battle : and then the eldest son, Adonijah, formed in 
his father's old age a fresh conspiracy, in order to be- 
come king. From all this it is plain, that such a 
despotic right as allows a king thus to determine his 
successor arbitrarily, and not according to an inva- 
riable law, is extremely prejudicial to his own curi- 
osity, as well as to the peace of the state. After 
David's time, we find none of the kings exercising 
it ; because probably it had been altered, from an ob- 
servation of its unhappy effects. 

The inauguration of the king next demands our 
attention. The first thing in this pompous ceremony 
was the anointing. Godwyn, following the Talmud- 
ical rabbins, asserts, that all kings were not anointed, 
but those only in whom the succession was broken ; 
and then the first of the family was anointed for his 
successors, except in cases of dissension, where there 
was required a renewed unction, for the confirmation 
of his authority. There can be little doubt, however, 
that all the kings were anointed ; hence, king and 
anointed seem to have been used as synonymous 
terms, 1 Sam. ii. 10; 2 Sam. i. 14, 21. This an- 
ointing was sometimes performed privately by a 
prophet, (1 Sam. x. 1 ; xvi. 1 — 13 ; 1 Kings xix. 16 ; 
2 Kings ix. 1 — 6.) and was a symbolical prediction 
that the person so anointed would, at some future 
period, ascend the throne. After the monarchy was 
established, this unction was performed by a priest, 
(1 Kings i. 39.) at first in some public place, (1 Kings 
i. 32 — 34.) and afterwards, in the temple, the monarch 
elect being surrounded by his guards, 2 Kings xi. 
12, 13 ; 2 Chron. xiii. Some are of opinion that he 
was at the same time girded with a sword, Ps. xlv. 
n. The manner of performing this ceremony ap- 
pears to have been by pouring the oil upon the head, 
1 Sam. x. 1 ; 2 Kings ix. 6. From these passages 



it appears probable, that the kings were anointed in 
the same plentiful manner, at their coronation, as the 
priests were ; the ointment, or oil, was poured upon 
the head in such a quantity, as to run down upon 
the beard, and even to the skirts of the garment, 
Ps. exxxiii. 2. The next step was to place the di- 
adem, or crown, upon the sovereign's head, and the 
sceptre in his hand. To the former of these there is 
an allusion in Ps. xxi. 3, " Thou preventest him (the 
king) with the blessings of thy goodness ; thou settest 
a crown of pure gold on his head ;" and also in Ezek. 
xxi. 26, and to the latter in Ps. xlv. 6, " Thy throne, 
O God, is for ever and ever ; the sceptre of thy 
kingdom is a right sceptre." It appears to have 
been the custom of the Jewish kings, as well as those 
of the neighboring nations, to wear the crown con- 
stantly when they were dressed. Saul had a crown 
or diadem when slain at the battle of Gilboa, (2 Sam 

i. 10.) as also the king of the Ammonites, when he 
beaded his army in battle, 2 Sam. xii. 30. When 
the diadem was placed on the head of the monarch, 
he entered into a solemn covenant with his subjects 
that he would govern according to the law; (2 Sam. 
v. 3 ; 1 Chron. xi. 3.) after which the nobles pledged 
themselves to obedience, and confirmed the pledge 
with the kiss of homage, or, as the Jews call it, the 
kiss of majesty, 1 Sam. x. 1. This ceremony is 
probably alluded to in the following passage of the 
psalmist, "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry," &c. (Ps. 

ii. 12.) that is, acknowledge him as your king, pay 
him homage, and yield him subjection. Loud ac- 
clamations, accompanied with music, then follow- 
ed, after which the king entered the city, 1 Kings i. 
39, 40 ; 2 Kings xi. 12, 19 ; 2 Chron. xxiii. 11. To 
this practice there are numerous allusions both in the 
Old Testament (Ps. xlvii. 2—9 ; xc vii. 1 ; xcix. 9, &c.) 
as well as in the New ; (Matt. xxi. 9, 10 ; Mark xi. 9, 
10 ; Luke xix. 35, 38.) in which last cited passages 
the Jews, by welcoming our Saviour in the same 
manner as their kings were formerly, manifestly ac- 
knowledged him to be the Messiah whom they ex- 
pected. 

The ceremonies attending the inauguration of a 
king among the Abyssinians have evidently been de- 
rived from the Hebrews. Of one considerable part 
of this ceremony, however, we find no direct men- 
tion made as forming part of the installation of He- 
brew monarchs, although there certainly appears to 
be some allusions to such a practice in Psalms xxiv. 
and xlv. 

" On the 18th of March, (according to their ac- 
count, the day of our Saviour's first coming to Jeru- 
salem,) this festival began. All the great officers, all 
the officers of state, and the court, then present, were 
every one dressed in the richest and gayest manner, 
nor was the other sex behind-hand in the splendor 
of their appearance. The king, dressed in crimson 
damask, with a great chain of gold about his neck, 
his head bare, mounted on a horse richly caparison- 
ed, advanced at the head of his nobility, passed the 
outer court, and came to the paved way before the 
church. Here he was met by a*nuinber of young 
girls, daughters of the Ilmbares, or supreme judges, 
together with many noble virgins standing on the 
right and left of the court. Two of the noblest of 
these held in their hands a crimson cord of silk, 
somewhat thicker than a common whipcord, but of 
a looser texture, stretched across from one company 
to another, as if to shut up the road by which the 
king was approaching the church. When this cord 
was prepared and drawn tight, about breast-high, by 



KING 



[ 592 j 



KING 



the girls, the king entered, advancing at a moderate 
pace, curveting, and showing the management of his 
horse. He was stopped by the tension of the string, 
while the damsels on each side, asking who he ivas, 
were answered, '/ am your king, the king of Ethiopia? 
To which they, replied, with one voice, '■You shall not 
pass, you are not our king.' The king then retires 
some paces, and then presents himself as to pass, and 
the cord is again drawn across this way by the young 
women, so as to prevent him ; and the question 
again repeated, 'JVJio are youT The king answered, 
'/ am your king, the king of Israel.' But the dam- 
sels resolved, even on this second attack, not to sur- 
render but upon their own terms : they again an- 
swer, ' You shall not pass; you are not our king.'' 
The third time, after retiring, the king advances with 
a pace and air more determined ; and the cruel vir- 
gins, again presenting the cord, and asking who he is, 
he answers, 'lam your king, the king of Sion ;' and 
drawing his sword, cuts the silk asunder. Immedi- 
ately upon this, the young women cry, 'It is a truth, 
you are our king ; truly you are the king of Sion.' 
Upon which they begin to sing Hallelujah, and in 
this they are joined by the court and army on the 
plain ; fire-arms are discharged, drums and trumpets 
sound ; and the king, amidst these acclamations and 
rejoicings, advances to the foot of the stair of the 
church, where he dismounts, and there sits down 
upon a stone, which, by its remains, was* apparently 
an altar of Anubis, or the dog-star. At his feet there 
is a large slab of freestone, on which is the inscrip- 
tion mentioned by Poulet. 

" The king is first anointed, then crowned, and is 
accompanied half up the steps by the singing priests, 
called Dipteras, chanting hymns and psalms. Here 
he stops at a hole, made for the purpose, in one of the 
steps, and there is fumigated with incense and myrrh, 
aloes and cassia : divine service is then celebrated ; 
and, after receiving the sacrament, he returns to the 
camp, where fourteen days should be regularly spent, 
in feasting, and all manner of rejoicing, and military 
exercise. After the king comes the Norbit, or keep- 
er of the book of the law in Axum, supposed to rep- 
resent Azarias, the son of Zadock ; then the twelve 
Umbares, or supreme judges, who, with Azarias, ac- 
company Menilek, the son of Solomon, when he 
brought the book of the law from Jerusalem, and 
these are supposed to represent the twelve tribes. 
After these follow the Albuna at the head of the 
priests, and the Itcheque at the head of the monks ; 
then the whole court, who pass through the aper- 
ture made by the division of the silk which remains 
still upon the ground. The king then gives and re- 
ceives presents, according to established custom and 
value ; of which a list is kept." (Bruce.) 

This extract will, if we mistake not, serve to illus- 
trate the forty-fifth Psalm, where the writer speaks of 
things " touching the king." He is thus represented 
as in great splendor, magnificently dressed, his sword 
girded on his thigh, mounted on horseback, equipped 
with the bow, &c. anointed with the oil of gladness 
above his fellows, his garments smelling with myrrh, 
aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, (curious 
inlaid boxes of ivory,) the virgins — -"kings' daugh- 
ters," on his one side, and his consort on the other, 
the rich and honorable presenting gifts, and the ac- 
clamations and rejoicing of the people. 

The apparel of the Jewish monarchs was rich and 
splendid. Hence our Saviour, speaking of the beauty 
which God had imparted to the lilies of the field, re- 
marks, " Even Solomon in all his glory was not ar- 



rayed like one of these." Josephus and the rabbins 
assert, that the robes of the Jewish kings were white ; 
this, however, wants better support than their criti- 
cisms upon the word lauriqo?. which is applied by the 
Greek writers to any gay color. Xenophon applies 
the word to such as are clothed in purples, or who 
are adorned with bracelets and jewels, and splendid- 
ly dressed. It is much more probable that the king's 
robes were made of purple and fine white linen, 
Esth. viii. 15 ; Luke xvi. 19. The royal diadem 
was made most probably of gold, the shape of which 
resembled those worn by the ancient Romans, and 
was inlaid with precious stones, 2 Sam. xii. 30; 
Zech. vi. 11. Nor was the throne less magnificent. 
That of Solomon was made of ivory, overlaid with 
fine gold, raised on six steps, and adorned with the 
images of lions, 1 Kings xi. 18 — 20. In noticing 
the state and grandeur of the Jewish monarchs, we 
must not omit mentioning their attendants and guards; 
particularly the Cherethites and Pelethites, of whom 
there is frequent mention in the histories of David 
and Solomon. That they were soldiers, appears 
from their making part of David's army, when he 
marched out of Jerusalem on occasion of Absalom's 
rebellion ; (2 Sam. xv. 18.) and likewise when they 
were sent against the rebel, Sheba the son of Bichri, 
chap. xx. 7. That they were a distinct class from 
the common soldiers, is evident from their having a 
peculiar commander, and not being under Joab the 
general of the army, 2 Sam. viii. 16, 18. They 
seem, therefore, to have been the king's body-guard, 
like the prsetorian band among the Romans. These 
guards appear to have been skilful archers. The 
Chaldee paraphrase every where calls them archers 
and slingers. Their number may probably be gath- 
ered from the targets and shields of gold, which Sol- 
omon made for his guards ; which were five hundred, 
1 Kings x. 16, 17, compared with 2 Chron. xii. 9 — 11. 

The eastern monarchs, and indeed the whole of 
their great men, were never approached but with 
presents. This is particularly noticed by Solomon : 
" A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth 
him before great men," Prov. xviii. 16. Thus the 
sons of Jacob were instructed to carry a present to 
Joseph when they went down to Egypt, to buy food, 
(Gen. xliii. 11, 26.) and in like manner, the Magi who 
came from the East to worship Christ, brought him 
gold, frankincense, and myrrh, Matt. ii. 11. It was 
also usual to pay them the most marked respect, by 
prostrations to the ground, Gen. xxxvii. 10 ; 1 Sam. 
xxiv. 8 ; 2 Sam. xiv. 4. Morier informs us, that a 
similar practice obtains amongst the Persians at the 
present day : " As soon as we approached the throne 
of the Christian emperor," says Brands, "we were 
obliged to kneel down, and slowly to bow our heads 
to the ground." Ovington tells us that " the mark 
of respect which is paid to the kings in the East ap- 
proaches very near to adoration. The manner of 
saluting the great mogul is, to touch with the hand 
first the earth, then the heart, and then to lift it above, 
which is repeated three times in succession as you 
approach him." The last honors paid the king were 
at his death. The royal corpse, it is said, was carried 
by nobles to the sepulchre, though it were at a 
considerable distance. However this be, we read of 
public mourning observed for good kings, 2 Chron. 
xxxv. 24 ; Jer. xxii. 18 ; xxxiv. 5. Yet, notwith- 
standing all this royal state and grandeur, they were 
only God's viceroys, bound to govern according to the 
statute-law of the land, which they, as well as their 
subjects, were required to obey. 



KING 



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KINGS 



The king was forbidden keeping a large body of 
cavalry, or an immoderate number of horses. These 
were unnecessary for the defence of Palestine, being 
a mountainous country, and- could only be resorted 
to for the purpose of conquest, than which nothing- 
could be more opposed to the views of the divine 
Lawgiver. The king is forbidden "multiplying wives 
to himself, that his heart turn not away," (Deut. xvii. 

17. ) but no law was less observed than this. (See 2 
Sam. iii 2 — 8 ; v. 13 ; ii. 8 ; ::v. 16, &c.) He was 
likewise forbidden " greatly to multiply to himself 
silver and gold," (Deut. xvii. 17.) lest he should make 
himself absolute and despotic. This prohibition, 
however, did not extend to the formation of a public 
treasury, or of one appropriated to the service of the 
sanctuary and tabernacle. It only lay against the 
king amassing treasures for his own use alone, lest he 
should employ them as engines of despotism, and for 
crushing the liberties of the people. In order that 
the monarch might not be ignorant of religion and of 
the Israelitish law, he was commanded to have by 
him a copy of the law carefully taken from the Le- 
vitical exemplars, and to read it daily, Deut. xvii. 

18. Nor was a knowledge of the law enough ; he was 
to govern by it, (Deut. xvii. 19, also 1 Kings xxi. 
1 — 16.) and to rule his subjects with lenity and kind- 
ness, not as slaves but as brethren, Deut. xvii. 20. 

Besides this original and fundamental law, a spe- 
cial capitulation was sworn to by the kings of Israel, 
1 Sam. x. 25 ; 2 Sam. v. 3. Their power had, never- 
theless, a tendency to despotism. They had the 
right of making war and concluding peace ; they had 
not only the power of life and death, but could, on 
particular occasions, put criminals to death, without 
the formalities of justice, (1 Sam. xxi. 11—19; xxii. 
17, 18 ; 2 Sam. i. 5 — 15, &c.) though they generally 
administered judges, duly constituted, to hear and 
determine causes in their name, 1 Chron. xxiii. 4 ; 
xxvi. 29 — 32. In Jerusalem there might probably 
be superior courts, wherein David's sons presided, 
(see Ps. cxxii. 5.) but no mention is made of a su- 
preme tribunal erected in that city earlier than the 
reign of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xix. 8 — 11. It was 
composed of priests and heads of families, and had 
two presidents, one in the person of the high-priest, 
and another who sat in the name of the king. Al- 
though the kings enjoyed the privilege of granting 
pardons to offenders at their pleasure, and in ecclesi- 
astical affairs exercised great power, sometimes de- 
posing or condemning to death even the high-priest 
himself; (1 Sam. xxii. 17, 18 ; 1 Kings ii. 26, 27.) and 

other times reforming great abuses in religion ; yet 
this power was enjoyed by them not as absolute sove- 
reigns in their own right, but as the viceroys of 
Jehovah, who was the sole Legislator of Israel. 

Concerning the royal revenues, Moses left no ordi- 
nances, having appointed no king ; the following 
particulars may be collected as the sources of these 
revenues from the writings of the Old Testament: — 
(1.) Voluntary offerings, or presents, which were 
made conformably to the oriental custom, Gen. 
xxiii. 11 — 25 ; 1 Sam. ix. 27 ; xvi. 20. This was the 
most ancient source of the king's revenue, and was 
probably abolished by David. (2.) One tenth part of 
all the produce of all the fields and vineyards, was 
given to the king. There is an allusion in Mai. i. 8, 
and Neh. v. 18, to the custom of paying dues in kind 
to government, which obtains to this day in Abys- 
sinia. (3.) The produce of the royal demesnes, con- 
sisting of arable lands, vineyards, olive and sycamore 
grounds, &c. which had originally been unenclosed 
75 



and uncultivated, or were the property of state crim- 
inals confiscated to the sovereign : these demesnes 
were cultivated by bondsmen, and perhaps also by 
the people of conquered countries, (1 Chron. xxvii. 
26 — 31 ; 2 Chron. xxvi. 10.) and it appears from 1 
Sam. viii. 14 ; xxii. 7. and Ezek. xlvi. 17, that the 
kings assigned part of their domains to their ser- 
vants in lieu of salary. (4.) To the cultivation of 
their demesnes, the kings must have required bond 
services ; and accordingly we find these mentioned 
by Samuel among the royal rights established by use 
among the neighboring nations, 1 Sam. viii. 12, 16. 
These services seem to have been increased by Solo- 
mon, (1 Kings v. 17, 18.) and it was probably Reho- 
boam's having refused to lessen them that gave occa- 
sion first to the complaints, and then to the rebellion, 
of the ten tribes against him. (5.) Another source 
of the king's revenue was the produce of the royal 
flocks. The Arabian deserts being corrwiion to the 
king and his subjects, for the pasturage of cattle, they 
did not neglect to take advantage of this privilege, 
but kept large herds of oxen, sheep, goats, asses and 
camels there, 1 Chron. xxxvii. 29 — 31. (6.) Mi- 
chaelis is of opinion that a passage in Amos (viii. 1.) 
refers to a royal right of mowing the pastures. If this 
be correct, the kings must have arrogated, at this 
time, the right of cutting the first and best grass of 
the public pastures, leaving only the after-growth to 
the Israelitish herdsmen. (7.) Not only did the most 
considerable part of the plunder of the conquered 
nations flow into the royal treasury, (2 Sam. viii.) but 
the latter also paid tributes, which were imposed on 
them partly in money and partly in agricultural prod- 
uce, 1 Kings iv. 21 ; Ps. lxxii. 10. It is probable, 
from 1 Kings x. 14, that the Israelites also paid a tax 
in money. (8.) Lastly, Solomon discovered a source 
of revenue entirely new to the Israelitish monarchs, 
and which must have been very productive. As the 
Mosaic law did not encourage foreign commerce for 
the subject, it became an object of attention to the 
crown. Michaelis is of opinion that Africa was cir- 
cumnavigated by Solomon's fleets ; be this as it may, 
it is certain that he carried on a most extensive and 
lucrative trade in gold, silver, Egyptian horses, and 
the byssus or fine linen of Egypt, 1 Kings x. 22, 28, 
29. The foreign merchants, who carried on other 
branches of trade, and passed through the dominions 
of Solomon, paid him customs, which afforded a 
considerable revenue to that monarch, 1 Kings 
x. 15. * 

KINGS, Books of. The Vulgate has four books 
under this name, viz. the two Books of Samuel and 
those of Kings, as they stand in the English version, 
and also in the Hebrew Bibles. Under this name the 
Greeks cite them all four as the Books of Kingdoms 
the Latins as the Books of Kings. 

The First Book of Kings, i. e. the First Book of 
Samuel, in the English Bible, contains the history of 
100 years ; from the birth of Samuel, A. M. 2849, to 
the death of Saul, in 2949. It comprises an account 
of the birth of Samuel, the war between the Philis- 
tines and Hebrews, in which the ark of the Lord was 
taken ; the death of Eli, the high-priest, and of his 
sons Hophni and Phinebas ; the restoration of the 
ark by the Philistines ; Samuel's being acknowledged 
judge of Israel ; Saul's election to be king, his suc- 
cessful beginning, his wars and victories ; his rejec- 
tion ; the anointing of David, his valor, his misfor- 
tunes, his flight ; the war between the Philistines and 
Saul, with the death of that prince. 

The Second Book of Kings, i. e. the Second Book 



KINGS 



[ 594 ] 



KINGS 



of Samuel in the English Bible, contains the history 
of 39 years ; from the second anointing of David at 
Hebron, A. M. 2949, to 2988, in which David ap- 
pointed Solomon to be his successor, two years be- 
fore his death, in 2990. It includes an account of 
David's being acknowledged king by the tribe of 
Judah, while the other tribes of Israel obeyed Ishbo- 
shetli, son of Saul. Ishbosheth being killed seven 
years afterwards, (2956,)' David was acknowledged 
king of all Israel. He received the royal unction a 
third time ; took Jerusalem from the Jebusites ; 
brought back the ark from Kirjath-jearim to the city 
of David, and defeated the Philistines, Moabites, Syri- 
ans, and Edomites, on several occasions. Hanun, 
king of the Ammonites, having insulted David's am- 
bassadors, he made war on Hanun's country, and 
subjected it. During this war David lived with Bath- 
sheba, and procured the murder of Uriah ; Nathan 
reproved him for his adultery and murder ; David 
repented ; but God punished him by the rebellion of 
Absalom. After this contest, in which his unnatural 
■son perished miserably, David, being quiet in his do- 
minions, ordered the people to be numbered. The 
Lord punished his curiosity with a plague. Lastly, 
David prepared every thing necessary for the erection 
of the temple. 

The Third Book of Kings, or the First in the Eng- 
lish Bible, comprises the history of 126 years, from 
Solomon's anointing, A. M. 2989, to the death of Je- 
hoshaphat, king of Judah, in 3115. It gives an ac- 
count of Adonijah's aiming at the crown, of Solo- 
mon's association with David in the throne, of David's 
death, of the deaths of Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei ; 
of the building the temple by Solomon ; of his riches, 
wisdom, reputation, fall, and death ; of his son Reho- 
boam's alienating the minds of the Israelites ; of the 
separation of the ten tribes, and of their choice of Jero- 
boam for their king ; of Rehoboam's successors, 
Abijam, Asa, and Jehoshaphat, who died A.M. 3115 ; 
and of Jeroboam's successors, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, 
Zimri, Omri, Tibni, Ahab, and Ahaziah, who died 
in 3108. 

The Fourth Book of Kings, or the Second in the 
English Bible, includes the history of 227 years; 
from the death of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and 
the beginning of Jehoram in 3115, to the beginning 
of the reign of Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, who 
delivered Jechoniah out of prison in 3443. 

In the kingdom of Judah we find a few pious 
princes among many who were corrupt. Jehosha- 
phat was succeeded by Jehoram, Ahaziah , Athaliah, 
Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, or Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, 
Hezekiah, Manasseh, Anion, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Elia- 
kim, or Jehoiakim, Jechoniah, or Jehoiachin, Mat- 
taniah, or Zedekiah, in whose reign Jerusalem was 
taken by the Chaldeans, the temple burnt, and the 
people carried to Babylon, A. M. 3416. After this 
we read of the sad death of Gedaliah, whom the 
Chaldeans had left in the country to govern the re- 
mains of the people ; of their retreat into Egypt, and 
the favor shown by Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, 
to Jehoiachin, or Jechoniah, king of Judah, whom he 
took out of prison, and placed in his palace. In the 
interval God raised up many prophets in Judah ; as 
Iddo, Ahijah, Shemaiah, Hanani, Azariah, Jehu, 
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Huldah, Micaiah, Joel, 
&c. The fourth book of Kings has preserved several 
particulars of the lives of these great men, as well as 
of the prophets who lived at the same time in the 
kingdom of Israel, or the ten tribes. This book pre- 
sents a long succession of wicked princes in the king- 



dom of Israel — Ahaziah, Jehoram son of Ahab Jehu, 
Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam, Zachariah, Shallum, 
Menahem, Pekaiah, Pekah, Hosea son of Elah, in 
whose reign Samaria was taken by Salmanezer, and 
the ten tribes carried captive into Assyria. Several 
eminent prophets are named during this interval in 
the kingdom of the ten tribes ; as Iddo, Oded, Ahijah, 
Elisha, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, &c. 

As to the author or authors of the four books of 
Kings, critics are not agreed. Many ascribe the first 
two to Samuel, whose name we find in their titles in 
the Hebrew. The Jews assign him only twenty- 
seven chapters in the first book, which include the 
history of his life, and a recital of the actions of Saul 
and David, while Samuel was living ; the rest they 
believe was continued by Gad and Nathan, according 
to 1 Chron. xxix. 29. This opinion is very probable - r 
notwithstanding that we find certain remarks, which 
do not properly belong to the time of Samuel, or the 
time of Nathan: e. g. it is said, 1 Sain. hi. 1. that 
while Samuel was living, "prophecy was rare in Is- 
rael ;" which intimates, that when the author wrote, 
it was more frequent. 1 Sam. xiv. 23, Bethel is call- 
ed Bethaven, or "the House of Iniquity ;" a name 
not given to it till Jeroboam had set up one of his 
golden calves there. The author observes also on 
David's invading the Geshurites and Gezrites, that 
"this country of old was well peopled, from Shur 
even unto the land of Egypt ;" (1 Sam. xxvii. 8.) that 
is, it was so in David's time, but not when the author 
was living. In 1 Sam. ix. 9, they who formerly were 
called seers, were in his time termed nabi, or proph- 
ets. Now in Samuel's time the name of seer was 
common ; the author, therefore, of these books is 
later than that prophet. He speaks of Samuel as of 
a person dead long before, and praises him, 1 Sam. 
xxviii. 3. He observes that the city of Ziklag be- 
longed to the kings of Judah, ever since the cession 
of it by Achish to David ; (1 Sam. xxvii. 6.) which 
remark must have been made after the separation of 
the kingdoms of Judah and Israel ; and shows the 
writer to have lived not only after Samuel, but after 
David and Solomon. 

From several other observations of this nature, 
some have concluded, that David, Hezekiah, Jere- 
miah, or Ezra, compiled these books from memoirs 
composed in the time of Samuel and the prophets, of 
David and Solomon ; and if we compare the differ- 
ent characters of the books, we shall on one side see 
that circumstances, facts, and remarks, are mostly the 
same ; while the uniformity of the style, and the 
course of the narration, prove that they both had one 
author, who was contemporary with the persons of 
whom he speaks. On the other side, however, there 
are circumstances which support the opinion, that a 
later writer revised them, and added some particu- 
lars, and certain terms, intended to explain what the 
distance of time had rendered obscure. Now, if we 
suppose that. Ezra, an inspired author, had in his 
hands original writings of Samuel, and the ancient 
writers of Saul and David's times, that he digested 
them into order, and connected them, all difficulties 
are easily solved, and the seeming contradictions are 
reconciled. That these works are authentic and 
canonical it is not disputed: both the Jewish and the 
Christian church unanimously receive them as in- 
spired Scripture ; and Christ quotes them in the 
Gospel, Matt. xii. 3 ; Mark ii. 25 ; Luke vi. 3. There 
are much the same remarks to be made with relation 
to the third and fourth books of Kings. Some have 
imagined that David. Solomon and Hezekiah wrote 



KINGS 



f 595 ] 



KING 



the history of then - own reigns. Others, that the 
prophets who lived under their government, in Is- 
rael and Judah, took this office upon them ; as Isaiah 
and Jeremiah, Gad and Nathan. We know that 
several of the prophets wrote the lives of those kings 
who reigned in their times ; and the names and writ- 
ings of these prophets are mentioned in several 
places of the books of Kings and Chronicles. Besides, 
the memoirs and annals of the kings of Judah and 
Israel are cited in almost every chapter, and these 
included the particulars of those princes' actions, of 
which the sacred books have handed down only 
summaries and abridgments. 

It must be admitted, therefore, that two descrip- 
tions of writers- were concerned in the books of 
Kings. (1.) Those original, primitive and contempo- 
rary authors, who wrote the annals, journals and 
memoirs of their own times ; from whic h the matter 
and substance of our sacred history has been formed ; 
and from which the authors who came afterwards 
have taken what they record. (See Seer.) These 
ancient memoirs have not descended down to us, but 
were certainly in the hands of those sacred penmen, 
whose writings are in our possession, since they cite 
them, and refer to them : but (2.) Who compiled and 
digested these ancient writings ? and when did they 
live ? It is generally believed that Ezra is the editor 
of the books of Kings and Chronicles, as we have 
them at present ; and the proofs are these : (1.) The 
author lived after the captivity of Babylon. At the 
end of the fourth book of Kings he speaks of the re- 
turn from that captivity, 2 Kings xxv. 22, 23, &c. 
(2.) He describes the ten tribes as still captive in As- 
syria, whither they were carried as a punishment for 
their sins. (3.) In the seventeenth chapter of the fourth 
book of Kings, he introduces reflections on the ca- 
lamities of Judah and Israel, which demonstrate that 
he wrote after the event. (4.) He refers almost 
every where to ancient memoirs, which he had be- 
fore him, and abridged. (5.) The author, as far as 
we are able to judge, was a priest, and much attach- 
ed to the house of David. All these marks agree 
well with Ezra, a learned and very inquisitive priest, 
who lived during the captivity, and after it; who 
might have collected a great number of documents, 
of which time and the persecutions suffered by the 
Jews, have deprived us. See Ezra. 

There are a few particulars in these books which 
do not seem to agree, with the time of Ezra : he says, 
that in his time the ark of the covenant was still in 
the temple, (1 Kings viii. 8.) that the kingdoms of 
Judah and Israel were still subsisting, (chap. xii. 19.) 
he speaks of the months Sif and Bui, (vi. 1, 37, 38.) 
names which in the time of Ezra were no longer in 
use. He also expresses himself throughout as a con- 
temporary and as a writer who had witnessed what 
he wrote. But these discrepancies may he easily 
removed. Ezra generally transcribes word for word 
the memoirs which he had in his possession ; and 
this is a proof of his fidelity and honesty. In other 
places, he inserts reflections or illustrations, which 
naturally arise from his subject ; and this shows that 
he was master of the subject on which he was en- 
gaged, and that, being inspired, he was not afraid of 
intermixing his own words with those of the proph- 
ets, whose writings lay before him. 

KING'S Mother. Nothing is more agreeable 
than to establish the conjectures of learning and in- 
genuity ; and a favorable opportunity for this pur- 
pose, combining illustrations of a passage of Scrip- 
ture, is afforded by the 1 'anted work of Mr. Raphael 



Baruh, who thus expresses his sentiments on the 
passage, 1 Kings xv. 1, 2, 7, 8, collated with the same 
facts in 2 Chron. xiii. 1, 2 : " There is a very re- 
markable variation in this collation, in the name of 
king Abijam's (or Abijah's) mother : in the book of 
Kings she is called Maaca, the daughter of Absalom ; 
and even in Chronicles, (chap. ix. 20.) she is also 
called by this same name ; but in this passage, Chron- 
icles calls her by the name of Micayau, the daughter 
of Uriel, of Gibea. To solve this difficulty, I beg 
leave to offer, that the title -^cn dk, (am ham-melek,) 
king's mother ; and that of m<3.in, (hag-gebirah,) trans- 
lated queen, (2 Kings x. 13 ; 2 Chron. xv. 16.) describe 
one and the same thing : I mean, that the phrase, 
"And his mother's name was," &c. when expressed 
on a king's accession to the throne, at the beginning 
of his history, does not always imply, that the lady 
whose name is then mentioned was the king's [natu- 
ral] mother; I apprehend, that (i-n) ' the king's 
mother,' when so introduced, is oidy a title of honor 
and dignity enjoyed by one lady, solely, of the royal 
family at a time, denoting her to be the first in ^-ank, 
chief sultana, or queen dowager, whether she hap- 
pened to be the king's [natural] mother or not. This 
remark seems to be corroborated by the history of 
king Asa, (1 Kings xv. 10, and 2 Chron. xv. 16.) who 
was Abijah's son. In the book of Kings, at his ac- 
cession, this same Maaca, Absalom's daughter, is said 
to be Ins mother, and Asa afterwards deprived her of 
the dignity of miaj, (gehirah,) or chiefest in rank, on 
account of her idolatrous proceedings. But it is cer- 
tain that Maaca was his grandmother, and not his 
mother, as here described ; therefore, if we look upon 
the expression of the King's Mother to be only a title 
of dignity, all the difficulty will cease : for this Maaca 
was really Abijah's mother, the dearly beloved wife 
of his father Rehoboam, who, for her sake, appointed 
her sou, Abijah, to be his successor to the throne ; 
but when Abijah came to be king, that dignity of the 
king's mother, or the first in rank of the royal family, 
was, for some reason, perhaps for seniority, given to 
Micayau, the daughter of Uriel of Gibea ; and after- 
wards, on the death of Micayau, that dignity devolv- 
ed to Maaca, and she enjoyed it at the accession of 
Asa, her grandson, who afterwards degraded her for 
her idolatry. This I submit as a rational way of 
reconciling all these passages, which seem so con- 
tradictory and repugnant to each other. The better 
to prove this assertion, let it be observed, that in 2 
Kings xxiv. 12, it is said, 'And Jehoiachim, the king 
of Judah, went out to the king of Babylon, he and 
his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his 
officers ; and the king of Babylon took him,' &c. ; 
and, verse 15, 'and he carried away Jehoiachim to 
Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, 
and his officers,' &c. Jeremiah, (xxix.2.) mentioning 
the same circumstances, says, ' After that, Jeconiah 
the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes 
of Judah, &c. departed from Jerusalem.' Now 
it is evident, that the queen, in this verse, cannot 
mean the king's wife, as it would seem, by the trans- 
lators' rendering always the word n-nrun, {hag-gebirah,) 
queen ; but means the lady that is invested with that 
dignity, of being called the king's mother; the phrase 
mojn, (hag-gebirah,) in Jeremiah, corresponding with 
l^nn on, (am ham-melek,) the king's mother ; and vsfi, 
ammo, his mother, in Kings. The Vulgate translates 
the word rwaj (gebirah) (1 Kings xi. 19, and 2 Kings 
x. 13.) Regina, (1 Kings xv. 13.) Princeps, (2 Chron. 
xv. 16.) Dcposuit Imperio, (Jer. xxix. 2.) Bomana, 
(ibid., xiii. 18.) Dominatrici ; — and the English trans- 



KING 



[59G] 



K 1 R 



lators always render it queeg,. That ' king's mother ' 
was a title of dignity is obvious by 1 Kings ii. 19 : 
' Bathsheba, therefore, went in to king Solomon, to 
speak unto him for Adonijah ; and the king rose to 
meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down 
on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the 
king's mother, and she sat on his right hand ;' for it 
was better to say, ' and caused a seat to be set for her : ' 
but he says, '■for the king's mother ;' and, perhaps, it 
was on this occasion that Bathsheba was first invest- 
ed with the honor of that dignity." These conjec- 
tures of Mr. Baruh are established beyond any rea- 
sonable doubt, by the following extracts : " The O'oo 
Kani is not governess of the Crimea. This title, the 
literal translation of which is 'great queen,' simply 
denotes a dignity in the harem, which the khan usu- 
ally confers on one of his sisters ; or, if he has none, 
on one of his daughters, or relations. To this dignity 
are attached the revenues arising from several vil- 
lages, and other rights." (Baron du Tott, vol. ii. p. 64.) 
"On this occasion, the king crowned his mother 
MalaCotawit ; conferring upon her the dignity and 
title of Iteghe, the consequence of which station I 
have often described : — i. e. as king's mother, regent, 
governess of the king when under age." (Bruce's 
Travels, vol. ii. p. 531.) " Gusho had confiscated, in 
the name of the king, all the queen's [i. e. the Iteghe] 
or king's mother's villages, which made her believe, 
that this oner of the king to bring her to Gondar was 
an insidious one. In order to make The breach the 
wider, he had also prevailed upon the king's [natural] 
mother to come to Gondar, and insist with her son 
to be crowned, and take the title and estate of Iteghe. 
The king was prevailed upon to gratify his [natural] 
mother, under pretence that the Iteghe had refused 
to come upon his invitation ; but this, as it was a pre- 
tence only, so it was expressly a violation of the law 
of the land, which permits of but one Iteghe, and 
never allows the nomination of a new one, while the 
former is in life, however distant a relation she 
may be to the then reigning king. In consequence of 
this neiv coronation, two large villages, Tshemmera 
and Tocussa, which belonged to the Iteghe, as ap- 
pendages of her royalty, of course devolved upon the 
king's own mother, newly crowned, who sending her 
people to take possession, the inhabitants not only 
refused to admit her officers, but forcibly drove them 
away, declaring they would acknowledge no other 
mistress but their old one, to whom they were bound 
by the laws of the land." (Ibid. vol. iv. p. 244.) 

Frofn these extracts, we perceive, (1.) that the title 
and place of " King's mother " is of great conse- 
quence ; and, in reading Bruce, we find the Iteghe 
interfering much in public affairs, keeping a separate 
palace and court, possessing great influence and au- 
thority; (2.) that while any Iteghe is living, it is con- 
trary to law to crown another; which accounts at 
once for Asa's Iteghe, or king's mother, being his 
grandmother, the same person as held that dignity 
before he came to the crown ; (3.) that this title oc- 
curs also in other parts of the East ; and is given 
without consideration of natural maternity. (4.) It 
should seem, that " Queen," in our sense of the word, 
is a title and station unknown in the royal harem 
throughout the East. If it be taken at all, it is by 
that wife who brings a son after the king's corona- 
tion ; such son being presumptive heir to the crown, 
his mother is sometimes entitled " Sultana Queen," 
or "prime Sultaness;" but not with our English 
ideas annexed to the title queen. (5.) That this per- 
son is called indifferently, "Queen," or "Iteghe," or 



" King's Mother," even by Bruce ; whence arises the 
very same ambiguity in our extracts from him, as 
has been remarked in Scripture. This illustration 
also sets in its proper light the interference of the 
"queen," in the story of Belshazzar ; (Dan. v. LO.) 
who, by her reference to former events, appears not 
to have been any of the wives of Belshazzar ; neither, 
indeed, could any of his wives have come to that 
banquet, (see Esther iv. 16.) or have appeared there 
under those circumstances, even had such a one been 
acquainted with the powers and talents of Daniel, as 
a prophet, or as a public man, or servant of the king ; 
or, if intelligence of what passed at the banquet had 
been carried into the harem, both of which ideas are 
very unlikely. Whereas, the queen evidently speaks 
with much influence, if not authority ; and was a 
proper person to be informed, and consulted also, on 
any emergency. Besides, as her palace was separate 
and distant from the king's, (though it might be 
within the circuit of Babylon, and certainly was, at 
this time, as Babylon was now under siege,) it allows 
for the interval of confusion, conjecture, introduction 
of the wise men, &c. before the queen's coming. 
Accounts must have beeii carried to her, and her 
coming from her own palace to the king's must have 
taken up time. In order, therefore, to determine 
who was this " queen," which has been a desideratum 
among learned men, it is not enough to know, who 
might be Belshazzar's wife, or wives, at the time : 
but also who was Iteghe, or king's mother, before he 
came to the crown ; and who, therefore, being well 
acquainted with former events, and continuing in the 
same dignity, might naturally allude to them on this 
occasion. Had inquiry into this matter been con- 
ducted on these principles, in all probability, it had 
been more conformable to the manners of the East, 
and had superseded many ineffectual conjectures. 

I. KIR, a city of Moab, probably the modern 
Kerek, Isa. xv. 1. 

II. KIR, part of Media, where the river Kyrus, or 
Cyrus, flows, 2 Kings xvi. 9 ; Isa. xxii. 6 ; Amos i. 5 ; 
ix. 7. 

K1R-HARESHETH, probably the same with 
Kir. See Ar. 

I. KIRIATH, a city in Judah, Josh. xv. 25. 

II. KIRIATH, a city of Moab, Jer. xlviii. 24, 41 ; 

Amos ii. 2. 

III. KIRIATH, a city of Benjamin, Josh, xviii. 28. 
KIRIATH AIM, a town beyond Jordan, ten miles 

from Medaba, west, Josh. xiii. 19. 

I. KIRJATHAIM, a city of Naphtali, 1 Chron. vi. 
76. Thought to be the Karthan- of Josh. xxi. 32. 

II. KIRJATHAIM, a city of Moab, or partly in 
the lot of Reuben, Gen. xiv. 5 ; Numb, xxxii. 37 ; Josh, 
xiii. 19 ; Jer. xlviii. 1, 23 ; Ezek. xxv. 9. 

KIRJATH-ARBA, or Hebron, a city of Judah, 
(Josh. xv. 13.) so called from its founder, Arba. See 
Hebron. 

KIRJATH-BAAL, a city in Judah, called also Kir- 
jath-jearim, (Josh. xv. 60; xviii. M Jer. xxvi. 20.) 
and also Baalah 

KIRJATH-HUZOTH, the city of squares, was the 
royal seat of Balak, king of Moab ; and therefore may 
well be supposed to have had handsome streets, &c. 
Numb. xxii. 39. 

KIRJATH-JEARIM, a city of the Gibeonites, 
afterwards given to Judah. It was on the confines of 
Benjamin, (Josh. xv. 9.) about nine miles from Jeru- 
salem, in the way to Lydda. Here the ark was 
lodged for many years in the house of Abinadab ; till 
David removed it to Jerusalem, 1 Chron. xiii. 



KIS 



[ 597 ] 



KNE 



KIR J ATI1-S A NN AH, a city of Judah, Joshua 
xv.. 49. 

K1R.TATH-SEPHER, the city of books, otherwise 
Debir, Kirjath-debir, the city of tvords, a city in the 
tribe of Judah, afterwards given to Caleb. It was 
taken by Othniel. to whom Caleb for his reward 
gave his daughter Achsah in marriage, Josh. xv. 15 ; 
Judg. i. 1], &e. This city was so called long before 
Moses ; at least it would seem so by the manner of 
mentioning it, which proves that books were known 
before that legislator, and that he is not the oldest 
writer, as the fathers have asserted ; a character 
which, it is to be observed, he never assumes. It is 
possible that the Canaanites might lodge their records 
in this city, and those few monuments of antiquity 
which they had preserved ; or it might be something 
like the cities of the priests in Israel, the residence 
of the learned; a kind of college. This idea re- 
ceives confirmation from its other name Debir, which 
designates an oracle ; and seems to hint at a seat of 
learning ; an establishment, probably, of priests, for 
the purpose of educating the younger members of 
their body. The circumstance is very remarkable, 
because it occurs so early as the days of Joshua f 
and is evidently an establishment by the Canaanites, 
previous to the Hebrew invasion. It contributes, 
therefore, greatly to prove that the origin of letters 
was not the revelation of them to Moses on mount 
Sinai, as some have imagined ; since, beside the si- 
lence of Moses on that matter, we find indications of 
their being already in use elsewhere. See Debir. 

I. KISH, son of Abi Gibeon and Maachah, 1 
Chron. viii. 30. 

II. KISH, son of Ner, and father of king Saul, 
1 Sam. ix. 1 ; 1 Chron. viii. 33 ; ix. 38, 39. 

III. KISH, son of Abdi, a Levite of Merari's 
family, 2 Chron. xxix. 12. 

KISHION, a city of the tribe of Issachar, yielded 
to the Levites of Gershom's family, Josh. xix. 20. It 
is the same with Kedesh III. 

KISHON, a brook which rises in the plain of 
Jezreel, near the foot of mount Tabor. After pass- 
ing through the great plain and receiving the waters 
of various smaller streams, it passes along the foot 
of mount Carmel, and discharges itself into the 
Mediterranean, a short distance south of Acco, or 
Acre, Judges v. 21. (See Carmel, II.) For a more 
particular account of the Kishon, see the Biblical 
Repository, vol. i. p. 601. R. 

KISS. There are in the language of Scripture, 
kisses of friendship, adoration, homage, and respect ; 
kisses of peace and reconciliation. Paul speaks fre- 
quently of the kiss of peace, used among believers, 
and given by them to one another, as a token of love 
and union, publicly in their religious assemblies, 
Rom. xvi. 16. See Adore. 

Pharaoh tells Joseph, "Thou shalt be over my 
house ; and upon thy mouth shall all my people 
kiss ;" our translation reads, " according to thy word 
shall all my people be ruled ;" but places in the margin, 
"at thy word shall all my people kiss." We read in 
Prov. xxiv. 26, "The lips shall be kissed that give 
right words in answer ;" and as this seems to express 
the same action as is referred to Joseph, it may be 
proper to examine the import of the phrase. It is 
probable that it refers, ultimately, to the mode of 
kissing the roll of a decree, or writing, which con- 
tains the orders of a sovereign prince, as is still the 
custom in the East, that is, the written orders of 
Joseph should be treated with the same respect, by 
inferior officers, as those of the king. The passage 



in Proverbs is rendered by the LXX, " Lips shall 
kiss those things that answer to right words ;" — that 
is, those writing's, those decrees, which correspond 
to principles of equity and justice, shall be treated 
with the utmost reverence, even to kissing. The 
mode of honoring a writing from a sovereign in the 
East, is by kissing it, and then putting it up to the 
forehead. See Letters. 

It deserves notice, that various parts of the person 
were occasionally, and still are, kissed in the East ; 
probably according to the degree of intimacy of the 
parties, or to their relative stations — as the lips, the 
hands, the feet, the garments, the earth where the 
feet had trodden, &c. and in many instances, things 
sent by a superior to an inferior. So Isaac says to 
his son, " Come near and kiss me ;" (Gen. xxvii. 26.) 
so Joseph fell on his father's face, and kissed it ; 
(Gen. 1. 1.) so Joab took Amasa by the beard, to kiss 
it ; (2 Sam. xx. 9.) and so the woman kissed the feet 
of Christ, Luke vii. 45. We should remark, also, 
that not only men who were related kissed each 
other, as Laban and Jacob, (Gen. xxix. 14.) Esau 
and Jacob, (Gen. xxxiii. 4.) and Joseph and his 
brethren ; but Samuel kissed Saul, (1 Sam. x. 1.) as 
a token of respect to the king elect ; in like manner, 
when the Son is declared king, (Ps. ii. 12.) the 
kings and judges of the earth are directed to kiss 
him ; no doubt to show their submission, venera- 
tion and affection. Jonathan and David kissed each 
other, (1 Sam. xx. 41.) and "Absalom kissed any 
man — of whatever rank, or situation — that came 
near to him," 2 Sam. xv. 5. This custom long con- 
tinued, for " the brethren fell on Paul's neck, and 
kissed him," Acts xv. 37. This accounts, very natu- 
rally, for the custom of the " kiss of peace," among 
the primitive Christians ; which, however it might 
seem to us to be unadvisable, was in those days es- 
teemed merely as a mode of expressing affectionate 
honor. It should be remembered, too, that the sexes 
sat apart in Jewish and in Christian places of wor- 
ship ; though the heatheu took occasion from the 
use of this salutation, to raise reports injurious to 
Christian purity. It did not long continue to be 
practised in public assemblies, being probably gradu- 
ally relinquished. There is some reason, however, 
to think that it continued among several of the sects 
denominated heretics ; where it gave occasion to the 
same reports of promiscuous embraces, as it had 
done when in general use among Christians. 

KITE, a bird of prey, and therefore placed by 
Moses among the unclean birds, Lev. xi. 14. See 
Birds 

KITHLISH, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 40. 

K1TRON, a city of Zebulun, which that tribe 
could not take from the Canaanites, Judg. i. 30. Ki- 
tron is Sippor, (Sepphoris,) says Bab. Megill. (fol. 6. 
1.) a very strong place, and the largest city in Gali- 
lee. It is noted in the Talmuds for being a univer- 
sity ; in which taught rabbi Judah the Holy, who 
died here. 

K1TTIM, son of Javan, and grandson of Noah, 
Gen. x. 4. See Chittim. 

KNEADING-TROUGHS. In the description of 
the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, (Exod. 
xii. 34.) we read that "the people took their dough 
before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being 
bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders." 
Persons who know how cumbersome our kneading- 
troughs are, and how much less important they are 
than many other utensils, may wonder at this state 
inent, and find a difficulty in accounting for it. But 



KNEADIN G-TROUGHS 



[ 598 ] 



K \ t O 



this wonder will cease, when it is understood that 
the vessels which the Arabs make use of, for knead- 
ing the unleavened cakes they prepare for those who 
travel in the very desert through which Israel passed, 
are only small wooden bowls; and that they seem 
to use no other in their own tents for that purpose 
or any other ; these bowls being used by them for 
kneading their bread, and serving up their provisions 
when cooked. It will appear, that nothing could be 
more convenient than knead ing-troughs of this sort 
for the Israelites in their journey. Mr. Harmer, 
however, expresses himself as being a little doubt- 
ful, whether these were the things that Moses meant, 
since it seems that the Israelites had made a pro- 
vision of corn sufficient for their consumption for 
about a month, which they were preparing to bake all 
at once ; but which their own little wooden bowls, 
used to knead the bread in they wanted for a single day, 
could not contain, nor yet well carry a number of those 
things they had borrowed of the Egyptians. Be- 
sides, he adds, Dr. Pococke informs us, that the Arabs 
actually carry their dough in something else ; for, after 
having spoken of their copper dishes put one within 
another, and their wooden bowls, in which they 
make their bread, and which make up all the kitchen 
furniture of an Arab, even where he is settled ; he 
gives us a description of a round leather coverlet, 
which they lay on the ground, and which serves 
them to eat from. This piece of furniture has, he 
says, rings round it, by which it is drawn together 
with a chain, that has a hook to it, to hang it by. It 
is drawn together, and in this manner they bring it 
full of bread, and when the repast is over, carry it 
away at once, with all that is left. (Vol. i. p. 182.) 
Whether this utensil is rather to be understood by 
the word translated kneading-troughs, than the Arab 
wooden bowl, Mr. Harmer does not positively deter- 
mine ; but he remarks that there is nothing, in the 
other three places in which the word occurs, to con- 
tradict this explanation. These places are Exod. 
viii. 3 ; Deut. xxviii. 5 and 17. in the two last of 
which places it is translated store. See also under 
Caravanserai. 

Niebuhr's description of this travelling equipage, 
in which we find a piece of furniture of the same 
nature as that just spoken of, and suitable, not only 
for the same purpose, but for others also, may be 
useful. We observe, that this is usually slung on the 
camels, in travelling ; which accounts for the re- 
mark of the Israelite writer, that the people " carried 
their kneading-bags on their shoulders" knapsack- 
fashion, bound up, that is, drawn close; which may 
be ascribed to two coincident causes, (1.) they had 
not camels sufficient to transport the baggage of such 
a numerous host ; (2.) they were sent away with 
speed, and had no time allowed them to procure 
travelling animals for general accommodation ; they 
must either carry their food themselves, or relin- 
quish it. " In the deserts through which we were 
to travel, (says Niebuhr,) a tent and beds were indis- 
pensably necessary. We had a neat collection of 
kitchen utensils made of copper, and tinned without 
and within. Instead of glasses, which are so liable 
to be broken, we used also copper bowls completely 
tinned. A bottle of thick leather served us as a ca- 
raffe. Our butter we put up in a leathern jar. In 
a wooden box, covered with leather, and parted out 
into shelves, we stored our spiceries of all sorts ; and 
in another similar box we laid our candles ; in the 
lid of the latter, we fixed an iron socket which served 
u? for a candlestick. We had large lanterns of folded 



linen, with the lid and bottom of tin. For a table, 
with table linen, we had a round piece of leather, 
with iron rings at certain distances round it, through 
which cords were passed, after our meals; and the 
table hung, in the form of a purse, upon one of our 
camels. But we imprudently put our wine into 
great flasks, called in the East damasjanes, and large 
enough, each of them, to contain twenty ordinary 
bottles. These vases are very liable to be broken by 
the jolting of the camels, as we found by the loss of 
a part of our wine. It is much better to put your 
wine, when you are to carry it upon camels, into 
goat-skin bottles. This species of vessels may at 
first appear little suitable for the purpose ; but they 
communicate no bad taste to the liquor, if the skins 
have been properly dressed. The same vessels an- 
swer best to carry the store of water that is requisite 
in' travelling through dry and desert countries." 
(Vol. i. p. 163. Eng. edit.) The reader may now 
have a much clearer idea of the article designed by 
the Hebrew historian, than was possible for him to 
conceive from the rendering of the English version 
— kneading-trough. The notion of a kneading- 
trough, and that of an open leather cover, forming a 
bag, are so dissimilar, that it seems absolutely neces- 
sary, were it only to avoid that ridicule to which 
scepticism is ever prompt, that a different word 
should be substituted; a word more expressive of 
the subject and utensil intended, and also of its state 
as "bound up." In fact, if proper terms were se- 
lected to particularize, if not to describe, the utensils 
of the East, as well domestic as others, with which 
we are now much more intimately acquainted than 
our worthy and venerable translators were, many of 
the sneers that pass for wit, while they are nothing 
better than sheer ignorance, would lose even that 
shadow of support to their profaneness at which 
they catch, for want of more correct information. 

KNOWLEDGE. To consider this word fully, 
would make a very extensive article ; a few remarks 
must suffice. (1.) It imports, to understand — to have 
acquired information respecting a subject. (2.) It 
implies discernment, judgment, discretion ; the power 
of discrimination. It may be partial ; we see but in 
part, we know but in part, 1 Cor. xiii. 9. (3.) To 
have ascertained by experiment, Gen. xxii. 12. (4.) 
It implies discovery, detection ; by the law is the 
knowledge of sin, Rom. iii. 20. 

Natural knowledge is acquired by the senses, by 
sight, hearing, feeling, &c. ; by reflection ; by the 
proper use of our reasoning powers; by natural 
genius ; dexterity improved by assiduity and culti- 
vation into great skill. So of husbandry, (Isa. xxviii. 
36.) of art and elegance, (Exod. xxxv. 31.) in the in- 
stance of Bezaleel. Spiritual knowledge is the gift 
of God ; but may be improved by study, considera- 
tion, &c. 

The priests' lips should keep knowledge ; (Mai. ii. 
7.) not keep it to themselves, but keep it in store for 
others ; to communicate knowledge is the way to 
preserve it. 

Knowledge is spoken of as an emblematical per- 
son, as riches, and treasures, as excellency, and as the 
gift of God. 

" Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth ; (1 
Cor. viii. 1.) i. e. the knowledge of speculative and 
useless things, which tend only to gratify curiosity 
and vanity, which contribute neither to our own sal- 
vation nor to our neighbor's, neither to the public 
good, nor to God's glory ; such knowledge is much 
more dangerous than profitable. The true science 



K OH 



[ 599 ] 



KOR 



is that of salvation ; the best employment of our 
knowledge is in sanctifying ourselves, in glorifying 
God, and in edifying our neighbor : this is the only 
sound knowledge. 

God is the source and fountain of knowledge ; He 
knows all things, at all times, and in all places. Jesus 
Christ is possessed of universal knowledge ; knows 
the heart of man, and whatever appertains to his 
mediatorial kingdom. Men know progressively ; 
and ought to follow on to know the Lord; what we 
know not now we may know hereafter. Holy angels 
know in a manner much superior to man ; and, oc- 
casionally, reveal part of their knowledge to him. 
Unholy angels may know many things, of which 
man is ignorant. The great discretion of life and of 
godliness is, to discern what is desirable to be known, 
and what is best unknown ; lest the knowledge of 
" good lost and evil got," as in the case of our first 
parents, should prove the lamentable source of innu- 
merable evils. 

Knowledge of God is indispensable, self-knowl- 
edge is important, knowledge of others is desirable ; 
to be too knowing in worldly matters is often acces- 
sory to sinful knowledge ; the knowledge of our 
Lord Jesus Christ is a mean of escaping the pollu- 
tions which are in the world. Workers of iniquity 
have no knowledge ; no proper conviction of the 
divine presence. Some men are brutish in their 
knowledge ; e. g. he who knows that a woodeu 
image is but a shapely-formed stump of a tree, yet 
worships it ; he boasts of his deity, which, in fact, is 
an instance of his want of discernment, degrading 
even to brutality. Some are wicked in their knowl- 
edge, "knowing the depths of Satan, as they speak," 
Rev. ii. 20. Strange indeed ! that men should boast 
of what is to their detriment, and pride themselves 
on knowing that the absence of which were their 
greatest felicity ! 

KOHATH, son of Levi, and father of Amram, 
Jehar, Hebron, and Uzziel, Gen. xlvi. 11. Kohath's 
family was appointed to carry the ark and sacred 
vessels of the tabernacle, while Israel marched 



through the wilderness, Exod. vi. 18 ; Numb. iv. 
4—6, &c. 

I. KORAH, son of Esau and Aholibamah, suc- 
ceeded Kenaz in part of the kingdom of Edom, 
Gen. xxxvi. 15, 16. 

II. KORAH, a son of Jehar, and head of the 
Korites, a celebrated family among the Levites. 
Korah being dissatisfied with :he rank he held among 
the sons of Levi, and envying the authority of Moses 
and Aaron, formed a party against them ; in which 
he engaged Dathan, Abiram, and On, with 250 of the 
principal Levites, Numb. xvi. 1 — 3, &c. At the head 
of these rebels, Korah complained to Moses and 
Aaron, that they arrogated to themselves all author- 
ity over the people of the Lord. Moses, falling with 
his face upon the earth, answered them, " Let every 
one of you take his censer, and to-morrow he shall 
put incense into it ; and offer it before the Lord ; and 
he shall be acknowledged priest whom the Lord 
shall choose and approve." The next day Korah, 
with 250 of his faction, presenting themselves with 
their censers, the glory of the Loid appeared visibly 
over the tabernacle ; and a voice was heard, " Sepa- 
rate yourselves from among this congregation, that I 
may consume them in a moment." Moses and Aaron, 
hereupon, falling with their faces to the ground, in- 
terceded for the people ; and the Lord commanded 
them all to depart from about the tents of Korah, 
Dathan, and Abiram. When the people were re- 
tired, Moses said, " If these men die the common 
death of all men, then the Lord hath not sent me ; 
but if the earth open and swallow them up alive, 
then ye shall know that they have blasphemed the 
Lord." As soon as he had spoken, the earth opened 
and swallowed the rebels up, with all that belonged 
to them. One thing which added to this surprising 
occurrence was, that when Korah was swallowed 
up in the earth, his sons were preserved. David ap- 
pointed them their office in the temple, to guard the 
doors, and to sing praises. Several psalms are in- 
scribed to them, under the name of Korah ; as the 
42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, and the 84, 85, 87 88. 



L 

LAI LAM 



LABAN, son of Bethuel, and grandson of Nahor, 
brother to Rebekah, and father to Rachel and Leah. 
See Jacob. 

LABOR is sometimes taken for the fruit of labor, 
Ps. cv. 44, "And they inherited the labor of the 
people." And elsewhere, " Let strangers spoil his 
labor, and the first-fruits of their labors ;" that is, 
what they have acquired by their labor. 

LACHISH, a city in the south of Judah, Josh. x. 
23 ; xv 39. It was rebuilt and fortified by Reho- 
boam, 2 Chron. xi. 9. Sennacherib besieged but 
did not take it, 2 Kings xviii. 17 ; xix. 8 ; 2 Chron. 
xxxii. 9. 

LAISH, a city in the northern border of Pales- 
tine, acquired by the tribe of Dan, from whom it was 
subsequently called Dan, Judg. xviii. 7, 29. (See 
Dan.) The Laish mentioned Isa. x. 30. may, or may 
not, be the Laish of Dan. The prophet commands 
the daughter of Gallim to lift up her voice, so that it 
may be heard to a distance ; but whether to so great 
a distance as Dan, may be doubted. Indeed, it does 



not appear for what purpose her screams should be 
heard so far off ; but if this Laish were a town nearer 
to Geba, Gibeab, and the other places mentioned, 
then this alarm might be intended to reach Laish, 
for the purpose of inducing its inhabitants to join in 
the general flight. 

LAKE, a confluence of waters. The principal 
lakes in Judea were the lake Asphaltites, or Dead 
sea, the lake of Tiberias, and the lake Semechon, or 
Merom. See the respective articles. 

LAMB, the young of a sheep; but in Scripture it 
sometimes comprehends the kid ; the Hebrews at 
the passover were at liberty to choose either for a 
victim. The original, seh, in general signifies a 
youngling, whether of a goat or ewe. " A lamb of 
a year old," may be interpreted a lamb of the year, 
born in the year, but which does not suck ; for to 
sacrifice the paschal iamb while it used the teat, or 
to seethe it in the milk of its dam, was prohibited, 
Exod. xii. 5 ; Lev. xxiii.-12. On other occasions the 
law required, that the young should be eft eight 



LAM 



[ 600 ] 



LAM 



days with its dam before it was offered, Exod. xxii. 
30 ; Lev. xxii. 27. The prophets represent the Mes- 
siah, in meekness, like a lamb which is sheared, or 
carried to the altar, without complaint, Isa. liii. 7; 
Jer. xi. 19. In the Revelation our Saviour is sym- 
bolized as a lamb that had been sacrificed. The 
wicked at the judgment are compared to goats, the 
righteous to lambs. 

LAMB OF GOD. By this name John the Bap- 
tist called our Saviour, (John i. 29, 36.) to signify his 
innocence, and ljis quality as a victim to be offered 
for the sins of the world. Or, he might allude to 
these words of the prophet : " He is brought as a 
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his 
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth," Isa. 
liii. 7. If it were a little before the passover — then 
the sight of a number of lambs going to Jerusalem 
to be slain on that occasion, might suggest the idea ; 
as if he had said, " Behold the true, the most excel- 
lent Lamb of God," &c. 

I. LAMECH, son of Methuselah, and father of 
Noah. He was 182 years old at the birth of Noah ; 
and he lived after it 595 years ; his whole life was 
777 ; being born A. M. 874, and dying 1651. 

II. LAMECH, son of Methusael, and father of Ja- 
bal, Jubal, Tubal-Cain, and Naainah, Gen. iv. 18, 
&c. He is conspicuous for his polygamy, of which 
he is thought to be the author, having married Adah 
and Zillah. There is some obscurity in Lamech's 
address to his wives : " Hear me, ye wives of Lamech ; 
have I slain a man to my wounding, and a young 
man to my hurt ! If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold, 
truly Lamech seventy-seven fold." A tradition among 
the Hebrews says, that Lamech, growing blind, when 
hunting, killed Cain ignorantly, believing that he 
killed some beast ; and that afterwards he slew his 
own son Tubal-Cain, who had been the cause of this 
murder, because he had directed him to shoot at a 
certain place in the thicket where he heard some- 
thing stir. Other conjectures have been formed to 
explain the passage, almost all equally uncertain and 
absurd. Josephus says, Lamech had seventy-seven 
sons by his two wives ; but Scripture mentions only 
three sons and one daughter. [The following would 
seem to be a more appropriate translation of La- 
mech's address : " Hear me, ye wives of Lamech ; I 
have slain a man who wounded me ; a young man 
who smote me. If Cain, &c." It is not to be un- 
derstood that Lamech had slain two persons ; it is 
merely the repetition of poetic parallelism. R. 

LAMENTATIONS op Jeremiah, a mournful 
poem, composed by the prophet, on occasion of the 
destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. The 
first two chapters principally describe the calamities 
of the siege of Jerusalem ; the third deplores the per- 
secutions which Jeremiah himself had suffered ; the 
fourth adverts to the ruin and desolation of the city 
and temple, and the misfortune of Zedekiah ; and the 
fifth is a kind of form of prayer for the Jews in their 
captivity. At the close the prophet speaks of the 
cruelty of the Edomites, who had insulted Jerusalem 
in her misery, and threatens them with the wrath of 
God. 

The first four chapters of the Lamentations are in 
the acrostic form ; every verse or couplet beginning 
with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in regular 
order. The first and second chapters contain twenty- 
two verses, according to the letters of the alphabet ; 
the third chapter has triplets beginning with the same 
letter ; and the fourth is like the first two, having 
twenty-two verses. The fifth chapter is not an acros- 



tic. The style of Jeremiah's Lamentations is lively, 
tender, pathetic and affecting. It was the talent of 
this prophet to write melancholy and moving elegies ; 
and never was a subject more worthy of tears, nor 
written with more tender and affecting sentiments. 

The Hebrews used to compose lamentations or 
mournful songs on the death of great men, princes 
and heroes, and on occasion of public miseries and 
calamities. (See 2 Chron. xxxv. 25.) "Behold they 
are written in the Lamentations." These, however, 
are lost, but we have those which were composed by 
David on the death of Absalom and Jonathan. The 
prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, having fore- 
told the desolations of Egypt, Tyre, Sidon and Bab- 
ylon, made lamentations on their fall. It seems by 
Jeremiah, that they had women hired to weep : " Call 
for the mourning women, and send for cunning 
women, and let them take up a wailing for us," &c, 
(See Isaiah xiv. 4, 5 ; xv. xvi. ; Jer. vii. 29 ; ix. 10, 17 ; 
xlviii. 32; Ezek. xix. 1 ; xxviii. 11 ; xxxii. 2.) 

LAMPS are frequently mentioned in Scripture. 
That with seven branches, which Moses placed in 
the holy place, and those which Solomon placed after- 
wards in the temple of Jerusalem, are described in 
the article Candlestick. 

This article will embrace the other kinds of lamps 
or lanterns mentioned in Scripture. The subject, 
though of the most familiar nature, has its difficulties 
and its variations. 

It is evident, that lamps intended for the interior of 
dwellings, for what may be described as "chamber 
use," are likely to be very different in construction, in 
form, and in management also, from those which are 
expected to meet the impulse of the open air, the 
evening breeze, and, occasionally, the ruder blasts of 
strong winds. The necessity for proper distinction 
appeared urgent to Mr. Harmer ; but as that inge- 
nious writer refers only to the New Testament for 
instances of the application of his remarks, there is 
at least an equal necessity for ascertaining the kinds 
mentioned in the Old Testament, nor less propriety 
in distinguishing them, and in maintaining that dis- 
tinction, according to their application. 

The following extract is from this writer's Obser- 
vations : (vol. ii. p. 429, or iv. p. 274, Amer. ed.) 
" Captain Norden, among other particulars he thought 
worthy of notice, has given some account (part i. p. 
83.) of the lamps and lanterns that they make use of 
commonly at Cairo. ' The lamp,' he tells us, ' is of 
the palm-tree wood, of the height of twenty-three 
inches, and made in a very gross manner. The glass, 
that hangs in the middle, is half filled with water and 
has oil on the top, about three fingers in depth. The 
wick is preserved dry at the bottom of the glass, 
where they have contrived a place for it, and ascends 
through a pipe. These lamps do not give much 
light ; yet they are very commodious, because they 
are transported easily from one place to another. 
With regard to the lanterns, they have pretty nearly 
the figure of the cage, and are made with reeds. It 
is a collection of five or six glasses, like to that ofthe 
lamp which has been just described. They suspend 
them by cords in the middle of the streets, when 
there is any great festival at Cairo, and they put 
painted paper in the place of the reeds.' Were these 
the lanterns that those who came to take Jesus made 
use of? or were they such lamps as these that Christ 
referred to in the parable of the virgins ? or are we 
rather to suppose that these lanterns are appropriated 
to the Egyptian illuminations, and that Dr. Pococke's 
account ofthe lanterns of this country will give us a 



\ 



LAMP 



f 601 ] 



LAMP 



better idea of the lanterns that were anciently made 
use of at Jerusalem? 'By night,' says that author, 
(Descript. of the East, vol. i.) speaking of the travel- 
ling of the people of Egypt, ' they rarely make use of 
tents, but lie in the open air, having large lanterns, 
made like a pocket paper lantern, the bottom and top 
being of copper, tinned over: and instead of paper, 
they are made with linen, which is extended by 
hoops of wire, so that when it is put together it serves 
as a candlestick, &c and they have a con- 
trivance to hang it up abroad, by means of three 
staves.' It appears from travellers, that lamps, wax- 
candles, torches, lanterns, and cresset-lights, (a kind 
of movable beacon,) are all made use of among the 
eastern people. (Thevenot, part ii. p. 35 and 37 ; 
Norden, part i. p. 124 ; Hanway.) I think also, that 
there are only three words in the New Testament to 
express these things by, of which ?.v/vog seems to sig- 
nify the common lamps that are used in ordinary, 
life, (Luke xv. 8.) which, according to Norden, afford 
but little light. Jufinag, which is one of the words 
made use of, (John xviii. 3.) seems to mean any sort 
of light that shines brighter than common, whether 
torches, blazing resinous pieces of wood, or lamps 
that are supplied with more than ordinary quantities 
of oil, or other unctuous substances ; such as that 
mentioned by Hanway, in his Travels, (vol. i. p. 223.) 
which stood in the court-yard of a person of some 
distinction in Persia, was supplied with tallow, and 
was sufficient to enlighten the whole place, as a sin- 
gle wax-candle served for the illumination of the 
room where he was entertained ; and such, I presume, 
were the lamps our Lord speaks of in the parable of 
the virgins, which were something of the nature of 
common lamps, for they were supplied with oil ; but 
then were supposed to be sufficient for enlightening 
the company they went to meet, on a very joyful oc- 
casion, which required the most vigorous lights. 
Sir J. Chardin, in his MS. note on Matt. xxv. 44, in- 
forms us, that in many parts of the East, and in par- 
ticular in the Indies, instead of torches and flambeaux, 
they carry a pot of oil in one hand, and a lamp full of 
oily rags in the other. This seems to be a very happy 
illustration of this part of the parable. He observes, 
in another of the MSS. that they seldom make use of 
candles in the East, especially among the great ; 
candles casting but little light, and they sitting at a 
considerable distance from them. Ezek. i. 13, rep- 
resents the light of lamps accordingly as very lively. 
The other word, (<paric } ) which occurs in John xviii. 
3, is no where else to be found in the New Testa- 
ment ; and whether it precisely means lanterns, as 
our translators render the word, 1 do not certainly 
know. If it do, I conclude, without much hesitation, 
that it signifies such linen lanterns as Pococke gives 
an account of, rather than those mentioned by Nor- 
den, which seem rather to be machines more proper 
for illuminations than for common use ; and if so, the 
evangelist perhaps means, that they came with such 
lanterns as people were wont to make use of when 
abroad in the night ;. but lest the weakness of the 
light should give an opportunity to Jesus to escape, 
many of them had torches, or such large and bright 
burning lamps as were made use of on nuptial solem- 
nities, the more effectually to secure him. Such was 
the treachery of Judas and the zeal of his attendants !" 

The remarks introduced in explanation of marriage 
processions, (see Marriage,) have furnished materi- 
als for a correct judgment on the nature and form of 
the lamps used in evening perambulations, on such 
public occasions. Mr. Harmer is more happy in re- 
76 



ferring those described by Chardin to the parable of 
the virgins, than in some other of his conjectures. 
To do this subject justice, it might be considered un- 
der several distinctions : as, (1.) Military lamps, those 
intended to meet the exigencies of night, in the exter- 
nal air, when the breeze is lively, or when the wind 
is high. (2.) Domestic lamps, those intended for 
service in the interior of a dwelling, or to be carried 
about into all parts of it ; but not powerful enough to 
resist a gale of wind in the open air. (3.) Lamps for 
religious uses ; those hung up in temples, or deposit- 
ed in the sacred recesses of edifices, public or private, 
&e. We shall, however, attend only to the distinction 
between lamps for the exterior, the open air ; and 
lamps for the interior, domestic purposes. It is the 
more necessary to institute a distinction of this kind, 
because Scripture uniformly maintains it, by employ- 
ing two very different terms to express artificial lights ; 
as well in the Old Testament as in the New. We 
might add, because Schleusner has been somewhat 
too liberal in his definition of the term lampas, of 
which he says, " generatim omne, quod lucet, notat." 
But whatever shines is not a lamp in Scripture, as 
may appear from comparing certain passages. 

1. We meet with the Hebrew term t>bS, lapid, 
properly lampid, (whence the word lamp,) in that 
remarkable history of the " smoking furnace and the 
burning lamp," which ratified the covenant made 
with Abraham, (Gen. xv. 17.) where the meaning is 
simply a Jlame. The text observes, that, (1.) it was 
after the sun was gone down, (2.) when it was dark, 
what is rendered a furnace, passed ; and this is ex- 
pressly noted as (3.) smoking. Whatever light, or 
splendor, overcame the darkness of the evening, with 
the much greater darkness occasioned by the density 
of the smoke by which it was immediately surround- 
ed, and in the centre of which it blazed, was certainly 
not feeble, or dim, but lively, vigorous, and even 
powerful. The action took place in the open air ; 
and this lamp, described as burning, was competent 
to resist, and more than resist, every impulse of the 
atmosphere. With this we may compare the appear- 
ances at the giving of the law, (Exod. xx. 18.) when 
we read (ver. 21.) of " the thick darkness" where 
God was ; of the 'mountain smoking," and of the 
" thunderings" — implying the concussion of dense 
clouds — but, notwithstanding these powerful impedi- 
ments to the passage of light, yet the lampadim — less 
properly "lightnings" than glowing flames — distin- 
guished themselves by the intensity and the continu- 
ance of their effulgence ; to the great terror of all the 
people. The impropriety of rendering lampadim by 
"lightnings," is evident, on considering a passage 
where the two words meet, and must be distinguished 
in the description of a majestic person, (Dan. x. 6.) 
whose countenance had the brightness of lightning, 
(p-a, the regular term fry the flashes of this meteor,) 
and his eyes were aslampadi of fire ; that is, glowing, 
clear, steady, conspicuous flames ; not vibrating, not 
blazing, but compact and still. It would manifest a 
deplorable deficiency in taste and propriety, to com- 
pare an earthly production with these celestial ap- 
pearances ; but whoever has contemplated a great 
body of gas lights, purposely combined, will at least 
be prepared to admit the overpowering effulgence of 
a brightness very different from that of lightning. 

We must now descend to the humbler walks of 
humanity. We read in Judg. vii. 16, that the invent 
ive Gideon gave to his soldiers, at his surprise of the 
Midianites, by night — "pitchers, and lamps within 
the pitchers." There can be no doubt but what this 



LAMP 



[ 602 ] 



LAMP 



.iero would adopt the most powerful lights he could 
obtain. Weak rush lights would not answer his pur- 
pose. His intention was to make the most tremen- 
dous noise possible with his trumpets ; and the most 
terrific display of blazing brightness by means of his 
lamps, suddenly beaming with malignant splendor, 
in several parts of the Midianite host, at the same mo- 
ment. They were, therefore, strong luminaries. We 
may say the same of the lampid of Samson ; (Judg. 
xv. 4.) — it was a burner not to be extinguished by the 
rude blast of night. Moreover, the lampid is made 
an object of comparison in lsa. lxii. 1, "I will not 
hold my peace — till the salvation of Zion go forth as 
a lamp that burnetii." (Comp. Ezek. i. 13 ; Zech. xii. 
6, et al.) Certainly, these comparisons imply a ve- 
hement, or at least a glowing, brilliant illuminator. 

There is a passage in Job xii. 5, which should be 
illustrated in the present article ; but the critics are 
by no means agreed on its import ; whether this at- 
tempt to explain it be satisfactory must be left for 
others to determine. Our translation reads, "He 
that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despis- 
ed in the thought of him that is at ease." Scott 
renders, 

Contempt pursues the fall'n ; exalted ease 
With scornful eye unhappy virtue sees. 

Good takes an unjustifiable liberty with the text, 
and transfers the first word of this verse to the end 
of the preceding one : he reads, 

The just, the perfect man, is a laughing-stock to the 
proud ; 

A derision, amidst the sunshine of the prosperous, 
While ready to slip with his feet. 

[The simplest interpretation, however, is that of 
the common translation. The sense plainly is, that 
a man in adversity is, to the prosperous man, as a 
lamp about to expire, which gives but a fainter and 
fainter light, and is, therefore, of no value. R. 

The LXX have constantly rendered the Hebrew 
term lampid by the Greek lampas ; which we shall 
find employed in the New Testament, as well as in 
the Old, to signify a light for exterior service. Hav- 
ing noticed the effulgent appearances attendant on 
celestial powers descending upon earth, we shall be 
excused for calling the attention of the reader, in the 
first place, to a like phenomenon in heaven, Rev. iv. 
5. "Out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and 
thunderings, and voices ; and there were seven lamps 
of fire (y/ir'u ?.afntu3tg jivq'o:) burning before the throne, 
which are the seven Spirits of God." This appear- 
ance is sufficiently explained by comparison with 
what has been said on Exod. xx. 18. Again, in chap, 
viii. 10, There fell from heaven a great star, burning 

as it were a lamp, aar'in fiiyac xawptvos we laujrug ; — 

the comparison implies a flame sufficiently vigorous 
to resist the effect of the velocity with which the 
meteor travelled, to resist the extinguishing powers 
of the atmosphere, incalculably increased by that 
velocity. The allusion is, probably, to a comet, said 
to fall to the earth. Cornets were reckoned among 
stars by the ancients ; and the Romans sometimes 
called a comet, fax, a torch, or fax calestis, a heavenly 
torch. The term lamp, however, adding the notion 
of a long train of fire streaming behind it, seems more 
appropriate in this place than that of torch. 

The parable of the virgins (Matt, xxv.) can give us 
no trouble, after what has been said : the allusion is, 
plainly, lo lamps of sufficient strength to retain their | 



flame however agitated, whether by the bearer, or by 
the wind. And the same we must conceive of the 
lamps, not " torches," of John xviii. 3, where we read, 
"Judas, having received a band of men and officers 
from the chief priests and Pharisees, came with lan- 
terns, and torches, and weapons" — utrUyavwr xal Xau- 
zcuiuiv. The term phanos probably means a light- 
holder, that is, having the light within it ; the term 
lampas certainly means a luminary, having the light 
on the outside ; but it is not easy to fix on the form 
of the lamp. If this band of men and officers were 
Roman soldiers, the lamp might be the same as the 
Romans employed in their armies ; one of which is 
carried among other necessaries attending the army 
of Trajan, at the commencement of his military ex- 
pedition across the Danube, represented on his me- 
morial pillar at Rome. It is a square pot (of iron, no 
doubt) fixed on the end of a tall pole : it is close on 
.the sides, and open only at the top, in which it differs 
from implements used for the same purposes by 
modern inhabitants of the East. Major Hope says, 
"A Turkish camp is lighted up, at night, by a kind of 
large lanterns, formed of iron hoops, and fastened on 
long poles. Several of these lights, in which rags 
impregnated with grease, oil, or resinous substance, 
are burned, are placed in front of the tent of each of 
the pachas." — The greater number implies the greater 
dignity. 

Baron du Tott (p. iii. 114.) describes the means 
used by the Turks to surprise their enemies as passing 
strange : " The high treasurer, commanding a de- 
tachment, in the night, was lighted by the flame of 
resinous wood, burning in iron chafing-dishes fixed 
to long poles. He therefore got the surname of The 
Blazer." If the detachment sent to seize Jesus were 
Jewish guards, rather than Roman, it might be thought 
that open cages, as Hill calls them, or chafing-dishes, 
as Baron du Tott describes them, were the lamps 
they carried ; but the term does not appear to deter- 
mine their form or construction. 

2. A lamj) for domestic use is called tj, to, tu, 
JVer, Nir, or jVur, in the Hebrew ; a word which is 
frequently rendered "candle" in our version. It im- 
ports apparently a weaker kind of light. We read of 
the industrious woman, (Prov. xxxi. 18.) " Her can- 
dle (u) goeth not out by night." Whether the term 
"candle" be unexceptionable here, might be ques- 
tioned ; but, certainly, the busy housewife's light is 
understood to be in the inside of her house. Candles, 
among us, are columns of solid tallow, wax, &c. 
surrounding a wick; but in countries where oil is 
plentiful, and especially in hot countries, the prefer- 
ence will naturally be given to small, portable oil 
lamps ; and perhaps it were to be wished that our 
language afforded a diminutive to express this piece 
of domestic furniture ; — as in Spanish, lampara, 
lamparilla. When we read of the "golden candle- 
stick," in Exodus and Leviticus, we naturally con- 
nect with it the idea of a stand for holding candles, 
but we find directions for trimming and filling the 
lamps, which shows this idea to be erroneous. See 
Candlestick. 

This restriction of the term JVer to an interior light, 
corrects the usual acceptation of a passage in Job 
xxix. 3, which is commonly understood of the benefit 
derived from the light of a lamp, by a man who is 
walking abroad in a dark night ; thus rendered in our 
English translation : 

When his (God's) candle shined upon my head, 
• And when by his light I walked through darkness. 



LAMP 



[ 603 ] 



LAMP 



But Scott saw the application of this to a domestic 
incident : " His candle, or rather his lamp, is probably 
an allusion to the lamps which hung from the ceiling 
01 the wealthy Arabs." He adds, ' The latter phrase, 
' by his light I walked through darkness,' refers, it is 
likely, to the fires, or other lights, which were carried 
oefore the caravans in their night travels through the 
deserts," such as we have already noticed. — Good, 
slightly changing the tense of the verb, reads, 

When he suffered his lamp to shine upon my head, 
And by its light I illumined the darkness ! ) 

The reference is probably to the mode by which 
the palaces and mansions of the great were illuminat- 
ed in ancient times, of which we have an excellent 
description in Lucretius, well known to have been 
afterwards closely copied by Virgil. (De Rer. Nat. 
ii. 24.) 

Good's change of the agent has the air of an im- 
perfection in this passage : after the action, or sup- 
posed action, of Deity, the party honored should be 
perfectly quiet; he should not affirm, "I illumined 
the darkness." Job means to say, " I was admitted 
to the interior of his residence, his splendid abode ; 
and lamps for interior illumination enabled me to pass 
through those approaches to his presence, which, 
without such irradiation, were absolute darkness." 
This differs something from Scott's conception of the 
latter verse ; yet, if the lights of that verse be refer- 
red to those which stand before the tents of Turkish 
grandees, as already stated, the difference would dis- 
appear. Such luminaries would direct the person 
who approached, however dark the night might be. 

A similar conception verifies the import of another 
passage : 

The light of the wicked shall be cast out, 
And the spark of his fire shall not shine : 
The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, 
And his candle shall be put out with him. 

Job xviii. 5, 6. 

" In his tabernacle" — rather, in his most splendid 
tent (Sna) ; that of his dignity and grandeur. " His 
candle," rather his lamp, (-«) "which is hung high 
over him in the ceiling of his tent, even that shall be 
extinguished." The term here, also, preserves its 
import, as marking an interior light. Scott's note on 
the passage is characteristic of the manners of the 
country : " These metaphors denote, in general, the 
splendor and festivity in which such men live. There 
is, however, an allusion, we think, in the fifth verse, 
to what an Arabian poet calls the fires of hospitality — 
beacons lighted on the tops of hills by persons of dis- 
tinction among the Arabs, to direct and invite trav- 
ellers to their houses and table. Hospitality was 
their national glory ; and the loftier and larger these 
fires were, the greater was- the magnificence thought 
to be : a wicked rich man, therefore, would affect this 
piece of state, from vanity and ostentation. Another 
Arabian poet expresses the permanent prosperity of 
his family almost in the very words of our author : 
' Neither is our fire, lighted for the benefit of the night 
stranger, extinguished.' " It is but just to call the 
attention of the reader to his choice between this illus- 
tration and that we have above suggested from major 
Hope. 

This term occurs so frequently, that much time 
might be spent in tracing it ; but what has been said 
is sufficient to justify the analogy that derives from 



this domestic lamp the metaphor of life, and of re 
newed life, rather than from the external lamp, though 
that were much more powerful. So when we read 
(2 Sain. xxi. 17.) that David's servants forbade his ex- 
posing himself any more in battle — that thou quench 
not the light (the lamp, -u) of Israel — this allusion to 
the king's life is, with the greatest propriety, drawn 
from the domestic, the family lamp. Again, (1 Kings 
xi. 36,) God says, " And unto his son will I give one 
tribe, that David my servant may have a light (tj, a 
domestic lamp) always before me in Jerusalem, the 
city which I have chosen to put my name there." 
This certainly implies the continuance of David's 
family ; but when the ten tribes were broken off from 
his regal descendants, the simile would have been 
without resemblance, in fact, contradictory, had it 
referred to the splendid blaze of the more conspicu- 
ous illuminator, the greater lamp. Hence arises 
something of difficulty, to distinguish whether the 
term be used literally, or metaphorically, in certain 
passages. When we read, that the light, the domes- 
tic lamp, of the wicked shall be put out, we are not 
always sure that it means a luminary ; it may mean 
posterity — his family shall fail ; or, on the contrary, 
what seems at first sight to imply posterity, may 
refer to the light, the lamp of the tent, tabernacle, or 
dwelling. 

We come now to the consideration of the repre- 
sentative of this domestic lamp, in the New Testa- 
ment, where, we believe, there is no instance of the 
word lampas being applied to an article of interior 
use. Av/rog, a light, whence Ivxvia, a light-holder, 
badly rendered in the English version, a candle, and 
a candlestick, imports an illuminator proper to an 
apartment ; and when we read (Rev. i. 12, &c.) of the 
"seven golden candlesticks," and of "one walking 
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks," we 
should by no means conceive of loose, isolated can- 
dlesticks, like those in use among ourselves, but of 
the seven -branched lamp-stand, a principal article 
of furniture in the Mosaic tabernacle. (See Can- 
dlestick.) So' we read (Matt. v. 15.) " Neither do 
men light a candle, [Xvxvov, a lamp,) and put it under 
a bushel, (a measure less than a peck,) but put it on 
a candlestick, (J.il/WaV, a lamp-stand,) and it giveth 
light to all in the house." This passage would read 
more correctly, " Neither do they light the lamp, and 
place it under a small measure, but on the l&mp-stand, 
and it is competent to give light to all the residence." 
It seems to import the customary lamp of the family, 
and one only ; like that of the poor widow, (Luke 
xv. 8.) who, having lost one piece of silver out often, 
lights the lamp, {Xvxvov,) which she carries about 
into all parts of her residence, searching every creek 
and corner. The simplicity, not to say the poverty, 
of the family, is very expressive in this simile ; they 
surely would not conceal the only lamp they had. 
A more wealthy establishment had many lamps, 
Luke xii. 35. Let your loins be girded about, and 
your lights (oi ityvoi, the lamps) brightly burning, 
[xaiofiivoi, because fresh trimmed,) like servants ex- 
pecting their lord's return from a wedding-feast, that 
at whatever time of night he come home, they may 
open to him instantly ; and he may find all things in 
order. 

These passages prove sufficiently that li/voi de 
notes a household implement, a domestic lamp ; a 
lamp that shines in a dark place ; (2 Pet. i. 19.) a 
lamp, the services of which may be dispensed with 
in the heavenly Jerusalem ; (Rev. xxii. 5.) for there 
shall be no night there • and they need no candle 



LAN 



[ 604 ] 



LAN 



ivxrov, lamp. No, the Lamb is tne lamp (o tojfroe) 
thereof, chap. xxi.123. 

Tlie description given of John the Baptist may 
seem to militate against this notion : He was a burn- 
ing and a shining light ; (John v. 35.) properly, he 
was the lamp, 6 Ivyvog, the burning and shining; 
also, he certainly was much in the desert, and at no 
time very domestic. As to the term burning [xauye- 
vo?,) Campbell dissents from the opinion of those who 
would make it refer to the ardor, zeal, or power of 
John's example : he observes, very properly, that a 
lamp is used, not for warming people, but for giving 
them light. And certainly, the good servants (Luke 
xii. 35.) are not expected to have their lamps burn- 
ing for the purpose of warming their lord, but for 
enlightening the apartments, or the passages to ^the 
apartments, and giving him an honorable reception. 
Moreover, since the days of Campbell, we are able 
to give a further account of John, whom his follow- 
ers boasted of as the light, the apostle of light, (see 
Zabians,) insomuch, that the evangelist found it 
necessary to say explicitly, "He was not that light ; 
but came to bear witness," &c. Since, then, the 
phrase was current among the Jews, concerning 
John, our Lord takes it in theirsense and application, 
implying splendor, brilliancy ; but we may well 
question, with Campbell, whether it implies heat, or 
any thing beyond the brightness of which a domes- 
tic lamp is susceptbile. If this be correct, the other 
part of the objection of course falls. 

Another metaphorical use of this lamp respects 
the eye ; the light, lamp, of the body is the eye, 
(Matt. vi. 22.) but as the eyes of some have been 
compared to burning lamps, (lampadim,) should not 
the same comparison be maintained here ? We ap- 
prehend not ; because this lamp is understood to 
illuminate *nly the body itself ; not beyond it ; and 
as a domestic lamp may enlighten all parts of a 
house, being properly directed, so may the eye be 
directed to all the members of the body, and inspect 
them all in succession ; which it is not the intention 
of the comparison employed by Daniel, and in the 
Revelation, to express. 

This article may be closed by remarking, that we 
are so much accustomed to the use of glass for trans- 
parency, in every form and application, that it is 
with some difficulty we conceive of a light-holder, 
or lantern/as complete without it. But we should 
not forget the horn lanterns used by our carriers, 
ostlers, watchmen, &c. horn being much safer, be- 
cause less brittle, than glass ; and though it is certain 
that the ancients had glass equally perfect with our 
own, yet we are at a loss to prove that they used it 
in the construction of lanterns. That they employed 
a transparent substance of some kind, is evident, 
from a ship's lantern hanging from the aplustrum of 
a vessel in which Trajan is voyaging. It seems to 
distinguish the ship of the commander-in-chief; as 
the vessels in company have it not. 

The torches of antiquity were of all sizes, from a 
foot in length to six feet ; and the largest of these 
were employed not only in military affairs, for sig- 
nals, &c. but also in religious processions. It may 
be questioned, whether lights of either of these kinds 
are really mentioned in Scripture, but as commenta- 
tors have inclined to find both torches and lanterns 
there, they could not well be passed over without 
notice. 

LAND, in the Old Testament, often denotes the 
country of the Israelites, or the particular country, 
or district, spoken of ; the land of Canaan, the land 



of Egypt, the land of Ashur, the land of Moab. " Be- 
hold, my land is before thee ;" (Gen. xx. 15.) settle 
where you please. In many places of out public 
version the phrase " all the earth" is used, where 
the meaning should be restricted to the land, or all 
the land. 

LANGUAGE. Several questions are proposed 
on this subject, as (1.) Whether God was the author 
of the original language. (2.) Whether Adam re- 
ceived it from him by infusion ; or formed and 
invented it by his own industry and labor. (3.) 
Whether this language is still in being. (4.) Where 
it is to be found. 

The ancients, who were unacquainted with the 
true history of the world's creation, affirm, that un- 
der the happy reign of Saturn, not only all men, but 
all terrestrial animals, birds, and even fishes, spoke 
the same language ; that mankind, not sufficiently 
sensible of their happiness, sent a deputation to Sat- 
urn, desiring immortality, representing, that it was 
not just that they should be without a prerogative 
granted by him to serpents, which are yearly re- 
newed by shedding their old skin, and assuming a 
new one. Saturn, in great anger, not only refused 
their request, but punished their ingratitude, by de- 
priving them of that unity of language which kept 
them associated. He confounded their language, 
and thereby put them under a necessity of separating. 
Hence we learn that the heathen attributed the con- 
fusion of tongues to a divine interposition ; and so 
far they confirm the history of what took place at 
Babel. 

Moses represents Adam and Eve as the stock 
whence all nations spring. He describes them as 
reasonable and intelligent persons, speaking, and 
giving names to things. Now, if we admit God as 
a Creator, there is . no difficulty in acknowledging 
him to be the Author of the language of the first man ; 
and it is difficult to conceive of his attaining the 
power of language without a divine inspiration. 
There is scarcely any eastern language which has 
not aspired to the honor of having been the original ; 
but the majority of critics decide for the Hebrew, or 
its cognate, the Arabic ; the conciseness, simplicity, 
energy, and fertility of which ; their relation to the 
most ancient oriental languages, which seem to de- 
rive from them the etymologies of the earliest names 
borne by mankind ; the names of animals, which are 
all significant in them, and describe the nature and 
property of the animals, (particulars not observed in 
other languages ;) — all these characters uniting, in- 
cline us much in favor of their primacy and excellency. 
The Hebrew has another privilege, that the most 
ancient and venerable books in the world are written 
in it. 

Language is the medium of communication be- 
tween the material animal life and the spiritual 
rational power, in man ; it is the link that connects 
the senses with the understanding. Whatever fac- 
ulties we may suppose belong to animals, we see 
no proof of their drawing inferences, conclusions, 
and determinations consequent on the exercise of 
language. In respect to vocal sounds man may 
have taken hints and lessons from animals ; but ani- 
mals have taken no discursive lessons from man. It 
is well worth while, then, to consider this invaluable 
gift of the Almighty ; and the rather, as it forma 
one of the chains of evidence that all the families of 
mankind are derived from the same origin ; and are 
made, as the apostle's expression is, " of one blood." 
Late years have brought us acquainted with ancient 



LANGUAGE 



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LANGUAGE 



.anguages which were formerly unknown to the 
.earned of Europe ; among them the most venerable 
is the Sanscrit of India. Its structure is, apparently, 
too perfect, too refined and artificial, to warrant our 
admitting it as the first language of mankind ; yet in 
point of antiquity, it may compete with the Hebrew, 
as current in the days of Moses ; and it is remarka- 
ble that the Mosaic writings seem to contain several 
words of Sanscrit origin ; (chiefly in the history of 
Baalam ;) which may give occasion to various re- 
flections. 

The following extracts from Niebuhr will show 
the fate of language, when those who speak it are 
subjected to foreigners of another tongue : never- 
theless, that some remains of it may survive the 
general wreck, in different places, is not incredible ; 
and such an account, with the manner in which 
it is preserved, is subjoined from the same author : 
"Many people living under the dominion of the 
Arabians and Turks, have lost the use of their mother 
tongue. The Greeks and Armenians settled in 
Egypt and Syria speak Arabic ; and the services of 
their public worship are performed in two languages 
at once. In Natolia, these nations speak their own 
languages in several different dialects. The Turkish 
officers sometimes extend their desp'otism to the 
language of their subjects. A pacha of Kaysar, who 
could not endure to hear the Greek language spo- 
ken, forbade the Greeks in his pachalic, under pain 
of death, to use any language but the Turkish. 
Since that prohibition was issued, the Christians of 
Kaysar and Angora have continued to speak the 
Turkish, and at present do not even understand their 
original language." (Vol. ii. p. 259.) " In Syria and 
Palestine, indeed, no language is to be heard but the 
Arabic ; and yet the Syriac is not absolutely a dead 
language, but is still spoken in several villages in the 
pachalic of Damascus. In many places, in the 
neighborhood of Merdin and Mosul, the Christians 
still speak in the Chaldean language ; and the inhab- 
itants of the villages who do not frequent towns, 
never hear any other than their mother tongue. 
The Christians born in the cities of Merdin and 
Mosul, although they speak Arabic, write in the Chal- 
dean characters, just as the Maronites write their 
Arabic in Syriac letters, and the Greeks write their 
Turkish in Greek letters." 

Many languages now spoken may be traced to 
one common and primitive stock, as the original. 
Sir W. Jones has demonstrated, that three great 
branches of language are sufficient to account for all 
the varieties extant : and this hypothesis forms a very 
strong, as well as a new, argument in favor of the 
Mosaic history of the early post-diluvian ages, 
which represents the three great families as being 
implicated in the confusion of languages at Babel. 
But, should we allow a fourth branch, we should do 
violence to the narration of Moses. It is now, per- 
haps, impossible to combine, or even to ascertain, 
what words remaining in either, or in all, of the 
three branches, should be considered as belonging 
to the primitive language ; but, by way of showing 
how words may sometimes be traced into different 
dialects, to which at first sight they appear to have 
little relation, the reader will accept the following 
note from a popular work : " — Numberless in- 
stances might be given, but our limits permit us to 
produce only a few. In the Sanscrit, or ancient 
language of the Gentoos, our signifies a day. (See 
Halhed's preface to the Code of Gentoo Laws.) In 
other eastern languages, the same word was used to 



denote both light and fire. Thus in the Chaldee, ur 
is fire ; in the Egyptian, or is the sun, or Zt'g7ii ; (Pint, 
de Osir. et Isid ;) in the Hebrew, aor is light ; in 
Greek, iiio {aer) is the air, often light; in Latin, aura 
is the air, from the iEolic Greek ; and in Irish it is 
aear." 

From what appears on this- subject, we may war- 
rantably suppose, (1.) That the ancient Hebrew lan- 
guage retained a considerable portion of original 
words, and expressions, or modes of expression. (2.) 
That some of these may occur in the Hebrew Scrip- 
tures. (3.) That the sister dialects to the Hebrew, 
the Chaldee, the Arabic, &c. may also have retained 
many original words ; and when these radical words 
are similar to those retained by the Hebrew, an ade- 
quate knowledge of these languages cannot but con- 
tribute essentially to our understanding of passages 
where derivatives from such words occur in the 
Hebrew. And this is particularly fortunate, when 
such words occur but once in Holy Scripture ; 
when they have, as we may say, neither friend nor 
brother in the Holy language, the advantage to be 
derived from their relations, in foreign but kindred 
dialects, becomes invaluable. See Letters. 

[To the student of the Bible one of the most im- 
portant subjects is the character and history of the 
original languages in which that holy book was writ- 
ten. In respect to the original Greek of the New Tes- 
tament, some remarks have been made, and the best 
sources of information pointed out, under the article 
Greece. For the Hebrew language, a reference 
has been made to the present article. The Hebrew 
is but one of the cluster of cognate languages which 
anciently prevailed in western Asia ; commonly 
called the oriental languages, or in late years the 
Semitish, or Shemitish, languages, as belonging partic- 
ularly to the descendants of Shem. A proper knowl- 
edge of the Hebrew, therefore, implies also an ac- 
quaintance with these other kindred dialects. The 
principal source of information on these points is the 
work of Gesenius entitled Gcschichtc der hebraischen 
Sprache und Sch'ifit, History of the Hebrew Language 
and Letters, Leipsic, 1815. An abstract of the re- 
sults detailed in this work, accompanied with remarks 
of his own, was given by professor Stuart in the In- 
troduction prefixed to the first and second editions 
of his Hebrew Grammar. From these sources the 
following statements have been condensed. 

Oriental or Shemitish Languages. — The lan- 
guages of western Asia, though differing in respect 
to dialect, are radically the same ; and have been so 
as far back as any historical records enable us to 
trace them. Palestine, Syria, Phenicia, Mesopo- 
tamia, Babylonia, Arabia, and also Ethiopia, are 
reckoned as the countries where the languages com- 
monly denominated oriental have been spoken. Of 
late, many critics have rejected the appellation ori- 
ental, as being too comprehensive, and substituted 
that of Shemitish. Against this appellation, however, 
objections of a similar nature may be urged ; for no 
inconsiderable portion of those who spoke the lan- 
guages in question, were not descendants of Shem. 
It is doubtless a matter of indifference which appel- 
lation is used, if it be first defined. 

The oriental languages may be divided into three 
principal dialects ; viz. the Aramrean, the Hebrew, 
and the Arabic. — (1.) The Aramaean, spoken in 
Syria, Mesopotamia, and Babylonia, or Chaldea, is 
subdivided into the Syriac and Chaldee dialects, 
sometimes called also the west and east Aramaean. 
— (2.) The Hebrew or Canaanitish dialect (Isa xix. 



LANGUAGE 



[ 606 ] 



LANGUAGE 



18.) was spoken iu Palestine, and probably, with 
little variation, in Pbenieia and the Pheniciau colo- 
nies, e. g. at Carthage and other places. The re- 
mains of the Pheniciau and Punic dialects are too 
few aud too much disfigured, to enable us to judge 
with certainty how extensively these languages were 
the same as the dialect of Palestine. — (3.) The Ara- 
bic, to which the Ethiopic bears a special resem- 
blance, comprises, in modern times, a great variety 
of dialects as a spoken language, and is spread over 
a vast extent of country ; but so far as we are ac- 
quainted with its former state, it appears, more an- 
ciently, to have been limited principally to Arabia 
and Ethiopia. 

The Arabic is very rich in words and forms ; the 
Syriac, so far as it is yet known, is comparatively 
limited in both ; the Hebrew holds a middle place 
between them, both as to copiousness of words and 
variety of forms. 

The Samaritan dialect appears to be made up, as 
one might expect, (see 2 Kings xvii.) of Aramaean 
and Hebrew. And the slighter varieties of Arabic 
are as numerous as the provinces where the lan- 
guage is spoken. In all these cases, however, we 
commonly name the slighter differences provincial- 
isms rather than dialects. 

It is uncertain whether any of the oriental or 
Shemitish dialects were spoken in Assyria proper, 
or in Asia Minor. The probability seems to be 
against the supposition that the Assyrians used them ; 
and a great part of Asia Minor, before it was subju- 
gated by the Greeks, most probably spoke the same 
language with Assyria, i. e. perhaps a dialect of the 
Persian. A small part only of this section of Asia 
seem to have spoken a Shemitish dialect. (Gesen. 
Geschichte, § 4. 1. aud § 17. 3.) When western Asia 
is described, therefore, as speaking the Shemitish 
languages, the exceptions just made are to be uni- 
formly understood. 

Of all the oriental languages, the Hebrew bears 
marks of being the most ancient. The oldest records 
that are known to exist are composed in this lan- 
guage ; and there are other reasons which render it 
probable, that it preceded its kindred dialects. It 
flourished in Palestine, among the Phenicians and 
Hebrews, until the period of the Babylonish exile ; 
soon after which it declined, and finally was suc- 
ceeded by a kind of Hebreeo- Aramaean dialect, such 
as was spoken in the time of our Saviour among the 
Jews. (See Biblical Repository, vol. i. p. 309, 317.) 
The west Aramaean had flourished before this, for a 
long time, in the east and north of Palestine ; but it 
now advanced farther west, and during the period 
that the Christian churches of Syria flourished, it 
was widely extended. It is at present almost a dead 
language, and has been so for several centuries. 
The Hebrew may be regarded as having been a dead 
language, except among a small circle of literati, for 
about the space of two thousand years. — Our knowl- 
edge of Arabic literature extends back very little be- 
yond the time of Mohammed. But the followers of 
this pretended prophet have spread the dialect of the 
Koran over almost half the population of the world. 
Arabic is now the vernacular language of Arabia, 
Syria, Egypt, and in a great measure of Palestine 
and all the northern coast of Africa; while it is read 
and understood wherever the Koran has gone, in 
Turkey, Persia, India, and Tartary. 

The remains of the ancient Hebrew tongue are 
contained in the Old Testament, and in the few 
Phenician and Punic words and inscriptions that 



have been here and there discovered. — The remains 
of the Aramaean are extant in a variety of books. 
In Chaldee, we have a part of the books of Daniel 
and Ezra, (Dan. ii. 4 — vii. 28. Ezra iv. 8 — vi. 19, and 
vii. 12 — 27.) which are the most ancient of any 
specimens of this dialect. The Targum of Onkelos, 
i. e. the translation of the Pentateuch into Chaldee, 
affords the next and purest specimen of that language. 
All the other Targums, the Mishna and Gemara are 
a mixture of Aramaean and Hebrew. It has been 
said that there are still some small districts in the 
East, where the Chaldee is a vernacular language. 
In Syriac, there is a considerable number of books 
and MSS. extant. The oldest specimen of this lan- * 
guage, that we have, is contained in the Peshito, or 
Syriac, version of the Old and New Testament. A 
multitude of writers in this dialect have flourished, 
(vid. Assemani Bibliotheca Orientals,) many of 
whose writings probably are still extant, although 
but few have been printed in Europe. — In Arabic, 
there exists a great variety of MSS. and books, histor- 
ical, scientific and literary. The means of illustrat- 
ing this living language are now very ample and satis- 
factory. See Talmud, and Versions. 

It is quite obvious from the statement made above, 
that a knowledge of the kindred dialects of the He- 
brew is very important, for the illustration of that 
language. Who can, even now, have a very ex- 
tensive and accurate understanding of the English 
language, that is unacquainted with the Latin, Greek, 
Norman, French and Saxon ? Supposing, then, that 
the English had been a dead language for more than 
two thousand years, and that all the remains of it 
were comprised in one moderate volume ; who 
could well explain this volume, that did not under- 
stand the languages with which it is closely connect- 
ed ? The answer f o this question will decide wheth- 
er the study of the \anguages, kindred with the 
Hebrew, is important to the thorough understanding 
and illustration of the Hebrew Scriptures. 

The relation of the Hebrew to the Aramaean and 
Arabic is not such as exists between the Attic and 
other dialects of Greece. The diversity is much 
greater. It bears more resemblance to the diversity 
between German and Dutch, or German and Swed- 
ish. The idiom of all is substantially the same. 
The fundamental words are of common origin. 
But the inflections differ in some considerable meas- 
ure : derivative words are diverse in point of form ; 
and not a few words have been adopted in each 
of the- dialects, which either are not common to the 
others, or are used in a different sense.- — -The affin- 
ity between the Chaldee and Syriac is very great, in 
every respect. 

The oriental languages are distinguished from 
the western or European tongues, in general, by a 
number of peculiar traits ; viz. (1.) Several kinds- 
of guttural letters are found in them, which we can- 
not distinctly mark ; and some of which our organs 
are inacapable of pronouncing, after the age of matu- 
rity. — (2.) In general, the roots are triliteral, and of 
two syllables. By far the greater part of the roots 
are verbs. — (3.) Pronouns, whether personal or ad- 
jective, are, in the oblique cases, united in the same 
word with the noun or verb to which they have a 
relation. — (4.j The verbs have but two tenses, the past 
and future ; and in general, there are no optative or 
subjunctive moods definitely marked. — (5.) The 
genders are only masculine and feminine ; and these 
are extended to the verb, as well as to the noun. 
(6.) For the most part, the cases are marked bv 



LANGUAGE 



[ 607 1 



LANGUAGE 



prepositions. Two nouns coming together, the latter 
of which is in the genitive, the first, in most cases, suf- 
fers a change which indicates this state of relation, 
while the latter noun remains unchanged; i. e. the 
governing noun suffers the change, and not the noun 
governed. (7.) To mark the comparative and super- 
lative degrees, no special forms of adjectives exist. 
From this observation the Arabic must be excepted, 
which, for the most part, lias an intensive form of 
adjectives that marks both the comparative and su- 
perlative. (8.) Scarcely any composite words exist 
in these languages, if we except proper names. (9.) 
Verbs are not only distinguished into active and pas- 
sive, by their forms ; but additional forms are made, 
by the inflections of the same verb with small varia- 
tions, to signify the cause of action, or the frequency 
of it, or that it is reflexive, or reciprocal, or intensive, 
fee. (10.) Lastly, all these dialects (the Ethiopic ex- 
cepted) are written and read from the right hand to 
the left ; the alphabets consisting of consonants only, 
and the vowels being generally written above or be- 
low the consonants. 

Hebrew Language. — The appellation of Hebrew, 
('■ny,) so far as we can learn from history, was first 
given to Abraham by the people of Canaan among 
whom he dwelt, Gen. xiv. 13. As the first names of 
nations were commonly appellatives, it is quite prob- 
able that this epithet was applied to Abraham be- 
cause he came from beyond the Euphrates, -u;> 
meaning over or beyond ; so that v-up, Hebrew, meant as 
much as one who came from beyond the Euphrates. 
But whatever extent of meaning was attached to the 
appellation Hebrew before the time of Jacob, it ap- 
pears afterwards to have been limited only to his 
posterity, and to be synonymous with Israelite. 

The origin of the Hebrew language must be dated 
further back than the period to which we can trace 
the appellation Hebrew. It is plain from the history 
of Abraham, that wherever he sojourned he found a 
language in which he could easily converse. That 
Hebrew was originally the language of Palestine ap- 
pears plain, moreover, from the names of persons and 
places in Canaan, and from other facts in respect to 
the formation of this dialect. E. g. the west is in 
Hebrew s', which means the sea, i. e. towards the 
Mediterranean sea. As the Hebrew has no other 
proper word for ivest, so it must be evident that the 
language, in its distinctive and peculiar form, must 
have been formed in Palestine. That this dialect was 
the original language of mankind, is not established 
by any historical evidence, which may not admit of 
some doubt. But it seems highly probable, that if 
the original parents of mankind were placed in west- 
ern Asia, they spoke substantially the language which 
has for more than fifty centuries pervaded those coun- 
tries. This probability is greatly increased, by the 
manner in which the book of Genesis makes use of 
appellatives, as applied to the antediluvians ; which 
are nearly all explicable by Hebrew etymology, and 
would probably all be so, if we had that part of the 
Hebrew which is lost. 

How far back then the Hebrew dialect in its dis- 
tinctive form is to oe dated, we have no sure means 
of ascertaining. At the time when the Pentateuch 
was written, it had reached nearly, if not quite, its 
highest point of culture and grammatical structure. 
The usual mode of reasoning would lead us to say, 
therefore, that it must, for a long time before, have 
been spoken and cultivated, in order to attain so much 
regularity of structure and syntax. But reasoning on 
this subject, except from facts, is very uncertain. 



Many of the savage tribes in the wilds of America 
possess languages which, as to variety in combina- 
tions, declensions and expression, are said to surpass 
the most cultivated languages of Asia or Europe. 
Homer was as little embarrassed in respect to variety 
of form, combination or structure, as any Greek poet 
who followed a thousand years later. The best 
pledge for the great antiquity of the Hebrew is, that 
there never has been, so far as we have any knowl- 
edge, but one language substantially in western Asia ; 
and of the various dialects of this, the Hebrew has 
the highest claims to be regarded as the most ancient. 

Sketch of the Hebrew language. — From the time 
when the Pentateuch was composed until the Baby- 
lonish exile, the language, as presented. to us in the 
Old Testament, wears a very uniform appearance ; 
if we except the variety of style, which belongs of 
course to different writers. This period has been 
usually called the golden age of the Hebrew. On ac- 
count of this uniformity, many critics deny that the 
Pentateuch could have been composed five hundred 
years before the time of David and Solomon, or even 
long before the captivity. They are willing to admit 
the antiquity of a few laws, and of some fragments 
of history in Genesis and some other books. But it 
is against all analogy, they aver, that a language should 
continue so nearly the same, as the Hebrew of the 
Pentateuch and of the historical books, for a space of 
time so great as this. And besides, they affirm, there 
are many internal evidences of a later origin, con- 
tained in occasional notices of later events, which 
could not possibly be known in the time of Moses. 

In regard to this last allegation, only a single con- 
sideration can be here stated. It may be safely ad- 
mitted, that some things were added to the Pentateuch 
by writers in later times ; such as a completion of the- 
genealogy of the Edomitish princes, Gen. xxxvi. ait 
account of the death and burial of Moses, Deut. 
xxxiv ; and a few other things of a similar nature. 
But the other allegation, that universal analogy, in 
respect to other languages, renders it highly improb- 
able that such uniformity in the Hebrew could have 
been preserved, so long as from the time of Moses- 
down to that of David, or down to the period of the 
captivity, we may be permitted to doubt ; for a greater 
philological wonder than this, which so much excites 
their incredulity, can be produced. 

Dr. Marshman is very extensively acquainted with 
the Chinese language, and has published a copious 
grammar and dictionary of it, with a translation of 
the works of Confucius, which were written about 
550 years before Christ, or, according to the Chinese, 
much earlier. He asserts, that there is very little dif- 
ference between the style of Confucius and that of 
the best Chinese writers of the present day. One 
commentary on his works was written 1500 years 
after the text, and another still later, which Dr. 
Marshman consulted. He found no difference be- 
tween them and the works of Confucius, except that 
the original was somewhat more concise. The doc- 
uments of this philologist, gathered from Chinese rec- 
ords, prove that the written and spoken language of 
the Chinese (nearly one fourth part of the human 
race) has not varied, in any important respect for 
more than 2000 years. (Quarterly Review, May, 
1811, p. 401, fee. Marshman's Chinese Gram, in 
var. loc.) In respect to seclusion from other nations, 
the Jews bore a very exact resemblance to the Chi- 
nese. Like them, they had no foreign commerce or 
intercourse to corrupt their language. New inven- 
tions and improvements in the arts and sciences there- 



LANGUAGE 



[ 608 ] 



LANGUAGE 



were not. What then was there to change the lan- 
guage? Anrl why should not David and Solomon, 
and others write in the same manner, substantially as 
Moses did ? 

In respect to the argument, which concludes against 
the composition of the Pentateuch by Moses, because 
there are some things in it, which, if written by him, 
must be admitted to be predictions, it can here be 
observed only, that if the inspiration of the Scriptures 
be admitted, criticism has no right to reject it in any 
investigations respecting these books ; for inspiration 
constitutes one of the circumstances in which the 
books were composed, and cannot, therefore, be omit- 
ted in the critical consideration of them, without vir- 
tually denying the fact of inspiration, and conducting 
the investigation in an uncritical manner. 

The second or silver age of the Hebrew, reaches 
from the period of the captivity down to the time 
when it ceased to be a living language. The distin- 
guishing trait of Hebrew writings belonging to this 
age is, that they approximate to the Chaldee dialect. 
Nothing is more natural, than that the language of 
exiles, in a foreign country for seventy years, should 
approximate to that of their conquerors who held 
them in subjection. To this period belong many of 
the Psalms, and the whole books of Jeremiah, Eze- 
kiel, Daniel, Zechariah, Haggai, Malachi, Chronicles, 
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and perhaps some others. 
The books of Job and Ecclesiastes abound in Aramae- 
isms ; and Canticles exhibits a considerable number. 
The age of these three last books, as also that of Jo- 
nah, Daniel, and the Pentateuch, has been the sub- 
ject of animated contest among critics on the conti- 
nent of Europe, for almost half a century. The 
Chaldaisms, or Aramffiisms, of the silver age, consist, 
either in adopting both the form and meaning of 
Aramaean words, or in preserving the Hebrew 
form, but assigning to it an Aramaean signification. 
(Ges. Gesch. § 10. 4, 5.) What is called the younger 
or later Hebrew is somewhat distinct from Aramae- 
ism. It does not consist in using foreign words, but 
in a departure from the customary idiom of the older 
Hebrew, by the adoption of different expressions to 
convey the same idea. E. g. the early Hebrew calls 
the sheiv-bread Qijsn =>nS ; the younger Hebrew anS 
ro-ipe. The Hebrew of the Talmud, and of the 
rabbins, has a close affinity with the later He- 
brew. 

All the books belonging to the second age are not 
of the same character in respect to idiom. The book 
of Job, if it be set down to a later age, though full of 
Aramceisms, in other respects is a peculiar example 
of the ancient simplicity of diction. Such is the case 
with many Psalms, which belong, as their contents 
plainly show, to the second period. Of the other 
authors comprised in this period, Jeremiah and Eze- 
kiel merely border upon the silver age in regard to 
diction. Esther, Canticles, Chronicles and Daniel 
are strongly tinctured with the characteristics of later 
Hebrew ; and the remaining later books are not less 
strongly marked. Nearly half of the books of Daniel 
and Ezra is composed in pure Chaldee. In general, 
the earlier Hebrew writers are entitled to preeminence 
in respect to their compositions, when considered 
merely in a rhetorical point of view. But still, among 
the later class are some of most exquisite taste and 
genius. Some parts of Jeremiah have scarcely been 
excelled. Psalms exxxix, xliv, lxxxiv, lxxxv ; several 
of the Psalms of degrees, exx, &c. Dan. vii, &c. 
and other parts of later authors, are fine specimens of 
writing; and some of them may challenge competi- 



tion, in reespct to excellence of style, with the writ- 
ings of any age or country. 

The Hebrew language throughout, both earlier 
and later, exhibits a twofold diction, viz. the prosaic 
and the poetic. Hebrew poetry, so far as we can as- 
certain, never comprised any thing of the Roman and 
Grecian measure of long and short syllables, and the 
varieties of verse arising from this cause. Its distin- 
guishing characteristics are four ; viz. a rhythmical 
conformation of periods or distichs ; a parallelism of 
the same in regard to sense or expression ; a figura- 
tive, parabolic style ; and a diction peculiar to this 
species of composition. (See Lowth's Lectures on 
Heb. Poetry, Lec. xviii. — xx ; also the Introduction to 
his Commentary on Isaiah. De Wette's Commentar 
liber den Psalmen, Einleit. § 7.) 

The poetic diction displays itself in the choice of 
words, the meaning assigned to them, and the forms 
which it gives them. In other respects, too, poetic 
usage gives peculiar liberty. The conjugations Piel 
and Hithpael are sometimes used intransitively ; the 
apocopated future stands for the common future ; the 
participle is often used for the verb ; and anomalies in 
respect to concord, ellipsis, &c. are more frequent than 
in prose. 

As the Aramaean dialect was learned by the Jews 
during their captivity, and a mixture of this ami the 
Hebrew, ever after their return, was perhaps spoken 
in Palestine by the people at large ; so it is evident, 
that many words of the old Hebrew, in consequence 
of this, must fall into desuetude, and the meaning of 
them become obscured. Of course, the later Hebrew 
writers were obliged to avoid such words. A com- 
parison of the books of Kings with those of the 
Chronicles, where they are parallel, is full of instruc- 
tion in respect to this subject. It will be found, that 
the author of the Chronicles has introduced the later 
orthography and forms of words ; substituted new 
words for old ones ; given explanations of the ancient 
text from which he drew the materials of his history • 
atid inserted grammatical glosses of the same, so as to 
accommodate his style to the times in which he wrote. 
(Ges. Gesch. § 12.) 

There is no probability that the Hebrew language 
ceased, during the captivity, to be cultivated and un- 
derstood, in a good degree,-by those who were well 
educated among the Jews. The number of books 
already extant in it at this period ; the reverence with 
which they were regarded ; the care with which 
they were preserved ; all render such a supposition 
entirely inadmissible. Every nation subjected to a 
foreign yoke and to exile, does indeed gradually lose 
its own language and approximate to that of its con- 
querors. Yet the Jews, who held all foreign nations 
in abhorrence, were less exposed to this than most 
others would be. The fact, that after the return from 
exile, so many authors wrote in the Hebrew dialect, 
and for public use, demonstrates that the knowledge 
of the language was not generally lost, although the 
dialect spoken may have been a mixed one. After 
the worship of God was renewed in the second tem- 
ple, the ancient Hebrew Scriptures were unquestiona- 
bly used in it. In the synagogues, which appear to 
have been erected not long after this, the Hebrew 
Scriptures were always used. Even so late as the 
time of the apostles, this was the case, (Acts xv. 21.) 
as it has continued to be ever since. 

How long the Hebrew was retained, both in writ- 
ing and conversation, or in writing, after it ceased 
to be the language of conversation, it is impossible to 
determine. The coins stamped in the time of the 



LANGUAGE 



[ 609 ] 



LANGUAGE 



Maccabees are all the oriental monuments we have, 
of the period that elapsed between the latest canoni- 
cal writers and the advent of Christ ; and the inscrip- 
tions on these are in Hebrew. At the time of the 
Maccabees, then, Hebrew was understood, at least as 
the language of books ; perhaps in some measure also 
among the better informed, as the language of con- 
versation. But soon after this, the dominion of the 
Seleucidse in Syria over the Jewish nation, uniting 
with the former influence of the Babylonish captivity 
So diffuse the Aramaean dialect among them, appears 
to have destroyed the remains of proper Hebrew, as 
i living language, and to have universally substituted, 
in its stead, the Hebrseo-Aramreau as it was spoken 
in the time of our Saviour. A representation very 
different from this has been made by the Talmudists 
and Jewish grammarians; and, in following them, by 
a multitude of Christian critics. This is, that the He- 
brew became altogether a dead language during the 
Babylonish exile ; which, say they, is manifest from 
Neh. viii. 8. But as this sentiment is wholly built on 
a mistaken interpretation of the verse, and as facts 
speak so plainly against such an opinion, it cannot be 
admitted. (Ges. Gesch. § 13.) 

From the time when Hebrew ceased to be vernac- 
ular, down to the present day, a portion of this dialect 
has been preserved in the Old Testament. It has 
always been the subject of study among learned 
Jews. Before and at the time of Christ, there were 
flourishing Jewish academies at Jerusalem. Those 
of Hillel and Shammai are the most celebrated. After 
Jerusalem was destroyed, schools were set up in 
various places ; but particularly they flourished at 
Tiberias, until the death of rabbi Judah, surnamed 
Hakkodesh, or the Holy, the author of the Mishna, 
about A. D. 230. Some of his pupils set up other 
schools in Babylonia, which became the rivals of 
these. The Babylonish academies flourished until 
noar the tenth century. From the schools at Tiberias 
and in Babylonia, we have received the Targums, the 
Talmud, the Masora, and the written vowels and ac- 
cents of the Hebrew language. 

The Mishna or second law, i. e. the oral traditions 
of the fathers, was reduced to writing by rabbi Ju- 
dah Hakkodesh, in the beginning of the third century, 
as above stated. This constitutes the text of both the 
Jerusalem and Babylonish Talmuds ; and though 
tinctured with Aramaeism, still exhibits a style of 
Hebrew that is pretty pure. 

The Gemara or commentary on the Mishna is later. 
The Jerusalem Gemara belongs, perhaps, to the latter 
part of the third century ; that of Babylon is about 
three centuries later. Both exhibit a very corrupted 
state of the Hebrew language. Other Jewish writings, 
composed about this period, - are similar as to their 
dialect. 

The Targums, or translations of the Old Testament, 
are confessedly Chaldee ; but they are quite impure, 
if you except that of Onkelos. See Versions. 

The Masora consists of critical remarks on the text 
of the Old Testament. A part of it is older than the 
Targums : but it was not completed, or reduced to its 
present form, until the eighth or ninth century. Its 
contents or criticisms show, that already the substan- 
tial principles of Hebrew grammar, and the analogical 
structure of the language, had been an object of par- 
ticular study and attention. 

Among Christians, during the first twelve centuries 
after the apostolic age, the knowledge of Hebrew 
could scarcely be said to exist. Epiphanius, who be- 
r oie his conversion was a Jew, probably had a knowl- 
77 



edge of the Hebrew tongue ; and perhaps Theodoret 
and Ephrem Syrus whose native language was 
Syriac, may have understood it. But among all the 
fathers of the Christian churches, none have acquired 
any reputation for the knowledge of Hebrew, except 
Origen and Jerome. In regard to the former, it is 
very doubtful whether he possessed any thing more 
than a superficial knowledge of it. (Ges. Gesch. § 27. 
1.) But Jerome spent about twenty years in Pales- 
tine, in order to acquire a knowledge of this tongue 
and has left the fruits of his knowledge behind him, 
in the celebrated translation of the Hebrew Scriptures 
called the Vulgate. See Versions. 

In consequence of the persecutions and vexations 
of the Jews in the East, by Christians, and especially 
by Mohammedans, in the tenth and eleveuth centu- 
ries, their literati emigrated to the west, and their 
schools in Babylonia were destroyed. The north of 
Africa, but particularly Spain, and afterwards France 
and Germany, became places of resort for the Jews ; 
and here, during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, 
almost all those important Jewish works in grammar 
and lexicography were composed, which have been 
the means of preserving a knowledge of the Hebrew 
language in the world, and eventually of rousing 
Christians to the study of this sacred tongue. It was 
during this period, that the Kimchis, Jarchi, Aben 
Ezra, and Maimonides flourished ; and somewhat 
later appeared Ben Gerson, Ben Melech, Abarbanel, 
Elias Levita, and others ; who, by their philological 
labors, prepared the way for the diffusion of Hebrew 
learning over the Christian world. 

During the dark ages, the knowledge of Hebrew 
appears to have been banished from the Christian 
world, and to have been commonly regarded as a 
proof of heresy. But in the fourteenth century, some 
glimmerings of light appeared. The council at Vi- 
enna, in A. D. 1311, ordered the establishment of 
professorships of oriental literature in the universi- 
ties. After this, slow but gradual progress was made 
among Christians in the study of Hebrew, until the 
sixteenth century ; when the reformation, operating 
with other causes, served to increase the attention 
among the learned to the original Scriptures. But 
as yet, the study of Hebrew was embarrassed by 
many Jewish traditions and conceits, which had been 
propagated by the rabbins among their christian 
pupils. Nor was it until about the middle of the 
seventeenth century, that Hebrew philology made 
real advances, beyond the limits by which it had as 
yet been circumscribed. During this century, many 
grammars and lexicons of the Hebrew and its cognate 
dialects were published, which increased the means 
of investigation for future philologists. In the first 
part of the succeeding century, Schultens published 
his philological works, which exhibited deeper re- 
searches into the structure and nature of the She- 
mitish languages than had hitherto appeared. The 
application of the kindred dialects, especially of the 
Arabic, to the illustration of the Hebrew, was urged 
much beyond what had before been done. Many 
eminent philologists were nurtured in his school at 
Leyden. The great body of critics, almost until the 
present time, have followed in the path which he 
trod. Many of them have made an excessive use of 
the Arabic languages in tracing the signification of 
Hebrew words. Some of the best lexicographers 
such as Eichhorn and Michaelis, are not free from 
this fault. 

Of late, years, a new and much better method of 
I Hebrew philology has commenced, and is still advai" 



LAO 



[ <uo ] 



L A V. 



cing, in a great measure, under the patronage and by 
the labors of Gesenius at Halle. A temperate use of 
all the kindred dialects is allowed by this method, or 
rather enjoined, in illustrating the sense of words ; but 
he most copious illustrations, borrowed from the 
rindred languages, are those which respect the forms 
of words, their significancy as connected with the 
forms, and the syntax of the Hebrew language. 
There is reason to hope that the present age will 
advance greatly beyond precediug ones, in respect 
to a fundamental and critical knowledge of the 
Shemitish languages. See further under Let- 
ters I. *R. 

LAODICEA. There are several cities of this 
name, but Scripture speaks only of that on the con- 
fines of Phrygia and Lydia. Its ancient name was 
Diospolis, then Rhoas, and lastly, Laodicea. It 
was situated on the river Lycus, not far above its 
junction with the Meander; and was the metropolis 
of Phrygia Pacatiana. Paul had never been in this 
city, nor had the Laodiceans ever seen his face in 
the flesh ; (Col. ii. 1.) but on information from Epa- 
phras their messenger, that false teachers had propa- 
gated pernicious doctrines there and at Colossal, he 
wrote to the inhabitants of the latter, and desired 
them, when they had read his letter, to send it to 
the Laodiceans. He writes also, as is thought, in the 
same epistle, that the Laodiceans should also send 
their letter to the Colossians. " That ye likewise 
read the epistle from Laodicea," xul ti,v ix JaoSixelag 
V>a xai I'utfc arayviTm, Col. iv. 16. This expression, 
however, is ambiguous. It may either signify the 
letter which the apostle wrote to Laodicea, or that 
which the Laodiceans wrote to him. The letter to 
the Laodiceans, which has been attributed to Paul, 
is universally admitted to be spurious. 

Laodicea was long an inconsiderable place, but it 
increased towards the time of Augustus Caesar. The 
fertility of the soil, and the good fortune of some of 
its citizens, raised it to greatness. Hiero, who adorned 
it with many offerings, bequeathed to the people 
more than two thousand talents ; and though an in- 
land town, it grew more potent than the cities on the 
coast, and became one of the largest towns in Phrygia, 
as its present ruins prove. Among the ruins seen 
by doctor Chandler, was an oblong amphitheatre, 
the area of which was about one thousand feet in 
extent, with a number of other splendid ruins. 

" Laodicea was often damaged by earthquakes, 
and restored by its own opulence, or by the munifi- 
cence of the Roman emperors. These resources 
failed, and the city, it is probable, became early a 
scene of ruin. About the year 1097, it was possessed 
by the Turks, and submitted to Ducas, general of 
the emperor Alexis. In 1120, the Turks sacked some 
of the cities of Phrygia by the Meander, but were 
defeated by the emperor John Comnenus, who took 
Laodicea, and repaired and built anew the walls. 
About 1161, it was again unfortified. Many of the 
inhabitants were then killed, with their bishop, or 
carried with their cattle into captivity by the Turkish 
sultan. In 1190, the German emperor Frederick 
Barbarossa, going by Laodicea with his army toward 
Syria on a croisade, was received so kindly, that he 
prayed on his knees for the prosperity of the people. 
About 1196, this region, with Caria, was dreadfully 
ravaged by the Turks. The sultan, on the invasion 
of the Tartars in 1255, gave Laodicea to the Romans, 
but they were unable to defend it, and it soon re- 
turned to the Turks. We saw no traces either of 
houses, churches or mosques. All was silence and 



solitude. Several strings of camels passed eastward 
of the hill ; but a fox, which we first discovered by his 
ears peeping over a brow, was the only inhabitant of 
Laodicea." (Trav. p. 225.) 

The grandeur of this city in A. D. 79, is sufficiently 
attested by these ruins; whence we infer, that at the 
date of the Epistle to the Colossians, (A. D. 60, or 
61,) it was a place of consequence. Whether the 
church here were numerous we know not ; but, 
from the epistle in the Revelations addressed to its 
minister, it should seem to have fallen into a luke- 
warm state, (about A. D. 96,) and it is threatened ac- 
cordingly. It seems, also, that the Laodiceans boast- 
ed of their wealth, and knowledge, and garments ; 
which agrees with their history, that they were en- 
riched by the fleeces of their sheep, and eminent in 
polite studies, as evinced by the odeum, the theatre, 
the amphitheatre, and the magnified sculptures, the 
the remains of which are still descernible. 

LAPIDOTH, the prophetess Deborah's husband, 
Judg. iv. 4. 

LAPWING, a bird by Moses declared to be un- 
clean, Lev. xi. 19. It is about the size of a thrush ; 
its beak is long, black, thin, and a little hooked ; its 
legs gray and short. On its head is a tuft of feathers 
of different colors, which it raises or lowers as it 
pleases. Its neck and stomach are something red- 
dish ; and its wings and tail black with white streaks. 
See Birds, p. 188. 

LASHA. Moses, describing the limits of the land 
of Canaan, says, that it reaches south to Lasha, Gen. 
x. 19. The Chaldee and Jerome take this to be the 
place Callirhoe, east of the Dead sea, where are 
warm springs, (see Anah,) and this is the more proba- 
ble opinion ; but Calmet thinks it is the city of Lasba, 
Lusa, or Elusa, at nearly an equal distance between 
the Dead sea and the Red sea. Ptolemy mentions 
this city of Lusa. as do Stephens the geographer, 
and Josephus. 

LATTICE, see House, p.. 506. 

LAVER, Brazen. Moses was directed (Exod. 
xxx. 18.) to make, among other articles of furniture 
for the services of the tabernacle, a laver of brass. 
This is not particularly described as to form ; but 
the lavers made for the temple were borne by four 
cherubim, standing upon bases or pedestals mounted 
on brazen wheels, and having handles belonging to 
them, by means of which they might be drawn, and 
conveyed from one place to another, as they should 
be wanted. These lavers were double, that is to say, 
composed of a basin, which received the water that 
fell from another square vessel above it, from which 
they drew water with cocks. The whole work was 
of brass ; the square vessel was adorned with the 
heads of a lion, an ox, and a cherub ; that is to say, 
of extraordinary hieroglyphic creatures. Each of 
the lavers contained forty baths, or four bushels, forty- 
one pints, and forty cubic inches of Paris measure. 
There were ten made in this form, and of this ca- 
pacity ; five of them were placed to the right, and 
five to the left of the temple, between the altar of 
burnt-offerings and the steps which led to the porch 
of the temple. 

In describing the laver nmde for the tabernacle, 
the sacred writer says, Moses " made it of brass, and 
the foot of it of brass, and of the looking-glasses of 
the women assembling, which assembled at the door 
of the tabernacle of the congregation," Exod. xxxviii. 
8. The impropriety of introducing looking-glasses 
here is obvious, since a laver of brass could never 
have been formed out of these ; besides, our glass. 



LAW 



L en ] 



LAW 



•iiirrors are quite a modern invention. Dr. A. Clarke 
?onceives, therefore, that the Hebrew word n«icj ma- 
roth, denotes mirrors simply, and here, mirrors of 
polished metal, such as were known to be in com- 
mon use among the ancients ; and which Dr. Shaw 
states to be still used by the Arab women in Barbary. 
(Jahn, Bib. Arch. § 132. Hartmann. Hebraerinn, ii. 
p. 240. Adam's Rom. Antiq. p. 423.) 

LAUGHTER is an indication of joy, insult, mock- 
ery, assurance, or admiration. Sarah in her trans- 
port of joy called her son Isaac, that is, laughter, 
Gen. xxi. 6. " At destruction and famine thou shalt 
laugh ;" i. e. thou shalt not fear it, thou shalt be per- 
fectly secure against those evils. God laughs at the 
wicked ; he despises their vain efforts. Ishmael 
Jaughed at Isaac ; he insulted him, he vexed him. 
(See Gal. iv. 29.) Laughter in general implies re- 
joicing. " There is a time to laugh, and a time to 
weep ;" that is, a time to rejoice, and a time to be 
afflicted, Eccl. hi. 4. " Blessed are ye who weep 
now, for ye shall laugh," Luke vi. 21, 25. " I said 
of laughter," of joy, pleasure, " it is mad," Eccl. ii. 
2. " Your laughter shall be turned into mourning ;" 
your joy shall terminate in sorrow, repentance, re- 
morse, James iv. 9. Laughter does not become a 
wise man.- " A fool lifteth up his voice with laugh- 
ter, but a wise man doth scarcely smile a little. The 
laughter of a fool is as noisy as the crackling of 
thorns," Ecclus. viii. 8. Abraham's laughter, when 
God promised him a son, was an expression of ad- 
miration and gratitude, not of doubt ; the Scripture, 
which relates it, does not disapprove of it, as it does 
of Sarah's, Gen. xvii. 17. 

LAW denotes in general a rule by which actions 
are to be determined ; and is either natural or posi- 
tive ; the former is founded on the unchangeable na- 
ture of things, and is therefore immutable ; the latter 
is founded on the circumstances in which rational 
creatures may happen to be placed, and is therefore 
changeable. The former is called moral ; the latter 
ritual. 

The rabbins pretend that Noah's sons received cer- 
tain laws which compose the law of nature, and bind 
all people, in all countries. Maimonides believes, 
that the first six were given to Adam, and that God 
added a seventh to Noah. Of these precepts the 
first ordains submission to judges and magistrates ; 
the second forbids blasphemy against God ; the third, 
idolatry and superstition ; the fourth, incest, sodomy, 
bestiality, and sins against nature ; the fifth, murder, 
and all effusions of blood ; the sixth, theft ; the sev- 
enth, the eating of the limb of an animal while liv- 
ing, that is, of crude blood, &c. 

A distinction is generally made between the law 
of nature and positive laws. The law of nature is 
impressed on our hearts ; such are our obligations to 
worship the Supreme Being, to honor our parents, to 
obey superiors, to do to no man what we would not 
have done to us, &c. Positive laws are of several 
kinds ; civil and political or ceremonial. Judicial, 
civil and political laws regard principally the duties 
of men in society, and the order and polity of the 
state ; they restrain the violence of wicked men, de- 
fend the weak from the oppression of the strong, 
and regulate duties, rights and powers. Ceremonial 
laws respect the external worship of God, the duties 
of ministers and people towards God, and their re- 
ciprocal obligations to one another, with relation to 
the Divine Being. 

The law was given to the Hebrews, by the inter- 
vention of Moses, on mount Sinai, fifty days after 



then departure out of Egypt, A. M. 25l3, inte A.I) 
1491. (See Exod. xx. &c.) 

Some learned men have been of opinion, that 
Moses in most of his laws intended either to imitate 
those of the Egyptians, or to reverse their customs 
and maxims, or to circumscribe the Hebrews, to 
prevent their falling into those errors, idolatries, and 
superstitions, which they had seen in Egypt. Others, 
on the contrary, have asserted, that the Egyptians 
imitated, in part, at least, the Hebrew laws. Cal- 
met most reasonably concludes, that there was a re- 
ciprocal imitation ; bearing in mind that the practices 
of the Mosaic laws, which oppose the superstition 
of Egypt, were not instituted without design, and 
that the Jewish legislator intended to cure the Is- 
raelites of their proneness to idolatry, and to cor- 
rect the evil habits which they had contracted in 
Egypt. What was useful among those of Egypt, 
might be retained ; and such as had been perverted, 
might be restored to their purity. 

The law of Moses being the shadow only of good 
things to come, (see Type,) but bringing nothing to 
perfection, (Heb. x. 1 ; vii. 19.) it was necessary that 
Jesus Christ should complete what was imperfect in 
it, reform what abuses it tolerated, and fulfil what it 
only promised and typified. This he has executed 
with great precision. He declares, (Matt. v. 17.) that 
he came not to destroy the law, but to perfect it. He 
has enlarged, modified, or restrained it, more par- 
ticularly the explanations which the rabbins, and 
masters in Israel, had given of it; explanations, 
which were rather corruptions than illustrations. 
Paul has, in some sort, finished what our Saviour 
had begun ; or rather, he has set in their full light 
the purposes of his Master. E. g. that the law of 
Moses is superseded or abrogated by the gospel ; 
that since the death of the Messiah the legal cere- 
monies are of no obligation ; that believers are 
no longer under the yoke of the law, but under 
grace ; (Rom. vi. 14.) that Christ has procured 
for us the liberty of sons, instead of the spirit 
of bondage, which reigned under the Old Testa 
ment ; in a word, that it is neither the law, nor 
the works of it, that justify Christians, (Rom. viii.) 
but faith animated by love, and accompanied with 
good works, Gal. iv. 31 ; v. 13. When we say 
that the gospel has rescued us from the yoke of the 
law, we understand only the appointments of the 
ceremonial and judicial law; not those moral pre- 
cepts, whose obligation is indispensable, and whose 
observation is much more perfect, and extensive, and 
enforced, under the law of grace, than it was under 
the old law. 

The Jews affirm, that Moses received with the 
written code, on mount Sinai, an oral law ; that the 
latter was given only by word of mouth, and has 
been transmitted by the elders. They give a prefer- 
ence to the oral law, before the written law ; for this, 
they say, is in many places obscure, imperfect, or de- 
fective, and could not be used as a rule without the 
assistance of the oral law, which supplies all that is 
wanting in the written law, and removes all difficul- 
ties. They therefore add to the written law the ex- 
planations, modifications and glosses of the oral 
law, and it is a sort of maxim among them, that the 
covenant which God made with them at Sinai, con- 
sists less in the precepts of the written law than in 
those of the oral law ; and to the latter they gene- 
rally give the preference. They say that the words 
of the Levites are more lovely than those of the law; 
that the words of the law are sometimes weighty and 



LEA 



[ 012 j 



LEE 



sometimes light; whereas those of the doctors are 
always weighty ; that the words of the elders were 
of greater weight than those of the prophets. They 
compare the sacred text to water, and the Mishna, or 
Talmud, which contains their tradition, to wine ; or 
the written law to salt, but the Mishna and Talmud 
to most exquisite spices ; the law is only, as it were, 
the body, but the oral law or tradition, is the soul of 
religion. They have been justly reproached with 
making the word of God of no effect by their tra- 
ditions, Mark vii. 13. 

The word " law" often implies the Scriptures of 
the Old Testament. [In the Jewish division of the 
Old Testament into ' law, the prophets and the 
hagiography, the law, ov torah, designates the Penta- 
teuch. R. 

LAWYERS. These functionaries, so often men- 
tioned in the New Testament, were men who de- 
voted themselves to the study and explanation of the 
Jewish law ; particularly of the traditionary or oral 
law. They belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, 
and fell under the reproof of our Saviour for hav- 
ing taken from the people the key of knowledge. 
They were as the blind leading the blind. See 
Scribes. 

I. LAZARUS, brother of Martha and Mary, 
dwelt with his sisters at Bethany, near Jerusalem ; 
and our Saviour sometimes lodged with them, when 
he visited that city. While he was beyond Jordan 
with his apostles, Lazarus fell sick ; aud his sisters 
sent information to him. He remarked, "This sick- 
ness is not unto death, but for the glory of God ;" 
and after two days he said to his disciples, "Lazarus 
is asleep, but I go to awake him ;" meaning, that he 
was dead, but that he would restore him to life. On 
his arrival at Bethany, he found that he had been 
already four days in the grave, but proceeding to the 
sepulchre, he commanded those who stood by to 
take away the stone ; and having returned thanks to 
his Father for always hearing him, cried with a loud 
voice, " Lazarus, come forth !" Lazarus came forth 
bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and his face 
wrapped up in a napkin, and returned home to his 
family, John xi. 

Six days before his last passover, Jesus again vis- 
ited Bethany, and Lazarus reclined at table with 
him. The Jews, observing that the resurrection of 
Lazarus had made a great impression on the people's 
minds, took a wicked and foolish resolution to effect 
the death of both. That part of their design which 
related to our Saviour, they executed ; but Scripture 
does not inform us what became of Lazarus. 

II. LAZARUS. In Luke xvi. 19, Jesus in a para- 
ble speaks of a poor man, named Lazarus, who lay 
at a rich man's gate full of sores, and desired the 
crumbs which fell from his table, without finding 
relief or pity ; while the rich man enjoyed great 
plenty, was clothed in purple and fine linen, and 
fared sumptuously every day. Lazarus having died, 
was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom ; the 
rich man also died, and while he was in hell amidst 
his torments, he saw'Lazarus afar off, and cried out, 
Father Abraham, have pity on me, and send Laza- 
rus, that he may dip the end of his finger in water 
to refresh my tongue. But Abraham answered him, 
Son, thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things, 
and Lazarus his evil things ; now he is happy, thou 
art miserable. 

LEAD is a very heavy metal, sufficiently well 
known. The mode of purifying it from the dross 
which is mixed with it, by subjecting it to a fierce 



flame, and melting off its. scoria, furnishes several al- 
lusions in Scripture to God's purifying, or punishing, 
his people. The prophe't Ezekiel (xxii. 18, 20.) com- 
pares the Jews to lead, because of their guilt, and 
dross, from which they must be purged as by fire. 
Mention is made of a talent of lead in Zech. v. 7, 8, 
which probably was of a figure and size as well 
known as any of our weights ir ordinary use ; so 
that though weights are usually called in Hebrew 
stones, yet, perhaps, they had some of metal only ; 
as this talent of lead, for instance. 

Lead was one of the substances used for writing 
upon by the ancients. See Book. 

LEAH, wife of Jacob, and Laban's eldest daughter. 
See Jacob. 

LEAVEN was forbidden to the Hebrews, during 
the seven days of the passover, in memory of what 
their ancestors did, when they went out of Egypt ; 
they being then obliged to carry unleavened meal 
with them, and to make bread in haste ; the Egyp- 
tians pressing them to be gone, Exod. xii. 15, 19 ; 
Lev. ii. 11. They were very careful in cleansing 
their houses from it before this feast began. God 
forbade either leaven or honey to be offered to him 
in his temple ; that is, in cakes, or in any baked 
meats. But on other occasions they might offer 
leavened bread, or honey. See Numb. xv. 20,21, 
where God requires them to give the first fruits of 
the bread, which was kneaded in all the cities of Is- 
rael, to the priests and Levites. Paul (1 Cor. v. 7,8.) 
expresses his desire, that Christians should celebrate 
their passover with unleavened bread ; which figu- 
ratively signifies sincerity and truth. The apostle 
here teaches us two things ; first, that the law which 
obliged the Jews to a literal observance of the pass- 
over is no longer in force ; secondly, that by un- 
leavened bread, truth and purity of heart were de- 
noted. 

Paul alludes to the care with which the Hebrews 
cleansed their houses from leaven, when he says, 
" A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ;" that is, 
if there were but a small portion of leaven in a quan- 
tity of bread or paste, during the passover, it was 
thereby rendered unclean, and was to be thrown 
away and burned. Our Saviour (Matt. xvi. 11.) 
warns his apostles to avoid the leaven of the Phari- 
sees, Sadducees, and Herodians ; meaning their doc- 
trine. 

LEBANON, see Libanus. 

LEBAOTH, a town in Judah and Simeon, (Josh, 
xv 32.) called Beth Lebaoth, in Josh. xix. 6. 

LEBBiEUS, otherwise Judas, or Thaddeus, brother 
of James the Less, son of Mary, sister of the Vir- 
gin, and of Cleophas, and brother of Joseph. He 
was married and had children. Nicephorus calls 
his wife Mary. The Muscovites believe, that they 
received the faith from him. See Judas IV. 

LEBONAH, (Judg. xxi. 19.) a place which Maun- 
drell takes for Chan-Leban, four leagues from Si- 
chem southward, and two from Bethel. 

LEECH, see Horse-leach. 

LEEK, a pot-herb generally known. The He- 
brews complained in the wilderness, that manna 
grew insipid to them ; they longed for the leeks and 
onions of Egypt. Hasselquist says the karrat, or 
leek, is surely one of those after which the Israel 
ites repined ; for it has been cultivated in Egypt from 
time immemorial. The favorable seasons for this 
plant are winter and spring. The Egyptians are ex- 
tremely fond of it. 

LEES, faces. To drink up the cup of God's 



LEH 



[ 613 ] 



LEO 



»vrath, " even to the lees," is to drink the whole cup 
to the bottom, Ps. lxxv. 8 ; Isa. li. 17 ; Ezek. xxiii. 
34. The rabbins say that Zedekiah, the last king of 
Judah, drank the lees of all the foregoing ages. 
" The lees of the people," signifies the vilest part of 
them, Isa. xlix. 6, 7. God threatens by Zephaniah,- 
to visit those who are settled on their lees ; i. e. hard- 
ened in their sins, Zeph. i. 12. 

LEGION. The Roman legions were composed 
each of ten cohorts, a cohort of fifty maniples, and a 
maniple of fifteen men; consequently, a full legion 
contained six thousand soldiers. But the number 
varied at different times. In the time of Polybius 
it was 4200. (See Adam's Rom. A ntiq. p. 367.) Jesus 
cured a demoniac who called himself " legion," as 
if possessed by a legion of devils, Mark v. 9. He 
also said to Peter, who drew his sword to defend 
him in the olive-garden : " Thinkest thou that I can- 
not now pray to my Father, who shall presently 
give me more than twelve legions of angels ?" Matt, 
xxvi. 53. 

LEGS are properly those limbs of an animal, by 
which it moves from place to place ; yet, to mani- 
fest the divine omnipotence, and that God is not 
confined to one mode of action, many creatures have 
no legs, though they move, (and some swiftly too,) as 
serpents, worms, snails, &c. and various kinds of 
fishes, which pass from one place to another, not 
having even the rudiments of legs. Linnseus classes 
some kinds of fishes by the situation of their fins, 
which he considers as answering the purposes of 
legs, or feet, to land-animals. But, beside being the 
instruments of motion, the legs of the human frame 
are the supporters of the body, and great means of 
strength they are, when in health, firm, stable, se- 
cure. As such Scripture often alludes to them, Ps. 
cxlvii. 10. "Leg" is sometimes used modestly, in 
the same manner as foot, which see. 

LEHABIM, the third son of Mizraim, Gen. x. 13. 
Some think that Lehabim denotes the Libyans, one 
of the most ancient people in Africa. In Nah. iii. 
9, and Dan. xi. 43, we find mention of the Lubim, 
which the Vulgate and LXX. every where render 
Libyans ; or, what comes to the same in Nahum and 
Daniel, they render Nubians. It is clear that this 
name describes colonies of Egyptians ; whether to 
the west or south, is the question. (See Lubim.) It 
is probable that we should restrain our researches 
after them to the continent of Africa. Certainly we 
ought to distinguish them from the Lydians of Lesser 
Asia. The Targum of Jerusalem reads Pentapoli- 
tauos, which was a region in the country of Cy- 
rene, including the cities of Berenice, Arsinoe, Ptol- 
emais, and Gyrene ; and this is usually considered 
as a very probable situation for the Lehabim. These 
and the Lubim are doubtless the same. 

LEHI, the jaw-bone. Samson, having vanquished 
the Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass, after 
the conflict threw away the jaw which had been his 
weapon, and called the. spot where it fell, "the 
place of the lifting up of the jaw-bone — Ramath 
Lehi." Becoming, soon after, very thirsty, he cried 
to the Lord, and said, " It is thou, Lord, who hast 
given this great deliverance into ihe hand of thy ser- 
vant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the 
hands of the uncircumcised ?" Upon which God 
opened one of the large teeth in lehi, the jaw-hone, 
and a fountain sprung out of it, to allay Samson's 
thirst ; and the place retained the name of Lehi, or 
the Jaw-boue, Judg. xv. 18. To explain this, Cal- 
met remarks, that the Hebrews sometimes called 



naked, sharp, and steep roaks, teeth, (1 Sam. xiv I, 5 ; 
Job xxxix. 28.) and that in this case God opened a 
rock called Machtes, or the Cheek-tooth, whici. was 
at the place where Samson obtained his victory, and 
which, for this reason, he called Lehi, the Jaw-bone. 
This fountain issuing out of a rock called the Cheek- 
tooth, at a place named Lehi, or the Jaw-bone, has 
induced some to believe that it came immediately 
out of a tooth-hole in the ass's jaw-bone, which 
would be a surprising miracle indeed. But as Cal- 
met explains the matter, the miracle of the fountain 
issuing out of the rock at Samson's prayer is ac- 
knowledged ; and wonders are not to be multiplied 
without necessity. This opinion is adopted by Jose- 
phus, by the paraphrast Jonathan, and by many 
commentators. The fountain subsisted long, and 
still subsists, probably, in Palestine. Glycas, and 
the martyr Antoninus, speak of it as in the suburbs 
of Eleutheropolis. 

Mr. Taylor has observed, that perhaps this foun- 
tain gushed out at the very point in the rock where 
the jaw-bone of the ass struck when thrown away 
by Samson ; and thus, though the water really issued 
from the rock, it might seem to issue from under the 
jaw-bone. He queries,- in fact, whether the violence 
with which the jaw-bone was thrown away by Sam- 
son, did not make a breach, or open a crevice in the 
rock, from which issued water; that part of the rock 
which before confined it being broken off. If this 
be just, we see tl.e reason of the name of the foun- 
tain, with the veracity of the remark, " it exists to 
this day ;" which, if it had issued merely from the 
alveole, the hole of a tooth in the jaw-bone of the ass, 
is not within the compass of credibility ; as the 
jaw itself must have perished in a few years at fur- 
thest. 

LENTIL, a species of pulse ; or a kind of bean 
We find Esau longing for a mess of pottage made of 
lentiles, (Gen. xxv. 34.) and Augustin says, "Lentiles 
are used as food in Egypt, for this plant grows abun- 
dantly in that country ; which is what renders the 
lentiles of Alexandria so valuable, that they are 
brought from thence to us, as if none were grown 
among us." In Barbary, Dr. Shaw says, that "len- 
tiles are dressed in the same manner as beans, dis- 
solving easily into a mass, and making a pottage of a 
chocolate color." This we find was the red pottage 
which Esau, from thence called Edom, (m-N, red 
Gen. xxxv. 30.) exchanged for his birthright. 

LEOPARD, a fierce animal, spotted with a diver- 
sity of colors ; it has small white eyes, wide jaws, 
sharp teeth, round ears, a large tail ; five claws on 
his fore feet, four on those behind. It is said to be 
extremely cruel to man. Its name, leo-pard, implies 
that it has something of the lion and of the panther 
in its nature. It seems from Scripture, that the 
leopard could not be rare in Palestine. Isaiah, de- 
scribing the happy reign of the Messiah, says, (chap, 
xi. 6.) " The leopard shall lie down with the kid, and 
the calf, and the young lion, and the fading together." 
Jeremiah says, (chap. v. 6.) that the leopard lies in 
ambuscade near the cities of the wicked ; that all 
they who go out thence shall be torn in pieces by it. 
And Hosea (chap. xiii. 7.) affirms that the Lord will 
be unto them as a lion, and as a leopard, lurking in 
the way of the Assyrians, to devour those who pass by. 
Jeremiah speaks of the leopard's spots : " Can the 
^Ethiopian change his color, or the leopard his 
spots ?" Scripture often joins the leopard with the 
lion, as animals of equal fierceness. Iiabakkuk says, 
(i. 8.) that the Chaldean horses are swifter than leop- 



LEP 



[ 614 ] 



LEPROSY 



ards. The spouse in the Canticles speaks of the 
mountains of the leopards, (Cant. iv. 8.) that is to 
say, of mountains such as Libanus, Shenir, and Her- 
mon, where wild beasts dwelt. Brocard says, that 
the mountain called by the name of Leopards is two 
leagues from Tripoli northwards, and one league 
from Libanus ; but we can scarcely believe that Sol- 
omon in tbe Canticles had this mountain in view. 

LEPER, a person afflicted with the leprosy. ' The 
law excluded such from society ; banishing them into 
the country, and to places uninhabited, Lev. xiii. 45, 
46. This law was observed so punctually, that even 
kings, under the disease, were expelled their pal- 
aces, shut out of society, and deprived of the govern- 
ment, as Uzziah, or Azariah, king of Judah, who 
was afflicted with this malady for attempting to offer 
incense in the temple, 2 Kings xv. 5; 2 Chron. xxvi. 
20. When a leper was cured, he appeared at the 
city gate, and the priest examined whether he were 
truly healed, Lev. xiv. 1, &c. After this he went to 
the temple, took two clean birds, made a wisp with 
a branch of cedar, and another of hyssop, tied to- 
gether with a scarlet riband made of wool ; an 
earthen vessel was then filled with water, and one of 
these birds was fastened alive to the wisp we have 
mentioned. The leper who was cured killed the 
other bird, and let the blood of it run into the vessel 
filled with water. The priest then took the wisp 
with the live bird, dipped both into the water tinged 
with the blood of one of the birds, and sprinkled the 
leper with it. After this the live bird was set at lib- 
erty, and the person healed, and purified in this 
manner, was again admitted to the society of the 
healthy, and to the use of sacred things. 

Many commentators are of opinion, that Job's dis- 
ease was a leprosy, but in a degree of malignity which 
rendered it incurable, and produced a complication 
of diseases. 

LEPROSY. Moses mentions three sorts of lep- 
rosies ; in (1.) men ; (2.) houses ; and (3.) clothes. 

1. Leprosy in men. This disease affects the skin, 
and sometimes increases in such a manner, as to pro- 
duce scurf, scabs, and violent itchings, and to corrupt 
the whole mass of blood. At other times it is only a 
deformity. The Jews regarded the leprosy as a dis- 
ease sent from God, and Moses prescribes no natural 
remedy for the cure of it. He requires only that the 
diseased person should show himself to the priest, 
and that the priest should judge of his leprosy ; if it 
appeared to be a real leprosy, capable of being com- 
municated to others, he separated the leper from the 
company of mankind. He appoints certain sacri- 
fices and particular ceremonies already mentioned 
for the purification of a leper, and for restoring him 
to society. The marks which Moses gives for the 
better distinguishing a leprosy, are signs of the in- 
crease of this disease. An outward swelling, a pim- 
ple, a white spot, bright, and somewhat reddish, 
created just suspicions of a man's being attacked 
with it. When a bright spot, something reddish or 
whitish, appeared, and the hair of that place was of 
a pale red, and the place itself something deeper than 
the rest of the skin, this was a certain mark of lep- 
rosy. Those who have treated of this disease, have 
made the same remarks, but have distinguished a re- 
cent leprosy from one already formed and become 
inveterate. A recent leprosy may be healed, but an 
inveterate one is incurable. Travellers who have 
seen lepers in the East, say, that the disease attacks 
principally the feet. Maundrell, who had seen lepers 
in Palestine, says, that their feet are swelled like those 



of elephants, or he ses' feet swelled with the farcy 
The common marks by which, as physicians tell us, 
i<a inveterate leprosy may be discerned, are these : 
The voice becomes hoarse, like that of a dog which 
has been long barking, and comes through the nose 
rather than the mouth : the pulse is small and heavy, 
slow and disordered: the blood abounds with white 
and bright corpuscles, like millet-seeds ; is, in fact, 
all a scurfy serum, without due mixture ; so that salt 
put into it does not melt, and is so dry, that vinegar 
mixed with it bubbles up ; the urine is undigested, 
settled, ash-colored, and thick ; the sediment like 
meal mixed with bran : the face is like a coal half 
extinguished, shining, unctuous, bloated, full of very 
hard pimples, witli small kernels round about the 
bottom of them : the eyes are red and inflamed, and 
project out of the head, but cannot be moved either 
to the right or left : the ears are swelled and red, cor- 
roded with ulcers about the root of them, and encom- 
passed with small kernels : the nose sinks, because 
the cartilage rots : the nostrils are open, and the pas- 
sages stopped with ulcers at the bottom : the tongue 
is dry, black, swelled, ulcerated, shortened, divided 
in ridges, and beset with little white pimples; the 
skin of it is uneven, hard end insensible ; even if a 
hole be made in it, or it be cut, a putrefied sanies 
issues from it instead of blood. Leprosy is very 
easily communicated ; and hence Moses has taken so 
much precaution to prevent lepers from communica- 
tion with persons in health. His care extended even 
to dead bodies thus infected, which he directed 
should not be buried with others. 

We can hardly fail of observing the character, and 
terror in consequence, of this disease. How dreadful 
is the leprosy in Scripture ! how justly dreadful, 
when so fatal, and so hopeless of cure ! Mungo Park 
states that the negroes are subject to a leprosy of the 
very worst kind ; and Mr. Grey Jackson, in his "Ac- 
count of Morocco," (p. 192.) informs us, that the spe- 
cies of leprosy called jeddem, is very prevalent in 
Barbary. "At Morocco there is a separate quarter, 
outside of the walls, inhabited by lepers only. Those 
who are affected with it are obliged to wear a badge 
of distinction whenever they leave their habitations, 
so that a straw hat, with a very wide brim, tied on 
in a particular manner, is the signal for persons not 
to approach the wearer. Lepers are seen in many 
parts of Barbary, sitting on the ground, with a 
wooden bowl before them, begging. They inter- 
marry with each other." 

[To the above somewhat meagre account of this 
terrible disease, it may not be improper to subjoin 
the accounts given us by some other writers. The 
following extract from Jahn's Archaeology, as trans- 
lated by professor Upham, affords, perhaps, sufficient- 
ly full information : (see p. 189, seq.) 

" The leprosy exhibits itself on the exterior surface 
of the skin, but it infects, at the same time, the mar- 
row and the bones ; so much so that the farthest 
joints in the system gradually lose their powers, and 
the members fall together in such a manner, as to 
give the body a mutilated and dreadful appearance 
From these circumstances, there can be no doubt, 
that the disease originates and spreads its ravages 
internally, before it makes its appearance on the ex- 
ternal parts of the body. Indeed, we have reason to 
believe, that it is concealed in the interna parts of 
the system a number of years, for instance, in infants 
commonly till they arrive at the age of puberty, and 
in adults as many as three or four years, till at last 
it gives the fearful indications on the skin, of having 



LEPROSY 



[ 615 ] 



LEPROS\ 



already gained a well-rooted and permanent exist- 
3nce. 

" Its progress subsequently to its appearance on the 
external surface of the body is far from being rapid ; 
in a number of years it arrives at its middle, and in 
a number after to its final, state. A person who is 
leprous from his nativity may live fifty years ; one 
who in after life is infected with it may live twenty 
years, but they will be such years of dreadful misery 
as rarely fall to the lot of man in any other situation. 

"The appearance of the disease externally, is not 
always the same. The spot is commonly small, re- 
sembling in its appearance the small red spot that 
would be the consequence of a puncture from a 
needle, or the pustules of a ringworm. The spots 
for the most part make their appearance very sud- 
denly, especially if the infected person, at the period 
when the disease shows itself externally, happens to 
be in great fear, or to be intoxicated with anger, 
Numb. xii. 10 ; 2 Chron. xxvi. 19. They common- 
ly exhibit themselves, in the first instance, on the 
face, about the nose and eyes ; they gradually in- 
crease in size for a number of years, till they become, 
as respects the extent of surface which they embrace 
on the skin, as large as a pea or bean. The white 
spot or pustule, morphea alba, and also the dark 
spot, morphea nigra, are indications of the existence 
of the real leprosy, Lev. xiii. 2, 39 ; xiv. 56. From 
these it is necessary to distinguish the spot, which, 
whatever resemblance there may be in form, is so 
different in its effects, called Bohak, and also the 
harmless sort of scab, which occurs under the word 
nnooc, mispahath, Lev. xiii. 6 — 8, 29. 

" Moses, in the thirteenth chapter of Leviticus, lays 
down very explicit rules for the purpose of distin- 
guishing between those spots which are proofs of 
the actual existence of the leprosy, and those spots 
which are harmless, and result from some other 
cause. Those spots which are the genuine effects 
and marks of the leprosy, gradually dilate themselves, 
till at length they cover the whole body. Not only 
the skin is subject to a total destruction, but the whole 
body is affected in every part. The pain, it is true, 
is not very great, but there is a great debility of the 
system, and great uneasiness and grief, so much so, 
as almost to drive the victim of the disease to self- 
destruction, Job vii. 15. 

" There are four kinds of the real leprosy. The 
first kind is of so virulent and powerful a nature, that 
it separates the joints and limbs, and mutilates the 
body in the most awful manner. The second is the 
white leprosy. The third is the black leprosy, or Psora, 
Deut. xxviii. 27, 35 ; Lev. xxi. 20—22. The fourth 
description of leprosy is the alopecia, or red leprosy. 

"The person who is infected with the leprosy, 
however long the disease may be in passing through 
its several stages, is at last taken away suddenly, and, 
for the most part, unexpectedly. But the evils which 
fall upon the living leper, are not terminated by the 
event of his death. The disease is, to a certain ex- 
tent, hereditary, and is transmitted down to the third 
and fourth generation : to this fact there seems to be 
an allusion in Exod. xx. 4 — 6 ; iii. 7 ; Deut. v. 9 ; xxiv. 
8, 9. If any one should undertake to say, that in the 
fourth generation it is not the real leprosy, still it will 
not be denied, there is something, which bears no 
little resemblance to it, in the shape of defective 
teeth, of fetid breath, and a diseased hue. Leprous 
persons, notwithstanding the deformities and mutila- 
tion of their bodies, give no special evidence of a 
liberation from the strength of the sensual passions, 



and cannot be influenced to abstain from the prorre- 
ation of children, when at the same time they clearly 
foresee the misery of which their offspring will be 
the inheritors. The disease of leprosy is communi- 
cated not only by transmission from the parents to 
the children, and not only by sexual cohabitation, 
but also by much intercourse with the leprous person 
in any way whatever. Whence Moses acted the 
part of a wise legislator in making those laws, which 
have come down to us, concerning the inspection and 
separation of leprous persons. The object of these 
laws will appear peculiarly worthy, when it was con- 
sidered, that they were designed, not wantonly to fix 
the charge of being a leper upon an innr -ent person, 
and thus to impose upon him those restraints and 
inconveniences which the truth of such a charge 
naturally implies ; but to ascertain in the fairest and 
most satisfactory manner, and to separate those, and 
those only, who were truly and really leprous. As 
this was the prominent object of his laws, that have 
come down to us on this subject, viz. to secure a fair 
and impartial decision on a question of this kind, he 
has not mentioned those signs of leprosy which ad- 
mitted of no doubt, but those only which might be 
the subject of contention ; and left it to the priests, 
who also fulfilled the office of physicians, to distin- 
guish between the really leprous, and those who had 
only the appearance of being such. In the opinion 
of Hensler, (Geschichte der abendl'andiscben Aussat- 
zes, p. 273,) Moses, in the laws to which we have 
alluded, discovers a great knowledge of the disease. 
Every species of leprosy is not equally malignant ; 
the most virulent species defies the skill and power 
of physicians. That which is less so, if taken at its 
commencement, can be healed. But in the latter 
case also, if the disease has been of long continuance, 
there is no remedy. 

" Bohak. — We find mention, in the rules laid down 
by Moses for the purpose of ascertaining the true 
tokens of leprosy, of a cutaneous disorder, which is 
denominated by him Bohak, and of which there is a 
slight mention above. It was thought by the trans- 
lator, that it might be interesting to the reader to have 
some further account of this disorder, and he has ac- 
cordingly introduced here the answer of Niebuhr, 
found at page 135 of his Description of Arabia, to the 
inquiry of Michaelis on this subject. The words of 
Moses, which may be found in Leviticus xiii. 38, 39, 
are as follows : ' If a man or woman have white spots 
on the skin, and the priest see that the color of these 
spots is faint and pale, it is, in this case, the Bohak, 
that has broken out on the skin, and they are clean.' 
A person, accordingly, who was attacked with this 
disease, the Bohak, was not declared unclean, and 
the reason of it was, that it is not only harmless in 
itself, but is free from that infectious and hereditary 
character, which belongs to the true leprosy. 

" Niebuhr says, ' The Bohak is neither infectious 
nor dangerous. A black boy at Mocha, who was at- 
tacked with this sort of leprosy, had white spots here 
and there on his body. It was said, that the use of 
sulphur had been for some time of service to this 
boy, but had not altogether removed the disease.' 
He then adds the following extract from the papers 
of Dr. Forskal. ' May 15th, 1763, I myself saw a 
case of the Bohak in a Jew at Mocha. The spots in 
this disease are of unequal size. They have no shin- 
ing appearance, nor are they perceptibly elevated 
above the skin ; and they do not change the color of 
the hair. Their color is an obscure white or some- 
v. hat reddish. The rest of the skin of this patient 



LEPROSY 



L 616 ] 



LEPROSV 



was blacker than that of the people of the country in 
general, but the spots were not so white as the skin 
of a European when not sunburnt. The spots in 
this species of leprosy, do not appear on the hands, 
nor about the navel, but on the neck and face ; not, 
however, on that part of the head where the hair 
grows very thick. They gradually spread, and con- 
tinue sometimes only about two months ; but in some 
cases, indeed, as long as two years, and then disap- 
pear, by degrees, of themselves. This disorder is 
neither infectious nor hereditary, nor does it occasion 
any inconvenience.' ' That all this,' remarks Mi- 
chaelis, ' should still he found exactly to hold at the 
distance of three thousand five hundred years from 
the time of Moses, ought certainly to gain some credit 
to his laws, even with those who will not allow them 
to be of divine authority.' (Commentaries on the 
Laws of Moses, Smith's translation, vol. iii. p. 283, 
art. 210.) 

"Michaelis, in discussing the subject of leprosies, 
expresses his gratitude to God, that the LepraJlrahum, 
as it is termed by the learned, is known to the phy- 
sicians of Germany only from books and by name. 
But this disease, although it is very unfrequent in 
Europe, indeed almost extinct, made its appearance 
about the year 1730, on the western continent, and 
spread its ravages among the sugar islands of the 
West Indies, particularly Guadaloupe. The inhab- 
itants of this island, alarmed and terrified at the in- 
troduction of so pernicious a disorder among them, 
petitioned the court of France to send to the island 
persons qualified to institute an inspection of those 
who labored under suspicion of being infected, in 
order that those who were in fact lepers, might be 
removed into lazarettos. 

"M.Peyssonel, who was sent to Guadaloupe on this 
business, writes as follows on the third of February, 
1757 : ' It is now about twenty-five or thirty years 
since a singular disease appeared on many of the in- 
nabitants of this island. Its commencement is im- 
perceptible. There appear only some few white 
spots on the skin, which, in the whites, are of a black- 
ish red color, and in the blacks, of a copper red. At 
first, they are attended neither with pain, nor any sort 
of inconvenience ; but no means whatever will remove 
them. The disease imperceptibly increases, and con- 
tinues for many years to manifest itself more and more. 
The spots become larger, and spread over the skin 
of the whole body indiscriminately ; sometimes a 
little elevated, though flat. When the disease ad- 
vances, the upper part of the nose swells, the nostrils 
become enlarged, and the nose itself soft. Tumors 
appear on the jaws ; the eye-brows swell ; the ears 
become thick ; the points of the fingers, as also the 
feet and toes, swell ; the nails become scaly ; the 
joints of the hands and feet separate, and drop off. 
On the palms of the hands, and on the soles of the 
feet, appear deep, dry ulcers, which increase rapidly, 
and then disappear again. In short, in the last stage 
of the disease, the patient becomes a hideous specta- 
cle, and falls in pieces. These symptoms supervene 
by very slow and successive steps, requiring often 
many years before they all occur. The patient suf- 
fers no violent pain, but feels a sort of numbness in 
his hands and feet. During the whole period of the 
disorder, those afflicted with it experience no ob- 
structions in what are called the naturalia. They 
eat and drink as usual ; and even when their fingers 
and toes mortify, the loss of the mortified part is the 
only consequence that ensues; for the wound heals 
of itself without any medical treatment or application. 



When, however, the unfortunate wretches come to 
the last period of the disease, they are hideously dis- 
figured, and objects of the greatest compassion. 

" ' It has been remarked, that this horrible disorder 
has, besides, some very lamentable properties ; as, in 
the Jirst place, that it is hereditary ; and hence some 
families are more affected with it than others : sec- 
ondly, that it is infectious, being propagated by co- 
ition, and even by long-continued intercourse: third- 
ly, that it is incurable, or at least no means of cure 
have hitherto been discovered. Mercurial medicines, 
and diaphoretics, and all the usual prescriptions and 
plans of regimen for venereal complaints, have been 
tried, from an idea that the infection might be vene- 
real, but in vain : for instead of relieving, they only 
hastened the destruction of the patients. The med- 
icines serviceable in lues venerea, had no other effect 
than to bring the disease to its acmb ; inducing all its 
most formidable symptoms, and making those thus 
treated die some years sooner than other victims 
to it.' " *R. 

2. The leprosy of houses, mentioned in Lev. xiv. 
34, &c. must have been known to the Israelites, who 
had lived in Egypt, and must have been common in 
the land of Canaan, whither they were going, since 
Moses says to them : "When ye come into the land 
of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, if there 
be a house infected with a leprosy, he to whom the 
house belongs shall give notice of it to the priest, who 
shall go thither. If he sees as it were little holes in 
the wall, and places disfigured with pale or reddish 
spots, which in sight are lower than the wall, he shall 
go out of the house, and direct it to be shut up for 
seven days. At the end of this time, if he find that 
the leprosy is increased, he shall command the stones 
infected with the leprosy to be taken away, and 
thrown without the city into some unclean place. 
New stones shall be put in the room of those which 
were plucked out, and the wall shall be again rough- 
cast. If the leprosy do not return, the house shall 
be thought clean ; but if it return, it is then an invet- 
erate leprosy ; the house shall be declared unclean, 
and immediately be demolished : all the wood, stone, 
mortar and dust shall be cast out of the city into an 
unclean place." 

The rabbins and others conclude, that this leprosy 
of houses was not natural, but was a punishment in- 
flicted by God on wicked Israelites ; but Calmet is 
of opinion that it was caused by animalcules, which 
erode the stones like mites in a cheese. Might it be 
similar to the dry-rot in timber ? Or, rather, it arose 
more probably from the effects of saltpetre, which 
shows itself in greenish or reddish spots on the walls 
of stone houses, and spreads wider and wider. In 
the long run it injures the walls ; and at all times cor- 
rupts the air and is injurious to the health. Hence 
the propriety of the strict regulations of Moses. (See 
Micliaelis's Mos. Recht, or Commentary on the Laws 
of Moses.) 

3. The leprosy in clothes is also noticed by Moses, 
as common in his time. He says, if any greenish or 
red spots be observed on any woollen or linen stuffs, 
or on any thing made of skin, they shall be carried to 
the priest, who shall shut them up for seven clays ; 
and if at the end of this time the spots increase, and 
spread, he shall burn them, as infected with a real 
leprosy. If these spots are not increased, the priest 
shall command the clothes to be washed, and if he 
afterwards observe nothing extraordinary in them, 
he shall declare them to be'clean. If the greenish or 
red spots remain, he snail order the garments 



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spotted to be burnt, as unclean , or if they spread 
and increase, he shall order the garment to be burnt ; 
or if the place suspected of a leprosy be in color like 
a singed garment, and deeper than the rest, this pant 
of the garment shall be taken away, and the rest pre- 
served. Calmet thinks it very credible, that the lep- 
rosy in clothes and skins was caused by vermin. 
More probably it was a mould or mildew arising 
from dampness. 

LESHEM, probably Laish, or Dan. 

LETECH, a Hebrew measure, half an omer ; con- 
taining sixteen pecks, or four bushels, Hos. iii. 2. 

LETTER, the. Paul places the letter in oppo- 
sition to the spirit ; a way of speaking very common 
in the ecclesiastical style, Roin. ii. 27, 29 ; vii. 6 ; 
2 Cor. iii. 6, 7. " God hath made us ministers of the 
New Testament, not by the letter, but by the spirit ; 
for the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth ;" that 
is, the law of Moses is incapable of giving life to the 
soul, and justifying before God those who are most 
servilely addicted to the literal observance of it. To 
obtain holiness, we must join with it the spirit of faith, 
hope and charity ; must supply what is deficient in 
literal observances, by spiritual actions of a more 
sublime, perfect and excellent nature ; for example, 
instead of bloody sacrifices, the sacrifice of an humble 
and contrite heart ; the mortification of the passions ; 
death unto sin, &c. 

I. LETTERS. We know not who was the in- 
ventor of letters and writing. All agree that it is an 
admirable and divine art, to paint speech, and speak 
to the eyes, and, by tracing out characters in different 
forms, to give color and body to thought. Some 
have been of opinion, that God, when he inspired 
man with reason and speech, communicated to him 
also a knowledge of writing. Josephus speaks of 
certain columns, erected before the deluge, by the 
sons of Seth, upon which they had written astro- 
nomical observations and inventions. Adam and 
Enoch have been reputed authors of certain books, 
by some, who consequently supposed that they had 
the use of writing. Others maintain, that the use of 
letters is much later : some give the honor of them to 
Abraham ; others, to Moses ; others, to the Phoenicians ; 
others, to Saturn ; others, to the Egyptians. Others, 
more rationally, divide the honor of the invention 
among several, and acknowledge that it began 
among the eastern people, and was much later 
among those in the west ; that some invented, and 
others perfected the invention ; that letters at first 
were uncommon in their use, and imperfect in their 
forms ; and that afterwards they were perfected, and 
their use rendered more familiar. 

The Egyptian writing was originally hieroglyphics, 
or figures of animals, and other things, engraven on 
stone, or painted on wood. This way of writing is, 
perhaps, the most ancient; and we still see many in- 
stances of it on Egyptian obelisks and marbles. 
Marsham is of opinion, that this way of writing was 
invented by the second king of Memphis, Thauth, 
whom the Greeks call the first Mercury ; and that 
another Thauth, or the second Mercury, put into 
common characters what the first had written in 
hieroglyphics. All this was in times of the most re- 
mote antiquity, if Menes, the first king of Memphis, 
were Ham, the son of Noah. 

Lucan affirms, that the Phoenicians Invented the 
common letters before the Egyptians were acquaint- 
ed with the use of paper, or with the art of writing 
in hieroglyphical characters ; (lib. iii.) it was probably 
in imitation of the Phoenicians, therefore, that the 
78 



Egyptians used letters in their writing. Of this we 
cannot be certain, but two things we know ; first, 
that there were great resemblances in the ancient 
characters of the two people ; and secondly, that 
Moses, who was instructed in all the learning of 
Egypt, wrote in Phoenician characters. The old 
Egyptian letters are at present unknown, though 
many of them remain. This people lost the use of 
their writing whSn under the dominion of the Greeks, 
and the Coptic, or modern Egyptian character, is 
formed from the Greek. 

The Phoenicians spread the use of their letters 
throughout all their colonies. Cadmus carried them 
into Greece ; the Greeks perfected them, and added 
others. They communicated them to the Latins, and 
after the conquests of Alexander, extended them over 
Egypt and Syria. So that the Phoenician writing, 
which is so ancient, and the parent of so many others, 
would at this day have been entirely forgotten, had 
not the Samaritans preserved the Pentateuch of 
Moses, written in the old Canaanite, or Hebrew, char- 
acter ; by the help of which, medals, and the small 
remains of Phoenician monuments, have been deci- 
phered. 

Some learned men, however, maintain that the 
square Hebrew character still in use, is the same as 
was used by Moses ; but the greater number suppose 
that the Jews gradually abandoned the original 
character while in captivity at Babylon, and that 
ultimately Ezra substituted the Chaldee, which is 
now used ; while the Samaritans preserved their 
Pentateuch, written in old Hebrew and Phoenician 
characters. 

It is generally said that the Hebrews have no vow- 
els, and that to supply the want of them, they in- 
vented the vowel-points, sometimes used by them in 
their books. The vowel-points are modern, and the 
invention of the Massorets, probably from the sixth 
to the eighth century. They are ten in number, and 
express the five vowels according to their different 
changes and pronunciations. The inquisitive reader 
may find the substance of the dispute for and against 
the antiquity of the vowel-points clearly and con- 
cisely represented by Prideaux, in the first part of 
his Connection, book v. and from thence may have 
a distinct view of the chief arguments produced pro- 
and con in this controversy, by those eminent an- 
tagonists, Capellus, the two Buxtorfs, &c. 

[The subject of the Hebrew letters and vowel 
points is too important to the biblical student, to be 
passed over thus slightly. The best source of in- 
formation on these topics is the work of Gesenius, 
Geschichte der Heb. Sprache it. Schrift, the results of 
which are also given by professor Stuart in the In- 
troduction to his Hebrew Grammar, first and second 
editions. From this the following statements have 
been condensed. See also Language. 

The origin of letters is lost in remote antiquity. 
But in tracing the history of them, we arrive at a 
very satisfactory degree of evidence, that in hither 
Asia they originated among those who spoke the 
Hebrew language ; that they passed from them to the 
Greeks ; and through these to the European nations 
in general. The ancient Shemitish alphabets may 
be divided into two kinds : 

I. The Phoenician character. To this belong : (a) 
Inscriptions discovered at Malta, Cyprus, &c. and 
upon Phoenician coins. (6) Inscriptions upon Hebrew 
coins, (c) Phoenico-Egyptian inscriptions on the ban- 
dages of mummies. (5.) The Samaritan letters, (e) 
The most ancient Greek alphabet. 



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II. Tlie Hebrao-Chaldaic character. To this be- 
long : (a) The square character of our present He- 
brew Bibles. (6) The Palmyrene inscriptions, (c) 
The old Syriac, or Estrangelo. (d) The old Arabic 
or Kufish character, which preceded the Nishi or 
common character of Arabia at the present time. 

To all these characters it is common, that they are 
read from the right to the left ; and that the vowels 
constitute no part of the alphabet; but are written 
above, in, or below the line. The old Greek char- 
acter is, in part, an exception to this remark. 

There are three kinds of characters, in which the 
••emaius of the ancient Hebrew are presented to us, 
viz. (1.) The square character in common use. This is 
sometimes called the Chaldee, or Assyrian, character, 
because (as the Talmud avers, Gem. Sanh. fol. 21. c. 
2.) the Jews brought it from Assyria, or Babylon, on 
their return from the captivity. — (2.) The inscription 
character. This is found on ancient Hebrew coins, 
stamped under the Maccabees. — (3.) The Samaritan 
character. This is only a variety, or degenerate kind, 
of the inscription character. 

Although it is highly probable, that the present 
square character was introduced among the Jews by 
means of the exile, yet it is not likely, that it usurped 
the place of the more ancient character at once, but 
came into gradual use, on account of its superior 
beauty, and the tendency of the language towards 
what was Aramaean. It is most probable, that the 
inscription-character approximates the nearest of all 
the alphabets now known, to the ancient Hebrew, or 
Phoenician. The square character gradually ex- 
pelled this from use among the Hebrews ; as the 
Nishi did the Kufish among the Arabians ; the pres- 
ent Syriac, the old Estrangelo among the Syrians ; 
or the Roman type, the old black letter among the 
English. The Palmyrene inscriptions seem to mark 
the character in transitu ; about one half of them 
resembling the square character, and the other half 
the inscription-letters. It was very natural for the 
Maccabees, when they stamped coins as an inde- 
pendent government, to use the old characters which 
the nation had used when it was free and inde- 
pendent. 

The square character was the common one in the 
time of our Saviour; as in Matt. v. 8, Yodh is evi- 
dently referred to, as being the least letter of the 
alphabet. It is highly probable, that it was the 
common character in Hebrew MSS. when the Sept. 
version was made ; because the departures from the 
Hebrew text in that version, so far as they have re- 
spect to the letters, can mostly be accounted for, on 
the ground that the square character was then used, 
and that the final letters, which vary from the medial 
or initial form, were then wanting. (Ges. Gesch. § 
40—43.) 

Manner of writing. — It has commonly been ad- 
vanced as an established position, that all the ancient 
Greek and Hebrew MSS. are without any division 
of words, i. e. are written continua serie. But the 
Eugubiue tables, and the Sigean inscriptions, have 
one or two points to divide words ; others, still more : 
which, however, are not used at the end of lines, 
nor when the words are very closely connected in 
sense, as a preposition with its noun. Most of the 
old Greek is written without any division of words. 
Most of the Phoenician inscriptions are written in a 
similar way, but not all. Some have the words sep- 
arated by a point. In this manner, the Samaritan, 
and the wedge-character among the Persians, are sep- 
arated. The Kufish, or old Arabic, had spaces be- 



tween words. So have all known Hebrew MSS 
now extant. It is probable, however, that "the scrip- 
tio continua, i. e. writing without any division of 
words, was found in the MSS. used by the LXX, 
because many errors, which they have committed, 
arise from an incorrect division of words. The 
synagogue-rolls of the Jews, written in imitation of 
the ancient Hebrew manuscripts, have no vowel 
points, but exhibit a small space between the words 
The Samaritan Pentateuch is also destitute of vow 
els, but divides the words. 

The final letters with a distinctive form are not 
coeval with the alphabet. The LXX manifestly were 
unacquainted with them ; as they often divide words 
in a manner different from that which would accord 
with these final letters. But the Talmud, Jerome, 
and Epiphanius acknowledge them. 

It can hardly be supposed that the square charac- 
ter now in use, and which has become uniform in 
consequence of appearing only in printed books, 
was altogether immutable while it was transmitted 
only by MSS. Jerome complains of the smallness 
of the Hebrew characters ; but whether this was 
owing to the scribe who wrote his manuscript, or to 
the form of writing then generally used, cannot be 
determined. From what Origen and Jerome both 
say of the similarity and relation of Hebrew letters 
to each other, it appears that the characters were 
then essentially the same as they now are. (Ges. 
Gesch. § 46. 1.) 

Hebrew MSS. exhibit two kinds of writing : 

(1.) The Tarn letter, probably so named from Tam, 
a grandson of Jarchi, about A. D. 1200, with sharp 
corners and perpendicular coronula?, used particu- 
larly in the synagogue-rolls of the German and Po- 
lish Jews. — (2.) The Velshe letter ; such as we see in 
the Hebrew Bibles of Simonis and Van der Hooght. 
In MSS. however, this species of character has co- 
ronula? upon some of the letters. The Spanish 
printed Hebrew character resembles the Velshe ; the 
German resembles the Tam letter. The coronulae 
in both are omitted. The Spanish letters are square 
and upright ; the German, sharp-cornered and lean- 
ing. The Italian and French Hebrew character is a 
medium between both. • . 

Hebrew vowels. — It has been mentioned that the 
Shemitish languages exhibit alphabets destitute of 
vowels ; and that these, when added to the text of 
any book, are placed above, in, or below the line of 
the consonants. The question whether the written 
vowels of the Hebrew language were coeval with 
the consonants, or at least very ancient, has been 
agitated by many critics, for three centuries past, 
with great interest and much learning. On the one 
side it has been maintained, that the vowel-points are 
coeval with the writings of the Old Testament, or at 
least with the time of Ezra ; on the other, that they 
are an invention of the Masor-tes, at some period be- 
tween the fifth and tenth centuries. A few, however, 
have taken a middle path, and maintained that some 
of the vowel-points (probably three) are very ancient ; 
and that in the oldest MSS. they were appended to 
doubtful words. 

The position that the written vowel signs are of 
comparatively recent date, is now considered, by all 
critics of any note, as settled. The principal reasons 
for this opinion may be summarily stated, in a short 
compass. 

(1.) The kindred Shemitish languages anciently had 
no written vowels. The most ancient Estrangelo and 
Kufish characters, i. e. the ancient characters of the 



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L 619 ] 



LETTERS 



Syrians and Arabians, it is generally agreed, were 
destitute of vowels. The Palmyrene, and nearly all 
the Phoenician inscriptions, are destitute of them. 
Some of the Maltese inscriptions, however, and a 
few of the Phoenician, have marks which probably 
were intended as vowels. The Koran was, at first, 
confessedly destitute of them. The punctuation of it 
occasioned great dispute among Mohammedans. 
In some of the older Syriac writings is found a sin- 
gle point, which, by being placed in different posi- 
tions with regard to words, served as a diacritical 
sign. The present vowel system of the Syrians was 
introduced so late as the time of Theopbilus and 
Jacob of Edessa, about A. D. 800. The Arabic 
vowels were adopted soon after the Koran was 
written ; but their other diacritical marks did not 
come into use, until they were introduced by Ibn 
Mokla about A. D. 900, together with the Nishi char- 
acter now in common use. It should be added here, 
that the inscript ions on the Hebrew coins have no vow- 
el-points. — (2.) Jewish tradition generally admits, that 
the vowels were not written until the time of Ezra. 
— (3.) The synagogue-rolls of the Pentateuch, writ- 
ten with the greatest possible care, and agreeably to 
ancient usage as handed down by tradition, have 
never had any vowel-points. — (4.) The LXX most 
manifestly used a text destitute of vowel-points ; as 
they have not' only departed, in a multitude of in- 
stances, from the sense of the pointed text, but even 
pronounce the proper names in a manner dialeetically 
different from that in which they must be. read, ac- 
cording to the vowel-system. — (5.) No explicit men- 
tion is made in the Talmud of vowel-points or ac- 
cents ; not even in all the disputes among the rabbins 
about the sense of words, which are there recorded. 
Doubtful names of some kind of diacritical signs 
have been produced from the Talmud, and repeat- 
edly discussed; but no definite and satisfactory proof 
has been educed from them, that they respect ivritten 
vowel-points. — (6.) The various readings in our He- 
brew Bibles, called Keri, many of which are quite 
ancient, have no reference to the vowel-points of 
words. — (7.) Neither Origen nor Jerome makes any 
mention of the present vowel-marks, or of any tech- 
nical expressions of Hebrew grammar. Jerome 
says expressly, that " the Hebrews very rarely use 
vowels in the middle of words, but pronounce (ac- 
cording to the will of the reader and the difference 
of countries) the same words with different sounds 
and accents." (Epist. 126. ad Evagr.) On Hab. iii. 
5, he says of -m, "tres literal positae sunt in He- 
braeo absque ulla vocali." In other places, he speaks 
of a diversitas accentuum upon words ; but whether 
he means a difference in pronouncing them, or that 
some diacritical sign was occasionally used, which 
he thus names, it is difficult to determine. 

Objections against this view of the subject 
may be readily answered. The allegation that a 
language cannot be read without written vowels, is 
certainly unfounded ; for hundreds of Jewish and 
Arabic volumes are every day read, that were never 
pointed ; not to mention, that in all the Shemitish lan- 
guages there are unpointed books, manuscripts or 
inscriptions. Nor has the objection, that an alpha- 
bet without vowels is an absurdity, any more weight ; 
for the question is merely a matter of fact, not a dis- 
cussion respecting what a perfect alphabet ought to 
be. Besides, even in our own language, one of the 
first principles in stenography is, to omit all the vowels, 
and write only the consonants ; nor does any difficulty 
arise from this circumstance. 



The allegation that the Targums approximate 
very closely to the sense of our present Hebrew text 
as furnished with vowels, is true ; but the inference 
therefrom, that the Targumists must have used MSS. 
with vowel-points, does not follow. On the contra- 
ry, we may draw the conclusion with more proba- 
bility, that the vowel-points were conformed to the 
sense which the Targums gave. Both merely con 
vey the traditionary explications of the Jewish 
schools ; and the same thing is done by Origen and 
Jerome in their commentaries. All that can be 
proved by such arguments is, that the vowel-points 
have faithfully transmitted to us the sense which 
the Jews very early affixed to the words of the He- 
brew Scriptures. 

Laying aside Jewish traditionary stories, the firs: 
certain marks of our present vowel-system may be 
found in the Masora, compiled, though not conclud- 
ed, about the fifth century. Most of the vowels are 
there named. A few of the occidental and oriental 
readings, collected in the eighth century and printed 
in some of our Hebrew Bibles, respect the diacriti- 
cal points ; e. g. two of them respect Mappik in He. 
The various readings of Ben Asher and Ben Naph- 
thali (about A. D. 1034) have exclusive regard to the 
vowels and accents. The Arabic version of Saadias, 
made about this time, is predicated upon a pointed 
text ; and the Jewish grammarians of the ninth cen- 
tury appear plainly to proceed on the ground of such 
a text. The time when the vowel-system was com- 
pleted cannot be definitely fixed, for want of histori- 
cal data. Most probably, it was during the sixth or 
seventh century. Probably, too, it first began, as the 
accentuation of Greek did, in the schools ; and grad- 
ually spread, on account of its utility in a dead lan- 
guage, into a great part of the Hebrew manuscripts. 

The importance of the vowel-points to learners, 
can be fully estimated only by those who have stud- 
ied Hebrew without and with the use of them. In 
respect to their being a constituent part of the He- 
brew language, it may be observed, (1.) That no 
language can exist without vowels ; although it is 
not necessary that they should be written ; and ori- 
ginally, as we have seen, they were not written in the 
Hebrew. — (2.) It is certain that the vowel-points ex- 
hibit a very consistent, deep, and fundamental view 
of the structure of the Hebrew, which cannot well 
be obtained without them, by those who study it as 
a dead language. — (3.) Comparison with the Syriac 
and Arabic, the latter of which is a living language, 
shows that the vowel-system, as to its principles, is 
altogether accordant with the structure of those lan- 
guages. — (4.) It is quite certain, from comparing the 
sense of the Hebrew Scriptures as given in the Tar- 
gums and in the version and notes of Jerome, that 
the vowel-points do give us an accurate, and for the 
most part, clear account of the manner in which the 
Jews of the first four centuries of the Christian era 
understood the text of the Old Testament. Indeed, 
it is very remarkable, that there should be so exact a 
coincidence between the vowel-system and com- 
mentaries, or rather versions, of so remote an age ; 
and this only serves to show with how great exact- 
ness the vowel-system has been arranged, agreeably 
to the ancient Jewish ideas of the sense of the Old 
Testament. The importance, then, of the written 
vowels, as conveying to us a definite idea of the an- 
cient commentary of the Jewish church, in regard 
to a great number of difficult and dubious passages, 
is obviously great. — (5.) The critic and interpretei 
being satisfied that the written vowel-system is not 



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coeval with the composition of the Hebrew Scrip- 
tures, will not feel himself bound to follow it in cases 
where it makes no sense, or a sense inconsistent with 
the context. 

The unwary student who is betrayed into the 
system of Masclef and Parkhurst, which rejects the 
vowel-points of the Shemitish languages, can scarce- 
ly conceive how much loss and disappointment he 
will experience, by pursuing the study of Hebrew 
in this method. In a period of one year, the prog- 
ress by the use of the vowel-points is considerably 
greater than without them. In two years it is 
doubled. Moreover, if the student uses the points 
from the first, he will be able, with almost no trouble, 
to pass to the reading of Chaldee, Syriac and Arabic. 
One thing is pretty evident ; there never was, and it 
may be doubted whether there ever will be, a thor- 
ough Hebrew scholar, who is iguoraut of the vowel- 
system. 

Hebrew accents. — The system of accents, as it now 
appears in our Hebrew Bibles, is inseparably con- 
nected with the present state of the vowel-points ; 
inasmuch as these points are often changed by virtue 
of the accents. The latter, therefore, must have 
originated eotemporaueously with the written vow- 
els ; at least, with the completion of the vowel- 
system. Respecting the design of the accents, there 
has been great diversity of opinion, and much dis- 
pute. Three uses have been assigned them, viz. (1.) 
To mark the tone-syllable of a word. (2.) To mark 
the interpunction. (3.) To regulate the reading or 
cantillation of the Scriptures. This latter seems to 
have been their primitive and most important use ; 
just as similar marks are now found in the Koran to 
indicate the manner in which it is to be read or can- 
tillated. The cantillation must necessarily have 
reference to the tone-syllables of every word; and 
also, in a greater or less degree, to the divisions of 
the sense ; and so far as this, the use of the accents 
serves to mark these two particulars. *R. 

The Hebrews have certain acrostic verses, which 
begin with the letters of the alphabet, ranged in 
order. 

The most considerable of these is Psalm cxix. 
which contains twenty-two stanzas of eight verses 
each, all acrostic ; that is, the first eight begin with tt, 
Meph, the next eight with 2, Beth, and so on. Other 
Psalms, as xxv. xxxiv. have but twenty-two verses 
each, beginning with one of the twenty-two letters 
of the alphabet. Others, as cxi. cxii. have one half 
of the verse beginning with one letter, and the other 
half with another. Thus : 

.... Blessed is the man who feareth the Lord. 
. . . . Who delighteth greatly in his commandments. 

The first half of the verse begins with n, Aleph ; the 
second with 3, Beth. The Lamentations of Jeremiah 
are also in acrostic verse, as well as the thirty-first 
chapter of Proverbs, from the eighth verse to the end. 

The Jews use their characters not only for writing, 
but for numbers, as did the Greeks, who, in their 
arithmetical computations, fixed a numerical value 
on their letters. But we do not believe the ancient 
Hebrews did so, nor that letters were numerical 
among them. The sacred authors always write the 
numbers entire and without abbreviation. We know 
that some learned men have attempted to rectify 
dates, or supply years, on a supposition that the let- 
ters served for numerals in the Scripture ; but it was 
incumbent on them, first, to prove that the ancient 
Hebrews used that manner. 



II. LETTERS, written messages, or other com- 
munications, sent from one person to another, and 
generally implying some matters of secrecy, or at 
least, of importance. Norden states, that when he 
and his company were at Essuan, an express arrived 
there, despatched by an Arab prince, who brought a 
letter directed to the Reys (or master of their barque.) 
" The letter, however, according to the usage of the 
Turks," says the author, " was open ; and as the 
Reys was not on board, the pilot carried it to one of 
our fathers to read it." (p. 109.) Sanballat sending 
his servant, then, with an open letter, which is men- 
tioned in Neh. vi. 5, does not appear an odd thing, it 
should seem ; but if it were according to their 
usages, why is this circumstance complained of, as it 
visibly is ? Why, indeed, is it mentioned at all ? 
i?ecause, however* the sending letters open to com- 
mon people may be customary in these countries, it is 
not according to their usages to send them so topeople 
of distinction. So Pococke, in his account of that very 
country where Norden was when his letter was 
brought, gives us, among other things, in the 57th 
plate, the figure of a Turkish letter put into a satin 
bag to be sent to a great man, with a paper tied to it 
directed and sealed, and an ivory button tied 011 the 
wax. So Lady Montague says, the Bassa of Bel- 
grade's answer to the English ambassador, going to 
Constantinople, was brought to him in a purse of 
scarlet satin. (Letters, vol. i. p. 136.) The great 
Emir, indeed, of the Arabs, according to D'Arvieux, 
was not wont to enclose his letters in these bags, any 
more than to have them adorned with flourishes ; but 
that is supposed to have been attributable to the un- 
politeness of the Arabs ; and he tells us, that when 
he acted as secretary to the Emir he supplied these 
defects, and that his doing so was highly acceptable 
to the Emir. (Voy. dans la Pal. p. 58, 59.) Had 
this open letter then come from Geshem, who was 
an Arab, (Neh. vi. 1.) it might have passed unnoticed; 
but as it was from Sanballat, the enclosing it in a 
handsome bag was a ceremony Nehemiah had reason 
to expect from him, since he was a person of distinc- 
tion in the Persian court, and then governor of Judea ; 
and the not observing it was the greatest insult, in- 
sinuating, that though Nehemiah was, according to 
him, preparing to assume the royal dignity, he should 
be so far from acknowledging him in that character, 
that he would not even pay him the compliment 
due to every person of distinction. If this be the 
true representation of the affair, commentators have 
given but a poor account of it. Sanballat sent Ne- 
hemiah a message, says one of them, "pretending, it 
is likely, special respect and kindness to him, inform- 
ing him what was laid to bi r charge." (Harmer, Obs. 
vol. ii. p. 129.) 

Contrast with this open letter to Nehemiah the 
closed, rolled or folded letter sent by Sennacherib to 
Hezekiah, 2 Kings xix. 14. We read, verse 9, "He sent 
messengers to Hezekiah, saying" — " And Hezekiah 
received the letter at the hand of the messengers, 
and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house 
of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord." It was 
therefore folded or rolled, and no doubt enclosed in 
a proper envelope. Consider also the passage in 
Isa. xxix. 11, "And the vision shall be to you, as the 
words of a letter that is sealed — sealed up in a bag, 
closely — which is given to a man of learning to read, 
but he says, ' It is sealed' — how should I know what 
information it contains ? I merely can discover to 
whom it is directed ;" while the unlearned cannot 
even read the address. We see such occurrences daily 



LEV 



[ 621 ] 



LEVIATHAN 



m tlit streets of London ; messengers, sent with let- 
ters, desire passengers to read the directions for them. 
The messengers sent to Hezekiah are described as 
saying, when in fact they say nothing ; but only de- 
liver a letter containing the message. 

It is proper to add something relative to the cus- 
tomary kind of homage which, in the East, is paid 
not only to sovereignty, but to communications of 
the sovereign's will, whether by word or by letter. 
" When the Mogul, by letters, sends his commands 
to any of his governors, those papers are entertained 
with as much respect as if himself were present; for 
the governor, having intelligence that such letters 
are come near him, himself, with other inferior offi- 
cers, rides forth to meet the Patamar, or messenger, 
that brings them ; and as soon as he sees those let- 
ters, he alights from his horse, falls down on the 
earth, and takes them from the messenger, and lays 
them on his head, whereon he binds them fast : 
then, retiring to his place of public meeting, he reads, 
and answers them." (Sir Thomas Roe's Embassy, 
p. 453.) This binding of these letters on his head is, 
no doubt, to do them honor. What then shall we 
think of the force of Job's expressions, chap. xxxi. 
35 : " O that mine adversary had written a book, roll, 
accusation, bill ; surely I would take it on my shoul- 
der, and would bind it as a crown upon me," that is, 
on my head. This idea, then, of the poet, was drawn 
from real observation of life ; not from fancy, but 
from fact ; though to us it seems singular, if not ex- 
travagant. " The letter which was to be presented 
to the new monarch was delivered to the general of 
the slaves. It was put up in a purse of cloth of gold, 
drawn together with strings of twisted gold and 
silk, with tassels of the same ; and the chief minister 
put his own seal [upon it, to close it.] Nor was any 
omitted of all those knacks and curiosities, which 
the oriental people make use of in making up their 
epistles. The general threw himself at his majesty's 
feet, bowing to the very ground ; then, rising upon 
his knees, he drew out of the bosom of his garment, 
the bag wherein was the letter which the assembly had 
sent to the new monarch. Presently he opened the 
bag, took out the letter, kissed it, laid it on his fore- 
head, presented it to his majesty, and then rose up." 
(Chardin's Coron. of Soleiman, p. 44.) This is a 
clear confirmation of the sense given to the passages 
quoted in the article Kiss. 

LEVI, the third son of Jacob and Leah, was born 
in Mesopotamia, A. M. 2248, Gen. xxix. 34. After 
Sichem, the son of Hamor, had violated Dinah, sis- 
ter to Levi and Simeon, these two brethren fraudu- 
lently engaged him to receive, circumcision, and on 
the third day, when the pain was greatest, they en- 
tered the town, slew all the males, carried off their 
sister Dinah, and pillaged the place, chap, xxxiv. 25, 
26. This action was very displeasing to their father 
Jacob, who characterized it as one of extreme cru- 
elty and abhorrence, Gen. xlvi. 11 ; xlix. 5, 6. 

Levi was, according to his father's prediction, 
scattered over all Israel, having no share in the di- 
vision of Canaan, but certain cities in the portions 
of other tribes. He was not the worse provided for, 
however, since God chose the tribe for the service 
of the temple and priesthood, and bestowed on it 
many privileges above the other tribes, in dignity, 
and in the advantages of life. All the tithes, first- 
fruits, and offerings, presented at the temple, as well 
as several parts of all the victims that were offered, 
belonged to the tribe of Levi. See Levites. 

LEVIATHAN. This word (jroiS) occurs in four 



places in the Old Testament, and is variously trans 
lated, whale, dragon, serpent, and sea-monster; not 
improperly, probably, since it appears to be employed 
by the sacred writers to describe all these, and per- 
haps other animals also ; though one description of 
animal appears to be marked out more particularly 
by the term. 

Many of the old commentators were of opinion 
that the whale was the animal described by Job ; 
(chap, xli.) but Beza, Diodati, and some other writers, 
contended for the crocodile, which interpretation 
Bochart lias since defended with a train of argument 
which defies contradiction. (Hieron.iii. p. 737 — 774. 
Rosenmiiller.) It is a sufficient objection to the 
whale tribes, says Dr. Good, that they do not inhabit 
the Mediterranean, much less the rivers that empty 
themselves into it. This family of marine monsters, 
moreover, have neither proper snout nor nostrils ; 
they have a mere spiracle, or blowing hole, with a 
double opening on the top of the head, which has 
not hitherto been proved to be an organ of smell; 
and for teeth, a hard expanse of horny lamina?, 
which we call whalebone, in the upper jaw, but 
nothing of the sort in the under. The eyes of the 
common whale, too, instead of answering the de- 
scription here given, are most disproportionably 
small, and do not exceed in size those of an ox. 
Nor can this monster be regarded as of fierce habits, 
or unconquerable courage ; for instead of attacking 
the larger sea animals for plunder, it feeds chiefly on 
crabs and medusas, and is often itself attacked and 
destroyed by the ork or grampus, though less than 
half its size. 

The crocodile, on the contrary, is a natural in- 
habitant of the Nile, and other Asiatic and African 
rivers ; of enormous voracity and strength, as well 
as fleetness in swimming ; attacks mankind, and 
the largest animals, with most daring impetuosity ; 
when taken by means of a powerful net, will often 
overturn the boats that surround it ; has, proportion- 
ally, the largest, mouth of all monsters whatever ; 
moves both its jaws equally, the upper of which has 
not less than forty, and the lower than thirty-eight, 
sharp, but strong and massy, teeth ; and is furnished 
with a coat of mail so scaly and callous, as to resist 
the force of a musket-ball in every part, except under 
the belly. The general character of the leviathan 
in fact, seems so well to apply to this animal, in 
modern as well as in ancient times, the terror of all 
the coasts and countries about the Nile, that it is un- 
necessary to seek further. 

[The following extract of a letter from an American 
gentleman in Manilla, dated October 6, 1831, gives 
a graphic view of the strength and size of the croc- 
odile : " I have recently been sick, but have passed a 
month in the country, and am entirely recovered. 
I resided on a large plantation on the lake, about 
thirty miles in the interior, and was treated with the 
utmost attention and hospitality. I bunted deer and 
wild boar with much success. My last operation in 
the sporting line, was no less than killing an alligator 
or crocodile ; which for a year or two before had in- 
fested a village on the borders of the lake, taking ofi 
horses and cows, and sometimes a man. Having 
understood that he had killed a horse a day or twt 
before, and had taken him into a small river, I pro 
ceeded to the spot, which was distant, accompanied 
by my host, closed the mouth of the river with strong 
nets, and attacked the huge brute with guns and 
spears. After something of a desperate battle, we 
succeeded in driving him against the nets, where 



LEVIATHAN 



LEVIATHAN 



being considerably exhausted by the wounds he had 
received from balls and lances, he got entangled, was 
dragged on shore, and the 'coup de grace' given to 
him. He measured twenty feet in length, and from 
eleven to thirteen feet in circumference, the smallest 
part being eleven and the largest thirteen. The head 
alone weighed two hundred and seventy-five pounds. 
He had nearly the whole of the horse in him, and the 
legs, with the hoofs, were takeu out entire. This 
capture has caused considerable sensation, not only 
on the field of battle, but at Manilla, none of equal 
size having been before seen ; and it is rarely that 
any of small size are taken." *R. 

The article which Calmet has furnished on the 
leviathan, is very meagre and unsatisfactory ; we 
have therefore availed ourselves of the able disquisi- 
tion of Dr. Harris, who has bestowed more than his 
ordinary labor upon the subject. 

The chapter introduces two speakers in the shape 
of dialogue, one of whom questions the other in re- 
gard to such and such circumstances relating to the 
leviathan ; and this continues till the twelfth verse ; at 
which the description of leviathan commences. The 
dialogue is professed to be between the Almighty 
Jehovah and his servant Job. But whether it is Je- 
hovah himself, or some one representing him, is not 
to be inquired in this place. As it is, the person ap- 
pears extremely well acquainted with the crocodile, 
as he does also with the other animals described in 
the thirty-ninth and fortieth chapters. The other 
person of the dialogue appears to be one well know- 
ing the worship paid to the crocodile : and the eleven 
first verses are an exposure of the folly of making an 
animal of a savage nature, and one whose head could 
be pierced with fishhooks, a god. Of these eleven 
verses, the first six appear to relate to the mode of 
treatment received by the crocodile in the places 
where he was worshipped ; the remaining five to his 
treatment at Tentyra, and wherever he was consid- 
ered as a destructive animal. At the twelfth verse 
the description of leviathan commences, and is divid- 
ed into three parts, and classed under the different 
heads of, (1.) ina, his parts ; (2.) nmaj -m, great might ; 
(3.) la-yj phj his ivell-armed make. Of these the first 
and the third describe him as truly as a naturalist 
would do. The second or middle part magnifies him 
as a god. If, then, this second part be in honor of 
the crocodile as God, then the person speaking it 
must be either an inhabitant of Egypt, a worshipper 
of that animal, or one well acquainted at least with 
his worship ; or, perhaps, the whole chapter may be 
altogether an argument, founded on the idolatrous 
homage paid to this creature. 

The following is the doctor's corrected version of 
this description ; with explanations and references to 
the crocodile : 

Behold leviathan ! whom thou leadest about with 
a hook, 

Or a rope which thou fixest upon his snout. 

It is no easy matter, says Mr. Scott, to fix the pre- 
cise meaning of the several terms here used : they 
seem, however, to denote, in general, the instruments 
made use of, partly for the taking him alive in the 
water, and partly for governing him when brought to 
land. Herodotus expressly asserts, (1. ii. 70.) that 
one of the modes by which this creature was occa- 
sionally taken, in his time, was by means of a hook, 
ayxiaxqar, xq'ixoc, which was baited with a dog's chine, 
and thrown into the midst of the river ; the crocodile, 



having swallowed which, was drawn on shore, and 
despatched. 

Hast thou put a ring in his nose, 

Or pierced his cheek through with a clasp ? 

This has been usually supposed to refer to the 
manner of muzzling the beast, so as to be able to lead 
him about, by a hook or ring in the nostrils, as is 
threatened Pharaoh under the emblem of the croco- 
dile, Ezek. xxix. 4. But Mr. Vansittart thinks the 
words here used expressive of ornaments ; and says, 
" This second verse may be considered as expressive 
of leviathan led about, not as a sight, but in his state 
of divinity, and the zyi'zoc, a gold ring or ornament 
worn at the nose; for, in the eastern countries, nasal 
rings are as frequent as any other ornament what- 
ever. The commentators and lexicographers, not 
dreaming of applying Herodotus's account of the The- 
baid crocodile to the illustration of leviathan, have 
imagined only large rings for the purpose of chaining 
leviathan. Herodotus says, the ears and fore feet 
were the parts from which the ornaments were sus- 
pended. But, as the ears do not appear capable of 
bearing ear-rings, from their lying extremely flat 
upon the lower jaw, perhaps they were put upon 
other parts ; or the historian, hearing that the sacred 
crocodile was adorned with ornaments, fixed them 
naturally upon the care and fore feet, as ear-rings and 
necklaces were the most usual ornaments of the 
Greeks. Very likely the ornaments were not always 
put upon the same parts, but varied at different times ; 
and that in the time of the Hebrew writer, the nose 
and the lips received the ornaments which, in the 
days of the Greek historian, were transferred to the 
ears and fore feet. The exact place of the ornaments 
is, however, of no material consequence ; it is suffi- 
cient for our purpose to know, that ornaments were 
put upon the sacred crocodile, and that he was treated 
with great distinction, and in some degree considered 
a domestic animal. The three verses immediately 
following, speak of him as such ; as entering into a 
covenant of peace, being retained in subjection, &c. 

Has he made many supplications to thee ? 
Has he addressed thee with flattering words ? 
Hast thou, in return, made a league with him, 
And received him into perpetual service ? 

The irony here is very apparent. The sacred poet 
shows a wonderful address in managing this deriding 
figure of speech, in such a manner as not to lessen 
the majesty of the great Being into whose mouth 
it is put. 

Hast thou played with him as a bird ? 
Wilt thou encage him for thy maidens ? 
Shall thy partners spread a banquet for him, 
And the trading strangers bring him portions ? 

Job is here asked how he will dispose of his cap- 
tive ; whether he will retain him in his family for his 
own amusement, or the diversions of his maidens ; 
or exhibit him as a spectacle to the Phoenician cara- 
vans. But Mr. Vansittart gives quite another turn to 
the verse. He thinks that the word onan, which I 
have rendered " partners," signifies charmers (incan- 
tatores) ; hence rendered by the Chaldee Targum 
mown, ivise mm ; and that it is to be applied to the 
priests who had the charge of the sacred crocodile, 
and might as well be called charmers of the croco- 



LEVIATHAN 



LEVIATHAN 



dile, as the psylli were of serpents; and copo, which 
Is at present rendered " merchants," may be formed 
from jijd, prostravit, humilem reddere, and mean suppli- 
ants, worshippers. Hence, lie would understand it of 
the priests making a feast, and the suppliants 
going up to make offerings. 

Hast thou filled his skin with barbed irons, 
Or his head with harpoons ? 

The impenetrability of his skin is here intimated, 
and is afterwards described at large. The attempt 
to wound him with missile weapons is ridiculed. 
This is a circumstance which will agree to no animal 
so well as to the crocodile. The weapons mentioned 
are undoubtedly such as fishermen use in striking 
large fish at a distanc 

Make ready thy hana against him. 
Dare the contest ; be firm. 
Behold ! the hope of him is vain ; 
It is dissipated even at his appearance. 

The hope of mastering him is absurd. So formida- 
ble is his very appearance, that the resolution of his 
opposer is weakened, and his courage daunted. 

None is so resolute that he dare rouse him. 
Who then is able to contend with me ? 
What will stand before me, yea, presumptuously ? 
Whatsoever is beneath the whole heavens is mine. 
I cannot be confounded at his limbs and violence, 
Nor at his power, or the strength of his frame. 

" However man may be appalled at attacking the 
leviathan, all creation is mine ; his magnitude and 
structure can produce no effect upon me. I cannot be 
appalled or confounded ; I cannot be struck dumb." 

Job is, in this clause, taught to tremble at his dan- 
ger in having provoked, by his murmurs and litigation, 
the displeasure of the Maker of this terrible animal. 

The poet then enters upon a part of the description 
which has not yet been given, and which admirably 
pairs with the detailed picture of the war-horse and 
behemoth. Nor does he descend from the dignity 
he had hitherto supported, by representing the great 
Creator as displaying his own wonderful work, and 
calling upon man to observe the several admirable 
particulars in its formation, that he might be impress- 
ed with a deeper sense of the power of his Maker. 

Who will strip off the covering of his armor ? 
Against the doubling of his nostrils who will advance ? 

This verse is obscure. The first line, however, 
seems to describe the terrible helmet which covers 
the head and face of the crocodile. The translation 
might be, " Who can uncover his mailed face ?" If, 
in the days of Job, they covered their war-horses in 
complete armor, the question will refer to the taking 
off the armor ; and the scales of leviathan be repre- 
sented by such an image. Then, the second line may 
denote bridling him, after the armor is stripped off, for 
some other service. 

The doors of his face who will tear open ? 

The rows of his teeth are terror: 

The plates of his scales, triumph ! 

His body is like embossed shields ; 

They are joined so close one upon another, 

The very air cannot enter between them. 



Each is inserted into its next ; 

They are compact, and cannot be separated. 

The mouth of the crocodile is very large ; and the 
apparatus of teeth perfectly justifies this formidable 
description. The indissoluble texture, and the large- 
ness of the scales with which he is covered, are rep- 
resented by the powerful images of these verses. 

His snortings are the radiance of light; 
And his eyes as the glancing of the dawn. 

Schultens remarks, that amphibious animals, the 
longer time they hold their breath under water, re- 
spire so much the more strongly when they begin to 
emerge ; and the breath, confined for a length of 
time, effervesces in such a manner, and breaks forth 
so violently, that they appear to vomit forth flames. 

The eyes of the crocodile are small, but they ara 
said to be extremely piercing out of the water. Hence, 
the Egyptians, comparing the eye of the crocodile, 
when he first emerged out of the water, to the sun 
rising from out of the sea, in which he was supposed 
to set, made the hieroglyphic of sunrise. Thus Ho- 
rus Apol. says, (lib. i. § 65.) " When the Egyptians 
represent the sunrise, they paint the eye of the croc- 
odile, because it is first seen as that animal rises out 
of the water." 

From out of his mouth issue flashes ; 
Sparks of fire stream out ; 
From his nostrils bursteth fume, 
As from the rush-kindled oven. 
His breath kindleth coals ; 
Raging fire spreadeth at his presence. 

Here the creature is described in pursuit of his 
prey on the land. His mouth is then open. His 
breath is thrown out with prodigious vehemence ; it 
appears like smoke, and is heated to that degree as to 
seem a flaming fire. 

The images which the sacred poet here uses are 
indeed very strong and hyperbolical ; they are similar 
to those in Ps. xviii. 8 : " There went a smoke out of 
his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured ; coals 
were kindled by it." Ovid (Metam. viii.) does not 
scruple to paint the enraged boar in figures equally 
bold: 

Lightning issueth from his mouth, 

And boughs are set on fire by his breath. 

Silius Italicus (1. vi. v. 208.) has a correspondent 
description. 

In his neck dwelleth might : 

And destruction exulteth before him. 

Might and destruction are here personified. The 
former is seated on his neck, as indicating his power, 
or guiding his movements ; and the latter is leaping 
and dancing before him when he pursues his prey, to 
express the terrible slaughter which he makes. 

The flakes of his flesh are compacted together 
They are firm, and will in no wise give away. 
His heart is as hard as a stone, 
Yea, as hard as the nether mill-stone. 

These strong similes may denote not only a ma- 
terial, but also a moral, hardness- his savage and 



LEVIATHAN 



[ 624 ] 



LEV 



unrelenting nature. /Elian calls the crocodile "a 
voracious devourer of flesh, and the most pitiless of 
animals." 

At his rising, the mighty are alaimed; 
Frighted at the disturbance which he makes in the 
water, 

The sword of the assailant is shivered at the onset, 

As is the spear, the dart, or the harpoon. 

He regardeth iron as straw ; 

Copper as rotten wood. 

The arrow cannot make him flee, 

Sling-stones he deemeth trifling ; 

Like stubble is the battle-axe reputed ; 

And he laugheth at the quivering of the javelin. 

These expressions describe, in a lively manner, the 
strength, courage, and intrepidity of the crocodile. 
Nothing frightens him. If any one attack him, neither 
swords, darts, nor javelins avail against him. Travel- 
lers agree, that the skin of the crocodile is proof 
against pointed weapons. 

His bed is the splinters of flint, 

Which the broken rock scattereth on the mud. 

This clause is obscure, and has been variously 
rendered. The idea seems to be, that he can repose 
himself on sharp-pointed rocks and stones with as 
little concern as upon mud. 

He maketh the main to boil as a caldron ; 
He snufFeth up the tide as a perfume. 
Behind him glittereth a pathway; 
The deep is embroidered with hoar. 

To give a further idea of the force of this creature, 
the poet describes the effect of his motion in the 
water. When a large crocodile dives to the bottom, 
the violent agitation of the water may be justly com- 
pared to liquor boiling in a caldron. When swim- 
ming upon the surface, he cuts the water like a ship, 
and makes it white with foam ; at the same time his 
tail, like a rudder, causes the waves behind him to 
froth and sparkle like a trail of light. These images 
are common among the poets. Thus Homer, (Odyss. 
I. xii. v. 235.) as translated by Pope : 

"Tumultuous boil the waves ; 

They toss, they foam, a wild confusion raise ; 
Like waters bubbling o'er the fiery blaze." 

He hath not his like upon earth, 
Even among those made not to be daunted. 
He looketh upon every thing with naughtiness ; 
He is king over all the sons of the fierce. 

Mr. Good observes, that all the interpreters appear 
to have run into an error in conceiving, that "the 
sons of pride or haughtiness, in the original yna 1:2, 
refer to wild beasts, or monsters of enormous size ; it 
is far more confounding to the haughtiness and exulta- 
tion of man, — to that undue confidence in his own 
power, which it is the very object of this sublime ad- 
dress to humiliate, to have pointed out to him, even 
among the brute creation, a being which he dares not 
to encounter, and which laughs at all his pride, and 
pomp, and pretensions, and compels him to feel in 
all these i-espects his real littleness and inferiority. It 
is difficult, perhaps impossible, to find a description 
so admirably sustained in any language of any age or : 



country. The whole appears to be of a piece, and 
equally excellent." 

The word leviathan is also found in the original of 
Job, chap. iii. 8, in our version rendered " mourning." 
Mr. Good has a long note, explaining the passage as 
having a reference to ancient sorceries, and execrat- 
ing incantations. Gesenius supposes it to refer to 
the power of drawing out serpents from their lurk- 
ing places by means of music. (See Inchantments.) 
Mr. Scott's version and note are as follows: 

Let them curse it that curse the day 
Of those who shall awake leviathan. 

To stir up, or awake, leviathan is represented, in 
chap. xli. 8 — 10, to be inevitable destruction. It was 
natural to mention such a terrible casualty in the 
strongest terms of abhorrence, and to lament those 
who so miserably perished with the most bitter im- 
precations on the disastrous day. Job here calls for 
the assistance of such language, to execrate the fatal 
night of his nativity. Or it may have a reference to 
the execration expressed by the Ombitae against the 
Tentyrites. The Ombitce were the inhabitants of 
Ombos, a town upon the right bank of the Nile, not 
far from the cataracts of the ancient Siene, now As- 
suan. This people were remarkable for the worship 
of the crocodile, and the foolishly kind manner in 
which they treated and cherished him. Their nearly 
opposite neighbors, the Tentyrites, were, on the con- 
trary, conspicuous for their hatred and persecution of 
the same animal. The different mode of treatment 
of this animal produced deadly feuds and animosities 
between the two people, which Juvenal, in hisfifteenth 
Satire, ridicules most justly. He was an eye-witness 
of the hostility described, residing as a Roman officer 
at Syene. If there beany allusion to this in the pas- 
sage before us, it would mean, " Let my birth be held 
in as much abhorrence, as is that of those who are the 
rousers of leviathan." 

Between two neighboring towns a rancorous rage 
Yet burns ; a hate no lenients can assuage. 

Juv. Sat. xv. v. 35. 

By leviathan, (Ps. lxxiv. 14,) we may suppose Pha- 
raoh to be represented, as a king of Egypt is called 
by Ezekiel, (chap. xxix. 3.) " the great dragon [or 
crocodile] that lieth in the midst of his rivers ;" and 
if, says Mr. Merrick, the Arabic lexicographers quoted 
by Bochart (Phaleg. 1. i. c. 15.) rightly affirm that 
Pharao, in the Egyptian language, signified a croco- 
dile, there may possibly be some such allusion to his 
name in these texts of the psalmist and of Ezekiel, as 
was made to the name of Draco, when Herodicus, in 
a sarcasm recorded by Aristotle, (Rhet. 1. ii. c. 23.) 
said that his laws, which were very severe, were the 
laws ovx arSnmjTov ui./.'u iQuxortofj non hominis sed draco- 
nis. Moses Chorenensis mentions some ancient 
songs, which called the descendants of Astyages a 
race of dragons, because Astyages in the Armenian 
language signified a dragon, (1. i. c. xxix.) 

LEVIRATE, see Marriage. 

LEVITES. All the descendants of Le i may be 
comprised under this namej but chiefly .those who 
were employed in the lower services in the temple, 
by which they were distinguished from the priests, 
who were of the race of Levi, by Aaron, and were 
employed in higher offices. The Levites were the 
descendants of Levi, by Gershom, Kohath and Me- 
rari, excepting the family of \aron ; "or the 2hildren 



L E V 



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L 1 B 



of Moses had no part in the priesthood, and were 
only common Levites. God chose the Levites instead 
of the first-born of all Israel, for the service of his 
tabernacle and temple, Numb. iii. 6, &c. They 
obeyed the priests in the ministrations of the temple, 
and sung and played on instruments, in the daily 
services, &c. They studied the law, and were the 
ordinary judges of the country ; but subordinate to 
the priests. God provided for the subsistence of the 
Levites, by giving to them the tithe of corn, fruit and 
cattle ; but they paid to the priests the tenth of their 
tithes ; and as the Levites poso-essed no estates in land, 
the tithes which the priests received from them were 
considered as the first-fruits which they were to offer 
to the Lord. Numb, xviii. 21 — 24. 

God assigned for the habitations of the Levites 
forty-eight cities, with fields, pastures and gardens, 
Numb. xxxv. Of these, thirteen were given to the 
priests, six of which were cities of refuge, Josh. xx. 
7; xxi. 19, &c. While the Levites were actually 
employ ed in the temple, they were supported out of 
the provisions kept in store there, and out of the daily 
offerings. (See Deut. xli. 18, 19 ; xviii. 6—8.) The 
consecration of Levites was without much ceremony. 
(See Numb. viii. 5 ; 2 Chron. xxix. 34.) 

The Levites wore no peculiar habit to distinguish 
them from other Israelites, till the time of Agrippa, 
whose innovation in this matter is mentioned by Jose- 
phus, (Antiq. lib. xx. cap. 8.) who remarks, that the 
ancient customs of the country were never forsaken 
with impunity. 

The Levites were divided into different classes ; 
(he Gershomites, Kohathites, Merarites and the 
Aaronites, or priests, Numb. iii. &c. The Gershom- 
ites were in number 7,500. Their office in the 
marches through the wilderness was to carry the veils 
and curtains of the tabernacle. The Kohathites 
were in n umber 8,600. They were employed in carry- 
ing the ark and sacred vessels of the tabernacle. The 
Merarites were in number 6,200. They carried those 
pieces of the tabernacle which could not be placed 
on chariots. Thus we find that the whole number of 
the Levites amounted to 22,300, of whom 8,580 were 
fit for service, and 13,720 unfit, being either too old 
or too young, Numb. iii. iv. When the Hebrews 
encamped in the wilderness, the Levites were placed 
round about the tabernacle ; Moses and Aaron at the 
east, Gershom at the west, Kohath at the south, and 
Merari at the north. 

The Levites were not to enter upon their service 
at the tabernacle till they were 25 years of age ; 
(Numb. viii. 24.) or, as in chap. iv. 3, from 30 to 50 
years old. But David fixed the time of service at 20 
years. The priests and Levites waited by turns, 
weekly, in the temple, 1 Chron. xxiii. 24 ; 2 Chron. 
xxxi. 17 ; Ezra iii. 8. 

LEVITICUS, the third book in the Pentateuch ; 
called Leviticus, because it contains principally the 
laws and regulations relating to the priests, Levites 
and sacrifices. The Hebrews call it "the priests' 
law ;" and also vayikra, because in Hebrew it begins 
with this word, and he called. The first seven chap- 
ters prescribe the ceremonies in offering burnt- 
sacrifices, meat-offerings, bread and cakes, peace-of- 
ferings or thanksgivings, and sin-offerings ; regulat- 
ing what parts were to be" consumed on the fire of 
the altar, and what were to be given .to the priest, 
who offered them. This is followed by directions as 
to the manner in which the priests were to be con- 
secrated, and what sacrifices were to be offered on that 
occasion. On occasion of the punishment of Nadab 
79 



and Abihu, Moses appoints the mourning of the 
priests, and forbids them to drink wine while waiting 
in the temple. Chapters xi. to xv. give rules for dis- 
tinguishing beasts clean and unclean ; also relative to 
the leprosy of men, of houses and of habits ; for th<? 
purification of men indisposed with gonorrhoea, and 
of women after child-birth. After this, the ceremo- 
nies on the day of solemn expiation are regulated ; 
also the degrees of relation permitted or forbidden in 
marriage. Then follow prohibitions of alliances with 
the Canaanites, of idolatry, theft, perjury, calumny, 
hatred, Gentile superstitions, magic, divination, sooth- 
saying, prostitution and adultery. Chapter xxii. no- 
tices the principal festivals in the year, (including the 
story of a man who was stoned to death for having 
blasphemed the sacred Name,) the sabbatical and the 
jubilee years, and some directions relative to vows 
and tithes. 

This book is generally held to be the work of 
Moses, though probably assisted by Aaron. It con- 
tains the history of the eight days of Aaron and his 
sons' consecration, A. M. 2514. 

LIBANUS, or Lebanon, a long chain of limestone 
mountains, on the northern border of Palestine. It 
consists of two principal ridges, the easterly ridge 
being called Anti-Libanus by the Greeks. The 
western ridge, or proper Libanus, runs nearly parallel 
to the coast of the Mediterranean ; the eastern, or 
Anti-Libanus, runs first east, but soon inclines in like 
manner to the north. Between these two ridges is a 
long valley called Coele-Syria, or Hollow Syria, the 
Valley of Lebanon, (Josh. xi. 17.) at present Bukkah ; 
it opens towards the north. The elevation of Leb- 
anon is so great, that it is always covered in many 
places with snow; whence in all probability it derives 
its name. It is composed of four enclosures of 
mountains, which rise one on the other. The first is 
very rich in grain and fruits ; the second is barren, 
abounding in thorns, rocks and flints ; the third, though 
higher than this, enjoys a perpetual spring, the trees 
being always green, and the orchards filled with fruit : 
it is so agreeable and fertile, that some have called it 
a terrestrial paradise. The fourth is so high as to be 
always covered with snow. Mr. Buckingham, who 
ascended one of the highest parts of Lebanon, states 
that it occupied him and his companions four hours 
in reaching it, from the place where the cedars grow. 
" From hence the view was, as may be easily ima- 
gined, grand and magnificent. To the west we had a 
prospect of all the side of Lebanon down to the plain 
at its foot, and, beyond, a boundless sea, the horizon 
of which could not be defined, from its being covered 
with a thick bed of clouds. . . . To the east we had 
the valley of the Bukkah, which we could see from 
hence was on a much higher level than the sea ; the 
descent to it on the east appearing to be about one 
third less in depth than the descent to the plain at the 
foot of Lebanon on the west, and scarcely more than 
half of that to the line of the sea. The range of 
Anti-Libanus, which forms the eastern boundary of 
the Bukkah, was also covered with snow at its sum- 
mit, but not so thickly as at this part of Libanus where 
we were, and which seemed to us the highest point 
of all. We could distinguish that from the north- 
ward towards Balbek, the Jebel-el-wast was one 
even range, without pointed summits like this, and 
that from thence there extended two forks to the 
southward, the eastern, or principal one, ending in the 
great Jebel-el-Sheik, or Jebel-el-Telj, of the Arabs, 
the mount Hermon of the Scriptures ; and the west- 
ern, or lesser one, in the point which I had passed in 



L1BANUS 



[ 626 ] 



L1BANUS 



going to Banias, the valley between them being called 
Wade Ityre. The range of Anti-Libanus, though of 
less height than this, completely intercepted our view 
of the country to the eastward of it; although, as be- 
fore said, we were on the highest point of view which 
it admits. Mr. Volney, therefore, must have ima- 
gined the unlimited view which he says this mountain 
affords across the eastern deserts to the Euphrates ; 
and indeed, from his description altogether, both of 
the mountain and the cedars, there is reason to be- 
lieve that he travelled but little over it." (Travels 
among the Arab Tribes, p. 477.) 

D'Arvieux, in describing this mountainous region, 
says, "These are not barren mountains, but almost 
all well cultivated, and well peopled. Their summits 
are in many places level, and form vast plains, 
wherein are sown corn (comp. Ps. Ixxii. 16.) and all 
kinds of pulse. They are watered by numerous 
sources, and rivulets of excellent water, which diffuse 
on all sides a freshness and fertility, even in the most 
elevated regions. The soil of their declivities, and of 
the hollows which occur between them, is excellent,- 
and produces abundantly corn, oil and wine, which is 
the best in Syria; and this is praising it highly in a 
single word. Drinkers, who esteem themselves 
judges, make no difference between this wine and 
that of Cyprus. Their principal riches, at present, is 
the silk which they produce. They are inhabited 
by Christians, Greeks and Maronites ; also by Dru- 
ses and Mahometans. The Christians here have 
many privileges, and in some places complete liberty. 
Though the mountains which compose Lebanon are 
of this considerable extent, yet the vulgar restrain the 
name to that district whereon the cedars grow ; (see 
Cedars ;) and they give other names to other portions 
which compose this famous mountain. After travel- 
ling sLx hours in pleasant valleys, and over mountains 
covered with different species of trees, we entered a 
small plain on a fertile hill, wholly covered with 
walnut-trees and olives, in the middle of which is the 
village of Eden. This village has a bishop. In spite 
of my weariness, I could not but incessantly admire 
this beautiful country. It is, truly, an epitome of the 
terrestrial paradise, of which it bears the name. . . . 
We quitted Eden about eight o'clock in the morning, 
and advanced to mountains so extremely high, that 
we seemed to be travelling in the middle regions of 
the atmosphere. Here the sky was clear and serene 
above us, while we saw, below us, thick clouds dis- 
solving in rain and watering the plains." 

De la Roque, after commending in strong terms 
the beauty of the valley watered by the Kadisha, 
says, "In pursuing our route, and tracing up the 
source of this agreeable river, our sight was still 
more gratified. The trees rise higher than before, 
being for the most part plantains, pines, cypresses, 
and evergreen oaks, forming a continual assemblage 
of verdure of different kinds ; among which peeps 
out, from time to time, either a chapel or a grotto, al- 
ways situated on some spot apparently impossible to 
be attained, and absolutely astonishing to the sight. 
We passed twice or thrice over the Kadisha, by 
means of stone bridges, or of trees laid along to form 
a passage : we proceeded in this manner two or three 
leagues, by a very easy and agreeable road, walking 
almost constantly among groves and covered alleys 
formed by the hand of nature, and too abundant in 
foliage to be penetrated by the rays of the sun. After 
quitting the Kadisha, we continued to find every 
where a wonderful abundance of water, issuing from 
divers sources, forming rivulets ; and proceeding to 



unite their waters with those of that river. Cano- 
bin, the convent established on Lebanon, is a large, 
irregular building, situated on the declivity of a high 
mountain. Its environs are, nevertheless, very cheer- 
ful, the lands adjacent are well cultivated, and are 
adorned with hedges, gardens and vineyards. It 
would be difficult to find any where superior wine 
to that which was offered us : from which we de- 
termined, that the reputation of the wine of Leba- 
non, as alluded to by the prophet, (Hosea xiv. 7.) was 
extremely well founded. These wines are of two 
sorts ; the most common is the red ; the most exquis- 
ite is of the color of Vin Muscat, and is called golden 
on account of its color." 

He mentions his fear, in some of his excursions, 
of meeting with tigers, or with bears, which are in 
great numbers on Lebanon ; and come down during 
the night to drink. He also mentions the finding of 
a quantity of eagles' feathers on the mountain, at the 
cedars. 

Lebanon furnishes many rivers and streams. The 
first described by De la Roque is the Orontes, which 
rises in the northern district, and during a course of 
more than thirty leagues runs almost due north, pass- 
ing Emesa and Apainea; then turning to the west, 
it passes Antioch and Seleucia ; its whole course be- 
ing about seventy-five leagues. The river Eleuthe- 
rus also rises in the heights of Lebanon. It falls in- 
to the Mediterranean, between Orthosia and Tripo- 
lis ; but is not easily ascertained, because four or five 
rivers discharge themselves in this space. The 
first, (perhaps the Eleutherus,) about half way be- 
tween Tortosa and Tripolis, is the Nahr Kibir, or 
Great river; the second, advancing toward Tripolis, 
is the Nahr Abrach, Leper's river ; the third is Nahr 
Acchar, red river ; and there is a fourth, less consid- 
erable, called Alma Albarida, or the Cold waters. 
Following the coast southward, we find the Nahr 
Kadisha, or Holy river, which receives many streams, 
by which it is greatly enlarged in its passage to the 
sea. Among others, Ras Ain, Fountain Head, in it- 
self a small stream, but is greatly swelled by the 
melting of the snows, and furnishes a considerable 
body of water. The next stream is the Nahr Ebra- 
him, Abraham's river, which discharges itself about 
two leagues from Jebilee ; it is the Adonis of the an- 
cients. After this follows the Nahr Kelb, Dog's 
river ; the Lycus, or Wolf's river, of antiquity. About 
an hour and a half from this river is Nahr Bairuth, 
so called because it is the nearest stream to the city 
of Berytus. Between Berytus and Sidon is the Nahr 
Darner, pronounced by Europeans (PJlmour, the 3am- 
yras of former times : the passage of it is very dan- 
gerous during the rains. About a league south of Si- 
don, is the river called Awle by the peasants ; by the 
Franks called Fiumere: its source is perhaps in An- 
ti-Libanus. About an hour short of Tyre, is the 
river Kasemiech, which rises in Anti-Libanus, and 
is increased by the waters of the Letani, which flows 
along the valley of Bekaa. The Barrady rises in 
Anti-Libanus, not far from the territory of Damas- 
cus, which city it visits ; and being divided into 
streams and canals, contributes to the delights of that 
place, and its environs. A little river, called Banias, 
(perhaps the Abana of Naaman, 1 Kings v. 12.) dis- 
charges itself into the Barrady. After having pass- 
ed Damascus, these streams issue in a large lake and 
marshes. The course of the Barrady is southerly. 
The Jordan, too, has its source in Anti-Libanus, 
in the region now called Wad-et-tein, which includes 
the mount Hermon of the ancients, not far from the 



LIBANUS 



[ 627 ] 



LIBANUS 



celebrated spot which pagan antiquity called Pani- 
um, or Paneas. See Jordan. 

The following is Volney's account of this celebrat- 
ed mountain: (Travels, vol. i. p. 293, 301.) "A 
view of the country will convince us that the most 
elevated point of all Syria is Lebanon, on the south- 
east of Tripoli. Scarcely do we depart from Lar- 
neca, in Cyprus, which is thirty leagues distant, be- 
fore we discover its summit capped with clouds. 
This is also distinctly perceivable on the map, from 
the, course of the rivers. The Orontes, which flows 
from the mountains of Damascus, and loses itself 
below Antioch ; the Kasmia, which, from the north 
of Balbec, takes its course towards Tyre ; the Jor- 
dan, forced, by the declivities, towards the south, 
prove that this is the highest point. Next to Leb- 
anon, the most elevated part of the country is mount 
Akkar, which becomes visible as soon as we leave 
Marra in the desert. It appears like an enormous 
flattened cone, and is constantly in view for two 
days' journey. No one has yet had an opportunity 
to ascertain the height of these mountains by the 
barometer ; but we may deduce it from another 
consideration. In winter their tops are entirely cov- 
ered with snow, from Alexandretta to Jerusalem ; 
but after the month of March it melts, except on 
mount Lebanon, where, however, it does not remain 
the whole year, unless in the highest cavities, and 
towards the north-east, where it is sheltered from 
the sea winds, and the rays of the sun. In such a 
situation I saw it still remaining, in 1784, at the very 
time I was almost suffocated with heat in the valley 
of Balbec. Now, since it is well known that snow, 
in this latitude, requires an elevation of fifteen or 
sixteen hundred fathoms, we may conclude that to 
be the height of Lebanon, and that it is consequent- 
ly much lower than the Alps, or even the Pyrenees. 

" Lebanon, which gives its name to the whole ex- 
tensive chain of the Kesraouan, and the country of 
the Druses, presents us every where with majestic 
mountains. At every step we meet with scenes in 
which nature displays either beauty or grandeur, 
sometimes singularity, but always variety. When 
we land on the coast, the loftiness and steep ascent 
of this mountainous ridge, which seems to enclose 
the country, those gigantic masses which shoot into 
the clouds, inspire astonishment and awe. Should 
the curious traveller then climb these summits which 
bounded his view, the wide-extended space which 
he discovers becomes a fresh subject of admiration ; 
but completely to enjoy this majestic scene, he must 
ascend to the very point of Lebanon, or the Sannin. 
There, on every side, he will view an horizon with- 
out bounds ; while, in clear weather, the sight is lost 
over the desert, which extends to the Persian gulf, 
and over the sea which bathes the coasts of Europe. 
He seems to command the whole world, while the 
wandering eye, now surveying the successive chains 
of mountains, transports the imagination in an in- 
stant from Antioch to Jerusalem. 

" If we examine the substance of these mountains, 
we shall find they consist of a hard calcareous stone, 
of a whitish color, sonorous like free-stone, and dis- 
posed in strata variously inclined. This stone has 
almost the same appearance in every part of Syria ; 
sometimes it is bare, and looks like the peeled rocks 
on the coast of Provence. The same stone, under a 
more regular form, likewise composes the greater 
part of Lebanon, Anti-Lebanon, the mountains of the 
Druses, Galilee and mount Carmel, and stretches 
to the south of the lake Asphaltites. The inhab- 



itants every where build their houses and make lime 
with it. I have never seen, nor heard it said, that 
these stones contain any petrified shells in the upper 
regions of Lebanon ; but we find, between Batroun 
and Djebail, in the Kesraouan, at a little distance 
from the sea, a quarry of schistous stones, the flakes 
of which bear the impressions of plants, fish, shells, 
and especially of the sea onion. Iron is the only 
mineral which abounds here ; the mountains of the 
Kesraouan, and of the Druses, are full of it. Every 
summer the inhabitants work those mines which are 
ochreous. 

" It appears equally extraordinary and picturesque 
to a European at Tripoli, to behold under his win- 
dows, in the month of January, orange-trees loaded 
with flowers and fruit, while the hoary head of Leb- 
anon is' covered with ice and snow. If in Saide, or 
Tripoli, we are incommoded by the heats of July, in 
six hours we are in thg neighboring mountains, in 
the temperature of March ; or, on the other hand, if 
chilled by the frosts of December at Besharrai, a day's 
journey brings us back to the coast, amid the flow- 
ers of May. The Arabian poets have therefore said, 
that 'the Sannin bears winter on his head, spring on 
his shoulders, and autumn in his bosom, while sum- 
mer lies sleeping at his feet.' " 

[Mr. Fisk describes Lebanon in the following man- 
ner : " You would like, perhaps, to know how mount 
Lebanon looks. It is not, as I used to suppose, one 
mountain, but a multitude of mountains' thrown to- 
gether, and separated by very deep, narrow valleys, 
which seem to have been made merely for the sake 
of dividing the hills. There are more trees on mount 
Lebanon than on the hills of Judea, yet there is noth- 
ing which Americans would call a forest. Most of 
the trees, where I have been, are either pines or fruit 
trees. I have not yet seen the cedars. The roads 
are bad, worse and worst ; steep and rocky, I pre- 
sume, beyond any thing you ever saw in Vermont, or 
any where else. I generally ride a mule or an ass, 
and it is often literally riding up and down stairs, for 
a considerable distance together. These mountains 
present a variety of the most rude, sublime and ro- 
mantic scenery." (Missionary Herald for 1824, p. 
135.) R. 

From these descriptions the reader may conceive, 
not only with what ardor Moses might desire to see 
"that goodly mountain, even Lebanon," (Deut. iii. 
25.) but what a supreme gratification a man who 
had been all his life habituated to a flat and arid des- 
ert, and to a low and level country, must have 
felt, had he been permitted to enjoy the verdant 
hills and murmuring cascades of Lebanon. The 
renown of these paradises must have stimulated his 
curiosity, as a man and a naturalist, independent of 
his wishes as a sovereign and legislator for the wel- 
fare and settlement of his people. 

Almost all travellers who have visited these places 
have felt and noticed the propriety of the bride- 
groom's address to the bride, (Cant. iv. 15.') in which 
he compares her to "a fountain of gardens, a well 
of living waters, and streams from Lebanon ;" but 
they have not observed the climax of this passage, 
which appears to stand thus, (1.) a fountain, (2.) a 
source,(3.) numerous and lively streams, communicat- 
ing refreshment and pleasure, together with fertility. 

These descriptions may also contribute to place in 
a new light a passage of the prophet Jeremiah, (chap, 
xvih. 14.) which stands thus in our translation : "Will 
a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh 
from the rock of the field ; or shall the cold flowing 



LIBANUS 



[ 628 ] 



L I B 



waters that come from another place be forsaken?" 
The whole of this verse no doubt refers to the same 
object, mount Lebanon, though to different things 
which are found there. It may be supposed, that 
the "cold flowing waters" of the prophet were the 
Nahr el herd, or Nahr al barida of Maundrell and 
De la Roque. 

The prophet seems to think that no waters could 
be so refreshing as those which flowed from recent- 
ly thawing congelation; and to persons who highly 
value the addition of snow to their beverage, to cool 
it, nothing could be more refrigerating than drinking 
from streams which trickled down the sides of that 
mountain, the great Syrian reservoir of snow and ice. 
The narrations we have inserted show the vigor and 
energy of these similes. 

The reputation attached to the wine of Lebanon, 
and the character given of it by travellers, render 
very credible the idea that in this wine Damascus 
traded with Tyre, (Ezek. xxvii. 18.) and that Helbon 
was in the eastern part of Lebanon. The compar- 
ison of the wine of Lebanon to Vin Muscat, by De 
la Roque, includes, probably, the scent as well as the 
color; and justifies the allusion of the prophet Ho- 
sea, xiv. 7. 

It is not easy to determine, with certainty, what 
can be intended by the prophet Isaiah in the phrase, 
"the glory of Lebanon ;" but very likely it refers to 
the verdure constantly maintained on it, and to the 
stately trees which cover it ; for so Ave may best ex- 
plain Isa. xxxv. 2, the glory of Lebanon, magnificent 
cedars, plantains, pines, cypresses, &c. the excellen- 
cy of Carmel, "pines, oaks, olives and laurels," (see 
Oarmel,) and the meadow productions, flowers, 
shrubs, &c. of Sharon. This agrees perfectly with 
chap. lx. 13, "the glory of Lebanon — the fir-tree, the 
pine-tree, and the box-tree together." Perhaps, by 
some scientific traveller, who has noticed the trees 
growing upon Lebanon, we may ascertain those in- 
tended by the prophet. Is it the cedar eminently ? 

The discovery of eagles' feathers in great quanti- 
ty by De la Roque, where they must have been drop- 
ped by the birds themselves, serves to justify the idea 
of the prophet Ezekiel, (chap. xvii. 2.) of "a great 
eagle, with long wings, visiting Lebanon, and pluck- 
ing off a branch from among the young twigs," &c. 
(meaning Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the tem- 
ple, and carried away its treasures.) It shows that na- 
ture was considered in this particular of the parable. 

The bears which frightened De la Roque, and the 
lions, which he says come down to the marshes of 
Jordan to drink, may point out the quarter that fur- 
nished those sanguinary animals which destroyed the 
new settlers in the land of Israel, (2 Kings xvii. 25, 
26.) as the country is the same ; and it is likely that, 
during the interval of population, these wild animals 
should have roamed over a greater tract of country 
than usual ; out of which they were not easily ex- 
pelled. It is likely, too, that when the prophet threat- 
ens that the king of Babylon shall come "as a lion 
from the swelling of Jordan," (Jer. xlix. 19; 1.44.) 
he may not so much allude to the stream of Jordan, 
where it runs in a considerable body, between its 
banks, as probably lions are rarely seen so low, but 
to the marshes of Jordan, to which De la Roque says 
they come down from the neighboring mountains ; 
which marshes being at some times dry, and at other 
times overflowed, annually, may justly be described 
as the swellings of Jordan. (Comp. Zech. xi. 3.) The 
same place may also be intended under this descrip- 
tion : (Jer. a"i. 5.) " If thou hast run with the footmen, 



and they have wearied thee, how canst thou contend 
with horses? And if in the land of peace (solid land, 
firm footing) thou hast been wearied, how wilt thou 
do, when called to exert thyself in such slippery and 
uncertain footing as the marshes (swellings) of Jor- 
dan are ?"— much resembling, probably, the bogs of 
Ireland. The wild beasts enumerated by this trav- 
eller, with such others as we may suppose inhabit, 
or haunt, the various branches of this mountain, may 
furnish the true import of the expression, (Hab. ii. 17.) 
" The violence of Lebanon shall cover thee ; even 
the terrific ravages of wild beasts ; " to which that 
mountain affords shelter and covert. 

Lebanon is certainly taken for cedars of Lebanon. 
Thus Solomon's palace is called the "house of the 
forest of Lebanon ;" it was supported, probably by 
pillars of cedar, as numerous as trees in a forest. 
When we read " The fruit thereof shall shake like 
Lebanon," we suppose the majestic cedars furnish 
the simile: so, "He cast forth his roots as Lebanon," 
not the mountain, but the cedars on it. The temple 
of Jerusalem is also called Lebanon : " Open thy 
doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy ce- 
dars," says Zechariah, (xi. 1.) speaking of the future 
desolation of the temple by the Romans. 

Tower of Libanus. — Solomon (Gant. vii. 4.) corn- 
pares his spouse's nose to "the tower of Lebanon, 
which looketh towards Damascus." Travellers speak 
of a tower seen on Libanus on the side next Damas- 
cus, which seems to have been very high. Benja- 
min of Tudela assures us, that the stones of this 
tower, the remains of which he had seen, were twen- 
ty palms long, and twelve wide. Gabriel Sionita says, 
that it was a hundred cubits high, and fifty broad. 

LIBATION, a word used in sacrificial language, 
to express an affusion of liquors, poured upon vic- 
tims to be sacrificed to the Lord. The quantity of 
wine for a libation was the fourth part of a hin ; 
rather more than two pints. Among the Hebrews 
libations were poured on the victim after it was 
killed, and the several pieces of it laid on the altar, 
ready to be consumed by the flames, Lev. vi. 20 ; 
viii. 25, 26 ; ix. 4 ; xvi. 12, 20 ; xxiii. 13. They con- 
sisted in offerings of bread, wine and salt. Paul 
describes himself, says Calmet, as a victim about to 
be sacrificed, the accustomed libations of meal and 
wine being already, in a manner, poured upon him : 
(2 Tim. iv. 6.) " For I am ready to be offered, and the 
time of my departure is at hand." But it is probable 
that the apostle refers to the manner of pouring out 
the blood of the victims, at the foot of the altar, 
which was the ceremony prescribed in the Hebrew 
ritual, rather than to the libations poured upon the 
victim, as practised by the heathen : — 'Eyi> y'uo ijStj 
anhSouai — For 1 am now pouring out, or going to be 
poured out, as a libation. The same expressive sac- 
rificial term occurs in Phil. ii. 17, where the apos- 
tle represents the faith of the Philippians as a sac- 
rifice, and his own blood as a libation poured forth 
to hallow and consecrate it: — 'A'/.V d ?.ai anivSofiat 
inl T>) &vain xal XctTovny'iq rijc niaraaf vfioir, xaiga xai 
avy yu'ioo) TtaOtv tliiv ; — the strength and beauty of the 
passage cannot be comprehended from a translation. 

LIBERTINES, Synagogue or, Acts vi. 9. This 
Synagogue of the Libertines obviously stands con- 
nected with the Cyrenians and Alexandrians, both of 
which were of African origin ; it is, therefore, most 
probable that the Libertines were of African origin 
also ; and without assentingto the entire history of tie 
liberation of the Jewish captives in Egypt, by Ptolerr y 
Philadelphus, in its utmost extent, as to their nun 1 



L I B 



[ 629 ] 



L I F 



bers, it is credible, that there may be sufficient truth 
in it, to justify our believing that many Jews and 
Jewish families did obtain their liberty, by the mu- 
nificence of that prince ; the descendants of which 
freedmen, remaining in Egypt, would be known un- 
der an appellation answering to the Latin, libertini. 
Moreover, their residence would naturally connect 
them with their fellow Africans, the Cyreniaus and 
Alexandrians. They are evidently separated, by the 
construction of the language, from " those of Cilicia, 
and of Asia : " and if Luke were of Cyrene, as is 
thought, we see the reason why this conduct of his 
compatriots excited his particular observation. It 
has been thought by some writers that they were a 
nation of Libertini. That there was a place in Af- 
rica called Libcrtina, or some such name, is certain ; 
for in the council of Carthage (c. 116.) two persons 
assumed the title of Episcopus Ecclesiee Libertinen- 
sis. (See Kninoel on Acts vi. 9.) 

LIBERTY, as opposed to servitude and slavery, 
denotes the condition of a man, who may act inde- 
pendently of the will of another. There is frequent 
mention of this liberty in Scripture. The Jews val- 
ued themselves highly on their liberty ; and they 
even boasted, in our Saviour's time, that they had 
nevei been deprived of it, John viii. 33. This from 
them was ridiculous ; since we know that they were 
often subject to foreign powers, under the judges, 
and afterwards to the. kings of Assyria, Chaldea and 
Persia. They were at this very time, also, subject 
to the Romans. It is however true, that the Israel- 
ites, according to the intention of Moses, were never 
to be reduced entirely to a state of bondage. They 
might be sold, or fall into servitude among their 
brethren; but always had a power. of redeeming 
themselves, or procuring themselves to be redeemed 
by their relations, or of being liberated in the sab- 
batical year, or in the jubilee year. Probably, on 
this account they boasted that they never had been 
reduced to slavery. Paul speaks of the liberty of the 
gospel, in opposition to the servitude of the law : 
"We are not the children of the bond-woman, but 
of the free," (Gal. iv. 31.) i. e. we are not derived from 
Hagar, who with her descendants are slaves, but we 
are sons of Sarah the free- woman : we enjoy the 
liberty of God's children, by virtue of the adoption 
procured for us by Jesus Christ ; which liberty de- 
livers us from the yoke of legal ceremonies, from 
the obligation of observing purifications and distinc- 
tions of meats, and many other practices, to which 
the Jews were subjected, Rom. viii. 21; 1 Cor. x. 29; 
2 Cor. iii. 17 ; Gaf. ii. 4, 5 ; James i. 25 ; ii. 12. 

" Liberty to righteousness," in opposition to " the 
bondage of sin," is part of the justification which 
Christ has procured for us ; which we acquire by 
faith in him, and preserve by a holy life, and the prac- 
tice of Christian virtues ; or it is one effect of justifi- 
cation by Christ. (Comp. Rom. vi. 20. Gr. and Eng. 
margin.) 

Liberty and Free-will, in opposition to con- 
straint and necessity. Man is at liberty to do good 
or evil ; (Ecclus. xv. 14, &,c.) there is, however, a great 
difference between our liberty of doing good and of 
doing evil. We have in ourselves the unhappy lib- 
erty of doing evil ; we are prompted to it by our con- 
cupiscence, which indeed we ought always to resist, 
yet shall not really and effectually resist, without the 
assistance of God's grace ; whereas,to do good, though 
we have the liberty of doing it, we cannot as we 
should without the help of grace, which, without vi- 
olating our libertv, incites us agreeably, gently, (nev- 



ertheless, efficaciously,) to prefer what is pleasing to 
God before what is desired by self-love and concu- 
piscence. , 

Manasseh Ben Israel, a famous rabbi, says we 
stand in need of the concurrence of Providence in 
all virtuous actions ; and as a man, who is going to 
take a heavy burden on his shoulders, calls some- 
body to help him up with it, so the just man first en- 
deavors to fulfil the law, while God, like the arm of 
another person, comes to his assistance, that he may 
be able to execute his resolution. This seems to be 
exactly the idea of the apostle in Rom. viii. 26. which 
he expresses by using the word avvavri/.afi^arofiai, 
which Doddridge renders "lendeth us his helping 
hand ;" and which Macknight says properly signi- 
fies " I bear together with another," by taking hold 
of the thing borne on the opposite side, as persons 
do who assist one another in carrying heavy loads. 
Ambrose, very properly, refers this to the weak- 
ness of our prayers (and of our minds too) without 
such aid. 

But we ought to acknowledge that very important 
part of " preventing grace," which so arranges 
circumstances as to diminish, or to disappoint, op- 
portunities of doing evil. There is scarcely any 
thing in life that more strongly and more intelligibly 
calls for gratitude, than those preservations from evil, 
those preventions of bad consequences, those coun- 
teractions of perverse bias, of which every one must 
be conscious, and none more conscious than the most 
virtuous. (Comp. David, 1 Sam. xxv. 32, sq.) 

I. LIBNAH, a city in the south of Judah, (Josh, 
xv. 42.) given to the'priests, and declared a city of 
refuge, 1 Chron. vi. 54, 57. Eusebius and Jerome 
say, it was in the district of Eleutheropolis. 

II. LIBNAH, a station of the Israelites in the des- 
ert, Num. xxxiii. 20. See Exodus, p. 420. 

LIBNATH, or, fully, SHIHOR-LIBNATH, a 
stream near Carmel, on the borders of Asher ; ac- 
cording to Michae'lis, fluvius vitri, the glass river, 
i. e. the Belus, from whose sands glass was first made, 
Josh. xix. 26. R. 

LIBYA, a province of Egypt, which is thought to 
have been peopled by the descendants of Lehabim, 
son of Mizraim, Gen. x. 13. It reached from Alex- 
andria to Cyrene, and perhaps farther. In Nah. iii. 
9, Lubim is rendered Libya, because of its connec- 
tion with Phut, which implies Africa; and probably, 
that part of Africa near and around Carthage, rather 
than Nubia. Josephus says, "Phut was the con- 
ductor of Libya, whose settlements were from him 
called Phutaei. It is beyond the river in the region of 
Mauritania. By this name it is well known in the 
Grecian histories ; adjacent to the region which they 
call Phut." We read of the Lubim in 2 Chron. xii. 
3 ; xvi. 8 ; Nah. iii. 9 ; Dan. xi. 43. Sometimes all Af- 
rica is called Libya ; but we believe it does not oc- 
cur in this sense in Scripture. 

LICE, see Gnat. 

LIFE, Future, Eternal Life, or simply Life, 
signifies the state of the righteous after death, Matt, 
vii. 14 ; xix. 16, 17. Jesus Christ is sometimes called 
the Life, John xiv. 6 ; xi. 25. So, " In him was life ; 
and the'life was the light of men," John i. 4. (See also 
1 John v. 12.) He is the life of the soul ; he enlight- 
ens it, fills it with graces, and leads it to eternal life. 
He is himself the life of it, its sustenance, light and 
happiness. 

In the Old Testament, God promises to those who 
observe his laws, long life and temporal prosperity; 
which were the figure and shadow of eternal life. 



LIF 



[ 630 ] 



LIL 



and of those future blessings expressed more clearly 
in the New Testament. The carnal Jews confined 
their hopes to these transitory blessings ; but the 
holy patriarchs, the prophets, and more enlightened 
Hebrews, carried their views and expectations fur- 
ther. Moses .says, (Deut. xxx. 15, 19,20.) "See, I 
have set before thee this day life and good, and death 
and evil." 

Wisdom, or a knowledge of truths relating to sal- 
vation, is called " the way of life," "the truth of life," 
" the fountain of life ;" or " life," simply. As life is 
the first of blessings belonging to the body, so wisdom 
is the supreme happiness of the soul ; it promotes 
our well-being in this world, and is the source of fe- 
licity to eternity. The principal wisdom, the most 
serious study, of the Hebrews consisted in the 
knowledge of their law; and hence the Holy Spirit 
terms the law, as well as wisdom, life, and the source 
of life; and perhaps also because they both produce 
the same effects for time and for eternity. 

Life is sometimes used for subsistence ; thus it is 
said in Mark xii. 44, that a poor widow, who put two 
very small pieces of silver into the treasury of the 
temple, gave more than any of the rest, because it 
was all she had, even all her living, or life. 

We find an expression in Deut. xxviii. 66, and in 
Job xxiv. 22, which requires explanation : "Thy life 
shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear 
day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy 
life." Some of the fathers understood this of Christ, 
crucified in the sight of the unbelieving Jews, who 
rejected the belief of that Saviour who was their life 
and salvation ; but the meaning is more likely to be, 
"Ye shall be under perpetual fear and uneasiness, and 
shall have no assurance of your own lives." The 
words of Job must be interpreted in the same sense : 
" He riseth up, and no man is sure of life." When 
the wicked man appears most resolute, he shall not 
be assured of his life ; or, according to the Hebrew, 
when he riseth in the midst of his guards, he shall 
not be sure of his life. 

LIFE ; To LIVE. These words, as well as death, 
and to die, are equivocal, and are understood properly 
for the life of the body ; figuratively, for" the life of 
the soul ; for the life of faith, grace and holiness ; for 
temporal life and life eternal. " A living soul " sig- 
nifies a living animal, a living person : " my soul shall 
live because of thee ;" (Gen. xii. 13.) my life will be 
preserved in consideration of thee. " No man shall 
see me and live ;" (Exod. xxxiii. 20.) that is, no man 
can be able to sustain the splendor of my majesty, if 
beheld by his bodily eye. Jehovah was called the 
living God, in opposition to the gods of the Gentiles, 
who were but dead men, stars or animals, whose 
lives are transitory; whereas Jehovah is living, im- 
mortal, and the Author of life to every thing ; in him 
we live ; from him we derive motion and existence, 
Acts xvii. 28. 

The "just man lives by faith," Rom. i. 17. Faith 
gives life to the soul, but it must be animated by 
charity, and accompanied with works, Gal. v. 6; 
James ii. 20. Even they who are dead in sin rise 
again, and lead a new life, when they believe in Christ, 
and put on Christ; and they who have a lively and 
entire faith n, ver die, or rather after death enjoy 
3ternal life, Joh.i xi. 25, 26. The letter kills, but the 
Spirit makes alive, 2 Cor. iii. 6. The law cannot 
make alive ; (Gal. iii. 21.) it cannot communicate 
righteousness, without gospel faith and charity. 

In a figurative sense, " to give life " is used for de- 
livering from great danger. The captives in Baby- 



lon often ask of God, in the Psalms, to restore them 
to life, to deliver them from a state of death, of op- 
pression, of trouble, under which they groaned. 
(Comp. Psalm cxix. 25, 107.) 

LIFR, Book of, see Book, p. 201. 

LIFTING UP THE HANDS is, among the ori- 
entals, a common part of the ceremony of taking an 
oath: "I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord," 
says Abraham, Gen. xiv. 22. And, "I will bring 
you into the land concerning which I lift up my 
hand," (Exod. vi. 8.) which I promised with an 
oath. 

To lift up one's hand against any one, is to at- 
tack him, to fight him, 2 Sam. xviii. 28 ; 1 Kings 
xi. 26. 

To lift up one's face in the presence of any one, 
is to appear boldly in his presence, 2 Sam. ii. 22 ; 
Ezra ix. 6. (See also Job x. 15 ; xi. 15.) 

To lift up one's hands, eyes, soul or HEART, 
unto the Lord, are expressions describing the senti- 
ments and emotion of one who prays earnestly, or 
desires a thing with ardor. 

LIGHT, a subtile fluid, which creates in us a sen- 
sation of colors, and enables us to discern surround- 
ing objects. 

"Light" is often put figuratively for prosperity, as 
night is for adversity: "The light shall shine upon 
thy ways ;" i. e. God shall favor thy conduct. Thou 
hast "lifted up on us the light of thy countenance ;" 
i. e. thou hast granted us thy favor. 

"The light of the living" literally signifies a happy 
life, great prosperity ; but in a moral and spiritual 
sense, it signifies the felicity of eternal life ; as the 
misery of the wicked is described by the darkness of 
death, Ps. lvi. 13 ; cxxix. 12 ; cxlviii. 3, and Job 
xxxiii. 30. God is styled " the Father of lights ;" 
(James i. 17.) the Author of all graces ; and Jesus 
Christ is called " the Light of the world ;" " a Light 
to enlighten the Gentiles," " Light of righteousness ;" 
" the Light of life," John viii. 12 ; i. 8. (Comp. Isa. 
fx. 1.) The apostles are the light of the world, (Matt. 

v. 14.) by showing forth the doctrines and graces of 
their divine Master. 

LIGN-ALOES, see Aloes I. 

LILY, jbmc, susan, or shushan, so called, perhaps, 
by reason of the number of its leaves, which are six, 
in Heb. ses, or shesh. There are lilies of different 
colors, white, red, yellow and orange-colored. They 
were common in Judea, and grew in the open fields. 
" Consider the lilies of the field," says Christ, (Matt. 

vi. 28.) "how they grow, they toil not, neither do 
they spin ; yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his 
glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, 
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day 
is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not 
much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?" Luke xii. 
27. Father Souciet affirms, that the lily mentioned 
in Scripture, is the crown imperial ; that is, the Per- 
sian lily, the tusa'i of the Persians, the royal lily, or 
lilium basileium, of the Greeks. In reality it appears 
from the Canticles, that the lily spoken of by Solo- 
mon was red, and distilled a certain liquor, Cant. v. 
13. The very learned Celsus, however, supposes it 
to be the white lily, which the Arabs call susanu. It 
has a great resemblance to this pancratium, which in 
whiteness surpasses lilies, and the most perfect white 
produceable by the art of dyeing. White dresses 
were formerly reserved for the masters of the sacri- 
fices. May we hence conclude, says Forskal, that 
this, as well as the purple, was an appendage to roy- 
alty ? There are crown imperials with yellow flow 



LIO 



[ 631 ] 



LOC 



ers ; but those with red are the most common. They 
are always bent downwards, and disposed in the 
manner of a crown at the extremity of the stem, 
which has a tuft of leaves at the top. At the bottom 
of each leaf of this flower is a certain watery humor, 
forming, as it were, a very white pearl, which grad- 
ually distils very clear and pure drops of water. This 
water is probably what the spouse in the Canticles 
called myrrh. Judith speaks of an ornament belong- 
ing to the women, which was called lily, Jud. x. 3. 
What these lilies were, we cannot tell. In the judg- 
ment of Grotius, they might be something which 
hung about the neck. Perhaps lilia may be a fault 
of the copyist, who, instead of monilia, bracelets, 
which he did not understand, inserted lilia. The 
Greek says pselia, and the Syriac the same, i. e. 
chains, necklaces or bracelets. 

LINE. To stretch a line over a city, is to destroy 
it, Zech. i. 16 ; Jer. ii. 8. 

LINEN, bad, the produce of a well-known 
plant, flax, whose bark, being prepared, serves to 
make fine and much esteemed linen clothes. Another 
sort of linen Scripture calls w, shesh; (Gen. xli. 42.) 
[and at a later period fia, bids, Greek pvaaog, byssus, 
1 Chron. xv. 27 ; Esth. i. 6, et al. This, however, is 
strictly the fine Egyptian cotton, and the white cloth 
made from it. This cloth, so celebrated in ancient 
times, is still found wrapped around mummies; and 
appears to have been about of the texture and quality 
of the ordinary cotton sheeting of the present day. 
Both these Hebrew words signify originally white. R. 

LINUS, a Christian mentioned by Paul, (2 Tim. 
iv. 21.) and whom Irenseus, Eusebius, Optatus, 
Epiphanius, Augustin, Jerome and Theodoret affirm 
to have succeeded Peter as bishop of Rome. 

It was not possible that Calmet could have access 
to the Welsh Triads, which only within these few 
years have appeared in English. Mr. Taylor thinks 
there is little hazard in taking Limts for the British 
Q/Llin, brother of Claudia. [The only ground for 
this conjecture seems to be that each of these names 
contains the three letters lin. R.] If so, it agrees with 
the history that Christianity had made converts in 
the family of Brennus, king of Britain, and Caracta- 
cus, his son, then prisoners at Rome ; and the first 
(Gentile) bishop of Rome was a Briton. See Chris- 
tianity. 

LION, a well known and noble beast, frequently 
spoken of in Scripture. It was common in Palestine, 
and the Hebrews have seven words to signify the 
lion in different ages, (1.) tu, gur, or gor, a young 
lion, a whelp. (2.) -vdd, kephir, a young lion. (3.) >ik, 
rvw, ari, or aryeh, a young and vigorous lion. (4.) Snc, 
shahal, a lion in the full strength of his age. (5.) ynv, 
shahats, a vigorous lion. (6.) smS, Ubia, an old lion. 
(7.) pi 1 ?, laish, a decrepit lion, worn out with age. But 
these distinctions are not always used in speaking of 
the lion. 

" The lion of the tribe of Judah " (Rev. v. 5.) is 
Jesus Christ, who sprung from the tribe of Judah, 
and the race of David, and overcame death, the 
world and the devil. It is supposed by some, that a 
lion was the device of the tribe of Judah : whence 
this allusion. (Comp. Gen. xlix. 9.) 

The lion " from the swelling of Jordan," (Jer. i. 44.) 
is, figuratively, Nebuchadnezzar marching like a lion 
against Judea. He is compared to a lion by reason 
of his strength and fierceness : to a lion driven by the 
rising waters from the neighborhood of Jordan, 
where he had lain amidst the thickets which cover 
the banks of that river. (See Jordan.) A lion which 



in his anger falls with fury on every thing he meets 
in the fields. 

Samson, on his way to Timnath. having torn a 
young lion to pieces with his hands, (Judg. xiv.) 
found, as he afterwards passed by that way, that bees 
had made their honey in the skeleton, which was 
then dried up. This furnished him with a riddle 
which he proposed to the young men his compan- 
ions at his wedding: " the devourer furnished meat, 
and the strong yielded sweetness." See Samson. 

David boasts, that he had killed a lion and a bear, 
(1 Sam. xvii. 34, 35.) and Ecclesiasticus says, (xlvii. 
3.) that he played with bears and lions, as he would 
do with lambs. 

Isaiah, (xi. 6.) describing the happy time of the 
Messiah, says, " The calf, the young lion and the fat- 
ling shall lie down together, and a little child shall 
lead them ;" and that " the lion should eat straw like 
the ox;" signifying the peace and happiness of the 
church of Christ. 

The roaring of the lion is terrible, (Amosiii. 8.) and 
therefore it is said, " The king's wrath is as the roar- 
ing of a lion ; whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth 
against his own soul ;" (Prov. xix. 12 ; xx. 2.) i. e. he 
seeketh his own death. 

LIP, in Hebrew, is sometimes used for the bank 
of a river, for the border of a vessel or table, Josh, 
iii. 8 ; 2 Chron. iv. 2. It also signifies language. 
Gen. xi. 1 ; Exod. vi. 12, &c. " We will render thee 
the calves of our lips," says Hosea ; (xiv. 2.) that is, 
sacrifices of praise, instead of bloody victims. " I do 
not send thee," says the Lord to Ezekiel, (iii. 5.) " to 
a people deep of lip," of an unknown language. 

LIZARD. Several species of lizards are well 
known. There are some in Arabia, a cubit in length ; 
but in the Indies there are some much longer. They 
are still sometimes eaten, as they probably were in 
Arabia and Judea, since Moses forbids them as food. 

We find several sorts of lizards mentioned in 
Scripture ; r\Xah, Utah ; ur_r\, hornet ; nccjn, tinshemeth ; 
(Lev. xi. 30.) and rtoi-ts>, shemamith. The third is trans- 
lated mole ; but Bochart maintains that it is the 
chamelion (which is a kind of lizard.) 

LOAVES, see Bread. 

LOCUST, a voracious insect, belonging to the 
grasshopper or grylli genus, and a great scourge in 
oriental countries. 

Moses declares all creatures that fly and walk on 
four feet to be impure, but he excepts those which, 
having their hind feet longer than the others, skip, 
and do not crawl upon the earth. Afterwards (Lev. 
xi. 22.) he describes four sorts of locusts, or, it may be, 
the same sort in different states : — ro-iN, arbeh ; c^j'Sd, 
salam, Su-in, hargol, and a.in, hagab ; which Jerome 
translates bruchus, attacus, ophiomacvs, and locusta. 

On many occasions the locust has been employed 
by the Almighty for chastising his guilty creatures. A 
swarm of locusts were among the plagues of Egypt, 
when they covered the whole land, so that the earth 
was darkened ; and they devoured every green herb 
of the earth, and the fruit of every tree which the hail 
had left, Exod. x. 15. But the most, particular de- 
scription of this insect, and of its destructive career, 
mentioned in the sacred writings, is to be found in 
Joel ii. 3 — 10. This is, perhaps, one of the most 
striking and animated descriptions to be met with in 
the whole compass of prophecy. The contexture of 
the passage is extremely curious ; and the double de- 
struction to be produced by locusts, And the enemies 
of which they were the harbingers, is painted with 
the most expressive force, and described with the 



LOCUST 



[ 632 ] 



LOCUST 



most terrible accuracy. We may fancy the destroy- 
ing army to be moving before us while we read, and 
imagine that we see the desolation spreading. The 
following extracts may furnish a commentary upon 
this and other passages in the Holy Scriptures : — ■ 

" I never observed the mantes (a kind of locusts) 
to be gregarious ; but the locusts, properly so called, 
which are so frequently mentioned by sacred as well 
as profane authors, are sometimes so beyond expres- 
sion. Those which I saw, anno 1724 and 1725, 
were much bigger than our common grasshoppers, 
and had brown spotted wings, with legs and bodies 
of a bright yellow. Their first appearance was to- 
wards the latter end of March, the wind having been 
some time from the south. In the middle of April 
their numbers were so vastly increased, that in the 
heat of the day they formed themselves into large and 
numerous swarms, flew in the air like a succession 
of clouds, and as the prophet Joel expresses it, they 
darkened the sun. When the wind blew briskly, so 
that these swarms were crowded by others, or thrown 
one upon another, we had a lively idea of that com- 
parison of the psalmist, (Ps. fix. 23.) of being tossed 
up and down as the locust. In the month of May, 
when the ovaries of these insects were ripe and tur- 
gid, each of these swarms began gradually to disap- 
pear, and retired into the Metijiah, and other adjacent 
plains, where they deposited their eggs. These were 
no sooner hatched in June, than each of the broods 
collected itself into a compact body of a furlong or 
more in square, and marching afterwards directly 
forward towards the sea, they let nothing escape 
them ; eating up every thing that was green and juicy, 
not only the lesser kinds of vegetables, but the vine 
likewise, the fig-tree, the pomegranate, the palm, and the 
apple-tree, even all the trees of the field, (Joel i. 12.) in 
doing which, they kept their ranks like men of war, 
climbing over, as they advanced, every tree or wall 
that was in their way ; nay, they entered into our very 
houses and bed-chambers like thieves. The inhab- 
itants, to stop their progress, made a variety of pits 
and trenches all over their fields and gardens, which 
they filled with water ; or else they heaped up there- 
in heath, stubble, and such like combustible matter, 
which were severally set on fire upon the approach 
of the locusts. But this was all to no purpose, for 
the trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires 
extinguished by infinite swarms succeeding one 
another, whilst the front was regardless of danger, 
and the rear pressed on so close, that a retreat was 
altogether impossible. A day or two after, one of 
these broods was in motion, others were already 
hatched to march and glean after them, gnawing off 
the very bark, and the young branches of such trees, 
as had before escaped with the loss only of their fruit 
and foliage. So justly have they been compared by 
the prophet to a great army, who further observes, 
that the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and 
behind them a desolate wilderness." (Shaw's Travels, 
p. 187, 4to.) 

Colonel Needham, who had lived some time in Ten- 
erifFe, informed sir- Hans Sloane, that in 1649 locusts 
destroyed all the product of that island. They saw 
them come from off the coast of Barbary, the wind 
being a Levant from thence. They flew as far as 
they could ; then one alighted in the sea, and another 
upon that, so that one after another they made a heap 
as large as the greatest ship above water, and were 
thought to be almost as many under. Those above 
water, on the next day, after the sun's refreshing 
them, took flight again, and came in clouds to the 



island, from whence they had perceived them in the 
air, and had gathered all the soldiers of the island 
and of Laguna together, being 7000 or 8000 men 
who, laying aside their arms, some took bags, some 
spades, and having notice by their scouts from the 
hills where they alighted, they went forward, made 
trenches, and brought their bags full, and covered 
them with mould. This, however, did not do, for 
some of the locusts escaped, or, being cast on the 
shore, were revived by the sun, and flew about and 
destroyed all the vineyards and trees. They ate the 
leaves and even the bark of the vines where they 
alighted. But all would not do ; the locusts remained 
there for four months ; cattle ate them and died, and 
so did several men ; and others struck out in blotches. 
The other Canary islands were so troubled also, that 
they were forced to bury their provisions. " I can- 
not better represent their flight to you," says Beau- 
plan, " than by comparing it to the flakes of snow in 
cloudy weather, driven about by the wind ; and when 
they alight upon the ground to feed, the plains are 
all covered, and they make a murmurmg noise as 
they eat, and in less than two hours they devour all 
close to the ground ; then rising, they suffer them- 
selves to be carried away by the wind ; and when 
they fly, though the sun shines ever so bright, it is no 
lighter than when most clouded. The air was so 
full of them, that 1 could not eat in my chamber 
without a candle ; (Joel ii. 2, 10.) all the houses being 
full of them, even the stables, barns, chambers, gar- 
rets, and cellars, ver. 9. I caused cannon-powder 
and sulphur to be burnt to expel them, but all to no 
purpose ; for when the door was opened an infinite 
number came in, and the others went out, fluttering 
about ; and it was a troublesome thing, when a man 
went abroad, to be hit on the face by those creatures, 
sometimes on the nose, sometimes the eyes, and 
sometimes the cheeks, so that there was no opening 
one's mouth but some would get in. Yet all this was 
nothing, for when we were to eat, those creatures 
gave us no respite ; and when we cut a bit of meat, 
we cut a locust with it ; and when a man opened his 
mouth to put in a morsel, he was sure to chew one 
of them. I have seen them at night, when they sit 
to rest them, that the roads were four inches thick 
of them, one upon another ; so that the horses would 
not trample over them, but as they were put on with 
much lashing, pricking up their ears, snorting and 
treading fearfully. The wheels of our carts and the 
feet of our horses bruising those creatures, there 
came from them such a stink, as not only offended 
the nose, but the brain. I was not able to endure 
that stench, but was forced to wash my nose with 
vinegar, and hold a handkerchief dipped in it contin- 
ually at my nostrils. The swine feast upon them as a 
dainty, and grow fat ; but nobody will eat of them so 
fattened, only because they abhor that sort of vermin 
that does them so much harm." (Gent.'s Mag. 1748.) 

Mr. Morier says, "On the 11th of June, while 
seated in our tents about noon, we heard a very un- 
usual noise, that sounded like the rustling of a great 
wind at a distance. On looking up we perceived an 
immense cloud, here and there semi-transparent, in 
other parts quite black, that spread itself all over ihe 
sky, and at intervals shadowed the sun. These we 
soon found to be locusts, whole swarms of them fall- 
ing about us . . . These were of a red color, and I 
should suppose are the red predatory locusts, one of 
the Egyptian plagues ; they are also the ' great grass- 
hopper,' mentioned by the prophet Nahum ; no doubt 
in contradistinction to the lesser, chap. iii. 17. As 



LOCUST 



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LOCUST 



soon as they appeared, the gardeners and nusband- 
men made loud shouts, to prevent their settling on 
their grounds. It is to this custom that the prophet 
Jeremiah, perhaps, alludes, when he says, ' Surely I 
will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars, and they 
shall lift up a shout against thee,' chap. li. 14. They 
seemed to be impelled by one common instinct, and 
moved in one body, which had the appearance of 
being organized by a leader, Joel ii. 7. Their 
strength must be very great, if we consider what im- 
mense journeys they have been known to make." 
(Second Journey, p. 99.) 

[In order to afford the fullest information respect- 
ing these insects, which constitute so terrible a 
scourge in oriental countries, the following extracts 
from Niebuhr and Burckhardt are here subjoined. 
Each of these travellers relates only what he himself 
saw. 

Niebuhr thus gives the sum of all the information 
which he had collected respecting the locusts : 
(Descr. of Arabia, p. 168, Germ, ed.) "Locusts are 
very frequent in the East; but still, not so much so, 
perhaps, as is generally supposed in Europe. The 
first great flight of locusts that we saw was at Cairo, 
about the end of December, 1761 ; and on the 9th of 
January, 1762, there was another, in the same city, 
still more terrible, which came with the south-west 
wind, and consequently from over the Libyan desert. 
Of these last great numbers fell upon the roofs of 
the houses and in the streets, perhaps from being 
fatigued with their long journey. After this I saw 
no locusts in any great number until after our arrival 
in Djidda. An immense swarm of them arrived at 
this place in the night between the 10th and 11th of 
November, 1762, brought by a west wind, and conse- 
quently from across the Arabian gulf, which is here 
very broad. Very many of them had found their 
graves in the water. On the 17th of the same month, 
another flight of them arrived at Djidda, but not so 
large as the former. In May, as the dates began to 
ripen in Tehama, there came several times to Mocha 
immense swarms, from the west or south ; conse- 
quently across the Red sea. They commonly the 
next day either turned back, or continued their jour- 
ney eastwards to the mountainous parts of the coun- 
try. The sea at Mocha, as is well known, is not very 
broad ; nevertheless, the shore was sometimes thickly 
covered with the dead locusts. In the beginning of 
July, 1763, we saw innumerable multitudes of locusts 
in the mountain Sumara, and on the way from thence 
to Yerim. On the 17th of April, 1766, 1 fell in with, 
so to speak, a nest of locusts. A large tract of land 
near Tel el Hana, on the way between Mosul and 
Nissebin, was entirely covered with young locusts, not 
yet much larger than a common fly. Their wings 
were as yet scarcely to be seen ; and of the hinder 
legs they seemed to have only the upper half. These 
locusts are saib to acquire their full size with aston- 
ishing rapidity. Had there been in this country a 
good police, it would have been easy to have de- 
stroyed here multitudes of these insects, in their birth, 
as it were ; and thus probably have prevented much 
damage. A heavy rain would probably also have 
been fatal to these young insects ; for, wherever I 
have seen locusts, there had been no rain for some 
time ; and whenever rainy weather appeared, they 
departed. 

"Except in the countries above mentioned, I have 
seen no locusts, at least, not in such numbers as to 
think it worth while to note them. The locust of 
these swarms is the same that the Arabs eat ; and 
80 



also, as I remember to have heard from Forskal, the 
same which has been seen in Germany." 

Burckhardt first fell in with locusts in the Haouran, 
not far from Bozra : (Travels in Syria, &c. p. 238.) 
" It was at Naeme that I saw, for the first time, a 
swarm of locusts: they so completely covered the 
surface of the ground, that my horse killed numbers 
of them at every step ; whilst I had the greatest dif- 
ficulty in keeping from my face those that rose up 
and flew about. This species is called, in Syria, the 
Djerad Nedjdyat, or flying locusts, being thus distin- 
guished from the^other species, called Djerad Dsahhqf, 
or devouring locusts. The former have a yellow body, 
a gray breast, and wings of a dirty white, with gray 
spots. The latter, I was told, have a whitish gray 
body, and white wings. The Nedjdyat are much 
less dreaded than the others, because they feed only 
upon the leaves of trees and vegetables, sparing the 
wheat and barley. The Dsahhaf, on the contrary, 
devour whatever vegetation they meet with, and are 
the terror of the husbandmen ; the Nedjdyat attack 
only the produce of the gardener, or the wild herbs 
of the desert. I was told, however, that the offspring 
of the Nedjdyat, produced in Syria, partake of the 
voracity of the Dsahhaf, and like them prey upon the 
crops of grain. 

" The natural enemy of the locust is the bird Seme- 
mar, which is of the size of a swallow, and devours 
vast numbers of them. It is even said that the lo- 
custs take flight at the cry of this bird. But if the 
whole feathered tribe of the districts visited by locusts 
were to unite their efforts, it would avail little, so 
immense are the numbers of these dreadful insects." 

In Southern Africa, the plague of locusts would 
seem to be not much less than in Asia. The follow- 
ing is an extract from a newspaper published at 
Cape Town, July 30, 1831 : " About a month ago an 
innumerable swarm of locusts made their appearance 
on the place of Mr. De Waal, Field Cornet, Cold 
Bokkeveld : the swarm covers more than a mile 
square, when they settle on the grass or among the 
bushes. An attempt was made to destroy them, by 
setting fire to the bushes in the morning, before they 
began to fly ; but although millions have been de- 
stroyed in this manner, their number appears noth- 
ing decreased. Towards the afternoon, if the weather 
is warm, they arise, and appear to drive with the 
wind. They do not rise high, but their thickness is 
such as to darken the place over which they fly ; 
they come round and cover the house and offices, 
and also the garden. When they settle, they eat the 
place bare in a few minutes ; there is, however, grass 
sufficient to satisfy this immense multitude, without 
any loss being felt. A cloud of them passed within 
a few yards of my window yesterday afternoon, in a 
train of many millions thick, and about an hour in 
length ; they were so near that I could catch them 
without going out : they were eagerly attacked by 
the turkeys and other poultry, which appeared to 
feed deliciously upon them. They have not as yet 
done any harm to the crops, they being too young, 
and the grass more enticing. In their flight, myri- 
ads remain on the ground, which are devoured by 
the crows, black-birds, &c. The fear is, that the 
eggs or spawn which they leave, may produce equal, 
if not more, at some future period, which may then 
be destructive to the crops, after the grass begins to 
dry and waste. In cold, rainy weather they remain 
still ; it is only when it is fine and warm that they 
move." *R. 

Even England has been alarmed by the appear- 



LOCUST 



[ 634 ] 



LOCUST 



ance of locusts, a considerable number having visited 
that country in 1748 : but they happily perished 
without propagating. They have frequently entered 
Italy and Spain, from Africa. In the year 591, an 
immense army of them ravaged a considerable part 
of the former country, and it is said that nearly a 
million of men and beasts were carried off" by a pes- 
tilence occasioned by their stench. 

Such is the general history of the locust-swarms, 
and their devastations: the following more particular 
account of the manners of this insect and its noxious 
qualities is translated from Rozier's Journal de Phy- 
sique, Nov. 1786, p. 321, &c. It was furnished by 
M. Baron, Conseiller en la Courdes Comptes, &c. at 
Montpelier :— 

"These insects seek each other the moment they 
are able to use their wings : after their union, the 
female lays her eggs in a hole which she makes in 
the earth ; and for this purpose she seeks light 
sandy earth, avoiding moist, compact and cultivated 
grounds. A Spanish author says, ' Should even a 
million of locusts fall on a cultivated field, not one of 
them may be expected to lay her eggs in it ; but if 
there be in this space a piece of earth not cultivated, 
though it be very small, thither they will all resort 
fur that purpose.' The sense of smelling is supposed 
to direct this preference. The eggs lie all the win- 
ter, till the warmth of spring calls them into life. 
They appear at first in the form of worms, not larger 
than a flea, at first whitish, then blackish, at length 
reddish. They undergo several other changes: ac- 
cording to the heat of the season and situation, is the 
time of their appearance. ' I have seen,' says the 
Spanish writer already referred to, ' at Almiera mill- 
ions creep forth, in the month of February, because 
this spot is remarkably forward in its productions. 
In Sierra Nevada they quit the nest in April ; and I 
have observed that in La Mancha they were not all 
vivified at the beginning of May.' Heat also pro- 
motes their numbers; for, if the heat be sufficient, 
every egg is hatched ; not so if cold weather prevails. 
Dryness favors the production of locusts; for, as this 
insect deposits its eggs in the ground, enclosed in a 
bag, and this bag is smeared with a frothy white 
mucus, if the season be wet, this mucus becomes 
rotten, the ground moistens the eggs, and the whole 
brood perishes. Eight or ten days' rain, at the proper 
season, is a certain deliverance from the broods com- 
mitted to the earth. 

"There is no doubt on the changes to which the 
locust is subject. The same animal which appears 
at first in the form of a worm, passes afterwards into 
the state of a nymph ; and undergoes a third meta- 
morphosis by quitting its skin, and becoming a per- 
fect animal, capable of continuing its species. A lo- 
cust remains in its nymph state 24 or 25 days, more 
or less, according to the season : when, having ac- 
quired its full growth, it refrains some days from 
eating ; and, gradually bursting its skin, comes forth 
a new animal, full of life and vigor. These- insects 
leap to a height two hundred times the length of their 
bodies, by means of those powerful legs and thighs, 
which are articulated near the centre of the body. 
When raised to a certain height in the air, they 
spread their wings, and are so closely embodied to- 
gether, as to form but one mass, intercepting the rays 
of the sun, almost by a total eclipse. 

"In the south of France, besides the labors of men 
to discover the eggs of the locust, about September 
and October, or in the month of March, they turn 
troops of hogs into the grounds that are suspected of 



concealing their nests, and these animals, by turning 
up the earth with their snouts, in search of a food 
which they are fond of, clear away vast quantities. 
In Languedoc they dig pits, into which they throw 
them :— great care is necessary in destroying them, 
that they are not hurtful after they are dead. The 
infection spread by their corrupting carcasses is in- 
supportable. Surius and Cornelius Gemma, both 
mentioning a prodigious incursion of locusts in 1542, 
report, that after their death, they infected the air 
with such a stench, that the ravens, crows, and other 
birds of prey, though hungry, yet would not come 
near their carcasses. We have ourselves experi- 
enced two years ago the truth of this fact ; the pits 
where they had been buried, after twenty-four hours, 
could not be passed." 

Upon this information Mr. Taylor submits the fol- 
lowing remarks : 

1. Heat and dryness are favorable to the increase 
of locusts. We think, therefore, that when God 
threatens to bring a plague of locusts over Israel, as 
in Joel, (chap, ii.) it may imply also a summer of 
drought. So we read, chap. i. veVse 20 : " The rivers 
of water are dried up ; the fire hath devoured the 
pastures of the wilderness:" — and after the removal 
of this plague : (chap. ii. 23.) " The Lord giveth the 
former rain moderately . . . and the latter rain . . . and 
will (by means, no doubt, of these showers) restore 
the years that the locust hath eaten." Indeed, on 
attentively perusing that chapter, we shall find these 
extracts to be direct comments upon it. Compare a 
few verses: "Blow the trumpet . . . sound an alarm 
... let all the inhabitants of the land tremble ;" as at 
Teneriffe, when the whole population watched the 
flying invaders with the most painful anxiety. " A day 
of darkness and gloominess . . of clouds . . of thick 
darkness, as the morning spread on the mountains." 
" They are like flakes of snow," says one writer, 
" when they fly : though the sun shines ever so 
bright, it is no lighter than when most clouded :" — 
" they darken the sun, so that travellers could not de- 
scry the town." " A great (rather a numerous) peo- 
ple, and a strong:"— their numbers are noticed by 
every writer. "The land is as the garden of Eden 
before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness :" 
— " they eat up all sorts of grain and grass, cabbage 
leaf, lettuce, blossoms of apple and crab-trees, and 
especially the leaves of the oaks, grassy rushes and 
reeds," — " yea, and nothing shall escape tht as. The 
appearance of them is as the appearance of horses. 
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains 
shall they leap :" — " You cannot conceive the noise 
made by those insects in their flight." "Like the 
noise of a flame of fire that devoureth stubble :" — 
"they make a murmuring noise as they eat." "Be- 
fore their face the people shall be much pained . . 
They shall run like mighty men ; they shall climb 
the wall like men of war . . . They shall run to and 
fro in the city ; they shall run upon the wall ; they 
shall climb upon the houses ; they shall enter in at 
the windows, like a thief." See 'what is observed 
from Beauplan, of " every room being full ; and even 
every dish of meat." After the terrible devastation 
committed by these ravages, the Lord calls to re- 
pentance; and promises, on the penitential humilia 
tion of his people, to remove far off the northern 
army ; and drive him into a land, barren and deso 
late, with his face toward the East sea, and his hindei 
J part toward the utmost sea: and his stink shall come 
I up and his ill savor. It is remarkable, that our ex- 
I tracts agree in recording the stink and ill savor of 



LOCUST 



[ 635 ] 



LOCUST 



the locust : " They leave behind them an intolerable 
stench." " They leave a great stench behind them :" 
and M. Baron gives strict orders concerning the ef- 
fectual interment of these masses of corruption ; ob- 
serving, " The infection left by their carcasses is in- 
supportable." 

The prophet Nahum says of the locusts, that they 
camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the 
sun ariseth they flee away. Every observer notices 
the torpid effect of cold, and the invigorating powers 
of heat, on the locust. 

2. Another remarkable particular appears to have 
considerable connection with some things said on 
Exod. xvi. 13. that " in the morning, or eveuing, or 
in misty weather, locusts do not see equally well, nor 
fly so high ; they suffer themselves to be more closely 
approached ; they are stiff" and slow in their motions ; 
and are more easily destroyed." This supports rath- 
er the opinion of those who consider the word selav 
as denoting a mist, or fog ; and think it possible that 
the word selavim (Num. xi. 31.) may express those 
clouds of locusts, which compose these flying armies. 
The opposition of two winds was likely to produce 
a calm, and a calm to cause a fog ; the lower flight 
of the locusts, the gathering them during the even- 
ing, all night, and the next morning, agree with these 
extracts ; and the fatal effects (verses 33, 34.) while 
the flesh was yet between the teeth of the people, 
seem to be precisely such as might be expected, from 
the stench of the immense masses of locusts, spread 
all abroad round about the camp. Could a more 
certain way of generating a pestilence have been 
adopted, considering the stench uniformly attributed 
to them, and the malignity attending such infection 
as their dead carcasses so exposed must occasion ? 
[Several interpreters have supposed that the word 
rendered quails in Ex. xvi. 13. means a species of 
ocust ; but this opinion is now generally abandoned, 
although supported by Ludolf and Niebuhr. R. 

As locusts are commonly eaten in Palestine, and 
in the neighboring countries, there is no difficulty 
in supposing, that the word akrides, used by Matthew, 
(fii. 4.) speaking of the food on which John subsisted, 
might signify these insects. The ancients affirm, 
that in Africa, Syria, Persia, and almost throughout 
Asia, the people did commonly eat these creatures. 
Some nations were called Acridophagi, or eaters of 
locusts, because these insects formed their principal 
food. Clenard, in a letter from Fez, (A. D. 1541,) 
assures us, that he saw wagon-loads of locusts 
brought into that city for food. Kirstenius, in his 
notes on Matthew, says, he was informed by his 
Arabic master, that'he had often seen them on the 
river Jordan ; that they were of the same form as 
ours, but larger ; that the inhabitants pluck off their 
wings and feet, and hang up the rest till they grow 
warm and ferment ; and that then they eat them, and 
think them good food. A monk, who had travelled 
into Egypt, assures us, that he had eaten of these lo- 
custs, and that in the country they subsisted on them 
four months in the year. More recent travellers cor- 
roborate these statements. 

[Niebuhr remarks that "it is no more inconceiva- 
ble to Europeans, that the Arabs should eat locusts 
with relish, than it is incredible to the Arabs, who 
have had no intercourse with Christians, that the 
latter should regard oysters, lobsters, &c. as delica- 
cies. Nevertheless, one is just as certain as the other. 
Locusts are brought to market on strings, in all the 
cities of Arabia, from Babelmandeb to Bassorah. On 



mount Samara I saw an Arab who had collected a 
whole sack-full of them. They are prepared in dif- 
ferent ways. An Arab in Egypt, of whom we re- 
quested that he would immediately eat locusts in our 
presence, threw them upon the glowing coals ; and 
after he supposed they were roasted enough, he took 
them by the legs and head, and devoured the re- 
mainder at one mouthful. When the Arabs have 
them in quantities, they roast or dry them in an oven, 
or boil them and eat them with salt. The Arabs in 
the kingdom of Morocco boil the locusts, and then 
dry them on the roofs of their houses. One sees 
there large baskets-full of them in the markets. I 
have myself never tried to eat locusts." (Descr. of 
Arabia, p. 171, Germ, ed.) 

Burekhardt also relates the fact in a similar man- 
ner : (Travels in Syria, &c. p. 239.) "The Be- 
douins eat locusts, which are collected in great quan- 
tities in the beginning of April, when the sexes 
cohabit, and they are easily caught. After having 
been roasted a little upon the iron plate on which 
bread is baked, (see Bread, p. 208.) they are dried in 
the sun, and then put into large sacks, with the mix- 
ture of a little salt. They are never served up as a 
dish, but every one takes a handful of them when 
hungry. The peasants of Syria do not eat locusts; 
nor have I myself ever had an opportunity of tasting 
them. There are a few poor Fellahs in the Haou-* 
ran, however, who sometimes, pressed by hunger, 
make a meal of them ; but they break off the head 
and take out the entrails before they dry them in 
the sun. The Bedouins swallow them entire." 

After these statements, there can surely be no dif- 
ficulty in admitting "locusts "to have been the food 
of John the Baptist, Matt. iii. 4. *R. 

There is a remarkable passage in Eccl. xii. 5. where 
Solomon, describing the infelicities of old age, says, 
according to our translation : " The grasshopper shall 
be a burden ;" but it is generally admitted, that the 
words should be rendered " The locust shall burden 
itself." The word (jjn, hagab) signifies a particular 
species of locust : in Arabic, the word implies to veil, 
or hide, and it probably denotes a kind of hooded lo- 
cust, or the lesser yellowish locust, which greatly re- 
sembles our grasshopper. To this insect the preachei 
compares " a dry, shrunk, shrivelled, crumpling, crag- 
gy old man, his back-bone sticking out, his knees 
projecting forwards, his arms backwards, his head 
downwards, and the apophyses or bunching parts of 
the bones in general enlarged." From this exact 
likeness, says Dr. Smith, without all doubt, arose the 
fable of Tithonus, who, living to an extreme old age, 
was at last turned into a grasshopper. This poetical 
use of the locust, as figurative of an old man, may 
be justified by quoting the pictorial figurative applica- 
tion of the same insect, to the same purpose. In the 
collection of gems in the Florentine gallery, (Plate 
96.) appear several instances, as it seems, of this 
allegory. 

The one here copied, appears to be perfectly coin- 
cident with what is understood to be the true import 
of the royal preacher's expressions. It represents 
an old man, under the emaciated figure of a locust, 
which has loaded his shrunk stature, his drooping 
wings, and his spindle shanks, with a supplicatory 
sacrifice to Venus. In this gem, the idea of an old 
man being signified by the locust, is conspicuous; 
for he stands upright, so far as he can stand upright, 
on his hinder legs ; over his shoulder he carries a 
! kind of yoke, with a loaded basket of offerir/gs at 



LOCUST 



[ 636 ] 



LOCUST 




each end, (a very common instrument in representa- 

. tions of sacrifice,) 
which he grasps 
carefully with his 
two fore legs (the 
other fore legs being 
omitted for the sake 
of similarity,) and he 
proceeds creeping 
(not flying) on tip- 
toe, staggering to- 
wards the column 
which is consecrat- 
ed, as appears by 
evident insignia, to 
the divinity of his 
adoration. 

Surely, these are 
sufficiently remark- 
able coincidences of imagination ; as will appear, on 
analyzing the words of the passage in Ecclesiastes : 

Shall crouch all the daughters of song: 

And of that which is high they shall fear ; 

And alarms [shall be] in the way ; 

And shall drop off" the almond, 

or be dismissed the watcher, 

or be relinquished vigilance ; 

And shall burden itself the locust; 

And abolished is enjoyment. 

The Latin version of Pagninus gives the same 
sense, " Et reprobabitur coitus, et onerabitur dorsum, et 
dissipabitur concupiscentia." 

The adoption of the same emblem of imbecility, 
by persons so distant a^nd different as the royal 
preacher, and the engraver of this gem, at least mer- 
its this remark ; but it seems also to favor the idea, 
that such was a common figurative representation ; 
and, if so, it may justify the inference that the other 
parts of Solomon's description of old age were per- 
fectly familiar to the reader in his day, though to ex- 
plain them thoroughly notu, requires no little share 
of penetration. If this representation be thought 
'ess common, it may be esteemed the more curious. 
But the reason for allegorizing such a character un- 
der the figure of a locust, may be gathered from a 
note of M. Baron : " Ces insectes sont si fortement 
joints dans l'accouplement, que les prenant avec la 
main, ils ne se separent point. Us restent ainsi dans 
la meme situation plusieurs heures, les jours et les 
nuits entieres ; si vous tentez de les separer, vous sen- 
tez qu'ils font resistance, et ce ne peut etre qu'avec 
effort que vous en venez a bout." This is a complete 
vindication of the version adopted by Pagninus ; and, 
being drawn from nature, shows how the same notion 
might be expressed under the same similitude, as well 
by other observers as by the sagacious Solomon. 

No apology is necessary for adding the following : 
"Barzillai was a very aged man, fourscore years old. 
And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to 
live ? Can I discern between good and evil ? Can 
thy servant taste what I eat, or what I drink ? Can 
I hear any more the voice of singing men and sing- 
ing women ? Let thy servant return, to die in my 
own city, and to be buried in the grave of my father, 
and of my mother," 2 Sam. xix. 35. 

The sixth age shifts 



Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, 

With spectacles on's nose, and pouch on's side ; 



His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide 
For his shrunk shank ; and his big manly voice, 
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes 
And whistles in his sound : Last scene of all, 
That ends this strange eventful history, 
Is second childishness and mere oblivion ; 
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing. 

Shakspeare. 

But there is another, and perhaps a more difficult, 
application of the locust as an emblem, in the Book 
of Revelation, chap. ix. The passage has generally 
been thought singular, and has, indeed, been aban- 
doned by most critics as desperate : — 

"And there came out of the smoke, locusts upon 
the earth ; and unto them was given power, as the 
scorpions of the earth have power — and their tor- 
ment was as the torment of a scorpion when he 
striketh a man. And the shapes of the locusts were 
like unto (1) horses prepared unto battle ; and on 
their heads were as it were (2) crowns like gold ; and 
their faces were (3) as the faces of men ; and they 
had hair (4) as the hair of women ; and their teeth 
were (5) as the teeth of lions ; and they had breast- 
plates as it were (6) breast-plates of iron ; and the 
sound of their wings was as the sound of (7) chariot.; 
of many horses, rushing to battle ; and they had 
(8) tails like unto scorpions ; and there were stings in 
their tails .... and (9) they had a king over them.'" 

The following passage from Niebuhr serves in 
part to explain this representation : (Descrip. Arab. p. 
173.) "An Arab of the desert near Basra [Basso- 
rah] informed me of a singular comparison of the 
locust with other animals. The terrible locust of 
chap. ix. of the Apocalypse, not then occurring to 
me, I regarded this comparison as a jest of the Be- 
douin [Arab], and I paid no attention to it, till it was 
repeated by another from Bagdad. It was thus : — 
He compared the head of the locust to that of the 
horse (1, 6) ; its breast to that of the lion (5) / its feet 
to those of the camel ; its body to that of the ser- 
pent ; its tail to that of the scorpion (8); its horns 
[antennrE], if I mistake not. to the locks of hair of a 
virgin (4) ; and so of other parts." [In like manner 
locusts are called by the Italians cavallette, little 
horses; and by the Germans Heupferde. R. 

We have numbered these sentences, that the eye 
may more readily perceive their correspondences. 
Every reader will wish that Niebuhr had been aware 
of the similarity of these descriptions ; he might 
then have illustrated, perhaps, every word of this 
passage. It seems more natural to compare, in No. 
5. their teeth to those of lions, flian their breasts to 
those of lions ; but this is more especially proper to 
the Apocalyptic writer's purpose, as he already had 
informed us of their resemblance to " horses prepar- 
ed for battle." As to the armor, &c. of horses pre- 
pared for battle, in the East, Knolles informs us, that 
the Mamelukes' horses were commonly furnished 
with silver bridles, gilt trappings, and rich saddles; 
and that their necks and breasts were armed with 
plates of iron. It is not therefore unlikely, that they 
had also ornaments resembling crowns of gold, to 
which the horns of the locust might be, with propri- 
ety, compared (2) : we find they had really "breast- 
plates of iron ;" (6) and by their rushing on the ene- 
my, and the use they made of their mouths, as 
described by Knolles, the comparison of them to lo- 
custs seems very applicable. Without entering into 
the question, What these locusts prefigured ? the 
reader will accept the following extracts from this old 



/ 



LOR 



[ 637 ] 



LOT 



writer, (p. 75.) in which those who think that the 
Tartar, or Turkish, nation was intended by the locusts, 
will not fail to discover many 'points of resemblance. 

" About this time (when in the space of a few yeares 
such mutations as had not before of long beene 
seen, chanced in diuers great Monarchies and States) 
that the Tartars, or rather Tattars, inhabiting the 
large, cold and bare countries in the North side of 
Asia, (of all others a most barbarous, fierce, and 
needie Nation,) stirred vp by their owne wants,, and 
the persuasion of one Zingis, (or as some call him, 
Cangis,) holden amongst them for a great Prophet, 
and now by them made their Leader, and honoured 
by the name of Vlu-Chan, that is to say, the mightie 
king, (commonly called the great Cham,) flocking 
together in number like the sand of the sea, and 
conquering first their poore neighbours, of condition 
and qualitie like themselves, and easie enough to be 
entreated with them to seekc their better fortune, like 
swarmes of grasshoppers sent out to deuoure the world, 
passed the high Mountaine Caucasus, part of the 
Mountaine Taurus, of all the Mountaines in the 
world the greatest ; which, beginning neere vnto the 
Archipelago, and ending vpon the Oriental] Ocean, 
and running thorow many great and famous king- 
domes, diuideth Asia into two parts ; ouer which 
great Mountaine, one of the most assured bounders 
of nature, that had so many worlds of yeares shut 
vp this rough and sauage people, they now passing 
without number, and comming downe as it were into 
another World, full of such Nature's pleasant delights 
as neuer were to them be/ore seene, bare downe all 
before them as they went, nothing beeing now able 
to stand in their way." 

It is remarkable, that Solomon says, (Prov. xxx. 
27.) "The locusts have no king ;" but the locusts of 
the Apocalypse have a king, and a dreadful king too — 
Abaddon, — the destroyer. 

LOD, (1 Chron. viii. 12.) see Lydda. 

LOG, a Hebrew measure, which held five sixths 
of a pint ; it is called the fourth part of a cab, 2 
Kings vi. 25 ; Lev. xiv. 10, 12, 24. 

LOIS, Timothy's grandmother, whose faith is 
commended by Paul, 2 Tim. i. 5. 

LOOKING-GLASSES. Moses says, that the de- 
vout women who sat up all night at the door of the 
tabernacle in the wilderness, offered cheerfully their 
" looking-glasses " to be employed in making a brazen 
laver for the purifications of the priests, Exod. xxxviii. 
8. These looking-glasses were, without doubt, of 
brass, since the laver was made out of them. See 
Laver. 

LORD, Dominus ; Kvoiog ; \m«, Adoni, or Adonai; 
Elohim, or Jehovah ; for the Greek and Latin inter- 
preters often put KvQiog, and Dominus, for all these 
names. (1.) The name Lord belongs to God by pre- 
eminence, and in this sense ought never to be given 
to any creature. The Messiah as Son of God, equal 
to the Father, is also often called Lord in the Scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testaments. (2.) This 
name is sometimes given to angels; whether as rep- 
resenting the person of God, or as sent by God. 
Daniel (x. 16, 17.) says to the angel, or, as he calls 
him, to one who spoke to him under a human form ; 
" O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned 
upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how 
can the servant of this my Lord talk with this my 
Lord?" (3.) It is sometimes given to princes, and 
other persons to whom we would show respect, 
though the appellation Jehovah never is. — The word 
Lord in the English version, when printed in small 



capitals, stands always for Jehovah in the Hebrew 
See Jehovah. 

LO-RUHAMAH, not obtaining mercy, a symbol- 
ical name given by Hosea to his daughter, Hos. i. 6. 

LOT, the son of Haran, and nephew of Abraham, 
followed his uncle from Ur, and afterwards from Ha- 
ran, to settle in Canaan, Gen. xi. 31. A. M. 2082. 
Abraham had always a great affection for him, and 
when they could not continue longer together in Ca- 
naan, because they both had large flocks, and their 
shepherds sometimes quarrelled, (Gen. xiii. 6, 7.) he 
gave Lot the choice of his abode. 

About eight years after this separation, Chedor- 
laomer and his allies having attacked the kings of 
Sodom, and the neighboring cities, pillaged Sodom, 
and took many captives, among whom was Lot. 
Abraham, therefore, armed his servants, pursued the 
confederate kings, overtook them near the springs 
of Jordan, recovered the spoil which they had taken, 
and brought back Lot with the other captives. When 
the sins of the Sodomites and of the neighboring 
cities had called down the vengeance of God to pun- 
ish and destroy them, two angels were sent to Sodom, 
to forewarn Lot of the dreadful catastrophe that was 
about to happen. They entered Sodom in the even- 
ing, and in the morning, before day, they took Lot, 
his wife, and his daughters, by the hand, and drew 
them forcibly, as it were, out of their house ; saying, 
" Save yourselves with all haste : look not behind you ; 
get as fast as you are able to the mountain, lest you 
be involved in the calamity of the city." Lot en- 
treated the angels, who consented that he might re- 
tire to Zoar, which was one of the five cities doomed 
to be destroyed. His wife, looking behind her, was 
destroyed. 

Lot left Zoar, and retired with his two daughters 
to a cave in an adjacent mountain. — Conceiving that 
all mankind was destroyed, and that the world would 
end, unless they provided new inhabitants for it, they 
made their father drink, and the eldest lay with him 
without his perceiving it ; she conceived a son whom 
she called Moab. The second daughter did the 
same, and had Amnion. 

Several questions are proposed concerning Lot's 
wife being changed into a pillar of salt. Some are 
of opinion, that being surprised and suffocated with 
fire and smoke, she continued in the same place, as 
immovable as a rock of salt ; others, that a column 
or monument of salt stone was erected on her grave : 
others, that she was stifled in the flame, and became 
a monument of salt to posterity ; that is, a permanent 
and durable monument of her imprudence. The 
common opinion is, that she was suddenly petrified 
and changed into a statue of rock salt, which is as 
hard as the hardest rocks. 

The words of the original, however, have been 
much too strictly taken by translators. rendered 
statue, by no means expresses form, but fixation, set- 
tledness ; hence a military post ; (1 Sam. x. 5.) that 
is, a fixed station ; and as the Hebrews reckoned 
among salts both nitre and bitumen, so the term salt 
here used, may denote the bituminous mass which 
overwhelmed this woman, fixed her to the place 
where it fell upon her, raised a mound over her, of a 
height proportionable to that of her figure, and was 
long afterwards pointed out by the inhabitants as a 
memento of her fate, and a warning against loitering, 
when divinely exhorted, Luke xvii. 32. 

LOTS are mentioned in many places of Scripture. 
God commanded, that lots should be cast on the two 
goats, to ascertain which should be sacrificed. (See 



LOTS 



[ 638 ] 



LOW 



Goat, scape.) He required, also, that the land of 
promise should be divided by lot, (Numb. xxvi. 55, 
56 ; xxxiii. 54 ; xxxiv. 13, &c.) and that the priests 
and Levites should have their cities given to them by 
lot, Josh. xiv. xv. xvi. In the time of David, the 
twenty-four classes of the priests and Levites were 
distributed by lot, to their order of waiting in the 
temple, (1 Chron.vi. 54, 61.) and it would seem from 
Luke i. 9. that the portions of daily duty were ap- 
pointed to the priests by lot ; as Zechariah's lot was to 
burn incense. In the division of the spoil after vic- 
tory, lots were cast to determine the portion of each, 
1 Chron. xxiv. xxv. The soldiers cast lots for our 
Saviour's garments, as had been foretold by the 
prophet; and after the death of Judas, lots were 
cast to decide who should succeed in his place, 
Acts i. 26. 

The manner of casting lots is not described in the 
Scriptures ; but several methods appear to have been 
used. Solomon observes, (Prov. xvi. 33.) that "the 
lot," pebble, "is cast into the lap," p^ro, into the bo- 
som, that is, probably, of an urn, or vase ; which leads 
to a very different idea from lap — the lap of a per- 
son : yet, had our translators used the word bosom, 
which is a more frequent and correct import of the 
word, they would have equally misled the reader, 
had that bosom been referred to a person ; for it does 
not appear that the bosom of a person, that is, of a 
garment worn by a person, was ever used to receive 
lots. But probably several modes of drawing lots, 
or of casting lots, were practised. In support of this 
remark it should be observed, that the same word is 
not always used in the Hebrew to express the event 
of a lot. In Lev. xvi. 8 — 10, the lot is said to ascend, 
n 1 ?}*, i. e. come up out of the vase, or urn. Our 
translation says, "Aaron shall bring the goat on which 
the Lord's lot fell," — but it is, "on which the lot as- 
cended," the direct contrary to falling. " But the 
goat on which the lot ascended — to be the scape- 
goat," &c. This compels us to dissent from the ex- 
planation of the action, by Parkhurst, (Aft. Su,) who 
says, " The stone or mark itself which was cast into 
the urn or vessel, and by the leaping out of which 
(when the vessel was shaken) before another of a 
similar kind, the affair was decided." This is com- 
pletely inconsistent with the action attributed (very 
credibly) to Simon the Just, of drawing out these 
lots : but it may well enough describe what passed in 
the instance of Hainan ; (Esth. iii. 7.) they cast Pur, 
that is, the lot, before Haman, from day to day, and 
from month to month." They "cast" — rather per- 
haps they caused to be cast, (us ^sn,) which is very 
different from drawing out. Also, the manner of 
casting lots on Jonah ; (chap. i. 7.) iVsi, "they cast 
lots, and the lot fell, was cast, on Jonah." It cannot 
well be supposed that these mariners had on board 
their ship the proper vase, with its accompaniments, 
for performing this action with suitable dignity ; but, 
more probably, something of the nature of our dice- 
box was sufficient to answer their purpose. 

We are now brought to a more accurate concep- 
tion of the passage under consideration, in which 
neither of the words just noticed occurs, (Prov. xvi. 
33.) but a very different one, (Stav,) the root of which 
means to cast out, rather than to cast in. It is taken 
sometimes, however, to express a casting in all direc- 
tions ; and hence Mr. Taylor infers that the intention 
of the royal preacher was to express an action of the 
person who holds the lot vase ; that is, strongly shak- 
ing it, for the purpose of commingling the whole of 
ts contents to prevent all preference for one lot over 



another, to the hand of him who is to draw* : — Liter- 
ally, "In a lot vase the lots are shaken in all direc- 
tions ; nevertheless, from the Lord is their whole 
decision — judgment." 

The wise man also acknowledges the usefulness 
of this custom : (Prov. xviii. 18.) " The lot causeth 
contentions to cease, and parteth between the migh- 
ty." It is sometimes forbidden, however; as, when 
it is practised without necessity ; or with superstition ; 
or with a design of tempting God ; or in things in 
which there are other natural means of discovering 
truth, reason and religion furnish better ways to guide 
us. Haman (Esth. iii. 7, &c.) used lots, not only out 
of superstition, but likewise in an unjust and crim- 
inal matter, when he undertook to destroy the Jews. 
Nebuchadnezzar did so in a superstitious manner, 
when, being on the way to Jerusalem, and Rabbath 
of the Ammonites, he cast lots to determine which 
of the two cities he should first attack, Ezek. xxi. 
18, &c. 

LOTS the feast of, see Pur or Pcrim. 

LOVE is a natural passion of the human mind ; 
given to man for the most important purposes. It is 
denominated from its object, as, (1.) Divine love, love 
to God, love to divine things, to whatever relates to 
God, or is appointed or approved by him. Love is 
generally excited in the mind by a sense of some 
good, some excellence, real or supposed, in the object 
beloved ; wherefore, as all good is supremely excel- 
lent, absolutely certain and infinite, in God, he is en- 
titled to our supreme affection. (2.) Brotherly love, 
is an affection arising from a sense of participation 
in certain enjoyments, benefits, &c. of which both 
parties are conscious. In a family, brothers love each 
other, because they are conscious of their mutual re- 
lation, of enjoying the same family advantages, priv- 
ileges, &c. (3.) Christian brotherly love, is assimilated 
to the sentiments and feelings of the former : it is a 
sympathy actuated by a sense of communion in the 
same hopes, the same fears, the same affections, the 
same aversions, the benevolence of the same parent, 
and the general and particular sympathies connected 
with the principles of piety, the union of the Chris- 
tian system, and the reciprocal kindnesses of truly 
renewed minds. 

It is the excellence of the Christian system that it 
ennobles, regulates, and directs this passion to proper 
objects, and moderates it within due bourds. Find- 
ing this principle in the human mind, it does not 
banish but encourage it ; does not depress but exalt 
it ; does not abate but promote it. It is conducted 
by piety to proper objects, is animated with the no- 
blest expectations, and is trained up for perpetual 
exercise in a world where it shall be perfectly puri- 
fied, perfectly extended, and perfectly rewarded. 

LOVE-FEAST, see Agap^. Eng. trans. Feasts 
of charity, Jude 12. 

LOW is taken for station in life, for disposition of 
mind, for national depression, &c. As poverty of 
station is not poverty of spirit, so lowliness of condi- 
tion is not lowliness of mind ; neither is it always 
connected with it. Nevertheless, it is a great bless- 
ing which sometimes attends the dispensations of 
Providence, that they abase a person in this world, 
and bring him into a more suitable disposition of 
mind, a more lowly habit of thought and conduct 
than when his prosperity was high. So that if he 
have occasion to regret the loss of temporal goods, 
he may have much greater reason to rejoice in the 
acquisition of mental and spiritual advantages. See 
Humility. 



LUC 



[ 639 ] 



LUD 



LOWER PARTS of the earth are, (1.) Valleys, 
which diversify the face of the "globe, and are evi- 
dently lower than hills, which also contribute to that 
diversity, Isa. xliv. 23. — (2.) The grave, which, being 
dug into the earth, or into rocks, &c. is the lower 
part of the earth, or that portion of it which is usu- 
ally opened to men : this is sometimes called the 
deep, or abyss ; and, indeed, it is secluded from our 
cognizance, till we are called to visit " that bourn 
from whence no traveller returns," Ps. lxiii. 9 ; Eph. 
iv. 9. — (3.) As to the phrase, "loiver parts of the 
larth," (Ps. cxxxix. 15.) in reference to the mother's 
womb, it is obscure. Perhaps there is a mark of as- 
similation (:>) dropped ; the word may include the 
idea of a mere particle, an atom of earth, — " When I 
was made in secret, when I was compacted into 
form, put together in the most secret of places, (the 
womb,) and endued with life, though a minute par- 
ticle of clay, an atom of earth," as the foetus in the 
embryo, the chick in the egg ; quasi animalcula in 
semine, &c. Or the passage may have reference to 
the first formation of man from the dust of the earth. 
Gen. ii. 7. It does not appear necessary to take the 
Hebrew word, rendered " lower parts," as expressing 
the extremely deep, or central parts, in reference to 
the general globe of the earth, (see Ps. lxiii ; Eph.iv. 
9 ; Isa. xliv. 23.) so that the superficial dust of the 
earth, of which man was made, being taken from the 
moist valley, not from high hills, from a loamy soil, 
not from granite rock, may be understood by the 
phrase. If this be accepted, the psalmist may intend 
to say, " The formation of my body, with its various 
members, was not without thy knowledge, when I 
was in the secret womb, completely constituted, 
body, soul and spirit, (1 Thess. v. 23.) as wonderfully 
now, by natural generation, as man was at first com- 
vacled from the dust of the earth :" or, " as a ivonder- 
ful microcosm, a world — a human world, with its 
many secret combinations, and interior constructions 
necessary to life ; as wonderful as the composition 
of the globe itself!" Those acquainted with the 
speculations of the inquisitive on the mode of im- 
pregnation, will admit the truth of this representa- 
tion, notwithstanding the unremitted labors of our 
own hunters, the experiments of the curious Spal- 
lanzani, and of a thousand others, which, probably, 
would have been thought little, if any thing, short of 
impiety among the Hebrews. " The construction of 
my solid parts — my bones, &c. was not hidden from 
thee, though formed in the most secret place ; and they 
became connected, compact,^/?/™, under thy appoint- 
ment and inspection, though originally a mere mole- 
cule of moist matter." (Comp. Job x. 9 — 12.) 

LUBIM, the Libyans, always mentioned in con- 
nection with the Egyptians and Ethiopians, 2 Chr. 
xii ; 3, xvi. 8; Neh. iii. 9. See Libya, and Leha- 
bim. R. 

LUCIFER. [" How art thou fallen from heaven, 
O Lucifer, son of the morning ! how art thou cut 
down to the ground, which didst weaken the na- 
tions ! " Isa. xiv. 12. This is the only place where 
the word Lucifer occurs in the English Bible, and it 
is here evidently applied to the king of Babylon. 
The word signifies light-giver, and is the Latin epi- 
thet of the planet Venus, or the morning star, — a 
meaning which is also here expressly assigned to it 
by the phrase "son of the morning." The Hebrew 
word is hh^n, held, which may either have the mean- 
ing brilliant star, or it may be an imperative, signify- 
ing lament, howl. It is taken in this latter sense by 
the Syriac, Aquila and Jerome ; but the general 



sense of the passage is thereby little changed ; it 
would only read, " Howl, son of the morning," &c. 
The former sense is preferred by the Sept. Vulg. 
Targums, Rabbins, Luther, and the English version. 
A brilliant star, and especially the morning star, is 
often put as the emblem of a mighty prince, Num. 
xxiv. 17. In Rev. ii. 28, it is said of Christ, "I will 
give him [cause him to be] the morning star ;" and 
in Rev. xxii. 16, Christ says of himself, " I am the 
bright and morning star.'' The Arabs, also, ac- 
cording to the Camoos, call a prince, the star of a 
people. 

Tertullian and Gregory the Great understood this 
passage in Isaiah of the fall of Satan ; and from this 
circumstance the name Lucifer has since been ap- 
plied to Satan. This is now the usual acceptation of 
the word. *R. 

The Arabians call Lucifer Eblis, and also Azazel, 
which is the name of the scape-goat that was sent 
into the wilderness, laden with the sins of the Jews. 
They relate, that the angels, having God's order to 
fall prostrate before Adam immediately after his crea- 
tion, all complied, excepting Eblis, who obstinately 
refused, alleging, that he and his companions having 
been derived from the element fire, which is much 
purer and more excellent than that of earth, of which 
Adam was formed, it was not just that they should be 
obliged to pay submission to their inferior. Where- 
upon God said to him, " Be gone from hence, for 
thou shalt be deprived forever of my peace, and shalt 
be cursed to the day of judgment." Eblis desired 
of God that he would grant him respite till the time 
of the general resurrection ; but all the delay he could 
obtain was till the sound of the first trumpet, that at 
which all men shall die, in order to rise again at. the 
second sound of the trumpet ; that is, forty years 
after. Eblis, therefore, died, according to the Ma- 
hometans, but he will hereafter rise with all men, in 
order to be plunged into flames. We relate these 
idle traditions for no other reason but to show, that 
the theology. of the eastern people is but a corruption 
of Christianity. 

LUCIUS of Cyrene, mentioned Acts xiii. 1, was 
one of the prophets of the Christian church at Anti- 
och. While employed in his ministry with the 
others, the Holy Ghost said, " Separate me Paul and 
Barnabas," &c. Some think that Lucius was one of 
the seventy. The disciple mentioned, (Rom. xvi. 21.) 
and styled Paul's kinsman, is, probably, the same as 
Lucius the Cyrenian. [He is by many supposed to be 
the same with the evangelist Luke. See Luke. R. 

LUD, the fourth son of Shem, (Gen. x. 22.) who is 
said by .Tosephus to have peopled Lydia, a province 
of Asia Minor. Arias Montanus places these Ludim 
where the Tigris and Euphrates meet, and M. le 
Clerc, between the rivers Chaboras and Saocoras, 
or Masca. 

LUDIM, the son of Mizraim, (Gen. x. 13.) and also 
the name of a people frequently mentioned in Scrip- 
ture, Isa. Ixvi. 19 ; Jer. xlvi. 9 ; Ezek. xxvii. 10 ; xxx. 5. 
We must, however, distinguish between the children 
of Mizraim, (Gen. x. 13.) or rather, a people or colony 
which bad migrated from Egypt, and Lud the son of 
Shem, in verse 22, noticed above. These African 
Lydians are usually mentioned with Phul, Ethiopia 
and Phut. They were also mercenary auxiliaries to 
Tyre ; and we must therefore expect to meet with 
them in a country which admits of all these particu- 
lars. Bochart inclines to Abyssinia ; but this seems 
to have other characters, and is justly rejected by 
Michaelis. In Isaiah lxvi. 19, Lud is associated with 



LUK 



[ 640 ] 



LUKE 



Pul, or Phul, and described as a nation which draws 
the bow ; also Jer. xlvi. 19. In Ezekiel xxx. 5, it is 
in our translation taken for Lydia, being, however, 
mentioned with the mingled people, or Abyssinia ; it 
is distinguished from that country, but plainly placed 
in Africa. We may therefore admit of two countries 
under this name. (1.) Lydia in Asia; and (2.) Lyd- 
ia, or Ludim, in Africa. Josephus affirms, that the 
descendants of Ludim had been long extinct, having 
been destroyed in the Ethiopian wars. The Jerusa- 
lem paraphrast translates Ludim, the inhabitants of 
the Mareotis, a part of Egypt. The truth is, that 
although these people were in Egypt, it is not easy to 
show exactly where they dwelt. 

LUHITH, a mountain, in the opinion of Lyra, and 
the Hebrew commentators on Isa. xv. 5 ; but Eusebius 
thinks it to be a place between Areopolis and Joara ; 
others suppose between Petra and Sihor. From 
Jer. xlviii. 5, it is evident that it was an elevated sta- 
tion, but whether a town on a hill, or a place for 
prospect, does not appear. It seems to be associated 
mth other places which we know to be towns. The 
order of the places named is not the same in both 
prophets, though both refer to the calamities of Moab, 
to which dominion Luhith belonged. 

LUKE, the Evangelist, is the author of the Gospel 
bearing his name, and also of the Acts of the Apostles. 
As Mr. Taylor has bestowed much labor on an histor- 
ical biography of this evangelist, with a view to the 
elucidation and authentication ofseveral of the Scrip- 
ture narratives, we shall lay before our readers the 
most material parts of his dissertations. 

Ir may be thought a somewhat singular mode of 
treating the biographical history of an individual to 
begin it with mention of his death ; but, in the present 
instance, that becomes nothing less than a kind of 
key to the greater incidents of his life ; for, as we 
have no regular history of the party, but are obliged 
to arrange incidental references to him, not.recorded 
with any such intention, it is of consequence to be 
able to annex dates to those incidents,. and to show 
the propriety of certain circumstances connected 
with them. On that propriety depends the cogency 
of our arguments. 

It passes uncontradicted, that the "Acts of the 
Apostles" were completed and published A. D. 63, or 
64 ; that Luke, not very long afterwards, went over 
into Achaia, where he lived, perhaps, a year or two, 
and died aged 84. He was, therefore, more than 
fifteen years (but less than twenty) older than the 
computed era of A. D. and, if we trace this calculation 
upwards, we shall find it furnish notable coincidences. 
For instance, Paul says, " At my first hearing all for- 
sook me, no man stood with me;" (2 Tim. iv. 16.) 
yet Luke was with him at that time ;— why did he 
not support the apostle ? No answer can be given to 
this so rational, or so effectual, as the recollection, 
that Luke was then eighty years old, (more or less,) 
a time of life when many infirmities may become in- 
nocent causes of absence in such a case, when the 
person can afford but little assistance, at best ; an age 
which even persecutors may feel some compunction, 
if not reluctance, at bringing to the bar, and exposing 
to danger from "the mouth of the lion." We may 
also discover tokens of elderly weakness, in the cir- 
cumstance, that whereas Paul and his company in- 
tended to travel on foot from Troas to Assos, a short 
but mountainous tract, (Acts xx. 13.) Luke preferred 
proceeding by ship, as less fatiguing. He might be 
now about seventy-four or seventy-five years of age. 
The same consideration manifests the discretion of 



the Christian missionaries in leaving Luke at Philippi, 
Acts xvi. 40. A. D. 5*1. (This appears from the change 
of persons in the narrative ; compare verses 10 — 16.) 
After what had happened, it was impossible for Paul 
and Silas to remain in that city ; of the other brethren 
Timothy was too young a man, not only as it con- 
cerned the care and superintendence of an infant 
church, but, as it is most likely that the family of Ly- 
dia (in whose house they abode) consisted principally 
of daughters, the residence of that young man in hei 
family, however pious he might be, was unadvisable 
No such objection lay against Luke : he was ther. 
much beyond sixty years old ; an age which prevented 
censure, while it bespoke prudence : and, accordingly, 
we find that under the charge of our intelligent as 
well as pious evangelist, this church speedily became 
flourishing, numerous, and composed of members 
who had something to spare for their spiritual father ; 
and from whom their spiritual father would conde- 
scend to accept what he declined from other churches 
— an incident not. to be overlooked. 

Again, we read (Acts xiii. 1. A. D. 45.) that "there 
were in the church that was at Antioch, certain proph- 
ets and teachers : — as (1.) Barnabas, (2.) Simeon, 
called Niger, (3.) Lucius of Cyrene, (4.) Manaen, who 
had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and 
(5.) Saul. It is inquired whether this Lucius were 
Luke the evangelist. General opinion inclines to 
the affirmative ; but the argument has never been so 
clearly stated as it might be. There are two propo- 
sitions necessary to be attended to, for the better un- 
derstanding of this passage : the first is, that the writer 
Latinizes' ; the second is, that the names are ranked 
according to seniority. There needs no other proof 
that the writer Latinizes here than the appellation 
Niger, given to Simeon. The import of this Latin 
term certainly is — black, dark, deeply swarthy ; but, 
unless Latin were the current language at Antioch, 
(which we know it was not,) this is a translation of 
the Greek term Melas, which denotes the same thing ; 
and, therefore, is a verbal accommodation. But if 
the writer Latinizes in the preceding name, it can oc- 
casion no surprise if he also Latinizes in writing 
Lucius instead of Luke ; and perhaps we may find, 
before our inquiry terminates, that this is constantly 
observed when Latins are expected to be the readers. 
The second proposition is, that the names are ranked 
according to the age of the parties. To establish this 
we must reflect that Barnabas (though, perhaps, he 
may be placed first in compliment to his being a su- 
perintending visitor sent from Jerusalem) was brother 
to Mary, who was herself advanced in life, being 
mother of a son, John Mark, already old enough to 
accompany his uncle on various journeys ; and to 
choose firmly for himself the cause of his own con- 
duct. Barnabas was also of a certain dignified and 
majestic presence, proper to the currently understood 
character of Jupiter, the father of the gods, Acts xiv. 
12. This is inconsistent with the notion of his being 
a young man. Moreover, as Mercury was son of Ju- 
piter, according to the heathen theogony, Barnabas 
must have had the appearance of sufficient age, and 
gravity, the natural attendant on age, to pass for the 
father of Paul, whom the Lycaonians qualified as 
Mercury ; for we cannot suppose that the mere elo- 
quence of these missionaries was the sole cause of 
these people's mistake: there must have been a suit- 
able deportment, figure, and relative time of life also ; 
and these conspicuous. The secoifd on the list is 
Simeon, surnamed the Black ; an epithet that well 
asji ee^ with the complexion of a native of Cyrene in 



LUKE 



[ "41 ] 



LUKE 



Afriea ; and, therefore, renders it extremely probable, 
that this is Simon the Cyrenian, the father of Alex- 
ander and Rufus, Mark xv. 21. It appears from Acts 
xi. 19, 20, that among the believers dispersed at the 
time of Stephen's martyrdom, were men of Cyrene, 
who travelled as far as Antioch, preaching the Lord 
Jesus. There is, therefore, nothing to hinder our 
reckoning among them, Simon the Cyrenian, other- 
wise Simeon the Black ; but if so, and if the Rufus 
whom Paul salutes, (Rom. xvi. 13.) with his mother, 
were son of this Simeon, then he was, certainly, an 
elderly i nan ; since both his sons were eminently dis- 
tinguished in the church, when Mark composed his 
Gospel, and apparently long before. It is probable, 
also, that Simeon was deceased, when Paul wrote to 
the Romans, say A. D. 58. We come now to Lucius ; 
and if he be Luke the evangelist — placing this transac- 
tion in the year of Christ 45 — then Lucius exceeded 
the age of sixty years; consequently, he might 
probably enough take precedence of Manaen, and 
certainly of Saul, who at this time, as the most judi- 
cious commentators suppose, was not more than 
about thirty-five. 

Thus we have reduced to its true value one of Mi- 
chae'lis's two formidable objections ; objections which 
appeared to him insurmountable, against the identity 
of Lucius and Luke. " Besides," says he, " the name 
of Lucius stands before that of Paul, an arrangement 
which is incompatible with Luke's modesty, if he 
himself were Lucius, for he would not then have 
placed his own name before that of an apostle." Now, 
this he had a very good right to do, without any im- 
peachment of his modesty — in fact he was obliged to 
do so, if this were the arrangement of the church lists 
at Antioch; and if the order were determined by 
seniority. 

And here we ought not to overlook the wisdom of 
the appointment made by the Holy Ghost in uniting 
Barnabas and Saul in the same mission ; one was the 
eldest, the other the youngest, of the teachers at Anti- 
och : the sedateness of one would temper the fire of 
the other : the character of Barnabas as a " son of 
consolation," as a " good man," mild, courteous, a 
man of experience, who had long been a companion 
of the apostles, and was familiar with their views of 
things, admirably combined with the fervor of his 
younger friend, whose greater activity and prompti- 
tude would induce and enable him to improve every 
opening to " spend and be spent" in all directions, to 
discern possible advantages, and to act on contingen- 
cies, in cases which to his less vigorous partner might 
appear dubious, if not imprudent ; or which he might 
think himself, at least, not altogether competent to. 
If Luke were about sixty years of age, when settled 
at Antioch, whither he, a Cyrenian, had followed 
some of his countrymen, he must have been about 
forty-eight or fifty at the period of the crucifixion ; — 
a time of life when the judgment is mature, when the 
reasoning faculties are vigorous ; when the character 
of the man is formed ; and when even the company 
and associates of a person assimilate to the same 
qualities with his oivn; for men of this number of 
years seldom choose boys or youths for their confiden- 
tial friends. Nor was it a boy, or a youth, who ac- 
companied the disciple whose name is omitted in the 
history of the travellers walking to Emmaus ; it was 
Cleophas, or Alpheus ; and Alpheus was the father 
of several of the apostles ; he was, therefore, in ad- 
vanced life. If his sons were of age to be called to 
that eminent station, their father was certainly not 
under the age attributed by our calculation to Luke : 



and forty-.eight, or fifty, is likely to have been nearly 
the corresponding years of these two confidential 
intimates. 

We are now arrived at that point of time when, 
according to our intention to support the competency 
of Luke as an eye-witness to some of the facts he re- 
cords, it is of importance to consider what evidence 
of this his narrative affords. It is the earliest period 
at which he can, with propriety, be introduced ; for 
though some have placed him among the seventy, 
yet every probability is against that notion. It ap- 
pears that he was a native of Cyrene, not of Galilee ; 
and, therefore, not likely to have been so employed. 
To understand this properly, we must observe, that 
there assembled on the morning of the resurrection 
a number of adherents to Jesus, beside the apostles ; 
for the women ran and told their wonderful tale "to 
the eleven, and to all the rest (as Luke, and Luke only 
distinctly observes) : — they believed them not : — How- 
ever, Peter, starting up, ran to the monument, and 
stooping down, he saw the linen clothes laid by them- 
selves, and went away, wondering in himself at what 
was come to pass." Nor was Peter the only one who 
ran ; for we learn afterwards, from the traveller's re- 
cital, that "certain (rivK, plural) of those who were 
with us went to the monument, and found it as the 
women had reported ; — but him they saw not." 
Among this " rest," and this " us," we must place the 
speaker ; but evidently, whoever the speaker was, 
this was not the first time of his associating with this 
company: he was, like his fellow-traveller Alpheus, 
a well-known friend. These travellers quitted their 
company after Peter and John had returned ; in the 
very height of their universal amazement. And, 
going for Emmaus, they debated, they argued with 
each other, concerning these events. And as they 
discoursed together and reasoned, controverted the va- 
rious incidents, Jesus himself approached them, (theii 
eyes were holden that they should not know him — - 
which implies that, otherwise, they would have 
known him ; they, therefore, had a previous acquaint- 
ance with him,) and said, " What are these subjects 
which ye are bandying backwards and forwards, one 
to the other, as ye walk and are sad ? " Alpheus an- 
swering said, "Art thou the only stranger in Jerusa- 
lem, who hath not known what hath taken place 
there, in these days ? " He inquired what things ; 
and they said — No, it was not they who said ; for Al- 
pheus had spoken already, and it was now his com- 
panion's turn to speak. The writer mentions the 
name of Alpheus, distinctly enough, but the name of 
his companion — the present speaker — he suppresses. 
. . . And, further, to avoid introducing " I said," as 
the fact really was, the writer takes a liberty with 
grammar, and puts that in the plural, which certainly 
passed in the singular. This license betrays the 
man ; the writer and the speaker are the same per- 
son. The distinctness and accuracy of the speech 
mark more than mere second-hand narrative. The 
subsequent observation, "Did not our hearts burn 
within us by the way ? " and the precision with which 
the action of Jesus is described, "he made as though 
he would have gone farther," are hints of participa- 
tion, not of information. And they agree well with 
the correctness of the historian who has told us, that 
the inscription on the cross was " written in letters of 
Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew." How could he 
know this minute particular ? He must have been 
in Jerusalem at the time, to see it. If he were in Je- 
rusalem at that time, then we infer, at once, the com- 
petency of Luke as an eye-witness to some of the 



LUKE 



[ 642 ] 



LUKE 



facts he records ; which it is the purport of the pres- 
ent discussion to support. 

Moreover, it is remarkable, that all appearances of 
Jesus after his resurrection introduced by Luke are 
in, or near, Jerusalem. He says nothing of what hap- 
pened in Galilee, at the sea of Tiberias, or any where 
else ; he confines his history to facts which came 
within his own knowledge. Nor should we disre- 
gard remarks that might be made on the early chap- 
ters of the Acts, such as the writer's acquaintance 
with the number of the names recorded on the first 
Christian list; "they were about 120;" his full re- 
port of Peter's speeches ; of the conduct of Caiaphas 
and the Sadducces towards the apostles, and towards 
the deacons, especially Stephen, whose speech he 
records in a manner that proves he heard it ; with 
the action of the Jewish rulers, " they gnashed upon 
him with their teeth," a minor circumstance, of no 
importance whatever to the story, but, evidently, the 
remark of a by-stander, made at the time. Now, if 
we admit the residence of Luke at Jerusalem, when 
Stephen was murdered, and when the Holy Ghost 
descended, &c. we snail find it impossible to deny 
his residence in that city a few weeks sooner, when 
the crucifixion and the resurrection took place ; and 
if he were, as every thing leads us to conclude, of the 
number of the 120, he was certainly a believer of long 
standing, and one of those who formed the " rest," 
the "us," the deeply interested and argumentative 
associate of Alpheus, and one of the company met 
together with the apostles. Is it too much to say, 
that the medical knowledge of Luke contributed to 
the confidential altercation between him and Alphe- 
us ? that he knew the course of the wound made by 
the spear under given circumstances, and argued, as 
he well might, on the impossibilities of the case ? Is 
it too much to say, that as Luke is the only writer 
who notices (chap, xxiii. 49.) that "all the acquaint- 
ance of Jesus stood with the women, afar off," there- 
fore, he himself was one of those acquaintance ? 

if this train of argument be credible, we have as- 
certained two facts ; that Luke was of mature age, 
at the time of the manifestation of the gospel ; and, 
that he is by no means that mere reporter of what he 
had learned from others, which some have supposed. 
The i - eader will perc«ive, that by tracing the chro- 
nology of Luke's life in an inverted order, we have 
obtained a stronger conviction of the truth of the facts 
stated, than others have allowed themselves to in- 
dulge ; nevertheless, that these facts have already 
been admitted, may appear from the words of the 
equally cautious and learned Lardner : "It is proba- 
ble, that he is Lucius, mentioned Rom. xvi. 21. If 
so, he was related to St. Paul the apostle. And it is 
not unlikely, that that Lucius is the same as Lucius 
of Cyrene, mentioned by name, Acts xiii. 1, and in 
general with others, chap. xi. 20. It appears to me 
very probable, that St. Luke was a Jew by birth, and 
an early Jewish believer. This must be reckoned to 
be a kind of requisite qualification for writing a 
history of Christ, and the early preaching of his apos- 
tles, to advantage ; which certainly St. Luke has per- 
formed. He may, also, have been one of the two 
whom our Lord met in the way to Emmaus, on the 
day of his resurrection, as related Luke xxiv. 13 — 35. 
He is expressly styled by the apostle his fellow-laborer, 
Philem. ver. 24. If he be the person intended Col. 
iv. 14, (which seems very probable,) he was or had 
been by profession a physician. And he was greatly 
valued by the apostle, who calls him beloved. He 
accompanied Paul when he first went into Macedonia. 



And we know, that he went with the apostle from 
Greece, through Macedonia and Asia, to Jerusalem, 
and thence to Rome, where he staid with him two 
years of his imprisonment. We do not exactly know 
when Luke formed the design of writing his two 
books ; but, probably, they are the labor of several 
years. Nor can any hesitate to allow the truth of 
what is said by some of the ancients, that Luke, who 
for the most part was a companion of Paul, had like- 
wise more than a slight acquaintance with the rest of 
the apostles." 

It is proper, however, to state " the most material 
objection" of Michaelis to the identity of Lucius and 
Luke, in his own words : " St. Paul wrote his Epistle 
to the Romans from Corinth, and Lucius was with 
him at the time ; for St. Paul sends a salutation from 
Lucius, Rom. xvi. 21. Consequently, if Lucas and 
Lucius be one and the same person, the author of the 
Acts of the Apostles must have been with St. Paul at 
Corinth, when the Epistle to the Romans was writ- 
ten. But if we attend to the mode of writing in the 
Acts of the Apostles, we shall perceive that the author 

of this hook was not at this time in Corinth 

He staid behind at Philippi — he remained at Philippi 
(probably with a view of edifying the newly-founded 
community) during the whole of St. Paul's travels, 
which are described in chapters xvii. xviii. xix. But 
in this interval St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Ro- 
mans from Corinth ; and, therefore, the author of the 
Acts was not with St. Paul when he wrote that Epis- 
tle ; consequently, he was not the same person with 
Lucius." 

The consequence relied on by Michaelis in this 
extract does not seem to be strictly legitimate. Was 
it absolutely necessary that Lucius should be present 
with Paul in order to send his salutation to the Ro- 
mans ? We think not ; and the following arguments 
may support this opinion. First, it is not impossible 
that Luke might be with Paul at any given time or 
place, in the interval of Acts xvii. — xx. 5, though not 
mentioned in these chapters ; for we learn, that re- 
peated acts of intercourse took place between the 
Philippians and the apostle; as we read, Phil. iv. 
10 — 18 : " Now ye, Philippians, know also that in the 
beginning of the Gospel, when I departed from 
Macedonia, no church communicated with me as 
concerning giving and receiving, but ye only; for 
even in Thessalonicaye sent once and again unto my 
necessity." — "I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that 
now, at the last, your care of me hath flourished 
again ; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked 
opportunity ;" — for " Epaphroditus, your messenger, 
hath ministered to my wants," chap. ii. 25 — 30. That 
similar communications reached the apostle at Cor- 
inth is clear, from* 2 Cor. xi. 8, 9 : " I robbed other 
churches, taking wages of them to do you service ; 
and when I was present with you and wanted, I was 
chargeable to no man ; for that which was lacking to 
me the brethren which came from Macedonia sup- 
plied." Philippi, we know, was a chief city of Mace- 
donia ; and if we allow the possibility that among 
the brethren which came from Macedonia, Luke 
might, on some occasion, be one, the possibility that 
he might be present with Paul, when he sent the 
salutation of Lucius to the Romans, follows of course. 
But, secondly, as we see that communications from 
Philippi to the apostles were frequent, what should 
hinder Luke from desiring Paul to insert his saluta- 
tion to the Romans, though the evangelist were still 
at Philippi ? He certainly was acquainted with Paul's 
intentions, generally, as the apostle writes to the Ro- 



LUKE 



L 643 ] 



LUKE 



mans, (chap. i. 15.) "Now I would not have you ig- 
norant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come 
to you." — This often purposing was no secret ; and 
admit that Luke might express his readiness to ac- 
company Paul, and the reason of sending his saluta- 
tion is evident. But this argument may be drawn 
still closer ; for Luke was certainly informed of Paul's 
intention at this very time. The apostle writes to 
the Romans, (chap. xv. 13.) " Whensoever 1 take 
my journey into Spain, I will come to you, for I trust 
to see you in my journey. But now I go unto Je- 
rusalem, to minister unto the saints ; for it hath 
pleased them of Macedonia, to make a certain 
contribution for the poor saints which are at Je- 
rusalem. When, therefore, I have performed this, 
I will come by you into Spain." Now this is, in 
other words, what Luke relates in Acts xix. 21 : 
" Paul purposed in spirit, when he had passed through 
Macedonia, to go to Jerusalem ; ssiying, After I 
have been there, I must also see Rome." By what- 
ever means Luke knew of Paul's purpose in spirit to 
see Rome, he might know of the epistle in prepara- 
tion to be sent to the Romans, which was, evidently, 
the precursor to the execution of that intention ; and 
by means of the frequent remittances from Philippi 
to the apostle, he might easily express his desire to 
be remembered to the Romans. Nor is there any 
thing unlikely in the thought, that Paul himself com- 
municated to Luke what he purposed in spirit ; and 
that it was in some friendly letter to him he should say, 

1 must also see Rome. 

A hint on the Latinizing of the evangelist's name 
will conclude this part of the subject. We have 
already seen this mutation take place at Antioch ; and 
we ought to add, that, no doubt, much Latin was 
spoken in this city ; it being the residence of the Ro- 
man president of Syria, the seat of tribunitial power, 
the metropolis of the East, and also the station of con- 
siderable military forces. Nor would we forget, that 
though Antioch was a Greek city, yet a coin of Ves- 
pasian is somewhat distinguished by bearing the Latin 
name Antiochia, inscribed around a turreted female 
head, the genius of the city. It was struck under 
Mucianus, who lay there with an army, while Vespa- 
sian, lately proclaimed emperor, was yet in Asia. It 
is, therefore,, possible, that Simeon was really called 
Niger by the Roman part of the population at Antioch, 
and by the Roman members of the church there, as 
Luke might be called Lucius by them. These Latin 
names the writer of the Acts retains, in compliment 
to his Latin readers in Italy, where he finished his his- 
tory ; and Paul adopts the name Lucius when writ- 
ing to the same persons, in his Epistle to the Romans ; 
although, when writing from Rome to the Greeks, he 
inserts this appellation in its Greek form, Lucas, as 

2 Tim. iv. 11, et al. 

We have presumed that Luke, at our first acquaint- 
ance with him, was of mature age, a reasoning and 
considerate man; and we further presume, a physi- 
cian. Such was the companion of Alpheus. But 
there is another personage of greater importance than 
Alpheus, on whose account the character of Luke 
peculiarly demands notice. For if we reflect, we 
shall find that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was of 
much about the age of Luke ; (say nearly fifty years, 
at the time of the crucifixion ;) that she was no less 
reasoning and no less considerate than he was ; and 
that his profession of physician admitted access to 
the confidence of the sex, without offence. The in- 
ference we wish to draw is, that this evangelist re- 
ceived from the Holy Mother those papers which he 



has preserved in the early part of his Gospel : with 
that information which enabled him to assert his " per- 
fect understanding (or diligent tracing) of all things 
connected with this history, from the very first." It 
is probable, that this confidence was the result of 
prolonged intercourse ; and, therefore, we cannot 
possibly say at what time it produced the effect we 
have attributed to it. Leaving this uncertain, yet 
placing it, as most convenient, in the interval from 
the resurrection to the dispersion subsequent to the 
martyrdom of Stephen, we shall lay before the reader 
those arguments which may tend to establish out- 
general position, relative to Luke's veracity as an 
historian, and his characteristic accuracy as a writer. 

Nothing so fully establishes our confidence in a 
writer, as a knowledge of his personal character. If 
he be loose, inaccurate, heedless, we hardly know 
how to trust him when he declares the most solemn 
truths in the most solemn manner". If he be studious, 
particular, punctual, we pay a deference even to his 
current discourse; and if he affirm a thing, we rest 
satisfied of its truth and reality. But persons of 
strict accuracy seldom trust to their memory entirely 
on important affairs ; they make memoranda, or 
keep some kind of journal, in which they minute 
transactions as they arise ; so that, at after-periods, 
they can refer to events thus recorded, and refresh 
their memories by consulting their former observa- 
tions. This, too, is customary, chiefly, if not wholly, 
among men of letters, men of liberal and enlarged ed- 
ucation, men who are conversant with science, and 
who know the value of hints made on the spot, pro 
re nata. My first proposition is, that Luke the 
evangelist was a person of learning, of accuracy of 
character, and that he instanced this by keeping a 
journal of events, of which we have traces in his writ- 
ings. He did not trust to his recollection, but his 
custom was, to make memoranda of interesting oc- 
currences. 

Let us try a few passages of his travels by this 
proposition. We meet this evangelist in Acts xvi. 
17, where he says, " Loosing from Troas, we came 
ivith a straight course to Samothracia, and the next 
(day) to Neapolis, from thence to Philippi, a city of 
the first part of Macedonia, and a (Roman) colony." 
These particulars are precisely such as a traveller 
of education would insert in his pocket-book. 

Acts xx. Memorandum of the company. 1. Sopater 
of Berea — 2. Aristarchus — 3. Secundus : these were 
of Thessalonica — 4. Gains ; he was of Derbe — and 
5. Timothy, whom I know so well as to have no 
need of marking his country — 6. Tychicus — 7. Tro- 
phimus ; these were of Asia. These, going before, 
tamed for us at Troas. — Memorandum of the time of 
year. We sailed from Philippi, after the days of 
unleavened bread ; as we might say in modern Eng- 
lish, directly after Easter. — Memorandum of the time 
occupied in the journey. We came unto them to Troas 
in five days, where we abode seven days, &c. 

Acts xxvii. At Csesarea went on board a ship be- 
longing to Adramyttium, Aristarchus, a Macedo- 
nian, of Thessalonica, in our company, made sail 
same day. Next day touched at Sidon, staid there 
some little time, made sail again, wind contrary, 
sailed under the lee of Cyprus, sailed across the sea 
of Cilicia and Pamphylia, bore up for Myra, in Lycia : 
finding an Alexandrian vessel there, went on board 
her ; sailed slowly ; after many days had hardly 
made Cnidus, the wind being unfavorable ; sailed 
under the lee of Crete, standing towards Salmone 4 
which we weathered with difficulty, and brought uy 



LUKE 



[ 644 ] 



LUKE 



hi a roadstead called the Fair Havens, near Lasea. 
Not advisable to remain here , the opinion prevailed 
to make for Phenice, said to be a aood port of the 
same island, Crete, over against Africa, but bearing 
west-south-west of us. — It will be perceived, that 
every idea of these extracts is in the original ; we 
have done no more than put them into current 
language, such as we find in books of travels. They 
are mostly particulars of no consequence to the 
main purport of the history ; but are evidently tran- 
scripts, not from memory, but from memoranda. 
The same we may say of the following. 

Acts xxviii. 11. — After three months, we departed 
in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the 
isle (Malta), whose sign was Castor and Pollux ; 
landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days ; 
from thence, standing out to sea, and tacking fre- 
quently, we came to Reggio ; and after one day the 
wind blew from the south, we came the next day to 
Puleoli, tarried there seven days, went on to Appii 
Forum, and the Three Taverns — arrived in Rome. 
This repeated mention of days' journeys, is clearly a 
continuation of the journal, and shows that the writer 
had not lost it in the shipwreck at Malta. We often 
find travellers preserving their papers when they lose 
every thing else. 

There are many other notes of time, &c. which 
might corroborate our assertion ; but this specimen 
we think sufficient, and is all we offer at present. 
Hence the inference is undeniable, that the writer of 
the "Acts of the Apostles" had, in composing that 
work, written evidence, of the most accurate de- 
scription, before him. 

Let us see whether he maintains the same charac- 
ter for precision in his Gospel ; which he thus be- 
gins—" In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar 
(the emperor), Pontius Pilate being governor of 
Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip 
tetrarch of Iturea and the Trachonitis, Lysanias te- 
trarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being high- 
priests." — Could any man take greater pains to 
insure precision, or to fix a date ? He does not 
content himself with mentioning the year of the 
emperor, or the king of the country, in which 
the events he is about to narrate happened, but he 
calls in, by way of corroboration, as it were, the evi- 
dence of three sovereigns, for no other purpose than 
that of marking the period he intended ; they being 
afterwards dropped by him. — This shows clearly the 
particularity of a writer ; of a man conversant 
with written documents of the most correct and pre- 
cise desciiption ; one who trusted nothing to words, 
or to memory. How extra precise should we think 
the author, who dated a volume from Jamaica, " In 
the fifteenth year of George III. such an one be- 
ing governor of Jamaica, such an one governor 
of Barbadoes, such an one governor of Grenada, and 
the Rev. M. and N. archbishops of Canterbury and 
York." We should certainly conclude " this writer, 
whatever else he is, is correctness itself." Moreover, 
this method of notation is completely Egyptian, and 
therefore answers, to us, the double purpose of con- 
firming the opinion that Luke was " Lucius of Cy- 
rene," and of the genuineness and authenticity of 
this part of the Gospel. 

We turn now to the preface of Luke's Gospel, and 
we find it completely in union with this strongly 
marked exactness and precision : — " Whereas many 
good people, and not to be blamed, have taken in hand, 
but did not complete their intention, to publish an 
orderly narration of certain events, as they have been 



delivered to us by those who, from the beginning of 
these events, were (some of them) eye-witnesses, and 
(others) parties concerned in them, promoters of them 
by personal participation ; it has seemed good to me, 
having accurately examined all points from a much 
earlier period than they had done, indeed from the 
very first rise of the matter, to write an orderly his- 
tory of these things ; and thereby to accomplish 
that desirable purpose in which those writers have 
failed." We say, this profession of correctness and 
order is perfectly in character with the man who 
tells us how many days he staid in such a place, in 
what point the wind was, what was the name of the 
ship he sailed in, on what occasion a council was 
held in the vessel, and what were the language and 
observations of the seamen, as to the bearing of the 
port they intended to make, &c. This man could 
not bear the imperfections of the books which came 
under his notice on a certain subject ; they did not 
begin early enough, and they ended too soon. He 
therefore determined to begin his history much 
earlier, and to continue it much later. This he ac- 
complished in a manner which we shall see here- 
after. 

There is an instance of his accuracy and spirit of 
research that ought not to pass unnoticed, (Acts 
xxiii. 26.) where he gives us (translated, probably, 
from the Latin) a copy of the letter which Claudius 
Lysias sent to his excellency Felix the governor. 
That this corresponds exactly with Roman letters 
of the like kind, we know ; that the Greek is not the 
original, will, we think, appear to any one who 
reads it with this idea on his mind ; besides, that it 
should seem most natural for Roman officers to 
write to each other in their native language. And 
what (additional) do we learn from this letter ? 
Nothing at all ; had it been omitted, we should have 
known the same facts as we know now ; but it was 
not consistent with the researching spirit of this 
writer to let it escape him ; it adds a written docu- 
ment to his history ; and, very characteristically, he 
procures a copy, and preserves it years, for future 
service. 

This argument is stated on two suggestions. If 
Luke had no intention at this time of composing a 
history, his procuring this letter was the effect of his 
general character, and customary inquisitiveness ; 
but if he had an intention at this time of composing 
a history, his procuring it is an instance of his col- 
lecting the most authentic materials possible for that 
purpose. The same may be said relative to the 
Songs of Mary and Zacharias, which he has pre- 
served. 

But if these poems be genuine, they contribute to 
establish the genuineness of the history with which 
they are connected. The anecdotes attaching to 
them are such as could only have been known, after 
the crucifixion, from Mary herself, Joseph being 
dead ; and it is certain, that whoever gave Luke the 
papers might very easily give him further informa- 
tion. The preservation of them supposed to be by 
Mary, adds to the evidence of her being a consider 
ate person, and pondering events in her heart. But 
the establishment of the early chapters of Luke 
becomes an argument for the authenticity of the 
early chapters of Matthew. The most wonderful 
circumstance alluded to by Matthew occupies a con- 
siderable space in the narration of Luke ; and if it be 
admitted as authentic in this evangelist, no good 
reason can be given for rejecting it from that evange- 
list ; since we should willingly receive it on the credit 



LUKE 



L 645 ] 



L U M. 



of any one of the four. If, then, the history in Mat- 
thew must be exploded, let those who attempt it set 
aside these events from Luke ; — but on close exam- 
ination, they will find that there are in this writer's 
history such natural and artless characters of authen- 
ticity, such internal demonstrations of genuineness 
and integrity, that if those who peruse them, even 
with suspicion, or aversion, have any tolerable por- 
tion of mental acumen, or critical skill, they will 
abandon the undertaking. See Gospel. — Luke. 

It imports nothing as to the character of these 
papers, whether they were spoken first, and after- 
wards reduced to writing, or first composed in writ- 
ing, and afterwards published ; in either case, the 
care and industry of Luke in procuring them is the 
same. They were composed, certainly not in Greek, 
as we now have them, but in the language then 
spoken in the country, the Syriac Hebrew ; and they 
follow the rules of Hebrew poetry, as to the parallel- 
isms of verbal construction. Luke, then, receiving 
them in Syriac, translated them into Greek ; and thus 
justifies the assertion in his preface, that he derived 
his materials from those who were eye-witnesses of 
the matters, as Mary was of Zacharias's prophecy, 
and the facts in his family ; or were personal par- 
ticipators in them, as Mary was in what concerned 
herself. Of these very early events Luke, by his 
diligence, obtained perfect understanding, and he in- 
serts these documents, that Theophilus might know 
the certainty of those things in which he had already 
been instructed. That they are very happily adapted 
to this purpose, and have undeniable internal marks 
of authenticity, must be evident to every careful 
reader of them. 

We have no design of enlarging on the life of 
Luke ; but would point out a few incidental allusions 
to him, in their regular order. For, notwithstanding 
what appears so conspicuously, his habitual correct- 
ness and diligence, we, by placing him in the num- 
ber of the 120, on whom the Holy Ghost fell, in a 
visible form, insist on his unquestionable inspiration ; 
and that in no ordinary degree. He was, in this re- 
spect, though no apostle, yet equal to the apostles : 
and there can be no doubt, but what the extraordi- 
nary gifts of the Holy Spirit qualified him abundantly 
for the discharge of every duty to which he might 
be called, whether as a teacher or as a writer. 

We suppose him, being a Cyrenian, to have felt a 
special interest in the opposition raised by " those of 
the synagogue of the Libertini, of the Cyrenians, 
and the Alexandrians (all Africans) against Stephen ; 
which ended in the death of that proto-martyr, Acts 
vi. 9. And here, perhaps, began his acquaintance 
with the " young man, whose name was Saul." We 
suppose him, also, to have sympathized much with 
those who were scattered abroad on the persecution 
that followed the death of Stephen ; "some of whom 
were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who went as far 
as Antioch," Acts xi. 20. But whether he quitted 
Jerusalem at this time, cannot be determined with- 
out reserve. If he did, he was now a sufferer 
through the persecution of that very man, Saul, with 
whom he afterwards contracted the most confidential 
intimacy. Little did either of them see the events 
of a few years. 

But whatever becomes of this conjecture, if he be 
the same with Lucius, we must direct our attention 
to Antioch, to which city some of the expelled Cyre- 
nians certainly travelled. And here it may be prop- 
er to notice a remarkable variation in Beza's ancient 
MS. now at Cambridge, (Acts xi. 28.) where, instead 



of There stood up one of them, (the proj. pets at An- 
tioch, i. e. Agabus,) we read " And ivhen we were 
gathered about him, he said ;" by which phraseology 
the writer evidently expresses his own presence 
on the occasion, A. D. 43. It is, indeed, hazardous, 
as Michaelis well observes, to confide in the reading 
of a single MS. unsupported by any other ; yet it is 
difficult to account for this insertion, if the transcri 
ber had no authority for it from the original before 
him. Moreover, if Lucius be Luke, we certainly 
find him among the teachers at Antioch, shortly 
after ; i. e. in the following year, A. D. 44, as we 
have already seen. 

We conclude this article by remarking, that there 
are no indications in the history that Luke was 
merely an attendant on Paul in his travels, as many 
writers maintain. His language is not consistent 
with that opinion. He says, " A vision appeared to 
Paul — and immediately we endeavored to go into 
Macedonia, assuredly gathering, nvujii(iuLovTeg, col- 
lecting the sentiments of the company, comparing 
and uniting them in order to obtain a just inference, 
that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel in 
Macedonia." The writer does not say, nor does he 
mean, " Paid determined and we obeyed :" no ; he 
esteems himself equally entitled to give his opinion, 
and equally called to this expedition. Again at Phi- 
lippi : " On the Sabbath-day, we sat down and spoke 
to the women." And when Lydia was baptized 
with her family, "she besought us, saying, If ye 
have judged, after a proper examination and consul- 
tation together, that I should become faithful to the 
Lord, come into my house, and abide there ; and 
she constrained us." Luke means to inform his 
readers, that he sat down and spoke to the women, 
and that he gave an opinion on the conduct proper 
to be observed towards Lydia. The voyage from 
Philippi to Judea is, of course, expressed in the plu- 
ral, we and us. And when the company was arrived 
at Jerusalem, says Luke, " Paul went in with us to 
James and the elders :" the equality is perfect ; or if 
any thing, Paul follows his company. In addition 
to this, Paul's respectful mention of Luke is very ob- 
servable. In writing to their common friend Phile- 
mon, he calls him not his attendant, but his fellow-la- 
borer, verse 24. In Col. iv. 14, he describes him as 
Luke the beloved physician ; beloved generally, both 
by you and by me. In writing to Timothy, (2 Epist. 
iv. 11.) he mentions the various places to which he 
had sent his attendants, Crescens to Galatia, Titus to 
Dalmatia, Tychicus to Ephesus, but Luke he had 
not sent any where. He was still in his company, 
and only he ; partly, no doubt, from respect to his 
great age ; and still more from deference to his char- 
acter. The hypothesis gathers strength as we pro- 
ceed. We have traced the evangelist, under the 
names of Lucius and Luke, from Jerusalem to An- 
tioch, from Antioch to Troas and Philippi ; again 
from Philippi to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to 
Malta, and to Rome. We have found him a learned, 
confidential and considerate man, advanced in years, 
endowed with the Holy Ghost from on high, an in- 
spired teacher, a valuable companion and -counsellor 
of the apostle Paul ; a correct, judicious and spirited 
writer, a man of research, and of no less fortitude 
than composure. We now part with him, at the 
conclusion of his history, on his last remove into 
Achaia ; where he soon after died, at the great age 
of eighty-four. 

LUMINARIES, Metaphorical. Among other 
descriptions of the Messiah, he is called " a Light f 



•LUN 



[ 646 ] 



L YD 



enlighten the Gentiles ; and the Glory of the people 
of Israel." Jesus also describes John the Baptist as 
" a burning and shining light ;" and addressing his 
disciples as " the light of the world," he bids them 
not conceal, but show their light, and be of use to 
mankind, by their lustre. In conformity with this 
idea, Paul says to the Philippians, " Ye shine as lights 
in the world, holding forth the word of life;" or, as 
some prefer to read it, "shine ye as lights." It has 
indeed been said, that when the apostle directs the 
Philippians to " shine as lights," he uses the word 
>pianTi,(j, which alludes to the light-bowses raised on 
various parts of a coast, where navigation required 
their services, to direct the pilots of vessels in the 
course they ought to steer. We have many such 
along our coasts. The most famous in antiquity 
was that of the Pharos at Alexandria. Under this 
allusion, the sacred writer may be considered as say- 
ing, " Shine in the midst of bad persons, as light- 
houses shine in a dark country ; holding forth the 
word of life, as light-houses hold forth their nightly 
flames ; that I may stand erect with confidence ; 
may boast, may exult, in the day of Christ." But 
Mr. Taylor is by no means satisfied that these ac- 
tive verbs are adequately understood, or that we do 
justice to their full import, when we refer them to 
subjects which rather suffer certain things to be done 
by their means, than are active in doing those things. 
A building can hardly be said to hold forth, or to 
hold fast ; but if we reflect that some of the Pharoses 
of antiquity were constructed in form of human 
figures, we shall advance, he thinks, nearer to the 
apostle's meaning. All the world has heard of the 
Colossus at Rhodes ; that immense brazen figure, 
which stood across the entrance of the (inner) har- 
bor, and under whose enormous stride vessels might 
pass in full sail. This figure held forth in one hand 
a prodigious flame, which enlightened the whole 
port: by this it directed the distant mariner whose 
attention it attracted, and who looked up to this light 
for safety. 

On the whole, then, Mr. Taylor thinks that Paul's 
expression refers to luminary figures, rather than to 
luminary buildings ; in which case his words, " shine 
as luminaries, holding out the words of life ;" that 
great Light, which, coming into the world, has light 
enough to enlighten every man, have peculiar spirit 
and propriety. — Nor is it certain, that the idea of a 
figure has totally quitted him in the next sentence ; 
when he says, "that in the day of Christ, I may 
stand up with a stiff(upright) neck, and exult that I 
have not labored in vain." Is not this the very atti- 
tude of such a figure ? — Some propose to translate 
" hold fast the word of life ;" but this loses the beauty 
of the passage, if it may be supported by grammar, 
which is not now investigated. 

"The word Pharos was used in a metaphorical 
sense," says Montfaucon ; " any thing was called a 
Pharos, which could enlighten and instruct ; every 
man of letters, who could guide others. In this 
sense the poet Ronsard says to Charles IX. of France, 
" Be my Pharos, guide my sails through rolling 
seas." — Might not this metaphorical application have 
been current in the first times of the gospel ? and if 
so, does not the apostle adopt it ? 

LUNATICS, a name given to those diseased per- 
sons, who suffer most severely on the changes of the 
moon ; for example, epileptical persons, or those who 
have the falling sickness ; insane persons, or those 
tormented with fits of morbid melancholy ; as well as 
persons possessed by the devil, for often those have 



been believed to be really possessed by the devh 
who were tormented only with great degrees of mel- 
ancholy or fury. Jerome (in Matt. iv. 24.) is of opin- 
ion, that the lunatics in the gospel were possessed 
persons, whom the people through mistake called 
lunatics, because they saw them most tormented 
during the change of the moon : the devil affecting 
to make them suffer most in these circumstances, 
that simple people might impute the cause of it to 
the moon, and from thence take occasion to blas- 
pheme the Creator. Others maintain, that all the 
difference between an epileptic and a lunatic was, 
that one was more disordered than the other. 
Persons subject to epilepsies are not all equally at- 
tacked. .Some fall more frequently, others more 
rarely ; some every day. Lunatics are affected 
chiefly on the declension of the moon. (Comp. Matt, 
xvii. 15.) See Demons. 

LUST, (1 John ii. 6.) the irregular love of pleas- 
ure, riches or honors. Lust is not a sin ; but is the 
effect and cause of sin: — the effect of original sin; 
the cause of actual sin. As in both Testaments, evil 
desires, as well as evil actions, are equally proscribed, 
so the first care of every man who would please 
God should be to bridle his lust. 

LUST, Graves of, (niNnn-ni-or>, Kibroth-hattaavah,) 
an encampment of the Hebrews in the wilderness, at 
which they arrived, after they decamped from Sinai. 
It was called the graves of lust, because 23,000 Is- 
raelites died there, who were smitten by God, be- 
cause of eating to excess of quails, which fell about 
the camp, Numb. xi. 34; Deut. ix. 20, 22. 

I. LUZ, a city of the Canaanites, in Benjamin, af- 
terwards called Bethel, Gen. xxviii. 19 ; xxxv. 6; 
Josh, xviii. 13; Judg. i. 23. 

II. LUZ, a city attached to the sons of Joseph, 
near to Sichem, Josh. xvi. 2. It is principally on Josh, 
xvi. 2, that the second of these places is distinguished 
from the first. There might, however, be a small 
distance between the place where Jacob slept, and 
the ancient town of Luz ; and indeed the text in 
Joshua, by alluding to mount Bethel, seems to sup- 
pose, that the travelling patriarch slept on a hill apart. 

III. LUZ, a city built by a man of Bethel, who, 
while the tribe of Ephraim besieged his native town, 
showed them a secret entrance, whereby they took 
it. For this service they spared him and his family ; 
and he retired into the land of the Hittites, and built 
Luz, Judg. i. 26. 

LYCAONIA, a province of Asia Minor, having 
Galatia north, Pisidia south, Cappadocia east, and 
Phrygia west. It appears to have been within the 
limits of Phrygia Major, but was erected into a sep- 
arate province by Augustus. Paul preached in Ly- 
caonia, in the cities of Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, 
(Acts xiv. 6, &c.) and having cured a man who had 
been lame from his mother's womb, and had never 
walked, the inhabitants of Lystra said, in the speech 
of Lycaonia, " The gods are come down to us in the 
likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter, 
and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief 
speaker." This speech of Lycaonia is generally be- 
lieved to have been a corrupt Greek ; that is, Greek 
mingled with a great deal of Syriac. 

LYCIA, a province in the south-west of Asia Mi 
nor, having Phrygia and Pisidia on the north, the 
Mediterranean on the south, Pamphylia on the east, 
and Caria on the west, 1 Mac. xv. 23 ; Acts xxi. 1 , 
xxvii. 5. Paul landed at the ports of Patara and 
Myra in this province, in different voyages. 

LYDD A, in Hebrew iS, Lud, or Lod, by the Greeks 



LYI 



[ 647 ] 



LYS 



and Latins called Lydda, or Diospolis, is a city in 
the way from Jerusalem to Caasarea Philippi. It lay 
east of Joppa four or five leagues, and belonged to 
Ephraim. It seems to have been inhabited by the 
Benjamites, after the Babylonish captivity, (Neh. xi. 
35.) and was one of the three toparchies which were 
dismembered from Samaria, and given to the Jews, 
1 Mac. xi. 34. Peter, coining to Lydda, cured iEneas, 
who was sick of the palsy, Acts ix. 33, 34. The 
Jews inform us, that after the destruction of Jeru- 
salem, they set up academies in different parts of 
Palestine, of which Lydda was one, where the fa- 
mous Akiba was a professor, for some time. Ga- 
maliel succeeded him, and was obliged to retire to 
Japhna. Lydda, says D'Arvieux, " is situated on a 
plain, about a league from Rama. It is so entirely 
ruined as to be at present but a miserable village, 
noticeable only on account of the market which is 
held here, once a week. The dealers resort to it 
to sell the cotton and other commodities which they 
have collected during the week. Here was formerly 
a handsome church, dedicated to St. George, a saint 
who is equallv in favor with Turks and Christians. 
Dr. Wittman says, (Trav. p. 203, 205, January 12.) 
"I rode across the plains of Jaffa and Lydda. We 
approached the town of Lydda, or Loudda, and saw 
the Arab inhabitants busily employed in sowing bar- 
ley. The soil of these fine and extensive plains is a 
rich black mould, which, with proper care and indus- 
try, might be rendered extremely fertile. Lydda is 
denominated by the Greeks Diospolis, the city or 
temple of Jupiter, probably because a temple had 
been dedicated in its vicinity to that deity. Since 
the crusades it has received from the Christians the 
name of St. George, on account of its having been 
the scene of the martyrdom and burial of that saint. 
In this city tradition reports that the emperor Jus- 
tinian erected a church." 

I. LYDlA, a woman of Thyatira, a seller of pur- 
ple, who dwelt in the city of Philippi in Macedonia, 
(Acts xvi. 14, 40.) and was converted by Paul's 
preaching. After she and her family had been bap- 
tized, she offered her house to Paul and his fellow- 
laborer so earnestly, that he was prevailed on by her 
entreaties. This woman was not by birth a Jewess, 
but a proselyte. 

II. LYDiA, a celebrated kingdom of Asia Minor, 
peopled by the sons of Lud, son of Shem, Gen. x. 
23. We have very little notice of these Lydians in 
Scripture. They are mentioned in Isa. lxvi. 19, if 
these be not rather the Lydians in Egypt. (Comp. 1 
Mac. viii. 7.) See Lud, and Ludim. 

LYING is condemned in many places in Scrip- 
ture, Exod. xxiii. I, 7 ; Lev. xix. 11 ; Prov. xii. 22 ; 
xiii. 5 ; xix. 22 ; Wisd. i. 11 ; Eccl. vii. 13 ; xx. 10 ; 
xxv. 23 ; Hos. iv. 1 ; Acts v. 4 ; Eph. iv. 25 ; James 
v. 12. Our Saviour requires his disciples to be so- 
plain and sincere, that their word might be equivalent 
to the most solemn oath ; and that in all their asser- 
tions, they should say only, " It is," or " It is not," 
Matt. v. 37. It is in vain, therefore, to attempt to jus- 



tify some particular persons who have told lies 
which persons are in other respects commended in 
Scripture. It never praises their lying, but their 
good actions. That which is in itself evil never 
can become good. When Abraham calls Sarah his 
sister, not his wife ; and Isaac says the same of Re- 
bekah ; when J«cob, by a lie, defrauds Esau of his 
father's blessing ; and when the Egyptian midwives 
declare, that the Hebrew women are delivered with- 
out their assistance ; they are not, any of them, in 
these particulars, to be commended ; though the evil 
which they committed might be mitigated by cir- 
cumstances not known to us. When we condemn 
lying, we do not condemn stratagems, hyperboles, 
or certain railleries and discourses ; or fables, or 
parables ; which custom and general consent do not 
rank among lies. 

God is said to have put a lying spirit into the 
mouths of false prophets ; that is, he permitted them 
to follow the impressions of the evil spirit, 1 Kings 
xxii. 23 ; Prov. xxiii. 3. " We have made lies our 
refuge," (Isa. xxviii. 15.) i. e. we have placed our 
confidence in falsehood ; in deceitful allies, or in the 
delusive promises of false prophets ; or, lastly, in the 
assistance of idols, whom they call vanity and lying. 
"The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies," (ver. 
17.) i. e. the vain hopes, previously mentioned by the 
prophet. "A deceived heart hath turned him aside, 
that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not 
a lie in my right hand ?" i. e. am I not in the wrong, 
thus to adore wood ? Isa. xliv. 20 ; also Jer. viii. 8. 
Waters that fail, that lie, are those that flow part of 
the year only ; they may be said to be false, for they 
should flow perpetually, Jer. xv. 18. " Lying hills " 
(Jer. iii. 24.) are those which, after they have made a 
fine appearance to the eye, produce nothing. Hosea 
says, (ix. 2.) The vine shall lie to them ; the vintage 
shall fail; and Habakkuk, (iii. 17.) that the olive- 
trees shall lie ; that is, fail. The Latins have the 
same way of speaking. 

LYSANIAS, or Lysias, tetrarch of Abilene, a 
small province in Lebanon, (Luke iii. 1.) was prob- 
ably son or grandson of another Lysanias known in 
history, (Dio. lib. xlix. p. 44.) and put to death by 
Mark Antony, who gave part of his kingdom to Cle- 
opatra. See Abilene. 

I. LYSIAS, a Roman tribune, see Claudius 
Lysias. 

II. LYSIAS, a friend and relation of king Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes, to whom he left the regency of 
Syria when he passed beyond the Euphrates. See 
Antiochus Epiphanes. 

LYSIMACHUS, brother of Menelaus, high-priest 
of the Jews, who, in an attempt to pillage the treas- 
ury of the temple, was killed, 2 Mac. iv. 39, 40. He 
is sometimes reckoned among the high-priests, be- 
cause he was vicegerent to his brother Menelaus ; but 
he never himself possessed that dignity. 

LYSTRA, a city of Lycaonia, of which Timothy 
was a native. Tt is now called Latik. See Lycaonia, 



I 6*8 ] 



M 



MAC 

MAAGAH, Maachah, Maachath, or Beth-Maa- 
chah, a city and region of Syria, east and north of 
the sources of Jordan, not far from Geshur, at the 
foot of mount Hermon. It was called Abel-beth- 
maachah, because Abel was situated in it. The Is- 
raelites would not destroy the Maachathites, but per- 
mitted them to dwell in the land, (Josh.xiii. 13.) and 
their king assisted the Ammonites against David, 2 
Sam. x. 8, 9. The lot of the half-tribe of Manasseh 
beyond Jordan extended to this country, Deut. iii. 
14 ; Josh. xii. 5. See Abel II. 

I. MAACHAH, daughter of Abishalom, wife of 
Rehoboam, king of Judah, and mother of Abijam, 
his successor, 1 Kings xv. 2. In 2 Chrou. xiii. 2, 
she is called Micaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. 
See King's Mother. 

II. MAACHAH, the daughter of Abishalom, 
wife of Abijam, king of Judah, and mother of Asa, 
his successor, 1 Kings xv. 10, 13, 14. Asa deprived 
her of the office of priestess of the groves. There 
are several other persons of this name, mentioned 
in the Old Testament. 

MAACHATH, see Maacah. 

MAALEH-ACRABBIM, the ascent of scorpions, 
a mountain so called from the multitude of scorpions 
that infested it, at the southern end of the Salt sea, 
Numb, xxxiv. 4; Josh. xv. 3. See Acrabatene, II. 

MACCABEES, a name assumed by a patriotic He- 
brew and his descendants, who successfully resisted 
the tyranny of Antiochus Epiphanes. (See Judas.) 
It is generally supposed that their name was derived 
from the inscription on their ensigns, or bucklers— 
' 3 3 c» which begin these words, mrp n^-ibso rpos it, 
Mi Camoca Be-elohim Yehovah; (ooc, Maccabei;) 
Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods ? (Exod. 
xv. 11.) after the manner that the Romans put on 
their ensigns, S. P. Q. R. Senatus Populusque Ro- 
manus. 

The Books of Maccabees are four in number; 
the first two are esteemed to be canonical by the 
church of Rome. The first book contains the his- 
tory of forty years; i. e. from Antiochus Epiph- 
anes to the time of Simon the high-priest ; from 
A. M. 3829 to 3869. The second book contains a 
compilation of several pieces, but is far inferior in 
point of accuracy to the first. It comprises a his- 
tory of about fifteen years; from the execution of 
Heliodorus's commission, who was sent by Seleucus 
to fetch away the treasures of the temple, to the vic- 
tory obtained by Judas Maccabreus over Nicanor ; 
from A. M. 3828 to 3843. The third book contains 
the history of the persecution raised by Ptolemy Phi- 
lopater against the Jews of Egypt, A. M. 3787, and 
should therefore be placed before the first book. 
The fourth book is very little known. It is found in 
the collected works of Josephus, under the title of 
the Government of Reason, though it is rejected as 
spurio is by the best critics. It contains an embel- 
lished account of the persecution of the Maccabean 
family as related in 2 Mac. vi. vii. the scene of which 
it places at Jerusalem. 

MACEDONIA, a country of Greece, having 
Thrace north, Thessaly south, Epirus west, and the 



MACEDONIA 

^Egean sea east. It is believed that Macedonia was 
peopled by Kittim, son of Javan, (Gen. x. 4.) and 
that by Kittim, in the Hebrew text, Macedonia is 
often to be understood. (See Chittim.) Alexander 
the Great, son of Philip, king of Macedonia, having 
conquered Asia, and subverted the Persian empire, 
the name of the Macedonians became famous 
throughout the East ; and is often given to the Greeks, 
the successors of Alexander in the monarchy, Esth. 
(Apoc.) xvi. 10, 14. and 2 Mac. viii. 20. So also the 
Greeks are often put for the Macedonians, (2 Mac. 
iv. 36.) Paul, being called in a vision, while at Troas, 
to preach the gospel at Macedonia, founded the 
churches of Thessalonica and Philippi, Acts xvi. 9, 
&c. A. D. 55. 

The prophet Daniel describes Macedonia under 
the emblem of a goat with one horn, and it is there- 
fore of great consequence that this symbol should be 
proved to be that proper to Macedonia ; for if this 
country had no such emblem belonging to it, we must 
look to another kingdom for a fulfilment of the 
prophecy, which would be contrary to the truth of 
history, and would produce inextricable confusion. 
The following observations on an ancient symbol of 
Macedon, by Taylor Combe, Esq. F. A. S. will be 
found useful : 

"I had lately an opportunity of procuring an 
ancient bronze figure of a 
goat with one horn, which 
was the old symbol of Mace- 
don. . . It was dug up in Asia 
Minor, and brought into this 
country by a poor Turk. Not 
only many of the individ- 
ual towns in Macedon and 
Thrace employed this type, 
but the kingdom itself of 
Macedon, which is the oldest 
in Europe of which we have 
any regular and connected 

history, was represented also by a goat, with this 
particularity, that it had but one horn. Carnus, the 
first king of the Macedonians, commenced his reign 
814 years before the Christian era. The circum- 
stance of his being led by goats to the city of Edessa, 
the name of which, when be established there the 
seat of his kingdom, he converted into JEgea, is well 
worthy of remark : Urbem Edessam, ob memoriam 
muneris, Aegas, populem JEgeadas. (Justin, lib. vii. 
cap. 1.) Hesychius says, that the Cretans call the goat 
caranus. Xenophon informs us in his first book of the 
Grecian history, that the word caranus signifies lord. 
Now in the latter case the word caranus may seem 
regularly to be derived from y.una, caput ; but in the 
former example it must be deduced from keren, (p,i,) 
the Hebrew word for a horn, or, which is the same 
thing, from the Greek word y.inaQ. This last ety- 
mology will not appear improbable, when we consid- 
er the difference of pronunciation among the early 
Macedonians, who were esteemed by the rest of 
Greece as barbarians, and who, we are expressly 
told, used a language different from that which was 
spoken in the southern parts of Greece. (Strabo, lib. 




MACEDONIA 



[ 649 ] 



MACEDONIA 



vii. p. 327.) If, then the above root be admitted, — and 
for this the change of a single letter is only necessa- 
ry, — it will appear, I say, that Caranus was so called 
in conformity with an idea of power, which was an- 
nexed to the word horn, even in the earliest period 
of Macedonian history. In the reign of Amyntas 
the First, nearly 300 years after Caranus, and about 
547 years before Christ, the Macedonians, on being 
threatened with an invasion, became tributary to the 
Persians. In one of the pilasters of Persepolis this 
very event seems to be recorded in a manner that 
throws considerable light upon the present subject. 
A goat is represented with an immense horn grow- 
ing out of the middle of his forehead, and a man in 
a Persian dress is seen by his side, holding the horn 
with his left hand, by which is signified the subjec- 
tion of Macedon. A proverb in use at the present day 
is grounded upon this ancient practice of signifying 
conquest by the capture of the horns. " To take a 
bull by the horns " is an equivalent phrase for "to 
conquer." When Demetrius Phalereus was endeav- 
oring to persuade Philip, the father of Perseus king 
of Macedon, to make himself master of the cities of 
Ithome and Acrocorinthus, as a necessary step to the 
conquest of Peloponnesus, he is reported to have 
used the following expression ; " Having caught hold 
of both horns, you will possess the ox itself:" there- 
by meaning, that if those cities which were the chief 
defence of Peloponnesus were once taken, it could 
not but happen that the conquest of Peloponnesus 
would follow. (Strabo, lib. vii. p. 361.) .... 

" In the reign of Archelaus of Macedon, (A. A. C. 
413.) there occurs on the reverse of a coin of that 
king, the head of a goat having only one horn. Of 
this coin, so remarkable for the single horn, there are 
two varieties ; one is engraved by Pellerin, and the 
other is preserved in the cabinet of the late Dr. W. 
Hunter. 

"But the custom of representing the type and 
power of a country under the form of a horned animal 
is not peculiar to Macedonia. Persia was represented 
by a ram. . Ammianus Marcellinus acquaints us, that 
the king of Persia, when at the head of his army, 
wore a ram's head made of gold, and set with pre- 
cious stones, instead of a diadem. (Lib. xix. cap. 1.) 
The type of Persia, the ram, is observable on a very 
ancient coin, undoubtedly Persian, in Dr. Hunter's 
collection. 

"The relation of these emblems to Macedon and 
Persia is strongly confirmed by the vision in the 
prophet Daniel, (chap. viii. 3 — 8.) which, while it ex- 
plains the specimens of antiquity before us, receives 
itself in return no inconsiderable share of illustration. 
The whole of this vision is afterwards explained 
by the angel Gabriel, verses 21 — 23. Nothing, cer- 
tainly, is more directly applicable to overthrow the 
joint empire of the Medes and Persians by Alexander 

the Great, than are 
these verses in the 
book of Daniel ; 
nor at the same 
time can better 
authority be re- 
quired for the 
true meaning of 
the single-horned 
goat, than may 
be derived from 
the same source. 
There is a gem engraved in the Florentine collec- 
tion, (plate 51.) which, as it confiri is wrat has been 
82 




already said, and has not hitherto been understood, 
I think worthy of mention. It will be seen by the 
drawing I have made of this gem, that nothing more 
nor less is meant by the ram's head with two horns, 
and the goat's head with one, than the kingdoms of 
Persia and Macedon, represented under their appro- 
priate symbols. From the circumstance, however,, 
of these characteristic types being united, it is ex- 
tremely probable that the gem was engra\ed after 
the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great." 

This testimony is of great value, especially to those 
who know that "the writer had the best means of in- 
struction in numismatics, under his father, Dr. Combe, 
who edited the publication of Dr. Hunter's Medals, 
&c. Mr. Taylor, however, has endeavored to col- 
lect some additional circumstances. 

The Macedonians are supposed by Dr. Mede to 
have derived their origin from Sledia. Witl out de- 
termining on the conclusiveness of the doctor's ety- 
mologies, Mr. Taylor supposes that Media, a prov- 
ince adjoining Persia, is much more likely to be al- 
luded to, on the walls of Persepolis, a Persian pal- 
ace, than Macedonia, a province very remote from 
the seat of empire. The triumph of Persia over 
Media, or any advantage gained over that country, 
was of importance, and worth recording; but of 
what importance was a triumph over Macedonia? 
It is observable, also, that in the general procession 
which adorns the palace of Persepolis, and which is 
supposed to be a representation of the various prov- 
inces of the empire, in the act of paying their an- 
nual presents to the king, each of them being denot- 
ed by its proper symbol, there appears the emblem 
of two goats, each having only one horn. This 
would be extremely embarrassing, if we did not 
know that, there were two Medias, the Upper and the 
Lower ; which as they were in some respects but 
one province, though divided, so they are represent- 
ed by two goats walking together, but each directed 
by his proper superintendent. He therefore con- 
cludes that Media was symbolized by the single- 
horned goat ; and that the Macedonians, being de- 
rived from thence, retained the symbol of their origi- 
nal country. This will also explain the reason of 
Daniel's perplexity on seeing the vision, as he could 
not tell which of the two countries, that in the East, 
or that in the West, was intended as the conqueror 
of Persia. It was most likely that he should think 
of Media, unless informed to the contrary. 

This medal is given in proof that Macedonia was 




divided into several provinces, four at least, when 
under the Roman government. Many medals of the 
first province are extant, mostly in silver, and they 
enable us to assert, that the evangelist Luke (Acts 
xvi. 12.) means not to describe Philippi as the first 
or chief city of Macedonia, which was not true in 
any sense : but as a city of the first Macedonia, 
which is the correct import of his words. See- 
Philippi. 

Among thi medals of Macedonia is one with a 
lion devouring a bull ; and it is remarkable that the 
same subject is sculptured in very large figures on 



MAD 



[ 650 ] 



MAG 



the palace of Persepolis. What could induce Mace- 
donia, a country where there are no lions, to adopt 
this emblem? But if it were derived from the 
East, then it contributes to prove the derivation of 
mis people from the same quarter ; and we must 
look to the East for its explanation. 

MACEDONIAN is in the Apocryphal books 
sometimes used as an appellative, for an enemy to 
the Jews. Thus, in the additions to the book of 
Esther, it is said Hainan was a Macedonian by na- 
tion and inclination, or party ; that he was desirous 
to transfer the empire of the Persians to the Mace- 
donians ; that is, to the greatest enemies of the state. 

MACHiERUS, or Macheronte, a city and fort 
beyond Jordan, in the tribe of Reuben, north and 
east of the lake Asphaltites, two or three leagues 
from Jordan, and not far from where that river dis- 
charges itself into the Dead sea. This castle had 
been fortified by the Asmoneans ; but Gabinius de- 
molished it, and Aristobulus re-fortified it. Herod 
the Great made it much stronger than before. Here 
John the Baptist was imprisoned, and beheaded, by 
order of Herod Antipas. (Joseph. Ant. xiv. 10, 11 ; 
xviii. 7.) 

MACHPELAH, or Machpela, the name of the 
plain in which the cave which Abraham bought of 
Ephron was situated, Gen. xxiii. 9, 17. 

MAD, MADNESS, insanity, or deprivation of 
reason; medically defined to be delirium without 
fever. Our Lord cured, by his word, several who 
were deprived of the exercise of their rational pow- 
ers ; and the circumstances of their histories prove, 
that there could neither be mistake nor collusion 
respecting them. How far madness may be allied 
to, or connected with, demoniacal possession, is a 
very intricate inquiry ; and whether in the present 
day (as perhaps anciently) evil spirits may not take 
advantage from distemperature of the bodily frame, 
to augment evils endured by the patient, is more 
than may be affirmed, though the idea seems to 
be not absolutely repugnant to reason. Nevertheless, 
what may be, is probably different on most inquiries 
from what we can prove really is. 

The epithet mad is applied to several descriptions 
of persons in Scripture; as (1.) to one deprived of 
reason, Acts xxvi. 24; 1 Cor. xiv. 23. — (2.) To one 
whose reason is depraved, and overruled by the fury 
of his angry passions, Acts xxvi. 11. — (3.) To one 
whose mind is perplexed and bewildered, so dis- 
turbed that he acts in an uncertain, extravagant, ir- 
regular manner, Deut. xxviii. 34 ; Eccl. vii. 7. — (4.) 
To one who is infatuated by the vehemence of his 
desires after idols and vanities, Jer. 1. 38. — or (5.) 
After folly, deceit and falsehood, Hosea ix. 7. 

David's madness (1 Sam. xxi. 13.) is by many sup- 
posed not to have been feigned, but a real epilepsy 
or falling sickness ; and the LXX use words which 
strongly indicate this sense. It is urged in support 
of this opinion, that the troubles which David un- 
derwent might very naturally weaken his constitu- 
tional strength ; and that the force he suffered in 
being obliged to seek shelter in a foreign court, would 
disturb his imagination in the highest degree. 

MADAI, the third son of Japheth, (Gen. x. 2.) and 
father of the Medes. Others suppose that Media is 
too distant from the other countries peopled by Ja- 
pheth, and cannot be comprehended under the name 
of " The Isles of the Gentiles," which were allotted 
to the sons of Japheth. For these reasons some learn- 
ed men have been led to suggest, that Madai was 
(ather of the Macedonians, whose country was called 



yEmathia, as if from the Hebrew or Greek Ei, an 
island, and Madai ; q. d. the isle of Madai, (no *n) 
insula Madai. Near this country is mentioned a 
people called Msedi, or Madi. This supposition, how- 
ever, is too artificial, and is unnecessary. See Media. 

MADMANNAH, or Medemene, a city of Simeon, 
(Josh. xv. 31.) first given to Judah, very far south, 
towards Gaza, Isa. x. 31 ; 1 Chron. ii. 49 

MAGDALA, a toiver, was not far from Tiberias ; 
it is sometimes called by the Jews "Magdala of Ga- 
dara." From hence, probably, Mary of Magdala, or 
Mary the Magdalene, was named, Matt, xxviii. 1 ; 
Luke viii. 2. 

I. MAGI, or Magians, is a name given to an an- 
cient sect in Persia who are worshippers of fire. 
Their later name is Parsees, or Guebres. They have 
three books, which contain the whole of their reli- 
gion, Zend, Pazend and Abesta, which they ascribe 
to Abraham. Abesta is a commentary on the other 
two. They maintain the existence of two principles ; 
one,which they call Oromazd, the author of good ; and 
the other, Aherman, the author of evil. They worship 
fire in temples called Atesch-kana, or Atesch-kade ; 
that is, the house of fire, where they carefully main- 
tain the flame. To fire they give the name of bob, 
i. e. part, because they acknowledge this element as 
the principle of all things. The Magi observe a 
mysterious and religious silence, when they wash, or 
eat, having first said certain words ; and to every 
month of the year, to every day, star, mountain, mine, 
collection of water, and tree, they ascribe particular 
genii, angels created before man, who sinned by in- 
fidelity and disobedience, and therefore were con- 
fined to what they call the country of Genii, not 
unlike to our notions of Fairy-Land. See Zoro- 
aster, and Media. 

They represent the good principle by light, the evil 
principle by darkness ; they acknowledge both as 
gods, and address prayers and adorations to them , 
yet they were divided in opinion, some thinking that 
both had existed from eternity; others, that only 
the good principle was eternal, and the evil one cre- 
ated. These two principles they believe to be in 
continual opposition, and that they will so continue, 
to the end of the world, when the good principle 
will prevail ; after which, each will have his own 
distinct world ; the good reigning with all good peo- 
ple, and the bad with all the wicked. 

The principles of the most ancient Magi, though 
still imperfectly known, have been lately communi- 
cated to Europe in several translations from the 
works of their sect, obtained from its adherents in 
India. Among these the most considerable is the 
Zend-Avesta, attributed to Zoroaster ; translated into 
French by M. Anquetil Du Perron, 4to, 3 vols. Paris, 
1771. That this is really the work of the most an- 
cient Zoroaster, and therefore of the Magi, it would 
be difficult to prove ; but it contains the prayers, cer- 
emonies and maxims of those who now call them- 
selves his disciples, in India. It has some traces of 
ancient simplicity and superstition ; but interpolated 
with much later and burdensome additions and am- 
plifications. More recently has been published at 
Bombay, (1818,) by Mulla Firuz bin Kaus, the learn- 
ed chief priest of the Parsee religion at Bombay, 
"The Desatir, or Sacred Writings of the ancient Per- 
sian Prophets, with an English Translation." It is 
written in a dialect now wholly extinct ; and would 
have been unintelligible, but for the fortunate cir 
eumstance of being attended with a Persian trans- 
lation and glossary. Among these writings is one 



M A G 



[ G51 ] 



M A I 



attiibuted to Zoroaster, who stands here as the thir- 
teenth in order. The last is the fifth Sasan, who 
lived in the time of Khosroo Parvez, who was con- 
temporary with the emperor Heraclius; and died 
only nine years before the destruction of the an- 
cient Persian monarchy. No account is given 
of the times of the other prophets, whose works 
precede. 

The doctrines inculcated in these writings are, the 
eternity and self-existence of the Supreme Deity, 
who created another intelligence, who made the 
worlds, who made several heavens, and gave to each 
a soul, and a body, also the stars ; (the planets and 
the fixed stars, called slow-moving stars ;) that the 
elements, meteors, &c. have each its guardian angel ; 
that in a former state ferocious animals have been 
guilty of crimes, for which they now suffer punish- 
ment, in being hunted, &c. and that men who now 
commit crimes, will be punished by becoming such, 
or like, animals, or vegetables, or minerals. The in- 
effable attributes of Deity are emphatically celebrat- 
ed in these works; which contain much laudable 
theism, but little or nothing of rites and ceremonies. 
They direct that prayer be made to light, or fire, not 
as being themselves deities, but as conveying the 
sacrifice to divine intelligences. 

II. MAGI, or Wise Men, who came to adore Je- 
sus at Bethlehem, (Matt. ii. 1.) are commonly thought 
to have been philosophers, whose chief study was 
astronomy, and who dwelt in Arabia Deserta, or 
Mesopotamia, which the sacred authors express by 
the word East. (See Numb, xxiii. 7. and Kedem.) 
[This name, Magi, is properly an appellation given, 
among the Persians, to priests, wise men, philoso- 
phers, etc. who devoted themselves to the study of the 
moral and physical sciences, and particularly cultivat- 
ed astrology and medicine. As they thus acquired 
great honor and influence, they were introduced in- 
to the courts of kings and consulted on all occasions. 
They also followed them in warlike expeditions; 
and so much importance was attached to their advice 
and opinions, that nothing was attempted without 
their approbation. (See Xen. Cyr. iv. 5. 51. iv. 6. 11. 
vii. 5. 57. Aelian. Var. Hist. ii. 17. iv. 10. Por- 
phyr. de abstin Anim. iv. 16. Strabo i. 43. xv. 1045. 
Plin. Hist. Nat. xxiv. 29. xxix. 3. ) R. 

Calmet is of opinion that the star seen by the 
Magi was an inflamed meteor, in the middle of the 
air, which, having been observed by them to be 
attended with miraculous and extraordinary circum- 
stances, was taken for the star so long foretold by 
Balaam ; and that, afterwards, they resolved to follow 
it, and to seek the new-born king, whose advent it 
declared. It was, therefore, as he thinks, a light that 
moved in the air before them, something like the 
pillar of cloud in the desert. 

MAGIC, that is, all those arts, the superstitious 
ceremonies of magicians, sorcerers, enchanters, nec- 
romancers, exorcists, astrologers, soothsayers, inter- 
preters of dreams, fortune-tellers, casters of nativi- 
ties, &c. are all forbidden by the law of God, wheth- 
er practised to hurt or to benefit»mankind. It was 
also forbidden to consult magicians on pain of death, 
Lev. xix. 31 ; xx. 6. Daniel speaks of magicians 
and diviners in Chaldea, under Nebuchadnezzar, 
(Dan. i. 20, &c.) of whom he names four sorts: 
Chartumim, Asaphim, Mecasphim nnd Casdim, (chap, 
ii. 2.) but their distinctions are not certainly known. 

MAGOG, son of Japheth, (Gen. x. 2.) and father, 
as is believed, of the Scythians and Tartars ; a name 
which comprehends the Getae, the Goths, the Sar- 



matians, the Saeae, the Massageta?, and others The 
Tartars and Muscovites possess the country of the 
ancient Scythians, and retain several traces of the 
names Gog and Magog. They were formerly called 
Mogli, and in Tartary are the provinces Lug, Mon- 
gug, Cangigu and Gigui ; Engui, Corgangui, Caigui, 
&c. Gog and Magog have in a manner passed into 
a proverb, to express a multitude of powerful, cruel, 
barbarous and implacable enemies to God and his 
worship. (See Gog.) The Arabians and other orien- 
tal writers speak of the same people under the names 
of Jagug and Magug. 

Suidas says Magog is the Persians; whence we 
might suppose, that Ezekiel, who describes the army 
of Magog, intended the army of Xerxes. Josephus 
says, the people named Magoges were so called from 
their leader, Magog, who, by the Greeks, is called a 
Scythian. It should seem, therefore, that Josephus 
speaks of a name and a people well known in his 
own time. And Ebedjesu, in the thirteenth century, 
says, that Adeus planted Christianity "throughout 
Persia, the regions of Assyria, Armenia, Media, Bab- 
ylonia, the land of Huz, (in the south of Persia, not 
far from the Tigris, whose metropolis is marked 
Ahvaz in D'Anville, about lat. 40.) to the confines of 
India, and even to the land of Gog and Magog;" — 
the country, evidently, which we now call Tartary. 
Gog appears to describe the king, and Magog the 
people. 

MAHALALEEL, or Malaleel, son of Canaan 
of the race of Seth, Gen. v. 15, &c. 

MAHALATH is the title of Psalms liii. and 
lxxxviii. "To the chief musician on Mahalath;" 
which signifies a musical instrument; probably a 
stringed instrument to be accompanied by song. In 
Ethiopic the corresponding word, Mahlet, signifies 
song, psalm, but also xiSu^a, a harp, guitar, etc. R. 

MAHANAIM, the tivo camps or hosts, a city of the 
Levites of the family of Merari, in Gad, on the 
brook Jabbok, Josh. xxi. 38; xiii. 29, 30 ; 1 Chron. 
vi. 80. Jacob gave it this name, because here he had 
a vision of angels, Gen. xxxii. 2. It was the seat of 
the kingdom of Ish-bosheth, after the death of Saul, 
(2 Sam. ii. 9—12.) and thither David retired, during 
the usurpation of Absalom, 2 Sam. xvii. xviii, &c. 
In the Vulgate it is sometimes called simply Castra, 
or the camp, Gen. xxxii. 2; 2 Sam. ii. 8, 12, 29; xvii. 
24; xix. 32. xtx'tuna, a harp, guitar, etc. R. 

MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ, he hasteneth to 
the prey, a name given to one of the sons of the. 
prophet Isaiah, by way of prediction ; (Isa. viii. 3.) 
The prophet observes that his children were for signs 
and w r onders, and this name is evidence of the fact 
Of the same nature we are to consider Emmanuel, 
and some other names. See Virgin. 

MAHLAH, or Mahala, a daughter of Zelophe- 
had, who with her sisters received their allotment 
in the land of Canaan, because their father died 
without male issue, Numb. xxvi. 33 ; xxvii. 1 ; Josh 
xvii. 3 ; 1 Chron. vii. 15. 

MAHLON, son of Elimelech and Naomi, (Ruth 
i. 2, &c.) who in the country of Moab married Rutn, 
a Moabite woman, but died without children : his 
widow followed her mother-in-law Naomi to Beth 
lehem, where she married Boaz. 

MAIMED implies the loss of a limb or member; 
often the absolute loss of it, not a suspension of its 
use, by a contraction, or diminution. This total loss 
is clearly the import of the original word, "If thine 
hand or foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them 
from thee — enter into life maimed — rather than hav- 



MAL 



[ 652 ] 



JVl A L, 



ing two bauds," &c. Matt, xviii. 8. And this should 
the rather be observed, to distinguish it from wither- 
ed, contracted, <fcc. and because it may be asked, 
what we should think of a person who could restore 
a lost limb, or member. Perhaps we are not always 
sensible of the full import of this word, when read- 
ing the history of the miraculous cures performed 
by our Lord. 

MAKAZ, a city probably of Dan, (1 Kings iv. 9.) 
supposed by Calmet to be the Maktesh, the jaw-tooth, 
or En-hakkore, of Judg. xv. 19 ; Zeph. i. 11. 

MAKELOTH, an encampment of Israel in the 
desert, Numb, xxxiii. 25, 26. 

MAKKEDAH, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 41.) 
which Eusebius places 8 miles from Eleutheropolis, 
east, Josh. x. 29. Called Maked, 1 Mac. v. 26, 38. 

MAKTESH, morter, probably the name af a quar- 
ter or district in or near Jerusalem, perhaps one of 
the adjacent valleys, Zeph. i. 11. *R. 

MALACHI, the last of the twelve minor prophets, 
aud so little known that it is doubted whether his 
name be a proper name, or only a generical one, sig- 
nifying the angel of the Lord, a messenger, a proph- 
et. It appears by Hag. i. 13. and Mai. iii. 1. that in 
these times the name of Malach-Jehovah, messenger 
of the Lord, was given to prophets. The LXX have 
rendered Malachi, his angel, instead of my angel, as 
the original expresses ; and several of the fathers 
have quoted Malachi under the name of " the angel 
of the Lord." The second book of Esdras and Ter- 
tullian unite the name Malachi sad angel of the 
Lord. Origeu thought that Malachi was an angel 
incarnate, rather than a prophet; but this opinion is 
insupportable. It is much more probable that Mal- 
achi was Ezra ; and this is the opinion of the ancient 
Hebrews, of the Chaklee paraphrast, of Jerome, and 
of abbot Rupert. The author of the Lives of the 
Prophets, under the name of Epiphanius Dorotheus, 
and the Chronicon Alexandrinum, say, that Malachi 
was of the tribe of Zebulun, aud native of Sapha ; 
that the name Malachi was given to him because of 
his angelical mildness, and because an angel used to 
appear visibly to the people, after the prophet had 
spoken to them, to confirm what he had said. He 
died very young, as they say, and was buried near 
the place of his ancestors. 

It appears certain that Malachi prophesied under 
Nehemiah, and after Haggai and Zechariah, at a time 
of great disorder among the priests and people of 
Judah, whom he reproves. He inveighs against the 
priests ; reproves the people for having taken strange 
wives, for inhumanity to their brethren, for too fre- 
quently divorcing tneir wives, and for neglect of pay- 
ing tithes and first-fruits. He seems to allude to the 
covenant that Nehemiah renewed with the Lord, to- 
gether with the priests and the chief of the nation. 
Malachi is the last of the prophets of the synagogue, 
and lived about 400 years before Christ. He proph- 
esied of the coming of John the Baptist, and of the 
two-fold coming of our Saviour, very clearly, ch. iii. 
He speaks of the abolition of sacrifices under the 
old law, and of the sacrifice of the new law, chap, 
i. 10, 13; iv. 5,6. 

MALCHUS, a servant of the high-priest Caiaphas, 
who, in the garden of olives, among those sent to ap- 
prehend Jesus, was struck by Peter, and had his right 
ear cut off, John xviii. 10. 

MALICE is a word which expresses not only that 
evil disposition of the mind and heart, which we so 
call, but also punishment and correction, 1 Sam. xx. 
7 : xxv. 17 (See also Isa. xl. 2.) Paul requires that 



Christians should be children in malice, but men in 
prudence and wisdom, 1 Cor. xiv. 20. 

MALTA, or Melita, [Eng. tr.] a famous island 
in the Mediterranean sea. It is thought to have been 
named Melita, from the great quantity of honey found 
there formerly. Its length is from east to west, and 
its breadth from north to south. Its circumference 
is about sixty miles, and is ascribed to Africa by ge- 
ographers, because, if a line be drawn from east to 
west, it will be included in the African sea. Paul 
suffered shipwreck on this island, and, with his com- 
panions, was well used by the inhabitants, Acts xxviii. 
Paul taking up a fagot of twigs to throw into the 
fire, a viper that lurked in it, feeling the heat, seized 
him by the hand ; but he, without any emotion, shook 
it into the fire. The people expected every moment 
to see him fall down dead ; and as this did not hap- 
pen, they changed their sentiments, and began to 
look upon him as some deity. Publius, the govern- 
or of the island, received the apostle courteously ; 
and his father being sick of a fever and bloody flux, 
Paul healed him, and also restored many of the 
islanders to health. When he and his company 
sailed thence, the people abundantly supplied them 
with necessaries for their voyage. Several of them 
were converted by the preaching of Paul ; and the 
house of Publius was changed into a church. 

A native of this island informed Calmet that Mal- 
ta was an ancient colony of the Carthaginians, and 
had always spoken the language of Africa, as it 
continues to do. Hence those of Paul's company, 
who were Greeks or Latins, called the Maltese bar- 
barians. 

We ought not to close this article, without hinting 
at an opinion lately started, and supported by men 
of very competent learning, that the Melita of the 
Acts was an island in the Adriatic sea, on the coast 
of Illyricum, now called Meleda. To prove this, the 
course of the winds, the Euroc.lydon, with the other 
circumstances of the voyage, have been closely ex- 
amined. But it appears from the history, that the 
same winds, the S. E. the E. S. E. and the E. were 
equally likely to drive the ship to Malta, in a direct 
course from Crete ; that the fears of the seamen, of 
falling on the Syrtes (quicksands) the greater or the 
lesser, were more than nugatory in that case, as they 
were going farther and farther from them, towards 
Meleda ; that it does not appear that ever the Ro- 
mans had such an establishment at Meleda as war- 
ranted the residence of a protos or pro-pretor there ; 
and that it was to the last degree unlikely that " a 
ship of Alexandria" should have chosen Meleda for 
the purpose of " wintering in the island," which im- 
plies her arrival before the stormy season : — all these 
objections form a strong argument against the newly- 
proposed opinion. 

[The name Melita was anciently applied to two 
islands ; one in the Adriatic sea on the coast of Il- 
lyricum, now called Meleda ; the other in the Med- 
iterranean, between Sicily and Africa, now called 
Malta. That the latter is the one on which Paul 
suffered shipwreck is probable, because he left the 
island in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered 
there on her voyage to Italy, and after touching at 
Syracuse and Rhegium, landed at Puteoli ; thus sail- 
ing on a direct course. The other Melita would be 
far out of the usual track from Alexandria to Italy ; 
and in sailing from it to Rhegium, Syracuse also 
would be out of the direct course. The fact that 
the vessel was tossed all night before the shipwreck, 
in the Adriatic sea, does not militate against the prob- 



MAN 



[ 653 ] 



MANASSEH 



ability of its afterwards being driven upon Malta ; 
because the name Adria was applied to the whole 
Ionian sea, which lay between Sicily and Greece. 
So Strabo ii. p. 185. C. vii. p. 488. A. (See Wetstein 
on Acts xxvii. 27. and Adria.) R. 

MAMMON, a Chaldee word signifying riches. 
Our Saviour says, we cannot at the same time serve 
God and mammon ; (Matt. vi. 24.) that we ought not 
to make ourselves adherents of mammon, or of the 
riches of unrighteousness, that is, of worldly riches, 
which are commonly the instruments of sin, and are 
acquired too often by unrighteousness and iniquity. 

MAMRE, the name of an Amorite in alliance with 
Abraham, Gen. xiv. 13, 24. Hence the oaks of Mam- 
re, (Engl. tr. plain of Mamre, Gen. xiii. 18 ; xviii. 1.) 
or simply Mamre, (xxiii. 17, 19. xxxv. 27.) a grove near 
Hebron. R. 

MAN, the generic name of the human race, (Gen. 
i. 27.) who were created after the image and likeness 
of God. See Adam. 

" A man of God " generally signifies a prophet ; a 
man devoted to God ; to his service. Moses is called 
peculiarly " the man of God," Deut. xxxiii. 1 ; Josh, 
xiv. 6. Our Saviour frequently calls himself "the 
son of man," in allusion, probably, to the prophecy of 
Daniel, in which the Messiah is spoken of, Dan. vii. 13. 

MAN OF SIN, see Antichrist. 

MANAEN, a Christian prophet, and foster-brother 
of Herod Antipas, (Acts xiii. 1.) was at Antioch with 
other prophets, when the Holy Ghost said, "Separate 
me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I 
have called them." It is conjectured that be was 
one of the seventy disciples, but no particulars of his 
life are known. 

MANAHEM, the sixteenth king of Israel, was 
originally general of the army of Zachariah. He 
was at Tirzah when he heard of his master's murder, 
and immediately marched against Shallum, who had 
shut himself up in Samaria, whom he killed, and 
then ascended the throne. He reigned in Samaria 
ten years, and did evil in the sight of the Lord. Pul, 
king of Assyria, having invaded Israel during the 
reign of Manahem, obliged him to pay a tribute of a 
thousand talents, which Manahem raised by a tax on 
all his subjects of fifty shekels a head. Manahem 
slept with his fathers, and bis son Pekahiah reigned 
in his stead, 2 Kings xv. 13 — 32. 

I. MANASSEH, the eldest son of Joseph, (Gen. 
xli. 50, 51.) was born A. M. 2290, and named Manas- 
seh, (causing to forget,) because Joseph said, " God 
has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's 
house." When Jacob was about to die, Joseph 
brought his two sons to receive bis last blessing, 
Gen. xlviii. 1, &c. Jacob adopted them ; made them 
come to his bed-side, and kissed them. Joseph hav- 
ing placed Ephraim at Jacob's left hand, and Manas- 
sen at his right, Jacob put his right hand on Ephraim, 
and his left on Manasseh ; which Joseph observing, 
would have had him reverse. Jacob, however, said, 
" I know what I am doing, my son ; the eldest shall 
be father of a great people, but his younger brother 
shall be greater than he." He continued to bless 
them, and said, " In thee shall Israel be blessed, and 
it shall be said, ' God make thee as Ephraim and as 
Manasseh.'" The tribe of Manasseh came out of 
Egypt, in number 32,200 men, upwards of twen- 
ty years old, under the conduct of Gamaliel, son of 
Pedahzur, Numb. ii. 20, 21. The tribe was divided 
in the Land of Promise. One half settled east of 
the river Jordan, and possessed the country of Ba- 
shan, from the river Jabbok to mount Libanus ; and 



the other half settled west of Jordan, and possessed 
the country between the tribe of Ephraim, south, of 
the tribe of Issachar, north, having the river Jordan 
east, and the Mediterranean west, Josh. xvi. xvii. 
See Canaan, pp. 232, 233. 

II. MANASSEH, fifteenth king of Judah, and 
son and successor of Hezekiah, (2 Kings xx. 21 ; 
xxi. 1, 2 ; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 1, &c. A. M. 3306.) was 
twelve years old when he began to reign, and reign- 
ed fifty-five years. He did evil in the sight of the 
Lord ; worshipped the idols of Canaan ; rebuilt the 
high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed ; 
set up altars to Baal, and planted groves to false 
gods. He raised altars to the whole host of heaven, 
in the courts of God's house ; made his son pass 
through the fire in honor to Moloch ; was addicted 
to magic, divinations, auguries, and other supersti- 

« tions ; set up the idol Astarte in the house of God ; 
and finally involved his people in all the abomina- 
tions of idolatry to that degree, that Israel committed 
more wickedness than the Canaanites which the 
Lord had driven out before them. To all these 
crimes Manasseh added cruelty, and shed rivers of 
innocent blood in Jerusalem. 

It is supposed that the prophet Isaiah raised his 
voice loudly against those enormities. He had been 
in great credit at court, in the reign of Hezekiah ; 
and was probably of high birth. He is by many 
thought to have been put to death by this wicked 
king. See Isaiah. 

The calamities which God had threatened, began 
towards the 22d year of Manasseh's reign. The 
king of Assyria sent his army against him, who, 
seizing him among the briers and brambles where 
he was hid, fettered his hands and feet, and carried 
him to Babylon, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11. When in 
bonds, at Babylon, Manasseh humbled himself before 
God ; who heard his prayers, and brought him back 
to Jerusalem. Here he acknowledged the hand of 
the Lord ; and we have a prayer which, it is affirm- 
ed, he made in prison. The church, however, does 
not receive it as canonical. He restored the wor- 
ship of the Lord ; broke down the altars of the 
false gods ; and abolished all traces of their idola- 
trous worship ; but did not destroy the high places, 
which is the only thing Scripture reproaches him 
with, after his return fiym Babylon. He caused Je- 
rusalem to be fortified ; enclosed with a wall anoth- 
er district, which in his time was built west of 
Jerusalem, and which after his reign was called the 
second city, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14. He also put gar- 
risons into all the strong places of Judah. Manas- 
seh died at Jerusalem, and was buried in the garden 
of his house, in the garden of Uzza, 2 Kings xxi. 
18. His son Amnion succeeded him, A. M. 3361. 

Many believe that the history of Holofernes hap- 
pened under Manasseh. See Judith. 

III. MANASSEH, husband of Judith, who lived 
but a little while with her. He had been dead three 
years when Holofernes' war began. Manasseh was 
of the tribe of Simeon, and died in the time of bar- 
ley harvest, of a stroke of the sun, which had affect- 
ed his head, Judith viii. 2, 3. 

IV. MANASSEH, high-priest of the Jews, son 
of John, and brother of Jaddus, succeeded Eleazar, 
his great uncle, and was succeeded by Onias II. his 
nephew. Manasseh married Nicaso, daughter of 
Sanballat, governor of Samaria, and by his aid built 
the temple on mount Gerizim, in which he became 
the first high-priest. (Josephus xi. 7, 8. Compare 
Neh. xiii 98 



MANDRAKE 



[ 654 ] 



MAN 



MANDRAKE, a plant called in Hebrew nufin, 
dudaim, (plural,) is a species of melon, of which the 
ancients, and among others Josephus, have enter- 
tained many strange conceits. There are two sorts : 
the female, which is black, having leaves not unlike 
ettuce, though smaller and narrower, which spread 
on the ground, and have a disagreeable smell. It 
bears berries something like services, pale, of a strong 
smell, and having kernels within, like those of pears. 
It has two or three very large roots, twisted together, 
white within, black without, and covered with a 
thick rind. The other kind, or male mandrake, is 
called morion, or folly, because it suspends the use of 
the senses. It produces berries twice the size of 
those of the female, of a good scent, and of a color 
approaching towards saffron. Its leaves are white, 
large, broad and smooth, like the leaves of the beech 
tree. Its root resembles that of the female, but is 
thicker and larger. This plant stupefies those who 
use it ; sometimes depriving them of understanding ; 
and often causes such vertigoes and lethargies, that if 
those who have taken it have not present assistance, 
they die in convulsions. 

Pythagoras was the first who conferred on the 
mandrake the name of anthropomorphos, which be- 
came very general. On what account this name was 
given is not certainly known ; Calmet states it to 
have been because most of the roots are parted from 
the middle downwards, somewhat resembling thighs 
and legs. 

From Gen. xxx. 14, 15, 16, we collect that the fruit 
was ripe in wheat harvest. And thus Hasselquist, 
speaking of Nazareth in Galilee, says, "What I found 
most remarkable at this village, was the great num- 
ber of mandrakes which grew in a vale below it. I 
had not the pleasure to see this plant in blossom, 
the fruit now (May 5th, O. S.) hanging ripe on the 
stem, which lay withered on the ground. From the 
season in which the mandrake blossoms, and ripens 
fruit, one might form a conjecture that it was Ra- 
chel's dudaim. These were brought her in the wheat 
harvest, which in Galilee is in the month of May, 
about this time, and the mandrake was now in fruit." 
(Travels, p. 160.) 

From Cant. vii. 13, it appears that the dudaim 
yielded a remarkable smell, at the same time as the 
vines and pomegranates flowered, which in Judea is 
about the end of April or beginning of May. It is 
probable, therefore, that this circumstance of their 
smell is to be referred to the fruit rather than to the 
flower, especially as Brookes, who has given a par- 
ticular description and a print of the plant, expressly 
observes that the fruit has a strong nauseous smell, 
though he says nothing about the scent of the flower. 
And this circumstance will in some measure account 
for what Hasselquist remarks, that the Arabs at Naz- 
areth call it by a name which signifies in their lan- 
guage "the devil's victuals." So the Samaritan 
chief-priest told Maundrell, that the mandrakes were 
plants of a large leaf, bearing a certain sort of fruit, 
in shape resembling an apple, growing ripe in har- 
vest, but of an ill savor, and not wholesome. But 
then he added, that the virtue of them was to help 
conception, being laid under the genial bed ; and 
that the women were often wont so to apply it at this 
day, out of an opinion of its prolific nature. 

iProm these accounts of the mandrake, it is evident 
that Rachel could not want them either for food or 
tragrancy ; and from the whole tenor of the narra- 
tion in Gen. xxx. compared with chap. xxix. 32 — 34, 
u appears that both she and Leah had some such 



notion as the Samaritan chief-priest entertained of 
their genial virtue. And does not the Jewish queen's 
mention of them in Cant. vii. 13, intimate something 
of the same kind, and show that the same opinion 
prevailed among the Jews in the time of Solomon ? 
Nor was this opinion confined to the Jews ; the 
Greeks and the Romans had the same notion of 
mandrakes. They gave to the fruit the name of 
"Apple of Love," and to Venus that of Mandrago- 
ritis. The emperor Julian, in his epistle to Calixenes, 
says, that he drank the juice of mandrakes to excite 
amorous inclinations. And before him Dioscorides 
had observed of it, " The root is supposed to be used 
in philters or love-potions." On the whole, there 
seems little doubt but this plant had a provocative 
quality, and therefore its Hebrew name, dudaim, may 
be properly deduced, says Calmet, from dudim, pleas- 
ures of love. 

[The mandrakes of the Bible have given rise to 
much dispute and diversity of opinion among inter- 
preters. It seems to have been a plant to which was 
attributed the power of rendering barren women 
fruitful. According to most of the ancient versions, 
it was the Mandragora, mandrake, [Jltropa Mandra- 
gora of Linn.) a plant of the genus Belladonna, with 
a root like a beet, white and reddish blossoms, and 
yellow apples, which ripen from May to July. To 
these apples the orientals to this day attribute the 
power of exciting to venery ; and they are- called 
poma amatoria, or love-apples. (See Schulz Leitun- 
gen, &c. p. v. 197. D'Herbelot's Bibliotheque Orien- 
tale, p. 17.) R. 

MANEH, see Mina. 

MANNA, a substance which God gave to the chil- 
dren of Israel for food, in the deserts of Arabia. It 
began to fall on Friday morning, the sixteenth day 
of the second month, which from thence was called 
Ijar, and continued to fall daily in the morning, ex- 
cept on the sabbath, till after the passage over Jor- 
dan, and to the passover of the fortieth year from 
the exodus, that is, from Friday, June 5, A. M. 2513, 
to the second day of the passover, Wednesday, May 
5, A. M. 2553. It was a small grain, white, like 
hoar-frost, round, and the size of coriander-seed, 
Exod. xvi. 14 ; Numb. xi. 1. It fell every morning 
with the dew, about the camp of the Israelites, and 
in so great quantities during the whole forty years of 
their journey in the wilderness, that it was sufficient 
to feed the entire multitude, of above a million of 
souls, every one of whom gathered, for his share 
eveiy day, the quantity of an omer, i. e. about three 
quarts. It maintained all this multitude, and yet 
none of them found any inconvenience from the 
constant eating of it. Every Friday there fell a 
double quantity, (Exod. xvi. 5.) and though it putre- 
fied and bred maggots when kept on any other day, 
yet on the sabbath it suffered no such alteration. 
And the same manna that was melted by the heat 
of the sun, when left in the field, was of so hard a 
consistence when brought into the house, that it was 
beat in mortars, and would even endure the fire. It 
was baked in pans, made into paste, and so into 
cakes, Numb. xi. 5. It is somewhat extraordinary 
that Calmet should think the " entire multitude " of 
Israel subsisted wholly on the manna. Certainly, the 
daily sacrifices were offered; and, no doubt, other 
offerings, affording animal food, on which the priests 
and Levites subsisted, according to their offices. 
That considerable flocks and herds accompanied the 
camp of Israel is clear from various passages, and it 
is equally clear these could not live upon manna. 



MANNA 



[ 655 ] 



MAO 



Scripture gives to manna the name of " bread of 
heaven," and " food of angels ;" perhaps, as intimat- 
ing its superior quality, Ps. lxxviii. 25. There is a 
vegetable substance called manna which falls in Ara- 
bia, in Poland, in Calabria, in mount Libanus, and 
elsewhere. The most common and the most famous 
is that of Arabia, which is a kind of condensed 
honey, found in the summer time on the leaves 
of trees, on herbs, on the rocks, or the sand of Arabia 
Petrsea. That which is gathered about mount Sinai 
has a very strong smell, which it receives from the 
herbs on which it falls. It easily evaporates, inso- 
much that if thirty pounds of it were kept in an open 
vessel, hardly ten would remain at the end of fifteen 
days. Several writers think that the manna with 
which the Israelites were fed was like that now found 
in Arabia, and that the only thing that was miracu- 
lous in the occurrence was the regularity of the sup- 
ply, and its cessation on the sabbath. The Jews, 
however, with the majority of critics, are of opinion 
that it was a totally different substance from the vege- 
table manna, and was specially provided by the Al- 
mighty for his people. 

Burckhardt says, that in the valleys around Sinai 
the manna is still found, dropping from the sprigs of 
several trees, but principally from the Gharrab. It 
is collected by the Arabs, who make cakes of it, and 
call it " Assal Beyrouk," or " Honey of Beyrouk." 
(See Exod. xvi. 31.) The Arabs who collect it make 
cakes of it ; so did Israel, loc. cit. Could a similar 
manna be the wild honey on which John the Baptist 
lived ? 

[The following is Burckhardt's account of the 
manna found near Sinai at the present day. Since his 
time it has been ascertained by Dr. Ehrenberg and 
M. Riippell, that the manna is occasioned by an in- 
sect, which the former has particularly described. 
That this, however, could not have been the manna 
of the Israelites, is sufficiently obvious ; unless we 
regard it as having been miraculously increased, and 
it« qualities miraculously changed, — a supposition 
which involves as great an exertion of miraculous 
power, as the direct bestowment of a different sub- 
stance. (See Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, &c. 
p. 599, seq.) 

"The Wady el Sheikh, the great valley of western 
Sinai, is in many parts thickly overgrown with the 
tamarisk or tarfa,( Hedysamm Alhagi of Linn.) It is the 
only valley in the peninsula of Sinai where this tree 
grows, at present, in any great quantity ; though small 
bushes of it are here and there met with in other 
parts. It is from the tarfa that the manna is obtained. 
This substance is called by the Bedouins mann, and 
accurately resembles the description of manna given 
.in the Scriptures. In the month of June, it drops 
from the thorns of the tamarisk upon the fallen twigs, 
leaves and thorns, which always cover the ground 
beneath that tree in the natural state ; the manna is 
collected before sunrise, when it is coagulated ; but 
it dissolves as soon as the sun shines upon it. The 
Arabs clean away the leaves, dirt, etc. which adhere 
to it, boil it, strain it through a coarse piece of cloth, 
and put it in leathern skins : in this way they pre- 
serve it till the following year, and use it as they do 
honey, to pour over unleavened bread, or to dip their 
bread into. I could not learn that they ever made it 
into cakes or loaves. The manna is found only in 
years when copious rains have fallen ; sometimes it 
is not produced at all. I saw none of it among the 
Arabs, but I obtained a small piece of the last year's 
produce, in the convent (of mount Sinai), where, hav- 



ing been kept in the cool shade and moderate tem 
perature of that place, it had become quite solid, and 
formed a small cake ; it became soft when kept 
some time in the hand ; if placed in the sun for five 
minutes, it dissolved ; but when restored to a cool 
place, it became solid again in a quarter of an hour. 
In the season at which the Arabs gather it, it never 
acquires that state of hardness which will allow of 
its being pounded, as the Israelites are said to have 
done, in Num. xi. 8. Its color is a dirty yellow, and 
the piece which I saw was still mixed with bits of 
tamarisk leaves ; its taste is agreeable, somewhat ar- 
omatic, and as sweet as honey. If eaten in any 
considerable quantity, it is said to be slightly pur 
gative. 

"The quantity of manna collected at present, even 
in seasons when the most copious rains fall, is trifling, 
perhaps not amounting to more than five or six hun- 
dred pounds. It is entirely consumed among the 
Bedouins, who consider it the greatest dainty which 
their country affords. The harvest is usually in 
June, and lasts for about six weeks. In Nubia and 
in every part of Arabia, the tamarisk is one of the 
most common trees ; on the Euphrates, on the Asta- 
boras, in all the valleys of the Hedjaz and the Bedja, 
it grows in great plenty. 

"It is remarked by Niebuhr, that in Mesopotamia 
manna is produced by several trees of the oak spe- 
cies ; a similar fact was confirmed to me by the son 
of a Turkish lady, who had passed the greater part 
of his youth at Erzerum in Asia Minor : he told me 
that at Moush, a town three or four days distant 
from Erzerum, a substance is collected from the 
tree which produces the galls, exactly similar to 
the manna of the peninsula in taste and consistence, 
and that it is used by the inhabitants instead of hon- 
ey." (Compare Niebuhr's Descript. of Arabia, p. 145 
Germ, edition.) *R. 

MANOAH, father of Samson, of the tribe of Dan, 
and of the city of Zorah, Judg. xiii. An angel of 
the Lord having appeared to his wife, and having 
promised her a son, Manoah desired of the Lord that 
he might see him who had thus appeared, that he 
might know from him how to treat his son when 
born. The Lord heard his prayer, and the angel ap- 
peared again to his wife, being then in the fields; 
who ran to acquaint her husband. Manoah went to 
him, and obtained from him directions respecting his 
son. Manoah then said, "My Lord, I pray you be 
pleased to let us prepare you a kid." The angel re- 
plied, " I must not eat any food ; but you may offer 
it for a burnt-sacrifice to the Lord." Manoah said 
to him, (not knowing him to be an angel,) "What is 
your name ? that we may pay you honor and ac- 
knowledgment, if that shall happen which you have 
foretold." He answered, "Why ask you my name? 
which is a secret ;" or, " and he kept it secret." Ma- 
noah therefore took the kid with the wine for the 
libations, and put them on the fire which he had 
lighted on a stone. As the smoke began to ascend, 
the angel also ascended in the midst of the flame, 
towards heaven. Manoah was alarmed upon the 
discovery of the angelic nature of his visitant, but 
was rallied by his wife. 

MANSLAYER, see Refuge. 

MAON, a city in the south of Judah, (Josh. xv. 
55; 1 Sam. xxiii. 24, 25 ; xxv. 2.) and about whicn 
Nabal the Carmelite had great possessions. It was 
very probably the Maan mentioned in the next ar- 
ticle. 

MAONITES, a tribe mentioned (Judg. x. 12.} 



Alt 



[ 656 ] 



MAR 



a ong with the Amalekites, Zidonians, Philistines, 
&c. In 2 dir. xxvi. 7, they are called Mehitnims, 
and are mentioned along with the Arabians. There 
is still a city Maan with a castle in Arabia Petrsea, 
south of the Dead sea and near Wady Mousa. (See 
Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, &c. p. 437.) *R. 

MARAH, bitterness. When the Israelites, coming 
out of Egypt, arrived at the desert of Etham, they 
there found the water to be so bitter, that neither 
themselves nor their cattle could drink it, Exod. xv. 
23. They therefore began to murmur against Mo- 
ses, who, praying to the Lord, was shown a kind of 
wood, which, being thrown into the water, made it 
potable. This wood was called Alvah by the Ma- 
hometans, who maintain that Moses had received a 
piece of it, by succession, from the patriarchs, Noah 
having kept it in the ark, and delivered it to his pos- 
terity. (D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orient, p. 105, col. 1. et p. 
1022. col. 1.) The word alua has some relation to 
aloes, which is a very bitter wood ; and some inter- 
preters have hinted, that Moses took a very bitter 
sort of wood, on purpose that the power of God 
might be the more remarkable, in sweetening these 
waters. Joscphus says, that this legislator used the 
wood which he found by chance; lying at his feet. 
[See more on this subject under the article Exo- 
dus. R. 

" El-vah, says Mr. Bruce, (Trav. vol. ii. p. 470.) is 
a large village, or town, thickly planted with palm- 
trees, the 'Oasis Parva' of the ancients, the last in- 
habited place to the west that is under the jurisdiction 
of Egypt ; it yields senna and coloquiutida. The 
Arabs call El-vah, a shrub or tree, not unlike our 
hawthorn, either in form or flower. It was of this 
wood, they say, that Moses' rod was made, when he 
sweetened the waters of Marah. With a rod of this 
wood too, say they, Kaleb Ibn el Waalid, the great 
destroyer of Christians, sweetened these waters at 
El-vah, once bitter, and gave it the name from this 
miracle. A number of very fine springs burst from 
the earth at El-vah, which render this small spot ver- 
dant and beautiful, though surrounded with dreary 
deserts on every quarter ; it is situated like an island 
in the midst of the ocean." 

We believe that our colonists who first peopled 
some parts of America, corrected the qualities of the 
water they found there, by infusing in it branches of 
sassafras; and it is understood that the first induce- 
ment of the Chinese to the general use of tea, was 
to correct the water of their rivers ; it follows, there- 
fore, that some kinds of wood possess such a quality ; 
and it may be, that God directed Moses to the very 
wood proper for his purpose. But then it must be 
confessed that the water of these parts continues 
bad to this day, and is so greatly in want of some- 
thing to improve it, that had such a discovery been 
communicated by Moses, it could hardly have been 
lost. Niebuhr, when upon the spot where this mira- 
cle was performed, inquired after wood capable of 
this effect ; but could gain no information of any 
such. It will not, however, from hence follow, that 
Moses used a bitter wood, or even any ordinary 
wood ; but, as Providence usually works by the proper 
and fit means to accomplish its ends, probably the 
wood used by Moses was, in some degree at least, 
corrective of that quality which abounded in the 
Waters ; though, perhaps, it might itself have other 
qualities equally bad, but of a different kind, (where- 
fore it has been lost,) adapted, perhaps, to neutralize 
the water, and so to render it potable. See Exodus, 
as above. 



That other water also stands in need of correction, 
and that such correction is applied to it, appears from 
a custom in Egypt, in respect to the water of the 
Nile ; a custom which, beiug of great antiquity, might 
have been familiar to Moses. " The water of the 
Nile is always somewhat muddy ; but by rubbing 
with bitter almonds, prepared in a particular manner, 
the earthen jars in which it is kept, this water is ren- 
dered clear, light and salutary." (Niebuhr's Travels, 
vol. i. p. 71.) Did these bitter almonds suggest the 
idea of bitter wood ? 

MARAN-ATHA, the Lord comes, a form of threat- 
ening, cursing, or anathematizing among the Jews 
Paul pronounces Anathema Maran-atha against all 
who love not our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. xvi. 22 
Commentators inform us, that Maran-atha is the 
greatest anathema among the Jews, and equivalent 
to Sham-atha, or Shem-atha, the name comes, or the 
Lordcom.es: q. d. "Mayest thou be devoted to the 
greatest of evils, and to the utmost severity of God's 
judgments; may the Lord come quickly to take 
vengeance of thy crimes." But Selden and Light- 
foot maintain, that Maran-atha is not found in this 
sense among the rabbins, but that it may be under- 
stood in an absolute sense: "Let him that does not 
love our Lord Jesus Christ be anathema. The Lord 
is come, the Messiah has appeared; evil to whoso- 
ever receives him not." See more under Anathema, 
p. 58. col. 2. 

MARESHAH, a fortified city of Judah; called 
also Moresheth. The prophet Micah was a native 
of this city. It was two miles from Eleutheropolis ; 
and near to it, in the vale of Zephathah, was fought 
a famous battle between Asa, king of Judah, and 
Zerah, king of Chus, in which Asa defeated a mil- 
lion of men, Josh. xv. 44; 2 Chr. xi. 8; xiv. 9, 10 ; 
Micah i. 1, 15. In the latter times of the Jewish 
commonwealth, Mareshah belonged to Idumrea, as 
did several other southerly cities of Judah. It was 
peopled by the Jews, and their allies, in the time of 
John Hyrcanus. Alexander Jannseus took it from 
the Arabians, and Pompey restored it to its first in- 
habitants. Gabinius rebuilt it, and the Parthians 
destroyed it in the war of Antigonus against Herod. 
(Jos. Ant. xiii. xiv.) 

I. MARIAMNE, daughter of Alexander, son of 
Aristobulus, and of Alexandra, daughter of Hyrca- 
nus, high-priest of the Jews, was the most beautiful 
princess of her age. She married Herod the Great, 
by whom she had two sons, Alexander and Aristobu- 
lus, and two daughters, Salampso and Cypros ; also 
a son called Herod, who died young, during his stud- 
ies at Rome. Herod was excessively fond of Ma- 
riamne, who but slightly returned his passion ; and 
at length cherished a deadly hatred towards him _ 
Herod had her put to death ; but afterwards his affec- 
tion for her became stronger than ever. Josephus 
mentions a tower that Herod built in Jerusalem, 
which he named Mariamne. See Herod. 

II. MARIAMNE, daughter of the high-priest 
Simon, and wife of Herod the Great ; by whom she 
had a son called Philip, who married first the famous 
Herodias, who afterwards lived with Herod Antipas, 
who put to death John the Baptist, Mark vi. 17; 
Matt. xiv. 3. 

I. MARK, the Evangelist, according to Papias 
Irenseus and others, was the disciple and interpreter 
of Peter, who speaks of him, as is thought, (1 Epist. 
chap. v. 13.) as his son in the spirit ; probably because 
he had converted him. The place and time at which 
Mark wrote his Gospel are uncertain. Clemens Al- 



MAR 



[ S57 ] 



MAR 



exandrinus and others affirm that Peter going to 
Rome, about A. D. 44, Mark accompanied him, and 
there wrote his Gospel, at the request of the breth- 
ren, who desired that he would give them in writing 
what he had learned from Peter by word of mouth. 
And they add, that when the apostle was informed 
what his disciple had done, he commended his under- 
taking, and gave his Gospel to be read in the churches, 
as an authentic work. See Gospel. — Mark. 

A number of things are related as connected with 
the life and travels of Mark, after the close of the his- 
tory in the Acts of the Apostles ; (see John Mark ;) 
but as we have no means of attesting their truth, we 
omit all further mention of them here. 

Calmet is of opinion that the Gospel of Mark is an 
abridgment of that by Matthew. He often uses the 
same terms, relates the same facts, and notices the 
same circumstances. He sometimes adds particulars 
which throw great light on Matthew's text ; and 
there are two or three miracles in Mark, which are 
not in Matthew. (See chap. i. v. ix. xvi.) But what is 
the most remarkable is, that he forsakes Matthew in 
the order of his narration, from chap. iv. 12, to chap, 
xiv. 13, of that writer. In these places he pursues 
the order of time as noted by Luke and John ; and 
this has induced chronologers to follow Luke, Mark 
and John, rather than Matthew. He opens his Gos- 
pel with the preaching of John the Baptist, and omits 
several parables related by Matthew, (chap. xx. xxi. and 
xxv.) as also several discourses of our Saviour to his 
disciples, and to the Pharisees, chap. v. vi.vii. xvi. xviii. 

The origin of Mark's Gospel forms an interesting 
subject of inquiry. We have seen that some of the 
ancients were of opinion that it was written under 
the dictation of Peter ; but the grounds of this opinion 
are not ascertained. If Mark were son to that Mary 
(Acts xii. 12.) who resided at Jerusalem, and whose 
house was the resort of the faithful, he must have 
known many things which passed at Jerusalem, as 
well as Peter himself.. He must also have been suf- 
ficiently versed in the Syriac language, and able to 
make use of whatever materials for true history were 
in circulation, which, probably, were many, though 
incomplete, while he would receive others from 
Peter. It appears from his history that Mark was 
much engaged in journeying ; sometimes v* „h or for 
Barnabas, at other times, with or for Paul, and Pe- 
ter also. It is probable, that he composed his Gospel 
at intervals of such journeys, as Luke also did ; and 
he is no more an epitomizer of Matthew than Luke 
is, with whom he agrees in many particulars. 

MARKET. The Market, or Forum, in the cities 
of antiquity, was different from the market in our 
English towns, where flesh meat, &c. is usually sold. 
When we read (Acts xvii. 17.) of the apostle Paul dis- 
puting with philosophers in the " market " at Athens, 
we are apt to wonder what kind of philosophers these 
market-folks could be ; or why the disputants could 
not engage in a place fitter for investigation and dis- 
cussion of abstruse and difficult subjects. So, when 
we read that Paul and Silas, having expelled the Py- 
thonic spirit, (Acts xvi. 19.) were led to the market- 
place, and accused, we may not be aware of the fit- 
ness of a market for the residence of a tribunal of 
justice. But the fact is, that the forum was usually a 
public market on one side only, the other sides of the 
area being occupied by temples, theatres, courts of 
justice, and other public buildings. In short, the fo- 
rums were sumptuous squares, surrounded by deco- 
rations &c. of various, and often of magnificent kinds. 
Here the philosophers met, and taught ; here laws 



were promulgated ; and here devotions, as well as 
amusements, occupied the populace. The nearest 
approach to the composition of an ancient forum, is, 
perhaps, Covent-garden, in London ; where there is 
a market in the middle, a church at one end, a theatre 
at one corner, and sitting magistrates close adjacent ; 
under the piazzas, too, supposing them to be the re- 
sort of philosophers, much philosophic discussion 
might take place, and many an inti-icate subject might 
be examined. In our climate, such a shelter from the 
cold, or rain, would hardly be thought sufficient; but 
in the East, it would be sought from the heat, and 
the cool shacke, or the covered settle, would be the 
place chosen, no less than the sequestered groves of 
Academus, at Athens. In short, if we add such a 
school, or any other, for philosophical instruction, or 
divinity lectures, we have nearly the composition of 
an ancient forum, or market-place. This removes 
entirely the seeming incongruity between discourses 
and disputations on the principles of theology and 
Christianity, and those commercial avocations which 
we usually assign to a market-place. On the same 
principle, when the Pharisees desired salutations in 
the market-places, (Mark xii. 38.) it was not merely 
from the country people who brought their produc- 
tions for sale, but, as they loved to be admired by 
religious people at the temple, the synagogues, &c. 
so they desired salutations from persons of conse- 
quence, judges, magistrates, dignitaries, &c. in the 
forum, in order to display their importance to the 
people, to maintain their influence, &c. 

MARRIAGE is, among the Hebrews, a matter of 
strict obligation. They understand literally, and as 
a precept, the words addressed to our first parents : 
(Gen. i. 28.) " Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish 
the earth." They believe that he who does not 
marry his children, deprives God of the glory due to 
him, becomes in some sort a homicide, destroys the 
image of the first man, and is a reason why the Holy 
Ghost withdraws himself from Israel. This question 
is mooted in the Talmud : " Who is he that prosti- 
tutes his daughter ? " It is answered, " The father 
that keeps her too long in his house, or that marries 
her to an old man." (Comp. 1 Coi\ vii. 36.) The age 
at which wedlock becomes an obligation, with them, 
is twenty years ; though generally they marry their 
children sooner. But if a father marry his daughter 
before the age of puberty, which is at twelve years and 
a half, she may be separated from her husband for 
any slight disgust. Still, the virgins were betrothed 
very early ; though not married till after twelve years 
old; whence come these expressions, "the spouse of, 
one's youth," (Prov. ii. 17.) or one espoused in early 
life ; also " the guide of one's youth," expressing a 
husband married young. 

In the first ages, marriages between brothers and 
sisters were necessary, because of the small number 
of persons then in the world ; but after mankind had 
become numerous, they were unlawful, and were 
prohibited under great penalties. (See Incest.) 
However, the patriarchs long continued to espouse 
their near relations, intending thereby to avoid alli- 
ance with families corrupted by the worship of false 
gods ; or to preserve in their own families the wor- 
ship of the true God, and the maintenance of the true 
religion, of which they were the depositaries. For 
this reason Abraham appears to have married his 
half-sister, Sarah ; and also to have sent his steward 
Eliezer to fetch a wife for his son Isaac from among 
the daughters of his nephews. Jacob also espouseo 
the daughters of his uncle. 



MARRIAGE 



[ 658 ] 



MARRIAGE 



From what has been said, it is easy to perceive why 
celibacy and barrenness was a reproach in Israel ; 
and why the daughter of Jephthah went to bewail 
her virginity ; (Judg. xi. 37.) that is, being compelled 
to die unmarried and childless. 

Young women, before their marriage, were called al- 
wah, virgin, i. e. perhaps, shut up, because they seldom 
appeared in public. The manner in which a daughter 
was demanded in marriage, may be seen in the in- 
stance of Hamor and Shechem, when they demanded 
Dinah of Jacob: (Gen. xxxiv. 8, Sec.) "The soul of 
my son Shechem longeth for your daughter ; I pray 
you, give her him to wife. Let me find grace in your 
eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask 
me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give 
according as ye shall say unto me ■ but give me the 
damsel to wife." See also (Gen. xxiv. 33.) the man- 
ner in which Eliezer demands Rebekah for Isaac ; 
and (Tobit vii. 10, 11.) the demand that Tobias made 
of Sarah, the daughter of Raguel. The husband gave 
a dowiy to his wife, as a kind of purchase-money. 
(See Dowry.) Before the contract, they agreed on 
what portion the man should give his bride, and what 
presents to her father and brethren. Jacob served 
seven years for Leah, and seven additional years for 
Rachel; (Gen. xxix.) and the sisters complain, some 
years after, that their father Laban had applied their 
portions to his own use, Gen. xjyd. 15. (See also 1 
Sam. xviii. 25.) 

The betrothing was performed either by a writing, 
or by a piece of silver given to the bride, or by cohabit- 
ation and consummation. This is the form of the 
writing : " On such a day, of such a month, in such 
a year, N. the son of N. has said to N. the daughter of 
N. Be thou my spouse according to the law of Moses 
and the Israelites, and 1 will give thee for the portion 
of thy virginity the sum of two hundred Zuzim, as is 
ordained by the law. And the said N. has consented 
to become his spouse on these conditions, which the 
said N. has promised to perform on the day of mar- 
riage. To this the said N. obliges himself, and for 
this he engages all his goods, even as far as the cloak 
that he wears upon his shoulder. Moreover, he 
promises to perform all that is generally intended in 
contracts of marriage, in favor of the Israelitish 
women. Witnesses N. N. N." The promise by a 
piece of silver, and without writing, was made before 
witnesses, when the young man said to his mistress : 
" Receive this piece of silver as a pledge that you 
shall become my spouse." Lastly, the engagement 
by cohabitation, according to the rabbins, was allow- 
ed by the law, (Deut. xxiv. 1.) but it had been wisely 
forbidden, because of the abuses that might happen, 
and to prevent clandestine marriages. After the 
marriage was contracted, the young people had the 
liberty of seeing each other, which was not allowed 
to them before ; and if, during this time, the bride 
should trespass against that fidelity she owed to her 
bridegroom, she was treated as an adulteress. Thus 
the holy Virgin, after she was betrothed to Joseph, 
having conceived our Saviour Jesus Christ, might 
have been punished as an adulteress, if the angel of 
the Lord had not satisfied Joseph. Between the 
time of being espoused and the marriage, there fre- 
quently passed a considerable interval ; whether be- 
cause of the under-age of the persons espoused, or for 
other reasons of necessity or decency. When the 
parties were agreed on the terms of marriage, and 
the time was fit for completing it, they drew up the 
contract. 

The rabbins inform us, that before the temple of 



Jerusalem was laid in ruins, the bridegroom anu bride 
wore crowns at their marriage. In Scripture we find 
mention of the crown of the bridegroom, but not of 
that of the bride ; and, indeed, the head-dress of the 
women was by no means convenient for wearing a 
crown. (Compare Isa. lxi. 10; Cant. iii. 11.) "Go 
forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king 
Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother 
crowned him in the clay of his espousals, and in the 
day of the gladness of his heart." The modern Jews 
in some places throw handfuls of wheat on the newly- 
married couple, particularly on the bride, saying,, 
" Increase and multiply." In other places they 
mingle pieces of money with the wheat, which are 
gathered up by the poor. 

We see by the gospel, that the bridegroom had a 
Paranymphus, or brideman, called by our Saviour 
" the friend of the bridegroom," John iii. 29. A num- 
ber of young people kept him company during the 
days of the wedding, to do him honor; as also young 
women kept company with the bride all this time. 
The companions of the bridegroom are expressly 
mentioned in the history of Samson, (Judg. xiv. and 
Cant. v. 1 ; viii. 13.) also the companions of the bride, 
Cant. i. 4 ; ii. 7 ; iii. 5 ; viii. 4 ; Ps. xlv. 9, 14, 15. The 
office of the brideman was to perforin the ceremonies 
of the wedding, instead of the bridegroom, and to 
obey his orders. Some think that the Architriclinus, 
or governor of the feast, at the marriage in Cana, was 
the brideman, Paranymphus, or friend of the bride- 
groom, who presided at the feast, and had the care of 
providing for the guests, John ii. 9. The friends and 
companions of the bride sang the Epithalamium, or 
wedding song, at the door of the bride the evening 
before the wedding. Ps. xlv. is an Epithalamium, 
entitled " A song of rejoicing of the well-beloved." 
The ceremony of the wedding was performed with 
great decorum, the young people of each sex being 
kept separate, in distinct apartments, and at different 
tables. The reservedness fo the eastern people to- 
wards their women required this ; and we see proofs 
ofitinthe marriage of Samson, in that >( Esther, 
and in the Canticles. The young men diverted them- 
selves sometimes in proposing riddles, and the bride- 
groom appointed the prize to those who could ex- 
plain them, Judg. xiv. 14. 

The wedding ceremonies commonly lasted seven 
days for a maid, and three days for a widow. So La- 
ban says to Jacob, respecting Leah — "fulfil her 
week," Gen. xxix. 27. The ceremonies of Samson's 
wedding continued seven whole days, (Judg. xiv. 17, 
18.) as also those of that of Tobias, chap. xi. 12. 
These seven days of rejoicing were commonly spent 
in the house of the woman's father, after which they 
conducted the bride to her husband's home. 

Marriage, its forms, and the ideas connected with 
it, are so dissimilar in different places, that it is ex- 
tremely difficult to form an adequate conception on 
the subject. As a partial illustration of them, we 
may state, on the authority of the Gentoo Code, that, 
in India, there are eight forms of contracting matri- 
mony. Some of these have little or no reference to 
customs alluded to in Scripture ; but others may af 
ford us information. We find among them the 
customary dowry given by the proposed husband to 
the bride's father, as in the case of Shechem, (Gen. 
xxxiv. 12.) and of David, 1 Sam. xviii. 24. To this 
may be referred the third and sixth forms. May not 
the fourth form contribute at least to throw a new 
light on the story of Judah andTamar? Gen. xxxviii. 
Did Tamar contract a kind of marriage, by receiving 



MARRIAGE 



[ 659 ] 



MARRIAGE 



" the pledges of — thy signet and thy bracelets, and the 
staff that is in thine hand," as, at least, equally effica- 
cious, and certainly more permanent and confidential 
tokens, than " necklaces or strings of flowers ?" Did 
Tamar thus marry herself to Judah, though unwit- 
tingly in him ? From the expression, (ver. 26.) "He 
knew her again no more," it would seem as if he 
might lawfully have known her again had he pleased. 
Although Tamar had been contracted to Er and to 
Onan, whether those marriages had been consummat- 
ed may bear a question. When the forms of mar- 
riage are so. simple as those of the fifth class, we 
need not be surprised at the ready giving of daughters 
in marriage ; as occurs frequently in Scripture. Is 
something like it alluded to, Malachi ii. 11 ? The 
seventh form illustrates Deut. xxi. 11, of marrying a 
captive taken in war. The eighth form seems to re- 
semble the provision made in Exod. xxii. 16. From 
these different kinds, and, as it were, ranks of mar- 
riage, it appears that many ideas were attached 
to the connection anciently, and in the East, which 
differ greatly from those attending our uniform rites 
of contract ; but they are necessary to be well under- 
stood, before we determine on certain passages of 
Scripture history. 

" The third form, Arsh, is so called when the pa- 
rents of a girl receive one bull and cow from the 
bridegroom, on his marrying their daughter. The 
fourth form, Kandehrub, is so called, when a man and 
woman, by mutual consent, interchange their neck- 
laces or strings of flowers, and both make agreement, 
in some secret place ; as, for instance, the woman 
says, ' I am become your wife,' and the man says, ' / 
acknowledge it? The fifth form, Perajaput, so called, 
when the parents of a girl, upon her marriage, say 
to the bridegroom, 'Whatever act of religion you 
perform, perform it with our daughter ; ' and the 
bridegroom assents to this speech. The sixth form, 
Ashore, so called, when a man gives money to a 
father and mother, on his marrying their daughter, 
and also gives something to the daughter herself. The 
seventh form, Rakhus, so called, when a man marries 
a daughter of another, whom he has conquered in 
war. The eighth form, Peishach, so called, when, 
before marriage, a man, coming in the dress and dis- 
guise of a woman, debauches a girl, and afterwards 
the mother and father of the girl marry her to the 
same man. 

Mr. Harmer has the following observation, (No. 
lxiii. p. 513. vol. ii.) on the contracts for temporary 
wives : " Sir J. Chardin observed in the East, that in 
their contracts for temporary wives, (which are known 
to be frequent there,) which contracts are made be- 
fore the Kady, there is always the formality of , a 
measure of corn mentioned over and above the sum 
of money that is stipulated." It can scarcely be 
thought, that this formality is recent in the East ; it 
may, possibly, be very ancient, as, apparently, con- 
nections of this description are : if it could be' traced 
to patriarchal times, it would, perhaps, account for 
Hosea's purchasing a woman under this character, 
" for fifteen pieces of silver, and a certain quantity of 
barley," chap. iii. 2. 

The observations of baron du Tott appear to illus- 
trate, in some degree, the origin of this custom ; at 
least, his account is amusing, and may serve to com- 
plete the hints of Mr. Harmer : " I observed an old 
man standing, singly, before his door. The lot [by 
which was determined who should receive the newly- 
arrived guest] fell upon him. The ardor of my 
new host expressed his satisfaction ; and no sooner 



had he shown me into a clean lower apartment, than 
he brought his wife and daughter, both with their faces 
uncovered ; the first carrying a basin and a pitcher, 
and the second carrying a napkin, which she spread 
over my hands after I had washed them." The bar- 
on adds in a note, "We may observe, that the law 
of Namakrem, of which I have spoken in my prelim- 
inary discourse, is not scrupulously observed by the 
Tartar women. We ought also to remark, that these 
people have many customs, which seem to indicate 
the origin of those that are analogous to them among 
us. May we not also trace the motive of the nup- 
tial crown, and the comfits which are used at the 
marriages of Europeans, in the manner in which the 
Tartars portion out their daughters ? They cover 
them with millet. In the origin of society, seed grain 
ought necessarily to be the representing token of all 
wealth. A dish, of about a foot in diameter, was 
placed on the head of the bride ; over this a veil was; 
thrown, which covered the face, and descended to 
the shoulders ; millet was then poured upon the dish, 
which, falling, and spreading all around her, formed 
a cone, with a base corresponding to the height of 
the bride. Nor was her portion complete till the: 
millet touched the dish, while the veil gave her the 
power of respiration. This custom was not favora- 
ble to small people ; and, at present, they estimate 
how many measures of millet a daughter is worth. 
The Turks and Armenians, who make their calcula- 
tions in money, still preserve the dish and the veil, 
and throw coin upon the bride, which they cah 
'spilling the millet.' Have not the crown and the 
comfits the same origin ? " (vol. i. p. 212.) If this be 
accepted as a probable reference to the origin of the 
custom of purchasing wives with seed corn, it may 
undoubtedly, be very ancient ; but it might have somo 
relation to good wishes for a numerous progeny. So 
among the Greeks, various fruits, as figs, or nuts, &c. 
were thrown by the youthful attendants upon the 
head of the bride, as an omen of fruitfulness ; and as 
good wishes of this kind were usual, (see Rebekah's 
dismissal, Gen. xxiv. 60.) could any thing more aptly 
allude to them ? Its antiquity may be, at least, as re- 
mote under this idea as under the other. 

As the circumstances of Hosea's behavior appear 
sufficiently strange to us, it may be worth while to 
add the baron's account of marriages by Capin ; 
which agrees with the relations of other travellers into 
the East : " There is another kind of marriage, which,, 
stipulating the return to be made, fixes likewise the 
time when the divorce is to take place. This contract 
is called Capin ; and, properly speaking, is only an 
agreement made between the parties to live together, 
for such a price, during such a time." (Preliminary 
Discourse, p. 23.) It is scarcely possible to expect 
more direct illustration of the prophet's conduct (Hos. 
iii.) than this extract from the baron affords. We 
learn from it that this contract is a regular form of 
marriage, and that it is so regarded, generally, in the 
East. Such a connection and agreement, then, could 
give no scandal, in the days of Hosea, though it 
would not be seemly under Christian manners. The 
prophet says — " So I bought her [my wife] to me for 
fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer of barley, and 
a half homer of barley. And I said unto her, Many 
days shall thou abide for me. Thou shalt not play 
the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man ; so 
will I also be for thee." What was this but a marriage 
by Capin, according to the account above given ? 
And the prophet carefully lets us know, that* he 
honestly paid the stipulated price ; that he was verv 



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[ 660 ] 



MARRIAGE 



otiict in his agreement, as to the behavior of his wife ; 
and that he also bound himself to the same fidelity, 
during the time for which they mutually contracted. 
It may easily be imagined that this kind of marriage 
was liable to be abused ; and that it was glanced at, 
and included, in our Lord's prohibition of hasty di- 
vorces, need not be doubted. Had a certain writer 
proceeded no further than to consider the direction, 
" Let every man have [retain] his own wife, and every 
woman have [retain] her own husband," (1 Cor. vii. 
2.) as relating to marriages of such imperfect connec- 
tion, (for this is not the only kind contracted without 
much ceremony or delay,) bo^a his work and his 
principles would have been gainers by his prudence. 

Marriage Procession. — The procession accom- 
panying the bride from the house of her father to 
that of the bridegroom was generally one of great 
pomp, according to the circumstances of the married 
couple ; ana for this they often chose the night. 
Hence, in the parable of the ten virgins that went to 
meet *he bride and bridegroom (Matt, xxv.) it is said 
the virgins were asleep; and at midnight, being 
awako-u at the cry of the bridegroom's coming, the 
fbolisl virgins found they had no oil to supply their 
!atnpj ; which while they went to buy, the bridegroom 
.ind his attendants passed by. 

•Jr. Taylor has collected very copious information 
relative to the marriage processions among the orien- 
tal people, in Fragments 49, 557, and 674. Many of 
I he circumstances attending these will be found to 
contribute aid in the elucidation of two or three pas- 
sages of Scripture, but their value would not justify us 
in appropriating to them the space they would occupy. 
'' At a marriage, the procession of which I saw some 
years ago," says Mr. Ward, (View of Hist, of Hindoos, 
vol. iii. p. 171, 172.) " the bridegroom came from a 
distance, and the bride lived at Serampore, to which 
place the bridegroom was to come by water. After 
waiting two or three hours, at length, near midnight, 
it was announced, as if in the very words of Scripture, 
" Behold ! the bridegroom corneth ; go ye out to meet 
him." All the persons employed now lighted their 
lamps, and ran with them in their hands, to fill up 
their stations in the procession ; some of them had 
lost then - lights, and were unprepared, but it was 
then too late to seek them, and the cavalcade moved 
forward to the house of the bride, at which place the 
company entered a large and splendidly illuminated 
area, before the house, covered with an awning, where 
a great multitude of friends, dressed in their best ap- 
parel, were seated upon mats. The bridegroom was 
carried in the arms of a friend, and placed in a superb 
seat in the midst of the company, where he sat a short 
time, and then went into the house, the door of which 
was immediately shut, and guarded by Sepoys. I 
and others expostulated with the door-keepers, but in 
vain. Never was I so struck with our Lord's beauti- 
ful parable, as at this moment : — and the door ivas 
shut." 

In the beautiful parable of our Lord, there are ten 
virgins, who took their lamps, and went in a company 
to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise, 
endued with prudence and discretion; the other five 
were foolish, thoughtless and inconsiderate. The 
thoughtless took their lamps, but were so foolish as to 
take only a little oil in them to serve the present oc- 
casion. But the prudent, mindful of futurity, and 
knowing that the coming of the bridegroom was un- 
certain, as well as filling then - lamps, prudently took 
a quantity of oil in their vessels to supply them, that 
they might be ready to go forth at a moment's warn- 



ing. Having waited long for the bridegroom, and he 
not appearing, they all, tired with long watching, and 
fatigued with tedious expectation, were overcome 
with sleep, and sunk into profound repose. But lo ! 
at midnight they were suddenly alarmed with a cry 
" The bridegroom, the bridegroom cometh ! Hasten 
to meet and congratulate him." Roused with this 
unexpected proclamation, they all got up and trim- 
med their lamps. But the oil, in those that belonged 
to the foolish virgins, being consumed, they were in 
the utmost confusion when they found them gone 
out ; and having nothing in their vessels. to trim them 
with, they began to see their mistake. In this ex- 
tremity they entreated their companions to impart to 
them some of their oil, telling them that their lamps 
were gone out. To these entreaties the prudent an- 
swered, that they had only provided a sufficient 
quantity for their own use, and therefore advised 
them to go and purchase oil of those who sold it. 
They departed accordingly, but while absent on this 
errand, the bridegroom came, and the prudent vir- 
gins, being prepared for his reception, went along 
with him to the nuptial entertainment, and the door 
was shut. After some time the others returned, and, 
knocking loud, supplicated earnestly for admission. 
But the bridegroom repulsed them, telling them, Ye 
pretended to be my friends, and to do me honor on this 
occasion ; but ye have not acted as friends, for which 
reason / know you not : I do not acknowledge you as 
my friends, and will not admit strangers. 

From another parable, in which a great king is 
represented as making a most magnificent entertain- 
ment at the marriage of his son, (Matt, xxii.) we learn 
that all the guests, who were honored with an invita- 
tion, were expected to be dressed in a manner suita- 
ble to the- splendor of such an occasion, and as a to- 
ken of just respect to the new-married couple ; and 
that after the procession, in the evening, from the 
bride's house, was concluded, the guests, before they 
were admitted into the hall where the entertainment 
was served up, were taken into an apartment and 
viewed, that it might be known if any stranger had 
intruded, or if any of the company were apparelled 
in raiment unsuitable to the genial solemnity they 
were going to celebrate ; and such, if found, were 
expelled the house with every mark of ignominy and 
disgrace. From the knowledge of this custom the 
following passage receives great light and lustre. 
When the king came in to see the guests, he discov- 
ered among them a person who had not on a wed- 
ding garment. He called him and said, Friend, how 
came you to intrude into my palace in a dress so un- 
suitable to this occasion ? The man was struck 
dumb ; he had no apology to offer for this disrespect- 
ful neglect. The king then called to his servants, 
and bade them bind him hand and foot, to drag him 
out of the room, and thrust him out into the midnight 
darkness. (Harwood.) 

Levirate Marriages. There is one circumstance 
connected with this subject among the Hebrews, that 
should not be omitted here. The law of Moses 
obliged one brother to marry the widow of another, 
who died without children, that he might raise up 
seed to him. This is called Levirate. The custom 
seems to have been in force, among the Hebrews and 
Canaanites, before the time of Moses; since Judah 
gives Er his first-born, and Onan his second son, to 
Tamar, and obliges himself to give her also Shelah, 
his third son. The instance of Ruth, who married 
Boaz, is an evidence of this practice under the judges. 
Boaz was neither the father of, nor the nearest rela- 



MARRIAGE 



[ 661 ] 



MARRIAGE 



tion to, Elimelech, father-in-law of Ruth, the widow 
ofMahlon; yet he married her, after the refusal of 
the next of kin. The rabbins suggest many excep- 
tions and limitations to this law ; as, that the obliga- 
tion on the brother of marrying his sister-in-law, re- 
gards only brothers born of the same father and 
mother; that it has respect only to the eldest brother 
of the deceased ; and further, supposes that he was 
not married ; for if he were married, he might either 
take or leave his brother's widow. If the deceased 
brother had left a natural or adoptive son or daughter, 
a grandson or granddaughter, the brother was under 
no obligation to marry his widow. If the dead per- 
son left many wives, the brother could marry but one 
of them; if the deceased had many brothers, the eld- 
est alone had a right to all his estate, and enjoyed the 
property which his wife had brought him. They add, 
that the marriage of the widow with her brother-in- 
law was performed without solemnity, because the 
widow of the brother who died not having children, 
passed for the brother-in-law's wife, without any oc- 
casion for further ceremony. Notwithstanding, cus- 
tom required that this should be done in the presence 
of two witnesses, and that the brother should give a 
piece of money to the widow. The nuptial blessing 
was added, and a writing to secure the wife's dower. 
Some believe, that this law was not observed after the 
Babylonish captivity, because, since that time, there 
has been no distinction of inheritances among the 
tribes. 

The law was this, in case of a refusal by the broth- 
er to marry the widow ; (Deut. xxv. 7.) " If the man 
like not to take his brother's wife, then let his broth- 
er's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, 
' My husband's brother will not perform the duty of 
a husband's brother ;' then shall his brother's wife 
come unto him, in the presence of the elders, and 
loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, 
and shall say, ' So shall it be done unto that man that 
will not build up his brother's house.' And his name 
shall be called in Israel, ' The house of him who hath 
had his shoe loosed.' " Remark, (1.) the word ren- 
dered shoe (^yj, naal,) usually means sandal, i. e. a 
mere sole held on the foot in a very simple manner ; 
and is so understood by the Chaldee Targunis, by 
the LXX, and by the Vulgate. (2.) The primary ana 
radical meaning of the word rendered face (ijs, peni,) 
is surface, the superficies of any thing. Mr. Taylor 
suggests, then, that the directions of the passage may 
be to this purpose ; the brothers wife shall loose the 
sandal from off the foot of her husband's brother, and 
shall spit upon its face, or surface, (i. e. that of the 
shoe,) and shall say, &sc- — in which case the ceremo- 
ny is coincident with the following : 

Tournefort says, (vol. ii. p. 316.) "A woman may 
demand to be separated from her husband if he " de- 
cline her intimacy ; " if the woman turn her slipper 
upside down in presence of the judge it is a sign," 
and is taken as evidence against her husband. " The 
judge sends to look for the husband, bastinades him, 
and dissolves the marriage." A more particular ac- 
count of this ceremony is given by Aaron Hill : 
(Travels, p. 104.) " The third divorce practised by 
the Turks, is, when a man" withholds his personal 
intimacy from his wife, " yet refuses to dismiss her. 
Being summoned by her friends before a judge, and 
forced to bring her with him to the same appearance, 
when the charge is read against him, she is asked if 
she will then affirm the truth of that accusation ? 
Hereupon she stoops, and talcing off her slip- 
per, spits upon the sole ; and strikes on her hus- 



band's forehead. Modesty requires no further con- 
firmation from the female plaintiff; and sentence is 
immediately pronounced, in favor of the lady, who is 
thenceforth free to many as she pleases ; and is en. 
titled, notwithstanding, to a large allowance from her 
former consort's yearly income." 

These ceremonies differ in some things, however ; 
for in the case of complaint against her own husband, 
for personal abstinence, the wife takes off her own 
shoe and spits upon it; but in the case of complaint 
against her husband's brother for refusing to be his 
locum tenens, and declining her intimacy, she takes 
off his shoe and spits upon it. Moreover, the text 
does not say she shall turn up the sole, and spit 
upon it, (such inversion signifying a very different 
matter, as may be seen in Busbequius, (Ep. 169.) and 
could have no place in the case of the husband's 
brother,) but she shall spit upon the face or upper 
part of it, as an oath, affirmation, and evidence, of 
his refusal " to build up his brother's house." It de- 
serves notice that the appellative phrase which brands 
the character of the refuser is not " the house of him 
who had his shoe loosed, and ivas spit upon ;" but 
the reference is to the loosing of the shoe only, the 
more considerable disgrace being omitted. 

This custom seems to be alluded to, with some va- 
riation, in the case of Ruth's kinsman, (Ruth iv. 7.) 
where it seezns clearly to include the force of an 
oath, "for to confirm all things.'''' This form of an 
oath, then, like that of placing the hand under the 
thigh, appears sufficiently strange to us, yet, being 
binding on those who took it, it might fully answer 
its purpose. Why the subject to which it alludes was 
signified by the shoe in particular, might possibly be 
ascertained by an accurate attention to some of the 
senses in which the word foot, or feet, is used, Jer. ii. 
25 ; Ezek. xvi. 25 ; Isa. vii. 20 ; xxxvi. 12 ; in Heb. fyc 

Is there a gradation observable in the treatment of 
more distant relatives, though the nearest of kin re 
maining, as in the case of Ruth ? The man himsell 
plucked off his own shoe ; and gave it to his neighbor 
it was not plucked off by the petitioner, nor was V 
given to her; but it was loosened, perhaps decent 
ly, and deliberately, by himself, and given by him to 
his neighbor; implying, probably, a smaller portion 
of indignity, as the relation was more remote, and 
his obligation to comply with the custom proportion- 
ately less urgent. This affords an answer to Mi- 
chaelis's question, (No. 59,) which Niebuhr has not 
replied to. 

Christ has restored marriage to its first perfection, 
by banishing polygamy, and forbidding divorce, ex- 
cept in the case of adultery, (Matt. v. 32.) nor leaving 
to the parties so separated, the liberty of marrying 
again, Luke xvi. 18. (See Divorce.) Our Saviour 
blessed and sanctified marriage by being present 
himself at the wedding at Cana, (John ii. 1, 2.) and 
Paul declares the excellence of Christian marriage, 
when he says, (Eph. v. 32.) " Let every one of you so 
love his wife, even as himself, and the wife see that 
she reverence her husband." " So ought men to 
love their wives as their own bodies ; he that loveth 
his wife, loveth himself. For this cause shall a man 
leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto 
his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a 
great mystery ; but I speak concerning Christ and 
the church." The union of husband and wife rep- 
resents the sacred and spiritual marriage of Christ 
with his church. The same apostle assures us 
(Heb. xiii. 4.) that " marriage is honorable in all, and 



MAR 



[ 662 ] 



MARY 



the berl undefiled ; but whoremongers and adulterers 
God will judge." The New Testament prescribes 
no particular ceremony for the solemnizing of mat- 
rimony ; but in the church, a blessing has always 
been given to the married couple. 

MARRIAGE VEIL, see Veil. 

MARS' HILL. Our translators have entirely 
spoiled the narrative of the historian in Acts xvii. 19, 
22, by rendering " they took Paul, and brought him 
unto Areopagus .... then Paul stood in the midst 
of Mars' hill." Now as Mars' hill is Areopagus trans- 
lated, and as both Areopagus and Mars' hill signify 
the same place, the same mine ought to have been 
preserved in both verses ; m which case the narra- 
tive would have stood thus . — "They took Paul, and 
brought him before the co/rt of the Areopagites," or 
the court which sat o:< Areopagus. . . . "and Paul 
stood in the midst before the court of the Areopa- 
gites, aiiu said, Ye chief men of Athens." (See Are- 
opagus.) The propriety of the apostle's discourse is 
greatly illnstrated by considering the important, the 
senatorial, and even the learned, character of his 
auditors. 

MARTHA, sistei of Lazarus and Mary. Upon one 
occasion, when our Saviour visited" them at Bethany, 
Martha was very busy in preparing supper, while 
Mary sat at our Saviour's feet, hearing his doctrine 
with g'-eat attention, Luke x. 38 — 42. Martha com- 
plained and wished Mary to rise and assist her. 
But Jesus made answer, " Martha, Martha, you are 
very busy and in much trouble to provide indifferent 
and unnecessary things; there is but one thing 
necessary, and Mary has chosen the better part, 
which shall not -be taken from her." Some time 
after this, Lazarus falling sick, the sisters sent word 
to Jesus, who was then beyond Jordan ; but he 
departed not thence till he knew Lazarus to be 
deal. When he approached Bethany, Martha went 
out co meet him ; expostulated with him on his de- 
lay ; and professed her faith in him. Jesus bade 
them bring him to Lazarus's tomb, and there raised 
him from the dead, John xi. 20, &c. (See Lazarus.) 
Six days before his passion, Jesus, beiug at Bethany, 
on his way to Jerusalem, was invited to eat by a 
Pharisee, called Simon the leper, John xii. Martha 
attended upon the guests, of whom Lazarus was one , 
and Mary poured a box of precious perfume on the 
head and feet of Jesus, Matt. xxvi. 6, &c. This is 
all we know of Martha. The Latins and Greeks 
maintain, that she died at Jerusalem, as also Ma- 
ry and Lazarus, and that they were all buried 
there. 

MARTYR, properly, denotes a witness ; in eccle- 
siastical history, a witness, by the shedding of his 
blood, in testifying the truth. Thus martyrs are dis- 
tinguished from confessors, properly so called, who 
underwent great afflictions for their confession of the 
truth, but without suffering death. The term martyr 
occurs only thrice in the New Testament, Acts xxii. 
20 ; Rev. ii. 13 ; xvii. 6. 

I. MARY, the wife of Joseph, the mother of Jesus, 
was, it is said, daughter of Joachim and Anna, of the 
tribe of Judah ; but Scripture mentions nothing of 
her parents, not even their names, unless Heli (Luke 
iii. 23.) be the same as Joachim. She was of the 
royal race of David, as was Joseph her husband ; and 
was also cousin to Elisabeth, wife of Zechariah the 
priest, Luke i. 5, 36. The Greek text (Matt. i. 18.) im- 
ports that Mary was espoused to Joseph, who, accord- 
ing to the usages of the Hebrews, had the same power 
over her as if she were his wife. (See Marriage.) 



Some time after the espousals the angel Gaoriel ap- 
peared to Mary, to acquaint her, that she should be 
the mother of the Messiah, Luke i.26,27, &c. Mary 
asking how this could be, since she knew not man, 
the angel replied, that " The Holy Ghost should 
come upon her, and that the power of the Highest 
should overshadow her." To confirm his message, 
and show that nothing was impossible to God, he 
added, that her cousin Elisabeth, who was both old 
and barren, was then in the sixth month of her preg- 
nancy. Mary answered, "Behold the handmaid of 
the Lord ; be it unto me according to thy word." She 
soon afterwards set out for Hebron, to visit her 
cousin ; and as soon as Elisabeth heard the voice of 
Mary, her child (John the Baptist) leaped in her 
womb ; she was filled with the Holy Ghost, and cried 
out, " Blessed art thou among women," &c. Mary, 
filled with acknowledgment and supernatural light, 
praised God, saying, " My soul doth magnify the 
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Sa- 
viour," &o. Mary continued with Elisabeth about 
three months, and then returned to her own house. 

When Mary was ready to lie in, an edict of Caesar 
Augustus decreed, that all subjects of the empire 
should go to their own cities, to register their names, 
according to their families. Joseph and Mary, who 
were both of the lineage of David, went to Bethle- 
hem, whence sprung their family. But while they 
were here, the time being fulfilled in which Mary 
was to be delivered, she brought forth her first-born 
son, whom she wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and 
laid in the manger of the stable whither they had 
been compelled to take up their residence, as they 
could find no place in the inn. (See Caravanserai.) 
Angels made the event known to shepherds, who 
were in the fields near Bethlehem, and who came in 
the night to see Mary and Joseph, and the child in 
the manger, and to pay him their adoration. Mary 
took notice of all these things, and laid them up in 
her heart, Luke ii. 19. A few days afterwards, the 
Magi or wise men came from the East, and brought 
to Jesus the presents of gold, frankincense and 
myrrh, Matt. ii. 8, &c. The time of Mary's purifica- 
tion being come, that is, forty days after the birth of 
Jesus, she went to Jerusalem, to preserit her son in 
the temple, and there to offer the sacrifice appointed 
by the law, for the purification of women after child- 
birth, Luke ii. 21. When Joseph and Mary were 
about to return to their own country, Nazareth, the 
angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, 
bidding him retire into Egypt with Mary and the 
child, because Herod designed to destroy it, Matt. ii. 
13, 14. Joseph obeyed the admonition, and contin- 
ued in Egypt till after the death of Herod, when he 
returned to Nazareth with his wife and the child. 

Mary is only mentioned two or three times after- 
wards in the sacred history, Luke ii. 49; John ii. 1 ; 
xix. 25 — 27, &c. She was with the apostles, no 
doubt, at the ascension of our Saviour, and continued 
with them at Jerusalem, waiting the descent of the 
Holy Ghost. After this time she dwelt with John 
the evangelist, who regarded her as his own mother. 
Some have believed that Mary finished her life by 
martyrdom, from those words of Simeon, "A sword 
shall pierce through thy own soul also," Luke ii. 35. 
TheCatholic church has understood this literally, and 
the Virgin is very often represented with a sword 
thrust through her vitals. But this is generally and 
more properly referred to her affliction, at beholding 
her son's crucifixion : no history mentions her mar- 
tyrdom. 



MARY 



[ 663 ] 



MARY 



[The following remarks and suggestions are from 
the English editors of Calmet, and may pass for what 
they are worth. On similar principles it would not 
be very difficult to prove or disprove any historical 
fact. R. 

Traditions seldom or never retain, unadulterated, 
for any length of time, the original truth from which 
they took their rise. Yet some of them convey in- 
formation, though disguised, which more regular 
history does not afford. Among these Mr. Taylor 
classes the report, that Luke was a painter, and had 
painted the portrait of the mother of our Lord ; con- 
ceiving that we find in the writings of this sacred 
penman such a description of the Holy Mother, as 
may justly be called her portrait; that is — the por- 
trait of her character and mind, not of her person 
and countenance. We are scarcely introduced to 
this interesting personage, (chap. i. 29.) when we are 
told, that " she was troubled, and cast in her mind 
what manner of salutation this should be." The word 
rendered troubled, does not import any deficiency of 
natural courage, but simply the agitation of her mind, 
dashing, as it were, backwards and forwards like 
water ; now thinking well, now suspecting ill, of this 
salutation. And to this sense agrees the word 
SitXoylisTo, reasoning within herself, examining both 
sides of the question, dialoguizing pro and con, as to 
the nature of the present occurrence. A very natu- 
ral action, surely, for a person of understanding and 
manners! And this character for reflection and 
thought is retained by Mary, where we next find her: 
(chap. ii. 19.) she "kept all these things, and pondered 
them in her heart." — She collected and preserved 
these events in the storehouse of her mind, and lay- 
ing them beside one another, compared them togeth- 
er ; by this means they mutually served as objects 
illustrative of each other. Again, verse 51, " She 
kept all these sayings in her heart." But the form of 
the verb here used is Skti'/jh, (before, it was avrcnlqci,) 
she closely watched, with all the affection of her 
heart, all these sentiments, to see what turn they 
would take. 

Now, nothing of this depicturing of the character 
of Mary appears in any of the other evangelists ; 
Luke alone has thus painted her. Moreover, this 
character is perfectly agreeable to the warning given 
her by Simeon, that a sword should pierce her re- 
flective and considerate heart ; or rather, that a jave- 
lin, thrown by a fierce hand, after having pierced 
its object, should wound her deeply, in its further 
course. It is perfectly agreeable, also, to the solici- 
tude which, many years afterwards, induced her to 
think her son, our Lord, overdid himself ; that is, ex- 
ceeded his strength, in labors, &c. We have seen a 
picture of the mind of Holy Mary ; the evangelist 
draws another of her actions. We have found her 
thoughtful and reflective ; she was, also, discreet and 
active ; for after her salutation, she determined to 
put to the test the information she had received ; and 
to judge by her own eyes and ears, whether her 
elder friend Elisabeth had really " conceived a son in 
her old age ;" and whether this was really the sixth 
month of her pregnancy. Elisabeth had concealed 
herself during five months, but this Mary did not 
know; Elisabeth's pregnancy might, however, be 
reported in her neighborhood, and so the informant 
of Mary might have told her no great news ; nothing 
worthy of being a sign in confirmation of what he 
had predicted. It might also have been the third 
month, or the eighth, in which case the imperfection 
of the information would have been apparent. Mary 



staid till she saw a son born. Nothing, then, could 
be so discreet as placing herself under the protection 
of a person of the age and character of Elisabeth. 
Nor is this all ; for Mary went in haste on this, to her, 
extremely important business : it follows, that she 
must have been in circumstances of life which permit- 
ted this instant exertion. No person extremely poor, 
no person in servitude, no person under any author- 
itative control, could have made this hasty journey. 
This, then, is another feature in the picture of Mary, 
as drawn by Luke. But the inference from Mary's 
situation in life is of still greater consequence. That 
education contributes essentially to form a thinking 
mind, we know from every day's experience ; and 
we have seen that such a mind was Mary's. It is 
evident, also, from what is called her Song, that she 
had read the Scriptures of the Old Testament with 
attention ; and as reading was not (as it is not, at this 
day) a common acquisition among women of the low- 
est class in the East, the possession of it removes Mary 
from that class, had we no other proof. It seems to 
have been an error in critics to take Mary's Song for 
a sudden vocal effusion, by instantaneous inspiration ; 
there are so many allusions in it to passages of the 
then extant Scriptures, that this appears to be im- 
probable. It is not likely that instantaneous inspira- 
tion should have repeated sentiments already record- 
ed, and public to the whole nation. Something not yet 
known, something looking forward, something of suffi- 
cient consequence to justify its being revealed, is what 
we should rather expect from such an afflatus of the 
Holy Spirit. It will be observed, also, that the sacred 
writer does not assert the instant inspiration of Mary : 
his words are, speaking of Elisabeth, she "was filled 
with the Holy Ghost ;" and speaking of Zechariah, he 
" was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied ;" 
whereas,concerning Mary,hesays nothing of thekind; 
but simply, " Mary said." This distinction of phrase is 
not favorable to the notion of a sudden verbal inspi- 
ration, in which the party speaking is the mere organ 
of the Sacred Spirit. We know not whether it be 
necessary to remind our readers, that to say, is often 
used, when writing, not speech, is the subject. We 
have the phrase among ourselves, "He says in this 
letter" — " He tells us in such a place V — " Your cor- 
respondent says that" — and that the same idea is an- 
nexed to the verb to say, in Scripture, appears, 
among many other places, from John i. 23. Isaiah 
said, (that is, wrote,) vii. 38. The Scripture hath 
said, Rom. vii. 7. The law hath said, Gal i. 9. As 
we said (that is, wrote) before, so say (that is, write) I 
again, &c. We may then consider the Song of Ma- 
ry as composed — written — under the illumination of 
the Sacred Spirit; and being committed to paper, it 
comes under the principle which we have endeavored 
elsewhere to establish, (see Luke,) that Luke sought 
out and procured all the written documents which he 
could obtain for his purpose. The fact may be, that 
during" the residence of Mary with Elisabeth (three 
months or more) she penned this song ; and copies 
of it were extant, one of which Luke employed in 
his history. 

Now, the acquisition of writing by a young Jewish 
woman, adds to proofs already suggested, that Mary 
was in respectable circumstances, and had received 
a libera] education ; for we are not to attribute to 
those times, and to that country, the same diffusion 
of knowledge as obtains among ourselves. Writing 
and reading were rare among the men, much more 
rare among the women ; and the possession of them 
seems to be decisive against that poverty which ssorrin 



MARY 



[ 664 j 



MAS 



have unwittingly attached to the condition of our 
Lord and his parents. 

We remark, further, that Luke is the writer who 
last mentions Mary the mother of Jesus by name, 
(Acts i. 14.) and she is the only woman whom he thus 
distinguishes. On the whole, the inference is clear, 
that we are obliged to him for a portrait of this high- 
ly distinguished person ; not indeed of her features, 
but of her character and conduct: and thus the tra- 
dition, of which no critic has ever been able to make 
any thing probable, may be explained with some ap- 
pearance of consistency. 

II. MARY, the mother of Mark, had a house in 
Jerusalem, to which it is thought the apostles retired 
after the ascension of our Lord, and where they re- 
ceived the Holy Ghost. This house was on mount 
Sion, and Epiphanius says, it escaped the destruction 
of Jerusalem by Titus, and was changed into a very 
famous church, which continued several ages. After 
the imprisonment of Peter, the faithful were assem- 
bled in this house, praying, when Peter, delivered 
by the ministry of an angel, knocked at the gate, 
Acts xii. 5, 12. 

III. MARY Cleofhas, the sister of Mary the 
mother of our Lord, was wife of Cleophas, and 
mother of James the Less, and of Simon, brethren 
of our Lord, John xix. 25 ; Luke xxiv. 10 ; Matt, 
xxvii. 56, 61. She believed early on Jesus Christ, 
and at length accompanied him in some of his jour- 
neys, to minister to him, followed him to Calvary, 
and was with the Virgin at the foot of his cross. She 
was also present at his burial, and prepared perfumes 
to embalm him. But going to his tomb on Sunday 
morning very early, with other women, they learned 
from an angel that he was risen, of which they in- 
formed the apostles. By the way Jesus appeared to 
them, and they embraced his feet, worshipping him. 
The year of her death is not known. 

IV. MARY, sister of Lazarus, who has been con- 
founded with the woman mentioned Luke vii. 37, 
39. See Martha. 

V. MARY Magdalen, one of the females who fol- 
lowed Jesus, in company with his apostles, when he 
preached the gospel from city to city. She took her 
surname either from the town of Magdala in Gali- 
lee, beyond Jordan, or from Magdolos, a town at the 
foot of mount Carmel, perhaps the Megiddo of Josh- 
ua xvii. 11 ; 2 Kings ix. 27 ; xxiii. 29. Luke (viii.2.) 
and Mark (xvi. 9.) observe, that she had been deliv- 
ered by Christ from seven devils. This some under- 
stand literally ; others figuratively, for the crimes and 
wickednesses of her past life. Others maintain, that 
she had always lived in virginity, and consequently 
was a different person from the sinner mentioned by 
Luke, (chap. vii. 36.) and by the seven devils, they 
understand a real possession, which is not inconsist- 
ent with a recluse life. She followed Christ in his 
last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, and was at 
the foot of the cross with the Holy Virgin. She 
continued on mount Calvary till our Saviour's death, 
ind saw him placed in his tomb ; after which she 
returned to Jerusalem, to prepare to embalm him 
after the sabbath was over, John xix. 25 ; Mark xv. 
47. All the sabbath day she remained in the city, 
ind the next day, early in the morning, she went to 
the sepulchre, with Mary the mother of James and 
Salome, Mark xvi. 1, 2 ; Luke xxiv. 1, 2. Being 
come to his tomb, they saw two angels, who informed 
them that Jesus was risen. On this, Mary Magdalen 
ran to Jerusalem, to acquaint the apostles. Return- 
ing to the sepulchre, and stooping forward to exam- 



ine the inside of the tomb, she there saw two angels 
sitting, one at the head and the other at the bottom 
of the tomb. (See Sepulchre.) They asked her 
why she wept. To which she replied, " They have 
taken away my Lord, and I know not where they 
have laid him." Immediately turning about, she saw 
Jesus, who asked her what she looked for. She an- 
swered, " Sir, if you have removed my Master, let 
me know it, that I may take him away." Jesus said 
to her, Mary ! Immediately she knew him, and cast 
herself at his feet, to kiss them. But Jesus said to 
her, " Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my 
Father." q. d. You shall have leisure to see me here- 
after ; go now to my brethren, my apostles, and tell 
them, I shall ascend to my God and their God ; to 
my Father and their Father. Thus had Mary the 
happiness of first seeing our Saviour after his resur- 
rection. She related this to the apostles, but they 
did not believe her, till her report was confirmed by 
other testimony. 

It has been thought by Calmet and others, that 
"the sinner," mentioned in Luke vii. 36, was Mary 
Magdalen ; but this is hardly credible, Magdalen be- 
ing always named in company with women of the 
best character and quality ; as (Luke viii.) with Jo- 
anna, wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susannah, 
and many others. Generally she is named first of 
her company, even before Mary the mother of Jesus, 
Mark xv. 47. She was, also, a woman of property ; 
she not only " ministered to Jesus of her substance," 
while he was living, but she was one of those who 
bought spices to embalm him after his death. Matt, 
xxvii. 55, 56 ; Luke xxiii. 56 ; John xx. Probably 
she was not young ; and, therefore, the story of her 
following John to Ephesus is entitled to no attention ; 
yet, as the name Mary was very common among the 
Jews, some woman bearing it might accompany the 
apostle, and give occasion to the mistake. 

MASCHIL, which is a term found as a title to 
some of the Psalms, imports he that instructs or makes 
to understand. Some interpreters think, that it sig- 
nifies an instrument of music ; but it is much more 
probable that it signifies an instructive song. 

MASH, the fourth son of Aram, (Gen. x. 23.) 
called Meshech in 1 Chron. i. 17. Bochart believes 
he inhabited mount Masius in Mesopotamia, and gave 
his name to the river Mazecha, whose source is 
there. 

MASHAL, a city of Asher, yielded to the Levites 
of the family of Gershom, (1 Chron. vi. 74.) is said by 
Eusebius to have been in the vicinity of mount 
Carmel near the sea. In Josh. xix. 26, it is called 
Misheal ; and in xxi. 30, Mishal. 

MASORA, see Language, p. 609. 

MASREKAH, a city of Idumea, (Gen. xxxvi. 36 ; 
1 Chron. i. 47.) and probably a plantation of vines. 

MASSA, a name given to the encampment of the 
Hebrews at Rephidim, when the people, wanting 
water, began to murmur against Moses and the Lord, 
as if they had doubted of his presence among them, 
Exod. xvii. 2, &c. 

MASSADA, a castle or fortress in the tribe of Ju- 
dah, west of the Dead sea, or the lake Asphaltites, 
not far from Engedi, situated on a steep rock, of very 
difficult access. Jonathan the Asmonean, brother 
of Judas Maccabseus, fortified it against the kings of 
Syria, and Herod the Great made it still more im- 
pregnable. 

It is mentioned by Josephus in his account of the 
last war of the Jews against the Romans, as having 
been taken possession of by Eleazar, a grandson of 



MAT 



[ 665 ] 



M E A 



the famous Judas Gaulonites, at the head of the Si- 
carii, or assassins. Flavius Sylva besieged the castle 
with such vigor, that finding escape impossible, Elea- 
zar prevailed upon his companions to kill one an- 
other. The last that survived set fire to the castle. 
This happened A. D. 71. (Joseph. Bell. Jud. vii. 
28—33.) 

MATTAN, son of Eleazar, father of Jacob, and 
grandfather of Joseph, husband to the Virgin Mary. 
Luke (iii. 23.) makes Heli, son of Mattan, to be father 
of Joseph ; but it is thought that Heli is the same as 
Joachim, father of Mary, and father-in-law to Joseph. 
So that Matthew (i. 15, 16.) gives the direct geneal- 
ogy of Joseph, and Luke that of Mary. 

MATTAN AH, an encampment of Israel, (Numb, 
xxi. 18, 19.) which Eusebius says was on the Arnon, 
twelve miles from Medaba, east. 

I. MATTATHIAS, son of John, of the family 
of Joarib, and of the race of the priests, was the 
first who opposed the persecution by Antioehus 
Epiphanes, 1 Mac. ii. A. M. 3837. He had five sons, 
who inherited their father's undaunted spirit, and 
made a determined stand against the oppressors of 
their country and the persecutors of their religion. 
Mattathias and his sons being joined by the Asside- 
ans, the most religious as well as valiant men of Is- 
rael, they marched through the country, destroyed 
the altars dedicated to false gods, circumcised the 
children that had not received circumcision, hum- 
bled the children of pride, and delivered the law 
from its subjection to strangers, and from the power 
of the king. Being near his death, Mattathias as- 
sembled his sons, and exhorted them to be truly 
zealous for the law, and ready to sacrifice their lives 
for the covenant of their ancestors. He was buried 
at Modin, in the sepulchre of his ancestors, and all 
Israel made a great mourning for him. 

II. MATTATHIAS, son of Simon Maccabteus, 
and grandson of Mattathias, was killed treacherously, 
with his father and one of his brethren, by Ptolemy, 
son-in-law of Simon, in the castle of Docus, 1 Mac. 
xvi. 14—16. 

MATTHEW, an apostle and evangelist, was son 
of Alpheus, a Galilean by birth, a Jew by religion, 
and a publican by profession, Mark ii. 14; Luke v. 
27. The other evangelists call him only Levi, which 
was his Hebrew name ; but he always calls himself 
Matthew, which was probably his name as a publi- 
can, or officer for gathering taxes. He does not 
dissemble his former profession, thus exalting the 
grace of Christ, which raised him to the apostleship. 
His ordinary abode was at Capernaum, and his office 
out of the town, at the sea of Tiberias, whence he was 
called by Jesus to follow him, Matt. ix. 9 ; Luke ii. 
13, J 4. It is probable that he had a previous knowl- 
edge of the miracles and doctrine of Christ, whom 
he might have heard preach. He was made an 
apostle the same year he was converted, and, con- 
sequently, he was called to the apostleship in the 
first year of Christ's ministry. He is sometimes 
named the seventh among the apostles, and some- 
times the eighth. The most general opinion of both 
ancients and moderns is, that he preached and suffered 
martyrdom in Persia, or among the Parthians, or 
in Caramania, which then was subject to the Par- 
thians. 

Matthew wrote his Gospel while in Judea, but 
whether in the Hebrew or Syriac language, then 
common in the country, or in Greek, cannot be de- 
termined. See Gospel. — Matthew. 

I. MATTHIAS, one of those disciples who con- 
84 



tinued with our Saviour from his baptism to his 
ascension, (Acts i. 21, 22.) and was after the ascension 
associated with the eleven apostles. We know 
nothing further of him. 

II. MATTHIAS, son of Theophilus, high-priest 
of the Jews, succeeded Simon, A. M. 3999, and after 
one year was deposed by Herod the Great, because 
he thought him engaged in the confederacy with 
Matthias, son of Margaloth, and Judas, son of Sari- 
pheus, who pulled down from over the gate of the 
temple the golden eagle that Herod had set up. (Jo- 
seph. Ant. xvii. 8.) 

III. MATTHIAS, son of Ananus, high-priest of 
the Jews, succeeded Simon Cantharus, A. D 41. 
(Jos. Ant. xix. 6.) 

IV. MATTHIAS, son of Theophilus, and another 
high-priest of the Jews, succeeded Jesus, son of Ga- 
maliel, A. D. 65. (Joseph. Bel. Jud. v. 33.) 

V. MATTHIAS, a Jew, of the party of the Mace- 
donians, or Syrians, sent by Nicanor to Judas Mac- 
cabseus, with proposals of peace, 2 Mac. xiv. 19. 

MAZZAROTH, Job xxxviii. 32. Our margin 
properly supposes this word to denote the twelve 
signs of the zodiac, a broad circle in the heavens, 
comprehending all such stars as lie in the path of the 
sun and moon. As these luminaries appear to pro- 
ceed throughout this circle annually, so different 
parts of it progressively receive them every month ; 
and this progression seems to be what is meant by 
" bringing forth mazzaroth in his season," q. d. 
"Canst thou by thy power cause the revolutions of 
the heavenly bodies in the zodiac, and the seasons 
of summer and winter, which ensue on their prog- 
ress into the regular annual or monthly situations ?" 

MEASURE. See the general table of Weights, 
Measures, and Money, of the Hebrews, at the end of 
the Dictionary. Also t^be particular names of each, 
as Shekel, Talent, Bath, Ephah, &c. 

MEATS. (See Animals.) It does not appear 
that the ancient Hebrews were very nice about the 
seasoning and dressing of their food. We find 
among them roast meat, boiled meat, and ragouts. 
Meats that were offered were boiled in a pot, 1 Sam. 
ii. 15. Moses (Exod. xxiii. 19; xxxiv. 26.) forbids 
to seethe a kid in its mother's milk ; which may be 
understood as forbidding to sacrifice it while it 
sucked ; or that it should not be boiled in the milk 
of its dam ; as the Hebrews explain it. They might 
not kill a cow and its calf in the same day ; nor a 
sheep, or goat, and its young one at the same time. 
They might not cut off a part of a living animal to eat 
it, either raw or dressed. If any lawful beast or bird 
should die of itself, or be strangled, and the blood 
not drain away, they were not allowed to taste of it ; 
and if in any bird was found a thorn, pin, or needle, 
that had gored it ; or in any beast an imposthume, 
or disease' of the entrails ; or if it had been bitten by 
any beast, they were not to eat of it, Exod. xxii. 31 ; 
Lev. v. 2 ; vii. 24 ; xvii. 15 ; xxii. 8. He that by in- 
advertence should eat of any animal that died of 
itself, or that was killed by any beast, was to be un- 
clean till the evening, and was not purified till he 
had washed his clothes. They ate of nothiug dressed 
by any other than a Jew, nor did they ever dress 
their victuals with the kitchen implements of any 
but one of their own nation. 

The prohibition of eating blood, or animals that 
are strangled, has been always rigidly observed by 
the Jews. They do not so much as eat an egg, if 
there appear the least streak of blood in it. When 
an animal is to be killed, it awst be performed by a 



MEATS 



L rm ] 



M E D 



skilful person, because of the circumstances to be 
observed. For the time must be proper for the ac- 
tion, and the knife must be very sharp, and without 
notches, that the blood may run without interruption. 
They let it spill itself upon the ground, or on ashes, 
and afterwards take it up. They put the meat into 
salt for an hour before they put it into the pot, that 
the blood may run quite out ; otherwise they must 
not eat the meat, except they roast it. They take 
great care to cut away the sinew of the thigh of 
such auimals as they intend to eat, according to 
Gen. xxxii. 22. And in several places of Germany 
and Italy, the Jews will not eat any of the hinder 
quarter, because great nicety is required in taking 
away this sinew as it should be done ; and few 
know how to do it exactly. They forbear eating 
any fat of oxen, sheep, goats, or animals of this kind, 
according to Lev. vii. 23, &c. but other kind of fat 
they think is allowed them. See Fat. 

In the Christian church, the custom of refraining 
from things strangled, and from blood, continued 
for a long time. In the council of the apostles, held 
at Jerusalem, (Acts xv.) it was declared that converts 
from paganism should not be subject to the legal cer- 
emonies, but that they should refrain from idolatry, 
from fornication, from eating blood, and from such 
animals as were strangled, and their blood thereby 
retained in then: bodies ; which decree was observed 
for many ages by the church. Augustin affirms, 
that in the church they observed the distinction of 
certain meats, so long as the wall of separation was 
kept up between the Jews and the converted Gen- 
tiles, and the Christian church, composed of these two 
sorts of people, was not yet entirely formed ; but 
that when there were no longer any Israelites ac- 
cording to the flesh, there were no longer any persons 
who made this distinction. 

Meats offered to Idodb, 1 Cor. viii. 7, 10. — At 
the first settling of the church there were many dis- 
putes concerning the use of meats offered to idols. 
Some newly converted Christians, convinced that an 
idol was nothing, and that the distinction of clean 
and unclean creatures was abolished by our Saviour, 
ate indifferently of whatever was served up to them, 
even among pagans, without inquiring whether the 
meats had been offered to idols. They took the 
same liberty in buying meat sold in the market, not 
regarding whether it were pure or impure, accord- 
ing to the Jews ; or whether it had been offered to 
idols. For among the heathen, as well as among 
the Jews, there were several sacrifices, in which 
only a part was offered on the altar, the rest belong- 
ing to him who offered it, which he disposed of at 
his pleasure, or ate with his friends. But other 
Christians, weaker, or less instructed, were offended 
at this liberty, and thought that eating of meat which 
had been offered to idols, was a kind of partaking in 
that wicked and sacrilegious offering. This diver- 
sity of opinion produced some scandal, to which 
Paul thought it behoved him to provide a remedy, 
Rom.xiv.20 ; Tit. i . 15. He determined, therefore, that 
all things were clean to such as were clean, and that 
an idol was nothing at all. That a man might safely 
eat of whatever was sold in the shambles, and need not 
scrupulously inquire from whence it came ; and that 
if an unbeliever should invite a believer to eat with 
him, the believer might eat of whatever was set be- 
fore him, &c. 1 Cor. x. 25, &c. But at the same 
time he enjoins, that the laws of charity and pru- 
dence should be observed ; that believers should be 
cautious of scandalizing or offending weak minds ; for 



though all things might be lawful, yet all things 
were not always expedient. That no one ought to 
seek his own accommodation or satisfaction, exclu- 
sively, but that each should have regard to that of 
his neighbor. That if any one should warn another, 
" This has been offered to idols," he should not eat of 
it, for the sake of him who gave the warning ; not 
so much for fear of wounding his own conscience, 
as his brother's : in a word, that he who is weak, 
and thinks he may not indifferently use all sorts of 
food, should forbear, and eat herbs, Rom. xiv. 1, 2. 
It is certain, however, that Christians generally ab- 
stained from eating meat that had been offered to 
idols, for in Rev. ii. 20, the angel of Thyatira is re- 
proved for suffering a Jezebel in his church, who 
called herself a prophetess, and seduced the servants 
of God to commit impurity, and to eat meat that had 
been consecrated to idols. Tertullian says, that 
Paul has put the key of the flesh-market into our 
hands, by allowing us the use of all sorts of meat, 
except that which has been offered to idols ; and we know 
that in the persecutions by the Roman emperors, 
they often polluted the flesh sold in the sham- 
bles, by consecrating it to idols, that they might re- 
duce the Christians to the necessity of purchasing 
that, or of totally abstaining from flesh. 

MEDAD and ELDAD, two men who were among 
those whom God inspired with his Holy Spirit, to 
assist Moses in the government, Numb. xi. 26 — SO. 
The Jews affirm, that they were brothers by the 
mother's side to Moses, and sons of Jochebed and 
Elizaphan. 

MEDAN, or Madan, the third son of Abraham 
and Keturah, (Gen. xxv. 2.) is thought, with Midian 
his brother, to have peopled the country of Midian 
or Madian, east of the Dead sea. 

MEDEBA, a city east of Jordan, in the southern 
part of Reuben, (Josh. xiii. 16.) not far from Hesh- 
bon. Isaiah (xv. 2.) assigns it to Moab, because the 
Moabites took it from the Israelites ; whereas Jose- 
phus ascribes it to the Arabians, because they made 
themselves masters of it towards the conclusion of 
the Jewish monarchy. The inhabitants of Medeba 
having killed John Gaddis, brother of Judas Macca- 
bseus, as he was passing to the country of the Naba- 
theans, Simon and Jonathan, his brethren, revenged 
his death on the children of Jambri, as they were 
conducting a bride to her husband. Burckhardt 
describes the ruins of this town, which still retains 
its ancient name. 

MEDIA, a country east of Assyria, which is sup- 
posed to have been peopled by the descendants of 
Madai, son of Japheth, Gen. x. 2. Esther (i. 3, 14, 
18, 19 ; x. 2.) and Daniel (v. 28 ; vi. 3, 12, 15 ; viii. 20.) 
commonly put Madai for the Medes, and so most 
interpreters understand it. The Greeks maintain, 
that this country takes name from Medus, son of 
Medea ; and truly if what has been said under the 
article Madai may be relied on, or if this son of 
Japheth peopled Macedonia, we must then seek an- 
other origin for the people of Media. 

Media has been taken in sometimes a larger and 
sometimes a narrower extent. Ptolemy makes its 
limits to the north to be a part of the Caspian sea, 
and the mountains of the same name, and the Cadu- 
sians ; the greater Armenia west : the countries of 
the Parthians and Hyrcania east ; Persia, Susiana, 
and a part of Assyria, south. Its capital was Ecba- 
tana, Judith i. 1. This city is also mentioned Ezra 
vi. 2, under the name of Achmeta. 

[Ancient Media, called by the Hebrews Madai 



MEDIA 



[ 6 fi7 ] 



MED 



extended itself on the west and south of the Caspian 
sea, from Armenia on the north to Farsistan or Per- 
sia proper on the south ; and included the districts 
now called Shirvan, Adserbijan, Ghilan, Masande- 
ran, and Irak Adjemi. It covered a territory larger 
than that of Spain, lying between 30 and 40 degrees 
of north latitude ; and was one of the most fertile 
and earliest cultivated among the kingdoms of Asia. 
It had two grand divisions ; of which the north-west- 
ern was called Atropatene, or Lesser Media, and 
the southern Greater Media. The former corre- 
sponds to the modern Adserbijan, now, as formerly, 
a province of the Persian empire on the west of the 
Caspian, surrounded by high mountains of the 
Tauritic range, except towards the east, where the 
river Kur, or Cyrus, discharges its waters into the 
Caspian. The greater Media corresponds principally 
to the modern Irak Adjemi, or Persian Irak. 

Media is one of the most ancient independent 
kingdoms of which history makes mention. Ninus, 
the founder of the Assyrian monarchy, encountered 
in his wars a king of Media, whom he subdued, and 
whose land he made a province of the Assyrian empire. 
For five hundred and twenty years, the Medes re- 
mained subject to the Assyrian yoke ; but at last, 
when Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser began to de- 
populate whole districts of western Asia, and trans- 
port their inhabitants into the cities of the Medes 
and other regions of interior Asia, the patience of 
the Medes was exhausted. They rebelled ; and the 
overthrow of Sennacherib before Jerusalem, his 
subsequent flight and murder, and the confusion in 
the Assyrian royal family, completed their deliver- 
ance. Six years they passed in a sort of anarchy, 
arising from internal dissensions and parties, until at 
length, about 700 B. C. they found in Dejoces a 
wise and upright statesman, who was proclaimed 
king by universal consent. He reigned over Media 
alone, whose six tribes he united into a single nation. 
His son and successor, Phraortes, brought first the 
Persians, and then all upper Asia, to the river Halys, 
Cappadocia included, under the Median dominion. 
He ventured afterwards to attack Assyria, and laid 
siege to Nineveh ; but his army was defeated and he 
himself killed. His successor, Cyaxares, determined 
to take vengeance on the Assyrians for his father's 
death ; but as he was about to besiege Nineveh, he 
received intelligence, that the Scythians had made 
an irruption into Media. He marched against them ; 
was defeated ; and it was not till after eight and twenty 
years, that Media could free itself from the oppres- 
sion of these rude and unexpected enemies. Cyax- 
ares now appeared again before Nineveh, and con- 
quered it, with the help of his ally, Nabopolassar, the 
first king of Babylon. Assyria now became a Medi- 
an province. This widely extended Median empire 
was inherited, after the death of Cyaxares, by his son 
Astyages ; who, thirty-five years afterwards, about 
556 B. C. delivered it over to his grandson, Cyrus, 
king of the Persians. (Herodot. lib. i. c. 95 — 130.) 

In this way arose the Medo-Persian kingdom ; 
and the laws of the Medes and Persians are always 
mentioned by the sacred writers together, Esth. i. 
19 ; x. 2 ; Dan. vi. 8, 12, et al. So also the annals of 
the Medes and Persians are mentioned together, 
Esth. x. 2. Indeed, from this time onward, the man- 
ners, customs, religion and civilization of the Medes 
and Persians seem everto have become more and more 
amalgamated. And in general it would seem, as 
we may gather from the ancient Zend writings, that 
the Medes, Persians and Bactrians were originally the 



same people, having in common one language, the 
Zend, and one religion, the worship of Ormuzd, the 
highest being, under the symbol of fire. The priests 
of this religion, the Magi, were a Median race, to 
whom were intrusted the cultivation of the sciences 
and the performance of the sacred rites. Among 
these, and, as is supposed, before the time of Cyrus, 
appeared Zerdusht, or Zoroaster, as a reformer, or 
rather as the restorer of the ancient but now degen- 
erated religion of light ; whose disciples have main- 
tained themselves even to the present day in Persia 
and India, under the name of Guebres. (See Rosen 
miiller, Bibl. Geogr. I. i. p. 289, seq.) *R. 

Isaiah describes the Medes as instruments and ex- 
ecutioners of God's decrees against Babylon, (chap, 
xiii. 17, 18 ; xxi. 2, 3.) and Jeremiah (xxv. 25.) 
speaks of the misfortunes which were to happen to 
the Medes. He foretells, that they also, in their turn, 
were to drink of the cup of God's wrath ; and it is 
likely that Cyrus made them suffer the evils they 
were here threatened with. 

MEDIATOR. In covenants between man and 
man, in which the holy name of God is used, 
he is witness and mediator of all reciprocal prom- 
ises and engagements. Thus Laban and Jacob 
made a covenant on mount Gilead ; (Gen. xxxi. 49 — 
54.) and when the elders of this place made a cove- 
nant with Jephthah, they called on the name of the 
Lord, Judg. xi. 10. When God gave his law to the 
Hebrews, and made a covenant with them at Sinai, 
a mediator was necessary, who should relate the 
words of God to the Hebrews, and their answers to 
him ; in order that the articles of the covenant be- 
ing agreed to by each party, they might be ratified 
and confirmed by blood, and by oath. Moses on 
this occasion was mediator between God and the 
people, as Paul says, (Gal. iii. 19.) " The law was 
added because of transgressions, and was ordained 
by angels in the hand of a mediator." In the new 
covenant which God has been pleased to make with 
the Christian church, Jesus Christ is the mediator 
of redemption. He was the surety, the sacrifice, 
the priest, and the intercessor of this covenant. He 
has sealed it with his blood, has proposed the terms 
and conditions of it in his gospel, has instituted the 
form of it in baptism, and the commemoration of it 
in the sacrament of his body and blood. Paul, in 
the Epistle to the Hebrews, enlarges on this office 
of mediator of the new covenant, exercised by Christ, 
Heb. viii. 6 ; ix. 15 ; xii. 24. (See also 1 Tim. ii. 5.) 

In all ages, and in all parts of the world, there has 
constantly prevailed such a sense of the infinite ho- 
liness of the supreme Divinity, with so deep a con- 
viction of the imperfections of human nature, and 
the guilt of man, as to deter worshippers from com- 
ing directly into the pi-esence of a Being so awful : — 
recourse has therefore been had to mediators. 
Among the Sabians the celestial intelligences were 
constituted mediators ; among other idolaters their va- 
rious idols ; and this notion still prevails in Hindostan 
and elsewhere. Sacrifices were thought to be a kind of 
mediators ; and, in short, there has been a universal 
feeling, a sentiment never forgotten, of the necessity 
of an interpreter, or mediator, between God and 
man. As Luther said — " I will have nothing to do 
with an absolute God." 

MEDICINE, or Physic, is an invention, by Jesua 
son of Sirach, ascribed to God himself, Ecclus. 
xxxviii. 1, &c. Scripture makes no mention of physi- 
cians before the time of Joseph, who commanded his 
servants, the physicians of Egypt, to embalm the body 



MEG 



[ 668 ] 



MEL 



of Jacob, Gen. 1.2. The art of medicine, however, 
was very ancient in Egypt. They ascribed the in- 
vention of it to Thaut, or to Hermes, or to Osiris, or 
to lsis ; and some of the learned have thought that 
Moses, having been instructed in all the learning of 
the Egyptians, must also have known the chief se- 
crets of medicine. They also argue it from his in- 
dications concerning diseases, the leprosy, infirmities 
of women, animals, clean and unclean, &c. It does 
not appear that physicians were common among the 
Hebrews, especially for internal maladies, but for 
wounds, fractures, bruises, and external injuries, they 
had physicians, or surgeons, who understood the 
dressing and binding up of wounds, with the appli- 
cation of medicaments. (See Jer. viii. 22 ; xlvi. 11 ; 
Ezek. xxx. 21.) Asa, being diseased in his feet, and 
having applied to physicians, is upbraided with it, as 
contrary to that confidence which he ought to have 
had in the Lord, 1 Kings xv. 23 ; 2 Chron. xvi. 12. 
Hezekiah, having a bile, probably a pestilential one, 
was cured by Isaiah, on the application of a cataplasm 
of figs, 2 Kings xx. 7; Isa. xxxviii. 21. But there 
was no remedy known for the leprosy, or for dis- 
tempers which were the consequences of inconti- 
nence. When Job was afflicted with a very terrible dis- 
temper, we hear no mention of recourse to physic or 
to physicians ; his malady was looked upon as an im- 
mediate stroke from the hand of God. The low 
state of the art of medicine, with the persuasion that 
distempers were effects of God's anger, or were caused 
by evil spirits, was the reason that in extraordinary 
maladies the sufferers applied to diviners, magicians, 
enchanters, or false gods. Sometimes they applied to 
the prophets of the Lord for cure ; or, at least, to 
know whether they should recover or not. When 
Ahaziah, king of Israel, by a fall from the roof of his 
house, was greatly hurt, he sent to consult the false 
god Baal-zebub at Ekron, 2 Kings i. 2, &c. Jeremiah 
(viii. 17.) speaks of enchantments used against the 
biting of serpents, and other venomous animals. Ha- 
zael was sent by the king of Syria to consult Elisha 
the prophet as to the issue of his distemper, 2 Khigs 
viii. 8. Naaman the Syrian came into the land of Is- 
rael, to obtain from Elisha a cure for his leprosy, 2 
Kings v. 5, 6. And when our Saviour appeared in 
Palestine, although there can be no doubt that there 
were physicians in the country, it is evident that the 
people placed but little confidence in them. (Comp. 
Mark v. 26 ; Luke viii. 43.) They brought to our 
Saviour and his apostles multitudes of diseased peo- 
ple from all parts of the land. 

MEDITATE, to think closely and seriously on 
any thing. The chief employment of the just is to 
meditate on the law of God day and night, Psalm i. 2. 

MEEKNESS, a calm, serene temper of mind, not 
easily ruffled or provoked ; a disposition that suffers 
injuries without desire of revenge, and quietly acqui- 
esces in the dispensations and will of God, Col. iii. 
12. This temper of mind is admirably fitted to dis- 
cover, to consider, and to entertain truth, (Jam. i. 
21.) and is ranked- among the fruits of the Spirit, Gal. 
v.23. 

MEGIDDO, a city of Manasseh, (Josh. xvii. 11 ; 
Judg. i. 27.) famous for the defeat of king J osiah, (2 
Kings xxiii. 29, 30.) who was overcome and mortally 
wounded there by Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt. 
Herodotus, speaking of this victory, says that Necho 
obtained it at Magdolos. The waters of Megiddo are 
mentioned in Judg. v. 19. 

Megiddo was certainly in, or near, the great plain 
of Esdraelon, which had been the scene of many bat- 



tles ; as of Gideon with the Midianites, of Saul with 
the Philistines, of Josiah with Pharaoh-necho, of Ju- 
das Maceabneus with Tryphon ; (1 Mac. xii. 49, &c.) 
as in later ages it was of combats between the Tar- 
tars and Saracens. It is alluded to under this char- 
acter, Rev. xvi. 16. For a fuller account of the to- 
pography of Megiddo and its vicinity, see the Biblical 
Repository, vol. i. p. 602. 

MELCHISEDEC, king of justice, king of Salem, 
and priest of the Most High God. Scripture tells us 
nothing of his father, or of his mother, or of his gene- 
alogy, or of his birth, or of his death, Heb. vii. 1 — 3. 
And in this sense he was, as Paul says, a figure of 
Jesus Christ, who is a priest for ever, according to the 
order of Melchisedec ; and not according to the order 
of Aaron, whose origin, consecration, life and death 
are known. 

When Abraham returned from pursuing the con- 
federate kings, (Gen. xiv. 17.) Melchisedec came to 
meet him as far as the valley of Shaveh, (afterwards 
named the King's Valley,) and presented him refresh- 
ments of bread and wine ; or he offered bread and 
wine in sacrifice to the Lord, for he was priest of the 
Most High God. And he blessed Abraham, saying, 
" Blessed be Abraham of the Most . High God, pos- 
sessor of heaven and earth ; and blessed be the Most 
High God, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy 
hand." Abraham, desirous to acknowledge in him 
the quality of priest of the Lord, offered him tithes of 
all he had taken from the enemy. After this there is 
no mention of the person of Melchisedec ; only the 
psalmist, (ex. 4.) speaking of the Messiah, says, " Thou 
art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec." 
Paul (Heb. v. 6, 10.) unfolds the mystery of Melchise- 
dec. First, he exalts the priesthood of Christ, as a 
priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec — who 
in this quality, " in the days of his flesh, offered up 
prayers and supplications, with strong crying and 
tears, unto him that was able to save him from death ; 
and was heard in that he feared," ver. 7. He also 
says, that our Saviour as a forerunner is entered for 
us into heaven, being made a high-priest for ever after 
the order of Melchisedec. "For," he adds, "to this 
Melchisedec, king of Salem, and priest of the Most 
High God, Abraham gave tithe. Now Melchisedec is 
according to the interpretation of his name ; first, king 
of (Tsedek) justice ; secondly, king of (Salem) peace ; 
who is without father, without mother, without gen- 
ealogy ; who has neither beginning nor end of life. 
Consider, therefore, how great this Melchisedec is,since 
Abraham himself gives him tithe, and receives his 
blessing. Moreover, Levi, who (now) receives tithes 
from others, paid them himself, as one may say, in 
the person of Abraham, since he was hi the loins of 
Abraham his ancestor, when Melchisedec met that 
patriarch." 

Jerome thought that Salem, of which Melchisedec 
was king, was not Jerusalem, but the city of Salem, 
near Scythopolis ; and where he thinks Jacob arrived 
after his passage over Jordan, when returning from 
Mesopotamia, Gen. xxxiii. 18. But the majority of 
interpreters differ from Jerome in this. 

The person of Melchisedec presents an interesting 
subject of inquiry. He has been variously supposed 
to be the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, an angel, Enoch, 
and Shem. [But the safest and most probable opin- 
ion is that, which considers Melchisedec as a right- 
eous arid peaceful king, a worshipper and priest of 
the Most High God, in the land of Canaan ; a friend 
of Abraham, and of a rank elevated ^bove him. This 
opinion, indeed, lies upon the face of the sacre 



MEN 



M E R 



record in Gen. xiv. and Heb. vii. ; and it is the only 
one which can be defended on any tolerable grounds 
of interpretation. What can be more improbable 
than all the opinions above enumerated ? The most 
popular of them all, viz. that Melchisedec was Christ, 
would of course force us to adopt the., interpretation 
in Heb. vii. that ' Christ was like himself;' and that 
a comparison is there formally instituted between 
Christ and himself! the mere mention of which is its 
best refutation. That Melchisedec was Shem has 
been very elaborately, but fancifully, supported by 
Mr. Taylor ; for whose remarks those who may wish 
to peruse them are referred to the quarto edition of 
Calmet, Fragm. 660, seq. (See Stuart's Comm. on 
the Ep. to the Hebrews, vol. ii. Excurs. iii. p. 364.) *R. 
MELITA, see Malta. 

MEMBER properly denotes a part of the natural 
body, 1 Cor. xii. 12 — 25. Figuratively, sensual affec- 
tions, like a body consisting of many members ; 
(Rom. vii. 23.) also, true believers, member's of 
Christ's mystical body, as forming one society or 
body, of which Christ is the head, Eph. iv. 25. 

MEMPHIS, seeNoPH. 

MENAHEM, see Manahem. 

MENE, a Chaldean word, signifying he has num- 
bered, or he has counted. At a feast which Belshazzar 
gave to his courtiers and concubines, where he pro- 
faned the sacred vessels of the temple of Jerusalem, 
which Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon, 
there appeared on the wall a form like a hand, writ- 
ing these words, Mene mene, tekel, upharsin ; ( God) 
has numbered, has iveighed and divided. Daniel ex- 
plained this ill-boding inscription to the king, Dan. 
v. 25, seq. See Belshazzar. 

MENI, an idol, worshipped by the idolatrous Jews 
in Babylon, and in honor of which, along with Gad, 
they held festivals and lectisternia, Is. lxv. 11. Meni, 
in the opinion of the best interpreters, was most 
probably the same as Astaite or the planet Venus, 
which occurs in the astrological mythology as the 
second star of fortune, along with the planet Jupiter, 
(Gad, or Baal.) (See Astaroth I. and Baal, p. 121.) 
Jeremiah (vii. 18 ; xliv. 17, 18.) speaks of her as 
queen of heaven, and, with Isaiah, (lxv. 11. Heb.) 
shows that her worship was popular in Palestine, 
and among the Hebrews. She was worshipped by 
the Phenicians and Carthaginians, from whom Is- 
rael learned her worship. Isaiah reproaches them 
with setting up a table to Gad — fortune, good for- 
tune, or the lord of fortune — and with making liba- 
tions to Meni. Jeremiah says, that in honor of the 
queen of heaven, the fathers light the fire, the moth- 
ers knead the cakes, and the children gather the 
wood to bake them. Elsewhere, the Israelites de- 
clared to Jeremiah, that notwithstanding his remon- 
strances, they would continue to honor the queen of 
heaven, by oblations, as their fathers had done before 
them ; and that ever since they had left off to sacri- 
fice to the queen of heaven, they had been consumed 
by the sword and by famine. [But it must not be 
denied that many interpreters have referred both 
Meni and Astarte to the moon ; of which the follow- 
ing remarks may serve as an illustration. R. 

We see by Strabo, (lib. xii.) that men, the month, 
or moon, had several temples in Asia Minor, and in 
Persia, and that they often swoi-e by the m(n of the 
king, that is, by his fortune. "As the worship of 
Diana Luna, or the moon, was very famous among 
the Greeks and Romans, so was that of the god Lu- 
tius in the East. There are a great many monu- 
ments of him; he was named Men (Mi'jv) in Greek, 



and honored by this name in Phrygia, where uas a 
place, according to Athenseus, (lib. iii. p. 47.) called 
Mip-bs xaui], 'The Street of Men ;' that is, of the god 
Lunus. Men also signifies a month in Greek ; and 
there was a temple of Men, or Lunus, in this place. 
We see also the god Men, or Lunus, on several medals 
of the towns of Lydia, Pisidia and Phrygia. On a 
medal of Antiochus, struck in Pisidia, the god Lunus 
hath a spear in one hand, and holds a Victory in the 
other, and hath a cock, a symbol of the rising sun, at 
his feet. Spartian, in his life of Caracalla, says, that 
prince came to Carrhse [Charran] on his birth-day, 
in honor to the god Lunus. He adds further, that 
the people of Carrhse did still say, what had formerly 
been written by learned authors, that 'they who call 
the moon by a feminine word, and consider her as a 
woman, will be always addicted to women and sub- 
ject to their command ; but those who think the 
moon to be a male god, will have the dominion ovei 
women, and suffer nothing by their intrigues ;' hence 
he concludes, that it comes to pass, that the Greeks 
and Egyptians, though they name the moon by a 
word of the feminine gender, in common discourse, 
yet in their mysteries they call him a male god." 
(Montfaucon, Antiq. Expl. Supp. vol. 1.) See Idol- 
atry. 

MEPHAATH, a city of Reuben, (Josh. xiii. 18.) 
yielded to the Levites of the family of Merari, Josh, 
xxi. 37. 

I. MEPHIBOSHETH, a son of Saul, and his 
concubine Rizpah, who was delivered by David to 
the Gibeonites, to be hanged before the Lord, 2 Sam. 
xxi. 8, 9. 

II. MEPHIBOSHETH, a son of Jonathan, also 
called Merib-baal. (See Merib-eaal.) Mephibo- 
sheth was very young when his father was killed in 
the battle of Gilboa, (2 Sam. iv. 4.) and his nurse was 
in such consternation at the news, that she let the 
child fall, who from this accident was lame all his 
life. When David found himself in peaceable pos- 
session of the kingdom, he sought for all that re- 
mained of the house of Saul, that he might show 
them kindness, in consideration of the friendship 
between him and Jonathan. He told Mephibosheth, 
that for the sake of Jonathan his father, he should 
have his grandfather's estate, and eat always at the 
royal table, 2 Sam. ix. 1, &c. Some years after this, 
when Absalom drove his father from Jerusalem, 
Mephibosheth ordered his servant Ziba to saddle him 
an ass, that he might accompany David ; for being 
lame, he could not go on foot. But Ziba himself 
went after David, with two asses laden with pro- 
visions, and reported that Mephibosheth staid at Je- 
rusalem, in hopes that the people of Israel would 
restore him to the throne of his ancestors. David, 
thus deceived, said to Ziba, I give to you all that be- 
longed to Mephibosheth. When David returned to 
Jerusalem in peace, Mephibosheth appeared before 
him in deep mourning, having neither washed his 
feet, nor shaved his beard, since the king went, and 
David then discovered the truth. Nevertheless Ziba 
continued to possess half his estate. Mephibosheth 
left a son named Micha ; but the time of his death is 
not known, 1 Chron. viii. 34'. 

MERAB, or Merob, the eldest daughter of king 
Saul, was promised to David in marriage, in reward 
for his victory over Goliath ; but was given to Adriel, 
son of Barzillai the Meholathite, 1 Sam. xiv. 49 ; 
xviii. 17, 19. Merab had six sons by him, who were 
delivered to the Gibeonites and hanged before the 
Lord. The text intimates, that the six men delivered 



MER 



[ 670 ] 



MERCY-SEAT 



to the Gibeonites, were sons of Michal, daughter of 
Saul, and wife of Adriel ; but see under Adriel. 

MERAIOTH, a priest of the race of Aaron, son 
of Zerahiah, and father of Amariah, among the high- 
priests, 1 Chron. vi. 6. 

ME RAN, or Merrha, a people of Arabia, Baruch 
hi. 23. 

MERCURY, a fabulous god of the ancient hea- 
then, the messenger of the celestials, and the deity 
that presided over learning, eloquence, and traffic. 
The Greeks named him Hermes, an interpreter, be- 
cause they considered him as interpreter of the will 
of the gods. Probably, it was for this reason that the 
people of Lystra, having heard Paul preach, and 
having seen him heal a lame man, would have offer- 
ed sacrifice to him, as to their god Mercury ; and to 
Barnabas as Jupiter, because of his venerable aspect, 
Acts xiv. 11. 

MERCY, a virtue which inspires us with com- 
passion for others, and inclines us to assist them in 
their necessities. That works of mercy may be ac- 
ceptable to God, as Christ has promised, (Matt. v. 7.) 
it is not enough that they proceed from a natural 
sentiment of humanity, but they must be performed 
for the sake of God, and from truly pious motives. 
In Scripture, mercy and truth are commonly joined 
together, to show the goodness that precedes, and 
the faithfulness that accompanies, the promises ; or, 
a goodness, a clemency, a mercy that is constant and 
faithful, and that does not deceive. Mercy is also 
taken for favors and benefits received from God or 
man ; for probity, justice, goodness. Merciful men, 
in Hebrew chasdim, are men of piety and goodness. 
Mercy is often taken for giving of alms, Prov. xiv. 
34 ; xvi. 6 ; Zach. vii. 9. 

Mercy, as derived from misericordia, may import 
that sympathetic sense of the suffering of another by 
which the heart is affected. It is one of the noblest 
attributes of Deity, speaking after the manner of men, 
and explaining what, by supposition, may pass in the 
mind of God, by what passes in the human mind. 
The object of mercy is misery : so God pities human 
misery, and forbears to chastise severely : so man 
pities the misery of a fellow man, and assists to di- 
minish it: so public officers occasionally moderate 
the strictness of national laws, from pity to the cul- 
prit. But only those can hope for mercy, who ex- 
press penitence, and solicit mercy : the impenitent, 
the stubborn, the obdurate, rather brave the avenging 
hand of justice, than beseech the relieving hand of 
mercy. 

MERCY-SEAT. The Hebrew ms 3 , capporeth, 
comes from the verb cdphar, to expiate, to pardon 
sins ; to cover, to harden any thing. It may be ren- 
dered, a covering ; and indeed it was the cover of 
the ark of the covenant, or of the sacred chest in 
which the laws of the covenant were contained. At 
each end of this cover was a cherub of beaten gold ; 
which, stretching out their wings towards each other, 
formed a kind of throne, where the Lord was con- 
sidered as sitting. Hence the Hebrews invoked him 
sometimes as, he " who sitteth upon the cheru- 
bim." And perhaps, -by translating capporeth by 
propitiatory or mercy-seat, it may be intimated, that 
from thence the Lord hears the prayers of his peo- 
ple, and pardons their sins ; while, by translating it 
oracle, as Jerome and others have done, they would 
show, that from hence he manifested his will and 
pleasure, and gave responses, as he did to Moses. 

From the similitudes connected with this term in 
the New Testament, it is scarcely possible to attach 



too much consequence to it ; nor can the few words 
of Calmet do it justice, though they may contribute 
to explain its nature and import. The root of the 
term 'May.oi, hilasko, signifies to placate, to pacify, to 
at-one, to reconcile ; or that intervening, or medi- 
ating power, or thing, or consideration, by which two 
parties at variance are reconciled. So Heb. ii. 17, 
"To make reconciliation, (u.uaxea-Sai,) for the sins of 
the people ;" and (Luke xviii. 13.) the publican prayed, 
"God be merciful, Uaa&ijrt, be reconciled to, be at 
one with me, a sinner." (Comp. LXX. Psalm xxv. 11 ; 
Ixxviii. 38; Dan. ix. 19.) The propitiation (Uu<v<os) 
is properly an offering from one party to another, 
which possesses the power, or property, or influence 
of reconciling, or re-uniting those who have been 
separated by offences. It answers to nmSD, 7-emission, 
forgiveness, (Psalm cxxx. 4 ; Dan. ix. 9.) and to 
cdiidd, Numb. v. 8, " the ram of atonement, whereby an 
atonement shall be made for his sins." So in 2 Mac. 
iii. 33, certain of Heliodorus's friends prayed Onias 
that he would call on the Most High to grant him his 
life : " So the high-priest offered a sacrifice for a 
man's restoration to health. Now, as the high-priest 
was making an atonement," — rather the atonement, 
(rov IXaOftbr,) that is, by means of the sacrifice. And 
this term is expressly applied to Christ, by the evan- 
gelist John (1 Epist. ii. 2 ; iv. 10.) " He is a propitia- 
tion, a means of at-one-ment, for our sins, and not for 
ours only, nor for those of the Jewish nation only, 
as were the sacrifices offered on the day of expiation, 
but for the whole world." — " God sent his Son to be 
the propitiation for our sins," in other words "that 
we might live through him," (verse 9.) that is, through 
his death, as the propitiating, the mediating sacrifice. 
By the way, this allusion seems to suppose the rite of 
expiation to be in a course of performance, at the 
time when this epistle was written. 

Upon the whole, it seems that, if we read reconcil- 
iation-residence, seat, or lid of the ark, we should 
come the nearest to the true idea of this subject: for 
it was not a seat from whence was dispensed mercy 
only, but oracles ; and those were occasionally threat- 
enings, i. e. until reconciliation was made; but it was 
the station of a person understood to be there con- 
stantly present, where he might be reconciled to those 
who entreated him : this was the place for those who 
wished for reconciliation to apply for it ; and this 
reconciliation-seat was itself occasionally at-one-ed 
with the people, &c. as when the blood of at-one- 
ment was sprinkled upon it, on the great day of ex- 
piation. The apostle declares, (Rom. iii. 25.) that 
" God had set forth Jesus Chris; to be an iiaatt'^iov, 
a reconciliation-residence, through faith in his blood," 
i. e. as God was understood to be constantly on the 
mercy-seat of o\d,there to be at-one-ed, so is he now 
in Christ ; who is his residence for the same blessed 
purpose — that of at-one-ment. 

Hilasterion is certainly taken for the mercy-seat in 
Heb. ix. 5, "And over it(the ark of the covenant) 
the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat, 
ilaotiftior." Nevertheless, it may be doubted whether 
Christ is, strictly speaking, assimilated to the me'-cy- 
seat itself, and not rather to the sacrifice by which 
that mercy-seat was understood to be reconciled to 
the people who had offended. For it seems very 
harsh to say, that the victim which effected reconcil- 
iation was the same with one of the parties to be 
reconciled ; but the mercy-seat, accepted figuratively 
for the Supreme Deity, who sat on it, was a party to 
be reconciled. Moreover, the apostle, alluding to 
the rite of expiation in the passage above quoted, 



JVi E S 



[ 671 ] 



MESHA 



;Rom. iii. 25.) says, " whom God hath set forth to be 
a propitiation (iXaan'^idr) through faith in his blood," 
— the victim had blood ; but the mercy-seat had 
none ; and to say that the blood sprinkled on the 
mercy-seat, is the blood of the mercy-seat, is to force 
a sense on the passage. Yet the term has been so 
understood by many ; among whom, Theodoret, Le 
Clerc and Luther ; for the other explanation are 
the Vulgate version, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Eras- 
mus, &c. and it seems, on the whole, to be the 
easiest, the most consistent, and the best supported 
sense. 

MERIBAH, strife or contention, the name given 
to the station at or near Rephidim, where the people 
murmured for water, and Moses struck the rock, 
where it gushed out, Exod. xvii. 1 — 7. Dr. Shaw 
feels confident that he has discovered this extraordi- 
nary stone, at Rephidim, and has furnished a partic- 
lar account of it in his Travels. See Exodus, p. 405, 
410, and Rephidim. 

MERI-BAAL, or Merib-baal, son of Jonathan ; 
(1 Chron. viii. 34; ix. 40.) elsewhere called Mephi- 
bosheth. This difference of name has most probably 
arisen from some corruption ; though many suppose 
that the Hebrews scrupled pronouncing the name of 
Baal ; so that instead of Mephi-baal or Meri-baal, 
they chose to say Mephi-bosheth, or Meri-bosheth ; 
Bosheth in Hebrew signifying shame, confusion. 

MERODACH, an ancient king of Babylon, placed 
among the gods, and worshipped by the Babyloni- 
ans; or more probably, according to the analogy 
of the other Babylonian divinities, one of the planets, 
e.g. Mars. Jeremiah (1. 2.) speaking of the ruin of 
Babylon, says, "Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, 
Merodach is broken in pieces, her idols are con- 
founded, her images are broken in pieces." We find 
certain kings of Babylon, whose names comprise that 
of Merodach ; as Evil-Merodach, and Merodach- 
Baladan. See Berodach. 

MEROM, the waters of Merom, (Josh. xi. 5.) or 
lake of Semechon, is the most northern of the three 
lakes supplied by the river Jordan. It is situate in a 
valley, called the Ard Houle, formed by the two 
branches of mount Hermon. The lake is now called 
after the valley, the lake of Houle. In summer this 
lake is for the most part dry, and covered with shrubs 
and grass, in which lions, bears, and other wild 
beasts conceal themselves. See Jordan, and Ca- 
naan, p. 232. 

MEROZ, ( Judg. v. 23.) a place in the neighborhood 
of the brook Kishon, whose inhabitants, refusing to 
assist their brethren when they fought against Sisera, 
were put under anathema. 

MESECH, see Meshech. 

I. MESHA, (Gen. x. 30.) the same, probably, as 
mount Masius. The sons of Joktan possessed the 
whole country between mount Masius and the moun- 
tains of Sephar, or Sepharvaim. [Among all the 
various conjectures as to the place designated by the 
name of Mesha, that of Michaelis (Spicileg. pt. ii. 
p. 214.) is still the most probable, viz. that Mesha is 
the region around Bassora, which the later Syrians 
called Maishon, and the Greeks Mesene. Under these 
names they included the country on the Euphrates 
and Tigris between Seleucia and the Persian gulf. 
Abulfeda mentions in this region two cities not far 
from Bassora, called Maisan and Mushan. Here, then, 
was probably the north-eastern border of the district 
inhabited by the Joktanites. The name of the oppo- 
site limit, Sephar, signifies in Chaldee shoi-e, coast, 
and is probably the western part of Yemen, along 



I the Arabian gulf, now called by the Arabs Tehaman. 
The range of high and mountainous country between 
these two borders Moses calls 'the mount of the 
east,' or eastern mountains, — in reference either to 
Palestine or to Yemen, i. e. Sephar. It is also called 
by the Arabs Djebal, i. e. mountains, to the present 
day. (See Rosenm. Bib. Geogr. III. p. 163.) R. 

II. MESHA, king of Moab, (2 Kings iii. 4.) paid 
Ahab, king of Israel, a tribute of a hundred thousand 
lambs, and as many rams, with their fleeces. After 
the death of Ahab, however, he revolted against Je- 
horam, king of Israel, who declared war against him, 
and called to his assistance Jehoshaphat, king of Ju- 
dah, who, with the king of Idumea, then in subjec- 
tion to him, marched against Mesha, and forced him 
to retire to Areopolis, his capital. Here they besieged 
him so closely that, not being able to escape through 
the camp of the Idumaeans, which he attacked, he 
took his own son, the presumptive heir to his crown, 
brought him upon the wall of the city, and was going 
to sacrifice him. The kings of Judah, Israel and 
Edom, seeing this, retired without taking the town, 
but making a great spoil in the land of Moab. 

In a communication from sir John Shore, now 
lord Teignmouth, the governor-general, to the socie- 
ty at Calcutta, he mentions a custom of the Brahmins, 
of sitting at a person's door, with some implement of 
suicide in then - hands, and threatening to kill them- 
selves, unless that which they demand be granted to 
them : this, when then - demand is not excessive, is 
usually complied with, through fear of then- self-mur- 
der. After which his excellency relates the following 
history, as it appeared on a trial before the English 
court of justice. It will elucidate the otherwise un- 
accountable conduct of Mesha : — 

" Beechuk and Adher were two Brahmins, and ze- 
mindars, or proprietors of landed estates, the extent of 
which did not exceed eight acres. The village in 
which they resided was the property of many other 
zemindars. A dispute which originated in a compe- 
tition for the general superintendence of the revenues 
of the village, had long subsisted between the two 
brothers, and a person named Gowrv. The officer 
of government, who had conferred this charge upon 
the latter, was intimidated into a revocation of it, (by 
the threats of the mother of Beechuk and Adher to 
swallow poison,) as well as to a transfer of the man- 
agement to the two Brahmins. By the same means 
of intimidation, he was deterred from investigating the 
complaint of Gowiy, which had been referred to his 
inquiry by his superior authority. But the immediate 
cause which instigated these two Brahmins to murder 
their mother, was an act of violence said to have been 
committed by the emissaries of Gowry, (with or with- 
out his authority, and employed by him for a different 
purpose,) in entering their house during their absence 
at night, and carrying off forty rupees, the property of 
Beechuk and Adher, from the apartments of their 
women. Beechuk first returned to his house ; where 
his mother, his wife and his sister-in-law related 
what had happened. He immediately conducted his 
mother to an adjacent rivulet, where being joined in 
the gray of the morning by his brother Adher, they 
called out aloud to the people of the village, that al- 
though they would overlook the assault, as an act that 
could not be remedied, yet the forty rupees must be 
returned. To this exclamation no answer was re- 
ceived ; nor is there any certainty that it was even 
heard by any person ; nevertheless, Beechuk, without 
any further hesitation, drew his cimeter, and at one 
stroke severed his mother's head from her body ; with 



MESHA ! C 

the professed view, as entertained and avowed both 
by parent and son, that the mother's spirit, excited by 
the beating of a large drum during forty days, might 
for ever haunt, torment, and pursue to death, Gowry 
and the others concerned with him. The last words 
which the mother pronounced were, that 'she would 
blast the said Gowry, and those concerned with him.' 
The violence asserted to have been committed by the 
emissaries of Gowry, in forcibly entering the female 
apartments of Beechuk and Adher, might be deemed 
an indignity of high provocation ; but they appear to 
have considered this outrage as of less importance 
than the loss of the money, which might, and would, 
have been recovered, with due satisfaction, by appli- 
cation to the court of justice at Benares. The act 
which they perpetrated had no other sanction than 
what was derived from the local prejudices of the 
place where they resided : it was a crime against 
their religion ; and the two brothers themselves quoted 
an instance of a Brahmin, who, six or seven years be- 
fore, had lost his caste, and all intercourse with the 
other Brahmins, for an act of the same nature. But 
in truth, Beechuk and Adher, although Brahmins, 
had no knowledge or education suitable to the high 
distinctions of their caste, of which they preserved the 
pride only ; being as grossly ignorant and prejudiced 
as the meanest peasants iu any part of the world. 
They seemed surprised when they heard the doom 
of forfeiture of caste pronounced against them by 
a learned Pundit, and they openly avowed that so 
far from conceiving they had committed a barba- 
rous crime, both they and their mother considered 
this act as a vindication of their honor, not liable 
to any religious penalty." (Asiatic Researches, 
vol. iv.J 

Sir John Shore gives two other instances of a like 
nature ; one of which is, the murder of a daughter by 
a Brahmin who was provoked by an adversary. 
These instances are all of Brahmins ; and probably 
are not general in India ; but the idea connected with 
them appears to be of ancient date, and are similar to 
the action of the king of Moab, failing in his attempt 
to repulse his assailants ; " he took his eldest son, who 
should have reigned in his stead, and offered him up, 
a whole burnt-offering [ascension-offering] upon the 
wall. And great was the foaming with rage upon 
Israel. And they (the kings of Edom and Judah) 
went away from off him, and returned to their own 
land." Does our extract suggest a reason why the king 
of Moab offered his son on the wall — publicly ? i. e. 
that it might plainly appear to the attacking armies to 
what straits they had reduced him, q. d. " You see the 
whole process : the child brought out, the wood, the 
fire, the bloody knife ; why will you force me to the 
slaughter ? do you proceed ? let his imbittered spirit 
haunt 3 r ou, terrify you, blast you even to death." If 
these Brahmins thought they had such a right over 
the life of their mother, with her consent, might not 
the king of Moab think he had such a right over the 
life of his son ? who, perhaps, was hero enough volun- 
tarily to suffer it, like the son of Idomeneus, in Fene- 
lon's Telemachus. Also, from whence was the 
" foaming rage " against Israel ? no doubt from Moab, 
thus deprived of her prince ; but, probably, also from 
Edom, q. d. " These Israelites, not having such cus- 
toms among themselves, despise our institutions ; they 
push this king to extremities, and call his behavior 
superstitious, profane, hnpious ; whereas we, being 
aware of this custom, and indeed respecting it, sym- 
pathize with the distressed king,^nd hate those who 
abominate what he is doing." Is not this a natural 



72 ] M E S 

solution of the difficulty, Whence was this rage ? and 
why, and wherefore Israel returned disgusted, as it 
should seem, into then- own land ? Did Edom also 
suppose itself to be haunted by the spirit of this sac- 
rifice, and, feeling this terror, flee to avoid it, at the 
same time cursing Israel, who had brought it upon 
them ? If this conjecture be applicable, the king of 
Moab did not merely by this sacrifice implore assist- 
ance from his gods ; but he took this method of terri- 
fying his adversaries, after his own personal valor had 
proved ineffectual to deliver himself and his country 
from them. 

The reader will notice more particularly the ideas 
of the Brahmins, as related by sir John Shore, on the 
disposal of the life of another person ; especially of 
a parent's power over the life of his child, (which, in 
the instance given by sir John, was without the 
child's consent, the daughter being an infant,) as per- 
haps it may be found to bear pretty strongly on some 
circumstances noticed in Scripture. It is certain, that 
parental power extended even to the depriving a 
child of life among the Romans, the Gauls, the Per- 
sians, and other ancient nations. 

I. MESHECH, or Mesech, the sixth son of Japheth, 
(Gen. x. 2.) supposed to be the father of the Moschi," 
a people between Iberia, Armenia and Colchis ; or, 
as others believe, of the Muscovites. (See Gen. x. 2 ; 
Ezek. xxvii. 13 ; xxxii. 26 ; xxxviii. 2, 3 ; xxxix. 1.) 

II. MESHECH, a son of Aram, Gen. x. 23. 
MESOPOTAMIA, the Greek name of Aram-na- 

haraim, a country between the two rivew; a famous 
province, situated between the rivers Tigris and Eu- 
phrates, and celebrated in Scripture as the first dwell- 
ing of men after the deluge. It gave birth to Phaleg, 
Heber, Terah, Abraham, Nahor, Sarah, Rebekah, 
Rachel, Leah, and the sons of Jacob. The plains of 
Shinar were in this country ; and it was often called 
Mesopotamia Syria?, because it was inhabited by the 
Araineans, or Syrians ; and sometimes Padan-aram, 
(Gen. xxviii. 2, &c.) the plains of Aram; or Sede- 
aram, the fields of Aram ; to distinguish the fertile 
plains from the uncultivated mountains of the country. 
Balaam, son of Beor, was of Mesopotamia, (Deut. 
xxiii. 4.) whose king Chushanrishathaim subdued the 
Hebrews after the death of Joshua, Judg. iii. 8. Mes- 
opotamia was afterwards seized by the Assyrians, and 
continued united to the empire till its dissolution. It 
frequently formed part of the Medo-Persian, Macedo- 
nian and Parthian empires ; and is now comprised in 
modern Persia. 

MESSIAH, or Messias, anointed, a title given 
principally, or by way of eminence, to that sovereign 
deliverer formerly and still expected by the Jews. 
(See Christ.) They used to anoint their kings, high- 
priests, and sometimes prophets, when they were set 
apart to their office ; and hence the phrase, to anoint 
for an employment, sometimes signifies merely a par- 
ticular designation or choice for such an employment. 
Cyrus, who founded the empire of the Persians, and 
who set the Jews at liberty, is called (Isa. xlv. 1.) "the 
anointed of the Lord ;" and in Ezek. xxviii. 14,. the 
name of Messiah is given to the king of Tyre. 

But as we have already observed, Messiah is the 
designation given by the Hebrews, eminently, to that 
Saviour and Deliverer whom they expected, and who 
was promised to them by all the prophets. As the 
holy unction was given to kings, priests and proph- 
ets, by describing the promised Saviour of the world 
under the name of Christ, Anointed, or Messiah, it 
was sufficiently evidenced, that the qualities of king, 
prophet and high-priest would eminently centre in 



MOSES THE DIVINE LAW GIVER. 



M E Z 



L 673 ] 



MIC 



■ma ; and that he should exercise them not only over 
the Jews, but over all mankind ; and particularly over 
those who should receive him as their Saviour. Peter 
and the other believers, being assembled together, 
(Acts iv. 27.) quote from Psalm ii, " Why did. the 
heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things ? 
The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gath- 
ered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom 
thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, 
with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were 
gathered together." Luke says, (iv. 18.) that our Sa- 
viour, entering a synagogue at Nazareth, opened the 
book of the prophet Isaiah, where he read, " The 
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath an- 
ointed me to preach the gospel to the poor." After 
which he showed them, that this prophecy was ac- 
complished in his own person. Such, too, was the 
uniform testimony of all the apostles. 

It is not recorded that our Saviour Jesus Christ 
ever received an external official miction. The unc- 
tion that the prophets and the apostles speak of, is the 
spiritual and internal unction of grace, and of the 
Holy Ghost, of which the outward unction, with which 
kings, priests and prophets were anciently anointed, 
was but the figure or symbol. He united in his own 
person the offices of king, prophet and priest, and 
eminently included in himself whatever the law and 
the prophets had promised or prefigured, that was 
most excellent or most perfect. Christians, his disci- 
ples and his children, enjoy, in some sense, the same 
prerogatives, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, 
1 Pet. ii. 9. 

The ancient Hebrews, being instructed by the 
prophets, had clear notions of the Messiah ; but these 
were gradually depraved, so that when Jesus appeared 
in Judea, the Jews entertained a false conception of 
the Messiah, expecting a temporal monarch and con- 
queror, who should remove the Roman yoke, and 
subject the whole world. Hence they were scandal- 
ized at the outward appearance, the humility, and 
seeming weakness of our Saviour ; and the modern 
Jews, indulging still greater mistakes, form to them- 
selves chimerical ideas of the Messiah, utterly un- 
known to their forefathers. See Christ. 

Our Saviour gave warning to his disciples, that 
false prophets and false Messiahs should arise ; (Mark 
xiii. 22.) that they should perform signs and won- 
ders, by which even the elect themselves would be in 
danger. The event has verified his prediction. Every 
age among the Jews has produced false prophets, and 
false Christs, who have succeeded in deceiving many 
of that nation. One appeared even in the age of 
Christ himself; Simon Magus, who reported at Sa- 
maria that he was the great power of God, Acts viii. 
9. In the following century Barchochebas, by his 
impostures, drew down on the Jews the most terrible 
persecution ; and since his time several others have 
appeared, and succeeded in imposing upon the credu- 
lity of this infatuated people. 

METHUSAEL, son of Mehujael, of the race of 
Cain, Gen. iv. 18. 

METHUSELAH, son of Enoch, (Gen. v. 21, 22.) 
was born A. M. 687 : he begat Lamech A. M. 874, 
and died A.M. 1656, aged 969 years; the greatest 
age attained by any man. The year of his death was 
that of the deluge. 

MEZUZOTH is a name the Jews give to certain 
pieces of parchment, which they fix on the door-posts 
of their houses; taking literally what Moses says, 
Deut. vi. 9, 11, 13, "Thou shalt never forget the laws 
• c 5 . 



of thy God, but thou shalt write them on A 
the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." es^. 
They pretend, that to avoid making §B1| 
themselves ridiculous, by writing the JF^| C 
commandments of God without their ^itl 
doors, or rather to avoid exposing them ij 
to profanation, they ought to write them |§"lf| 
on parchment, and to enclose it. There- I If 
fore they write these words on a square If. 1 J 
piece of prepared parchment, with a par- j ||| 
tieular ink, and a square kind of charac- 
ter, Deut. vi. 4—9. " Hear, O Israel, the 1|JI 
Lord our God is one Lord," &c. Then N*pj|^ 
they leave a little space, and afterwards l» 
go on, to Deut. xi. 13. " And it shall come v 
to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently to my com- 
mandments," «fec. as far as, " thou shalt write them 
upon the door-posts of thy house." After this they 
roll up the parchment, put it into a case, and write 
on it Shaddai, which is one of the names of God, and 
then attach it to the defors of their houses and cham- 
bers, and to the knocker of the door on the right 
side. As often as they pass, they touch it in this 
place with their finger, which they afterwards kiss. 
The Hebrew mezuza properly signifies a door-post 
of a house, but is a name also given to this roll of 
parchment. 

I. MICAH, the Morasthite, or of Mareshah,(q. v.) a 
village near Eleutheropolis, in the south of Judah, is 
the seventh in order of the lesser prophets. He 
prophesied under Jotbam, Ahaz and Hezekiah, 
kings of Judah, for about 50 years ; from about 
A. M. 3245, or the beginning of the reign of Jotham, 
to A. M. 3306, or the last year of Hezekiah. He was 
nearly contemporary with Isaiah, and has some ex- 
pressions in common with him. (Compare Isaiah ii. 2, 
with Micah iv. 1, and Isaiah xli. 15, with Micah iv. 
13.) The extant prophecy of Micah contains but 
seven chapters. He first foretells the calamities of 
Samaria ; afterwards he prophesies against Judah 
and Samaria ; and then foretells the captivity of the 
ten tribes, and their return. The third chapter con- 
tains a pathetic invective against the princes of the 
house of Jacob, and the judges of the house of Is- 
rael. We are informed by Jeremiah (xxvi. 18, 19, 
&c.) that this prophecy was pronounced in the time 
of Hezekiah, and that in the days of Jehoiakim it 
protected Jeremiah from death, who prophesied 
much the same things against Jerusalem as Micah 
had done. After these terrible denunciations, Micah 
speaks of*the reign of the Messiah. And as the 
peaceable times which succeeded the return from 
the Babylonish captivity, and which prefigured the 
reign of the Messiah, were disturbed by a tempest of 
short continuance, Micah foretold it in a manner 
which agrees closely with what Ezekiel says of the 
war of Gog against the saints, and which Calmet 
thinks had relation to the reign of Cambyses, or the 
war of Holofernes. He also speaks particularly of 
the birth of the Messiah (v. 2, 3, &c.) at Bethlehem, 
whose dominion was to extend over the earth. The 
two last chapters contain a long invective against the 
iniquities of Samaria, the fall of Babylon, and pre- 
dictions of the reestablishment of Israel, and in such 
lofty terms, as chiefly agree with the state of the 
Christian church. 

We know nothing authentic of Micah's death. He 
has been, by some, confounded with Micaiah son of 
Imlah, who lived in the kingdom of the ten tribes, 
under the reign of Ahab. 

II. MICAH, of Epbraim, son of a rich widow 



M 1 D 



MIL 



who became an occasion of falling to Israel, (Judg. 
xvii. xviii., by making an ephod (or priestly habit) and 
images of metal, for a domestic chapel. He made 
one of his own sons priest ; and afterwards a young 
Levite. It is believed this happened in the interval, 
after the death of Joshua, and the elders that succeed- 
ed him, till Othniel judged Israel. During this time 
the tribe of Dan, being straitened in their inheritance, 
sent six hundred men to seek a more convenient 
settlement. They passed by Micah's house, on the 
mountains of Ephraim, and desired the Levite who 
resided there, to inquire of the Lord about the suc- 
cess of thek expedition. He answered them, that 
the Lord would prosper their undertaking. They 
came a second time to the house of Micah ; and hav- 
ing persuaded the priest to join their party, they took 
away the ephod and the graven images. See Dan. 

MICAIAH, son of Imlah, of Ephraim, and a proph- 
et, who lived in the time of Ahab. Having fore- 
told the issue of this prince's expedition against Ra- 
moth-Gilead, he was delivered over to Amon, the 
governor of Samaria, with orders that he should be 
fed with the bread of grief, and water of affliction, till 
Ahab returned in peace. Micaiah answered, " If thou 
return at all in peace, the Lord has not spoken by 
me ;" and the event justified his prediction, 1 Kings 
xxii. 7, seq. 

MICHAEL, the name given to the archangel who 
is represented as presiding over the Jewish nation. 
(See Angel, p. 60.) Jude (9, 10.) speaks of his con- 
tending with the devil, and disputing about the body 
of Moses ; an expression which has given rise to 
many opinions. Without detailing these, we remark, 
that the opinion of Macknight seems to be the most 
reasonable, and the least liable to exception. 

In Dan. x. 13 — 21, and xii. 1, Michael, he remarks, 
is spoken of as one of the chief angels, who took care 
of the Israelites as a nation : he may, therefore, he 
thinks, have been " the angel of the Lord," before 
whom Joshua the high-priest is said to have stood, 
" Satan being at his right hand to resist him ; " (Zech. 
iii. 1.) namely, in his design of restoring the Jewish 
church and state, called by Jude, ' the body of Moses,' 
just as the Christian church is called by Paul, ' the 
body of Christ.' Zechariah adds, " And the Lord," 
that is, the angel of the Lord, as is plain from ver. 1, 
" said unto Satan, The Lord rebuketh thee, O Satan ! 
even the Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuketh 
thee ! " Dr. A. Clarke adopts this view of the pas- 
sage, and adds to the remarks of Macknight the fol- 
lowing: "Among the Hebrews, guph, body, is often 
used for a thing itself; so Rom. vii. 24, the body of 
sin, signifies sin itself. So the body of Moses may 
signify Moses himself ; or that in which he was par- 
ticularly concerned ; namely, his institutes, reli- 
gion, &c. 

MICHAL, daughter of Saul, and wife of David, 
1 Sam. xviii. 20 ; xix. 11. See David, p. 335. 

MICHMAS, a city of Ephraim, on the confines of 
Benjamin, (Ezra ii. 27 ; Neh. vii. 31.) called also 
MICHMASH, 1 Sam. xiii. 2 ; Isa. x. 28. (Compare 
Neh. xi. 31.) Eusebius says, it was, in his time, a con- 
siderable place, about nine miles from Jerusalem, to- 
wards Rama. 

MICHMETHAH, or Machmethath, a city of the 
half-tribe of Manasseh, on the frontiers of Ephraim 
and Manasseh ; over against Shechem, Josh. xvi. 6 ; 
xvii. 7. 

MIDIAN, fourth son of Abraham and Keturah, 
(Gen. xxv. 2.) and father of the Midianites, mentioned 
Numb. xxii. 4, 7 ; xxv. 15 ; xxxi. 2, &c. whose 



daughters seduced Israel to the worshipping of Baal- 
peor. The Midianites, who were overcome by Ha- 
dad, son of Bedad, king of Edom, (Gen. xxxvi. 35.) 
and those who oppressed Israel, and were defeated by 
Gideon, (Judg. vi. 1, &c. ; vii. 1, 2.) were also descend- 
ed from him. Their capital city was called Midian, 
and its remains were to be seen in the time of Jerome 
and Eusebius. It was situated on the Anion, south 
of the city Ar, or Areopolis. The Lord, intending to 
punish the Midianites, because their daughters had 
seduced Israel to the worship of Peor, directed Moses 
to take a thousand men out of each tribe, and send 
them under the command of Phinehas, son of the 
high-priest Eleazar, to execute vengeance upon them. 
Phinehas marched, therefore, at the head of 12,000 
men, having with him the ark of the covenant, ac- 
cording to some commentators, and the trumpets of 
the tabernacle. He defeated the Midianites, and 
slew five of then kings, Levi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and 
Reba, who reigned over several cities of the country 
of Midian, east of the Dead sea. The wicked prophet 
Balaam was also involved in their misfortune, and lost 
his life. The Israelites took the women, the children, 
the flocks, and whatever belonged to the Midianites ; 
and burnt their cities, villages and forts. 

[The original and appropriate district of the Midi- 
anites seems to have been on the east side of the Ela- 
nitic branch of the Red sea ; where the Arabian geog- 
raphers place the city Madian. But they appear to 
have spread themselves northward, probably along the 
desert east of mount Seir, to the vicinity of the Mo- 
abites ; and on the other side also, they covered a 
territory extending to the neighborhood of mount 
Sinai. (See Exod. iii. 1 ; xviii. 5 ; Numb, xxxi ; Judg. 

vi. — viii.) In Gen. xxv. 2, 4, compared with verses 
12 — 18, they are distinguished from the descendants 
of Ishmael ; but elsewhere, the names Midianites and 
Ishmaelites seem to be used as nearly synonymous. 
(See Gen. xxxvii. 25, compared with verse 36 ; Judg. 

vii. 12, compared with viii. 22, 24.) R. 
MIGDOL, a tower. When the Israelites came oat 

of Egypt, the Lord commanded them to encamp over 
against Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the Red sea, 
over against Baal-zephon, Exod. xiv. 2. See Exo- 
dus, p. 401, 403. 

MILCOM, see Moloch. 

MILE. Thf- Greek niliov, mile, (Matt. v. 41,) is 
spoken of the Roman milliare, or mile, which contain- 
ed 8 stadia or 1000 paces, i. e. about 1611f yards ; 
while the English mile contains 1760 yards. (See 
Adam's Rom. Ant. p. 503.) *R. 

MILE! JS, or Miletum, a city and seaport, and 
the ancient capital of all Ionia. Paul, going from 
Corinth to Jerusalem, in A. D. 58, passed by Miletus , 
and as he went by sea, and so could not take Ephesus 
in his way, he desired the bishops of the church of 
Ephesus to meet him here, Acts xx. 18, 35. 

This city was originally a colony of Cretans ; but 
at length became so powerful, that it sent out settlers 
to a great number of cities on the Euxine sea, and 
many others on the continent. What most contributed 
to its renown was a magnificent temple of Apollo. 
Dr. Chandler has an interesting account of the city. 
(Travels, p. 146—149.) 

MILK. Moses forbids to seethe a kid in its moth- 
er's milk, (Exod. xxiii. 19 ; xxxiv. 16 ; Deut. xiv. 21.) 
which the Hebrews, generally, understand literally ; 
though some accept it metaphorically, as forbidcUng 
cruelty, Deut. xxii. 6. 

A land flowing with milk and honey is a country 
of extraordinary fertility. In the prophets the king- 



M I N 



[ 675 ] 



M I II 



ilom of the Messiah is represented as a time of great 
abundance, "when the mountains should flow with 
milk and honey," Joel iii. 18. And Isaiah says, (Ix. 16.) 
" Thou slialt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and 
shalt suck the breasts of kings." Paul compares his 
converts to little children, to be fed with milk, and not 
with solid food, (1 Cor. iii. 2 ; Heb. v. 12.) and Peter 
exhorts the faithful, " As new-born babes, to desire the 
sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby," 
1 Pet. ii. 2. 

MILL. For a description of the hand-mills com- 
monly used in the East, see Corn. 

MILLENNIUM, a thousand years, the name ap- 
plied to that period of the Christian church described 
in Rev. xx. 4, during which many sound commenta- 
tors have supposed that Jesus Christ will reign per- 
sonally on the earth, and that the bodies of martyrs 
and other eminent Christians will be raised from the 
dead, and in this renewed state constitute the subjects 
of his glorious kingdom. Other writers, however, 
understand those passages which refer to this blessed 
era in a figurative sense, and explain them of a period 
hi which Christianity shall eminently prevail, in its 
purity; annihilate paganism, idolatry, Mohammedan- 
ism, and all other false religions ; and triumphantly 
reign throughout all the earth. 

MILLET, a kind of gram, of which there are several 
species cultivated in Italy, Syria and Egypt. Ii is 
used partly green as fodder, and partly in the ripe 
gram for bread, &c. Ezekiel (iv. 9.) received an order 
from the Lord, to make himself bread with a mixture 
of wheat, barley, beans, lentil and millet. " Durra," 
says Niebuhr, " is a kind of millet, made into bread 
with camel's milk, oil, butter, &c. and is almost the 
only food eaten by the common people of Arabia Fe- 
lix. I found it so disagreeable, that I would willingly 
have preferred plain barley bread." This illustrates 
the appointment of it to the prophet Ezekiel, as a part 
of his hard fare. 

I. MILLO, a part of the citadel at Jerusalem ; or 
more probably of the fortifications themselves, 2 
Sam. v. 9 ; 1 Kings ix. 15, 24 ; xi. 27, al. The house 
of Millo (2 Kings xii. 21.) is probably the same. R. 

II. MILLO, a place near Shechem. It is said, (Judg. 
ix. 6.) that the inhabitants of Shechem and those of 
the house of Millo, made Abimelech, son of Gideon, 
king. House is here put for place or dwelling. 

MINA, a species of money, called in Hebrew 
maneh. We find this word only in the books of 
Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and in Ezekiel, who tells us, 
(xlv. 12.) that it was valued at sixty shekels, which, in 
gold, made about 240 dollars, and in silver about 30 
dollars. This is the Hebrew maneh ; but the Greek 
or Attic mina, which is probably that mentioned in the 
books of the Maccabees, and in the New Testament, 
is valued at a hundred drachmae, or about 13^ dollars. 
There was also a lesser mina, valued at seventy-five 
drachmae. 

MINCHA,' a Hebrew word, signifying an offering 
of meal, cakes, or biscuits, presented in the temple of 
the Lord. The LXX sometimes preserve this word ; 
but instead of mincha, they read manna, which doubt- 
less was the common pronunciation in their time. We 
find manna in Baruch i. 10 : " Prepare ye manna, and 
offer upon the altar of the Lord our God." Scripture 
uses the word mincha, in the Hebrew, to express the 
offerings that Cain and Abel made to the Lord of 
their first-fruits, (Gen. iv. 3, 4.) for the presents made 
by Jacob to his brother Esau, at his return from 
Mesopotamia ; (Gen. xxxii. 13, 16, 18, 20, 210 for mose 
carried by the sons of Jacob to Joseph in Egypt, be- 



fore he discovered himself to them ; (Gen. xliii. 11 

14, 24.) and for those that Ehud presented to Eglon, 
king of Moab, Judg. iii. 15, 17, 18. (See also Mai. i. 

10, 11.) 

MIND, the understanding, or judgment; that prin- 
ciple which distinguishes the differences of things, 
lawful or unlawful, good or evil, 2 Cor. iii. 14 ; Tit. i. 

15. It is sometimes supposed to be seated, or rather, 
perhaps, to exercise itself| hi the heart, (Gen. xxvi. 35 ; 
Deut. xviii. 6.) or in the memory, (Ps. xxxi. 12 ; Isa. 
xlvi. 8.) or hi the imagination, or will. These ramifi- 
cations are all referable to the exercise of the under- 
standing, in these departments of the intellectual fac- 
ulties. 

MINISTER, one who attends or waits on anoth- 
er ; so Elisha was the minister of Elijah, (2 Kings hi. 

11. ) and Joshua the servant of Moses, Exod. xxiv. 13 ; 
xxxiii. 11. And these persons did not feel themselves 
degraded by then stations, but in due time they suc- 
ceeded to the offices of their masters. In like man- 
ner, John Mark was minister to Paul and Barnabas, 
Acts xiii. 5. Christ is called a Minister of the true, 
that is, the heavenly sanctuary. 

The minister of the synagogue, (Luke iv. 20.) was 
appointed to keep the book of the law, and to observe 
that those who read in it read correctly, &c. The 
rabbins say, he was the same as the angel of the 
church, or overseer. Lightfoot says, Baal Aruch ex- 
pounds the chazan, or minister of the congregation, 
by Sheliach hatzibbor, or angel of the congregation ; 
and from this common platform and constitution of 
the synagogue, we may observe the apostle's expres- 
sion of some elders ruling, and laboring in word and 
doctrine ; others in the general affairs of the syna- 
gogue. Allusions to the officers of the Jewish syna- 
gogue are often introduced by the writers of the New 
Testament, and perhaps are hardly intelligible to us, 
who are not intimately acquainted with the constitu- 
tions of those assemblies. 

Ministers were servants ; not menial, but honorable. 
Those who explain the word, and conduct the service 
of God ; who dispense the laws, and promote the 
welfare of the community. The holy angels, who, in 
obedience to the divine commands, protect, preserve, 
succor and benefit the godly, are all beneficial min- 
isters to those who are under their charge, Heb. viii. 
2 ; Exod. xxx. 10 ; Lev. xvi. 15 ; 1 Cor. iv. 1 ; Rom. 
xiii. 6 ; Ps. civ. 4. See Angel. 

MINNI. Jeremiah (li. 27.) invites the kings of 
Minni, Ararat and Aschenaz to war against Babylon. 
Minni is thought to denote Minuas, a province of Ar- 
menia. 

MINNITH, a city beyond Jordan, four miles from 
Heshbon, on the road to Philadelphia. It belonged 
to the Ammonites when Jephthah made war against 
them, Judg. xi. 33. Ezekiel says, that Judah carried 
wheat of Minnith to the fairs of Tyre, Ezek.xxvii. 17. 

MINT, a garden herb, or pot herb, sufficiently 
known. The Pharisees, desiring to distinguish them- 
selves by a most scrupulous and literal observation of 
the law, gave tithes of mint, anise, and cumin, Matt, 
xxiii. 23. Our Saviour does not censure this exact- 
ness, but complains, that while they were so precise 
in these lesser matters, they neglected the essential 
commandments of the law. 

MIRACLE, a sign, wonder, prodigy. These terms 
are commonly used in Scripture to denote an action, 
event, or effect, superior (or contrary) to the general 
and established laws of nature. An 1 they are given, 
not only to true miracles, wrought saints or proph- 
ets sent from God. by good angels, by tie finger of 



MIRACLE 



M J Z 



God, or by the Son of God; but also to the false 
miracles of impostors, and to wonders wrought by 
the wicked, by false prophets, or by devils. Moses 
speaks of the miracles of Pharaoh's magicians, in the 
manner he speaks of those wrought by himself, in the 
name and by the power of God ; our Saviour foretold 
that false Christs and false prophets should perform 
wonders capable of deceiving, were it possible, the 
elect themselves ; (Matt. xxiv. 24.) and John, in the 
Revelation, (xiii. 13, 14.) speaks of a beast that came 
out of the earth, which performed such prodigies, as 
even to make fire descend from heaven on the earth, 
which seduced many persons, &c. And in the same 
book he speaks of demons, which showed wonders, 
to stimulate the kings of the earth to make war on the 
saints ; and also of a false prophet, who works mira- 
cles, to seduce those who have received the mark of 
the beast, Rev. xvi. 14 ; xix. 20. 

Miracles and prodigies, therefore, are not always 
sure signs of the sanctity of those who perform them ; 
nor proofs of the trutii of the doctrine they deliver ; 
nor certain testimonies of their divine mission. The 
Son of God not only permits but commands us to ex- 
amine miracles, and those who perform them, (Matt, 
xxiv. 23, 24.) and Moses (Deut. xiii. 1.) cautioned the 
Israelites against listening to the words of certain 
prophets, or dreamers of dreams ; adding, that the 
Lord permitted them to prove his people, to know 
whether they loved the Lord their God with all their 
heart, and with all their soul. It may, therefore, be 
affirmed, that the proof of miracles is not always un- 
questionable. To the mission of him who works 
miracles, must be joined the truth of the doctrine he 
advances, the holiness of his life, his good understand- 
ing, and his concurrence with those whose life, mis- 
sion and doctrine, have been already ascertained and 
approved. His miracles must be strictly examined, 
to see if they be true, and will stand the test; and are 
not juggling tricks, or magical operations ; whether 
they lead to God, to peace, to righteousness, to salva- 
tion. If these marks and characters be found in him 
who works miracles, we must allow such a one to be 
a messenger from God. 

Our Saviour complains (John iv. 48.) of the Jews: 
" Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not be- 
lieve." When they asked a sign from him, (Matt, 
xii. 38.) he replied that they should see no other sign 
but that of the prophet Jonah. He says (John xv. 
24.) that if he had not performed among them such 
miracles as were never before performed by man, 
they would have had no sin ; and Nicodemus acknowl- 
edged, (John iii. 2.) "No man can do these miracles 
that thou doest, except God be with him." Such a 
train of miracles, accompanied with so much innocence 
and righteousness, with a doctrine so pure and divine, 
could not be operations of falsity and delusion. When 
Christ sent his apostles to preach the gospel among 
the Jews, and among infidel nations, he gave them 
the power of working miracles in his name, (Matt. x. 
6, 8, &c.) than which nothing so much contributed to 
the propagation of the Christian faith. 

The prejudices, obstinacy and incredulity of the 
J ews must have been very extraordinary, not to yield 
to the miracles of Christ and his apostles. The doc- 
tors themselves could not give the lie to their own 
eyes, or oppose what was so public and notorious ; 
they could not directly deny the miracles, but chose 
rather to ascribe them to Beelzebub. The modern 
Jews pretend, that Christ had stolen the name Jeho- 
vah out of the temple, by which he performed his 
miracles. If this were true, could it be conceivable, 



that God would favor an impostor with the gift of 
working miracles, and such a long train of miracles, 
and of so high degree, and by one who announced 
the subversion of the law and the Jewish religion ? 
And would he permit him to transfer this power to bis 
disciples and apostles ? 

MIRIAM, sister of Moses and Aaron, and daughter 
of Amram and Jochebed. If she were the one who 
was watching when her brother Moses was exposed 
on the bank of the Nile, she might be ten or twelve 
years old at that time. When Pharaoh's daughter 
discovered the inian^ Miriam proposed to fetch a 
nurse for the little foundling ; the princess accepted 
the offer, and Miriam brought her own mother, Exod. 
ii. 4, &c. It is thought that Miriam married Hur, of 
Judah ; but it does not appear that she had any chil- 
dren by him. 

Miriam had the gift of prophecy, as she insinuates 
in Exod. xvii. 10, 11 ; Numb. xii. 2. After the pas- 
sage of the Red sea, she led the choir and dances of 
the women, and repeated with them the canticle, 
" Sing ye to the Lord," &c. which Moses sung in the 
choir of men, Exod. xv. 21. When Zipporah, the 
wife of Moses, arrived in the camp of Israel, Miriam 
and Aaron disparaged her, speaking against Moses on 
her account, Numb. xii. The Lord punished Miriam 
by visiting her with a leprosy. Her death happened 
in the first month of the fortieth year after the exo- 
dus, at the encampment of Kadesh, in the wilderness 
of Sin, (Numb. xx. 1.) where Eusebius assures us that 
in his time her sepulchre was to be seen. 

MIRROR, see Looking-glass. 

MISHAEL, one of the three companions of Daniel, 
to whom Nebuchadnezzar gave the Chaldean name 
of Meshach, (Dan. i. 7.) and cast into the burning fur- 
nace ; from which he was miraculously delivered. 

MISHAL, and MISHEAL, see Mashal. 

MISHPAT, judgment, a fountain, called also Ka- 
desh, (Gen. xiv. 7.) which see. 

MISHNAH, see Talmud. 

MISR, a name given to the land of Egypt, which 

see. 

MITE, Gr. limav, a small piece of money, two of 
which made a kodrantes, or the fourth part of the Ro- 
man cts. The as was equal to 3 T ' ff farthings sterling, 
or about 1£ cents. The mite, Xtnrov, therefore, would 
be equal to about two mills, Luke xii. 59 ; xxi. 2. R. 

MITHCAH, an encampment of Israel in the wil- 
derness, between Tarah and Hashmonah, Numb, 
xxxiii. 28, 29. 

MITYLENE, the celebrated capital of the island 
of Lesbos, through which Paul passed as he went 
from Corinth to Jerusalem, A. D. 58, Acts xx. 14. 
Now Castro. 

I. MIZPAH, or Mizpeh, elevation, a city of Ju- 
dah, (Josh. xv. 38.) south of Jerusalem, and north of 
Hebron ; about six leagues from Jerusalem. Calmet 
thinks it is the Mizpah of Benjamin, where the He- 
brews often assembled for purposes of devotion. (See 
1 Kings xv. 22 ; 2 Chron. xvi. 6, &c.) 

II. MIZPAH, or Mizpeh, a city of Gad, in the moun- 
tains of Gilead, where Laban and Jacob, made a cov- 
enant, Gen. xxxi. 49. Jephthah dwelt here when he 
made a covenant with the Israelites on the other side 
Jordan, who chose him for their captain ; and here he 
assembled his troops, Judg. xi. 11, 29, 34. It is 
sometimes ascribed to Moab, because the Moabites 
conquered and kept it. 

III. MIZPAH, or Mizpeh. Joshua (xi. 3, 8.) speaks ot 
the Hivites, who inhabited the country of Mizpeh, at 
the foot of mount Hermon, and consequently towards 



MO A 



[ 677 ] 



MOL 



the head of the Jordan. He adds, that the army of Ja- 
bin and his allies took refuge at Mizpah, to the east of 
the city of Sidon ; which agrees with this position. 

MIZRAIM, son of Ham, and father of Ludim, 
Anamin, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim and Cas- 
luhim, Gen. x. 6. He was father of the Mizraim, or 
Egyptians. Mizraim is also put for the country of 
Egypt ; thus it has three significations, which are 
perpetually confounded and used promiscuously ; 
sometimes denoting the laud of Egypt, sometimes he 
who first peopled Egypt, and sometimes the inhabit- 
ants themselves. See Egypt. 

MNASON, of Cyprus, a Jew, converted by Christ 
himself ; and one of the seventy, Acts xxi. 16. Paul 
lodged at his house at Jerusalem, A. D. 58. 

MOAB, son of Lot, and of his eldest daughter ; 
(Gen. xix. 31, &c.) born about the time of the birth 
of Isaac, A. M. 2108. 

MOABITES, the descendants ofMoab, son of Lot, 
whose habitation was east of Jordan, and adjacent to 
the Dead sea, on both sides the river Arnon, on which 
their capital city was situated ; although the river Ar- 
non was strictly and properly the northern boundary 
of Moab. This country was originally possessed by a 
race of giants called Emim, (Deut.ii. 11, 12.) whom the 
Moabites conquered. Afterwards, the Amorites took 
apart from the Moabites, (Judg. xi. 13.) but Moses 
reconquered it, and gave it to the tribe of Reuben. 
The Moabites were spared by Moses, as God had re- 
stricted him ; (Deut. ii. 9.) but there always was a 
great antipathy between them and the Israelites, 
which occasioned many wars. Balaam seduced the 
Hebrews to idolatry and uncleanness, by means of 
the daughters of Moab, Numb. xxv. 1, 2. God or- 
dained that this people should not enter into the con- 
gregation of his people, or be capable of office, &c. 
even to the tenth generation, (Deut. xxiii. 3.) because 
they had the inhumanity to refuse the Israelites a 
passage through their country, nor would supply them 
with bread and water in their necessity. 

Eglon, king of the Moabites, was one of the first 
who oppressed Israel after the death of Joshua. Ehud 
killed him, and Israel expelled the Moabites, Judg. 
iii. 12. A. M. 2679. David subdued Moab and Am- 
nion ; under which subjection they continued till the 
separation of the ten tribes ; when they were attached 
to the kings of Israel till the death of Ahab. Soon 
after the death of this king, the Moabites began to re- 
volt, 2 Kings iii. 4, 5. Mesha refused the tribute of a 
hundred thousand lambs, and as many rams, which 
till then had been customarily paid, either yearly or 
at the beginning of every reign. The reign of Aha- 
ziah was too short to allow of his invading them ; but 
Jehoram, son of Ahab, and brother to Ahaziah, hav- 
ing ascended the throne, intended reducing them to 
obedience. He invited Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, 
to join him; who, with the king of Edom, then his 
vassal, entered Moab, where they were almost on the 
point of perishing with thirst, but were miraculously 
relieved, 2 Kings iii. 16, &c. We have little knowl- 
edge of the Moabites after this time ; but Isaiah, at 
the beginning of the reign of Hezekiah, threatens 
them with a calamity which was to happen three 
years after Ids prediction, and which probably referred 
to the war of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, against 
the ten tribes, and the nations beyond the Jordan. 
Amos (i. 13, &c.) also foretold great miseries to them, 
which probably they suffered under Uzziah and Jo- 
tham, kings of Judah; if not under Shalmaneser; (2 
Chron. xxvi. 7, 8 ; xxvii. 5.) or, lastly, the war of 
Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the destruction of 



Jerusalem. Calmet believes that this prince carried 
them captive beyond the Euphrates, as the prophets 
had threatened ; (Jer. ix. 26 ; xii. 14, 15 ; xxv. 11, 12 ; 
xlviii. 47 ; xlix. 3, 6, 39 ; 1. 16.) and that Cyrus sent 
them home again, as he did other captive nations. It 
is probable that in the later times of the Jewish 
republic, they obeyed the Asmonean kings, and after- 
wards Herod the Great. 

The principal deities of the Moabites were Chemosh 
and Baal-peor. Scripture speaks of Nebo, of Baal- 
meon, and of Baal-dibon, as gods of the Moabites ; 
but it is likely these are rather names of places where 
Chemosh and Peor were worshipped ; and that Baal- 
dibon, Baal-meon, and Nebo, are no other than Che- 
mosh adored at Dibon, or at Meon, or on mount Nebo. 

For a description of the land of Moab, see Canaan, 
p. 237. 

MODIN, a celebrated city or town in the tribe of 
Dan, whence came Mattathias and his family, the 
Maccabees, (1 Mac. ii. 1, 15 ; ix. 19.) and which is 
also famous for a battle fought there by a handful of 
men, under Judas Maccabseus, against Antiochus Eu- 
pator, 2 Mac. xiii. 9, &c. 

MOLADAH, (Josh. xv. 26 ; xix. 2.) a city first given 
to Judah, and afterwards to Simeon. It was in the 
southerly part of Judah. 

MOLE, an unclean animal, (Lev. xi. 30.) several 
times referred to in Scripture. In the Vulgate and 
in the English Bible, however, the word tenshemeth, 
lizard or chameleon, is improperly translated mole, 
this animal being called in Hebrew hlwled. The only 
passage requiring elucidation, in which the mole is 
spoken of, is Isa. ii. 20, and this the reader will find 
examined in the article Idols, p. 522. 

MOLOCH, or Milcom, a god of the Ammonites, 
to whom human sacrifices were offered. Moses in 
several places forbids the Israelites, under the penalty 
of death, to dedicate their children to Moloch, by 
making them pass through the fire, (Lev. xviii. 21 ; 
xx. 2 — 5.) and God himself threatens to pour out his 
wrath against those who should be guilty of it. There 
is great probability that the Hebrews were addicted 
to the worship of this deity, even before their coming 
out of Egypt, since Amos, (v. 26.) and after him Ste- 
phen, (Acts vii. 43.) reproaches them with having 
carried in the wilderness the tabernacle of their god 
Moloch. (See Chiun.) Solomon built a temple to 
Moloch on the mount of Olives, (1 Kings xi. 7.) and 
Manasseh, a long time after, imitated his impiety, 
making his son pass through the fire in honor of this 
idol, 2 Kings xxi. 3, 4. Such idolatry was practised 
chiefly in the valley of Tophet and Hinnom, east of 
Jerusalem, Jer. xix. 

Some are of opinion, that the devotees contented 
themselves with making their children leap over a fire 
sacred to Moloch ; by this action consecrating them 
to that false deity ; and as by a lustration purifying 
them ; this being a usual ceremony on other occasions 
among the heathen. Others believe that they made 
them pass between two fires opposite each other, 
with the same intention ; but it is generally thought 
that they really burnt their children as sacrifices. See 
Ps. cvi. 37 ; Isa. lvii. 5 ; Ezek. xvi. 20, 21 ; xxiii. 37, 
39, where it is positively asserted, that the Hebrews 
sacrificed their children to devils, to Moloch, and to 
strange gods. See Fire. 

The rabbins assure us, that the idol Moloch was of 
brass, sitting on a throne of the same metal, adorned 
with a royal crown, having the head of a calf, and his 
arms extended as if to embrace any one ; that when 
they offered children to him, they heated the statue 



MO N 



[ i>78 ] 



MONEY 



from within, by a great fire ; and when it was burning 
hot, put the miserable victim within its arms, where 
it was soon consumed by the violence of the heat ; 
and that the cries of the children might not be heard, 
they made a great noise with drums and other instru- 
ments about the idol. Others say, that his arms were 
extended, and reaching toward the ground, so that 
when they put a child within his arms, it immediately 
fell into a great tire which was burning at the foot of 
the statue. 

There are various sentiments about Moloch : some 
believe that it represented Saturn, to whom it is well 
known that human sacrifices were offered. So Ge- 
senius in his Comm. z. Jesa. ii. p. 343 ; comp. p. 
327. (See also Chiun.) Others think he was Mer- 
cury, others say Venus, others Mars, or Mithra. Cal- 
met has endeavored to prove, that Moloch signified 
the sun, or the king of heaven. (See also Selden, de 
Diis Syris ; Spencer, de Legibus Hebrseorum Ritualib. 
lib. ii. cap. 10. And Vossius, de Origine et Progressu 
Idolatriae, lib. ii. cap. 5.) 

MONEY. Scripture often speaks of gold, silver, 
brass, of certain sums of money, of purchases made 
with money, of current money, of money of a cer- 
tain weight ; but we do not observe coined or stamped 
money till a late period; which induces a belief that 
the ancient Hebrews took gold and silver only by 
weight ; that they only considered the purity of 
the metal, and not the stamp. The most ancient 
commerce was conducted by barter, or exchanging 
one sort of merchandise for another. One man 
gave what he could spare to another, who gave him 
in return part of his superabundance. Afterwards 
the more precious metals were used in traffic, as a 
value more generally known and stated. Lastly, 
they gave this metal, by public authority, a certain 
mark, a certain weight, and a certain degree of al- 
loy, to fix its value, and to save buyers and sellers 
the trouble of weighing and examining the coins. 

Abraham weighed out four hundred shekels of 
silver, to purchase Sarah's tomb ; (Gen. xxiii. 15, 16.) 
and Scripture observes, that he paid this in current 
money with the merchant. Joseph was sold by his 
brethren to the Midianites for twenty pieces of silver, 
(Gen. xxxvii. 28.) Heb. twenty shekels of silver. The 
brethren of Joseph brought back with them into 
Egypt the money they found in their sacks, in the 
same weight as before, Gen. xliii. 21. Isaiah de- 
scribes the wicked as weighing silver in a balance, to 
make an idol thereof, (chap. xlvi. 6.) and Jeremiah 
(xxxii. 10.) weighs seventeen pieces of silver in a 
pair of scales to pay for a field he had bought. Isaiah 
says, "Come, buy wine and milk without money, 
and without price. Wherefore do ye weigh money 
for that which is not bread?" Amos (viii. 5.) repre- 
sents the merchants encouraging one another to 
make the ephah small, wherewith to sell, and the 
6hekel great, wherewith to buy, and to falsify the 
balances by deceit. 

In these passages, three things only are mentioned : 
(1.) The metal ; that is, gold or silver, and never cop- 
per, it not being used in traffic as money. (2.) The 
weight, a talent, a shekel, a gerah or obolus ; the 
weight of the sanctuary, and the king's weight. (3.) 
The standard of pure or fine gold and silver, and of 
good quality, as received by the merchant. The im- 
pression of the coinage is not referred to ; but it is 
said, they weighed the silver, or other commodities, 
by the shekel and by the talent. This shekel, there- 
fore, and this talent, were not fixed and determined 
pieces of money, but weights applied to thing's used 



in commerce. Hence those deceitful balances ol 
the merchants who would increase the shekel ; thai 
is, would augment the weight by which they weighed 
the gold and silver they were to receive, that they 
might have a greater quantity than was their due ; 
hence the weight of the sanctuary, the standard of 
which was preserved in the temple, to prevent fraud ; 
hence those prohibitions in the law, " Thou shalt not 
have in thy bag divers weights, [Heb. stones,] a great 
and a small," Deut. xxv. 13. Hence those scales that 
the Hebrews wore at their girdles, (Hos. xii. 7.) and 
the Canaanites carried in their hands ; to weigh the 
gold and silver which they received in payment. 

And it is to be observed, that in the original text 
there is no mention of coined money, or of any thing 
like it. The gold and silver offered to Moses in the 
desert, for the use of the tabernacle ; that which 
was given to Aaron to make a golden calf; that of 
which Gideon made an ephod ; that which tempted 
Achan ; that which David left to Solomon ; and that 
which Gehazi received from Naaman ; was only 
gold or silver made into rings, bracelets, pendants, 
vessels, or ingots. Not a word of coined money, of 
any mark or impression ; nothing to show the form 
of the money, or the figure represented upon it ; for, 
generally, coined money has the impress of some 
prince, some ar.nna], flower, or other device. But 
nothing of this kind occurs among the Hebrews. 

It is true, that in the Hebrew (Gen. xxxiii. 19.) we 
find Jacob bought a field for a hundred kesitahs ; 
and that the friends of Job, (chap. xlii. 11.) after his 
recovery, gave to that model of patience each a kesi- 
tah, and a golden pendant for the ears. We also find 
there Darics, (Heb. Darcmonim, or Adarcmonim) and 
Mince, Statera, Oboli : but this last kind of money was 
foreign, and is put for other terms, which in the He- 
brew only signify the weight of the metal. The 
kesitah is not well known to us ; some take it for a 
sheep or a lamb ; others for a kind of money, having 
the impression of a lamb or a sheep. But Calmet 
rather thinks it to be a purse of money. 

"The practice of weighing money is general in 
Syria, Egypt, and all Turkey. No piece, however 
effaced, is refused there : the merchant draws out his 
scales and weighs it, as in the days of Abraham, when 
he purchased his sepulchre. In considerable pay- 
ments, an agent of exchange is sent for, who counts 
paras by thousands, rejects pieces of false money, and 
weighs all the sequins, either separately or together." 
(Volney, vol.. ii. p. 425.) Does not this mention of 
" an agent of exchange," give a new idea to the ex- 
pression in Genesis, above referred to, " current 
money with the merchant ; " i. e. such as was approv- 
ed by a competent judge, whose business it was to de- 
tect fraudulent coin, if offered in payment? On this 
subject we may remark a much deeper inference than 
is usually discovered in the question of our Lord to 
the ill-designing Pharisees :— " Whose image and su- 
perscription is this ? " For we ought to observe, that 
few, or none, of the early and truly Asiatic corns, had 
any image, or representation, of the king on them ; 
that those of the original Jewish coinage, have the 
pot, or jug, (of manna, say some,) or the vine, or sheaf 
of corn, and the date when coined ; but no image of 
any person, or power, (which the Jews would have 
held unlawful,) as the Roman coinage universally had, 
especially under the Caesars. When, therefore, our 
Lord commands, " Show me the tribute-money," and 
asks, "Whose image is this?" by attributing currency 
to the (Roman) image of Caesar, and appropriating 
this (Roman) coin to the payment of his tribute, they 



MON 



[ 679 ] 



MONTH 



acknowledged Caesar's authority and power ; thereby 
answering their own question. And this inference 
appears still more forcibly, when we recollect the utter 
aversion of the Jewish nation from images at this 
time, and that the figures on the standards of the Ro- 
man legions nearly occasioned an insurrection. — In 
this view, the idea of image is stronger than that of 
superscription ; though, in fact, one accompanied 
the other, the superscription, or epigrapkus, being the 
emperor's titles, usually inserted around his image, or 
bust, as on our British coins. 

" They [the Turks] stamp nothing on their money 
(which is all of gold and silver, and consists in the 
sorts aforesaid) but the emperor's name, and the year in 
which it was coined. They receive, nevertheless, for- 
eign coins, with figures of living things, which seems 
contrary to their law." (De la Motraye's Travels, 
vol. i. p. 154.) Here we find the Turks receiving, 
through commercial policy, what the Jews were forced 
to receive, and to pass current, by reason of their 
subjection to the Roman emperor. It is also com- 
mon, in the East, for coins to have some sentence on 
them, such as, " God is great," &c. The Roman 
coins had no such inscription, but were purely heathen, 
and solely presented the image and superscription 
of Caesar ; or if any figure was added on the reverse, 
it was that of some ideal or idolatrous deity. 

It deserves notice, that the three evangelists who 
record this story, insert the word image, (and, indeed, 
they use coincidentally the same words,) which seems 
to confirm the ideas above suggested. (See Matt, 
xxii. 20 ; Mark xii. 16 ; Luke xx. 24.) 

MONTH. The ancient Hebrews had no particu- 
lar names for their months ; they said, the first, the 
second, the third, &c. In Exod. xiii. 4 ; xxiii. 15 ; 
xxxiv. 18, and Deut. xvi. 1, we find 2>3N snn, Chodesh 
Abib, or the month of the young ears of corn, or of 
the new fruits ; which is, probably, the Egyptian 
name of that month, which the Hebrews afterwards 
called Nisan, and which was the first of the holy 
year. Every where else this lawgiver designates the 
months by their order of succession. In Joshua, 
Judges and Samuel we see the same method. Un- 
der Solomon (1 Kings vi. 1.) we read of the month 
Zif, which is the second month of the holy year, and 
answers to that afterwards called Jair. In the same 
chapter we read of the month Bui, which is the eighth 
of the holy year, and answers to Marchesvan, or Oc- 
tober. Lastly, in chap. viii. 2, we- read of the month 
Ethanim, or the month of the valiant, which answers 
to Tizri, the seventh of the holy year. 

Critics are not agreed about the origin of these 
names of the months. Scaliger thought Solomon 
borrowed them from the Phoenicians, with whom he 
had much intercourse. Grotius believes they came 
from the Chaldeans ; and Hardouin deduces them 
from the Egyptians. However this may be, we see 
nothing of them, either before or after Solomon. But 
after the captivity of Babylon, the people continued 
the names of the months as they had found them 
among the Chaldeans and Persians. 

Names of the Hebrew months, according to the order of 
the sacred and civil years. 

Civil. Sacred. 

7 1 jm, Nisan, answering to March, O S. 

8 2 tx, I jar, April. 

9 3 Sivan, May. 
10 i no \ Thammuz, June. 



11 


5 




Ab, 


July. 


12 


6 




Elul, 


August. 
September 


1 


7 




Tisri, 

Marchesvan 


Z 





|-ib> mn, 


October. 


3 


9 


1*703, 


Casleu, 


Novembei 


4 


10 


nan, 


Thebet, 
Shebat, 


December. 


5 


11 


03.5?, 


January. 


6 


12 


TIN, 


Adar, 


February. 



[Other interpreters, with greater propriety, reckon 
the beginning of Nisan from the new moon of April, 
and not of March ; and this varies the beginning of 
the other months. (See Jahn's Archaeol. § 103. Wi- 
ner, Bibl. Realwbrterb. p. 454.) R. 

Originally, the Hebrews followed the same distri- 
bution of their years and months as in Egypt. Their 
year consisted of 365 days, and of twelve months, 
each of thirty days. This appears by the enumera- 
tion of the days of the year of the deluge, Gen. vii. 
The twelfth month was to have thirty-five days, and 
they had no intercalary month, but at the end of one 
hundred and twenty years, when the beginning of 
the year following was out of its place thirty whole 
days. 

After the exodus, which happened in the month of 
March, God ordained that the holy year, that is, the 
calendar of religious feasts and ceremonies, should 
begin at Nisan, the seventh month of the civil year, 
(the civil year being left unchanged,) which the He- 
brews continued to begin at the month Tisri (Sep- 
tember). After the Babylonish captivity, the Jews, 
being but a handful of people in the midst of others 
surrounding them, complied with such customs and 
manners of dividing times and seasons, as were used 
by the people that ruled over them ; first, of the 
Chaldeans ; afterwards, of the Persians ; and lastly, 
of the Grecians. They took the names of the months 
from the Chaldeans and Persians, and perhaps their 
manner of dividing the year and the months. How- 
ever, we cannot be sure of this, not exactly knowing 
the form of the Chaldean months. But we. see 
plainly by Ecclesiasticus, (xliii. 6.) by the Maccabees, 
by Josephus, (Antiq. lib. iii. cap. 10,) and by Philo, 
(Vit. Mos. lib. iii.) that in their time they followed the 
custom of the Grecians ; that is, their months were 
lunar, and their years solar. 

These lunar months were each of twenty-nine 
days and a half; or, rather, one was of thirty days, 
the following of twenty-nine, and so on alternately : 
that which had thirty days was called a full or com- 
plete month ; that which had but twenty-nine days 
was called incomplete. The new moon was always 
the beginning of the month, and this day they called 
JYeomenia, new-moon day, or new month. They did 
not begin it from that point of time when the moon 
was in conjunction with the sun, but from the time 
at which she first became visible, after that conjunc- 
tion. And to determine this, it is said, they had 
people posted on elevated places, to inform the San- 
hedrim as soon as possible. Proclamation was then 
made, " The feast of the new moon ! The feast of 
the new moon !" and the beginning of the month 
was proclaimed by sound of trumpet. For fear of 
any failing in the observation of that command, 
which directed certain ceremonies at the beginning 
of each month, they continued the JVeomenia two 
days; the first was called "the day of the moon's 
appearance," the other " of the moon's disappear- 
ance." So say the rabbins : but there is great prob- 
ability, that if this was ever practised, it was only in 
provinces distant from Jerusalem. In the temple, 



MOO 



[ 680 ] 



MOR 



and in the metropolis, there was always a fixed cal- 
endar, or at least a fixed decision for festival days, 
determined by the House of Judgment. 

When we say that the months of the Jews an- 
swered to ours, Nisan to March, Jair to April, &c. 
we must be understood with some latitude ; for the 
lunar months cannot be reduced exactly to solar 
ones. The vernal equinox falls between the twen- 
tieth and twenty-first of March, according to the 
course of the solar year. But in the lunar year, the 
new moon will fall in the month of March, and the 
full moon in the month of April. So that the He- 
brew months will answer partially to two of our 
months, the end of one, and the beginning of the 
other. 

Twelve lunar months making but three hundred 
and fifty-four days and six hours, the Jewish year 
was short of the Roman by twelve days. To recover 
the equinoctial points, from which this difference of 
the solar and lunar year would separate the new 
moon of the first month, the Jews every three years 
intercalated a thirteenth month, which they called 
Ve-adar ; the second Mar. By this means their 
lunar year equalled the solar; because in thirty-six 
solar months there would be thirty-seven lunar 
mouths. The Sanhedrim regulated this intercalation, 
and the thirteenth month was placed between Adar 
and Nisan ; so that the passover was always celebrat- 
ed the first full moon after the equinox. 

MOON. The Lord created the sun and the moon 
on the fourth day of the world, to preside over day 
and night, and to distinguish times and seasons, Gen. 
i. 15, 16. As the sun presides over day, so the moon 
presides over night ; the sun regulates the course of 
a year, the moon the course of a month ; the sun is, 
as it were, king of the host of heaven, the moon is 
queen. The moon was appointed for the distinction 
of seasons, of festival- days, and days of assembling, 
Gen. i. 14; Ps. civ. 19. For the days of the New 
Moon, see Neomenia. 

We do not know whether the Hebrews understood 
the theory of lunar eclipses ; but they always speak of 
them in terms which intimate that they considered 
them as wonders, and as effects of the power and 
wrath of God. When the prophets speak of the 
destruction of empires, they often say, that the sun 
shall be covered with darkness ; the moon withdraw 
her light ; and the stars fall from heaven, Isa. xiii. 
10 ; xxiv. 23 ; Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8 ; Joel ii. 10 ; iii. 15. 
But we cannot perceive that there is any direct men- 
tion of an eclipse. 

Among the orientals in general, and the Hebrews 
in particular, the worship of the moon was more 
extensive, and more famous than that of the sun. 
In Deut. iv. 19 ; xvii. 3, Moses bids the Israelites take 
care, when they see the sun, the moon, the stars, and 
the host of heaven, not to pay them any superstitious 
worship, because they were only creatures appointed 
for the service of all nations under heaven. Job 
(xxxi. 26, 27.) also speaks of the same worship: "If 
I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walk- 
ing in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly 
enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand," as a 
token of adoration. The Hebrews worshipped the 
moon, by the name of Meni, of Astarte, of the god- 
dess of the groves, of the queen of heaven, &c. (But 
see under Astaroth I.) The Syrians adored her as 
Astarte, Urania, or Ccelestis ; the Arabians as Alilat ; 
the Egyptians as Isis ; the Greeks as Diana, Venus, 
Juno, Hecate, Bellona, Minerva, &c. Macrobius and 
Julius Firmicus acauaint us, that men dressed like 



women, and women dressed like men, sacrificed to 
the moon. Maimonides thinks, that Moses intended 
to forbid this, when he prohibited the sexes from ex- 
change of habits. The moon was worshipped as a 
god, and not as a goddess, in Syria, Mesopotamia 
and Armenia. The Sepharvites called her Aname- 
Iech, the gracious king. Strabo calls her Meen ; as 
does Isaiah, lxv. 11. She was represented clothed 
like a man ; and there are medals extant, on which 
she is represented in the habit and form of a man 
armed, having a cock at his feet, covered with a 
Phrygian or Armenian bonnet. Spartian, in Cara- 
calla, assures us, that the people of Charrse in Meso- 
potamia believed, that such as held the moon for a 
goddess, would be always in subjection to their 
wives. He adds, that though the Greeks and Egyp- 
tians sometimes called her goddess, yet they always 
call her god in their mysteries. Several sorts of sac- 
rifices were offered to the moon. We see in Isaiah 
lxv. 11, and Jeremiah vii. 18, that they offered to her 
in the high ways, and upon the roofs of their houses, 
sacrifices of cakes, and similar offerings. Thus the 
Greeks honored Hecate, or Trivia, which is the 
moon. Elsewhere they offered to her human sacri- 
fices. Strabo relates, that in the countries bordering 
on the Araxes, they especially worshipped the moon, 
who had there a famous temple. The goddess had 
several slaves, and every year they offered one of 
them in sacrifice to her, after having fed him daintily 
the whole year before. Lucian speaks of like sacri- 
fices, offered to the Syrian goddess, the Dea Cceles- 
tis, that is, the moon. Fathers carried their children, 
tied up in sacks, to the top of the porch of the tem- 
ple, whence they threw them down upon the pave- 
ment ; and when the unfortunate victims moaned, 
the fathers would answer, that they were not their 
children, but young calves. 

The Jews ascribed different effects to the moon. 
Moses speaks of the fruits of the sun and the moon, 
(Deut. ixxiii. 14.) these being considered as the two 
causes which produce the fruits of the earth. Some 
commentators think, that the fruits of the sun are 
those that come yearly, as wheat, grapes, &c. ; and 
the fruits of the moon those thai may be gathered at 
different months of the year, as cucumbers, figs, &c. 

MORASTHI, the country of the prophet Micah, 
east of Eleutheropolis, Micah i. 1 ; Jer. xxvi. 18. See 
Mareshah. 

MORDECAI, son of Jair, of the race of Saul, and 
a chief of the tribe of Benjamin. He was carried 
captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, with Jehoi- 
achin, or Jeconiah, king of Judah, A. M. 4305 ; 
Esth. ii. 5, 6. He settled at Shushan, and there lived 
to the first year of Cyrus, when it is thought he vis- 
ited Jerusalem, with several other captives ; but af- 
terwards he returned to Shushan. Mordecai had a 
niece called Edessa, or Esther, the daughter of his 
brother, whom he had adopted and brought up as his 
own daughter, after the death of his brother. After 
Esther became the wife of Ahasuerus, (see Esther,) 
Mordecai was constant at the palace gate to learn 
news of the queen. During his attendance there he 
discovered a conspiracy of two eunuchs to kih the 
king; his service, however, was registered only, and 
not rewarded. Ahasuerus raising Haman to be his 
favorite, Mordecai refused to honor him ; and Haman 
resented the indignity by endeavoring to exterminate 
the whole Jewish people, for which he obtained a 
decree from the king, but was defeated in his pur- 
pose by Mordecai and Esther. 

It is evident that the anxiety of Mordecai fnr 



MORDECAI 



[ 681 ] 



MOR 



Esther was extreme ; but we cannot fully enter into 
the circumstance of his walking day after day, (chap, 
ii. 11.) for a long period of time, probably upwards of 
a year, without recollecting the extreme vigilance 
with which the harems of the East are guarded. On 
this subject Chardin says: "The place where the 
women are shut up is sacred, especially among per- 
sons of condition ; and it is a crime for any person 
whatever to be inquiring what passes within those 
walls. The husband has there an absolute authori- 
ty, without being obliged to give any account of his 
actions. And 'tis said, that there are most bloody 
doings in those places sometimes, and that poison 
despatches a world of people, which are thought to 
die a natural death." (p. 332.) "I could not learn 
what was done more the rest of the night ; for I have 
already informed you how difficult it is to be in- 
formed of the transactions in those habitations, that 
seem to be regions of another world. There are none 
but women that can approach within a league of it, 
or some black eunuchs, with whom a man may as 
well converse as with so many dragons, that can dis- 
cover those secrets ; and you may as well tear out 
their hearts as a syllable upon that text. You must 
use a great deal of art to make them speak ; just as 
we tame serpents in the Indies, till they make them 
hiss and dance when they please." (p. 54. Cor. Soly- 
man.) 

" And here we must observe, that Habas the sec- 
ond left behind him two sons; or, at least, I never 
heard that he left any more, nor is it known whether 
he left any daughters or no. For what is done in 
the women's apartment is a mystery concealed even 
from the grandees and prime ministers. Or, if they 
know any thing, it is merely upon the account of 
some particular relation or dependence which the 
secret has to some peculiar affair, which, of necessi- 
ty, must be imparted to their knowledge. For my 
part, I have spared neither pains nor cost to sift out 
the truth, but I could never discover any more ; only, 
that they believed he never left any daughter behind 
him that lived. A man may walk a hundred days, 
one after another, by the house where the women are, 
and yet know no more what is done therein, than at 
the further end of Tartary." (p. 6.) 

We learn from these extracts, (1.) That to inquire 
what passes in the harem is a crime. (2.) That it is 
possible, " by a great deal of art," and weighty rea- 
sons, no doubt, to make the black eunuchs "speak," 
on some occasions. (3.) That a man may walk a 
hundred days, one after another, yet obtain no intel- 
ligence from thence. (4.) That " bloody doings " are 
occasionally transacted there. 

These hints may account for the conduct of Mor- 
decai, who walked every day before the court of the 
women's house, to gather any intelligence that might 
chance to come within his cognizance, respecting his 
niece. An English reader is apt to say, " Why did 
not he visit her at once ?" or, "To be sure, when he 
walked before the court, he inquired of the servants, 
and they told him as a matter of course." No : he 
walked, day after day, if perchance he might make 
some of these " dragons " in any degree tractable. In 
like manner, the English reader may suppose, that 
(chap. ii. 22.) when "Mordecai told Esther the 
queen "of the treason of the king's chamberlains, he 
spoke to her personally. This, however, is not prob- 
able: he sent her the intelligence by intervening 
agents. And when Mordecai, in the utmost distress, 
wished to communicate with Esther, (chSp. iv. 2.) 
he cried with a loud and bitter cry, even before the 
86 



king's' gate," which was the only means left him of 
gaining attention from the attendants of the place 
some of whom, coming out to him, returned and 
told Esther, who was too far off to hear him. Esther 
sent her own chamberlain, Hatach, (a confidential 
person, no doubt,) to inquire from Mordecai himself 
the cause of his lamentation ; and, by means of Ha- 
tach, messages passed between them, which agrees 
with what Chardin says, that it is possible on urgent 
occasions to make these officers " speak." We learn, 
also, that there are "bloody doings" in the harem ; 
this agrees with the remark of Mordecai, (chap. iv. 
13.) " Think not that thou shalt escape in the king's 
house, more than all the Jews." He certainly means 
that Hainan would procure her death, even in the 
harem. 

MORIAH, a mountain upon which the temple of 
Jerusalem was built by king Solomon, 2 Chron. iii. 
1. It is thought this was the place where Abraham 
intended to offer up his son Isaac, (Gen. xxii. 2, 14.) 
though this supposition is attended with some diffi- 
culties. Instead of Moriah, the Samaritan reads 
Moreh, in Genesis, as if God sent Abraham near to 
Sichem, where certainly was a Moreh, Gen. xii. 6 ; 
Deut. xi. 30. 

The name of Moriah is thought to be derived from 
a root implying height, or elevation ; and it is certain, 
from the descriptions given of Jerusalem, that it 
stands on the highest hill in the neighborhood, and 
is seen from a great distance. It is probable, there- 
fore, that the idea of being seen from far, as if it lifted 
itself up, is included in the name Moriah, which we 
may observe is in the feminine. Probably there is a 
reference to this in those prophets, who say, The 
mountain of the Lord's temple shall be exalted above 
the (surrounding) hills, and all nations shall flow to 
it, Isa. ii. 2 ; Mic. iv. 1. See Jerusalem. 

MORROW. The word morrow denotes the next 
succeeding period of light, which commences a little 
before the rising of the sun, and is opposed to the 
preceding period of darkness, as day is to night. 
The Hebrew term Mahar, rendered Morroic, signifies 
the exchange of one thing for another. Light was 
given instead of the preceding hours of darkness ; 
during which the Spirit of God moved uyjon the face 
of the waters, Gen. i. 2. The idea of the Hebrews, un- 
der the word Mahar, may be further understood from 
the two following passages : — "And the people stood 
up all that day, and all night, and all day on the mor- 
row ;" which phrase our translation renders all tlie 
next day, (Numb. xi. 32.) as opposed to night. "But 
God prepared a worm in the rising of the dawn for the 
morrow," or against the morrow, which is, in our 
translation, when the morrow rose the next day, Jonah 
iv. 7. This phrase shows that the Hebrew morrow 
did not commence before the light. The Anglo- 
Saxon morroiv is, no doubt, derived from the eastern 
Mahar ; and as it is evident from Tacitus and Julius 
Csesar, that both the Germans and the Gauls com- 
puted time in the manner of the Hebrews, and other 
eastern nations, there is the greater reason for sup- 
posing that our ancestors used the word morroiv ac- 
cording to the idea of the Hebrew Mahar. The 
Anglo-Saxon to morgen, our to-morrow, is found in 
the following passages : Exod. vii. 15 ; viii. 23 ; xvi. 
23 ; xvii. 9 ; xxxii. 5 ; xxxiv. 2 ; Numb. xi. 18 ; Matt, 
vi. 30 ; Luke xiii. 32, 33, &c. 

MORTAR. There is a remarkable passage in 
Pi ov. xxvii. 22, " Though thou shouldest bray a fool 
in a mortar among wheat, with a pestle, yet will not 
1 is foolishness depart from him." The mode of 



MO S 



[ 632 ] 



MOSES 



punishment here referred to may be proved to exist 
in the East, by positive testimony. 

" Fanaticism has enacted, in Turkey, in favor of 
the Ulemas, [or body of lawyers,] that their goods 
shall never be confiscated, nor themselves put to 
death, but by being bruised in a mortar. The honor 
of being treated in so distinguished a manner, may 
not, perhaps, be sensibly felt by every one ; examples 
are rare ; yet the insolence of the Mufti irritated sul- 
tan Osman to such a degree, that he ordered the mor- 
tars to be replaced, which, having been long neglect- 
ed, had been thrown dowiij and almost covered with 
earth. This order alone produced a surprising 
effect : the body of Ulemas, justly terrified, submit- 
ted." (Baron du Tott, vol. i. p. 28.) "As for the 
guards of the Towers, who had let prince Coreskie 
[a prisoner] escape, some of them were empayled, 
and, some ivere pounded, or beaten to pieces, in great 
mortars of yron, wherein they doe vsually pound their 
rice, to reduce it to meale." (Knolles's History of the 
Turks, p. 1374.) 

This last quotation is the very case in point; ex- 
cept that Solomon seems to suppose the fool was 
pounded together with the wheat; whereas, in this 
instance, the guards were beaten to death, certainly, 
without any such accompaniment. 

" The Mahometans consider this office as so im- 
portant, and entitled to such reverence, that the per- 
son of a pacha, who acquits himself well in it, be- 
comes inviolable, even by the sultan : it is no longer 
permitted to shed his blood. But the divan has in- 
vented a method of satisfying its vengeance on those 
who are protected by this privilege, without depart- 
ing from the literal expression of the law, by ordering 
them to be pounded in a mortar, .... of which there 
have been various instances." (Volney, vol. ii. p. 250.) 

MOSERAH, or Moseroth, (Numb, xxxii. 30.) a 
station of the Israelites, near mount Hor. Burck- 
hardt mentions a valley east of mount Hor, called 
Wady Mousa, which is perhaps a corruption of Mo- 
serah. See Exodus, p. 418, and Aaron, p. 2. 

MOSES, son of Amram and Jochebed, of the 
tribe of Levi, was born in Egypt, A. M. 2433. In 
consequence of the decree of Pharaoh for putting the 
male children of the Hebrews to death, he was put 
into a kind of vessel made of rushes, and laid on the 
banks of the Nile. Here he was found by the daugh- 
ter of Pharaoh, and placed unknowingly with his 
mother to be nursed, Exod. ii. 1 — 9. 

The princess named the infant Moses, (saved out 
of the water,) and adopted him for her son, Acts vii. 
22. His own parents, however, who brought him 
up, instructed him in the religion and expectations 
of his forefathers ; so that, when grown up, he pre- 
ferred rather to partake with his people in their 
afflictions, than to share in the pleasures of a court, 
Heb. xi. 24—26. 

Moses relates his own story with great simplicity, 
thus : (Exod. ii.) Being grown up he visited his breth- 
ren, and seeing an Egyptian oppressing a Hebrew, 
he vindicated him, slew the Egyptian, and hid his 
body in the sand. The transaction becoming known, 
Pharaoh sought for Moses to put him to death ; but 
he fled into the country of Midian, in Arabia Petreea, 
south of mount Sinai ; where he married Zipporah, 
a daughter of Jethro, priest or prince of Midian. 

Moses, employed in feeding the sheep of Jethro, 
one day came to the mountain of Horeb, where the 
Lord appeared to him in a burning bush, and com- 
missioned him, notwithstanding his reluctance and 
hesitation, to deliver his people Israel. See Aaron. 



Being arrived in Egypt, Moses and Aaron carried 
their message to Pharaoh, and demanded permission 
for the Hebrews to go three days' journey into the 
desert of Arabia, to offer sacrifices to the Lord. Pha- 
raoh refused, and augmented the burdens of the peo- 
ple, who complained to Moses, and he to the Lord. 
The ten plagues followed ; and at midnight on the 
fourteenth day of Abib, or Nisan, Moses led his peo- 
ple out of Egypt. See Exodus. 

Arrived in the wilderness of Sin, or Zin, between 
Elim and Sinai, the multitude, tired with the length 
of their journey, began to murmur against Moses, 
saying, " Would to God we had died in Egypt, where 
we sat at the flesh-pots, and where we ate bread in 
abundance ! " The Lord promised to rain food from 
heaven ; of which Moses informed the people; and 
that very evening the camp of Israel was covered 
with quails, brought thither by the wind. The next 
morning they saw all round the camp a kind of hoar- 
frost, or little grains, of the color of bdellium, and of 
the shape of coriander-seeds ; the manna. (See 
Manna.) Moses bade Aaron to fill an omer with 
manna, and to lay it up before the Lord ; to remain 
as a monument to future generations. 

At Rephidim, the people, in want of water, mur- 
mured against Moses; but the Lord, by his ministry, 
drew them water out of the rock of Horeb. The 
Amalekites attacking Israel, Moses sent Joshua 
against them; he himself, at ..e same time, with 
Aaron and Hur, being on an eminence, whence they 
could see the engagement. While Moses held up 
his hands toward heaven, Joshua had the advantage 
over the enemy ; but when he held them down, the 
Amalekites prevailed. Aaron and Hur, therefore, put 
stones under him, that he might sit down, while each 
of them supported his arms, that he might not be 
tired. So the Amalekites were entirely defeated. 
The Lord desired Moses to write an account of this 
action in a book, and to instruct Joshua concerning 
it, he having determined utterly to destroy the 
memory of Amalek from under heaven. On the 
third day of the third month from their coming out 
of Egypt, they arrived at the foot of mount Sinai, 
where they continued a year : here Moses was the 
mediator of a covenant between God and his people. 
See Law. 

Coming down from the mountain, Moses declared 
to the people the laws he had received, and the arti- 
cles of the covenant that the Lord would make with 
them. The people answering, that they would per- 
form whatever the Lord enjoined, Moses erected an 
altar of unhewn stones, at the foot of the mountain, 
and twelve monuments, or twelve other altars, in the 
name of the twelve tribes of Israel. Having offered 
sacrifices and peace-offerings, he took the blood of 
the victims, poured half upon the altar, and the other 
half into cups, and having read to the people the or- 
dinances he had received from the Lord, and which 
he had written in a book, he sprinkled all the people 
with the blood that was in the cups. Thus was 
concluded the solemn and celebrated covenant be- 
tween the Lord and the children of Israel. 

The Lord then commanded Moses to come up 
again into the mountain, and to bring with him 
Joshua, his servant, that he might instruct him in all 
which he would have observed by the priests or 
people, in the public exercise of religion ; all the parts 
of which he distinctly appointed. Descending from 
the mount, Joshua heard the shouts and rejoicings 
of the people, as if of an engagement with an enemy 
But Moses observed that it was not the sound of an 



MOSES [ 6 

alarm, but cries of joy. When they approached the 
camp, they saw the golden calf, which had been 
made, (see Calf,) and the people singing and danc- 
ing about it. Moses indignantly threw down the 
tables of stone he held in his hands, and broke them ; 
and taking the calf, he reduced it to powder, and 
scattered it into the water, which he made all the 
congregation drink of. Moses severely rebuked 
Aaron ; and, standing at the entrance of the camp, 
he proclaimed, " Whoever is for the Lord, let him 
join himself to me." All the children of Levi as- 
sembling about him, he said, "Thus saith the Lord, 
Let every one of you take his sword, and let him go 
from gate to gate, across the camp, and slay even to 
his brother, his friend, or his kinsman." They did 
so, and that day there were slain about 3000 people. 

The next day Moses remonstrated to the people on 
the heinousness of their sin ; but told them he would 
again ascend the mountain, and endeavor to obtain 
forgiveness for them. He went up and entreated 
the Lord to pardon them ; or otherwise, he begged 
that he himself might be blotted out of the book of 
the Lord. (See Book.) He also desired another 
favor, which was, that he might see his glory. The 
Lord answered him, that he could not see his face, 
for no man could support that sight; but that he 
would pass before the opening of the rock, where he 
might hear his name, and see his train, as he passed 
along. 

Afterwards, Moses went up into the mountain, 
and carried new tables of stone. There God re- 
newed the decalogue, and gave several other com- 
mandments. After forty days and forty nights, he 
came down, bringing the two tables of testimony 
with him, and caused proclamation to be made, that 
whoever had any valuable metals, or precious stones, 
thread, wool, furs, or fine wood, fit for the taber- 
nacle, might offer them to the Lord. The Lord 
commanded also, that each Israelite should contrib- 
ute half a shekel ; (about 25 cents ;) and that this 
contribution might be regularly raised, Moses took 
an account of the people, from twenty years old and 
Upwards; of whom there were found 603,550, each 
of which paying a bekah or half shekel, the sum 
amounted to 100 talents of silver and 1775 shekels, 
or about $150,000. Six whole months they worked 
at the tabernacle, that is, from the sixth month of the 
holy year, after their leaving Egypt, A. M. 2513, to 
the first day of the first month of the following year, 
2514. On the first day of Nisan, (April 21, according 
to Usher,) the tabernacle of the congregation was set 
up, and filled with the glory of the Lord, and on the 
fourteenth, the Israelites celebrated the second pass- 
over from their coming out of Egypt. About this 
time, Moses published the laws contained in the first 
seven chapters of Leviticus, consecrated Aaron and 
his sons, and dedicated the tabernacle with all its 
vessels. 

The first day of the second month of this year, 
Moses took a second account of the people, in which 
the Levites were reckoned apart, and appointed to 
the service of the tabernacle. The princes of the 
tribes made their offerings to the tabernacle, each ac- 
cording to his rank, and on his day, during the twelve 
days of the dedication and consecration of this holy 
place. Lastly, and about this time, Moses made.sev- 
eral ordinances relating to the purity to be observed 
in holy things, and the manner of approaching the 
tabernacle. 

About the end of the year, Jethro, the father-in- 
law of Moses, brought him his wife Zipporah, and 



;83 ] MOSES 

his two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. Moses received 
him with all respect, and by his persuasion commis- 
sioned judges to assist in accommodating differences, 
and minor suits. On the arrival of Zipporah in the 
camp, Aaron, and Miriam his sister, spoke against 
Moses, because his wife was an Ethiopian ; but the 
Lord interposed in behalf of Moses, who was the 
meekest man upon earth. See Aaron. 

It is not easy to determine, whether the sedition 
of Korah, Dathan and Abiram happened after the 
arrival of the Hebrews at Kadesh-barnea, or before. 
(See Korah.) At Kadesh, where Miriam died, the 
people murmured for water, which Moses and Aaron 
supplied, by causing it to gush out of a rock. But 
as they showed some distrust in the Lord, he con- 
demned them to die in the wilderness, without en- 
tering the land of promise. Hence they called this 
encampment Meribah, or waters of contradiction. 
At Zalmonah, it is thought Moses erected the brazen 
serpent, to heal those who had been bitten by fiery 
serpents. Being come to mount Pisgah, in the des- 
ert of Kedemoth, he despatched ambassadors to 
Sihon, king of the Amorites, to solicit a passage 
through his country, which being refused, Moses 
gave him battle, overcame him, and took all his ter- 
ritories. Some time afterwards, Og, king of Bashan. 
marched against Moses, and fought with him ; but 
he was conquered and his country taken. 

While encamped in the plains of Moab, at Shittim, 
Balak, king of Moab, invited Balaam to come and 
curse Israel. But the sorcerer having rather blessed 
than cursed them, he sent the daughters of Moab 
into the camp, to tempt them to idolatry and forni- 
cation. This wicked counsel had the desired effect ; 
but Moses put to death all who had abandoned them- 
selves to the worship of Baal-peor, to the number of 
23,000, besides 1000 others who were executed by 
the judges. After this, the Lord commanded Moses 
to make war against the Midianites, who had sent 
their daughters, with those of Moab, to debauch Is- 
rael. Phinehas was appointed chief of the expedition, 
with 12,000 chosen men, who routed the Midianites. 

On the first day of the eleventh month of the for- 
tieth year after the coming out of Egypt, Moses, be- 
ing in the fields of Moab, and knowing that he was 
not to pass over Jordan, made a long discourse to 
the people, recapitulating all he had done, and all 
that had happened from the coming out of Egypt. 
He set before them the happiness that would attend 
their constancy and fidelity, and the calamities which 
would punish their prevarication. He put into the 
hands of the priests and elders a copy of the law, 
with an injunction to have it read solemnly every 
seventh year in a general assembly of the nation. 
He composed an excellent canticle or poem, in which 
he exclaimed against their future infidelity, and 
threatened them with all the evils that in after-ages 
came upon them. A little before his death, he an- 
nexed to each of the tribes a particular blessing, in 
which he mingled several prophecies and predic- 
tions. 

At the beginning of the twelfth month, the Lord 
commanded him to ascend mount Nebo, where he 
obtained a view of the country, both on this side 
and beyond Jordan. "So Moses, the servant of 
the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, over against 
Beth-peor ; but no man knoweth of his sepulchre un- 
to this day. And Moses was 120 years old when he 
died : his eye was not dim nor his natural force abat- 
ed. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in 
the plain of Moab thirty days." It is added, "Thcro 



MOSES 



MOU 



arose not a prophet since like unto Moses, whom the 
Lord knew face to face : in all the signs and wonr 
iers which the Lord sent him to do in the land of 
Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to his 
land : and in all that mighty hand, and in all the 
great terror which Moses showed in the sight of 
all Israel." 

Moses is the most ancient writer of whom there 
remain any authentic works. He has left us the 
Pentateuch, or the five books — Genesis, Exodus, 
Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy — which were 
probably not originally separate works, as we find 
them now. These books are acknowledged as au- 
thentic and inspired, by both Jews and Christians. 
Some difficulties have been started about their author, 
because a few later passages have been inserted. But 
these additions make no alteration in the sense : they 
are by way of illustration only. See Bible. 

In addition to the Pentateuch, the Jews ascribe to. 
Moses eleven Psalms, from xc. to c. ; but there is no 
sufficient proof that these were all written by him. 
The greater part of the titles of the Psalms are not 
original, nor indeed very ancient, and some of them 
are wrongly placed. Besides, in these Psalms we find 
the names of persons, and other marks, that by no 
means agree with Moses. 

Some of the ancients believe that Moses was the 
author of the book of Job. Origen is of opinion, 
that he translated it out of Syriac, or Arabic, into 
Hebrew; in which he is followed by many of the 
moderns. 

As to the death and burial of Moses, many diffi- 
culties have been raised. Scripture tells us express- 
ly, that Moses died, according to the word of the 
Lord, Deut. ult. 5, 6. But as the Hebrew (rvrv •d- l >?) 
literally imports, upon the mouth of the Lord, the 
rabbins have imagined that the Lord took away his 
soul by a kiss. Others have maintained that he did 
not die : and some have supposed that he was trans- 
lated into heaven. 

The rabbins do not content themselves with the 
miracles that Scripture relates of Moses, but add 
many particulars of a spurious description ; as, for 
example, that he was born circumcised ; that the 
daughter of Pharaoh, who found him on the banks 
of the Nile, was leprous, and that as soon as she 
touched the ark in which the infant lay, she was im- 
mediately cured ; that when it was known to Pha- 
raoh that Moses had killed an Egyptian, he con- 
demned him to lose his head ; but God permitted 
that his neck should become as hard as a pillar of 
marble, and the rebound of the sword killed the ex- 
ecutioner. 

The history of Moses was so famous, for many 
ages, in almost all countries, that it is no wonder writ- 
ers of different nations have each represented it 
after his own manner. The orientals, the ancient Gre- 
cians, the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, the Romans, 
have all made additions to his history. Some of 
them have improved on the miracles that the Scrip- 
ture relates concerning his life ; others have dis- 
guised his story by adding to it not only false, but 
mean and trifling, circumstances, of which we have 
just given a specimen. The character and life of 
this legislator is, however, one of the finest subjects 
for the pen of a philosophical historian, who is at the 
same time a competent antiquary. 

His institutes have not only been maintained for 
several thousands of years, and by Jews, however 
dispersed in all parts of the globe, but they retain a 
vigor that promises a perpetuity, unless disturbed by 



some omnipotent interference. They have witu- 
stood the fury of persecution, and the more danger- 
ous snares of seduction. They are essentially the 
same in China and in India as in Persia and in Eu- 
rope. They may have been neglected, they may 
have been interpolated, they may have been abused, 
yet they are the same. Nor is the nation insensible 
to its relation in all its branches : the principle of 
consanguinity is allowed and felt throughout. It is 
impossible not to discern the hand of Providence in 
the fate of this people. To assign too positively the 
termination of the Mosaic institutions, were rash ; 
for even supposing the general conversion of the 
body of the Jewish nation to Christianity, it does not 
follow that every rite established under the Mosaic 
economy, should absolutely cease and determine. 
MOTE, see Eye. 

MOTH, an insect which flies by night, and of 
which there are many kinds. As some of them are 
particularly attached to woollen cloth, which they 
consume, &c. they are alluded to in Scripture under 
that description, Job xiii. 28; Isa. 1.9; Jam. v. 2. 
The moth is, as it were, a night butterfly, and js dis- 
tinguished from the day butterfly by having its an- 
tenna?, or horns, sharp-pointed, not tufted. In Job 
iv. 19, we read, "How much less in them who dwell 
in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust ; 
which are crushed before the moth." The Hebrew 
v;, osh, is employed to describe the moth in other 
passages of this poem, as ch. xiii. 28 ; xxvii. 18. and 
elsewhere. This creature is usually taken for the 
moth which consumes clothes and wool, by reducing 
them to a dust and powder. But, perhaps, it is more 
properly a moth-worm, for the moth itself is called 
dd, ses, and is joined with vy, osh, in Isaiah li. 8. This 
moth- worm is one state of the creature, which first is 
enclosed in an egg, whence it issues a worm ; after 
a time it quits this worm state, to assume that of the 
complete insect, or moth. It cannot be, then, to a 
moth flying against a house and oversetting it, (as 
Mr. Harvey conjectured,) that this comparison is in- 
tended ; but to the gradual consumption of the dwell- 
ing of the worm by its erosion ; q. d. " As the 
habitation of a worm is consumed by its inhabitant, 
so is the person of man : it is no more capable of 
resisting disease than a woollen cloth is capable of 
resisting decay, when devoured and demolished by 
the worm appointed to it ; " otherwise, " Crushed as a 
feeble and contemptible insect is crushed ; as we 
crush a moth-worm, without reluctance or com- 
punction." 

MOTHER. This word is sometimes used for a 
metropolis, the capital city of a country, or of a 
tribe ; and sometimes for a whole people, 2 Sam. xx. 
19. The synagogue is the mother of the Jews, as 
the church is of Christians. Isaiah asks, (1. 1.) 
"Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, 
whom I have put away?" that is, of the synagogue ; 
and Paul, (Gal. iv. 26.) says, "Jerusalem which is 
above, is free, which is the mother of us all." The 
great Babylon, that is, Rome, is called in the Rev- 
elation, "the mother of harlots and abominations of 
the earth," that is, of idolatry, Rev. xvii. 5. 

A mother in Israel signifies a brave woman, whom 
God uses to deliver his people. This name is given 
to Deborah, Judg. v. 7. Wisdom calls herself the 
mother of chaste love. The earth, to which at our 
death we must all return, is called the mother of all 
men, Ecclus. xl. 1. 

MOUNTAINS. Judea -is a mo.intainous coun- 
try, but the mountains are generally beautiful, fruit- 



MO U 



[ 683 ] 



MOU 



ful and cultivated. Moses says, (Deut. xxxii. 13.) that 
the rocks of its mountains produce oil and honey, 
by a figure of speech, which elegantly shows their 
fertility. He says, (Deut. viii. 7, 9.) that in the moun- 
tains of Palestine spring excellent fountains ; and 
that their bowels yield iron and brass. He desired 
earnestly of the Lord, that he might see the fine 
mountains of Judea and Libanus, Deut. iii. 25. The 
most famous mountains mentioned in Scripture are, 
Seir in Idumea — Horeb, near Sinai, in Arabia Pe- 
trsea — Sinai, in Arabia Petraea — Hor, in Idumea — 
G.ilboa, south of the valley of Jezreel — Nebo, a 
mountain of Abarim— Tabor, in Lower Galilee- — 
En-gedi, near the Dead sea— Libanus and Anti- 
libanus — Gerizim, in Samaria — Ebal, near to Ge- 
rizim — Gilead, beyond Jordan — Amalek, in Ephra- 
im — Moriah, where the temple was built — Paran, 
in Arabia Petrsea — Gahash, in Ephraim— Olivet 
— Pisgah, beyond Jordan — Hermon, beyond Jordan, 
near Libanus — Carmel, near the Mediterranean 
sea, between Dora and Ptolemais. There are many 
other mountains, famous for having cities on them ; 
as Hebron, Samaria, Nazareth, Gibeon, Shophim, 
Shilo, &c. 

The Hebrews frequently give to mountains the 
epithet eternal, because they are as old as the world 
itself, Gen. xlix. 26; Deut. xxxiii. 15. They were 
sometimes retired to as places of security. 

Mountains and their properties are frequently ob- 
jects of comparison in Scripture — their elevation, 
their stability, the breadth of their bases, &c. Many 
extraordinary events narrated in sacred history, took 
place on mountains, which seem to form, by their 
very structure and appearance, proper places of 
seclusion. 

MOURNING. The Hebrews, at the death of 
their friends and relations, gave all possible demon- 
strations of grief and mourning. They wept, tore 
their clothes, smote their breasts, fasted, and lay upon 
the ground, went barefooted, pulled their hair and 
beards, or cut them, and made incisions on their 
breasts, or tore them with their nails, Lev. xix. 28 ; 
xxi. 5 ; Jer. xvi. 6. The time of mourning was 
commonly seven days ; but it was lengthened or 
shortened according to circumstances. That for 
Moses and Aaron was prolonged to thirty days, which 
Josephus says, ought to be sufficient for any wise 
man, on the loss of his nearest relation, or his dear- 
est friend. 

During the time of their mourning, the near rela- 
tions of the deceased continued sitting in their houses, 
and ate on the ground. The food they took was 
thought unclean, and even themselves were judged 
impure: "Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the 
bread of mourners ; all that eat thereof shall be pol- 
luted," Hos. ix. 4. Their faces were covered, and in 
all that time they could not apply themselves to any 
occupation, nor read the book of the law, nor say 
their usual prayers. They did not dress themselves, 
nor make their beds, nor uncover their heads, nor 
shave themselves, nor cut their nails, nor go into the 
bath, nor salute any body. Nobody spoke to them 
unless they spoke first. Their friends commonly 
went to visit and comfort them, bringing them food, 
according to Prov. xxxi. 6, 7: "Give strong drink 
unto him that is ready to perish, and wine to those 
that be of heavy heart. Let him drink and forget his 
poverty, (or affliction,) and remember his misery no 
more." (Compare Baptism for the dead.) Ancient- 
ly, they set bread and meat at the tombs of the dead, 
that the poor might have the benefit of it, Tob. iv. 18 ; 



Ecclus. xxx. 18 ; Baruch vi. 26, 31. They also went 
up to thjj roof, or upon the platform of their houses, 
to bewail their misfortune: "Through all the cities 
of Moab (says Isaiah) they shall gird themselves with 
sackcloth : on the tops of their houses, and in their 
streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly," 
chap. xv. 3. And (xxii. 1.) speaking to Jerusalem, 
he says, " What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly 
gone up to the house-tops ?" 

They hired women to weep and mourn, and also 
persons to play on instruments, at the funerals of the 
Hebrews. Persons in years were carried to their 
graves by sound of trumpet, as Servius says, and 
younger people by the sound of flutes. In Matt. ix. 
23, we observe a company of players on the flute, at 
the funeral of a girl of twelve years of age. All that 
met a funeral procession, or a company of mourners, 
out of civility were to join them, and to mingle then 
tears with those who wept. Paul seems to allude to 
this custom when he says, " Rejoice with them that 
do rejoice, and weep with them that weep," Rom. 
xii. 15. And our Saviour in the gospel, "The men 
of this generation are like unto children sitting in the 
market-place, and calling one to another, and saying, 
We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; 
we have mourned to you, and ve have not wept," 
Luke vii. 32 ; Matt. xi. 17. 

When our Saviour was led away to "his crucifixion, 
the women of Jerusalem followed him, making great 
lamentations, (Luke xxiii. 27.) and when the daughter 
of Jephthah was devoted by her father, she went 
with her companions upon the mountains, to lament 
her leaving the world without being married, Judg. 
xi. 38. In Palestine and Syria, the women go out 
into the burying-places at certain times, there to 
mourn for the death of their near relations. 

The mourning habit among the Hebrews was not 
fixed either by law or custr*".. We only find in 
Scripture, that they used to tear their garments — a 
custom still observed ; but tney tear a small part 
merely, and for form's sake. Anciently, in times of 
mourning, they clothed themselves in sackcloth, or 
hair cloth, that is, in coarse or ill made clothes, of 
brown or black stuff. At this day, that they may not 
appear ridiculous, they wear mourning after the 
fashion of the countries where they live, without be- 
ing constrained to it by any law. 

MOUSE, or Rat, in Hebrew -osp, Akbar, especially 
Field-Mouse. By many this 
word is thought to denote the 
Jerboa, an animal described by 
Bruce, and which is classed by 
the Arabs under the El Akbar, 
or the largest of the Mus monta- 
nus. The accompanying en- 
graving will afford a good idea 
of this curious creature, which is 
very different from the common 
mouse. But the Jerboa is more 
probably the animal called in the 
English translation coney. (See 
Coney.) The word rendered 
mouse probably includes various species of these ani- 
mals, some of which were eaten. Moses (Lev. xi. 
29.) declared it to be unclean, which implies that it 
was sometimes eaten ; and Isaiah (lxvi. 17.) re 
proaches the Jews with this practice. Mice made 
great havoc in t/ie fields of the Philistines, after that 
people had taken the ark of the Lord, (1 Sam. v. 6, 
&c.) which induced them to send it back with mice 
and emerods of gold, as an atonen ent for the irrev- 




MUL 



M U S 



cjrence committed, and to avert the vengeance that 
pursued them. The Assyrians, who besiqjfceu Be- 
thulia, when they saw the Hebrews come out of the 
city 7 in order of battle, compared them to mice, say- 
ing, " See, the mice are coming forth out of their 
holes," Judith xiv. 12. Vulgate. 

MOUTH. It has been observed, on the article 
Adore, that to kiss one's hand, and to put it to one's 
mouth, was a sign of adoration. The Hebrews, by 
way of pleonasm, often say, He opened his mouth, 
and spoke, sung, cursed, &c. Also, that God opens 
the mouth of the prophets, puts words into their 
mouth, bids them speak what he inspires them with. 
To inquire at the mouth of the Lord, is to consult 
him, Josh. ix. 14. God says, that he will be a mouth 
to Moses and Aaron, Exod. iv. 15. " We will call the 
damsel, and inquire at her mouth ;" let us know Re- 
bekah's sentiments of the matter, Gen. xxiv. 57. " Let 
us hear what is in the mouth of Ahithophel," (2 
Sam. xvii.) let us consult him about this affair. 

To open the mouth, is often used emphatically 
for speaking aloud, boldly, freely : (1 Sam. ii. 1.) "My 
mouth is enlarged — opened — over my enemies," says 
Hannah, the mother of Samuel. (Comp. Ezek. xxiv. 
27 ; Isa. IviL 4.) In a contrary sense, to shut the 
mouth, to silence, is a mark of humiliation and afflic- 
tion, Ps. cvii. 42 ; xxxviii. 14. "To set their mouth 
against the heavens," (Ps. lxxiii. 9.) is when they 
speak arrogantly, insolently and blasphemously of 
God. 

God directs that his' law should be always in the 
mouth of his people ; i. e. that the Israelites com- 
mune frequently with one another about it. He for- 
bids them so much as to pronounce the name of 
strange gods, Exod. xxiii. 13. To speak mouth to 
mouth, is a Hebraism, which we render by face to 
face, Numb. xii. 8. Heb. " With one mouth," is with 
common consent, Dan. hi. 51. To observe the mouth 
of the king, is to hear his words with attention, 
Eccles. viii. 2. To walk by the mouth of any one, is 
to obey his orders. To transgress against the mouth 
of the Lord, is to disobey his commands. You shall 
be justified by your own mouth ; you shall be con- 
demned out of your own mouth : by the good or ill 
use of your tongue. 

Hosea says, (vi. 5.) the Lord has put the people to 
death by the words of his mouth ; i. e. he foretold 
death (or captivity) to them by his prophets. Isaiah 
says of the Messiah, (xi. 4.) " He shall smite the earth 
with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his 
lips shall he slay the wicked." These expressions 
denote the absolute power of God, and that it re- 
quires only one breath to destroy his enemies — per- 
haps by his judicial sentence. The same prophet 
says, (xlix. 2.) " He hath made my mouth like a sharp 
sword." These ways of speaking energetically ex- 
press the sovereign authority of God. " From the 
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh ; (Matt, 
xii. 34.) i. e. our discourses are the echo of the 
sentiments of our hearts. It is not what enters 
into the mouth that defileth the man ; it is neither 
meat nor drink that makes us unclean in the sight 
of God. 

MULBERRY-TREE. The word translated mul- 
berry-tree signifies literally weeping, and indicates, 
therefore, some tree which distils balsam or gum. 
The particular species is not known, 2 Sam. v. 23, 
24; 1 Chr. xiv. 14, 15. In Ps. lxxviii. 47, it is said 
that among other plagues with which the Lord vis- 
ited Egypt, he destroyed their vines with hail, and 
their mulberry -trees with frost. The English trans- 



lation reads sycamore-trees ; which are common a. 
Egypt. They have a leaf nearly resembling that of 
a mulberry-tree, and fruit something like figs; hence 
the word sycamore, from sycos, a fig or fig-tree, and 
morus, a mulberry-tree. See Sycamore. 

MULE, the offspring of two animals of different 
species, as a horse and an ass. 

There is no probability that the Jews bred mules, 
because it was forbidden to couple creatures of dif- 
ferent species, Lev. xix. 19. But they were not for- 
bidden to use them. Thus we may observe, espe- 
cially after David's time, that mules, male and 
female, were common among the Hebrews : formerly 
they used only male and female asses, 2 Sam. xiii. 
29 ; xviii. 9 ; 1 Kings i. 33, 38, 44 ; x. 25 ; xviii. 
5, &c. 

Some have thought that Anah, son of Zibeon, of 
the posterity of Seir, being in the desert, found out 
the manner of breeding mules. This opinion was 
much espoused by the ancients. But Jerome, who 
notices it in his Hebraical questions on Genesis, 
translates, " that Anah found hot waters." The Syri- 
ac says, a fountain ; but rather it signifies a people 
whom Anah surprised and defeated. See Anah. 

MURDER. This crime among the Hebrews was 
always punished by death, but involuntary homi- 
cide was only punished by banishment. Cities of 
refuge were appointed for involuntary manslaughter, 
whither the slayer might retire, and continue in safety 
till the death of the high-priest, Numb. xxxv. 28. 
Then the offender was at liberty to return to his own 
house, if he pleased. A murderer was put to death 
without remission : the kinsman of the murdered 
person might kill him with impunity. Money could 
not redeem his life ; he was dragged away even from 
the altar, if he had taken refuge there. 

When a dead body was found in the fields, and 
the murderer was unknown, Moses commanded that 
the elders and judges of the neighboring places 
should resort to the spot, Deut. xxi. 1 — 8. The el- 
ders of the city nearest to it were to take a heifer, 
which had never yet borne the yoke, and were to 
lead it into some rude and uncultivated place, which 
had not been ploughed or sowed, where they were 
to cut its throat; the priests of the Lord, with 
the elders and magistrates of the city, were to come 
near the dead body, and washing their hands over 
the heifer that had been slain, they were to say : 
" Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our 
eyes seen it shed. Lord, be favorable to thy people 
Israel, and impute not unto us this blood which has 
been shed in the midst of our country." This cere- 
mony may inform us what idea they had of the 
heinousness of murder, and how much horror they 
conceived at this crime ; also their fear that God might 
avenge it on the whole country ; and the pollution 
that the country was supposed to contract, by the. 
blood spilt in it, unless it were expiated or avenged 
on him who had occasioned it, if he could be discov- 
ered. (Comp. Psalm lxxiii. 13, also the action of 
Pilate, Matt, xxvii. 4.) 

MURMURING, a complaint made for wrong sup- 
posed to have been received. Paul forbids murmur- 
ing, (1 Cor. x. 10.) as did also the wise man, Wisd 
i. 11. God severely punished the Hebrews who mur- 
mured in the desert, and was more than once on the 
point of forsaking them, and even of destroying them, 
had not Moses appeased his anger by earnest prayer, 
Numb. xi. 33, 34 ; xii. xiv. 30, 31 ; xvi. 3 ; xxi. 4—6 ; 
Ps. lxxviii. 30. 

MUSIC The ancient Hebrews bad a great taste 



MUSIC L 6i 

tor music, which they used hi their religious services, 
m their public and private rejoicings, at their feasts, 
and even in their mournings. We have in Scripture 
canticles of joy, of thanksgiving, of praise, of mourn- 
ing ; epithaiamiums, or songs composed on occasion 
of marriage ; as the Song of Songs, and Psalm xlv. 
which are thought to have been composed to cele- 
brate the marriage of Solomon. Also mournful 
songs, as those of David on the deaths of Saul and 
Abner, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah on the 
destruction of Jerusalem. Also Psalms to celebrate 
the accession of a prince to his crown, as Psalm lxii. 
Songs of victory, triumph and gratulation, as that 
which Moses sung after passing the Red sea, that of 
Deborah and Barak, and others. The book of 
Psalms is an ample collection of different pieces for 
music, composed on all sorts of subjects by inspired 
authors. 

Music is very ancient. Moses says that J ubal, who 
lived before the deluge, was the father of those who 
played on the kinnor, and the uggab, Gen. iv. 21. 
The kinnor manifestly signifies the harp, and uggab 
the ancient organ ; answering to the Pandean pipes. 
Labati complains that his son-in-law Jacob had left 
him, without bidding him farewell, without giving 
him an opportunity of sending his family away 
" with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with 
harp." Moses, having passed over the Red sea, com- 
posed a song, and sung it with the Israelite men, 
while Miriam, his sister, sung it with dancing, and 
playing on instruments, at the head of the women. 
He caused silver trumpets to be made, to be sounded 
at solemn sacrifices, and on religious festivals. Da- 
vid, who had a great taste for music, seeing that the 
Levites were numerous, and not employed, as for- 
merly, in carrying the boards, veils and vessels of 
the tabernacle, its abode being fixed at Jerusalem, 
appointed a great part of them to sing and to play 
on instruments in the temple. 

Asaph, Heman and Jecluthun were chiefs of the 
music of the tabernacle under David, and of the 
temple under Solomon. Asaph had four sons, Je- 
duthun six, and Heman fourteen. These twenty -four 
Levites, sons of the' three great masters of the temple 
music, were at the head of twenty -four bands of mu- 
sicians, which served in the temple by turns. Their 
number there was always great, but especially at the 
chief solemnities. They were ranged in order 
about the altar of burnt-sacrifices. Those of the 
family of Kohath were in the middle, those of Me- 
rari on the left, and those of Gershom on the 
right hand. As the whole business of their lives 
was to learn and to practise music, it must be sup- 
posed that they understood it well ; whether it were 
vocal or instrumental. 

The kings also had their particular music. Asaph 
was chief master of music to David. In the temple, 
and in the ceremonies of religion, female musicians 
were admitted as well as male ; they generally were 
daughters of the Levites. Ezra, in his enumeration 
of those whom he brought back with him from the 
captivity, reckons 200 singing men and singing 
women. In 1 Chron. xv. 20, the Hebrew says, that 
Zechariah, Aziel and Shemiramoth presided over 
the seventh band of music, which was that of the 
young women. 

As to the nature of their music, we can judge of it 
(inly by conjecture, because it has been long lost. 
Probably, it was a mixture of several voices, of which 
all sung together in the same tune, each according 
to his strength and skill ; without musical counter- 



:S7 ] MUSIC 

point, or those different parts, and that combination 
of several voices and tunes, which constitute harmo- 
ny in our concerts, or compounded music. Probably 
also, the voices were generally accompanied by in- 
strumental music. But if we may draw any conclu- 
sions in favor of their music from its effects, its 
magnificence, its majesty, and the lofty sentiments 
contained in their songs, we must allow it great ex- 
cellence. David, by his skill on the harp, dispelled 
the melancholy vapors of Saul. Subsequently, Saul 
having sent messengers to apprehend David at Naioth 
in Ramah, the messengers no sooner heard the sound 
of the instruments of the prophets, than they were 
transported (as it were) by a divine enthusiasm, to 
engage in the service. Saul sent a second and a 
third company after them, who did the same ; and 
at last came thither himself, but was equally seized 
by the divine Spirit, and began to experience pro- 
phetic sensations even before he came to the place 
where the prophets were assembled. The prophet 
Elisha, finding himself agitated, caused a minstrel to 
play before him, to calm his spirits into a temper fit 
to receive the divine Spirit. 

The musical instruments of the Hebrews are, per- 
haps, what has been hitherto least understood of any 
thing in Scripture. Calmet considers them under 
three classes : (1.) stringed instruments ; (2.) wind in- 
struments, or divers kinds of flutes ; (3.) different 
kinds of drums. 

Of stringed instruments, are the nabel, and the 
psaltery, or psanneterim, Dan. iii. 5. These three 
names apparently signify nearly, or altogether, the 
same thing. They considerably resembled the harp ; 
the ancient cythara, or the ashur, or the ten-stringed 
instrument ; both were nearly of the figure a : but f .'ie 
nablum, or psaltery, was hollow toward the top, and 
played on toward the bottom ; whereas the cythara. 
or ten-stringed instrument, was played on on the up- 
per part, and was hollow below : both were touched 
with a small bow, or fret, or by the fingers. The kin- 
nor, or ancient lyre, had sometimes six, sometimes nine 
strings, strung from top to bottom ; and sounded by 
means of a hollow belly, over which they passed : 
they were touched with a small bow, or fret, or by 
the finger. The ancient symphony was nearly the 
same as our viol. The sambuc was a stringed instru- 
ment, which was nearly the same, it is thought, as 
the modern psaltery. 

We discover in Scripture various sorts of trumpets 
and flutes ; of which it is difficult to ascertain the 
forms. The most remarkable of this kind is the an- 
cient organ, in Hebrew uggab ; the ancient pipe of 
Pan, now common among us. 

Drums were of many kinds. The Hebrew toph, 
whence comes tympanum, is taken for all kinds of 
drums or timbrels. The zalzelim is commonly trans- 
lated by the LXX and the Vulgate, cymbala ; instru- 
ments of brass, of a very clattering sound, made in 
the form of a cap, or hat, and struck one against the 
other, while held one in each hand. Later interpreters 
by zalzelim understand the sistrum ; an instrument 
anciently very common in Egypt. It was nearly of 
an oval figure, and crossed by brass wires, which 
jingled upon being shaken, while their ends were se- 
cured from falling out of the frame, by their heads 
being larger than the orifice which contained the 
wire. 

The Hebrew mentions an instrument called shali- 
shim, which the LXX translate cymbala ; but Jerome 
sistra. It is found only 1 Sam. xviii. 6. The term 
shalishim suggests that it was of three sides, (trian- 



M U S 



[ 683 ] 



MUSTARD 



gular,) and it might be that ancient triangular instru- 
ment, which carrying on each side several rings, they 
were jingled by a stick, and gave a sharp, rattling 
sound. The original also mentions mezilothaim, which 
were of brass, and of a sharp sound. This word is 
usually translated cymbalo. : some, however, render it 
tintinabula, little hells, which is countenanced by 
Zechariah xiv. 20, which says, the time shall come 
when on the meziloth of the horses shall be written, 
"Holiness to the Lord!" We know that bells were 
anciently worn by horses trained for war, to accustom 
them to noise. 

MUSTARD-Tree. The description which our 
Lord has given of the sinapi, or mustard-tree, in Matt, 
xiii. 31, 32, and the parallel passages, has given rise 
to much conjecture. His words are, "A grain of 
mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his 
field ; which indeed is the least of all seeds : but 
when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and 
becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and 
lodge in the branches thereof." In order to account 
for the discrepancy which exists between this repre- 
sentation and the character of the sinapis nigra, or 
common mustard plan ii has been supposed that this 
may, in the more favorable climates of the East, ex- 
ceed by far, in its dimensions and strength, that which 
is found in these colder countries. Lightfoot cites a 
passage from the Talmud, in which a mustard-tree 
is said to have been possessed of branches sufficiently 
large to cover a tent ; and Scheuchzer describes and 
represents a species of the plant several feet high, and 
possessing a tree-like appearance. 

In support of these conjectures, Dr. A. Clarke re- 
marks, " Some soils, being more luxuriant than others, 
and the climate much warmer, raise the same plant 
to a size and perfection far beyond what a poorer 
soil, or a colder climate, can possibly do." Herodo- 
tus says, he has seen wheat and barley, in the country 
of Babylon, which carried a blade full four fingers' 
breadth, and that the millet and sesamum grew to an 
incredible size. The doctor states, that he has him- 
self seen a field of common cabbages in one of the 
Norman isles, each of which was from seven to nine 
feet in height ; and one in the garden of a friend, 
which grew beside an apple-tree, though the latitude 
of the place was only about 48 deg. 18 min. north, 
was fifteen feet high. These facts, and several others, 
•which might be adduced, fully confirm, Dr. Clarke 
thinks, the possibility of what our Lord says of the 
mustard-tree, however incredible such a thing may 
appear to those who are acquainted only with the 
productions of the northern regions and cold climates. 

These are striking specimens of the great difference 
which is found to obtain among productions of the 
.same species in different climates and countries ; but, 
then, their distinctive character remains the same ; 
whereas the reference in our Lord's parable implies 
so essential a difference as, on these principles, to 
convert an herbaceous plant into a tree, which de- 
stroys the identity of its character. 

For the purpose of removing these difficulties, Mr. 
Frost some time since published a work, in which he 
maintains that the sinapi of the New Testament does 
not signify any species of the genus we now designate 
sinapis, but a species of the phytolacca. We shall 
transcribe some passages from his work, and leave 
the reader to form his own judgment as to the con- 
clusive nature of the arguments. 

" The seed of an herbaceous plant, for such is the 
sinapis nigra, or common mustard, cannot possibly 
produce a tree ; and however great a degree of alti- 



tude and circumference the stem of common mustard 
might attain, yet it could not afford support for ' fowls 
of the air,' even allowing it to grow to the height ot 
eight feet, which it never does. 

" Mustard seed is not the smallest of all seeds, as 
the translation implies, because those of foxglove [di- 
gitalis purpurea) and tobacco (nicotiana tabacum) 
are infinitely smaller ; these are herbaceous as well 
as mustard, {sinapis nigra,) and even granting for a 
moment that the common mustard seed was intended, 
the above evidence would annul the validity of the 
translation. This discordancy has been endeavored 
to be reconciled by a reference to sinapis erucoides, 
or shrubby mustard ; but even this has not the 
smallest seed : and allowing, for the sake of argument, 
that this shrub could, by luxuriance of soil and cli 
mate, increase in height and circumference, and 
throw off large branches, the size of the seed would 
remain the same, and the smallest of all seeds would 
not apply." 

Among other statements made, as to the size to 
which the mustard plant will sometimes grow, Mr. 
Frost notices one writer, who observes that he saw 
one so large that it became a great bush, and was 
higher than the tallest man h*. had ever seen, and that 
he had raised it from seed. This our author readily 
conceives to be true, but does not consider it as at all 
explanatory of the subject, because an annual plant, 
such as sinapis nigra is, cannot become even a shrub, 
much less a tree. Having thus endeavored to prove 
that the mustard seed of the New Testament is not 
procured from sinapis nigra, or any species of that 
genus, he next proceeds to show the identity that 
exists between kokkon sinapeos and phytolacca dode- 
candra, which he believes to be the dendron mega 
of the Scriptures : " Phytolacca dodecandra grows 
abundantly in Palestine ; it has the smallest seed of 
aDy tree, and obtains as great, or even greater, alti- 
tude than any other in that country, of which it is a 
native. 

"Common mustard is both used for culinary and 
medicinal purposes ; so are several species of phyto- 
lacca. It is rather remarkable, that the acridity of 
the latter induced Linna;iis to place that genus in the 
natural order Piperita, whilst De Jussieu referred it 
to the family Atriplices, which certainly bears out its 
edible and acrid properties. The North Americans call 
phytolacca dodecandra (commonly known in European 
gardens by the name of American pokeweed) wild 
mustard. Murray, in his Apparatus Medicaminum, 
enters into a long history of the excellent quality of 
the young shoots ; but remarks, that when mature, 
they cannot be eaten with impunity. Linnaeus, in his 
Materia Medica, refers to the same circumstances. 
Its being edible, may be inferred from the Greek term 
lachanon, which occurs Matt. xiii. 32, and Mark iv. 32. 

"Mustard seed is applied externally, as a stimu- 
lant, in the form of a sinapism ; and the foliage of 
phytolacca dodecandra was used as an outward appli- 
cation to cancerous tumors. 

" Of the acrid qualities of phytolacca dodecandra 
there can be no doubt; so that there appears a very 
strong analogy between the effects and properties of 
the general sinapis and phytolacca ; besides which, I 
have ascertained the existence ;f a fourth ultimate 
chemical element, nitrogen, in the seed of a species 
of phytolacca. Nitrogen was said only to exist in 
plants belonging to the natural orders Cruciatce and 
Fungi, in the former of which the common mustard, 
sinapis nigra, is placed." 

Mr. Frost then proceeds to sum up his argument, 



M Y S 



[ 669 1 



MYSTERY 



showing that the phytolacca dodecandra is the tree 
mentioned in the Gospels from the following circum- 
stances : — 

"Because it is one of the largest trees indigenous 
to the country where the observation was made ; he- 
cause it has the smallest seed of any tree in that 
country ; because it is both used as a culinary vege- 
table and medicinal stimulant, which common mus- 
tard is also; because a species of the same genus is 
well known in the United States, by the term wild 
mustard ; because the ultimate chemical elements of 
the seed sinapis nigra and phytolacca dodecandra are 
the same." 

In conclusion, the author adds the generic charac- 
ters of the two vegetables, by which they are seen, 
botanically, to be very distinct families. 

We must here express our regret that Mr. Frost 
should have thought it unnecessary to furnish a prop- 
er authentication, from the writings of accredited 
eastern travellers, of the various statements he has 
made relative to the phytolacca dodecandra. 

MYNDUS, a maritime city of Caria, 1 Mac. xv. 23. 

MYRA, a town of Lycia, where Paul embarked 
for Rome, on board a ship of Alexandria, Acts 
xxvii. 5. 

MYRRH, Myrrha, a gum yielded by a tree com- 
mon in Arabia : which is about five cubits high ; its 
wood hard, and its trunk thorny. Scripture notices 
two kinds, one which runs of itself, without incision ; 
the other a kind which was employed in perfumes, 
and in embalming, to preserve the body from cor- 
ruption. The Magi, who came from the East to 
worship Christ, offered to him myrrh, Matt. ii. 11. 

In the Gospel (Mark xv. 23.) is mentioned myrrh 
and wine, or wine mingled with myrrh, which was 
offered to Jesus previous to his crucifixion, and in- 
tended to deaden in him the anguish of his suffer- 
ings. It was a custom among the Hebrews to give 
such kind of stupefying liquors to persons who were 
about to be capitally, punished, Prov. xxxi. 6. Some 
have thought that the myrrhed wine of Mark is the 
same as the "wine mingled with gall" of Matthew; 
but others distinguish them. They suppose the 
myrrhed wine was given to our Lord from a senti- 
ment of sympathy, to prevent him from feeling too 
sensibly the pain of his sufferings ; while the pota- 
tion mingled with gall, of which he would not drink, 
was given from cruelty. Others, however, think 
that Matthew, writing in Syriac, used the word marra, 
which signifies either myrrh, bitterness or gall ; 
which the Greek translator took in the sense of gall, 
and Mark in the sense of myrrh. Wine mingled 
with myrrh was highly esteemed by the ancients. 

MYRTLE, a beautiful evergreen tree, growing 
wild throughout the southern parts of Europe, north 
of Africa, and temperate parts of Asia ; principally 
on the sea-coast. The leaves are of a rich and pol- 
ished evergreen ; the flowers white, with sometimes 
a tinge of red externally ; and the berries are of the 
size of a small pea, violet or whitish, sweetish, and 
with the aromatic flavor which distinguishes the 
whole plant. These are eaten in the Levant, Isa. 
xli. 19; lv. 13; Zech. i. 8, 10, 11. *R. 

MYSIA, a province of Asia Minor, bounded north 
by the Propontis ; west by the Egean sea ; south by 
Lydia ; and east by Bithynia. Paul preached in 
this country, Acts xvi. 7, 8. 

MYSTERY, a secret. All false religions have 
their mysteries ; that is, certain things kept private, 
not to be divulged, or exposed indifferently to all ; 
but known only to the initiated. The pagans had 
87 



their mysteries, but they were mysteries of iniquiry 
shameful mysteries, concealed because their ex 
posure would have rendered their religion contempti- 
ble, ridiculous and odious. If men of sense and 
honor had known what was practised in the mys- 
teries of certain false deities, they would have ab 
horred them. (See Bibl. Repository, ii. p. 261.) Scrip- 
ture often speaks of the infamous mysteries of 
Astarte, Adonis and Priapus, wherein a thousand 
infamous actions were practised, and called religion. 
Baruch speaks of the prostitutions practised in honor 
of Venus at Babylon, chap. vi. 42, 43. The whole 
religion of the Egyptians was mysterious; but these 
pretended mysteries were invented subsequently, to 
conceal the folly and vanity of it. They could not 
vindicate, for example, the adoration paid to brutes, 
but by saying that their gods had sometimes assumed 
these shapes. In the Maccabees, mention is made 
of the mysteries of Bacchus, of the ivy imprinted on 
every one that was initiated therein, and of the gar- 
lands of ivy worn by those who assisted at these 
ceremonies, 1 Mac. vi. 7 ; 2 Mac. vi. 7. Asa, king 
of Judah, would not suffer the queen his mother to 
continue to preside over the mysteries of Priapus, 
1 Kings xv. 13. No doubt but they gave mysterious 
and secret reasons for the worship of Moloch, and 
for offering human sacrifices to him. It was, perhaps, 
a perverse imitation of Abraham's intended sacrifice 
of Isaac. The Phoenicians assigned a reason, not 
unlike this, for their cruel sacrifices to Hercules and 
to Saturn. 

Taking the term mystery in another sense for typ- 
ical, or predictive, we may say that the religion of 
the Jews was full of mysteries ; the whole nation 
was a mystery, according to Augustin. It represented 
the people of Christ, and the Christian religion. 
Whatever happened to them, whatever they prac- 
tised, all that was commanded, or forbidden them, 
was figurative, according to Paul. Their sacrifices, 
their priesthood, their purifications, their abstinence 
from certain sorts of food, included mysteries which 
have been explained by Christ and his apostles. 
The passage over the Red sea symbolized baptism. 
The brazen serpent prefigured the cross and death 
of Christ. Sarah and Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael, de- 
noted the two covenants. The tabernacle and its 
vessels hinted at the worship of God in the Christian 
church. The priesthood of Aaron has been admi- 
rably explained by Paul of the priesthood of Christ ; 
who himself discovered the mystery of Jonah's 
being three days in the whale's belly ; that of the 
manna which represented his body and blood ; and 
that of the union of Adam and Eve. The reproba- 
tion of the Jews, and the adoption of the Gentiles, 
were intimated in a hundred passages of Scripture ; 
by Hagar and Sarah, by Ishmael and Isaac, by 
Ephraim and Manasseh, by Saul and David, oy Absa- 
lom and Solomon, and even by Moses and Aaron, who 
were not permitted to enter the land of promise. 

The prophecies concerning the person, the com- 
ing, the character, the death and passion of the Mes- 
siah, appear in a multitude of places in the Old 
Testament ; but figuratively and mysteriously. The 
actions, the words, the lives of the propuets^were 
a continual and general prophecy, concealed from 
the people, and sometimes from the prophets them- 
selves, and not explained and discovered till after 
the birth and death of Christ. These mysteries, too, 
were dispensed so wisely, that the first served as a 
foundation for the second, and the succeeding illus- 
trated those that preceded. Daniel is much more 



MYSTERY 



MYSTERY 



explicit than the earlier prophets ; Haggai, Zecha- 
»iah and Malachi speak of the coming, of the death, 
and of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, and of the 
calling of the Gentiles, more distinctly than the 
prophets before them. 

The word mystery is also taken for secrets of a 
higher order, supernatural ; for those the knowledge 
of which God has reserved to himself, or has some- 
times communicated to his prophets and friends. Dan- 
iel gives to God the name of" revealer of mysteries ;" 
he tells Nebuchadnezzar, that only God who reigns in 
heaven can reveal hidden mysteries, things to come. 

Our Saviour says to his disciples, (Matt. xvi. 17.) 
that they are peculiarly happy, because God has re- 
vealed to them the mysteries of the kingdom of 
heaven. Paul often speaks of the mystery of the 
gospel, of the mystery of the cross of Christ, of the 
mystery of Christ which was unknown to former 
ages, of the mystery of the resurrection, &c. Mys- 
tic Babylon, the great harlot, had written on her 
forehead, mystery, to show that she represented 
not any particular woman, but a corrupted and idol- 
atrous people. 

The mysteries of the Christian religion, as the in- 
carnation of the Word, his hypostatical union with 
his human nature, his miraculous birth, death, res- 
urrection, ascension, his grace, and the manner of its 
operation in our hearts, the resurrection of the dead, 
Sic. are objects of faith to all true Christians. 

These, then, were called mysterfes, the doctrine 
of the gospel, the tenets of Christianity, and the 
Christian sacraments; not only because they includ- 
ed secrets which had not been known, if the Son 
of God and his Holy Spirit had not revealed them, 
but also because they were not opened indifferently 
to every body ; according to the advice of Christ to 
his apostles, "Give not that which is holy unto the 
Jogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine." 
Preachers in their sermons, and ecclesiastical writ- 
ers in their books, did not fully express themselves- 
on all the mysteries. They said enough to be un- 
derstood by the faithful ; while to the pagans they 
were secrets, mysteries. This precaution continued 
long in the church. 

The Greek word mystery is expressed by the 
Latin word sacramentum ; denoting the sacraments 
and mysteries of the Christian church. " God has 
made known unto us the mystery of his will ;" his 
incarnation, his coming, his gospel. 

So far Calmet : but the word mystery has been so 
repeatedly discussed, and the import of it, apparent- 
ly, so often perverted, that it demands a few addi- 
tional remarks. What follows is from Mr. Taylor. 

We never hear the word mystery, without thinking 
of the old English term maisteries ; e. g. the mais- 
terie of the Merchant Taylors, the maisterie of the 
Cordonniers, (cordwainers,) and of other arts and 
trades. In fact, the term is still currently used in 
the city of London : "the art and mystery of," occurs 
in the indentures of apprenticeship, used in most 
branches of business ; meaning, that which may be 
a difficulty, or even an impossibility, to a stranger, 
to a novice, to a persoii only beginning to consider 
the subject, but which is perfectly easy and intelligi- 
ble to a master of the business ; whose practice, and 
whose understanding, have been long cultivated by 
habit and application. Or mystery may be defined 
a secret : and a secret will always remain such to 
those who use no endeavors to discover it. We often 
hear it said, such a person holds such a mode of ac- 
complishing such a business, a secret. Now, imagine 



one who wishes to know this secret ; he labors, 
strives, &c. but unless he proceed in the right mode, 
the object still continues concealed : suppose the 
possessor of this secret shows him the process, 
teaches him, gives him information, &c. then that 
secret (mystery) is no longer mysterious to him ; but 
he enjoys the discovery, and profits accordingly ; 
while others, not so favored, are as much in the dark 
respecting this peculiar process, as he was. 

Secrets may be considered as various : some are 
known to a few, but are unknown to the many ; some 
are kept closely a long time, but are revealed in 
proper season ; some are kept entirely, totally, and 
never are revealed ; some are of a nature not to be 
investigated by us; and some so far surpass our pow- 
ers, that however familiar their effects may be fo om 
observation, yet their principles, causes, progresses, 
and distributions, exceedingly perplex our under- 
standing, and confine us to probabilities, inference 
and conjecture. We might instance this in electricity, 
galvanism, magnetism, attraction or gravitation, &c. 

We entreat that this familiar illustration of the 
word mystery may not be despised because of its 
familiarity; as we incline to think, that it is not '"ar 
from a scriptural acceptation of the term. Let us 
see its effect when applied to Scripture examples, 
1 Tim. iii. 16. " Great is the mystery, secret, of god- 
liness;" that is, a thing not to be comprehended at 
first sight ; nor until after many reflections, and much 
consideration. Rom. xi. 25, " I would not have you 
ignorant of this mystery, secret, that blindness in 
part hath happened to Israel;" strange indeed, if 
mystery denoted something utterly incomprehensible 
and inexplicable, that the apostle should wish them 
not to be ignorant of it ! that he should instantly 
open to them this mystery ! To the Jews, indeed, it 
was still a secret ; and they did not believe the fact, 
that they labored under any blindness at all ; while 
to the apostle, and among his fellow Christians, the 
mystery was clear and well understood. 1 Cor. xv. 
16, " Behold, I show you a mystery — we shall not 
all sleep " — change the phraseology ; " Behold, I tell 
you a secret, we shall not all sleep;" could the apos- 
tle mean to show them a thing utterly incompre- 
hensible ? 1 Cor. xiii. 2, the apostle speaks of a 
man's understanding all mysteries ; that is, they were 
easy to him, though not so to others. In 1 Cor. xiv. 
2, he alludes to a man who, discoursing in a lan- 
guage foreign to his auditors, may in the Spirit speak 
mysteries : he may tell all manner of secrets in a for- 
eign language ; but while he himself understands 
perfectly well his own meaning, and what he says, 
yet his subjects of discourse, with all his explanations 
of those subjects, will continue secrets to such as 
are ignorant of the language he uses. " We speak 
the wisdom of God in a mystery," says the apostle ; 
(1 Cor. ii. 7.) that is, the wisdom hitherto kept 
secret ; but now the secret is explained, is opened, is 
let out ; not indeed to the princes of the world ; to 
them it is as much a secret as ever ; but God by his 
Spirit hath given us information respecting it, and by 
that we know and understand it. " Stewards of the 
mysteries of God," that is, persons intrusted with 
some of the secrets of God, for the benefit of his 
church, 1 Cor. iv. 1. 

So the calling of the Gentiles separately from the 
Jews, was a mystery, a secret, which no Jew would 
have thought of, or would have believed, had not 
God opened, and explained, and enforced it, by his 
Spirit, &c. ; (Eph. iii. 3 — 6.) nor would any Gentile ■ 
it would have remained unknown, unsuspec ted. 



MYSTERY 



[ 091 J 



M Y 5 



Mystery signifies also an allegory, that is, a mode 
of information under which partial instruction is 
given, a partial discovery is made, but there is still a 
cover of some kind, which preserves somewhat of 
secrecy : this the person who desires to know the 
secret thoroughly must endeavor to remove. So the 
mystery of the seven stars, (Rev. i. 20.) is an allegory 
representing the seven Asiatic churches under the 
figure, or symbol, of seven burning lamps. So the 
mystery, " Babylon the Great, is an allegorical rep- 
resentation of the spiritual Babylon, spiritual idolatry, 
spiritual fornication, &c. and to this agrees the ex- 
pression afterwards, " I will tell thee the mystery of 
the woman ;" that is, I will explain to thee the allego- 
ry of this figure, Rev. xvii. 5, 7. 

We apprehend that, originally, the fathers under- 
stood the word in this sense ; so the mystery of the 
sacrament of the Lord's body and blood, is the fig- 
urative representation of the Lord's body. But the 
mysteries among the heathen in time perverted this, 
and the true idea of the word mystery, into senti- 
ments not merely unscriptural, but unwarrantable and 
unwise. It may be proper here to state that the 
heathen mysteries continued to be performed with 
great pomp, during the second and third centuries of 
Christianity ; mid were not wholly suppressed till the 
emperor Theodosius closed the temples, more than 
a hundred years later. 

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied, that there are 
mysteries, in the highest sense of the word, in Nature, 
Providence and Grace. The union of the human 
soul and body is a profound secret : the origin of life 
is a profound secret : the cause, manner, &c. of 
thought is a deep secret. So are many dispensations 
of Providence : why goodness should suffer and 
evil prosper, is a secret : and why one is called 
and another left, is a secret of secrets, a mystery of 
grace ! 

If the ways and works of God are mysteries, we 
may justly expect to find his attributes, his essence, 



his perfections, his nature, inscrutable mysteries to 
us, poor worms of mankind ! Could we suppose — 
pardon the supposition — that God were inclined to 
instruct us in this, it would be (as we are constituted 
at present) teaching us a maisterie, which we have 
no faculties capable of learning ; it would be speak- 
ing to us in a language of which we could never 
comprehend a word ; it would be overwhelming us 
with too mighty, too extensive, too profound, too ex 
alted, discoveries, unless we were previously endued 
with the attributes and qualities of the divine nature; 
with immensity, infinity, ubiquity, omniscience, eter- 
nity, in short, with deity ! 

Now, since none denies the existence of God, be- 
cause he cannot comprehend his nature and essence, 
which is a mystery ; so none ought to deny exertions 
of his power, goodness, wisdom, &c. because they 
imply the exercise of what is secret to mankind in 
general : and this principle, which is undeniable in 
nature, ought to be equally undeniable in religion. 
Ii^ short, what relates to God may, rather must, al- 
ways include much of mystery. Even the most 
direct and profound intercourse between the human 
powers, and their ineffable Creator, mental emotions, 
prayer and praise, may be secrets, that is, mysterious 
services, but not, therefore, less devout, or less ac- 
ceptable. 

MYSTICAL. The mystical sense of Scripture is 
that which is gathered from the terms or letter of va- 
rious passages, beyond their literal signification. For 
example, Babylon signifies literally a city of Chaldea, 
the habitation of kings who persecuted the He- 
brews, and who were overwhelmed in idolatry and 
wickedness. But John, in the Revelation, gives 
the name of Babylon, mystically, to the city of Rome. 
So Jerusalem is literally a city of Judea ; but mys- 
tically, the heavenly Jerusalem; the habitation of 
the saints, &c. The serpent is, literally, naturally, a 
venomous reptile, but mystically is the devil, the old 
serpent, &c. 



N 



NA A 

I. NAAMAH, daughter of Lamech and Zillah, and 
sister of Tubal-cain, (Gen. iv. 22.) who is believed to 
have found out the art of spinning wool, and of 
making or enriching cloth and stuffs. 

II. NAAMAH, an Ammonitess, wife of Solomon, 
and mother of Rehoboam, 1 Kings xiv. 21. 

NAAMAN, a general in the army of Benhadad, 
king of Syria, who, being afflicted with a leprosy, was 
cured by washing seven times in the Jordan, agreea- 
bly to the command of Elisha the prophet, 2 Kings 
v. (Comp. Lev. xiv. 7, &c.) 

The prophet having refused to receive a present 
offered to him by Naaman, the latter begged that he 
might be permitted to carry home two mules' burden 
of the earth of Canaan, assigning as a reason, that 
henceforth he would serve no God but Jehovah. It 
seems that his intention was to build an altar in Syria 
formed of that holy ground, as he conceived it to be, 
to which God had assigned the blessing of his pecu- 
liar presence, that he might daily testify his gratitude 
for the great mercy which he had received, that he 
might declare openly his renunciation of idolatry, and 
that he might keep a sort of communication, by simil- 



NAAMAN 

itude of worship, with the people who inhabited the 
land where Elisha dwelt, who had so miraculously 
cured him. This is perfectly consistent with the 
precept, (Exod. xx. 24.) "An altar of earth shalt that 
make unto me ; " and it is very credible, that th& 
temporary altars were usually of earth ; especially on 
the high places. To such an altar, apparently, Elijah, 
after repairing it, added twelve stones, in allusion tc 
the twelve tribes of Israel, 1 Kings xviii. 31. See, 
however, another suggestion in respect to this pasw 
sage, under Baptism, p. 143. 

Elisha having consented to this request, Naaman 
again addressed the prophet thus : " In this thing the 
Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth 
into the house of Rimrnon to worship there, and .he 
leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house 
of Rimmon ; when I bow down myself in the house 
of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this 
thing." And Elisha said to him, " Go in peace." 
This passage has given rise to many scruples. Many 
commentators think, that Naaman only asks leave t» 
continue those external services to his masler Ben 
hadad, which he had been used to render him, wher 



NAIL 



[ 692 ] 



N A I 



he entered the temple of Rimmon ; and that Elisha 
suffered him to accompany the king into the temple, 
provided he paid no worship to the idol. Others, 
translating the Hebrew in the past tense, suppose that 
Naaman mentions only his former sin, and asks par- 
don for it. 

NAARATH, a city of Ephraim, (Josh. xvi. 7.) 
about five miles distant from Jericho. 

NABAL, a rich but churlish man, of the tribe of 
Judah, and race of Caleb, who dwelt in the south of 
Judah, and who had a very numerous flock on Car- 
mel, but refused to give David and his followers, in 
their distress, any provisions, though modestly re- 
quested to do so. David, resenting this harsh treat- 
ment, so contrary to the usages of eastern hospitality, 
armed 400 of his people, aud resolved to put Nabal 
and his family to the sword. In the interim, however, 
one of Nabal's servants acquainted his vvife Abigail 
with what had passed, and she, as a wise and pru- 
dent woman, having justified David's people, pre- 
pared provisions and refreshments, with which she 
appeased David. On her return home, Abigail ap- 
prized Nabal of the danger he had brought himself 
into, and her account had such effect on his mind, 
that he became as immovable as a stone, and died in 
ten days, 1 Sam. xxv. 25, &c. 

NABATHEANS, or Nabatiienians, Arabians 
descended from Nebajoth. Their country is called 
Nabatha3a, and extends from the Euphrates to the 
Red sea, the chief cities of which are Petra, the capital 
of Arabia Deserta, and Medaba. 

NABONASSAR, the first king of Babylon. See 
Babylon, p. 138. 

NABOPOLASSAR, see Nebuchadnezzar I. 

NABOTH, au Israelite of Jezreel, who lived under 
Ahab, king of Israel, and had a vineyard in Jezreel, 
near to the king's palace, which he refusing to trans- 
fer to the king, was, by the command of Jezebel, 
falsely accused of blasphemy, condemned, and stoned 
to death, 1 Kings xxi. Jezebel immediately went to 
the king, and wished him joy of the vineyard, of 
which Ahab instantly took possession. See Ahab, 
Jezebel, and 2 Kings ix. 10. 

N AC HON. The floor of Nachon (2 Sam. vi. 6.) 
was either so called from the name of its proprietor ; 
or, which is more probable, the Hebrew denotes the 
prepared floor, that is, the floor of Obed-edom, which 
was near, and was prepared to receive the ark. This 
place, wherever it might be, was either in Jerusalem, 
or very near Jerusalem, and near the house of Obed- 
edom, in that city. 

I. NADAB, son of Aaron, and brother of Abihu, 
who offered incense to the Lord with strange, that 
is, common, fire, not with that which had been mi- 
raculously lighted on the altar of burnt-offerings, was 
slain by the Lord together with his brother, Lev. x. 2. 

II. NADAB, son of Jeroboam I. king of Israel, 
succeeded his father A. M. 5050, and reigned but two 
years, being assassinated while besieging Gibbethon, 
by Baasha, son of Abijah, of the tribe of Issachar, 
who usurped his kingdom. Scripture says Nadab 
did evil in the sight of the Lord, 1 Kings xv. 25. 

NAHALAL, and Nahalol, a city of Zebulun, 
(Josh. xix. 15.) yielded to the Levites, and given to 
the family of Merari, Josh. xxi. 35. The children of 
Zebulun did not make themselves complete masters 
of it, but permitted the Canaanites to dwell in it, 
Judg. i. 30. 

NAHALIEL, an encampment of the Israelites in 
the wilderness, (Numb xxi. 19.) which Eusebius 
places on the Anion. 



I. NAHASH, a king of the Ammonites, who be 
sieging Jabesh-Gilead, was defeated and killed by 
Saul, 1 Sam. xi. The piece of mutilating barbarity 
proposed to the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, by Na- 
hash, "that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and 
lay it for a reproach upon Israel," perhaps by alter- 
ing the name of the town to that of" those who have 
lost their right eyes," is worthy of notice. We must, 
however, recollect, that the loss of the eyes is a pun- 
ishment regularly inflicted on rebels and others in the 
East. Mr. Hanway, in his " Journey in Persia," gives 
very striking instances of this practice ; the cruelty 
of which, and the sight of the streaming blood, were 
felt by that gentleman as a man of humanity and a 
Christian must feel them. See Blind, p. 195, 196. 

II. NAHASH, a king of the Ammonites, and a 
friend to David ; probably son to the above, 2 Sam. 
xvii. 27. 

III. NAHASH, father of Abigail and Zeruiah, is 
thought to be the same as Jesse, father of David. 
(Comp. 2 Sam. xvii. 25, and 1 Chron. ii. 13, 15, 16.) 
This perhaps might be the surname of Jesse, the 
father of David. Others think that Nahash is the 
name of Jesse's wife ; but the first explication seems 
to be the best. 

NAHASSON, son of Aminadab, and head of the 
tribe of Judah at the exodus, Numb. vii. 12, 13. 

I. NAHOR, son of Serug, and father of Terah, was 
born A. M. 1849, and died aged 148 years, Gen. ix. 
22, 24. 

II. NAHOR, son of Terah, and brother of Abra- 
ham, Gen. xi. 26. He married Milcah, daughter of 
Haran, by whom he had several sons — Huz, Buz, 
Kemuel, Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel. 
Nahor fixed his habitation at Haran, which is, there- 
fore, called the city of Nahor, Gen. xxiv. 10. 

NAHUM, the seventh of the twelve minor proph- 
ets. The circumstances of Nahum's life are un- 
known. His prophecy consists of three chapters, 
which form one discourse, in which he foretells the 
destruction of Nineveh, in so powerful and vivid a 
manner, that he seems to have been on the very spot. 

Opiuions are divided as to the time in which Na- 
hum prophesied. Josephus says, he foretold the fall 
of Nineveh 115 years before it happened, which 
makes him contemporary with Ahaz. The Jews say, 
that he prophesied under Manasseh ; Clemens Alex- 
andrinus places him between Daniel and Ezekiel, and, 
consequently, during the captivity. The best inter- 
preters, as Gesenius, Rosenmiiller, and others, 
adopt Jerome's opinion, that he foretold the de- 
struction of Nineveh in the time of Hezekiah, and 
after the war of Sennacherib in Egypt, mentioned by 
Berosus. Nahum speaks of the taking of No-ammon, 
of the haughtiness of Rabshakeb, and of the defeat of 
Sennacherib, as things that were passed. He supposes 
that the tribe of Judah were still in their own country, 
and that they there celebrated their festivals. He no- 
tices also the captivity aud dispersion of the ten tribes. 

NAIL. Few things are more perplexing to dis- 
tant strangers than those which are of daily occur- 
rence in their own country ; their very familiarity 
renders them beneath the notice of persons where 
they are practised, who, therefore, seldom report them, 
but where they are not practised, simple as they are 
in themselves, they occasion much perplexity to those 
who wish to understand what they read. Our trans- 
lation renders by one 'word, nail, what the Hebrew 
employs two words to denote ; a distinction which 
seems to import a difference. 

(1.) The nail of Jael's tent, or rather the tent-pw, 



NAIL 



[ 693 ] 



NAM 



With which she killed Sisera, is called irp, ydthed; it 
was formed for penetrating earth, or other hard sub- 
stance, when driven by sufficient force, as with a 
hammer ; it includes the idea of strength. So, in 
Isa. xxii. 23, the idea is that of strength : " I will fasten 
him as a nail (-irn) in a sure place," that is, he shall be 
strong enough to support whatever is suspended on 
him. This illustrates an allusion of the prophet 
Zechariah, x. 4, "The Lord hath made (Judah) his 
flock of sheep, &c. which are naturally timid, as 
martial as a horse trained to battle ; yea, out of Judah 
shall come the chief for the corner, (a hero,) out of 
Judah shall come the strong nail, or pike-head, (v,) 
which shall effect whatever is requisite, by force or 
strength ; out of him shall come the battle-bow, 
with powers augmented by additional vigor ; out of 
him shall come the general regulator, f the commander- 
in-chief, perhaps,) at once ;" meaning, most probably, 
different ranks of men, (the lower class, the nail, hum- 
ble but strong ; a superior class, the battle-bow,) 
which, combined in their proper stations, should com- 
pose a formidable army. Observe, too, these shall 
come at once, without much disciplining ; without 
that experience in former wars, which is usually 
necessary to form the complete military character. 

We add Chardin's account of the manner of fasten- 
ing nails in the East: "They do not drive with a 
hammer the nails that are put into the eastern walls ; 
the walls are too hard, being of brick ; or if they are 
of clay, they are too mouldering ; but they fix them in 
the brick- work as they are building. They are large 
nails, with square heads like dice, well made, the ends 
bent so as to make them cramp-irons. They com- 
monly place them at the windows and doors, in order 
to hang upon them, when they like, veils and cur- 
tains." (Harmer, vol. i. p. 191.) 

(2.) But we have another word for nails, which 
seems to imply ornament, rather than strength ; or 
something of dignified stability. So we read, 2 Chron. 
iii. 9, "The weight of the nails (m-roc, mismeroth) 
was fifty shekels of gold." These nails, then, being 
of gold, were used to adorn the holy place, no less 
than to strengthen it. We have the same . word, 
though varied, in 1 Chron. xxii. 3. David prepared 
iron in abundance for the nails, (o-nroc, mismerim,) 
designed to ornament, no doubt, the leaves of the 
doors of the sanctuary entrance ; for, had the inten- 
tion been only to fasten these doors, what need of so 
great a quantity ? 

Observe how Ezra employs his simile, chap. ix. 8 : 
" The Lord leaves us a remnant to escape, to give us 
a nail — not an ornamental nail, not a golden stud, but 
a ydthed, a nail of support in his holy place." Can any 
thing be less arrogant, than assimilation to such a 
nail ? 

But the idea of Eccl. xii. 11, seems to be the reverse 
of this: "The words (sayings) of the wise are as 
goads," sharp, piercing, penetrating, stimulating, 
when taken each one by itself ; but when combined 
they are like ornamental nails {mismeroth) planted in 
a regular order, and disposed in symmetrical rows, 
or patterns, as those were in the holy place, or those 
in the doors of the sanctuary. 

This gives also the true import of the expression, 
Isa. xli. 7 : " The image is ready for joining together," 
that is, the junctures fit accurately to each other, now 
fir them to each other ; and he strengthens it, by 
driving in ornamental nails, nails of the best kind, 
(mismerim,) or, at least, flat-headed nails, not brads ; 
that it should not start, be separated, fall to pieces." 
This is very different from the usual notion of the 



passage, but is supported by Jer. x. 4 : " They deck 
the image with silver and with gold ; with ornamental 
nails, (mismeroth,) and with piercings ; they bind it 
tightly together, compact it, brace it up, and add 
to the whole a delicate coat of paint, for complete 
decoration ;" as we know was customary in early 
antiquity. 

NAIN, a city of Palestine, where Jesus restored a 
widow's son to life, as they were carrying him out to 
be buried. Eusebius says, it was in the neighborhood 
of Endor and Scythopolis ; and elsewhere, that it was 
two miles from Tabor, south. The brook Kishon 
ran between Tabor and Nain. 

NAIOTH, a town near Ramah, where David 
withdrew to avoid the violence of Saul ; and where 
Samuel, with the sons of the prophets, dwelt, 1 Sam. 
xix. 23. 

NAKEDNESS. This term, besides its ordinary 
and literal meaning, sometimes signifies, void of suc- 
cor, disarmed. So, after worshipping the golden 
calf, the Israelites found themselves naked in the 
midst of their enemies. " Nakedness of the feet" was 
a token of respect. Moses put off his shoes to ap- 
proach the burning bush. Most commentators are 
of opinion, that the priests served in the tabernacle 
and temple with their feet naked ; which idea is 
countenanced by the fact, that in the enumeration 
that Moses makes of the habit and ornaments of the 
priests, he no where mentions any dress for the feet. 
Some also maintain, that the Israelites might not 
enter this holy place, till they had put off their shoes, 
and cleaned their feet. (See Eccles. v. 1.) "Naked- 
ness of the feet" sometimes expresses what delicacy 
would conceal, Lam. i. 9. 

"Nakedness " should in many places be understood 
as our word undressed ;— not fully, or properly, or 
becomingly clothed. A king having on only his 
under-clothing, is undressed, that is, naked, for a 
king ; though his garb might suit a laborer. When 
the apostle says, (1 Cor. iv. 11.) " To this present hour 
we are naked," he does not mean absolute nakedness, 
in the same sense as J ob says, (i. 21.) " Naked came 
I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall 1 return ;" 
but he means unprovided with suitable clothing. To 
the same effect, a nation, or people, is said to be made 
naked ; (Exod. xxxii. 25 ; 2 Chron. xxviii. 19.) " Asa 
made Judah naked ; " unprovided with means of re- 
sisting the enemy. So the walls of Babylon are said 
to be made naked ; (Jer. li. 58.) that is, stripped of their 
towers and other defences ; and a tree in the wilder- 
ness is described as naked, deprived of its verdure, its 
foliage, Jer. xlviii. 6. In warm countries slight cloth- 
ing, or even nakedness, is more endurable than with 
us; but when nakedness is put absolutely, it usually 
intends a shameful discovery of the person ; ruthless 
privation of necessaries, degradation, misery. 

" Naked " is put for discovered, known, manifest. 
So Job xxvi. 6, " Hell is naked before him ; " the 
sepulchre, the unseen state, is open to the eyes of 
God. Paul says in the same sense, " Neither is there 
any creature that is not manifest in his sight ; but all 
things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with 
whom we have to do," Heb. iv. 13. 

The nakedness of Adam and Eve was unknown 
that is, unfelt ; they were unconscious of it, before 
they sinned. They were not ashamed at it, because 
concupiscence and irregular desires had not yet excit- 
ed the flesh against the spirit. They were exempt 
from whatever indecency might now happen among 
their descendants on occasion of nakedness. 

NAME. " The name," without any addition, sig- 



NAME 



[ G94 1 



NAP 



nifies the name of the Lord, which, out of respect, 
was not pronounced. "The Israelitish woman's son 
blasphemed the name," Lev. xxiv. 11. " The name 
of God" often stands for God himself, his power, or 
majesty. Our assistance, or strength, and hope, is in 
the name of God, in his goodness, power, &c. To 
take the name of God in vain, (Exod. xx. 7.) is to 
swear falsely, or without occasion ; or to mingle the 
name of God in our discourses, or oaths, either falsely, 
rashly, wantonly, unnecessarily, or presumptuously. 
God forbids to "make mention of the names of other 
gods," Exod. xxiii. 13. It is doing them too much 
honor to swear by their names, to take them as wit- 
nesses of what we affirm, as if they were really some- 
thing. The Hebrews hardly ever pronoun;cd the 
name Baal ; they disfigured it, by saying Mephibo- 
sheth, or Meribosheth, instead of Mephibaal, or Meri- 
baal ; where Bosheth signifies something shameful or 
contemptible ; instead of saying Elohim, they said 
Elilim, gods of filthiness. 

To give a name is a token of command and author- 
ity. A father gives names to his children, a master 
to his slaves, to his animals. It is said, (Gen. ii. 23.) 
that Adam gave name to his wife and to all the animals, 
and that the -names he gave them became their true 
names. God changed the name of Abram, Jacob and 
Sarai, as a token of honor, an addition, expressing his 
particular regard towards those whom he receives, 
more especially, into the number of his own. Hence 
he gave a name, even before their birth, to some per- 
sons whom he appointed, and who belonged to him in 
a particular manner: e. g. to Jedidiah, or Solomon, 
son of David, to the Messiah, to John the Baptist, &c. 

God, speaking to Moses, promises to send his angel 
before him ; and says, " My name is in him," Exod. 
xxiii. 21. He shall act, he shall speak, he shall pun- 
ish in my name ; he shall bear my name, he shall be 
my ambassador, he shall receive the same honors as 
belong to me. And in effect, the angel that spake to 
Moses, that appeared to him in the bush, that gave 
him the law on mount Sinai, speaks and acts always 
as God himself; and Moses always gives him the 
name of God : " Thus saith the Lord," and " The Lord 
spake to Moses," &c. 

To know any one by his name, (Exod. xxxiii. 12.) 
expresses a distinction, a friendship, aparticular famil- 
iarity. The kings of the East had little coinmunica- 
don with then - subjects, and hardly ever appeared in 
public ; so that when they knew their servants by 
name, vouchsafed to speak to them, to call them, and 
to admit them into their presence, it was a great mark 
of favor. In many eastern countries the true per- 
sonal name of the king is unknown to his subjects ; 
in Japan, to pronounce the emperor's real name is 
punishable ; his general name, as emperor, is held to 
be sufficiently sacred. Titles often became names, 
or parts of names ; by these titles many sovereigns are 
known in history ; and varying with incidents and 
occurrences, they occasion great confusion. 

Those who in the assemblies were called by their 
names, (Numb. xvi. 2.) were principals of the people, 
the heads of tribes ; or those who had some great 
employment, or particular dignity. 

God, speaking of the fixed place where his temple 
should be built, calls it "The place which the Lord 
shall choose to place his name there," Dent. xiv. 23 ; 
xvi. 2. There his name should be solemnly invoked ; 
this place should have the honor of bearing the name 
of the Lord, of being consecrated to his service and 
worship. These expressions show the veneration of 
the Hebrews for whatever in any wise belonged to God. 



"Name" is often put for renown or reputation. 
The n,ame of Joshua became famous over all the 
country ; (Josh. vi. 27.) and God said to David, when 
he reproached him with the crime he had committed 
with Bathsheba, " I have made thee a great name, 
like unto the name of the great men that are in the 
earth ; " (2 Sam. vii. 9.) I have given you honor and 
reputation, equal to that of the greatest of mon- 
archs. 

"To raise up the name of the dead," (Ruth iv. 5, 
10, &c.) is said of the brother of a man who died 
without children, when his brother married the 
widow of the deceased, and revived his name in Israel, 
by means of the children which he might beget ; and 
which were deemed to be children of the deceas- 
ed. In a contrary sense to this, to blot out the name 
of any one, is to exterminate his memory ; to extirpate 
his race, his children, works, or houses, and in general 
whatever may continue his name on the earth, Ps. ix 
5 ; Prov. x. 7. 

Isaiah (iv. 1.) describes a time of calamity and dis 
grace in Israel, in which men should be very scarce : 
he says, "In that day seven women shall take hold of 
one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and 
wear our own apparel ; only let us be called by thy 
name, to take away our reproach." Take us for 
wives, and let us be called your spouses. The Lord 
complains in Ezekiel, that his spouses (Judah and 
Israel) are become prostitutes, though they bore his 
name ; they defiled his holy name by abominations 
and idolatry. 

God often complains that the false prophets prophe 
sied in his name ; (Jer. xiv. 14, 15; xxvii. 15, &c.) 
and Christ says, (Matt. vii. 22.) that in the day of judg 
ment many shall say, " Lord, Lord, have we not 
prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out 
devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works ?" 
He also says, (Mark ix. 41.) whosoever shall give a 
cup of cold water in his name, shall not lose his re- 
ward ; and he that receives a prophet or a just 
man, in the name of a prophet or a just man, 
shall receive a recompense in proportion to his good 
intention, Matt. x. 41. In all these instances the 
" name" is put for the person, for his service, his sake, 
his authority. So names of men are sometimes put 
for persons. Rev. iii. 4, " Thou hast a few names 
even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments." 
And chap. xi. 13, seven thousand men perished in the 
earthquake, — names of men, Gr. Perhaps this should 
be considered as implying men of name, persons of 
consequence, nobles,- &c. It is probable, also, that 
this phrase contains some allusion to a list or cata- 
logue of names : very credibly, of eminent persons, 
for we find it in Actsii. 15, expressing the apostles and. 
principals of the Christian church — " The number of 
the names was about a hundred and twenty." There 
were many thousands of followers of Jesus in Jerusa- 
lem ; but the apostles, the Seventy and some others, 
enough to make up about the number stated, were 
the principals. 

There were certain mysterious notions connected 
with the names of individuals ; hence, in calling a 
muster-roll of soldiers, the sergeants always began 
with names of good omen, as Felix, Faustus, &c. 
analogous to our Good-luck, Happy, &c. Also, the 
number comprised in the letters of a name was mys- 
terious, as that of Antichrist. See that article. 

NAOMI, wife of Elimelech. and mother-in-law of 
Ruth. See Ruth. 

NAPHTALI, the sixth son of Jacob, by Bilhah, 
Rachel's handmaid Gen. xxx. 8. We know but few 



N A V 



[ 095 ] 



NAZ 



particulars of the life of Naphtali. His sons were 
Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer. and Shillem, Gen. xlvi. 24. 
Tlie patriarch Jacob, when he gave his blessing, said, 
as it is in the English Bible, "Naphtali is a hind let 
loose ; he giveth goodly words," Gen. xlix. 21. 
For an illustration of this passage, see the article 
Hind. 

NAPHTUH1M, the fourth son of Mizraim, Gen. x. 
13. He dwelt in Egypt, and probably peopled that 
part of Ethiopia, between Syene and Meroe, of which 
Napata, or Napatea, was the capital. 

NARCISSUS, a freed man and favorite of the Ro- 
man emperor Claudius, who possessed great influ- 
ence at court, Rom. xvi. 11. 

NATHAN, a famous prophet, who lived under 
David, and had much of the confidence of that 
prince, whom he served in a number of ways. (See 
2 Sam. xi. xii. &c.) The time and manner of Na- 
than's death are not known. 1 Chron. xxix. 29, no- 
tices that he, with Gad, wrote the history of David. 
There are several other persons of this name men- 
tioned in Scripture ; one of them a son of David, 
2 Sam. v. 14. 

NATHANx\EL, a disciple of Christ, the manner 
of whose conversion is related John i. 46, &c. He 
is probably the same as Bartholomew. See Bar- 
tholomew. 

NATION, all the inhabitants of a particular coun- 
try, (Deut. iv. 34.) a country or kingdom, (Exod. 
xxxiv. 10 ; Rev. vii. 9.) countrymen, natives of the 
same stock, (Acts xxvi. 4.) the father, head, and ori- 
ginal of a people, (Gen. xxv. 23.) the heathen, or 
Gentiles, Isa. Iv. 5. See Gentiles, or Heathen. 

NATURE, in Scripture, expresses the course of 
things established in the world. So a crime is said 
to be against nature, because it is contrary to what is 
established by the Creator, Rom. i. 26 ; Judg. xix. 
24. Paul says, to engraft a good olive-tree into a wild 
olive, is contrary to nature ; (Rom. xi. 24.) the cus- 
tomary order of nature is thereby in some measure 
inverted. " Nature " is also put for natural descent ; 
(Gal. ii. 15 ; Eph. ii. 3.) and for common sense, nat- 
ural instinct, 1 Cor. xi. 14. The nature of animals 
is that by which they are distinguished from other 
creatures, and from one another, James iii. 7. 

Peter informs us that our Saviour has made us 
partakers of a divine nature ; he has merited for us 
the character of children of God, and grace to prac- 
tise godliness, &c. like our Father who is in heaven. 
{Comp. 1 John iii. 1.) 

NAVIGATION was little cultivated among the 
Hebrews, till the days of their kings : Solomon had 
a fleet, but he had not sailors equal to the manage- 
ment of it ; no doubt, from their want of habit. Mo- 
ses mentions nothing of navigation, and David, it 
should seem, rather acquired his great wealth by land 
commerce than by sea voyages. It is not easy to 
say what assistance the wisdom of Solomon contrib- 
uted to his fleet and officers on the mighty ocean. 
Perhaps his extensive knowledge of natural things 
first suggested the plan of these voyages. We know 
that Judea had ports on the Mediterranean, as Joppa, 
&c. but probably the coast, during the days of the 
judges, was in the hands of the Philistines, to the ex- 
clusion of Hebrew mariners ; and this accounts for 
the means by which the Philistines, on so narrow a 
slip of land, could become powerful, and could occa- 
sionally furnish immense armies, because they were 
free to receive reinforcements by sea. In later ages 
the Greeks and Romans invaded Syria by sea, and the 
intercourse between Judea and Rome was direct ■ as 



we learn from the voyage of Paul, &c. Comp 
Joppa. 

There were also many boats and lesser vessels 
employed in navigating the lakes, or seas, as the 
Hebrews called them, which are in the Holy Land ; 
and there must have been some embarkations on the 
Jordan ; but the whole of these were trifling ; and it 
appears, that though Providence taught navigation 
to mankind, yet it was not the design of Providence 
that the chosen people, and the depositaries of the 
Messiah, should have been other than a settled or 
local nation, attached to one country, to which coun- 
try, and even to certain of its towns, peculiar privi- 
leges were attributed in prophecy, and by divine ap- 
pointment. The legal observances, distinction of 
meats, &c. were great impediments to Jewish sailors, 
and prevented their attainment of any great skill in 
navigation. 

NAZARENE, see Nazarite. 

NAZARETH, a little town of Zebulun, in lower 
Galilee, west of Tabor, and east of Ptolemais ; cele- 
brated for having been the residence of Christ for 
the first thirty-three years of his life, (Luke ii. 51.) 
and from which he received the name of Nazarene. 
After he had begun* his mission, he sometimes 
preached here in the synagogue, (Luke iv. 16.) but 
because his countrymen had no faith in him, and 
were offended at the meanness of his origin, he did 
not many miracles among them, (Matt. xiii. 54, 58.) 
and fixed his habitation at Capernaum for the latter 
part of his life, Matt. iv. 13. Nazareth is situated on 
high ground, having on one side a precipice, from 
whence the Nazarenes one day attempted to throw 
down our Saviour, because he upbraided them with 
their unbelief, Luke iv. 29. 

Nazareth is upon the side of a barren, rocky eleva- 
tion, facing the east, and commanding a long valley, 
of a round, concave form, and encompassed with 
mountains. The place is shown where the house of 
the Holy Virgin stood ; but the house itself, say the 
Catholics, was transported by angels to Loretto ! Dr. 
E. D. Clarke, who describes Nazareth, mentions the 
village of Sephoury, in which is shown the house of 
St. Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, five miles 
from the town ; the fountain near Nazareth, called 
the "Virgin Mary's fountain ;" the great church, or 
convent, at that time the refuge of wretches afflicted 
with the plague, hoping for recovery from the sanc- 
tity of the place ; Joseph's workshop, converted into 
a chapel ; the synagogue wherein JesUs is said to 
have preached, now a church ; the precipice, whence 
the inhabitants would have thrown our Lord, con- 
cerning which " the words of the evangelist are re- 
markably explicit ; and it is, .probably, the precise 
spot alluded to in the text of Luke's Gospel." — A 
stone, that is said to have served as a table to Christ 
and his disciples, is an object of worship to the super- 
stitious of Galilee. 

[The following description of Nazareth, and the 
" brow of the hill " on which it stood, is given by Dr. 
Jowett, (Chr. Researches in Syria, p. 128, Amer. ed.) 
" Nazareth is situated on the side, and extends near- 
ly to the foot, of a hill, which, though not very high, 
is rather steep and overhanging. The eye naturally 
wanders over its summit, in quest of some point from 
which it might, probably be that the men of this place 
endeavored to cast our Saviour down, (Luke iv. 29.) 
but in vain : no rock adapted to such an object ap- 
pears. At the foot of the hill is a modest, simple 
plain, surrounded by low hills, reaching in length 
nearly a mile ; in breadth, near the city, a hundred 



NAZARETH 



[ C96 ] 



NAZ 



and fifty yards ; but farther on, about four hundred 
yards. On this plain there are a few olive-trees, and 
fig-trees, sufficient, or rather scarcely sufficient, to 
make the spot picturesque. Then follows a ravine, 
which gradually grows deeper and narrower ; till, 
after walking about another mile, you find yourself 
in an immense chasm, with steep rocks on either side, 
from whence you behold, as it were beneath your 
feet, and before you, the noble plain of Esdraelon. 
Nothing can be finer than the apparently immeas- 
urable prospect of this plain, bounded to the south 
by the mountains of Samaria. The elevation of the 
hills on which the spectator stands in this ravine is 
verj great ; and the whole scene, when we saw it, 
was clothed in the most rich mountain-blue color 
that can be conceived. At this spot, on the right 
han^ of the ravine, is shown the rock to which the 
mes? of Nazareth are supposed to have conducted 
our Lord, for the purpose of throwing him down. 
W»th the Testament in our hands, we endeavored to 
examine the probabilities of the spot; and I confess 
there is nothing in it which excites a scruple of in- 
crbdulity in my mind. The rock here is perpendicu- 
lar for about fifty feet, down which space it would be 
easy to hurl a person who should be unawares brought 
to the summit; and his perishing woidd be a very 
certain consequence. That the spot might be 
at a considerable distance from the city, is an idea 
not inconsistent with St. Luke's account ; for the ex- 
pression, thrusting Jesus out of the city, and leading 
him to the brow of the hill on which their city ivas built, 
gives fair scope for imagining, that, in their rage and 
debate, the Nazarcnes might, without originally in- 
tending his murder, press upon him for a considera- 
ble distance after they had quitted the synagogue. 
The distance, as already noticed, from modern Naz- 
areth to this spot is scarcely two miles — a space, 
which, in the fury of persecution, might soon he 
passed over. Or should this appear too considera- 
ble, it is by no means certain but that Nazareth ma) 7 
at that time have extended through the principal- 
part of the plain, which I have described as lying 
before the modern town : in this case, the distance 
passed over might not exceed a mile. It remains 
only to note the expression — the brotv of the hill, on 
which their city ivas built : this, according to the mod- 
ern aspect of the spot, would seem to be the hill north 
of the town, on the lower slope of which the town is 
built ; but I apprehend the word hill to have in this, 
as it has in very many other passages of Scripture, a 
much larger sense ; denoting sometimes a range of 
mountains, and in some instances a whole mountain- 
ous district. In all these cases the singular word 
"/»7Z," "geieZ," is used, according to the idiom of the 
language of this country. Thus, Gebel Carmyl, or 
mount Carmel, is a range of mountains : Gebel Lib- 
nan, or mount Lebanon, is a mountainous district of 
more than fifty miles in length ; Gebel ez-Zeitun, the 
mount of Olives, is certainly, as will be hereafter 
noted, a considerable tract of mountainous country. 
And thus any person, coming from Jerusalem and 
entering on the plain of Esdraelon, would, if asking 
the name of that bold line of mountains which bounds 
the north side of the plain, be informed that it was 
Gebel Nasra, the hill of Nazareth ; though, in Eng- 
lish, we should call them the mountains of Nazareth. 
Now the spot shown as illustrating Luke iv. 29, is, 
in fact, on the very brow of this lofty ridge of moun- 
tains ; in comparison of which, the hill upon which 
the modern town is built is but a gentle eminence. 
T can see, therefore, no reason for thinking other- 



wise, than that this may be the real scene where our 
divine Prophet, Jesus, experienced so great a dis- 
honor from the men of his own country, and of his 
own kindred." R. 

NAZARITE, or Nazarene, may signify, (1.) An 
inhabitant of Nazareth ; or a native of that city. (2.) 
A sect of Christians. (3.) A man under a vow to ob- 
serve the rules of Nazariteship ; whether for his 
whole life, as Samson, and John the Baptist ; or for 
a time, as those in Numb. vi. 18 — 20 ; Amos ii. 11, 12. 
(4.) A man of distinction and dignity in the court of 
a prince. (Compare the Bibl. Repository, ii. p. 388.) 

(1.) The name of Nazarene is given to Christ, not 
only because of his" having lived the greater part ol 
his life at Nazareth, and because that place was con 
sidered as his country, but also because the prophets 
had foretold that "he should be called a Nazarene,'- 
Matt. ii. 23. We find no particular place in the 
prophets, expressly affirming, that the Messiah should 
be called a Nazarene ; and Matthew only mentions 
the prophets in genera!. Perhaps he would infei 
that the consecration of Nazarites, and their great 
purity, was a type and prophecy referring to our 
Saviour ; (Numb. vi. 18, 19.) or, that the name Nazir, 
or Nazarite, [separated,] given to the patriarch Jo- 
seph, had some reference to Christ, Gen. xlix. 26; 
Deut. xxxiii. 16. Jerome was of opinion, that Mat- 
thew alludes to Isa. xi. 1 ; Ix. 21 : " There shall come 
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch 
(Heb. JVezer) shall grow out of his roots." This branch, 
or Nezer, and this rod, are certainly intended to de- 
note the Messiah, by the general consent of the fa- 
thers and interpreters. Or, possibly, in a more general 
sense, " He shall be vilified, despised, neglected," as 
every thing was that came from Nazareth ; and this 
might be a kind of prophetic proverb. 

(2.) It may reasonably be doubted, whether the Naz- 
arenes or Nazaraeans spoken of in early ecclesiastical 
history were heretics : it is more probable, that they 
were descendants of theoriginal Jewish Christians,and, 
as Jews, were too harshly treated by those who should 
have been their Gentile brethren. They must have 
been well known to Jerome, who lived long in Judea, 
and who thus de:scribes them in several places. 
Mentioning Hebrews believing in Christ, he says 
they were anathematized for their rigid adherence to 
the ceremonies of the Jewish law, which they min- 
gled with the gospel of Christ : " They so receive 
Christ, that they discard not the rites of the ancient 
law." He also describes the Nazarenes as persons 
" who believed in Christ the Son of God, born of the 
Virgin Mary," in whom the orthodox believe ; but 
who were nevertheless so bigoted to the Mosaic law, 
that they were rather to be considered as a Jewish 
sect, than a Christian. 

(3.) A Nazarite, under the ancient law, was a man 
or woman engaged by a vow to abstain from wine 
and all intoxicating liquors, to let the hair grow, not 
to enter any house polluted by having a dead body 
in it, nor to be present at any funeral. If, by accident, 
any one should have died in their presence, they re- 
commenced the whole of their consecration and Naz- 
ariteship. This vow generally lasted eight days, 
sometimes a month, and sometimes during their 
whole lives. When the time of Nazariteship was 
expired, the priest brought the person to the door of 
the temple, who there offered to the Lord a he-la-mb 
for a burnt-offering, a she-lamb for an expiatory sac- 
rifice, and a ram for a peace-offering. They offered 
likewise loaves and cakes, with wine for libations. 
After all was sacrificed and offered, the priest, oir 



NEB 



[ 697 1 



NEB 



some other person, shaved the head of the Nazarite 
at the door of the tabernacle, and burnt his hair on 
the fire of the altar. Then the priest put into his 
hands the shoulder of tiie ram roasted, with a loaf 
and a cake, which the Nazarite returning into the 
hands of the priest, he offered them to the Lord, lift- 
ing them up in the presence of the Nazarite. From 
this time the offerer might drink wine, his Naza- 
ritcship being accomplished. Perpetual Nazarites, 
as Samson and John the Baptist, were consecrated 
to their Nazariteship by their parents, and continued 
all their lives in this state, without drinking wine, or 
cutting their hair. Those who made a vow of Naz- 
ariteship out of Palestine, and could not come to the 
temple when their vow was expired, contented them- 
selves with observing the abstinence required by the 
law, and cutting off their hair in the place where 
they were. The offerings and sacrifices prescribed 
by Moses, to be offered at the temple, by themselves, 
or by others for them, they deferred, till a conve- 
nient opportunity. Hence Paul, being at Corinth, 
having made the vow of a Nazarite, he had his hair cut 
off at Cenchrea, but deferred the complete fulfilment 
of his vow till he came to Jerusalem, Acts xviii. 18. 
' When a person found he was not in condition 
to make a vow of Nazariteship, or had not leisure 
fully to perform it, he contented himself by contribut- 
ing to the expense of the sacrifices and offerings of 
' those who had made, and were fulfilling, this vow ; 
by which means he became a partaker in such Naz- 
ariteship. Josephus, magnifying the zeal and devo- 
tion of Herod Agrippa, says, he caused several Naz- 
arites to be shaven. Maimonides says, that he who 
would partake in the Nazariteship of another, went 
to the temple, and said to the priest, " In such a time 
such an one will finish his Nazariteship ; I intend to 
defray the charge attending the shaving off his hair, 
either in part, or in whole." When Paul came to 
Jerusalem, (A. D. 58, Acts xxi. 23, 24.) James, with 
other brethren, advised that, to quiet the minds of the 
converted Jews, he should unite with four persons, 
who had vows of Nazariteship, and contribute to 
their charges and ceremonies ; by which the people 
would perceive, that he did not disregard the law, as 
they had been led to suppose. 

(4.) Nazarite expresses a man of great dignity : 
hence the patriarch Joseph is called a Nazarite, a 
prince, among his brethren ; (Gen. xlix. 26.) Engl. tr. 
separated from his brethren. Nazarite in this sense is 
variously understood. Some think it signifies one 
who is crowned, chosen, separated, distinguished ; 
JYezer in Hebrew signifying a crown. The LXX 
translate, a chief, or him that is honored. Nazir was 
a name of dignity in the courts of eastern princes. 
In the court of Persia, the Nezir is superintendent- 
general of the king's household, the chief officer of 
the crown ; the high steward of his family, treasures 
and revenues. (Chardin, Government of the Persians, 
ch. 5.) In this sense Joseph was Nezir of the house 
of Pharaoh. Moses also gives to Joseph the title of 
Nazir, speaking of the tribes of his two sons, Ephraim 
and Manasseh, Deut. xxxiii. 16. 

NEAPOLIS, now called Napoli, (Acts xvi. 11.) a 
maritime city of Macedonia, near the borders of 
Thrace, whither Paul came from the isle of Samo- 
thracia. From Neapolis he went to Philippi. 

NEBAJOTH, a son of Ishmael, (Gen. xxv. 13 ; 
xxviii. 9.) the 'father of the Nabatheans, (q. v.) a peo- 
ple of Arabia Petrsea, who lived by plunder and trade, 
Is. lx. 7. R. 

NEBAT, or Nabath, of Ephraim, of the race of 
88 



Joshua, and father of Jeroboam, the first king of the 
ten tribes, 1 Kings xi. 26. 

I. NEBO, a city of Reuben, (Numb, xxxii. 38.) 
taken by the Moabites, who held it in the time of 
Jeremiah, Jer. xlviii. 1. 

II. NEBO, a city of Judah, (Ezra ii. 29 ; x. 43 •, 
Neh. vii. 33.) probably the village Nabau, eight miles 
south of Hebron, which was forsaken in the time of 
Eusebius and Jerome. 

III. NEBO, a high mountain east of the Jordan, 
where Moses died, and forming one of the mountains 
of Abarim, Deut. xxxii. 49 ; xxxiv. 1. 

IV. NEBO, an idol of the Babylonians, Isa. xlvi. 1. 
[In the astrological mythology of the Babylonians, 
this idol probably represented the planet Mercury. 
He is regarded as the scribe of the heavens, who re- 
cords the succession of celestial and terrestrial events; 
and is related to the Egyptian Hermes and Anubis. 
He was also worshipped by the ancient Arabians. 
The extensive prevalence of this worship amoiig the 
Chaldeans and Assyrians, is evident from the many 
compound proper names occurring in the Scriptures, 
of which this word forms part ; as Nebuchadnezzar, 
Nebuzaradan, Nebushasban ; and also in the classics, 
as Naboned, Nabonassar, Nabopolassar, &c. (See 
Gesenius, Comm. zu Jesa. ii. p. 342.) R. 

I. NEBUCHADNEZZAR, or Nabopolassar, 
father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, was a Chal- 
dean, and was the first monarch of Babylonia who 
made himself independent of Assyria. See Baby- 
lonia, p. 138. 

II. NEBUCHADNEZZAR, son and successor of 
Nabopolassar, s. needed to the kingdom of Chaldea, 
A. M. 3399. He '^ad been some time before asso- 
ciated in the kingdom, and sent to recover Carche- 
mish, which had been wrested from the empire by 
Necho, king of Egypt. Having been successful, 
he marched against the governor of Phoenicia, and 
Jehoiachim, king of Judah, tributary to Necho, king 
of Egypt. He took Jehoiachim, and put him in 
chains, to carry him captive to Babylon ; but after- 
wards he left him in Judea, on condition of his pay- 
ing a large tribute. He took away several persons 
from Jerusalem ; among others, Daniel, Hananiah. 
Mishael, and Azariah, all of the royal family, whom 
the king of Babylon had carefully educated in the 
language and learning of the Chaldeans, that they 
might be employed at court. 

Nabopolassar dying about the end of A. M. 3399, 
Nebuchadnezzar, who was then either in Egypt or 
in Judea, hastened to Babylon, leaving to his gene- 
rals the care of bringing to Chaldea the captives 
taken in Syria, Judea, Phoenicia, and Egypt ; for, 
according to Berosus, he had subdued all these 
countries. He distributed these captives into several 
colonies, and in the temple of Belus he deposited the 
sacred vessels of the temple of Jerusalem, and other 
rich spoils. 

Jehoiachim, king of Judah, continued three years 
in fealty to Nebuchadnezzar, and then revolted ; but 
after three or four years, he was besieged and taken 
in Jerusalem, put to death, and his body thrown to 
the birds of the air, according to the predictions of 
Jeremiah. See Jehoiachim. 

In the mean time, Nebuchadnezzar, being at Baby- 
lon, in the second year of his reign, had a mysterious 
dream, in which he saw a statue composed of seve- 
ral metals ; the interpretation of which was given by 
Daniel, and procured his elevation to the highest post 
in the kingd'om. See Daniel, and Image ofNebu 

CHADNEZZAR 



N EBUCHADNEZZ AR 



[ 698 ] 



NE11 



Jelioiakin, or Jeconiah, king of Judah, having re- 
volted against Nebuchadnezzar, was besieged in Je- 
rusalem, forced to surrender, and taken, with his 
chief officers, captive to Babylon ; also his mother, 
his wives, and the best workmen of Jerusalem, to the 
.lumber of ten thousand men. Among the captives 
were Mordecai, the uncle of Esther, and Ezekiel the 
orophet. Nebuchadnezzar also took all the vessels 
of gold which Solomon made for the temple and the 
king's treasury ; and set up Mattaniah, Jeconiah's 
uncle by the father's side, whom he named Zede- 
iriah. Zedekiah continued faithful to Nebuchad- 
nezzar nine years, at the end of which time he rebel- 
led, and confederated with the neighboring princes. 
The king of Babylon came into Judea, reduced the 
chief places of the country, and besieged Jerusalem ; 
but Pharaoh Hophra coming out of Egypt to assist 
Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar went to meet him, and 
forced him to retire to his own country. This done, 
he resumed the siege of Jerusalem, and was 360 days 
before the place. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, 
(A. M. 3419,) the city was taken, and Zedekiah, being 
seized, was brought to Nebuchadnezzar, who was 
then at Riblah in Syria. The king of Babylon con- 
demned him to die, caused his children to be put 
to death in his presence, and then bored out his 
eyes, loaded him with chains, and sent him to 
Babylon. 

Three years after the Jewish war, Nebuchadnezzar 
besieged Tyre, which siege lasted thirteen years. But 
during this interval he attacked the Sidonians, Moab- 
ites, Ammonites, and Idumeans, whom he treated 
much as he had done the Jews. Ty i was taken 
A.M. 2432. Ithobaal, the king, waspu' to death, and 
Baal succeeded him. The Lord, to reward the army 
of Nebuchadnezzar, which had been so long before 
Tyre, assigned to them Egypt and its spoils, and they 
returned in triumph to Babylon, with a vast number 
of captives. 

Nebuchadnezzar, being at peace, applied himself 
to the adorning, aggrandizing, and enriching of Bab- 
ylon with the most magnificent buildings. About 
this time he had a dream of a great tree, loaded with 
fruit, which an angel, suddenly descending from 
heaven, commanded should be cut down, and the 
branches, leaves and fruit be scattered. The trunk 
and the root were to be preserved in the earth, and it 
was to be bound with chains of iron and brass, among 
the beasts of the field, for seven years. The king 
consulted all his diviners, but none could explain his 
dream, until Daniel informed him, that it respected 
himself. " You," says Daniel, "are represented by 
the great tree ; you are to be brought low, to be re- 
duced to the condition of a brute, &c. but you shall 
afterwards be restored." About a year afterwards, 
as Nebuchadnezzar was walking on his palace at 
Babylon, he began to say, " Is not this Babylon the 
Great, which I have built in the greatness of my 
power, and in the brightness of my glory ? " But he 
had hardly pronounced the words, when he was 
struck by a distemper or distraction, which so per- 
verted his imagination, that he thought himself to be 
metamorphosed into an ox ; and assumed the man- 
ners of that animal. After having been seven years 
in this state, God restored his understanding to him, 
and he recovered his royal dignity. 

His repentance, however, was not sincere ; for in 
the year of his restoration, he erected a golden statue, 
whose height was sixty cubits, in the plain of Dura, 
in Babylon. Having appointed a day for the dedica- 
tion of this statue, he assembled the principal officers 



of his kingdom, and published by a herald, thai all 
should adore it, at the sound of music, on penalty of 
being cast into a burning fiery furnace. The three 
Jews, companions of Daniel, would not bend the knee 
to the image. Daniel probably was absent. Nebu- 
chadnezzar commanded Shadrach, Meshach and 
Abednego to be called, and he asked them why they 
presumed to disobey his orders. ■ They replied, 
that they neither feared the flames, nor any other 
penalty ; that the God whom only they would wor- 
ship knew how to preserve them ; but that if he 
should not think fit to deliver them out of his hands, 
they would, nevertheless, obey the laws of God rather 
than men. 

Hearing this, the king caused them to be bound, 
and to be thrown into the furnace, which being ve- 
hemently heated, the flame consumed the men who 
cast them in ; but an angel of the Lord abated the 
flames, so that the fire did not affect them. Nebu- 
chadnezzar was much astonished, and said to his no- 
bles, "Whence is it that I see four men walking in 
the midst of the flames ? and the fourth is like a son 
of God." Then, approaching the furnace, he called 
the three Hebrews, who came out of the furnace, to 
the great astonishment of the whole court. The 
king now gave glory to the God of Shadrach, Me- 
shach and Abednego ; and he exalted the three He- 
brews to great dignity in the province of Babylon, 
Dan. iv. 1, &c. 

Nebuchadnezzar died this year, A. M. 3442, after 
having reigned 43 years. 

NEBUZAR-ADAN, general of Nebuchadnezzar's 
armies, and chief officer of his household. 

NECHO, king of Egypt, carried his arms to the 
Euphrates, where he conquered the city of Carche- 
mish. He is known not only in Scripture, but in He- 
rodotus, who says that he was son of Psammetichus, 
king of Egypt, and that having succeeded him in the 
kingdom, he raised great armies, and sent out great 
fleets, as well on the Mediterranean as the Red sea ; 
that he fought the Syrians near the city of Mig- 
dol, obtained the victory, and took the city Cadytis, 
which some think to be Jerusalem. Josiah, king of 
Judah, being tributary to the king of Babylon, op- 
posed Necho, and gave him battle at Megiddo, where 
he received the wound of which he died ; and Necho 
passed forward, without making any long stay in 
Judea. On his return, he halted at Riblah, in Syria ; 
and sending for Jehoahaz, king of the Jews, he de- 
posed him, loaded him with chains, and sent him 
into Egypt. Then coming to Jerusalem, he set up 
Eliakim, or Jehoiakim, in his place, and exacted the 
payment of one hundred talents of silver and one 
talent of gold. Jeremiah (xlvi. 2.) acquaints us, that 
Carchemish was retaken by Nabopolassar, king of 
Babylon, in the fourth year of Jehoiachim, king of 
Judah ; so that Necho did not retain his conquest 
above four years. Josephus adds, that the king of 
Babylon, pursuing his victory, brought under his 
dominion the whole country, between the river Eu- 
phrates and Egypt, excepting Judea. Thus Necho 
was again reduced within the limits of his own 
country. 

NEGINOTH, a term which is read before some 
of the Psalms, and signifies stringed instruments of 
music, to be played on by the fingers. The titles of 
these Psalms may be translated, A Psalm of David to 
the master of music, who presides over the stringed 
instruments. 

NEHEMIAH, the son of Hachaliah, was born at 
Babylon during the captivity. He was, according to 



NEHEMIAH 



[ «99 j 



NEHEMIAH 



some, of the race of the priests ; according to others, 
of the tribe of Judah, and of the royal family. Those 
who maintain the former opinion, support it by 2 
Mac. i. 18, 21, where it is said, Nehemiah the priest 
offered sacrifices ; and by Esdras x. 10, where he is 
reckoned in the number of the priests. Those who 
believe that he was of the race of the kings of Judah, 
say, (1.) That Nehemiah having governed the repub- 
lic of the Jews for a considerable time, there is great 
probability he was of that tribe of which the kings 
always were. (2.) Nehemiah mentions his Lrethren 
Hanani, and other Jews, who, coming to Babylon 
during the captivity, acquainted him with the sad 
condition of their country. (3.) The office of cup- 
bearer to the king of Persia, to which Nehemiah was 
promoted, is a proof that he was of an illustrious 
family. . (4.) He excuses himself from entering into 
the inner part of the temple, probably because he was 
not of the sacerdotal order. This last argument, 
however, appears to be very inconclusive. As to 
the Maccabees, where he is mentioned as a priest, it 
is answered, that the Greek text does not affirm him 
to be a priest, but only that he ordered the priests to 
perform their functions. As to his singing among 
the priests, this he might do in quality of governor, 
which gave him at least equal rank with the priests. 
Lastly, the name of Nehemiah is found in no cata- 
logue or genealogy of Hebrew priests. 

Scripture gives him the name, or title, of Tirsha- 
tha, that is, cup-bearer ; which office he held at the 
court of Artaxerxes Longimanus. He had a great 
affection for the country of his fathers, though he 
had never seen it ; and one day, as some Jews re- 
cently come from Jerusalem acquainted him with 
the miserable state of that city, in its destruction, he 
fasted, prayed, and humbled himself before the Lord, 
entreating that he would be favorable to the design 
he had conceived of asking the king's permission to 
rebuild Jerusalem. The course of his attendance at 
court having arrived, he presented the cup to the 
king, according to his. duty, but with a dejected 
countenance. The king observed it, and thought he 
had some evil design ; but Nehemiah discovering the 
occasion of his disquiet, Artaxerxes gave him leave 
to go to Jerusalem, and to repair its walls and gates ; 
but appointed him a time to return. 

Nehemiah arrived at Jerusalem with letters and 
full powers, but was there three days before he 
opened the occasion of his journey. On the night 
of the third day he went round the city and viewed 
the walls. After this, he assembled the chief of the 
people, produced his commission and letters, exhort- 
ed them to undertake the repairing of the gates and 
walls of the city ; and immediately all began the work. 
The enemies of the Jews only scoffed at them at first, 
but afterwards, seeing the chief breaches repaired, 
they used stratagems and threats to deter Nehemiah. 
He therefore ordered part of his people to stand to 
their arms behind the walls, while others worked, 
having also their arms near them. His enemies then 
had recourse to craft and stratagem, endeavoring to 
draw him into an ambuscade in the fields, where they 
proposed to finish their dispute at an amicable con- 
ference. Nehemiah, however, defeated all their 
6tratagems, and continuing his work, completed it in 
fifty-two days. 

The walls, towers and gates of Jerusalem having 
been dedicated with solemnity and magnificence, 
Nehemiah separated the priests, the Levites, and the 
princes of the people, into two companies, one of 
which walked to the south, and the other to the | 



north, on the top of the walls. These two compa 
nies, whicr were to meet at the temple, were accom- 
panied with music, vocal and instrumental. Having 
entered the temple, they there read the law, offered 
sacrifices, and made great rejoicings ; and the Feast 
of Tabernacles happening at the time, it was cele- 
brated with great solemnity. Nehemiah, observing 
that the city was too large for its present inhabitants, 
ordered that the chief of the nation should there fix 
their dwelling ; and caused them to draw lots, by 
which a tenth part of the whole people of Judah 
were obliged to dwell at Jerusalem. 

Nehemiah then applied himself to the reforming 
of such corruptions as had crept into public affairs. 
He curbed the inhumanity of the great, who held in 
slavery and subjection the sons and daughters of the 
poor or unfortunate, keeping also the lands, which 
the poor had mortgaged or sold to them. He also 
undertook to dissolve the marriages with strange and 
idolatrous women, whom he sent away ; obliged the 
people punctually to pay the ministers of the Lord 
their due ; and enjoined the priests and Levites to 
strict attendance on their respective duties and func 
tions. He enforced the observation of the sabbath, 
and would not permit strangers to enter the city to 
buy and sell, but kept the gates shut during the whole 
day. To perpetuate as much as possible these reg 
ulations, he engaged the chief men of the nation sol- 
emnly to renew their covenant with the Lord ; and 
an instrument to this effect was drawn up, and 
signed by the chief of the priests and the people. 

We read in 2 Mac. i. 19, &c. that Nehemiah sent 
to search for the holy fire, which, before the captivi- 
ty of Babylon, the priests had hidden in a dry and 
deep pit : not finding any fire there, but only a thick 
and muddy water, he sprinkled this upon the altar ; 
and presently the wood which had been so sprinkled, 
took fire as soon as the sun began to shine, which 
miracle coming to the knowledge of the king of Per- 
sia, he caused the place to be encompassed with 
walls where the fire had been hidden, and granted 
great favors and privileges to the priests. It is re 
corded in the same books, that Nehemiah erected a 
library, in which he placed whatever he could find, 
either of the books of the prophets, of David, or of 
such princes as had made presents to the temple. 
After having fulfilled his commission, he returned to 
Babylon, according to his promise to king Arta- 
xerxes, about the thirty-second year of that prince ; 
but afterwards he revisited Jerusalem, where he died 
in peace, having governed the people of Judah about 
thirty years. 

The second book, which in the Latin Bibles bears 
the name of Esdras, bears, in the Hebrew and English 
Bibles, the name of Nehemiah. Its author speaks 
almost always in the first person ; and at first reading 
one would think he had written it day by day ; but 
if we read it with due attention, we may observe sev- 
eral things which could not have been written by 
Nehemiah. For example, memorials are quoted, in 
which were registered the names of the priests in the 
time of Jonathan, son of Eliashib, and even to the 
times of Jaddus, who lived under Darius Codoman- 
nus, and under Alexander the Great. It is therefore 
very probable, that Nehemiah wrote memoirs of his 
government, which are cited 2 Mac. ii. 13, and that 
from these memoirs this book has been compiled. 

Whiston supposes that Nehemiah's library, with 
augmentations, continued in the temple till the de- 
struction of Jerusalem by Titus; from which prince 
Josephus received a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, 



NEO 



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fuller in many respects than our common copies. 
This may be true, at least, so far as concerns the 
preservation of the original writings of Nehemiah 
himself. 

NEHILOTH, a word found at the beginning of 
the fifth Psalm, and which signifies the dances, or 
more probably the flutes. The title of the fifth Psalm 
may be thus translated, " A Psalm of David, address- 
ed to the master of music presiding over the dancers, 
or over the flutes." 

NEHUSHTAN, a name given by Hezekiah king 
of Judah to the brazen serpent that Moses had set up 
in the wilderness, (Numb. xxi. 8.) and which had 
been preserved by the Israelites to that time. The 
superstitious people having made an idol of this ser- 
pent, Hezekiah caused it to be burnt, and in derision 
gave it the name of Nehushtan, q. d. this little brazen 
serpent, 2 Kings xviii. 4. 

NEIGHBOR signifies a near relation, a fellow- 
countryman, one of the same tribe or vicinage ; and 
generally, any man connected with us by the bonds 
of humanity, and whom charity requires that we 
should consider as a friend and relation. At the time 
of our Saviour, the Pharisees had restrained the 
meaning of the word neighbor to those of their own 
nation, or to their own friends ; holding, that to hate 
their enemy was not forbidden by the law, Matt. v. 
43 ; Luke x. 20. But our Saviour informed them, 
that the whole world were neighbors ; that they 
ought not to do to another, what they would not have 
done to themselves ; and that this charity extended 
even to enemies. See the beautiful parable of the 
good Samaritan, the real neighbor to the distressed, 
Luke x. 29. 

God is a neighbor near to those who fear him, and 
c.tll upon him, Ps. lxxxv. 9 ; cxlv. 18. He gives them 
tokens of his presence and protection : " Am I a God 
at hand, and not a God afar off?" am 1 one of those 
gods that men have made not above two days ago ? 
am not I an eternal God ? Otherwise, I am a neigh- 
bor God, that sees every thing, knows every thing, 
and not an absent or a distant God, Jer. xxiii. 23. 
(Comp. Elijah and Baal's prophets.) 

NEOMENIA, (Col. ii. 16.) a Greek word, signify- 
ing the first day of the moon or month ; in the Engl, 
tr. neiv moon. The Hebrews had a particular vene- 
ration for the first day of every month," for which 
Moses appointed peculiar sacrifices, (Numb, xxviii. 
11, 12.) but he gave no orders that it should be kept 
as a holy day, nor can it be proved that the ancients 
observed it so ; it was a festival of merely voluntary 
devotion. (See Month.) It appears that even from 
the time of Saul they made, on this day, a sort of 
family entertainment, since David ought then to have 
been at the king's table ; and Saul took his absence 
amiss, 1 Sam. xx. 5, 18. Moses insinuates, that be- 
sides the national sacrifices then regularly offered, 
every private person had his particular sacrifices of 
devotion, Numb. x. 10. The beginning of the month 
was proclaimed by sound of trumpet, at the offering 
of solemn sacrifices, ibid. But the most celebrated 
neomenia was that at the beginning of the civil year, 
or first day of the month Tizri, Lev. xxiii. 24. This 
was a sacred festival, on which no servile labor was 
performed. In the kingdom of the ten tribes, the 
people used to assemble at the houses of the proph- 
ets, to hear their instructions, 2 Kings iv. 23 ; Isa. i. 
13, 14. Ezekiel says (xlv. 17 ; see also 1 Chron. xxiii. 
31 ; 2 Chron. viii. 13.) that the burnt-offerings offered 
on the day of the new moon, were provided at the 
king's expense, and that on this day was to be opened 



the eastern gate of the court of the priests, ch. xlvi. 
1,2. 

Spencer has a long dissertation on the neomenia, or 
new moons, in which he shows that the Gentiles hon- 
ored the first day of the month, out of veneration to the 
moon. Hewouldinfer,that theHebrewsborrowedthis 
practice from strange and idolatrous people. But he 
byno means proves this; and it is much more probable, 
that, without any design of imitating the Hebrews, the 
Gentiles thought fit to honor the moon at the begin- 
ning of the month, that is, her first appearance. 

NERGAL. Among the gods of the transplanted 
heathen, (2 Kings xvii. 3Q.) we find some, the etymol- 
ogy of whose names would never lead us to conjec- 
ture by what image, or figure, they might be repre- 
sented. The rabbins, indeed, have occasionally told 
us their nature, and sometimes their symbols ; but 
rabbinical authority is not always satisfactory. It is 
hardly to be supposed, that on many subjects the 
present Jewish literati have really any tradition ex- 
tant among them ; and, in many instances, we may 
well hesitate in admitting the accuracy of what they 
report as traditionary information derived from their 
forefathers. Nevertheless, we may consider their 
description of Nergal as an instance either of their 
correctness or of their judgment. This god, they 
tell us, was worshipped under the figure of a cock; 
and, to make a pair of the species, Sdccoth Benoxh, 
they say, was worshipped as a hen and chicken. 
For this latter conjecture we find no authority ; but 
the former seems to be more plausible. 

[The researches of Gesenius on the subject of the 
astrological mythology of the Assyrians and Babylo- 
nians, go to show that the idol Nergal represents the 
planet Mars, which was ever the emblem of blood- 
shed. Mars is named, by the Zabians and Arabians, 
ill-luck, misfortune. He was represented as holding 
in one hand a drawn sword, and in the other, by the 
hair, a human head just cut off"; his garments were 
blood red ; as the light of the planet is also reddish. 
His temple among the Arabs was painted red ; and 
they offered to him garments sprinkled with blood, 
and also a warrior, (probably a prisoner,) who was 
cast into a pool. It is related of the caliph Hakem, 
that, in the last night of his life, as he observed the 
stars, and saw the planet Mars rise above the horizon, 
he murmured between his lips, "Dost thou ascend, 
thou accursed shedder of blood? then is my hour 
come ! " and at the moment the assassins sprang upon 
him from their hiding place. (Barhebrseus, p. 220.) 

The name Nergal appears also in the proper names 
Nergalsharezer, Neriglassar. The assertion of the 
rabbins above mentioned, that this idol was repre- 
sented under the form of a cock, may have arisen 
from the fact that in the Talmud the similar word 
Sjjh", terngal, signifies cock ; or from a Persian ety- 
mology proposed by some, viz. ner-gal, i. e. male bird, 
cock. Gesenius inclines to regard it as a mere con- 
ceit. (Comm. zu Jesa. ii. p. 344.) *R. 

NERGAL-Sharezer, an officer of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, Jer. xxxix. 3. 

NETHINIM, given, or offered, servants dedicated 
to the service of the tabernacle and temple, to per- • 
form the most laborious offices ; as carrying of wood 
and water. At first the Gibeonites were destined to 
this station ; afterwards, the Canaanites who surren- 
dered themselves, and whose lives were spared. We 
read, in Ezra viii. 20, that the Nethinim were slaves 
devoted by David, and other princes, to the service 
of the temple; and in Ezra ii. 58, that they were 
gV-og given by Solomon : the children of Solomon's 



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servants. From 1 Kings ix. 20, 21, we see that he 
had subdued the remains of the Canaanites, and it is 
very probable, that he gave a good number of them 
to the priests and Levites, for the temple service. 
The Nethinirn were carried into captivity with the 
tribe of Judah, and great numbers were placed not 
far from the Caspian sea, whence Ezra brought 220 
of them into Judea, ch. viii. 17. Those who fol- 
lowed Zerubbabel, made up 392, Neh. iii. 26. This 
number was but small in regard to their offices ; so 
that we find afterwards a solemnity called Xylopho- 
ria, in which the people carried wood to the temple, 
with great ceremony, to keep up the fire of the altar 
of burnt sacrifices. 

NETOPHA, a city and district between Bethle- 
hem and Anathoth, Ezra ii. 22 ; Neh. vii. 26 ; Jer. xi. 
8 ; 1 Chron. ix. 16. 

NETTLE. There are two words rendered nettle 
in the English Bible : piny, kimosh, (Prov . xxiv. 31 ; 
Isa. xxxiv. 13 ; Hos. ix. 6.) about which there is no 
dispute ; and Snn, chdrill, (Job xxx. 7; Prov. xxiv. 31 ; 
Zeph. ii. 9.) which we have no means of identifying, 
but which cannot be a nettle. Mr. Good, after Dr. 
Stock, translates the passage in Job : 

Among the bushes did they bray ; 
Under the briers did they huddle together, 

and remarks, "Why Junius and Tremellius, and 
Piscator, should render Snn by urtica, and our com- 
mon lection after them by nettle, I know not. In 
almost every other place in which the word occurs, 
it is uniformly rendered as it ought to be, thorns, 
brambles, briers.' 1 '' 

NEW is used for extraordinary or unusual. (See 
Judg. v. 8 ; Numb. xvi. 30.) God promises a new 
heaven and a new earth, at the time of the Messiah, 
(Isa. lxv. 17 ; Ixvi. 22.) that is, a universal renovation 
of manners, sentiments and actions, throughout the 
world. This passage is also referred to the end of 
the world ; when will commence a new heaven and 
a new earth ; not that the present heaven and earth 
will be annihilated ; but the air, the earth and the 
elements will be more perfect, or at least, together 
with the inhabitants, shall be of a nature superior to 
those vicissitudes and alterations that now affect these 
elements. God also promises to his people " a new 
covenant, a new spirit, a new heart ;" and this prom- 
ise was fulfilled in the covenant of grace, the gos- 
pel, Ezek. xi. 19 ; xviii. 31 ; xxxvi. 26, 

NEW MOON, see Neomenia. 

NIBHAZ, a god of the Avim, or Hivites, 2 Kings 
xvii. 31. The Jewish interpreters say the name 
means lalrator, barker, (from ro:,) and affirm that this 
idol had the shape of a dog. Historical traces have 
also been found of the ancient worship of idols in 
the form of dogs among the Syrians. In the Zabian 
books Nibhaz occurs as the Lord of darkness ; which, 
according to the character of the Assyrian-Chal- 
dean mythology, would point to an evil planetary 
demon. R. 

I. NICANOR, a general in the armies of Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes, who was thrice defeated, and at 
last slain by Judas Maccabeus. See Antiochus 
Epiphanes. 

II. NICANOR, one of the first seven deacons, 
who were chosen and appointed at Jerusalem soon 
after the descent of the Holy Ghost, on occasion of 
a division among the believers, into tliose who spoke 
Greek, and those who spoke Hebrew, or Syriac, 
Acts vi. 5, &c. Nothing particular is known of him. 



III. NICANOR, a king of Syiu, who ascended 
the throne A. M. 3854. See Demetrius, II. 

NICODEMUS, a disciple of Jesus Christ, a Jew 
by nation, and by sect a Pharisee. He was one of 
the senators of the Sanhedrim, (John iii.) and at first 
concealed his belief in the divine character of our 
Lord. Afterwards, however, he avowed himself a 
believer, when he came with Joseph of Arimathea 
to pay the last duties to the body of Christ, which 
they took down from the cross, embalmed, and laid 
in the sepulchre. 

NICOLAITANS, see below in Nicolas. 

NICOLAS, a proselyte of Antioch, that is, con- 
verted from paganism to the religion of the Jews. 
He afterwards embraced Christianity, and was 
among the most zealous and most holy of the first 
Christians; so that he was chosen for one of the first 
seven deacons of the church at Jerusalem, Acts vi. 5. 

His memory has been tarnished in the church by 
a blemish, from which it has not been possible hith- 
erto to clear him. Certain heretics were called Nic- 
olaitans, from his name ; and though perhaps he had 
no share in their errors, nor their irregularities, yet 
he is suspected to have given some occasion to them. 
The early writers inform us that he had a wife who 
was very handsome, and that, in imitation of those 
who aimed at a high degree of perfection, he left 
her, to live in a state of continence. Epiphanius 
says he did not persevere in this resolution, but took 
llis wife again, and, in order to justify his conduct, 
advanced principles contrary to truth and purity. 
He plunged himself into irregularities, and gave rise 
to the sect of the Nicolaites, to that of the Gnostics, 
and to several others, who followed the bent of their 
natural passions to crimes and wickednesses. 

In this .statement Epiphanius is supported by Ire- 
nseus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Hilary, Gregory of 
Nyssa, Phylaster of Bressa, Jerome, Cassian, Gregory 
the Great, Pacian, pope Gelasius, Gildas, and several 
moderns, who say that Nicolas the deacon was the 
author of the impious and infamous sect of the Nico- 
laitans. Clemens Alexandrinus, however, who is 
more ancient than Epiphanius, expresses mucl" 
esteem for Nicolas ; and relates the affair otherwise 
The apostles, he says, having reproached Nicolas, a& 
being too jealous of his wife, he introduced her be- 
fore them, and declared that any one might espouse 
her that pleased. This declaration, made in pure 
simplicity, and without reflection, was only designed 
as a proof that his attachment and passion for his 
wife did not overcome him ; but such as were glad 
to catch at the pretence of his authority, screened 
themselves under what he had done, in order to pal- 
liate and vindicate their irregularities. These here- 
tics grounded themselves, says Clement, on a word 
that Nicolas let fall, that " the flesh ought to be 
abused." By which he meant nothing else, but that 
we ought to control and suppress our inclinations to 
sensuality and concupiscence ; whereas, these disci- 
ples of pleasure explained the words according to 
their own sensuality, and not according to the mean- 
ing of Nicolas. Augustin, Victorinus Petaviensis, Isi- 
dorus, and the council of Tours, also acquit him ; 
and the Apostolical Constitutions, and the interpo- 
lated letters of Ignatius the martyr, affirm that the 
Nicolaitans falsely assumed his namt. Upon the 
whole, it is highly probable either that the Nicolaitans 
falsely assumed the name of Nicolas, or that they took 
their rise from another person of the same name. 

The Lord (Rev. ii. 6, 15.) condemns the actions 
and doctrine of the Nicolaitans. He says he hates 



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them ; commends the bishop of Ephesus that he 
abhors them ; and reproaches the bishop of Perga- 
mus that some of his church adopted their doctrine. 

[In regard to the Nicolaitans, a more probable 
supposition is, that the appellation is not here de- 
rived from a proper name, but is symbolical ; and 
that it refers to the same persons who are said, in 
Rev. ii. 14, to hold the doctrine of Balaam ; since the 
Greek name Xixi.Zao;, JYicolas, corresponds to the 
Hebrew sySa, Balaam, and signifies to overcome, se- 
duce, a people. The allusion, then, would be to false 
and seducing teachers like Balaam ; and refers more 
particularly, perhaps, to those who opposed the de- 
cree of the apostles in Acts xv. 29. (Compare the use 
of Jezebel ia Rev. ii. 20.) R. 

I. NICOPOLIS, a city of Epirus, on the gulf of 
Ambracia ; where Paul passed his winter, A. D. 64. 
He wrote to Titus, then in Crete, to come to him 
hither, Tit. iii. 12. Some are of opinion, that this 
Nicopolis, however, was not that of Epirus, but that 
of Thrace, on the borders of Macedonia, near the river 
Nessus. But the former is the prevailing opinion. 

II. NICOPOLIS, a name given to Emmaus, a 
city of Palestine, under the emperor Alexander, son 
of Mammaeus. 

NIDDUI, the lesser sort of excommunication used 
among the Hebrews. He who had incurred this, 
was to withdraw himself from his relations, at least 
to the distance of four cubits. It commonly contin- 
ued thirty days. If it was not then taken off, it might 
be prolonged for sixty, or even ninety, days. But 
if within this term the excommunicated person did 
not give satisfaction, he fell into the cherem, which 
was the second sort of excommunication ; and thence 
into the third sort, called schammatha, the most terri- 
ble of all. See Excommunication, and Anathema. 

NIGER, the surname of Simon, (Acts xiii. 1.) who 
was a prophet and teacher, and one who laid his 
hands Dn Saul and Barnabas, for the execution of 
that office to which the Holy Ghost had appointed 
them. Some believe he is that Simeon the Cyre- 
nian, who carried the cross of Christ to mount Cal- 
vary ; but this opinion is founded only on a simili- 
tude of names. Epiphanius speaks of one Niger 
among the seventy disciples, of our Saviour. 

NIGHT. The ancient Hebrews began their artifi- 
cial day in the evening, and ended it the next day 
evening ; so that the night preceded the day ; whence 
it is said, (Gen. i. 5.) evening and morning one day. 
They allowed twelve hours to the night and twelve 
to the day ; but these hours were not equal, except at 
the equinox. At other times, when the hours of the 
night were long, those of the day were short, as in 
winter; and contrariwise, when the hours of night 
were short, as at midsummer, the hours of the day 
were long in proportion. See Hours. 

"Night" is put for a time of affliction and ad- 
versity, (Ps. xvii. 3 ; Isa. xxi. 12.) as also for the 
time of death, (John ix. 4.) for the end of the world, 
1 Thess. v. 2. 

Children of the day, and children of the night, in 
a moral and figurative sense, denote good men and 
wicked men, Christians and Gentiles. The disciples 
of the Son of God are children of light ; they belong 
to the light, they walk in the light of gospel truths ; 
while children of the night walk in the darkness of 
ignorance and infidelity, and perform only works of 
darkness. " Ye are all the children of the light, and 
the children of the day ; we are not of the night nor 
of darkness," 1 Thess. v. 5. 

NILE, the river of Egypt, whose fountains are in 



the mountains of Abyssinia towards the north, 
whence it proceeds, and afterwards winds about to 
the east, passing into a great lake, and thence run- 
ning towards the south. It waters the country of 
Alata, where it has several falls, continues its course 
far into the kingdom of Goiain, then winds about 
again, from the east to the north ; and at length, run- 
ning northward, enters Egypt at the cataracts, which 
are waterfalls made by meeting with rocks, of the 
length of two hundred feet. 

After passing these rocks, the Nile flows directly 
through the valley of Egypt. Its channel, according 
to Villamont, is about a league broad. Eight miles 
below Cairo, it is divided into two arms, which make 
a triangle, whose base is at the Mediterranean sea, 
and which the Greeks call the Delta, because of its 
figure, /\. These two arms are divided into others, 
which discharge themselves into the Mediterranean, 
whose distance from the top of the Delta is about 
twenty leagues. These branches the ancients com- 
monly reckoned to be seven mouths, Septemplicis 
ostia JVili. Ptolemy makes them nine, others four, 
others eleven, others fourteen. Others maintain, 
that there are no more than the mouths of Damietta, 
of Rosetta, and of the two canals, one of which 
passes by Alexandria. 

Several have thought that the Nile was the Gihon, 
one of the four rivers mentioned by Moses, as flow- 
ing from the terrestrial paradise. But this opinion 
is not to be supported, since the other rivers are too 
far from the Nile. Yet the inhabitants of the king- 
dom of Goiain call this river Gihon. The Abyssini- 
ans call it Ab Euchi, Abay, or the father of rivers. 
The negroes call it Tami. Homer, Diodorus Sicu- 
lus. and Xenophon testify, that its ancient name was 
Egyptus, and Homer mentions it by no other name. 
Diodorus says, it took the name of Nilus, after a king 
of Egypt, called by that name. Pliny relates the 
opinion of king Juba, who affirmed that the Nile 
had its source in Mauritania ; that it appeared and 
disappeared in different peaces, first hiding itself 
under ground, and then showing itself again ; that 
in this country it was called Niger, and in Ethiopia 
it had the name Astapus ; that about Meroe it was 
divided into two arms, of which the right was called 
Astusapes, and the left Astaborus ; and lastly, that 
it obtained the name of Nile only below Meroe. 
Pliny, Plutarch, Dionysius the geographer, and some 
others, testify that it was also named Siris. Dionys- 
ius says, that v the Ethiopians call it Siris, and that 
after it passes Syena, it has the name of Nilus. In 
Scripture the Nile has seldom any other name but 
the river of Egypt. Joshua and Jeremiah express it 
by the name Sihor, or the river of troubled water : 
" What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink 
the water of Sihor ? " says Jeremiah. (But see 
Sihor.) The Greeks give it the name of Melas, 
which also signifies black, or troubled. And indeed 
travellers inform us that the water of this river is 
generally something muddy, but it is easily fined by 
throwing into it some almonds or skinned beans.. 
Servius, explaining that verse of Virgil,.where, speak- 
ing of the Nile, he says, 

Et viridem iEgyptum nigra fcecundat arena, 

Georg. iv. 291. 

observes, that the ancients called the Nile, Melo. 
Melo in Hebrew signifies full, which may well agree 
with the Nile, because of its great floods, which con- 
tinue for about six weeks in the heat of summer, and 
overflow Egypt. 



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Diodorus Siculus observes, that the most ancient 
name by which the Grecians knew the Nile, is 
Oceanus. It had also the name of Aigle, afterwards 
of iEgyptus, and lastly of Nilns, from king Nileus. 
The Egyptians paid divine honor to the Nile, and 
called it Jupiter Nilus ; for which reason, perhaps, 
the Lord sometimes threatens to smite the river of 
Egypt, to dry it up, and kill its fishes ; as it were to 
show the Egyptians the vanity of their worship, and 
the impotence of their pretended deity, Isa. xi. 15 ; 
Ezek. xxix. 3, &c. 

Scripture, marking the limits of the Land of 
Promise, sometime? puts the river or the stream of 
Egypt for its southerly limits: "From the entering 
in of Hamath, unto the river of Egypt," 2 Chron. vii. 
8. Or "from the channel of the river (Euphrates) 
unto the stream of Egypt," Isa. xxvii. 12. Some in- 
terpreters, however, justly doubting whether the 
dominion of the Israelites extended to the Nile, have 
properly supposed that the stream of Egypt was a 
stream that fell into the Mediterranean sea, between 
Rhinocorura and Gaza, which is called in Scripture 
the river of the wilderness, Amos vi. 14. See Egypt, 
River of. 

The Arabians and other orientals often give the 
Nile the name of a sea, and the surname or epithet 
of Faidh, which is common also to the Euphrates, 
because these two rivers, by their overflowing, in- 
crease the fertility of the countries they pass through. 
They also give it the name of Mobarek, blessed, as 
well because of the fruitfulness it occasions to the 
land, as the fecundity it is thought to procure to the 
women. 

When the. Nile rises only to the perpendicular 
height of twelve cubits, a famine necessarily follows 
in Egypt ; nor is the famine less certain, if it should 
exceed sixteen cubits ; so that the just height of the 
inundation is between twelve and sixteen cubits. 

The Nilometer is a pillar erected in the middle of 
the Nile, on which are marked degrees measuring 
the ascent of the water. There were several of 
these in different places. At this day there is one in 
the island which divides the Nile into two arms, one 
of which passes to Cairo, and the other to Gizah. 
M. d'Herbelot notices several others, built or repaired 
by the reigning caliphs. The Nile overflows yearly 
in the month of August, in the higher and middle 
Egypt, where it hardly ever rains. But in lower 
Egypt the flood is less sensible and less necessary, 
because it frequently rains there, and the country is 
sufficiently watered. It is less sensible, because they 
make fewer dikes, or receptacles for the water there, 
and the inundation spreading itself equally over the 
country, does not rise higher than a cubit through the 
whole Delta. Whereas in higher and middle Egypt, 
they have deep canals, to receive the waters of the 
river. They make a breach in these dikes by au- 
thority of the pacha, and when one district is suffi- 
ciently watered, the dike is stopped up, and another 
opened. The Egyptians have often contentions, 
village against village, which shall have the first dis- 
tribution of the waters ; and when the overflowing 
comes as they desire, they celebrate a great festival 
throughout the country. 

When the waters are subsided, the culture of the 
land is easy. The seed is cast on the mud, and with 
little tillage produces great plenty. The mud which 
the Nile brings is earth washed away from the banks 
in its course ; which same mud, covering the land- 
marks and furrows of the fields, obliges the proprie- 
tors to have recourse to the line and the measuring 

a 



rod. to measure out their lands and inheritances 
every year anew. See Egypt, p. 370, 371. 

"Some descriptions of Egypt would lead us to 
think that the Nile, when it swells, lays the whole 
province under water. The lands adjoining imme- 
diately to the banks of the river are indeed laid under 
water, but the natural inequality of the ground hin 
ders it from overflowing the interior country. A 
great part of the lands would therefore remain bar- 
ren, were not canals and reservoirs formed fo receive 
water from the river, when at its greatest height, 
which is thus conveyed every where through the 
fields, and reserved for watering them, when occa- 
sion requires." (Niebuhr's Travels, vol. i. p. 87.) 

" It is to be remarked, that though this water be- 
comes thick, by washing off the clayey soil over 
which it passes, it appears, when drank, as light and 
limpid as the clearest; the Egyptians themselves 
believe it is nourishing, and say, whoever drinks of 
the river will never remove to any great distance 
from its banks. The divine honors which the an- 
cient Egyptians paid to the Nile, and for which the 
plenty it occasions may be some justification, are, in a 
manner, still preserved under the Mahometans ; they 
give this river the title of Most Holy, they likewise 
honor its increase with all the ceremonies practised 
by pagan antiquity." (Baron du Tott, vol. ii. p. °A. 
part 4.) 

The superior veneration paid to the eastern or 
Abyssinian branch of this celebrated river appears 
from the variety of names given to it, as well as from 
the import of these names ; of this Mr. Bruce gives a 
full account, from which we shall only quote a pwt. 
By the Agows it is named Gzeir, Geesa, orSeir; 
the first of which terms signifies a god. It is like- 
wise called Ab, father ; and has many other names, 
all implying the most profound veneration. In Go- 
jam it is named Abay, which signifies overflowing. 
By the Gongas, on the south of mounts Dyre and 
Tagla, it is called Dahli ; by those on the north, 
Koass, both of which imply dog-star. Formerly the 
Nile had the name of Siris, both before and after it 
enters Beja, which the Greeks imagined was given 
to it on account of its black color during the inun- 
dation ; but Mr. Bruce assures us that the river has 
no such color. He affirms, with great probability, 
that this name in the country of Beja imports the 
river of the dog-star, on the vertical appearance of 
which this river overflows : " and this idolatrous 
worship (says he) was probably part of the reason of 
the question the prophet Jeremiah asks : ' What hast 
thou to do in Egypt to drink the waters of Seir, or 
the water profaned by idolatrous rites ?' " The in- 
habitants of the Barabra call it Bahar el Nil, the sea 
of the Nile, in contradistinction to the Red sea, for 
which they have no other name than Bahar el Mo- 
lech, or the Salt sea. The junction of the three 
great rivers, the Nile, flowing on the west side of 
Meroe ; the Tacazze, which washes the east side, and 
joins the Nile at Maggiran, in north latitude 17 de- 
grees ; and the Mareb, which falls into this last 
something above the junction, gives the name of 
Triton to the Nile. The ancient name Egyptus, 
given it in Homer, is supposed to have been derived 
from its black color; but Mr. Bruce derives it from 
Y Gypt, the name given to Egypt in Ethiopia, that 
is, the country of canals. 

We also quote from Mr. Bruce what he has said 
concerning the natural operation by which the tropi- 
cal rains are produced ; which are now universally 
allowed to be the cause of the annual overflowing 



NILE 



[ 704 1 



NILE 



of this and other rivers. "The air is so much rari- 
fied by the sun, during the time he remains almost 
stationary over the tropic of Capricorn, that the winds 
loaded with vapors rush in upon the land from the 
Atlantic ocean on the west, the Indian ocean on the 
east, and the cold Southern ocean beyond the Cape. 
Thus a great quantity of vapor is gathered, as it 
were, into a focus ; and as the same causes continue 
to operate during the progress of the sun northward, 
a vast train of clouds proceeds from south to north, 
which is sometimes extended much farther than at 
other times. — In April all the rivers in the south of 
Abyssinia begin to swell, and greatly augment the 
Nile, which is further enlarged by the vast quantity 
of water poured into the lake Tzana. In the begin- 
ning of June the rivers are all full, and continue so 
while the sun remains stationary in the tropic of 
Cancer. This excessive rain, which would sweep 
off the whole soil of Egypt into the sea, were it to 
continue without intermission, begins to abate as the 
sun turns southward ; and on his arrival at the ze- 
nith of each place, on his passage towards that quar- 
ter, they cease entirely. Immediately after the sun 
has passed the line, he begins the rainy season to the 
southward.. There are three remarkable appear- 
ances attending the inundation of the Nile. Every 
morning in Abyssinia is clear, and the sun shines. 
About nine a small cloud, not above four feet broad, 
appears in the east, whirling violently round as if 
upon an axis ; but, arrived near the zenith, it first 
abates its motion, then loses its form, and extends 
itself greatly, and seems to call up vapors from all 
the opposite quarters. These clouds, having attained 
nearly the same height, rush against each other with 
great violence. The air, impelled before the heavi- 
est mass, or swiftest mover, makes an impression of 
its form on the collection of clouds opposite ; and 
the moment it has taken possession of the space 
made to receive it, the most violent thunder possible 
to be conceived instantly follows, with rain : after 
some hours the sky again clears, with a wind at 
north, and is always disagreeably cold when the ther- 
mometer is below s:^i.y-three degrees. The second 
thing remarkable is the variation of the thermome- 
ter. When the sun is in the southern tropic, thirty- 
six degrees distant from the zenith of Gondar, it is 
seldom lower than seventy-two degrees ; but it falls 
to sixty degrees, and sixty-three degrees, when the 
sun is immediately vertical ; so happily does the ap- 
proach of rain compensate the heat of a too scorch- 
ing sun. The third is that remarkable stop in the 
extent of the rain northward, when the sun, that has 
conducted the vapors from the line, and should 
seem now more than ever to be in possession of 
them, is here overruled suddenly ; till, on his return 
to Gorri, again it resumes the absolute command 
over the rain, and reconducts it to the line, to fur- 
nish distant deluges to the southward. The river, 
passing through the kingdom of Sennaar, the soil of 
which is a red bole, becomes colored with that 
earth ; and this mixture, along with the moving 
sand of the deserts, of which it receives a great 
quantity when raised by the wind, precipitates all 
the viscous and putrid matters which float in the 
waters ; whence Dr. Pococke judiciously observes, 
that the Nile is not wholesome when the water is 
clear and green, but when so red and turbid that it 
stains the water of the Mediterranean." 

The following account is from father Vansleb, 
whose remarks were made at Cairo : — 

" This is remarkable of Nilus : (1.) That it begin? 



to increase and decrease on a certain day precisely 
(2.) That when it first increased! it grows green. 
(3.) That afterwards it appears red ; and (4.) That 
it changeth its channel sometimes. The day in 
which it begins to increase is yearly' the twelfth day 
of June, on which day they observe the feast of St. 
Michael the archangel :— on this day the drops fall. 
Now these drops are nothing else, according to the 
judgment of the inhabitants, but the mercies and 
blessings of God. As soon as this dew is fallen, the 
water begins to be corrupt, and assumes a greenish 
color; this color increases more and more, till the 
river appears as a lake covered a'.', over with moss. 
This color is to be seen not only in its great chan- 
nel, but also in all the ponds and branches that come 
from thence : only the cisterns keep the water pure. 
Some years this green color continues about twenty 
days, and sometimes more, but never above forty. 
The Egyptians call this time, when the river is 
green, it chad raviat, for they suffer much, because 
the water is corrupt, without taste, and unwhole- 
some ; and good water is very rare. As soon as the 
green color is gone, the river Nilus begins to be- 
come red, and very muddy : it is then no doubt but 
the fermentation is passed, and that the waters of 
Ethiopia are arrived in Egypt, which are of that 
color, because of the red earth which the furious 
torrents from the mountains carry into the river ; for 
it is not possible that the land of Egypt, which is 
very black, should give it that color. In the year 
1673, in the beginning of July, the water began to 
be red, and so continued till the end of December 
the time when the river returns to its ordinary di- 
mensions. The Egyptians believe that the river 
Nilus decreaseth also at a certain day, Sept. 24. 

" The waters of this river cause an itch in the skin 
which troubles such as drink of them when the rivei 
increases. This itch is very small, and appears first 
about the arms, next upon the stomach, and spreads 
all about the body, which causeth a grievous pain. 
This itch comes not only upon such as drink of the 
river ; but such as drink of the waters of the cisterns 
filled with the river water. It lasts about six weeks. 
When the river runs over, it makes a great destruc- 
tion ; it carries away not only great pieces of the 
bank, but destroys sometimes towns and villages 
near to it." 

The prophet Nahum calls this river by the name 
of a sea, when describing the rampart of populous 
No, which, he says, "was the sea, and her wall was 
from the sea." This may appear very extraordinary 
to British readers : but the account of Ibn Haukal, 
who uses the same phraseology, will justify it. He 
thus writes: (sir W. Ouseley's trans, p. 34.) "In 
this sea there are islands, to which one may pass in 
boats or vessels. Of these islands are Teneis and 
Damiat. In each of these, agriculture is practised, 
and cattle are kept : and the kind of clothes called 
rekia come from these places. " The waters of this 
sea are not very considerable, and vessels move on 
it by the help of men. . . . From the borders of this 
sea, to those of the sea of Syria, it is all sand." 

In these passages the mouths of the Nile, the lakes 
adjacent to them, the marshes, &c. appear to be 
called seas, in the Arabic ; as such collections of 
water also are in the Hebrew. 

" The Nile," says Ibn Haukal, (sir W. Ouseley's 
trans, p. 31.) "produces crocodiles, and the fish 
sekenkour : and there is also a species of fish called 
raadah, which if any person take in his hand while it 
is alive, that person will be affected by a trembling 



NIM 



[ 705 ] 



N I N 



of his body : when dead this fish resembles other 
fishes. The crocodile's skin is so hard, that it resists 
the blows of all weapons when stricken on the back: 
they therefore wound him under the arm-pits and 
between the thighs. The sekenkour is a species of 
that fish, (the crocodile,) but the crocodile has hands 
and feet : and they use the sekenkour in medicinal 
and culinary preparations." 

It deserves notice that the crocodile is here reck- 
oned a fish, though it is, as we well know, a lizard ; 
and the sekenkour, or skinkore, or slunk, of Euro- 
pean naturalists, is referred to *the same genus, that 
is, of fishes, though that also is a lizard, is amphibi- 
ous, and is found in various countries of the East. 
It appears that the ancient Hebrews also included 
lizards in the division of Tannim, which comprised 
not only fishes but amphibia; creatures using the 
water, generally ; and even serpents. The crocodile, 
therefore, being called a fish by this Arab writer, we 
need not hesitate to admit the same idea among the 
learned Hebrews. 

NIMRAH, Beth-Nimrah, house of limpid ivaters, 
and Nimrim, a city of Gad, or rather of Reuben, east 
of the Dead sea, Numb, xxxii. 3. Jeremiah (xlviii. 
34.) speaks of Nimrim and its pleasant waters ; Isa- 
iah (xv. 6.) also mentions the waters of Nimrim. 
[Burckhardt mentions the ruins of Nimrin, probably 
the same as the ancient Nimrah, or Nimrim, as 
oeing on the eastern side of the Dead sea, towards 
its northern part. (Trav. in Syria, &c. p. 391.) *R. 

NIMROD, son of Cush, " and a mighty hunter 
before the Lord," Gen. x. 8, 9. He was the first who 
began to monopolize power on the earth, and gave 
occasion to the proverb, " Like Nimrod, the great 
hunter before the Lord." His hunting was not only 
of wild beasts, but also to subdue men, to reduce 
them under his dominion. Ezekiel (xxxii. 30. Vulg.) 
gives the name of hunters to all tyrants. The foun- 
dation of the empire of Nimrod was at Babylon ; 
and, very probably, he was among the most eager 
undertakers of the tower of Babel. He built Baby- 
lon at, or near, that famous tower, and from thence 
he extended his dominion over the neighboring 
countries, and Erech, Accad and Calneh, in the land 
of Shinar. Moses adds, according to the English 
version : " Out of that land went forth Ashur, and 
builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, 
and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah ; the same 
is a great city." This Bochart and others under- 
stand still of Nimrod, and translate, "From this 
place he went out to go into Assyria, where he built 
Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen ; " that is, 
when Nimrod had established the beginning of his 
empire at Babylon, and in the land of Shinar, he 
advanced towards Assyria, where he built powerful 
cities, as so many fortresses, to keep the people in 
subjection. Comp. Assyria, p. 113, col. 2. 

Many interpreters regard Nimrod as the same 
with Belus, founder of the kingdom of Babylon, and 
with Ninus, founder of that of Nineveh. (See As- 
syria, p. 113, Babylonia, p. 138.) Profane authors 
have embellished the history of Bacchus with several 
circumstances taken from that of Nimrod. The 
name Nebrodeus, or Nebrodus, given to Bacchus, 
is perhaps derived from Nembrod, or Nimrod, 
though the Greeks derive it from a goat-skin, with 
which they pretend Bacchus was clothed. The 
name Bacchus may also be derived from Bar-chus, 
"son of Cush ;" because Nimrod was indeed the 
son of Cush. The Greeks gave to Bacchus the name 
of hunter, just as Moses gives it to Nimrod. The 
89 



expeditions of Bacchus into the Indies are formed 
on the wars of Nimrod in Babylonia and Assyria. 
To Nimrod is imputed the invention of idolatrous 
worship paid to men. 

NINEVEH, the capital of Assyria, was founded 
by Ashur, son of Shem ; or more probably by Nim- 
rod, son of Cush ; for in Gen. x. 11, Moses seems 
to refer to Nimrod, mentioned above. However 
this may be, Nineveh was one of the most ancient, 
famous, potent and extensive cities of the world. 
It is very difficult to assign the time of its founda- 
tion ; but it cannot have been long after the building 
of Babel. It stood on the banks of the Tigris ; and 
in the time of the prophet Jonah, who was sent 
thither under Jeroboam the second, king of Israel, 
and, as Calmet judges, under the reign of Pul, father 
of Sardanapalus, king of Assyria ; its circuit was 
three days' journey. Diodorus Siculus says, it was 
150 stadia in length, 90 stadia in breadth, and 480 
stadia in circuit ; that is, about seven leagues long, 
three leagues broad, and eighteen leagues round. 
Its walls were a hundred feet high, and so broad, 
that three chariots could drive abreast upon them. 
Its towers, of which there were fifteen hundred, 
were each two hundred feet high. 

Some place It on the west, others on the east, banp 
of the Tigris. At the time of Jonah's mission, (Jo 
nab. iv. 11.) it was reckoned to contain more thai 
120,000 persons, " who could not distinguish theb 
right hand from their left ;" that is, young children 
By this computation, there ought to have been the» 
in Nineveh more than 600,000 persons. 

Nineveh, which had long been mistress of the East 
was first taken by Arbaces and Belesis, under thi 
reign of Sardanapalus, in the time of Ahaz, king oi 
Judah, about the time of the foundation of Rome 
A. M. 3257. It was taken a second time by Cyaxare 
and Nabopolassar, from Chinaladin, king of Assyris 
A. M. 3378, after which it no more recovered its 
former splendor. It was entirely ruined in th< 
time of Lucian of Samosata, who lived under tlvj 
emperor Adrian. It was rebuilt under the Persians, 
but was destroyed by the Saracens about the seventh 
century. 

Profane histories say, that Ninus founded Nine- 
veh. The sacred authors make frequent mention of 
Nineveh and its kings, Tiglath-pileser, Sennacherib, 
Shalmanezar, and Esar-haddon. Tobit lived in 
this city. Nahum and Zephaniah foretold its ruin 
in a very particular and pathetic manner, which 
Tobit repeated. The behavior of Jonah at Nine- 
veh is well known ; with the signal repentance of 
the Ninevites ; which is even commended in the 
gospel, Matt. xi. 41 ; Luke xi. 32. 

Several writers are of opinion that the ruins on 
the eastern bank of the Tigris, opposite to the town 
of Mosul, point out the site of the ancient Nineveh. 
Mr. Rich, who was resident at Bagdad, describes on 
this spot an enclosure of a rectangular form, corre- 
sponding with the cardinal points of the compass, but 
the area of which is too small to have contained a 
larger town than Mosul. The boundary of this en- 
closure, which he supposes to answer to the palace of 
Nineveh, may be perfectly traced all around, and 
looks like an embankment of earth or rubbish, of 
small elevation ; and has attached to it, and in its 
line, at several places, mounds of greater size and 
solidity. The first of these forms the south-west 
angle ; and on it is built the village of Nebbi Yunus, 
where they show the tomb of the prophet Jonas. 
The next, and largest of all, is the one which Mr 



N O A 



[ ™6 ] 



NOAH 



Rich supposes to be the monument of Ninus,. and is 
situated near the centre of the western face of the 
enclosure, being joined like the others by the boun- 
dary wall ; the natives call it Koyunjuk Tepe. Its 
form is that of a truncated pyramid, with regular 
steep sides and a flat top ; and is composed of stones 
and earth, the latter predominating sufficiently to ad- 
mit of the summit being cultivated by the inhabitants 
of the village of Koyunjuk, which is built on it at 
the north-east extremity. The measurements of this 
mound were 178 feet for the greatest height, 1850 
feet the length of the summit east and west, and 1147 
for its breadth north and south. Out of a mound in 
the north face of the boundary was dug, sonic time 
since, an immense block of stone, on which were 
sculptured the figures of men and animals. So re- 
markable was this fragment of antiquity, that even 
Turkish apathy was roused, and the pacha and most 
of the principal people of Mosul came oiit to see it. 
One of the spectators particularly recollected among 
the sculptures of this stone, the figure of a man on 
horseback, with a long lance in his hand, followed by 
a great many others on loot. These ruins seem to 
attest the former existence of some extensive build- 
ings on the spot, but whether belonging to the ancient 
Nineveh will admit of considerable doubt. 

NISAN, a Hebrew month, partly answering to our 
March ; and which sometimes takes from February 
or April, according to the course of the moon. It 
was the seventh month of the civil year; but was 
made the first month of the sacred year, at the com- 
ing out of Egypt, Exod. xii. 2. In Moses it is called 
Abib. The name Nisan is only since the time of 
Ezra, and the return from the captivity of Babylon. 
See the Jewish Calendar, and Months. 

NISROCH, or Nesroch, a god of the Assyrians, 
2 Kings xix. 37. The LXX call him Nesrach ; Jo- 
sephus, Araskes ; and the Hebrew of Tobit, publish- 
ed by Munster, Dagon. [According to the etymology, 
the name would signify eagle. Among the ancient 
Arabs, also, the eagle occurs as an idol. (See Gese- 
nius, Heb. Lex.) R. 

NITRE, a sort of salt, or of salt-petre, a mineral al- 
kali, common in Palestine, Arabia and Egypt. The 
Hebrews call it Nether, and use this word to express 
a salt proper to take spots out of cloth, and even from 
the face. The wise man says, (Prov. xxv. 20.) "As 
he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and 
as vinegar upon nitre ; so is he that singeth songs to 
a heavy heart." That is, he makes bad worse who 
deprives the shivering wretch of a garment in cold 
weather ; so doth he who singeth songs to a heavy 
heart : vinegar poured on nitre makes a great ebul- 
lition ; merriment, jollity and song are equally out 
of time, unsoothing, unsuitable to a mind overwhelm- 
ed with profound grief. Jeremiah, speaking to his 
people under the image of a faithless and abandoned 
spouse, says, " Though thou wash thee with nitre, 
and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is mark- 
ed before me, saith the Lord God." Thou art too 
much polluted in my eyes ever to be made clean. 
This passage proves the use of nitre, to purify from 
outward spots and blemishes. The nitre common 
among us, from which gunpowder is made, is appa- 
rently not the nitre of the Scriptures ; it is nearer, we 
believe, to sal-ammoniac. 

NO, or No-Ammon, a city of Egypt. See Ammon I. 

NOACHID^E, a name given to the children of 
Noah, and in general, to all men not of the chosen 
race of Abraham. 

NOAH, repose, or rest, son of Lamech, was born 



A. M. 105G. Amidst the general corruption of man- 
kind, he found favor in the eyes of the Lord, and 
received a divine command, to build an ark for the 
saving of his house from the general deluge which 
the Lord was about to bring upon the earth. (See 
Ark, and Deluge.) After having left the ark, Noah 
offered as a burnt-sacrifice to the Lord one of all the 
pure animals that had been preserved. His sacrifice 
was accepted, and the Lord promised to bring no 
more a deluge over the earth ; of which promise the 
sign he gave to Noah was the rainbow. 

Noah, being a husb*nidman, cultivated the vine ; 
and having unwarily intoxicated himself by drinking 
of wine, he fell asleep in his tent. Ham, the father 
of Canaan, discovering him in this condition, made 
sport of him, and jeered with his two brothers; who 
going backwards, covered their father's nakedness, 
by throwing a mantle over him. Noah awaking, and 
knowing what Ham had done, foretold the doom of 
slavery to Canaan and his posterity ; while he bless- 
ed his other sons. 

Noah lived after the deluge 350 years ; his whole 
life being 950 years. He died A. M. 2006, leaving 
three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, (see their arti- 
cles,) among whom, according to the common opin- 
ion, he divided the whole world, giving to Shem 
Asia, to Ham Africa, and to Japheth Europe. 

Peter calls Noah a preacher of righteousness, (2 
Pet. ii. 5.) because, before the deluge, he was inces- 
santly declaring, not only by his discourses, but by 
his unblamable life, and by building the ark, in which 
he was employed 120 years, the coming of the wrath 
of God, Matt. xxiv. 37. The passage in 1 Pet. iii. 18 
— 20, has been the theme of much controversy. 
Several of the ancient fathers took the words literal- 
ly ; as if Christ after his death had really preached 
to those men, who before the deluge were disobedi- 
ent to the preaching of Noah. Others, by prison, 
understand the body, which is, as it were, the prison 
of the soul. Others, that Christ, by his Spirit, with 
which Noah was replenished, preached by the mouth 
of that patriarch to the unbelievers before the deluge, 
whose souls were then in the prison of the body ; 
but at the time when Peter wrote, were in the prison 
of hell. The last interpretation seems to be the most 
natural. It is certain, that the term "he went and 
preached," may signify only "he preached;" as in 
Eph. ii. 15, "he came and preached peace to you who 
were afar off, — not in person ; but by his agents, his 
apostles. In this sense Noah, in his day, was an 
agent of Christ, being actuated by his Spirit. It is 
probable, that as fallen angels are described as being 
held in chains of darkness, unto judgment, so diso- 
bedient human spirits may be described as being in 
prison, that is, reserved to future judgment. (Comp. 
Job xxvi. 5. as usually understood.) 

Several learned men have observed, that the pa- 
gans confounded Saturn, Deucalion, Ogyges, the god 
Ccelus or Uranus, Janus, Proteus, Prometheus, Ver- 
tumnus, Bacchus, Osiris, Vadimon, and Xisuthrus, 
with Noah. See Are, p. 95. 

The fable of Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha, is 
manifestly derived from the history of Noah. Deu 
calion, by the advice of his father, built an ark, or 
vessel of wood, in which he stored all sorts of pro- 
visions necessary for life, and entered it with his wife 
Pyrrha; to secure themselves from a deluge, that 
drowned nearly all Greece. All the people almost 
of this country were destroyed, none escaped but 
those who took refuge on the tops of the highest 
mountains. When the flood was over, Deucalion 



NOP 



NOT 



came out of his ark, and found himself on mount 
Parnassus. There he offered sacrifices to Jupiter, 
who sent Mercury to him to know what he desired. 
He requested that he might become the restorer of 
mankind, which Jupiter granted to him. He and 
Pyrrha were ordered to cast stones behind them, 
which immediately became so many men and wo- 
men. The name Nuraito, given to the wife of Noah 
by the Syro-Chaldee, is derived from the Syriac, ntu, 
which signifies fire; hence Pyrrha (fire) is, by the 
Greeks, said to have been the name o the wife of 
Deucalion ; and so far the Grecian story rests on au- 
thority more oriental than itself. Epiphanius has a 
reference to this derivation : he calls her " Noria, 
said to be the wife of Noah, whose name is, by inter- 
pretation, Pyrrha." There is also, much allegory 
couched under the names of Deucalion's father, Pro- 
metheus, (foresight,) by whom she was advised to 
build a vessel, and Pyrrha's father, Epimetheus, 
whose wife was Pandora, accomplished by gifts from 
all the gods, with her box of evils, in which, when 
opened, remained only Hope, &c. 

NOB, a sacerdotal city of Benjamin or Ephraim, 
not far from Diospolis. When David was driven 
away by Saul, he came to Nob, the priests of which 
city were slain by Saul, 1 Sam. xxii. 9, &c. ; xxi. 
6, &c. 

NOBLEMAN, John iv. 46. This was probably 
an officer of Herod's court, and of considerable dis- 
tinction ; not an hereditary nobleman. The word 
fiantXixo; signifies a servant of the king ; as the Syriac 
and Arabic versions render it. Many have conjec- 
tured that this nobleman, or royal servant, was Chuza, 
Herod's steward, whose wife is thought to have been 
converted on this occasion, and afterwards to have 
become an attendant on Jesus, Luke viii. 3. 

NOD, vagabond, a country so called, whither Cain 
withdrew after his fratricide, Gen. iv. 16. Jerome 
and the Chaldee have taken the word Nod in the 
sense of an appellative, a vagabond, or fugitive. 

NOON, the middle time of the day, when the sun 
is highest in his daily course ; in modern language, 
when he is direct south, on the meridian of any place, 
1 Kings xviii. 27 ; Ps. Iv. 17. This time of the day 
being the brightest, is made a subject of comparison 
in several places of Scripture, Job v. 14 ; Ps. xxxvii. 
6. The apostle Paul says, the brightness in which 
he beheld the Lord Jesus, was superior to that of the 
sun at noon, Acts xxvi. 13. 

NOPH, a city of Egypt, (Isa. xix. 13 ; Jer. ii. 16 ; 
xliv. 1 ; xlvi. 14 ; Ezek. xxx. 13, 16.) generally be- 
lieved to have been the same with Moph, the Menouf 
of the Copts and Arabs, that is, Memphis. Memphis 
is the Greek form of the Egyptian name, which, ac- 
cording to Plutarch, signifies the port of the good; it 
was therefore a compound word, men being an affix, 
and nouf, or noph, being the distinguishing appellative. 
It is sometimes found with the article prefixed, in 
the form of Panouph, that is, Pi-JVoif. JVouf, as 
Mr. Conder remarks, is evidently no other than the 
god Xiovipig, the ' Ayu&oSaiauiv of the Egyptian Pan- 
theon. 

The situation of Memphis, formerly the capital of 
Egypt, has been a subject of considerable dispute, 
and has afforded materials for long and laborious in- 
vestigation by the learned. Sicard and Shaw fix its 
site at Djezeh, or Gizeh, directly opposite to Old 
Cairo. This opinion, however, has been controvert- 
ed by Pococke, D'Anville, Niebuhr, and other writ- 
ers and travellers, who place Memphis more in the 
direction of Metrahery, about 15 miles farther south, 



on the bank of the Nile, at the entrance of the plain 
of mummies, at the north of which the pyramids are 
placed. (See Bruce's Travels; the Fragments to 
Calmet, No. 546; and the Modern Traveller, Egypt, 
vol. i. p. 339—352, Engl. ed. Rosenmiiller, Bibl. 
Geog. hi. 290.) 

Memphis was the residence of the ancient kings 
of Egypt, till the times of the Ptolemies, who com- 
monly resided at Alexandria. The prophets, in the 
places above referred to, foretell the miseries Mem- 
phis was to suffer from the kings of Chaldea and 
Persia, and they threaten the Israelites who should 
retire into Egypt, or should have recourse to the 
Egyptians, that they should perish in that country. 
In this city they fed the ox Apis ; and Ezekiel says, 
that the Lord will destroy the idols of Memphis, 
chap. xxx. 13, 16. Memphis retained its splendor 
till it was conquered by the Arabians in the 18th or 
19th year of the Hegira, A. D. 641. Amrou-Ben-As, 
who took it, built another near it, which was called 
Fusthath, from the general's tent, which had long oc- 
cupied that place. The Fatimite caliphs, becoming 
masters of Egypt, added another city, which they 
named Caherah, " the victorious," the present Grand 
Cairo, which is built on the eastern shore of the 
Nile. 

NORTH. As it was customary for the Hebrews 
to consider the cardinal points of the heavens in ref- 
erence to a man whose face was turned toward the 
east, the north Was consequently to his left hand. 
The north wind dissipates rain, (Prov. xxv. 23.) but 
this must depend on the situation of a place ; as in 
different places the same wind has different effects. 

NOSE. The Hebrews commonly place the seat of 
anger in the nose ; since the effect of anger is often 
hard breathing, and in animals, snorting. " There 
went up a smoke out of his nostrils," 2 Sam. xxii. 9; 
Ps. xviii. 8. "The anger of the Lord and his jeal- 
ousy shall smoke against that man," Deut. xxix. 20. 
" Out of his nostrils goeth smoke," Job xli. 21. The 
ancient Greek and Latin authors speak much after 
the same manner. 

Solomon alludes to the custom of women wearing 
golden rings in their nostrils, when he says, (Prov. 
xi. 22.) " As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a 
fair woman without discretion." And Ezekiel, (xvi. 
12.) " I will put a jewel on thy forehead, [Heb. nose,] 
and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown 
upon thine head." They also put rings in the nos- 
trils of oxen and camels, to guide them by: "I will 
put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips," 
2 Kings xix. 28. (See also Job xli. 2.) 

NOTHING is sometimes put in opposition to body, 
solidity, or mass. It is also put for vacuity, and for 
what is not sensible. Job says, (xxvi. 7.) " he stretch- 
eth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth 
the earth upon nothing," upon the vacuum. Isaiah 
says, (xl. 22. Vulg.) " God spreads out the heavens as 
nothing ;" he extends them in the air in invisible 
space. The wise man says, (Wisd. ii. 2. Vulg.) We 
are born of nothing, and in some sense shall return 
to nothing again. We shall disappear from the face 
of the earth, as if we had never been there. And 
Isaiah says, (xli. 24.) "Behold ye are of nothing, and 
your works of nought ; an abomination is he that 
chooseth you." 

Idols are often called nothings, non-entities. " Ye 
which rejoice in a thing of nought," Amos vi. 13. 
And Esther, (Apoc. xiv. 11.) "O Lord, give not thy 
sceptre unto them that he nothing ;" deVver not over 
thy people to those gods that are nothing. Paul says, 



NUM 



[ 708 ] 



N U N 



' We know that an idol is nothing in the world," 1 
Cor. viii. 4. To bring to nothing is to exterminate, 
to destroy; utterly to root out any thing. 

NOVICE, or Neophyte, newly sown, or planted, a 
name given to new converts to Christianity, or to 
those newly baptized. Paul advises (1 Tim. iii. 6.) 
that a novice should not be made a bishop, "lest, be- 
ing lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation 
of the devil." As Lucifer, being puffed up with 
those eminent qualities he possessed, became proud 
and insolent, and was therefore precipitated into hell, 
so a man who finds himself suddenly exalted in dig- 
nity, easily flatters himself, and conceits that he has 
more real worth than others ; that, there is great oc- 
casion for his services, &c. Hence arise presump- 
tion and pride, and then follows the judgment of God, 
who always humbles the proud. The term Neo- 
phyte continued to be used among the primitive 
Christians during several ages, as appears from the 
tombstones of children, &c. who died when recent- 
ly baptized. 

NUMBERS, the book or, is the third of the Pen- 
tateuch. The Hebrews call it -q-pi, Vaycdabber, (and 



he spoke,) because in the Hebrew it begins with these 
words. Some Jews call it -mcs, Bcmidbar, (in the 
desei-t,) because it includes the history of the Israel- 
ites' journeying in the wilderness. The Greeks, and r 
after them the Latins, call it the book of Numbers, 
because the first three chapters contain the number- 
ing of the Hebrews and Levites, which was perform- 
ed separately, after the erection and consecration of 
the tabernacle. 

The people, having departed from Sinai on the 
twentieth day of the second month of the second 
year after their coming out of Egypt, went to the 
wilderness of Paran, and thence to Kadesh, whence 
they sent spies to view the Land of Promise. At 
their return the people were discouraged ; for which 
God condemned them to die in the desert. And 
having journeyed thirty-nine years in the wilderness, 
they arrived at last at the plains of Moab, beyond 
Jordan. What happened during this interval, is re- 
corded in the book of Numbers. 

NUN, son of Elishamah, and father of Joshua, of 
the tribe of Ephraim. The Greeks give him the 
name, of Nave, instead of Nun. 



o 



OAK 

OAK. The religious veneration paid to this tree, 
by the original natives of Britain, in the time of the 
Druids, is well known to every reader of English 
history. We have reason to think that this ven- 
eration was brought from the East; and that the 
Druids did no more than transfer the sentiments their 
progenitors had received in oriental countries. It 
would appear that the patriarch Abraham resided 
under an oak, or a grove of oaks, which our transla- 
tors render the plain of Mamre ; and that he planted 
a grove of this tree, Gen. xxi. 23. In fact, since in 
hot countries nothing is more desirable, or more re- 
freshing, than the shade of a tree, we may easily sup- 
pose the inhabitants would resort for such enjoyment to 

Where'er the oak's thick branches spread 
A deeper, darker shade. 

Oaks, and groves of oaks, were esteemed proper 
places for religious services ; altars were set up under 
them, (Josh. xxiv. 26.) and probably, in the East, as 
well as in the West, appointments to meet at con- 
spicuous oaks were made, and many affairs transact- 
ed, or treated of, under their shade, as we read in 
Homer, Theocritus, and other poets. 

It was common among the Hebrews to sit under 
)aks, Judg. vi. 11 ; 1 Kings xiii. 14. Jacob buried 
idolatrous images under an oak, (Gen. xxxv. 4.) and 
Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, was buried under one of 
these trees, chap. xxxv. 8 ; 1 Chron. x. 12. Abime- 
lech was made king under an oak, Judg. ix. 6. Idol- 
atry was practised under oaks, Isa. i. 29 ; Ivii. 5 ; 
Hosea iv. 13. Idols were made of oaks, Isa. xliv. 14. 

There are several kinds of oak in the East, as Tour- 
nefort observes : one of which he calls "the fairest 
species of oak in the world;" and describes it as 
growing in the isle of Zia. He says also, of Anatolia, 
(vol. iii. p. 268.) "Beside the common oaks, and that 
which bears the Velanede, we saw several other kinds 
in the valleys." It is very reasonable to suppose that 
more than one kind is mentioned in Scripture. 



OAT 

pSx, Alvn is tne general name for oak, the mention 
of which occurs frequently; the Chaldee j^n, Allen, 
seems also to be a species of oak, Dan. iv. 7, &c. 
[The word nSs, rendered oak in our version, is proper- 
ly terebinth, Gen. xxxv. 4; Judg. vi. 11, 19. See 
Terebinth. R. 

The famous oracle of Dodona stood among oaks; 
which tree was sacred to Jupiter, who often on med- 
als, &c. wears an oaken garland : sacra Jovi Quercus. 

OATH, a solemn affirmation, accompanied by an 
appeal to the Supreme Being. God has prohibited 
all false oaths, and all useless and customary swear- 
ing in ordinary discourse ; but when the necessity 
or importance of a matter requires an oath, he allows 
to swear by his name. 

Among the Hebrews an oath was administered by 
the judge, who stood up, and adjured the party, who 
was to be sworn. To this mode of administering an 
oath Moses alludes, when he says, (Lev. v. 1.) "If a 
person sin, hearing the voice of swearing, that is, of 
adjuration, being called on to witness, whether he 
hath seen or known of the transaction then in judg- 
ment," &c. And this we take to be the true import 
of Prov. xxix. 24, "Whoso is partner, accomplice, 
even after the fact, with a thief, hateth his own soul : 
he heareth the voice of cursing, that is, the adjura- 
tion by the judge, when inquiry is making after the 
truth of a fact, but does not discover his knowledge 
of the matter :" consequently, he is guilty of perjury. 
(See 1 Kings viii. 31 ; 2 Chron. vi. 22.) In this man- 
ner our Lord was adjured by Caiaphas, Matt. xxvi. 
63. Jesus had remained silent under long examina- 
tion, when the high-priest rising up, knowing he had 
a sure mode of obtaining an answer, said, "I adjure 
thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether 
thou be the Christ," &c. To this oath, thus solemn- 
ly administered, Jesus confessed a good confession. 
That the high-priests had this power, see Exod. xxii. 
11 ; Lev. v. 1 ; Prov. xxix. 24 ; xxx. 9. Probably, 
they might thus interfere only on occasions of some 



OATH 



OATH 



moment, and when the most solemn kind of oath 
was necessary. 

An oath is a solemn appeal to God, as to an all- 
seeing witness, and an almighty avenger, if what we 
say be false, Heb. vi. 16. It is an act of religious 
worship ; whence God requires it to be done in his 
name, (Deut. x. 20.) and points out the manner in 
which it ought to be administered, and the duty of the 
person who swears, Ps. xv. 4; xxiv. 4; Jer. iv. 2. 
An oath in itself is not unlawful, either as it is a re- 
ligious act, or as God is called on to witness. See 
Covenant. 

God himself is represented as confirming his prom- 
ise by oath, (Heb. vi. 13.) and thus conforming him- 
self to what is practised among men, chap. v. 16, 17. 
The oaths forbidden (Matt. v. 34, 35; Jam. v. 12.) 
refer only to the unthinking, hasty and vicious prac- 
tices of the Jews ; otherwise, Paul would have acted 
against the command of Christ, Rom. i. 9 ; 2 Cor. i. 
23. Neither atheists nor Epicureans, who deny, the 
former the being, the latter the providence, of God, 
can take an oath administered, and be bound by it, 
from the very form of an oath, which declares the 
omniscience and primitive justice of God. That per- 
son is obliged to take an oath, whose duty requires 
him to profess the truth. As we are bound to mani- 
fest every possible degree of reverence towards God, 
the greatest care is to be taken that we swear neither 
rashly nor negligently in making promises. To neg- 
lect performance is perjury; unless the promise be 
contrary to the law of nature ; in which case no oath 
is binding. A person is guilty of perjury who takes 
an oath in a sense different from that in which it is 
(lawfully) tendered: such simulation and dissimula- 
tion, or mental reservation, is contrary to the law of 
nature, because a violation of duty. To swear by a 
creature is simply unlawful, from the nature of an 
oath, which implies omniscience and omnipotence in 
the party appealed to, and sworn by, perfections in- 
competent to any creature. 

We find Joseph using an extraordinary kind of 
oath, as it appears to us ; (Gen. xlii. 15.) " As Pharaoh 
liveth," or, by the life of Pharaoh. This custom of 
swearing by the king still continues in the East. The 
most sacred oath among the Persians is " by the king's 
head," says Hanway, (Trav. vol. i. p. 313.) and 
among other instances of it, we read in the Travels 
of the Ambassadors, (p. 204.) "There were but sixty 
horses for ninety-four persons. The Mehemander 
(or conductor) swore by the head of the king (which 
is the greatest oath among the Persians) that he could 
not possibly find any more." And Thenevot says, 
(Trav. p. 97, part ii.) "His subjects never look upon 
him but with fear and trembling, and they have such 
respect for him, and pay so blind an obedience to all 
his orders, that how unjust soever his commands 
might be, they perform them, though against law 
both of God and nature. Nay, if they swear by the 
king's head, their oath is more authentic, and of 
greater credit, than if they swore by all that is most 
sacred in heaven and upon earth." These instances 
seem allied to that very common oath to Scripture, 
"As the Lord liveth:" and it should seem, that as 
this oath could not be taken without naming the 
name of God, which the later Jews regarded as a 
profanation, that they gradually introduced the cus- 
tom of swearing'(not judicially) by sacred things, as 
heaven, the temple, the gold of the temple, the altar, 
&c. all which our Lord forbids, and refers oaths to 
the great object of swearing, God ; or, if the subject 
in debate be too trivial to call upon God about, then 



swear not at all ; use no subterfuge, no lesser oath, 
but either affirm, or deny, simply. 

Our Lord further says, thou shalt not swear by thy 
head, as some we see are accustomed to do by the 
king's head. The apostle Paid observes, "men ver- 
ily swear by a greater than themselves ;" as those 
no doubt understood they did, who sware by the 
king. 

Grievous curses are promulgated against false 
swearers, and false oaths are among the greatest 
abominations before both God and man. (1.) That 
a person swear lawfully, he must swear by the Most 
High God, since only the Most High God can judge 
of the sincerity of his affirmation, which is the es- 
sence of an oath : to swear by any person or thing 
not omniscient to know, and omnipotent to remuner- 
ate, is to trifle with an oath. (2.) The veracity of an 
oath is its essence : to preserve this veracity we should 
swear only on due deliberation, only on actual knowl- 
edge, only agreeably to justice and equity : openly, 
candidly, with due circumspection, and if necessary, 
with due inquiry and explanation. (3.) The end of 
an oath is to glorify God, by acknowledging his attri 
butes of holiness, justice, truth, knowledge, &c. and 
to appease man, by determining controversy, cleat - 
ingthe innocent, satisfying oiir brethren, or discharg- 
ing our own consciences : and an oath should be " an 
end of all strife ! "■ — If such be the essence and nature 
of oaths, what apology shall be made for profane 
swearing? swearing without an object, and to no 
avail ; for who credits such asseverations beyond 
what they would credit simple assertion ? 

We have in Gen. xxi. 28. a curious account of a 
ceremony practised by Abraham, in respect to Abim- 
elech : "Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock 
by themselves, and Abimelech said to Abraham, 
What mean these seven ewe lambs, which thou hast 
set by themselves ? And he said, For these seven ewe 
lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be 
a witness unto me [in my behalf] that I have digged 
this well : wherefore he called that place Beersheba, 
because they there sware both of them. Thus they 
made a covenant at Beersheba."— Beersheba may sig- 
nify the well of the oath, or the well of the seven, 
Mr. Taylor inclines to the latter signification, from 
having read the following, in Bruce's Travels : — 

"All that is right, Shekh, said I ; but suppose your 
people rn^et us in the desert, in going to Cosseir, or 
otherwise, how should we fare in (hat case? Should 
we fight? — I have told you, Shekh, already, says he, 
cursed be the man who lifts his hand against you, or 
even does not defend and befriend you to his own 
loss, even were it Ibrahim, my own son." Then, 
after some conversation — "The old man muttered 
something to his sons, in a dialect I did not then un- 
derstand ; it was that of the shepherds of Suakem ; 
and a little after, the whole hut was filled with peo- 
ple. These were priests and monks of their religion, 
and the heads of families ; so that the house could not 
contain half of them. The great people among them 
came, and, after joining hands, repeated a kind of 
prayer of about two minutes long ; [this kind of oath 
was in use among the Arabs, or shepherds, as early 
as the time of Abraham, Gen. xxi. 22, 23 ; xxvi. 28.] 
by which they declared themselves and their children 
accursed, if ever they lifted their hands against me, 
in the tell, [or field,] in the desert, or on the river ; 
or, in case that I, or mine, should fly to them for ref- 
uge, if they did not protect us, at the risk of their 
lives, their families, and their fortunes, or, as they 
emphatically expressed it, ' to the death of the last 



OATH 



[ 710 ] 



OBS 



male child among them.' (See 1 Sam. xxv. 22 ; 1 
Kings xiv. 10 ; xvi. 11 ; xxi. 21 ; 2 Kings ix. 8.) 
Medicines and advice being given on my part, faith 
and protection pledged on theirs, two bushels of 
wheat and seven sheep were carried down to the 
boat; nor could we decline their kindness ; as refus- 
ing a present in that country is just as great an affront 
as coming into the presence of a superior without 
any present at all," Gen. xxxiii. 10, 11 ; Mai. i. 20; 
Matt. viii. 11. 

There is a remarkable passage in Prov. xi. 21, thus 
rendered by our translators, " Though hand join in 
hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished ; but the 
seed of the righteous shall be delivered ; " i. e. though 
they make many associations, and oaths, and join 
hands among themselves, (as formed part of the cere- 
mony of swearing among these shepherds of Suakem,) 
yet they shall be punished. But Michae'lis proposes 
another sense of these words, " hand in hand " — my 
hand in your hand, i. e. as a token of swearing, "the 
wicked shall not go unpunished." — How far this 
sense of the passage is illustrated by the foregoing 
and the following extract, the reader will judge: 

"I cannot here help accusing myself of what, 
doubtless, may be well reputed a very great sin. I 
was so enraged at the traitorous part which Hassan 
had acted, that, at parting, I could not help saying to 
Ibrahim, 'Now, Shekh, I have done every thing you 
have desired, without ever expecting fee or reward ; 
the only thing I now ask you — and it is probably the 
last — is, that you avenge me upon this Hassan, who is 
every day in your power. Upon this, he gave me 
his hand, saying, He shall not die in his bed, or I 
shall never see old age." (Bruce's Travels, vol. i. 
p. 199.) 

We may remark further on this extract, that though 
Bruce's reflections do not applaud his conduct in this 
instance, yet it seems, in some sense, similar to the 
behavior of David, when he gave charge to his son, 
Solomon, to execute that justice upon Joab and Shi- 
mei, which he himself had been unable to do by 
reason of the vicissitudes of his life and kingdom ; 
and of the influence which Joab, the general, had in 
the army; but of which the pacific reign of Solomon 
would deprive him, 1 Kings ii. 6. 

Perhaps, also, this joining of hands may add a spirit 
to the passage, 2 Kings x. 15 : " Is thine heart right, 
as my heart is with thy heart? " says Jehu U> Jehona- 
dab ; " if it be, give me thine hand" — " And he (Jeho- 
nadab) gave him (Jehu) his hand;" i. e. in token of 
affirmation ; " and he (Jehu) took him (Jehonadab) up 
into his chariot." So, then, it was not as an assist- 
ance to enable Jehonadab to get into the chariot, that 
Jehu gave him his hand, but, on the contrary, Jehona- 
dab gave his hand to Jehu. This seems confirmed 
by verse 16, " So they made him (Jehonadab) ride 
in his (Jehu's) chariot." All these pronouns embar- 
rass our translation, but they were perfectly under- 
stood by those who knew the customs of their 
country. 

This sense of the passage is further confirmed by 
the following extracts from Ockley's History of the 
Saracens : — 

" Several [of the Mahometan chiefs] came to Ali, 
and desired him to accept the government. He re- 
solved not to accept of their allegiance in private ; for 
they proffered to give him their hands (the customary 
ceremony then in use among them, on such occasions) 
at his own house; but he would have it performed at 
the mosque. Telha and Zobein came, and offered him 
their hands, as a mark, or token, of their approbation. 



Ah bade them, if they did it, to be in good earnest, 
otherwise he would give his own hand to either of them 
that would accept of the government ; which they 
refused ; and gave him theirs." (Vol. i. p. 4.) Again 
(p. 36.) : — " Telha, being wounded in the leg, ordered 
his man to take him up behind him ; who conveyed 
him into a house in Bassora, where he died. But, 
just before, he saw one of Ali's men, and asked him 
if he belonged to the emperor of the faithful. Being 
informed that he did, Give nie then, said he, your hand, 
that I may put mine in it, and by this action renew 
the oath of fidelity, which I have already made to 
Ali." (See 1 Sam. xxii. 17 ; 1 Chron. xxix. 24, marg. 
or orig. ; Lam. v. 6 ; 2 Kings xiv. 5 ; xv. 19.) 

Whoever recollects the mode of swearing allegi- 
ance, or doing homage for provinces, anciently used 
between sovereigns and vassals, (as by the kings of 
England to those of France, while England held 
provinces in that country,) will find considerable re- 
semblance in it to this eastern usage. The vassal put 
both his hands into the hands of his sovereign, repeat- 
ing words to this effect : " Thus I do thee homage, 
for such or such a province," &c. After which he 
withdrew his hands. This was repeated according 
to the number of fiefs or provinces held. 

OBADIAH. There are several persons of this 
name mentioned in the Old Testament : it is only 
necessary, however, that we should notice the proph- 
et. It is not certain when he lived, but it is probable 
that he was contemporary with Jeremiah and Eze- 
kiel, who denounced the same dreadful judgments on 
the Edomites, as the punishment of their pride, vio- 
lence, and cruel insultings over the Jews, after the 
destruction of their city. The prophecy, according 
to Usher, was fulfilled about five years after the de- 
struction of Jerusalem. 

OBED-EDOM, son of Jeduthun, a Levite, 1 Chron. 
xvi. 38. He had a numerous family, (1 Chron. xxvi. 
4.) because the Lord blessed him. After the death of 
Uzzah, David, terrified at that accident, durst not re- 
move the ark into the apartment he had provided for 
it in his palace, but left it in the house of Obed-Edom, 
near the place where Uzzah was struck. The presence 
of the ark became a blessing to Obed-Edom, which 
encouraged David some months afterwards to remove 
it to the place he had appointed for it. Obed-Edom 
and his sons were assigned to the keeping of the doors 
of the temple, 1 Chron. xv. 18, 21. In 2 Sam. vi. 10, 
Obed-Edom is called the Gittite, probably, because 
he was of Gath Rimmon, a city of the Levites beyond 
Jordan, Josh. xxi. 24, 25. 

OBIL, an Ishmaelite, and master of the camels 
under David, 1 Chron. xxvii. 30. 

OBLATION, see Sacrifice. 

OBOTH, an encampment of the Hebrews in the 
wilderness of Arabia Petrsea. See Exodus. 

OBSCURE is put for adversity. (See Night, and 
Darkness.) An obscure, dark, or sad countenance is 
opposed to a serene and open one. Christ upbraids 
the Pharisees, that they had obscure or sad aspects 
(Matt. vi. 16, okvSqojttoi) when they fasted. AndNa- 
hum, (ii. 10.) speaking of the destruction of Nineveh, 
says, their faces were as black as a pot ; (Heb.) as if 
they had blacked their faces with soot. Some travel- 
lers affirm that, by way of mourning, the orientals 
daub their faces with the black of a kettle. Joel al- 
ludes to this custom : (chap. ii. 6.) " All faces shall gath- 
er blackness." [In these passages, however, the more 
appropriate translation is, "All faces shall withdraw 
their light," i. e. their cheerfulness, cheerful expres- 
sion ; all countenances shall become pale with fear; 



OFF 



[ 711 ] 



OFFERINGS 



just as it is said in the context that the stars shall 
withdraw their light. R. 

Obscure places denote the grave, (Ps. cxliii. 3.) 
" The enemy hath made me to dwell in darkness, as 
those who have been long dead." In Ps. lxxiv. 20, 
we read, " The dark places of the earth are full of the 
habitations of cruelty," which some understand of the 
obscure places of prisons, in which tyrants often keep 
the weak and unfortunate ; because the obscure of 
the earth, the poor Israelites, are reduced to captivity 
in the houses of the Babylonians. 

In great calamities, the sun is said to be obscured, 
and the moon to be covered with darkness, Matt. xxiv. 
29 ; Luke xxiii. 45. (See also Nah. iii. 19 ; Jer. xiv. 2.) 

Obscurity of the heart and mind, is put for the wil- 
ful ignorance and hardness of the Jews, Rom. i. 21 ; 
Eph. iv. 18. 

ODED, a prophet of the Lord, (2 Chron. xxviii. 9.) 
who, being at Samaria, when the Israelites returned 
from the war against Judah, with their king Pekah, 
and brought 200,000 captives, wenttomeet them, and 
remonstrated effectually with them ; so that the 
principal men in Samaria took care of them, gave 
them clothes, food, and other assistances, with horses, 
because the greater part of them were exhausted, and 
unable to walk. Thus they conducted them to Jeri- 
cho, on the confines of Judah. 

OFFENCE may be either active or passive. We 
may give offence by our conduct, or we may receive 
offence from the conduct of others. We should be 
very careful to avoid giving just cause of offence, that 
we may not prove impediments to others in their re- 
ception of the truth, in their progress in sanctification, 
in their peace of mind, or in their general course 
toward heaven. We should abridge or deny our- 
selves in some things, rather than, by exercising our 
liberty to the utmost, give uneasiness to Christians 
weaker in mind, or weaker in the faith, than ourselves, 
1 Cor. x. 32. On the other hand, we should not take 
offence without ample cause ; but endeavor, by our 
exercise of charity, and perhaps by our increase of 
knowledge, to think favorably of what is dubious, as 
well as honorably of what is laudable. 

It was foretold of the Messiah, that he should be 
" a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence." Per- 
haps predictions of this kind are among the most 
valuable which Providence has preserved to us ; as 
we see by them, that we ought not to be discouraged 
because the Jews, the natural people of the Messiah, 
rejected him, and still reject him ; since the very 
offence they take at his humiliation, death, &c. is in 
perfect conformity to, and fulfilment of, those proph- 
ecies which foretold, that however they might profess 
to wish for the great deliverer, yet when he came 
they would overlook him, and stumble at him. 

OFFERINGS. The Hebrews had several kinds 
of offerings, which they presented at the temple. 
Some were free-will offerings ; others were of obli- 
gation. The first-fruits, the tenths, and the sin-offer- 
ings were of obligation : the peace-offerings, vows, 
offerings of wine, oil, bread, salt, and other things, 
made to the temple, or to the ministers of the Lord, 
were offerings of devotion. The Hebrews called of- 
ferings in general Corban ; but the offerings of bread, 
salt, fruits, and liquors, as wine and oil, presented to 
the temple, they called Mincha. Sacrifices are not 
properly offerings : nor are they generally included 
under this name. Offerings of grain, meal, bread, 
cakes, fruits, wine, salt, oil, were common in the 
temple. Sometimes these offerings were alone ; 
sometimes they accompanied the sacrifices. Honey | 



was never offered with sacrifices, but it might be 
presented alone, as first-fruits, Lev. ii. 1J, 12. 

There were five sorts of offerings called Mincha, or 
Korban Mincha, Lev. ii. 1. (1.) Fine flour, or meal. 
(2.) Cakes of several sorts, baked in the oven. (3.) 
Cakes baked on a plate. (4.) Another sort of cakes 
baked on a plate with holes in it. (5.) The first-fruits 
of the new corn, which were offered either pure and 
without mixture, or roasted, or parched in the ear, or 
out of the ear. The cakes were kneaded with oil- 
olive, or fried in a pan, or only dipped in oil after 
they were baked. The bread offered to the altai 
was without leaven ; for leaven was never offered on 
the altar, nor with the sacrifices, Lev. ii. 11, 12. But 
they might make presents of common bread to the 
priests and ministers of the temple. These offerings 
were appointed in favor of the poor, who could not 
afford the charge of sacrificing animals. Those also 
who offered living victims were not excused from 
giving meal, wine and salt, which were to accompany 
the greater sacrifices. Those who offered only obla- 
tions of bread, or of meal, offered also oil, incense, 
salt and wine, which were in a manner their season- 
ing. The priest in waiting received the offerings 
from the hand of him who brought them, laid a part 
on the altar, and reserved the rest for his own sub- 
sistence, as a minister of the Lord. Nothing was 
wholly burnt up but the incense, of which the priest 
retained none. (See Lev. ii. 2, 13 ; Numb. xv. 4, 5.) 

When an Israelite offered a loaf to the priest, or a 
whole cake, the priest broke it into two parts, setting 
aside that part he reserved to himself, and breaking 
the other into crumbs, poured on it oil, salt, wine and 
incense, and spread the whole on the fire of the altar. 
If these offerings were accompanied by an animal 
for a sacrifice, this portion was all thrown on the 
victim, to be consumed with it. 

If the offerings were ears of new corn, (wheat or 
barley,) these ears were pai'ched at the fire, or in the 
flame, and rubbed in the hand, and then offered to 
the priest in a vessel ; over the grain he put oil, in- 
cense, wine and salt, and then burnt it on the altar, 
first having taken his own portion, Lev. ii. 14, 15. 

The most of these offerings were voluntary, and 
of pure devotion. But when an animal was of- 
fered in sacrifice, they were not at liberty to omit 
them. Every thing proper was to accompany the 
sacrifice, and what served as seasoning to the victim. 
In some cases the law required only offerings of corn, 
or bread ; as when they offered the first-fruits of har- 
vest, whether offered solemnly by the nation, or as 
the devotion of private persons. 

As to the quantity of meal, oil, wine or salt to ac- 
company the sacrifices, we cannot see that the law 
determines it. Generally, the priest threw a handful 
of meal, or crumbs, on the fire of the altar, with wine, 
oil and salt in proportion, and all the incense. The 
rest belonged to himself ; the quantity depended on 
the liberality of the offerer. We observe, that Moses 
appoints an assaron, or the tenth part of an ephah of 
meal, for those who had not wherewith to offer the 
appointed sin-offerings, Lev. v. 11 ; xiv. 21. In the 
solemn offerings of the first-fruits for the whole na- 
tion, they offered an entire sheaf of corn, a lamb of a 
year old, two tenths or two assarons of fine meal 
mixed with oil, and a quarter of a bin of wine for the 
libation, Lev. xxiii. 10, &c. Numb. v. 15. 

In the sacrifice of jealousy, when a husband ac- 
cused his wife of infidelity, the husband offered the 
tenth part of a satum of barley meal, without oil or 
incense, because it was a sacrifice of jealousv. 



OIN 



O LI 



Offerings of fruits of the earth, of bread, wine, oil 
and salt, are the most ancient of any that are known, 
Gen. iv. 3, 4. Cain offered to the Lord fruits of the 
earth, the first-fruits of his labor. Abel offered first- 
lings of his flock, and of their fat. 

The heathen religion has nothing more ancient 
than these sorts of offerings made to their gods. The 
difference between the offerings of meal, wine and 
salt, with which the Greeks and Latins accompanied 
their bloody sacrifices, and those used by the Hebrews 
in their temple, consisted, chiefly, in that the Hebrews 
cast the oblations on the flesh of the victim, being 
already offered and laid on the fire, whereas the 
Greeks put them on the head of the victim while 
alive, and when just going to be sacrificed. 

OG, king of Bashan, was a giant of the race of the 
Rephaim. We may judge of his stature by the length 
of his bed, which was long preserved in Rabbath, the 
capital of the Ammonites, Deut. iii. 11. See Bed. 

Moses says, (Numb. xxi. 33.) that after having con- 
quered Sihon, king of the Amorites, lie advanced to- 
ward the country of Bashan ; where Og reigned, who 
marched against him to Edrei, with all his subjects. 
Og was conquered, and slain, with his children, and 
all his people. Og and Sihon were the only kings 
that withstood Moses. Their country was given to 
the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Ma- 
nasseh. 

OIL. The Hebrews commonly anointed them- 
selves with oil ; they anointed also their kings and 
high-priests. See Anointing. 

Isaiah calls an eminence, or vineyard, that was 
fruitful and fat, a horn, the son of oil, chap. v. 1. In 
chap. x. 27, he says, that God would destroy the 
yoke of the Israelites, by the quantity of oil that he 
would pour thereon. He would take from it all its 
roughness and hardness. The high-priest Joshua, 
and the prince Zerubbabel, are called sons of oil; 
(Zech. iv. 14.) that is, each of them had received the 
sacred unction. Job, speaking of the condition of 
his first prosperity, says that the rocks were then 
fountains of oil to him, Job xxix. G. 

The oil of gladness (Ps. xlv. 7 ; Isa. lxi. 3.) was the 
perfumed oil with which the Hebrews anointed them- 
selves on days of rejoicing and festivity. Moses says 
(Deut. xxxii. 13.) that God made his people to suck 
oil and honey out of the rocks ; that is, that in the 
midst of dreary deserts, he abundantly provided them 
with all things not only necessary, but agreeable. 
The olive-tree shall fail to bring forth fruit, says Hab. 
iii. 17. James directs that the sick should be anoint- 
ed with oil in the name of the Lord, by the elders of 
the church, Jam. v. 14. 

OINTMENT. As perfumes are seldom made up 
among us in the form of ointment, but mostly in that 
of essence, while ointments are rather medical, we do 
not always discern the beauty of those comparisons 
in Scripture, in which ointments are mentioned. 
"Dead flies, though but small insects, cause the oint- 
ment of the apothecary (it should be, the fragrant 
unguent of the perfumer) to emit a fetid vapor ; so • 
does a small proportion of folly, or perverseness, over- 
come, prevail above, overpower by its fetor, the fra- 
grance of wisdom and glory," Eccl. x. 1. 

We read of ointments for the head ; (Eccl. ix. 8.) 
our own pomatums, some of which are pretty strongly 
essenced, may indicate the nature of these, as being 
their representatives in this country. 

Ointments and oils were used in warm countries 
after bathing ; and as oil was the first recipient of 
fragrance, probably from herbs, &c. steeped in it, 



many kinds of unguents not made of oil (o live oil 
retained that appellation. As the plants imparted 
somewhat of their color as well as of their fragrance, 
hence the expression green oil, &c. in the Hebrew. 
See Anointing, and Alabaster. 

OLD, ancient. We say the Old Testament, by way 
of contradistinction from the New. Moses was the 
minister of the Old Testament, of the old age of the 
letter ; but Christ is the Mediator of the New Testa- 
ment, or of the new covenant ; not of the letter, but 
of the spirit, Heb. ix. 15 — 20. 

The old man, (Rom. vi. 6.) the old Adam, in a 
moral sense, is our derived corrupted nature, which 
we ought to crucify with Jesus Christ, that the body 
of sin may die in us. In Col. iii. 9, the apostle enjoins 
us "to put off the old man with his deeds, and to put 
on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge 
after the image of him that created him." And in 
Eph. iv. 22, we are instructed to " put off the old man 
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts." 

The old leaven is concupiscence, and adherence to 
the literal and ceremonial observances of the law. 
Paul advises (1 Cor. v. 8.) "to keep the feast, not with 
old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and 
wickedness ; but with the unleavened bread of sin- 
cerity and truth." Our Saviour expresses almost the 
same thing, when he says (Luke v. 37.) that "no man 
putteth new wine into old bottles, else the new wine 
will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles 
shall perish." 

The old fruits and the new, which succeed one 
another, (Lev. xxv. 22 ; xxvi. 10 ; Cant. vii. 13.) de- 
note great abundance. You shall have so much 
that, to make room for the new, you shall be obliged 
to remove the old. 

Old age is promised as a blessing by God, to those 
who maintain obedience to his commands; and it is 
probable that Providence did, and still does, watch 
over and prolong the lives of eminently pious men. 
It was formerly thought a great blessing to come to 
the grave in a good old age, or " as a shock of corn 
fully ripe ;" and though "they are not to be heard, 
which feign that the old fathers did look only for 
transitory promises," yet we think we may venture to 
say they did on various occasions expect peculiar 
mercies from God, even in this life ; and that their 
expectations were not disappointed. Old age was 
entitled to peculiar honor, and no doubt, when men 
lived to the age of several hundred years, the wisdom 
they must needs have acquired, the influence they 
must needs have possessed over the younger part 
of the community, must have been much greater 
than they are among ourselves. Very venerable must 
have been the personal appearance of a patriarch of 
three or four hundred years, or even of half that age, in 
the eyes of his family, and of his descendants, whether 
immediate or remote. 

There is nothing more decidedly recorded than the 
respect paid among the ancients to old age ; of which 
Grecian story affords highly pleasing proofs ; and 
that it was equal among the orientals we learn from 
various allusions in the book of Job, the Proverbs, &c. 

Old is spoken of what is decaying; (Isa. 1. 9; Heb. 
viii. 13.) of what has been aestroyed ; (2 Pet. ii. 5.) of 
former times, Lam. i. 7. 

OLIVE-TREE. Paul, in his Epistle to the Ro- 
mans, (xi. 24.) distinguishes two kinds of olive-trees ; 
(1.) the wild and natural ; and (2.) those under care 
and culture. The cultivated olive-tree is of a moder- 
ate height, its trunk knotty, its bark smooth, and ash- 
colored ; its wood is solid and yellowish ; the leaves 



O LI 



OMR 



are oblong, almost like those of the willow, of a green 
color, daik on the upper side, and white on the under 
side. In the month of June it puts out white flow- 
ers that grow in bunches. Each flower is of one 
p!ece, widening upwards, and dividing into four 
parts ; the fruit oblong and plump. It is first green, 
then pale, and when it is quite ripe, black. In the 
flesh of it is enclosed a hard stone, full of an oblong 
seed. The wild olive is smaller in all its parts. 

When Noah sent forth the dove out of the ark, it 
brought back to him a small olive-branch with its 
leaves, (Gen. viii. 11.) which was a token to the pa- 
triarch that the waters of the deluge were sunk away. 
In the temple of Jerusalem, Solomon made of olive- 
wood the cherubim, and the portal that parted the 
sanctum from the sanctuary, 1 Kings vi. 23, 33. Eli- 
phaz (Job xv. 33.) compares a wicked man to a vine 
which sheds its blossoms, and to an olive whose 
flowers fall before their season, and consequently 
brings no fruit. The sacred writers often use similes 
taken from the olive. 

OLIVES, Mount of, is situate east of Jerusalem, 
and separated from the city by the brook Kidron, and 
the valley of Jehoshaphat. On this mount Solomon 
built temples to the gods of the Ammonites and Moab- 
ites, out of complaisance to his wives, 1 Kings xi. 7. 
Hence the mount of Olives is called the mountain of 
Corruption, 2 Kings xxiii. 13. Josephus says, it is 
five stadia (or furlongs) from Jerusalem. Luke says, 
a sabbath-day's journey ; i. e. about eight furlongs, 
Acts i. 12. The mount of Olives has three summits, 
ranging from north to south ; from the middle sum- 
mit our Saviour ascended into heaven ; on the south 
summit Solomon built temples to his idols ; the north 
summit is distant two furlongs from the middlemost. 
This is the highest, and is commonly called Galilee, 
or Viri Galilsei, from the expression used by the an- 
gels, Ye men of Galilee. 

In the time of king Uzziah, the mount of Olives 
was so shattered by an earthquake, that half the earth 
or the western side fell, and rolled four furlongs, or 
five hundred paces, toward the opposite mountain on 
the east ; so that the earth blocked up the highways, 
and covered the king's gardens. (Joseph. Antiq. lib. 
ix. cap. 11, and Zech. xiv. 5.) 

Though this mount was named from its olive-trees, 
yet it abounded in other trees also. It was a station 
for signals, which were communicated from hence 
by lights and flames, on various occasions. They 
were made of long staves of cedar, canes, pine wood, 
with coarse flax, which, while on fire, were shaken 
about till they were answered from other signals. 

What is said in Midras Tellim, by Rab. Janna, is 
extremely remarkable : " The Divine Majesty stood 
three years and a half on mount Olivet, saying, 'Seek 
ye the Lord, while he may be found; call on 
him while he is near.' " Is this the language of 
a Jew ? 

The names of the various districts of this mount 
deserve attention, as, (1.) Geth-semane, the place of 
oil-presses ; (2.) Bethany, the house of dates ; (3.) 
Bethphage, the house of green figs, and, probably, 
other names in different places. The Talmudists 
say, that on mount Olivet were shops, kept by the 
children of Canaau, of which shops some were in 
Bethany ; and that under two large cedars which 
stood there, were four shops, where things necessary 
for purification were constantly on sale, such as doves 
or pigeons for the women, &c. Probably, these 
shops were supplied by country persons, who hereby 
avoided paying rent for their sittings in the temple. 
9'J 



The mention of these residences implies that this- 
mount had various dwellings upon it. ■ 

There was also a collection of water at Bethany on 
this mount, which was by some used as a place of 
purification. 

i The small building, erected over the place of as- 
cension, is contiguous to a Turkish mosque, and is in 
possession of the Turks, who show it for profit ; and 
subject the Christians to an annual contribution for 
permission to officiate within it on Ascension day. 
From the mosque is a fine and commanding view of 
Jerusalem, mount Sion and the Dead sea. 

Dr. Clarke found on the top of the mount of Olives 
a vast and very ancient crypt, in " the shape of a cone^ 
of immense size ; the vertex alone appearing level 
with the soil, and exhibiting by its section at the top 
a small circular aperture ; the sides extending below 
to a great depth, lined with a hard red stucco." He 
thinks it to have been an idolatrous construction, per- 
haps as old as Solomon, and profaned by Josiah, 2 
Kings xxiii. 13. The number of crypts about Jeru- 
salem is well deserving attention. If Solomon built 
this crypt, he might, as the Jews say he did, construct 
one of the same kind for the reception of the ark, &c. 
in case of danger; but this must continue undecided 
till the " times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.'.' 

" So commanding is the view of Jerusalem afforded 
in this situation, (says Dr. Clarke,) that the eye roams 
over all the streets, and around the walls, as if in the 
survey of a plan or model of the city. The most con- 
spicuous object is the mosque, erected upon the site 
and foundations of the temple of Solomon." Hence 
the observation of the evangelist, (Luke xix. 37.) that 
Jesus beheld the city, and wept over it, acquires ad- 
ditional force. " Towards the south appears the lake 
Asphaltites, a noble expanse of water, seeming to be 
within a short ride from the city ; but the real dis- 
tance is much greater. Lofty mountains enclose it 
with prodigious grandeur. To the north are seen the 
verdant and fertile pastures of the plain of Jericho,, 
watered by the Jordan, whose course may be distinct- 
ly discerned." (Travels, vol. ii. p. 572.) 

OMEGA, {£2,) the last letter of the Greek alphabet;. 
Alpha, A, and Omega, £2, therefore, include all ; the 
first and the last. See Alpha. 

OMER, or Gomer, a measure of capacity among 
the Hebrews; the tenth part of an ephah, a little 
more than five pints. 

OMRI, or Amri, was general of the army of Elah, 
king of Israel ; but being at the siege of Gibbethon, 
and hearing that his master Elah was assassinated by 
Zimri, who had usurped his kingdom, he raised the 
siege, and, being elected king by his army, marched 
against Zimri, attacked him at Tirzah, and forced 
him to burn himself and all his family, in the palace 
in which he had shut up himself. Zimri reigned but 
seven days, A. M. 3075, 1 Kings xvi. 9. After his 
death, half of Israel acknowledged Omri for king, the 
other half adhered to Tibni, son of Gineth ; which 
division continued four years. When Tibni was 
dead, the people united in acknowledging Omri as 
king of all Israel, who reigned twelve years ; six 
years at Tirzah, and six at Samaria, 1 Kings xvh 

Tirzah had previously been the chief residence of 
the kings of Israel, but when Omri purchased the 
hill of Shomeron, (1 Kings xvi. 24, about A. M. 
3030,) he there built a new city, which he called Sa- 
maria, from the name of the first possessor Shemer, 
or Shomer, and there fixed his royal seat. From 
this time Samaria was the capital of the kingdom of 
the ten tribes. 



ONO 



OPH 



Omri did evil before the Lord, and his crimes ex- 
ceeded those of his predecessors. He walked in all 
the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and died at Sa- 
maria, A. M. 3066. His successor was Ahab. 

ON, or Heliopolis, a city of Egypt, by Ptolemy 
called Onion ; On, Gen. xli. 45 ; xlvi. 20 ; and Beth 
Shemesh, the temple of the sun, Jer. xliii. 13, which 
agrees with the Egyptian idea of the name. See 
Heliopolis, I. 

ON AN, son of Judah, and grandson of the patri- 
arch Jacob, was given in marriage to Tamar, after 
the death of his brother Ur, but was destroyed by 
the Lord, for refusing to comply with the law of the 
Levirate, Gen. xxxviii. See Marriage. 

ONESIMUS, (Philem. verse 10.) a Phrygian by 
nation, and slave to Philemon. Having run away 
from his master, and also having robbed him, (Philem. 
verse 18 ; Chrysost. Prolog.) he went to Rome about 
A. D. 61, while Paul was there in prison the first 
time. As Onesimus knew the apostle by repute, 
(his master Philemon being a Christian,) he sought 
him out, acquainted him with his transgression, 
owned his flight, and did him all the service Phile- 
mon himself could have done, had he been at Rome. 
Paul brought him to a sense of the greatness of his 
crime, instructed, converted and baptized him, and 
sent him back to his master Philemon, with a letter 
inserted among Paul's epistles ; which is univer- 
sally acknowledged as his. 

Philemon, it is related, not only received Onesimus 
as a faithful servant, but as a brother and a friend : 
and after a little time, he sent him back to Rome, 
that he might continue his services to Paul, in his 
prison. From this time Onesimus's employment 
was in the ministry of the gospel. The Apostoli- 
cal Constitutions report that Paul made him bishop 
of Berea in Macedonia. The martyrologies call him 
apostle, and say he ended his life by martyrdom. 
The Roman martyrology mentions him as being made 
bishop of Ephesus, by Paul, after Timothy. Others 
add, that it was he whom Ignatius the Martyr speaks of, 
as bishop of Ephesus, A. D. 107 ; but this wants proof. 

ONESIPHORUS, (2 Tim. i. 16.) a Christian who 
came to Rome A. D. 65, while the apostle Paul was 
imprisoned there for the faith, and at a time when 
almost every one had forsaken him, 2 Tim. i. 16, 18. 
Having found Paul in bonds, after long seeking him, 
he assisted him to the utmost of his power; for 
which the apostle wishes all sorts of benedictions on 
himself and his family. 

I. ONIAS, son of Jaddus, was made high-priest 
of the Jews A. M. 3682, and governed the Hebrew 
republic twenty years, to A. M. 3702. He had had 
two sons, Simon and Eleazar. Simon, surnamed 
the Just, succeeded him. (Joseph. Ant. xi. ult.) 

II. ONIAS, a son of Simon the Just, succeeded 
Manasseh in the high-priesthood, A. M. 3771, and 
held it to 3785. (Joseph. Ant. xii. 3, 4.) 

III. ONIAS, a son of Simon II. high-priest of the 
Jews, was established in the priesthood A. M. 3805. 
(Joseph. Ant. xii. 4.) 

IV. ONIAS, or Menelaus, whom Josephus ( Antiq. 
lib. xii. cap. 4, 5.) describes as son to Simon the Just, 
was created high-priest A. M. 3832, and put to death 
m 3842. 

ONO, a city of Benjamin ; built or re-built by the 
family of Elpaal, of Benjamin, 1 Chron. viii. 12. It 
was five miles from Lod, or Lydda, also built by 
Benjamites. In Neh. vi. 2, we have mention of 
" The Plain of Ono," which probably was not far 
from the city. 



ONYCHA. The Hebrew nSnc, Shecheleth, (Exod. 
xxx. 34.) which Jerome, after the LXX, translates 
onychinus, others understand of labdanum, or of 
bdellium. But the greater part of commentators 
explain it by the onycha or odoriferous shell, a 
shell like that of the shell-fish purpura. The ony- 
cha is fished for in watery places of the Indies, 
where the spica nardi grows, which is the food of 
this fish, and what-makes its shell so aromatic. The 
best onycha is found in the Red sea, and is white and 
large. The Babylonian is black and smaller, ac- 
cording to Dioscorides. [The onycha is the Blatta 
Byzantina of the shops. It consists of the cover or 
lid of a species of muscle, which, when burnt, emits 
a musky odor. R. 

ONYX was the eleventh stone in the high-priest's 
pectoral, Exod. xxviii. 20. It is a kind of flesh- 
colored agate, whence it has obtained the name of 
onyx, or the nail. See Sardonyx. 

OPHEL was a cliff, or acclivity, a part of mount 
Zion, on the east, not far from mount Moriah. Jo- 
tham, king of Judah, made several buildings on 
Ophel, 2 Chron. xxvii. 3. Manasseh, king of Judah, 
built a wall west of Jerusalem and the fountain Gi- 
hon, beyond the city of David, from the fish-gate to 
Ophel, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14. At the return from the 
captivity, the Nethinirn dwelt at Ophel, Neh. iii. 26 ; 
xi. 21. Micah (iv. 8.) mentions the tower of Ophel: 
"And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of 
the daughter of Zion :" Heb. " And thou tower of 
the flock, Ophel, daughter of Zion." There was at 
Jerusalem a sheep-gate, and a tower of Ophel. 

I. OPHIR, a son of Joktan, whose descendants 
peopled the district between Mesha and Sephar, a 
mountain of the East, Gen. x. 26, 30. See Mesha. 

. II. OPHIR, a country to which the vessels of 
Solomon traded, and as to the situation of which 
there has been much discussion. All the passages 
in which it is mentioned have been examined, (1 
Kings xxii. 48, compared with 2 Chron. xx. 36; also 
1 Kings ix. 28 ; x. 22.) and it has been observed, that 
the so called ships of Tarshish went to Ophir ; that 
these ships sailed from Ezion-geber, a port of the 
Red sea; (1 Kings xxii. 48; ix. 26; x. 22.) that 
three years were required for the voyage ; that the 
fleet returned freighted with gold, peacocks, apes, 
spices, ivory and ebony ; (1 Kings ix. 28 ; x. 11, 12; 
compare 2 Chron. viii. 18 ; ix. 10, &c.) that the gold 
of Ophir was in the highest esteem ; and that the 
country of Ophir more abounded with gold than any 
other then known. Upon these data interpreters 
have undertaken to determine the situation of Ophir, 
but almost all have arrived at different conclusions.. 

Josephus places' it in the Indies, and says it is 
called the gold country, by which he is thought to 
mean Chersonesus Aurea, now known as Malacca, 
a peninsula opposite to the island of Sumatra. Lu- 
cas Holstenius thinks we must fix on India generally, 
or on the city of Supar in the island of Celebes. 
Others place it in the kingdom of Malabar, or in 
Ceylon ; that is, the island of Taprobana, so famous 
among the ancients, an opinion which Bochart has 
labored to support. Lipenius places it beyond the 
Ganges, at Malacca, Java, Sumatra, Siam, Bengal, 
Peru, &c. Others, as Huet and Bruce, have placed 
it at Sofala, in South Africa, where mines of gold 
and silver have been found, which appear to have 
been anciently and extensively worked, and to this 
hypothesis Gesenius inclines. Rosenmuller and 
others suppose it to be southern Arabia. 

From these statements it will be seen, that there is 



OR A [ 715 ] 



ORACLE 



roem for considerable diversity of opinion as to the 
geographical situation of Ophir ; and, indeed, the 
best writers are of opinion that it must ever remain 
a matter of mere conjecture. 

OPHNI, a city of Benjamin, (Josh, xviii. 24.) and 
thought to be the same as Gophni, or Gophna, which 
was about 15 miles from Jerusalem, towards Na- 
plouse, or Shechem. 

I. OPHRAH, a city of Benjamin, Josh, xviii. 23; 1 
Sam. xiii. 17. Instead of this Micah has Aphrah, i. 10. 

II. OPHRAH, a city of Manasseh, the birth place 
of Gideon, Judg. vi. 11 ; viii. 27 ; ix. 5. 

OPPRESSION is the spoiling or taking away of 
men's property by constraint, terror, or force, with- 
out having any right thereto ; working on the igno- 
rance, weakness, or fearfulness of the oppressed. 
Men are guilty of oppression when they offer violence 
to the bodies, property, or consciences of others ; 
when they crush or overburden others, as the Egyp- 
tians did the Hebrews, Exod. iii. 9. There may be 
oppression which maligns the character, or studies 
to vex another, yet does not affect his life : as there 
is much persecution, for conscience' sake, which is 
not fatal, though distressing. 

ORACLE, a name sometimes given to the lid or 
covering of the ark,the mercy-seat, (see Mercy-seat,) 
and also to those supernatural communications of 
which such frequent mention is made in Scripture. 

Among the Jews we distinguish several sorts of 
oracles. (1.) Those delivered viva voce; as when 
God spake to Moses face to face, and as one friend 
speaks to another, Numb. xii. 8. (2.) Prophetical 
dreams ; as those which God sent to Joseph, fore- 
telling his future greatness, Gen. xxxvii. 5, 6. (3.) 
Visions ; as when a prophet in an ecstasy had su- 
pernatural revelations, Gen. xv. 1 ; xlvi. 2. (4.) The 
response of Urim and Thutnmim, which accom- 
panied the ephod, or the pectoral worn by the high- 
priest, Numb. xii. 6 ; Joel ii. 28. This manner of 
inquiring of the Lord was often used, from Joshua's 
time to the erection of the temple at Jerusalem, (1 
Sam. xxiii. 9 ; xxx. 7.) after which they generally 
consulted the prophets. 

The Jews pretend that upon the ceasing of proph- 
ecy, God gave them what they call Bath-kol, the 
daughter of the voice, which was a supernatural 
manifestation of the divine will, either by a strong 
inspiration or internal voice, or by a sensible and ex- 
ternal voice, heard by a number of persons sufficient 
to bear testimony to it ; such as the voice heard at 
the baptism of Christ. 

In the early period of the Christian church the 
gifts of prophecy and inspiration were frequent ; after 
that time the greater part of the heathen oracles fell 
into contempt and silence. 

Some have ascribed to demons all the oracles of 
antiquity ; others impute them to the knavery of the 
priests and false prophets. 

The most famous oracle of Palestine was that of 
Baal-zebub, king of Ekron, which the Jews them- 
selves consulted, 2 Kings i. 2, 3, 6, 16. There were 
also oracular Teraphim, as that of Micah ; (Judg. 
xvii. 1, 5.) the ephod of Gideon, (viii. 27, &c.) and the 
false gods adored in the kingdom of Samaria, which 
had their false proohets, and consequently their 
oracles. Hosea (chap iv. 12.) reproaches Israel with 
consulting wooden idols, as does the book of Wis- 
dom, (xiii. 16, 17.) and the prophet Habakkuk, ii. 19. 

The Hebrews, living in the midst of idolatrous 
people, accustomed to receive oracles, to have re- 
course to diviners, magicians and interpreters of 



dreams, would have been under a more powerful 
temptation to imitate these impieties and supersti- 
tions, if God had not afforded to them certain means 
of knowing some future events by priests and proph- 
ets, in their most urgent necessities. Thus, when 
Moses had forbidden the Israelites to consult magi- 
cians, witches, enchanters and necromancers, he 
promised to send them a prophet of their own nation, 
who should instruct them, and discover to them the 
truth, Deut. xviii. 10, 11,15, &c. These oracles of 
truth had no necessary connection with time or 
place, or any other circumstance ; or with the per- 
sonal merit of the individual by whom they were 
uttered. The high-priest, clothed with the ephod 
and pectoral, gave a true answer, whatever may 
have been his personal character. 

The fathers inform us, that at the coming of the 
Messiah, the oracles of the heathen were struck 
dumb ; and it is certain that since the preaching of 
the gospel, the empire of the devil is much contract- 
ed and weakened, and the most famous oracles are 
fallen into disuse. This silence of the oracles, how- 
ever, did not happen all at once ; John, (Rev. xiii. 5, 
6, 13.) describing a persecution of the church, speaks 
of .signs, wonders and delusions, which the deceivei 
and his accomplices should produce, to excite men 
to worship the image of the beast, and to entice them 
to idolatry. 

It may, however, assist us in forming a right no- 
tion of oracles, to separate them into two classes ; 
those which are proper oracles, and those which are 
oracles in a qualified sense only. The witch of 
Endor was no oracle, though irregularly applied 
to by Saul, when he could obtain no answer from 
the instituted means of consulting the Lord. The 
hag Erichto, in Lucan's Pharsalia, was no ora- 
cle, as no temple, &c. was extant in her cave. Nor 
is that properly an oracle, which consists in catching 
up words which fall from certain persons. Most 
persons will recollect that Alexander the Great, by 
the false pronunciation of a Greek word by the priest 
of Amnion, [''Si Ttai-Siog instead of '' S2 Trai-Siov^was 
made to pass for son of Jupiter, Slog, says Plutarch. 
When, too, he visited the Delphic prophetess on a 
wrong day, and urged her, she at length complied, 
saying, " Thou art irresistible, my son ! " " That is 
all I want," answered Alexander ; " to be irresistible is 
enough." These are not oracles ; though policy 
and flattery might make them pass for such. 

The most ancient oracle on record, probably, is 
that given to Rebekah, (Gen. xxv. 22.) but the most 
complete instance is that of the child Samuel, 1 Sam. 
iii. The place was the residence of the ark, the 
regular station of worship. The manner was by an 
audible and distinct voice: "The Lord called Sam- 
uel ; and the child mistook the voice for that of Eli, 
(and this more than once,) for he did not yet know 
the word of the Lord:" the subject was of high na- 
tional importance ; no less than a public calamity, 
with the ruin of the first family in the land. Nor 
could the child have any inducement to deceive Eli ; 
as in that case, he would have rather invented some- 
thing flattering to his venerable superior. This com- 
municative voice, issuing from the interior of the 
sanctuary, was properly an oracle. 

The highest instances of oracles are those voices 
which, being formed in the air by a power superior 
to nature, bore testimony to the celestial character 
of the divine Messiah ; as at his baptism, (Matt. iii. 
17 ; Mark i. 2 ; Luke iii. 22.) and again at his trans- 
figuration ; (Matt. xxii. 2 ; Luke ix. 29.) "And this 



ORACLE 



ORD 



voice that came from heaven," says Peter, " we 
heard," 2 Epist. i. -18. Nothing can exceed the 
grandeur and majesty of these oracles ; and they 
could not but forcibly impress the minds of all who 
witnessed them. 

Now, ii should be observed, that these communi- 
cations were marked by simplicity and distinctness : 
they were the most remote possible from ambiguity 
and double meaning: they spake out their purport 
explicitly. 

Prophetic impulses, or communications, are with 
less propriety called oracles : as when Samuel went 
to Bethlehem, to anoint the future king of Israel, 
his own opinion fixed on Eliab, "Surely, the Lord's 
anointed is before him ;" but the Lord corrected 
his judgment ; not by an audible voice, which must 
have been heard by all the company, but by some 
internal monition, 1 Sam. xvi. (i. It will appear, 
also, that in the time of Saul and David, w hen appli- 
cation for advice was made to the oracle, it could 
only be given in a regular manner to one party, as 
there were not two tabernacles, and two arks of the 
covenant, with which sacred objects the oracle was 
connected. Neither were there two high-priests' 
pectorals, on which the names of the tribes were 
written. The priest who did not wear these names 
on his breast, could not inquire as representative of 
the tribes of the whole nation ; and by what means 
he received an answer is uncertain. It could not be, 
as some have supposed, by radiation of the letters on 
the precious stones ; since he did not wear them. 
We read very little, or nothing, of oracles given by 
the high-priest, in succeeding ages. When Jehosha- 
phat desired Ahab to " inquire at the word of the 
Lord to-day," there is no mention of an oracle, as con- 
nected with the established worship in Israel, (1 
Kings xxii.) nor do we read that when the copy of 
Moses' law was found in the temple at Jerusalem, king 
Josiah applied to the oracle for advice. Neither did 
Zedekiah, king of Judah, though the very exist- 
ence of his country depended on the policy he 
adopted ; and no crisis could have been more im- 
portant. 

Dreams, visions, the bath-kol, &c. are not properly 
oracles ; nor is the sentiment uttered by Caiaphas, 
which recommended the policy of cutting off one 
man, even though no malefactor, rather than haz- 
arding the fate of the nation, an oracle. It was a 
maxim of a statesman, applicable to the designs of 
Providence ; but not properly an oracle. It is prob- 
able, that oracles are extremely ancient among 
the heathen : they were known before the Trojan 
war, as appears from Homer ; and Ovid makes 
Deucalion consult an oracle, immediately after his 
deluge. 

The reader will perceive in all this the intention 
to establish a strong distinction between the oracles 
of the Bible, and those promulgated by the heathen. 
When Crcesus applied to the oracle of Apollo at 
Delphi, to know whether he should attack Cyrus, he 
received for answer, 

Croesus transgressus Halym maxima regna perdet : 

or, as Cicero quotes it, 

CrGesus Halym penetrans magnam pervertet opum 
vim : 

" If Crcesus crosses the river Halys he will overthrow 
a great empire." This he understood of the empire 
of Cyrus : the event proved his own overthrow. 



The same ambiguity attends the famous reply of the 
same oracle to Pyrrhus : 

Aio te, iEacida, Romanos vincere posse ; 

I do pronounce that Rome 
Pyrrhus shall overcome ; 

which may be interpreted to mean, either that Rome 
should overcome Pyrrhus, or that Pyrrhus should 
overcome Rome. Whoever reads Herodotus and 
Pausanias carefully, will find most of their oracles — 
and they record many — either so dark as to be unin- 
telligible, or so equivocal as to bear whatever in- 
terpretation policy might be pleased to impose upon 
them. 

The heathen drew auguries from almost every 
thing : from the flight of birds ; from the manner of 
certain chickens feeding ; and above all from the 
entrails of victims, offered in sacrifice. This most 
ridiculous superstition was not lawfully practised 
among the Jews; their sacrifices were simply offered 
in tin' Deity. It was, however, customary in the 
Last. Thus, the king of Babylon not only divined 
by arrows, and consulted images, but he looked in 
the liver, Ezek. xxi. 21. Nor should we forget, that 
it is equally to the credit of Christianity, that sur- 
rounded, as the Christians were, by the most invet- 
erate of oracular prejudices and impostures, no such 
mummery profaned their assemblies. The reader has 
only to compare Lucan's description of the violences 
practised on the priestess at Delphi, the furious con- 
tortions of her person, or Virgil's of the Sybil at 
Cumre, with the calm observation of the apostle, 
"The spirits of the prophets are subject to the proph- 
ets," with his injunctions of ordeiyon various occa- 
sions, and with his strict prohibition of indecent 
forwardness in women, while at worship, indecorous 
exposure of their persons, disorderly dress, &c. to 
evince this. 

It is well to know, that in the remains of several 
heathen temples, though in ruins, there are traces of 
the secret ways of access, which the priests possessed, 
undiscovered by the spectators. Dr. E. D. Clarke 
found such in a temple at Argos ; also a secret 
chamber, in an oracular cave at Telmessus. A pri- 
vate staircase still exists, leading to the Adytum, in 
the temple of Isis, at Pompeii ; undoubtedly for 
oracular purposes. To do this subject justice 
here, is impossible; some able pen, well acquainted 
with the charlatanerie of ancient days, might render 
it equally amusing and instructive to not a few among 
our own nation, who have opportunities of knowing 
better — very much better- — than their practice ra- 
phes. 

ORDINANCE, an institution established by law- 
ful authority. Religious ordinances must be insti- 
tuted by the great institutor of religion, or they are 
not binding : minor regulations are not properly 
ordinances. Ordinances, once established, are not to 
be varied by human caprice, or mutability. The 
original ordinance seems to have been sacrifice, to 
which praise and prayer were naturally appended. 
Circumcision was an ordinance appointed to Abra- 
ham and his family : baptism and the eucharist are 
ordinances under the gospel. 

Human ordinances, established by national laws, 
may be varied by other laws, because the inconve- 
niences arising from them can only be determined by 
experience. Yet Christians are bound to submit to 
these institutions, when they do not infringe on those 
established by divine authority ; not only from the 



consideration, that if every individual were to oppose 
national institutions, no society could subsist, but by 
the tenor of Scripture itself. Nevertheless, Chris- 
tianity does not interfere with political rights, but 
leaves individuals, as well as nations, in full enjoy- 
ment of whatever advantages the constitution of a 
country secures to its subjects. 

The course of nature is the ordinance of God ; and 
every planet obeys that impulse which the divine 
Governor has impressed on it, Jer. xxxi. 36. 

OREB, a prince of the Midianites, killed with Zeeb, 
another prince of the same people, Judg. vii. 25. 

ORIENTAL LANGUAGES, see Language, 
p. 605. 

ORION, one of the brightest constellations of the 
southern hemisphere. The Heb. S>d:j, Chesil, signi- 
fies, according to the best interpreters and the ancient 
versions, the constellation Orion, which, on account 
of its supposed connection with storms and tempests, 
Virgil calls nimbosus Orion. In Job xxxviii. 31, fet- 
ters are ascribed to him ; and this coincides with the 
Greek fable of the giant Orion, bound in the heav- 
ens. R.] It also marks the west. Hence the LXX 
on Job ix. 9, and Theodotion on Amos, v. 8, translate 
it vesperum. 

ORPAH, a Moabitess, wife of Chilion, son of 
Elimelech and Naomi. Chilion, the husband of Or- 
pah, being dead, she lived with Naomi, her mother- 
in-law ; who returning into her own country, Orpah 
was prevailed on to stay in Moab, but Ruth followed 
Naomi to Bethlehem, Ruth i. 9, 10, &c. See Ruth. 

ORPHAN. The customary acceptation of the 
word orphans is well known to be that of " children 
deprived of their parents ;" but the force of the Greek 
word oQtpavovc, (rtftidered comfortless in our transla- 
tion, John xiv. 18.) implies the case of those who 
have lost some dear protecting friend ; some patron, 
though not strictly a father : and in this sense it is 
used, 1 Thess. ii. 17, "We also, brethren, being taken 
away from our care over you," imoQipaviadhrtq. Cor- 
responding to this import of the word, it might be 
used by our Lord, in the passage of John's Gospel 
referred to ; and a very lively comment on it may 
perhaps be inferred from the following remark ; es- 
pecially if there were in the court of Herod, or of tl.e 
kings of Syria, or other western Asiatic monarchs, an 
order of soldiery of the same description ; which is 
by no means impossible. " The soldiers of Nadir 
Shah are obliged to keep Yetims at their own ex- 
pense. Yetim signifies an orphan : but these are 
considered as servants, who, when their masters die, 
or fall in battle, are ready to serve as soldiers." (Han- 
way's Travels in Persia, vol. i. p. 172.) May we 
now paraphrase our Lord's sentiment? — "You are 
about to see your master die, fall, as it were, in bat- 
tle ; and might imagine that it would be your duty 
to succeed into my place, and to maintain the bloody 
conflict, till you also fell, as I had fallen ; but I will 
not (long) leave you in that anxious situation : I will 
again return to you, and lead you on to victory under 
my protection and patronage : I will not now leave 
you Yetims; though most of you may, at distant pe- 
riods, close your lives as gallant soldiers in this noble 
warfare, after your master's example." There seems 
nothing inconsistent with the affection of Jesus to 
his followers, in this explanation. 

OSPREY, a kind of eagle, whose flesh is forbid- 
den, Lev. xi. 13. It is thought to be the black eagle ; 
perhaps the JYisser Tookoor described by Bruce. See 
Birds, p. 186. 

OSSJFRAGE, (;nD, peres,) an unclean bird, (Lev. 



xi. 13 ; Deut. xiv. 12.) but as to its identity interpreters 
are not agreed. Some read vulture, others the black 
eagle, others the falcon. The name peres denotes to 
crush, to break ; and this name agrees with our ver- 
sion, which implies "the bone-breaker;" a name 
given to a kind of eagle, from its habit of breaking 
the bones of its prey, after it has eaten the flesh 
Onkelos uses a word which signifies naked, and leads 
us to the vulture : and, indeed, if we were to take 
the classes of birds in any thing like a natural order 
in Lev. xi. the vulture should follow the eagle as an 
unclean bird. The Septuagint interpreter also ren- 
ders vulture ; and so do Monster, Schindler, and the 
Zurich versions. See Biros, p. 186. 

OSTRICH. This singular bird is designated by 
three several appellations in the Hebrew Scriptures, 
each of which is, as usual, taken from some particu- 
lar quality which it possesses, or habit to which it is 
addicted. 

The first of these, jjp, yden, is frequently translated 
in our version, most improperly, by owl ; a rendering 
which deprives several passages in which it occurs 
of all their strength and propriety. (See Jobxxx. 29 ; 
Isa. xiii. 21 ; Mic. i. 8.) In Lev. xi. 16, and Deut. 
xiv. 12, this bird is called ,— ijj"n ro, "the daughter of 
the ostrich ;" in both these passages our translation 
reads " owl." In Job xxxix. 13, &c. where the ostrich 
is particularly described, it is called jn, a name which 
seems to be taken from its cry, or from the whirring 
noise made by its wings when it runs. 

The ostrich is considered to be the largest of birds, 
and the connecting link between quadrupeds and 
fowls. Its head and bill somewhat resemble those 
of a duck ; and the neck may be compared to that 
of a swan, but that it is much longer ; the legs and 
thighs resemble those of a hen ; but are very fleshy 
and large. The end of the foot is cloven, and has 
two very large toes, which, like the leg, are covered 
with scales. These toes are of unequal sizes ; the 
largest, which is on the inside, being seven inches 
long including the claw, which is near three fourths 
of an inch in length, and almost as broad ; the other 
toe is but four inches long, and is without a claw. 
The height of the ostrich is usually seven feet, from 
the head to the ground; but from the back it is only 
four ; so that the head and the neck are above three 
feet long. From the head to the end of the tail, 
when the neck is stretched in a right line, it is seven 
feet long. One of the wings, with the feathers 
stretched out, is three feet in length. The plumage 
is generally white and black, though some of them 
are said to be gray. There are no feathers on the 
sides of the thighs, nor under the wings. The lower 
half of the neck is covered with smaller feathers than 
those on the belly and back, and the head and upper 
part of the neck are covered with hair : at the end 
of each wing, there is a kind of spur, resembling the 
quill of a porcupine, about an inch long ; and about a 
foot lower down the wing is another of the same de- 
scription, but something smaller. 

The ostrich has not, like most other birds, feath- 
ers of various kinds ; they are all bearded with de- 
tached hairs or filaments, without consistence and 
reciprocal adherence. The consequence is, that they 
cannot oppose to the air a suitable resistance, and 
therefore are of no utility in flying, or in directing 
the flight. Besides the peculiar structure of her 
wings, the ostrich is rendered incapable of flight by 
her enormous size, weighing seventy-five or eightv 
pounds ; a weight which would require an immense 
power of wing to elevate into the air. 



OSTRICH 



[ ~18 ] 



OSTRICH 



The ostrich is a native only of the torrid regions 
of Africa and Arabia, and has furnished the sacred 
writers with some of their most beautiful imagery. 

The ostrich was aptly called by the ancients a 
lover of the deserts. Shy and timorous in no com- 
mon degree, she retires from the cultivated field, 
where she is disturbed by the Arabian shepherds 
and husbandmen, into the deepest recesses of the 
Sahara. In those dreary wastes, she is reduced to 
subsist on a few tufts of coarse grass, which here and 
there languish on their surface, or a few other soli- 
tary plants equally destitute of nourishment, and, in 
the psalmist's phrase, even " withered before they are 
grown up." To this dry and parched food may per- 
haps be added, the great variety of land snails, which 
occasionally cover the leaves and stalks of these 
herbs, and which may afford her some refreshment. 
Nor is it improbable, that she sometimes regales her- 
self on lizards and serpents, together with insects 
and reptiles of various kinds. Still, however, con- 
sidering the voracity and size of this camel bird, (as 
it is called in the East,) it is wonderful how the little 
ones should be nourished and brought up, and espe- 
cially how those of fuller growth, and much better 
qun'ified to look out for themselves, are able to 
subsist. 

The attachment of this bird to the barren solitudes 
of the Sahara is frequently alluded to in the Holy 
Scriptures; particularly in the prophecies of Isaiah, 
where the word yam, as before observed, ought to 
be rendered the ostrich. In the splendid palaces of 
Babylon, so long the scenes of joy and revelry, the 
prophet foretold, that the shy and timorous ostrich 
should fix her abode ; than which a greater and more 
affecting contrast can scarcely be presented to the 
mind. 

When the ostrich is provoked, she sometimes 
makes a fierce, angry, and hissing noise, with her 
throat inflated, and her mouth open ; when she meets 
with a timorous adversary that opposes but a faint 
resistance to her assault, she chuckles or cackles like 
a hen, seeming to rejoice in the prospect of an easy 
conquest. But in the silent hours of night, she as- 
sumes a quite different tone, and makes a very dole- 
ful and hideous noise, which sometimes resembles 
the roaring of a lion ; at other times that of the bull 
and the ox. She frequently groans, as if she were 
in the greatest agonies ; an action to which the 
prophet beautifully alludes : " I will make a mourn- 
ing like the ostrich," Mic. i. 8. The Hebrew term is 
derived from a verb which signifies to exclaim with 
a loud voice : and may tnerefore be attributed with 
sufficient propriety to tue ostrich, whose voice is 
loud and sonorous ; especially, as the word does not 
seem to denote any certain, determined mode of 
voice or sound peculiar to anyone particular spe- 
cies of animals, but one that may be applicable to 
them all. 

Dr. Brown confirms this account in every particu- 
lar : he says, the cry of the ostrich resembles the voice 
of a hoarse child, and is even more dismal. It can- 
not, then, but appear mournful, and even terrible, to 
those travellers who plunge with no little anxiety 
into those immense deserts, to whom every living 
creature, man not excepted, is an object of fear, and 
a cause of danger. 

Not more disagreeable, and even alarming, is the 
hoarse moaning voice of the ostrich to the lonely 
traveller in the desert, than were the speeches of 
Job's friends to that afflicted man. Of their harsh 
and groundless cens ires, which were continually 



grating his ears, he feelingly complains: "I am a 
brother to dragons, and a companion to [ostriches] 
owls." Like these melancholy creatures, that love 
the solitary place, and the dark retirement, the be- 
reaved and mourning patriarch loved to dwell alone, 
that he might be, free from the teazing impertinence 
of his associates, and pour out his sorrows without 
restraint. But he made a wailing also like the drag- 
ons, and a mourning like the ostriches ; his condition 
was as destitute, and his lamentations as loud and in- 
cessant, as theirs. Or he compares to those birds 
his unfeeling friends, who, instead of pouring the 
balm of consolation into his smarting wounds, added 
to the poignancy of his grief by their inhuman con- 
duct. The ostrich, even in a domestic state, is a rude 
and fierce animal ; and is said to point her hostility, 
with particular virulence, against the poor and desti- 
tute stranger that happens to come in her way. Not 
satisfied with endeavoring to push him down by run- 
ning furiously upon him, she will not cease to peck 
at him violently with her bill, and to strike at him 
with her feet, and will sometimes inflict a very seri- 
ous wound. The dispositions and behavior of Job's 
friends and domestics were equally vexatious and 
afflicting ; and how much reason he had to complain, 
will appear from the following statement: "They 
that dwell in mine house, and my maidens, count me 
for a stranger ; I am an alien in their sight. I called 
my servant, and he gave me no answer ; my breath 
is strange to my wife, though I entreated for the 
children's sake of mine own body; yea, young chil- 
dren despised me, all my inward friends abhorred 
me. Upon my right hand rise the youth ; they push 
away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways 
of their destruction. They mar my path, they set 
forward my calamity, they have no helper. They 
come upon me as a wide breaking in of waters, in the 
desolation they roll themselves upon me," ch. xxx, 
12, 14. 

We now pass on to the very correct and poetical 
description of the ostrich which is found in the thir- 
ty-ninth chapter of the book of Job. The version of 
the passage is from the pen of Dr. Harris, who has 
also furnished some of the illustrations : for the re- 
maining part we are indebted to professor Paxton 
and Dr. Shaw. 

The wing of the ostrich tribe is for flapping. 

The word which our English Bible renders pea- 
cock, is one of the Hebrew names of the ostrich. The 
peacock was not known in Syria, Palestine, or Ara- 
bia, before the reign of Solomon, who first imported 
it. It was originally from India. Besides, the os- 
trich, not the peacock, is allowed on all hands to be 
the subject of the following parts of the description. 
And while the whole character, says Mr. Good, pre- 
cisely applies to the ostrich, it should be observed, 
that all the western Arabs, from Wedinoon to Sen- 
naar, still denominate it ennim, with a near approach 
to the Hebrew name here employed. Neither is the 
peacock remarkable for its wing, but for the beauties 
of its tail : whereas, the triumphantly expanded, or as 
Dr. Shaw terms it, the quivering expanded wing, is 
one of the characteristics of the ostrich. " When I 
was abroad," says this entertaining writer, "I had 
several opportunities of amusing myself with the 
actions and behavior of the ostrich. It was very di- 
verting to observe with what dexterity and equipoise 
of body it would play and frisk about on all occasions. 
In the heat of the day, particularly, it would strut 
along the sunny side of the house witb great majesty. 



OSTRICH 



t 719 ] 



OSTRICH 



It would be perpetually tanning and priding itself 
with its quivering, expanded wings, and seem, at every 
turn, to admire and be in love with its own shadow." 

But of the stork and falcon for flight. 

The argument drawn from natural history ad- 
vances from quadrupeds to birds ; and of birds, those 
only are selected for description which are most 
common to the country in which the scene lies, and, 
tt the same time, are most singular in their proper- 
ties; Thus, the ostrich is admirably contrasted with 
the stork and the eagle, as affording an instance of a 
winged animal totally incapable of Hying, but endued 
with an unrivalled rapidity of running, compared 
with birds whose flight is proverbially swift, power- 
ful and persevering. Let man, in the pride of his 
wisdom, explain or arraign this difference of con- 
struction ! Again, the ostrich is peculiarly opposed 
to the stork, and to some species of the eagle, in an- 
other sense, and a sense adverted to in the verses 
immediately ensuing ; for the ostrich is well known 
to take little care of its eggs or its young ; while, not 
to dwell upon the species of the eagle just glanced 
at, the stork has ever been, and ever deserves to be, 
held in proverbial repute for its parental fondness. 

It may be remarked, that "the eagle spreading 
abroad her wings, and taking her young upon them," 
is mentioned, Deut. xxxii. 11, as an example of care 
and kindness. So that this passage may imply, that 
the wings of the ostrich, however wonderful for their 
plumage, are neither adapted for the flying of the 
possessor, nor for the shelter of her young ; and so 
are peculiarly different from those of all other birds, 
and especially those most remarkable for their flight 
and other particulars. 

She leaveth her eggs on the ground, 

And warmeth them in the dust ; 

And is heedless that the foot may crush them, 

Or the beast of the field trample upon them. 

As for the stork, " the lofty fir-trees are her house ;" 
but the improvident ostrich depositeth her eggs in 
the earth. She buildeth her nest on some sandy 
hillock, in the most barren and solitary recesses of 
the desert, exposed to the view of every traveller, 
and the foot of every wild beast. 

Our translators appear, by their version, which is 
confused, to have been influenced by the vulgar 
error, that the ostrich did not herself hatch her eggs 
by sitting on them, but left them to the heat of the 
sun ; probably understanding aipn as of a total dere- 
liction ; whereas the original word aonn signifies 
actively that she heateth them,— namely, by incuba- 
tion. And Mr. Good, who also adopts this opinion, 
observes, that there is scarcely an Arabian poet who 
has not availed himself of this peculiar character of 
the ostrich in some simile or other. Let the follow- 
ing suffice, from Nawabig, quoted by Schultens : 

There are who, deaf to nature's cries, 
On stranger tribes bestow their food : 

So her own eggs the ostrich flies, 
And, senseless, rears another's brood. 

This, however, does not prove that she wholly 
neglects incubation, but that she deserts her eggs, 
which may be because frighted away. The fact is, 
she usually sits upon her eggs as other birds do ; but 
then she so often wanders, and so far in search of 
food, that frequently the eggs are addle by means of 



her long absence from them. To this account we 
may add, when she has left her nest, whether through 
fear or to seek food, if she light upon the eggs of 
some other ostrich, she sits upon them, and is un- 
mindful of her own. Leo Africanus says, they lay' 
about ten or a dozen at a time ; but Dr. Shaw ob 
serves, that by the repeated accounts which he had 
received from his conductors, as well as from Arabs 
of different places, he had been informed that they 
lay from thirty to fifty. He adds, " We are not to 
consider this large collection of eggs as if they were 
all intended-for a brood. They are the greatest part 
of them reserved for food, which the dam breaks, 
and disposeth of according to the number and crav 
ings of her young ones." 

Mr. Barrow denies that the ostrich lays so many 
eggs as is here stated ; and remarks, that, being a 
polygamous bird, and several females laying their 
eggs in one nest, to the number of ten or twelve each, 
has occasioned this mistake as to the number of eggs 
laid by the female ostrich. 

She hardeneth herself for that which is fl<t ners, 
Her labor is vain, without discrimination. 

Our translation renders this verse, " She is hard- 
ened against her young ones, as though they were 
not hers," <Slc. ; whence it has been inferred, that she 
is destitute of all natural affection toward her young; 
an opinion which has been zealously controverted by 
Buffbn. Mr. Vansittart, in his remarks upon this 
clause, argues that the text is not intended to indi- 
cate any want of care for her young; but, as the 
eggs are set upon by several female ostriches alter- 
nately, the young are the joint care of the parent 
birds, without discrimination. The same Hebrew 
word, he remarks, occurs but once, besides in this 
place, throughout the Old Testament, and that is Isa. 
lxiii. 17, where the prophet refers to God's casting 
off his people, and taking strangers in their place, 
and is exactly what is applicable to this passage in Job. 

We think, however, that this nice criticism upon 
the text is altogether uncalled for, since the very facts 
cited by Buffbn, from Leo Africanus and Kolbd, are 
decisive against the French naturalist's reasoning, 
and corroborative of the accuracy of the English 
translators. The testimony of Dr. Shaw is still more 
to the purpose : 

" On the least noise or trivial occasion," says the 
doctor, " she forsakes her eggs, or her young ones ; 
to which, perhaps, she never returns ; or if she does, 
it may be too late either to restore life to the one, or 
to preserve the lives of the others. Agreeable to this 
account, the Arabs meet sometimes with whole nests 
of these eggs undisturbed; some of them are sweet 
and good, others are addle and corrupted ; others, 
again, have their young ones of different growth, ac- 
cording to the time it may be presumed, they may 
have been forsaken of the dam. They often meet 
with a few of the little ones no bigger than well- 
grown pullets, half starved, straggling and moaning 
about, like so many distressed orphans, for their mo- 
ther. In this manner the ostrich may be said to be 
hardened against her young ones, as though they were 
not hers ; her labor, in hatching and attending them 
so far, being vain, without fear, or the least concern 
of what becomes of them afterwards. This want of 
affection is also recorded, Lam. iv. 3, 'The daughter 
of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the 
wilderness ;' " that is, by apparently deserting their 
own, and receiving others in return. Hence, one ot 
the great causes of lamentation was, the coming in 



OSTKICH 



[ 720' ] 



OZ 1 



or strangers and enemies into Zion, and possessing it. 
Thus, in the twelfth verse of this chapter, it is said, 
" The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of 
the world, would not have believed that the adver- 
sary and the enemy should have entered into the 
gates of Jerusalem ;" and in ch. v. 2, " Our inherit- 
ance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens." 

With reference to the phrase, " her labor is vain," 
Mr. Vansittart remarks, while eggs are laid, and 
young ostriches produced, it can never be correct; 
and if the mother did even drive her young ones 
from her, still it could not be said that hef labors had 
not been successful ; because, while there was a 
young brood remaining, it would be evident that she 
had been prosperous. Labor in vain, he further re- 
marks, must either be that which is not productive, 
or else what profits not the person who labors, or 
otherwise, what profits another who d6es not labor. 
This, he conceives, is the case with the ostrich in the 
interpretation here suggested ; and is, moreover, the 
true signification of the Hebrew phrase. The same 
phrase occurs, Lev. xxvi. 16, "Ye sow your seed in 
vain, for another shall reap it," not yourselves. Like- 
wise, Isa. Jxv. 21 — 23, "They shall build houses and 
inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards, and 
eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and an- 
other inhabit ; they shall not plant and another eat ; 
they shall not labor in vain :" that is, profitless for 
themselves, and for the good of others. And again, 
ch. xlix. 4, "Then I said, I have labored in vain; I 
have spent my strength for nought and in vain;" that 
is, when he had departed from the worship of Jeho- 
vah, and had been given up to the service of the 
gods of the nation, and consequently to their advan- 
tage, and not his own. It is in this sense that Mr. 
Vansittart proposes to understand the Hebrew word, 
which is not a forced signification, and is moreover the 
exact peculiarity and property of the ostrich intended 
to be marked. 

Because God hath made her feeble of instinct, 
And not imparted to her understanding. 

Natural affection and sagacious instinct are the 
grand instruments by which Providence continueth 
the race of other animals ; but no limits can be set to 
the wisdom and power of God. He preserveth the 
breed of the ostrich without those means, and even 
in a penury of all the necessaries of life. 

In her private capacity, she is not less inconside- 
rate and foolish, particularly in the choice of food, 
which is often highly detrimental and pernicious to 
her : for she swallows every thing greedily and in- 
discriminately, whether it be pieces of rags, leather, 
wood, stone or iron. They are particularly fond of 
their own ordure, which they greedily eat up as soon 
as it is voided ; no less fond are they of the dung of 
hens and other poultry. It seems as if their optic, as 
well as their olfactory nerves, were less adequate and 
conducive to their safety and preservation, than in 
other creatures The divine Providence in this, no 
less than in other respects, " having deprived them of 
wisdom, neither hath it imparted to them understand- 
ing." This part of her character is fully admitted 
by Buffon, who describes it in nearly the same terms. 

Yet at the time she haughtily assumes courage ; 
She scorneth the horse and his rider. 

Dr. Durell justifies this translation, observing, that 
the ostrich cannot soar as other birds ; and therefore 
the words in our version, " when she lifteth up her- 
self," cannot be right ; besides, the verb* nid occurs 



only in this place ; and in Arabic it signifies to lake 
courage, and the like. » 

Notwithstanding the stupidity of this animal, says 
Dr. Shaw, its Creator hath amply provided for its 
safety, by endowing it with extraordinary swiftness, 
and a surprising apparatus for escaping from its 
enemy. They, "when they raise themselves up for 
flight, laugh at the horse aDd his rider." They afford 
him an opportunity only of admiring at a distance the 
extraordinary agility, and the stateliness, likewise, of 
their motions, the richness of their plumage, and the 
great propriety there was in ascribing to them an ex- 
panded quivering iving. Nothing, certainly, can be 
more entertaining than such a sight ; the wings, by 
their rapid but unwearied vibrations, equally serving 
them for sails and oars ; while their feet, no less as- 
sisting in conveying them out of sight, are no less in- 
sensible of fatigue. ' 

The surprising swiftness of the ostrich is expressly 
mentioned by Xenophon, in Ids Anabasis ; for, speak- 
ing of the desert of Arabia, he states that the ostrich 
is frequently seen there ; that none could take them, 
the horsemen who pursue them soon giving it over ; 
for they escaped far away, making use both of their 
feet to run, and of their wings, when expanded, as a 
sail to waft them along." This representation is con- 
firmed by the writer of a voyage to Senegal, who 
says, " She sets off at a hard gallop ; but, after being 
excited a little, she expands her wings as if to catch 
the wind, and abandons herself to a speed so great, 
that she seems not to touch the ground." " I am per- 
suaded," continues that writer, "she would leave far 
behind the swiftest English courser." Buffon, also, 
admits that the ostrich runs faster than the horse. 
These unexceptionable testimonies completely vindi- 
cate the assertion of the inspired writer. 

OTHNIEL, son of Kcnaz of Judah, Josh. xv. 17. 
Scripture says, Othniel was brother to Caleb, (Judg. 
i. 13.) meaning, probably, near relations, as cousins ; 
for it is not likely they were literally brothers, 
since Othniel married the daughter of Caleb. See 

ACHSAH. 

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites not exter- 
minating the Canaanites, and not continuing in their 
fidelity to the Lord, he delivered them to Chushan- 
Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, to whom they 
continued in subjection eight years, Judg. iii. Then 
they cried to the Lord, who raised them up for a de- 
liverer Othniel, who, being filled with the Spirit of 
God, judged Israel ; and the country had rest forty 
years. That is to say, it was in peace the fortieth 
year after the peace that Joshua had procured for it, 
A. M. 2960, ten years before his death. The year 
of Othniel's death is unknown. 

OVEN, see Bread, p. 208. 

OWL, an unclean bird, Lev. xi. 17. When Isaiah 
speaks of Babylon as reduced to a wilderness, he says 
that the owls shall answer one another there, (chap, 
xiii. 22.) and the psalmist says, that in his affliction, 
he was as the owl sitting alone on the house-top, Ps. 
cii. 7. Interpreters, however, are not agreed on the 
signification of the Hebrew words translated owl, as 
may be seen under the article Ostrich. The owl 
was consecrated to Minerva, and on this account was 
honored by the Athenians, who represented it on 
their medals. 

OX, see Boll. 

OZEM, sixth son of Jesse, and brother of David, 
1 Chron. ii. 15. 

OZIAS, son of Micha, of Simeon, chief of Bethu 
lia, when it was besieged by Holofernes. See J udith. 



t ™ ] 



PAL 



PALM-TREE 



PAD AN ARAM, the plains of Aram, or Syria. See 
Mesopotamia, and Stria. 

PALESTINE, taken in a limited sense, denotes 
the country of the Philistines, or Palestines ; which 
was that part of the Land of Promise extending along 
the Mediterranean sea, from Gaza south to Lydda 
north. The LXX were of opinion that the word 
Philistiim which they generally translate Mlophyli, 
signified strangers, or men of another tribe. Pales- 
tine, taken in a more general sense, signifies the whole 
country of Canaan, as well beyond, as on this side, 
Jordan ; though frequently it is restrained to the 
country on this side that river : so that in later times 
the words Judea and Palestine were synonymous. 
We find also the name of Syria-Palestina given to the 
Land of Promise, and even sometimes this province 
is comprehended in Coele-Syria, or the Lower Syria. 
Herodotus is the most ancient writer known who 
speaks of Syria-Palestina. He places it between 
Phoenicia and Egypt. See Canaan. 

PALM, a measure of a hand's, or four fingers' 
breadth, or 3.648 inches, Hebr. nota, Tephach; LXX, 
HaXai n?1 Exod. xxv. 25. The Heb. Zereth, rnt, (LXX, 
Sni&uij, Exod. xxviii. 16.) is often translated palm, 
though it signifies a span or half-cubit, and contains 
three ordinary palms ; which ought to be observed, 
that two measures so unequal may not be confound- 
ed. Jerome sometimes translates Tephach by four 
fingers, and sometimes by a palm; but he always 
renders Zereth by palmus ; and the Septuagint by 
Spithame. Goliath was in height six cubits and a 
Zereth ; that is, six cubits and a half, making eleven 
feet ten inches and something more. We find in 
Isa. xl. 12, an expression that proves the Zereth, or 
palm, to signify the extent of the hand from the end 
of the thumb to the end of the little finger. "Who 
hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, 
and meted out heaven with a span?" a Zereth. 

PALMER- WORM. Bochart is of opinion that 
the Hebrew nu, gazdm, is a kind of locust, furnished 
with very sharp teeth, with which it gnaws ofF grass, 
corn, leaves of trees, and even their bark. The Jews 
support this idea, by deriving the word from gdzaz, 
to cut, to sheai; to mince ; and Pisidias compares a 
swarm of locusts to a sword with ten thousand edges. 
Such is also the opinion of most commentators. But 
notwithstanding this, the LXX read ztii/Tr?;, and the 
Vulgate eruca, or caterpillar, which rendering is sup- 
ported by Fuller. Michaelis also agrees with this 
notion, and thinks the sharp and cutting teeth of the 
caterpillar, which, like a sickle, clea-r away all before 
them, might give name to this insect. Caterpillars 
also begin their ravages before locusts, which seems 
to coincide with the nature of the creature here in- 
tended : " That which the palmer-worm hath left 
hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust 
hath left hath the cankerworm eaten ; and that which 
the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten," 
Joel i. 4. 

PALM-TREE. This tree is called icn, tdmdr, 
from its straight, upright growth, for which it seems 
more remarkable than any other tree : it sometimes 
nses to the height of a hundred feet. 

The palm is one of the most beautiful trees of the 
91 



vegetable kingdom. The stalks are generally full of 
rugged knots, which are the vestiges of the decayed 
leaves : for the trunk is not solid like other trees, but 
its centre is filled with pith, round which is a tough 
bark, full of strong fibres when young, which, as the 
tree grows old, hardens and becomes ligneous. To 
this bark the leaves are closely joined, which in the 
centre rise erect, but after they are advanced above 
the vagina that surrounds them, they expand very 
wide on every side the stem, and, as the older leaves 
decay, the stalk advances in height. The leaves, 
when the tree has grown to a size for bearing fruit, 
are six or eight feet long ; are very broad when 
spread out, and are used for covering the tops of 
houses, and similar purposes. 

The fruit, which is called "date," grows below the 
leaves in clusters ; and is of a sweet and agreeable 
taste. The learned Ksempfer, as a botanist, an anti- 
quary and a traveller, has exhausted the whole sub- 
ject of palm-trees. The diligent natives, says Mr. 
Gibbon, celebrated, either in verse or prose, the 360 
uses to which the trunk, the branches, the leaves and 
the fruit were skilfully applied. The extensive im- 
portance of the date-tree, says Dr. Clarke, is one of 
the most curious subjects to which a traveller can 
direct his attention. A considerable part of the in- 
habitants of Egypt, of Arabia and Persia, subsist 
almost entirely on its fruit. They boast also of its 
medicinal virtues. Their camels feed upon the date 
stone. From the leaves they make couches, baskets, 
bags, mats and brushes ; from the branches, cages 
for their poultry, and fences for their gardens ; from 
the fibres of the boughs, thread, ropes and rigging ; 
from the sap is prepared a spirituous liquor ; and the 
body of the tree furnishes fuel : it is even said, that 
from one variety of the palm-tree, the "phoenix far- 
inifera," meal has been extracted, which is found 
among the fibres of the trunk, and has been used for 
food. 

Several parts of the Holy Land, no less than of 
Idumsea, that lay contiguous to it, are described by 
the ancients to have abounded with date-trees. Ju- 
dea, particularly, is typified in several coins of Ves- 
pasian, by a disconsolate woman sitting under a 
palm-tree. Upon the Greek coin, likewise, of his 
son Titus, struck upon a like occasion, we see a 
shield suspended upon a palm-tree, with a victory 
writing upon it. The same tree, upon a medal of 
Domitian, is made an emblem of Neapolis, formerly 
Sichem, or Naplosa, as it is now called ; as it is like- 
wise of Sephoris, or Sepphoury, according to the 
present name, the metropolis of Galilee, upon one of 
Trajan's. It may be presumed, therefore, that the 
palm-tree was formerly much cultivated in the Holy 
Land. 

In Deut. xxxiv. 3. Jericho is called "the city of 
palm-trees, because, as Josephus, Strabo and Pliny 
have remarked, it anciently abounded with them : 
and so Dr. Shaw states that there are several of them 
yet at Jericho, where there is the convenience they 
require of being often watered ; where likewise the 
climate is warm, and the soil sandy, or such as they 
thrive and delight in. At Jerusalem, Sichem, and 
other places to the northward, however, Dr. Shaw 



PALM-TREE 



[ 722 ] 



PALM-TREE 



states that he rarely saw above two or three of them 
together ; and even these, as their fruit rarely or ever 
comes to maturity, are of no further service, than 
(like the palm-tree of Deborah) to shade the retreats 
or sanctuaries of their sheikhs, as they might for- 
merly have been sufficient to supply the solemn pro- 
cessions with branches. (See John xii. 13.) From 
the present condition and quality of the palm-trees 
in this part of the Holy Land, Dr. Shaw concludes that 
they never were either numerous or fruitful here, and 
that, therefore, the opinion of Reland and others, that 
Phoenicia is the same with "a country of date-trees " 
does not appear probable ; for if such a useful and 
beneficial plant had ever been cultivated there to ad- 
vantage, it would have still continued to be culti- 
vated, as in Egypt and Barbary. 

In the latter country, in the maritime, as well as in 
the inland parts, there are several large plantations 
of the palm-tree ; though such only as grow in the 
Sahara bring their fruit to perfection. Dr. Shaw, to 
whom we are so greatly indebted for our acquaint- 
ance with the natural history of the East, informs us 
that they are propagated chiefly from the roots of 
full grown trees,which, if well transplanted, and taken 
care of, will yield their fruit in the sixth or seventh 
year ; whereas those which are raised immediately 
from the kernels, will not bear till about the sixteenth 
year. This method of raising the </oni;, or palm, 
and particularly the fact that when the old trunk 
dies, there is never wanting one or other of these 
offsprings to succeed it, may have given rise to the 
fable of the phoenix dying, and another arising from 
its ashes. 

It is a singular fact that these trees are male and 
female, and that the fruit which is produced by the 
latter will be dry and insipid without a previous 
communication with the former. In the month of 
March or April, therefore, when the sheaths that re- 
spectively enclose the young clusters of the male 
flowers, and the female fruit, begin to open, at which 
time the latter are formed, and the former are mealy, 
they take a sprig or two of the male cluster, and in- 
sert it into the sheath of the female ; or else they take 
a whole cluster of the male tree, and sprinkle the 
meal or farina of it over several clusters of the female. 
The latter practice is common in Egypt, where they 
have a number of males ; but the trees of Barbary 
are impregnated by the former method, one male be- 
ing sufficient for four or five hundred females. 

The palm-tree arrives at its greatest vigor about 
thirty years after transplantation, and continues so 
seventy years afterwards, bearing yearly fifteen or 
twenty clusters of dates, each of them weighing fif- 
teen or twenty pounds. After this period, it begins 
gradually to decline, and usually falls about the latter 
end of its second century. "To be exalted," or "to 
flourish like the palm-tree," are as just and proper ex- 
pressions, suitable to the nature of this plant, as "to 
spread about like a cedar," Ps. xcii. 11. 

The root of the palm-tree produces a great num- 
ber of suckers, which, spreading upward, form a 
kind of forest. It was under a little wood of this 
kind, as Calmet thinks, that the prophetess Deborah 
dwelt, between Ramah and Bethel, Judg. iv. 5. And 
probably to this multiplication of the palm-tree, as he 
suggests, the prophet alludes, when he says, " The 
righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree," (Ps. xcii. 
12 ; comp. Ps. i. 3.) rather than to its towering height, 
as Dr. Shaw supposes. 

The palm is much fonder of water than many 
other trees of the forest, and this will account for its 



flourishing so much better in some places than others. 
When Moses and his people on their way to the 
promised land arrived at Elim, they found twelve 
wells of water by the side of seventy palm-trees, 
Exod. xv. 27. And we learn from sir Robert Wil- 
son, (History of the Expedition to Egypt, p. 18.] that 
when the English army landed in Egypt, in 1801, to 
expel the French from that country, sir Sidney Smith 
assured the troops that wherever date-trees grew, 
water must be near; and so they found it on digging 
usually within such a distance that the roots of the 
tree coidd obtain moisture from the fluid. Burck- 
hardt confirms this statement in several places. 
(Travels in Syria, &c. p. 473, 523, 531, 562, &c.) 

The prophet Jeremiah, describing, in a fine strain 
of irony, the idols of the heathens, says, " They are up- 
right as the palm-tree," (chap. ix. 5.) which Calmet 
takes to be an allusion to their shape, remarking, 
from Diodorus Siculus, that the ancients, before the 
art of carving was carried to perfection, made their 
images all of a thickness, straight, having their hands 
hanging down, and close to their sides, the legs join- 
ed together, the eyes shut, with a very perpendicular 
attitude, and not unlike the body of a palm-tree. 
Such are the figures of those ancient Egyptian statues 
that still remain. The famous Greek architect and 
sculptor Daedalus set their legs at liberty, opened their 
eyes, and gave them a more free and easy attitude. 

The straight and lofty growth of the palm-tree, its 
longevity and great fecundity, the permanency and 
perpetual flourishing of its leaves, and their form, 
resembling the solar rays, makes it a very proper em- 
blem of the natural, and thence of the divine light. 
Hence in the holy place or sanctuary of the temple, 
(the emblem of Christ's body,) palm-trees were engrav- 
ed on the walls and doors between the coupled cherubs, 
1 Kings vi. 29, 32, 35 ; Ezek. xli. 18, 19, 20, 25, 26. 
Hence, at the Feast of Tabernacles branches of palm- 
trees were to be used, among others, in making their 
booths. (Comp. Lev. xxiii.30 ; Neh. viii. 15.) Palm 
branches were also used as emblems of victory, both by 
believers and idolaters. The reason given by Plutarch 
and Aulus Gellius, why they were so among the latter, 
is the nature of the wood, which so powerfully re- 
sists incumbent pressure. But, doubtless, believers, 
by bearing palm-branches after a victory, or in 
triumph, meant to acknowledge the supreme Author 
of their success and prosperity, and to carry on their 
thoughts to the Divine Light, the great conqueror 
over sin and death. (Comp. 1 Mac. xiii. 51 ; 2 Mac. 
x. 7 ; John xii. 13 ; Rev. vii. 9.) And the idolaters, 
likewise, probably used palms on such occasions, not 
without respect to Apollo or the sun, to whom, 
among them, they were consecrated. Hence, prob- 
ably, we have the name of a place, " Baal-Tamar," 
(Judg. xx. 33.) Tamar being, as we have said, the 
name of the palm-tree ; it being so called in honor of 
Baal or the sun, whose image, it may be, was there 
accompanied by this tree. Herodotus states that 
there were many palm-trees at Apollo's temple, at 
Brutus, in Egypt ; and that at Sais, in the temple of 
Minerva, or Athena, (a name for the solar light,) there 
were artificial columns in imitation of palm-trees. 

In Cant. vii. 7, the statue of the bride is compared 
to a palm-tree, which conveys a pleasing idea of her 
gracefulness and beauty. So Theocritus compares 
Helen to a cypress-tree in a garden ; but Ulysses 
makes almost the very same comparison as that of 
Solomon, by likening the princess Nausicaa to a 
young palm-tree growing by Apollo's altar in Delos. 

It is probable that Tamar, (Ezek. xlvii. 19, &c.) or 



P A It 



[ 72.3 j 



P A il 



Tadmor, (1 Kings ix. 18.) built in the desert by Sol- 
omon, and afterwards called Palmyra by the Greeks, 
obtained its name from the number of palm-trees 
which grew about it. 

As the Greek name for this tree signifies also the 
fabulous bird, called the phoenix, some of the fathers 
have supposed that the psalmist (xcii. 12.) alludes to 
the latter, and on his authority have made the phoe- 
nix an emblem of a resurrection. Tertullian calls it 
a full and striking emblem of this hope. But the 
tree, also, seems to have been considered as emblem- 
atical of the revivification of the human body, from 
its being found in some burial places in the East. 
In our colder climate, we have substituted the yew- 
tree in its place. 

PALSY, a disorder which deprives the limbs of 
motion, and makes them useless to the patient. Our 
Saviour cured several paralytics by his word alone. 
(See Matt. iv. 24 ; viii. 6 ; ix. 2 ; Mark ii. 3, 4 ; Luke 
v. 18.) The sick man who was lying near the pool 
at the sheep-market, for thirty-eight years, was a par- 
alytic, John v. 5. 

PAMPHYLIA, a province of Asia Minor, having 
Cilicia east, Lycia west, Pisidia north, and the Med- 
iterranean south. It is opposite to Cyprus, and the 
sea between the coast and the island is called the sea 
of Pamphylia. The chief city of Pamphylia was 
Perga, where Paul and Barnabas preached, Acts xiii. 
13 ; xiv. 24. 

PAPER, PAPYRUS, see Book, p. 200, 201. 

PAPHOS, a famous city of the isle of Cyprus, 
where Paul converted the proconsul Sergius Paulus, 
and struck with blindness a Jewish sorcerer, called 
Bar-jesus, who would have hindered his conversion. 
Paphos was at the western extremity of the island, 
Acts xiii. 6, A. D. 44. « 

PARABLE, HoQapoXij, (Heb. a^vrs, Meshdlim,) 
from the verb naQUfiukXttv, which signifies to compare 
things together, to form a parallel or similitude of 
them with other things. What we call the Proverbs 
of Solomon, which are moral maxims and sentences, 
the Greeks call the Parables of Solomon. And when 
Jerome would express the poetic and sententious 
style of Balaam, (Numb, xxiii. 7, 18, &c.) he says, be 
began to speak in a parable. In like manner, when 
Job answers his friends, it is said, he began to take 
up his parable, Job xxvii. 1; xxix. 1. The parabol- 
ical, enigmatical, figurative and sententious way of 
speaking, was the language of the eastern sages and 
learned men ; and nothing was more insupportable 
than to hear a fool utter parables, Prov. xxvi. 7. 

The prophets employed parables, the more strong- 
ly to impress prince and people with their threaten- 
ings or their promises. Nathan reproved David 
under the parable of a rich man who had taken away 
and killed the lamb of a poor man, 2 Sam. xii. 2, 3, 
&c. The woman of Tekoah, who was hired by 
Joab to reconcile the mind of David to Absalom, 
proposed to him the parable of her two sons who 
fought together, and one having killed the other, they 
were going to put the murderer to death, and so to 
deprive her of both her sons, 2 Sam. xv. 2, 3, &c. 
Jotham, son of Gideon, addressed to the Shechemites 
the parable of the bramble of Libanus, whom the 
trees chose for king, Judg. ix. 7, 8, &c. Our Saviour 
most frequently addressed the people in parables; 
thereby verifying the prophecy of Isaiah, (vi. 9.) that 
the people should see without knowing, and hear 
without understanding, in the midst of instruc- 
tions. Jerome observes, that this manner of instruct- 
ing a -d speaking by similitudes and parables, was 



common in Syria, and especially in Palestine. It is 
certain that the ancient sages employed this style 
almost to affectation. 

Some parables in the New Testament may perhaps 
be supposed to be true histories ; as that of Lazarus 
and the wicked rich man ; that of the good Samari- 
tan ; and that of the Prodigal Son. In others, our 
Saviour seems to allude to some points of history in 
those times ; as that describing a king who went into 
a far country, to receive a kingdom ; which may hint 
at the history of Archelaus, who, after the death of 
his father Herod the Great, went to Rome, to receive 
from Augustus the confirmation of his father's will, 
by which he had bequeathed the kingdom of Judea 
to him. 

The word parable is sometimes used in Scripture 
in a sense of reproach and contempt. God threatens 
his people to scatter them among the nations, and to 
make them a parable (English translation, a proverb) 
to the people, 2 Chron. vii. 20. So that when any 
one would express a nation hated of God, and which 
has suffered his fierce anger, he shall say, May you 
become like Israel ! 

PARACLETUS, a title given to the Holy Spirit 
by our Saviour, John xiv. 16. See Comforter. 

PARADISE. This word signifies a garden or 
forest of trees, a park, in which sense it is used, Neh. 
ii. 8 ; Eccles. ii. 5 ; Cant. iv. 13. 

The Septuagint use the word Paradisus, (Gen. ii. 
8.) when they speak of the garden of Eden, in which 
the Lord placed Adam and Eve. This famous gar- 
den is indeed commonly known by the name of "the 
terrestrial paradise," and there is hardly any part of 
the world in which it has not been sought. See Eden. 

In the New Testament, paradise is put for a place 
of delight, where the souls of the blessed enjoy hap- 
piness. Thus our Saviour tells the penitent thief on 
the cross, (Luke xxiii. 43.) " To-day shalt thou be with 
me in paradise;" i.e. in the state of the blessed 
Paul, speaking of himself in the third person, says 
(2 Cor. xii. 4.) "I knew a man that was caught up 
into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which 
it is not lawful for a man to utter." And again out 
Lord says, (Rev. ii. 7.) "To him that overcometh 
will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the 
midst of the paradise of God." The Jews commonly 
call paradise " the garden of Eden ;" and they ima- 
gine that at the coming of the Messiah they shall here 
enjoy an earthly felicity, in the midst of delights ; 
and that, till the resurrection, and the coming of the 
Messiah, their souls shall continue here in a state 
of rest. 

PARALLELISM, see Poetry. 

PARAN, El-paran, or Pharan, a desert of Ara- 
bia Petrsea, south of the Land of Promise, and north- 
west of the gulf Elanitis. (See the situation of this 
desert fully discussed under Exodus, p. 418.) Che- 
dorlaomer and his allies ravaged the country, to the 
plains of Paran, (Gen. xiv. 6.) and Hagar, being sent 
from Abraham, retired into the wilderness of Paran, 
where she lived with her son Ishmael, Gen xxi. 21. 
The Israelites, having decamped from Sinai, came 
into this desert, (Numb. x. 12.) and thence Moses sent 
out spies to inspect the Land of Promise, ch. xiii. 3. 
When David was persecuted by Saul, he withdrew 
into the wilderness of Paran, near Maon, and south 
of Carmel, 1 Sam. xxv. 1, 2. The greater part of 
the habitations of this country, it is said, vere dug in 
the rocks; and here Simon of Gerasa gathered 
together all that he took from his enemies. 

Paran was also the name of a city cf Arabia Pe- 



PAR [ 724 } PAR 



trsca, three days' journey from Elah, or Ailal, east, 
Deut. i. 1 ; 1 Kings xi. 18. But see Exodus, p. 418. 

PARCHMENT, see Book, p. 201. 

PARDON, entire remission of punishment due to 
guilt. God extends mercy as his darling attribute, 
and mercy delighteth in pardoning. God is said to 
multiply pardons, to be ready to pardon, to pardon 
for his name's sake, &c. Various similes are used 
to denote the nature of pardon ; as, to take away in- 
iquity, to cover sin, to blot out sin, to cast sins behind 
the back, not to remember them, &C. Man is liable 
to recollect transgressions, after having pardoned 
them, but God pardons effectively and completely. 
The gospel furnishes the noblest motive to us to 
pardon others ; " even as God for Christ's sake hath 
pardoned us." 

PARENT, a name properly given to a father or a 
mother, but extended also to relations by blood, espe- 
cially in a direct line, upward. Scripture commands 
children to honor their parents, (Exod. xx. 12.) i. e. 
to obey them, to succor them, to respect them, to give 
them all assistance that nature, and their and our cir- 
cumstances, require. Christ (Matt. xv. 5, 6.) con- 
demns that corrupt explication which the doctors of 
the law gave of this precept ; by teaching that a child 
was disengaged from the obligation of supporting and 
assisting his parents, when he said, " It is a gift by 
whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me ; q. d. I 
am no longer master of my own estate ; it is consecrat- 
ed to the Lord." See Corban. 

Marriages among parents and relations were for- 
bidden within certain degrees, Lev. xviii. 

P \RLOR, that room in a house where the master 
or his family customarily speak with visitors ; but 
whether the word rendered parlor has always this 
import in the Hebrew, may be doubtful. (Compare 
Judg. iii. 20; 1 Sam. ix. 22.) 

PARMASHTA, the seventh son of Haman ; slain 
by the Jews, with his father, Esth. ix. 9. 

PARMENAS, one of the first seven deacons, Acts 
vi. 5, 6. 

PARSHANDATHA, the eldest son of Haman, put 
to death with his father, Esth. ix. 7. 

PART, PORTION. " The Lord is the portion of 
mine inheritance," Ps. xvi. 5. " Thou art my refuge, 
and my portion in the land of the living," Ps. cxlii. 5. 
And Israel is the part, or portion of the Lord, his pe- 
culiar people: "The Lord's portion is his people, 
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance," Deut. xxxii. 9. 
But with this difference ; God makes and constitutes 
the happiness of his people, but his people cannot 
augment God's happiness or glory. Part or portion 
also signifies recompense or correction. " This is the 
portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage 
appointed unto him by God," Job xx. 29. " They 
shall be a portion for foxes," Ps. Ixiii. 10. "Upon 
the wicked he shall ram snares, fire, and brimstone, 
and an horrible tempest ; this shall be the portion of 
their cup," Ps. xi. 6. This is their part or portion, 
and the just punishment of their iniquity. The Lord 
shall "appoint him his portion with the hypocrites," 
Matt. xxiv. 51. 

PARTHIA is thought to have been originally a 
province of Media, on its eastern side, which was 
raised into a distinct kingdom by Arsaces, ante A. D. 
250. It soon extended itself over a great part of the 
ancient Persian empire, and is frequently put for that 
empire in Scripture, and other ancient writings. Par- 
thia maintained itself against all aggressors for nearly 
500 years, but in A. D. 226, one of the descendants 
of the ancient Persian kings united it to the ancient 



empire, and Persia resumed its ancient name and 
dynasty. 

The Parthians were celebrated, especially by the 
poets, for their mode of fighting, which consisted in 
discharging their arrows while they fled. They 
would seem to have borne no very distant resem- 
blance to the modern Cossacks. It is said the Par- 
thians were either refugees or exiles from the Scythian 
nations. Jews from among them were present at 
Jerusalem at the Pentecost, Acts ii. 9. 

PARTRIDGE. The Hebrew name of this bird is 
Nip, kore, the caller. Forskal mentions a partridge 
whose name, in Arabic, is kurr ; and Latham says, 
that in the province of Andalusia, in Spain, its name 
is churr, both taken, no doubt, from the Hebrew. 
The German hunters also say of the partridge, "It 
calls." As this bird is so well known in every part 
of the world, a particular description is unnecessary. 
There are only two passages of Scripture in which 
the partridge is mentioned ; but these will repay our 
attentive examination. The first occurs in the his- 
tory of David, where he expostulates with Saul con- 
cerning his unjust and foolish pursuit: "The king of 
Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth 
hunt a partridge on the mountains," 1 Sam. xxvi. 20. 
The learned Bochart objects to the partridge in this 
place, and contends that the kore is more likely to 
be the woodcock, since the partridge is not a 
mountain bird. This, however, is a mistake; there 
is a species of the partridge which exactly an- 
swers to the description of David ; and those of Ba- 
rakonda, in particular, are said to choose the highest 
rocks and precipices for their residence. 

" The Arabs have another though a more laborious 
method of catching these birds; for, observing that 
tRey become languid and fatigued after they have 
hastily been put up once or twice, they immediately 
run in upon them, and knock them down with their 
zerwattys, or bludgeons." It was precisely in this 
manner Saul hunted David, coming hastily upon him, 
and putting him up from time to time, in hopes he 
should at length, by frequent repetitions, destroy him. 
In addition to this method of taking the partridge, 
Dr. Shaw states, that the Arabs are well acquainted 
with that mode of catching them which is called tun- 
nelling ; and to make the capture of them the greater, 
they will sometimes place behind the net a cage, wiih 
some tame ones within it, which, by their perpetual 
chirping and calling, quickly bring down the coveys 
that are within hearing, and thereby decoy great 
numbers of them. This, he remarks, may lead us 
into the right interpretation of Ecclus. xi. 30, which 
we render " like as a partridge taken [and kept] in a 
cage, so is the heart of the proud;" but should be. 
" like a decoy partridge in a cage, so is," &c. 

The other passage in which this bird is mentioned, 
is Jer. xvii. 11 : " As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and 
hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not 
by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and 
at his end shall be a fool." It seems to be clear here 
that this bird sitteth on eggs not its own, to correspond 
to the getting of riches not by right ; from these eggs 
it is driven away, leaving them in the midst of his days, 
before the time of hatching is expired. But why 
should it be said of the partridge, rather than any 
other bird, that it sitteth and hatcheth not? Therea 
son is plain, when it is known that this bird's nest, 
being made on the ground, the eggs are frequently 
broken, by the foot of man or other animals, and she 
is often obliged to quit them, by the presence of in- 
truders, which chills the eggs and renders them uti 



PA S 



[ 725 ] 



PASSOVER 



fruitful. Rain and moisture also may spoil them. 
Observing that BufFon makes a separate species of 
the bartavella, or Greek partridge, Mr. Taylor pro- 
poses that as the proper bird meant in these passages. 
To the red partridge, and principally to the bartavella, 
must be referred all that the ancients have related of 
the partridge. Aristotle must needs know flie Greek 
partridge better than any other, since this is the only 
kind in Greece, in the isles of the Mediterranean ; 
and, according to all appearance, in that part of Asia 
conquered by Alexander. Belon informs us, that 
the bartavella keeps ordinarily among the rocks; but 
has the instinct to descend into the plain to make its 
nest, in order that the young may find at the birth a 
ready subsistence. It has another analogy with the 
common hen ; this is, to sit upon (or hatch) the eggs 
of strangers for want of its oivn. This remark is of a 
long standing, since it occurs in the sacred book. 
Now if, in the absence of the proper owner, this bar- 
tavella partridge sits on the eggs of a stranger, when 
that stranger returns to her nest, and drives away the 
intruder before she can hatch them, the partridge 
so expelled resembles a man in low circumstances, 
who had possessed himself, for a time, of the prop- 
erty of another, but is forced to relinquish his acqui- 
sition, before he can render it profitable ; which is 
the simile of the prophet, and agrees, too, with this 
place. 

PARVAIM, the name of a region, (2 Chron. iii. 6.) 
thought to be the same as Ophir. 

PASDAMMIM, a place in the tribe of Judah, (1 
Chron. xi. 13.) called Ephes-dammim, 1 Sam. xvii. 1. 

PASSION. This word has several very different 
significations. JFirst, it signifies the passion or suf- 
fering of Christ : " To whom also he showed himself 
alive after his passion," Acts i. 3. . Secondly, it signi- 
fies shameful passions, (Rom. i. 26.) to which those 
are given up, whom God abandons to their own de- 
sires, Rom. vii. 5 ; 1 Thess. iv. 5. 

PASSOVER, (Pascha, odd, a passing over,) a name 
given to the festival established in.conuriemoration of 
the coming forth out of Egypt, (Exod. xii.) because, 
the night before then - departure, the destroying angel, 
who slew the first born of the Egyptians, passed over 
the houses of the Hebrews without entering them, 
they being marked with the blood of the lamb, which, 
for this reason, was called the Paschal lamb. 

The month of the exodus from Egypt (called Abib 
in Moses, afterwards called Nisan) was ordained to 
be thereafter the first month of the sacred or ecclesi- 
astical year ; and the fourteenth day of this month, be- 
tween the two evenings, that is, between the sun's 
decline and its setting — according to our reckoning, 
between three o'clock in the afternoon and six in the 
evening, at the equinox — they were to kill the paschal 
lamb, and to abstain from leavened bread. The day 
following, being the fifteenth, reckoned from six 
o'clock of the preceding evening, was the grand feast 
of the passover, which continued seven days ; but only 
the first and the seventh day were peculiarly solemn. 
The slain lamb ought to be without defect, a male, 
and of that year. If no lamb could be found, they 
might take a kid. They killed a lamb or a kid in each 
family; and if the number of the family were not 
sufficient to eat the lamb, they might associate two 
families together. 

With the blood of the lamb they sprinkled the door- 
posts and lintel of every house, that the destroying 
angel, beholding the blood, might pass over them. 
Tin \ were to eat the lamb, the same night, roasted, 
with unleavened bread, anil a salad of wild lettuces, 



or bitter herbs. It was forbidden to eat any part of it 
raw or boiled ; nor were they to break a bone ; but it 
was to be eaten entire, even with the head, the feet, 
and the bowels. If any thing remained to the day 
following, it was thrown into the fire, Exod. xii. 46; 
Num. ix. 12; John xix. 36. They who ate it were 
to be hi the posture of travellers, having their loins 
girt, shoes on their feet, staves in their hands, and 
eating in a hurry. This last part of the ceremony was 
but little observed ; at least it was of no obligation after 
the night in which they came out of Egypt. During 
the whole eight days of the passover, no leavened 
bread was to be used. They kept the first and last 
days of the feast ; but it was allowed to dress victuals, 
which was forbidden on the sabbath day. 

The obligation of keeping the passover was very 
strict; so much so, indeed, that Calmet thinks, who- 
ever should neglect it was condemned to death, Num. 
ix. 13. Those who had any lawful impediment, as 
a journey, sickness, or uncleanness, voluntary or in- 
voluntary, were to defer the celebration of the pass- 
over till the second month of the ecclesiastical year, 
the fourteenth day of the month Jiar (which answers 
to April and May.) We see an example of this 
postponed passover under Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxx. 
2, &c. 

We may add, that the oriental Christians, and es- 
pecially the Syrians, insist that on the year that Christ 
died, the feast was celebrated on the thirteenth of 
Adar, being Saturday, that it began at the conclusion 
of the Friday before, and that our Saviour anticipated 
it by a day, celebrating it on the Friday, (beginning 
from the evening of the Thursday before,; because 
he was to suffer on the Friday. 

The ceremonies with which the modern Jews cel- 
ebrate their passover are described by Leo of Modena. 
(Part hi. cap. 3.) The feast continues a week, but the 
Jews out of Palestine extend it to eight days, accord- 
ing to an ancient custom, by which the Sanhedrim 
sent two men to observe the first appearance of the 
new moon, who immediately gave notice of it to the 
chief of the council. For fear of error, they kept two 
days of the festival. One was called dies latentis tu- 
na ; the other, dies apparentis lunce. So that the first 
two days of the passover, and the last two also, are 
sacred, both from labor and business. But it is al- 
lowed to prepare victuals, and to remove from place to 
place whatever they have occasion for. For the four 
intervening days it is only forbidden to work ; and they 
are distinguished from working-days only by some 
particulars. Will not these two days reconcile the 
day on which our Saviour kept the passover, with 
that of other Jews ? — It cannot be thought that the 
priests at the temple would kill the lamb for any body 
before the proper time. 

During the eight days of the feast, the Jews eat 
only unleavened bread, and it is not allowed them to 
have in their custody any leaven, or bread leavened. 
They examine all the house with a very scrupulous 
care, to reject whatever may have any ferment in it. 
See Leaven. 

While the temple was in being, the Jews sacrificed 
a lamb in the temple, between the two evenings ; (that 
is, after the noon-of the 30th of Nisan, from about two 
o'clock to six in the evening;) private persons brought 
them to the temple, and there slew them ; they then 
offered the blood to the priests, who poured it out at 
the foot of the altar. The person himself, or a Lcvite, 
on this occasion, might cut the throat of a victim, but 
the effusion of the blood at the foot of the altar was 
appropriate to the priest. 



PASSOVER 



[ 726 ] 



P A T 



As to the Christian passover, the Lord's supper, it 
was instituted by Christ, when, at the last passover 
supper he ate with his apostles, he gave them a sign 
of his body to eat, and a sign of his blood to drink, 
under the species of bread and wine ; prefiguring 
that he should give up his body to the Jews and to 
death. The paschal lamb which the Jews killed, 
tore to pieces, and ate, and whose blood preserved 
them from the destroying angel, was a type and figure 
of our Saviour's death and passion, and of his blood 
shed for the salvation of the world. There has been 
a diversity of sentiment, and of practice, about the 
celebration of the Christian passover. From the time 
of Poly carp the churches of Asia kept Easter-day on 
the fourteenth day of the moon of March, whatever 
day that might happen upon, in imitation of the 
Jews ; whereas the Latin church kept it on the Sun- 
day following the fourteenth day of the moon of 
March. Polycarp came to Rome and conferred with 
Anicetus on this subject; but neither of them being 
able to convince the other, they thought they ought 
not to disturb the peace of the church about a matter 
of mere custom. The dispute, however, grew warm 
under the pontificate of Victor, about A. D. 188, and 
the Asiatics continuing their practice, and Polyerates, 
bishop of Ephesus, with the other bishops of Asia, 
having written to the pope a long letter in support of 
their opinion, Victor sent letters through all the 
churches, by which he declared them excommuni- 
cated ! The other churches did not approve of this 
rigor, and notwithstanding his sentence, they contin- 
ued in communion with those who still kept Easter 
on the fourteenth day of the moon of March. At the 
council of Nice, A. D. 325, the greater part of the 
churches of Asia were found to have insensibly fallen 
into the practice of the Romans. The council, there- 
fore, ordained, that all the churches should celebrate 
Easter-day on the Sunday following the fourteenth 
day of the moon of March ; and the emperor Con- 
stantine caused this decree to be published through 
the Roman empire. Those who continued the old 
practice were treated as schismatics, and had the name 
of Quaiio-decimans, or partisans of the 14th day, 
given them. 

It has been thought a famous question, whether 
our Saviour kept the legal and Jewish passover the 
last year of his life. Some have thought that the 
supper he ate with his disciples on the evening when 
he instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, 
was an ordinary meal, without a paschal lamb. 
Others, that he anticipated the passover, keeping it 
on the Thursday evening, while the other Jews kept 
it on the Friday. Others have advanced that the 
Galileans kept the passover on Thursday, as Christ 
did ; but that the other Jews kept it on Friday. It 
is, however, the most general opinion of the Chris- 
tian church, as well Greek as Latin, that our Saviour 
kept the legal passover on the Thursday evening, as 
well as the rest of the Jews. The principal diffi- 
culty in the way of this opinion is found in the Gos- 
pel of John, who says that Jesus being at the table 
with his disciples, "before the feast of the passover, 
when Jesus knew that his hour was come," &c. 
John xiii. 1, &c. And afterwards, when the Jews 
had led Jesus to Pilate, he observes, that " they 
themselves went not into the judgment-hall, lest they 
should be defiled, but that they might eat the pass- 
over," John xviii 28. And again, that Friday was 
"the preparation of the passover," and that the Sat- 
urday following was the great day of the feast, the 
eabhath day ; for that sabbath day was a high day," 



John xix. 14, 31.— Why so, if not because it was the 
passover ? Hence Calmet, in a very elaborate disser- 
tation on our Saviour's last passover, has endeav 
ored to show, that our Saviour did not celebrate 
the passover the last year of his life ; or, at least, 
that the Jews celebrated it on Friday, the day of 
Christ's death, and that he died on Calvary at the 
same hour that the Jews offered the paschal sacri- 
fice in tlte tempie ; so that the substance and the 
shadow coincided. In this opinion he is supported 
by several of the ancients. 

The word pascha, or passover, is taken, (1.) For 
the passing over of the destroying angel. (2.) For 
the paschal lamb. (3.) For the meal at which it was 
eaten. (4.) For the festival instituted in memory of 
the corning out of Egypt, and the passage of the de- 
stroying angel. (5.) For all the victims offered 
during the paschal solemnity. (6.) For the unleav- 
ened bread eaten during the eight days of the pass- 
over. (7.) For all the ceremonies of this solemnity. 

PASTOR, a shepherd who watches, defends, feeds, 
heals, &c. a flock, whether his own property, or 
committed to his charge. The office of shepherd is 
applied figuratively to God and to Christ, Gen. xlix. 
21 ; Ps. xxiii. 1 ; lxxx. 1 ; Isa. xl. 11 ; Zech. xiii. 7; 
John x. 14. Christ is the shepherd, inspector, or 
overseer and guardian of souls, 1 Pet. ii. 25. Min- 
isters of God's word are shepherds, Jer. xxiii. 4 ; 
Eph. iv. 11 ; 1 Pet. v. 1 — 4; Ezek. xxxiv. 1, &c. 
Kings are in Homer called "shepherds of men," &c. 
and governors are alluded to under this character, 
Jer. x. 21 ; xii. 10. See an instance, 2 Sam. vii. 8 ; 
"I took thee (David) from following sheep, to be 
ruler — royal shepherd — over my people Israel," &c. 

PATARA, a maritime city of Lycia, where Paul, 
going from Philippi to Jerusalem, found a ship 
bound for Phoenicia, in which he sailed, Acts xxi. 1, 
A. D. 58. 

PATH, the general course of any moving body. 
So we say, the path of the sun in the heavens; and 
to this the wise man compares the path of the just, 
which is, he says, like day -break ; it increases in light 
and splendor till perfect day. It may be obscure, 
feeble, dim, at first, but afterwards it shines in 
full brilliancy, Prov. iv. 18. The course of a man's 
conduct and general behavior is called the path in 
which he w 7 alks, by a very easy metaphor : and as 
when a man walks from place to place in the dark, 
he may be glad of a light to assist in directing his 
steps, so the word of God is a light to guide those in 
their course of piety and duty, who otherwise might 
wander, or be at a loss for direction. Wicked men 
and wicked women are said to have paths full of 
snares. The dispensations of God are his paths, 
Ps. xxv. 10. The precepts of God are paths, Ps. 
xvii. 5 ; lxv. 4. The phenomena of nature are paths 
of God ; (Ps. Ixxvii. 19 ; Isa. xliii. 16.) and to those 
depths which are beyond human inspection, the 
course of God in his providence is likened. If his 
paths are obscure in nature, so they may be in provi 
dence, and in grace too. May he show us, with increas- 
ing clearness, " the path of life !" See Causeway. 

PATHROS, ( Jer. xliv. 1, 15 ; Ezek. xxix. 14 ; xxx 
14.) one of the three ancient divisions of Egypt, viz 
Upper Egypt, which Ezekiel speaks of as distinct 
from Egypt and the original abode of the Egyptians ; 
as indeed Ethiopia and Upper Egypt really were 
Ezekiel threatens the Pathrusim with entire ruin. 
The Jews retired thither, notwithstanding the re- 
monstrances of Jeremiah ; and the Lord says, bv 
Isaiah, that he will brin<? them back from thence 



P AU 



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PATIENCE, endurance, calmness of mind, under 
lisappointment or suffering. The patriarch Job is 
commended, because, amid the misfortunes which 
God permitted to afflict him, he did not behave im- 
patiently, James v. 11. The patience of God, (1 Pet. 
iii. 20.) which invites our conversion, and delays to 
punish us, is the effect of his mercy, and of his infi- 
nite power. The patience of the poor, which" shall 
not be lost (Ps. ix. 18.) — also, thou art my patience 
and my God (Ps. lxxi. 5.) — is another thing; for 
patience in this place rather signifies hope and ex- 
pectation. The hope which the poor has placed in 
God, shall not be in vain, Matt, xviii. 26 ; Luke xviii. 
7. They bring forth fruit with patience ; (Luke viii. 
15.) i. e. amid sufferings, which exercise their pa- 
tience, and perfect it ; with perseverance. Not 
unlike this is the expression, "In your patience pos- 
sess ye your souls," — keep your minds quiet; and 
your self-possession shall enable you to save your 
lives out of pressing dangers. 

PATMOS, an island of the iEgean sea, to which 
the apostle and evangelist John was banished, A. D. 
94, Rev. i. 9. In this island he is said to have had 
his revelation, recorded in the Apocalypse. (But see 
under Apocaltpse.) The island is between the 
island of Icaria, and the promontory of Miletus, or 
between Samos and Naxos, and is now called Pati- 
mo, or Patmosa. Its circuit may be five and twenty 
or thirty miles. It has a city called Patmos, with a 
harbor, and some monasteries of Greek monks, who 
show a cave, now a chapel, where they pretend that 
John wrote his Revelations. 

PAVEMENT, see Gabbatha. 

PAUL, originally named Saul, was of the tribe of 
Benjamin, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, and a Phari- 
see by sect. He was first a persecutor of the church, 
but afterwards a disciple of Christ, and the apostle 
of the Gentiles. He was a Roman citizen, (Acts 
xxii. 27, 28.) because Augustus had given the free- 
dom of Rome to the freemen of Tarsus, in consider- 
ation of their firm adherence to his interests. His 
parents sent him to Jerusalem, where he studied the 
law at the feet of Gamaliel, a famous doctor, Acts 
xxii. 3. He made very great progress in his studies, 
and his life was blameless before men ; being very 
zealous for the full observation of the Mosaic law. 
His zeal persecuted Jesus Christ in his members, (1 
Tim. i. 13.) and when the proto-martyr Stephen was 
stoned, Saul was not only consenting to his death, 
but he even stood by, and took care of the clothes of 
those who stoned hirff, Acts vii. 58, 59. This hap- 
pened A. D. 33, some time after our Saviour's death. 
At the time of the persecution against the church, 
after the death of Stephen, Saul was one who show- 
ed the most violence in distressing believers, Gal. i. 
13; Acts xxvi. 11. He entered their houses, and 
forcibly seized men and women, and sent them to 
prison, Acts viii. 3 ; xxii. 4. In the synagogues he 
caused those to be beaten who believed in Jesus 
Christ, compelling them to blaspheme the name of 
the Lord. Having received credentials from the 
high-priest Caiaphas, and the elders of the Jews, to 
the chief Jews of Damascus, with power to bring 
with him to Jerusalem all the Christians he should 
find there, he departed, full of threats, and breathing 
out slaughter. But on the road, near Damascus, and 
about noon, himself and his company were encom- 
passed oy a great light from heaven, the splendor of 
which struck them to the ground, and Saul heard a 
voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou 
me?" Saul answered, "Who art thou, Lord?" The 



Lord replied, " I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou 
persecutest ; it is hard for thee to kick against 
the pricks." Saul, in consternation, asked, " Lord, 
what is it that thou wouldest have me to do ?" Jesus 
bade him go to Damascus, where he should learn 
his will. 

Saul now, though his eye-lids were open, yet had 
no sight ; his companions, therefore, led him by the 
hand to Damascus, where he continued three days, 
unable to see, or to take nourishment. On the third 
day, the Lord commanded Ananias, a disciple, to 
find him out, to lay his hands on him, and to cure his 
blindness. This was done, and Saul was baptized, 
and filled with the Holy Ghost; after which he con- 
tinued some time with the disciples at Damascus, 
preaching in the synagogues, and proving that Jesus 
was the Messiah. 

Saul subsequently went into Arabia, (Gal. i. 17.) 
probably in the neighborhood of Damascus, then 
under the government of Aretas, king of Arabia. 
After a while, he returned to Damascus, and preach- 
ed the gospel ; but the Jews, unable to bear its 
growing progress, resolved to put Saul to death. 
The apostle, however, escaped, by being let down 
along the wall in a basket, (Acts ix. 24. A. D. 37.) 
the third year after his arrival at Damascus. Vis- 
iting Jerusalem to see Peter, the disciples were fear- 
ful of intercourse with Saul, not believing him to be 
a real convert, Gal. i. 18. But Barnabas having in- 
troduced him to the apostles, Saul related to them 
the manner of his conversion, &c. From Jerusalem 
he went to Csesarea of Palestine, and thence to his 
own country, Tarsus. 

Here he continued for five or six years, from A. D. 
37 to 43 ; when Barnabas being sent to Antioch by 
the apostles, and finding many Christians there, he 
went to Tarsus to seek Saul, and brought him to An- 
tioch, where they continued a year, Acts xi. 20, 25,26. 
During this time there happened a great famine in 
Judea, and the Christians of Antioch having made 
collections to assist their brethren at Jerusalem, they 
deputed Paul and Barnabas to carry their offering 
thither, A. D. 44. Having returned to Antioch, it 
was intimated to them by the prophets in this church, 
that God had appointed them to carry his word into 
other places. The church, therefore, after fasting 
and prayer, with the prophets Simeon, Lucius and 
Manaen, laid their hands on them, and sent them to 
preach whither the Holy Ghost should conduct 
them. It is thought to have been about this time, 
(A. D. 44,) that Paul, being enraptured into the third 
heaven, saw ineffable things, 2 Cor. xii. 2 — 4. 

Paul and Barnabas went first to Cyprus, preaching, 
in the synagogues of the Jews. At Paphos (A. D. 
45.) they found a Jewish magician called Bar-jesus, 
who did all he could to prejudice the proconsul, 
Sergius Paulus, against the Christian faith. As a 
punishment, Paul deprived him of sight for a time, 
and the proconsul, who had witnessed the miracle, 
became a convert. From Cyprus Paul and his com- 
pany went to Perga in Pamphylia, where John Mark, 
Barnabas's cousin, left them to return to Jerusalem. 
Making no stay at Perga, they came to Antioch in 
Pisidia, where, being desired to speak in the syna- 
gogue, Paul, in ii long discourse, showed that Jesus 
was the Messiah foretojd by the prophets ; and that 
he rose again the third day. He was desired to 
speak upon the same subject the next sabbath day, 
when almost all the city came together to hear. The 
Jews, seeing this concourse, and being moved with 
envy, opposed what Paul said, upon which the apos- 



PAUL 



[ 728 J 



PAUL 



t.es turned from them to go to the Gentiles. From 
Antioch they went to Iconium, preached in the syn- 
agogue, and converted a number both of Jews and 
Gentiles, God confirming their mission by many 
miracles. In the mean time the Jews having in- 
censed the Gentiles against them, and threatening to 
stone them, they retired to Lystra and Derbe, cities 
of Lycaonia. At Lystra they restored a cripple 
called iEneas, in consequence of which the people 
declared, that ''the gods had descended in human 
shape ;" and were with much difficulty restrained 
from offering sacrifice to them. 

Shortly after, however, some Jews of Antioch in 
Pisidia and of Iconium, coming to Lystra, animated 
the people against the apostles, and the rabble stoned 
Paul, and drew him out of the city, thinking him to 
be dead. But the disciples gathering about him, lie 
rose up, and the next day went for Derbe. Having 
here also preached the gospel, they returned to Lys- 
tra, to Iconium, and to Antioch of Pisidia ; to Pam- 
phylia, and Perga, thence thej went down to Attalia, 
and sailed for Antioch in Syria, w hence they had 
departed a year before. Upon their arrival, they re- 
lated to the church the great things God had done 
by their means. 

Luke omits the actions of Paul, from A. D. 45 to 
the time of the council at Jerusalem, A. D. 50. 
There is great probability that, during this interval, 
the apostle preached from Jerusalem to Ulyricum, as 
he asserts, (Rom. xv. 19, 20.) without making any 
stay in places where others had preached before him. 
He says, in general, that he had endured more la- 
bors than any other apostle, and had suffered in more 
prisons ; was often very near to death, sometimes 
on the water, sometimes among thieves; sometimes 
from the Jews, and sometimes from false brethren 
and perverse Christians. He was exposed to great 
hazards, as well in cities as in deserts. He suffered 
hunger, thirst, nakedness, cold, fastings, watchings, 
and the fatigues inseparable from long journeys, un- 
dertaken without any prospect of human succor; 
in this very different from the good fortune of some 
who lived by the gospel, and who received subsist- 
ence from those to whom they preached it. He 
made it a point of honor to preach gratis, working 
with his hands, that he might not be chargeable to 
any ; he having learned a trade, (as was usual among 
the Jews,) which was, to make tents for soldiers. 
During this course of preaching, he five times re- 
ceived from the Jews thirty-nine stripes; was twice 
beaten with rods by the Romans ; thrice he suffered 
shipwreck, and had passed a night and a day in the 
Jeep. This is differently interpreted. Some think 
he was actually a night and a day at the bottom of 
the sea, God having there miraculously preserved 
him, as heretofore Jonah. Others that he was hid- 
den for a night and a day at the bottom of a well, 
after his danger at Lystra, where he had been stoned. 
Others, that at Cyzicus he was put into a prison 
called Bythos, or the deep — for this is the term used 
by Paul, without adding sea to it, as in the Vulgate. 
But the greater part of the fathers, and several mod- 
erns, suppose that after a shipwreck the apostle was 
a day and a night in the sea, struggling against the 
waves ; which seems to be the most reasonable 
opinion. Paul had suffered all this before A. D. 58, 
when he wrote his Second Epistle to the Corinthi- 
ans, 2 Cor. xi. 25. 

Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch, when some 
persons, coming from Judea, presumed to teach, that 
it was essential to salvation to use circumcision, and 



other legal ceremonies. Paul and Barnabas with- 
stood these new doctors, and it was agreed to send a 
deputation to Jerusalem, about this question. Paul 
and Barnabas were deputed, and at Jerusalem they 
reported to the apostles the subject of their mission, 
who decreed, that the Gentiles should only avoid 
idolatry, fornication, the eating of things strangled, 
and blood. Being returned to Antioch, the deputies 
assembled the disciples, and read the decree, A. D. 
51. Some time afterwards, Peter, also coming to 
Antioch, lived with the converted Gentiles, without 
scruple ; but certain brethren coming from Jerusa- 
lem, he separated himself from the Gentiles, lor 
which Paul publicly censured him, Gal. ii. 11 — 16. 

On this journey to Jerusalem, Paul declared the 
doctrine he preached among the Gentiles, in the 
presence of Barnabas and Titus, with Peter, James 
and John ; who could find nothing exceptionable in 
it. They saw with joy the grace that God had given 
to him, and recognized his appointment as apostle of 
the Gentiles. After he and Barnabas had continued 
some time at Antioch, Paul proposed to his com- 
panion to visit the cities where they had planted the 
gospel. Barnabas consented ; but wished to take 
John Mark with them. This was opposed by Paul, 
and caused a separation between them. Barnabas 
and John Mark went together to Cyprus ; and Paul, 
taking Silas, crossed Syria and Cilicia, and came to 
Derbe, and afterwards to Lystra. Here they found 
a disciple called Timothy, son of a Jewish mother, 
but of a Gentile father, whom Paul circumcised, that 
he might not offend the Jews, and took him with 
him. They went over the provinces of Lycaonja. 
Phiygia, and Galatia, to Mysia ; and coming to Troas, 
the apostle had here a vision of a man habited like 
a Macedonian, who entreated him to pass over into 
that province. Embarking, therefore, at Troas, they 
sailed to Neapolis, a city of Macedonia, near the 
frontiers of Thrace, and came to Philippi, where they 
found some religious women, among whom was 
Lydia. On another day, meeting with a maid-ser- 
vant, "who was possessed with a spirit of Python, 
Paul commanded this spirit, in the name of Jesus 
Christ, to come out of her. The spirit obeyed ; 
but her masters, who made a great profit by her 
enthusiastic powers, accused Paul and Silas before 
the magistrates, who ordered them to be whipped 
with rods, and sent to prison. Towards midnight, 
as they were singing hymns to God, there was a 
great earthquake, the foundations of the prison were 
shaken, all the doors flew open, and the fetters of the 
prisoners were burst asunder. The jailer awoke, 
and seeing all this, drew his sword with intention to 
kill himself, but was prevented by Paul; and upon 
a profession of his faith in Christ, was bap'tized, with 
his family. In the morning the magistrates sent 
orders to release his prisoners : but Paul refused to 
depart, unless the magistrates, who had publicly 
whipped them, being Roman citizens, came them- 
selves and fetched them out. This having been 
done, Paul and Silas went first to Lydia, and com- 
forted the brethren at her house; and then departed 
from Philippi. 

Passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they 
came to Thessalonica ; where Paul, according to his 
custom, preached in the synagogue on three sabbatn 
days. The Jews having raised a tumult in the city, 
the brethren conducted Paul and Silas towards Be- 
rea, where a great number were converted. The 
Jews from Thessalonica, however, having follower 
them thither, and animated the mob against then: 



PjS-UL 



[ 729 ] 



PAUL 



they were forced to withdraw ; and went on to 
Athens. 

Disputing with the Athenian philosophers, they 
brought Paul before the Areopagus, (see Areopagus, 
and Altar,) where he made Iris defence ; meaning 
to instruct them respecting the " Unknown God." 
While here, Timothy came from Berea to Athens, 
according to the request of Paid, and informed him 
of the persecution which afflicted the Christians of 
Thessalonica, which obliged the apostle to return 
him to Macedonia, that he might comfort them. 
After this, he went to Corinth, where he lodged with 
Aquila, a tent-maker ; and being of the same trade, 
the apostle worked with him. Here he made sev- 
eral converts, and baptized Stephanus and his family, 
with Crispus and Gaius, 1 Cor. i. 14, 16, 17 ; xvi. 15. 
Silas and Timothy came to Corinth, (Acts xviii. 5 ; 
1 Thess. iii. 6, 9, A; D. 52.) and brought him great 
comfort, by acquainting him with the prosperous 
state of the disciples of Thessalonica. Shortly after 
this, he wrote his First Epistle to the Thessalonians, 
A. D. 52. 

The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians was 
written not long after the first, and Paul, encouraged 
by the presence of Silas and Timothy, prosecuted 
the work of his ministry with new ardor. The Jews, 
however, opposing him with blasphemous and op- 
probrious words, he shook his clothes at them, and 
said, "Your blood be upon your own head. From 
henceforth I go to the Gentiles." He then quitted 
the house of Aquila, and went to lodge with one 
Titus Justus, originally a Gentile, but one that feared 
God. In the mean time, the Lord encouraged him 
by a vision, and told him, that he had much people 
in Corinth. 

Gallio, proconsul of Achaia, being at Corinth, the 
Jew s "brought Paul to his tribunal ; but Gallio would 
not meddle with disputes foreign from his office. 
After having been at Corinth eight months, Paul sailed 
for Jerusalem, to be present at the Feast of Pentecost. 
Before he went on board the vessel, he cut off his 
hair at Cenchrea, a port of Corinth ; because he had 
completed a vow of Nazariteship. He arrived at 
Ephesus with Aquila and Priscilla, whence he went 
to Csesarea of Palestine, and thence to Jerusalem. 
Having performed his devotions, he came to Antioch, 
and made a progress through the churches of Galatia 
and Phrygia, returning to Ephesus, where he abode 
three years ; from A. D. 54 to 57, Acts xix. At 
Ephesus he found some disciples who had been ini- 
tiated into the baptism of John the Baptist. Paul 
instructed them, baptized them with the baptism of 
Jesus Christ, and laying his hands on them, they 
received the Holy Ghost. He taught daily in the 
school of one Tyrannus, and omitted no opportunity, 
either by night or by day, to visit private houses, to 
confirm believers, and convince unbelievers; work- 
ing with his hands, that he might not be burthensome 
to any. During his abode here, he suffered much, so 
that, as he informs us, he, after the manner of men, 
"fought with beasts." Here he wrote his Epistle to 
the Galatians, and also his First Epistle to the Co- 
rn ithians. 

Before lie left Ephesus, the Christians were disturb- 
ed by a sedition raised by Demetrius, a silversmith, 
whose chief trade consisted in making little models 
of the temple of Diana. This man, fearing that the 
labors of the apostle would destroy his craft, tampered 
with the other workmen and silversmiths; the spirit 
of mutiny spread among the people, and presently 
me whole city was in an uproar. The town-clerk by 
92 



his happy address appeased the tumult, and Paul, 
taking leave of the disciples, departed with Timothy 
into Macedonia. Here Titus visited him, and inform- 
ed him of the good effects of his letter among the 
Corinthians ; which induced him to write a second 
letter to that church. 

Having passed through Macedonia, Paul came into 
Achaia, visited the church at Corinth, and having 
received their alms, as he was on the point of return- 
ing into Macedonia, he wrote his Epistle to the Ro- 
mans. At last he came into Macedonia, intending to 
be at Jerusalem at the Pentecost. He staid some 
time at Philippi, where he celebrated the passover; 
from hence he embarked, and came to Troas, where 
he continued a week, edifying the disciples. At Mi- 
letus, the elders of the church of Ephesus came to 
see him, to whom he delivered an admirable charge, 
and then embarked for Tyre, whence he proceeded 
to Csesarea. While here, the prophet Agabus arrived 
from Judea ; and having taken the apostle's girdle, he 
bound his own hands and feet with it, saying, " Thus 
shall the Jews of Jerusalem bind the man who owns 
this girdle, and shall deliver him up to the Gentiles." 
The brethren upon hearing this would have dissuaded 
the apostle from going up to Jerusalem, but he 
resisted their entreaties, and declared his readiness to 
die in the service of the Lord Jesus. 

At Jerusalem the brethren received him with joy ; 
and the day following he went to see James, at whose 
house he gave an account of what God had done 
among the Gentiles by his ministry. James informed 
him, that the converted Jews were strongly prejudiced 
against him, and advised that he should join himself 
to four men in Jerusalem, who had a vow of Naza- 
riteship, contribute to the charges of their purifica- 
tion, and offer with them the offerings and sacrifices 
ordained in such cases. See Nazarite. 

Paul, following this advice, went the next day into 
the temple, and made known to the priests his inten- 
tion. The Jews of Asia, however, observing him in 
the temple, inflamed the people against him, and 
would have killed him, had not Lysias, the tribune of 
the Roman garrison, rescued him. Paul desired per- 
mission to speak to the people. Having obtained 
this, the apostle related the manner of his conversion, 
and his mission from God to preach to the Gentiles. 
At his mentioning the Gentiles, the Jews cried out, 
"Away with this wicked fellow out of the world, for 
he is not worthy to live ! " Perceiving the people to 
be further exasperated by the apostle's address, the 
tribune brought him into the castle, and ordered that 
he should be put to the question by scourging ; 
but being bound, Paul asked the tribune whether it 
were lawful to scourge a Roman citizen before he 
had been heard. This appeal produced its desired 
effect; the apostle was unbound, and the tribune, 
assembling the priests and chiefs of the Jews, brought 
Paul before them, that he might know the occasion 
of this tumult. After having surveyed the assembly, 
the apostle said, " Brethren, I have lived in all good 
conscience before God until this day." At which 
words, Ananias, son of Nebedeus, the chief-priest, 
ordered him to be smitten on the face. Indignant at 
this unlawful proceeding, Paul exclaimed, " God shall 
smite thee, thou whited wall ; for sittest thou to judge 
me after the law, and forgetting the duty of a judge, 
commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law r " 
Those present rebuked him for reviling God's high- 
priest, but the apostle excused himself by saying, that 
he did not. know he was the high-priest. Perceiving 
that he had no hooe of obtaining an impartial judg- 



PAUL 



[ '30 ] 



PAUL 



inent, the apostle availed himself of a circumstance 
to break up the sitting. Knowing that part of the 
assembly were Sadducees, and part Pharisees, he 
cried out, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a 
Pharisee ; for the hope and resurrection of the dead 
I am now called in question." This increased the 
clamor to such a degree that the tribune interfered, 
and with his soldiers brought Paul out of the assem- 
bly into the castle ; and the following night the Lord 
appeared to the apostle to encourage him. Having 
learnt that more than forty Jews had engaged them- 
selves by oath not to eat or drink till they had killed 
him, the apostle acquainted the tribune with it, 
who gave orders that the night following he should 
be sent to Cassarea, to Felix the governor. Five days 
after his arrival, Ananias the high-priest, with a dep- 
utation of the council, came to Caesarea, bringing with 
them Tertullus, an advocate, to plead against Paul, 
who easily refuted all their calumnies; and Felix put 
off the cause. Some days afterwards the governor 
and his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, desired to 
hear Paul. The apostle was brought before them, 
and spoke of justice, charity, and of the last judg- 
ment, so earnestly, that Felix was terrified, cut short 
his discourse, and referred him to a leisure time. In 
hop^s that Paul would purchase his liberty, he 
used him well ; and had frequent conversations 
with him. 

Two years thus passing away, Felix transferred the 
government to Portius Festus ; and being willing to 
oblige the Jews, he left Paul in prison. Festus, being 
come into his province, after three days went up to 
Jerusalem, whither the chief priests desired him to 
send for Paul, they having plotted to destroy him by 
the way ; but Festus told them they might come to 
him at Cassarea. Here the Jews accused the apostle 
of several crimes ; but he so well defended himself, 
that Festus could find nothing that deserved punish- 
ment. He proposed to him to go to Jerusalem, and 
be tried there ; but Paul answered, that he was now 
at the emperor's tribunal, where he ought to be tried ; 
and he appealed to Caesar. 

King Agrippa, with his queen Berenice, having 
come to Caesarea to salute Festus the governor, men- 
tioned Paul's case, observing that he did not know in 
what his guilt consisted, nor how he should represent 
his affair to the emperor. Agrippa desiring to hear 
him, Festus sent for him publicly, on the morrow, 
and Paul related to Agrippa the manner of his con- 
version ; spoke to him of Jesus Christ, of his charac- 
ter, and his resurrection. While he was enlarging 
on these things, Festus exclaimed, " Paul, you are be- 
side yourself ; overmuch learning distracts you !" " I 
am not distracted, most noble Festus," replied the 
apostle, " but speak the words of sober truth." Paul 
continued his discourse, and such was the power 
with which he appealed to the conscience of the 
king, that he at length declared, " Almost thou per- 
suadest me to become a Christian ! " "I would to 
God," said Paul^ " that you and all were, not only 
almost, but altogether, such as I am, except these 
bonds." 

As it was resolved to send Paul into Italy, he was 
taken on board a ship of Adramyttium, for Myra in 
Lycia, where having found a ship bound for Italy, 
hey sailed. But the season being far advanced, (it 
was at least the latter end of September,) and the wind 
proving contrary, they arrived with difficulty at the 
Fair-havens, in Crete. Paul advised them to winter 
here ; but the master resolved to steer for Phenice, 
another harbor of the same island. As they proceeded, 



the wind increased to a violent storm, and after foul 
teen days, the vessel was wrecked on the island of 
Malta, where the inhabitants received them with great 
humanity, Acts xxviii. 

Having remained on the island three months, dur- 
ing which time the apostle wrought several miracles, 
they again embarked, and arrived at Puteoli, where 
Paul found some Christians, who detained him seven 
days. The Roman Christians, having been informed 
of Paul's approach to their city, came to meet him as 
far as Appii-Forum, and the Three-Taverns. At 
Rome he was allowed to dwell where he pleased, 
having a soldier to guard him, joined to hum with a 
chain. Soon after his arrival, Paul met the chief of 
the Jews, to whom he explained the kingdom of God, 
endeavoring to convince them, from Moses and the 
prophets, that Jesus was the Messiah. 

Paul dwelt two years at Rome, in a hired lodging, 
where he received all who would visit him, preach- 
ing the kingdom of God, and the religion of Christ, 
without interruption. His captivity contributed to 
the advancement of religion, and he converted several 
persons even of the emperor's court, Phil. i. 12, 14, 
18 ; iv. 22. It has been said, that he had a corre- 
spondence by letter with Seneca, the philosopher ; but 
the letters now extant are rejected by every body, as 
utterly unworthy either of the writers. The Chris- 
tians of Philippi in Macedonia, having sent Epaphro- 
ditus, with money and other assistance, in their name, 
(Phil. ii. 25 ; iv. 18.) the apostle returned by him a 
letter to the Philippians, in which he thanks them for 
their seasonable relief, &c. Onesimus, a slave of 
Philemon, at Colosse, in Phrygia, having run away 
from his master, came to Rome, found out Paul, and 
was very serviceable to him. Being converted, the 
apostle sent him back to his master with a letter 
(about A. D. 62.) and also a letter to the believers in 
the city of Colosse. 

It is not known by what means Paul was delivered 
from prison, though there is great probability that the 
Jews durst not prosecute him before the emperor. 
It is certain, however, that he was set at liberty A. D. 
63, when he went over Italy, and, according to some 
of the Fathers, passed into Spain. He also went into 
Judea ; to Ephesus, where he left Timothy ; to Crete, 
where he preached, and fixed Titus. Probably, he 
also visited the Philippians, according to his promise ; 
(Phil. ii. 24 ; i. 25, 26.) and it is believed, that from 
Macedonia he wrote his First Epistle to Timothy, 
about A. D. 64. Some time afterwards, he wrote to 
Titus, in Crete ; desiring him to come to him at 
Nicopolis, A. D. 64. The year following he went into 
Asia, and at Troas he left a cloak and some books, 
with Carpus his host. Thence he visited Timothy, 
at Ephesus; and at Miletum, he left Trophimus sick, 
2 Tim. iv. 20. He again went to Rome, A. D. 65. 
(See the additions below.) 

Chrysostom says, it was reported that the apostle, 
going to see a cup-bearer and a concubine of Nero, 
made a convert of the concubine, which so provoked 
the emperor, that he put Paul in prison. At his first 
appearance the apostle was forsaken by all, (2 Tim 
iv. 16.) but in his prison he was greatly assisted by 
Onesiphorus, who found him after much inquiry. In 
this prison he wrote his Second Epistle to Timothy, 
which Chrysostom regards as the apostle's last testa 
ment. It is, perhaps, the most sublime and most difE 
cult of all his writings. 

The great apostle at last consummated his martyr- 
dom, about A. D. 66, being beheaded at a place called 
the Salvian Waters. He was buried on the Ostian 



PAUL 



PAUL 



way, where a magnificent church was afterwards 
built. 

It is well known that commentators have differed 
on the reason of the change of name of the apostle 
from Saul to Paul, Acts xiii. 9. Some have supposed 
that he adopted the name of his illustrious convert 
Sergius Paulus: others, as Origen, that he was called 
Said among the Jews, but Paul, his Roman name, 
among the Gentiles; may it not, however, be an ad- 
missible conjecture, that he chose the name of Paul 
by which to be baptized ; and thereby showed his 
entire renunciation of his former Jewish notions, and 
his renovation into Christian life under a new appel- 
lation ? This new name, signifying "little," was 
probably taken from the same motives as induced the 
apostle afterwards to describe himself as " one born 
out of due time ; the least among the apostles ; " and 

less than the least" of all saints. To this it may be 
answered, that long after his baptism we find him still 
called by the name of Saul, so that under this idea, 
we must allow that he went by either name, indiffer- 
ently ; or by both names, for a time. Luke's words 
seem best to agree with this, " Saul, who also is Paul ;" 
the custom of having, and using, two names, was not 
uncommon at the time ; so Luke was Lucius, John 
was Mark, Simon was Peter, &c. But whether the 
change of name at baptism be strictly applicable to 
the instance of Paul or not, it should seern to be de- 
rived from the earliest ages, and practised, as a demon- 
strative proof of a desire to manifest that " old things 
were passed away, and all things were become new." 
The party who received new life, received also a new 
name ; he contracted new relations, and esteemed 
himself, in more than a metaphorical sense, "a new 
man." This explains how easy it was for some to 
err, by " saying that the resurrection was past al- 
ready." 

[The foregoing is all from Calmet, with the excep- 
tion of the last paragraph, which is from his English 
editor. It must, however, be remembered, that in 
regard to the events of Paul's life after he had " dwelt 
two whole years in his own hired house" at Rome, we 
have no certain accounts ; and that the stories above 
alluded to of his subsequent travels in Italy, Spain, 
and even Britain, all rest on uncertain traditions. 
Still, it was a very generally received opinion, in the 
earlier centuries, that the apostle was acquitted and 
discharged from his imprisonment at the end of two 
years ; and that he afterwards returned to Rome, 
where he was again imprisoned and put to death. 
(Euseb. Hist. Ecc. ii. 22 ; Jerome de Script. Eccles. 
cap. v.) This would seem, however, to be not so 
much tradition, as an exegetical assumption in order 
to explain certain passages in the Second Epistle to 
Timothy ; e. g. 2 Tim. iv. 6, compared with Phil. ii. 
24. In respect to what Paul undertook between his 
first and supposed second imprisonment, there is no 
certain tradition. That sooner or later he died as a 
martyr under Nero's reign, seems to be generally ad- 
mitted. (Euseb. Hist. Ecc. ii. 25 ; Clemens, Rom. Ep. 
1 ad Corinth, c. v.) It is said above that Paul was 
set at. liberty A. D. 63, which would require the be- 
ginning of his imprisonment to be placed in A. D. 61 ; 
and Lardner adopts the same chronology. Other in- 
terpreters, however, as Hug, De Wette, etc. fix the 
commencement of his imprisonment at Rome in A. D. 
63, and his acquittal in A. D. 65. 

The following chronological table of the principal 
events in Paul's life may be of use in directing and 
assisting inquiries into this most interesting portion of 
history. The different chronologies of Hug, De 



Wette, Kuinoel and Lardner are here presented side 
by side ; and thus the table, while it shows the general 
agreement of chronologers, shows also that it is im- 
possible to arrive at entire certainty in this respect ; 
or, indeed, any nearer than to assign the principal 
dates to an interval of two or three years, within which 
the events maybe regarded as having certainly taken 
place. 

Hug. De Wette. Kuinoel. Lardner 

Paul's conversion, Acts ix. 
(21st year of Tiberius, 

Hug.) A. D. 3tf 38 40 36 

He goes into Arabia, (see 
Arabia, p. 88, col. 2.) 
and returns to Damas- 
cus ; (Gal. i.'17.) at the 
end of three years in all, 
he escapes from Damas- 
cus and goes to Jerusa- 
lem, Acts ix. 23, seq. 39 43 39 

From Jerusalem Paul goes 
to Cilicia and Syria, Acts 
ix. 30 ; Gal. i. 21. From 
Antioch he is sent with 
Barnabas to Jerusalem 

to carry alms, Acts xi. 30. 45 44 44 

The first missionary jour- 
ney of Paul and Barna- 
bas from Antioch, con- 
tinued about two years, 
(Acts xiii. xiv.) com- 
mencing 45 45 

After spending several 
years in Antioch, (Acts 

xiv. 28.) Paul and Bar- 
nabas are sent a second 
time to Jerusalem, to 
consult the apostles re- 
specting circumcision, 

etc. Acts xv. 2. 53 52 52 50 

The Jews expelled from 
Rome A. D. 52—54; 
Paul, on his second mis- 
sionary journey, (Acts 

xv. 40.) after passing 
through Asia Minor to 
Europe, finds Aquila and 
Priscilla at Corinth, Acts 

. xviii. 2. 54 54 51 

Paul remains eighteen 
months in Corinth, Acts 
xviii. 11. After being 
brought before Gallio, 
he departs for Jerusalem 
the fourth time, and then 
goes to Antioch, Acts 
xviii. 22. (Kuinoel sup- 
poses him to be impris- 
oned at Jerusalem.) 56 56 57 

The apostle winters at 
Nicopolis, (Tit. iii. 12, 
Hug,) and then goes to 

Ephesus, Acts xix. 1. 57 58 53 
After a residence of two 
years or more at Ephe- 
sus, Paul departs for 

Macedonia. 59 59 56 

After wintering in Achaia, 
Paul goes the fifth time 
to Jerusalem, where he 



PAUL 



[ 732 '] 



PAUL 



Hug. Do Wette. Kuinoel. LarJncr. 

is imprisoned, Acts xx. 

xxi. 60 60 58 

The apostle remains two 
years in prison at Cesa- 
rea, and is then sent to 
Rome, where he arrives 
in the spring, after win- 
tering in Malta, Acts 
xxiv. 27 ; xxv. — xxviii. 

The history in Acts con- 
cludes, and Paul is sup- 
posed to have been set 
at liberty. 

Probable martyrdom of 
Paul and Peter. 



63 63 



65 



65 



60 61 

62 63 
65 



Epistles of Paul. — There are fourteen Epistles in 
the New Testament usually ascribed to Paul, begin- 
ning with that to the Romans and ending with that 
to the Hebrews. Of these the first thirteen have 
never been contested ; as to the latter, many good 
men have doubted whether Paul was ibe author; 
although the current of criticism seems now to be 
turning in favor of this opinion. (Compare IVibl. Itepos. 
vol. ii. p. 409.) These epistles are among the most 
important of the primitive documents of the Christian 
religion, even apart from their inspired character ; and 
although they were all evidently written without great 
premeditation, and have reference mostly to transient 
circumstances and temporary relations ; yet they every 
where bear the stamp of the great and original mind 
of the apostle, as purified, elevated and sustained by 
the influences of the Holy Spirit. 

The order in which these epistles stand in our Bi- 
ble, seems to have arisen from a sort of assumed or 
supposed rank among the various churches to which 
they were addressed. 

The following is Lardner's arrangement of the epis- 
tles of Paid, with the places where they were written, 
and the date : — 

Epistles. Places. A. D. 



1 Thessalonians, 

2 Thessalonians, 

Galatians, 

1 Corinthians, 

1 Timothy, 
Titus, 

2 Corinthians, 
Romans, 
Ephesians, 

2 Timothy, 
Philippians, " 
Colossians, 
Philemon, 
Hebrews, 



Hug in his Introduction presents us with the follow- 
ing arrangement : — 



Epistles. 

1 Thessalonians, 

2 Thessalonians, 
Titus, 
Galatians, 

1 Corinthians, 



Corinth, 


52 


do. 


52 

C end of 52 


Corinth or Ephesus, < orbegin- 




( ning of 53 


Ephesus, 
Macedonia, 


beginning of 56 


56 


do. or near it, 


near end of 56 


do. 


about Oct. 57 


Corinth, 


" Feb. 58 


Rome, 


" April, 61 


do. 


" May, 61 


do. 


before end of 62 


do. 


62 


do. 


« 62 


do. 


spring, 63 



Places. 


A. D. 


Corinth, 


54 


do. 


55 


Ephesus, 


56 


do. 


57 


do. 


59 



2 Corinthians, 

1 Timothy, 
Romans, 
Ephesians, 

2 Timothy, 
Colossians, 
Philemon, 

Philippians, 

Hebrews, 



Macedonia, 

do. 
Corinth, 
Rome, 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 
do. 



59 
59 
60 
61 
61 
61 
61 

end Oi 61 
or beginning of 62 
beginning of 62 



Character of Paul. — The apostle was in all respects 
an extraordinary man. Educated in the straitest sect 
of the Jewish religion, and trained in all the dogmas 
and severe discipline of the Pharisees, his ardent mind 
could rest satisfied with no ordinary attainments; 
he aspired to a high degree of learning and sanctity, 
and was accordingly, as he informs us, (Phil. iii. 6.) 
" touching the righteousness that is in the law, blame- 
less." When, therefore, he was first brought in con- 
tact with the teachers of Christianity, and found them 
disregarding and opposing that morality and those 
dogmas w hich he had embraced and been taught, to 
venerate, he " verily thought in himself that he ought 
to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus," 
Acts wvi. i*. Nor could he, now or afterwards, ever 
rest satisfied with a mere speculative sense of duty ; 
his burning zeal burst forth in energetic action ; and 
it was in the midst of the " havoc "which he made of 
the church, that the Lord Jesus met him on the way 
to Damascus, and at a stroke subdued his haughty 
spirit. No change could be more sudden ; yet it was 
total and permanent. The whole current of his ardent 
and powerful feelings was arrested; and henceforth 
rolled onward with no less energy and power in the 
opposite direction. The persecutor was now ready 
and willing to suffer persecution. In perils on the 
land and on the sea, in daily exposure to death, bis 
bold, undaunted, irrepressible ardor knew neither 
interruption nor decay. It bore him onward un- 
wearied and undismayed ; while his only support 
and hope was in that Lord whom once he persecuted , 
his only business, to spread wide abroad the knowl- 
edge of that Saviour's love ; his only object, the sal- 
vation of immortal souls ; and the only prize at 
which he aimed, a crown of glory beyond the skies. 

Paul appears to have surpassed most, or perhaps 
all, of the other apostles, in his enlarged views of the 
spiritual nature of the religion of Christ, and of its 
purifying and ennobling influence upon the heart and 
character of those who sincerely profess it. Most of 
the other apostles and teachers appear to have clung 
to Judaism, to the rites and ceremonies and dogmas 
of the religion in which they had been educated, and 
to have regarded Christianity as intended to.'be en 
grafted upon the ancient stock, which was yet to re 
main as the trunk to support the new branches. Paul 
seems to have been among the first to rise above this 
narrow view, and to regard Christianity in its true 
light, as a universal religion. While others were for 
converting all those who embraced the new religion 
into Jews, by imposing on them the yoke of all the 
Jewish observances, if. was Paul's endeavor to break 
down the middle wall of separation between Jews 
and Gentiles, and show them that they were all "one 
in Christ." To this end all his labors tended ; and, 
ardent in the pursuit of this great object, he did not 
hesitate to censure the time-serving Peter, and to ex- 
pose his own life to the prejudices of his conn tiy men. 
Indeed, his five years' imprisonment at Jerusalem, 
Cesarea and Rome arose chiefly from this cause. *R 



PEA 



PEL 



PAVILION is a word which usually gives the 
idea of an edifice, small but handsome ; it is therefore 
unhappily used in 1 Kings xx. 12, 16, "Benhadad 
and others were drinking in pavilions," where the 
Heb. is booths. The suttling booths of the army is 
much more likely to be the proper description of 
those places of intemperance. This Benhadad must 
have been a man of an unworthy spirit ; a braggado- 
cio, as appears by his inconsiderate orders ; a drunk- 
ard, as appears from his history ; and a coward, as 
appears from his hiding place. 

PEACE is a word used in Scripture in different 
senses. Generally, for quiet and tranquillity, public 
or private ; but often for prosperity and happiness of 
life ; as To " go in peace ; " To " die in peace ; " " God 
give you peace;" "Peace be within this house;" 
" Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." Paul in the 
titles of his Epistles generally wishes grace and peace 
to the faithful, to whom he writes. Our Saviour rec- 
ommends to his disciples, to have peace with all men, 
and with each other. God promises his people to 
water them as with a river of peace, (Isa. lxvi. 12.) 
and to make with them a covenant of peace, Ezek. 
xxxiv. 25. [The Hebrew word shalom, usually trans- 
lated peace, means, properly, health, prosperity, welfare. 
It is the same as the salam of the modern Arabs, 
and is in like manner used in salutations. R. 

PEACOCK. The fleet of Solomon that went to 
Ophir brought a great number of peacocks, (1 Kings 
x. 22.) but whether from Ophir itself, or from any 
other place on their return, is uncertain. The pea- 
cock is a tame and well-known bird, distinguished 
by the beauty of its plumage. It has a very long tail, 
diversified with several colors, and adorned with 
marks at equal distances, in the form of eyes. It has 
a little tuft or crown on its head ; and its wings are 
mixed with azure and gold color. Its cry is so very 
harsh and disagreeable, that it is said to have the 
head of a serpent, the train of an angel, and the voice 
of a devil. 

PEARL. The Arabians, Persians and Turks, use 
the word Merovarid to signify pearls, from which the 
word Margarites, or Margarita, used by the Greeks 
and Latins, seems to be derived. The finest pearls 
are fished up in the Persian gulf, atid on the coast of 
Bahrein, so called from the city of that name, on the 
borders of Arabia ; and, Idumffia and Palestine being 
not far distant, it is not to be wondered at that pearls 
were well known to Job, and the Hebrews. They 
are also found in other places ; and many are now 
brought from America. They are sometimes found 
in common oysters. It is an ancient error, that pearls 
are formed of the dew, and that they are soft in the sea. 

Our Saviour forbids his apostles to cast their pearls 
before swine, (Matt. vii. 6.) i. e. Expose not the sa- 
cred truths and mysteries of religion to the raillery 
of profane libertines and hardened atheists. The 
author of Ecclesias^us means the same thing, where 
he advises us not to speak when we find the persons 
to whom we speak are not disposed to hear, Ecclus. 
xxxiu 6. 

Pearls are certainly very different things from pre- 
cious stones ; yet the Greek term, margarites, seems 
to be used, in a more general sense for jewels, or 
splendid gems. So, above, cast not your pearls — ■ 
jewels, diamonds, if known to the ancients, would 
answer the import of the passage as well as pearls. 
So, the parts of a building, pearls ; but pearls are un- 
fit things for walls and gates ; (Rev. xxi.) many kinds 
of precious stones are more suitable ; and perhaps 
the parable of the merchant seeking goodly pearls, 



(Matt, xiii.) might be understood in a more extensive 
sense, as importing valuable jewels of whatever kind. 
Such appears to be the application of the Chaldee 
and Arabic words, which yet properly signify pearls. 

PEKAH, son of Remaliah, and general of the 
army of Pekahiah, king of Israel. He conspired 
against his master, (2 Kings xv. 25.) A. M. 3245, at- 
tacked him in the tower of his royal palace of Sama- 
ria, being seconded by Argob and Arieh, (perhaps 
the cities of Argob and Areopolis,) and having slain 
him, he reigned in his place twenty years. Under the 
reign of this wicked king, Tiglath-pileser, king of As- 
syria, came into the country, and took Ijon, Abel- 
beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and all 
the country of Naphtali, and carried the inhabitants 
into Assyria. Hoshea, son of Elah, at length con- 
spired against Pekah, slew him, and reigned in his 
stead. 

PEKAHIAH, son and successor of Menahem, 
king -of Israel, (2 Kings xv. 22, 23. A. M. 3243,) was 
a wicked prince, and reigned but two years. Pekah, 
son of Remaliah, conspired against him, and killed 
him in his own palace. 

PELEG, son of Eber, was born A. M. 1757. His 
father named him Peleg, (division,) because in his 
time the earth was divided, Gen. x. 25 ; xi. 16. 
Whether Noah had begun to distribute the earth 
among his descendants, some years before the build- 
ing of Babel ; or that Peleg was born the year that 
Babel was begun ; or that Eber, by a spirit of proph- 
ecy, named his son Peleg, some years before this time ; 
or that the name was given to him at a later period 
of his life, as a commemorative appellation, on recol- 
lection, is not certainly known ; though it seems most 
likely that he was not born at the time of the disper- 
sion. At the age of 30 years Peleg begat Reu ; and 
died at the age of 239. 

PELETHITES. The Pelethites and the Chere- 
thites were famous under the reign of David, as the 
most valiant men of his army, and the guards of his 
person. [The name comes from the Hebrew nSs, to 
run, to go swiftly ; and they seem, therefore, to have 
been the royal messengers; just as the Cherethites 
(from n-o, to cut, to cut off, etc.) were the king's exe- 
cutioners. The Pelethites and Cherethites are always 
mentioned together, and appear to have constituted 
the king's body-guard. See Cherethites. R. 

PELICAN. The Hebrew name of this curious 
bird, rNp, kaath, avomiter, is evidently taken from its 
manner of discharging the contents of its bag or 
pouch, for the purpose of satisfying its own hunger 
or that of its young. The pelican is a bird much 
larger than the swan, and something resembling it in 
shape and color. The principal difference, and that 
which distinguishes it from all others, is its enormous 
bill and extraordinary pouch. From the point of the 
bill to the opening of the mouth, there is a length of 
fifteen inches ; and under the chap is a bag reaching 
the entire length of the bill to the neck, and capable, 
it is said, of holding fifteen quarts of water. When 
this pouch is empty it is. not seen ; but when filled, 
its great bulk and singular appearance may easily be 
conceived. The pelican, says Labat, has strong 
wings, furnished with thick plumage of an ash color, 
as are the rest of the feathers over the whole body. 
Its eyes are very small when compared to the size of 
its head ; there is a sadness in its countenance, and 
its whole air is melancholy: it is as dull gnd reluc- 
tant in its motions as the flamingo is sprightly and 
active. It is slow of flight ; and when it rises to fly 
performs it with difficulty and labor. Nothing, as it 



PEL 



PEN 



would seem, but the spur of necessity could make 
these birds change their situation, or induce them to 
ascend into the air ; but they must either starve or 
fly. When they have raised themselves about thirty 
or forty feet above the surface of the sea, they turn 
their head with their eye downwards, and continue 
to fly in that posture. As soon as they perceive a fish 
sufficiently near the surface, they dart down upon it 
with the swiftness of an arrow, seize it with unerring 
certainty, and store it up in their pouch. They then 
rise again, though not without great labor, and con- 
tinue hovering and fishing, with their head on one 
side as before. In feeding its young, the pelican 
squeezes the food deposited in its hag, into their 
mouths, by strongly compressing it upon its breast 
with the bill ; an action, says Shaw, which might 
well give occasion to the received tradition and report 
that the pelican, in feeding her young, pierced her 
own breast, and nourished them with her blood. See 
Birds, p. 187. 

This writer is of opinion, that the Hebrew kaath 
cannot mean the pelican, because that bird is describ- 
ed in Ps. cii. 6 ; Isa. xxxiv. 11, and Zeph. ii. 14, as a 
bird of the wilderness, where this fowl must inevitably 
starve ; because its large webbed feet, and capacious 
pouch, with the manner of catching its ibod, which 
can only be in the water, show it to be entirely a 
water fowl. But this objection, as Bochart has 
shown, proceeds upon a supposition, that no water 
was to be met with in the deserts ; which is a mis- 
take, since Ptolemy places three lakes in the inner 
parts of Marmorica, which was extremely desert. 
Besides, it is well known that the ono-crotalus, or 
pelican, does not always remain by the water ; but 
sometimes retires far from it, as Damir affirms; and 
in a passage from Isidore, in which this bird is said 
to live in the solitude of the river Nile, an inhospita- 
ble desert; and, indeed, its monstrous pouch seems 
to be given it for this very reason, that it might not 
want food for itself or its young ones, when at a dis- 
tance from the water. 

The writer of the hundred and second psalm alludes 
to the lonely situation of the pelican in the wilder- 
ness, as illustrative of the poignancy of his grief at 
witnessing the desolation of his country, and the 
prostration of her sacred altars. 

PELLA, a city beyond Jordan, placed by Pliny in 
the Decapolis, and by Stephanus in Coele-Syria. 
There is nothing inconsistent in this, however, nor 
in what others affirm, that Pella was in Perea, in 
Batanea, or in the country of Basan. Perhaps, also, 
when Josephus (Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. 23.) speaks of 
Pella, in the country of Moab, he means the city of 
which we are speaking, which was situated in Perea, 
in Batanea, in the country of Basan, which profane 
authors sometimes call Coele-Syria, and in the coun- 
try which belonged to the Ammonites, the brethren 
and allies of the Moabites ; unless he confound Pella 
with Abila, in the country of Moab, called by Moses 
Abel-Shittim, (Numb, xxxiii. 49.) and by Josephus, 
Abila. Pella was situated between Jabesh and Ge- 
rasa, six miles from the former. It was also one of 
the ten cities of the Decapolis, Matt. iv. 25 ; Mark v. 
20. It is not otherwise mentioned in the Scrip- 
tures. 

Josephus relates, that under the reign of Alexander 
Jannaeus, the Jews were masters of Pella, and de- 
stroyed it because the inhabitants would not embrace 
Judaism. The first Christians having been fore- 
warned by our Saviour that Jerusalem should be de- 
molished, took refuge at Pella, as related by Eusebius, 



as soon as they saw the fire of war against the Ro- 
mans kindled. 

PEN, a well known instrument for writing with. 
Reeds were formerly employed for this purpose in- 
stead of quills. The third book of the Maccabees 
says, that the writers employed in making a list of 
the Jews in Egypt, produced their reeds quite worn 
out. Baruch wrote his prophecies with ink ; (Jer. 
xxx\ i. 4.) and, in 3 John 13, the apostle says, he did 
not design to write with pen (reed) and ink. The 
Arabians, Persians, Turks, Greeks, and other orien- 
tals, still write with reeds. 

From the size and general appearance of some of 
the ancient reeds, as preserved in pictures found at 
Herculaneum, we may perceive how easily the same 
word (axf, shebet) might denote the sceptre, or badge 
of authority, belonging to the chief of a tribe, and 
also a pen for writing with. For, although the two 
instruments are sufficiently distinct among us; yet, 
where a long rod of cane, or reed, perhaps, was (like 
a general's truncheon, or baton, in modern days) the 
ensign of command, and a lesser rod of the same na- 
ture, was formed into a pen and used as such, they 
had considerable resemblance. This may account for 
the phraseology and parallelism, in Judg. v. 14: 

Out of Machir, came down governors (legislators): 
Out of Zebulun, they that hold the shebet of writers. 

The ancients also used styles to write on tablets 
covered with wax. The psalmist says, (Ps. xlv. 1.) 
" My tongue is the pen of a ready writer." The He- 
brew signifies rather a style, which was a kind of 
bodkin, made of iron, brass, or bone, sharp at one end, 
the other formed like a little spoon, or spatula. The 
sharp end was used for writing letters, the other end 
expunged them. The writer could put out, or cor- 
rect what he disliked, and yet no erasure appear, and 
he could write anew as often as he pleased on the 
same place. On this is founded that advice of Hor- 
ace, of often turning the style, and blotting out, 
"Ssepe stylum veitas iterum, quae digna legi sint 
scripturus." 

Scripture alludes to the same custom; (2 Kings 
xxi. 13.) " I will blot out Jerusalem as men blot out 
writing from their writing tablets." I will turn the 
tablets, and draw the style over the wax, till nothing- 
appear ; not the least trace. Isaiah (viii. 1.) received 
orders from the Lord, to write in a great roll of 
parchment, with the style of a man, what should be 
dictated to him. It is asked, What is meant by this 
style of a man ? It could not be one of these styles of 
metal ; they were not used for writing on parchment. 
It is probable, that the style of a man, signifies a 
manner of writing which is easy, simple, natural and 
intelligible. For generally the prophets expressed 
themselves in a parabolical, enigmatical and obscure 
style. Here God intended that Isaiah should not 
speak as the prophets, but as other men used to do. 
Jeremiah says, (viii. 8.) the style of the doctors of the 
Jaw is a style of error, it writes nothing but* lies. 
Literally, "The pen of the scribes is in vain." They 
have promised you peace, but behold war. He says, 
" The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron and 
with the point of a diamond. It is graven upon the 
table of their heart ; " or, engraven on their heart, as 
on writing tablets. The Hebrew says, a graver of 
shamir. 

PENIEL, or Penuel, a city beyond Jordan, neat 
the ford on the brook Jabbok, where Jacob, on his 
return from Mesopotamia, rested, and wrestled with 



PEN 



35 J PENTATEUCH 



an angel, Gen. xxxii. 30. Subsequently, the Is- 
raelites built a city in this place, which was given to 
the tribe of Gad. Gideon, returning from the pur- 
suit of the Midianites, overthrew the tower of Peniel, 
(Judg. viii. 17.) and slew the inhabitants, for having 
refused sustenance to him and his people, in a very 
insulting manner. Jeroboam, son of Nebat, rebuilt 
the town, 1 Kings xii. 25, A. M. 3030. 

PENINNAH, the second wife of Elkanah, the 
father of Samuel, 1 Sam. i. 2, &c. See Hannah. 

PENNY is usually put in the English translation 
for the Greek drachma and the Roman denarius, both 
of which were equal in value to seven-pence three 
farthings, sterling, or about 14 cents. As this was a 
single coin, perhaps we should do well, in translating, 
to express it by a coin of our own, as near to it in 
value as possible ; say, for instance, a six-pence, or a 
shilling.' Read in this way, the passages — " When 
the Lord of the vineyard had agreed with the labor- 
ers for six-pence (or a shilling) a day ;" — " Show me 
the tribute money ; and they showed him a six-pence 
(or shilling) ; " — "Two hundred shillings' worth of 
bread is not enough for this multitude ; " the good 
Samaritan took out two shillings, and gave them to 
the keeper of the khan. Something like this is abso- 
lutely necessary in Rev. vi. 6, " A small measure (or 
pint) of wheat for a shilling." As the passage now 
stands it indicates great plenty to an English reader; 
whereas, it really is descriptive of a most distressing 
scarcity. Let this article stand in proof of the pro- 
priety of being acquainted with the minutiae in Scrip- 
ture ; for who sees any hint at a famine in " a meas- 
ure of wheat for a penny ? " Former times, indeed, 
even in England, have given a laborer his choice of a 
measure of wheat, or a penny, for his wages ; but the 
difference in the value of money renders this recol- 
lection very improper in our days. Nor is it less im- 
proper, at the present time, to suppose the Lord of the 
vineyard would so greatly undervalue the hire of la- 
borers, as to pay them only a penny for the day's 
work ; it sounds like an avaricious advantage taken 
of the necessities of the poor ; when, in fact, it is di- 
rectly the reverse, a bounty, a liberality. 

PENTATEUCH, the five books, the books of Moses ; 
that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deute- 
ronomy. (See their proper articles, and also Moses.) 
Some critics have disputed that Moses was the author 
of the Pentateuch, upon the following grounds : — 

There are in it, (1.) several things that agree neither 
to the age nor the character of this legislator. The 
author speaks of Moses much to his advantage ; (see 
Numb. xii. 3.) and he speaks always in the third per- 
son. (2.) The author sometimes abridges his narra- 
tion, like a writer who collected from ancient me- 
moirs. Sometimes he interrupts the thread of his dis- 
course ; e. g. he makes Lamech the bigamist say, 
(Gen. iv. 23.) " Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, 
hearken unto my speech ; for I have slain a man to 
my wounding, and a young man to my hurt ; " with- 
out informing us previously to whom this relates. (3.) 
Such observations as Gen. xii. 6, cannot be reconcil- 
ed to the age of Moses, since the Canaanites con- 
tinued masters of Palestine during all the time of 
Moses. So, also, the passage out of the book of the 
Wars of the Lord, quoted Numb. xxi. 14, seems to 
have been inserted afterwards, as also the first verses 
of Deuteronomy. (4.) The account of the death of 
Moses, at the conclusion of the same book, cannot 
have proceeded from his own pen ; and the same may 
be observed of other passages, in which it is said, that 



the places mentioned lay beyond Jordan : that the bed 
of Og was at Ramah to this day ; that the Havoth, or 
cities, of Jair, were known to the author, though prob- 
ably they had not that name till after the time of 
Moses, Numb, xxxii. 41 ; Deut. iii. 14. (5.) It is ob- 
served, also, that some parts are defective. Thus, in 
Exod. xii. 8, we find Moses speaking to Pharaoh, 
where the author omits the beginning of his discourse, 
which is found in the Samaritan copy. In other 
places, also, the Samaritan adds what is deficient in the 
Hebrew text ; and its additions seem to be so well 
connected with the rest of the discourse, that it is dif- 
ficult to separate them. (6.) There are, it is said, 
certain expressions in the Pentateuch, which can 
hardly agree with Moses, who was born and educated 
in Egypt ; as, what he says of the earthly paradise, of 
the rivers that watered it ; of the cities of Babylon, 
Erech, Resen and Calneh ; of the gold of Pison ; of 
the bdellium, and of the stone of Sohem, found in 
that country. These particulars, it is thought, prove 
that the author of the Pentateuch lived east of the 
Euphrates. 

These objections, however, are easily disposed of. 
The additions, the dislocations, and the omissions, re- 
ferred to, will not determine that Moses was not the 
author of the books. They only prove that some 
amendments have been made, either by adding, or by 
expunging. God has suffered that the sacred books 
should not be exempted from such alterations as pro- 
ceed from the hands of copiers, or which are conse- 
quences of great length of time. If a slight addition, 
or change, in the text of an author, be thought suffi- 
cient to deprive him of his labors, what writer could 
remain in possession of his work even a single 
century ? Besides, to divest Moses of a possession he 
has maintained for so many ages, as author of the 
Pentateuch ; a possession supported by the joint tes- 
timony both of the synagogue and the church ; of the 
sacred writers both of the Old and New Testaments ; 
of Jesus Christ and his apostles, certainly requires 
proofs beyond reply, i. e. conclusive demonstrations ; 
whereas the objections are even below convincing 
arguments. 

So far Calmet, but since his time, the question of 
the originals of the Pentateuch has been discussed, 
with great acumen, and much critical investigation. 
The result seems to be not that those documents 
were composed, or arranged, since the days of Moses, 
(except so far as concerns Ezra's revision for his edi- 
tion,) but that they existed before Moses, and were 
combined and regulated by him ; perhaps, some of 
them were translated from more ancient memoirs, 
preserved in the families of Shein, Abraham, and the 
Hebrew patriarchs. As these caine far east of the 
Euphrates, the objections derived from that incident 
are completely obviated by this supposition ; and the 
others dwindle into insignificance, by our better ac- 
quaintance with the ancient history of persons and 
places. 

It may be admitted, for instance, (1.) that the book 
of Genesis contains various repetitions, or double 
narratives of the same early events ; (2.) that these 
duplicate narratives, when closely compared, present 
characteristic differences of style ; (3.) that these dif- 
ferences are too considerable, and too distinct, to ad- 
mit of any other explanation, than that of different 
originals, taken into association. This may be justi- 
fied by a short extract from Eichhorn's comparison of 
the two supposed original documents used by Moses 
containing histories of the deluge. 



PEN 



[ 736 J 



r e o 



Record in ivhich the name Jehovah occurs. 

Gen. vi. 5. And Jehovah saw that the wickedness 
of man was great on the earth, and that every imagi- 
nation of the thoughts of his heart was only evil con- 
tinually. 

7. And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I 
have created, from the face of the earth, both man 
and beast, and the creeping thing, mid the fowls of 
the air ; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 

Vii. 2. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee 
by sevens, the male and his female ; and of beasts 
unclean, by two, the male and his female. 

3. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and 
the female, 

to keep seed alive on the face of the earth. 

5. And Noah did according to all that Jehovah had 
commanded him. 

1. And Jehovah said unto Noah, Come thou, and 
all thy house, into the ark. 

8. And Noah was six hundred years old, when the 
flood of waters was upon the earth. 



In this manner the ingenious author of this hypoth- 
esis proceeds to compare other passages. The 
reader will remark, that the most particular account 
is contained in that document in which the deity is 
denoted by the term Elohim ; and this is its general 
character throughout. The system, however, is not 
without its difficulties; but for a discussion of these 
we must refer to those writers .who have professedly 
treated on the subject. 

PENTECOST, (Z?£VT€*o(ir,;, the fiftieth ; day is un- 
derstood,) a feast celebrated the fiftieth day after the 
sixteenth of Nisan. which was the second day of the 
feast of the passover, Lev. xxiii. 15, 16. The He- 
brews call it the feast of weeks, (Exod. xxxiv. 22.) 
because it was kept seven weeks after the passover. 
They then offered the first-fruits of their wheat har- 
vest, which at that time was completed, Deut. xvi. 9, 
10. These first-fruits consisted in two loaves of un- 
leavened bread, of two assarons of meal, or of five 
pints of meal each, Lev. xxiii. 16, 17. Some inter- 
preters think, that each family was obliged to give two 
loaves for first-fruits ; but others maintain, with more 
reason, that they offered but two loaves in the name 
of the whole nation. This is sufficiently marked by 
Joseph us, who puts but one loaf of two assarons. In 
addition to these, they presented at the temple seven 
lambs of that year, one calf, and two rams, for a burnt- 
offering, two lambs for a peace-offering, and a goat 
for a sin-offering. We do not find that the Pentecost 
had an octave, though it was one of the three great 
solemnities, in which all the males were to appear be- 
fore the Lord. 

The Feast of Pentecost was instituted, first, to 
oblige the Israelites to repair to the temple of the 
Lord, and there to acknowledge his dominion over 
their country, and their labors, by offering to him 
the first-fruits of all their harvests. Secondly, to 
commemorate, and to render thanks to God for, the 
law given from mount Sinai, on the fiftieth day after 
their coming out of Egypt. 

The Christian church also celebrates the Feast of 
Pentecost, fifty days, or seven weeks, after the pass- 
over, or the resurrection of our Saviour. After the 
ascension of Christ, the apostles having retired to a 



Record in ivhich the name for God is Elohim. 

Gen. vi. 12. And the Elohim saw the earth, an. I 
behold it was corrupt ; for all flesh had corrupted his 
way on the earth. 

15. And the Elohim said to Noah, the end of all 
flesh is come before me ; for the earth is filled with 
violence through them ; and behold, I will destroy 
them from under heaven. 

vi. 19. And of every living thing, of all flesh, two 
of every sort shalt thou bring into an ark, to keep 
them alive with thee ; they shall be male and female. 

20. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after 
their kind, of every creeping thing upon the earth 
after his kind : two of every sort shall come unto thee, 
to keep them alive. 

22. Thus did Noah ; according to all that fhe Elo- 
him had commanded him, so did he. 

18. And thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy 
sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. 

vii. 11. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in 
the second mouth, the seventeenth day of the month, 
the same day were all the fountains of the great deep 
broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 

house at Jerusalem, (which, it is said, was that of 
Mary the mother of John, on mount Sion,) they 
there waited for the Holy Ghost, which our Saviour 
had promised. On the day of Pentecost, about the 
third hour of the day, (nine o'clock in the morning,) 
suddenly they heard a great noise, like the rushing ofa 
mighty wind, from heaven, which filled the whole 
house where the apostles were assembled. At the 
same time there appeared among them, as it were, 
tongues of fire, parted, or cloven, and resting on each 
of them ; they were all immediately filled with the 
Holy Ghost, and began to speak different tongues 
or languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance, Acts 
ii. 1 — 3. There were then at Jerusalem some pious 
Jews of all nations, who were astonished to hear 
such a variety of languages ; but others (probably 
Jews of Jerusalem) mocked, saying, "These people 
are full of new wine." Peter, therefore, took up 
their defence, and said. "These persons are by no 
means drunk, for it is yet but the third hour of the 
day : (on festival days they did not eat before noon, 
especially they tasted nothing before nine in the 
morning, which was an hour of prayer :) but this 
is the accomplishment of what was spoken by Joel," 
(ii. 28.) " I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh," 
&c. And then, " whoever shall call on the name 
of the Lord shall be saved," &c. Those who heard 
Peter were moved with compunction, and said, 
" Brethren, what must we do ? " Peter answered 
them, "Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus 
Christ, to obtain the remission of sins, and you shall 
also receive the Holy Ghost," &c. They submit- 
ted, and that day were baptized about 3000 souls. 
A. D. 33. 

PEOR, or Phogor, a famous mountain beyond 
Jordan, which Eusebius places between Heshbon 
and Livias. The mountains Nebo, Pisgah and Peor, 
were near one another, and probably of the same 
chain of mountains ; and Cocceius thinks it imports a 
naked height, or, as we say, an open prospect, so 
a mountain free from impediments ; what stands 
unsheltered ; plainly to be seen ; the vertex of a high 
hill. It was the name of a mountain, standing very 
favorably for a distant prospect; "a prospect station 



PER 



[ 737 ] 



PER 



ill an open place," Numb, xxiii. 28. We may say 
the same of Beth Peor, (Dent. iii. 29.) which appears 
to have been on an eminence ; as the valley in which 
Israel abode was over against it, chap. iv. 46. It was 
% temple, we may suppose, with a village at least 
around it. 

PEREA, from Gr. rrJoar, beyond, signifies the 
country beyond Jordan, or east of that river, espe- 
cially on the south. Josephus says that it had its 
limits, at Philadelphia east, the Jordan west, Ma- 
cheron south, and Pella north. Sometimes the word 
Perea is taken in a more extensive signification, for 
the whole country beyond Jordan. It was enclosed 
on the east by mountains, which divided it from 
Arabia Deserta. The name does not occur in Scrip- 
ture. 

PEREZ-UZZA, the breach of Uzza, the name of a 
place, 2 Sam. vi. 8. Uzzah is spelt differently, 
where the reason of the appellation is assigned, 1 
Chron. xiii. 11. See Uzza. 

PERFECTION. The Son of God commands his 
disciples (Matt. v. 48.) to be perfect, even as their 
Father in heaven is perfect. Not that we can ever 
attain his perfection, but we ought constantly to be 
making advances towards it: we ought always to 
propose it to ourselves as our pattern, in the exer- 
cise of all virtue, and especially his mercy and char- 
ity. Hence Luke says, in the parallel passage, " Be 
ye, therefore, merciful, as your Father also is merci- 
ful," Luke vi. 36. In Matt. xix. 21, our Saviour 
says, that he who would be perfect must forsake all 
and follow him ; and in Luke vi. 40, that the disciple 
who would arrive at perfection must become like 
his master. Paul often exhorts his disciples to be 
perfect; that is, to acquire the perfection of Chris- 
tianity, to be convinced of the excellence of it, and lo 
practise its truths, 1 Cor. i. 10 ; xiv. 10, &c. 

In the Old Testament, the words perfect and per- 
fection answer to the Hebrew words Tham and 
'Thdmmim, which properly signify entire and com- 
plete ; without blemish or defect ; irreprehensible, 
perfect. Thus it is said, (Gen. vi. 9.) " Noah was a 
just man, and perfect in his generations." And God 
says to Abraham, (Gen. xvii. 1.) "I am the Almighty 
God ; walk before me, and be thou perfect." And 
speaking to his people, (Deut. xviii. 13.) "Thou shalt 
be perfect with the Lord thy God." In all these 
places, perfect is put for a character without re- 
proach ; uureprovable, sincere. So to serve God 
with a perfect heart, is to serve him faithfully, purely, 
not admitting a rival. Perfect joined with knowl- 
edge, law, charity, work, &c. signifies whatever may 
make those things complete, finished, entire, with- 
out deficiency. Paul says, (Heb. vii. 19.) "The law 
made nothing perfect;" i. e. it may be said to give 
only sketches of things ; to enjoin things of less per- 
fection than what the gospel requires. 

PERFUMES ; the use of perfumes was common 
among the Hebrews, and the orientals generally, be- 
fore it was known to the Greeks and Romans. 
Moses also speaks of the art of the perfumer, in 
Egypt, and gives the composition of two perfumes, 
{Exod. xxx. 25.) of which one was to be offered to 
the Lord, on the golden altar ; and the other (Exod. 
xxx. 34, &c.) to be used for anointing the high-priest 
and his sons, the tabernacle, and the vessels of di- 
vine service, Exod. xxx. 23. The former of these, 
called incense, was composed of stacte, the onyx, or 
odoriferous shell-fish, of galbanum, and incense, each 
of equal weight. It was sacred and inviolable, and 
it was forbidden, on pain of death, for any man 
93 



whatever to use it. The other perfume was rather 
an unction, to anoint the priests and sacred vessels 
of the tabernacle. It was composed of the best 
myrrh 500 shekels, of cinnamon 250 shekels, of can- 
na aromatica a like quantity, of cassia aromatica 500 
shekels ; and 1 hin of oil-olive. God reserved this 
ointment, or perfume, for his own service ; and 
whoever should make it, either for himself or another, 
was to be cut off from bis people. 

The Hebrews had also perfumes for embalming 
their dead. The composition is not exactly known, 
but they used myrrh, aloes and other strong and as- 
tringent drugs, proper to prevent infection and cor- 
ruption. See Embalming. 

In addition to these perfumes, there are others 
noticed in Scripture. Those, for example, which 
king Hezekiah preserved in his repositories. "The 
spices and precious ointment ;" (2 Kings xx. 13.) and 
those burned with the body ofking Asa, 2 Chron. xvi. 
14. Judith perfumed her face when she was to ap- 
pear before Holofernes ; and they prepared the vir- 
gins which were to appear before the kings of Persia, 
for six months together, by the use of oil of myrrh, 
and for six other months, by various perfumes and 
sweet-scented oils, Esth. ii. 12. The spouse in the 
Canticles commends the perfumes of her lover ; who 
in return says, that the perfumes of his spouse sur- 
pass the most excellent odors. He names particu- 
larly the spikenard, the canna aromatica, cinnamon, 
myrrh and aloes, as composing these perfumes. The 
voluptuous woman described by Solomon (Prov. vii. 
17.) says, that she had perfumed both her duan and 
her bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. The 
book of Wisdom (ii. 7.) encourage one another to 
the use of the most luxurious and costly perfumes. 
Isaiah reproaches Judea, whom he describes as a 
faithless spouse to God, as being painted and per- 
fumed to please strangers: (Isa. lvii. 9.) "Thou 
wentest to the king with ointment, and didst in- 
crease thy perfumes;" and Ezekiel (xxiii. 41.) seems 
to accuse the Jews with having profaned the odors 
and perfumes, whose use was reserved to sacred things, 
by applying them to their own use: "Thou satest 
upon a stately bed, and a table prepared befcre it, 
whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine 
oil." Amos (vi. 6.) inveighs against the rich men of 
Ephraim, who drank costly wines, and perfumed 
themselves with the most precious oils. The wo- 
man-sinner (Luke vii. 37.) and Mary Magdalen (John 
xii. 3.) anointed our Saviour's feet with costly per- 
fume. That of Mary Magdalen was spikenard. 

These instances show the taste of the ancient He- 
brews, which was, and still is, the taste of the orien- 
tals, who made much use of scents and perfumes. 
They prove, also, that both men and women used 
them, and that wise and serious men condemned the 
too frequent and affected use of them. It may also 
be observed, that to abstain from perfumes, scents 
and unctions, was esteemed a part of mortification. 
(See Esth. xiv ; 2 Dan. x. 3.) 

Solomon says, " that dead flies cause the ointment 
of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor :" 
i. e. as one dead fly is sufficient to spoil the scent of 
a whole box of perfumes; so one fault is enough to 
destroy a man's good name. 

PERGA, a city of Pamphylia, Acts xiii. 14. This 
is not a maritime city, but situated on the river Ces- 
tus, at some distance from its mouth. It was one of 
the most considerable cities in Pamphylia ; and 
when that province was divided into two parts, this 
city became the metropolis of one part, and Side of 



PER 



PER 



the other. There was, on a neighboring mountain, 
a very famous temple of Diana, surnamed Perga?a. 
from the city. 

PERGAMOS, (now Bergamo,) a city of Mysia, in 
Asia Minor, and the residence of the Attalian princes. 
There was here collected by the kings of this 
race a noble library of 200,000 volumes, which was 
afterwards transported to Egypt by Cleopatra, and 
added to the library at Alexandria. Hence the Latin 
name pergamentum for parchment. Our Lord 
(Rev. ii. 12.) speaks to the angel, or bishop, of Per- 
gamus thus : " I know thy works, and where thou 
dwellest, even where Satan's seat is; and thou bold- 
est fast my name," &c. 

PERJURY. The law of God severely con- 
demned perjury, false oaths, vows and promises 
made without an intention to perform them, Lev. 
xix. 12 ; Exod. xxiii. 13. Perjury offends against 
the veracity and justice of God himself, and is a 
great insult on his majesty, by appealing to him as a 
witness to a lie, and engaging his mighty name in 
commission of a crime. Moses (Lev. v. 4, 5, 6 ; vi. 2, 
3.) seems to appoint sacrifices to atone for perjury ; 
which is contrary to Paul, who assures us, that the 
sacrifices and ceremonies of the law did not really 
remit sins, but only purify legal faults, Heb. vii. 18; 
Gal. ii. 16 ; Rom. viii. 3 ; Heb. ix. 9, 13. It must, 
therefore, be presumed, that the sacrifices ordained 
by Moses, regarded only the ignorance or temerity of 
him who had made a rash promise, or a secret oath, or 
promise. Or he supposes, that he who was permitted 
to offer such a sacrifice, had already expiated his 
sin, by a perfect repentance and contrition ; of which 
the prescribed external sacrifice is only the public- 
acknowledgment, or ratification, as we may say, to 
satisfy for faults committed, by approaching holy 
things in a state of defilement. The wilful perjurer 
was punished by the sentence of the judges, when 
he was found guilty. (See Lev. v. 1 ; xix. 8 ; xx. 17, 
19, 20 ; xxiv. 15 ; Numb. ix. 13.) 

PERIZZITES, or Pheres^i, ancient inhabitants 
of Palestine, who had mingled with the Canaanites, 
or were themselves descendants of Canaan. They 
appear to have had no fixed habitations, and lived 
sometimes in one country and sometimes in another. 
There were some of them on each side of the river 
Jordan, in the mountains, and in the plains. In sev- 
eral places of Scripture the Canaanites and Perizzites 
are mentioned as the chief people of the country ; 
as in the time of Abraham and Lot, Gen. xiii. 7. 
The tribe of Ephraim complaining to Joshua, that 
they were loo much confined in their possession, he 
bade them go, if they pleased, into the mountains of 
the Perizzites and Rephaim, and there clear the land, 
cultivate and inhabit it, Josh. xvii. 15. Solomon 
subdued the remains of these people, which the Is- 
raelites had not rooted out. and made them tribu- 
tary, 1 Kings ix. 20, 21 ; 2 Chron. viii. 7. The Periz- 
zites are mentioned by Ezra, after the return from 
Babylon ; and several Israelites had married wives 
from among them, Ezra iv. 1. See Canaanites, 
p. 244. 

PERSECUTION has in all ages been the portion 
of good men. Cain persecuted Abel ; Joseph was 
persecuted by his brethren ; David by Saul ; Elijah 
and Elisha by Ahab ; the prophets by the kings and 
people of their time ; our Saviour by Herod, and the 
chief of the Jews ; John the Baptist and the apostles 
by the enemies of piety, truth and justice of every 
description. It is a maxim laid down by the apostle 
that all those who will lead a godly life shall suffer 



persecution ; (2 Tim. iii. 12.) but our Lord pro- 
nounces them happy, Matt. viii. 3 — 10. 

PERSIA, (in Heb. did, Phars, Ezek. xxvii. 10.) a 
vast region in Asia, the south-western province of 
which appears to have been the ancient Persia, and 
is still called Pharsistan, or Pars. The Persians who 
became so famous after Cyrus, the founder of their 
monarchy, were anciently called Elamites; and in 
the time of the Roman emperors, Parthians. Seis 
Parthians. 

The Arabians say, that Fars, the father of the Per 
siaus, was son of Azaz, or Arphaxad, sou of Shem. 
Others derive him from Japheth ; but the Persians 
derive their origin from Kaiumarath, who is among 
them what Adam is with us. They assure us that 
they have always had kings of their own nation, 
whose succession has never been long interrupted. 
The Dilemites, the Curdes, and even the oriental 
Turks, according to some authors, are descended 
from the Persians. The Dilemites inhabit the shores 
of the Caspian sea, called also the sea of Dilem, from 
that nation ; the Curdes are scattered in Assyria, to 
which they give the name of Kurdistan ; and the 
Turks have withdrawn beyond the river Oxus, into 
Turkestan. 

Authors speak differently of the religion of the an- 
cient Persians. Herodotus says, " They had neither 
temples, nor statues, nor altars. They look on it as 
folly to make or to suffer any, because they did not 
believe, as the. Greeks, that the gods were of human 
origin." They sacrificed to Jupiter on the highest 
mountains, and gave the name of God to the whole 
circuit of the heavens. They sacrificed also to the 
sun, and the moon, and the earth ; to the fire, and 
the water, and the winds. They originally knew no 
other gods but these, but subsequently they have 
learned from the Assyrians and the Arabians, to sac- 
rifice to Urania, or celestial Venus ; whom the As- 
syrians call Militta, the Arabians, Alitta, and the 
Persians, Mithra. 

The modern Persians refer their religion to Abra- 
ham, whom some confound with Zoroaster, and 
others will have to be the master of Zoroaster 
They think the world was created in six days ; that 
in the beginning God created a man and a woman, 
from whom mankind are derived : that there are 
several terrestrial paradises, one universal del- 
uge, one Moses, one Solomon. All this, without 
doubt, is taken from the history of the Jews, and 
from the trarlitions of the Mahometans. 

They hold, says D'Herbelot, one eternal God, 
called in their language Jesdan, or Oromazdes, who 
is the true God, called by the Arabians Allah, the 
author of all good ; also another god, produced by 
darkness, whom they name Aherman, (properly the 
Eblis of the Arabians, or the devil,) the author of all 
evil. They have a very great veneration for light, 
and a great aversion from darkness. God the Crea- 
tor of all things has produced light and darkness, and 
from a mixture of these two, of good and evil, of gen- 
eration and corruption, the composition and decom- 
position of the parts of the world is effected and will 
always continue, till light withdrawing itself on one 
side, and darkness on the other, shall cause a destruc- 
tion and dissolution. This is the substance of the 
doctrine of Zoroaster, which is still maintained by the 
Magians, or Guebres, who worship fire; and who 
always, when they pray, turn themselves towards the 
rising sun. 

The early history of the Persians, like that of most 
of the oriental nations, is involved in doubt or per 



PERSIA 



f 739 ] 



PE 1 



plexity. We have already suggested their descent 
from Shem, through his son Elam, after whom they 
were originally named. It is probable that they en- 
joyed their independence for several ages, with a mo- 
narchical succession of their own ; until they were 
subdued by the Assyrians, and their country attached 
as a province to that empire. This event is adum- 
brated in Persian history by the invasion of a foreign 
tyrant, named Zobruk. From this period, botli sacred 
and profane writers distinguish the kingdom of the 
Medes from that of the Persians. It is not improba- 
ble that, during this period, petty revolutions might 
have occasioned temporary disjunctions of Persia 
from its sister kingdom, and that the Persian king 
was quickly again made sensible of his true allegiance. 
Such an event appears to have occurred hi the reign 
of Pharaoh, who defeated the revolted Persians, and 
reduced them to a more complete subjection. 

Dejoces, the father of Phraortes, is said to have 
built the city of Ecbatana, and to have established its 
government. But it is probable that it was founded 
before this alleged period, and only strengthened and 
extended by Dejoces. Dejoces was killed in an ac- 
tion with Nebuchadnezzar king of Assyria, as related 
in the book of Judith, and was succeeded by his son 
Pliraortes. Phraortes afterwards subdu ed the Persians 
and other Asiatic nations. He ultimately was killed 
before the walls of Nineveh. 

Cyaxares, his son, succeeding to the throne of 
Media, undertook to be revenged upon the Assyrians. 
He defeated them, and led the Medes a second time 
to the walls of Nineveh. His success was impeded 
by his being called ofF by some invading Scythians ; 
but he afterwards renewed his attempts, and de- 
stroyed that great city, 612 B. C. See Media. 

Media, having vanquished her great rival, enjoyed 
a long interval of peace, during the reign of Astyages, 
son of Cyaxares. But his successor, Cyaxares the 
second, united with the Persians against the Bab- 
ylonians, and gave the command of the combined 
armies to Cyrus, who took the city of Babylon, 
killed Belshazzar, and terminated that kingdom, 
538 B. C. 

Cyrus succeeded to the thrones of Media and Per- 
sia, and completed the union between those countries. 
He extended his dominion beyond the greatest limits 
of that of the kings of Assyria. It may be worthy of 
remark, that, previous to this union, Daniel speaks of 
the law of the Medes and Persians being the same. 
The union was effected B. C. 536. The principal 
events, relating to Scripture, which occurred during 
the reign of Cyrus, were the restoration of the Jews, 
the rebuilding the city and temple, and the subduc- 
tion of Babylon. Of the successors of Cyrus, differ- 
ent accounts are given by different histories. The 
Persian annals give four, from Cyrus to Artaxerxes ; 
the sacred annals five, and the Grecian six. The 
order of princes as given in the book of Ezra' is, Cy- 
rus, Ahasuerus, Artaxerxes, Darius, Artaxerxes; 
Xerxes, who reigned between Darius and Artaxerxes, 
being omitted to' be mentioned, because nothing im- 
portant in the Jewish history occurred during his 
reign. Ahasuerus was Cambyses, the son of Cyrus. 
He was too much engrossed with Egyptian affairs 
to pay much regard to the Jews ; and during his 
reign the progress of their works at Jerusalem was 
nearly suspended. His successor, Artaxerxes, was the 
usurper Smerdis the Magian, by whose decree a total 
stop was put to the buildings at Jerusalem. The next, 
according to Scripture succession, is Darius, called, 
by profane historians, Darius Hystaspes. He em- 



powered the Jews to resume the works at Jerusalem, 
and likewise granted them other privileges ; by virtue 
of which, the temple, which had been twenty years 
in building, was completed. 

Xerxes, the successor of Darius, is briefly men- 
tioned in Scripture, by Daniel, as the fourth king 
from Cyrus, who, "by his strength, and through his 
great riches, should stir up all against the realm of 
Grecia." That he invaded Greece with an immense 
army, is known to every one in the least acquainted 
with ancient history. He continued the privileges 
which his father Darius had granted to the Jews. 

Artaxerxes, called by the Greeks Longimanus, from 
the length of his hands, and Ahasuerus in the book 
of Esther, is rendered memorable principally on the 
account of the friendship he evinced to the Jews, 
which it is thought proceeded from the intercession 
of Esther, his queen. 

[Later interpreters, however, have come to different 
results in regard to several of these kings. These 
may be seen under the articles Artaxerxes I. and 
particularly under Ahasuerus II. R. 

With Artaxerxes the history of Persia, as relating 
to the Scriptures, terminates. Persia, however, is still 
a country to which we may recur for an illustration 
of the manners and usages described in the Scriptures. 
The character of the Persian government is absolute- 
ly despotic. The fiat of the king, which in reality is 
the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth 
not, is as positive and immutable as at the period 
when Daniel wrote ; and has exerted a correspond- 
ing and very marked influence on the manners and 
customs of the people. 

PERSIS, a Roman lady, whom Paul salutes, 
(Rom. xvi. 12.) and calls his beloved sister. 

PESTILENCE, or Plague, in the Hebrew 
tongue, as in most others, expresses all sorts of dis- 
tempers and calamities. The Hebrew -an, Deber, 
which properly signifies the plague, is extended to all 
epidemical and contagious diseases. The prophets 
generally connect together the sword, the pestilence 
and the famine, as three evils which generally accom- 
pany each other. 

The pestilent man (Prov. xv. 12. Vulg.) is the 
scorner, the pretended free-thinker, who diverts himself 
with the simplicity of good people, and with the timid- 
ity of pious souls. The seat of the scorner, mentioned 
in the first Psalm, is the seat of such pernicious people. 
Solomon in many places cautions his readers against 
their discourses. The scorner loves not him that re- 
proves him, Prov. xix. 25. The correction of such 
scoffers is great instruction for the weak, the low, the 
foolish, and, generally, those that want light and un- 
derstanding. Tertullus, the advocate of the Jews, 
says, (Acts xxiv. 5.) that Paul was a pestilent fellow, 
a common disturber and mover of sedition, because 
he maintained that Jesus was the Christ. Jeremiah 
gives to Babylon the name of the contagious moun- 
tain, because it spread the infection of idolatry and 
superstition through the whole world. The Messiah 
says, (Hosea xiii. 14.) " O death, I will be thy plagues ; 
O grave, I will be thy destruction." Jerome trans- 
lates it. And in Psalm xci. 3, the Hebrew has, " He 
shall deliver thee from the snares of the hunter, and 
from the dangerous pestilence." 

PETER, the apostle, was bora at Bethsaida, and 
was son of John, Jona, or Joanna, and brother of An- 
drew, John i. 42, 43. His original name was Simon 
or Simeon, but when our Saviour called him to the 
apostleship, he added the name Cephas, 'hat is, (in 
Syriac,) a stone or rock ; in Greek and Latin, Petra. 



PETER 



L 740 ] 



PETER 



whence Peter. He was married ; and dwelt with 
his mother-in-law, and his wile, at Capernaum, on 
the lake of Gennesareth, Mark i. 29 ; Matt. viii. 14 ; 
Luke iv. 38. Andrew, having been called by Christ, 
met his brother Simon, and prevailed upon him to come 
to Jesus, John i. 41. (A. D. 30.) Alter having passed 
one day with our Saviour, they returned to their or- 
dinary occupation, of fishing, though it is thought 
they were present with him at the marriage - of Caua 
in Galilee. Towards the end of the same year, Jesus, 
being on the shore of the lake of Gemiesareth, while 
Peter and Andrew were busy washing their nets, 
(Luke v. 1, &c.) entered their boat, and bade Peter 
throw out his nets into the sea, in order to fish. Pe- 
ter obeyed, though he had been fishing the whole 
night without success. The fish taken at this draught 
were so many, that their own vessel, and that of 
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were filled. 
The miracle so impressed the mind of Peter, that he 
threw himself at the feet of Jesus, and said, " Depart 
from me, Lord, for I am a sinner." Jesus, however, 
bade them lbllow him, and promised to make them 
fishers of men. The four quitted their boats and fol- 
lowed him. 

Jesus, coming to Capernaum some time after this, 
(Luke iv. 38 ; Matt. viii. 14.) entered the house of 
Peter, where his mother-in-law lay sick of a fever. 
He immediately healed her ; and she assisted to serve 
them. A little while before the feast of the passover 
of the following year, (A. D. 32.) after he returned into 
Galilee, he chose twelve apostles, among whom Peter 
has the first place. 

Upon one occasion, as our Saviour was near Caesa- 
rea Philippi, he asked his apostles, whom men took 
him to be, Matt. xvi. 13, 14. They answered, some 
took him for John the Baptist, others Elias, others 
Jeremiah, or one of the old prophets. " But whom do 
you say that 1 am ?" inquired Jesus. Simon Peter 
answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living 
God." Jesus said to him, " Happy are you, Simon, 
son of Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this 
to you, but my Father who is hi heaven. Your name 
is Peter, [rock,] and on this rock I will build my 
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
it. 1 will give you the keys of the kingdom of heav- 
en, and whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be 
also bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose 
on earth, shall be loosed in heaven." (See Key.) About 
eight days after this, he was transfigured on a moun- 
tain, and had with him Peter, James and John, whom 
he showed a glimpse of his glory. Peter, being in an 
ecstasy, and seehig Moses and Elias with Jesus, ex- 
claimed, " Lord, it is good for us to be here ; if you 
please, we will make three tents, one for you, one 
for Moses, and one for Elias !" Matt. xvii. Luke 
ix. 28. 

One day, as Jesus was speaking concerning the for- 
giveness of injuries, (Matt, xviii. 21, 22.) Peter asked 
him how often they must forgive ; whether seven 
times. Jesus answered, Seventy times seven. On 
another occasion, (Matt. xix. 27.) as he was speaking 
of the danger of riches, Peter said to him, " Lord, we 
have left all to follow thee ; what reward shall we 
have?" Jesus answered, "An hundred-fold, even in 
this world, and in the other world eternal life." 

On the Wednesday before his passion, as they sat 
on the mount of Olives, he, with the other apostles, 
asked Jesus, when the temple was to be destroyed. 
On Thursday he was sent with John to prepare for 
the passover ; and in the evening, when Jesus was at 
table, and began to speak of him who should betray 



him, Peter made signs to John, to ask him who thia 
could be. After supper, the disciples disputed who 
should be the greatest; upon which Jesus, laying 
aside his garments, washed their feet, to give them 
an example of humility. Peter reluctantly consent- 
ed, and that not till after Jesus had told him that if 
he did not wash his feet, he could have no part in 
him, John xiii. 6 — 10. Just before the apprehension 
of our Lord, he cautioned Peter of his danger: "Pe- 
ter, Satan has desired to sift you as men sift wheat : 
— but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not 
fail ; and when you are converted, confirm your 
brethren." Peter declared he was ready to follow 
his Master every where, even to death ; but Jesus 
foretold to him, that he would abjure him three times 
that very night, before the cock should crow. When 
supper was ended, our Saviour went to the garden 
of Olives, taking Peter, James and John apart, as 
witnesses of his agony. Here Peter, though he had 
lately shown so much resolution, fell asleep with the 
rest ; which occasioned Jesus' affectionate reproof: 
— "Do you sleep, Simon ? Could you not watch with 
me one hour ?" Mark xiv. 37 ; Matt. xxvi. 40, &c. 

Judas having come out with the soldiers to seize 
Jesus, Peter drew his sword, and cut off the right 
ear of Malchus, servant to the high-priest ; which 
Jesus perceiving, bade him put up his sword, adding, 
those who fight with the sword perish by the sword ; 
and at the same time healing Malchus's ear, John 
xviii. 10, &lc. Jesus being led to the house of Caia- 
phas, Peter followed at a distance, and mingled with 
the soldiers and servants in the hall. While warm- 
ing himself at the fire, a maid-servant said, " Surely 
this man was with Jesus of Nazareth !" But Peter 
answered, "I know not what you say; I do not 
so much as know the man." A short time afterwards, 
another maid recognized him. But Peter denied it 
with an oath ; as he did a third time. At this mo- 
ment the cock crowed the second time, and Jesus, 
being in the hall, and not far from Peter, tinned and 
looked on him, which bringing to his remembrance 
that Jesus had said to him, before the cock crowed 
twice he should deny him thrice, he rushed out of 
the house and wept bitterly, Matt. xxvi. 73, 75; 
Mark xiv. 30, 72. 

It is said that his compunction was so acute that 
he remained in secret, and in tears, during the whole 
time of our Saviour's passion (Friday and Saturday;) 
but on Sunday morning Jesus being risen, and Mary 
having been at the tomb, and not finding the body of 
Jesus, she ran into the city, to tell Peter and John 
that their Master was taken away. The two disci- 
ples ran to the sepulchre, and Peter saw the linen 
clothes in which the body had been wrapped. They 
returned to Jerusalem, not understanding what had 
come to pass ; but on the same day our Saviour ap- 
peared .to Peter, John xx. ; Luke xxiv. 12, 34, &c. ; 
Mark xvi. 7. 

Some days after this, while Peter with some oth- 
ers of the apostles were fishing on the lake of Gen- 
nesareth, Jesus visited and dined with them ; and 
after dinner gave to Peter the memorable and im- 
pressive charge, " Feed my sheep ;" adding, " I tell 
you for a truth, that when you were young, you 
girded yourself and went where you pleased; but 
now you are old, another shall gird you, and lead 
you where you would not go." 

From this time, Peter's zeal in his Master's service 
was unabating, and his boldness not to be subdued 
On the day of Pentecost, he stood forth in the defence 
of his brethren, who were charged by the unthinking 



PETER 



[ 741 ] 



PETER, 



Jews with drunkenness, and so powerfully urged the 
completion of the prophecies in the person of Jesus, 
that a great number were converted," Acts ii. When 
taken before the Sanhedrim, with his companion 
John, in consequence of having healed the cripple, 
at the Beautiful gate of the temple, he boldly and un- 
dauntedly charged that corrupt body with having 
crucified the Messiah, and refused, at the risk of his 
life, to refrain from preaching the truth to the people, 
Acts iv. 

Upon several other occasions, Peter was subjected 
to imprisonment and scourging, in consequence of 
his zeal and fervor in the service of his divine Mas- 
ter ; but none of these things moved him, nor retard- 
ed his labors in publishing the gospel. After having 
visited Samaria, where Philip had been declaring the 
word of life, and conferring the Holy Spirit upon 
many of those who had believed, Peter visited the 
disciples from city to city. At Lydda, he cured 
iEneas, who had been paralytic for eight years. At 
Joppa, he restored Tabitha to life. And at Csesarea 
of Palestine, he opened the door of faith to the Gen- 
tiles, by converting and baptizing the family of Cor- 
nelius, a man who feared God, and desired to be 
instructed in the gospel, Acts ix. 10. 

Upon his return to Jerusalem, his fellow apostles, 
who did not yet fully understand the economy of 
God, in his purposes toward the Gentiles, charged 
him with a violation of the law, in his intercourse 
with the uncircumcised ; Peter, however, related the 
whole affair to them from the beginning, which led 
them to rejoice and glorify God, in that he had also 
granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life, Acts xi. 

It is thought that soon after this, Peter went to An- 
tioch, where he founded a Christian church, A. D. 
36; and after visiting Asia Minor, Bithynia, Cappa- 
docia, Pontus, and perhaps some of the provinces 
further north, he returned to Jerusalem, where he 
was, A. D. 44, at the passover. In this year, Herod 
Agrippa began a persecution against the church, in 
which James the greater, brother of John, was slain, 
and Peter apprehended for the purpose of being put 
to death. On the very night before he was to have 
been executed, however, and while he was sleeping 
loaded with chains, between two soldiers, the angel 
of the Lord awoke him, opened the prison, and 
brought him out into the street. At the house of 
Mary the mother of John, he found many of the 
faithful assembled at prayer, on his behalf, and they 
all glorified God for his deliverance, Acts xii. 

He soon afterwards left Jerusalem, and we lose 
sight of him, till the council at Jerusalem, A. D. 51. 
At Antioch, Peter, as his custom had been, ate and 
drank with the Gentiles, without regarding the Mo- 
saic distinctions of meats. But when some convert- 
ed Jews from Jerusalem arrived, being unwilling to 
offend them, he separated himself from the convert- 
ed Gentiles. Paul, however, fearing this might be 
interpreted as if meant to revoke and annul what he 
had determined in the council of Jerusalem, ex- 
postulated with him on the impropriety of such a 
course, and Peter submitted to his judgment, Gal. 
ii. 11. 

From this time, little is known of Peter. Eusebius 
informs us that Origen, in the third tome of his Ex- 
position on Genesis, wrote to this purpose : " Peter 
is supposed to have preached to the Jews of the dis- 
persion in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia 
and Asia. And at length, coming to Rome, was cru- 
cified with his head downwards; himself having de- 
sired that it might be in that manner." Some learned 



men think, that Peter, in the latter part of nis life, 
went into Chaldea, and there wrote his First Epistle ; 
because the salutation of the church at Babylon 19 
sent in it. But their opinion is not supported by the 
testimony of ancient writers. Lardner says, " It 
seems to me, that when Peter left Judea, he went 
again to Antioch, the chief city of Syria. Thence 
he might go into other parts of the continent, par- 
ticularly Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and 
Bithynia, which are expressly mentioned at the be- 
ginning of his First Epistle. In those countries he 
might stay a good while. It is very likely that he 
did so ; and that he was well acquainted with the 
Christians there, to whom he afterwards wrote two 
epistles. When he left those parts, I think he went 
to Rome ; but not till after Paul had been in that 
city, and was gone from, it." 

Many ancient writers have said, that Peter was 
crucified at Rome, while Nero persecuted the Chris- 
tians. And their opinion has been espoused by 
learned men, both Papists and Protestants. Some, 
however, particularly Scaliger, Salmasius, Spauheim, 
and others, deny that Peter ever was at Rome. If 
the reader wishes to see the evidence from antiquity 
on which Peter's having been at Rome rests, he will 
find it fully set forth by Lardner, who concludes his 
inquiry as follows : " This is the general, uncontra- 
dicted, disinterested testimony of ancient writers in 
the several parts of the world, Greeks, Latins, Syri- 
ans. As our Lord's prediction concerning the death 
of Peter is recorded in one of the four Gospels, it is 
very likely that Christians would observe the accom- 
plishment of it, which must have been in some place. 
And about this place, there is no difference among 
Christian writers of ancient times. Never any other 
place was named, besides Rome ; nor did any other 
city ever glory in the martyrdom of Peter. It is not 
for our honor, nor for our interest, either as Chris- 
tians or Protestants, to deny the truth of events as- 
certained by early and well-attested tradition. If any 
make an ill use of such facts, we are not accountable 
for it. We are not, from a dread of such abuses, to 
overthrow the credit of all history, the consequences 
of which would be fatal." (Macknight.) 

Epistles of Peter. — We have two epistles attrib- 
uted to Peter, by the common consent of the Chris- 
tian church. The genuineness of the First has never 
been disputed, and is referred to as his accredited 
work, by several of the apostolical fathers. Com- 
mentators have been divided in opinion, as to the 
persons to whom this Epistle was primarily address- 
ed ; the best sustained hypothesis is, that it was in- 
tended for the Jewish and Gentile believers, indis- 
criminately, who were resident in the provinces 
enumerated in the introductory verses. It was writ- 
ten from Babylon, but whether the Chaldean or the 
Egyptian Babylon, cannot be determined. (See Bab- 
ylon.) The Second Epistle was addressed to the 
same persons as the former one ; its general design 
being to confirm the doctrines which had been de- 
livered in that, and to excite the Christian converts 
to a course of conduct becoming in every respect 
their high profession of attachment to Christ. 

Mi - . Taylor conjectures that the First Epistle of 
Peter might be a kind of response to the Epistle of 
Paul to the Galatians. It is remarkable, he observes, 
that the tenor of this address is altogether indepen- 
dent of any respect to the Mosaic economy ; that is 
scarcely alluded to, certainly, it is not recommended 
Nevertheless, it is evident from the energy of the 
writer's expressions, (chap. v. 12.) " I have written to 



P II A 



L 742 ] 



PHARAOH 



you, exhorting you, and strongly testifying that this 
is the true grace of God in which ye stand," that he 
felt a constraining necessity for clearly stating, as it 
were, under his hand, those principles which some, 
in their excess of zeal for legal observances, had 
confused, not to say impaired. And these persons 
were known to him: he does not mention them, but 
he corrects them : neither does he mention Paul, but 
he supports him. In his Second Epistle, however, 
he names Paul explicitly, and reminds his readers 
that this apostle had written an epistle "to them," hi. 
15. We have no evidence, however, of any epistle 
written by Paul to Pontus, Cappadocia, Asia or 
Bithynia : he wrote to the Galatians, and to them 
only. [But if Paul wrote to the Hebrews, they were 
of the same nation as those to whom Peter writes in 
their dispersion. See the Bibl. Repository, vol. ii. 
p. 412, seq. R.] It is a hazarded opinion of Mac- 
knight, that " the persons to whom Peter's Epistles 
were sent were, for the most part, Paul's converts." 
Surely not. Peter says, (i. 16.) " We made known to 
you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," 
and then he alludes to the transfiguration ; which 
he repeats, as what he had heretofore related to 
them. Paul could not do this. 

There is no mark of time in the First Epistle by 
which to fix its date. The Second fixes itself to a 
period not long before the decease of the writer. The 
interval between them might be longer or shorter. 
If we assign an early date to the First, we must con- 
sider well where Sylvanus, if he were Paul's Silas, 
could be at the time : if we assign a later date, we 
must find circumstances so adjusted as to allow that 
Paul should receive, from the Sylvanus of Peter, the 
satisfaction of perusing Peter's Epistle, and of seeing 
corrected the errors of those who were misleading 
the Galatians. Each of these propositions has its 
difficulty, and must not be rashly determined on. It 
is clear, that Peter, when he wrote his Second Epis- 
tle, knew that Paul's writings were numerous ; though 
it seems advisable to take the term all ' his Epistles,' 
rather generally than absolutely, rather loosely than 
strictly. 

PETRA, the capital of Idumea. See Sela. 

PHARAOH. It has generally been supposed, that 
the term " Pharaoh" is not employed by any Greek 
authors, prior to the establishment of Christianity ; 
but only occurs in Scripture, and in the works of the 
Jewish historian, Josephus. Dr. Willan, however, 
has shown, from some passages in the Euterpe of 
Herodotus, that this ancient writer intended to ex- 
press in Grecian characters the same word, which is 
originally Egyptian ; and that he has also very satis- 
factorily explained its meaning. Josephus, in his 
Jewish Antiquities, (b. viii. ch. vi.) says, " The title 
of Pharaoh was applied to the kings of Egypt, from 
Menes to the time of Solomon, but not afterwards ; 
the word signified a king, in the Egyptian language." 
According to the information received by Herodotus 
and Diodorus Siculus, from the Hierophants of 
Egypt, that country had been governed during a pe- 
riod of 18,000 years, first by its principal divinities, 
and afterwards by a dynasty of heroes, or demi-gods, 
the offspring of the former ; and lastly, by a series of 
mortal princes, who reigned during another period 
of more than 14,000 years, commencing with Menes, 
and terminating with Psammenitus, when Egypt be- 
came a province of the Persian empire. Herodotus 
says, from Menes, the first mortal king, to Sethos, 
priest of Vulcan, (contemporary with the Assyrian 
monarch Sennacherib and with Hezekiah. prince 



of Judah,) the Egyptian priests told him, "a period 
of 11,340 years, or 341 generations, had elapsed, in 
which there had been as many high-priests, and the 
same number of kings ; and, during that time, no di- 
vinity had appeared under a human form." The mor- 
tal princes, who are said to have succeeded the gods, 
were denominated by the Egyptians, Pharaohs, or 
Pharaons ; or, as Herodotus writes it, Piroms, Heb. 
nj.no, Paruh. He saw colossal statues of them, and 
their contemporary high-priests, in the spacious 
temple at Thebes, where the priests informed him, 
"that each of those colossal figures was a Piromis, 
descended from a Piromis; and further asserted, 
that this had Uniformly occurred to the number of 
341, in which series there was neither a god nor a 
hero." He further remarks, that Piromis, in the 
Egyptian language, is expressive of dignity and 
excellence {KaloxayaSiay. it seems, therefore, analo- 
gous to the title of Augustus, conferred by the Ro- 
man senate on Octavius Caesar, and retained by his 
successors in the empire. 

Mr. Bryant, in his "Analysis of Ancient Mytholo- 
gy," has made a distinction between Pharaon, as the 
word is written by Josephus, and the Pirom of He- 
rodotus. The former term, he thinks, is compounded 
of Phir.uA ourah, implying "the voice of Orus ;" be- 
cause "it was no unusual thing, among the ancients, 
to call the words of their prince, the voice of God." 
The observations of Herodotus and Josephus. so far, 
however, coincide, as to make it evident they meant 
the same title, or denomination, although they may 
have both, perhaps, somewhat altered the original 
word, by expressing it in the characters of their re- 
spective languages. The Greek writers, in general, 
disfigure the names of foreign places and persons, by 
adding the usual terminations of their own nouns, by 
transposing consonants, and by inserting vowels, in 
order to soften words of a harsh sound; thus, the 
name of the Persian king, Khosrou, is by them ex- 
pressed Kouros ; Ardshir is Artaxerxes ; Baal is 
Belus ; Addir-Dag is Atergatis ; Zeratusht is Zoroas- 
ter ; Phrat, or Aphrat, is Euphrates ; Ashur is Assyr- 
ia ; Ashdod is Azotus ; and Japha is expressed Joppe. 
An instance of a change similar to that of Pharaoh 
and Pirom, occurs in the name of the Egyptian king 
Hophra, who is called by Herodotus and Diodorus, 
Apries. In a treatise " On Providence," written by 
Synesius, the celebrated hishop of Cyrene, there is a 
passage which coincides with and illustrates the ob- 
servations of Herodotus. He says, " The father of 
Osiris and Typhon was, at the same time, a king, a 
priest, and a philosopher. The Egyptian histories, 
also, rank him among the gods ; for the Egyptians 
are disposed to believe, that many divinities reigned 
in succession, before their country was governed by 
men, and before their kings were reckoned in a gen- 
ealogical series by Peirthn, after PeiromP 

Hence it appears that Pharaoh is a title signifying 
dignity, honor, exaltation. May it not be analogous 
to the title of highness among ourselves ? The read- 
er will notice the customary, and perhaps inevitable, 
variations made hy the Greeks, in writing, and, no 
doubt, hi pronouncing, oriental names ; because it 
may tend to moderate our surprise at those variations 
of certain names of the Old Testament, which occur 
in the New Testament, and which is especially no- 
ticeable in the genealogies of Matthew and Luke. 

[The word Pharaoh, according to Josephus, (Ant 
viii. 6. 2.) and in the Coptic, (Jablonsky, Opusc. i. p 
374.) signifies king ; and comes from the Coptic word 
ouro with the article pi, viz. pi-ouro, pouro, phouro, l. e 



PHARAOH 



PHA 



the king. The Hebrews, in adopting this word into 
their own language, (as also in the name Moses,) gave 
it a form adapted to a Hebrew etymology, and pre- 
serving at the same time, as nearly as possible, the 
origina.l signification of the name. Hence they wrote 
it mjp, as if from jn=, leader, prince. (See the Bibl. 
Repository, vol. i. p. 581.) 

Bochart supposes that Pharaoh signifies a crocodile ; 
and it is a somewhat striking coincidence, that Cham- 
pollion has found, that the word ouro, with the article 
pi-ouro, is the Egyptian name of the serpent or dragon 
■ Urseus, which is pointed out on all the monuments 
as a characteristic sign of Egyptian sovereigns. This 
is a singular congruity ; and it seems to explain the 
true signification of the title Pharaoh, and the reason 
why this symbol is placed upon the royal head-dresses. 
(See Greppo's Essay on the Hieroglyphic System, 
&c. p. 85.) Does not this afford some illustration of 
the passage in Ezek. xxix. 3 ? " Behold I am against 
thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that 
lieth in the midst of his rivers," &c. 

Of the kings of Egypt there are not less than eleven 
or twelve mentioned in Scripture, all of whom bore 
the general title of Pharaoh, except three. Along 
with this title, two of them have also other proper 
names, Necho and Hophra. The following is then- 
order : some of them have been identified, by the la- 
bors of Champollion, with kings whose proper names 
we know from other sources ; while others still re- 
main in obscurity. 

1. Pharaoh, (Gen. xii. 15, seq.) hi the time of Abra- 
ham. (Greppo, p. 89.) 

2. Pharaoh, the master of Joseph, Gen. xxxvii. 
36 ; xli. &c. Some suppose that the Pharaoh to 
whom Joseph became prime minister, was the 
son of the one mentioned in Gen. xxxvii. 36. 
(Greppo, p. 91, seq.) 

3. Pharaoh, who knew not Joseph, and under 
whom Moses was born; perhaps Ramses Mei- 
amoun, Ex. i. 8, seq. (Greppo, p. 94.) 

4. Pharaoh, under whom the Israelites left Egypt, 
and who perished in the Red sea, Ex. v. — xiv. 
Probably Amenoplis. (Greppo, p. 97, seq.) 

5. Pharaoh, in the time of David, 1 Kings xi. 
19 — 21. Perhaps Psonsenes. (Greppo, p. 112, 
seq.) 

6. Pharaoh, the father-in-law of Solomon; 1 Kings 
iii. 1 ; vii. 8 ; ix. 16, 24. Probably Osochor. 
(Greppo, p. 114.) 

7. Shishak, near the end of Solomon's reign, and 
under Rehoboam, 1 Kings xi. 40 ; xiv. 25, 26 ; 
2 Chron. xii. 3. Sesonchosis. (Greppo, p. 117.) 
From this time onward the proper names of the 
Egyptian kings are mentioned in Scripture. 

8. Zerah, the Ethiopian, 2 Chron. xiv. 9, seq. 
Rosenmuller, with good reason, supposes him to 
have been a chief of the Arabian Ethiopia, hav- 
ing no connection with Egypt. (See Cush, p. 
323. Greppo, p. 120.) 

9. So, or Sevechus, contemporary with Ahaz, 2 
Kings xvii. 4. (Greppo, p. 124.) 

10. Tirhaka, king of Ethiopia and Egypt, in the 
time of Hezekiah, 2 Kings xix.9 ; Isa. xxxvii. 9. 
Probably the Tearcho of Strabo, and the Taracles 
ofManetho. (Greppo, p. 125.) 

11. Pharaoh Necho, in the time of Josiah, 2 Kings 
xxiii. 29, 30, seq. ; 2 Chron. xxxv. 20 — 24, seq. 
Necho, the son of Psammetichus. (Greppo, p. 127.) 
See Egypt, p. 373. 

12. Pharaoh Hophra, contemporary with Nebu- 
chadnezzar, Jer. xliv. 30. He was the grandson 



of Necho, and is the Apries of Herodotus. Set 

Apries. (Greppo, p. 129.) 
(See, in respect to all these kings, the article Egypt, 
p. 373, seq. and Rosenmiiller's Bibl. Geograph. vol. 
iii.) *R. 

PHARISEES. This was the most celebrated and 
influential of the Jewish sects in the time of our Sa- 
viour, but its origin, like that of its antagonist and rival 
body the Sadducees, is involved in obscurity. The 
prophet Isaiah, indeed, as Briicker remarks, found 
among the Jews in his time several appearances of 
the spirit and character which afterwards distinguished 
this sect ; (Isa. lviii. 2, 3 ; lxv. 5.) hut, as he adds, we 
have no proof that they existed as a distinct body in 
the prophetic age ; nor do we find any traces of them 
prior to the time of the first Ptolemies, when oral tra- 
ditions, together with allegorical interpretations of the 
written law, were introduced. Although we meet 
with no satisfactory evidence of the existence of the 
sect of the Hasidsei, which Scaliger (Eleuch. Trihae- 
res, cap. xxii. p. 170. Reland. Antiq. Sac. p. 2. cap. 
ix. § 13.) supposes to have been the foundation of the 
Pharisaic sect, the writer just cited thinks there can 
be little reason to doubt that it arose soon after the 
return from the Babylonish captivity, in consequence 
of the introduction of traditionary institutions and al- 
legorical interpretations. That it was established, and 
had acquired great authority, in the time of Hyrcanus, 
and of his sons, Aristobulus and Alexander, has al- 
ready been stated in the article Alexander, III. The 
Jewish historian, who was himself of this sect, speaks 
of it as flourishing in the time of Jonathan the high- 
priest, together with those of the Sadducees and Es- 
senes, which invalidates the conjecture of Basnage, 
that the Pharisaic sect owed its rise to the separation 
which took place between the schools of Hillel and 
Shammai; for the Jewish writers agree that these 
celebrated doctors did not flourish earlier than a hun- 
dred years before the Christian era. 

But although the exact time of the first appearance 
of the Pharisaic sect cannot be ascertained, its origin 
may easily be traced back to the same period when 
the Sadducean heresy arose. From the time that the 
notion of supernumerary acts of self-denial, devotion 
and charity was introduced under the sanction of the 
traditionary law, a wide door was open for supersti- 
tion, religious pride and hypocrisy. Whilst, on the 
other hand, some would despise the weakness, or the 
affectation, of professing to be pious and holy beyond 
the prescription of the written law, others, through a 
fanatical disposition, or that they might provide them- 
selves with a convenient cloak for their vices, would 
become scrupulous observers of the traditional insti- 
tutions. And when these pretenders to extraordinary 
sanctity saw that many of those who observed only 
the written law, not only disclaimed all works of su- 
pererogation, but even renounced the hope of future 
rewards, they would think it necessary to separate 
themselves into a distinct body, that they might the 
more successfully display their sanctity and piety. 
These conjectures are confirzned by the name of the 
sect, which is derived from the word d-i=, to separate. 
Their separation consisted chiefly in certain distinc- 
tions respecting food, clothing, and religious ceremo- 
nies. But this does not seem to have interrupted the 
uniformity of religious worship, in which the Jews 
of every sect appear to have always united. 

The peculiar character and spirit of Pharisaism 
consisted in the strict observance of the oral law, 
which they believed to have been delivered to Moses 
by an archangel, during his forty davs' residence in 



PHARISEES 



[ 744 ] 



PHARISEES 



mount Sinai, and to have been by him committed to 
seventy elders, who transmitted it to posterity. Their 
superstitious reverence for this law, and the apparent 
sanctity of manners which it produced, rendered them 
exceedingly popular. The multitude, for the most 
part, espoused their interest; and the great, who 
feared their artifice, were frequently obliged to court 
their favor. Hence they obtained the highest offices 
both in the state and the priesthood, and had great 
weight both in public and private affairs: in some in- 
stances they proved so troublesome to the reigning 
powers, as to subject themselves to severe penalties. 
Hyrcanus and Alexander restrained their increasing 
influence, and treated them with great rigor. Under 
Alexander, they regained their consequence ; the dis- 
sensions between the schools of Hillel and Shammai, 
(see Alexandra,) a little before the Cliristian era, in- 
creased their number and power ; and they continued, 
till the destruction of Jerusalem, to enjoy the chief 
rooms in the Sanhedrim and the synagogue. After 
that period, when the other sects were dispersed, the 
Pharisees resumed their authority ; and though the 
name has been dropped, then - tenets and customs have 
ever since prevailed among the Jewish rabbiuites ; so 
that, at this day, except the Karaites, scarcely any 
Jews are to be found who are not, hi reality, of the 
Pharisaic sect. 

The princ ipal dogmas of the sect were these :■ — The 
oral law, delivered from God to Moses, on mount 
Sinai, by the angel Metraton, and transmitted to pos- 
terity by tradition, is of equal authority with the 
written law. By observing both of these laws, a man 
may not only obtain justification with God, but per- 
form meritorious works of supererogation. Fasting, 
alms-giving, ablutions and confessions are sufficient 
atonements for sin. Thoughts and desires are not 
sinful, unless carried into action. God is the Creator 
of heaven and earth, and governs all things, even the 
actions of men, by his providence. Man can do noth- 
ing without divine influence ; which does not, how- 
ever, destroy the freedom of the human will. The 
soul of man is spiritual and immortal. In the invisi- 
ble world, beneath the earth, rewards and punishments 
will be dispensed to the virtuous and vicious. The 
wicked shall be confined in an eternal prison, but the 
good shall obtain an easy return to life. Besides the 
soul of man, there are other spirits, or angels, both 
good and bad. The resurrection of the body is to be 
expected. (Joseph. Ant. Jud. 1. xiii. c. 9 ; 1. xviii. c. 2. 
Bell. J. 1. ii. c. 12.) 

It appears, from many passages in the Jewish rab- 
bins, that they held the doctrine of the migration of 
soids from one body to another ; and it is probable 
that they derived it from the ancient Pharisees, and 
these from the oriental philosophers. This metem- 
psychosis is, however, to be understood in the Pytha- 
goric, and not in the Stoic, sense. The Jews, proba- 
bly, borrowed this error from the Egyptians. There 
is no reason, as some writers have done, to consider 
the sect of the Pharisees as a branch of the Stoic 
school. For though the Pharisees resembled the Sto- 
ics in their affectation of peculiar sanctity, their notion 
of Divine Providence was essentially different from 
the Stoical doctrine of Fate ; and their cast of man- 
ners arose from a different source ; that of the Stoics 
being derived from their idea of the nature of the 
soul, as a particle of the divine nature; and that of 
the Pharisees, from a false persuasion that the law 
might be fulfilled, and justification with God obtained, 
by ceremonial observances. 

The peculiar manners of this sect are strongly. 



marked in the writings of the evangelists, (Matt. vi. 
ix. xv. xxiii. ; Luke vii. &c.) particularly their exact- 
ness in observing the rites and ceremonies of the law 
both written and traditionary ; the rigor of their dis- 
cipline in watchings, fastings aud ablutions; their 
scrupulous care to avoid every kind of ritual impuri- 
ty ; their long and frequent prayers, made not only in 
the synagogues and temple, but in the public streets ; 
their broad phylacteries on the borders of their gar- 
ments, in which were written sentences of the law ; 
their assiduity in making proselytes ; their ostenta- 
tious charities ; and. under all this show of zeal and 
piety, their vanity, avarice, licentiousness and impie- 
ty, which called forth many severe rebukes from our 
Saviour. These representations are confirmed by the 
testimony of the Jewish writers themselves. The 
Talmudic books mention several distinct classes of 
Pharisees, under characters wliich show them to have 
been deeply immersed in the idlest and most ridicu- 
lous superstitions. Among these were the Truncated 
Pharisee, who, that he might appear in profound 
meditation, as if destitute of feet, scarcely lifted them 
from the ground ; the Mortar Pharisee, who, that his 
meditations might not be disturbed, wore a deep cap 
in the shape of a mortar, that would only permit him 
to look upon the ground, at his feet ; and the Striking 
Pharisee, who, shutting his eyes as he walked, to 
avoid the sight of women, often struck his head 
against the wall. Such wretched expedients did 
some of these hypocrites make use of to captivate 
the admiration of the vulgar. (Briicker's Philoso- 
phy, by Enfield.) 

The sect of the Pharisees, as already hinted, was 
not extinguished by the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
the dispersion of the Jews ; for the greater part of 
those now extant are of this sect, and equally devoted 
to their traditions, which they call the oral law. 
They leave every thing to destiny, except what de- 
pends on human liberty. They say that all things 
are in the hand of heaven, except the fear of God ; 
that is, that in the exercise of acts of piety they have 
free will, and may voluntarily determine themselves 
to good or evil. 

Mr. Taylor, in his additions to Calmet, (whose ac- 
count of this sect we have altogether rejected, be- 
cause of its prolix and unsatisfactory nature,) suggests, 
that we are so much accustomed to consider the 
Pharisees as public and leading men in the Jewish 
government, that we usually overlook the circum- 
stance, that the people also, the mass of the nation, 
were Pharisees ; — that is, of that party, as contradis- 
tinguished from the Sadducees, the Essenes, &c. 
So Paul says, " I am a Pharisee, the son of a Phari- 
see ;" (Acts xxiii. 6.) but we have no reason to sup- 
pose that he, or his family, had ever had any share 
in the government. He appeals to one of their dis- 
tinguishing tenets — " For the hope and resurrection 
of the dead, I am now called in question." This 
was felt by those of the Pharisees who were in office ; 
who took this occasion to triumph over their antago- 
nists the Sadducees, by arguing, "If a spiritual exist- 
ence, whether a pure spirit, or a departed human 
spirit, have spoken to this man— as he affirms— let 
us not fight against God." This was not the first 
mortification suffered by the Sadducees, on account 
of Christianity, for we read (Acts iv.) that "the 
priests, the captains of the temple, and the Saddu- 
cees, [not the Pharisees,] imprisoned the apostles, 
being grieved that they taught, in the recer. + instance 
of Jesus, to which they appealed in proof of their 
doctrine, the resurrection of the dead." Hence we 



PHI 



[ 745 ] 



PHI 



find Gamaliel, a Pharisee, speaking in behalf of the 
apostles ; whereas, we never find a Sadducee uttering 
a syllable in their favor, or showing them any mercy ; 
it was, no doubt to a certain degree, favorable to the 
church at Jerusalem, that the power of the Sadducees 
was counterbalanced by their fear of the Pharisees. 

It will naturally be imagined, that a sect which 
held the existence of spirits separate from the 
body, would be best disposed towards the doctrine 
of a risen Saviour, and accordingly we find, that the 
Jewish Christian church was greatly composed of 
Pharisees, (Actsxv. 5.) who insisted on the universal 
necessity of observing the Mosaic institutions. They 
would have imposed on the Gentiles those rituals 
which themselves adhered to, being Hebrews. The 
same spirit animated the body of Jewish believers 
long after ; " Thou seest, brother, said James to Paul, 
(Acts xxi. 20.) how many thousands of Jews there 
are who believe, and they are all zealous of the law," 
that is, zealous Pharisees, though Christian believeVs. 
Nor was this disposition subdued, till after the de- 
struction of Jerusalem had rendered the observance 
of the legal ceremonies impossible. The Pharisaic 
Christians retained the national rites : the bishops of 
their church were circumcised ; and the children 
were both circumcised and baptized ; as they are at 
this day, where the churches are descendants of an- 
cient Jewish converts. 

It would seem, from the Talmud, that there were 
at least seven distinctions, or sects, among the Phari- 
sees. So Paul says, "according to the most strict, 
the straitest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee." 
Some were, probably, less severe in their opinions 
Jian others. 

PHARPAR, a river of Damascus. See in Abana. 

PHASAEL, eldest son of Antipater the Idumsean, 
and brother of Herod the Great. See Antipater, I. 

PHEBE, see Pjehebe. 

PHENlCE, or Phenicia, see Phknicia. 

PHILADELPHIA, a city of Lydia, in Asia Minor, 
where was one of the seven Asiatic churches, Rev. 
iii. 7. Philadelphia was so called from Attalus Phil- 
adelphus, king of Pergamus, by whom it was found- 
ed. It stood on a branch of mount Tmolus, by the 
river Cogamus, about twenty-eight miles east of Sar- 
dis. It greatly suffered by frequent earthquakes, 
owing to its vicinity to Catakekaumene ; and it was 
anciently matter of surprise, that it was not on this 
account abandoned. It is now a mean but consid- 
erable town, of large extent, with a population of 
about 1000 Greek Christians, who have a resident 
bishop, and about 20 inferior clergy. (See Mission- 
ary Herald, 1821, p. 253, seq.) 

PHILEMON, a rich citizen of Colosse, in Phrygia, 
who, Calmet thinks, was converted to the Christian 
faith, with Apphia his wife, by Epaphras, a disciple 
of Paul ; but it would appear from the expression in 
Philem. verse 19, " Thou owest to me even thy own- 
self, besides," that Philemon was really a convert of 
Paul; unless we could admit that the apostle had 
formerly been the means of saving his life ; for which 
we have no warrant. Some have supposed that 
Archippus was son to Philemon ; and as the apostle 
terms him, "our fellow soldier," it is possible, that 
the connection had been of long standing, and con- 
sequently, much intercourse might have taken place 
between Paul and Philemon, distinct from any refer- 
ence to Philemon's situation at Colosse. Lightfoot 
has this thought ; and Michaehs adopts it ; but if 
Archippus were companion of Paul the aged, he was 
too old to be son to Philemon: not to insist, that no 
94 



reason can be assigned why this son is distinguished 
from the rest of Philemon's family. He might be 
brother to Philemon, (or to Apphia,) and, living with 
him, is placed after Apphia; but before the young 
members of the family, to whom he was uncle. This 
conjecture seems to be the most probable; and itagrees 
with the supposable time of life at which Archippus 
had (lately) been chosen to an office of deaconship. 

Though it is usually said that Paul had converted 
and baptized Onesimus, the run-away slave of Phi- 
lemon, (see Onesimus,) at Rome ; yet from the phrase 
(Col. iv. 9.) " who is one of you," it is natural to infer, 
that Onesimus had professed Christianity before his 
elopement ; (so Epaphras is called one of themselves, 
chap. i. 7.) otherwise, he could be no member of the 
church at Colosse: and very likely, this transgression 
of a professor had not only mortified Philemon ex- 
tremely, but had scandalized the church, and had 
become publicly notorious among the heathen also. 

Philemon was undoubtedly a man of property ; and 
like Gaius, the lady Eclecta, and Phoebe, he exercised 
great hospitality towards Christian brethren, espe- 
cially evangelists. But from the direction of the 
apostle "to prepare him a lodging" (comp. Mac- 
knight, et al. in loc.) in a hired house, in the city, 
where he might receive all visitors, it would appeal 
that Philemon's premises were not very extensive. 

Philemon might have been a deacon in or of the 
churches at Colosse, but the term "fellow laborer" 
is not sufficient to prove that he was a bishop ; though 
it implies a previous personal knowledge, and per- 
haps much confidential communication, between the 
parties. If we might add a personal knowledge of 
Philemon, by those also who salute him in Paul's 
letter, — Timothy, Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, De- 
mas, Luke, — it would greatly heighten our concep- 
tion of this good man's character, and suggest a vari- 
ety of occasions on which he might have rendered 
the brethren services equally extensive and important. 

PHILETUS, an apostate Christian, mentioned by 
Paul in connection with Hymenseus, 2 Tim. ii. 16. 

I. PHILIP, or Herod-Philip, (Mark vi. 17 ; Luke 
iii. 19 ; Matt. xiv. 3.) son of Herod the Great. See 
Herod-Philip. 

II. PHILIP, the apostle, was a native of Bethsaida, 
in Galilee, and was called by our Saviour, at the be- 
ginning of his ministry, (John i. 43, 44.) and 'about a 
year afterwards was appointed an apostle. He is sev- 
eral times mentioned in the Gospels, but the incidents 
in his life do not require to be enlarged upon. 

III. PHILIP, the second of the seven deacons, 
(Acts vi. 5.) is thought to have been of Cassarea in 
Palestine. (See Acts xxi. 8, 9.) After the death of 
Stephen, nearly all the Christians, except the apostles, 
having left Jerusalem, and being dispersed in several 
places, Philip went to preach at Sebaste, or Samaria, 
where he performed several miracles, and converted 
many persons, A cts viii. He baptized them ; and sent 
to the apostles at Jerusalem, that they might come 
and communicate the Holy Ghost to them. Some 
time after this, Philip was by an angel commanded to 
travel on the road that leads from Jerusalem to Old 
Gaza in the way to Egypt. Philip obeyed, and there 
met with an Ethiopian eunuch, belonging to Candace, 
queen of Ethiopia, whom he converted and baptized. 
(See Acts viii. 26.) Being come out of the water, the 
Spirit of the Lord took him away, and we subse- 
quently find him at Azotus. He preached the gospel 
in all the cities he passed through, till he returned to 
Csesarea of Palestine, where he probably spent the 
remaindev of his days. 



PHILIPPI 



L 746 ] 



PHI 



PHILIPPI, a city of Macedonia, so called from 
Philip, king of Macedon, who repaired and beautified 
it; whence it lost its former name of Dath os. Inlets 
xvi. 12, Luke says, " We came to Philippi, which (say 
our translators) is the chief city of that part of Macedo- 
nia, and a colony :" but this translation requires cor- 
rection, to this effect : " Philippi, a city of the first 
part of Macedonia ;" Macedonia Prima. The prov- 
ince of Macedonia had undergone several changes, 
and had been divided into various portions, which 
had received various names. At one time it was in 
six divisions ; at another, it. was united with Achaia, 
as Sextus Rufus observes ; and on its conquest by 
Paulus Emilius, it was divided into four provinces, 
as appears from Livy. We have however nothing to 
do with any other than the first division of it. Luke 
.says, " They came to Philippi, a city of the first part 
of Macedonia ;" and Mr. Taylor has produced a medal 
'which reads, MAKEJONS1N IIFSZTHZ, "of the 
first part of Macedonia ;" which is a complete justifi- 
cation of the evangelist's description of this district. 
We ought further to observe, says Mr. Taylor, that 
though our present copies read tiqoityi rij;, the Syriac 
version and Chrysostom read 7roir>js, and as this is 
the reading of the medal, as it agrees with matter of 
fact, and delivers us from some ambiguities, we risk 
little in recommending this reading; and its corre- 
spondent rendering "Philippi, a city of the first part 
of Macedonia ;" for, in fact, Amphipolis was (or had 
been) the chief city of the district in which Philippi 
stood. (Livy, lib. xlv. c. 29.) Further, the sacred 
writer says, Philippi was " a colony ;" intending, no 
doubt, a Roman colony ; but as this was a favor 
Philippi seems to have had little reason to expect, 
having formerly opposed the interest of the Caesarean 
imperial family, the learned have been embarrassed 
by the title here given it. However, after long per- 
plexities among the critics, Providence brought to 
light some coins, hi which it is recorded under this 
character : and one of which makes express mention, 
that Julius Caesar himself had bestowed the dignity 
and advantages of a colony on the city of Philippi, 
which Augustus afterwards confirmed and augment- 
ed. The legend is, cownia AVGusta Jtiita philippi. 
This corroborates the character given to Philippi by 
Luke ; and proves that it had been a colony for many 
years, though no author but himself, whose writings 
have reached us, has mentioned it under that charac- 
ter ; or has given us reason to infer at what time it 
might be thus honorably distinguished. [It is, how- 
ever, more probable that the reading of the Greek is 
correct, since there are no various readings ; and 
Philippi is called the "first or chief city" of that part 
of Macedonia, perhaps from some peculiar privileges 
bestowed upon it, and not as being the capital of that 
division of the country; since this honor belonged to 
Amphipolis in the first division, and to Thessalonica in 
the second. (SeeKuinoel on Acts xvi. 12.) R. 

Paul preached here A. D. 52, and converted several 
inhabitants ; among others, Lydia, a seller of purple. 
He also cast out a Pythonic spirit from a servant maid, 
in consequence of which her masters stirred up the 
whole city against him, and the magistrates caused 
him and Silas to be seized, whipped, and put into the 
prison. 

This ill treatment seems to have been recollected 
by Paul, with a resentment not commen to him. He 
says to the Thessalonians, "We had suffered before, 
and were shamefully entreated at Philippi." It should 
seem that the military officers of the colony had as- 
sumed a -lower that did not belong to them ; and Paul 



resented their proceedings with the feelings of a sol- 
dier, as well as of a Roman citizen :— -he therefore 
humbled them in a public manner; but he did not 
forget their shameful usage of him and his compan- 
ion, Silas. 

The converted Philippians were always full of grat- 
itude for the faith they had received from God, by 
the ministry of Paul. They assisted him on several 
occasions; (Phil. iv. 16.) sent him money while in 
Achaia ; and being informed that he was a prisoner 
at Rome, they sent a deputation to him bv Epaphro- 
ditus, their bishop, (Phil. iv. 12, 18. A. D. 6JJ who 
went a second time, and carried with him the Epistle 
which is still remaining; and in which the apostle 
commends their liberality, and shows great acknowl- 
edgment for their readiness. This church was left 
by Paul and Silas, under the ministrations and direc- 
tion of Luke, whose age and experience qualified him 
for that difficult office. , He continued there a long 
while, probably several years, though he modestly 
omits all mention of his services. (Coinp. Acts xvi. 
11, et seq. with chap. xx. 6.) 

PHILISTINES, a people that came from the isle 
of Caphtor (see Caphtor) into Palestine, (Amos ix. 
7; Jer. xlvii. 4.) being descendants from the Caph- 
torim, who were derived from the Casluhim, children 
of Mizraim, (Gen. x. 13, 14.) father of the Egyptians. 
Moses says (Deut. ii. 23.) that the Caphtorim, being 
come out of Caphtor, drove out the Avim, which 
dwelt from Hazerim to Azzah, (or Gaza,) and dwelt 
in their stead. It is therefore only since the time of 
the Avim, (or Avites,) or Canaanites, that the Philis- 
tines came into Palestine, and possessed that country 

The name of these people is not Hebrew. The 
Septuagint generally translate it by 'AJ.Uqvloi, stran- 
gers. The LXX sometimes translate Cherethim by 
Cretai, Cretes, (do-d, KQijrai.) See Ezek. xxv. 16; 
Zeph. ii. 5, 6. 

The Philistines were a powerful people in Pales- 
tine, even in Abraham's time, (A. M. 2083.) since they 
had then kings, and considerable cities. They are 
not enumerated among the nations devoted to exter- 
mination, whose territory the Lord assigned to the 
Hebrews, probably because they were ■ not of the 
cursed seed of Canaan. Joshua, however, did not 
hesitate to give their land to the Hebrews, and to at- 
tack them by command from the Lord, because they 
possessed various districts promised to Israel. But 
these conquests must have been ill-maintained, since 
under the Judges, at the time of Saul, and at the be- 
ginning of the reign of David, the Philistines had 
their kings and their lords. Their state was divided 
into five little kingdoms, or satrapies, and they op- 
pressed Israel during the government of the high- 
priest Eli, that of Samuel, and during the reign of 
Saul ; for about 120 years, from A. M. 2848 to 2960. 
Shamgar, Samson, Samuel and Saul opposed them, 
and were victorious over them with great slaughter, 
at various times, but did not reduce their power. 
They maintained their independence till David sub- 
dued them, (2 Sam. v. 17 ; viii.) from which time they 
continued in subjection to the kings of Judah, down 
to the reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, (about 
246 years,) from A. M. 2960 to A. M. 3116, when 
they revolted, 2 Chron. xxi. 16. Jehoram made war 
against them, and probably reduced them to his obe- 
dience ; because it is observed that they revolted 
again from Uzziah, who kept them to their duty 
during his whole reign, 2 Chron. xxvi. 6, 7. During 
the unfortunate reign of Ahaz, the Philistines made 
great havoc in the territory of Judah ; but his son and 



PHI 



[ 747 ] 



PH(E 



successor Hezekiah again subdued them, 2 Ghron. 
xxviii. 18; 2 Kings xviii. 8. They regained their 
full liberty, however, under the later kings of Judah ; 
and we see by the menaces uttered against them by 
the prophets Isaiah, Amos, Zephaniah, Jeremiah and 
Ezekiel, that they brought many calamities on Israel, 
for which God threatened to punish them with great 
misfortunes. They were partially subdued by Esar- 
Haddon, king of Assyria, and afterwards by Psam- 
meticus, king of Egypt ; and there is great probabil- 
ity that they were reduced by Nebuchadnezzar, as 
well as the other people of Syria, Phoenicia and Pal- 
estine, during the siege of Tyre. They afterwards 
fell under the dominion of the Persians, then under 
that of Alexander the Great, who destroyed Gaza, 
the only city of the Phoenicians that dared to oppose 
him. After the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, 
the Asmoneans took several cities from them, which 
they subjected, and Tryphon, regent of the kingdom 
of Syria, gave to Jonathan the government of the 
whole coast of the Mediterranean, from Tyre to 
Egypt ; consequently, all the country of the Phi- 
listines. The name Palestine comes from Philistine, 
although these people possessed but a small part of 
this country. See Palestine. 

PHILOSOPHY. Paul cautions the Colossians 
lest any man spoil them through philosophy, Col. ii. 
8. In Acts xvii. 18, it is related, that when this 
apostle came to Athens, he there found Epicurean 
and Stoic philosophers, who made a jest of his dis- 
courses ; and in many places of his Epistles, he op- 
poses the supposed wise men, and the false wisdom 
of the age — that is, the pagan philosophy — to the 
wisdom of Jesus Christ, and the true religion, which 
to the philosophers and sophists seemed to be mere 
folly, because it was built neither on the eloquence 
nor the subtilty of those who preached it, but on the 
power of God, and on the operations of the Holy 
Ghost, which actuated the hearts and minds of 
believers. 

About the time that the several sects of philosophers 
were formed among the Greeks, as the Academics, the 
Peripatetics, and the Stoics, there arose also among 
the Jews several sects, as the Essenes, the Pharisees 
and the Sadducees. The Pharisees had some resem- 
blance to the Stoics, the Sadducees to the Epicureans, 
and the Essenes to the Academics. The Pharisees 
were proud, vain and boasting, like the Stoics: the 
Sadducees, who denied the immortality of the soul, 
and the existence of spirits, freed themselves at once, 
like the Epicureans, from all solicitude about futurity: 
the Essenes were more moderate, more simple and 
religious, and therefore approached nearer to the Ac- 
ademics. 

The philosophers, against whom Paul inveighs, in 
his Epistle to the Romans, boasted the extent of their 
knowledge, the purity of their morality, the eloquence 
of their writings, the strength of their reasonings, and 
the subtilty of their arguments. Their weaknesses 
were pride, curiosity, presumption, hypocrisy, ambi- 
tion. They ascribed every tiling to human reason, 
and would be thought superior in all things. Although 
their lives were disorderly, shameful, and even inju- 
rious to human nature, yet they would pass on the 
world for good men; and while boasting of their 
knowledge of God, they dishonored him by their 
actions. To them the apostle opposed the humility 
of the cross of Christ, the force of his miracles, the 
purity of his moral doctrines, the depth of his mys- 
teries, and the evident proofs of his mission. 

Manv of the ancient fathers maintain, that the an- 



cient heathen philosophers had nothing valuable but 
what they borrowed from the Hebrews : — that they 
had drawn from the fountain of the prophets ; that by 
the subtile artifice of the devil, some principles of 
truth slipped into their writings, in order to undermine 
the truth at such time as God should manifest it to 
the world. Eusebius has devoted two entire books, 
(lib. xi. xii.) of his great work of the Gospel-Prepara- 
tion, to show that Plato had taken the principal things 
of his philosophy and theology from the sacred books 
of the Jews. 

Ii PHINEHAS, son of Eleazar, and grandson of 
Aaron, was the third high-priest of the Jews, (A. M. 
2571, to about A. M. 2590,) and is particularly com- 
mended in Scripture for zeal, in vindicating the glory 
of God, when the Midianites had sent their daughters 
into the camp of Israel, to tempt the Hebrews to for- 
nication and idolatry, Numb. xxv. 7. For his con- 
duct upon this occasion, the Lord promised the priest- 
hood to Phinehas by a perpetual covenant ; evidently 
including this tacit condition, that his children should 
continue faithful and obedient. It continued in the 
race of Phinehas, down to the high-priest Eli, for about 
335 years, when it passed into the family of Ithamar ; 
and again reverted to the family of Eleazar under the 
reign of Saul, who, having put to death Ahmelech 
and the other priests of Nob, gave the high-priesthood 
to Zadok, of the race of Phinehas. The priesthood 
continued in his family until after the captivity of 
Babylon, and even to the destruction of the temple. 

We read also of another memorable and zealous 
action of Phinehas, (Josh. xxii. 30, 31.) when the Isra- 
elites beyond Jordan had raised upon the banks of 
the river a vast heap for an altar, those on the other 
side, fearing they were going to forsake the Lord, and 
to set up another religion, deputed Phinehas and other 
chief men, to inform themselves of their reason for 
erecting this monument. When they found that it 
was only in commemoration of their union and com 
mon origin, Phinehas praised the Lord, saying, We 
now know that the Lord is with us, since you are 
not guilty of that prevarication of which we suspect- 
ed you. 

Under the pontificate of Phinehas the story of Mi- 
cah happened, ( Judg. xvii.) also the conquest of Laish 
by the tribe of Dan, (Judg. xviii. 27.) and the enor- 
mity committed on the wife of the Levite of mount 
Ephraim, Judg. xix. Phinehas's successor was Abi- 
ezer, or Abishuah, Judg. xx. 28. 

II. PHINEHAS, son of Eli, the high-priest, and 
brother of Hophni. See Elt, and Hophni. 

PHOEBE, a deaconess of the church in the east- 
ern port of Corinth, Cenchrea. It is most likely, 
from what the apostle says of Phoebe, that "she had 
been a succorer of many, and of myself also," (Rom. 
xvi. 1, 2.) that she was a woman of property, not to 
say, of distinction. Cenchrea was a port of consid- 
erable commerce ; and as it is clear that Phoebe went 
to Rome on important business in which the faithful 
at Rome might assist her, it is probable also, that 
she was engaged in trade on her own account ; 
something like Lydia of Philippi. That she was much 
in the confidence of the apostle, cannot be doubted; 
and, we think, from the import of the term rendered 
succorer, (patroness,) she may be taken for the coun- 
terpart of the hospitable Gains, " mine host, (says 
Paul,) and the host of the whole church." (Compare 
the second and third Epistles of John.) A laudable 
emulation! Gaius at Corinth; and Phoebe at its 
neighboring port, Cenchrea. 

PHOENICIA, or Phcenice, a province of Syria 



PHY 



P I L 



ivhich, in its more ancient and extenaed sense, com- 
prehended a narrow strip of country extending near- 
ly the whole length of the eastern coast of the Med- 
iterranean sea, from Antioch to the borders of Egypt. 
But Phoenicia Proper was included between the cities 
of Laodicea and Tyre, and comprehended only the 
territories of Tyre and Sidon. Before Joshua con- 
quered Palestine, this country was possessed by Ca- 
naanites, sons of Ham, divided into eleven families, 
of which the most powerful was that of Canaan, the 
founder of Sidon, and head of the Canaanites, prop- 
erly so called, whom the Greeks named Phoenicians. 
Only these preserved their independence under 
Joshua ; also under David, Solomon, and the suc- 
ceeding kings: but they were subdued by the kings 
of Assyria and Chaldea. Afterwards, they succes- 
sively obeyed the Persians, Greeks and Romans. At 
this day, Phoenicia is in subjection to the Otto- 
mans, not having had any national or native kings, 
or any independent form of government, for more 
than two thousand years. The name Phoenicia is 
not in the books of Hebrew Scripture ; but only in the 
Maccabees and the New Testament. The Hebrew 
always reads Canaan. Matthew, who wrote perhaps 
in either Hebrew or Syriac, calls the same pei'son a 
Canaan'tish woman, (chap. xv. 22.) whom Mark, 
writing in Greek, calls a Syro-pbccuician, or a Phoe- 
nician of Syria; because Phoenicia then made apart 
of Syria; also to distinguish the people from the 
Phoenicians of Africa, or the Carthaginians, which 
was a colony from the original country. See further 
under Tyre. 

PHRYG1A was the largest kingdom of Asia Mi- 
nor ; it had Bithynia north, Pisidia and Lycia south, 
Galatia and Cappadocia east, and Lydia and Mysia 
west. Christianity was planted in this country by 
Paul, Acts xvi. 6 ; xviii. 23. 

PHUT, the third son of Ham, (Gen. x. 6.) is thought 
to have peopled either the canton of Phtemphu, 
Phtemphti, or Phtembuti, of Pliny and Ptolemy,whose 
capital was Thara in Lower Egypt, inclining towards 
Libya ; or the canton called Phtenotes, of which Bu- 
thas was the capital. The prophets often speak of 
Phut. In the time of Jeremiah, (xlvi. 9.) this province 
was subject to Necho king of Egypt; a-nd Nahum 
(iii. 9.) reckons them among those who ought to come 
to the assistance of No-Ammon. The Arabic ver- 
sions by Phut understand a people in Southern 
Egypt, if not rather in Nubia: these might come 
down the Nile, to assist No-Ammon. According to 
Josephus, (Ant. i. 6, 2.) Phut is Mauritania, where 
there is a river of that name. 

PHYGELLUS, a Christian of Asia, who, being at 
Home while Paul was there in prison, (A. D. 65.) 
forsook him with Hermogenes, in his necessity, 2 Tim. 
i. 15. 

PHYLACTERIES were little rolls of parchment, 
in which were written certain words of the law, and 
were worn upon their foreheads, (see Frontlet,) and 
upon the wrist of their left arm, by the Jews. The 
custom was founded on a mistaken interpretation of 
Exod. xiii. 9: "And it shall be for a sign unto thee 
upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine 
eyes." And Verse 16 : "And it shall be for a token 
upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine 
eyes." 

Leo of Modena informs us particularly about these 
rolls. (Ceremonies of the Jews, p. i. cap. 11. n. 4.) 
Those that were to be fastened to the arms were two 
rolls of parchment written in square letters, with an 
ink made on purpose, and with much care. They 




were rolled up to a point, and enclosed in a sort 

of case of black calf-skin. 
They then were put upon a 
square bit of the same 
leather, but something suff- 
er, whence hung a thong 
of the same, of about a 
finger's breadth, and a cu- 
bit and a half long. These 
rolls were placed at the 
bending of the left arm, and 
after the thong had made 
a little knot in the form 
of the letter >, Yodh, it was 

wound about the arm in a spiral line, which ended 
at the top of the middle finger. It was called Teffila 
shel-yad, or the Teffila of the hand. 

PHYSIC, PHYSICIAN, see Medicine. 

PIBESETH, see Bubastis, and Egypt, p. 373. 

PIGEON, see Dove. 

PI-HAHIROTH, the mouth or pass of Hiroth, one 
of the stations of the Israelites in the wilderness. See 
Exodus, p. 401. 

PILATE was sent to govern Judea in the room of 
Gratus, (A. D. 26 or 27,) and governed this province 
ten years. He was of an impetuous and obstinate 
temper, and gave occasion to troubles and revolts 
among the Jews. Luke (xiii. 1.) acquaints us, that he 
had mingled the blood of some Galileans with their 
sacrifices, but the occasion on which this was done is 
not known. 

Pilate repeatedly endeavored to deljver our Sa- 
viour from the Jews, knowing that they accused him 
capitally only from malice and envy. His wife also, 
who had been disturbed with dreams, sent and desir- 
ed him not to participate in condemning that just 
person. In order to effect his purpose, he adopted 
several expedients : (1.) He required legal accusation, 
evidence, and conviction ; and in default of these, he 
proposed to refer his condemnation to the Jews ; who 
had not, as he well knew, the power of inflicting a 
capital punishment, John xviii. 29, 31. (2.) He at- 
tempted to appease the Jews, and to give them some 
satisfaction, by whipping our Saviour. (3.) He tried 
to take him out of their hands, by offering to deliver 
him, or Barabbas, on the festival day of the passover. 
(4.) He wanted to discharge himself from pro- 
nouncing judgment against him, by sending him to 
Herod king of Galilee. (5.) When he saw all this would 
not satisfy the Jews, and that they even threatened 
him, saying he could be no friend to the emperor, if 
he let Jesus go, he caused water to be brought, 
washed his hands before all the people, and publicly 
declared himself innocent of the blood of that just 
person. Yet at the same time he delivered him up 
to the soldiers, that they might crucify him. This 
was enough to justify Christ, and to show that Pilate 
held him to be innocent ; but it was not enough to 
vindicate the conscience and integrity of a judge, 
whose duty it was, as well to assert the cause of op- 
pressed innocence, as to punish the guilty criminal. 

He ordered to be put over our Saviour's cross, as 
it were, an abstract of his sentence, and the motive of 
his condemnation, "Jesus of Nazareth, king of the 
Jews," written in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Some 
of the Jews remonstrated to Pilate, that he ought to 
have written "Jesus of Nazareth, pretended king of 
the Jews." But Pilate answered them peremptorily 
" What I have written, I have written." Towards 
evening he gave leave to take the bodies down from 
the crosses, that they might not continue there the 



PIL 



[ 749 ] 



PIS 



following day, being the passover, and a sabbath day. 
He also granted the body of Jesus to Joseph of Ari- 
mathea, that he might pay the last duties to it. When 
the priests came to desire him to set a watch about 
the sepulchre, lest the disciples should steal Jesus 
away by night, he answered, they had a guard, and 
might place it there themselves. This is the sub- 
stance of what the Gospels relate concerning Pilate. 

Justin Martyr, Tetrullian, Eusebius, and several 
others, ancients and moderns, assure us, that it was 
the custom for Roman magistrates to send to the em- 
peror copies of all verbal processes and judicial acts 
which passed in their several provinces ; and that 
Pilate, in compliance with this custom, having report- 
ed to Tiberius what had occurred relating to Jesus, 
the emperor wrote an account of it to the senate, in a 
manner which induced a suspicion that he thought 
favorably of Jesus, and was not unwilling they should 
decree divine honors to him. But the senate differed 
from this opinion, and the matter dropped. It ap- 
pears by what Justin says of these Acts, that they 
mentioned the miracles of Christ ; and even that the 
soldiers had divided his garments among them. Eu- 
sebius intimates that they spoke of his resurrection 
and ascension. Tertullian and J ustin refer to these 
documents with so much confidence, as would induce 
a belief that they had copies of them in their hands. 
Neither Eusebius nor Jerome, however, who were 
both inquisitive and understanding persons, nor any 
later author, seems to have seen them ; at least, not 
the true and original Acts. For those now extant are 
not authentic, being neither ancient nor uniform. 
v See Fabricius, Cod. Apoc. N. T. p. 214, seq.) 

Pilate became odious both to the Jews and Samar- 
itans, for the severity and cruelty of his administra- 
tion; and being accused by the latter before Vitellius, 
the governor of Syria, he was removed from his 
office, and sent to Rome to answer their accusations 
before the emperor. (Joseph. Antiq. xviii. c. 3, and c. 
4, 1.) Before his arrival, Tiberius was dead ; and Pilate 
is said to have been banished by Caligula to Vienna, 
in Gaul, and there to have died by his own hand. 
Euseb. Hist. Ecc. ii. 7, 8.) He is described, by Philo 
the Jew, as a judge accustomed to sell justice ; and 
for money to pronounce any sentence that was desir- 
ed. He mentions his rapines, his injuries, his mur- 
ders, the torments he inflicted on the innocent, and 
the persons he put to death without form or process. 
In short, he seems to have been a man that exercised 
excessive cruelty during all the time of his govern- 
ment. 

PILGRIM denotes, properly, one who is going 
forward to visit a holy place, with design to pay his 
solemn devotions there. Whether pilgrimages are as 
ancient as the days of Jacob, we know not ; but if 
they were, it gives a very expressive sense to the 
words of that good old man, who calls the years of 
his life " the days of his pilgrimage ;" and is perfectly 
consistent with the apostle's observation, that the an- 
cient patriarchs " confessed they were strangers and 
pilgrims on earth," Heb. xi.«3. 

PILLAR, a column or supporter. A pillar of cloud, 
a pillar of fire, a pillar of smoke, signify a cloud, a 
fire, a smoke, which, rising up toward heaven, forms 
an irregular column. The pillars of heaven, (Job 
xxvi. 11.) and the pillars of the earth, (Job ix. 6 ; Ps. 
lxxv. 3.) are metaphorical expressions, by which the 
heavens and the earth are compared to an edifice 
raised by the hand of God, and founded upon its basis 
or foundation. This appears from the passage in 
Job, (xxxviii. 4 — 6.) "Where wast thou when I laid 



the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast 
understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, 
if thou knowest ? or who hath stretched the line upon 
it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened, 
or who laid the corner-stone thereof?" 

James, Cephas and John " seemed to be pillars of 
the church," Gal. ii. 9. " Him that overcometh, will I 
make a pillar in the temple of my God ;" (Rev. iii. 12.) 
i. e. he shall be the support, strength and ornament 
of the house of God. The church of Jesus Christ is 
called by Paul (1 Tim. iii. 15.) "the pillar and ground 
of the truth." When the Lord sent Jeremiah to 
preach to the nations, he said to him, (Jer. i. 18.) "Be- 
hold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and 
an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole 
land ; able to withstand all the efforts of thine enemies, 
and incapable of yielding to their violence." 

PILLOW, a cushion for the head or arm. See 
Bed, p. 155. 

PINE, a well-known tree, of the nature of the fir. 
It is spoken in Scripture of a tree growing on mount 
Lebanon, (Isa. xli. 19 ; lx. 13.) which the Vulgate calls 
ulmus, elm ; probably a species of plalanus or plane- 
tree. In Isa. xliv. 14, the Vulgate reads pinus, but 
the English Bible has ash. *R. 

PINNACLE of the temple. When the devil had 
tempted Jesus in the desert, (Matt. iv. 5.) " he took 
him up into the holy city, and set him on a pinnacle 
of the temple ; and said to him, If thou be the Son of 
of God, cast thyself down," &c. This pinnacle Cal- 
met supposes to be the gallery, or parapet, on the top 
of the buttresses, which surrounded the roof of the 
temple, properly so called ; and he remarks, that in 
Palestine the roofs of all houses were covered with 
terraces, or platforms ; around which was a low wall, 
to prevent any one falling down, Deut. xxii. 8. Jose- 
phus, too, says, the roof of the temple was defended by 
tall golden spikes, to hinder birds from alighting upon 
it, that they might, not defile it with their dung. It is 
by no meaus probable, however, that the temptation 
of Jesus to throw himself down among the people at 
worship, took place on any part of the high roof of 
the temple. It is much more likely that the place 
was in some more accessible part, to which there was 
a passage by stairs ; for, as to the very vague, though 
common notion, of the person of Jesus being carried 
through the air by the power of the devil, it is by no 
means credible. The account given by Hegisippus 
of the death of James the less, may illustrate this in- 
cident of the temptation. He went up into a gallery, 
whence he could be heard by the people, and from 
whence he was thrown down, without being instantly 
killed. [The summit or roof of the principal porch 
of the temple, next the southern wall of the court of 
the Gentiles, is said by Josephus (Antiq. xv. 11. 5. B. 
J. v. 5. 2.) to have been 500 cubits above the bottom 
of the valley below, and may well be considered as 
the pinnacle spoken of. R. 

PIRATHON, a city of Ephraimin mount Amalek, 
whence came Abdon, judge of Israel, Judg. xii. 15. 
Bacchides caused it to be fortified. It is called Pha- 
rathom, in 1 Mac. ix. 50. 

PISGAH, a mountain beyond Jordan, in Moab, a 
summit, or peak, rising from, or among, a series of 
lower hills, and probably Nebo, Pisgah and Abarim 
make but one chain, over against Jericho, on the road 
from Livias to Heshbon. (See Abarim.) In the 
Hebrew text, (Deut. xxxiv. 1 — 3.) the prospect enjoy 
ed by Moses from Pisgah reaches from Dan, north, 
to Zoar, south ; but in the Samaritan Pentateuch, it 
I is much more extensive : "All the land from the river 



PL A 



t 750 ] 



PLE 



of Egypt, to ne fiver, the great river Euphrates, to 
the utmost sea." This was the extent of Solomon's 
dominions ; and the utmost bounds of the royal 
power of the kings of Israel. But another use may 
be made of this passage, not without its importance. 
Could this whole district be seen from any other 
mountain than Pisgah ? Was this the same extent as 
was shown by the tempter to our Lord, when excit- 
ing his ambition ? "All this, the utmost bounds that 
ever were enjoyed by the ancient kings of thy nation, 
from whom thou art descended ; all the whole king- 
dom and dominion of thine ancestors, will I give 
thee, if," &c. This may account for the term used 
by Luke, (iv. 5.) rendered in our version, " all the 
world." 

PISIDIA, a province of Asia Minor, lying mostly 
on mount Taurus, and having Lycaonia on the north, 
Pamphylia south, Cilicia and Cappadocia east, and 
the province of Asia west. Paul preached at Anti- 
och, its capital, (Acts xiii. 14.) and throughout Pisidia, 
xiv. 24. 

PISON, or Phison, one of the four great rivers that 
watered paradise, (Gen. ii. 11, 12.) and which ran 
through all the land of Havilah, where excellent gold 
is found. It has, of course, been placed as variously 
as the garden of Eden, to which article the reader is 
referred. Eusebius and Jerome call it the Ganges ; 
Josephus calls it Gotha ; and Solomon, the commen- 
tator, calls it the Nile. 

PITHOM, one of the cities built by the children of 
Israel for Pharaoh in Egypt, during their servitude, 
Exod. i. 11. This is probably the Pathumos men- 
tioned by Herodotus, (lib. ii. 158.) which he places on 
the canal made by the kings Necho and Darius, to 
loin the Red sea with the Nile. We find also, in the 
ancient geographers, that there was an arm of the 
Nile called Pathmeticus, Phatmicus, Phatnicus, or 
Phatniticus. Bochart says that Pithom and Harnes- 
ses are about five leagues above the division of the 
Nile, and beyond this river ; but this assertion has no 
proof from antiquity. Marsham will have Pithom to 
be the same as Pelusium, or Damietta. (See Rosen- 
miiller Bibl. Geogr. iii. p. 269.) 

PLAY, To PLAY. The Hebrews use this word 
to express all kinds of diversions, as dancing, sportive 
exercise, toying, and amusements proper for recreat- 
ing and diverting the mind. The word pnx, tsahhak, 
which signifies to play, is commonly used for laugh- 
ing, mocking, jeering, insulting. When Sarah saw 
Ishmael play with her son Isaac, she was offended at 
it : it was a play of mockeiy and insult, or, perhaps, 
of squabbling, as in 2 Sam. ii. 14. Let the young 
people (or soldiers) get up and play before us — show 
their skill at their weapons — let them fight, as it were, 
by way of play ; but the event shows that they fought 
in good earnest, since they were all killed. We see 
another kind of play in Exod. xxxii. 6. When the 
Israelites had set up the golden calf, they began to 
dance about it, and to divert themselves : " The peo- 
ple sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." 
When Samson was delivered by Dalilah into the 
hands of the Philistines, they bored out his eyes, 
put him in prison, and some time after made him 
play before them ; that is, divert them by the tricks 
they played him, and by the motions he was forced 
to make, to avoid them, and to screen himself from 
their insults, Judg. xvi. 25. The women who came 
out to meet David and Saul, when they returned 
victorious from the slaughter of Goliath, danced and 
piayed on instruments, and showed their mirth after 
a thousand manners, 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7. In the pro- 



cession at the removal of the ark from the house of 
Obed-Edom to the palace of David, he danced with 
great alacrity, played on instruments, and testified 
his joy before the Lord, 2 Sam. vi. 5, 21. And when 
Michal upbraided him for not observing the gravity 
suitable to his rank, he answered, "I will play before 
the Lord, and will be still more vile in my own eyes." 
Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, opening her heart 
before the Lord, says, I have never associated my- 
self with those that play, Tob. iii. 17. And Jere- 
miah, (xv. 17.) "I have never haunted the assemblies 
of those that are given to play and diversion." The 
same prophet, comforting the daughter of Sion, tells 
her the time shall come in which she shall be rebuilt, 
and again shall divert hw<elf in dancing with her 
equals, ch. xxxi. 4. Solomon represents Wisdom as 
playing before the Lord, and taking her pleasure in 
living among men, Prov. viii. 30, 31. 

There is no mention in Scripture of any particular 
soils of plays ; neither games of hazard, nor theatrical 
representations, nor races either of horses or chariots, 
nor combats of men or of beasts. The Israelites 
were a laborious people, who confined almost all 
their diversions to the pleasures of the country, and 
to those of the festivals of the Lord, their religious 
journeys, and their enjoyments in the temple. 

This observation, however, refers to the time when 
the law was maintained ; the ancient periods of the 
Hebrew republic. For when they grew irregular, 
they adopted the utmost excesses of idolatrous na- 
tions ; their wicked and shameful sports and diver- 
sions. From the time of the Grecians, after the death 
of Alexander the Great, under iie government of the 
kings of Syria in Judea, they began to study the 
sports and exercises of the Grecians. There were 
gymnasia, or schools of exercise, in Jerusalem, and 
places where they practised the exercises of the 
Greeks, wrestling, racing, quoits, &c. 1 Mac. v. 16; 
2 Mac. iv. 13 — 15. And when the Romans succeeded 
the Greeks, Herod built theatres and amphitheatres 
in the cities of Palestine, and instituted all sorts of 
games. 

PLEDGE, a security or assurance given for the 
performance of a contract. When a man of veracity 
pledges his word, his affirmation becomes an assur- 
ance that he will fulfil what he has promised. But 
as the word of eveiy man is not equally valid, in 
matters of importance, it becomes necessary that a 
valuable article of some kind should be deposited, as 
a bond on his part. So Judah gave pledges to Tamar 
Gen. xxxviii. 17. Under the law the taking of pledges 
was regulated : the mill-stone was not to be taken in 
pledge, (Deut. xxiv. 6.) nor was the person taking a 
pledge to enter the house to fetch it, (ver. 10.) nor to 
detain necessary raiment after sunset; (ver. 12.)iior 
was the widow's raiment to be taken in pledge, ver 
17. How mild, how benevolent are these directions 
and we find some reproached that they take their 
brother's pledge, (Job xxii. 6.) that they take the wid- 
ow's ox in pledge, (xxiv. 3, 9.) that they do not restore 
the pledge, (as the law directed, Deut. xxiv. 18.) Ezek. 
xviii. 7, 12 ; xxxiii. 15. To understand Amos ii. 8, 
"They lay themselves down on clothes laid to pledge, 
by every altar," observe, how galling this must be to 
the owners, to see carpets, &c. used in idolatry, car- 
ried abroad, laid under idolatrously sacred trees, &c. 
What insolence in the lender who held these pledges ! 
what mortification to the borrower who had delivered 
them ! to see his property (1.) published and (2.) pro- 
faned. (See Harmer, vol. iv. p. 377.) 

PLEIADES, seven stars, anciently in the Bull's 



POE 



L 751 ] 



POETRY 



lp'1 ; but on modern globes in the shoulder, and which 
appear at the beginning of spring. Job speaks of the 
Pleiades, (chap, xxxviii. 31 ; ix. 9.) and of the Hyades, 
which are seven other stars in the Bull's head, and 
mark out the east point and the spring : " Canst thou 
bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades ? " Hebrew 
nc:, Chimah ; Can you hinder the Pleiades from rising 
in their season ? He gives them the name — the sweet 
influences of Chimah, because of the agreeableness of 
the spring season. Jerome has translated Chimah, by 
Hyades, (Job ix. 9.) and by Pleiades, (Job xxxviii. 31.) 
and by Arcturus, the Bear's tail, Amos v. 8. Aquila 
sometimes translates it in the same manner. The 
Bear is one of the most northern constellations ; but 
Chimah rather signifies the Pleiades. 

POETRY of the Hebrews.. No point of criticism 
has been more discussed among the learned than that 
concerning Hebrew poetry ; and yet we cannot say 
the matter is exhausted, or the difficulty cleared. We 
cannot pretend to know the true pronunciation of 
the Hebrew language ; and consequently we cannot 
perceive either the harmony of the words, or the 
quantity of the syllables, which constitute the beauty 
of the verses. . Nor have we in Hebrew, as we have 
in Greek and Latin, rules for ascertaining the quan- 
tity of the syllables, the number of feet, or the cadence 
and construction of verses ; and yet it is plain that 
the Hebrews observed these things, at least in some 
measure, since in their poems we observe letters added 
to, or cut off from, the ends of words; which evinces 
submission to the rhythm, the number, or the measure 
of syllables. 

From the manner in which Josephus, Origen, 
Eusebius and Jerome have spoken of the Hebrew 
poetry, it should seem that in their time the beauty 
and rules of it were well known. Josephus affirms 
in several places, that the songs composed by Moses 
are in heroic verse, and that David composed several 
sorts of verses and songs, odes and hymns, in honor 
of God ; some of which were in trimeters, or verses 
of three feet, and others in pentameters, or verses of 
five feet. Origen and Eusebius adopted the same 
sentiment ; but whether out of deference to the 
opinion of Josephus, or whether of their own judg- 
ment, is uncertain. Origen well understood the 
Hebrew, and Eusebius was one of the most learned 
men of his time. 

Le Clerc composed an ingenious dissertation, to 
show, that the Hebrew poetry was in rhyme much 
like the French or English. Others maintain, that in 
the old Hebrew verses there is neither measure nor 
feet ; and Scaliger affirms, that this language, as well 
as that of the Syrians, Arabians and Abyssinians, is 
not capable of the restraint of feet or measures. Much 
of the Arabic poetry bears evidence of an origin cog- 
nate with the Hebrew; nor are the maxims of our 
British Druids, conveyed in sententious verses, for the 
greater accuracy of memory — and they were commit- 
ted to memory, not to writing — altogether dissimilar. 

The first thing remarkable, in Hebrew poetry, is a 
duplication of phraseology, so constructed, that the 
memory, by recollecting one member of the sentence, 
could not fail of recollecting the other. The earliest 
specimen extant exemplifies this throughout. La- 
mech, the first man who married two wives, intent 
on calming their apprehensions for his safety, does 
not say, in plain prose, "No one will be so unjust as 
to kill me for this trifling transgression ; " but he puts 
his argument into verse ; and by this means it has 
been preserved, because the memory retained it with 
case and certainty ; the names of the parties, once 



known, recall the whole when repetition is content 
plated. 

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice ; 

Ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech ; 

Have I slain a man in bloody contest, 

A young man in violent assault ? 

If Cain shall be avenged seven times, 

Much more Lamech seventy-seven times. 

The first column, if read separately, opens the his- 
tory ; but the second column, by its duplication of 
phraseology, perfects the series of thoughts, and con- 
verts the whole into verses, and poetry. This dupli- 
cation is so proper to Hebrew poetry, that a Hebrew 
poet would not be content to say, " Youth and beauty 
shall be laid in the dust;" but he would singularize 
these qualities ; he would distinguish and repeat 
them : e. g. 

Youth shall be laid in the dust ; 

And beauty shall be consumed in the grave. 

This is more explicit, has greater strength, as well 
as greater correctness ; for beauty is not invariably 
conjoined with youth ; and there is beauty proper to 
mature life, and even to old age. The ideas, then, 
are not precisely the same ; yet they are so exquis- 
itely similar, that the recollection of one brings the 
other to mind, instantly. Something like this we 
have in Isa. lv. 10. He does not say, "As the rain 
and the snow (plural) descend (plural) from heaven, 
and thither they (plural) do not return ;" but he keeps 
the entire passage in the singular, and thereby much 
increases its strength. 

Verily, like as the rain descended] from above, 
And the snow descendeth fro in the heavens ; 
And thither it doth not return ; — 
So shall my word be. 

The reader will observe the brevity, the compact- 
ness obtained by the poet, in this construction of his 
verse ; to express his thoughts completely requires 
the insertion of the words marked in italics ; yet the 
omission of these words occasions no confusion, no 
interruption, because the property of descending 
from the atmosphere is common both to rain and 
snow. To the original readers, in the Hebrew lan- 
guage, this was still clearer; yet in translation, simi- 
lar supplements or repetitions are often necessary to a 
correct view of the poet's intention. So Balaam says, 
Micah vi. 5 : 

Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah ? 
Wherewith shall I bow myself unto the High God? 
Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings ? 
Shall I bow myself unto him with calves of a year 
old? 

This supplementary repetition gives the sentiment 
at full ; and in very many places of Scripture the 
critic must observe these elisions of words, and feel 
them too ; though the poet may disregard them ; and 
even deem the critic fastidious. This may be further 
evinced by an instance in which the supplement is 
taken, not from a preceding, but from a following, 
sentence : Samson says, 

With the jaw-bone of an ass, heaps upon heaps have 
I smitten ; 

With the jaw-bone of an ass, a thousand men have I 
smitten. 

The sense of the first verse is imperfect, till th« 
close of the second verse completes it. There can 



POETRY 



t ~52 ] 



POETRY 



be no doubt but what this parallelism was esteemed 
a beauty ; we find it practised by the polite and saga- 
cious Solomon, to a considerable extent, in the pref- 
ace to his Proverbs ; the intention of which book is, 
lie tells us, 

To know wisdom and instruction ; 
To perceive the words of understanding; 
To receive the instruction of wisdom, 
Justice, and judgment, and equity : 
To give subtilty to the simple ; 
To the young man knowledge and discretion : 
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning ; 
And a man of understanding shall attain unto wise 
counsels ; 

To understand a proverb, and the interpretation ; 
The words of the wise and their dark sayings. 

The ear sufficiently judges, that hi these verses 
there is rhythm, though not rhyme ; consequently 
there must be in the original, metrical feet, and poet- 
ical cadence : though we know not how to demon- 
strate them, having no adequate information to guide 
us in the correct pronunciation of the language. If 
what may be called private, simple, or personal poetry, 
be metrical, undoubtedly that which was intended for 
musical accompaniment, was emphatically so ; and 
especially, when the tune, or air, existed before the 
poem, the poem was bound to conform to the prog- 
ress, the extent, and the expression, of the previous- 
ly fixed notes, or intonations, whether vocal or instru- 
mental ; by these it was absolutely governed. And 
if such composition were also intended for public 
performance, by a numerous band, by various instru- 
ments playing in concert, the connection between the 
poetry and the music must needs be intimate and 
entire. This appears to have been the case, in the 
instances of several of the psalms ; and as these were 
performed in two parts, by responsive choirs, and 
possibly a third part was performed by a still fuller 
chorus, the necessity of metrical arrangement was 
imperative ; for, if this were neglected, the whole 
would present a mass of inexpressibly discordant 
confusion. 

Among those psalms which demonstrate this alter- 
nation of song, is the cxxxvi. where the burden, "for 
his mercy endureth for ever," certainly was not 
uttered by the same persons, or band, as uttered the 
leading theme. So we read, Ezra iii. 13, the Levites, 
&c. sang this song, together, by course, or alternately ; 
and the people shouted with a great shout when they 
praised the Lord ; that is, Hallelujah ! Ps. cxxxv. 
also, evidently was performed in several parts. In 
short, we find this responsive manner in the time of 
Moses, who, with the men, sang one part of his ode, 
while Miriam, with the women, sang the answering 
strains ; and this, no doubt, continued to be the cus- 
tom, to the latest period of the Hebrew polity. 

Of the longer poems of Sacred Writ, Solomon's 
Song is a beautiful performance ; while the book of 
Job, the longest of all the Hebrew poems, is most 
sublime. Late writers have done much to illustrate 
it ; yet much remains to be done. We must here 
conclude these brief and imperfect hints on the sub- 
ject of Hebrew poetry. Those who desire further in- 
formation, may consult bishop Hare's Metrical Ver- 
sion of the Psalms, supported by Drs. Grey, Ed- 
wards, &c. and opposed by bishop Lowth, whose 
Lectures on Hebrew Poetry deservedly enjoy an es- 
tablished reputation : to these should be added bishop 
j ebb's Sacred Literature, sir W. Jones's Dissertation 
on the Asiatic Poetry, with others. 



[The subject of Hebrew poetry is too important to 
the biblical student, to be passed over with the 
meagre notice above given. Indeed, of all the fine 
arts, poetry alone was cultivated among the Hebrews; 
and was carried to a high degree of perfection. The 
poetry of this people was almost wholly lyric ; — 
whether didactic, sententious, or prophetic, it was 
still lyric. Now the essence of lyric poetry is the 
vivid expression of internal emotions. It is, there- 
fore, subjective ; in opposition to epic poetry, which 
treats of external objects, and is therefore objective. 
The chief subject of Hebrew poetry was religion, and 
then patriotism ; which, under the theocracy, was 
very nearly allied to religion. The most obvious and 
striking characteristic of the poetry of the Hebrews, 
is sublimity. Religious poetry was in ancient times 
almost peculiar to the Jews ; the little that is found 
among other ancient nations, as e. g. the Orphic 
Hymns, is not worthy of comparison with it. So also 
the Koran, which is an attempted imitation of the 
poetical parts of the Old Testament. The present 
prevailing views of the nature of Hebrew poetry, 
of its rhythm, &e. were first proposed by bishop 
Lowth in his Lectures on the Poetry of the Hebrews. 
(Lect. xviii. — xx.) He was followed by Herder, in 
his Spirit of Hebrew Poetry ; sir William Jones, on 
Asiatic Poetry ; and more recently by Thomas Camp- 
bell, in the first volumes of the New Monthly Maga- 
zine. Mr. Campbell, however, has drawn chiefly 
from Herder. (See also De Wette's Commentar 
tiber die Psalmen, Einleitung.) 

Diction and Rhythm. — Hebrew poetry differs from 
Hebrew prose in three respects. (1.) In the peculiar 
poetical nature of the contents ; of which the char- 
acteristics are sublimity, boldness, abruptness, lofty 
metaphors, &c. (2.) In the peculiarities of the poetic 
dialect or diction, which, however, are not so striking 
as among the Greeks and Romans. They consist in 
the use of different words, significations of words, 
grammatical forms ; and in syntactical peculiarities, in 
which latter the difference is greater than in Latin, or 
in modern lauguages. For the most part, the poetical 
idioms of the Hebrew are the common ones in the 
kindred dialects, the Chaldee, Syriac and Arabic. 
This circumstance goes to show the importance of 
an acquaintance with these latter. (3.) In rhythm, 
which differs from metre ; the latter importing a meas- 
ure of syllables or feet, the former a harmonious 
arrangement of words and members. The question 
has been much agitated in modem times, whether the 
Hebrews had any measure of syllables, or prosody 
or metre. Josephus and Jerome affirm that they 
had ; and some have thought they had discovered it. 
(See De Wette, Einl. § vii.) The best theories on this 
side are those of Jones and Bellermann ; but some- 
thing new appears on this general topic, in Germany 
at least, almost every year. It is, however, the opin- 
ion of those best acquainted with the subject, that the 
Hebrews had no prosody, i. e. no measure of sylla- 
bles. Their rhythm consisted only in the symmetry 
or correspondence of the larger members. 

Rhythm may be of three species, viz. (1.) It may 
consist merely in the syllables, or in a succession of 
poetical feet, as dactyles, &c. without any larger 
pauses or members. (2.) It may also exist, where the 
poetical feet or measures of syllables are neglected, but 
a certain measure of the larger members or clauses is 
found. This last is the rhythm of the Hebrews ; as also 
of the old German Meistersingers. (3.) The third and 
most perfect form of rhythm comprises both the others, 
i and appears in Greek, Roman and modern poetry. 



POETRY 



[ 753 ] 



POE 



The rnytnm of Hebrew poetry, then, consists in the 
parallelism of the members, (as it is called by 
xjOWth,) of which the fundamental principle is, that 
every verse must consist of at least two corresponding 
parts or members. (See Lowth, Lect. xix. De Wette, 
Einl. §. vii.) 

Laws of Parallelism. — The parallelism of Hebrew 
poetry occurs either in the thought, or solely in the 
form. Of the former there are three kinds, viz. 

1. Synonymous ; where the two members express 
the same idea in different, but closely, and often 
literally, corresponding words : e. g. 

Ps. viii. 4. What is man, that thou art mindful of 
him ? 

And the son of man, that thou dost visit 
him? 

ii. 1. Why do the heathen rage ? 

And the people imagine a vain thing ? 
ii. 4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh ; 
The Lord shall have them in derision. 
Job vi. 5. Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? 
Or loweth the ox over his fodder ? 

So also the song of Lamech, quoted above, Gen. 
iv. 23. and Job vii. 1, seq. 

2. Antithetical ; where an antithesis of thought is 
expressed by corresponding members : e. g. 

Prov. xiv. 11. The house of the wicked shall be over- 
thrown ; 

But the tabernacle of the upright shall 
flourish. 

xv. 1. A soft answer turneth away wrath ; 
But grievous words stir up anger. 

(Compare Virgil. Eel. iii. 8.) 

3. Synthetic ; which is a mere juxtaposition ; or 
rather the thought is carried forward in the second 
member with some addition ; the correspondence of 
words and construction being as before : e. g. 

Ps. xix. 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, convert- 
ing the soul : 
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making 
wise the simple. 

8. The statutes of the Lord are right, re- 

joicing the heart : 
The commandment of the Lord is pure, 
enlightening the eyes. 

9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring 

for ever ; 

The judgments of the Lord are true and 
righteous altogether. 

Mere rhythmical parallelism is that in which no 
similarity or correspondence of thought exists ; but 
the verse is divided by the ceesura, as it were, into 
corresponding members. This is the most imperfect 
species of parallelism ; and may be compared with 
the hexameter, divided by the ccesura : e. g. 

Ps. ii. 6. Yet have I set my king 

Upon my holy hill of Zion. 
iii. 2. Many there be which say of my soul, 
There is no help for him in God. 

This is most common in the book of Lamentations ; 
where there is ha-dly any other species of paral- 
lelism. 

Thus far we have had regard to the simplest and 
most perfect parallelisms of two members; such as 
are more jsually found in the Psalms, Job, &c. But 
in the prophets and a few of the psalms, we find a less 
95 



regular, and sometimes compound parallelism. Thu* 
the parallelism is irregular, when one member ia 
shorter than the other; as Hosea iv. 17: 

Ephraim is joined to idols: 
Let him alone. 

Of compound parallelisms there are various kinds ; 
as when the verse has three members ; and the two 
first correspond to the third : e. g. 

Ps. liii. 6. O that the salvation of Israel were come 

out of Zion ! 
When God bringeth back the captivity of 

his people, 
Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be 

glad. 

Or when the verse has four members; of which the 
first and third correspond to the second and fourth : 
e. g. 

Ps. xxxi. 10. For my life is spent with grief, 
And my years with sighing ; 
My strength faileth because of mine 

iniquity, 
And my bones are consumed. 

Or the verse may have four parallel members ; as 

Ps. i. 1. Blessed is the man 

Who vvalketh not in the counsel of the 
ungodly, 

Nor standeth in the way of sinners, 
Nor sitteth in the seat of scorners. 

We may name Psalms ii. and xv. as affording exam- 
ples of most of the species of poetic parallelism. 

In the common manuscripts and editions of the 
Hebrew Bible, the members of the parallelisms in the 
poetical parts are not written or printed separately ; 
but the accents serve to divide them. In the editions 
of Kennicott and Jahn, however, the members are 
printed separately. It is matter of regret, that this 
mode was not adopted in our English version ; since 
the common reader has now often no means of dis- 
tinguishing, whether that which he reads is Hebrew 
poetry, or Hebrew prose. Indeed, a good translation 
ought to adhere closely to the form of the original, and 
not give it a foreign costume. Hence the mere paral- 
lelism should be exhibited, without metre, and gene- 
rally without feet. 

The preceding principles refer solely to the 
rhythm of Hebrew poetry. Besides this, there are 
other peculiarities ; e. g. the strophe, as in Ps. xlii. 
xliii ; where verses 5, 11, and 5, are a ourden or re- 
frain, repeated at the end of each strophe. So also 
the alphabetic psalms and poems ; (sc-e Letters ;) and 
the psalms of degrees, in which me chief words of 
each verse are taken up and repeated at the begin- 
ning of the next verse. (See Degrees, and Psalms.) 
Paronomasia, or the correspondence of like sounding 
words, a species of rhyme, occurs seldom in the 
Psalms ; it seems too feeble and trivial for lyric poetry. 
The prophets employ it more frequently. *R. 

POETS. The Hebrew poets were men inspired 
of God ; and among them we find kings, lawgivers 
and prophets. Moses, Barak, David, Solomon, Hez- 
ekiah, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and most of the proph- 
ets, composed poems, or pieces in verse ; the most 
pompous, the most majestic, and the most sublime. 
The expression, the sentiments, the figures, the 
variety, the action, every thing is surprising. 

Paul gives a pagan poet the name of prnohet • 'Tit. 



P OM 



POO 



i. 12, " One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, 
said," &c.) because, among the heathen, poets were 
thought to be inspired by Apollo. They spoke by 
enthusiasm. Oracles were originally delivered in 
verse. Poets were interpreters of the will of the 
gods. The poet quoted by Paul, is Epimenides, 
whom the ancients esteemed to be inspired, and fa- 
vored by the gods. 

The same apostle quotes the poet Aratus, a native, 
as well as himself, of Cilicia : (Acts xvii. 28.) We art 
the children (the race) of God. This is part of a longer 
passage, whose import is, " We must begin from 
Jupiter, whom we must by no means forget. Every 
thing is replete with Jupiter. He fills the streets, the 
public places, and assemblies of men. The whole 
sea and its harbors are full of this god, and all of us 
in all places have need of Jupiter." It was certainly 
riot to prove the being or to enhance the merit of 
Jupiter, that Paul quotes this passage. But he has 
delivered out of bondage, as we may say, a truth 
which this poet had uttered, without penetrating its 
true meaning. The apostle used it to prove the ex- 
istence of the true God, to a people not convinced of 
the divine authority of the Scriptures, and who would 
have rejected such proofs as he might have derived 
from thence. 

The son of Sirach, intent on praising eminent men, 
enumerates bards or poets ; who were, he says, " Lead- 
ers of the people by their counsels, and by their 
knowledge of learning meet for the people ; wise and 
eloquent in their instructions : such as found out 
musical tunes, and recited verses in writing," Ecclus. 
xliv. 4. It is evident that he considered them as of 
great importance to the community; and we know 
that they were of great antiquity, for Moses, himself a 
poet, refers to those who spoke in proverbs, (Numb, 
xxi. 27.) of which he inserts a specimen. Jacob was 
a poet, as appears from his farewell benediction on 
his sons. And it appears to be extremely probable 
that the honorable appellation Nebi, equally denoted 
a prophet, a poet, and a musician, as the poets princi- 
pally were. 

Poets, like other men, could only draw comparisons 
from objects with which they were conversant ; hence 
we have in Scripture many allusions to the phenomena 
of nature, as extant in the countries where the writers 
resided — storms, tempests, earthquakes, thunder and 
lightning, &c. The shepherd king describes the 
Lord as his shepherd, who leads him in security ; 
not as his steersman, who brings him safely into port; 
for he was little acquainted with nautical affairs. 
Very few are the descriptions of the sea, or its inhab- 
itants, in Job, although the writer ransacks earth and 
heaven, with wonderful science. Poets who dwelt 
in tents have little reference to extensive architecture. 
But to understand their language, it is necessary to 
acquire as intimate a knowledge as possible of the 
things they knew ; and even when they treat of things 
spiritual or celestial ; because these are signified by 
means of terrestrial objects or incidents ; and the just 
understanding of one may lead to a just understand- 
ing of the other. Divine inspiration itself, however 
superhuman it may be, must, nevertheless, speak to 
men in the language of men, or the instruction it 
means to convey will continue a perfect blank. 

POLYGAMY, see Marriage. 

POLYGLOTT, see Bible, p. 177. 

POMEGRANATE, the punica granatum of 
Linnaeus ; called also malum granatum, that is, 
granate apple, (pomme granate,) whence its name. 
The tree grows' wild in Palestine and Syria, as gen- 



erally in the south of Europe, and north of Africa. 
It is low, with a straight stem, reddish bark, many 
and spreading branches, lancet-formed leaves, bear- 
ing large and beautiful red blossoms. The fruit is of 
the size of an orange, of a tawny brown, with a thick 
astringent coat, containing abundance of seeds, each 
enveloped in a distinct, very juicy, crimson coat, 
whose flavor in a wild state is a pure and very strong 
acid ; but in the cultivated plant, sweet and highly 
grateful. (Compare Cant. iv. 13; Numb. xiii. 23; 
Deut. viii. 8.) Artificial pomegranates were also used 
as ornaments on the robe of the high-priest, (Ey. 
xxviii. 33,) and also as an architectural ornament, I 
Kings vii. 18. # R. 

PONTUS, a province in Asia Minor, having the 
Euxine sea north, Cappadocia south, Paphlagonia 
and Galatia west, and the Lesser Armenia and Colchis 
east. It is thought that Peter preached here, because 
he addresses his First Epistle to the faithful of this 
and of the neighboring provinces. 

POOR. This word often denotes the humble, af- 
flicted, mean in their own eyes, low in the eyes of 
God. Not so much a man destitute of the good 
things of the earth, as a man sensible of his spiritual 
misery and indigence, who applies for succor to the 
mercy of God. In this sense the greatest and richest 
men of the world are level with the poorest, in the 
eyes of God. 

In Exodus xxii ; . 3, Moses forbids the judges "to 
countenance a poor man in his cause ; " or as in Lev. 
xix. 15, " Thou shalt not respect the person of the 
poor, nor honor the person of the mighty ; but in 
righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor." In a 
word, judge without respect of persons; have only 
truth and justice before your eyes ; consider that you 
stand in the place of God on the earth. 

One of the characters of the Messiah was, to judge 
the pooi-, (Ps. lxxii. 2, 4.) and to preach the gospel to 
them, Isa. xi. 4 ; Matt. xi. 5. Hence, Jesus chose 
disciples that were poor, and the greater part of the 
first believers were really poor men, as we may see 
in their history. 

Solomon says, (Prov. xxii. 2.) " The rich and poor 
meet together ; " they are like each other in one 
thing — God created them both ; and both riches and 
poverty are of his bestowing. Hence the rich should 
not be supercilious, nor the poor despondent; both 
are equal in the eyes of God, Prov. xxix. 13. Amos 
(viii. 6.) reproaches the Israelites with having sold the 
po r for a contemptible price ; as for shoes and San- 
aa's Probably the rich actually thus sold their poor 
debtors, for things of no value. James (ii. 1.) seems 
to carry the obligation of not respecting persons so far 
as to allow no mark of distinction to persons in power, 
or in civil dignities, in the public assemblies of reli- 
gion. But this ought to be understood of an inward 
preference, and of the sentiments of the heart, rather 
than of external marks of respec t. It is never allow- 
ed a Christian to prefer a rich man before a poor 
man, only because he is rich, and to think better of 
him, to judge him more worthy of esteem and con- 
sideration, rather than he who has not the same ad- 
vantages of the goods of fortune. 

Poverty was considered by the Jews as a great evil 
and a punishment from God. Job speaks of it as of 
a prison, and a state of bondage, chap, xxxvi. 8. And 
Isaiah (xlviii. 10.) compares it to a furnace or cruci- 
ble, wherein metals are purified. God tried Job and 
Tobit by poverty : they looked beyond the old cove- 
nant ; they knew the value of suffering, of humilia- 
tion, of indigence; they knew how to make a right 



1'OT [ 755 ] PRA 



use of them, and to eonvert them to their greatest 
advantage. They were poor in spirit, in the disposi- 
tion of their hearts, before God made them suffer 
actual poverty. Comp. Humility. 

Nothing is more earnestly recommended in Scrip- 
ture than alms and compassion to the poor. Moses 
would have them admitted to the religious feasts 
celebrated iu the temple, Dent. xvi. 11, 12. He or- 
dered, that in the fields, in the vineyards, and upon the 
trees, something should be left for them ; (Lev. xix. 
10 ; xxiii. 22.) that in the sabbatical years, and the 
years of jubilee, all should be left for the poor, the 
widow, and the orphan, Exod. xxiii. 11. He com- 
manded to lend to the poor, and observed, that they 
should never be wanting in the country, but that the 
people should always have opportunity to bestow 
their alms, Dent. xv. 8, 9. That if any pledge were 
taken from the poor, the lender shall not enter the 
house to take it by force, (Deut. xxiv. 12, 14.) and 
that if the poor be forced to give his goods or his 
clothes, they shall be restored to him at night, that he 
may have wherewith to cover himself. Our Saviour 
has carried this point of the law, concerning alms- 
giving, to its perfection ; he practised it himself, rec- 
ommended it to his disciples, aud has inspired his 
servants with the tenderest charity towards the poor. 
He advised those who would in earnest become his 
disciples, to sell all they had, and give to the poor, 
Matt. xix. 21. He gives excellent rules for practising 
charity and avoiding vain-glory and ostentation, which 
otherwise may occasion our losing all the fruits of 
our charity, Matt. vi. 1 — 4. 

POTIPHAR, an officer of the court of Pharaoh, 
king of Egypt, (Gen. xxxvii. 36,) general of his 
troops, according to the Vulgate ; but chief of his 
executioners or body-guards, according to the Hebrew. 
Potiphar bought Joseph as a slave from the Midian- 
ites, who had taken him of his brethren ; and seeing 
all things prosper in his hands, he gave him the 
superintendence of his whole property. His wife, 
however, taking an unlawful liking to Joseph, solicited 
him to the crime of adultery ; and, Joseph repulsing 
her, her love changed into hatred, and she accused 
him to her husband, who put Joseph into prison ; 
where his delegate, who had charge of the prisoners, 
transferred this care to Joseph. See Joseph. 

POTSHERD, a broken fragment, or piece of an 
earthen vessel ; not a brittle pot only, but a piece of 
a pot ; a pot already broken, Isa. xlv. 9. 

POTTER, a maker of earthen vessels, of which 
there is frequent mention made in Scripture. Jeremiah 
(xviii. 3.) represents him while at work as sitting on 
two stones ; and Ecclesiasticus (xxxviii. 29, 30.) says, 
" So doth the potter sitting at his work, and turning 
the wheel about with his feet ; who is always carefully 
set at his work, and maketh all his work by number ; 
he fashioneth the clay with his arm, and boweth down 
his strength before his feet.'-' When God would 
show his dominion over men, and his irresistible 
power over their hearts, he has recourse to the simili- 
tude of a potter, who makes what he pleases of his 
clay ; of this a vessel of honor, of that a vessel of dis- 
honor : now forming it, then breaking it ; now pre- 
serving it, and then rejecting it. (See Ps. ii. 9 ; Ecclus. 
xxxiii. 13 ; Rom. ix. 2l ; Jer. xviii. 2, 3, &c.) 

POTTER'S-FIELD, a piece of ground that was 
bought with the money for which Judas sold our Sa- 
viour Christ, but which he brought back again to the 
temple. (See Aceldama.) It is south of mount 
Sion, about a stone's cast from the pool of Siloam, 
and is surrounded by walls, in length seventy cubits, 



in breadth fifty ; ana is covered with a vault, with 
seven openings above, to let down the bodies which 
are to be there buried. 

We read in the Mishna (Tract, de Sanhedr. cap. vi. 
n. 14, 15.) that they did not allow malefactors, or such 
as were executed for crimes, to be buried in the 
tombs of their fathers, except their flesh had first 
been consumed in other places, appointed for the pun- 
ishment of such offenders. For this reason, perhaps, 
Joseph of Arimathea begged the body of Jesus from 
Pilate that he might deposit it in a private sepul- 
chre, before it could be taken to this public burying- 
place ; where he might have been undistinguished 
from common criminals. 

POVERTY has been sanctified by Christ in his 
own person, and in that of his parents ; in that of his 
apostles, and of the most perfect of his disciples. 
Agur besought the Lord to give him neither 
poverty nor riches, (Prov. xxx. 8.) looking on each 
extreme as a dangerous rock to virtue. See Poor. 

POWER, the ability of performing a thing. It is 
in a sovereign degree an attribute of Deity. God is 
all-powerful. It means sometimes a right, privilege, 
or dignity ; (John i. 12.) sometimes absolute author- 
ity ; (Matt. ix. 6.) sometimes the exertion, or act of 
power, as of the Holy Spirit, (Eph. i. 19.) of angels, or 
of human governments, magistrates, &c. (Rom. xiii. 
1.) and perhaps it generally includes the idea of dig- 
nity, superiority. So the body is sown in weakness, 
but raised in power, dignity, honor. (For the word 
power in 1 Cor. xi. 10, see the article Veil.) 

PRAISE is one of the noblest acts of worship, and 
one which seems to be a direct, simple, unsophisticat- 
ed dictate of nature ; insomuch that it is wonderful 
how any possessed of rational powers can omit this 
delightful duty. If prayer, to which praise is the 
counterpart, can be neglected ; if a sense of wants, 
necessities, transgressions and dangers, may not be 
sufficiently strong to excite prayer, yet it is surely very 
ungrateful not to notice the benefits we have enjoyed 
or are enjoying. What we are in the actual posses- 
sion of, ought at least so far to affect us, as to render 
us grateful to that hand which bestows them, that 
hand which might bestow far different distributions 
to us. What character is so odious among men as 
that of the ungrateful ? What so common in respect 
to God ? Those who deny the being of God may, to 
be sure, withhold thanks for mercies received ; but 
that any who acknowledge the divine attributes 
should be thus insensible, is most astonishing ! 

PRAYER, directed to God, is the ordinary convey- 
ance of graces received from him. The prayers of 
a just man are of great power, Jam. v. 16, 17. The 
saints under both covenants prayed ; Jesus Christ 
himself, our great example, taught us to pray, to show 
that thereby we honor God, and draw on ourselves 
his favors and graces. Paul, in most of his Epistles, 
entreats the faithful to pray for him ; or offers to God 
his prayers for them. 

From the promulgation of the law, the Hebrews 
did not intermit public prayer in the tabernacle, or 
in the temple, as opportunity returned. It consisted 
in offering the evening and morning sacrifices, every 
day, accompanied by prayers by the priests and Le- 
vites in that holy edifice. Every day they offered 
sacrifices, incense, offerings, and first-fruits ; they 
performed ceremonies for the redemption of the first- 
born, or the purification of pollutions ; in a word, the 
people came thither from all parts to discharge 
their vows, and to satisfy their devotions, not only 
on great and solemn days, but also on ordinary 



PRE 



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PREDESTINATION 



days ; but nothing of this was performed without 
prayer. 

The psalmist (cxix.) says, he prayed to God, or 
praised him, seven times a day. And, (Ps. lv.) 
" Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray and 
cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice." Daniel (vi. 
10.) bent his knees three times a day, and wor- 
shipped the Lord, opening his windows, and turning 
himself toward Jerusalem. The Levites, appointed 
to guard the temple, lifted up their hands in the 
night-time, and encouraged one another to adore the 
Lord, Ps. cxxxiv. 2. The psalmist says, (Ps. cxix. 
62.) that he arose in the middle of the night, to praise 
the Lord, and Nehemiah (ix. 3.) mentions four hours 
of prayer on a fast-day. 

During the captivity, Ezra, observing that several 
Jews mingled foreign terms with their prayers, which 
were not suitable to the sanctity of that exercise, 
composed eighteen benedictions, which every Israel- 
ite is obliged to learn, and to repeat daily. A little be- 
fore the destruction of the temple, the rabbi Gama- 
liel added a nineteenth, against apostates and here- 
tics ; under these names meaning the Christians. 
Ezra also fixed the time for prayer, according to 
Maimonides. 

In the Jewish prayers we observe, in general, their 
length, and their battology, or tedious repetitions, 
which Christ reproves: (Matt. vi. 7.) "When ye 
pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do ; for 
they think they shall be heard for their much speak- 
ing." Secondly, as to their posture. They gen- 
erally pray sitting, or stooping with their faces to- 
ward the ground. They stretch out their feet and 
their hands, and make a loud cry. Christ prayed 
thus in the garden of Olives: "Who in the days of 
his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and sup- 
plications, with strong crying and tears," Heb. v. 7. 
Thirdly, they think that prayers supply the place of 
sacrifices, which ceased at the destruction of the 
temple and its altars ; they give them the same name, 
and impute to them the same efficacy. 

It is very likely that the prayers of the first Chris- 
tians were formed on the model of those of the Jews. 
In the Lord's prayer, our Saviour principally in- 
tended to oppose its brevity to their battology. Paul 
(Ephes. vi. 18 ; 1 Thess. v. 17 ; 1 Tim. ii. 8.) directs 
that believers should pray in all places, and at all 
times, lifting up pure hands towards heaven, and 
blessing God for all things, whether in eating, drink- 
ing, or any other action ; and that every thing be 
done to the glory of God, 1 Cor. x. 31. In a word, 
our Saviour has recommended to us to pray with- 
out ceasing, Luke xviii. 1 ; xxi. 36. 

PREDESTINATION, To PREDESTINATE, 
sometimes signifies merely a designation, or appoint- 
ment of a particular thing to a particular use ; or of 
a certain person to a certain office or employment. 
But, in theological language, predestination expresses 
the design formed by God, from all eternity, of 
bringing by his grace certain persons to faith and 
salvation, while be leaves others to their infidelity. 
Divines agree, that predestination to salvation is of 
mere favor, but opinions are divided concerning it. 
Some regard it as merely gratuitous ; others believe 
that God formed his predestination on a view of 
future merits in the elect. Austin, and the most 
celebrated schools of the Latin church, hold predes- 
tination to be of mere favor. Some Greek fathers, and 
some Latin divines, adhere to predestination founded 
on foreknowledge. Augustin says, predestination is a 
foreknowledge and preparation of efficacious means, 



in virtue of which, the elect are most certainly saved ; 
and he was fully persuaded of the gratuitousness of 
predestination, in its uttermost extent. 

The ancient Hebrews were persuaded, as well as 
we are, that God had foreknowledge of what every 
person should be, do and become. This is included 
in the very notion of God, his providence, and his 
infinite knowledge. God says to Jeremiah, (i. 5.) 
" Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee ; and 
before thou earnest forth out of the womb, I sancti- 
fied thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the 
nations:." But when we endeavor to form a, just 
idea of their system of predestination, and how they 
reconciled grace and free-will, the attempt is not 
very easy. The author of the book of Wisdom, 
whom several have thought to be Philo, make Solo- 
mon thus speak : (chap. viii. 19, 20.) " I was a witty 
child, and had a good spirit : yea, rather, being good, 
I came into a body undefiled." The apostles (John 
ix. 2.) proposed a question to Christ, when they saw 
a man born blind, whether his condition was as a 
punishment for his own sins, or for those of his pa- 
rents. They therefore had a notion, that his soul 
had a previous existence, and had offended God, be- 
fore it animated the present body. 

Chrysostom, who may be considered as the ora- 
cle and the mouth of the Greek church, maintained, 
that God did not reject nor predestinate men on 
account of their past good or bad actions, but on 
foreknowledge of their future merits or demerits: 
" Whence is it (says he, on Rom. ix. 13.) that Jacob 
is beloved, and Esau hated ? It is because one is 
good, and the other is bad. And whence is it, that, 
before their birth, God determined that the elder 
should be in subjection to the younger ? It is be- 
cause God has no need to stay for the event of things, 
as we must do, to judge whether a man shall be 
good or bad ; he sees that even before he is born. 
It was by the effect of his prescience, that he chose 
Jacob and rejected Esau. He knew before their 
birth what they would one day prove. When he 
chose Matthew, there were several persons who ap- 
peared better than he : but by his infinite penetration, 
he knew how to discover the value of that jewel, 
that then lay upon a dunghill." In another place 
(Homil. lxxx. in Matt, xxv.) he says, that the king- 
dom of heaven was prepared for the elect from the 
beginning of the world, and before they were born, 
because God foreknew what they would be. And 
writing on those words of the psalmist, (exxxix. 2.) 
" Thou understandest my thought afar off," he thus 
reasons : Some people are absurd enough to say, such 
an one is a good man, because God has chosen him 
and loved him ; and such another is wicked, because 
God hated him. But the prophet here tells us, on 
the contrary, that God proves us by our works. He 
knows whether we will be virtuous or no, even be- 
fore our birth ; and by that he gives us proofs of his 
prescience : he confirms it by our works, for fear it 
should be imagined, that his prescience was the 
cause of our virtue. 

The Greek fathers, after Chrysostom, have ex- 
pressed themselves much in the same manner, and 
the modern Greeks have followed the sentiments of 
the fathers before them. 

This, however, is a very difficult subject. We 
may certainly conclude, that when God proposes an 
end, he also proposes the means ; when he appoints 
an effect, he also appoints the causes. Now where 
is the essential difference, if we say, God foresaw 
the elect would be holy, thf refore chose them or 



PRE 



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PR1 



God chose the elect, to make them holy ? because 
since their holiness is not from themselves, but from 
him, he must determine to bestow on them that which 
they have not of themselves. The difference, therefore, 
is in the order only, that is, whether God determined 
to elect A. B., purposing his holiness, or determined 
to make A. B. holy, purposing his election. But ob- 
serve, that God's determination to render A. B. holy 
is, in fact, an election of him ; an election which 
implies salvation ; and since this principle places an 
election of the party previous to its effects, it seems 
to h# much more reasonable than contingency in any 
shape. Especially, considering that all things are 
known to God, from the beginning to the end, so 
that he has no need to stay till a certain event has 
taken place before he can adjust the following event, 
but in his divine, infinite and intimate foreknowledge 
of things, that which is to follow is equally present 
with him, as that which is to precede. And, doubt- 
less, we had better on this subject not only think and 
speak with the most profound reverence, feeling our 
ignorance, and our scanty powers ; but endeavor to 
persuade ourselves thoroughly of the infinite good- 
ness, wisdom and love of God, and bind ourselves to 
submit heartily to these attributes, and their opera- 
tions, rather than to perplex ourselves, and to render 
ourselves unhappy, about appointments whose con- 
catenation and universal influence are infinitely be- 
yond our ken. If we see one single link in the chain 
of the divine government, considered as compounded 
of cause and effect, what proportion does this bear 
to that infinitely prolonged combination of things, 
of which the divine mind only is capable of survey- 
ing at once both the extremes, and, together with the 
extremes, every connecting link^every acting cause, 
and every produced effect, from the most trivial, as 
we call it, to the most considerable, in our estimation ! 
We say, in our estimation, because there is no lesser 
and greater in the sight of God ; but each, being ap- 
pointed by him, is of equal consequence in his appoint- 
ment, and is equally valued by his infinite wisdom. 

PRESS. This word is often used in Scripture 
not only for the machine by which grapes are 
squeezed, but also for the vessel, or vat, into which 
the wine runs from the press ; that in which it is re- 
ceived and preserved. Whence proceed these ex- 
pressions : he digged a wine-press in his vineyard ; — 
your presses shall run over with wine ; thy presses shall 
burst out with neiv ivine ; to draw out of the press ; 
Zeeb they slew at the wine-press of Zeeb. It was a 
kind of subterraneous cistern, in which the. wine 
was received and kept, till it was put into jars or 
vessels, of earth or wood. 

We read in several titles of the Psalms, as viii. 
lxxxi. lxxxiv. "for the presses," (on Gittith, Eng. 
tr.) which is differently explained. Some think that 
these Psalms are songs of rejoicing for the vintage, 
and were chiefly sung at the Feast of Tabernacles, 
after the harvest and the vintage. Others suppose, 
that gittith signifies an instrument of music, invented 
or used, perhaps,' at Gath, and hence called Gittith. 
See the article Gittith. 

PRETORIUM, a name given in the Gospels to 
the house in .which dwelt the Roman governor of 
Jerusalem, Mark xv. 16. (Compare Matt, xxvii. 27 ; 
John xviii. 28, 33.) Here he sat in his judicial ca- 
pacity, and here Jesus was brought before him. 
This was properly the palace of Herod at Jerusalem, 
near the tower of Antonia, with which it had com- 
munication. Here the Roman procurators resided 
whenever they visited Jerusalem ; their head-quar- 



ters being properly at Cesarea. The pretoi mm or 
palace of Herod (Engl. tr. judgment hall) at Cesa- 
rea is also mentioned, Acts xxiii. 35. (See Joseph 
Antiq. xv. 9. 3.) Paul speaks also of the pretorium 
(or palace) at Rome, in which he gave testimony to 
Christ, Phil. i. 13. Some think, that by this he 
means the palace of the emperor Nero ; and others, 
that he means the place where the Roman prsetor 
sat to administer justice, that is, his tribunal. It is 
certain that the emperor's palace did not bear the 
name of tribunal; but Paul,. being accustomed to 
call by this name the governor's palace at Jerusalem, 
might give it to the emperor's at Rome. Others have 
maintained, with greater probability, that under the 
name of the pretorium at Rome, Paul would express 
the camp of the pretorian soldiers, whither he might 
have been carried by the soldier that always accom- 
panied him, and who was fastened to him by a chain, 
as the manner was among the Romans. 

PRICKS. The Greek word y.ivroor signifies prop- 
erly a stimulus, a goad, with which oxen were driven 
from behind. Hence the proverbial expression, 
ttooc yJvTQov XaxTitetv, to kick against the goad, ap- 
plied to those who rashly offer resistance to one who 
is more powerful than themselves, and thus expose 
themselves to severe retribution, Acts ix. 5 ; xxvi. 
14. The expression is common to the Greeks, Ro- 
mans and Hebrews, e. g. Pindar, Pyth. ii. 193. 
^Eschyl. Again. 1633. Eurip. Bacch. 791. Terent. 
Phormio i. 2. 27. Ammian. Marcell. xviii. 5. (See 
Kuinoel on Acts ix. 5.) *R. 

PRIDE is a sin very odious to God and man, and 
Scripture condemns it in a multitude of places. 
What, indeed, is displayed in the whole sacred his- 
tory but the pride, presumption and vanity of men 
overthrown ? What else, but the humility, the meek- 
ness, the acknowledgment of human weakness, exalt- 
ed, supported and recompensed. " God resisteth the 
proud, and giveth grace to the humble. A man's 
pride shall bring him low ; but honor shall uphold 
the humble in spirit. Pride goeth hefore destruction ; 
and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better is it to he 
of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the 
spoil with the proud." 

"Pride " is also put for the hardness and insolence 
of a sinner, in opposition to sins of infirmity or igno- 
rance : " But the soul that doeth aught presumptu- 
ously, the same reproacheth the Lord ; and that soul 
shall be cut off from among his people," Numb. xv. 
30. And Dent. xvii. 12, "And the man that will 
do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the 
priest, or unto the judge, even that man shall die." 
The Lord treated the Egyptians with rigor, because 
they acted with pride and insolence toward the He- 
brews, Exod. xviii. 11. Job and the psalmist have 
distinguished Pharaoh by the name of the proud, (Job 
xxvi. 12 ; Ps. lxxxix. 10.) and Isaiah (li. 9.) uses the 
same expression, to mark his destruction. Ezekiel 
says (xxxii. 12.) the Chaldeans shall destroy the pride, 
the insolence, the cruelty of Egypt. (SeeNeh.ix.16,29.) 

Scripture reproaches the Moabites with their pride , 
and points them out under the name of children of 
haughtiness, or pride ; for so we translate Numb, 
xxiv. 17, " He shall destroy all the children of pride," 
(Eng. Sheth,) or haughtiness; which is confirmed by 
Jer. xlviii. 29, " We have heard the pride of Moab, 
(he is exceeding proud,) his loftiness and his arro- 
gancy, and his pride and the haughtiness of his heart." 
(Comp. Numb. xxi. 28, with Jer. xlviii. 45. Heb. 
Also Isa. xvi. 6.) 

The pride of Jordan expresses the inundations of 



PJll 



[ 758 ] 



PRIEST 



lh:w river, Jer. xii. 5 ; xiii. 9 ; xlix. 19 ; Zech. xi. 3. 
See Jordan. 

The pride and the proud often represent Babylon 
and the Babylonians ; Isa. xiii. 19, " And Babylon, the 
glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' ex- 
cellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom 
and Gomorrha." Jeremiah, (1. 31, 32.) speaking of 
the king of Babylon, says, " Behold, I am against 
thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord of hosts ; for 
the day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And 
the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall 
raise him up : and I will kindle a fire in his cities, 
and it shall devour all round about him." (See Ps. 
cxix. 21, 51, 69, 78. 85, 122.) 

PRIEST, from the Greek, Presbyter, properly sig- 
nifies an elder, or old man. The Hebrew is jro, Cohen. 
In the Old Testament, the priesthood was not an- 
nexed to a certain family, till after the promulgation 
of the law by Moses. Before that time, the first-born 
of each family, the fathers, the princes, the kings were 
born priests, in their own cities, and in their own 
houses. Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham and Job, 
Abimelech and Laban, Isaac and Jacob, offered, per- 
sonally, their own sacrifices. In the solemnity of the 
covenant made by the Lord with his people, at the 
foot of mount Sinai, Moses performed the office of 
mediator, and young men were chosen from among 
Israel to perform the office of priests, Exod. xxiv. 
5, 6. But after the Lord had chosen the tribe of 
Levi to serve him in his tabernacle, and the priest- 
hood was annexed to the family of Aaron, then the 
right of offering sacrifice to God was reserved to the 
priests of this family, Numb. xvi. 40. The punish- 
ment of Uzziah, king of Judah, (2 Chron. xxvi. 19.) 
is well known, who, having presumed to offer incense 
to the Lord, was suddenly smitten with a leprosy. 
However, it seems that on certain occasions the 
judges and kings of the Hebrews offered sacrifice to 
the Lord, especially before a constant place of wor- 
ship was fixed at Jerusalem. See 1 Sam. vii. 9, 
where Samuel, who was no priest, offered a lamb for 
a burnt-sacrifice to the Lord. See also chap. Lx. 13, 
where it is said, that this prophet was to bless the 
offering of the people ; which should seem to be a 
function appropriate to a priest. Lastly, 1 Sam. 
xvi. 5, he goes to Bethlehem, where he offers a sac- 
rifice at the anointing of David. 

Saul himself offered a burnt-offering to the Lord, 
perhaps as being king of Israel, 1 Sam. xiii. 9, 10. 
Elijah also offered a burnt-offering on mount Carmel, 
1 Kings xviii. 33. David sacrificed at the ceremony 
of bringing the ark to Jerusalem, (2 Sam. vi. 13.) and 
at the floor of Araunah, 2 Sam. xxiv. 25. And Sol- 
omon went up to the brazen altar at Gibeon, and 
there offered sacrifices, 2 Chron. i. 6. We know 
that such passages are commonly explained, by sup- 
posing that these princes offered their sacrifices by 
the hands of the priests ; but the text by no means 
favors such explication ; and it is very natural to im- 
agine, that in the quality of kings and heads of the 
people, they had the privilege of performing some 
sacerdotal functions on certain extraordinary occa- 
sions. So we see David consulted the Lord, by the 
priestly ephod ; and on another occasion he gave a 
solemn benediction to the people. His son Solomon 
did the same, 1 Sam. xxiii. 9 ; xxx. 7 ; 2 Sam. vi. 14, 
18 : 1 Kings viii. 55, 56. 

The Lord having reserved to himself the first-born 
of Israel, because he had preserved them from the 
hand of the destroying angel in Egypt, by way of 
exchange and compensation, he accepted the tribe of 



Levi for the service of his tabernacle, Numb. iii. 41 
Thus the whole tribe of Levi was appointed to die 
sacred ministry, but not all in the same manner ; for 
of the three sons of Levi, Gershoin, Kohath and 
Merari, the heads of the three great families, the 
Lord chose the family of Kohath, and out of this 
family the house of Aaron, to exercise the functions 
of the priesthood. All the rest of the family of 
Kohath, even the children of Moses, and their de- 
scendants, remained among the Levites. 

The high-priest was at the head of all religious 
affairs, and was the ordinary judge of all difficulties 
that belonged thereto, and even of the general justice 
and judgment of the Jewish nation, Dent. xvii. 8 — 
12; xix. 17; xxi. 5; xxxiii. 9, 10; Ezek. xliv. 24. 
He only had the privilege of entering the sanctuary 
once a year, on the day of solemn expiation, to make 
atonement for the sins of the whole people, Lev. xvi. 
2, &c. He was to be born of one of his own tribe, 
whom his father had married a virgin ; and was to 
be exempt from corporal defect, Lev. xxi. 13. In 
general, no priest who had any defect of this kind 
could offer sacrifice, or enter the holy place, to pre- 
sent the shew-bread. But he was to be maintained 
by the sacrifices offered at the tabernacle, Lev. xxi. 22. 

God had appropriated to the person of the high- 
priest the oracle of his truth : so that when he was 
habited in the proper ornaments of his dignity, and 
with the urim and thummim, he answered questions 
proposed to him, and God discovered to him secret 
and future things. He was forbidden to mourn for 
the death of any of his relations, even for his father 
or mother ; or to enter into any place where a dead 
body lay, that he might not contract, or hazard the 
contraction of uncl«anness. He could not many a 
widow, nor a woman who had been divorced, nor a 
harlot ; but a virgin only of his own race. He was 
to observe a strict continence during the whole time 
of his service. 

The ordinary priests served immediately at the 
altar, killed, skinned and offered the sacrifices. 
They Kept up a perpetual fire on the altar of burnt- 
sacrifices, and in the lamps of the golden candle- 
stick in the sanctuary : they kneaded the loaves of 
shew-bread, baked them, offered them on the golden 
altar in the sanctuary, and changed them every sab- 
bath day. Every day, night and morning, a priest, 
appointed by casting of lots at the beginning of the 
;veek, brought into the sanctuary a smoking censer 
of incense, and set it on the golden table, otherwise 
called the altar of incense. 

The priests were not suffered to offer incense to 
the Lord with strange fire ; that is, with any fire but 
what was taken from the altar of burnt-sacrifices, 
Lev. x. 1, 2. God chastised Nadab and Abihu with 
severity for having failed in this. The priests and 
Levites waited by the week, and by the quarter, in 
the temple. They began their week on the sabbath, 
and ended it on the next sabbath, 2 Kings xi. 5, 7. 
Moses fixed the age at which they were to enter on 
the sacred ministry at twenty-five or thirty years, 
and they were to end it at fifty, Numb. viii. 24 ; iv. 
3 ; 1 Chron. xxiii. 24 ; 2 Chron. xxxi. 17 ; Ezra iii. 
8. Those who dedicated themselves to perpetual 
service in the temple, were well received, and main- 
tained by the daily offerings, Deut. xviii. 6 — 8. 

The Lord had given no lands of inheritance to the 
tribe of Levi, in the Land of Promise. He intended 
that they should be supported by the tithes, the first- 
fruits, the offerings made in the temple, and by their 
share of the sin-offerings and thanksgiving-offerings, 



PRIEST 



[ 759 ] 



PRIEST 



sacrificed in the temple ; of which certain parts were 
appropriated to them. In the peace-offerings they 
had the shoulder and the breast ; (Lev. vii. 33, 34.) 
in the sin-offerings they burnt on the altar the fat 
that covers the bowels, the liver and the kidneys ; the 
rest belonged to themselves, Lev. vii. 6, 10. The 
skin or fleece of every sacrifice also belonged to 
them ; and this alone was no mean allowance. 
When an Israelite killed any animal for his own use, 
he was to give the priest the shoulder, the stomach 
and the jaws, Deut. xviii. 3. He had also a share 
of the wool when sheep were shorn, Deut. xviii. 4. 
All the first-born, both of man and beast, belonged to 
the Lord, that is, to his priests. The men were re- 
deemed for five shekels, Numb, xviii. 15, 16. The 
first-born of impure animals were redeemed or ex- 
changed. The clean animals were not redeemed, 
but were sacrificed to the Lord, their blood being 
sprinkled about the altar ; the rest belonged to the 
priest. The first-fhiits of trees, that is, those of the 
fourth year, belonged also to the priests, Numb, xvi 
13 Lev. xix. 23, 24. 

The people offered at the temple the first-fruits of 
the earth ; the quantity being fixed by custom to be- 
tween the fortieth and sixtieth part. They offered 
also whatever any one had vowed to the Lord. 
They gave also to the priests and Levites an allow- 
ance out of their kneaded dough. They also had the 
tithe of the fruits of the land, and of all animals i 
which passed under the shepherd's crook, Lev. xxvii. 
31, 32. When the Levites had collected all the tithes 
and all the first-fruits, they set apart the tithe of this 
for the priests, Numb, xviii. 26. Thus, though the 
priests had no lands or inheritances, they lived in 
great plenty. God also provided them houses and 
accommodations, by appointing forty-eight cities for 
their residence, Numb. xxxv. 1 — 7. In the precincts 
of these cities they possessed a thousand cubits be- 
yond the walls. Of these forty-eight cities, six were 
appointed as cities of refuge, lor those who had com- 
mitted casual and involuntary manslaughter. The 
priests had thirteen of these c ities : the others belonged 
to the Levites, Josh. xxi. 10 

A principal employment of the priests, next to at- 
tending on the sacrifices and the temple service, was 
the instruction of the people, and the deciding of 
controversies ; distinguishing the several sorts of 
leprosy, divorce causes, the waters of jealousy, vows, 
causes relating to the law and uneleannesses, &c. 
"For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and 
they should seek the law at his mouth : for he is the 
messenger of the Lord of hosts," Mai. ii. 7. They 
publicly blessed the people in the name of the 
Lord. In time of war their duty was to carry the 
ark of the covenant, to consult the Lord, to sound the 
holy trumpets, and to encourage the army, Numb. x. 
8, 9 ; Deut. xx. 2. 

The consecration of Aaron and of his sons was per- 
formed by Moses in the desert with great solemnity, 
he performing the office of consecrating priest, Exod. 
xl. 12 ; Lev. viii. It is doubtful whether at every 
new consecration of a high-priest all these ceremo- 
nies were repeated. It is probable they contented 
themselves with clothing the new high-priest in the 
habit of his predecessor, as at the death of Aaron, 
Numb. xx. 25, 26. Yet some think they gave him 
unction also, which might be till the Babylonish cap- 
tivity, though there is no proof of the fact. We 
know, that after this, Jonathan the Asmonean con- 
tented himself with putting on the high-priest's habit 
at the Feast of Tabernacles, in order to take possession 



of this dignity, 1 Mac. x. 21. (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. 
cap. 5.) 

As to the ordinary priests, we know not of any par- 
ticular ceremony used at their consecration. They 
were admitted to the exercise of their function by 
" filling their hands," as Scripture speaks ; that is, by 
making them perform the offices of their order. Nor 
is it certain whether any thing was required more 
than ordinary sanctification, that is, exemption from 
legal defilements and uncleanness. But when the 
priests had fallen away from the Lord, or had been 
long without performing their office, (as under some 
of the later kings of Judah, as Ahaz, Amon and 
Manasseh,) they thought it necessary to sanctify 
again such absentee priests. This happened under 
Hezekiah and Josiah ; when the number of them 
that were sanctified not being sufficient for the great 
number of sacrifices offered, they were forced to 
employ the Levites in flaying the sacrifices ; for the 
Levites were much sooner sanctified than the priests, 
2 Chron. xxix. 34 ; xxxv. 11. The Hebrew reads, 
"For the Levites were upright of heart, to sanctify 
themselves, rather than the priests ;" that is, they 
showed more zeal and readiness. 

The Hebrew priesthood passed from the family of 
Ithamarinto that of'Eleazar, as the Lord had declared 
to the high-priest Eli, 1 Sam. ii. 30. (See Eli.) But 
the family of Eli possessed it long. This high-priest 
I was succeeded by his fnird son Ahitub, or, according 
to others, Ahijah, to whom succeeded Ahimelech, 
slain by Saul, with the other priests at Nob. Saul 
then gave the high-priesthood to Zadoc. But Abia- 
thar, son of Ahimelech, having adhered to the in- 
terests of David, was continued in possession of the 
high-priesthood in tne Kingdom of Judah. So that 
for a good part of David's reign, the high-priesthood 
was exercised by two high-priests, Zadoc and Abia- 
thar ; Zadoc of the family of Eleazar ; Abiathar of 
the family oflthamar. Towards the end of David's 
reign, Abiathar having adhered to the party of Ado- 
nijah against Solomon, he was disgraced and, Zadoc 
alone was acknowledged as high-priest. He then be- 
gan to exercise his high-priesthood at Jerusalem, hav- 
ing before only performed the functions of it on the 
altar at Gibeon, 1 Kings ii. 26, 27 ; 1 Chron. xvi. 39. 

The Hebrew word cohen, which signifies priest, is 
sometimes used for a prince. In Exod. ii. 16, it is 
said that Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was 
priest (jhd, cohen) of Midian ; that is, according to 
some, prince, or governor, of his city. In 2 Sam. 
viii. 18, it is said, the sons of David were priests, 
(cohenim,) that is, princes ; and considered in the 
country as priests. The Septuagint say, they were 
AvlUy/ui, principal courtiers ; chiefs of the court. 
The author of the fhst book of Chronicles (xviii. 17.) 
explains this, by saying, they were the nearest at the 
king's hand. They had the chief employments at 
court. 

The Christian priesthood is the substance and 
truth, of which that of the Jews was but a shadow 
and figure. Christ, the everlasting priest, according 
to the order of Melchisedec, abides for ever, as Paul 
observes ; whereas the priests, according to the 
order of Aaron, were mortal, and therefore could not 
continue long, Heb. vii. 23, &c. The Lord, to ex- 
press to the Hebrews what great favors he would 
confer on them, says he would make them kings and 
priests, Exod. xix. 6. And Peter repeats this proin 
ise to Christians, or rather he tells them, that th 3y 
are in truth what Moses promised to Israel, 1 Pet ii. 
9. (See also Rev. i. 6.) 



PRIEST I 760 ] PRIEST 

A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE HIGH-PRIESTS OF THE HEBREWS. 



1. Succession from the Holy Scriptures. 



1. AaroD, brother of Moses, created high- 
priest, A. M. 2514, died 2552, ante A. D, 
1452. 

2. Eleazar, A. M..2552, died about 2571, 
ante A. D. 1433. 

3. Phinehas, about A. M. 2571, died about 
2590, ante A. D. 1414. 

4. Abiezer, or Abishua. £ under ± 

5. Bukki. > t.,j„»= 

6. Uzzi. S J g 

7. Eli, of the race of Ithamar, created in 
A M. 2848, died in 2888, ante A. D. 
1116. 

8. Ahitub I. 



Ahiah. He lived in A. M. 2911 , or 2912. 
Abimelech, or Abiathar, slain by Saul 
in A. M. 2944, ante A. D. 1060. 
11. Abiathar, Ahimelech, or Abimelech, un- 
der David, from A. M. 2944, to 2989, 
ante A. D. 1015. 

Zadok I. under Saul, David and Solo- 
mon, from A. M. 2944, till about 3000, 
ante A. D. 1004. 

Ahimaaz, under Rehoboam, about A. M. 
3030, ante A. D. 974. 
14. Azariah, under Jehoshaphat; probably 
the Amariah of 2 Chron. xix. 11. About 
A. M. 3092, ante A. D. 912. 
Johanan, perhaps Jehoiada, in the reign 
of Joash, 2 Chron. xxiv. 15, in A. M. 
3126. Died aged 130. 
Azariah, perhaps the Zechariah, son of 
Jehoiada, killed A. M. 3164, ante A. D. 
840. 

Amariah, perhaps Azariah, under Uzzi- 
ah, in A. M. 3221, ante A. D. 783. 
Ahitub II. ? under Jotham, king of 
Zadok II. S Judah. 



9. 
10. 



12 



13 



15 



16 



20. Uriah, under Ahaz ; he lived in A. M. 
3265, ante A. D. 739. 

21. Shallum, father of Azariah, and grand- 
father of Hilkiah. 

22. Azariah, in the time of Hezekiah, 2 
Chron. xxxi. 10. about A. M. 3278, ante 
A. D. 726. 

23. Hilkiah. under Hezekiah. 

24. Eliakim, or Joakim, under Manasseh, 
and at the time of the siege of Bethulia, 
A. M. 3348. He lived under Josiah to 
3380, and longer. Called Hilkiah. Vide 
Baruch i. 7. 

25. Azariah, perhaps Neriah, father of Se- 
raiah and of Baruch. 

26. Seraiah, the last high-priest before the 
captivity of Babylon, put to death A. M. 
3414, ante A. D. 590. 

27. Jehozadak, during the captivity from 
A. M. 3414 to 3469, ante A. D. 535. 

28. Joshua, or Jesus, the son of Jehozadak; 
returned from Babylon, A. M. 3468 ante 
A. D. 536. 



2. Succession from 
1 Chron. vi. 3—15 



1. Aaron. 

2. Eleazar. 

3. Phinehas. 

4. Abishua. 

5. Bukki. 

6. Uzzi. 

7. Zerahiah. 

8. Meraioth 

9. Amariah. 

10. Ahitub I. 

11. Zadok I. 

12. Ahimaaz. 

13. Azariah. 

14. Johanan, 

1 Chron. vi. 
9,10. 

15. Azariah. 

16. Amariah. 

17. Ahitub II. 

18. Zadok II. 

19. Shallum. 

20. Hilkiah. 

21. Azariah. 

22. Seraiah. 

23. Jehozadak. 

24. Joshua. 



3. Succession from 
Joseph. Ant. lib. v. 
c. 15 : lib. I. c. 11 



1. Aaron. 

2. Eleazar. 

3. Phinehas. 

4. Abiezer. 

5. Bukki. 

6. Uzzi. 

7. Eli. 

8. Ahitub. 

9. Ahimelech. 

10. Abiathar. 

11. Zadok. 

12. Ahimaa. 

13. Azariah. 

14. Joram. 

15. Issus. 

16. Axiora. 

17. Phideas. 

18. Sudeas. 

19. Julus. 

20. Jotham. 

21. Uriah. 

22. Neriah. 

23. Odeas. 

24. Saldum. 



25. Hilkiah. 

26. Seraiah. 

27. Jehozadak. 

28. Jesus, or 
Joshua. 



4. Succession from the Jewish 
Chronicle, Seder Olam. 



1. Aaron. 

2. Eleazar. 

3. Phinehas 

4. Eli. 

5. Ahitub. 

6. Abiathar. 

7. Zadok. 

8. Ahimah, under Reho- 
boam. 

9. Azariah, under Abiah. 

10. Jehoachash, under Je- 
hoshaphat. 

11. Jehoiarib, under Jeho- 
ram. 

12. Jehoshaphat, under 
Ahaziah. 

13. Jehoiadah, under Joash. 

14. Phadaiah, under Joash. 



15. Zedekiah, under Ama- 
ziah. 

16. Joel, under Uzziah. 



17. Jothan, under Joatham. 

18. Uriah, under Ahaz. 

19. Neriah, under Heze- 
kiah. 

20. Hosaiah, under Manas- 
seh. 

21. Shallum, under Anion. 

22. Hilkiah, under Josiah 



23. Azariah, under Jehoia- 
kim and Zedekiah. 

24. Jehozadak, after the 
taking of Jerusalem. 



25. Jesus, son of Jehozadak. 
after the captivity. 



PR I 



f 701 ] 



P It I 



CONTINUATION, COLLECTED FROM EZRA, NEHEMIAH AND JOSEPH US. 



29. Joachim, under the reign of Xerxes, Joseph. 
* Antiq. lib. xi. cap. 5. 

30. Eliasib, Joasib, or Chasib, under Nehetniah, in 
A. M. 3550, ante A. D. 454. 

31. Joiada, or Juda, Neh. xii. 10. 

32. Jonathan, or John. 

33. Jeddoa, or Jaddus, who received Alexander the 
Great at Jerusalem, in A. M. 3673 ; died in 3682, 
ante A. D. 322. 

34. Onias I. made high-priest in A. M. 3681, gov- 
erned 21 years ; died in 3702, ante A. D. 302. 

35. Simon I. called the Just, in A. M. 3702, or 3703 ; 
died in 3711, ante A. D. 293. 

36. Eleazar, in A- M. 3712. Under this pontiff, they 
tell us, the translation of the LXX was made, 
about A. M. 3727; died in 3744, ante A. D. 
260. 

37. Manasseh, in A.M. 3745; died in 3771, ante 
A. D. 233. 

38. Onias II. in A. M. 3771 ; died in 3785, ante 
A. D. 219. 

39. Simon II. in A. M. 3785 ; died in 3805, ante 
A. D. 199. 

40. Onias III." in A. M. 3805 ; deposed in 3829, died 
in 3834, ante A. D. 170. 

41. Jesus, or Jason, in A. M. 3830 ; deposed in 3831, 
ante A. D. 173. 

42. Onias IV. otherwise Menelaus, in A. M. 3832 ; 
died in 3842, ante A. D. 162. 

43. Lysimachus, vicegerent to Menelaus, killed in 
A. M. 3834, ante A. D. 170. 

44. Alcimus, or Jacimus, or Joachim, A. M. 3842 ; 
died in 3844, ante A. D. 160. 

45. Onias V. Not at Jerusalem ; but he retired into 
Egypt, where he built the temple Onion, in A. M. 
3854, ante A. D. 150. 

46. Judas Maccabeus, restored the altar and the sac- 
rifices, in A. M. 3840 ; died in 3843, ante A. D. 
161. 

47. Jonathan the Asmonean, brother to Judas Mac- 
cabeus, created high-priest in A. M. 3843 ; died 
in 3860, ante A. D. 144. 

48. Simon Maccabeus, made in A. M. 3860 ; died 
in .3869, ante A. D. 135. 

49. John Hircanus, made in A. M. 3869 ; died in 
3898, ante A. D. 106. 

50. Aristobulus, king and pontiff of the Jews ; died 
in A. M. 3899, ante A. D. 105. 

51. Alexander Janneus, king and pontiff 27 years, 
from A. M. 3899 to 3926, ante A. D. 78. 

52. Hircanus, high-priest 32 vears in all, from A. M. 
3926 to 3958, ante A. D. 46. 

53. Aristobulus, brother to Hircanus, usurped the 
high-priesthood ; three years and three months, 
from A. M. 3935 to 3940, ante A. D. 64. 

54 Antigonus, his son, also usurped the priesthood, 
in prejudice to the rights of Hircanus ; possessed 
it for three years and seven months, from A. M. 
3964 to 3967, when he was taken by Sosius, 
ante A. D. 37. 

55. Ananeel of Babvlon, made high -priest by Herod 
in 3968, till 3970, ante A. D. 34. « 

PRIESTHOOD. We may distinguish four kinds 
of priesthood. (1.) That of kings, princes, heads of 
families, and the first-born. This may be called a 
natural priesthood, because nature and reason teach 
us. that the honor of offering sacrifices to God should 
96 



56. Aristobulus, the last of the Asmoneans ; did not 
enjoy the pontificate a whole year. Died in 
A. M. 3970, ante A. D. 34. 

Ananeel was made high-priest a second time id 
A. M. 3971, ante A. D. 33. 

57. Jesus, son of Phabis ; deposed in A. M. 3981, 
ante A. D. 23. 

58. Simon, son of Boethus ;' made in A. M. 3981; 
deposed in 3999, ante A. D. 5. 

59. Matthias, son of Theophilus ; made in A. M. 
3999, ante A. D. 5. 

60. Joazar, son of Simon, son of Boethus ; made in 
A. M. 4000, the year of the birth of Jesus Christ, 
four years ante A. D. 

61. Eleazar, brother to Joazar, made in A. M. 4004, 
A. D. 1. 

62. Jesus, son of Siah ; made in A. M. 4009. 
Joazar made a second time in A. M. 4010, de- 
prived in 4016, A. D. 13. 

63. Ananus, son of Seth, 11 years, from A. M 
4016, to 4027, A. D. 24. 

64. Ishmael, son of Phabi ; made in A. M. 4027 
A. D. 24. 

65. Eleazar, son of Ananus; made in A. M. 4027, 
A. D. 24. 

66. Simon, son of Camithus; made in A. M. 4028, 
A. D. 25. 

67. Joseph, surnamed Caiaphas ; made in A. M. 
4029, till 4038, A. D. 35. 

68. Jonathan, son of Ananus ; made in A. M. 4038, 
till 4040, A. D. 37. 

69. Theophilus, son of Jonathan ; made in A. M. 
4040, deposed in 4044, A. D. 41. 

70. Simon, surnamed Cantharus, son of Simon Boe- 
thus ; made in A. M. 4044, A. D. 41. 

71. Matthias, son of Ananus ; made in A. M. 4045, 
A. D. 42. 

72. Elioneus, made in A. M. 4047, till 4048, A. D. 
45. 

Simon, son of Cantharus ; a second time made 
high-priest, A. M. 4048 ; deposed the same 
year. 

73. Joseph, son of Caneus; made in A. M. 4048, 
till 4050, A. D. 47. 

74. Ananias, son of Nebedeus ; made in A. M. 4050, 
till 4066, A. D. 63. 

75. Ishmael, son of Phabius ; made in A. M. 4066, 
A. D. 63. 

76. Joseph, surnamed Cabei ; the same year, A. M. 
4066. 

77. Ananus, son of Ananus ; the same year, A. M. 
4066. 

78. Jesus, son of Ananus, made in A. M. 4067, A. D. 
64. 

79. Jesus, son of Gamaliel ; the same year, A. M. 
4067. 

80. Matthias, son of Theophilus; made in A. M. 
4068, till 4073, A. D. 70. 

81. Phannias, son of Samuel ; made in A. M. 4073, 
A. D. 70 ; which is the year of the destruction 
of the temple of Jerusalem by the Romans, and 
of the abolition of the Jewish priesthood. 

belong to the most mature in understanding, and the 
greatest in dignity. (2.) The priesthood, according 
to the order of Melchisedec, which does not differ 
from that now mentioned, but hi its dignity; be- 
cause Melchisedec was raised up of God to represent 



PRO 



PRO 



the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Or the priesthood 
of Melchisedec combined in the same person the right 
of the kingly and of the priestly offices, with that of 
the first-born, to exercise the priesthood ; or he was 
at once king, priest and prophet, that is, authorita- 
tive teacher, in every sense of the term. (See Mel- 
chisedec.) (3.) The priesthood of Aaron and his 
family, which subsisted as long as the religion of the 
Jews. (4.) The priesthood of Jesus Christ, and of 
the new law, which is infinitely superior to all oth- 
ers, in its duration, its dignity, its prerogatives, its 
object, and its power. The priesthood of Aaron was 
to end, but that of Jesus Christ is everlasting. That 
of Aaron was limited to his own family, was exer- 
cised only in the temple, and among only one peo- 
ple ; its object was bloody sacrifices and purifications, 
which were only external, and could not remit sins ; 
but the priesthood of Jesus Christ includes the entire 
Christian church, spread over the face of the whole 
earth, and among all nations of the world. The 
Epistle to the Hebrews should be considered by 
those who would comprehend the excellence of the 
priesthood of the new law above that of the law of 
Moses, Heb. iv. 14, &c. also chap. v. — ix. ^See 1 
Pet. ii. 5—9.) 

PRINCE is sometimes taken for the chief, the 
principal ; as the princes of the families, of the 
tribes, of the houses of Israel ; the princes of the 
Levites, of the people, of the priests ; the princes of 
the synagogue, or assembly ; the princes of the chil- 
dren of Reuben, of Judah, &c. Also, for the king, 
the sovereign of a country, and his principal officers : 
the princes of the army of Pharaoh ; Phichol, prince 
of the army of Abimelech : Potiphar was prince or 
chief of the executioners or guards of the king of 
Egypt ; and Joseph was in prison with the prince of 
the bakers, &c. The prince of the priests some- 
times denotes the high-priest actually in office, (2 
Mac. iii. 4 ; Matt. xxvi. 57.) or he who had formerly 
possessed this dignity. Sometimes, he who was at 
the head of the priests, waiting in the temple ; (Jer. 
xx. 1 ; xxix. 25—27 ; 2 Chron. xxxv. 8.) or an in- 
tendant of the temple, or the head of the sacerdotal 
families. The prince of the city had in the city the 
same authority as the intendant of the temple had in 
the temple : he took care of the preservation of the 
peace, and good order, 2 Chron. xviii. 25 ; xxxiv. 8. 
The prince of this world is the devil, who boasts of 
having all the kingdoms of the earth at his disposal, 
John xii. 31 ; xiv. 30 ; xvi. 11. 

PRISCA, or Priscilla, (2 Tim. iv. 19.) a Chris- 
tian woman, well known in the Acts, and in Paul's 
Epistles ; sometimes placed before her husband 
Aquila. Their house was so thoroughly Christian- 
ized, that Paul calls it a church. From Ephesus 
they went to Rome, where they were when this 
apostle wrote his Epistle to the Romans, A. D. 58. 
In chap. xvi. 5, he salutes them first, with great 
commendations. They returned into Asia some 
time afterwards, and Paul, writing to Timothy, de- 
sires him to salute them on his account, 2 Tim. iv. 
19, A. D. 65. It is thought they died here. See 
Aquila. 

PROCHORUS, or Procorus, one of the first 
seven deacons, Acts vi. 5. 

PRODIGAL, profuse, wasteful, extravagant. The 
reader, no doubt, has always discerned tenderness 
and affection in the manner in which the father, in 
the parable of the Prodigal Son, (Luke xv.) receives 
the young man, his son, when returning home ; but 
the honor implied in some circumstances of his re- | 



ception, acquires additional spirit, from an occur- 
rence recorded by major Rooke. English readers, 
observing the " music and dancing," heard by the elder 
son, are ready to imagine that the family, or a part of 
it, was dancing to the music, because such would be 
the case among ourselves ; whereas, the fact is, that not 
only a band of music, but a band of dancers also, ac- 
cording to eastern usage, was hired, whose agility was 
now entertaining the numerous company of friends, 
invited by the father on this joyful occasion. This, 
then, is an additional expression of honor done the 
prodigal ; and to our Lord's auditory, would convey 
the idea, not merely of the delight expressed by the 
father on his son's arrival, but also, that he treated 
him as if he had come back from some honorable 
pilgrimage ; (as from Mecca, in the subjoined ex- 
tract; for so we find Hadje Cassim acting on account 
of his son's arrival from thence ;) that he forgot his 
misbehavior in going away, and felt only his wisdom 
in returning; that besides treating him with the best 
in the house, he had put himself to further expenses, 
and had introduced him honorably, not only to his 
family again, but to his friends around, whom he had 
assembled to grace his reception.' "Hadje Cassim, 
who is a Turk, and one of the richest merchants in 
Cairo, had interceded in my behalf with Ibrahim 
Bey, at the instance of his son, who had been on a 
pilgrimage to Mecca, and came from Juddah in the 
same ship with me. The father, in celebration of his 
son's return, gave a most magnificent fete on the even- 
ing of the day of my captivity, and, as soon as I was 
released, sent to invite me to partake of it ; and I 
accordingly went. His company was very numer- 
ous, consisting of three or four hundred Turks, who 
were all sitting on sofas and benches, smoking their 
long pipes ; the room in which they were assembled 
was a spacious and lofty hall, in the centre of which 
was a band of music, composed of five Turkish in- 
struments, and some vocal performers ; as there 
were no ladies in the assembly, you may suppose it 
was not the most lively party in the world ; but being 
new to me, was for that reason entertaining." (Trav- 
els in Arabia Felix, page 104.) This, too, adds a 
spirit to the elder brother's expression : "Thou never 
gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my 
friends :" — and as this fete was given in the evening, 
it agrees with the circumstance of the elder brother's 
return from the field ; implying, no doubt, his labors 
there, which certainly are not forgotten by himself, 
when he says, " These many years do I serve thee." 
Now, if the Jews were alluded to in the person of 
the elder son, we may see how characteristic this 
language is of that nation ; and if the Gentiles were 
meant by the prodigal, it cannot be unpleasing to us, 
who are Gentiles by nature, to form a higher esti- 
mate than heretofore of the honors bestowed on that 
disobedient wanderer by his father. 

PROFANE. (See Defile, and Holt.) When 
Jerusalem is compared to the temple, the soil of the 
city is called profane ; (Ezek. xlviii. 15.) that is, ap- 
pointed to common uses, and for a habitation of 
laics. In 2 Mac. xii. 23, the heathen that composed 
the army of Timotheus, are called profane; and Paul 
marks as profane such novel words and expressions 
as are needlessly introduced into religion, 1 Tim. vi. 
20. To profane the temple, to profane the sabbath, 
to profane the altar, are common expressions, to de- 
note the violation of the repose of the sabbath ; the 
entering of foreigners into the temple ; irreverences 
committed there ; impious sacrifices offered on the 
altar of the Lord, &c. To profane the statutes, or 



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the commandments of God, is to transgress and vio- 
late them, Ps. lxxxix. 31. To profane the covenant, 
or promises sworn to by an oath, is to frustrate them, 
or not perform them, Ps. lxxxix. 34. 

PROMISE, a declaration, or assurance of some 
future good. The word is, in the New Testament, 
usually ta^en for the promises made by God to 
Abraham and the patriarchs, to send them the Mes- 
siah. In this sense Paul commonly uses it, Gal. iii. 
16 ; Rom. iv. 13. et passim. In Acts vii. 17, the time 
of the promise, is the time of the coming of the Mes- 
siah. The children of the promise are, first, the 
Israelites descended from Isaac, in opposition to the 
Ishmaelites descended from Ishmael and Hagar; 
(Rom. ix. 8; Gal. iv. 28.) secondly, the Jews con- 
verted to Christianity, in opposition to the unbeliev- 
ing Jews. • Christians enjoy the promises made to 
the patriarchs, from which the unbelieving Jews 
have fallen. The Holy Spirit of promise, which 
Christians have received, (Eph. i. 13.) is that which 
God has promised to those who believe, and which 
is the pledge of their everlasting happiness. The 
first commandment with promise, (Eph. vi. 2.) is, 
u Honor thy father and thy mother ;" to which God 
has subjoined this promise, "Their days shall be 
multiplied on the earth." The promises, in general, 
denote eternal life, which is the object of a Chris- 
tian's hope, Heb. xi. 13. The ancient patriarchs 
were heirs of the promises by their faith and their 
patience, Heb. vi. 12. All the promises of God are 
accomplished and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. i. 20. 

The word promise is sometimes taken in our Eng- 
lish version for the thing promised, as well as for the 
terms in which the engagement to confer a favor is 
made. So we read, (Heb. xi. 13.) that the patriarchs 
died in faith, "not having received the promises;" 
whereas they certainly had received the promises, but 
not the things promised ; and this is the more unfortu- 
nate, in this place, as we read immediately afterwards, 
that "Abraham had received the promises," that is, 
the birth of his son and heir, Isaac. 

Promises always refer to future good; and in this 
they differ from threatenings, which always refer to 
evil : they differ also, inasmuch as threatenings may 
be alleviated ; but promises must be fulfilled. No 
man would claim the execution of threatenings ; but 
a promise gives a right of claim to the party to be 
benefited. The fidfilment of promises may be de- 
layed, as that which assured Abraham of posterity: 
they may be executed by means not apparent at the 
time. Man should be extremely cautious in making 
promises, lest he may fail in power to accomplish 
them ; not so God, who has all power, at all times, 
and cannot be taken unprepared. 

PROOF, trial, temptation. God proved the Is- 
raelites to see if they would walk in his ways, Exod. 



xx. 20. After he had proved them and afflicted them, 
he had pity on them, Deut. viii. 16. As gold and 
silver are tried in the furnace, so God proves the 
heart, Prov. xvii. 3. 

PROPHECY, the foretelling of such events as 
could be known only to God. It is beyond dispute 
that there is a Power which governs the world ; 
which raises one family to the throne, and one na- 
tion to the supremacy ; and then, when this has 
answered the purposes for which it was exalted, 
transfers the sceptre of rule to a stranger, and pro- 
duces, from obscurity into reputation and splendor 
another person, or another people ; maintains this 
also, during its appointed time, and when that time 
is expired, suffers it gradually to decay ; or directs a 
new ambition to wrest from its enfeebled hand, and 
its palsied head, the ensigns of royalty, and the to- 
kens of dignity. 

It is said, " Kingdoms rise and fall by accident;" 
and it is asked, " If no superior power interfered, 
would not their changes be just the same?" It is 
sufficient for us, without adverting to what might be, 
to answer, by what is ; and this subject deserves at- 
tention. We have seen infidel writers criticise books 
they had not read, (or had read years ago, and so 
criticise by memory ; or had read them so superfi- 
cially, as scarcely amounts to a reading,) and then 
retail unfounded observations and dogmatical re- 
marks on what they should (by way of answer) be 
entreated first to understand. 

We maintain, that if we find certain events pre- 
dicted, long before they happened ; if they be so 
clearly described, that when completed, the descrip- 
tion determinately applies to the subject ; if they be 
related by persons entirely unconcerned in the 
events, and expecting to be removed from the stage 
of life long before they take place ; then we demon- 
strate that some power superior to humanity has 
been pleased to impart so much of its designs, and 
counsels, as are referred to in such predictions. 
And where is the unfitness of this ? May not a king, 
if he please, acquaint a person with his intention, 
that after such an one has been governor of a prov- 
ince for so many years, he designs to send such 
another to be governor after him? or that after A 
has held such an office during his appointed time, 
B shall succeed him ? If this be nothing startling, or 
uncommon, in human concerns, let us see how this 
simple idea applies to the divine government of the 
world. One clear instance may justify this state- 
ment ; and this instance we select from the prophet 
Daniel, because its coincidence with history is un- 
questionable ; but other subjects are capable of the 
same enumerative demonstration : we say demonstra 
tion; for who, by the power of mere human facul 
ties, could foresee such contingencies ? 



INSTANCE OF PROPHECY COMPARED WITH HISTORY : 

THE CHIEF INCIDENTS ONLY BEING SELECTED, AND NUMBERED. 



Prophecy of Four Kingdoms, represented by Four 
Beasts. 



Corresponding Events, in their Historical Order. 



THE FIRST BEAST. 



ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. 



1. A lion, 

2. having eagle's wings ; 

3. the wings were plucked. 



1. The Babylonian empire , 

2. Nineveh, &c. added to it — but 

3. Nineveh was almost destroyed at the fall of 

Sardanapalus ; 



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4. it was raised from the ground, 

5. and made to stand on the feet as a man, 

6. and a man's heart [intellect] was given to it. 

Dan. chap. iv. 

THE SECOND BEAST 

1. A ram, 

2. which had two horns, 

3. both high, 

4. but one higher than the other, 

5. the highest came up last ; 

6. the ram pushed north, west, south, 



7. did as he pleased, and became great. 



THE THIRD BEAST. 

1. A he goat 

2. came from the west, 

3. gliding swiftly over the earth ; 

4. ran unto the ram in the fury of his power, 

5. smote him, 

6. brake his two horns, 

7. cast him on the ground, 

8. stamped on him, and 

9. waxed very great. 

10. When he was strong, his great horn was bro- 

ken, and 

11. instead of it came up four notable ones, 



12. towards the four winds of heaven ; 

13. out of one of them a little horn waxed great 

14. toward the south and east ; 

15. which took away the daily sacrifice, and cast 

down the sanctuary, &c. 
Dan. chap. viii. 3 — 12. 

These events are prefigured by different emblems, 
though to the same purpose, in other parts of this 
prophet ; and it is probable they refer to the heraldic 
insignia of the nations they concern. (Comp. Mace- 
donia.) 

PROPHET. Scripture often gives to prophets 
the name of men of God, or of angels (that is, mes- 
sengers) of the Lord. The verb nibba, which we 
translate to prophesy, is of very great extent. Some- 
times it signifies to foretell what is to come ; at other 
times to be inspired, to speak from God. God says 
to Moses, (Exod. vii. 1.) " Aaron thy brother shall be 
thy prophet ;" he shall explain thy sentiments to the 
people. Paul, (Tit. i. 12.) quoting a heathen poet, 
calls him a prophet. Scripture does not withhold 
the name of prophet from impostors, although they 
falsely boasted of inspiration. As true prophets, 
when filled by the energy of God's Spirit, were 
sometimes agitated violently, similar motions were 
called prophesying when exhibited by persons who 
were filled with a good or evil spirit, 1 Sam. xviii. 
10. Saul, being moved by an evil spirit, prophesied 
in his house. Dancing, or playing on instruments, 
is also sometimes called prophesying: "Thou shalt 
meet a company of prophets (says Samuel to Saul) 
coming down from the high place, with a psaltery, 
and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp before them, 



4. yet this empire was again elevated to power, 

5. and seemed to acquire stability under Nebu- 

chadnezzar, 

6. who laid the foundation of its subsequent policy 

and authority. 

PERSIAN EMPIRE. 

1. Darius ; or the Persian power, 

2. composed of Media and Persia, 

3. both considerable provinces, 

4. Media the more powerful : yet this most powerful 

5. Median empire, under Dejoces, rose after the 

other ; 

6. and extended its conquests under Cyrus over 

Lydia, &c. west; over Asia north ; over Baby- 
lon, &c. south ; and • 

7. ruling over such extent of country, was a great 

empire. 

GRECIAN EMPIRE. 

1. Alexander, or the Greek power, 
i. came from Europe (west of Asia) ; 

3. with unexampled rapidity of success 

4. attacked Darius furiously, and 

5. beat him — at the Gianicus, Issus, &c. 

6. conquered Persia and Media, &c. 

7. ruined the power of Darius, 

8. insomuch that Darius was murdered, &c. 

9. Alexander overran Bactriana, to India; 

10. but died at Babylon, in the zenith of his fame 

and power ; 

11. his dominions were parcelled among Seleucus, 

Antigonus, Ptolemy, Cassander (who had 
been his officers) : 

12. in Babylon, Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece. 

13. Antiochus the Great succeeded by Antiochus 

Epiphanes, 

14. conquered Egypt, &c. 

15. and endeavored utterly to subvert the Jewish 

polity : polluting their temple, worship and 
sacrifices, to the utmost of his power. 

and they shall prophesy. And the Spirit of the 
Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy 
with them, and shalt be turned into another man," 
1 Sam. x. 5, 6. So we read, 1 Chron. xxv. 1, that 
the sons of Asaph were appointed to prophesy upon 
harps. 

The term prophesy is also used (1 Cor. xi. 4, 5 • 
xiv. 1, &c.) for "explaining Scripture, speaking to 
the church in public ; probably because they who 
exercised these functions were regarded as under 
the direction of the Holy Spirit. So it is said in 
Acts xiii. 1, that Judas and Silas were prophets; that 
there were in the church at Antioch certain prophets 
and teachers ; that is, official instructers. God has 
set in the church, first, apostles, then prophets, 1 
Cor. xii. 28. (See also Eph. ii. 20 ; Rev. xviii. 20 ; 
Acts xxi. 9.) 

The usual way by which God communicated his 
will to the prophets was by inspiration, which con- 
sisted in illuminating the mind, and exciting them to 
proclaim what the Lord had dictated. In this sense 
we acknowledge as prophets all the authors of the 
canonical books of Scripture, both of the Old and 
New Testaments. God also communicated infor- 
mation to the prophets by dreams and visions. Joel 
(ii. 28.) promises to the people of the Lord that their 
young men should see visions, and then- old men 



PROPHET 



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PROPHET 



have prophetic dreams. Peter (Acts x. 11, 12.) fell 
into an ecstasy at noon-day, and had a revelation 
importing the call of the Gentiles. The Lord ap- 
peared to Abraham, to Job, and to Moses in a cloud, 
and discovered his will to them. His voice was 
sometimes heard articulately. Thus, he spoke to 
Moses in the burning bush, and on mount Sinai, and 
to Samuel in the night. 

We have in the Old Testament the writings of 
sixteen prophets ; that is, of four greater and twelve 
lesser prophets. The four greater prophets are 
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The Jews 
do not properly place Daniel among the prophets, 
because (they say) he lived in the splendor of tem- 
poral dignities, and led a kind of life different from 
other prophets. The twelve lesser prophets are, 
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Jonah, Nahum, 
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and 
Malachi. 

Chronological order of the prophets, according to 
Calmet. 

1. Hosea, under Uzziah, king of Judah, who began 

to reign A. M. 3194 ; and under Jotham, Ahaz 
and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and under Jero- 
boam II. king of Israel, and his successors, to 
the destruction of Samaria, A. M. 3283. 

2. Amos, under Uzziah, A. M. 3219, and about six 

years before the dealh of Jeroboam II. king of 
Israel, A. M. 3220. 

3. Isaiah, at the death of Uzziah, and at the begin- 

ning of the reign of Jotham, king of Judah, 
A. M. 3246 ; to the reign of Manasseh, A. M. 
3306. 

4. Jonah, under the kings Joash and Jeroboam II. 

in the kingdom of Israel ; about the same time 
as Hosea, Isaiah and Amos. Jeroboam II. 
died A. M. 3220. 

5. Micah, under Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, 

kings of Judah. Jotham began to reign A. M. 
3235, and Hezekiah died A. M. 3306. Micah 
was contemporary with Isaiah, but began later 
to prophesy. 

6. Nahum, under Hezekiah, and after the expedi- 

tion of Sennacherib, that is, after A. M. 3291. 

7. Jeremiah, in the thirteenth year of Josiah, king 

of Judah, A.M. 3375. Jeremiah continued to 
prophesy under Shallum, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah 
and Zedekiah, to the taking of Jerusalem by the 
Chaldeans, A. M. 3416. It is thought he died 
two years afterwards in Egypt. 

8. Zephaniah, at the beginning of the reign of Jo- 

siah, an I before the twenty-eighth year of that 
prince, V. M. 3381 ; and even before the taking 
of Nine eh, A.M. 3378. 

9. Joel, ui er Josiah, about the same time as 

Jeremian and Zephaniah. [But see under 
Joel.- R. 

10. Daniel was taken into Chaldea, A. M. 3398, the 

fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. He 
prophesied at Babylon to the end of the cap- 
tivity, A. M. 3468, and perhaps longer. 

11. Ezekiel was carried 'captive to Babylon with 

Jeconiah, king of Judah, A. M. 3405. He be- 
gan to prophesy in A.M. 3409. He continued 
till toward the end of the reign of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, who died A. M. 3442. 

12. Habakkdk, in Judea, at the beginning of the 

reign of Jehoiakim, about A. M. 3394, and be- 
fore the coming of Nebuchadnezzar in 3398. 



13. Obaoiah, in Judea, after the taking oi Jerusa- 

lem, A. M. 3414, and before the desolation of 
Idumca, (as we believe,) in 3410. 

14. Haggai returned from the captivity A. M. 3468, 

and prophesied the second year of Darius, son 
of Hystaspes, A. M. 3484. 

15. Zechariah prophesied in Judea at the same 

time as Haggai, and seems to have continued 
after him. 

16. Malachi has no date to his prophecies. If he 

were the same as Esdras, which is very proba- 
ble, he may have prophesied under Nehemiah, 
who returned into Judea, A. M. 3550. See the 
articles of these prophets. 
Beside these, there are many whose names appear 
in Scripture, but of whom we have no writings 
remaining. 

The Prophetesses are, (1.) Miriam, sister of Moses. 
(2.) Deborah. (3.) Hannah, the mother of Sam- 
uel. (4.) Abigail. (5.) Huldah. (6.) Esther. 
(7.) The midwives of Egypt, who preserved the 
first-born of the Hebrews. 

After Malachi, there were no prophets in Israel, as 
before ; so that in the time of the Maccabees, (1 Mac. 
iv. 46. ante A. D. 164.) when the altar of burnt-sacri- 
fices was demolished, which had been profaned by 
the Gentiies, the stones thereof were set aside, till a 
prophet should arise to declare what should be done 
with them. 

The pro} hets were the divines, the philosophers, 
the instructors, and the guides of the Hebrews in 
piety and virtue. They generally lived retired, in 
some country retreat, or in a sort of community, 
where they and their disciples were employed in 
study, prayer and labor. Their habitations were 
plain and simple. They exercised no trade for gain, 
nor did they un, 'ertake any work that was too labo- 
rious, or inconsistent with the repose their employ- 
ment required. Elisha quitted his plough, when 
Elijah called him to the prophetic office, 1 Kings 
xix. 20. Zechariah (xiii. 5.) speaks of one who is no 
prophet, but a husbandman. Amos says (vii. 14.) he 
is no prophet, but a herdman, and a gatherer of 
sycamore fruit. 

Elijah was clothed with skins, and girded with a 
girdle of leather, 2 Kings i. 8. Isaiah wore sack- 
cloth, that is, a coarse rough habit, of a dark brown 
color, which was the ordinary clothing of the proph- 
ets. Zechariah says, (xiii. 4.) speaking of the false 
prophets who imitated externally the true prophets 
of the Lord, that "they should not wear a rough 
garment to deceive." In Rev. xi. 3, the two witnesses 
are clothed in sackcloth. Their poverty was con- 
spicuous in their actions. They received presents 
of bread, fruits and honey ; or the first-fruits of the 
earth ; as being persons who possessed nothing 
themselves. The woman of Shunem, who enter- 
tained Elisha, put into the prophet's chamber no fur- 
niture but what was plain and necessary, 2 Kings iv. 
10. The same prophet refuses the rich presents of 
Naaman, and drives away from his presence Gehazi, 
who had received them, 2 Kings v. 26. Their fru- 
gality appears throughout their history. It is well 
known what is related of the wild gourds, that one 
of the prophets caused to be boiled for the refresh- 
ment of his brethren, 2 Kings iv. 38, 40. The angel 
gave to Elijah only bread and water for a long 
journey, 1 Kings xix. 6. Obadiah, governoi of 
Ahab's household, gave bread and water to the 



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prophets whom he fed in the caves, 1 Kings 
xviii. 4. 

The prophets were not observers of celibacy ; 
Samuel had children, and Isaiah had a wife, called 
the prophetess, chap. viii. 3. Hosea (i. 2, &c.) re- 
ceived orders to marry. (See Hosea.) But there 
were no women, or wives, in the societies of the 
prophets. Neither Elijah nor Elisha had any that 
we hear of ; and we see with what reserve the wo- 
man who entertained Elisha spoke to him ; and that 
by the interposition of Gehazi, 2 Kings iv. 27. The 
prophets were exposed to the railleries, the insults, 
the persecutions, and the ill treatment both of kings 
and people, whose vices and irregularities they un- 
dertook to reprove ; and Paul acquaints us, that many 
of them died violent deaths, Heb. xi. 35, &c. 

In several parts of the Old Testament we find 
mention made of " Books of the Prophets," which are 
quoted as authorities for certain Histories ; which 
books, thus referred to, are usually lives and actions 
of the kings ; not records of any chronological peri- 
od of time. The very same custom seems to be re- 
tained in Abyssinia, where a person is especially ap- 
pointed to the office of Recorder ; and, if the same 
consequence were anciently attached to that office 
among the Hebrews, as is now in that country, we 
may safely rely on the authenticity of the narration, 
and the integrity of the narrator. Perhaps, too, we 
may discern reasons why Scripture sometimes re- 
frains from condemning certain crimes ; as it is not 
the duty of the historiographer to comment on the 
king's actions ; though we may safely add, that suc- 
ceeding providences, recorded in such histories, are 
usually comments sufficiently explicit, independent 
of their connection as cause and effect. The follow- 
ing is from Bruce : — 

"The king has near his person an officer who is 
meant to be his Historiographer. He is also 
keeper of his seal : and is obliged to make a journal of 
the king's actions, good or had, without comment of his 
own upon them. — This, when the king dies, or at least 
soon after, is delivered to the council, who read it 
over, and erase every thing false in it, whilst they sup- 
ply every material fact that may have been omitted, 
whether purposely or not." (Travels, vol. ii. p. 596.) 

It is remarkable that the title Seer occurs princi- 
pally, if not altogether, under the regal •government 
of Israel. We meet with it first in reference to the 
prophet Samuel, (1 Sam. ix. 9.) such persons having 
been previously called prophets. May it be ques- 
tioned whether Samuel was not the first acknowledged 
official writer of annals ? i. e. one attached to the 
king's person, so far at least as to be confessedly en- 
gaged as such, in the royal service. Indeed, as Saul 
was the first king, Samuel, alone, could be the first 
recorder under the crown. Hence probably his 
books are preserved, as the first of their kind, the ex- 
emplars of all others. Gad, " David's seer," (1 Chron. 
\xi. 9.) Heman, "the king's seer," (1 Chron. xxv. 5, 
perhaps after Gad's demise,) Iddo " the seer," (2 Chron. 
'X. 29; xii. 15.) and Jeduthun, "the king's seer," (2 
Chron. xxxv. 15, &c.) all seem to have occupied the 
post of regal historiographer. Whence other writers 
of memoirs might also be called seers. This idea 
is corroborated by what is remarked of Manasseh : 
(2 Chron. xxxiii. 19.) " His prayer, and his pardon, his 
sin, his trespass, his high places, groves, graven im- 
ages, &c. behold they are written among the remarks, 
words, of the seers." If this be admitted, then we see 
the importance of these officers, as " keepers of the 
king's seal ;" and the reason for the distinction be- 



tween prophet and seer ; why a person might be a 
prophet only, i. e. from God ; or a seer only, i e. a 
writer of memoirs, or both together. 

[The distinction here attempted to be made be- 
tween prophet and see?-, has no foundation in the bib- 
lical representations. For the character of the proph- 
ets generally, of their inspiration and of their proph- 
ecies, see an article by professor Hengstenberg, in the 
Biblical Repository, vol. ii. p. 138; and another by 
professor Stuart, in the same work, vol. ii. p. 217. R. 

PROSELYTE, a name given by the Jews to those 
who come to dwell in their country, or who embrace 
their religion, not being Jews by birth. 

They distinguish two kinds of proselytes. The 
first, proselytes of the gate ; the others, proselytes of 
justice. The first dwelt in the land of Israel, or even 
out of that country, and without obliging themselves 
to circumcision, or to any other ceremony of the law, 
feared and worshipped the true God, observing the 
Noachical rules, or what the rabbins call the seven 
precepts of Noah. Of this number was Naaman the 
Syrian, Nebuzar-adan, general of Nebuchadnezzar's 
army, Cornelius the centurion, the eunuch of queen 
Candace, and some others mentioned in the Acts. 

The rabbins teach, that a proselyte of habitation, 
or of the gate, must promise under an oath, in the 
presence of three witnesses, to keep the seven pre- 
cepts of the Noachida? ; that is, according to them, 
that law of nature to which all the nations of the 
world are obliged ; the observation of which might 
secure them salvation. The Jews say, that proselytes 
of the gate have ceased in Israel, ever since the ob- 
servation of the jubilee has been left off", and the tribes 
of Gad, of Reuben, and of Manasseh, on the other 
side Jordan, were led captive by Tiglath-pileser. But 
this is not accurate ; since we see many proselytes in 
the time of Christ, who reproaches the Pharisees with 
compassing sea and land to make a proselyte ; and, 
after this, making him a greater sinner than he was 
before, Matt, xxiii. 15. Luke (Acts ii. 11.) speaks of 
a great number of proselytes, and of those who feared 
God, at Jerusalem, when the Holy Ghost descended 
upon the apostles. 

The privileges of proselytes of the gate were, first, 
that by the observation of the rules of natural justice, 
and by avoiding idolatry, blasphemy, incest, adultery 
and murder, they might through grace hope for eter- 
nal life. Secondly, they might dwell in the land of 
Israel, and share in the outward prosperities of it. It 
is said they did not dwell in the cities, but only in the 
suburbs and villages. But it is certain, that the Jews 
often admitted into their cities, not only proselytes of 
• habitation, but also Gentiles and idolaters, as appears 
by the reproaches, on this account, throughout the 
Scriptures. In the time of Solomon there were in 
Israel 153,600 of these proselytes, whom he compelled 
to hew wood, to draw water, to cut stones, and to 
carry burdens for the building of the temple, 2 Chron. 
ii. 17, 18. They were Canaanites, who -had contin- 
ued in the country since Joshua's time. 

Proselytes of justice were those converted to Ju- 
daism, who had engaged to receive circumcision, and 
to observe the whole law of Moses. Thus they were 
admitted to all the prerogatives of the people of the 
Lord, as well in this life as the other. The rabbins 
inform us, that before circumcision was administered 
to them, and they were admitted into the religion of 
the Hebrews, they were examined about the motives 
of their conversion ; whether the change were volun- 
tary, or whether it proceeded from interest, fear, am- 
bition, &c. Maknonides assures us, that under the 



PRO 



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happy reigns of David and Solomon, they received 
no proselytes of justice, because there was reason to 
fear, that the prosperity of these princes, rather than 
any love to religion, made them converts to Judaism. 
The Talmudists say, that proselytes are, as it were, 
the canker and rust of Israel, and that very great 
caution must be taken not to admit them too readily. 

When the proselyte had been well instructed, they 
gave him circumcision; and when the wound was 
healed, they gave him baptism, by plunging his whole 
body into a cistern of water, by one immersion. This 
ceremony, being a judicial act, was to be performed 
in the presence of" three judges, and could not be 
done on a festival day. The proselyte also caused 
circumcision and baptism to be administered to his 
slaves, under thirteen years of age : those of that age, 
or older, could not be compelled ; but he must sell 
them, if they were obstinate in not embracing Ju- 
daism. Female slaves were only baptized if they 
would become converts ; if not, they were to be sold. 
Baptism was never repeated, neither in the person of 
the proselyte, though he should afterwards apostatize, 
nor in that of his children, born to him after baptism, 
unless they were born from a pagan woman ; in 
which case, they were to be baptized as pagans, be- 
cause they followed the condition of their mother. 
(See Buxtorf, Lex. Rab. Chald. Talm. col. 407, seq. 
Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. and Kuinoel on Matt. iii. 6. 
Selden de Jure Nat. et Gent. ii. 2.) 

Boys under twelve years of age, and girls under 
thirteen, could not become proselytes, till they had 
obtained the consent of their parents, or in case of 
refusal, the concurrence of the officers of justice. 
Baptism in respect of girls, had the same effect as 
circumcision in respect of boys. Each of them by 
means of this, received (as it were) a new birth ; so 
that those who were their parents before, were no 
longer regarded as such after this ceremony ; and 
those who before were slaves, now became free. 
Children born before the conversion of their father, 
had no right to inherit. If a proselyte died without 
having had children after his conversion, his estate 
belonged to the first occupier, and not to the public 
treasury. When proselytes became Jews, the rab- 
bins teach that they received from heaven a new 
soul, and a new substantial form. 

It is thought that our Saviour alluded to the bap- 
tizing of proselytes, when he told Nicodemus, (John 
iii. 5 — 10.) that for those who would obey his law, it 
was necessary they should be born again. When 
Nicodemus appeared surprised at this, our Saviour 
replied, " Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest 
not these things ? " as though he would infer, that his 
language had nothing extraordinary in it, since the 
baptism of proselytes was practised every day in 
Israel. 

PROVERBS, a name given by the Hebrews, in 
common with that of parables or similitudes, to moral 
sentences, maxims, comparisons or enigmas, express- 
ed in a poetical, figurative and sententious style. 
Solomon says, that in his time, maxims of this sort 
were the chief study of the learned : " A wise man 
will endeavor to understand a proverb, and the inter- 
pretation ; the words of the wise, and their dark say- 
ings," Prov. i 6. Jesus, son of Sirach, says, (Ecclus. 
xxxix. 1 — 3.) "He will keep the sayings of the re- 
nowned men, and where subtile parables are, he will 
be there also : he will seek out the secrets of grave 
sentences, and be conversant in dark parables." The 
queen ot Sheba came to see Solomon, to prove him, 
nnd to propose dark riddles to him, 1 Kings x. 1. 



Hiram, king of Tyre, (they say,) kept a correspond- 
ence, by letters, with Solomon, and also proposed 
enigmatical questions to him, and explained those 
that were proposed to him by Solomon. 

The Proverbs of Solomon are, without doubt, the 
most valuable part of his works : he says they were 
fruits of his most profound meditations, and of his 
most excellent wisdom, Eccles. xii. 9. Here we find 
rules for the conduct of persons in all conditions of 
life ; for kings, courtiers and men of the world ; for 
masters, servants, fathers, mothers and children. 
Some have doubted whether Solomon alone were 
the author of the Proverbs. Grotius thinks he had a 
compilation made for his own use, of whatever was 
extant, excellent in point of morality, from all the 
ancient writers of his own nation ; that under Heze- 
kiah this collection was enlarged, by adding what 
had been written since Solomon ; and Eliakim, 
Shebna and Joah, he thinks, completed the collec- 
tion, 2 Kings xviii. 18. But these conjectures are 
not supported by proof. The fathers and interpret- 
ers ascribe the whole book to Solomon. True it is, 
we may observe some differences of style and method 
in this book. The first nine chapters, entitled "The 
Proverbs of Solomon," are written as a continued 
discourse, and may be considered as a preface. Tn 
chap, x., where we see the same title again, the style 
changes to short sentences, which have little connec- 
tion with each other, and which, generally, contain a 
kind of antithesis. In chap. xxii. ver. 17, we find a 
new style, approaching nearer to that of the first nine 
chapters ; to chap. xxiv. ver. 23, there is a new title ; 
(To the wise; or, Further sayings of the tvise ;) and 
their style is short and sententious. Chap. xxv. we 
read, " These are also proverbs of Solomon, which 
the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out." 
And, doubtless, it was on this authority that Grotius 
advanced this collection to have been made by Elia- 
kim, Shebna and Joah, famous men under the reign 
of Hezekiah. In chap. xxx. 1, we read, " The words 
of Agur, the son of Jakeh ;" and the title of chap, 
xxxi. is, "The words of king Lemuel." 

From all this it seems certain, that the book of 
Proverbs is a collection of Solomon, compiled by sev- 
eral hands: but we cannot conclude hence, that it is 
not the work of Solomon, who, being inspired by 
divine Wisdom, composed no less than three thou- 
sand proverbs, 1 Kings iv. 32. Several persons 
might make collections of them ; Hezekiah among 
others, as mentioned chap, xxv., and Agur, Isaiah 
and Ezra might do the same. From these collec- 
tions might be composed the work which we now 
have ; and nothing is more reasonable than this sup- 
position. It is no where said, that Solomon himself 
had made a collection of proverbs and sentences 
The title, " Solomon's Proverbs," rather shows the 
author than the compiler. The rabbins generally 
maintain, that king Hezekiah, observing the abuse, 
the people made of several works of Solomon, 
chiefly those which contained the virtues of plants, 
and secrets of natural philosophy, he suppressed sev- 
eral of these works, and only preserved those that 
are handed down to us. 

PROVIDENCE, divine superintendence. It is a 
tenet of the Christian and Jewish religions, that God 
disposes and governs all things by his providence ; 
that this providence is eternal and infinite ; that it 
extends over every thing, to the hairs of our heads, 
to the most minute animals, to herbs of the field. 
The atheists, whose sentiments are combated by Sol 
omon, in his book of Ecclesiastes ; and the Saddu 



PSA 



[ 768 J 



PSALMS 



cees, who arose afterwards, denied this providence, 
and maintained, that men are the only causes of their 
own happiness or misfortune, according to their good 
or ill use of their liberty. 

But these notions are rejected by the generality of 
the Jews; though they do not agree among them- 
selves in explaining the effects of providence. Mai- 
monides seems to think, that providence does not act 
in the moving of a leaf, or in the production of a 
worm ; but that whatever relates to the production 
of animals, or things of minor importance, is by 
chance. Moreover, the generality of the Jews hold, 
that mankind enjoy a perfect liberty as to good or 
evil ; and that whatever happens to a man is in 
recompense for his good actions, or in punishment 
for his bad ones. 

" Say not before the angel, There is no providence ; 
lest God should be provoked against you, and destroy 
all the works of your hands." Thus speaks the book 
of Ecclesiastes, v. 6. Take care how you deny in 
secret a providence ; your angel will be a witness of 
your most secret thoughts, and God will punish you. 
The Hebrew expresses this : " Say not before the an- 
gel, It is a fault of ignorance ;" why should you expose 
yourself to the anger of the Lord by your words, and 
lose all the labor of your hands? See Angel. 

PSALMS, the book or; in Hebrew, Sepher Te- 
hillim, the book of hymns. In the Gospels it is vari- 
ously named, " TheBook of Psalms," "The Prophet," 
or "David," from the name of its principal author. 
It is justly esteemed to be a kind of abstract of the 
whole Scripture ; a general library, in which we 
may meet with whatever is requisite for salvation. 
The sacred history instructs us, says Ambrose, that 
the prophecies declare future events, the reproofs 
restrain the wicked, and the precepts persuade them, 
but the Psalms produce all these effects. Agreeable- 
ness and usefulness are here so happily blended, that 
it is not easy to decide which is most prevalent. 

The Hebrews commonly divide the Psalter into 
five books; at the end of each of which we read the 
same conclusion, and which is thought to have been 
put there by Ezra, or by those who had the care of 
collecting the sacred books after the captivity of 
Babylon. The first book ends at our fortieth psalm ; 
the second at the seventy-first ; the third at the 
eighty-eighth ; the fourth at the hundred and fifth ; 
the fifth at the hundred and fiftieth. The first four 
books conclude with these words, "Amen, Amen." 
The fifth with "Hallelujah." 

The number of canonical Psalms has always been 
fixed at 150; for the hundred and fifty-first (in the 
Greek) has never been received as canonical. But 
though the number of the whole has been agreed 
upon, there is a variety in their distribution. The 
Jews make two of the ninth, (according to the Vul- 
gate and Sept.) and begin their tenth at ver. 22, Ps. 
ix. " Why standest thou afar off, O Lord ? " so that 
from this place to Ps. cxiii. their citations and num- 
bers are different from the Latin and Greek. The 
Protestant churches, and the English version, follow- 
ing this division of the Hebrews, quote the Psalms in 
like manner. 

It is a tradition among the Hebrews and Chris- 
tians, that Ezra is, if not the only, yet the principal, 
collector of the book of Psalms. Eusebius, Hilary, 
Theodoret, the author of the Sy nopsis printed under 
the name of Athanasius, venerable Bede, and several 
others, give him this honor. There was, before the 
captivity, however, a collection of the Psalms of 
Pavid, since Hezekiah, when he restored the worship 



of the Lord in the temple, caused tne Psalms of Da- 
vid to be sung there, 2 Chron. xxix. 25,26, &c. In 
the library that Nehemiah erected at Jerusalem, he 
deposited the Psalms of David, 2 Mac. ii. 13. 

Speculative men have given themselves much 
trouble on the order and disposition of the Psalms ; 
but, as Jerome observes, it is impertinent to expect 
in the Psalter a chronological series of canticles, 
which have relation to certain events of history, since 
it is not the custom of authors of lyrics to observe 
such order ; and indeed, a very little examination of 
the text and spirit of the Psalms will convince us, 
that those who made the collection had simply in 
view to preserve these canticles as they found them, 
with a religious and exact scrupulosity, without either 
retrenching what had been already repeated, or sup- 
plying what might seem deficient, or connecting 
what had been separated, or separating what had 
been improperly joined. 

The authority and inspiration of the book of Psalms 
have always been acknowledged by both Jews and 
Christians. 

One thing, however, creates a difficulty with many 
persons of piety ; namely, that in the Psalms we 
sometimes find what seem to be imprecations against 
the wicked, and the enemies of the prophet. The 
fathers and interpreters, however, commonly explain 
these passages as predictions of their calamities ; as 
if it were said, that they should certainly perish, if 
they continued in their disorderly courses ; or let 
them perish, if they will not be converted. Chrysos- 
tom says, in these passages the psalmist does not so 
much deliver his own sentiments, as those of others. 

According to the titles of the Psalms — which, how- 
ever, are not to be implicitly relied upon, several of 
them having been added by transcribers and others 
— seventy-two bear the name of David ; fifty are 
without the name of their author. 

Psalms inscribed to the sons of Korah, are from 
xlii. to xlix. also lxxxiv. to Ixxxviii. 

Inscribed to Solomon, lxxii. and cxxvii. 

Imputed to Ethan, Ixxxix. 

To Jeduthun, Ixxvii. 

To Moses, xc. 

To Asaph, 1. and lxxiii. to Lxxxiii. 

Ascribed in the Septuagint and Vulgate to 
Adam, xci. 

To Melchizedec, cix. 

To Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ixiv. 

To Jeremiah, cxxxvi. which is also ascribed to 
David. 

To Haggai and Zechariah, cxi. and cxlv. 

[The book of Psalms is the poetical anthology of 
the Hebrew nation, containing productions of differ- 
ent authors in different ages. The Hebrew name is 
- >*?nn, tehillim, praises; which is not altogether ap- 
propriate, because many of the psalms are rather 
elegiac ; but this name was probably given, because 
hymns in praise of God constitute the greater pftl 
of the book. Most of the psalms have the superscrip- 
tion noir, mizmor, apoem, song. This word is rendered 
in the Septuagint by ■if/aJ.^.bg, psalmus, i. e. a song 
sung to music, a lyric poem. The Greek tpa/.n'niov, 
psalterion, means a stringed, instrument ; hence by a 
metaphor the book of Psalms is called Psalter. (For 
the poetical characteristics of the Psalms, see the ar- 
ticle Poetry, p. 751.) Our attention, will here be 
principally directed to their arrangement and classi- 
fication, and to the inscriptions, the authors, and the 
r eneral characteristics of the Psalms. 



PSALMS 



[ 769 ] 



PSALMS 



Classification. — Some writers, as August], have 
classified the Psalms according to their aesthetic or 
prosodic clwacter, into odes, elegies, etc. The 
method of De Wette is preferable, who divides them 
according to their contents. In this way we may 
make six classes. (Compare De Wette's Commentar, 
Einl. § i.) 

I. Hymns in praise of Jehovah ; Tehillim in the 
proper sense. These are directed to Jehovah from 
various motives and views ; e. g. as the God of all na- 
ture, and the Creator of the universe, Ps. viii. civ. ; 
as the Protector and Patron of Israel, Ps. xx. xxix. 
xxxiii. ; or of individuals, with thanksgiving for de- 
liverance from evils, Ps. xviii. xxx. xlvi. xlvii. ; while 
others refer to the more special attributes of Jehovah, 
Ps. xc. cxxxix. These psalms express thoughts of 
the highest sublimity in respect to God, nature, etc. 

II. Temple Hymns; sung at the consecration of 
the temple, the entrance of the ark, etc. or intended 
for the temple service, Ps. xxiv. cxxxii. So also »i7- 
grim songs, sung by those who came up to worship 
m the temple, etc. e. g. the so called Songs of Degrees, 
Ps. cxxii. seq. See Degrees. 

III. Religious and moral songs of a general char- 
acter ; containing the poetical expression of emotions 
and feelings, and therefore subjective ; e. g. confidence 
in God Ps. xxiii. lxii. cxxv. ; devotedness to God, 
Ps. xvi. , longing for the worship of the temple, Ps. 
xlii. xliii. ; prayers for the forgiveness of sin, Ps. li. 
etc. — So also didactic songs ; the poetical expression 
of some truth, maxim, etc. Ps. i. xxxiv. cxxviii. — xv. 
xxxii. 1. etc. This is a numerous class. 

IV. Elegiac Psalms, i. e. lamentations, psalms of 
complaint; generally united with prayer for help. 
This class has several subdivisions, viz. 

(1.) The lamentations of particular individuals, 
Ps. yii. xvii. xxii. lii. lv. Ivi. &c. 

(2.) National lamentations ; where the poet la- 
ments over the circumstances of the nation, mostly 
in a religious view. Most of these psalms are of a 
late date ; and none of them are from David ; Ps. 
xliv. lxxx. cxxxvii. etc. Some are both individual 
and national, Ps. Ixxvii. cii. 

(3.) These sufferings of the nation and of individ- 
uals inspire a melancholy view of life in general ; 
hence many psalms are general complaints against a 
wicked world, Ps. xii. xiv. xxxvi. 

(4.) Psalms, the authors of which attempt to reply 
to the copiplaining views of the preceding class, and 
satisfy them of the goodness of God, etc. Ps. lxiii. 
lxxiii. So the Book of Job. This whole class com- 
prises about one third of the whole number of 
Psalms. 

V. Odes to kings, patriotic hymns,' etc. Ps. xlv. 
lxii. — xxi. ex. — xx. etc. 

VI. Historical Psalms, in which the ancient history 
of the Israelites is repeated in a hortatory manner, 
Ps. lxxvlii. cv. cvi. cxiv. 

The prophetic psalms are here distributed among 
these various classes. Perhaps they might with more 
propriety constitute another separate class. 

"Inscriptions. — With the exception of twenty-five 
psalms, — hence called orphan psalms, — all the rest 
have inscriptions of various kinds, and often very 
difficult of interpretation. They refer to the differ- 
ent kinds of song, the melody or rhythm, the instru- 
mental accompaniment, the choir who shall perform, 
etc. These are mostly very obscure ; because the 
music and musical instruments of the Hebrews are 
almost wholly unknown to us. Of more particular 
importance are those inscriptions, which profess to 
97 



designate the author or historical occasion of many 
of the psalms. The genuineness of these has been 
much contested in modern times ; the principal ar- 
guments on both sides are the following, viz. 

For the genuineness of the inscriptions it is said : 
(1.) That it is the custom of oriental poets to prefix 
their names to their various poems; so the Arabians. 
This is no doubt true in a sense ; but then, the man- 
ner of doing this is different from that of the Psalms ; 
Arabic poems commence with " The poet saith," &c. 
— (2.) The inscriptions are found in the Septuagint. 
But this merely proves that they are as old as the 
Septuagint, i. e. about 330 years before Christ. (See 
(4.) in the next paragraph.) 

Against the genuineness of the inscriptions, or at 
least of many of them, it is said : (1.) That many of 
them are in direct contradiction with the contents of 
the psalms to which they are prefixed, and therefore 
cannot have proceeded from the author ; as e. g. 
when those are ascribed to David, which have refer- 
ence to the exile ; as Ps. xiv. 7 ; li. 18 ; lxix. 36 ; or 
when a psalm ascribed to David exhibits Chaldee 
words and forms, as Ps. cxxxix. David's style was 
pure. — (2.) Others do not well accord with the con- 
tents and occasion of the Psalms ; as Ps. 1. lii. liv. 
Ivi. lvii. lix. — (3.) In several instances it can be shown 
how the error, which lies at the bottom, arose. Thus 
in Ps. exxvii. which is ascribed to Solomon, the first 
verse speaks of a building, which was assumed to be 
the temple ; hence the transition was easy to Solo- 
mon as the author. Psalm xxx. is said to be for the 
"dedication of the house of David ;" which has arisen 
out of the 7th verse. — (4.) The Septuagint has many 
more inscriptions than the Hebrew text. Hence it 
follows, that as the collectors or translators of the 
Psalms certaiuly affixed some inscriptions according 
to their own conjectures, so they may probably have 
prefixed others, if not all, in the same manner. Thus 
the Septuagint and Vulgate ascribe some psalms to 
Adam, Melchisedek, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Haggai, 
Zechariah, &c. (See the list given above, p. 768.) 

The result of the whole is, that many of the inscrip- 
tions cannot well be genuine ; and therefore the 
others become suspicious. We cannot rely upon any 
one, when it does not accord with the contents of the 
psalm. They are probably conjectural assumptions 
of the later collectors, possessors, etc. of the book of 
Psalms ; perhaps mostly out of the exile, or not long 
after it. On these grounds, our English translators 
have very properly separated the inscriptions from 
the body of the Psalms ; (in the Hebrew they are 
united with them ;) and given them merely as inscrip 
tions. 

Authors and Age of the Psalms. — Most of those 
psalms which are assigned to an author, are ascribed 
to David and to his contemporaries, chiefly Levites 
and singers out of David's school. Psalm xc. is at- 
tributed to Moses. To David are assigned seventy- 
one psalms in the Hebrew, and in the Septuagint 
eleven more; of these many cannot be his. The 
character of David's psalms is generally elegiac and 
expressive of a soft and pensive melancholy ; but he 
is also, on various occasions, sublime ; as in Ps. xviii. 
xxix. &c. — Twelve are ascribed to Asaph ; eleven to 
; the sons of Korah ; two to Solomon ; and one to each 
of the singers Heman and Ethan, (lxxxviii. lxxxix.j 
Those which are anonymous or pseudonymous, (e. g. 
xiv.) are probably all later than David ; and are imi- 
tations of his style and manner. The rabbins have 
the custom to reckon all anonymous psalms to that 
author who has been last named ; thus Ps. xci. — c. 



PSALMS 



70] 



PSALMS 



which are orphan Psalms, they assign to Moses, be- 
cause he is named as the author of Ps. xc. which 
next precedes these. Many of these later psalms are 
probably from pious, persecuted prophets and others 
jn the time of the kings ; some from the exile, and 
others later still, containing recollections of the exile ; 
'compare Ps. cxxiii. cxxiv. cxxvi. cxxxvii.) Later 
than about this period, none would seem to have been 
written ; though some interpreters have, as they 
thought, found traces of the Maccabean age in the 
Dook of Psalms. 

The language of the Psalms in the Hebrew is very 
pure ; and exhibits the characteristics of the best ages 
of the Hebrew literature. Still there is a perceptible 
difference between the earlier and later psalms ; in 
the former, the language is harsher and more difficult ; 
as is the case also in the older Latin writers, Ennius 
and Plautus ; — in the latter, the language is more easy 
and flowing. The same difference is perceptible in 
the earlier and later prophets. In the later psalms 
there are also, here and there, Chaldaisms. They 
resemble most, in this respect, the books of Job, 
Proverbs, Isaiah, etc. 

Arrangement. — The whole collection of the Psalms 
appears to have first existed in Jive books ; after the 
example, perhaps, of the Pentateuch. Each book 
closes with a doxology. 

Book I. comprises Psalms i. — xli. 

" II. " " xlii.— lxxii. 

" III. " " lxxiii.— lxxxix. 

" IV. " " xc— cvi. 

" V. " " cvii.— cl. 

The original collection would seem to have compris- 
ed Psalms i. — lxxii. (See the subscription, Ps. lxxii. 20.) 
As to arrangement, there seems, in part, to have been 
plan; and in part it is accidental. (1.) Psalms of the 
same author are placed together ; though other psalms 
of the same authors also stand separately. So also 
psalms of similar contents are sometimes together, 
and sometimes separate. Thus Ps. iii. — xli. are all 
ascribed to David ; Ps. xlii. — xlix. are songs of the 
Korahites ; Ps. lxxiii. — lxxxiii. all belong to Asaph. 
But there are other psalms of all these authors. 
(2.) One psalm occurs twice, Ps. xiv. comp. Ps. liii. 
Some occur as parts of other psalms, e. g. Ps. Ixx. 
forms also a part of Ps. xl. So also some psalms are 
repeated from other books of Scripture; thus Ps. 
xviii. is the same with 2 Sam. xxii. A few psalms 
are compiled by bringing together verses out of other 
psalms and poems, — a sort of cento ; e. g. Ps. cxliv. 
All these general appearances are best explained by 
the hypothesis of a gradual origin of the whole book 
out of particular collections, each smaller collection 
preserving its own arrangement. Thus, if we suppose 
Ps. i. — lxxii. to have been the principal collection, 
then the other three books may have been collected 
at different times, and appended to it. The time of 
these collections cannot be determined. It would 
seem, however, to have been not before the exile; 
since the first book contains psalms apparently of 
that date. 

The Septuagint and Vulgate differ from the He- 
brew in the division and enumeration of the Psalms. 
They unite Ps. ix. and x. of the Hebrew into one, as 
Ps. ix ; hence the numbering of the Septuagint and 
Vulgate, from Ps. ix. -inward, is one behind the He- 
brew. In like mannti they unite Ps. cxiv. and cxv. 
into one, as Ps. cxiii ; but also divide Ps. cxvi. into 
two, as Ps. cxiv. and cxv. Again they divide Ps. 
cxlvii. into two, as Ps. cxlvi. and cxlvii. ; so that from 
Pb. cxlviii. inclusive, their enumeration is the same 



with that of the Hebrew. The English, and most 
other modern versions follow the Hebrew ; and 
indeed some editions of the Septuagint, as that of 
Mill, have also been accommodated to the Hebrew. 
The above difference should be borne in mind in ex- 
amining references to the Psalms, made by Catholic 
writers. 

The character and value of the Psalms, so far as 
they contain the expression of religious and moral 
affections, are, perhaps, higher than those of any other 
book of the Old Testament. They exhibit the 
sublimest conceptions of God, as the Creator, Pre- 
server and Governor of the universe; to say nothing 
of the prophetical character of many of them, and their 
relation to the Messiah, and the great plan of man's 
redemption. They present us, too, with the most 
perfect models of child-like resignation and devoted- 
ness, of unwavering faith, and confidence in God. 
Luther, in his preface to the Psalter, has the follow- 
ing beautiful language: "Where canst thou find 
nobler words of joy, than in the Psalms of praise and 
thanksgiving? There thou mayst look into the hearts 
of all good men, as into beautiful and pleasant gar- 
dens ; yea, as into heaven itself. How do grateful 
and fine and charming blossoms spring up there, 
from every kind of pleasing and rejoicing thoughts 
towards God and his goodness! — Again, where canst 
thou find more deep or mournful words of borrow, 
than in the Psalms of lamentation and wo? There 
thou mayst look again into the hearts of all good 
men, as upon death, yea, as if into hell. How dark 
and gloomy is it there, from anxious and troubled 
views of the wrath of God ! — 1 hold, however, that 
no better or finer book of models, or legends of 
saints and martyrs, has existed, or can exist on earth, 
than the Psalter. For we find here, not alone what 
one or two saints have done, but what the Head of 
all saints has done, and what all holy men still do ; 
in what attitude they stand towards God, and towards 
their friends and enemies; and how they conduit 
themselves in all dangers and sufferings. And be- 
sides this, all sorts of divine doctrines and precepts 
are contained in it. — Hence it is, that the Psalter ia 
the eook of all good men ; and every one, whatever 
his circumstances may be, finds in it psalms and 
words suited to his circumstances, and which are to 
him just as if they had been put there on his 
very account; and in such a way, that he him- 
self could not have made or found or wished for 
better." *R. 

Psalms of Degrees is a name given to fifteen 
psalms, from cxx. to cxxxiv. In the Hebrew, it is A 
song of Ascents ; in the Chaldee, A song tliat was sung 
upon the steps of the abyss. This explication is 
founded on a tradition of the Hebrews, which relates 
that, when they were laying the foundations of the 
temple, at the return from the captivity, there cam« 
out of the earth a prodigious quantity of water, to the 
height of fifteen cubits ; and would have drowned the 
whole world, if Achitophel — the famous Achitophel 
who hanged himself in the time of David, about five 
hundred years before- — had not stopped its progress, 
by writing the ineffable name of Jehovah on the fifteen 
steps of the temple! To the same event they refer 
Psalm cxxx. But whence have these Psalms this 
denomination ? Some interpreters think it is because 
they were sung on the steps of the temple ; others 
translate the Hebrew by Psalms of Elevation ; because 
(they say) they were sung with an exalted voice, or 
because at every psalm the voice was raised. Calmet 
however, refers them to the ascent of Israel from th« 



PUB 



[ 771 ] 



PUR 



captivity of Babylon ; remarking that Scripture com- 
monly applies the phrase, to ascend, to express this 
return. Thus Cyrus, in his proclamation, (Ezra i. 3, 
5; ii. 2; vii. 5,6.) says, " Who is among you of all 
his people ? His God be with him, and let him go up 
to Jerusalem." And a good number of persons pre- 
sented themselves to go up, says Ezra, i. 11 ; ii. 1. 
Sheshbazzar brought up — with them of the captivity, 
that were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem. 
"Now these are the children of the province, that 
went up out of the captivity," Ezra vii. 6, 7, 9. " This 
Ezra went up from Babylon. And there went up 
some of the children of Israel. For on the first day 
of the first month, was the beginning of the going up 
from Babylon." In Psalm cxxii. which is one of the 
Psalms of Degrees, it is said, " whither the tribes go 
up " (to Jerusalem). And Jeremiah, (xxvii. 22.) fore- 
telling the return from the captivity, says, " Then will 
I bring them up, and restore thetn to this place." 
Ezekiel (xxxix. 2.) expresses himself in the same 
manner. These expressions, showing that the He- 
brews used the term to go up, when they spoke of 
their journeying from Babylon to Jerusalem, Calmet 
thinks it is very natural to call those Psalms of Ascent 
which were composed on occasion of their deliver- 
ance from the captivity of Babylon ; whether to im- 
plore this deliverance from God, or to return thanks 
for it after it had taken place. It is certain that they 
have all some relation to this great event. They men- 
tion it in several places ; and the greater part of them 
cannot be otherwise explained. 

[The above is the opinion of Calmet. Other more 
probable ones see under the article Degrees. R. 

PTOLEMAlS, see Accho. 

PTOLEMY, the name of all the kings of Egypt, 
from Ptolemy, son of Lagus, to the conquest of Egypt 
by the Romans ; that is, from A. M. 3631 to 3974; or 
fi'om the death of Alexander to the death of Cleopatra, 
spouse of Mark Antony. See Egypt. 

PUBLICAN, an officer of the revenue, employed 
in collecting taxes. Among the Romans there were 
two sorts of tax receivers: some were general re- 
ceivers, who in each province had deputies, who col- 
lected the revenues of the empire, and accounted to 
the emperor. These were men of great consideration 
in the government ; and Cicero says, that among 
these were the flower of the Roman knights, the or- 
nament of the city, and the strength of the common- 
wealth. But the deputies, the under-farmers, the 
commissioners, the publicans of the lower order, 
were looked upon as so many thieves and pickpock- 
ets. Theocritus being asked, Which was the most 
cruel of all beasts, answered, "Among the beasts of 
the wilderness, the bear and the lion ; among the 
beasts of the city, the publican and the parasite." 
Among the Jews, also, the name and profession of a 
publican was excessively odious. They could not, 
without the utmost reluctance, see publicans exacting 
tributes and impositions laid on them by foreigners — 
the Romans. The Galileans, or Herodians, the dis- 
•ciples of Judas the Gaulonite, especially submitted 
to this with the greatest impatience, and thought it 
even unlawful. Those of their own nation who un- 
dertoott-this office, they looked upon as heathen. (See 
Matt, xviii. 17.) It is even said, they would not allow 
them to enter the temple, or the synagogues : to par- 
take of the public prayers, or offices of judicature ; 
or to give testimony in a court of justice. 

There were many publicans in Judea in the time 
of our Saviour ; Zaccheus, probably, was one of the 
principal receivers, since he is called " chief among 



the publicans;" (Luke xix.2.) but Matthew was only 
an inferior publican, Luke v. 27. The Jews re- 
proached Jesus with being a " friend of publicans and 
sinners, and eating with them," Luke vii. 34. And 
our Saviour told the Jews, (Matt. xxi. 31.) that harlots 
and publicans should be preferred before them in the 
kingdom of heaven. In the parable of the publican and 
Pharisee, who prayed at the same time in the temple, 
we see with what humility his condition inspired the 
publican, Luke xviii. 10. He keeps afar off, and 
probably dared not so much as enter the court of the 
people. Zaccheus assured our Saviour, who had 
done him the honor to visit his house, that he was 
ready to give half of his goods to the poor, and to re- 
turn fourfold whatever he had unjustly acquired, 
(Luke xix. 8.) in conformity with the Roman laws, 
which required, that when any farmer was convicted 
of extortion, he should render four times the value of 
what he had extorted. 

PUBLIUS, a wealthy inhabitant of Malta, when 
Paul was shipwrecked on that island, A. D. 60, Acts 
xxviii. 7 — 9. Publius received the apostle and his 
company into his house very kindly, and entertained 
them three days with great humanity. In acknowl- 
edgment, Paul restored to health the father of Pub- 
lius, who was ill of a fever and bloody flux. It is 
said, that not only Publius and his father, but the 
whole island also, was converted to the Christian 
faith. 

PUDENS, mentioned by Paul, (2 Tim. iv. 21.) is 
thought by the ancients to have been a Roman sena- 
tor, converted by Peter. But there is reason to think 
they confound him with another Pudens, a senator, 
said to be father of Praxedus and Prudentiana, in 
the time of pope Pius, above a hundred years after- 
wards. The Greeks put him in the list of the seventy 
disciples, and say, that after the death of Paul, he was 
beheaded by Nero. Some think that Claudia, men- 
tioned by Paul after Pudens, was his wife. 

I. PUL, king of Assyria, (2 Kings xv. 19.) came 
into the land of Israel in the time of Menahem, to 
assist him, and confirm him in the kingdom, Hos. v. 
13. The king of Israel gave him a thousand tali ujs 
of silver, and Pul continued in the country till it v*„o 
paid. He is the first king of Assyria mentioned in 
Scripture. See Assyria, p. 113. 

II. PUL, a people and district of Africa, supposed 
by Bochart to be the island Philae, in the Nile, not 
far from Syene, (Isa. Ixvi. 19.) on which are remains 
and ruins of very noble and extensive temples, built 
by the ancient Egyptians. Its Egyptian name was 
Pilak; whence the Greek name, and probably the 
Hebrew, is derived. 

PULSE, all those grains or seeds which grow in 
pods, as beans, peas, &c. The ancient Hebrews 
used parched chick-peas as a common provision 
when they took the field, 2 Sam. xvii. 28. 

PUNON, or Phokon, a station of the Hebrews in 
the wilderness, (Numb, xxxiii. 42, 43.) called Phseno, 
Phaino, and Metallo-phsenon, because of its mines of 
metals. Eusebius says, it was between Petra and 
Zoar. Athanasius says, these mines of Phanos were 
so dangerous, that murderers, condemned to work 
there, lived but a few days. We find bishops of 
Phenos in the subscriptions of the councils. 

PUR, or Purim, that is, lots, is a solemn feast of 
the Jews, on the 14th and 15th of the month Adar, 
instituted in memory of the lots cast by Haman, the 
enemy of the Jews, (Esth. hi. 7.) for the execution of 
his design to destroy all the Jews of Persia, but 
which issued in causing his own ruin, and the pres- 



PUR 



[ 772 ] 



P Y T 



ervation of the Jews, who had time to avert the 
blow, by means of Esther. See Esther, Haman, and 

MpRDECAI. 

This feast, as the Jews observe it, has much resem- 
olance to the ancient Bacchanalia of the pagans. 
Pleasures, diversions and excess make, as it were, 
the very essence of it. The spirit of revenge which 
animated the Jews of Shushan against their enemies 
has passed undiminished to their posterity, who 
abandon themselves to it without measure and without 
bounds. They allow the drinking of wine to excess, 
because they say it was by making king Ahasuerus 
drink that Esther procured the deliverance of the 
Jews. They compel all to be present at the syna- 
gogue, man, woman, child and servant, because all 
shared in the deliverance, as all were exposed to the 
danger. 

PURIFICATIONS were of many kinds among 
the Hebrews, according to the several kinds of im- 
purities contracted. See Baptism, Leprosy, Dead, 
Nazarites, &c. 

PURITY, see Holy. 

PURPLE. It is related that the fine purple color 
was discovered by Hercules Tyrius, whose dog having 
by chance eaten a shell-fish called murex, or purpura, 
and returning to his master with his lips tinged with 
a purple color, occasioned the discovery of this rjre- 



cious dye. Purple, however, is much more ancient 
than the Tyrian Hercules, since we find it mentioned 
by Moses in several places. It comes from the sea- 
muscle, TiooyvQu purpura, and is of reddish or crimson 
purple hue, Heb. jojin. There was another species 
of bluish purple, or purple blue, made from a species 
of snail, conchylium, helix ianthina, of Linnaeus, Heb. 
rtan. This word is usually rendered in the English 
Bible by blue. Moses used much wool of this crim- 
son purple color in the work of the tabernacle, and 
in the ornaments of the high-priest. It was the color 
used by princes and great men, by way of distinction, 
Judg. viii. 26 ; Luke xvi. 19 ; Dan. v. 7. We see by 
Jeremiah and Baruch, that the Babylonians clothed 
their idols in habits of a purple and azure color, Jer. 
x. 9 ; Baruch vi. 12, 71. 

PUTEOLI, the wells ; now Pozzuoli, a city in the 
Campania of Naples, on the northern side of the bay, 
eight miles north-west from that city. It was a colony. 
Here Paul abode seven days, Acts xxviii. 13. 

PYGARG, Sept. TivyaQyog, white-rump. This is 
properly the name of a species of eagle, (see Rees' 
Cyclop.) but is applied in Deut. xiv. 5, to a quadruped, 
apparently a species of gazelle or antelope, Heb. pe»-i. 
So the Syriac version and Targums. Both the Arabic 
versions give it by a species of mountain goat. See 
Antelope. *R. 



QUAIL 



QUE 



QUAIL. There has been a difference of opinion 
among learned men with respect to what creature is 
intended by the Hebrew selavim, which we render 
quails, Exod. xvi. 13, &c. Our English translators 
are supported by the Septuagint, Josephus, Philo, 
Apollinarius, and the rabbins, among the ancients; 
and by Bochart, Hasselquist, Shaw, Harmer, Gese- 
nius, Rosenmuller,and the majority of commentators 
among the moderns. On the other hand, the learn- 
ed Ludolph insists these selavim were locusts, in 
which he has been followed by Scheuchzer, bishop 
Patrick, Niebuhr and others. To institute an inquiry 
into the respective claims of these conflicting opinions, 
would occupy more space than we can appropriate 
to the subject. The arguments which have been ad- 
duced in favor of the bird, we believe to have a 
decided advantage over those on the other side, inde- 
pendent of the testimony of the psalmist, which we 
think should be regarded as conclusive. Describing 
the merciful interposition of God in behalf of his 
chosen people, during the time that they were wander- 
ing in the great desert, this sacred writer refers in un- 
equivocal language to the miraculous supply of the 
selavim, which he denominates feathered fowls, oph 
canaph, a term never applied to insects. "He caused an 
east wind to blow in the heaven ; and by his power he 
brought on the south wind ; he rained flesh also upon 
them as dust, and feathered fowls like the sand of 
the sea ; and let fall in the midst of their carrip, 
and round about their habitations." Ps. lxxviii. 
26—28. 

The oriental quail is a bird of passage, and about 
the size of a turtle-dove. Hasselquist states that it is 
plentiful near the shores of the Dead sea and the Jor- 
dan, and in the deserts of Arabia ; and Diodorus 
affirms hat it is caught in immense numbers about 



Rhinocolura ; countries through which the Israelites 
passed in their way to the Promised Land. 

On two occasions the demands of the murmuring 
Hebrews were supplied with quails ; and, on each 
occasion, the event is distinctly referred to the mi- 
raculous interposition of God, Exod. xvi. 12, 13 ; 
Numb. xi. 31. On the former occasion, the birds 
were scattered about the camp only for a single day : 
but on the latter, they came up from the sea for the 
space of an entire month. The great numbers of the 
selavim which are said to have been provided for the 
people, has been regarded as almost incredible ; but 
without sufficient reason, as may be shown, without 
resorting to the supposition that they were created 
for this express occasion. Varro asserts that turtles 
and quails return from their migrations into Italy in 
immense numbers ; and Soli nus adds, that when they 
come within sight of land, they rush forward in large 
bodies, and with so great impetuosity, as often to en- 
danger the safety of navigators, by oversetting the 
vessels. Hence it appears that this pai't of the narra- 
tive is perfectly credible ; and that the miracle con- 
sisted in these immense flocks being directed to a 
particular spot, in the extreme emergency of the 
people, by means of "a wind from the Lord," Numb, 
xi. 31. 

QUARREL, a brawl or contest. Solomon com- 
pares him who meddles with the quarrels of people 
unknown, to one who takes a dog by the ears, and so 
rashly exposes himself to be bitten. This is gener- 
ally the case ; but it should not be concluded from 
hence, that we ought never to try to reconcile neigh- 
bors. It must be attempted, however, with much 
prudence, caution and charity, for fear of increasing 
the evil we undertake to appease. 

QUEEN, a king's wife. This is the general ar 



- 



QUE 



[ 773 ] 



QUEEN 



ceptation of the term queen ; but it seems to be used 
by the orientals in another sense, and corresponds to 
the official title of "king's mother." A knowledge 
of this circumstance will remove several discrepancies 
in the historical books of the Old Testament, which 
have greatly perplexed the commentators. See the 
article King's Mother. 

QUEEN OF HEAVEN, a name which the He- 
brew idolaters gave to the moon. Jeremiah (vii. 17. 
&c.) says, " The children gather wood, and the fathers 
kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to 
make cakes to the queen of heaven." And chap. xliv. 
16 — IS, the disobedient Israelites say to the same 
prophet, "We will certainly do whatsoever thing 
goeth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the 



queen of heaven. For since we left off to burn in- 
cense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink- 
offerings unto her, we have wanted all thingrs, and 
have been consumed by the sword and by famine." 
Calmet thinks it to be the Meni of Isa. lxv. 11, who 
was worshipped as the moon, Astarte, Trivia, Hecate. 
Diana, the heavenly Venus, and Isis, according to 
different superstitions. They placed altars to her on 
the platforms or the roofs of their houses, at the cor- 
ners of the streets, near their doors, and in groves. 
They offered her cakes kneaded with oil or honey, 
and made libations to her, with wine and other 
liquors. The rabbins think they printed on these 
cakes the resemblance of a star or half-moon. See 
Idolatry. 



It A B 



It AB 



RAAMAH, the fourth son of Cush, who peopled 
a country of Arabia, whence were brought to Tyre 
spices, precious stones and gold. This country is 
thought to have been in Arabia Felix, at the entrance 
of the Persian gulf, Gen. x. 7 ; Ezek. xxvii. 22. The 
Sept. in Genesis have Regma; according to Ptolemy, 
a city on the Persian gulf. 

RAAMSES, or Ramesses, a city built by the He- 
brews, during their servitude in Egypt, and which 
probably took its name from a king of Egypt, Gen 
xlvii. 11 ; Exod. i. 11. It was situated in the land of 
Goshen ; and appears to have been the capital of that 
country. It was most probably the same with Hero- 
opolis, situated on the great canal between the Nile 
and Suez, where are now the ruins of Aboukeyshid. 
See in Exodus, p. 400. 

RAB, Rabbi, Rabbin, Rabban, or Rabbam ; a 
name of dignity among the Hebrews, given to mas- 
ters and doctors, to chiefs of classes, and to the prin- 
cipal officers in the court of a prince : e. g. Nebuzar- 
adan, general of the army of king Nebuchadnezzar, 
is always called Rah Tabachim, master of the execu- 
tioners, or guards, 2 Kings xxv. 8, 20, et passim ; . Jer. 
xxxix. 9, 10, d passim. Esther (i. 8.) says, that 
Ahasuerus appointed a Rob of his court over every 
table of his guests, to take care that nothing should 
be wanting. Daniel (i. 3.) speaks of Ashpenaz, the 
Rob Sarisim, that is, Rab of the eunuchs of Nebu- 
chadnezzar, and of the Rab of the Saganim, or chief 
of the governors, or peers, chap. ii. 48. This prophet 
was himself preferred to be chief interpreter of 
dreams, or Rab of the Chartumim, Dan. v. 11. It 
appears that the title came originally from the Chal- 
dees ; for before the captivity, when mention is made 
of Judea, we find it used only in reference to the 
officers of the king of Babylou. 

Rab, or Rabban, properly signifies master, or one 
who excels in any thing ; Rabbi, or Rabbani, is my 
master. Rabbin is the plural. Thus Rab is of greater 
dignity than Rabbi. There were several gradations 
among the Jews before the dignity of Rabbi, as 
among us before the degree of doctor. The head of 
a school was called Hacham, or wise ; he who aspired 
to the doctorship had the name of Bachur, or Elou; 
and he frequented the school of the Hacham. When 
further advanced he had the title of Chabar of the 
Rab, or master's companion, and when perfectly 
skilled in the knowledge of the law and traditions, 



he was called only Rab, or Rabin, and Morena, our 
master. There seems to be an allusion to something 
of this sort in Matt. x. 24 ; Luke vi. 40 : " Ths, uisciple 
is not above his master ; but it is enougn for the fin- 
ished disciple to be as his master," or to be his mas- 
ter's companion. 

The Hacham Rab, or master Rabbi, decided differ- 
ences, determined things allowed or forbidden, and 
judged in religious and even in civil controversies. 
He celebrated marriages, and declared divorces. He 
preached, if he had a talent for it ; and was head of 
the academies. He had the first seat in the assem- 
blies, and in the synagogues. He reprimanded the 
disobedient, and could even excommunicate them 
In the schools they sat on raised chairs, and their 
scholars were seated at their feet. Hence (Acts xxii- 
3.) Paul is said to have studied at the feet of Rabbi 
Gamaliel. Philo affirms that among the Essenes, the 
children sat in the schools at the feet of their masters. 
Ambrosiaster, on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 
observes, that in their schools the Rabbins sat in 
their chairs, the most advanced of their scholars sat 
by them on benches, and the juniors sat on the 
ground on mats. Hence the Jews are used to say to 
their children, by way of proverb, " Roll yourselves 
in the dust of your master's feet ;" instead of saying, 
Frequent their schools diligently, o.nd sit down at 
their feet. Our Saviour upbraids the Rabbins and 
masters of Israel with vanity, and eagerness to occupy 
the first places at feasts, and the head seats in the syn- 
agogues ; also, with their being saluted in the streets, 
and desiring to be called Rabbi, my master. 

The studies of the Rabbins are either the text of 
the law, or the traditions, or the Cabala ; these three 
objects form so many different sorts of Rabbins. 
Those who chiefly apply to the letter of Scripture, 
are called Caraites, i. e. Literalists. Those who chief- 
ly study the traditions and oral laws of the Talmud, 
are called Rabbinists. Those who give themselves to 
their secret and mysterious divinity, letters and num- 
bers, are called Cabalists, i. e. Traditionaries. 

RABBATH, or Rabbat-Ammon, or Rabbath of 
the children of Ammon, afterwards called Phila- 
delphia, by Ptolemy Philadelphus, the capital of the 
Ammonites, was situate in the mountains of Gilead, 
near the source of the Arnon, beyond Jordan. It was 
famous even in the time of Moses, Deut. iii. 11. 
When David declared war against the Ammonites, 



R A C 



[ 774 ] 



RACE 



his general, Joab, laid siege to Rabbath-Ammon, 
where the brave Uriah lost his life by a secret order 
of his prince; when the city was reduced to the last 
extremity, David himself went thither, that he might 
have the honor of taking it. From this time it be- 
came subject to the kings of Judah ; but the kings 
of Israel subsequently became masters of it, with the 
tribes beyond Jordan. Towards the conclusion of 
the kingdom of Israel, Tiglath-pileser having taken 
away a great part of the Israelites, the Ammonites 
were guilty of many cruelties against those who re- 
mained ; for which the prophets Jeremiah and Eze- 
kiel pronounced very severe prophecies against 
Rabbath, their capital, and against the rest of the 
country, which probably had their completion five 
years after the destruction of Jerusalem. Antiochus 
the Great took the city about A. M. 3786. It is now 
called Amman, and is about 15 miles S. E. of Szalt. 
Burckhardt found there extensive ruins, which he has 
described. (Trav. in Syria, etc. p. 357.) 

RABBATH-MOAB, see Ar. 

RABBI, see Rab, and Doctor. 

RABBITH, a city of Issachar, Josh. xix. 20. 

RABBONI, a diminutive from Rabbi, (John xx. 
16.) or my master. See Rab. 

RaU MAG, a general officer of Nebuchadnez- 
zar's army, at the taking of Jerusalem, Jer. xxxix. 3. 
A. M. 3416. It means more probably chief of the 
magi, a dignitary who had accompanied the king of 
Babylon in his campaign. 

RAB-SARIS, or Rab-sares, an officer sent with 
Rab-shakeh and Tartan, to summon Hezekiah, 2 
Kings xviii. 17 ; Jer. xxxix. 3. It signifies the chief 
of the eunuchs. 

RAB-SHAKEH, or Rab-saces, that is, the chief 
butler or cup-bearer, was an officer sent by Sennache- 
rib, king of Assyria, to summon Hezekiah to surrender 
to his troops, which he did, in a very haughty and 
insolent manner, telling him, in Hebrew, that he 
ought not to put confidence, either in the king of 
Egypt, or in the Lord, who had ordered Senna- 
cherib to march against Judea, 2 Kings xviii. 17. 
After this Rab-shakeh returned to his master, who 
had quitted the siege of Lachish to meet the king of 
Egypt, then coming to assist Hezekiah. But in this 
march the destroying angel slew 185,000 of the army 
of Sennacherib ; and he was obliged to hasten back 
to Nineveh, where he was slain by his own sons, 
Isa. xxxvii. 36, &c. ; 2 Kings xix. 35 — 37. See Sen- 
nacherib. 

RACA, a word derived from the root ^-\,rik,vain, 
trifling, ivitless, brainless ; otherwise, beggarly, ivorth- 
less. It is thus translated by the Vulgate, in Judg. 
xi. 3. in the English, vain men. The word includes 
a strong idea of contempt. Christ says. (Matt. v. 22.) 
whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be con- 
demned by the council, or Sanhedrim. Lightfoot 
assures us, that in the Jewish books, the word Raca 
is a term of the utmost contempt ; and that it used to 
be pronounced with certain gestures of indignation, 
as spitting, turning away the head, &c. 

RACE, RUNNING." The numerous allusions in 
tne writings of Paul to the races and games estab- 
lished in Greece, require some acquaintance with 
the nature and laws of those institutions, to render 
such passages intelligible. It may therefore be 
proper to adduce a few remarks concerning them. 

The apostle says, (1 Cor. ix. 24.) "Know ye not 
that they who run in a race, run all, but one (only) 
receiveth the prize ? so run that ye may obtain; 
And ever)' one who striveth is temperate," &c. 



Also 2 Tim. ii. 5. "If a man strive for masteries, yet 
is he not crowned except he strive lawfully." (See 
also Heb. xii. 1 ; Gal. v. 7, &c.) 

"Such as obtained victories in any of these games, 
especially the Olympic, were universally honored, 
nay, almost adored. At their return home they rode 
in a triumphal chariot into the city, the walls being 
broken down to give them entrance ; which was 
done (as Plutarch is of opinion) to signify, that walls 
are of small use to a city that is inhabited by men 
of courage and ability to defend it. At Sparta they 
had an honorable post in the army, being stationed 
near the king's person. At some towns they had 
presents made to them by their native city, were 
honored with the first place at shows and games, 
and ever after maintained at the public charge. 
Cicero reports, that a victory in the Olympic games 
was not much less honorable than a triumph at 
Rome. Happy was that man esteemed, who could 
but obtain a single victory ; if any person merited 
repeated rewards, he was thought to have attained 
the utmost felicity of which human nature is capa- 
ble ; but if he came off conqueror in all the exercises, 
he was elevated above the condition of men, and his 
actions styled wonderful victories! Nor did their 
honors terminate in themselves, but were extended 
to all about them; the city that gave them birth and 
education was esteemed more honorable and august: 
happy were their relations, and thrice happy their 
parents. It is a remarkable story which Plutarch 
relates of a Spartan, who, meeting Diagoras, that had 
himself been crowned in the Olympic games, and 
seen his sons and grand-children victors, embraced 
him, and said, 'Now die, Diagoras; for thou canst 
not be a god ! ' By the laws of Solon, a hundred 
drachms were allowed from the public treasury to 
every Athenian who obtained a prize in the Isthmian 
games ; and five hundred drachms to such as were 
victors in the Olympian. Afterwards, the latter of 
these had their maintenance in the Prytaneum, or 
public hall of Athens." 

The ffivTadZov, Pentathlon, or Quinquertium, (five 
games,) consisted of the five exercises contained in 
this verse : 

d-l-ltu, Tcofttvy.thiv, dloxov, uxovxa, nU\i\v, 

leaping, running, throwing, darting, wrestling. 

Instead of darting, some mention boxing ; others 
speak of exercises different from those mentioned. 
For Pentathlon seems to have been a common name 
for any five sorts of exercise performed at the same 
time. In all of them there were some customs that 
deserve our observation. Dromos, Am uoc, the exer- 
cise of running, was in great esteem among the an- 
cient Grecians, insomuch, that such as prepared 
themselves for it, thought it worth their while to use 
means to burn or parch their spleen, because it was 
believed to be a hinderance to them, and retard them 
in their course. Homer tells us, that swiftness is 
one of the most excellent endowments a man can be 
blessed withal : — 

No greater honor e'er has been attained, 

Than what strong hands, or nimble feet, have gained. 

Indeed, all those exercises that conduced to fit meji 
for war, were more especially valued. Swiftness 
was looked upon as an excellent qualification m a 
warrior, both because it serves for a sudden assault 
and onset, and likewise for a nimble retreat; and 



It AC 



[ 775 1 



RACHEL 



therefore it is not to be wondered at, that the constant 
character which Homer gives of Achilles is, that he 
was swift of foot ; and in the Holy Scripture, David, 
in his poetical lamentation over those two great cap- 
tains, Saul and Jonathan, takes particular notice of 
this warlike quality of theirs: "They were swifter 
than eagles, stronger than lions," 2 Sam. i. 23. 

Those persons who designed to contend in these 
games were obliged to repair to the public gymna- 
sium, at Elis, ten months before the solemnity, where 
they prepared themselves by cont inual exercises. No 
man who had omitted to present himself in this man- 
ner was allowed to contend for any of the prizes; 
nor were the accustomed rewards of victory given to 
such persons, if by any means they introduced them- 
selves, a. a overcame their antagonists. No person 
who was himself a notorious criminal, or nearly 
related to any such, was permitted to contend ; and 
further, if any person were convicted of bribing his 
adversary, a severe fine was laid upon him. Nor 
were these precautions alone thought a sufficient 
guard against evil and dishonorable contracts and un- 
just practices, but the contenders were obliged to 
swear, that they had spent ten whole months in pre- 
paratory exercises ; and both they, their fathers and 
brethren, took a solemn oath, that they would not, by 
any sinister or unlawful means, endeavor to stop the 
fair and just proceedings of the games. (Potter's Antiq. 
Graec.) 

The rewards given in these games have been thus 
rendered into English by Addison, from the Greek : — 

Greece, in four games thy martial youth were trained, 
For heroes two, and two for gods ordained ; 
Jove bade the olive round his victor wave; 
Phoebus to his an apple-garland gave ; 
The pine Palaemon ; nor with less renown, 
Archemorus conferred the parsley crown. 

(Anc. Med. Dial. 2.) 

Compare with these fading vegetable crowns that 
immortal life which the gospel offers as a prize to 
the victor ; in order to understand the apostle's com- 
parison, 1 Cor. ix. 25 ; 1 Pet. v. 4. 

RACHAL, a city of Judah, to which David sent 
some of the spoil taken from those enemies who had 
plundered Ziklag, 1 Sam. xxx. 29. 

RACHEL, a daughter of Laban, and sister of Leah, 
was married to Jacob, by whom she had Joseph and 
Benjamin. She died in childbirth with the latter, 
whom she named Ben-oni, son of my pain; but Jacob 
named him Benjamin, or the son of my right hand. 
See Jacob. 

The prophet Jeremiah, (xxxi. 15.) and after him 
Matthew, (ii. 18.) have, as it were, revived Rachel, in 
the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, descended from 
Joseph, son of Rachel. " In Rama (or, on the high- 
places) was there a voice heard, lamentation and 
weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for 
her children, and would not be comforted, because 
they are not." This was fulfilled, when these tribes 
were carried into cay>tivity beyond the Euphrates ; 
but Matthew has accommodated the words to the 
lamentations of the mothers in Bethlehem, when Herod 
slew their children. Then Rachel, who was buried 
there, might "be said to renew her cries and lamenta- 
tions for the death of so many infant innocents, sac- 
rificed to his jealousy and cruelty ! 

It may be well to notice the objection which Mr. 
Levi and others have urged against- this application 
of the prophet's language. It is said that the lamen- 



tation of Rachel, referring only to the carrying away 
of captives to Babylon, and being connected with a 
promise of their return, is not of that description to 
justify such an application of it. The passage stands 
thus, Jer. xxxi. 15 : — 

Thus saith the Lord ; 
A voice was heard in Ramah, 
Lamentation and bitter weeping ; 
Rachel weeping for her children, 
Refused to be comforted, because they were not. 

Thus saith the Lord ; 
Refrain thy voice from weeping, 
And thine eyes from tears : 

For thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord : 
And they shall come again from the land of th» 
enemy. 

And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, 
That thy children shall come again to their own 
border. 

This passage certainly closes with hopeful and 
grateful ideas ; so far, therefore, as the prophet apos- 
trophizes the tender mother of the tribes of Joseph 
and Benjamin, he addresses consolation to her : not 
so the evangelist; whose metaphorical Rachel de- 
plores her children hopelessly cut off, and departed 
for ever. To remove this seeming discrepancy, 
Mr. Taylor offers the following remarks, on the 
authority of Le Bruyn — (1.) that it is customary 
for mothers in the East to seek the graves of their 
deceased children, in order to weep over them; 
meaning to infer, that this being a custom in the 
East at present, it was the same anciently ; so that, in 
point of lamentation, any mourning mother might 
have answered the allusion of the evangelist as Ra- 
chel: (2.) that it is probable high places or hills, a 
little way out of the towns, were usually the scenes 
of such lamentations, anciently ; as we find by sev- 
eral passages in the Old Testament; and that such 
weepings are now maintained in the same places ; 
the same customs, for the most part, prevailing in 
modern as in ancient times : (3.) that the word Ra- 
mah signifies high places in general ; and that any 
high place, the usual scene of such maternal lamen- 
tation, would have answered the evangelist's purpose 
in reference to mourning mothers : (4.) that Rachel 
was buried at, or near, Ramah, (Gen. xxxv. 9 ; xlvii. 
7 ; 1 Sam. x. 2.) where the Israelites were assembled 
to be carried into captivity ; (Jer. xl. 1.) (5.) that the 
same custom of women's weeping for their children 
was probably maintained in the evangelist's time at 
Ramah near Bethlehem, as Le Bruyn found at Ra- 
mah near Lydda ; and that Ramah being a high 
place fit for the purpose, and such high places being 
selected as scenes of maternal lamentation. 

From these considerations it will follow, that there 
is nothing forced or constrained in the reference of 
Matthew, to a mourning of mothers over their chil- 
dren, and refusing to be comforted ; since such was, 
as it still is, the custom of the vicinity. The allusion 
to this custom would be still more conspicuous, if it 
were, as no doubt it was, maintained at Rachel's Ra- 
mah ; and the apostrophe to Rachel would be still 
more impressive, if those mournings were exhibited 
in an open and high place, or spot of ground, adja- 
cent to her tomb, or the memorial of it. To call 
such mournings, mournings of Rachel, (not to say 
that this name might actually be given to them, by 
the people, in the days of Matthew, who, as he wrote 
in the language of the country, certainly was ac- 
quainted with the customs of the country, as well 



RAH 



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ocal as general,) from the place in which they were 
performed, can scarcely be called a poetical license. 

These remarks set in a very easy light the accom- 
modation employed by the evangelist; who, cer- 
tainly, selects Rachel as a mother of the most affec- 
tionate character ; and instances in her, though long 
since dead, that grief which living mothers felt, and 
under which living mothers lamented. This seems 
to justify, also, the expression of the evangelist, 
" Then was fulfilled the language of Jeremiah the 
prophet ;" for if Rachel lamented, according to the 
usage of the vicinity, on account of the departure of 
her children into captivity ; if, when they were not 
slain, but only deported, she was, as it were, raised 
by the impulse of poesy, out of her tomb, to grieve, 
to lead with elevated hands, and plaintive voice, the 
lamentations of the weeping mothers ; surely when 
her children were really slain, she might well break 
the bonds of silence, by loud and bitter cries, ex- 
pressing those agonies which rent her sympathetic 
bosom : she might preside over the sorrows, the pub- 
lic sorrows, which such occasion demanded, and 
which, after similar privations, were expected, ac- 
cording to established usage. In short, if the prophet 
had any right to raise the dead, on account of a cir- 
cumstance of temporary, but not hopeless, distress, 
the evangelist had at least equal, not to say greater, 
right to employ the same metaphor, on occasion of a 
slaughter, neither alleviated by hope of return, nor 
by possibility of future restoration ; but in every sense 
fatal : a cruel instance of tyrannical jealousy, and of 
vindictive anticipation. This was a fulfilment of the 
allusion and intent of Jeremiah, much beyond that 
marked by the prophet himself ; it was a deeper 
completion of his words ; a more entire termination 
of his sentiment, founded, like his, on local custom, 
and, like his, supported by the daily occurrences of 
time and place, and by the general manners of the 
readers for whom his narration was intended. 

To conclude, we are justified by the evidence ad- 
duced, i«i assuming that the mothers of the infants 
slaughtered at Bethlehem did subsequently, and cer- 
tainly, visit their tombs, and lament with loud ex- 
clamations over the remains of their tenderly beloved 
offspring. Admitting this, where is the incongruity 
of imagining, that the mother of the adjacent tribe, 
Ihough interred many years ago, should be recalled 
from that interment, by the poetical imagination of 
the prophet, to officiate in the distress of her daugh- 
ters deprived of their children ? And if this be per- 
mitted to the prophet, on what principle shall it be 
refused to the evangelist ? 

It is impossible to place any dependence on the 
antiquity of the tomb now shown as that of Rachel, 
near Bethlehem. It stands within six or seven paces 
of the field of Ephrata ; about forty paces out of the 
high road. On a hill a little farther on, to the right, 
are ruins of a tower and houses; "They told us," 
says D'Arvieux, "that they were the remains of the 
little town of Ramah, of which Jeremiah speaks in 
his 'Lamentations:' and where Herod caused the 
innocent babes to be slain ; as also in the neighbor- 
hood." If this tradition be correct, and the evan- 
gelist's words incline to support it, then the poetical 
resuscitation'of Rachel has a closer alliance with the 
facts of the history than has been usually imagined. 

RAGAU, (Luke hi. 35.) the same with Reu, which 
see. 

RAGUEL, see Jethro. 

I. RAHAB, a woman of Jericho, who received 
and concealed the spies sent by Joshua, Josh. ii. 1. 



She is called a harlot. When the spies had entered 
her house, notice was given to the king of Jericho, 
who sent to her to produce the men; but she extend- 
ed to them the protection of hospita,"«ty, hid them, 
and told the messengers, that such men had been at 
her house, but that when the gates of the city were 
shutting, they went out. When the messengers had 
returned, Rahab went up to the terrace, or roof of 
her house, where the spies were concealed, and ob- 
tained from them an oath, that when the Lord had 
delivered the country into their hands, they would save 
the lives of her and her family. She then let them 
clown by a rope, her house adjoining the walls of the 
city, advising them to return by the mountains, for 
fear of meeting those who had been sent in quest of 
them ; and to continue on the mountains three days, 
in which time the messengers would return, after 
which they might proceed. The spies followed her 
counsel, and arrived at Joshua's camp, to whom they 
related all they had discovered at Jericho, and their 
promises to Rahab. When Joshua took the city, he 
sent the two spies to the house of Rahab, to bring her 
and her family out safe. Rahab is supposed after- 
wards to have married Salmon, a prince of Judah, 
by whom she had Boaz ; from whom descended 
Obed, Jesse and David. Thus Christ condescended 
to reckon this Canaanitish woman among his ances- 
tors. Paul magnifies her faith, Heb. xi. 31. 

II. RAHAB. The psalmist speaks of another 
Rahab : (Ps. lxxxvii. 4.) "I will make mention of 
Rahab and Babylon, to them that know me." Also, 
Ps. lxxxix. 10 : " Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces." 
Isaiah (li. 9 ; and xxx. 7.) uses the same word to de- 
note the destruction of Pharaoh and his army in the 
Red sea. And Jobxxvi. 12: "By his understanding 
he smiteth through the proud ;" (Heb. Rahab.) It 
seems thus to be a poetical appellation for Egypt, par- 
ticularly of the Delta, which is still called Rib, or Rif. 
M. D'Herbelot says, that the name Rif is given to that 
part of Egypt which begins at Cairo, and lies to the 
north, that is, the Delta. Jerome and the ancient Greek 
interpreters have often translated Rahab by pride, or 
the proud. But many have misunderstood the origi- 
nal, as referring to Rahab, the woman of Jericho. 

RAIN. It would seem by several expressions in 
Scripture, that the ancient Hebrews imagined rain to 
be derived from certain great reservoirs above the 
heavens, which Moses calls the superior waters, in 
contradistinction from the inferior waters of the sea. 
He says, that, at the deluge, "All the fountains of the 
great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven 
were opened." And Hosea affirms, (ii. 21.) that in 
times of great drought the clouds cry to the Lord, 
beseeching him to permit the waters which he keeps 
in his treasuries and repositories to fall into and re- 
plenish them. In other places of Scripture, the 
clouds are described as great bodies, filled with wa- 
ters, supplied to them from the firmament. Even the 
dews are represented as proceeding from the supe- 
rior waters, "His heavens shall drop down dew," 
Deut. xxxiii. 28 ; Job xxxvii. 11 ; xxxviii. 37 ; Ps. 
xviii. 11 ; 2 Sam. xxii. 12. The sacred writers often 
speak of the former rain, and the latter rain, Deut. xi. 
14. (So Hos. vi.3.) The rabbins, and the generality 
of interpreters, are of opinion, that the former rain, 
called in Hebrew mr, joreh, signifies the rain of the 
autumn, which falls from the middle of October to 
the first of December; and that the latter rain, called 
in Hebrew pip 1 ?;:, malkash, signifies the rain of the 
spring, which falls in March and April. The Jews 
began their year at autumn, which gives probability 



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to this opinion ; but Calmet thinks that joreh signifies 
the rain of spring, and malkash that of autumn. In 
Judea it commonly rained but in two seasons, spring 
and autumn. Joreh is always put first, and malkash 
afterward. The Septuagint have taken it in the 
sense of Calmet ; and Hesiod has expressed the rain 
of the spring and autumn in words of the same im- 
port as those used by the Septuagint. He calls 
wnirov oufiQov, the rain of the spring; and orrdyQirov 
oupnor, the rain of autumn. (Oper. et Dies, lib. ii.) 

Moses, describing the land of Canaan, and its ad- 
vantages over Egypt, says, (Dent. xi. 10, 11.) it is a 
country of hills and valleys, watered by rain from 
heaven. Hence it is that God promised the Israel- 
ites, to send them rain in due season, Lev. xxvi. 3. 
On the other hand, he threatens them, if they depart 
from their fidelity to God, that he will send them 
showers of sand and dust, Deut. xxviii. 24. See 

DUST. 

The Hebrews often compare wise and instructive 
discourse to rain, Deut. xxxii. 2 ; Ecclus. xxxix. 9 ; 
Job xxix. 21. 

RAM, or Battering Ram, a well known engine 
of war, mentioned in Ezek. iv. 2 ; xxi. 22. and used 
by Nebuchadnezzar at the siege of Jerusalem. 

RAMAH. This word signifies an eminence ; from 
hence are so many places in Palestine named Ramah, 
Ratnath, Ramatha, Ramotii, Ramathaim, and Rama- 
than. Sometimes the same place is called by one or 
other of these names indiscriminately, all signifying 
the same. Sometimes Rama, or Ramoth, is joined to 
another name, to determine the place of such city, 
or eminence ; and it is sometimes put simply for a 
high place, and signifies neither city nor village. 

I. RAMAH, a city of Benjamin, between Gaba 
and Bethel, toward the mountains of Ephraim, six 
miles from Jerusalem north, and on the road from 
Samaria to Jerusalem. Baasha, king of Israel, caused 
it to be fortified, to obstruct the passage from the 
land of Judah into that of Israel. This is probably 
the Ramatha, or Ramathaim-zophim, of the prophet 
Samuel, 1 Sam. i. 1, 19 ; ii. 11, &c. (See Ramathaim.) 
It was on the frontiers of Ephraim and Benjamin ; 
and frontier cities were often inhabited by both tribes. 
It is also very probable, that Jeremiah speaks of this 
Ramah, (chap, xl.) when he says, Nebuzaradan, who 
commanded the Chaldean army, having found him 
among the captives at Ramah, whither they had 
been all brought, set him at liberty. Of the same 
place he explains the prophecy (chap. xxxi. 15 — 17.) 
in which the Lord comforts Rachel, on account of 
the taking her children of Ephraim and Manasseh 
into captivity. See Rachel. 

II. RAMAH, a city in mount Ephraim, the birth- 
place of Samuel ; probably identical with the Ramah 
of Benjamin. (See Rosenrnuller's Bibl. Geogr. II. ii. 
p. 186, and also the preceding article.) 

III. RAMAH, a city about thirty miles north-west 
of Jerusalem, on the road to Joppa. M. le Bruyn 
describes the fine reservoirs of water to be seen here, 
and many other marks of antiquity. He says it is 
but four leagues from Jaffa, or Joppa, and stands in 
a plain and even country : he also says, that Lydda 
is on one side, and about three miles from Rama. 
(See Arimathea.) Eusebius and some others seem 
to have thought that this city is the Ramath of Sam- 
uel, or Ramathaim-zophim, of the mountains of 
Ephraim. But this opinion cannot be supported. 

RAMATHAIM, the two Ramathas; probably, 
because the city was divided into two parts. It was 
also called Zophim, because of a family of Levites 
98 



dwelling there, who were descended from Zoph. It 
was probably the same with Ramah I. and II. 

RAMATH-LEHI, or Ramath-lechi, the height 
of the jaw-bone, or the cast of the jaw-bone, the name 
of the place where Samson threw the jaw-bone on 
the ground, with which he had beaten the Philistines. 
Probably this is the Lehi of Judg. xv. 9. See Lehi. 

RAMESSES, see Raamses. 

RAMOTH, a famous city in the mountains of 
Gilead ; often called Ramoth-Gilead ; and sometimes 
Ramath-mizpeh, or the Watch-tower, Josh. xiii. 26. 
The Vulgate makes it two cities, Ramoth and Mas- 
phe. It belonged to Gad, was assigned to the Le- 
vites, and became one of the cities of refuge beyond 
Jordan, Deut. iv. 43 ; Josh. xx. 8; xxi. 38. It was 
famous during the reigns of the later kings of Israel, 
and was the occasion of several wars between these 
princes and the kings of Damascus, who had con- 
quered it, and from whom the kings of Israel en- 
deavored to regain it, 1 Kings xxii ; 2 Kings viii. 28, 
29 ; 2 Chron. xxii. 5. Jehoram, king of Judah, was 
dangerously wounded at the siege of this place ; 
Jehu, son of Nimshi, was here anointed king of Is- 
rael, by a prophet sent by Elisha; (2 Kings ix.) and 
Ahab was killed in battle with the Syrians before it, 
2 Chron. xviii. 3. Eusebius says, Ramoth was fif- 
teen miles from Philadelphia, east; but Jerome 
places it in the neighborhood of Jabbok, and, con- 
sequently, north of Philadelphia. 

RANSOM, a price paid to recover a person or 
thing, from one who detaius that person or thing in 
captivity. Hence prisoners of war, or slaves, are 
said to be ransomed, when they are liberated in ex- 
change for a valuable consideration. Whatever is 
substituted or exchanged, in compensation for the 
party, is his ransom ; but the word ransom is more ex- 
tensively taken in Scripture. A man is said to ran- 
som his life, (Exod. xxi. 30.) to substitute a sum of 
money instead of his life ; (chap. xxx. 12 ; Job xxxvi. 
18 ; Ps. xlix. 7.) and some kinds of sacrifices might 
be regarded as ransoms, that is, as substitutes for the 
offerer. In like manner, Christ is said to give him- 
self a ransom for all; (1 Tim. ii. 6; Matt. xx. 28; 
Mark x. 45.) a substitute for them, bearing sufferings 
in their stead, undergoing that penalty which would 
otherwise attach to them. (See Rom. iii. 24 ; vii. 
23 ; 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Ephes. i. 7 ; iv. 30 ; Heb. ix. 15.) 
Comp. Redeemer. 

RAPHAEL, one of the seven archangels which 
stand continually before the throne of God, ready to 
perform his commands, Tobit xii. 15. 

RAPHIA, a famous city on the Mediterranean, be- 
tween Gaza and Rhinocorura, famous for the victory 
of Philopator, king of Egypt, over Antiochus the 
Great, king of Syria, 3 Mac. i. 11. 

RAVEN, a well-known bird of prey ; unclean by 
the law, Lev. xi. 15. When Noah sent the raven 
out of the ark, to see if the waters were withdrawing 
from covering the earth, it did not return to him, 
Gen. viii. 6, 7. When the prophet Elijah retired 
near the brook Cherith, the Lord fed him for some 
time by means of ravens, who brought him bread 
and flesh, morning and evening, 1 Kings xvii. 5. See 
Elijah. 

The blackness of the raven is proverbial: "His 
locks are bushy and black as a raven," Cam. v. 11. 

The wise man says, (Prov. xxx. 17.) " The eye 
that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his 
mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and 
the young eagles shall eat it." 

RAVISH, the taking away of any thing from 



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REC 



any one by violence, Prov. xi. 24 ; Gen. xxxiv. 2 ; 
xxi. 21. 

RAZOR, an instrument for shaving the hair from 
the face, head, &c. The psalmist compares the 
tongue of Doeg (Ps. lii. 2.) to a sharp razor, start- 
1 ing aside from what should be its true operation, to 
a bloody purpose and effect. The prophet threatens 
to shave, tl at is, to scrape with violence, to despoil 
very closely, to leave nothing untouched, with a 
hired razor, that is, by a person who will be paid, a 
power who fights for plunder, the cities and prov- 
inces of Judah, &c. every part of them ; the hair of 
the head, the hair of the beard, and the hair of the 
feet, Isa. vii. 20. (See Foot.) Shaving was a sign 
of mourning ; (see Shaving ;) but shaving by a 
stranger, a foreigner, an enemy, was a sign of cap- 
tivity ; and it probably alludes to a custom of the 
heathen priests, who (at least those of Egypt, as 
Herodotus testifies) shaved themselves every day or 
two, all over, as well the body, as the head and 
beard. If this were also a custom among the Baby- 
lonians, as is very credible, then the application and 
force of this metaphor is clear. 

In reference to this " shaving by a razor that is 
hired," Mr. Taylor thinks it likely that there is an 
implication of contempt as well as suffering included 
in it, as the office of a barber ambulant has seldom 
been esteemed of any dignity, either in the East or 
in the West. That the allusion is not unknown at 
present in Asia, appears from a song, whose versifi- 
cation, if none of the best, yet was popular, "being 
bawled about the streets of Aleppo, after the retreat 
of Nadir Shah from Mosul, in the year 1743." 

Tahmas, where is he ? where is he ? 
An iron mace between his shoulders ; 
May a razor shave his beard ! 
And a sword cut off his head! 
Tahmas, where is he ? where is he? 

(Russell's Aleppo, note 5. vol. ii. p. 393.) 

As Nadir had failed of his purpose, contempt was 
likely to be vented by his enemies in this triumphant 
ballad. 

REAPING is such a natural employment in agri- 
culture, that it almost glides of itself into a metaphor- 
ical action, at once expressive, and easily under- 
stood. To cut down corn, to gather fruits, when 
come to maturity ; to receive the natural effects, or 
consequences, or rewards, of good or bad actions, 
have many points of similitude, which are readily 
comprehended by all, and furnish frequent allusions 
in Scripture. 

REASON is that intellectual power by which we 
apprehend and discover truth, whether contained in 
first principles of belief, or in the arguments and 
conclusions from those principles, by which truth 
not intuitive is investigated. Much has been writ- 
ten by some theologians against the use of reason in 
matters of religion ; but we apprehend that their rea- 
soning has, in many cases, proceeded on a false as- 
sumption. If theology be considered as a science, 
just like any other series of truths connected as 
principles and conclusions, it must evidently be the 
Work of reason to apprehend and connect them. On 
religious as well as other subjects, faith can never go 
beyond the principles on which reason, in one way 
•or other, more or less directly, can judge of truth. 
Any other opinion would involve the monstrous 
proposition, that we may, agreeably to a rational 
•nature, believe without a reason ; a proposition, 



which does not offer greater violence to our con- 
stitution than to the spirit of that religion which 
is not of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound 
mind. 

The term reason has a diversified application in 
the sacred writings. It signifies that faculty of the 
soul by which we apprehend and judge of truths, 
(Dan. iv. 36.) a proof, ground, or argument, (1 Pet. 
iii. 151) the act of conferring, disputing, or arguing, 
(Matt. xvi. 8.) and the fitness of things, Acts vi. 2 ; 
xviii. 14. 

REBA, Rebe, or Red, a prince of the Midianites, 
killed in the war that Moses, by order from the Lord, 
waged against them by the hand of Phinehas, son 
of the high-priest Eleazar, for the punishment of 
their crime in seducing Israel, Numb. xxxi. 8 ; Josh, 
xiu. 21. 

REBEKAH, a daughter of Bethuel, and wife of 
Isaac, Gen. xxiv. 15, &c. She lived with her hus- 
band twenty years without having children; but, in 
answer to his prayers, she became pregnant with two 
children. These struggling together in her womb, 
and giving her great uneasiness, she consulted the 
Lord, who told her that two nations were in her 
womb, and that the elder should be subject to the 
younger. At the birth of the children, the first, be- 
ing ruddy and hairy, they named Esau ; the other 
holding in his hand the heel of his brother, they 
called him Jacob, the Heeler. Esau delighted in 
hunting ; but Jacob was a plain, homely man. See 
Jacob, Esau, and Isaac. 

The conduct of Rebekah in reference to her sons 
was highly culpable. The year of her death is un- 
certain ; but she certainly died before Isaac, because 
it is said that he was put into the tomb with Rebel' ah 
his wife ; which tomb was the same with that in 
which Abraham and Sarah were buried, and after- 
wards Jacob and Leah, Gen. xlix. 31 ; xxxv. 29. 

I. RECHAB and BAANAH, assassins of Ishbo- 
sheth, son of Saul, 2 Sam. iv. 2, seq. 

II. RECHAB, the father of Jonadab, and of the 
Rechabites. It is not known in what time this Re- 
chab lived, nor what was his origin. We read, in 
1 Chron. ii. 55, that the Rechabites were originally 
Kenites, and that they weie singers in the house of 
God. The Hebrew has, " porters and the obedient, 
that dwell under tents ; these are those that are 
called Kenites, who are descended from Hemath, 
chief of the house of Rechab." The Kenites de- 
scended from Midian, son of Cush, by Hobab, or 
Jethro, father-in-law of Moses. They entered the 
Promised Land with the Hebrews, and dwelt in the 
tribe of Judah, about the Dead sea. They were dis- 
tinguished from the Israelites by their retired life, 
and by their dislike of cities and houses. Some have 
thought that Hobab, or Jethro, was the founder of 
the Rechabites ; that Rechab was one of his names ; 
that Jonadab, in the time of Jehu, was one of his 
posterity ; and that Heber the Kenite followed the 
customs of the Rechabites. Serrarius distinguishes 
the ancient Rechabites, descended from and insti- 
tuted by Jethro, from the new Rechabites of Jonadab, 
son of Rechab, in the time of Jehu. However this 
may be, Scripture acquaints us, (Jer. xxxv. 6, 7.) that 
Jonadab, son of Rechab, in the time of Jehu, king of 
Israel, laid an injunction on his posterity not to drink 
wine, not to build houses, not to plant vineyards, to 
have no lands, and to dwell in tents all their lives. 
This they continued to observe for above 300 years ; 
but in the last year of Jehoiakim,' king of Judah, 
Nebuchadnezzar coming to besiege Jerusalem, the 



RED 



RE F 



Rechabites were forced to take refuge in the city, 
still, however, lodging in tents. During this siege, 
Jeremiah received orders from the Lord, to invite 
them into the temple, and to offer them wine to drink. 
But they answered, " We will drink no wine ; for so 
Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded 
us," &c. Then came the word of the Lord unto 
Jeremiah, reproving Judah, saying, " The words of 
Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his 
sons not to drink wine, are performed ; yet I have 
spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, but ye 
hearkened not unto me." And then, directing his 
discourse to the Rechabites, he says, "Because 
ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your 
father, Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not 
want a man to stand before me for ever," Jer. xxxv. 
2, seq. 

The Rechabites were, probably, led captive, after 
the taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans ; since we 
read in the title of Ps. lxx. that it was sung " by the 
sons of Jonadab, and by the principal captives," 
which were Ezekiel and Mordecai, carried away by 
the Chaldeans beyond the Euphrates, after the taking 
of Jerusalem under king Jehoiakim. They returned 
from their captivity, and settled in the city of Jabez, 
beyond Jordan ; as appears by 1 Chron. ii. 55. No 
further mention is made of the Kenites in the books 
written after the captivity of Babylon. 

Some have suggested that the Assideans of the 
Maccabees, (1 Mac. ii. 49 ; vii. 13 ; 2 Mac. xiv. 6.) 
were successors and followers of the Rechabites. 
Others have confounded them with the Essenes. 
But certain it is, that the manner of life of the Es- 
senes, which is well known, was very different from 
that of the Rechabites. The former had fields, and 
dwelt in houses ; but had neither wives nor children ; 
and performed no religious ceremonies with the 
other Jews at Jerusalem : all which was contrary to 
the practice of the Rechabites. 

RECONCILIATION, see Expiation, and 
Atonement. 

REDEEMER, a name given by way of eminence 
to Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. In the 
law of Moses, (Lev. xxv. 25, 47, 48.) it is given to him 
who has the right of redemption in an inheritance, 
or even to a near kinsman, who may redeem it from 
a stranger, or any Jew who had bought it. Moses 
ordained, that neither estates in land, nor the per- 
sons of the Hebrews, should be sold forever; but 
that every one might resume the possession of his 
estate, or his personal liberty, in the sabbatical year, 
and at the jubilee. But without waiting for these 
years, when any relation was rich enough, and had 
power to redeem the goods or liberty of his brother, 
the law enabled him to do so. And this it calls the 
right of redemption ; giving also the name of re- 
deemer to the relation who claimed this right, Lev. 
xxv. xxvii. 

We see an instance of the practice of this law in 
the history of Ruth, Ruth ii. 20 ; iii. 9, &c. Boaz, 
being one of the nearest relations of Elimelech, mar- 
ried Ruth, the heiress of Elimelech, and thereby re- 
entered into the possession of her estate. Jeremiah 
redeemed the field of his nephew Hanameel, which 
was on the point of being sold to another, Jer. 
xxxii. 7, 8. 

The same person was also called The Redeemer of 
Blood, (Eng. tr. The Revenger of Blood,) who had a 
right to revenge the blood of his murdered kinsman, 
Numb. xxxv. 12, 19, 21 ; Deut. xix. 6, 12. To curb 
the resentment of these avengers, or redeemers, God 



appointed cities of refuge throughout Israel. See 
Refuge, and First-born. 

RED HEIFER. The particulars relative to this 
sacrifice, which was an eminent type of our Saviour, 
(Heb. ix. 14.) will be found in Numb. xix. Spencer 
thinks, that the ceremony was designed in opposition 
to the Egyptian superstitions. But Mr. Taylor re- 
marks, that though the Apis of Egypt was black, yet 
the Apis of India is " red-colored ;" and consequently, 
the Hebrew red heifer could not be in opposition to 
this; which is the original of the Egyptian super- 
stition. (See Apis.) The virtue of purifying from 
defilement by contact with a dead body, did not re- 
side in the abundance of water with which the per- 
son previously washed himself; but in the ashes of 
the heifer, however small their quantity, with which 
he was baptized by sprinkling, Heb. ix. 10, 13, 14. 
It is no improbable conjecture, that the dispute be- 
tween the disciples of John and the Jews about 
purifying (John iii. 25.) turned on this point, "How 
could simple water — water having no ashes in it — 
purify ?" and the Baptist, in another place, pleads 
the authority of " him who sent me to baptize with 
simple water." As no heifer can be burnt under the 
present condition of the Jews, it follows, that they 
cannot, on their own legal principles, be fully puri- 
fied from the defilement communicated by the dead ; 
they wash their clothes, the furniture of their apart- 
ments, their rooms, &c. but the ashes are still wanting, 
for the purification of their persons. See Heifer. 

RED SEA, see Sea. 

REED. Ezekiel (xl. 3.) and John (Rev. xi. 1.) speak 
of a measuring-reed ; the former saying, it was in length 
six cubits and a hand-breadth ; or rather, six cubits 
and six hand-breadths ; that is, six Hebrew cubits, each 
larger by a hand-breadth than the Babylonish cubit. 

REFUGE, cities of. To provide security for 
those who should undesignedly kill a man, the Lord 
commanded Moses to appoint six cities of refuge, or 
Asyla, that whoever should have thus spilt blood, 
might retire thither, and have time to prepare his 
defence before the judges ; and that the kinsmen of 
the deceased might not pursue and kill him, Exod. 
xxi. 13 ; Numb. xxxv. 11, &c. Of such cities there 
were three on each side Jordan. On the west, were 
Kedesh of Naphtali, Hebron and Shechem ; on the 
east, Bezer, Golan and Ramoth-Gilead, Josh. xx. 7, 
8. These cities served not only for Hebrews, but for 
all strangers who resided in the country, Deut. xix. 
1 — 8. The Lord also commanded, that when the 
Hebrews should multiply and enlarge their land, 
they should add three other cities of refuge. As 
this command was never fulfilled, the rabbins say, 
that the Messiah will accomplish it. 

Maimonides, from the traditions of the ancients, 
assures us, that all the forty-eight cities, appointed 
for habitations of the priests and Levites, were also 
cities of refuge ; and that all the difference between 
them was, that the six cities appointed by the law, 
were obliged to receive and lodge refugees gratis ; 
whereas the other cities might refuse to admit such 
as fled to them, and were not obliged to lodge them 
gratuitously. Besides the cities of refuge, the tem- 
ple, and especially the altar of burnt-offerings, en- 
joyed the privilege of an asylum. Those who took 
sanctuary in the temple, were immediately examined 
by the judges; and, if found guilty of murder, they 
were forced away, even from the altar, and put to 
death without the temple. But if found innocent, 
they had a guard appointed, to conduct them safely 
to some city of refuge. 



REFUGE 



[ 780 ] 



REFUGE 



The cities of refuge were to be of easy access ; and 
every year, on the fifteenth of Adar, the magistrates 
inspected the roads, to see that they were in good 
condition, and that there were no impediments. At 
every division of the road was a direction-post, on 
which was written, Refuge, Refuge, for the guidance 
of him who was fleeing ior security. They were to 
be well supplied with water and provisions. It was 
not allowed to make any weapons there, that the re- 
lations of the deceased might not procure arms to 
gratify their revenge. It was necessary that whoever 
took refuge there should understand a trade, that he 
might not be chargeable. They used to send some 
prudent and moderate persons, to meet those who 
were pursuing the culprit, in order to dispose them 
to clemency and forgiveness, and to await the decis- 
ion of justice. 

At the death of the high-priest, the refugee might 
quit the city in which he was. But though the man- 
slayer had fled to the city of refuge, he was not ex- 
empt from the power of justice, Numb. xxxv. 12. 
An information was lodged against him ; and he was 
summoned hefore the judges and the people, to 
prove that the murder was truly casual and involun- 
tary. If found innocent, he dwelt safely in the -city 
to which he had retired ; if otherwise, he was put to 
death, according to the law. Scripture is not very 
express, whether the affair came under the cogni- 
zance of the judges of the place where the murder 
was committed, or of the judges of the city of refuge, 
to which the murderer had fled. (Comp. Deut. xix. 
11, 12 ; Josh. xx. 4, 5, 6 ; Numb. xxxv. 25.) But it 
appears from the passage of Joshua, that the fugitive 
underwent two trials: first in the city of refuge, 
where the judges summarily examined the affair; 
secondly in his own city, where the magistrates ex- 
amined the cause more strictly. If the latter judges 
declared him innocent, they reconducted him under 
a guard to the city of refuge. * 

In Europe we do not discover that distinguished 
wisdom in the institution of the cities of refuge 
which there really is. With us, murder or man- 
slaughter is prosecuted so regularly, that we are apt 
to overlook the policy of this national appointment. 
It deserves notice, too, that the appropriation of cer- 
tain cities for the purposes of refuge, seems peculiar 
to the Mosaic dispensation : we read nothing of it in 
Egypt ; and there is at this time no trace of it in the 
East, notwithstanding the utility of such appoint- 
ments might deservedly have preserved the custom 
among those who had once known it. Travellers 
inform us, that such is the irritable and vindictive 
spirit of the Arabs and other inhabitants of hot cli- 
mates, that if one sheikh should seriously say to anoth- 
er, " Thy bonnet is dirty," or " The wrong side of thy 
Jurban is out," nothing but blood can wash away the 
reproach ; and not merely the blood of the offender, 
but that also of all the males of his family ! In several 
districts in Arabia, the relations of a person who has 
jeen slain, have" leave either to accept a composi- 
tion in money, or to require the murderer to surrender 
himself to justice, or even to wreak their vengeance 
upon his whole family. They think little of making 
an assassin be punished, or even put to death, by the 
hands of justice ; for this would be to deliver a family 
of an unworthy member, who deserved no such fa- 
vor at their hands. Hence " the Arabs rather avenge 
themselves as the law allows, upon the family of 
the murderer, and seek an opportunity of slaying its 
head, or most considerable person, whom they regard 
as being properly the person guilty of the crime, as it 



must have been committed through his negligence, 
in watching over the conduct of those under his in- j 
spection. In the mean time, the judges seize the 
murderer, and detain him till he has paid a fine of 
two hundred crowns. Had it not been for this fine, 
so absurd a law must have been long since repealed. 
From this time, the hvo families are in continual fears, 
till some one or other of the murderer's family be slain. 
JVo reconciliation can take place betiveen them, and the 
quarrel is still occasionally renewed. There have been 
instances of such family feuds lasting forty years. If, 
in the contest,"a man of the murdered persou's family 
happens to fall, there can be no peace until two 
others of the murderer's family have been slain." | 
(Niebuhr's Travels in Arabia, p. 197, &c.) 

How much milder, more considerate, more politic, i 
more humane, was the institution of cities of refuge! 
which not only gave opportunity to the aggressor to ' \ 
escape, and to the avenger to cool ; but took from j 
either the determination of the case, and, after a 
proper hearing, adjudged the accidental slayer of his 
neighbor to security, yet to confinement, till the high- ! 
priest died ; at which period, not only might the of- .] 
fence be in part forgotten, but be regularly and hon- 
orably passed over ; especially, among the general 
mourning on that event, and the general interest of 
the nation in it. We see that the spirit of revenge 
disquiets both parties ; but on such a solemn occa- 
sion, both parties might honorably forego their ani- 
mosity, without any " fear of fighting, or any disturb- 
ance of sleep ;" so that this appointment was, per- 
haps, of equal advantage to both culprit and avenger. 

[The custom of blood-rtvenge appears to have 
been an institution, or we may almost say a principle, 
very early introduced and practised among the no- 
madic oriental tribes. So firmly was this practice es- 
tablished among the Israelites before their entrance 
into the promised land, and probably also even before 
their sojourning in Egypt, that Moses was directed 
by Jehovah not to attempt to eradicate it entirely ; 
but only to counteract and modify it by the institu- 
tion of cities of refuge. The custom of avenging the 
blood of a member of a family or tribe, upon some 
member of the tribe or family of the slayer, still ex- 
ists in full force among the modern Bedouins ; the 
representatives, in a certain sense, of the ancient 
Israelites in the desert. This indeed is stated in the 
extract from Niebuhr above quoted ; and is confirm- 
ed by the following extract from Burckhardt. During 
his journey in the peninsula of mount Sinai, Burck- 
hardt employed two Arab guides ; Hamd, a young 
man of great courage, resolution and fidelity ; and 
his uncle Szaleh, who proved to be dishonest and a 
coward. On the northern part of the eastern coast, 
towards Akaba, he had also employed an old fisher- 
man, Ayd, as guide, one of the most intelligent and 
trustworthy Arabs he had met. The next day, after 
turning back, without reaching Akaba, this little party 
was attacked by four Bedouins; but saved through 
the presence of mind displayed by Ayd and Hamd ; 
whilst Szaleh fled as fast as possible. In the fray, 
one of the robbers was stabbed by Hamd, and after- 
wards died. (Travels in Syr. &c. p. 513, seq.) The 
following was the result of the affair: (ibid. p. 
539, seq.) 

" Hamd, afraid of being liable to pay the fine of 
blood, if it should become known that the robber had 
fallen by his hand, had made us all give him our sol- 
emn promise not to mention any thing of the affair. 
When I discharged him and Ayd at the convent, [of 
mount Sinai,] I made them both some presents, 



REG 



| 781 ] 



REGENERATION 



which they had well deserved, particularly Hamd ; | 
this he was so imprudent as to mention to his uncle 
Szaleh, who was so vexed at not receiving a present, 
that he immediately divulged all the circumstances of 
our rencounter. Hamd, in consequence, was under 
the greatest apprehensions from the relations of the' 
robber ; and having accompanied me on my return 
to Cairo, he remained with me some time there, in 
anxious expectation of hearing whether the robber's 
blood was likely to be revenged. Not hearing any 
thing, he then returned to his mountain ; four months 
after which, a party of Omran, to which tribe the 
robbers had belonged, came to the tent of the sheikh 
of the Towara, to demand the fine of blood. The 
man had died a few days after receiving the wound ; 
and although he was a robber, and the first aggressor, 
the Bedouin laws entitled his relations to the fine, if 
they waived the right of retaliation. Hamd was there- 
fore glad to come to a compromise, and paid them 
two camels (which the two principal sheikhs of the 
Towara gave him for the purpose) and twenty dol- 
lars, which I thought myself bound to reimburse to 
him, when he afterwards called on me at Cairo. This 
was the third man Hamd had killed in skirmish ; but 
he had paid no fine for the others, as it was never 
known who they were, nor to what tribe they be- 
longed. 

" Had Hamd, whom every one knew to be the per- 
son who had stabbed the robber, refused to pay the 
fine, the Omran would, sooner or later, have retaliated 
upon himself or his relations ; or perhaps upon some 
other individual of the tribe ; according to the custom 
of these Bedouins, who have established among them- 
selves the law of ' striking sideways.' " How far su- 
perior to this was the Mosaic institution of cities of 
refuge ! *R. 

REGENERATION is used in two senses by the 
sacred authors of the New Testament : (1.) for that 
spiritual birth received from grace ; (2.) for that new 
life we expect at the resurrection. Properly speak- 
ing, there are only two places where the term regen- 
eration (rraXtyyireniu) occurs ; Matt. xix. 28. and Titus 
iii. 5 : the first refers to a change of state, the second 
to a change of profession. It will be of advantage, 
therefore, to notice the import of this term in other 
writers. It is compounded of naXiv, again, and 
yiveaic, generation, or origin. It is used by Greek 
writers to express the state of the earth in the spring, 
when the face and appearance of nature is renovated, 
and the crops and vegetables, corn, &c. are regener- 
ated in the successors of those of the last year. Trees, 
however, are not regenerated ; but their leaves and 
fruits are ; nature having formed the buds and germs 
previous to the winter, which, after the winter, put 
themselves forth, open, and spread themselves. 
Cicero, writing to Atticus, expresses the state and 
dignity to which he was re-appointed after his return 
from exile, by the term regeneration. Josephus, 
speaking of the Jews who were made acquainted by 
Zorobabel with the edict of Darius, permitting their 
return to Jerusalem, says, — " They gave thanks to 
God — and for seven days they continued feasting, and 
kept a festival for the rebuilding and restoration, 
regeneration, of their country." It is this last passage, 
principally, that induces Schleusner to interpret 
Matt. xix. 28, of a renovation of the minds and charac- 
ters of the Jews and Gentiles by means of the gospel. 
The Syriac translates, in the new age. This is per- 
fectly agreeable to the phrases, the age to come, the 
world to come, the Father of the future age, the age of 
the Messiah, &c. which were familiar and customary 



among the Jews, previous to and at the time of 
Christ. In this acceptation, the term regeneration 
must be construed with the preceding words; and it 
is consistent with 2 Pet. iii. 13 ; 2 Cor. v. 17. But 
others incline to construe these words with the fol- 
lowing part of the sentence, and so refer them to the 
grand renovation of all things, at Christ's second com- 
ing ; (comp. Acts iii. 21.) and particularly to God's 
children being born again, as it were, from their 
graves : that is, resurrection is regeneration. (Comp. 
Acts xiii. 33.) Either way che passage is metaphori- 
cal ; but, as it was intended to be understood by the 
hearers, it seems most proper to explain it in that 
sense which was most likely to strike those hearers 
as consonant with phrases then current. This seems 
to establish the verbal meaning in coincidence with 
Schleusner. A more exalted meaning might be 
couched under the term, and might even be present 
to the mind of the speaker ; but the hearers would 
be most likely to understand its import according to 
its application by their native historian Josephus. 

The second plate in which the word occurs (Titus 
iii. 5.) alludes, beyond all question, to the rite of bap- 
tism. Our translators have taken the term connected 
with it, for the fluid with which that rite is adminis- 
tered ; or the action by which it is performed ; but 
the general course of the Greek language rather leads 
to the vessel containing the fluid. But in whatever 
sense that term might be taken, it is clear that regen- 
eration, in this place, means a professional or ritual 
change of life, of personal habits, of objects, purposes 
and endeavors. It is the external profession of those 
intentions of which the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 
mentioned in connection with it, is the prime mover 
and promoter ; the outward and visible sign, of which 
the actuating principle is the inward and spiritual 
grace. The fathers have uniformly employed the 
term regeneration to signify baptism ; and this is so 
evident, that Phavorinus says expressly, referring to 
this place, the holy rite of baptism is called regeneration. 
It is so used by Justin Martyr, and other early Chris- 
tians. Baptism was always thought to denote a res- 
urrection, a transplantation, a change of manners, of 
society, of interests and of cares, as those who are 
"risen with Christ," who are "alive from the dead," 
with whom "old things are passed away, and all things 
are become new," &c. 

Very different is the term used, (John iii. 4, 5, &c.) 
it is there ytvvy&ij &m9-tv, born again, or, as some 
prefer, born from above. But this latter acceptation 
seems inconsistent with the following conversation, 
and the objections raised by Nicodemus, " How can 
a man (ytrry-dijrai) be. born again when he is old ? 
Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, 
and be born?" "He must," says Jesus, "be 
born of water and' Spirit." Ritually, professionally, 
or externally, of water ; internally, or actuatingly, of 
the Spirit ; that is, renewed in the spirit, disposition 
or habit of his mind ; in this sense he is "a child of 
God ; " " born of God ; " God is his father, &c. 

Though these terms are currently used promiscu- 
ously and indiscriminately, yet this appears to be an 
incorrectness ; which probably would appear more 
striking, if proper care were taken to distinguish ac- 
curately between the terrestrial and the celestial king- 
dom of God ; the professional or temporal kingdom 
of grace, and the ultimate or eternal kingdom of 
glory, &c. 

The term used by Peter, (1 Epist. i. 3.) who thanks 
God for his abundant mercy by which he regenerates 
us, (6cvayevvt'i(rac L ) in a lively or life-giving hope, by 



REH 



[ ] 



REM 



the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, seems 
to come very near to the import of naliyyivtaia. It 
seems to imply, that mankind, the Jews especially, 
had once possessed the hope of a glorious immortality, 
but had lost it ; this is revived, re-animated, re-begot- 
ten in us, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ ; nor 
should it be forgot, that whoever was baptized, pro- 
fessed conversion to, and commemoration of, a risen 
Saviour. A man totally dead could be no Saviour ; 
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, 
were, in that case, no better than cunningly devised 
fables, and the " hope of worms," as the Christians 
were reproached by their adversaries. 

REHABIAH, eldest son of Eliezer, and grandson 
of Moses, 1 Chron. xxiii. 17 ; xxvi. 25. He and his 
brethren were Levites, and treasurers of the temple. 

I. REHOB, father of Hadadezer, king of Syria, of 
Zobah, 2 Sam. viii. 3. 

II. REHOB, also Beth-Rehob, a city or district 
of Asher, (Josh. xix. 28.) given to the Levites of the 
family of Gershom, 1 Chron. vi. 75; Josh. xxi. 31. 
It was in Syria, on the road to Hamath, (Numb. xiii. 
21 ; 2 Sam. x. 6, 8.) and, probably, between Libanus 
and Anti-libanus, or at the foot of Anti-libanus. The 
city of Laish, or Dan was situate in the canton of 
Rehob, or, as the Hebrews call it, Rechob, Judg. 
xviii. 28. 

REHOBOAM, the son and successor of Solomon, 
by Naamah, an Ammonitess, 1 Kings xii.xiv. 20, 21 ; 
2 Chr. x. — xii. He was forty-oue years old when 
he began to reign ; and was therefore born in the 
first year of his father's reign. He ascended the 
throne A. M. 3029, and reigned seventeen years at 
Jerusalem. He died A. M. 3046. 

The indiscretion of this prince caused ten of the 
tribes to revolt, and thus occasioned the founding of 
the kingdom of Israel. (See Jeroboam.) Rehoboam, 
finding the reunion of the tribes hopeless, applied 
himself to the strengthening his kingdom against 
Jeroboam. He fortified and stored several cities ; as 
Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Shoco, Adul- 
lam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Aze- 
kah, Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron. The number of 
his subjects was considerably increased by the priests 
and Levites, from the cities and territories of Jerobo- 
am, who, seeing that this new king abolished the estab- 
lished worship of the Lord, and made priests for his 
golden calves, withdrew into the land of Judah and 
Benjamin, that they might attend in the temple at 
Jerusalem. Rehoboam and his people, however, did 
not continue faithful to the Lord above three years. 
They did evil, and provoked him by their wickedness, 
more than their fathers had done ; committing all 
the wickedness and abominations of the Canaauites, 
whom the Lord had driven out. 

Rehoboam married 18 wives, and had 60 concu- 
bines ; by whom he had 28 sons, and 60 daughters. 
In the fifth year of his reign, God sent against Judah 
Shishak, (or Sesac,) king of Egypt, who carried off* 
all the n-easure of the house of the Lord, the king's 
treasures, and the golden bucklers made by Solomon, 
laying waste also the whole country, 2 Chron. xii ; 
1 Kings xiv. 25. The prophet Shemaiah went to 
attend Rehoboam, and the princes of Judah who 
were with him in Jerusalem, and said to them from 
the Lord, " You have forsaken me, and I, in my turn, 
have forsaken you, and delivered you into the hands 
of Shishak." The princes being convinced of the 
justice of these reproaches, humbled themselves; 
and God promised to Shemaiah, that he would not 
utterly abandon them, but only make them sensible 



of the difference between serving the Lord, and be- 
ing subject to a foreign power. 

After the departure of Shishak, Rehoboam made 
brazen bucklers, instead of those of gold, which the 
king of Egypt had taken away ; and when he went 
to the temple, his guards carried them before him. 
The history of Rehoboam was written at length, by 
the prophets Shemaiah and Iddo ; but their accounts 
are not come to our hands ; nor any particulars of 
those constant wars which were between him and 
Jeroboam. Rehoboam was buried in the city of 
David, and was succeeded by his son Abijah, who, 
speaking of his father, says, he was an ignorant 
prince, unskilled in the art of government, a weak 
man, and without courage, 2 Chron. xiii. 7. Solo- 
mon seems to have had this son, his successor, be- 
fore his eyes, when he said, (Eccl. ii. 18, 19.) "Yea, 
I hated all my labor which I had taken under the 
sun, because I should leave it unto the man that 
should be after me ; and who knoweth whether he 
shall be a wise man or a fool ? Yet shall he have rule 
over all my labor wherein I have labored, and 
wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. 
This is also vanity." 

REHOBOTH, one of the cities of Assyria, Gen. 
x. 11. 

REHUM, a chief officer of the king of Persia at 
Samaria. His title of dignity in Hebrew is Beel 
Team, Lord of the decree, probably chancellor, or chief 
secretary, &c. He was the chief officer of the king 
of Persia, who commanded in Samaria and Palestine. 
He wrote to Artaxerxes, (Smerdis,) the successor of 
Cambyses, to oppose the re-building of the temple 
of Jerusalem, Ezra iv. 9. 

REINS, or Kidneys. The Hebrews often make 
the reins the seat of the affections, and ascribe to 
them knowledge, joy, pain, pleasure ; hence in Scrip- 
ture it is so often said, that God searches the heart 
and the reins. Elsewhere, the Scripture imputes to 
the reins, love and the fountain of generation, 1 
Kings viii. 19. God upbraids the Jews with having 
him enough in their mouths, but not in their reins 
and hearts, Jer. xii. 2. In trouble and in fear the 
reins are disturbed and tremble. They faint away, 
(Nah. ii. 10.) and are relaxed, Dan. v. 6 ; Ezek. xxix. 7. 
The psalmist says, that his reins have encouraged and 
excited him to praise the Lord, (Ps. xvi. 7.) and Jer- 
emiah, (Lam. iii. 13.) that the Lord had sent the 
daughters of his cmiver into his reins; that is, he has 
pierced me with his arrows ; he hath exhausted his 
whole quiver upon me : the daughters of the quiver 
is a poetical expression for arrows. Metaphorically 
it is said, (Deut. xxxii. 14.) the fat of the reins of 
wheat, to signify the finest flour: Vulgate, marrow 
of wheat. 

REKEM, a king of the Midianites in Arabia, who 
gave his name to the city afterwards called by the 
Greeks Petra. He was slain by Phinehas, for the 
abomination of Baal-peor, Numb. xxxi. 8. 

RELIGION is taken in three senses in Scripture : 
(1.) For the external and ceremonial worship of the 
Jewish religion. Exod. xii. 43. (2.) For the true re- 
ligion ; the best manner of serving and honoring God, 
Jam. i. 27. (3.) For superstition, which see. 

REMALIAH, father of Pekah, king of Israel, 2 
Kings xv. 25. 

REMEMBRANCE, or Memory. God requires 
that we should keep his commandments in remem- 
brance. He tells Moses (Exod. xvii. 14.) that he 
" will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek 
from under heaven ;" that is, he will destroy him so 



R E M 



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REP 



entirely, that no further mention shall be made of 
him, as a people. He says, (Ps. xxxiv. 16.) that " the 
face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut 
off the remembrance of them from the earth." And 
Ps. ix. 6. "Thou hast' destroyed cities, their memo- 
rial is perished with them." On the contrary, God 
has promised to the righteous and just, that their 
memory shall be Blessed, and shall never perish. 

REMISSION is sometimes taken for the year of 
jubilee, or the sabbatical year, in which the slaves 
were set at liberty, and in which every one returned 
into his own inheritance. (So in the Vulgate, Lev. 
xxv. 10; Numb, xxxvi. 4; Deut. xv. 1.) It is also 
used for pardon of sin. The gospel says, that "John 
did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the bap- 
tism of repentance, for the remission of sins, Mark 
i. 4 ; Luke iii. 3. And that the blood of Jesus Christ 
was shed, to procure remission of our sins, Eph. i. 7 ; 
Col. i. 14 ; Matt. xxvi. 28. 

It is somewhat remarkable, says Mr. Taylor, that 
the term pardon of sin, does not occur in the New 
Testament. ; but we read of remission and forgiveness. 
Certainly these words, with the ideas they represent, 
are allied ; yet there seems to be some distinction 
preserved between them. When the observation is 
made, " This man who takes upon him to forgive sins, 
blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but God?" it 
should seem as if our Lord had said, " Thy sins are 
remitted ;" but that term would not have justified the 
inference made. When John preached the baptism 
of repentance for the remission of sins, and when 
our Lord gave power to his apostles, "Whose soever 
sins ye remit, they are remitted ;" we cannot sup- 
pose that either of these parties invaded an ac- 
knowledged prerogative of God. If the remission 
of sins by the apostles was declaratory, if John the 
Baptist was the prophet of the Highest, to give the 
knowledge of salvation to his people, by the remis- 
sion of their sins ; if, in consequence of the confession 
of sins made previous to baptism by John, that prophet 
remitted sins by baptism, that is, declared them to 
be remitted ; if Peter advised the Jews to be baptized 
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins ; 
then we must admit that the exercise of this power 
by men, was by no means identical with the for- 
giveness of sins, which appertains to God only. 
Under the law there was no remission of sins with- 
out shedding of blood ; that is, until the proper sac- 
rifices were offered, the priest could not pronounce 
the transgressor free from the consequences of his 
transgressions : under the gospel no blood was shed 
by John, or by the apostles ; but the blood of Jesus 
Christ was shed for many, for the remission of sins ; 
and remission of sins was preached in his name. 

The term mpeaic, rendered remission, signifies to 
announce liberty to the captive, (Luke iv. ] 8.) to re- 
lease the obligation of a debt, as in the sabbatical 
year, Deut. xv. 3. The term mplrjui, rendered forgive, 
id, with the greatest propriety, addressed to God ; 
" Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors " — 
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they 
do :" and the power of forgiving, " Son, be of good 
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee, assumed by our Lord, 
was greatly superior to that of announcing remission, 
conferred on the apostles; and could be becoming 
only in a personage infinitely above them in dignity 
and power. 

REMPHAN. Amos (v. 26.) upbraids the Hebrews 
with having carried, during their wanderings in the 
wilderness, " the tabernacle of their Moloch, the im- 
age of their idol, and the star of their god." Stephen, 



(Acts vii. 43.) quoting this passage, says, "Ye took up 
the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god 
Remphan." See Chiun, and Moloch. 

REPENTANCE is generally taken for that con- 
trition, compunction, regret, or sorrow which rises in 
us, after having done something contrary to our 
duty ; joined to a sincere resolution of avoiding the 
like in future. It is also taken for the works of peni- 
tence ; fasting, weeping, alms, and works of satisfac- 
tion ; that is, retribution. There is a false repentance, 
as that of Antiochus Epiphanes, of Judas Iscariot, of 
Pharaoh, of Saul, of Ahab. Judas wanted confi- 
dence in the mercy of God, and therefore fell into 
despair. Antiochus had no sincere contrition. Pha- 
raoh and Saul were terrified, but not moved by a true 
repentance ; they continued hardened, and changed 
neither their minds nor their manners. Ahab was 
indeed touched, but he wanted perseverance in rec- 
titude. 

Samuel says to Saul, (1 Sam. xv. 29.) " The strength 
of Israel will not lie, nor repent, for he is not a man, 
that he should repent." That is, he will not change 
his resolution, as men make resolutions, and then re- 
pent of them, and perform them not. He has passed 
his sentence against you, and will not annul it. Paul 
says, in the same sense, the gifts and calling of God 
are without repentance. That is, God does not re- 
voke his favors; he never forsakes us first; never 
changes his mind. 

The Book of Wisdom (v. 3.) represents the wicked 
in another life, as repenting and bewailing ; seized 
with compunction and despair, at seeing good men in 
honor, while they themselves are in trouble. We 
know that in another life, repentance and remorse 
are useless. See the parable of the rich man and 
Lazarus, Luke xvi. 24. 

The sacred writers often represent God as a king, 
moved with regret or repentance, or relenting foi 
having suffered, or having resolved on certain things 
So Moses says, (Gen. vi. 6, 7.) God repented that he 
had made man, seeing the wickedness of his actions 
had proceeded to such extremity. So (1 Sam. xv. 
11.) he repented of having made Saul king ; not as it 
he had conceived any regret at what he had done, or 
that he repents of having taken a false step, as a man 
does when he perceives he has committed an error 
God is not capable of repentance in this sense. But 
sometimes he changes his conduct towards those who 
are unfaithful to him, and, after having treated them 
with disregarded mercy, he corrects them with de- 
served severity. 

God is said to repent of evil he was about to inflict, 
when, moved with compassion toward the miserable, 
or entreated by their prayers, or affected by their re- 
pentance, he remits the punishment of their sins, and 
does not execute his threatenings against them. 
Thus it is said, (Ps. cvi.) 45, that he repented accord- 
ing to the multitude of his mercies, and that he 
caused his people to find favor in the eyes of those 
to whom he had given them up into bondage. And 
in Jeremiah xviii. 8, the Lord declares, that if his 
people repent of their evil doings, he will also repent 
of the evil which he designed to inflict on them ; 
that is, he would treat them favorably ; but, on the 
contrary, if his people would not obey his com- 
mands, he would repent of the good he intended 
them. 

These expressions are used after the manner of 
men, and in accommodation to human language, be- 
cause in no other way can we conceive of the actions 
of Deity. When human passions are ascribed to 



K E P 



[ 78-1 1 



RES 



God, there is no intention of representing him as af- 
fected by such weaknesses ; but those ascriptions are 
intelligible to us, and are understood as metaphors, 
and figures of speech ; always remembering that 
threatenings are conditional, and may be either re- 
voked or abated. Not so promises, unless expressed ; 
they may be depended upon for full realization. 

The baptism of repentance is that which John 
the Baptist preached to the Jews, when he baptized 
them in Jordan, and exhorted them to " bring forth 
fruits worthy of repentance," Matt. iii. 11 ; Mark i. 4 ; 
Luke iii. 3. 

REPHAIM, ancient giants of Canaan, of whom 
there were several families. It is commonly sup- 
posed they descended from an ancestor called Re- 
phah, or Rapha ; but others imagine that the word 
properly signified giants, in the ancient language of 
this people. There were Rephaim beyond Jordan, 
at Ashtaroth Karuaim, in the time of Abraham, Gen. 
xiv. 5. Also some in the time of Moses. Og, king 
of Bashan, was of the Rephaim. In the time of 
Joshua, some of their descendants dwelt in the land 
of Canaan, (Josh. xii. 4 ; xvii. 15.) and we hear of 
them in David's time, in the city of Gath, 1 Chron. 
xx. 4 — 6. The giants Goliath, Sippai, Lahmi and 
•others, were remains of the Rephaim. Their magni- 
tude and strength are well known in Scripture. 

The valley of the Rephaim, or giants, was fa- 
mous in Joshua's time, and also in David's, Josh. xv. 
8 ; xviii. 16 ; 2 Sam. v. 18, 22 ; 1 Chron. xi. 15 ; xiv. 
9. It is placed as one limit of the portion of Judah. 
It was near Jerusalem, and it may be doubted wheth- 
er it belonged to Judah or to Benjamin, because of 
the contiguity of these two tribes. Eusebius places 
it in Benjamin ; but Josh, xviii. 16, and those pas- 
sages of the books of Samuel where it is mentioned, 
hint that it belonged to Judah, and was south or 
west of Jerusalem, towards Bethlehem and the 
Philistines. 

REPHIDIM, a station or encampment of Israel in 
the desert, Exod. xvii. 1. Here the people wanting 
water, began to murmur against Moses, saying, 
''Why have you brought us out of Egypt, to kill us 
with thirst in this desert?" Moses then cried to the 
Lord, who said, " Take the people to the rock of 
Horeb, with the elders: I shall be there on the rock 
before you ; you shall strike it with your rod, and 
water shall gush out, that the people may drink." 
This Moses did, and the place was called Tempta- 
tion, because of the complaints of Israel, who there 
tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or 
not ? 

Rephidim could not be far from Horeb, because 
God ordered Moses to go from thence to the rock of 
Horeb, to give the people water. And this same 
water seems to have served the Israelites, not only in 
the encampment of Rephidim, and in that of mount 
Sinai, but also in other encampments. Paul says, 
(1 Cor. x. 4.) that this rock followed them in their 
journey; and that it was a figure, or type of Christ. 
" For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed 
them, and that rock was Christ." This miracle at 
Rephidim happened A. M. 2513, in the second 
month after the departure from Egypt. And here 
Joshua obtained a famous victory over the Amalek- 
ites, while Moses lifted up his hands toward heaven, 
Exod. xvii. 8—10. See Exodus, p. 400. 

REPROACH is used in two senses; (1.) for the 
disgrace or confusion that any one suffers in himself ; 
(2.) for that which he causes in another. Among 
the Hebrews, to be uncircumcised was a reproach : 



and when Joshua circumcised those born in the 
wilderness, he tells them, " I have rolled away the 
reproach of Egypt from off you," Josh. v. 9. Bar- 
renness was a reproach ; and hence Rachel, on the 
birth of a second son, says, " The Lord has taken 
away my reproach," Gen. xxx. 23. Isaiah says, (iv. 
1.) that the time shall come when men shall be so 
scarce in Israel, that seven women shall lay hold of 
one man, and shall say to him, " Wc ask you noth- 
ing for our maintenance, only deliver us from the 
reproach of sterility and a single life : take us as 
wives," &c. The Lord struck the Philistines with a 
shameful malady in ano, and thereby loaded them 
with reproach, Ps. lxxviii. 66. 

Servitude, slavery, poverty, subjection to enemies, 
extraordinary diseases, as the leprosy, &c. were reck- 
oned reproaches, because they were supposed to be 
the effect of cowardice, or idleness, or bad manage- 
ment; or to be inflictions sent from God, to punish 
injustice and impiety. The Lord, in many places, 
threatens his people to make them a reproach and a 
proverb, which has been fulfilled in numerous in- 
stances, by the servitudes with which the Jews have 
been overwhelmed, and by the misfortunes which 
have happened to them. The psalmist often com- 
plains, that God had made him a reproach to 
those about him ; who insulted over his misfortunes 
and disgrace. 

" Not to take up a reproach against our neighbor," 
(Ps. xv. 3.) is not to listen to slanders and calumnies 
brought against him. David took away the reproach 
from Israel, by slaying Goliath, 1 Sam. xvii. 26 ; 
Ecclus. xlvii. 4. Jeremiah says, " I was ashamed, 
yea, even confounded, because I did bear the re- 
proach of my youth," chap. xxxi. 19. " Thou hast 
brought the shame of my youthful faults upon me ; 
thou hast showed me the horror of them, and hast 
made me bear the pain and confusion arising from 
them." And Isaiah, (liv. 4.) "Thou shalt forget the 
shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the re- 
proach of thy widowhood any more." He speaks 
to the tribe of Judah, after the return from the cap- 
tivity. Thou shalt no longer remember the reproach 
thou hast suffered among foreign nations. 

REPROBATION is equivalent to rejection, which 
always implies a cause — " Reprobate silver shall 
men call them ;" (Jer. vi. 30.) that is, they are base 
metal, counterfeit coin. Where all are equally un- 
worthy, if some be preferred to honor, the rest may- 
be said, in a sense, to be reprobated, that is, left 
where they were ; their condition is not worse, but 
it is not improved ; nevertheless, those only can be 
said to be rejected, who have been offered, either by 
themselves, or by others ; God never rejects any who 
offer themselves, but those who, by continuing in 
sin, reject the offered mercy of God, reprobate them- 
selves ; they say unto God, " Depart from us, for we 
desire not the knowledge of thy ways." 

REPTILES, animals that have no feet, or such 
short ones, that they seem to creep, or crawl, on the 
ground. Serpents, worms, locusts and caterpillars 
are taken for reptiles. The Hebrews put fishes also 
among reptiles, (they having no feet,) whatever be 
their nature, or shape, Gen. i. 21 ; Lev. xi. 46 ; Ps. 
lxix. 34, &c. This name is sometimes'also extended 
to such land animals, as are not of the same nature 
with the great beasts for service, nor of the larger 
wild beasts. In a word, "to creep upon the earth" 
is sometimes used for mbving, or going to and fro, as 
all four-footed creatures do. 

RESEN, a city of Assyria, between Nineveh and 




ELIEZER AND REBEKAH. 



RES 



[ 785 ] 



RES 



Calah, (Gen. x. 12.) on the river Chaboras in Meso- 
potamia. 

RESEPH, a city taken by the king of Assyria, 
2 Kings xix. 12 ; Isa. xxxvii. 12. 

RESPECT or persons. God appointed that the 
judges should pronounce sentence without respect of 
persons, Lev. xix. 15 ; Deut. xvi. 17, 19. That they 
should consider neither the poor nor the rich, the 
weak nor the powerful ; but should attend only to 
truth and justice. God has no respect of persons. 
And the Jews complimented our Saviour, that he 
told the truth, without respect of persons, without 
fear, Matt. xxii. 16. (See Isa. xxxii. 1 — 16.) Jude, 
(ver. 16.) instead of the phrase, "to have respect of 
persons," has " to admire persons." 

Our English term respect seems to imply some 
kind of deference or submission to a party : but this 
is not always the proper meaning to be annexed to it 
in Scripture. When we read, (Exod. ii. 25.) " God 
had respect to the children of Israel," it can only ex- 
press his compassion and sympathy for them : when 
God had respect to the offering of Abel, (Gen. iv. 4.) 
it imports to accept favorably, to notice with satisfac- 
tion. (Comp. 1 Kings viii. 28 ; Numb. xvi. 15.) 

REST, or Repose, was enjoined upon the Israelites 
on the sabbath-day, for the glory of God ; in that he 
rested after the six days of creation. See Sabbath. 

Rest also signifies a fixed and secure habitation. 
You shall go before your brethren. " until the Lord 
shall give rest to your brethren, as well as to you, in 
the land which they are going to make a conquest 
of," Deut. iii. 20. And Deut. xii. 9, " For ye are not 
as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which 
the Lord your God giveth you." You are not as yet 
settled in that land which you are to possess. Naomi 
says to Ruth, " My daughter, shall I not seek rest for 
thee, that it may be well with thee ? " (Ruth iii. 1.) i. e. 
I shall endeavor to procure you a settlement. David, 
speaking of the ark of the covenant, which till his 
time had no fixed place of settlement, says, "Arise, O 
Lord, into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength," 
Ps. cxxxii. 8. And Ecclus. xxxvi. 15, " O be mer- 
ciful unto Jerusalem, thy holy city, the place of thy 
rest." 

In a moral and spiritual sense, rest denotes the 
fixed and permanent state of repose enjoyed by the 
blessed in heaven ; and to this Paul makes an appli- 
cation of what is said of the settlement of the Is- 
raelites in the Land of Promise ; " I sware to them 
in my wrath, that they should not enter into my 
rest," that is, into the land of Canaan, Ps. xcv. 11. 
Therefore, says Paul, (Heb. iii. 17 — 19 ; iv. 1 — 3.) as 
they could not enter therein by reason of their unbe- 
lief, let us be afraid of imitating their example : for 
we cannot enter but by faith," &c. 

RESTITUTION. Natural justice requires that 
we should repair whatever injuries we have done to 
our neighbor, whether in his person, property, or 
reputation. The law of Moses prescribed, (Exod. 
xxi. 23—25 ; Lev. xxiv. 20 ; Deut. xix. 21.) " life for 
life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot 
for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, 
stripe for stripe." Also, that they should render five 
oxen for one ox, and four sheep for one sheep ; 
(Exod. xxii.) or that the thief should be sold, to make 
restitution for his theft : that if he had taken away 
any beast of service, as an ox, an ass, or even a 
sheep, he should restore it two-fold ; that whoever 
should damage the field of another, should repair the 
damage, according to an estimate. He who, by ig- 
norance, should omit to give to the temple what was 
99 



appointed by the law, for example, in the tithes or 
first-fruits, was obliged to restore it to the priests, 
and to add a fifth part beside ; over and above 
which, he was bound to offer a ram, for his expia- 
tion. Nehemiah prevailed with all those Israelites 
to make restitution, who had taken interest of their 
brethren, (Neh. v. 10, 11.) and Zaccheus (Luke xix. 8.) 
promises a four-fold restitution to all from whom he 
had extorted, in his office as a publican. The Ro- 
man laws condemned to a four-fold restitution all 
who were convicted of extortion or fraud. Zaccheus 
here imposes that penalty on himself, to which he 
adds the half of his goods ; which was what the law 
did not require. 

He who had killed a beast, as an ox, was to render 
another for it, or the value of it, Lev. xxiv. 18, 21. • 

The Jews expected Elias in the day of the Messi- 
ah, who was to restore all things, Matt. xvii. 11 ; Mai. 
iv. 5, 6. And Peter (Acts iii. 21.) calls the last day 
the day of restitution of all things. At the end of the 
world Christ will unite the church with the syna- 
gogue, the Jew with the Christian, the Christian 
with the Gentile : then all things will be restored to 
a perfect union, and there will be but one shepherd 
and one flock. 

RESURRECTION, revival from the dead. The 
belief of a resurrection is an article of religion com- 
mon to Jew and Christian ; and is expressly taught 
in both Testaments. We speak not here of that mi- 
raculous resurrection, which consists in reviving for a 
time, to die again afterwards ; as Elijah, Elisha, 
Christ, and his apostles, raised some from the dead ; 
but of a general resurrection of the dead, which will 
take place at the end of the world, and which will be 
followed by an immortality either of happiness or of 
misery. So the psalmist says, (xvi. 10.) "For thou 
wilt not leave my soul in hell, [the grave,] neither 
wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption." 
Job xix. 25—27, " For I know that my Redeemer 
liveth, and that he shall stand in the latter day upon 
the earth. And though after my skin, worms destroy 
this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God : whom I 
shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and 
not another : though my reins be consumed within 
me." Ezekiel, also, in his vision of a great quantity 
of bones in a large field, which, at the breath of the 
Spirit of the Lord, began to unite, to be covered with 
flesh, nerves and skin, and at last to revive, has left 
us a proof and an assurance of a general resurrec- 
tion, Ezek. xxxvii. (See also Isa. xxvi. 19.) The 
Book of Wisdom (chap. iii. iv. 15.) speaks of it in a 
very lively manner ; and in the Maccabees, we see 
the same truth maintained still more expressly, 2 Mac. 
vii. 9, 14, 23, 29 ; Heb. xi. 35. 

When our Saviour appeared in Judea, the resur- 
rection from the dead was received as a principal 
article of religion by the whole Jewish nation, except 
the Sadducees, whose error our Saviour has effectu- 
ally confuted. He has promised his faithful servants 
a complete state of happiness after the general resur- 
rection ; and he arose himself from the dead, to give, 
among other things, a proof in his own person, a 
pledge, a pattern of the future resurrection. Paul, in 
almost all his Epistles, speaks of a general resurrec- 
tion ; refutes those who denied or opposed it ; proves 
it to those who had difficulties about it; in some de- 
gree explains the mystery, the manner, and several 
circumstances of it; says, that to deny it, is the same 
as to deny our Saviour's resurrection ; and that, if 
we were not to rise again from the dead, we should 
be of all men the most miserable, 1 Cor. xv. 



RESURRECTION 



[ 786 ] 



REU 



Some of the ancient fathers acknowledged a two- 
fold resurrection : (1.) that which is to precede the 
Messiah's reign of a thousand years upon earth ; (2.) 
that which is to follow the reign of a thousand years, 
and to begin the reign of the saints in a state of ever- 
lasting happiness. This sentiment they borrowed 
from the Jews ; it is found clearly enough in the 
second book of Esdras, iv. 35; vi. 18, &c. in the 
Testament of the twelve patriarchs, and in several of 
the rabbins. 

It is inquired, what will be the nature of bodies 
when raised, what their stature, their age, their sex ? 
Christ tells us, (Matt. xxii. 30.) that after the resur- 
rection men shall be as the angels of God ; that is, 
according to the fathers, they shall be immortal, in- 
corruptible, and in some sort spiritual ; yet without 
losing the qualities of bodies, as we find our Saviour's 
body, after his resurrection, was tangible, and had 
flesh on his bones, Luke xxiv. 39. 

The schoolmen have discussed the doctrine of the 
resurrection with great subtilty and minuteness; but 
there are several questions connected with it, as it 
appears in Scripture, which comprise much greater 
importance than those so assiduously treated by 
them. That some notion of a resurrection was in 
circulation among the Jews, appears from the per- 
plexity of Herod the tetrarch, Matt. xiv. When he 
heard of the fame of Jesus, he said, " This is John 
the Baptist ; he is risen from the dead, and therefore 
mighty works do show forth themselves in him." 
How could he conceive of a resurrection of John, 
when he knew that he had been decollated, that his 
head was in the keeping of Herodias, and that his 
body had been buried by his disciples ? verse 12. It 
could not be a corporeal resurrection ; the body with- 
out the head was undoubtedly imperfect, and inca- 
pable of life. And if Herod supposed (as some say) 
that the soul of John animated the body of Jesus, 
how was that a resurrection ; and what could be his 
reasons for imagining that, in such a case, " mighty 
works" would be wrought by a soul returned to 
earth from the abode, or the state, of separate spirits ? 

Very confused, undoubtedly, were the notions of 
the best instructed of the disciples of Jesus on this 
subject. When Peter, James and John, as they 
came down from the mount of Transfiguration, were 
charged to preserve secrecy as to what they had wit- 
nessed, " till the Son of man should be risen from 
the dead," they cross-examined each other as to the 
import of this phrase. They could not think them- 
selves enjoined to silence till the general resurrection ; 
undoubtedly they should all be dead long enough 
before that : and as to the particular resurrection of 
the Son of man, they were completely at a loss, since 
they, in common with other Jews, had heard out of 
the law, that the Messiah abideth for ever. This 
was explained to John (first, apparently) and to Pe- 
ter, (John xx. 8.) and this " questioning among them- 
selves," might be no bad preparative for that convic- 
tion. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, 
(Luke xvi.) the passage of a separate spirit from a 
state of felicity to this world, is plainly supposed to 
be possible ; and the phrase "rising from the dead," 
is used in a manner to show that it was common and 
current at that time among that people. 

The doctrine of a general resurrection as an article 
of faith, is expressly acknowledged by Martha, at the 
grave of Lazarus, (John xi. 24.) and it is clear, that 
no individual can receive according to the deeds 
done in the body, unless the body be party to the 
sentence as well as to the deeds. 



But the conceptions of both Jews and Gentiles 
were exceedingly gross and obscure on a doctrine so 
contrary to universal experience. They inclined too 
much to the notion of a corporeal resurrection, to a 
renovated term of sensual enjoyment, to terrestrial 
pleasures, a freedom from the evils of life, but a par- 
ticipation in its joys and advantages ; a prolongation 
of being, in its favorable sense, on earth ; but again 
to close and terminate. Of a resurrection of the 
body to eternal life, properly speaking, and in a state 
of perfect holiness and glory, superior to the delights 
of sense, they appear to have had no idea: hence the 
Gentiles, especially, both ridiculed and hated the 
doctrines held and enforced by the disciples of 
Jesus. 

It was the opinion of Chrysostom, that the philos- 
ophers addressed by Paul at Athens, (Acts xvii. 18.) 
took Jesus and the resurrection, 'Avixiraair, for a god 
or deified man, and a goddess or deified principle. 
Dr. Hammond adopts this idea, and is followed by 
later writers. It is countenanced by their expression 
— " he seems to be a setter forth of foreign demons," 
that is, of departed spirits existing in a separate and 
more exalted state, but exercising great power in this 
lower world. 

Undoubtedly, Paul was the best qualified of all 
men to describe the glories of the resurrection-body 
of Christ ; for, during his abode on earth, Christ sus- 
pended, or suppressed, those glories ; and the ap- 
pearances of Christ, seen by the writers of the Apoc- 
alypse, being in vision, and that vision emblematical 
and mysterious, they will not bear arguments so co- 
gent as the manifestation in the way to Damascus. 
Paul repeatedly asserts that " he had seen the Lord," 
— that he had been commissioned by him ; he reports 
a long communication that took place, (Actsxxvi 13 
— 18.) and he affirms the excessive refulgence of the 
splendor from the body of Jesus, its effects on his 
companions, and more especially on himself, in whom 
it produced blindness ; that is, perhaps, the cornea 
of the eye was so greatly indurated, that its transpa- 
rency was lost ; nor was the power of seeing restored 
to the eye, till after the original cornea had peeled 
off, in the form of scales. 

It may well be supposed that preeminence in point 
of splendor is conferred on the resurrection-body of 
Christ ; nor should we press too closely the words of 
John, " We shall be like him, when we shall see him 
as he is." Nevertheless, we may modestly conjec- 
ture, that a glory somewhat similar will be attached 
even to the bodies of saints ; though it becomes us to 
confess that our ignorance on all celestial subjects is 
rendered the more sensible, by the very communica- 
tions with which we have been favored by divine 
revelation itself. We are more conscious of our 
ignorance, incompetency and weakness, than the 
uninstructed heathen, or the partially instructed He- 
brews, could possibly be. We repose our confi- 
dence on the infinite power of our Maker, we receive 
the doctrine simply as an article of divine revela- 
tion ; and, notwithstanding the difficulties of the 
subject, and the power of opposing appearances, 
we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

REU, or Ragau, (Luke iii. 35.) son of Peleg, Gen. 
xi. 18, 19. His father was then thirty years old. He 
begat Serug, being thirty-two years old, A. M. 1819, 
and died at the age of two hundred and thirty-nine 
years, A. M. 2026. It is not impossible, that the city 
of Rages, and the plain of Ragau, might take their 
names from Reu, or Ragau ; for these are the same 
in the Hebrew. The difference depends on the pro- 



REV 



[ 787 ] 



REV 



nunciation of the letter y ain, or gnain, Gen. xi. 18 ; 
1 Chron. i. 25. 

REUBEN, (behold ! a son ;) so called in reference 
to the sentiment of his mother, " The Lord hath 
looked on my affliction ;" the eldest son of Jacob and 
Leah ; born A. M. 2246, Gen. xxix. 32. Reuben, 
having defiled his father's concubine Bilhah, lost his 
birth-right, and all the privileges of primogeniture, 
Gen. xxxv. 22. When Joseph's brethren had taken 
a resolution to destroy him, Reuben endeavored by 
all means to deliver him. He proposed to them, to 
let him down into an old water-pit, which had then 
no watery that afterwards he might take him up 
again, and restore him to his father Jacob. His 
brethren took the advice ; but while Reuben was at 
some distance, they sold Joseph to a party of Ish- 
maelites. Reuben going to the pit, and not finding 
him there, tore his clothes, and bewailed his broth- 
er's loss. 

Jacob, when dying, warmly reproached Reuben 
with his crime committed with Bilhah ; saying, 
" Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, but un- 
stable as water, thou shalt not excel, because thou 
wentest up to thy father's bed ; then defiledst thou 
it." Moses, before his death, said of Reuben, (Deut. 
xxxiii. 6.) " Let Reuben live and not die, yet let his 
number be but small." His tribe was never very 
numerous, nor very considerable in Israel. They 
had their inheritance beyond Jordan, between the 
brooks Arnon south, and Jazer north, having the 
mountains of Gilead east, and Jordan west. (See Ca- 
naan.) The time of Reuben's death is unknown. 

REUEL, son of Esau and Bashemath, daughter of 
Ishmael, was father of Nabath,Zerah, Shammah and 
Mizzah, Gen. xxxvi. 4, 17. 

REUMAH, concubine to Nahor, the brother of 
Abraham ; was mother of Tebah, Gaham, Thahash 
and Maachah, Gen. xxii. 24. 

REVELATION, an extraordinary and supernatu- 
ral discovery made to the mind of man ; whether by 
dream, vision, ecstacy, or otherwise. Paul, alluding 
to his visions and revelations, (2 Cor. xii. 1, 7.) speaks 
of them in the third person, out of modesty ; and de- 
clares, that he could not tell whether he were in the 
body or out of the body. Elsewhere he says, that 
he had received his gospel by a particular revelation : 
(Gal. i. 12.) again, that he did not go to Jerusalem 
after his conversion by the mere motion of his own 
mind, but in consequence of a revelation, Gal. ii. 2. 

" Revelation " is used to express the manifestation 
of Jesus Christ to Jews and Gentiles ; (Luke ii. 32.) 
the manifestation of the glory with which God will 
glorify his elect and faithful servants at the last 
judgment ; (Rom. viii. 19.) and the declaration of his 
just judgments, in his conduct both towards the elect, 
and towards the reprobate, Rom. ii. 5 — 16. There is a 
very noble application of the word revelation to the 
consummation of all things, or the revelation of Jesus 
Christ in his future glory, 1 Cor. i. 7 ; 1 Pet. i. 13. 

Revelation, book of, see Apocalypse. 

REVENGE, the return of an injury, from a desire 
of hurting the object. Hence it is generally said, that 
when Scripture says that God revenges himself, it 
speaks after a popular manner : the meaning is, he 
vindicates the injuries done to his justice and his 
majesty, and to the order established by him in the 
world; yet without any emotion of displeasure. He 
revenges the injuries done to his servants, because 
he is just, and because order and justice must be pre- 
served. It may, however, be remarked, that our lan- 
guage maintains a distinction between the terms 



revenge and avenge, although it is too often over- 
looked. That God may avenge, that is, punish in 
proportion to sins committed, is the indefeasible con- 
sequence of his infinite justice, of his moral govern- 
ment, holiness, &c. but to revenge seems rather the act 
of a man when he inflicts an injury on another, com- 
mensurate, in his estimation, to the injury he has re- 
ceived from that other, and in this he is likely to be 
guilty of excess. It is, therefore, not without pain 
that we read of God's revenging, since a disposition 
to revenge, or a spirit of revenge, is very improperly 
imputed to Deity, and we cannot be too cautious on 
this subject. To avenge a broken law, to avenge the 
injuries sustained by the widow and fatherless, that 
is, to punish those who oppress them in proportion 
to demerit, is no more than justice, and may be ac- 
complished in various ways; possibly, even without 
inflicting evil on the culprit — but by bringing him to 
a penitent sense of his misconduct, inducing him to 
make restitution, to make amends, to compensate for 
damages, and to resolve on better conduct for the 
future, &c. In short, it should seem that determina- 
tion to avenge, is a pure and simple wish to do justice 
or to see justice done; while the desire to revenge 
springs from pride, or self-love, and is a human in- 
firmity actuated by passion, vehemently assuming 
the character of retaliation, vexing, or injuring the 
object of it. 

In the Old Testament, God appears to have tole- 
rated revenge in certain cases, to avoid greater evils : 
" An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, &c. Exod. 
xxi. 24. The relations of a man who had been killed 
might take revenge on the murderer, Numb. xxxv. 
16—18, &c. (See Refuge.) However, God has suf- 
ficiently declared, that vengeance belongs only to 
him, Deut. xxxii. 35. He forbids malice and revenge 
in express terms ; he will not allow us to keep any 
resentment in our hearts against our brethren, Lev. 
xix. 17, 18. And when God seems to have estab- 
lished the lex talionis, he does not thereby allow of 
revenge, but sets limits to it. He does not, as Au- 
gustin remarks, intend to provoke to anger, but to 
stop the progress and consequences of it. 

" The day of vengeance " sometimes expresses the 
day of judgment, in which God will take vengeance 
on all his enemies ; sometimes the day of vengeance 
stands for the punishment God exercises on his ene- 
mies, when their iniquities have attained their full 
measure, Exod. xxxii. 34 ; Isa. xxxiv. 8 ; lxi. 2 ; lxiii. 
4 ; Luke xxi. 22. 

REVENGER, or Revenger of Blood, is a name 
given in Scripture to the man who had the right, ac- 
cording to the Jewish polity, of taking revenge on 
him who had killed one of his relations. If a man 
had been guilty of manslaughter, involuntarily and 
without design, he fled to a city of refuge. See the 
subject fully treated under Refuge. 

REVERENCE, a respectful, submissive disposi- 
tion of mind, arising from affection and esteem, from 
a sense of superiority in the person reverenced. 
Hence children reverence their fathers, even when 
their fathers correct them by stripes ; (Heb. xii. 9.) 
hence subjects reverence their sovereign ; (2 Sam. ix. 
6.) hence wives reverence their husbands ; (Eph. v. 
33.) and hence all ought to reverence God. We 
reverence the name of God, the house of God, the 
worship of God, &c. ; we reverence the attributes of 
God, the commands, dispensations, &c. of God ; and 
we ought to demonstrate our reverence by overt acts, 
such as are suitable and becoming to time, place and 
circumstances ; for though a man may reverence 



REZ 



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RIG 



God in his heart, yet unless he behave reverentially, 
and give proofs of his reverence by demeanor, con- 
duct and obedience, he will not easily persuade his 
fellow mortals, that his bosom is the residence of this 
divine and heavenly disposition ; for, in fact, a rev- 
erence for God is not one of those lights which burn 
under a bushel, but one of those whose sprightly lus- 
tre illuminates wherever it is admitted. — Reverence 
is, strictly speaking, perhaps, the internal disposition 
of the mind, q-^Soc ; (Rom. xiii. 7.) and honor, rifoj, 
the external expression of that disposition. 

REWARD, a recompense, requital, retribution for 
some service done ; the fruit and benefit of labor. It 
is of several kinds : as mental, — the reward of a good 
action is enjoyed in reflection, satisfaction, a sense of 
having been useful, &c. — pecuniary, or profitable, 
such as is due to laborers for their work ; (1 Tim. v. 
18; Job vii. 2.) a gift, or acquisition to counterbalance 
an injury, Pro v. xxi. 14 ; xxii. 4. Rewards are not 
always conferred by Providence on good men in this 
life, but their reward is in heaven, Matt. v. 12 ; Luke 
vi. 23. The essence of reward being satisfaction, a 
reward given freely, a reward prompted by grace 
and favor, is a donation not claimable by the party 
who receives it, on account of his own merit, but is 
bestowed in kindness by the giver; and therefore, 
though in strictness it is not reward for work done, 
yet it is no less a remuneration, and is at once a gift 
and a satisfaction. "Raphelius has shown, (says Dr. 
Doddridge,) that ,u la-dog not only signifies a reward of 
debt, but also a gift of favor; and that the phrase 
fila-dov Soof/>]v occurs in Herodotus: so that a reward 
of grace, or favor, is a classical as well as a theologi- 
cal expression." (Note on Rom. iv. 4.) 

I. REZIN, a king of Syria, who combined with 
Pekah, king of Israel, to invade Judah, 2 Kings xv. 
37, 38 ; xvi. 5, 6. A. M. 3262. (See also 2 Chron. 
xxviii. 5 — 7.) The first year of Ahaz they besieged 
Jerusalem ; but not being able to take it, they wasted 
the country around, and withdrew. The year fol- 
lowing they returned, and the Lord delivered up to 
them the army and the country of Ahaz. After this, 
they separated their troops ; and Rezin earned away 
much plunder and many captives to Damascus. 
About the same time, he took Elath, on the Red sea ; 
whence he drove out the Jews, and settled Idu means 
in their room, who, probably, had engaged him to 
undertake the war. The Hebrew and the Vulgate 
(2 Kings xvi. 6.) seem to intimate, that he conquered 
Elath for the Syrians. But the tenor of the discourse 
sufficiently shows, that we ought to read, " for the 
Idumeans:" and that the Hebrew should be read 
Edom, not Aram. The difference between these two 
words in the original, is hardly perceivable : c^ 1 ?, 
Leedom, instead of —-in?, Learam. Ahaz, finding 
himself not strong enough to withstand Rezin and 
Pekah, applied to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, 
and with a very large sum of money bought his as- 
sistance. Tiglath-pileser marched against Damascus, 
took the city, and slew Rezin : he also carried away 
his people to Kir ; probably the river Cyrus in Ibe- 
ria, 2 Kings xvi. 9. 

II. REZIN, a Jew, who returned from Babylon, 
Ezra ii. 48 ; Neh. vii. 50. 

REZON, son of Eliadah, revolted from his master 
Hadadezer, king of Zobah, while David made war 
against him ; and, heading a band of robbers, made 
inroads into the country about Damascus, 1 Kings xi. 
23. He at last became master of that city, and was 
acknowledged king. Whether this was during the 
reigns of David and Solomon, Rezon being tributary 



to them ; or whether it was not till near the ena of 
Solomon's reign, we have no means of determining. 

RHEGIUM, a city of Italy, in the kingdom of Na- 
ples, on the coast near the south-west extremity of 
Italy, opposite to Messina in Sicily. It is now called 
Reggio. The ship in which Paul was on his way 
to Rome, touched here, Acts xxviii. 13, 14. 

RHODA, a young maid of the household of Mary, 
the mother of John Mark, Acts xii. 13, 14. 

RHODES, an island and famous city of the Le- 
vant, the ancient name of which was Asteria, Ophi- 
usa and Etherja. Its modern name alludes to the 
great quantity and beauty of the roses that grew 
there. It is chiefly famous for its brazen Colossus, 
which was 105 feet high, made by Chares of Lyndus : 
it stood across the mouth of the harbor of the city 
Rhodes, and continued perfect only fifty-six years, 
being thrown down by an earthquake, under the 
reigD of Ptolemy Euergetes, king of Egypt, who be- 
gan to reign ante A. D. 244. When Paul went to 
Jerusalem, A. D. 58, he visited Rhodes, Acts xxi. 1. 

R1BL AH, a city of Syria, in the countiy of Ha- 
math, the situation of which, however, is unknown. 
Jerome has taken it for Antioch of Syria, or for the 
countiy of Hamath, or Emmas, which was still in his 
time the first stage of those who travelled from Syria 
into Mesopotamia. However, this lies under great 
difficulties. Antioch was at a distance from Emesa ; 
nor was it on the road from Judea to Mesopotamia. 
When Moses describes tne eastern limits of the Land 
of Promise, (Numb, xxxiv. 10.) he says, " Ye shall 
point out your east border from Hazar-enan to She- 
pham. And the coast shall gr down from Shepham 
to Riblah, on the east side of (the fountain) Ain ; and 
the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the 
side of the sea of Cinnereth (Tiberias) eastward. 
And the border shall go down to Jordan ; and the 
goings out of it shall be at the Salt sea (or the Dead 
sea)." The name of Daphne is not in the Hebrew : 
but the Chaldee paraphrasts and Jerome explain the 
fountain of Riblah by that of Daphne, near Antioch. 
Ezekiel draws the northern bounds of the Land of 
Promise from the Mediterranean sea to Hazar-enan, 
or Atrium Enan. He says, the city of Hamath limits 
the Holy Land toward the north ; and its southern 
limits go through the middle of Hauran, Damascus, 
and the mountains of Gilead. He does not mention 
Riblah, but Hamath ; in the territory of which Riblah 
was situate, Ezek. xlvii. 16, seq. 

[The Babylonians, in their incursions into Pales- 
tine, were accustomed to take their way over Ha- 
math and Ribla. Mr. Buckingham mentions a place 
Bella, about 30 miles south of Hamath, on the Oron- 
tes, in which the ancient Riblah is doubtless to be 
recognized. (Travels among the Arab tribes, Lond. 
1825, p. 481.) R. 

Riblah, as a residence, was one of the most agree- 
able of Syria ; whence it was selected by the kings of 
Babylon. Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, stayed 
here, on his return from his expedition against Car- 
chemish ; (2 Kings xxiii. 33.) and having sent for Je- 
hoahaz, king of Judah, he here deprived him of the 
royal dignity, and promoted Jehoiakim. Nebuchad- 
nezzar, king of Babylon, continued at Riblah, while 
his general Nebuzaradan besieged Jerusalem ; and 
after the reduction of that city, Zedekiah, with the 
other prisoners, was brought to Riblah, where his 
eyes were put out, 2 Kings xxv. 6, 20 ; Jer. xxxix. 5; 

m. 9. 

RIGHT-HAND denotes power, or strength 
whence Scripture generally imputes to God's right- 



RIGHT-HAND 



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RIG 



hand, the effects of his omnipotence, Exoa. x . 6. Ps. 
xxi. 8 ; xliv. 3, &c. ; Matt. xxvi. 64 ; Col. iii. 1 ; Heb. 
i. 3; x. 12. 

The right-hand commonly denotes the south, as 
the left-hand denotes the north. For the Hebrews 
speak of the quarters of the world in respect of a 
person, whose face is turned to the east, his back to 
the west, his right-hand to the south, and his left- 
hand to the north. Thus Kedem, which signifies 
before, denotes also the east ; and Achor, which sig- 
nifies behind, marks the west ; Yamin, the right- 
hand, is the south ; and Shemol, the left-hand, the 
north. For example ; "Doth not David hide him- 
self with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill 
of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon ?" 
Heb. on the right-hand of Jeshimon, 1 Sam. xxiii. 
19, 24. 

The accuser was commonly at the right-hand of 
the accused, (Ps. cix. 6.) and hence, Satan stands at 
the right-hand of the high-priest Joshua, to accuse 
him, Zech. iii. ]. But, often, in a quite contrary 
sense, to be at any one's right-hand, signifies to defend, 
to protect, to support him, Ps. xvi. 8 ; cix. 31 ; cviii. 6. 

" To depart from the law of God, neither to the 
right-hand nor to the left," is a frequent Scripture 
expression, meaning a strict adherence to it : neither 
attempting to go beyond it, and doing more than it 
requires ; nor doing less: we must observe it closely, 
constantly, invariably : as a traveller, who does not 
quit his way, either to the right or the left, lest he 
should lose it entirely. 

Our Saviour, to show with what privacy we 
should do good works, says, (Matt. vi. 3.) " That our 
left-haud should not know what our right-hand 
does." Above all things we should avoid vanity and 
ostentation in alms and beneficence. 

To give the right-hand is a mark of friendship. 
Paul says, that James, Cephas and John gave him 
the right-hand of fellowship, Gal. ii. 9. And in the 
Books of the Maccabees this expression occurs very 
often. See Hand. 

In taking an oath, the Hebrews lifted up their 
right-hand, Isa. lxii. 8 ; Gen. xiv. 22 ; Deut. xxxii. 
40. See Oath. 

This article might be extended to an inconvenient 
length : it is, however, worth while to become ac- 
quainted with some of the distinctions allotted by 
Scripture to the right-hand. When Jacob called 
Benjamin the son of my right-hand, as the margin 
reads, it certainly denoted a special degree of affec- 
tion for that child of his beloved Rachel ; and when 
he purposely crossed his hands, so as to lay his right- 
hand on the head of Ephraim, (Gen. xlviii. 14.) this 
token, indicating greater prosperity, was readily un- 
derstood by Joseph, as it was intended by his father. 
When we read (1 Ohron. xxix. 24.) on occasion of 
the inauguration of Solomon, that "all the sons of 
David gave the hand unto Solomon as king ;" we 
should understand the right-hand, given in token of 
allegiance and submission. In like manner of Baby- 
lon, (Jer. 1. 15.) " She has given her hand," that 
is, her right-hand, has pledged her fidelity : and the 
same in Lain. v. 6, "We have given the hand, the 
right-hand, protesting thereby our submission, to the 
Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with 
bread." When Abraham says, (Gen. xiv. 22.) "1 
have lifted up my hand to the Lord, and I cannot 
retract," he certainly means that he had sworn to 
the Lord, by lifting up his right-hand. What, then, 
can we think of those of whom it is alleged, (Ps. 
cxliv. 8.) their right-hand is a right-hand of false- 



hood ; their oath is not to be taken ; or of those who 
are so besotted as to worship gods of their own 
making, and never to question whether there be no 
lie. in their right-hand; where truth, fidelity, and 
even scrupulous accuracy, should be maintained 
without intermission, Isa. xliv. 20. 

The right-hand was stretched forth as an action 
of address, whether of entreaty, (as Prov. i. 24 ; Isa. 
Ixv. 2.) or of oratory, (as Acts xxvi. ,1.) or of protec- 
tion, direction, &c. 

The right-hand, especially, was lifted up in prayer ; 
and it deserves notice that every figure delineated by 
the early Christians, remaining in their sepulchres, 
or elsewhere, intended to represent the action of 
prayer, has the hands — but especially the right-hand 
— lifted up, solemnly and steadily. 

As much of the labor of life is performed with the 
right-hand, and as most of our Lord's hearers were 
laboring men, we ought not to pass without notice 
the emphatic nature of his advice — "If thy right- 
hand cause thee to offend, cut it off," Matt. v. 30. 
The inducement could not be slight, nor the con- 
viction trivial, that could effect a loss and a suffering 
expressed by this figurative language. 

To seat a person at the right-hand is a token of 
peculiar honor ; so Bathsheba, as the king's mother, 
was placed at the right-hand of Solomon : (1 Kings 
ii. 19 ; comp. Ps. xiv. 9.) and when Christ is said to 
be seated on the right-hand of God, (Acts vii. 55; 
Rom. viii. 34 ; Col. iii. 1.) it imports unequalled dig- 
nity and exaltation. 

It is evident, that when a hand, or the right-hand, is 
attributed to Deity, the expression should be taken 
only after the manner of men. Deity has neither 
right-hand nor left-hand ; but the strength, the skill, 
the power of man lying much, and principally, in his 
right-hand, the idea is transferred to God, by an in- 
evitable, and therefore a justifiable, liberty of speech. 

RIGHTEOUS, and RIGHTEOUSNESS, are 
terms taken in several senses in Scripture. As 
for (1.) absolute perfection of rectitude and holi- 
ness ; in which sense they are applied to God, who 
always observes the very strictness of equity, as well 
from the justice of his own nature, as in regard to 
his creatures, Job xxxvi. 2 ; John xvii. 25. (2.) 
The truth and faithfulness of God, in performing his 
promises, the rectitude by which he is governed in 
making and in fulfilling his promises. (3.) The 
righteousness of Christ, the righteousness acceptable 
to" God, the manner of becoming righteous in the 
sight of God, are other acceptations of the words. 
(4.) Righteous is spoken comparatively of men. No 
man is absolutely righteous ; but he who practises 
justice, equity, integrity, in his conduct, behavior, 
dealings, &c. is comparatively righteous. Whoever 
in his course of life "walks in all the ordinances and 
commandments of the Lord, blameless," is so far 
righteous. Hence some persons in Scripture are 
called righteous, as Noah ; (Gen. vii. 1 — 9.) that is, a 
man of integrity and holy manners. So Abraham 
supposes (Gen. xviii. 23.) there might be fifty right- 
eous in Sodom, men who were not profligates like 
the Sodomites in general ; and this sense is frequent 
in the Psalms, &c. Alms are called righteousness, 
Matt. vi. 1. (5.) Righteousness in the New Testa- 
ment is applied to God ; to Christ the righteous, (1 
John ii. 1.) and to men ; but as men have, at best, 
but a broken, damaged, and imperfect righteousness, 
this word is applied to men in a very limited and 
qualified sense ; and also with respect to a better 
righteousness than merely human ; that obtained by 



RIN 



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RIZ 



faith ; that freely bestowed by God, and as bestowed, 
so received, through Christ. (6.) Righteousness de- 
notes the ordinances of God, Matt. iii. 15 ; xxi. 32. 
(7.) Righteousness is sometimes much the same as 
holiness, Acts x. 35 ; Eph. v. 9. The righteousness 
of the Pharisees, which was in their own eyes excel- 
lent, was precise to superstition, yet was imperfect 
and worthless before God, Luke xviii. 9; Matt. ix. 
13. To acknowledge as righteous, to pronounce 
righteous, that is, to acquit. See Justification. 

I. RIMMON, a city of Zebulun, 1 Chron. vi. 77. 
The same with Rimmon-Methoar, Josh. xix. 13. 

II. RIMMON, a rock to which the children of 
Benjamin retreated, Juclg. xx.45 ; xxi. 13 ; 1 Sam. xiv. 2. 

III. RIMMON, an idol of Damascus, where he 
had a temple, 2 Kings v. 18. It is thought this god 
was the sun, named Rimmon, or high, because of 
his elevation. Grotius takes it for Saturn, because 
that planet is the most elevated. 

IV. RIMMON, a city in the tribes of Judah and 
Simeon, Josh. xv. 32 ; xix. 7 ; 1 Chron. iv. 32 ; Neh. 
xi. 29 ; Zech. xiv. 10. 

V. RIMMON, the father of Baanah and Rechab, 
the murderers of Ishbosheth, 2 Sam. iv. 5, 9. 

RIMMON-METHOAR, a city of Zebulun, Josh, 
xix. 13. The same with Rimmon I. above. 

RIMMON-PAREZ, an encampment of Israel in 
the wilderness ; from Rithmah they came to Rim- 
mon-parez, and from hence went to Libnah, Numb, 
xxxiii. 19. See Exodus. 

RINGS, ornaments for the ears, nose, legs, or fin- 
gers. The antiquity of rings appears from Scripture 
and from profane authors. Judah left his ring with 
Tamar, Gen. xxxviii. 18. When Pharaoh commit- 
ted the government of Egypt to Joseph, he gave him 
his ring from his finger, Gen. xli. 42. After the vic- 
tory of the Israelites over the Midianites, they offer- 
ed to the Lord the rings, the bracelets, and the golden 
necklaces, taken from the enemy, Numb. xxxi. 50. 
The Israelitish women wore rings, not only on their 
fingers, but also in their nostrils and their ears. (See 
Bracelets.) James distinguishes a man of wealth 
and dignity by the ring of gold on his finger, Jam. 
ii. 2. At the return of the prodigal son, his father 
ordered a handsome apparel for his dress, and that a 
ring should be put on his finger, Luke xvi. 22. And 
when the Lord threatened king Jeconiah with the 
utmost effects of his anger, he tells him, that though 
he wore the signet or ring upon his finger, yet he 
should be torn off, Jer. xxii. 24. See Seal. 

The ring was used chiefly to seal with, and Scrip- 
ture generally assigns it to princes and great per- 
sons ; as the king of Egypt, Joseph, Ahaz, Jezebel ; 
king Ahasuerus, his favorite Haman, Mordecai, king 
Darius, &c. 1 Kings xxi. 8 ; Esth. iii. 10, &c. ; Dan. 
vi. 17. The patents and orders of these princes 
were sealed with their rings or signets, an impression 
from which was their confirmation. 

The ring was one mark of sovereign authority. 
Pharaoh gave his ring to Joseph, as a token of au- 
thority. When Alexander the Great gave his ring 
to Perdiccas, it was understood as nominating him 
his successor. When Antiochus Epiphanes was at 
the point of death, he committed to Philip, one of 
his friends, his diadem, his royal cloak and his ring, 
that he might give them to his successor, young An- 
tiochus, 1 Mac. vi. 15. Augustus, being very ill of a 
distemper which he thought mortal, gave his ring to 
Agrippa, as to a friend of the greatest integrity. 

We read of magical rings, to which several extraor- 
dinary effects were ascribed, either as preservatives | 



against certain evils, or for procuring certain advan 
tages and. good fortune. 

The rings and pendants for the cars, so frequent 
in Palestine and Africa, were probably superstitious 
rings, or talismans. When Jacob arrived at Canaan, 
on his return from Mesopotamia, he ordered his 
people to deliver to him "all the strange gods which 
were in their hand, and all their ear-rings which 
were in their ears," (Gen. xxxv. 4.) which seems to 
insinuate, that those strange gods were superstitious 
and magical figures, engraven on their rings, their 
bracelets, and the pendants in their ears. Some 
commentators, however, think that these rings and 
pendants were upon the hands and in the ears of 
their false gods. See Ear-rings, and Amulets. 

RIPHATH, second son of Gomer, and grandson 
of Japhet, Gen. x. 3; 1 Chron. i. 6. The learned 
are not agreed what country was peopled by the de- 
scendants of Riphath. 

RISSAH, an encampment of Israel in the wilder- 
ness. They came from Libnah to Rissah, and from 
Rissah they went to Kehelathah, Numb, xxxiii. 22. 
See Exodus. 

RITHMAH, another encampment of Israel. 
From Hazeroth they arrived at Rithmah, whence 
they went to Rimmon-parez, Numb, xxxiii. 18. See 
Exodus. 

RIVER, a running stream of water. The He- 
brews give the name' of the river, without addition, 
sometimes to the Nile, sometimes to the Euphrates, 
and sometimes to the Jordan. The tenor of the dis- 
course must determine the sense of this uncertain 
and indeterminate way of speaking. They give also 
the name of river to brooks and rivulets that are not 
very considerable. 

The principal rivers and brooks of Palestine were 
the Jordan, the Anion, the Jabbok, the Cherith, the 
Sorek, the Besor, the Kishon, the brook of Jezreel, 
the brook of Reeds or of Kanah, the Barrady, or Aba- 
nah and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus. See their 
proper articles. 

The name of river is sometimes given to the sea ; 
hence Jonah says (ii. 5.) he was surrounded by the 
rivers ; that is, the waters of the sea, currents. Ha- 
bakkuk, (iii. 8, 9.) speaking of the passage through 
the Red sea, says, " The Lord divided the waters of 
the rivers." So the psalmist, (lxxiv. 15.) "The Lord 
dried up the rapid rivers," or the rivers of strength. 
And Psalm xxiv. 2, "The Lord hath founded the 
earth upon the sea, and established it upon the riv- 
ers :" which signifies the same in both places. He- 
rodotus relates, that when Xerxes cast bonds into the 
Hellespont, and ordered it to be whipped, he said to it, 
" It is with good reason that nobody offers sacrifices to 
thee, O thou deceitful and turbulent river." See Sea. 

RIZPAH, the daughter of Aiah, concubine to 
Saul ; soon after whose death, Abner, the general 
of his army, fell in love with Rizpah, and took her. 
Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, who reigned at Maha- 
naim, and was supported in his regal state, only by 
the credit of Abner's valor, resented this act, and 
upbraided him with it. Abner was so irritated at 
his reproaches, that he vowed to ruin Ishbosheth, 
and join David, 2 Sam. iii. 7, 11. 

Saul having put to death, upon some occasion, a 
great number of the Gibeonites, God, to punish their 
massacre, sent a famine into Israel, which lasted 
three years, 2 Sam. xxi. 1, 3, &c. from A. M. 2983 
to 2986. To expiate this guilt, David delivered to 
the Gibeonites Armoni and Mephibosheth, two sons 
I of Saul by Rizpah, and five sons of Michal, daughter 



HOC 



[ 701 ] 



RO G 



of Saul, by Adriel, son of Barzillai ; or rather by 
Phaltiel ; (1 Sam. xxv. 44.) all of whom were 
hanged on the mountain near Gibeah, at the begin- 
ning of barley-harvest. Rizpah, upon receiving the 
intelligence, took a sackcloth and spread it upon the 
rock, where she continued from the beginning of 
harvest, till water from heaven fell on them ; or till 
the Lord sent his rain on the earth, and restored its 
former fertility. She hindered the birds from tearing 
the bodies by day, and the ravenous beasts from de- 
vouring them by night. When this was related to 
David, he was moved with compassion, and sent for 
the bones of Saul and Jonathan, which were at Ja- 
besh-gilead, and deposited them in the tomb of Kish, 
the father of Saul, at Gibeah ; together with the 
bones of the seven men who had been executed by 
the Gibeonites. 

ROCK, a large and natural mass of stone. Pales- 
tine, being a mountainous country, had many rocks, 
which were part of the strength of the country ; for 
in times of danger the people retired to them, and 
found refuge against sudden irruptions of their ene- 
mies. When the Benjamites were overcome and 
almost exterminated by the other tribes, they secured 
themselves in the rock Rimmon : (Judg. xx. 47.) and, 
during the oppression of Israel by the Midianites, 
they were forced to hide themselves in cavities of the 
rocks, Judg. vi. 2. 

Samson, we are told, (Judg. xv. 8.) took his station 
in the rock Etam, whence he suffered himself to be 
dislodged by the persuasion of his brethren, not by 
the force of his enemies ; and David, it is said, re- 
peatedly hid himself in the caves of rocks. It ap- 
pears that rocks are still resorted to, in the East, as 
places of security, and some of them are even capa- 
ble of sustaining a siege, at least equal to any the 
Philistine army could have laid to the residence of 
Samson. So we read in De la Roque : (p. 205.) 
" The grand seignior, wishing to seize the person 
of the emir, gave orders to the pacha to take him 
prisoner : he accordingly came in search of him, 
with a new army, in the district of Choui ; which is 
a part of mount Lebanon, wherein is the village of 
Gesin, and close to it the rock which served for re- 
treat to the emir. It is named in Arabic Magara 
Gesin, i. e. 'the cavern of Gesin,' by which name it 
is famous. The pacha pressed the emir so closely, 
that this unfortunate prince was obliged to shut 
himself up in the cleft of a great rock, with a small 
number of his officers. The pacha besieged him 
here several months ; and was going to blow up the 
rock by a mine, when the emir capitulated." Thus 
David might wander from place to place, yet find 
many fastnesses in rocks, or caverns, in which to 
hide himself from Saul. Observe, too, that this cleft 
in the rock is called a cavern ; so that we are not 
obliged always to suppose that what the Scripture 
calls caves or caverns were under ground ; though 
such is the idea conveyed by our English word. We 
may remark also, that before the invention of gun- 
powder, fastnesses of this kind were, in a manner, 
absolutely impregnable ; and, indeed, we have in 
Bruce accounts of very long sieges sustained by in- 
dividuals and their families, or adherents, upon 
rocks ; and which at last terminated by capitulation. 
The idea of retiring to rocks for security ; of con- 
sidering the protection of God as a rock,&c. which 
often occurs in Scripture, will . now appear extremely 
natural. 

The number of caves, and dwelling places in 
rocks, which late travellers have discovered, as well 



in parts of Judea as in Egypt, greatly exceeds what 
had formerly been supposed. Many of these are 
still occupied as retreats by the inhabitants ; and 
Denon gives an account of skirmishes and combats, 
fought in the grottoes or caverns of Egypt, by the 
Arab residents, against thek- invaders under Buona- 
parte. On the east of the J ordan, as Seetzen re- 
ports, entire families, with their cattle and flocks, 
take possession of caves and caverns in rocks and 
secluded places, where they are not easily discov- 
ered, and whence they could not easily be dislodged. 
The people inhabiting on the Persian gulf lived in 
the same manner. For this reason they were called 
in Greek Tqv.yXoSvrai, Troglodytes, that is, people 
who dwell in caves and mountain grottoes. Those 
that inhabited the desert about Tekoah, lodged in 
caverns dug in the earth, says Jerome. The Idu- 
means had their abodes in clefts of the rocks. Jer. 
xlviii. 28, " O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities 
and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that 
maketh her nests in the sides of the hole's mouth." 
Hither the Moabites used to retreat, in times of 
calamity. The Kenites, who dwelt south of the Dead 
sea, had similar dwellings : "And he looked on the 
Kenites, and said, Strong is thy dwelling place, and 
thou puttest thy nest in a rock," Numb. xxiv. 21. 

In Isa. li. 1, God says to the Jews, "Look unto 
the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the 
pit whence ye are digged ;" that is, to Abraham and 
the patriarchs, your ancestors. 

Moses says, that God would give the Hebrews a 
country, whose rocks and stones should supply them 
with plenty of honey and oil, Deut. xxxii. 13. " He 
made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out 
of the flinty rock." The psalmist says, (Ixxxi. 16.) 
speaking of the miracle by which Moses drew water 
out of the rock, " With honey out of the rock should 
I have satisfied thee." In Palestine the bees often 
store up their honey in holes of the rocks ; and it is 
to this that the Scripture alludes. Job says, (xxix. 
6.) in the same sense, that in his prosperity, "the 
rock poured out rivers of oil," because olive-trees 
generally grew on stony mountains. 

For a description of the most eminent rocks men- 
tioned in Scripture the reader is referred to their re- 
spective articles. See also Sepulchre, and Tomb. 

ROD. This word is variously used in Scripture. 
(1.) For the branches of a tree ; (Gen. xxx. 37.) 
(2.) For a staff or wand ; (Exod. iv. 17, 20.) (3.) 
For a shepherd's crook ; (Lev. xxvii. 32.) (4.) For 
a rod, properly so called, which God uses to correct 
men ; (2 Sam. vii. 14 ; Job ix. 34.) (5.) For a royal 
sceptre, Esth. iv. 11 ; Ps. xlv. 6 ; Heb. i. 8. The 
empire of the Messiah is represented by a rod of 
iron, to express its power and might, Ps. ii. 9 ; Rev. 
ii. 27 ; Xii. 5 ; xix. 15. (6.) For a young sprout, or 
branch, to distinguish the miraculous birth of the 
Messiah from a virgin mother, (Numb. xxiv. 17.) 
" There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre 
(or rod) shall rise out of Israel." And Isaiah says, 
(xi.) " There shall rome forth a rod out of the stem 
of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." 
In Jer. i. 11, the watchful rod, according to the He- 
brew, is a branch or rod of an almond-tree. This 
tree flourishes the earliest of any ; and the Lord in- 
tended to denote by it Nebuchadnezzar, who was 
just then ready to pour his forces upon Judea. (7.) 
For a tribe or people, Ps. lxxiv. 2 ; Jer. x. 16. 

ROE. It is probable that the Hebrew ox, tzebi, 
which is translated roe, in the English Bible, is the 
gazelle, or antelope. See Antelope. 



ROM 



[ 702 1 



ROME 



ROGEL, a fountain near Jerusalem, in Judah, 
Josh. xv. 7 ; xviii. 16 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 17; 1 Kings i. 9. 
It was the fullers' fountain, in which, probably, the 
articles were washed, by treading with the feet. It 
eeems to have been not far from the fountain Silo- 
am. (See Rosenmuller's Bibl. Geogr. II. ii. p. 253.) 

ROGELIM, a place in Gilead, beyond Jordan, 
where Barzillai, the friend of David, lived, 2 Sam. 
xvii. 27 ; xix. 32. 

ROLL, see Book. 

ROME, ROMANS. Jerome seems to have 
thought that Chittim was put for Italy in Numb, 
xxiv. 24, where Balaam says, " And ships shall come 
from the coasts of Chittim, and shall afflict Ashur 
and Eber." He translates, " Ships shall come from 
jltaly." But this ought rather to be referred to the 
Greeks, who, under Alexander the Great, invaded 
the Hebrews, at that time under the Persians. The 
Greeks overthrew the Persian empire, but were 
themselves overthrown by the Romans. Jerome 
says, (on Ezek. xxvii. 6.) that the workmen of Tyre 
used what came from the isles of Italy, to make 
cabins for the captains of Tyrian ships. But what 
rarities could there be in these islands of Italy, that 
were not in Phoenicia and the neighboring prov- 
inces? (See Chittim.) Bochart has displayed all his 
learning to support the opinion of the rabbins, who by 
Chittim understand Rome and Italy ; and he shows, 
that in this country are found cities named Cethim 
and Echetia, as also a river called Cethus ; but he also 
brings good proofs that Chittim imports Macedonia. 

The Jews, according to the rabbins, generally 
called the Romans Idumeans ; and the Roman em- 
pire, the cruel empire of Edom. It is difficult to 
conceive their reason, since Italy and Rome are far 
from Idumea, and have never had any affinity with 
the Idumeans. When the more learned rabbins 
are asked for a reason, they maintain, with great as- 
surance and obstinacy, that the Idumeans embraced 
Christianity, settled themselves in Italy, and there 
extended their dominions. 

The Roman empire is generally thought to be de- 
noted in Dan. ii. 40, by the kingdom of iron, which 
bruises and breaks in pieces all other kingdoms ; but 
Calmet thinks it is rather the empire of the Lagidre 
in Egypt, and of the Seleucidce in Syria. 

In the books of the Old Testament written in He- 
brew, we find no mention of Rome, Romans, or 
Italy. But in the Maccabees, and in the New Tes- 
tament, they are often mentioned. 1 Mac. viii. 1, 2, 
"Judas had heard of the fame of the Romans, that 
they were mighty and valiant men, and such as 
would lovingly accept all that joined themselves 
unto them, and make a league of amity with all that 
came unto them : and that they were men of great 
valor. It was told him also of their wars and noble 
acts, which they had done among the Galatians, and 
how they had conquered them, and brought them 
under tribute." Judas had also been informed of 
their conquests in Spain, &c. that they had subdued 
Philip and Perseus, kings of Macedonia, or Chittim, 
and Antiochus the Great, king of Syria ; that they 
had deprived him of various provinces ; and had 
also reduced the Greeks, who attempted to resist 
them ; in a word, that they confirmed in their king- 
doms all whom they desired should reign, or de- 
prived those of their crowns whom they intended to 
punish. Nevertheless, that none of them wore the 
diadem or the purple, but that they had a senate, 
consisting of three hundred and twenty senators, 
v'ho consulted every day about the affairs of the re- 



public ; and that they committed every year ttie sove- 
reign magistracy to one person, who commanded 
through all their territories, and thus all were obedi- 
ent to one, without envy or jealousy. 

The first alliance between the Jews and the Ro- 
mans was made ante A. D. 162. — Some years after 
this, (ante A. D. 144.) Jonathan, brother of Judas 
Maccabeus, finding the opportunity favorable, sent a 
deputation to Rome, to renew this alliance. Simon 
Maccabeus, also, sent to Rome an ambassador called 
Numenius, with a present of a great golden buckler, 
1 Mac. xiv. 24, ante A. D. 149. Before this, (ante 
A. D. 163, 2 Mac. xi. 34—36.) Quintus Memmius 
and Titus Manilius, the Roman legates, being sent 
into Syria to settle some affairs with Antiochus Eu 
pator, interested themselves in promoting the tran 
quillity of the Jews. 

The Romans took the city of Jerusalem three 
times : first by the arms of Pompey, ante A. D. 63 , 
by Sosius, ante A. D. 37; by Titus, A. D. 70, 
when both the city and the temple were destroyed. 
They reduced Judea into a province ; that is, they 
took from it the privilege of being a kingdom, and 
of having kingly government. First, after the ban- 
ishment of king Archelaus, son of Herod the Great, 
A. D. 16, and this continued to A. D. 37. It was 
again reduced to a province after the death of king 
Agrippa, A. D. 43 ; and it remained in this condition 
till it was entirely overthrown. 

The term Roman is used (1.) as denoting a person 
native or inhabitant of the city of Rome ; or at least, 
of the country around that metropolis ; as in the 
Epistle to the Romans. (2.) For the power of the 
Roman government: (John xi. 48.) "The Romans 
shall come and take away both our place and nation." 
Acts xxv. 16, " It is not the manner of the Romans 
to deliver any man to die, till we have heard his de- 
fence," chap, xxviii. 17, &c. (3.) For a person who 
possessed the privileges attached to the citizenship of 
Rome: (Acts xxii. 25.) "Is it lawful for you to 
scourge a man who is a Roman, he being as yet un- 
condemned?" Paul, who pleads this privilege, was 
not actually a Roman, by having been born at Rome, 
or in Italy. Some think, that being born in a city 
favored with the communication of the privileges of 
the imperial city, he was competent to claim Roman 
exemptions by his birth-right; being a native of a 
municipium — a city thus favored, and bom of parents 
thus entitled. Others think that Paul's father had 
been rewarded with this privilege, for services ren- 
dered to the Romans, whether of a military or other 
nature ; which would render it so much the more 
disgraceful to degrade, by the treatment of a slave, a 
man entitled to especial marks of honor. This might 
be the fact, as such a reward was received by many 
Jews, about this time. 

The Valerian law forbade that a Roman citizen 
should be bound : the Sempronian law forbade that 
he should be scourged, or beaten with rods. If any 
man falsely claimed the privileges of a Roman citi- 
zen, he was severely punished ; by the emperor 
Claudius with death. 

Romans, Epistle to the. — This is placed before 
the other Epistles of Paul, not because it was first 
composed in order of time, but because of the dignity 
of the imperial city, to which it is directed, or of the 
excellence of its contents ; or of the magnificence 
and sublimity of the mysteries of which it treats. It 
passes for the most exalted and the most difficult of 
all Paul's Epistles. Jerome (Epist. 151. cap. 8.) was 
of opinion, that not one book only, but many volumes 



* ROMANS 



[ 793 ] 



ROS 



were necessaiy, for a full explanation of it. And 
Bome have thought, that Peter had chiefly this Epis- 
tle in his eye, when he said, (2 Pet. iii. 15, 16.) "As 
our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wis- 
dom given unto him, hath written unto you. As also 
in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things ; 
in which are some things hard to be understood, 
which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as 
they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own de- 
struction." But others, with good reason, think 
Peter rather refers to Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews. 
(See Bibl. Repository, vol. ii. p. 412, seq.) Or, per- 
haps, to what were earlier written, and to countries 
nearer to those addressed by Peter. The dates of 
the Epistles must be considered in this reference. 

Paul's design, in his Epistle to the Romans, is to 
terminate certain domestic disputes, which then pre- 
vailed among the believers at Rome, and divided the 
converted Jews and Gentiles into two parties. The 
Jews insisted on their birthright, and the promises 
made to their fathers ; on account of which they as- 
sumed a certain priority or preference over the con- 
verted Gentiles, whom they regarded as foreigners 
and interlopers, out of pure favor admitted into the 
society of believers, and to the participation of Chris- 
tian privileges. The Gentiles, on the other hand, 
maintained the merit of their sages and philosophers, 
the prudence of their legislators, the purity of their 
morality, and their exactness in following the law of 
nature. They accused the Jews of infidelity toward 
God, and violation of his laws. They aggravated then- 
faults, and those of their fathers, which had excluded 
the greater part of them from the inheritance of the 
saints, from the faith, &c. as witnessed by their own 
Scriptures, &c. 

To terminate these contentions, Paul applies him- 
self to restrain the presumption of both parties. He 
shows that neither could pretend to merit, or had rea- 
son to glory, or boast of their calling ; which proceeded 
from the mere grace and mercy of God. He proves 
that even if the Jews had observed the law of Moses, 
and the Gentiles the law of nature, this could not have 
merited for either the grace they had received. That 
nothing but faith in Jesus Christ, enlivened by charity 
and good works, can justify us. He answers objec- 
tions by arguments taken from these principles, e. g. 
the gratuitous vocation, or the non-vocation, of Jew 
and Gentile ; the insufficiency of the works of the law 
without faith ; the superiority of the Jews above the 
Gentiles ; and the infallibility of the promises of God. 
This introduces a discussion of predestination and 
reprobation, which makes a principal part of this 
Epistle, and contains some of the greatest difficulties 
in it. 

In chapters xii. — xv. the apostle gives excellent 
rules of morality, concerning mutual harmony, mutual 
forbearance, and reciprocal condescension to infirmi- 
ties, for fear of scandalizing or offending one another 
by indiscreet liberties. He describes the false apostles, 
and exhorts believers to avoid them. Chap. xvi. con- 
tains salutations and commendations, addressed to 
particular persons. 

This Epistle was -written A. D. 58, in Corinth, 
whence Paul was immediately to depart, to carry to 
Jerusalem some collections made for the saints. 
Phoebe, a deaconess of the church of Cenchrea, near 
Corinth, was the bearer of it. No doubt has ever 
been made of its authenticity; and though it was 
addressed to the Romans, yet it was written in Greek. 
Tertius was Paul's secretary on this occasion. 

The Marcionites made great defalcations in the 
100 



Epistles of Paul, especially in this to the Romans, of 
which they suppressed the last two chapters. There 
is much probability that Paul designed to finish this 
Epistle at the end of the fourteenth ; but afterwards 
added the concluding chapters. At the end of tha 
fifteenth chapter, we rind this conclusion : " Now tha 
God of peace be with you all. Amen ;" which seems 
to show that the letter was then finished. We see the 
same conclusion no less than three times in the six 
teenth chapter, (verses 20, 24, 27.) which leads us to 
imagine that these additions were composed at inter 
vals. Probably, while waiting for an opportunity oi 
sending it off, whether by Phoebe, or by any other 
safe hand. 

Paul is supposed to have visited Rome twice. 
First, A. D. 61 or 63, when he appealed to Caesar ; 
and then A. D. 65, a year before his martyrdom, 
which happened in A. D. 66. See Paul. 

ROOF, see House, p. 506, seq. 

ROOT. Covetousness is the root of all evil, 1 Tim. 
vi. 10. That is, the origin, the cause, the occasion. 
Lest any root of bitterness trouble you, Heb. xii. 15. 

The root may also denote the race, the posterity, 
Prov. xii. 3. The root of the just shall not be dis- 
turbed, shall not fail. And Jeremiah, (xii. 2.) 
" Whence do the wicked prosper in all things ? Thou 
hast planted them, and they have taken root." In 
Daniel, and in the Maccabees, Antiochus Epiphanes, 
the persecutor of the Jews, is represented as a young 
sprout or sucker, or root of iniquity, proceeding from 
the kings, the successors of Alexander the Great. 
And Jesus Christ, in his humiliation, is described a; 
a root ill nourished, growing in a dry and barren soil, 
Isa. liii. 2. Chap. xi. 1, 10, he is called the root of 
Jesse. (See Rom. xv. 2.) 

In the contrary sense, Paul says, (Rom. xi. 16 — 18.) 
that the Jews are, as it were, the root that bears the 
tree into which the Gentiles are grafted. And that 
the patriarchs are the pure and holy root of which 
the Jews are, as it were, the branches. Jesus Christ 
is the root on which Christians depend, and from 
which they derive life and subsistence, Col. ii. 7. 

ROSE, a well-known shrub. It is evident from 
Ecclus. xxiv. 14, that the rose was a favorite with 
the Jewish people, and also, that " the rose of Jeri- 
cho " was a very different plant from that now bear- 
ing the same name. In Cant. ii. 1, Solomon has 
chosen the rose to represent the matchless excellences 
of the bride : " I am the rose of Sharon ;" but the 
Septuagint and Jerome, instead of rose, render, "the 
flower of the fields." The Chaldee, however, which 
has been followed by most western interpreters, calls 
it (in Canticles) the rose; and circumstances seem to 
determine it to be the wild rose, the uncultivated 
flower, which thereby corresponds to the lily in the 
next verse. But beside this rose, Scheuchzer refers 
to Hillerus, who rather seeks this flower among the 
bulbous-rooted plants, and declares for the asphodel, 
whose flowers resemble those of the lily. It is very 
fragrant, and Homer and Hesiod praise it. Hesiod 
says it grows commonly in woods ; and Homer calls 
the Elysian fields, "meads filled with asphodel;" 
words which agree with the sentiment of Solomon 
here, if we take Sharon (as seems proper enough) for 
the common fields : " I am the asphodel of the 
meadows (or woods) ; the lily of the valleys," or places 
not cultivated as a garden is. [Gesenius pronounces 
for the derivation from Ssa, a bulb, with n prefixed, as 
is often the case. The ancient versions, as the Sep- 
tuagint, Vulgate, and also the Targum on Isaiah, 
render it by IAly, or Narcissus ; of which the lattei 



RUF 



[ 794 ] 



RUN 



is to be preferred. The Syriac, however, renders it 
by a word signifying the Colchichum autumnale, a 
bulbous, crocus-like plant, with flowers of white and 
violet. We may, therefore, assume it to be either the 
Narcissus or the Colchicum. R. 

RUE, a well-known garden herb. Our Saviour 
reproaches the Pharisees with their superstitious 
affectation of paying the tithe of rue, which was not 
in reality subject to the law of tithe, while they 
neglected the more essential parts of the law, Luke 
xi. 42. 

RUFUS, son of Simon the Cyrenian, who assisted 
our Saviour in carrying his cross, Mark xv. 21. Ru- 
fus probably was famous among the first Christians, 
since Mark names him with distinction. Is this the 
Rufus whom Paul salutes with his mother ? Rom. 
xvi. 13. Polycarp, in his letter to the Philippians, 
written A. D. 107, proposes Ignatius and Rufus as 
models and patterns of patience. 

There is more attached to the character of the Rufus 
mentioned in Rom. xvi. than appears at first sight ; 
Inasmuch as Paul calls the mother of Rufus " his 
mother." Now, she could not be the natural mother 
of Paul, unless Paul and Rufus were brothers; nor 
could she be the mother-in-law of Paul by natural 
relation to his wife, unless Rufus were brother-in-law 
to Paul ; but of such connection we have no account, 
nor even surmise. It should seem to follow, that the 
term mother, in this place, imports that a great degree 
of intimacy had existed between Paul and the mother 
of Rufus, and that she had favored him with those 
attentions and services, truly maternal, which a 
mother might have done ; and therefore the apostle 
salutes her son Rufus and herself under this affec- 
tionate recollection. 

This leads again to an inquiry where this intimacy 
could have taken place. To answer which, we must 
recollect, that if Rufus were son of Simon the Cyre- 
nian, as Mr. Taylor maintains, and if Simeon the 
teacher at Antioch were that Simon, then, as we know 
that Paul was long at Antioch, where the wife of Sim- 
eon was with her husband, we see the time, place and 
occasion of the services rendered by the mother of 
Rufus to Paul ; and of the mutual kindness and inti- 
macy between them. We know that Simon must 
have been at Antioch, an old man, the oldest of all the 
teachers settled there ; for which reason he is placed 
first on the list ; doubtless, his wife also "was well 
stricken in years ; and very probably, her son Rufus 
and Paul were about the same age ; so that, relatively, 
they might both by familiarity be called by her, her 
sons ; and both might pay her that respect, which in 
one was duty, and in the other deference and regard. 

As to the residence of this pious woman at Rome 
with her son Rufus, we may well suppose that her 
husband Simon was dead at Antioch ; and that she 
accompanied her son to the capital qf the empire, 
where many Jews had settled. In what capacity 
Rufus dwelt at Rome, we have no means of deter- 
mining. If he were a Christian teacher, as his father 
was, it should appear that he visited Philippi in his 
journeyings, where he suffered many adversities ; for 
Polycarp speaks of- — " patience, which ye have seen 
set forth before your eyes, in the blessed Ignatius, and 
Zozimus, and Rufus, and in Paul himself." This 
association of persons contributes to confirm to Rufus 
the character of teacher ; and to mark him as the 
same Rufus, elect in the Lord, with whom Paul was 
familiar; — his brother, not only by profession and 
grace, but also by intimacy, and, perhaps, by constant 
residence in the same family. 



RULE, RULERS. These words are applied tci 
different stations of authority. God ruleth over all, 
and the proud Nebuchadnezzar was degraded from 
his throne till he acknowledged this truth, Dan. iv. 
26. The Messiah rules among the sons of men, and 
even rules, in power, over his enemies, (Ps. ex. H.) 
but in goodness over his people. Adam ruled over 
the creatures in paradise, as their superior : over his 
wife, after the fall, as the guardian sex, and the reg- 
ulator of propriety and restraint. He reigned also 
over his posterity, as their king and judge, governing 
their social conduct as their common lather. Hus 
bands rule their wives and their own families. Pas- 
tors rule the churches which they teach. Princes 
and nobles rule to wherever their power extends ; 
and sovereign rule is over all for the benefit and ad- 
vantage of its subjects. In proportion as the sphere 
of regulating authority is enlarged, it requires greater 
energy of mind, greater capability of apprehension, 
greater fortitude, and greater rectitude, to discharge 
the duties attached to its importance, its dignity and 
its influence. 

Nothing can describe greater unhappiness than to 
be subject tc the rule and caprice of babes, (Isa. iii. 
4.) of servants, (Lam. v. 8.) of women, (Isa. iii. 12.^ of 
the wicked, Prov. xxviii. 15; xxix. 2. 

The ruler, of Joseph's house (Gen. xliii. 16.) is his 
Tiouse steward ; his domestic inspector and regulator: 
the ruler of the people is the civil or judiciary magis- 
trate : (Exod. xxii. 28.) thou shalt not revil« the ruler 
of thy people, especially in the discharge of his 
office. 

RUMA, a city spoken of by Josephus, as a village 
of Galilee, 2 Kings xxiii. 36. Probably the same 
vvith Arumah, Judg. ix. 41. 

RUMP of the sacrifices. Moses ordained that the 
rump and fat of the sheep offered for peace-offerings 
should be given to the fire of the altar, Exod. xxix. 
22 ; Lev. iii. 9 ; vii. 3 ; viii. 25 ; ix. 19. The rump 
was esteemed the most delicate part of the animal, 
being the fattest. Travellers, ancient and modern, 
speak of the rumps or tails of certain breeds of sheep 
in Syria and Arabia, as weighing twenty or thirty 
pounds. Herodotus says that some may be seen three 
cubits, or four feet and a half long; they drag upon 
the ground ; and for fear they should be hurt, or the 
skin torn, the shepherds put under the tails of these 
sheep little carriages, which the animals draw after 
them. The pagans had also such regard for the 
rumps or tails, that they always made them a part of 
their sacrifices. In the Description de l'Egypte, (large 
folio, Paris, 1820,) is inserted a plate of an Egyptian 
ram, remarkable for the enormous size of the tail ; 
the weight of which exceeds forty-four pounds, Fr. 

To RUN is used metaphorically not only for rapid- 
ity, but for perseverance : " So run that ye may ob- 
tain " the crown, the reward. " I therefore so run, 
as not incorrectly," not passing over the boundaries, 
the limits of the course. Heb. xii. 1, " Let us run 
with patience, perseveringly, steadily, the race set 
before us." To run to excess of riot, (1 Pet. iv. 4.) is 
to pursue with avidity, to follow, with prolonged atten- 
tion, sensual gratifications, indulgences, &c. As men 
when running, especially when running for a prize, 
labor with great diligence, earnestness and intensity, 
the apostle uses this word to run, to express the 
course of his conduct among his Christian converts 
his continued behavior towards them, (Gal. ii. 2.) 
"lest by any means I had run, or should hereafter 
run, in vain " — lest my ministerial labors should suf- 
fer under the imputation of improper motives, con- 



It U T 



[ 795 ] 



RUTH 



duct or management. The same apostle also says to 
his Galatian converts, (chap. v. 7.) " Ye did run well, 
who did hinder you ?" Ye did run with speed and 
vigor; who came across your course, and so drove 
you back in your Christian race, your profession of 
godliness? See Race. 
RUSH, see Flag. 

RUTH, a Moabitess, who, having married Chilion, 
son of Elimelech and Naomi, who had settled in 
Moab, was left a widow, without children. Naomi, 
having lost her husband and two sons, was desirous 
to return to Bethlehem, her own country. Her two 
daughters-in-law offered to attend her. Orpah, how- 
ever, was persuaded to continue in Moab, but Ruth 
accompanied Naomi to Bethlehem. This happened, 
according to Usher, under Shamgar, about 120 years 
after Joshua. At Bethlehem, Ruth went out to glean, 
and providentially entered the field of a rich citizen 
of Bethlehem, named Boaz, related to Elimelech, 
her father-in-law. When Boaz came to see his har- 
vesters, he found Ruth, and bestowed favors upon 
her. In the evening she told Naomi of his civilities, 
who blessed God that he had put such sentiments in 
Boaz's heart, and acquainted Ruth that this was their 
kinsman. At the end of harvest she desired Ruth to 
go and lie at the feet of Boaz, who winnowed his. 
corn ; and to do what he should advise. She went 
accordingly, and Boaz, awaking in the night, became 
alarmed. His kinswoman, however, said, "I am 
Ruth, thine handmaid ; spread, therefore, thy skirt 
over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman." 
Boaz acknowledged her right, but suggested that 
there was a nearer than himself, adding, that if he 
should refuse to marry her, he would himself take 
her to wife. The next day Boaz went to the gate of 
Bethlehem, and cited before the elders of the city the 
nearest kinsman to Elimelech; on whom the duty 
devolved of marrying Ruth, the widow of Chilion. 
This person declining it, Boaz insisted that he should 
renounce his right, which he willingly did, and then 
Boaz declared his resolution to marry her himself. 



Thus Ruth became the wife of Boaz, by whom she 
had a son called Obed, who was father to Jesse, and 
grandfather to king David. 

The Book of Ruth, which contains this history, 
is placed in our Bibles between the book of Judges 
and the books of Samuel, as being the sequel of the 
former, and an introduction to the latter. Jerome 
informs us that the Jews added it to the book of 
Judges, because the transactions it relates happened 
in the time of the Judges of Israel, Judg. i. 1. And 
several of the ancient fathers make but one book of the 
Judges and Ruth. But the modern Jews commonly 
place in their Bibles, after the Pentateuch, the five 
Megilloth; (1.) The Song of Solomon ; (2.) Ruth; 
(3.) The Lamentations of Jeremiah ; (4.) Ecclesiastes; 
(5.) Esther. Sometimes Ruth is placed the first of 
the five, sometimes the second, and sometimes the 
fifth. 

The scope of the author of this book, is to trace the 
genealogy of David ; and in all probability, he was 
the same author as composed the first book of Sam- 
uel ; in which, because he could not conveniently 
place this genealogy of David, he chose rather to give 
it separately. The writer observes, at the beginning 
of his work, that the history he was about to relate 
happened when the Judges governed Israel ; there- 
fore, they ceased to govern it when he wrote. He 
also speaks of David at the end of his book ; which 
shows, that, at the earliest, it must have been written 
in the time of David. Besides, we have observed 
two ways of speaking in it, or particular phrases, 
which are only found in the books of Samuel and of 
the Kings : the first is, " The Lord do so to me, and 
more also," Ruth i. 17. (Comp. 1 Sam. iii. 17 ; xiv. 
44 ; xx. 23 ; 2 Sam. iii. 9, 35 ; xix. 13 ; 1 Kings ii. 
23 ; xix. 2 ; xx. 10 ; 2 Kings vi. 31.) The second, 
" I have discovered to your ear ;" for I have told you, 
Ruth iv. 4. (Comp. 1 Sam. xx. 2 ; 2 Sam. vii. 27.) 

The canonicalness of this book was uever disputed ; 
and Ruth the Moabitess is in the genealogy of our 
Saviour, Matt. i. 5. 



8 



SAB 

SABAOTH, or rather Tsabaoth, a Hebrew word, 
signifying hosts or armies ; Jehovah, Sabaoth, is The 
Lord of Hosts ; whether we understand the host of 
heaven, or the angels and ministers of the Lord, or 
the stars and planets, which, as an army ranged in 
battle array, perform the will of God ; or, lastly, the 
people of the Lord, both of the old and new covenants, 
which is truly a great army, of which God is the 
general and commander. 

The Hebrew Tsaba is often used, also, to signify the 
service his ministers perform to God in the temple ; 
because they are there, as it were, soldiers or guards, 
attending the court of their prince, Numb. iv. 3, 23, 
30, &c. This word is also used to express the duty 
of the women who watched at the door of the taber- 
nacle, and kept guard there during the night-time, 
Exod. xxxviii. 8. 

SABBATH, rest; God, having created the world in 
six days, rested on the seventh ; (Gen. ii. 2, 3.) that is, 
he ceased from producing new beings in this creation ; 
and because he had rested on it, he blessed or sancti- 
fied it, and apoointed it in a peculiar manner for his 



SABBATH 

worship. The Hebrews, afterwards, in consequence 
of this designation, and to preserve the memory of the 
creation, sanctified, by his order, the sabbath day, or 
the seventh day of the week, abstaining from all work, 
labor and servile employment, and applying them- 
selves to the service of the Lord, to the study of his 
law, and to prayer. 

The days of sabbath are taken sometimes for all 
the Jewish festivals. " Keep my sabbaths," (Lev. 
xix. 3, 30.) that is, my feasts; as the Passover, Pente- 
cost, Feast of Tabernacles, &c. 

It is disputed, whether, from the beginning of the 
world, God gave the law of the sabbath; and whether 
this day was also observed, at least among the more 
pious of the first men, as the patriarchs, before the 
promulgation of the law ; — whether this be the sense 
of those words, (Gen. ii. 2.) "And God blessed the 
seventh clay, and sanctified it"? — Some fathers, and 
some Jewish doctors, have asserted the affirmative ; 
and Manasseh Ben-Israel assures us that, according 
to the tradition of the ancients, Abraham and his pos- 
terity, having preserved the memory of the creation 



SABBATH 



L 796 ] 



SABBATH 



observed the sabbath also, in consequence of the nat- 
ural law to that purpose. It is also believed that the 
religion of the seventh day is preserved among the 
pafrans, and that the observation of this day is as old 
as the world itself. Philo says that the sabbath is not 
a festival peculiar to any one people or couiitry, but is 
common to the whole world ; and that it may be 
named the general and public festival, and that of the 
nativity of the world ; and Josephus advances, that 
there is no city, Greek or barbarian, nor any nation, 
where the religion of the sabbath was not known. 
Aristobulus quotes Homer and Hesiod, who speak of 
the seventh day as sacred and venerable. Clemens 
Alexandrinus speaks of the sabbath in the same terms 
as Aristobulus, and he adds some passages from the 
ancients, who celebrate the seventh day. Some be- 
lieve that Job observed the sabbath day ; because at 
the end of seven days he offered a sacrifice to the 
Lord on account of his chi'dren, Job i. 2, 5. Some 
rabbins inform us that Joseph also observed the sab- 
bath in Egypt. 

But the contrary opinion is not without its sup- 
porters. The greater part of the fathers and com- 
mentators hold, that the sanctification of the sabbath, 
mentioned by Moses in the beginning of Genesis, 
signifies only that appointment then made of the 
seventh day, to be afterwards solemnized and sancti- 
fied by the Jews ; nor does it appear from any pas- 
sages of Scripture, that the ancient patriarchs observ- 
ed the sabbath ; or that God designed to oblige them 
thereto, before the law. Philo says that the Hebrews, 
having forgotten the day of the creation of the world, 
were again reminded of it, when God, having caused 
it to rain manna all the other days of the week, with- 
held it on the sabbath day. As to the seventh day, 
which was honored by some pagans, and of which 
they have spoken, as of a holy day, it was either ded- 
icated to Apollo, or it was an imitation of the Jewish 
sabbath, which some pagans held in honor, either out 
of superstition or devotion. . 

Ezekiel (xx. 12, 20.) says expressly, that the sab- 
bath, and the other feasts of the Jews, are signs given 
by God to his people, to distinguish them from other 
nations ; " I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign be- 
tween me and them, that they might know that I am 
the Lord that sanctify them." And again, " Hallow 
my sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between me 
and you, that ye mav know that I am the Lord your 
God." And Moses/(Deut. v. 15.) "The Lord hath 
brought thee out of Egypt, therefore the Lord thy 
God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day." 
Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Eusebius and Bernard 
advance, as a matter not to be doubted, that neither 
the patriarchs before the deluge, nor those after, ob- 
served the sabbath. Irenseus says expressly, that 
Abraham had faith, and was called {he friend of God, 
yet neither was circumcised, nor observed the sabbath. 
(See Selden, de Jure Nat. et Gent. lib. iii. cap. 13 — ■ 
15 ; and Spencer, de LegibusHeb. lib. i. cap. iv. sec. 7.) 

God gave the precept of the sabbath to the Hebrews 
at Marah, one month after their coming out of Egypt, 
Abib 15, A. M. 2513. Manna began to fall, accord- 
ing to several of the fathers, on the Sunday, six days 
before the sabbath ; but according to others, on the 
very eve of the sabbath. However this may be, it 
was probably on occasion of the manna, that God 
commanded the Hebrews to observe the seventh day ; 
and not to go out to gather any on that day, for that 
none would fall. The same command of celebrating 
the sabbath occurs several times in the law, Exod. 
xx. 8 — 11 ; Lev. xxiii. 3; Deut. v. 12. 



In Exod. xxxi. 13 ; xxxv. 2, it is said, that God 
established his sabbath among the children of Israel, 
as a sign to make them remember that he is the Lord 
who sanctifies them. Adding that whosoever shall 
profane the sabbath shall be punished with death. 
We see the execution of this law on the man who, 
having gathered wood on the sabbath day, aud was 
stoned, Numb. xv. 32, 35. On other holy days it was 
allowed to light a fire, and to dress victuals ; but this 
was expressly forbidden on the sabbath day, Exod. 
xxxv. 2, 3. The rabbins confine this prohibition to 
servile works only ; as to bake bread, to dress meat, 
to forge metals, &c. They suppose that for such sort 
of works, it is forbidden to light a fire, but not for one 
to warm himself. 

On the sabbath day the ministers of the temple 
entered on their week ; and those who had attended 
the foregoing week, went out. They placed on the 
golden table new loaves of shew-bread, and took away 
the old ones, Lev. xxiv. 8. Also, on this day were 
offered particular sacrifices of two lambs for a burnt- 
offering, with the wine and the meal. The sabbath 
was celebrated, as the other festivals, from evening to 
evening. 

The first obligation of the sabbath expressed in the 
law, is to sanctify it; (Numb, xxviii.9, 10; Exod. xx. 
8.) " Remember to sanctify the sabbath day." It is 
sanctified by doing good works in it ; by prayers, 
praises and thanksgivings, by public and private 
worship of God, by the study of his law, by justice 
and innocence, and tranquillity of mind. The second 
obligation is that of rest : " Thou shalt do no work on 
the sabbath." Meaning any servile or laborious work, 
that might fix the mind, and interrupt that attention 
which is due to God, and which is necessary when 
we pay acceptable worship to him. The Jews have 
varied about the manner in which they ought to ob- 
serve the rest of the sabbath. In the time of the 
Maccabees they durst not so much as defend them- 
selves from an enemy on this day, even in the most 
pressing necessity, 1 Mac. ii. 32, 33, &c. Since that 
time they have not scrupled to take arms, and stand 
on their necessary defence. But it may be seen by 
Josephus, that they would not attack their enemies, 
nor hinder them from advancing their works ; nor 
would they march with their armies, even in time of 
war, or in the enemy's country, on the sabbath day. 
(Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 3 ; xiii. cap. 1. 16.) In the time of 
our Saviour, they would water their cattle, or take out 
of a ditch a beast that had happened to fall in on the 
sabbath day ; but by a false delicacy they could not 
bear with our Saviour's healing the sick on that day, 
Matt. xii. 11, 12. Since that time they have deter- 
mined, that a man might give food to a beast that had 
fallen into a pit, but must not take him out on that 
day. The Jews complained of our Saviour's disciples, 
who, passing through the corn-fields on the sabbath 
day, gathered some ears of corn, and rubbed them 
between their hands, in order to eat the grain. This 
action, however, our Saviour excused, from the neces- 
sity of the thing, and because they had need of nour 
ishment; adding, that the priests themselves in the 
temple do work, which, every where else, and in every 
one else, would be esteemed a violation of the sab- 
bath ; that the Son of man was Lord of the sabbath ; 
and that the sabbath was made for man, not man for 
the sabbath. 

The rabbins reckon thirty-nine primary prohibi- 
tions, which ought to be observed on the sabbath, and 
several other secondary ones dependent on them, 
i Their number is, in fact, so great, that it is almost im 



SABBATH 



[ 797 ] 



SABBATH 



possible to keep them all ; and the rabbins affirm, that 
if the people of Israel could keep but two sabbaths 
as they ought to be kept, they should soon see them- 
selves delivered from the evils under which they groan. 
Their scrupulosity even forbids to peel or to roast an 
apple ; to kill a flea, a fly, or other insect, if it is so 
big that the sex may be distinguished ; to sing, or to 
play on an instrument, so loud as to awaken a child. 
Yet, notwithstanding all this, the Samaritans pretend, 
that the Jews are not religious enough in their obser- 
vation of the sabbath. As for them, they will not 
light a fire on this day : they abstain from the use of 
marriage : they do not stir from their places, save only 
to go to the house of the Lord : they employ them- 
selves wholly in reading the law, in prayers and 
thanksgivings. (Letter of the Samaritans to Mr. 
Huntington.) 

Of all the festivals God has enjoined, there are 
none of which the Jews are so jealous, or of which 
they speak so magnificently, as of the sabbath. They 
call it their spouse, because God has given it to 
them, specially, exclusive of all other nations. Leo 
ofModena, who alone is equivalent to all the modern 
Jews, says, the rabbins have reduced all that is for- 
bidden on the sabbath day, to thirty-nine heads, each 
of which have their circumstances and dependences. 
But they are of little importance, and their enumera- 
tion would occupy much space. 

Such profane authors as have ventured to speak of 
the origin of the sabbath, have shown their ignorance 
of Jewish affairs. Tacitus thought they observed 
the sabbath in honor of Saturn, to whom Saturday 
was consecrated by the pagans. But Plutarch as- 
serts that it was kept in honor of Bacchus, who is 
called Sabbos ; and because in the festivals of this 
false deity they used to cry Saboi. Apion, the gram- 
marian, maintained that the Jews celebrated the 
sabbath in memory of their being cured of a shame- 
ful disease, which in the Egyptian language was 
called Sabbosis. Pagan authors speak pretty fre- 
quently of the fast of the sabbath ; as if the Jews 
had ordinarily fasted on this clay ; whereas fasting 
was utterly forbidden on the sabbath. 

The obligation of devoting a portion of our time 
to God, to be employed in his worship and service, is 
founded on natural right and reason. The law had 
fixed this to the seventh day, that is, the sabbath, for 
the nation of the Jews. It is believed by some that 
the apostles, to honor the day of our Saviour's resur- 
rection, determined it to every seventh day, and fixed 
it on the Sunday, that is, the first day of the week 
among the Hebrews ; and the day dedicated to the 
sun among the pagans. The change of the day, 
however, is rather to be gathered from the practice of 
the Christian church, than as clearly enjoined in the 
New Testament. It appears that believers came to- 
gether on this day to break bread, that collections 
for the poor were then made, and put into the gen- 
eral treasury of the church ; (as we understand 1 Cor. 
xvi. 2.) that on this day exhortations and discourses 
were made to the people ; and in short, we have the 
various parts of public worship noted, as being per- 
formed on this day. It will follow, that we may 
safely imitate those examples which the apostles and 
primitive Christians have left us ; and whatever ob- 
ligations the Jews might lie under to the observance 
of the Saturday sabbath, they do not bind Christians ; 
because those obligations were national, not general ; 
ana were commemorative, in some degree, of Israel- 
itish events, in which others have no interest ; where- 
as, the resurrection sabbath commemorates an event 



in which all Christians throughout the world are in- 
terested, and for which no equal mode of commem- 
oration can be devised. We have then good exam- 
ple and strong propriety in behalf of our observation, 
of the Lord's day, as a religious festival, though not 
as a Jewish sabbath ; and the same principles in- 
fluenced the Christians of early ages. 

We are informed by Eusebius, that from the be- 
ginning the Christians assembled on the first day of 
the week, called by them the " Lord's day," foi 
the purposes of religious worship, "to read the 
Scriptures, to preach, and to celebrate the Lord's 
supper ;" and Justin Martyr observes, "that, on the 
Lord's day, all Christians in the city, or country 
meet together, because that is the day of our Lord's 
resurrection, and then we read the writings of the 
apostles and prophets ; this being done, the president 
makes an oration to the assembly, to exhort them to 
imitate and to practise the things they have heard ; 
then we all join in prayer, and after that we celebrate 
the sacrament. Then they who are able and willing 
give what they think proper, and what is collected is 
laid up in the hands of the president, who distributes 
it to orphans and widows, and other necessitous 
Christians, as their wants require." (See 1 Cor. xvi. 
2.) A very honorable conduct and worship ! would 
to God it were more prevalent among us; with the 
spirit and piety of primitive Christianity! 

John says, (Rev. i. 10.) " I was in the spirit on the 
Lord's day ;" so called, doubtless, to preserve the 
remembrance of his resurrection, which was the 
completion of our redemption. Barnabas, in his 
Epistle, says, that we joyfully celebrate the eighth 
day, in memory of the resurrection of our Saviour, 
because it was on this clay he rose again, and as- 
cended into heaven ; and Ignatius the martyr, in his 
letter to the Magnesians, would have us honor this day 
of the Lord, this day of the resurrection, as the first 
and most excellent of days. 

A Sabbath Day's Journey. — " Pray ye that your 
flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath 
day," says our Saviour to his disciples, when dis- 
coursing to them of the approaching destruction of 
Jerusalem, Matt. xxiv. 20. And Luke informs us, 
(Acts i. 12.) that the mount of Olives was distant 
from Jerusalem about a sabbath day's journey. The 
rabbins generally fix this distance at two thousand 
cubits. Josephus says, that the mount of Olives was 
five stadia from Jerusalem, which makes six hun- 
dred and twenty-five paces. Thus the journey that 
was allowable on a sabbath day was about six or 
seven hundred paces, or something more. Origen 
says that the journey of a sabbath day is one mile 
or two thousand cubits. The Jews also used to 
make a mile consist of two thousand cubits ; so that 
their cubit must.be two feet and a half, since their 
mile contains a thousand paces, or five thousand feet, 
taking their paces at five feet each. Maimonides 
will have it, that he who does not know exactly the 
distance of a place, may walk on the sabbath day 
two thousand moderate paces, which makes a thou- 
sand geometrical paces of five feet each. Epipha- 
nius says, (Hseres. lxvi.) that the Jews believe they 
are forbidden from walking on the sabbath day 
above six stadia, or seven hundred and fifty paces. 
The Syriac translator of the Acts of the Apostles 
puts about seven stadia for a sabbath day's journey ; 
which is according to what some rabbins say, that a 
mile is seven stadia and a half. 

The Second Sabbath after the First (Luke 
vi. 1.) is an expression which has much divided com- 



SAB 



[ 798 ] 



SAB 



meritators. Some have taken it for the second, others 
for the last, day of unleavened bread ; and some, for 
the day of Pentecost. The Passover was the first 
sabbath, according to them, and Pentecost the sec- 
ond. Others have thought, that the first grand sab- 
bath was the first sabbath of the civil year, in the 
month Tizri ; and that the second grand sabbath 
was the first of the holy year, or of the month Nisan. 
But Joseph Scaliger, who is followed by most com- 
mentators, supposes it to have been the first sabbath 
which followed the second day of unleavened bread. 
Indeed, the Greek word SevTiQanQuiTo; properly means 
the first after the second. This second day of the Pass- 
over was a festival, in which the fruits of the harvest 
were offered to God, Lev. xxiii. 5, 9. From this 
second day, the Jews thus reckoned their sabbaths 
from the Passover to Pentecost ; the first was called 
the first [sabbath] after the second [day of unleavened 
bread.] The second was called the second [sabbath] 
after the second [day of unleavened bread.] The 
third was called the third [sabbath] after the second 
[day of unleavened bread.] And so of the restj 
as far as the seventh [sabbath] after the second 
[day of unleavened bread.] This seventh sabbath 
immediately preceded Pentecost, which was cele- 
brated the fiftieth day after the second day of un- 
leavened bread. 

The Preparation for the Sabbath is the Fri- 
day before ; for as it was forbidden to make a fire, to 
bake bread, or to dress victuals, on the sabbath day, 
they provided on the Friday every thing needful for 
their sustenance on the sabbath. 

SABBATICAL YEAR was to be celebrated 
among the Jews from seven years to seven years, 
when the land was to rest, and be left without cul- 
ture, Exod. xxiii. 10 ; Lev. xxv. 2, 3, &c. They 
were then to set slaves at liberty, and each was to 
re-enter on his inheritance that had been alienated. 
God appointed the observation of the sabbatical year, 
to preserve the remembrance of the creation of the 
world ; to enforce the acknowledgment of his sove- 
reign authority over all things, particularly over the 
land of Canaan, which he had given to the Hebrews, 
by delivering up the fruits of their fields to the poor 
and the stranger. It was a kind of tribute which 
they paid for it to the Lord. Besides, he intended 
to inculcate humanity on his people, by commanding 
that they should resign to the slaves, to the poor, to 
strangers and to brutes, the produce of their fields, 
of their vineyards, and of their gardens, Lev. xxv. 
2, &c. 

It has been much disputed, at what season of the 
year the sabbatical year began. Some have been of 
opinion, that it began on the first month of the sa- 
cred year, that is, Nisan, or in the spring. Others 
think it began at the first month of the civil year, or 
Tizri (September). Moses does not explain himself 
on this matter very clearly. He says only, that the 
land shall not be cultivated, and that there shall be 
no harvest that year. In Palestine, the time of sow- 
ing wheat and barley was in autumn ; barley-harvest 
began at the Passover, and wheat-harvest at Pente- 
cost. Therefore, to enter into the spirit of the law 
for observing the rest of the sabbatical year, that the 
land may not remain two years without cultivation, 
we must necessarily begin it at autumn, after the 
crops were gathered : they did not till the land in 
autumn, and they had no harvest after the winter ; 
but the autumn following they began again to cultivate 
the land, that they might reap their harvests in the 
spring and summer following. 



In the sabbatical year all debts were remitted, and 
slaves .were set at liberty, Deut. xv. 12; Exod. xxi. 2. 
But were debts absolutely forgiven, or was the pay- 
ment of them only suspended? Several think, that 
this remission was absolute, and that all debts were 
totally extinguished in the sabbatical year. The 
caution of rich men, noticed by Moses, (Deut. xv. 9.) 
who would not lend to their brethren at the approach 
of the sabbatical year, seems to prove, that after this 
year nothing was to be hoped for from their debtors. 
For if the payment of debts were only suspended till 
this year was over and past, it would not have been 
a sufficient motive to hinder them from lending. As 
there was no lending for interest in the case, which 
was forbidden to the Hebrews toward their brethren, 
as it could only be a simple loan, the creditor might 
require it again either before or after the sabbatical 
year, on the supposition of those who think that the 
remission was not absolute. Others, as the rabbins 
and Grotius, distinguish between debts mortgaged on 
security (the contracts of which included a clause of 
perpetual debt) and simple contracts ; the last being 
for ever acquitted on the sabbatical year, but not the 
others. Menochius also thinks, that the remission of 
debts was general and absolute, but not of loans or 
deposits. This regarded only the natural Hebrews, 
or proselytes to Judaism, and not strangers. 

I. SABEANS, the inhabitants of the country 
called Seba, Heb. md. This appears to have been 
the great island or rather peninsula of Meroe, in 
northern Ethiopia, or Nubia, formed between the 
Nile a,nd the Astaboras, now Atbara. Upon this pe- 
ninsula lay a city of the like name ; the ruins of 
which are still visible a few miles north of the mod- 
ern Shendy. (Ruppel's Reisen, p. 85.) Meroe was a 
city of priests, whose origin is lost in the highest an- 
tiquity. (See Egypt, p. 373.) The monarch was 
chosen by the priests from among themselves; and 
the government was entirely theocratic, being man- 
aged by the priests according to the oracle of Jupiter 
Ammon. This was the Seba of the Hebrews, accord- 
ing to Josephus, (Antiq. ii. 10.2.) who mentions, at 
the same time, that it was conquered by Cambyses, 
and received from him the name Meroe, after his sis- 
ter. With this representation accord the notices of 
Seba and its inhabitants, in Scripture. In Gen. x. 7, 
their ancestor is said to be a son of Cush, the progen- 
itor of the Ethiopians. In Isa. xliii. 3, and Ps. lxxii. 
10, Seba is mentioned as a distant and wealthy coun- 
try ; in the former passage it is connected with Egypt 
and Ethiopia ; and Meroe' was one of the most im- 
portant commercial cities of interior Africa, (Heeren's 
Ideen, II. i. p. 397.) Finally, in Isa. xlv. 14, the Sa 
beans are said to be tall of stature. In like manner, 
Herodotus (iii. 20.) says of the Ethiopians, among 
whom the Sabeans are to be reckoned, that they were 
"the tallest of men;" and Solinus affirms, (Poly- 
hist. c. 30.) that " the Ethiopians are twelve feet high." 
This shows at least a coincidence between the ac- 
counts of Scripture and of profane writers ; and goes 
to confirm the testimony of Josephus above given, 
that Seba was the same with Meroe. # R. 

II. SABEANS, the inhabitants of the country 
called Sheba, Heb. Nais>. There are no less than 
three persons of the name of Sheba mentioned in 
Scripture as the ancestors of tribes. (1.) A grandson 
of- Cush, Gen. x. 7. — (2.) A son of Joktan, Gen. x. 
28. — (3.) A son of Jokshan, the son of Abraham by 
Keturah. The similarity of the names Joktan and 
Jokshan, in the two last cases, would almost lead to 
the supposition, that these two Shebas were tho 



SAC 



[ 799 ] 



SAC 



same person. At any rate, they all seem to have set- 
tled in Arabia Felix, probably in the southern part 
of it ; and even if they were originally different per- 
sons, yet they would appear to have been at a later 
period confounded ; and the name Sabeans to have 
been applied indiscriminately to the descendants of 
all. Indeed, in Job i. 15, where the Sabeans are said 
to have plundered Job, the name seems to stand for 
Arabians, or Arab robbers, generally. 

The Sheba of Scripture appears to be the Saba of 
Strabo, (xvi. 4. 2.) situated towards the southern part of 
Arabia, at a distance from the coast of the Red sea, 
the capital of which was Mariaba, or Mareb; whence 
Abulfeda affirms that Mareb and Saba were synony- 
mous names. (See Bibl. Repos. No. 8. Art. 2. fourth 
note.) The queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon, (1 
Kings x. 1, seq ; 2 Chron. ix. 1, seq.) and made him 
presents of gold, ivory and costly spices, was most 
probably the mistress of this region ; indeed, the 
Sabeans were celebrated, on account of their impor- 
tant commerce, in these very products, among the 
Greeks also, (Strabo, ibid.) Isa. lx. 6 ; Jer. vi. 20 ; 
Ezek. xxvii. 22 ; Ps. Ixxii. 10, 15 ; Joel iii. 8 ; Job vi. 
19. The tradition of this visit of the queen of Sheba 
to Solomon, has maintained itself among the Arabs ; 
who call her Balkis, and affirm that she became the 
wife of Solomon. The 27th Sura of the Koran has 
taken up this tradition and probably exaggerated it. 
She is also registered in the series of the sovereigns of 
Yemen. (Pococke's Specim. Hist. Arab. p. 277.) 

It would seem that the two names Seba and Sheba, 
Heb. >od and Nae^have often been confounded ; and 
hence, Sheba has often been referred to Ethiopia, the 
proper location of Seba. In this way the queen of 
Sheba is also often regarded as queen of Ethiopia, 
even by the Ethiopians themselves, who also have 
traditions respecting her. See more on this subject 
under Sheba ; and also the article Ethiopia. *R. 

SABTAH, the third son of Cush, (Gen. x. 7.) peo- 
pled part of Arabia Fcelix, where is a city called 
Sabta, and a people called Sabatheans. 

SABTECHA, fifth son of Cush, who also peopled, 
as is thought, part of Arabia, or some country toward 
Assyria, or Armenia, or Caramania ; for in all these re- 
gions are found traces of the name Sabtecha, Gen. x. 7. 

SACK, SACK-CLOTH. These are pure He- 
brew words, and have spread into almost all lan- 
guages. Sack-cloth is a very coarse stuff, often of 
hair. In great calamities, in penitence, in trouble, they 
wore sack-cloth about their bodies, 2 Sam. iii. 31. 
" Gird yourselves with sack-cloth, and mourn for 
Abner." — "Let us gird ourselves with sack-cloth ; 
and let us go, and implore the clemency of the king 
of Israel," 1 Kings xx. 31. Ahab rent his clothes, 
put on a shirt of hair cloth next to his skin, fasted, 
and lay upon sack-cloth, 1 Kings xxi. 27. When 
Mordecai was informed of the destruction threatened 
to his nation, he put on sack -cloth, and covered his 
head with ashes, Esth. iv. Job says, that he sewed a 
sack over his flesh, chap. xvi. 15. The prophets 
were often clothed in sack-cloth ; and generally in 
coarse clothing. The Lord bids Isaiah put off the 
sack-cloth from about his body, and to go naked, 
Isa. xx. 2. Zechariah says, (xiii. 4.) that, false proph- 
ets should no longer prophesy in sack-cloth, to de- 
ceive the simple. John (Rev. xi. 3.) says, that the 
two prophets of God should prophesy 1260 years, 
clothed in sack-cloth. Baruch intimates, that this 
habit of sack-cloth was that in which good people 
clothed themselves Avhen they went to prayers, Ba- 
ruch iv. 20. But. sack-cloth was mourning, as ap- 



pears from numerous passages of Scripture , and it 
is very credible, also, that it was used for enwrapping 
the dead, when about to be buried. So that its be- 
ing worn by survivors was a kind of assimilation to 
the shroud, or dress, of the departed ; as its being 
worn by penitents was an implied confession of what 
their guilt exposed them to, that is, death. This we 
gather from an expression of Chardin, who, in his 
description of Ispahan, says — Kel Anayet, the Shah's 
buffoon, made a shop in the seraglio, " which he 
filled with pieces of that coarse kind of stuff of which 
winding-sheets for the dead are made." And again 
— "the sufferers die by hundreds ; — mortuary wrap- 
ping-doth is doubled in price." So that, however, in 
later ages, some eastern nations might bury in linen, 
yet others still retained the use of a coarser material, 
that is, sack-cloth. 

In times of joy, or on hearing good news, those 
who were clad in sack-cloth tore it from their bodies, 
and cast it from them, Ps. xxx. 11. 

SACKBUT, a wind musical instrument, like a 
trumpet, which may be lengthened or shortened. 
Italian trombone. R. 

SACRIFICE was an offering made to God on 
his altar, by the hand of a lawful minister. Sacrifice 
differed from oblation : in a sacrifice there was a real 
change or destruction of the thing offered ; whereas 
an oblation was but a simple offering or gift. As 
men have always been bound to acknowledge the 
supreme dominion of God over them, and over what- 
ever belongs to them, and as there have always been 
persons who have conscientiously acquitted them- 
selves of this duty; we may affirm, that there have 
always been sacrifices in the world. Adam and his 
sons, Noah and his descendants, Abraham and his 
posterity, Job and Melchisedec, before the Mosaic 
law, offered to God real sacrifices. That law did 
but settle the quality, the number, and other cir- 
cumstances' of sacrifices. Before that, they offered 
fruits of the earth, the fat or the milk of animals ; 
the fleeces of sheep ; or the blood and the flesh of vic- 
tims. Every one pursued his own mode of acknowl- 
edgment, his zeal, or his devotion : but among the 
Jews, the law appointed what they were to offer, 
and in what quantities. Before the law, every one 
was priest and minister of his own sacrifice ; at least 
he was at liberty to choose what priest he pleased, 
in offering his victim. Generally, this honor be- 
longed to the most ancient, or the head of a family, 
to princes, or to men of the greatest virtue and in- 
tegrity. But after Moses, this was, among the Jews, 
confined to the family of Aaron. 

It is disputed, whether, at first, there were any 
other sacrifices than burnt-offerings: no other ap- 
pear in Scripture. The Talmudists assure us, that 
Abel offered only holocausts, consuming the flesh of 
the victim by fire ; because it was not allowed to eat 
it. Grotius is of opinion, that this patriarch did not 
offer a bloody sacrifice. The text of Moses informs 
us, (Gen. iv. 4.) that he offered " of the firstlings of 
his flocks, and of the fat thereof." 

We are told by Servius, that the ancients put no 
fire to sacrifices, but obtained it by their prayers ; and 
most of the fathers think it was thus that God ac- 
cepted the sacrifice of Abel : he consumed it, say 
they, by fire from heaven ; which favor was not 
vouchsafed to Cain's sacrifice. In the same manner 
he consumed the sacrifices offered at Aaron's conse- 
cration, those offered by Gideon, those offered by 
Solomon, at the dedication of his temple, those of 
Elijah on mount Carmel, and those offered by the 



SACRIFICE 



[ 800 ] 



SACRIFICE 



Maccabees, at restoring the worship of the temple, 
after the profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes. 

The Hebrews had properly but three sorts of sac- 
rifices ; (1.) the burnt-offering or holocaust ; (2.) the 
sacrifice for sin, or sacrifice of expiation ; (3.) the 
pacific sacrifice, or sacrifice of thanksgiving. Be- 
side these, were several kinds of offerings, of corn, 
of meal, of cakes, of wine, of fruits ; and one manner 
of sacrificing, which has no relation to any now 
mentioned, that is, the setting at liberty one of the 
two sparrows offered for the purification of leprous 
persons ; (Lev. xiv. 4, 5, &c.) also the scape-goat, 
which was taken to a distant and steep place, whence 
it was thrown, Lev. xvi. 10, 26. These animals, 
thus left to themselves, were esteemed victims of 
expiation, loaded with the sins of those who offered 
them. 

The holocaust was offered and burnt up, on the 
altar of burnt-offerings, without any reserve to the 
person who gave the victim, or to the priest who 
killed and sacrificed it ; only the priest had the skin ; 
for before the sacrifices were offered to the Lord, 
their skins were flayed off, and their feet and entrails 
were washed. (See Lev. vii. 8.) 

The sacrifice for sin, or for expiation, or the puri- 
fication of a man who had fallen into any offence 
against the law, was not entirely consumed on the 
fire of the altar. No part of it returned to him who 
had given it, but the sacrificing priest had a share of 
it. If it were the high-priest who had offended 
through ignorance, he offered a calf without blem- 
ish ; he brought it to the door of the tabernacle, put 
his hand on the head of the sacrifice, confessed his 
sin, asked pardon for it, killed the calf, &c. (See 
Lev. iv. v.) If it were the whole people which had 
offended, they were to offer a calf, in like manner. 
The elders shall bring it to the altar of the tabernacle, 
shall put their hands upon its head, confess their 
offence, &c. If it be a prince of the people who had 
offended, he shall offer a goat, shall bring it to the 
door of the tabernacle, shall put his hands upon its 
head, shall confess his sin, &c. Calmet remarks, 
that though Moses orders a goat, it is understood, 
that they might offer a ram. (See Lev. vii. 1 — 4, and 
compare Lev. v. 6, 7.) If it be a private person who 
has committed an offence, he shall make an offering 
of a sheep, or ashe-goat without blemish, shall present 
it to the priest at the door of the tabernacle, shall put 
his hands upon the head of the sacrifice. The priest 
shall sacrifice it, &c. (See Lev. iv. v.) But if he be not 
of ability to offer a sheep, or a she-goat, he shall offer 
two turtles, or two young pigeons ; one for his sin, 
the other for a burnt-offering. That which is for the 
burnt-offering, shall be entirely consumed on the fire 
of the altar. That which is to be offered for his sin, 
sha'I be presented to the priest, who shall kill it, &c. 
If the person was extremely poor, he might offer the 
tenth part of an ephah of meal, that is, a little more 
than a gallon of meal, without oil or spice. He pre- 
sented it to the priest, who took a handful of it, and 
threw it on the fire : the rest was for himself. (For 
other circumstances belonging to this subject, see 
Lev. v. 15, 16 ; vi. 1 — 3.) When a ram was offered, 
his rump, or tail, was burnt along with the rest of the 
fat. But if it were a goat, the fat only was burnt, 
Lev. vii. 2, 3. See Rump. 

The peace-offering was offered to return thanks to 
God for benefits ; or to solicit favors from him ; or to 
satisfy private devotion ; or simply, for the honor of 
God. The Israelites offered this when they pleased; 
no law obliged them to it. They were free to choose 



what animal they would, among such as were al- 
lowed to be sacrificed. No distinction was observed 
of age, or sex, of the victim, as in the burnt sacrifices, 
and the sacrifices for sin, Lev. iii. The law only re- 
quired that the victim should be without blemish. 
He who presented it came to the door of the taberna- 
cle, put his hand on the head of the victim, and killed 
it. The priest poured out the blood about the altar 
of burnt sacrifices : he burnt on the fire of the altar 
the fat of the lower belly, that which covers the kid- 
neys, the liver and the bowels. Aud if it were a 
lamb, or a ram, he added to it the rump of the animal, 
which, in that country, is very fat. Before these 
things were committed to the fire of the altar, the 
priest put them into the hands of the offerer, then 
made him lift them up on high, and wave them 
toward the four quarters of the world, the priest sup- 
porting and directing his hands. . The breast and the 
right shoulder of the sacrifice belonged to the priest 
that performed the service ; and it appears, that each 
of them were put into the hands of him who offered 
them ; though Moses mentions only the breast of the 
animal. After this, all the rest of the sacrifice be- 
longed to him who presented it, and he might eat it 
with his family and friends, at his pleasure, Lev. viii. 
30, &c. 

The sacrifices or offerings of meal, or liquors, 
which were offered for sin, were in favor of the poorer 
sort, who could not afford to sacrifice an ox, or goat, 
or sheep, Lev. vi. 14, &c. They contented them- 
selves with offering meal or flour, sprinkled with 
oil, with spice (or frankincense) over it. And the 
priest, taking a handful of this flour, with all the 
frankincense, sprinkled them on the fire of the altar ; 
and all the rest of the flour was his own : he was to 
eat it without leaven in the tabernacle, and none but 
priests were to partake of it. As to other offerings, 
fruits, wine, meal, wafers, or any thing else, the priest 
always cast a part on the altar, the rest belonged to 
him and the other priests. These offerings were 
always accompanied with salt and wine, but were 
without leaven, Lev. ii. 

Sacrifices, in which they set at liberty a bird, or a 
goat, were not properly such ; because there was no 
shedding of blood, and the victim remained alive ; 
e. g. the sparrow offered for the purification of a leper, 
or of a house spotted with leprosy, Lev. xiv. A 
couple of sparrows were presented to the priest, or 
two clean birds, with a bundle of hyssop, tied with a 
scarlet string. The priest killed one of the birds 
over running water, which was in a clean and new 
earthen vessel ; afterwards, tying the living sparrow 
to the bundle of cedar and hyssop, with the tail turn- 
ed towards the handle of the vessel, he plunged it in 
the water mingled with the blood of the first spar- 
row ; sprinkled the leper, or the house, with it, and 
then set the living sparrow at liberty, to go where it 
pleased. 

The other animal set at liberty was a goat ; on the 
day of solemn expiation. See Goat, Scape. 

Sacrifices of birds were offered on three occasions. 
(1.) For sin, when the person offering was not rich 
enough to provide an animal for a victim, Lev. v. 7, 
8. (2.) For purification of a woman after her lying-in, 
Lev. xii. 6, 7. When she could offer a lamb and a 
young pigeon, she gave both ; the lamb for a burnt- 
offering, the pigeon for a sin-offering. But if she 
were not able to offer a lamb, she gave a pair of 
turtles, or a pair of young pigeons ; one for a burnt- 
offering, the other for a sin-offering. (3.) They 
offered two sparrows for those who were purified 



SACRIFICE 



[ SOI ] 



SA C 



from the leprosy ; one was a burnt-offering, the other 
was a scape-sparrow, as above, Lev. xiv. 4, &c. 
49—51. 

For the sacrifice of the paschal lamb, see Pass- 
over. 

The perpetual sacrifice (Exod. xxix. 38 — 40 ; 
Numb, xxviii. 3.) was a daily offering of two Iambs on 
the altar of burnt-offerings ; one in the morning, the 
other in the evening. They were burnt as holocausts, 
but by a small fire, that they might continue burning 
the longer. The lamb of the morning was offered 
about sunrise, after the incense was burnt on the 
golden altar, and before any other sacrifice. That 
in the evening was offered between the two even- 
ings, that is, at the decline of day, and before night. 
With each of these victims was offered half a pint 
of wine, half a pint of the purest oil, and an assaron, 
or about five pints, of the finest flour. 

Such were the sacrifices of the Hebrews ; sacrifices, 
indeed, very imperfect, and altogether incapable, in 
themselves, to purify the soul ! Paul has described 
these find other ceremonies of the law, " as weak and 
beggarly elements," Gal. iv. 9. They represented 
grace and purity, but they did not communicate it. 
They convinced the sinner of the necessity to purify 
himself, and make satisfaction to God ; but they did 
not impart holiness to him. Sacrifices were only 
prophecies and figures of the true sacrifice, which 
eminently includes all their virtues and qualities ; be- 
ing at the same time holocaust, a sacrifice for sin, and 
a sacrifice of thanksgiving ; containing the whole 
substance and efficacy, of which the ancient sacrifices 
were only representations. The paschal lamb, the 
daily burnt-offerings, the offerings of flour and wine, 
and all other oblations, of whatever nature, promised 
and represented the death of Jesus Christ. See 
further on Covenant. 

The sacrifice of a humble and contrite heart is 
that which, on our part, constitutes the whole merit 
of what we can offer to God, Ps. li. 17. " The sacri- 
fices of God are a broken spirit ; a broken and a con- 
trite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." The Jews, 
without these dispositions, could not present any 
offering agreeable to God ; and he often explains 
himself on this matter in the prophets, Ps. xl. 6 : Isa. 
i. 11 — 14 ; Jer. xxxv. 15 ; Amos v. 21, 22 ; Hos. xiv. 
2—4 ; Joel ii. 12, 13, &c. ; Ps. li. 16. 

The very natural notion common to mankind, that 
whatever we most value must be offered to God, has 
prevailed in several nations, so far as to induce them 
to offer human sacrifices. But it is not agreed who 
first introduced this custom. Some ascribe it to IIus, 
or Saturn, who, they say, practised it among the 
Phoenicians, offering up to the gods his own son 
Jehoud, whom he had by the nymph Anabreth. 
Philo insinuates that the custom of offering such 
sacrifices was known in Canaan before Abraham ; 
and some learned men think, that the example of 
these people abated much of that horror Abraham 
would otherwise have had, at the intention of sacri- 
ficing his own son. But it is much more probable, 
that Abraham's example, misunderstood and ill ap- 
plied, gave rise to this custom. Some learned men 
have thought, that among the Canaanites and Mo- 
abites, they contented themselves with making their 
children pass through the flames, or between two 
fires, which they called lustrarc per ignem. No doubt 
they often did so ; but often they really consumed 
them in the flames. Moses (Lev. xviii. 21.) forbids 
this practice, though we afterwards read of a son of 
king Ahaz. who had been offered to Moloch, and yet 
101 



reigned after his father, 2 Kings xvi. 3, compared with 
ch. xviii. 1. 

In Lev. xx. 1 — 3, it is said, " Whosoever he be of 
the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn 
in Israel, that giveth any of his seed to Moloch, he 
shall surely be put to death, the people of the land 
shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face 
against that man, and will cut him off from among his 
people ; because he hath given of his seed unto Mo- 
loch, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy 
name. And if the people of the land do any ways 
hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his 
seed unto Moloch, and kill him not, then I will set my 
face against that man, and against his family, and will 
cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to 
commit whoredom with Moloch, from among their 
people." Moses repeats these prohibitions, Deut. 
xviii. 10. It appears, however, from Amos v. 26, 
that the people did not forbear, even in the desert, to 
carry with them a tent consecrated to Moloch. 

It is beyond all doubt that the Canaanites put their 
children to death in honor of their gods, Ps. cvi. 37. 
Jeremiah (xix. 5.) says, " They have built also the high 
places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire, for burnt- 
offerings unto Baal." (See also chap, xxxii. 35.) For 
these crimes God drove out the Canaanites. (See Deut. 
xviii. 10, 12; Wisd. xii. 5.) 

The Phoenicians, a remnant of the Canaanites, con 
tinued this barbarous custom, which they justified by 
the example of Ilus, or Saturn, as above ; and carried 
it with their colonies into Africa, where it long con- 
tinued. When Gelo, king of Sicily, conquered the 
Carthaginians, by the treaty he made with them, he 
obliged them to renounce the custom of sacrificing 
their children to Saturn ; and Justin assures us, that 
Darius imposed the same commands on them by an 
embassy, to leave off human sacrifices. But notwith- 
standing this, they continued them till the procon- 
sulate of Tiberius, who caused the priests of Saturn 
to be hanged on trees around their temples. Diodorus 
Siculus gives a description of Saturn, as adored by 
the Carthaginians : the figure was of brass ; the hands 
of which were' turned backward, and bending toward 
the ground ; so that when they put upon his arms a 
child, to be consecrated to him, he immediately fell 
into a pan of burning coals beneath, and died mise- 
rably at the foot of the statue. 

It would be to little purpose to accumulate exam- 
ples of human victims. Porphyry assures us, that 
the book of Sanchoniathon was full of them. They 
were frequent, not only in Phoenicia, in Palestine, in 
the countries of Ammon and Moab, in Idumea, in 
Arabia, and in Egypt; but also in Gaul, among the 
Scythians, the Thracians, in the islands of Rhodes, 
Chios and Cyprus; even among the Athenians ; and 
also in India, the South seas, and America. In fact, 
they have been practised in all parts of the world, 
with very few exceptions. 

As to what is affirmed, that Ahaz had the same 
son for his successor, whom he had caused to pass 
through the fire in honor to Moloch, no proof can be 
given of this. It is true, his successor was Hezekiah ; 
but he might have had several other sons. We know 
another of his sons, whose name was Maaseiah, who 
was put to death at the command of the king of 
Israel, 2 Chron. xxviii. 7. 

SACRILEGE, the action of profaning holy things, 
or of committing outrage against holy things, or holy 
persons. Theft, or abuse, or profanation of sacred 
things, is sacrilege. Scripture gives the name of sac- 
rilege to idolatry, and to other crimes which more 



SAD 



[ 802 ] 



S Al 



directly insult the Deity. He is called sacrilegious, 
who commits an impiety, a profanation of holy 
things ; who usurps sacred offices ; who approaches 
the sacraments unworthily ; who plunders or pillages 
things dedicated to God, &c. 

SADDUCEES, one of the four principal sects of 
the Jews, and chiefly, distinguished by their opinion 
concerning angels and spirits. They did not deny 
that man had a reasonable soul ; but they maintained 
that this soul was mortal ; and, by a necessary conse- 
quence, they denied the rewards and punishments of 
another life. They affirmed, also, that the existence 
of angels, and a bodily resurrection, were illusions, 
Acts xxiii. 8 ; Matt. xxii. 23; Mark xii. 18; Luke 
xx. 27. Epiphanius, and after him Augustin, ad- 
vance, that they denied the Holy Spirit ; but neither 
Joseph us, nor the evangelists, accuse them of this 
error. It h&s been also imputed to them, that they 
thought God to be corporeal, and that they did not 
receive the prophets. 

It is difficult to conceive how they could deny the 
existence of angels, yet receive the books of Moses, 
where frequent mention is made of angels, and of 
their appearance. The ancients do not acquaint us 
how they solved this difficulty. It may be they con- 
sidered angels, not as individual beings, and subsist- 
ing of themselves, but as powers, emanations, or 
qualities inseparable from the Deity, much as the 
sun-beams are inseparable from the sun. Or they 
may have held angels to be mortal, as they thought 
human spirits to be. 

But it is more likely, as Mr. Taylor remarks, that 
when the Sadducees are charged with denying the 
existence of angels, we misapply the term ; intending 
by it celestial angels, whereas they meant it of dis- 
embodied human spirits. This accounts easily, he 
thinks, for their reception of the Pentateuch, in which 
appearances of celestial angels are recorded, and for 
our Lord's reference to the continued existence of 
the human spirits of Abraham, &c. His argument 
is — "the Deity declares himself God of Abraham — 
therefore, Abraham continues to exist — that is, in a 
state of spiritual, separate existence ; for, if he were 
entirely dead, the Deity would be God of a non-ex- 
istence, which is absurd." The Sadducees were 
constantly in opposition to the Pharisees, though they 
could agree when measures important to both were 
to be taken. 

As the Sadducees acknowledged neither punish- 
ment nor recompense in another life, they were in- 
exorable in chastising the wicked. They observed 
the law themselves, and caused it to be observed by 
others, with the utmost rigor. They admitted none 
of the traditions, explications, or modifications of the 
Pharisees : they kept only to the text of the law ; 
and maintained, that only what was written was to be 
observed. 

The Sadducees are accused of rejecting all the 
books of Scripture, except those of Moses ; and to 
support this, it is observed, that our Saviour uses no 
Scripture against them, but passages out of the Pen- 
tateuch. But Scaliger produces good proofs to vin- 
dicate them from this. He observes, that they did 
not appear in Israel till after the number of the holy 
books was fixed, and that if they had been to choose 
out of the canon, the Pentateuch was less favorable 
to them than any other book, since it often mentions 
angels and their appearance. Besides, the Saddu- 
cees were present in the temple, and at other reli- 
gious assemblies, where the books of the prophets 
were read, as well as those of Moses. They held 



the chief offices in the nation ; and many of the 
priests were Sadducees. Would the Jews have suf- 
fered these employments to be filled by persons who 
rejected the greater part of their Scriptures ? Besides, 
Manasseh-ben-Israel says expressly, that indeed they 
did not reject the prophets, but that they explained 
them in a sense very different from that of the othej 
Jews. 

Josephus assures us that they denied destiny, or 
fate ; alleging, that these were only sounds void of 
sense, and that all the good or evil we experience, is 
in consequence of the good or evil side we have 
taken, by our free choice ; that God was far from 
doing or from knowing evil ; and that man was ab- 
solute master of his own actions. This was really to 
deny a Providence, and, on this foundation, we know 
not what could be the religion of the Sadducees ; oi 
what influence over terrestrial things they could as- 
cribe to God. However, as it is certain they were 
not only tolerated, but admitted to the high-priest- 
hood itself, we have strong proof of the low state of 
religion among the Jews. 

John Hircanus, high-priest of the nation, separated 
himself in a signal manner from the sect of the Phar- 
isees, and went over to that of the Sadducees. It is 
said, also, he strictly commanded all Jews, on pain of 
de.ath, to receive the maxims of this sect. Aristobu- 
lus and Alexander Jannaeus, sou of Hircanus, con- 
tinued to favor the Sadducees; and Abraham-ben- 
dior, Cabbala and Maimonides assure us, that under 
these princes they possessed all the offices of the 
Sanhedrim, and that there remained, on the part 
of the Pharisees, only Simon, son of Secra. Caia- 
phas, who condemned our Saviour, was a Sadducee, 
(Acts iv. 1 ; v. 17.) as was Ananus the younger, who 
put to death James, brother of our Lord. At this 
day, the Jews hold as heretics that small number of 
Sadducees which are found among them. 

SADOC, son of Azor, father of Achim, and one of 
the ancestors of Jesus Christ, Matt. i. 14. 

SAFFRON, a well-known flower, of a bluish color, 
in the midst of which are small yellow threads, of a 
very agreeable smell. Solomon (Cant. iv. 14.) joins 
it with other aromatics ; and Jeremiah is made to 
speak of cloths of a saffron color, Lam. iv. 5. The 
passage, however, rather signifies purple or crimson. 

SAINT is a term sometimes put for the people of 
Israel, sometimes for Christian believers. The fac- 
tion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram said to Moses and 
Aaron, (Numb. xvi. 3.) " Ye take too much upon you, 
seeing all the congregation are holy (or saints) every 
one of them, and the Lord is among them." And in 
several places of Scripture, the Hebrews are called a 
holy nation : " Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of 
priests, and a holy nation," Exod. xix. 6 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9 ; 
Deut. vii. 6 ; xiv. 2, 21. Nothing is more frequent 
in Paul than the name of saints given to Christians, 
Rom. i. 7 ; viii. 27, 28 ; xii. 13 ; xv. 25, 32 ; xvi. 2, 
&c. But it is, probably, never given to any, after 
the promulgation of the gospel, who had not been 
baptized. In this acceptation it continued, during 
the early ages of Christianity ; nor was it applied to 
individuals declared to be saints by any other act of 
the church, till various corruptions had depraved the 
primitive principles. The church of Rome assumes 
the power of making saints, or of beatification ; that 
is, of announcing certain departed spirits as objects 
of worship, and from which the faithful may solicit 
favors. A notion worthy of the dark ages in which 
it originated. Saints signifies, in particular, good 
men, and the servants of God. Prov. ix. 10 "The 



SAL 



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SALOME 



knowledge of the holy (or saints) is understanding." 
Prov. xxx. 3, " I neither learned wisdom, nor have the 
knowledge of the holy, or saints." Ps. xxxiv. 9, " O 
fear the Lord, ye his saints ; for there is 110 want to 
them that fear him." Ps. xvi. 2, 3, " My goodness 
extendeth not to thee, but to the saints that are in the 
earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my de- 
light." Saints is often put for angels: (Job v. 1.) 
"To which of the saints wilt thou turn?" — "And, 
behold, he putteth no trust in his saints ; yea, the 
heavens are not clean in his sight," chap. xv. 15. 
Daniel says, (iv. 13, 23.) "An holy one (or saint) came 
down from heaven." And Moses, (Dent, xxxiii. 2, 3.) 
"The Lord sinned forth from mount Paran, and 
came with ten thousands of saints." See Holy. 

SALAH, or Saleh, son of Arphaxad, born in the 
thirty-fifth year of his father, A. M. 1693. He begat 
Eber at thirty years old, and died, aged 433 years, 
A. M. 2126, Gen. xi. 12, &c. 

SALAMIS, the chief city of the isle of Cyprus, 
visited by Paul and Barnabas, A. D. 44, when they 
converted Sergius Paulus, Acts xiii. 5. It was situ- 
ated on the south-east side of the island, and was 
afterwards called Constantia. 

SALATHIEL, son of Jeconiah, and father of Ze- 
rubbabel, (1 Chron. iii. 17.) died at Babylon during 
the captivity. He was also son of Neri, according to 
Luke iii. 27, who makes him to have descended from 
Solomon by Nathan ; whereas Matthew (i. 12.) de- 
rives him from Solomon by Rehoboam. In Sala- 
thiel were united the two branches of this illustrious 
genealogy ; so that Salathiel was, according to Calmet, 
son to Jeconiah, according to the flesh, as appears 
from the Chronicles, which say, that Jeconiah had 
two sons, Assir and Salathiel, at Babylon ; and son of 
Neri by adoption, or by having married the heiress 
of Neri's family ; or as issue of the widow of Neri, 
he being dead without children. In either of these 
cases he would be son of Neri according to the law. 
Luke does not say in what sense he was son to Neri. 
See Genealogy, and Adoption. 

SALCHAH, a city of the kingdom of Og, in the 
country of Bashan, beyond Jordan, toward the north- 
ern extremity of the portion of Manasseh, Deut. iii. 
10 ; 1 Chron. v. 11 ; Josh. xii. 5 ; xiii. 11. 

I. SALEM, peace, a name given to Jerusalem, 
which see. 

II. SALEM, a city of the Shechemites, where Ja- 
cob arrived at his return from Mesopotamia, Gen. 
xxxiii. 18. Eusebius and Jerome notice this city ; 
but some commentators translate the Hebrew, " Ja- 
cob came safe and sound to a city of Shechem." 
Shalem may signify, safe, in health, in peace, &c. 

III. SALEM, or Salim, a place where John the 
Baptist baptized on the Jordan, (John iii. 23.) the 
situation of which, however, is unknown. 

SALMANESER, see Shalmaneser. 

SALMON, son of Nahshon, married Rahab, by 
whom he had Boaz, A. M. 2553, 1 Chron. ii. 11, 51, 
54 ; Ruth iv. 20, 21 ; Matt. i. 4. He is named " the 
father of Bethlehem ;" that is, his descendants 
peopled Bethlehem ; or he greatly improved and 
adorned it : he was, as we say, " the making of that 
town :" or he was the chief man, by office ; the 
Abyssinian shum of a town. 

SALMONE, or Salmona, the name of a promon- 
tory which forms the eastern extremity of the isle of 
Crete, Acts xxvii. 7. 

I. SALOME, daughter of Antipater, and sister of 
Herod the Great, one of the most wicked of women. 
She first married Joseph, whom she accused of fa- 



miliarities with Marianme, wife of Herod, and thua 
procured his death. She afterward married Costo- 
barus ; but being disgusted with him, she put him 
away, a license till then unheard of among the 
Jews, whose law (says Josephus) allows men to put 
away their wives, but does not allow women equal 
liberty. After this, she accused him of treason 
against Herod, who put him to death. She caused 
much division and trouble in Herod's family, by her 
calumnies and mischievous informations ; and she 
may be considered as the chief author of the death 
of the princes Alexander and Aristobulus, and of 
their mother Mariamne. She afterwards conceived 
a violent passion for an Arabian prince, called Sil- 
laeus, whom she would have married against her 
brother Herod's consent ; and even after she had 
married Alexas, her inclination for Sillreus was no- 
torious. Salome survived Herod, who left her by 
will, the cities of Jamnia, Azoth and Phasaelis, with 
50,000 pieces of money. She favored Antipas against 
Archelaus, and died A. D. 9, a little after Archelaus 
had been banished to Vienne in Dauphiny. Salome 
had five children by Alexas — Berenice, Antipater, 
Calleas, and a son and a daughter, whose names are 
not mentioned. (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xv. 4 — xvii. 
cap. 8.) 

II. SALOME, a daughter of Herod the Great and 
Elpide, who married one of the sons of Pheroras. 
(Joseph. Antiq. xvii. 1.) 

HI. SALOME, the dancer, daughter of Herodias, 
and of Herod-Philip, first married Philip, her uncle, 
and afterwards Aristobulus, son of Herod, king of 
Chalcis, by whom she had three sons, Herod, Agrip- 
pa and Aristobulus. (Jos. Ant. xviii. 7.) When He- 
rodias left Philip, her daughter Salome accompanied 
her, and by her cunning procured the death of John 
the Baptist. See Antipas I, and Herodias. 

Nicephorus and Metaphrastes state that Salome 
accompanied her mother Herodias, and her father- 
in-law Herod, in their banishment to Vienne in 
Dauphiny ; and that the emperor having obliged 
them to go into Spain, as she passed over a river that 
was frozen, the ice broke under her feet, and she 
sunk in up to her neck; when the ice uniting again, 
she remained thus suspended by it, and suffered the 
same punishment she had made John the Baptist un- 
dergo. But none of the ancients mention this ; and 
it is contrary to Josephus, who tells us, she first 
married Philip the tetrarch, son of Herod the Great 
and Cleopatra, who died about A. D. 33 or 34, and 
afterwards Aristobulus, son of Herod, king of 
Chalcis, her cousin-german, by whom she had sev- 
eral children. Thus she lived above thirty years 
after the exile of her father-in-law. 

IV. SALOME, wife of Zebedee, mother of James 
Major and John the Evangelist, one of those holy 
women who attended our Saviour in his journeys, 
and ministered to him, Matt, xxvii. 56. She request- 
ed of Jesus, that her two sons, James and John, 
might sit one on his right hand, and the other on his 
left hand, when he should possess his kingdom ; 
(comp. Matt, xxvii. 56, with Mark xv. 40.) but the 
Son of God answered, " Ye know not what ye ask ; 
to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to 
give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is 
prepared by my Father." 

Salome gave a strong proof of her faith, when she 
followed Christ to Calvary, and did not forsake him 
even at the cross, Mark xv. 40 ; Matt, xxvii. 55, 56. 
She was also one of those women who brought per- 
fumes to embalm him, and who came for this pur- 



SAL 



[ 804 ] 



SAL 



pose to the sepulchre on Sunday morn.ng early, 
Mark xvi. 1, 2. Entering into the tomb, they saw an 
angel, who informed them, that the Saviour was 
risen ; and on their way back to Jerusalem, Jesus 
appeared to them, and said, "Be not afraid ; go tell 
my brethren, that they go into Galilee, and there 
shall they see me." 

Some give to Salome the name of Mary ; but there 
is no proof of her being so called : and what some 
frivolous histories relate of the three Marys, Mary, 
the mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of James, and 
Mary Salome, deserves no consideration. 

SALT was appointed to season all sacrifices that 
were offered to God, Lev. ii. 13. Christ alludes to 
this, when, speaking of the sufferings of the damned, 
he says, " Every one shall be salted with fire, and 
every sacrifice shall be salted with salt," Mark ix. 49. 
But though this may be the allusion, there is consid- 
erable difficulty in ascertaining its precise import. 
The phrase "salted with fire," is (to us, at least) un- 
usual, especially as it stands in our version. Mr. 
Taylor suggests that the xul should be taken com- 
paratively "as every sacrifice should be salted with 
salt :'* or adversatively, as it often is, " but every sac- 
rifice shall be salted with salt," to render it accepta- 
ble, according to the divine law. Possibly, a phrase 
used by Ignatius, in his Epistle to the Magnesians, 
may afford some light on the passage. "Lay aside 
therefore the old, and sour, and evil leaven, and be 
ye changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus 
Christ. Be ye salted in him, lest any one among you 
should be corrupted ; for by your savor ye shall be 
judged." It is evident that the correct doctrines of 
the gospel are spoken of, as giving an agreeable sa- 
vor to the " living sacrifices " of believers, whose good 
conduct, in consequence, evinces their entire preser- 
vation from corruption. In Syria, where there are 
salt lakes, it is most likely that comparisons, and 
even proverbs, were taken from the properties of the 
article they furnished. So we read, " S.ilt," that is 
in its genuine state, "is good; but, if it have lost its 
saltness, wherewith will ye season it?" how restore 
it to any relish ? The surface of the salt lakes, also, 
the thinner crust of salt, next the edges of the lakes, 
after rains, and especially after long-continued rains, 
loses the saline particles, which are washed away and 
dried off, yet it retains the form and appearance of 
salt, like the most perfect. For this reason, those 
who go to gather salt from the lakes, drive their 
horses and carts over this worthless matter, (and 
consequently trample it into mere mud and dirt,) in 
order to get some distance into the lake, where the 
salt is better ; and often they are obliged to dig away 
the surface from thence, to obtain the salt pure and 
pungent. 

We see from Ezek. xvi. 4, that anciently they 
rubbed new-born children with salt, which Jerome 
thought was to dry up the humidity, and to close the 
pores of the skin. Galen says, that salt hardens the 
skin of children, and makes them more firm. — Avi- 
cenna acquaints us, that they bathed children with 
water in which salt had been dissolved, to close up 
the navel, and to harden the skin. Others think, it 
was to hinder any corruption that might proceed 
from cutting off the navel-string. 

The prophet Elisha, being desired to sweeten the 
waters of the fountain of Jericho, required a new 
vessel to be brought to him, and salt therein, 2 Kings 
ii. 21. He threw this salt into the spring, and said, 
" Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters ; 
and in future they shall not occasion either death or 



barrenness." And in reality, the waters became good 
for drinking. Naturally the salt must have increased 
the brackishness of the fountain ; but the prophet 
purposely selected a remedy that seemed contrary to 
the effect he would produce, that the miracle might 
become the more evident. 

The wise man reckons salt in the number of things 
the most necessary for life ; (Ecclus. xxxix. 31.) and 
Job asks if any one could eat that which is not rel- 
ished with salt ? metaphorically, vigor of sentiment, 
understanding. 

Salt is the symbol of wisdom : " Let your speech 
be always with grace, seasoned with salt," Col. iv. 6. 
And our Saviour says, " Have salt in yourselves, and 
have peace one with another." Hence we read of 
attic salt, that is, attic wit, or sharpness, mental intel- 
ligence, &c. 

Salt is also the symbol of perpetuity and incorrup- 
tion. Thus they said of a covenant, " It is a cove- 
nant of salt for ever, before the Lord," Numb, xviii. 
19. And elsewhere, "The Lord God of Israel gave 
the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to 
him and to his sons, by a covenant of salt," 2 Chron. 
xiii. 5. See Covenant of Salt. 

Salt is the symbol also of barrenness and sterility. 
When Abimelech took the city of Shechem, he de- 
stroyed it, and sowed the place with salt, that it might 
always remain desert, Judg. ix. 45. Zephaniah (ii. 
9.) threatens the Ammonites and Moabites, from the 
Lord; "Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children 
of Amnion as Gomorrha, even the breeding of net- 
tles, salt-pits, and a perpetual desolation." (See Ps. 
cvii. 34 ; Jer. xvii. 6.) 

Lastly, salt is the symbol of hospitality ; also of 
that fidelity due from servants, friends, guests and 
officers, to those who maintain them, or who receive 
them at their tables. The governors of the prov- 
inces beyond the Euphrates, writing to king Arta- 
xerxes, tell him, " Because we have maintenance 
from the king's palace," &c. which, in the Chaldee, 
is, " Because we are salted with the salt of the pal- 
ace," Ezra iv. 14. 

SALT SEA, or Dead Sea, see Sea. 

SALT, Valley of. Interpreters generally place 
this valley south of the Dead sea, towards Idumea; 
because it is said (2 Sam. viii. 13.) that Abishai there 
killed 18,000 Idumeans, and Joab 12,000; (1 Chron. 
xviii. 12 ; Ps. Ix. title ;) and long after that, Amaziah, 
kingof Judah, killed 10,000, 2 Kings xiv. 7 ; 2 Chron. 
xxv. 11. David beat the Idumeans in the Valley of 
Salt, as he returned from Syria of Zobah. [This 
valley would seem to be either the northern part 
of the great valley El Ghor, leading south from the 
Dead sea; (see Exodus, p. 414;) or perhaps some 
smaller valley or ravine opening into it near the 
Dead sea. The whole of this region is strongly im- 
pregnated with salt, as appears from the reports of 
all travellers. According to captains Irby and Man- 
gles, " a gravelly ravine, studded with bushes of 
acacia and other shrubs, conducts [from the west] to 
the great sandy plain at the southern end of the Dead 
sea. On entering this plain, the traveller has on his 
right a continued hill, composed partly of salt and 
partly of hardened sand, running south-east and 
north-west, till, after proceeding a few miles, the 
plain opens to the south, bounded, at the distance of 
about eight miles, by a sandy cliff from sixty to 
eighty feet high, which traverses the valley El Ghor 
like a wall, forming a barrier to the waters of the lake 
when at their greatest height." On this plain, be- 
sides the saline appearance left by the retiring of the 



SAL 



[ 805 ] 



SAL 



waters of the lake, the travellers noticed, lying on the 
ground, several large fragments of rock-salt, which 
ied them to examine the hill, on the right of the 
ravine by which they had descended to the plain, de- 
scribed above, as composed partly of salt and partly 
of hardened sand. They found the salt, in many in- 
stances, hanging from the cliff's, in clear perpendicu- 
lar points, resembling icicles. They observed also 
strata of salt of considerable thickness, having very 
little sand mixed with it, generally in perpendicular 
lines. During the rainy season, the torrents appar- 
ently bring down immense masses of this mineral. 
Was, then, this " gravelly ravine," perhaps, the par- 
ticular "Valley of Saltf" or was this term applied 
more generally to this whole plain, which exhibits 
similar characteristics ? 

Strabo mentions, that to the southward of the Dead 
sea there are towns and cities built entirely of salt ; 
and " although," add the travellers, "such an account 
seems strange, yet when we contemplated the scene 
before us, it did not seem incredible." The sea had 
thrown up at high-water mark a quantity of wood, 
with which the travellers attempted to make a fire, 
in order to bake some bread ; but it was so impreg- 
nated with salt, that all their efforts were unavailing. 
The track, after leaving the salt-hill, led across the 
barren flats of the back-water of the lake, then left 
partially dry by the effects of evaporation. They 
passed six drains running into the sea; some were 
wet, and still draining the dreary level which they 
intersected ; others were dry. These had a strong- 
marshy smell, similar to what is perceivable on most 
of the muddy flats in salt-water harbors, but by no 
means more unpleasant. On the southern extremity 
of the eastern shore, salt is also deposited by the 
evaporation of the water of the lake. The travellers 
found several of the natives peeling off a solid layer 
of salt, several inches thick, with which they loaded 
their asses. At another point, also, where the water, 
being shallow, retires or evaporates rapidly, a con- 
siderable level is left, encrusted with a salt that is but 
half dried and consolidated, appearing like ice in the 
commencement of a thaw, and giving way nearly 
ankle deep. All these appearances are surely suffi- 
cient to justify the appellation of Plain or Valley of 
Salt. (See the Mod. Traveller, Palestine, p. 188, 199, 
seq. Amer. ed.) It. 

SALVATION. This word is taken in several 
senses in Scripture. (1.) For eternal happiness and 
salvation, the object of our hopes and desires. Thus 
it is said, " To give knowledge of salvation to his 
people," Luke i. 77. "The gospel of your salvation," 
Eph. i. 13. " Godly sorrow worketh repentance to 
salvation," (2 Cor. vii. 10.) that is, leans to eternal life. 
(2.) For deliverance, or victory : " Shall Jonathan die, 
who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel ? " 
1 Sam. xiv. 45. (3.) For praise and benediction given 
to God : " Alleluiah, salvation, and glory, and honor, 
and power unto the Lord our God. . . . Salvation to 
our God which sitteth on the throne, and unto the 
Lamb," Rev. vii. 10; xix. 1. 

The Hebrews rarely use concrete terms, as they 
are called, but often abstract terms. Thus, instead 
of saying, God saves them, and protects them ; they 
say, God is their salvation. So, a voice of salvation, 
tidings of salvation, the rock of salvation, the shield 
of salvation, a horn of salvation, a word of salvation, 
&c. is equivalent to a voice declaring deliverance ; 
the joy that attends escape from a great danger; a 
rock where any one takes refuge, and is in safety ; a 
buckler that secures from the attack of an enemy ; a 



horn or ray of glory, of happiness and salvation, &c 
Thus, to work great salvation in Israel signifies to 
deliver Israel from some imminent danger, to obtain 
a great victory over enemies. 

There is some difficulty, as Mr. Taylor remarks, 
in restraining the terms save and salvation, to their 
primitive import, in certain passages of Scripture. 
When Peter exhorts the Jews, (Acts ii. 40.) " Save 
yourselves from this untoward generation," he means, 
from the calamities with which their nation would 
soon be visited ; and this expectation he authorizes 
by the declaration of the prophet Joel, of the won- 
ders in heaven, &c. who adds, " Whosoever shall 
call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved ;" as, in 
fact, all Christians were, by withdrawing from Jeru- 
salem, at the time of its siege. (Compare Matt. x. 22; 
xxiv. 13 ; Mark xiii. 13.) Yet Paul quotes this pas- 
sage in a different sense, (Rom. x. 13.) implying that 
luhoever, whether Jew or Greek, " shall call on the 
name of the Lord, shall be saved ;" certainly not 
from the miseries of Jerusalem, but from the conse- 
quences of sin. 

Nor is itjess difficult to say, he adds, in what sense 
all Israel shall be saved, Rom. xi. 26. It cannot mean 
all the nation that ever existed ; since thousands of 
them were marked by misery, within a few years 
from the date of this Epistle ; neither can it mean 
eternal salvation, since not all Israel was worthy of 
that felicity. It may refer, he thinks, to that happy 
time, when the Jews, as a nation, shall acknowledge 
the gracious Deliverer come out of Sion ; and shall 
be brought into a state of grace, leading to salvation, 
unless frustrated by personal transgression, &c. 
(Comp. chap. ix. 27, " a remnant shall be saved," &c.) 

When we read (1 Tim. ii. 15.) that "women shall 
be saved in child-bearing," we must take the term in 
a qualified sense, since all women are not so saved. 
And when we are told (1 Cor. iii. 15.) that "if any 
man's work be burned, he himself shall be saved ;" 
it is necessary to avoid the sense of certainty in the 
English term shall, and to consider the expression as 
importing may be saved rather than must be saved. 
It becomes, therefore, all students of the Bible, to 
examine carefully the intention of the writer, in pas- 
sages where this term (or its cognates) occurs ; and 
not to quote at random, as if to be saved always in- 
tended eternal salvation, since it may intend only 
temporal salvation, or a state of offered salvation, or a 
state of grace leading to salvation, or salvation begun 
but not yet completed. It m&j refer to personal 
safety, to spiritual deliverance, or to natural prosper- 
ity. Some may believe to the saving of the soul, 
(Heb. x. 39.) others, as Noah in his ark, may effect 
the saving, i. e. the preservation, of their families, 
chap. xi. 7. 

The Garments of Salvation (Isa. lxi. 10.) refer 
to the habits of joy and festivity, worn on festival 
days, and after receiving a signal favor from God, aa 
after deliverance from great danger. 

SALUTATION, greeting, hailing. The antiquity 
of the salutation, " Peace he with yoi>," and the un- 
derstood conclusion, that if a person enjoy peace, all 
is well with him, appears from the earliest accounts 
we have of patriarchal behavior; as Gen. xxix. 6, 
" Is there peace (health) to him ? " (Lahan) — they an- 
swer, " Peace." So, Jacob directs Joseph, " Go, see 
the peace (welfare) of thy brethren," xxxvii. 14. So, 
the spies of Dan (Judg. xviii. 15.) " came and asked 
the Levite of peace ;" i. e. saluted him ; and even in 
the camp, David " asked his brethren of peace ;" i.e. 
saluted them, 1 Sam. xvii. 22. The reader may rec- 



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SAMARIA 



ollect many instances of this pnraseology, but none 
more memorable than our Lord's departing salutation, 
as recorded by the evangelists : — " Peace I leave with 
you ; not as the world giveth," in their ordinary salu- 
tations, " give I unto you," but in a more direct, per- 
manent, appropriate manner ; on principles, and with 
authority, infinitely superior, I bless you with this 
heavenly gift, John xiv. 27. 

"The Arabs of Yemen," says Niebuhr, "and es- 
pecially the highlanders, often stop strangers, to ask 
whence they come, and ivhither they are going. 
These questions are suggested merely by curiosity ; 
and it would be indiscreet, therefore, to refuse to 
answer." (Travels, vol. i. p. 302.) Does not this ex- 
tract suggest the true import of that expression of our 
Lord, which has seemed, to some, to favor a rude- 
ness of behavior ; which, surely, so far from being 
congenial to the precepts and manners of the gospel, 
is inconsistent with them? We mean the passage, 
Luke x. 4 : " Salute no man by the way." — Now the 
power of the word [aaniioiia-D-e] rendered "salute," im- 
plies, " to draw to one's self, to throw one's arms over 
afjother, and embrace him closely." — Less strictly 
taken, it signifies to salute, as rendered in our ver- 
sion ; but may not the prohibition, in our Lord's di- 
rections to the seventy, have some reference to such 
a custom as we find among the Arabs of Yemen ? 
q. d. " Do not stop any man, to ask him whence he 
comes, and whither he is going ; do not loiter and 
gossip with any whom you may accidentally meet 
on your journey ; do not stop strangers to receive 
information, of no value when you have received it; 
but rather make all proper speed to the towns 
whither I have sent you, and there deliver your good 
tidings?" Seen in this light, there is no breach of 
decorum, of friendship, or of good manners, implied 
in this command ; but, on the contrary, merely a 
very proper prohibition of what, at best, is imperti- 
nence, and what, under the then circumstances, 
would have been injurious to matters of real impor- 
tance. 

Is there any allusion to such intrusive inquisitive- 
ness in John xvi. 5, " None of you asketh me, Whither 
goest thou ?" 

SAMARIA, the capital city of the kingdom of Is- 
rael, that is, of the ten tribes. It was built by Omri 
king of Israel, who began to reign, A. M. 3079, and 
died 3086, 1 Kings xvi. 24. He bought the hill Sa- 
maria of Shemer, or Shomeron, for two talents of 
silver, about $3,000. Before Omri, the kings of Is- 
rael dwelt at Shechem, or at Tirzah. 

Samaria was built on an agreeable and fruitful hill, 
in an advantageous situation, twelve miles from Do- 
thaim, twelve from Merrom, and four from Atharoth. 
Josephus says, it was a day's journey from Jerusalem. 
Though built on an eminence, it must have had 
water in abundance ; since we find medals struck 
there, on which is represented the goddess Astarte, at 
whose feet is a river. 

The kings of Israel omitted nothing to render this 
city the strongest, the finest, and the richest possible. 
Ahab here built a palace of ivory, (1 Kings xxii. 39.) 
and Amos (hi. 15; iv. 1, 2.) describes it under Jero- 
boam II. as a city sunk in excess of luxury and effem- 
inacy. Ben-hadad, king of Syria, built public places 
or streets, probably for traffic, where his people dwelt, 
to promote commerce, 1 Kings xx. 34. His son Ben- 
hadad besieged it, under the reign of Ahab, but was 
defeated by a handful of young men. What is very 
remarkable, and yet very common, is, that the king 
of Syria's flatterers would ascribe the shame of their 



defeat, not to the pride and drunkenness ,-f theii 
king, but to the interposition of the gods of ti:e Jews : 
"Their gods are gods of the hills, (say they,) there- 
fore they were stronger than we ; but let us fight 
against them in the plain, and surely we shall be 
stronger than they." The following year Ben-hadad 
brought an army into the field, probably with a de- 
sign to march against Samaria ; but his army was 
again destroyed, 1 Kings xx. 26, 27. Some vears 
after this, (2 Kings vi. 24 ; vii. 1—4. A. M. 3119,) he 
came again before Samaria, and reduced it to such 
extremities by famine, that a mother was forced to 
eat her own child ; but the city was relieved by a 
striking interposition of Divine Providence. It was 
besieged by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, in the 
ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel, which was the 
fourth of Hezekiah, king of Judah ; (A. M. 3280 ;) 
and it was taken three years after, 2 Kings xvii. 6, 7, 
&c. The prophet Hosea (x. 4, 8, 9 ; xiv. 1.) speaks 
of the cruelties exercised by Shalmaneser ; and Mi- 
cah says, (i. 6.) the city was reduced to a heap of 
stones. The Cuthites sent byEsarhaddon to inhabit 
the country of Samaria did not think it worth their 
while to repair the ruins of this city, but dwelt ai 
Shechem, which they made their capital. 

However, the Cuthites rebuilt some part of Sama- 
ria, since Ezra speaks of its inhabitants, Ezra iv. 17; 
Neh. iv. 2. The Samaritans, being jealous of the fa- 
vors Alexander the Great conferred on the Jews, re- 
volted from him, while he was in Egypt, and burn*, 
alive Andromachus, whom he had left governoi. 
Alexander took Samaria, and sent Macedonians to 
inhabit it ; giving the country around it to the Jews ; 
and, to encourage them to cultivate it, he granted 
them exemptions from tribute. But the kings of 
Egypt and Syria, who succeeded Alexander, deprived 
them of this country. 

Alexander Balas, king of Syria, restored to Jona- 
than Maccabaeus the cities of Lydda, Epbrem and 
Ramatha, which he separated from the country of 
Samaria. And the Jews resumed the full possession 
of it under John Hircanus, who took Samaria, and 
ruined it, according to Josephus, so that the river ran 
through its ruins, A. M. 3995. It so continued to 
A. M. 3947, when Aldus Gabinius, proconsul of 
Syria, rebuilt it, and named it Gabiniana. But it was 
very inconsiderable, till Herod the Great restored it 
to its ancient lustre, and gave it the Greek name of 
Sebaste, (in Latin Augusta,) in honor of the emperor 
Augustus, who had given him the proprietory of it. 

The New Testament speaks but little of Samaria ; 
and when it does mention it, it is rather in respect of 
the country than of the f'ty. When it is said (Luke 
xvii. 11 ; John iv. 4., ou*- Lord passed through the 
midst of Samaria ; the Cleaning is, through the midst 
of the country of Samaria. And again, "Then 
cometh he to a city of Samaria called Sychar." Here 
Jesus had a conversation with a woman of Samaria, 
that is, with a Samaritan woman of the city of Sy- 
char. After the death of Stephen, when the disci- 
ples were dispersed through the towns of Judea and 
Samaria, Philip the deacon withdrew into the city of 
Samaria, where he made converts, (Acts viii. 1—3.) 
and when the apostles heard that this city had re- 
ceived the word of God, they sent Peter and John 
thither, to communicate the Holy Ghost. Samaria 
is never called Sebaste in the New Testament, though 
strangers hardly knew it by any other name. Jerome 
says it was thought Obadiah was buried at Samaria. 
They also showed there the tombs of Elisha and of 
John the Baptist. 



SAM 



[ 807 ] 



SAMARITANS 



The country of Samaria lies between Juried and 
Galilee. It begins, according to Josephus, at a town 
called Ginea, in the great plain, and ends at the to- 
parchy of Acrabatene. Samaria, under the first 
temple, was the name of a city ; under the second, 
of a country. Rabbi Benjamin, of Tudela, says, " Se- 
baste is Samaria, where the palace of Ahab, king of 
Israel, is still known. Now that city was on a 
mountain, and well fortified, had springs, well wa- 
tered laud, gardens, paradises, vineyards and olive- 
yards. Distant eight miles is Neapolis, that is, Sy- 
chem, in mount Ephraim. It is seated in a valley 
between the mountains Gerizim and Ebal ; in it are 
about a hundred Cutheans, observing the law of 
Moses only; they are called Samaritans ; and have 
priests of the seed of Aaron. They sacrifice in the 
temple on mount Gerizim oil the day of the passo- 
ver, and on feast days on the altar built there of the 
stones set up by the children of Israel, when they 
passed over Jordan." : 

The following is the account of the modern city, as 
given by Richardson : " Its situation is extremely 
beautiful, and strong by nature ; more so, 1 think, than 
Jerusalem. It stands on a fine large, insulated hill, 
compassed all round by a broad, deep valley; and, 
when fortified, as it is stated to have been by Herod, 
one would have imagined, that in the ancient system 
of warfare, nothing but famine would have reduced 
such a place. The valley is surrounded by four 
hills, one on each side, which are cultivated in ter- 
races to the top, sown with grain and planted with 
fig and olive-trees, as is also the valley. The hill of 
Samaria, likewise, rises in terraces to a height equal 
to any of the adjoining mountains. 

"The present village is small and poor, and, after 
passing the valley, the ascent to it is very steep ; but, 
viewed from the station of our tents, is extremely in- 
teresting, both from its natural situation, and from 
the picturesque remains of a ruined convent of good 
Gothic architecture. 

" Having passed the village, towards the middle of 
the first terrace, there is a number of columns still 
standing. I counted twelve in one row, besides 
several that stood apart, the brotherless remains of 
other rows. The situation is extremely delightful, 
and my guide informed me that they belonged to the 
serai or palace. On the next terrace there are no re- 
mains of solid building, but heaps of stone and lime, 
and rubbish mixed with the soil in great profusion. 
Ascending to the third, or highest terrace, the traces 
of former buildings were not so numerous, but we 
enjoyed a delightful view of the surrounding country. 
The eye passed over the deep valley that compasses 
the hill of Sebaste, and rested on the mountains be- 
yond, that retreated as they rose with a gentle slope, 
and met the view in every direction, like a book laid 
out for perusal on a writing desk. 

"From this lofty eminence we descended to the 
south side the hill, where we saw the remains of a 
stately colonnade, that stretches along this beautiful 
exposure from east to west. Sixty columns are still 
standing in one row ; the shafts are plain, and frag- 
ments of Ionic volutes, that lie scattered about, testify 
the order to which they belong. These are probably 
the relics of some of the magnificent structures with 
which Herod the Great adorned Samaria. None of 
the walls remain." 

SAMARITANS. The account given of these 
people by Calmet is extremely prolix, and by no 
means satisfactory. We shall, therefore, omit it en- 
tirely, and supnlj- its place by a narrative deduced 



from sources, many of which were not known tit the 
time when Calmet wrote. 

The Samaritans were descended from the remnant 
of the Israelites not carried away into captivity, and 
afterwards intermixed with Gentiles from the neigh- 
boring parts of Assyria, especially the Cuthi, who 
had come to colonize and occupy the vacant situa- 
tions of the former inhabitants. In this new colony 
idolatry was introduced and permitted from the very 
first ; yet so as to worship Jehovah in conjunction 
with the false gods, 2 Kings xvii. 29. When, after- 
wards, Cyrus permitted the Jews to return from cap- 
tivity and rebuild their temple, the Samaritans, who 
wished to form a union in religious matters with the 
Jews, requested that the temple might be erected at 
the common labor and expense of both nations. But 
Zerubbabel, and the other Jewish rulers, rejected 
their request, urging that Cyrus had committed the 
work to them only, and had charged the governors 
of Samaria to keep away from the place, and only 
assist the Jews out of the public revenues of the 
province. The Samaritans, however, said they were 
at liberty to worship there, since the temple had been 
erected for the worship of the Supreme Being by all 
the human race. When the Samaritans had received 
this repulse from the Jews, they felt much mortified, 
and laid wait for revenge ; they endeavored to ob- 
struct the restoration of the temple, and the increase 
and prosperity of the Jewish state by various meth- 
ods. Hence originated a mutual hatred between the 
nations, which was afterwards kept up and increased 
by the revolt of Manasseh, and the erection of the 
temple on mount Gerizim. For Manasseh, a brother 
of Jaddus, the high-priest, had, contrary to the laws 
and customs of the nation, taken in marriage the 
daughter of Sanballat, the ruler of Samaria, (Neb. 
xiii. 23, seq.) and when the Jews, indignant at this, 
had ordered that he should divorce her as an alien, 
or no longer approach to the altar and the sacred 
institutions, he fled to his father-in-law, a high-priest, 
who alienated many from the religious worship of 
the Jews, and by gifts and promises drew over great 
numbers, and even some of the priests, to the Samar- 
itan party. But now that the temple was erected on 
mount Gerizim, still greater contentions arose be- 
tween the Jews and Samaritans concerning the place 
of divine ivorship. For the Samaritans denied that 
the sacred rites at Jerusalem were pure and of divine 
ordination : but of the temple on mount Gerizim they 
affirmed that it was holy, legitimate, and sanctioned 
by the presence of the Deity. The Samaritans, more- 
over, only received the books of Moses. The rest of 
the sacred books (since they vindicated the divine 
worship at Jerusalem) they rejected, as also the whole 
body of the traditions, keeping solely to the letter. 
From these causes the Jews were inflamed to the 
most rancorous hatred towards this rival nation; in- 
somuch that to many of them the Samaritans were 
objects of greater detestation than even the Gentiles. 
(See Luke x. 33.) It is no wonder, then, that there 
should have been such a constant reciprocation of 
injuries and calumnies as had served to keep up a 
perpetual exasperation between the two nations. 
The faidt, however, was not all on the side of the 
Jews ; for (as we learn from Bartenora ad Roscha- 
schana, ii. 2, cited by Schoettgen) the Samaritans in- 
flamed this enmity by taking every opportunity of 
injuring, or at least offering provocations to the Jews. 
The following anecdote may serve as an example: — 
"When the time of the new moon was just at hand, 
the Jews had a fire kindled on the highest mountains, 



SAMARITANS 



[ 808 ] 



SAMARITANS 



to warn those who were afar off of the exact time of 
the novilunium. What did die Samaritans do ? Why, 
in order that they might lead the Jews into an error, 
they themselves, during the night-time, kindled fires 
on the mountains. Therefore, the Jews were obliged 
to send out trusty and creditable persons, who should 
give out the time of the new moon, as observed by 
the Jerusalemitish Sanhedrim, or defined by other 
persons to whom that office was committed." The 
Samaritans, however, did not entertain so much 
hatred towards the Jews, as the latter did towards 
the former; nor did they deny towards them the 
offices of humanity. (See Luke ix. 53 ; x. 32.) Jesus, 
however, disregarded, nay discountenanced, this ha- 
tred, and as he did not hesitate to eat with tax-gath- 
erers, so neither did he avoid intercourse with Samar- 
itans. 

Dr. Wait has a paper, in his Repertorium Theo- 
logicum, on the notions entertained by the Samari- 
tans of a Messiah, which contributes some valuable 
information, derived from a correspondence which 
took place, some years since, between two Samaritan 
priests and two of our own countrymen, who, under 
h pious fraud, as it is termed, but which was wholly 
indefensible, elicited the religious opinions of the res- 
idents at Napolose, or Samaria, and also obtained 
copies of the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua. 
From this correspondence, Dr. Wait remarks, it is 
evident that many of the opinions we have been ac- 
customed to cherish respecting the Samaritans are 
decidedly false, having proceeded directly from the 
enmity of the Jews, and the fictions of the rabbinical 
pages; being utterly unauthorized by Josephus and 
his contemporaries, and absolutely repugnant to those 
conclusions, which the Scriptures would induce us 
to draw from the little which they have recorded of 
them. 

That the Samaritans had a clear notion of the 
coming of a Messiah, is quite manifest from the con- 
versation which occurred between our Saviour and 
a woman of this nation, as recorded in John iv. 
But the source whence they derived that knowledge 
it is somewhat difficult to determine. They could 
not, as Dr. Wait observes, have been indebted to the 
Pentateuch alone for it ; they must have extracted 
this information from other sources, and forced iso- 
lated passages of the Pentateuch in subsequent times 
to have become its authorities. We vainly scrutinize 
the Pentateuch for a single prophecy of Christ's death 
and resurrection ; and yet it appears from some of 
their MSS., that the Samaritans believed, that then- 
Messiah should die and rise from the dead. If the 
Samaritans contemporary with our Saviour deduced 
these opinions at all from Scripture, they must have 
deduced them from prophecy ; and if no such prophecy 
exists in the Mosaic books, it will follow, that they 
could not have been ignorant of the prophecies which 
were uttered after the institution of the monarchy, 
although the present race rejects these writings from 
the canon. 

From all that Dr. Wait has been enabled to collect 
of their modern religious ceremonies, we find them 
strictly observant of the law; on the sabbath, they 
only go to the " house of Jehovah to pray, to give 
thanks, and to read the law." They still solemnize 
thepassover with the most scrupulous attention; they 
eat unleavened bread for the space of seven days, and 
on the seventh repair to Gerizim. From the day 
succeeding the sabbath of the ordinance of un- 
leavened bread, they count fifty days to that suc- 
ceeding the seventh sabbath ; they also celebrate the 



feast of first-fruits, on which they also go to the " Ev- 
erlasting Mount." They observe the feast of the 
seventh month, the tenth day of which is the day 
of expiation, on which all, from man to child, afflict 
themselves and read the law. On the fifteenth day 
of the seventh month, they carry fruits and boughs 
of palms and other trees and thus proceed to Geri- 
zim ; — they likewise keep the feast of the eighth day, 
and purify themselves from occasional uncleanness. 
Every morning and evening they pray towards their 
sacred mountain, throwing their faces to the ground ; 
and in whatever part of the globe they may be, 
thither they direct themselves at their prayers. In 
fact, they rigorously adhere to the letter of the law; 
but they are not Karaites, for their epistles mention 
this sect with contempt. JVltence, then, did they 
receive the notion of a Messiah ? We have seen, that 
they could scarcely have received it from the Penta- 
teuch ; for even the most determinate passages, 
which they cite as their authorities, would, if consid- 
ered exclusively of others, hardly have suggested to 
a people denying the other canonical books, those 
minute ideas of the promised Prophet which they 
undeniably entertained. But these ideas are so 
approximated to the language of the Jewish prophets, 
that one of three hypotheses, says the doctor, must 
be correct: either that, at some unrecorded period, 
they were borrowed from thence, or, which is nearly 
equivalent, that these prophecies, by means of indi- 
viduals travelling from the one kingdom to the other, 
were made known to the servants of the true God 
in Israel, or that the prophets of Israel themselves 
delivered oracles respecting the Messiah, which, 
though now lost, were nevertheless the sources of 
this Samaritan knowledge. 

These three causes, he remarks, may have, indeed, 
produced conjointly the effect: — the two latter may 
be supported by the following arguments. The 
worship of Jehovah was never totally extinct in 
Israel ; — in Elijah's clays, many still adhered to the 
worship of their forefathers; and in the most degen- 
erate times of Israelitish apostasy, the accredited 
prophets of Jehovah were even summoned, on emer- 
gencies, to give counsel to those monarchs who had 
proscribed the faith to which they were devoted. 
Some, therefore, among the severed tribes, remained 
true to the religion of Moses, even in the worst eras 
of defection ; yet, however observant they may have 
been of the law, we can scarcely presume, that the 
political dissension between the kingdoms of Judah 
and Israel, would allow them to frequent the temple 
in Jerusalem at the divinely instituted festivals. For 
the erection of the golden calves at Dan and Bethel 
was expressly designed to prevent this national inter- 
course ; nor is it any where recorded .nat Elijah, or 
Elisha, or one of the sons of the Israelitish prophets, 
became an attendant on the worship of Jehovah 
within the holy city. Independently, however, of 
these particulars, we may argue, that the law was 
always rigidly observed by some members of the ten 
tribes. Hence Friedrich forcibly argues, that this 
preservation of the true religion, in whatever degree 
it may have been, affords a strongly presumptive evi- 
dence, that the [Samaritan] Pentateuch must have 
been edited before the days of Jeroboam ; without 
this assumption, it would be difficult to imagine how 
the observance of the law could have survived the 
persecutions and turmoils of those ages, how other- 
wise it, was not overwhelmed by the superstitions 
of the neighboring nations, and did not sink beneath 
the weight of ever-galling oppressions. Moreover 



SAMARITANS 



[ 809 ] 



SAMARITANS 



the same reason, which induced them to reject the 
other Scriptural books, (from which we should, per- 
haps, except that of Joshua,) would also have induced 
them to reject the Pentateuch itself, had they not 
been antecedently in possession of it, and therefore 
been most fully assured, that it was not a production 
of late date: since, therefore, their defection from 
Judah and Benjamin occurred in the reign of Jero- 
boam, we must, on this account, conclude it to have 
been edited long before, and to have been in circula- 
tion before the separation of the tribes. If then they 
thus had the books of Moses, we may argue them to 
have been acquainted with those Psalms of David, 
which had been sung in the tabernacle and the tem- 
ple, and these Psalms were replete with the expecta- 
tions of the Messiah. Consequently, after their 
abscission from Judah, they could not have failed to 
have carried away with them these vivid hopes and 
ardent expectations, and to have transmitted them to 
their descendants. What, then, is more natural, than 
to suppose, that when they rejected the other canon- 
ical books, they ingrafted these ideas, elsewhere 
received," on their interpretations of them? — for, in 
fact, they must have seen the promises partially 
accomplished in the extent of dominion which David 
and Solomon acquired. That passover, which was 
celebrated in the days of Josiah, which Israel at- 
tended at Jerusalem, (2 Kings xxiii ; 2 Ghron. xxxv.) 
manifestly proves to us, how deeply the true religion 
was rooted in those who had not deflected from it, 
and likewise offers to us an epoch, to which we may 
refer the first of the three hypotheses. To this we 
may also add that period, when the second temple 
was erected, during which there was an intercourse 
between the Jews and the Samaritans, (Jos. Ant. xiii. 
17.) who, doubtless, imparted to the Samaritans 
those opinions, in which they had been educated. 
These periods, therefore, either separately or con- 
jointly, are adequate to the solution of the difficulty ; 
nor can we err in maintaining, that at one, or another, 
or all of these, the doctrines and expectations of 
Judah respecting the Messiah were circulated in 
Samaria. 

We have no reason to believe, that those who 
selected Gerizim as their place of religious worship, 
in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, were infected 
with idolatry : the sacred page authorizes us not in 
such a conclusion, nor can we retrace the allegation 
to a legitimate and historical source. We are no 
where informed to what deity Sanballat dedicated 
his temple ; we nowhere read of its appropriation to 
idols. Josephus says nothing of Manasseh's apostasy ; 
therefore, we presume the Samaritan temple to have 
been dedicated to the true God. Had it been dedi- 
cated to an Assyrian idol, or to the Baal-Berith, who 
once had a temple at Sichem, and, like the Zevg oqxiog 
of the Greeks, and Deus Fidius of the Romans, was 
accounted the God of oaths and covenants, can we 
suppose, that so many Jews, just emigrated from 
Babylonian oppression, would have flocked to it, or 
nave followed the priesthood and fortunes of Manas- 
seh ? More than one hundred and sixty years after 
its erection, the Jewish historian called it avwvvfiov ; 
could he have so called it, if it had been dedicated to an 
idol ? 

Our more immediate inquiry, however, respects 
the Samaritans after the erection of Sauballat's tem- 
ple ; between whom and the Jews the chief points 
of dispute lay, in their rejection of all the canonical 
books, except the Pentateuch, and their affirmation, 
102 



that Gerizim was the only place where God could 
be acceptably worshipped. Cellarius, Hottinger, and 
even Reland, seem, in some degree, as Dr. Wait 
remarks, to have been led astray on this point ; the 
fable of the brazen bird, which the Romans erected 
on Gerizim, on the authority of the Samaritan chron- 
icle, if it were not the Roman eagle, was evidently a 
tradition compounded of the hp'cn of the men of 
Hamath, and the mm of those of Ava. Some of then- 
statements, indeed, refer their first copy of the law to 
the thirteenth year after the settlement of the Israel- 
ites in Canaan, which they aver to have been made 
by Abishua the son of Phinehas ; but this can only 
be regarded as an idle pretension, which is not even 
accredited by all the Samaritans. Of the antiquity 
of their copies there can be no doubt, any more than 
of the frauds, of which they were guilty in certain 
passages. Yet, although they have corrupted the 
Pentateuch by occasional interpolations, the value 
of their copy is evinced by some readings, which 
appear to supply lacunas in the Hebrew, and by the 
great accordance between its chronology and that of 
the Septuagint. The Jews admit, that Ezra aban- 
doned the old Samaritan characters, and introduced 
the Assyrian, or Chaldee, wherefore the Samaritans 
still call theirs the Hebrew, or the characters of the 
Sacred language, and say, that " the Jewish Books 
were written by Ezra." So violent has the ani- 
mosity respecting the Pentateuch ever been be- 
tween these two claimants of it, that when Saa- 
diah's Arabic version appeared, (whom they desig- 
nate as the doctor of Faium,) Abu Said was deputed 
to commence a Samaritano-Arabic version in oppo- 
sition to it, a copy of which is in the Bibliotheque 
du Roi, at Paris. 

Maimonides himself, who, perhaps, was the most 
unbiased writer among the Jews, admits their rigid 
practice of the law, and, even whilst he is relating the 
tale of the dove, evidently seems disinclined to be- 
lieve it. Josephus, also, (Ant. ix. 14.) bore the same 
testimony to them. 

So scrupulous are they still respecting the insti- 
tutes of the lawgiver, that on the sabbaths they kin- 
dle no fires, nor even on their festivals ; they affirm 
their priests to be Levites, but regret that they have 
no high-priest of the race of Phinehas, offering, in 
their epistles, should such an individual be found, to 
install him in his office. 

The separation, indeed, at the time of the erection 
of the second temple, was merely occasioned by the 
intermarriages with foreigners, which Ezra and 
Nehemiah forbade ; those who were willing to repu- 
diate then- foreign wives remaining at Jerusalem — 
those who were resolved to retain them emigrating 
to Samaria. But however requisite this allowance 
may have been to the formation of a new state, it is 
no where recorded, that the Samaritans persevered 
in the practice ; yet, from hence, they received in 
the Jewish writings the appellation of smu Cxdhites, 
and had the stigma indelibly fixed upon them by 
their rivals. 

Had such been their practice in our Saviour's 
time, he assuredly would have alleged it against their 
national pretensions in his discourses with the Samar 
itan woman. His words are simply, "Ye worship 
ye know not what : we know what we worship ; for 
salvation is of the Jews," John iv. 22. These, view- 
ed in their connection, must have had a reference to 
their notions of a Messiah, — probably also to their 
application of biblical passages to his advent, — an*} 



SAMARITANS 



[ 810 ] 



SAMARITANS 



accordingly, the woman (v. 25.) so understood them. 
They also partially related to the question, whether 
Gerizim or Jerusalem were the proper place of wor- 
ship, and appear to have alluded to the indistinct 
conceptions of the legal types and ceremonies, which 
the Samaritans, unaided by the other books of Scrip- 
ture, must have had. The Samaritans worshipped 
" they knew not what ;" for, believing the advent of 
the Messiah, they rejected the prophetic books, which 
illustrated and determined it ; they assented to the 
fact, without knowing either its nature or object, 
whereas the Jews, to whose line he was restricted, 
had opportunities of ascertaining from the prophets 
criteria, which would have designated him at his 
appearance to every unprejudiced reasoner. (Repert. 
Theol. p. 1—10.) 

[(For the Samaritan language, see Languages, 
oriental, p. 606; and Letters, p. 618.) There 
exists a copy of the Hebrew Pentateuch preserved 
by the Samaritans in their own character ; and also 
a Samaritan translation of the Pentateuch. The 
vn^ie of these has been critically discussed by Gese- 
n 's, in his work entitled de Pentateuchi Sarnar. 
orixine, indole, et auctoritate, Hal. 1815 ; the results of 
which have also been given to the public by professor 
Stuart, in an article in the N. A. Review, April, 1826. 
Bibl. Repos. vol. ii. No. 8. (See also Winer, de Ver- 
sionis Pent. Samar. indole, Leips. 1817 ; and the arti- 
cle Versions below.) 

It is well known that a small remnant of the Sa- 
maritans still exists at Naplous, the ancient Shechem. 
Great interest has been taken in them by the learned 
of Europe ; and a correspondence has several times 
been instituted with them, which, however, has 
never led to results of any great importance. It was 
commenced by Joseph Scaliger in 1559 ; and again, 
after a century, by several learned men in England, 
in 1675 ; and by the celebrated Ludolf in 1685. Of 
late years, the orientalist De Sacy, of Paris, has again 
held correspondence with them ; and has recently 
published all that is known respecting them, and all 
their letters, in a work entitled Correspondence des 
Samaritaines, &c. Paris, 1829. They have often 
been visited, of late years, by travellers ; and the best 
account we have of them and of their present cir- 
cumstances, is from the pen of the late American 
Missionary, the Rev. P. Fisk, under date of Nov. 19, 
1823. (See Missionary Herald, 1824, p. 310.) 

" After taking some refreshment, we went to visit 
tne Samaritans, having first sent to the kohen, or 
priest, to know if a visit would be agreeable. His 
name is Shalmar ben Tabiah. His first name he 
sometimes pronounces Salomer. I believe it is the 
same as Solomon, which the Jews in Jerusalem now 
pronounce Shloma. He received us in a neat apart- 
ment, and we immediately entered into conversa- 
tion. Ten or twelve other members of the sect soon 
came in. Our conversation was in Arabic. They 
represent the number of their houses to be 20 or 30, 
— about 60 pay the capitation tax. They say there 
are no other Samaritans in this country, but they are 
quite disposed to think they are numerous in other 
parts of the world. In Paris they suppose they 
were very numerous, until, in a time of war between 
the French and some other nation, the Samaritans 
were dispersed. They say that there are, however, 
four still living in Paris. They inquired whether 
there are any Samaritans in England, and seemed 
not at all gratified when we told them no. On 
learning that I was from America, they inquired if 
there are Samaritans there. I told them no ; but 



they confidently asserted the contrary, and that there 
are also many in India. They maintain that they 
are the lineal descendants of Jacob : the kohen and 
his sons, only, of the tribe of Levi; one family from 
the tribe of Benjamin ; four or five from Manasseh, 
and the rest from Ephraim. We asked what they 
would do for a priest, if the kolien and his sons 
should die, and thus the tribe of Levi become extinct. 
They replied, (bazah ma beseer,) " This does not hap- 
pen." They all speak Arabic, but their books and 
public prayers are in Samaritan. They call their 
language Hebrew, and that which we call Hebrew, 
they call Jewish; fpr they say their language is 
the true Hebrew in which the law was given. The 
difference consists in the use of a different al- 
phabet and different pronunciation. They go three 
times a year to mount Gerizim to worship, but 
do not offer sacrifices there now, as they did for- 
merly, lest they should be molested by the Turks. 
But they offer their sacrifices in a more private way, 
in the city. We understood them to say, that they 
have no daily sacrifice. We visited their synagogue. 
It is a small, dark, but neat room, with an altar, but 
without seats. We were obliged, before entering, to 
pull off not only our over-shoes, but also our slip- 
pers, which are not prohibited even in mosques ; 
and Mr. Jowett was obliged to take off an outer gar- 
ment, which he wears, that is lined with fur. No 
person can approach the altar, except the kohen 
and his sons. They expect a Messiah, who is to be 
a Prophet and King, but a mere man, to live 120 
years, as Moses did, and to reign at Naplous over all 
the world. Those who do not receive him, are to 
be destroyed with the sword. The promise con- 
cerning the woman's seed does not, they believe, 
refer to the Messiah ; but that, concerning a prophet 
like unto Moses, does refer to him, as does also that 
concerning Shiloh, Gen. xlix. 10. They admit the 
sense of this passage as given in our translation, and 
try to show that there is still a sceptre somewhere in 
the hands of Judah. The Messiah will come when 
Israel repent. They say the story of the separation 
between Israel and Judah, under Jeroboam and Re- 
hoboam, is a lie of the Jews. The city of Luz, or 
Bethel, they say, was on mount Gerizim, Gen. xxviii. 
19. Jebus, they say, was also on this mount, and 
that Judges xix. 10, as it stands in our copies, is not 
true. 

" The next day we renewed our visit to the Samar- 
itans. We had yesterday requested to see their an- 
cient copy of the law. The kohen objected, but after 
much persuading, and indirectly presenting the mo- 
tive which generally prevails in this country, i. e. the 
offer of money, he at last consented to show it to us 
this morning. In order to do it, he said he must 
first bathe, and then put on a particular dress for the 
occasion. On our arrival at the synagogue, we 
waited a short time, and he appeared, entered the 
synagogue, approached the altar, kneeled and put his 
face to the floor, then opened the little closet which 
contained the holy book, kneeled and put his face to 
the floor again, then brought out the brass case, 
which contained the roll, and opened it so as to show 
us the manuscript, but we were not allowed to touch 
it. It is in the Samaritan character, and the kohen 
says it was written by Abishua, the grandson of 
Aaron, thirteen years after the death of Moses, and 
3260 years ago. (See 1 Chron. vi. 4.) Another brass 
case stood near this, containing an exact eopy of the 
original manuscript, said to have been made 800 
years ago. On a shelf, in the synagogue were a 



SAM 



[ 811 ] 



SAMSON 



considerable number of copies of the Samaritan Pen- 
tateuch. We saw also the relic of the Polyglott 
Bible mentioned by Maundrell. The Bible of the 
Samaritans contains only the five books of Moses. 
They have, however, Joshua and Judges, but in sep- 
arate books. They say that since Joshua there has 
been no prophet. He was the disciple of Moses, and 
inferior to him. David was king in Jerusalem, but 
not a prophet. We inquired whether the Samari- 
tans held it lawful to read the books of Christians. 
They said there was no law against it, and we left 
with them one Testament in Arabic, and another in 
Hebrew." *R. 

SAMGAR-NEBO, a general officer in Nebuchad- 
nezzar's army, Jerem. xxxix. 3. 

SAMLAH, king of Masrekah, in Idumea, Gen. 
xxxvi. 36. 

SAMOS, an island of the Archipelago, on the 
coast of Asia Minor, opposite Lydia, from which it 
is separated by a narrow strait. The island was 
devoted to the worship of Juno, who had there a 
magnificent temple. It was also celebrated for its 
valuable potteries, and as the birth-place of Pythag- 
oras. The Romans wrote to the governor in favor 
of the Jews, in the time of Simon Maccabaeus, 1 
Mac. xv. 23. Paul landed here when going to Jeru- 
salem, A . D. 58, Acts xx. 15. 

SAMOTHRACIA, an island in the Egeau sea; 
so called because it was peopled by Samians and 
Thracians. It was an asylum for fugitives and 
criminals. Paid, departing from Troas, for Mace- 
donia, arrived first at Samothracia, Acts xvi. 11. 

SAMSON, son of Manoah, of the tribe of Dan, 
Judg. xiii. 2, &c. A. M. 2848. His mother had been 
long barren, when an angel of the Lord appeared to 
her, telling her she should have a son ; but she must 
take care not to drink intoxicating liquor, or to eat 
any impure food ; that she must use the same care 
with regard to her son ; and must consecrate him to 
God from his infancy, as a Nazarite, and not let a 
razor come upon his head: adding, "For he shall 
begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philis- 
tines." Samson was born in the following year, 
and the Spirit of God gave him extraordinary 
strength of body. One day, as he went to Timnath, 
a Philistine citj r , he saw a young woman, whom he 
desired his father and mother to obtain for him as a 
wife. They remonstrated that she was not of their 
own nation ; but he persevered, and the young 
woman was contracted to him. Upon a subsequent 
journey to Timnath, he saw a young lion, which he 
seized and tore in pieces, as if he had been a young 
kid ; and some time after, returning thither, to cele- 
brate his marriage, he stepped aside to see the car- 
cass of the lion. He found it dried up, and a swarm 
of bees lodged in it, which had there formed a honey- 
comb, of which he took a part. At his wedding-feast 
he proposed a riddle to this effect: 

" The greedy eater yields to others meat, 

And savage strength now offers luscious sweet." 

His companions continued to the seventh day, lost 
in conjecturing its meaning ; when, partly by threats, 
and partly by entreaties, they urged the bride to get 
the secret from her husband. Before sunset on this 
day they came to Samson saying, 

"What sweeter flows than honey o'er the tongue ? 
Whose strength exceeds a lion's, wild and young ? " 

His reply was, that if they had not ploughed with 
his heifer they could never have expounded his rid- 



dle ; meaning that they had abused him by too inti- 
mate familiarity with his wife, and that she had been 
unfaithful to him. 

He paid the fine expected on account of the riddle, 
but left his wife, and returned to his father. Some 
time after, the woman married the principal bride- 
man at her former wedding, and Samson's anger be- 
ing subsided, he returned to see her, bringing a kid 
with him as a present. But her father refusing to 
admit him, he went and caught three hundred foxes 
or jackals, (see Fox,) which he tied tail to tail, putting 
between each pair a fire-brand, which lie fired, and 
turned them into the corn-fields of the Philistines ; 
where the flames made a great havoc, not sparing 
even the vines and the olive-trees. When the Phi- 
listines knew it was Samson who had done this, to 
revenge the affront received from his father-in-law 
at Timnath, they burned the man and his daughter. 

In a combat, Samson slew a great number of Phi- 
listines. The narrative of this exploit (Judg. xv. 8.) 
cannot but appear obscure to the English reader, as, 
indeed, it has been thought by translators in general. 
Samson smote the Philistines " hip and thigh, with a 
great slaughter." Hip under thigh, say some ; leg 
under thigh, say others ; or leg against thigh, or leg 
over, or upon, thigh ; as the words literally express. 
These are not all the varieties of interpretation which 
this passage has experienced. Mr. Taylor proposes 
to illustrate the expression by the following extracts : 

"It appears probable, from the following circum- 
stances, that the exercise of wrestling, as it is now 
performed by the Turks, is the very same that was 
anciently used in the Olympic games. For, besides 
the previous covering of tjie palaestrae with sand, 
that the combatants might fall with more safety, they 
have their pellowan bashee, or master wrestler, who 
like the ' A.yuvo6iTns of old, is to observe and superin- 
tend over the jura palaestra?, and to be the umpire in 
all disputes. The combatants, after they are anoint- 
ed all over with oil, to render their naked bodies the 
more slippery, and less easily to be taken hold of, 
first of all look one another steadfastly in the face, as 
Diomede or Ulysses does the palladium upon antique 
gems ; then they run up to, and retire from, each 
other several times, using all the while a variety of 
antic and other postures, such as are commonly used: 
in the course of the ensuing conflict. After this pre- 
lude, they draw nearer together, and challenge each 
other, by clapping the palms of their hands first upon 
their own knees or thighs, then upon each other, and 
afterwards upon the palms of their respective antag- 
onists. The challenge being, thus given, they imme- 
diately close in and struggle with each other, striving 
with all their strength, ->n and dexterity, (which are 
often very extraordinary,) who shall give his antago 
nist a fall, and become the conqueror. During these 
contests I have often seen their arms, and legs, and 
thighs, so twisted and linked together, [catenata pa- 
lazstraz.&s- Propertius calls it,) that they have both fallen 
together, and left the victory dubious ; too difficult 
sometimes for the pellowan bashee to decide. TXa- 
Ictiaxtfi 'unrotTog (a wrestler not to be thrown) occurs 
in ancient inscriptions, (Murat. torn. ii. page 627.) 
The rruXyj, therefore, being thus acted in all the parts 
of it with open hands, might very properly, in contra- 
distinction to the CfBstus, or boxing, receive its name 
ano rod naXaiarov, from struggling with open hands. 
We have a most lively picture of this ancient gym- 
nastic exercise upon an antique urn, in Patin's Imp. 
Roman. Numismata, page 122 ; and likewise upon a 
coin of Trebonianus Gallus, the figure of which ia 



SAMSON 



[812 ] 



SAM 



exhibited iu Vaillant, Numism. Iinper. Greec." 
(Shaw's Travels, page 217.) In like manner, Pitts 
informs us — " They have [at Algiers] a comical sort 
of wrestling. . . . There comes one boldly into the 
ring of people, and strips all to his drawers: he turns 
his back to the ring, and his face towards his clothes 
on the ground. He then stretch eth on his right knee, 
and then throws abroad his arms three times, clap- 
ping his hands together as often, just above the 
ground : . . . . then makes two or three good springs 
into the middle of the ring, and there he stands with 
his left hand to his left ear, and his right hand to his 
left elbow. This is his challenge ; his antagonists do 
the same. After which the pilewans face each other, 
and then both at once slap their hands on their thighs, 
and then clap together, and then lift them up as high 
as their shoulders, and cause the palms of their hands 
to meet, and with the same dash their heads one 
against another three times, so hard, that many times 

the blood runs down They'll come as often 

within five or six yards one of another, and clap their 
hands to eacli other, and then put forward the left leg, 
bowing their body, and leaning ivith the left elbow on 
the left knee, for a little while looking one at the other 

like two fighting cocks, then at it they go At 

their byrams, or festivals, those which are their most 
famous pilewans, come in to show their parts, before 
the Dey, eight or ten together. They are the choice 
of all the stout wrestlers." (Account of Algiers, 
page 168.) 

Do not these challengers well deserve the descrip- 
tion of leg-and-thigh-men, or shoulder-and-thigh- 
inen ? Their very attitudes seem to have furnished 
their name, which seems, indeed, correctly expressive 
of them. Now, as we learn, that occasionally the 
most famous of these are selected and engaged, is 
there any thing unlikely in the supposition, that the 
Philistines assembled their best wrestlers, and most 
notorious combatants, to engage the famous Samson ? 
that these, fighting in the manner described by Pitts 
and Dr. Shaw, are denoted by the expression, " hip- 
and-thigh-men ? " i. e. those who made a profession 
of wrestling, and who were esteemed eminent in that 
exercise. 

[After all, the expression he smote them hip and 
thigh, which occurs no where else in Scripture, seems 
here to be merely proverbial, implying that he smote 
them wholly, entirely. So Gesenius. R. 

After this, Samson retired into the rock Etam, in 
Judah ; but was taken by the people of Judah and 
led bound to the Philistines. The Spirit of the Lord, 
however, animating Samson, he snapped his cords, 
and happening to find the jaw-bone of an ass, he, with 
this weapon, slew a thousand Philistines; and, throw- 
ing away the jaw-bone, he gave that place the name 
of Ramath-lehi, that is, the lifting up of the jaw-bone. 
Being overcome with extreme thirst, and crying to 
the Lord, the Lord opened a rock called Maktesh, 
that is, the jaw-tooth, whence water gushed out to 
assuage his thirst. See Lehi. 

After this, Samson went to Gaza, a city of the Phi- 
listines, where he took up his lodgings with a harlot, 
or more probably a woman who kept a public house. 
The Philistines, knowing of his arrival, set a guard 
about the house, and another at the gates of the city, 
to kill him as he went out in the morning. But Sam- 
son, rising at midnight, went off, and took away the 
two gates of the city, and the gate-posts, bar and 
chain, and carried them up the hill which is towards 
Hebron. 

Some time afterwards, he became attached to a 



woman called Delilah, who dwelt in the valley of 
Sorek. Many have thought, that Samson took her 
as his wife, but this does not appear to have been 
the fact. The Philistines bribed this woman, to dis- 
cover in what his extraordinary strength consisted. 
He amused her for a considerable time, pretending 
that it lay sometimes in one thing, and sometimes in 
another ; and when the Philistines were ready to 
seize him, he burst his bonds asunder. At last she 
obtained the secret, that his strength lay in his hah, 
which had never been shorn. This she cut oft', as 
he lay sleeping in her lap, after the common oriental 
fashion ; and the Philistines instantly seizing him, 
bound him, and put out his eyes. They took him to 
Gaza, shut him up in prison, and made him grind at 
the mill, as a base and contemptible slave. 

In this usage we discover a degree of vindictive 
contempt, which perhaps was the ne plus ultra of 
contumely on the part of the Philistines. Samson 
being blind, yet of great strength, they made him 
grinder for the prison. Grinding was women's work, 
therefore severely degrading ; it was simple work, 
requiring no art ; it was laborious work, in which 
his strength was of service ; and thus, by drudging 
for them, in this menial employment, he earned a 
mortifying livelihood for himself. In this view, Sam- 
son was worse used than Job (xxxi. 10.) supposes 
his wife might be ; " Let my wife be so degraded that, 
instead of having her corn ground for her, she shall 
perform that servile office herself ; not for herself, or 
for me, the lawful object of her affectionate care, but 
let her grind for another." Samson, the hero, em- 
ployed on woman's work ! a vilely fit employment 
for Delilah's deluded lover ! he ground too for others, 
for those in prison with himself; Samson, the hero, 
labors, as Isaiah predicts the virgin daughter of Bab- 
ylon should labor : " Come down, sit in the dust ; sit 
on the ground ; there is no chair for thee : take the 
mill-stones, and grind meal : nay more, whereas wo- 
men who grind usually sing while grinding, sit thou 
silent, and get into darkness ; retire into some dark 
hole and corner, endeavoring to obtain a partial con-' 
cealment of thy vexation and disgrace," chap, xlvii. 1. 

Samson continued in prison at Gaza about a year, 
and, his hair growing again, (Judg. xvi. 22.) God 
restored to him his strength. Shortly afterwards the 
princes of the Philistines met in a general assembly, 
in the temple of their god Dagon, to return him 
thanks for having delivered to them this their formi- 
dable enemy ; and after they had ended their feast, 
they ordered Samson to be brought in that he might 
contribute to their sport. When they had insulted 
him as long as they thought fit, he desired his guide 
to let him rest himself against the pillars that sup- 
ported the temple, which was then full of people, 
both above and below the galleries. (See House.) 
Calling on the name of the Lord, and laying hold of 
the two pillars, by which the temple was supported, 
one in his right hand and the other in his left, he 
said, "Let me also die with the Philistines;" and 
violently shaking the pillars, the temple fell, and kill- 
ed about three thousand persons. Samson lived in 
the whole about thirty-eight years ; and was judge of 
Israel about twentv, Judg. xvi. 20. A. M. 2867 to 
2887. 

SAMUEL, son of Elkanah and of Hannah, of the 
tribe of Levi, and of the family of Kohath, was a 
prophet and judge of Israel for many years, 1 Sam. 
i. 1, &c. 1 Chron. vi. 23. His father, Elkanah, dwelt 
at Ramathaim-Zophim, or the city of Ramatha, 
inhabited by Levites of the family of Zophai, or Zuph, 



SAMUEL 



[ 813 ] 



SAMUEL 



a descendant of Kohath, and Samuel himself dwelt 
there the greater part of his time. 

The circumstances connected with the birth and 
early life of Samuel are of a peculiarly interesting 
nature It was at the time when Eli was presiding 
as high-priest at Shiloh, that Hannah, the wife of 
Elkanah, having gone to the usual sacrificial feast at 
Shiloh, availed herself of an opportunity to "pour out 
her soul" before God, at the tabernacle; requesting 
the removal of the reproach she daily suffered from 
Peninnah, her copartner in the embraces, though far 
her inferior in the affections, of Elkanah, by the be- 
stowal of a son. The fervent, yet silent manner of 
her appeal induced Eli to mistake her emotions for 
intoxication, with which he precipitately accused her ; 
but upon the circumstance being explained, he as read- 
ily retracted, and changed the language of unchari- 
tableness into that of benediction. The acceptance of 
Hannah's prayer was at length corroborated by the 
birth of a son, whom her piety and her gratitude con- 
curred to name Samuel, that is, "asked of God." 
Having been devoted as a Nazarite from his infancy, 
in compliance with his mother's vow when she asked 
him of the Lord, he was, while in his infancy, pre- 
sented to Eli, for the service of the tabernacle, by 
whom he was invested with the distinguishing ephod, 
ch. ii. 

The extraordinary character of Samuel soon began 
to be developed, in a commission which he received 
immediately from heaven, to denounce his displeas- 
ure against Eli, for his criminal remissness with re- 
gard to his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, whose 
libertine baseness was scarcely reproved, and not at 
all restrained, by parental authority. The spirit of 
the aged priest upon the occasion demands notice, 
and deserves imitation : " It is the Lord," he exclaim- 
ed, " let him do what seemeth him good." The ap- 
pearance of a prophet like Samuel in this period of 
suspended revelations, awakening in the bosoms of 
the almost desponding Israelites the liveliest antici- 
pations, they immediately adopted measures to dis- 
enthral themselves from Philistine subjugation ; but 
they were defeated with the loss of four thousand 
men. As they imputed this disaster to the absence 
of the ark, it was fetched into the camp amidst great 
exultations, but a second overthrow involved the loss 
of thirty thousand foot, (among whom were Hophni 
and Phinehas,) and above all of the ark, which the 
enemy captured ; intelligence of which latter calamity 
being suddenly communicated to Eli, he fell back- 
wards, "and his neck brake, and he died." The 
Philistines had but little cause to triumph in the cap- 
tivity of the ark. This sacred possession was carried 
into the temple of Dagon, to whom they ascribed their 
victory ; and the priests, upon entering the national 
shrine, the next morning, found their god fallen to the 
ground before the ark. Imputing this circumstance 
to accident, they again set up the statue. The fol- 
lowing day the image was discovered again fallen, 
and the head and hands broken upon the threshold of 
his own temple, so as to leave the trunk only remain- 
ing. The people themselves were smitten with griev- 
ous bodily diseases, which pursued them from city to 
city, wherever they transported the ark, until they 
restored it, with commemorative offerings, to the 
Israelites, (see Dagon,) chap. iv. — vi. 

The captivity of the ark, and the consequent sus- 
pension of the public services at Shiloh, tended to the 
increasing debasement and degeneration of the people, 
which only stimulated our eminent prophet and ruler 
to exert his energies to ac complish a general refor- 



mation, by whose means an assembly was at length 
convened at Mizpeh, for the purpose of publicly re- 
nouncing their sins, and returning to God by fasting, 
humiliation, sacrifice and prayer. This solemnity 
excited the apprehensions of their enemies, who 
accordingly determined upon frustrating their plans, 
by coming suddenly upon them ; but as their repent- 
ance was sincere, and their consequent reconciliation 
to offended goodness immediate, the Supreme Being 
declared himself in their favor after Samuel's sacri- 
fice and intercession : the Philistines were panic- 
struck by a tremendous thunder-storm, and by their 
flight and dispersion enabled the pursuing Israelites 
ultimately to dictate terms of peace ; in commemora- 
tion of which deliverance, Samuel erected a monu- 
mental memorial, which he called Ebentzer, or " the 
stone of help." 

While victory had now rendered the Israelites 
secure from external attacks, the proper administration 
of justice, by their illustrious governor, conferred 
upon them internal prosperity and happiness. Sam 
uel exercised his judicial authority with evident 
advantage to all classes of the community, and by 
annual circuits took upon himself the inspection and 
regulation of civil affairs. He moreover erected a 
public altar of worship, as the best substitution for 
the deserted ordinances of Shiloh ; and to him have 
been ascribed those institutions which were called 
the schools of the prophets, of which we cannot at this 
distance of time collect any very exact information. 
They appear to have been originally established in 
the cities of the Levites, which were diffused through 
the different tribes, for the sake of facilitating the plan 
of general instruction. In these seminaries the 
prophets devoted themselves to the study of the law, 
were taught the ait of psalmody, and awaited the call 
into public life under the superintendence of one of 
the same class, venerable for wisdom or years. Age, 
however, relaxed the vigor of his administration ; and 
Samuel, in consequence of appointing his two sons, 
Joel and Abiah, to execute his office, soon found, by 
the complaints of the elders, that he had devolved it 
into unworthy hands. He was in consequence solicit- 
ed to appoint a king over them, that they might enjoy 
a similar form of government to that of other nations. 
This was no doubt as offensive a request to Samuel, 
as it was an impious and ungrateful one toward their 
supreme Lord and Benefactor. He at once, there- 
fore, applied to God, in the exigency, who directed 
him to comply with their desires, after a solemn pro- 
test against their proceedings, chap. vii. viii. 

The introduction of Saul, the son of Kish,to Sam- 
uel, and the several circumstances which attended 
his election to royalty, furnish remarkable illustrations 
of the ever active agency of Providence ; controlling 
every seeming casualty, and subordinating to its 
plans the most trifling coincidences. Saul and his 
servant were despatched in pursuit of his father's 
asses, which had strayed from home ; and having 
arrived at Ramah, at the instigation of the latter, 
Samuel was inquired after, for information respecting 
them. The prophet had been already prepared for 
the visit, and instructed how to act by a divine inti- 
mation. Treating him, accordingly, with marked 
distinction and respect, he first held a conference wifh 
Saul in the evening, probably to explain the secret 
designs of Providence, and in the ensuing morning, 
after sending the servant to a proper distance, pro 
ceeded to anoint him the future king of Israel, giving 
him prophetic information of some other events in 
which he would be personally interested. This np 



SAMUEL 



L 814 ] 



SAMUEL 



pointment, it must be remarked, was now only a 
private transaction, but calculated to satisfy him with 
regard to the divine decision of the lot by which he 
was subsequently chosen at Mizpeh. To that place, 
whither the ark was conducted, Samuel convened 
the people ; and when the lot was cast, which suc- 
cessively pointed to the tribe of Benjamin, the family 
of Matri, and the person of Saul, his majestic appear- 
ance so well seconded the recommendatory speech of 
Samuel, that he at once gained, with few exceptions, 
the universal attachment. He very soon signalized 
himself by rendering prompt and effectual succor to 
the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead, who were besieged 
by the Ammonites, and on the very point of a sur- 
render; a victory which, by enhancing his fame, gave 
him a triumph over his secret enemies. A general 
meeting was accordingly called by Samuel, at Gilgal, 
where the election of Saul was confirmed, with the 
accompaniment of public sacrifices and rejoicings. 
Having now wholly to resign the government into 
the hands of the person he had himself anointed for 
the office, Samuel concluded his more public life by 
an oration, truly characteristic of his integrity of prin- 
ciple and his piety of mind. He challenged the peo- 
ple to produce any instances of peculation or inequity 
during his administration ; recapitulated some of the 
facts of their past history, which were illustrative of 
the consequences of disobedience, and intimated the 
impropriety of their conduct in desiring a king ; 
appealing to a miraculous attestation of the displeas- 
ure of God, by calling for a thunder-storm in that 
season of wheat harvest, when it was so unusual ; 
suggesting, at the same time, the goodness of God in 
determining not to forsake them if they did not finally 
renounce his authority, chap. ix. — xii. 

In the second year of Saul's reign, hostilities were 
renewed against the Philistines. The king, having 
repaired to Gilgal, waited with impatience for Samuel 
to assist in presenting burnt-offerings, till at length, on 
the seventh day, the services were ordered to proceed 
before his arrival ; which occasioned a severe rebuke 
from the prophet, and an assurance that his precipi- 
tation would ultimately prove subversive of his 
dominion. Shortly after this, another instance of 
Saul's disobedience occurred ; he was commanded 
by God, through Samuel, to destroy utterly the nation 
of the Amalekites, but under the pretence of offering 
sacrifice, he spared the most valuable portion of the 
spoil, together with Agag, their king. This produced 
a severe remonstrance from Samuel, who turned ab- 
ruptly away from his excuses ; and when Saul seized 
his garment, which rent in his hands, Samuel took 
occasion to declare, that the Lord had rent the king- 
dom of Israel from him, and had bestowed it upon 
another. The king's urgent solicitations, however, 
induced at length a compliance with his wish that 
Samuel would join him in a public act of worship; 
after which the prophet slew Agag, and departed to 
Ramah, never more to hold any personal communi- 
cation with Saul. Still, however, he retained an 
affection for the king, and long and deeply lamented 
his misconduct ; till he was roused from unavailing 
grief by a message from heaven, desiring him to go to 
Bethlehem, and bestow the royal unction upon David, 
his distinguished successor, to whom we devote a 
subsequent article, ch. xiii. — xv. 

After the lapse of a few years from this period, in 
which David was encountering the relentless malig- 
nity of Saul, we find Samuel still at Ramah, and 
accompanying David to Naioth, a school of the 
prophets, as a temporary asylum, where the Scripture 



narrative of his life closes. He died about four years 
before Saul, upwards of ninety years of age, A. M 
2944, deeply lamented by the whole nation. His re- 
mains were interred at Ramah, the place of his usual 
residence, ch. xix. 23, 24 ; xxv. 1. 

Samuel was a character unquestionably of the very 
first class ; of irreproachable integrity, undaunted 
fortitude, unabating zeal, unaffected and unblemished 
piety ; sincere as a friend, gentle as a man, virtuous 
as a judge, and holy as a prophet. In the Chronicles 
he is stated to have assisted in distributing the Levites 
appointed by David for the temple service, and as 
having enriched the tabernacle by spoils taken from 
the enemies of Israel. He is said also to have written 
the history of David, in conjunction with the prophets 
Nathan and Gad, which, of course, can be understood 
only of his early transactions. The first twenty 
chapters of the first book that appears under his name, 
are with the utmost probability ascribed to him by the 
Talmudists ; and he was the first in the unbroken 
chain of prophets, that extended to the days ofMala- 
chi, and that " foretold," according to the testimony 
of St. Peter, (Acts iii. 24.) "of" the final establish- 
ment and triumphs of Christianity. (Ency. Met. art. 
Samuel.) 

About two years after the death of Samuel, the 
Philistines having invaded the territories of Israel 
with a powerful army, Saul with his troops took a 
position on the eminences of Gilboa ; but being over- 
come by consternation at the multitude of his enemies, 
he resolved to consult some witch or sorceress, to 
foreknow the event of the war. His servants were 
therefore sent in quest of a woman possessed of a 
familiar spirit, the Lord having refused to answer him 
by dreams, or by urim, or by prophets. Having dis- 
covered an enchantress at En-dor, about two or three 
leagues from Gilboa, Saul disguised himself, and vis- 
ited her, with a small attendance, and desired her to 
raise the ghost of Samuel. She had recourse to her 
charms, and when the ghost appeared, she screamed 
violently, and said, " Why have you deceived me, for 
you are Saul ? " Saul, however, encouraged her to 
declare what she saw. " I see (said she) gods [elohim, 
in the sense of magistrate, chief, or prince, &c] 
coming out of the earth ;" adding, that he had the 
appearance of " an old man covered with a mantle." 
By this description Saul recognized Samuel, and 
bowed himself to the earth. Samuel inquired why 
he had been disturbed. To which Saul answered,, 
that, being in great difficulties, and n6t knowing whom 
to address, because God gave him no answer, he had 
resorted to the present undertaking. Samuel con- 
firmed all his fears, declaring that the kingdom should 
be taken from him, and given to David, his son-in- 
law ; that Israel should be delivered into the hands 
of their enemies the Philistines ; and that Saul and 
his sons should die on the morrow, 1 Sam. xxviii. 

On this narrative there has been much controversy, 
first, as to whether the ghost of Samuel did really ap- 
pear to Saul, and next, if the appearance were real, 
whether it was effected by the power of the devil, or 
the art of magic ? Our limits, however, will not per- 
mit of even a mere outline of the arguments on either 
side. Calmet says the most probable opinion is, that 
Samuel really appeared to Saul ; not by the magical 
charms of the sorceress, or by the power of the devil, 
but by the almighty power of God, Who, to punish 
Saul, might permit Samuel to appear, and discover 
to him his last and greatest calamity. Mr. Taylor 
takes a different view of the subject, and in the article 
Witch, has labored to orove that the supposed ap- 



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pearance was a mere juggling trick upon tne part of 
the woman. The text, however, gives no counte- 
nance to this notion ; but, on the contrary, it is said, 
in verse 14, that " Saul perceived that it was Samuel 
himself." 

To Samuel are ascribed the Book of Judges, that 
of Ruth, and the First Book of Samuel. There is, 
indeed, great probability that he was the author of 
tl e first twenty-four chapters of the first of Samuel, 
ejice they contain nothing but what he might have 
■■rritten, and in which he was not a principal agent. 
However, in these chapters, there is some trifling ad- 
ditions, probably inserted after his death. We read, 
(1 Chron. ix. 22.) that he assisted in regulating the 
distribution of the Levites made by David for the ser- 
vice of the temple, which Cahnet suggests may be 
explained by saying, that David pursued the order 
settled by Samuel, during his administration, after the 
death of the high-priest Lli ; or, as Mr. Taylor thinks, 
he may have left in MS. some plan for such a purpose. 
We read also, (1 Chron. xxvi. 28.) that Samuel en- 
riched the tabernacle of the Lord, by magnificent 
presents, and by valuable spoils, taken from the ene- 
mies of Israel. Also, (1 Chron. xxix. 29.) that he 
wrote the history of David, in conjunction with the 
prophets Nathan and Gad. Probably he might write 
the beginning of his history, which the other prophets 
continued and concluded ; for Samuel was dead 
before David came to the throne. The first two 
Books of Kings bear the name of Books of Samuel ; 
but, it must be evident that he could not be the 
author of the second of these Books, which contains 
transactions after his death. Neither could he write 
the latter end of the first, since his death is mentioned 
in chap. xxv. It is said (chap. x. 25.) of the First 
Book of Samuel, that this prophet wrote in a book, 
"the manner of the kingdom," describing the rights, 
prerogatives, and revenues of the king, and the extent 
of his power and authority ; a repetition of what he 
had proposed, viva voce, a little before to the people. 
See further under Kings, Books of. 

Samuel began the chain of the prophets which was 
never broken from his time to that of Zechariah and 
Malachi, Acts iii. 24. 

SANBALLAT, chief, or governor, of the Cuthites, 
or Samaritans, and a great enemy to the Jews. 
When Nehemiah came from Shushan to Jerusalem, 
(Neh. ii. 10, 19. ante A. D. 454.) and began to rebuild 
the walls of Jerusalem, Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem 
taunted him, and sent to inquire on what authority he 
undertook this enterprise ; and whether it were not a 
revolt against the king. Nehemiah, however, pro- 
ceeded with vigor in his undertaking, and completed 
the walls of the city. 

Finding that they could not succeed against the 
Jews by the course they had pursued, Sanballat, To- 
biah and Geshem sent to Nehemiah, to desire him t® 
meet them in the field, that they might make an alli- 
ance, and swear inviolable friendship. But Nehemi- 
ah perceived this was only a stratagem, as he did also 
a subsequent attempt to ensnare him, and escaped in 
both eases. 

Nehemiah being obliged to return to king Arta- 
xerxes at Shushan, (Neh. xiii. 6, 28. A. M. 3563, ante 
A. D. 441,) in his absence, the high-priest Eliashib 
married his grandson Manasseh, son of Joiada, to a 
daughter of Sanballat, and allowed Tobiah, a kinsman 
of Sanballat, an apartment in the temple. Nehemiah, 
at his return to Jerusalem, (the exact year of which is 
not known,) drove Tobiah out of the temple, and 
would not sufFer Manasseh, the high-priest's grand- 



son, to continue in the city, nor to perform the func- 
tions of the priesthood. Manasseh, being thus expelled, 
retired to his father-in-law, Sanballat, who provided 
him the means of exercising his priestly office on 
mount Gerizim, on the following occasion. See 
Gerizim. 

When Alexander the Great came into Phoenicia, 
and invested Tyre, Sanballat abandoned the interests 
of Darius, and went, at the head of 8000 men, to offer 
his service to Alexander, who readily received him, 
and gave him leave to erect a temple on mount Ge- 
rizim, where he constituted his son-in-law Manasseh 
the high-priest. Sanballat must have been at this 
time very old, for 120 years before (A. M. 3550) he 
was governor of the Samaritans. Indeed, some have 
been of opinion that the Sanballat who lived in the 
time of Alexander was different from he who so 
eagerly opposed Nehemiah ; but Calmet sees no 
necessity for admitting this. However, Josephus 
makes Sanballat a Cuthite originally, and does not 
mention him who withstood Nehemiah. The wife 
of Manasseh he calls by the name of Nicaso, and says 
that Sanballat died nine months after he had submitted 
to Alexander. 

Dr. Prideaux, however, rejects the solution of this, 
difficulty, by two Sanballats, and endeavors to recon- 
cile the history to truth and probability, by showing 
a mistake in Josephus. This author makes Sanballat 
to flourish in the time of Darius Codomannus, and to 
build his temple upon mount Gerizim by license from 
Alexander the Great ; whereas it was performed by 
leave from Darius Nothus, in the fifteenth year of 
his reign. This removes the difficulty arising from 
the great age of Sanballat, and allows him to be con- 
temporary with Nehemiah, as the Scripture history 
requires. 

SANCTIFY often signifies to prepare. Thus 
Joshua says to the people, (chap. iii. 5.) "Sanctify 
yourselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders 
among you." Prepare yourselves to pass over Jordan. 
In Isa. xiii. 3, the Lord calls the Medes his sanctified. 
I have appointed, and, as it were, consecrated them 
to be the executioners of my vengeance against Bab- 
ylon. (See also Numb. xi. 18 ; Josh. vii. 13 ; Jer. vi. 
4 ; xii. 3 ; li. 27, 28 ; Joel i. 14 ; Mic. iii. 5 ; Zeph. i. 7.) 
Comp. Holy. 

We desire of God, that his name may be sanctified, 
or hallowed ; that is, honored, praised and glorified 
throughout the world ; especially by those who have 
the happiness of knowing him. Let them sanctify it 
by their good lives, their fidelity, their submission to 
his orders; and they who know him not,- that they 
may obtain the knowledge of him, may hear his word, 
may become obedient to his instructions, &c. We 
may apprehend yet better what is meant by sanctify- 
ing the name of God, by the opposite to it ; that is, 
profaning the name of God, by vain swearing, blas- 
pheming, ascribing his name to idols ; by furnishing 
wicked men and infidels with occasion of blasphem- 
ing it by our bad lives, and scandalous conversa- 
tion, &c. 

It is said, " I will be sanctified in them that come 
nigh me ; " (Lev. x. 3.) in his priests, when, by the ter- 
rible and exemplary punishment of Nadab and Abihu, 
the Lord showed what purity he required in his ser- 
vants, and what punctual exactness he expected in his 
service. The Lord complains, in another place, that 
Moses and Aaron did not sanctify him before Israel : 
"Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the 
eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not 
bring this congregation into the land which I have 



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given them," NumD. xx. 12. And how did they not 
sanctify him ? By showing some distrust in his words : 
"Because ye believed me not." God sanctified the 
seventh day, that is, consecrated it to his service, Gen. 
ii. 3. He sanctified all the first-born ; (Exod. xiii. 3.) 
he commands that they should be offered to him ; as 
it were, consecrated to his service. Moses sanctifies 
the Israelites, and by bathing, by abstinence from the 
use of the marriage bed, by the purity of their clothes, 
he prepares them for appearing before the Lord, for 
entering into a covenant with him, Exod. xix. 10 ; 
xiv. 12. 

Those who approach to holy things are sanctified ; 
for example, it is allowed to the priest only to offer 
sacrifices at the altar, Exod. xxix. 37 ; xxx. 29 ; Lev. 
vi. 18, 27. Compare Lev. xxii. 15, 16, where God 
expressly forbids that the people should eat of the 
sanctified things. 

We have in Haggai (ii. 12.) a remarkable instance 
of the contrariety between the communication of 
holiness or sanctification, and that of pollution. The 
prophet is directed to ask the priests concerning the 
law — " If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his gar- 
ment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, 
or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy ? " And 
the priests answered, " No." " But," said Haggai, " if 
any one who is unclean by a dead body, touch any of 
these, shall it be unclean ? " They said, " It shall be 
unclean." So that the principle of pollution was 
much more readily communicated than that of sanc- 
tification ; — for instance, to persons and to things 
which were in the same apartment, or house with a 
dead body, though they had not touched it: but 
holy flesh did not communicate sanctification, beyond 
that which it touched: it might sanctify the skirt of 
the garment that carried it, but it communicated no 
virtue to any thing beyond it. 

SANCTUARY. By this, name that part of the 
temple of Jerusalem was called, which was the most 
secret and most retired ; in which was the ark of the 
covenant; and where none but the high-priest might 
enter, and he only once a year, on the day of solemn 
expiation. The same name was also given to the 
most sacred part of the tabernacle set up in the wil- 
derness, which remained till some time after the 
building of the temple. See Tabernacle, and 
Temple. 

Sometimes the word sanctuary is used generally for 
the temple, or the holy place, the structure appointed 
for the public worship of the Lord. It should seem 
also, that Moses uses it instead of the Holy Land. 
Exod. xv. 17, "Thou shalt bring them in, and plant 
them in the mountain of thy inheritance, in the place, 
O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in ; 
in the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have estab- 
lished." And in Lev. xx. 3, of those who offer their 
children to Moloch, he says, they " defile my sanctu- 
ary, and profane my holy name." He forbids the 
high-priest to go out of the temple, to mourn for his 
relations, Lev. xxi. 12 : " Neither' shall he go out of 
rhe sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God." 
The temple is here denoted by its principal part. It 
is believed that sanctuary is put for heaven, in Deut. 
xxvi. 15: "Look from the dwelling of thy sanctuary," 
from the high heaven. 

SAND. A similitude taken from the aggregate 
sand of the sea, is often used, to express a very great 
multitude, or a very great weight ; or from a single 
sand, something very mean and trifling. God prom- 
ises Abraham and Jacob to multiply their posterity as 
the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the sea, Gen. 



xxii. 17, xxxii. 12. Job (vi. 3.) compares the weight 
of his misfortunes to that of the sand of the sea. Sol- 
omon says, (Prov. xxvii. 3.) that though sand and 
gravel are very heavy things, yet the anger of a fool 
is much heavier. And Ecclesiasticus says that a fool 
is more insupportable than the weight of sand, lead 
or iron, Ecclus. xxii. 15. 

The prophets magnify the omnipotence of God, who 
has fixed the sand of the shore for the boundaries of 
the sea, and has said to it, " Hitherto shalt thou come ; 
but here thou shalt break thy foaming waves, and 
shalt pass no farther," Jer. v. 22. 

Our Saviour tells us, (Matt. vii. 26.) that a fool lays 
the foundation of his house on the sand ; whereas a 
wise man founds his house on a rock. Ecclesiasti- 
cus says, (xviii. 8.) that the years of the longest life of 
man are but as a drop of water, or as a grain of sand. 
And Wisdom says, (vii. 9.) that all the gold in the 
world, compared to wisdom, is but as the smallest 
grain of sand. See Rain, and Pillars. 

SANDALS, [Heb. d^jjj ; Gr. vnodfaaru, aarSa/.ia. 
The sandals or shoes of the orientals were in ancient 
times, and are still at the present day, merely soles of 
hide, leather, or wood, fastened to the bottom of the 
foot by two straps, one of which passes around the 
great toe, on the fore part of the foot, and the other 
around the ankle. Niebuhr says, (Descr. of Arabia, 
p. 63, Germ, ed.) " The shoes of the Arabs, of the 
middling and lower classes, consist only of a sole, 
with one or two straps over the foot, and one around 
the ankle. These straps are by no means so long as 
those which painters are accustomed to assign to the 
oriental costume. The Arabs sometimes wear in their 
houses wooden sandals or slippers with high heels, 
which are common throughout the East. These are 
worn also by ladies of rank in Egypt and Turkey." 
These were probably also not unknown among the He- 
brews. It is easy to see now, why the Hebrew prophets 
could speak so contemptuously of the value of a pair 
of shoes, i. e. sandals, Amos ii. 6 ; viii. 6. 

The sandals of females were often ornamented ; 
and it is not impossible that these may have resem- 
bled the slippers or shoes of modern orientals, which 
cover also the upper part of the foot, and are usually 
made of morocco leather, Judith x. 4 ; xvi. 9 ; Ezek. 
xvi. 10. (Compare the article Badgers' Skins.) 

It is not customary in the East to wear shoes or 
sandals in the houses ; hence they are always taken 
off on entering a house, and especially temples and 
all consecrated places. Hence the phrase to loose 
one's shoes or sandals from off one's feet, Ex. iii. 5 ; 
Deut. xxv. 9, etc. To loose and bind on the sandals 
was the business of the lowest servants ; and a slave, 
newly bought, commenced his service by loosing the 
sandals of his new master, and carrying them a certain 
distance. (Talmud Kiddush,22. 2.) Disciples, how- 
ever, performed this office for their master, and ac- 
counted it an honor ; but the rabbins advise, not to do 
it before strangers, lest they should be mistaken for 
servants. Hence the expressions of John the Baptist, 
that he was " not worthy to loose or to bear the san- 
dals of Jesus," Matt. iii. 11 ; Mark i. 7. As stockings 
are not worn in the East, the feet in sandals become 
dusty and soiled; accordingly, on entering a house 
and putting off the sandals, it was customary to wash 
the feet. This was also the business of the lowest 
servants. On visits, slaves presented the water ; but 
to guests of distinction, the master of the house per- 
formed this office, Gen. xviii. 4, 5; Luke vii. 44. 
(Comp. John xiii. 4.) The poor, of course, often went 
barefoot ; but this was not customary among the I :ch 



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except as a sign of mourning. See further under 
Foot, the section Washing of the Feet. 

In contracts, the seller drew off* his sandals and 
gave them to the buyer, in confirmation of the bar- 
gain, Ruth iv. 7. The loosing of the sandals was 
also a ceremony when a man refused to marry the 
widow of his deceased brother, Deut. xxv. 9. *R. 

Writers say, that when Hercules became slave to 
Omphale, she used to give him correction with her 
sandal, which was the most degrading and effemi- 
nate kind of correction. SoLucian makes Venus say 
of Cupid, "Already I have given him some correc- 
tion ; and taking him on my knee, have chastised 
him with my sandal." But Mr. Morier, in his Second 
Journey to Persia, (p. 8.) mentions a servant of the 
ambassador who was "abundantly beaten on the 
back with a stick, and on the mouth with a shoe 
heel," which he further explains, p. 95. The king 
of Persia examined some of his officers, who not an-" 
swering as he desired, he exclaimed, "Call the 
Ferashes, and beat these rogues till they die. The 
Ferashcs came and beat them violently ; and when 
they attempted to say any thing in their own defence, 
they smote them on the mouth with a shoe, the heel 
of which was shod with iron." He adds in a note, 
" This use of the shoe is quite characteristic of the 
eastern manners described in Scripture. The shoe 
was always considered as vile, and never was allowed 
to enter sacred or respected places ; and to be smit- 
ten with it, is to be subjected to the last ignominy. 
Paul was smitten on the mouth by the orders of 
Ananias:" (Acts xxiii. 2.) — whether this were with 
a shoe, may deserve consideration ; such ignominy, 
if that were the case, might well excite Paul's anger, 
and excuse his threat. 

SANHEDRIM, or Beth-din, house of judgment, 
was a council of seventy-one or seventy-two senators, 
among the Jews, who determined the most important 
affairs of the nation. The room in which they met, 
according to the rabbins, was a rotunda, half of which 
was built without the temple, and half within ; the 
latter part being that in which the judges sat. The 
Nasi or president, who was generally the high-priest, 
sat on a throne at the end of the hall, his deputy, or 
vice-president, called Ab-beih-din, at his right-hand, 
and the sub-deputy, or Hakam, at his left ; the other 
senators being ranged in order on each side. Most 
of the members of this council were priests or Le- 
vites, though men in private stations of life were not 
excluded. 

The authority of the Sanhedrim was very extensive. 
It decided causes brought before it by appeal from 
inferior courts ; and even the king, the high-priest, 
the prophets, were under its jurisdiction. The 
general affairs of the nation were also brought before 
this assembly. The right of judging in capital cases 
belonged to it ; and this sentence could not be pro- 
nounced in any other place, but in the hall called 
Lishcath-haggazith ; from whence it came to pass, 
that the Jews were forced to quit this hall, when the 
power of life and death was taken out of their hands, 
forty years before the destruction of their temple, 
and three years before the death of Jesus Christ. 

The rabbins insist that the Sanhedrim subsisted in 
their nation, constantly, from the time of Moses, 
(Numb. xi. 16.) to the destruction of the temple by the 
Romans. But this is strongly contested. Petau 
fixes its origin at the time when Gabinius, governor 
of'Judea, erected tribunals in the five principal cities, 
of Jerusalem, Gadara, Ainathus, Jericho, and Sepho- 
ra, or Seohoris. (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xix. cap. 10 ; 
103 



de Bello, lib. i. cap. 6.) Basnage fixes its origin to 
the time of Judas Maccabreus, or that of his brother 
Jonathan. This question, however, cannot be de- 
termined. We have no proof of its very early 
existence. 

Our Saviour (Matt. v. 22.) distinguishes two tribu- 
nals : " Whosoever is angry with his brother without 
a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment ; " that is, 
the tribunal of the twenty-three judges. " And who- 
soever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in dan- 
ger of the council ; " that is, of the great Sanhedrim, 
which had the right of life and death, at least 
generally, and before this right was taken away by 
the Romans. Some think that the jurisdiction of the 
council of twenty-three extended to life and death 
also ; but it is certain that the Sanhedrim was supe- 
rior to that council. (See also Mark xiii. 9 ; xiv. 55 ; 
xv. 1 ; Luke xxii. 52, 66; John xi. 47; Acts iv. 15, 
21, where mention is made of the Synedrion.) 

[The Talmudists do, indeed, speak of a tribunal or 
Sanhedrim of twenty-three judges ; but no such tri- 
bunal is mentioned by Josephus. He, however, 
speaks of a tribunal of seven judges, which existed in 
each town, and took cognizance of smaller offences, 
which is called >, y.qiais, judgment or court of justice 
in Matt. v. 21, 22 ; and which also seems intended 
by avriSoior, council, in Matt x. 17; Mark xiii. 9. 
(See Joseph. Antiq. iv. 8, 14 ; Jahn's Bib. Archseol. 
§ 245.) R. 

SAPPHIRA, a Christian woman, and wife of An- 
anias. They having conjointly sold a field, which 
was their property, brought a part of the price, and 
laid it at the feet of the apostles, as if it had been the 
whole, reserving the rest. For this prevarication 
they were both struck with sudden death, Acts v. 
See Ananias. 

SAPPHIRE, a precious stone often mentioned in 
Scripture, Exod. xxviii. 18 ; xxxix. 11. Job says 
(xxviii. 6.) there are places whose stones are sap- 
phires ; that is, sapphires are very common there. 
Pliny says that the best come out of Media ; perhaps 
out of the country of the Sapires, or from the mount 
of Sephar mentioned by Moses, Gen. x. 30 ; Ezek. i. 
26 ; x. 1. The oriental sapphire is of a sky blue 
color, or a fine azure ; hence, the prophets describe 
the throne of God, as the color of a sapphire ; that is, 
of a celestial blue or azure, Exod. xxiv. 10. It is 
next in hardness and value to the diamond. 

I. SARAH, or Sarai, wife of Abraham, and 
daughter of Terah his father, but by another mother ; 
since Abraham asserts, (Gen. xii. 13 ; xx. 12.) that 
she was really his sister, the daughter of his father, 
but not the daughter of his mother. Terah might 
have had several wives at once, according to the 
custom of the country ; or he might have married 
again, after the death of Abraham's mother, by which 
latter wife he might have had Sarai. This opinion 
Calmet prefers to that which makes Sarah the same 
as Iscah, daughter of Haran, niece of Abraham, and 
granddaughter of Terah, (Gen. xi. 29.) which is the 
opinion of Josephus, and many commentators. 

Sarai was born A. M. 2018, and married Abraham 
before he left Ur ; upon quitting which he agreed 
with Sarah, that she should call herself his sister, 
being afraid she should be taken away from him, and 
that he might be put to death on her account, if she 
were known to be his wife. 

The principal incidents in Sarah's life having been 
detailed in the article Abraham, it is unnecessary to 
repeat them here. 

When God made a covenant with Abraham, and 



SAT 



[ 818 ] 



SATAN 



instituted circumcision, he changed the name of 
Sarai, or My Princess, into that of Sarah, or Princess ; 
and promised Abraham a son by her, which was 
fulfilled in due time. Sarah lived to the age of 127 
years. She died in the valley of Hebron, and Abra- 
ham came to Beer-sheba to mourn for her, after 
which he bought a field of Ephron the Hittite, 
wherein was a cave hewn in the rock, which the 
Hebrew calls Machpelah, where Sarah was buried. 

II. SARAH, daughter of Raguel and Anna, of the 
tribe of Naphtali, and wife of Tobit, Tob. iii. 

SARDIS, now called Sart, a city of Asia Minor, 
formerly the capital of Croesus, king of the Lydians, 
is situated at the foot of the famous mount Tinolus, 
on the north, having a spacious and delightful plain 
before it, watered with several streams that flow 
from the neighboring hill to the south-east, and with 
the Pactolus, rising from the same, on the east, and 
increasing with its waters the stream of Hermus, into 
which it runs. It is now a pitiful village ; but, for 
the accommodation of travellers, it being the road 
for the caravans that come out of Persia to Smyrna 
with silk, there is a large khan built in it, as is usual 
in most of these towns. The inhabitants are for the 
most part shepherds, who look to those numerous 
flocks and herds wh.'ch feed in the plains. 

To the southward of the town are very considera- 
ble ruins still remaining, which reminds us of what 
Sardis was, before earthquake and the sword had 
caused those desolations which have visited it. 

The Turks have a mosque here, which was formerly 
a Christian church ; at the entrance of which are 
several curious pillars of polished marble. Some 
few Christians live among them, working in gardens, 
or otherwise employed in such like drudgery. The 
church in Sardis was reproached by our Saviour for 
its declension in vital religion. It had a name to 
live, but was really dead, Rev. iii. 

Mr. Taylor has collected several medals of Sardis, 
which show that this city was the seat of various 
games, and other exercises of a popular nature. 

SARDIUS, or Ruby, the Hebrew mK, Odem, red- 
ness. The Sardius is reddish, approaching to white, 
as a man's nail, Exod. xxviii. 17 ; xxxix. 10 ; Ezek. 
xxviii. 13 ; Rev. xxi. 20. It is more commonly 
known by the name of carnelian. 

SARDONYX ; as if a sardius united to an onyx ; 
a species of gem exhibiting the reddish color of the 
carnelian (sardian) and the white of the chalcedony, 
intermingled, either in shades, or in alternate stripes, 
Rev. xxi. 20. (See Rees' Cyclop, art. Gems.) R. 

SARGON, a king of Assyria, successor of Shal- 
maneser, Isa. xx. 1. See Assyria, p. 114, col. 1. 

SARID, a boundary city of Zebulun, Josh. xix. 
10, 12. 

SATAN. This Hebrew word is used in the 
general sense of an adversarv, an enemy, an accuser. 
(See 1 Sam. xxix. 4 ; 1 Kings xi. 14, 23, 24 ; v. 4.) 
At other times Satan is put for the devil, Job i. 6, 7, 
11 ; Ps. cix. 6 ; Zech. iii. 

Mr. Taylor has some remarks as to the probability 
■iCloyal angels being, occasionally, agents of punish- 
ment ; and also makes a distinction between loyal 
and rebellious angels — hinting that loyal angels may 
punish for crimes committed, though they may not 
tempt to their commission. (Compare Angel.) This 
suggests the idea that punishment, in itself, may be 
perfectly free from malice toward the party suffering 
under it ; and may even consist with much sorrow 
on account of the necessity for its infliction, and much 
sympathy with the sufferer. Whereas, to propose 



temptations, to provoke and stimulate to the commis- 
sion of evil, by delusive representations of its pleas- 
ures or its profits ; — or by taking advantage of natural 
passions, propensities, &c. or of accidental circum- 
stances, of time, place, situation, character, opportu 
nity, &c. is utterly abhorrent from the character, 
station, duty, nature and disposition of a holy and 
loyal angel. Mr. Taylor applies these ideas also in 
reference to Satan, and thence endeavors to ascertain 
the precise import of several passages of Scripture, 
where the agent of punishment, simply taken, seems 
to be the person referred to, by the term Satan. The 
following are some of his remarks : — 

The Prologue to the Book of Job certainly sup 
poses that the angel of punishment by office, appeared 
in the court of heaven ; and if Satan be simply con- 
sidered as the minister of punishment, under divine 
direction, and sometimes (as in the case of Job) the 
minister of probation only, rather than of punishment 
(though even Job deserved some punishment, as he 
acknowledges) — there is no reason why he should be 
ashamed of his office, any more than judges are, 
who, though frequently ministers of punishment, are 
not, therefore, excluded from the royal presence ; but, 
on the contrary, their office is considered as dignified 
and honorable : i. e. punishment without malevolence 
does not pollute the inflicter. Consider also the de 
struction of Sodom, Gen. xix. — of Egypt, Exod.»ii. — 
of Sennacherib, 2 Kings xix. 35, also, Josh. v. 13 ; 
Job xxxiii. 22 ; Ps. vii. 13. 

The following passages are from the New Testa- 
ment. Will this distinction explain 1 Cor. v. 5, q. d. 
" As the design of punishment is reformation of the 
sufferer, I command you — not, yourselves, to molest 
the party, but — to deliver such a transgressor unto Sa- 
tan, the proper angel of punishment ; that he, by his 
castigations and afflictions, may bring the criminal to 
a sense of his duty ; even should those afflictions ter- 
minate in the destruction (of his person ; perhaps, 
rather, of his fleshly powers, or appetite) of the fiesh, 
in order that the more important part of the man, the 
spirit, may be saved in the day of the appearance of our 
Lord Jesus." This passage seems to include an allu- 
sion to the same principles as those above suggested, 
because, (1.) The criminal is he who had committed 
fornication; and such fornication as the Gentiles 
abominated ; (2.) the sense of olt-dgoi , rendered destruc- 
tion, is loss, injury, exitium strages ; whatever is per- 
nicious ; and ultimately deadly ; death : — so that it 
seems closely to correspond to the consumption, and 
wasting debility of person, of the former article, 
(though indeed there, we conceive, the allusion is 
both to person and property,) as it arises from the 
same cause, and (without repentance) would have 
the same fatal issue. (3.) That nii>i, flesh, has the 
meaning here intended needs no proof ; and this 
affords a glimpse of the punishment inflicted on the 
Corinthian; he suffered defeat, impotence, in that 
very article by which he had transgressed. — Is this 
the import of 1 Tim. i. 20 ? Hymeneus and Alex- 
ander, / have delivered, put into the hands of Satan, 
the angel of punishment, that they may learn the les- 
son (as we teach children at school, by the terror of 
the rod, naiStvftuat) not to blaspheme. — Is this what 
the apostle had in view in his own case ? 2 Cor. 
xii. 7, Lest I should be exalted above measure, there was 
given, favorably, kindly, to me a thorn in the flesh, a 
bodily infirmity, an agent of Satan, («•/•/ f/.oc Sarav,) of 
punishment, or rather of probation, and exercise of 
patience, faith, &c. to produce humility. Upon this 
infirmity, i. e. for its removal, or at least its modera- 



SATAN 



[ Biy j 



SATAN 



tion, that it might not appear to be, nor be prolonged 
as a punishment, nor operate as an impediment to 
the usefulness of my ministry, I besought the Lord 
repeatedly. • If so, this case is analogous to the pro- 
bation of Job, under the agency of Satan. Hence 
we see, as the pious Mr. Henry might say, that afflic- 
tions, i. e. sufferings, are not always inflictions, i. e. 
punishments. 

Having concluded, from these instances, that we 
risk nothing in supposing that loyal angels may some- 
times be employed in offices of punishment — punish- 
ment included in the kind purpose of reformation- — 
Mr. Taylor proceeds to inquire whether some things 
are not said of a Satan of a different kind ; or, at least, 
whether Scripture does not allude to circumstances 
utterly irreconcilable with the character of holy'and 
happy spirits, under any official capacity or employ- 
ment whatever. 

Matt. iv. 1, 3, &c. "Jesus was tempted of the devil," 
i. e. to sin; to despair, to pride, &c. Matt. v. 37, 
" Let your discourse be simple and direct : for oaths 
and swearing, &c. come from the evil one.'" So the 
words may signify as they stand ; but some copies 
read explicitly, from the devil. Matt. xii. 26, " If Sa- 
tan cast out Satan ; " this cannot signify two messen- 
gers of punishment sent from the same beneficent 
Deity. ; as it implies a contradiction, an opposition, in 
the purposes of these Satans. Matt. xiii. 39, " The 
enemy that sowed the tares, which shall be burned, 
is the devil." Mark iv. 15, "Satan cometh and 
taketh away the word sown in their hearts," &c. 
John viii. 44, " The devil was a murderer from the 
beginning ; he is a liar, and the father of it," verse 41. 
"Ye do the deeds of your father ; who prompts you 
to murder me," verse 40. Acts v. 3, " Why has Sa- 
tan filled thine heart, — to lie to the Holy Ghost ? " 
Rom. xvi. 20, " The God of peace shall shortly bruise 
Satan under your feet." — Not the holy angel of pun- 
ishment, but an adversary of the soul, &c. 1 Cor. 
vi. 3, " We — human persons — shall judge — condemn 
— angels :" — surely not holy angels ; — but, " though 
we are but men, yet our piety shall condemn the im- 
piety of our superiors by nature." 2 Cor. xi. 14, 
" False apostles transforming themselves into apos- 
tles of Christ, and no marvel ; for Satan himself is 
transformed into an angel of light" — consequently he 
is no holy angel ; for a holy angel can neither need, 
nor suffer, such transformation ; which is, evidently, 
spoken of as contrary to nature. 2 Thes. ii. 9, "The 
working of Satan with all lying wonders, and decei v- 
ableness of unrighteousness." Jam. iv. 7, " Resist the 
devil, and he will flee from you." 2 Pet. ii. 4, " God 
spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down 
to hell ; and delivered them into chains of darkness, 
until the judgment." Jude 6, "The angels which 
kept not their first estate, he hath reserved in ever- 
lasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of 
the great day." The passage, Rev. xx. 2. (rbv^uicorTa 

Tor btfiv x'ov aq*(aCoT, dg tan Stufloloc y.al SaTaruc 6 Tt'i.a- 

vSv) as Mr. Taylor somewhat quaintly remarks, 
might almost pass for a modern indictment, in which 
special care is taken to identify the culprit, by a suffi- 
cient number of aliases. An angel from heaven 
having the key of the prison of the abyss, and a great 
chain, to secure his prisoner, " apprehended the 
dragon, alias, -the serpent, the old one ; alias, the 
devil ; alias the Satan ; alias the seducer of the 
world" — who was sentenced to a thousand years' 
imprisonment. Can this passage possibly be descrip- 
tive of a loyal and honest character? Throughout 
the book the same idea may be observed. 



Now it is demonstrable that no holy angel would 
tempt the Son of God, nor promote lies, murders, de- 
ceivableness, unrighteousr^ss, cursing and swearing, 
hypocrisy, &c. all which are attributed to a Satan, 
i. e. the devil. Perhaps, after we have well consid- 
ered this double usage of the word Satan, we shall 
more readily attend to its probable history. Much 
has been said respecting the word Satan ; and that 
the ideas connected with it are subsequent to the 
Babylonish captivity ; in proof of the contrary, the 
late bishop of Llandaff* has referred to Ps. cix. 6, 
" Let Satan stand at his right hand ; " as well as to 
the " Satans the sons of Zeruiuh," 2 Sam. xix. 22. 
Mr. Taylor adds, that it appeal's, by the story of 
Balaam, above quoted, that the word was used long 
before ; and that it answers perfectly well to the sense 
of adversary. Nor is it clear on what principles, in 
the case of Baalam, it can be rendered accuser, unless 
it might be understood thus — " the angel of the Lord 
stood in the way, to remonstrate against his proceed- 
ing ; " i. e. to accuse him of his criminal intention ; 
for so we find he does ; and, indeed, he rather re- 
monstrates and accuses, than punishes It may 

be queried, therefore, (1.) Whether in early ages, e.g. 
under the Hebl'ew republic, the word Satan signified 
much, if any thing, more, than simply an adversary, 
an accuser, a remonstrant ; one who " takes to task/' 
as our familiar expression is ; but, (2.) After the in- 
stitution of monarchy, such an agent of punishment 
being a constant attendant on a court, the capigi, 
bacha, mezuwar, or chief executioner ; (see 1 Sam. 
xxii. 17 ; 2 Kings xxv. 8 ; Jer. xxxix. 11, 12 ; lii. 12; 
Dan. ii. 14.) often also the accuser, was an idea which 
became involved in the word Satan : then, (3.) Be- 
cause this accuser received a profit from the spoils 
of criminals condemned, the sense of rejoicing in the 
condemnation of those accused became gradually 
connected with the word : and, (4.) It being notori- 
ous that such an one who had exercised this office of 
punisher, had beheld with pleasure the commission 
of crimes, and had laid temptations in the way of 
culprits, whom he hoped afterwards to punish, and 
to turn their spoils to his profit ; all these ideas at 
length united in the. word Satan ; an adversary, who 
accuses, and who takes such delight in accusation, 
that he tempts unwary souls to transgress, for the 
sake of enjoying the gratification attending their pun- 
ishment. 

If this history of the word be admissible, we may 
perceive much stronger ideas attached to it in later 
ages than anciently ; or, perhaps, a milder and a 
stronger sense, according to circumstances ; and this 
statement not only refutes those who affirm that it 
was altogether a Babylonish term, and of Babylonish 
import ; but it shows, (1.) How an adversary, a 
Satan, might " rise up against Israel, and prompt 
David to number the people ; " how David might be 
"a Satan to the Philistines ;" (1 Sam. xxix. 4.) how 
" Hadad and Rezon might be Satans against Solo- 
mon ; " (1 Kings xi. 23.) and in this simple original 
sense of the word, how Peter might be "a Satan" to 
Christ (Matt. xvi. 23.) — he might take him to task, 
remonstrate, &c. unseasonably. (2.) It shows how a 
loyal angel might perform the office of a minister of 
punishment ; and be honored while so doing, and 
this supposition cannot be relinquished : — and, (3.) 
Since these are human ideas transferred to celestial 
and spiritual existences, and since we have found so 
great depravity among mankind as rejoicing in the 
sufferings of others, what forbids our transferring this 
idea also to a spiritual being ? We should remem 



I 



SATAN [ 820 ] SAU 



her, that even in treating celestial subjects, we must 
conform to human ideas, as we must adopt human 
language ; notwithstanding we are aware that what- 
ever is human is absolutely incompetent to the sub- 
ject under discussion. This sense of an accuser, 
seeking for materials and occasions of accusation, 
illustrates 2 Cor. ii. 11, "To .whom ye forgive, I for- 
give ; lest Satan should circumvent us ; " should ex- 
plore, aad discover, a somewhat which he may form 
into an accusation, (should libel us, as the Scotch 
law-term is,) and should find it in our want of har- 
mony, and concord : " for we are not ignorant of his 
devices," his meditations and plots, which are always 
directed to the discovery of imperfections and faults 
among brethren, and to deriving advantage from 
them in the way of accusation. The apostle seems 
to reason on the same principle : (1 Cor. vii. 5.) "If 
married persons separate by consent for a time, yet 
let it not be for too long ; lest before the expiration 
of that time, Satan should, in some unguarded mo- 
ment, take advantage of natural passions, and tempt 
by soliciting to incontinency — either, (1.) of the par- 
ties with each other ; who thereby might break the 
vow or engagement, by which they were separated, 
and so their consciences be wounded, as for a crime; 
or, (2.) either of the parties with another person." 
But, perhaps, this passage should be read thus: 
"Defraud not one the other, (except with consent, fyc.) 
lest Satan tempt you, and the issue of his temptation 
be incontinency ; to the commission of which, over- 
orolonged or enforced continency might furnish him 
an advantage ; though designed to the very contrary 
by the parties." 

Satan is also said " to go about seeking whom he 
may spoil, as a lion prowls around a habitation or a 
fold, seeking whom he may devour." These ideas, 
with some others, the reader may perhaps discover 
in the following quotation, which seems to be strongly 
descriptive of some parts, at least, of the character of 
Satan : " The Bostandgi Bachi, who, of all the ex- 
terior officers of the seraglio, is most frequeutly in the 
presence of his master, and whose duty it is to give 
him an account of all irregularities and disorders ; 
and who frequently goes his rounds to discover them, 
in one of his maritime excursions happened to come 
as far as Buyukdera. (Compare the Prologue to the 
Book of Job.) The moon began to appear, and a 
dead calm invited us to go upon the water ; when 
the confused cries at a distance, of persons beaten, 
and others beating them, proclaimed the arrival of the 
Bostandgi Bachi. Mice are not more in haste to run 
away at the approach of a cat, than all the women 
now were to hide themselves. The dragoman's lady, 
and Madame du Tott, who had nothing to fear, alone 
dared to abide the coming of this great officer, who 
quickly made his appearance in a barge manned with 
four-and-twenty rowers. He had been to chastise 
the irregularities of some drunken persons, and lay 
hold of some women, a little too gay, who had fallen 
under his notice. ... A fisherman, being interrogated 
which way the Bostandgi Bachi had taken, spread a 
still greater alarm, by informing us, that after having 
landed, without noise, at the kiosk of a Grecian lady, 
and listened for some minutes to the conversation 
which passed in it, that officer, accompanied by 
several of his attendants, had scaled the windows. . . . 
Further intelligence relieved the company from the 
anxiety of impatient curiosity — ' Lay aside your fears,' 
said the bringer of it, to one of the strangers of our 
party ; ' your cousin and her friend have been let off 
for all the diamonds, trinkets and money they had about 



them ; there was no room for hesitation ; the Bos- 
tandgi Bachi surprised them ; ordered them to be 
taken on board his barge, and conveyed to prison ; 
his avarice at length rendered him tractable, but he 
has left them much less pleased with their evening's 
entertainment than they expected to have been.' As 
we passed by the houses on the shore, we amused 
ourselves by making remarks on their possessors, 
who, from their kiosks, made the like remarks on us ; 
and I collected, as we went along, a great deal of in- 
formation, which had it been known to the Bostandgi 
Bachi, he would have derived from it a considerable 
advantage." (Du Tott, part i. 43, 101.) 

If we knew precisely how closely the assemblies 
of the first Christians were watched by the heathen, 
probably we might better understand the term angels 
in 1 Cor. xi. 10. Pliny's letter to Trajan, (A. D. 106,) 
seems to hint at spies of more than one description ; 
he mentions libellus sine auctore, an information with- 
out a name annexed : alii ab indice nominali, Chris- 
tians were not accused by name by a regular informer, 
and Trajan's answer apparently alludes to secret 
agents sent out. Conquirendi non sunt, they are not 
to be sought for. Were not these spies, whose object 
was cruel profit, derived from detected improprieties. 
Satans ? The vile reports afterwards raised of 
Christian -worship possibly originated in neglect of 
the apostle's caution. 

The Synagogue of Satan (Rev. ii. 9, 13.) proba- 
bly denotes the unbelieving Jews, the false zealots for 
the law of Moses, who at the beginning were the 
most eager persecutors of the Christians. They were 
very numerous at Smyrna, where Polycarp was 
bishop, to whom John writes. 

The Depths of Satan (Rev. ii. 24.) were the 
mysteries of the Nicolaitans, and of the Simonians, 
who concealed their errors under deep abstruseness ; 
they spoke of certain intelligences which created the 
world, but were in opposition to the Creator. They 
taught a profound knowledge of the nature of angels, 
and tfieir different degrees. They had secret books 
written in an abstruse and mysterious manner ; and 
these it is thought John calls " depths of Satan." 

SATYRS, wild men, or imaginary animals, half 
man and half goat, poetically introduced by Isaiah, 
(xiii. 21 ; xxxiv. 14.) as dancing among the rains of 
Babylon. It is remarkable, that the present inhabit- 
ants of that country still believe in the existence there 
of Satyrs. (See under Babylon, p. 134, col. 1.) R 

I. SAUL, king of Idumea, (Gen. xxxvi. 37.) was 
of Rehoboth, and succeeded Samlah of Masrekah. 

II. SAUL, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, 
was the first king of the Israelites. His history being 
so intimately connected with that of Samuel and 
David, has been, in many respects, very fully given 
under those articles ; but there are a few additional 
particulars which call for notice. 

When Saul had strengthened himself in the king- 
dom, he carried his arms abroad, against the enemies 
of his nation, among whom were Moab, Ammon, 
Edom, Philistia, and the kings of Zobah in Syria. 
In all his expeditions he was victorious ; but having 
at length disobeyed the orders of God, relative to the 
Amalekites, Samuel declared his rejection and the 
appointment of another to the throne of Israel. 

In Saul's last battle with the Philistines, his sons 
Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua were slain. 
He was himself dangerously wounded ; and believing 
his state to be desperate, he desired his armor-bearer 
to kill him. This being refused, he fell upon his 
own sword, and died, after a reign of forty years. 



SAUL 



[ 821 ] 



SC A 



His armsr was carried by the Philistines to the tem- 
ple of Ashtaroth ; and they hung his body against 
the walls of Beth-shan, probably opposite to the chief 
street; because it is said in 2 Sam. xxi. 12, that his 
body was hung up in the street of this city; and in 1 
Chron. x. 10, that his head was fasteued in the tem- 
ple of Dagon. When the inhabitants of Jabesh-gile- 
ad were informed of these indignities, they went by 
night and took down the bodies, and brought them 
into their city beyond Jordan, where they burnt the 
remains of the flesh, and buried the bones, which 
were, several years afterwards, removed by David 
into the sepulchre of Kish, at Gibeah, 2 Sam. xxi. 
12 — 14. Ish-bosheth, the fourth son of Saul, suc- 
ceeded him in the kingdom, and reigned beyond 
Jordan, over eleven tribes ; David reigning over the 
tribe of Judah. 

The character of Saul is that of a gloomy, appre- 
hensive, melancholy man ; and after taking, without 
success, what remedies were customary, his servants, 
or physicians, (see Gen. 1.2.) finding his case beyond 
the reach of their art, thought proper to represent it 
as a visitation from on high ; yet to recommend the 
use of music, as a recipe whose effects might be 
favorable. The event justified their expectations; 
and the amusement, the sympathy, and the enjoy- 
ment of Saul, while his attention was engaged, pro- 
duced an interval of disease, which gradually im- 
proved to convalescence. Calmet does not consider 
Saul as a maniac, but as an hypochondriac, whose 
low spirits were relieved by the cheerful and animat- 
ing vibrations of the young shepherd's careless harp: 
the sprightly effusions 

Of linked sweetness long drawn out, 
With wanton heed, and giddy cunning, 
The melting voice through mazes running," 
Untwisting all the chains that tie 
The hidden soul of harmony. 

How well adapted the unstudied strains of a shep- 
herd swain, whose harp, at the same time, was bold 
through the courage of its master, free through his 
"native wood-notes wild," and sedate through his 
piety ; how well such a remedy was adapted to 
the cure of Saul, may be estimated by a moment's 
reflection. See 2 Kings iii. 15, for the tranquillizing 
effects of the harp in the instance of the prophet 
Elisha. 

It is a singular fact, that there is preserved in the 
second volume of the Asiatic Researches, in a trans- 
lation from the Persian, an abridgment of the history 
of the Afghans, a people of India, generally admitted 
to be of Israelitish origin, in which they are repre- 
sented to be the descendants of Saul, the first king 
of Israel. The extract is too long to be introduced 
here ; it must suffice to say, that it comprises a tol- 
erable abridgment of the history, as recorded in 
Samuel ; resembling it in many particulars, yet vary- 
ing from it in others. We have clearly mentioned, 
among other incidents, the loss of the ark, the pre- 
sumption of the Philistines, the fall of Dagon, the 
cattle which brought the ark to Bethshemesh, the 
application of the people to Samuel for a king, the 
description of the person of Saul, the loss of the asses, 
(or cow, as it is here,) Saul seeking them, the behav- 
ior of the sons of Belial to him, the valor of David, 
the death of Saul, and the appointment of David to 
the kingdom of Israel. 

It is said, (1 Sam. xv. 12.) that Saul, after the de- 
feat of the Amalekites, " set him up a place," i. e. a 



monument on Carmel. This was, probably, some 
heap of stones at a column, to preserve the memory 
of his victory. The author of the Hebrew traditions 
on the Books Kings says, that Saul's triumphal 
arch was com ^esed of branches of myrtle, palm 
and olive-trees. 

SAUL, the Hebrew name of Paul. See Paul. 

SAVIOUR in a name eminently appropriated to 
our Lord Jesus Christ, who was prefigured by those 
to whom the OM Testament gives the appellation, as 
Joshua, the judges of Israel, the kings David, Solo- 
mon and Josiah, and the other great men raised up 
to deliver the people of God, as Mattathias, Judas 
Maccabseus, and the rest. The prophets have de- 
scribed Jesus under the name of Saviour in many 
places : as Isa. xii. 3, " With joy shall ye draw water 
out of the wells of salvation," or of the Saviour. 
" The Lord shall send them a Saviour, even a great 
one, and he shall deliver them," chap. xix. 20. " I, 
even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no 
Saviour," chap, xliii. 11. And the apostles and sa- 
cred writers of the New Testament generally give to 
him the name of " the Saviour," by way of eminence. 
When the angel foretold his birth, he said he should 
be called Jesus, that is, a Saviour, assigning, as the 
reason, that he should "save his people from their 
sins," Matt. i. 21. (See also John iv. 42 ; Acts xiia. 
23; Philip, iii. 20, &c. See Salvation.) The ex- 
pression of the Samaritans, (John iv. 42.) with regart* 
to our Saviour, is particularly strong. " We know 
that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of tha 
world," where the articles prefixed to the nouns havt 
a special force in them, together with a general im- 
port. It is somewhat unhappy that the term prince 
has been adopted in connection with Sariour, in Actr 
v. 31 , since it suggests the notion of temporal priority, 
not to say of temporal authority. It is rendered ir< 
the margin author, and seems to denote properly t 
leader, the first of a company, or body of followers. 
" Him (Jesus) hath God exalted to be leader — pre- 
cursor of his followers into heaven — also Saviour, hf 
giving repentance to Israel, and remission of sins." 
Christ is called the "Saviour of the body," in Eph. 
v. 23, where the comparison is to the head, which is 
the protector, the guardian of the whole person ; that 
which completes, governs and superintends the 
entire man. The Saviour is said to be expected from 
heaven, (Phil. iii. 20 ; Titus ii. 13.) and in short, the 
title of Saviour is so connected with Deity, that it 
seems to be impossible to separate them, and to draw 
the line of distinction between them, (Titus i. 3 ; ii. 
10 ; iii. 4 ; 2 Pet. i. 1 ; Jude 35, et al.) and this, inde- 
pendent of the rule of Greek syntax, developed and 
applied by the late Mr. Granville Sharpe, and subse- 
quently by other writers, though strongly corrobo- 
rated by it. 

God often takes to himself the name of Saviour of 
Israel, (1 Sam. xiv. 39.) and David calls him, his 
strength and his Saviour, 2 Sam. xxii. 3. " There is 
no Saviour beside me," says the Lord, in the prophet 
Hosea, xiii. 4. And Isa. xvii. 10, "Thou hast forgot- 
ten the God of thy salvation," or thy Saviour. And 
in truth, God is the Saviour of saviours, the God of 
gods ; without him there is neither salvation nor de- 
liverance, nor succor. He raised up saviours to his 
people, in the persons of Othniel ; (Judg. iii. 9.) 
Ehud, (iii. 15.) &c. Obadiah (21.) promises that 
the Lord will send saviours on the mountain of Sion, 
to judge the mountain of Esau ; meaning, probably, 
the Maccabees, who subdued the Idumeans. 

SCANDAL, a snare, an incumbrance. In Scrip- 



SC A 



[ 822 ] 



gen 



ture, and in ecclesiastical authors, it is put for any 
thing that a man finds in his way, which may occa- 
sion him to trip. Thus Moses (Lev. xix. 14, apud 
LXX) "forbids to put a stumbling-block (or scandal) 
before the blind ; that is, neither wood, stone, nor 
any thing else, that may make him stumble or fall. 
In Exod. xxiii. 33, he forbids the Israelites to make 
a covenant with the Canaanites, for fear they should 
be perverted to idolatry, which would be a great 
snare, or scandal to them. Calmet remarks that the 
Greek word 2x<xvSui.ov, or llnuaxuuuu, or SxiSXor, an- 
swers to the Hebrew Vcdc, Micshol, which signifies 
fall, ruin, sin, what hinders from walking, and makes 
one fall ; which comes from the root S^'d, cashed, to 
fall, to tumble ; and in the conjugation Hiph.il, signi- 
fies to cause to fall, to overthrow, to lay snares, &c. 
In a moral sense there is active and passive scandal. 
The first is that which our words or actions may oc- 
casion to others ; from their evil tendency, or their 
pernicious influence. Christ affirms, " It must needs 
be that, offences come ;" or scandals must of neces- 
sity arise. But he adds, " Wo to that man by whom 
the offence cometh. If your hand or foot is a cause 
of scandal to you, cut it off, and cast it from you ; 
you had much better enter the kingdom of God 
without hand or foot, than be cast into outer dark- 
ness with all your limbs entire," Mark ix. 43. He 
says, "Moreover, have a care of offending (scandal- 
izing) one of these little ones that believe in me ; it 
were better for him who occasions a scandal to such, 
that a mill-stone were hung about his neck, and he 
were cast into the sea." Jesus Christ was to the 
Jews a scandal, and a rock of offence, against which 
they struck ; on which they have fallen, against 
which they are broken. John says, (1 Epist. ii. 10.) 
" He who loveth his brother abideth in the light," 
and no scandal, no impediment, or obstacle, against 
which he might strike his foot, occurs to him, be- 
cause he sees and avoids such things ; whereas, 
he who walketh in darkness may strike himself 
against an impediment, a tree, or a post, or may fall 
into a ditch, or, at least, may kick his foot against a 
log of wood, or against a stone, because he does 
not discern those causes of injury which lie in his 
tvay. 

Mr. Taylor suggests that an erroneous self-persua- 
sion of safety, a delusive contempt of danger, seems 
to belong to the term scandal. So Ps. lxix. 22 ; Rom. 
x\. 9, " Let their table — a good thing in their esteem 
— be made a snare, and a trap, and a scandal to 
them." So Deut. vii. 16, " Thou shalt not serve 
their gods — however beneficial such service might 
seem to thee — lest it become a snare (scandal, LXX) 
to thee." When we read, that the Jews were scan- 
dalized at the mean family of Christ, (Matt. xiii. 57 ; 
Luke vii. 23.) it implies mistake, since his family was 
.ruly royal ; at the doctrine of the cross, (Gal. v. 11.) 
it implies mistake, since the resurrection had re- 
moved that cause of scandal ; and also at the perse- 
cutions suffered by Christians, since that was really 
their glory, &c. 

Christ has promised to remove out of his kingdom 
everv thing that causeth scandal, Matt. xiii. 41. 

SCAPE-GOAT, see Goat. 

SCARLET, a color much prized by the ancients ; 
Exod. xxv. 4; xxvi. 1, 31, 36. It is assigned as a 
merit of Saul, that he clothed the daughters of Israel 
in scarlet, 2 Sam. i. 24. So the diligent and virtuous 
woman is said to clothe her household in scarlet, Prov. 
xxxi. 21. This color was obtained from the xuxxo?, 
i e. coccus ilicis of LinnaBiis, a small insect found 



on the leaves of the qucrcus cocciferus in Spain 
and the countries on the eastern part of the Mediter- 
ranean, which was used by the ancients for dyeing a 
beautiful crimson or deep scarlet color, and waa 
supposed by them to be the berry of a plant or tree. 
It is the kerrncs of the Materia Medica. As a dye it 
has been superseded in modern times by the cochi- 
neal insect, coccus cactus, which gives a more brilliant 
but less durable color. (See Jahn, § 119. Rees' Cy 
clop. art. Coccus, and Kf.rmes.) *R. 

SCEPTRE. (», Shebet.) This word properly 
signifies, (1.) A rod of any kind, as in No. 4. below. 
Thus a rod of command, a staff of authority, a scep- 
tre ; it is placed in the hand of kings, of governors 
of a province, or of the chief of a people. Jacob 
foretold that "the sceptre should not depart from 
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until 
Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of 
the people be ;" (Gen. xlix. 10.) and Balaam, fore- 
telling the coming of the Messiah, says, "A sceptre 
shall rise out of Israel, Numb. xxiv. 17. (See Shi- 
loh.) Baruch speaks of the sceptre put by the 
Babylonians in the hands of their gods, chap. vi. 13. 
It is given also to scribes, and to commissaries, 
who keep a list of troops, Judg. v. 14. The proph- 
ets often speak of the sceptre of dominion ; (Isa. xiv. 
5 ; xix. 11, 14.) and Amos represents sovereign power 
by him that holds the sceptre, Amos i. 5, 8. 

(2.) The sceptre is put for the rod of correction, for 
the sovereign authority that punishes and humbles. 
Ps. ii. 9, " Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron," 
that is, an iron sceptre. The wise man often uses 
the Hebrew word Shebet, to express the rod with 
which the disobedient son and the intractable ser- 
vant are disciplined, Prov. xxii. 15. 

(3.) The word Shebet is very often taken for a 
tribe) probably, because the princes of each tribe 
carried a sceptre, or a waud of command, to mark 
their dignity. The LXX and Vulgate generally 
translate tribe ; but they sometimes preserve the 
word sceptre. (LXX, 1 Sam. ix. 21 ; x. 19 — 21 ; xv. 
17 ; 1 Kings viii. 16 ; xi. 13, 32, 35 ; xii. 20, 21. Vul- 
gate, see Numb, xviii. 2; Jer, li. 19. See also the 
English Bible.) 

(4.) The Hebrew Shebet signifies a shepherd's 
wand, (Lev. xxvii. 32.) the truncheon of a warrior, 
or any common staff, (2 Sam. xxviii. 21.) the dart, 
javelin, or lance of a soldier, (2 Sam. xxviii. 14.) the rod 
or staff with which they thrash the smaller grain, Isa. 
xxviii. 27. 

SCEVA, chief of the priests, (Acts xix. 14.) or of 
the synagogue, at Ephesus. 

SCHISM, from S/lnuu, which signifies rupture, 
or division. When Jeroboam revolted against Re- 
hoboam, and was acknowledged king by the ten 
tribes, he made a schism, separated from the religion 
of the Lord, forsook the communion of Judah, and 
no longer frequented the temple, which was the 
chosen and appointed place, to offer worship to the 
Lord. The Jews at this day look on the Caraiies as 
schismatics, because they do not receive their tra- 
ditions. 

The only passages in the New Testament where 
the word schism occurs, are, 1 Cor. i. 10 ; xi. 18, and 
xii. 25, and in each one of them it denotes aliena- 
tion of affection among the members of the same 
body, or divisions in a church, and not separation 
from it. 

SCHOOLMASTER. The Greek word peda- 
gogue now carries with it an idea approaching to con- 
tempt: with );.. other word to qualify it, it excites th»j 



CO 



[ 623 ] 



SCO 



idea of u pedant, wno assumes an air of authority over I 
others, which does not belong to him. But among 
the ancients a pedagogue was a person to wnom 
they committed the care of their children, to lead 
them, to observe them, and to instruct them in their 
first rudiments. Thus the office of a pedagogue 
nearly answered to that of a governor or tutor, who 
constantly attends his pupil, teaches him, and forms 
his manners. Paul (1 Cor. iv. 15.) says ; " For 
though you have ten thousand instructers (peda- 
gogues) in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers." 
Representing himself as their father in the faith, 
since he had begotten them in the gospel. The ped- 
agogue, indeed, may have some power and interest of 
his pupil, but he can never have the natural tenderness 
of a father for him. To the Galatians, the apostle 
says, (iii. 24, 25.) "The law was our schoolmaster 
(pedagogue) to bring us to Christ." It pointed out 
Christ in the Scriptures, the figures, the prophecies, 
of the Old Testament : but since we are advanced 
to superior learning, and are committed to the tuition 
of the faith which we have embraced, we have no 
longer need of a schoolmaster, or pedagogue ; as 
such are of no further use to young persons when ad- 
vanced to years of maturity. " But after that faith is 
come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster — ped- 
agogue." Mr. Taylor remarks, that the term school- 
master by no means expresses a person employed to 
accompany youth to school from home, and from 
school to home again ; and adds, that the Greek 
word SiduoxaXog, or teacher, approaches much nearer 
to the notion of a schoolmaster, and is distinguished 
accordingly by Plutarch, de Puerorum Educatione, 
x. 9. Among the great number of slaves possessed 
by. certain families, it was customary to intrust the 
care of the children of the family to some confiden- 
tial slave, who superintended their conduct, and- di- 
rected their proceedings. A domestic usher, then, 
may be thought to resemble the ancient pedagogue : 
and, for females, the duenna of foreign countries. 
That such an attendant is more proper to early youth 
than to mature manhood, is obvious. Another class 
of instructers were called by the Greeks paidomathcis, 
teachers of children. (Quint, lib. i. cap. 11.) 

SCORPION. It is generally admitted that the 
Hebrew word mpy, akrdb, denotes the scorpion, which 
is the largest and most malignant of all the insect 
tribes. It somewhat resembles the lobster in its 
general appearance, but is much more hideous. 
Those found in Europfe seldom exceed four inches 
in length, but in the tropical climates it is no uncom- 
mon thing to meet with them twelve inches long. 
There are few animals more formidable, and none 
more irascible, than the scorpion ; but happily for 
mankind, they are equally destructive to their own 
species, as to other animals. Goldsmith states, that 
Maupertuis put about a hundred of them together in 
the same glass ; and they scarcely came into con- 
tact, when they began to exert all their rage in mu- 
tual destruction ; so that in a few days there re- 
mained but fourteen, which had killed and devoured 
all the rest. But their malignity is still more appar- 
ent in their cruelty to their offspring. He enclosed 
a female scorpion, big with young, in a glass vessel, 
and she was seen to devour them as fast as they 
were excluded. There was only one of the number 
that escaped the general destruction, by taking 
refuge on the back of its parent ; and this soon after 
revenged the cause of its brethren, by killing the old 
one in its turn. Such is the terrible nature of this 
•nsect ; and it is even asserted, that when placed in 



circumstances of danger, from which it perceives no 
way of escape, it will sting itself to death. Surely 
Moses, says Mr. Taylor, very properly mentions 
scorpions among tne dangers of the wilderness, Deut. 

viii. 15. And what shall we think of the hazardous 
situation of Ezekiel, who is said to dwell among 
scorpions, (chap. ii. 6.) — people as irascible as this 
terrible insect ; nor could our Lord select a fitter 
contrast ; " If a son shall ask of his father an egr 
will he give a scorpion?" Luke xi. 11,12. But 
the passage most descriptive of the scorpion, is Rev. 

ix. 3 — 10, in which it. is to be observed, that the sting 
of these creatures was not to produce death, but pain 
so intense that the wretched sufferers should seek 
death, (ver. 6.) rather than submit to its endurance. 
Dr. Shaw states, that the sting of scorpions is not 
always fatal ; the malignity of their venom being in 
proportion to their size and complexion. The tor- 
ment of a scorpion when he striketh a man is thus 
described by Dioscorides, as cited by Mr. Taylor : 
" When the scorpion has stung, the place becomes 
inflamed and hardened ; it reddens by tension, and 
is painful by intervals, being now chilly, now burn- 
ing. The pain soon rises high, and rages some- 
times more, sometimes less. A sweating succeeds, 
attended by a shivering and trembling: the extremi- 
ties of the body become cold ; the groin swells ; the 
bowels expel their wind ; the hair stands on end ; the 
members become pale, and the skin feels throughout 
it the sensation of a perpetual prickling, as if by 
needles." Our Saviour gave his disciples power to 
tread on these terrible creatures, and to disarm them 
of their power of hurting, Luke x. 19. 

It may be necessary to remark on the contrast 
which our Lord draws between a scorpion and an 
egg, that the body of this insect is much like an egg ; 
especially those of the white kind, which is the first 
species mentioned by ./Elian, Avicenna, and others ; 
and Bochart has shown that the scorpions of Judea 
were about the size of an egg. 

The Jews used whips on some occasions, which 
were called, from the suffering they occasioned, 
scorpions. To these it is probable the haughty Re- 
hoboam alluded, when he menaced the house of 
Israel with increasing their oppressions, 1 Kings 
xii. 11. 

SCOURGE, or Whip. The punishment of 
scourging was very common among the Jews. Mo- 
ses ordains, (Deut. xxv. 1 — 3.) that "if there be a con- 
troversy between men, and they come to judgment, 
then the judges may judge them. And if the wicked 
man were found worthy to be beaten, the judge was 
to cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his 
face, according to his fault, by a certain number, but 
not exceeding forty stripes. There were two ways 
of giving the lash ; one with thongs or whips, made 
of rope-ends, or straps of leather ; the other with 
rods or twigs. The offender was stripped from his 
shoulders to his middle, and tied by his arms to a low 
pillar, that he might lean forward, and the execu 
tioner the more easily strike his back. Some main 
tain that they never gave more nor less than thirty 
nine strokes, but that in greater faults they struck with 
proportionate violence. Others think, that when the 
fault and circumstances required it, they might 
increase the number of blows. Paul informs us (2 
Cor. xi. 24.) that at five different times he received 
thirty-nine stripes from the Jews; which seems to 
imply that this was a fixed number, not to be exceed-, 
i ed. The apostle also clearly shows, tnat 'orrpclion 
i vvitn rods was different from that vvitn a wmp ; for 



SCR 



[ 824 ] 



SCR 



he says, "Thrice was I beaten with rods." And when 
he was seized by the Jews in the temple, the tribune 
of the Roman soldiers ran and took him out of their 
hands ; and, desiring to know the reason of the tumult, 
he ordered him to be tied and stretched on the ground, 
to put him to the question, by beating him with rods, 
(Acts xxii. 24, 25.) for thus the Romans commonly 
put prisoners to the question. The bastinado was 
sometimes given on the back, at others on the soles 
uf the feet. 

The rabbins affirm that punishment by the scourge 
was not ignominious ; and that it could not be ob- 
jected as a disgrace to those who had suffered it. 
They maintain, too, that no Israelite, not even the 
king, or the high-priest, was exempt from this law. 
This must be understood, however, of the whipping 
inflicted in their synagogues, which was rather a 
legal and particular penalty, than a public and shame- 
ful correction. Philo, speaking of the manner in 
which Flaccus treated the Jews of Alexandria, says, 
he made them suffer the punishment of the whip, 
which (he remarks) is not less insupportable to a free 
man, than death itself. Our Saviour, speaking of the 
pains and ignominy of his passion, commonly puts 
his scourging in the second place, Matt. xx. 19 ; Mark 
x. 34 ; Luke xviii. 32. 

SCRIBE, (isd, SopMr ; LXX, rqafifiarevg, Gram- 
mateus,) a word very common in Scripture, and hav- 
ing several significations. (1.) A clerk, writer or sec- 
retary, which constituted an important employment 
in the court of the kings of Judah, in which Scrip- 
ture mentions the secretaries as officers of the crown. 
Seraiah was scribe or secretary to David ; (2 Sam. 
viii. 17.) Shemaiah exercised the same office under 
the same prince; (1 Chron. xxiv. 6.) Elihoreph 
and Ahiah were secretaries to Solomon ; (1 Kings 
iv. 3.) Shebna filled the same office under Hezekiah, 
(2 Kings xix. 2.) and Shaphan under Josiah, 2 Kings 
xxii. 8—10. 

(2.) A scribe is put for a commissary or muster- 
master of an army, who reviews the troops, keeps the 
list or roll, and calls them over. It is said, (Judg. v. 
14.) that in the war of Barak against Sisera, " Out of 
Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun 
they that bear the staff of a leader." In the reign of 
Uzziah, king of Judah, is found Jeil the scribe, who 
had under his hand the king's armies, 2 Chron. xxvi. 
11. Jeremiah speaks of a scribe as prince or chief of 
the soldiers, who superintended the military exercises 
of the newly raised troops, chap. lii. 25 ; 2 Kings xxv. 
19. (Heb.) the scribe, prince of the army, who made 
the people of the country go to war. Judas directed 
the scribes to stand on the banks of the brook that 
the army was to cross ; to let no one remain beyond 
the water, but to cause all to pass over, to the war, 1 
Mac. v. 42. 

(3.) Scribe is put for an able and skilful man, a 
doctor of the law, a man of learning, or one who un- 
derstands affairs. Jonathan, David's uncle by the 
father's side, was " a counsellor, a wise man, and a 
scribe," 1 Chron. xxvii. 32. Baruch, the disciple and 
secretary of Jeremiah, is called a scribe ; so is Gema- 
riah, son of Shaphan ; and Elishama, who lived under 
the reign of Josiah, Jer. xxxvi. 10, 12, 20, 26. Jesus, 
son of Sirach, says, (Ecclus. x. 5.) " In the hand of 
God is the prosperity of man, and upon the person of 
the scribe shall he lay his honor." Great commenda- 
tion is given in Scripture to Ezra, who is celebrated 
as a skilful scribe, "a ready scribe in the law of Mo- 
ses," Ezra vn. 6. The scribes of the people, fre- 
quently mentioned in the Gospels, were public writers, 



and professed doctors of the law, which tney read 
and explained to the people. 

Some place the origin of scribes under Moses ; but 
the name does not appear till under the judges, J udg. 
v. 14. Others think that David instituted them, when 
he established the several classes of the priests and 
Levites, (1 Chron. xxiv. 6.) though Epiphanius places 
their origin at the same time with the sect of the Sad- 
ducees. Mention is made in Acts xxiii. 9, of scribes 
that were of the party of the Pharisees, which has 
induced some to believe, that all scribes were Phari- 
sees. This is a mistake ; they did not compose any 
particular sect. 

He who is called a doctor of the law in Matt. xxii. 
35, is called a scribe, or one of the scribes, in Mark 
xii. 28. As the knowledge of the Jews, at that time, 
chiefly consisted in Pharisaical traditions, and in ap- 
plying them to explain Scripture, the greater number 
of doctors of the law, or scribes, were Pharisees; 
and we almost always find them united in Scripture. 
They all valued themselves on their knowledge of the 
law, and on their studying and teaching it; they had 
the key of knowledge, and sat in Moses's chair, Luke 
xi. 52 ; Matt, xxiii. 2. 

SCRIPTURE, or Writing, is a term generally 
used to denote the sacred books of the Old and New 
Testaments. " Did ye never read in the Scriptures ? " 
Matt. xxi. 42. " How then shall the Scriptures be 
fulfilled?" Matt. xxvi. 54. "All Scripture is given 
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in right- 
eousness," 2 Tim. iii. 16. See Bible. 

The reception of the books of the New Testament 
into the canon of Scripture, is of much importance 
to us, and it should be well understood, that in this 
the primitive Christians were extremely scrupulous. 
As. the pieces which compose the New Testament 
were published at divers times, and were written in 
places very distant from one another, in languages, 
also, not mutually intelligible to the inhabitants of 
these distant countries, we cannot wonder that some 
should be slow in making their way to general recep- 
tion ; or that some were never generally received. 
Those published in the West were, for a time, little 
known in the East, and vice versa. In like manner, 
those written in the Syriac language, could be under- 
stood by the Greeks, only by means of an accurate 
translation ; nor could the Syrians understand those 
written in Greek without similar assistance. It will 
follow, that the non-acquaintance of either party, ot 
even the non-admission by either party, is not, in 
itself, a sufficient reason for rejecting a tract, that 
was generally acknowledged, where it was hetter 
known. 

But by the early fathers, and by men the most com- 
petent to investigate the subject, and the most worthy 
of our confidence, the books of the present canon 
were not all esteemed to be equally authentic. By 
Eusebius of Csesarea, before any canon was estab- 
lished by authority, they were divided into three 
classes. (1.) Those universally received, as the four 
Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles 
of Paul, one Epistle of Peter, one of John. (2.) Those 
doubted of by some, as the Epistle to the Hebrews, 
and the Revelation. (3.) Those doubted of by many, 
or contradicted by most ; as the Epistle of James, 
the Second Epistle of Peter, that of Jude, and the 
Second and Third of John. To this third class Eu- 
sebius seems, in another passage, to refer the Revela- 
tions. It was certainly doubted of by many ; it has 
. continued to be doubted of : and I uther, in the pref- 



SEA 



[ 825 ] 



SEA 



ace to his translation, strongly questions its canonical 
authority. The rule of the church seems to have 
been, to admit no hook into the New Testament that 
was not the work of an apostle, or derived from an 
apostle ; hence the Gospels of Mark and Luke were 
said to be derived from the apostles Peter and Paul, 
(though some suppose, that being historical only, ana 1 
not dogmatical, they formed an exception to the 
rule.) The Epistle of James was doubted of, because 
some questioned whether it were written by James 
the apostle, or by another James. That of Jude was 
long excluded ; and even lately, Michae'lis rather 
negatives its canonical authority, proof of its compo- 
sition by an apostle being very deficient. The Sec- 
ond and Third Epistles of John, being written to pri- 
vate persons, were but little known in early ages; 
and we cannot wonder that they long continued 
not generally acknowledged. On the whole, the 
scrupulous diligence and judgment of the early 
Christians in selecting that series of books which 
afterwards formed the canon of the New Testament, 
must give us equal satisfaction and pleasure. Suc- 
ceeding ages have gradually received what formerly 
was deemed questionable; and our present canon 
is certainly more complete than that of the first 
Christians, not only because of their hesitation, but 
because the difficulty of procuring copies of the New 
Testament entire was very great while they existed 
in manuscript only. See Bible. 

SCYTHOPOLIS, a name of Bethshean, which 
see. 

SEA. The Hebrews give the name of sea (o, 
yam) to any great collection of water; as, (1.) to a 
lake or a pool. Thus we have the sea of Galilee or 
of Tiberias, the Dead sea, &c. (2.) To great rivers, 
as the Nile, the Euphrates, the Tigris, &c. which, by 
their magnitude, or by the extent of their overflow- 
F ings, seem little seas, or great lakes. (See Isa. xi. 15 ; 
xviii. 1, 2 ; xxi. 1 ; Jer. li. 36, 42, &c.) The following 
are the principal seas mentioned in Scripture. 

1. The great sea, the western sea, or the sea 
of the Philistines, generally denotes the Mediterra- 
nean, which lay west of the Land of Promise. The 
sea is often put for the west, as the right is put for 
the south. Gen. xii. 8; xiii. 14, et passim. On the 
Mediterranean they floated the timber cut down from 
mount Libanus, which was brought to Joppa, for 
building the temple, &c. 

2. The sea of Suph, or the Red sea, lies between 
Arabia on the east, and Egypt and Abyssinia on the 
west, and is in length about 1400 miles. It is by 
some thought to have been called the sea of Suph, or 
the weedy sea, because of the great quantity of reeds 
or seo wrack found at its bottom, and on its shores. 
Others, however, and among them is Bruce, think it 
derived its name from the great quantity of coral 
found in it. Pliny says, it obtained the name of the 
Red sea, in Greek Erythrea, from a king called Ery- 
thros, who reigned in Arabia, and whose tomb 
was seen in the island Tyrine, or Agyris. Several 
learned men believe, that this king Erythros is Esau, 
or Edom ; Edom, in Hebrew, signifying red or rud- 
dy, as Erythros does in Greek. But the dwelling 
of Edom was east of Canaan, towards Bozra ; and 
Calmet is therefore of opinion, that this name was 
not given it till after the Idumeans, the descendants 
of Edom, had spread themselves westward as far as 
the Red sea. It mighr then receive the name of the 
sea of Edom, which me Greeks rendered Tha' issa 
Erythrea, or the Red sea. That part of the «ea 
where the Israelites passed, is thought to have been 

104 



near Kolsum, the sea about which bears the name 
Bahr al Kolsum, or the sea of destruction, and is in 
width about three leagues, and in depth varies from 
9 to 14 fathoms. 

The term Bed sea appears to be improperly 
adopted in Numb. xxi. 14. (See in Bible, p. 170, col. 
2.) So also in Deut. i. 1, where it should be in the 
plain "over against Suph." Here our translators 
confess, by their italics, that they have inserted the 
word sea between Paran, Tophel, &c. and by this in- 
sertion the geography is sadly confused. It is evi- 
dent, that a station which was in any tolerable sense 
over against the Red sea, could not possibly be near 
to Paran, nor to Hazeroth ; neither could it be 
" eleven days' journey from Horeb, by the way of 
mount Seir;" that is, at Kadesh Barnea. 

3. The Dead sea, Salt sea, Eastern sea, sea of 
Sodom, or sea of the wilderness, or plain, is the lake 
Asphaltites, which is situated in the southern part of 
Judea, and which occupies the site of the cities of 
Sodom, Gomorrha, Admah and Zeboim. Its real 
size, we believe, is not yet ascertained, for we are 
not aware that any modern traveller has measured 
it ; and the measurements of Josephus, who found it 
seventy-two miles long, and eighteen broad, are still 
referred to. Diodorus affirms that it is sixty-two 
miles long, and seven and a half broad ; but the calcu- 
lation of Pliny is much greater, for he says, it is one 
hundred long, and twenty-five wide, in the broadest 
part. Maundrell considers it seventy-two miles long, 
and eighteen or twenty in breadth. Pococke agrees 
with Diodorus, and Dr. Clarke with Josephus ; and 
the abbe Maritti, who seems to have paid much 
attention to its peculiarities, maintains that it is one 
hundred and eighty miles in circuit. We cannot but 
consider it singular that its dimensions should not 
have been more perfectly ascertained. 

The waters of the Dead sea are clear and limpid, 
but uncommonly salt, and even bitter. Their specific 
gravity exceeds that of all other waters known. Jose- 
phus and Tacitus say that no fish can live in it ; and 
according to the concurring testimony of several trav- 
ellers, those, carried thither by the Jordan instantly 
die. Maundrell, nevertheless, states, that he found 
some shell-fish resembling oysters on the shore, and 
bishop Pococke was informed that a monk had seen 
fish caught in the water : these are assertions, how- 
ever, that require further corroboration. The mud is 
black, thick and fetid, and no plant vegetates in the 
water, which is reputed to have a petrifying quality. 
Branches of trees, accidentally immersed in it, are 
speedily converted into stone, and the curious in 
Jerusalem then collect them. Neither do plants grow 
in the immediate vicinity of the lake, where every 
thing is dull, cheerless and inanimate ; whence it is 
supposed to have derived the name of the Dead sea. 
But the real cause of the absence of animals and 
vegetables, Volney affirms, is owing to the saltness 
and acridity of the water, infinitely surpassing what 
exists in other seas. The earth surrounding it is 
deeply impregnated with the same saline qualities, 
too predominant to admit of vegetable life, and even 
the air is saturated with them. The waters are clear 
and incorruptible, as if holding salt in solution, nor is 
the presence of this substance equivocal, for Dr. 
Pococke found a thin crust of salt upon his face after 
bathing in the sea, and the shores where it occasion- 
ally overflows, are covered with a similar cryst. 
Galen considered it completely saturated with 
salt, for it would dissolve no more, when thrown 
into it. 



SEA 



[ 82(i ] 



SEA 



There are mines of fossil salt in the south-west 
bank, from which specimens have been brought to 
Europe ; some also exist in the declivities of the 
mountains, and have provided, from time immemo- 
rial, for the consumption of the Arabs and the city of 
Jerusalem. Great quantities of asphaltum appear 
floating on the surface of the sea, and are driven by 
the winds to the east and west bank, where it remains 
fixed. Ancient authors inform us, that the neighbor- 
ing inhabitants were careful to collect it, and went 
out in boats, or used other expedients for that pur- 
pose. On the south-east bank are hot springs and 
deep gullies, dangerous to the traveller, were not 
their position indicated by small pyramid ic edifices 
on the sides. Sulphur is likewise found on the edges 
of the Dead sea, and a kind of stone, or coal, called 
musca, by the Arabs, which, on attrition, exhales an 
intolerable odor, and burns like bitumen. This 
stone, which also comes from the neighboring moun- 
tains, is black, and takes a fine polish. Mr. Maun- 
drell saw pieces of it two feet square, in the convent 
of St. John in the wilderness, carved in bas relief, and 
polished to as great a lustre as black marble is capa- 
ble of. The inhabitants of the country employ it in 
paving churches, mosques, courts, and other places 
of public resort. In the polishing its disagreeable 
odor is lost. The citizens of Bethlehem consider 
it as endued with antiseptic virtues, and bracelets of 
it are worn by attendants on the sick, as an antidote 
against disease. As the lake is at certain seasons 
covered with a thick dark mist, confined within its 
own limits, which is dissipated by the rays of the 
sun, spectators have been induced to allege that black 
and sulphureous exhalations are constantly issuing 
from the water. They have been no less mistaken 
in supposing, that birds attempting to fly across are* 
struck with pestiferous fumes. Late and reputable 
travellers declare, that numerous swallows skim 
along the surface, and from thence take up water 
necessary to build their nests ; and on this head 
Heyman and Van Egmont made a decisive experi- 
ment. They carried two sparrows to the shore, and 
having deprived them of some of the wjng feathers, 
after a short flight both fell in, or rather 'on, the sea ; 
but so far from expiring there, they got out in safety. 
An uncommon love of exaggeration is testified in all 
the older narratives, and in some of modern date, of 
the nature and properties of the lake. Chateau- 
briand speaks of a " dismal sound proceeding from 
this lake of death, like the stifled clamors of the 
people engulfed in its waters ! " — that its shores pro- 
duced fruit beautiful, but containing nothing hut 
ashes ; that it bears upon its surface the heavier metals. 
These and a thousand other stories of a like charac- 
ter, have been perpetually repeated with barely any 
foundation of truth. Among other facts apparently 
unaccountable, has been ranked that of this lake 
constantly receiving the waters of the Jordan with- 
out overflowing its banks, seeing that there is no 
visible outlet. Some have therefore conjectured the 
possibility of a subterraneous communication with 
the Red sea ; others, more ingenious, are of opinion, 
that the daily evaporation is sufficient to carry off all 
the waters discharged into it, which is a simple solu- 
tion of the apparent paradox. See Jordan, p. 577, 
and Elath, p. 380. 

A small quantity of the water of the Dead sea, 
brought to Britain by Mr. Gordon of Clunie, at the 
req'uest of the late sir Joseph Banks, was analyzed 
by Dr. Marcet. It was perfectly transparent, and 
deposited no crystals on standing in close vessels. Its 



taste was peculiar, bitter, saline and pungent. Solu 
tions of silver produced from it a very copious pre- 
cipitate, showing the presence of marine acid. 
Oxalic acid instantly discovered lime in the water. 
Solutions of barytes produced a cloud, showing the 
existence of sulphuric acid. 

• The specific gravity was ascertained to be 1.211, 
which is somewhat less than what had been found 
by Lavoisier, being 1.240, in a jiortion submitted to 
his examination. From different experiments in the 
analyses which we refer to, the result proved the 
contents of 100 grains of water to be 

Muriate of lime .... 3.920 
Muriate of magnesia . . 10.246 
Muriate of soda .... 10.360 
Sulphate of lime .... 0.054 

24.580 



Whence it appears that this water contains about 
one fourth of its weight of salts in a state of perfect 
desiccation ; but if these salts be desiccated only at 
the temperature of 180° they will amount to 41 per 
cent, of the water. (Edin. Cyclop, vol. ii. p. 559.) 

The Dead sea is said, in sacred writ, to have arisen 
from the exercise of divine wrath against the cities 
of Sodom and Gomorrha, for their unexampled 
iniquity. Five cities, all governed by kings, were 
involved in the general destruction, then overwhelm 
ing the fertile vale of Siddim where they stood. 
Some writers, among whom is Mr. Home, (Introd. 
vol. iii. p. 71, 2d edit.) are of opinion that these cities 
were destroyed by lightning having set fire to the 
bituminous substances with which they suppose the 
place to have abounded ; or else to have been effected 
by a volcanic eruption in the neighborhood. This ■ 
notion, however, seems to have been taken up with- 
out sufficiently considering that the existence of 
these materials in the neighborhood of the vale of 
Siddim is incompatible with the description which 
the inspired writer gives of the nature of the soil 
about these parts. Nothing can be more certain, 
than that those places where brimstone and salt are 
found, are naturally most barren and unfruitful. 
Hence the sacred writers, to represent unfruitful and 
desolate places, describe them as abounding with 
these materials. (See Deut. xxix. 22 — 24 ; Judg. ix. 
45 ; Jer. xvii. 5, 6 ; Zeph. ii. 9.) On the contrary, 
the vale of Siddim is represented as a fruitful vale, 
well watered every where, and hence highly adapted 
to the pasturage of cattle ; (Gen. xiii. 10, 11.) for 
which reason it was chosen by Lot in preference to 
any other part of the land, Gen. xiii. 9. From 
which it appears that the sulphur or brimstone, arid 
the salt and saline matter, as well as the indications 
of subterraneous fires, which are to be found about 
the Dead sea now, are rather the effects of the de 
struction poured upon the spot, than the natural pro 
ductions of the place before that event. (Wells's 
Geog. vol. i. p. 154, 8vo.) 

[The general features of the Dead sea, and its 
shores, especially at the southern extremity, have 
been described in different articles. See, especially, 
Canaan, p. 233 ; Exodus, p. 414 ; Salt, valley or 
p. 804. R. 

The Tongue of the Sea, is that which runs into 
the land ; as we call that a tongue, or neck of land 
which advances into the sea, Josh. xv. 5 ; xviii. 19 
Isa. xi. 15. 



SEA 



[ 827 ] 



SEA 



The brazen or molten Sea, made by Solomon 




for the temple, was a vessel which stood in the tem- 
ple, and contained three thousand baths, according 
to 2 Ch ron. iv. 5, or two thousand baths, according 
to 1 Kings vii. 26. Calmet thinks this may be recon- 
ciled, by saying that the cup or bowl contained two 
thousand baths, and the foot, which was hollow, a 
thousand more. It stood on its foot now mentioned, 
besides which it was supported by twelve oxen of 
brass. 

Mr. Taylor expresses his dissatisfaction with the 
solution of the difficulty, relative to the capacity of 
this vessel, as just given from Calmet, and devotes a 
very considerable article (Fragm. 254) to its investi- 
gation ; of which we shall give the substance. 

Calmet, as we have seen, supposes that the bowl, 
or cavity, held 2000 baths, and the foot or hollow, 
1000 more, — but what could be the use of this hol- 
low ? Not, surely, to contain so much water ; it 
must have been for the purpose of furnishing it when 
it wanted ; but in this case, the cocks should be 
placed at the bottom of it, which they are not in Cal- 
met's engraving. 

In proposing his solution, Mr. Taylor offers the 
following remarks : 

(1.) No figure of this sea yet published has pre- 
served a proper inlet and outlet for the necessary 
body of water, which was not stagnant, but flowing, 
as is evident from two considerations : (1.) that most, 
if not all, of the Jewish purifications, were perform- 
ed over running water ; (2.) the Jerusalem Talmud 
and Maimonides agree, that a pipe of water came 
into the Brazen sea out of the well or fountain Etam, 
and constantly flowed from it, for the use of the 
priests who ministered at the altar. 

(2.) The construction of a fountain implies pipes, 
&c. for forcing the water upwards, and correspond- 
ing pipes for passing the water through (or at least 
among) the oxen, &c. around the basin. It seems 
piausible, therefore, he suggests, that the writer of 
the Chronicles does not merely state the quantity of 
water which the basin held, but that also which was 
necessary to work it, to keep it flowing as a foun- 
tain ; that which was necessary to fill it and its ac- 
companiments. This opinion he supports by point- 
ing out the different phraseology used in the two 
passages. In 1 Kings vii. 26, it contained, compre- 
hended, held 2000 baths ; but in 2 Chron. iv. 5, two 
words are used, one as before, "it held," the other, 
" it received." Now the writer, as he remarks, would 
not have used two words, adding a second word, 
merely to signify the same thing ; there was, then, a 
difference between this receiving and this holding. 
When playing as a fountain, and when all its parts 
were filled for that purpose, they, together with the 
sea itself recced 3000 baths ; whereas the sea exclu- 



sively held only 2000 baths when its contents were 
restricted to those of the circular basin : " It received, 
and held, three thousand baths." 

But being unwilling to rest upon mere assumption, 
Mr. Taylor refers to the " Fountain of the Lions," 
now extant in the Moorish palace at Granada, usually 
called by its Arabic name, Al-hambra, and which 
bears a curious resemblance to the brazen sea. 
. This fountain is composed of twelve lions, hold 
ing the place of Solomon's twelve oxen, " their hinder 
parts turned inward ; " and three toward each corner 
of the heavens, of course. Solomon's basin stood 
upon the oxen, and this basin is supported by pillars, 
which pillars enter the hinder parts of the animals, 
and through the pillars the water passes into the 
animals. Whether Solomon's basin had these pil- 
lars we know not ; but as it stood upon the oxen, (no 
doubt, at their hinder parts, which were turned 
inward,) the opportunity for communication by pipes 
is obvious. In the centre of this basin rises a 
smaller one, or cup, which is indeed , the fountain, 
and supplies water to the larger. It is impossible to 
determine whether Solomon's had any cup like this ; 
but, if it had, the difference between 2000 baths and 
3000 baths is accounted for at once, and with at least 
as much propriety as the " hollow foot " of Calmet 
accounts for it. Such a cup, adding nothing to the 
external measure of the basin, might be omitted in 
the account. However, not to insist on this, it must 
be recollected, says our author, that to supply the 
rising column of water, of considerable diameter, 
and, no doubt, of a majestic eievation ; to supply also 
the discharge of twelve lesser fountains from the 
mouths of the oxen — as in this instance from the 
mouths of the lions — together with what was con- 
tained in the various pipes, may well be thought to 
require half as much water as was held by the basin 
itself; so that the water necessary to supply the 
whole, or what was received by the entire fountain 
when at work, was 3000 baths ; while the basin 
alone held only 2000 baths. 

Without affecting to determine whether Solomon's 
basin had a cup, Mr. Taylor inquires, whether it is 
absolutely certain, from the arrangement of the pas- 
sages in the original, that the same brim which had 
knobs compassing it, " ten in eighteen inches," is the 
same as that which was " wrought like the brim of 
a cup, with flowers of lilies ? " The ornaments of 
the cup of Al-hambra are like those of flowers ; those 
of the basin are different ; might it not be so in Solo- 
mon's brazen sea ? 

This solution seems greatly preferable to the suppo- 
sition, that one writer means dry-measure baths, and 
the other liquid-measure baths ; or that the bath had 
varied in its quantity after the time of Solomon ; 
since the foundation of this explanation is matter of 
fact, and since the coincidence of ideas between 
Solomon's and the Moorish fountain is striking. (See 
Swinburne's Travels in Spain, p. 178.) 

The fountain may serve to answer another ques- 
tion, which has been raised on the manner of cast- 
ing Solomon's brazen sea — How such an immense 
body could be cast at once? This difficulty has 
ar ; sen from taking as certain that the sea was strictly 
a circle ; whereas the Arabian fountain, though 
circular, is divided into twelve faces, each face being 
itself a plane, and forming an angle with the next. 
If this were the fact also with respect to Solomon's 
sea, then we perceive how easily each face might be 
cast separately, and afterwards the whole be united ; 
notwithstanding which few persons, if any, would 



SEA 



[ 828 ] 



SEAL 



hesitate in describing it as a round basin This 
would determine, too, that Solomon's oxen stood, 
like the Moorish lions, one to each face, with equal 
intervals between them, all round the circumference, 
and not, as might be gathered from the description, 
three together, each three facing a cardinal point of 
the heavens, which has been the sentiment of the 
rabbins, and is adopted by Calmet and others. 

Is there an allusion to the brazen sea as a fountain^ 
in Zech. xiii. 1, " In that day there shall be a fountain 
opened, not merely to the priests in divine service in 
the temple, but it shall be free to the house of David, 
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem in general, to the 
whole nation, &c. for cleansing of sin and unclean- 
ness," &c. ? 

SEAH, a Hebrew measure, containing about two 
gallons and a half, liquid measure ; or about a peck 
and one pint, dry measure. 

SEAL, SEALING. The allusions and references 
to seals and sealing are very frequent in the sacred 
writings. Seals or signets were in use at a very 
early period ; and they were evidently of various 
kinds, so that the same expression, as it might at 
first sight be thought, has a diversity of meaning, 
determinable by its connection or application. 

The principal use of seals was for authentication, 
and they appear- to have been worn by the parties to 
whom they respectively belonged. The seal of a 
private person was usually worn on his finger, or on 
his wrist, or in a bracelet, being small in size. The 
seal of a governor was worn by him, or carried about 
his person, in the most secure manner possible. The 
royal seal was, (1.) personal, to the king ; (2.) public, 
to the state ; in other words, the seal of the king, and 
the seal of the crown : the first the king retained ; 
the latter he delivered to the proper officer of state. 
So far our own usages enable us to comprehend 
clearly the nature of this important instrument. 

The art of writing is so generally diffused among 
us, that we think meanly of an individual who has 
not acquired that noble qualification ; and we can 
scarcely conceive of a governor, or a king, who is 
destitute of the accomplishment, being fit for dis- 
charging the duties of his office. We must, therefore, 
recollect, that in the East the art of writing is prac- 
tised by a body of men whose skill is the mean of 
their livelihood, and who engross almost the whole of 
its practice. The civil governor may be considered 
as never authenticating by signature ; but to give 
validity to an order, he stampu it with an impression 
of the seal which he wears, and this sufficiently de- 
notes, to all who inspect it, that he has been informed 
of the contents, and has confirmed them by his stamp 
manual. This shows the vast consequence of this 
implement ; for, should an order, under the govern- 
or's seal, command the death of A. B. that person 
would be treated as a' criminal, and executed on the 
warrant thus authenticated. Or, should an order, 
thus authenticated, command the disbursement of a 
considerable sum of money, the treasurer would dis- 
burse it, and justify himself by this authority. So 
that, in fact, whoever possesses this seal possesses all 
the power of the real owner, all the resources of the 
country, &c. Hence we may in some degree esti- 
mate the incautious confidence of Judah, who gave 
his seal to Tamar, by which act he, with his property, 
was placed entirely in her power ; and we may also 
perceive the fidelity of Tamar, who made no iJl use 
of this authority. 

Seals were usually made of silver, but others were 
of inferior netals ; and some of precious stones. The 



form of their cutting must also De properly under- 
stood, because such seals as are in use among our- 
selves would very ill answer the purpose of stamp- 
ing or marking. Were they dipped in a thick kind 
of ink, (printer's ink, for example,) they would im- 
print on paper the mark of their flat superficies, 
leaving Hanks corresponding to the hollows which 
formed the letters. It is necessary, therefore, that 
seals which are to be thus dipped should have the 
inscriptions upon them raised, so that these inscrip- 
tions may hold the ink, and imprint on the paper the 
forms of the letters which compose them. In this 
manner the excise stamps on a variety of articles 
which pay duty in Britain are cut and conducted ; 
also post-marks on letters, letters for marking linen, 
and, universally, types used for printing. 

The nature of the inscription is another thing re- 
quiring notice. It is not enough that they consist of 
the initials of the owner's name ; they contain, espe- 
cially when they belong to a person of consequence, 
a description of his office, residence, &c. and, as a 
long line of ancestry is reckoned to increase the 
honor of an individual, this in the East is displayed 
on some of their seals with a parade (as we should 
call it) verging on affectation and ostentation. Some 
of them have additions which seldom occupy our 
cipher seals, such as inscriptions, mottoes, sentences, 
apophthegms of moral wisdom, and sentiments, 
pious or political ; which answer in some measure to 
the mottoes of our coats of arms, but extended to 
lengths which custom among us forbids. 

Mr. Taylor, from whom these remarks are abridged, 
has selected the following Scripture references to 
seals and sealing. 

We read in Est. viii. 8, " Write in the king's name, 
and seal it with the king's [seal] ring; for the writ- 
ing which is written in the king's name, and sealed 
with the king's ring, no man may reverse." (See 
also ver. 10.) It clearly appears that the king's ring 
[called njats tabaath] had a seal in it; this also is the 
name of Pharaoh's ring; and we read (chap. iii. 10.) 
that the king took off his ring from his hand, and 
gave it to Haman, empowering him thereby, at his 
pleasure, to authenticate his commands with the 
stamp of royal authority. 

Precisely the same action is that of Pharaoh with 
respect to Joseph: (Gen. xli. 42.) "And Pharaoh 
took off his ring [tabaath) from his hand, and gave 
it, and placed it on the hand of Joseph ; " from 
which moment the power of life and death, and of 
civil government, although vested in the king, was 
transferred to Joseph ; and since this ring is called by 
the same name as the former, we may justly conclude 
that it was of the same nature. But here arises a 
query. It is said these rings were worn on the hand 
— were they worn on the wrist ? or, being worn on 
the finger, are they said to have been worn on the 
hand ? 

We have, however, an earlier instance of a seal — 
and it should seem to be a seal-ring, as being the 
property of the wearer, known by an appropriate in- 
scription — in the instance of Judah, (Gen. xxxviii. 
18.) who left with Tamar his seal or signet, called 
-nn) hothdm. That this was a ring appears likely 
from the consideration of Judah's wearing it about 
his person. The word is used, too, in Jer. xxii. 24,. 
"Though Coniah, son of Jehoiakim, were a [hothdm, 
cnin) ring on my right hand ; " and we have in Dan. vi. 
17,(18, Heb.) the act of sealing described by it, " And 
a stone was brought and placed on the mouth of the 
den, and the king sealed it (rn^n) with his ring (^pnjrl 



SEAL 



[ 829 ] 



and the princes also sealed with their rings." Hence 
it appears that we have three words to denote a seal, 
or rather three different kinds of seals, denoted hy 
three very distinct and different words. (1.) Hothdm, 
which is used the earliest, we believe, in the instance 
of Judah. ; it denotes a seal of such a kind as a pri- 
vate person might carry about him. (2.) Tabaalh,,a 
seal which we find worn by kings, as by Pharaoh 
and Ahasuerus. (3.) Izkd, a seal employed both by 
the king and his princes : and therefore not appro- 
priate restrictively to royalty. It is not said that this 
article was worn about the person. 

Hothdm, Mr. Taylor takes to be a general word 
for seal ; and he thinks it means a precious stone, 
cut in the manner of seals. So we read, Exod. 
xxviii. 11 : " Two onyx stones, the work of an engra- 
ver in stone, (seal-cutter,) engraved, or cut in, with 
the engravings, incisions, of a hothdm." The same, 
(ver. 21.) "The names of the children of Israel 
(twelve) were to be upon the twelve stones of the 
pectoral, like the engravings of a hothdm ; each stone 
containing one name : " also ver. 36, " And thou shalt 
make a plate (flower) of pure gold, and shalt make 
incisions — openings ; that is, shalt engrave upon it 
like the engraving of a hothdm, " Holiness to the 
Lord." The same phrase (chap, xxxix. 6.) expresses 
that the onyx stones were engraven with the engrav- 
ings of a hothdm ; (also ver. 14.) and it deserves re- 
mark, how carefully these articles are described as 
being wrought with a peculiar, or at least with a dis- 
tinct, species of engraving. Now, certainly, there 
could have been no room for this distinction, if no 
more than one manner of engraving letters had been 
known at that time. This, we see, was cut into the 
metal, or jewel, or seal ; it was used in engraving the 
name of the proprietor on the seal belonging to him ; 
it was used by private persons ; and it was com- 
monly known and understood. This remark has its 
influence on the question of the origin of writing. 
But we read in Exod. xxxii. 16, that the tables of 
the law contained writing engraved (nnn) upon them. 
What kind of engraving was this ? It happens that 
the word occurs only in this place ; the LXX render 
it y.sxoXXafiuivt], which, if it be from the verb y.oXUnxia, 
may signify cut out, or rather chiselled, that is, hollow 
lines, wrought in stone by 'a chisel, (or something 
answering the purpose of that instrument,) and driven 
by a mallet, as y.olUnxr^ is understood to signify ; in- 
strumentum lapicidarum malleo simile, a hammer. 
This, possibly, was the idea intended to be conveyed 
by those interpreters ; at least it is the idea which 
arises from their rendering. But the apostle seems 
to have been dissatisfied with the term, for he says, 
(2 Cor. iii. 7.) " If the ministration of death written 
with letters engraven on stones [irTsrvnaniivij hl.l-doic) 
was glorious, he has preferred a word of more 
general signification ; formed, imaged, typified, in any 
manner. Under this uncertainty the English word 
chiselled may express this manner till a better is sug- 
gested. The result of these inquiries is, that the de- 
vices, or marks, of certain seals, were incuse cut into 
the metal ; while those of others were raised for the 
purpose of stamping. 

Among the representations of seals collected by 
Mr. Taylor, is one from Tavernier, being that of the 
first minister of state of some oriental prince. The 
seal, in the original, is set on the back of the patent, 
no man daring to affix his seal on the same side as 
the king's ; and this Mr. Taylor thinks may give the 
true bearing of the apostle's expression : (2 Tim. ii. 19.) 
The foundation of God standeth sure, having this motto 



around the seal — this inscription, " The xju dJcnoiveth 
them who are Ms." And this inscription is on the en- 
closed, the folded, side of the patent, not visible to us ; 
whereas, on the open side, the exposed part of the 
patent, is the counter inscription, " Let all who name 
the name of Christ depart from iniquity ;" — this char- 
acter is conspicuous to all, and, as it were, a continu- 
ation of the former, its counterpart, and in perfect 
coincidence with it. The notion of a writing fully, 
amply confirmed, (that is, a royal patent,) suits this 
passage, he remarks, extremely well, even better than 
that of a foundation stone ; for how can the inscrip- 
tion on such a stone be open for inspection ? or why 
two mottoes ? and, as appears, one on one side of it, 
the other on the other side ? The security of God — 
his bond abideth sure, absolutely immovable ; its seal- 
motto is, "The Lord knows, approves, them who are 
his." This idea of a seal on the back of a writing, 
seems to be that of the apostle John, also : (iii. 33.) 
" He who hath received his (the Messiah's) testimony 
has set to, added, his seal, vouching — not properly 
confirming — the veracity of God." 

Circumcision was a seal, or a token in confirmation 
of a previous engagement. The Corinthians were 
seals of the apostle's ministry, conclusive evidences, 
like seals to a deed. In general the gifts of God, the 
Holy Spirit, &c. were tokens of validity, given for 
confirmation of a delegated power to parties possess- 
ing them. 

Sealing. — It is necessary to observe, that the meth- 
od of sealing, mentioned in the sacred writings, does 
not restrictively imply a waxen seal, or a seal for evi- 
dence only, but to close up, to secure, by some solid, or 
glutinous matter. So Deut. xxxii. 34, "Is not this 
laid up in store with me, and sealed up [closedup, se- 
cured, for preservation] among my treasures?" In 
Job xxxviii. 14, a seal is mentioned as being made of 
clay ; which, indeed, is customary in the East ; and 
in Jer. xxxii. 14, a similar practice seems referred to, 
with regard to a certain deed which was enclosed in 
a roll of some strong substance, pitched over, to pro- 
tect it from water, or surrounded with a coat of firm 
clay, to the same purpose, and placed at the bottom of 
an earthen vessel ; while a writing not thus enclosed, 
or coated over, was laid among a quantity of dry mat- 
ters, "stones, bricks, or sea-sand," above the vessel. 

That the word translated seeding may properly be 
understood of,closing, or cementing, which is allied to 
sealing in the East, appears in part from the following 
extract from Niebuhr: (vol. ii. p. 261.) — " They sign 
their letters with a sort of cipher, to prevent the pos- 
sibility of counterfeiting their signatures: at least the 
great and the learned do so. . . Their letters folded are 
an inch in breadth, and the leaves are pasted together 
at one end. They cannot seal them, for wax is so 
soft in hot countries, that it cannot retain an impies- 
sion. See further under Clay, and Book, p. 202. 

SEAT. The seat of Moses, on which the scribes 
and Pharisees sat, expresses the authority of the doc- 
tors of the law, and their office of teaching. Our Lord 
commanded that they should be heard, and respect- 
ed ; but he forbade that their actions should be made 
precedents, or themselves taken for examples. The 
seat of the scornerj mentioned in the first Psalm, al- 
ludes to the abominable discourse, and the licentious 
manners, of libertines, who corrupt equally by their 
scandalous example and conduct, as by their loose 
principles. The Hebrew says scorners, revilers, 
those pretended free-thinkers, who deride the sim- 
plicity of plain and honest minds. Solomon often 
speaks of them in his Proverbs, and carefully guards 



SEE 



[ 830 ] 



SEI 



his pupil against their dangerous tongues, Prov. i. 22 ; 
iii. 34 ; ix. 7, 8, 12 ; xiii. 1 ; xiv. 6 ; xv. 12 ; xix. 25 ; xx. 
1, &c. The seat of honors, (Ecclus. vii. 4.) is the 
chief places in the synagogues, which the Pharisees 
assumed ; (Matt, xxiii. 6.) the seat prepared for Job in 
the assemblies ; (Job xxix. 7.) the seat or throne of the 
king, and that of God, are clear enough. The throne 
belongs to God, and to the king ; the seat of honor to 
the friends of the king, and to great men. (Compare 
Bed.) 

SEBA, or Saba, son of Cush, Gen. x. 7. See un- 
der Sabeans, I. 

SEBASTE, see Samaria. 

SEBAT, the fifth month of the Jewish civil year ; 
and the eleventh of the ecclesiastical year ; from the 
new moon of February to that of March ; or, accord- 
ing to others, corresponding to our January, O. S. 
(See Month.) They begin in this month to number 
the years of the trees they planted, the fruits of which 
were esteemed impure till the fourth year, Zech i. 7. 
See Jewish Calendar, at the end of the volume. 

SECACAH, a southern city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 
61.) in the desert. 

SECRET, see Mystery. 

SECT, a Latin word which has the same signifi- 
cation as the Greek word Haresis, though the sound 
is not so offensive to us. Among the Jews there 
were four sects, distinguished by their practices and 
opinions, yet united in communion with each other, 
and with the body of their nation, viz. the Pharisees, 
the Sadducees, the Essenians, and the Herodians. 
(See the respective articles.) Christianity was origi- 
nally considered as a new sect of Judaism ; hence 
Tertullus, accusing Paul , before Felix, says, that he 
was chief of the seditious sect of the Nazarenes ; 
(Acts xxiv. 5.) and the Jews of Rome said to the 
apostle, when he arrived in this city, that "as to this 
sect, it was every where spoken against," Acts xxviii. 
22. Peter (2 Epist. ii. 1—10.) foretells that false 
teachers should arise among them, " who privily 
shall bring in damnable heresies, (or sects,) even de- 
nying the Lord that bought thein, and bring upon 
themselves swift destruction." He adds, that these 
people, being great lovers of themselves, are not afraid 
to introduce new sects ; where the word sect is taken 
in the same sense as heresy. 

Among the Greeks, the philosophers were divided 
into different sects ; as the Academics, the Stoics, the 
Peripatetics, the Cynics, the Epicureans, &c. The 
Jews, in imitation of the Greeks, began to divide 
themselves into sects, about the time of the Macca- 
bees ; and it seems as if the Corinthians had a mind 
to introduce something like this into Christianity, 
when they boasted, I am a disciple of Peter, I of 
Paul, 1 of'Apollos, 1 Cor. i. 12 ; iii. 22, &c. 

SECUNDUS, a disciple of Paul, (Acts xx. 4.) but 
we know nothing of his life, further than that he was 
of Tbessalonica, and followed the apostle from 
Greece into Asia, A. D. 58. 

SEED, the prolific principle of future life, is taken 
in Scripture for posterity, whether of man, beasts, 
trees, &c. all of which are said to be sown and to 
fructify, as the means of producing a succeeding 
generation, Jer. xxxi. 27. Hence' seed denotes an in- 
dividual, as Seth, in the stead of Abel, (Gen. iv. 25. 
et al.freq.) and the whole line of descent ; as the seed 
of Abraham, of Jacob, &c. the seed-royal, &c. much 
in the same acceptation as children. The seed of 
Abraham denotes not only those who descend from 
him, by natural issue, but those who imitate his 
character, (Rom. iv. 16.) for, if he be "th/? father of 



the faithful," then the faithful are his seed, by char- 
acter, independent of natural descent ; and hence the 
Messiah is said to see his seed, though in fact, Jesus 
left no children by descent, but by grace or conver- 
sion only, Isa. liii. 10. This is occasionally restricted 
to one chief, or principal, seed, one who by excel- 
lence is the seed ; as the seed of the woman, (Gen. 
iii. 15 ; Gal. iii. 16.) the seed of Abraham, the seed of 
David, meaning the most excellent descendant of the 
woman, of Abraham, of David. Or, understand by 
the "seed of the woman," the offspring of the female 
sex only ; as verified in the supernatural conception 
of Jesus, (Matt. i. 18, &c. ; Luke i. 26, &c.) and of 
which the birth of Abraham's seed (Isaac) was a 
figure. 

Seed is taken figuratively for the word of God ; 
(Luke viii. 5 ; 1 Pet. i. 23.) for a disposition becoming 
a divine origin, (1 John iii. 9.) and for truly pious 
persons, Matt. xiii. 38. 

SEEING, To SEE. This is said, not only of the 
sense of vision, by which we perceive external ob- 
jects, but also of inward perception, of the knowledge 
of spiritual things, and even of the supernatural sight 
of hidden things; of prophecy, visions, ecstacies. 
Whence it is that those persons were formerly called 
seers, who afterwards were called Nabi, or prophets ; 
and that prophecies were called visions. See 
Prophet. 

The verb to see, is used to express all kinds of 
sensations. It is said (Exod. xx. 18.) that the Israel- 
ites saw voices, thunder, lightnings, the sound of the 
trumpet, and the whole mountain of Sinai covered 
with clouds or smoke. To see good, or goods, is to 
enjoy them; "I believed to see the goodness of the 
Lord in the land of the living," Ps. xxvii. 13, i. e. I 
hope that God will bring me back into my own coun- 
try, into the land of Judea, where I shall live in peace 
and prosperity. Job says, (vii. 7.1 " I shall die, and 
see no more ; I shall no longer enjoy the good things 
of this world." And the psalmist says, (Ps. iv. 6.) 
" There be many that say, who will show us any 
good ? " that is, to enjoy any happiness in this life. 

To see the face of the king, is to be of his council, 
his household, or to approach him. The kings of 
Persia, to maintain their respect, and majesty, seldom 
permitted their subjects to see them, and hardly ever 
showed themselves in public; none but their most 
intimate friends, or their familiar domestics, had the 
honor of beholding their faces, Esth. i. 10, 14. Fre- 
quent allusion is made to this custom in Scripture, 
which mentions the seven principal angels that see 
the face of the Lord, and appear in his presence. 
See Rev. i. 4, and Angel. 

SEER, see Prophet. 

I. SEGUB, son of Hezron, father of Jair, 1 Chron. 
ii. 21, 22. 

II. SEGUB, a son of Hiel of Bethel, who, having 
undertaken to rebuild Jericho, was punished by the 
death of Abiram, his first-born son, who died as he 
was laying the foundation ; and by the death of Se- 
gub his younger son, when he hung up the gates of 
the citv, 1 Kings xvi. 34. See Hiel, and Jericho. 

I. SEIR, the Horite, whose dwelling was east and 
south of the Dead sea, in the mountains of Seir, 
where at first reigned his descendants, Gen. xxxvi. 
21—30 ; 1 Chron. i. 38, &c. The posterity of Esau 
afterwards possessed the mountains of Seir, and Esau 
himself dwelt there when Jacob returned from Mes- 
opotamia, Gen. xxxii. 3 ; xxxiii. 14 ; xxxvi. 8, 9. 
Moses informs us, (Deut. ii. 12.) that Esau made war 
with the Horites, and destroyed them. Seir must 



SEL 



[ 831 ] 



SEN 



nave lived very early, since his children were already 
a powerful and numerous people in the time of Abra- 
ham, before the birth of Isaac, when Chedorlaomer 
and his confederates came to make war against the 
kings of Pentapolis, Gen. xiv. 6. 

II. SEIR, a mountainous tract, stretching from the 
southern extremity of the Dead sea, to the gulf of 
Ezion-Geber. Moimt Hor formed part of Seir, and 
the only part that retained its original name. Mount 
Seir is more particularly described under the article 
Exodus, p. 415. 

There would seem to have been a mountain on the 
frontiers of Judah and Dan, bearing the name of 
Seir, Josh. xv. 10. 

SELA, the name of a place mentioned in 2 Kings 
xiv. 7; where it is said that Amaziah, king of Juaah, 
slew ten thousand men of Edorn, in the valley of 
Salt, and took Sela by war, and called the name of 
it Joktheel. Sela, in Hebrew, signifies a rock, and 
answers to the Greek word Petra ; whence it has 
been reasonably inferred that the city bearing this 
name, and which was the celebrated capital of Ara- 
bia Petrea, is the place mentioned by the sacred his- 
torian. There are two places, however, which con- 
tend for the honor of having been the capital of the 
Nabatheans, or Agarenians — Kerek, and Wady 
Mousa ; but the extensive ruins which have been dis- 
covered in the latter place, has induced most writers 
to consider this as the site of the ancient Petra, though 
in opposition to the traditions of the people who in- 
habit the country. Mr. Mansford has followed those 
writers who think that both Kerek and Wady Mousa 
appear to have been called Petra by the Greeks, and 
each to have been the capital of the country, though 
in different ages. In proof that the former was so 
called, he remarks, that when the expedition of the 
MacedonianGreeks, which Antigonus sent against the 
Nabathsei, under the command of his son Demetrius, 
first penetrated into this country, we are informed by 
Diodorus that this people placed their old men, 
women and children, upon a steep rock, having only 
one access to the summit, and situated three hundred 
stadia beyond the lake Asphaltites. Now, both the 
description and position of this place agree with 
Kerek, as described by Burckhardt; while the city 
of Wady Mousa is twice the above-mentioned dis- 
tance from the lake, and stood in a deep glen, instead 
of on a precipitous rock. He conceives, however, 
that in process of time, and probably from increase 
of commerce, or for better security, or as lying in a 
more direct route from the Red sea to the Mediter- 
ranean, the new city was built in Wady Mousa, the 
probable site of a former city of the Edomites, to 
which the name of the old capital was transferred, 
and with equal propriety, for here, too, all was rock ; 
while the old city was distinguished by its indigenous 
name of Kerek, moulded by the Greeks into Charax. 

The remains in the valley of Wady Mousa, which 
are described by Burckhardt and Legh, and by cap- 
tains Irby and Mangles, attest the splendor of the 
former city. At the western end of the valley, the 
road ascends to the high platform on which mount 
Hor and the tomb of Aaron stand ; in the vicinity of 
which Josephus and Eusebius agree in placing the 
ancient Petra. See a full description of Wady Mousa 
under Canaan, p. 238, 239. 

SELAH, a musical term, which occurs frequently 
in the Psalms and is found also in Hab. iii.3, 9, 13. It 
usually occurs at the end of a period or strophe ; but 
sometimes at the end only of a clause. According to 
Gesenius, this difficult word may be explained in 



three different ways ; either directly, as symphony, (so 
the Sept. SiuipaXfia,) or as pause of the song, when the 
instruments strike up, i. e. symphony, as before ; or 
again, some suppose the word to consist of the initial 
letters of three words, signifying da capo, repeat, etc. 
This last mode Gesenius rejects, but does not decide 
in respect to the others. (See his Lexicon.) R. 

I. SELEUCI A, a name given by king Seleucus to 
the city of Gadara, which see. 

II. SELEUCIA, a city of Syria, on the Mediter- 
ranean, near where the river Orontes falls into it. 
Paul and Barnabas embarked at Seleucia, for Cy- 
prus, Acts xiii. 4. The coins of this city are remark- 
able for exhibiting four different eras : first, that of 
the Seleucidse, in the year of Rome, 442 ; that of its 
own laws, 645 of Rome, under the reign of Antio- 
chus VIII.; that of Pompey, in the year of Rome, 690 ; 
and that of Augustus, in the year of Rome, 723. 

SELLING. The Hebrews might sell their own 
liberty ; and fathers might sell that of their children, 
Lev. xxv. 39. If your brother sells himself to you 
because of his poverty, you shall not oppress him, 
nor sell him again as a slave : he shall abide with you 
only as a workman for hire. Maimonides says, that 
a Hebrew could not sell his liberty, but in extreme 
necessity. Exod. xxi. 7, "If a man sell his daughter 
to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the man- 
servants do." Her master shall not dismiss her, as a 
man-slave is dismissed at the sabbatical year. He 
shall take her as his wife, or shall marry her to his 
son. If he care to do neither of these, he shall set 
her at liberty." The Hebrews sold also insolvent 
debtors, and their children, Matt, xviii. 25 ; 2 Kings 
iv. 1. To sell freemen for slaves, was a crime 
which the law punished with death, Exod. xxi. 16; 
Deut. xxiv. 7. Esau sold his birthright ; and for 
this, it appears, Paul calls him profane, Heb. xii. 16. 
"Thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of 
the Lord," said the prophet Elijah to Ahab, (] Kings 
xxi. 20, 25.) and the wicked Israelites mentioned in 
1 Mac. i. 16, sold themselves as slaves to sin, being 
subject to their evil inclinations, as slaves are to their 
masters. These expressions were familiar to the He- 
brews, and hence Paul, speaking of himself, or rather 
of mankind in his own person, says, (Rom. vii. 14.) 
" I am carnal, sold under sin ; the slave of concupis- 
cence and of sin by nature, but set at libeity by the 
grace of Jesus Christ." The difference is, that Ahab 
sold himself ; that is, freely, voluntarily ; whereas 
Paul was sold ; that is, against his will, by force, by 
constraint of circumstances, not of choice. 

SEM, see Shem. 

SEMOOM, see Wind 

SENIR, mount Hermon Avas so called by the 
Amorites, Deut. hi. 8,9; 1 Chron. v. 23. 

SENNACHERIB, king of Assyria, son and suc- 
cessor of Shalmaneser, began to reign, A. M. 3290; 
and reigned but four years, 3294. Hezekiah, king 
of Judah, having shaken off' the yoke of the Assyri- 
ans, by which Ahaz, his father, had suffered under 
Tiglath-pileser, Sennacherib marched an armyagainst 
him, and took all the strong cities of Judah. Heze- 
kiah, seeing he had nothing left but Jerusalem, which 
he, perhaps, found it difficult to preserve, sent am- 
bassadors to Sennacherib, then at the siege of La- 
chish, saying, " I have committed a fault ; but with- 
draw your army out of my territories, and I will bear 
whatever you shall impose upon me." Seunacherib 
demanded three hundred talents of silver, and thirty 
talents of gold, which Hezekiah remitted to him. 
Sennacherib received the tribute, but refused to leave 



SEP 



L 832 ] 



SEPULCHRE 



Judea. He sent from Lachish to Jerusalem three of 
his chief officers, Tartau, Rab-saris and Rab-shakeh, 
to summon Hezekiah to surrender ; in doing which 
they uttered many blasphemies against God. In the 
mean time Sennacherib quitted the siege of Lachish, 
and went in person to that of Libnah, whence he 
wrote to Hezekiah, urging him to return to his duty, 
and to follow the example of so many other nations 
that had submitted. Hezekiah entreated the Lord, 
who sent a destroying angel against the Assyrian 
army, and slew in one night 185,000 men, 2 Kings 
xix. 35. Sennacherib returned with all speed to 
Nineveh, where, while he was paying adorations to 
his god Nisroch, in the temple, his two sons Adram- 
melech and Sharezer slew him, and fled into Arme- 
nia. Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead, A.M. 
3294, 2 Kings xix ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 21. 

Most commentators are of opinion, that the army 
of Sennacherib was destroyed before Jerusalem, pre- 
paring for the siege of this city. But Calmet seems 
to think, from Isa. x. 24—26, that he did not form 
the sie; T e of Jerusalem ; but that this calamity befell 
him in his march against Tirhakah. 

The Babylonian Talmud affirms, that lightning 
was the agent employed upon this occasion ; and the 
Targums, or Chaldee paraphrases, are quoted, as as- 
serting the same thing. Other writers believe, that 
the Assyrians perished by means of a hot wind, 
which God caused to blow against them ; a wind 
veiy common in those parts, (Thevenot, Voyage, 
part i. lib. ii. 20 ; part ii. lib. i. 20 ; ii. 16.) and which 
makes great ravages, stifling thousands of persons in 
a moment, as often happens to those great caravans 
of Mahometans, which go pilgrimages to Mecca. 
Jeremiah (li. 1.) calls it a destroying wind ; and the 
threatening by Isaiah, (xxxvii. 7.) to Sennacherib, 
"Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall 
hear a rumor," seems also to allude to it. [Many in- 
terpreters have thus referred the catastrophe of 
Sennacherib to the simoom, whose destructive rav- 
ages have been long celebrated by oriental travellers. 
More recent and accurate accounts, however, have 
shown the fallacy of these stories respecting the 
simoom ; and this hypothesis, therefore, falls to the 
ground. See Winds. R. 

SEPHER, probably the coast of Southern Arabia, 
Yemen. (See under Mesha.) The sons of Joktan had 
their dwelling "from Mesha, as thou goest unto Se- 
phar, a mount of the east," Gen. x. 30. 

SEPHARVAIM. When Shalmaneser, king of 
Assyria, carried away Israel from Samaria to beyond 
the Euphrates, he sent people in their stead into Pal- 
estine, among whom were the Sepharvaim, 2 Kings 
xvii. 24, 31. [That Sepharvaim was a small district 
under its own king, is apparent from 2 Kings xix. 
13 ; Isa. xxxvii. 13. It may with most probability be 
assigned to Mesopotamia ; because it is named along 
with other places in that region ; and because Ptole- 
my (v. 18.) mentions a city of a similar name, Sip- 
phara, as the most southern of Mesopotamia. Below 
this city, he adds, the Euphrates divides itself into 
two branches, of which the eastern goes to Seleucia, 
and the western to Babylon. Probably the Sipphara 
of Ptolemy is the city of the Sipparenes mentioned by 
Abydemes, for whom he says Nebuchadnezzar 
caused a lake to be dug, and the water of the Eu- 
phrates turned into it. (Euseb. Prsep. Evanst- ix. 
14.) R. 

SEPTUAGINT, the most ancient Greek version 
of the Scriptures. For a particular account of this, 
see the article Versions. 



SEPULCHRE, a place of burial. The Hebrews 
were always very careful about the burial of their 
dead. Many of their sepulchres were hewn in rocks ; 
as that bought by Abraham for the burying of Sarah ; 
(Gen. xxiii. 4, 6.) those of the kings of Judah and Is- 
rael ; and that in which our Saviour was laid on 
mount Calvary. Sometimes their graves were dug 
in the ground ; and commonly without their towns. 
Our Saviour (Matt, xxiii. 27.) says, that the Pharisees 
were like whited sepulchres, which appeared fine 
without, but inwardly were full of rottenness and cor- 
ruption ; and Lightfoot has shown, that every year, 
on the fifteenth of February, the Hebrews whitened 
them anew. In Luke (xi. 44.) Christ compares the 
Pharisees to "graves which appear not, so that men 
walk over them without being aware of it;" not 
knowing that these places are unclean ; so that they 
contract an involuntary impurity. See Burul. 

Mr. Taylor has devoted several Fragments to a 
consideration of the ancient sepulchres of various 
nations, and especially to the sepulchre of our Saviour 
on mount Calvary. He has collected much curious, 
and, to the antiquarian and historian, much useful 
information ; but a great deal of it is useless for the 
elucidation of Scripture. We shall make such selec- 
tions as the nature of this work requires. 

It is more than possible, that if we could discrimi- 
nate accurately the meaning of words employed hy 
the sacred writers, we should find them adapted with 
a surprising precision to the subjects on which they 
treat. Of this the various constructions of sepulchres 
might, probably, afford convincing evidence ; and, 
perhaps, it is a leading idea in passages where it has 
not hitherto been observed. The numerous refer- 
ences in Scripture to sepulchres supposed to be well 
peopled, would be misapplied to nations which 
burned their dead, as the Greeks and Romans did ; 
or to those who committed them to rivers, as the 
Hindoos ; or to those who exposed them to birds of 
prey, as the Parsees : nor would the phrase "to go 
down to the sides of the pit " be strictly applicable to, 
or be, properly, descriptive of, that mode of burial 
which prevails among ourselves. Single graves, ad- 
mitting one body only, in width, or in length, have 
no openings on the sides to which other bodies may 
be said to go down : nor are such excavated apart- 
ments customary in this country, as are found in 
the East. 

Nor is it unlikely that the mode of burial is used as 
the means of distinction among certain nations or 
countries, by the sacred writers; as might be in 
stanced in an almost singular passage of the prophet 
Ezekiel, chap, xxxii. 

Son of man, lament over the multitude of Egypt, 

And describe them as cast down, even herself, 

And the daughters of the famous nations, 

Unto the land of the regions below, 

With them that go down to the pit. 

Why wast thou so sprightly ? in hopes of escaping, 

Down ; and lie with the uncircumcised : 

In the midst of those slain by the sword, fall thou ; 

To the sword she is given ; 

Drag her down ; and all her multitude shall follow. 
The gods-heroes from the midst of the shades address 

him, with his coadjutors. 
(They have (long since) gone down : 
They lie uncircumcised, slain with the sword.) 

Ashur is there, and all her assembly : 
Encircling her in her sepulchral cavern ; 



SEPULCHRE 



[ 833 ] 



SEPULCHRE 



All of them slain ; having fallen by the sword : 
To whom are assigned each his grave, in the sides of 
the pit; 

So was her assembly around her sepulchre 
(All of them slain, having fallen by the sword,) 
Who communicated terror in the land of the living. 
There is Elam and all her crowd, encircling her sep- 
ulchre ; 

(All of them slain, having fallen by the sword ;) 
Who have gone down uncircumcised into the regions 
below : 

They communicated their terror in the land of the 
living, 

Yet have they borne their shame with them that go 

down to the pit. 
In the midst of the slain they have set her place of 

repose, 

In the midst of her crowd, encircling her in her se- 
pulchral cavern ; 

All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword ; 

Although they caused terror in the land of the living, 

Yet have they borne their shame with them that go 
down to the pit. 

In the midst of the slain his place is appointed. 

There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude, 
Her surrounding graves, her sepulchres ; 
(All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword ;) 
Though they communicated their terror in the land 
of the living, 

Yet they shall not lie with the heroes, the fallen of 

the uncircumcised, 
Who [Meshech, Tubal] are gone down to the shades, 

each with his weapons of war, 
And they have given to their swords places under 

their heads ; 

But their iniquities shall lie heavy upon their bones : 
Though the terror of the mighty in the land of the 
living. 

Yea, thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncir- 
cumcised, 

And shalt lie with those who are slain by the sword. 

There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, 
Which with their heroisms are given places beside 

those slain with the sword : 
They shall lie down with the uncircumcised, 
Even with them that go down to the pit. 

There are the princes of the North [Zephon] all of 
them, 

And all the Zidonians ; 

Which are gone down with the slain, in their terrors, 
Notwithstanding their heroisms they are ashamed ; 
And they lie uncircumcised, among those slain by the 
sword, 

And bear their confusion with those that go down to 
the pit. 

These shall Pharaoh see, 

And shall be comforted over all his multitude, slain 

by the sword, 
Pharaoh and all his army, 
Saith the Lord God : 

Because I have communicated my terror in the land 
of the living ; 

And have caused him to lie in the midst of the uncir- 
cumcised, 

Among them who are slain by the swore, 
Pharaoh, and all his multitude, 
Saith the Lord Cod. 

105 



The changes of persons, and genders, and phrases 
in these verses are extremely perplexing, and equally 
unaccountable ; and a strict representation of the 
passage, verbatim, would be less intelligible than this 
looser version. Here we have Ashur or Assyria, 
Elam or Persia, Meshech and Tubal, the present 
Muscovy and Siberia, also Edom, the Zidonians and 
the countries adjacent, north of Sidon, perhaps as far 
as Antioch, &c. (certainly, not intending the north 
of Europe,) — and though the condition of these is 
described, generally, in nearly the same terms, yet 
there are remarkable variations introduced by the 
prophet. From the sepulchres of the kings, yet ex- 
tant in Egypt, we know that the sovereigns were, as 
we may say, buried in society, many sepulchres 
encircling the area, and several chambers in one 
sepulchre. Of the Assyrian sepulchres we know 
but little, that country being almost new to our re 
searches ; yet we have every reason to confide in the 
correctness of the prophet, who speaks of the sides 
of the pit (that is, the cells in those sides) as being 
inhabited. Persia, we know, cutsepulchres in rocks, 
of which evidences are yet remaining. Not so 
(probably) Meshech and Tubal ; they threw up vast 
barrows over their valiant leaders ; their followers 
who fell with them shared in the same highly raised 
mound : they made a point of honor of burying their 
weapons and military ornaments with the dead ; and 
their swords are found under the heads of their skel- 
etons to this day : — Sitaque arma viro, as Virgil 
speaks. Dr. Clarke's notices (and views) of the nu- 
merous barrows in the steppes of Russia, are suffi- 
cient evidence on this subject ; and the phrase " In- 
iquities (ravages, perhaps) shall lie heavy on their 
bones," is an allusion to the weight of earth under 
which they are deposited. It is the very contrary of 
the ancient wish ; " Light lie the earth upon thee." 
The sepulchres of Edom are illustrated by what our 
countrymen have found in the ancient Petra. The 
princes of the north of Syria and of Asia Minor have 
left wonderful proofs of their powers in excavating 
rocks, of which every day affords new discoveries. 
(See the publications of the Dilettanti Society of 
modern Travellers — Dr. Clarke, Burckhardt, Legh, 
Irby and Mangles, Beaumont, Walpole, &c.) Those 
of the Zidonians have been described by Maundrell, 
Shaw, and others. Dr. Shaw describes the cryptai 
at Latikea, or Laodicea, in the northern part of Syria, 
as being sepulchral chambers, hollowed in the rocky 
ground, some of which are ten, others twenty or 
thirty, feet square, but not proportionate in height. 
The descent into them is artfully contrived. A range 
of narrow cells, wide enough to receive a sarcophagi, 
and long enough for two or three, runs along the 
sides of most of them, and appear to be the only pro- 
vision that has been made for the reception of the 
dead. . . . The sepulchral chambers near Jebilee, 
Tortosa, and the Serpent mountain, together with 
those that are commonly called the Royal sepulchres 
at Jerusalem, are all of them exactly of the same 
workmanship and contrivance with the cryptse of 
Latikea. 

It is somewhat remarkable that the prophet omits 
the sovereign of Babylon. Was this because Baby- 
lon, being built on marshy ground, afforded no op- 
portunity for excavating sepulchres in rocks? It does 
not appear that such sepulchres could be formed in 
that city. What places of interment have hitherto 
been discovered, are in erections above ground. Mr. 
Rich mentions them ; but he found them in masses 
of brick work. Still, it is impossible to overlook the 



SEPULCHRE 



t £34 j 



SEPULCHRE 



sublime ode of the prophet Isaiah, addressed to this 
potentate, an ode which has been often admired for 
its sublimity, chap. xiv. The prophet speaks of the 
king of Babylon as brought down to hell [the shades 
below] and to the sides of the pit. This, however, 
may be principally a poetical antithesis to the pre- 
ceding verse, which records his desire of ascending 
above the heights of the clouds, and emulating the 
Most High. And, unless we take the passage in this 
qualified sense, we shall find it scarcely possible to 
reconcile it with the enlarged particulars in the fol- 
lowing verses : — 

All the kings of the nations — all of them 
Lie in glory ; every one in his own house — sepul- 
chre, 

But thou art cast out of thy grave, like an abomi- 
nable branch ; 

Like the raiment of the slain, thrust through with 
a sword, 

That go down to the stones of the pit ; 
As a carcass that is trodden under feet, 
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial. 

The strongest possible opposition is here intended 
by this elevated writer. Taking the sepulchre of 
Pharaoh Necho, as described by Belzoni, for an in- 
stance of the posthumous glory of the kings of the 
nations, of the house appertaining to each, respect 
ively, we feel more sensibly the degradation of the 
monarch whose preponderance had been terrific to 
all his neighbors, and whose ambition urged him to 
aspire at divinity. The personification of Sheol, the 
region of the dead, appears to be more than ever 
striking ; with the company roused to meet this dead 
monarch. The difference of personages imagined 
by these prophets as addressing the descending 
kings, would justify the investigation of critics, but 
demands a discussion too extensive for this place. 

Dr. Clarke discovered, and has fully described, a 
number of sepulchres similar to those spoken of by 
Maundrell, which extend along the side of the ravine 
to the south-west and west of mount Sion. He de- 
scribes them as a series of subterranean chambers, 
hewn with considerable art, each containing one or 
many repositories for the dead, like cisterns carved 
in the rock, upon the sides of the chambers. The 
doors are so low, that to look into any one of them, 
it is necessary to stoop, and in some instances to 
creep on hands and knees. (See Luke xxiv. 12.) 

Mr. Maundrell's description of the sepulchre called 
that of the kings of Judah, may be useful for illus- 
trating some passages of Scripture : — ■ 

" The next place we came to was those famous 
grots called the sepulchres of the kings ; but for what 
reason they go by that name is hard to resolve ; for it 
is certain none of the kings, either of Israel or Judah, 
were buried here, the Holy Scripture assigning other 
places for their sepulchres : unless it may be thought 
perhaps that Hezekiah was here interred, and that 
these were the sepulchres of the sons of David, men- 
tioned 2 Chron. xxxii. 33. Whoever was buried 
here, this is certain, that the place itself discovers so 
great an expense, both of labor and treasure, that we 
may well suppose it to have been the work of kings. 
You approach to it at the east side through an entrance 
cut out of the natural rock, which admits you into an 
open court of about forty paces square, cut down into 
the rock with which it is encompassed instead of 
walls. On the south side of the court is a portico 
nine paces long and four broad, hewn likewise out 



of the natural rock. This has a kind of architrave 
running along its front, adorned with sculpture, of 
fruits and flowers, still discernible, but by time much 
defaced. At tne tnd of the portico, on the left hand, 
you descend to the passage into the sepulchres. The 
door is now so obstructed with stones and rubbish, 
that it is a thing of some difficulty to creep through 
it. But within you arrive in a large, fair room, about 
seven or eight yards square, cut out of the natural 
rock. Its sides and ceiling are so exactly square, and 
its angles so just, that no architect, with levels and 
plummets, could build a room more regular. And 
the whole is so firm and entire, that it may be called 
a chamber hollowed out of one piece of marble. 
From this room, you pass into, I think, six more, one 
within another, all of the same fabric with the first. 
Of these the two innermost are deeper than the rest, 
having a second descent of about six or seven steps 
into them. In +ery one of these rooms, except the 
first, were coffLib of stone placed in niches in the 




sides of the chambers. They had been at first cov- 
ered with handsome lids, and carved with garlands ; 
but now most of them were broke to pieces,' by sac- 
rilegious hands." (Travels, p. 76.) 

The cave of Machpelah, which Abraham bought, 
(Gen. xxiii. 9.) was probably a double cave, an exte- 
rior chamber opening into another interior; not un- 
like those first described by Maundrell. If so, it 
might easily afterwards receive others of Abraham's 
family. 

We have seen that these sepulchres are occasion- 
ally divided into chambers ; and to such a chamber 
of death the wise man compares the chamber of the 
adulteress ; (Prov. vii. 27.) " She causes to fall, like as, 
as surely as, many and great wounds cause him to fall 
who has received them : and even strong men are ab- 
sohdely slain by her. The ivay to the sepulchre is her 
house, her first, or outer, chamber is like the open 
court that leads to the tomb ; descending to the cham- 
bers of death" is the further entrance into her apart- 
ment : her private chamber, penetralia, is like a sepa- 
rate recess in a sepulchre. The writer varies this 
representation in chap. ix. 18, " And he (the thought- 
less youth) is not aware that the Rephaim, giants, the 
most terrible of men, are there [in the house of the 
adulteress] inviting, calling him, soliciting him to en- 
ter the tomb." This is a bold prosopopeia, raising, 
as it were, the dead, which had been slain by means 
of prostitution, whose departed spirits entice the 
thoughtless youth to make one among them. 

Some of the tombs in Egypt which Norden has 
copied, much resemble our country graves in Eng- 
land ; some of them seem to be clusters of graves, 



SEPULCHRE 



[ 835 ] 



SEPULCHRE 



occupied, it may be supposed, by individuals of the 
same family ; others are buildings of at least one story 
in height, and, by their doors and windows, or open- 
ings, seem as if they might, on occasion, accommo- 
date the living ; as indeed we find by several travel- 
lers who have taken refuge in them that they do. 
This will elucidate the circumstances of the demo- 
niacs, who dwelt among the tombs, (Matt. viii. 28, 
et al.) and we see how readily they might serve 
as habitations to those unhappy sufferers. They 
show, also, the propriety of our Lord's comparison 
of the Pharisees to whited, embellished, beautified, 
sepulchres ; handsome without, but polluted with- 
in: and the opportunities which persons professing 
extraordinary zeal for God, or regard for his servants, 
might have, of " garnishing the sepulchres of the 
righteous," as well as of repairing, or " building, the 
tombs of the prophets ;" (Matt, xxiii. 27.) while at the 
same time as they paid unsolicited, and even extrav- 
agant honors to the dead, they detracted, decpised, or 
persecuted the living; who addressed them with 
messages of the divine will, with authority superior 
to that of those whom they professed, by such soli- 
citous attentions, to admire and to venerate. 

Some erection certainly, though probably of much 
smaller dimensions than many of these, did Jacob 
construct over the grave of Rachel ; perhaps a simple 
pillar within an enclosure, Gen. xxxv. 20. That 
called the tomb of Rachel, near Bethlehem, has no 
just pretensions to such remote antiquity. 

The reader will recollect the descriptive epithet of 
Job, (chap. xxx. 23.) which, perhaps, may be thus un- 
derstood: "in like manner (that is, as the pillar of 
sand is dissolved) thou wilt turn my face, or direct my 
passage toward death ; and toward the house ivhich has 
long been, and ever is in continual preparation to re- 
ceive all the living." Exactly conformable is the 
psalmist's idea : (v. 9.) " The throat of the wicked is 
an open sepulchre," ever ready to devour ; constantly 
gaping to receive all comers : and to this Jeremiah 
very forcibly likens the quiver of the Chaldeans : " It 
is an open sepulchre" — certain death ; insatiable ; 
swallowing up all. Hell, the grave, and destruction, 
are never full, (Prov. xxvii. 20.) but keep continually 
crying, Give, give, ch. xxx. 15, 16. 

The representations which Le Bruyn has given of 
some sepulchres, cut at considerable heights into the 
rock, at Naxi Rustam, near Persepolis., in Persia, 
shows that they must have been works of great labor 
and expense, beyond the powers of ordinary persons, 
and must have employed many laborers, and for a 
long time. Vain desire of somewhat permanent! 
Vain solicitude for a kind of terrestrial, posthumous 
immortality ! This gives a spirit to the expostulation 
of the prophet Isaiah (chap. xxii. 16.) with Shebna 
the treasurer: — "What hast thou here? what lasting 
settlement dost thou expect? that thou hast hewn 
thee out a sepulchre, here, like as one heweth out at 
a great height his sepulchre ; that cutteth out at a 
great expense a habitation, for himself, after death, a 
dwelling, a residence, in the solid rock : it shall be 
fruitless ; for the Lord shall toss thee, as a ball, into a 
large country, where thou shalt die," &c. It may be 
thought, that Shebna had actually constructed a 
magnificent monument, sibi et suis, as the Latins 
speak : the contrast of such stability, with the roll- 
ings of a ball into a far country, is very strong. That 
Shebna meant to settle where he built his sepulchre ; 
that he connected the idea of security with it, is very 
credible. Will diis apply to the phraseology of Ba- 
laam : (Numb. xxiv. 21.) "He said of the Kenites, 



Strong is thy dwelling-place, where inou passest thy 
life : and thou placest in a rock thy nest, wherein 
thou dost propose to abide after thy decease, that is, 
thy sepulchre: notwithstanding this thou shall be 
wasted," &c. It is by no means certain that this is 
the true sense ; because, we often read in Scripture 
of inhabitants of rocks — nevertheless, this sense may 
be included; especially when we consider the strong 
affection of the orientals toward the places of sepul- 
ture appropriated to their families. (See 2 Sam. xix. 
33 ; Neh. ii. 3.) 

From the general constructions of these sepulchres, 
we see the propriety of Scripture allusions to their 
various parts ; as to the gates of hell — of hades, the 
unseen world ; the lowest hell — hades, &c. We see 
also the attention bestowed on his sepulchre by the 
party himself, while living. It is very probable that 
sepulchres in gardens were generally cut into rocks ; 
not dug (like graves) in the earth, but into the heart 
of a rock ; hence Samuel was buried in his own 
house, that is, garden, probably, at Ramah, 1 Sam. 
xxv. 1. Manasseh was buried in the garden of his 
house, (2 Kings xxi. 18.) and (ver. 26.) Anion was 
buried in the sepulchre in the garden of Uzzah. 
Hence the sepulchre of Lazarus (John xi. 38.) is ex- 
plained — distinguished — as being a c ave m ; a chamber 
somewhat sunk into the ground 5 and hence, we find, 
Joseph of Arimathea had prepared his sepulchre in 
his garden, and had cut it into a rock ; chamber 
within chamber, according to custom. See Burial. 

It is customary, when a sepulchre is not in a garden, 
to surround it with fragrant herbs, flowers, &c. ; hence 
the allusions to favorable situations for sepulchies, 
" The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him." 

If the reader will bear in mind these distinct kinds 
of sepulchres, he will find many places in Scripture 
become more intelligible by means of such discrimi- 
nation, since what is descriptive of one kind, is inap- 
plicable to others. 

We find in Scripture various appellations given to 
the sepulchre ; among others, that of the house ap- 
pointed for all living — the long home of man — and the 
everlasting habitation. These are capable of much 
illustration from antiquity. The following are from 
Montfaucon : " We observed, in the fifth volume of 
our antiquity, a tomb, styled there, as here, Quietoii- 
um, a resting-place. There it is styled Clymenis 
Quietorium. Quiescere, to rest, is often said of the 
dead, in epitaphs. Thus we find, in an ancient 
writer, a man speaking of his master, who had been 
long dead and buried : Cujus ossa bene quiescant ! 
May his bones rest in peace ! We have an instance 
of the like kind in an inscription in Gruter, (p. 696.) 
and in another, (p. 954.) Fecit sibi requietorium ; He 
made himself a resting-place." (See Job iii. 13, 
17, 18 ; xvii. 16.) " This resting-place is called fre- 
quently, too, an eternal house. ' In Ms life-time 
he built himself an eternal house,' says one epi- 
taph, 'He made himself an eternal house with his 
patrimony,' says another. ' He thought it better 
(says another epitaph) to build himself an eternal 
house, than to desire his heirs to doit;' and another, 
'He put an inscription upon his eternal house.' 
And another, ' He made a perpetual house for his 
good and amiable companion.' They thought it a 
misfortune, when the bones and ashes of the dead 
were removed from their place, as imagining the 
dead suffered something by the removal of their 
bones. This notion occasioned all those precautions 
used for the safety of their tombs, and the curses 
they laid on those who removed them." 



E II 



[ 836 



SERPENT 



This may be further illustrated by reference to 
ihose inscriptions on the tombs at Palmyra, which 
have been explained by Mr. Swinton ; (Phil. Trans, 
vol. liii. p. 276, &c.) and it is important to remark, 
that the Palmyrenians were so strongly assimilated 
to the Jewish nation, as to be all but Jews in maDy 
of their peculiarities, as they really were Jews in 
some of them. 

Solomon (Eccl. xii. 5.) calls the tomb (ahy r.13, beth 
oldm) the house of ages, or of long duration ; and Mr. 
Swinton reads the beginning of a Punic inscription, 
found in the island of Malta, thus: (t>Sj; r.a -nn, heder 
beth olam) the chamber of long home. [This] "cham- 
ber of the house of ages [or the long home] is the sepul- 
chre of an upright man deposited {here] in a most sound 
sleep. — The people, having a great affection for him, 
were vastly concerned when Hannibal, the son of Bar- 
melec, was interred." This is the very expression of 
Solomon, and justifies the sense of the words, as used 
in our version. It is worthy of observation, too, that 
the figure to denote death is — a deep sleep ; a. sound 
sleep. In this sense our Lord spake, " Our friend 
Lazarus sleepeth ; I go to awake him out of sleep (and 
this gives the spirit of the disciples' answer, " Lord, 
if he sleep, he shall do well ;" sound sleep being a fa- 
vorable symptom in sick persons.) "The maid is 
not dead, but sleepeth," &c. The word sleep, we 
suppose, was capable of so much ambiguity, as not 
instantly, or infallibly, to strike our Lord's hearers in 
the sense he intended by it. 

The sepulchre, or tomb, of our Lord Jesus Christ 
was on mount Calvary, north-west of Jerusalem, and 
was, as already observed, hewn out of a rock, John 
xix. 41. What is now shown for it, is a kind of 
small chamber, the interior of which is almost square ; 
its height from bottom to top is eight feet one inch, 
its length six feet one inch, and its breadth fifteen 
feet ten inches. The entrance, which looks 10 wards 
the east, is but four feet high, and two feet four 
inches wide. The place where the body of our 
Saviour is said to have been laid, takes up one side 
of this cave ; it is raised from the ground to the 
height of two feet four inches ; its length is five feet 
eleven inches, and its breadth two feet eight inches, 
placed lengthwise from east to west, and is incrusted 
with white marble. Dr. Clarke has contested the 
location of our Lord's sepulchre in this place, but his 
objections have been replied to in the article Cal- 
vary. 

I. SERAIAH, a scribe, i. e. secretary of state, or 
register, to David, 2 Sam. viii. 17. 

II. SERAIAH, father of Ezra, Ezra vii. 1. Several 
other persons of this name occur. 

SERAPHIM denotes a kind of angels, which en- 
circle the throne of the Lord. Those aescribed by 
Isaiuh (ch. vi. 2.) had each six wings ; with two of 
which he covered his face, with two his feet, and 
with the two others flew. They cried to one another, 
and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts! 
the whole earth is full of his glory ! " 
_ SERGEANTS, (Acts xvi. 35 ) properly Roman 
lictors, public servants who bore a bundle of rods 
before the magistrates of cities and colonies as insig- 
nia of their office, and who executed the sentences 
which they pronounced. (See Adam's Rom. Antiq. 
p. 178.) R. 

SERGIUS PAULUS, proconsul or governor of 
the isle of Cyprus, was converted by the ministry of 
Paul, A. D. 44, or 45, Acts xiii. 7. 

SERPENT. The craft and subtlety of this reptile 
are frequently dwelt on in the sacred writings, as 



qualities by which it is eminently distinguished. 
Moses says it was more subtle than any beast of the 
field which the Lord God had made ; (Gen. iii. 1.) 
and our Saviour points to its wisdom as furnishing a 
model for imitation to his disciples, Matt. x. 16. We 
may enumerate seven kinds of serpents as known to 
the Hebr-ews, as follow : (1.) Epheh, hjjon, the viper, 
Isa. lix. 5. (2.) Acshdb, aiEoy, the adder, Ps. cxl. 3. 
(3.) Pethen, pe, the adder, Ps. lviii. 4. (4.) Tzepha, 
yes, or 'jyos, Tzephoni, not the fabulous cockatrice, 
but a common serpent, Isa. xi. 8. (5.) Kippos, nop, 
according to Bochart, the Acontias, or dart-snake, 
Isa. xxxiv. 15. (6.) Shephiphon, jt^se^ the Ce- 
rastes, Gen. xlix. 17. (7.) The Saraph, rpp, a flying 
serpent, Numb. xxi. 8. 

Some of these Mr. Taylor has illustrated ; the 
others continue obscure. 

(1.) The Epheh, of the Hebrews, he takes to be the 
El Effah of the Arabs ; of which Mr. Jackson ob- 
serves, in his account of Marocco, " It is the name of 
a serpent remarkable for its quick and penetrating 
poison ; it is about two feet long, and as thick as a 
man's arm, beautifully spotted with yellow and 
brown, and sprinkled over with blackish specks, 
similar to the horn-nosed snake. They have a wide 
mouth, by which they inhale a great quantity of air, 
and when inflated therewith, they eject it with such 
force as to be heard at a considerable distance. 
These mortal enemies to mankind are collected by 
the Aisawie [serpent-conjurers] in a desert of Suse, 
where their holes are so numerous, that it is difficult 
for a horse to pass over it without stumbling." 

(2.) The Pethen is in all probability the Baetaen of 
the Arabs : it is described by M. Forskal as being 
" wholly spotted (in blotches) black and white. A 
foot in length ; nearly two inches thick ; oviparous. 
Its bite is instant death ; the body of the wounded 
person swells greatly." See Asp. 

Having suggested the idea that this Batasn is the 
Peten of the Hebrew Scriptures, Mr. Taylor sug- 
gests that it may be strongly related to, if not a 
variety of, the Coluber Lebetinus of Linnaeus ; and 
under that persuasion, he extracts first M. Forskal's 
description of this serpent, and then adds something 
from Hasselquist. Linnaeus was the first naturalist 
who mentioned it. The length of its body less than 
a cubit ; its tail four inches ; toward the neck thinner, 
an inch and a half thick. Head broad, depressed, 
subcordated. Scales of the back obtuse-oval, flat, a 
ridge rising in the middle, carinated. Back rising in 
dos d'ane [not round.] Color, upper part gray, or 
dinarily four transverse bands, alternately crossing. 
The middle of them verging to yellow, but the sides 
to deep brown, or black. Underneath whitish, and 
closely spotted with black dots. Scuta abdom. 152. 
Squama caud. 43." " Obs. Its bite produces lethar- 
gy, is fatal and incurable. Two of these serpents 
were sent me from Cyprus, by my friend Petr. Sjelvi, 
interpreter to the French embassy at Cairo. The 
species is not [but] small : is it therefore the Aspic of 
the ancients ? so it is now called by the literati of 
Cyprus ; but the common people call it Kufi, (xovytj,) 
deaf" (Forskal.) Hasselquist says, "I saw two 
kinds of vipers at Cyprus, one called Aspic, of which 
it is said, (1.) that it contains a venom so penetrating 
as to produce a universal gangrene, of which a man 
dies in a few hours ; (2.) that the better to catch his 
prey, it takes the color of the ground on which it 
lies. They said of the other, (L) that it has a great 
antipathy to the former, and destroys it; (2.) that 
they eat one another ; (3. ) that they feed on larks. 



SERPENT 



L 837 ] 



SERPENT 



sparrows, &c. of which I myself am witness." These 
serpents, Mr. Taylor thinks, are not unlike in size to 
the Batcen ; one is a foot in length, the otlier is under 
eighteen inches ; one is nearly two inches thick, the 
other, where narrow, one and a half. One is spotted, 
black and white, the other is gray, black and white 
in bands. Both are fatal. The gangrene follows 
their venom, as in other serpents. The epithet deaf 'is 
observable ; for in Ps. Iviii. 4, deafness is ascribed to 
the Peten. It is also mentioned in Job xx. 14. 

(3.) The Sdrdph, or flying serpent, derives its name 
from a root which signifies to burn, either on account 
of its vivid fiery color, or from the heat and burning 
pain occasioned by its bite. In Numb. xxi. 6, &c. 
we read that these venomous creatures were employ- 
ed by God to chastise the unbelieving and rebellious 
Israelites, in consequence of which many "of them 
died, the rest being saved from the effects of the 
calamitous visitation, through the appointed medium 
of the brazen serpent, which Moses was enjoined to 
raise upon a pole in the midst of the camp, and which 
was a striking type of the promised Saviour, John 
iii. 14, 15. In Isa. xiv. 29, and chap. xxx. 6, the 
same word, with an additional epithet, is used, and 
is translated in our Bible " fiery flying serpents ; " 
and if we may rely on the testimony of the ancients 
a cloud of witnesses may be produced, who speak 
of these flying or winged serpents, although we do 
not find that any of them affirm they actually saw 
such alive and flying. Michae'lis, however, was so 
far influenced by these testimonies, that in his eighty- 
third question, he recommends it to travellers to in- 
quire after the existence and nature of flying ser- 
pents. In conformity with these instructions, Nie- 
buhr communicated the following information : (De- 
scription de l'Arabie, p. 186.) " There is at Bakra a 
sort of serpents which they call Heie sursurie, or 
Heie thidre. They commouly keep upon the date- 
trees ; and, as it would be laborious for them to come 
down from a very high tree in order to ascend 
another, they twist themselves by the tail to a branch 
of the former, which, making a spring by the motion 
they give it, throw themselves to the second. Hence 
it is that the modern Arabs call them flying serpents, 
Heie thidre. 1 know not whether the ancient Arabs 
of whom Michae'lis speaks in his eighty-third ques- 
tion, saw any other flying serpents." Niebuhr refers 
also to lord Anson's report of flying serpents in the 
island of Quibo. The passage is as follows: "The 
Spaniards, too, informed us, that there was often 
found in the woods a most mischievous serpent, called 
the flying snake, which, they said, darted itself from 
the boughs of trees on either man or beast that came 
within its reach, and whose sting they took to be in- 
evitable 5, death." (Voyage, by Walter, p. 308. 8vo. 
1748.) After citing these passages, we may conclude 
that the sdrdph meopheph mentioned in the passages 
we have referred to, was of that species of serpent, 
which, from their swift darting motion, the Greeks 
called Acontias, and the Romans Jaculus ; and to 
these the term meopheph seems as properly applica- 
ble in Hebrew, as Volucer, which Lucan applies to 
them in Latin, Jaculique volucres. 

(4.) The Cerastes, or Horned Viper, is among the 
most deadly of the serpent tribe, and is distinguished 
by the peculiarity of its horns. It is numerous in 
Egypt and Syria, so that it could not escape the 
notice and allusions of the sacred writers. Mr. Bruce 
has published a figure of this serpent, with a consid- 
erable account of its manners, part of which we shall 
extract. He savs "There is no article of natural 



history the ancients have dwelt on more than tl j.t 
of the viper, whether poets, physicians, or historian. 
All have enlarged on the particular sizes, colors, a ,d 
qualities, yet the knowledge of their manners is hut 
little extended. 

" I have travelled across the Cyrenaicum in all di- 
rections, and never saw but one species of viper, 
which was the Cerastes, or Horned Viper ; neither 
did I ever see any of the snake kind that could be 

mistaken for the viper One name under which the 

Cerastes goes, is equivocal, and has been misunder- 
stood in Scripture ; that is, tsehoa, which name is 
given it in Hebrew from its different colors and spots. 
And hence the Greeks have called it by the name of 
hyazna, because it is of the same reddish color, mark- 
ed with black spots, as that quadruped is. And the 
same fable is applied to the serpent and the quadru- 
ped, that they change their sex yearly The 

Cerastes hides itself all day in holes in the sand, 
where it lives in contiguous and similar houses to 
those of the jerboa ; and I have already said, that I 
never but once found any animal in this viper's belly 
but one jerboa in a gravid female Cerastes. 

" The Cerastes moves with great rapidity, and in 
all directions, forwards, backwards and sideways. 
When he inclines to surprise any one who is too far 
from him, he creeps with his side towards the per- 
son, and ins head averted, till, judging his distance, 
he turns round, springs upon him, and fastens upon 
the part next to him ; for it is not true what is said, 
that the Cerastes does not leap or spring. I saw one 
of them at Cairo, in the house of Julian and Rosa, 
crawl up the side of a box, in which there were 
many, and there lie still as if hiding himself, till one 
of the people who brought them to us came near 
him, and, though in a very disadvantageous posture, 
sticking, as it were, perpendicular to the side of 
the box, he leaped near the distance of three feet, and 
fastened between the man's fore finger and thumb, 
so as to bring the blood. 

" Of the incantation of serpents, there is no doubt 
of its reality. The Scriptures are full of it. All that 
have been in Egypt have seen as many different in- 
stances as they chose. Some have doubted that it 
was a trick, and that the animals so handled had 
been trained, and then disarmed of their power of 
hurting ; and, fond of the discovery, they have rested 
themselves upon it, without experiment, in the face 
of all antiquity. But I will not hesitate to aver, that 
1 have seen at Cairo (and this may be seen daily 
without trouble or expense) a man who came from 
above the catacombs, where the pits of the mummy- 
birds are kept, who has taken a Cerastes with his 
naked hand from a number of others lying at the 
bottom of the tub, has put it upon his bare head, 
covered it with the common red cap he wears, then 
taking it out, put it in his breast, and tied it about his 
neck like a necklace ; after which it has been applied 
to a hen, and bit it, which has died in a few minutes ; 
and, to complete the experiment, the man has taken 
it by the neck, and beginuing at its tail, has ate it as 
one would do a carrot or a stock of celery, without 

any seeming repugnance lean myself vouch, 

that all the black people in the kingdom of Sennaar, 
whether Funge or Nuba, are perfectly armed against 
the bite of either scorpion or viper. They take the 
Cerastes in their hand at all times, put them in their 
bosoms, and throw them to one another, as children 
do apples or balls, without having irritated them by 
this usage so much as to bite." See Inchantments. 
The Cerastes is well known under the name of 



SERPENT 



[ 838 ] 



SERPENT 



" Horned Viper," and is distinguished by two small 
horns, one over each eye. It was adopted as a hiero- 
glyphic among the Egyptians, and appears not only 
on obelisks, columns of temples, statues, and walls 
of palaces, but on mummies also. 

The Cerastes have always been considered as ex- 
tremely cunning, both in escaping their enemies, and 
in seizing their prey ; they have been named insidious; 
and it is reported of them that they hide themselves 
in holes adjacent to the highways, and in the ruts of 
wheels, in order more suddenly to spring upon pas- 
sengers. 

Cahnet, as we have seen, thinks the Shephiphon, to 
which the tribe of Dan is compared, (Gen. xlix. 17.) 
might be the Cerastes ; and it is so rendered by the 
Vulgate. Michae'lis observes, that this serpent is 
called by the orientals, " the Her in ambush." Pliny 
says, that "the Cerastes hides its whole body in the 
sand, leaving only its horns exposed ; which attract 
birds, who suppose them to be grains of barley, till 
they are undeceived, too late, by the darting of the 
serpent upon them." 

Michae'lis, however, finds a difficulty in the mode 
of attack used by the Hebrew Shephiphon on " the 
heels of a horse, so as to make his rider fall back- 
ward." He supposes that the phrase restrictively 
means, that the horse throws the rider off behind him ; 
and says, "I should be curious to know how that is 
accomplished. Commentators commonly say, be- 
cause the horse rears up when wounded in the heel. 
Perh? ps they are bad horsemen. In such circum- 
stances, a horse would kick rather than rear up on 
his hind legs ; and the rider would be thrown over 
his neck, rather than over the crupper." Mr. Taylor 
admits the force of this observation, and therefore 
doubts whether the word rendered backward should 
be restrictively so taken. He proposes to explain the 
phrase by supposing, that when the Cerastes bites 
the horse in one of his legs, the horse kicking out 
that leg, and his rider perceiving the cause, would, to 
avoid the serpent, throw himself off on the further 
side of the horse from where the serpent was ; and 
this, he thinks, sufficiently meets the meaning of the 
Hebrew word. 

There is another circumstance in which Dan 
probably resembled the Cerastes — that of feeding full, 
and then sinking into torpidity. The inducements 
held out by the spies of the Danites, (Judg. xviii. 9, 
10.) are precisely adapted to a tribe of this character ; 
and the end of this chapter informs us, that they set 
up the graven image, had their priests, and here they 
remained, " till the day of the captivity of the land," 
that is, distant from interference with the general 
affairs of Israel, and determinately settled, apart 
from their brethren. (See verses 7, 28.) 

For an account of the other serpents enume- 
rated above, the reader is referred to the respective 
articles. 

Interpreters have largely speculated concerning 
the nature of that serpent which tempted Eve. Some 
have thought, that serpents originally had feet and 
speech ; but there is no probability that this creature 
was ever otherwise than it now is. Besides, it can- 
not be doubted, but that by the serpent, (Nachash,) 
we are to understand the devil, who merely employed 
the serpent as a vehicle to seduce the first woman, 
Gen. iii. 13. (See Balaam.) In the curse of God 
on the serpent, he told hir that the seed of the 
woman should bruise his h .. i ; (Rosh ;) because, the 
6erpent having his heart r irl Ins throat, the readi- 
est way to kill him is ^ or cut off his head. 



Another part of the curse was, that it should feed on 
dust, Gen. iii. 14. Isaiah also says, (Ixv. 15.) "Dust 
shall be the serpent's meat." And Mieah, (vii. 37.) 
" They shall lick the dust like a serpent." It is true, 
that serpents eat flesh, birds, frogs, fish, fruits, grass, 
&c. But as they continually creep on the earth, it 
is impossible but that their food must often be defiled 
with dust and dirt. Some may really eat earth, out 
of necessity ; or earth-worms, which they cannot 
swallow without much dirt. 

The worship of the serpent is observable through 
all pagan antiquity. The Babylonians, in Daniel's 
time, worshipped a dragon, which was demolished 
by this prophet. It is well known that worship was 
paid to the serpent at Epidaurus; also the manner 
in which they pretended he was brought to Rome. 
The Egyptians sometimes represented their gods 
with the bodies of serpents ; and they paid an idola- 
trous worship to those odious and dangerous crea- 
tures, which they called their good geniuses. They 
regarded them as symbols of medicine, of the sun, of 
Apollo. They were committed to the charge of 
Ceres and Proserpine ; and Herodotus says that in 
his time, near Thebes, were to be seen tame ser- 
pents, consecrated to Jupiter. 

One would have supposed, says Mr. Taylor, re- 
marking upon this custom, that the entire brood of 
the serpent would have been execrated, and abhorred 
by all mankind ; and that the mere proposal to wor- 
ship this reptile would have raised the detestation of 
the whole human race ; but fact justifies us in saying, 
that no kind of worship has been more popular. 
How can this be accounted for ? This he proceeds 
to investigate, by considering, (1.) The serpent as 
denoting or producing evil : (2.) The serpent as de- 
noting or producing good ; which, contradictory as 
it may appear, yet is founded on fact. (3.) The ser- 
pent as denoting a family or nation ; and, (4.) The 
serpent as denoting a being of supernatural powers. 

That the serpent tribe, from possessing the most 
active powers of destruction, has been considered as 
a source of evil, or as producing calamity, is well 
known. In India the destroying power, or death, is 
signified by the serpent. In classic antiquity, the 
giants who attempted to scale heaven are figured as 
half serpents; and in the northern mythology, Lok, 
the genius of evil, is styled " the father of the great 
serpent: the father of death ; the adversary, the ac- 
cuser ; the deceiver of the gods," &c. (Northern 
Antiq. vol. ii. p. 190.) The coincidence of these 
titles with those of the Satan of Scripture is very 
striking. Scripture descriptions of the serpent are 
notoriously applicable to a producer of evil. 

On the other hand, the serpent has always been 
admired for its motion ; possessing neither hands 
nor feet, nor other exterior members adapted for 
making progress, its action is nevertheless agile, 
speedy, and even rapid ; it springs, leaps, and bounds, 
or climbs and glides, not merely with ease, but with 
alacrity. Solomon observes this, in Prov. xxx. 19, 
and others have equally remarked it as exciting sur- 
prise and wonder. The serpent, also, sheds its skin 
yearly, and after this mutation seems, by the splen- 
dor of its colors, and the vivacity of its motions, to 
have acquired new life. 

The serpent is still domesticated in many of the 
dwellings of the natives of Eastern India; and the 
ladies of Western Africa carry him in their bosoma 
It is true, the serpent tribe divides into those which 
are harmless, and those which are malignant; but 
the malignant in India, at least, enjoy eaual orivi 



3 E It 



[ 839 1 



leges with the harmless. Pausanias says, " All the 
dragons, [large serpents,] and particularly that spe- 
cies which is of the clearest yellow, are esteemed 
sacred to Esculapius, and are familiar with mankind." 
(Lib. ii. cap. 28.) Pliny also speaks of the Esculapian 
snake, which is commonly fed, and resident in 
houses, &c. (Lib. xxix. cap. 4.) Esculapius was 
adored in Epiduurus under the form of a serpent ; 
under which form he is said to have been brought to 
Rome, A. U. 463. The Egyptians, as we have said, 
had a small serpent which they called Agathodcmon, 
that is, "good genius;" and Eusebius says the same 
of the Phoenicians. 

From these and many other instances which might 
be referred to, it is evident that the serpent has been 
acknowledged under the contradictory characters of 
a promoter of good, and a promoter of evil ; and has 
also been regarded as belonging to a rank of beings 
superior to man. 

That Scripture usually presents the serpent under 
an evil designation is admitted ; but possibly those 
embarrassments which have arisen from the history 
of the brazen serpent in the wilderness, might be 
removed, by accepting the benevolent character of 
the serpent. Why must his malignant powers be 
presented to us, when considering this instance of 
sanative virtue ? Why should Israel be prohibited 
from considering him (symbolically) in the same light 
as other nations then and afterwards did ? Why 
should he not be saviour to them, on this occasion, 
(symbolically,) as well as to Gentiles ? Why may 
Dot Moses adopt the favorable notion of this reptile, 
as well as the unfavorable ? Did not all antiquity do 
the same ? And if all antiquity did so, why should 
we be startled at it here ? We know well, that when 
pressed, by enemies to revelation, to explain how the 
serpent, the very essence of evil, could, on this occa- 
sion, be connected with the idea of restoration, 
Christian divines have given various answers, on 
other principles ; all of which may be proper ; nor 
are they superseded by this favorable reference of 
the symbol. If this be admitted, then w r e may dis- 
cern, as Mr. Taylor observes, greater propriety in 
our Lord's allusion to this history than we have pre- 
viously been aware of. " As Moses lifted up the ser- 
pent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man 
be lifted up," — add, "And I, if I be lifted up, will 
draw all men to me "—meaning, " They shall look 
unto me, and be saved, even all the ends of the earth." 
Not merely the Jewish nation, to whom, in one in- 
stance, a symbolic serpent proved salutary, but the 
Gentiles also ; all men ; those who have been used 
to consider the serpent as a good genius, who have 
adopted it as their ensign and distinction, they shall 
in future " look to me and be saved." 

SERUG, the son of Reu, and father of Nahor, 
Gen. xi. 20—23. 

SERVANT. This word, in Scripture, generally 
signifies a slave ; because, among the Hebrews, and 
the neighboring nations, the greater part of the ser- 
vants were such, belonging absolutely to their mas- 
ters, who had a right to dispose of their persons, 
goods, and, in some cases, even of their lives. See 
Slave. 

Sometimes, however, the word merely denotes a 
man who voluntarily dedicates himself to the service 
of another. Thus, Joshua was the servant of Moses, 
Elisha of Elijah, Gehazi of Elisha, and Peter, 
Andrew, Philip, &c. were servants of Jesus Christ. 
The servants of Pharaoh, of Saul, and of David, were 
their subjects in general ; and their domestics in par- 



ticular. So the Philistines, Syrians, and other nations 
were servants of David ; i. e. they obeyed and paid 
him tribute. 

The servants of God are those who are devoted to 
his service, and obey his written word. 

SETH, a son of Adam and Eve, was born A. M. 
130, (Gen. v. 3, 6, 10, 11.) and afthe age of 125 begat 
Enos. He died A. M. 1042, and was the chief of 
" the children of God," (Gen. vi. 2.) who preserved 
the true religion and piety, which the descendants of 
Cain had abandoned. 

SEVEN. As from the beginning this was tb» 
number of days in the week, so it has ever in Scrip 
ture a sort of emphasis attached to it, and is very 
often and generally used as a round number, or, as 
some would say, & perfect number. Clean beasts werf 
taken into the ark by sevens, Gen. vii. The years of 
plenty and famine in Egypt were marked by sevens, 
Gen. xli. With the Jews, not only was there a seventh 
day sabbath, but every seventh year was a sabbath, and 
every seven times seventh year was a jubilee. Their 
great feasts of unleavened bread and of tabernacles, 
were observed for seven days ; the number of animals 
in many of their sacrifices was limited to seven. The 
golden candlestick had seven branches. Seven priests 
with seven trumpets went around the walls of Jericho 
seven days ; and seven times seven on the seventh day. 
In the Apocalypse we find seven churches addressed ; 
seven candlesticks, seven spirits, seven stars, seven 
seals, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven vials, 
seven plagues, and seven angels to pour them out. 

Seven is often put for any round or whole number, 
just as we use ten, or a dozen. (So in Matt. xii. 45 ; 
1 Sam. ii. 5 ; Job v. 19 ; Prov. xxvi. 16, 25 ; Isa. iv. 
1 ; Jer. xv. 9.) In like manner seven times or seven 
fold means often, abundantly, completely, Gen. iv. 15, 
24 ; Lev. xxvi. 24 ; Ps. xii. 6 ; lxxix. 12 ; Matt, xviii. 
21. And seventy times seven is still a higher super- 
lative, Matt, xviii. 22. *R. 

SHAALABBIN, or Shaalbim, a city of Dan, 
(Josh. xix. 42.) adjoining to Ajalon and Heres, ( Judg. 
i. 35.) and near the cities of M alias and Bethshemesh. 

SHAARAIM, a city of Simeon, (1 Chron. iv. 31.} 
apparently the Sharaim of Judah, (Josh. xv. 36.) 
which was transferred to Simeon. 

SHADDAI, one of the Hebrew names of God, 
which the LXX and Jerome generally translate 
Almighty. Job more frequently uses it than any 
other of the sacred writers. It is sometimes joined 
with El, which is another name of God, El-Shaddai, 
God-Almighty, Gen. xvii. 1. 

Shaddai has been derived from the Arabic to 
ascend, or sit in the highest place ; and in this view it 
is synonymous with (ivS?) Most High. It has also 
been derived from to be strong, to prevail ; which 
sense the Vulgate and our translators give. Gen. 
xvii. 1. Others derive it from itm, he that is suffi- 
cient, all-bountiful, or all-sufficient. These derivations 
are far more suitable than that from -nty, to destroy, 
which Calmet adopts. But it seems the most natural 
to take the word n» as the pluralis excellentia, of the 
singular form ip, mighty ; cognate with the Arabic 
shadid, mr, mighty, violent. 

SHADOW, the privation of light by an object in- 
terposed between a luminary and the surface on 
which the shadow appears. But it is credible that 
what we call spots in the sun are alluded to in 1 
John i. 5, under the term shadows, or darkness ;such 
defects, says the apostle, may be in the sun, but there 
are none in God. A shadow, falling on a plane, fol- 
lows the course of the body which causes it • hence 



SH A 



[ 840 J 



SHA 



U is often extremely swift, as that of a bird flying, 
which very rapidly, indeed instantly, appears, and 
disappears from observation ; human life is compared 
to this, 1 Cor. xxix. 15. 

As the shadow of a man, &c. when it falls on the 
ground, is of different lengths at different times of 
the day, and as the time of the day was originally 
estimated by this, the first sun-dial, so it is very natu- 
ral that the hireling, who wished his day of labor 
ended, should desire the shadow, (Job vii. 2.) mean- 
ing the long shadow falling on the ground, and issu- 
ing in the shadow of night itself. Indeed, it seems 
to have been customary in later ages, to estimate the 
time of the day by the length of the shadow ; so we 
have in Aristophanes, Concion : " When die letter 
of the alphabet denoted the shadow to be ten feet 
long, it was time to think of dressing and going to 
supper," that is, the sun began to grow low ; for 
twelve feet was the full length of the shadow. (Comp. 
Ps. cii. 11 ; Jer. vi. 4.) 

An Arab, when relating the history of his day's 
march, says, " We started at day-break, we rested at 
noon near the water, we set out again, when a man's 
shadow was equal to his length, and after sunset we 
alighted and slept, in such or such a place." This is 
still the eastern phraseolgy, as remarked by Burck- 
hardt, Trav. vol. i. p. 480. 

Shadow is also taken for unsubstantial ; so Job 
says, " My members are a shadow ;" (xvii. 7.) that is, 
they are diminished to a total, or comparative, priva- 
tion of substance. Hence, the Mosaic economy is 
called a shadow, a very obscure representation of 
things, which in the gospel are clearly revealed. But 
it is thought that this word (Heb. x. 1.) alludes to 
the sketch of an artist or painter, who first forms 
^with chalk) on his canvass, the rude outlines of his 
subject, a just visible, rough, merely indicative repre- 
sentation of what is to be afterwards finished correct- 
ly and carefully. To this is strongly opposed the 
complete image, the beautiful statue exhibited in the 
gospel ; yet this statue, be it remembered, is not liv- 
ing, not animated; the full perfection of life, morion, 
sensibility and happiness is reserved for the world 
of bliss and glory, the celestial state. 

Shadow is taken for the obscurity of night, for the 
total absence of light in a night of clouds; and hence 
"the shadow of death," intense darkness ; to which 
add, the horror which naturally attends the tomb, 
and the unexplored regions of death ; the valley of 
the shadow of death ; gloom and dismal terrors, ter- 
rors fatal and perpetual. 

Shadow is also taken in a sense directly contrary 
to this, because in countries near the tropics, every 
spot exposed to the burning heat of the sun is dan- 
gerous to health, therefore nothing is more accepta- 
ble than shade, nothing more refreshing, or more 
salutary ; hence the shadow of a great rock is desira- 
ble in a land of weariness ; (Isa. xxxii. 2.) hence 
shadow signifies protection ; (Isa. xxx. 2 ; Dan. iv. 
12 ; Hos. iv. 13.) hence the shadow of wings in a 
bird is protection also, and hence the shadow, that is, 
protection of God, Ps. xvii. 8 ; lxiii. 7 ; xci. 1 ; Isa. 
xlix. 2. Perhaps the word shade, however, might in 
these places be preferable to shadow, and would pre- 
serve a distinction. 

SHADRACH, the Chaldean name given to Ana- 
nias, a companion of Daniel, at the court of Nebu- 
chadnezzar, Dan. i. 7 See Ananias. 

SHALISHA, or Baal-Shalisa, is mentioned in 
1 Sam. ix. 4, and Baal-shalisha, 2 Kings iv. 42. It 
was fifteen miles from Diospolis, in the canton 



Thamnitica, north of Jerusalem. See Baal-Sha- 
jlisha. 

I. SHALLUM of Naphtali, chief of the family 
Numb. xxvi. 49. 

II. SHALLUM, son of Jabesh, or a native of Ja- 
besh, who treacherously killed Zechariah, king of 
Israel, and usurped his kingdom. He held it only 
one month, when Menahem, son of Gadi, killed him 
in Samaria. Scripture says, that Shallum was the 
executioner of the threatenings of the Lord, against 
the house of Jehu, 2 Kings xv. 10. A. M. 3232. 

III. ' SHALLUM, son of Tikvah, or Tickvath, or 
native of Tickvah, husband of the prophetess Hul- 
dah, who lived under Josiah, king of Judah, 2 Kings 
xxii. 14. 

IV. SHALLUM, fourth son of Josiah, king of 
Judah, (1 Chron. iii. 15 ; Jer. xxii. 11.) and the same 
as Jehoahaz, was made king after the death of Josiah. 
The king of Egypt carried him prisoner into Egypt, 
2 Kings xxiii. 30, 31, 34. See Jehoahaz. 

V. SHALLUM, son of the high-priest Zadok, and 
uncle of Hilkiah the high-priest, 1 Chron. vi. 12, 13. 
He is called Meshallum in 1 Chron. ix. 11. He lived 
in the time of Hezekiah or of Ahaz. He seems to 
be the Salom of Baruch i. 7. 

VI. SHALLUM, son of Korah, 1 Chron. ix. 19, 
31. He was spared in the desert, when the earth 
opened and swallowed up his father, Numb. xvi. 31. 
His descendants had an office in the temple, to take 
care of the cakes that were fried there. — There are 
several other persons of the same name mentioned in 
the Old Testament ; but nothing is known of them. 

SHALMANESER, king of Assyria, succeeded 
Tiglath-pileser, andhad Sennacherib for his successor. 
He ascended the throne A.M. 3276, reigned 14 years, 
and died A. M. 3290, 2 Kings xvii. 3. It is probable 
that he is called Enemessar, in the Greek of Tobit, 
(i. 2.) and Shalman, in Hosea x. 14. Scripture re- 
ports that he came into Palestine, subdued Samaria, 
and obliged Hoshea, son of Elah, to pay him tribute ; 
but in the third year, being weary of this exaction, 
Hoshea combined secretly with So, king of Egypt, 
to remove the subjection. Shalmaneser brought an 
army against him, ravaged Samaria, besieged Hoshea 
in his captital; and notwithstanding his long resist- 
ance three years, (2 Kings xvii. xviii. 9, 10.) he took 
the city, put Hoshea into bonds, and carried away 
the people beyond the Euphrates. He thus ruined 
the city and kingdom of Samaria, which had subsist- 
ed 254 years, from A. M. 3030, to 3283. 

Profane authors say, that this prince made war 
against the Tyrians. That Eleleus, king of Tyre 
seeing the Philistines were much weakened by their 
war with Hezekiah, king of Judah, took this oppor- 
tunity of recovering to his obedience the city of Gath, 
which had revolted from him. The Gittites, fearing 
the power of the king of Tyre, had recourse to Shal- 
maneser, who marched with all his forces against the 
Tyrians. At his approach, the city of Sidon, Akko, 
afterwards Ptolemais, (now Acre,) and the other mar- 
itime cities of Phenicia, submitted to him. The 
Tyrians, however, with only twelve ships, having in 
a sea-fight defeated the united fleet of the Assyrians 
and Phenicians, acquired so great a reputation at sea, 
and became so formidable, that Shalmaneser durst no 
more engage them by sea. He withdrew, therefore, 
into his own dominions, but left a great part of his 
army to besiege Tyre. The besiegers made but a 
slow progress, in consequence of the brave resistance 
of the besieged. The troops of Shalmaneser stopped 
| up the aqueducts, and cut the pipes that brought the 



S II A 



L 841 ] 



SHE 



water into the city, which reduced the Tyrians to 
the last extremity, but they dug wells, and by this 
means held out five years longer. In the mean time, 
Sud/inaneser dying, they were delivered from the 
siege. Usher places this siege A. M. 3287. See As- 
syria, p. 114. 

SHAME, a bashfulness arising from a self-convic- 
tion of guilt; an affliction of mind, occasioned by a 
sense of impropriety, whether of conduct or of ap- 
pearance. This is the natural consequence of proper 
reflection on past misconduct, behavior, or turpitude 
of any kind. Shame in this sense is an expression 
of uneasiness. Shame is also an expression of con- 
tempt from others, a charge of misconduct, of im- 
propriety, from some who endeavor to bring to shame, 
to render ashamed, the subject of then - charge, 
whether such a charge be true or false. 

Shame denotes an idol ; a thing which will make 
ashamed those who trust in it ; and of which they 
ought to be ashamed, even while they worship it. 
For the import of that shame, see Baal-peor. 

To uncover the shame, ignominy, or nakedness of 
a person, are synonymous terms, Ley. xviii. 15, 17, 
&c. Isaiah (xx. 4.) threatens the Egyptians, that 
they should be led away captive, without any thing 
to cover their shame or nakedness. The golden 
calf worshipped by the Israelites in the wilderness, 
is called by Moses, (Exod. xxxii. 25.) a filthy shame, 
an idol of dross and filth. Paul (Rom. i. 26.) calls 
shameful or vile affections, those ignominious and 
bruitsh passions, which were indulged by the carnal 
pagans. Prov. iii. 35, " Shame shall be the promo- 
tion of fools ;" that is, their promotion shall be their 
own shame, and the disgrace of those who promote 
them. Prov. ix. 7, " He that reproveth a scorner, 
getteth to himself shame ;" he loses his labor, and 
shall only get discredit or calumny, abuse and dis- 
grace, a retort neither courteous nor considerate. 
Ps. Ixxxiii. 16, " Fill their faces with shame ;" re- 
prove them, O Lord, and then let them fall into dis- 
grace. When the Syrians took king Joash captive, they 
executed shameful judgments against him ; they 
treated him shamefully, made him suffer corrections 
that were shameful, not befitting the dignity of a 
king, 2 Chron. xxiv. 24. 

SHAMGAR, son of Anath, the third judge of Is- 
rael ; after Ehud, and before Barak, Judg. iii. 31. 
Scripture only says that he defended Israel, and 
killed six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. 
From the peace obtained by Ehud, (A. M. 2679,) 
whom Shamgar succeeded, till the servitude under 
the Canaanites, A. M. 2699, are twenty years. 

SHAMHUTH of Israh, a general of David and 
Solomon, who commanded 24,000 men, 1 Chron. 
xxvii. 8. 

I. SHAMIR, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 48. Some 
copies of the LXX read Saphir instead of Shamir. 

II. SHAMIR, a city of Ephraim, in the mountains 
of this tribe, where dwelt Tola, judge of Israel, 
Judg. x. 1. 

SHAMMAI, son of Rekem, and father of Maon, 
(1 Chron. ii. 44.) a city of Arabia Petrea, near Beth- 
shur, on the south of Judah. 

SHAPHAN, son of Azaliah, secretary of the tem- 
ple in the time of Josiah, 2 Kings xxii. 12 ; 2 Chron. 
xxxiv. 20 ; Jer. xxix. 3 ; xxxvi. 1 ; Ezek. viii. 11. 
Shaphan informed Josiah of the discovery of the 
book of the law of the Lord in the temple. We find 
several sons of Shaphan, viz. Ahikim, Elasa, Gama- 
riah and Jezoniah ; but we cannot say they are all 
sons of the same Shaphan. 

106 



I. SHAPHAT, of Abel-meholah ; father of thn 
prophet Elisha, 1 Kings xix. 16; 2 Kings iii. 11. 

II. SHAPHAT, son of Shemaiah, (1 Chron. iii 
22.) of the royal family of David, by Jechoniah. 

III. SHAPHAT, sbn of Adlai, who had the chiel 
care of David's cattle in Basan, 1 Chron. xxvii. 29. 

SHAPHER, a mountain in the desert of Paran, 
an encampment of Israel in the desert, between 
Kehalathah and Haradah, Numb, xxxiii. 23. 

SHARAIM, a city of Judah, afterwards given to 
Simeon, Josh. xv. 36 ; 1 Sam. xvii. 52 ; 1 Chron. 
ii. 54. 

I. SHAREZER, second son of Sennacherib, 2 
Kings xix. 37. 

II. SHA'REZER, see Nergal-Sharezer. 
SHARON. This name was almost proverbial to 

express a place of extraordinary beauty and fruitful- 
ness, Isa. xxxiii. 9 ; xxxv. 2. It was properly the 
name of a district south of mount Carmel, along the 
coast of the Mediterranean, extending to Csesarea and 
Joppa. It was extremely fat and. fertile, JosK xii. 
18 ; Cant. ii. 1 ; 1 Chron. xxvii. 29 ; Isa. xx:.ni. 9 ; 
xxxv. 2 ; lxv. 10 ; Acts ix. 35. Some have unneces- 
sarily assumed a Sharon beyond Jordan, in tlv - oun- 
try of Basan, and in the tribe of Gad, 1 Cnron. v. 
16. But Reland maintains, that there was no Sharon 
beyond Jordan, and that the tribe of Gad may 
have come to feed their flocks as far as Joppa, Cse- 
sarea and Lydda ; which, as Calmet remarks, seems 
incredible, because of the distance of the places, 
and because the country of Basan was itself very fine 
and fruitful. 

Modern travellers give the name of Sharon to the 
plain between Ecdippe and Ptolemais. 

SHAVEH, the Valley of, or " valley of the king," 
(Gen. xiv. 17.) was probably near Jerusalem, because 
Melchisedec, with the king of Gomorrha, came to 
meet Abraham, at his return from the defeat of the 
five kings, as far as this valley. 

SHAVING. The practice of shaving the beard 
and hair, and sometimes the whole body, was very 
common among the Hebrews, Numb. viii. 7 ; Lev. xiv. 
8, 9. The Levites on the day of their consecration, 
and the lepers at their purification, shaved all the 
hair oft' their bodies. A woman taken prisoner in 
war, when she married a Jew, shaved the hair off 
her head, (Deut. xxi. 12.) and the Hebrews generally, 
and also the nations bordering on Palestine, shaved 
themselves when they mourned, and in times of 
great calamitv, whether public or private, Isa. vii. 
20 ; xv. 2 ; Jer. xli. 5 ; xlviii. 37 ; Baruch vi. 30. 
God commanded the priests not to cut their hah or 
beards, in their mournings, Lev. xxi. 5. It may be 
proper to observe, that among the most degrading of 
punishments for women, is the loss of their hair ; 
and the apostle hints at this : (1 Cor. xi. 6.) "If it be 
a shame for a woman to be shorn, or shaven," &c. 
See Hair, and Beard. 

SHEAF, Lev. xxiii. 10—12. The day after the 
feast of the Passover, the Hebrews brought into the 
temple a sheaf of corn, as the first-fruits of the bar- 
ley-harvest, with accompanying ceremonies. On 
the fifteenth of Nisan, in the evening, when the feast 
of the first day of the Passover was ended, and the 
second day begun, the house of judgment deputed 
three men to go in solemnity, and gather the sheaf of 
barley. The inhabitants of the neighboring cities 
assembled to witness the ceremony, and the barley 
was gathered into the territory of Jerusalem. The 
deputies demanded three times, if the sun were set ; 
and they were as often answered, It is. They after- 



SHE 



[ 842 ] 



SHEBA 



wards demanded as many times, if they might have 
leave to cut the sheaf ; and leave was as often granted. 
They reaped it out of three different fields, with three 
different sickles, and put the ears into three boxes, 
to carry them to the temple. 

The sheaf, or rather the three sheaves, being 
brought into the temple, were thrashed in the court. 
From this they took a full omer, that is, about three 
pints of the grain ; and after it had been well win- 
nowed, parched and bruised, they sprinkled over it a 
log of oil, to which they added a handful of incense; 
and the priest who received this offering waved it 
before the Lord, toward the four quarters of the 
world, and cast part of it on the altar. _ After this 
every one might begin his harvest. 

SflEAR-JASHUB, the remnant shall return, an 
allegorical name given by the prophet Isaiah to one 
of his sons, Isa. vii. 3. 

I. SHEBA, son of Raamah, (Gen. x. 7.) who, it is 
thought, inhabited Arabia Felix, where his father 
Raa nali dwelt. . See Sabeans II. 

II. SHEBA, son of Joktan, (Gen. x. 28.) whom 
Bochart places in Arabia Felix. See Sabeans II. 

Ijl. SHEBA, son of Jokshan, (Gen. xxv. 3.) prob- 
ably dwelt in Arabia Deserta, or thereabouts. Cal- 
met thinks, with Bochart, that they were the descend- 
ants of this Sheba, which took away Job's cattle. 
See Sabeans II. 

IV. SHEBA, Queen of, (1 Kings x. 2 Chron. ix.) 
called queen of the South, (Matt. xii. 42 ; Luke xi. 
31.) was, according to some, a queen of Arabia ; but 
according to others, a queen of Ethiopia. (See Sa- 
beans II.) Josephus says, that Saba was the an- 
cient name of the city of Meroe, and that the queen, 
of whom we are speaking, came thence ; which 
opinion has much prevailed. The Ethiopians still 
claim this princess, as their sovereign, and say, that 
her posterity reigned there for a long time. The 
eunuch of queen Candace, who was converted and 
baptized by Philip, (Acts viii. 27.) was an officer 
belonging to a princess of the same countiy — Ethi- 
opia. 

Mr. Bruce has given the history of the queen of 
Sheba, and her descendants, from the Abyssinian his- 
torians; but he thinks the eunuch of Candace (Chan- 
dake) was an officer of the queen Hendaqui, whose 
territories lie beyond the great desert, south of Syene, 
in upper Egypt. 

The visit of this queen to Solomon is one of the 
most remarkable events of his reign; and as it ap- 
pears to have had important consequences in her own 
country, we insert Mr. Bruce's account, as related in 
the annals of Abyssinia: — 

" It is now that I am to fulfil my promise to the 
reader, of giving him some account of the visit made 
by the queen of Sheba, (it should properly be Saba, 
Azab, or Azaba, all signifying South,) as we errone- 
ously call her, and the consequences of that visit — ■ 
the foundation of an Ethiopian monarchy, and the 
continuation of the sceptre in the tribe of Judah, 
down to this day. We are not to wonder, if the pro- 
digious hurry and flow of business, and the immense- 
ly valuable transactions they had with each other, 
had greatly familiarized the Tyrians and Jews, with 
their correspondents the Cushites and Shepherds, on 
the coast of Africa. This had gone so far, as very 
naturally to have created a desire in the queen of 
Azab, the sovereign of that country, to go herself and 
see the application of such immense treasures that 
had been exported from her country for a series of 
years, and the prince who so magnificently employed 



them. There can be no doubt of this expedition, 
as Pagan, Arab, Moor, Abyssinian, and all the coun- 
tries round, vouch it pretty much in the terms of 
Scripture. 

"Many (such as Justin, Cyprian, Epiphanius and 
Cyril) have thought this queen was an Arab. But 
Saba was a separate state, and the Sabeans a distinct 
people from the Ethiopians and the Arabs, and have 
continued so till very lately. We know, from history, 
that it was a custom among the Sabeans, to have 
women for their sovereigns in preference to men, a 
custom which still subsists among their descendants. 
Her name, the Arabs say, was Belkis ; the Abyssini- 
ans, Macqueda. Our Saviour calls her queen of the 
South, without mentioning any other name, but gives 
his sanction to the truth of the voyage. ' The queen 
of the South (or Saba, or Azab) shall rise r.p in the 
judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; 
for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to 
hear the wisdom of Solomon ; and, beholl, a greater 
than Solomon is here,' Matt. xii. 42 ; Luke xi. 31. 
No other particulars, however, are mentioned about 
her in Scripture ; and it is not probable our Saviour 
would say she came from the uttermost parts of the 
earth, if she had been an Arab, and had near 50 deg. 
of the continent behind her. The gold, the myrrh, 
cassia and frankincense were all the produce of her 
own country. 

" Whether she were a Jewess or a pagan is uncer- 
tain ; Sabaism was the religion of all the East. It 
was the constant attendant and stumbling-block of 
the Jews; but considering the multitude of that peo- 
ple then trading from Jerusalem, and the long time 
it continued, it is not improbable she was a Jewess. 
1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame 
of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she 
came to prove him with hard questions,' 1 Kings x. 
1, and 2 Chron. ix. 1. Our Saviour, moreover 
speaks of her with praise, pointing her out as an ex- 
ample to the Jews, Matt. xii. 42 ; Luke xi. 31. And, 
in her thanksgiving before Solomon, she alludes to 
God's blessing on the seed of Israel for ever, (1 Kings 
x. 9 ; 2 Chron. ix. 8.) which is by no means the lan 
guage of a pagan, but of a person skilled in the ancient 
history of the Jews. She likewise appears to have 
been a person of learning, and that sort of learning 
which was then almost peculiar to Palestine, not to 
Ethiopia. For we see that one of the reasons of her 
coming was to examine whether Solomon was really 
the learned man he was said to be. She came to 
try him in allegories, or parables, in which Nathan 
had instructed Solomon. 

"The annals of Abyssinia, being very full upon 
this point, have taken a middle opinion, and by no 
means an improbable one. They say she was a pa- 
gan when she left Azab, but being full of admiration 
at the sight of Solomon's works, she was converted 
to Judaism in Jerusalem, and bore him a son, whom 
she called Menilek, and who was their first king. 
However strongly they assert this, however dangerous 
it would be to doubt it in Abyssinia, I will not here 
aver it for truth, nor much less still will I positively 
contradict it, as Scripture has said nothing about it. 
The Abyssinians, both Jews and Christians, believe 
the forty-fifth Psalm to be a prophecy of this queen's 
voyage to Jerusalem ; that she was attended by a 
daughter of Hiram's from Tyre to Jerusalem, and 
that the last part contains a declaration of her having 
a son by Solomon, who was to be king over a nation 
of Gentiles. 

" To Saba, or Azab, then, she returned with her 



SHEBA 



L 843 ] 



SHEBA 



son Menilek, whom, after keeping him some years, 
she sent back to his father to be instructed. Solo- 
mon did not neglect his charge, and he was anoint- 
ed and crowned king of Ethiopia, in the temple of 
Jerusalem, and at his inauguration took the name of 
David. After this, he returned to Azab, and brought 
with him a colony of Jews, among whom were many 
doctors of the law of Moses, particularly one of each 
tribe, to make judges in his kingdom, from whom 
the present Umbares (or supreme judges, three of 
whom always attend the king) are said and believed 
to be descended. With these came also Azarias, 
the sou of Zadok the priest, and brought with him a 
Hebrew transcript of the law, which was delivered 
into his custody, as he bore the title of Nebrit, or high- 
priest ; and this charge, though the book itself was 
burnt with the church of Axum in the Moorish war 
of Adel, is still continued, as it is said, in the lineage 
of Azarias, who are Nebrits, or keepers of the church 
of Axum, at this day. All Abyssinia was thereupon 
converted, and the government of the church and 
state modelled according to what was then in use at 
Jerusalem. 

" By the last act of the queen of Sheba's reign she 
settled the mode of succession in her country for the 
future. First, she enacted, that the crown should be 
hereditary in the family of Solomon for ever. Sec- 
ondly, That after her, no woman should be capable of 
wearing that crown or being queen, but that it should 
descend to the heir male, however distant, in ex- 
clusion of all heirs female whatever, however near ; 
and that these two articles should be considered as 
the fundamental laws of the kingdom, never to be 
altered ( or abolished. And, lastly, That the heirs 
male or the royal house should always be sent pris- 
oners to a aigh mountain, where they were to con- 
tinue till their death, or till the succession should open 
to them. 

" The reason of this last regulation is not known, 
it being peculiar to Abyssinia ; but the custom of 
having women for sovereigns, which was a very old 
one, prevailed among the neighboring shepherds in 
the last century, and for what we know prevails to 
this day. It obtained in Nubia till Augustus's time, 
when Petreius, his lieutenant in Egypt, subdued her 
country and took the queen Candace prisoner. 
It endured also after Tiberius, as we learn from St. 
Philip's baptizing the eunuch, (Acts viii. 27, 38.) 
servant of queen Candace, who must have been suc- 
cessor to the former ; for she, when taken prisoner 
by Petreius, is represented as an infirm woman, hav- 
ing but one eye. (This shows the falsehood of the 
remark Strabo makes, that it was a custom in Meroe, 
if their sovereign was any way mutilated, for the 
subjects to imitate the imperfection. Tn this case 
Candace's subjects would have all lost an eye, Strabo, 
lib. xvii. p. 777, 778.) Candace, indeed, was the 
name of all the sovereigns, in the same manner as 
Caesar was of the Roman emperors. As for the last 
severe part, the punishment of the princes, it was 
probably intended to prevent some disorders among 
the princes of her house, that she had observed fre- 
quently to happen in the house of David, (2 Sam. 
xvi. 22 ; 1 Kings ii. 13.) at Jerusalem. 

"The queen of Saba having made these laws 
irrevocable to all her posterity, died, after a long 
reign of forty years, in 986 before Christ, placing her 
son Menilek upon the throne, whose posterity, the 
annals of Abyssinia would teach us to believe, have 
ever since reigned. So far we must indeed bear 
witness to them, that this is no new doctrine, but has 



been stead fasfly and uniformly maintained from their 
earliest account of time ; first when Jews, then in 
later days, after they had embraced Christianity 
We may further add, that the testimony of all the 
neighboring nations is with them upon this subject, 
whether they be friends or enemies. They only dif- 
fer in name of the queen, or in giving her two names. 
As for her being an Arab, the objection is still easier 
got over. For all the inhabitants of Arabia Felix, 
especially those of the coast opposite to Saba, were 
reputed Abyssinians, and their country part of Abys- 
sinia, from the earliest ages to the Mahometan con- 
quest and after. They were her subjects ; first Sa- 
bean pagans like herself, then converted (as the tra- 
dition says) to Judaism, during the time of the build- 
ing of the temple and continuing Jews from that 
time to the year r Q2 after Christ, when they became 
Mahometans. 

" Of their ki-tg.s of the race of Solomon descended 
from the queen of Saba, the device is a lion passant, 
proper upon a field gules, and their motto, Mo Jbiha- 
sa am JVizild Solomon JYeg-ade. Jude ; which signifies, 
'The Lion of the Race of Solomon and Tribe of Ju- 
dah hath overcome.' " (So far Mr. Bruce, vol. i. p. 
471, &c), 

On the' motto of the Abyssinian kings, Mr. Taylor 
remarks, that we find allusions to it in Scripture. It 
appears to have originated from the simile in Gen. 
xlix. 9, and to this motto, or title, a reference he 
thinks may be found in Ps. 1. 22, " Consider this, ye 
that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there 
be none to deliver :" — where the phrase differs from 
Ps. vii. 2, in which place, the psalmist speaks of be- 
ing himself torn in pieces. (See Micah v. 8.) He 
also thinks there is a direct quotation of this motto 
in Rev. v. 8, " The lion of the tribe of Judah hath pre- 
vailed," or overcome ; so that the comparison of a 
chief of the tribe of Judah to a lion, is not only sanc- 
tioned by the original comparison in Genesis, but ap- 
pears to have been constantly kept in memory, and 
preserved by a public and authoritative memorial ; 
in fact, by national and royal insignia. 

Mr. Bruce adds the following information, which 
shows the practicability of the queen of Sheba's jour- 
ney. Indeed journeys of a much greater length are 
now annually made, in order to visit Mecca ; and it 
is very credible, that the antiquity of similar journeys 
is very great. 

"In the gentle reigns of the Mamalukes, before the 
conquest of Egypt and Arabia by Selim, a caravan 
constantly set out from Abyssinia directly for Jerusa- 
lem. They had then a treaty with the Arabs. This 
caravan rendezvoused at Hamayen, a small territory 
abounding in provisions, about two days' journey 
from Dobarwa, and nearly the same from Masuah : it 
amounted sometimes in number to a thousand pil- 
grims, ecclesiastics as well as laymen. They travel- 
led by very easy journeys, not above six miles a day, 
halting to perform divine service, and setting up their 
tents early, and never beginning to travel till towards 
nine in the morning. They had hitherto passed in 
perfect safety, with drums beating, and colors flying, 
and in this way traversed the desert by the road of 
Suakem." (Travels, vol. ii. p. 158.) 

V. SHEBA, a city of Simeon, Josh. xix. 2. 

VI. SHEBA, son of Bichri, of Benjamin, a turbu- 
lent fellow, who, after the defeat of Absalom, when the 
tribe of Judah came to David, and brought him over 
the river Jordan, on his way to Jerusalem, soundea a 
trumpet, and proclaimed, "We have no share in 
David." Israel, in consequence, forsook David, and 



SHE 



L 844 ] 



SHECHEM 



followed Sheba, 2 Sam. xx. 1, &c. When the king 
arrived at Jerusalem, he sent Abishai in pursuit of the 
traitor. Joab also took soldiers, and, crossing the 
country north of Jerusalem, he arrived at Abel-beth- 
maacah, a city at the entrance of the pass between 
Libanus and Anti-libanus, to which Sheba had re- 
tired. Joab besieged the place ; but a discreet woman 
inhabiting the city, having persuaded the people to 
cut off Sheba's head, and to throw it over the wall, 
Joab and his army retired. 

SHEBARIM, a place near Ai and Bethel, Josh, 
vii. 5. 

SHEBAT, see Sebat. 

SHEBNA, a secretary to king Hezekiah, who was 
sent with Joah and Asaph, to hear the proposals of 
Rabshakeh, 2 Kings xviii. 18, 26. 

SHEBUEL, the eldest son of Gershom, son of 
Moses, had the care of die treasures of the temple, 
1 Chron. xxiii. 16 ; xxvi. 24. 

I. SHECHEM, son of Hamor, prince of the 
Shechemites, seduced Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, 
as she went to see a festival of the Shechemites, Gen. 
xxxiv A. M. 2265. He afterwards obtained her in 
marriage, on condition that he, and all the men of 
Shechem, should be circumcised. This was agreed 
to ; but on the third day, when the wounds of the 
circumcision were at the worst, Simeon and Levi, 
the two brothers of Dinah, entered Shechem, and 
slew all the males, and afterwards, with their breth- 
ren and domestics, plundered the city. It is proba- 
ble that this prince gave name to the city of She- 
chem. 

II. SHECHEM, Sichar, or Sychem, (Acts vii. 16.) 
a city of Ephraim, Josh. xvii. 7. Jacob bought a 
field in its neighborhood, which, by way of overplus, 
he gave to his son Joseph, who was buried here, Gen. 
xlviii. 22. In its vicinity was Jacob's well or foun- 
tain, at which Christ discoursed with the woman of 
Samaria, John iv. 5. After the ruin of Samaria by 
Shalmaneser, Shechem became the capital of the 
Samaritans ; and Josephus says, it was so in the time 
of Alexander the Great. At the present day, it is 
also the seat of the small remnant of the Samaritans. 
(See Samaritans.) It is 10 miles from Shiloh, 
and 40 from Jerusalem, towards the north. The 
following is Dr. Clarke's description of this city and 
its neighborhood : — 

" The view of the ancient Sichem, now called Na- 
polose, otherwise Neapolis, and Napoleos, surprised 
us, as we had not expected to find a city of such 
magnitude in the road to Jerusalem. It seems to be 
the metropolis of a very rich and extensive country, 
abounding with provisions, and all the necessary ar- 
ticles of life, in much greater profusion than the town 
of Acre. White bread was exposed for sale in the 
streets of a quality superior to any that is to be found 
elsewhere throughout the Levant. The governor of 
Napolose received and regaled us with all the mag- 
nificence of an eastern sovereign. Refreshments, of 
every kind known in the country, were set before us ; 
and when we supposed the list to be exhausted, to 
our very great astonishment a most sumptuous din- 
ner was brought in. Nothing seemed to gratify our 
host more, than that any of his guests should eat 
heartily ; and, to do him justice, every individual of 
the party ought to have possessed the appetite of ten 
hungry pilgrims, to satisfy his wishes in this respect. 
There is nothing in the Holy Land finer than a view 
of Napolose, from the heights around it. As the 
traveller descends towards it from the hills, it appears 
luxuriantly embosomed in the most delightful and 



fragrant bowers, half concealed by rich gardens, and 
by stately trees collected into groves, all around the 
bold and beautiful valley in which it stands. Trade 
seems to flourish among its inhabitants. Their 
principal employment is in making soap ; but the man- 
ufactures of the town supply a very widely extended 
neighborhood, and they are exported to a great dis- 
tance, upon camels. In the morning after our arrival, 
we met caravans coming from Grand Cairo, and 
noticed others reposing in the large olive plantations 
near the gates. 

" The history of Sichem, referring to events long 
prior to the Christian dispensation, directs us to an- 
tiquities, which owe nothing of their celebrity to any 
traditional aid. The traveller, directing his footsteps 
towards its ancient sepulchres, as everlasting as the 
rocks wherein they are hewn, is permitted, on the 
authority of sacred and indelible record, to contem- 
plate the spot where the remains of Joseph, of Elea- 
zar and of Joshua were severally deposited. If any 
thing connected with the memory of past ages be 
calculated to awaken local enthusiasm, the, land 
around this city is preeminently entitled to consid- 
eration. The sacred story of events transacted in the 
fields of Sichem, from our earliest years, is remem- 
bered with delight ; b jt with the territory before our 
eyes where those events took place, and in the view 
of objects existing as they were described above 
three thousand years ago, the grateful impression 
kindles into ecstasy. Along the valley we beheld 
''a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead," 
(Gen. xxxvii. 25.) as in the days of Reuben and Ju- 
dah, " with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, 
and myrrh," who would gladly have purchased an- 
other Joseph of his brethren, and conveyed him, as 
a slave, to some Potiphar in Egypt. Upon the hills 
around, flocks and herds were feeding, as of old ; nor 
in the simple garb of the shepherds of Samaria was 
there any thing repugnant to the notions we may en- 
tertain of the appearance presented by the sons of 
Jacob. It was indeed a scene to abstract and to ele- 
vate .he mind ; and, under emotions so called forth 
by e' erv circumstance of powerful coincidence, a 
si'/jgie moment seemed to concentrate whole ages of 
existence. The Jews of the twelfth century ac- 
knowledged that the tomb of Joseph then existed in 
Sichem, although both the city and the tomb were 
the possession and boast of a people they detested 
' The town,' says rabbi Benjamin, Mies in a vale, be- 
tween mount Gerizim and mount Ebal, where there 
are above a hundred Cuthseans, who observe only 
the law qf Moses, whom men call Samaritans. They 
have priests of the lineage of Aaron, who rests in 
peace, and those they call Aaronites ; who never 
marry but with persons of the sacerdotal family, that 
they may not be confounded with the people. Yet these 
priests of their law offer sacrifices and burnt-offer- 
ings in their congregations, as it is written in the law, 
(Dent. xi. 29.) ' Thou shalt put the blessing on mount 
Gerizim.' They therefore affirm, that this is the 
House of the Sanctuary ; and they offer burnt-offer- 
ings both on the Passover, and on other festivals, on 
the altar which was built on mount Gerizim, of those 
stones which the children of Israel set up after they 
had passed over Jordan. They pretend that they are 
descended from the tribe of Epbrairn, and have 
among them the sepulchre of Joseph the Just, the son of 
our father Jacob, who rests in peace, according to 
that saying, the hones also of Joseph, which the children 
of Israel brought up ivith them out of Egypt, buried 
they in Shechem. , Maundrell notices the torn!; of Jo- 



SHECHEM 



[ 845 1 



SHE 



bcph, still bearing its name, unaltered, and venerated 
even by the Moslems, who have built a small tem- 
ple over it. Its authenticity is not liable to contro- 
versy ; since tradition is, in this respect, maintained 
on the authority of sacred Scripture ; and the vene- 
ration paid to it by Jews, by Christians, and by Ma- 
hometans, has preserved, in all ages, the remem- 
brance of its situation. Having shown, on a former 
occasion, that tombs were the origin of temples, it is 
not necessary to dwell on the utter improbability of 
their being forgotten among men who approached 
them as places of worship. The tomb of Joshua 
was also visited by Jewish pilgrims in the twelfth 
century. This is proved by the Hebrew Itinerary 
of Petachias, who was contemporary with Benjamin 
of Tudela ; and its situation, marked by him with the 
utmost precision, is still as familiar to the Jews of 
Palestine, as the place where the temple of Solomon 
originally stood. It was, in fact, in the midst of a 
renowned cemetery, containing also the sepulchres 
of other patriarchs ; particularly of one, whose syna- 
gogue is mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela, as being 
in the neighborhood of the warm baths of Tiberias. 
Thpse tombs are hewn in the solid rock, like those 
of Telmessus in the gulf of Glaucus, and are calcu- 
lated for duration; equal to that of the hills wherein 
they have been excavated." (p. 513.) 

" The principal object of veneration is Jacob's 
well, over which a church was formerly erected. 
This is situated at a small distance from the town, in 
the road to Jerusalem, and has been visited by pil- 
grims of all ages ; but particularly since the Christian 
era, as the place where our Saviour revealed himself 
to the woman of Samaria. The spot is so distinctly 
marked by the evangelist, and so little liable to un- 
certainty, from the circumstance of the well itself, 
and the features of the country, that, if no tradition 
existed for its identity, the site of it could hardly be 
mistaken. Perhaps no Christian scholar ever atten- 
tively read the fourth chapter of John, without being 
struck with the numerous internal evidences of truth 
which crowd upon the mind in its perusal. Within 
so small a compass it is impossible to find in other 
writings so many sources of reflection and of inter- 
est. Independently of its importance as a theolo- 
gical document, it concentrates so much information, 
that a volume might be filled with the illustration it 
reflects on the history of the Jews, and on the geog- 
raphy of their country. All that can be gathered on 
these subjects from Josephus seems but as a comment 
to illustrate this chapter. The journey of our Lord 
from Judea into Galilee, the cause of it, his passage 
through the territory of Samaria, his approach to the 
metropolis of this country, its name, his arrival at the 
Amorite field which terminates the narrow valley of 
Sichem, the ancient custom of halting at a well, the 
female employment of drawing water, the disciples 
sent into the city for food, by which its situation out 
of the town is obviously implied ; the question of the 
woman referring to existing prejudices which sepa- 
rated the Jews from the Samaritans ; the depth of the 
well, the oriental allusion contained in the expression, 
'■living water ; 7 the history of the well, and the cus- 
toms thereby illustrated, the worship upon mount 
Gerizim ; all these occur within the space of twenty 
verses : and if to these be added, what has already 
been referred to in the remainder of the same chap- 
ter, we shall perhaps consider it as a record, which, 
in the words of him who sent it, ' we may lift up our 
eyes, and look upon, for it is white already to /larvest.' " 
(Travels, p. 517.) 



[The situation of the city is very •omantic The 
following is Dr. Jowett's notice of it in 18^3 ; and ia 
coupled with a scene illustrative of Scripture man- 
ners : (Chr. Researches in Syr. p. 147. Amer. ed.) 
" It was about an hour after mid-day that we had our 
first view of the city of Nablous, romantically situated 
in a deep valley, between the mountains of Ebal on 
our left and Gerizim on the right. There is a kind 
of sublime horror in the lofty, craggy and barren as- 
pect of these two mountains, which seem to face each 
other with an air of defiance, especially as they stand 
contrasted with the rich valley beneath, where the 
city appears to be embedded on either side in green 
gardens and extensive olive-grounds, rendered more 
verdant, by the lengthened periods of shade which 
they enjoy from the mountains on each side. 
Of the two, Gerizim is not wholly without culti- 
vation. 

" We had always been informed, that the facility of 
passing by way of Nablous depended very much on 
the character of the governor of the city. Our case 
was singular ; for we had to learn what kind of re- 
ception a city without a governor would give us, the 
governor having died this very morning. On com- 
ing within sight of the gate, we perceived a numerous 
company of females, who were singing in a kind of 
recitative, far from melancholy, and beating time with 
their hands. If this be mourning, I thought, it is of 
a strange kind. It had indeed, sometimes, more the 
air of angry defiance. But on our reaching the gate, 
it was suddenly exchanged for most hideous plaints 
and shrieks, which, with the feeling that we were en- 
tering a city at no time celebrated for its hospitality, 
struck a very dismal impression upon my mind. 
They accompanied us a few paces ; but it soon ap- 
peared that the gate was their station ; to which, 
having received nothing from us, they returned. We 
learnt, in the course of the evening, that these were 
only a small detachment of a very numerous body of 
cunning tvomen,\vho were filling the whole city with 
their cries — taking up a wailing, with the design, as 
of old, to make the eyes of all the inhabitants run 
doivn ivith tears, and their eyelids gush out with ivaters, 
Jer. ix. 17, 18. For this good service, they would, 
the next morning, wait upon the government 
and principal persons, to receive some trifling 
fee." *R. 

SHEEP. [The Hebrew name of this animal is 
r\v, seh, a word which is merely a noun of unity, and 
has no plural. The noun of plurality or multitude 
is jNi, tson, which includes all small cattle, as sheep, 
goats, &c. like the English word flocks. R. 

In its present domestic state, the sheep is of all an- 
imals the most defenceless and inoffensive. With 
its liberty it seems to have been deprived of its swift- 
ness and cunning ; and what in the ass might rather 
be called patience, in the sheep appears to be stupid- 
ity. With no one quality to fit it for self-preserva- 
tion, it makes vain efforts at all. Without swiftness 
it endeavors to fly ; and without strength sometimes 
offers to oppose. But it is by human art alone that 
the sheep is become the tardy, defenceless creature 
that we find it. In its wild state it is a noble and act- 
ive animal, and is every wiiy fitted to defend itself 
against the numerous dangers by which it is sur- 
rounded. 

Of the Syrian sheep there are two varieties: the 
one called Bedouin sheep, which differ in no respect 
from the larger kinds of sheep among us, except that 
their tails are something longer and thicker ; the oth- 
ers are those often mentioned by travellers on ac- 



SHEEP 



SHEEP 



count of their extraordinary tails ; and this species 
is by far the most numerous. The tail of one of 
these animals is very broad and large, terminating in 
a small appendage that turns back upon it. It is of 
a substance between fat and marrow, and is not eaten 
separately, but mixed with the lean meat in many of 
their dishes, and also often used instead of butter. A 
common sheep of this sort, without the head, feet, 
skin and entrails, weighs from sixty to eighty pounds, 
of which the tail itself is usually fifteen pounds or 
upwards ; but such as are of the largest breed, and 
have been fattened, will sometimes weigh above one 
hundred and fifty pounds, and the tail, alone, fifty ; a 
thing to some scarcely credible. To preserve the 
tails from being torn by the bushes, Sic. they fix a 
piece of thin board no the under part, where it is not 
covered with thick wool, and some have small wheels 
to facilitate the dragging of this board after them ; 
whence, with a little exaggeration, the story of hav- 
ing carts to carry their tails. (Russell's Aleppo, 
p. 51.) 

The sheep or lamb was the common sacrifice un- 
der the Mosaic law ; and it is to be remarked, that 
when the divine legislator speaks of this victim, he 
never omits to appoint, that the rump or tail be laid 
whole on the fire of the altar. The reason for this is 
seen in the extract just given from Dr. Russell, from 
which it appears that this was the most delicate part 
of the animal, and therefore the most proper to be 
presented in sacrifice to Jehovah. Mr. Street, how- 
ever, who is cited by Dr. Harris, considers this pre- 
cept to have had respect to the health of the Israel- 
ites ; observing, that " bilious disorders are very fre- 
quent in hot countries ; the eating of fat meat is a 
great encouragement and excitement to them ; and 
'hough the fat of the tail is now considered as a deli- 
:acy, it is really unwholesome." 

In a domesticated state, the sheep, as already no- 
ticed, is a weak and defenceless animal, and is, there- 
fore, altogether dependent upon its keeper for pro- 
tection as well as support. To this trait in their 
character, there are several beautiful allusions in the 
sacred writings. Thus, Micaiah describes the desti- 
tute condition of the Jews as a flock "scattered upon 
the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd ;" (1 Kings 
xxii. 17 ; see also Matt. ix. 36.) and Zechariah proph- 
esied, that when the good shepherd should be smit- 
ten and removed from his flock, the sheep should be 
scattered, Zech. xiii. 7. To the disposition of these 
animals to wander from the fold, and thus abandon 
themselves to danger and destruction, there are also 
several allusions made by the inspired writers. Da- 
vid confesses that he had imitated their foolish con- 
duct : " I have gone astray like a lost sheep ; " and 
conscious that, like them, he was only disposed to 
wander still further from the fold, he adds, "seek thy 
servant," Ps. cxix. 176. Nor was this disposition to 
abandon the paternal care of God peculiar to David, 
for the prophet adopts similar language to depict the 
dangerous and awful condition of the entire species : 
" All we like sheep have gone astray : we have turned 
every one to his own way," Isa. liii. 6. It was to 
seek these " lost sheep," scattered abroad, and having 
no shepherd, that the blessed Redeemer came into 
the world. He is "the good shepherd, who gave his 
life for the sheep," (John x. 11.) and his people, 
though formerly "as sheep going astray," have now 
" returned to the shepherd and bishop of their souls," 
1 Pet. ii. 25. His care over them, and their security 
under his protection, is most beautifully and aftect- 
vngly described in the chapter which we just now 



cited. "He calleth his own sneep by name, and 
leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his 
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep fol- 
low him : for they know his voice. And a stranger 
will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they 
know not the voice of strangers. I am the door of 
the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves 
and robbers ; but the sheep did not hear them. I 
am the door : by me if any man enter in, hi shall be 
saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The 
thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to 
destroy : I am come that they might have life, and 
that they might have it more abundantly. I am the 
good shepherd ; the good shepherd giveth his life for 
the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the 
shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the 
wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth ; and 
the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 
The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and 
careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, 
and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As 
the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father; 
and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other 
sheep I have, which are not of this fold : them also I 
must bring, and they shall hear my voice ; and there 
shall be one fold, and one shepherd," John x. 3 — 16. 

The sprightly and playful inclination of the lamb 
has passed into a proverb. To their gambols in the 
pasture, there is an allusion in a b' id out appropriate 
figure, in the cxiv. Psalm : "The mountains skipped 
like rams, and the little hills like lambs. What ailed 
thee — ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams ; and 
ye little hills like lambs ?" The meek and harmless 
disposition of this animal has occasioned it to be se- 
lected by the Holy Spirit, as a fit type of the Son of 
God and Saviour of the world. The lamb in the 
paschal feast, which was roasted whole, and feasted 
upon by each family of redeemed Israelites, and 
whose blood sprinkled upon the doorposts of their 
houses, preserved them from the sword of the de- 
stroying angel, was a lively representation of him 
"who gave himself for our sins, according to the will 
of God and our Father ; " whose blood has been shed 
for the expiation of human guilt ; and upon whom 
every redeemed Israelite feeds and lives by faith, 
John vi. 51 — 55. He is "the Lamb of God, who 
taketh away the sin of the world," (John i. 29.) the 
necessity and efficacy of whose atonement was strik- 
ingly prefigured by the daily sacrifices of the Mosaic 
ritual. 

There is a remarkable passage in the history of 
Jacob, as recorded in Gen. xxx. 31, &c. relative to 
the gestation and birth of these animals, which would 
perhaps, be deemed an unpardonable omission to pass 
by; and yet, we fear we shall be able to collect little 
that will satisfy the mind of the inquisitive on the 
subject. The reader is requested to have the passage 
before him, while perusing the following observa- 
tions upon it, chieflv taken from Calmet and Dr. A. 
Clarke. 

It is extremely difficult to find out, from the 32d 
and 35th verses, in idhat the bargain of Jacob with 
his father-in-law properly consisted. It appears 
from ver. 32, that Jacob was to have for his wages 
all the speckled, spotted and brown, among the sheep 
and the goats; and of course, that all those which 
were not parti-colored, should be considered as the 
property of Laban. But in ver. 35, it appears that 
Laban separated all the parti-colored cattle, and de- 
livered them into the hands of his own sons : which 
seems as if he had taken these for his own property 



SHEEP 



SHE 



•did left the others to Jacob. It has oeen conjectured 
that Laban, for the greater security, when he had 
separated the parti-colored, which by the agreement 
belonged to Jacob, (see ver. 32.) put them under the 
care of his own sons, while Jacob fed the flock of 
Laban, (ver. 36.) three days' journey being between 
the two flocks. If, therefore, the flocks under the 
care of Laban's sons brought forth young that were 
all of one color, these were put to the flocks of Laban, 
under the care of Jacob ; and if any of the flocks un- 
der Jacob's care brought forth parti- colored young, 
they were put to the flocks belonging f> Jacob, under 
the care of Laban's sons. This conjecture is not 
satisfactory, and the true meaning appears to be this: 
Jacob had agreed to take all the parti-colored for his 
wages. As he was now only beginning to act upon 
this agreement, consequently none of the cattle as 
yet belonged to him ; therefore Laban separated from 
the flock (ver. 35.) all such cattle as Jacob might 
afterwards claim in consequence of his bargain ; for 
as yet he had no right : therefore n ob commenced 
his service to Laban with a flock that did not contain 
a single animal of the description of those to which 
he might be entitled ; and the others were sent away 
under the care of Laban's sons, three days' journey 
from those of which Jacob had the care. The bar- 
gain, therefore, seemed to be wholly in favor of La- 
ban ; and to turn it to his own advantage, Jacob 
made use of the stratagems afterwards mentioned. 
This mode of interpretation removes all the apparent 
contradiction between the 32d and 35th verses, with 
which commentators in general have been grievous- 
ly perplexed. From the whole account we learn, 
that Laban acted with great prudence and caution, 
and Jacob with great judgment. Jacob had already 
served fourteen years, and had got no patrimony 
whatever, though he had now a family of tioelve 
children, eleven sons and one daughter, besides his 
two wives and their two maids. It was high time 
that he should get some property for these ; and as 
his father-in-law was excessively parsimonious, and 
would scarcely allow him to live, he was in some sort 
obliged to make use of stratagem to get an equiva- 
lent for his services ; but this he pushed so far, as to 
ruin his father-in-law's flocks, leaving him nothing 
but the refuse. (See ver. 42.) 

So far Dr. Adam Clarke : but from ch. xxxi. 12, 
&c. it seems clear that the stratagem which was re- 
sorted to by Jacob, and which we are about to con- 
sider, was adopted by him under divine direction, 
the reason for which is there distinctly assigned. 

The expedient was this : " He took him rods of 
green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut-tree, and 
pilled white streaks in them, and made the white 
appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods 
which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in 
the watering-troughs, when the flocks came to drink, 
that they should conceive when they came to drink." 
The consequence of this is stated to be, that " the 
flocks conceived before the j-ods, and brought forth 
cattle ring-straked, speckled and spotted," ch. xxx. 37 
— 39. Now, in this process there does not appear to 
have been any thing miraculous, or out of the ordi- 
nary course of nature. It is a fact attested by both 
ancient and modern philosophers, as well as our con- 
stant experience, that whatever makes a strong im- 
pression on the mind of a female in the time of con- 
ception and gestation, will have a corresponding 
influence on the mind or body of the foetus. Nor is 
it any objection to this fact, that we know not how to 
account for the effect, on rational principles. 



There is an art, which, in their piedness, shares 

With great creating nature. — 

Yet nature is made better by no mean, 

But nature makes that mean : 

The art itself is nature. Winter's Tale. 

By the name of sheep, Scripture often understands 
the people. Ps. lxxix. 13, " We are thy people, and 
the sheep of thy pasture ;" also, " O shepherd of Israel, 
thou that leddest Joseph like a flock." Our Saviour 
says, that he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel 
Matt. xv. 24. The righteous are often compared to 
sheep exposed to the violence of the wicked, to the 
fury of the vyolves ; to slaughter, Ps. xliv. 22. At the 
last judgment, the just (represented by sheep) shall 
be at the right hand of the sovereign Judge, and put 
in possession of heaven. Our Saviour describes de- 
ceivers as wolves in sheep's clothing, Matt. vii. 15. 

The sheep-folds, among the Israelites, appear to 
have, been generally houses, or enclosures, walled 
round, to guard the sheep from beasts of prey by 
night, and the scorching heat of noon. John x. 1 — 5 
is a curious passage, in reference to the subject of 
this article, and deserves attention. 

SHEKEL, to iveigh, a Hebrew weight and money, 
Exod. xxx. 23, 24 ; 2 Sam. xiv. 26. The word is 
used to denote the weight of any thing, as iron, hair, 
spices, &c. Among the different opinions, concern- 
ing its weight and value, Calmet adheres to that of 
M. le Pelletier, who says it weighs half an ounce, or 
four Roman drachmae ; that is, nine pennyweights, 
three grains ; and that the shekel of silver was worth 
two shillings three-pence farthing and a half, sterling, 
or about 50 cents ; perhaps nearest 52J c<mts. Moses 
and Ezekiel say, it was worth twenty oboli, or twen- 
ty gerah, Numb, xviii. 16; Ezek. xlv. 12. 

The shekel of gold was half the weight of the 
shekel of silver ; and was worth eighteen shillings 
and three-pence, sterling, or about $4. " The shekel 
of the sanctuary" has been thought to have been 
double the common shekel, but this wants proof. 
Calmet thinks it was the same as the common shekel, 
the words " of the sanctuary " being added to express 
a just and exact weight, according to the standard kept 
in the temple or tabernacle. 

[The shekel was prop' .-ly and only a weight, which 
it has been attempted to fix at 96 Paris grains, or also, 
as above stated, at 9 pwt. 3 gr. Troy. It was used 
especially in weighing uncoined gold and silver, Gen. 
xxiii. 15, 16. In such cases the word shekel is often 
omitted in the Hebrew, as in Gen. xx. 16 ; xxxvii. 
28, where our translators have supplied the word 
pieces, but improperly, because coined money was 
not then known. (See Money.) Between the sacred 
shekel, (Ex. xxx. 15.) and the shekel after the king's 
weight, (2 Sam. xiv. 26.) there would seem to have 
been a difference ; (see Absalom ;) but this difference 
cannot now be determined. The first coin which 
bore the name of shekel was struck after the exile in 
the time of the Maccabees, (1 Mac. xv. 6.) and bore 
the inscription shekel of Israel. The value was about 
■50 cents ; and it is the coin mentioned in the New 
Testament by the name of aQyvqior, (Matt. xxvi. 15, 
etc.) where our translators have rendered it by pieces 
of silver. R. 

SHEKINAH, a word signifying the dtvelling, the 
abiding. It does not occur in the Bible ; but nothing 
is more frequently mentioned in the writings of the 
Jews, than the Shekinah, by which they understand 
the presence of the Holy Spirit. In the Targums, and 
Chaldee paraphrases, we find the names Jehovah, oe 



SHE 



[ ?48 ] 



SHE 



iod ; Memra, or the Word ; and Shekinah, or the 
Holy Spirit. They suppose the Holy Spirit speak- 
ing and communicating itself to men by revelation ; 
(1.) in the prophets ; (2.) in the Urim aud Thummim 
of the high-priest's breast-plate ; (3.) in what the 
Hebrews call Bath-col, or the daughter of the 
voice. The Shekinah is the presence of the Holy 
Spirit, which resided in the temple of Jerusa- 
lem ; and which, the rabbins say, drove thence the 
princes of the air, and communicated a particular 
sanctity. 

The Shekinah was the most sensible symbol of the 
presence of God among the Hebrews. It rested over 
the propitiatory, or over the golden cherubim, which 
were attached to the propitiatory, the covering of the 
ark. Here it assumed the appearance of a cloud ; and 
from hence God gave his oracles, as some think, 
when consulted by the high-priest on account of his 
people. Hence Scripture often says, God sits on the 
cherubim, or between the cherubim ; that is, he gives 
the most evident tokens of his divine presence, by 
answering from lxence the inquiries of Israel. The 
rabbins affirm, that the Shekinah first resided in the 
tabernacle prepared by Moses in the wilderness, into 
which it descended on the day of its consecration, in 
the figure of a cloud. It passed from thence into the 
sanctuary of Solomon's temple, on the day of its ded- 
ication by this prince, where it continued till the 
destruction of Jerusalem, and the temple, by the 
Chaldeans, and was not afterwards seen there. 

The presence of the Holy Spirit, by the appearance 
of the Shekinah, is frequently referred to in the New 
Testament. It appeared at the baptism and transfig- 
uration of Jesus, and is called the excellent glory by 
Peter, 2 Epist. ii. 10. The idea of a radiance, or 
glory, a mild effulgence, seems to be always annexed 
to it. The Shekinah may be "the glory of the Lord," 
spoken of 2 Cor. iii. 18, under the allusion of being 
distributed to believers, as it really was at the time of the 
descent of the " cloven tongues like as of fire," which 
sat on each of the hundred and twenty, (Acts ii.) and 
on the assembly at Cornelius's, Acts x. 44 ; xi. 15. It 
might also be "the glory of the Lord," (Luke ii. 9.) 
and "the tabernacle of God with men," Rev. xxi. 3. 
In short, we find it frequently ; but always gentle, 
and, as it were, lambent ; not fierce or vindictive, as 
exemplified at the burning bush, (Exod. iii.) where 
the whole was enveloped, but nothing consumed. 

SHELOMITH, daughter of Dibri, r.f the tribe of 
Dan, was mother of that blasphemer who was con- 
demned to be stoned, Lev. xxiv. 10, 11. 

SHELUMIEL, son of Zurishaddai, the prince of 
Simeon, came out of Egypt at the head of 50,000 men 
who carried arms, Numb. i. 6; vii. 36 ; x. 19. 

SHEM, son of Noah, (Gen. vi. 10.) was born A. M. 
1558, 98 years before the deluge, and was, probably, 
younger than Japheth, and older than Ham. (See 
Japheth.) In consequence of his conduct upon the 
occasion of Ham's discovering his father's nakedness, 
Noah predicted blessings on Shem, saying, " The Lord 
God of Shem be blessed, and let Canaan be the slave 
of Shem." His great prerogatives were, that from his 
race was to proceed the Messiah, and that the wor- 
ship of the true God was to be preserved among his 
posterity. At 100 years of age he begat Arphaxad, 
and died aged 600 years. 

Shem had five sons, Elam, Asher, Arphaxad, Lud 
and Aram, who peopled the finest provinces of the 
East. (See their articles.) The principal design of 
Moses being to give the history and laws of the Jews, 
he has carried the genealogy of Shem further than the 



genealogies of the otner sons of Noah, who were not 
his immediate object. 

I. SHEMAIAH, a prophet who was sent toReho- 
boam, king of Judah, with a message from God, to 
forbid his war against Israel, 2 Chron. xi. 2. Some 
years after this, Shishak, king of Egypt, came in hos- 
tile array into Judea, against Rehoboam, and took the 
best places of his kingdom. The prophet Shemaiah 
told Rehoboam, and the princes of Judah, who had 
retired into Jerusalem, that they had forsaken the Lord, 
and now he in his turn would forsake them, and deliver 
them into the hands of Shishak. The king and the 
princes, being in a consternation, answered,"The Lord 
is just ;" but, they humbling themselves, God moder- 
ated his anger and their sufferings. Shemaiah wrote 
the history of Rehoboam, 2 Chron. xii. 15. 

II. SHEMAIAH, son of Nathaniel, secretary of the 
temple, (1 Chron. xxiv. 6.) probably the same as 
Shemaiah, descendant of Elizaphan, 1 Chron. xv.8, 11. 

III. SHEMAIAH, son of Delaiah, a false prophet in 
the time of Nehemiah,who, being corrupted by Sanbal- 
lat, and the other enemies of Nehemiah, would have 
persuaded him to retire into the temple, Neh. vi. 10. 

IV. SHEM AI AH, a false prophet who lived at Bab- 
ylon, Jer. xxix. 24, 31, 32. Jeremiah having sent 
prophecies to the captive Jews at Babylon, Shemaiah 
wrote back to the people of Jerusalem to decry the 
prophet ; and to Zephaniah, prince of the priests, and 
to the rest of the priests, to reproach them for not seiz- 
ing and imprisoning Jeremiah as an impostor. Jere- 
miah in his turn wrote back to the Jews in captivity: 
"The Lord says, against Shemaiah the Nehelamite, 
and against his posterity ; — none of his race shall ever 
sit in the midst of the people, and he shall not share in 
the happiness of my people." There are several other 
unimportant persons of the same name mentioned in 
the Old Testap- =nt. 

SHEMEBLrl, king of Zeboiim, and one of the 
five confederates defeated by Chedorlaomer and his 
allies, Gen. xiv. 2. 

SHEMER was the name of the person who sold 
the mount of Somer to Omri, king of Israel, upon 
which he built the city of Samaria, 1 Kings xvi. 24. 
The name of Semei-, or Somer, is also given to the 
mountain itself. See Samaria. 

SHEMIDA, son of Gilead, of Manasseh, and head 
of a family, Numb. xxvi. 32 ; 1 Chron. vii. 19. 

SHEMINITH, in the titles of Ps. vi. xii. and in 
1 Chron. xv. 21. It means properly octave, and seems 
to have been not an instrument, but a part in music ; 
perhaps the lowest. *R. 

SHEMITISH LANGUAGES, see Languages, 
p. 605. 

I. SHEMUEL, son of Ammihud, prince of Simeon, 
Numb, xxxiv. 20. 

II. SHEMUEL, a son of Thola, 1 Chron. vii. 2. 
SHENIR, or Senir, the name given to mount 

Hermon by the Amorites, Deut. iii. 9 ; 1 Chron. v. 23 ; 
Ezek. xxvii. 5. 

SHEOL, see Hell.» 

SHEPHAM, apparently a city of Syria, and the 
eastern limit of the Land of Promise, Numb, xxxiv. 
10, 11. 

SHEPHERDS, or Pastors. When the patriarch 
Joseph invited his father and brethren to settle in 
Egypt, he bade them tell Pharaoh they were shepherds 
or breeders of sheep, that they might have the land of 
Goshen assigned for their habitation ; because, he 
added, the Egyptians hold shepherds in abomination. 
See Egypt. 

Abel was a keeper of sheep, (Gen. iv. 2.) as were 




THE SHEPHERDS SEE THE STAR. 



S H I 



[ 849 ] 



S H I 



the greater number of the ancient patriarchs. When 
men began to multiply, and to follow different em- 
ployments, Jabel, son of Lantech and his wife Adah, 
was acknowledged as father, that is, founder, of shep- 
herds and nomades, Gen. iv. 20. God sometimes 
takes the name of Shepherd of Israel, (Isa. xl. 11.) and 
kings, both in Scripture, and ancient writers, are dis- 
tinguished by the title of shepherds of the people. 
The prophets often inveigh against the shepherds of 
Israel, against the kings who feed themselves and 
neglect their flocks ; who distress, ill-treat, seduce 
and lead them astray. (See Ezek. xxxiv. 10, sq. ; Num. 
■xxvii. 17; 1 Kings xxii. 17; Isa. xl. 11; xliv. 28; 
Judith xi. 15.) 

The Lord says, (Isa. lxiii. 11.) that he brought his 
people through the Red sea, with their shepherds ; 
that is, Moses, Aaron and the chief of the people at 
their head. Micah says, (v. 5.) that the Lord shall 
raise seven shepherds over his people, and an eighth 
over the land of Assyria, to bring from thence the 
people of Israel. These seven or eight shepherds are 
taken to be the seven princes confederate with Darius, 
son of Hystaspes, who killed Smerdis the Magian, 
who had seized the empire of Persia, after the death 
of Cambyses. 

The Messiah is often called a shepherd. " I will 
set up shepherds over them, which shall feed them," 
Jer. xxiii. 4, 5. Isaiah (xl. 11.) speaks in the same 
manner : " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, 
he shall gather the lambs with his arms, and gently 
lead those that are with young." And Zaehariah 
(xiii. 7.) says, "Awake, O sword, against my shep- 
herd, against the man that is my fellow, saith the 
Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep 
shall be scattered, and I will turn my hand upon the 
little ones." Christ refers this passage to his passion, 
(Matt. xxvi. 31.) and elsewhere takes on himself the 
title of the good shepherd, who gives his life for his 
sheep, John x. 11, 14, 15. Paul calls him the great 
shepherd of the sheep, (Heb. xiii. 20.) and Peter 
gives him the appellation of prince of shepherds, 1 
Epis. v. 4. 

In the passage just referred to, our Saviour says, 
the good shepherd lays clown his life for his sheep ; 
that he knows them, and they know him ; that they 
hear his voice, and follow him ; that he goes before 
them ; that no one shall force them out of his hands, 
and that he calls them by their name. These, how- 
ever, being all incidents taken from the custom of the 
country, are by no means so striking to us as they 
must have been to those who heard our Lord, and 
who every day witnessed such methods of conducting 
this domesticated animal. The hireling, or bad shep- 
herd, forsakes the sheep, and the thief enters not by 
the door of the sheep-fold, but climbs in another way. 

SHEREZER, a Jew of Babylon, who, with Regem- 
melech, consulted the priests of the temple concern- 
ing the fast of the fifth month, Zech. vii. 2. 

SHESHACH, see Babylon, p. 129. 

SHESHAI, a giant, a son or descendant of Anak, 
driven from Hebron, with his brethren Ahiman and 
Talmai, by Caleb, son of Jephunneh, Josh. xv. 14. 

SHESHBAZZAR, a prince of Judah, to whom 
Cyrus restored the sacred vessels of the temple which 
had been carried to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, 
Ezra i. 8. 

SHEW BREAD, see Bread. 

SHIBBOLETH. After Jephthah had beaten the 
Ammonites, the men of Ephraim were jealous of the 
advantage obtained by the tribes beyond Jordan, and 
complained loudly that they had not been called to 
107 



that expedition. Jephthah answered with much 
moderation ; but that did not prevent the Ephraimites 
from using contemptuous language toward the men 
of Gilead. They taunted them with being only fugi- 
tives from Ephraim and Manasseh, a kind of bastards, 
that belonged to neither, of the two tribes. A war 
ensued, and the men of Gilead killed a great number 
of Ephraim; after which they set guards at all the 
passes of Jordan, and when an Ephraimite who had, 
escaped, came to the river side, and desired to pass 
over, they asked him if he were not an Ephraimite ? 
If he said No, they bade him pronounce Shibboleth; 
but he pronouncing it Sibboleth, according to the dic- 
tion of the Ephraimites, they killed him. In this way 
there fell 42,000 Ephraimites, Judg. xii. This inci- 
dent should not be passed over without observing, 
that it affords proof of dialectical variations among 
the tribes of the same nation, and speaking the same 
language, in those early days. There can be no won- 
der, therefore, if we find in later ages the same word 
written different ways, according to the pronunciation 
of different tribes, or of different colonies or residents 
of the Hebrew people : whence various pointings, &c. 
That this continued, is evident from the peculiarities 
of the Galilean dialect, by which Peter was discovet 
ed to be of that district. 

The term Shibboleth signifies an ear of corn, and 
also stream. In this case it is probably to be taken in 
the latter sense, as the Ephraimites would thus bo 
understood to ask permission to pass over the stream. 
(Comp. Ps. lxix. 15 ; Isa. xxvii. 12. Heb.) 

SHIBMAH, or Sibmah, a city of Reuben, Numb, 
xxxii. 38 ; Josh. xiii. 19. Isaiah (xvi. 8, 9.) speaks of 
the vines of Sibmah, which were cut down by the 
enemies of the Moabites ; for that people had taken 
the city of Sibmah, (Jer. xlviii. 32.) and others of 
Reuben, after this tribe was carried into captivity 
by Tiglath-pileser, 1 Chron. v. 26; 2 Kings xv. 29. 
Jerome says that between Heshbon and Sibmah there 
was hardly the distance of five hundred paces. 

SHICRON, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 11.) thougnt 
to have been yielded to Simeon. 

SHIELD, a piece of defensive armor. (See Ar- 
mor.) God is often called the shield of his people, 
(Gen. xv. 1 ; Ps. v. 12.) as are also princes and great 
men, 2 Sam. i. 21. 

SHIGGAION, (Ps. vii. title,) and Shigionoth, 
(Hab. iii. 1 ;) probably song, or song of praise ; per- 
haps some particular species of ode. R. 

SHIHOR-LIBNATH, see Libnath. 

SHILOAH, see Siloam. 

I. SHILOH. This term is used (Gen. xlix. 10.) to 
denob; the Messiah, the coming of whom Jacob fore- 
tells in these words: "The sceptre shall not depart 
from Judah, rior a lawgiver from between his feet, 
until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering 
of the people be." It must be admitted, however, 
that the signification of the word is not well ascertain- 
ed. Some translate, "The sceptre shall not depart 
fro ,n Judah till he comes to whom it belongs." 
Others, till the coming of the peace-maker, or the 
pacific, or of prosperity, (shalah signifying to be in 
peace, or prosperity.) Some of the rabbins have taken 
the name Shiloh for a city of this name in Palestine, 
and render, "the sceptre shall not be taken from 
Judah, till it comes to Shiloh." "It has ceased, it has 
finished," says Le Clerc, "till it be taken from him, 
to be given to Saul, at Shiloh." But, as Calmet asks, 
where is it said, that Saul was acknowledged king, 
or consecrated at Shiloh ? And if it be understood 
of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, the matter is equally un- 



SHILOH 



[ SSU j 



S H I 



fcwrtain. Scripture mentions no assembly at Shiloh 
that admitted him king. 

The Septuagint read iSc, shellu, that is, (iS He 
whose it is, he to whom it belongs, meaning the scep- 
tre before mentioned, as Capellus observes ; for in the 
original and best edition of their version, as Justin 
Martyr affirmed, this iSb> was rendered, He for whom 
it is reserved, as it now stands in the Alexandrian 
manuscript. The Samaritan copy has rr?ts>, which is 
the same in the Chaldee dialect as bo. Onkelos, the 
Jerusalem Targum,the Syriac, the Arabic and Aquila, 
speak the same sense. According to this reading, 
then, the sense is this : The sceptre shall not depart 
from Judah, nor a governor from between his feet, until 
He ehall have come, whose right the sceptre is, and until 
the nations shall obey him, that is, have been governed 
by him. A prediction which, as Mede well observes, 
was afterwards applied and explained by our Saviour 
himself, in those words, "And this gospel of the 
kingdom [of Christ] shall be preached in all the 
world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall 
the end come ;" (Matt. xxiv. 14.) that is, the end of 
the Jewish state. 

Btt how did the sceptre depart from Judah when 
Shiloft came ? First, it actually had departed in the 
transference of the public government to the Herod 
family, and by the intrusion of the Romans. This is 
usually held to be an adequate answer to the prophecy ; 
but Mr. Taylor thinks there is a better: — Our Lord 
was the only branch of David's family entitled to rule, 
and he dying without issue, the ruling branch of Da- 
vid's family became extinct ; so that, after his death, 
there was no longer any possibility of the continu- 
ance of the kingly office, in the direct proper line of 
David. The person who should have held the sceptre 
was dead: the direct descent of the family expired 
with him ; and, consequently, the sceptre was bond 
fide departed: since, (1.) it was actually swayed by a 
stranger, and strangers, (Herod and the Romans,) and, 
(2.) no one who could possibly claim it, though he 
might have been of a collateral branch of David's 
house, could have been the direct legal claimant by 
birthright. 

This statement appears to be supported by the 
manner in which the sons of David by Bathsheba are 
recorded: (2 Sam. v. 14.) "These sons were born to 
David, after he was king in Jerusalem, Shammuah, 
Shobab, Nathan, Solomon:" which, in 1 Chron. iii. 
5. are thus reckoned, " Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, Sol- 
omon, four, of Bathshua [Bathsheba] the daughter of 
Ammiel." Now we know that David had promised 
Bathsheba that one of her sons should succeed him: 
Shimea died in his infancy ; (2 Sam. xii. 15, &c.) 
nothing is recorded of Shobab ; perhaps he also died 
young. This reduces the sons of Bathsheba to two — 
Nathan and Solomon. For what reason Solomon (the 
younger) was preferred before Nathan (the elder) we 
know not, unless on account of the promise of God 
referred to below ; but we ought to consider, (1.) that 
none of the sons of David, born before he reigned in 
Jerusalem could claim succession to his whole king- 
dom, on the principles adopted in the East. (See 
Genealogy.) (2.) That the first sons born to him in 
Jerusalem, appear to be by his connection with Bath- 
sheba : so that in one of them, as first born after he 
was there established king over all Israel, the natural 
right to the crown vested, by usage. But, (3.) we 
find (2 Sam. vii. 12.) that the son who should proceed 
out of the bowels of David, was to be his successor. 
The question is, whether Solomon was born at this 
time, or whether, as this promise respected a future 



event, Solomon was not begotten after it and in fid 
filment of it?. However that might be, it is veiy 
credible that the sons of David, by Bathsheba, were 
reduced to two, Nathan and Solomon ; and that, what- 
ever right Nathan might have to the crown, descend- 
ing in his line, centred in Heli, the father of Mary ; 
as Solomon having actually reigned, transmitted the 
crown in his posterity, in which line it centred in 
Joseph. The union of these two lines (and we know 
of no third line to oppose them) was completed in the 
person of Jesus ; and when he expired, the claims of 
both lines of descent expired with him. 

This agrees perfectly with the ancient rendering 
"he whose right it is ;" for, (1.) the right and title had 
long lain dormant, and involved in obscurity, till the 
enrolment at Bethlehem brought it forth, though, no 
doubt, very cautiously, to light: (2.) though it vested 
in the ancestors of Joseph, after the return from the 
captivity, yet another branch also had its claims : so 
that (3.) Jesus was the first person who, by uniting in 
himself the claim of both lines of descent from Da- 
vid, could be especially denoted and described, as he 
whose indisputable and unequivocal right it was to 
occupy the throne of the whole Hebrew nation. See 
Genealogy. 

II. SHILOH, or Silo, a famous city of Ephraim, 
(Josh, xviii. xix. xxi.) 12 miles from Shechem, accord- 
ing to Eusebius, or 10, according to Jerome. Here 
Joshua assembled the people to make the second dis- 
tribution of the Land of Promise, (Josh, xviii.) and 
here the tabernacle of the Lord was set up, when they 
were settled in the country, ch. xix. 51. The ark and 
the tabernacle continued at Shiloh, from A. M. 2560, 
to A. M. 2888, when it was taken by the Philistines, 
under the administration of the high-priest Eli. At 
Shiloh Samuel began to prophesy, (1 Sam.iv. l.)and 
here the prophet Ahijah dwelt, 1 Kings xiv. 2. Jer- 
emiah foretold that the temple of Jerusalem should be 
reduced to the same condition as Shiloh was, Jer. vii. 
13, 14 ; xxvi. 6. 

SHIMEAH, brother of David, and father of Jona- 
than and Jonadab, 2 Sam. xiii. 3 ; xxi. 21.— There 
were others of this name, of whom nothing particular 
is known. 

SHIMEI, son of Gera, a kinsman of Saul, who, 
when David was obliged to retire from Jerusalem, 
began to curse him, and to throw stones, 2 Sam. xvi. 
5. When he returned to Jerusalem, however, after 
the defeat and death of Absalom, Shimei hastened 
with the men of Judah, and with a thousand men of 
Benjamin, and threw himself at his feet, imploring 
him to forgive his fault. Abishai, son of Zeruiah, ex- 
postulated in an angry manner, but David disapproved 
Abishai's zeal, and promised Shimei, with an oath, 
that he would not put him to death. He kept his 
promise, but before his death he recommended to Sol- 
omon not to let Shimei go entirely unpunished, but to 
exercise his discretion upon him. Solomon confined 
Shimei to Jerusalem, where he dwelt for three years, 
when some of his slaves ran away, and took sanctuary 
with Achish in Gath. Shimei followed, and brought 
them to Jerusalem ; but the king, being informed of 
it, had him put to death. 

The conduct of both David and Solomon, in rela- 
tion to Shimei, having been frequently carped at, the 
following remarks upon their conduct by Mr. Taylor 
are worthy attention : — 

David's charge to Solomon refers to three persons 
of three different descriptions ; (1.) to Joab ; who is 
clearly consigned to punishment ; (2.) to the sons of 
Barzillai, who are clearly recommended to favor; 



SHI 



L P51 ] 



SHIP 



and (3.) to Shimei, who is neither sentenced to pun- 
ishment, absolutely, nor to safety, absolutely ; but is 
recommended to be treated according to his eventual 
demerits. Thus understood, the passage reads to this 
effect: — " Shimei did not shed blood, as Joab did ; he 
only cursed me with a grievous curse ; and that I for- 
gave him, swearing to him by the Lord. Now I would 
advise thee not to let him go at large with impunity, 
nor (1) to bring down his hoary head to the grave by 
bloody execution ; but do as thy wisdom shall direct 
thee," — i. e. steer a middle course. Solomon's subse- 
quent conduct proves the accuracy of this view of the 
passage: he confined Shimei to Jerusalem, where he 
was under strict inspection and vigilance ; and when 
he had violated the conditions of his safety, he was 
punished for his presumption ; which illustrates the 
observation of David, "for thou art a wise sovereign, 
and knowest in what manner to treat a man who is a 
rebel in his heart, therefore dangerous to thy crown ; 
yet one who has been solemnly pardoned by me for 
his former misconduct ; and who has not miscon- 
ducted himself towards thee." There are several 
other persons of the same name, but of no importance. 

SHIMSHAI, a secretary who, with Rehum, the 
chancelloi - , wrote to Artaxerxes against the Jews, re- 
cently returned from captivity, Ezra iv. 8. A. M. 
3470. 

SHINAR, a province of Babylonia, and thought 
by some writers to be the plain between the rivers 
Euphrates and Tigris, Gen. x. 10 ; Is. xi. 11 ; Zech. v. 
11. See Mesopotamia. 

SHIP. Among the perplexities which occur in 
reading the sacred Scriptures, none are greater than 
those which arise from the use of technical words and 
phrases, terms peculiar to certain professions, and em- 
ployed in their own restricted and appropriate sense. 
Few persons of one business understand the direc- 
tions, or the descriptive appellations, of another ; few 
are the land-men who understand properly the terms 
used by seamen even in our own nautical country ; 
and should a voyager insert verbatim the orders given 
by the captain or officers, on board the ship in which 
he sailed, what proportion of his readers, who were 
not maritime men, would comprehend their mean- 
ing? These remarks will suggest an apology for er- 
rors committed by men of learning in translation ; 
and they may restrain those sneers, which unreflect- 
ing persons sometimes throw out against such de- 
scriptions of nautical affairs, in our version of the 
sacred writings, which involve obscurities or other 
difficulties. Among the most proponent of these 
instances is the history of Paul's voyage, in Acts 
xxvii. and which has been thought so utterly irrecon- 
cilable with the nature of things, that some writers, 
in exposing the ignorance of the author of this book 
on sea affairs, have exposed themselves to the impu- 
tation of, at least, equal ignorance in learning ; and 
of more than equal inconsiderateness, if not perverse- 
ness of mind. 

The sacred historian says, (verse 29.) "Fearing lest 
they should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four 
anchors out of the stern." This has been thought to 
be an insurmountable objection. Four anchors! 
when our largest men-of-war would have but two ; 
and, certainly, would not cast four anchors, and a) 1 , 
four from the stern ! But, if we inquire into the forr/a 
and construction of these anchors, and if it should 
appear, that they were not like our own, the subject 
will assume a different aspect. And such is the mat- 
ter of fact. Instead of translating uyxcqug riananag, 
;< four anchors," it should have been rendered "the 



four-fluked anchor" the anchor which had four points, 
nukes, for holding the ground. We have such an- 
chors represented in books of antiquities, and we 
know further, that such are used in the East, to this 
day, from representations furnished by Bruce and 
Norden. Understand Luke, therefore, as saying, 
" We threw out the best anchor we had ; that most 
likely to hold the ground, and to keep us from driving; 
even the four-fluked anchor, that it might hold us 
back from striking against the rocks," and the sup- 
posed absurdity disappears at once. If the sailors 
let go but one anchor, from the stern, they might 
fairly enough, as verse 30 informs us, pretend to carry 
out other anchors (whether four-fluked, or not) from 
the prow of the ship : i. e. affecting to moor the ves-' 
sel head and stern. 

The next difficulty is well stated in Doddridge's 
note on the passage: (verse 40.) 111 When they had 
weighed the anchors, they committed the ship to the sea.' 1 
Some rather choose to render this, that having cut 
[away] the anchors, they left them in the sea : and the 
original indeed is dubious, and will admit of either 

Sense : TCtQit/.ovTtg Tag ayxvQag, tlwv tig T^v SaXunoav . 

(See De Dieu, in loc.) Loosing the rudder-hands; 

avivrcg Tag tcvxTr^iag Twr nrjdaXiwv. Dr. BenSOll ob- 
serves, agreeably to the judgment of Grotius, that 
their ships in those days had commonly two rudders, 
one on each side, which were fastened to the ship by 
bands or chains ; and on loosing these bands, the 
rudders sunk deeper into the sea, and by their weight 
rendered the ship less subject to be overset by the 
winds. (Hist. vol. ii. page 256.) But it seems rather, 
that.the rudders had been fastened before, when they 
had let the vessel drive ; and were now loosened, 
when they had need of them to steer her into the 
creek : and after they had just been throwing out 
their corn to lighten the ship, it is not easy to suppose 
they should immediately contrive a method to in- 
crease the weight of it. That they had frequently two 
rudders to their ships, Bochart and Eisner have con- 
firmed by several authorities. (See Bochart. Ilieroz. 
Part. ii. lib. 4. cap. 1. page 453. and Elsn. Observ. 
vol. i. page 488, 489.") 

The rudder-bands were, as Mr. Taylor has shown 
from the representations still extant of ancient ships, 
a kind of brace for the purpose of keeping the rud- 
der steady, and preventing its action against the side 
of the vessel ; in fact, without some such confine- 
ment a current of water rushing from under the ship, 
against the broad part of the rudder, would carry it 
away, in spite of the strongest arm that might endeav- 
or to retain it. At the same time, the bands pre- 
vented that entire play, or freedom of the instrument, 
which was occasionally necessary. These, then, 
were knocked off, says Luke ; so that the steersman 
had greater scope for the exertions of his arms, as 
circumstances required, than he could possibly have 
while they remained in their places. 

There are two words used to describe vessels in 
Isa. xxxiii. 21. "Therein shall go no galley [Ani, 
ship] with oars; nor gallant ship" [Tziaddir] ; where 
tzi seems to be the name of a capacious vessel, a ves- 
sel of considerable tonnage. (See also Numb. xxiv. 24; 
Ezek. xxx. 9 ; Dan. xi. 30.) In Jonah i. 5, we have 
another word, sephineh, for a ship : "Jonah had de- 
scended into the sides of sephineh ; " but this seems 
to be a Chaldee word. Here are, then, several kinds 
of ships, which were known to the Hebrews. 

The most complete description of an ancient ship 
however, is that furnished by the prophet Ezekxel, 
(ch. xxvii.) when comparing the commercial city of 



SHO 



[ 852 J 



SHU 



Tyre to one of those magnificent constructions, by 
means of which she carried on her commerce. 

For the Ships of Tarshish, see Tarshish. 

SHIPHRAH, one of the midwives of Egypt, who 
preserved the Hebrew children, Exod. i. 15. 

SHISHAK, a king of Egypt, who declared war 
against Rehoboam king of Judah, in the fifth year of 
his reign. He entered Judea with an innumerable 
multitude of people, out of Egypt, the countries of 
Lubim, of Suchim, and of Cush, captured the strong- 
est places in the country, and carried away from Je- 
rusalem the treasures of the Lord's house, and of the 
king's palace, as well as the golden bucklers of Sol- 
omon. Jeroboam having secured the friendship of 
Shishak, his territories were not invaded, 2 Chron. 
xii. ; 1 Kings xiv. 25, 26. See Egypt, p. 373, and 
Pharaoh. 

SHITT1M, a valuable kind of wood, of which 
Moses made the greater part of the tables, altars and 
planks belonging to the tabernacle. Jerome says, 
" The shittim wood grows in the deserts of Arabia, 
that it is like white thorn in its color and leaves, but 
not in its size, for the tree is so large, that it affords 
very long planks. The wood is hard, tough, smooth, 
without knots, and extremely beautiful ; so that the 
rich and curious make screws of it for their presses. 
It does not grow in cultivated places, nor in any 
other places of the Roman empire, but only in the 
deserts of Arabia." He also says, that shittim wood 
resembles white thorn, and is of admirable beauty, 
solidity, strength and smoothness. From this de- 
scription, it is thought he means the black Acacia, 
which is found in the deserts of Arabia, and the 
wood of which is very common about mount Sinai, 
on the mountains which border on the Red sea, and 
is so hard and solid as to be almost incorruptible. It 
is by no means certain, however, that the Acacia is 
the word described by the Hebrew shittim. The 
LXX, unable to identify it, have rendered the word, 
" incorruptible wood." 

SHOBAGH, general of the army of Hadadezer, 
king of Syria, was defeated by David at Helam, 2 
Sam. x. 16, &c. 

SHOBI, son of Nahash, of the city of Rabbah, 
came with Barzillai to meet David when he fled from 
Absalom, and brought him refreshments, 2 Sam. 
xvii. 27. 

SHOCOH, see Socoh. 

SHOES. Among the Hebrews, women of fashion 
and property wore very valuable shoes, of which the 
instance of Judith affords proof, chap. xvi. 9. The 
military shoe, as we see from Moses, was sometimes 
of metal, (Deut. xxxiii. 25.) and from the description 
of the armor of Goliah, we find he had boots of brass, 
1 Sam. xvii. 6. Homer gives to his heroes boots of 
brass, others of copper. In the army of Antiochus the 
Great, luxury was so great, that most of the soldiers 
had golden nails under their shoes. See Sandal. 

SHOULDER. To give or lend the shoulder, for 
bearing a burden, signifies to submit to servitude; 
Gen. xlix. 15. The preacher advises his pupil to 
submit his shoulder to the yoke of wisdom, Ecclus. 
vi. 26. Baruch (ii. 21.) advises the captive Jews at 
Babylon to submit their shoulders to king Nebuchad- 
nezzar, that they might live more comfortably under 
his government. In a contrary sense, Scripture calls 
that a rebellious shoulder, (Neh. ix. 29.) which will 
not submit to the yoke. (See Zeph. iii. 9.) 

Marks of honor and command were worn on the 
shoulder ; and Job, (xxxi. 36.) when he desires of 
God to decide his cause : " Surely I would take it 



upon my snoulder, and bind it as a crown to me." 
Isaiah (ix. 6.) says, that the Messiah shall bear the 
insignia of his government on his shoulder; and 
God promises Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, to give him 
" the key of the house of David, and to lay it upon hia 
shoulder." 

The respect paid by offering the shoulder of ani 
mals to God, and to men of distinction, as the mos 
delicate part, should not be overlooked. So the 
shoulder of the heave-offering, at the consecration of 
priests was to be sanctified, (Exod. xxix. 27.) and the 
shoulder of the Nazarite's offering was to be waved 
Numb. xvi. 19. So Samuel showed a mark of the 
greatest respect to Saul, by reserving the shoulder 
for his eating, (1 Sam. ix. 24.) i. e. he treated him as 
king elect. It is probable that the right shoulder had 
the preeminence ; and this became the property of 
the priest who officiated. (Compare Lev. vii. 32, 34 
viii. 25 ; ix. 21 ; x. 14.) 

I. SHUAH, of Asher, daughter to Heber, 1 Chron 
vii. 32. 

II. SHUAH, daughter of Hirah the Adullamite, and 
wife of the patriarch Judah. She was mother of Er, 
Onan, and Shelah, Gen. xxxviii. 2. 

SHUAL, a country in Israel, which the Philistines 
invaded in the time of Saul, (1 Sam. xiii. 17.) but the 
situation of it is no: known. 

SHUBAEL, son of Amram, and father of Jehdei- 
ah, (1 Chron. xxiv. 20.) was head of the thirteenth 
order among the twenty-four families of the Levites 
1 Chron. xxv. 20. 

SHUH AM, son of Dan ; head of a family, Numb 
xxvi. 42. In the parallel passage, Gen. xlvi. 23, it i 
Hushim. 

SHULAMITE, or Sulamith, the name of the 
bride in Canticles, vi. 13. See Canticles, p. 249. 

SHUMATHITES were the inhabitants of Shema, 
(Josh. xv. 26.) or sons of Shobal, 1 Chron. ii. 53. 

SHUNEM, a city of Issachar, Josh. xix. 18. The 
Philistines encamped at Shunem, in the great field 
or plain of Esdraelon ; (1 Sam. xxviii. 4.) and Sau 
encamped at Gilboa. Eusebius places S'hunem five 
miles south of Tabor. He also mentions a place 
called Sanim, in Acrabatene, in the neighborhood of 
Sebaste, or Samaria. 

SHUR, a city in Arabia Petrsea, which gave name 
to the desert of Shur, Gen. xvi. 7 ; Exod. xv. 22 ; 1 
Sam. xv. 7 ; xxvii. 8. See Exodus, p. 404. 

I. SHUSHAN, (Ps. Ix.) or Shoshannim, (Ps. xlv 
lxix.) the name of a musical instrument. The word 
signifies a lily, or lilies ; and if the instrument were so 
named from its similarity to this flower, we might 
understand the cymbal. 

II. SHUSHAN, or Susan, the capital city of Elam 
or Persia, (Dan. viii. 2.) on the river Ulai. It was the 
winter residence of the Persian kings, after Cyrus. 
Here Daniel had the vision of the ram and he-goat in 
the third year of Belshazzar, Dan. viii. Nehemiah 
was also at Shushan, when he obtained from Arta- 
xerxes permission to return into Judea, and to repair 
the walls of Jerusalem, Neh. i. 1. 

The present Shouster, the capital of Chuzistan, is 
generally believed to be ttie ancient Susa ; but Mr. 
Kinneir rather thinks the ruins about thirty-five miles 
west of Shouster are those of that ancient residence 
of royalty, "stretching not less, perhaps, than twelve 
miles from one extremity to the other. They occupy 
an immense space between the rivers Kerah and 
Abzal ; and, like the ruins of Ctesiphon, Babylon 
and Kufa, consist of hillocks of earth and rubbich 
covered with broken pieces of brick and colored tile 



SI G 



[ 853 ] 



SIL 



The largest is a mile in circumference, and nearly 
one hundred feet in height ; another, riot quite so 
high, is double the circuit. They are formed of clay 
and pieces of tile, with irregular layers of brick and 
mortar, five or six feet in thickness, to serve, as it 
should seem, as a kind of prop to the mass. Large 
blocks of marble, covered with hieroglyphics, are not 
unfrequently here discovered by the Arabs, when 
digging in search of hidden treasure ; and at the foot 
of the most elevated of the pyramids (ruins) stands 
the tomb of Daniel, a small and apparently a modern 
building, erected on the spot where the relics of that 
prophet are believed to rest." Major Rennel coin- 
cides in the opinion that these ruins represent the 
ancient Shusa ; but Dr. Vincent determines for 
Shouster. The site of Shusa is now a gloomy wil- 
derness, infested by lions, hyaenas, and other beasts 
of prey, the dread of whom compelled Mr. Monteith 
and Mr. Kinneir to take shelter for the night within 
the walls that encompass Daniel's tomb, a small mod- 
ern building, which is supposed to mark the site of 
the prophet's place of sepulture. 

SIBBECHAI, a hero in David's army, who killed 
the giant Saph, in the battle of Gob, or Gazer, 2 Sam. 
xxi. 18. 

SIBMAH, see Shibmah. 

SIBRAIM, or Sabarim, the northern boundary of 
the Land of Promise. Ezekiel says, (chap, xlvii. 16.) 
it lay between the confines of Hamath and Damascus. 

SICHAR, see Shechem. 

SIDON, or Zidon, now called Saide, is a celebrat- 
ed city of Phoenicia, on the Mediterranean sea. north 
of Tyre and Sarepta. It is one of the most ancient 
cities in the world, (Gen. xlix. 13.) and is believed to 
have been founded by Sidon, the eldest son of Ca- 
naan. In the time of Homer, the Sidonians were 
eminent for their trade and commerce, their wealth 
and prosperity. Upon the division of Canaan among 
the tribes by Joshua, Sidon fell to the lot of Asher ; 
(Josh. xix. 28.) but that tribe never succeeded in ob- 
taining possession, Judg. i. 31. The Sidonians con- 
tinued long under their own government and kings, 
though sometimes tributary to the kings of Tyre. 
They were subdued, successively, by the Babylonians, 
Egyptians, Seleucidas and Romans, the latter of 
whom deprived them of their freedom. Many of the 
inhabitants of Sidon became followers of our Saviour, 
(Mark iii. 8.) and there was a Christian church there, 
when Paul visited it on his voyage to Rome, Acts 
xxvii. 3. It is at present, like most of the other 
Turkish towns in Syria, dirty and full of ruins, 
though there is a considerable trade carried on there. 
Its present population is estimated at from 8000 to 
10,000. 

Among the medals of Sidon collected by Mr. Tay- 
lor, are some with a Greek inscription, "to the Sido- 
nian goddess," which agrees exactly with the appel- 
lation in 1 Kings xi. 5, 33 : " Ashtoreth, goddess of 
the Sidonians." They have also Phoenician inscrip- 
tions on them, and the date is supposed to be 155 — 
183, from the era of the Seleucidse. 

SIGN, a token, or whatever serves to express, or 
represent, another thing. Thus the Lord gave to 
Noah the rainbow, as a sign of his covenant, (Gen. ix. 
12, 13.) and for the same purpose he appointed cir- 
cumcision to Abraham, Gen. xvii. 11. (See also 
Exod. iii. 12 ; Judg. vi. 17.) In Isa. vii. 18, the word 
is used for a prophetic similitude, "Behold, land the 
children whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs 
and for wonders in Israel." (See also Ezek. iv. 3, 
and Eye, ad fin. 



SIHON, king of the Amorites, on refusing passage 
to the Hebre'ws, and coming to attack them, was him- 
self slain, his army routed, (Numb. xxi. 2] — 24; 
Dent. i. 4 ; ii. 24, 26, 30 ; Ps. cxxxv. 11 ; cxxxvi. 19., 
and his dominions distributed among Israel. 

SIHOR, a river, by some thought to be the Nile 
but more probably the little river in the south of Ju 
dah. (See Josh. xiii. 3, and Egypt, River of.) [Is 
Is. xxiii. 3, and Jer. ii. 18, this name must necessarihj 
be understood of the Nile. R. 

SILAS, (Acts xv. 22.) and Silvanus, (2 Cor.i. 19. t 
the former name being a contraction of the latter 
one of the chief men among the first disciples, and 
thought by some to have been of the number of the 
seventy. On occasion of a dispute at Antioch, on the 
observance of the legal ceremonies, Paul and Barna- 
bas were chosen to go to Jerusalem, to advise with 
the apostles ; and they returned with Judas and Silas. 
Silas joined himself to Paul ; and after Paul and 
Barnabas had separated, (Acts xv. 37 — 41. A. D. 51,) 
he accompanied Paul to visit the churches of Syria 
and Cilicia, and the towns and provinces of Lycaonia, 
Phrygia, Galatia and Macedonia, &c. See Paul. 

Silas was very useful in preaching the gospel, (2 
Cor. i. 19.) and some refer to him what Paid says to 
the Corinthians: (2 Cor. viii. 18, 19.) "And we have 
sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gos- 
pel, throughout all the churches ; and not that only, 
but who was also chosen of the churches to travel 
with us, with this grace which is administered by us 
to the glory of the same Lord," &c. Peter convey- 
ed his First Epistle to the persons to whom he ad- 
dressed it by the hand of Silas, whom he calls "a 
faithful brother." 

SILK. The question whether silk were known to 
the ancients may seem, at first sight, to have little re- 
lation to biblical inquiry ; but it leads to matters of 
some importance. For when we read in the Acts, of 
Lydia. a seller of purple, we are naturally led to in- 
quire what was the subject of that color ; was it 
woollen, or linen, or cotton ? To answer these ques- 
tions properly, demands some previous inquiry. It is 
certain that silk was imported into Europe, ages be- 
fore the silk-worm that produces it; and it much 
resembled the hanks, known at present, in form, color 
and substance. In this state it was called holoserica, 
or whole silk ; and a method was discovered of sep- 
arating the threads, and working them up again, in a 
thinner state, so that when woven the web resembled 
the modern gauze. It appears that Pamphila, a 
woman of Coa, first practised this art ; and that the 
Coan vests, which were so transparent as to be called 
by a poet " woven air," were of this manufacture ; 
though it is possible that they might originally be of 
cotton, or fine muslin. Silk was manufactured at Tyre 
and Berytus, as well singly, as intermixed with other 
materials. If so, it might easily form dresses for the 
use of the rich man in the parable, who wore purple. 
But this leads to inquiry, whether purple were silk. 

It is well known that the dress of the Roman no- • 
bility was purple ; but. Ammianus M.arcellinus com- 
plains that "the celebrated silk of the Seres anciently 
composed the dress of the Roman nobility, but was, 
in his days, the extravagant and indiscriminate cloth- 
ing of the lower ranks." Here the silk is synony- 
mous with purple ; or it is stained with purple ; as 
in the Hippolytus of Seneca, Act ii. sc. 1. 

Juvenal says, that " formerly the provinces were 
not plundered of their property, of conchylia Coa, the 
purple dyed at Coa ; vestes Coat conchyliata;, that is, 
purpura infectce, says a commentator. These, as we 



SILK 



[ 854 ] 



SIM 



have seen, might be of silk. It may well be thought, 
that silk, in different states, would receive different 
appellations ; in its entire state holosericum, in another 
state byssus, in its thinnest and dyed state hysginum, 
or bombycinum, which certainly was a state of ex- 
treme thinness ; whence we find Martial alluding to 
its transparency : (viii. 68.) "Femineum lucet sic per 
bombycina corpus." And Apuleius (Metam. x.) no- 
tices the same. Isidorus, in his Glossary, explains 
bombycinare, by "to make purple;" bombycinatores, 
by "those who dye purple." Suidas also says, " bys- 
sus is dyed purple ; " and Hesychius explains byssinon 
by porphynon, purple. It is true that these authorities 
are mostly later than Luke ; yet, if we may rely on 
them, they prove sufficiently that the " purple " of that 
sacred writer might be silk. 

If these notions be correct, they illustrate the ex- 
treme effeminacy of the rich man in the parable ; 
they add to our acquaintance with the history of 
Lydia ; they show the prodigality of the mother of 
harlots, (Rev. xvii. 4.) who was clad in purple and 
scarlet ; silk of the most costly and gaudy colors, the 
favorite dress of public prostitutes ; nor less the cause 
of the lamentations of the merchants, who had lost 
her custom for " purple, and silk, and scarlet ; " (chap, 
xviii. 12.) that is to say, for silk in its thinner and dyed 
state, the bombycina already described ; also silk in 
its more solid texture, and perhaps tissued or bro- 
caded ; or rather enriched with gold, silver, and pearls, 
as Mr. Morier describes the dress of the queen of 
Persia: "rendered so cumbersome by the quantity 
of jewels embroidered on it, that she could scarcely 
move under its weight. Her trowsers, in particular, 
were so engrafted with pearl, that they looked more 
like a piece of mosaic than wearing apparel." (Trav. 
vol. ii. p. 61.) 

That silk is expressly mentioned in this passage of 
the Revelation, under the term sericum, is clear ; also, 
that the royal dress of Herod Agrippa, which reflect- 
ed the rays of light in such a manner as to give hiin 
the appearance of a deity, though covered with gold, 
was of silk, is not improbable. Further evidence that 
silk was known, and in fact, was common, though 
costly, among the ancients, might be deduced from 
the flerculaneum pictures ; the changing and inter- 
woven colors of certain dresses — transparent dresses, 
worn by the women dancers, exceed what may be 
thought possible in cotton. 

Further, our translators render Prov. xxxi. 22, 
" She maketh herself coverings of tapestry, [brocaded, 
suppose,] her clothing is silk and purple." Not pur- 
ple in the sense of bombycina or gauze, perhaps, (un- 
less any suppose this gauze was a transparency over 
the silk petticoat, as the term rendered "clothing" 
denotes,) but, referring to the Tynan dye, the color. 
It seems difficult to deny that if Solomon's ships 
sailed to India, they might import specimens of silk ; 
but how far the article could be used by " virtuous 
women " generally, may be questioned ; however 
closely such good housewives might resemble " mer- 
chant ships which bring their lading from afar." Yet, 
if silk were known in Judea, in the days of Solomon, 
it might with much certainty be supposed to be 
known to Ezekiel, (chap. xvi. 10, 13.) or it might be 
known to him in Persia, although of great rarity in 
Judea ; for Aristotle describes silk as an Assyrian 
manufacture. Our translators have with great judg- 
ment restricted to the margin of Gen. xli. 42, " Pha- 
raoh arrayed Joseph in vestures of silk." It is more 
probable that "fine linen, as in the text, (or the calico 
muslin of modern days,) is the article there intended. 



Perhaps, in those early days the production Df s>ilk 
was restricted to China. 

SILOAM, Siloe, or Siloa, a fountain under the 
walls of Jerusalem, on the east, between the city and 
the brook Kidron. It is, no doubt, the same as En- 
rogel, or the fuller's fountain, Josh. xv. 7 ; xviii. 16 ; 
2 Sam. xvii. 17 ; 1 Kings i.9. Josephus often speaka 
of the waters of Siloam, and says, that when Nebu- 
chadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, they increased ; and 
that the same happened when Titus besieged the 
city. Isaiah (viii. 6.) intimates, that the waters of 
Siloam flowed gently and without noise : " Foras 
much as this people refuseth the waters of Siloah, 
that go softly." 

Reland says (Antiq. Heb. part iv. cap. 6.) that there 
was a custom of drawing water out of the fountain 
of Siloam, and pouring it out before the Lord, in the 
temple, at the time of evening sacrifice ; and to this 
there seems to be some allusion in John vii. 37. That 
Siloam was the nearest fountain, and not far from the 
temple, appears by our map of Jerusalem, which also 
contributes to the better understanding of the narra 
tive of the man blind from his birth, who was direct' 
ed by our Lord to " wash in the pool of Siloam." 
Winston connected the last verse of John viii. with 
the first of chap. ix. thus — " Jesus concealed himself, 
and withdrew from the Jews, who would have stoned 
him, and went out of the temple, passing through the 
midst of them, and passed on — in that manner — and as 
he passed on, he saw a man blind from his birth . . . 
to whom he said, ' Go wash in the pool of Siloam.' " 
• — Now, if our Lord went out of the temple by one of 
the west gates into the city, then he might meet with 
this blind man pretty -lose to the temple ; and most 
likely he sent him to Siloam, as the nearest fountain 
in which lie might wash : so that, there was no affecta- 
tion in our Lord's conduct, (such as directing him 
through the most public streets of the city, in order 
to give this cure the greater notoriety,) but a simpli- 
city, readiness and neatness, very agreeable to his 
general character ; while, at the same time, it con- 
tinued that allusion to the benefits derivable from the 
pool of Siloam, (which is, by interpretation senf, v 
which our Lord had made in the former chapter. 

[The following description of the fountain of Silo- 
am is from the journal of Messrs. Fisk and King, 
under date of April 28, 1823 : "Near the south-east 
corner of the city, [Jerusalem,] at the foot of Zion 
and Moriah, is the pool of Siloah, (See Neh. iii. 15 ; 
whose waters flow with gentle murmur from under 
the Holy mountain of Zion, or rather from under 
Ophel, having 7'mn on the west, and Moriah on the 
north. The ven fountain issues from a rock, twenty 
or thirty feet below the surface of the ground, to 
which we descended by two flights of steps. Here 
it flows out without a single murmur, and appears 
clear as crystal. From this place it winds its way 
several rods under the mountain, then makes its 
appearance with gentle gurgling, and, forming a 
beautiful rill, takes its way down into the valley, 
towards the south-east. We drank of the water, 
both at the fountain, and from the stream, and 
found it soft, of a sweetish taste, and pleasant. The 
fountain is called in Scripture the "Pool of Siloam." 
It was to this, that the blind man went, and washed, 
and came seeing, John ix. 7 — 11." (Missionary 
Herald, 1824, p. 66.) R. 

SILVANUS, see Silas. 

SILVER, one of the precious metals. See Money 
and Shekel. 

I. SIMEON, son of Jacob and Leah : born A. M 



SIM 



[ 855 j 



SIM 



2247, Gen. xxix. 33. He was brotner to Dinah, and 
with Levi revenged the affront Shechem offered to 
her. (See Shechem.) It is thought that Simeon 
showed most inhumanity to his brother Joseph, and 
advised his brothers to kill him, Gen. xxxvii. 20. 
This conjecture is founded on Joseph's keeping him 
prisoner in Egypt, (Gen. xlii. 24.) and treating him 
with more rigor than the rest of his brethren. 

The tribes of Simeon and Levi were scattered, and 
dispersed in Israel, in conformity with the prediction 
of Jacob, Gen. xlix. 5. Levi had no compact lot, or 
portion ; and Simeon received for his portion only a 
district dismembered from the tribe of Judah, (Josh, 
xix.) with some other lands they overran in the 
mountains of Seir, and in the desert of Gedor, 1 
Chron. iv. 24, 39, 42. The Targum of Jerusalem, 
and the rabbins, followed by some ancient fathers, 
believe, that the greater part of the scribes, and men 
learned in the law, were of this tribe ; and as these 
were dispersed throughout Israel, we see another 
accomplishment of Jacob's prophecy ; for although 
Jacob meant the dispersion of Simeon and Levi as 
an evil, a degradation, yet Providence might over- 
rule it to be an honor. So Levi had the priesthood, 
and Simeon the learning, or writing authority, of 
Israel, whereby both these tribes were honorably dis- 
persed among the nation. 

The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jarnin, Ohad, 
Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, (Exod. vi. 15.) whose de- 
scendants amounted to 59,300 men at the exodus ; 
(Numb. i. 22.) but only 22,200 entered the Land of 
Promise, the rest dying in the desert, because of 
their murmurings and impiety, Numb. xxvi. 14. The 
portion of Simeon was west and south of that of Ju- 
dah ; having the tribe of Dan and the Philistines 
north, the Mediterranean west, and Arabia Petrea 
south, Josh. xix. 1 — 9. 

II. SIMEON, uncle of Mattathias, father of the 
Maccabees, of the race of the priests, and of the pos- 
terity of Phinehas, 1 Mac. ii. 1. 

III. SIMEON, a pious old man at Jerusalem, full 
of the Holy Spirit, who was expecting the redemp- 
tion of Israel, Luke ii. 25, &c. It had been revealed 
to him, that he should not die, before he had seen 
the Christ of the Lord ; and he therefore came into 
the temple, prompted by inspiration, just at the time 
when Joseph and Mary presented our Saviour there, 
in obedience to the law. Simeon took the child in 
his arms, gave thanks to God, and blessed Joseph 
and Mary. We know nothing further concerning him. 

IV. SIMEON, or Simon, son of Cleophas and 
Mary, and probably the same whom Mark names 
Simon, ch. vi. 3. It is probable that he was among 
the first disciples of Christ. After the death of James 
(A. D. 62.) the apostles, the disciples, and the kindred 
of Christ assembled, to nominate a successor in the 
church of Jerusalem, and unanimously elected Sim- 
eon. (Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. cap. 32.) He proba- 
bly withdrew with the rest of the faithful to Pella, 
beyond Jordan, during the war of the Jews against 
the Romans. Eusebius says that when the emperor 
Trajan made strict inquiry for all who were of the 
race of David, Simeon was accused before Atticus 
the governor of Palestine. He adds, that he endured 
many tortures, and at last was crucified, about A. D. 
107, after he had governed the church of Jerusalem 
about 43 years. 

I. SIMON the Just, high-priest of the Jews, was 
promoted to this dignity, A. M. 3702, or 3703, and 
died A. M. 3711. He was son and successor of 
Onias I (Joseph. Ant. xii. 2.) 



II. SIMON, another high-priest of the Jews, son 
of Onm» II was advanced to the high-priesthood, 
A. M. 3785, and aieu A. M- 3805. Eccles. 1. 1, 2, 3. 
There are several other high-priests of the Jews 
bearing this name, mentioned by Josephus. 

III. SIMON MACCABEUS, son of Mattathias, 
and brother of Judas and Jonathan, was chief, prince 
and pontiff of the Jews, from A.M. 3860 to 3869, 
and was succeeded by John Hircanus, his son. Si- 
mon contributed greatly by his valor and wisdom to 
advance the happiness of his nation, and to render it 
prosperous and secure. He took Joppa, and made 
a harbor of it to improve the trade of the Jews ; and 
everyway extended the limits of his country. He was 
at length treacherously killed by his son-in-law 
Ptolemy, son of Ambubus, 1 Mac. ii. 65, et passim. 

IV. SIMON, of the tribe of Benjamin, and super- 
intendent of the temple, 2 Mac. iii. 4, 5. 

V. SIMON the Cyrenian, father of Alexander 
and Rufus, was compelled by the Jews to carry the 
cross after Jesus, Matt, xxvii. 32 ; Mark xv. 21. But 
nothing is known of him further. 

VI. SIMON the Canaanite, or Simon Zelotes, 
an apostle of Jesus Christ. Luke gives him the sur- 
name of Zelotes, the zealot, (Luke vi. 15 ; Acts i. 13.) 
which is supposed by some to be a translation of the 
surname Canaanite, given him by the other evange- 
lists, Matt. x. 4 ; Mark iii. 18. The particulars of his 
life are unknown ; nor does it appear where he 
preached, or where he died. See Zelotes. 

VII. SIMON the Pharisee, with whom Jesus 
dined, after he had raised the child of the widow of 
Nain, Luke vii. 36, A. D. 31. While they were at 
table, a woman, noted for her ill life, entered the 
room, poured perfume on the feet of Jesus, wiped 
them with her hair, and washed them with her tears. 
Simon was displeased with her conduct, but was 
reproved by Jesus ; who forgave the sinner, and 
condemned the unforgiving Pharisee by a similitude. 

VIII. SIMON the Leper dwelt at Bethany, near 
Jerusalem, (Matt. xxvi. 6 ; Mark xiv. 3 ; John xii. 1,2.) 
and Jesus, coming thither a few days before his pas- 
sion, was invited to eat with him. Lazarus, who 
had been raised from the dead some time before, was 
at table with them, and Martha, his sister, was very 
busy in attendance. Mary, the other sister of Laza- 
rus, to show her love and respect for our Saviour, 
brought a box of perfumes, which she poured on his 
feet. 

IX. SIMON NIGER, or the Black, (Acts xiii. 1.) 
was among the prophets and teachers of the Chris- 
tian church at Antioch. Some think he was Simon 
the Cyrenian ; but there is no other proof of this, 
than the similitude of names, which Calmet thinks 
is not a good one, since Luke always calls Simon the 
Cyrenian by the name of Simon ; but Simon Niger, 
by the name of Simeon. Mr. Taylor remarks, how- 
ever, that if Calmet could think, as'he did, Simeon, 
bishop of Jerusalem, to be the same as Simon our 
Lord's cousin, it could require no great exertion to 
infer the identity of Simon the Cyrenian with Simon 
Niger. Besides, it is certain that Luke, who calls 
Simon Peter by the name of Simon, also calls him 
Simeon, in reporting the speech of James, Acts xv. 
14. If, then, Simon and Simeon denote the same 
person in this instance, why may they not in the in- 
stance of Simon the Cyrenian and Simon Niger? 

X. SIMON the Tanner, a person at Joppa, in 
whose house Peter lodged, when the messengers 
from Cornelius the centurion came to him, Acts x. 

XI. SIMON MAGUS, or the Sorcerer. Philip 



SIMON MAGUS 



| 856 1 



SIN 



the deacon, coming '..o preach at Samaria, (Acts viii. 
5 — 13, ^ converted many, and among others this 
Simon also believed, and was baptized. The apos- 
tles Peter and John subsequently communicated the 
Holy Spirit to those baptized by Philip ; at which 
Simon offered money to them, saying, " Give me 
also this power." Peter replied with great indigna- 
tion, "Thy money perish with thee, .... thou art 
in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." 
Luke adds, (Acts viii. 9 — 11.) that Simon had ad- 
dicted himself to magic before Philip came to Sama- 
ria, and by his impostures and enchantments had 
Beduced the people, who said, " This man is the great 
power of God." 

Irena?us says, that after Peter had rejected, with 
horror, his proposal of selling the power of imparting 
the Holy Spirit, Simon fell into much greater errors 
and abominations ; applying himself to magic more 
than ever, taking pride in withstanding the apostles, 
and infecting a great number of persons with his im- 
pious errors. For this purpose, it is said, he left 
Samaria, and travelled through several provinces ; 
seeking places where the gospel had not yet reached, 
that he might prejudice the minds of men against it. 

At Tyre, Theodoret says, he bought a public pros- 
titute, called Selene, or Helene, and carried her with 
him, committing crimes in secret with her. Having 
run through several provinces, and made himself ad- 
mired by vast numbers of persons, for his false mira- 
cles and impostures, he came to Rome in the time 
of the emperor Claudius, about A. D. 41, where it is 
Baid by Justin that he was honored as a deity by the 
Romans, and by the senate itself, who decreed a 
statue to him, in the isle of Tiber, with this inscrip- 
tion — To Simon, the holy God. Simoni Deo sancto. 
This fact, however, is disputed by able critics, who 
think Justin mistook a statue dedicated to Semo 
Sanctis, a pagan deity, for one erected Simoni sancto. 

As to the heresies of Simon ; in addition to those 
imputed to him, Acts viii. 10, the fathers accuse him 
of pretending to be the great power of God ; of 
affirming that he came down as the Father in re- 
spect of the Samaritans, as the Son in respect of the 
Jews, and as the Holy Spirit in respect of the Gen- 
tiles ; but that it is indifferent which of these names 
he went by. Jerome quotes these blasphemous ex- 
pressions out of one of his books: "I am the word 
of God ; I am the beauty of God ; I am the comfort- 
er ; I am the Almighty ; I am the whole Essence of 
God." He was the inventor of the iEons, which 
were so many persons of whom they composed their 
deity. His Helene he called the first intelligence, the 
mother of all things, and sometimes, the Holy Ghost, 
Prunica, or Minerva. He said, that by this first in- 
telligence he had originally a design of creating the 
angels ; but that she, knowing this will of her father, 
had descended lower, and had produced the angels, 
and the other spiritual powers, to whom she had 
given no knowledge of her father ; that these angels 
and powers had afterwards made angels and men ; 
that Helen had passed successively into the bodies 
of various women ; among others into that of Helen, 
Wife of Menelaus, who occasioned the war of Troy ; 
and at last into the body of this Helen of Tyre. 

He did not acknowledge Christ to be the Son of 
God, but considered him as a rival, and pretended 
himself to be the Christ. He believed not the resur- 
rection of the body, but barely a resurrection of the 
Boul. He taught that men need not trouble them- 
Belves about good works, all actions being indiffer- 
ent, and that the distinction of actions into good and 



evil was only introduced by the angels, to render, 
men subject to them. He rejected the law of Moses, 
and said he had come to abolish it. He ascribed the 
Old Testament to the angels ; and though he every 
where declared himself an enemy to angels, yet he 
paid them an idolatrous worship, pretending, that 
men could not be saved, without offering to the su- 
preme Father abominable sacrifices, by means of the 
principalities that he placed in each heaven. He 
offered them his sacrifices ; not to obtain assistance 
from them, but to prevail with them that they might 
not oppose men. The sect of heretics which were 
called Simohians were descended from him. (De 
Tillemont, Hist. Eccl. torn. ii. § 5.) 
SIMOOM, see Winds. 

SIMPLE is sometimes taken in an ill sense, in 
Scripture. Paul (Rom. xvi. 19.) would have the 
Romans " wise unto good, and simple concerning 
evil ; that is, discerning in their choice of good ; but 
avoiding whatever has the appearance of evil, as 
children who, without much reasoning, fly from 
every thing that does but seem hurtful to them. We 
read, (Prov. xxiii. 3.) " A wise man foreseeth the evil ; 
but the simple [the unthinking, the heedless] pass on 
and are punished." Simple is sometimes opposed 
to deception ; to an unjust, or a wicked person. It 
stands for sincerity, fidelity, innocence, candor. In 
this sense Jacob is called a plain, or simple, man, 
Gen. xxv. 27. Wisdom is given to the simple, Prov 
i. 4 ; xxi. 11. 

Simple is capable of a good, a bad, or an indiffer- 
ent meaning. Simplicity of mind is integrity, inno- 
cence of intention, &c. (Rom. xvi. 19.) honesty, can- 
dor, xii. 8. Weak simplicity, on the contrary, is 
credulous, easily imposed on, easily deluded. Prov. 
xix. 15 ; xx. 3, The simple believe every word, re- 
port, rumor ; the simple pass on and are punished : 
they do not look before them, or take proper steps to 
avoid evil. Wisdom invites the simple, the unin- 
formed, the unstudied, to learn of her, to partake of 
her refreshments, and to be revived by her delica- 
cies, Prov. ix. 4. (See also Ps. xix. 7 ; cxvi. 6 ; Ezek. 
xlv. 20 ; 2 Cor. i. 12 ; xi. 3.) 

I. SIN, or Zm, a desert south of the Holy Land, 
in Arabia Petrea, the wilderness of Sin. Scripture 
distinguishes two deserts of Sin, one being written po, 
sin, with samech ; the other, pi, tzin, with tzade. The 
former was near Egypt, on the coast of the Red sea, 
Exod. xvi. 1 ; xvii. 1. The latter is also south of 
Palestine, but toward the Dead sea, Deut. xxxii. 51 ; 
Numb. xiii. 21; xxvii. 14; xxxiv. 3; Josh. xv. 3. 
See Exodus, p. 419. 

II. SIN, (Ezek. xxx. 15, 16.) the city Pelusium, in 
Egypt, the easternmost city of that kingdom, situated 
among marshes, and now inundated by the Mediter- 
ranean. (See Rosenm. Bib. Geogr. iii. 244.) R. 

III. SIN, or Sinim, (Isa. xlix. 12.) is thought by 
Mr. Taylor, Dr. Morrison, and other writers, to be 
China, which Dr. Hagar, in two very learned tracts, 
has attempted to prove was well known to the 
Greeks, in early ages ; and that the trade in silk was 
the life and soul of their intercourse with it. So also 
Gesenius. 

SIN is any thought, word, desire, action, or omis- 
sion of action, contrary to the law of God, or defec- 
tive when compared with it. The Hebrews have 
several words for expressing sin. They think, for 
example, that (1.) nNen, Chataath, signifies a sin com- 
mitted against a positive precept; (2.) n^x, Jlsha- 
math, a sin committed against a negative precept 
and (3.) nixr, Shegagah, a sin of ignorance, forget 



SIN 



[ 857 ] 



SI V 



fulness, omission, or inadvertency. But it is certain 
that these terms are often used interchangeably, and 
that Scripture seldom observes such a distinction. It 
often calls very great sins by the name cf ignorance, 
or folly ; and at other times gives tha name of sin to 
faults of inadvertency. 

Sin often denotes the sacrifice of expiation, or the 
sacrifice for sin — the sin-offering, Lev. iv. 3, 25, 29 ; 
v. 6 ; vii. 2 ; Ps. xl. 6 ; Rom. viii. 3. Paul says, for 
example, that God was pleased that Jesus, who knew 
no sin, should be our victim of expiation : " for he 
hath made him to be sin [a sin-offering : sin, by 
analogy of ideas] for us, who knew no sin ; that we 
might be made the righteousness of God in him," 2 
Cor. v. 21. In conformity with this idea, some, for 
sin lieth at the door, (Gen. iv. 7.) read, thou shouldest 
lay a sin-offering. 

God was not the author of sin, or of death, the 
consequence of sin ; but sin and death entered the 
world by the malice of the devil, Wisd. i. 13, 14 ; ii. 
24. Adam, by his disobedience, rendered all his pos- 
terity depraved, guilty before God : his sin involved 
them all in death ; through him we are born children 
of iniquity, and are inclined to evil from the womb, 
1 Cor. xv. 21, 22 ; Rom. v. 12 ; vi. 23 ; Ps. li. 5 ; Rom. 
iii. 23 ; Gen. viii. 21. Our Saviour, by his death, has 
recovered life for us ; his obedience has reconciled 
us to God ; and he has merited for us the character 
«)f children of God. 

The sin against the Holt Ghost is differently 
explained by the fathers and interpreters. We be- 
lieve Athanasiustohave been the nearest to the truth. 
He thinks this sin was chargeable on the Pharisees, 
because they maliciously imputed the works of Christ 
to the power of the devil, though they could not but 
be convinced in their own minds, that they were 
effected by a good spirit. This also involved a denial 
of the divinity of the Son, which was clearly proved 
by his works, works performed by the divine power 
of the Holy Spirit. 

SINAI, a mountain in Arabia Petrea, in the penin- 
sula formed by the two northern arms of the Red 
sea, and renderedamemorable as the spot where the 
law was given to Israel by the hand of Moses, Exod. 
xix. &c. There is considerable difficulty in determin- 
ing the particular spot honored by the Deity for the 
promulgation of his will to his chosen people, and 
distinguished in the sacred writings as mount Sinai. 
According to Burckhardt, Sinai is a prodigious pile of 
mountains, comprehending many separate peaks, and 
extending thirty or forty miles in diameter. A peak 
in this mountain group, called Djebcl Mousa, the 
mount of Moses, is pointed out by tradition as the 
scene of the wonderful occurrences recorded in 
Exod. xx and a higher elevation, separated from it 
by a deep cleft, and called mount St. Catherine, from 
a ridiculous legend relative to the miraculous inter- 
ment, on its summit, of the saint bearing this name, 
is considered to be the mountain called Horeb, and 
which is frequently spoken of as belonging to the same 
aggregation of mountains as Sinai. (Comp. Dent v. ; 
Exod. xx.) Mr. Conder (Mod. Trav. Arabia, p. 144, 
seq. Amer. ed.) has carefully examined and com- 
pared the accounts of Burckhardt and other writers 
with the Scripture references to Sinai and Horeb, 
but without arriving at any satisfactory result. (For 
a full account of Sinai, see Exodus, p. 412, seq.) 

SINCERITY, truth and uprightness ; an agree- 
ment of the heart and tongue. Sincerity is opposed 
to double mindedness, or deceit, when the senti- 
ments of the heart are contrary to the language of the 
108 



lips. The Latin word sincerus is derived from sine 
and sera, without wax ; honey separated from the 
wax ; that is, perfectly puiv honey. In Scripture 
sincere signifies pure, without mixture. Paul (Phil, 
i. 10.) would have the Philippians to be pure, their 
behavior innocent, free from offence, " That ye may 
be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ." 
And Peter (2 Epist. iii. 1.) exhorts the pure, sincere 
mind of the faithful. Paul speaks (1 Cor. v. 8.) of 
sincerity and truth, or of purity and truth, in opposi- 
tion to the leavened bread of iniquity. He reproaches 
the false apostles with not preaching Jesus Christ 
sincerely, purely, with upright and disinterested 
sentiments, Phil. i. 15. 

SINITE, the descendants of the eighth son of Ca- 
naan, who dwelt in the region of mount Lebanon 
Gen. x. 17. 

I. SION, a name given (Deut. iv. 48.) to one of the 
elevations of the mountain-ridge called Hermon, 
which see. 

II. SION, the name of one of the mountains on 
which the city of Jerusalem was built, and on which 
the citadel of the Jebusites stood when David took 
possession of it, and transferred his court thither 
from Hebron, whence it is frequently called the city 
of David ; and from his having deposited the ark 
here, it is also frequently called " the holy hill." (See 
Jerusalem.) When Dr. Richardson visited this 
spot, one part of it supported a crop of barley, and 
another was undergoing the labor of the plough, in 
which circumstance we have another remarkable in- 
stance of the fulfilment of prophecy — "Therefore 
shall Zion for your sakes be ploughed as a field, and 
Jerusalem shall become heaps," Mic. iii. 12. 

SIRION, see Hermon. 

SISERA, a general in the army of Jabin, king of 
Hazor, (Judg. iv. 2.) was sent by his master against 
Barak and Deborah, who occupied mount Tabor 
with an army. He marched with 900 chariots 
armed with scythes, and a great number of infantry ; 
but, entangling himself among broken ground, was 
attacked by Barak, at the head of 10,000 men, and 
entirely routed. Sisera himself fled on foot towards 
Harosheth of the Gentiles. Approaching the tent of 
Heber, the Kenite, Jael, wife of Heber, desired him 
to enter, and hide himself; but while he was asleep, 
she drove a tent nail through his temples with a ham- 
mer, and fastened him to the ground. See Jafl. 

SISTER. In the style of the Hebrews, sister has 
equal latitude with brother. It is used, not only for 
a sister by natural relation, from the same father and 
mother, but also for a sister by the same father only , 
or by the same mother only, or a near relation only, 
Matt. xiii. 56 ; Mark vi. 3. Sarah is called sister to 
Abraham, (Gen. xii. 13 ; xx. 12.) though only his 
niece, according to some, or sister by the father's 
side, according to others. In Leviticus, (chap, xviii. 
18.) it is forbidden to wed the sister of a wife ; i. e. to 
marry two sisters ; or, according to some interpreters, 
to marry a second wife, having one already. Literally, 
" Thou shalt not take a wife over her sister to afflict 
her ; " as if to forbid polygamy. Sometimes the word 
sister expresses a resemblance of conditions and of 
inclinations. Thus the prophets call Jerusalem the 
sister of Sodom, and of Samaria, because that city de- 
lighted in the imitation of their idolatry and iniquity, 
Jer. iii. 8, 10 ; Ezek. xvi. 45. So Christ describes 
those who keep his commandments as his brothers 
and his sisters, Matt. xii. 50. 

SITTING, see Bed, and Eating. 

SIVAN, the na.ne of a Hebrew month ; the third 



SLA 



[ 858 1 



SL1 



of the holy year ; the ninth of the civil year, Baruch 
i. 8. See Jewish Calendar, infra. 

SLANDER, an evil report not justly founded ; or 
a rumor without authority, to the disadvantage of 
another. This is a much greater sin, and more op- 
posed to the true charities of Christianity, than many, 
to judge by their unregulated discourses, seem to be 
aware of. (Compare Scandal.) 

SLAVERY, compulsory servitude. To punish 
he indignity received from his son Ham, Noah fore- 
told the slavery of his descendants, Gen. ix. 25. The 
descendants of Abraham always valued themselves 
on their liberty. " We have never been servants to 
any," said the Jews, John viii. 33. And Paul magni- 
fies the liberty of the true children of Abraham, as 
being really free, born of a free mother, in opposition 
to the race of Ishmael, born of a mother who was a 
slave, Gal. iv. 31. The Hebrews have, however, 
been subject to several princes ; to the Egyptians, the 
Philistines, the Chaldeans, the Grecians, and the 
Romans. But this is not. slavery, in the strict sense 
of the word. 

Moses notices two or three sorts of slaves among 
the Hebrews ; who had foreign slaves, obtained by 
capture, by purchase, or born in the house. Over 
these, masters had an entire authority ; they might 
sell them, exchange them, punish them, judge them, 
and even put them to death, without public process. 
In which the Hebrews followed the rules common 
to other nations. 

In Exodus xxi. Moses enacts regulations concern- 
ing Hebrew slaves: " If thou buy a Hebrew servant, 
six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he shall 
go out free for nothing." He adds, " He shall have 
at going out the same clothes he had at coming in, 
and his wife shall go out with him." The Hebrew 
has it, " If he come in by himself [with his body] he 
shall go out by himself ; if he were married, then his 
wife shall go out with him. If his master have given 
him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daugh- 
ters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, 
and he shall go out by himself" [with his body.] 
" If the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, 
my wife, and my children, I will not go out free ; 
then his master shall bring him unto the judges [Heb. 
gods] ; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto 
the door-post, [of his master's house,] and his master 
shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall 
serve him for ever ; " (Deut. xv. 17.) according to the 
commentators, till the year of jubilee ; for then all 
slaves, without exception, recovered their liberty. 
The rabbins add, that slaves were set free also at the 
death of their masters, and did not descend to their 
heirs. 

" If a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant, 
[or a slave,] she shall not go out as the men-servants 
do," Exod. xxi. 7. The laws just mentioned do not 
concern her. There is another kind of jurisprudence 
for Hebrew girls, than for men or boys. A father 
could not sell his daughter for a slave, according to 
the rabbins, till she was at the age of puberty, and 
unless he were reduced to the utmost indigence. 
Besides, when a master bought an Israelite girl, it 
was always with presumption that he, or his son, 
would take her to wife. Hence Moses adds, " If she 
please not her master," and he does not think fit to 
marry her, he shall set her at liberty ; or, according 
to the Hebrew, "He shall let her be redeemed. To 
sell her into a strange nation he shall have no po^ver, 
seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her," as to the 
engagement implied, at least, of taking her to wife. 



"If he hath betrothed her unto his son, he shall duil 
with her after the manner of daughters," Exod. xxi 
9, 10. He shall take care that his son uses her as 
his wife, that he does not despise or maltreat her. If 
he make his son marry another wife, he shall give 
her her dowry, her clothes, and compensation for 
her virginity; or, according. to the Hebrew, "If he 
make his son marry another wife, he shall not dimin- 
ish the clothes, the maintenance, or the habitation of 
the former ; " intending, it is thought, that the master 
who bought her, and made his son marry her, if his 
son marries a second wife, he shall take care that he 
treats this first woman as his wife ; that he allow her 
food and raiment, and perform the duties of mar- 
riage to her as to his true wife ; if he do not, "then 
shall she go out free without money." If the father 
of a family who had bought an Israelite maid did not 
marry her, nor make his son marry her ; or if he 
would dismiss her after he had kept her for some 
time, he was bound to find her a husband, or to sell 
her to another Hebrew master, on the same condi- 
tions that he had taken her himself; giving her a 
portion, her clothes, and the price of her virginity, 
agreeable to custom, or as regulated by the judges. 

A Hebrew might fall into slavery several ways: 
(1.) If reduced to extreme poverty, he might sell him- 
self, Lev. xxv. 39. (2.) A father might sell his chil- 
dren as slaves, Exod. xxi. 7. (3.) Insolvent debtors 
might be delivered to their creditors as slaves, 2 
Kings iv. 1. (4.) Thieves not able to make restitu- 
tion for their thefts, or the value, were sold for the 
benefit of the sufferers, Exod. xxii. 3. (5.) They 
might be taken prisoners in war. (6.) They might 
be stolen, and afterwards sold for slaves, as Joseph 
was sold by his brethren. (7.) A Hebrew slave 
redeemed from a Gentile by one of his brethren, 
might be sold by him to another Israelite. 

When Samuel declares to the Hebrews the rights 
and prerogatives of a king, (1 Sam. viii. 16, 17.) he 
says, " He shall take your slaves, and your maids, 
and you yourselves shall be subject to him as slaves." 
And Goliath says to the Israelites, (1 Sam. xvii. 8, 9.) 
" Am not I a Philistine, and you servants to Saul ? 
Choose you a man for you, and let him come down 
to me. And if he be able to fight with me, and kill 
me, then will we be your servants. But if I prevail 
against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our ser- 
vants, and serve us." See Servant. 

SLEEP, SLEEPING, SLUMBERING, is taken 
(1.) for the natural sleep or repose of the body ; (2.) 
for the moral sleep of the soul ; supineness, indo- 
lence, stupidity ; (3.) for the sleep of death. (See 
Jer. li. 39 ; Dan. xii. 2 ; John xi. 11 ; Ephes. v. 14; 
2 Pet. ii. 3 ; Prov. xxiii. 21. 

SLIME, (Gen. xi. 3.) a bituminous production, 
procured from pits in the earth, out of which it 
issues, often in considerable quantities. (See Bitu- 
men.) Slime pits were pits yielding bitumen. 

SLING, an instrument of cords, used to throw 
,?tones by the arm, with violence ; the invention of 
which is ascribed to the Phenicians, or to the inhab- 
itants of the islands Baleares, now called Majorca and 
Minorca. The Hebrews made great use of the sling, 
Judg. xx. 16 ; 1 Sam. xvii. 49 ; 1 Chron. xii. 2 ; 2 
Chron. xxvi. 14. 

There is a remarkable simile employed by the 
royal sage, in Prov. xxvi. 8, " As he who bindeth a 
stone in a sling, so is he who giveth honor to a fool ;" 
i. e. he counteracts his own intention. But the mar- 
gin reads, perhaps, more correctly, " As he who put- 
teth a pr cious stone among a heap of stones," that 



so 



[ B59 ] 



SOD 



is, pebble* ; so is honor completely overwhelmed by 
base companions, if given to a fool. 

SMELL. Jacob said to his sons, after the slaughter 
of the Shechemites, (Gen. xxxiv. 30.) "Ye have 
troubled me, to make me to stink among the inhabit- 
ants of the land " — Ye have given me an ill scent, or 
smell, among this people. The Israelites in a simi- 
lar manner complained to Moses and Aaron, (Exod. 
v. 21.) " The Lord look upon you, and judge, be- 
cause you have made our savor to be abhorred in 
the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants." 
This manner of speaking occurs frequently in the 
Hebrew. In a contrary sense, Paul says, (2 Cor. ii. 
15, 16.) " We are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, 
in them that are saved, and in them that perish ; to 
the one we are the savor of death unto death, and 
to the other the savor of life unto life." 

In the sacrifices of the old law, the smell of the 
burnt-offerings is represented in Scripture as agreea- 
ble to God : (Gen. viii. 21.) "And thou shalt burn 
the whole ram upon the altar ; it is a burnt-offering 
unto the Lord ; it is a sweet savor, an offering made 
by fire unto the Lord." The same thing, by analogy, 
is said of prayer: (Ps. cxli. 2.) " Let my prayer be 
set forth before thee as incense ; and the lifting up of 
my hands, as the evening sacrifice." And John, in 
allusion to this service of the Old Testament, repre- 
sents the twenty-four elders with " golden vials full 
of odors, which are the prayers of the saints," 
Rev. v. 8. 

SMITE, to strike. The word is often used for to 
kill. Thus, David smote the Philistine ; i. e. he killed 
Goliath. The Lord smote Nabal and Uzziah ; he put 
them to death. To smite an army, is to conquer it, 
to rout it entirely. To smite with the tongue, is to 
load with injuries and reproaches, with scandalous 
reflections. To smite the thigh, denotes indignation, 
trouble, astonishment, Jer. xxxi. 19. 

SMYRNA, a city of Ionia, in Asia Minor, situated 
on the Archipelago, and having a fine harbor. Our 
Lord, by the mouth of John, addresses the angel or 
bishop of Smyrna, (Rev. ii. 8 — 10.) who is thought to 
have been Polycarp, the martyr, who was put to 
death, A. D. 166. Smyrna is still a place of great 
consideration, having a great foreign trade, and a 
population of about 140,000. 

SNOW, being extremely white, forms a frequent 
object of comparison in Scripture, Exod. iv. 6 ; 
Numb. xii. 10; 2 Kings v. 27. Snow is enume- 
rated among the stores in the treasury of God, 
his atmospherical meteors, &c. The expression in 
Prov. xxv. 13, " As the cold of snow in the time of 
harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them w r ho send 
him ; for he refresheth the soul of his masters," seems 
to refer to the cooling effect of snow on the wines 
drank in the East ; or to what in Italy is termed 
alfresco, that is, snow put into water to cool it, pre- 
vious to its being drank, which is esteemed ex- 
tremely refreshing. This removes the apparent 
contradiction of this passage with chap. xxvi. 1. 
As snow, that is, a fall of snow, in summer, is 
unnatural, and ill-timed, so honor is not seemly 
for a fool ; but it is quite out of character, out of 
season. 

SO, king of Egypt, made an alliance with Hoshea, 
king of Israel, and promised him assistance, yet gave 
none, nor prevented Shalmaneser king of Assyria 
from taking Samaria, and subverting the kingdom, 
2 Kings xvii. 4. 

Usher and Marsham think So to be Sabacon,king 
of Ethiooia. who is taken for the first king of the dy- 



nasty of Ethiopians in Egypt, and who, according to 
Usher, began to reign A. M. 3277, having taken and 
burnt alive Bocchoris king of this country. He reigned 
eight years, and had for his successor Sevechus, whom 
Usher thinks to be the Sethon of Herodotus, lib. ii. 
cap. 141. [But see the article Egypt, p. 373; and 
also under Pharaoh. R. 

SOAP, or Fuller's Soap, named in Hebrew 
borith,. signifying the cleanser, is by some supposed to 
be a salt, extracted from the earth, called by the Arabs 
bora. But others prefer a vegetable, in accordance 
with the LXX, who render mla t or nia, an herb. 
The ancients certainly employed vegetables, and the 
salt extracted from them, for the purpose of washing 
linen. Dioscorides and Pliny mention the struthion 
as so employed, and the Persians use this plant as 
soap. The kali, soda, salsola kali, or barilla, is called 
in the London Pharmacopoeia, natron ; and there 
seems to be sufficient reason to consider it as the 
6ort</i.-plant of Jeremiah, (ii. 22.) at least it is the best 
known to us of those plants which possess the prop- 
erty of cleansing, either by themselves or their salts. 
In its wild state it rises about a foot in height ; the 
leaves are long, narrow and prickly, the flowers 
whitish or rose-color. It is found on the sea-shore, 
and is considered as a sea-weed. The best, burned 
into a hard mass of salt, comes from Alicant in Spain. 
Combined with fat, it forms soap, the cleansing vir- 
tues of which are well known in every family, Jer. ii. 
22 ; Mai. iii. 2. 

SOBRIETY is commonly taken for the opposite 
to intemperance; sometimes also for moderation, 
modesty, and that virtue which chooses the golden 
mean, Rom. xii. 3. Paul (1 Tim. ii. 9.) would have 
women dress themselves "in modest apparel, with 
shame-facedness and sobriety," as decency requires. 
The word sobriety is also taken for vigilance in 1 Tim. 
iii. 2, " A bishop must be vigilant, sober," prudent, 
moderate. We have, however, no English word that 
properly expresses the whole meaning of the term 
rendered sober. It imports steadiness of mind, pru- 
dence, the power of forming a just estimate of things : 
a sense of what is becoming ; which differs, accord- 
ing to time, place and circumstances ; together with 
a suitable behavior and conduct. 

SOCOH, or SH0C0H,a city of Judah, (Josh.xv."35; 
1 Sam. xvii. 1.) which Rehoboam afterwards forti- 
fied, 2 Chron. xi. 7. Eusebius says, there were two 
cities of this name, the higher and the lower, nine 
miles from Eleutheropolis toward Jerusalem. It is 
also the name of a man, 1 Chron. iv. 18. 

SODOM, the capital city of the Pentapolis ; and 
for some time the dwelling-place of Lot, Gen. xiii. 
12, 13. Its crimes, however, were so enormous, that 
God destroyed it by fire from heaven, with three 
neighboring cities, Gomorrha, Zeboim and Admah ; 
which were as wicked as itself, Gen. xix. A.M. 2107. 
The plain in which they stood was pleasant and 
fruitful, like an earthly paradise, but it was first 
burned, and afterwards overflowed by the waters of 
the Jordan, which formed the present Dead sea, or 
lake of Sodom. The prophets mention the destruc- 
tion of Sodom and Gomorrha, or allude to it, and in- 
timate, that these places shall be desert, and dried up, 
and uninhabited ;( Jer. xlix. 18; 1. 40.) that they shall 
be covered with briers and brambles, a land of salt 
and sulphur, where can be neither planting nor sow- 
ing, Deut. xxix. 23; Wisd. ii. 9; Amos iv. 11. 
Throughout Scripture the ruin of Sodom and Go- 
morrha is represented as one of the most signal 
effects of God's anger. See Sea, Dead. 



SOLOMON 



L 860 ] 



SOLOMON 



SOLOMON, son of David and Bathsheba, was I 
born A. M. 2971, ante A. D. 1033. The Lord loved | 
him, and sent the prophet Nathan to give him the 
name of Jedidiah, that is, Beloved of the Lord, 2 Sam. 
xii. 24, 25. David gave him an education propor- 
tionate to the great designs for which God had or- 
dained him ; and on Adonijuh's assumption of power 
(see Adonijah) lie was anointed king, inaugurated 
amid the acclamations of the people, and placed on 
the throne. David's death being at hand, he earnest- 
ly recommended to Solomon a strict fidelity and piety 
towards God ; the punishment of Joab and Shimei ; 
but a favorable regard to Barzillai, who had succored 
him in his distress. He put into his hands plans for 
building the temple with many regulations civil and 
sacred ; and in a general assembly of the people, and 
of the great men, he delivered to him his gold, silver 
and valuable materials, collected for building the 
temple, and exhorted all present to make each an 
offering to the Lord, according to his abilities. 

From this time Solomon entered on full possession 
of the kingdom. His first act of importance was to 
put his brother Adonijah to death, on account of his 
having intrigued to obtain the throne. He also ban- 
ished the high-priest Abiathar to his country-house, 
because he had been of Adonijah's party, and put 
Joab to death. 

Being confirmed in his kingdom, Solomon con- 
tracted an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and 
married his daughter, whom he brought to Jerusalem. 
He appointed her apartments in the city of David, 
till he should build her a palace, which lie did some 
years afterwards, when he had finished the temple. 
It is thought, that on occasion of this marriage, Solo- 
mon composed the Canticles, which are a kind of 
epithalamium, and also Psalm xlv. Scripture speaks 
of the daughter of Pharaoh, as contributing to per- 
vert Solomon to idolatry, 1 Kings xi. 1, 2; Neh.xiii. 
26. Having presented a thousand burnt-offerings to 
the Lord, at Gibeon, God appeared to him in a dream, 
and said, " Ask of me what you desire." Solomon 
besought to have a wise and understanding heart, and 
such qualities as were necessary for the government 
of the people committed to him. This request was 
agreeable to the Lord, and was fully granted. He 
enjoyed a profound peace throughout his dominions ; 
Judah and Israel lived in security ; and his neighbors 
either paid him tribute, or were his allies. He ruled 
over all the countries and kingdoms, from the Eu- 
phrates to the Nile, and his dominions extended even 
beyond the Euphrates. He had abundance of horses 
and chariots of war. He exceeded the orientals and 
the Egyptians in wisdom and prudence ; he was the 
wisest of mankind, and his reputation spread through 
all nations. He composed, or collected, three thou- 
sand proverbs, and one thousand and five canticles. 
He was acquainted with the nature of plants and 
trees, from the cedar on Lebanon to the hyssop on 
the wall ; also of beasts, of birds, of reptiles, of fishes. 
There was a concourse of strangers from all coun- 
tries to hear his wisdom, and ambassadors from the 
most remote princes. He made gold and silver as 
common in Jerusalem as stones in the street, and 
cedars as plentiful as the sycamores in the valley. 

Hiram, king of Tyre, sent ambassadors to congrat- 
ulate his accession to the crown, and subsequently 
assisted him in building a temple to the Lord, which 
was completed in seven years. There were em- 
ployed in this great work, 70,000 proselytes, de- 
scendants of the ancient Canaanites, in carrying bur- 
dens ; 80,000 in cutting stones out of the quarries; 



I and 3600 overseers of the works ; besides «i0,000 Is-. 
I raelites in the quarries of Libanus. It was dedicated 
A. M. 3001, and to render the ceremony the more au- 
gust, Solomon appointed the eighth day of the seventh 
month of the holy year, and the first of the civil year. 
The ceremony continued for seven days, at the end 
of which the Feast of Tabernacles commenced, and 
continued seven days longer ; so that the people con- 
tinued at Jerusalem fourteen or fifteen days, from the 
eighth to the twenty-second of the seventh month. 

When the ark was placed in the sanctuary, while 
the priests and Levites were celebrating the praises 
of the Lord, the temple was filled with a miraculous 
cloud; so that the priests could no longer continue 
there, nor perform the functions of their ministry. 
Solomon prostrated himself on his throne with his 
face to the ground ; and then, rising up, and turning 
toward the sanctuary, he addressed his prayer to God, 
and besought him, that the house which he had built 
might be acceptable to him ; that he would bless and 
sanctify it, and hear the prayers of those who should 
entreat him from this holy place. He besought him 
also to fulfil the promises he had made to David his 
servant, in favor of his family, and of the kings his 
successors, and then turning himself to the people, he 
blessed them. Fire coming down from heaven, con. 
sumed the victims and burnt-sacrifices on the altar, 
and the glory of the Lord filled the whole temple. 
On this occasion there were sacrificed 22,000 oxen 
and 120,000 sheep for peace-offerings; and the altar 
of burnt-offerings not being sufficient for all these 
victims, the court of the people was consecrated for 
the purpose. The Lord appeared* a second time to 
Solomon in a dream ; probably in the night that fol- 
lowed the first day of the dedication, assured him that 
he had heard his prayer, and chosen the temple to 
be his house of sacrifice. He also promised to bless 
him and his posterity, if they were constant in his 
worship; if not, to punish them, and destroy the 
sacred edifice. 

Solomon afterwards built a sumptuous palace for 
himself, and another for his queen. He also built 
the walls of Jerusalem, and the place called Millo, in 
the city ; repaired and fortified Hazor, Megiddo, 
Gezer, the two Beth-horons, upper and lower, and 
Baalath, and Palmyra, in the desert of Syria. He 
also fortified the cities where he had magazines of 
corn, wine and oil, and those where his chariots 
and horses were kept. He brought under his gov- 
ernment the Hittites, the Hivites, the Amorites and 
the Perizzites, which remained in the land of Israel, 
and made them tributaries and laborers on the pub- 
lic works. 

Solomon also extended the commerce of the coun- 
try, and imported largely of foreign produce. He 
fitted out a fleet at Ezion-geber, and at Elath, on the 
Red sea, and in conjunction with Hiram, king of 
Tyre, who furnished him mariners, traded to Ophir 
for ivory, ebony, precious wood, peacocks, apes, and 
other curiosities. His annual revenues were 666 
talents of gold, without reckoning the tributes from 
kings and nations, or those paid by Israelites. 
The bucklers of his guards, and the throne he sat on, 
were overlaid with gold ; and all the vessels of his 
table, and the utensils of his palaces, were of the same 
material. From all parts he received presents, ves- 
sels of gold and silver, precious stuffs, spices, arms, 
horses and mules ; the whole earth desiring to see 
his face, and to hear the wisdom which Godhad put 
into his heart. 

The later actions of his life, however, inflicted a 



SON 



[ 861 ] 



SOU 



deep disgrace on his cnaracter. He took wives and 
concubines, to the number of 1000, from among the 
Moabites, Ammonites, Idumeans, Sidonians and Hit- 
tites, who perverted his heart, so that lie worshipped 
Ashtoreth of the Sidonians, Moloch of the Ammon- 
ites, and Chemosh of the Moabites, to whom he built 
temples on the mount of Olives. These sins brought 
on him the judgments of the Lord, who said to him 
in a dream, "Since you have not kept my covenant, 
nor obeyed my commandments, I will rend and di- 
vide your kingdom, and will give it to one of your 
servants." Before his death, he saw the commence- 
ment of revolt, in the troubles raised by Jeroboam, 
and Hadad the Idumean. He died, after he had 
reigned forty years, (A. M. 3029, ante A. D. 975,) at 
about 58 years of age. His history was wrirten by 
the prophets Nathan, Ahijah and Iddo ; and he was 
buried in the city of David. Rehoboam his son 
reigned in his stead, but not over all Israel. See 
Rehoboam. 

Of all the works composed by Solomon, we have 
nothing remaining but his Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and 
the Canticles. Some have ascribed to him the book 
of Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus. (See the articles.) 
The Jews think he was the author of Psalm lxxii. 
" Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy 
righteousness unto the king's son," &c. And Psalm 
cxxvii. " Except the Lord build the house," &c. 

SOLOMON'S SONG, see Cantici.es. 

SON, a word used in several senses, both in the 
Old and New Testaments. It denotes (1.) the imme- 
diate offspring. (2.) Grandson: so Laban is called 
son of Nahor, (Gen. xxix. 5.) whereas he was his 
grandson, being the son of Bethuel : (Gen. xxiv. 29.) 
Mephibosheth is called son of Saul, though lie was 
the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, 2 Sam. xix. 24. 
(3.) Remote descendants : so we have the sons of Is- 
rael, many ages after the primitive ancestor. (4.) Son- 
in-law :— There is a son born to Naomi, Ruth iv. 17: 
(5.) Son by adoption, as Ephraim and Manasseh, to 
Jacob, Gen. xlviii. (See Adoption.) (6.) Son by na- 
tion ; sons of the East, 1 Kings iv. 30 ; Job i. 3. " (7.) 
Son by education ; that is, a disciple ; Eli calls Sam- 
uel his son, 1 Sam. iii. 6. Solomon calls his disciple 
his son, in the Proverbs, often ; and we read of the 
sons of the prophets, (1 Kings xx. 35, ct al.) that is, 
those under a course of instruction for ministerial 
service. In nearly the same sense a convert is called 
son, 1 Tim. i. 2 ; Titus i. 4 ; Philem. 10 ; 1 Cor. iv. 
15 ; 1 Pet. v. 13. (8.) Son by disposition and con- 
duct, as sons of Belial, (Judg. xix. 22 ; 1 Sam. ii. 12.) 
unrestrainable persons ; sons of the mighty, (Ps. 
xxix. 1.) heroes; sons of the band, (2 Chron. xxv. 13.) 
soldiers rank and file ; sons of the sorceress, who 
study or practise sorcery, Isa. lvii. 3. (9.) Son in 
reference to age ; son of one year, (Exod. xii. 5.) that 
is, one year old ; son of sixty years, &c. The same 
in reference to a beast, Micah vi. 6. (10.) A produc- 
tion, or offspring, as it were, from any parent ; sons 
of the burning coal, that is, sparks, which issue from 
burning wood, Job v. 7. Son of the bow, that is, an 
arrow, (Job iv. 19.) because an arrow issues from a 
bow ; but an arrow may also issue from a quiver, 
therefore son of the quiver, Lam. iii. 13. Son of the 
floor, thrashed corn, Isa. xxi. 10. Sons of oil, (Zech. 
iii. 14.) the branches of the olive-tree. (11.) Son of 
beating, that is, deserving beating, Deut. xxv. 3. Son 
of death; that is, deserving death, 2 Sam. xii. 3. Son 
of perdition : that is. deserving p^-rli tion, John xvii. 
12. (12.) Son of God, by excellence ao'jve all ; Je- 
sus the Son of God, Mark i. 1 ; Luke > 15 ; John i. 



34 ; Rom. i. 4 ; Heb. iv. 14 ; Rev. ii. 18. The only 
begotten ; and in this he differs from Adam, who was 
son of God, by immediate creation, Luke iii. 18. 
(13.) Sons of God, the angels, (Job i. 6 ; xxxvhi. 7.) 
perhaps so called in respect to their possessing power 
delegated from God ; his deputies, his vicegerents, 
and in that sense among others his offspring. (14.) 
Genuine Christians, truly pious persons ; perhaps 
also so called in reference to their possession of prin- 
ciples communicated from God by the Holy Spirit, 
which, correcting every evil bias, and subduing every 
perverse propensity, gradually assimilates the party 
to the temper, disposition and conduct, called the 
image, likeness or resemblance of God. Believers 
are sons of God. (See John i. 12 ; Phil. ii. 15 ; 
Rom. viii. 14; 1 John iii. 1.) (15.) Sons of this 
world (Luke xvi. 8.) are those who by their over- 
weening attention to the things of this world, demon- 
strate their principles to be derived from the world ; 
that is, worldly-minded persons. Sons of disobedi- 
ence (Eph. ii. 2 ; v. 6.) are persons whose conduct 
proves that they are sons of Belial, of unrestrainable- 
ness, sons of libertinism. Sons of hell, Matt, xxiii. 5. 
Sons of the devil, Acts xiii. 10. 

In addition to these senses in which the word son 
is used in Scripture, there are others, which show 
the extreme looseness of its application. So, when 
we read of sons of the bride-chamber, (Matt. ix. 15 ; 
Mark ii. 19.) it merely indicates the youthful compan- 
ions of the bridegroom, as in the instance of Samson. 
And when the Holy Mother was committed to the 
care of the apostle John, (John xix. 36.) the term son 
is evidentlv used with great latitude. 

SONG OF SOLOMON, see Canticles. 

SOOTHSAYER, see Divination, and Magic. 

SORCERER, see Divination, and Magic. 

I. SOREK, a place where Delilah dwelt, not far 
from Zorah and Eshtaol, Samson's usual abode, 
Judg. xvi. 4. 

II. SOREK, Vine of, a finer and nobler species 
of vine, yielding, according to the rabbins, the small 
sweet grapes which seem to have no seeds or kernels, 
and which are still called in Marocco Serki. The 
word, however, may signify red grapes. (See Niebuhr 
Descr. Arab. p. 147. Germ, edit.) The English ver- 
sion gives the word by choice, noble, &c. Gen. xlix. 
11 ; Isa. v. 2; .Ter. ii. 21. R. 

SORROW. This passion contracts the heart, 
sinks the spirits, and injures the health. Scripture 
cautions against it, (Prov. xxv. 20 ; Eccles. xiv. 1 — 
3 ; xxx. 24, 25 ; 1 Thess. iv. 13, &c.) but Paul dis- 
tinguishes two sorts of sorrow ; one a godly the other 
a worldly sorrow. 2 Cor. vii. 10, " Godly sorrow 
worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented 
of ; but the sorrow of the world worketh death." So, 
the wise man (Eccles. vii. 3.) says that the grave and 
serious air of a master who reproves, is more profita- 
ble than the laughter and caresses of* those who flat- 
ter. Our Lord upbraided that counterfeit air of sor 
row and mortification, which the Pharisees affected 
when they fasted ; and cautioned his disciples against 
all such affectation, which proposes to gain the ap- 
probation of men, Matt. vi. 16. 

SOSIPATER, a disciple of Berea, mentioned by 
Paul, (Rom. xvi. 21.) and who was his kinsman, as 
some think. 

SOSTHENES, the chief of the synagogue of 
Corinth, who was beaten by the Gentiles, when the 
Jews carried Paul before Gallio, the pro -consul, 
Acts xviii. 17. 

SOUL. This word is very equivocal, in the style 



SPA 



L 862 j 



SP1 



of the Hebrews. It is taken, (1.) For the soul which 
animates mankind ; for that which animates beasts ; 
or for a living person ; (2.) For the life, Gen. xxxii. 
30. (3) For desire, love, inclination, Numb. xi. 6. 

When God had formed the body of man out of the 
dust, (Gen. ii. 7.) he " breathed into his nostrils the 
breath of life, and man became a living soul," a liv- 
ing being. This breath of life has been considered 
by some, as the principle of animal life in man, 
which, they say, is nothing different from that of 
beasts. God gives to men and to brutes a breath of 
life, or a vivifying spirit ; " All flesh in which is the 
breath of life died ;" (Gen. vi. 17.) all living animals, 
sentenced to die by the waters of the deluge. This 
spirit of life God withdraws at bis pleasure, and 
brings all flesh to corruption, says Job, xxxiv. 14, 15. 
The psalmist, (civ. 29.) speaking of animals, to which 
God gives existence, says, "Thou takest away their 
breath, they die and return to their dust." So Solo- 
mon : (Eccles. xii. 7.) " Then shall the dust return to 
the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto 
God who gave it." And Paul, speaking to the phi- 
losophers of Athens, says, God "giveth to all life, and 
breath, and all things," Acts xvii. 25. 

But, beside this spirit, which is the principle of an- 
imal life, common to men and brutes, which is dis- 
persed after death, there is in man a spiritual, reason- 
able and immortal soul, the origin of our thoughts, 
desires and reasonings, which distinguishes us from 
the brute creation, and in which chiefly consists our 
resemblance to God, Gen. i. 26. This must be spir- 
itual, because it thinks ; it must be immortal, because 
it is spiritual. And though Scripture ascribes both 
to man and beast a soul, spirit, or life, it allows to 
man alone the privilege of understanding, the knowl- 
edge of God, wisdom, immortality, hope of future 
happiness, and of eternal life. It threatens men, 
only, with punishment in another life, and with the 
pains of hell. 

The immortality of the soul is a fundamental doc- 
trine of revealed religion. The ancient patriarchs 
lived and died persuaded of this truth ; and it was in 
the hope of another life that they received the prom- 
ises. When Balaam desired that his death might be 
like that of the just, (Numb, xxiii. 10.) he must have 
meant in the hope and expectation of a happy resur- 
rection. Another decisive proof, that the Israelites 
believed in the immortality of the soul, is found in 
their persuasion, that the souls of the dead sometimes 
appeared after their decease ; as Samuel to Saul, (1 
Sam. xxviii. 13 — 15.) and Jeremiah to Judas Macca- 
beus, 2 Mac. xv. 14. When the apostles saw Christ 
walking on the sea, they took him for an apparition ; 
(Matt. xiv. 26.) and after his resurrection he referred 
to tliis current belief, Luke xxiv. 39. 

The Sadducees, who denied this immortality and 
resurrection, were regarded by their nation as a kind 
of heretics and innovators. Those of whom Solomon 
expresses the sentiments, (Eccles. iii. 19, 20.) were 
confuted by Solomon himself, who says, (Eccl. xii. 
7.) " Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, 
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." 

SPAIN comprehended in ancient usage the mod- 
ern kingdoms of Spain and Portugal, i. e. the whole 
Spanish peninsula. In the time of Paul it was sub- 
ject to the Romans, and was frequented by many 
Jews. In Rom. xv. 24, 28, Paul expresses his inten- 
tion of visiting Spain ; but there is no good evidence 
that he was ever permitted to fulfil his purpose. R. 

SPARROW. The Hebrew word tzippor is used 
not only for a sparrow, but for all sorts of clean birds, 



or such whose use was not forbidden by the law, and 
especially for the smaller birds ; and in most of the 
passages where sparrow is read, we may understand 
a bird of s any kind. 

SPIDER, a well-known insect, remarkable for the 
thread which it spins, and with which it forms a web 
of curious texture, but so frail that it is exposed to be 
broken and destroyed by the slightest accident. To 
the slenderness of this filmy workmanship Job com- 
pares the hope of the wicked, chap. viii. 14. This, 
says Mr. Good, was doubtless a proverbial allusion ; 
and so exquisite, that it is impossible to conceive any 
figure that can more fully describe the utter vanity of 
the hopes and prosperity of the wicked. 

"Deceiving bliss! in bitter shame it ends; 
His prop a cobweb, which an insect rends." 

So Isaiah says, " They weave the web of a spider ; 
of their webs no garment shall be made ; neither 
shall they cover themselves with their works," chap, 
lix. 5. 

The greater part of modern interpreters, among 
whom are our own translators, suppose this insect to 
be intended by Solomon in these words, " The spider 
taketli hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces," 
Prov. xxx. 28. But the wise man uses a different 
word from the common name of this creature, [sema- 
mith, and not accabish,) and subjoins a description, 
which, in one particular, is by no means applicable 
to it ; for, although several ancient writers have given 
fingers to the spider, not one has honored her with 
hands. An ancient poet has accordingly taught her 
to say, 

Nulla mihi man us est, pedibus tameu omnia fiunt. 

Had Solomon intended to describe the spider, he 
would not have merely said, "She taketh hold with 
her hands," but, she spins her thread, and weaves her 
toils; circumstances assuredly much more worthy of 
notice ; nor would he have said that she takes up her 
abode in kings' palaces, when she more frequently 
constructs her dwelling in the cabins of the poor 
where she resides in greater security and freedom. 
The opinion of the celebrated Bochart, that the newt, 
a species of small lizard, is meant, seems, in every 
respect, entitled to the preference. (Hieroz. vol. ii 
p. 510.) This reptile answers to the description 
which the royal preacher gives of her form and hab- 
its, and is, according to the testimony of ancient and 
modern writers, found to take up its abode in the 
dwelling-houses, in the East. 

SPIKENARD. Mr. Taylor has given a very full 
account of this plant, in his Fragments, (Nat. Hist. 
No. 33.) derived from the Dissertations of sir William 
Jones, and Drs. Blane and Roxburgh. 

The spikenard (Heb. vu, nerd, or nard,) is a plant 
belonging to the order of gramma, and is of different 
species. In India, whence the best sort comes, it 
grows as common grass, in large tufts close to each 
other, in general from three to four feet in length. 
So strong is its aroma, which resides principally in 
the husky roots, that when trodden upon, or other- 
wise bruised, the air is filled with its fragrance. Dr. 
Blane, who planted some of the roots in his garden, 
at Lucknow, states, that in the rainy season it shot 
up spikes about six feet high. 

The description of the Nardicus Indica which is 
given by Pliny, not exactly corresponding with the 
specimen procured by Dr. Blane, this gentleman very 



SPIKENARD 



[ 863 ] 



SP1 



reasonaDiy supposes that other plants of an inferior 
description, and more easily procurable, used to be 
substituted for it, and that it is of one of these spuri- 
ous nards that the Roman naturalist speaks. Horace 
mentions a JVardus Assyria, and Dioscorides speaks 
of a JYardus Syriaca, as a species different from the 
Indica, which certainly was brought from some of 
the remote parts of India ; for both Dioscorides and 
Galen, by way of fixing more precisely the country 
whence it comes, call it also Nardus Gangites. 

This plant was highly valued among the ancients, 
both as an article of luxury, and as a medicine. The 
Unguentum Nardinum, or ointment manufactured 
from the nard, was the favorite perfume used at the 
ancient baths and feasts ; and it appears from a pas- 
sage in Horace, that it was so valuable, that so much 
of it as could be contained in a small box of precious 
stone was considered a sort of equivalent for a large 
' vessel of wine ; and a handsome quota for a guest to 
contribute to an entertainment, according to the cus- 
tom of antiquity. 

This leads us to notice the narrative of the evan- 
gelist, of " a woman, having an alabaster box of oint- 
ment of spikenard, very precious ; and she brake the 
b/>x and poured it on his [Christ's] head," Mark xiv. 
3. In verse 5, this is said to have been worth more 
than three hundred pence (denarii) ; and John (ch. 
xii. 3.) mentions " a pound of ointment of spikenard, 
very costly — the house was filled with the odor of 
the ointment ; — it was worth three hundred pence 
(denarii.) As this evangelist has determined the 
quantity, a pound, — and the lowest value (for Mark 
says more) was nearly forty dollars, we may safely 
suppose that this was not a Syrian production, or 
made from any fragrant grass growing in the neigh- 
boring districts ; but was of the true Indian spike- 
nard, " very costly." In the answer of our Lord on 
this occasion, there seems also to be some allusion to 
the remoteness of the country whence this unguent 
was brought, " Wheresoever this gospel shall be 
preached throughout the whole world, this also that 
she hath done, shall be spoken of for a memorial of 
her," Mark xiv. 9. As much as to say, " This unguent 
came from a distant country, to be sure, but the gos- 
pel shall spread to a much greater distance, yea, all 
over the world ; so that in India itself, whence this 
composition came, shall the memorial of its applica- 
tion to my sacred person be mentioned with honor." 
The idea of a far country, connected with the oint- 
ment, seems to have suggested that of " all the 
world." 

In Cant. iv. 13, 14, the spikenard is twice men- 
tioned in a peculiar manner : " Camphire with spike- 
nard, spikenard with saffron." Why should this 
plant be twice named ? a question to which no satis- 
factory answer can be given, unless we suppose, with 
the writer just named, that the first nard means the 
Syrian and Arabian plant, which no doubt was fa- 
miliar to Solomon, and the second, the Indian nard, 
true spikenard. If this be admitted, the passage is 
clear, and it is probable that the latter word merely 
wants some discriminating epithet, answering to spike, 
which transcribers, not understanding, have dropped ; 
or that a different mode of pronunciation distin- 
guished the names of these two plants when men- 
tioned in discourse. In the printed copies the words 
are differently pointed, and what is still more deserv- 
ing attention is, that the first word is nardim, plural ; 
whereas the second seems to be put absolutely, nard, 
or the nard, singular. 

From a similar use of this word in the singular 



form, in Cant. i. 12, "While the king skteth at huj 
table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof," 
Mr. Taylor inclines to think that this nard was in the 
form of an essence, in a small bag, or a number of 
sprigs of the fragrant grass, worn like a nosegay in 
the bosom of the bride. What seems to strengthen 
the idea is, that the different perfumes mentioned in 
connection with it are all flowers in their natural 
state. 

SPIRIT (Heb. nn, ruach ; Greek JJvtvua) is a 
word employed in various senses in Scripture. (1.) 
For the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy 
Trinity, who inspired the prophets, who animates 
good men, pours his unction into our hearts, imparts 
to us life and comfort ; and in whose name we are 
baptized, as well as in that of the Father and the Son. 
When the adjective holy is applied to the term spirit, 
we may safely take it as here explained ; but there 
are many places where it must betaken in this sense, 
although the term holy is omitted. (2.) Breath, res- 
piration, animal life, common to men and animals : 
this God has given, and this he recalls when he 
takes away life, Gen. vii. 15 ; Numb. xvi. 22 ; Job xii. 
10. (3.) The rational soul which animates us, and 
preserves its being, after the death of the hody. 
That spiritual reasoning and choosing substance, 
which is capable of eternal happiness. (See Soul.) 
(4.) An angel, a demon, a soul separate from the body. 
It is said, (Acts xxiii. 8.) that the Sadducees denied 
the existence of angels and spirits. Christ, appearing 
to his disciples, said to them, (Luke xxiv. 39.) " Han- 
dle me, and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, 
as ye see me have." Heb. i. 14, good angels are - 
called ministering spirits. It is said (1 Sam. xvi. 14 ; 
xviii. 10 ; xix. 9.) that " the evil spirit from God came 
upon Saul." And in the gospel the devils are often 
called " unclean spirits, evil spirits, spirits of dark- 
ness," &c. (5.) Spirit is sometimes taken for the dis- 
position of the mind or intellect ; because it was 
presumed, that the good or evil inclinations of these 
proceeded from good or bad spirits. So, a spirit of 
jealousy, a spirit of fornication, a spirit of prayer, a 
spirit of infirmity, a spirit of wisdom and understand- 
ing, a spirit of fear of the Lord, &c. Numb. v. 14 
Hos. iv. 12 ; Zech. xii. 10 ; Luke xiii. 11 ; Eccles. 
xv. 5 ; Isa. xi. 2. 

Distinguishing, or Discerning, of spirits, was 
a gift of God, which consisted in discerning whether 
a man were really inspired by the Spirit of God, or 
was a false prophet, an impostor, who only followed 
the impulse of his own spirit, or of Satan. Paul 
speaks (1 Cor. xii. 10.) of the discerning of spirits, as 
being among the miraculous gifts granted by God to 
the faithful, at the first settlement of Christianity. 
And John exhorts believers not to believe every 
spirit, but to try the spirits, whether they were of 
God ; because many false prophets had gone out into 
the world, 1 Epist. iv. 1. 

To quench the Spirit (1 Thess. v. 19.) is a met- 
aphorical expression easily understood. The Spirit 
may be quenched, (1.) by forcing, as it were, that di- 
vine agent to withdraw from us, by sin, irregularity 
of manners, vanity, avarice, negligence, or other 
crimes contrary to charity, truth, peace, and his other 
gifts and qualifications. (2.) The Spirit might have 
been quenched by such actions as caused God to take 
away his supernatural gifts and favors, such as 
prophecy, the gift of tongues, the gift of healing, &c. 
For though these gifts were of mere grace, and God 
might communicate them sometimes to doubtful 
characters, yet he has often granted therr. to the 



SPIRIT 



[ 864 ] 



ST A 



prayers of the faithful ; and has taken them away, to 
punish their misuse or contempt of them. 

To grieve the Spirit, (Eph. iv. 30.) may also be 
taken to refer either to an internal grace, habitual or 
actual, or to the miraculous gifts, with which God 
favored the primitive Christians. We grieve the 
Spirit of God, by withstanding his holy inspirations, 
the motions of his grace ; or by living in a lukewarm 
and incautious manner; by despising his gifts, or 
neglecting them ; by abusing his favors, either out 
of vanity, curiosity or indifference. In a contrary 
sense, (2 Tim. i. 6.) we stir up the Spirit of God 
which is in us, by the practice of virtue, by our com- 
pliance with his inspirations, by fervor in his service, 
by renewing our gratitude, &c. 

The spirit, as opposed to the flesh, is put for the 
soul by which we are animated: (Gen. vi. 3.) "My 
Spirit shall no longer abide in man, because he is but 
flesh ;" i. e. I will destroy mankind, I will take from 
them my breath which 1 gave them, the soul that I 
infused into them ; because they are all carnal, de- 
based by vile inclinations, by brutish passions ; be- 
cause, in a word, " all flesh have corrupted their way 
upon the earth ;" they have in a great measure for- 
gotten that they are reasonable creatures, and have 
plunged themselves into the state and condition of 
beasts. Or it may mean, My Spirit shall not strive 
with man — to correct him, to repel his wickedness : 
no ; but I will chastise him severely : his violent in- 
clinations shall feel no check from the gentle admo- 
nitions of my benevolent Spirit, but shall have their 
own way — his flesh shall not be thwarted, but shall 
prove his ruin — at least, after such a respite as I have 
appointed. 

Spirit, in the moral sense, is opposed to the flesh : 
(Rom. vii. 25.) " With the mind, or spirit, I myself 
serve the law of God ; but with the flesh the law of 
sin." And chap. viii. 13, " If ye live after the flesh, 
ye shall die ; but if ye through the spirit do mortify 
the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Also, Gal. v. 
19, 22, " Now the works of the flesh are manifest, 
which are these ; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, 
lasciviousness," " But the fruit of the spirit is 

love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, 
faith, meekness, temperance." 

The Spirit of Christ, which animates true Chris- 
tians, the children of God, and distinguishes them 
from the children of darkness, who are animated by 
the spirit of the world, is the gift of grace, of adop- 
tion, the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts, which 
emboldens us to call God, " My Father, my Father," 
Rom. viii. 5. Those who are influenced by this 
Spirit " have crucified the flesh, with its affections 
and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in 
the Spirit," Gal. v. 25; Rom. viii. 9. "Ye are not in 
the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of 
God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the 
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." The Spirit of 
Christ animated the prophets, and inclined them in- 
dustriously to inquire at what time those events 
should happen, which they foretold concerning his 
passion and glory, 1 Pet. i. 11. 

After referring to the article Socl, it may be proper 
to suggest, riiat whatever language describes spiritual 
existence is particularly obscure ; and so must con- 
tinue to mortals. Nothing can be less obvious than 
in what consisted the gift of the Holy Spirit as im- 
parted by the hands of the apostles. That this power 
was restricted to them, only, is remarkable, since it 
might be thought the 120 were no less qualified to 
bestow it. That it was given to many, perhaps to 



most new converts, insomuch that many hundreds, 
not to say thousands, must have participated in it, is 
equally remarkable : but this general reception of it 
renders many things applicable to the primitive 
churches,andChristians, and justly said ofthem,which 
it would be presumptuous to apply to any since their 
day. And although some of the powers enjoyed by 
the primitive Christians are enumerated in certain 
places of the Epistles, yet we are not much enlight- 
ened on the subject, though it was so clear and con- 
spicuous anciently. Were any, or all, of these pow- 
ers in any case imparted to females ? 

There is a passage in 1 Pet. iii. 19, referring to the 
spirits in prison, the difficulties of which no hypoth- 
esis has yet completely solved. In the first place, it 
should be remarked, that the apostle distinguishes 
between spirits (rrrtruaat) and souls (yjv/aiy. the souls 
were saved by the ark ; the spirits were shut up in 
prison. He seems to refer to the same thing as Job, 
(xxvi. 5.) "The giants (Rephaim) groan under the 
waters ;" that is, says Scott, the mighty men of re- 
nown in the old world, who filled the earth with vi- 
olence, and perished by the deluge. Admitting this 
reference, the apostle points at " the spirits in prison 
ever since the flood." The difficulty remains, that 
Christ is said to go, " he went and preached," to those 
who were afterwards destroyed, because of their un- 
belief and disobedience. But whether this of neces- 
sity means a personal action may be doubted ; for it 
is said of Christ, (Eph. ii. 17.) " He came and 
preached to you who were afar off" — which is not 
true of Christ, personally ; he preached by his agents. 
Admit that he also preached by his agents in the 
days of Noah, by that patriarch, himself, with others, 
and the passage loses much of its embarrassment. 
Christ, by his Spirit imparted to Noah, endeavored 
to reclaim the antediluvians ; but they, persisting in 
their iniquities, lost their lives in the deluge ; their 
spirits, meanwhile, being confined in prison, await the 
great day of judgment. Noah, believing, and acting 
on his belief, was saved from the general destruction. 
Those criminals abused the long-suffering of God; 
Noah took advantage of it to his salvation. 

STACHYS, a disciple of Paul, by whom he is 
honorably mentioned, (Rom. xvi. 9.) but we know 
no particulars of his life that can be relied upon. 

STACTE, a drug, which was one of the four in- 
gredients composing the sacred perfume, Exod. xxx. 
34, 35. It is understood to be the prime kind of 
myrrh ; and as the Heb. properly signifies a drop, 
some think it to be myrrh distilling, dropping, from 
the tree, of its own accord, without incision. So 
Pliny, speaking of the trees whence myrrh is pro- 
duced, says, " Before any incision is made, they 
exude of their own accord what is called stacte, to 
which no kind of myrrh is preferable." (Nat. Hist, 
lib. xii. cap. 15.) The rabbins suppose it to be the 
opobalsam ; others, storax. 

STADIUM, a measure of length, a furlong, which 
consisted of one hundred and twenty-five geometri- 
cal paces. Eight furlongs make a mile. See the 
Table of Measures at the end of the volume. [The 
Roman stadium was nearly equal to the English fur- 
long, and contained 201.45 yards. This is the sta- 
dium probably meant in the New Testament, since 
the Jews were then subject to the Romans, an i had 
constant intercourse with them. R. 

Stadium is also taken for the place in whicl were 
performed public exercises of running. St. Paul 
alludes to these, 1 Cor. ix. 24 : " They which run in a 
race {in stadia) run all, but one receiveth the prize." 



STE 



[ 865 ] 



STE 



These places were called stadia, because they were 1 
distinguished into courses, or distances, by certain 
resting places ; so that some of the racers run but one 
distance, some two or more, each according to his 
strength. 

STAR. Under the name of stars, the Hebrews 
comprehended all constellations, planets and heav- 
enly bodies ; all luminaries, except the sun and moon. 
The psalmist, to exalt the power and omniscience of 
God, says, " He numbers the stars, and calls them by 
their names." He is described as a king taking a re- 
view of his army, and knowing the name of every 
on<- of his soldiers. To express a very extraordinary 
increase and multiplication, Scripture uses the simil- 
itude of the stars of heaven, or of the sands of the 
sea, Gen. xv. 5 ; xxii. 17 ; xxvi. 4 ; Exod. xxxii. 13, 
&c. In times of disgrace and public calamity, it is 
said, the stars withhold their light ; that they are cov- 
ered with darkness; that they fall from heaven, and 
disappear. These figurative and emphatic expres- 
sions, which refer to the governing powers of nations, 
are only weakened and enervated by being ex- 
plained. 

To caution the Hebrews against the idolatry that 
prevailed over almost all the East, of worshipping the 
sun, moon and stars, Moses informs them (Gen. i. 14 
— 16.) that God gave the stars their being, and sepa- 
rated them from that mass of matter which he cre- 
ated ; and Job (xxxviii. 7.) describes them as praising 
the Creator at the beginning of the world. 

The beauty and splendor that men observed in the 
stars ; the great advantages they derived from them ; 
the wonderful order apparent in their courses ; the 
influence ascribed to their returns, in the production 
and preservation of animals, fruits, plants and mine- 
rals, have induced almost all people to impute to them 
life, knowledge, power, and to pay them a sovereign 
worship and adoration. See Idolatry. 

The sacred books seem to ascribe knowledge to 
the stars ; hence we are told that they praised the 
Lord, (Job xxxviii. 7.) and elsewhere they are excited 
to this. These expressions, however, are popular, or 
poetical, and are not to be understood literally ; for 
then we must admit, that the earth, the trees, the 
waters, are animated and intelligent, since we find in 
Scripture expressions that import as much. All the 
creatures glorify God, bless the Lord, and obey him, 
each in its way. 

The star foretold by Balaam, (Numb. xxiv. 17.) 
was, according to the modern Jews, king David, who 
conquered the Moabites, and reduced them under his 
obedience. But the paraphrasts Onkelos and Jona- 
than explain it of the Messiah, as the natural sense 
of the passage. The Jews were so well convinced 
of this, at the time of Christ, and afterwards, that the 
famous impostor Bar-chaliba caused himself to be 
called Bar-cocheba, " son of the star," pretending to 
be the Messiah ; which involved the Jews of Pales- 
tine in a revolt, that completed the ruin of their un- 
fortunate nation. 

STATER, a Greek coin of the value of one shekel, 
Matt. xvii. 37, in the Greek. It wis worth about 50 
cents. 

STEPHANAS, a Christian of Corinth, whose fam- 
ily Paul baptized ; probably about A. D. 52, 1 Cor. i. 
16. He was forward to the service of the church, 
and came to Paul at Ephesus, 1 Cor. xvi. 15, 17. 

STEPHEN, the first Christian martyr, was prob- 
ably a Hellenistic Jew, and Epiphanius thinks he 
was among the 72 disciples ; but this is not probable. 
He is always put first among the deacons in the 
109 



church at Jerusalem ; and it is believed he had 
studied at the feet of Gamaliel. He was full of the 
Holy Spirit, and of zeal, and performed many mira- 
cles, Acts vi. 5. Some of the synagogue of the freed- 
men, of the Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others, dis- 
puting with him, and being unable to withstand his 
wisdom and spirit, suborned false witnesses, to tes- 
tify, that they had beard him blaspheme against 
Moses and against God, and drew him before the 
Sanhedrim. Stephen appeared in the midst of this 
assembly, with a countenance like that of an angel ; 
and upon the high-priest asking him what he had to 
answer, he denied that he had said any thing against 
Moses or the temple— but he showed that the Jews 
had always opposed God and his prophets ; upbraid- 
ed them with the hardness of their hearts, with their 
putting the prophets to death, and with slaying the 
Messiah himself. His boldness enraged the unbe- 
lieving Jews ; but Stephen, lifting up his eyes to 
heaven, said, "I see the heavens open, and the Son 
of man standing at the right hand of God." Unable 
to endure any more, his enemies cried out, stopped 
their ears, and falling upon him, drew him out of the 
city, and stoned him ; the witnesses laying down their 
clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul, then 
one of the most eager persecutors of the Christians, 
but afterwards one of the most zealous preachers of 
Christianity. Stephen called upon the Lord, and 
said, " Lord, impute not this sin to them ;" after which 
he fell asleep in the Lord, and some pious persons 
took care to bury him, and accompanied his funeral 
with great mourning, Acts viii. 2. 

STEWARD, one who manages the affairs, or su- 
perintends the affairs of another. Thus Eliezer was 
the steward of Abraham's house ; (Gen. xv. 2.) Chris- 
tian ministers are the stewards of God over his church 
or family, (Tit. i. 7 ; 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2.) and believers are 
stewards of his gifts and graces, to dispense the bene- 
fits of them to the world, 1 Pet. iv. 10. 

On reading the parable of the unjust steward, who 
defrauds his principal by collusion with his debtors, 
(Luke xvi.) we find it concluded by what seems to be 
a strange expression : (ver. 12.) "If ye have not been 
faithful in that which is another man's, ivho shall give 
you that ivhich. is your own ?" Certainly that ivhich is 
a mcrn's own he may naturally expect should be given 
him ; for who has a right to withhold it ? The pro- 
priety of the phrase, therefore, and the inferential con- 
nection of the sentiment with the parable, is not clear 
to a general reader ; but the following custom of the 
Turks (as related by Aaron Hill, Travels, p. 77.) may 
contribute to its better understanding : " It is a com- 
mon custom with the merchants of this country when 
they hire a broker, book-keeper, or other [confiden- 
tial] servant, to agree, that he shall claim no wages ; 
but, to make amends for that unprofitable disadvan- 
tage, they give them free and uncontrolled authority 
to cheat them every way they can, in managing their 
business ; but with this proviso, that they must never 
exceed the privileged advantage of ten per cent. All 
under that, which they can fairly gain in settling of 
accounts with their respective masters, is properly 
their own ; and by their masters' will is confirmed 
to their possession.". He proceeds to say, "The ser- 
vant knowing he has nothing to depend on but these 
profits .... puts himself upon a wily method of over- 
reaching others, in the goods he buys by order of his 
master. His master, on the other hand, well knows 
that unless he watches carefully his servant's man- 
agement, a.': will probably go beyond the tolerated 
limits t>itr iper cent." 



STEWARD 



[ 866 ] 



ST O 



This kind of allowance, though appearing extreme- 
singular to us, is both ancient and general in the 
ast. It is found in the Gentoo Laws : (chap, ix.) " If 
a man has hired any person to conduct a trade for 
him, and no agreement is made in regard to wages, 
in that case, the person hired shall receive one tenth 
of the profit." " If the person be hired to attend cattle, 
he shall receive one tenth of the milk. If the person 
be hired for agriculture, one tenth of the crop. If he 
plough the ground, receiving victuals, one fifth of the 
crop : if he receive no victuals, one third." (Halhed's 
Code of Gentoo Laws, p. 140.) 

We see, then, that Mr. Hill has been too severe in 
describing the taking of such an allowance as a 
"cheating" of the principal; since he admits, it has 
that principal's permission, and is " a privileged ad- 
vantage." We see, too, that the Gentoo laws admit 
a detention of one third part, in certain cases, as pay- 
ment for a servant's labor and attention. 

The phrase' which appears so offensive to us, now 
assumes its true import: — "If you have not been 
found faithful in the administration of your principal's 
property, how can you expect to receive your own 
share (as the word may signify) of that advantage 
which should reward your labors ? If you have not 
been just toward him, why, or how, do you expect he 
should be just toward you ?" May not this principle 
set the conduct of the unjust steward in a different 
light from what it has hitherto appeared in ? (1.) We 
see that this steward had a right to expect from his 
master the value of a share of this oil and wheat, as 
his due : — But if his master had once got possession 
of this value, he might have seized it in compensation 
for former deficiencies : the steward prevents this, by 
negotiating with the debtors themselves, before their 
accounts are inspected by his master. (2.) The stew- 
ard had a right to a portion of the value, but he takes 
abundantly more than his due ; and then carries in 
the mutilated account to his master, as if it were the 
produce of the whole, not accounting for the quantity 
reserved by him for his future dependence in the 
hands of those who, having had their share of the 
fraud, might return the advantage by receiving this 
anjust agent into their habitations. (3.) The steward's 
master commends him as having adopted an expedi- 
ent not easily to be detected, but, in fact, a cunning 
contrivance ; being evidently founded in custom and 
equity ; readily enough to be represented as merely 
doing himself that justice which, as he might say, his 
master denied him ; and, as to the quantity he with- 
holds, he might plead somewhat analogous to what is 
provided for in the Gentoo laws, which, we see, in 
some cases allow of one third as a compensation for 
extraordinary care and trouble. 

May our Lord's inference be thus understood? 
"This steward could only expect that his friends 
would receive and maintain him, so long as what he 
could claim of this value, or stock, of oil or of wheat, 
lasted : when that was exhausted, they would desire 
his absence ; but, contrary to this, I advise you, by 
your management of worldly riches, to make friends 
— friends who may receive you into, not temporary, 
but lasting residence ; who may welcome your arrival, 
not into a mere transitory shelter, but into an ever- 
abiding felicity. I press this upon you, because riches 
are so slippery, so perverting, so delusive, that they 
may well be called deceitful : and they but too often 
are allurements to unrighteousness — to unrighteous 
modes of acquiring them, and to unrighteous modes 
of disposing of them ; but if they be used with a dis- 
]K)sition of mind contrary to that of this unjust steward, 



if, instead of being wickedly withheld, they be justly 
and liberally circulated, and, as it were, brought to 
account, the benevolence of true piety will direct them 
to such salutary purposes, as may lay many worthy 
but necessitous persons under great obligations: and 
these, should you be involved in distress here below, 
will do their utmost to soothe and relieve you ; or they 
will hereafter congratulate your happy reception into 
never-ending beatitude and glory." 

[This passage (Luke xvi.9.) is more properly taken 
impersonally ; the phrase "that they may receive you " 
being equivalent to "that ye may be received into ever- 
lasting habitations," &c. Impersonal verbs of this form 
are frequent in Greek ; e. g. Luke xii. 20, " This night 
shall they require thy so ul of thee," in the Greek, 
for "thy soul shall be required of thee," &c. R. 

STOICS, a sect of heathen philosophers, so named 
from the Greek arou, a porch, or portico, because 
Zeno, its founder, held his school in a porch of the 
city of Athens. They placed the supreme happiness 
of man in living agreeably to nature and reason ; 
affecting the same stiffness, patience, apathy, austerity 
and insensibility, as the Pharisees, whom, according to 
Josephus, they much resembled. They were consid- 
erable at Athens when Paul visited that city, Acts 
xvii. 18. 

STONES. For the names of the precious stones 
which were in the high-priest's breastplate, (Exod. 
xxviii. 17, &c.) the reader may see their articles, and 
Breastplate. 

Corner Stone, or head stone of the corner, is that 
put at the angle of a building, whether at the founda- 
tion or on the top of the wall. (See Corner Stone.) 
Our Saviour, though rejected by the Jews, was the 
corner stone of the church, (Ps. cxviii. 22.) and the 
stone that binds and unites the synagogue and Gen- 
tiles in the union of one faith, Acts iv. 11 ; Isa. xxviii. 
16 ; Eph. ii. 20 ; 1 Pet. ii. 6 ; Matt. xxi. 42 ; Mark xii. 
10; Luke xx. 17. The Hebrews sometimes gave the 
name of stone, or rock, to kings or princes, and also 
to God himself. 

Moses forbids the Hebrews to set up in their coun- 
try any stone that is exalted, or remarkable, Lev. 
xx vi. 1. The text may be translated by "a stone for 
sight ;" a land-mark that stands on an eminence, or 
in some great road, to be seen from a distance. Strabo 
(lib. xvii.) mentions such stones on the highways in 
Egypt ; and he says also, there are several remarkable 
and eminent stones upon Libanus. The Syrians and 
Egyptians had such respect for them that they almost 
adored them. They anointed them with oil, as may 
be seen in Apuleius, kissed and saluted them. It is 
probable that this worship is what Moses intended to 
prohibit ; for heaps of stones, raised in witness of 
memorable events, and to preserve the remembrance 
of matters of great importance, are the most ancient 
monuments among the Hebrews. In early ages, 
these were used instead of inscriptions, pyramids, 
medals or histories. Jacob and Laban raised such a 
monument on mount Gilead, in memory of their cov- 
enant, Gen. xxxi. 46. Joshua erected one at Gilgal, 
of stones taken out of the Jordan, to preserve the 
memorial of his miraculous passage; (Josh. iv. 5 — 7.) 
and the Israelites beyond Jordan raised one on the 
banks of that river, as a testimony that they constituted 
but one nation with their brethren on the other side, 
Josh. xxii. 10. 

In illustration of this practice, Mr. Taylor quotes 
from Chardin the following passage : — "Upon the left 
hand of the road are to be seen large circles of 
hewn stone : which the Persians affirm to be a great 



STONES 



[ 867 ] 



sue 



sign that the Cajus, making war in Media, held a 
council in that place ; it being the custom of those 
people, that every officer that came to the council, 
brought with him a stone to serve him instead of a 
chair: these Caous were a sort of giants. What is 
most to be admired, after observation of these stones, 
is this, that they are so big that eight men can hardly 
move one ; and yet there is no place from whence 
they can be imagined to have been fetched, but from 
the next mountains, which are six leagues off." 
(p. 371.) 

This extract deserves notice on two accounts : (1.) 
The Persian notion of stones being used instead of 
chairs, at a council, must have had some origin ; and 
must also have been customary at some time in that 
country : — the sitting upon stones, then, could not have 
been always totally unknown in Mesopotamia, where 
Laban resided, and Jacob with him ; and what was 
customary at a council, might be practised at a cove- 
nant agreement, as in the case of Laban and Jacob. 
(2.) The resemblance of these circles of large 
stones to the Druidical monuments of Great Britain 
(Stonehenge, Abury, &c.) is striking; and the finding 
structures so similar in regions so distant, demonstrates 
the extensive spread and influence (if not the identity) 
of that religion, the exercise of which had occasioned 
their erection. (Fragments 166, 734 — 736.) 

In the Fragments just referred to, Mr. Taylor has 
collected much information relative to heaps and cir- 
cles of stones, wholly or partly remaining, in differ- 
ent parts of Great Britain, and elsewhere, for the 
purpose of throwing light on a practice so often al- 
luded or referred to in the Old Testament, and espe- 
cially in connection with Gilgal, a religious station, in 
the early period of the Israelitish history. The prac- 
tice of raising and consecrating stones in commemo- 
ration of memorable events connected with religion, 
which has so extensively prevailed in various parts of 
the world, and among people altogether dissimilar in 
their general character and habits, he considers as 
affording a striking proof that the religion of mankind 
was originally the same, in its objects, its principles 
and its rites : and that, to wherever the original tribes 
of men migrated, with their natural fathers at their 
head, or wherever they settled, they retained those 
religious customs, notions and references, which they 
had received as part of their patrimony, in the land 
of their primary residence. 

Rough and unformed stones were considered to be 
more pure and fit for sacred uses than those that were 
hewn. Moses directed (Exod. xx. 25.) an altar to be 
raised to the Lord, of rough stones ; not of hewn ones, 
which he declared to be polluted. (See also Deut. 
xxvii. 5 ; Josh. viii. 31, 32 ; Ezra v. 8 ; 1 Mac. iv. 
46,47.) 

"A heart of stone" may be' understood several 
ways. Job, (xli. 24.) speaking of the behemoth, says, 
his heart is as hard as stone, as impenetrable as an 
anvil ; q. d. he is of a very extraordinary strength, 
boldness and courage. The heart of Nabal became 
as a stone, when he comprehended the danger he had 
incurred by his imprudence, (1 Sam. xxv. 37.) i. e. 
his heart became immovable like a stone ; t was 
contracted or convulsed, and this convulsion occa- 
sioned his death. Ezekiel says, (xi. 19 ; xxxvi. 26.) 
the Lord will take away from his people the heart of 
stone, and give them a heart of flesh ; i. e. he will 
convert them, and inspire them with milder and more 
gracious feelings. Nearly in the same sense, John 
the Baptist said, (Matt. iii. 9.) God was able to raise 
up to Abraham children from the stones of the desert. 



Daniel, speakhig of the kingdom of the Messiah, 
compares it to a small stone loosened from the moun- 
tain, by no mortal power, that struck upon the feet 
of the colossus which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his 
dream, and afterwards filled the whole earth, Dan. 
ii. 34. 

STONING was a punishment much in use umong 
the Hebrews, and the rabbins reckon all crimes as 
being subject to it, which the law condemns to death, 
without expressing the particular mode. They say, 
that when a man was condemned to death, he was 
led out of the city to the place of execution, and there 
exhorted to acknowledge and confess his fault. He 
was then stoned in one of two ways, either stones 
were thrown upon him till he died, or he was thrown 
headlong down a steep place, and a large stone rolled 
upon his body. To the latter mode it is supposed 
there is a reference in Matt. xxi. 44. 

STORK, ciconia, Heb. n-pDn, from ion, kind, good ; 
probably so called because of the tenderness which it 
is said to manifest towards its parents ; never, as is 
reported, forsaking them, but feeding and defending 
them in their decrepitude. The stork is a bird of pas- 
sage : (Jer. viii. 7.) "The stork in the heavens know- 
eth her appointed times ; and the turtle, and the crane, 
and the swallow, observe the time of their coming." 
Jerome and the LXN sometimes render the Hebrew 
word by herodius, the heron ; sometimes by pelican 
or kite ; but there can be very little doubt that it des- 
ignates properly the stork. Moses places it among un- 
clean birds, Lev. xi. 19 ; Deut. xiv. 18. The psalmist 
says (civ. 17.) " As for the stork, the fir-trees are her 
house." In the climate of Europe, she commonly 
builds her nest on some high tower, or on the top of 
a house ; but in Palestine, where the coverings of the 
houses are flat, she builds in high trees. Profane 
authors speak much of the piety of the stork, and its 
gratitude to its parents. Ambrose says, that for this 
reason the Romans called it avis pia ; (Hexsmer. lib. 
v. c. 16.) and Puhlius calls it pietatis cultrix. (Apud. 
Petron.' Vide Bochart de Animal Sacr. torn. ii. 
lib. ii. c. 29.) 

Ciconia enim grata, peregrina, hospita, 
Pietatis cultrix, gracili-pes, crotalistria. 

The stork has the beak and legs long and red ; it 
feeds on serpents, frogs and insects. Its plumage 
would be wholly white, but that the extremities of its 
wings, and some small part of its head and thighs, are 
black. It sits for the space of thirty days, and lays 
but four eggs. They migrate to southern countries 
in August, and return in the spring. They are still 
the objects of much veneration among the common 
people in some parts of Europe. # R. 

I. SUCCOTH, tents, tabernacles, the first encamp- 
ment of the Israelites, after they left Egypt, Exod. 
xii. 37. See Exodus, p. 401. 

II. SUCCOTH, a city east of the Jordan, between 
the brook Jabok and that river, and where Jacob 
set up his tents on his return from Mesopotamia, 
Gen. xxxiii. 17. Joshua assigned the city subse- 
quently built here to the tribe of Gad, Josh. xiii. 27. 
Gideon tore the flesh of the principal men of Suc- 
coth with thorns and briers, because they returned 
him a haughty answer when pursuing the Midianites, 
Judg. viii. 5. 

SUCCOTH BENOTH. Calmet speaks of Suo 
coth Benoth as an idol set up in Samaria, by the men 
brought from Assyria, (2 Kings xvii. 30.) but Mr. 
Taylor and other writers have shown it more proba- 



SUP 



[ 568 ] 



S W A 



?ly to denote tabernacles or booths consecrated to 
me of the forms of Venus. In such places young 
maidens were devoted to the licentious worship of 
Venus. 

SUN, the great luminary which God created, at the 
beginning, to govern the day. Calmet thinks it was 
the sun which the Phoenicians worshipped under the 
name of Baal, the Moabites under that of Chemosh, 
the Ammonites under that of Moloch, the Israelites 
under that of Baal, and king of the host of heaven. 
Moses cautioned the Israelites against this species of 
idolatry, (Deut. iv. 19.) "Take ye, therefore, good 
heed unto yourselves — lest thou lift up thine eyes unto 
heaven, and when thou seest the sun, the moon and 
the stars, even all the host of heaven, thou shoulrlstbe 
driven to worship and serve them." In Deut. xvii. 3, 
he condemns to death those perverted to worship 
strange gods, the sun, the moon, &c. ; and Josiah 
took from the temple of the Lord the horses, and 
burned the chariots, which the kings his predecessors 
had consecrated to the sun, 2 Kings xxiii. 11. Job 
says, (xxxi. 26 — 28.) he looked on it as a great crime, 
and as renouncing the God that is above, to kiss his 
hand in token of adoration, when he beheld the sun 
in its beauty and splendor. Ezekiel (viii. 16.) saw in 
the Spirit, in the temple of the Lord, five and twenty 
men of Judah, who turned their backs on the sanctu- 
ary, and had their faces towards the east, worshipping 
the rising sun. 

The sun furnishes the greater part of the noble 
similitudes used by the sacred authors, who, to repre- 
sent great public calamity, speak of the sun as being 
obscured, &c. (See Isa. xiii. 10 ; xxiv. 23 ; Jer. xv. 9 ; 
Ezek. xxxii. 7 ; Joel ii. 31 ; Amos viii. 9.) To express 
a long continuance of any thing glorious and illustri- 
ous, it is said, it shall continue as long as the sun. 
So the reign of the Messiah, (Ps. lxxii. 17; Ixxxix. 
36.) under whose happy dominion the light of the 
moon shall equal that of the sun, and that of the 
sun be seven times more than ordinary, Isa. xxx. 
26. Christ is called the Sun of righteousness, 
Mai. iv. 2. 

The compass of the whole earth is described by the 
expression, from the rising of the sun to the going 
down of the same ; or rather from east to west, Ps. 1. 
1 ; cvii. 3 ; cxiii. 3, &c. 

SUPERSTITION, and SUPERSTITIOUS, are 
words which occur only in the New Testament. 
Festus, governor of Judea, informed Agrippa, that 
Paul had disputed with the other Jews concerning 
matters of their own superstition, (Acts xxv. 19.) in 
which he spoke like a true pagan, equally ignorant of 
the Christian religion, and of the Jewish. Paul, writ- 
ing to the Colossians, (chap. ii. 23.) recommends to 
them, not to regard false teachers, who would per- 
suade them to a compliance with human wisdom, in 
an affected humility and superstition ; and speaking 
to the Athenians, he says, "I perceive that in all 
things ye are too superstitious," &c. Acts xvii. 22. 

The Greeks call superstition JuaiSaiuorla, demon- 
terror. A superstitious man looks on God as a severe 
and rigid master, and obeys with fear and trembling. 
Varro says, the pious man honors and loves God ; the 
superstitious man dreads him,- even to terror ; and 
Maximus Tyrius observes, that a man truly pious looks 
on God as a friend full of goodness, whereas the 
superstitious serves him with base and mean flattery. 
Such are Calmet's remarks ^n this subject. Mr. 
Taylor observes, that the Greek word JeiaiSai^oi'ia 
is probably of less offensive import than has been 
stated. Festus, a governor newly arrived in his 



province, would hardly have paid so ill a compliment 
to Agrippa, a king of the Jewish religion, as to call 
his religion superstitious ; and when Paul at Athens 
tells the Areopagites that they are too superstitious, 
he uses a word no doubt susceptible of a good as 
well as of a bad sense ; as it would have been highly 
indecorous, nor less unnecessary, to calumniate the 
religious disposition of his judges, whom he was ad- 
dressing. If we take the word in the sense of worship, 
or reverence, Festus may say, " Paul and the Jews 
differ in respect of certain objects of spiritual rever- 
ence," — and Paul may say, " I perceive ye are greatly 
attached to objects of spiritual reverence," not only 
without offence, but as a very graceful introduction 
to a discourse, which proposed to describe the only 
proper object of such reverence. 

SUPHA. Suph is certainly the Red sea ; but the 
notion of Suph being an appellation belonging to the 
Red sea only, has misled our translators into gross 
errors of geography. We read in Numb. xxi. 14, of 
the "book of the wars of the Lord, what he did in the 
Red sea — Supha — and in the brooks of Anion." But 
the brooks of Anion were not near the Red sea, nor 
was any transaction there comparable to the passage 
of the Red sea by the Israelites. It is more probable 
that this Supha is the same as Suph, (Deut. i. 1.) 
where Moses repeated his laws ; which was eleven 
days' journey from Horeb, and between Paran, To- 
phel, &c. on this side Jordan ; certainly, to say the 
least, in the neighborhood of that river, and by the 
banks of it, very distant from the Red sea. 

SUSANNA, a holy woman who attended on our 
Saviour, and with others ministered tb his wants, 
Luke viii. 2, 3. 

SWALLOW. There is considerable diversity of 
opinion among critics on the Hebrew designation of 
this well known bird. Our translators have taken 
both n-n and -njj> to signify the swallow, in different 
passages of Scripture ; but in each they seem to have 
been wrong. The former of the words is better un- 
derstood by Bochart, and other able critics, to be ap- 
plied to a species of clove ; and there is little doubt that 
the latter word imports the crane, which is so called 
from its remarkable cry. The real designation of the 
swallow appears to be d^d, sis, either from its sprighi- 
liness or swift motion, or, as Bochart thinks, from its 
note. It is worthy of remark, that the goddess Isis is 
said to have been changed into this bird ; which cir- 
cumstance, from the resemblance of the name, fur- 
nishes an additional confirmation of the interpretation 
here adopted. The only mention of the swallow in 
Scripture is in Isa. xxxviii. 14, and Jer. viii. 7. In the 
former passage, Hezekiah, referring to the severity of 
his recent affliction, says, " Like a swallow, or a crane 
y so did I chatter." The note of the swallow being 
quick and mournful, the allusion of the king has been 
supposed to be to his prayers, which were so inter- 
rupted by groans, as to be like the quick twitterings 
of the swallow. This seerns to have occasioned the 
pious monarch to regard with suspicion the sincerity 
and fervor of his supplications, thus delivered, but in 
broken accents ; and in bitterness of spirit he casts 
himself upon the unbounded mercy of his God, ex- 
claiming, " O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me." 
The passage in Jeremiah refers to the well known 
migration of this bird, a circumstance from which 
the faithful prophet takes occasion to reprove the in- 
gratitude and infidelity of the favored tribes : " The 
turtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe the 
time of their coming ; but my people know not the 
judgment of the Lord." 



S WI 



[ 869 ] 



SWINE 



SWAN. This bird is only mentioned in Lev. xi. 
18, and Deut. xiv. 16, and it is extremely doubtful 
whether it be really denoted by the Hebrew noi?jn. 
The LXX render Porphynon, or purple hen, which is 
a water bird,' not unlike in form to those which pre- 
cede it in the text. Geddes observes, that " the root 
signifies to breathe out, to respire ; and adds, if ety- 
mology were our guide, I would say it points to a 
well known quality in the swan, that of being able to 
respire a long time with its bill and neck under water, 
and even plunged in the mud." Some think the con- 
jecture of Michaelis not improbable, " that it is the 
goose, which every one knows is remarkable for its 
manner of breathing out, or hissing, when provoked." 
" What makes me conjecture this," says Michaelis, "is 
that the same Chaldee interpreters, who in Leviticus 
render Obija, do not employ this" word in Deuteron- 
omy, but substitute ' the white Kak,' which, according 
to Buxtorf, denotes the goose." Perhaps Egypt has 
birds of the wild goose kind, one of which is here 
alluded to. Norden (vol. ii. p. 36.) mentions a " goose 
of the Nile, whose plumage was extremely beautiful. 
It was of an exquisite aromatic taste, smelled of gin- 
ger, and had a great deal of flavor." Can a bird of 
this kind be the Hebrew Tinshemeth? 

SWEARING, see Oath. 

SWINE, a well known animal, forbidden as food 
to the Hebrews, (Lev. xi. 7 ; Deut. xiv. 8.) who held 
its flesh in such detestation, that they would not so 
much as pronounce its name. 

Among the gross abominations and idolatrous 
practices of which the Israelites were guilty in the 
time of Isaiah, however, the eating of swine's flesh is 
mentioned, ch. lxv. 4 : " A people that provoketh me 
to anger continually to my face ; that sacrificeth in 
gardens, and burnetii incense upon altars of brick ; 
which remain among the graves, and lodge in the 
monuments ; which eat swine's flesh ; and broth of 
abominable things is in their vessels," &c. Their 
punishment is denounced in the next chapter : " They 
that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the 
gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's 
flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be 
consumed together, saith the Lord," ch. lxvi. 17. 

It was an established custom, among the Greeks 
and Romans, to offer a hog in sacrifice to Ceres at 
the beginning of harvest, and another to Bacchus, be- 
fore the beginning of vintage ; because that animal is 
equally hostile to the growing coin and the loaded 
vineyard. To this practice there is probably an allu- 
sion in Isa. lxvi. 3 : "He that killeth an ox is as if 
he slew a man ; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he 
cut off" a dog's neck ; he that ofFereth an oblation, as 
if he offered swine's blood ; he that burnetii incense, 
a3 if he blessed an idol ; yea, they have chosen their 
own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abom- 
ination." 

There is an injunction in Matt. vii. 6, which de- 
mands notice here : " Give not that which is holy unto 
the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest 
they trample them under their feet, and turn again 
and rend you." This passage, as it stands, is some- 
wiriat obscure, since it refers both the malignant acts 
specified to the last-mentioned animal. Dr. A. Clarke, 
however, has restored it to its true meaning, by trans- 
posing the lines ; and bishop Jebb, availing himself 
of the hint, has shown it to be one of those introvert- 
ed parallelisms which so frequently present themselves 
in the sacred writings, and which he has generally so 
beautifully illustrated. Placed in this form, it will 
stand as follows : — 



Give not that which is holy to the dogs; 

Neither cast your pearls before the swine ; 

Lest they trample them under their feet, 
And turn about and rend you. 

Here the first line is related to the fourth, and the 
second to the third. The sense of the passage becomet 
perfectly clear, on thus adjusting the parallelism :— 

Give not that which is holy to the dogs ; 
Lest they turn about and reiid you : 
Neither cast your pearls before the swine ; 
Lest they trample them under their feet. 

The more dangerous act of imprudence, with its 
fatal result, is placed first and last, so as to make, 
and to leave, the deepest practical impression. To 
cast pearls before swine, is to place the pure and 
elevated morality of the gospel before sensual and 
besotted wretches, wh< have 

. . . Nor ear, nor soul, to comprehend 
The sublime notion, and high mystery ; 

but will assuredly trample them in the mire. To 
give that which is holy (the sacrifice, as some translate 
it) to the dogs, is to produce the deep truths of Chris- 
tianity before the malignant and profane, who will not 
fail to add injury to neglect; who will not only hate 
the doctrine, but persecute the teacher. In either 
case, an indiscreet and over-profluent zeal may do 
serious mischief to the cause of goodness ; but in the 
latter case, the injury will fall with heightened sever- 
ity, both on religion, and on religious injudicious 
friends. The warning, therefore, against the dogs, is 
emphatically placed at the commencement and the 
close. (Jebb's Sacred Literature, p. 338, &c.) This 
certainly places the allusion in a striking and beauti- 
ful light, but we doubt whether the bishop has caught 
the true sense of the passage. In this part of his dis- 
course our Lord is warning his hearers not to be un- 
merciful and severe in censuring others, in marking 
and aggravating their faults ; not to correct their vices 
or mistakes, while they are chargeable themselves 
with much more heinous crimes. They were not to 
suffer sin in their brother, but. were bound to reprove 
his faults, and endeavor his reformation ; their coun- 
sels and reproofs, however, were to be managed with 
wisdom and prudence, and were not to be unseason- 
ably lavished on hardened and profligate, sinners, 
who, instead of receiving them in a becoming man- 
ner, would be exasperated by them, and turn with fury 
upon their indiscreet advisers. "Give not wisdom," 
says the Hebrew adage, " to him who knows not its 
value, for it is more precious than pearls, and he who 
seeks it not is worse than a swine that defiles and 
rolls himself in the mud ; so he who knows not the 
value of wisdom, profanes its glory." 

The hog delights more in the fetid mire than in 
the clear and running stream. The mud is the cho- 
sen place of his repose, and to wallow in it seems to 
constitute one of his greatest pleasures. To wash 
him is vain; for he is no sooner at liberty, than he 
hastens to the puddle, and besmears himself anew. 
Such is the temper of corrupt and wicked men, who 
had escaped the pollutions of the world, through the 
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
but are again entangled and overcome. It is hap- 
pened unto them according to the true proverb, 
"The dog is turned to his vomit again ; and the sow 
that was washed to her wallowing in the mire," 2 



SYC 



[ 870 ] 



SYCAMORE 



Pet. ii. 22. Allured by the promises of the Gospel, 
or alarmed by the terrors of the law, they abandoned 
some of their evil courses, and performed many 
laudable actions ; but their nature and inclinations 
remaining unrenewed by divine grace, they quickly 
shook off the feeble restraints of external reforma- 
tion, and returned with greater eagerness than ever 
to their former courses. (Paxton's Illustrations, vol. 
i p. 500, &c.) 

The beautiful and affecting parable of the prodigal 
son, designed to represent the degraded and destitute 
condition of the Gentile nations, before they were 
called to a participation in the blessings of the cove- 
nant, by the incarnation and ministry of the Saviour, 
shows that the swine-herd was considered to be an 
employment of the most despicable character. It 
was the last resource of that depraved and unhappy 
being who had squandered away his patrimony in 
riotous living ; and may, perhaps, help to account 
for the otherwise unnatural conduct of his brother, 
while it sets the strong and unconquerable paternal 
feelings of his affectionate father in a more con- 
vincing and interesting light. 

SWORD, in the style of the Hebrews, is often 
used for war. The Lord shall send the sword into 
the land ; that is, war. The " mouth of the sword " 
is the edge of the sword. "A man that draws the 
sword " is a soldier by profession. The sword of 
the mouth (Job v. 15.) is pernicious discourse, accu- 
sations, slander, calumny. " Their tongue is a two- 
edged sword ;" (Ps. lvii. 4.) i. e. the tongue of the 
wicked is extremely dangerous. " If he turn not, he 
will whet bis sword ; " i. e. he will prepare to send 
war. To lift the sword upon stones, (Exod. xx. 25.) 
is to cut them with a chisel, or other sharp iron in- 
strument. "By thy sword shalt thou live ;" (Gen. 
xxvii. 40.) i. e. thou shalt support thyself by war and 
rapine. " They that take the sword shall perish with 
the sword ;" (Matt. xxvi. 52.) they that employ the 
sword by their own authority, and would do them- 
selves justice, deserve to be put to death by the sword 
of authority. Or this is a kind of proverb : those 
who take the sword to smite another, generally suffer 
by it themselves. "The word of God is quick and 
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword," 
(Heb. iv. 12.) it penetrates even to the bottom of the 
soul, into the heart and mind. Paul exhorts the 
Ephesians (vi. 17.) to arm themselves with the word 
of God, as with a spiritual sword ; to defend them- 
selves against spiritual enemies. 

SYCAMORE. This curious tree, which seems 
to partake of the nature of two distinct species, the 
mulberry and the fig, the former in its leaf, and the 
latter in its fruit, is called in Hebrew ainpv and niDptS', 
(occurring only in the plural form,) the derivation of 
which is uncertain ; but in the Greek its name, 
2vx6uwQog, is plainly descriptive of its character, 
being compounded of avxo; t a Jig tree, and u^oog, a 
mulberry tree. The sycamore is thus described by 
Norden : " I shall remark, that they have in Egypt 
divers sorts of figs ; but if there is any difference be- 
tween them, a particular kind differs still more. I 
mean that which the sycamore bears, that they name 
in Arabic giomez. It was upon a tree of this sort 
that Zaccheus got up, to see our Saviour pass through 
Jericho. This sycamore is of the height of a beech, 
and bears its fruit in a manner quite different from 
other trees. It has them on the trunk itself, which 
shoots out little sprigs, in form of a grape-stalk, at the 
end of which grows the fruit, close to one another, 
most like bunches of grapes. The tree is always 



green, and bears fruit several times in the year, with- 
out observing any certain seasons, for I have seen 
some sycamores which had fruit two months after 
others. The fruit has the figure and smell of real 
figs ; but is inferior to them in the taste, having a 
disgustful sweetness. Its color is a yellow, inclining 
to an ochre, shadowed by a flesh color ; in the inside 
it resembles the common fig, excepting that it has a 
blackish coloring, with yellow spots. This sort of 
tree is pretty common in Egypt. The people, for the 
greater part, live on its fruit." (Travels, vol. i. p. 79.; 

From 1 Kings x. 27, 1 Chron. xxvii. 28, and 2 
Chron. i. 15, it is evident that this tree was pretty 
common in Palestine, as well as in Egypt ; and from 
its being joined with the vines in Ps. lxxviii. 47, as 
well as from the circumstance of David's appointing 
a particular officer to superintend their plantations, it 
seems to have been as much valued in ancient as in 
modern times. From Isa. ix. 10, we find that the 
timber of the sycamore was used in the construction 
of buildings ; and, notwithstanding its porous and 
spongy appearance, it was, as we learn from Dr. 
Shaw, of extreme durability. Describing the cata- 
combs and mummies of Egypt, this intelligent writer 
states that he found the mummy chests, and the lit- 
tle square boxes, containing various figures, which 
are placed at the feet of each mummy, to be both 
made of sycamore wood, and thus preserved entire 
and uncorrupted for at least three thousand years. 

In Amos vii. 14, there is a reference, no doubt, to 
the manner in which these trees are cultivated, by 
scraping or making incisions in the fruit. So the 
LXX seem to have understood it, and so it would 
seem, from the united testimonies of natural histori- 
ans, that the original term imports. Pliny, Dioscor- 
ides, Theophrastus, Hasselquist, and other writers, 
state, that the fruit of the sycamore must be cut or 
scratched, either with the nail or iron, before it will 
ripen ; and it was in this employment, most probably, 
that the prophet was engaged before he was called to 
sustain the prophetic character. If the words were 
rendered " a sycamore tree dresser," instead of a 
" gatherer of sycamore fruit," it would include, as 
Mr. Harmer suggested, both the scarification and the 
gathering of the fruit. 

In the passage cited from Norden, that traveller 
adverted to the circumstance of Zaccheus climbing 
up into the sycamore for the purpose of witnessing 
our Lord pass through Jericho, Luke xix. 4 ; and 
Mr. Blomfield remarks, that this mode of viewing 
an object seems to have been not unfrequent, inso- 
much that it appears to have given rise to a proverb- 
ial expression, which he cites from Libanius. 

The sycamore strikes its large diverging roots deep 
into the soil; and on this account, says Paxton, our 
Lord alludes to it as the most difficult to be rooted 
up, and transferred to another situation : " If ye had 
faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto 
this sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, 
and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey 
you," Luke xvii. 5. The stronger and more diverging 
the root of a tree, the more difficult it must be to 
pluck it up, and insert it again so as to make it strike 
root and grow ; but far more difficult still to plant it 
in the sea, where the soil is so far below the surface, 
and where the restless billows are continually tossing 
it from one side to the other ; yet, says our Lord, a 
task no less difficult than this to be accomplished, 
can the man of genuine faith perform with a word, 
for with God nothing is impossible, nothing difficult, 
or laborious. In the parallel passage (Matt. xvii. 20.) 



S YN 



L 871 ] 



SYR 



the hyperbole is varied, a mountain being substituted 
for the sycamore tree. The passage is thus para- 
phrased by Rosenmiiller: "So long as you trust in 
God and me, and are not sufficient in self-reliance, 
you may accomplish the most arduous labors under- 
taken for the furthering my religion." 
SYCHAR, see Sichem. 

SYENE, a city on the southern frontiers of Egypt 
towards Ethiopia, between Thebes and the cataracts 
of the Nile, (Ezek. xxix. 10 ; xxx. 6.) and now called 
Assouan. Pliny says it stands in a peninsula on the 
eastern shore of the Nile ; that it is a mile in circum- 
ference, and has a Roman garrison. 

SYNAGOGUE, a word which primarily signifies 
an assembly ; but, like the word church, came at 
length to be applied to places in which any assem- 
blies, especially those for the worship of God, met, 
or were convened. From the silence of the Old 
Testament with reference to these places of worship, 
most commentators and writers on biblical antiqui- 
ties are of opinion that they were not in use till after 
the Babylonish captivity. Prior to that time, the 
Jews seem to have held their social meetings for 
religious worship either in the open air, or in the 
houses of the prophets. (See 2 Kings iv. 23.) Syna- 
gogues could only be erected in those places where 
ten men of age, learning, piety, and easy circum- 
stances could be found to attend to the service which 
was enjoined in them. Large towns had several 
synagogues, and soon after the captivity, their utility 
became so obvious, that they were scattered over the 
land, and became the parish churches of the Jewish 
nation. Their number appears to have been very 
considerable, and when the erection of a synagogue 
was considered as a mark of piety, (Luke vii. 5.) or 
passport to heaven, we need not be surprised to hear 
that they were multiplied beyond all necessity, so 
that in Jerusalem alone there were not fewer than 
460 or 480. They were generally built on the rrost 
elevated ground, and consisted of two parts. The 
one on the most westerly part of the building con- 
tained the ark, or chest, in which the book of the 
law and the sections of the prophets were deposited, 
and was called the temple by way of eminence. The 
other, in which the congregation assembled, was 
termed the body of the church. The people sat 
with their faces towards the temple, and the elders 
in the contrary direction, and opposite to the people ; 
the space between them being occupied by the pul- 
pit, or reading desk. The seats of the elders were 
considered as more holy than the others, and are 
spoken of as "the chief seats in the synagogues," 
Matt, xxiii. 6. 

The stated office-bearers in every synagogue were 
ten, though in rank they were but six. Their names 
and duties are given by Lightfoot, to whom the 
reader is referred. But we must notice the Archisy- 
nagogos, or ruler of the synagogue ; who regulated 
all its concerns, and granted permission to preach. 
Of these there were three in each synagogue. Dr. 
Lightfoot believes them to have possessed a civil 
power, and to have constituted the lowest civil tribu- 
nal, commonly known as "the council of three ; " 
whose office it was to decide the differences that 
arose between any members of the synagogue, and to 
judge of money matters thefts, losses, &c. To these 
officers there is probably an allusion in ] Cor. vi. 5. 
The second office-bearer was "the angel of the 
church," or minister of the congregation, who prayed 
and preached. In allusion to these the pastors of 
tb/? Asiatic churches are called angels, Rev. ii. iii. 



The service of the synagogue was as follows : — 
The people being seated, the minister, or angel of 
the church, ascended the pulpit and offered up the 
public prayers ; the people rising from their seats, 
and standing in a posture of deep devotion, Matt. vi. 
5; Mark xi. 25; Luke xviii. 11, 13. The prayers 
were nineteen in number, and were closed by read- 
ing the execration. The next thing was the repeti- 
tion of their phylacteries ; after which came the 
reading of the law and the prophets. The former 
was divided into 54 sections, with which were united 
corresponding portions from the prophets ; (see Acts 
xv. 21 ; xiii. 27.) and these were read through once 
in the course of the year. After the return from the 
captivity an interpreter was employed in reading the 
law and the prophets, (see Neh. viii. 2 — 10.) who in- 
terpreted them into the Syro-Chaldaic dialect, which 
was then spoken by the people. The last part of 
the service was the expounding of the Scriptures, 
and preaching from them to the people. This was 
done either by one of the officers, or by some dis- 
tinguished person who happened to be present. The 
reader will recollect one memorable occasion, on 
which our Saviour availed himself of the opportunity 
thus afforded to address his countrymen, (Luke iv. 
20.) and there are several other instances recorded 
of himself and his disciples teaching in the syna- 
gogues. (See Matt. xiii. 54 ; Mark vi. 2 ; John xviii. 
20 ; Acts xiii. 5, 15, 44 ; xiv. 1 ; xvii. 2—4, 10—12, 
17 ; xviii. 4, 25 ; xix. 8.) The whole service was 
concluded with a short prayer, or benediction. 

The Jewish synagogues were not only used for the 
purposes of divine worship, but also for courts of 
judicature, in such matters as fell under the cogni- 
zance of the council of three, of which we have already 
spoken. On such occasions the sentence given 
against the offender was sometimes carried into effect 
in the place where the council was assembled. 
Hence we read of persons being beaten in the syna- 
gogue, and scourged in the synagogue, Matt. x. 17 ; 
Mark xiii. 9. 

SYNTYCHE, (Phil iv. 2.) a woman illustrious 
for virtue and good works in the church at Philippi 

SYRACUSE, the capital of Sicily, on the eastern 
coast, (Acts xxviii. 12.) where Paul spent three days, 
on his voyage to Rome. 

SYRIA, called Aram, from the patriarch who 
peopled its chief provinces, comprehended the coun- 
try lying between the Euphrates east, the Mediter- 
ranean west, Cilieia north, and Phenicia, Judea and 
Arabia Deserta south. Syria of the two rivers is 
Mesopotamia of Syria, which see. 

Syria of Damascus extended eastward along mount 
Libanus ; but its limits varied according to the power 
of the princes that reigned at Damascus. Syria of 
Zobah, or Sobal, was probably Coele-Syria, or hollow 
Syria. Syria of Maacah, or Beth-maachah, or Ma- 
chati, was also towards Libanus, (2 Sam. x. 6,8; 
2 Kings xv. 29.) extending beyond Jordan, and was 
given to Manasseh, Deut. iii. 14 ; Josh. xiii. 13. (Sea 
Abel II.) Syria of Rohob, or Rehob, was thai 
part of Syria of which Rehob was the capital, neai 
the northern frontier of the Land of Promise, (Numb 
xiii. 21.) on the pass that leads to Emath, orHamath 
It was given to Asher, and lay contiguous to Aphek 
in Libanus, Josh. xix. 28, 30 ; xxi. 31. Laish, situ 
ate at the fountains of Jordan, was in this country 
Judg. i. 31. Syria of Tob, or of Ish-tob, or of th« 
land of Tob, or of the Tubieni, as they are called i» 
the Maccabees, was in the neighborhood of Libanus 
the northern extremity of Palestine, Judg. xi. B, 5 



SYRIA 



[ 872 ] 



SYiv 



1 Mac. v. 13 ; 2 Mac. xii. 17. Syria of Emath, or 
Hamath, near the province of which Hamath, on the 
Orontes, was the capital. 

Syria, however, without any other appellation, de- 
notes the kingdom of Syria, of which Antioch be- 
came the capital, after the reign of the Seleucida?. 
This country was originally governed by its own 
kings, each in his own city and territories. David 
subdued them about ante A. D. 1044, (2 Sam. viii. 
12 ; x. 6, 8.) but after the reign of Solomon they 
shook off the yoke, and were not reduced again, till 
the time of Jeroboam II. A. M. 3179. Rezin, king 
of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, having declared 
war against Ahab, king ol* Judah, he found himself 
under the necessity of soliciting aid from Tiglath- 
pileser, king of Assyria, who put Rezin to death, took 
Damascus, and transported the Syrians beyond the 
Euphrates. Syria afterwards came under the Chal- 
deans, then under the Persians, and was ultimately 
reduced by Alexander the Great. After his death 
(A. M. 3681) the empire was divided between his 
principal officers, Seleucus Nicanor, head of the 
family of kings called Seleucidse, taking the diadem, 
and name of king of Syria. He reigned forty-two 
years, and was succeeded by Antiochus Soter ; Anti- 
ochus Theos ; Seleucus Callinicus; Seleucus Ke- 
raunus ; Antiochus Magnus; Seleucus Philopator : 
Antiochus Epiphanes ; Antiochus Eupator ; Deme- 



trius Soter; Demetrius Nicator; Antiochus Theos; 
Tryphon ; Antiochus Soter, or Sidetes ; 3878, Seleu- 
cus V. son of Demetrius Nicanor ; Antiochus Gry- 
phus, Or Philometer, and Antiochus Cyzicenus, his 
brother, (3892,) divided the kingdom ; Seleucus VI. 
son of Gryphus ; and Antiochus Eusebes. 

In the year 3912, Syria was divided between 
Philip and Demetrius Eucserus. The Syrians find- 
ing their country almost ruined by the civil wars 
which ensued, they called in Tigranes, king of Ar- 
menia, A. M. 3921. The two sons of Antiochus 
Eusebes, however, still held possession of a part of 
Syria, till Pompey reduced it into a Roman prov- 
ince, A. M. 3939, after it had subsisted 257 years. 
(See further under the respective articles relative to 
the persons mentioned in this historical sketch.) 

SYRIAC VERSION, see Versions. 

SYRO-PIICENICIA is Phenicia properly so 
called, but which, having by conquee'. been united to 
the kingdom of Syria, added its old name, Phenicia, 
to that of Syria. The Canaanitish woman is called 
a Syro-phenician, (Mark vii. 26.) because she was of 
Phenicia, then considered as part of Syria. Mat- 
thew, who is by some supposed to have written in 
Hebrew or Syriac, calls her a Canaanitish woman, 
(Matt. xv. 22.) because that country was really 
peopled by Canaanites, Sidon being the eldest son 
of Canaan, Gen. x. 15. See Phenicia. 



T 



TAB TABERNACLE 



TAANACH is always mentioned in connection 
with Megiddo, except in Josh. xxi. 25. The infer- 
ence is, that they lay near each other. (See Me- 
giddo, and see a full description of the topography of 
the region, in the Bibl. Repository, vol. i. p. 598, 
603.) *R. 

TABERAH, or Tabeera, burning, an encamp- 
ment of Israel in the desert, (Numb. xi. 3 ; Deut. ix. 
22 ) and so called, because here a fire from the tab- 
ernacle of the Lord burned a great part of the camp. 

TABERNACLE. We have an account of three 
public tabernacles among the Jews, previous to the 
building of Solomon's temple. The first, which 
Moses erected for himself, is called " the tabernacle 
of the congregation." In this he gave audience, 
heard causes, and inquired of God. Perhaps the 
public offices of religious worship were also per- 
formed in it for some time, and hence its designation. 
The second tabernacle was that which Moses built 
for God, by his express command, partly to be the 
place of his residence asking of Israel, (Exod. xl. 34, 
35.) and partly to be the medium of that solemn wor- 
ship which the people were to render to him, ver. 17, 
26 — 29. The third public tabernacle was that which 
David erected in his own city, for the reception of 
the ark, when he received it from the house of 
Obed-edom, 2 Sam. vi. 17 ; 1 Chron. xvi. 1. But 
it is the second of these, called the tabernacle, by way 
of distinction, that we have more particularly to 
notice. 

Moses having been instructed by God to rear the 
tabernacle, according to the pattern which had been 
shown to him in the mount, called the people to- 
gether and informed them of his proceedings, for the 



purpose of affording them an opportunity of con- 
tributing towards so noble and honorable a work, 
Exod. xxv. 2; xxxv. 5. And so liberally did the 
people bring their offerings, that he was obliged to 
restrain them in so doing, ver. 21 — xxxvi. 6. The 
structure which we are now about to describe, was 
built with extraordinary magnificence, and at a pro- 
digious expense, that it might be in some measure 
suitable to the dignity of the Great King, for whose 
palace it was designed, and to the value of those 
spiritual and eternal blessings, of which it was also 
designed as a type or emblem. 

The value of the gold and silver, only, used for the 
work, and of which we have an account in Exod. 
xxxviii. 24, 25, amounted, according to bishop 
Cumberland's reduction of the Jewish talent and 
shekel to English coin, to upwards of 182,568?. or 
more than 810,600 dollars. If we add to this the 
vast quantity of brass or copper, that was also used ; 
the shittim wood, of which the boards of the taberna- 
cle, as well as the pillars which surrounded the court 
and sacred utensils, were made ; as also the rich 
embroidered curtains and canopies that covered the 
tabernacle, divided the parts of it, and surrounded 
the court ; — and if we further add, the jewels that 
were set in the high-priest's ephod and breastplate, 
which are to be considered as part of the furniture 
of the tabernacle, the value of the whole materials, 
exclusive of workmanship, must amount to an im- 
mense sum. This sum was raised, partly by volun- 
tary contributions and presents, and partly by a poll 
tax of half a shekel a head for every male Israelite 
above twenty years old, (chap. xxx. 11 — 16.) which 
amounted to a hundred talents and 1775 shekels, 



TABERNACLE 



[ 873 j 



TABERNACLE 



toat is, 35,359L 7 s. 6d. sterling, or nearly 157,000 
dollars, chap, xxxviii. 25. 

The learued Spencer imagined that Moses bor- 
rowed his design of this tabernacle from Egypt. But 
this notion, as Jennings has shown, is directly at 
variance with matter of fact; the structure of Moses 
differing from those used in the heathen worship 
most essentially, both in situation and form, and also 
with its typical design and use, as pointed out by the 
apostle in the ninth chapter of the Hebrews. 

The tabernacle was of an oblong rectangular form, 
thirty cubits long, ten broad, and ten in height; 
(Exod. xxvi. 18—29 ; xxxvi. 23—34.) which, accord- 
ing to bishop Cumberland, was fifty-five feet long, 
eighteen broad, and eighteen high. The two sides, 
and the western end, were formed of boards of shit- 
tim wood, overlaid with thin plates of gold, and 
fixed in solid sockets, or vases of silver. Above, 
they were secured by bars of the same wood, over- 
laid with gold, passing through rings of gold, which 
were fixed to the boards. On the east end, which 
was the entrance, there were no boards, but only five 
pillars of shittim wood, whose chapiters and fillets 
were overlaid with gold, and their hooks of gold, 
standing on five sockets of brass. The tabernacle, 
thus erected, was covered with four different kinds 
of curtains. The first and inner curtain was com- 
posed of fine linen, magnificently embroidered with 
figures of cherubim, in shades of blue, purple and 
scarlet ; this formed the beautiful ceiling. The next 
covering was made of goats' hair; the third of rams' 
skins, died red; and the fourth and outward cover- 
ing was made of badgers' skins, as our translators 
have it, but which is not quite certain, as it is gener- 
ally thought that the original intends only skins of 
some description, dyed of a particular color. We 
have already said, that the east end of the tabernacle 
had no boards, but only five pillars of shittim wood ; 
it was, therefore, enclosed with a richly embroidered 
curtain, suspended from these pillars, Exod. xxvii. 16. 

Such was the external appearance of the sacred 
tent, which was divided into two apartments, by 
means of four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with 
gold, like the pillars before described, two cubits and 
a half distant from each other ; only they stood on 
sockets of silver, instead of sockets of brass; (Exod. 
xxvi. 32 ; xxxvi. 36.) and on these pillars was hung 
a veil, formed of the same materials as the one 
placed at the east end, Exod. xxvi. 31 — 33 ; xxxvi. 35. 
We are not informed in what proportions the interior 
of the tabernacle was thus divided ; but it is generally 
conceived that it was divided in the same proportion 
as the temple afterwards built according to its model ; 
that is, two thirds of the whole length being allotted 
to the first room, or the holy place, and one third to 
the second, or most holy place. Thus the former 
would be twenty cubits long, ten wide, and ten high, 
and the latter ten cubits every way. It is observa- 
ble, that neither the holy nor most holy places had 
any window. Hence the need of the candlestick in 
the one, for the service that was performed therein ; 
the darkness of the other would create reverence, 
and might, perhaps, have suggested the similar con- 
trivance of the Adyta in the heathen temples. 

The tabernacle thus described stood in an open 
space, of an oblong form, one hundred cubits in 
length, and fifty in breadth, situated due east and 
west, Exod. xxvii. 18. This court was surrounded 
with pillars of brass, filleted with silver, and placed 
at the distance of five cubits from each other. Their 
sockets were of brass and were fastened t » the earth 
110 



with pins of the same metal, Exod. xxxviii. 10, 17 
20. Their height is not stated, but it was probably 
five cubits, that being the length of the curtains that 
were suspended on them, Exod. xxxviii. 18. These 
curtains,, which formed an enclosure round the court, 
were of fine twined white linen yarn, (Exod. xxvii. 
9 ; xxxviii. 9, 16.) except that at the entrance on the 
east end, which was of blue, and purple, and scarlet,, 
and fine white twined linen, with cords to draw it 
either up, or aside, when the priests entered the 
court, Exod. xxxviii. 18 ; xxxix. 40. Within this area 
stood the altar of burnt-offerings, and the laver and its 
foot. The former was placed in a line between the 
door of the court and the door of the tabernacle, but 
nearer the former ; (Exod. xl. 6, 29.) the latter stood 
between the altar of burnt-offering and the door of 
the tabernacle, Exod. xxxviii. 8. 

But although the tabernacle was surrounded by 
the court, there is no reason to think that it stood in 
the centre of it ; for there was no occasion for so 
large an area at the west end as at the east, where 
the altar and other utensils of the sacred service were 
placed. It is more probable that the area at this end 
was fifty cubits square ; and indeed a less space than 
that could hardly suffice for the work that was to be 
done there, and for the persons who were immedi- 
ately to attend the service. We now proceed to no- 
tice the furniture which the tabernacle contained. 

In the holy place were three objects worthy of no- 
tice, viz. the altar of incense, the table for the shew- 
bread, and the candlestick for the lights, each of 
which have been described in their respective places. 
The altar of incense was placed in the middle of the 
sanctuary, before the veil, (Exod. xxx. 6 — 10 ; xL 
26, 27.) and on it the incense was burnt morning and 
evening, Exod. xxx. 7, 8,34 — 38. On the north side of 
the altar of incense, that is, on the right hand of the 
priest as he entered, stood the table for the shew- 
bread, (Exod. xxvi. 35 ; xl. 22, 23.) and on the south 
side of the holy place, the golden candlestick, Exod. 
xxv. 31 — 39. In the most holy place were the ark, the 
mercy-seat, and the cherubim, for a description of 
which their articles may be consulted. 

The remarkable and costly structure thus de- 
scribed was erecteu in the wilderness of Sinai, on the 
first day of the first month of the second year, after 
the Israelites left Egypt ; (Exod. xl. 17.) and when 
erected was anointed, together with its furniture, with 
holy oil, (ver. 9 — 11.) and sanctified by blood, Exod. 
xxiv. 6 — 8; Heb. ix. 21. The altar of burnt-offering, 
especially, was sanctified by sacrifices during seven 
days, (Exod. xxix. 37 ) while rich donations were 
given by the princes of the tribes, for the service of 
the sanctuary, Numb. vii. 

We should not omit to observe, that the tabernacle 
was so constructed as to be taken to pieces and put 
together again, as occasion required. This was in- 
dispensable ; it being designed to accompany the 
Israelites during their travels in the wilderness. As 
often as they removed, the tabernacle was taken to 
pieces, and borne in regular order by the Levites, 
Numb. iv. Wherever they encamped it was pitched 
in the midst of their tents, which were set up in a 
quadrangular form, under their respective standards, 
at a distance from the tabernacle of 2000 cubits ; 
while Moses and Aaron, with the priests and Levites 
occupied a place between them. 

"Tabernacle" is sometimes put for heaven, for the 
dwelling-place of the blessed, Ps. xv. 1 ; lxi. 4. " I 
will abide in thy tabernacle forever." Ps. lxxxiv. 1, 
" How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! "■ 



TABERNACLE 



TAB 



Paul says to the Hebrews, (chap. viii. 2.) that "Jesus 
Christ was a minister of the sanctuary and of the 
true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not 
man ;" and that, "being come a high-priest of good 
things to come, by a greater and more perfect taber- 
nacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this 
building," &c. ch. ix. 11. (See also Rev. xiii. 6 ; xxi. 
3.) The tabernacle of David that God was to raise 
(Amos ix. 11 ; Acts xv. 16.) is the church of Christ, 
the offspring of David, and heir of the promises made 
to that patriarch. 

Tabernacles, Feast of ; called 2xi]vonnyia, that 
is, the feast in which they set up tents or tabernacles, 
John vii. 2. In Hebrew it is called the feast of tents, 
(Lev. xxiii. 42 — 44.) because it was kept under green 
tents, or arbors, in memory of the dwelling in tents 
by the Israelites during their passage through the 
wilderness. It was one of their three great solemni- 
ties, in which all the males were obliged to appear 
before the Lord. It was celebrated after harvest, on 
the fifteenth of Tizri, the first month of the civil 
year, and was designed to return thanks to God for 
the fruits of the earth, then gathered in, Exod. xxiii. 
16. The feast continued eight days, during which 
no labor was permitted, and certain sacrifices were 
offered. On the first day they cut down branches 
of the handsomest trees, with their fruit, which they 
carried in ceremony to the synagogue, where they 
performed what they called Lulab. Holding in their 
right hand a branch of a palm-tree, three branches of 
myrtle, and two of willow, tied together, and having 
in their left hand a citron with its fruit, they brought 
them together, waving them towards the four quar- 
ters of the world, and singing certain songs. These 
branches were also called Hosanna, because on that 
occasion they cried Hosanna ! not unlike what was 
done at our Saviour's entry into Jerusalem, Matt, 
xxi. 8, 9. On the eighth day they performed this 
ceremony more frequently, and with greater solem- 
nity than on the other days of the feast ; whence 
they called this day Hosanna Rabbah, or the great 
Hosanna. On this occasion Psalm cxviii. " O 
give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good — Let Israel 
now say," &c. seems to have been sung. The 
psalmist makes a plain allusion to it in ver. 25, &c. 
"Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord : O Lord, I be- 
seech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that 
cometh in the name of the Lord," &c. The Hebrew 
says, " Hosanna Jehovah," &c. and these words the 
Jews sing at this day, when they make a procession 
about their desk, at the Feast of Tabernacles. They 
are the same as were sung at our Saviour's triumphal 
entry into Jerusalem. 

On the first day of the feast, besides the ordinary 
sacrifices, they offered as a burnt offering thirteen 
calves, two rams and fourteen lambs, with offerings 
of flour and libations of wine ; and also a goat for a 
sin-offering, Numb. xxix. 12. On the second day 
they offered twelve calves, two rams and fourteen 
lambs, for a burnt- offering, with their offerings of 
flour, oil and wine; as also a goat for a sin-offeriug; 
and this beside the ordinary morning and evening 
sacrifices, which were never interrupted ; nor those 
offered by the Israelites from private devotion, or for 
expiation of sin. On the third, fourth, fifth, sixth 
and seventh days of the feast were offered the same 
sacrifices as on the second day, with this difference, 
that every day they diminished from the former by 
one calf; so that on the third day they offered eleven, 
on the fourth ten, on the fifth nine, on the sixth 
eight, and on the seventh but seven. But the eighth 



day, which was kept with the greatest 1 solemnity, 
they offered but one calf, one ram and seven lambs 
for a burnt-offering, and one goat for a sin-offering ; 
with the other accustomed offerings and libations. 
On this day, too, the Jews presented at the temple 
the first-fruits of their later crop, that is, of such 
things as were the latest in coming to maturity. 
They also drew water out of the fountain of Siloam, 
which was brought into the temple, and, being first 
mingled with wine, was poured out by the priests at 
the foot of the altar of burnt-offerings ; the people in 
the mean time singing those words of the prophet 
Isaiah, (chap. xii. 3.) "Therefore with joy shall ye 
draw water out of the wells of salvation." It is said 
this ceremony was instituted by Haggai and Zecha- 
riah, at the return from the captivity ; and it is 
thought that our Lord alluded to it, (John vii. 37, 38.) 
when he cried in the temple, on the last day of the 
Feast of Tabernacles, " If any thirst, let him come 
unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the 
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers 
of living water;" — meaning, accoi-ding to John's 
observation, the Holy Ghost, which should be given 
to those who believed on him. Some commentators 
think, that at this feast were rehearsed Psalms viii. 
lxxxi. and lxxxviii. entitled " for the presses ; " but 
Leo of Modena says, they rehearsed those Psalms 
whose titles are Hallelujah, or, " praise God," — cxi. 
cxii. cxiii. cxvi. cxvii. cxviii. 

TABLE of Shew-Bread, see Breah, p. 209, seq. 

TABITHA, a Christian widow,who lived at Joppa, 
and who, having fallen sick and died, was restored to 
life through the intercession of the apostle Peter, 
Acts ix. 36. The name Tabitha, Heb. iax, Syr. h-<^o, 
signifies gazelle ; as does also the corresponding 
Greek name, Dorcas. See Antelope, p. 70. 

TABOR, an isolated mountain which rises on the 
north-eastern side of the plain of Esdraelon, in Gal- 
ilee. Its shape is that of a truncated cone, and 
Burckhardt states its composition to be entirely cal- 
careous. Travellers vary in their estimate of its 
height, which is probably about 2500 to 3000 feet. 
Tabor is extremely fertile, and is covered by trees 
and odoriferous plants. On its summit is a plain 
about a mile in circumference, where are the remains 
of a citadel of some considerable exteDt, but for 
what purpose it was erected is not known. Mr. 
Buckingham, who ascended this mountain, describes 
the view from its summit as being the finest in the 
country : "We had on the north-west a view of the 
Mediterranean sea, whose .iiie surface filled up an 
open space left by a downward bend in the outline 
of the western hills ; to the west-north-west a small- 
er portion of its waters were seen ; and on the west 
again, the slender line of its distant horizon was just 
perceptible over the range of land near the sea coast. 
From the west to the south, the plain of Esdraelon 
extended over a vast space, being bounded on the 
south by the range of hills generally considered to 
be Hermon, whose dews are poetically celebrated, 
(Ps. cxxxiii. 3.) and having in the same direction, 
nearer the foot of Tabor, the springs of Ain-el-Sher- 
rar, which send a perceptible stream through its 
centre, and form the brook Kishon of antiquity, Ps. 
lxxxiii. 9. From the south-east to the east is the 
plain of Galilee, being almost a continuation of Es- 
draelon, and like it, appearing to be highly cultivated, 
being now ploughed for seed thoughout. Beneath 
the range of this supposed Hermon is seated Endor, 
famed for the witch who raised the ghost of Samuel ; 
(1 Sam. xxviii.) and Nain, equally celebrated, as the 



TAD 



[ 875 1 



T A L 



place at which Jesus raised the only son of a widow 
from death to life, and restored him to his afflicted 
parent, Luke vii. 11 — 15. The range which bounds 
the eastern view is thought to be the mountains of 
Gilboa, where Saul, setting an example of self-de- 
struction to his armor-bearer and his three sons, fell 
on his own sword, rather than fall into the hands of 
the uncircumcised Philistines, by whom he was de- 
feated, 1 Sam. xxxi. The sea of Tiberias, or the 
lake of Gennesaret, famed as the seat of many mira- 
cles, is seen on the north-east, filling the hollow of a 
deep valley, and contrasting its light blue waters 
with the dark brown shades of the barren hills by 
which it is hemmed around. Here, too, the steep is 
pointed out, down which the herd of swine, who 
were possessed by the legion of devils, ran headlong 
into the sea, Luke viii. 33. In the same direction, 
below, and on the plain of Galilee, and about an 
hour's distance from the foot of mount Tabor, there 
is a cluster of buildings, used as a bazaar for cattle ; 
somewhat further on is a rising ground, from which, 
it is said, that Christ delivered the long and excellent 
discourse, called the ' Sermon on the mount,' and the 
whole view in this quarter is bounded by the high 
range of Gebel-el-Telj, or the mountain of Snow. 
The city of Saphet, supposed to be the ancient Be- 
thuliah, a city said to be seen far and near, and 
thought to be alluded to in the apophthegm which 
says, 'a city set on a hill cannot be hid,' (Matt. v. 
14.) is also pointed out in this direction. To the 
north were the stony hills over which we had jour- 
neyed hither ; and these completed this truly grand 
and interesting panoramic view." (Travels, p. 107 
—109.) 

Deborah and Barak assembled their army on Ta- 
bor, from which they marched to give battle to Sisera ; 
(Judg. iv. 6.) and subsequently, Hosea (chap. v. 1.) 
reproaches the princes of Israel, and the priests of 
the golden calves, with having been a snare on 
Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor; referring, no 
doubt, to the idols, or superstitious altars, which they 
here set up. When Josephus was governor of Gali- 
lee, he strongly fortified the top of Tabor ; hut Ves- 
pasian by stratagem drew down the Jews into the 
open country, and there cut them to pieces. 

TABRET, or Tabouret, a small species of drum, 
e. g. Timbrel, which see. 

TADMOR, subsequently called Palmyra by the 
Greeks, was a city founded by Solomon in the desert 
of Syria, on the borders of Arabia Deserta, near the 
Euphrates. Its situation was remote from human 
habitations, in the midst of a dreary wilderness ; and 
it is probable that Solomon built it to facilitate his 
commerce with the East, as it afforded a supply of 
water, a thing of the utmost importance in an Ara- 
bian desert. It is one day's journey from the Euphra- 
tes, two from Upper Syria, and six from Babylon. 
The original name was preserved till the time of 
Alexander, who extended his conquests to this city, 
which then exchanged Tadmor for the title of Pal- 
myra. It submitted to the Romans about the year 
130, and continued in alliance with them during a 
period of 150 years. When the Saracens triumphed 
in the East, they acquired possession of this city, and 
restored its ancient name of Tadmor. Of the time 
of its ruin there is no authentic record ; but it is 
thought, with some probability, that its destruction 
occurred during the period in which it was occupied 
by the Saracens. Of its present appearance Messrs. 
"Wood and Dawkins, who visited it in 1751, thus 
speak: "It is scarcely possible to imagine any thing 



more striking than tnis view. So great a number of 
Corinthian pillars, mixed with so little wall or solid 
building, afforded a most romantic variety of pros- 
pect." Captain Mangles, who travelled more recent- 
ly, observes, " On opening upon the ruins of Palmyra, 
as seen from the valley of the Tombs, we were much 
struck with the picturesque effect of the whole, pre- 
senting the most imposing sight of the kind we had 
ever seen." But on a minuter inspection, the ruins 
of this once mighty city do not appear so interesting 
as at a distance. Volney observes, "In the space 
covered by these ruins, we sometimes find a palace 
of which nothing remains but the court and walls ; 
sometimes a temple, whose peristile is half thrown 
down ; and now a portico, a gallery, a triumphal 
arch. If from this striking scene we cast our 
eyes upon the ground, another almost as varied pre- 
sents itself. On which side soever we look, the 
earth is strewed with vast stones half buried, with 
broken entablatures, mutilated friezes, disfigured re- 
liefs, effaced sculptures, violated tombs, and altars 
defiled by the dust." It is situated under a ridge of 
barren hills to the west, and its other sides are open 
to the desert. The city was originally about ten 
miles in circumference ; but, such have been the 
destructions effected by time, that the boundaries 
are with difficulty traced and determined. In the 
Modern Traveller there is a very excellent description 
of the present aspect of this ruined city, by Mr. Josiah 
Conder. (Vol. iii. p. 1. Amer. edit.) 

TAHAPANES, (Jer. ii. 16.) or Tahpanhes, 
(Jer. xliii. 7, 9.) or Tehaphnehes, (Ezek. xxx. 18.) 
the name of an Egyptian city, for which the Seventy 
put Taphne, (Tu</>vr;, Tuyvai,) and this is probably the 
same name which the Greeks write Daphne. This 
city lay in the vicinity of Pelusium, (see Sin II.) to- 
wards the south-west, on the western bank of the Pe- 
lusiac branch of the Nile ; and is therefore called by 
Herodotus the Pelusiac Daphne. To this city many 
of the Jews retired, after the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem by the Chaldeans, taking with them the proph- 
et Jeremiah, Jer. xliii. 7—9 ; xliv. 1. That Taha- 
panes was a large and important city, is apparent 
from the threats uttered against it by Ezekiel, c. xxx. 
18. *R. 

TALENT. Several authors have supposed that 
among the Hebrews there were two sorts of talents, 
a larger and a smaller ; the talent of the sanctuary, 
and the common talent; the former being double the 
weight or value of the other. But we cannot find 
this distinction in Scripture. 

The weight of the Jewish talent, according to Dr. 
Arbuthnot was 113 pounds, 10 ounces, 1 pennyweight 
and 10 2-7ths grains troy weight. Its value in (Eng- 
lish) money was 342Z. 3s. 9d. or about $1520. The 
talent of gold was of the same weight ; its value, 
54,752Z. or $243,100. 

The following thought of Mr. Bruce is perhaps 
worth inquiring into ; that is, that the talents appro- 
priated to different commodities might be of different 
weights; and adds, that if a talent could be dis- 
covered, which, at the mine, was of less weight than 
the talent of Judea, we might, perhaps, be justified 
in estimating the riches in gold of David, or of Solo- 
mon, by the weight of that talent. " David took 
possession of two ports, Eloth and Ezion-gaber ; (1 
Kings ix. 26; 2 Chron. viii. 17.) from which he 
carried on trade to Ophir and Tarshish, to a very 
great extent, to the day of his death. We are struck 
with astonishment, when we reflect on the sum that 
prince received in so short a time from these mines 



TAL 



[ 876 ] 



T AM 



of Ophir. For what is said to be given by David (1 
Chron. xxii. 14, 15, 19 ; xxix. 3 — 7, three thousand 
Hebrew talents of gold, reduced to our money, is 
21,600,000L sterling) and his princes, for the build- 
ing of the temple of Jerusalem, exceeds in value 
800,000,00(M. of our money, if the talent there spoken 
of be a Hebrew talent, (the value of a Hebrew talent 
appears from Exod. xxxviii. 25, 26. For 603,550 
persons being taxed at half a shekel each, they 
must have paid in the whole 301,774 ; now that sum 
is said to amount to 100 talents, 775 shekels only ; 
deduct the two latter sums, and there will remain 
300,000, which, divided by 100, will leave 3000 
shekels for each of these talents,) and not a weight 
of the same denomination, the value of which was 
less, and peculiarly reserved for, and used in the 
traffic of, these precious metals, gold and silver. It 
was probably an African or Indian weight, proper to 
the same mine whence was gotten the gold, appro- 
priated to fine commodities only, as is the case with 
our ounce trov different from the avoirdupois." 
TALISMAN, see Amulet. 

TALMUD is the name of a Jewish work contain- 
ing the body of the doctrines, religion and morality 
of the Jews ; and having among them an authority 
equal to, if not greater than that of the Hebrew 
Scriptures. The name comes from the Hebrew 
lamad, to teach, and signifies therefore teaching, or 
rather traditional doctrine. There are strictly two 
works under this name, viz. the Talmud of Jerusa- 
lem, and the Talmud of Babylon. See under Lan- 
guage, p. 609. 

The Talmud of Jerusalem was compiled by 
Rabbi Jochanan, who presided in the school of Pal- 
estine fourscore years, and who is said to have fin- 
ished it 230 years after the ruin of the temple, or 
about A. D. 300, for the use of the Jews in Judea. 
This Talmud is shorter and more obscure than that 
of Babylon, but is doubtless more ancient. It is 
composed of two parts, the Mishna and the Gemara. 
The Mishna (which is also common to the Babylo- 
nian Talmud) is the work of Rabbi Judah Hakko- 
desh, or " the Holy," who compiled it about A. D. 
190 or 220, at Tiberias. The name Mishna signifies 
the second law ; and the work is a collection of the 
traditions of the Jewish doctors, which Hakkodesh 
gathered into one body, for fear they should be lost 
and forgotten because of the dispersion of the Jews 
and the interruption of their schools. About a century 
later, Rabbi Jochanan, as is said above, composed 
the Gemara, i. e. completion, perfection, in order to 
perfect and finish the Mishna of Rabbi Judah. It 
consists of illustrations of the Mishna, and things 
supplementary to it, and is in the nature of a com- 
mentary upon it. The two constitute the Talmud 
of Jerusalem. 

The Talmud of Babylon is composed of the 
same Mishna of Judah the Holy, and of a Gemara, 
composed, as is said by some, by Rabbi Asa, who 
lived at Babylon about A. D. 400 ; or, as is affirmed 
by others, by Rabbi Jose, in the beginning of the 
sixth century. It is called the Talmud of Babylon, 
because it was compiled in that city, and was chiefly 
prevalent among the Jews beyond the Euphrates. 
The Jews prefer this to the Talmud of Jerusalem, 
because it is clearer and more extensive. It abounds 
with a multitude of fables and ridiculous stories, of 
the truth of which, however, they must entertain no 
doubt, unless they would pass for heretics. 

The Jews even prefer the authority of the Talmud 
to that of Scripture. They compare the Bible to 



water, the Mishna to wine, and the Gemara to hypo- 
eras. It is a part of their belief, that the traditions 
and explications contained in the Talmud are derived 
from God himself ; that Moses revealed them to 
Aaron and his sons, and to the elders of Israel ; that 
these communicated them to the prophets, and the 
prophets to the members of the great synagogue, who 
transmitted them down till they came to the doctors 
or rabbis, and these reduced them to the form of 
the Mishna and Gemara. 

The Mishna is written in Hebrew, in a very 
close and obscure style. See Language, p. 609; 
A noble edition of it was given by Surenhusius, in 
six parts, folio, Amst. 1698, &c. The Talmud of 
Jerusalem was printed by Bomberg, at Venice, in 
one volume folio: that of Babylon at Amsterdam, 
in twelve volumes folio. Other editions are also 
extant. *R. 

I. TAMAR, daughter-in-law of the patriarch Ju- 
dah, wife of Er and Onan, and mother of Pharez and 
Zarah. The book of the Testament of the twelve 
Patriarchs says, that Tamar was of Mesopotamia, 
and daughter of Aram, that is, by descent a Syrian ; 
that Bathshuah, the wife of Judah, could not endure 
her, because she was of a nation different from her 
own, and inspired the same hatred of her into her 
son Er, who, refusing to treat Tamar as his wife, 
was slain \ y an angel of the Lord, on the third day 
after his n irriage. Scripture says that he was very 
wicked before the Lord, for which the Lord slew 
him, (Gen. xxxviii. 7.) which may mean, either that 
he was suddenly slain, or smitten by a disease which 
ultimately produced his death. Judah then said to 
Onan, his second son, " Go in unto thy brother's wife, 
and marry her, and raise up seed unto thy brother." 
Onan took her, as commanded by his father; but 
knowing that the children born from this intercourse 
would not belong to him, but to his brother, he with- 
held from Tamar the means of becoming a mother ; 
wherefore the Lord slew him also. Judah then 
said to Tamar, " Continue a widow in thy father's 
house, till my son Shelah shall be of age to marry ;" 
being afraid that Shelah also might die, as his broth- 
ers did. Tamar therefore lived with her father a 
considerable time, but did not receive Shelah as her 
husband. Some years afterwards, therefore, when 
Judah went to a sheep-shearing feast of his friend 
Hirah, the Adullammite, Tamar disguised herself as 
a foreign harlot, and sat in a place where he would 
pass. Judah had intercourse with her, and gave her 
as pledges, his ring, his bracelets and his staff. After 
some months the pregnancy of Tamar became ap- 
parent, and Judah would have had her burned alive ; 
but when she produced the ring, the bracelets and 
the staff, and attributed her condition to the owner 
of those pledges, Judah acknowledged that she was 
more just than he had been. She bore twins, of 
which one was called Pharez, the other Zarah. 

Much has been said and written upon the transac- 
tion between Tamar and Judah, and certainly, there 
are ample grounds to doubt whether Tamar were so 
culpable as she at first sight appears to have been. 
It seems that her marriage with one branch of the 
family, gave her a right to expect a continuance of 
conjugality with some .of its other branches. The 
custom of the surviving brother marrying his de- 
ceased brother's widow, with the indignity attendant 
upon his refusal, are well known ; (see Mae.riage ;) 
and its general prevalence shows it was of great an- 
tiquity. The probability is, that Tamar, who was a 
Caiaanitess, might satisfy her mind with some form 



TAMAR 



[ 877 J 



T A R 



of marriage, at that lime customary in her country, 
as seems implied in the declaration of Judah— " She 
lias been more righteous than I." The phrase is not 
— she is less to blame — but — " she is more righteous." 
Among the eight forms of marriage specified in the 
Gentoo code, is one by a mutual interchange, between 
the parties, of necklaces or strings of flowers, which 
bears a very striking resemblance to the case of Ju- 
dah and Tamar, the latter receiving from the for- 
mer his signet and bracelets. Might not Tamar thus 
marry herself to Judah, though unwittingly in him ? 
From the expression, (ver. 26.) " He knew her again 
aio more," it seems as if he might lawfully have done 
■so, had he pleased. It is important to remark, that 
.although Tamar had been contracted to Er and 
■Onan, it is very doubtful whether those marriages 
had been consummated. 

In the Asiatic Researches (vol. iii. p. 35.) there is a 
passage, which affords a similarity to the narrative 
•under consideration, that is extremely remarkable : 
" I discovered these circumstances of the marriage 
■ceremony of the Garrows, from being present at the 
marriage of Lungree, youngest daughter of the chief 
'Oodassy, seven years of age, and Buglun, twenty- 
three years old, the son of a common Garrow ; and 
I may here observe, that this marriage, dispropor- 
tionate as to age and rank, is a very happy one for 
Buglun, as he will succeed to the Booneaship and 
estate : for among the Garrows, the youngest 
■daughter is always heiress, and if there were 
.any other children born before her, they would 
get nothing on the death of the Booneah : what 
is more strange, if Buglun were to die, Lungree 
.would marry one of his brothers ; and if all 
Ms brothers were dead, she would then marry the 
father ; and if the father afterwards should prove too 
■old, she would put him aside, and take any one else 
whom she might choose." 

Upon this extract Mr. Taylor has the following re- 
marks. It is clear, that Lungree would have acted 
exactly like Tamar ; who, because Shelah was not 
given to her, considered him "as dead," and there- 
fore she "married the father ;" in doing which, Ju- 
dah not only acquits her of any transgression, but 
confesses she had more closely adhered to the law 
than himself (" is more righteous than I"). It appears 
also, that the children of Judah by Tamar did actu- 
ally inherit as his sons, lawfully, as well as naturally ; 
hence they are reckoned to him in 1 Chron. ii. 4. 
"And Tamar his daughter-in-law bare him Pharez 
and Zerah." In Numb. xxvi. 20, we read, "The sons 
of Judah were — of Shelah — of Pharez — of Zerah," 
without any particular mark of abasement on Pharez ; 
and in Ruth iv. 18, the pedigree of David is express- 
ly derived from this same son of Judah by Tamar. 
If the pedigree of David be so derived, that of the 
Messiah must follow it ; and it needs little considera- 
tion to determine which has most propriety, to allow 
the legality of Tamar's marriage, with the legal ac- 
knowledgment of her children, or to bastardize nor* 
merely Pharez but his posterity, Boaz, David, Solo- 
mon ; a long line of Hebrew heroes, and all the kings 
of Judah. 

II. TAMAR, the daughter of Maachah, wife of 
David, and by courtesy reckoned among the king's 
■children, 1 Chron. iii. 9. Her great beauty was the 
occasion of great trouble in the family of David. See 
Amnon. 

III. TAMAR. Absalom had a daughter whose 
=aame was Tamar, 2 Sam. xiv. 27. 

IV. TAMAR, a city of Judea, (Ezek. xlvii. 19; 



xlviii. 28.) somewhere about the southern extremity 
of the Dead sea. 

TAMMUS, the tenth month of the Hebrew civil 
year, and the fourth of the sacred year. (See the 
Jewish Calendar at the end of the volume.) 

TAMMUZ, a pagan idol, mentioned in Ezek. viii. 
14, where the women are represented as weeping for 
it. It is generally thought that Tammuz was the 
same deity as Adonis, to which article the reader 
is referred, as also to the article Idolatry. 

TANACH, or Taanach, a city of the half-tribe 
of Manasseh, east of the Jordan, (Josh. xii. 21 ; xx. 
25 ; Judg. i. 27.) yielded to the Levites. Eusebius, 
Jerome and Procopius of Gaza say, that in their 
time it was a considerable place, three miles from 
Legio. 

TANNIM, or Thannim, see Dragon. 

I. TAPPTJAII, a city of Manasseh, but belonging 
to Ephraim, (Josh. xvii. 8.) probably the En-tappuah 
of the former verse. 

II. TAPPUAII, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 34.) 
perhaps the Beth-tappuah of verse 53, which is also 
attributed to Judah, and which Eusebius places be- 
yond Raphia, 14 miles toward Egypt. 

TAR AH, an encampment of Israel in the desert, 
to which they came from Tahath, and went hence to 
Mithcah, Numb, xxxiii. 27. 

TARES. It is not easy to decide, whether by the 
term utuna, in Matt. xiii. 25, seq.the Saviour intends 
indifferently all plants which grow among gram, or 
some particular species. All we are certain of from 
the circumstances of the parable is, that it is a plant 
which rises to the height of the corn. Mintert says, 
" It is a plant in appearance not unlike corn or wheat, 
having at first the same kind of stalk, and the same 
viridity, but bringing forth no fruit, at least none 
good." John Melchior also says, that Ztturiov does 
not signify every weed, in genera], which grows 
among corn, but a particular species of weed known 
in Canaan, which is not unlike wheat, but, being put 
into the ground, degenerated and assumed another 
nature and form. The Talmudists name it zonim. 
" Among the hurtful weeds," says Johnson, " darnell 
(Lolium album) is the first. It bringeth forth leaves 
like those of wheat or barley, yet rougher, with a 
long ear, made up of many little ones, every particu- 
lar whereof containeth two or three grains lesser 
than those of wheat ; scarcely any chaffy husk to 
cover them with ; by reason whereof they are 
easily shaken about, and scattered abroad. They 
grow in fields among wheat and barley. They spring 
and flourish with the corn ; and in August the seed 
is ripe. Darnell is called, in the Arabian tongue, 
zizania." 

Forskal says, the darnell is well known to the peo 
pie of Aleppo. It grows among corn. If the seeds 
remain mixed with the meal, they render a man 
drunk by eating the bread. The reapers do not sep- 
arate the plant; but, after the thrashing, they reject 
the seeds by means of a fan or sieve. Nothing, says 
Mr. Taylor, can more clearly elucidate the plant in 
tended by our Lord, than this extract. It grows 
among corn — so in the parable. The reapers do not 
separate the plants — so in the parable : both grow 
together till harvest. After the thrashing they sep- 
arate them — in the parable they are gathered from 
among the wheat, and separated by the hand, then 
gathered into bundles. Their seeds, if any remain 
by accident, are finally separated by winnowing ; 
which is, of course, a process preparatory to being 
gathered — the corn into the garner, or storehouse ; 



TAR 



TEM 



the injurious plant into heaps, for consumption by 
fire, as weeds are consumed. 

TARGUMS, or Chaldee versions of the Hebrew 
Scriptures, see Versions. 

I. TARSHISH, the second son of Javau, Gen. x. 
4. He is supposed to have been the founder of Tar- 
sus in Cilicia. 

II. TARSHISH, the proper name of a city and 
country (Tartessus) in Spain, the most celebrated 
emporium in the west to which the Hebrews and 
Phoenicians traded. That it was situated in the west 
is evident from Gen. x. 4, where it is joined with" 
Elishah, Kittirn and Dodanim. See also Ps. lxxii. 
10. According to Ezek. xxxviii. 13, it was an im- 
portant place of trade ; according to Jer. x. 9, it ex- 
ported silver ; and according to Ezek. xxvii. 12, 25, 
silver, iron, tin and lead to the Tyrian markets. 
They embarked for this place from Joppa, Jon. i. 3, 
4. In Isa. xxiii. 1, 6, 10, it is evidently represented 
as an important Phoenician colony. It is named 
among other distant states, in Isa. lxvi. 19. That 
these notices agree with Tartessus has been shown 
by Bochart, Michaelis and Bredow. The Greek 
name Tartessus is derived from a harder Aramean 
pronunciation of the word e»e>-n ; but another or- 
thography with o, was also known to the Greeks ; for 
in Polybius and Stephanus Byzantinus occurs 
Taqatfiov, as synonymous with Tu(iri]aaog. 

In the interval between the composition of the 
Books of Kings and Chronicles, this name seems to 
have been transferred to denote any distant country ; 
hence the Tarshish ships that went to Ophir (1 
Kings xxii. 49.) are said expressly by the writer of 
Chronicles to have gone to Tarshish, 2 Chron. ix. 
21. xx. 36, 37. There is no necessity, then, for 
the adoption of a second Tarshish (perhaps in India 
or Ethiopia). (Gesenius, Heb. Lex. sub. vocem.) 

Tarshish ships is employed in Isa. xxiii. 1, 14 ;lx. 
9, &c. to denote large merchant ships bound on long 
voyages, (perhaps distinguished by their construction 
from the common Phenician ships,) even though 
they were sent to other countries instead of Tar- 
shish. — The English phrase an Indiaman is very sim- 
ilar. The phrase is also used of the ships that went 
to Opnir, 1 Kings xxii. 49 ; x. 22. 

TAL.SUS, the name of a celebrated city, the me- 
tropolis of Cilicia, situated on the banks of the river 
Cydnus, which flowed through and divided it into 
two parts. Hence in the Greek writers the city is 
sometimes called Taqaol, as Xen. Anab. i. 2. 23. 
Tarsus was distinguished for the culture of Greek lit- 
erature and philosophy, so that at one time, in its 
schools and in the number of its learned men, it was 
the rival of Athens and Alexandria. (Strabo xiv. p. 
463. ed. Casaub.) In reward for its exertions and 
sacrifices during the civil wars of Rome, Tarsus was 
made a free city by Augustus. (Appian. Bell. Civ. 

V. p. 1077. JaoSiy.iac Si y.ai Taoniac iliv&ioovs utfiti. 

Dio. Chrysost. in Tarsic. post.) It was the privi- 
lege of such cities, that they were governed by their 
own laws and magistrates, and were not subjected to 
the jurisdiction of a Roman governor, nor to the 
power of a Roman garrison ; although they acknowl- 
edged the supremacy of the Roman people, and were 
bound to aid them against their enemies. That the 
freedom of Tarsus, however, was not equivalent to 
Being a Roman citizen, appears from this, that the 
tribune, although he knew Paul to be a citizen of 
Tarsus, (Acts xxi. 39.) yet ordered him to be 
scourged, (Acts xxii. 24.) but desisted from his pur- 
pose when he learned that Paul was a Roman citizen 



(Acts xxii. 27.) It is therefore probable, that the an 
cestora of Paul had obtained the privilege of Roman 
citizenship in some other way, Acts ix. 30 ; xi. 25 ; 
xxii. 3. (Sec Kuinoel on Acts xvi. 37.) *R. 

TARTAN, an officer of king Sennacherib, sent 
with Rabshakeh on a message to Hezekiah, 2 Kings 
xviii. 17. 

TATNAI, an officer of the king of Persia, and 
governor of Samaria, and of the provinces on this side 
Jordan, opposed the rebuilding of the temple and the 
walls of Jerusalem, Ezra v. 6. 

TAVERNS, Three, see Afpii Forum. 

TAXING, see Ctrenius. 

TEARS, Vale of, see Baca. 

TEBETH, the Babylonish name of the tenth 
ecclesiastical month of the Hebrews, Esth. ii. 16. 
See Jewish Calendar, infra. 

TEHAPHNEHES, see Tahapanes. 

TEIL-TREE, see Terebinth. 

TEKEL, he was weighed, one of the words that 
appeared written on the wall at the sacrilegious feast 
of Belshazzar, indicating that this wretched prince, 
had been weighed in the balance, and was found 
wanting, Dan. v. 25. See Belshazzar, and Daniel,. 

TEKOA, a city of Judah, (2 Chron. xi. 6.) which 
Eusebius and Jerome place twelve miles from Jeru- 
salem, south. The wilderness of Tekoa, mentioned 
2 Chron. xx. 20, is not far from the Dead sea. 

TEL-ABIB, the name of a place to which some 
of Israel were carried captive, (Ezek. iii. 15.) and 
probably the same place as is now called Thelabba, 
in Mesopotamia, on the river Chebar. In D'Anville's 
Chart of the Euphrates and Tigris, it is placed be- 
tween 36° and 37° north latitude, and 53° and 54° 
east longitude. 

TELASSER, or Thalassar, aprovince of Assyria, 
(Isa. xxxvii. 12 ; 2 Kings xix. 12.) the exact situation 
of which is unknown. It is thought to be towards 
Armenia and Mesopotamia, and about the sources of 
the Euphrates and Tigris, because of the children 
of Eden, who inhabited that country. 

TELEM, a city of Judah, originally seized as a 
prey, (Josh. xv. 24.) as Kimchi, Le Clerc, Hiller, and 
others suppose ; elsewhere called also Telaim ; " prey 
violently taken away," as the Arabic root imports, 
1 Sam. xv. 4. 

TEL-HARSA, perhaps the same as Telasser. 
Those who returned with Zerubbabel out of this coun- 
try, could not prove their genealogies, or show that 
they were of the race of Israel, Ezra ii. 59; Neh. vii.61. 

TEMA, or Thema, son of Ishmael, (Gen. xxv. 15.) 
is thought to have peopled the city of Thema, in 
Arabia Deserta. Job speaks of the caravans of Tema 
and Sheba, (chap. vi. 19.) and Ptolemy places a city 
called Themma, or Thamma, in Arabia Deserta, to- 
wards the mountains of the Chaldeans. 

TEM AN, or Theman, son of Eliphaz, and grand- 
son of Esau, Gen. xxxvi. 15. In the ver. 34, we find 
a king of Idumea, called Itusham, of the country of 
the Temani. Jeremiah, (xlix. 7 — 20.) Ezekiel (xxv. 
13.) and Amos (i. 12.) speak of Teman. Eusebius 
places Thasman in Arabia Petraea, five miles from Pe- 
tra, and says there was a Roman garrison there. 
This was doubtless the country of the Temanites. 
It is also sometimes used for the whole south. 

TEMPLE, the house of God, the sanctuary, the 
tabernacle of the Lord, the palace of the Most High, 
are terms often used synonymously in Scripture, 
though, strictly speaking, they import very distinct 
things. The sanctuary was but one part of the taber- 
nacle or temple ; neither does the word temple do- 



TEMPLE 



I 879 ] 



TEMPLE 



scribe the tabernacle, nor tabernacle the temple. 
The Hebrews, before Solomon, could not properly be 
said to have had a temple, yet they did not scruple 
by the word temple to describe the tabernacle ; as, 
on the contrary, they sometimes by the tabernacle of 
the Lord, expressed the temple built by Solomon. 
After the Lord had instructed David that Jerusalem 
was the place he had chosen, in which to fix his 
dwelling, that pious prince began to realize his design 
of preparing a temple for the Lord, that might be 
something worthy of his divine majesty. He opened 
his mind on this subject to the prophet Nathan, but 
the Lord did not think fit that he should execute his 
purpose, however laudable. The honor was reserved 
tor Solomon, his son and successor, who was to be a 
peaceable prince, and not like David, who had shed 
much blood in war. David, however, applied 
himself to collect great quantities of gold, silver, 
brass, iron, and other materials for this undertaking. 

The place chosen for erecting this, magnificent 
structure was mount Moriah, the summit of which, 
originally, was unequal and its sides irregular ; but it 
was an object of ambition with the Jews to level and 
extend it. This they effected, and during the second 
temple, it formed a square of 500 cubits, or 304 yards 
on each side, allowing, as is commonly done, 21,888 
inches to the cubit. Almost the whole of this space 
was arched under ground, to prevent the possibility 
of pollution from secret graves ; and it was surround- 
ed by a wall of excellent stone, 25 cubits, or 47 feet 
7 inches high; without which lay a considerable 
extent of flat and gently-sloping ground, which was 
occupied by the buildings of the tower of Antonia, 
gardens and public walks. 

The plan and the whole model of this structure was 
'aid by the same divine architect as that of the taber- 
nacle, viz. God himself ; and it was built much in the 
same form as the tabernacle, but was of much larger 
dimensions. The utensils for the sacred service 
were also the same as those used in the tabernacle, 
only several of them were larger, in proportion to the 
more spacious edifice to which they belonged. The 
foundations of this magnificent edifice were laid by 
Solomon, in the year of the world 2992, and it was 
finished A. M. 3000, having occupied seven years and 
six months in the building. It was dedicated A. M. 
3001, with peculiar solemnity, to the worship of Je- 
hovah, who condescended to make it the place for 
the special manifestation of his glory, 2 Chron. v. vi. 
vii. The front or entrance to the temple was on the 
eastern side, and consequently facing the mount of 
Olives, which commanded a noble prospect of the 
building : the holy of holies, therefore, stood towards 
the west. The temple itself, strictly so called, which 
comprised the portico, the sanctuary, and the holy 
of holies, formed only a small part of the sacred edi- 
fice, these being surrounded by spacious courts, cham- 
bers, and other apartments, which were much more 
extensive than the temple itself. 

From the descriptions which are handed down to 
us of the temple of Solomon, it is utterly impossible 
to obtain so accurate an idea of its relative parts and 
their respective proportions, as to furnish such an ac- 
count as may be deemed satisfactory to the reader. 
Hence we find no two writers agreeing in their de- 
scriptions. The following account may be sufficient 
to give us a general idea of the building : — ■ 

"The temple itself was 70 cubits long; the porch 
being 10 cubits, (1 Kings vi. 3.1 the holy place, 40 
cubits, (ver. 17.) and the most holy place, 20 cubits, 2 
Chron. iii. 8. The width of the porch, holy, and 



most holy places, were 20 cubits ; (2 Chron. iii. 3.) 
and the height over the holy and most holy places, 
was 30 cubits; (1 Kings vi. 2.) but the height of the 
porch was much greater, being no less than 120 cu- 
bits, (2 Chron. iii. 4.) or four times the height of the 
rest of the building. To the north and south sides, 
and the west end of the holy and most holy places, or 
all around the edifice, from the back of the porch on 
the one side, to the back of the porch on the other 
side, certain buildings were attached. These were 
called side chambers, and consisted of three stories, 
each 5 cubits high, (1 Kings vi. 10.) and joined to the 
wall of the temple without. But what may seem 
singular is, that the lowest of these stories was 5 cubits 
broad on the floor, the second 6 cubits, and the third 7 
cubits, and yet the outer wall of them all was upright, 
ver. 6. The reason of this was, that the wall of the 
temple, against which they leaned, had always a 
scarcement of a cubit at the height of every 5 cubits, 
to prevent the joists of these side chambers from be- 
ing fixed in it. Thus the three stories of side cham- 
bers, when taken together, were 15 cubits high, and 
consequently reached exactly to half the height of the 
side walls, and end of the temple ; so that there was 
abundance of space, above these, for the windows 
which gave light to the temple, ver. 4. Josephus dif- 
fers very materially from this in his description, for 
which we know not how to account, but by supposing 
that he has confounded the Scripture account of Sol- 
omon's temple with that of the temple after the cap- 
tivity and of Herod. 

In noticing the several courts of the temple, we 
naturally begin with the outer one, which was called 
the court of the Ge?itiles, and into which persons of all 
nations were permitted to enter. The most natural 
approach to this was by the east gate, which was the 
principal gate of the temple. It was by far the largest 
of all the courts pertaining to the sacred building, 
and comprised a space of 188,991 superficial cubits, 
or fourteen English acres, one rood, twenty-nine 
poles, and thirteen yards, of which above two thirds 
lay to the south of the temple. It was separated from 
the court of the women by a wall of 3 cubits high, 
of lattice work, so that persons walking here might 
see through it, as well as over it. This wall, how- 
ever, was not on a level with the court of which we 
are speaking, but was cut out of the rock 6 cubits 
above it, the ascent to which was by 12 steps. On 
pillars placed at equal distances in this wall were in- 
scriptions in Greek and Latin, to warn strangers, and 
such as were unclean, not to proceed further, on pain 
of death. It was from this court that our Saviour 
drove the persons who had established a cattle-mar- 
ket, for the purpose of supplying those with sacrifices 
who came from a distance, Matt. xxi. 12, 13. We 
must not overlook the beautiful pavement of varie- 
gated marble, and the piazzas, or covered walks, 
with which this court was surrounded. Those on 
the east, west, and north sides were of the same di- 
mensions ; but that on the south was much larger. 
The porch called Solomon's (John x. 23; Acts iii. 
11.) was on the east side or front of the temple, and 
was so called because it was built by this prince, 
upon a high wall of 400 cubits from the valley of 
Kedron. 

The court of the women, called in Scripture the new 
court, (2 Chron. xx. 5.) and the outer court, (Ezek. xlvi. 
21.) was so designated by the Jews, not because none 
but women were permitted to enter it, but because it 
was their appointed place of worship, beyond which 
they might not go, unless when they brought a sac- 



TEMPLE 



[ 880 ] 



TEMPLE 



rifice, hi which case they went forward to the court 
of Israel. The gate which led into this court, from 
that of the Gentiles, was the beautiful gate of the tem- 
ple, mentioned Acts iii. 2, so called, because the fold- 
ing doors, lintel and side-posts, were all overlaid 
with Corinthian brass. The court itself was 135 
cubits square, having four gates, one on- each side ; 
and on three of its sides were piazzas, with galleries 
above them, whence could be seen what was passing 
in the great court. At the four corners of this court, 
were four rooms, appropriated to different purposes, 
Ezek. xlvi. 21 — 24. In the first, the lepers purified 
themselves after they were healed ; in the second, the 
wood for the sacrifices was laid up ; the Nazarites 
prepared their oblations, and shaved their heads, in 
the third ; and in the fourth, the wine and oil for the 
sacrifices were kept. There were also two rooms 
more, where the Levitcs' musical instruments were 
laid up ; and also thirteen treasure chests, two of 
which were for the half shekel, which was paid yearly 
by every Israelite ; and the rest for the money for the 
purchase of sacrifices and other oblations. It was in 
this court of the women, called the treasury, that our 
Saviour delivered his striking discourse to the Jews, 
related in John viii. 1 — 20. It was into this court 
also, that the Pharisee and publican went to pray, 
(Luke xviii. 10 — 13.) and into which the lame man 
followed Peter and John, after he was cured ; the 
court of the women being the ordinary place of wor- 
ship for those who brought no sacrifice, Acts iii. 8. 
From thence, after prayers, he went back with them, 
through the beautiful gate of the temple, where he 
had been lying, and through the sacred fence, into 
the court of the Gentiles, where, under the eastern 
piazza, or Solomon's porch, Peter delivered that ser- 
mon which converted five thousand. It was in the 
same court of the women that the Jews laid hold of 
Paul, when they judged him a violator of the temple, 
Ly taking Gentiles within the sacred fence, Acts xxi. 
26, &c. In this court the high-priest, at the fast of 
Expiation, read a portion of the law. Here also the 
king, on the sabbatical year, did the same at the Fe#st 
of Tabernacles. 

The court of Israel was separated from the court of 
the women by a wall 32£ cubits high, on that side; 
but on the other only 25. The reason of which dif- 
ference was, that as the rock on which the temple 
stood always became higher on advancing westward, 
the several courts naturally became elevated in pro- 
portion. The ascent into the court was by a flight 
of 15 steps, of a semicircular form, on which it is by 
some thought that the Levites stood and sung the 
"Psalms of degrees" (exx — cxxxiv.)at the Feast of 
Tabernacles. This gate is spoken of under several 
appellations in the Old Testament; but in the time 
of our Saviour it was known as the gate Nicanor. It 
was here the leper stood, to have his atonement made, 
and his cleansing completed. It was here they tried 
the suspected wife, by making her drink of the bitter 
water ; and it was here likewise that women appear- 
ed after childbirth, for purification. The whole 
length of the court from east to west was 187 cubits, 
and the breadth from north to south, 135 cubits. 
This was divided into two parts, one of which was 
the court of the Israelites, and the other, the court of 
the priests. The former was a kind of piazza sur- 
rounding the latter, under which the Israelites stood 
while their sacrifices were burning in the court of 
the priests. It had 13 gates, with chambers above 
them, each of which had its particular name and use. 
The space which was comprised in the court of the 



priests was 165 cubits long, and 119 cubits wide, and 
was raised 2£ cubits above the surrounding court, 
from which it was separated by the pillars which sup- 
ported the piazza, and the railing which was placed 
between them, 2 Kings xi. 8, 10. Within this court 
stood the brazen altar, on which the sacrifices were 
consumed, the molten sea, in which the priests wash- 
ed, and the ten brazen lavers, for washing the sacri- 
fices ; also the various utensils and instruments for 
sacrificing, which are enumerated in 2 Chron. iv. 

It is necessary to observe here, that although the 
court of the priests was not accessible to all Israelites, 
as that of Israel was to all the priests, yet they might 
enter it on three several occasions ; viz. to lay their 
hands on the animals which they offered, or to kill 
them, or to waive some part of them. And then their 
entrance was not by the east gate, and through the 
place where the priests stood, but ordinarily by the 
north or south side of the court, according as the sac- 
rifices were to be slain on the north or south sides of 
the altar. In general, it was a rule that they never 
returned from this court by the same door that they 
entered, Exod. xlvi. 9. From the court of the priests 
the ascent to the temple was by a flight of twelve 
steps, each half a cubit in height, which led into the 
sacred porch. Of the dimensions of this, as also of 
the sanctuary and holy of holies, we have already 
spoken. We shall therefore only observe here, that 
it was within the door of the porch, and in the sight of 
those who stood in the courts immediately before it, 
that the two pillars, Jachin and Boaz, were placed, 
2 Chron. iii. 17 ; Ezek. xl. 49. 

The temple thus described, retained its pristine 
splendor but 33 years, when it was plundered by 
Shishak, king of Egypt, 1 Kings xiv. 25, 26 ; 2 Chron. 
xii. 9. After this period it underwent sundry profana- 
tions and pillages, and was at length utterly destroyed' 
by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, A. M.3416, B. 
C. 588, after having stood, according to Usher, 424 
years, three months and eight days. 

After lying in ruins for 52 years, the foundations 
of the second temple were laid by Zerubbabel, and 
the Jews who had availed themselves of the privi- 
lege granted by Cyrus, and returned to Jerusalem, 
Ezra i. 1 — 4 ; ii. 1 ; iii. 8 — 10. They had not pro- 
ceeded far, however, before they were obliged to de- 
sist, on account of an order from Artaxerxes, king of 
Persia, which bad been procured through the mis- 
representations of the Samaritans and others, chap, 
iv. 1. During fifteen years the work stood still, (ver. 
24.) but in the second year of Darius they recom- 
menced their labors ; and on the third day of the 
month Adar, in the sixth year of Darius, it was finish- 
ed and dedicated, (Ezra vi. 15, 16.) 21 years after it 
was begun, B. C. 515. The dimensions of this tem- 
ple in breadth and height were double those of Solo- 
mon's. The weeping of the people at the laying of 
the foundation, therefore-, (Ezra iii. 12, 13.) and the di- 
minutive manner in which they spoke of it, when com- 
pared with the first one, (Hag. ii. 3.) were not occasion- 
ed by its inferiority in size, but in glory. It wanted the 
five principal things which invested it with this ; viz. 
the ark and mercy -seat; the divine presence, or vis- 
ible glory of the Shechinah ; the holy fire on the altar ; 
the urim and thummim ; and the spirit of prophecy. 

In the year A. M. 3837, this temple was plundered 
and profaned by Antiocbus Epiphanes, who ordered 
the discontinuance of the daily sacrifice, offered 
swine's flesh upon the altar, and completely suspend- 
ed the worship of Jehovah, 1 Mac. i. 62. Thus it 
continued for three years, when it was repaired and 



TEMPLE 



f 881 



TEMPLE 



purified by Judas Maccabeus, who restored the di- 
vine worship, and dedicated it anew. 

Herod, having slain all the Sanhedrim, except two, 
in the first year of his reign, B. C. 37, resolved to 
atone for it, by rebuilding and beautifying the temple. 
This he was the more inclined to do, both from the 
peace which he enjoyed, and the decayed state of the 
edifice. For, besides the common ravages of time, 
it had suffered considerably by the hands of enemies, 
since that part of Jerusalem was the strongest, and 
consequently the last resort of the inhabitants in times 
of extremity. After employing two years in prepar- 
ing the materials for the work, in which 1000 wag- 
ons and 10,000 artificers were employed, besides 
1000 priests to direct the works, the temple of Ze- 
rubbabel was pulled down, B. C. 17, and 46 years 
before the first Passover of his ministry. Although 
this temple was fit for divine service in nine years 
and a half, yet a great number of laborers and artifi- 
cers were still employed in carrying on the out-build- 
ings, all the time of our Saviour's abode on earth, and 
even till the coming of Gessius Floras to be governor 
of Judea. 

The temple of Herod was considerably larger than 
that of Zerubbabel, as that of Zerubbabel was larger 
than Solomon's. For, whereas the second temple 
was 70 cubits long, 60 broad, and 60 high, this was 
100 cubits long, 70 broad, and 100 high. The porch 
was raised to the height of 100 cubits, and was ex- 
tended 15 cubits beyond each side of the rest of the 
building. All the Jewish writers praise this temple 
exceedingly for its beauty, and the costliness of its 
workmanship ; for it was built of white marble, ex- 
quisitely wrought, and with stones of large dimen- 
sions, some of them 25 cubits long, 8 cubits high, and 
12 cubits thick. To these there is no doubt a refer- 
ence in Markxiii. 1 ; Luke xxi. 5 : " And as he went 
out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, 
Master, see what manner (Luke, goodly) of stones, 
and what buildings are here ! " 

The several courts have been already described, 
with some little variation, in our observations on the 
temple of Solomon. We may add, however, that the 
vast sums which Herod laid out in adorning this 
structure, gave it the most magnificent and imposing- 
appearance. " Its appearance," says Josephus, " had 
every thing that could strike the mind, and astonish 
the sight. For it was on every side covered with 
solid plates of gold, so that when the sun rose upon 
it, it reflected such a strong and dazzling effulgence 
that the eye of the beholder was obliged to turn away 
from it, being no more able to sustain its radiance 
than the splendor of the sun." To strangers who 
approached the capital, it appeared, at a distance, 
like a huge mountain covered with snow. For where 
it was not decorated with plates of gold, it was ex- 
tremely white and glistening. The historian, indeed, 
says, that the temple of Herod was the most astonish- 
ing structure he had ever seen or heard of, as well 
on account of its architecture as its magnitude, and 
likewise the richness and magnificence of its various 
parts, and the fame and reputation of its sacred ap- 
purtenances. And Tacitus calls it, immensee opulentia 
templum — a temple of immense opulence. Its exter- 
nal glory, indeed, consisted not only in the opulence 
and magnificence of the building, but also in the rich 
gifts with which it was adorned, and which excited the 
admiration of those who beheld them, Luke xxi. 5. 

This splendid building, however, which was once 
the admiration and envy of the world, has for ever 
passed away. According to our blessed Lord's pre- 
111 



diction, tnat G there should not be left one stone upon 
another that should not be thrown down," (Mark xiii. 
2.) it was completely demolished by the Roman sol- 
diers, under Titus, A. D. 70, on the same month, and 
on the same day of the month, on which Solomon's 
temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. 

Concerning the high veneration which the Jews 
cherished for their temple, Dr. Harwood has collect- 
ed some interesting particulars from Philo, Josephus, 
and the writings of Luke. Then- reverence for the 
sacred edifice was such, that rather than witness its 
defilement, they would cheerfully submit to death. 
They could not bear the least disrespectful or dishon- 
orable thing to be said of it. The least injurious 
slight of it, real or apprehended, instantly awakened 
all the choler of a Jew, and was an affront never to 
be forgiven. Our Saviour, in the course of his pub- 
lic instructions, happening to say, " Destroy this tem- 
ple, and in three days I will raise it up again," (Johr 
ii. 19.) — it was construed into a contemptuous disre- 
spect, designedly thrown out against the temple — his 
words instantly descended into the heart of a Jew, 
and kept rankling there for several years ; for upon 
his trial, this declaration, which it was impossible for 
a Jew ever to forget or to forgive, was alleged against 
him, as big with the most atrocious guilt and impiety, 
Matt. xxvi. 61. Nor was the rancor and virulence 
which this expression had occasioned at all softened 
by all the'affeeting circumstances of that excruciating 
and wretched death they saw him die — even as he 
hung upon the cross, with infinite triumph, scorn, 
and exultation, they upbraided him with it, contempt- 
uously shaking their heads, and saying, " O Thou, 
who couldest demolish our Temple, and rear it up 
again in all its splendor, in the space of three day's, do 
now save thyself, and descend from the cross ! " Matt, 
xxvii. 40. Their superstitious veneration for the 
temple further appears from the account of Stephen. 
When his adversaries were baffled and confounded 
by that superior wisdom, and those distinguished 
gifts he possessed, they were so exasperated at the 
victory he had gained over them, that they went and 
suborned persons to swear, that they had heard him 
speak blasphemy againsr Moses and against God. 
These inflaming the populace, the magistrates, and 
the Jewish clergy, he was seized, dragged away, and 
brought before "the Sanhedrim. Here the false wit- 
nesses, whom they had procured, stood up and said, 
" This person, before you, is continually uttering the 
most reproachful expressions against this sacred 
place," (Acts vi. 13.) meaning the temple. This was 
blasphemy not to be pardoned. A judicature com- 
posed of high -priests and scribes would never forgive 
such impiety. We witness the same thing in the 
case of Paul, when they imagined that he had taken 
Trophimus, an Ephesian, with him into the temple, 
and for which insult, they had determined to imbrue 
their hands in his blood, Acts xxi. 28, &c. 

We have only to add, that from several passages of 
Scripture it appears that the Jews had a body of sol- 
diers who guarded the temple, to prevent any dis- 
turbance during the ministration of such an immense 
number of the priests and Levites. To this body of 
men, whose office it was to guard the temple, Pilate 
probably referred, when he said to the chief priests 
and Pharisees who waited on him to desire he 
would make the sepulchre secure, "You have a 
watch : go your way and make it as secure as you 
can," Matt, xxvii. 65. Over these guards one person 
had the supreme command, who in several places is 
called captain of the temple, or officer of the temple 



TEMPLE 



[ 882 ] 



TEMPLE 



guards, Acts iv. 1 ; v. 25, 26 ; xviii. 12. Josephus 
mentions such an officer, Antiq. b. xx. 2. Wars, c. 17. 2. 

A few remarks on the daily service of the temple 
will close this article. 

The first thing we notice is the morning service. 
After having enjoyed their repose, the priests bathed 
themselves in the rooms provided for that purpose, 
and waited the arrival of the president of the lots. 
This officer having arrived, they divided themselves 
into two companies, each of which was provided with 
lamps or torches, and made a circuit of the temple, 
going in different directions, and meeting at the pas- 
tryman's chamber, on the south side of the gate Ni- 
canor. Having summoned him to prepare the cakes 
for the high-priest's meat-offering, they retired with 
the president to the south-east corner of the court, 
and cast lots for the duties connected with the altar. 
The priest being chosen to remove the ashes from 
the altar, he again washed his feet at the laver, and 
then with the silver shovel proceeded to his work. 
As soon as he had removed one shovel-full of the 
ashes, the other priests retired to wash their hands 
and feet, and then joined him in cleansing the altar and 
renewing the fires. The next duty was to cast lots for 
the thirteen particular duties connected with offering 
the sacrifice, which being settled, the president 
ordered one of them to fetch the lamb for the morn- 
ing sacrifice. While the priests on this duty were 
engaged in fetching and examining the victim, those 
who carried the keys were opening the seven gates 
o the court of Israel, and the two doors that sepa- 
rated between the porch and the holy place. When 
the last of the seven gates was opened, the silver 
trumpets gave a flourish, to call the Levites to their 
desks for the music, and the stationary men to their 
places, as the representatives of the people. The 
opening of the folding doors of the temple was the 
established signal for killing the sacrifice, which was 
cut in pieces and carried to the top of the altar, where 
it was salted, and left while the priests once more 
retired to the room Gazith to join in prayer. While 
the sacrifice was being slain in the court of the priests, 
the two priests appointed to trim the lamps and 
cleanse the altar of incense were attending to their 
duties in the holy place. After the conclusion of 
then - prayer, and a rehearsal of the ten command- 
ments and their phylacteries, the priests again cast 
lots, to choose two to offer incense on the golden 
altar, and another to Icy the pieces of the sacrifice on 
the fire of the brazen altar. The Y~t being deter- 
mined, the two who were to offer the incense pro- 
ceeded to discharge their duty, the time for which 
was, between the sprinkling of the blood and the lay- 
ing the pieces upon the altar, in the morning ; and 
in the evening between the laying the pieces upon 
the altar and the drink-offering. As they proceeded 
to the temple they rang the megemphita, or great bell, 
to warn the absent priests to come to worship ; the 
absent Levites to come to sing ; and the stationary 
men to bring to the gate Nicanor those whose purifica- 
tion was not perfected. The priest who carried the 
censer of coals, which had been taken from one of 
the three fires on the great altar, after kindling the 
fire on the incense altar, worshipped and came out 
into the porch, leaving the priest who had the incense 
alone in the holy place. As soon as the signal was 
given by the president, the incense was kindled, the 
holy place was filled with perfume, and the congrega- 
tion without joined in the prayers, Luke i. 9. These 
being ended, the priest, whose lot it was to lay the 
pieces of the sacrifice upon the altar, threw them into 



the fire, and then, taking the tongs, disposed them in 
somewhat of their natural order. The four priesta 
who had been in the holy place now appeared upon 
the steps that led to the porch, and, extending their 
arms, so as to raise their hands higher than their 
heads, one of them pronounced the solemn blessing, 
Numb. vi. 24 — 26. After this benediction, the daily 
meat-offering was offered ; then the meat-offering of 
the high-priest; and last of all the drink-offering; at 
the conclusion of which the Levites began the song 
of praise ; and, at every pause in the music, the 
trumpets sounded and the people worshipped. This 
was the termination of the morning service. It 
should be stated that the morning service of the priests 
began with the dawn of day, except in the great fes- 
tivals, when it began much earlier ; the sacrifice was 
offered immediately after sunrise. 

During the middle of the day the priests held them- 
selves in readiness to offer the sacrifices which might 
be presented by any of the Israelites, either of a vol- 
untary or an expiatory nature. Their duties would 
therefore vary according to the number and nature of 
the offerings they might have to present. 

The evening service varied in a very trifling measure 
from that of the morning ; and the same priests minis- 
tered, except when there was one in the house of 
their Father who had never burned incense, in which 
case that office was assigned to him ; or if there 
were more than one, they cast lots who should be -em- 
ployed. 

The holiness of the place, and the injunction of 
Lev. xix. 3, " Ye shall reverence my sanctuary," laid 
the people under an obligation to maintain a solemn 
and holy behavior when they came to worship in 
the temple. We have already seen, that such as were 
ceremonially unclean were forbidden to enter the 
sacred court on pain of death ; but in the course of 
time there were several prohibitions enforced by the 
Sanhedrim which the law had not named. The fol- 
lowing have been collected by Lightfoot out of the 
rabbinical writings : — (1.) "No man might enter the 
mountain of the house with his staff." — (2.) "None 
might enter in thither with his shoes on his feet," 
though he might with his sandals. — (3.) "Nor might 
any man enter the mountain of the house with his 
scrip on."— (4.) "Nor might he come in with the 
dust on his feet," but he must wash or wipe them, 
"and look to his feet when he entered into the house 
of God," to remind him, perhaps, that he should 
then shake off all worldly thoughts and affections. — (5.) 
"Nor with money in his purse." He might bring it 
in his hand however ; and in this way it was brought 
in for various purposes. If this had not been the case, 
it would seem strange that the cripple should have 
been placed at the gate of the temple, to ask alms of 
those who entered therein. (See Acts hi. 2.) — (6.) 
"None might spit in the temple : if he were necessi- 
tated to spit, it must be done in some corner of his 
garment." — (7.) "He might not use any irreverent 
gesture, especially before the gate of Nicanor," that be- 
ing exactly in front of the temple. — (8.) " He might not 
make the mountain of the house a thoroughfare," for 
the purpose of reaching the place by a nearer way : 
for it was devoted to the purposes of religion. — (9.) 
" He that went into the court must go leisurely and 
gravely into his place ; and there he must demean 
himself as in the presence of the Lord God, in all 
reverence and fear." — (10.) " He must worship stand- 
ing, with his feet close to each other, his eyes directed 
to the ground, his hands upf in his breast, with the right 
one above the left." (See Luke xviii 13.)— (11.) "No 



TEM 



[ 883 ] 



TEN 



one, however weary, might sit down in the court." 
The only exception was in favor of the kings of the 
house of David. — (12.) "None might pray with his 
head uncovered. And the wise men and their schol- 
ars never prayed without a veil." This custom is 
alluded to in 1 Cor. xi. 4, where the apostle directs 
the men to reverse the practice adopted in the Jew- 
ish temple. — (13.) Their bodily gesture, in bowing 
before the Lord, was either " bending of the knees," 
" bowing the head," or " falling prostrate on the 
ground." — (14.) Having performed the service, and 
being about to retire, "they might not turn their 
backs upon the altar." They therefore went back- 
ward till they were out of the court. (Temple Ser- 
vice, chap, x.) 

The word temple denotes, sometimes, the church 
of Christ: (Rev. hi. 12.) "Him that overcometh will 

1 make a pillar in the temple of my God." And Paul 
says, (2 Thess. ii. 4.) that Antichrist "as God sitteth 
in the temple of God, showing himself that he is 
God." Sometimes it imports heaven : (Ps. xi. 4.) 
"The Lord is in his holy temple : the Lord's throne 
is in heaven." The martyrs in heaven are said to be 
"before the throne of God, and to serve him clay and 
night in his temple," Rev. vii. 15. The soul of a 
righteous man is the temple of God, because it is in- 
habited by the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17 ; vi. 19 ; 

2 Cor. vi. 16. 

TEMPT, TEMPTATION, to try, to prove. God 
tempted Abraham, by commanding him to offer up 
his son Isaac ; (Gen. xxii. 1.) intending to prove his 
obedience and faith, to confirm and strengthen him 
by this trial, and to furnish in his person an example 
and pattern of perfect obedience, V, all succeeding 
ages. God does not tempt or try men, in order to 
ascertain their tempers and dispositions, as if he were 
ignorant of them ; but to exercise their virtve, to 
purify it, to render it conspicuous to others, to give 
them an opportunity of receiving favors from his 
hands. When we read in Scripture that God proved 
his people, whether they would walk in his law, or 
no ; (Exod. xvi. 4.) and that he permitted false proph- 
ets to arise among them, who prophesied vain things 
to try them, whether they would seek the Lord with 
their whole hearts, we should interpret these ex- 
pressions by that of James, (i. 13.) " Let no man say 
when he is tempted, ' I am tempted of God,' for God 
cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any 
man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn 
away by his own lust, and enticed." 

The devil tempts us to evil, of every kind, and lays 
snares for us, even in our best actions. He tempted 
our Saviour in the wilderness, and endeavored to in- 
fuse into him sentiments of pride, ambition and dis- 
trust, Matt. iv. 1 ; Mark i. 13 ; Luke iv. 2. He tempt- 
ed Ananias and Sapphira to lie to the Holy Ghost, 
Acts v. 3. In the prayer that Christ himself has 
taught us, we pray God " not to lead us into tempta- 
tion ;" (Matt. vi. 13.) and a little before his death, our 
Saviour exhorted his disciples to " watch and pray, 
that they might not enter into temptation," Matt.xxvi. 
41. Paul says, " God will not suffer us to be tempted 
above what we are able to bear," 1 Cor. x. 13. 

Men are said to tempt the Lord, when they un- 
seasonably require proofs of the divine presence, 
power or goodness. Without doubt, we are allowed 
to seek the Lord for his assistance, and to pray him 
to give us what we need ; but it is not allowed us to 
tempt him, nor to expose ourselves to dangers from 
which we cannot escape, unless by miraculous inter- 
position of his omnipotence. God is not obliged to 




work miracles in our favor ; he requires of us only 
the performance of such actions as are within the 
ordinary measures of our strength. The Israelites in 
the desert repeatedly tempted the Lord, as if they had 
reason to doubt of his presence among them, or of 
his goodness, or of his power, after all his appear- 
ances in their favor, Exod. xvi. 2, 7, 17 ; Numb. xx. 
12 ; Ps. lxxviii. 18, 41, &c. 

Men tempt or try one another, when they would 
know whether things are really what they seem to 
be ; whether men are such as they are thought or 
desired to be. The queen of Sheba came to prove 
the wisdom of Solomon, by proposing riddles for 
him to explain, 1 Kings xi. 1 ; 2 Chron ix. 1. Dan- 
iel desired of him who had the care of feeding him 
and his companions, to prove them for some days, 
whether abstinence from food of certain kinds would 
make them leaner, Dan. i. 12, 14. The suribes and 
Pharisees often tempted our Saviour, and endeavored 
to decoy him into their snares, Matt. xvi. 1 ; xix. 3 ; 
xxii. 18. 

TENT. Among the artificial conveniences for 



.fan 



the habitations of men, tents were of very early in- 
vention. Jabal, before the flood, is called the father 
of all such as dwell in tents. Noah, after the flood, 
slept in his tent, and prophesying of the future desti- 
ny of his family, Re said, " Japheth shall dwell in the 
tents of Shem." The patriarchal ages are described 
as of shepherds dwelling in tents. Abraham dwelt 
in tents with Isaac and Jacob ; Lot had flocks, and 
herds, and tents ; Jacob was a plain man, dwelling 
in tents, and his descendants succeeded a people de- 
signated Shepherd Kings, in the land of Goshen, un- 
der the Pharaohs of Egypt. On the exodus of the 
Israelites from Egypt, throughout their peregrina- 
tions, until they obtained the promised land, they 
adopted the same kind of habitation. Tents were 
very generally used in ancient times among the na- 
tions : their way of life being in general pastoral, 
locomotion became necessary for pasturage, and 
dwellings adapted for such a life became indispensa- 
ble. The Egyptians already mentioned, the Midian- 
ites, the Philistines, the Syrians, the descendants of 
Ham, the Hagarites and Cushanites are mentioned 
in Scripture as living in tents. But the people most 
remarkable for this unsettled and wandering mode 
of life are the Arabs, who, from the time of Ishmael 
to the present day, have continued the custom of 
dwelling in tents. Amidst the revolutions which 
have transferred kingdoms from one possessor to 
another, these wandering tribes still dwell, unsub- 
dued and wild as was their progenitor. This kind of 
dwelling is not, however, confined to the Arabs, but 
is used throughout the continent of Asia. The word 
tent is formed from the Latin, "to stretch;" tents 
being usually made of canvass stretched out, and sus- 
tained by poles with cords and pegs. The same may 
be understood of a tabernacle, a pavilion, or a porta- 
ble lodge, under which to shelter in the open air 
from the injuries of the weather. 



TENT 



L 884 ] 



TENT 



Mr. Taylor remarks, that erections answering the 
purpose of tents, however slight they may he, must 
have (1.) a supporting pole or poles, placed towards 
the centre ; (2.) hangings and curtains of some kind ; 
(3.) cords attached to (4.) pins, which are driven 
into the ground, in order to take sure hold of it. 

Of the various kinds of tents, some were made of 
slight materials, and others were erected for greater 
permanency ; others, again, were mere shades or 
hovels, and not made of canvass. Tents were also 
appropriated to different sexes ; Sarah had her tent ; 
Laban went into Jacob's tent ; Leah's tent, Rachel's 
tent, and the maid servant's tent, are also particular- 
ized. Sisera fled to Jaul's tent. The custom of set- 
ting apart tents for the use of the women, is still in 
use, perhaps, however, a little varied ; and the com- 
mon Arabs have a separate apartment in their tents 
for their wives, made by letting down a curtain or 
carpet from one of the pillars. The part of the tent 
thus appropriated is called harem; and no stranger is 
permitted to enter it, unless introduced. Hence, per- 
haps, Sisera's hope of greater security in the harem 
ofHeber, Jael's husband. There were also tents for 
cattle. From the slighter kind of tents, the town, or 
whatever else it might he, of Succoth was named ; 
(Gen. xxiii. 17.) and an allusion to the frailty of this 
description of shelter is made by Job, in chap, xxvii. 
18, which very aptly describes the prosperity of the 
wicked : — 

" He buildeth his house like the moth, 

Or like a shed which the watchman contriveth, 

His support shall rot away." 

The watchman is here supposed to be the keeper of 
a vineyard, and the shed of the simplest kind, and 
merely intended to defend him, while on guard, from 
the intense heat of the sun. The Vulgate translates 
the term umbrella, a little insignificant shade, proba- 
bly similar to those reared by the watch-negro on 
plantations in the West Indies, and which generally 
consists of four upright stakes joined together at right 
angles, to others which support a covering of plan- 
tain or banana leaves. 

Besides Succoth, two other terms are used in the 
sacred Scriptures to denote tents ; namely, sheken, 
which may perhaps be taken for an inferior kind of 
tent or tabernacle ; similar to the huts of the natives 
of New Holland, which are formed of a few branches 
crossing each other, covered with brush-wood and 
clay, six feet in depth, and four or five in breadth : 
the other, called abel, may denote a tent whose ac- 
commodation may be varied so as to suit a few per- 
sons, a family ; or great men, as generals and kings, 
enriched and ornamented. Of this kind of tent, a 
description is given by sir John Chardin, in his 
Travels, who relates that the deceased king of Persia 
caused a tent to be made that cost £150,000. It was 
called the house of gold, because there was nothing 
but gold that glistened in every part of it. Its cor- 
nice was embellished with verses, which concluded 
in this manner : " If thou still demandest at what 
time the throne of this second Solomon was built, I 
will tell thee — Behold the throne of the second Sol- 
omon :" here the last words being taken for numerals, 
make 1057, the date of the year. 

The Turks spare for nothing in rendering their 
tents convenient and magnificent ; those of the gran- 
dees are said to be exceedingly splendid, and entirely 
covered with silk, besides being lined with a stuff of 
the same material. Van Egmont and Heyman men- 



tion one which cost 25,000 piastres, and was not fin- 
ished in less than three years : it was lined with a 
single piece made of camels' hair, and beautifully 
decorated with festoons, and sentences in the Turk- 
ish language. Nadir Shah had a very superb tent, 
covered on the outside with scarlet broadcloth, and 
lined within with violet colored satin, ornamented 
with a great variety of animals, flowers, &c. formed 
entirely of pearls and precious stones. 

The tents of princes are frequently illuminated as a 
mark of honor and dignity. Norden tells us, that the 
tent of the bey of Girge was distinguished from these 
of others by lbrty lamps suspended before it, in the 
form of chequer work ; and the general appearance 
of the camp of Darius, as related in Quintus Curtius, 
is very characteristic of a modern Persian camp. 
Whoever has seen at night, at a distance, a Persian 
camp, or indeed a camp of any Asiatics, where im- 
mense fires are lighted in all parts of it, will be struck 
with the correctness of the similitude to a general 
conflagration. 

Tents are also of various colors ; black, as the 
tents of Kedar ; red, as of scarlet cloth ; yellow, as 
of gold shining brilliantly ; white, as of canvass. 
They are also of various shapes ; some circular, oth- 
ers of an oblong figure, not unlike the bottom of a 
ship turned upside down. In Syria, the tents are 
generally made of cloth of goats' hair, woven by wo- 
men. Those of the Arabs are of black goats' hair. 
Some other nations adopt the same kind, but it is not 
common. Thevenot says, the Curds of Mesopotamia 
do. The modern royal tents of the Arabs have gen- 
erally no other covering than black hair-cloth. The 
Turcomans, who are a nation living in the Holy 
Land, dwell in tents of white linen cloth : they are 
very neat in their camps, and lie in good beds. The 
Egyptian and Moorish inhabitants of Askalon are 
said to use white tents ; and D'Arvieux mentions that 
the tent of an Arab emir he visited, was distinguished 
from the rest by its being of white cloth. 

The Roman emperors had an ancient custom of 
spreading a scarlet cloak over their tents, to distin- 
guish those of officers of rank. Among the Mame- 
lukes, the tents are often of cloth, and highly orna- 
mented. Lieutenant Brown, of the Royal Navy, 
brought an entire tent from the late Egyptian expe- 
dition. It was of strong sail-cloth, of a leaden hue, 
but ornamented with painting. Mr. Jackson, in his 
over-land journey from India, on his entering the 
Tigris, in the place where the river Hil joins with it, 
near a small town called Coote, fell in with a Turk- 
ish encampment, which appeared to him beautiful, 
some of the tents being red, some green, and some 
white. (Harmer's Observations, 1816.) Olearius, 
attending the ambassadors of Holstein Gottorp, who 
were invited by a late Persian monarch to accompany 
him on a party of pleasure for hunting, hawking, 
&c. found in a village many tents prepared for the 
reception of the company, which, by the variety of 
their colors, and the peculiar manner in which they 
were pitched, made a most pleasing appearance. 

Tents are still used for religious solemnities, as will 
appear from the following extracts : — When De Perry 
arrived at Siiit, a large town near the Nile, about 70 
leagues above Cairo, it was " the first day of Biram : 
and, going to the town, we found many tents pitched, 
and an innumerable concourse of people without the 
town, to the southward of it. These people were 
partly of Siiit, and partly from the circumjacent vil- 
lages, who came thither to celebrate the happy day. :s 
The Rev. Cornelius Rahum, a missionary, visiting 



TER 



L 685 1 



TH A 



Dorbat Horde by whom the Calmuc superstitions are 
held in veneration, describes it thus : — " We went out 
to the 'Churuhy this is the name of that part of the 
encampment where the temple Kibitjes, (or sacred 
tents,) and those belonging to the lama and gallongs, 
or priests, are pitched. The word is derived from a 
verb which signifies 'to gather,' and in this place all 
ordinary assemblies for worship are held. In the 
church were six temple Kibitjes." 

A custom prevails in the East, of persons in all sta- 
tions of life living in certain seasons of the year in 
tents, whilst in other seasons they dwell in houses. 
Dr. Pococke mentions a pleasant place near Aleppo, 
where he met an aga, who had a great entertain- 
ment, accompanied with music, under tents. The 
custom of taking air in the neighborhood of Cairo in 
tents, is noticed by Maillet as a matter of course. 

It was customary to pitch tents near water-springs 
or fountains. The army of Ishbosheth sat down by 
the pool of Gibeon, 2 Sam. xx. 12, 13. Chardin in- 
forms us that Tahmasp, the Persian monarch, used 
to retire, in the summer, three or four leagues into 
the country, where he lived in tents, at the foot of 
mount Olouvent, in a place abounding in cool springs 
and pleasant shrubs. The following stanza from the 
Bedavi, a Persian poet, translated by Fox, will fur- 
ther illustrate this. Speaking of the shepherd, he 
says, 

" Or haply when the summer sun-beam pours 
Intensely o'er th' unshaded wide extent, 

He leads instinctive where the grove embowers, 
And rears beside the brook his shelt'ring tent." 

The words succoth and masac are variously ren- 
dered in our translation, curtain, tabernacle, covert, 
pavilion, college, booth, tent, a hanging, and a 
covering. 

TEPHILIM, i.q. Frontlets, which see. 

TERAH, son of Nahor, and father of Nahor, Ha- 
ran and Abraham, (Gen. xi. 24.) was born A. M. 1878. 
He begat Abraham at the age of 72 years, scad, left 
Ur, of the Chaldeans, to settle at Haran, in Mesopo- 
tamia, A. M. 2082, Gen. xi. 31, 32. He died there 
the same year, aged 275 years. Scripture intimates 
plainly, that Terah had fallen into idolatry, (Josh, 
xxiv. 2 — 14.) and some think that Abraham himself 
at first, worshipped idols ; but that afterwards, God 
being gracious to him, convinced him of the vanity 
of this worship, and that he undeceived his father 
Terah. See Abraham. 

TERAPHIM, idols, or superstitious figures, to 
which extraordinary effects were ascribed. The 
eastern people are still much addicted to this super- 
stition of talismans. The Persians call them telefin, 
a name nearly approaching to teraphim. Those of 
Rachel must have been images, made of some pre- 
cious metal. See Gen. xxxi. 19 ; 1 Sam. xv. 23 ; 
Judg. xvii. 5 ; Ezek. xxi. 21 ; Zech. x. 2, where the 
word teraphim is used for an idol, or superstitious 
figure. See Ear-rings, and Amulets. 

The prophet Hosea, (iii. 4, 5.) threatening Israel, 
says, " The children of Israel shall abide many days 
without a king, and without a prince, and without a 
sacrifice, and without an image, and without an 
ephod, and without teraphim :" that is, during their 
captivity they shall be deprived of the public exercise 
of their religion, and even weaned from their private 
superstition. The passage is highly descriptive of 
the depth of their iffering. (See Fragment, 733.) 

TEREBINTH. The Heb. dSn is sometimes ren- 



dered by the ancient versions oak, and sometimes 
terebinth. The latter is the Pistacia 2'erebinthus of 
Linnaeus, or the common turpentine tree, whose resin 
or juice is the Chian or Cyprus turpentine, used in 
medicine, and finer than that produced by the fir 
tribe. The tree grows to a large size and great age, 
and is common in Palestine. According to Pliny, it 
is an evergreen ; although this does not coincide with 
the experience of modern botanists. The Hebrew 
word would seem rather to be used, in a broader 
sense, of any large tree in general ; like the Greek 
(Jotic. In Is. vi. 13, it is improperly translated teil- 
tree, which is the same as the lime or linden. *R. 

TERTIUS, Patd's amanuensis in writing his epis- 
tle to the Romans, Rom. xvi. 22. Lightfoot conjec- 
tures that he was the same as Silas, this Hebrew name 
signifying the same as the Latin Tertius. 

TERTULLUS, an advocate who pleaded against 
Paul before Felix, governor of Judea, A. D. 58, Acts 
xxiv. 1 — 9. 

TESTAMENT is commonly taken in Scripture 
for the covenant, the law, the promises. See Cove- 
nant. 

TESTIMONY, a proof, testimony or witness. 
(See Exod. xx. 16 ; xxin. 1 ; Gen. xxxi. 47, 48, 52 ; 
Josh. xxii. 27 ; John i. b ; v. 31, &c.) 

The law is called a testimony, Ps. cxix. passim, 
because when the Lord gave it to the Israelites, he 
gave testimony of his presence by prodigies performed 
before them, and he required an oath of them, that 
they should continue faithful to him. The ark is 
called the ark of testimony, because it contained the 
tables of the law ; so the tabernacle of testimony, be- 
cause in that tent the tables of the law were kept. 

TETRARCH, a sovereign of a fourtn part of a 
state, province or kingdom, Matt. xiv. 1 ; Luke iii. 1, 
19 ; ix. 7 ; Acts xiii". 1. It was a title frequent among 
the descendants of Herod the Great, to whom the 
Roman emperors distributed his dominions at theij 
pleasure. But the word tetrarch ought not to be un- 
derstood rigorously, as it was occasionally given to t 
prince who possessed, perhaps, a half, or a third part, 
of a state. 

I. THADDEUS, a surname of Jude the apostle, 
Mark iii. 18. 

II. THADDEUS, one of the seventy disciples 
who is related to have been sent to king Abgarus at 
Edessa. (Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. 13.) 

THANKSGIVING, the act of acknowledging the 
mercies of God. (See Praise.) There are various' 
modes, under the Old Testament, of offering thanks- 
giving ; sometimes it was public, sometimes in the 
family. It was frequently accompanied by sacri- 
fices (2 Chron. xxix. 31.) and peace-offerings, or 
offerings of pure devotion, arising from the sentiments 
of gratitude in the offerer's own mind, Lev. vii. 12, 
15 ; Ps. cvii. 23 ; cxvi. 7. It is usually connected 
with praise, joy, gladness, and the voice of melody, 
(lsa. li. 3.) or (as Neb. xi. 17.) with singing and with 
honor ; (Rev. vii. 12.) but occasionally, if not gener- 
ally, with supplication (Phil. iv. 6.) and prayer, 1 Tim. 
ii. 3 ; Neh. xi. 17. For thanksgiving, we have ex- 
amples in the best men in adages, and also in Christ 
our Lord. Whoever possesses any good without 
giving thanks for it, deprives him who bestows that 
good of his glory, sets a bad example before others, 
and prepares a recollection severely painful for him- 
self, when he comes in his turn to experience ingrati- 
tude. Let only that man withhold thanksgiving, who 
has no enjoyments for which to give thanks. 

THARSHISII, see Tarshish II. 



THE 



[ 866 ] 



THE 



THEBET, see Tebeth. 

THEBEZ, a city of Ephraim, at the siege of which 
Abimelech, son of Gideon, was killed, Judg. ix. 50, 
&c. Eusebius says, there was a village called 
Thebes, 13 miles from Shechem, towards Scy- 
thopolis. 

THEFT, among the Hebrews, was not punished 
with death : (Prov. vi. 30, 31.) "Men do not despise 
[overlook?] a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul 
when he is hungry. But if he be found, he shall 
restore seven-fold ; he shall give all the substance of 
his house." The Mosaic law condemned a common 
thief to make double restitution, Exod. xxii. 4. If he 
stole an ox, he was to restore five-fold ; if a sheep, 
only four-fold, Exod. xxii. 1. But if the animal 
stolen were found alive in his house, he only rendered 
the double of it. If he did not make restitution, they 
seized and sold his property, his house, and even 
himself, if he had not wherewith to make satisfaction, 
Exod. xxii. 23. In the passage of Proverhs, the wise 
man seems to say, that the thief should restore seven- 
fold the value stolen ; but seven-fold is here put for 
many-fold. Zaccheus declared he would restore four- 
fold whatever he had fraudulently acquired in his 
office of publican, (Luke xix. 8.) because the civil law 
condemned receivers of the public money to a four- 
fold restitution of their unjust gains. 

If a thief were taken, and carried before a magis- 
trate, he was interrogated judicially, and adjured in 
the name of the Lord to confess the fact. If he per- 
sisted in denying it, and was afterwards convicted of 
perjury, he was condemned to death ; not for the 
theft, but for the perjury. An accomplice, or receiver 
of stolen goods, was subject to the same penalty, if 
he did not discover the truth to the judges, when he 
was examined, and adjured in the name of the Lord, 
Lev. v. 1 ; Prov. xxix. 24. To sfeal a freeman, or 
a Hebrew, and to reduce him to servitude, was pun- 
ished with death, Exod. xxi. 16. If a stranger were 
stolen, the thief was only condemned to restitution. 

The night-robber might be killed with impunity in 
the fact ; but not a thief taken stealing in the day- 
time, Exod. xxii. 2. It was presumed, that he who 
attempted to break open a house, and steal by night, 
had a design on the life of the person molested ; and 
under this presumption he might be prevented and 
killed. But it was not so with him who stole by 
day ; there was then opportunity of defence against 
such an attack ; and the thief might be prosecuted 
before the judges, and compelled to make resti- 
tution. 

THEOPHILUS, an honorable person, to whom 
the evangelist Luke addressed his Gospel, and the 
Acts of the Apostles, Luke i. 3; Acts i. 1. He was 
probably a Christian of quality, and most likely gov- 
ernor or intendant of some province ; such having 
generally the title of most excellent. It is right to ob- 
serve, however, that it does not of necessity imply a 
Roman appellation of honor ; nor does the name 
Theophilus occur in Roman history, as a governor. 
It is found among the Jewish high-priests, in a son 
of Annas, who was high-priest in the year when our 
Saviour was crucified. Theophilus was nominated 
to that office instead of his brother Jonathan, who 
had been deposed by Vitellius, (Joseph. Ant. xviii. 
xix. xx.) and Michaelis countenances the notion 
that this was Luke's Theophilus. [We can only say 
of Luke's friend, in general, that most probably he 
was a man of some note, who lived out of Palestine, 
and had abjured paganism in order to embrace 
Christianity. R. 



THESSALONICA, a city and seaport of the 
second part of Macedonia. [It is situated at the head 
of the Sinus Thermaicus. When ^Emilius Paulus, 
after his conquest ol'Macedonia, divided the country 
into four districts, this city was made the capital of 
the second division, and was the station of a Roman 
governor and questor. (Liv. xlv. 29.) It was an- 
ciently called Therma, but afterwards received the 
name of Thessalonica, either from Cassander, in 
honor of his wife Thessalonica, the daughter of 
Philip ; or from Philip himself, in memory of a vic- 
tory obtained over the armies of Thessaly. (Diod. 
Sic. xix. 35 et 52. coll. Strab. vii. p. 509.) It was in- 
habited by Greeks, Romans and Jews, from among 
whom the apostle Paul gathered a numerous 
church. R.] There was a large number of Jews 
resident in this city, where they had a synagogue, in 
which Paul (A. D. 52) preached to them on three 
successive sabbaths. Some of the Jews, and many 
of the Gentiles, embraced the gospel, but the rest of 
the Jews determined to maltreat the apostle, and 
surrounded the house in which they believed he was 
lodging. The brethren, however, secretly led Paul 
and Silas out of the city, towards Berea, and they 
escaped from their enemies, Acts xvii. Thessalonica, 
now called Saloniki, is at present a wretched town, 
but having a population of about 60,000 persons. 

When Paul left Macedonia for Athens and Cor- 
inth, he left behind him Timothy and Silas, that they 
might confirm those in the faith who had been con- 
verted under his ministry. Being subsequently in- 
formed by them of the state of the church in Thes- 
salonica, he addressed to them the first of the two 
Epistles, so directed, in our present canon, A. D. 52, 
or 53. 

In this letter, the apostle instructs them concerning 
the last judgment, and of the manner and measure 
with which Christians should be afflicted for the 
death of their relations. He expresses much affec- 
tion and tenderness for them, with an earnest desire 
of coming to see them. He reproves them with much 
mildness and prudence, intermingling expressions of 
praise, and marks of tenderness, with his reprehen- 
sions. The Second Epistle was written from Corinth, 
a short time after the First ; and in it the apostle cau- 
tions the Thessalonians against misapprehensions 
occasioned by a false interpretation of a passage in 
his former Epistle, as if he had said, that the day of 
the Lord was at hand. He exhorts them to continue 
steadfast in the doctrine and traditions he had taught 
them, and to suffer with constancy under persecu- 
tion. He reproves, more vehemently than before, 
those who lived in idleness and vain curiosity ; and 
directs his converts to separate from them, that at 
least they might be ashamed of their trifling, and re- 
form it. He signs the letter with his own hand, and 
desires them to mark it well, that they might not be 
imposed on by supposititious letters, written in his 
name, by which, perhaps, they had formerly been 
deceived. (See chap. ii. 2.) 

THEUDAS, the name of a seditious person, who 
excited popular tumults, probably during the interreg- 
num which followed the death of Herod the Great, 
while Archelaus was absent at Rome ; at which time 
Judea was agitated with frequent seditions, Acts v. 
36. The person spoken of by Gamaliel cannot be 
the Theudas mentioned by Josephus, (Ant. xx. 5. 1.) 
since the latter appeared during the reign of Clau- 
dius, after the death of Herod Agrippa I. and waa 
destroyed by Cuspius Fadus, then procurator of 
Syria and Judea, about 14 or 15 years after the tirpp 



THO 



L 887*] 



THO 



when the advice of Gamaliel was given. (See 
Kuinoel.) *R. 

THIMNATHAH, (Josh. xix. 43.) the same as 
Timnath, which see. , 

THIRST is a painful, natural sensation, occasioned 
by the absence of moistening liquors from the stom- 
ach. As this sensation is accompanied by vehement 
desire, the term is sometimes used in Scripture in a 
moral sense, for a mental desire ; as Jer. ii. 25 : " With- 
hold thy throat from thirst ; but thou saidst, I loved 
strangers, and after them will I go." In other words, 
" I desire the commission of sin — I thirst for criminal 
indulgence." And Matt. v. 6, " Blessed are they who 
hunger and thirst after righteousness." Ps. xliii. 2, 
"My soul thirsteth for God." The same figure is 
employed in the discourse of our Lord with the 
woman of Samaria : " Whosoever drinketh of the 
water which I shall give him shall never thirst ; " an 
allusion which the woman mistook as if intended of 
natural water, drawn from some spring possessing 
peculiar properties. 

THOMAS, the apostle, (Matt. x. 3.) called in 
Greek Didymus, (John xx. 24.) was probably a Gali- 
lean, as well as the other apostles ; but the place of 
his birth, and the circumstances of his calling, are 
unknown. He was appointed an apostle A. D. 31, 
(Luke vi. 13 — 15.) and continued to follow our Sa- 
viour during the three years of his preaching. We 
know no particulars of his life, till A. D. 33, a little 
before the passion of Christ ; when Jesus intending 
to go to Judea to raise Lazarus, Thomas said to the 
rest, "Let us also go, that we may die with him," 
(John xi. 16.) meaning that by going to Judea they 
should be exposed to certain death from the hatred 
and malice of the Jews against his Master. At the 
last supper (John xiv. 5, 6.) Thomas asked Christ 
whither he was going, and what way. Our Saviour 
answered, "I am the way, and the truth, and the 
life." After the resurrection, when Christ appeared 
to his apostles, in the absence of Thomas, he so far 
expressed his disbelief in what they assured him of, 
as to say, "Excert I shall see in his hands the print 
of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the 
nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not be- 
lieve," John xx. 19 — 29. Eight days after, Jesus 
appeared to the apostles, Thomas being with them, 
who, having both seen and touched him, no longer 
doubted, but cried out, " My Lord, and my God ! " 
Jesus said to him, " Thomas, because thou hast seen, 
thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not 
seen, and yet have believed." A few days after, while 
Thomas and some other disciples were fishing, on the 
sea of Galilee, Jesus appeared to them, caused them 
to take a very great draught of fishes, and dined with 
them. 

Tradition says, that in the distribution of the apos- 
tles to the several parts of the world, to preach the 
gospel, the country of the Parthians was allotted to 
Thomas, who preached to the Medes, the Persians, 
the Caramanians, the Hircanians, the Bactrians, and 
the Magians, people whic*h then composed the empire 
of the Parthians. The author of the Imperfect Work 
on Matthew says, that being arrived at the country in 
which the Magi were still living, who came to worship 
Christ at Bethlehem, he baptized them, and employed 
them in preaching the gospel. Several of the Fa- 
thers inform us, that he preached in the Indies ; and 
others say, that he preached in Ethiopia, near the 
Caspian sea. 

There are Christians in the East Indies, which 
bear the name of St. Thomas, beca» «<? they report 



that this apostle preached the gospel there. They 
dwell in a peninsula of the Indus, on this side the 
gulf. There are also many in the kingdom of Cran- 
ganor, and in neighboring places ; as also at Negapa- 
tam, Meliapur, Engamar, beyond Cochin, where their 
archbishop resides, who acknowledges the jurisdic- 
tion of the patriarch of Babylon. It is said that the 
first Christians of the Indies, converted by Thomas, 
relapsed into their former infidelity, and so far forgot 
the instructions they had received from the apostle, 
that they did not remember there had ever been any 
Christians in their country. They believe that a 
certain holy man, called Mar-Thome, a Syrian, 
brought them the light of the gospel, and converted 
a great number of the people, with the assistance of 
some priests from Syria and Egypt, whom he invited 
thither. Calmet inclines to believe, that they derived 
the name of Christians of St. Thomas only from 
Mar-Thome ; but Mr. Taylor remarks, that the uni- 
form tradition and testimony of their writers, as col- 
lected by Asseman, forms a body of evidence on this 
subject which it is very difficult to resist. Thomas 
travelled very far east ; and it can hardly be suppos- 
ed that the Syrians would introduce into their pub- 
lic worship, commemorations of him, with thanks- 
givings to God for his zeal and example, unless their 
ecclesiastics, who composed such ancient ritual, 
thought themselves warranted by facts. There re- 
mains, however, the question, what countries the 
Syrian writers intended by the terms they use. 
When they speak of China, it does not necessarily 
follow that they mean the country we now call 
China ; and certainly not in its whole extent. It 
appears to be prudent to restrict the evangelical 
labors of Thomas to the peninsula of India; yet with- 
out denying that he might in some excursion, by sea 
or land, touch on some part of the Chinese empire. 
Here he might first plant the gospel ; but he returned 
to his residence in India. The confusion occasioned 
by the revival, under a second Thomas, should not 
be allowed to invalidate the evidence that fixes so 
firmly on the first. 

THORNS. There are several species of thorns 
or briers, and not less than eight different words are 
employed by the sacred writers to denote one or other 
of them. The first time they are mentioned is in 
Gen. iii. 18, (nni yip) " thorns and thistles." The 
word yip is put for thorns in other places, (Exod 
xxii. 6 ; Judg. viii. 6 ; xxviii. 24.) but it is not certain 
whether it means a specific kind of thorn, or is a 
generic name for all kinds of thorny plants. In the 
passage first cited, it seems to be used generally, for 
all those noxious plants, shrubs, &c. by which the 
labors of the husbandman are impeded, and which 
are only fit for burning. The radical import of the 
word is to fret, to ivound, or to tear. 

In Judges viii. 16, we read of Gideon taking 
"thorns," (pp) and "briers" (e»jp-o.) The former 
word we have noticed ; the latter now claims our at- 
tention. There can be no doubt that it means a 
sharp, jagged kind of plant ; ihe difficulty is to fix on 
one, where so many offer themselves. The LXX 
preserve the original word. We should hardly think, 
says Mr. Taylor, that Gideon went far to seek these 
plants ; the " thorns " are expressly said to be from 
the "wilderness," or common, hard by ; probably the 
barkdnim were from the same place. In our country 
this would lead us to the black-berry bushes on our 
commons ; but it might not be so around Succoth. 
There, is a plant mentioned by Hasselquist, whose 
name and properties somewhat resemble those whic'r 



THORNS 



866 ] 



THORNS 



are required in the barkanim of this passage : " Nabca 
paliurus Athenei, the nabka of the Arabs. There is 
every appearance of this being the tree which fur- 
bished the crown of thorns put on the head of our 
Lord. It is common in the East ; a plant more 
proper for this purpose could not be selected ; for it 
is armed with thorns ; its branches are supple and 
pliant, and its leaf of a deep green, like that of the 
ivy. Perhaps the enemies of Christ chose this plant, 
in order to add insult to punishment, by employing a 
plant approaching in appearance that which was used 
to crown emperors arid generals." I am not sure, 
continues Mr. Taylor, whether something of the same 
ideas did not influence Gideon : at least, it is remark- 
able, that though in ver. .7, he threatens to thrash the 
flesh of the men of Succoth with thorns, that is, to 
heat them severely, yet, in ver. 16, it is said, he taught, 
made to know, perhaps made to be known by wear- 
ing them, as at once insult and punishment. The 
change of words deserves notice ; and so does the ob- 
servation, that " lie slew the men of Penuel," which 
is not said of tlie men of Succoth. If the nabka 
(naba/ca) of the Arabs might be the na-barkan of this 
passage, the idea of its employment is remarkably 
coincident in the two instances. [The bar/cdnim of 
Gideon are understood by Gesenius to be the sharp 
stones (sometimes, perhaps, thorns) underneath the 
thrashing machines of the Hebrews ; and these 
Gideon used as instruments of punishment and tor- 
ture. See Thrashing. R. 

Another word used to denote a plant of this de- 
scription, is — ijs, tzenim, Numb, xxxiii. 55 ; Josh, 
xxiii. 13, and Job v. 5. From its application, it 
seems to describe a bad kind of thorn : " But if ye 
will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from 
before you, then it shall come to pass, that those 
which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your 
eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in 
the land wherein ye dwell," Numb, xxxiii. 55. So in 
the second passage referred to. The passage in Job 
is thus rendered by Good — 

Their harvest the wild starveling devoureth ; 
He seizeth it to the very thorns ; 

which supports the interpretation of the word above 
proposed, as far as the idea is concerned, although 
Dr. Good seems inclined to think, with Symmachus 
and Jerome, that the allusion is here rather to " hos- 
tile arms " than to vegetable prickles. Perhaps 
Eliphaz may refer to a hedge of thorns, which sur- 
rounds for security a thrashing-floor, granary, or 
some such place ; and Dr. Harris proposes, as the 
particular kind, the rhamnus paliurus, a deciduous 

flant or tree, a native of Palestine, Spain and Italy, 
t will grow nearly to the height of fourteen feet, and 
is armed with sharp thorns, two of which are at the 
insertion of each branch, one of them straight and 
upright, the other bent backward. 

In Prov. xv. 19, there is a beautiful apophthegm, 
which involves a reference to some kind of thorny 
shrub : — 

The way of the slothful is as a hedge of thorns . 
But the way of the righteous is plain. 

The word here used is pin, chedek, but the particular 
kind of thorn which is intended, it seems hardly pos- 
sible to determine. Celsius and Ray make it the 
solanum pomiferum fructu spinoso ; but Dr. Harris 
thinks it is the eolutea spinosa of Forskal, which is 



called in the Arabic keddad, and of which there is an 
engraving in Russell. In Mic. vii. 4, the same word 
is translated "brier," and perhaps here the same 
word may be retained without injury to the passage. 
Perhaps, too, this chedek may be a plant of some 
verdure, like our brier, and of which we call a scented 
kind " sweet-brier ; " so a judge — the comparison in 
Micah — may be a well-looking (q. verdant) character, 
but if he take bribes he becomes a brier, holding 
every thing that comes within his reach, hooking all 
he can catch ; not a sweet-brier, but a rank weed : 

Sauciat atque rapit spinus paliurus acutis : 
Hoc etiam judex semper avarus agit. 

With regard to the passage in the Proverbs, there is 
a beautiful opposition, which is lost in our render- 
ing : — " The narroiv way of the slothful is like per- 
plexed pathways among sharp thorns: whereas, the 
broad road of the righteous is a high bank ;" (as ren- 
dered elsewhere, a causeioay ;) that is, straight for- 
ward ; free from obstructions ; the direct, conspicu- 
ous, open path. (1.) The common course of life of 
these two characters answers to this comparison. (2.) 
Their manner of going about business, or of trans- 
acting it, answers to this: an idle man always prefers 
the most intricate, the most oblique, and eventually 
the most thorny measures, to accomplish his purpose ; 
the honest man prefers the most liberal and straight- 
forward. 

We have no means of determining the kind of 
plant meant by oto, sirim, rendered " thorns," in 
Exod. vii. 6 ; Nah. i. 10, and Hos. ii. 6. In Exod. 
and Nah. they are spoken of as a kind of fuel which 
quickly burns up, and in Hos. as obstructions or 
hedges. The like uncertainty attends our inquiry as 
to the c^nin, " thorns, " of 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11 ; Prov. 
xxvi. 9 ; Cant. ii. 2 ; Hos. ix. 6. Its etymology 
would lead us to look for a kind of thorn with incur- 
vated spines, like fish-hooks. In 2 Kings xiv. 9 ; 2 
Chron. xxv. 18 ; Job xxxi. 18, the word nin is ren- 
dered " thistle ; " in Job xli. 2, " hook ; " in 1 Sam. xiii. 
6, " thicket ; " and in Isa. xxxiv. 14, " bramble." 

The cviisyj, natzutzim of Isa. vii. 19, is taken for 
" thorns " by the Chaldee interpreters, and also by 
our translators ; but bishop Lowth renders it " thick- 
ets," referring it, probably, to the root yy, a tree. Mr. 
Taylor, however, thinks that it refers rather to places 
than to plants — meadows, or flowery meads. Bate 
thinks that the cMni, nehellim, with which it is asso- 
ciated, and which we render " bushes," should rather 
be understood of " pasture grounds, where flocks are 
tended;" and as this makes three out of the four 
subjects mentioned places, the fourth also, by parity, 
should be a place, not a plant. This would lead to 
the following distribution of the passage : — 

In that day, 

The Lord shall hiss for the fly 

W hich is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, 
Which shall come and settle on all flowery meads, 
And on all fruitful pastures. 
And for the bee, 
Which is in the land of Assyria, 
Which shall come and settle on all abandoned val- 
leys 

And in the crevices (or clefts) of the rock. 

The pSc, sillon, of Gen. iii. 18 ; Josh, xxiii. 13 ; 
Ezek. ii. 6, and chap, xxviii. 24, is thought by some 
to be a kind of thorn, oversoreading a large surface 



.THORNS 



L 889 1 



THR 



of ground, as the dew-brier. Mr. Taylor, from its 
association in the two last passages, inclines to think 
that some kind of animal is intended, rather than a 
vegetable substance. His reasons, however, seem to 
possess little weight, and the passage in Gen. iii. 18, 
appears decisive for a thorny plant of some descrip- 
tion, though the particular kind cannot be ascertained. 
From the vexatious characters ascribed to it, Harris 
thinks it to be the hantuffa as described by Bruce. 

The isia, sirpad, of Isa. lv. 13, means, apparently, 
some kind of wide-spreading thorn. Hiller calls it 
the ruscus. 

In addition to the words already enumerated, we 
find Sim, cherul, used in Job xxx. 7 ; Prov. xxiv. 31, 
and Zeph. ii. 9. It is only in the second passage, 
however, that it is rendered thorn, and the particular 
kind it is impossible to determine. Indeed, it is no 
wonder, that among so many kinds of thorns as are to 
be found in the East, we should be embarrassed in 
identifying them. [The difficulty in all the preceding 
remarks is, that the writers have felt no embarrass- 
ment, but have decided with self-complacency, where 
real scholars are at a loss. R. 

The word employed in the New Testament for 
" thorns " is "Axav-da. Wetstein has quoted a pas- 
sage from Galen, very similar to Matt. vii. 16 : " The 
husbandman would never be able to make the thorn 
produce grapes." On Matt, xxvii. 29, Harris cites, 
with apparent approbation, Dr. Pearce's note on the 
passage, which is as follows : " The word axUv9u>v 
may as well be the plural genitive case of the word 
axav$og, as of axavdii ; if of the latter, it is rightly 
translated ' of thorns,' but the former would signify 
what we call ' bear's foot ; ' and the French ' branche 
ursine.' This is not of the thorny kind of plants, 
but is soft and smooth. Virgil calls it ' mollis acan- 
thus,' so does Pliny secundus ; and Pliny the elder says 
that it is ' lsevis,' smooth, and that it is one of those 
plants that are cultivated in gardens. I have some- 
where read, but cannot at present tell where, that this 
soft and smooth herb was very common in and about 
Jerusalem. I find nothing in the New Testament 
concerning the crown which Pilate's soldiers put on 
the head of Jesus to incline one to think that it was 
of thorns, and intended, as is usually supposed, to put 
Mm to pain. The reed put into his hand, and the 
scarlet robe on his back, were meant only as marks 
of mockery and contempt. One may also reasonably 
judge by the soldiers being said to plait this crown, 
that it was not composed of such twigs and leaves as 
were of a thorny nature. I do not find that it is 
mentioned by any of the primitive Christian writers 
as an instance of the cruelty used towards our Sa- 
viour before he was led to crucifixion, till the time 
of Tertullian, who lived after Jesus' death at the dis- 
tance of above one hundred and sixty years. He, 
indeed, seems to have understood axav9wv in the 
sense of thorns, and says, " Quale oro te, Jesus 
Christus sertum pro utroque sexu subiit ? Ex spinis, 
opinor, et tribulis." The total silence of Polycarp, 
Barnabas, CI: Romanus, and all the other Christian 
writers whose works are now extant, and who wrote 
before Tertullian, in particular, will give some weight 
to incline one to think that this crown was not plaited 
with thorns. 

This conjecture of Pearce, which has been em- 
braced by Michaelis, is solidly refuted by Campbell. 
Not a single version favors it ; and, as Bloomfield re- 
marks, the word proposed occurs no where in the 
New Testament or the Septuagint. The Italian and 
Syriac render thorns ; and the ancient Greek and 
112 



Latin fathers so took it. There is, therefore, me 
highest probability opposed to mere conjecture. 
Bodaeus and Theophylact think that our Lord's 
crown was of acacia ; others conjecture differently. 
It was, doubtless, of some kind of prickly shrub, 
though what that was cannot now be ascertained. 
Certainly it was not of mere thorns, nor pressed upon 
his head with an intent to torture him ; every thing 
in this occurrence seems to have been done with a 
view to mockery and derision, not pain ; and, as 
Whitby remarks, not to deride Christ's pretensions 
to the Messiahship, but to his title to be king of the 
Jews. Doddridge thinks, that had ridicule alone 
been intended, a crown of straws might have done as 
well. But ci-owns were usually made of such shrubs 
as admitted of being ivoven, and such are usually 
more or less prickly. That they meant cruelty, he 
argues from their striking him ; but with what ? — a 
reed, not a cane ; or, as Doddridge thinks, a walking- 
staff, as Wetstein has satisfactorily shown. 

THOUGHT, THINKING, are words not always 
used in Scripture for the simple operation of the 
mind ; but as including a formed design of doing 
something. (See Jer. xi. 19 ; Gen. xi. 6, &c.) 

When our translation was made, the word thought 
included the sense of anxiety, solicitude, apprehen- 
sion ; so that when we are directed to " take no 
thought for the morrow," the meaning was, no anxi- 
ety, no carking carefulness ; the same when we are 
told to take no thought for our life, or living, (Matt, 
vi. 8.) or for raiment, Luke xii. 26. Which of you, 
by taking thought, by anxiety, by solicitude, can add 
one cubit to his stature, or to his age ? verse 25. It 
cannot be supposed that our Lord forbids a proper 
care, foresight, or provision for future time : he only 
meant to restrain immoderate desire, anguish of mind, 
corroding cares, avarice. 

THRASHING, the separating of corn from the 
shell or husk in which it is enclosed. In England 
this operation was, till lately, usually performed by the 
staff or flail ; but it was not so among the Hebrews. 

In Isaiah xli. 15, we read, " Behold, I will make 
thee a new sharp thrashing instrument, having teeth; 
thou shalt thrash the mountains, and beat them small, 
and shalt make the hills as chaff ; thou shalt fan 
them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the 
whirlwind shall scatter them." Here every idea, 
every allusion, every sentence, was familiar to an 
eastern agriculturist ; but what can an Englishman 
understand by " a new sharp thrashing instrument 
having teeth ? " He who naturally thinks of the flail, 
as his thrashing instrument, may well be permitted 
to wonder in what part of this instrument its teeth 
can be placed, and how it was to be used, when in- 
creased by this addition. As to our modern thrash- 
ing machines, they are out of the question. In the 
same prophet we have another passage, (chap. xxv. 
10,) which has not been understood : " Moab shall 
be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden 
down for the dunghill."— The margin reads, "Moab 
shall be thrashed, as straw is thrashed in Madmenah." 
Now, to tread straw by labor purposely and specifi- 
cally for the dunghill, is an occupation of persons un- 
known to our rural economy ; but our translators 
were aware, that to allude to the thrashing of straw 
in Madmenah, was to delude the rustic reader by a 
seeming translation of no information to him ; and 
they, therefore, preferred that which, though it had 
no foundation in fact, yet seems less uncouth to 
English ears. Translators, in general, have referred 
the passage to thrashing, as appears by consulting 



THRASHING 



[ 890 ] 



THRASHING 



them; Coverdale has "thrashed upon the ground ; " 
the Doway translation, " broken with the wain ; " 
and bishop Lowth, " thrashed under the wheels of 
the car ;" each something right, and something wrong ; 
but bishop Lowth is the nearest to accuracy. 

Very little of the real import, the haste, or the value, 
of the proposed present of Ornan to David (1 Chron. 
xvi. 23.) can be understood in this country : " I give 
the thrashing instruments for wood ; " i. e. to burn 
the sacrifice of the oxen, &c. How many flails {our 
thrashing instruments) must Ornan have possessed, 
to accomplish this purpose ? Could nothing better 
be found, nothing be fetched from the adjacent city, 
but must all the flails of this Jebusite be consumed 
for this service ? Surely Ornan did not hold such a 
quantity of land, as required so great a number of 
flails for the purpose of thrashing the produce of it, 
that they might serve to consume the sacrifice of two 
oxen ! But why not conclude, that this offer was 
made for instant use, Ornan hereby hoping to ter- 



minate tne pestilence, as it were, on the instant, 
without a moment's delay? Thus considered, it ac- 
quires additional propriety, and we shall see that it 
had no trifling value. 

When the prophet Isaiah speaks of the customary 
practice of rural economy in Judea, as exemplifying 
the talents imparted by Heaven to the sons of men, 
he says, " His God doth instruct him to discretion, 
and doth teach him ; for the fitches are not thrashed 
with a thrashing instrument; neither is a cartwheel 
turned about upon the cumin ; but the fitches are 
beaten out with a staff, and the cumin with a rod. 
Bread corn is bruised, because he will not be ever 
thrashing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor 
bruise it with his horsemen. This also cometh from 
the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and 
excellent in working," ch. xxviii. 27. To turn cart 
wheels upon bread corn seems strange enough ; 
but the following information will remove the 
difficulty : 




" The second remark is concerning the manner 
they thrash, or rather tread, rice in Egypt, by means 
of a sledge drawn by two cxen ; and in which the 
man who drives them is on his knees, whilst another 
man has the care of drawing back the straw, and of 
separating it from the grain, that remains underneath. 
In order to tread the rice, they lay it on the ground 
in a ring, so as to leave a little void circle in the mid- 
dle." (Norden's Travels in Egypt and Nubia, page 
80.) "In thrashing their corn, the Arabians lay the 
sheaves down in a certain order, and then lead over 
them two oxen, dragging a large stone. This mode 
of separating the ears from the straw, is not unlike 
that of Egypt." (Niebuhr's Travels, page 299.) " They 
use oxen, as the ancients did, to beat out their corn, 
by trampling upon the sheaves, and dragging after 
them a clumsy machine. This machine is not, as in 
Arabia, a stone cylinder; nor a plank with sharp 
stones, as in Syria ; but a sort of sledge consisting of 
three rollers, fitted with irons, which turn upon axles. 
A farmer chooses out a level spot in his fields, and 
has his corn carried thither in sheaves, upon asses, 



or dromedaries. Two oxen are then yoked in a 
sledge ; a driver gets upon it, and drives them back- 
wards and forwards [or in a circle] upon the sheaves 
and fresh oxen succeed in the yoke, from time to 
time. By this operation, the chaff is very much cut 
down ; the whole is then winnowed, and the pure 
grain thus separated. This mode of thrashing out 
the corn is tedious and inconvenient ; it destroys the 
chaff, and injures the quality of the grain." (Ib. vol. 
i. p. 89.) 

" This machine [Niebuhr adds] is called Nauridj. 
It has three rollers, which turn on their axles ; and 
each of them is furnished with some irons, round and 
flat. At the beginning of June, Mr. Forskal and I 
several times saw, in the environs of Dsjiae, [Gize,] 
how corn was thrashed in Egypt. Every peasant 
chose for himself, in the open field, a smooth plat 
of ground, from 80 to 100 paces in circumference. 
Hither was brought, on camels or asses, the corn in 
sheaves, of which was formed a ring of six or eight 
feet wide, and two high. Two oxen were made to 
draw over it again and again the sledge (traineau) 



THR 



[ 891 ] 



TH U 



above mentioned, and this was done with the great- 
est convenience to the driver ; for he was seated in a 
chair fixed on the sledge. Two such parcels or 
layers of corn are thrashed out in a day, and they 
move each of them as many as eight times, with a 
wooden fork of five prongs, which they call Meddre. 
Afterwards they throw the straw into the middle of 
the ring, where it forms a heap, which grows bigger 
and bigger. When the first layer is thrashed, they 
replace the straw in the ring, and thrash it as before. 
Thus the straw becomes every time smaller, till at 
last it resembles chopped straw. After this, with the 
fork just described, they cast the whole some yards 
from thence, and against the wind ; which driving 
back the straw, the corn and the ears not thrashed 
out fall apart from it, and make another heap. A 
man collects the clods of dirt and other impurities, 
to which any corn adheres, and throws them into a 
sieve. They afterwards place in a ring the heaps, in 
which a good many entire ears are still found, and 
drive over them, for four or five hours together, a 
dozen couple of oxen joined two and two, till, by 
absolute trampling, they have separated the grains, 
which they throw into the air with a shovel (Luhh) 
to cleanse them." 

The ancient Arabs, Syrians, Egyptians and Ro- 
mans thrashed their corn in the same manner, by the 
feet of cattle, as may be seen in Bochart, vol. ii. p. 
302, 310. "The Moors and Arabs," says Dr. Shaw, 
" continue to tread out their corn after the primitive 
custom of the East. Instead of beeves, they fre- 
quently make use of mules and horses, by tying in 
the like manner, by the neck, three or four of them 
together, and whipping them afterwards round about 
the neddars, (as they call the thrashing-floors ; the 
Lybicse Ara? of Horace,) where the sheaves lie open 
and expanded, in the same manner as they are 
placed and prepared, with us, for thrashing. This, 
indeed, is a much quicker way than ours, but less 
cleanly: for, as it is performed in the open air (Hos. 
xiii. 3.) upon any round level plat of ground, daubed 
over with cow's dung, to prevent, as much as possi- 
ble, the earth, sand, or gravel, from rising ; a great 
quantity of them all, notwithstanding this precaution, 
must unavoidably be taken up with the grain ; at the 
same time the straw, which is their only fodder, is 
hereby shattered to pieces ; a circumstance very per- 
tinently alluded to in 2 Kings xiii. 7, where the king 
of Syria is said to have made the Israelites like the 
dust, by thrashing." (Travels, p. 221, folio.) 

THRONE, that magnificent seat on which princes 
usually sit to receive the homage of their subjects, or 
to give audience to ambassadors ; where they appear 
in pomp and ceremony ; whence they dispense jus- 
tice, &c. The throne, the sceptre, the crown, are 
ordinary symbols of royalty and royal authority. 
Scripture often represents the Lord as sitting on a 
throne. The psalmist says, that God had confirmed 
his throne in heaven from all eternity, Ps. ciii. 19 ; 
xciii. 2 ; xlv. 6. This throne was supported by jus- 
tice and equity, xcvii. 2. The throne of the Lord 
which was shown to Ezekiel, (chap, i.) was at the 
same time the most terrible, and yet the most mag- 
nificent, object that can be imagined. It was an 
animated chariot, borne by four cherubim of an ex- 
traordinary figure. The wheels were of inexplicable 
beauty and magnitude, also animated and conducted 
by a spirit. The throne of the Lord, which was 
over the wheels and the cherubim, was like glittering 
crystal, with a seat of sapphire. He who sat on the 
throne was surrounded with splendor like that of 



fire, or of metal in fusion ; and round him glowed the 
colors of the rainbow. (See also Isa. vi. 2—4.) 

The cherubim on the ark of the covenant were 
also considered as a kind of throne of the Deity : 
whence it is said in many places that God sits be- 
tween the cherubim ; (1 Sam. iv. 4 ; 2 Sam. vi. 2 ; 2 
Kings xix. 15 ; Ps. xviii. 10 ; lxxx. 1 ; xcix. 1 ; Isa. 
xxxvii. 16.) whether we consider the cherubim of the 
ark, or the cherubim w r hich Isaiah and Ezekiel de- 
scribe as being under, and about, the throne of the 
Almighty ; and probably to the same cherubim Paul 
refers by the term thrones, Col. i. 16. 

The throne of Solomon is described in Scripture 
as the finest and richest in the world, 1 Kings x. 20. 
It was of ivory, inlaid with gold. The ascent was by 
seven steps ; the back was round, and two arms sup- 
ported the seat ; twelve golden lions, one at each end 
of every step, made a principal part of its ornaments. 

The Jews sometimes swore by the throne of God, 
or by heaven ; but our Saviour forbids such oaths ; 
(Matt. v. 34; xxiii. 22.) for "Whoever swears by 
heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him 
who sitteth upon it." There is a passage (Exod. xvii. 
16.) that might be understood in the sense of an oath, 
sworn by the throne of God : " The Lord has lifted 
up his hand from his throne (he has sworn by his 
throne) that he would make war against Amalek." 
(See Oath.) Thus in Judith, (i. 2.) Nebuchadnezzar 
swears by his throne, that he would make war 
against all who had rejected his ambassadors. 

In Scripture, the Son of God is represented as sit- 
ting on a throne at the right hand of his Father, Ps. 
ex. 1 ; Heb. i. 8 ; Rev. iii. 21. And he himself as- 
sures his apostles, that they should sit on twelve 
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, Luke 
xxii. 30. In the Revelation, we find the twenty -four 
elders seen in vision, sitting on thrones before the 
Lord, Rev. iv. 4. And (Dan. vii. 9.) when God ia 
about to enter into judgment with men, thrones are 
prepared for judges. The Ancient of Days is seated ; 
his throne is as a flame of fire ; his wheels are as con- 
suming fire ; streams of fire radiate from his face ; 
millions of millions of angels attend upon him, and 
thousands of thousands are round about him. 

Thrones, in the sense of an order of the celestial 
hierarchy, (Col. i. 16.) may signify, as above hinted, 
the cherubim, which were considered as the throne 
of God. Paul does not mention thrones among the 
celestial spirits that compose the angelic hierarchy, 
(Eph. iii. 10 ; vi. 12.) and hence some suppose that 
by thrones, principalities, powers and dominions, the 
apostle means no more than temporal powers, sub- 
ordinate one to another. Thus, thrones denote king- 
ly power ; principalities, governors or princes ; and 
powers, judges, magistrates of cities, &c. 

THUMMIM, see Urim. 

THUNDER is a re-percussion of the air violently 
agitated, among dense clouds, by the lightning or 
electric flash ; and as this is the loudest natural noise 
with which mankind are acquainted, it was, like 
many other surprising things, expressed by an ad- 
dition of the name of God. So we have, in Scrip- 
ture, the terms "fair to God," extremely beautiful; 
" great cities of God," extremely great cities ; " trees 
of God," extremely tall trees ; and hence thunder is 
called " the voice of God," that is, the prodigious 
sound, noise, or report; "voices of God," (Heb. 
Exod. ix. 28.) are mighty thunderings; (Ps. xxix. 3, 
4,5.) the voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars, di 
videth the flames of tire, &c. : the psalmist tells us, 
verse 3, he means thund »r 



TIB 



[ 892 ] 



Til? 



THYATIRA, a city of Lydia, in Asia Minor, an- 
ciently called Pelopia and Euhippia, now Ak-hisar. 
It was situated on the confines of Lydia and Mysia, 
near the Viver Lycns, between Sardis and Pergamus, 
Acts xvi. 14 ; Rev. i. 11 ; ii. 18, 24. The art of dyeing 
purple was particularly cultivated at Thyatira, as ap- 
pears from an inscription found there, for which see 
Kuinoel on Acts i. (See Wells, Sac. Geogr. No. 
537. Miss. Her. for 1821, p. 251.) *R. 

THYINE-WOOD, (Rev. xviii. 12.) the wood of 
the thyia v. thuja articulata of Linnaeus, an aromatic 
evergreen tree, resembling the cedar, and found in 
Libya. The wood was used in burning incense. R. 

I. TIBERIAS, a city of Galilee, on the western 
shore of the lake of Gennesareth, the original name 
of which is thought to have been Cinneretli, or Ham- 
math, or Emath, or Rakkath, or Recchath. Reland, 
however, shows that this is very doubtful, and only 
founded on the sea of Cinnereth being afterwards 
called the sea of Tiberias ; which by no means proves 
that Cinneretli and Tiberias were the same town. 
Besides, as he observes, the portion of Naphtali did 
not begin towards the south, but at Capernaum, 
(Matt. iv. 13.) which is more to the north than Tibe- 
rias ; and yet Cinneretli, Hammath, Rakkath, belong- 
to the portion of Naphtali, Josh. xix. 35. 

Josephus states (Ant. lib. xviii. cap. 3 ; De Bel. lib. 
ii. cap. 8.) that Tiberias was built in honor of Tibe- 
rias by Herod Antipas, and that it was 30 furlongs 
from Hippos, 60 from Gadara, 120 from Scythopolis, 
and 30 from Tarichea. (De Vita sua, p. 1025, 1010.) 
Herod endowed it with great advantages ; which, 
with its convenient situation, soon made it the me- 
tropolis of Galilee. When he was obliged to leave 
Rome, he retired hither with his uncle Herod ; and 
the emperor Claudius afterwards bestowing it upon 
him, it had the name of Claudia Tiberias. Josephus 
took possession of it at the time of the wars with the 
Jews, and gave the bastinado to the officer who 
came to propose terms of peace to it from the Ro- 
mans. Vespasian intended to put all the inhabitants 
to the edge of the sword ; but Agrippa prevailed on 
him to be satisfied with beating down part of its 
walls. Tiberias was famous for its baths of hot 
waters, from which diseased people received great 
benefit. 

In this city, some of the most learned of the Jews, 
after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, 
assembled, and laid the foundation of an academy, 
which became famous by the Mishna that was com- 
posed in it ; by the celebrated labors of the Maso- 
rites, the authors of the vowel points ; and by the 
reputation of the doctors who there kept their schools. 
Here the patriarch of the nation also resided. 

Dr. E. D. Clarke says, (Trav. vol. ii. p. 467.) " The 
town of Tiberias is situated close to the edge of the 
lake It is fortified by walls, but has no artillery ; and, 
HKe all Turkish citadels, makes a great figure from 
without, exhibiting, at the same time, the utmost 
wretchedness within. Its castle stands upon a rising 
ground in the north part of it. No antiquities now 
remain, except a very ancient church, of an oblong 
square form, to which we descended by steps. 
There is reason to believe this the first place of 
Christian worship erected in Tiberias, and that it was 
constructed as long ago as the fourth century. The 
roof is of stone, and it is vaulted. It is called the 
house of Peter. About a mile south of the town are 
the celebrated hot baths of Emmaus." 

II. TIBERIAS, Sea of. This lake, which is 
almost equal in the grandeur of its appearance to the 



lake of Geneva, is called indifferently the lake of 
Gennesareth, the lake of Tiberias, the sea of Galilee, 
and the sea of Cinneroth, from the adjacent country, 
or the principal towns upon its shores. Josephus 
and Pliny agree in stating it to be about 16 miles 
in length, and about 6 in breadth. Mr. Buckingham 
thus describes it : " The waters of this lake lie in a 
deep basin, surrounded on all sides with lofty hills, 
excepting only the narrow entrance and outlet of the 
Jordan at each extreme ; for which reason, long con- 
tinued tempests from any one quarter are here un- 
known ; and this lake, like the Dead sea, with which 
it communicates, is, lor the same reason, never 
violently agitated for any great length of time. The 
same local features, however, render it occasionally 
subject to whirlwinds, squalls and sudden gusts 
from the hollow of the mountains, which, as in any 
other similar basin, are of short duration ; and the 
most furious gust is succeeded by a perfect calm. A 
strong current marks the passage of the Jordan 
through the middle of the lake, in its way to the Dead 
sea, where it empties itself. The appearance of this 
sea from the town of Capernaum, which is situated 
near the upper end of the bank on the western side, 
is extremely grand ; its greatest length runs nearly 
north and south. The barren aspect of the moun- 
tains on each side, and the total absence of wood, 
give, however, a cast of dulness to the picture; and 
this is increased to melancholy by the dead calm of 
its waters, and the silence which reigns throughout 
its whole extent, where not a boat or vessel of any 
kind is to be found." 

Dr. E. D. Clarke, describing its appearance, says, 
" The wind rendered its surface rough, and called to 
mind the situation of our Saviour's disciples, when, in 
one of the small vessels which traverse these waters, 
they were tossed in a storm, and saw Jesus, in the 
fourth watch of the night, walking to them upon the 
waves, Matt. xiv. 24, 25, 26. Often as this subject 
has been painted, combining a number of circum- 
stances adapted for the representation of sublimity, no 
artist has been aware of the uncommon grandeur of 
the scenery, memorable on account of the transaction. 
The lake of Gennesareth is surrounded by objects 
well calculated to heighten the solemn impression 
made by such a picture; and, independent of the 
local feelings likely to be excited in its contemplation, 
affords one of the most striking prospects in the Holy 
Land. It is by comparison alone that any due con- 
ception of the appearance it presents can be conveyed 
to the minds of those who have not seen it ; and, 
speaking of it comparatively, it may be described as 
longer and finer than any of our Cumberland and 
Westmoreland lakes, although, perhaps, it yields in 
majesty to the stupendous features of Loch Lomond 
in Scotland. It does not possess the vastness of the 
lake of Geneva, although it much resembles it in 
particular points of view. The lake of Locarno in 
Italy comes nearest to it in point of picturesque beau- 
ty, although it is destitute of any thing similar to the 
islands by which that majestic piece of water is 
adorned. It is inferior in magnitude, and, perhaps, 
in the height of its surrounding mountains, to the 
lake Asphaltites ; but its broad and extended surface, 
covering the bottom of a profound valley, environed 
by lofty and precipitous eminences, added to the 
impression of a certain reverential awe under which 
every Christian pilgrim approaches it, give it a char- 
acter of dignity unparalleled by any similar scenery." 
(Travels, p. 462.) 

TIBERIUS CAESAR, second emperor of Rome 







T I M 



[ 893 ] 



TIMOTHY 



l. e. Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero. He was the 
son of Livia, and step-son of Augustus ; and, being 
adopted by that emperor, he succeeded to his throne 
A. D. 14. He died A. D. 37, after a cruel reign of 
22£ years. It was in the 14th year of his reign that 
John the Baptist first appeared ; and the crucifixion 
of Jesus took place in the 3d or 4th year after, Luke 
iii. 1. R. 

TIBHATH, a city of Syria-Zoba, taken and plun- 
dered by David, 1 Chron. xviii. 8. 

TIBNI, a son of Ginath, and competitor with Omri 
for the kingdom of Israel, 1 Kings xvi. 21. 

TIDAL, king of nations, or of Gentiles, (goim,) 
Gen. xiv. 1. Some think he was king of Galilee of 
the Gentiles beyond Jordan ; (Matt. iv. 15.) and 
Joshua speaks of a king of the nations of Gilgal, or of 
Galilee, according to the Septuagint, Josh. xii. 23. 

TIGLATH-PILESER, king of Assyria, reigned 
at Nineveh. Ahaz, king of Judah, finding himself 
pressed by Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of 
Israel, and unable to oppose them, sent ambassadors 
to Tiglath-pileser, to desire his assistance against 
those kings, 2 Kings xvi. 7, &c. At the same time he 
sent him all the gold and silver found in the treasu- 
ries of the temple and of the palace. Tiglath-pileser 
marched against Rezin, killed him, plundered Da- 
mascus, and transported the inhabitants to places on 
the river Cyrus. Ahaz went to meet him at Damas- 
cus, (2 Chron. xxviii. 20, 21.) but Tiglath-pileser, not 
being satisfied with the presents of Ahaz, entered 
Judea, and ravaged the whole country. He did the 
same in Samaria, carried away the tribes of Reuben 
and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and trans- 
planted them to Halah, Habor and Hara, on the river 
Gozan, 1 Chron. v. 26. He took also the cities Ijon, 
Abel-beth-maachah, Jauoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Galilee, 
and the countries of Gilead and Naphtali, and carried 
away the inhabitants into Assyria, 2 Kings xv. 29. 
He reigned nineteen years at Nineveh. His successor 
was his son Shalmaneser. See more in Assyria. 

TIMBREL, an instrument of music, often men- 
tioned in Scripture. The Hebrews called it rpn, toph, 
under which name they comprehended all kinds of 
drums, tabors and timbrels. We do not find that the 
Hebrews used it in their wars, but only at their pub- 
lic rejoicings ; and it was commonly employed by the 
women. It consisted and still consists of a small 
rim, over which a skin is drawn. The rim is also 
hung with small bells. The timbrel is used as an 
accompaniment to lively music, being shaken and 
beaten with the knuckles in time. After the passage 
of the Red sea, Miriam, sister of Moses, took a tim- 
brel, and began to play and dance with the women, 
Exod. xv. 20. The daughter of Jephthah came to 
meet her father with timbrels, and other musical in- 
struments, Judg. xi. 34. 

TIMNAH, or Timnath, an ancient Canaanitish 
city, to which Judah was going when he met with 
Tamar, Gen. xxxviii. 12. It was at first assigned to 
Judah, on whose northern borders it lay, (Josh. xv. 
10, 57.) but afterwards to the tribe of Dan, (Josh.xix. 
43.) where it is written Thimnathah. It remained 
mostly, however, in the possession of the Canaanites. 
Judg. xiv. 1 ; 2 Chron. xxviii. 18. (Compare Joseph. 
Antiq. v. 8.5.) *R. 

TIMNATH-SERAH, a city of Ephraim, which 
Joshua chose for his dwelling and burying-place, 
Josh. xix. 50 ; xxiv. 30. 

TIMOTHY, a disciple of Paul. He was of Derbe 
or Lystra, both cities of Lycaonia, Acts xvi. 1 ; xiv. 6. 
His father was a Gentile, but his mother a Jewess, 2 



Tim. i. 5; iii. 15. When Paul came to Derbe and 
Lystra, about A. D. 51, or 52, the brethren spoke 
highly of the merit and good disposition of Timothy ; 
and the apostle determined to take him along with 
him, for which purpose he circumcised him at Lystra, 
Acts xvi. 3. Timothy applied himself to labor in the 
gospel, and did Paul very important services, through 
the whole course of his preaching. It is not known 
when he w^s made bishop ; but it is believed that he 
received very early the imposition of the apostle's 
hands, and this in consequence of a particular revela- 
tion, or intimation from the Holy Spirit, 1 Tim. iv. 
14 ; 2 Tim. i. 6. Paul calls him, not only his dearly 
beloved son, but also his brother, the companion of 
his labors, and a man of God ; observing that none 
was more united with him in heart and mind than 
Timothy. 

He accompanied Paul to Macedonia, to Philippi, to 
Thessalonica, and to Berea, where he left him and 
Silas to confirm the converts, Acts xvii. 14, &c. 
When at Athens, he directed Timothy to come to 
him, (A. D. 52,) and thence sent him back to Thes- 
salonica, from whence he afterwards returned with 
Silas, to Paul at Corinth, (Acts xviii. 5.) where he 
continued with the apostle, and is named with Silas 
at the beginning of the two epistles to the Thes- 
salonians. 

About A. D. 56, Paul sent Timothy with Erastus 
into Macedonia, (Acts xix. 22.) and directed him 
to call at Corinth, to refresh the minds of the Corin- 
thians in the truth. Some time after, writing to this 
church, (1 Cor. iv. 17.) he recommends to them the 
care of Timothy, and directs them to send him back 
in peace. 

Timothy returned to Paul in Asia, who there stayed 
for him, whence they went together into Macedonia, 
and the apostle joins Timothy's name with his own 
in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, which he 
wrote from this province, about the middle of A. D 
57. He also sends ' ' : "< mmendations to the Ro- 
mans, in the letter wn.eh he wrote to them from 
Corinth, the same year, or about A. D. 58, Rom. xvi. 21 

Though it does not appear, by the Acts, that Tim- 
othy was with Paul the two years in which he was 
prisoner at Cesarea, nor during his voyage to Rome : 
yet he had accompanied him in his journey to Jeru- 
salem, (Acts xx. 4.) and it is certain he was in Rome 
when the apostle wrote to the Philippians, to the 
Colossians, and to Philemon, because he is named in 
the titles of these epistles, which were written A. D. 
60, 61, 62. The year following, when Paul wrote to 
the Hebrews, (Heb. xiii. 23. A. D. 64,) he tells them, 
that Timothy was come out of prison ; but he men- 
tions no circumstances, either of his imprisonment 
or delivery. 

When the apostle returned from Rome, A. D. 64, 
he left Timothy at Ephesus, (1 Tim: i. 3 ) as the 
overseer of that church. The first of the two 
letters addressed to him was written from Mace- 
donia, about A. D. 64 or 65, 1 Tim. v. 23. (But see 
under Paul.) The apostle recommends him to 
be more moderate in his austerities, and to drink 
a little wine, because of the weakness of his 
stomach, and his frequent infirmities. After Paul 
came to Rome, (A. I). 65,) he wrote to him his 
second letter, which is full of kindness and tender- 
ness for this his dear disciple, and which is justly con- 
sidered as the last will of the apostle. He desires 
him to come to Rome to him before winter, and to 
bring with him several things that had been left al 
Troas, 2 Tim. iv. 9—13. If Timothy went to Rome, 



TIT 



I «y4 j 



T O B 



as is probable, he must have been a witness there of 
the martyrdom of Paul, A. D. 66. Calmet and some 
other commentators incline to foink that Timothy 
must be the angel of the church of Ephesus, to whom 
John writes, (Rev. ii.) though they are of opinion that 
the reproaches contained in the address do not so 
much concern Timothy personally, as some members 
of his church whose zeal had become cool. We 
have nothing that can be depended upon, concerning 
the latter part of his life. 

TIN is the word commonly employed in the 
Scriptures to designate the metal tin, as in Num. xxxi. 
22. But in Isa. i. 25, the Hebrew word is put for 
dross, or that whichis separated by smelting ; and here 
our translators have also improperly retained the 
word tin. R. 

TIPHSAH, the ancient Thapsacus, an important 
city on the western bank of the Euphrates, which con- 
stituted the north-eastern extremity of Solomon's 
dominions. There was here a celebrated ford or 
ferry over the Euphrates, 1 Kings iv. 24. Perhaps 
the same city is meant, 2 Kings xv. ] 6 ; though others 
understand here a city of the same name near Sama- 
ria. (Xen. Anab. i. 4. Arrian. Exped. Alex. iii. 7.) R. 

TIRHAKAH, king of Ethiopia, or Cush, border- 
ing on Palestine and Egypt. (See Cosh, p. 323, and 
Egypt, p. 373.) This prince, at the head of a power- 
ful army, attempted to relieve Hezekiah, when 
attacked by Sennacherib, (2 Kings xix. 9.) but the 
Assyrian army was routed before he came up. See 
Sennacherib. 

TIRZAH, pleasant, a city of Ephraim, and the 
royal seat of the kings of Israel, from the time of 
Jeroboam to the reign of Omri, who built the city of 
Samaria, which then became the capital of this king- 
dom. Joshua killed the king of Tirzah, Josh. xii. 24. 
Menahem, the son of Gadi, of Tirzah, slew Shallum, 
the usurper of the kingdom of Israel, who reigned at 
Samaria, and assumed tL-e government himself. But 
the city of Tirzah shutting is gates against him, he 
made it suffer the most terrible effects of his indigna- 
tion, 2 Kings xv. 14, 16. 

TISHBE, a city of Gilead, east of the Jordan, and 
the country of the prophet Elijah, who from hence 
was called the Tishbite, 1 Kings xvii. 1. 

TISRI, the first Hebrew month of the civil year, 
and the seventh of the ecclesiastical year. (See the 
Jewish Calendar, at the end of the volume.) 

TITHES, see Tythes. 

TITUS, a Gentile (Gal. ii. 3.) converted by the 
apostle Paul, who calls him his son, Tit. i. 4. Paul 
took him with him to Jerusalem, (Gal. ii. 1.) about 
the time of the question whether the converted 
Gentiles should become subject to the ceremonies of 
the law. Some would then have obliged him to cir- 
cumcise Titus ; but neither he nor Titus would con- 
sent. Titus was afterwards sent by the apostle to 
Corinth, (2 Cor. xii. 18.) on occasion of some disputes 
in that church. He was well received by the Corin- 
thians, and much satisfied by their ready compliance, 
but would receive nothing from them ; thereby im- 
itating the disinterestedness of his master. From 
Corinth he went to Paul in Macedonia, and gave him 
an account of the state of the Corinthian church, 2 Cor. 
vli. 6, 15. A short while afterwards, the apostle de- 
sired him to return to Corinth, to regulate things 
against his own arrival there. Titus readily under- 
took this journey, and departed immediately, (2 Cor. 
viii. 5, 16. 17.) carrying with him Paul's second letter 
to the Corinthians. Titus was made bishop of Crete 
about A. D. 63, when Paul was obliged to leave that 



island, to take care of other churches, Tit. i. 5. The 
following year he wrote to him to desire that as soon 
as he should have sent Tychicus, or Artemas, to sup- 
ply his place in Crete, Titus would come to him to 
Nicopolis in Macedonia, (or to Nicopolis in Epirus, 
on the gulf of Ambracia,) where the apostle intended 
to pass his winter, Tit. iii. 12. 

Titus was deputed to preach the gospel in Dalma- 
tia ; and he was there A. D. 65, when the apostle 
wrote his Second Epistle to Timothy, 2 Tim. iv. 10. 
He afterwards returned to Crete, whence, it is said, 
he propagated the gospel in the neighboring islands, 
and died, aged 94. 

The subject of the Epistle to Titus, is to represent 
the qualities that should characterize church-officers. 
As a principal function of Titus in the isle of Crete 
was to ordain bishops and deacons, it was highly in- 
cumbent on him to make a discreet choice. The apos- 
tle also suggests the advice and instructions he should 
give to all sorts of persons ; to the aged, both men and 
women ; to young people of either sex ; to slaves and 
servants. He exhorts him to exercise a strict author- 
ity over the Cretans, and to reprove them with sever- 
ity, on account of their lying, idleness and gluttony. 
And as there were many converted Jews in Crete, he 
exhorts him to oppose their vain traditions and fables ; 
also to decline the observation of the legal ceremo- 
nies, as no longer necessary ; to show that the dis- 
tinction of meats is abolished, and that every thing is 
pure and clean to those who are pure. He puts him 
in mind of exhorting the faithful to be obedient to 
temporal powers, to avoid disputes, quarrels and slan- 
der; to engage in honest callings ; and to shun the 
company of heretics, after the first and second admo- 
nition. It is supposed by many, from the similarity 
of their contents, that the Epistle to Titus, and the 
first to Timothy, were written at no great interval of 
time. See under Paul. 

TOB, a country beyond Jordan, in the most north- 
ern part of the portion of Manasseh. The first men- 
tion of it appears to be in Judg. xi. 3, where we read 
that Jephthah fled into the land of Tob ; and was 
fetched from thence, verse 5. This is thought by 
many to be the same as Ish-Tob, 2 Sam. x. 6, 8. We 
also read of this country apparently in 1 Mac. v. 13, 
where the Jews send letters to Judas Maccabseus, 
complaining of the heathen in the land of Gilead, who 
had slain " all our brethren that were in the places of 
Tobi, or Tubin," (where the word places deserves 
notice, as being rather an addition by way of expla- 
nation, than strictly in the original,) and we read also 
of Jews called Tubieni, 2 Mac. xii. 17. Ptolemy men- 
tions this city under the name of Thauba ; it should 
probably have been written Thuba. Rabbi Joshua 
ben Levi says, the Tob into which Jephthah withdrew 
was afterwards called Susitha ; in Greek, Hippene, 
(cavalry-town.) In the city Hippo, were mingled both 
Jews and Gentiles. 

TOBIAH, an Ammonite, and an enemy to the 
Jews, who strenuously opposed the rebuilding of the 
temple, after the return from Babylon, Neh. ii. 10; 
iv. 3 ; vi. 1, 12, 14. He is called in some places the 
servant or slave of Nehemiah ; probably because he 
was originally of servile condition. However, he be- 
came of great consideration among the Samaritans, 
over whom he was governor, with Sanballat. Tobi- 
ah married the daughter of Shechaniah, a principal 
Jew of Jerusalem, and had a powerful party in the 
city itself, Neh. vi. 18. Nehemiah being obliged to 
return to Babylon, after he had repaired the walls of 
Jerusalem, Tobiah took this opportunity to come and 



TON 



[ 895 ] 



TR A 



dwell at Jerusalem ; and even obtained of Eliashib, 
who had the care of the house of the Lord, an apart- 
ment in the temple. But Nehemiah returning from 
Babylon, some years after, drove Tobiah away, and 
threw his goods out of the holy place, Neh. xiii. 4 — 8. 
Scripture makes no further mention of Tobiah : he 
probably retired to Sanballat at Samaria. 

I. TOBIJAH, a Levite and doctor of the law, sent 
by king Jehoshaphat through the cities of Judah, to 
instruct the people, 2 Chron. xvii. 8. 

II. TOBIJAH. The Lord commanded the prophet 
Zechariah (vi. ]0, 14.) to ask of Tobijah, Heldai, 
Jedaiah and Josiah, son of Zephaniah, lately return- 
ed from Babylon, a certain quantity of gold and 
silver, which they intended for an offering to the 
temple, to make crowns thereof, to place on the 
head of Joshua, son of Josedech, high-priest of the 
Jews. The rabbins are of opinion, that these four 
persons were the same as Daniel, Ananias, Azariah 

TOGARMAH, the third son of Gomer, (Gen. x. 3.) 
is thought by Josephus and Jerome to have been the 
father of the Phrygians ; but the majority of learned 
men are for Cappadocia or Armenia. Ezekiel says, 
(xxvii. 14.) " They of the house of Togarmah traded 
in thy fairs (at Tyre) with horses and horsemen and 
mules ;" which agrees very well with Cappadocia. 

TOI, king of Hamath, in Syria, who, when he 
heard that David conquered king Hadadezer, sent his 
son Joram to congratulate him, and to offer him ves- 
sels of gold, silver and brass, 2 Sam. viii. 9 — 11. 

I. TOLA, the tenth judge of Israel, succeeded 
Abimelech, and judged Israel 23 years ; from A. M. 
2772 to 2795. Scripture says, Tola was the son of 
Puah, uncle to Abimelech by the father's side, and 
consequently brother to Gideon ; yet Tola was of the 
tribe of Issachar, and Gideon of Manasseh. (See 
Adoption.) He was buried at Shamir, a city in the 
mountain of Ephraim, where he dwelt, and was suc- 
ceeded by Jair of Gilead. 

II. TOLA, the eldest son of Issachar, and chief of 
a family, Gen. xlvi. 13 ; Numb. xxvi. 23. 

TOLAD, a city of Judah, (1 Chron. iv. 29.) yielded 
to Simeon. Probably the Eltolad of Josh. xv. 30 ; 
xix. 4. 

TOMB, see Sepulchre. 

TONGUE is taken in different senses : (1.) For the 
organ of speech. — (2.) For the language spoken in 
any country. — (3.) For discourse : thus we say, a bad 
tongue, a slanderous tongue, &c. 

To gnaw one's tongue is a sign of fury, despair 
and torment. The worshippers of the beast " gnawed 
their tongues for pain ; and blasphemed the God of 
heaven, because of their pains and their sores, and re- 
pented not of their deeds," Rev. xvi. 10. 

Tongue of the sea — tongue of land — are terms used 
in Scripture for an extremity or point of a sea. Or a 
peninsula, a cape, a promontory of land, having the 
sea on both sides. 

The wise man says, (Ecclus. xxvi. 6.) that a jealous 
woman is a scourge of the tongue. In families where 
polygamy was frequent, jealousy among women was 
the foundation of a great number of evil discourses 
and backbitings. The same author says, (Ecclus. 
xxviii. 17, 18.) " The stroke of the whip maketh marks 
in the flesh, but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the 
bone. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, 
but not so many as have fallen by the tongue." And 
Job says, (v. 21.) God shall defend you from the lash 
of the tongue ; you shall not be exposed to its strokes. 

The gift of tongues with which God endowed the 



apostles and disciples assembled at Jerusalem, on the 
day of Pentecost, (Actsii.) was communicated to the 
faithful, as appears by the Epistles of Paul, which 
regulate the manner in which this great privilege was 
to be used in their assemblies ; (1 Cor. xii. 10 ; xiv. 2, 
and it continued in the church so long as God thought 
necessary, for the conversion of heathen, and the con- 
firmation of believers. Irenaeus testifies, (lib. v. cap. 
6.) that it subsisted in the church in his time. 

When Paul says, that though he should speak with 
the tongue of men and of angels, it would be nothing 
without charity, he uses a supposed hyperbole ; as 
when we say, angelical beauty, angelical voice, &c. e. 
g. " I would have every one set a due value on the gift 
of tongues ; but though a man possessed the most ex- 
quisite eloquence, this inestimable gift would be of 
little use to him, as to salvation, if he be without 
charitv." 

TOPAZ. The Heb. mas, Pitdah, (Exod. xxviii. 
17 ; xxxix. 10 ; Job xxviii. 19 ; Ezek. xxviii. 13.) is 
translated in most of the ancient versions, topaz, which, 
in modern times, is supposed to be the same as the 
chrysolite. 

TOPHET, a place near Jerusalem, in the valley of 
the children of Hinnom. It is said that a constant 
fire was kept here, for burning the offal, and other 
filth brought from the city. Isaiah (xxx. 33.) seems 
to allude to the custom of burning dead carcasses in 
Tophet : when speaking of the defeat of the army of 
Sennacherib, he says, " For Tophet is ordained of old ; 
yea, for the king [or Moloch] it is prepared ; he hath 
made it deep and large. The pile thereof is fire and 
much wood : the breath of the Lord, like a stream f 
brimstone, doth kindle it." Hence some think the 
name of Tophet was given to the valley of Hinnom, 
because of the sacrifices offered there to the god Mo- 
loch, by beat of drum, to drown the cries of the con- 
suming children. In Hebrew a drum is called toph. 
See Gehenna. 

Jeremiah (vii. 31.) upbraids the Israelites with 
having built temples to Moloch : " The high places 
of Tophet, which is in the valley of the sons of Hin- 
nom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the 
fire." We learn from the same prophet that Tophet 
was a polluted and unclean place, where they used to 
throw the carcasses to which they refused burial, 
chap. vii. 32 ; xix. 11 — 13. King Josiah defiled the 
place of Tophet, where the temple of Moloch stood, 
that nobody might go thither any more, to sacrifice 
their children to that cruel deity, 2 Kings xxiii. 10. 

TORTOISE, (Lev. xi. 29.) a class of animals 
strongly allied to the reptile kinds. The Hebrew 
word, however, does not signify a tortoise, but a liz- 
ard, called in Arabic tzab. 

TRACHONITIS, rocky, or rugged, a province be- 
tween Palestine and Syria, having Arabia Deserta 
east, Batanea west, Iturea south, and the country of 
Damascus north. Josephus (Antiq. lib. i. cap. 7.) 
says, it is situate between Palestine and Coelo-Syria, 
and was peopled by Hush, or Cush, a son of Aram. 
Of this province Herod Philip was tetrarch, Luke 
iii. 1. 

TRADITION, a sentiment or custom not written, 
but delivered down by succession. The Jews had 
numerous traditions, which they did not commit to 
writing, before their wars against the Romans, under 
Adrian and Severus. Then rabbi Judah, the Holy, 
composed theMishna, that is, the second law; which 
is the most ancient collection of Jewish traditions. 
To this were added the Gemara of Jerusalem, and that 
of Babylon, which, together with the Mishna, forjv 



T RE 



f 896 1 



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the Talmud of Jerusalem, and that of Babylon. ^See 
Talmud.) Our Saviour often censured the false tra- 
ditions of the Pharisees; and reproached them with 
preferring these to the law itself, Mark vii. 7, &c. 
Matt. xv. 2, 3, seq. He gives several instances of their 
superstitious adherence to vain observances, while 
they neglected essential things. 

The Christians also had traditions, which they re- 
ceived from Christ, or his apostles. Paul (2 Thess. ii. 
15.) says, " Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold 
the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by 
word or by our epistle." The ancient fathers acknowl- 
edged the truth and authority of the apostolical tradi- 
tions, but they have not pretended that we must blindly 
receive as apostolical traditions all that may be put 
upon us as such. 

TRANSFIGURATION. After our Saviour had 
inquired of his disciples what men thought of him, 
and what they themselves thought, Peter answered, 
that he was the son of the living God. Jesus then 
began to speak of his passion, as at hand, (Matt. xvi. 
28.) adding, "Verily I say unto you, there be some 
standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they 
see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." Six 
days after this promise, [Matt. xvii. I, says six days, 
but Luke ix. 28, mentions eight days ; probably be- 
cause he counted inclusively, reckoning the day of the 
promise, and the day of the execution of '' iat promise ; 
whereas the other evangelist regarded only the six in- 
termediate days. One evangelist also says, about 
eight days, the other, after six days,] Jesus took Peter, 
James and John his brother, and brought them up 
into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured be- 
fore them ; and his face did shine as the sun, and his 
raiment was white as the light: and behold there 
appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with 
him " — on the subject of his expected suffering and 
death at Jerusalem. The chief design of the Son of 
God in this transfiguration was, according to the 
fathers, to fulfil his promise made a few days before, 
that he would let some of his disciples see a glimpse 
of his glory before his death, and to fortify them 
against the scandal of the cross, by giving them this 
convincing proof that he was the Messiah. It is ob- 
served, with great reason, that the condition in which 
Christ appeared among men, humble, weak, poor and 
despised, was a true and continual transfiguration ; 
whereas, the transfiguration itself, in which he showed 
himself in the real splendor of his glory, was his true 
and natural condition. 

It is probable, too, that being well aware of the 
sufferings which awaited him at Jerusalem, Jesus 
himself was refreshed by this manifestation, and by 
the encouragement resulting from a view of the glory 
that should follow his crucifixion. Hence his decease 
is not expressed by the usual term for death, but by 
the term implying a deliverance from suffering, with 
an admission into a state of happiness ; as the Israel- 
ites were released, by their exodus, from the bondage 
of Egypt, and conducted into Canaan, the land of rest 
from their labors and wanderings. It is the opinion 
of many interpreters, that this transfiguration occurred 
upon mount Tabor ; but this opinion is attended with 
difficulties. 

The fathers observe in this manifestation, that the 
law, represented by Moses, and the prophets, repre- 
sented by Elias, gave testimony to our Saviour. 

TREASURE, any thing collected together, in 
stores. So a treasure of corn, of wine, of oil ; treas- 
ures of gold, silver, brass ; treasures of coined money. 
Snow, winds, hail, rain, waters, are in the treasuries 



of God, Ps. cxxxv. 7 ; Jer. li. 16. We say also, a 
treasure of good works, treasures of iniquity, to lay 
up treasures in heaven, to bring forth good or evil 
out of the treasures of the heart. Joseph told his 
brethren, when they found their money returned in 
their sacks, that God had given them treasures, Gen. 
xliii. 23. The kings of Judah had keepers of their 
treasures, both in city and country, (1 Chron. xxvii. 
25 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 27, &c.) and the places where 
these magazines were laid up were called treasure- 
cities. Pharaoh compelled the Hebrews to build him 
treasure-cities, or magazines, Exod. i. 11. The word 
treasures is often used to express any thing in great 
abundance : (Col. ii. 3.) " In Jesus Christ are hidden 
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." The 
wise man says, that wisdom contains in its treasuries 
understanding, the knowledge of religion, &c. Paul 
(Rom. ii. 5.) speaks of heaping up a treasure of wrath 
against the day of wrath ; and the prophet Amos says 
(iii. 10.) they treasure up iniquity, they lay up iniquity 
as it were in a store-house, which will bring them a 
thousand calamities. The treasures of impiety or in- 
iquity, (Prov. x. 2.) express ill-gotten riches. The 
treasures of iniquity,, says the wise man, will eventu- 
ally bring no profit ; and, in the same sense, Christ 
calls the riches of iniquity, mammon of unrighteous- 
ness, an estate wickedly acquired, Luke xvi. 9. 

Gospel faith is the treasure of the just : but Paul 
says, (2 Cor. iv. 7.) " We have this treasure in earthen 
vessels." Isaiah says of a good man, (xxxiii. 6.) " Th 
fear of the Lord is his treasure." 

TRENCH, a kind of ditch cut into the earth, for 
the purpose of receiving and draining the water from 
adjacent parts. Something of this kind was the 
trench cut bythe prophet Elijah, to contain the water 
which he ordered to be poured on his sacrifice, (1 
Kings xviii. 32.) and which, when filled to the brim 
with water, was entirely exhausted, evaporated, by 
the fire of the Lord, which consumed the sacrifice. 

TRENCHES is also a military term, and denotes 
one description of the approaches to a fortified town. 
They were anciently used to surround a town, to en- 
close the besieged, and to secure the besiegers against 
attacks from them. Trenches could not be cut in a 
rock ; and it is probable, that when our Lord says of 
Jerusalem, (Luke xix. 43.) "Thy enemies shall casta 
trench about thee," meaning, " they shall raise a wall 
of enclosure," he foretold what the Jews would 
barely credit, from the nature of the case ; perhaps 
what they considered as impossible : yet the provi- 
dence of God has so ordered it, that we have evidence 
to this fact, in Joseph us, who says, that Titus exhort- 
ing his soldiers, they surrounded Jerusalem with a 
wall in the space of three days, although the general 
opinion had pronounced it impossible. This circum- 
vallation prevented any escape from the city, and 
deterred from all attempts at relief by succors going 
into it. 

Such being the nature of trenches, it seems that 
our translators have used this word incorrectly in 1 
Sam. xxvi. 5 : " Saul was sleeping within the trench." 
A trench demanded too much labor, and was too te- 
dious an operation, to be cut round every place where 
a camp lodged for a night. The margin, therefore, 
hints at a circle, or ring, of carriages; and so Buxtorf 
interprets the word. It seems, however, more likely 
that it means a circular encampment, in the midst of 
which stood the tent of Saul ; or a circular guard, 
which surrounded the royal tent, as Mr. Harmer sup- 
poses. Mr. Taylor thinks, however, from the de- 
scription given of the tent of Nadir Shah, that it may 



T it i 



[ 897 ] 



TRO 



mean a circular screen, with passages, which, sur- 
rounding the royal tent, kept off all persons but those 
to whom the guards gave regular admission. This 
screen might be of canvass, or of any other substance, 
like the tent itself. 

TRESPASS is an offence committed, a hurt, or 
wrong done to a neighbor ; and partakes of the na- 
ture of an error, or slip, rather than of deliberate or 
gross sin. Under the law, the delinquent who had 
trespassed was of course bound to make satisfac- 
tion ; but an offering or oblation was allowed him, to 
reconcile himself to the Divine Governor, Lev. v. 6, 
15. It deserves notice, that whoever does not for- 
give the trespasses of a fellow man against himself, is 
not to expect that his Father in heaven will forgive 
his trespasses ; if he will not forgive smaller, inad- 
vertent, non-intentional offences, but harbors a bitter, 
revengeful disposition, how should he propitiate God 
when God withholds forgiveness for his lesser crimes ; 
and moreover, charges him with accumulated guilt by 
great transgressions ? May this thought promote a 
forgiving spirit, a spirit of reconciliation and mutual 
charity between neighbors and friends ! 

TRIBE. Jacob having twelve sons, who were 
heads of so many families, which together formed a 
great nation, each of these families was called a tribe. 
But this patriarch on his death-bed adopted Ephraim 
and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph, and would 
have them also to constitute two tribes in Israel, Gen. 
xlviii. 5. Instead of twelve tribes, there were now 
thirteen, that of Joseph being two. However, in the 
distribution of lands by Joshua, under the order of 
God, they reckoned but twelve tribes, and made but 
twelve lots. For the tribe of Levi, being appointed 
to the sacred service, had no share in the distribu- 
tion of the land ; but received certain cities to dwell 
in, with the first fruits, tithes and oblations of the 
people. 

The twelve tribes, while in the desert, encamped 
round the tabernacle of the covenant each in due 
order. To the east were Judah, Zebulun and Issa- 
char : to the west Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin : 
to the south Reuben, Simeon and Gad : and to the 
north Dan, Asher and N.aphtali. The Levites were 
distributed round about the tabernacle, nearer to the 
holy place than the other tribes ; so that Moses and 
Aaron, with their families, were to the east, Gershom 
to the west, Kohath to the south, and Merari to the 
north. 

In the marches of Israel, the twelve tribes were 
divided into four great bodies. The first body, in 
front of the army, included Judah, Issachar and Zeb- 
ulun : the second was composed of Reuben, Simeon 
and Gad. Between the! second and third body of 
troops came the Levites and priests, with the ark of 
the Lord, and the furniture of the tabernacle. The 
third body was composed of Ephraim, Manasseh and 
Benjamin ; and the fourth, which brought up the 
rear, was Dan, Asher and Naphtali. 

In the division made by Joshua of the land of Ca- 
naan, Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh, had their 
lot beyond Jordan, east ; all the other tribes, and the 
remaining half of Manasseh, had their distribution on 
this side the river, west. See Canaan. 

The twelve tribes continued united as one state, 
one people and one monarchy, till after the death of 
Solomon, when ten of the tribes revolted from the 
house of David, and formed the kingdom of Israel. 
See Hebrews. 

TRIBULATION expresses in our version much 
the same as trouble, or trial ; importing afflictive dis- 
113 



pensations, to which a person is subjected, either by 
way of punishment, or by way of experiment. Foi 
tribulation, by way of punishment, see Judg. x. 14 
Matt. xxiv. 21, 29 ; Rom. ii. 9 ; 2 Thess. i. 6. Foi 
tribulation by way of trial, see John xvi. 33 ; Rom 
v. 3 ; 2 Thess. i. 4. 

TRIBUNAL, the place where judicial proceedings 
are' administered. Moses appointed (Deut. xvi. 18 ; 
xvii. 8, 9 ; Ezek. xliv. 24.) that in every city there 
should be judges and magistrates, who should heai 
and determine differences; and that if any thing very 
difficult occurred, it should be referred to the place 
which the Lord should choose, and be laid before the 
high-priest, or priests, of the race of Aaron, and be 
fore the judge, whom the Lord should raise up there 
for the time being. See Judge, and Sanhedrin. 

TRIBUTE. The Hebrews acknowledged the 
sovereign dominion of God by a tribute, or capitation 
of half a shekel a head, which was paid yearly, Exod. 
xxx. 13. Our Saviour (Matt. xvii. 25.) thus reasons 
with Peter: "Of whom do the kings of the earth 
take custom or tribute ? of their own children, or of 
strangers ? " Meaning, that he, as Son of God, ought 
to be exempt from this capitation. We do not find 
that either the kings or the judges of the Hebrews 
when they were of that nation, demanded tribute 
Solomon, at the beginning of his reign, (1 Kings ix 
21 — 33 ; 2 Chron. viii. 9.) compelled the Canaanites, 
left in the country, to pay tribute, and to perform the 
drudgery of the public works he had undertaken. 
Toward the end of his reign, he also imposed a trib- 
ute on his own people, and made them work on the 
public buildings, (1 Kings v. 13, 14 ; ix. 15 ; xi. 27.) 
which alienated their minds, and sowed the seeds of 
that discontent which afterwards ripened into open 
revolt, by the rebellion of Jeroboam. 

The Israelites were frequently subdued by foreign 
princes, who laid taxes and tribute on them, to which 
necessity compelled them to submit. See in Matt, 
xxii. 17, the answer of Christ to the Pharisees, who 
came with insidious designs of tempting him, and 
asked him, whether or no it was lawful to pay tribute 
to Cresar. Also John viii. 33, where the Jews boast 
of having never been slaves to any, of being a free 
nation, acknowledging God only for sovereign. And 
note that at that time many Jews had imbibed the 
principles of Judas Gaulonites, and infused into the 
people their notions of independence, and a vain show 
of liberty. On the contrary, the apostles Peter and 
Paul, in' their epistles, always endeavored to recom- 
mend and inculcate on Christians submission and 
obedience to princes, with a conscientious discharge 
of their duty, in paying tribute, Rom. xiii. 1 — 8 ; 1 
Pet. ii. 13. 

TROAS, a city of Phrygin, or of Mysia, on the 
Hellespont, between Troy north, and Assos south. 
Sometimes the name of Troas (or the Troad) signifies 
the whole country of the Trojans, the province where 
the ancient city of Troy had stood. But in the New 
Testament the word Troas signifies a city of this name, 
sometimes called Antigonia, and Alexandria. Some- 
times both names are united, Alexandria-Troas. 

Paul was at Troas, A. D. 52, (Acts xvi. 8, &c.) and 
had a vision in the night of a man of Macedonia, 
who requested gospel assistance. He embarked, 
therefore, at Troas, and passed over into Macedonia. 
The apostle was several other times at Troas. (See 
Acts xx. 5, 6 ; 2 Cor. ii. 12.) He left here, in the 
custody of Carpus, some clothes and books, which 
he desired Timothy to bring with him to Rome, 2 
Tim. iv. 13. 



TRU 



[ 898 ] 



TUR 



TROGYLLIUM, the name of a town and prom- 
ontory of Ionia, in Asia Minor, between Ephesusand 
the mouth of the river Meander, opposite to Samos. 
The promontory is a spur of mount Mycale, Acts xx. 
15. R. 

TROPHIMUS, a disciple of Paul, a Gentile by re- 
ligion, and an Ephesian by birth, came to Corinth 
with the apostle, and accompanied him in his whole 
journey to Jerusalem, A. D. 58, Acts xx. 4. When 
the apostle was in the temple there, the Jews laid 
hold of him, crying out, " He hath brought Greeks 
into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place," 
because having seen him in the city, accompanied by 
Trophimus, they imagined that he had introduced 
him into the temple. It is probable that Trophimus 
followed Paul to Rome, and attended him while in 
bonds ; and it is also related, that after the apostle 
had obtained his liberty, he went into Spain, and 
passing through Gaul, left Trophimus at Aries, as 
bishop. This, however, as Calmet remarks, is very 
difficult to reconcile with what Paul writes to Timo- 
thy, (2 Tim. iv. 20.) that he left him sick at Miletus. 
Trophimus must then necessarily have returned to 
Asia, about a year after Paul had thus left him at 
Aries. 

TRUMPET. The Lord commanded Moses to 
make two trumpets of beaten silver, for the purpose 
of calling the people together when they were to de- 
camp, Numb. x. They chiefly used these trumpets, 
however, to proclaim the beginning of the civil year, 
the beginning of the sabbatical year, (Lev. xxiii. 24; 
Numb. xxix. 1.) and the beginning of the jubilee, 
Lev. xxv. 9, 10. Josephus says, that they were near 
a cubit long, and that their tube or pipe was of the 
thickness of a common flute. Their mouths were 
no wider than just admitted to blow into them, and 
their ends were like those of a modern trumpet. 
There were originally but two in the camp, though 
afterwards they made a great number. In the time 
of Joshua there were seven, (Josh. iii. 4.) and at the 
dedication of the temple of Solomon there were 120 
priests that sounded trumpets, 2 Chron.v. 12. 

In addition to the sacred trumpets of the temple, 
whose use was restricted to the priests, even in war 
and in battle, there were others used by the Hebrew 
generals, Judg. iii. 27. Ehud sounded the trumpet 
to assemble Israel against the Moabites, whose king, 
Eglon, he had lately slain. Gideon took a trumpet in 
his hand, and gave each of his people one, when he 
assaulted the Midianites, Judg. vii. 2, 16. Joab 
sounded the trumpet as a signal of retreat to his sol- 
diers, in the battle against Abner, (2 Sam. ii. 28.) in 
that against Absalom, (2 Sam. xviii. 16.) and in the 
pursuit of Sheba, son of Bichri, 2 Sam. xx. 22. 

TRUMPETS, the Feast of, was kept on the 
first day of the seventh^nonth of the sacred year, 
which was the first of the civil year, called Tizri. 
The beginning of the year was proclaimed by sound 
»f trumpet, (Lev. xxiii. 23; Numb, xxix.) and the day 
Was kept solemn ; all servile business being forbidden. 
A solemn holocaust was offered in the name of the 
whole nation, of a calf, two rams, and seven lambs 
of the same year, with offerings of flour and wine, as 
usual with these sacrifices. Scripture does not men- 
tion the occasion of appointing this feast. The rab- 
bins say, it was in remembrance of the deliverance 
of Isaac by the substitution of a ram. 

TRUTH is that accurate correspondence of what 
js related of a subject, or of what is expected from it, 
which fully justifies the relation ; or, it is the precise 
conformity of a description, an assertion, a proposi- 



tion, &c. to its subject. In Scripture language, em 
inently, God is truth ; that is, in him is no fallacy, 
deception, perverse ness, &c. Jesus Christ is the 
truth, the true way to God, the true representative, 
image, character of the Father ; the Holy Spirit is 
the Spirit of truth, who communicates truth, wh 
maintains the truth in believers, guides them in 
the truth ; and who hates and punishes falsehood, or 
lies, eyen to the death of the transgressor, Ps. xxxi. 
5 ; John xiv. 6, 17 ; Acts v. 3, &c. Good men main- 
tain truth, speak the truth, practise truth ; that is, they 
are careful that their words, actions and sentiments 
correspond with what is correct, accurate and up- 
right. 

Truth, as a substance, is opposed to typical repre- 
sentations, as shadows ; the law was given by Moses, 
but the grace and the truth — the reality of the prom- 
ised blessings — came by Jesus Christ. 

Every man should speak truth to his neighbor , 
that is, honestly, sincerely, with integrity. Truth, 
on the part of God, is often united with kindness, 
mercy, goodness, &c. because fidelity to promises 
being one great branch of truth, and goodness, mercy, 
&c. being implied in the divine promises, when God 
realized any special good, he did but show himself 
faithful, true, fulfilling the desires, or acting for the 
advantage, of those who confided in him and in his 
word. But sometimes the severity of God is his 
truth, Ps. xl. 10 ; Rom. iii. 21. Truth is judicial, in 
reference to a verdict given, (Prov. xx. 28.) judicious, 
(Rom. i. 25.) constant, (Rom. iii. 7.) upright, 1 Cor. v. 
8. The love of the truth is among the noblest char- 
acters of the Christian ; and as genuine piety, wher- 
ever it prevails, will banish falsehood, so we find a 
real love of truth, the comparison of a man's conduct 
with the regulations of truth, and a conformity to 
those regulations are always among the most desira- 
ble, the most favorable, and the most decisive proofs 
of genuine religion ; which being itself a system of 
truth, delights in nothing more than in truth, wheth- 
er of heart, discourse, or conduct. Of this the apos- 
tle John is an instance, who expresses to the lady 
Eclecta his delight at seeing her children walk in 
the truth. 

TRYPHENA, and TRYPHOSA, Christian wo- 
men, whom Paul mentions in Rom. xvi. 12, and of 
whom much mention is made in the history of St. 
Thecla. 

TRYPHON, a king of Syria, who had been a cap 
tain in the troops of Alexander Balas. He deposed 
Nicanor, and placed Antiochus on the throne of 
Syria, whose death he afterwards procured, and then 
seized the throne himself. See Antiochus. 

TUBAL, fifth son of Japhet, who is commonly 
united with Meshech, whence it is thought that they 
peopled countries bordering on each other. Bo- 
chart is very copious to prove, that by Meshech and 
Tubal are intended the Muscovites and the Tiba- 
renians. 

TUBAL-CAIN, son of Lamech the bigamist, and 
of Zillah, Gen. iv. 22. Scripture calls him the father, 
that is, inventor or master of the art of forging and 
managing iron, and of making all kinds of iron work. 
It has been thought that he gave occasion to the 
Vulcan of the heathen. 

TURTLE-DOVE, or TURTLE, a clean bird 
often mentioned in Scripture, and which ths Jews 
might offer in sacrifice. It was appointed in favor 
of the poor, who could not afford more substantial 
sacrifices, (Lev. xii. 6—8 ; xiv. 22 ; Luke ii. 24.; 
Before the law, (Gen. xv. 9.) Abraham offered birds 



TYP 



[ 899 ] 



TYPE 



which were a turtle and a pigeon ; and when he 
divided the other victims he left the birds entire. See 
Dove. 

Jeremiah (viii. 7.) speaks of the turtle as a bird of 
passage : " The stork in the heaven knoweth her ap- 
pointed times, and the turtle, and the crane, and the 
swallow, observe the time of their coming." 

TYCHICUS, a disciple employed by the apostle 
Paul to carry his letters to several churches. He was 
of the province of Asia, and accompanied Paul in his 
journey from Corinth to Jerusalem, Acts xx. 4. He 
carried the Epistle to the Colossians, that to the 
Ephesians, and the first to Timothy. The apostle 
calls him his dear brother, a faithful minister of the 
Lord, and his companion in the service of God, (Eph. 
vi. 21, 22 ; Col. iv. 7, 8.) and had intentions of send- 
ing him into Crete, to preside there in the absence 
of Titus, Tit. iii. 12. It is thought also, that he was 
sent to Ephesus, while Timothy was at Rome, when 
he carried a letter to the Ephesians from this apostle. 
The Greeks make him one of the seventy, and bishop 
of Colophon, in the province of Asia. 

TYPE is a Greek word which generally siginifies 
a resemblance, however it may be produced. Thus, 
(Acts vii. 44.) Moses was to make the tabernacle ac- 
cording to the type, model, exemplar, he had seen. 
The same word is used in reference to the copy of 
the letter sent from Claudius Lysias to Felix, (Acts 
xxiii. 25.) and also concerning the form of doctrine 
into which believers were inducted, and, as it were, 
pressed as clay is pressed into the mould, the im- 
pression, form, or resemblance of which it exactly 
takes. (Comp. 1 Cor. x. 6 ; Phil. iii. 17, et al.) 

A type is however more usually considered as an 
example, pattern, or general similitude to a person, 
event, or thing which is to come ; and in this it dif- 
fers from a representation, memorial, or commemo- 
ration of an event which is past. For instance, the 
ceremony of the passover among the Jews, with its 
bitter herbs, its lamb slain, &c. was a commemora- 
tion, or memorial repetition of what their fathers had 
originally transacted at their exodus from Egypt. 
The same may be said of their dwelling in booths, 
and the opinion may be justified, which considers 
sacrifices themselves as commemorative. Being 
originally instituted after the first transgression, they 
perpetually revived in Adam, and in his posterity, 
the recollection of his first guilt, and of the victim 
which died instead of himself, on that occasion. 

In the nature of commemorative ordinances, Jews 
and Christians are agreed : but the latter say further 
that many, or most, if not all, the sacred institutions 
among the Jews were prefigurative hints, or notices 
of what was to happen under a more perfect dispen- 
sation. Hence a sacrifice, the blood of which was 
shed before the ark, or other symbolical presence of 
God, prefigured a more noble, more dignified blood, 
which should be shed before God at some future 
time ; that as such blood was shed to reconcile man 
and God, to mediate between those otherwise distant 
parties, so the nobler blood should mediate, with un- 
limited success, in restoring amity between God and 
man. They say also, that the dwelling in taberna- 
cles, or booths, prefigured the appearance of a great 
personage, whose residence in human nature was to 
him but a mere temporary humble dwelling ; as 
much below his true dignity as a slight booth or hut 
is below the dignity of a palace. In like manner the 
passover lamb was a victim which exempted from 
evil, while it also prefigured a nobler deliverer (and 
deliverance'* from divine wrath and anger, than could 



possibly be accomplished in the exemption of Israel 
from the stroke of the destroying angel which smote 
the first-born of the Egyptians ; a nobler deliverance 
from the moral tyranny of sin than that of the Israel- 
ites was from the oppressive dominion of Pharaoh, 
which deliverance is accomplished by the blood of 
" the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the 
world." 

Types differ from signs, in that signs were occa- 
sional, and usually pointed to a time, but little distant, 
in the first place ; though ultimately to a much more 
distant event, of whose accomplishment the accom- 
plishment of the sign was a token, an earnest, and in 
some sense a proof ; as it manifested a divine inter- 
position on the subject to which the sign related. So 
when Ezekiel, at a great distance from Jerusalem, 
brought out his troops, and digged through his house, 
he signified the fate of Jerusalem : so, when Isaiah 
was ordered to beget a son by a young woman, then 
a virgin, this being accomplished, was a sign of a 
much greater birth to be expected in the person of 
Emmanuel, to whom the prophet expressly directs 
the ultimate reference. 

If this be correct, what should prevent types also 
from looking forward ? If it pleased God to en- 
courage the hope and faith of his people by occa- 
sional signs, why not also by lasting and permanent 
types ? Why might not the same ideas be conveyed 
every day, every year, on public occasions, as inci- 
dentally, only, in a less conspicuous manner ? Never- 
theless, that may be true of public services under a 
general idea, which it would be imprudent and un- 
advisable to apply to every minute circumstance 
attending them. E. gr. The holy of holies in the 
Jewish temple" might be emblematic of heaven, the 
residence of God ; but it certainly is not prudent to 
consider whatever may, at any rate, and by any con- 
struction, bear a reference to the holy of holies, as 
therefore assimilated to a correspondent antitype in 
heaven. The wit and ingenuity of many of those 
references, which occur in some systems of divinity, 
may be admirable, but admiration differs from ap- 
probation. Though we read that the bellies of the 
pillars in Solomon's temple were decorated with lily 
work, it is by no means certain that " the typical 
meaning was, to denote that ministers being the pil- 
lars of the gospel church, and lilies being emblems 
of the care of Providence, therefore gospel ministers 
should leave to Providence the care of their bellies." • 
Whatever may be thought of the doctrine, it is far 
enough from certain, that this was the intention of the 
sacred writer, or of the Holy Spirit, in recording this 
passage ; to which intention too much cautious def- 
erence cannot be paid. 

Whether certain histories which happened in an- 
cient times were designed as, types of future events, 
it is not easy to determine: but it is likely (1.) that 
such histories are recorded (being selected from 
among many occurrences) as might be useful lessons 
to succeeding ages : (2.) that there being a general 
conformity in the dispensations of providence and 
grace, to different persons, and in different ages, in- 
stances of former dispensations may usefully be held 
up to the view of later times, and may encourage, 
check, direct, or control, those placed in circumstan- 
ce» similar to what is recorded, though their times and 
their places may be widely separated. We have New 
Testament authority for this. 

Types may be considered as possessing different 
degrees of that clearness which determines their ref- 
erence to their antitype. Some may be ev dent, and 



TYR 



[ 900 ] 



TYKE 



palpable others more obscure : some may De refer- 
able in a general or leading sense, or under some 
particular view ; but, if only that general (or that par- 
ticular) view were originally designed, it is not for us 
to particularize every division, every ramification 
seen under every aspect, and tinged with every hue 
which the multiplication glass of a fertile imagination 
may offer, or may induce us to admire. 

The Jewish literati delighted in the studies and 
the application of learning derived from the types : 
they even thought certain letters, and their positions, 
to be of the nature of types ; and hence arose their 
Cabala. But the fallacy of this mode of instruction 
as to any reliance to be placed on it, appears from 
considering that scarcely any two commentators 
agree in their explanations and inferences, when such 
principles are the basis of their remarks. 

Types should be referred from a lesser to a 
greater, as from the death of a beast to the death of 
a man ; from a lower to a higher, as from earth to 
heaven ; from time present to futurity, as from this 
world to the eternal state ; from lesser degrees of 
perfection to more absolute, as from man to God. 
If the sacrifice of a lamb availed officially to restore 
peace, or to conciliate favor, that of a person in 
whom dwelt the fulness of Divinity, must be infi- 
nitely more available to mediate reconciliation : if 
pardon and exemption from punishment in this world 
be desirable, justification and deliverance from eter- 
nal misery is infinitely more desirable : if the tender 
feelings of a father in this unequal state, and amidst 
all the imperfections of the social principle, be pow- 
erful, how much more those of the great Father of 
all, the Father of our spirits ! Whatever is divine is 
infinite ; whatever is infinite eludes our comprehen- 
sion, however urged by the most vehement imagina- 
tion ; under this reflection, types may be useful by 
offering similitudes adapted to our powers ; but when 
that which is perfect is come, that which is imperfect 
and partial, that which is feeble and unsatisfactory, 
shall be done away. (On the general subject of types, 
see the Bibl. Repos. vol. i. p. 135.) 

TYRANNUS. We read, Acts xix. 9, that Paul, 
at Ephesus, withdrew from the synagogue, but taught 
every day in the sehool of one Tyrannus, who is gen- 
erally thought to have been a converted Gentile. 

TYRE, a famous city of Phoenicia, allotted to the 
tribe of Asher, with other maritime cities of the same 
coast ; (Josh. xix. 29.) but it does not appear that the 
Asherites ever drove out the Canaanites. Yet very 
learned men maintain, that in Joshua's time Tyre 
was not built ; and that Strong Tyre — well-fortified 
Tyre — Tyre the Great, is not the city of Tyre. Isaiah, 
it is said, (xxiii. 12.) calls Sidon the daughter of Tyre, 
that is, a colony from it. Homer never speaks of 
Tyre, but only of Sidon. Josephus says, Tyre was 
built not above 240 years before the temple of Solo- 
mon ; which would be 200 years after Joshua. That 
there was such a city as Tyre, however, in the days 
of Homer, is quite certain, seeing, that in the reign of 
Solomon, there was a king of Tyre ; and we appre- 
hend that the Scripture text will be held a sufficient 
proof of its having had an existence before the land 
of Canaan was conquered by the Israelites. Nor is 
Josephus's chronology so accurate as to render his 
authority on such a point very important. There 
was Insular Tyre, and Tyrus on the continent, 
or Palse Tyrus ; and it is supposed by some learned 
writers, that the island was not inhabited till after 
•.he reign of Nebuchadnezzar. But this supposition 
ss not merely at variance with the doubtful authority 



of Josephus, hat is scarcely reconcilable with the 
language of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, who 
both seem to speak of Tyre as an isle. (See Isa. 
xxiii. 2, 6 ; Ezek. xxvi. 17 ; xxvii. 3 ; xxviii. 2.) 
Nor is it probable that the advantageous position of 
the island would be altogether neglected by a mari- 
time people. The coast would, indeed, first be occu- 
pied, and the fortified city mentioned in the book of 
Joshua was in all probability on the continent ; but 
as . the commercial importance and wealth of the port 
increased, the island would naturally be inhabited, 
and it must have been considered as the place of the 
greatest security. Volney supposes that the Tyrians 
retired to their isle when compelled to abandon the 
ancient city of Nebuchadnezzar, and that till that 
time the dearth of water had prevented it from being 
much built upon. Certain it is, that when, at length, 
Nebuchadnezzar took the city, he found it so impov- 
erished as to afford him no compensation for his 
labor. (See Ezek. xxix. 18, 19.) The chief edifices 
were, at all events, on the main land, and to these the 
denunciations of total ruin strictly apply. Palse Ty- 
rus never rose from its overthrow by the Chaldean 
conqueror, and the 31aeedonian completed its de- 
struction ; at the same time, the wealth 'and com- 
merce of Insular Tyre were for the time destroyed, 
though it afterwards recovered from the effects of 
this invasion. 

Ancient Tyre, then, probably consisted of the forti- 
fied city, which commanded a considerable territory 
on the coast, and of the port which was "strong in 
the sea." On that side, it had little to fear from in- 
vaders, as the Tyrians were lords of the sea, and ac- 
cordingly it does not appear that the Chaldean con- 
queror ventured upon a maritime assault. Josephus, 
indeed, states, that Salmaneser, king of Assyria, made 
war against the Tyrians, with a fleet of sixty ships, 
manned by 800 rowers. The Tyrians had but twelve 
ships, yet they obtained the victory, dispersing the 
Assyrian fleet, and taking 500 prisoners. Salmaneser 
then returned to Nineveh, leaving his land forces be- 
fore Tyre, where they remained for five years, but 
were unable to take the city. (See Joseph. Antiq.) 
This expedition is supposed to have taken place in 
the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, about A. M. 
3287, or 717 B. C. It must have been about this 
period, or a few years earlier, that Isaiah delivered 
his oracle against Tyre, in which he specifically de- 
clared, that it should be destroyed, not by the power 
which then threatened, but by the Chaldeans, a peo- 
ple "formerly of no account," Isa. xxiii. 13. The 
more detailed predictions of the prophet Ezekiel 
were delivered a hundred and twenty years after, 
B. C. 588. Almost immediately before the Chaldean 
invasion, the army of Nebuchadnezzar is said to have 
lain before Tyre thirteen years, and it was not taken 
till the fifteenth year after the captivity, B. C. 573, 
more than 1700 years, according to Josephus, after 
its foundation. Its destruction then must have been 
entire ; all the inhabitants were put to the sword, or 
led into captivity, the walls were razed to the ground, 
and it was made a " terror " and a desolation. It is 
remarkable, that one reason assigned by Ezekiel for 
the destruction of this proud city, is its exultation at 
the destruction of Jerusalem : " I shall be replenished 
now she is laid waste," Ezek. xvi. 2. This clearly 
indicates that its overthrow was posterior to that 
event; and if we take the seventy years during which 
it was predicted by Isaiah (xxiii. 15.) that Tyre should 
be forgotten, to denote a definite term, (which seems 
the most natural sense 1 we may conclude that it was 



TYRE 



[ 901 ] 



T YT 



not rebuilt till the same number of years after the re- 
turn of the Jews from Babylon. Old Tyre, the con- 
tinental city, remained, however, in ruins up to the 
period of the Macedonian invasion. Insular Tyre 
had then risen to be a city of very considerable 
wealth and political importance, and by sea her fleets 
were triumphant. It was the rubbish (Ezek. xxv. 
12, 19.) of old Tyre, thirty furlongs off, that supplied 
materials for the gigantic mole constructed by Alex- 
ander, of 200 feet in breadth, extending all the 
way from the continent to the island, a distance of 
three quarters of a mile. The sea that formerly sep- 
arated them, was shallow near the shore, but towards 
the island, it is said to have been three fathoms in 
depth. The causeway has probably been enlarged by 
the sand thrown up by the sea, which now covers the 
surface of the isthmus. Tyre was taken by the Mace- 
donian cobqueror, after a siege of eight months, B. C. 
332, two hundred and forty-one years after its de- 
struction by Nebuchadnezzar, and consequently about 
one hundred and seventy after it had been rebuilt. 

Though now subjugated, it was not, however, to- 
tally destroyed, since only thirty years afterwards it 
was an object of contention to Alexander's succes- 
sors. The fleet of Antigonus invested and blockaded 
it for thirteen months, at the expiration of which it 
was compelled to surrender, and received a garrison 
of his troops for its defence. About three years after 
it was invested by Ptolemy, in person, and owing to 
a mutiny in the garrison, fell into his hands. Its 
history is now identified with that of Syria. In the 
apostolic age it seems to have regained some measure 
of its ancient character as a trading town ; and Paul, 
in touching here, on one occasion, in his way back 
from Macedonia, • found a number of Christian be- 
lievers, with whom he spent a week ; so that the 
gospel must have been early preached to theTyrians. 
(Acts xxi. 3, 4.) Joseph us, in speaking of the city 
of Zabulon as of admirable beauty, says that its 
houses were built like those in Tyre, and Sidon, and 
Berytus. Strabo also speaks of the loftiness and 
beauty of the buildings. In ecclesiastical history, it 
is distinguished as the first archbishopric under the 
patriarchate of Jf,usalem. It shared the fate of 
the country in ie Saracen invasion, in the begin- 
ning of the seventh century. It was reconquered by 
the crusaders in the twelfth, and formed a royal do- 
main of the kingdom of Jerusalem, as well as an 
archiepiscopal see. William of Tyre, the well-known 
historian, an Englishman, was the first archbishop. 
In 1289, it was retaken by the Saracens, the Chris- 
tians being permitted to remove with their effects. 
When the sultan Selim divided Syria into pashalics, 
Tyre, which had probably gone into decay, with the 
depression of commerce, was merged in the territory 
of Sidon. In 1766, it was taken possession of by the 
Motoualies, who repaired the port, and enclosed it, 
on the land side, with a wall twenty feet high. The 
wall was standing, but the repairs had gone to ruin, 
at the time of Volney's visit (1784). He noticed, 
however, the choir of the ancient church, also men- 
tioned by Maundrell, together with some columns of 
red granite, of a species unknown in Syria, which 
Djezzar Pasha wanted to remove to Acre, but could 
find no engineers fit to accomplish it. It was at that 
time a miserable village : its exports consisted of a 
few sacks of corn and cotton, and the only merchant 
of which it could boast was a solitary Greek, in the 
service of the French factory at Sidon, who could 
hardly gain a livelihood. It is only within the last 
fve-and-twenty years that it has once more begun to 



lift its head from the dust. (Modern Traveller, Syria 
vol. i. p. 37, seq. Arner. ed.) 

TYTHES. We have nothing more ancient con- 
cerning tythes, than what is read Gen. xiv. 20, that 
Abraham gave tythes to Melchizedec, king of Salem, 
of all the booty he had taken from the enemy. Jacob 
imitated this piety of his grandfather, when he vowed 
to the Lord the tythe of all the substance he might 
acquire in Mesopotamia, Gen. xxviii. 22. Under the 
law, Moses ordained, "All the tythe of the land, 
whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the 
tree, is the Lord's ; it is holy unto the Lord. And if 
a man will at all redeem aught of his tythes, he shall 
add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning 
the tythe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatso- 
ever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy 
unto the Lord," Lev. xxvii. 30 — 32. 

The Pharisees in the time of Christ, to distinguish 
themselves by a more scrupulous observance of the 
law, not content with tything the grain and fruits 
growing in the fields, also paid tythes of pulse and 
herbs growing in their gardens, which was more than 
the law required. Our Saviour did not censure this 
exactness ; but he blamed their hypocrisy and pride 
in it, Matt, xxiii. 23 ; Luke xi. 42. 

Tythes were taken from what remained after the 
offerings and first-fruits were paid. They brought 
the tythes to the Levites in the city of Jerusalem, as 
appears by Josephus, Antiq. lib. iv. cap. 8. The Le- 
vites set apart the tenth part of their tythes for the 
priests, (for the priests did not receive them immedi- 
ately from the people,) and the Levites were not to 
enjoy the tythes they had received, before they had 
given to the priests such a part as the law assigned 
to them. Of the nine parts that remained to the pro- 
prietors, after the tythe was paid to the Levites, they 
took another tenth part, which was either sent to 
Jerusalem in kind, or, if that were too far, they sent 
the value in money, adding thereto, as the rabbins 
inform us, a fifth from the whole. This tenth part 
was applied towards celebrating the festivals in the 
temple ; and was nearly resembled by the Agapse, or 
love feasts, of the first Christians. Thus Deut. xiv. 
22, 23, is understood by the rabbins : " Thou shalt 
truly tythe all the increase of thy seed, that the field 
bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat be- 
ford the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall 
choose to place his name there, the tythe of thy corn, 
of thy wine and of thy oil, and the firstlings of thy 
herds and of thy flocks ; that thou mayest learn to 
fear the Lord thy God always." Josephus also 
speaks of these feasts, which were made in the tem- 
ple, and in the holy city, Antiq. lib. iv. cap. 8. 

Tobit says (i. 6.) that every three years he paid 
punctually his tythe to strangers and proselytes. This 
was probably because there were neither priests nor 
Levites in the city where he dwelt. Moses speaks 
of this last kind of tythe, Deut. xiv. 28 ; xxvi. 12. "At 
the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the 
tythe of thine increase the same year, and shall lay it 
up within thy gates. And the Levite, (because he 
hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the 
stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which 
are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be 
satisfied : that the Lord thy God may bless thee in 
all the work of thine hand which thou dost." Cal- 
met thinks this third tythe not to be different from 
the second kind already noticed, except that in the 
third year it was not brought into the temple, but 
was used on the spot, by every one in the city of his 
habitation. Therefore, properly speaking, there were 



TYTHES 



[ 902 ] 



TYTHES 



only two sorts of tythes ; (1.) that whicn was given 
to the Levites and priests; (2.) that which was ap- 
plied to feasts of charity, either in the temple at Je- 
rusalem, or in other cities. 

Samuel tells the children of Israel, that their king 
would " take the tenth part of their seed, and of their 
vineyards, and give to his officers and his servants. 
He will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be 
his servants," 1 Sam. viii. 15, 16. Yet it does not 
clearly appear from the history of the Jews, that they 
regularly paid tythe to their princes. But the man- 
ner in which Samuel expresses himself seems to in- 
sinuate, that it was looked upon as a common right 
among the kings of the East. 

Tythes are not enforced by the New Testament. 
Our Saviour has commanded nothing as to the sup- 
port of ministers; only, when he sent his apostles to 
preach in the cities of Israel, he forbade them to 
carry either purse, or provisions, and commanded 
them to enter the houses of those who were willing 
to receive them, and to eat what should be set before 
them ; for, as he adds, the laborer is worthy of his 
hire, that is, of his maintenance, Matt. x. 10 ; Luke 
t. 7, 8. Paul also determines, that he who receives 



instruction, should administer some of his good 
things to him who gives it, Gal. vi. 6. It is agree- 
able to nature and reason, that they who wait at the 
altar should live by the altar ; and whoever under- 
took a warfare at his own expense ? 1 Cor. ix. 13. 
In the infancy of the church, the ministers lived on 
the alms and oblations of believers. Afterwards, 
lands and fixed revenues were settled on churches 
and their ministers, and people began to give them a 
certain portion of their substance, which was called 
tythe, in imitation of that paid to the priests of the 
old covenant, though every one gave only as his de- 
votion inclined him. At last, the bishops, in concur- 
rence with secular princes, made laws obliging Chris- 
tians to give to ecclesiastics the tythe of their revenues, 
and of the fruits of the earth. As these regulations 
were not all made at the same time, nor in a uniform 
manner, we cannot precisely fi x the period of the 
establishment of tythes. But tney were paid as far 
back as the sixth century ; though not every where, 
nor under the same obligations. F. Paul, in his 
Treatise of Benefices, observes, that till the eighth or 
the ninth century, tythes were not paid in the East, 
nor in Africa. 



u 



UNICORN 



UNICORN 



ULAI, a river which runs by the city Shushan 
in Persia, on the bank of which Daniel had a famous 
vision, Dan. viii. 2, 16. [It was the Choaspes of the 
Greeks, and is now called Kerrah. It empties its 
waters into the united stream of the Euphrates and 
Tigris, Dan. viii. 2. (See R. K. Porter's Travels, 
vol. ii. p. 412.) R. 

UNICORN. (Heb. attn, reem.) It is hardly neces- 
sary to remark, that the unicorn, as represented by 
poets and painters, has never been found in nature, 
and never, perhaps, had an existence but in the im- 
agination of the one, and on the canvass of the other. 
[See, however, the additions at the end of this article. 
Indeed the whole of the article which follows might, 
perhaps, be more properly omitted ; as it proceeds on 
the erroneous supposition that the animal denoted by 
the Hebrew word reem is the rhinoceros ; and because 
one of the main arguments for this supposition is based 
upon a word not found in the Hebrew, but inserted 
by the English translators, as will be shown below. 
Still, as the general information here exhibited is not 
uninteresting, the whole may be permitted to remain ; 
referring the reader, however, for a probably more 
correct view to the additions below. R. 

Before we inquire what creature is denoted by the 
Hebrew reem, it will be well to ascertain its precise 
character from a careful examination of the several 
passages in which it is mentioned. The first allusion 
to it is in the reply of Balaam to Balak, wh,en impor- 
tuned by the terrified king to curse the invading armies 
of Israel : " God brought them out of Egypt ; he hath 
as it were the strength of an unicorn," Numb, xxiii. 
22 ; xxiv. 8. From this it is evident, that the reem 
was conceived to possess very considerable power. 
With this idea corresponds the passage in Isaiah, 
where the prophet associates with him other power- 
ful animals, to symbolize the leaders and princes of 
the hostile nations that were destined to desolate his 
country : " And the unicorns shall come down with 



them, and the bullocks with the bulls ; and their land 
shall be soaked with blood, and their dust be made 
fat with fatness," chap, xxxiv. 7. From the book of 
Job we learn, that he was not only an animal of con- 
siderable strength, but also of a very intractable dis- 
position : " Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, 
or abide by thy crib ? Canst thou bind the unicorn 
with his band in the furrow, or will he harrow the 
valleys after thee ? Wilt thou trust him because his 
strength is great, or wilt thou leave thy labor to him ? 
Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy 
seed, and gather it into thy barn ? " chap, xxxix. 9 — 12. 
Another particular we collect from Ps. xcii. 10. 
namely, that this animal possesses a single horn, 
and that in an erect posture, unlike other horned ani- 
mals : " My horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an 
unicorn ; " while it is evident from the following pas- 
sage, that it was sometimes found with more horns 
than one. " His [Joseph's] horns are like the horns 
of an unicorn," Deut. xxxiii. 17. There are only two 
more passages, in which the reem is mentioned in 
Scripture : these are Ps. xxii. 21. ■ and xxix. 6. 
From the former we are unable to gather any addi- 
tional information, and the latter will add but little to 
our stock : " He maketh them also to skip like a calf ; 
Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn." 

We are now better prepared to examine into the 
validity of the claims that have been advanced in fa- 
vor of those animals which are supposed to be the 
reem of the Hebrew Scriptures. Let us first hear 
Mr. Bruce. 

It is very remarkable, says this distinguished travel- 
ler, that two such animals as the elephant and rhi- 
noceros should have wholly escaped the description of 
the sacred writers. Moses and the children of Israel 
were long in the neighborhood of the countries which 
produced them both, while in Egypt and in Arabia. 
The classing of the animals into clean and unclean 
seem? io have \ed the legislator into a kind of nece* 



UNICORN 



[ 903 ] 



UNICORN 



sity of describing, in one of the classes, an animal 
which made the food of the principal pagan nations 
in f he neighborhood. Considering the long and inti- 
mate connection Solomon had with the south coast 
of the Red sea, it is next to impossible that he was 
not acquainted with them, as both David his father, 
and he himself, made pfentiful use of ivory, as 
they frequently mention in their writings, which, 
along with gold, came from the same parts. Solo- 
mon, besides, wrote expressly on zoology, and we 
can scarce suppose was ignorant of two of the princi- 
pal articles of that part of the creation, inhabitants of 
the great continent of Asia east from him, and that 
of Africa on the south, with both wbich territories he 
was in constant correspondence. 

There are two animals named frequently in Scrip- 
ture, without naturalists being agreed what they are. 
The one is the behemoth, the other the Teem ; both 
mentioned as types of strength, courage and inde- 
pendence on man ; and, as such, exempted from the 
ordinary lot of beasts, to be subdued by him, or re- 
duced under his dominion. Though this is not to be 
taken in a literal sense, — for there is no animal with- 
out the fear or beyond the reach of the power of 
man, — we are to understand it of animals possessed 
of strength and size so superlative, as that in these 
qualities other beasts bear no proportion to them. 

The behemoth Mr. Bruce takes to be the elephant, 
in which we differ from him : the reem he argues to 
be the rhinoceros, from the following considerations : 
• The derivation of the word, both in Hebrew and 
Ethiopic, seems to be from erectness, or standing 
straight. This is certainly no particular quality in 
the animal itself, who is not more, nor even so much, 
erect as many other quadrupeds, for its knees are 
rather crooked ; but it is from the circumstance and 
manner in which his horn is placed. The horns of 
all other animals are inclined to some degree of par- 
allelism with the nose, or os frontis. The horn of the 
rhinoceros alone is erect or perpendicular to this 
bone, on which it stands at right angles ; thereby pos- 
sessing a greater purchase or power, as a lever, than 
any horn could possibly have in any other position. 
This situation of the horn is very happily alluded to 
in the sacred writings: "My horn shalt thou exalt 
like the horn of a reem," Ps. xcii. 10. And the horn 
here alluded to is not wholly figurative, but was really 
an ornament worn by great men in the days of vic- 
tory, preferment, or rejoicing, when they were anoint- 
ed with new, sweet, or fresh oil ; a circumstance 
which David joins with that of erecting the horn. 

The reasons which have induced some writers to 
consider the unicorn as being of the deer or antelope 
kind, it is difficult to conceive of, since this is of a 
genus, whose very character is fear and weakness, 
very opposite, as Mr. Bruce continues, to the qualities 
by which the reem is described in Scripture. Be- 
sides, it is plain the reem is not of the class of clean 
quadrupeds ; and a late traveller very whimsically 
takes him for the leviathan, which certainly was 
a fish. Balaam, a priest of Midian, and so in the 
neighborhood of the haunts of the rhinoceros, and 
intimately connected with Ethiopia, (for they them- 
selves were shepherds of that country,) in a transport, 
from contemplating the strength of Israel whom lie 
was brought to curse, says, they had as it were "the 
strength of the reem," Numb, xxiii. 22. Job makes 
frequent allusion to his great strength, ferocity and 
indocility, chap, xxxix. 9, 10. He asks, " Will the 
reem be willing to serve thee, or to abide at thy crib ? " 
That is, Will he willingly come into thy stable, and 



eat at thy manger ? and again, " Canst thou bind the 
reem with a band in the furrow, and will he harrow 
the valleys after thee. ? " In other words, Canst thou 
make him to go in the plo-ugh or harrows ? 

Isaiah, (chap, xxxiv. 7.) who, of all the prophets, 
seems to have known Egypt and Ethiopia the best, 
when prophesying about the destruction of Idumea, 
says, that " the reem shall come down with the fat 
cattle : " a proof that he knew his habitation was in 
the neighborhood. In the same manner as when 
foretelling the desolation of Egypt, he mentions as 
one manner of effecting it, the bringing down the fly 
from Ethiopia, to meet the cattle in the desert, and 
among the bushes, and destroy them there, where 
that insect did not ordinarily come but on command, 
(comp. Isa. vii. 18, 19, and fixod. viii. 22.) and where 
the cattle feed every year, to save themselves from 
that insect. 

The rhinoceros in Geez is called ariok harish, anJ. 
in the Amharic, auraris, both of which names signify 
the large wild beast with the horn. This would seem 
as if applied to the species that had but one horn. 
On the other hand, in the country of the Shangalla, and 
in Nubia adjoining, he is called girnamgirn, or horn 
upon horn, and this would seem to denote that he 
had two. The Ethiopic text renders the word reem, 
anvi harish, and this the Septuagint translates fiovor.t- 
gos, or unicorn. 

If the Abyssinian rhinoceros had invariably two 
horns, it seems improbable that the Septuagint would 
have called him monoceros, especially as they must 
have seen an animal of this kind exposed at Alexan- 
dria in their time, when first mentioned in history, 
at an exhibition given to Ptolemy Philadelphus, at his 
accession to the crown, before the death of his father. 

The principal reason for translating the word reem, 
unicorn, and not. rhinoceros, is from a prejudice that 
he must have but one horn. But this is by no means 
so well founded, as to be admitted as the only argu- 
ment for establishing the existence of an animal, 
which never has appeared after the search of so 
many ages. Scripture, as we have seen, speaks of 
the horns of the unicorn ; so that, even from this cir- 
cumstance, the reem may be the rhinoceros, as the 
Asiatic and part of the African rhinoceros may be 
the unicorn. 

In addition to these particulars, Mr. Bruce informs 
us, that the rhinoceros does not eat hay or grass, but 
lives entirely upon trees ; he does not spare the most 
thorny ones, but rather seems to be fond of them ; 
and it is not a small branch that can escape his hun- 
ger, for he has the strongest jaws of any creature 
known to him, and best adapted to grinding or bruis- 
ing any thing that makes resistance. But, besides the 
trees capable of most resistance, there are in the vast 
forests which he inhabits trees of a softer consistence, 
and of a very succulent quality, which seem to be 
destined for his principal food. For the purpose of 
gainingthe highest branches of these, his upper lip is 
capable of being lengthened out, so as to increase his 
power of laying hold with this, in the same manner 
as the elephant does with his trunk. With this lip, 
and the assistance of his tongue, he pulls down the 
upper branches, which have most leaves, and these he 
devours first: having stripped the tree of its branches, 
he does not therefore abandon it, but placing his 
snout as low in the trunk as he finds his horn will 
enter, he rips up the body of the tree, and reduces 
it to thin pieces, like so many laths ; and when he 
has thus prepared it, he embraces as much of it as he 
can in his monstrous jaws, and twists it with as much 



UNICORN 



[ 904 1 



UNICORN 



base as an ox would do a root of celery. (Bruce's 
Tiavels, vol. v. p. 89—95.) 

Such is the description which this intelligent 
writer gives of the animal which he supposes to he 
the reem of the sacred writers ; but it is necessary that 
we should notice the objections urged against this 
opinion. 

Mr. Scott, who considers the reem to be a species 
of the wild bull, an animal bred in the Arabian and 
Syrian deserts, objects, that the rhinoceros cannot be 
the animal intended, because the reem is represented 
as having high and terrible horns ; whereas, this 
creature possesses but one, and that a very short one, 
placed just over the nose. That the former part of 
this objection is founded in misapprehension, we 
have already seen ; since the reem is, in one passage 
of Scripture at least represented as having only one 
horn ; and that horn, as is evident from the allusion, 
placed in a position exactly answering to the descrip- 
tion of this weapon of the rhinoceros, which is fur- 
nished by Mr. Bruce. Nor is the remaining part of 
the objection of greater weight, since the horn of the 
rhinoceros is by no means of so contemptible a size as 
it represents. In the forty-second and fifty-sixth vol- 
umes of the Philosophical Transactions, Dr. Parsons 
has given drawings of the horns of the rhinoceros, 
from Dr. Mead's, and also from sir Hans Sloane's, 
collections. From those delineations we ascertain, 
that the straight horn on a double-horned animal was 
twenty-Jive inches in length ; the curved one being 
something shorter; and the two diameters of the 
bases thirteen inches. Nor were these the largest of 
the kind, for the doctor mentions a horn in the col- 
lection of sir II. Sloane, which was thirty-seven 
inches long, and another thirty-two inches ; and Buf- 
fon mentions one whose length was three feet eight 
inches, — an altitude sufficient, surely, to justify the 
allusions of the sacred writers. 

But in addition to this, we must remark, that the 
wild bull, which in all its varieties is possessed of 
two boms, can never be identified with an animal 
represented as varying in these particulars ; pos- 
sessing sometimes one and sometimes two. The 
LXX, as we have shown, uniformly translate the 
Heb. cN-i by uovuzeooc, i. e. onE-horned ; and the con- 
tradiction is equally great, whether they designed to 
describe a bull having two horns, or whether they 
designed the double-horned rhinoceros. But when 
we consider that a wild bull, having only one horn, 
would be contrary to the nature of the beeve kind, 
and, indeed, would be a monster ; whereas a unicorn, 
or single-horned rhinoceros, would suit some pas- 
sages of Scripture, and be perfectly well known to 
their readers ; while another species of rhinoceros, 
having two horns, would suit other passages of Scrip- 
ture, where a similar animal is meant, and this also 
was known to their readers ; — we cannot but approve 
of the choice they made in preferring the rhinoceros 
to the urus, as the animal intended by the Hebrew 
reem. We consider this choice and this opinion of 
the Egyptian translators, who certainly knew full as 
well as modern writers can know, the animal most 
likely to be described by the sacred poet, as no despi- 
cable authority on this side of the question. 

We now leave the reader to determine for him- 
self respecting the identity of this disputed animal. 
To us it appears, that the arguments in favor of the 
rhinoceros preponderate, and that we shall not be 
very far from the truth, if we conclude this to be the 
reem of the sacred volume. 

From what has been already said, some idea may 



be formed of tne external appearance, as well as the 
dispositions of the rhinoceros. A few additional re- 
marks, however, may not be unacceptable. 

Next to the elephant, the rhinoceros is said to be 
the most powerful of animals. It is usually found 
twelve feet long, from the tip of the nose to the inser 
tion of the tail ; from six to seven feet high ; and the 
circumference of its body is nearly equal to its length. 
It is, therefore, equal to the elephant in bulk ; and 
the reason of its appearing so much smaller to the 
eye than that animal is, that its legs are so much 
shorter. Words, says Goldsmith, can convey but a 
very confused idea of this animal's 'shape ; and yet 
there are few so remarkably formed. But for its 
horn, which we have already described, its headi 
would have the appearance of that part of a hog. The 
skin of the rhinoceros is naked, rough, knotty, and 
lying upon the body in folds, in a very peculiar man- 
ner: the skin, which is of a dirty brown color, is so 
thick as to turn the edge of a cimetar, and to resist a 
musket-ball. 

Such is the general outline of an animal that ap- 
pears chiefly formidable from the horn growing from 
its snout ; and formed rather for war, than with a 
propensity to engage. The elephant, the boar, and 
the buffalo, are obliged to strike transversely with 
their weapons ; but the rhinoceros, from the situation 
of his horn, employs all his force with every blow ;; 
so that the tiger will more willingly attack any other 
animal of the forest than one whose strength is so' 
justly employed. Indeed, there is no force which 
this terrible animal has to apprehend; defended on 
every side by a thick, horny hide, which the claws of 
the lion or the tiger are unable to pierce, and armed 
before with a weapon that even the elephant does not 
choose to oppose. Travellers have assured us, that 
the elephant is often found dead in the forests, pierced' 
with the horn of a rhinoceros. 

[The preceding arguments are the strongest, and 
indeed the only ones, which can be urged in favor of 
the rhinoceros, as being the reem of the Hebrew writ- 
ers. They are however rebutted by the fact, that 
the reem was obviously an animal well known to 
the Hebrews, being every where mentioned with 
other animals common to the country ; while the rhi 
noceros was never an inhabitant of the country, is no> 
where else spoken of by the sacred writers, nor, ac- 
cording to Bochart, either by Aristotle in his treatise 
of animals, nor by Arabian writers. Nor do the qual- 
ities and habits of the rhinoceros at all coincide with 
those ascribed to the reem. The prominent features 
of the latter are its horns, in respect to which it is 
classed with animals that push, which is never the 
case with the rhinoceros. Besides, the chief argu- 
ment adduced above for the rhinoceros, viz. that the 
reem is sometimes described with one horn and some- 
times with more, is false. The truth is, the word reem 
has in itself no reference to horns at all, and wherever 
the animal is spoken of with any allusion to this 
member, the expression is in the plural, horns ; e. g 
Deut. xxxiii. 17, " His [Joseph's] horns are like the 
horns of an unicorn ; " Ps. xxii. 21, " Thou hast heard 
[and delivered] me from the horns of the unicorn." 
In Ps. xcii. 10, which is referred to above as proving 
that the reem is sometimes represented as having but 
one hom, the Hebrew reads simply, " My horn shalt 
thou exalt like an unicorn ;" where the word horn, as it 
stands in the English version, is no where expressed • 
although there is undoubtedly an ellipsis, which, to 
compare with other parallel passages, ought to be filled 
out with horns, in the plural, rather than with the sin 



UNICORN 



[ 905 " 



UNICORN 



gular. (See Stuart's Heb. Gram. § 550. 4th edit.) 
Thus the whole argument in question rests not on 
the Hebrew original, but on an interpolation of the 
English translators. — Indeed the supposition of the 
rhinoceros has been long since refuted by Bochart, 
to whose learned work the reader is referred. (Hieroz. 
Tom. i. 930. edit. 1712.) 

But on the other hand, Bochart, and after him Ro- 
senmiiller and others, regard the reem of the Hebrews 
as a species of antelope, the rim of the Arabs, and the 
oryx or Itacoryx of the Greeks. The argument of 
most weight in Bochart's mind, seems to be the fact, 
that rim in Arabic, which is equivalent to reem in 
Hebrew, is thus used of a species of white gazelle or 
antelope, (Niebuhr, Descr. of Arab. p. xxxviii. Germ, 
ed.) which would seem to be very probably the 
leucoryx. But then, the other characteristics of 
these animals by no means correspond to those of 
the reem, which is every where described as a fierce, 
intractable animal, acting on the offensive and attack- 
ing even men of its own accord. Now, however 
wild and untameable many species of antelopes may 
be, they are universally described as a shy and 
retiring animal, always flying from pursuit, and 
avoiding even the approach of man. In opposition 
to this, Bochart and Rosenmuller produce a passage 
of Martial, where he gives to the oryx the epithet 
fierce, (saevus oryx, Epigr. xiii. 95.) and another from 
Oppian, where he says, "There is a beast, with 
pointed horns, familiar to the woods, the savage oryx, 
most terrrible to other beasts." (Cyneget. ii. 445.) 
Now all these epithets and descriptions, even allow- 
ing nothing for poetical amplification, are perfectly 
applicable to the stag of our forests and of Asia ; they 
imply no more than that the oryx, when hard push- 
ed, will turn upon its pursuers, and defend himself 
with fury. Yet no one would hence draw the con- 
clusion, that it was characteristic of the stag to act on 
the offensive ; nor can such a conclusion be drawn 
with better reason in regard to the oryx. — The oryx 
of Pliny and other ancient writers is understood to be 
the antelope oi-yx of zoologists ; the gazella Indica of 
Ray, the capra gazella of the Syst. Nat., the Egyptian 
antelope of Pennant, and the pasan of Buffon. It is 
about the size of a fallow deer, having straight, 
slender, annulated horns which taper to a point; the 
horns are about three feet long, the points sharp, and 
about fourteen inches asunder; the body and sides 
are of a reddish ash color ; the face is white, with a 
black spot at the base of the horns, and another on the 
middle of the face. It is a native of Asia and Africa. 
— The leucoryx, which some suppose to be the oryx 
of Oppian, is in general similar to the animal above 
described, except that the body is of a milk white 
color. It inhabits the neighborhood of Bassora, on 
the Persian gulf. — Most obviously neither of these 
animals answer the description of the Hebrew reem. 
The fact that the Arabs apply the word rim to this 
class of animals, has probably its origin in the same 
cause, which also leads them to apply to the races of 
deer and antelopes, in general, the epithet wild oxen. 
See Schultens, Comm. in Job xxxlx. 9.) 

Other writers have supposed the reem of the He- 
brews to be the urus, bison, or wild ox, described by Cae- 
sar, which is understood to be the same animal as the 
American buffalo. The characteristics of this animal 
accord well with those attributed to the reem ; but 
there is no evidence that the bison existed in Pales- 
tine, or was known to the Hebrews. A more obvious 
supposition, therefore, is that of Schultens, De Wette, 
Gesenius, and others, that under the reem we are to 
114 # 



understand the buffalo of the eastern continent, rne 
bos bubalus of Linnaeus, which differs from the bison 
or American buffalo chiefly in the shape of the horns 
and the absence of the dewlap. This animal is indi- 
genous, originally, in the hotter parts of Asia and Af- 
rica, but also in Persia, Abyssinia and Egypt ; and is 
now also naturalized in Italy and southern Europe. 
As, therefore, it existed in the countries all around 
Palestine, there is every reason to suppose that it was 
also found in that country, or at least in the regions 
east of the Jordan and south of the Dead sea, as 
Bashan and Idumea. 

The oriental buffalo appears to be so closely allied 
to our common ox, that without an attentive exam- 
ination it might be easily mistaken for a variety of 
that animal. In point of size it is rather superior to 
the ox ; and upon an accurate inspection, it is observed 
to differ in the shape and magnitude of the head, the 
latter being larger than in the ox. But it is chiefly 
by the structure of the horns that the buffalo is dis 
tinguished, these being of a shape and curvature al 
together different from those of the ox. They are of 
gigantic size in proportion to the bulk of the animal, 
and of a compressed form, with a sharp exterior 
edge ; for a considerable length from their base these 
horns are straight, and then bend slightly upwards ; 
the prevailing color of them is dusky, or nearly black. 
The buffalo has no dewlap ; his tail is small and des- 
titute of vertebra? near the extremity ; his ears are 
long and pointed. This animal has the appearance 
of uncommon strength. The bulk of his body, and 
prodigious muscular limbs, denote his force at the first 
view. His aspect is ferocious and malignant ; at the 
same time that his physiognomy is strongly marked 
with features of stupidity. His head is of a ponder- 
ous size ; his eyes diminutive ; and what serves to 
render his visage still more savage, are the tufts of 
frizzled hair which hang down from his cheeks and 
the lower part of his muzzle. 

This animal, although originally a native of the 
hotter parts of India and Africa, is now completely 
naturalized to the climate of the south of Europe. Mr. 
Pennant supposes the wild bulls of Aristotle to have 
been buffaloes, and Gmelin and other distinguished 
naturalists are of the same opinion. Gmelin alsa 
supposes the Bos Indicus of Pliny to have been the 
same animal. Buffon, however, endeavors to show, 
that the buffalo of modern times was unknown to the 
Greeks and Romans, and that it was first transported 
from its native countries, the warmer regions of Af- 
rica and the Indies, to be naturalized in Italy, not 
earlier than the seventh century. 

The buffalo grows in some countries to an ex- 
tremely large size. The buffaloes of Abyssinia grow 
to twice the size of our largest oxen, and are called 
elephant bulls. Mr. Pennant mentions a pair of horns 
in the British Museum, which are six feet and a half 
long, and the hollow of which will hold five quarts. 
Father Lobo affirms that some of the horns of the 
buffaloes in Abyssinia will hold ten quarts; and 
Dillon saw some in India that were ten feet long. 
They are sometimes wrinkled, but generally smooth. 
The distance between the points of the two horns is 
usually about five feet. 

Wild buffaloes occur in many parts of Africa and: 
India, where they live in great troops in the forests, 
and are regarded as excessively fierce and dangerous 
animals. In all these particulars they coincide with 
the buffaloes of America. The hunting of them is a 
favorite but very dangerous pursuit ; the hunters 
never venture in any numbers to oppose these fero- 



UNICORN 



[ 90(5 ] 



UNICORN 



cious animals face to face ; but conceal themselves 
in the thickets, or in the branches of the trees ; 
whence they attack the buffaloes as they pass along. 

In Egypt, as also in southern Europe, the buffalo 
has been partially domesticated. In Egypt especially, 
it is much cultivated, where, according to Sonnini, it 
yields plenty of excellent milk, from which butter 
and various kinds of cheese are made. 

"The buffalo," says Sonnini, "is an acquisition 
of the modern Egyptians, with which their ancestors 
were unacquainted. It was brought over from Per- 
sia [? ] into their country, where the species is at 
present universally spread, and is very much propa- 
gated. It is even more numerous than the common 
ox, and is there equally domestic, though but recent- 
ly domesticated ; as is easily distinguishable by the 
constantly uniform color of the hair, and still more 
by a remnant of ferocity and intractability of dispo- 
sition, and a wild and lowering aspect, the characters 
of all half-tamed animals. The buffaloes of Egypt, 
however, are not near so wild nor so much to be feared 
as those of other countries. They there partake of 
the gentleness of other domestic animals, and only re- 
tain a few sudden and occasional caprices. — They 
are so fond of water, that I have seen them continue 
in it a whole day. It often happens that the water 
which is fetched from the Nile, near its banks, has 
contracted their musky smell." 

These animals multiply more readily than the 
common ox ; they breed in the fourth year, pro- 
ducing young for two years together, and remaining 
sterile the third ; and they commonly cease breeding 
after their twelfth year. Their term of life is much 
the same as that of the common ox. They are more 
robust than the common ox, better capable of bear- 
ing fatigue, and, generally speaking, less liable to dis- 
tempers. They are therefore employed to advantage 
in different kinds of labor. Buffaloes are made to 
draw heavy loads, and are commonly guided by 
means of a ring passed through the nose. In its hab- 
its the buffalo is much less cleanly than the ox, and 
delights to wallow in the mud. His voice is deeper, 
more uncouth and hideous than that of the bull. 
The milk is said by some authors to be not so good 
as that of the cow, but more plentiful ; Buffon, on the 
contrary, asserts that it is far superior to cows' milk. 
The skin and horns are of more value than all the 
rest of the animal ; the latter are of a fine grain, 
strong, and bear a good polish, and are therefore in 
much esteem with cutlers and other artisans. 

Italy is the country where buffaloes are, at present, 
most common perhaps in a domesticated state. They 
are used more particularly in the Pontine marshes 
and those in the district of Sienna, where the fatal 
nature of the climate acts unfavorably on common 
cattle, but affects the buffaloes less. The Spaniards 
also have paid attention to them ; and indeed the 
cultivation of this useful animal seems to be pretty 
general in all the countries bordering on the Medi- 
terranean sea, both in Europe and Africa. Niebuhr 
remarks, that he saw buffaloes not only in Egypt, but 
also at Bombay, Surat, on the Euphrates, Tigris, 
Orontes, at Scanderoon, &c. and indeed in almost all 
marshy regions and near large rivers. He does not 
remember any in Arabia, there being perhaps in that 
country too little water for this animal. (Descr. of 
Arabia, p. 165, Germ, edit.) 

We have been thus particular in describing the 
buffalo of Asia, in order to show that it possesses, in 
its wild state, all the characteristics attributed to the 
Hebrew reem. All the evidence goes to show that it 



has been domesticated only at a comparatively recent 
period ; and that the Hebrews therefore were proba- 
bly acquainted with it only as a wild, savage, fero- 
cious animal, resembling the ox; and it was not im- 
probably often intended by them under the epithet 
bulls of Bashan. The appropriateness of the forego- 
ing description to the Hebrew reem will be apparent, 
on a closer inspection of the passages where this ani- 
mal is mentioned. 

In Dent, xxxiii. 17, and Ps. xcii. 10, the comparison 
is with his horns ; which requires no further illustra- 
tion after what is said above. In Numb, xxiii. 22 ; 
xxiv. 8, it is said, " he hath as it were the strength of 
a reem ; " this is certainly most appropriate, if we 
adopt here the word strength, as the proper transla- 
tion. But the Hebrew word here rendered strength, 
means strictly, rapidity of motion, speed, combined, if 
you please, with force. In this sense also, it is not 
less descriptive of the buffalo, which runs with great 
speed and violence when excited ; as is often the case 
in regard to whole herds, which then rush blindly 
forwards with tremendous power. (See the Account 
of major Long's expedition to the Rocky mountains.) 
In three other passages, the reem is closely coupled 
with the common ox, or with the employment of the 
latter. In Ps. xxix. 6, it is said, " He maketh them 
also to skip like a calf ; Lebanon and Sirion like a 
young reem ; " where the young of the reem stands in 
parallelism with the calf, so that we should nat- 
urally expect a great similarity between them. Isa 
xxxiv. 7, " And the reemim shall come down with 
them, and the bullocks with the bulls, &c." Here, in 
verse 6, it is said that the Lord has a great sacrifice 
in Bozrah ; and the idea in verse 7 is, according to 
the LXX and Gesenius, that the reemim shall come 
down, i. e. shall make part of, this sacrifice, as also 
the bullocks, old and young, of the land of Edom, so 
that their "land shall be soaked with blood," &c. 
The other passage is Job xxix. 9 — 12, " Will the reem 
be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib ? Canst 
thou bind the reem with his band in the furrow, or 
will he harrow the valleys after thee ? Wilt thou 
trust him because his strength is great, or wilt thou 
leave thy labor to him ? Wilt thou believe him, that 
he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy 
barn ? " Here Job is asked, whether he would dare 
to intrust to the reem such and such labors as were 
usually performed by oxen. Nothing can be more 
appropriate to the wild buffalo than this language ; 
and we have seen above that the Hebrews probably 
knew it only in a wild state. The only other passage 
where the reem is mentioned is Ps. xxii. 21, and this 
requires a more extended notice. The psalmist in 
deep distress says in verse 12, " Many bulls (ons) have 
compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me 
round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, 
as a ravening and roaring lion. For dogs have com- 
passed me," &c. Here it will be observed that three 
animals are mentioned as besetting the writer, 
bulls of Bashan, lions, dogs. The psalmist pro 
ceeds to speak of his deliverance ; verse 20, " De- 
liver my soul [me] from the sword, my darling 
[me] fjom the power of the dog. Save me from the 
lion's mouth ; for thou hast heard [and saved] me 
from the horns of the reemim." Here also it will be 
seen are three animals, corresponding to the three 
before mentioned as besetting him, but ranged in an 
inverted order, viz. the dog, the lion, and the reem, 
in place of the bulls of Bashan ; that is, from the 
whole structure of the poem, and the fact that these 
animals and no others are alluded to, the inference is 



UNICORN 



t 907 ] 



UNICORN 



almost irresistible, that the reemim of verse 21 are the 
vdrim of verse 12, the bulls of Bashan, as has been 
already suggested above. At least we may infer that 
the reem was an animal not so unlike those bulls, but 
that it might with propriety be interchanged with 
them in poetic parallelism ; a circumstance most 
appropriately true of the wild buffalo, and of him 
only. 

From all these considerations, and from the fact 
that the buffalo must have been far better known in 
western Asia than either the rhinoceros or the oryx, 
(even if the description of the reem suited these ani- 
mals in other respects,) we feel justified in assuming 
the taurus bubalus, or wild buffalo, to be the reem of 
the Hebrew Scriptures and the unicorn of the English 
version. 

The principal difficulty in the way of this assump- 
tion, is the fact that the LXX have usually translated 
the Hebrew reem by uovoxtQtag , unicorn, one-horn. It 
must, however, be borne in mind, that these transla- 
tors lived many centuries after the Hebrew Scriptures 
were written, and not long indeed before the birth of 
Christ ; they lived, too, in Egypt, where it is not im- 
possible that the buffalo had in their age begun to be 
domesticated. In such circumstances, and being un- 
acquainted with the animal in his fierce and savage 
state, they may have thought that the allusions to the 
reem were not fully answered by the half-domesti- 
cated animal before them, and they may, therefore, 
have felt themselves at liberty to insert the name of 
some animal which seemed to them more appropri- 
ate. That they did often take such liberties, is well 
known. An instance occurs in the very passage of 
Isaiah above quoted, ch. xxxiv. 7,where the Hebrew is 
Dnsi, "and the bullocks with the bulls," 
i. e. the bulls with the strong ones, or, according to 
Gesenius, "the bulls both young and old : " this the 
LXX translate, xal ot xqioi xai of ravqoi, "and the 
rams (or wethers) and the bulls," — certainly a quid 
pro quo not less striking than that of putting unicorn 
for buffalo. 

That the LXX, in using the word monoceros, (uni- 
corn, one-horn,) did not understand by it the rhinoce- 
ros, would seem obvious ; both because the latter al- 
ways had its appropriate and peculiar name in Greek, 
(oivvy.souig, rhinoceros, nose-horn,) taken from the posi- 
tion of its hom upon the snout ; and also from the cir- 
cumstance so much insisted on above in the extracts 
from Mr. Bruce, that the rhinoceros of that part of 
Africa adjacent to Egypt actually has two horns. 
They appear rather to have had in mind the half-fab- 
ulous unicorn, described by Pliny, but lost sight of 
by all subsequent naturalists; although imperfect 
hints and accounts of a similar animal have been 
given by travellers in Africa and India in different 
centuries, and entirely independent of each other. 
The interesting nature of the subject, renders it 
proper to exhibit here all the evidence which exists in 
respect to such an animal; especially as it is no 
where brought together in the English language, or 
at least in no such form as to render it generally ac- 
cessible. 

The figure of the unicorn, in various attitudes, is 
depicted, according to Niebuhr, on almost all the 
stair-cases found among the ruins of Persepolis. 
One of these figures is given in vol. ii. plate xxiii. 
of Niebuhr's Travels; and also in vol. i. p. 594, 
595, of the Travels of Sir R. K. Porter. The latter 
traveller supposes it to be the representation of a bull 
with a single horn. Pliny, in speaking of the wild 
beasts of India, says with regard to the animal in 



question : Asperrimam autem feram monocerotcm, re- 
liquo corporc equo similem, capite cervo, pedibus cle- 
phanti, cauda apro, mugitu gravi, uno cornu nigra 
media fronte cubitorum duum eminente. Hanc feram 
vivam negant capi. (Hist. Nat. viii. 21.) "The uni- 
corn is an exceeding fierce animal, resembling a 
horse as to the rest of its body, but having the head 
like a stag, the feet like an elephant, and the tai' like 
a wild boar : its roaring is loud ; and it has a black 
horn of about two cubits projecting from the middle 
of its forehead." These seem to be the chief ancient 
notices of the existence of the animal in question. 

In 1530, Ludovico de Bartema, a Roman patrician, 
travelled to Egypt, Arabia and India ; and having as- 
sumed the character of a Mussulman, he was able to 
visit Mecca with the Hadj, or great caravan of pilgrims. 
In his account of the curiosities of this city, in Ramu 
sio's Collection of Travels, (Racotta di Viaggi, Venet. 
1563, p. 163.) he says : " On the other side of the Caaba 
is a walled court, in which we saw two unicorns, 
which were pointed out to us as a rarity ; and they are 
indeed truly remarkable. The larger of the two is 
built like a three-year-old colt, and has a horn upon 
the forehead about three ells long. The other uni- 
corn was smaller, like a yearling foal, and has a horn 
perhaps four spans long. — This animal has the color 
of a yellowish-brown horse, a head like a stag, a neck 
not very long, with a thin mane ; the legs are small 
and slender, like those of a hind or roe ; the hoofs of 
the forefeet are divided, and resemble the hoofs of a 
goat. These two animals were sent to the sultan of 
Mecca, as a rarity of great value, and very seldom 
found, by a king of Ethiopia, who wished to secure, 
by this present, the good will of the sultan of Mecca." 

Don Juan Gabriel, a Portuguese colonel, who lived 
several years in Abyssinia, assures us, that in the re- 
gion of Agamos in the Abyssinian province of Damo- 
ta, he had seen an animal of the form and size of a 
middle-sized horse, of a dark chestnut-brown color, 
and with a whitish horn about five spans long upon 
the forehead ; the mane and tail were black, and the 
legs short and slender. Several other Portuguese, 
who were placed in confinement upon a high 
mountain in the district Namna, by the Abyssinian 
king Adamas Saghedo, related that they had seen, at 
the foot of the mountain, several unicorns feeding. 
(Ludolf's Hist. JEthiop. lib. i. c. 10. n. 80, seq.) 
These accounts are confirmed by father Lobo, who 
lived for a long time as a missionary in Abyssinia. 
He adds, that the unicorn is extremely shy, and es- 
capes from closer observation by a speedy flight into 
the forests ; for which reason there is no exact de- 
scription of him. (Voyage histor. d'Abyssinie, Amst. 
1728, vol. i. p. 83, 291.) All these accounts are cer 
tainly not applicable to the rhinoceros ; although it is 
singular that Mr. Bruce speaks only of the latter ani- 
mal as not uncommon in Abyssinia, and makes ap- 
parently no allusion to the above accounts. 

In more recent times we find further traces of the 
animal in question in Southern Africa. Dr. Sparr- 
mann, the Swedish naturalist, who visited the cape 
of Good Hope and the adjacent regions, in the years 
1772-1776, gives, in his travels, the following ac- 
count : Jacob Kock, an observing peasant on Hippo- 
potamus river, who had travelled over the greater part 
of Southern Africa, found on the face of a perpendicu- 
lar rock a drawing made by the Hottentots, represent- 
ing a quadruped with one horn. The Hottentots 
told him, that the animal there represented was very 
like the horse on which he rode, but had a straight 
horn upon the forehead. They added, that these one 



UNICORN 



[ 908 ] 



UNICORN 



norned animals were rare, that they ran with great 
rapidity, and were also very fierce. They also de- 
scribed the manner of hunting them. "It is not 
probable," Dr. Sparrmann remarks, "that the savages 
wholly invented this story, and that too so very cir- 
cumstantially : still less can we suppose, that they 
should have received and retained, merely from his- 
tory or tradition, the remembrance of such an animal. 
These regions are very seldom visited ; and the crea- 
ture might, therefore, long remain unknown. That 
an animal so rare should not be better known to the 
modern world, proves nothing against its existence. 
The greater part of Africa is still among the terra 
incognita. Even the giraffe has been again discover- 
ed only within comparatively a few years. So also 
the gnu, which, till recently, was held to be a fable 
of the ancients." 

A somewhat more definite account of a similar 
animal is contained in the Transactions of the Zea- 
land Academy of Sciences at Flushing. (Pt. xv. 
Middelb. 1792. Prsef. p. lvi.) The account was 
transmitted to the society in 1791, from the cape of 
Good Hope, by Mr. Henry Cloete. It states that a 
bastard Hottentot, Gerrit Slinger by name, related, 
that while engaged several years before with a party, 
in pursuit of the savage Bushmen, they had got sight 
of nine strange animals, which they followed on 
horseback, and shot one of them. This animal re- 
sembled a horse, and was of a light-gray color, with 
white stripes under the lower jaw. It had a single 
horn, directly in front, as long as one's arm, and at 
the base about as thick. Towards the middle the 
horn was somewhat flattened, but had a sharp point; 
it was not attached to the bone of the forehead, but 
fixed only in the skin. The head was like that of 
the horse, and the size also about the same. The 
hoofs were round, like those of a horse, but divided 
below, like those of oxen. This remarkable animal 
was shot between the so-called Table mountain and 
Hippopotamus river, about sixteen days' journey on 
horseback from Cambedo, which would be about a 
month's journey in ox-wagons from Capetown. Mr. 
Cloete mentions, that several different natives and 
Hottentots testify to the existence of a similar animal 
with one horn, of which they profess to have seen 
drawings by hundreds, made by the Bushmen on 
rocks and stones. He supposes that it would not be 
difficult to obtain one of these animals, if desired. 
His letter is dated at the Cape, April 8, 1791. (See 
thus far Rosenmiiller's Altes u. neues Morgenland, 
ii. p. 269, seq. Leipz. 1818.) 

Such appear to have been the latest accounts of the 
animal in question, when it was again suddenly 
brought into notice as existing in the elevated regions 
of central India. The Quarterly Review for Oct. 
1820, (vol. xxiv. p. 120.) in a notice of Frazer's tour 
through the Himlaya mountains, goes on to remark 
as follows : " We have no doubt that a little time will 
bring to light many objects of natural history peculiar 
to the elevated regions of central Asia, and hitherto 
unknown in the animal, vegetable and mineral king- 
doms, particularly in the two former. This is an 
opinion which we have long entertained ; but we are 
led to the expression of it on the present occasion, by 
having been favored with the perusal of a most inter- 
esting communication from major Latter, command- 
ing in the rajah of Sikkim's territories, in the hilly 
country east of Nepaul, addressed to adjutant-gen- 
eral Nicol, and transmitted by him to the marquis of 
Hastings. This important paper explicitly states that 
the unicorn, so long considered as a fabulous animal, 



actually exists at this moment in the interior of Thi- 
bet, where it is well known to the inhabitants. ' This 
— we copy from the major's letter — ' is a very curious 
fact, and it may be necessary to mention how the cir- 
cumstance became known to me. In a Thibetian 
manuscript, containing the names of different animals, 
which I procured the other day from the hills, the uni- 
corn is classed under the head of those whose hoofs are 
divided : it is called the one-horned tso'po : Upon 
inquiring what kind of animal it was, to our astonish- 
ment, the person who brought the manuscript de- 
scribed exactly the unicorn of the ancients ; saying, 
that it was a native of the interior of Thibet, about 
the size of a tattoo, [u horse from twelve to thirteen 
hands high,] fierce and extremely wild ; seldom, if 
ever, caught alive, but frequently shot; and that the 
flesh was used for food.' — 'The person,' major Latter 
adds, ' who gave me this information, has repeatedly 
seen these animals, and eaten the flesh of them. 
They go together in herds, like our wild buffaloes, 
and are very frequently to be met with on the borders 
of the great desert, about a month's journey from 
Lassa, in that part of the country inhabited by the 
wandering Tartars.' 

"This communication is accompanied by a draw- 
ing made by the messenger from recollection. It 
bears some resemblance to a horse, but has cloven 
hoofs, a long curved horn growing out of the fore- 
head, and a boar-shaped tail, like that of the feramo- 
noceros described by Pliny. From its herding to- 
gether, as the unicorn of the Scriptures is said to do, 
as well as from the rest of the description, it is evi- 
dent that it cannot be the rhinoceros, which is a soli- 
tary animal ; besides major Latter states that, in the 
Thibetian manuscript, the rhinoceros is described 
under the name of servo, and classed with the ele- 
phant ; ' neither,' says he, f is it the wild horse, (well 
known in Thibet,) for that has also a different name, 
and is classed in the manuscript with the animals 
which have the hoofs undivided.' — 'I have written,' 
he subjoins, 'to the Sachia Lama, requesting him to 
procure me a perfect skin of the animal, with the 
head, horn and hoofs ; but it will be a long time be- 
fore I can get it down, for they are not to be met 
with nearer than a month's journey from Lassa.'" 

As a sequel to this account, we find the following 
paragraph in the Calcutta Government Gazette, Au- 
gust, 1821 : "Major Latter has obtained the horn of 
a young unicorn from the Sachia Lama, which is 
now before us. It is twenty inches in length ; at the 
root it is four inches and a half in circumference, and 
tapers to a point ; it is black, rather flat at the sides, 
and has fifteen rings, but they are only prominent on 
one side ; it is nearly straight. Major Latter expects 
to obtain the head of the animal, with the hoofs and the 
skin, very shortly, which will afford positive proof 
of the form and character of the tso'po, or Thibet 
unicorn." 

Such are the latest accounts which have reached us 
of this animal ; and although their credibility cannot 
well be contested, and the coincidence of the de- 
scription with that of Pliny is so striking, yet it is sin- 
gular that in the lapse of more than ten years, (1832,) 
nothing further should have been heard on a subject 
so interesting. — But whatever may be the fact as to 
the existence of this animal, the adoption of it by the 
LXX, as being the Hebrew reem, cannot well be cor- 
rect; both for the reasons already adduced above, 
and also from the circumstance, that the reem, was 
evidently an animal frequent and well known in the 
countries where the scenes of the Bible are laid 



u s u [So 

while the unicorn, at all events, is and was an animal 
of exceeding rarity. *R. 

UR, the country of Terah, and the birth-place of 
Abraham, (Gen. xi. 28.) but its precise situation is 
unknown. [It is called Ur of the Chaldecs ; and by 
the Seventy, country, or region of the Chaldees. 
Traces of it most probably remain in the Persian 
fortress Ur, between Nesibis and the Tigris, men- 
tioned by Ammianus, xxv. 8. Alexander Polyhistor 
calls it a city of the Chaldeans. (Ap. Euseb. Praep. 
Evang. ix. 17.) The word Ur in Sanscrit signifies 
city, town, place, &c. R. 

URIAH, a Hittite, and husband of Bathsheba, was 
killed at the siege of Rabbah, in consequence of the 
orders of David, 2 Sam. xi. 3. See Bathsheba. 

I. URIJAH, chief priest of the Jews under Ahaz, 
king of Judah, introduced, under Ahaz's direction, a 
new altar into the temple of the Lord, 2 Kings xvi. 
10 — 12. (See Ahaz.) Urijah succeeded Zadok II. 
and was succeeded by Shallum. 

II. URIJAH, a prophet of the Lord, son of Shema- 
iah of Kirjath-jearim, (Jer. xxvi. 20, 21.) prophesied 
at the same time as Jeremiahf and declared the same 
things against Jerusalem and Judah. Jehoiakim 
resolved to secure him, and put him to death ; but 
Urijah escaped into Egypt. Jehoiakim sent mes- 
sengers, who brought him out of Egypt ; and he was 
put to death by the sword, and ordered to be buried 
dishonorably in the graves of the meanest of the peo- 
ple. A. M/3395, ante A. D. 609. 

URIM AND THUMMIM, light arid perfection, or 
doctrine and judgment, is supposed to have been an 
ornament in the high-priest's habit, which was con- 
sulted as an oracle upon particular and difficult pub- 
lic questions. Some think it was the precious stones 
in his breastplate, which made known the divine 
will by casting an extraordinary lustre. Others assert 
that they were the words manifestation and truth, 
written upon two precious stones, or upon a plate of 
gold. Various, in fact, are the conjectures upon this 
subject, and Moses has no where spoken of the Urim 
and Thummim in such terms as to remove the diffi- 
culty. When the Urim and Thummim was to be 
consulted, the high-priest put on his robes, and, going 
into the holy place, stood before the curtain that sep- 
arated the holy place from the most holy place, and 
then, turning his face directly toward the ark and the 
mercy-seat, upon which the divine presence rested, 
he proposed what he wanted to be resolved about ; 
and directly behind him, at some distance without 
the holy place, stood the person at whose command 
or entreaty God was consulted, and there, with all 
humility and devotion, expected the answer. Accord- 
ing to Josephus, this oracle ceased about 112 years 
before Christ. 

USURY, a premium received for the loan of a sum 
of money, over and above the principal. It is said in 
Exod. xxii. 25, 26, " If thou lend money to any of my 
people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him 
as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay uppn him usury. 
If thou at all take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge, 
thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth 
down." And in Lev. xxv. 35 — 37 : "If thy brother 
be waxen poor, and fallen into decay with thee, then 
thou shalt relieve him ; yea, though he be a stranger, 
or a sojourner, that he may live with thee. Take 
thou no usury of him, or increase, but fear thy God, 
that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not 
give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy 
victuals for increase." The Hebrew may be trans- 
lated : " When your brother shall fall into poverty 



9 | IJZ 

and misery, you shall support him ; and as to the 
stranger or foreigner that shall be settled among you, 
you shall take no usury of him ; you shall not lend 
him your money for usury," &c. So that this passage 
would contain two precepts: first, that a brother was 
to be maintained when in poverty ; secondly, that 
even a stranger was to be relieved without paying 
usury. In Deut. xxiii. 19, 20, however, we have the 
following : " Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy 
brother, usury of money, usury of vidua. usury of • 
any thing that is lent upon usury. Unto a stranger 
thou mayest lend upon usury, but unto thy brother 
thou shalt not lend upon usury : that the Lord thy 
God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand 
to, in the land whither thou goest to possess it." In 
this place the Lord seems to tolerate usury towards 
strangers ; that is, the Canaanites, and other peopl': 
devoted to subjection, but not toward such strangers 
against whom the Hebrews had no quarrel, and 
against whom the Lord had not denounced his judg- 
ments. To exact usury is here, according to Am- 
brose, an act of hostility ; it was a kind of wag'ng 
war with the Canaanites, and of ruining them by 
means of usury. The true inference seems to be, 
that God did indeed tolerate, but not approve, the 
usury which the Hebrews received from the Canaan- 
ites. He allowed thus much to the hardness of their 
hearts, because it could not be entirely prevented. 

Our Saviour has revoked all such tolerations, which 
obtained under the old law, Luke vi. 30 — 33. 

I. UZ, the eldest son of Aram, and grandson of 
Shem, is thought to have peopled Trachonitis, a prov- 
ince beyond Jordan, having Arabia Deserta east, and 
Batanea west. The ancients say, that Uz founded the 
city of Damascus ; and the Arabians affirm, that Uz 
had Ad for a son, who was father of a people called 
Adites, in Arabia Felix. 

II. UZ, Land or. Eusebius and Jerome assure us, 
that, according to the tradition of the people of Pales- 
tine, and around it, the city of Astaroth-Carnaim was 
the place of Job's habitation ; but Astaroth-Carnaim 
was beyond Jordan, between Mahanaim and Esdrai, 
on the Jabbok. Others suppose he lived in the city ol 
Bozra, the capital of Idujnea ; but Calmet, who thinks 
that Job may be the Jobab mentioned in Gen. xxxvi. 
33, 34, and 1 Chron. i. 43, 44, believes that the city 
of Dinhabah, in Moab, was the country which Scrip 
ture assigns for Job's dwelling-place. 

Dr. Good, in one of the dissertations prefixed to his 
translation of the Book of Job, has bestowed much 
labor on this question. The following extract cannot 
fail to be acceptable to the reader: — "The immediate 
district of Arabia to which the ensuing poem directs 
our attention, is the land of Uz, which by some geog- 
raphers has been placed in Sandy, and by others in 
Stony, Arabia. Bochart took a lead in the forniei 
opinion, and has been powerfully supported by Span- 
heim, and the writers of that very excellent work, the 
Universal History. The general argument is as fol- 
lows : Ptolemy has described a region which he calls 
iEsitse, as situated in this very province, bounded by 
the Cauchabeni, who inhabited the southern banks 
of the Euphrates, on the north, and by the mountains 
of Chaldrea on the east; and as the Septuagint, and 
the Greek writers generally, translate Uz by ylvmrts, 
Ausilis, there is a probability, it is contended, that the 
Ausitis, or Ausitai, of the poem of JoB, was the same 
as the ^Esitse of Ptolemy ; a probability which is con 
siderably strengthened by our finding, in Ptolemy's 
delineation of this same province, three districts, de- 
nominated Sabe, Thema, and Busitis, very closely 



uz 



[ 910 ] 



uzz 



vorresponding in sound with the Sabaea, Teman, and 
Buz of the same poem. In addition to which, we 
are expressly told, in the very opening of the poem, 
that the country was often infested by hordes of 
Chaldean banditti, whose mountains form the boun- 
dary line between the Ptolemaic iEsitse and Chaldea. 
In consequence of which it is ingeniously conjec- 
tured that the land of Uz and of Buz, the JSsitae and 
Busitis of Ptolemy, were respectively peopled and 
named from Uz and Buz, two of the sons of Nahor, 
'and consequently nephews of Abraham, the resi- 
dence of whose father, Terah, was at Haran, or 
Charrse, on the opposite bank of the Euphrates, and 
necessarily, therefore, in the neighborhood of 
^Esitse. 

" Yet, this hypothesis can by no means be recon- 
ciled widi the geography of the Old Testament, which 
is uniform in placing the land of Uz, or the Ausitis 
of the Septuagint, in Stony Arabia, on the soum- 
western coast of the lake Asphaltites, or the Dead 
sea, in a line between Egypt and Philistia, surrounded 
by Kedar, Teman and Midian, all of them districts 
of Stony Arabia ; and, as though to set every remain- 
ing doubt completely at rest, situated in Idumea, or 
the land of Edom or Esau, (of whose position there 
can be no question,) and comprising so large a part 
of it, that Idumea and Ausitis, or the land of Uz, and 
the land of Edom, were convertible terms, and 
equally employed to import the same region. Thus 
Jeremiah: (Lam. iv. 21.) 'Rejoice, and be glad, O 
daughter of Edom, that dwellest in tlieJand of Uz.' 
Whence Eusebius: 'Idumea is the region of Esau, 
surnamed Edom; it is that part which lies about 
Petraaa, (Stony Arabia,) now called Gabalene, and 
with some writers is the Ausitis, or country of Job ; " 
an opinion advanced with great modesty, considering 
that he himself appears to have concurred in it. 

" In effect, nothing is clearer than that all the per- 
sons introduced into the ensuing poem were Idumse- 
ans, dwelling in Idumea ; or, in other words, Edomite 
Arabs. These characters are, Job himself, of the 
land of Uz, Eliphaz of Teman, a district of as much 
repute as Uz ; and, upon the joint testimony of Jere- 
miah, (xlix. 7, 20.) Ezekiel, (xxv. 13.) Amos (i. 11, 
12.) and Obadiah, (v. 8, 9.) a part, and principal part, 
of Idumea ; Bildad of Shuah, always mentioned in 
conjunction with Sheba and Dedan, the first of which 
was probably named after one of the brothers of Jok- 
tan or Kahtan, and the two last from two of his sons, 
all of them being uniformly placed in the vicinity of 
Idumea ; Zophar of Naama, a city importing pleas- 
antness, which is also stated by Joshua (xv. 21, 41.) 
to have been situated in Idumea, and to have lain in 
a southern direction, towards its coast, or the shores 
of the Red sea; and Elihu of Buz, which, as 
the name of a place, occurs only once in Sacred 
Writ, but is there mentioned in conjunction with 
Teman and Dedan, (Jer. xxv. 23.) and hence neces- 
sarily, like themselves, a border city upon Ausitis, 
Uz, or Idumea. 

"Nothing, therefore, appears clearer, than that the 
Uz, or Ausitis, mentioned in the ensuing poem, must 
have been situate in Stony, and not in Sandy, Arabia; 
and that the ^Esitis of Ptolemy could not have been 
the same place. In reality, to make it so, Bochart 
and those who advocate his opinion are obliged to 
suppose, first, a typographical error of iEsitis for 
Ausitis in the fext of Ptolemy ; and next, that the 
position of jEsitis itself is not correctly laid down in 
Ptolemy's delineation, which they admit ought to be 
placed in a higher northern latitude, by nearly two 



degrees. Uz, Buz, Teman, Dedan and Seba are 
names not unfrequent in the earlier part of the He- 
brew Scriptures ;• and hence it is by no means diffi- 
cult to suppose that, in different provinces of the 
same country, similar names may have been gi-wen to 
different districts or cities. And it is highly proba- 
ble that the Seba of Ptolemy was so denominated, 
not from the son of Abraham of this name by Ketu- 
rah, but from one of the descendants of Cush, who 
had a son of the name of Seba, and two grandsons 
named Shebah and Dedan, (Gen. x. 7.) and who in 
various places are incidentally stated to have travel- 
led towards the eastern parts of Happy Arabia, and 
consequently in the very track in which the Seba of 
Ptolemy is situated ; a probability very strongly cor- 
roborated from the name of Raamah, the father of 
Sheba and Dedan, being also mentioned by Ezekiel, 
(xxvii. 22.) as that of a celebrated commercial city 
lying in the same track, by the Septuagint written 
'jPty/ia, Rhegma ; and from the same name, with the 
Septuagint mode of spelling it, occurring in Ptolemy 
at no great distance from his Seba. 

"It only remains to be observed, that allowing this 
chorography to be correct, there is no difficulty in 
conceiving that hordes of predatory Chaldeans, and 
even of the Sabeans of Ptolemy, should occasionally 
have infested the countiy of Idumea, and carried off 
the camels of Job, unlimited as they were in their 
rovings, and addicted to general plunder, perhaps, as 
bishop Lowth conjectures, over the whole extent of 
country from the Euphrates to Egypt. 

"In few words, the country which forms the 
scene of the poem before us, was almost as richly en- 
dowed with names as ancient Greece, and, in many 
respects, from causes not dissimilar. It was first 
called Horitis, or the land of the Horim, or Horites, 
in consequence, as is generally supposed, of its 
having been first possessed and peopled by a leader 
of the name of Hor, and his tribe or family. Among 
the descendants of Hor, one of the most distinguished 
characters was Seir ; and from his era it was better 
known by the name of the land of Seir. This chief- 
tain had a numerous family of sons and grandsons : 
among the most signalized of the latter was Uz, or 
Utz ; and from him, and not from Uz the son of Na- 
bor, it seems to have been called Ausitis, or the land 
of Uz. The family of Hor, Seir, or Uz, were at 
length, however, dispossessed of the entire region, by 
Esau, or Edom ; who, already powerful on his en- 
tering Arabia, rendered himself still more so by a 
marriage with one of the daughters of Ismael; and 
the conquered territory was now denominated 
Idumea, or the laud of Edom, under which name it 
has been generally recognized by the Greek writers." 

UZAL, the sixth son of Joktan, (Gen. x. 27 ; 1 
Chron. i. 21.) is commonly placed in Arabia Felix. 

UZZAH, son of Abinadab, (2 Sam. vi.) a Levite, 
who, with his brother, Ahio, conducted the new cart, 
on which the ark of the covenant was brought from 
Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem. When they arrived at 
Nachon's thrashing-floor, Uzzah stretched out his 
hand to support the ark of God, which seemed to him 
to be in danger of falling, because of the stumbling 
of the oxen. In consequence of this, the anger of 
the Lord smote him, and he died on the place. 

Critics are much divided about the occasion of the 
death of Uzzah ; and as the history, being related 
very succinctly, is liable to be misunderstood, it may 
be proper to notice, 

(1.) That the law (Exod xxv. 14.) ordered the arx 
to be carried on the shoulders of Levites, whereas 



UZZAH 



[ OH ] 



u zz 



in this instance, it was drawn by oxen, on a cart, as 
if this carriage by beasts were good enough for it : it 
was hereby assimilated to the processions of the hea- 
then, who drew their gods about in carriages. 

(2.) The ark ought to have been enveloped, wholly 
concealed, by the priests, before the Levites ap- 
proached it: whereas, no priest attended this proces- 
sion. Was it carried openly, exposed to view as it 
was by the Philistines ? 1 Sam. vi. 13 — 19. Uzzah, 
being a Levite, ought to have known these rules, and 
being the principal in conducting the procession, and, 
as may be supposed, the elder brother, he was prin- 
cipally guilty ; Ahio being subordinate to him. 

(3.) It is likely, that the oxen drew it safely while 
in a straight road, but when they came to the thrash- 
ing-floor, one or both of them became restiff and 
stumbled, which, provoking Uzzah, put him off his 
guard. 

[This solution seems to be most in accordance 
with the words of David afterwards, when about to 



bring the ark from the house of Obed-edom to'Zion 
1 Chron. xv. After saying (verse 2) that "none 
ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites," he 
summons all the priests and Levites to assist in the 
removal of it, and then says, (verse 13,) "Because ye 
did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a 
breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the 
due order." This is said in evident allusion to the 
breach made upon Uzzah, i. e. the breaking forth of 
God's anger against Uzzah, 2 Sam. vi. 8, and 1 Chron 
xiii. 11. R. 

UZZEN-SHERAH, a city of Ephraim, built by 
Sherah, daughter of Beriah, and granddaughter of 
Ephraim, 1 Chron. vii. 22 — 24. 

UZZI, son of Bukki, the sixth high-priest of the 
Jews, of the race of Eleazar, was succeeded by Eli, 
A. M. 2828. 

UZZIAH, or Azariah, king of Judah. See Az a- 

RIAH VIII. 



V 

V E I VEIL 



VANITY is put (1.) for vain glory, or pride, 
which inflates men with a great opinion of them- 
selves ; boasting, or self-conceit, Ps. cxix. 37 ; 2 Pet. 
ii. 18 ; (2.) for lying, Ps. iv. 2 ; (3.) for mere emptiness, 
Eccles. i ; Ps. cxliv. 4 ; (4.) for idols, Deut. xxxii. 
21 ; 2 Kings xvii. 15 ; Jer. ii. 5 ; (5.) for wantonly, 
unnecessarily, &c. Exod. xx. 7. (6.) Vain is opposed 
to true, real, substantial. Ps. v. 10, "Their heart is 
vain, or full of vanity and lying." Ps. xii. 2, They 
have deceived their neighbors by vain discourses, by 
words of deceit and lies. To lift up the soul to 
vanity, (Ps. xxiv. 4.) is, to swear vainly and falsely. 

VASHTI, a wife of Ahasuerus, divorced by him, 
in favor of Esther. See Esther, and Ahasuerus. 

VEIL, a kind of scarf or mantle, with which 
females in the East cover the face and head. 

In the history of Abimelech and Sarah, (Gen. xx. 
16.) the veil is by some supposed to be described by 
the circumlocution of " a covering to the eyes." [But 
the phrase " covering to the eyes " refers evidently 
to the money given by Abimelech, viz. the thousand 
pieces of silver, which were to be a covering to the 
eyes of others, i. e. an atoning present, a testimony 
of her innocence in the eyes of all. See Abime- 
lech I. R. 

It is related of Moses, (Exod. xxxiv. 33.) that after 
coming down from the mount, "the skin of his face 
shone ; " so that, in order to quiet the minds of the 
people, " he put a veil over his face." This veil is 
called nrac, masveh, and seems to denote not a close 
texture, but a loosely woven, or open net-work ma- 
terial. This idea shows the propriety of the appli- 
cation of a like word in Isa. xxv. 7, " The Lord shall 
take away, in this mountain, the superficial wrapper, 
covering close up, which is upon all nations, whereby 
they are totally precluded from correct knowledge of 
God ; as well as the veil of a looser texture, (masveh,) 
the spreading spread over all people ; which permits 
some small glimpse (by natural conscience, Rom. ii. 
14, 17) of the divine excellences to pass through it ; 
affording, not a clear view, but a confused perception, 
to those who wish to examine beyond it. This 
seems to be the very idea of the apostle, 2 Cor. iii. 



12, 13 : — " We use great openness, and plainness of 
speech, in discovering the gospel to you ; not as 
Moses did, who put a net-work veil over his face, so 
that Israel could not look steadfastly — to the end — 
fully — thoroughly, entirely, into that which was to be 
abolished : they could see a part, but not the whole ; 
they saw it as it were through the meshes of the net- 
work, but not clearly, distinctly ; they discerned ill- 
definedly, not, as you may do, punctually, for we do 
not use the slightest prevention of sight ; — and this 
veil, which admits but such imperfect views of things, 
continues still upon their heart, but shall be removed; 
so that they shall see all things clearly, when that 
heart shall turn to the Lord." [The distinction here 
made exists only in the fancy of the writer. R. 

There is a kind of veil or garment mentioned in 
Ruth iii. 15, named nn^ac, mitpahhath, which, by tho 
expression of Boaz, it should seem, Ruth wore upon 
her person. It appeal s also not to have been very 
large, as Ruth held it open, to receive six measures of 
barley. Besides, as she carried this quantity, it could 
not have been extremely heavy, and yet it is most 
likely Boaz neai-ly or altogether filled it. A word, 
very closely allied to this, if not the very same, with 
a Chaldee variation, is used, Ezek. xiii. 18, to denote 
a veil, (Eng. trans, "kerchief" from the French 
couvre-chef,) which is expressly said to be worn on 
the head; consequently, it is not the neck couvre-chef 
of our females ; as otherwise might have been 
thought. — " Wo to the women who adapt cushions 
to all reclining arms, and who compose veils (nnoop) 
to be worn upon the head of females of all statures, 
in order to render them more alluring, for purposes 
of voluptuousness, to hunt souls — persons : .... I 
will tear away the pillows from your lolling arms ; 
your kerchiefs also will I tear, that they may no longer 
adorn you ; and will let go the (male) souls — persons, 
whom you have hunted, and caught in your toils." 
q. d. "Some of my people you w.orry and seduce 
by voluptuous attractions and solicitations; others 
you chase and pursue, till they are terrified, to answer 
your criminal purposes : but from both these methods 
of attack will I deliver them ; and I will punish you." 



VEIL 



t 912 ] 



V E II 



From this use of this kind of veil, it appears that it 
Was esteemed a very ornamental part of the head- 
dress ; and herein it agrees with the directions of 
Naomi to Ruth, to dress herself to advantage. It was, 
perhaps, not, therefore, a veil to be taken off and put 
on, but was constantly worn on the head, and has, 
possibly, its representatives in the modern caps or tur- 
bans of our young women. 

We read, Gen. xxiv. 65, that R< bekah, seeing Isaac 
advancing towards her, covered herself with a veil, 
or rather with the veil, («i>jjsn, hats-tsdiph,) either, (1.) 
that which it was customary for brides to wear, or, 
(2.) that which had been provided for her at home: 
if these ideas may coalesce into one, then this was 
provided at home, for Rebekah to wear as a bridal 
veil. That it was used for that purpose in her inten- 
tion, is certain ; but was it adopted on account of 
haste ? or was it that veil which due formality 
required ? This question is rendered perplexing, by 
the same Word being used in the history of Tainar, 
who " put away the garments of her widowhood, 
and covered up herself in a tsdijih;" whence, it 
seems, this was not a widow-like dress, or dress of 
grief, but of joy ; yet it could hardly be the regular 
bridal veil, (notwithstanding Mr. Manner thinks it 
was,) for what could i_ny observer, or bystander, think 
might induce a bride to sit as Tamar sat, " like a 
harlot, by the way side?" — Besides, could Judah 
think her a bride, and yet make such proposals as he 
did to her ? It is, therefore, likely, that this veil was 
worn by Chaldean women, or stranger women — 
foreigners to the country of Canaan ; hence it seems 
to be certain, that Rebekah brought with her that 
kind of veil which in her own country would have 
been esteemed honorable, on any occasion ; and Ta- 
mar, (a Canaanitess,) by wearing such a veil, appeared 
to Judah to be a foreigner— a stranger-woman — who 
had strayed from her associates, or whose living de- 
pended on the disposal of her person. 

[Another Hebrew word rendered veil in the Eng- 
lish version, is mi, rddid, which, however, seems 
properly to denote a fine upper garment or mantle, 
which females were accustomed to throw over their 
other garments when they went out. Cant. y. 7 ; Isa. 
iii. 23. The Greek word lio'valu, power, which is also 
thus translated in 1 Cor. xi. 10, seems there more 
properly to be put for emblem of power or of honor 
and dignity, i. e. a veil. This, Paul says, should be 
worn by females in the churches, on account of the 
angels. Who are these ? Some say, the angels of 
the churches, i. e. the bishops. Others, better, the 
messengers, i. e. spies of the heathen, evil-minded per- 
sons, who frequent the assemblies in order to spy out 
irregularities. Others, still, take angels in the usual 
sense, and consider Paul as representing the angels 
of heaven as beholding with deep interest the devo- 
tions of Christian assemblies. R. 

These remarks will have prepared the way for 
noticing some of the eastern ideas attached to the 
veil. 

In the first place, it is proper to notice the affront 
committed against a female in the East, by lifting up 
her veil. We might quote from Schultens, who 
shows, from Arabian writers, that the image of tear- 
ing or taking aivay the veil expresses the unhappy 
state of eastern virgins, when affronted, violated and 
insulted. So Cabihah, the mother of Khalife Motaz, 
complained of Saleh, the Turkish chief, " He has torn 
my veil ;" to express with decency, " He has dishonor- 
ed me : " but we rather appeal to the story of Susanna, 
ti me Apocrypha, as best adapted to the following 



illustration. The writer notices as an act of ill 
treatment, " Now Susanna was a very delicate woman, 
and beauteous to behold; and these wicked men 
commanded to uncover her face, (for she was 
covered,) that they might be filled ivith her beauty. 
Therefore, her friends, and all that saw her, wept;" 
i. e. the elders unveiled her from impure motives. 

Many have been the inquiries to which the precept 
of our Lord in Matt. v. 28, has given occasion : " Who- 
soever lookcth on a woman, to lust after her, hath 
committed adultery with her already in his heart." 
Great stress has usually been laid on the motive, and 
very justly ; but Lardner and others insist, that 
ywMxa must be taken for a married woman, as is 
common enough ; nevertheless, the true import of 
the passage, Mr. Taylor thinks, can only be under- 
stood, by considering the closely covered state of the 
eastern women, under their veils, in which, being 
totally concealed, they offer no occasion of being 
looked upon; but would take it as the greatest in- 
solence — as nothing short of the greatest insolence 
could dictate the offence — should their veils be drawn 
aside. Understand, therefore, the passage thus: 
"You have heard that it was said in ancient times, 
Thou shalt not commit adultery : but I say to you, 
that my purer principles forbid the most remote ad- 
vance toward that crime, any commencement of what 
may lead to it ; whoever removes the veil, to look on 
any woman, (whether married or unmarried, whether 
of rigid or of easy virtue,) if he violate modesty by 
such a liberty for excitative purposes, he has sullied 
his spiritual purity, and is guilty." Is not this the 
true import of the term to look on, on which the 
question turns? [But does not this minuteness of 
meaning detract much from the force of our Lord's 
precept ? Cannot a man, according to our Lord's 
idea, just as much commit adultery or fornication in 
his heart by casting his eyes upon a woman to lust 
after her, or even in thinking of her, as by actually 
tearing away her veil to look upon her ? Away, then, 
with such trifling ! R. 

In the Fragments from which these remarks are 
selected, and some others which follow, (Nos. 159 — 
165,) are collected from various travellers the most 
ample accounts of the forms of eastern veils, and of 
the manner in which they are worn. From these 
accounts it is manifest that it is a most important part 
of female dress, and is frequently alluded to, where 
not distinctly or apparently spoken of in Scripture. 

VERSIONS of the Scriptures. Our attention 
must be confined, in this article, to those which are 
more usually denominated the Ancient Versions. 
These are the following: The Greek versions, of 
which the Septuagintoi- Alexandrine version is the 
chief ; the Latin versions, viz. the Vulgate and 
Itala; the Chaldee versions, or Targums ; the Samar- 
itan version ; the Peshito and other Syriac versions ; 
and the Arabic versions. 

After the Hebrew had ceased to be spoken, and 
had become a dead language, in the second century 
before Christ, and still more after the spread of Chris- 
tianity, translations of the Hebrew Scriptures into 
the prevailing languages of the age, became a thing 
of necessity, both to Jews and Christians, in Palestine 
and in other countries. Accordingly, almost every 
language then current received at least one version, 
which became of ecclesiastical authority, and was 
used instead of the original Hebrew text. In this 
way, there arose,almost contemporaneously, the Alex 
andrine version for the Grecian and Egyptian Jews, 
and the earliest Chaldee versions for those who dwelt 



VERSIONS 



r 913 1 



VERSIONS 



In Palestine and Babylonia. After the introduction 
of Christianity, the Christians adopted at first the 
Septuagint ; but in the second century there ap- 
peared three or four other Greek versions from the 
hands of Jewish and Christian translators, the object 
of which was to supersede the Septuagint. In this, 
however, they did not succeed ; and these works are 
now lost. About the same time, the Syrian Christians 
made the Syriac version ; and the Latin Christians 
procured a Latin version of the Septuagint, which at 
the close of the fourth century gave place to the ver- 
sion of Jerome, the present Vulgate. After the wide 
extension of the Arabic language in the seventh 
century, both Jews and Christians began to translate 
the Scriptures into Arabic also ; the Jews out of the 
original Hebrew, and the Christians from the Sep- 
tuagint. Indeed, this latter is the case with all 
translations of the Old Testament, made by the Chris- 
tians, into the oriental languages. 

The versions of the Scriptures are usually divided 
into the immediate, or those made directly from the 
original text, and the mediate, or those made from 
other versions. The latter are also sometimes called 
daughters of the former. It is only those of the first 
species which have any hermeneutical value ; those 
of the latter kind can only serve for aid in the verbal 
criticism of the versions from which they have flowed, 
and are indeed of no special importance, even here, 
except in the case of the Septuagint, the text of 
which has been so much corrupted. 

The ancient translators possessed neither grammati- 
cal nor lexicographical helps, and followed, therefore, 
every where, exegetical tradition. As their object, 
too, was always practical, rather than a learned or 
scientific one, they are often apt to fail in the requi- 
site degree of exactness ; and sometimes also they 
interweave their own views and impressions in their 
versions. This last circumstance renders these ver- 
sions less available as it respects exegesis ; but makes 
them so much the more important as historical docu- 
ments, in regard to the views of the age and of the 
sect to which they belong. 

Septuagint, or Alexandrine Version. The Septua- 
gint, or the version of the LXX, or the Alexandrine 
version, is undoubtedly the oldest of all the Greek, or, 
indeed, of all the versions whatever of the Old Tes- 
tament. There vvas, it is true, a legend among the 
Fathers, that there had existed an earlier Greek ver- 
sion, in which Plato had read the Bible ; but this is 
assuredly without foundation, and was suggested by 
the Fathers, in order to afford ground for the assump- 
tion, that Plato and the Greek philosophers had bor- 
rowed from Moses. (Clem. Alexandr. Stromata, i. p. 
526, ed. Potter.) The origin of this version, like that 
of the canon, in some degree, is veiled in Jewish 
legends; according to which Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
king of Egypt, from 284 to 246, B. C. having formed 
the wish, through the advice of his librarian, Deme- 
trius Phalerius, to possess a Greek translation of the 
Mosaic writings for the Alexandrine library, sent an 
embassy to Jerusalem for this object, and obtained a 
Hebrew manuscript, and 72 learned Jews to translate 
it. These all labored together in the translation, 
which, after mutual consultation, they dictated to 
Demetrius. This legend is given in an epistle said 
to have been written by Aristseus to his brother in 
Alexandria, but which is spurious. Josephus also re- 
lates the story, lib. xii.2. 2 — 14. The pretended epis- 
tle of Aristseus is found in Van Dale's Diss. sup. 
Aristaeum, Amst. 1705 ; in H. Hody de Biblior. Text, 
originalibus, Ox. 1705 ; in Josephi Opp. ed. Haver- 



camp. Amst. 1726. The legend, as transmitted to us 
by the Fathers, is far more romantic. According to 
Justin Martyr, the 72 interpreters were distributed 
into as many separate cells, in which they were con- 
fined until they had completed each his separate 
translation, or 72 in all ; and these, when afterwards 
compared, were found to agree verbatim throughout. 

If, now, we leave out of view these later fabulous 
additions, still, even the earlier narrative of the Jews 
is full of improbability. An Egyptian monarch 
would hardly have thought it necessary to send an 
embassy to Jerusalem to obtain a manuscript ; and 
the circumstance as related savors strongly of Jew- 
ish national self-complacency and pride. The most 
probable supposition is, that after the Jews had in 
great numbers settled down permanently in Egypt, 
and had, by degrees, forgotten in a great measure the 
Hebrew language, a Greek version of their Scrip- 
tures, and especially of the Law, or Pentateuch, be- 
came necessary for the use of their public worship 
in their synagogues and temple. (See Alexandria, 
p. 43.) This would be, in all probability, prepared 
under the authority of the Sanhedrim, which con- 
sisted of 72 members'. Or this number, moreover, 
is a sort of round number, and might be used merely 
to denote a version made by many interpreters. Such 
a version would not improbably be received by De- 
metrius into the library ; for we know that he set on 
foot a collection of all known codes of law, with 
reference to a new code contemplated by Ptolemy 
Lagus. The translation of the other books, besides 
the Pentateuch, seems to have taken place gradually, 
between this time and the birth of Christ. Of the 
book of Esther, it is said, in a note at the end, that it 
was translated under Ptolemy Philomator. The 
book of Daniel seems to have been translated last of 
all ; on which account it is, perhaps, that this book is 
not contained at all in our manuscripts of the Sep- 
tuagint. The translation of Daniel, in our editions, 
is that of Theodotion. The genuine Alexandrine 
version of Daniel was first discovered in the pre- 
ceding century, and published at Rome, 1772, 
reprinted Gottingen, 1773. 

The character of this version is different, according 
to the different books. It is easy to distinguish five 
or six different translators. The Pentateuch is best 
translated, and exhibits a clear and flowing Greek 
style; though it seems to have been made from a 
different and interpolated original text. The next 
in rank is the translator of Job and Proverbs ; he 
indeed often misses the true sense, but still gives 
every where a good idea, and his style is like that of 
an original writer. The Psalms and the prophets 
are translated worst of all ; often, indeed, without 
any sense. The version of Ecclesiastes is dis- 
tinguished by an anxious literal adherence to the 
original. — Indeed, the real value of the Septuagint, as 
a version, stands in no sort of relation to its reputa- 
tion. All the translators engaged in it appear to 
have been wanting in a proper knowledge of the 
two languages, and in a due attention to gram- 
mar, etymology and orthography. Hence they often 
confound proper names, and appellations, kindred 
verbs, similar words and letters, etc. and this in 
cases where we are not at liberty to conjecture 
various readings. The whole version is rather free 
than literal ; the figures and metaphors are resolved, 
and there are frequent allusions inserted to later 
times and later Jewish dogmas ; e. g. Isa. xiii. 21 ; 
ix. 12 ; xix. 18, 25 ; xxxiv. 14. Not unfrequently, 
too, particular references and allusions to Egypt, and 



VERSIONS 



[ 914 ] 



VERSIONS 



Egyptian antiquities, are inserted ; e. g. Isa. xix. The 
Greek of the Septuagint is that of the Jews in 
Egypt, a branch of the later Greek of the common 
people, and called usually ', tsdwi'^ the common, or also 
the Macedonic- Alexandrine dialect. This common 
dialect, or vulgar language, spread itself, after the 
time of Alexander, over all the nations which spoke 
Greek, and was distinguished from the Attic, &c. hy 
the circumstance, that it adopted much from the 
aucient Doric. It was first used as the language of 
hooks, in the version of the LXX, and is, hence, 
often called the Alexandrine dialect. From the 
mixture of Hebraisms which it received in the mouths 
of the Jews, who spoke Greek, i. e. the Hellenistic 
Jews, it is also named the Hellenistic dialect. The 
New Testament is written in the same dialect, hut in 
a purer form. It is also the language of the Apoc- 
rypha and of some of the Fathers. The chief phi- 
lological helps for the study of the Septuagint, are 
the concordance of Tromm, and the lexicons of the 
Old Testament by Biel and Schleusner. 

The authority of this new version soon became so 
great, as to supersede the use of the original Hebrew 
among all those Jews who spoke Greek. In the 
Egyptian synagogues, indeed, the original Hebrew 
was still read along with the Greek version, but the 
common people no longer understood it. Even 
scholars, like Philo, no longer understood the 
national mother tongue, and held entirely to the 
Greek translation. In Palestine also, this became by 
degrees current, and was used along with the Chal- 
dee versions, especially by the more learned, who 
were acquainted with Greek. This appears even in 
Josephus, and from the New Testament. In both, 
the version of the LXX seems to lie at the founda- 
tion ; though the citations do not always accord with 
it, and the writers sometimes (e. g. Matthew) seem to 
have had the original before them. (On the citations 
from the O. T. see Sureuhusius, pipiog xara).1.ayT^, 
Amst. 713 ; also the Tracts of Owen and Randolph, 
as published at Andover, 1827.) From the Jews the 
reputation and authority of the Septuagint passed 
over to the Christians, who employed it with the same 
degree of credence as the original. It became of 
course the point of appeal in the controversies be- 
tween Jews and Christians, and hence began to lose 
its consequence in the eyes of the former. As in 
those controversies the Jews often found themselves 
worsted, they declared diat this lay solely in the 
Greek translation, and carried their appeal to the He- 
brew original, and also to other versions, which they 
said were more literal. The Talmudists, among whom 
the ancient hatred against the Greek again awoke, 
proclaimed a curse upon the Greek law, or Penta- 
teuch, and appointed a fast upon the day on which 
they supposed the translation to have been suggested. 

The Text of the Septuagint has suffered greatly. 
Through the multitude of copies, which the very 
general usage rendered necessary, and by means of 
ignorant critics, the text of this version, in the third 
century, had fallen into the most lamentable state. 
In order to remedy this evil, Origen set himself to 
obtain a corrected text by means of a comparison of 
the original Hebrew and the other Greek versions. 
The plan which he adopted was, to place the 
original text and the different versions in parallel 
columns ; by which means, also, he was able to give 
to the Christians, in their polemics with the Jews, the 
benefit of all the versions of the Old Testament in 
one view. This work was the celebrated Hexapla 
of Origen, 'QanXa sc. pifllia, i. e. the Bible in six col- 



umns. It contained, besides the Hebrew text and the 
LXX, also the three later Greek versions of Aquila, 
Symmachus and Theodotion, described below, to- 
gether with the Hebrew text, written in Greek letters. 
In order to emend the LXX, he compared the Greek 
with the original, in which he used the assistance 
of learned Jews. Where there was an omission in 
the Greek, he supplied it from one of the other ver- 
sions, usually that of Theodotion ; marking the 
additions with an asterisk at the beginning, and with 
the name of the translator at the end. Where the 
LXX had any thing too much, he let it stand, indeed, 
but marked it with an obelisk or dagger at the 
beginning, to denote its spuriousness. The whole 
work consisted of fifty rolls or volumes, and was 
afterwards seen and used by Jerome in the auto- 
graph ; but was, not long after, lost, and exists now 
only in fragments. 

These fragments have been collected, and published 
by Montfaucon, Paris, 1714, 2 vols. fol. reprinted in 
an abridgment by Bahrdt, Leipz. 1769 — 70. But the 
very plan adopted by Origen became, alas ! in the 
sequel, the occasion of still more numerous, and 
greater corruptions of the Greek text of the Septua- 
gint. The transcribers left out all the critical marks 
and signs which Origen had employed, but not the 
words which he had inserted in the text; so that the 
evil was worse than before. 

The text which has come down to us from this 
source is called the Text of the Hexapla, or of Origen, 
in distinction from the earlier text, which is called 
the xoivi';, the common, or the Greek Vulgate. In 
the manuscripts which exist at the present day, as 
also in the printed editions, these two different texts 
lie at the foundation, according as they follow the 
two principal manuscripts, viz. the Roman, or the 
Codex Vaticanus, the basis of which is the xoivi'„ or 
earlier common text ; and the Alexandrine, from the 
Codex Mexandrinus, in the British museum at Lon- 
don, which exhibits more of the readings and inter- 
polations of the Hexapla of Origen. Hence the 
editions of the Septuagint fall also into two classes, 
viz. those which follow the Codex Vaticanus, as the 
editions of L. Bos. 1709, and Reineccius, 1730, 1757 ; 
and those which follow the Codex Alexandr. as the 
editions of Grabe, Ox. 1707, and of Breitinger, 1730. 
A critical edition of the Septuagint, with a full col- 
lection of various readings from all the manuscripts, 
and also out of the versions which have flowed from 
it, was undertaken in England, by Dr. Holmes, 
towards the close of the last century. The book of 
Genesis was published in folio, in 1798 ; Exodus, 
1801; Leviticus, 1802; Numbers, 1803; Deuter- 
onomy, 1804 ; and the book of Daniel in 1805, just 
before the death of the editor. The work has since 
been continued by Dr. Parsons ; Joshua was pub- 
lished in 1810 ; Judges and Ruth in 1812 ; and the 
six remaining historical books, in the five years fol- 
lowing ; thus completing the second volume. The 
work is still continued. (See, on tne history of the 
Septuagint, Hody de Biblior. Textibus orig. Ox. 
1705 ; and Fabricii Bibliotheca Graeca, edit. Harles, 
vol. ii. hi.) 

The principal mediate versions, which have been 
made from the Septuagint, are the Itala, or ancient 
Latin version, one of the Syriac versions, the Ethio- 
pic, Egyptian, Armenian, Georgian or Grusinian, 
Sclavonian, and several Arabic versions. 

Other Greek Versions. In the latter half of the 
second century after Christ, there appeare 1, nearly 
contemporaneously, three new Greek versiens of the 



VERSIONS 



[ 915 ] 



VERSIONS 



jyjiole Old Testament. The author of the first was 
AquiLA, a Jew by birth, whose translation, therefore, 
was adopted for use in many synagogues. The au- 
thors of the two others, Stmmachus and Theodo- 
tion, were Jewish Christians. All these are more 
exact and literal than the LXX ; they retain the 
figures and metaphors of the original ; and none of 
them exhibit the arbitrary caprices of the Alexan- 
drine translators. Aquila, especially, is in the high- 
est degree anxious ; he is often so literal as to destroy 
the sense ; and expresses with the utmost care even 
the etymologies of the Hebrew. Symmachus, on 
the contrary, aims at a better Greek style. The- 
odotion is more eclectic, and he seems to have been 
wanting in a knowledge of Hebrew. Fragments of 
all these versions are found in the Hexapla of Origen, 
as published by Montfaucon. From Theodotion 
alone we have the whole book of Daniel extant, 
which stands in our editions of the Septuagint. 

Of less importance are some anonymous Greek 
versions, which Origen denotes as the 5th, 6th and 
7th. Of rather more value is a Grseco-Samaritan 
translation, which was made from the Samaritan 
version. 

In the latter part of the preceding century, a new 
Greek version of several books of the Old Testa- 
ment was discovered by Villoison, in a manuscript 
in the library of St. Mark's cathedral, Venice ; hence 
called the Versio Ve.neta, or Grams Venetus. It 
comprises the Pentateuch, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 
Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations and Daniel. The 
Pentateuch was published by Amnion, Erlangen, 
1790 — 91 ; the other books by Villoison himself, 
Strasburg, 1784. It follows slavishly the original, 
and the verbal interpretation of the Jews ; even the 
Parasha or Jewish divisions of the text are given, 
and the pages of the manuscript run backwards, like 
the Hebrew ; the Greek diction is in the highest 
degree afFected. The translator is ever straining 
after a poetic and Attic style; along with which 
occur, nevertheless, the grossest mistakes in lan- 
guage and newly formed words. Jehovah he trans- 
lates oi'tojtjj;. The translator was, most probably, 
a Byzantine Jew, of the middle ages. 

Aneient Latin Version, or Itala. After Christianity 
had extended itself in the West, a Latin version of 
the Bible also became necessary. In the time ofAu- 
gustin, there were several of these ; although only one 
of them was adopted by the church, i. e. by ecclesiasti- 
cal authority. This was called vulgata, (common, 
popular,) because it was made from the Greek com- 
mon version, », r.otvi]. In modern times this ancient 
Latin version is often called Itala, in consequence of 
a passage in Augustin : (de Doctr. Christ, ii. 15.) but 
the reading is there false, and it should be read 
usitata. This translation was made literally from 
the Septuagint, and gives, most conscientiously, even 
all the verbal mistakes of the Greek. There are still 
extant of it the Psalms, Job, and some of the apocry- 
phal books, complete, besides fragments ; rhese were 
all collected and published by Sabatier, Rheims, 1739 
— 49, 3 vols. fol. As the manuscripts of this version 
had become by degrees very much corrupted, a re- 
vision of the Psalter and book of Job was under- 
taken, in A. D. 383, by Jerome, in pursuance of a 
commission from the Roman bishop Dainasus ; this 
is still extant, and called Psalterium Romanum, be- 
cause it was introduced into the Roman diocese. 

The modern Vulgate, or Jerome's Version. While 
Jerome was still employed in the revision of the 
ancient Vulgata, or Itala, he ventured to commence, 



also, a new version of his own, out of the original 
Hebrew ; being induced to the undertaking partly by 
the counsel of his friends, and partly by his own 
feeling of the necessity of such a work. He began 
with the Books of Kings, and completed the work 
A. D. 405, with Jeremiah. While engaged in this 
work, he enjoyed the oral instruction of learned Jew- 
ish rabbins in Palestine, (see Language, p. 609,) and 
availed himself of all the former Greek versions and 
of the Hexapla of Origen. His new version surpasses 
all the preceding in usefulness. The knowledge of 
Hebrew which Jerome possessed was, for the age, 
very respectable ; and he also made himself master 
of the Chaldee. His manner of explanation connects 
itself very closely with that of the Jews ; and his 
choice of Latin expressions is, for. the most part, very 
happy. Still, this production did not meet with the 
anticipated success and general reception ; and espe- 
cially Augustin and Rufinus wrote against it with 
violence, as if a new Bible were about to be intro- 
duced. Nevertheless, the new version maintained 
itself along with the ancient one ; and at length, in 
the seventh century, supplanted it almost entirely. 

But the frequent and constant use of the new ver- 
sion now occasioned again, in turn, a very considera- 
ble corruption of the text; so that already in the time 
of Charlemagne, no copies entirely alike were any 
longer to be found. In order to remedy this evil, 
Charlemagne commissioned Alcuin to make a revis- 
ion of the manuscripts of the new Latin version. 
Similar revisions of this version, (the Vulgate,) were 
made occasionally during the whole of the middle 
ages, under the name of Correctoria. These are a 
kind of Latin Masorah, and consist of various read- 
ings, and all kinds of critical remarks. Only one 
correctorium has ever been printed, viz. at Cologne, 
1508, 4to. 

The Vulgate was the first book ever printed. The 
first edition is without date or place ; the first with a 
date was printed at Mayence, 1462. At the council 
of Trent, in 1545, the Vulgate was declared to be the 
standard version of the Catholic church, and to be 
of equal authority with the original Scripture. Since 
this time, the study of the original text has been re- 
garded by the Catholics as a verging towards heresy. 
(See Language, p. 609.) The Vulgate at present 
consists of different elements ; the Psalms and most 
of the apocryphal books being from the ancient ver- 
sion, or Itala, and the rest from the later Vulgate. 
The popes have taken great pains to obtain as cor- 
rect a text of the Vulgate as possible ; thus, in 1590, 
under Sixtus V, appeared the editio Sixtina, which 
was declared to be the standard for all future editions. 
But many errors being afterwards discovered in it, 
the popes purchased up all the copies, so far as pos- 
sible, and a new standard, the editio Clementina, was 
published in 1592, which still retains its authority. 

The Targums, or Chaldee Versions. All these are 
the works of Jews living in Palestine and Babylon, 
from a century before Christ, to the eighth or ninth 
century after. They bear the name Targum, i. e. 
translation, from the Chaldee tsjin, to translate. The 
name paraphrase, by which they are sometimes called, 
is unsuitable, since they are not all paraphrastic. 
That Chaldee translations were already in use in the 
time of Christ is apparent from Matt, xxvii. 46, 
among other passages, where the words are quoted 
according to the Chaldee version. The more an- 
cient of the Targums are well translated, and may bo 
reckoned among the best works of the kind. Tha 
later ones are more prolix and paraphrastic, and full 



VERSIONS 



t 91G ] 



VI N 



of ridiculous- interpolations. There are, in all, eleven 
Targums, of which the four following are the most 
important. 

1. The Targum of Onkclos, containing the Pen- 
tateuch. The author was, most probably, a pupil of 
Hillel, the grandfather of Gamaliel, Paul's instructor. 
The style is pure, and the translation very exact and 
literal. (See Winer, de Onkelosso Pentat. Interp. 
Lips. 1820.) 

2. The Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziei., com- 
prising the historical books and prophets. He lived 
a short time before the birth of Christ, but his work 
is far inferior to the preceding. It exhibits a multi- 
tude of arbitrary explanations, interpolations, and later 
views ; especially such as tend to the honor of the 
Pharisees. (Comp. Gesenius Comm. zu Isa. Einl.§ 11. 

3. The version of the Pentateuch, professedly by 
the same Jonathan, but which is spurious. It is 
hence called the Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan. 

4. The Targum of Jerusalem, on the Pentateuch. 
All these Targums are to be found in the rab- 
binic Bibles and the Polyglotts. 

There are smaller separate Targums on the books 
of Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah. A separate Targum 
on the Chronicles was first discovered at a later 
period in the library of Erfurth, and published by 
Beck, 1680—83, 4to. ; and by Wilkins, Amst. 1715, 
4to. 

/Samaritan Version. There exists a copy of the 
Pentateuch among the Samaritans, in the Hebrew 
language, but written with Samaritan letters. (See 
Samaritans, p. 810.) But besides this, there exists 
also a version of the Pentateuch in the Samaritan 
language. About the time of Christ's appearance, 
they hud forgotten the ancient Hebrew, as much as 
the Jews of that age ; and spoke instead of it a pe- 
culiar dialect, mixed up from Hebrew and Chaldee, 
but with many peculiar words. In this dialect the 
version is made, following their copy or recension 
of the Pentateuch. Nothing is certainly known 
respecting the age of this version, except that it had 
existed a considerable time before Origen's day ; for 
this father cites a Greek version, which had already 
been made from the Samaritan. The Samaritan 
version itself is difficult to be understood, since, 
besides this, and some few poems, we have nothing 
in this dialect. The version stands in the Polyglotts ; 
and Winer has written an essay upon it — De ver- 
sione Samaritana, Lips. 1817. See Bibl. Repos. Vol. 
II. p. 720. 

Syriac Versions. There are two of these, both of 
which are of Christian origin, having been made by 
Christians of the Syrian church, who dwelt in Mes- 
opotamia and Armenia. The earliest and most 
celebrated of these is the Peshito, i. e. plana, simplex, 
or the clear, the literal. It is the regular version of 
the Syrian church, and of all its sects and parties, 
the orthodox and also the heterodox. The Syrian 
church regards this version as so exceedingly old, as 
to have been made, by command of king Solomon, 
for the church in Syria. What is certain is, that in 
the third century it already was the authoritative 
version of the church. The author was, possibly, a 
Jewish Christian, and has availed himself of the 
Chaldee version. The Peshito follows, in general, 
the Hebrew literally ; but exhibits also traces of the 
occasional use both of the Septuagint and Chaldee. 
It stands in the Polyglotts ; and a beautiful edition 
has also been published in England, under the super- 
intendence of professor Lee. 

The other Syriac version was made from the Sep- 



tuagint, and from the text of the Hexapla, about 
A. D. 616, for the use of the Monophysites. It is of 
importance only for the criticism of the Septuagint. 
There is a complete manuscript of this version exist- 
ing in the Ambrosian library at Milan. No portion 
of it has been printed, except Jeremiah and Ezekiel, 
1787, and Daniel, 1788. 

Arabic Versions. After the era of Mohammed, 
the Arabic became the mother tongue of most of the 
Jews, and of very numerous bodies of Christians, 
especially of those in Egypt. It is, therefore, no 
wonder that Arabic versions of the Scriptures were 
very soon felt to be necessary. Of these there are 
quite a number, flowing sometimes from the Hebrew, 
but chiefly from the Septuagint, and also from the 
Peshito and Vulgate. The most important and best 
known are the following: — 

1. The Arabic version of R. Saadias Gaon, 
director of the Jewish academy at Babylon, in the 
tenth century. It probably comprised, originally, all 
the Old Testament; but there have been printed 
only the Pentateuch and Isaiah, though some other 
books, e. g. Job, are extant in manuscript. This 
version is paraphrastical, and resolves all the tropes 
and anthropomorphisms ; in other respects it fol- 
lows very closely our unpointed Hebrew text. The 
Pentateuch stands in the Polyglotts ; and Isaiah was 
published by Paulus, in 1791. 

2. The Mauritunian version of the Pentateuch, 
made in the thirteenth century, by an Arabian Jew, 
and published by Erpenius in 1629; hence called 
Arabs Erpeniana. 

3. The Arabic version of the prophets, found in 
the Polyglotts, which was made from the LXX, 
apparently by a Christian of Alexandria, after the 
time of Mohammed. For the Polyglotts, see 
Bible, p. 177. *R. 

VETCHES, see Fitches. 
VIALS, see Censer, p. 267. 

VINE. Of this valuable and well-known plant 

there are several species, and there are many refer- 
ences to it in the sacred writings. It grew plentifully 
in Palestine, and was particularly fine in some of the 
districts. The Scriptures celebrate the vines of 
Sorek, Sibmah, Jazer and Abel ; and profane authors 
mention the excellent wines of Gaza, Sarepta, Liba- 
nus, Sharon, Ascalon and Tyre. The grapes of 
Egypt being particularly small, we may easily conceive 
of the surprise which was occasioned to the Israelites 
by witnessing the bunch of grapes brought by the spies 
to the camp, from the valley of Eshcol, Numb. xiii. 
24. The account of Moses, however, is confirmed 
by the testimony of several travellers. Doubdan 
assures us, that in the valley of Eshcol were bunches 
of grapes often and twelve pounds. Forster tells us, 
that he was informed by a Religious, who had lived 
many years in Palestine, that there were bunches of 
grapes in the valley of Hebron, so large that two 
men could scarcely carry one. (Comp. Numb. xiii. 
24.) And Rosenmiiller says, "Though the Mahom- 
edan religion does not favor the cultivation of the 
vine, there is no want of vineyards in Palestine. 
Besides the large quantities of grapes and raisins 
which are daily sent to the markets of Jerusalem and 
other neighboring places, Hebron alone, in the first 
half of the eighteenth century, annually sent three 
hundred camel loads, that is, nearly three hundred 
thousand weight of grape juice, or honey of raisins, 
to Egypt. 

Bochart informs us that a triple produce from the 
same vine is gathered every year. In March, after 



VINE 



[ 917 ] 



VINE 



the vine has produced the first clusters, they cut 
away from the fruit that wood which is barren. In 
April a new shoot, bearing fruit, springs from the 
branch that was left in March, which is also lopped ; 
this shoots forth again in May, loaded with the latter 
grapes. Those clusters which blossomed in March 
come to maturity and are fit to be gathered in 
August ; those which blossomed in April are gath- 
ered in September ; and those which blossomed in 
May must be gathered in October. 

In the East, grapes enter very largely into the 
provisions at an entertainment. Thus, Norden was 
treated by the aga of Essuaen with coffee, and some 
bunches of grapes of an excellent taste. To show 
the abundance of vines which should fall to the lot 
of Judah in the partition of the promised land, Jacob, 
in his prophetic benediction, says of this tribe, he 
shall be found — 

Binding his colt to the vine, 

And to the choice vine, the foal of his ass. 

Washing his garments in wine, 

His clothes in the blood of the grape. 

Gen. xlix. 11. 

It has been shown by Paxton, that in some parts of 
Persia, it was formerly the custom to turn their cattle 
into the vineyards after the vintage, to browse on the 
vines, some of which are so large, that a man can 
hardly compass their trunks in his arms. These facts 
clearly show, that according to the prediction of Ja- 
cob, the ass might be securely bound to the vine, and 
without damaging the tree by browsing on its leaves 
and branches. The same custom appears, by the 
narratives of several travellers, to have generally pre- 
vailed in Lesser Asia. Chandler observed, that in the 
vineyards around Smyrna, the leaves of the vines 
were decayed or stripped by the camels, or herds of 
goats, which are permitted to browse upon them, 
after the vintage. When he left Smyrna, on the 30th 
of September, the vineyards were already bare ; but 
when he arrived at Phygella, on the 5th or 6th of Oc- 
tober, he found its territory still green with vines ; 
which is a proof that the vineyards at Smyrna must 
have been stripped by the cattle, which delight to feed 
upon the foliage. 

This custom furnishes a satisfactory reason for a 
regulation in the laws of Moses, the meaning of which 
has been very imperfectly understood, which pro- 
hibits a man from introducing his beast into the vine- 
yard of his neighbor. It was destructive to the vine- 
yard before the fruit was gathered ; and after the 
vintage it was still a serious injury, because it deprived 
the owner of the fodder, which was most grateful to 
his flocks and herds, and perhaps absolutely requisite 
for their subsistence duringthe winter. These things 
considered, we discern, in this enactment, the justice, 
wisdom and kindness of the great Legislator : and 
the same traits of excellence might, no doubt, be dis- 
covered in the most obscure and minute regulation, 
could we detect the reason on which it is founded. 

But if the vine leaves were generally eaten by cat- 
tle after the winter was over, how, says Mr. Harmer, 
" could the prophet (Isa. xxxiv. 4.) represent the drop- 
ping of the stars from heaven, in a general wreck of 
nature, by the falling of the leaf from the vine ? If 
they were devoured by the cattle they could not fall." 
The answer is easy : the prophet refers to the char- 
acter of the vine-leaf, not to any local custom ; noi- 
ls it reasonable to suppose that the leaves of every 
vineyard were so regularly and completely consumed, 



that the people had never seen them showering from 
the branches by the force of the wind ; or the 
nipping colds in the close of the year. (Paxton, vol. 
i. p. 180.) 

The law enjoined that he who planted a vine should 
not eat of the produce of it before the fifth year, Lev. 
xix. 24, 25. Nor did they gather their grapes on the 
seventh year : the fruit was then left for the poor, the 
orphan and the stranger. A traveller was permitted 
to gather and eat grapes in a vineyard, as he passed 
along, hut was not permitted to carry any away, Deut. 
xxiii. 24. 

In John xv. our Lord declares himself to be the 
"true vine." Doddridge, after Wetstein, has sup- 
posed that the idea might be suggested by the sight 
of a vine, either from a window or in some court by 
the side of the house ; but this is controverted by 
Harmer, who remarks, that there were no gardens in 
Jerusalem, and that it is not likely there were vines 
about the sides of the houses. Harmer's assertion, 
however, is set aside by Dr. Russell, who states, that 
it is very common to cover the stairs leading to the 
upper apartments of the harem with vines. This fully 
explains the beautiful metaphor in Ps. cxxviii. — " Thy 
wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine 
house," — with which Mr. Harmer is so much embar- 
rassed : but whether such a vine gave rise to our Sa- 
viour's discourse, is a matter of great doubt. The 
intention of the similitude is that which it is most im- 
portant for us to attend to and understand ; which is, 
that no fruit can be expected from professing Chris- 
tians, either in their personal or official character, but 
by perseverance in the appointed way, and in com- 
munion, by faith and love, with him who is the source 
of all that is good in man. 

Rosenmiiller has a long article on the parable, which 
Dr. Wait has translated in his "Repertorium Theolo- 
gicum," and of which the following is the substance. 
After having remarked that the whole of the dis- 
courses in John xiii. — xviii. were not delivered in one 
place, and in an unbroken connection, he proceeds 
to show that the comparison of our Lord was not to a 
real or natural vine, since John always uses the adjec- 
tive aXtj&irog, true, in opposition to something false, 
counterfeit, and not genuine ; e. g. iv. 23 ; i. 47 ; viii. 
31. " But what is the opposition in this passage, 
where Christ is denominated '/ auTreXoc >; &lrj&iv>} ? It 
would be, according to the preceding expositions, a 
natural or real vine : — yet it will be urged, that this 
would have far greater claims to the aunsXof aXij-9-ivy 
than Christ, who only compared himself to such, and 
merely represents himself as an image of it. Since 
then he calls himself ' the true vine,' he must neces- 
sarily have had a certain object in contrast, which 
represented a vine without being a natural or real 
vine, between which also and himself a most signifi- 
cant analogy existed." What this probably was, he 
proceeds to show. 

In the temple at Jerusalem, above and round the 
gate, seventy cubits high, which led from the porch 
to the holy place, a richly carved vine was extended 
as a border and decoration. The branches, tendrils 
and leaves were of the finest gold ; the stalks of the 
bunches were of the length of the human form, and 
the bunches hanging upon them were of costly jewels. 
Herod first placed it there ; rich and patriotic Jew3 
from time to time added to its embellishment, one 
contributing a new grape, another a leaf, and a third 
even a bunch of the same precious materials. If to 
compute its value at more than 12,000,000 of dollars 
be an exaggeration, it is nevertheless indisputable, 



VINE 



[ 918 1 



VINE 



that this vine must have had an uncommon impor- 
tance and a sacred meaning in the eyes of the Jews. 
With what majestic splendor must it likewise have 
appeared in the evening, when it was illuminated 
by tapers! 

" If. then, Jesus, in the evening, after having cele- 
brated the passover, again betook himself to the temple 
with his disciples, what is more natural, than, as they 
wandered in it to and fro, that above every thing this 
vine blazing with gold and jewels should have attract- 
ed their attention ? that, rivetted by the gorgeous 
magnificence of the sight, they were absorbed in 
wonder and contemplation respecting the real import 
of this work of art? Let us now conceive that Jesus 
at this moment, referring to this vine, said to his dis- 
ciples, " I am the true vine " — how correct and striking 
must his words then have appeared ! — how clearly 
and determinately must then the import of them have 
been seen ! 

The Jews accounted the vine the most noble of 
plants, and a type of all that was excellent, powerful, 
fruitful and fortunate. The prophets, therefore, com- 
pared the Jewish nation and the Jewish church to a 
great vine, adorned with beautiful fruit, planted, tended 
and guarded by God, Jer. ii. 21 ; Ezek. xix. 10, seq. ; 
Ps. lxxx. 9, 15, seq. God was the dresser of the vine- 
yard ; Israel was the vineyard and vine ; (Isa. v. 1, seq. ; 
xxvii. 2, seq. ; Hos. x. 1.) every true Israelite, especially 
the heads and chiefs of the people, were the branches ; 
(Isa. xvi. 8 ; Ezek. xix. 10.) the might and power of the 
nation were the full swelling bunches. The basis of 
the metaphor was ever the idea, that "Israel is the first, 
the most holy nation on the earth, that God himself is 
the founder and protector of it." 

The curiously-wrought and splendid vine, above 
described, which Herod introduced into the temple, 
was a symbol of this peculiar, proximate and joyful 
relation in which God stood to Israel. The patriotic 
Jews, as they looked at it, thought with joy and pride • 
of the high dignity and preeminence of their people. 
To go out and to enter under the vine, was a phrase, 
by which they denoted a peaceful, fortunate and con- 
tented life. Hence this ornament, extended over the 
entrance to the holy place, was as striking and full of 
meaning, as it was edifying to the orthodox Jews ; 
hence, each contributed his own to increase its mag-, 
nificence, and thus authenticate himself, as a worthy 
member of this holy and glorious nation. 

Jesus having thus depicted himself as the individual 
who was prefigured by this vine, the ideas which he 
would express by this parable, could not have been 
misunderstood. 

This parable, therefore, more immediately concerns 
the apostles. Jesus does not merely represent him- 
self under the metaphor of a vine in the more con- 
fined sense of a teacher, but in the more exalted and 
comprehensive one of the Messiah sent from heaven 
to found a new kingdom of God. He considers his 
apostles as the branches in him, not merely as disci- 
ples and friends, but as deputies and assistants chosen 
and called by him to found and extend his kingdom. 
The connection which he would maintain between 
himself and them, consists not merely in love and 
friendship, but in the true execution of his commands, 
grounded on a faith in his exalted nature and dignity. 
The fruits which he expects from them are not mere- 
ly faith and virtue, w%ich are the concerns of all 
Christians, but important services in the extension of 
Christianity. And he incites them to perform them 
by a promise of divine grace and assistance. 

The expression of " sitting every man under his 



own vine," (1 Kings iv. 25 ; Mic. iv. 4.) probably 
alludes to the delightful eastern arbors, which were 
partly composed of vines. Norden speaks of vine- 
arbors as being common in the Egyptian gardens : 
and the Pnenestine pavement, in Shaw's Travels, gives 
us the figure of an ancient one. The expression is 
intended to refer to a time of public tranquillity and 
of profound peace. 

In the passage of Isaiah to which we just now re- 
ferred, there is mention made of a wild grape, which 
requires notice : " And he looked that it should bring 
forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes," Isa. 

v. 2. Jeremiah uses the same image, and applies it 
to the same purpose, in an elegant paraphrase of this 
part of Isaiah's parable, in his flowing and plaintive 
manner — But I planted thee a sorek, a scion perfectly 
genuine ; how then art thou changed, and become to 
me the degenerate shoots of the strange vine ! chap, 
ii. 21. By these wild grapes, or poisonous berries, 
c^snso, we must understand not merely useless, un- 
profitable grapes, such as wild grapes, but grapes 
offensive to the smell, noxious, poisonous. By the 
force and intent of the allegory, to good grapes ought 
to be opposed fruit of a dangerous and pernicious 
quality ; as, in the explication of it, to judgment is op- 
posed tyranny, and to righteousness oppression. Ge- 
phen, the vine, is a common name or genus, including 
several species under it ; and Moses, to distinguish 
the true vine, or that from which wine is made, from 
the rest, calls it gephen hayayin, the wine-vine, Num. 

vi. 4. Some of the other sorts were of a poisonous 
quality, as appears from the story related among the 
miraculous acts of Elisha: "And one went out into 
the field to gather pot herbs, and he found a field-vine, 
and he gathered from it wild fruit, his lap full ; and he 
went and shred them into the pot of pottage, for they 
knew them not. And they poured it out for the men 
to eat; and it came to pass as they were eating of the 
pottage, that they cried out and said, There is death 
in the pot, O man of God ! and they could not eat of 
it. And he said, Bring meal ; and he threw it into 
the pot. And he said, Pour out for the people, that 
they may eat. And there was nothing hurtful in the 
pot," 2 Kings iv. 39-41. 

From some such poisonous sorts of the grape kind 1 , 
Moses has taken those strong and highly poetical im- 
ages, with which he has set forth the future corrup- 
tion and extreme degeneracy of the Israelites, in an 
allegory which has a near relation, both in its subject 
and imagery, to this of Isaiah, Deut. xxxii. 32, 33 - 

" Their vine is from the vine of Sodom, 
And from the fields of Gomorrha : 
Their grapes are grapes of gall ; 
Their clusters are bitter : 
Then- wine is the poison of dragons, 
And the cruel venom of aspics." 

" I am inclined to believe," says Hasselquist, " that 
the prophet here (Isa. v. 2, 4.) means the hoary night- 
shade, solarium incanum ; because it is common in 
Egypt, Palestine and the East ; and the Arabian name 
agrees well with it. The Arabs call it aneb el dib, that 
is, wolf-grapes. (The oipisa, says Rab Chai, is a 
well-known species of the vine, and the worst of all 
sorts.) The prophet could not have found a plant 
more opposite to the vine than this; ior it grows 
much in the vineyards, and is very pernicious to 
them, wherefore they root it out : it likewise resem- 
bles a vine by its shrubby stalk.' (Travels, p. 289.} 
But see Grapes, Wild, p. 471. 



VINE 



[ 919 ] 



VIR 



The following scriptural account of the cultivation 
of the vine, the vintage and the wines of Palestine, 
which will doubtless be acceptable to the reader, is 
taken from the " Investigator." 

The Jews planted their vineyards most commonly 
on the south side of a hill or mountain, the stones 
being gathered out, and the space hedged round with 
thorns, or walled, Isa. v. 1 — 6 ; Ps. lxxx. and Matt, 
xxi. 33. A good vineyard consisted of a thousand 
vines, and produced a rent of a thousand stlverlings, 
or shekels of silver, Isa. vii. 23. It required two hun- 
dred more to pay the dressers, Cant. viii. 11, 12. In 
these, the keepers and vine-dressers labored, digging, 
planting, pruning and propping the vines, gathering 
the grapes and making wine. This was at once a 
laborious task, and often reckoned a base one, 2 Kings 
xxv. 12; Cant. i. 6; Isa. lxi. 5. The vines with 
the tender grapes gave a good smell early in the 
spring, (Cant. ii. 13.) as we learn also from Isa. xviii. 
5, afore the harvest, that is, the barley-harvest, when 
the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in 
the flower. 

The Vintage followed the wheat harvest and the 
thrashing, (Lev. xxvi. 5 ; Amos ix. 13.) about June 
or July, when the clusters of the grapes were gath- 
ered with a sickle, and put into baskets, (Jer. vi. 9.) 
carried and thrown into the wine-vat, or wine-press, 
where they were probably first trodden by men, and 
then pressed, Rev. xiv. 18 — 20. It is mentioned as 
a mark of the great work and power of the Messiah, 
that he had trodden the figurative wine-press alone ; 
and of the people there was none with him, Isa. lxiii. 
3 ; Rev. xix. 15. The vintage was a season of great 
mirth. Of the juice of the squeezed grapes , were 
formed wine and vinegar. 

The Wines of Canaan, being very heady, were 
generally mixed with water for common use, as 
among the Italians ; and they sometimes scented 
them with frankincense, myrrh, calamus and other 
spices; (Prov. ix. 2, 5; Cant. viii. 2.) they also scented 
them with pomegranates, or made wine of their juice 
as we do of the juice of currants, gooseberries, &c. 
fermented with sugar. Wine is best when old, and 
on the lees, the dregs having sunk to the bottom, Isa. 
xxv. 6. Sweet wine is that which is made from grapes 
fully ripe, Isa. xlix. 26. The Israelites had two kinds 
of vinegar: the one was a weak wine, which was 
used for their common drink in the harvest field, 
(Ruth ii. 14.) as the Spaniards and Italians still do ; 
and it was probably of this that Solomon was to fur- 
nish twenty thousand baths to Hiram for his servants, 
the hewers that cut timber in Lebanon, 2 Chron. 
ii. 10. The other had a sharp acid taste, like ours ; 
and hence Solomon hints, that a sluggard hurts and 
vexes such as employ him in business, as vinegar is 
disagreeable to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes ; 
(Prov. x. 26.) and as vinegar poured upon nitre spoils 
its virtue, so he that singeth songs to a heavy heart, 
does but add to his grief, chap. xxv. 20. The poor 
were allowed to glean grapes, as well as corn, and 
other articles; (Lev. xix. 10 ; Deut. xxiv. 21 ; Isa. iii. 
14; chap. xvii. 6; xxiv. 13 ; Micah vii. 1.) and we 
learn that the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim was 
better than the vintage of Abiezer, Judg. viii. 2. 

The vessels in which the wine was kept were prob- 
ably, for the most part, bottles, which were usually 
made of leather, or goat-skins, firmly sewed and 
pitched together. (See Bottles.) The Arabs pull 
the skin off goats in the same manner that we do 
from rabbits, and sew up the places where the legs 
and tail were cut ofl, leaving one for the neck of the 



bottle, to pour from ; and in such bags they put up 
and carry, not only their liquors, but dry things which 
are not apt to be broken ; by which means they are 
well preserved from wet, dust or insects. These 
would in time crack and wear out. Hence, when the 
Gibeonitescame to Joshua, pretending that they came 
from a far country, amongst other things they brought 
wine bottles, old and rent, and bound up where they 
had leaked, Josh. ix. 4, 13. Thus, too, it was not 
expedient to put new wine into old bottles, because 
the fermentation of it would break or crack the bot- 
tles, Matt. ix. ]7. And thus David complains, that 
he had become like a bottle in the smoke ; that is, a 
bottle dried and cracked, and worn out, and unfit for 
service, Ps. cxix. 83. These bottles were probably 
of various sizes, and sometimes very large ; for when 
Abigail went to meet David and his 400 men, and took 
a present to pacify and supply him, 200 loaves and five 
sheep, ready dressed, &c. she took only two bottles of 
wine, (1 Sam. xxv. 18.) a very disproportionate quan- 
tity, unless the bottles were large. But the Israelites 
had bottles likewise made by the potters. (See Isa. 
xxx. 14, marg. ; Jer. xix. 1, 10 ; ch. xlviii. 12.) We hear 
also of vessels called barrels. That of the widow, in 
which her meal was held, (1 Kings xvii. 12, 14.) was 
not, probably, very large ; but those four in which 
the water was brought up from the sea, at the bottom 
of mount Carmel, to pour upon Elijah's sacrifice and 
altar, must have been large, 1 Kings xviii. 33. We 
read also of the water-jugs, or jars of stone, of con- 
siderable size, in which our Lord caused the water 
to be converted into wine, John ii. 6. See Bottles. 

Grapes were also dried into raisins. A part of 
Abigail's present to David was 100 clusters of raisins 
(1 Sam. xxv. 18.) and when Ziba met David, his pres- 
ent contained the same quantity, 2 Sam. xvi. 1 ; 1 Sam 
xxx. 12 ; 1 Chron. xii. 40. 

VINEGAR, see Vine, ad fin. 

VIPER, a sort of serpent. See Serpent. 

VIRGIN, ncS; 1 , Almah, n^dtroc, properly signi 
fies a young unmarried woman, and, by implication 
one who has preserved the purity of her body. 

The authors of the books of the Maccabees, and 
Ecclesiasticus, speaking of the young unmarried 
women, give them the epithets, kept in, secluded, hid- 
den, to distinguish them from married women, who 
occasionally appear in public ; and Jerome preserves 
a distinction between bethula, a virgin, and almah, in 
that the latter is one who never has been seen by 
men. This is its proper signification, in the Punic or 
Phoenician language, which, as is well known, is the 
same as the Hebrew. It occurs in the famous pas- 
sage of Isaiah, vii. 14 : " Behold a virgin [almah] shall 
conceive, and bear a son." The Hebrew [according 
to some] has no term that more properly signifies a 
virgin, than almah; but it must be admitted, without 
lessening, however, the certainty or application of 
Isaiah's prophecy, that sometimes, by mistake, for 
instance, a young woman, whether truly a virgin or 
not, is called almah. Jerome remarks, that the 
prophet declined using the word bethida, which sig- 
nifies a young woman, or young person, but employ- 
ed the term almah, which denotes a virgin never 
seen by man. This is the proper import of the 
word, which is derived from a root that signifies to 
conceal. It is well known that young women, in the 
East, do not appear in public, but are shut up in their 
houses, and in their mothers' apartments, like nuns. 
The Chaldee paraphrast and the Septuagint, trans- 
late almah by v na^iroc; Akiba, the famous rabbin, 
a great enemy to Christ and Christians, who lived in 



VIRGIN 



[ 920 ] 



VIRGIN 



the second century, understands it thus ; the apostles 
and evangelists, and the Jews of our Saviour's time, 
explained it thus, and expected a Messiah born of a 
virgin ; and, further, Mahomet and his followers 
acknowledge the virginity of the mother of our 
Lord. 

[The above remarks are by Calmet. The English 
editor has subjoined a long discussion, in which he 
advances a theory (respecting Is|t. vii. 14.) apparently 
his own, or at least unlike what any other person 
would be apt to strike upon. It is, however, so com- 
plicated, and rests on assumptions so obviously un- 
founded, that it would both be a waste of time to 
insert it here, and would only tend to mislead the 
reader. 

Before entering on the consideration of the passage 
in question, a few words may be premised on the 
proper meaning of the Hebrew word n;Sy, almah, ren- 
dered every where virgin. The earlier interpreters 
all derive it from the Hebrew verb nSy, dlam, to con- 
ceal, (so Jerome, as cited above,) with reference to 
the oriental custom of keeping young females shut 
up. But a more direct and far better etymology is 
found in the same word {dlam) as employed by the 
Arabs, among whom it signifies to grow up ; whence 
also they have derivative nouns, signifying arlolescens 
and adolescentula, youth and young maiden {dlamathj; 
so also the Syriac dlimethd, from the same verb in 
Syriac. Hence derived, the idea of the Hebrew 
almah is young maiden, damsel, virgin, i. e. a young 
unmarried woman ; without direct reference to chas- 
tity of person, although this is naturally implied. 
That this, however, is not necessarily to be understood, 
is obvious from Prov. xxx. 19, " The way of a man 
with a maid," where the Hebrew word is almah, 
which is properly rendered by the English word 
maid, in its general signification, and not its special 
one of virgo intacta. 

The passage in Isa. vii. 14 — 16, stands thus : Ahaz 
having refused to ask a sign by which he may be 
assured of deliverance from the kings of Syria 
and Israel, the prophet exclaims : " Therefore the 
Lord himself shall give you a sign ; behold a virgin 
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name 
Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that 
[until] he may know to refuse the evil and choose 
the good. For before the child shall know to refuse 
the evil and choose the good, the land that thou ab- 
horrest shall be forsaken of both her kings." This 
prophecy Matthew quotes (i. 22.) as referring to the 
Messiah ; and introduces his citation by the words, 
"Now all this was done, that it might be ful- 
filled," etc. 

In regard to this passage of Isaiah, we may say, 
that it must obviously either be understood as wholly 
prophetic of the Messiah, or else as having no refer- 
ence to him, but as relating merely to a sign to be 
given to Ahaz, viz. the birth of a son from the proph- 
etess within a certain time, within the period of whose 
childhood the promised deliverance should take place. 
Between these two there would seem to be no mid- 
dle way, which does not lead to inextricable confu- 
sion and absurdity — whether we suppose a change of 
subject, the prophet speaking sometimes of Immanuel 
and sometimes of Shear-jashub, which is mere hy- 
pothesis; or whether we suppose that the sign was 
to Ahaz alone, but consisted in the birth of a child 
from a virgin who had not known man — a supposition 
for which there is no hint in history, nor any ground 
of necessity or probability. 

The Messianic exposition has been that of the 



church at large, in all ages, down to the middle of the 
eighteenth century ; except that some have connected 
with it a double sense, making it refer both to the 
Messiah and to an event in the time of Ahaz, for 
which there seems no rational ground extant. Those 
who, since the middle of the last century, deny that 
the passage is prophetic of the Messiah, consider the 
word almah as signifying a young woman in general, 
whether married or unmarried ; or at least they sup- 
pose that it might be employed of a young married 
woman, without a violation of usage. They suppose 
the wife of the prophet to be intended ; and that the 
sign is, her conception and delivery of a son in ac- 
cordance with this distinct and definite prediction ; — 
the fulfilment of this prediction will be a sign to the 
king, that the promise of deliverance connected with 
it will also be fulfilled. They suppose that the his- 
tory in the beginning of c.viii. is the narrative of this 
very fulfilment, where the prophet takes witnesses, 
and goes in unto the prophetess, and she conceives 
and bears a son; of whom it is said, "Before the 
child shall have knowledge to cry My father and my 
mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Sa- 
maria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria," 
— the same event which is predicted in c. vii. 16, as 
about to follow the birth of Immanuel. That in c. 
viii. 3, the father is directed to call the child Maher- 
shalal-hashbaz, instead of Immanuel, as in c. vii. 14, 
creates no greater difficulty, it is said, than Matt. i. 
21 ; where, although this passage respecting the birth 
of Immanuel is quoted, yet the angel directs Joseph 
to call the name of Mary's son Jesus, and not Imman- 
uel. It is asked, moreover, Of what value could a 
sign be to Ahaz, which was first to take place after 
700 years? or what connection could this have with 
his deliverance from the invasion of the kings of 
Israel and Syria? Those who adopt this mode of 
exposition understand, of course, the citation of 
Matthew to be made merely by way of illustration, or 
as an allusion to a factor circumstance of former his- 
tory ; just as in Matt. ii. 15, it is said of Jesus, "Out 
of Egypt have I called my son," quoted from Hos. 
xi. 1, where it refers simply and solely to the nation 
of Israel. It must indeed be admitted, that were the 
quotation in Matthew not extant, there would proba- 
bly be nothing to suggest that this passage in Isaiah 
could have any reference to the Messiah. 

But, on the other hand, it is very difficult to avoid 
the conclusion, that the evangelist intended here to cite 
this passage as a direct prophecy. In c. ii. 15, he 
merely says, "that it might be fulfilled ;" or, as it may 
be rendered, so that there was a fulfilment, sc. in a 
higher sense, i. e. as God formerly called Israel his 
son out of Egypt, so now his own well-beloved Son, 
the Messiah. But here, in c. i. 22, the writer says 
expressly, "Now all this was done, that it might be 
fulfilled," &c. intimating that all the circumstances 
previous to the birth of Christ had a direct reference 
to this passage in Isaiah, and that this passage was 
directly prophetic of these circumstances. The lan- 
guage is as strong as possible : had the evangelist 
intended to express this idea with the utmost strength 
and plainness, he could not probably have selected 
any other language, or at least none stronger. With 
this view, too, coincide the other prophecies of the 
Messiah in Isa. ix. 6, and Micah v. 2, 3. 

In respect to the objection, that if this is an annun- 
ciation of the Messiah, it could be no sign to Ahaz, it 
may be replied, that the prophet directs his discourse 
not so much to Ahaz, as to the pious part of the people : 
Ahaz being, indeed, the representative of the whole 



V J s 



[ 921 1 



VOW 



nation. He had cast off the fear of God ; the land was 
invaded; he had just contemned the promise of the 
Lord through his prophet. The people, or at least the 
pious part of them, feared the total destruction of the 
state. In these circumstances, the prophet reminds 
the people of their firm belief in the future appearance 
of a Messiah, and shows them that this belief is in con- 
tradiction with their present fear of the total down- 
fall of the state. His language to them is : " Because 
the king has contemned the miraculous sign which I 
was commissioned to offer him, therefore God, through 
me, recalls to your minds that great event of the fu- 
ture, which is well known to you, although you now 
forget it, the miraculous birth of the Messiah. This 
may serve to you as a sign of present deliverance ; 
for so surely as that event will take place, so surely 
can the state not now come to destruction." 

The words of verse 16 have occasioned much dif- 
ficulty : "Before the child shall know to refuse the 
evil and choose the good, the land that thou abhor- 
rest shall be forsaken of both her kings." If the pas- 
sage be taken as non-Messianic, these words are easy 
and natural ; and they constitute, indeed, one of the 
greatest difficulties in the way of the other mode of 
exposition. The idea unquestionably is, that in the 
interval between the birth of the child mentioned, 
and the time when it will begin to distinguish between 
good and evil, i. e. an interval of 3 or 4 years, the 
kingdoms of Israel and Syria will be overthrown. 
But how could the prophet say this, if that child was 
the Messiah, who was to be born 700 years later ? 
The best, and indeed the only solution, seems to be 
that of Vitringa, Lowth, Koppe, Hengstenberg and 
others, which is as follows : The prophet, beholding 
the future in vision, sees all things as if present ; thus 
in c. ix. 6, he says, "Unto us a child is born, unto us 
a son is given ;" so here we may with entire propri- 
ety translate, " Lo ! the virgin conceives and brings 
forth a son," &c. — the prophet beholding, in vision, 
the future spread out before him as if present. So in 
announcing to Ahaz, or more properly to the pious 
part of the people, the approaching deliverance from 
invading enemies, with this same vision of the future 
spread out before his mental eye, he goes on to say, 
that in an interval not longer than that in which this 
child, whom he now thus beholds, shall learn to dis- 
tinguish good and evil, this deliverance of the land 
shall take place ; i. e. the prophet assumes the time 
between the birth of this child and the development 
of his faculties, as the measure of the time before the 
deliverance of the country from its enemies. He 
means to say, that in the interval of 3 or 4 years, the 
fall of both the hostile kingdoms will take place. 
This he expresses by saying, that this interval will be 
the same as the interval from tire birth of the child 
whom he now beholds in vision, to the age when this 
child will be able to choose the good and refuse the 
evil." (See Hengstenberg's Christologie, Th. ii. p. 
68, seq.) *R. 

VISION, a supernatural presentation of certain 
scenery or circumstances to the mind of a person, 
while awake. (See Dream, ad Jin.) When Aaron 
and Miriam murmured against Moses, (Numb. xii. 6 
■ — 8.) the Lord said, " Hear now my words : if there be 
a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make myself 
known unto him in a vision, and will speak to him in a 
dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faith- 
ful in all mine house ; with him will I speak mouth 
to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches ; 
and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold." The 
false prophet Balaam, whose heart was perverted by 



covetousness, says of himself, that he had seen thf 
visions of the Almighty, Numb. xxiv. 15, 16. In the 
time of the high-priest Eli, it is said, (1 Sam. iii. 1.) 
"The word of the Lord was precious in those days; 
there was no open vision ;" literally, " the vision did 
not break forth." Such communications were not 
vouchsafed to any prophet then existing. 

To VISIT ; VISITATION. These words are 
sometimes taken for a visit of mercy from God, but 
oftener for a visit of rigor and vengeance ; day of vis- 
itation, year of visitation, or time of visitation, gener- 
ally signifies the time of affliction and vengeance ; or 
of close inspection. 

VITELLIUS, the censor, father of the emperor 
A. Vitellius, was made governor of Syria, at the ex- 
piration of his consulate, A. D. 35, and the same year, 
or the year following, he came to Jerusalem at the 
feast of the passover, and was very magnificently en- 
tertained. He released the city from a tax on fruits ; 
committed to the care of the Jews the high-priest's 
habit, with the pontifical ornaments, which Herod 
and the Romans had kept, till then, in the tower An- 
tonia. He deposed Joseph Caiaphas from the high- 
priesthood, and put in his place Jonathan, son of 
Ananus ; but deprived him of his dignity two years 
afterwards, and conferred it on Theophilus, his 
brother. (Josephus, Ant. viii. 6.) 

VOLUME, see Book. 

VOW, a promise made to God of doing some good 
thing hereafter. The use of vows is observable 
throughout Scripture. Jacob, going into Mesopota- 
mia, vowed the tenth of his estate, and promised to 
offer it, at Bethel, to the honor of God, Gen. xxviii. 
22. Moses enacts several laws for the regulation and 
execution of vows. A man might devote himself or 
his children to the Lord. Jephthah devoted his 
daughter, (Judg. xi. 30, 31.) and Samuel was vowed 
and consecrated to the service of the Lord, 1 Sam. i. 
21, &c. If a man or woman vowed themselves to 
the Lord, they were obliged to adhere strictly to his 
service, according to the conditions of the vow ; but 
in some cases they might be redeemed. A man 
from twenty years of age till sixty, gave fifty shekels 
of silver, and a woman thirty. From the age of five 
years to twenty, a man gave twenty shekels, and a 
woman ten : from a month old to five years, they 
gave for a boy five shekels, and for a girl three. A 
man of sixty years old 'or upwards, gave fifteen she- 
kels, and a woman of the same age ten. If the per- 
son were poor, and could not procure this sum, the 
priest imposed a ransom on him, according to his 
abilities, Lev. xxvii. 3. See Devoting and Corban. 

If any one vowed an animal that was clean, he had 
not the liberty of redeeming it, or of exchanging it, 
but must sacrifice it to the Lord. If it were an un- 
clean animal, such as was not lawful in sacrifice, the 
priest made a valuation of it, and the proprietor, if he 
desired to redeem it, added a fifth part to the value, 
by way of fine. They did the same, in proportion, 
when the thing vowed was a house or a field. They 
could not devote the first-born, because, in their own 
nature, they belonged to the Lord. Whatever was 
devoted by anathema could not be redeemed, of 
whatever nature or quality it was ; if an animal, it 
was put to death ; arid other things were devoted 
forever to the Lord, Lev. xxvii. 28, 29. The conse- 
cration of Nazarites was a particular kind of vow, 
and had special rules. See Nazarites. 

The vows and promises of children were void, of 
course, except ratified by the express or tacit consent 
of their parents, Numb. xxx. 1 — 3, &c. Also the vow 



vow 



[ 922 1 



VUL 



of a married woman was of no validity, except con- 
firmed by the express or tacit consent of her hus- 
band. But widows, or liberated wives, were bound 
by their vows, of whatever nature. Deut. xxiii. 21, 
22, " When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy 
God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it ; for the Lord 
thy God will surely require it of thee, and it would 
oe 3in in thee. But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it 
shall be no sin in thee." (See Eccl. v. 3, 4, &c.) 
Paul had a vow of Nazariteship, when he left Cen- 
chrea, (Acts xviii. 18.) and when he arrived at Jeru- 
salem, James, the apostle, and the brethren, advised 
him to join four Judaizing Christians, who had avow 
of Nazariteship, and to contribute to the charges of 
their purification in the temple, chap. xxi. 18, &c. 

The vows of the Jews always implied a kind of 
imprecation against themselves, if they failed in the 
performance. Such vows were generally expressed 
in a distinct and plain manner, but the penalty was 
declared conditionally or hypothetically. For ex- 
ample, Ps. xcv. 11, "I have sworn in my wrath, if 
they shall enter into my rest." I have sworn they 
shall not enter, and I have said, Let me be a liar — 
or something else, not expressed — if they do enter. 
David vows to the Lord to build him a temple, say- 
ing, " Surely I will not come [or if I come] into the 
tabernacle of my house — until I find out a place for 



the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." 
Where we observe, that he does not mention the 
penalty to which he becomes liable, should he fail 
of performing his vow : as if he had said, " Let God 
treat me with the utmost rigor, if I allow myself 
the least respite, till I have accomplished my design." 

Sometimes they expressed the penalty, or impre- 
cation, but directed it against their enemies, or 
against brute beasts. For example, " So and more 
also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave a 
male, of all that pertain to him, by the morning light." 
He does not say, " May God treat me as a forsworn 
person, if I leave any one alive of the family of Na- 
bal ;" but, May God do so to the enemies of David, 
if I leave so much as a dog alive. Generally, the 
Scripture expresses the imprecation by, " God do so 
to me — and more also," &c. without specifying any 
particular penalty, or imprecation ; whether it be that 
the person vowing did not express any, or that out of 
discretion he forbore to mention any ; or that the 
penalty was so publicly known, being customary, 
that it was understood without being expressed. 

VOWELS, Hebrew, see Letters, p. 618. 

VULGATE, see Versions. 

VULTURE, a bird of prey, declared unclean by 
Moses, Lev. xi. 14 ; Deut. xiv. 13. See Bird, and 
Eagle. 



w 



W AL 

WAFER, in Scripture, a thin cake of fine flour, 
which was used in various offerings, anointed with 
oil, Ex. xxix. 2, 23; Lev. ii. 4; vii. 12; Num. vi. 15. R. 

WAGES, reward for service performed. The 
wages, the reward, the deserved retribution, of sin is 
death, Rom. vi. 23. 

WAGON, see Chariot. 

WALK, WALKING. This word, in Hebrew, 
signifies, not merely to proceed or advance, step by 
step, steadily, but to proceed with increased velocity : 
it signifies to swell out louder a musical note or voice, 
a crescendo, as musicians term it ; and so, generally, 
to augment a moderate pace till it acquires rapidity. 
Under this idea, examine Isa. xl. 31 : " The youths 
shall faint and grow weary, the young men shall ut- 
terly fail of their power ; but they who wait on the 
Lord shall renew strength ; shall mount up with 
wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary, 
they shall walk, shall increase their swiftness, aug- 
ment their velocity, and not faint." The passage re- 
quires the admission of some idea to this effect, since 
walking after running is an anti-climax, and there- 
fore could not be the poetical prophet's meaning. 

To walk signifies the conduct of life, the general 
course of a party, his deportment, demeanor, &c. 
To worship and serve God truly, is to walk before 
him. Enoch walked with God, maintained and in- 
creased in piety towards him ; so did Noah. God 
promises to walk with his people, and his people de- 
sire his influence, that they may walk in his statutes. 

The pestilence is said to walk in darkness, spread-, 
ing its ravages by night as well as by day. God is 
said to walk on the wings of the wind, and the 
heart of man to walk after detestable things. To 
walk in darkness, (1 John i. 6, 7.) is to be misled by 
error; to walk in the light, is to be well informed; 



WAR 

to walk by faith, is to expect the things promised or 
threatened, and to maintain a conduct accordingly; 
to walk after the flesh, is to gratify fleshly appetites; 
to walk after the spirit, is to pursue spiritual objects, 
to cultivate spiritual affections, to be spiritually mind- 
ed, which is life and peace. 

WALL, an enclosure or separation. (See Fence.) 
The Lord tells the prophet Jeremiah, (i. 18 ; xv. 20.) 
that he will make him as a wall of brass, to with- 
stand the house of Israel. Paul says, (Eph. ii. 14.) 
that Christ, by his death, broke down the partition- 
wall that separated us from God, or rather the wall 
that separated Jew and Gentile ; so that these two 
people, when converted, may make but one. 

WAR. The Hebrews were formerly one of the 
most warlike nations in the world. The books that 
relate their wars are by neither flattering authors, 
nor ignorant, but inspired by the spirit of truth and 
wisdom. Their warriors were not fabulous heroes, 
but, commonly, wise and valiant generals, raised up 
by God, to fight the battles of the Lord ; such were 
Joshua, Gideon, Jephtbah, Samson, David, the 
Maccabees, &c. Their wars were not undertaken 
on slight occasions, nor performed with a handful of 
people. Under Joshua the affair was no less than 
the conquest of a country, allotted, by God, to Israel, 
from several powerful nations, who were devoted to 
an anathema ; to vindicate an offended Deity, and 
human nature, debased by wicked and corrupt 
people of different nations, which had filled up the 
measure of their iniquities. Under the Judges, 
the purpose was to assert their liberty, by shaking 
off the yoke of powerful kings, who kept them in 
subjection. Under Saul and David, to these motives 
were added that of subduing such provinces as God 
had promised to his people. 



WAR 



[ 923 ] 



WAR 



In the latter times of the kingdoms of Israel and 
Judah, we find their kings bearing the shock of the 
greatest powers of Asia, the kings of Assyria and 
Chaldea, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, Esar-Haddon 
and Nebuchadnezzar, who made the whole East to 
tremble. Under the Maccabees, the business was, 
with a handful of men, to oppose the whole power 
of the kings of Syria, to uphold the religion of their 
fathers, and to free themselves from the despotism 
which designed to subvert both their religion and 
liberty. In the last times of their nation, with what 
courage, intrepidity and constancy did they sustain 
the war against the Romans, then masters of the 
world ! 

Under Moses and Joshua, the Israelites were all 
soldiers, and men bearing arms. They came out of 
Egypt in number 600,000 fighting men. When 
Joshua entered Canaan, he fought sometimes with 
detachments, and sometimes with his whole army. 
To signalize his omnipotence, and to humble the 
pride of man, God often gave victory to very small 
armies. For example, under Gideon, when he 
ordered that general to dismiss the greater part of 
his attendants, and only to keep with him three hun- 
dred men, with which he defeated an innumerable 
multitude of Midianites and Amalekites. See Ar- 
mies. 

We may distinguish two kinds of wars among the 
Hebrews. Some were of obligation, being expressly 
commanded by the Lord ; others were free and volun- 
tary. The first were such as those against the Amale- 
kites, and the intrusive and wicked Canaanites, nations 
devoted to an anathema. The others were to avenge 
injuries, insults, or offences against the nation. Such 
was that against the city of Gibeah, and against the 
tribe of Benjamin ; and such was that of David 
against the Ammonites, whose king had insulted his 
ambassadors. Or they were to maintain and defend 
their allies, as that of Joshua against the kings of 
the Canaanites, to protect Gibeon. In fact, the laws 
of Moses suppose that Israel might make war, and 
oppose enemies. 

The first law of war is, that it should be declared 
to the enemy, and that reparation should be demand- 
ed for the wrong supposed to have been suffered, 
before the enemy is attacked, Deut. xx. 10, 11, &c. 
In the sacred writings, we have several examples of 
defiance, challenge, or declaration of war ; and com- 
plaints of those who were attacked, without having 
had war formally declared. When the Ammonites by 
surprise attacked the Israelites beyond Jordan, Jeph- 
thah sent to inquire of them, " What hast thou to 
do with me, that thou art come against rne, to fight 
in my land ?" &c. Judg. xi. 12. When the Philis- 
tines entered the territory of Judah, to avenge them- 
selves for the fire that Samson, had put to their corn, 
the men of Judah came out to inquire of them, "Why 
are ye come up against us ?" Judg. xv. 10, &c. 
They answered, they had no quarrel against any but 
Samson, who had destroyed their fields. The men 
of Judah promised to deliver up the guilty person, 
and the Philistines retired. Ainaziah, king of Judah, 
puffed up with some advantages he had obtained 
over the Edomites, sent a challenge to Joash, king of 
Israel, saying, "Come, let us look one another in 
the face," 2 Kings xiv. 8—10. But the king of Is- 
rael, without disquieting himself about it, sent him 
a parable in answer : Amaziah would not hearken to 
his advice, and Judah was beaten. Benhadad, king 
of Syria, came with his army before Samaria, and 
sent to declare war against Ahab, king of Israel, say- 



ing, "Thy silver and thy gold is mine ; thy v\ ves, 
also, and thy children, even the goodliest are mino." 
1 Kings xx. 1, 3. Ahab at first submitted, but Ben- 
hadad becoming more arrogant, Ahab determined to 
resist him, and the Syrian failed of his purpose. 

When a war was resolved upon, all the people 
capable of bearing arms were assembled, or only part 
of them, according to the exigence of the case, and 
the necessity and importance of the enterprise ; for 
it does not appear, that before the reign of David 
there were any regular troops in Israel. A general 
rendezvous was appointed, and a review made of 
the people by tribes, and by families. When Saul, 
at the beginning of his reign, was informed of the 
cruel proposal made by the Ammonites to Jabesh- 
Gilead, he cut in pieces the oxen belonging unto his 
plough-team, and sent dissevered members through 
the country, saying, "Whosoever cometh not forth 
after Saul and Samuel, to the relief of Jabesh-Gilead, 
so shall it be done unto his oxen," 1 Sam. xi. 1. (See 
Covenant.) After this he marched to meet the ene- 
my. When the children of Israel had heard of the 
crime committed by the inhabitants of Gibeah, 
against the wife of the Levite of Bethlehem, (Judg. 
xx. 8.) they resolved not to return to their houses till 
they had adequately punished it. They consulted 
the Lord, who appointed the tribe of Judah to lead 
the enterprise. They chose ten men out of every 
hundred, to bring provisions to the army, after which 
they proceeded to action. 

In ancient times, those who went to war common- 
ly carried their own provisions with them ; hence 
the wars were generally of short continuance. When 
David, Jesse's younger son, staid behind to look 
after his father's flocks, while his elder brothers ac- 
companied Saul in the army, he was sent by Jesse 
with provisions to his brothers, 1 Sam. xvii. 13. 
Each one also provided his own arms ; for the kings 
did not begin to form magazines of warlike imple- 
ments till the time of David. 

The Officers of War were, (1.) The generalissimo 
of the armies, or the military prince, such as Abner 
under Saul, Joab under David, and Benaiah under 
Solomon. (2.) The princes of the tribes, or princes 
of the fathers, or of the families of Israel, who were 
at the head of their tribes. (3.) Princes of a thou- 
sand, or tribunes, captains of a hundred, heads of 
fifty men ; also decurions, or chiefs of ten men. (4.) 
Shopherim, scribes or writers, a kind of commissa- 
ries, who kept the muster-roll of the troops ; and, (5.) 
Shoterim, or inspectors, who had authority to com- 
mand the troops under their inspection. 

Machines of War, proper for besieging cities and 
fortresses, are of comparatively late invention. They 
are not mentioned in Homer ; and Diodorus Siculus 
observes, (lib. ii. p. 80.) that Sardanapalus, king of 
Assyria, sustained a siege of seven years in Nineveh ; 
because at that time machines fit for demolishing 
and taking cities were not invented. But about the 
same time we read, that Uzziah, king of Judah, had 
stored up in his magazines "shields, and spears, and 
helmets, habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast 
stones." And that " he made in Jerusalem engines 
invented by cunning men, to be on the towers, and 
upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones 
and his name spread far abroad, for he was marvel- 
lously helped, till he was strong," 2 Chron. xxvi. 14, 
15. Here we have, perhaps, the first instance of 
machines of wai - , or, at least, of a collected armory 
of them. About seventy years after, in the sieges of 
Tyre and Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar used batter 



WAR 



[ 924 ] 



WEE 



ing ams and slings. The Hebrew -a, car, (Ezek. iv. 
1 -j; xxi. 22.) in Greek Kqios, which Scripture uses 
v.o express this machine, signifies a real ram; by- 
metaphor a machine, with which they battered down 
gates and walls of cities. Ezekiel, (xxvi. 8, 9.) 
speaking of this siege, alludes to the ancient manner 
of besieging places : " He shall slay with the sword 
thy daughters in the field, and he shall make a fort 
against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift 
up the buckler against thee. And he shall set en- 
signs of war against thy walls, and with his axes he 
shall break down thy towers." 

When the ancients besieged a place, they usually 
surrounded it with mounds, towers and trenches, 
that the besieged might neither make sallies, nor re- 
ceive succors from without. To lift up the buckler 
may intimate what the Romans called facere testudi- 
nem, to make a tortoise ; when they caused their sol- 
diers to close each other to join their bucklers, in the 
form of a tortoise, in order to sap the walls, to beat 
down gates, or to burn them. The engines of war 
here mentioned, or machines of cords, were the Ba- 
listae, or Catapulta?, used for casting stones or darts ; 
or great hooks fastened to cords, and thrown on the 
tops of walls, to tear them down. Of these iron 
hooks or fangs, may be understood 2 Sam. xvii. 13 : 
" If he be got into a city, then shall all Israel bring 
ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, 
until there be not one small stone found there." 

But besides open and violent modes of attack, the 
besiegers, whenever it was possible, practised the 
less evident, but not less fatal, method, of sapping 
and undermining the walls of a city: the besieged, 
on their part, also, adopted the same mode for pur- 
poses of resistance, with design of ruining the works 
of their adversaries; or of issuing from the city, 
either for sudden attack on their enemies, or for 
escape from the consequences of the siege, when 
they considered resistance as desperate. We have 
a history of such an attempt at escaping in Zedekiah, 
(Jer. xxxix. 4.) " who fled and went forth out of the 
city by night, by the way of the king's gardens, by 
the gate between the two walls:" but he was over- 
taken. In 2 Kings xxv. 4, it is said, " all the men of 
war fled by night, by the way of the gate between 
two walls, which is by the king's gardens (now the 
Chaldees were against the city round about)." — 
Should not this rather be understood, " by the rough, 
rugged way, or track, between two walls ;" that is, 
one wall below the other, around a part of the king's 
gardens ; rather " between the defences," that is, of 
the city, in that part of the works of defence which 
went round the king's gardens ; for, as the Chaldeans 
surrounded the city, they would certainly watch 
every gate ; and Zedekiah would hardly have chosen 
to issue by a regular and customary passage, since 
he wished for secrecy, and to screen himself from 
observation ; in which, apparently, he in some degree 
succeeded. 

Thus understood, the history will agree with the 
figurative representation of it by Ezekiel : (chap. xii. 
7.) " I brought forth my stuff, baggage, by day, as 
baggage for going into captivity ; and in the evening, 
at twilight, I digged through the wall with mine own 
hand : I brought it — my baggage — forth, in the twi- 
light : I bare it upon my shoulder," see verse 12. In 
like manner, Zedekiah passed over the precipices, 
or steps, and digged through a part of the defences 
of his city ; and endeavored to escape at this breach 
made by his own hands, or his own order in his own 
fortification. Probal'ly, too, Zedekiah carried about 



his person whatever of valuables he could convcv 
from his palace ; so that the resemblance to Ezekiel, 
in loading himself with baggage, was nearly, or alto- 
gether, perfect. It might be more complete than we 
are aware of, if Zedekiah digged through the wall 
of any part of his palace, as Ezekiel did of his house ; 
in which we see no improbability ; .and he might 
also have a subterraneous passage of some length, 
before he issued from the wall into any open place. 

WASHING, purification. See Baptism. 

WASHING of Feet. See under Foot, and 
Sandals. 

WASHING of Hands was very frequent among 
the Hebrews. See Baptism. 

Children were washed immediately after their 
birth. See Birth. 

WATCH, a period of time. See Hour. 

WATERS denote, metaphorically, (1.) posterity, 
Numb. xxiv. 7 ; Prov. v. 15, 16 ; Isa. xlviii. 1. — (2.) 
indefinitely, a large concourse of people, Rev. 
xvii. 15. 

Strange waters, stolen waters, (Prov. ix. 17.) denote 
unlawful pleasure with strange women. The Israel- 
ites are reproached with having forsaken the fountain 
of living water, to quench their thirst at broken 
cisterns ; (Jer. ii. 13.) i. e. with having quitted the 
worship of God for that of false and abominable 

deities. 

Waters sometimes denote afflictions and misfor- 
tunes, Lain. hi. 54 ; Ps. Ixix. 1 ; c.xxiv. 4, 5 ; cxvii. 16. 

Living ivaters, spring waters, running waters, 
streams ; in opposition to waters that stagnate in a 
cistern, or in a lake, which are dead waters. 

As in Scripture, bread is put for all sorts of food, 
or solid nourishment, so water is used for all sorts of 
drink. The Moabites and Ammonites are reproach- 
ed for not meeting the Israelites with bread and 
water, that is, with proper refreshments, Deut. xxiii. 
4. Nabal says, insulting David's messengers, "Shall 
I then take my bread and my water, and my flesh 
that 1 have killed for my shearers, and give it unto 
men, whom I know not whence they be ?" 1 Sam. 
xxv. 11. 

In Deut. xi. 10, it is said, the land of Canaan is 
not like Egypt, " where thou sowest thy seed, and 
waterest it with thy foot." Palestine is a country 
which has rains, plentiful dews, springs, rivulets and 
brooks, which supply the earth with the moisture 
necessary to its fruitfulness ; whereas Egypt has no 
river but the Nile ; and as it seldom rains, the lands 
which are not within reach of the inundation, con- 
tinue parched and barren. To supply this warn, 
ditches are dug, and water is distributed throughout 
the several villages and cantons, by the help of ma- 
chines ; one of which Philo describes as a wheel 
which a man turns with the motion of his feet, by 
ascending successively the several steps that are 
within it. But as, while he is thus continually turn- 
ing, he cannot keep himself up, he holds a stay in 
his hands, which is not movable, and this supports 
him ; so that in this work, the hands do the office of 
the feet, and the feet that of the hands. 

WEDDING, see Marriage. 

WEEK. Among the Hebrews there were three 
kinds of weeks : (1.) Weeks of days, reckoned from 
one sabbath to another. [The Jews were accustom- 
ed, instead of the term week, to make use of the ex- 
pression eight days ; just as the Germans do at the 
present day ; and just as we also say fortnight (i. e. 
fourteen nights) instead of two weeks. This remark 
serves to illustrate John xx. 26, where the disciples 



WEL 



[ 925 ] 



WI C 



are said to have met again after " eight days," i. e. evi- 
dently after a week, on the eighth day after our 
Lord's resurrection. R.] (2.) Weeks of years, reck- 
oned from one sabbattical year to another, and con- 
sisting of seven years. (3.) Weeks of seven times 
seven years, or of forty-nine years, reckoned from 
one jubilee to another. 

WEEPING, see Funeral. 

WEIGHTS. The Hebrews weighed all the gold 
and silver they used in trade. The shekel, the half- 
shekel, the talent, are not only denominations of 
moneys, of certain values, in gold and silver, but also 
of certain weights. The Weight of the Sanctuary, 
or Weight of the Temple, (Exod. xxx. 13, 24 ; Lev. 
v. 15 ; Numb. iii. 50 ; vii. 19 ; xviii. 16, &c.) was 
probably the standard weight, preserved in some 
apartment of the temple, and not a different weight 
from the common shekel ; (1 Chron. xxiii. 29.) for 
though Moses appoints, that all things valued by 
their price in silver should be rated by the weight 
of the sanctuary, (Lev. xxvii. 25.) he makes no dif- 
ference between this shekel of twenty oboli, or 
twenty gerahs, and the common shekel. Ezekiel, 
(xlv. 12.) speaking of the ordinary weights and meas- 
ures used in traffic among the Jews, says, that the 
shekel weighed twenty oboli, or gerahs : — it was 
therefore equal to the weight of the sanctuary. 
Neither Josephus, nor Philo, nor Jerome, nor 
any ancient author, speaks of a distinction between 
the weights of the temple and those in common 
use. 

Besides, the custom of preserving the standards of 
weights and measures in temples is not peculiar to 
the Hebrews. The Egyptians, as Clemens Alexan- 
drinus informs us, had an officer in the college of 
priests, whose business it was to examine all sorts of 
measures, and to take care of the originals ; the Ro- 
mans had the same custom. Fannius, de Amphora ; 
and the emperor Justinian decreed, that standards of 
weights and measures should be kept in Christian 
churches. 

The following are the Jewish weights reduced to 
Troy :— 

lb.- ra. dwts. gs. 

The Gerah, the 20th part of a shekel, . 12. 

The Bekah, half a shekel, 5 0. 

The Shekel, 10 0. 

The Maneh, 60 shekels, 2 6 0. 

The Talent, 50 maneh, or 3000 shekels, 125 0. 

A iveight of glory, of which Paul speaks, (2 Cor. 
iv. 17.) is opposed to the lightness of the evils of this 
life. The troubles we endure are really of no more 
weight than a feather, or of no weight at all, if com- 
pared to the weight or intenseness of that glory, 
which shall be hereafter a compensation for them. 
In addition to this, it is probable the apostle had in 
view the double meaning of the Hebrew word cabod, 
which signifies not only weight, but glory : glory, 
that is, splendor, is in this world the lightest thing in 
nature ; but in the other world it may be real, at 
once substantial and radiant. 

WELLS, or Springs, are frequently mentioned 
in Scripture. The Hebrews call a well beer; whence 
this word is often compounded with proper names, as 
Beer-sheba, Beeroth-bene-jaakan, Beeroth, Beerah, &c. 

How little do the people of this country under- 
stand feehngly those passages of Scripture which 
speak of want of water, of paying for that necessary 
fluid, and of the strife for such a valuable articlp as a 



well 1 So we read, " Abraham reproved .Abim 
elech, because of a well of water, which Abimelech'a 
servants had violently taken away," Gen. xxi. 25. 
So, chap. xxvi. 20, "The herdsmen of Gerar did 
strive with Isaac's herdsmen ; and he called the well 
Ezek, contention." — To what extremities contention 
about a supply of water may proceed, we learn from 
the following extracts: — "Our course lay along 
shore, betwixt the main land and a chain of little 
islands, with which, as likewise with rocks and 
shoals, the sea abounds in this part ; and for that 
reason, it is the practice with all these vessels to 
anchor every evening : we generally brought up 
close to the shore, and the land-breeze springing up 
about midnight, wafted to us the perfumes of Arabia, 
with which it was strongly impregnated, and very 
fragrant; the latter part of it earned us off in the 
morning, and continued till eight, when it generally 
fell calm for two or three hours, and after that the 
northerly wind set in, after obliging us to anchor 
under the lee of the land by noon. It happened that 
one morning, when we had been driven by stress of 
weather into a small bay, called Birk bay, the coun- 
try around it being inhabited by the Budoes, [Be- 
doweens,] the Noquedah sent his people on shore to 
get water, for which it is always customary to pay. The 
Budoes were, as the people thought, rather too exor- 
bitant in their demands, and not choosing to comply 
with them, returned to make their report to their 
master. On hearing it, rage immediately seized him, 
and, determined to have the water on his own terms, 
or perish in the attempt, he buckled on his armor, 
and attended by his myrmidons, carrying their match- 
lock guns and lances, being twenty in number, they 
rowed to the land. My Arabian servant, who went 
on shore with the fust party, and saw that the Bu- 
does were disposed for fighting, told me that I should 
certainly see a battle. I accordingly looked on very 
anxiously, hoping that the fortune of the day would 
be on the side of my friends ; but Heaven ordained 
it otherwise ; for, after a parley of about a quarter of 
an hour, with which the Budoes amused them till 
near a hundred were assembled, they proceeded to 
the attack, and routed the sailors, who made a pre- 
cipitate retreat, the Noquedah and two others having 
fallen in the action, and several being wounded ; they 
contrived, however, to bring off their dead," &c. 
(Major Rooke's Travels from India to England, 
page 52.) 

This extract especially illustrates the passage in 
Numb. xx. 17, 19 : — " We will not drink of the water 
of the wells : — If I and my cattle drink of thy water, 
then will I pay for if."— This is always expected ; 
and though Edom might, in friendship, have let his 
brother Israel drink gratis, had he recollected their 
consanguinity, yet Israel did not insist on such ac- 
commodation. How strange would it sound among 
us, if a person in travelling should propose to pay 
for drinking water from the wells by the road-side ! 
Nevertheless, still stronger is the expression, Lam. v. 
4 : " We have drank our own water for money ;" we 
bought it of our foreign rulers, although we were 
the natural proprietors of the wells which furnish- 
ed it. 

WHEAT is the principal and most valuable I ind 
of grain for the service of man, and is produced in 
almost any part of the world. It is comprehended 
under the" general name of grain or corn. See 
Corn. 

WICKED, vicious, sinful. " The wicked one," 
taken absolutely, is generally put for the devil ■ " He- 



WIL 



[ 926 ] 



WIN 



liver us from the wicked or evil one" (Matt. vi. 13.); 
" Tlien corneth the wicked one, and catcheth away 
that which was sown in his heart," Matt. xiii. 19. 
The evil day (Ephes. vi. 13.) is the day of temptation, 
or trial ; the day in which one is most in danger of 
doing evil. The evil eye signifies jealousy, envy, or 
sordid niggardliness, being opposed to liberality and 
charity. Or it may denote a grudging or malign as- 
pect. In the East, they believe the eye to have great 
powers of striking the party looked on ; and perhaps 
the phrase alludes to this: a mischievous, malignant, 
injurious direction of the eye ; eye-shot, as our poets 
speak, "darting malignant fires." 

WIDOW. Widowhood, as well as barrenness, 
was a kind of shame and reproach in Israel. Isaiah 
(liv. 4.) says, "Thou shalt forget the shame of thy 
youth, [passed in celibacy and barrenness,] and shalt 
not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any 
more." It was presumed, that a woman of merit 
and reputation might have found a husband, either 
in the family of her deceased husband, if he died 
childless, (sec .Marriage,) or in some other family, 
if he had left children. It is true, indeed, that a 
widow was commended, who, from affection to her 
first husband, declined a second marriage, and con- 
tinued in mourning and widowhood, as was the case 
of Judith. 

It was thought the greatest misfortune that could 
happen to .a man, to die, and not be bewailed by his 
widow ; that is, without receiving the solemn hon- 
ors of sepulture, of which the tears and praises of 
the widow made a chief part. The wicked and his 
children shall die, says Job, " and their widows shall 
not mourn for them," (chap, xxvii. 15.) and the 
psalmist, speaking of the lamentable death of Hophni 
and Phinehas, observes, as a great disaster, that they 
were not bewailed by their widows, Ps. lxxviii. 64. 

God frequently recommends to his people to be 
very careful in relieving the widow and orphan, 
Exod. xxii. 22 ; Deut. x. 18 ; xiv. 29, et passim. Paul 
would have us honor widows that are widows in- 
deed, and desolate ; (1 Tim. v. 3, &c.) that is, the 
bishop should have a great regard for them, and sup- 
ply them in their necessity ; for this is often signified 
by the verb to honor. God forbids his high-priest to 
marry a woman who is either a widow, or divorced, 
Lev. xxi. 14. 

Formerly there were widows in the Christian 
church, who, because of their poverty, were placed 
on the list of persons to be provided for at the ex- 
pense of the church. There were others, who had 
certain employments in the church ; as, to visit sick 
women, to assist women at baptism, and to do several 
things which decency would not permit to the other 
sex. Paul did not allow any woman to be chosen 
into this number, unless she were threescore years 
old, at least, 1 Tim. v. 9. Such must have been mar- 
ried but once ; must have produced sufficient testi- 
mony of their good works ; must have given good 
education to their children ; must have exercised 
hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, and bestow- 
ed succor on the miserable and afflicted.. He for- 
bids that young widows should be admitted among 
these, or, at least, among such as were on the church 
list for maintenance. 

WILDERNESS, see Desert. 

WILL. Besides the common acceptation of this 
word, to signify that faculty of willing, with which 
we are endued ; that is, of choosing, desiring and 
loving, it is taken, (1.) For the absolute and immu- 
table will of God, which nothing can withstand, 



Rom. ix. 19 ; Gen. 1. 19, 20 ; Isa. xlvi. 10. (2 ) For 
a will not absolute and immutable ; as when Christ 
desired that the cup of his passion might pass from 
him, if such had been the will of God, Matt. xxvi. 
39. It is not the will of God, that the wicked should 
perish : (Ezek. xviii. 23.) " Have I any pleasure at 
all that the wicked should die, saith the Lord God, 
and not that he should turn from his ways and live ?" 
But if he determine to perish, and refuse to be con- 
verted, God is not obliged to interpose, and to hinder 
him from perishing against his will. (3.) To do the 
will of God is put for keeping his law, submitting to 
his authority, Matt. vii. 21 ; xii. 50. Paul says, (Heb. 

x. 26.) "If we sin willingly, there remains no other 
sacrifice for sin." In the old law, sacrifices for the 
expiation of offences committed against the ceremo- 
nies of the law, were repeated as often as those 
offences were acknowledged. But, under the new 
law, those who fall voluntarily and wilfully into great 
crimes, are not to expect that Christ will come to die 
for thern again: he died but once, and is not to die 
any more ; neither is there to be any succeeding me- 
diator. Those who fall into great crimes, it is true, 
may always hope for pardon, or may return and re- 
pent ; but this remedy and this return are not easy. 
By those voluntary crimes mentioned by Paul, many 
understand final impenitence, hardness of heart, de- 
spair, or the sin against the Holy Spirit. 

WILLOW, a very common tree, which grows in 
marshy places, with a leaf much like that of the olive 
God commanded the Hebrews to take branches of 
the handsomest trees, particularly of the willows of 
the brook, and to bear them in their hands before the 
Lord, as a token of rejoicing, at the Feast of Taber- 
nacles, Lev. xxiii. 40. 

WIMPLE, a veil or hood. But the Hebrew 
nn=iao signifies, properly, a broad and large mantle or 
shawl. So in Ruth iii. 15, Boaz gives Ruth six meas- 
ures of barley, which she carries away in her mit- 
pahhath or mantle, not veil as in the English transla- 
tion. So in Isa. iii. 22. R. 

WINDS. [From the Calendar of Palestine, by 
Buhle, inserted under the article Canaan, (p. 240,) it 
appears, that the winds which most commonly pre- 
vail in Palestine are from the western quarter, more 
usually, perhaps from the south-west. This is also 
supported by the reports of intelligent travellers. 
The Rev. E. Smith, American missionary in the East, 
now (July 1832) on a visit to his native country, re- 
cently confirmed this statement to the writer; remark- 
ing, also, that a north wind not unfrequently arises, 
which, as in ancient days, is still the sure harbinger of 
fair weather ; illustrating the truth of the observation 
in Prov. xxv. 23, " The north wind driveth away rain." 
(For the tempestuous wind called Euroclydon, see 
that article.) 

But the principal object which we have here in 
view is the Kddim or East Wind of the Scriptures, 
which is represented as blasting and drying up the 
fruits, (Gen. xli. 6; Ezek. xvii. 10; xix. 12, &c.) and 
also as blowing with great violence, Ps. xlviii. 7; 
Ezek. xxvii. 26; Jonah iv. 8, &c. It is also the 
" horrible tempest," properly glow-wind, pepSx, of Ps. 

xi. 6. This is a sultry and oppressive wind blowing 
from the south-east, and prevailing only in the hot 
and dry months of summer. Coming thus from the 
vast Arabian desert, it seems to increase the heat and 
drought of the season, and produces universal lan 
guor and relaxation. Mr. Smith, who experienced 
its effects during the summer, at Beyrout, describes it 
as possessing the same qualities and characteristics. 



WINDS 



[ 927 ] 



WINDS 



as the Sirocco which he had felt at Malta, and which 
also prevails in Sicily and Italy ; except that the Si- 
rocco, in passing over the sea, acquires great damp- 
ness. The Sirocco is described by Brydone, as re- 
sembling a blast of burning steam from the mouth of 
an oven ; in a few minutes those exposed to it find 
every fibre relaxed in an extraordinary manner. 
This wind is more or less violent, and of longer or 
shorter duration at different times ; seldom lasting 
more than 36 or 40 hours ; and, notwithstanding its 
scorching heat, it has never been known to produce 
epidemical disorders, or to do any injury to the health 
of the people. These characteristics, except the 
dampness, apply entirely to the east wind of Pales- 
tine, which is dry and withering. 

Many interpreters, however, have chosen to refer 
the kdclim, or east wind of the Scriptures, to the oft 
described wind of the desert, called by the Arabs 
Simoom, (Semoom, Samoom, or Smoum,) by the Turks 
Samiel, and in Egypt Catnsin ; which has long re- 
tained the character of a pestilential wind, suddenly 
overtaking travellers and caravans in the deserts, and 
almost instantly destroying them by its poisonous and 
suffocating breath. The result, however of the re- 
searches of more modern and judicious travellers, 
seems to show, that the former accounts of the de- 
structive power of this wind have been, at least, much 
exaggerated ; and that the authors of these accounts 
either had their credulity imposed upon by the Arabs, 
or else have described certain facts in such a way, as 
to impart to them a coloring and cause them to make 
an impression, which the naked facts themselves 
would not warrant. 

Among writers of this class, we may probably reck- 
on with justice Mr. Bruce and sir R. K. Porter. The 
latter has every where given the first accounts which 
he received from by-standers, as matters of fact; 
without ever seeming himself to have any question 
of their correctness, and usually without even indi- 
cating that they are not matters of his own personal 
knowledge or experience. In 1830 and 1831, Messrs. 
Smith and Dwight, American missionaries, travelled 
in Armenia over much of the same ground as this 
writer ; and they do not hesitate to affirm that his 
accounts are, in general, to be received with great dis- 
trust, and that not a few of his statements are in 
direct variance with the reality. In regard to Mr. 
Bruce, it is well known, that his book was generally 
considered, on the first appearance of it, as a mere ro- 
mance ; later travellers, however, have confirmed the 
accuracy of his general accounts, i. e. they have estab- 
lished the fact, that his work has a broad basis of 
truth at the bottom ; while it is well understood, that 
in filling up the details he drew largely from his im- 
agination; — not perhaps with the design of stating 
any thing which he did not suppose to be true ; but 
partly in consequence of that tendency to exaggera- 
tion and high coloring, which is the characteristic of 
so many minds ; and partly, no doubt, from the cir- 
cumstance, that his narrative was first written out, 
sixteen years after the events therein described, when 
the whole had become to him, in a measure, like a 
dream. Mr. Salt, in his Travels in Abyssinia, has 
produced some strong instances, on the part of Bruce, 
of aberration from strict veracity and manly frankness. 

After these prefatory remarks, we proceed to give 
the accounts of the Simoom as furnished by various 
travellers, placing that of sir R. K. Porter first, as 
being, although one of the latest, yet, probably, one of 
the most exaggerated. 

\t Bagdad, October 9, 1 r jl8, sir R. K. Porter informs 



us, (Travels, vol. ii. p. 229.) the master of the khan 
" told me, that they consider October the first month 
of their autumn, and feel it delightfully cool in com- 
parison with July, August and September; for that 
during forty days of the two first-named summer 
months, the hot wind blows from the desert, 
and its effects are often destructive. Its title 
is very appropriate, being called the Samiel, or 
Baude Semoom, the pestilential wind. It does not 
come in continued long currents, but in gusts at dif- 
ferent intervals, each blast lasting several minutes, and 
passing along with the rapidity of lightning. No one 
dare stir from their houses while this invisible flame 
is sweeping over the face of the country. Previous 
to its approach, the atmosphere becomes thick and 
suffocating, and appearing particularly dense near the 
horizon, gives sufficient warning of the threatened 
mischief. Though hostile to human life, it is so far 
from being prejudicial to the vegetable creation, that 
a continuance of the Samiel tends to ripen the fruits. 
I inquired what became of the cattle during such a 
plague, and was told they were seldom touched 
by it. It seems strange that their lungs should be so 
perfectly insensible to what seems instant destruction 
to the breath of man ; but so it is, and they are regu- 
larly driven down to water at the customary times of 
day, even when the blasts are at the severest. The 
people who attend them are obliged to plaster their 
own faces and other parts of the body usually ex- 
posed to the air, with a sort of muddy clay, which in 
general protects them from its most malignant effects. 
The periods of the winds' blowing are generally from 
noon till sunset ; they cease almost entirely during 
the night ; and the direction of the gust is always from 
the north-east. When it has passed over, a sul- 
phuric, and indeed loathsome, smell, like putridity, 
remains for a long time. The poison which occa- 
sions this smell must be deadly ; for if any unfortu- 
nate traveller, too far from shelter, meet the blast, he 
falls immediately ; and, in a few minutes his flesh be- 
comes almost black, while both it and his bones at 
once arrive at so extreme a state of corruption, that 
the smallest movement of the body would separate 
the one from the other." 

It is but justice to sir R. K. Porter to say, that his- 
account of the Simoom tallies entirely with that given 
by Chardin in his Travels in Persia. Both travellers 
doubtless drew from similar sources — the stories of 
the common people. Chardin says, (Travels, vol. iii. 
p. 286. edit, of Langles,) that "this wind blows with a 
great noise, appears red and inflamed, and kills those 
persons whom it overtakes by a kind of" suffocation. 
The most remarkable effect of it is, not so much that 
it causes death, as that the bodies of those who are 
destroyed by it are dissolved or corrupted, without 
losing either their form or color; so that one would 
suppose, they were merely asleep ; but if he takes 
hold of a member, it separates from the body and 
remains in his hand." Chardin then relates sev- 
eral instances of this kind which he had heard of. 

The following extract is from D'Obsonville's " Es- 
says, &c. on the East : " " Some enlightened travellers 
have seriously written, that every individual who falls 
a victim to this infection, is immediately reduced to 
ashes, though apparently only asleep ; and that when 
taken hold of to be awakened by passengers, the 
limbs part from the body and remain in the hand. 
Such travellers would evidently not have taken these 
tales on hearsay, if they had paid a proper attention 
to other facts, which they either did, or ought to have 
heard. Experience proves, that animals, by pressing 



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their nostrils to the earth, and men, by covering their 
heads in their mantles, have nothing to fear from 
these meteors. This demonstrates the impossibility, 
that a poison, which can only penetrate the most del- 
icate parts of the brain or lungs, should calcine the 
skin, flesh, nerves and bones. I acknowledge these 
accounts are had from the Arabs themselves ; but 
their picturesque and extravagant expressions are a 
kind of imaginary coin, to know the true value of 
which requires some practice." " I have twice had 
an opportunity of considering the effect of these 
siphons, with some attention. I shall relate simply 
what I have seen in the case of a merchant and two 
travellers, who were struck during their sleep, and 
died on the spot. I ran to see if it was possible to 
afford them any succor, but they were already dead, 
the victims of an interior suffocating fire. There 
were apparent signs of the dissolution of their fluids ; 
a kind of serous matter issued from the nostrils, 
mouth and ears ; and in something more than 
an hour, the whole body was in the same state. 
However, as, according to their custom, they [the 
Arabs] were diligent to pay them the last duties of 
humanity, I cannot affirm that the putrefaction was 
more or less rapid than usual in that country. As 
to the meteor itself, it may be examined with impu- 
nity at the distance of three or four fathoms ; and the 
country people are only afraid of being surprised by it 
when they are asleep ; neither are such accidents very 
common, for these siphons are only seen during two 
or three months of the year; and as their approach 
is felt, the camp-guards and the people awake, are 
always very careful to rouse those that sleep, who 
also have a general habit of covering their faces with 
their mantles." 

All these accounts bear, upon the face of them, 
the stamp of exaggeration. But this is not all. Of 
the accounts of Chardin, Mr. Morier, well known as 
a judicious observer, remarks, in speaking of this 
very passage, (p. 63.) "On inquiry, we learned that 
the present inhabitants of these countries [around the 
Persian gulf] know nothing of the fatal effects of this 
wind upon those who are exposed to it, and of which 
this traveller [Chardin] adduces examples. The 
Sam-wind occasions great devastation in this region, 
as I was informed, and is especially destructive to the 
vegetation. About six years before, this wind blew 
during all the summer months, and scorched all the 
grain, then nearly ripe, in such a manner, that no ani- 
mal would touch a leaf or a kernel of it." This account 
is far more probable in itself, apart from the well-known 
character of the writer ; and it is also sustained by 
the following extract from the Journal of Mr. Jackson, 
who made the over-land journey from India to Eng- 
land in 1797. This writer gives the following account 
of this wind, which is probably very near the truth. 
When on the Tigris, about five days' journey from 
Bagdad, (in the same region as sir R. K. Porter,) he 
remarks : " I had here an opportunity of observing 
the progress of the hot winds, called by the natives 
Samiel, which sometimes proves very destructive, par- 
ticularly at this season. They are most dangerous 
between twelve and three o'clock, when the atmos- 
phere is at its greatest degree of heat. Their force 
entirely depends on the surface over which they 
pass. If it be over a desert, where there is no vegeta- 
tion, they extend their dimensions with amazing ve- 
locity, and then their progress is sometimes to wind- 
ward ; if over grass, or any other vegetation, they 
soon diminish and lose much of their force; if over 
water, they lose all their electrical force, and 



ascend ; [see the extract from Riippell below ;] yet I 
have sometimes felt their effects across the river 
where it was at least a mile broad. An instance hap- 
pened here. Mr. Stephens, a fellow traveller, was 
bathing in the river, having on a pair of Turkish 
drawers. On his return from the water, there came 
a hot wind across the river, which made his drawers 
and himself perfectly dry in an instant. Had such a 
circumstance been related to him by another person, 
he declared he could not have believed it. I was 
present and felt the force of the hot wind, but should 
otherwise have been as incredulous as Mr. Stephens." 
(p. 81.) 

We subjoin here the account of Niebuhr, as being 
one of the most full and trustworthy, and as relating 
also to the same Asiatic regions. It will be perceived, 
however, that this is the result, not of his own ob- 
servations, but of his inquiries among the Arabs ; and 
that although according in the chief points with the 
descriptions of Porter and Chardin, the language is, 
nevertheless, much more moderate. The suggestions 
also occasionally thrown in, accord well with the 
character of this most sober and judicious of all 
travellers. He is speaking of the region around the 
Persian gulf, Bagdad, &c. (Descr. of Arab. p. 7. Germ, 
edit.) "The hot season is called by the Arabs, so far 
as I can learn, Smiim, [Simoom,] just as we call the 
same period, dog-days, and as the Egyptians also call 
their hot season, Camsin. In these months there 
are occasional instances at Bassora, though seldom, 
of persons in the street, both in the city and on the 
way to Zobier, falling down and dying from the heat ; 
indeed mules also are said to have died of the heat 
out of the city. 

" Of the poisonous wind Sam, Smiim, Samiel, or 
Samili, according to the pronunciation of the Arabs, of 
whom 1 inquired about it, one hears most in the desert 
between Bassora, Bagdad, Aleppo and Mecca. It is 
said also not to be unknown in some districts of Per- 
sia and India, and also in Spain. This wind is also 
to be feared only in the hottest summer months. It 
is said always to come from the great desert ; indeed 
they say that the Simoom, (I am not sure whether 
the poisonous one is meant,) at Mecca, comes from 
the east, at Bagdad, from the west, at Bassorah, from 
the north-west, and at Surat, from the north. At 
Cairo, the hottest wind comes over the Libyan desert, 
and consequently from the south-west. As the Arabs 
of the desert are accustomed to a pure atmosphere, it 
is said that some among them are so keen-scented as 
to distinguish the fatal Simoom by its sulphuroussmell. 
Another token of this wind is said to be, that the 
whole atmosphere, in the quarter whence it blows, 
becomes of a reddish hue. Since, however, a wind 
moving regularly forwards has less power near the 
surface of the earth, being somewhat hindered and 
broken perhaps by hills, and rocks, and bushes, and 
also by the evaporation from the ground, it is there- 
fore usual for persons to throw themselves upon the 
earth when they perceive the approach of the Si- 
moom. Nature also is said to have taught the beasts 
to hold their heads to the earth in like circumstances. 
One of my servants was overtaken by this wind, in 
a caravan on the way from Bassorah to Aleppo. 
Some of the Arabs cried out in time for them all to 
throw themselves on the ground, and none of those 
who did this received any injury. But some of the 
caravan, and among them a French surgeon, who 
wished to examine this phenomenon more closely, 
were too secure, and in consequence died. Some- 
times years are said to elapse, during which there 



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[ 929 ] 



WINDS 



appears no trace of the poisonous Simoom on the 
way between fiaesorah and Aleppo. 

"According to the Arabs, both men and beasts are 
suffocated by this wind, in the same manner as by 
the ordinary hot wind, of which I have spoken above. 
When the heat of the season is extraordinarily great, 
there comes sometimes a slight blast which is still 
hotter; and when men or beasts have already be- 
come so weak as almost to perish from the heat, it 
would seem that this additional degree of heat, though 
small, takes away their breath entirely. In the case 
of those who are suffocated by this wind, or, as they 
say, whose heart has burst, it is said that the blood 
starts from the nose and ears sometimes in two hours 
after death. Their bodies are said to remain a long 
time warm, to swell, to turn blue and green, and, if 
the attempt is made to raise them by the leg or arm, 
this separates itself at once. Some profess to have 
observed, that those who are not previously so weak- 
ened, usually suffer less ; and hence, in a large cara- 
van, sometimes not more than four or five have died 
on the spot, while others have lived several hours, 
and some have even been restored by refreshing cor- 
dials. The Arabs, it is said, take with them leeks 
and raisins 'upon their journeys, and by means of 
'Aiese have often relieved persons who w«re well nigh 
suffocated. 

"After this description of the Simoom, it will 
io<idily be supposed, that I had no great inclination 
to make the experiment proposed in the 24th question 
of professor Michaelis. And even if I had kept every 
thing in readiness for this purpose, my trouble would 
all have been in vain, for I have myself never met with 
this wind." 

The preceding extracts relate chiefly to the interior 
of Arabia and Asia; those which follow refer more 
to Africa, and the southern coast of Arabia. The 
first which we shall give, go to show that the Simoom 
has in general the same bad name in these regions as 
in other places. 

Maillet, in speaking of the great Hadj, or annual 
caravan of pilgrims from Egypt to Mecca, remarks : 
(Let. xiv. p. 232.) "If the north wind happens to 
fail, and that from the south comes in its place, 
which, however, is rather uncommon, then the whole 
caravan is so sickly and exhausted, that three or four 
hundred persons are wont to lose their lives ; and 
even greater numbers, as fifteen hundred ; of whom 
the greatest part are stifled on the spot, by the fire and 
dust of which this fatal wind seems to be composed." 

The same writer, in giving an account of the dan- 
gers attending the caravans that pass between Egypt 
and Nubia, further remarks: (Lett. dern. p. 218.) 
"The danger is infinitely greater when the south 
wind happens to blow in these deserts. The least 
mischief that it produces is the making dry their 
leather bottles, or goat skins filled with water, which 
they are obliged to carry with them in these journeys, 
and by this means depriving both man and beast of 
the only relief they have against its violent heats. 
This win- 1 which the Arabs call poisonous, stifles on 
the spot tnose that are unfortunate enough to breathe 
in it ; so that to guard against its pernicious effects, 
they are obliged to throw themselves speedily on the 
ground, with their face close to these burning sands, 
with which they are surrounded, and to cover their 
heads with some cloth or carpet, lest, in respiration, 
they should suck in that deadly quality which every 
where attends it. People ought even to think them- 
selves very happy when this wind, which is always, 
besides, very violent, does not raise up large quanti- 
117 



ties of sand with a whirling motion, which, darkening 
the air, renders their guides incapable of discerning 
their way. Sometimes whole caravans have been 
"airied by this means under the sand, with which this 
wind is frequently charged." 

The next traveller whom we quote is Mr. Bruce, 
who speaks more in detail, and professes to give the 
results of his own personal experience. On the 
general character of his work, and the degree of con 
fidence to be placed in the accuracy of his narratives, 
we have made some remarks above, (p. 927.) His 
account is as follows : — 

" On the 16th, at half-past ten, we left El Mout 
At eleven o'clock, while we contemplated with great 
pleasure the rugged top of Chiggre, to which we 
were fast approaching, and where we were to solace 
ourselves with plenty of good water, Idris cried out, 
' Fall upon your faces, for here is the Simoom !' I 
saw from the S. E. a haze come, in color like the 
purple part of the rainbow, but not so compressed or 
thick. It did not occupy twenty yards in breadth, 
and was about twelve feet high from the ground. It 
was a kind of blush upon the air, and it moved veiy 
rapidly, for I scarce could turn to fall upon the 
ground, with my head to the northward, when I felt 
the heat of its current plainly upon my face. We 
all lay flat on the ground, as if dead, till Idris told us 
it was blown over. The meteor, or purple haze, 
which I saw, was indeed passed, but the light air that 
still blew was of heat to threaten suffocation. For 
my part, I found distinctly in my breast that I had 
imbibed a part of it, nor was I free of an asthmatic 
sensation, till I had been some months in Italy, 
at the baths of Poretta, near two years after- 
wards. A universal despondency had taken pos- 
session of our people. They ceased to speak to 
one another, and when they did, it was in whispers, 
by which I easily guessed that they were increas- 
ing each others' fears, by vain suggestions, calcu- 
lated to sink each other's spirits still further. . . . This 
phenomenon of the Simoom, unexpected by us, 
though foreseen by Idris, caused us all to relapse into 
our former despondency. It still continued to blow, 
so as to exhaust us entirely, though the blast was so 
weak as scarcely would have raised a leaf from the 
ground. At twenty minutes before five, the Simoom 
ceased, and a comfortable and cooling breeze came 
by starts from the north." (Vol. iv. p. 558, 559.) 

" We had no sooner got into the plains than we 
felt great symptoms of the Simoom, and about a 
quarter before twelve, our prisoner first, and then 
Idris, cried out, The Simoom! the Simoom! My cu- 
riosity would not suffer me to fall down without look 
ing behind me ; about due south, a little to the east, 
I saw the colored haze as before. It seemed now to 
be rather less compressed, and to have with it a shade 
of blue. The edges of it were not defined as those 
of the former ; but like a very thin smoke, with about 
a yard in the middle tinged with those colors. We 
all fell upon our faces, and the Simoom passed with 
a gentle ruffling wind. It continued to blow in this 
manner till near three o'clock ; so that we were all 
taken ill at night, and scarcely strength was left us to 
load the camels." (Vol. iv. p. 581.) 

"The Simoom with the wind at S. E. immediately 
followed the wind at N. and the usual despondency 
that always accompanied it. The blue meteor, with 
which it began passing over us about twelve, and the 
ruffling wind that followed it, continued till neartwo 
<i Silence, and a desperate kind of indifference about 
| life, were the immediate effects upon us ; and I be • 



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[ 930 ] 



WINDS 



gan, seeing the condition of my camels, to fear we were 
all doomed to a sandy grave, and to contemplate it 
with some degree of resignation. 

" I here began to provide for the worst. I saw the 
fate of our camels fast approaching, and that our men 
grew weak in proportion : our bread, too, began to 
fail us, although we had plenty of camel's flesh in its 
stead ; our water, though to all appearance we were 
to find it more frequently than in the beginning of 
our journey, was nevertheless brackish, and scarce 
served the purpose to quench our thirst ; and above 
all, the dreadful Simoom had perfectly exhausted 
our strength, and brought upon us a degree of cow- 
ardice and languor, that we struggled with in vain." 
(Vol. v. p. 583, 584.) 

Such is the strongest evidence which is or can be 
brought forward, to establish the poisonous qualities 
of the Simoom, or wind of the desert. We must 
now reverse the picture, and produce the evidence to 
show that all these stories probably rest either upon 
the credulity of the writers, or on a spirit of exag- 
geration. Our first witness is Burekhanlt, who lived 
and travelled, from 1810 to» 1817 inclusive, in Syria, 
Arabia, and the countries between these, in Egypt, 
Nubia, Soudan, &c. — in all the countries indeed in 
which, according to the foregoing accounts, the Si- 
moom is said to be prevalent. He was, moreover, 
thoroughly acquainted with the language, and travel- 
led every where as a native, which of course gave him 
far greater facilities of obtaining information than 
fall to the lot of other Europeans. His good judg- 
ment and extreme accuracy are every where appa- 
rent, and are also vouched for by all subsequent 
travellers. In describing his journey across the 

g - eat Nubian desert, in 1814, the same which Mr. 
ruce crossed, he gives the results of all his obser- 
vations upon the Simoom, in the following manner : — 
"March 22, 1814. — At the end of five hours we 
halted in a Wady. The wind was still southerly. I 
again inquired, as I had often done before, whether 
my companions had often experienced the Semoum, 
which we translate by the poisonous blast of the 
desert, but which is nothing more than a violent 
south-east wind. They answered in the affirmative, 
but none had ever known an instance of its having 
proved fatal. Its worst effect is, that it dries up the 
water in the skins, and so far endangers the travel- 
ler's safety. In these southern countries, however, 
[Nubia,] water-skins are made of very thick cow- 
leather, which are almost impenetrable to the Se- 
moum. In Arabia and Egypt, on the contrary, the 
skins of sheep or goats are used for this purpose ; and 
I [afterwards] witnessed the effect of a Semoum 
upon them, in going from Tor to Suez, in 1815, when 
in one morning a third of the contents of a full water- 
skin was evaporated. I have repeatedly been ex- 
posed to the hot wind, iu the Syrian and Arabian 
deserts, in Upper Egypt and Nubia. The hottest and 
most violent I ever experienced was at Suakin, [on 
the Nubian coast of the Red sea,] yet, even there, I 
felt no particular inconvenience from it, although ex- 
posed to all its fury in the open plain. For my own 
part, I am perfectly convinced, that all the stories 
which travellers, or the inhabitants of the towns of 
Egypt and Syria, relate of the Semoum of the desert, 
are greatly exaggerated ; and I never could hear of a 

SINGLE WELL AUTHENTICATED INSTANCE qf its having 

proved mortal, either to man or beast. The fact is, that 
the Bedouins, when questioned on the subject, often 
frighten the towns-people with tales of men, and even 
of whole caravans, having perished by the effects of 



the wind ; when, upon close inquiry, made oy soma 
person whom they find not ignorant of the desert, 
they will state the plain truth. I never observed that 
the Semoum blows close to the ground, as commonly 
supposed, but always observed the whole atmos- 
phere appear as if in a state of combustion ; the dust 
and sand are carried high into the air, which assumes 
a reddish, or bluish, or yellowish tint, according to the 
nature and color of the ground, from which the dust 
arises. The yellow, however, always, more or less, 
predominates. In looking through a glass of a light 
yellow color, one may form a pretty correct idea of 
the appearance of the air, as I observed it during a 
stormy Semoum at Esne, in Upper Egypt, in May, 
1813. The Semoum is not alwfiys accompanied by 
whirlwinds ; in its less violent degree, it will blow for 
hours with little force, although with oppressive heat ; 
when the whirlwind raises the dust, it then increases 
several degrees in heat. In the Semoum at Esne, 
the thermometer mounted to 121° in the shade ; but 
the air seldom remains longer than a quarter of an 
hour iu this state, or longer than the whirlwind lasts. 

" The most disagreeable effect of the Semoum on 
man is, that it stops perspiration, dries up the palate, 
and produces great restlessness. I never saw any per- 
son lie down flat upon his face, to escape its pernicious 
blast, as Bruce describes himself to have done in 
crossing this very desert ; but during the whirlwinds, 
the Arabs often hide their faces with their cloaks, 
and kneel downj^ear their camels, to prevent the 
sand or dust from hurting their eyes. Camels are 
always much distressed, not by the heat, but by the 
dust blowing into their large, prominent eyes. They 
turn round and endeavor to screen themselves by 
holding down their heads ; but this I never saw 
them do, except in case of a whirlwind, however 
intense the heat of the atmosphere might be. In 
June, 1813, going from Esne to Siout, a violent 
Semoum overtook me upon the plain, between Far- 
shiout and Berdys. I was quite alone, mounted upon 
a light-footed Hedjin. When the whirlwind arose, 
neither house nor tree was in sight, and while I was 
endeavoring to cover my face with my handkerchief, 
the beast was made unruly by the quantity of dust 
thrown into its eyes, and the terrible noise of the 
wind, and set off at a furious gallop. I lost the reins 
and received a heavy fall ; and not being able to see 
ten yards before me, I remained wrapped up in my 
cloak on the spot where I fell, until the wind abated, 
when, pursuing my dromedary, I found it at a great 
distance, quietly standing near a low shrub, the 
branches of which afforded some shelter to its 
eyes. 

" Bruce has mentioned the moving pillars of sand 
in this desert ; but although none such occurred 
during my passage, I do not presume to question his 
veracity on this head. The Arabs told me that there 
are often whirlwinds of sand, and I have repeatedly 
passed through districts of moving sands, which the 
slightest wind can raise. I remember to have seen 
columns of sands moving about like water-spouts, in 
the desert, on the banks of the Euphrates, and have 
seen, at Jaka, terrible effects from a sudden wind ; I 
therefore very easily credit their occasional appear- 
ance in the Nubian desert, although I doubt of their 
endangering the safety of travellers." (Travels in 
Nubia, &c. Lond. 1819, p. 204—6.) 

A later and not less respectable traveller is M 
Ruppell, of Franckfort, who is still living, (1832,) and 
with whom the writer of these lines had the pleasure 
of a personal interview. He firpt visited Egypt, an<I 



WINDS 



[ 931 ] 



WINDS 



\rabia Petraea, in the years 1817 and 1818 ; but re- 
turned to Europe in this latter year, in order to make 
the necessary preparations in order to examine those 
and the adjacent regions in a more scientific manner. 
He pursued the necessary studies, both in natural 
philosophy and natural history, at the university of 
Pavia, under the general advice and direction of the 
celebrated astronomer, baron Von Zach ; and pro- 
cured also an apparatus of astronomical and other 
instruments. Thus prepared, he arrived in Egypt 
in the beginning of 1822, and continued to reside 
and travel in that country, in Nubia, Kordofan, and 
south-western Arabia, until the middle of 1827. His 
remarks upon the wind of the desert are contained in 
the following extract, and are those of a scientific 
observer : — 

" During the march from Suez to Cairo, I had 
opportunity to make a meteorological observation, 
which surprised me, and which may perhaps lead to 
interesting results. It was on the 21st of May, 1822, 
at the distance of seven hours [about 22 miles] from 
Cairo, that we were overtaken by the violent south 
wind, of which former travellers have given the 
most strange and incredible accounts. Not long 
after sunrise, after we had had during the night a 
light wind from the north-east, there sprung up a 
fresh breeze from the south-south-east, which by de- 
grees increased to a violent gale. Clouds of dust 
filled the whole atmosphere to such a degree, that 
one could recognize nothing fifty paces off ; not 
even a camel was to be distinguished at this distance. 
Along the surface of the earth there was a constant 
crackling, which I supposed to arise from the rolling 
sand, which the wind lashed so impetuously. All 
those parts of our bodies which were turned towards 
the wind, were uncommonly heated ; and we expe- 
rienced an unusual feeling of pain, somewhat like 
the pricking of needles, accompanied by a peculiar 
sound. I supposed, at first, that this feeling of pain 
in the exposed parts of the body, was caused by the 
small stones which were borne along by the tempest 
and hurled against us; and in order to judge of the 
size of these stones, I attempted to catch some of 
them with my cap ; but how great was my surprise, 
when I found I could not succeed in obtaining a 
single one of these supposed stones. I now remarked, 
for the first time, that this painful feeling in the skin 
was not caused by the stroke of any such stones or 
sand, but was rather the effect of some invisible 
physical power, which I could compare only with 
the passing off of a stream of electric fluid. After 
this first conjecture, I began to observe more closely 
the phenomena around me. I noticed, that our hair 
became more or less erect ; and that the pricking 
pain in the skin was especially perceptible in the 
joints and at the extremities, just as if I had been 
exposed to an electric shock upon an isolated stool. 
In order to convince myself entirely, that this feeling 
of pain did not arise from the stroke of stones or 
sand, I stretched a sheet of paper, and held it against 
the wind. The smallest stone or grain of sand, and 
even the dust itself, would have been distinctly per- 
ceptible to the ear or eye ; but nothing of this took 
place. The surface of the paper remained un- 
changed and noiseless. I now stretched out my arm, 
and the pricking pain was immediately increased at 
the extremities of my fingers. These observations 
led me very strongly to conjecture, that the violent 
wind known in Egypt by the name of Camsin, is 
either accompanied by a large quantity of the electric 
fluid, or else that this is occasioned by the motion of 



the dry sand in the desert. Hence the thick clouds 
of dust which accompany this wind, consisting of 
isolated atoms of sand, which for clays darken the 
sun in a cloudless sky. In this way one could per 
haps explain how this wind might, through its 
electrical properties, sometimes prove fatal to cara- 
vans, as has been related by some travellers. I must, 
however, here remark, that in the countries through 
which I have travelled, I have never heard the 
least hint of any such accident. At any rate, 
the supposition that such a calamity might be occa- 
sioned by the caravan's being buried under the sand, 
is most ridiculous. 

" The Camsin, or gale from the south-east, usually 
blows in Egypt two or three days at a time, with 
less violence, however, during the night. It occurs 
only in the interval between the middle of April and 
the middle of June ; hence its Arabic name, which 
signifies fifty, or the fifty days' 1 wind. It is much to 
be wished, that scientific travellers, provided with the 
proper instruments, may subject the electrical quality 
of this wind to an accurate examination ; but for this 
purpose it would be necessary to select some other 
station than Cairo, or any other inhabited place, 
where, in consequence of the vicinity of trees, or 
houses, or towers, the electricity of the air would 
be already weakened or lost. The observer of the 
Camsin must betake himself to the midst of the 
desert, far from all running or standing water, 
where the wind shows itself in its full strength ; and 
there may he with certainty expect, that his investi- 
gations will lead to interesting and important results." 
(Reisen, Franckf. 1829, p. 269—272.) 

In a note appended to this passage, M. Riippell 
further remarks : " I had myself opportunity, a year 
afterwards, to make some investigations in Dongola, 
respecting the electricity which accompanies violent 
gales in Africa. It was during a gale which occurred 
in that province, on the 7th of April, 1823. The 
instrument employed was the common Voltaic straw- 
electrometer. On the first experiment, at 8 o'clock 
A. M. while it was blowing violently from N. N. W. 
[from the great African desert,] and the thermometer 
stood at 16° of Reaumur, [68 Fahr.] the electrici- 
ty of the air was at its maximum ; the straw instantly 
touched the sides of the bottle. The electricity was 
negative. At 10 o'clock, during a whirlwind, with 
the like temperature, the electrometer showed ten 
degrees, and that positive. About 12 o'clock, the 
wind had somewhat abated ; the thermometer stood 
at 18°, [72£°,] and the electrometer showed only four 
degrees, negative. Afterwards, as the wind abated 
more, the electricity of the air disappeared entirely." 

To these statements of Burckhardt and Riippell, it 
is almost unnecessary to add, that they are confirmed 
by the oral testimony of the American missiona- 
ries, who have visited those regions. The Rev. Mr. 
Smith, in particular, stated expressly to the editor, 
that so far as his opportunities of experience and 
inquiry, in Egypt and Palestine, had extended, the 
views given by Burckhardt were entirely correct. 
We must, therefore, it would seem, abandon the long 
prevalent idea of the poisonous nature of the hot 
wind of the desert ; while it may no doubt be true, 
that individuals, previously exhausted by the heat of 
the season, have sunk under the augmented heat of 
this wind, in the manner described above by Niebuhr ; 
and as is, also, not very seldom the case in the more 
sultry days even of our own clime. In the caravans, 
too, which cross these arid wastes, there are alwaya 
more or less who are feeble and languid, and who 



WIN 



wis 



thus may be easily overcome, and perish by a greater 
degree of heat, and especially by a sudden augmen- 
tation of it through a sultry wind. The great Hadj 
route, across the desert El Tyh, is strewed with the 
bones of animals, and. studded with the graves of 
pilgrims, that have died on the route, from fatigue, 
exhaustion, disease, &c. but not in general from 
any fatal influence of the wind, or atmosphere. 
(See the extracts from Burckhardt, under Exodus, 
p. 416.) R. 

WINE. (See Vine, ad Jin.) Hardly any sacri- 
fices were made'to the Lord, without being accom- 
panied by libations of wine, Exod. xxix. 40; Numb, 
xv. 5, 7. Its use, however, was forbidden to the 
priests during the time they were in the tahernacle, 
employed in the service of the altar, (Lev. x. 9.) as it 
was also to the Nazarites, Numb. vi. 3. 

Wine, or the cup in which it is contained, often 
represents the anger of God : " Thou hast made us 
drink the wine of astonishment," Ps. lx. 3. "In the 
hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red ; 
it is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same. 
But the dregs thereof all the wicked shall wring them 
out and drink them," Ps. lxxv. 8. The Lord says to 
Jeremiah, (chap. xxv. 15.) " Take the wine-cup of 
this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to 
whom I send thee to drink it." 

Wine was administered medically to such as were 
sinking in trouble and sorrow: (Prov. xxxi. 4 — 6.) 
"Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, 
and wine to those that be of heavy hearts." The 
rabbins tell us, that it was customary to give wine 
and strong liquors to criminals condemned to die, at 
their execution, to stupify them, to abate their fear, 
and lull the sense of their pain. There were certain 
charitable women at Jerusalem, they say, who used 
to mix certain drugs with wine, to make it stronger, 
and more effectual in diminishing the sense of pain. 
It is thought a mixture of this kind was offered to 
our Saviour to drink, before he was fastened to the 
cross: (Markxv. 23.) "And they gave him to drink', 
wine mingled with myrrh ; but he received it not." 

Wine of Helbon (Ezek. xxvii. 18.) was a kind of 
excellent wine, sold at the fairs of Tyre. It was 
made at Damascus. 

Wine of Astonishment (Ps. lx. 3.) may repre- 
sent the cup of God's anger, with which he inebri- 
ates the wicked ; or rather, according to the Hebrew, 
the cup of the wine of affliction, impregnated with 
its lees ; it might also be translated, wine of trem- 
bling, that produces death, that poisons, that stupifies, 
Ps. lxxv. 8. The LXX translate it, wine that stings 
inwardly, that causes affliction, or compunction ; 
Aquila, wine of stupefaction ; Symmachus, wine of 
agitation, or disturbance. 

Wine of the Palm-tree (Deut. xiv. 26.) is made 
of the sap of the palm-tree, and is common in the 
East. 

Wine of Libation (Deut. xxxii. 38 ; Esth. xiv. 
17.) was the most excellent wine, poured on the vic- 
tims in the temple of the Lord. Or pure wine, 
because in libations they used no mixture. 

Wine of Uprightness (Cant. i. 4; vii. 9; Prov. 
xxiii. 30.) is good wine, true and excellent wine. 

WING, Ma. By this word, the Hebrews under- 
stood not only the wings of birds, but also the lappet, 
skirt, or flap of a garment, the extremity of a coun- 
try, the wings of an army ; figuratively andt meta- 
phorically, protection or defence. God says, that he 
has borne his people on the wings of eagles, (Exod. 
xxi. 4 ;see also Deut. xxxii. 11.) that is, he had brought 



them out of Egypt, as an eagle carries ts young ones 
under its wings. The prophet begs of God to pro- 
tect them under his wings, (Ps. xvii.8.) and says that 
the children of men put their trust in the protection 
of his wings, Ps. xxxvi. 7. Isaiah, speaking of the 
army of the kings of Israel and Syria, who were 
coming against Judah, says, " The stretching out of 
his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Im- 
manuel," chap. viii. 8. 

WINTER, in Palestine, see under Canaan, p. 
240, seq. 

WISDOM is a word used with great latitude in 
the Scriptures, and its precise import can only be 
ascertained by a close attention to the context. See 
Folly. 

1. The term wisdom is used to express the under- 
standing or knowledge of things, both human and 
divine. It is often so used in the Psalms. It was 
this wisdom Avhich Solomon entreated and received 
of God. 

2. It is put for ingenuity, skill, dexterity ; as in the 
case of the artificers Bezaleel and Aholiab, Exod. 
xxviii. 3 ; xxxi. 3. 

3. Wisdom is used for subtlety, craft, stratagem, 
whether good or evil. Pharaoh dealt wisely with 
the Israelites, Exod. i. 10. Jonadab was very wise, 
i. e. subtle and crafty, 2 Sam. xiii. 3. In Proverbs, 
(xiv. 8.) it is said, "The wisdom of the prudent is to 
understand his way." 

4. For doctrine, learning, experience, sagacity, 
Job xii. 2, 12 ; xxxviii. 37 ; Ps. cv. 22. 

5. It is put sometimes for the skill or arts of ma- 
gicians, wizards, fortune-tellers, &c. 

6. Wisdom is also the Eternal Wisdom, the Word, 
the Son of God, Prov. iii. 9 ; viii. 22, 23. (Compare 
also the Book ' f Wisdom, vii. 22, 26 ; viii. xvii. 12, 
26, &c. Als< Ecclus. xxiv. 5, &c.) 

7. Wisdom of the flesh, of this world, human 
wisdom, are opposed, by Paul, to true wisdom, the 
wisdom of Christ, the wisdom of the Spirit, 1 Cor. i. 
19, &c. James also (iii. 14, &c.) speaks of a wisdom 
which is earthly, sensual, devilish, and opposed to the 
wisdom that is from above, which is pure, peaceable, 
gentle, &c. 

WISDOM, Book of, [or, as it is also called, the 
Wisdom of Solomon. Just as the books of Tobit and 
Sirach give us a representation of the Jewish religious 
views and culture in Palestine, in the centuries next 
preceding the Christian era, so also the book of 
Wisdom does the same for the far nobler and purer 
religious culture of the Alexandrine Jews, in the 
same period. We see from this book, and from 
Philo, that a peculiar religious philosophy had formed 
itself in Alexandria among the Jews, arising out of a 
mixture of the national views, Platonic philosophy, 
and the oriental, or more especially Persian, ideas of 
dualism and emanation. The great object of the 
book is, to enforce the value of wisdom, i. e. of 
religion; and this is done by showing Jhat it leads 
not only to greater honor and esteem in this life, but 
to the rewards of a future state of existence. 

Solomon is every where introduced as the speaker, 
in the first part ; and it would seem to have been the 
plan of the writer, that he should be the speaker 
throughout. This, however, is not the case ; for in 
the latter part, the writer often speaks of Solomon in 
the third person. From chap. xv. onward, God is 
every where addressed. 

The book was originally written in the Alexandrine 
Greek ; the style, for that of a later Jew, is uncom- 
monly good. It has in it something eloquent and 



wo 



[ 933 1 



worn. 



rhetorical, which verges sometimes towards the arti- 
ficial and pompous. This is more particularly the 
case with the latter part. There is, however, along 
with this, such a variety of allusion, as to betray a 
very extensive knowledge, and especially an ac- 
quaintance with heathen learning. 

As to the author and the time in which he wrote, 
nothing can be said definitely, except that he must 
have been a Jew of Alexandria, in the centuries next 
preceding Christ. In consequence of the similarity 
of some points in the book with the doctrines of the 
Essenes, it has been supposed that the author was of 
this sect ; but there are also, in other places and re- 
spects, certain resemblances between the Essenes and 
Alexandrians. Others, as Grotius, have assumed 
certain interpolations from some Christian hand, viz. 
in respect to the doctrine of immortality ; but, re- 
garded more closely, the immortality of this book is 
not that of Christianity, inasmuch as it speaks only 
of the immortality of the pious. In a philological 
respect, moreover, interpolations are not admissible. 
The assertion of Jerome, perhaps, deserves the most 
attention, viz. that Philo was the author. But yet, 
after all the points of close resemblance with Philo's 
writings, there is still a difference ; nor can it well 
be explained, if Philo were the author, why the book 
should not stand among his acknowledged works. 

The Latin version of this book, which is found in 
the Vulgate, is not by Jerome, but is of an earlier 
date. See Versions. *R. 

WITCH of Endor, see in Samuel. 

WITNESS, one who bears testimony to any thing : 
thus it is said, you are a witness — a faithful witness 
— a false witness — God is witness, &c. Christ is 
the faithful witness ; (Rev. i. 5.) the martyr of truth 
and justice. God promises to give to his two wit- 
nesses (which some think to be Enoch and Elijah) 
the spirit of prophecy, (Rev. xi. 3.) after which (he 
says) they shall be put to death. 

The law appoints, that two or three witnesses 
should be credited in matters of judicature ; but not 
one witness only, Deut. xvii. 6, 7. The law con- 
demned a false witness to the saine punishment as 
that he would have subjected his neighbor to, Deut. 
xix. 16—19. 

The prophets are the witnesses of our belief ; they 
witness the truth of our religion, Heb. xii. 1. The 
apostles are still further witnesses of the coming, the 
mission, and the doctrine of Christ. If Christ is not 
risen, says Paul, then are we false witnesses, 1 Cor. 
xv. 15. We are witnesses, says Peter, Acts x. 39, 
41.) of all that Jesus did in Judea ; and when the 
apostles thought fit to put another in the place of 
Judas, (Acts i. 22.) they selected one who had been 
a witness of the resurrection along with themselves. 

WIZARD, see Magic, and Inchantments. 

WO is used in our translation where a softer 
expression would be at least equally proper: "Wo 
to such an one ! " is in our language, a threat, or im- 
precation, whicn comprises a wish -for some calamity, 
natural or judicial, to befall a person ; but this is not 
always the meaning of the word in Scripture. We 
have the expression " Wo is me," that is, Alas, for 
my sufferings ! and " Wo to the women with child, 
and those who give suck," &c. that is, Alas, for their 
redoubled sufferings, in times of distress ! It is also 
more agreeable to the gentle character of the com- 
passionate Jesus, to consider him as lamenting the 
sufferings of any, whether person, or city, than as 
imprecating, or even as denouncing, them ; since his 
character of judge formed no part of his mission. If, 



then, we should read, "Alas, for thee, Chorazin ! Alas, 
for thee, Bethsaida ! " we should do no injustice to the 
general sentiments of the place, or to the character ot 
the person speaking. This, however, is not the sense 
in which wo is always to be taken ; as when we read, 
" Wo to those who build houses by unrighteousness, 
and cities by blood :" wo to those who are " rebellious 
against God," &c. in numerous passages, especially 
of the Old Testament. The import of this word, 
then, is in some degree qualified by the application 
of it ; where it is directed against transgression, 
crime, or any enormity, it may be taken as a threat- 
ening, a malediction ; but in the words of our Lord, 
and where the subject is suffering under misfortunes, 
though not extremely wicked, a kind of lamentatory 
application of it should seem to be most proper. 

WOLF, a wild creature, very well known. The 
Scripture notices these remarkable things respecting 
the wolf: (1.) It lives upon rapine. (2.) Is violent, 
cruel and bloody. (3.) Voracious and greedy. (4.) 
Seeks its prey by night. (5.) Is very sharp-sighted. 
(6.) Is the great enemy of sheep. That Benjamin 
shall raven as a wolf, Gen. xlix. 27. False teachers 
are wolves in sheep's clothing. Persecutors of the 
church, and false pastors, are also ravenous wolves. 
The prophets speak of evening wolves. Jer. v. 6, " A 
wolf of the evening shall spoil them." And Hab. i. 8, 
" Their horses are more fierce than the evening 
wolves." And Zeph. iii. 3, "Her judges are evening 
wolves." The Chaldee interpreters explain — Benja- 
min shall raven as a wolf— of the altar of burnt-offer- 
ings at Jerusalem, which stood in the tribe of Ben- 
jamin. Others refer it to that violent seizure, by 
the sons of Benjamin, of the young women that came 
to the tabernacle at Shiloh, Judg. xri. 21. Others 
refer it to Mordecai, or to Saul, who were of the tribe 
of Benjamin. Others explain it of Paul, who was 
also of this tribe ; and this interpretation has com- 
monly prevailed among Christian interpreters. 

The wolf is a fierce .creature, dwelling in forests, 
ravenous, greedy, crafty, and of exquisite quickness 
of smell. 

Isaiah, (xi. 6 ; lxv. 25.) describing the tranquil reign 
of the Messiah, says, " The wolf shall dwell with the 
lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; 
and the calf, and the young lion, and the fading 
together, and a little child shall lead them." Our 
Saviour, (Matt. x. 16.) says, that he sends his apostles 
as sheep among wolves, (Luke x. 3.) and it is known, 
that both Jews and pagans, like ravenous and vo- 
racious wolves, persecuted and slew almost all of 
them. At last, however, these same wolves them- 
selves became converts, and docile as lambs. Paul, 
one of the most eager persecutors of the church, was 
afterwards one of its most zealous defenders. 

WOMAN was created as a companion and assist- 
ant to man ; (see Adam ;) equal to him in authority 
and jurisdiction over the animals ; but after the fall, 
God subjected her to the government of man : (Gen. 
iii. 16.) " Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he 
shall rule over thee." In addition to the duties pre- 
scribed by the law, common to men and women, 
certain regulations were peculiar to this sex ; as 
those respecting legal uncleanness during their 
ordinary infirmities, those attending child-bearing, 
&c. The law did not allow any action of the woman 
against the man ; but it permitted the husband to 
divorce his wife, and to cause her to be stoned, if she 
violated her conjugal vow, &c. 

If a married woman made a vow, of whatevej 
nature, she was not bound by it, if her husband for 



WOR 



I 934 ] 



WORD 



bade it the same day. But if he 9 .aid till the next 
day, before he contradicted it, or knowing the thing, 
if he held his peace, he was then supposed to consent 
to it : and the woman was bound by her vow, Numb, 
xxx. 7, &c. (See 1 Cor. vii. 2, &c. for the duties of 
women towards their husbands.) The apostle would 
have them submissive, as to Christ, Eph. v. 2. He 
forbids them to speak or teach in the church ; or to 
appear there with their heads uncovered, or without 
veils, 1 Cor. xi. 5 ; xiv. 34. He docs not allow women 
to teach, or to domineer over their husbands, but 
would have them continue in submission and silence. 
(See Veil.) He adds, that the woman shall be saved 
in bearing and educating her children, if she bring 
them up in faith, charity, sanctity, and a sober life. 
See Titus ii. 4, 5, and 1 Pet. iii. 1—3, where modesty 
is recommended to them, with great care in avoiding 
superfluous ornaments and unnecessary finery. 

WOMB. The fruit of the womb is children, (Gen. 
xxx. 2.) whom the psalmist (cxxvii. 3.) describes as 
the blessing of marriage. Ps. xxii. 10, " Lord, thou 
art my God from my mother's womb." 

WONDER is some occurrence, or thing, which 
so strongly engages our attention, by its surprising 
greatness, rarity, or other properties, that our minds 
are struck by it into astonishment. Wonder is also 
nearly synonymous with sign : " If a prophet give 
thee a sign, or a wonder," says Moses, (Deut. xiii. 1.) 
and "if the sign or wonder come to pass," &c. 
Isaiah says, he and " his children are for signs and 
wonders," (chap. viii. 18.) that is, they w r ere for signs, 
indications of, allusions to, prefigurations of, things 
future, that should certainly take place ; and they 
were to excite notice, attention and consideration in 
beholders ; to cause wonder in them. Wonder also 
signifies the act of wondering, as resulting from the 
observation of something extraordinary, or beyond 
what we are accustomed to behold. 

WORD is in Hebrew often put for thing or matter ; 
as Exod. ii. 14: "Surely this thing [Heb. ivord) is 
known." "To-morrow the Lord shall do this thing 
[Heb. word] in the land," Exod. ix. 5. " I will do a 
thing [Heb. toord] in Israel, at which both the ears of 
every one that heareth it shall Tingle," 1 Sam. iii. 11. 
"And the rest of the acts [Heb. ivords] of Solomon," 
1 Kings xi. 41. 

Sometimes Scripture ascribes to the word of God 
supernatural effects ; or represents it as animated 
and active. So, "He sent his word, and healed 
them." The Book of Wisdom ascribes to the word 
of God, the death of the first-born of Egypt ; (Wisd. 
xviii. 15 ; xvi. 26 ; ix. 1 ; xvi. 12.) the miraculous 
effects of the manna ; the creation of the world ; the 
healing of those who looked up to the brazen ser- 
pent. The centurion in the Gospel says to our Sa- 
viour, (Matt. viii. 8.) " Speak the word only, and my 
servant shall be healed." And Christ says to the 
devil that tempted him, (Matt. iv. 4.) "Man shall not 
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceed- 
eth out of the mouth of God." Hence we see that 
word is taken either, (1.) for that eternal word heard 
by the prophets, when under inspiration from God. 
Or, (2.) for that which they heard externally, when 
God spoke to them ; as when he spoke to Moses, 
face to face, or as one friend speaks to another, Exod. 
xxxiii. 11. Or, (3.) for that word which the minis- 
ters of God, the priests, the apostles, the servants of 
God, declare in his name to the people. (4.) For 
what is written in the sacred books of the Old and 
New Testaments. (5.) For the only Son of the 
Father, the uncreated Wisdom : " In the beginning 



was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God. The same was in the beginning 
with God. All things were made by him, and with- 
out him was not any thing made that was made," 
John i. 

The Chaldee paraphrasts, the most ancient Jewish 
writers extant, generally use the name Memra, oi 
Word, where Moses puts Jehovah; and it is thought 
that under this term they allude to the Son of God. 
Now, their testimony is so much the more consider- 
able, as, having lived before or at the time of Christ, 
they are irrefragable witnesses of the sentiments of 
their nation on this article; since their Targum, or 
explication, has always been, and still is, in universal 
esteem among them. In the greater part of the 
passages where the sacred name occurs, these para- 
phrasts substitute M'tnra Jehovah,("i Kmn)tke Word 
of God ; and as they ascribe to Memra all the attri- 
butes of deity, it is concluded that they believed the 
divinity of the Word. In effect, according to them, 
Memra created the world ; appeared to. Abraham in 
the plain of Mamre, and to Jacob at Bethel. It was 
to Memra Jacob appealed to witness the covenant 
between him and Laban : " Let the Word see be- 
tween thee and me." The same Word appeared to 
Moses at Sinai ; gave the law to Israel ; spoke face to 
face with that lawgiver ; marched at the head of that 
people ; enabled them to conquer nations ; and was 
a consuming fire to all who violated the law of the 
Lord. All these characters, where the paraphrasts 
use the word Memra, clearly denote Almighty God. 
This Word, therefore, was God ; and the Hebrews 
were of this opinion at the time when the Targum 
was composed. 

The author of the Book of Wisdom expresses him- 
self much in the same manner. He says that God 
created all things by his. Word, (ch. ix. 1.) that it is 
not what the earth produces that feeds man ; but the 
Word of the Almighty that supports him, ch. xvi. 26. 
It was this Word that fed the Israelites in the desert; 
healed them after the biting of the serpents ; (ch. xvi. 
12.) and who, by his power, destroyed the first-born 
of the Egyptians, (ch. xviii. 15; Exod. xii. 29, 30/ 
and by which Aaron stopped the fury of the fire that 
was kindled in the camp, which threatened the de- 
struction of all Israel, Wisd. xviii. 22. (See Numb, 
xvi. 46.) 

But the most full and distinct testimony is home to 
the personality and real deity of the Word, by the 
evangelist John in his Gospel, in his First Epistle 
and in the Book of Revelation. 

The following remarks on the different appli- 
cations of the terms Rhema and Logos, in the New 
Testament, are from Mr. Taylor. 

We do not find that Rhema is ever personified, or 
that personal actions are attributed to the term, but 
generally speaking, when relating to events, the force 
of our English word facts, unquestionable facts, k 
intended; in other cases, authority, influence, oi 
power. 

The word Logos imports simple speech ; that by 
which the party "hearing it may be instructed ; alsc 
written information, that by which the reader may- 
be edified. Acts i. 1, "The former treatise (l&yor) I 
have made." Also commandments, John viii. 55 
Rom. xiii. 9 ; 1 Thess. iv. 1 5, et al. Prophecy, prom- 
ises, disputes, threatenings, evil speakings, and, in 
\ short, whatever is the subject of words, whether good 
or bad. Hence, teaching in all its branches ; hence 
i teacher, instructer, wisdom ; hence heavenly wisdom, 
I the heavenly teacher- the heavenly instructer, &c 



WORD 



t 935 ] 



WRI 



And this word Logos is personified, and personal 
actions are attributed to it. 

It is not easy to suggest English terms by which to 
fix this distinction in every instance ; but it is very 
desirable to represent the original as accurately as 
possible, and to avoid interchanging terms which, 
certainly, were not adopted by the sacred writers, 
to express such difference, without valid and efficient 
reasons. 

In addition to these remarks on the application of 
the word Logos, Mr. Taylor has elsewhere some ob- 
servations on the probable origin of its personal ref- 
ererce. The following extracts are from Bruce's 
Travels : — 

"An officer, named Kal Hatze, who stands always 
upon steps at the side of the lattice window, where 
there is a hole covered in the inside with a curtain of 
green taffeta; — behind this curtain the king sits." 
(Vol. iv. p. 76.) "Hitherto, while there were stran- 
gers in the room, he [the king] had spoken to us by 
an officer called Kal Hatze, the voice or word of the 
king." (Vol. iii. p. 231.) " — But there is no such 
ceremony in use ; and exhibitions of this kind, made 
by the king in public, at no period seem to have 
suited the genius of this people. Formerly, his face 
was never seen, nor any part of him, excepting some- 
times his foot. He sits in a kind of balcony, with 
lattice windows and curtains before him. Even yet 
he covers his face on audiences, or public occasions, 
and when in judgment. On cases of treason, he sits 
within his balcony, and speaks through a hole in the 
side of it, to an officer called Kal Hatze, 1 the voice or 
word of the king,' by whom he sends his questions, 
or any thing else that occurs, to the judges, who are 
seated at the council tabis." (Vol. iii. p. 265.) 

Of the use of this officer, Mr. Bruce gives several 
striking instances : in particular, one on the trial of a 
rebel, when the king, by his Kal Hatze, asked a ques- 
tion, by which his guilt was effectually demonstrated. 
It appears, then, that the king of Abyssinia makes in- 
quiry, gives his opinion, and declares his will by a 
deputy, a go-between, a middle-man, called "his 
word." Assuming for a moment that this was a Jew- 
ish custom, we see to what the ancient Jewish par- 
aphrasts referred by their term, " Word of Jehovah," 
instead of Jehovah himself ; and the idea was fa- 
miliar to their recollection, and to that of their readers ; 
a no less necessary consideration than that of their 
own recollection. 

If it be inquired, What traces of this officer, as an 
attendant on official dignity, occur in Scripture ? we 
may reply that to trace allusions to the office of this 
deputy in Scripture would be too extensive for this 
place; but by way of selection, consult the history of 
the calling of Samuel, 1 Sam. iii. 21. "Jehovah re- 
vealed himself to Samuel, in Shiloh, by the word of 
the Lord (Jehovah) ;" why not say at once, simply, 
"by himself," without this interposing "word?" 
What shall we say to Job xxxiii. 23 ? and does not 
Elisha (2 Kings v. 10.) assume somewhat of the same 
state ? And is it not probable, that Naaman felt him- 
self treated like an inferior, a subject, by the prophet's 
sending a messenger (a Kal Hatzi) to him, instead of 
coming out to him ? See also 1 Kings xiii. 9, &c. a 
prophet directed by the word of the Lord. There is 
something very remarkable in the terms employed by 
the old prophet : (v. 18.) An angel spake to me by the 
word of the Lord: what a circuitous combination of 
phraseology ! Why not at once, " The Lord spake to 



me." Why not at most, "The word of the Lord 
spake to me ? " 

The author of the Wisdom of Solomon has given 
an activity to his " Word of God," which exceeds what 
appears to be the duty of Abyssinian Kal Hatze. 
Thine Almighty Word leaped down from heaven, from 
the royal throne, [or, according to the representation 
of Bruce, down the steps at the side of the window 
next the throne,] and brought thine unfeigned com- 
mandment, as a sharp sword, and filed all with death, 
&c. chap, xviii. 15, 16. 

It may now be considered as hardly bearing a 
question, whether the ancient Jewish writers (Philo 
included) derived this idea, or mode of speech, from 
the heathen, or from the customs and manners of 
the kings of the East, and those of their own country 
in particular. Shall we not, hereafter, acquit the 
evangelists from adopting the mythological concep- 
tions of Plato ? Rather, did not Plato adopt eastern 
language ? and is not the custom still retained in the 
East ? See all accounts of an ambassador's visit to 
the grand seignior; who never himself answers, but 
directs his vizier to speak for him. So in Europe, 
the king of France directs his keeper of the seals to 
speak in his name ; and so the lord chancellor in 
England proi-ogues the parliament, expressing his 
majesty's pleasure, and using his majesty's name, 
though in his majesty's presence. 

WORLD, in addition to its natural meaning, as 
embracing the whole of created nature, and more 
particularly the respective parts of our own planet, 
is used in Scripture to denote its inhabitants, as in 
John viii. 12 ; xvii. 25 ; xv. 18, &c. In several pas- 
sages of the New Testament, the Greek word yijs, 
now translated world, would be more correctly ren 
dered land. 

WORMWOOD, a plant which grows wild about 
dunghills, and on dry waste grounds. It flowers in 
summer ; the leaves have a strong, offensive smell, 
and a very bitter, nauseous taste ; the flowers are 
equally bitter, but less nauseous. Its bitter qualities 
are ^"'-.tinned in several comparisons in Scripture 

V\ OnrsHIP or God is an act of religion, which 
consists in paying a due respect, veneration and hom- 
age to the Deity, from a sense of his greatness, of 
benefits already received, and under a certain expec- 
tation of reward. This internal respect is to be 
shown and testified by external acts ; as prayers, 
sacrifices, (formerly,) thanksgivings, &c. 

Worship may be taken as (1.) internal, or (2.) ex- 
ternal: (1.) private, or (2.) public: (1.) personal, or 
(2.) social: (1.) active, or (2.) passive ; for there is a 
worship of God in sentiment, in submission to his 
will, in intentional obedience, &c. which is not exter- 
nal or active, but which becomes a habit of the mind, 
and indeed forms it to a devout disposition for active 
worship. 

That it is the duty of man to worship his Maker, 
no one can deny ; it is not, indeed, easily to be con- 
ceived how any one who has tolerably just notions of 
the attributes and providence of God, car possibly 
ueglect the duty of private worship ; and if we admit 
that public worship does not seem to be expressly en- 
joined in that system which is called the religion of 
nature, yet it is most expressly commanded by the 
religion* of Christ, and will be regularly performed 
and promoted by every one who reflects on its great 
utility, or who enjoys its extensive benefits. 

WRITING, see Book, Bible, Letters I. 



I m ] 



Y 



YEAR 

YEAR. The Hebrews had always years of twelve 
months. But at the beginning, and in the time of 
Moses, they were solar years of twelve months, each 
month having thirty days, excepting the twelfth, 
which had thirty-five days. We see, by the enumer- 
ation of the days of the deluge, (Gen. vii.) that the 
Hebrew year consisted of 365 days. It is supposed 
that they had an intercalary month at the end of 120 
years ; at which time the beginning of their year 
would be out of its place full thirty days. It must be 
admitted, however, that no mention is made in Scrip- 
ture of the thirteenth month, or of any intercalation ; 
and hence some think that Moses retained the order 
of the Egyptian year, which was solar, and consisted 
of twelve months of thirty days each. After tin; time 
of Alexander the Great, and of the Grecians, in Asia, 
the Jews reckoned by lunar months, chiefly in what 
related to religion and to the festivals; (see Kcclus. 
xliii. 6, 7.) and since the completing of the Talmud, 
they use years wholly lunar ; having alternately a full 
month of thirty days, and a defective month of twenty- 
nine days. To accommodate this lunar year to the 
course of the sun, at the end of three years they in- 
tercalate a whole month after Adar, which inter- 
calated month they call Vc-adar, that is, second Adar. 

Their civil year has always begun in autumn, at 
the month Tizri ; but their sacred year, by which the 
festivals, assemblies and other religions acts were 
regulated, began in the spring, at the month Nisan. 
See Months, and Jewish Calendar, infra. 

Nothing is more equivocal among the ancients than 
the term year; and hence it has always been, and 
still is, a source of dispute among the learned. Some 
think, that from the beginning of the world to the 
160th year of Enoch, mankind reckoned only by 
weeks ; and that the angel Uriel revealed to Enoch 
the use of months, years, the revolutions of the stars, 
and the return of the seasons. Some nations formerly 
made their year to consist of one month, others of 
four, others of six, others of ten, others of twelve. 
Some have made one year of winter, another of sum- 
mer. The beginning of the year was fixed sometimes 
at autumn; sometimes at spring; sometimes at mid- 
winter. Some used lunar months, others solar. Even 
the days have been differently divided ; some begin- 
ning them at evening, others at morning, others at 
noon, others at midnight. With some, the hours were 
equal, both in winter and summer ; with others, they 
were unequal. They counted twelve hours to the 
day, and twelve to the night. In summer the hours 
of the day were longer than those of the night ; on 
the contrary, in winter the hours of the night were 
longest. See Hour. 

In some parts of the East, particularly in Japan, 
says baron Thunberg,) the year ending on a certain 
day, any portion of the foregoing year is taken for a 
whole year ; so that, supposing a child to be born in 
the last week of our December, it would be reckoned 
one year old on the first day of January. This sounds 
like a strange solecism to us : a child not a week old, | 



YEAR 

not a month old, is yet one year old ! because born in 
the old year. If this mode of computation obtained 
among the Hebrews, the principle of it easily accounts 
for those anachronisms of single years, or parts of 
years taken for whole ones, which occur in sacred 
writ; it removes the difficulties which concern the 
half years of several princes of Judah and Israel, in 
which the latter half of the deceased king's last year 
has hitherto been supposed to be added to the former 
half of his successor's first year. 

We cannot but observe how this mode of enumer- 
ation clears the phrase " three days," &c. where it 
occurs, reckoning as the entire first day, whatever 
small portion of that day was included, even if only 
a quarter of it ; and the same as to the third day ; so 
that a few hours pass for a whole day in this case, as 
a few months or a few weeks pass for a whole year 
in the other case. 

This may contribute to explain a passage or two 
which are not commonly seen in this light. 1 Sam. 
xiii. 1, " A son of one year was Saul in his kingdom ; 
and two years he reigned over Israel," that is, say he 
was inaugurated in June ; he was consequently one 
year old as king on the first day of January following, 
though he had only reigned six months ; the son of 
a year : but after [and on] this first of January, he 
was in the second year of his reign, although, accord- 
ing to our computation, the first year of his reign 
wanted six months of being completed : in this, his 
second year, he chose three thousand military, &c. 
guards. This passage has been noticed as a difficulty ; 
may we now perceive the reason of this remarkable 
phraseology? 

The same principle may account for the phrase 
[an'o SitTi',g) used to denote the age of the infants 
slaughtered at Bethlehem, (Matt. ii. 16.) " from two 
years old and under." If these words, as they stand, 
do not form an absolute contradiction, they come 
pretty near one. This difficulty has been strongly 
felt by the learned, and has been made the most of by 
the antagonists of Christianity — " What," say they, 
"some infants two weeks old, others two months, 
others two years, equally slain ! Surely those born so 
long before could not possibly be included in the order, 
which purposed to destroy a child certainly born 
within a few months." This is regulated at once, by 
admitting the existence of this manner of calculating 
time, or rather of expressing a mode of calculating 
time ; by the idea that they were all of nearly equal 
age, being all recently born ; some not long before 
the close of the old year, others not long since the 
beginning of the new year. Now, those born before 
the close of the old year, though only a few months 
or weeks, would be in their second year, as the ex- 
pression implies ; and those born since the beginning 
of the year would be well described by the phrase 
"and under;" that is, under one year old; — some 
two years old, though not born a complete twelve- 
month, (perhaps, in fact, barely six months,) others 
under one year old, yet born three, or four, or five 



YES 



[ 937 1 



YOK 



months ; and therefore a few days younger than those 
previously described : "according" to the time which 
he had diligently inquired of the wise men :" — in their 
second year and under. 

The influence of this remark, on the proper placing 
of the birth of our Lord, before the death of Herod, is 
considerable : it lessens, too, the number of infants 
slain by his order ; it draws a strong distinction be- 
tween those appointed to death, and those allowed to 
escape ; while it shortens the interval between the 
appearance of the star to the Magi, and their visit to 
Jerusalem, if we are not mistaken, full one half of 
what some have allowed for it. 

YESTERDAY is used to denote all time past, how- 
ever distant; as to-day denotes time present, but of a 
larger extent than the very day on which one speaks: 
Exod. xxi. 29. " If the ox was wont to push with 
his horn in time past ; Heb. yesterday. And it came 
to pass, when all that knew him before time ; Heb. 
yesterday ; whereas thou earnest but yesterday," 2 
Sam. xv. 20, or lately, et al.freq. "Jesus Christ, the 
same yesterday, to-day and for ever," Heb. xiii. 8. 
His doctrine, like his person, admits of no change ; 



his truths are invariable. With him there is neither 
yesterday nor to-morrow, but one continued to-day. 
Job says, (viii. 9.) " We are but of yesterday, and 
know nothing ; because our days upon earth are a 
shadow." 

Y^OKE. It appears that yokes were of two kinds, 
as two words are used to denote them in the Hebrew: 
one refers to such yokes as were put upon the necks 
of cattle, and in which they labored, Numb. xix. 2. 
Deut. xxi. 3. The subjects of Solomon complain that 
he had made his yoke heavy to them, (1 Kings xii. 
10.) and they use the same word ; but Jeremiah 
(xxvii. 2.) made him bonds and yokes of another con- 
struction, and fitted to the human neck ; which he 
expresses by another word ; most probably they were 
such as slaves used to wear when at labor ; however, 
they were the sign of bondage. We read of yokes of 
iron, Deut. xxviii. 48 ; Jer. xxyiii. 13. The ceremo- 
| nies of the Mosaic ritual are called a yoke, (Acts xv. 
10 ; Gal. v. 1.) as also tyrannical authority ; but Christ 
says, his yoke is easy, and his burden is light, Matt, 
xi. 29. 



z 



Z A C 

ZAANANNIM, a city of Naphtali, (Josh. xix. 33 ; 
Micah i. 1L) contracted into Zenan, Josh. xv. 37. 

ZABADEANS, Arabians who dwelt east of the 
mountains of Gilead, and who were overcome by 
Jonathan Maccabeus, 1 Mac. xii. 31. Calmet thinks 
that, instead of Zabadeans, which is a name entirely 
unknown, we should read Nabatheans, as Josephus 
does. 

I. ZABDIEL, father of Jashobeam, commanded 
the 24,000 men who served in the first month, as the 
life-guard of David, 1 Chron. xxvii. 2. 

II. ZABDIEL, a king of Arabia, who killed Alex- 
ander Balas, king of Syria, and sent his head to 
Ptolemy Philometor, king of Egypt, 1 Mac. xi. 17. 

ZACCHEUS, chief of the publicans ; that is, 
farmer-general of the revenue, Luke xix. When 
Christ passed through Jericho, Zaccheus greatly de- 
sired to see him, but could not, because of the mul- 
titude, and because he was low of stature. He 
therefore ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore 
tree. Jesus, observing him, called him down, and 
proposed to become hi, 1 ; guest. The result was, that 
the heart of Zaccheus was opened, and he declared 
he would make four-fold restitution to all whom he 
had injured. 

I. ZACHARIAH, king of Israel, succeeded his 
father, Jeroboam II. A. M. 3220, and reigned six 
months. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, (2 
Kings xiv. 29.) and Shallum, son of Jabesh, con- 
spired against him, killed him in public, and reigned 
in his stead. Thus was fulfilled what the Lord had 
foretold to Jehu, that his children should sit on the 
throne of Israel to the fourth generation, 2 Kings xv. 
8—11. 

II. ZACHARIAH, or Zechariah, a Levite, who 
was sent by Jehoshaphat throughout Judah, to instruct 
the people, 2 Chron. xvii. 7. 

118 



ZACHARIAH 

III. ZACHARIAH, or Zechariah, son of Jehoi- 
ada, high-priest of the Jews, and probably the Aza- 
riah of 1 Chron. vi. 10, 11, was slain by order of Joash, 
A. M. 3164, 2 Chron. xxiv. 20—22. 

Jerome (on Matt, xxiii.) followed by a great num- 
ber of commentators, believed that this Zachariah, 
son of Jehoiada, was he of whom our Saviour speaks 
in Matt, xxiii. 34, 35. But to this opinion three things 
are objected : (1.) That Zachariah, son of Barachiah, 
according to the intention of Christ, seems to have 
been the last of the prophets, or ju-st, slain by the Jews, 
as Abel was the first of the just who suffered a violent 
death. (2.) That Zachariah, son of Jehoiada, was 
stoned in the court of the house of God ; whereas 
Zachariah, son of Barachiah, was killed between the 
temple and the altar. (3.) That though it be true that 
the Hebrews had often two names, it is hardly to be 
thought that Christ would here omit the name of Je- 
hoiada, which was so well known, and substitute that 
of Barachiah, which was not so familiar. Calmet, 
therefore, thinks that our Saviour points at Zachariah, 
son of Baruch. 

IV. ZACHARIAH, or Zechariah, the eleventh 
of the lesser prophets, was son of Barachiah, and 
grandson of Iddo. He l-eturned from Babylon with 
Zerubbabel, and began to prophesy in the second 
year of Darius son of Hystaspes, A. M. 3484, ante 
A. D. 520, in tht eighth month of the holy year, and 
two months after Haggai. These two prophets, with 
united zeal, encouraged the people to resume the 
work of the temple, which had been discontinued for 
some years, Ezra v. 1. 

This prophet has been confounded with Zachariah, 
son of Barachiah, contemporary with Isaiah, (viii. 2.) 
and with Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, 
which opinion is plainly incongruous. He has been 
thought to be the Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom 



ZACHARIAH 



[ 038 ] 



ZEA 



our Saviour mentions as killed between the temple 
and the altar, though no such thing is any where 
said of him. 

Zachariah begins his prophecy with an exhortation 
to the people, to return to the Lord, and not to imi- 
tate the stubbornness of their fathers. He foretells 
very distinctly the coming of Christ, a Saviour, poor, 
and silting on an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass. 
In the eleventh chapter he speaks of the war of the 
Romans against the Jews, of the breach of the cove- 
nant between God and his people ; of thirty pieces 
of silver given for a recompense to the shepherd ; of 
three shepherds put to death in one month, &c. 

Zachariah is the longest and the most obscure of 
the twelve minor prophets. His style is broken and 
unconnected ; but his prophecies concerning the 
Messiah are more particular and express than those 
of some other prophets. Several modern critics 
have been of opinion, that chap. ix. — xi. of this 
prophet were written by Jeremiah ; because in Matt, 
xxvii. 9, 10, under the name of Jeremiah, we find 
quoted Zach. xi. 12; and as the chapters make 
but one continued discourse, they concluded, that 
all three belonged to Jeremiah. But it is much 
more natural to suppose, that the name of Jere- 
miah, by some mistake, has slipped into the text of 
Matthew. 

V. ZACHARIAH, or Zacharias, a priest of the 
family of Abia, father of John the Baptist, and hus- 
band to Elisabeth, (Luke i. 5, 12, &c.) with whom 
he was righteous before God, walking in all the com- 
mandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 
They had no child, because Elisabeth was barren, 
and they were both well stricken in years ; but about 
fifteen months before the birth of Christ, as Zacha- 
riah was waiting his week, and performing the func- 
tions of priest in the temple, "there appeared unto 
him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side 
of the altar of incense. And when Zachariah saw 
him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the 
angel said unto him, Fear not, Zachariah ; for thy 
prayer is heard ; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear 
thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And 
Zachariah said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know 
this ? For I am an old man, and my wife well strick- 
en in years. And the angel answering said unto him, 
I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God ; and 
am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these 
glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and 
not able to speak, until the day that these things shall 
be performed, because thou believedst not my words, 
which yet shall be fulfilled in their season." See 
Annunciation. 

The people were waiting till Zachariah came forth 
uut of the holy place ; and they were surprised at 
his long delay. But when he came out, he was not 
able to speak ; and by his making signs to them, they 
found that he had seen a vision, and had become 
dumb. When the days of his ministry were com- 
pleted, that is, at the end of about a week, he return- 
ed to his own house ; and his wife- Elisabeth con- 
ceived a son, of whom she was happily delivered in 
its due time. Her neighbors and relations assembled 
to congratulate her on this occasion ; and on the 
eighth day they circumcised the child, calling his 
name Zachariah, after the name of his father ; but 
Elisabeth interposed, and directed his name to be 
called " John." They then desired a token from his 
father, who, making signs for a tablet, wrote on it, 
" His name is John." At this instant his tongue was 



loosed ; he praised Go«l ; and, being filled with tho 
Holy Ghost, he prophesied, by a canticle, which 
Luke has preserved, chap. ii. 

ZADOK, or Sadoc, son of Ahitub, high-priest of 
the Jews, of the race of Eleazar. From the de- 
cease of Eli, the high-priesthood had been in the 
family of Ithamar ; but it was restored to the family 
of Eleazar, in the time of Saul, in the person of Za- 
dok, who was put in the place of Ahimelech, sluin 
by Saul, A. M. 2944, 1 Sam. xxii. 17, 18. While Za- 
dok performed the functions of the priesthood with 
Saul, Ahimelech performed them with David ; so 
that, till the reign of Solomon, there wer«i two high- 
priests in Israel, Zadok, of the race of Eleazar, and 
Ahimelech, of the race of Ithamar, 2 Sam. viii. 17. 
See Eli, and Abiathar. 

When David was forced to leave Jerusalem by the 
rebellion of his son Absalom, Zadok and Abiathar 
would have accompanied him with the ark of the 
Lord, (2 Sam. xv. 24.) but the king would not per- 
mit them. To Zadok he said, O seer, return into the 
city with Ahimaash your son, and let Abiathar and 
his son Jonathan return also. I will conceal myself 
in the country, till you send me news of what passeb'. 
Zadok and Abiathar returned, therefore, to Jerusalem ; 
but their two sons, Ahimaash and Jonathan, hid them- 
selves near the fountain of Rogel ; and when Hushai, 
the friend of David, had defeated the counsel of 
Ahitophel, they communicated this event to David. 
Subsequently, Zadok counteracted the party of Ado- 
nijah, who aspired at the kingdom, to the exclusion 
of Solomon, (1 Kings i. 5 — 10, &c.) and David sent 
Zadok with Nathan, and the chief officers of his 
court, to give the royal unction to Solomon, and to 
proclaim him king instead of his father. After the 
death of David, Solomon excluded Abiathar from 
the high-priesthood, because of his adherence to the 
party of Adonijah ; and Zadok was high-priest alone, 1 
Kings ii. 35. It is not known when he died ; but 
his successor was his son Ahimaash, who enjoyed 
the high-priesthood under Rehoboam. 

ZALMONAH, an encampment of Israel in the 
desert, (Numb, xxxiii. 41.) where, as some think, 
Moses set up the brazen serpent. 

ZAMZUMMIM, ancient giants who dwelt beyond 
Jordan, in the country afterwards inhabited by the 
Ammonites, Deut. ii. 20. See Anakim. 

ZARAH, son of Judah and Tamar, Gen. xxxviii 
28, 29. He had five sons, Ethan, Zimri, Heman, 
Calcol and Dara. 

ZARED, or Zered, a brook beyond Jordan, on 
the frontier of Moab, which falls into the Dead sea. 
See Zered. 

ZAREPHATH, a city of the Sidonians, between 
Tyre and Sidon, in Phoenicia, on the coast of the 
Mediterranean sea, and afterwards called Sarepta. 
It is between Tyre and Sidon, and was the residence 
of the prophet Elijah, with a poor woman, during a 
famine in the land of Israel, 1 Kings xvii. 9, 10. 

ZARETH-SHAHAR, a city of Reuben, beyond 
Jordan, Josh. xiii. 19. 

ZARETAN, a town in the land of Manasseh, on 
this side Jordan, called Zartanah, in 1 Kings iv. 
12. It is said to be near Beth Shen, which was in 
the northern limits of Manasseh. From Adam to 
Zaretan, the waters dried up, (Josh. iii. 16.) from 
Zaretan upwards, they stood on a heap. The brazen 
vessels for the temple were cast in the clay ground 
between Zaretan and Succoth, 1 Kings vii. 46. 

ZEAL is taken, (1.) For the eagerness with 



Z 



[ 939 ] 



ZED 



which any thing is pursued : " I have been very jealous 
(or zealous) for the Lord God of hosts," 1 Kings xix. 
10, 14. I burn with zeal for his honor. " Phinehas 
was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for 
the children of Israel," Numb. xxv. 13. Judith says 
that Simeon and his brethren were filled with the 
zeal of the Lord, to revenge the injury done to their 
sister, Judith ix. 4. — (2.) Zeal is put for anger : (2 
Kings xix. 31.) " the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall 
do this :" that is, his anger. Ps. lxxix. 5, " How 
long, Lord ? wilt thou be angry for ever ? shall thy 
jealousy (or zeal) burn like fire ?" The whole land 
shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, or zeal, 
Zeph. i. 18 ; iii. 8. 

Zeal, Judgment of, see Judgment, ad Jin. 

The Idol of Zeal (Ezek. viii. 3, 5.) was Adonis ; 
called the idol of jealousy, because he was beloved 
by Venus ; and therefore Mars, stimulated by jeal- 
ousy, sent a wild boar against him, which killed him. 
I«n pursuing the discourse of Ezekiel, we see that 
the same idol, which at the fifth verse is called the 
idol of jealousy, ;s called Tliammuz at the fourteenth 
verse. See Adonis. 

ZEBEDEE, father of the apostles James, and 
John the evangelist, was a fisherman by profession. 
His wife was called Salome, and his two sons left 
him to follow our Saviour, Matt. iv. 21. 

ZEBUL, governor of the city of Shechem for 
Abimelech, son of Gideon, Judg. ix. 28. 

I. ZEBULUN, the sixth son of Jacob and Leah, 
(Gen. xxx. 20.) was born in Mesopotamia, about 
A. M. 2256. His sons were Sered, Elon and Jah- 
leel, Gen. xlvi. 14. Moses gives us no particulars of 
his life ; but Jacob in his last blessing (Gen. xlix. 13.) 
said, " Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, 
and he shall be for a haven of ships, and his border 
shall be unto Zidon." His portion extended to the 
coast of the Mediterranean, one end of it bordering 
on this sea, and the other on the sea of Tiberias, Josh, 
xix. 10. (See Canaan.) Moses joins Zebulun and 
Issachar together: (Deut. xxxiii. 18.) "Rejoice, 
Zebulun, in thy going out ; and, Issachar, in thy tents. 
They shall call the people unto the mountain ; there 
they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness : for they 
shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treas- 
ures hid in the sand." Meaning, that these two 
tribes, being at the greatest distance north, should 
come together to the temple at Jerusalem, to the 
holy mountain, and should bring with them such of 
the other tribes as dwelt in their way ; and that, 
occupying part of the coast of the Mediterranean, 
they should apply themselves to trade and navigation, 
and to the melting of metals and glass, denoted by 
those words, Treasures hid in the sand. The river 
Belus, whose sand was very fit for making glass, was 
in this tribe. See Glass. 

When the tribe of Zebulun left Egypt, its chief 
was Eliab, son of Elon, and it comprehended 57,400 
men able to bear arms, Numb. i. 9, 30. In another 
review, 39 years afterwards, it amounted to 60,500 
men, of age to bear arms, Numb. xxvi. 26, 27. 
The tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali distinguished 
themselves in the war of Barak and Deborah, 
against Sisera, the general of the armies of J abin, 
Judg. iv. 5, 6, 10 ; v. 4, 18. It is thought they were the 
first carried into captivity beyond the Euphrates, by 
Pul and Tiglath-Pileser, kings of Assyria, 1 Chron. v. 
26. But they had the advantage of hearing and see- 
ing Christ in their country oftener and longer than 
any other of the tribes, Isa. ix. 1 ; Matt. iv. 13, 15. | 



II. ZEBULUN, a city of Asher, (Josh, xix 27.) 
but probably afterwards yielded to Zebulun, whence 
it took its name. It was not far from Ptolemai's, since 
Josephus makes the length of lower Galilee to be 
from Tiberias to Ptolemais. It received the name of 
Zebulun of men, probably from its great populous- 
ness. Elon, judge of Israel, was buried in this city 
Judg. xii. 12. 

ZECHARIAH, see Zachariaii. 

ZEDAD, a city of Syria, in the most northern 
part of the Land of Promise, Numb, xxxiv. 8; Ezek. 
xlvii. 15. 

I. ZEDEKIAH, or Mattaniah, the last king of 
Judah, before the captivity of Babylon, was son of 
Josiah, and uncle to Jeconiah, his predecessor, 2 
Kings xxiv. 17, 19. When Nebuchadnezzar took 
Jerusalem, he carried Jeconiah to Babylon, with his 
wives, children, officers, and the best artificers in 
Judea, and put in his place his uncle Mattaniah, 
whose name he changed to Zedekiah, and made him 
promise, with an oath, that he would maintain fidel- 
ity to him, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13 ; Ezek. xvii. 12, 14, 18. 
He was 21 years old when he began to reign at Jeru- 
salem, and he reigned there eleven years. He did 
evil in the sight of the Lord, committing the same 
crimes as Jehoiakim, 2 Kings xxiv. 18 — 20; 2 Chron. 
xxxvi. 11 — 13. The princes of the people, and the 
inhabitants of Jerusalem, imitated his impiety, and 
abandoned themselves to all the abominations of the 
Gentiles. 

In the first year of his reign, Zedekiah sent to 
Babylon, Elasah, son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, 
son of Hilkiah, probably to carry his tribute to Nebu- 
chadnezzar ; and by these messengers Jeremiah sent 
a letter to the captives of Babylon, Jer. xxix. 1, 2 — 23. 
Four years afterwards, either Zedekiah went thither 
himself, or sent thither, (Jer. xxxii. 12 ; li. 59 ; Baruch 
i. 1.) his chief design being to entreat Nebuchadnez 
zar to return the sacred vessels of the temple, Baruch 
i. 8. In the ninth year of his reign, he revolted 
against Nebuchadnezzar, (2 KiDgs xxv.) in conse- 
quence of which the Assyrian marched his army into 
Judea, and took all the fortified places, except La- 
chish, Azekah and Jerusalem. During the siege of 
the holy city, Zedekiah often consulted Jeremiah, 
who advised him to surrender, and denounced the 
greatest woes against him if he should persist in his 
rebellion, Jer. xxxvii. 3 — 10 ; xxi. But the unfortu- 
nate prince had neither patience to hear, nor resolu- 
tion to folk, w, good counsel. In the eleventh year 
of his reign, on the ninth day of the fourth month, 
(July/) Jerusalem was taken, 2 Kings xxv. Jer. xxxix. 
Iii. The king and his people endeavored to escape 
by favor of the night ; but the Chaldean troops pursu- 
ing them, they were overtaken in the plain of* Jericho. 

Zedekiah was taken and carried to Nebuchadnez- 
zar, then at Riblah, in Syria, who reproached him 
with his perfidy, caused all his children to be slain 
before his face, and his own eyes to be put out ; and 
then, loading him with chains of brass, he ordered 
him to be sent to Babylon, 2 Kings xxv. Jer. xxxii. 
Iii. Thus were accomplished two prophecies, which 
seemed contradictory ; one of Jeremiah, who said 
that Zedekiah should see, and yet not see, Nebuchad- 
nezzar with his eyes ; (chap, xxxii. 4, 5 ; xxxiv. 3.) 
the other of Ezekiel, (xii. 13.) which intimated that 
he should not see Babylon, though he should die 
there. The year of his death is not known. Jere- 
miah had assured him (chap, xxxiv. 4, 5.) that he 
should die in peace ; that his body should be burned 



z e r 



Z E it 



as those of the kings of Judah usually were ; and 
that they should mourn for him, saying, Alas, my 
.ord ! He reigned eleven years at Jerusalem ; and 
after him the kingdom of Judah was entirely sup 
pressed. 

II. ZEDEKIAH, son of Chenaanah, a false 
prophet of Samaria, (1 Kings xxii. 11.) who put iron 
horns on his head, and sent to Ahab, king of Israel, 
saying, " Th is saith the Lord, You shall beat Syria, 
and toss it ^p into the air with these horns." The 
prophet Micaiah, son of Imlah, being sent for, and 
denouncing the direct contrary, Zedekiah came near 
him, and giving him a blow on the face, said to him, 
"Which way went tin' Spirit of the Lord from me, 
to do thus to 3 r ou ?" Micaiah answered, " You will 
see that, when you shall be obliged to hide yourself 
in an inward chamber." It is not said what became 
of Zedekiah ; but all the prophecies of Micaiah 
proved true. 

III. ZEDEKIAH, son of Maaseiah, a false proph- 
et, who always opposed Jeremiah. Against him, 
and Ahab, son of Kolaiah, the prophet pronounced 
a terrible curse : (chap. xxix. 21, 22.) "Of them shall 
be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah 
which are in liabylon, sa\ iug. The Lord make thee 
like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of 
Babylon roasted in the fire," &c. 

ZEER, a prince of Midian, was found at a wine- 
press, and slain by the Ephraimitcs, who sent his 
head to Gideon beyond Jordan, whither they pursued 
their enemies, Judg. vii. 25. 

ZELAH, a city of Benjamin, (Josh, xviii. 28.) 
where Saul was buried in the tomb of his father 
Kish, 2 Sam. xxi. 14. 

ZELOTES, a surname given to Simon the Ca- 
naanite, one of the apostles. It signifies, properly, 
one passionately ardent in any cause, a zealot, as in 
Titus ii. 14, in the Greek. Thus, among the ancient 
Hebrews, those who, from zeal for the institutions of 
their religion, reproved or punished such as commit- 
ted offences against them, were said to be itfi.arrai, 
zealots. (Comp. Numb. xxv. (3 — 13 ; 1 Mace. ii. 40.) 
In the age of Christ and the apostles, this name was 
applied particularly to an extensive association of 
private individuals, who undertook to maintain the 
purity of the national worship, by inflicting pun- 
ishment without the form of trial on all who should 
violate any of the institutions, Sec. which they held 
sacred. They were impelled, as they said, by a 
more than human zeal ; and were certainly guilty 
of the greatest excesses and crimes. (See Jos. B. J. 
iv. 6. 3. vii. 8. 1. Jahn, § 321.) 

The name Zelotes was, therefore, probably given 
to Simon from the circumstance of his having 
been one of the Zelotse. The name Canaanite, or 
more properly Cananite, is also most probably here 
of the same signification, being derived from the 
Heb. njp, Chald. |Njp, which is entirely equivalent 
in meaning to Zelotes. *R. 

ZENAS, a doctor of the law, and disciple of 
Paul, Tit. hi. 13. 

I. ZEPHANIAH, son of Maaseiah ; called (2 
Kings xxv. 18.) the second priest, while the high- 
priest Seraiah performed the functions of the high- 
priesthood, and was the first priest. It is thought 
Zephaniah was his deputy, to discharge the duty when 
the high-priest was sick, or when any other accident 
hindered him from performing his office. After the 
taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, Seraiah and 
Zephaniah were taken and sent to Nebuchadnezzar 



at Riblah, who caused them to be put to death. 
Zephaniah was sent more than once by Zedekiah to 
consult Jeremiah. (See chap. xxi. 1 ; xxxvii. 3.) 

II. ZEPHANIAH, son of Cushi, and grandson of 
Gedaliah, was of the tribe of Simeon, according to 
Epiphanius, and of mount Sarabata, a place not men- 
tioned in Scripture. The Jews are of opinion, that 
the ancestors of Zephaniah, recited at the beginning 
of his prophecy, were prophets. Some have sup- 
posed, without foundation, that he was of an illus- 
trious family. We have no exact knowledge, either 
of his actions, or the time of his death. He lived 
under Josiah, who began to reign A. M. 3363. The 
description that Zephaniah gives of the disorders of 
Judah, leads Calmet to judge, that he prophesied be- 
fore the eighteenth year of Josiah ; that is, before 
this prince had reformed the abuses and corruptions 
of his dominions, 2 Kings xxii. Besides, he foretells 
the destruction of Nineveh, (chap. ii. 13.) which 
could not fall out before the sixteenth year of Josiah, 
by allowing, with Berosus, 21 years to the reign of 
Nabopolassar over the Chaldeans. Therefore we 
must necessarily place the beginning of Zephaniah's 
prophecy early in the reign of Josiah. His first 
chapter is a general threatening against all the people 
whom the Lord had appointed to slaughter ; against 
Judah ; against those who leap over llie threshold, 
i. e. the Philistines, 1 Sam. v. 5. In the second chap- 
ter he inveighs against Moab, Amnion, Cush, the 
Phoenicians, and the Assyrians, and foretells the fall 
of Nineveh, which happened A. M. 3378. The third 
chapter contains invectives and threatenings against 
Jerusalem, but afterwards gives comfortable assur- 
ance of a return from the captivity, and of a flour- 
ishing condition. 

ZEPHATH, a city of Simeon, (Judg. i. 17.) prob- 
ably the same as Zephathah, near Mareshah, in the 
south of Judah, 2 Chron. xiv. 10. It was called Hor- 
mah, or Anathema, after the victory obtained by Is- 
rael over the king of Arad, Numb. xxi. 3 ; Judg. i. 17. 

ZEPHATHAH, the Valley of, near Mareshah, 
is mentioned 2 Chron. xiv. 10. It was, perhaps, 
near Zephath, or Hormah ; or, perhaps, it should be 
read Shephalah, instead of Zephathah. 

ZERAH, king of Ethiopia, or Cush, in Arabia Pe- 
traea, on the Red sea, and bordering on Egypt, (2 
Chron. xiv. 9.) came to attack Asa, king of Judah, with- 
an army of a million of foot, (see Armies,) .and three 
hundred chariots of war. Asa went out to meet 
him, and set his army in battle array in the valley of 
Zephathah, near Mareshah. He called on the Lord, 
who cast terror and consternation into the hearts of 
the Ethiopians, so that they ran away. Asa and his 
army pursued them to Gerar, and obtained a great 
booty. See, however, in Pharaoh, p. 742. 

ZERED, or Zared, a brook or torrent which 
takes its rise in the mountains of Moab, and, running 
from east to west, falls into the Dead sea. It seems 
to be the stream which Burckhardt calls Wady Beni 
Hammad, south of the Arnon, and about five hours 
north of Kerek, the ancient Charak Moab, Numb. xxi. 
12; Deut. ii. 13, 14. 

ZERED A, a city of Ephraim, the native place of 
Jeroboam, son of Nebat, 1 Kings xi. 26. Perhaps 
Zeredatha, or Zarthan. 

ZERERATH, a city in Manasseh, not far irom 
Bethshan, Judg. vii. 22. Also called Zereda, 1 Kings 
xi. 26, and Zeredetha, 2 Chron. iv. 17 ; perhaps also 
Zaretan, the narrow dwellings, Josh. iii. 16, 1 Kinga 
vii. 46, and Zaretanah, 1 Kings iv. 12. 



Z I L 



,[ 041 ] 



Z OP 



ZER1, son of Jeduthun, the fourth among the 
twenty-four families of the Levites, which attended 
in the temple, 1 Chron. xxv. 3, 11. 

ZERUBBABEL, or Zorobabel, son of Salathiel, 
of the royal race of David. Matthew (i. 12.) and the 
Chronicles (1 Chron. iii. 17, 19.) make Jeconiah, king 
of Judah, to be father of Salathiel, but they do not 
agree as to the father of Zerubbabel. The Chron- 
icles say Pedaiah was father of Zerubbabel ; but 
Matthew, Luke, Esdras and Haggai constantly make 
Salathiel his father. We must, therefore, take the 
name of son in the sense of grandson, and say that 
Salathiel having educated Zerubbabel, he was always 
afterwards considered as his father. Some think 
that Zerubbabel had also the name of Sheshbazzar, 
and that he is so called, Ezra i. 8. Josephus and 
the first book of Esdras describe him as one of the 
three famous body-guards of Darius, son of Hystas- 
pes ; but this must be a mistake, for he returned to 
Jerusalem long before the reign of Darius, son of 
Hystaspes. 

Cyrus committed to his care the sacred vessels of 
the temple, with which he returned to Jerusalem, 
Ezra i. 11. He is always named first, as being chief 
of the Jews that returned to their own country, Ezra 
ii. 2; iii. 8; v. 2. He laid the foundations of the 
temple, (Ezra iii. 8, 9 ; Zech. iv. 9, &c.) and restored 
the worship of the Lord, and the usual sacrifices. 
When the Samaritans offered to assist in rebuilding 
the temple, Zerubbabel and the principal men of 
Judah refused them this honor, since Cyrus had 
granted his commission to the Jews only, Ezra iv. 2, 
3. When the Lord showed the prophet Zachariah 
two olive-trees, near the golden candlestick with 
seven branches, the angel sent to explain this vision 
informed the prophet, that these two olive-trees, 
which supplied oil to the great candlestick, were Ze- 
rubbabel, the prince, and Joshua, the high-priest, son 
of Josedech. Scripture says nothing of the death 
■of Zerubbabel, but it informs us, (1 Chron. iii. 19.) 
that he left seven sons and one daughter. These 
were Meshullam, Hananiah and Shelomith, their 
sister; Hashuba, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah and 
Jushabhesed. Matthew (i. 13.) makes the name of 
one of his sons to be Abiud, and Luke (iii. 27.) 
makes it Rhesa. Consequently, one of the sons of 
Zerubbabel, above enumerated, must have had more 
than one name. See Adoption. 

ZIBA, a servant to Saul, 2 Sam. ix. When David 
was expelled from Jerusalem, by his son Absalom, 
Ziba went to meet him, with two asses loaded with 
provisions, 2 Sam. xvi. The king gave him all that 
belonged to Mephibosheth. 

ZICHRI, of Ephraim, a very stout and valiant man. 
He killed Maaseiah, son of king Ahaz, Azrikam, the 
governor of the palace, and Elkanah, who was sec- 
ond after the king, 2 Chron. xxviii. 7. 

ZIDON, see Sidon. 

ZIF, the second month of the holy year of the 
Hebrews ; afterwards called Jiar ; it answers nearly 
to April, 1 Kings vi. 1. See the Jewish Calendar. 

ZIKLAG, a city that Achish, king of Gath, gave 
to David, when he took shelter among the Philistines, 
(1 Sam. xxvii. 6.) and which, after that time, always 
belonged to the kings of Judah. The Amalekites 
took it, and pUmdered it, in the absence of David. 
Joshua had allotted it to the tribe of Simeon, Josh, 
xix. 5. Eusebius says it lay in the south of Ca- 
naan. 

ZILLAH, a wife of Lamech. the bigamist. She 



was mother of Tubal-cain and Naamah, Gen. iv 
21, 22. 

I. ZIMRI, son of Zerah, and grandson of Judah 
and Tamar, 1 Chron. ii. 6. 

II. ZIMRI, son of Salu, prince of the tribe of 
Simeon, who went publicly into the tent of Cozbi, a 
Midianite woman, and was followed by Phinehas, son 
of Eleazar the high-priest, who slew him with Cozbi, 
Numb. xxv. 14. 

III. ZIMRI, a general of half the cavalry of Elah, 
king of Israel, when he rebelled against his master, (1 
Kings xvi. 9, 10.) killed him, and usurped his kingdom. 
He cut off the whole family, not sparing any of his re- 
lations or friends ; whereby was fulfilled the word of 
the Lord, denounced to Baasha, the father of Elah, by 
the prophet Jehu. Zimri reigned but seven days ; for 
the army of Israel, then besieging Gibbethon, a city of 
the Philistines, made their genera], Omri, king, and 
came and besieged Zimri in the city of Tirzah. 
Zimri, seeing the city on the point of being taken, 
burnt himself in the palace with all its riches. 

ZIN, a desert south of the Land of Promise. See 
in Exodus, p. 419. 

ZION, or Sion, a> mountain of Jerusalem. See 
Sion. 

I. Z1PH, the second Hebrew month, 1 Kings 
vi. 1. 

II. ZIPH, son of Jehalaleel, of Judah, and of the 
family of Caleb ; (1 Chron. iv. 16.) he probably gave 
his name to the city of Ziph, in Judah. 

III. ZIPH, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 24.) near 
Hebron, eastward, and in the wilderness of which 
David kept himself concealed for some time, 1 Sam. 
xxiii. 14, 15. 

IV. ZIPH, another city near Maon and Carmel of 
Judah, Josh. xv. 55.' 

ZIPPORAH, or Sepiiora, daughter of Jethro, 
wife of Moses, and mother of Eliezer and Gershom. 
When Moses fled from Egypt, (Exod. ii. 16, &ic.) he 
withdrew into Midian, where, having stood up in 
defence of the daughters of Jethro, priest, or prince, 
of Midian, against shepherds who would have 
hindered them from watering their flocks, Jethro 
took him into his house, and gave him his daughter 
Zipporah in marriage, by whom he had two sons, 
Eliezer and Gershom. See Moses. 

ZOAN, a royal city of Egypt, and extremely an- 
cient. Called in Greek Tanis, (Judith i. 10.) and 
built, no doubt, by emigrants, Numb. xiii. 22 ; Ps. 
lxxviii. 12, 43 ; Isa. xix. 11, 13 ; xxx. 4; Ezek. xxx. 14. 

ZOAR, a city of the Pentapolis, on the southern 
extremity of the Dead sea, was destined, with the 
other five cities, to be consumed by fire from heaven ; 
but at the intercession of Lot, it was preserved, Gen. 
xiv. 2. It was originally called Bela ; but after Lot 
entreated the angel's permission to take refuge in it, 
and insisted on the smallness of this city, it had the 
name Zoar, which signifies small or little. 

ZOBAH, a kingdom or country of Syria, whose 
king carried on war with Saul and David, 1 Sam. 
xiv. 47 ; 2 Sam. viii. 3 ; x. 6. It seems to have lain 
near Damascus, and to have included the city Ha- 
math, (2 Chron. viii. 3.) but also to have extended to- 
wards the Euphrates, 2 Sam. viii. 3. *R. 

ZOHELETH, a stone near the fountain of Rogel, 
or En-rogel, just under the walls of Jerusalem, 1 
Kings i. 9. The rabbins tell us, that it served as an 
exercise to the young men, who tried their strength 
by throwing it, or rather rolling it, or lifting it. Oth- 
ers think it was useful to the fullers, or whitsters, 



ZUP 



L 942 ] 



z uz 



to Oeat their clothes upon, after they had washed 
them. 

ZOPHAR, the Naamathite, a friend of Job, chap, 
ii. 11. The LXX call him Sophar, king of the Mine- 
ans ; the interpreter of Origen makes him king of 
the Nomades. 

I. ZORAH, a city of Judah, (Josh. xv. 33.) built, 
or rebuilt and fortified, by Rehoboam, 2 Chron. xi. 10. 

II. ZORAH, a city of Dan, and the birth-place of 
Samson, (Judg. xvi. 31.) on the frontier of Dan, and of 
Judah, not far from Eshtaol. Eusebius places it ten 
miles from Eleutheropolis, towards Nicopolis, not far 
from Kaphar-Sorek. Calmet thinks the Zorites, (1 
Chron. ii. 54.) and the Zorathites, (1 Chron. iv. 2.) 
were inhabitants of Zorah. 

ZUPH, a Levite, great-grandfather of Elkanah, 
the father of Samuel, and head of the family of the 
Zuphim, who dwelt at Ramah ; whence it had its 
name of Ramathaim Zophim, (1 Sam. i. 1 ; 1 Chron. 
vi. 35.) and the land of Zuph, 1 Sam. ix. 5. 



ZUR, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 58 ; Neh. ii. 16; 
1 Chron. ii. 45 ; 2 Chron. xi. 7. Called Bethsura, 
and described as a strong town in 2 Mac. xi. 5. 

I. ZUR, a prince of Mitlian, father of Cozbi, who, 
with Zimri, was killed by Phinehas, Numb. xxv. 15 ; 
xxxi. 8. 

II. ZUR, son of Jehiel and Maachah, of Ben- 
jamin, inhabitants of Gibeon, 1 Chron. xi. 36 ; 
viii. 30. 

ZURIEL, son of Abihail, chief of the families of 
the Mahlites and the Mushites, Numb. iii. 33, 35. 

ZURISHADDAI, father of Shelumiel, who was 
chief of the tribe of Simeon at the exodus, Num- 
bers i. 6. 

ZUZIM, certain giants who dwelt beyond Jordan, 
and were conquered by Chedorlaomcr and his allies, 
Gen. xiv. 5. The Chaldee and the LXX have taken 
Zuzim in the sense of an appellative, for stout and 
valiant men. Calmet conjectures the Zuzim to be 
the Zamzummim of Deut. ii. 20. See Anakim. 



THE 

CALENDAR OF THE JEWS. 



The year of the Hebrews is composed of twelve lunar months, of which the first has thirty days, and tne 
second twenty-nine ; and so the rest successively, and alternately. The year begins in autumn, as to the 
civil year ; and in the spring, as to the sacred year. The Jews had calendars, anciently, wherein were noted 
all the feasts — all the fasts — and all the days on which they celebrated the memory of any great event that 
had happened to the nation, Zech. viii. 19 ; Esth. viii. 6, in Grceco. These ancient calendars are sometimes 
quoted in Talmud, (Misna Tract. Taanith, n. 8.) but the rabbins acknowledge that they are not now in 
being. ( Vide Maimonides et Bartenora, in eum locum.) Those that we have now, whether printed or in 
manuscript, are not very ancient. ( Vide Genebrar. Bibliot. Rabinic. p. 319 ; Buxtorf. Levit. Talmud, p. 1046 ; 
Bartolocci. Bibl. Rabbinic, torn. ii. p. 550 ; Lamy's Introduction to the Scripture ; and Plantav. Isagog. 
Rabbin, adfinem.) That which passes for the oldest, is Megillath Thaanith, "the volume of affliction;" 
which contains the days of feasting and fasting heretofore in use among the Jews ; which are not now 
observed ; nor are they in the common calendars. We shall insert the chief historical events, taken as well 
from this volume, Thaanith, as from other calendars. 



TISRI. 

The first month of the civil year; the seventh month 
of the sacred year. It has thirty days, and answers 
to the moon of September. 

Day 1. New moon. Beginning of the civil year. 
The feast of trumpets, Lev. xxiu. 24; Numb, 
xxix. 1, 2. 

3. Fast for the death of Gedaliah, 2 Kings xxv. 
25 ; Jer. xli. 2. 

The same day, the abolition of written contracts. 
The wicked kings having forbidden the Israelites to 
pronounce the name of God, when they were re- 
stored to liberty, the Asmoneans, or Maccabees, or- 
dained, that the name of God should be written in 
contracts after this manner : " In such a year of the 
high-priest N, who is minister of the most high 
God," &c. The judges to whom these writings 
were presented, decreed they should be satisfied ; 
saying, for example, " On such a day, such a debtor 
shall pay such a sum, according to his promise, after 
which the schedule shall be torn." But it was found 
that the name of God was taken away out of the 
writing; and thus the whole became useless and 
ineffectual. For which reason they abolished all 
these written contracts, and appointed a festival day 
in memory of it. (Megil. Taanith, c. 7.) 

5. The death of twenty Israelites. Rabbi Akiba, 
son of Joseph, dies in prison. 

7. A fast, on account of the worshipping the golden 
calf, and of the sentence God pronounced against 
Israel, in consequence of that crime, Exod. xxxii. 
6—8, 34. 

10. A fast of expiation, Lev. xxm. 19, &.c. 
15. The feast of tabernacles, with its octave, Lev. 
xxiii. 34. 



21. Hosanna-Rabba. The seventh day of the 
feast of tabernacles, or the feast of branches. 

22. The octave of the feast of tabernacles. 

23. The rejoicing for the law, a solemnity in 
memory of the covenant that the Lord made with 
the Hebrews, in giving them the law by the media- 
tion of Moses. 

On this same day, the dedication of Solomon's 
temple, 1 Kings viii. 65, 66. 

30. The first new-moon of the month Marchesvan. 

MARCHESVAN. 

The second month of the civil year ; the eighth month 
of the sacred year. It has but twenty-nine days, ana 
answers to the moon of October. 

Day 1. The second new-moon, or first day of 
the month. 

6, 7. A fast, because Nebuchadnezzar put out the 
eyes of Zedekiah, after he had slain his children 
before his face, 2 Kings xxv. 7 ; Jer. lii. 10. 

19. A fast on Monday and Tuesday, [Thursday ?] 
and the Monday following, to expiate faults commit- 
ted on occasion of the feast of tabernacles. ( Vide 
Calendar, a Bartoloccio editum.) 

23. A feast, or memorial of the stones of the altar, 
profaned by the Greeks ; which were laid aside, in ex- 
pectation of a prophet, who could declare to what use 
they might be applied, 1 Mac. iv. 46. (Megillath, c. 8.) 

26. A feast in memory of some places possessed 
by the Cuthites ; which the Israelites recovered at 
their return from the captivity. 

A dispute of Rabbin Jochanan, son of Zachai, 
against the Sadducees, who pretended that the loaves 
of the first-fruits (Lev. xxiii. 17, 18.) were not to be 
offered on the altar, but to be eaten hot. (Megil. c. 9. 



THE JEWISH CALENDAR. 



KISLEU. 

The third month of the civil year; the ninth month of 
the sacred year. It has thirty days, and answers to 
our moon of November. 

Day 1. New.moon, or the first day of the month. 

3. A feast in memory of the idols which the As- 
moneans threw out of the courts, where the Gentiles 
had placed them. (Megil. Taanith.) 

6. A fast in memory of the book of Jeremiah, torn 
and burnt by Jehoiakim, Jer. xxxvi. 23. 

7. A feast in memory of the death of Herod the 
Great, son of Antipater ; who was always an enemy 
to the sages. (Megillath, c. 11.) 

21. The feast of mount Gerizim. The Jews re- 
late that when their high-priest Simon, with his 
priests, went out to meet Alexander the Great, the 
( 'utheans or Samaritans went also, and desired this 
prince to give them the temple of Jerusalem, and to 
sell them a part of mount Moriah, which request 
A 1 1 - v ; i n < 1 1 ■ i- granted. But the high-priest of the Jews 
afterwards presenting himself, and Alexander asking 
him what he desired, Simon entreated him not to 
sutler the Samaritans to destroy the temple. The 
king replied to him, that he delivered that people 
into his hands, and he might do what he pleased 
with them. Theu the high-priest and inhabitants 
of Jerusalem took the Samaritans, bored a hole 
through their heels, and tying them to their horses' 
tails, dragged thom along to mount Gerizim, which 
they ploughed and sowed with tares, just as the 
.Samaritans had intended to do to the temple of 
Jerusalem. In memory of this event, they instituted 
this festival. [Comp. Sivan 25.1 

24. Prayers for rain. (Calendar Bartolocci.) 

25. The dedication, or renewing of the temple, 
profaned by order of Antiochus Epiphanes, and pu- 
rified by Judas Maccabajus, 1 Mac. iv. 52; 2 Mac. ii. 
16 ; John x. 22. This feast is kept with its octave. 
Josephus says, that in his time it was called the feast 
of lights ; perhaps, he says, because this good fortune, 
of restoring the temple to its ancient use, appeared 
to the Jews as a new day. (Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 11.) 
But the Jewish authors give another reason lor the 
name of lights. They report, that when they were 
employed in cleansing the temple, after it had been 
profaned by the Greeks, they found there only one 
small phial of oil, sealed up by the high-priest, which 
would hardly suffice to keep in the lamps so much 
as one night ; but God' permitted that it should last 
several days, till they had time to make more ; in 
memory of which, the Jews lighted up several lamps 
in their synagogues, and at the doors of their houses. 
(Vide Selden, de Syned. lib. iii. cap. 13.) Others 
affirm (as the Scliolastical History, Thomas Aquinas, 
cardinal Hughgo, on 1 Mac. iv. 52.) that the appella- 
tion of the feast of lights was .a memorial of that fire 
from heaven which inflamed the wood on the altar 
of burnt-offerings, as related 2 Mac. i. 22. 

Some think this feast of the dedication was insti- 
tuted in memory of Judith. (Vide Sigon, lib. iii. cap. 
18. de Republ. Hebr.) But it is doubted whether 
this ought to be understood of Judith, daughter of 
Merari, who killed Holofernes; or of another Judith, 
daughter of Mattathias, and sister of Judas Macca- 
haeus, who slew Nicanor, as they tell us. ( Vide Ganz, 
Zemach David ; Millenar. 4. an. 622. et apud Selden. 
de Synedriis, lib. iii. cap. 13. n. 11.) This last Judith 
is known only in the writings of the rabbins, and is 
not mentioned either in the Maccabees, or in Jose- 
phus. But there is great likelihood that the Jews 



have altered the Greek history of Judith, to place it 
in the time of Judas Maccabseus. 

A prayer for rain. Time of sowing begins in Judea. 

30. First new-moon of the month Tebeth. 

TEBETH. 

The fourth month of the civil year; the tenth month of 
the ecclesiastical year. It has twenty-nine days, and 
answers to the moon of December. 

Day 1. New-moon. 

8. A fast, because of the translation of the law out 
of Hebrew into Greek. This day, and the three 
following days, were overcast by thick darkness. 

The fast of the tenth month. (Calend. Bartolocci.) 

9. A fast for which the rabbins assign no reason. 

10. A fast in memory of the siege of Jerusalem 
by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings xxv. 1. 

28. A feast in memory of the exclusion of the 
Sadducees out of the Sanhedrim, where they had all 
the power in the time of king Alexander Jannaeus. 
Rabbi Simeon, son of Shatach, found means of ex- 
cluding them one after another, and of substituting 
Pharisees. (Megillat. Taanith.) [Comp. Jiar 23.] 

SHEBET. 

The fifth month of the civil year ; the eleventh month 
of the sacred year. It has thirty days, and answers 
to the moon of January. 

Day 1. New-moon, or the first day of the month. 

2. A rejoicing for the death of king Alexander 
Jannreus, a great enemy to the Pharisees. (Megill.) 

4 or 5. A fast in memory of the death of the elders, 
who succeeded Joshua, Judg. ii. 10. 

15. The beginning of the year of trees, that is, 
from hence they begin to count. the four years, 
during which trees were judged unclean, from the 
time of their being planted, Lev. xix. 23 — 25. Sortie 
place the beginning of these four years on the first 
day of the month. 

22. A feast in memory of the death of one called 
Niskalenus, who had ordered the placing images or 
figures in the temple, which was forbidden by the 
law : but he died, and his orders were not executed. 
The Jews place this under the high-priest Simon 
the Just. It is not known who this Niskalenus was. 
(Megill. c. 11.) 

23. A fast for the war of the ten tribes against that 
of Benjamin, Judg. xx. 

They also call to remembrance the idol of Micah, 
Judg. xviii. 

29. A memorial of the death of Antiochus Epiph- 
anes ; an enemy of the Jews, 1 Mac. vi. 1. (Me- 
gillath.) 

30. First new-moon of the month Adar. 

ADAR. 

The sixth month of the civil year ; the twelfth month 
of the sacred year. It has but twenty-nine days, and 
answers to the moon of February. 

Day 1. New-moon. 

7. A fast, because of the death of Moses, Deut 
xxxiv. 5. 

8. 9. The trumpet sounded^ by way of thanksgiv- 
ing for the rain that fell in this month, and to pray 
for it in future. (Megillath Taanith.) 

9. A fast in memory of the schism between the 
schools of Shammai and Hillel [called Taanith 
Tzadehim]. 



THE JEWISH 

12. A feast in memory of the death of two prose- 
lytes, Hollianus and Pipus his brother, whom one 
Tyrinus or Turianus would have compelled to break 
the law, in the city of Laodicea ; but they chose 
rather to die, than to act contrary to the law. (Selden, 
de Synedr. lib. iii. cap. 13. ex Megill. Taanith.) 

13. Esther's fast ; probably in memory of that, 
Esth. iv. 16. (Geneb. Bartolocci.) 

A feast in memory of the death of Nicanor, an 
enemy of the Jews, 1 Mac. vii. 44 ; 2 Mac. xv. 30, 
&c. Some of the Hebrews insist, that Nicanor was 
killed by Judith, sister of Judas Maccabreus. 

14. The first purim, or lesser feast of lots, Esth. 
ix. 21. The Jews in the provinces ceased from the 
slaughter of their enemies on Nisan 14, and on that 
day made great rejoicing. But the Jews of Shushan 
continued the slaughter till the 15th. Therefore 
Mordecai settled the feast of lots on the 14th and 
15th of this month. 

15. The great feast of purim, or lots ; the second 
purim. These three days, the 13th, 14th and 15th, 
are commonly called the days of Mordecai ; though 
the feast for the death of Nicanor has no relation 
either to Esther or to Mordecai. 

The collectors of the half-shekel, paid by every 
Israelite, (Exod. xxx. 13.) received it on Adar 15, in 
the cities, and on the 25th in the temple. (Talmud. 
Tract. Shekalim.) 

17. The deliverance of the sages of Israel, who, 
flying from the persecution of Alexander Jannseus, 
king of the Jews, retired into the city of Koslik in 
Arabia ; but finding themselves in danger of being 
sacrificed by the Gentiles, the inhabitants of the place, 
they escaped by night. (Megill. Taanith.) 

20. A feast in memory of the rain obtained from 
God, by one called Onias Hammagel, during a great 
drought in the time of Alexander Jannaeus. (Megill. 
Taanith.) 

23. The dedication of the temple of Zerubbabel, 
Ezra vi. 16. The day is not known. Some put it 
on the 16th, the calendar of Sigonius puts it on the 
23d. 

28. A feast in commemoration of the repeal of the 
decree'by which the kings of Greece had forbidden 
the Jews to circumcise their children, to observe the 
sabbath, and to decline foreign worship. (Megill. 
Taanith. et Gemar. ut Tit. Thainith. c. 2.) 

When the year consists of thirteen lunar months, 
they place here, by way of intercalation the second 
month of Adar, or Ve-adar. 

NTSAN, or ABIB. Exod. xiii. 4. 

The seventh month of the civil year ; the first month of 
the sacred year. It has thirty days, and answers to 
the moon of March. 

Day 1. New-moon. A fast, because of the death 
of the children of Aaron, Lev. x. 1, 2. 

10. A fast for the death of Miriam, the sister of 
Moses, Numb. xx. 1. Also in memory of the scarcity 
of water that happened, after her death, to the chil- 
dren of Israel in the desert of Kadesh, Numb. xx. 2. 

On this day every one provided himself a lamb or 
kid, preparatory to the following passover. 

14. On the "evening of the 14th they killed the 
paschal lamb ; they began to use unleavened bread, 
and ceased from all servile labor. 

15. The solemnity of the passover, with its octave. 
The first clay of unleavened bread, a day of rest. 
They ate none but unleavened bread duringeight days. 

119 



CALENDAR. 945 

After sunset they gathered a sheaf of barley, 
which they brought into the temple. (Cod. Menachot, 
vi. 3.) 

Supplication for the reign of the spring. (Geneb.) 

16. On the second day of the feast, they offered 
the barley which they had provided the evening 
before, as the first-fruits of the harvest. After that 
time, it was allowed to put the sickle to the com. 

The beginning of harvest. 

From this day they began to count fifty days to 
pentecost. 

21. The octave of the feast of the passover. The 
end of unleavened bread. This day is held more 
solemn than the other days of the octave ; yet they 
did not refrain from manual labor on it. 

26. A fast for the death of Joshua, Josh. xxiv. 29. 
30. The first new-moon of the month Jiar. 

The book called Megillath Taanith does not no- 
tice any particular festival for the month Nisan. 

JIAR, or IYAR. 

The eighth month of the civil year ; the second month 
of the ecclesiastical year. It has but twenty-nine 
days, and answers to the moon of April. 

Day 1. New-moon. 

6. A fast of three days for excesses committed 
during the feast of the passover, that is, on the Mon- 
day, Thursday, and the Monday following. (Calendar 
Bartolocci.) 

7. The dedication of the temple, when the Asmo- 
neans consecrated it anew, after the persecutions of 
the Greeks. (Megill. Taanith, c. 2.) 

10. A fast for the death of the high-priest Eli, and 
for the capture of the ark by the Philistines. 

14. The second passover, in favor of those who 
could not celebrate the first, on Nisan 15. 

23. A feast for the taking of the city of Gaza, by Si 
inon Maccabaeus. (Calend. Scalig. 1 Mac. xiii. 43, 44.^ 

Or for the taking and purification of the citadel 
of Jerusalem, by the Maccabees ; according to the 
calendar of Sigonius, 1 Mac. xiii. 49, 53 ; xvi. 7, 36. 

A feast for the expulsion of the Caraites out of 
Jerusalem, by the Asmoneans or Maccabees. (Meg 
Taanith.) [Comp. Tebeth 28.] 

27. A feast for the expulsion of the Galileans, or 
those who attempted to set up crowns over the gates 
of their temples, and of their houses ; and even on 
the heads of their oxen and asses; and to sing hymns 
in honor of false gods. The Maccabees drove them 
out of Judea and Jerusalem, and appointed this feast 
to perpetuate the memory of their expulsion. (Megill. 
Taanith.) 

28. A fast for the death of the prophet Samuel, 1 
Sam. xxv. 1. 

SIVAN. 

The ninth month of the civil year ; the third month of 
the ecclesiastical year. It has thirty days, and an- 
swers to the moon of May. 

Day 1. New-moon. 

6. Pentecost, the fiftieth day after the passover. 
Called also the Feast of Weeks, because it happened 
seven weeks after the passover. We do not find that 
it had any octave. 

15, If'.' A feast to celebrate the victory of the Mac- 
cabees over the people of Bethsan, 1 Mac. v. 52; xii. 
40, 41. (Megill. Taanith.) 

17. A feast for the taking of Csesarea by the As- 
moneans ; who drove the pagans from thence, and 
settled the Jews there. (Megill. Taanith.) 



THE JEWISH CALENDAR. 



22. A fast in memory of the prohibition by Jero- 
boam, son of Neb.it, to his subjects, forbidding them 
to carry their first-fruits to Jerusalem, 1 Kings xii. 27. 

25. A fast in commemoration of the deatli of the 
rabbins. Simeon, son of Gamaliel, Ishinael, son of 
Elisha, and Chanina, the high-priest's deputy. 

A feast in memory of the solemn judgment pro- 
nounced in favor of the Jews by Alexander the 
Great, against the Ishmaelites, who, by virtue of 
their birthright, maintain a possession of the land 
of Canaan, against the Canaanites, who claimed the 
same, as being the original possessors, and against 
the Egyptians, who demanded restitution of the ves- 
sels and other things, borrowed by the Hebrews, 
when they leit Egypt. [Vide Megillath Taanith.) But 
the Gemara of Babylon (Tit. Sanhedrim, c. 11.) puts 
the dav of this sentence on Nisan 14. [Comp. Cis- 
leu 21."] 

27. A fast, because rabbi Chanina, the son of 
Thardion, was burnt with the book of the law . 
30. The first new-moon of the month Thammuz. 

THAMMUZ, or TAMUZ. 

The tenth month of the civil year ; the fourth month of 
the holy year. It has but twenty-nine days, and an- 
swers to the moon of June. 

Day 1. New-moon. 

14. A feast for the abolition of a pernicious book 
of the Sadducees and Bethusians, by which they 
endeavored to subvert the oral law, and all the tra- 
ditions. (Megill. Taanith.) 

17. A fast in memory of the tables of the law, 
broken by Moses, Exod. xxxii. 19. 

On this day the city of Jerusalem was taken. The 
perpetual evening and morning sacrifice was sus- 
pended during the siege of Jerusalem by Titus. 
Epistcmon tore the book of the law, and set up an 
idol in the temple. It is not said whether this hap- 
pened under Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus Epiphanes, 
or the Romans. 

AB. 

The eleventh month of the civil year ; the fifth month 
of the sacred year. It has thirty days, and answers 
to the moon of Jidy. 

1. New-moon. A fast for the death of Aaron the 
high-priest. 

5. A commemoration of the children of Jethuel, of 
the race of Judah, who, after the return from the cap- 
tivity, furnished wood to the temple. (Megill. Taanith.) 

9. A fast of the fifth month, in memory of God's 
declaration to Moses on this day, that none of the 
murm :nng Israelites should enter the land of prom- 
ise, Nu.; >\ xiv. 29, 31. 

SACRED YEAR. 
Names and Order of the Hebrew Months. 



1. Nisan, answering to March, O. S. 

2. Jiar April. 

3. Si van May. 

4. Thammuz June. 

5. Ab July. 

6. Elul August.. 

7. Tizri September. 

8. Marchesvan October. 

9. Cisleu November. 

10. Thebet. December. 

11 Sebat January. 

12. Adar February. 



On the same day the temple was taken and burnt; 
Solomon's temple first by the Chaldeans ; Herod's 
temple afterwards by the Romans. 

18. A fast, because in the time of Ahaz the evening 
lamp went out. 

21. Xylophoria ; a feast on which they stored up 
the necessary wood in the temple. (Selden. Vide 
Joscphus, de Bello, lib. ii. cap. 17.) Scaliger places 
this festival on the 22d of the next month. 

24. A feast in memory of the abolition of a law by 
the Asmoneans, or Maccabees, which had been in- 
troduced by the Sadducees, enacting, that both sons 
and daughters should alike inherit the estates of t heir 
parents. (Megill. Taanith.) 

30. The first new-moon of the month Elul. 

ELUL. 

The twelfth month of the civil year ; and the seventh 
month of the ecclesiastical year. It has but twenty- 
nine days, and answers to the moon of August. 

Day 1. New-moon. 

7. Dedication of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehc- 
miah, Ezra xii. 27. We read in Neh. vi. 15, that 
these walls were finished Elul 25. But as there still 
remained many things to be done, to complete this 
work, the dedication might have been deferred to the 
7th of Elul of the year following. (Megill. Seld.) 

17. A fast for the death of the spies, who brought 
an ill report of the land of promise, Numb. xiv. 3(i. 

A feast in remembrance of the expulsion of the 
Romans, [rather the Greeks,] who would have pre- 
vented the Hebrews from inarrying, and who dishon- 
ored the daughters of Israel. When they intended 
to use violence towards Judith, the only daughter of 
Mattathias, he, with the assistance of his sons, over- 
came them, and delivered his country from their 
yoke. In commemoration of which deliverance, this 
festival was appointed. 

21. Xylophoria ; a feast in which they brought to 
the temple the necessary provision of wood for keep- 
ing in the fire of the altar of burnt-sacrifices. The 
calendar of Scaliger places this feast on the 22d. 
( Vide the 21st of the foregoing month.) 

22. A feast in memory of the punishment inflicted 
on the wicked Israelites, whose insolence could not 
be otherwise restrained than by putting them to 
death ; for then Judea was in the possession of the 
Gentiles. They allowed these wicked Israelites 
three days to reform ; but as they showed no signs 
of repentance, they were condemned to death. (Me- 
gill. Taanith.) 

[From the beginning to the end of this month, the 
cornet is sounded to warn of the approaching new 
year.] 



CIVIL YEAR. 





Names and Order of the Hebrew Months. 


7 






8 






9 


3. Cisleu 




10 


4. Thebet 




11 






12 






1 






2 






3 






4 






5 




July. 


6 


12. Elul 





A GENERAL 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



HOLY BIBLE. 



The Author places the true date of the birth of Christ four years before the common Era, or A. D 

A. M. 1 corresponds to the 710th year of the Julian Period. 

We have added the Chronology adopted by Dr. Hales ; and also a reference to the sources of information, 
both sacred and protane. [It must, however, be borne in mind, that the particularity 
of the dates here assigned rests chiefly on mere conjecture. R. 



2 
3 
129 
130 
235 
325 
395 
460 
622 
687 
874 
930 
987 
1042 
1056 
1140 
1235 
1290 
1422 



100 
101 
201 
230 
435 
625 
795 
960 
1122 
1287 
1474 
930 
1487 
1142 
1656 
1340 
1534 
1690 
1922 



Calmet. Hales, 



4000 



399!) 
3998 
3871 
3870 
3765 
3675 
3605 
3540 
3378 
3313 
3126 
3070 
3013 
2958 
2944 
2860 
2765 
2710 
2578 



5411 



5311 
5310 
5210 
5181 
4976 
4786 
4616 
4451 
4289 
4124 
3937 
4481 
3914 
4269 
3755 
4071 
3877 
3721 
3489 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



The Creation. 

First day. — Creation of Light 

Second day. the Firmament 

Third day. — Sea, Water, Plants, Trees 

Fourth day. — Sun, Moon, and Stars 

Fifth day. — Fishes, and Birds 

Sixth day. — Land Animals, and Man 

God causes the animals to appear before Adam, who 
gives them names. God creates the woman by 
taking her out of the side of the man, and gives 
her to him for a wife. He brings them into Para- 
dise 

Seventh day. — God rests from the work ol Creation, 
and sanctifies the repose of the Sabbath 

Eve, tempted fatally, by means of the serpent, diso- 
beys God, and persuades her husband, Adam, to 
disobedience also. God expels them from Paradise. 

Cain born, son of Adam and Eve 

Abel born, son of Adam and Eve 

Cain kills his brother Abel 

Seth born, son of Adam and Eve 

Enos born, son of Seth 

Cainan born, son of Enos 

Mahalaleel born, son of Cainan 

Jared born, son of Mahalaleel 

Enoch born, son of Jared 

Methuselah born, son of Enoch 

Lamech born, son of Methuselah 

Adam dies, aged 930 years 

Enoch translated, had lived 365 years 

Seth dies, aged 912 years 

Noah born, son of Lamech 

Enos dies, aged 905 years 

Cainan dies, aged 910 years 

Mahalaleel dies, aged 895 years 

Jared dies, aged 962 years 



Gen. 



i. 1—5. 
-6—8. 

- 9—13. 

- 14—19. 

- 20—23. 
-24—31; 



ii. 7. 





me 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Teuot the 

World. 



Vwr before 
CbrisL 



KW M THE CREATION 10 IMF. MllTH OF CHRIST. 



1536 



1556 
1558 
1651 
1656 



2136 

2256 
2256 



2460 



2444 
2442 
2349 
2344 



3275 

3155 
3155 



1G57 



2257 



2343 



3154 



1658 
1663 



1693 
1723 
1757 
1770 



1771 



■2->:>- 

2263 



2293 
2523 
2657 
2857 



2657 



2312 
2337 



2307 
2277 
2243 
2230 



2229 



3153 
31 I- 



3018 
2888 
2754 
2554 



2554 



1787 

1819 
1849 
1878 
1948 
2006 
2008 
2018 
2083 



2083 



2784 
2794 
2919 
3049 
3289 
3198 
2606 
3258 
3268 
3318 



3333 



2213 

2181 
2151 
2122 
2052 
1994 
1992 
1982 
1917 



1917 



2624 
2614 
2482 
2362 
2283 
2213 
2805 
2153 
2143 
2093 



2078 



God informs Noah of the future deluge, and com- } 
missions him to preach repentance, 120 years > 
before the deluge ) 

Japhet born, eldest son of Noah 

Sliem horn, the second son of Noah 

Lami cb dies, the father of Noah, aged 777 years. .. . 

Methuselah dies, the oldest of men, aged 969 years, 
in the year of the deluge 

The tenth day of the second month (November) God 
commands .Noah to prepare to enter the ark 

Seventeenth day of the same month, Noah enters the 
ark with his wife, his sons, and their wives 

Rain on the earth, forty days. The waters continue 
on the earth 150 days 

Seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark rests 
on the mountain of Ararat 

First day of the tenth month, the tops of the moun- 
tains begin to appear 

Forty tlays afterwards, Noah sends forth a raven .... 

Seven days afterwards, Noah sends out the dove ; it 
returns 

Seven days atier\\ ai'ds,he sends it out again ; it returns 
in the evening, bringing an olive-branch in its bill . 

Seven days afterwards, he sends it forth again ; it re- 
turns no more 

Noah being now 601 years old, the first day of the 
first month he takes off the roof of the ark 

Twenty-seventh daj of the second month Noah quits 
the ark. I le offers sacrifices of thanksgiving. God 
permits to man the use of flesh as food ; and ap- 
points the rainbow, as a pledge that he would send 
no more a universal deluge 

Arphaxad born, son of Shem 

About seven years after the deluge, Noah, having 
planted a vineyard, drank of the wine to excess ; 
falling asleep, he was uncovered in his tent. His 
son Ham, mocking at him, is cursed for it 

Salah born, son of Arphaxad 

Heber born, son of Salah 

Phaleg born, son of Heber 

About this time the building of the tower of Babel is 
undertaken ; God confounds the language of men, 
and disperses them 

About this time the beginning of the Assyrian mon- 
archy, by Nimrod. From this year to the taking 
of Babylon by Alexander the Great, are 1903 years ; 
the period to which Callisthenes traced the astro- 
nomical calculations of the Chaldeans 

The Egyptian empire begins about the same time, by 
Ham, the father of Mizraim : this empire continued 
1633 years, till the conquest of Egypt by Cam- 
byses 

Reu born, son of Phaleg 

Division of the Earth 

Serug born, son of Reu 

Nahor born, son of Serug 

Terah born, son of Nahor 

Haran born, son of Terah 

Noah dies, aged 950 years 

Abram born, son of Terah 

Sarai born, afterwards wife of Abram 

Abram called, in Ur of the Chaldees. He travels to 
Charre, or Haran, of Mesopotamia. His father, 
Terah, dies there, aged 205 years 

Second calling of Abram from Haran. He comes 



Gen. vi. 13—22 ; Heb. 

xi. 7 , 1 Pet. iii. 20 ; 

2 Pet. ii. 5. 

v. 32 ; x. 21. 

32. 

31. 




13. 

15—19. 
20—22. 



ix. 1—17. 
xi. 10, 11. 



ix. 20—27. 
xi. 12. 

— 14. 

— 16. 



1—9. 

x. 8—18. 



Porphyr. ap. Simplic. 
lib. ii. de Ccelo. 

Ps. cvi. 22 ; Is. xix. 11. 
Constantin. Manass. in 

Annalib. 
Gen. xi. 18. 

x. 25. 

xi. 20. 

22. 

24. 

ix. 29. 

rxi.27; Josh.xxiv. 2. 

— 29, 30; xvii.17. 

Acts vii. 2, 3. 

Gen. xi. 31, 32 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



949 



Calmcf. Hales. 



2084 

2091 
2092 



2093 
2094 
2107 



3334 



3341 



3342 
3343 
3344 



3357 



2108 
2115 

2133 



2145 
2148 



2150 
2158 
2167 



2168 
2184 
2187 
2200 



2208 

2231 
2245 



3358 



3357 

3383 
3395 
3398 



3399 



3418 
3433 



3615 
3481 
3495 



Calmet. Hales, 



1916 

1909 
1908 



1907 
1906 
1893 



1892 
1885 

1867 



1855 
1852 



1850 
1842 
1833 



1832 
1817 
1813 
1800 



1792 

1769 
1755 



2077 



2070 



2069 
2068 
2067 



2054 



2053 



2054 

2028 
2016 
2013 



2012 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



1993 
1978 



1796 
1930 
1916 



into Canaan with Sarai his wife, and Lot his 
nephew ; and dwells at Sichem 

Abram goes into Egypt ; Pharaoh takes his wife, but 
soon restores her again. Abram quits Egypt ; he 
and Lot separate 

The kings of Sodom and Gomorrha revolt from 
Chedorlaonier 

Chedorlaomer and his allies invade the kings of 
Sodom and Gomorrha, &c. Sodom is pillaged ; 
Lot is taken captive ; Abram pursues them, dis- 
perses them, retakes the booty, and rescues Lot 

Melchizedec blesses Abram 

The Lord makes a covenant with Abram, and ? 
promises him a numerous posterity £ 

Sarai gives her maid Hagar, for a wife, to her hus- 
band Abram 

Ishmael born, the son of Abram and Hagar. Abram 
was 86 years old 

The new covenant of the Lord with Abram ; God 
promises him a numerous posterity ; changes his 
name from Abram to Abraham, and that of his 

wife Sarai to Sarah 

In connection with this covenant, 

Circumcision is instituted 

Abraham entertains three angels, under the appear- 
ance of travellers ; they predict to Sarah the birth 
of a son (Isaac) 

Sodom, Gomorrha, Admah and Zeboiim burnt by 
fire from heaven. Lot is preserved; retires to 
Zoar ; commits incest with his daughters 

Abraham departs from the plain of Mamre, to Beer- 
sheba 

Isaac born, the son of Abraham and Sarah. Sarah 
makes Abraham turn away Hagar and her son Ish- 
mael. Hagar causes Ishmael to take an Egyptian 
woman to wife, by whom he has several children. 

Covenant between Abraham and Abimelech, king of 
Gerar 

Abraham about to offer his son Isaac 

Sarah dies, aged 127 years 

Abraham sends Eliezer into Mesopotamia to procure 
a wife for his son Isaac, who was 40 years of age. 
Eliezer brings Rebekah 

Abraham marries Keturah, by whom he has several 
children 

Shem dies, the son of Noah, 500 years after the birth 
of Arphaxad 

Rebekah continuing barren nineteen years, Isaac in- 
tercedes for her, and she obtains the favor of con- 
ception 

Jacob and Esau born, Isaac being 60 years old 

Abraham dies, aged 175 years 

Heber dies, aged 464 years 

Isaac goes to Gerar. God renews with him his prom- 
ises made to Abraham. Isaac covenants with 
Abimelech, king of Gerar 

Esau marries Canaanitish women 

The deluge of Ogyges in Attica, 2020 years before 
the first Olympiad. 

Ishmael dies, the eldest son of Abraham, aged 137 
years 

Isaac blesses Jacob instead of Esau. Jacob withdraws 
into Mesopotamia, to his uncle Laban. Here he 
marries Leah, and afterwards Rachel 



Gen. xii. 1 — 6 ; Acts vii. 
4, 5 ; Heb. xi. 8. 



xii. 9 — xiii. 11. 
xiv. 1 — 4. 



xiv. 5 — 16. 

— 18—20 ; Heb. 
vii. 1—11. 

xv. ; Acts vii. 6 ; 
Gal. iii. 17. 

xvi. 1—3. 

— 15,16. 



xvii. 1—22. 

— 10—14, 23—27. 

■ xviii. 1 — 15 ; 
Heb. xiii. 2. 

xviii. 16— xix. 38 ; 
2 Pet. ii. 6— 8. 

xx. 1. 



■ xxi. 1—21. 

— 22—34. 
•xxii.2— 19. 
• xxiii. 



xxiv. 

xxv. 1 — 4. 
xi. 10, 11. 



xxv. 21—23. 

- — 24—26. 
— 7—11. 

- xi. 17. 



xxvi. 1 — 31. 
— 34, 35. 



xxv. 17, 18. 
xxvii. — xxix. 28. 



950 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Year ot Ibe 

World. 



Calmel. Hales. 



2246 
2247 
2248 
2249 
2259 

2265 



2273 



2276 



2286 



2287 

2288 
2289 



2290 
2291 
2296 

2297 

2298 



2300 

2301 
2302 

2302 



2315 



2369 



2385 
2427 



2430 
2433 



3496 
3498 
3500 
.-{501 
350-2 



3522 
352ti 



3511 



35311 



3565 

3619 

3683 

3074 

3686 
3689 



Year U.'ore 
Chriil. 



Calmcl. HaleB. 



1754 
1753 
1752 
1751 
1741 

1735 



1727 



1724 



1714 



1713 

1712 
17 11 



1710 
1709 
1704 

170.3 

1702 



1700 

1669 
1698 

1698 



1695 



1631 



1615 
1573 



1570 
1567 



1915 
1913 
1911 
1910 
1902 



1889 
1—5 



1 89! i 



1872 



1846 

1792 

1728 

2337 

1725 
1722 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



Reuben born, son of Jacob and Leah 

Simoon born, son of Leah 

Levi born, son of Leah 

Judah born, son of Leah 

Joseph horn, son of Jacob and Rachel, Jacob being 
90 years old 

Jacob resolves to return to his parents in Canaan. 
Laban pursues him, and overtakes him on mount 
Gilead. Esau comes to meet him, and receives him 
w iih much affection. Jacob arrives at Shechem. . 

Dinah, Jacob's daughter, ravished by Shechem, son 
of Hamor. Dinah's brothers revenge this affront 
by the death of the Shechemites 

Benjamin born, son of Rachel 

Joseph, being seventeen years old, tells his father, 
Jacob, of bis brothers' faults; they hate him, and 
sell him to strangers, who take him into Egypt. 

Joseph sold there as a slave to Potiphar 

About this time Judah marries ■ the daughter of 
Shuah, a Canaanite, by whom he lias Er, Onan 
and Shclah 

Joseph, tempted by the wife of his master Potiphar, 
refuses her; is put in prison 

The shepherds, expelled from Egypt, settle in Pales- 
tine. 

Joseph explains the dreams of the two officers of 
Pharaoh 

Isaac dies, aged 180 years 

Pharaoh's dreams explained by Joseph ; Joseph is 
made governor of Egypt 

The beginning of the seven years of plenty foretold 
by Joseph 

Manasseh born, son of Joseph 

Ephraim born, second son of Joseph 

The beginning of the seven years of scarcity, fore- 
told by Joseph 

Joseph's ten brethren resort to Egypt to buy corn. 
Joseph imprisons Simeon 

Joseph's brethren return into Egypt, with their 
brother Benjamin. Joseph discovers himself, and 
engages them to settle in Egypt with their father, 
Jacob, then 130 years old 

Joseph gets all the money of Egypt into the king's 
treasury 

Joseph gets all the cattle of Egypt for the king 

The Egyptians sell their lands and liberties to Pha- 
raoh 

The end of the seven years of scarcity. Joseph re- 
turns the Egyptians their cattle and their lands, on 
condition that they pay the king the fifth part of 
the produce 

Jacob's last sickness; he adopts Ephraim and Ma- 
nasseh ; foretells the character of all his sons ; de- 
sires to be buried with his fathers. Dies, aged 147 
years 

Joseph dies, asred 110 years. He foretells the depart- 
ure of the Israelites from Egypt, and desires his 
bones maybe taken with them into Canaan 

Levi dies, aged 137 years 

A new king in Egypt, who knew neither Joseph nor 
his services. He oppresses the Israelites 

About this time lived Job, famous for his wisdom, 
virtue and patience 

Aaron born, son of Ami-am and Jochebed . . . '. 

Moses born, brother to Aaron ; is exposed on the banks 




xxx. 22—24. 



xxx. 25 — xxxiii. 20. 



xxxiv. 

xxxv. 16 — 18. 



xxxvii. 3 — 36. 



3d. 

xxxv. 28, 29. 
xli. 1-^6 ; 
Psalm cv.17— 21. 

xli. 47—49. 

— 50, 51. 

— 52. 

— 53—57. 
xlii. 



xliii. — xlv. 

Psalm cv. 17—23. 

Gen. xlvii. 14. 
15—17. 



18—22. 



23—26. 



28— xlix. 33. 

1. 24—26 ; Heb. xi. 

22. 

Test, of 12 patriarchs. 

Exod, i. 8—22. 

Book of Job. 
Exod. vi. 20. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



95 



I 



3723 



3763 



1527 



1487 



1688 



1648 



3764 



1647 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



of the Nile ; is found by Pharaoh's daughter, who 
adopts him '. 

Moses goes to visit his brethren ; kills an Egyptian ; 
being informed that Pharaoh knows of it, he retires 
into Midian ; marries Zipporah, daughter of Je- 
thro ; has two sons by her, Gershom and Eliezer. 

The Lord appears to Moses in a burning bush, whi-le 
feeding his father-in-law's flock ; sends him to 
Egypt to deliver Israel 

Moses returns into Egypt. His brother Aaron comes 
to meet him, to mount Horeb. The two brothers 
announce to Pharaoh the commands of the Lord; 
Pharaoh refuses to set Israel at liberty ; but loads 
them with new burdens. Moses performs several 
miracles in his presence ; these failing to convince 
the king, his people suffer several plagues 

1. Plague. Water changed into blood ; about the 
18th of 6th month 

2. Plague. Frogs ; 25th of 6th month 

3. Plague. Gnats or lice; 27th of 6th month 

4. Flies of all sorts; about the 28th and 29th of 6th 
month 

5. Murrain on the cattle; about the 1st of 7th month. 

6. Boils ; about the 3d of 7th month 

7. Hail,thunderandnrefromheaveii, v. amonth 

8. Locusts; 7th of 7th month 

9. Darkness; 10th of 7th month 

On this day Moses appoints that this month in future 

should be the lstmonth,accordingtothesacredstyle. 
Orders the passover,and sets apart the paschal lamb, 
which was to be sacrificed four days afterwards. . 

10. Death of the first-born of the Egyptians, in the 
night of the 14th or 15th of Abib 

This same night, the Israelites celebrate the first 
passover ; and Pharaoh expels them from Egypt. 
Israel departs from Rameses to Succoth 

From Succoth to Etham 

From Etham they turned south, and encamped atPi- 
hahiroth ; between Migdol and the sea, over against 
Baal-zephon 

Pharaoh pursues Israel with his army, and overtakes 
them at Pi-hahiroth : God gives the Hebrews a 
pillar of cloud to guide and protect them. The 
waters divided. Israel goes through on dry ground. 
The Egyptians are drowned; 21st of the first month. 

Moses, having passed the sea, is now in the wilderness 
of Etham ; after marching three days in the desert, 
Israel arrives at Marah, where Moses sweetens the 
water. From Marah they come to Elim. From 
Elini to the Red sea; then into the desert of Sin, 
where God sends manna ; from thence to Dophcah, 
Alush and Rephidim, where Moses obtains water 
from a rock ; 2d month 

About this place the Amalekites slay those who could 
not keep up with the body of Israel. Moses sends 
Joshua against them, while he himself goes to a 
mountain, and lifts up his hands in prayer 

On the third day of the third month, after their de- 
parture from Egypt, Israel comes to the foot of 
mount Sinai, where they encamp above a year — 

Moses goes up the mountain ; God offers a covenant 
to Israel 

Moses comes down from the mountain, and reports to 



Exod. ii. 1—10; 
Heb. xi. 23. 

11—22 •, 

Ex. xviii. 3, 4. 
Heb. xi. 24—26. 



iii. — iv. 19. 



iv. 20— xii. 29. 

vii. 17—25 

viii. 1 — 14. 

— 15—19. 

— 20—32 

ix. 1—7. 

— 8—12 

— 18—35. 

x. 3—19. 

— 21—23. 



— XII. 

xi. 4—3 ; xii. 29- 

33. 

— xii. 21—33 ; 
Heb. xi. 27, 28. 

37—39 ; 

Numb, xxxiii. 1 — 6. 

— xiii. 17—22 ; 
Numb, xxxiii. 6. 

— xiv. 1—19; 
Numb, xxxiii. 7. 



xiv. 19—31 ; 

Heb. xi. 29. 
xv. 22—26. 

27; 

Numb, xxxiii. 9, 10. 
xvi. 1 — xvii. 7 ; 

Numb, xxxiii. 10, 11. 

Numb, xxxiii. 12 — 14. 



Exod. xvii. 8 — 16. 

xix. 1, 2 ; 

Numb, xxxiii. 15. 

Exod. xix. 3 — 6. 



952 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Calmer. Hales. 



2513 



3764 



2514 



Year before 
Christ. 



Calmet. Ha'es. 



1487 



1647 



1486 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



Exod. xix. 7, 8. 
_ 9—15. 



— 16- 



xx. 18—21. 



21— x 



the people what the Lord had proposed. The people 

declare their readiness to enter into this covenant. 
Moses again ascends the mountain ; God orders him to 

bid the people prepare themselves to receive his law. 
On the third day after that notice, the glory of God 

appears on the mountain, accompanied by sound of 

trumpet and thunder. IMoses star ions the people at 

the foot of mount Sinai ; he alone goes up the moun- 
tain. God directs him to forbid the people to ascend, 

lest they should sutler death. Moses goes down 

and declares these orders to the people. He then 

ascends again, and receives the decalogue 

He returns, and proposes to the people what he had 

received from the Lord. The people consent, and 

covenant on the terms proposed 

Moses goes again up the mountain ; God gives him 
several judiciary precepts of civil polity. At his 

return, he erects twelve altars at the foot of the 

mountain, causes victims to be sacrificed to ratify 
the covenant, and sprinkles with the blood of the 
sacrifices the hook that contained the conditions of 
the covenant. He also sprinkles the people, who 

promise obedience and fidelity to the Lord 

Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of 

[srai I, up iIh- mountain, ami see the glory of 
the Lord. They come down the same day ; but 
Moses, and his servant Joshua, stay there six days 
longer. The seventh day the Lord calls Moses, and 
during forty days shows him all that concerned his 
tabernacle, the ceremonies of sacrifice, and other 

things 

After these forty days, God gives Moses the deca- 
logue, written on two tables of stone, and bids 
him hasten down, I pecan se Israel had made a golden 

calf, and was worshipping it 

Moses comes down, and finding the people dancing 
about their golden calf, he throws the tables of 
stone on the ground, and breaks them. Coming 
into the camp, he destroys the calf; slays by the 
sword of the Levites, three thousand Israel- 
ites, who had worshipped this idol 

The day follow ing, .Moses again goes up the moun- 
tain, and, by his entreaties, obtains from God the 
pardon of his people. God orders him to prepare 
new tables for the law ; and promises not to for- 
sake Israel 

Moses comes down and prepares new tables ; goes 
up again the day following ; God shows him his 
glory. He continues again forty days and forty 
nights on the mountain, and God writes a second 

time his law on the tables of stone 

After forty days, Moses comes down, not knowing 
that his face shines with glory. He puts a veil 
over his face, discourses to the people, and proposes 
to erect a tabernacle to the Lord ; to accomplish 
this, he taxes each Israelite at half a shekel. This 
occasions a numbering of the people, who amount 
to 603,550 men. He appoints Bezaleel and Aho- 

liab to oversee the work of the tabernacle 

Construction of the tabernacle, on the first day of the 
first month of the second year, after the exodus. . . 
A second numbering of the people, the first day of 

the second month Numb. i. 1 — 46. 

Consecration of the tabernacle, the altars and the 

priests, the fifth day of the second month Lev. viii. 1 — ix. 24. 



17. 



xxiv. 9 — xxxi. 18. 



xxxii. 1 — 14. 



15—30 



31 — xxxiv. 3. 



xxxiv. 4 — 28. 



29 — xxxv. 35. 

xxxvi. 1 — xl. 33. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



953 



Year of the 
World. 



Calmet. Hates. 



2514 



3764 



1486 1647 



2515 



1485 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



The Levites numbered by themselves ; they are con- 
secrated to the service of the tabernacle, instead of 
ft. j first-born of Israel 

On the eighth day after the consecration of the taber- 
nacle, the princes of the tribes, each on his day, 
offer their presents to the tabernacle 

Jethro comes to the camp, a few days before the de- 
parture of Israel from Sinai 

On the twentieth day of the second month, (May,) 
the Israelites decamp from Sinai, and come to 
Taberah, or Burning ; from thence to Kibroth- 
hattaavah, or the Graves of Lust, three days' jour- 
ney from mount Sinai 

Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp 

Quails sent 



Israel arrives at Hazeroth ; Aaron and Miriam mur- 
mur against Moses, because of his wife. Miriam 
continues seven days without the camp 

Israel comes to Rithmah, in the wilderness of Paran ; 
thence to Kadesh-bamea ; from whence they send 
twelve chosen men, one out of each tribe, to ex- 
amine the land of Canaan 

After forty days these men return to Kadesh-barnea, 
and exasperate the people, saying that this country 
devoured its inhabitants, and that they were not 
able to conquer it. Caleb and Joshua withstand 
them ; the people mutiny : God swears that none 
of the murmurers should enter the land, but be 
consumed in the desert. The people resolve on 
entering Canaan, but are repelled by the Amalek- 
ites and the Canaanites 

Continue a long while at Kadesh-barnea. From? 
hence they journey to the Red sea $ 



Names of the several Stations. 



Rameses. 27. 

Succoth. 28. 

Etham. 29. 

Baal-zephon. 30. 

Desert of Etham. 31. 

Marah. 32. 

Elim. 33. 

Coast of Red sea. 34. 

Desert of Sin. 35. 

Dophcah. 36. 

Alush. 37. 

Rephidim. 38. 

Sinai. 39. 

Taberah. 40. 

Ki broth -hattaavah. 41. 

Hazeroth. 42. 

Rithmah. 43. 

Rimmon-Parez. 44. 

Libnah. 45. 

Rissah. 46. 

Kehelathah. 47. 

Mount Shapher. 48. 

Haradah. 49. 

Makheloth. 50. 

Tahath. 51. 
Tarah. (But see ui.aer th 



Mithcah. 
Hathmonah. 
Moseroth. 
Bene-jaakan. 
Hor-Hagidgad. 
Jotbathah. 
Ebronah. 
Ezion-gaber. 
Moseroth. 
Kadesh. 
Mount Hor. 
Zalmonah. 
Pun on. 
Oboth. 
Ije-abarim. 
Valley of Zared. 
Bamoth Anion. 
Beer. 
Muttanah. 
Nahaliel. 
Dibon-ga'd. 
Almon-diblathaim. 
Mount Pisgah. 
Kedemoth. 
Abel-shittim. 
e article Exodus, p. 420.) 



Numb. i. 47— 53; hi. 
iv. 49 ; viii. 



Numb. x. 11 — xi. 34; 

xxxiii. 16. 

xi. 26, 27. 

31, 32 ; Ex. xvi. 

13 ; Ps. lxxviii. 

26—29; cv.40. 

35— xii. 15; 

xxxiii. 17. 



xii. 16 — xiii. 20 ; 
xxxiii. 18. 



Probably at the encampment of Kadesh-barnea, j 



xiii. 21 — xiv. 45. 
xv. — six. 

Dr-u. i. 46 , ii. 1. 



120 



J54 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Year befiin- 
Chi nl 



Calmel. II. .. 



2552 



3802 



1448 



1609 



2.->53 



1447 



3803 



1608 



2554 
2559 

2560 



3804 
3809 



3815 



1446 
1441 

1440 



1607 
1602 



1596 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



happened the sedition of Korah, Dathan and 
Abiram 

After wandering in the deserts of Arabia- Petrrea i *id 
Iiluinea thirty-seven years, they return to Mose- 
roth, near.Kadesh-barnea, in the thirty-ninth year 
after the exodus 

Moses sends ambassadors to the king of Edom, to 
desire passage through his territories; he refuses. 

The Israelites arrive at Kadesh. Miriam dies, aged 
130 years 

The Israelites murmur for want of water. Moses 
brings it from the rock ; but he, as well as Aaron, 
havinir shown some distrust, God forbids their en- 
trance into the Land of Promise 

From Kadesh they proceeded to mount Hor, where 
Aaron dies, aged 123 years; the first day of the 
filth month 

King Arad attacks Israel, and takes several 
captives 

From mount Hor they come to Zalmonah, where 
Moses raises the brazen serpent. Others think 
this happened at Punon 

Sihon, kill LT of the Amontes, refuses the Israelites a 
pas-age through his dominions. Moses attacks him, 
and conquers his country 

Og, king of Bashan, attacks Israel, but is de- 
feated 

Israel encamps in the plains of Moab 

Balak, king of Moab, sends for Balaam 

Israel seduced to fornication, and to the idolatry ? 

ofBaal-Peor \ 

The people punished for their sin 

War against the Midianites 

Distribution of the countries of Sihon and Og, to the 

tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of 

Manasseh 

Moses renews the covenant of Israel with the 

Lord 

Moses dies, being 120 years old, in the twelfth month 

of the holy year 

Joshua succeeds him ; sends spies to Jericho in the 

first month (March) 

The people pass the Jordan, the 10th of the first month 
The day following Joshua restores circumcision. — 
The first passover, after passing the Jordan ; the 15th 

of the first month 

Manna ceases 

Jericho taken. 

Israel comes to mount Ebal to erect an altar, pur- ? 

suant to the order of Moses ) 

The Gibeonites make a league with Joshua 

War of the five kings against Gibeon. Joshua de- 
feats them; the sun and moon stayed 

War of Joshua against the kings of Canaan. These 

wars occupy six years 

Joshua divides the conquered country among Ju- 

dah, Ephraim, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 
He gives Caleb the portion that the Lord had prom 

ised him, and assists him in conquering it 

The ark and the tabernacle fixed at Shiloh, in the 

tribe of Ephraim 

Joshua distributes the country to Benjamin, Simeon, 



Numb. xv. — xix. 

xxxiii. 19—30. 

xx. 14—21. 

1 ; xxxiii. 36. 

2—13. 

22—29 ; xxxiii. 

37—39. 
xxi. 1 — 3 ; xxxiii. 

40. 



4 — 9 ; xxxiii. 41. 

23— 31; Petit, ii. 

26—37. 
33—35; Petit. 

iii. 1—11. 
xxii. 1 — 4 ; xxxiii. 

48. 

5 — xxiv. 25 ; 

Pent, xxiii. 4, 5. 

xxv. 1 — 3 ; Ps. cvi. 

28,29;lCor.x. 8. 
4 — 15 ; Peut. 

iv. 3. 

16 — 18 ; xxxi. 

xxxii. Peut. iii. 12 

—22. 

xxxiii. 50 — xxxv ; 

Peut. i. — xxxiii. 

Peut. xxxiv. 

Josh. i. ii. 
iii. 

iv._v. 2—9. 

v. 10, 11. 

12. 

vi. 20—27. 

viii. 30—35 ; Peut. 

xxvii. 
ix. 6—15. 

x. 1—27. 

28— xi. 23. 

xv. 1—13, 20 ; xvi. 

xvii. 

xv. 7—15. 

xviii. 1. 

— 11— xix. 49. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



955 



Year of the 
World. 


Year before 
Christ. 


Calmct. 


Hales. 


Calmet. 


Hales. 


2560 


3815 


1440 


1596 


2561 




1439 




2591 


3839 


1409 


1572 


2599 


3847 


1401 


1564 


2661 


3887 


1339 


1524 


2679 


3905 


1321 


1506 


2699 

to 
2719 
2752 
2759 


3985 

4006 
4045 
4052 


1281 

1248 
1241 


1426 

1406 
1366 
1359 


2768 


4092 


1232 


1319 


2771 
2772 


4095 


1229 
1228 


1316 


2795 


4118 


1205 


1293 


2799 


4140 


1201 


1271 


2817 
2820 


4158 


1183 
1180 


1253 


2823 
2830 
2840 
2848 


4164 
4171 
4181 
4229 


1177 
1170 
1160 
1152 


1247 
1240 
1230 
1182 


2849 


4189 
4209 


1151 


1222 
1202 


2861 
2867 
2868 
2867 

to 
2887 


4259 


1139 
1133 
1132 
1113 


1152 


2888 


4269 


1112 


1142 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Dan. Re- 
ceives his own portion at Titrinath-serah, on the 
mountain of Gahash 

Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, return 
beyond Jordan 

Joshua renews the covenant between the Lord and 
the Israelites 

Joshua dies, aged 110 years 

After his death, the elders govern about eighteen or 
twenty years ; during which time happen the wars 
of Judah with Adoni-bezek 

Anarchy; during which some of the tribe of Dan 
conquer the city of Laish. 

In this interval happened the story of Micah,and the 
idolatry occasioned by his ephod. 

Also, the war of the twelve tribes against Benjamin, 
to revenge the outrage committed on the wife of a 
Levite. 

The Lord sends prophets, in vain, to reclaim the He- 
brews. He permits, therefore, that they should fall 
into slavery 

Servitude of the Israelites, under Cushan-Risha- 
thaim, king of Mesopotamia, eight years. 

Othniel delivers them ; defeats Cushan-Rishathaim ; 
judges the people forty years 

Second servitude, under Eglon, king of Moab, about 
sixty-two years after the peace of Othniel 

Ehud delivers them, after about twenty years 

Third servitude of the Israelites, under the Philistines. 
Shamgar delivers them ; year uncertain 

Fourth servitude, under Jabin, king of Hazor. 
Deborah and Barak deliver them, after twenty 
years 

Fifth servitude under the Midianites 

Gideon delivers Israel. He governs them nine years, 
from 2759 to 2768 

Abimelech, son of Gideon, procures himself to be 
made king of Shechem 

Abimelech killed, after three years 

Tola, judge of Israel, after Abimelech ; governs 
twenty-three years 

Jair judges Israel, chiefly beyond Jordan; governs 
twenty-two years 

Sixth servitude under the Philistines and the Am- 
monites 

Jephthah delivers the Israelites beyond Jordan 

The city of Troy taken, 408 years before the first 
Olympiad. 

Jephthah dies, Ibzan succeeds him 

Ibzan dies, Elon succeeds him 

Elon dies, Abdon succeeds him 

Abdon dies. The high-priest Eli succeeds as judge ) 
of Israel $ 

Seventh servitude under the Philistines, forty years 

Samuel born 

Under his judicature God raises Samson, born 2849. 

God begins to manifest himself to Samuel 

Samson marries at Timnath 

Samson burns the ripe corn of the Philistines 

Samson delivered to the Philistines by Delilah ; kills 
himself under the ruins of the temple of Dagon, 
with a" great multitude of Philistines. He defended 
Israel twenty years 

War between the Philistines and Israel. The ark 
of the Lord taken by the Philistines. Death 



Josh. xix. 49 — 51. 

xxii. 1—9. 

xxiii. — xxiv. 28. 

xxiv. 29, 30. 

Judg. i. — iii. 1 — 5; xvii. 
— xxi. 



iii. 1—9. 



— 10, 11. 

— 12—14. 

— 15—30. 

— 31. 



— iv. — v. 

— vi. 1—6. 

7— viii. 32. 

— ix. 1—52. 
53, 54. 

— x. 1, 2. 

3—5. 

6—9. 

10— xii. 6. 



xii. 7 — 9. 

10, 11. 

12, 13. 

15. 

1 Sam. i.— iv. 18. 
Judg. xiii. 1. 
1 Sam. i. 20. 
Judg. xiii. 2, &c. 
1 Sam. iii. 
Judg. xiv. 
xv. 1—5. 



956 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



| Vear of ilie 
World. 



Calmet. Halo. 



2!)08 
2909 



1 2919 
2930 

a 1 1 1 

2942 

2943 
2944 



2915 
2946 
2947 



4289 



4301 



1303 



1805 
1311 



1337 



2949 



2951 
2956 



2957 
2958 
2959 

2960 



4340 



4341 



4348 
4350 
4351 

4356 



Year before 
Olrnl. 



Calmet. Hales. 



1092 
1091 



1089 



1081 
1070 
1059 
1058 

1057 
1056 



1055 
1054 
1053 



1051 



1049 
1044 



1043 
1042 
1041 

1040 



1122 



1110 



1108 



1106 
1100 



1074 



1071 



1070 



1063 
1061 
1060 

1055 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



of the high-priest Eli. He governed Israel forty 
years 

The Philistines send hack the ark with presents. It 
is deposited at Kirjath-jearim. Samuel acknowl- 
edged chief and judge of Israel, 39 or 40 years. . . 

Victory of the Israelites over the Philistines 

The Israelites ask a king of Samuel 

Saul is appointed king, and consecrated in an assem- 
bly of the people at Mizpeh He reigned forty 
years 

Saul delivers Jabesh-gilead 

War of the Philistines against Saul 

Saul, not having obeyed Samuel's orders, is rejected 
of God 

Victory obtained by Jonathan over the Philistines.. 

Birth of David, son of Jesse. 

War of Saul against the Amalekites 

Samuel sent by God to Bethlehem to anoint David. 

War of the Philistines against the Israelites. David 
kills Goliath 

Saul, u rired by jealousy, endeavors to slay David. . . . 

David retires to Achish, king of Gath ; withdraws 
into the land of Moah 

Saul slays Abimelech, and other priests. Abiathar 
escapes to David 

David delivers Keilali, hesiesred by the Philistines.. 

David flies into the w ilderness of Ziph. Saul pursues 
him, but is obliged to return suddenly, on the news 
of an irruption of the Philistines 

David withdraws to about En-gedi. He spares Saul, 
who had entered alone the cave where David and 
his men were concealed 

Samuel dies, aged 98 years. He had judged Israel 
twenty-one years before the reign of Saul. He 
lived thirty-eight years afterwards 

David retires into the wilderness of Paran. The his- 
tory of Xabal. David marries Abigail. Comes into 
the desert of Ziph , enters by night the tent of Saul, 
and takes away his lance and cruse of water. 
Withdraws to Achish, king of Gath, who assigns 
him Ziklag. Here he abides a year and four months 

War of the Philistines against Saul. Saul consults 
the witch of Endor. He loses the battle, and kills 
himself. 

The Amalekites pillage Ziklag; David recovers the 
plunder and captives 

Ishbosheth, son of Saul, acknowledged king; reigns 
at Mahanaim beyond Jordan 

David acknowledged king by Judah, is consecrated 
a second time. Reigns at Hebron 

War between Ishbosheth and David, four or five years 

Abner quits Ishbosheth ; resorts to David ; is treach- 
erously slain by Joab 

Ishbosheth assassinated 

David acknowledged king over all Israel ; conse- ) 
crated a third time at Hebron \ 

Jerusalem taken from the Jebusites by David, who ) 
makes it the royal city . . \ 

War of the Philistines against David. He beats ( 
them at Baal-perazim $ 

David brings the ark from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusa- 
lem ; commits it to Abinadab. After three months, 
David brings it to his own palace 

David designs to build a temple to the Lord ; is di- 
verted from it by the prophet Nathan 



1 Sam. iv. 1 — 18. 



v.— vii. 1—6, 15 
—17. 

vii. 7 — 14. 

viii. 5—22. 
ix. 



Acts xiii. 21. 
1 Sam. xi. 
xiii. 5 — 8. 



9—14. 



■ xv. 

■ xvi. 1—13. 

• xvii. 

• xviii. 8 — xix. 17. 

• xix. 18 — xxii. 4. 

• xxii. 9—23. 

■ xxiii. 1 — 6. 



14—28. 



29— xxiv. 1 
—22. 



XXV. 1. 

1 — xxvii.12. 



1 Chron. xii. 1—22. 

1 Sam. xxviii. xxxi. 
1 Chron. x. 

1 Sam. xxx. 

2 Sam. ii. 8—11. 



1—7. 
13— iii. 1. 



iii. 12—39. 
iv. 

v. 1 — 5; 1 Chron. 
xi. 1—3. 

— 6— 10; IChr. 

xi. 4—9. 
— 17— 20; IChr. 

xiv. 11. 

vi. 1 Chron. xiii. 
5 — 14; xv. xvi. 

vii. 1 Chron. xvii. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



957 



2960 4356 



2967 



2968 
2969 



2970 



2971 
2972 
2974 
2977 
2979 
2981 



2183 
2987 

2988 

2989 
29F0 



4359 



4361 



4375 



4379 



4381 



1040 



1033 

1032 
1031 



1030 



1055 



1052 



1029 
1028 
1026 
1023 
1021 
1019 



1017 
1013 
1012 

1011 
1010 



1050 



1036 



1032 



1030 



2991 



2992 



3000 
3001 



3012 

3026 
3029 



4384 
4391 



1009 



1008 



1000 

999 



1027 
1020 



4420 
4421 



974 
971 



991 
990 



FROM THE CREATION To THE BIRTH OF CHRIST 



David's wars against the Philistines, against Hadacle- 
zer, against Damascus, and against Idumea ; con- 
tinued about six years 

David's war against the king of the Ammonites, who 
had insulted his ambassadors ; and against the 
Syrians, who had assisted the Ammonites 

Joab besieges Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites. 
David commits adultery with Bathsheba, and 
causes Uriah to be killed. Rabbah taken 

After the birth of the son conceived by the adultery 
of David with Bathsheba, Nathan reproves David : 
his deep repentance 

Solomon born 

Amnon, David's son, ravishes Tamar 

Absalom kills Amnon 

Joab procures Absalom's return 

Absalom received at court, and appears before David. 

Absalom's rebellion against David . 

Absalom killed by Joab 

Sedition of Sheba,the son of Bichri, appeased by Joab. 

Beginning of the famine sent to avenge the death of 
the Gibeouites, unjustly slain by Saul : ended 2986. 

David numbers the people. God gives him the } 
choice of three plagues, by which to be punished. ( 

David prepares for building the temple on mount ( 
Zion, in the threshing floor of Araunah $ 

Rehoboam born, son of Solomon 

Abishag, the Shunamite, given to David 

Adonijah aspires to the kingdom. David causes his 
son Solomon to be crowned. Solomon proclaimed 
king by all Israel 

David dies, aged 70 years ; having reigned seven 
years and a half over Judah at Hebron, and thirty- 
three years over all Israel, at Jerusalem 

Solomon reigns alone, having reigned about six 
months in the life-time of his lather David. He 
reigned forty years 

Adonijah slain 

Abiathar deprived of the office of high-priest. Zadok 
in future enjoys it alone 

Joab slain in the temple 

Solomon marries a daughter of the king of Egypt 

Solomon goestoGibeontoofFersacrifices,and to pray 
to God there. God grants him singular wisdom. 

Solomon gives aremarkablesentencebetween2 women 

Hiram, king of Tyre, congratulates Solomon on his 
accession to the crown; Solomon requires of him 
timber and workmen to assist in building the temple 

Solomon lays the foundation of the temple, 2d day ? 
of the 2d month (May) $ 

Temple of Solomon finished ; being seven years and a 
half in building, and dedicated the year following, 
probably, because of the solemnity of the year of 
Jubilee that then happened 

Solomon finishes the building of his palace, and that 
of his queen, the daughter of Pharaoh 

Visit of the queen of Sheba 

Jeroboam, son of Nebat, rebels against Solomon. 

He flies into Egypt 

Solomon dies 

Rehoboam succeeds him ; alienates the Israelites, and 
occasions the revolt of the ten tribes. Jeroboam, the 
son of Nebat, acknowledged king of the ten tribes 



2 Sam. viii. 1 Chron. 
xviii 

x. 1 Chron. xix. 



xi. xii. 26—31 ; 
1 Chr. xx. 1—3. 



- xii. 1— 25; Ps. li. 

• — 24, 25. 

• xiii. 1—20. 

■ — 22—39. 
-xiv.l— 27. 

. _ 28—33. 

- xv. 1 — xviii. 8. 

■ xviii. 9—33. 

■ xx. 

xxi. 1—14. 

• xxiv. 1 — 16 ; 

1 Chr. xxi. 1—17. 
xxiv. 18—25 ; 



1 Chr. xxi. 18—27. 
1 Kings xiv. 21. 
i. 1—15. 



i. 5—53. 

ii. 1— II; IChi 
xxix. 26—30. 



xi. 42. 
ii. 12—25. 



— 26, 27. 

— 28—34. 
iii. 1. 

— 3— 15; 2 Chi 
i. 3—12. 

— 16—28. 



vi. vii. 2 Chron. 
ii. — iv. 

viii. 2 Chron. v. 
■ — vii. 

ix. 1—10. 

x. 1—10; 2 Chr. 
ix. 1—9. 

xi. 26—40. 

— 41-43; 2 Chr. 
ix. 29—31. 

xii. 1—20 ; 

2 Chron. x. 



958 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



[Kingdoms op 



302! • 
3030 

3032 
3033 

3046 

3047 

3049 

3053 



: Hi:.;. 
3063 
3064 



4421 



4424 
442G 

4438 



I 1 11 



3080 

3087 
3090 

3097 

3106 
3107 

3108 



4482 



971 
970 

968 
967 

954 

953 

951 

947 



945 
937 
936 



920 

913 
910 

903 

894 
893 

892 



990 



987 
985 

973 



970 



929 



3112 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



KINGS OF JUDAH.— 388 Years. 

Rehoboatn intends to subdue the ten tribes, but ? 

forbears ; reigned seventeen years £ 

The priests and Israelites that tear the Lord withdraw 

in great numbers from the kingdom of Israel, into 

that of Judab 

Rehoboam becomes impious 

Shishak, king of Egypt, comes to Jerusalem, plun- ) 

ders the temple and the king ( 

Rehoboam dies. Abjjjam succeeds him; reigns/ 

three years £ 

Abijam's victory over Jeroboam, who loses many 

thousands of his troops 

Abijam dies. Asa succeeds him 

Asa suppresses idolatry in Judab 

Jehoshaphat born, son of Asa 

Asa's \ icti >ry o\ cr /.erah, kiiii: of Ethiopia, or Cush . 

Vsa engagi s Honhadad, king of S\ ria, to make an ir- 
ruption into the territories of the kingdom of Israel, 
to force* Baasha to quit his undertaking at Ramah. 



Jehoram born, son of Jehoshaphat. 
Hesiod, the Greek poet, flourishes. 

Asa, troubled with a lameness in his feet, (probably 
the gout,j places Ins confidence in physicians... 
Asa dies, having reigned 41 years 



Jehoshaphat succeeds Asa ; expels superstitious ) 
worship £ 

Ahaziah born, son of Jehoram and Athaliah, and 
grandson of Jehoshaphat. 



Jehoshaphat nominates his son Jehoram king; makes 
him his viceroy. 

Jehoshaphat accompanies Ahab in his expedition 
against Ramoth-gilead, where he narrowly escapes 
a great danger 

Jehoshaphat equips a fleet for Ophir; Ahaziah, king 
of Israel, participating in his design, the fleet is de- 
stroyed by tempest 

About this time Jehoshaphat is invaded by the Am- 
monites and Moabites, over whom he obtains a 
miraculous victory 

Elijah the prophet removed from this world in a fiery 
chariot 

Jehoshaphat invest* his son Jehoram with the royal 
dignity 



1 Kings xii. 21 — 24 ; xiv. 
21 ; 2 Chr. xi. 1—4. 



2 Chr. xi. 12—17. 

xii. 1. 

2—9. 



1 Kings xiv. 25, 26. 

29— 31;2Chr. 

xii. 15, 16. 



2 Chr. xiii.3— 20. 

- xv. 7—9 ; 2 Chr. 

xiii. 22; xiv. 1. 

- — II— 15;2Chr. 

xiv. 2 — 5 ; xv. 



xxii. 42. 



2 Chron. xiv. 8—15. 

1 Kings xv. 18—20; 

2 Chr. xvi. 2—4. 



23; 2Chrou. 

xvi. 12. 

24 ; 2 Chron. 

xvi. 13, 14. 
24 ; 2 Chron. 

xvii. 1—19 ; 
xx. 31—33. 



— xxii. 1—33; 
2 Chr. xviii. 1—32. 



48; 2 Chr. xx. 
35—37. 



2 Chron. xx. 1—50. 
2 Kings ii. 

viii. 16, 17. 



Israel and Jcdah.] 



OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



959 



Calmet. Hales. 



3029 
3030 



3047 

3050 
3054 

3064 

3074 
3075 

3079 
3080 
3086 



3096 



3103 

3104 
3105 
3106 

3107 



3108 



3109 



4421 



4439 

4443 
4445 



4468 

to 
4469 



4473 



4503 



4504 



4520 



971 
970 



953 

950 
946 

936 

926 
925 

921 
920 
914 



904 



897 

896 
895 
894 

893 



892 



891 



990 



972 

968 
966 



943 
942 



938 
931 



908 
897 



907 



891 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



KINGS OF ISRAEL. — 254 Years. 

Jeroboam, son of Nebat, the first king of Israel ; that 
is, the revolted ten tribes 

Jeroboam, son of Nebat, king of Israel, abolishes the 
worship of the Lord, and sets up the golden calves; 
reigned nineteen yjeare 

Jeroboam overcome by Abijah, who kills 500,000 
men 

Jeroboam dies, Nadab his son succeeds ; reigns two 

years 

Nadab dies, Baasha succeeds him ; reigns twenty 

years , 

Baasha builds Ramah, to hinder Israel from going ) 

to Jerusalem ( 

Ben-hadad, king of Damascus, invades the country / 

of Baasha $ 

Baasha dies, Elah his son succeeds him ; reigns two 

years 

Elah killed by Zimri, who usurps the kingdom seve l 

days 

Omri besieges Zimri in Tirzah ; he burns himself 

in the palace 

Omri prevails over Tibni ; reigns alone in the 31st 

year of Asa 

Omri builds Samaria; makes it the seat of his kingdom 

Omri dies 

Ahab his son succeeds ; reigns 22 years 

The prophet Elijah in the kingdom of Israel. 

He presents himself before Ahab, and slays the false 
prophets of Baal 

Ben-hadad, king of Syria, besieges Samaria ; is forced 

to quit it 

Returns next year; is beaten at Aphek 

Ahab seizes Naboth's vineyard 

Ahab invests his son Ahaziah with royal power ) 

and dignity S 

Ahab wars against Ramoth-gilead ; is killed in/ 

disguise $ 

Ahaziah succeeds; reigns two years 

Ahaziah falls from the platform of his house ; is 

dangerously wounded 

Ahaziah dies; Jehoram his brother succeeds him.. 
He makes war against Moab 

^lisha foretells victory to the army of Israel, and 
procures water in abundance 



1 Kings xii. 20. 



— 26—33; 



2 Chron. xi. 14, 15. 



2 Chron. xiii. 3—20. 

1 Kings xiv. 20 ; xv. 25. 
xv. 27, 28. 



— 17; 2 Chron. 
xvi. 1. 

— 20 ; 2 Chron. 
xvi. 4, 5. 

xvi. 1—8. 

— 9—15. 

— 16—20. 

21—23. 

— 23—27. 

■ — 28. 

— 29. 



xvn. xvni. 



xx. 1—21. 

— 22—34. 
xxi. 

xxii. 40 ; 2 Kings 
i. 1—18. 

— 1 — 40 ; 2 Chr. 
xviii. 

— 40. 



2 Kings i. 2. 

16-18 ; iii. 1-3. 

iii. 4—10. 



11—20. 



J60 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



[Kingdoms of 



Year of the 
World. 



Ctlmct. Hales. 



311; 

3116 
3117 
3118 

3119 

3120 



4507 



4515 
1516 



3126 



3140 
3] 17 



3164 
3165 

3177 
3178 



4522 



156-2 



4591 



3194 



4602 



3221 



Calmel. Hales. 



885 

884 
8a3 
882 

881 



874 



860 
c-53 



836 
835 

823 
822 



806 



779 



904 



896 
895 



889 



849 



820 



809 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE H1IU II OF CHRIST. 



KINGS OF JUDAH.— 388 Years. 

Jehoshapliat dies, having- reigned twenty-five 

years ; Jehoram succeeds 

The Idumeans revolt, and assert their liberty 

Jehoram, at the importunity of his wife, Athaliah, 

introduces into Judah the worship of Baal 

Jehoram smitten of God, with an incurable distemper 

in his bowels 

Jehoram makes his son Ahaziah viceroy, or associate 

in his kingdom. 

Jehoram dies; he reigned four years 

Ahaziah reigns but one year 

Joash, or Jehoash, born. 
Homer, the Greek poet, flourishes. 
Aha/iuh accompanies Jehoram, king of Israel, to the 

siege of Itamoth-gilead 

Ahaziah slain by Jehu 

Athaliah kills all the royal family ; she usurps the 
kingdom. Joash is preserved, and kept secretly 
in the temple six years 

Jehoiada, the high-priest, sets Joash on the throne 
of Judah, and slays Athaliah. Joash reigns forty 
years 

Amaziah born, son of Joash. 

Joash repairs the temple 

Zechariah, the high-priest, son of Jehoiada, killed in 
the temple by order of Joash 

Hazael, king of Syria, wars against Joash 

Hazael returns against Joash ; forces large sums from 
him 

Joash dies, Amaziah succeeds him ; reigns twenty- ) 
nine years £ 

Amaziah wars against Idumea 

Amaziah wars against Joash, king of Israel ; is de- 
feated by him 

Uzziah, or Azariah, born, son of Amaziah. 



Amaziah dies 

Uzziab, or Azariah, succeeds him ; reigns fifty- ) 
two years ( 

In Judah, the prophets Isaiah and Amos, under this 
reign 

Jotham born, son of Uzziah. 



1 Kings xxii. 50; 2Chr. 

xxi. 1. 

2Kingsviii.20;2Chron. 

xxi. 8—10. 
— 18; 2 Chron. 

xxi. 6, 11. 

2 Chron. xxi. 18, 19* 



2 Kings viii. 24—29; 

2 Chr. xxii. 1" 2. 



2 Chron. xxii. 5. 
2 Kings ix. 16—28 ; 

2 Chr. xxii. 8, 9. 



xi. 1—3; 2 Chr. 
xxii. 10—12. 

— 4— 21; 2 Chr. 



xii. 1—16; 2 Chr. 
xxiv. 1 — 14. 



2 Chron. xxiv. 17- 
2 Kings xii. 17. 



-22. 



2 Chron. xxiv. 23, 24. 
2 Kings xii. 19—21 ; xiv. 
1,2. 

xiv. 7 ; 2 Chron. 

xxv. 11, 12. 

8—15 ; 2 Chr. 

xxv. 17—24. 



17—20 ; 



2 Chr. xxv. 27, 28. 



xv. 1,2; 2 Chron. 
xxvi. 1 — 21. 



Isaiah i. 1 ; Amos i. 1. 



odah and Israel.] 



OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



961 



3119 



3120 



4526 



881 



885 



3148 

3165 
3168 

3178 
3181 



4561 
4579 



852 

835 
832 

822 
819 



867 

850 
832 

834 



3222 



4618 



778 



793 



of Je- 
robo- 
am II. 
Zacha- 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



KINGS OF ISRAEL. — 254 Years. 



Samaria besieged by Ben-hadad, king of Syria. Ben- 
hadad and his army, seized with a panic fear, flee 
in the night 

Elisha, going to Damascus, foretells the death of 
Ben-hadad, and the reign of Hazael 

Jehoram marches with Ahaziah against Ramoth- 
gilead ; is dangerously wounded, and carried to 
Jezreel 

Jehu rebels against Jehoram ; kills him. Jehu reigns 
twenty-eight years 



Jehu dies ; his son, Jehoahaz, succeeds him ; reigns ? 
seventeen years $ 

Jehoahaz dies; Joash, or Jehoash, succeeds him.. . . 

Elisha dies about this time 

Hazael, king of Syria, dies ; Ben-hadad succeeds him. 
Joash wars against Ben-hadad 

Joash obtains a great victory over Amaziah, king of 
Judah 

Joash dies ; Jeroboam II. succeeds him ; reigns forty- 
one years 

The prophets Jonah, Hosea and Amos, in Israel, 
under this reign 



Jeroboam II. dies ; Zachariah his son succeeds him ; } 
reigns six months ; or perhaps ten years £ 

The chronology of this reign is perplexed. 2 Kings 
xv. 8, 12, places the death of Zachariah in the 38th 
year of Uzziah, allowing him a reign of but six 
months. Yet, reckoning what time remains to the 
end of the kingdom of Israel, we must either admit 
an interregnum of nine or eleven years, between 
Jeroboam II. and Zachariah, as Usher does ; or 



2 Kings vi. 24. — vii. 7. 
viii. 7—13. 



• — 28, 29. 
ix. 14.— x. 36. 



x. 35, 36 ; xiii. 
1—8. 



xiii. 9, 10. 

— 14—21. 

— 24. 

— 25. 



xiv. 8—14. 

— 15,16,23,24, 
27. 

— 25 ; Hos. i. 1 ; 
Amosi. 1. 



— 28, 29; xv. 
8, 9. 



121 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



[Kingdoms or 



Calmel. Hales. 



3246 



3252 



4G54 



754 



748 



757 



3261 
3262 



3263 
3264 



4670 



739 
738 



737 
736 



741 



3277 
3278 



4686 



723 
722 



725 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



KINGS OF JUDAIL— 388 Years. 



Uzziah dies; Jotham, his son, succeeds; reigns 

sixteen years 

l-ai.ili sees tlir L r lor\ lit" ihi- Lord 

Isaiah and Hosea continue to prophesy. 
Hezekiah horn, son of Jotham. 



Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, in- 
vade Judah 

Jotham dies; Ahaz succeeds him; reigns sixteen 
years 

Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, ) 
continue hostilities against Judah $ 

Isaiah foretells to Ahaz the birth of the Messiah, and 
a speedy deliverance from the two kings his ene- 
mies. Nevertheless, the year following, they re- 
turn and spoil his country 

The Idumeans and Philistines also invade Judah. . . 

Ahaz invites to his assistance Tiglath-pileser, king ) 
of Assyria, and submits to pay him tribute \ 



Ahaz remits the royal authority to his son Hezekiah. 
Ahaz, king of Judah, dies 



2 Kings xv. 6, 7 ; 2Chr. 

xxvi. 22, 23. 
Is. vi. John xii. 39—41. 



2 Kings xv. 37. 
38 ; xvi. 1, 2. 



5 ; 2 Chron. 
xxviii. 



Isaiah vii. — ix. 
2 Chron. xxviii. 



16—18. 



2Kingsxvi.7,8;2Chr. 

xxviii. 16. 



19, 20;2Chr. 
xxviii. 27. 



Judah and Israel.] 



OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



963 



4640 



3232 
3233 



3243 
3245 



4641 



4651 
4653 



768 



767 



757 
755 



771 



770 



760 
758 



3254 
3257 



4701 
4704 

4664 



746 
743 



710 
707 

747 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



3264 

3265 
3274 
3276 



4673 
4675 

4683 
4687 



736 

735 
726 
724 



738 
736 

728 
724 



KINGS OF ISRAEL. — 254 Years. 

we must suppose Jeroboam II. reigned five years ; 
or that his reign did not begin till 3191, and ended 
in 3232, which is the year of the death of Zacha- 
riah. 

Zachariah killed by Shallum, after reigning six 
months 

Shallum reigns one month; is killed by Menahem, 
who reigns ten years 

Pul, king of Assyria, invades Israel ; Menahem be- 
comes tributary to him 

Menahem dies ; Pekaiah, his son, succeeds 

Pekaiah assassinated by Pekah, son of Remaliah, 
who reigns twenty-eight years. The text allows 
20 years only ; but we must read 28 years. Syn- 
cellus says (p. 202.) it was 28 years, in a copy 
quoted by Basil. And indeed, his reign began in 
the 52d of Azariah, (2 Kings xv. 27.) and ended in 
the 12th of Ahaz, (2 Kings xvii. 1.) which includes 
28 years 



Arbaces, governor of Media, and Belesus, governor } 
of Babylonia, besiege f ardanapalus, king of As- > 
syria, in Nineveh } 

After a siege of three years, Sardanapalus burns him- 
self in his palace, with all his riches. Arbaces is 
acknowledged king of Media, and Belesus king of 
Babylonia 

Belesus, otherwise Baladan, or Nabonassar, founds 
the Babylonian empire. This famous epoch of 
Nabonassar, falls 743 years before Christ; 747 
before A. D 

Ninus junior, called in Scripture Tiglath-pileser, suc- 
cessor of Sardanapalus, continues the Assyrian em- 
pire, but reduced into very narrow limits. Reigned 
nineteen years ; according to others, thirty years. 



Tiglath-pileser defeats and slays Reziu, king of? 
Damascus $ 

Enters the land of Israel, takes many cities and cap- 
tives ; chiefly from Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe 
of Manasseh. The first capti vity of Israel 

Hoshea, son of Elah, slays Pekah, and usurps the 
kingdom 

Reigns peaceably the 12th year of Ahaz ; reigns nine 
years 

Shalmaneser succeeds Tiglath-pileser, king r t' ) 
Nineveh S 



2 Kings xv. 10—12. 
13—17. 



— 19—21. 

— 22—26. 



xv. 25—28. 



Diod. Sic. lib. ii. 
Athenseus, lib. xii. 
Herod, lib. i. 



Justin, lib. i. c. 3. 



Nic. Dam. in Eclog. 
Vales, p. 426, &c. 



2 Kings xv. 29 ; xvi. 7. 
Euseb. Chron. p. 46. 



- xvi. 5 — 9 ; Amos 

i. 5. 

-xv. 29; 1 Chron. 
v.26. 

- — 30, 31. 



xvii. 1. 

Castor, ap. Euseb. 
Chron. p. 46. 



964 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



[Kingdoms or 



3278 
3279 



Acer, 



722 
721 



725 



3290 
3291 



4700 



4701 



710 

709 



711 



710 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



KINGS OF JUDAH.-^388 Years. 

Hezekiah restores the worship of the Lord in Judah, ) 
which Ahaz had subverted $ 

First-fruits and tythes again gathered into the temple, 
for maintenance of the priests and ministers 



Hezekiah revolts from the Assyrians ; makes a league 
with Egypt and Cush, against Sennacherib 

Sennacherib in\ adrs I lezekiah ; takes several cities <> 
of Judah $ 

Hezekiah's sickness. Isaiah foretells his cure ; } 
gives him as a sign, the shadow's return on the > 
dial of Ahaz ) 

Sennacherib besieges Lachisb 

Hezekiah gives money to Sennacherib, who yet con- 
tinues his war against him, and sends Rubshakeh 
to Jerusalem ; marches himself against Tirhakah, 
king of Cush, or Arabia. Returning into Judah, 
the angel of the Lord destroys many thousands of 
his army ; he retires to Nineveh, where he is slain 
by his sons 



2 Kings xviii. 1 — 6; 

2 Chr. xxix. — xxxi. 

2 Chron. xxxi. 4, 5 



2 Kings xviii. 7. 

13; 1 Chr. 

xxxii. 1; Is. 
xxxv i. 

xx. 1— ll;2Chr. 

xxxii. 24; Is. 
xxxviii. 
2 Chron. xxxii. 9. 



2Kings xviii. 14 — xix.37; 
Is. xxxvi. 
xxxvii. 
Herod, lib. ii. 



i 



Israel and 



JUDAH.] 



OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



965 



Cilmel. Hales. 



3279 



3280 
3283 



4692 



4690 
4692 



721 



720 
717 



719 



721 

to 

719 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



KINGS OF ISRAEL. — 254 Years. 



Hoshea makes an alliance with So, king of Egypt, 
and endeavors to shake off the yoke of Shalma- 
neser 

Shahnaneser besieges Samaria ; takes it after three 
years' siege. Carries beyond the Euphrates the 
tribes that Tiglath-pileser had not already carried 
into captivity ; the ninth year of Hoshea ; of Heze- 
kiah the sixth year 

Among the captives carried away by Shalmaneser to^ 
Nineveh, is Tobit, of the tribe of Naphtali , 



End of the kingdom of Israel ; after it had subsisted 
two hundred and fifty-four years. 



2 Kings xviL 4. 



— 3—18 ; Hos. 
xiii. 16; 
1 Chr. v. 26. 



Tobit i. 



9G6 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Y.ar 


if -he 


Year 


efore 


Wi 


rid. 


Chr 




Calmet. 


Hales. 


Calmel. 


Hale.. 


3'392 


4703 


708 


708 


3293 




707 




3294 




706 




3306 


4715 


694 


696 


3323 


1731 


677 


680 


3329 


4737 


661 


674 


3347 


4771 


653 


640 


3361 


4770 


639 


641 


3363 


4772 


637 


639 


3370 




630 




3376 


4783 


624 


628 


3380 




620 




3381 




619 




3394 




606 










f!08 


3395 




605 




3398 


4825 


602 


586 


3399 




601 




3402 




598 




3404 




596 






4806 




605 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



JUDAH alone. 
Assaradon, or Esar-Haddon, succeeds Sennacherib.. 

Probably about this time Baladan, or Merodach- 
Baladari, king of Babylon, sends to congratulate 
Ihvkiali on the recovery of his health, and to in- 
quire about the prodigy on that occasion 

The prophets Micah, the Morasthite, and Nahum, 
prophesy 

Tartan si-ut l>\ A>saradon iigainst the Philistines, 
the Idumeans, and the Kgy ptians 

Assaradon sends an Israelitish priest to the Cushites 

, settled at Shechem •. 

Hezekiah dies; Manasseh succeeds him; reigns 
fifty-five years 

Assaradon becomes master of Babylon ; reunites the 

empires of Assyria and Chaldea 

Manasseh taken by the Chaldeans, and carried to ) 

Babylon $ 

The war of Holofernes, who is slain in Judea by 

Judith 

Manasseh dies. He returned into Judea a good ? 

while before, but the time is not exactly known. $ 
Amon succeeds him ; reigns two years 

Amon dies; Josiah succeeds him 

Zephaniah prophesies at the beginning of his reign.. 
Josiah endeavors to reform abuses. He restores * 

the worship of the Lord 

Jeremiah begins to prophesy, in the thirteenth year 

of the reign of Josiah 

The high-priest Hilkiah finds the hook of the law in 

the treasury of the temple, in the eighteenth year 

of Josiah 

Money collected for repairing the temple 

The prophetess Huldah foretells the calamities that 

threaten Judah 

A solemn passover, by Josiah and all the people. . 



Joel prophesies under Josiah. 

Josiah opposes the expedition of Necho, king of ~) 
Egypt, against Carchemish ; is mortally wound- ( 
ed, and dies at Jerusalem. Jeremiah composes ( 
lamentations on his death ) 

Jehoahaz is set on the throne by the people ; but 
Necho, returning from Carchemish, deposes him, 
and installs Eliakim,or Jehoiakim, his brother, son 
of Josiah, who reigns eleven years 

Habakkuk prophesies under his reign. 

Nebuchadnezzar besieges and takes Carchemish ; 
comes into Palestine ; besieges and takes Jerusa- 
lem ; leaves Jehoiakim there, on condition of pay- 
ing him a large tribute 

Daniel and his companions led captive to Babylon. . 

Jeremiah begins to commit his prophecies to writing. 
Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great statue explained 

by Daniel 

The history of Susannah at Babylon 

Jehoiakim revolts against Nebuchadnezzar 

Nebuchadnezzar sends an army from Chaldea, Syria, 



2 Kings xix. 37 ; Isaiah 
xxxvii. 38. 



xx. 12—19 ; Isa. 
xxxix. 



Mic. i. 1. 

2 Kings xviii. 17 ; Is. xx ; 

Joseph. Ant. lib. 
x. cap. 1, 2. 

xvii. 27—33. 

xx. 20, 21 ; xxi. 1 

—18 ; 2 Chr. xxxii. 
32,33; xxxiii. 1—10. 

Canon. Ptolema?i. 
2 Chr. xxxiii. 11—19 ; 
Jos. Ant. lib. x. c. 4. 

Judith, Apoc. 

2 Kings xxi. 17, 18 ; 

2 Chr. xxxiii. 20. 

18— 22; 2 Chr. 

xxxiii.20— 23. 
23— 26; 2 Chr. 

xxxiii. 24, 25. 

Zeph. i. 1. 

2Kingsxxii.l— 7;2Chr. 

xxxiv. 1 — 13. 

Jer. i. 2. 

2 Kings xxii. 8 ; 2 Chr. 

xxxiv. 14. 

4—7 ; 2 Chr. 

xxxiv. 9 — 14. 
14— 20;2Chr. 

xxxiv. 22— 28: 
xxhi.l-24;2Chr. 

xxxiv. 29 — 

xxxv. 19. 

■29, 30; 2 Chr. 



xxxv. 20—27. 
Herod, lib. 2 ; Jos. 
Ant. lib. x. c. 6. 



-30— 36; 2 Chr. 
xxxvi. 1 — 5. 



2 Kings xxiv. 1 ; 2 Chr. 

xxxvi. 6*, 7. 
Jer. xx. 4 ; xlvi. 2 ; 

Dan. i. 1—7. 
xxxvi. 1 — 4. 

Dan. ii. 

Susannah, Apoc. 
2 Kinsrs xxiv. 1. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



967 



3405 



3406 



4812 



595 



594 



599 



3409 
3410 
3411 



3414 



4814 



4821 



4823 



591 

590 
589 



586 



597 



590 



588 



3416 



584 



4825 



586 



3417 



3419 



4827 



583 



581 



584 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



JUDAH alone. 

and Moab, which ravages Judea, and brings away 
3023 Jews to Babylon, in the seventh year of Je- 

hoiakim ' 

Cyrus born, son of Cambyses and Mandane 

Jehoiakim revolts a second time against Nebuchad- } 
nezzar. Is taken, put to death, and cast to the > 
fowls of the air. Reigned eleven years } 

Jehoiakin, or Coniah, or Jeconiah, succeeds 

Nebuchadnezzar besieges him in Jerusalem, and 
takes him after he had reigned three months and 
ten days. He is carried to Babylon, with part of 
the people. Mordecai is among the captives 

Zedekiah, his uncle, is left at Jerusalem in his 
place, and reigns eleven years 

Zedekiah sends ambassadors to Babylon. 

Jeremiah writes to the captive Jews there 

Seraiah and Baruch sent by Zedekiah to Babylon. 

Ezekiel begins to prophesy in Chaldea 

He foretells the taking of Jerusalem, and the disper- 
sion of the Jews 

Zedekiah takes secret measures with the king of ) 
Egypt, to revolt against the Chaldeans $ 

Zedekiah revolts. 

Nebuchadnezzar marches against Jerusalem, besieges 
it ; quits the siege to repel the king of Egypt, who 
comes to assist Zedekiah. Returns to the siege. . 

Jeremiah continues prophesying during the whole 7 
siege ; which continued almost three years $ 

Ezekiel also describes the same siege in Chaldea. . . 

Jerusalem taken on the ninth day of the fourth month, 
(July,) the eleventh year of Zedekiah 

Zedekiah, endeavoring to fly by night, is taken, and 
brought to Riblah, to Nebuchadnezzar. His eyes 
are put out, and he is carried to Babylon 

Jerusalem and the temple burnt ; seventh day of the 
fourth month 



The Jews of Jerusalem and Judah carried captive 
beyond the Euphrates. The poorer classes only left 
in the land 

Thus ends the kingdom of Judah, after it had subsisted 
four hundred and sixty-eight years, from the begin- 
ning of the reign of David ; and three hundred and 
eighty-eight years from the separation of Judah and 
the ten tribes. 

The beginning of the seventy years' captivity, fore- 
told by Jeremiah 

Gedaliah made governor of the remains of the peo- ? 
pie. He is slain $ 

Jeremiah carried into Egypt by the Jews, after the 
death of Gedaliah. He prophesies in Egypt 

Ezekiel in Chaldea prophesies against the captives 
of Judah 

The siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar ; lasted thir- 
teen years. During this interval, Nebuchadnezzar 



2 Kings xxiv. 2 — 4 ; Jer. 
lii. 8. 

Diod. Sic. lib. i. Herod, 
lib. i. 

2Kingsxxiv.5,6;2Chr. 

xxxvi. 8 ; Jer. 

xxii. 18, 19: 

xxxvi. 30. 
6 ; 2 Chron 

xxxvi. 8, 9. 



8—16 ; 



2 Chr. xxxvi. 10. 

17, 18; 2 Chr. 

xxxvi. 10, 11. 

Jer. xxix. 

Ezek. i. 1, 2. 

iv. v. viii. — xii. 

2 Kings xxiv. 20; 2 Chr. 

xxxvi. 13 ; 

Jer. lii. 3. 



xxv. 1, 2 ; Jer. 
xxxvii. 5. 



Jer. xxxvii. 6 — 11 ;xxvii. 
xxi. 

Ezek. xxiv. 

2 Kings xxv. 3, 4, 8 ; 
2 Chr. xxxvi. 17, 
18; Jer. lii. 5— 7. 



4—7 ; Jer. lii. 
7—11. 

9, 10 ; 2 Chr. 



xxxvi. 19 ; Jer 
xxxix. 8 ; Jer. 
lii. 12, 13; Jos. 
Bel. lib. vii. c. 10. 
— 11,12; 2 Chr. 

xxxvi. 20 ; Jer. 

xxxix. 9, 10 ; 

lii. 15, 16. 



Jer. xxv. 

2 Kings xxv. 22—25; 
Jer. xl. 1— xli. 1, 2. 

Jer. xliii. 5 — 13. 

Ezek. xxxiii. 

Jer. xxvii. — xxix. 



9ti8 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Tear of Hie 

World 



Calmel. Elales. 



Fear before 
Christ. 



Calmet Hales. 



3419 



3432 



3433 
3434 
3435 
344:3 
3444 



4827 

4840 
4841 



4? 12 



4850 



3445 

3446 

.'ill- 
3449 

3450 



4853 
4860 
4858 



.3455 



3456 
3457 



3458 
3475 



3478 
3480 
3483 



4863 
4875 



4882 

4886 
4948 



3484 
3485 



581 

568 



5(17 
566 
565 
557 

556 



555 

554 

552 
551 

550 



545 



544 
543 



542 
525 



522 
520 
517 



516 
515 



584 

571 

570 



.-.ill i 



561 



558 
551 
553 



548 
536 



529 

525 
463 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIR1H OF CHRIST. 



wars against the Idumeans, the Ammonites, and 
the Moabites 

Obadiah prophesies against Idnmea. 

Tyre taken by Nebuchadnezzar 

Nebuchadnezzar wars against Egypt 

He returns to Babylon. 

Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great tree 

His metamorphosis into an ox 

His return to his former condition 

He sets up a golden statue for worship 

Daniel's three companions cast into the fiery furnace. 

Nebuchadnezzar's death, after reigning forty-three 
years, from the death of Nabonassar, his father, 
who died in 3399 

Evilmerodacb, his son, succeeds him ; reigns but one 
year 



Belshazzar, his son, succeeds him. 

Daniel's vision of the four animals 

Cyrus begins to appear; he liberates the Persians, 
and takes the title of king. 

Belshazzar's impious feast. His death 

Darius the jWcde succeeds Belshazzar 

Daniel's prophecy of seventy weeks 

Darius decrees that supplication should be made to 
no other god but himself 

Daniel cast into the lion's den 

Cyrus meditates the destruction of the empire of the 
Medes and Chaldeans; begins with the Medes; 
having overcome Astyages, king of the Medes, his 
uncle by the mother's side, he gives him the gov- 
ernment of Hyrcania. 

Cyrus marches against Darius the Mede, his uncle ; 
but first wars against the allies of his uncle Darius ; 
particularly against Crcesus, king of Lydia 

He attempts Babylon, and takes it 

He sets the Jews at liberty, and permits their re- } 
turn into Judea. The first year of his reign > 
over all the East ) 

The history of Bel and the Dragon 

The Jews, returning from captivity, renew the sacri- 
fices in the temple 

Cyrus dies, aged seventy years 

Cambyses succeeds him. The Cushites, or Samari- 
tans, obtain a prohibition, forbidding the Jews to 
continue the building of their temple .• 

Cambyses wars in Egypt, five years 

Cambyses kills his brother Smerdis. 

He dies 

The seven Magi usurp the empire. Artaxata, one of 
them, forbids the building of the temple 

Seven chiefs of the Persians slay the Magi 

Darius, son of Hystaspes, otherwise Ahasuerus, ac- 
knowledged king of the Persians. Marries Atossa, 
the daughter of Cyrus 

Haggai begins to prophesy ; reproaches the Jews for 
not building the house of the Lord 

The Jews re-commence building the temple 

About this time Zechariah begins to prophesy 

Here, properly, end the seventy years of captivity, 
foretold by Jeremiah, which began A. M. 3146. 



Ezek. xxv. 
Jos. Ant. lib. x. c. 11. 

Ezek. xxix. 18 ; Jos. Ant. 

lib. x. c. 11. 
19 — xxxii. 

32. 




Berosus, ap. Jos. cont. 

Ap. lib. i. 
2 Kings xxv. 27-30 ; Jer. 

Hi. 31 — 34. Berosus, 

ap. Jos. cont. Ap. lib. 

i. et Euseb. Prsep. 

lib. ix. 

Dan. vii. 



vi. 1—9. 
— 10—24. 



Herod, lib. i. Cyrop. vi. 
vii. 



2Chr.xxxvi.22,23; Ez- 
ra i. Xen. Cyrop. 
lib. viii. 

Apocrypha. 

Ezra ii. 1— iii. 7. 
Cyropedia, lib. viii. 

Ezra iv. 6—24. 

Ptol. Can. 
Her. ii. iii. Just. i. c.9. 

Herod, lib. iii. 

1 Esdras v. 73. 
Herod, iii. Just. i. c. 10. 



Haggai. 

Ezra vi. 6 — 14. 

Zech. i. 1. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



960 



• Year of the 


Ye.ir before 


World. 


Christ. 


Calmet. 


Hales. 


Calrr.it. 


Hales. 


3487 


4948 


513 


463 


3488 


4951 


512 


460 


3489 


4895 


511 


516 


3495 




505 




3496 




504 




3519 


4926 


481 


485 


3531 


4947 


469 


464 


3537 


4954 


463 


457 


3538 




462 




3550 


4967 


450 


444 


3551 




449 




3563 


4979 


437 




3565 


4987 


435 


424 


3580 


4991 


420 


420 




4998 




413 




5038 




373 




5070 




341 


3654 




346 




3671 








3672 




328 




3673 




327 




3674 




326 




3681 




319 




3684 


1 


316 





FROM THE CHEAT IUN TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



The feast of Darius, or Ahasuerus; he divorces Vashti. 

He espouses Esther 

The dedication of the temple of Jerusalem, rebuilt by 

Zerubbabel 

The beginning of the fortune of Hainan 

He vows the destruction of the Jews, and procures 

from Ahasuerus an order for their extermination. 
Esther obtains a revocation of this decree. Haman 

hung on the gallows he had prepared for Mor- 

decai 

The Jews punish their enemies at Shushan, and 

throughout the Persian empire 

Darius, or Ahasuerus, dies ; Xerxes succeeds him. 

Xerxes dies ; Artaxerxes succeeds him 

He sends Ezra to Jerusalem, with several priests 
and Levites, the seventh year of Artaxerxes 

Ezra reforms abuses among the Jews, especially as 
to their strange wives 

Nehemiah obtains leave of Artaxerxes to visit Jeru- 
salem, and to rebuild its gates and walls 

The walls rebuilt 

Dedication of the walls of Jerusalem 

Nehemiah prevails with several families in the coun- 
try to dwell in Jerusalem 

The Israelites put away their strange wives 

Nehemiah renews the covenant of Israel with the 
Lord 

Nehemiah returns to king Artaxerxes 

Nehemiah comes a second time into Judea, and re- 
forms abuses 

Zechariah prophesies under his government ; also 
Malachi, whom several have confounded with Ezra. 

Nehemiah dies. 

Eliashib, the high-priest, who lived under Nehemiah, 
is succeeded by Joiada, who is succeeded by Jon- 
athan, who is killed in the temple by Jesus his 
brother: the successor of Jonathan is Jaddus, or 
Jaddua. The exact years of the death of these 
high-priests are not known 

Artaxerxes Ochus sends several Jews into Hyrca- 
nia, whom he had taken captive in Egypt 

Alexander the Great enters Asia 

He besieges Tyre ; demands of the high-priest Jad- 
dus the succors usually sent to the king of Persia ; 
Jaddus refuses 

Alexander approaches Jerusalem, shows respect to 
the high-priest, is favorable to the Jews ; grants 
them an exemption from tribute every sabbatical 
year 

The Samaritans obtain Alexander's permission to 
build a temple on mount Gerizim. 

Alexander conquers Egypt ; returns into Phoenicia ; ^ 
chastises the Samaritans, who had killed An- ( 
dromachus, his governor; gives the Jews part ( 
of their country J 

Darius Codomannus dies, the last king of the Persians. 

Alexander the Great dies, first monarch of the Gre- 
cians in the East 

Judea in the division of the kings of Syria. 
Ptolemy, son of Lagus, conquers it ; carries many 
Jews into Egypt 



Esth. i. 

ii. 1—18. 

Ezra vi. 15—22. 
Esth. iii. 1, 2. 

3—15. 



IV. — vn. 

ix. 1 — 16 ; Jos. Ant. 

lib. xi. c. 6. 
Ptol. in Canone ; Africa- 

nus; Euseb. &c. 
Diod. Sic. lib. xi. Justin, 

lib. iii. c. 1. 

Ezra vii. 1, 7, 8. 



Neh. i.— ii. 12. 

ii. 13— vi. 19. 

xii. 27-43. 

xi. 

ix. 2. 

viii.-x. 

vii.l— 4;xiii.(J; Prid. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xi. c. 7 ; 

Chron. Alexand. 
Diod. Sic. lib. xvi. Jos. 

cont. Ap. lib. i. 
Plut. in Alex. Arrian, u 

Diod. Sic. lib. xxii. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xi. c. 8. 



Q. Curt. lib. iv. c. 8; 
Euseb. Chron. p. 177. 
Cedrenus ; Jos. cont. 
Ap. lib. ii. 

Plut. in Alexand. Q.Curt. 
lib. x. c. 5 ; Diod. Sic. 
lib. xvii. 

Jos. Ant. lib. xii. c. 7. 
Arist. Diod. lib. xviii. 



122 



970 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Yeir before 
Chriil. 



Cilmet. H,k>. 



MM 



5070 



3727 
3743 

3758 



3771 



5090 

5111 
5120 



5135 
51til 



3783 



3785 
3786 

3787 



5194 



3788 
3800 

3802 
3805 

3806 

3807 



3812 



3815 



52 ir; 



310 

308 



273 
257 

242 



229 



217 



215 
214 

213 



212 
200 

198 
195 

194 

193 



188 



185 



?.41 



321 

300 
21 » I 



276 
250 



217 



195 



I'ROM THE CREA TION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



Antigonus retakes Judea from Ptolemy 

Ptolemy, son of Lagus, conquers Demetrius, son of 

Antigonus, near Gaza; becomes again master of 

Judca 

Judea returns to the jurisdiction of the kings of 

Syria; the Jews pay them tribute some time. 

Judea is in subjection to the kings of Egypt under 

the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphia, if what we read 

cniicrrninjr the version of the Scptuagrnt be true. 
Tin' Srpiu;,^iin version supposed to be reallj made 

about this time. 
Antiochus Theos, king of Syria, begins to reign ; 

grams to the Jews the privileges of free denizens 

throughout his dominions. 
Ptolemy Euergetes makes himself master of Syria 

and Judca. 

The high-priest Jaddus dying in 3682, Onias I. suc- 
ceeds him, whose successor is Simon the Just, in 
3702. He, dying in 3711, leaves his son Onias II. 
a child ; his father's brother, Eleazar, discharges the 
office of high-priest about thirty years. Under the 
priesthood of Eleazar the version of the Septuagint 
is said to be made. After the death of Eleazar in 
3744, Manasseh, great uncle of Onias, and brother 
of Jaddus, is invested with the priesthood 

Manasseh dying this year, Onias II. possesses the 
high-priesthood. Incurs the indignation of the 
king of Egypt, for not paying his tribute of twenty 
talents ; his nephew Joseph gains the king's favor, 
and farms the tributes of Ccelo-Syria, Phoenicia, 
Samaria and Judea 

Ptolemy Euergetes, king of Egypt, dies; Ptolemy 
Phi lopator succeeds him 

Onias II. high-priest, dies ; Simon II. succeeds him. 

Antiochus the Great wars against Ptolemy Philo- ) 
pator $ 

Ptolemy Philopator defeats Antiochus at Raphia in 
Syria 

Ptolemy attempts to enter the temple of Jerusalem ; 
is hindered by the priests. He returns into Egypt ; 
condemns the Jews in his dominions to be trod to 
death by elephants. God gives his people a mi- 
raculous deliverance 

The Egyptians rebel against their king Ptolemy 
Philopator; the Jews take his part 

Ptolemy Philopator dies; Ptolemy Epiphanes, an 
infant, succeeds him 

Antiochus the Great conquers Phoenicia and Judea. 
Simon II. high-priest, dies; Onias III. succeeds 
him. 

Scopas, a general of Ptolemy Epiphanes, retakes 
Judea from Antiochus 

Antiochus defeats Scopas ; is received by the Jews ) 
into Jerusalem $ 

Arius, king of Lacedemon, writes to Onias III. and 
acknowledges the kindred of the Jews and Lace- 
demonians. The year uncertain. Perhaps it was 
rather Onias I. 

Antiochus the Great gives his daughter Cleopatra in 
marriage to Ptolemy Epiphanes, king of Egypt; 
and as a dowry, Ccelo-Syria, Phoenicia, Judea and 
Samaria 

Antiochus, declaring war against the Romans is 



Pint, in Demet. 

Diod. Sic. lib. xix. App. 
in Syriacis. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xii. c. 2; 
Euseb. in Chron. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xii. c. 3. 
Polyb. lib. ii. p. 155; 

Justin, lib. xxix. c. 1 ; 

Euseb. in Chron. 

Polyb. lib. v. Justin, lib. 
xxx. c. 1. 

Polyb. lib. v. 

3 Mac. i. ii. 

Jos. Ant. lib. xii. c. 4. 
Euseb. in Chron. 
Chron. Alexand. 

Polyb. lib. v. 

Justin, lib. xx. c. 1, 2. 

Ptol. in Canone; 

Euseb. &c 
Polyb. lib. v. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xii. c. 3. 
Polyb. lib. xvi. 
Jos. Ant lib. xii. c. 3. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xii. c. 3. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



971 



3817 
3828 



5216 



183 
172 



195 



3829 

3831 
3834 



5236 



5239 



171 

169 
166 



175 



172 



3836 



164 



3837 



163 



3838 



5248 



162 



163 



FROM THE CHEAT ION 10 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



overcome, and loses great part of his dominions. 
He preserves Syria and Judea 

Antiochus dies; leaves Seleucus Philopator his} 
successor. Antiochus, his other son, surnamed > 
afterwards Epiphanes, at Rome as a hostage. . . ) 

Heliodorus, by order of Seleucus, attempts to rifle 
the treasury of the temple at Jerusalem. Is pre- 
vented by an angel. 

Onias III. goes to Antioch, to vindicate himself 
against calumnies. 

Seleucus sends his son Demetrius to Rome, to re- 
place his brother Antiochus, who had been a host- 
age there fourteen years. 

Antiochus journeying to return into Syria, Seleucus 
is put to death by the machinations of Heliodorus, 
who intends to usurp the kingdom. 

Antiochus, at his arrival, is received by the Syrians 
as a tutelar deity, and receives the name of Epiph- 
anes. 

Jason, son of Simon II., high-priest, and brother of 
Onias III., now high-priest, buys the high-priest- 
hood of Antiochus Epiphanes 

Several Jews renounce Judaism, for the religion and 

ceremonies of the Greeks. 
Antiochus Epiphanes intends war against Ptolemy 
Philometor, king of Egypt. Is received with great 
honor in Jerusalem. 
Menelaus offers three hundred talents of silver for the 
high-priesthood more than what Jason had given 
for it ; he obtains a grant of it from Antiochus.. . . 
Menelaus, not paying his purchase-money, is deprived 
of the high-priesthood: Lysimachus, his brother, 
is ordered to perform the functions of it. 
Menelaus, gaining Andronicus, governor of Antioch, 
in the absence of Antiochus Epiphanes, causes 

Onias III. the high-priest, to be killed 

Lysimachus, thinking to plunder the treasury of the 
temple at Jerusalem, is put to death in the temple. 
Antiochus preparing to make war in Egypt. Prodi- 
gies seen in the air over Jerusalem 

A report that Antiochus Epiphanes was dead, in 
Egypt ; Jason attempts Jerusalem, but is repulsed. 
Antiochus, being informed that some Jews had re- 
joiced at the false news of his death, plunders Je- 
rusalem, and slays 80,000 men 

Apollonius sent into Judea by Antiochus Epiphanes. 
He demolishes the walls of Jerusalem, and op- 
presses the people. He builds a citadel on the 
mountain near the temple, where formerly stood 

the city of David 

Judas Maccabseus, with nine others, retires into the 
wilderness. 

Antiochus Epiphanes publishes an edict, to constrain 
all the people of his dominions to uniformity with 
the religion of the Grecians. 

The sacrifices of the temple interrupted ; the statue 
of Jupiter Olympius set up on the altar of burnt- 
sacrifices 

The martyrdom of old Eleazar at Antioch ; of the } 
seven brethren Maccabees, and their mother. . . ( 

Mattathias and his seven sons retire into the moun- } 
tains; the Assideans join them $ 

About this time flourishes Jesus, son of Sirach, author 
of the book of Ecclesiasticus. 

Mattathias dies 



Justin, lib. xxxi. c. 6 — 8. 
xxxii. c. 2 ; 



Strabo, lib. xvi. 
App. in Syriacis. 



2 Mac. iv. 7 ; Jos. de Mac. 
c. 4. 



23—28. 



34. 

• 40-^12. 



v. 1—3. 

— 5, 6 ; Jos. Ant. 
1. xii. c. 8. 



ll;Diod. Sic. 
lib. xxxiv. 



24—26 ; 



1 Mac. i. 30—40 ; 
Jos. Ant. 1. XXii. c 7. 

2 Mac. v. 27. 



Jos. Ant. 1. xxii. c. 7. 
2 Mac. vi. vii. 

Jos. de Maccab 
1 Mac. ii. 27—30. Jos. 
Ant. lib. xii. c. 8. 



70. 



972 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Year before 
Chriit. 



Cilmel. Hiln. 



52-18 



1G2 



161 



3840 



160 



:is4i 



159 



3842 



158 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST 



Is succeeded by Judas Maccabaeus. 
Apollonius, and afterwards Seron. 



Judas defeats 



Antiochus Bpiphanes, wanting money to pay the 
Romans, goes to Persia. Nicanor and Gorgias, 
and Ptolemy, son of Dorynienes, enter Judeaat the 
bead of their armies 



Judas MaccabeeuB defeats Nicanor. Gorgias de- 
clines a battle against Judas. 

Lysias, coming into Judea with tin army, is beaten, 
and forced to return to Antioch. 

Judas purifies the temple, alter three years' defile- 
ment by the Gentiles. This is called Encaenia... 

Timotheiis and Hacchides, generals of the Syrian 

army, an- beaten by Judas. 
Antioelins Epiphaues dies in Persia. His son, Anti- 

ochus Eupator, aged nine years, succeeds hini; 

under the regency of Lysias 

Judas wars againsi ihe enemies of his nation in 

Idumea, and beyond Jordan 

Timotheiis, a second lime, overcome by Judas. . . 
The people beyond Jordan and in Galilee conspire 

against the Jews. Are supported by Judas and his 

brethren. 

I.\ sias coming into Judea, forced to make peace with 
Judas; returns to Antioch 

A letter of king Antioelins Eupator, in favor of the 
Jews. 

The Roman legates write to the Jews, and promise 
to support their inten sts with the king of Syria. 

The treachery of Joppa and Samaria chastised by 
Judas. 

Judas wars beyond Jordan. Defeats a general of the 
Syrian troops, called Tiinotheus, different from the 
former Timotheiis 

Judas attacks Gorgias in Idumea; having defeated 
him, finds Jews, killed in the fight, had concealed 
gold under their clothes, which they had taken 
from an idol's temple at Jamnia 

Antiocbus Eupator invades Judea in person ; be- 
sieges Bethshur, and takes it ; besieges Jerusa- 
lem 

Philip, who had been appointed regent by Antiocbus 
Epiphanes, coming to Antioch, Lysias prevails 
with the king to make peace with the Jews, and to 
return to Antioch. Hut before he returns, he enters 
Jerusalem, and causes the wall to be demolished 
that Judas had built to secure the temple from the 
insults of the citadel 

Menelaus, the high-priest, dies; is succeeded by 
Alcimus, an intruder 

Onias IV. son of Onias III. lawful heir to the dig- 
nity of high-priest, retires into Egypt, where, some 
time after, he builds the temple Onion. See 
3854. 

Demetrius, son of Seleucus, sent to Rome as a 
hostage ; escapes from thence, comes into Syria, 
where he slays his nephew Eupator, also Ly- 
sias, regent of the kingdom, and is acknowl- 
edged king of Svria 



1 Mac. iii. 1, 13, 14 ; 

2 Mac. viii. I ; Jos. 
Ant. lib. xii. c. 9. 



42, &c.2Mac. 



viii. 34, &c. Jos. 
Ant. lib. xii. c. 11. 



- iv.36,&c.2Mac. 
x. 1, &c. Jos. Ant. 
lib. xii. c. 11. 



Appian, in Syriacis ; 
Euseb. in Chron. Jos. 
Ant. lib. xii. c. 14 ; 
1 Mac. vi. 17 ; 2 Mac. 
ix. 29; x. 10, II. 

1 Mac. v. 1, &c. 2 Mac. 

x. 14, 15, &c. 

2 Mac. x. 24—38. 



xi.l— 15. 



2 Mac. xii. 10, &c. 

1 Mac. v. 65, &e. 
vi. 48—54. 



55— 62; 2 Mac. 

xiii. 23. 
2 Mac. xiv. 3 ; Jos. Ant. 

lib. xii. c. 15. 

lib. xx. c. 8. 



1 Mac. vii. 1 — 4 ; 2 Mac. 
xiv. 1,2 ; Jos. Ant. 
lib. xii. c. 16 ; Ap- 
pian in Syriacis ; 
Just.lib.xxxiy.c.3. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



973 



3842 
3843 



5248 



158 
157 



163 



5251 



160 



3844 
3846 



156 
154 



3851 
3852 



149 
148 



5258 



153 



3854 



146 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



Alcimus intercedes with Demetrius for the confirma- 
tion of the dignity of high-priest, which he had 
received from Eupator 

Alcimus returns into Judea with Bacchides, and en- 
ters Jerusalem 

Is driven from thence, and returns to Demetrius, who 
appoints Nicanor, with troops, to take him back to 
Judea. Nicanor makes an accommodation with 
Judas, and lives for some time on good terir.s with 
him 

Alcimus accuses Nicanor of betraying the king's } 
interests. Demetrius orders Nicanor to bring > 
Judas to him ) 

Judas attacks Nicanor, and kills about 5000 men. . . . 

Death of Rhazis, a famous old man, who chooses 
rather to die by his own hand, than to fall alive 
into the power of Nicanor 

Judas obtains a complete victory, in which Nicanor 
is killed 

Bacchides and Alcimus again sent into Judea 

Judas gives them battle ; dies like a hero, on a heap / 
of enemies slain by him $ 

Jonathan Maccabaeus chosen chief of his nation, and ) 
high-priest, in the place of Judas $ 

The envoys return, which Judas had sent to Rome, 
to make an alliance with the Romans. 

Bacchides pursues Jonathan ; he, after a slight com- 
bat, swims over the Jordan in sight of the enemy 

Alcimus dies 

Jonathan and Simon Maccabasus are besieged in 
Bethbessen, or Beth-agla. Jonathan goes out of 
the place, raises soldiers, and defeats several bodies 
of the enemy 

Simon, his brother, makes several sallies, and opposes 
Bacchides. 

Jonathan makes proposals of peace to Bacchides, ) 
which are accepted £ 

Jonathan fixes his abode atMikmash, where he judges 
the people 

Alexander Balas, natural son of Antiochus Epiph- 
anes, comes into Syria to be acknowledged king. 

Demetrius Soter, king of Syria, writes to Jonathan, 
asks soldiers against Alexander Balas. Balas also 
writes to Jonathan, with offers of friendship, and 
the dignity of high-priest 

Jonathan assists Balas, puts on the purple, and per- 
forms the functions of high-priest, for the first time 
at Jerusalem, which he makes his ordinary resi- 
dence. In the year of the Greeks 160 

Demetrius's second letter to Jonathan 

Demetrius Soter dies; Alexander Balas is acknowl- 
edged king of Syria 

* 

Onias IV. son of Onias III. builds the temple of 
Onio^i in Egypt 

A dispute between the Jews and Samaritans of Al- 
exandria, concerning their temples. The Samari- 
tans condemned by the king of Egypt, and the 
temple of Jerusalem preferred to that of Gerizim. 

Aristobulus, a peripatetic Jew, flourishes in Egypt, 
under Ptolemy Philopator. 



1 Mac. vii. 5—9. 
10, &c. 



26— 29. 

27— 32 ; 



2 Mac. xiv. 26—29 ; 
Jos. Ant. 1. xii. c. 17. 
2 Mac. xv. 27. 



xiv. 37—46. 



xv. 27, &c. 



1 Mac. ix. 1, &c. Jos. 

Ant. lib. xii. c. 19. 
5—21; Jos. 

Ant. lib. xii. c. 19. 

28, &c. Jos. 

Ant. lib. xiii. c. 1. 



43, &c. Jos. 

Ant. lib. xiii. a. 1. 
- — 54. 



62, &c. Jos. 

Ant. lib. xiii. c. 1. 



70 ; Jos. Ant. 
lib. xiii. c. 2. 



— 73. 

x. 1 ; Jos. Ant. 
lib. xiii. c. 3. 



3_9, 15—20 ; 

Jos. Ant. 1. xiii. c. 5. 



21, &e. 
24--15. 



— 50 ; Justin, 

lib. xxxv. c. 1 ; 

Polyb. lib. iii. p. 

161 ; Jos. Ant. 

lib. xiii. c. 5. 
Jos. Ant. lib. xii. c. 6 ; lib. 

xx. c. 8 ; Bell. 

lib. vii. c. 30. 



xiii. c. 6. 



974 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE K)F THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Year befon 
Christ. 



3854 



;>•.>.> 



146 



153 



3858 
3859 



142 
141 



:i>.;o 



140 



;*.-<; l 



139 



138 



143 



3564 

3865 
3866 

3869 

3870 



5275 



136 

135 
134 

131 

130 



136 



FROM THF. CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



Demetrius Nicanor, eldest son of Demetrius Soter, } 
comes into Cilicia to recover the kingdom of his > 
father ) 

Apollonius, to whom Alexander Balas had trusted his 
affaire, revolts to Demetrius Nicanor 

He marches against Jonathan Maccabteiis, who con- 
tinues in the interest of Alexander Balas. Apollo- 
nius is put to flight 

Ptolemy Philometor, king of l-'.jrypt, comes into Syria, 
pretending to as.-ir-t Alexander Balas, hut he really 
designs to dethrone him 

Alexander Balas gives battle to Philomctorand De- } 
metritis Nicanor. He loses it, and flies to Zab- > 
diel, king of Arabia, and cuts oft' his head ) 

Ptolemy Philometi. r dies in Syria. Cleopatra, his \ 
queen, gives the command of her army to Onias, > 
a Jew, son of Onias III ) 

Ouias restrains Ptolemy Physcon, son of Philo- ) 
metor £ 

Jonathan besieges the fortress of the Syrians at Je- } 
rusalcm \ 

Demetrius comes into Palestine; Jonathan finds 
means to gain him by presents 

Demetrius Nicanor attacked by the inhabitants of 
Antioch, who had revolted. Jonathan sends him 
soldiers, who deliver him 

Tryphon hrings young Antiochus, son of Alexander 
Balas, out of Arabia, and has him acknowledged 
king of Syria. Jonathan espouses his interests 
against Demetrius Nicanor 

Jonathan renews the alliance with the Romans and 
Lacedemonians 

He is treacherously taken by Tryphon in Ptolemals, 
who some time afterwards puts him to death 

Simon Maecabteus succeeds Jonathan 

Tryphon slays the young king Antiochus Theos. and 
usurps the kingdom of Syria 

Simon acknowledges Demetrius Nicanor, who had } 
been dispossessed of the kingdom of Syria, and > 
obtains from him the entire freedom of the Jews. ) 

The Syrian troops, that held the citadel of Jerusalem, 
capitulate 

Demetrius Nieator, or Nicanor, goes into Persia with 



an army ; is taken by the king of Persia. 



Simon acknowledged high-priest, and chief of the 

Jews, in a great assembly at Jerusalem 

Antiochus Sidetes, brother of Demetrius Nicanor, 
becomes king of Syria; allows Simon to coin 
money, and confirms all the privileges the Syrian 

kings had granted to the Jews 

Return of the ambassadors Simon had sent to Rome, 

to renew his alliance with the Romans 

Antiochus Sidetes quarrels with Simon, and sends 
Cendebeus into Palestine, to ravage the country. . 
Cendebeus is beaten by John and Judas, Simon's sons. 
Simon killed by treachery, with two of h^ sons, 
by Ptolemy, his son-in-law, in the castle of Do- 

cus 

Hyrcanus, or John Hyrcanus, succeeds his father, 
Simon. 

Antiochus Sidetes besieges Hyrcanus in Jerusalem. 
Hyrcanus obtains a truce of eight days to celebrate 



1 Mae. x. 67 ; Jos. Ant. 
I. xiii. c. 8 ; Jus- 
tin, 1. xxxv. c. 2. 

Jos. Ant. 1. xiii. c. 8. 

1 Mac. x. 69—87 ; Jos. 

Ant. 1. xiii. c. 8. 



• xi. 1 — 5 ; Jos. 

Ant. 1. xiii. c. 8. 
■ xi. 15—17 ; Diod. 
Sic. in Excer. 
Phot. cod. 244. 
xi. 18; Polyb. in 



Excer. Val. p. 194 
Strab. 1. xvi. p. 751. 

Justin, lib. xxxviii. c. 8; 
Jos. cont. Ap. 1. ii. 

1 Mac. xi. 20; Jos. Ant. 
I. xiii. c. 8. 



21—29. 



43,44. 



— 54—60; Jos. 

Ant. I. xiii. c. 9. 
xii. 1 — 23 ; Jos. 

Ant. 1. xiii. c. 9. 



— 39—53. 
xiii. 1—9. 



Diod. Sic. Legat. 31. 
1 Mac. xii. 34 — 42 ; xiv. 

38— 41; Jos. Ant. 

1. xiii. c. 11. 



xiii. 49—52. 

xiv. 1 — 3 ; Justin, 



1. xxxvi. c. 1 ; Jos. 
Ant. xiii. c. 9, 12; 
Orosius, lib. v. c. 4. 

26—49. 



XV. 1, &c. 
- 15. 



26—38. 
38-^10. 



xvi. 14 — 18 ; Jos. 
Ant. 1. xiii. c. 14. 



— 20—24 ; Jos 
Ant. 1. xiii. c. li 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



975 



Cllmet. Hales. 



3870 

3873 

3874 

3875 
3877 



3394 
3395 

3898 



5275 



130 

127 

126 

125 
123 



106 
105 

102 



136 



5305 



106 



3899 

3900 
3901 

3902 



3906 
3907 



5306 



101 

100 

99 

98 



94 
93 



105 



3919 



81 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



the feast of Tabernacles. Makes peace with An- 
tiochus 

Hyrcanus finds money in David's tomb ; or rather 
the hidden treasures of the kings of Judah 

Antiochus Sidetes goes to war against the Persians ; 
Hyrcanus accompanies him. Antiochus is con- 
quered and slain 

Hyrcanus shakes oft' the yoke of the kings of Syria, 
sets himself at perfect liberty, and takes several 
cities from Syria 

He attacks the Idumeans, and obliges them to re- ) 
ceive circumcision £ 

He sends ambassadors to Rome, to renew his alliance 
with the Roman power 

While the two kings of Syria, both of them called 
Antiochus, war against each other, Hyrcanus 
strengthens himself in his new monarchy 

He besieges Samaria; takes it after a year's siege 

Hyrcanus dies, after a reign of twenty-nine years. . . 

Under his government is placed the beginning of the 
three principal Jewish sects, the Pharisees, the 
Sadducees and the Essenians, but their exact 
epochas are not known. 

Judas, otherwise called Aristobulus, or Philellen, 
succeeds John Hyrcanus, associates his brother 
Antigonus with him in the government, leaves his 
other brethren mother in bonds. Lets his 
mother starve ; takes the diadem and title 
of king. Rei year 

He declares war against the Itureans. Antigonus, 
his brother, beats them, and obliges them to be 
circumcised 

Antigonus slain at his return from this expedition, by 
order of his brother Aristobulus 

Aristobulus dies, after reigning one year. Alexander 
Januaeus, his brother, succeeds him ; reigns twen- 
ty-six years. He attempts Ptolemais, but hearing 
that Ptolemy Lathurus was coming to relieve the 
city, he raises the siege, and wastes the coun- 



try • 

Ptolemy Lathurus obtains a great victory over Alex- 
ander, king of the Jews 

Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, fearing that Lathurus 
should give her disturbance in Egypt, sends the 
Jews Helcias and Ananias, against him, with a 
powerful army. She takes Ptolemais 

Alexander Jannseus, king of the Jews, makes an 
alliance with Cleopatra, and takes some places in 
Palestine 

Attacks Gaza, takes it, and demolishes it. 

The Jews revolt against him, but he subdues them. 

He wages several wars abroad with success. 

His subjects war against him during six years, and 
invite to their assistance Demetrius Eucerus, king 
of Syria • 

Alev^nder loses the battle, but the consideration of 
his misfortunes reconciles his subjects to him. 

Demetrius Eucerus obliged to retire into Syria. The 
years of these events are not well known. 

Antiochus Dionysius, king of Syria, invades Judea ; 
attacks the Arabians, but is beaten and slain. 
Aretas, king of the Arabians, attacks Alexander ; 
having overcome him, treats with him, and re- 
tires. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xiii. c. 16; 
Diod. Sic. xxxiv. p. 901. 

Jos. Ant. lib. xiii. c. 16. 



Justin, 1. xxxviii. c. 10. 

Jos. Ant. lib. xiii. c. 17 ; 
Strabo, lib. xvi. p. 76. 

xv. c. 11 ; 



Strabo, 1. xvi. p. 760. 
xiii. c. 17. 



c. 18. 



Euseb. in Chron. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xiii. c. 19 ; 
de Bell. lib. i. c.3. 



Jos. ubi sup. 



c. 20. 
c. 20, 21. 

c. 21. 



c. 22. 



976 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Year of iho 
World. 



3920 
3926 

3933 

3934 
3935 

39.35 



530G 
5333 



5342 



393* 



5342 



3939 



3940 



3941 



5348 



3947 



80 
74 

67 

66 
65 



63 



61 



60 



59 



53 



105 

78 



69 



69 



63 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



Alexander Janmeus Hikes the cities of Dion, Gerasa, 

Gaulon, Seleuci, &c. 

Alexander Janmeus dies, aged forty-nine years 

Alexandra, otherwise Salome, or Salinn, his queen, 

succeeds him; gains the Pharisees to her party, by 

giving them great power. Reigns nine years. 
Aristobulus II. son of Alexander Janiueus, heads the 

old soldiers of his father; is discontented with the 

government of his mother and the Pharisees 

Taki s possession of the chief places of Judea, during 

his mother's sickness 

Alexandra dies. Hyrcanus, her eldest son, and 

brother of Aristobulus, is acknowledged king. 

Reigns peaceably two years. 

Battle between 1 1 \ realms and Aristobulus ; Hyrcanus 
is overcome at Jericho. Hyrcanus had been high- 
priest under the reign of his mother nine years; 
then is king and pontiff two years ; is afterwards 
only priest nineteen years ; after which he is eth- 
narch four years. At last, he is Herod's captive 
and sport eight years. So that he survived his 
fatoer, Alexander Janmeus, forty-eight year- 

Peace concluded between the brothers, on condition 
that Hyrcanus should live private, in the enjoy- 
ment of his estate, and Aristobulus be acknowl- 
edged high-priest and king. Thus Hyrcanus, 
having reigned three years and three months, re- 
signs the kingdom to Aristobulus II. who reigns 
three years and three months , 

Hyrcanus, at the instigation of Antipater, seeks pro- 
tection from Aretas, king of the Arabians. 

Aretas, king of the Arabians, undertakes to replace 
Hyrcanus on the throne 

Aristobulus is worsted, and forced to shut himself up 
in the temple at Jerusalem. 

He sends deputations, first to Gabinius, and then to 
Scaurus, who were sent by Pompey into Syria ; 
offers them great sums of money to engage on his 
sidn, and to oblige Aretas to raise the siege of the 
temple 

Scaurus writes to Aretas, and threatens to declare 
him an enemy to the Roman people, if he does not 
retire. 

Aretas withdraws his forces ; Aristobulus pursues him, 
gives him battle, and obtains a victory over him. 

Pompey comes to Damascus, and orders Aristobulus 
and Hyrcanus to appear before him. Hears the 
cause of the two brothers, and advises them to live 
in good understanding with each other 

Aristobulus withdraws into Jerusalem, and maintains 
the city against Pompey, who besieges it. The 
city and temple taken. Aristobulus taken prison- 
er. Hyrcanus made high-priest and prince of the 
Jews, but not allowed to wear the diadem. Judea 
reduced to its ancient limits, and obliged to pay 
tribute to the Romans 

Alexander, son of Aristobulus, having escaped irom 
the custody of those who were carrying him to 
Rome, comes into Judea, and raises soldiers 

End of the kingdom of Syria. 

Augustus, afterwards emperor, is born. 

Gabinius, a Roman commander, beats Alexander, and 
besieges him in the castle of Alexandrion. Alex- 
ander surrenders, with all his strong places. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xiii. c. 23. 



24. 



lib. xiv. 
Bel. lib. 



c. 1 
i. c. 4. 



Jos. ubi sup. 



c. 3 ; Bel. lib. i. 5. 



c. 4. 



c. 5. 



c. 5—7. 



Strab. lib. xvi. p. 762. 

Jos. Ant. lib. xiii. c. 10; 

Bel. lib. i c. 6 



I 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



977 



Year of the 
World. 



Calmet. Hales 



3948 



3949 



3950 
3951 

3952 



3955 



5348 



Caln.rt. Hales. 



52 



5358 



3957 



3958 



3959 



5364 



51 



50 
49 



63 



53 



45 



43 



42 



41 



47 



FROM IMF. CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF IHRIM'. 



Aristobulus, escaping from Rome, returns into Judea, 
and endeavors to repair the castle of Alexandrion. 
Is hindered by the Romans, who disperse his little 
army. He flees to Machaeron, determining to for- 
tify it, but is presently besieged in it. After some 
resistance, is taken, and sent a second time pris- 
oner to Rome 

Ptolemy Auletes, king of Egypt, by money, induces 
Gabinius to come into Egypt, to restore him to the 
throne. John Hyrcanus furnishes Gabinius with 
provisions for his army, and writes to the Jews, in 
Pelnsium, to favor the passage of the Romans. . . . 

While Gabinius is busy in Egypt, Alexander, son of 
Aristobulus, wastes Judea. Gabinius defeats him 
at the foot of mount Tabor 

Crassus succeeds Gabinius in the government of 
Syria 

Crassus, passing into Syria, and finding the province 
quie.t, makes war against the Parthians. 

He comes to Jerusalem, and takes great riches out 
of the temple 

He marches against the Parthians : is beaten and 
killed by Orodes 

Cassius brings the remains of the Roman army over 
the Euphrates, takes Tirhakah, and brings from 
thence above 30,000 Jewish captives. 

He restrains Alexander, son of king Aristobulus. 

Civil war between Caesar and Pompey 



Julius Caesar, making himself master of Rome, sets 
Aristobulus at liberty, and sends him with two le- 
gions into Syria. 

Those of Pompey's party poison Aristobulus. 

Scipio slays young Alexander, son of Aristobulus. 

The battle of Pharsalia. Antipater governor of 
Judea. 

The library of Alexandria burnt. 

Antipater, by order of Hyrcanus, joins Mithridates, 
who was going into Egypt with succors for Caesar, 
and assists him in reducing the Egyptians. 

Caesar, having finished the war in Egypt, comes into 
Syria ; confirms Hyrcanus in the high-priesthood. 

Vitruvius, the architect, flourishes. 

Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, remonstrates to 
Caesar ; but Caesar is prejudiced against him by 
Antipater 

Antipater takes advantage of the indolence of Hyr- 
canus ; makes his eldest son, Phazael, governor of 
Jerusalem, and Herod, another of his sons, gov- 
ernor of Galilee 

Herod is summoned to Jerusalem to give an account 
of his conduct, but, finding himself in danger of 
being condemned, retires to his government. 

Hillel and Sameas, two famous rabbins, live about 
this time. Sameas was master to Hillel. Jona- 
than, son of Uziel, author of the Chaldee para- 
phrase, was a disciple of Hillel. Josephus says, 
that Pollio was master of Sameas. Jerome says, 
that Akiba succeeded Sameas and Hillel in the 
school of the Hebrews. 

Caesar passes into Africa. Cato kills himself at Utica. 

Reform of the Roman Calendar, in the year of Rome 
708. This year consisted of 445 days 

Hyrcanus sends ambassadors to Julius Caesar, to re- 



Jos. Ant. lib. xiv. c. 11 ; 
Bel. lib. i. c. 6. 



Dion. Cas. lib. xxxix ; 
Plutarch in Anton. 
Jos. Ant. 1. xiv. c. 11. 



Jos. ubi sup. 

Dion. Cas. lib. xxxix. 

Jos. Ant. lib. xiv. c. 12. 
Dion. Cas. lib. xl. 



Plut. in Caes. etc. 
Dion. Cas. lib. xli. 
App. Bel. civ. lib. ii. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xiv. c. 15 ; 

Bel. lib. i. c. 8. 



c. 17. 



Censorin. c. 20. 



123 



978 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Cllmcl. Hiltt. 



3960 



3961 



3962 



3963 



3964 



3965 



5364 



5371 
5374 



3966 
3967 



Year btfor 
Chnsl. 



40 47 



39 



38 



37 



36 



35 



34 
33 



40 
37 



rROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH Of CHRIST. 



new alliance. The alliance renewed in a manner 
very advantageous to the Jews. 

After the death of Julius Caesar, the ambassadors of 
the Jews are introduced into the 6enate, and obtain 
their whole request. 

The Jews of Asia continued in their privilege of not 
being compelled to serve in the wars. 

Cassius demands 700 talents from Judea. Malichus 
causes Antipater to he poisoned 

Herod causes Malichus to be killed, to revenge the 
death of' his lather Antipater. 

Felix, having attacked l'ha/.ael, is shut up by him in 
a tower, whence Phazael would not release him 
but on composition. 

The era of Spain, .Spain being now subdued to Au- 
gustus by Domitius Calviuus. 

Herod and l'ha/.ael tetrarchs of Judea 

Antigouus II. sun of Aristobulus, gathers an army, 
and enters Judea. 

Herod gives him battle, and routs him. 

Mark Antony coming into Bithynia, some Jews 
resort to him, and accuse Herod and Phazael be- 
fore him ; but Herod, coming thither, wins the 
affections of Antony 

.Mark Vntun\ , beini; at Kphesus, grants the liberty 
of their nation to -uch Jews as had been brought 
captive by Cassius, and causes the lands to be re- 
stored that bad been unjustly taken away from the 
Jews. 

Mark Antony coming to Antioch, some principal 
Jews accuse Herod and Phazael, but, instead of 
bearing them, he establishes the two brothers te- 
trarchs of the Jews 

The Jews afterwards send a deputation of a thou- 
sand of their most considerable men to Antony, 
then at Tyre ; but in vain 

Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, prevails with the 
Parthiaus to place him on the throne of Judea. 
The Parthians seize Hyrcanus and Phazael, and 
deliver them up to Antigonus 

Phazael beats out his own brains ; the Parthians 
carry Hyrcanus beyond the Euphrates, after Antig- 
onus had cut off his ears. 

Herod forced to flee to Jerusalem, and thence to 
Rome, to implore assistance from Antony. He 
obtains the kingdom of Judea from the senate, and 
returns with letters from Antony, who orders the 
governors of Syria to assist in obtaining the king- 
dom. He reigns thirty-seven years 

He first takes Joppa, then goes to Massada, where 
his brother Joseph was besieged by Antigonus 

He raises that siege, and inarches against Jerusalem ; 
but, the season being too far advanced, he could not 
then besiege it 

He takes the robbers that hid themselves in the caves 
of Galilee, and slays them. 

Machera, a Roman captain, and Joseph, Herod's 
brother, carry on the war against Antigonus, while 
Herod goes with troops to Antony, then besieging 
Samosata 

After the taking of Samosata, Antony sends Sosius, 
with Herod, into Judea, to reduce it 

After several battles, Herod marches against Jerusa- 
lem ; the city is taken ; Antigonus surrenders him- 
self to Sosius, who insults him. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xiv . 18. 
19. 



c.23. 



c. 22. 



c.23. 



c.24,25. 



c. 26. 
c.27. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



979 



Year of the 
World. 



5374 



33 



32 

31 
30 



27 



26 



25 
24 
22 

21 

18 

17 

16 
15 

12 

11 

10 



37 



FROM THE CREATION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 



Antigonus carried prisoner to Antony, at Antioch, 
who orders him to be beheaded 

End of the reign of the Asmoneans, which had lasted 
126 years. 

Ananel high-priest the first time 

Hyrcanus is treated kindly by the king of the Par- 
thians. Obtains leave to return into Judea. 

Because Hyrcanus could no longer exercise the 
functions of the high-priesthood, Herod bestows 
that dignity on Ananel 

Alexandra, mother of Mariamne and Aristobulus, ob- 
tains of Herod, that Aristobulus might be made 
high-priest. 

Herod causes Aristobulus to be drowned, after he 
had been high-priest one year. 

Ananel high-priest the second time 

Herod is sent for by Antony to justify himself con- 
cerning the muider of Aristobulus 

War between Augustus and Mark Antony. Herod 
sides with Antony. 

Herod's wars with the Arabians. 

A great earthquake in Judea 

The battle of Actiuni ; Augustus obtains the vie- ) 
tory over Antony. ( 

Herod seizes Hyrcanus, who attempted to take shel- 
ter with the king of the Arabians, and puts him to 
death. 

He goes to Rome to pay his court to Augustus ; 
obtains the confirmation of the kingdom of Ju- 
dea. 

Antony and Cleopatra kill themselves. 

End of the kings of Alexandria, 294 years from the 
death of Alexander the Great. 

Augustus comes into Syria ; passes through Pales- 
tine ; is magnificently entertained by Herod. 

Herod puts to death his wife Mariamne, daughter of 
Alexandra. 

Salome, Herod's sister, divorces herself from Costo- 
barus. 

Plague and famine rage in Judea. 

Herod undertakes several buildings, contrary to the 
religion of the Jews 

He builds Ceesarea of Palestine. 

Agrippa, Augustus's favorite, comes into Asia. Herod 
visits him 

Augustus gives Trachonitis to Herod. 

Herod undertakes to rebuild the temple of Jeru- 
salem 

Herod makes a journey to Rome, to recommend him- 
self to Augustus 

He marries his two sons, Alexander and Aristobulus. 

Herod comes to meet Agrippa, and engages him to 
visit Jerusalem. 

Domestic divisions in Herod's family. Salome, Phe- 
roras and Antipater at variance with Alexander 
and Aristobulus 

Herod goes to Rome, and accuses his two sons, 
Alexander and Aristobulus, to Augustus. 

The solemn dedication of the city of Csesarea, built 
by Herod, in honor of Augustus. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xltv. c. 27. 



xv. c. 2. 



— c. 2, 3. 



Jos. ubi sup. 

Jos. Ant. lib. xv. c. 4. 



Bel. lib. i. c. 14. 
Dion. Cas. lib. li. 
Plut. in Ant. etc. 



c.7; 



Jos. Ant. lib. xv. c. 11. 



c. 13. 



c. 14. 



xvi. c. 1. 
c.2. 



-c.6— 12. 



980 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Catact. Hnlc*. 



3995 5374 



3997 
3998 



540t! 



Yair brfrre 
Chr..l. 



Cnlmcl. Halea. 



37 



FROM THE CREA TION TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIS 



Augustus continues the Jews <>f Alexandria in their 

ancient rights and privileges. 
II' rod, it is said, causes David's tomb to be opened, 

to take out treasure. 
Ni n disturbances in Herod's family, 
^rchelaus, king of Cappadocia, reconciles his son-in 

law, Alexander, to his father, Herod. 
Arehelaus goes to Rome with Herod. 
Herod makes war in Arabia. 

1 1< rod i- accused to Augustus of killing several Arabs. 

An angel appears to the priest Zacharias. The con- 
ception <>f John the Baptist. September 24th . . . . 

Aj Delation of the Incarnation of the Son of God, 

to the Virgin Mary March 25th 

Ih rod condemns and days his two sons Alexander 
and Aristobulus 

Antipater, son of Herod, aims at the kingdom 

1 1 c rod -i mis \ntipati r to Rome. 

The artifices and tricks of Antipater are discovered. 

Birth ot" John the Haptist, six months before the hirth 
of Jesus, June 24th 



Jos. Ant. lib. xvi. c. 15 

Luke i. 9—20. 

26—38. 

Jos. Ant. 1. xvi. c. 17. 
1, xvii. c. 1. 



Luke i. 57—80. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



981 



4000 
4001 



4002 



4009 
4010 



4012 



4013 
4017 



4023 
4031 

4032 

4033 



A. D. 

7 



10 



25 
26 
27 

28 



A. D. 

6 
7 



20 
28 

29 

30 



FROM THE MIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 



9 
10 



23 
31 

32 

33 



The birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
December 25th 

Circumcision of Jesus, January 1 

Antipater returns from Rome. Is accused and 
convicted of a design to poison Herod 

Wise men come to worship Jesus 

Purification of the Virgin Mary ; Jesus presented in 
the temple, forty days after his birth, Feb. 2d 

Flight into Egypt ". 

Massacre of the innocents at Bethlehem 

Antipater put to death by order of Herod. 

Herod dies, five days after Antipater 

Archelaus appointed king of Judea by the. will of ) 

Herod £ 

Return of Jesus Christ out of Egypt. He goes to 

dwell at Nazareth 

Archelaus goes to Rome, to procure from Augustus 

the confirmation of Herod's will in his favor. 
The Jews revolt ; Varus keeps them in their duty. 
Archelaus obtains a part of his father's dominions, 

with the title of tetrarch, and returns to Judea. 
An impostor assumes the character of Alexander, son 

of Herod and Mariamne. 
Archelaus takes the high-priesthood from Joazar, 

and gives it to Eleazar. 
The Vulgar yEra, or Anno Domini ; the fourth year 

of Jesus Christ, the first of which has but eight 

days. 

Archelaus banished to Vienne in Gaul 

Enrolment, or taxation, by Cyrenius in Syria. 

This was his second enrolment. 
Revolt of Judas the Gaulonite, chief of the Hero- 

dians. 

Jesus Christ, at twelve years of age, visits the temple 
at Jerusalem ; continues there three days, unknown 
to his parents 

Marcus Ambivius governor of Judea 

Death of the emperor Augustus ; reigned fifty-seven 
years, five months, and four days 

Tiberius succeeds him ; reigns twenty-two years, six 
months, and twenty-eight days 

Tiberius expels from Italy all who profess the Jewish 
religion, or practise Egyptian superstitions. 

Pilate sent governor into Judea 

He attempts to bring the Roman colors and ensigns 
into Jerusalem, but is opposed by the Jews. 

John the Baptist begins to preach 



Jesus Christ baptized by John. 



Jesus goes into the desert. 



He calls 



After forty days, Jesus returns to John 

Andrew, Simon, Philip and Nathanael 

The marriage in Cana, where Jesus changes water 



into wine 

Jesus comes to Capernaum; thence to Jerusalem, 
where he celebrates the first passover after his 
baptism, April 15th, this year 

Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night 



Luke ii. 7. 
21. 

Jos. Ant. 1. xvii. c. 7, 9 ; 

Bel. lib. i. c. 20, 21. 
Matt. ii. 1—12. 

Luke ii. 22—38. 
Matt. ii. 13—15. 
16, 17. 

Jos. Ant. 1. xvii. c. 8 ; 

Euseb. Hist. Ec. i. 8. 
Jos. Ant. 1. xvii. c. 13 ; 

Matt. ii. 22. 

Matt. ii. 19—23. 



Jos. Ant. 1. xvii. c. 15. 



Luke ii. 46—48. 

Jos. Ant. 1. xvii. c. 15. 

Vel. Pat. lib. ii. c. 123;. 

Suet, in Oct. c. 100 ; 

Tacitus, 1. i. c. 5, 7. 
Jos. Ant. lib. xviii. c. 3, 

&c. 



Matt. iii. 1 ; 

Luke iii. 2, 3 ; 

John i. 15. 
13—17 ; 

Mark i. 9 ; 

Luke iii. 21. 
iv. 1—11 ; 

Mark i. 12 ; 

Luke iv. 1. 

12, &c. John i. 

35, &c. 
Jonn ii. 1. 

Matt. ix. — xii. 

John ii. 12—25. 
John iii. 1—21. 



Dh2 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Year of 
World. 



4033 



28 



30 



403-1 



4035 



31 



32 



30 



4036 



31 



33 



33 



34 



35 



36 



FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JF.Kl'SALEM. 



Jesus goes to the banks of Jordan, where lie baptizes. 
Herod Antipas marries l lerodias, his brother Philip's 

wife, Philip being yet liv ing. 
John the Baptist declares vehemently against this ) 

marriage ; he is put in prison $ 

Jesus withdraws into Galilee; converts the Samari- 
tan woman, and several Samaritans 

Preaches at Na/areth, and leaves this city to dwell 
in Capernaum 

Calling of Simon, Andrew, James and John, by Je- 
sus Christ 

Jesus Christ works several miracles 



Matthew called. 



The si com! pas-over of our Sa\ jour's public ministry. 
Our Saviour's sermon on the mount 

John the Baptist, in prison, sends a deputation to ) 

Jesus, to inquire if lie were the Messiah $ 

Mission of the apostles into several parts of Judea. . 

John the Baptist slain, by order of Herod, at the } 
instigation ofHerodias, in the seventeenth year > 
of Tiberius ) 

Jesus Christ feeds 5000 men, with five loaves and 
two fishes 

Jesus Christ's third passover, after his baptism. 

He passes through Judea and Galilee, teaching J 

and doing miracles £ 

Transfiguration of Jesus Christ 



Mission of the seventy-two disciples 

Jesus goes to Jerusalem at the feast of Pentecost. . . 

His relations would have him go to the feast of Tab- 
ernacles ; he tells them his hour is not yet come ; 
however, he goes thither about the middle of the 
feast 

At the beginning of the thirty-sixth year of Jesus 
Christ, Lazarus falls sick, and dies ; Jesus comes 
from beyond Jordan, and restores him to life 

Jesus retires to Ephraim on Jordan, to avoid the 
snares and malice of the Jews of Jerusalem 

He comes to Jerusalem, to be present at his last 
passover 



On Sunday, March 29, of Nisan 9, he arrives at 
Bethany: sups with Simon the leper 

Monday, March 30, his triumphant entry into Je- ? 
rusalem £ 

Tuesday, March 31, he comes again to Jerusalem ; } 
on his way curses the barren fig-tree ( 

Wednesday, April 1, the priests and scribes con- / 
suit on means to apprehend him $ 

Thursday, April 2 ; he passeth this day on the mount 
of Olives; sends Peter and John into the city, to 
prepare for the passover 

Thursday evening, he goes into the city, and eats 
his last supper with his apostles ; institutes the 
Eucharist. After supper, he retires with them 



John iii. 22. 



Matt. xiv. 3 — 5; Mark 
vi. 17—20; Luke 
iii. 19. 

John iv. 1—42. 

Luke iv. 16—32. 

Matt. iv. 18—22 ; Mark i. 

16—20 ; Luke v. 1 

—11. 

Mark i. 23—27 ; ii. 12 ; 

Matt. viii. 14—17 ; 

Luke iv. 35 ; v. 25. 
Matt. ix. 9 ; Mark ii. 14 ; 

Luke v. 27. 

v. 1 — vii.29; Luke 

vi. 20—49. 
xi. 2 — 6 ; Luke vii. 

18—23. 
x. Mark vi. 7—13 ; 

Luke ix. 1 — 6. 

xiv. 1 ; Mark vi. 14 ; 

Luke ix. 7. 
— 15; Mark vi. 35; 

Luke ix. 12 ; John 

vi. 5. 



ix. 35 ; Mark vi. 6. 

xvii. 1 ; Mark ix. 

2 ; Luke ix. 28. 
Luke x. 1 — 16. 
John v. 1. 



vii. 1—39. 



xi. 17 — 46. 

54. 

Matt. xxi. 1 ; Mark xi. 1 ; 

Luke xix.29 ; John 
* xii. 12. 

John xii. 1 — 8. 

Matt. xxi. 8 ; Mark xi. 

8 ; Luke xix. 36 ; 

John xii. 13. 
xxi. 18, 19 ; Mark 

xi. 12—14. 
Mark xi. 18 ; Luke xix. 

47, 48. 

Matt. xxvi. 17 ; Mark xiv. 

12 ; Luke xxii. 7. 
20 ; Mark xiv. 

17 ; Luke xxii. 14 ; 

John xiii. 1 ; Matt. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



983 



Year of 
World. 


A. D. 


Calmet. 


Hales. 


4036 


31 



4037 



4038 
4039 
4040 



4041 



31 



34 
35 



33 



34 



35 
36 
37 



38 



36 



37 



38 
39 
40 



FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 



41 



into the garden of Gethsemane, where Judas, ac- 
companied by the soldiers, seizes him 

In the night-time, Jesus is conducted to Annas, ? 
father-in-law of the high-priest Caiaphas $ 

Friday, April 3, Nisan 14, he is carried to Pilate, } 
accused, condemned, and crucified on Calvary.. > 

Towards evening, before the repose of the sabbath S 
begins, he is taken down from the cross, em- > 
balmed, and laid in a tomb ) 

The priests set guards about it, and seal up the entry 
of the sepulchre 

He continues in the tomb all Friday night, all Satur- 
day, (that is, the sabbath,) and Saturday night, till 
Sunday morning. 

He rises on Sunday morning 

Angels declare his resurrection to the holy women 
who visit his tomb 

Jesus himself appears ; 1. to Mary Magdalen, who 
mistakes him for the gardener ; 2. to the holy 
women, returning from the sepulchre ; 3. to Peter; 
4. to the two disciples going to Emmaus ; 5. to the 
apostles assembled in an apartment at Jerusalem, 
excepting Thomas, who was absent : all this on the 
day of his resurrection 

Eight days after, in the same place, he again visits his 
disciples, and convinces Thomas, now present.. . . 

The apostles return into Galilee. Jesus shows ) 
himself to them on several occasions $ 

The apostles, having passed about twenty-eight days 
in Galilee, return to Jerusalem. 

Jesus appears to them while at table, in Jerusalem, 
May 14. Having taken them out of the city, to 
the mount of Olives, he ascends into heaven before 
them all, on the fortieth day after his resurrection. 

Ten days after, being the feast of Pentecost, the Holy 
Ghost descends upon them in the form of tongues 
of fire 

Seven deacons chosen 

St. Stephen martyred 

Saul persecutes the church ; his conversion 

Pilate writes to Tiberius respecting the death of Je- 
sus Christ. 

James the lesser made bishop of Jerusalem. 

Philip the deacon baptizes the eunuch of queen 

Candace 

Dispersion of believers from Jerusalem 

Agrippa the younger, being much involved in debt 

in Judea, resolves on going to Rome. 
He arrives at Rome, and devotes himself to Caius, 

afterwards emperor. 
He falls under the displeasure of Tiberius, and is put 

in prison. 
Pilate ordered into Italy. 

Tiberius dies ; Caius Caligula succeeds 

Agrippa set at liberty, and promoted to honor. 
Apollonius Tyaneeus becomes famous about the end 

of Tiberius's reign. 
It is thought that about this time St. Peter comes to 

Antioch. 

St. Paul escapes from Damascus, by being let down 
in a basket 



xxvi. 30 ; Mark xiv. 

26 ; Luke xxii. 39 ; 

John xviii. 1, 3. 
Matt. xxvi. 57 ; Mark xiv. 

53 ; Luke xxii. 54 ; 

John xviii. 13. 
xxvii. 2, 11 — 14 ; 

Markxv.l; Lu.xxiii. 

1 ; John xviii. 28. 
57 ; Mark xv. 

42 ; Luke xxiii. 50 ; 

John xix. 38. 

66. 



xxviii. 2. 

John xx. 11. 
14. 

Matt, xxviii. 9 ; John xx. 
18. 

Luke xxiv. 36. 



John xx. 19—23. 
Mark xvi. 14 ; John xx. 
26. 

Matt, xxviii. 16—18 ; 
John xxi. 1. 



Luke xxiv. 30, 31 ; Acts 
i. 9. 



Acts ii. 

vi. 1—6. 

8— vii. 60. 

viii. 1 — ix. 1 — 19. 



Sueton. in Calig. 



Acts ix. 23 — 25. 



984 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



4041 



35 



38 



4042 



4043 



39 



40 



4044 



41 



4045 
404C 
4047 



44 



42 
43 
44 



4048 



4049 



45 



46 



1 1 



V! 



43 



1 I 



45 
46 
47 



48 



49 



from the nmni or christ to the destruction of Jerusalem. 



He comes to Jerusalem; Barnabas introduces him 
to the apostles and disciples 

lie goes to Tarsus in Cilicia, his native country 

Caligula gives Agrippa the tetrarchy of his uncle 
Philip; he returns into Judea; passing through 
Alexandria, he is ridiculed by the inhabitants. 

The citizens of Alexandria make an uproar against 
the Jews, at the instigation of Flaccus. 

Pilate kills himself. 

Flaccus apprehended, and carried to Rome ; is ban- 
ished by order of Caligula. 

Herod the tetrarch goes to Rome, in hopes of ob- 
taining some favor from the emperor. Hut Calig- 
ula, being prepossessed by Agrippa, banishes him 
to Lyons. 

Caligula orders Petroniue to place his statue in the 
temple of Jerusalem. The Jews obtain some de- 
lav from Petronius. 

Agrippa endeavors to divert the emperor from this 
thought, at last, as a great favor, that this statue 
should not be set up. 

I* J i ili tic Jew, goes with a deputation from the 
Jews at Alexandria to Caligula. 

Philo obtains an audience of the emperor, and runs 
the hazard of his life. 

Tumults in Chaldea ; the Jews quit Babylon, and re- 
tire to Seleucia. 

About this time, Helena, queen of the Adiahcnians, 
and Izates, her son, embrace Judaism. 

Cains Caligula dies; Claudius succeeds him. Agrip- 
pa persuades him to accept the empire offered by 
the army. Claudius adds Judea and Samaria to 
Agrippa's dominions 

Agrippa returns to Judea; takes the high-priesthood 
from Theophilus, son of Ananus ; gives it to Simon 
Cantharus. 

Soon after, takes this dignity from Cantharus, and 

gives it to Matthias. 
Peter comes to Rome in the reign of Claudius. The 

year not certain. 
Agrippa deprives the high-priest Matthias of the 

priesthood ; bestows it on Elioneus, son of Citheus. 
Causes the apostle James the greater to be seized, 

and beheads him 

Peter also put into prison by his order, but is liberate 

by an angel 

Some time afterwards, Agrippa, at Csesarea, receives 

a sudden stroke from heaven, and dies in great 

misery 

Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem with the contri- 
bution's of the believers of Antioch 

At their return to Antioch, the church sends them 

forth to preach to the Gentiles, wherever the Holy 

Ghost should lead them 

Cuspius Fadus sent into Judea, as governor. 

A great famine in Judea 

Paul and Barnabas go to Cyprus, thence to Pampby- 

lia, Pisidia and Lycaonia. (But see under Paul.). 
At Lystra, the people prepare sacrifices to them as 

gods 

Thev return to Antioch 

The" First Epistle of Peter 

About this time Mark writes his Gospel 

Cuspius Fadus recalled; the government of Judea 

given to Tiberius Alexander 



Acts ix. 26—29. 
30. 



Sueton. in Claud. 



Acts xii. 1, 2; 
Jos. Ant. lib. xix. c. 8. 

3—17. 



21—23. 

xi. 26— 30; xii. 25. 

xiii. 1—3. 

Jos. Ant. lib. xx. c. 2. 

Acts xiii. 4 — xiv. 10. 

xiv. 11—18. 

19—28. 

1st Peter. 
Gospel of Mark. 

Jos. Ant. lib. xx. c. 5. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



985 



FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 



4051 44 48 51 Herod, king of Chaleis, takes the pontificate from 
Joseph, son of Camides ; gives it to Ananias, son 

• ofNebedeus. 
Herod, king of Chaleis, dies. 

Ventidius Cumanus made governor of Judea, in place 
of Tiberius Alexander. 

4052 49 52 Troubles in Judea under the government of Cuma- 

• nus. 

4054 51 54 Judaizing Christians enforce the law on converted 
Gentiles 

49 The council of Jerusalem determines that converted 

Gentiles should not be bound to an observance of 

the legal ceremonies 

Peter comes to Antioch, and is reproved by Paul. . . 
Paul and Barnabas separate, on account of John 

Mark 

Timothy adheres to Paul, and receives circumcision. 
Luke, at this time, with Paul. 

4055 52 55 Paul passes out of Asia into Macedonia 

Paul comes to Athens 

4056 53 56 From Athens he goes^to Corinth 

The Jews expelled Rome under the reign of Clau- 
dius 

Felix sent governor into Judea instead of Cumanus. 

First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians 

His Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, some months 
after the First 

4057 54 57 Paul leaves Corinth, after a stay of eighteen months ; 
takes ship to go to Jerusalem ; visits Ephesus in 
his way. 

Apollos arrives at Ephesus; preaches Christ 

St. Paul, having finished his devotions at Jerusalem, 

goes to Antioch 

Passes into Galatia and Phrygia, and returns to 

Ephesus, where he continues three years 

Claudius, the emperor, dies, being poisoned by Agrip- 
pina. Nero succeeds him 

4058 55 58 Epistle of Paul to the Galatians 

4059 56 59 The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians 

4060 57 60 Paul forced to leave Ephesus on account of the up- 
roar raised against him by Demetrius the silver- 
smith 

He goes into Macedonia 

Second Epistle to the Corinthians 

4061 58 61 Epistle to the Romans 

Paul goes into Judea to carry contributions 

Is seized in the temple at Jerusalem 

4062 59 62 Is sent prisoner to Csesarea 

Ishmael, son of Tabei, made high-priest instead of 

Ananias. 

Disturbance between the Jews of Csesarea, and the 
other inhabitants. 

4063 60 63 Porcius Festus made governor of Judea in the room 
of Felix ." 

Paul appeals to the emperor. He is put on ship- 
board, and sent to Rome 

Paul shipwrecked at Malta 

4064 61 64 He arrives at Rome, and continues there a prisoner 
two years 

The Jews build a wall, which hinders Agrippa from 

looking within the temple. 
Ishmael, the high-priest, deposed. J oseph, surnamed 
Cabei, is put in his place. 

: 62 65 Epistle of Paul to the Philippians 

Epistle to the Colossians 



124 



Acts xv. 1 — 5. 

6—29. 

Gal. ii. 11. 

Acts xv. 36—39. 
xvi. 1—3. 

9—12. 

xvii. 15—34. 

xviii. 1. 

xviii. 2. 

1st Thessalonians. 

2d 



Acts xviii. 18, 19, 20. 
24—26. 




Sueton. in Nero. 

Galatians. 

1st Corinthians. 



Acts xix. 23 — 41. 

— — - xx. 1. 

2d Corinthians. 

Romans. 

Acts xxi. 1 — 15. 

xxi. 27 — xxiii. 10. 

xxiii. 31 — 35. 



xxiv. 27. 

xxv. 11, 12 — xxv'u. 
xxvii. 

xxviii. 16 — 31. 



Philippians. 
Colossians. 



9bb 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



Yrar ol 
Chritt 



40G5 
40Gt> 



49 



62 
63 



4067 



64 



1068 



nr, 



10G9 



66 



4070 



67 



65 
66 



69 



70 



FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 



Martyrdom of the apostle James the lesser, bishop of 
Jerusalem. 

Epistle uf I'aiil to the Hebrews, written from Italy, 
soon after he was set at liberty 

All>imis, successor of F est us, arrives in Judea 

A division anionjr the priests of Jerusalem on the 
subject of tithes. 

The singing Levites obtain leave to wear linen gar- 
ments in the temple, as well as the priests. 

Jesus, son of A nan us, begins to cry in Jerusalem, 
'• Wo to the city," \:c. and continues so to cry till 
the siege, by the Romans 

Paul comes "in uf Italy into Judea ; pusses by Crete, 
Fphesus and Macedonia. 

It is thought that from Macedonia lie writes his First 
Epistle to Timothy 

Paul's Epistle to Titus 

Agrippa takes the high-priesthood from Jesus, son 
of Gamaliel ; gives it to Matthias, son of Theoph- 
ilus 

Gessius Florus made i;ovcrnor # of .Indi a in place of 

Albums'. 

Nero sets fire to the city of Rome ; throws the blame 
on the Christians, several of whom are cruelly put 
to death 

Peter writes his Second Epistle, probably from Rome. 

Several prodigies at Jerusalem this year, during the 
passover. 

I'.inl L'nes to Koine the last time; is there put into 

prison ; also Peter. 

Epistle of Paul to the Ephcsians 

Second Epistle of Paid to Timothy 

Apollonius Tvana-us comes to Rome. 

The martyrdom of Peter and Paul at Rome 

Clement Mieceeds St. I'eter, but does not take upon 

him the government of the church till after the 

death of Linus. 
Mark comes again to Alexandria, and there suffers 

martyrdom. 

Cestius, governor of Syria, comes to Jerusalem ; 
enumerates the Jews at the passover 

Disturbances at Csesarea, and at Jerusalem. 

Florus puts several Jews to death. 

The Jews revolt, and kill the Roman garrison at Je- 
rusalem. 

A miissacre of the Jews of Caesarea in Palestine. 

All the Jews of Scythopolis slain in one night. 

Cestius, governor of Syria, comes into Judea. 

He besieges the temple at Jerusalem ; retires ; is de- 
feated by the Jews. 

The Christians of Jerusalem, seeing a war about to 
break out, retire to Pella, in the kingdom of Agrip- 
pa, beyond Jordan 

Vespasian appointed by Nero for the Jewish war. 

Josephus made governor of Galilee. 

Vespasian sends his son Titus to Alexandria ; comes 
himself to Antioch, and forms a numerous army. 

Vespasian enters Judea ; subdues Galilee 

Josephus besieged in Jotapata. 

Jotapata taken ; Josephus surrenders to Vespasian.. . 
Tiberias and Tarichea, which had revolted against 

Agrippa, reduced by Vespasian. 

Divisions in Jerusalem 

The Zealots seize the temple, and commit violence 

in Jerusalem. 



Hebrews. 

Jos. Ant. lib. xx. c. 9. 



Jos. Bel. lib. vi. c. 5. 



1st Timothy. 
Titus. 



Jos. Ant. lib. xx. c. 9. 



Tacit. Hist. lib. v. 
2d Peter. 



Ephesians. 
2d Timothy. 

Euseb. Hist. 1. iii c. 1. 



Jos. Bel. lib. ii. c. 13. 



c. 25. 



— lib. iii. c. 1. 
c. 8. 



lib. iv. c. 5, 6. 



A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HOLY BIBLE. 



987 



Tear of 
World. 



4070 



65 



67 



4071 



4072 



68 



69 



4073 



70 



4074 



4075 



70 



71 



72 



70 



71 



72 



73 



74 



75 



FROM THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THF. DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 



They depose Theophilus from being high-priest, and 
put Phannias in his place. 

The Zealots send for the Jdumeao« to succor Jeru- 
salem. 

They slay Ananus, Jesus, son ot Gamala, and Zach- 

arias, son of Baruch. 
The Idumeans retire from Jerusalem. 

Nero, the emperor, dies. Galba succeeds him 

Vespasian takes all the places of strength in Judea, 

about Jerusalem. 
Simon, son of Gioras, ravages Judea, and the south 

of Idumea. 

Galba dies ; Otho declared emperor 

Otho dies ; Vitellius proclaimed emperor. 

Vespasian declared emperor by his army ; is acknowl- 
edged all over the East 

Josephus set at liberty. 

John of Gischala heads the Zealots. 

Eleazar, son of Simon, forms a third party ; makes 
himself master of the inner temple, or the court of 
the priests 

Titus marches against Jerusalem, to besiege it 

Comes down before Jerusalem, some days before the 
passover. 

The factions unite at first against the Romans, but 

afterwards divide again 

The Romans take the first enclosure of Jerusalem, 
then the second ; they make a wall all round the 
city, which is reduced to distress by famine. 
July 17, the perpetual sacrifice ceases. 
The Romans become masters of the court of the 
people, in the temple ; they set fire to the galleries. 
A Roman soldier sets the temple on fire, notwith- 
standing Titus commands the contrary 

The Romans, being now masters of the city and tem- 
ple, offer sacrifices to their gods. 

The last enclosure of the city taken 

John of Gischala, and Simon, son of Gioras, conceal 

themselves in the common sewers. 
Titus demolishes the temple to its foundations. 
He also demolishes the city, reserving the towers of 

Hippicos, Phazael and Mariamne 

Titus returns to Rome, to his father Vespasian ; they 

triumph over Judea. 
Bassus sent into Judea as lieutenant. 
After the death of Bassus, Fulvius Sylva succeeds; 

takes some fortresses that still held out in J udea. 
The temple Onion, in Egypt, shut up by the Ro- 
mans. 

An assassin of Judea seduces the Jews of Cyrene, 
and causes their destruction 

Vespasian causes a strict search to be made for all 
who are of the race of David. 



Plut. et Suet in Galb. 

Tacit, lib. ii. c. 50. 
Jos. Bel. lib. iv. c. 10. 



lib. v. c. I. 
c.2. 



•c.7. 



lib. vi. c. 4. 
c.8. 



lib. viL c. 1. 



ell 



I 



ft EIGHTS MEASURES, AND MONEY, MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE 

EXTRACTED CHIEFLY PROM DR. ARBUTHNOT'S TABLES. 



TABLES 

or 



L. Jewish Heights, reduced to English Troy Weigld. 

lbs. OZ. pen. gr. 

The gerali, one twentieth of a shekel 12 

Bekah, half a shekel 5 

The shekel 10 

The waneh, 60 shekels 2 6 

The tair.Dt, 50 mauehs, or 3000 shekels 1-25 



2. Scripture Measures of Length, reduced to English Measure. 

Eng feet Inches. 

A ligi t 0.912 

4 j A pal m 3.648 

12 I 3 1 A spa n 10.944 

24 1 6 | 3 | A c ubit 1 9.888 

96 1 24 ] 6 | 2 | A f athom 7 3.552 

144 i 36 j 12 ! 6 | 1.5 | Ivzrki el's reed 10 11.328 

192 i 48 1 16 1 8 | 2 1 1.3 1 An Arabian pole 14 7.104 

1920 1 480 I 160 ! 80 j 20 j 13.3 | 10 1 A schanus or measuring line 145 11.04 



3. The long Scripture Measures. 

Eng. miles, paces, feet 

A cubit 1.824 

f 400 | A stadium or furlong 145 4.6 

' 2000 | 5 1 A sa bbath day's journey 729 3. 

4000 | 10 | 2 | An eastern mile 1 403 1. 

J 120 00 j 30 1 6 : 3 I A parasang 4 153 3. 

96000 I 240 1 48 I 24 I 8 j A day's journey 33 172 4. 



TABLES OF WEIGHTS, MEASURES AND MONEY. 



959 



4 Scripture Measures of Capacity for Liquids, reduced to English Wine Measure. 



Gal. pints. 

A caph 0.625 

1.3 1 A log 0.833 

5.3 j 4 | A cab 3.333 

16 | 12 | 3 1 A hin 1 2. 

32 j 24 j 6 | 2 | Ase ah .' . 2 4. 

96 1 72 1 18 1 6 1 3 1 A b ath or ephah 7 4. 

960 | 720 | 180 | 60 | 20 j 10 | A kor or choros, chomer or homer 75 5. 



5. Scripture Measures of Capacity for Things dry, reduced to English Corn Measure. 

Pecks, gal. pints. 



A gach al v 0.141G 

20 | A cab 2.8333 

36 | 1.8 | An omer or gomer 5.1 

120 | 6 1 3.3 1 A se ah 1 o 1. 

360 j 18 1 10 1 3 | An ephah 3 3. 

1800 | 90 1 50 1 15 | 5 | A l etech 16 0. 

3600 | 180 ! 100 | 30 1 10 1 2 | A chotner, homer or kor 32 1. 



6. Jewish Money, reduced to the English Standard. 



A gerah 



10 



20 



A bekah 

2 | A shek el 
I 



1200 | 120 I 50 1 A maneh, or mina Hebr. 



60000 6000 3000 60 



A solidus aureus, or sextula, was worth . . . 
A siclus aureus, or gold shekel, was worth 



£ 


S, 


d. 


S 


cts. 








1.3687 





02.5 





1 


1.6875 





25.09 


p 


2 


3.375 





50.187 


5 


14 


0.75 


25 


09.35 


342 


3 


9. 


1505 


62.5 





12 


0.5 


2 


64.09 


1 


16 


6. 


8 


03. 


5475 





0. 


24309 





In the preceding table, silver is valued at 5s. and gold at £4 per ounce. 



7. Roman Money, mentioned in the New Testament, reduced to the English Standard. 

£ s. d. far.« 8 cts. 

A mite, {A*m6v or V/an^tov) 0| 00.34375 

A farthing (ffo^urr^) about U 00.6875 

A penny or denarius (Jrp'u'jiov] 7 2 13.75 

A pound or mina 3 2 6 13 7£. 

I 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. 



Aaron 

Abaddon 

Abagtha 

Abal 

Abana 

Abarim 

Abba 

Abda 

Abdiel 

Abednego 

Abel 

Abesan 

Abez 

Abiah 

Abialbon 

Abiasaph 

Abiathar 

Abib 

Abidah 

Abiel 

Abiezer 

\biezrite 

Abigail 

Abihail 

Abijah 

Abilene 

Abimael 

Abimelech 

Abinadab 

Abinoam 

Abiram 

Abishag 

Abishai 

Abishahar 

Abishalom 

Abishua 

Abishur 

Abital 

Abiud 

Acaron 

Accad 

Aceldama 

Achaia . 

Achaichus 

Achan 

Achim 

Achimelech 

Achior 

Achish 

Aclntophel 



a'ron 

a-bad'don 

a-bag'thah 

a'bal 

ab'a-nah 

ab'a-rim 

ab'bah 

ab'dah 

ab'de-el 

a-bed'ne-go 

a'bel 

ab'be-san 

a'bez 

ab-i'ah 

ab-e-al'bon 

ab-i'a-sqf 

ab-i'a-thar 

a'bib 

ab-i'dah 

ab'e-el 

ab-e-e'zer 

ab-e-ez'rite 

ab'e-gale 

ab'e-hale 

ab-i'jah 

ab-be-le'ne 

ab-be-may'el 

ab-im! me-lek 

ab-in' 'na-dab 

ab-in'no-am 

ab-i'ram 

ab'be-shag 

ab-bc-shay'i 

ab-be-shay'har 

ab-be-shay'lom 

ab-be-shu'ah 

ab'e-shur 

ab'e-tal 

ab'e-ud 

ak'a-ron 

ak'kad 

a-sel'da-mah 

a-kay'yah 

a-kay'e-kus 

a'kan 

a'kim 

a-kim'e-lek 

a'ke-or 

a'kish 

a-kit'o-fel 



Achinetha 

Achor 

Achsah 

Achshaph 

Achzib 

Acipha 

Acitho 

Adadah 

Adadezer 

Adadrimmon 

Adaiah 

Adam 

Adamah 

Adbeel 

Addi 

Ader 

Adiel 

Adina 

Adithaim 

Adlai 

Admah 

Adonai 

Adonibesek 

Adonijah 

Adonikam 

Adoniram 

Adonis 

Adonizedek 

Adoraim 

Adrammelech 

Adramyttium 

Adria 

Adriel 

Adullam 

Adummim 

^Eneas 

^Ethiopia 

Agabus 

A gag 

Agate 

Agee 

Agrippa 

Agur 

Ahab 

Aharah 

Ahasai 

Ahasbai 

Ahasuerus 

Ahava 

Ahaz 



ak-me'thah 

a'kor 

ak'sah 

ak'shaf 

ak'zib 

as'e-fah 

as'e-tho 

ad!a-dah 

ad-ad-e'zer 

ad-ad-rim' mon 

ad-a-i'ah 

ad'am 

ad'a-mah 

ad-be'el 

ad'dy 

a'der 

ad'e-el 

ad-dy'nah 

ad-e-tha'im 

ad-lay'i 

ad'mah 

ad'o-nay 

ad-on'e-be'zek 

ad-o-ny'jah 

ad-o-ny'kam 

ad-o-m/'ram 

a-do'nis 

ad-on'e-ze'dek 

ad-o-ray'im 

ad-ram' me-lek 

ad-ra-mit'te-um 

a'dre-ah 

a'dre-el 

ad-ul'am 

ad-um'mim 

e-ne'as 

e-the-o'pe-a 

ag'a-bus 

a'gag 

ag'ate 

ag'e-e 

a-grip'pah 

a'giir 

a'hab 

a-har'ah 

a-has'a-i 

a-has'ba-i 

a-has-u-e'rus 

a-hay'vah 

a'haz 



Ahazai 

Ahaziah 

Ahban 

Ahi 

Ahiah 

Ahiezer 

Ahihud 

Ahijah 

Ahikam 

Ahimaaz 

Ahiman 

Ahimelech 

Ahimoth 

Ahinadab 

Abinoam 

Ahio 

Ahira 

Ahisamach 

Ahishahur 

Ahisham 

Ahishar 

Ahito|jhel 

Ahitub 

Ahlab 

Ahlai 

Ahoah 

Ahohite 

Aholah 

Aholbah 

Aholiab 

Aholibah 

Aholibamah 

Ahumai 

Ahuzam 

Ahuzzah 

Ai 

Aiah 

Aiath 

Aijah 

Ai jaleth shahur 

Ain 

Ajah 

Ajalon 

Akkub 

Akrabbiin 

Alammelech 

Alamoth 

Alemeth 

Alexandria 

Aliah 



a-haz'a-i 

a-haz-i'ah 

ah'ban 

a'hy 

a-hy'ah 

a-hy-e'zer 

a-hy'ud 

a-hy'jah 

a-hy'kam 

a-him'a-az 

a-hy'man 

a-him'me-ltk 

a'he-moth 

a-hin'na-dab 

a-hin'no-am 

a-hy'o 

a-hy'rdh 

a-his'a-mak 

a-hy-shay'hur 

a-hy'sham 

a-hy'shar 

a-hit'o-fel 

a-hy'tub 

ah'lab 

ah'lay 

a-ho'ah 

a-ho'hite 

a-ho'lah 

a-hol'bah 

a-ho'le-ab 

a-ho'le-bah 

a-ho-le-bay'mah 

a-hew'rna-i 

a-hew'zam 

a-huz'zah 

a'i 

a-i'ah 
a-i'ath 
a-i'jah 

ad'ja-Mh-sha'hur 

a'in 

a'i th 

ad'ja-lon 

ak-kub 

ak-rab'bim 

a-lam'me-lek 

al'a-moth 

al'e-me.th 

al-ex-an'dre-a 

a-ly'ah 



!)U2 




Alian 


al'e an 


Alleluiah 


al-le-lii yah 


Allonbachuth 


al'lon-bak'uth 


Almodad 


al-mo'dad 


Almondiblatha- 


al'mon-dib-la-tha' 


im 


im 


A 1 l: 


aimug 


Uoth 


a' loth 


Upb a 


al'J'ah 


Alplicus 


al-fe'us 


Altaschith 


al-las'kith 


AJvah 


aivah 


Alush 


a'hish 


Amadatbua 


a-mad'a-thus 


A ma 1 


a'mal 


Amalda 


a-mcd'dah 


Amalek 


am'a-lek 


Aroanah 


am-a'nah 


Amariab 


am-a-ry'ah 


Amasa 


a-may'sah 


Amasai 


am-a-srty'i 


Amashai 


am-u-shay'i 


Amaziah 


am-a-zi'ah 


Amen 


a'men 


Amethyst 


am'me-thist 


Ami 


a' my 


Aminadab 


a-min'a-dah 


Ammishaddai 


um-me-shad'da-i 


Amittai 


a- mil tuy 


Ammiel 


am'me-el 


Aniinali 


am'mah 


Ammi 


am'my 


Ammihud 


am'me-hud 


Ammizabad 


am-miz'a-bad 


Ammonitess 


am-mon-i'tess 


Amorite9 


am'o-rites 


Amos 


a'tnoz 


Amphipolis 


am-fip'o-lis 


Amok 


a'mok 


Amplias 


am'ple-as 


Amrapbel 


amra-fel 


Amzy 


am'zy 


Anal) 


a'nah 


An ah 


a'nah 


Anaharath 


an-a-hay' ralh 


Anaiah 


an-a-i'aJt 


Anak 


a'nak 


Anakims 


an'a-kims 


Anammelech 


a-nam'me-lek 


Anani 


an-a'ny 


Auaniah 


an-u-ny'ah 


Anath 


a'nath 


Anathema 


a-nath'e-mah 


Anathoth 


an'a-thoth 


Andronicua 


an-dro-ny'kus 


An em 


a'nem 


Aneth 


a'neth 


Anethothite 


a-neth'o-thite 


Aniam 


a-ny'am 


Antilibanua 


an-te-lib' a-nus 


Autioch 


an'te-ok 


Antiochis 


an-ty'o-kis 


Antipas 


an'te-pas 


Antipater 


an-te-pay'ter 


Antipatris 


nn-te-pay'tris 


Antipha 


an'tc-fah 


Antothijah 


an-to-thi'iah 


Antothite 


an'toth-ite 


Anub 


a'nuh 


Apelles 


a-pel'les 


Apharaim 


af-a-ray'im 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. 



Apharsathchites 
Apharsites 
Aphek 
Aphekah 
Apbiah 
Aphra 
A phses 
Apocalypse 
Apocrypha 
Apollonia 
A polios 
A pi illy on 
Apostle ' 
Appaim 
Apphia 
Appii forum 
Aquila 
Ara 

Aral) 

Arab ah 
Arabattine 
Arabia 

A rail 
Arab 
Aram 
Aramitess 
Ararat 
Araunab 
Arbah 
Arbatbite 
Archelaus 

Ari-lii'strntiiH 
Archevites 
Archi 

Archiataroth 
Arcbippue 
Archites 
Arcturua 
Areli 
Arelites 
Areopagite 
Areopagus 
Ares 
Aretas 
Argob 
Andai 
Aridatba 
Arieh 
Arimathea 
Ariocb 
Arisai 
Aristarchus 
Aristobulus 
A rmageddon 
Armenia 
Annoni 
Arnepher 
Arodi 
Aroer 
Arphaxad 
Anaxerxes 
Artemas 
Aruboth 
Arumah 
Asa 
Asadias 
Asahel 
Asaiah 
Asaph 
Asareel 
Asarelah 



a-far'sath-kiles 


Asl -azareth 


as-baz' a-reth 


a-f'ar'sites 


Asenath 


as' e-nath 


a'fek 


Asban , 


a'shan 


a-fe'kah 


Ashbea 


ash'be-ah 


a-fy'ah 
af'rah 


Ashehenaz 


ash'ke-naz 


Asbean 


a'shc-an 


af'sez 


Asher 


ashler 


a-pok'a-l ijis 
a-pok'rc-fah 
ap-pol-lo'ne-a 


Ash i ma 


ash'e-mah 


Ashon 


a'shon 


Ashpenaz 


ash'pe-naz 


a-pol'los 


Ashriel 


ash're-el 


a-pol'yon 


Ashtaroth 


ash'ta-roth 


a-pos'sel 
ap-pay'im 


Ashterathites 


ash-tir'ra-thitei 


Ashuath 


a-sliu'idh 


af'e-ah 


Ash ur 


ash'ur 


ap'pc-ifo'rum 
ak 1/ nil -ah 


Ashurim 


a-shu'rim 


A§hu rites 


ashfur-itis 


a'rah 


Askelon 


as'ke-lon 


a'rah 


Asmaveth 


as' ina-vt th 


ar'ra-hah 


Asnapper 


as-nap'per 
a-so'kis 


ar-ra-bat'e-ne 


Asochis 


a-ray'be-a 


Aspatha 


as'pa-thah 


a'rad 


Asriel 


asi-e-el 


a'rah 


Assir 


as'scr 


a'ram 


AsSl IS 


as'sos 


a-ram-i'tes 


Assyria 


us-sir'e-a 


ar'ra-rat 


Astarte 


as-tar'te 


a-raw'nah 


Asuppim 


a-sup'pim 


ar'bidi 


Asyncritus 


a-sin'kre-tus 


ar'bath-ite 


A lad 


a' lad 


ar-ke-lai/' us 


Atarotli 


at'ta-roth 


ar-kes'lra-tus 


Athack 


u'thak 


ar'ke-vites 


Athaiah- 


ath-a-i'ah 


ar'kv 


Athaliah 


alli-a-hi'ah 


ar-kc-at 'a-roth 


Athens 


alh'ens 


ar-kip'pus 


Athlai 


ath'lau 
ni toy 


ark'ites 


Altai 


ark-loo'rus 


Attaliah 


al-ln-ly'rh 


ar-e'iy 


Attharates 


at-thaPa-tes 


ar-e'htes 


Augustus 


awsus'tus 


ar-e-op' a-gite 


Ava 


a' vah 


ar-e-on' u-eus 
i 1 6 


Aven 


a'ven 


arez 


Avims 


a'vims 


a-re'tas 


Avith 


a'vith 


ar'gob 
a-rid'a-i 


Azaelus 


az-a-e'lus 


Azaliah 


az-a-lv'ah 


a-rid'a-lhah 


Azaz 


a'zaz 


a-ri/'i li 


Azarcel 


az-a-re'el 


ar-e-ma-the 'ah 


A /ariah 


az-a-ry ah 
az-az'el 


a're-ok 


Azazel 


a-ris'a-i 


Azaziah 


az-a-zy'ah 
az-baz'a-reth 


ar-is-tar'kus 


Azlinzareth 


ar-is-to-bcw'lus 


Azekah 


a-ze'kah 


ar-ma-ged'don 
ar-me'ne-a 


Azem 


a'zem 


Azepburith 


az-ze-feiv'ritr 


ar-mo'ny 


Azgad 


az'gad 


ar-nefer 


Aziel 


a'ze-el 


a-ro'dy 
a-ro'tr 


Aziza 


a-zy'zah 
az'ma-veth 


Azmaveth 


ar-f'ax'ad 
ar-tax-crx es 


Azor 


a'zor 


Azotus 


a-zo'tus 


ai J te-mas 


Azriel 


az're-el 


ar'ru-bolh 


Azrikam 


az-ry'kam 


a-ru'mah 


Azubah 


az-vew'bah 


a'sah 


Azur 


alzur 


as-a-dy'as 


Azzur 


az'zx r 


as'a-el 


r! 




as-a-i'ah 




a'saf 


Baai, 


bay'al 


as-a-re'el 


Baalah 


bay'al-ah 


as-a-re'lah 


Baali 


bay'al-t 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. 



Baalim 

Baanah 

Baanath 

Baara 

Baaseiah 

Baashah 

Babel 

Babylon 

Babylonians 

Baca 

Bach rites 

Bachuth-allon 

Baharumite 

Bahurim 

Bajith 

Bakbakker 

Bakbuk 

Bakbukiah 

Balaam 

Baladan 

Balak 

Bamoth 

Bani 

Barabbas 

Barachel 

Baracbiah 

Barak 

Barbumites 

Barjesus 

Barjonah 

Barsabas 

Bartliolomew 

Bartimeus 

Baruch 

Barzillai 

Bashan 

Bashemath 

Basmath 

Bathaloth 

Bathrabbim 

Bathshebah 

Bavai 

Bdellium 

Bealoth 

Bebai 

Becher 

Beehorath 

Bedaiah 

Bedad 

Bed an 

Beeliada 

Beelzebub 

Beera 

Beerelim 

Beeri 

Beerlahairoi 

Beeroth 

Beersheba 

Beeshterah 

Behemoth 

Bekah 

Bela 

Belgai 

Belial 

Belshazzar 

Belteshazzar 

Benjamin 

Benaiah 

Benammi 

Beneberak 

Beneiaakan 



bay'al-im 

bay-a'nah 

ba-a'nath 

ba-a'rah 

ba-a-sy'ah 

ba-a'shah 

bay'bel 

bab'e-lon 

bab-e-lo'ne-ans 

bay'kah 

bak'riles 

bak'uth-al'lon 

ba-har-um'ite 

ba-heiv'rim 

bad'jith 

bak-bak!ker 

bak'buk 

bak-buk-i'ah 

bay'lam 

bal-a'dan 

bay'lak 

bay 1 moth 

bay'ny 

ba-rab'bas 

bar'a-kel 

bar-a-ky'ah 

bay'rak 

bar-hew' mites 

bar-je'sus 

bar-jo'nah 

bar'sa-bas 

bar-thol 1 o-mew 

bar-te-me'us 

bay'ruk 

bar-zil'la-i 

bay'shan 

bash'e-math 

bas'inath 

bath'a-lolh 

baih-rab'bim 

bath-she'bah 

bav'a-i 

del'yum 

be-a'loth 

beb'a-i 

be'ker 

bek-o'rath 

bed-a-i'ah 

be'dad 

be 1 dan 

be-el-i' 'a-dah 

be-el'ze-bub 

be-e'rah 

be-er 1 'e-lim 

be-e'ry 

be'er-la-hay'roy 

be-e'roth 

be'er-she'bah 

be-esh'te-rah 

be'he-moth 

be'kah 

be'lah 

bel'ga-i 

be-le'al 

bel-shaz'ar 

bel-te-shaz' ar 

ben'ja-min 

ben-a'yah 

ben-am'my 

ben-eb'e-rak 

ben-e-jay' a-kan 



Benhadad 

Benhail 

Benhanan 

Beninu 

Beno 

Benoni 

Benui 

Benzoheth 

Bera 

Berachah 

Berachiah 

Beraiah 

Berea 

Bered 

Beri 

Beriah 

Berith 

Bernice 

Berodach 

Berothai 

Berothath 

Beryl 

Besai 

Besodeiah 

Betah 

Beten 

Bethabara 

Betbanath 

Bethany 

Betharabah 

Betharbel 

Bethaven 

Bethazmaveth 

Bethbaalmeon 

Bethbarah 

Betlibirei 

Bethdiblathaim 

Bethel 

Belhemek 

Betliesda 

Bethezel 

Bethgamul 

Bethhaccerim 

Bethharan 

Bethhoglah 

Bethjesimoth 

Bethlehem 

Bethlebaoth 

Betbmaacah 

Bethmeon 

Bethninirah 

Bethoran 

Bethpalet 

Beth[)azzez 

Bethpeor 

Bethphage 

Beth[)helet 

Bethrabah 

Bethreliob 

Bethsaida 

Bethshean 

Bethsheinesh 

Bethshemite 

Bethshittah 

Bethsimos 

Bethtappua 

Bethuel 

Bethul 

Betonim 

Beulah 

Bezai 



ben-hay' dad 

ben-hay'il 

ben-hay'nan 

ben-i'nu 

be'no 

ben-o'ne 

ben-u'i 

ben-zo'heth 

be'rah 

ber-a'kah 

ber-a-ky'ah . 

ber-a-i'ah 

be-re'a 

bt'red 

be'nj 

be-ri/'ah 

be' nth 

ber-ny'se 

be-ro'dak 

be-ro'thay 

be-ro'thath 

ber'ril 

bt'say 

bes-o-dy'ah 

be'lah 

be'ten 

bcth-ab'a-rah 

beth'a-nath 

belh'a-ne 

beth-ar a-bah 

beth-ar'bel 

bcth-a'ven 

beth-az' ma-veth 

beth-ba' al-mt' on 

beth-bar'ah 

beth-bir 1 'e-i 

beth-dib-la-tha'im 

bcth'el 

beih-e'mek 

beth-es'dah 

beth-e'zel 

beth-gay'mul 

beth-hak! se-rim 

beth-hay'ran 

beth-hog'lah 

beth-jes' se-moth 

beih'le-hem 

beth-leb' a-oth 

beth-may' a-kah 

beth-me on 

beth-nim'rah 

beth-o'ran 

beth-pay'Iet 

beth-paz'zez 

beth-pe'or 

beth-fay'je 

bdh-fe'let 

beth-ray'bah 

beth-re'hob 

beth-say'dah 

beth-she'an 

bcth-she'mesh 

beth' she-mite 

beth-shit'tah 

beth-sy'mos 

beth-tap'peiv-ah 

beth-yew'el 

be'thid 

bel'o-nim 

bew'lah 

be'zay 



Bezaleel 

Bezek 

Bichri 

Bigvai 

Bi learn 

Bilgai 

Binea 

Bin nil i 

Birzavith 

Bithiah 

Bithron 

Bithynia 

Bizjotliiah 

Bizjotbjah 

Boanerges 

Boaz 

Boeberu 

Boehirn 

Bosor 

Bozrah 

Bozez 

Brigandine 

Bukki 

Bui 

Bunah 

Bunni 

Buzi 

Buzite 

C 

Cabul 

Cades 

Ca-sar 

Caiaphas 

Cain 

Cain an 

Calah 

Calamus 

Caleol 

Caldees 

Caleb • 

Calneh 

Calvary 

Camon 

Cambyses 

Cana 

Canaan 

Canaanites 

Conaanitish 

Candace 

Canneh 

Canticles 

Capernaum 

Capharsalama 

Capbira 

Caphtor 

Caphtorim 

Carkas 

Cappadocia 

Carabasion 

Carbuncle 

Care h amis 

Carchemish 

Careah 

Carmel 

Carmi 

Casiphia 

Casluhim .» 

Cassia 

Cedron 

Ceilan 



bez-a-le'el 

be'zek 

bik'ry 

big-vay'i 

bile-am 

bil-gay'i 

bin'e-a 

bin'u-i 

bir-zay'vith 

bith-i'ah 

bith'ron 

be-thin'e-a 

biz-jo-thi'ah 

biz-joth'jah 

bo-a-ner J jez 

bo'az 

bok'er-ru, 

bo'kim 

bo'sor 

boz'rah 

bo'zez 

brig 1 an-dine 

buk'ky 

but (as dull) 

beur'nah 

bun'ny 

beiu'zy 

buz'ite 



kay'bul 

kay'des 

se'zar 

kay'a-fas 

kain 

kay'nan 

kay'lah 

kal'a-mus 

kal'kol 

kal-deez' 

kay'kb 

kal'neh 

kal'va-re 

kay'mon 

kam-by'ses 

kay'nah 

kay'nan 

kay'nan-ites 

kay-nan-i'tish 

kan-day'se 

kan'neh 

kan'te-kels 

ka-per'na-um 

kaf-ar-sal'a-) lah 

ka-fy'rah 

kaf'tor 

kaf'to-rim 

kar'kas 

kap-pa-do' she-a 

kar-a-bay'ze-on 

kar'bun-kel 

kar'lca-mis 

kar'ke-mish 

ka-re'ah 

kar'mel 

ka> J my 

kas-se-fy'ah 

kas-leu/him 

kash'e-a 

se'dron 

se'lan 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. 



Conch rea 
Cephas 
Cesarea 
Chalcedony 
Chalcol 
Chaldea 
Chamelion 
Charashim 
Cliarran 
Cbebar 
Chederlaomer 
Chelal 
Chelcias 
Chelluh 
Chelubai 
Chemarims 
Cheraosh 
( 'heDaanah 
Chenaniah 
Chepharha- 
ammonai 
Chephirah 
Cheran 
Chcrolhitcs 
( Iberith 

Cherub (a city) 

Cherub (a spirit) 

Cherubim 

Chesalon 

Chesed 

Chesulloth 

Chezib 

Chidon 

Chileab 

Chilion 

Chilmad 

Chimham 

< hionereth 

Chios 

Chisleu. 

Cliislon 

Chisloth 

Chittim 

( IhiuD 

Chloe 

Choraslian 

Chora/.in 

Chozeba 

Chronicles 

Chrysolite 

Chrvsoprasus 

Chub 

Clmsa 

Chushan risha- 

thaim 
Cilicia 
Cisai 
Clauda 
Claudia 
Claudius 
Clement 
Cleophas 
Cnidus 
Colhozeh 
Colosse 
Colossians 
Conaniah 
Core 
Coos 
Corinth 
Corinthians 



sen-kre'ah 

se'fas 

ses-a-re'uh 

kal'se-do-ny 

kal'kol 

kal-de'ali 

ka-me'le-on 

kar'a-shim 

k(ii J ran 

ke'bar 

ked-tr-laij-o'mer 

ke'lal 

kel'she-as 

kel'lth 

ke-lew'bay 

kem'a-rims 

ke'mosh 

be-nay 1 a-nah 

ken-a-nyfah 

ke'far-ha- 

am'o-nay 
kef-i'rah 
ke'ran 
ker'eth-ites 
kc'rilh 
ke'rub 
clier'ub 
cher'u-bim 
kes'a-lon 
ke'sed 
ke-sul'loth 
ke'zib 
ky'don 
kil'e-ab 
kil'i-on 
kd mad 
kim'ham 
kin'er-eth 
ki/os 
kis'lu 
kis'lon 
kis'loth 
chit'lim 
ky'itn 
klo'e 

ko-raifshan 

ko-ruy'zin 

ko-zdbah 

kron'e-kels 

kris'o-lite 

kris-op'ra-sus 

kvb 

keio'sah 

hush! an rish-a- 

tha'im 
sil-ish'e-a 
sis'say 
klaw'dah 
klaw'de-a 
klaw'de-us 
kle'ment 
kle'o-fas 
ny'dus 
kol-ho'zeh 
ko-los'se 
ko-losh' e-ans 
ho-na-ny'ah 
ko'rt 
ko'os 
ko'rinth 
ko-rinlk 'e-ans 



Cornelius 

Cosam 

Cozbi 

Crescens 1 

Crete 

Cretians 

Crispus 

Cubit 

Cnsh 

( 'ushan rishatha- 

itn 
Cushi 
Cyprus 
Cyrene 
Cyrenius 
Cyrus 

I) 

Dabark.h 
Dalihashcth 
Dagon 
Dafaiah 
Dalilah 
Dalmaautbo 
I (ulmatia 
I talpbon 
I )a maris 
Damascenes 
Damascus 
Danites 
Danjaan 
D.-ira 
Darda 
Darian 
Darius 
Darkon 
I lathan 

Debir 
Deborah 
Decapolis 
Dcdan 
Dedanim 
Dehavites 
Dekar 
Delaiah 
Delilah 
Demas 
Demetrius 
Derbe 
Deuel | 
Deuteronom 
Diana 
Diblaim 
Diblath 
Dibon 
Dibri 
Dibzahab 
Di drachm 
Didymus 
Dilean 
Dimon 
Dimonah 
Dinhabah 
Dionysius 
Diotrephes 
Dishan 
Dizahab 
Dodai 
Dodanim 
Dodavah 
Dodo 



kor-nc'le-us 

ko'zam 

ko'zbe 

kres'sens 

kreet 

kree'she-ans 
kris'pus 
kew'bit 
kush 

kush'anrish-a-thn' 

im 
kush'i 
sy'prus 
sy-re'ne 
sy-rc'ne-us 
sy'rus 

dab'a-rek 

dab' bn-slttth 

day'gon 

did-a-i'ah 

da'le-lah 

dal-ma-nu'lhah 

daX-may 1 sht-a 

dal'Jhn 

dam! Orris 

dam-aspens' 

da-mas'ku.i 

dun'ites 

duii-jay'an 

day 1 ran 

dar'dah 

dai/re-an 

da-ry'us 

darkon 

day' than 

de'ber 

de'bo-rah ' 

de-kap'po-lis 

de'dan 

ded-a'nim 

de'ha-viles 

de'kar 

de-la-i'ah 

del'e-lah 

de 'mas 

de-me'tri-us 

der'be 

de-yew'el 

deu-ter-on'o-me 

dy-a'nah 

dw-lay'im 

dib' lath 

dy'bon 

dib'ry 

dib'za-hab 

dy'dram 

did'e-mus 

dy'le-an 

dy'mon 

dy-mo'nah 

din-hay'bah 

dy-o-nish'e-us 

di-ot're-fez 

dy'shan 

diz'za-hab 

do-day'i 

do-day'nim 

do-day'vah 

do' do (as so lo) 



Doeg 

1 >ophkah 

Dorcas 

Dositheus 

Dothan 

Do thai m 

J drachma 

Drusilla 

Dumah 

Dura 

E 

Ebal 

Ebed melee.h 

Ebcnezer 

Eber 

Ebiasaph 

Ebronah 

I leelesiasles 
I IcclesiasticilS 

Edar 
Eden 
Edom 
Edrei 
Eglah 
lliilaim 
Ehi 
Ek ron 
Eladah 
Elah 
Elamites 
Elasah 
Bldaah 
Elead 
Elealeh 
Eleasab 
Eleazar 
Elelohe 
Eleph 
Elhaynan 
Eli 
Eliab 
Elias 
Eliahba 
Eliada 
Eliaka 
Eliakim 
Eliam 
Eliasaph 
Eliathah 
Elidad 
Elihoreph 
Elihu 
Elijah 
Elika 
Elimelech 
Elio3nai 
Eliphal 
Eliphaleh 
Eliphalet 
Eli])haz 
Elisajtis 
Elisba 
Elishama 
Elishaphat 
Elisheba 
Elishua 
Eliud 
Elizaphan 
Elizur 
Elkanah 



do'eg 

dofkah 

dor'kas 

do-se-thc'us 

do'than 

do-tha'im 

drak'mah • 

drew-sil'lah 

dew'viak 

dew' rah 



e'bal 

e'bed me'lek 

eb-en-e'zer 

e'ber 

e-by'a-saf 

eb-ro'nah 

ek-klc-ze-as 'les 

ek-kle-ze-as'ti-kta 

e'dar 

e'den 

e'dotn 

ed're-i 

euflah 

es-lay'im 

ehi 

e'kron 

el-a'dah 

e'lah 

e'lam-ites 

el-a'sah 

el-day' ah 

e'le-ad 

el-e-a'leh 

el-e-u'sah 

el-e-a'zar 

el-el'o-he 

e'lef 

el -hay' nan 

e'ly 

e-ly'ab 

e-ly'as 

e-ly'ahrbah 

e-ly'a-dah 

e-ly'a-kah 

e-ly'a-kim 

e-ly'am 

e-ly'a-saf 

e-ly'a-thah 

e-ly'dad 

el-e-ho'ref 

e-ly'hew 

e-ly'jah 

e-ly'kah 

e-lim'e-lek 

el-e-e'na-i 

el'i-fal 

e-lij"'e-leh 

e-hfe-let 

el'le-faz 

el-e-say'us 

e-ly'shah 

e-lish'o-mah 

e-lish'a-fat 

e-lish'e-bah 

el-e-shu'ah 

e-ly'ud 

e-liz'a-fan 

e-ly'zur 

el-kay'nah 



» 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. 



105 



Elkoshite 

Ellasar 

Elmodam 

Elnathan 

Elon 

Eloth 

Eloi 

Elpaal 

Elpalet 

Elparan 

Eltekeh 

Eltolad 

Elul 

Eltizai 

Ely mas 

Elzaphan 

Emalcuel 

Emanuel 

Emims 

Emmaus 

Emmor 

Enam 

Eneas 

Eneglaim 

Engannim 

Engedi 

Enhakkore 

Enhaddah 

Enhazor 

Enmishpat 

Enoch 

Enrimmon 

Enrogel 

Enshemesh 

Entappuah 

Epaphras 

Epaphroditus 

Epenetus 

Ephah 

Ephai 

Ephes dammim 

Ephesians 

Ephesus 

Ephlal 

Ephod 

Ephphatha 

Ephraim 

Ephratah 

Ephrath 

Ephron 

•Epicureans 

Eran 

Erastus 

Erech 

Esaias 

Esar haddon 

Esau 

Esek 

Esdrelon 

Eshbaal 

Eshcol 

Eshean 

Eshkalon 

Eshtaol 

Eshtaulites 

Eshtemoa 

Eshtemoth 

Esli 

Esmachiah 

Esrom 

Essenes 



el' ko -shite 

el-lay'sar 

el-mo 1 dam 

el-nay'than 

e'lon 

e'loth 

el'o-hy 

el-pay'al 

el-pay'ht 

el-pay'ran 

el-te'keh 

el-to'lad 

e'lul 

e-lu'za-i 

el'e-mas 

el-zay'fan 

e-mal-kcw'el 

e-man'u-el 

e'mims 

em-may'us 

em'mor 

e'nam 

e-ne'as 

en-eg-lay'im 

en-gan'nim 

en-ge'dy 

en-hak'ko-re 

en-had'dah 

en-hay'zor 

en-mish'pat 

e'nok 

en-rim'mon 

en-ro'gel 

en-she'mesh 

en-tap 'peio-ah 

ep'a-fras 

e-pqf-ro-dy'tus 

e-pe-ne'lus 

e'fah 

e'fay 

e'fes dam'mim 

ef-fe'she-ans 

effe-sus 

eflal 

e'fod 

effa-thah 

efra-im 

efra-tah 

efrath 

e'fron 

ep-e-kew-re'ans 
e'ran 
e-ras'tus 
e'rek 

ez-zay'yas 
e'sar had' don 
e'saw 
e'sek 

es-dre'lon 

esh-bay'al 

esh'kol 

esh'e-an 

esh'ka-lon 

esh'ta-ol 

esh'taw-lites 

esh-tem'o-ah 

esh'te-moth 

es'ly 

es-ma-ky'ah 

es'rom 

es-seens 1 



Esther 

Etam 

Ethanim 

Ethbaal 

Ether 

Ethiopia 

Etlman 

Euasibus 

Eubulus 

Eve 

Evi 

Evil merodach 

Eunice 

Euodias 

Euphrates 

Euroclydon 

Eutychus 

Ezar 

Ezbai 

Ezekiel 

Ezel 

Ezion geber 



es'ter 

e'tam 

e-than'im 

eth-bay'al 

e'ther 

t-the-o'pe-a 

elh'nan 

yeiv-as'e-bus 

yeiv-beiv'lus 

eve 

e'vy 

e'vil me-ro'dak 

yew-ny'se 

yeiv-o'de-as 

yew-fray'tcs 

yeiv-rok'le-don 

yew'te-kus 

e'zar 

ez'ba-i 

e-ze'ke-cl 

e'zel 

eze-on ge'ber 



F 



Felix 
Festus 
Fortunatus 



fe'lix 
fes'tus 

for-tu-nay'tns 



G 



Gaal 

Gaasli 

Gaba 

Gabbai 

Gabbatha 

Gabriel 

Gadarenes 

Gadi 

Gaddi 

Gaddiel 

Gains 

Galal 

Galatia 

Galbanum 

Galeed 

Galilee 

Galileans 

Gallio 

Gamaliel 

Gammadims 

Gatnul 

Gareb 

Garizirn 

Gaslnnu 

Gatarn 

Gathhepher 

Gatlirimmon 

Gaza 

Gazathites 

Gazez 

Gazzam 

Gebal 

Geber 

Gebim 

Gedaliah 

Geder 

Gederah 

Gederatbite 

Gederoth 

Gederothaim 

Gehazi 

Gelilotli 



gay'al 

gay'ash 

gay'bah 

gab'bay 

gab'ba-thah 

gay'bre-el 

gad-a-reens 

gay'dy 

gad'dy 

gad'de-el 

gay'yus 

gay'lal 

ga-iay'she-a 

gal'ba-num 

gal'e-ed 

gal'le-lee 

gal-le-lee'ans 

gal'le-o 

ga-may'le-el 

gam' ma-dims 

gay'mul 

gay'reb 

gm J e-zim 

gash! mew 

gay' tarn 

gath-he'fer 

galh-rim'mon 

gay'zah 

gay 'zath-ites 

gay'zez 

gaz'zam 

gt'bal 

ge'ber 

ge'bim 

ged-a-ly'ah 

ge'der 

ge-de'rah 

ge-de'rath-ite 

ge-dc'roth. 

ge-der-oth-a'im 

ge-hay'zy 

gel'e-loth 



Geinalli 

Gemariah 

Genesareth 

Genesis 

Gentiles 

Genu bath 

Gera 

Gerasa 

Gergashi 

Gergasenes 

Gerizim 

Gershoin 

Gcshem 

Geshuri 

Gether 

Getholias 

Gethsemane 

Geuel 

Gezer 

Giah 

Gibbah 

Gibbethon 

Gibea 

Gibeon 

Giblites 

Giddalti 

Giddel 

Gideon 

Gideoni 

Gidom 

Gier 

Gihon 

Gilalai 

Gilboa 

Gilead 

Gilgal 

Giloh 

Gilonite 

Gimzo 

Ginath 

Ginnetho 

Girgasite 

Gittayim 

Gittites 

Gizonite 

Gnidus 

Goath 

Golan 

Golgotha 

Goliah 

Gomer 

Gomorrab 

Gopher 

Goshen 

Gozau 

Greece 

Grecia 

Gudgodah 

Guni 

Gurbaal 



ge-mal'ly 
gem-a-ry'ah 
ge-nes 'a-reth 
jen'e-sis 
jen'tyles 
gen'u-balh 
ge'rah 
ger'a-sah 
ger'ga-shy 
ger-ga-seens 1 
ger're-zim 
ger'shom 
ge'shem 
gesh'u-ry 
ge'ther 
geth-o-ly'as 
gcth-sem'a-ne 
ge-yeio'el 
ge'zer 
gy'ah 
gib'bah 
■ gib'be-thon 
gib'e-ah 
gib'e-on 
gib'lites 
gid-dal'ty 
gid'del 
gid'e-on 
gid-e-o'ny 
gy'dow 

gy'hon 

gil-a-lay'i 

gil-bo'ah 

gil'e-ad 

gil'gal 

gy' l ° 

gy'lo-nite 

gim'zo 

gy'nath 

gin'ne-tho 

gir'ga-site 

git-tay'im 

git'tites 

gy'zo-nite 

ny'dus 

go'alh 

go' lan 

gol'goth-ah 

go-ly'ah 

go'mer 

go-mor'rah 

go'fer 

go'shen 

go'zan 

greece 

gree'she-a 

gud'go-dah 

gew'ny 

gur-bay'al 



H 



Haahashtari 

Habaiah 

Habakkuk 

Habaziniah 

Habergeon 

Habor 

Hachaliah 

Hachelah 

Hachmoni 



h ay-a-h ash'ta-ry 

hay-bay'yah 

hab'a-kuk 

hab-a-ze-ny'ah 

ha-ber J je-on 

hay'bor 

hak-a-ly'ah 

hak'e-lah 

hak-mo'ny 



!l!)G 



S< UII'TUKE PROPER NAMES. 



Hadad 

Hadadezur 

Hadad riinmon 

bladar 

Hadarezer 

Hadasbah 

Hadassah 

Hadattah 

Hadid 

Hadlai 

Hadoram 

II ail inch 

Hagab 

Hagabah 

I lairai 

I [agar 

Hugarenes 

Haggai 

Ilaggeri 

Haggi 

Haggiah 

Huggitli 

Hal 

Hakkatan 

Hakkoz 

Hakupha 

Hulac 

Hali 

Hulli-lnjah 
Ilall.M-sli 
Hainan 
Hamath 

Hamuli) zobah 

1 [amathite 

Hamiiiiiiatha 

1 [ammelech 

Haiiuiioleketli 

Hamonnh 

Hamongog 

Hatmuel 

Hamotiidor 

Hamul 

Hamiiial 

Hanamecl 

Hunan 

Hananeel 

Hanani 

Hananiah 

Hancs 

Hanie) 

Hannatlion 

Hannicl 

Hanoch 

Hanun 

Hapharaim 

Hara 

Haradali 

Haraiah 

Hararite 

Harbonah 

Hareph 

Hareth 

Harhaiah 

Harhata 

Harim 

Harnepher 

Harod 

Haroeh 

Harorite 

Harosheth 

Harsha 



hay' dad 

had-ad-e'zer 

hay'dad rim'mon 

hai/dar 

had-u-re'zer 

had-a'shah 

ha-das'sah 

ha-dai'tah 

hay 1 did 

had'la-i 

h it-do' ram 

hay'drak 

hay' gab 

hag'a-bah 

hagfa-i 

hay' gar 

hag-a-reens? 

hag'ga-i 

hag'ge-ry 

hag 1 icy 

hag-gy'ah 

hag'irdh 

hat/ i 

hak'ku-tun 
hak'koz 
hak-yew'fah 
hmflak 

ha'y'ly 

hal-U-lu'yah 

hal-lo'esh 

hay'man 

liny' math 

hay 1 math zo'bali 

ham'ath-ile 

ham-med'a-thnli 

ham'me-lek 

ham-mo'h-keth 

ham-o'nah 

haif mon-gog 

hay-meu/el 

hay' 'moth-dor 

hay' mul 

hay-mew'tal 

hay-nam'e-el 

hay'nan 

han-nan'e-d 

ha-nay'ny 

han-a-ni/ah 

hai/nez 

hai/ne-el 

han'na-thon 

han'ne-el 

hay'nok 

hay'nun 

haf-a-ray'im 

hay'rah 

har'a-dah 

har-a-i'ah 

hay'ra-rite 

har-bo'nah 

hay'ref 

hay'relh 

har-ha-i'ah 

har-hay'tah 

hay'rim 

har-ne'fer 

hay 1 rod 

har'o-eh 

hay'ro-rite 

har'o-sheth 

hnr'shah 



1 [arum 
1 larumaph 
I laruphite 

I lam/ 
I'asadiali 
I [asenuah 
I [ashabiah 
I [ashabnafa 
I lushuhniah 
1 [ashbadana 

I lasln-in 

Hashmonab 

Hashub 

Hashubob 

1 [ash urn 

I Inssenanh 

Hasupha 

Hatach 

I lalhatli 
Hutitu 

Hattaavab 

i [attipha 

I la\ ilah 

i [avotb jair 

I lauran 

Hazai'l 

I [azaiab 

Hazar hatticon 

I [aze] rlponi 

I lazcrini 

lla/.eroth 

Hazezon 

I lazor 

Heber 

I ill iron 

Hegai 

Hege 

Helah 

Helcbiah 

H.l.lai 
H.l.h 
HHcph 
Helkai 

Helkath hazzn 

rirn 
Helon 
Heman 
Hena 
Henadad 
Hi-noch 
1 Ii'phcr 
Hephzibafa 
Heres 
Hernias 
Hermes 
I [ermogene 
Herod 
Herodians 
Herodias 
Herodion 
Hesod 
Heshbon 
Hezeki 
Hezekiah 
Hezir 
Hezion 
Hezrai 
Hezron 
Hiddai 
Hiddekel 
Hie! 



hay' rum 

ha-riw'maf 

ha-rew'jlte 

hay'ruz 

has-a-di/'nli 

has-e-nrtt/ah 

hash-a-hy'ah 

hash-ab'nah 

hash-ab-iiy'ah 

hash-bad 'a-naJi 

hay'shi m 

hash-mo'nah 

huxh'ub 

hu.sli-iji iv'bah 

hash'um 

hasse-nay'ah 

has-yew'fah 

liny' Ink 

hwthaih 

hal'e-tah 

hat-tnifa-vah 

hat'ti-fah 

hav'e-lah 

hay'vnth jay'ir 

ha iv 1 ran 

haz'a-el 

ha-zny'yah 

hay'zar hat'te-kon 

hay'zel el-'po'ne 

haz-e'rim 

haz-e'roth 

haz'e-zon 

hay'zor 

heber 

he'bron 

he-gay 'i 

he'ge 

he'lah 

In l-ky'ah 

htl'da-i 

he'leb 

he'lef 

hel'ka-i 

helkath haz'u-rim 

he'lon 

he'man 

he'nah 

hen'a-dad 

he'nok 

he'fer 

hefze-bah 

he'res 

her'mas 

her'mes 

her-mog'e-ne 

her'rod 

he-rO 'de-ans 

he-ro'de-as 

he-ro'de-on 

he'sed 

hesh'bon 

hez'e-ky 

hez-e-ky'ah 

he'zer t 

he'ze-on 

hez'r<p-i 

hez'ron 

hid'day-i 

hid'de-kel 

hi/el 



Hierapolis 
Hiereel 
I [iereinoth 
I [ierj,elus 
I [iggaion 
ll'ilni 
Hilkiah 
Hirah 
Hiram 
I lizkijah 

I l i \ ilrs 

Hobab 

I 1 1 >i l.ii.i 1 1 

I loda\ iah 
Hodei ah 
I lodiah 

Moolah 
I Inlon 

I [omam 

I lophni 

I [ophra 

I [oram 

I [orhogidgad 

Hori 

1 [orims 

Horonaim 

Horonitea 

Hosah 

Hosannali 

I lusra 

I [oshaiab 
I Foshama 
Hotham 
Hothir 
Hupham 

I [urai 
Hushab 
Hushai 
Husham 
Hushathite 
Husliubah 
Huzoth 

I I \ dasjifS 
! I \ rna 
Hymeneus 



Ibleam 

Ibneiab 

Ichabod 

Iconium 

rdalah 

Iddo 

Idumaea 

Idumeans 

Igal 

Igdaliah 

Igeaharirn 

Igeal 

Iim 

Ijon 

Ilai 

Illyricum 

Immanue] 

Iphedeiah 

Ira 

Iram 

Iry 

Irijah 

Irnahash 

Irpeel 



hy-cr-rap'o-lis 

hy-tr'e-el 

hy-er'e-moth 

liy-er-n-t'lus 

h ig-gny'yon 

liy'lni 

hil-ky'ah 

hi/'rnli 

hi/' rum 

hiz-h/jah 

In/rites 

ho'bab 

hod-a-i'ak 

hod-a-ry'ah 

ho-ddvah 

ho-di/ith 

hog'lah 
hcrlon 
In/ mam 
hofity 
kofrtth 
ho' ram 

liur-rn-giil'gad 

ho'ry 

ho' rims 

hor-o-nai/im 

hor'ro-mtes 

ho'suh 

ho-zan'nah 

ho-ze'ah 

hosh-a-i'ah 

hosh'a-mah 

In/ 1 ham 

ho'thir 

heutfam 

he u/ ray 

luw'shah 

hen/ shay 

heiv'sham 

hew'sltalh-ite 

heiv-shu'bah 

heti/zoth 

hy-das'pcs 

hy-e'nah 

hy-men-e'ua 



ib'le-am 

ib-ny'ah 

ik'a-bod 

i-ko'ne-um 

i-day'lah 

id! do 

id-u-me'ah 
id-u-me'ans 

i'gal 

ig-da-ly'ah 

ig-e-ab 'a-rim 

ig-e'al 

i'im 

i'jon 

i'lay 

il-lyr'e-kum 
im-man'u-el 
ij-e-dy'ah 
I'rah 



i! ry _ 
i-ri/jah 
ir-nay'hash 
ir-pe'el 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. 



Irshemesh 


ir-she'mesh 


Jairus 


Iru 


i'rew 


Jakan 


Isaac 


i'zak 


Jakkim 


Isaiah 


i-zay'yah 
is-kar're-ot 


Jalon 


Iscariot 


Jambres 


Ishbi benob 


ish'be be'nob 


Jambri 


Ishbosheth 


ish-bo'sheth 


Jamin 


Ishi 


i'shy 


Jamlech 


Ishiah 


i-shy'ah 


J anna 


Ishijah 


i-shy'jah 


Jannes 


Ishmael 


ish! ma-el 


Janoah 


Ishmaiah 


ish-may'yah 


Janum 


Ishmerai 


ish'me-ray 


Japheth 


Ishod 


i'shod 


Japhiah 


Ishuah 


ish'u-ah 


Japhlet 


Ishuai 


ish'u-a 


Japhleti 


Ismachiah 


is-ma-ky'ah 


Japho 


Israel 


is'ra-el 


Jarah 


Issachar 


is'sa-kar 


Jareb 


Isui 


is'u-i 


Jaresiah 


Ithai 


ith'a-i 


Jaroah 


Ithamar 


ith'a-mar 


J ash em 


Ithiel 


ith'e-el 


Jasher 


Ittai 


it'ta-i 


Jashobeam 


Ittab kazin 


it' tah kay'zin 


Jashub 


Iturea 


it-u-re'ah 


Jaslmbi lehem 


Ivah 


i'vah 


Jasiel 


Izhar 


iz'har 


Jason 


Izehar 


iz'e-har 


Jasper 


Izrahiah 


iz-ra-hy'dh 


Jathniel 


Izreel 


iz're-el 


Jattir 



Jaakan 

Jaakobah 

Jaala 

Jaanai 

Jaareoragim 

Jaasau 

Jaasiel 

Jaazah 

Jaazaniah 

Jaaziah 

Jaaziel 

Jabal 

Jabesh 

Jabez 

Jabin 

Jabneel 

Jachan 

Jachin 

Jacinth 

Jada 

Jadau 

Jaddua 

Jadon 

Jael 

Jagur 

J ah ale el 

Jahaleleel 

Jahaz 

Jahazael 

Jahaziah 

Jahaziel 

Jahdai 

Jahdiel 

Jahdo 

Jahliel 

Jahmai 

Jahzerah 

Jait 



jay'a-kan 

jay-ak'o-bah 

jay-a'lah 

jay-a'iiay 

ja-ar-e- or'a-gim 

jay -a' saw 

ja-a'se-el 

jay-a'zah 

jay-az-za-ny'ah 

ja-a-zi/ah 

ja-a'ze-el 

jay'bal 

jay'besh 

jay'bez 

jay'bin 

jab'ne-el 

jay'kan 

jay'kin 

jay'sinth 

jay'dah 

ja-day'u 

jad-du'ah 

jay'don 

jay'el 

jay'gur 

ja-hay'le-el 

ja-hal'e-leel 

jay'haz 

ja-haz-a'el 

ja-ha-zy'ah 

ja-haz'e-el 

jah-day'i 

jah'dc-el 

jah'do 

jah'le-el 

jah-may'i 

jah'ze-rah 

jay'er 



Javan 
Jazer 
Jearim 
Jeaterai 
Jeberechiah 
Jebus 
Jebusi 
Jebusites 
Jecamiah 
Jecoliah 
Jeconiah 
Jedaiah 
Jediael 
Jedidiah 
Jediel 
■Jeduthun 
Jeezer 
Jegar 

sahadutha 
Jehaleleel 
Jehalelel 
Jehaziel 
Jehdeiah 
Jeheiel 
Jehezekel 
Jehiah 
Jehishai 
Jehiskiah 
Jehoadah 
Jehoahaz 
Jehoaddan 
Jehoash 
Jehohanan 
Jehoiachin 
Jehoiada 
Jehonadab 
Jehonathan 
Jehoram 
Jehoshaphat 
Jehosheba 



jay'er-us 

jay'kan 

jakkim 

jay'lon 

jam'brez 

jam'bre 

jay'min 

jam'lek 

jan'nah 

jan'nez 

ja-no'ah 

jay'num 

jay'feth 

ja-fi/ah 

jaflet 

jaf-ie'ty 

jay/o 

jay'rah 

jay'reb 

jar-e-sy'ah 

ja-ro'ah 

jay'shem 

jay'sher 

ja-sho'be-am 

jay'shub 

ja'shu-bi le'hem 

jay'se-el 

jay'son 

jas'per 

jath'ne-el 

jat'ter 

jay'van 

jay'zer 

je'a-rim 

je-at'e-ray 

jeb-er-re-ky'ah 

je'bus 

je-bew'si 

jeb'u-sites 

jek-a-my'ah 

jek-o-ly'ah 

jek-o-ni/ah 

je-day'yah 

jed-e-a'el 

jed-e-dy'ah 

jed'e-el 

jed-yew'thun 

je-e'zer 

je'gar 

sa-ha-du'thah 
je-hal' t-leel 
je-hal'e-lel 
je-haz'e-el 
jeh-dy'ah 
je-hy'el 
je-hez'e-kel 
je-hy'ah 
je-hish'a-i 
je-his-ky'ah 
je-ho'a-dah 
je-ho'a-haz 
je-ho-ad' dan 
je-ho'ash 
je-ho-hay'nan 
je-hoy'a-kin 
je-hoy' a-dah 
jt-hon' a-dab 
je-hon'a-than 
je-ho'ram 
je-hosh'a-fat 
je-hosh'e-bah 



Jehoshua 

Jehovah 

'Jebozabad 

Jehozadak 

Jehu 

Jehubbah 

Jehucal 

Jehudi 

Jehudijah 

Jehush 

Jeiel 

Jekabzeel 

Jekameain 

Jekairiiah 

Jekuthiel 

Jemima 

Jemuel 

Jephtbah 

Jephunneh 

Jerah 

Jerahmeel 

Jered 

Jeremai 

Jeremiah 

Jeremoth 

Jeriah 

Jeribai 

Jericho 

Jeriel 

Jerijah 

Jerioth 

Jeroboam 

Jeroham 

Jerubbaal 

Jerubesheth 

Jeruel 

Jerusalem 

Jerusha 

Jesaiah 

Jeshanah 

Jesharelah 

Jeshebeab 

Jesher 

Jeshimon 

Jeshishai 

Jeshohaiah 

Jeshua 

Jeshui 

Jeshurun 

Jesiiniel 

Jesse 

Jesus 

Jether 

Jethlah 

Jethro 

Jetur 

Jeuel 

Jeush 

Jeuz 

Jezaniah 

Jezebel 

Jezer 

Jeziah 

Jeziel 

Jezliah 

Jezoar 

Jezruhiah 

Jezreel 

Jezreelitess 

Jidlaph 

Jiphtah 



je-hosh'u-ah 

Je-ho'vah 

je-hoz' a-bad 

je-hoz'a-dak 

je'heiv 

je-hub'bah 

je-heiv'kal 

je-hew'dy 

je-hu-dy'jah 

je'hush 

je-i'el 

je-kab'ze-el 

j.ek-a-me'am 

jek-a-my'ah 

je-kew'the-el 

je-my'mah 

jem'u-d 

jef'thah 

je-fun'neh 

je'rah 

jer-ah-me'el 

je'red 

jei J e-may 

jer-e-my'ah 

jer'e-moth 

je-ry'ah 

jer'e-bay 

jer'e-ko 

je-ry'el 

jer-ry'jah 

jer'e-oth 

jer-o-bo'am 

jer-o'ham 

je-rub-ba'al 

je-rub-esh'eth 

je-ru'el 

je-ru'sa-lem 

je-ru'shah 

je-say'yah 

jcsh-a'iiah 

jesh-ai J e-lah 

jesh-eb'e-ab 

je'sher 

jesh'e-m'on 

je-shish'a-i 

jesh-o-ha-i'ah 

jesh'u-ah 

jesh'u-i 

jesh'ur-run 

jes-im'me-el 

jes'se 

Je'sus 

je'ther 

jethHah 

je'thro 

je'tur 

je'yew-el 

je'ush 

je'uz 

jez-a-ny'ah 

jez'e-bel 

je'zer 

je-zy'ah 

je'ze-el 

jez-ly'ah 

jez'o-ar 

jez-ra-hy'ah 

jez're-el 

jez're-el-i-tesi 

jid'lqf 

jiftah 



<J98 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. 



Kaikaa 
Karnaim 
Karta 
Keder 

Kcdcmah 
Kcdcmoth 

Kehelathah 
Keilah 
Kelaiah 
Kelita 
Kemuel 
Ki-imli 
Kenn/. 
Kenites 
Kciiiii/./.itcs 
Keren iia|)|>iieli 
Kerioth 
Kero.« 

Keturab 

Kezia 

Keziz 

broth 

battaavah 
Kili/aim 
Kiilron 
Kinah 
Kirharaseth 
Kirbaresb 
Kiriathaim 
Kiriotb 
Kirjath aim 
Kirjath arba 
Kirjath arini 
Kirjatb baal 
Kirjath huzotb 
Kirjath jearim 
Kirjath sannali 
Kirjath sepher 
Kishi 
K ishion 
K ishoD 
Kitron 
Koa 
Kohath 
Kolaiah 
Korah 
Korhite 
Kore 
Kushaiab 



kar-kay'ah 

kar-nay'im 

kar'tah 

ke'der 

ked'e-mah 

ked'de-motli 

ke-Ju l'a-thah 

kj/lah 

ki -luy'yah 

kcl'e-tah 

kem'u-el 

ke'nah 

ke'naz 

ke'nites 

kt n'niz-zites 

ki r-i ii hap'puk 

ker'e-oth 

ke'roz 

ki -In 1 rah 

ke-zi/ah 

b'z/z 

kib'riilli 

hat-taifa-vah 
kib-zay'im 
kid 1 r on 
i;i null 

kxr-har'a-seth 

kir-hay' resh 

kir-e-ath-a'im 

kir'e-oth 

kcr'jatli a'im 

h riath ar'bah 

krr'jalh a' rim 

lu riath lim/'iil 

In riath heu/zoth 

krr'jalh jr.'a-rim 

kt r julli .inn'nah 

krr'jalh sr'fer 

kish'i 

ki.ih'e-on 

k if slum 

kit' ran 

ko'ah 

ko'liatli 

kol-a-i'ah 

ko'rah 

kor'hite 

ko're 

kush-ay'ah 



Jiphthahel 

Jireth 

Joab 

Joah 

Joahaz 

Joanna 

Joatham 

Job 

Jobab 

Jochebed 

Joelah 

Joezer 

Jogbeah 

Jogli 

Joha 

Jolianan 

John 

Joiadah 

Joiakim 

Jokdeam 

Xokim 

Joktneam 

Jokshan 

Joktl eel 

Jonadab 

Jonah 

Jonan 

Jonathan 

Joppa 

Jorah 

Jorai 

Joram 

Jorkoam 

Josahad 

Josaphat 

Josaphias 

Jose 

Josedech 

Joses 

Joshah 

Joshaviah 

Joslihekashali 

Joshua 

Josiah 

Joaibiah 

Josiphiah 

Jotbatha 

Jothain 

Jozabad 

Jozachar 

Jozadak 

Juba] 

Jucal 

Judah 

Judaea 

Judith 

Julia 

Julius 

Junia 

Jupiter 

Jushabheshed 

K 



jifthah-d 

jy'reth 

jo'ab 

jo' ah 

jo-a'haz 

jo-un'nah 

jo-a'lham 

jobe 

jo'bah 

jok'c-bed 

jo-e'lah 

jo-e'zer 

jog-be'ah 

>.«■ /.'/ 
jo' hah 
jo-hayfnan 
jon 

joy'a-dah 

joy'a-kim 

juk-dJam 

jo'kim 

jok-ine'am 

jok'shan 

juk'theel 

jon'a-dab 

jo'nah 

jo' nan 

jon'a-than 

j op' pah 

jo' rah 

jo'ra-i 

jo ram 

jor-ko'am 

jos'a-bad 

jos'a-fal 

jos-a-ft/as 

jo'se 

jos't-dek 

josez 

jo'shah 

josh-a-vyfah 

josh-bek arshah 

josh'u-a 

jo-st/ah 

jos-e-bi/ah 

jos-c-fy'ah 

jot'ba-tluih 

jo'tham 

joz'a-bad 

joz'a-kar 

joz'a-dak 

jeu/bal 

jen/kal 

jeic'dah 

jew-de'ah 

jew'dith 

jew'le-a 

jeu/le-us 

jen/nr-a 

jew'pit-ter 

jew-shab'he-shed 



Laadah 

Laadan 

Laban 

Labana 

Lachish 

Lael 

Lahad 

Lahairoi 

Lahrnan 

Lab mi 

Laish 

Lakuin 

Larnech 

Laodicea 

Laodiceans 

Lapidoth 

Lasea 

Lashah 

Lasharon 

Lazarus ? 



L 

Icufarddh 

lay -a' dan 

lay' ban 

la-bay' nah 

lay'kish 

leaf el 

lay' hail 

la-hay'roy 

lah'man 

lah'my 

lay'ish 

lay'kum 

lay'mek 

lay-o-de-se'ah 

lay-o-de-se'ans 

lap'e-doth 

la-se'ah 

lay' shah 

la-shay'ron 

laz'er-us 



Leah 

Lebanon 

Lebaoth 

Lebbeus 

Lebonah 

Lcchah 

Lehabim 

Lehi 

Lemuel 

Leshem 

Letushim 

Levi 

Levites 

Leviathan 

I ,n itieus 

Leummim 

Libni 

Lign-aloes 

Ligure 

Likhi 

Linus 

1 .1 iammi 

Lodebar 

Lois 

Lo rubamab 

Lotan 

Lucas 

Lucifei 

I lUcius 

Lubim 

Lj bia 

Lycaonia 

Lvcca 

Lydda 

Lydia 

1 ,\ sanias 

I ,\ sias 

Lj stra 



Maachah 
Maacathi 
Maadai 
Maadiah 

Maai 
Maaleh 

aerahbim 
Afaanai 
Maarath 
Maaseiah 
Maasiai 
Maath 
Maaziah 
Maccabees 
Macedonia 
Machbaua 
Machbena 
Mac hi 
Machir 
Machnadebai 
Macbpelah 
Macbbelotfa 
Madai 
Madiabun 
Madiah 
Madian 
Madmenah 
Mad man nah 
Madon 
Magdala 
Magdalen 



le'ah 

Itb'a-non 

le-bay'oth 

leb-be'us 

le-bo'nah 

le'kah 

le-liay'bim 

Why 

lemu-el 

le'shem 

It-lew 1 shim 

Wvi 

le'vites 

k-vy'a-than 

le-vtt'c-kus 

le-um'mim 

lib'ny 

line-al'oes 

hi' pure 

iik'hy 

I y' mis 

I o- am' my 

lo-de'bar 

lo'is 

lo ru-hay'mah 

lo'tan 

lew'kas 

lew'se-fer 

lew' she-us 

lew'bim 

lib't-ah 

ly-ka-o'ne-a 

lik'kah 

lid'dah 

lid'e-a 

ly-say'ne-as 

I ish'yas 

lis'tra 



may-a'kah 

may-ak'a-thi 

may-ad'dy 

may-a-dy'ah 

may-a'i 

may-a'leh 

ak-rah'bim 
may'a-nay 
may-a'rath 
may-a-sy'ah 
may-a-sy'a 
may'ath 
may-a-zy' ah 
mak'ka-bees 
mas-se-do'ne-a 
mak-bay'nay 
mak-benah 
may'ky 
may'kir 
mak-na-de'bay 
mak-pe'lah 
mak-he'loih 
mad'a-i 
ma-dy'a-bun 
may-dy'ah 
may'de-an 
mad-me'nah 
mad-man! nah 
may'don 
mag'da-lah 
nag'da-len 



Kabzeel 
Kades 

Kadesh barnea 
Kadmiel 
Kadmonites 
Kallai 
Kanah 
Kareah 



kah'ze-el 
kay'dez 

kai/desh bar'ne-a 

kad'me-el 

kad'mon-ites 

kaila-i 

kay'nah 

ka-r",'ah. 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. 



991 



Magdalene 

Magdiel 

Magog 

Magor missabib 

Magpiash 

Mahalab 

Mabalaleel 

Mahal i 

Mahanaim 

Mahanehdan 

Mabanem 

Maharai 

Mahath 

Mabazioth 

Maher shalal 

bashbaz 
Mahlah 
Mahli 
Mahlon 
Mahol 
Makaz 
Makbeloth 
Makkedah 
Malachi 
Malcham 
Malehiah 
Malchiel 
Malchijah 
Malchiram 
Malchishuah 
Malchom 
Malchus 
Maleleel 
Mallothi . 
Malluch 
Maiure 
Manaen 
Manahath 
Manahethites 
Manasseh 
Manna 
Manoah 
Maoch 
Maon 
Marah 
Maralah 
Maranath a 
Marcus 
Mardocheus 
Mareshah 
Marisa 
Marsena 
Maschil 
Mashal 
Masre kah 
Masa 
Mass&n 
Matri 
Matred 
Mattanah 
Mattaniah 
Mattatha 
Mattathias 
Mattenai 
Matthat 
Matthew 
Matthias 
Mattithiah 
Mazzaroth 
Meah 
Mearah 



mag-da-le'ne 

mag-de'el 

may'gog 

may'gor mis'sa-bib 

mag'pe-ash 

may-hay'lah 

may-hal'a-leel 

may-hay'ly 

may-ha-nay'im 

may-hay' neh-dan 

may-hay'nem 

may-har'a-i 

may' hath 

may-haz'e-oth 

mat/ her shal'al 

hash'baz 
mah'lah 
mah'ly 
mah'lon 
viay'hol 
may'kaz 
mak-he'loth 
mak-ke'dah 
mal'a-ky 
mal'kam 
mal-ky'ah 
mal'ke-el 
mal-ky'jah 
mal-ky'ram 
mal-ke-shu'ah 
mal'kom 
mal'kus 
mal-le-le'el 
mal'lo-thi 
mal'luk 
mam're 
ma-nay'en 
man'a-hath 
man-ah'eth-ites 
ma-nas'seh 
man'nah 
ma-no' ah 
may'ok 
may'on 
may' rah 
mar'a-lah 
mar-ran-a'thah 
mar'kus 
mar-do-ke'us 
mar'e-shah 
ma-ry'sah 
mar-se'nah 
mas'kil 
may'shal 
mas're-kah 
may'sah 
mas'sah 
may'try 
may'tred 
mat'ta-nah 
mat-ta-ny'ah 
mat'ta-thah 
mat-tath-i'as 
mat-te-nay'i 
mat' that 
math'yeiv 
math-i'as 
mat-tith-i'ah 
maz'za-roth 
me'ah 
me-a'rah 



Mebunnai 
Mecherath 
Medad 
Medalah 
Medebah 
Medes 
Media 
Median 
Megiddo 
Megiddon 
Mehetabel 
Mebida 
Mehir 
Meholathite 
Mehujael 
Mebuman 
Mejarkon 
Mekonah 
Melatiah 
Melchi 
Melchiah 
Melcbiel 
Melcbisedek 
Melea 
Melech 
Mellicu 
Melita 
Memphis 
Memucan 
Menahem 
Menan 
Mene 
Meonothai 
Meonenem 
Mepbaatb 
Mephibosheth 
Merab 
Meraiah 
Meraioth 
Merari 
Merathaim 
Mercurius 
Mered 
' Meremoth 
Meres 
Meribah 
Meribbaal 
Merodach- 
baladan 
Meroin 
Meronothite 
Meroz 
Mesech 
Mesha 
Meshecb 
Mesbelemiah 
Meshezabeel 
Meshilamith 
Mesbnllam 
Meshobab 
Mesobaite 
Mesopotamia 
Messiah 
Metheg ammah 
Methusael 
Methusalah 
Meunim 
Mezabab 
Mianim 
Mibhar 
Mica 



me-bun'nay 

mek'e-rath 

me'dad 

med'a-lah 

med'e-bah 

meeds 

me'de-a 

me'de-an 

me-gid'do 

me-gid'don 

me-het'a-bel 

me-hy'dah 

me'her 

vie-hol'ath-ite 

me-yeiv'ja-el 

me-heiv'man 

me-jar'kon 

me-ko'nah 

mel-a-ty'ah 

mel'ky 

mel-ky'ah 

mel'ke-el 

mel-kiz'ze-dek 

me-le'ah 

me'lek 

mel'le-kew 

me-le'tah 

mem'fis 

me-mew'kan 

men'a-hem 

me'nan 

me'ne 

me-on' o-thay 

me-on'e-nem 

me-fay'ath 

me -Jib' o-sheth 

me'rab 

me-ra-i'ah 

me-ray'yoth 

me-ray'ry 

mer-ath-a'im 

mer-kew're-us 

me'red 

mer're-moth 

me'rez 

mer'e-bah 

mer-e-bay'al 

me-ro'dak- 

bal'a-dan 
me'rom 
me-ron'o-thite 
me'roz 
me'sek 
me'shah 
me'shek 

mesh-el-e-my' ah, 

mesh-ez' a-beel 

mesh-il'la-mith 

me-shul'lam 

me-sho'bab 

mes-o-bay'ite 

mes-o-po-tay'me-a 

mes-sy'ah 

vie'theg am'mah 

mc-thcw'sa-el 

me-thew' sa-lah 

me-yew'nim 

mez'a-hab 

my-a'nim 

mib'har 

my'kah 



Micaiah 

Micha 

Michael 

Michmash 

Micbmethab 

Michri 

Michtam 

Midian 

Migdalel 

Migron 

Mijamin 

Mi'klotb 

Mikneiah 

Milalai 

Milcah 

Miletus 

Miletum 

J\] iniamin 

Minni 

Miphkad 

Miriam 

Mirmah 

Misgab 

Misbael 

Mishal 

Misham 

Misheal 

Mishma 

Mishmannah 

Mishrailes 

Misperetb 

Misrepboth 

maim 
Mitbredath 
Mitylene 
Mizraim 
Mizar 
Mnasou 
Moadiah 
Moladah 
Molech 
Molid 
Moloch 
Morasthite 
Mordecai 
Moreh 

Moreshetb gath 

Moriah 

Moserah 

Moseroth 

Moses 

Mozah 

Muppim 

Mushi 

Muthlabben 

Myra 

Mysia 



my -k ay' yah 
my'kah 
my'-ka-el 
mik'mash 
mik'me-lhah 
mik'rj 
mik'tam 
mid'e-an 
mig'da-lel 
fliig'ron 
my'ja-min 
mik'loth 
mik-ny'ah 
mil-a-lay'i 
mil'kah 
mi-le'lus 
mi-le'tum 
min-ny'a-min 
■min'ny 
mifkad 
mir'e-am 
mer'mah 
mis' gab 
my-shay'el 
my'shal 
my' sham 
my-she'al 
mish'mah 
mish-man'nah 
mish'ra-ites 
mis-pe'reth 
mis're-foth 
may'im 
mith're-dath 
mit-e-le'ne 
miz-ray'im 
my'zar 
nay'son 
mo-a-dy'ah 
mol'a-dah 
mo'lek 
vio'lid, 
mo'lok 
mo-ras'thite 
mor'de-kay 
mo'reli 

mo'rcsh-eth gath 

mo-ry'ah 

mo-ser'ah 

mo-ser'olh 

mo'zez 

mo'zah 

mup'pim 

mew'shy 

muth-lab'ben 

my'rah 

mish'e-a 



N 



Naam 

Naamah 

Naaman 

Naarab 

Naarai 

Naaran 

Naashon 

Nabal 

Naboth 

Nachon 

Nachor 

Nadab 



nay'am 

nay'a-mah 

nay'a-man 

nay'a-rah 

nay'a-ray 

nay'a-ran 

na-ash'on 

nay'bal 

nay'both 

nay'kon 

nay'kor 

naij'dab 



1 000 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES, 



XaiTL'e 

Nahaliel 
Nahallal 
Naliuin 

Nahamani 

Naharai 

Nahash 

Nahbi 

Nahor 

Nairn 

Nain 

Naioth 

Naoiru 

Naphisfa 

\u|iiitliali 

Naphtuim 

Narcissus 

Nasor 

Natlian 

Natfaanael 

Nathaniaa 

Nathan nielcch 

Nauoa 

Xa/.arene 

Nazareth 
Neah 

Xeapolis 

Neariah 

Nebai 

Nfliajuili 

Xeballal 

Nebat 

Nebo 

Nebuchadnez- 
zar 

Xebushasban 

Xclm/aradali 

Nechoh 

Nedabiah 

Neginoth 

Nehelamite 

Xehemiah 

Nehum 

Nehushtah 

Neiel 

Nekeb 

Nekoda 

Nemuel 

Nepheg 

Nephishesim 

Nephthoah 

Nepbusim 

Nereus 

Nerval sharezer 

Neri 

Nero 

Nethaneel 

Nethaniah 

Nethinims 

Netophathites 

Neziah 

Nezib 

Xicanor 

iVicodemus 

Xicolaitanes 

N'"*.olas 

Nicopoh's 

Niger 

Nimrah 

Xiinshi 



nag gee 

na-hai/le-el 

na-hal'lal 

nay' ham 

na-ham'a-ny 

na-har'a-i 

nay'hash 

nan' be 

nuy'hor 

nay'im 

nay'in 

nay'yoth 

na-ame 

nay' fish 

naf'tha-le 

naf'tit-him 

nar-sis'sus 

nay'sor 

nay than 

na-than'e-el 

nath-a-ny'as 

nay' than mt'lek 

nay' u m 

naz-a-reen' 

naz 'i-rtth 

ne'ah 

ne-ap' po-lis 

ne-a-ry'ali 

ne-baifi 

ne-bay'jolh 

ne- bat itti 

ne'bat 

ne'bo 

neb-yew-kud-nez'- 
zar 

neb-yew-shas'ban 
ncb-yew-zar'a- 

dan 
ne'ko 

ned-a-by'ah 

neg'e-nolh 

ne-hcl' a-mite 

ne-he-mi/ah 

ne'hnm 

ne-hush'lah 

ne'e-el 

ne'keb 

ne-ko'dah 

nem-yew'el 

ne'feg 

ne-fish 'e-sim 
nef-tho'ah 
ne-few'sim 
ne're-us 

ntr'gal sha-re'zer 

ne'ry 

ne'ro 

ne-than' e-el 

neth-a-ny 1 ah 

neth'in-iins 

ne-tof a-thites 

ne-zi/ah 

ne'zib 

ny-kay'nor 

nik-o-dt' mus 

nik-o-luy'e-tanes 

nik'o-las 

ny-lcop'o-lis 

nyjtr 

nim'rah 

nim'shy 



Nineveh 

Nisan 

Nisroch 

Noadiali 

Noah 

Nobah 

Nogah 

Xoph 
\npliall 

Xymphas 



nin'ne-veh 

ny'san 

nis'ruk 

no-ah-dj/ah 

no' ah 

no' bah 

no guh 

noj 

nu'J'ah 

nimfas 



O 



Obadiaii 
Obal 

Ohcd edom 

I >bil 

Oboth 

Or ran 

Oded 

Olympaa 

Omar 

Omega 

Omri 

Ouam 

( taesimus 

( >nesiphorus 

Ono 

( )nycha 

Onyx 

Ophel 

( >phir 

Ophni 

( iplirah 

Orel) 

Orion 

< Irpliah 

Othni 

Othniel 

Ozem 

Ozias 

Ozni 



Paarai 
Padan aram 
Padon 
l'u-i. I 

Pahath moab 

Pai 

Palal 

Palestina 

Palestine 

Pallu 

Palti 

Paltiel 

Pampbylia 

Paphos 

Paradise 

Paran 

Parmashta 

Parmenas 

Parnach 

Parosh 

Parshandatha 

Parthians 

Paruah 

Parvai m 

Pasach 

Pasdammim 

Paseah 

Pashur 



o-ba-dy'ah 

(i bid 

o'bed e'dom 

<i\ill 

o'bolh 

ok ran 

o'dtd 

o-lim'pas 

o'mar 

o'me-ga 

om'ry 

o'nam 

o-nes'se-mus 

on-e-sif'o-rus 

o'no 

o-ny'kah 
u'nix 
o'fel 
o'fir 

off'ny ■ 

off'rah 

o'reb 

o-ry'on 

or^fali 

olh'ny 

olh'ne-el 

o'zem 

o-zy'as 

oz'ny 



pay'a-ray 

pay'dan a'ram 

paijdon 

pny'je-el 

pay'fiath iiw'ab 

pay'i 

pay I'd 

pal-es-ty'nah 

pal'es-tyne 

pailew 

pal'ty 

pul-te'el 

pam-fil'e-a 

pay' Jos 

par'a-disi 

pay'ran 

par-mash'tah 

par'me-nas 

par'nak 

pay'rosh 

pur-shan'da-thah 

par 'the-ans 

par'yeic-ah 

par-vay'im 

pay'sak 

pas-dam 1 mim 

pa-se'ah 

pash'ur 



Passover 

Patara 

iPathros 

Pathrusim 

Patrobas 

Pan 

Pedahel 

Pedahzur 

Pedaiah 

Pekah 

Pekahiah 

P< kod 

Pelaiah 

Pelaliah 

Peleg 

P.;lcth 

Pclonite 

Peniel 

PeninnaJi 

Pentapolis 

Pentateuch 

Pentecost 

Penuel 

Peor 

Perazim 

Perez uzzah 

Perga 

Pergainos 

Penda 

Perizzites 

Persia 

Perudah 

Pethabiah 

Petbor 

Petbuel 

Peiilthai 

Plialec 

Phalli 

Pliannel 

Pharaoh 

Pharaoh hophra 

Pharathoni 

Pharez 

Pharisees 

Pbarphar 

Pliaseali 

Phebe 

Phenice 

Phenicia 

Phibeseth 

Phicol 

Pbiladelphia 

Phi lemon 

Philetus 

Philip 

Philippi 

Philistia 

Philistim 

Philistines 

Philologus 

Philorneter 

Phinehas 

Phison 

Phlegon 

Ph rvfria 

Phud 

Phurali 

Phut 

Phuhah 

Phygellus 

Phylacteries 



puss'o-ver 

pat'a-rah 

jmi/'tliros 

path-reu/sim 

pat-ro'bas 

pay 1 hi ic 

pnl'ii-lnl 

ped-ah'zur 

ped-a'yah 

pt kali 

ptk-tt-hi'ah 

pe'kod 

pel-a-i'ah 

pel-a-ly'ali 

pt'lig 

pt'teth 

pel'o-nile 

pruy'el 

pi-mn'nah 

pi n-tap'o-lia 

pt n'ta-tuke 

penfe-coost 

pt n-yew'el 

pe'or 

per'a-zim 

pe'rez uz'zali 

per' gah 

per'ga-mos 

pe-rij'dali 

pir'iz-ziles 

per'she-a 

ji< r-yeu/dah 

peth-a-hy'ah 

pe'thor 

pi Hi -y no' el 

pe-ul'thay 

fay'lek 

M'ty 

fan-yew' el 

/afro 

fa'ro hof'rah 

far-a-tho'ne 

fctrex 

far'e-sees 

farfar 

fase'ah 

fee'be 

fe-ny'st 

fe-nish'e-a 

fib'e-seth 

fy'kol 

fd-a-del'fe-a 

f-le'mon 

fi-le'tus 

fd'lip 

fd-lrp'py 

fd-hs'te-a 

fd-li.i'tim 

fd-lis'tins 

fd-lol'o-gus 

fd-o-me'ter 

fn'ne-has 

fy'son 

fieg'on 

fridj'ye-a 

fud 

few'rah 

Jut (as nut) 

few'bah 

fy-jel'lus 

fy-lak'te-reei 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES, 



1001 



Pihahiroth 

Pilate 

Pildash 

Piletha 

Piltai 

Pinon 

Piram 

Pirathon 

Pisgah 

Pisidia 

Pison 

Pithon 

Pleiades 

Pochereth 

Pollux 

Pontius 

Poratha 

Portius Festus 

Potiphar 

Potiphera 

Prisca 

Priscilla 

Prochorus 

Ptolemeus 

Puah 

Publius 

Pudens 

Pul 

Punites , 

Punon 

Put 

Puteoli 
Putiel 

Q 

Q.UARTUS 

Quaternion 

R 

Raamah 

Raamiah 

Rabbah 

Rabbi 

Rabboni 

Rabsaris 

Rabshakeh 

Raca 

Radial 

Rachel 

Raddai 

Ragau 

Ragua 

Raguel 

Rahab 

Rakem 

Rakkath 

Rakkon 

Ramah 

Ramathaim 

Ramathem 

Ramath lehi 

Ramath mispeh 

Ramesis 

Ramoth 

Rainiah 

Raphah 

Raphael 

Raphu 

Reaiah 

Reba 

Rebekah 



py-ha-hfroth 

py'lat 

pil'dash 

pil'e-thah 

pil'tay 

py'non 

py'ram 

pir'a-tlwn 

piz'gah 

pe-sid'e-a 

py'son 

py'thon 

ply'a-dez 

pok'e-reih 

pol'lux 

pon'she-us 

por'a-thah 

por'shus fest'us 

pot'e-far 

pot-e-fe'rah 

pris'kah 

pris-sil'lah 

prok'o-rus 

tol-e-me'us 

pew'ah 

puh'le-us 

pew'dens 

pul (as didl) 

pew'nites 

pew'non 

put (as nut) 

pew-te'o-li 

pew'te-el 

quar'tus 
qua-ter'ne-on 



ray'a-mah 

ra-a-my'ah 

rab'bah 

rab'by 

rab-bo'ny 

rab'sa-ns 

rab'sha-keh 

ray'kah 

ray'kal 

ray'chel 

rad'da-i 

ray'gaw 

rag'yeiv-ah 

rag-yeiv'el 

ray'hab 

ray'kem 

rak'kath 

rak'kon 

ray'mah 

ra-math-a'im 

ram'a-them 

ray' math le'hy 

ray' math mis'peh 

ram'e-sis 

ray'molh 

ray-my'ah 

ray'fah 

ray 'fa- el 

ray'few 

re-a'yah 

re'bah 

re-bek'ah 



Rechab 
Rechah 
Reelaiah 
Regem 
Regein melek 
Rehabiah 
Re hob 
Rehoboam 
Rohoboth 
Rehilm 
Rei 
Rekim 
Remaliah 
Renieth 
Remmon 
methoar 

Remplian 

Rephael 

Rephaiah 

Rephaim 

Rephidim 

Re sen 

Reu 

Reuben 

Reuel 

Reumah 

Rezeph 

Rezia 

Rezon 

Rhegium 

Rhesa 

Rhoda 

Rhodes 

Ribai 

Riinmon parez 

Riphath 

Rogelim 

Rohgah 

Romamti ezer 

Rome 

Rufus 

Rusticus 

Ruhainah 

Ruth 

S 

Sabacthani 

Sabaoth 

Sabdi 

Sabeans 

Sabtechah 

Sacar 

Sackbut 

Sadducees 

Sadoc 

Salah 

Salamis 

Salathiel 

Salcah 

Salem 

Sallai 

Salmoni 

Salome 

Samaria 

Samaritan 

Samgar nebo 

Samlah 

Sarnos 

Samothracia 

Samuel 

Sanballat 



re'kab 
re'kah 
re-el-a'yah 
re'jem 

re'jem me'lek 

re-ha-by'ah 

re'hob 

rc-ho-bo 1 am 

re'ho-both 

re' hum 

re'i 

re'kim 

rem-a-ly'ah 

re'meth 

rem'mon 

meth-o'ar 
rem' fan 
re'fa-el 
re-fay'yah 
re-fay'im 
re-fd'im 
re'sen 
re'yew 
ru'ben 
re-yew'el 
ru'mah 
re'zef 
re-zy'ah 
re'zon 
re'je-um 
re'sah 
ro'dah 
roads 
ry'bay 

rim'mon pay'rez 
ryfath 
ro-ge'lim 
ro'gah 

ro-mam'te e'zer 

room 

rew'fus 

rus'te-kus 

ru-hay'mah 

rooth 



sa-bak-tha'ni 
sab-a'oth • 
sab'dy 
sa-be'ans 
sab'te-kah 
say'kar 
sak'but 
sad'du-seez 
say'dok 
say'lah 
sal'a-mis 
sa-lay'the-el 
sal'kah 
say'lem 
sal'lay-i 
sal-mo'ne 
sa-lo'me 
sa-may're-a 
*sa-mar'e-lan 
sam'gar ne'bo 
sam'lah 
say'mos 

sam-o-lhray'she-i 

sam'u-el 

san-bal'lat 



Sanhedrim 

Sansannah 

Saph 

Saphir 

Sapphira 

Sapphire 

Sarai 

Sarah 

Saraph 

Sardis 

Sardius 

Sardine 

Sardonyx 

Sarepta 

Sarid 

Sargon 

Sarsekim 

Saruch 

Satan 

Saul 

Sceva 

Scvthians 

Seba 

Sebat 

Secacah 

Sechu 

Secundus 

Segub 

Seir 

Seirath 

Sela hammah 
lekoth 

Selah 

Seled 

Seleucia 

Semachiah 

Semaiah 

Semei 

Senaah 

Sennacherib 

Senir 

Senna 

Seorim 

Sephar 

Sepharad 

Sepharvaim 

Sephela 

Serah 

Seraiah 

Seraphim 

Sered 

Sergius 

Serug 

Sether 

Shaalabbin 

Shaalbim 

Shaalbonit 

Shaaph 

Shaaraim 

Shaashgaz 

Shabbethai 

Sliachia 

Shaddai 

Shadrach 

Sliage 

Sliahazimath 

Shalem 

Slialisha 

Shallecheth 

Sliallum 

Shalinai 



san-he' drim 

san-san'nah 

saff 

scif fir 

saffy'rah 

saffire 

say'rai 

say'rah 

say'raf 

sar'dis 

sai J de-us 

safdynt 

sar-ao'nix 

sa-rep'tah 

say' rid 

sar'gon 

sar-se'kim 

sai/ruk 

say'tan 

saivl 

se'vah 

sith'e-ans 

se'bah 

se'bat 

se-kay'kah 

se'kew 

se-kun'dus 

se'gub 

se'ir 

se'ir-ath 

se'lah ham'ma} 

le'koth 
se'lah 
se'led 
se-lu'she-a 
sem-a-ky'ah 
sem-a-i'ah 
sem'e-i 
se-nay'ah 
sen-nak'e-rih 
se'ner 
sen'u-ah 
se-o'rim 
sefar 
sef'a-rad 
sef-ar-vay'im 
seffe-lah 
se'rah 
ser-a-i'ah 
ser'ra-fim 
se'red 
ser'je-us 
se'rug 
se'ther 

shay-al-ab'bin 

shay-ul'bim 

shay-al'bon-ite 

shay'af 

shay-a-ray'im 

shay-ash'gaz 

shab-bcth'a-i 

shak-i'ah 

shad'da-i 

shay'drak 

shay'ge 

sha-haz'e-math 

shay'lem 

shat'e-shah 

shal'le-kcth 

shal'lum 

shal'may 



J002 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. 



Shalmanezer 

Shamariah 

Shamir 

Sham gar 

Shammai 

Shammua 

Shamsherai 

Sliaplian 

Shaphat 

Slia|>lier 

Sharai 

Sharaim 

Shorar 

Sharezer 

Sharon 

Sliaruhen 

Shashai 

Shashak 

Shaveh 

Shaul 

Shealticl 

Shear iafa 

Slicar jaahub 

Shebah 

Shebam 

Shchaniah 

Sbebarim 

Shebur 

Sbebnah 

Shebuel 

Shecaniah 

Shechem 

Shudeur 

Shehariah 

Shelemiab 

Shcleph 

Shelesh 

Sliclomi 

Shelomotb 

Shelumiel 

Shcinah 

Shemaiah 

Sbemariah 

Shemeber 

Shemir 

Shemida 

Sheminith 

Shemirainoth 

Shemuel 

Shenazar 

Shenir 

Shephatiah 

Shephi 

Shephu pban 

Sherah 

Sherebiah 

Sheresh 

Sheshach 

Sheshai 

Sheshan 

Sheshbazzar 

Shethar 

Shethar boznai 

Shibboleth 

Shicron ' 

Shiggaion 

Sliihon 

Shihor libnah 

Shilhi 

Shiloah 

Shiloh 



shal-ma-ne'zer 

sham-a-ry'ah 

shuy'mer 

sham'gar 

sham'ma-i 

sham-meiv'ah 

shitm-.ihe-ray'i 

shay/an 

shay '/at 

shay/er 

shti-ray'i 

sha-ray'im 

shai/rar 

sha-re'zer 

shay'ron 

sha-ru'hen 

shush' a-i 

shay' shah 

shay'veh 

shay' id 

she-al'te-el 

she-a-ri/'ah 

she'ar piy'shub 

shi hull 

shi'bam 

sheb-a-ny'ah 

shtb'a-rim 

she'ber 

shebiiah 

sheb 'yew-el 

shek-a-ni/ah 

she'kem 

shed'e-ur 

she-ha-ry'ah 

shel-e-my'ah 

she'le/ 

sbe'lesh 

shi-lo'my 

shei'o-moth 

she-lu'me-el 

she' mail 

shem-a-i'ah 

shem-a-ry'ah 

shem-e'ber 

sht'mer 

she-my'dah 

shem'e-nith 

she-mir'a-molh 

she' mew-el 

she-nay'zar 

she'n'er 

shef-a-ty'ah 

she'fy 

she-few'fan 

shc'rah 

sher-e-by'ah 

she'resh 

she'shak 

she' shay 

she'shan 

shesh-baz'zar 

she'ihar 

she'thar boz'nay 

shib'bo-leth 

shy'kron 

shig-gay'yon. 

shy'hon 

shy'hor lib'nah 

shil'hy 

shy-lo'ah 

shy'lo 



Shiloni 

Shilshah 

Shimea 

Shimeath 

Shimei 

Shimeon 

Shlmi 

Shimon 

Shimratb 

Shimri 

Shimsbai 

Shinab 

Sbinar 

Slii|)lii 

Sbipbrah 

Sbiphtan 

Shisha 

Shishak 

Shitrai 

Shiza 

Shoa 

Sin tbali 

Shobach 

Shobal 

Shobai 

Shoco 

Shochob 

Shopbacb 

Sbophan 

Shoshaiinini 

Shua 

Shual 

Slmbael 

Shulamite 

Slmmathites 

Shunamite 

Sim item 

Sbuni 

Shupham 

Shushan edutli 

Shutbelab 

Sia 

Siaha 

Sibhecbai 

Sibboleth 

Sihr aim 

Sichem 

Sidon 

Sigionotb 

Sihon 

Silas 

Siloah 

Silvanus 

Si I la 

Simeon 

Simon 

Sinai 

Sinim 

Sinites 

Sion 

Siphmoth 

Sippai 

Sirach 

Sirion 

Sisamai 

Sisera 

S i van 

Smyrna 

Sochoh 

Sodi 

Sodom 



she-lo'ny 
shil'shan 
shim-el ah 
shim't-ath 
shim'c-i 
shim'e-on 
shy' my 
sh i/'mon 
shim' rath 
shim'ry 
shi m' shay 
shy'nab 
shy' nor 

s h'fu 

shi/' rah 
shi/' tan 
shy shah 
ahy shah 
shit' ray 
shy'zah 
slut ah 
sho'bab 
sho'bak 
sho'bal 
sho-baifi - 
sho'ko 
sho'kob 
sho'/ak 
sho'/an 
sho-shan'nim 
ahu'dh 
ahu'al 
shu'ha-el 
ahu'lam-ite 
shu'malh-iles 
shu'nnm-ite 
shu'nem 
ahu'ny 
shu'/am 
shil'shan e'dulh 
ahu'the-lah 
sy'ah 
sy-a'hah 
sib'be-kuy 
sib'bo-bth 
sib-ray'im 
sy'kcm 
ay don 
se-fcy'o-noth 
sy'hon 
sy'kis 
sil'o-ah 
sil-vay'nus 
sil'lah 
sim'e-on 
sy'mon 
ay nay 
sy'nim 
sinites 
sy'on 
si f moth 
sip'pay 
sy'rak 
sir'e-on 
t sis-ami a^i 
sis'e-rah 
sy'van 
smrr'nah 
so'ko 
so'dy 
sod'om 



Solomon 

Sopater 

Sophereth 

Sorek 

Sosthcnes 

Sotai 

Stachys 

Stacte 

Stephanas 

Stoicks 

Suafa 

Succoth benoth 
Suchatbites 
Sukkiims 
Susa 

Susanchites 

Susannah 

Susi 

Sycamine 

Sychar 

Syene 

S\ naL'ogui: 

Syntiche 

Syracuse 

Syria 

Syrion 

Syrophenicia 

T 

'I' \ \ \AC SHILOH 

Tabea] 

Tahirah 

Tabitha 

Tabor 

Tabrimon 

Taclic 

Tachmon> , «J 

Tahan 

Tahapanes 

Tahaphanes 

Tahpencs 

Tabrea 

Tahtim hodshi 

Talitha cumi 

Talmai 

Tamar 

Tammuz 

Tanacb 

Tanbumeth 

Taphath 

Tappuah 

Tarah 

Taralah 

Tarea 

Tarpelites 

Tarshish 

Tatnai 

Tebah 

Tfbaliah 

Tebeth 

Tehinnah 

Tekel 

Tekoab 

Telabib 

Telah 

Telahim 

Telassar 

Tclem 

Telharsa 

Tdmelah 

Tema 



sol'o-mon 

sop'a-ter 

so-/e'rcth 

so'rek 

"os'tc-nes 

so'la-i 

sta'kces 

slak'te 

sie/'a-nas 

sto'iks 

au'ah 

suk'koth be'noth 

suk'a-thites 

suk-kc'ims 

su'sah 

su'san-kites 

su-san'nah 

su'sy 

sik'a-mine 

sy'kar 

sy-f'ne 

avn'na-gog 

sin'te-ke 

syr'ak-use 

syr'e-a 

syr'n-on 

si/-rn-ji-nish'e-a 

tay-tt'nah shy'loh 

ta-be'al 

la-lu'rah 

tab'e-thah 

tay'hor 

tab're-mon 

tatch 

tak'mo-nite 

tay'han 

ta-hap'a-nes 

ta-hn/'a-nes 

tah'pe-nes 

tahfre-ah 

tah'tim hod'shy 

fal'e-lhah ktwmy 

tnl' may 

In if mar 

tarn 1 muz 

tay'nak 

tmi-hnv'meth 

tay'/ath 

tap'pew-ah 

tayrah 

tar'a-lah 

tay're-ph 

tar'pelrites 

tar'shish 

till' lUllj 

te'bah 

teb-a-ly'ah 

tebeth 

te-hin'nah 

te'kd 

te-ko'dh 

tel-a'bib 

te'lah 

te-lay'im 

fe-las'sar 

te'lem 

ttl-hur'suh 

tel-meiah 

te'mah 



SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES. 



Teman 

Teraani 

Terah 

Teraphim 

Teresh 

Tertius 

Tertullus 

Tetrarch 

Thaddeus 

Thara 

Thelasser 

Theodotus 

Theophilus 

Thermeleth 

Thessalonica 

Theudas 

Thimnathah 

Thyatira 

Tiberias 

Tibni 

Tidal 

Tiglath pilezer 

Tikvah 

Tilon 

Timeus 

Timna 

Timnah 

Timnath heres 

Tim on 

Timotheu3 

Tiphsah 

Tiras 

Tirathites 

Tirhakah 

Tirhanah 

Tina 

Tirshatha 

Tishbite 

Titus 

Tizite 

Toah 

Tobiah 

Tobijah 

Tochen 

Togarmah 

Tohew 

Toi 

Tola 

Tolad 

Tophel 

Tophet 

Trachonitis 

Trogyllium 

Trophimus 

Tryphena 

Tryphosah 

Tsidkenu 

Tubal Ca : \> 

Tychicus 

Tyrannua 

Tyre 

T\TilS 



te'man 

tem'a-ny 

te'rah 

ter'a-Jim 

te'resh 

ter' she-us 

ter-tul'lus 

tet'rark 

ihad-de'us 

iha'rah 

the-las'ser 

the-od'o-ius 

the-offe-lus 

ther'me-leth 

thes-a-lo-ny'kah 

thu'das 

thim-nay'thah 

thi-a-ty'rah 

ty-be're-as 

tib'ny 

ty'dal 

tig'lath pe-le'zer 

tik'vah 

ty'lon 

te-me'us 

tim'nay 

tim'nah 

tim'nath he'res 

ty'raon 

te-mo'the-us 

tif'sah 

ty'ras 

ty'rath-ites 

tir-hay'kah 

tir-hay'nah 

tyr'e-a 

tir'sha-thah 

tish'bite 

ty'tus 

ty'zite 

to'ah 

to-by'ah 

to-by'jdh 

to'ken 

to-gar 'mah 

to'hew 

to'i 

to'lah 

to'lad 

to'fel 

to'fet 

trak-o-ny'tis 

tro-jil'le-um 

trope -mus 

try-fe'nah 

try-fo'sah 

sid'ke-nu 

tu'bal knin 

tik'e-kus 

ty-ran'nus 

tyer 

ty'rus 



Ue( 
Uhu 
Ulam 



yew'kal 
yew'el 
yew'la-i 
yeiv'lam 



Ulla 

U in mah 

Unni 

Upharsin 

U])haz 

Urbane 

Uri 

Uriah 

Uriel 

Urim 

Uthai 

Uzai 

Uzal 

Uzzah 

Uzzen she rah 
Uzzi 
Uzziah 
Uzziel 



Vajesatha 

Vaniah 

Vashni 

Vashti 

Vophsi 



Zaanaim 
Zaanan 
Zaanannim 
Zaavan 
Zabad 
Zabbai 
Zabdi 
Zabdiel 
Zabina 
Zaccai 
Zaccu 
Zachariah 
Zacher 
Zaecheus 
Zadok 
Zaham 
Zair 
Zalaph 
Zalmonah 
Zalmunnah 
Zamzummims 
Zanoah 
Zaphnath 
paaneah 
Zaphon 
Zarah 
Zareah 
Zared 
Zarephath 
Zaretan 
Zareth shahar 
Zartanah 
Zattlm 
Zaza 
Zebadiah 
Zebah 
Zebaim 
Zebedee 
Zebina 
Zeloim 



ul'lah 

um'mah 

un'ny 

yew-far 1 sin 

y etc/fax 

ur'ba-ne 

yew'ry 

yeiv-i-y'ah 

yew're-el 

yew'rim 

yew'tha-i 

yew'za-i 

yew'zal 

uz'zah 

uz'zen she'rah 
uz'zy 
uz-zy'ah 
uz-zy'el 



'a- 



ah 



■thah 



va-jes'i 
va-ny't-. 
vash'ny 
vash'ty 
vofsy 



zay-a-nay'im 

zay'a-nan 

zay-a-nan'nhn 

zay'a-van 

zay'bad 

zao'bay 

zattdy 

zab'de-el 

zab-by'nah 

zak'ka-i 

zak'ker 

zak-a-ry'ah 

zay'ker 

zak-ke'us 

zay'dok 

zay'ham 

zay'ir 

zay'laf 

zal-mo'nah 

zal-mun'nah 

zam-zum'mims 

zan-o'ah 

zaf'nath 

pay-a-ne'ah 
zay'fon 
zay'rali 
zctnre'ah 
zay'red 
zar'e-fath 
zar'e-tdn 
zay'reth sha'har 
zar-tay'nah 
zat'fhew 
zay'zah 
zeb-a-dy'ah 
ze'bah 
ze-bay'im 
zeb'be-dee 
ze-by'nah 
ze-bo'im 



Zebuda 

Zebul 

Zebulon 

Zedekiah 

Zedah 

Zeeb 

Zelah 

Zelek 

Zelophehad 

Zelotes 

Zelzah 

Zemaraim 

Zemarite 

Zemirah 

Zenan 

Zenas 

Zeorim 

Zephaniah 

Zephath 

Zephathah 

Zetho 

Zephon 

Zerah 

Zerahiah 

Zeresh 

Zereda 

Zeredatha 

Zerereth 

Zeror 

Zeruah 

Zerubbabel 

Zeruiah 

Zetham 

Zia 

Ziba 

Zibeon 

Zibiah 

Zichri 

Zidkijah 

Zidon 

Zidonians 

Ziha 

Zilthai 

Zimri 

Zina 

Ziph 

Ziphah 

Ziphion 

Ziphites 

Ziphron 

Zipporah 

Zithri 

Ziza • 

Zoan 

Zol)eba 

Zoheleth 

Zophah 

Zophai 

Zophim 

Zorah 

Zorathites 

Zoreah 

Zoro babel 

Zuar 

Zuriel 

Zuri shaddai 
Zuzims 



ze-bew'dah 

ze'bid (as dull) 

zeb'u-lun 

zed-e-ky'ah 

ze'dah 

ze'eb 

ze'lah 

ze'lek 

ze-lo'fe-had 

ze-lo'tes 

zel'zah 

zem-a-ray'im 

zem'a-rite 

ze-my'rah 

ze'nan 

ze'nas 

ze-or'im 

zef-a-ny'ah 

ze'fath 

zefa-thah 

ze'tho 

ze'fon 

ze'rah 

zer-a-hy'ah 

ze'resh 

zer'e-dah 

ze-red'a-thah 

ze-re'reth 

ze'ror 

ze-ru'ah 

ze-rub'ba-bel 

zer-u-i'ah 

ze'tham 

zy'ah 

zy'bah 

zib'e-on 

zib-i'yah 

zik'ry 

zid-ky'jah 

zy'don 

zy-do'ne-an-i 

zy'hah 

zil'thay 

zhn'ry 

zy'nah 

k 

zy'fah 

zife-on 

zifites , 

zifron 

zip-pa'rah 

zith'ry 

zy'zah 

zo'an 

zo-be'bah 

zo'he-leth 

zo'fah 

zo'fay 

zo'fim 

zo'rah 

zo'i aih-itcs 

zo-re'ah 

zo-rob'a-bel 

zu'ar 

zu're-el 

zu'ry shad' a-* 

zu'zims 



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Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2005 

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